Movies & TV series

Top Movies – Jack Reacher Movie Review – Movie Reviews Sites

“There is this guy… he’s a kinda cop, at least he used to be. He doesn’t care about proof, he doesn’t care about the law, he only cares about what’s right.”

Genre: Action/Mystery/Thriller

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Jai Courtney, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, Robert Duvall, Joseph Sikora, Alexia Fast & Werner Herzog.

Run Time: 130 min.

US Release: 21 December 2012

UK Release: 26 December 2012

German Release: 03 January 2013

Since Jack Reacher: Never Look Back is being released in German cinemas today, I decided to post my review for the first Jack Reacher tonight with my analysis of the sequel following this Sunday. Jack Reacher came out late 2012 in the US and early 2013 in Germany, and it was the surprise action hit of the year. The trailers marketed this is as a mindless, non-stop action ride but what we obtained was so much more than that since it is a smart, dark and mysterious action-thriller with a few creepy moments. Jack Reacher was one of my favourite films of 2013 and includes a great performance by Tom Cruise!

—– Beware this review contains spoilers —–

This movie is an adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot, the ninth novel in the Jack Reacher series, and starts of with a man shooting people from a carpark across the PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Detective Emerson (Oyelowo) and District Attorney Rodin (Jenkins) arrest former U.S. sniper James Barr (Sikora), with evidence pointing towards him. During interrogation, he tells them to get Jack Reacher (Cruise), a former MP now living a drifter’s life, who is already on his way after having heard of the incident on the news.

Reacher arrives in Pittsburgh just after Barr was severely beaten in prison and now lying in intensive care. Helen Rodin (Pike), Barr’s attorney and daughter of District Attorney Rodin, is disturbed to hear that Reacher just came to see Barr die, but she convinces him of his innocence. Together they start an investigation that soon leads them to the real shooter, a Russian mobster who specialises in US real estates.

My biggest surprise and ultimately one of the two biggest assets this film has, is that the story to this action spectacle has more substance than it led to believe, while still knowing that it is a fun and over-the-top action piece. I know people that were put off by it because they just wanted to see a brainless action movie. I, on the other hand loved that it was more of a detective picture that took its time to tell a mystery investigation. I was also amazed at how dark Jack Reacher became at times because the villains wouldn’t stop at anything to reach their goal.

That doesn’t mean that this movie hasn’t got any action in it, because it does have a fair amount of it, but the story focuses more on the case that Reacher and Helen have to solve. McQuarrie, who also pencilled the script, not only managed to create a captivating plot but also wrote the fantastic dialogue lines that perfectly balanced between deadly serious and very humorous.

Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher, a persona that combines Liam Neeson’s Taken fighting skills, with the perceptiveness of Sherlock Holmes. Cruise did a fantastic job portraying this character, especially since it isn’t his typical hero role. Reacher is more of a nomadic anti-hero, beating up military criminals along his journey. He is also a very introverted person. He meets Helen Rodin, the brilliant defence attorney, represented fairly well by Rosamund Pike. Their relationship is bumpy at first, because Reacher wants to see Barr dead, but along the way they build a semi-romantic relationship based on mutual respect for each other.

This is the movie where I saw Jai Courtney for the first time and I thought that he did a good job! That might be because his character didn’t need much talking, but rather standing around and looking threatening. Whatever he did, it worked as he sent me chills down my back. Werner Herzog is one of my favourite German actors and he was truly scary as Zec, head of the Russian real estate mafia. His screen time was limited, but it increased the effect he had on the movie.

Robert Duvall played one of the funniest characters in the movie and gave a magnificent rendition of Martin Cash, retired US Marines Corps Gunnery Sergeant who helps Reacher in the last action segment.

McQuarrie directed a fantastic looking action-thriller and Caleb Deschanel did a grand job as director of photography, showing a good sense for beauty and creepiness; the beautiful panoramic opening, where the killer shoots innocent pedestrians left me in awe and simultaneously gave me goosebumps. The stunt work was extremely well choreographed and Cruise performed, once again, nearly all of them himself. The fight scenes were at times a little too silly, but it didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the movie.

Verdict: Jack Reacher was an extremely entertaining mystery-thriller with well-shot action sequences and a fantastic Tom Cruise performance. It may not follow the book’s plot one-hundred percent, but what McQuarrie managed to do is to bring back the good old fashioned action-thriller, which resembled the style of late 80’s and early 90’s action flicks. The story, while having depth, doesn’t take itself too serious and manages to balance well humorous dialogues in serious and threatening situations. The cinematography looks gorgeous and the action sequences are exceptionally well captured. This was one of my favourite movies of 2013 and I can only recommend it! I give Jack Reacher an 8 out of 10.

Let me know what you thought of this action-thriller. Did you enjoy it or was this too serious/silly for you? Thank you very much for reading my review and keep an eye on my blog this Sunday, when I post my opinion for Jack Reacher: Never Look Back.

Top Movies – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return to the silver screen once again, but will this sequel be able to convince after the previously disappointing remake?

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Director: Dave Green

Cast: Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Tyler Perry, Gary Anthony Williams, Stephen Farrelly, Brian Tee, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Brad Garrett & Tony Shalhoub.

Run Time: 112 min.

US Release: 03 June 2016

UK Release: 30 May 2016

German Release: 11 August 2016

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a comic franchise that accompanied me during my childhood and still is present in my life. I watched every episode of the original cartoon series, bought the films on VHS and watched them countless of times. My grandma bought me some of the comics to read, I collected most of the toys… and lost them along the way, I even bought the original animated series on DVD because I was planning on reviewing them before the release of this movie. Sadly I wasn’t able to do that due to time restricted issues. Shortly said, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a big part of my childhood and I hold all of the characters very dear.

So as a hardcore fan of the Turtles, why would I walk into a movie that is produced by Michael Bay and would possibly ruin my precious childhood memories? As a journalist and hobby reviewer, I find it extremely important to watch a wide spectrum of movies throughout the year. Another reason is that I had hope! The 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a pile of garbage but there could have been a possibility that the sequel would turn out alright.

After the events of the previous movie, the Turtles let Vern (Arnett) out himself as the one who stopped Shredder (Tee), while going back into the sewers where they keep on operating from the shadows. April (Fox) investigates Shredder’s scientist Baxter Stockman (Perry) and finds out that he is building a teleportation device with which he is hoping to break his master out of prison. The Turtles move out to stop the Foot Clan from helping Baxter, but Shredder is teleported out of a security transporter and into Krang’s world.

