Movies: Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Movies: Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Introduction:

Final fantasy, a game that has underwent many ups and downs. For those who do not know, Final Fantasy is a game series that started in 1987 and is now in its 15 instalment. Used to be the cream of the crop in the RPG genre and it did tell a good story. Then it got a bit ambitious and started doing MMORPG and stuff and i personally didn't get into all the MMORPG from the FF series. That being said, it has gone a long way from the pixels in the first generation, to now when game cinematic are like movie cinematic and even seem life like.

Final fantasy games storylines are generally not connected across the series and they are not set out to be alternate timelines or follow a sequence in time or anything like that. This movie is meant to be a tie in or prequel to set the stage of an upcoming game Final Fantasy 15 and all this will take place in a new universe or world with its own history. So how did this movie start up and introduce us to the world of Final Fantasy 15? Read on to find out!

A poster that shows people.. just people.. who are all these people??

Storyline 3/5

Storyline is pretty ok, movie starts off introducing the world pretty well and very quickly puts you into the first battle ground whereby you are quickly able to grasp the relationship between the two main factions in the movie. The movie also quickly sets the stage and introduces both the important character in this movie and the important character in the upcoming game but for the rest of the movie, it is pushed along by the cliched damsel in distress and how the main star of the movie (which you will not see in the game), interacts, protects and saves her.

Movie is fortunately not completely linear and has a few twists and turns to make it not completely bland and predictable.

The issue I have with this movie is that the things the characters do in this movie are generally not very logical and do not make sense. You will blink your eyes as the good and bad guys explain why they did this and that and will remain unconvinced and confused at their rationale for their action. Towards the center of the movie, the storytelling draws to a crawl and it kinda gets a bit too draggy and slow (i,e, you may fall asleep)

Well... would the rest of the movie help raise the overall score? Lets take a look...

Character 2.5/5

Well, if you are looking for a boost in the score... it can't be found here. Nope. There are quite a few different characters in the movie, but they are not very distinct due to short screen time and ordinary stereotypical characteristics.

You will not really feel for any of the characters including the main casts and the damsel in distress is just very dumb, proclaiming to want to do this and that, but never actually playing any essential role except being the female presence.

The rest of the kingsglaive (the knights in this movie) are mostly ordinary and a lot of them will hardly leave any impression on you. Most will die, and you won't care.


Cinematography 3.5/5

Here is the slight boost this movie needs but unfortunately, the boost is as slight as they get. It is action packed indeed and your fights get from small to big with plenty of destruction. You will see good visual effects when people teleport, time slows down, weapons and magic flying all around the place.

However, it gets messy sometimes and with so much teleporting here and there, it becomes hard to follow. You start getting the main hero and villain jumping here and there and this is supposed to look epic and cool but due to the lighting and camera angle, you will NOT be able to appreciate what exactly is happening in the entire battle unless you REALLY make the effort. (risk getting a headache also).

That being said, most of the action scenes does seem exciting and epic in the movie as long as your eyes are able to follow the motion.

Music 3/5

Music is fine and you can actually hear some track from the previous games but it was not able to further improve the immersion of the audience when it is so difficult to follow and appreciate what is going on.

Spectacle 3/5

Sadly, this movie had a very strong source material of which it could do much much better in. The action scenes were epic, but they were not easy to follow. The storyline had twists, but was overall very cliche and unbelievable. Characters were many, but none were appealing enough for anyone to identify with and backgrounds were more or less left to the imagination and inference.

Sure it is good to create a movie that stimulates the mind, but the overall story became so convoluted and unbelievable that requires too much effort from the audience to try to appreciate and enjoy what was going on. On the bright side, you do not need to have played the games as there is little continuity in the first place and honestly, you will not appreciate this movie any better even if you played all the games.

For those who have played the previous games, this movie will show some (but VERY little) familiar titbits from the games that could excite the fans, But it also had TONs of lost potential.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (Cliche and was not very sensible all the way to the end)
Character: 2.5 (Honestly, i can hardly remember any names from the movie....)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Their main focus and there is good amount of time in action scenes. BUT alot of these scenes were hard to follow and that made the movie less immersive)
Music: 3 (Ok music, but did not manage to boost anything to the audience)
Spectacle: 3 (Sadly, did not stand out in action, nor in storyline. Just felt very ordinary, like an action show, but not a Final Fantasy Action show.)

Overall: 3/5 (Really average score, for an average movie. Nothing you will feel bad to miss especially if you have no plans to play the game also. It is just another action flick with more extravagant action sequences (as it is an animation), and an ordinary story that you can just take 5 - 10 minutes to read the sypnosis and that should be good enough.)

Movies: Batman v Superman

Movies: Batman v Superman

We have seen batman, we have seen superman, but never had we seen these two on the big screen at the same time. and what's more, this time they dont seem to be friends!

In this first DC reply to Marvel's avengers series, we finally get to see more then one major superhero in a single movie and similar to the next big marvel movie coming out very soon, these two guys are gonna have a moment sizing and beating each other up!

