Top Movies – The Dark Knight Rises Review – Movie Reviews Sites


Nolan’s concluding chapter in his Dark Knight trilogy is not only a beautiful picture, but also one of the most personal tales in this Batman saga.



Genre: Action/Thriller
Directors: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard & Morgan Freeman.
Run Time: 164 min.
US Release: 20 July 2012
UK Release: 20 July 2012
German Release: 26 July 2012
If you are interested in reading my reviews for the previous Dark Knight films, click on the following links: BatmanBegins Review, The Dark Knight Review.
In 2005 Nolan managed to do what nobody thought would be possible, he re-imagined one of the most notorious DC characters for cinema and gave him a gritty and very realistic world to play in. If Batman Begins is the body and The Dark Knight the heart of this saga, than The Dark Knight Returns is it’s spirit. Is it as good as the first sequel? Not really, but it is still one of the strongest Batman films I have seen on screen, with a big emotional pay-off. I loved every minute of this movie and, at least in my opinion, it had the perfect ending to a fantastic trilogy.  
— BE AWARE, THIS IS A SPOILER REVIEW!! —
Eight years after the Joker terrorised the city of Gotham and the Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent’s death, a new evil arises that is much more sinister and darker than anything Bruce Wayne has seen before. When the mercenary Bane breaks the Bat’s back and incarcerates him to torture his soul, while he goes out to destroy the city Bruce Wayne tried to protect so vehemently, the multi-billionaire/superhero needs learn that having fear might be a more potent ally than fearlessness. While mean he obtains aid from an unusual persona, the cat burglar Selina Kyle.
Nolan’s third Batman movie was inspired by Frank Millers “Dark Knight” comics and was fantastically scripted. While others complained about the lack of screen time for the masked crusader, I appreciated Nolan’s direction because it doesn’t tell the story of the man wearing the mask, but rather the tale of the man behind the mask; The Dark Knight Risesis the personal recital of Bruce Wayne! Since the night Harvey Dent died, Wayne has lived a recluse life inside the newly build Wayne Manor with only Alfred allowed to see him. Bruce has lost his way, but when Bane attacks, he sees a chance to redeem himself for Rachel’s death by sacrificing himself for Gotham, much to the horror of Alfred. Nolan relies on the power of emotion to drive his story and it pays off!
The facade of safety and peace that cracks open to release the terror of Bane, was a great metaphor for the cesspool that Gotham is for villainous vermin. Nolan also included a lot of in-jokes about more supernatural characters that Batman usually faces in his comic line, such as the little reference towards Killer Croc. In fact, a lot of the dialogues between characters was very tongue and cheek and had a healthy amount of humour that meshed well with the more emotional drama. The ending, open to interpretation, is typical of Nolan and I loved it.
There are just a few flaws I had with the story. The biggest of them was that the film felt a little too long. My other problem concerns the scene, where Batman stops Miranda Tate, alias Talia Al Ghul, and is about to fly the nuclear bomb out into the ocean. There is too much happening in that scene, it should have been just Batman towing the bomb away in “The Bat” and not spending precious minutes by giving Selina an incredible long kiss and having a chat with Commissioner Gordon about who he, the Batman, is.

By now, the audience is acquainted with Bruce Wayne & Alfred and it feels like we have known these characters for years, which makes the fallout between Wayne and Alfred that more emotional. Christian Bale was once again great as Bruce Wayne but it was Michael Caine as Alfred, who made me tear up because of his marvellous performance. I believed that he loved Bruce like it where his own son and that he couldn’t bare it to see him killing himself. It tore my heart apart to see him suffer that much at Bruce’s funeral.
Bane was a fantastic villain and Tom Hardy gave a terrific performance as the unstoppable mercenary, but his voice was muffled and the dialogues slurred due to the mask he wore. I was happy to see Bane being portrayed as the man he is, compared to whatever we obtained in Batman & Robin, because if Ra’s Al Ghul was the tactical match for Batman and the Joker matched Bruce’s intellect, Bane outmatched both in sheer brutal force.
Selina/Catwoman and Miranda Tate/Talia Al Ghul are Bruce’s two love interest in this film. Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard played them great! They are both very similar, in fact it could be said that both are two sides of the same coin, because while Selina comes off as irresponsible and dangerous at first and Miranda as friendly and helpful, both show their true faces during the end of the movie. Catwoman finds her inner hero and Talia shows her true villainous face.
Gary Oldman once again blew me away as Police Commissioner Gordon, who is feeling extremely guilty and unhappy about the lie, concerning Harvey Dent, that he needs to uphold to keep the criminals incarcerated. Once the truth is released he sets everything in motion to rectify that mistake. Jason Gordon-Levitt was the one actor I wasn’t sure about when I saw the casting names, but he positively surprised as young Officer Blake, who not only knows who the Batman is, but can understand Wayne and his thirst for justice. The fact that Nolan somehow sneaked in a Robin in this last film was pretty genius and I loved how Bruce gave him the chance to continue his vigilante legacy.
The cinematography in The Dark Knight Rises was once again enormous, but there is a difference in comparison to the previous movies. While Batman Begins and The Dark Knight focused on the city of Gotham, the second sequel is a much more personal tale and the camera focuses more on the people than on the city. That doesn’t mean that Nolan did not show the audience beautiful panoramic shots of Gotham, just like in the previous films we obtain majestic moments that show us the grandness of Wayne’s home city.
Verdict: While The Dark Knight Rises might not be as epic as The Dark Knight, it did keep the bar up high and showed us that there is more to the Batman comics than just action and a stunning looking cinematography. This second sequel to Batman Begins is incredibly emotional and has a very personal story surrounding Bruce Wayne. The cast, old and new, were outstanding and gave incredible renditions that paid tribute to the characters in the graphic-novels, and the practical effects used are simply beautiful to look at; especially Wayne’s new flying toy “The Bat”. If you haven’t seen this trilogy I implore you to buy it on Blu-ray or DVD. I will give The Dark Knight Rises a 9.5 out of 10.

Which movie was your favourite in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy? I know I wouldn’t be able to decide! Thank you very much for reading and if you liked this review make sure to share it.



