I wasn't as excited to see this film as my wife was but I still really wanted to see it. I'm very glad I did too because it was a fantastic movie. Here's my review!
We start off meeting Hiro and Tadashi Hamada two genius brothers. Hiro is the younger 14 year old brother and uses his brains for the wrong things such as robot fighting. Tadashi is the older fatherly brother who works at a technology university. Using his brains to help mankind. After Tadashi killed in a fire set by "The Masked Man," Hiro takes it upon himself to use his intelligence to catch his brothers killer.
The film takes place in a futuristic city of San Fransokyo, A hybrid city of San Francisco and Tokyo. I thought the city was beautiful. If there's one thing I absolutely love about Pixar movies is the worlds they create for their story to take place and San Fransokyo definitely does not disappoint.
Speaking of things that don't disappoint, I absolutely LOVED Baymax. Only Disney can find a way to make a fighting robot cute and huggable. He's incredibly funny. He was initially a healthcare robot but Hiro upgraded him to better fight "The Masked Man" and basically to defend himself in general. Some really funny back and forth dialog with Baymax and Hiro. Baymax was also the last creation of Tadashi, so Hiro feels like its that much more crucial that Baymax helps him take down "The Masked Man" and uncover his identity and becomes consumed by it.
I'm going to say parts of the film that I didn't like but its going to be very nit-picky. These are all things that I noticed but really had no affect on how I enjoyed the movie.
I felt some of the characters were slightly unnecessary. I don't know, did we really need Wasabi and Honey Lemon? Another thing I noticed, and I wouldn't even call this a negative, is that the villain in this movie doesn't really leave a mark on you. The film seems to be more about Hiro struggling with himself, not letting revenge take over him and change him. Don't get me wrong, "The Masked Man" is pretty cool villain, but he will have little affect on you.
I have to say this movie is my personal favorite since The Incredibles. Its funny, you'll laugh, you might even cry as you watch this 14 year old boy deal with the death of a loved one and the friendship he gains with this lovable fighting healthcare robot.
8.5/10
What did you think of the movie? Leave a comment below and let me know!
By the way did anyone else notice this Stan Lee cameo?
As a fan of the first How To Train Your Dragon I was beyond excited to see this film. I absolutely loved Toothless and his puppy-like behavior. I liked the teaser trailers with Hiccup flying along side Toothless with a lot of great flight shots that really captured the characters sense of freedom while in the sky. After seeing the film I found out the movie captures all of that and more.
The movie takes place 5 years after the first film. Hiccup's relationship with his love interest Astrid has grown strong and his relationship with Toothless has never been stronger. The whole island of Berk is now filled with dragon rider vikings that now have dragons incorporated into they're every day life. The beginning of the movie is the dragon duo spending most of their time traveling the world discovering and naming new locations they find. Through they're travels they discover an ice cave filled with dragons and a skilled dragon rider that reveals herself to be Hiccup's mother. They also learn of a new enemy named Drago who controls dragons through fear and means to build a dragon army.
All the old cast returns along with some really talented new actors to bring their own style to the mix. Djimon Hounsou, Cate Blanchett and Kit Harington come on the screen bringing their characters to life and helping expand this world of dragons.
One thing the film does very well is that nothing strays off from the first movie events so that it doesn't make sense. Adding Hiccup's mother was a great touch. Valka's real purpose in the film is to show why Hiccup is the way he is. Taking after her in every single way. She also brings some new elements to the dragon knowlege such as the hierarchy of alphas to regular dragons. Even taught Hiccup and thing or two about Toothless.
There were a few moments in the movie that were a little intense and sometimes emotional. The most emotional and intense scene is when Stoick gets killed by sacrificing himself to save Hiccup. Not just killed but killed by a mind controlled Toothless, thanks to Drago. I found myself stunned, sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what Hiccup was going to do.
Drago's character was a little under developed. Not having much of a motive for his actions other than just to be king of the dragons and rule the world. Djimon Honsou is one of my favorite actors because he can bring that intensity so its a shame they did not execute that in his performance. I'm pretty sure he only knew Hiccup collectively for about an hour so its not like there was any kind of connection between those two either. The only real purpose of this character was to show that loyalty is stronger than fear when it comes to dragons.