Note that unlike the more recent marvel movies, actors for superman and batman tend to very QUITE wildly.  You can actually see all the other batman movies and still get a different vibe from them because they are all really quite different. This is the same case for superman and I personnally never actually seen this superman (I believe he did act in another previous superman movie)

Nonetheless, this movie is dark, both in terms of lighting and in the storyline itself. DC movies seem to be trying to protray itself in a entirely different light from the Marvel movies and there is little comedy to be found here. So how did this movie perform when you break it down? Lets take a deeper look.

Which side are you on?

Storyline 4/5

The storyline is strong and it makes quite a fair bit of sense on how these two end up fighting in the first place. There are some slow moments during the movie as they try to expand on the universe but the moments are not too excessive before it gets back into something interesting.

Like i said previously, this movie is entirely dark and there is also quite a bit of thinking required. Especially for people who have not read the comics, you will either end up quite confused throughout the movie because they will throw a lot of confusing DC universe plot items at you or end up realising how big the DC universe is and that may pique your interest and make you go learn more about the universe from the net. That means that if you want to enjoy the storyline, you are gonna need to read up a bit to prepare yourself OR be prepared to keep a very open mind to try to interpret what is happening on screen the moment you see it.

That being said, if you just want to follow along the line of the main story and are not too concerned about what those flashbacks and videos mean, then the storyline is still sufficient to entertain you and will keep you interested in what is happening as there are enough immediate plots that are happening during the movie and it can keep things engaging enough. In fact, in this movie there are at least 3 intertwined main storylines so it is difficult to get bored of what is happening.

Character 3.5/5

You have 2 very important characters and 1 quite important character to develop in a movie lasting 151 minutes. Honestly, the character development for why these two guys are fighting is done reasonably well, but this movie only touches very slightly on the backgrounds of these two guys. That means that if you do not even see any of their movies before this, you will not be able to appreciate why batman or superman does things in this manner or that and may find it hard to believe why these characters end up reacting to the happenings in the storyline in a certain way.

There are not really any other major good guys with much relevance in this movie and the villain is quite well portrayed to be cranky. Overall the characters fit their roles but there is just a bit of difficulty of being fully immersed when you do not know the background of the two main characters

Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography is fantastic for this movie. The shots convey the vast size of the characters and buildings and there are a lot of good perspective shots that add immersion to the movie. The fights are done very impactfully and you can practically feel the pain when your chosen hero gets hit.

The story is told in a very artistic manner and the movie makes uses of flashbacks and videos to expand on the universe which keeps the movie interesting, There is just one small problem with it being too dark (literally) due to the lighting, rain and night conditions.

Music 4.5/5

Music in this game is very very spectacular. The score greatly adds to the feel of the movie and the action scenes are made that much more exciting.

Spectacle 4.5/5

This movie does very well in the action and storyline category and it has one of the best fighting scenes for a super hero movie (its not kungfu though). With the main 3 storylines telling you what happens with respect to Superman, batman and the only woman DC heroine for now, you will not get bored of what is happening and everything flows relatively well. Action is really quite fantastic once you get past the dark tone of the movie. All 3 heroes use their most well known specialities and weapons during the movie which is quite entertaining as you see the difference in their fight style. Pitting the two biggest heroes in the DC universe against each other adds a lot of entertainment value to this and is a very much welcome from the do-only-good previous batman/super man movies.

Overall
Storyline: 4 (There is 3 frontline storyline as well as the overarching DC universe storyline protrayed here. Good flow, but at times slightly confusing without background)
Character: 3.5 (Movie seems to expect the audience to have fair amount of background knowledge already, does have further character development in this movie but harder to immerse if background not already known)
Cinematography: 4 (This is probably the main thrust and attraction factor of the movie. A lot of effort is put into the fight scenes and it is done well and impactfully... if only it wasn't so dark till you cannot see maybe about 5-10% of what happened if you did not focus enough)
Music: 4.5 (Very strong musical score. Adds tremendously to the movie immersion)
Spectacle: 4.5 (Storyline is good, action scenes are great except just for slight gripes here and there. But the very fact that you fit 2 most well known movies together, and put them together to beat each other out, its definitely a draw for the fans, and for the non-fans, the action scenes even for a long movie will be strong enough to keep you entertained.)

Overall: 4.1 (Fair enough score, its definitely not a PERFECT movie, but the things that it sets out to do, it does well above average. Very smart way to draw in the crowds and at least get them the very first step into the DC movie, showing them the difference between them and Marvel. For more enjoyment in the movie however, you may want to just do a quick search about the DC universe so that some of the flash backs and scenes in the movie makes more sense. Don't wiki the movie itself though or you may get spoilt. Even after the movie, you can also go read up more and it will show you how big the DC universe is and hopefully attract you back for the next few DC movies on the pipeline)

So how did you find the movie? Did you manage to guess who was to win the fight? Do you agree with the ratings? Do let me know and see ya at the next movie (most likely going to be another movie where superheroes are pitted against superheroes)

Movies: Star Wars The Force Awakens

Movies: Star Wars The Force Awakens

After so many years of a lull in the Star Wars franchise, it's finally back again and this time it continues from after the 3rd movie.. Wait it's actually after the 6th movie.. Errr yea... It's really quite hard to explain...