Top Movies – Olympus Has Fallen Movie Review – Movie Reviews Sites


John McClane, Martin Riggs and Jack Slater are re-incarnated as ex-Secret Service agent Mike Banning. Olympus Has Fallenis a throwback to the old-school action flicks.

Genre: Action/Thriller
Directors: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Rick Yune, Dylan McDermott,
Angela Bassett, Finley Jacobsen, Radha Mitchell & Morgan Freeman.
Run Time: 119 min.
US Release: 22 March 2013
UK Release: 17 April 2013
German Release: 13 June 2013
Olympus Has Fallen is director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) love letter to the cheesy action movies of the 1990’s and was released in 2013. Staying true to the typical formula of 90’s action flicks, Fuqua’s explosive blockbuster is filled with gun blazing action sequences, a broken anti-hero and of course a Nation that wants nothing more than hurt the United States of America. Olympus Has Fallen might have been more popular with the audience, in comparison to White House Down, but I found myself enjoying Emmerich’s take on the White House destruction more, than Fuqua’s take on it!

—- BE AWARE, THIS IS A SPOILER REVIEW!! —-

When Mike Banning (Butler) fails to save the First Lady’s life after a car crash, President Asher (Eckhart) relieves him from his duties as an agent for the Secret Service. 18 months later, Asher meets with the South Korean Prime Minister but the meeting is interrupted when North Korean troops attack Washington D.C. It does not taken long and the North Korean militia takes the White House down, kill the South Korean Prime Minister and take Asher hostage. Mike Banning manages to infiltrate the White House and starts taking down one terrorist after another, before his final showdown with their leader Kang (Yune).

One thing to remember when watching Olympus Has Fallen, is that it is a fun and cheesy action-thriller without any deeper meaning or message to analyse. The main function of this blockbuster was to entertain and it did a fairly good job at doing so. Fuqua made a good attempt at recreating a fun and stupid 90’s action flick, including a typical hostage situation by terrorists as the main plot line. Insert one guy, who turns out to be our troubled hero and manages to save the day in the nick of time, and you got the plot of the movie. This action blockbuster has been compared a lot with Die Hard for good reasons; it does draw parallels to the franchise and the fifth film (a box office flop) was released that same year.  
Olympus Has Fallen made good use of the typical clichés that plagued those kind of movies in the 90’s and somewhat refined them. As an example, the attack on the White House by the North Koreans was completely improbable, but so well penned and choreographed that it did give the scenes a sense of realism. Further positive points this action-thriller has are the general story and the cast’s performance.
Still, this movie did also have some major issues that were painful to watch and hampered the enjoyment. One of the biggest problems I experienced was the uber American patriotic melody and tone, which lastly did hurt my positive attitude towards this film. I also thought that, while the general story was good, holding the life of a President shouldn’t stop the US from retreating their troops from the Korean DMZ, as well as meeting any demands made by the terrorist. I also disliked the reason why Asher fired Mike Banning and thought it was stupid and illogical.
Gerard Butler gave one of his best performances since RocknRolla and 300. He played the character of Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent who is haunted by his past mistakes. Banning’s marriage is also suffering, made clear during a morning conversation between him and his wife. Much like Bruce Willis humanised the eccentric but loveable a**hole that was John McClane, Butler gives his character a likeable charismatic touch that keeps you rooting for him. Aaron Eckhart was fantastic as the US President, but I also thought he was severely underused.
Rick Yune, who already played some good and believable secondary villains in The Fast & the Furious and Die Another Day, finally obtained the role of principal villain in this cheesy action flick and he was incredible. Yune was emotionless and unscrupulous, but he also was a villain who did things for a greater cause, in this case he wanted revenge for what the US did to his home country of North Korea and force the unification of both Koreas.  
Morgan Freeman depicted Speaker Trumbull, who was acting president for most of the plot. This is a character that suits him well, due to the multitude of roles he had as a government employees. I really enjoyed his performance and thought he added some weight to the film.
Cinematographer Conrad W. Hall shot the movie and while the camera work is mostly fine, the picture is at times extremely dark and Hall still uses shaky cam to cover up some of the weaker choreographed fight scenes. One of the weakest aspects, which are actually atrocities for a movie that was released in 2013, are the special effects. The scenes with the fighter jets and the airplane crash, as well as the destruction of the Washington Monument and the overview of a partially burning D.C., was done using CGI and it looks bad, in fact it ruins the world the viewer is supposed to immerse in!
Verdict: I did not enjoy Olympus has Fallen as much as other reviewers did, but I recognise that it was a fun and stupid action flick. It was not terrible but it also wasn’t good, it was simply mediocre. The story was mostly well scripted, with a couple of stupid ideas here and there, Gerard Butler and Rick Yune have been fantastic and Aaron Eckhart was good but underused. What I did hate is its overly patriotic undertone and there was something else about this movie, which I still can’t pinpoint exactly but killed most of the fun I should have experienced. I will therefore give this action blockbuster a 6.5 out of 10.

Sorry for the delay of this review, but due to time related issues I wasn’t able to finish this review yesterday. I still hope you enjoyed reading my analysis of Olympus Has Fallen and if you want to share what you thought of this movie, leave a comment below. If you found this review helpful, make sure to share it with others and as always, thank you for reading!



Top Movies – Zootopia Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


Welcome to Zootopia, a place where anyone can become anything. Disney’s newest animation has a very inspiring message!