Krang informs him about his plans to invade Earth and gives him a vial of purple ooze, with which he can destroy his enemies. While mean, the Turtles and April get help from Casey Jones (Amell) fighting the Foot, but when Shredder comes back, he orders Baxter to mutate Bebop and Rocksteady to cause havoc among the city of New York.

Out of the Shadows is better than it predecessor but not by much. Still, while this movie’s plot is far from being interesting, the one thing that positively surprised me was how close the story was to the source material. This is a film that tried to recapture the spirit of the late 80’s animated TV show for fan service, but while doing so forgot to produce a compelling script. While I appreciated the nostalgia, it was the dull plot and exposition heavy dialogues that turned me off, as the formula simply replicated that of the Transformers films, which includes a lot of action and stupid jokes, ending with an over the top fight against a villain who threatens the existence of the world.

As I just said, this blockbuster stays true to the source material and that definitely counts for the characters of the four brothers Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello, who are finally working together as a team, even if they still have fights about specific subjects. The biggest issue being their feelings of alienation from society. Shredder, played by Brian Tee, is not a giant robot anymore but he still wasn’t anything like the mysterious villain these humanoid reptiles fought over and over again. I did not even understand why he joined Krang’s cause, after having met him literally just a couple of seconds or why he hired the idiots Bebop and Rocksteady as his left-hand goons. And that exactly is my biggest gripe with the movie; the characters are too cartoonish and underdeveloped.

Megan Fox returns as April O’Neil, even though she resembles nothing of the character in the comics and TV series. Her job in this movie is basically to stand around, look sexy and be rescued by either the Turtles or Casey Jones, who is portrayed by Stephen Amell. Again, Jones doesn’t resemble his original persona at all; in the comics he is a greasy foul-mouthed anti-hero fighting crime and Amell was really atrocious as the character.

Vern “the Falcon”, played by Will Arnett, returns as the idiotic sidekick who gets way too much screen time and then there is Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman, another character no one asked for. Krang himself is portrayed as in the comics but gets too little screen time given that he is the main antagonist.

When I came out of the cinema I found myself questioning just how much of this film Dave Green directed, because it felt as if Michael Bay did most of the job himself. The cinematography is “alright” but nothing out of the ordinary, with the combat scenes being the biggest disappointment since there were none that really stuck to me. Effects wise, I was pretty happy by how the turtles were designed; they kept that reptile look from the first flick but enhanced their colour palette. Bebop and Rocksteady looked mostly good but during the fight scene in the airplane, I was able to clearly make them out as simple CGI figures.

The soundtrack was composed by Steve Jablonsky and like the rest of the film, it sounded very Transformers-esque. It was, in fact, the same soundtrack just modified a little bit. I wasn’t really buzzed about the usage of sound effects in this blockbuster since some of them sounded as if they were taken straight of a sitcom.

Verdict: There is a lot of fan service in this blockbuster and it is what I appreciated the most, but as a movie TMNT 2 is a complete mess. The plot reuses a lot of the basics from the first flick, including the big showdown on a high standing platform. There was no character development, Stephen Amell was dreadful as Casey Jones, Brian Tee was boring as Shredder and did not even get to fight the Turtles, and Megan Fox was just cast as eye-candy for the male viewers. It did have a few fun scenes, such as Bebop and Rocksteady’s transformation or the skydiving part, but most of the action segments were forgettable. The only positive aspect this film had were the effects. In a nutshell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is not a movie I can recommend anyone to go see or buy on Blu-ray. I will therefore, give it a 4.5 out of 10.

Thank you as always for reading my review, I really appreciate it! If you agree with me or have something to add, please makes sure to leave a comment below and don’t forget to share and like.

Top Movies – Independence Day: Resurgence Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

We have waited two century for this sequel and now it is here. The question though is if humanity is ready for a second alien attack and if we, the viewers, will survive it?

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi

Director: Roland Emmerich

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Jessie T. Usher, Maika Monroe, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Angelababy, Deobia Oparei, Travis Tope, Nicolas Wright, William Fichtner & Sela Ward.

Run Time: 120 min.

US Release: 24 June 2016

UK Release: 23 June 2016

German Release: 14 July 2016

If you read my review for Independence Day, you will know how big that summer blockbuster influenced my perception of filmmaking and how much I adore this movie! It was the epitome of coolness back when it came out in my childhood and I remember how everybody in school was talking about it. So I was naturally pumped when I heard that the sequel was finally happening since there were rumours of a second ID-4 around for years. What really got me excited for this action sci-fi spectacle was the fact that most actors were coming back to reprise their roles.

Sadly, Independence Day: Resurgence is not how I’d hoped it turn out to be, but merely a shadow of the original’s grandness. It managed to disappoint at nearly every level and left me pondering over what I just saw and how it could have been possible to mock it up so bad. The only answer I found plausible was the same one I came up with for Zoolander No.2! Sequels after such a longer period of time lose their connectivity to the first film.

Twenty years after the first alien invasion Earth managed to recuperate from the catastrophic events that nearly annihilated the planet, and humans integrated alien technology to their own technological advancements. David Levinson (Goldblum) is now director of Area 51 and travelling through Africa, to investigate the only landed spacecraft of the 1996 invasion. While mean, Dylan Hiller (Usher) is stepping into his father’s shoes (played back then by Will Smith) as an air force pilot and Patricia Whitmore (Monroe), former President Whitmore’s daughter, is the assistant to the US President and engaged to Hiller’s wingman Jake Morrison (Hemsworth). During the celebration of the alien’s defeat, a new spacecraft appears threatening the human species anew.

What made Independence Day so great was the fact that it did not take itself seriously and new what a silly apocalyptic premise it was. Nevertheless, it has a big entertaining value and managed to stand the test of time. Resurgence, on the other hand, took itself way too serious, remarking the over the top and silly sequences as dialogues from characters. The plot didn’t add anything new to the narrative, but just rehashed most of the original’s story and missed on some big opportunities to tell an interesting story, and this is the biggest flaw of this blockbuster. It tries to revive the 1996 original, with bigger and more devastating visuals but it does not have the charm and soul of it!

There is a second narrative concerning another alien I could not have cared less about and thought that Emmerich’s biggest missed opportunity was by passing on the African’s tribe subplot of battling the aliens and how this affected them psychologically. Also, while ID-4 managed to intertwine several storylines into one, this sequel had a hard time coping with too many narratives, while the cheap cliffhanger set up the third film.

It did have a few positive aspects, though, such as the return of familiar characters and seeing how they evolved along those years.

