Movies: Dr Strange

Movies: Dr Strange

Introduction
Yet another Marvel movie released from the vast story bank from the minds of Marvel. This time however, its not a sequel, but the introduction of a new character not yet seen in the previous movie. Dr Strange! Yes! Not Mr, not Miss, not Master, not Prof, but Dr. Most of the time, the doctors you hear about in the movies tend to be evil, like Dr Doom or Dr Frankenstein. But finally, you have a literal medical doctor and not the scientist (or mad scientist) kind of doctor in a movie. This plays importantly into the background introduction portion of the movie and what happened to the main character before introducing us into the world of multiverses and magic.

If you seen the trailers, you will have notice that this movie bears a bit of similarity to inception which was considered a pretty good movie. So how did Marvel perform for their version of inception? Lets break it down and find out...

Doesn't look very doctorly...

Storyline 4/5

Storyline was pretty strong in this movie. The movie took its time of introducing us to the main star alongside his background and character. Of course, as Marvel stories always go similar to other marvel origin stories, something happens and main character wants to do something about it. So somehow or other this character gets his power and faces his first big opponent and of course wins. (this is not a spoiler.. its expected okay!)

Nonetheless, the pace of the movie is fantastic and interspersed with not TOO much talking at one go. Therefore, it doesn't end up lulling u to sleep at any point of them and the things that are happening are distinct and interesting enough to not feel boring. There are also drops of good humor over the movie that makes the whole experience a enjoyable and good paced affair. There are many things that are introduced to the audience and it requires some listening and understanding, but does not become too confusing.

All in all, storyline is nothing ground breaking, but all it in all, it is told very well.

Characters 4.5/5

Character development of the main star, is fantastic. Other characters have a pretty good fleshed out background and do act in accordance to their personality. All the characters have their own believable principles and that adds a lot to helping the audience understand and reason out why things happen in this movie. The audience will be able to feel and understand better, why things are happening for the main characters (villain included) and this does add to the immersiveness of the movie.

Cinematography 4.5/5

This is clearly the draw of the movie. Not only does this movie provide exciting action scenes, there are epic airborne shots to show the hugeness of some of the characters in the marvel universe (no spoilers so you have to see it to find out) and also alot of world bending. Quite a lot of movies make the mistake of having too much action but lack of light or good focus on what is going on. This movie doesn't have that. Everything is positioned nicely and it is easy to follow what is going on.

The only little grouse i have that explains the .5 gap is that... it had a very good potential to go all out exciting action movie similar to avengers with a large scale battle but overall, there was big monster fight with tiny human kind of scenes, but no epic many on many fight scenes.

Music 4.5/5

Music and effects is quite strong in this movie and is a definitely an enhancement to the over all feel of the movie. Somewhat inceptionish also....which is a good thing.

Spectacle 5/5

There are already so many marvel movies and so many DC movies that are more or less playing around in the super powered action genre. To make your movie stand out and not be a cliched hero meets enemy and this and that happens till the heroes win, is not something easy to do. Of course if you took the comedic perception such as deadpool, you will have an easier time to stand out.

Dr Strange manages to do this also. It will still be an origin story, but the pace of the storyline and the style and direction of the movie is where it still manages to stand out. It uses the multiverse and worlds bending onto each other, mirror worlds to show that Marvel's magic scene can still be different enough from the current offerings and what we are used to. Hence, with the good paced story introducing us to the magical world and its practices, as well as the different fighting style and methods applied by people in this magical world, this movie is still able to stand out and shine.

Overall

Storyline: 4 (good paced storyline, but of course in the end it is a super hero origin and meeting his first villain story, just told slightly differently)
Character: 4.5 (character development for the main and important characters are strong, with good amount of time for most of them.)
Cinematography: 4.5 (Good fight scenes, good epic shots, good graphics and strong CGI)
Music: 4.5 (good music that enhances the movie experience)
Spectacle: 5 (as a movie set in the marvel universe, it is still told in a very good and distinct way and fights and cinematics are done very well)

Overall: 4.5 (a very clear score that states that if you are a marvel fan, you will not regret seeing this movie. If you are an action fan, you will still like this movie. The only person who does not like this movie will be a person who does not like action and the marvel franchise. Go ahead and see this movie, weekday or weeknights, it will be worth it. Also, apparently the movie was specifically made to fit the IMAX 3D screen. Hence, if you dun mind the extra cost, go ahead and watch it. For me the normal screen is still enjoyable enough)