Genre: Animation/Action/Comedy
Directors: Byron Howard, Rich Moore & Jared Bush
Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Octavia Spencer, Tommy Chong & Shakira.
Run Time: 108 min.
US Release: 04 March 2016
UK Release: 25 March 2016
German Release: 03 March 2016
Zootopia is the newest animated movie by Walt Disney Animation Studios and it is a surprisingly mature one at that. If you watched the trailers you will have been completely mislead by the marketing campaign, because Zootopia is not a light-hearted, funny Disney film with human-like animals, it is far greater than that and I enjoyed every minute of it. I am a big Disney fan and this animation showed what the studio is capable of producing if they stick their heads together, because as of late I haven’t seen a project by this studio that really floored me.
Zootopia is the capital city of a world run by evolved anthropomorphic animals, where predators and prey can live side by side in peace, but not all is as utopian as it seems. Bunny Judy Hopps (Goodwin) experiences this first hand after having passed the police academy with flying colours and becoming the first police officer of her species. The problem is that she is not being accepted by her co-workers, so when several predators are being reported as missing, she bets the police chief (Elba) that she can solve the case faster than any other officer. She employs the help of Nick (Bateman), a sly fox, who is supposed to help her crack the investigation.
I found the premise of this animated film to be fantastic, as this world run by humanoid animals is very similar to that of our one. Much of problems these animals encounter are socio-political metaphors for the issues we are facing nowadays, such as: racism, gender classification or limiting people from different cultural levels, there was even a section that covered drug abuse. Disney took a leap of faith depicting those problems and it paid off, because by addressing them, Zootopia managed to become a well-rounded and multilayered movie.
Even though the tone is extremely mature for an animation, this film does not forget to entertain and includes some very funny and witty jokes. There are also a lot of pop-cultural references to successful movies and TV shows like Breaking Bad, The Godfatherand others. Zootopia is a well developed and thoughtfully written motion picture that will not only entertain adults but will also be a fun experience for kids.
But the movie also had its flaws. For one, the story structure follows the typical Disney formula and therefore the plot twists were easy to decipher. I also disliked the end-credit scene, due to the reason that it felt disjointed from the rest of the movie and seemed to aim for a lovey-dovey happy ending, to promote Shakira’s new song.
The characters in Disney’s newest animation are unbelievably well developed. I thought it was very smart to humanise these animals, but still have them retain some of their animalistic trades in their characters, such as the bunny being cute or the fox being slick. A lot of that world is based on the natural law, which is the reason why the police unit is outfitted with these big, strong animals that can protect the smaller animal population.
The two leading characters of Judy Hopps, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, and Nick Wild, portrayed by Jason Bateman, are great and have fantastic chemistry. I was immediately invested in their relationship and loved both of their background stories. Goodwin gave a fantastic vocal performance and nailed the emotional scenes, while Jason Bateman was remarkable as the clever con artists. Both of them tried to prove that they are more than their species stereotypes, while their spirits kept taking punches by other ignorant animals.
Idris Elba is terrific as Chief Bogo, a cape buffalo and the chief of Zootopia’s police department. He was funny, brutish and had very short temperament and I adored the fact that the writers paid tribute to the clichéd angry police chief, portrayed in nearly every 80’s and 90’s action flick. J.K. Simmons also played a stereotypical character of early action movies; the friendly and seemingly perfect Mayor of the city, Mayor Lionheart. Simmons’ rendition was amusing and well done.
The animation in this movie is flawless! The animals look very typical and Disney like, and reminded me of a computer-animated version of Robin Hood. The city of Zootopia was also beautifully designed! What really surprised me though were the magnificent choreographed and executed action scenes, because Zootopia is foremost an action-animation. Michael Giacchino composed the handsome score, and it was his first co-operation on a full-length feature film for Disney. Shakira also contributed her original song, “Try Everything ” to this film.
Verdict: Disney’s newest animation is a fantastically scripted and beautifully shot metaphor of our own world, with great vocal performances by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman. The animation is flawless and the characters have a powerful chemistry. I was completely invested in this movie from beginning to end and loved the implemented mature messages; Zootopiais a beautiful portrayal of an unlikely friendship. This movie is a must see for adults and children alike and I really wanted to give it the highest grade, but due to minor flaws it has I will need to give it an 8.5 out of 10.

I do recommend you go see this movie, because it really is worth your time! If you already saw it, makes sure to leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it. Tomorrow’s review will be for Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen, leading up to my London Has Fallen review next week. Thank you for reading and if you found this critique helpful, make sure to share it.



Top Movies – Room Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are fantastic in this beautifully shot drama.


 
Genre: Drama
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Tom McCamus,
William H. Macey & Sean Bridgers.
Run Time: 118 min.
US Release: 22 January 2016
UK Release:  15 January 2016
German Release: 5 March 2016
Nominated for four Oscars, this heartbreaking drama is based on the novel of the same name, written by author Emma Donoghue. I was originally not planning on going see this in cinemas, but after being asked by a friend (who read the book) to go watch the film with her, I had a change of heart and went. Leaving the screening, I felt extremely happy that she convinced me to go see it, because Room is an incredible emotional rollercoaster ride and both of us left the cinema close to tears after witnessing this beautiful drama.
As with the “5th Wave” I did not read the novel, but I did hear good things about it. The book was nominated for several awards and won a bunch of them, including the Booker Prize. The author of the novel co-wrote the screenplay for its adaptation on the silver screen and from what I read online, it seems to be one of the better literature based films. All I can say is that this was one of the better movies I saw early in the year and it packed an incredible emotional punch.
Room revolves around the extraordinary tale of Jack (Tremblay), a 5 year old boy, and his highly devoted and loving mother Ma (Larson). Ma protects his child from danger, keeps him happy and well fed and is, like any good mother extremely committed to her son, but unlike other families, Jack and Ma are confined to a small living space they cannot escape and call Room. Jack was born in Room and knows nothing of the outside world; Ma feeds his imaginations with stories about room, to still his ever-growing curiosity. When Jack’s interests get him in danger, Ma develops a risky escape plan that will lead Jack to freedom.
Room has an unconventional structure compared to other motion-picture, because rather than having three acts it really has just two, with the first part focusing inside the room and the second outside their four walled confinement. It is an intense psychological portrayal of life; the good, the bad and how to grow-up, and for a drama with such a heavy plot it is surprisingly upbeat, which is due to the fantastic written script, the great directorial work and the amazing performances by it’s lead actors.
The way “Ma” keeps her hopes up in a dark and disillusioned situation, raising her son in the small quarters they are entrapped to and teaching him about morality, valour and virtue, touched me deep and kept turning on the waterworks. That room became everything for both of them and her son Jack is the most precious thing in her little world. The voice-overs by the boy, which gives the viewer a little insight into his train of thought, are remarkable and tell us bit by bit more about him and his mother. His innocent view of the world and how it changes once he breaks out and finds himself free was not only excellently written but also narrated superbly.
The only problem I had with this movie was on its rewatchability. As good as it was – and it was darn good, this drama also had situations that were very hard to watch due to its thematic. Personally, as much as I liked Room and as much as it managed to reach into my heart, I won’t be able to watch this film again.
Brie Larson gave an incredible rendition as the character of “Ma”; a breakthrough performances for this smaller known actress! She used perfect body language that indicated her true feelings and her verbal breakouts as well as her depression felt authentic. She incorporated her character, which was in a very difficult situation, perfectly and I believed every outburst of anger or sorrow I saw on the big screen. Larson was amazing and I am positive that we will see her blossom into one of the big movie starlet, in more leading roles.
Jacob Tremblay may be the best child actor I have seen in the last couple of years and it is an absolute shame he did not get nominated for an Academy Award, because his rendition was brilliant! The way he expressed Jack’s shyness and insecurity, but at the same time being at awe when experiencing something new, was beautiful to witness. Just like Larson, this young boy knew how to displayed different arrays of emotions, something that is rare for a child that young to know how to portray.
There were a couple scenes during the beginning, where he did annoy me (yelling at his mom and being disrespectful), but once the walls of his small world collapsed and make path for the much larger reality, he stepped up and became an incredibly interesting character.  
Room is a well-shot movie, with fluent camera movements and vividly intense colours. The visual trickery that made the small space look bigger at the beginning, compared to it’s actual size that was shown one last time during the end, was fantastic. Cinematographer Danny Cohen did a tremendous job!
Verdict: Room is a beautiful looking movie, with surprisingly hope-filled characters. Both actors gave fantastic performances and Jacob Tremblay surprised me with his amazing rendition. The story is well structured and executed and looks beautiful on the big screen. Still, and as much as I adored this movie for hitting me on an emotional soft spot, it was also cringe worthy to watch due to the subject at hand, which I believe does hurt the rewatchability of this movie. Nevertheless, I was glad to have experienced it and will therefore give Room a 9 out of 10.