Jeff Goldblum returns as David Levinson, being the best part of this film since he was the only one who enjoyed himself! The character still has his funny one-liners and his intellect, but there had been a couple unanswered questions that made me scratch my head, such as David’s wife missing for no explanation whatsoever, even though it was one of the core relationships in ID-4. Judd Hirsch also reprises his persona as Julius Levinson, David’s father, but both seem to have had some kind of fallout, which is also not explained. A shame, because their relationship and mutual respect in the original was an aspect I loved.

Jessie T. Usher plays Dylan Hiller and tried to replace Will Smith, but gave an awful and very one-dimensional rendition of Captain Steven Hiller’s son. He had none of the charisma and “fun” that Will Smith had given the original. Liam Hemsworth, though, understood that this should have been a fun and mindless blockbuster, trying to mimic Smith’s character, and was an OK addition to the cast. The only negative thing I have to say about his rendition, is that he was a little bit too over the top at times.

Brent Spiner is surprisingly back as Dr. Okun and “revealed” to be gay and in a relationship with John Storey’s Dr. Isaac. Sadly these two don’t get to display their emotions. In fact, it is barely noticeable that they play a homosexual couple. The character I hated the most though was the idiotic Floyd Rosenberg, portrayed by Nicolas Wright.

The only thing I did not have a big issue with was the cinematography and effects. The computer-generated imagery looked great, even though the production team mostly cluttered the screen by adding too many things, happening at the same time. The only issues I had with the effects were the ridiculous 6 feet tall alien queen, which looked outside of her exo-suit completely different to the rest of the aliens, as well as the huge new spaceship that covered over 3 quarters of the world’s hemisphere. A spaceship that big would not be able to land on Earth as it did in the movie, or possibly destroy our planet by trying.

Verdict: Roland Emmerich is either losing his touch, or his era has simply passed. What is a fact is that Resurgence is nothing but a mere crapfest of a sequel, compared to the fantastic ‘96 colossus of a blockbuster. This movie suffered from an overcrowded cast that was too big for its own good and made the story suffer immensely. It had no spirit compared to the first film and took itself way too serious, most of the cast in it were either just trying to have fun or gave one-dimensional portrayals of their characters. My biggest issue with Independence Day: Resurgence, though, was the fact that it was trying to be more than the original, including oversized spaceships and aliens. I will give this sequel a 4 out of 10.

Have you seen Independence Day Resurgence yet? If you did let me know what you thought and if you agree with me. Thank you so much for reading my review and if you enjoyed reading it, make sure to share and like it. My next review will follow tomorrow, so keep an eye out!

Top Movies – The Nice Guys Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

Two very different detectives, in 1977 LA, need to put their differences aside and learn to resolve a murder mystery while practicing equanimity – the word of the day.

Genre: Action/Comedy/Mystery

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Kim Basinger, Margaret Qualley, Matt Bomer, Keith David, Yaya DaCosta & Beau Knapp.

Run Time: 116 min.

US Release: 20 May 2016

UK Release: 03 June 2016

German Release: 02 June 2016

The Nice Guys was released early this June, in Germany and I was incredibly pumped to see it since the first trailer hit theatres, because I hadn’t seen an original Shane Black buddy-cop flick since years. As it turned out, The Nice Guys is my favourite summer movie of this year as well as being my second favourite Shane Black film after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, even if it isn’t quite flawless.

Shane Black is the godfather of the “buddy cop” genre. He not only revolutionised police action movies with his Lethal Weapon scripts and the – in my opinion- very underrated Last Boy Scout, but in 2005 he proved that he also has talent directing murder mysteries as well as having a real eye for comedic action with his debut film. So when this picture was announced I was very interested to see what he would create by going back to his roots and I wasn’t let down at all!

Black directed a beautiful looking action comedy about two guys who couldn’t be more different. Holland March (Gosling) works as a private investigator who scams his clients out of their hard-earned money, while Jackson Healey (Crowe) earns his daily bread as an enforcer for hire. Both need to learn to work together when they are forced to take on a murder case that involves the porn industry and a missing young woman (Qualley). March is also a father to the young Holly (Rice) but he keeps drowning his inner demons in alcohol, leaving his daughter no choice but to take care of daily business.

The most impressive part of the plot was its “originality”, as there aren’t many buddy-detective flicks, and the 1970’s setting gives it a special flair with that era seeing a transformation in women’s rights and the new left movement. Black wrote an intriguing and very smart script that managed to alternate between slapstick humour and grotesque visual violence. All of this is tied up nicely in a mystery concerning the pornography and automotive industry. All in all, this was a very cynical but entertaining view of that era.

What harmed the originality of the story were the extreme similarities to Black’s fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and the viewer was able to easily deduce Black’s next moves in writing and direction if familiar with his previous flick. The biggest issue I had with The Nice Guys, though, was that at times the story was left behind at times to focus on the two leads and suddenly picked up again out of the blue. While not directly as much a flaw of the movie as a flaw in marketing, I also thought that the trailer gave away some of the best moments in the story, which hampered my enjoyment just a little bit.

The strongest feature this film has is the portrayal of the main characters by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. Not only had these two an extraordinary chemistry, but they were also able to play off each other remarkably, which gave them a lot of likeability! Plainly put, after walking out of the theatre I simply wanted to go back in and watch them two goof around for a second time, because it was just fun to see this two acting all cool and tough.

Angourie Rice was a big surprise for me since child actors show normally limits in their acting skills. Nevertheless, Rice did a fantastic job as March’s eleven-year-old daughter Holly. Granted, there was a moment mid-plot where I thought her naivety was getting a tiny bit annoying, but by the end, it is revealed that what I confused as naivety early on was actually a moral anchor for one of the leads.

Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot did a grand job with this picture, portraying the seventies fantastically. The setting basically seeped out of the silver screen and felt as if it was manifesting in the theatres’ screening room. The parties, the expositions, and those 70’s velvet suits were remarkable choices for settings and costume design that convinced from the first moment. Surprisingly, Black was not afraid to display nudity in his murder mystery and stayed true to the naked profanities of the seventies. The actions scenes were also incredibly well shot and made use of the classic 80’s style, meaning no shaky cam, just old fashioned wide angled action.

John Ottman and David Buckley composed the soundtrack to this action-comedy and it suits the movie perfectly. Not only does it recapture the time and setting of the plot, but it also enhanced the charm of both characters.

