Movies: Lucy

Movies: Lucy

Here's a movie that is hit or miss, but before that, its time to commemorate 10,000 views on my page which i believe many of whom are repeat viewers for newest updates on movies or other reviews. Thanks for all your support and I don't plan to stop reviewing on stuff anytime soon and you can always feel free to give me some inspiration on what can be reviewed. That being said, I actually do have a bit of backlog on things to review so there actually is content as long as there is time to type it all out.

But back to Lucy! For those who do not know, this movie is about a woman who is finally able to unlock all the way to 100% of her brain and it follows her story as her brain usage increases from the original 15-20% all the way to 100%. As more of her capabilities are unlocked, she starts doing stranger things. Is this movie worth the hype? It was pretty heavily advertised and casual movie goers should know about it. But how did it perform according to our criteria?

Storyline 3/5

I would pretty much say that the storyline makes or breaks this entire show. This is the main focus of the show and it has a proper solid direction which is from 20% up to 100%. However, its so far into sci-fiction that it starts too lose a bit of coherence and does not really make sense. The whole concept of the movie is not really that logical and so it is somewhat hard to appreciate.

What I am basically saying is do not expect this movie to make sense, and maybe you can enjoy the ride. There is a storyline, there is a flow but it will not make sense and you will have no clue how come the movie started up like this, and ended up like that. That's probably all I can say without spoiling the movie because if I reveal the end of the movie its not worth seeing anymore.

I would say that only a rare minority will actually like what happens in the end of the movie while the rest will feel that their movie experience is unfulfilled.

Character 2.5/5

Sad to say, throughout the entire movie, none of the characters are actually appeal to me and neither am I concerned with any of them at all. The movie also doesn't care about much character development either with the main villain suddenly becoming very adept at using guns? It leaves too many things unexplained

All characters seem to be just put in there with no major important part in the movie except Lucy. Nothing impressive and nothing memorable.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Probably the one any only good point of this movie was that it told the story in a unique manner and there are some good shots to help the telling of the story. But its not really an action flick so its nothing superb either.

Shootouts were unimpressive and only thing that was action like was a single car chase scene

Music 3/5

Music was there, it added somewhat to the experience but it didn't save the movie from keeping the audience immersed in it.

Spectacle 3/5

It didn't stand out amongst the sci-fi genre cause personally I feel that sci-fiction still needs to be grounded in some logicality while this movie just throws away everything and explains too little. Action wise it was pretty one sided most of the movies with the only appreciable action scene being the car chase. That scene was done somewhat to quite a high standard with cars flying all over but that was pretty much it.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (Was there to keep the story going but no major amazing twists and left much explained and some stuffs just didn't make sense even with stretching of the imagination)

Character: 2.5 (Felt almost no connection to any of the characters in the movie, guess cause its main focus was on Lucy who was also pretty ordinary and unimpressive)

Cinematography: 3.5 (Had some good shots and a single good car chase scene but that was it)

Music: 3 (Was there, but was not able to salvage anything)

Spectacle: 3 (Is passable for both genres being action and sci-fi but nothing extraordinary)

Overall: 3 (It's probably gonna be a hit or miss for you but I would say that only a minority of the population will actually enjoy this flick as there are too many shortcomings such as a not so coherent and plausible storyline even taking into account that it is a fiction movie, as well as lack of good action scenes. Maybe you could try going in with a open mind, and not having too much expectation except to see one nearly-plausible explanation of what happens if us humans use 100% of our brain)

Thanks again for your support on my reviews and I hope that it has helped you make your movie going decisions!

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: Guardians of the Galaxy

Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy

Another movie by marvel...

Wait what??

Who are all these people?!?! A green woman?? A kratos from "God of War"?? A Trent lost from Lord of the rings and WHAT!! A raccoon/squirrel/mouse/hamster???

Where is my Iron man, Captain America and ever so sexy black widow?!?!