Movies: Seoul Station

Movies: Seoul Station

Korea is starting to look like a very dangerous place with zombies coming out in Busan and now they have infected Seoul too. But this time, they have infected the animation world instead of the real world but because the train is no longer the main scene of the movie, you will get to see how the zombie apocalypse will work in a city setting... something that even "The Walking Dead" did not have much opportunity to dive into. (The Walking Dead story focuses not so much on the start of the zombie apocalypse and how it spread, but rather on the immediate aftermath and life after).

As you can see, its not real life film, but don't worry, Zombies are plenty

So how does this other angle into the world of korean zombies do overall? Lets break it down!

Storyline 4/5

The storyline in this movie is.... surprisingly interesting. It has a very good amount of twists and turns throughout the movie and being an anime, it is alright for characters to die... and in this movie.. dying is aplenty!

It also seems to be trying to tell another story about the real world by highlighting real world issues such as the homeless, the poor and those who are living more unfortunate lives even after contributing much in the past. Like many zombie movies, it shows the horror and what people do when driven to the brink and everyone starts becoming self serving. It also shows the result of what happens if you are "too noble" in the real world which may very well reflect the world today.

The only issue is that it did take slightly too long to get into the exciting portions of the movie from the beginning, but once it starts, the storyline remains exciting till the end.

Character 4/5

Characters are really interesting... all the time you will be suspecting whether this character would be the sacrificing type, or the self serving type and they are all unique and have their own backgrounds that explains why they choose to things they way they did.

Overall the characters are quite believable, although the world is slightly strangely empty and a bit too void of zombies.

Cinematography 3/5

Cinematography had its good and bad points.

Good, in that this movie action puts in SOME first person sights BUT sadly, it hardly uses this during the action or exciting scenes but rather to sort of try to help u immerse into the view you would see if u were really there... its quite a waste but in this case, this movie didn't end up becoming a jump scare kind of movie which may be the overall aim of the producer.

The bad point is the anime drawing and method is somewhat bit distracting as characters are clearly animation and not entirely human like at times. In a time whereby animation aims to be life like, this is a slight step backward.

Also, action scenes are just slightly underwhelming and never actually reaches the level of excitement of Train to Busan.

Music 4/5

Music is pretty good in this movie and it really helps to immerse and set the scene of the movie. They didn't try to do anything particularly special with the movie though hence keeping the score at 4.

Spectacle 3/5

In this movie's case, its unfortunate that it came after Train to Busan as it is clearly a more lower budget version of the movie. On the other hand, had there not been the Train to Busan, most likely there will not be as much as a hype to see this movie in the first place.

Like the Train to Busan, this movie does not JUST focus on the zombie survival method but rather more on the human / inhuman aspects of what would happen in a zombie apocalypse and its trying to tell us just a little bit more then how to survive. Hence the storyline aspect feels a bit more fleshed out and interesting.

Like what was said previously in the Cinematography section though, its action scenes does pale in comparison and it just does not have the same impact as the Train to Busan which is unfortunate given that you could actually do a lot in an animation. Guess CGI may actually be less resource intensive then animation or there is really a clear difference in budget.

Overall

Storyline: 4 (Surprisingly interesting and has good twists, but just took a bit longer to get exciting) 
Character: 4 (Good mix of characters with believable backgrounds)
Cinematography: 3 (Movie did attempt to make good shots, but it just did not go all the way and stand out above the crowd)
Music: 4 (Music is quite strong and added to the overall experience)
Spectacle: 3 (Its no Train to Busan and the score suffered if you would compare. Nonetheless, the storyline is still good enough as an alternative zombie story in korea)

Overall: 3.6 (It's a fair enough score... obviously with the weaker budget and lack of big names there are some hits to the overall quality of the movie. Nonetheless the storyline is still good enough to entertain someone who has seen the Train to Busan and is interested in how the other cities may have been like in the same situation. If you didn't really see it, or are not the animation loving type though, you can really go ahead and give this a miss as it does not really add anything to the world. It's also not a very strong action movie so don't go into this movie expecting human VS zombie type of action. If you are picking between this movie and Train to Busan however, go for Busan. This movie is only 1 and half hour long so try not to over expect...)