Verdict: The Nice Guys might not be the best movie I saw this year, but it definitely is the best film I saw this summer and Shane Black proved once again what he is best at. This action-comedy managed to capture the era it plays in perfectly, displaying nude flesh and very graphic violence and included two of the best characters in the history of the “buddy cop” genre. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe had such charisma and chemistry; the viewer has no other choice but to feel connected to these personas. It has a few flaws here and there, especially when the story gets left behind at time. However this is a movie definitely worth buying on Blu-ray and if you haven’t seen it in cinemas yet, I implore you to watch it now. I will give The Nice Guys an 8.5 out of 10!

I hope you liked my thoughts on Shane Black’s latest film and as always thank you very much for reading my review. If you enjoyed it please like, share and comment below.

Top Movies – Doctor Strange Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

Forget what you know, open you mind and absorb the impossible! Marvel goes full Inception with this magical action-spectacle!

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Director: Scott Derrickson

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Scott Adkins and Benjamin Bratt.

Run Time: 115 min.

US Release: 04 November 2016

UK Release: 25 October 2016

German Release: 27 October 2016

– Sorry guys for taking such a long time to post a new review, work really kept me busy during the last months! Nevertheless, I have some vacation time now and will use it to write a couple of new reviews – and some I missed. First one up is Marvel’s Doctor Strange, so without further delays enjoy my analysis! –

Marvel’s superhero genre is an ever-expanding universe that sees a growing consumer base. It doesn’t matter anymore if you are a fully-grown, geeky fan of the comics (like me!) or if you are new to these characters, the popularity of these movies is undeniable and Marvel is fully aware of that. So to keep the genre fresh, they come up with different formulas for their movies; some better, some less. Doctor Strange is definitely one of their better products and switches up the atmosphere by introducing magic into the very enjoyable MCU. Scott Derrickson directed a beautifully and brain-twisting picture that looks brilliant in 3-D.

Personally, I never was truly invested in the character of Stephen Strange and missed on all of his stories, unless the character crossed paths with Spider-Man in later comics, meaning that I knew close to nothing about this character. When I sat down in the theatre and the film was about to begin, I noticed how refreshing it was to watch a comic book movie I knew nothing about. Gone where the high expectations and demands I normally have with other films, I was able to simply sit back, relax and enjoy the blockbuster.

But what is this about? For the ones that don’t know… it is the origin story for Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme (since this is actually Strange’s title, I guess I am right by writing it in capital letters).

Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) is a highly intelligent and very successful neurosurgeon, who likes to spend money as fast as he earns it. His success and photographic memory have made him arrogant and egoistic, looking for fame rather than using his gift to help people who truly need it. This changes when he is implicated in a car accident that fractures his hands and renders him useless to perform new surgeries.

Embittered he cuts his ties with his former colleagues, including his on/off lover Dr. Christine Pine (McAdams) and uses the last of his funds to travel to Kamar-Taj, where he meets the Ancient One (Swinton) and her pupil Mordo (Ejiofor). There he learns that the universe consists of more than just science and he is accepted as a pupil, to learn sorcery and surpass his selfishness. The ultimate test comes when Kaecilius (Mikkelsen), a former student of the Ancient One, returns to destroy his master to offer Earth to a mystical being known as Dormammu.

The plot of this movie was fantastically elaborated and took a completely new and unexplored field, for what is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor hinted at magic being used in his world, combined with highly evolved technology, but the films never truly delved deep into that matter which is probably why the two Thor films weren’t well received. This picture, however, took the mystical world of sorcery and turned it into a highly entertaining and mind-bending story, with smart and very funny dialogues that reach at times surprising depths about the human anatomy and psyche.

Doctor Strange is not without flaws though, with most of its issues manifesting as the standard romantic plot line in Marvel films. While other Marvel movies – except Thor – took their time developing a romantic subplot, Strange’s relationship with Christine Palmer felt rushed, forced and unnatural. It would have been wiser to use her as a good friend first, with a possibility of “more” in future films. The origin-story base also felt old and overused, it would have benefited the blockbuster more if had inspected Strange’s later years as a magician, with him finally obtaining the title of Sorcerer Supreme at the end.

Character wise, I think Benedict Cumberbatch was a fantastic casting choice as Stephen Strange. He not only looks the part but also gave a great and believable rendition, with the mid-credit scene showing the path Strange will take to implement himself into the greater MCU. Mads Mikkelesen was very interesting as Kaecilius, a villain who does not see himself as the bad guy but rather as a saviour to the world. His persona is very similar to that of Strange, but I do wish he had been given more screen time to explore his choices made.

Benedict Wong’s character and performance was the big surprise of the film! Not only was he funny, but he also managed to kick some serious butt.

Tilda Swinton gave a great performance as the Ancient One, and Marvel did a great job casting a female for such an important character and she did a grand job. Still, I agree to the fact that it would have been more suiting to cast an Asian actor or actress for that role. Chiwetel Ejiofor played Mordo and started off very strong. His persona had a clear set of morals that were shaken (and partially broken) by a secret the Ancient One reveals. By the end though, Ejiofor laid it on a little bit too thick.

There is not much I can say about this film’s effects, that haven’t been already discussed. Ben Davis did a wonderful job as director of photography, with mind-bending visual effects and strong cinematography. One of the movies best visually captured moments was Strange’s car crash. The 3-D effects were fantastic and worth watching, something I don’t say very often as I am not a fan of watching films in 3-D.

Verdict: Overall Doctor Strange is another strong entrance for the MCU, with some minor flaws here and there. The smart and funny dialogue scenes mesh well with the stunning effects, Davis’ extraordinary cinematography and the top-notch performances by Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton and Mads Mikkelsen. It will most definitely not be a movie for everybody, especially as it enters undiscovered territory that may well frustrate viewers who are used to different topics by Marvel. I, however, did enjoy the thematic and different approach and will, therefore, give it a 9 out of 10.

Thank you very much for reading my review for Doctor Strange and apologise for not having been able to write more reviews as of late. I hope you enjoyed this entry and please look forward to my late review of The Nice Guys tomorrow.

Top Movies – Money Monster Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

George Clooney and Julia Roberts star in this mediocre thriller about stock fraud, directed by Jodie Foster.

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Director: Jodie Foster

Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitriona Balfe, Lenny Venito, Christopher Denham, Giancarlo Esposito & Chris Bauer.

Run Time: 99 min.