Do you agree with my opinion? If you want to add something to what I said, be welcome to leave a comment below and if you saw this film, let me know what you thought of it. If you found this review helpful and enjoyed reading it, make sure to like it and don’t forget to share it with others. Thank you very much for reading!



Top Movies – Colonia Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


Colonia is a good-looking thriller, with terrific performances but suffers from a mediocre script and some uneven pacing.



Genre: Drama/Romance/Thriller
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist, Vicky Krieps,
Richenda Carey, Jeanne Werner & Julian Ovenden.
Run Time: 110 min.
US Release: 15 April 2016
UK Release: Unknown
German Release: 18 February 2016
Colonia, also known as Colonia Dignidad, is a 2016 German period piece drama and director Florian Gallenberger’s English-language debut. It depicts the events that took place in the 1973 Chilean military coup and the notorious cult in the south of Chile, led by the German lay preacher Paul Schäfer. I did not know what to expect when walking into the screening room, because it obtained a lot of negative reviews but was liked a lot by the public audience, so I was curious to see how I would perceive the film especially since I am interested in seeing Emma Watson grow as an actress.
The plot of the movie takes place in Chile of 1973. Lena (Watson), a stewardess working for Lufthansa, travels to Santiago de Chile to visit her Boyfriend Daniel (Daniel Brühl), a photographer and artist working closely together with supporters of President Salvador Allende. When Pinochet overthrows the Government and assumes power, Daniel gets identified as one of the Allende’s supporters and is captured and transported to a remote colony in the South of Chile, called Colonia Dignidad. Lena searches for Daniel, figuring out that Colonia Dignidad is a sect run by the sadistic Paul Schäfer, who cooperates with Pinochet. She decides to infiltrate the cult, search for Daniel and free him.  
Colonia starts of as a typical romance, set just before the military coup d’état in Chile. Lena surprises her boyfriend, who is living in Chile since months, with a visit and the two spend two intimate days together, smooching and making love. To say the truth, the first 20 minutes couldn’t be a more clichéd depiction of romance on film but once Pinochet’s men start rallying up supporters of Allende, the movie makes a complete change in tone. Gone are the pink love-goggles and a much darker atmosphere spreads throughout this romantic-thriller.
Colonia does tell a compelling story and makes very good use of tension building, in fact I was on the edge of my seat during most of the film’s runtime but in the end and after giving it a long enough thought, I found it to be a very mainstream and unexceptional dramatic-thriller. Gallenberger managed to capture and recreate the looks and feel of this explosive historic event really well, at least on the surface, but the movies biggest issue is that it doesn’t delve deep enough into the history of the cult. Instead, Lena and Daniel’s romance overshadows the sect’s story and incidents inside Colonia Dignidad are simply brushes by, with the use of short scenes.
This period piece also suffers from extreme and heavy pacing issues, appearing first after the first 30-40 minutes into its runtime. It does start with a good and steady pace, until Colonia Dignidad is brought up. From there on it is all over the place, with some scenes being summarised extremely fast and others being stretched out to its maximum.  
Emma Watson gave one of her better performances in this movie. It was different to other roles I saw her in and she did a great job at expressing the disgust and contempt for cult leader Paul Schäfer. In some form the viewer is able to relate with Watson’s character Lena, who doesn’t stop at anything to find the man she loves. Sadly, the poorly written background of Lena sets the moments of connection between audience and character aback. We know nothing of her past; how did she meet Daniel and what are her motivations?
Daniel Brühl’s persona was equally as underdeveloped as Watson’s Lena. Daniel is a photographer who spent the last four months in Chile, helping the supporter of Allende but we don’t know why. All we get from Brühl’s performance is that his character is a liberal socialist, ready to blow the whistle on any political wrongdoings.