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: Independence Day Resurgence

Movies: Independence Day Resurgence

They are back again. The aliens that attacked us in 1996 are back to try again. This would be 20 years both in real life and according to the movie time line. So the movie has evolved from this

1996 Independence Day

to this

2016 Independence Day

Do you see any difference? Is there any difference for this movie from the one in 1996 to now? Read on and find out more. And No. This has completely nothing to do with Brexit. That's a difference kind of independence day.

Storyline 2/5

Let me explain the low score. Basically, the whole storyline and direction of this movie is almost similar to the previous movie in 1996. Yes the cast are changed, but everything that happens in the movie is very very similar to the proceedings of the previous movie with more or less just a different face.

Many things that happen in this movie does not make any logical sense in the first place either. I won't give spoilers in the movie but basically we could just say the main alien villain in this movie makes the stupidest decisions among the many other choices of things that they could do for world domination.

As expected (i don't think this will be a spoiler), the humans will win in the end but its not because of human ingenuity or innovation. It's just purely because the alien boss, for reasons unknown, does the stupidest thing that leads to their loss.

You will just feel that this is a movie rehash especially if you seen the previous one but even if you didn't, you will also feel that in the logical line of things, the storyline is forced and does not really entertain.

There are also a lot of time wasting redundant scenes of random other people that honestly, even if removed, will have little effect on the movie overall. At least 2 bunch of scenes that probably overall took up 20 minutes of screen time that could very well be used elsewhere.

Flow of the movie was also very unimpressive and uninteresting and really, given the boringness of some of the characters, honestly you could fall asleep. On the bright side, since the characters are not really adding any value to the movie, you could wake up and still follow the movie and not feel that you missed out anything because honestly, you didn't.

Character 2/5

Character development is horrible. Honestly, you will go through the entire movie, nearly hating everyone for how shallow they all are. There are so many characters that they want to utilise, both main and side characters, but all of the side characters have so little screen time and significance. 

The main characters are the typical "I hate you you hate me" at the beginning and then things happen and "I am now best buds with you" with the event that brings about this big change of heart being the most cliche thing you see in most movies.

All character relationships are not convincing and you will generally not bother or feel for the very forgettable characters in this movie.

Cinematography 3/5

This is probably the only thing that is going on for the movie. Destruction is epic and once the action gets on the way it is quite nice to see. But, it is nothing that would put this movie above the rest of the other movies that have been shown in the last few months. Add to that the overall lack of action scenes in general and it is that bit less entertaining.

It is supposed to be a very large spaceship, but this space ship is hardly utilised in any manner that would further boost the entertainment value of the movie which is a total waste. It is a war against the entire world, but no one else really participates.

Music 3/5

Music is fine, I will give that to them. There is a bit of nostalgia as some of the score is identical to the first one. But overall, it did not harm the experience but did not really add too much value to the movie either.

Spectacle 2/5

I would say especially for those who have seen the first movie, this movie will score very low both for storyline and action categories. Nothing it did this movie is really new, there is little development and you could very well go on to the third instalment (if they wanted) and this movie can just be totally ignored. Even if you have not seen this movie (since its 20 years ago), at most this movie can only be given a 3 instead as the storyline really lacks the coherence to draw u into the movie, the characters are forgettable and more or less expendable.

Overall

Storyline: 2 (Not a realistic or engaging storyline, follows the previous much too closely)

Character: 2 (Characters are hardly interesting and very forgettable)

Cinematography: 3 (When there is action, it is nonetheless quite nice to see. Pity the action scenes are too little in the first place)

Music: 3 (It's there, didnt hinder the entertainment value and added some value)

Spectacle: 2 (Didn't fare well for the storyline segment, action was fine, but in a period where every other movie has fantastic and more action scenes, this movie did not manage to stand out)

Overall: 2.4 (Quite an accurate description of the movie. In the end, it is really a forgettable movie, especially if you seen the first one cause its more or less identical. You can honestly just skip this movie and go on and wait to see if they make a third one. If you still want to see it though, just be prepared for the very ordinary story line and also be prepared to accept some not so logical parts of the movie. There are a lot of filler scenes in this movie that did not really add anything of interest to the movie.)