US Release: 13 May 2016

UK Release: 27 May 2016

German Release: 26 May 2016

I was actually planning on posting my review for Mechanic: Resurrection today but I decided to get my thoughts for Money Monster out of the way first. This was a film I wanted to see since the first trailer hit the net because it looked like an extreme, financial thriller that included the entire Wall Street as an antagonist, sadly it wasn’t exactly that what we obtained. While Money Monster is not what I had expected, including some serious plot weaknesses, it still had its positive moments.

Financial TV host and advisor Lee Gates (Clooney) is a broken man, who makes his money by consulting the viewers of his show, called Money Monster, in stock trading. His producer Patty (Roberts) is the one that keeps him in check and the show running. When one of his recommendations inexplicably plummets into the ground, one of the viewers (O’Connell as Kyle Budwell) who invested his whole fortune in that stock, storms the studio with a loaded weapon and a vest wired with explosives. What follows is an intense situation, in which Kyle demands answers for what went wrong.

This is a good and suspenseful economic thriller with an interesting concept, but the plot is somewhat of a mixed bag. My favourite part of the story is the moments inside the studio when Kyle appears and takes everyone on – and behind set – hostage. Those scenes had me on the edge of my seat because the situation felt very explosive: Kyle yelling at Gates, trying to force some answers out of him while Patty is trying to calm him down by talking through his earpiece. The dialogues between these three were extraordinary, tension-filled and intriguing.

Money Monster drops the ball, though, as soon as it moves the narrative outside of the studio, to show the viewer what is happening at the company (IBIS) that lost the money of its investors. My problem with that part of the film was simply that it felt a little unrealistic and boring. I understand that the writers and director needed to humanise Wall Street in order to vilify the system but it came at the cost of losing credibility, especially when it is explained how, where and why the money was lost. Still, I need to pay my respect to the production team on how they ended the film, even if the CEO’s defence was laughable.

But my biggest issue with this financial thriller was not the story, the dialogues or the acting, it was the fact that the trailer spoiled a lot of the core scenes and thus made the movie very predictable, even if the outcome was different from what the trailer suggested.

George Clooney did a great job portraying this over-enthusiastic finance advisor/TV show host. Lee Gates is very hyperactive and surprisingly funny at times, especially during the first fifteen minutes. This all changes as soon as his life is threatened and you get to see him in a completeely different light, giving me a pleasant surprise at the amount of different facets Clooney gave his character. Julia Roberts as Patty was brilliant as well. She is the exact opposite of Gates’s persona, his good conscience if you want so, keeping him in check by talking to him through his earpiece. She is what counterbalances Clooney’s character and both have a stunning chemistry.

Jack O’Connell also gave a fantastic performance. His character, Kyle Budwell invested all of his money in the company that Gates recommended and lost it all. He is desperate and simply wants to understand what really happened because the answer provided by IBIS’ PR agents are not making any sense to him. Therefore he concocts this hostage situation as a last measure to obtain some real answers.

Dominic West was the weakest link in this movie and nearly ruined the ending for me. They tried to build a mystery around his persona (Walt Camby – CEO of IBIS) but in the end, he was just a shallow person that had no real presence, be it positive or negative. Another character I found to be extremely bland was that of Camby’s assistant, played by Caitriona Balfe.

The cinematography by Matthew Libateque is one of the better parts of this thriller. I liked how Liabteque managed to show the contrast of the “normal day” working environment inside the studio. It felt larger, somewhat open. As soon as Kyle enters the scene taking everybody hostage, the atmosphere changes, and the studio feels enclosed and claustrophobic. I also liked the scene on the streets with Clooney and O’Connell because it took a setting like New York but enclosed that moment by just focusing on the characters. In a nutshell, Money Monster is a beautiful looking film, and its cinematography infuses the story with thrilling emotions.

Verdict: Money Monster is a suspenseful and explosive thriller as long as it takes place inside the studio. Once it starts shifting to other places, the movie loses its energy and becomes a little bit boring. George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and Jack O’Connell gave outstanding performances though, and it was their interaction that kept the movie interesting. In the end, Money Monster is nothing more than an OK movie with a good premise. If you decide to watch it, I would recommend you pass on seeing the trailer first. I will, therefore, give it a 6.5 out of 10!

Thank you as always for reading, and if you enjoyed this review hit like, share and comment.

Top Movies – Suicide Squad Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

**The third installment of the DCEU sees a group of infamous DC villains take on the role of heroes. But can it compete with Marvel movies a-la Guardians of the Galaxy?**

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Mystery

Director: David Ayer

Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney,
Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje,Cara Delevingne, Jared Leto &
Karen Fukuhara.

Run Time: 123 min.

US Release: 01 August 2016

UK Release: 05 August 2016

German Release: 18 August 2016

The short answer is: No, it can’t. While BvS wasn’t exactly the hit I was hoping it to be, it still managed to entertain the hell out me and all the negative reviews it obtained seriously surprised me. After BvS, when the first official trailer for Suicide Squad hit the net, I was hoping for this to be the movie that would finally catapult the DCEU into the “Hall of Greatness”. Before managing to finally watch it in theatres, I tried to ignore all of the reviews that were already out and those that I wasn’t able to ignore, I took with a grain of salt. But by the end of my visit to the movies, what I had seen was the opposite of great. Suicide Squad has an immense amount of issues, all of which I will go into detail in this review. So hold on and prepare for a rant!

As stated in my previous reviews for Batman v Superman and Man of Steel, I am a big fan of the Dark Knight and other DC characters and collected nearly every issue that came out when I was a child. Most of those issues are sadly no more, but I still collect Batman comics and have them carefully placed on a shelf. So when I heard that Harley Quinn would be included in – what is her first silver screen appearance, my nerd heart nearly jumped out of my chest! I am also a fan of the Suicide Squad storyline because it sets up a group of villains and gives them more depth in personality, than in a standard superhero issue, showing the reader that there is more to those characters than simply being bad.

So what is this movie about? Basically, after the events of Batman v Superman, ARGUS (a spy agency in the DC Universe) agent Amanda Waller (Davis) convinces the Chiefs of Staff that the US needs a Team of extraordinary beings to the protect the Nation’s interest. She gets permission to create a squad, consisting completely of villains that should protect the public and government from meta-human attacks, acting against their self-interests.

The team she picks consists of Deadshot (Smith), Harley Quinn (Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Courtney), Diablo (Hernandez) and Killer Croc (Akinnuoye-Agbaje). They are all forced to obey and are lead by Squad leader Rick Flag (Kinnaman) and his girlfriend June Moone (Delevingne) aka Enchantress. In the meantime The Joker (Letto) is searching for Harley, to break her out of the Squad. When a super-powered and magical force attacks Earth, these villains need to unite and put their differences aside in order to survive.