One of the things that I was annoyed with in the movie was all the friends, (Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout) They all seemed a bit pointless. Other then a few conveniences, I don't think the movie would have suffered at all if they weren't in the movie altogether.
The kindred spirits Hiccup and Toothless showed everyone that the bond between a kid and his dragon has never been stronger. Toothless overcoming the mind control was predictable but very forgivable given the fact that the alpha dragon barely missed killing Hiccup and killing his father with Toothless via mind control. Did NOT see that coming.
All in all I completely loved the film. Toothless is funny and cute, incredible visuals and flying action sequences. I saw it in 2D but I think I would have liked the visuals better in 3D personally but that's just me. Go see it!
8/10
*SIDE NOTE* I will be posting the video review tomorrow at https://www.youtube.com/user/filmbagmoviechat
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments below!
Growing up with a lot of these classic films like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, I am a big fan of the new trend of these "Disney made dark" films. Which are mainly focused on the villain. Snow White and the Huntsman is a good example of a previous one. Which was mediocre all around film, great performance by Charlize Theron, poor story and brilliant special effects. Maleficent was no different.
Casting Angelina Jolie was the best thing Disney could have done. Jolie portrayed Maleficent so perfectly, capturing how misunderstood the character is and really showing all of the hurt this character has with her performance. She definitely was born to play this character and most will agree has the best performance in the film.
The story is not horrible don't get me wrong. There are just a lot of parts for kids and it is a family movie nonetheless so you just have to remember that when you go into the theater. One thing I really didn't like about the movie is the king. I wasn't sure where they were trying to go with that character. First he was a loving father turned mad king, which worked but the thing he was obsessed about was his daughter being safe because he loves her so much, then when he finally sees her 16 years later he doesn't hug her back after she puts her arms around him and locks her up out of his sight? Basically the character progression didn't make sense.
Another thing I absolutely could not stand about the film was the fairy godmothers. They were extremely annoying and ultimately useless to the movie. They were supposed to watch the princess but they couldn't have ADD or something. Even leaving the baby outside crying at one point. To sum it up they are worst possible people to have watch your child ever. Besides Maleficent, who by the way, WATCHES THE KID HER WHOLE LIFE.
Great job fairy godmothers!
I really really loved the back story of Maleficent. I thought it was a great and fresh new look on the classic Sleeping Beauty villain. Even teaches at the end when Maleficent is the one who actually falls in love with Aurora and is actually her true love over the prince that girls don't need a prince to be happy. They just need someone to support them through life's lemons. I enjoyed the importance of Maleficent's wings. From the moment the king cut them off of her you find yourself rooting for her. Hoping that one day she gets them back. Jolie's performance and emotions beautifully delivers that.
Like I said before, this movie is visually breath taking. Disney never fails to capture the magic in anything they do. As Maleficent is soaring through the this magical world you get that child-like sense of wonder that Disney is known to bring out in adults.
Elle Fanning is growing into a fantastic young actress. I thought she played a Princess Aurora perfectly and was exactly the princess you'd picture from the fairy tales. I have always liked her performances so far. It'll be nice to see her grow as an actor and to see where her career leads her.
Overall I'd have to say this movie is a good all around movie but a great family movie. Definitely go check it out if you get the chance.
7.5/10
Let me know how you feel about this review or the movie in general in the comment section below! Thanks for reading!
One of my favorite movies ever is Taken with Liam Neeson. It has kind of given me a soft spot for bad ass old guys who can kick ass, so I was really excited to see this movie. I'm a big fan of Kevin Costner and Amber Heard and I thought it would be awesome to mix her sexiness with his bad assness.
Nope. This movie was pretty bad. Before I go in to it I just want to say that it was in no way Kevin Costner's fault. He was good in it and so was Amber Heard but the movie was so badly written. I found myself forcing my way through the movie. Gah. So bad!
Amber Heard's character has absolutely no depth to her. She is basically a horrible caricature of a secret agent woman. As soon as Kevin's character Ethan got into the car with her so they can "take a ride" she went like 80mph everywhere in the city and said smart ass comments the whole time. Also, you can never really tell if shes good or bad. One minute she seems like a genuine good person with her "miracle cure drug" and one minute you don't know if shes going to shoot him in the face or not. Such an under-developed character.