Lots of glowy lights

Basically, just to get everyone in the same understanding,  according to the time line, this would be the latest movie which actually follows after Star Wars Return of the Jedi. In fact it is about 30 years after the happenings in Star Wars Return Of the Jedi. (and just past 30 years in real life)

Eh this poster doesn't look that ancient

This allows for quite a bit of fun in the characters you will see in the movie, but will not spoil it any more then that although fans will probably already know what is going to happen in the movie

Somehow or other, every other company seems to be getting onto the Star Wars bandwagon like clothing chain uniqlo, crocs and of course many toy manufacturers. 

Even Ez-link is getting on the band wagon. Costs me 60 bucks...

Anyway back to the review proper!

Storyline 3/5

Probably not what you would wanna hear, but I have to say it.. This whole movie storyline seems to be very very very similar to a previous starwars movie storyline. Unfortunately this works badly for those who are fans of the movie in the first place as it will seem like a rehashed movie and everything becomes slightly too predictable.

But even if we look at the storyline independently, there is little twists and things to keep things intriguing during the movie itself. What is happening in the movie is introduced quite early in the beginning and basically it's just development of that one storyline. There is nothing else to attract the audience.

It's a standard meet a character who is confused what is happening.. Then searches for some understanding, then suddenly realised what is happening in the Galaxy then joins in and goes against the bad guys. Familiar? Yeah a lot of movies are using the same but this has no huge twists and what you see is what you get.

Character 3.5/5

Purely based on the facts that you will see a lot of familiar faces in this movie, you will see a fair bit of character development on both the old as well as the new characters and this may lend a bit of wow or nostalgia factor to the fans of the movie.

Obviously a new robot now takes the main stage as the cute factor in the movie that ties the initial storyline together but overall,  the characters are what you would be expecting, good being good although the bad guy has a bit of more potential to develop then the good. Don't expect anything like the first few starwars (according to time-line aka the anakin part of the story before Darth Vader)

Cinematography 3.5/5

Aye! Was there many lazers pewpewing all over the place? Was there sufficient lightsaber duels and good choreographed fights..

Unfortunately for this movie, sure there are space battles, sure there are fights, but in general there was a bit more attempt to emphasize on driving the story and hence it suffered in the action cinematography section which overall would be detrimental to those looking for epic space fights etc.

There are nice shots of planets, new planets etc but honestly, nothing really stood out as particularly cool and exciting even though this movie had plenty of potential to do so...

Here's some lightsabers, just cause.

Music 4.5/5

Music is classic Star Wars and if you followed the previous movies you know that it always has a very powerful and fitting score to fit the happenings in the movie.

Thanks to the numerous movies before this, it has reach a state whereby when you hear the music you kind of know what is going to happen soon. Even to those new to the franchise the music will add much immersion value to them.

Spectacle 3/5

The overall problem that this movie faces is different for the fans, and also for new comers. For new comers, the introduction of old faces with no background, yet expecting the audience to appreciate their presence makes it hard for the new comers to be properly drawn in. For the fans, thanks to the more action packed episode 1 to 3 (Anakin storyline) this movie would pale badly to those movies where you see tons of jedis and more Saber battles. Thanks to episode 4 to 6 (Luke storyline)  the movie's storyline will unfortunately be too familiar to be exciting.

Don't get me wrong, there are still good action scenes and the storyline in general still moves things along, but it seems more like a set up for the next few movies to bring in new characters but amongst the other movies out there that falls into the same genre this movie falls just that bit too short.

Overall

Storyline : 3 (Ordinary story, too ordinary to stand out amongst the other movie, also feels like a strange rehash)
Character : 3.5 (Expects audience to have a bit of background knowledge of the characters thus not giving enough time and opportunity to be more involved with the characters)
Cinematography : 3.5 (It's fine... it's not great though... just fine)
Music : 4.5 (Good music, one of the most fitting score that adds to the experience)
Spectacle : 3 (Did not stand out in the action section, neither did it stand out enough for storyline. It is kind of more like, just another star war movie in the end)

Overall : 3.5 (This movie had a lot going for it, a good back story, well established fan base, plenty of budget to advertise and even a cartoon. It's hyped up, and everyone should have heard about it. Unfortunately, with so much expectation, it fails to deliver even for the fans or rather, especially for the fans as it did not do anything new. Overall, you could see this movie if you wanted, and you probably would, but if you didn't see it, go ahead and wait for the next one before watching and you won't really miss out anything because this movie did not really add too much. That being said, being a 2 hour movie, if you do have time to kill, you probably won't regret seeing this movie too as it is still a very much palatable action movie in space with light sabers. Probably go ahead and lower your expectation for this movie instead and if you can, see the first 6 movies so that you got some back story to appreciate the characters more. Just remember, more lightsabers = more fun, since this movie has less light sabers, it will be okey, but just not THAT fun.)

Movies: Dracula Untold

Movies: Dracula Untold

Dracula! A story that has been told many ways, and sometimes it is confusing whether he is really real or not. He has been remade in games and is probably one of the clearer examples and origins of the common vampires that spawned shows like twilight. Nonetheless, with a name like Dracula Untold, is it really different and worth watching?!?!