With a storyline line like the one from Suicide Squad, the best course for Warner Bros. would have been to make an R-rated comic book flick! It worked with Deadpool and it would have helped this movie because the squad is simply fouled mouthed and violent. But it wasn’t the rating system that harmed the film; the issue with Suicide Squad is that it has no real depth in its plot that was able to catch the audience’s interest. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it had no plot at all. All of the jokes, all of the fun and action packed scenes had been shown in the trailer and if someone had asked me to summarise the story, I would have probably said that it is simply an expansion of what you already saw in that two-minute trailer.

Little in this movie is really of value and there were nearly no moments I cherished. The role of the Joker in this film is a joke (pun intended…); he is barely in the film and while they give us flashbacks that are supposed to flesh out the characters a little, those recaps contained no depth and were thus useless. The dialogues were flat, the menace consisted of a bright magical thing in the sky and the ending was a sleazy cop out. There are signs throughout this blockbusters about how this had been supposed to be a completely different type of film, but somewhere along post-production, it was decided to butcher it.

Margot Robbie was by far the best thing in this film and surprised me as Harley Quinn. She was the most compelling character, was funny and beautiful too look at. Her craziness and the interaction with The Joker were my favourite parts in this adaptation. Sadly these moments were down to a minimum. On the other hand, I was somewhat disappointed by Jared Letto’s Joker, who resembled more a thieving pimp than the clown prince of crime. I am not saying that Letto did a bad job, he simply wasn’t in the movie as much as it was announced that he would be, and the few moments with him simply did not do any justice to this infamous villain!

Will Smith was good as Deadshot but he was, as usual, playing himself who plays another character. It was hard to imagine him being the world’s most accurate marksman. Still, his background story gave him depth and proved that he is more than just a merc for hire. Then there is Kinnaman as Rick Flag, who I could not take serious in the role. He gave off such a poor, one-dimensional impression; I was absolutely surprised that he even got cast.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc was completely wasted. He is just a side character, with nearly no lines, just tagging along. Most of the times it felt as if he was playing the sidekick to Captain Boomerang, Harley or Deadshot. Jay Courtney was the biggest surprise of this blockbuster! He was funny, a little nuts and simply ruthless as Captain Boomerang. I will not say much about Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress, except that she was boring.

Even the cinematography was a complete mess. Granted, the movie has some good-looking action scenes and stunts but overall, it felt like an extended trailer because of all the rough post-production cuts. These are extremely easy to spot and hamper the flow of the shallow story. It is evidently clear that the studio messed with the final product and the viewer did not obtain the intended movie that Ayer and Warner had shot.

Music can be such an important factor to a film. If the correct music is chosen or composed, it can elevate a film into greatness. It also works vice-versa; a scene or moment can be completely ruined if the wrong soundtrack was added to it. So it goes without saying that the music was probably my biggest grudge because it simply did not fit the tone of the comic book flick.

Verdict: So, in a nutshell… Suicide Squad did have its fun moments and a good amount of action, but it wasn’t the movie these characters deserved. There was a complete lack of story, the Joker had a minimal amount of screen time and the characters were not explored enough for the viewer to care. The cutting was goddamn awful and the music was put together in the last minute. Simply said, this movie was a mess and I did expect much better from David Ayer! I will buy it on Blu-ray when it comes out simply because I am a completionist, but I can’t recommend anyone to watch it in theatres. I will give Suicide Squad a generous 5 out of 10!

Leave a comment below, letting me know what you thought of this comic book adaptation and if you liked my review, don’t forget to share it and give it a thumbs up. Thank you very much for reading!

Top Movies – Warcraft: The Beginning Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

Warcraft finally delivers a hardcore fantasy blockbuster that is not based on a J.R.R. Tolkien novel – but instead on a video game.

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Director: Duncan Jones

Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell,
Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky, Clancy Brown, Daniel Wu, Ruth Negga,
Anna Galvin & Callum Keith Rennie.

Run Time: 123 min.

US Release: 10 June 2016

UK Release: 30 May 2016

German Release: 26 May 2016

Let me first apologise for the lateness of this review (and others that will follow along the month of September). I recently changed jobs and it kept me extremely busy. I will, however, continue reviewing movies, even if I need to shorten down the amount of films I review. New reviews will be posted now on Saturday and Sundays, while I’ll use Friday’s (and sometimes Monday’s) to post movies I missed in June, July and August. Today I will post my overdue review for Warcraft: The Beginning, which was directed by Duncan Jones (Moon) and even though it is not the mind-blowing fantasy flick I hoped it would be, it did manage to entertain me throughout its length.

My knowledge of the plot of the Warcraft games is limited. I never played World of Warcraft, but I did enjoy sitting many hours in front of my PC Screen and playing of Warcraft 3. This sparked my interest in the series and pushed me to research the story of the first two Warcraft games, on which this blockbuster is based. What really excited me about this movie, though, was the possibility to see a well-done game adaptation and a possible fantasy epos that is not based on a J.R.R. book. Not that I have anything against Tolkien’s tales, The Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite fantasy novel adaptations.

As stated before, the plot of the film is taken from the first Warcraft game. When the Warlock Gul’dan (Wu) and his Orc army flee their dying world, they start invading Azeroth, the kingdom of men. In need to defend his people, King Llane Wrynn (Cooper) sends his brother-in-law and commander of the alliance army, Anduin (Fimmel), to summon the Guardian of Tirisfal (Foster). While Mean, Orc chieftain Durotan (Kebbell) and half Orc Garona (Patton) try and forge an alliance with the humans, as mistrust towards their leader Gul’dan grows stronger. The result is an epic battle between two races and an open end for a possible sequel.

While watching Warcraft it dawned on me that Duncan Jones is a true fan of the Warcraft mythology and it was therefore my biggest surprise to see that the story and dialogues were one of the weakest aspects of this fantasy epos. For one, the plot was a bit bloated for the one movie. While I understand that Jones and the writers were trying to introduce us to the world of the game, I thought that it could have benefited from a little less, since it focused on too many stories.

The most compelling narrative in the whole film was the one of the Orcs. In fact, I do wish the plot had focused more on the Orc tribe that made it to Azeroth, instead of switching back and forth between parties. At the same time, it was something I found to be extremely disappointing because the central knot of the movie was the struggle between Orcs and Humans. The problem is simply that none of the human components were interesting to me. The third part of the movie consists of the side story of the mage’s, which was easy to foresee and kind of ruined this fantasy blockbuster’s plot twist.