Michael Nyqvist played Paul Schäfer and gave a great but pale rendition of this psychotic and sadistic man. Nyqvist’s presence comes off as deranged and dangerous every time he steps on screen; sending shivers down my back. But we obtained yet again an underdeveloped character, whose enthusiasm and motives were not explained to the viewer and thus the character comes off as cartoonish and over-the-top.
Director of photography Kolja Brandt produced a slick looking movie that is made very professional. The camera movements are mostly smooth and well executed, with only one segment of shaky cam used for a POV from a prisoner who is getting tortured. My only complaint is about the use of extreme close-ups in this film, employed during intimate moments between the two lovers or the interrogation scenes between Schäfer and Lena.
Effects wise, Colonia made use of good practical effects and realistically looking sceneries. The costume design was well elaborated and depicted the period it plays in.
Verdict: I did enjoy Florian Gallenberger’s Colonia but it is a movie that does suffer from severe flaws. The characters are mostly underdeveloped and the team missed the opportunity to film an in depth motion picture of Schäfer’s sect and his ties with Pinochet’s regime. Instead we obtained a dramatic-thriller, with well-developed suspenseful moments but a lukewarm romance. Halfway through the movie the pacing derails and the ending, as satisfactory as it might be, is a standard happy ending after a short and nerve wracking chase through the Chilean airport, that was heavily reminiscent of Affleck’s Argo. I will give Colonia a 7 out of 10.

If you walk in, not expecting a revolutionary movie that focuses solely on the machinations and motivations of the sect and its leader Paul Schäfer, you will have a good time and enjoy the film. If you want to learn more about the cult you will be severely disappointed by Colonia. 

Thank you very much for reading my review and if you found it helpful, please make sure to share it.



Top Movies – The Problem with Remakes and Reboots! – Movie Reviews Sites



Remakes, spin-offs and sequels have been a part of the movie industry since its beginning and while I am not saying that every reboot or spin-off is trash, the ever growing number of news on planned reboots and spin-offs (mostly in the comic book adaptation sector) did become somewhat of a nuisance, especially when they are utterly unnecessary! To me a remake would make sense if it concerns a previous movie, or film series, that showed creative potential but wasn’t executed well. If a new writer or director shows interest in giving that project the necessary creative quality to make it great, I would be fine with it.

Sadly, the reality looks very different. Studios recruit smaller or unknown directors and put them on their payroll and it is these regisseurs who obtain those projects, when a studio boss looks at previous successful motion-pictures and wants to recreate their past glory by milking the franchise a little more. Most of the times those projects end up being abomination of the originals e.g. Terminator Genisys. At times though, there is a glimpse of light and studios hire relatively new directors that turn out to have a talent for movie making and writing, as was the case with Christopher Nolan and the American remake of Insomnia.
Of course this is not always the case, as directors also approach studios specifically with the wish to get the chance to make a new and “creatively different” adaptation of a previous triumphant movie. This happened when the horrible Point Break remake directed by Ericson Core, who pitched the idea to Warner Bros.
Although not having concrete proof, the timeline seems to suggest that the exploding number of planned remakes and reboots of movie and TV franchises are a side effect of the superhero hysteria, which also rebooted a number of franchises; either as a stand alone series, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy that successfully brought back Batman to the silver screen (and is one of my favourite movie trilogies), or to include them into an interconnected film universe, as was the original idea with Sony’s Amazing-Spider-Man project that was supposed to reboot the Web-Slinger’s franchise and create a bigger and connected movie universe a-la Marvel’s Avengers.
So what is my point?
The problem that plagues Hollywood reboots these days is that studios look at the passed success of movies and decide that they want to cash on it again, by re-selling the product to a new generation and hope to drive the group of people that saw the original into theatres, due to a nostalgic factor. Remakes that featured prominent figures such as Batman and Spiderman were successful because the previous movies were successful (even if the last instalments sucked). Those movies will rather be funded and green lit by the studios, no matter how bad the script or the ideas are and that hurts the power the original work had, because it diminishes its value.

On the other hand we have brilliantly directed and scripted remakes, such as the 2012 Dredd who re-imagined the character from the terrible 1995 adaptation, which performed poorly at the box-office. Those movies get little faith by the Hollywood bosses and are therefore minimally funded, because they are expected to underperform. Another example is this year’s Deadpool, which obtained a mere $58 million for a budget. The difference is that the test-footage was leaked and flooded the Internet, creating positive buzz for the movie and later on, a lot of the budget was used to market the movie to gather more interest. This turned Deadpool into a unique low-budget remake with a big outcome.
Still, the success of Deadpool is being treated with care by the Hollywood studios, who would rather opt at funding a new mediocre script of a past success, than a marvellous new take on a past failure. Disney figured this out early with it’s live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians in 1996 and now a handful of classic animations are being planned on being rebooted as live action films, e.g. Maleficent (2013) Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Pete’s Dragon (2016), Beauty & the Beast (which has no release date yet) and Dumbo. If you don’t believe me take a look at the remakes that are being planned, for the next couple of years:


  • The Ghostbusters (coming out this year)
  • Memento (Nolan’s fantastic debut)
  • Big Trouble in Little China (a Kurt Russell cult-classic)
  • Escape from New York (another Kurt Russell cult-classic)
  • The Birds (Michael Bay is attached to the remake, do I need to say more?)
  • MacGyver (with planned TV & Movie remake)
  • Cube (a cult-classic sci-fi horror)
  • Jumanji
  • Men in Black (with the third movie mere four years ago)
  • A Nightmare on Elmstreet (Again!!!)


These are just ten of the many movies that are lined up, to be taken apart, reassembled and repackaged for a new generation to enjoy. 



Top Movies – Standoff Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


Much talking but no suspense. Thomas Jane and Laurence Fishburne might be pointing guns at each other, but this thriller is nothing more than a dud.