Movies: X-Men Apocalypse

Movies: X-Men Apocalypse

Introduction:

This would be the third movie in the rebooted X-men series of movies. The third one that will star the younger Magneto, Xavier as well as all many other characters. For those who are confused, X-men actually has had about 6 main X-men movies before this one, a few origin stories (with few more going to come out in the near future).

The first few of these movies were the one that starred the old guard and the most famous of which was Hugh Jackman who would then, thru these movies, become synonymous with Wolverine. So in sort, things happened in the first few movies, and more or less everyone died. So in X-men First Class, the storyline creators used Hugh again, to go back into time and this resulted in the alteration of the future. Note that this alteration means that the story after X-men First Class can and is very different from what had happened in the previous timeline that Hugh Jackman acted in. Therefore, they are able to start the whole story from scratch and tell it whatever way they want again. Nothing is set in stone and they pretty much can do anything they want to the X-men cinematic franchise from this point onwards.

X-men movies focuses on team work and team dynamics. Other movies tend to focus on other aspects of their movie characters to make it have their individual draw to the audience. Movies like Hulk focuses on the internal conflict of the person, Thor focuses on the god aspect coming from another planet, Iron man focuses on technology while Captain america focuses on super soldier and leadership aspects of the superhero world and their interaction with shield. Avengers on the other hand actually appeals to the same audience as the X-men but the advantage they have is that all the characters back stories are already fleshed out by the preceding movies. Hence X-men movies have a tough internal competitor that they would be competing with. So how did this movie perform when we break it down?

All the mutants, good and bad... and the ambiguous

Storyline 3/5

The story is quite standard, in fact, you it is kind of like pokemon whereby both sides, good and bad, spend some time going around the world getting their characters/heroes/mutants in the picture with Xavier on one side and Apocalypse on the other side. Then they just meet in the middle and start to duke it out.

You get to see many of the mutants with their various powers but all in all it is those mutants that we have already known for a long long time and as a result, the whole storyline is quite standard. There is no particular big twist and everything just progress "as expected"

The problem with the storyline is that the end is already more or less too obvious to be really exciting. Add to this that the movie focus is on storytelling of an already expected storyline, and the lack of action scenes, this movie is unable to really stand out far enough amongst the other movies out there.

Character 3.5/5

Character wise, I would say that we would already know most of their powers and there is nothing that will totally amaze the audience. Because they need to spend so much time recruiting new characters, all characters probably get only about 5 or 10 minutes of time as a introduction, and u see them again for another 5 minutes in their battle with each other and that is it. There is very little character building on both sides and the audience will not really feel for any of the characters at all.

That is really the problem with having too many characters in the movie, needing to introduce all of them, and yet trying to invest in the storyline all at one go. At the very least however, all the mutants are distinct and their powers are pretty varied so it is still exciting to the audience when you see them use their abilities. If only there were more screen time allocated to them using their power to the fullest potential though.

Cinematography 3/5

Sadly, this part got the movie down. For a movie that already has missed out a lot of opportunity for action portions, the further lack of using good action shots to entertain during the action portions itself made this movie quite ordinary. The only slightly good scene was the quicksilver scene but when it got to the main fight, it lost the steam a bit too quickly. Lots of lost opportunities there.

Music 3/5

Music was ordinary, I was not able to pick out the music being particularly beneficial to what was happening during the movie itself but at least it didn't harm the experience either.

Spectacle 3/5

Unfortunately, this was the main killer of the movie itself. Being a marvel film, everyone would already have a set expectation (which probably is gonna be quite high). On the storyline sense, unfortunately, this movie has the difficult job of setting the new stage right for the new X-men timeline but it was entirely, ordinary, collect your mutant style with too little twists. From the action aspect it also suffered greatly. Basically, every mutant is a 1 or 2 trick pony with just about 3 - 5 mins of them using their power in the entire movie. The ordinary cinematography also did the movie no favors and in the end, its the very much expected everyone just dump their power on the main bad guy and see him explode kind of movie. If it did not have any competition in the movie market, this may have been good enough, but in a world with avengers and DC comics coming up with their own movies, this movie did not really enthrall the viewer enough.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (Pretty obvious and uneventful storyline with too little twists to keep things interesting)

Character: 3.5 (Sure there are many mutants, and all their powers are distinct, but much opportunity was lost as they did not have the time to showcase their powers)