My problem with this film is that it has way too many emotional stories that fail at going anywhere. One story is him dying and being a secret agent. Another story is of him being a secret agent and connecting with his daughter. Another story of him dying and using the time left to connect with his daughter, and this very random African family that are "squatting" in his home? You see them once at the beginning of the movie and a little boy somewhat through out and then at the end when one of the women has a baby and its supposed to be emotional. The film would have been 10 times better if you take out Amber Heard's character and that squatter family. Just have him being a secret agent and trying to connect with his daughter. Another problem I had was that Ethan got his family WAY too involved with his secret agent life. On a dangerous level. You are never supposed to to tell the bad guys your real name or hand them a phone and say, "talk to me daughter Zooey."
Oh and the saying "3 Days to Kill" had nothing to do with anything! The significance of it was that Ethan said to his daughter, "Your mothers not going to be back until Wednesday (I'm paraphrasing the day)" and his daughter says, "well looks like we have 3 days to kill." BOOM.
I'm not going to bash on the movie the whole time though. There are some redeemable parts in the film. Ethan is pretty bad ass when he has to be and some of the fight scenes and shoot outs were cool. Like I said Kevin Costner is a great actor. I hold no fault to him. I thought the Hailee Steinfield did a good job. Amber Heard wasn't bad but her character was just awful.
If you loved the movie that's great and I'm glad somebody did but for me it was a miss. If you haven't seen it yet then....I don't know, rent it? Wait for it to be on Netflix? Definitely don't buy it.
So you have been waiting to see a certain film for months now. You get to the movies, purchase your popcorn and soft drink or whatever you enjoy. When your film is finally seating you go in and get comfortable. Now you are ready to enjoy the movie. Well hang on....this time might not go so well because PEOPLE LOVE RUINING THINGS. Some loud mouth in the front is ruining this whole movie. I have alot of pet peeves when it comes to going out to enjoy a flick. Here are my top 5 biggest pet peeves I have at these times.
1. Someone talking on their cell phone.
Hey guess what! I paid 9 dollars for this movie and I wasn't hoping to hear about your crush talking to you at school today. If you have to take a call and reminisce on your incredible life, do it by stepping out. Trust me, the people in the lobby are way more interested than we are.(Not really)
2. Texting during the movie.
Don't text the whole movie and then ask me what happened, because then I miss some of the scene explaining the last damn scene to you. I'll tell you a good way to find out what happens. WATCH THE MOVIE. Whoever it is can wait for one movie. You know its not a real emergency because if it was you would be calling them! Phones away.
3. People having interrupting and even non movie related conversations.
The movies is a great place to go with a group of friends. To watch a movie. Its not a place to socialize and have conversations while people are trying to enjoy the film. They pay money to see that movie and can't get into it because all they hear is you talking about your day. My absolute hero is the guy up back who yells "SHHHHHHHHH!" at some noisy people. We need more of those people in the seats.
4. Yelling things out.
Come on man. Don't be that guy. We don't care how funny you think you are. Yelling out things for the most part only makes you look like an idiot. Don't get me wrong, people have yelled out some funny stuff at movie premiere's. But that's basically the only atmosphere that its okay in. If you went around and asked every single person sitting in the theater, 99.9% of them will say they didn't come to listen to you be a comedian. The .1% that did come for that would obviously be your moronic friends.
5. Saying the movie sucked and your that person that does number 1,2 & 3.
Nothing like talking about the movie on the car ride home and the other person "didn't understand it" or "was kind of bored" or "it was really confusing." Uh yeah, that's your the person who was talking and texting. Maybe if you paid attention to the whole thing it would have made a lot more sense. Now your going home and telling everyone it sucked because you have the attention span of a 4 year old. Guess what, in my opinion, you have no say after the movie. Simple as that. Technically you didn't really see the movie so why the hell should anyone listen to you. That's just how I feel.
Those are all my worst pet peeves while trying to enjoy a movie. I know I said at the movie theater but it really kind of applies to any time your watching a movie. I'd love to hear some of the things that really erk you guys while your trying to enjoy a film.
If there was one movie I was really looking forward to this summer it was X-men: Days of Future Past. As soon as I saw the first trailer I geeked out. As soon as I saw the second trailer I geeked out again. Third trailer.....loved it. And I'm going to be completely honest when I say this. Everything I envisioned in my head about this movie, and how good I was hoping it would be. This movie was a million times better. It so awesome!