Welcome to Guardians Of the Galaxy! The so called "Avengers of the Universe" as opposed to Avengers of Earth which are what we are familiar with being Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, the archer guy who doesn't have a show of his own and so on.

This is Marvel's first introduction into something rather different in the Marvel universe, no longer technology as in iron man, no longer gods as in Thor but rather, more like a star war styled movie.

In fact, this movie follows quite closely to those usual science fiction movie. So does the introduction of all these new people add much value to the show? Is it as good as the Avengers or X-men all of which are from Marvel? Read on to find out more.

Storyline 3/5 

The movie starts out pretty alright, starting off at earth to give the background story of the "captain america" of the galaxy guardians which is Star-Lord who is the leader in this gang. Then it moves on and gets them into prison and things happen and big bad guy with big bad dreams comes out and wants to destroy some stuff!

This is the common storyline for many many many science fiction show. Unfortunately, when put in its entirety because the Galaxy Guardian characters are not all like the heroes in our other Marvel universes, this movie is pretty close to an alternate version of Starwars.

The storyline is not horrible, but its just not entirely impressive. It's not boring as in that there are various different things that happens throughout the movie but all the things that happen has happened in many other movies before.

Some other things that happened during the movie also are right there at the unbelievable which takes away from the reality or immersion of the movie because you cannot really believe that such things will happen.

Character 4/5

The characters in the movie are in general pretty different from each other, not because of they have different skills (which they don't really have) but because of their different looks from each other. All the main characters have a different skin color. Just take a look at the poster. Human skin, red skin, green skin, furry and tree bark.

With reference to the abilities, there are a few special abilities mainly the tree and this other blue guy who is not one of the guardians, but an interesting character nonetheless. The producers did try to differentiate the characters from each other somewhat, but the human, red skin and green skin persons all in all are pretty similar unlike what you expect from avengers or x-men.

Cinematography 3.5/5

There are good action scenes as well as epic scenes of space and sky which is pretty good and for those characters with special abilities, they get their bit of screen time. However, you will realise that there are even more opportunities to show off more effects and to make things more fun especially for the main bad guy but the movie does not take its full potential to go one step further.

It does a good job as a scifi show, but did not exploit its Marvel aspect to make it more of a super human or super powered movie.

Music 4/5

This movie uses a lot of music as part of the story plot and not just to enhance its action scenes. Some of the music lyrics fit the situation of the movie and as such gave the show some entertainment value. Realism value on the other hand, took a bit of a hit due to its unorthodox use of music.

Spectacle 3.5/5

All in all, the movie did a above average job in terms of action and character diverseness as in the Marvel universe. Its not the top of the class for either though. Storyline wise was fine at least keeping most of the audience entertained all the way to the end. Those looking for a truly unique storyline however might not be able to see it.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (A bit too unrealistic for my liking. Its entertaining, but not entirely refreshing)
Character: 4 (Many diverse characters, but really could have highlighted or made them even more distinct)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Good exciting shots, but it seems more of just a scifi show as compared to a MARVEL sci fi show)
Music: 4 (Interesting use of music and fitting to the movie adding some value to it)
Spectacle: 3.5 (Above average in action and character uniqueness but far from being the top of its class)

Overall: 3.6 (All in all a good entertaining show from the Marvel world but if you don't put the Marvel License to it, it is nothing more then just another science fiction show. Marvel movies can do more then that. Storyline holds it back a bit being too ordinary but that is probably how the books got it written. Will be interesting to those who has never seen super heroes in space but those who seen other space movies like Star wars especially, won't be too impressed with the story especially since they seem to prefer to take the entertaining/fun storyline as compared to a realistic storyline. You won't regret seeing this movie as it is still entertaining as long as you are not expecting a totally unique storyline and just want to see the good effects.)

There is an after credits scene so stay tune all the way to the end.. as usual it signals a POSSIBLE new movie/character that may appear in the next movie. This new character is a really really unique one... more unique then a raccoon.. that's what I can say