Genre: Thriller
Director: Adam Alleca
Cast: Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne, Ella Ballentine, Jim Watson, Joanna Douglas & John Trench.
Run Time: 86 min.
US Release: 26 February 2016
UK Release: 04 January 2016
German Release: 26 February 2016 (Direct-to-Video)
Standoff is Adam Alleca’s directorial debut and stars Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane in the lead roles. It was supposed to be released in theatres across the UK and US (I do not know if it did), but came as a direct-to-video release in Germany for good reason. While this B-movie thriller does deliver what its title promises, it is not exactly what I would account for as being suspenseful or remotely interesting and that’s a shame because it did show potential, but the messy script and the moments of nothingness dragged Standoff off to incredible boredom.
The story focuses on Carter (Jane), a lonely and broken man living in the midst of no-where in a remote American town. While pitying himself and getting drunk, he hears screams for help of a little girl (Ballentine), who is quickly approaching his front-porch. Carter stops her and is about to ask if she’s all right, when a man in a black balaclava (Fishburne) appears from nowhere and starts shooting at them. Carter grabs his shotgun and Bird  (the nickname of the young girl) and runs into the house, up the first floor, where he sits on the landing ready to defend the girl. The man in black enters the ground floor of the house and a standoff ensues.
There were several factors that made me decide to go and rent this movie; first of all, I find films that take place in one location intriguing because it demands a good storytelling, good dialogue, good performances and good camera work by everyone involved, to keep the plot from going flat. Movies such as Phone Booth and this year’s The Hateful Eight prove that they can be well executed and popular. Standoff though, suffers from a weak script with dull and repetitive dialogue and scrambles it’s potential to become one of the most intriguing B-movies of this year.

While Jane and Fishburne give some of their best performances in this underachieving thriller, the badly scripted dialogue is setting their efforts back. Alleca tried to recreate a suspenseful cat and mouse game with psychological warfare talks, but what we obtained was a dull and uncreative repetition of the words “f**k”, “a**hole”, “dips**t”, “motherf**ker” and other profane cursing. Between the back and forth insults, we get treated with long and still shots of the house while the three characters in play take a nap to recover from the “tense” yelling and insulting, which leads to painful boringness.

On top of that we get treated with some glimpses of Carter’s past, which suggests he might have had a family of his own in the past and left him due to errors he committed. Those flashbacks miserably try to build up an emotional connection between Carter and the audience, as well as to give the plot a reason to why Thomas Jane’s character is trying to protect the little girl from Fishburne’s hitman.
It is hard to feel sympathy with the persona of Bird, played by the young actress Ella Ballentine, as her past is just brushed by and her thoughts and character barely explored. The function of the girl is clear; to give Carter a reason to keep on living, but it doesn’t omit to the viewer the much-needed emotion to care for her, as she is hardly represented in the film.  
The cinematography in this film is nothing out of the ordinary. Alleca used close-ups on insignificant objects and tried to buy time during the “quiet scenes”, by filming around the house to show us some of Carter’s past. The intriguing shots had been used during the beginning of the movie, when we saw Laurence Fishburne’s over-the-top shootout, through the lens of Bird’s 35mm camera.

Verdict: In the end, this thriller is nothing else than a dull and uninspired B-movie that blew it’s potential. It could have made use of real psychologically challenging and threatening dialogue, but instead director and writer Adam Alleca created a confrontation in which Thomas Jane and Laurence Fishburne yell and insult each other. The third character and trigger for this situation is not explored at all and thus fails to create the much-needed sympathy for the characters of Carter and Bird. Standoff is one of the worst films I have seen this year so far, and I don’t recommend you go see this movie, at all! I will give Standoff a 4 out of 10.


My next review will follow tomorrow and is on Florian Gallenberger’s Colonia, starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl and Michael Nyqvist. Thank you very much for reading and if you found this review helpful, make sure to share it with friends and family.


Top Movies – The Shamer’s Daughter Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


With Skammerens Datter, we finally obtain a well-made fantasy story for the big screen that isn’t based on a J.R.R. Tolkien’s’ work.



Genre:  Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Kenneth Kainz
Cast: Rebecca Emilie Sattrup, Maria Bonnevie, Peter Plaugborg,
Jakob Oftebro, Petra Scott Nielsen, Laura Bro and Olaf Johannessen.
Run Time: 96 min.
US Release: Unknown
UK Release: Unknown
German Release: 18 February 2016
The adaptation of Danish author Lene Kaaberbøl’s first novel of the “Shamer Chronicles”, Skammerens Datter (The Shamer’s Daughter), is a Northern European low-budget fantasy epos and one of the better book-to-film conversions I saw in the last years. I checked-out the first two books (“The Shamer’s Daughter” & “The Shamer’s Signet”) from my school library, after reading the first four Harry Potter novels but sadly never came around to read the last two. I found both books to be as amusing as the Potter series but with a much more serious and mature undertone.
Director Kainz focused more on the plot and characters, by depicting the heart-wrenching story that entrances it’s viewer and pulls them into Kaaberbøl imaginary world. This movie is not without its weaknesses though and has some serious flaws concerning the main character. Even so, in my opinion this fantasy-adventure flick is able to hold up against the bigger Hollywood pictures of the same genre.
Set in a Middle Aged timeline, Dina (Sattrup) has inherited her mother’s gift, to look people in the eyes and see their most shameful secrets. Dina sees her gift as a curse though, since she has no friends and the people react with hostility and fear towards her. When the Royal family of Dunark is murdered, the eldest son of the King and heir to the Throne Nicodemus, (Oftebro) is the only suspect and incarcerated. Dina’s mother Melussina (Bonnevie) is tasked by Nico’s cousin Drakan to “shame” him so he confesses to the killings, but when she can not see his guilt of killing the king it sets her and Dina in great danger.  