Cinematography: 3 (Lack of good shots for action scenes except that very one quicksilver scene)

Music: 3 (Ordinary music, did not harm but mostly did not support the movie either)

Spectacle: 3 (Unfortunately, they tried to focus on storyline which was overall too weak and obvious. Action wise, they did not manage to captialize. It wasn't bad, but neither was it any much more then average)

Overall: 3.1 (Well the score is quite telling of whether you should or should not see the movie. Basically, its a average movie, that you won't really call a total waste of your time, but there is no need to really make the time to see the movie if you don't have the spare time. Nothing much really happened this movie (you could just start the next movie with no impact from this movie) and the action did not really pull the audience in. The fact that people who already seen the other x-men movies would not really be impressed by this alternate retelling of the movie and the way the mutant powers are utilized as everything happens in a very ordinary, expected manner. You can go ahead and see it if you have the time, but if not, wait for the next one and DVD it if you needed to before the next movie.)

Well? What did you think of this movie? Did it hold a candle to the avengers series? Let me know in the comments!

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: Zootopia

Movies: Zootopia

Introduction

What do you get when you combine Zoo with utopia? What would a world where there are no humans and we are all some type of animal be like? Would be good to be a nice fearsome lion right? Or maybe a cool tiger? Or even a cute panda? But what if you got the short end of the stick? This movie tells you exactly how it would be like to be on the short end of the stick i.e. a bunny living in a world where everything else is bigger. stronger and more complex! Fortunately, there are still tinier animals like hamsters but where would they live in this Zootopia? The movie follows the dreams of this tiny bunny as she aims to be in a job that does not seem to be suited for her which is a police bunny. So how well did this movie frame this zootopian world? Read on to find out

SOOO MANY ANIMALS!~! which would u be?

Storyline 4.5/5

Storyline is the main focus of this movie and it does a rather charming job. From the beginning you are introduced to the bunny with her lofty ideals and how it does not match with the real world. Especially if you are able to identify with her on a personnel level (cause it does mirror what happens everyday i.e. discrimination) you will be able to enjoy the movie even more.

The storyline is really direct in that the bunny is just trying to prove herself, but the journey there is fraught with a good amount of twists and turns carefully put together and remains still very much believable. This results in a movie that does not bore you as new facts and information are presented. This is something that you don't always see in a disney movie. The movie remains funny and never too stressful throughout which is good for the kids (there are kids movie where the younger kids ended up crying... thats not what you usually want)

The movie also does  a fantastic job introducing you to the zootopian world and fleshes it out in a way that will entertain and thrill its viewers. It manages to incorporate quite a good mix of animals in the movie and provides a snippet on how they will live their lives throughout the movie. 

Character 4/5

The interaction between the cast of the movie is extremely well done and it challenges a few stereotypes as well as enforces and links some other stereotypes in a very creative and fun way. You will have fat cheetahs, predators being preyed on and on the other hand you will also have the slowest of creatures working in the DMV which is what real life is like!

Only small qualm is that this movie is fully focused on its two main characters and the rest are all really just supporting roles. They could very much be expanded upon for more entertainment value but nonetheless you will definitely be able to empathize with what the main characters go thru.

Cinematography 4/5

There are good shots throughout the movie to introduce you to the daily happenings in zootopia and the flow of the movie is quite consistent never ending up feeling draggy. Good amounts of flashback scenes to tell the story more convincingly. Of course this movie is not a action movie so there is little emphasis there but for a animated family movie, it does do a good enough job for all members of the family to enjoy

Music 4/5

As expected from disney movies, it has good music. However it is different from the fairytale type of movie and you will not hear the main characters do any singing. Its not THAT type of disney movie. There is a good piece from Gazelle (Shakira) that brightens up the entire mood of the movie! Thats the impact that good music in good places have on the experience.

Spectacle 4/5

For a movie that focuses on the family experience and the storyline, this movie does really really well! It has a lot of cute animals and bright colors that appeal very strongly to the younger crowds and the storyline is not excessively simple till it is boring to the adults. In fact it is stronger then some of the more serious movies out there. Overall, it does well in this aspect and given it is introducing a new world (which makes it even easier to retain interest of the audience) it really sets the mind thinking how different a world would be if it humans were replaced with animals inclusive of the vast differences between all of them. Did not get higher points then this because it did not really do anything that would put it in a class of its own although all its main aims to entertain the family are very much well met.