Character wise, the best performances were given by Toby Kebbell, Paula Patton and Daniel Wu; all actors who played Orcs. I especially liked Kebbell and Patton’s performances as Durotan and Garona, as they had depth and were sympathetic characters. The biggest disappointment for me was Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar. I am a big fan of Fimmel, ever since I saw him as Ragnar Lothbrok in the TV series Vikings, but sadly his persona in this blockbuster is shallow despite him being one of the main characters in the movie.

The worst of the renditions though were given by Ben Foster, who was simply over the top from beginning to end and Ben Schnetzer, who was incredibly irritating in a boring kind of way, as the apprentice mage.

This brings me to the best part of the movie: The cinematography and effects! This fantasy blockbuster contained a lot of computer-generated imagery and for the most part, it meshed well with the human component of the film. The design of the Orks and the panoramic scenes looked hauntingly beautiful and realistic. It wasn’t always perfect, as there were times when the CG looked weak, like the hippogriff which was my biggest issue with the effects, because it was a being that had longer screen time than I expected.

The cinematographic style though was fantastic and I was in awe as I witnessed every little detail that Jones displayed on screen; from the way the camera panned over specific shots that shared a feeling of epicness and beauty with the audience, to the grand opening act and the way Duncan Jones directed the battles between humans and Orcs.

Verdict: Taking everything into consideration, Warcraft: the Beginning is by no means a masterpiece or a groundbreaking blockbuster for the fantasy genre. It is though a good looking and entertaining flick, even if the narrative lacks in depth at times and it’s human characters are extremely bland and one-dimensional. Having said that, the epic battle scenes, the beautiful effects and the fantastic rendition of the Orcs saved this movie for me – especially the final battle. It may not be the movie that Warcraft fans were hoping to obtain but it still is a hardcore fantasy flick, something I feel is very rare this day of age. Even though I can’t really picture myself watching this movie again (maybe with friends who haven’t seen the movie yet), I will give it a 7 out of 10 and recommend it for a one-time watch.

So what did you think of Warcraft: The Beginning? Are you a fantasy fan or do you prefer more grounded movies? I am planning on writing and posting my review for Money Monster this evening after work, so if you are interested to hear my thoughts on it, check out my blog this eve. Thank you very much for reading my thoughts on the Warcraft movie and as always, if you enjoyed it please share and like.

Top Movies – X-Men: Apocalypse Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

The X-Men return to the silver screen and this time Charles and his students are facing their strongest opponent yet, and possibly the end of the world.

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Mystery/Sci-Fi/

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Lucas Hill, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, Alexandra Shipp, Olivia Munn, Josh Helman, Lucas Till & Hugh Jackman.

Run Time: 144 min.

US Release: 27 May 2016

UK Release: 20 April 2016

German Release: 19 April 2016

Hello and welcome to my review for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse, the sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Pastand the first movie in a new timeline in FOX’s X-Men franchise. With 2014’s Days of Future Past, X-men veteran Singer rebooted the complete series and erased the previous continuity of films, including the monstrosity that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the very weak X-Men: The Last Stand. Apocalypse takes place in the year 1983 and stars James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the younger versions of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, sadly, I found this movie to be much weaker than Days of Future Past, X-Men and X-Men 2 but it was still fun to watch!

The plot revolves around the first mutant of Earth, En Sabah Nur (Isaac) a.k.a Apocalypse, who is ruling ancient Egypt with an iron fist and plans to shape the rest of the world in his image. Apocalypse himself transfers his consciousness into other strong mutants and thus takes over their powers, accumulating a vast array of abilities. In 1983 Moira Mactaggert (Byrne) is investigation an Egyptian cult, who worship Apocalypse and wake him up from his millennia old sleep. En Sabah Nur immediately gets to work and recruits Ororo Munroe (Shipp), Psylocke (Munn), Angel/Archangel (Hardy) and Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a Magneto.

Meanwhile, Mystique (Lawrence) is advancing in her own mission, to save mutants from the abuse of humans, and helps Kurt Wagner (Smit-McPhee) – alias Nightcrawler, to escape a cage fight he was forced into. She takes him to Xavier’s school where she reunites with Charles, Hank McCoy/Beast (Hoult) and Alex Summers/Havok (Till), who were showing Summer’s younger brother Scott, a.k.a. Cyclops around the school until Jean Grey (Turner), a student at Xavier’s school, attained a dark apocalyptic vision.

It seems that this is the year for big superhero flicks that include an absurd amount of characters, we had Batman v Superman early in March and Captain America: Civil War later in April, both are big adaptations of graphic novels. X-Men: Apocalypse is no different and includes a vast array of important characters from Marvel’s X-Men universe, proving once again that Bryan Singer is able to handle big team-ups and give most characters depth and a background story. The action parts were fantastic, and I also found the scenes that took place inside people’s minds very intriguing and to be strong story arcs.

Now, like I said before, I was a little bit disappointed by this film because it had some big issues and one of them was the very uneven and sometimes very slow pacing! I don’t mean the first 20 minutes of the movie, those were used to introduce new characters and the directorial team did a fantastic job at that, but throughout the movie I experienced some scenes that were paced slower than others, and nearly brought the movie to a halt! Finally, there is the somewhat silly and clichéd plan of world domination from Apocalypse, but I’ll get to that later.

X-Men: Apocalypse makes use of a vast pool of important characters, such as Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Storm and others, but since the list is too long I can only concentrate on those that were most important to the plot, otherwise, this review would never end. Just as with Captain America: Civil War, I will keep my analysis of the cast and characters short. That said, I was somewhat disappointed by the limited background and screen time given to Storm – played by Alexandra Shipp, and Psylocke – played by Olivia Munn.

James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto have been fantastic once again! These two actors know how to play off each other, throwing the ball back and forth. The feud between the both is still interesting and I was really invested in the story and friendship of the two characters. The interactions between Charles and Erik would not be as interesting though if it wouldn’t be for Raven Darkhölm – a.k.a Mystique, who is played again by Jennifer Lawrence. She keeps bringing these two mutants back together, but compared to the previous blockbusters I found Mystique to have a much smaller role in this, nevertheless, Lawrence gave a fantastic rendition.

Oscar Isaac displayed En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse, but I wasn’t really impressed by this film’s villain. Isaac is a fantastic actor, he was great in A Most Violent Year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and mind-blowing in Ex Machina. Sadly, his portrayal of Apocalypse did not feel scary or menacing at all, and I thought that his character was not properly used. All he did in the movie was to wake up in the 80’s and recruit his four horsemen using big speeches and letting them do all the work while his big plan to dominate the world consisted of transferring his mind, once again, into other mutants.