For those who don't know, this is one iteration of dracula

Here is cartoon dracula

Well, fortunately for us today, our dracula is movie version dracula

but just for good measure here is another dracula

Here is game version dracula

Handsome little fella huh! but next question to ask is, is this Dracula story really an untold story? Lets read on and find out, especially since the answer is covered in the next section!


Storyline 4/5

I can't spoil the story for you because this movie story is quite a bit of fun. Nonetheless, lets say that this dracula tells a different story from what we usually believe and understand, just like how maleficent made us sympathize with the witch! Yep it is that kind of retelling of the story. But of course being made not by Disney, this movie will contain just a bit less lovey dovey or cutsie stuff.

The other point about this movie is that it focus on how Dracula came to become the person he is known by us to be and the "struggles" he met along the way. So it is more character development focused and the various twists and turns along the way makes it interesting to the end of this 93 mins flick.

Last point to praise is that this movie actually had many stops where they could very well have ended the movie there and then, however, this movie will then go on just that step further before reaching another possible ending spot and going on that step further again. As a result, this movie feels longer then it actually is because you get the feeling that "oh there is something more".


Character 3/5

Unfortunately for this movie though, the character development was not too well done and too greatly carried out. The first part of the movie (20 mins) was particularly for character building but it felt a bit draggy. Once it got to the action scenes however, it would be a bit more interesting but then in action scenes there is little character development.

Most of the development is on Dracula which is done above average well with only slight unbelievable or incoherent sections. However this meant that everyone else was greatly neglected and in essence its true. Almost everyone else in this movie would be someone unimportant and minor and you will not really feel for any of them.


Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography for this movie was done well. There are a few of exciting and impactful action sequences with good use of high shots and perspective shots to bring across the action flavor. It is almost towards 300 standards in terms of action sequences BUT it is highly lacking in the amount of action sequences. Most sequences could have really gone on much longer to show more of the power of Dracula and make it even more action packed.

Nonetheless given the short time frame, I would say the scenes and shots are done above average standards and will give you fair bit of entertainment and wow factors. That till you realised that they could have done so much more.

Just note that because Dracula only fights at night, some fight scenes might be too fast and too dark... not too many of them thankfully


Music 4/5

Music in this movie was there and it did have quite a positive impact in the overall feel of the movie. You can definitely feel that the music was helping this movie.


Spectacle 4/5

Storyline was good and flowing and it was kept exciting with enough twists and turns. Although there were slow sections especially in the beginning of the movie and some illogical portions of the movie and other aspects were not fully and properly explained. But nonetheless the gist and main purpose of the story line would keep you intrigued.

Action wise was also well done with good shots and sufficient scenes. So doing both well puts this movie above average on the spectacle department.


Overall

Storyline 4 (Sufficient twists and turns to keep the movie exciting)
Character 3 (Main character is focus of character development but not done completely well, all other characters feel slightly neglected)
Cinematography 4 (Good shots for actions overall, just a bit too few shots)
Music 4 (Present and adds a bit of immersion to movie)
Spectacle 4 (Action and story line segments are done well above average but still not excellent yet, still to do these two sections well it is pretty good entertainment value overall) 

Overall 3.8 (Overall 3.8 is a pretty fair score. Its a see able show, somewhat short but has sufficient entertainment value to be worth the time and money. Anyway it is only 93 mins long so it's not that big a investment. Action lovers and storyline lovers will be fine with the plot and the bit of action it brings. It should be fresh for most people giving the unique angle by which they are recreating the story.)

Movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A childhood show, that most adults these days will still find familiar. Turtles that are teenagers, that are mutants and also ninjas! In fact probably those people who are in their teens right now might not know anything about this movie unlike their parents. Its been long since there was a remake and rightly so, because the past few remakes haven't been able to make their mark and stand out. However did this movie manage to overcome that hurdle?

Its a full remake which means that the movie starts right from the beginning of how they came to being. For those who don't know, here are the four cutsie pet turtle heroes. There is one other cutsie creature at least while it was still a pet in the movie but shall not be a spoiler here especially to those who don't know anything about this movie.

Turtles complete with colored masks

So how did this movie fare to me?

Storyline 3.5/5

The storyline is simple enough, following the focus of a girl who then chances upon these guys and then grows closer with them because of things happening. It's not a particularly too strong storyline but it's coherent and flowing enough plus a slight twist about the origins of these guys with respect to the girl.

Its not too complex probably because the director might want to appeal to the younger audience and this is perfectly fine for this movie. There is a good family vibe for this movie and it seems to be teaching the values of family.

The slow parts are particularly slow however and I found myself paying little attention to what was happening (Read as falling asleep). But these are pretty few and mostly focused on the front so once it got to the action orientated back portion it was good.