Overall

Storyline: 4.5 (very interest storyline complete with a good amount of twists and turns to entertain even the adults)

Character: 4 (quite a lot of colorful characters in this movie, however, most of the emphasis is on the main characters only and leaves just that little room for improvement)

Cinematography: 4 (not an action film so nothing too earthshattering, however, it does have good epic shots that help show you what zootopia is like and it adds to the experience)

Music: 4 (As per disney movie fashion, good music, but its not a full on music experience just yet...)

Spectacle: 4 (Meets the requirements of appealing to all members of the family unit due to its strong storyline as well as entertaining and colorful characters)

Overall: 4.1 (A very safe and enjoyable movie experience for the entire family unit. Adults seeing it will not be bored either due to its good storyline while the kids can enjoy the fun animals and their interactions. It's no action show however and for pure adults or couples, as long as you are looking for a good, light hearted storyline it will be entertaining to you. As it is introducing a alternate world, it is even more easy to get into as you get to see how this new world functions. Even draws some parallels to the real world for those who like to look deeper into things. Overall, fun for the whole family and to the occasional couple who wants to find something to pass time with.)

Movies: The 5th Wave

Movies: The 5th Wave

Introduction

Don't fret don't fret, if you think you missed the 1st to 4th wave! This movie starts clearly at the 5th wave! In fact, the movie will go on and tell you all about the first, second, third and fourth wave and what is the state the world is currently.

In a market where there are tons of alien movies, end of world movies and zombie movies, is this movie able to stand out from the rest? Well, one plus point is that this movie combines the alien and end of world segment but of course no zombies in this movie.... yet.

Here's the poster!

Its pretty accurate that this movie focuses on these two

So how did this movie perform if we break it up? Let's take a look and see

Storyline 4/5

This movie has a lot of things going for them. It is a new fresh story and a fresh world, which means it is easier to keep the audience intrigued as it fleshes out the current world. It also can spend a bit of time telling about how did the world end up the way it did which will entertain fans of end of the world type of movies.

It also did a good job in having two different main story lines which means that the minds of the audience are kept absorbed by two things that are happening together to tell the entire story. The story flow overall is pretty good and entertaining as it introduces people and the world and there are not too many slow moments that will cause the audience to be bored.

That being said, the storyline also has a bit of a twist towards the end of the movie that makes it that more entertaining with that little bit of surprise and keeps everything quite exciting till the end.

Character 3.5/5

Character development is pretty alright as many of the people are new and need a bit of time to be introduced for the audience to feel any kind of attachment. Time is not on the side of this movie however due to the amount of storyline it has to go through and although you would see the story of about 4 or 5 characters fleshed out pretty well, the rest would be just another person in the group kind of person.

Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography is pretty good in this movie with epic shots of disasters and when it gets to the action part, you would see that quite  a bit of effort is put into the action scenes. The movie however is a storyline focused movie and not so much an action type of movie so there is still a lot of improvement potential.

Nonetheless, it uses the best cinematography form most of the time but does not capitalize and use it more to further immerse the audience.

Music 3/5

Did not really notice the music in this movie as nothing really stood out and no music was used distinctly to push some kind of emotion or feeling to the audience. At least nothing that I noted.

Spectacle 4/5

There are a lot of end of world movies. There are also alot of alien movies. This movie uses aliens to showcase their version of the end of the world which makes the story that bit more distinct and quite entertaining to the fresh audience. It does not excel in action or cinematography and although it does put in effort in the storyline it does not stand uniquely at the top amongst the other movies out there. But put all together, this movie does provide something slightly more different and it translate to a bit of a more enjoyable experience.

First movies of trilogy tend to always do well as it has a great unique source material but as we go into the second and third movie (that may or may not happen), we will see if this movie is able to keep up the interest and the immersion.