The story to this fantasy-adventure was originally written for children, but includes some very mature aspects that make this movie enjoyable for adults that like the fantasy genre and if I were asked to, I would compare it to be a cross between the Harry Potter franchise and the Game of Thrones series. A slow paced plot at first, Skammerens Datter picks up on momentum during the last third of the movie. The first part of the series focuses more on the characters and the situation they find themselves in rather than the world around it. This isn’t a negative aspect at all, because through the slower pace and the focus on the main heroine and the antagonist, we get a clearer picture of who their persona and motivations.
The shortcomings of this film ironically come from its strength, while the slower pace helps to build up the character, some of the scenes could have benefited with a faster rhythm. The movie also included some very convenient twists that helped the characters get out of sticky situations and concludes with an open end, for a possible sequel, which may strike a nerve with some viewers. Me on the other hand, expected nothing else since this is the first adaptation of a four novel series.
I saw this movie twice now, once in German and the second time in Danish with English subtitles. What I noticed is that the performances appear more realistic when watching it in the original language, because everyone in this movie (including the extras) gave grounded and realistic performances.
Dina was a really interesting and different character, compared to the usual child or coming of age personas we are receiving in motion pictures lately. Sadly she is not fleshed out that well (as in the book) and seems more flat than three-dimensional. Nevertheless, newcomer Rebecca Emilie Sattrup gave a fantastic performance as Dina and I was able to feel the strong bond she has with her mother. Dina is a goodhearted child who is simply looking for acceptance in the society she lives in, but her gift separates her from others.  
Peter Plaugborg depicts the antagonist of this movie, Drakan. His persona resembled somewhat that of Shakespeare’s MacBeth and the actions he took were understandable. I am not saying that they are justifiable, but this is a villain who the audience can relate to and comprehend. Plauborg gave a good rendition of that character.
Further notable performances were given by Jakob Oftebro, who played Nicodemus – the son of the King and heir to the throne, and Maria Bonnevie playing Dina’s mother Melussina, who had amazing chemistry with her younger co-star.  
Lasse Frank Johannessen was the director of photography for this movie and delivered a good and solid camera work! The panoramic scenes looked epic and beautiful, reminding me a little bit of what Peter Jackson provided us with in The Lord of Rings. It made use of a lot of marvellous looking practical effects, that enhanced the feeling of the story playing in the Middle Ages. There were a few computer generated images to create some of the bigger scenic pictures and the dragons, but due to low budgetary they looked like television effects; comparable with good TV CGI such as in Game of Thrones.
Jørgen Lauritsen, who created a beautiful medieval soundtrack that suited the movie in every purpose, composed the music for this fantasy epos. He also created some horror-like sounding pieces for specific events in the film, which raised the tension. This quickly turned into one of my favourite soundtracks created for a fantasy-adventure.
Verdict: The Shamer’s Daughter was one of the better fantasy-adventures in the last years, centring on the young heroine Dina and the heavy burden of her “gift” she carries around with her. The slow unfolding of the story benefits the development of each persona in this film, but also broke, at time, the flow of the movie. The budget for this film was quite low when compared to Hollywood studio productions, but it didn’t hurt the picture at all. This is a movie kids, adults as well as families can enjoy and I was quite pleased with Skammerens Datter. I will give it a 7.5 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy movies.

So, did you manage see this movie? If you did, let me know what you thought in the comment section. Thank you very much for reading and if you found this review to be helpful, make sure to share it.



Top Movies – Zoolander No.2 Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites


Zoolander No.2 included everything that was bad in Zoolanderand left out the good parts.

Genre: Comedy
Director: Ben Stiller
Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Will Ferrell,
Kristen Wiig, Cyrus Arnold and Christine Taylor.
Run Time: 102 min.
US Release: 12 February 2016
UK Release: 06 February 2016
German Release: 18 February 2016
Welcome back to Part-2 of my double Zoolanderreview, if you want to read my critique of the first movie click here.
As stated early before in Part-1, Zoolanderisn’t exactly my favourite film and contrasting most of my friends who think of this being the ultimate comedy I thought it was simply mediocre. In my opinion, Ben Stiller directed and starred in better comedic motion-pictures such as Tropic Thunder, Cable Guy or Dodgeball but that doesn’t mean I did not enjoy the first Zoolander, as it still made me laugh a lot. Sadly this sequel, that came 15 years after the original’s release, has nothing left of the 2001 cult film.
The comedy revolves once again around Derek Zoolander (Stiller), who is in self-imposed exile after a string of unlucky accidents did cost him the custody of his son. Hansel (Wilson) also went into hiding for personal reasons. After pop singers have been systematically targeted and killed, Billy Zane lures both former superstar models back into the world of fashion. Together with Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Cruz) they try to find out who is behind all the assassinations, while Derek also attempts to get into contact with his son (Arnold) again.
The premise of Zoolander and Hansel returning to prominence to win back the custody over Derek’s son, might not sound as spectacular as the first movie’s synopsis but should have still made for a funny story. Instead, we obtained a terribly executed fart of a comedy that was so stupid and needles I felt my brain cells die. It started of promising with Billy Zane, as himself, in all those remote places looking for Derek and Hansel, but 10 minutes later the movie lost momentum and humour. The funniest parts were put in the trailer, while the rest of the movie is uneventful and boring.
Ben Stiller is better than this; he is a good writer and director, proven by his previous movies, which begs the question why he decided to do a sequel to his cult comedy 15 years later. If you are going to do a sequel after such a long period of time, you need to make sure it is 100 percent funny and intriguing. Zoolander No.2 wasn’t anything except a big messy pile of shit! It relies too much on previous call-backs of the first film, such as the tiny phone Stiller keeps getting out, or his Magnum look to which there is a whole flashback scene of how he stopped Mugatu’s shuriken.
The badly written script was what killed this film, granted I did laugh here and there but most of those funny scenes where during the last 10 minutes. The whole opening scene with Justin Bieber was stretched out a little too long, and the jokes about street fashion and gender ambiguity were picked up and dropped after 5 minutes.
One of the errors Stiller made was to incorporate too many celebrity cameos. It worked in Zoolander for two reasons: 1. He did not over-use those cameos, and 2. It felt natural because Derek and Hansel were celebrities themselves. In this sequel though, celebrities appear out of nowhere just to show-off and it isn’t funny but rather interrupting. While on the subject, I was also disappointed by Benedict Cumberbatch’s three-minute appearance as All because it did not further the plot one bit.
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson were fine in this movie, they played their personas as they did in the original comedy and stayed true to who Derek and Hansel are. The only problem was that their lines weren’t funny, which was extremely upsetting, as they are the lead characters. On top of that, Wilson was completely underused in this movie and felt more like a side character.
Penelope Cruz really disappointed me since I am used to see her perform much better than she did in this. She portrayed the persona of Valentina Valencia, former swimsuit model turned Interpol agent of the fashion division. Like Christine Taylor in the former film, she acted as eye-candy for the male viewers but without the wits or the humour.
Will Ferrell’s over the top performance of evil fashion mogul Mugatu was possibly the funniest part of this film but the character was reintroduced to late, making his first appearance ⅔ of the way. Sadly his encounter with Kristen Wiig, who played a European fashion icon with the unfunniest fake accent I ever heard, wasn’t as impactful as I had wished for. Wiig herself was underused, just as Owen Wilson, but it was all right as she did not add any humour to the story.
The cinematography can be compared to the first Zoolander, which was very glossy and made use of several fast cuts. The only change made is the inclusion of a lot of bad computer-generated imagery. The effects were added in a desperate attempt to increase the comedic value of this film, but Fred Armisen as a tiny CGI person was not funny!
Verdict: Overall, Zoolander No.2 was a disappointing sequel to the mediocre 2001 original. The script and dialogues are horrible and rely too much on jokes from the first film and while the performances of Stiller and Wilson have been all right, they haven’t been funny enough! Penelope Cruz gives one of her worst performances in her career and comedy starlet Kristen Wiig also fails to infuse this stale comedy with humour. The only actor that made me chuckle a little bit was Ferrell and he was introduced to late to this comedy. In the end I will give Zoolander 2 the same grade I gave Daddy’s Home, a 4.5 out of 10.