Character 3.5/5

All the characters are clearly distinct and have their own characteristics. Given the shorter movie time however, it can be slightly more improved but all in all they are clearly different turtles playing clearly different roles. Even the supporting characters have their own special personality except one of the villains

Cinematography 4/5

Michael Bay and Cinematography come together pretty well and this movie is full of it. They have the underground typed fight scene, car chase scene and on top of high rise fight scene. All done with good slow motion effects and all that. Its good and exciting action and probably the only big flaw is it may be slightly hard to follow when there is so many things happening. Nonetheless, more is good if that is your movie focus.

Music 3.5/5

Music is pretty strong and you will notice it throughout the movie. It will add to your immersion into the movie especially during the action scenes.

Spectacle 4/5

Lets get this out of the bag, the focus of this movie is on the casual movie goers INCLUDING children. That explains the shorter movie time and the simple storyline. Nonetheless its story is nice and coherent and keeps flowing all the way to the end while the action scenes are plentiful towards the back. Overall, it should give people the entertainment value that they are expecting. The kids that were sitting around me were pretty excited throughout the whole movie and its highly likely that they will be the next generation to appreciate these TMNT

They also made a lot of effort in the comedic department and overall, the movie is pretty enjoyable and laughable in a good sense.

Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (Simple but good origin storyline that is coherent and interesting to the end)
Character: 3.5 (Distinct and fun characters including the villains. Only one bad guy was neglected)
Cinematography: 4 (Good action scenes as expected from Michael Bay. Lots of explosions)
Music: 3.5 (Noticeable music track that adds to the movie entertainment value)
Spectacle: 4 (Good action, short and sweet storyline, funny most of the time)

Overall: 3.7 (Overall, a very enjoyable action flick with good sequences that caters both to the casual action lover as well as the children crowd. Most kids that I saw came out with a smile on their faces and enjoyed what they see. See this if you have 100 mins to kill or especially if you have children who want to see some action shows! It's nonetheless still not a 300 type of action movie but it does the job for most of its audience.)

Ironically a brief look at the other reviews gave it like 2 out of 5 stars which I think its pretty inaccurate. Reviewers should see how much the movie fit the general expectations and audience before saying how well it did! Nonetheless, if you have any disagreements don't hesitate to comment!

Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Was able to catch this blockbuster movie on the 2nd day of release and boy it was packed all the way to the first row!

It's those kind of movie like x men or spiderman that has had many previous movies before and is probably a must see just because you have seen the previous movies. For some people it's a must see because we played with the toys when we were young. Also a safe type of movie being in the action genre that allows it to appeal to the large population.

Ah dinosaurs, the caveman form of transport

Did it live up to the hype though? Read on to find out more.

Storyline 3/5

The movie, if you checked is a whopping 160 minutes long give or take a few minutes. That's more then 2 hours that you are going to spend in the theater. So is the storyline able to remain enthralling?

In all honesty, the story does stay fresh as in many new things are added to the story as time goes by. However there is very little obvious linkages to why this thing that happened previously led to the things that is happening in the current section of the movie. To put it shortly, you can try paying alot of attention to the movie and what the characters are saying but you will still find yourself confused ever so often at why things ended up this way.

The storyline is also strange in that there are many instances where something has happened such as more bots joining the fight, but then you realize that Hey they could really have done this earlier instead. Alot of things that happen are quite unbelievable or unrealistic and you feel that the writers made things this way just so that you could have a longer story. There was also a lot of unnecessary actions that were taken by the humans that in every angle of analysis is totally silly and dumb.

One clear cut example if you see the movie is, if your bots can fly, why do you still bother driving around from one place to another? And what happened to the bomb? Confused!

Character 3.5/5

Additional 0.5 points purely because there was the other bunch of transformers that was added to the movie that at least significantly heightened the entertainment value.

They introduced new main human characters to this movie as well as new bots and did try to give them some distinct personalities which was good. But overall they did not have enough screen time despite the 2 hour plus movie time to truly make an impact. It's really just a matter of creating a unique sequence for them but it was a wasted opportunity there.

Some familiar bad guys did come back with friends but bad guy friends especially didn't have any extra emphasis on scenes to make them special enough. You will realize during the movie that some characters just disappear and you don't notice till they reappear after awhile.

All in all, a lot of potential wasted type of movie.

Cinematography 3.5/5

As in typical action movies it had above average Cinematography with plenty of slow mo shots and plenty of explosions. But similar to the character section there is really alot more unused opportunity to really make the movie stand out and I would say that the action scenes were not long enough and can really be made more epic.

Music 3.5/5

Music was good in keeping the atmosphere up and the feeling of all the explosions. Nothing particularly unique in the way the music was used though.

Spectacle 3/5

Sadly, when looking from a summative view, this movie tried to tell too much story at the risk of action sequences, and yet storyline was too broad to be able to keep it coherent and flowing well enough. Hence its like a action movie with not enough action and with a rather confusing or unconvincing story.

They should have tried to tell less and shift the focus to better action scenes and focus more on what the other newly introduced bots could do. Too many new characters but too little time to make them endearing to the audience.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (At times it was hard to follow. At times it did not make sense either. Still, at least it can be considered interesting)
Character: 3.5 (So many new bots.. too little time to emphasize on them... and at times you forget about many of the bots)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Good action sequences, not particularly exceptional though)
Music: 3.5 (Music was there lending to impact and atmosphere)
Spectacle: 3 (Did not manage to intrigue or excel in both storyline nor action sequence when it clearly has a lot of potential to do so.)