Overall

Storyline: 4 (Fresh story line, two interlinked focal point that keeps things interesting)
Character: 3.5 (Main characters have a fair bit of screen time and development but the rest are all pretty forgettable)
Cinematography: 4 (Good choices of shots to bring about epicness and action but really could have more opportunity)
Music: 3 (Music is ordinary, a bit too ordinary and did not feel its particular impact)
Spectacle: 4 (Unique joining of two main type of stories but it did not really pull far out from the offerings you would have seen before)

Overall: 3.7 (Overall, its a good attempt to draw in two types of movies which is the end of world and alien typed movies, and it is done with good shots and a good storytelling method. However the main aim of the movie which is to story tell, uses story line that is not TOO far off what has been shown on the big screen. Did have that bit of a twist in the storyline to keep things fun and entertaining and indeed it is good while it lasted. With a long movie time this is worth the time if you do have time to spare. Not a must see at this point of time and you could wait for the next movie to come out first if there ever will be, but you won't really regret seeing this movie too)

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.)

Food: Wang Dae Bak

Food: Wang Dae Bak

There are many different type of BBQ that you would experience in your time. There is the traditional BBQ where you go to the beaches and have a nice charcoal fire and cook stuff like chicken, satay, hotdogs etc. Then there is the Thai BBQ which is also known as Mookata. Then you have the Korean BBQ. Korean BBQ is distinguished from the other type of BBQ by the style. For Korean BBQ, you will see much less sauces unlike the Chinese steamboats like in Haidilao and other steamboats in Chinatown. Korean BBQ is also distinguished by the larger meat sizes and the presence of scissors. Usually for Korean BBQ you will be able to see large meat slabs like steak, and then they will give you scissors to cut it down to size.

Wang Dae Bak is one of those Korean BBQ but Ala carte style situated in Chinatown area. There are two stores under the same name pretty close to each other but for the purpose of this review we will be talking about the one along Cross Street. The other store is along Amoy Road.

So how did the food go, read on and find out.

Charcoal BBQ. NO GAS!

The two possible location, mine was Cross st.

The menu cover. Looks premium.

Food 4.5/5

We ordered two different types of meat, rice wine, a mushroom set and also a seafood pancake for a 2 person meal.

For all patrons, similar to other Korean establishment, Korean side dishes are also provided at no additional charge and are refillable. They also give some sort of water that is not your normal tap water although for all intents and purposes it did just take like water.

The side dishes choice

The side dishes tasted pretty good, in fact one of nicest bunch of side dishes I have ever eaten from a korean restaurant. It tasted authentic and didn't taste like something just out of a pre packaged container. Nonetheless the 3 side dishes at the back, I had no clue what they were and didn't touch them at all. But since none were chargable, it's all good.

The next interesting thing about the food portion of this is that for all the hot plates, there are two sections that they will fill and refill with eggs. So depending on how cooked you like it, you can wait longer or eat them liquid. Of course just as the problem with hot plates, it will happily get stuck to the side but since its refillable its probably no issue.

Liquid egg cooking in the hot plate. Yum yum

The taste of the egg wasn't the usual also in a good sense. It tasted pretty nice as if they had added something else to it. It's a good additional touch and I didn't see this in any other korean BBQ shop.

 Before we get into the main dish proper, this was one of the other side dish that we ordered, the seafood pancake.

Note: Its more like chinese carrot cake then pan cake.

Do note, this pan cake is huge and should not be eaten by just 2 persons. Or else you will have no other room in your belly for the other dishes. That and eating too much of the same pancake also gets kinda stale in terms of the taste. This pancake size is probably meant for 4 or more people. The sauce however, was one of the nicer sauces I have eaten.

Now lets get into the main dishes. there was a good selection, from beef, pork to chicken choices with various grades and prices. The portions did seem to varies also. I honestly was surprised that the portion was so small. Take a look at the meat on the wooden holder on the top right. Yep that is one portion. The meat right one the hot pan, yep also one portion. But we will scrutinize this further later.

Ah the traditional korean BBQ meat

How it looks when it is cooked, look at the egg

Taste wise however, this would probably be one of the better tasting meat I have tasted. My general impression of korean BBQ is that the meat slabs are generally tasteless or at least are not marinated, and if I am not mistaken, these meat were not or did not seem marinated too. However, the overall taste of the meat was pleasing and I did enjoy the taste.

Rice wine and serving cup

 Let me just state clearly, I am not a wine or alcohol drinker. I think I do not have taste buds for alcohol and so far, all the alcohol that I have drunk has never tasted pleasing to me in the end. Nonetheless, at least the presentation is cute for this rice wine and all in all, I did not factor this into the rating to be fair.