If you want to see a funny movie you are better of watching the original Zoolander of 2001, save your money and wait until this sequel either appears on TV or on Netflix/Amazon Prime. But if you did go see Zoolander No.2, leave a comment in the section below and tell me what you thought. Thank you very much for reading, and if you liked this review please share it!



Top Movies – Zoolander Movie Review – Movie Reviews Sites


Stiller’s first Zoolander was a small scale, stupid but funny movie about the male model industry.



Genre: Comedy
Director: Ben Stiller
Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell,
Jerry Stiller, Milla Jovovich, David Duchovny and Jon Voight.
Run Time: 89 min.
US Release: 28 September 2001
UK Release:  30 November 2001
German Release: 27 December 2001
Zoolander 2 was released this Thursday in Germany and as a little taster I decided to review the first Zoolander, written and directed by the fantastic comedian Ben Stiller. Contrary to most of my friends, I wasn’t a big fan of this comedy even though it did manage to make me laugh throughout most of its runtime. I am a fan of Stiller and like most of his work, especially the magnificent looking The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but Zoolander was extremely brainless and somewhat lazy written.
Zoolander was a comedy that polarised critics but was loved by most of the public. It received mixed reviews, with some praising Stiller and Wilson’s performances and others, such as Roger Ebert, thought that the film was insensitive in the portrayal of child labour. In general though this comedy received more positive critiques than negative.
When newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Hassan promises to eliminate child labour, fashion designer Jacobim Mugatu (Ferrell) is tasked to brainwash a model and make him execute the Hassan (Woodrow Asai). He finds his perfect victim in famous male model Zoolander (Stiller), who is extremely dumb and naive, and manages to turn him into a sleeper agent. Zoolander has friends though, amongst others investigative reporter Matilda Jeffries (Taylor) and former rival model Hansel (Wilson), who will try to protect Zoolander from the evil Mugatu.
The best part to this movie is probably the fact that it is a spoof of the fashion industry in the States and sees the absurd plot of dim-witted male model Derek Zoolander being brainwashed into assassinating the prime minister of Malaysia, who spoke against child labour. I thought the message about the abuse of child labour in the fashion industry to be a very important factor, as it is partially the base of existence for this film and could have made a positive statement against it. Sadly, that declaration is forgotten right after the start and gets buried underneath all the silliness.
Zoolander also makes fun of the late 90’s/early 00’s mobile industry, when the phones were designed to become smaller, as well as including great 80’s and 90’s pop-culture references. One of the best aspects of this comedy film, is that Stiller focused on the obscure side of male model business rather than the usual female models we have seen and heard about constantly in the media. The jokes in this comedy are not really mind blowing, but silly enough to make the viewers laugh throughout the movie and enjoy the most of it.
This film isn’t a perfect comedy though and does have issues! For one, the plot is not that interesting but rather weak, with the performances by Stiller and Wilson keeping it alive. I also thought that while I found the silly and childish jokes to be funny, it gets at times a little too stupid and unrealistic, even though it is supposed to be purposely dumb.
Apart from the great cast this motion picture benefits from a vast array of celebrity cameos, including Natalie Portman and Donald Trump as themselves, and features a great appearance by David Duchovny as a former hand-model and conspiracy theorist. All these cameos and side characters gave the film a small realistic touch.
Ben Stiller not only directed and co-wrote this movie, but he also starred in it. While I can’t say that this was his best directorial work, it was one of his best comedic performances. He managed to magnify the ignorance and vanity of models to a ridiculous size, depicting Derek Zoolander. He was simply brilliant as the dumb male model with one look, set up to kill a major political persona and managed to redefined slapstick humour. Stiller was fully committed to his role and without him or his co-star this comedy would have been a definite flop!
Owen Wilson acts as Stiller’s rival in this movie portraying the newcomer model Hansel, who is equally as stupid as Zoolander is. What sets off their rivalry is the fact that Hansel snatches Derek Zoolander’s fourth win as “Male Model of the Year”. The chemistry between Wilson and Stiller was fantastic; you could sense the mutual respect and friendship between the two!
Will Ferrell plays Mugatu, a villainous fashion mogul who wants to get rid of the new Malaysian Prime Minister, as this one opposes child labour. Ferrell plays him as quirky and over-the-top as he does his other characters, but there is something evil in this performance that sets him apart from other Ferrell personas. Christine Taylor was mostly cast as eye candy but also served a purpose in this film. She opposes the brainless models, as the highly intelligent investigative reporter who is trying to break a story on Mugatu’s evil fashion business.  
Verdict: In general Zoolander is a highly funny and stupid comedy, with great 80’s and 90’s pop-cultural references and some serious messages concerning the fashion industry that it fails to transmit. At times it can get a little to silly and over-the-top, which hurts the humour but all in all it is an alright comedy with great performances by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, and fantastic cameos by other stars and celebrities. I will give Zoolandera 7 out of 10 and recommend you see this one instead of the sequel.

Did you see Zoolander yet? If not, you should really pick it up and give it a try. Leave a comment to let me know what you thought of Zoolander and if you are planning to go see the sequel. I will have my review for Zoolander up online later this evening. Thank you very much for reading!



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