Overall:  3.3 (If you are an action flick lover with not too over analyzing personality on storyline and details, this will be a fine movie for you given its exceptional playtime. If you like good and coherent storylines and your friends ask you to see this movie, keep reminding yourself... "I like bots and explosions and boomboom pewpew!". If you plan on missing this movie, don't worry about it cause it is probably a good home movie type. Just manage your expectations and remind yourself its a fair movie given its length of time.

Disagree with this review? Thought the story was fine? Comment here and I can tell you more stuff that is just strange and unnessary!

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies concerning time and going both into the future and the past have been popping up in both the big and small screens for a while. Some TV series includes Heroes with its time travelling hero, and the present series Continuum with the female lead being thrown back in time against her will. On the large screen we have the very recent X-men - Heroes of Future Past and perhaps the more significant time travelling movie that is similar to Edge of Tomorrow would be Groundhog Day which was a comedy with the same time travelling component.

A friend of mine told me that this movie is like a how a first person shooter works. Which is you go attempt the game map, die, respawn and try again. And in many cases, this is the what the movie is about. So for those who haven't caught the trailer or seen the poster, here it is!

The two heroes of the movie!

So how did this movie perform? Read more the find out here!

Storyline 4/5

The way the story is told in this movie is actually pretty creative. Of course the underlying principle is in the end, the good guys will win, but what happens during the entire process is kept interesting my the numerous twists and focus points in each of the attempts that the main character makes. It even shows what happens if the main character stops trying and tries to run which is a pretty good representation of what we would possibly have tried out should this have happened to us.

The source of this time restarting ability is also spelt out in the movie and hence tries to be a bit more science fiction then fantasy and it also highlights why this ability is present in the first place which gives a very complete picture of the movie.

Overall, everything is pretty believable until the very end. The ending is pretty strange and didn't really feel continuous from the whole movie, seeming more like a method to just end on a happy note. If you see the movie you will know what I am saying.

Overall, the story is believable, compelling and interesting. However, being strong on storyline, you will probably need to use a bit more brain power during the movie to understand why some things happen and if you miss it you will lose a bit of appreciation of the concept of the movie such as why at a point of time in the movie, he cannot die and respawn anymore. So keep your ears sharp during the movie!!


Character 4/5

Character development in this movie is done in a very interesting way because of the ability to repeat things again and again and hence reveal stuff about the characters over time. Of course the main character clearly grows throughout the movie from a non fighter to a soldier that looks like he has some cheat code because he knows where the enemies are before they come out! Its just like how some people play their shooting games in the arcade for the 50th time! Same as those who play those music taptap games also! All a mater of practice and alot of money and free time.

Nonetheless, the characters that are on the posters are of course fleshed out pretty well and believable, but there are some other supporting characters that are clearly just there for support value and nothing else so they are pretty basic in back story. In fact, there was one asian character who suddenly appeared in one of the more important scenes in the movie and I didnt even realise he was there in the first place and how he ended up in the heli. See the movie and tell me if you know which asian guy i am talking about!

Nonetheless, this is no X-men with long extended back stories but just a one off movie that only has the time to at best focus on the two mai characters!


Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography was good! When it was action scenes it is very well shot, and there are alot of good shots and timings during the movie to add extra entertainment and even comedic value to the movie. It was very creatively done and you will enjoy the way the movie was shot.

Still, the movie is not focus on epic battles between man and machine so don't get that wrong or expect that though. Its more of small group action movie.


Music 3/5

Music was not impressive and I am probably just guessing that it was there, but as far as the experience go, I didn't really notice any additional value from the music itself.


Spectacle 4/5

Realistically speaking this movie is a bit more on story line then action to be honest. There is no particular strong actions scenes that emphasized how the humans were fighting with the aliens. Its more or less meet monster, live or die, and try again next time. Very clear cut with little extended fighting scenes.

Story line was also slightly more emphasized on to keep the story together and tell the audeince at which stage this guy is currently. Of course when you see the current timeline, the audience is kept unaware whether this is the first time the guy is in this scenario or is it the 100th time. This keeps the audience intrigued. Might have been talking a tad bit too much towards the middle of the movie but overall it did a above average job especially to keep the many aspects of this sci fi movie coherent!


Overall

Storyline: 4 (Good storyline, kept interesting by the way the director chose the timelines)
Character: 4 (Main focus was on the two characters and all supporting characters are nothing more then just supporting, could have been any other person)
Cinematography: 4 (Good shots but it was not a epic fighting movie as opposed to small group fighting movie)
Music: 3 (It probably was there, but didn't have too much effect on the movie)
Spectacle: 4 (Overall, a story line focused movie with good action elements, not the best in its arena but is definitely an above average job)

Overall: 3.8 (This score indicates that its a movie that you can see without regrets especially if you are a fan of the action and storyline genre. However, hard core action lovers or hard core storyline critics will not be totally appeased but it is really catering to the main bulk of audiences. Told in a very entertaining ways with a good mix of comedic aspects and action sequences. A good way to spend 2 hours of your time if you don't have anything significant to keep yourself entertained or busy)

Saw the movie? Missed out important components and didnt understand why certain things happened or was done? You can ask here if you are still confused and I still remember.