 Overall, the food has a premium taste to it and it is generally better then that you get outside. Also the no fuss choices and variety that it has to cater for tastes and budget. You will probably go home thinking that this meat is indeed a step above the usual.

Atmosphere 3.5/5

Charcoal. They mean it.

Like what was said in their name card, they proudly proclaim that their food is cooked by charcoal and I am compelled to believe that cooking with charcoal does add some difference to its taste. This adds to the overall enjoyment of the food. Wait! what are you asking? Does the charcoal make you smell?

Go away charcoal smell!

Thankfully, there is this nifty device that i am sure you seen before in other restaurants to help you in this aspect. Actually, in the end, I still did smell of charcoal although I would have to say that the suction device probably did help me slightly. So if you plan to come here to eat, make sure you are prepared to go back directly after, or you concoct some way to remove the smell after.

Water???

Here was the water that  I was talking about early. Free flow, but its not transparent. With the korean words in front it would seem that this might not jsut be like water, although it tastes more or less the same thing. Nonetheless, adds to the korean experience.

Service wise, the personnel here are fine, and will respond IF you managed to get their attention. However it seems like their store might have been slightly understaffed on that day and the staff were focused on getting tasks done, so there would be some bit of effort that you will need to put in to get them. But once you get them, they will attend promptly and solve your problems

Another additional perk was towards the end of our meal, the staff (might have been boss) placed a bowl of veggie / cold dish veggie on our table. I had no clue what it was but it was not charged and I guess was just a token of appreciation from the kitchen. (or we were just guinea pigs testing out new food) Unfortunately, we were too full, (I repeat again do not buy the pancake if you are just two people) and we didn't have the stomach to try it.

Personal space is pretty good and you won't feel like you are too near other people's table during your meal. They even allow you to keep your bags in the chair you sit on! So the only way your things get stolen is OVER MY FAT BODY! Or if you just forget to take it back cause its out of sight and out of mind.

Price 3/5

This part is basically the deal breaker. This place is not a place I would consider cheap. For two pax we ate about SGD $110 for 2 types of meat, 1 mushroom set, 1 seafood pancake and 1 rice wine. If we were to factor out the rice wine which is about 20 dollars it would be 90 for 2 people which is 45 per pax. My only issue is that the meat amount is really low as you saw in the food section. For some reasons, the other meat choices that we saw were served, seemed to have a larger portion then ours but at the end, we didn't feel like we ate enough of the meat and for some reason felt like we had to ration our way through.

We did not order more meat because the seafood pancake (again) was a killer and it made us well stuffed. So you know what to do with the pancake... Nonetheless, it was good that the side dishes, water and egg were not charged which makes the place seem less greedy overall.

Accessibility 3/5

With it's location near a MRT station near the central of the country, it is safe to say that this place is quite accessible. There are a few parking lots nearby and you can always call to book places (in fact i would recommend u do that). Do note that when we ended our meal around 7, there was already a crowd building. The good point about ala carte BBQ is that people will not stay as long, but still, being a small place and even two people groups will take out their common table that can sit up to 4, it might take you awhile to get to your seat if you come too late. The waiting area is also outside and you can see other people eating so it will be hot and slightly torturous. Do plan properly and maybe just save yourself the hassle and book.

Do note that the place is not entirely easy to find and even from the MRT you will need to walk a little more then 5 minutes to get there. Chinatown MRT is generally getting a bit more messy and harder to navigate in the recent years

Overall

Food: 4.5 (Food definitely tastes premium, pricey and nice)

Atmosphere: 3.5 (Good attempt with some hiccups or places to improve, but it will not frustrate you so it is somewhat acceptable)

Price: 3 (Premium taste comes with premium price, and somewhat small portion at least to me)

Accessibility: 3 (Near the MRT, there are parking lots but there will be the queue. At least you can reserve it. Try to go only after you did reservations)

Overall: 3.5 (It's a good place to try once in your life to have an idea of how authentic korean BBQ should taste like although the price you pay is somewhat more steep. All in all a place you should go at least once in your life to try, and if you think that the price and taste is there, you can come more often. In my opinion however, this will be a place more reserved for those rare special occasions and not a place you will select to go on a whim or a craving.)

Thanks again for reading my post. Hope you guys find this place useful. If you have other recommendations please comment and I may take a look at them when I am thinking of places to go!