Sophie Turner plays Jean Grey and she was surprisingly good; I wasn’t sure about her casting at first but she proved me wrong and washed away all my doubts. Her portrayal of Jean was quite accurate, as she displayed her insecurities and fears that came with her powers. Tye Sheridan was awesome as Scott Summers and this movie redeems the nearly criminally underdeveloped back-story of Scott from the previous instalments. For everyone who complaint about Cyclops in the previous X-Men films before, Apocalypsefleshes him out perfectly this time!

Verdict: In a nutshell, I would say that X-Men: Apocalypsewas a fun superhero flick, but comparing it to the previous X-Men movies it was just OK. The plot takes in a lot of characters and manages to juggle them quite well for most of the time, but there are definitely some shortcomings, mainly with the characters of Storm, Psylocke and Angel. Other than that the rest of the characters shined in this instalment, especially those of Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Nightcrawler who were given rich background stories. The plot itself was all right, I liked how it brought back Moira Mactaggert and the overall idea of Apocalypse was interesting, but the character’s potential was sadly wasted. That said, the action sequences looked fantastic, even if some story aspects dragged out a little bit too long. I will give X-Men: Apocalypse a 7.5 out of 10!

Thank you very much for reading my review and apologies for the late posting, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought of the film, by leaving a reply in the comment section.

Top Movies – The Angry Birds Movie Review (Spoiler Free) – Movie Reviews Sites

The battle of bird vs. pig starts once again, but this time, they make their debut on the big screen. Will Red and co. be able to beat the evil green pigs?

Genre: Action/Animation/Comedy

Director: Clay Kaytis & Fergal Reilly

Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader,
Keegan-Michael Key, Tony Hale, Peter Dinklage & Sean Penn.

Run Time: 97 min.

US Release: 20 May 2016

UK Release: 12 May 2016

German Release: 13 May 2016

I am writing this a mere hour after having watched the movie and I need to say, this movie managed to piss me off! The Angry Birds Movie is an animated comedy based on the popular Rovio Smartphone game app. It also marks the second game adaptation this year, following the mediocre Ratchet & Clank that debuted last month. What angered me about Angry Birds is the fact that it wasted one-and-a-half hours of my life as it has no redeemable story at all, but does include flat jokes and characters that are incredibly one-dimensional! Nevertheless, it did have some redeemable aspects.

The plot revolves around Red (Sudeikis), a red-feathered bird with some severe anger issues, which manifesting during his unhappy childhood. After assaulting a customer, Red is sentenced by Judge Peckinpah (Key) to anger management classes, lead by bird-therapist Matilda (Rudolph). There he meets fellow angry birds Chuck (Gad), Bomb (McBride) and Terence (Penn). When the island is visited by the mysterious green pig Leonard (Hader), Red is immediately suspicious of his intentions.

The scripted story is by far this animations biggest weakness, taking over two-thirds of its runtime to finally become interesting. The pacing of this adaptation is terribly inconsistent, but mostly moving at snail’s speed. The story itself tries to build-up sympathy for the birds by fluffing it out with several anger management meetings and hatching scenes, but it failed at catching the audience’s attention and I felt bored for the longest part of the film. It is sad but true, it looks like the creative team behind this movie put more effort into depicting the third act of the film than trying to build an entertaining and engaging animation overall.

The turning point comes at the end of the second and beginning of the third act, when the pigs show their true nature and set their sinister plan in motion, making the birds need to fight back to prevail their existence. The fight between birds and pigs clearly simulates the game on film and was the best aspect of the plot. It also had a nice message for children, stating that it is all right to be angry as long as it isn’t used as an excuse to do bad things.

However, the dialogues and jokes aren’t that great and aimed at younger children, rather than a mixed audience. The format of dialogue used in this animation definitely copies that of Family Guy, using flashbacks and pop cultural references as its main source. The issue with those, though, are that they don’t suit the target audience since most of them refer to movies and songs from the 80’s and 90’s. It left the children, in the theatre where I watched this movie at, pondering and lead to a minimum amount of laughter.

As I said in the first paragraph, the characters in this movie are not really fleshed out and written in the laziest way, with the only exception being the character of Red, as we get to see a little bit of his back-story that tries to explain where his anger is coming from. Other than that, no other bird or piglet was explored further. The inhabitants of Bird Island are all, more or less, the same: always happy, incredibly naive and not likeable at all. The pigs were also depicted very disappointingly. That said I was really surprised at hearing the voice actors speaking their characters since they matched perfectly!

Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) lent his voice to the character of Red, the protagonist, and hero of this film. Sudeikis did a fantastic job portraying this character, it felt extremely natural and he also was the only bird that made me chuckle at times. Red himself, is a troubled red bird, unhappy with his life and surroundings. He was an orphan and never fitted in with others and the birds he knew used to make fun of his incredibly big eyebrows. All of this culminates in a big fight with a customer, early on in the movie, that leads Red to serve court-sentenced anger management classes where he finds some friendship.

Visually the movie looks exceptionally good! It is very bright and uses strong colours making it very attractive for the eyes. The animation looks astonishing most of the time, the birds are extremely detailed and vary in form and size while the island is beautifully designed, which makes this a nearly perfect animation visually if it weren’t for the green pigs. These looked, in comparison to the birds, mediocre and very simple and that included their home city. This had the effect of watching two different types of movies; one that used high-quality animation, the other that looked rather fit for TV.

The Angry Birds Movie makes extensive use of famous pop and rock songs from different decades, such as “Rock You Like a Hurricane” from the Scorpions, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley or “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons. The score of the film itself was rather forgettable, just as the movie.

Verdict: After the disappointment that was Ratchet & Clank, I did not expect much from Rovio’s The Angry Birds Movie, which ironically was produced by Sony Pictures as well. I did, however, expect at least a good amount of laughter and here is where the movie disappointed me the most. Instead of laughs, I was served an uncreative and very bland story that uses non-stop cultural pop references from the 80’s and 90’s, but the only problem is that this animation is evidently targeted at kids, who won’t understand those references. I also found the characters to have been developed in the laziest way, but the movie comes around and starts becoming entertaining in the last third of the narrative. Only by then it is too late! I will give The Angry Birds Movie a 5 out of 10!

Do you agree with me or did you leave the cinema feeling different about this game adaptation? Thank you very much for reading and if you liked this review make sure to share it!