Movies: X-men Days of Future Past

Movies: X-men Days of Future Past

Finally! The next installment to the xmen franchise has arrived. This follows a list of about 7 movies, namely X-men, X2, X-men The Last Stand, X-men Origins Wolverine, X-men First Class, The Wolverine. Basically, if you are looking for movies that are X-men related, just search for all the movies with Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine and that would be it. As long as he is in the movie it is a related movie already. Do remember that the avengers world which is Iron man, Thor and Captain America are also related in some far way to X-men. Even the Fantastic Four and Spiderman are all related as they are from the Marvel Franchise.

Nonetheless how has this new movie performed? Read on to find out!

Heres the movie and pretty much the two mainmainmain characters

Storyline 4.5/5

I would say that especially for Marvel fans you are going to like this movie for the story line. It takes into account every single movie that has happened before this and yet in the end it does something that impacts all the previous movies. No spoilers here but really. It gets you thinking.

For those who do not follow Marvel however it is not that bad also cause the main gist of the storyline is not hard to follow with the objective being very clear from the beginning and aiming to reach the objective for the rest of the movie.

There is some thinking involved during the movie thanks to mystique and her shape-shifting prowess but nothing too hard to follow even for those not into the Marvel world.

However to be honest, to truly enjoy all the smart additions and salutes to the previous episodes, see the earlier movies by whatever means necessary. Call your friends and relatives for a sleep over cum movie night. You will see and draw links all over to the previous movie that you have seen and feel more entertained and fulfilled when you spot the links.

Characters 4/5

The x-men universe is so full of unique characters with personalities that you cannot really honestly expect any movie to introduce all of them in greater detail. This is even more evident when you realize that some characters in the movie, you might not even know his or her name. Thankfully for x-men, people generally just want to see their powers and as a result the movie can still cater to all the audience members whether they are fans or not.

An advert of the movie

See the poster above, well of all these characters, actually two of them practically just appeared for seconds. In fact... One of them on the left really literally appeared for just 3 secs. See if you know who. I also dont really remember seeing the person on the furthest left during the entire movie...So thats the problem with the X-men universe as it has too many characters that might drown off a person new to the franchise. 

There are easily another 5 characters that have substantial amount of screen time in this movie but have No lines. They just come in and show off their power and then something will happen to them... TWICE. Shall not spoil the movie and let you go see it for yourself but it is pretty funny, entertaining and sometimes even sad. Still it adds a lot to this movie. You will understand when you see it.

Cinematography 4.5/5

The movie starts off strong and shows off the varied abilities of the mutants from the get go. It then moves on to the main idea of the storyline and within the line, additional characters are shown using their powers in their own unique way.

This is where the Cinematography comes into play. There will be one scene at the earlier half of the movie where they will utilize all the tricks of the camera to highlight the true power that some mutants will have. The movie does this a few more times such as how it highlights Magneto's and Storm's immense power over metal as well as how the x-men uses their teamwork to "overcome" the odds in their own fights. 

There are a lot of epic shots as well as good fighting scenes although obviously they could be much longer to show off more. 

Music 4/5

There are some fantastic use of music to the movie that really adds to the entertainment value of the movie. You will be immersed in good surround sound to show off the impact of every mutant power during the movie and that makes the movie that much more enjoyable. Its this kind of sound effects that you must go to the theatre to experience and its a lot more expensive to try to do up at home. So do yourself a favor if you love action movies and see it in the theatres.

Spectacle 4.5/5

The storyline for X-men is strong and in terms of action and fight scenes, it does it very very well. The whole time limited idea of the movie also adds to the edge of your seat experience that adds a lot to the fun of the movie. Add to that the introduction of many new characters with wide and varied powers even if only for a short stint, the movie will keep you entertained. It did get slightly dry towards the center but the great start and exciting end makes up for the entire movie.

I would say for those who have seen the previous x-men movies, it adds a lot of additional value to the movie as you can see how some of the movies started or ended up the way they did and you will have a very complete or better view over the movie. Further more, some of the things that happened during the movie seems to be preparing the viewer for the future movies so if ever u are gonna see the future movies, you will probably benefit from seeing this one. Hence there is really no reason to skip this movie especially since it falls under the most generic action genre coupled with a good storyline. Also given its long show time, it is also money well spent.

Its a movie that gives its viewer all they would want, and more.

Overall

Storyline: 4.5 (Exciting storyline that has its fair share of twists thanks to Mystique. Even for non-fans, its easy to follow)

Character: 4 (Many new characters with exciting powers revealed. Unfortunate that some names are not even mentioned. But of course that might take too much extra and unnecessary time?)

Cinematography: 4.5 (Good shots and angles to make the movie even more immersive and exciting)

Music: 4 (Good music that adds strong movie going value to the audience)

Spectacle: 4.5 (For fans, a definite watch. For action lovers it does well in its aspects also. Even storyline is not shabby)

Overall: 4.3 (A movie that only flaws is due to its time limitation but it is pretty impossible to try to improve on one without affecting another aspect for example improve on character development without harming how exciting the movie is. Fans of the movies must see this show and for 2 hours plus show time, its a easy movie to see even if you dont like the genre. You can even go in with expectation and the movie will most likely deliver. 

But to truly enjoy this movie, I repeat again, consider seeing all the previous episodes first cause they really add a lot of value in terms of knowing the world, knowing the characters and the struggle they face. Go ahead and plan when to see this movie, you should be able to enjoy it.)

Also note that there IS an after credits scene as per Marvel movie tradition so stay till the very end. By very end i mean SIT ON THE CHAIR TILL THE LIGHTS COME ON!

Have fun!

Movies: Godzilla

Movies: Godzilla

A movie that will more likely cater more to the older audience as compared to the newer generation. With remakes of the movie starting from 1954, it has probably crept into the minds of the older viewers. With the advent of this Godzilla movie in 2014, it has made sure that the newer generation have their chance to be educated on this famous japanese icon. If you know who Godzilla is, then you are probably someone who can enjoy this movie. If you don't know who Godzilla is on the other hand... well read on and find out whether this should be your chance to know him.

For those who are unaware.. Godzilla is that huge creature in the middle spitting lazorbeams of power! HES NOT A DINOSAUR and has no relationship to Barney. Unlike Barney, Godzilla loves NO ONE!

Unlike other movies featuring characters like Iron man, Hulk blahblahblah, there is no need to see any previous Godzilla movie to enjoy this one. In fact, some might say to not see previous movies as they were horrible remakes. But is this movie in the same state?

Storyline 3/5

I would say that this entire movie storyline is just to lead up to the introduction of the above named creature. The appearance and role played by the above named creature is so essential that actually, when you reach the main climax of the movie, you don't really even bother about what the story line is about.

In fact, what the humans do in this show is completely senseless and insignificant in this show that you really don't see the need of the humans to be in this show in my opinion. Lets put it this way, the humans played zero relevance role in the fight against the monster in this show. They did absolutely nothing, but since this movie needs to start of with some human story and perspective, they did this put in a passable storyline to lengthen the time and get things started at best.

Don't come into this movie expecting amazing storyline with twists and turns.

Character 3/5

As said above, the storyline that involves the humans had little significance to the movie expect making it last longer. Add to this the fact that the movie considers almost everyone else to be expendable and does not see the need to add any background stories, there will be little affiliation to all the characters in the movie.

Add to that the fact that Godzilla is supposed to be mysterious in terms of origin and motive, you realize that at the end of the movie, you learn or understand little new things about Godzilla nor the people involved in this movie.

Cinematography 4.5/5

This is where the movie shines. In fact, this should be the reason you come and see this movie. If you wanna see how nice human technology stands up to creatures or rather, you wanna see complete obliteration of what humans can offer against these creatures, this is the movie you should see. 

The shots are epic and very awe inspiring. A lot of zoomed out shots but the way the story is told is also done uniquely. Sometimes by outward shots, and yet somethings via news reports and other times through the eyes of some of the people in the movie. This is probably the focus of the movie and the way the movie will immerse you.

Music 4/5

This movie has good music, or rather, this movie has a lot of BASS. And I mean ALOT. So much so that you might feel that Godzilla is right outside the theater stomping around. And this is probably good as it adds immersive value. The soundtrack in this movie also helps the overall feel of the movie justifying its above average score.

Spectacle 4/5

For the fans of Godzilla, this movie has provided all that has made Godzilla action so attractive to lovers of this creature. Those who don't know about Godzilla but like to feel the impact caused by huge monsters, this movie can provide that too. At the end, you will probably go off saying that this movie was "awesome". By awesome I don't mean totally great, but rather awe inspiring. You will know the difference if you see the movie.

As long as you can look past the average story line that at the end, you will probably have no feeling or regard for, you should be able to enjoy what this movie has to offer.


Overall
Storyline: 3 (Basically just the material that holds the movie together and allows progress. Nothing more then that)
Characters: 3 (No one is really important in the movie, no one is really elaborated upon.)
Cinematography: 4.5 (This is what you should see the movie for, and it was really obvious that effort was put into this)
Music: 4 (Good strong bass. Might even be too loud. But giant monsters ain't suppose to be quiet and weak sounding)
Spectacle: 4 (Fans will love it, action lovers too. Story lovers not so much. Godzilla movies was not really focused on story lines to be honest)

Overall: 3.7 (Fans of Godzilla as well as action fans will definitely like this flick. Storyline lookers not so much. For those who do not know Godzilla however, try to keep your expectations slightly lower, just expecting to see some pretty good movie shots and you should be sufficiently appeased at the end of the movie. Not a show that requires you to think too much, just a show that requires you to keep ur eyes and ears open, and enjoy the experience. If you can look at it like this, add to it the 2 hour movie price tag, it's a pretty worthwhile movie)

Agree with me on Godzilla? Comment over here if any!