Starting off by talking about Wolverine. This is the first X-men movie where Wolverine kinda takes a back seat and is the peace keeper of the film. He is in his younger body like I said so he has the bone claws. I was torn between the bone claws and the metal ones but I do think it fit very well in the story.
James McAvoy was so brilliant. I love the way he plays Professor X. Hes so good that in an interview Patrick Stewart said after watching McAvoy's performance, he wants to go back and re-shoot the other X-men films. To be so good at playing a character that you make the original want to do a better job is quite the achievement. Also the scene when young Professor X and old Professor was very intense and emotional. It was one of the most powerful scenes in the movie to me and one of the greatest scenes in the whole X-men franchise.
The villains in this movie are so complex. They aren't just evil and twisted and loves to do bad. They don't think they're evil and in their head are completely justified for they're actions, and frankly you don't really blame them.
Magneto is doing everything in his power to save the mutants from being killed off by the humans. He is willing to do anything to save his kind, including killing the mutants that stand in his way. Most people would do this to save their kind but what makes him the villain is that he doesn't care who he hurts to prove his point. Michael Fassbender is an incredible actor and I don't think they could have gotten a better person to play a young Magneto. I really enjoyed the symbolic moment in the film when the young Magneto is raising hell with the young sentinels, using them to attack the humans. Then, it cuts to the old Magneto in the future protecting Professor X and Wolverine from the sentinels. Little moments like that in the film really stand out to me and are things I appreciate in a good story.
Trask is another very layered villain who is completely justified by his actions. Mutants are extremely dangerous considering Magneto dropped half a stadium around him and use his own sentinels against him. So you can understand why any normal human being would take precautions against beings like that. I really enjoyed how his height was only mentioned maybe once? But the core of this character has nothing to do with the fact that he is a little person. I almost wouldn't even call his character a villain. Just a guy trying to do some good in the world, trying to make it a safe place (which ultimately almost causes the world to end but you have to at least give him credit for trying.)
I am just as guilty as everyone else for thinking this character was going to be just another X-men throw away character. I thought he looks incredibly stupid and not much was going to come from him but boy was I wrong. What a refreshing character to add to the franchise! He's funny and Evan Peters did such a great job portraying him as a young teen who is generally bored because everyone he knows operates so much slower then he does. I also enjoyed the little nudge at the fans when Quicksilver said to Magneto "Hey my mom knew a guy who could control metal"....for those of you who don't know, in the comic books Magneto is actually the father of Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch. I really hope this character makes an appearance in future X-men films.
If I was going to name off everyone that was good this post would be way too long. Jennifer Lawrence is always amazing and I love her as Mystique but for some reason I have a problem with when she turns back to normal Jennifer Lawrence. I have no idea why. I have no problem with her at all, I think she's incredibly talented. Maybe because her face is so familiar now? I can't put my finger on it but I'm sorry Jen it's not you...its me.
This movie did an excellent job using the characters effectively. I can't think of an added scenes that I didn't think they could have done with out. Even the future mutants like Iceman, Bishop, Colossus, Warpath and Blink, were not in the movie much but when they were they were very entertaining and did not feel unneeded in anyway. The creative way Blink used her portals to stop the sentinels were really creative and I found myself really enjoying it.
Also in this movie William Stryker is a big role in the movie. The film not only shows how he started in the military but also how he came about experimenting on mutants. Another evil Trask created was setting Stryker on the path that X-men fans new him as today.
All in all this movie is incredible. If you haven't seen it then please stop reading this and get to a theater. 3D doesn't really matter too much I don't think. I've seen it twice but both was in 3D so I can't really say. Either way you will love this movie.
9.5/10
Now I'm going to help explain the end credit scene just in case you don't know anything about it.
In this scene it shows the villain for the next X-men movie named Apocalypse. He is the most powerful villain the X-men have ever faced. Being 5,000 years old and technically the first mutant, this scene shows a young Apocalypse using his powers to build the pyramids. Egyptian slaves are chanting "En Sabah Nur" which is Apocalypse's birth name. Off to the side of him you see his Four Horsemen. The Four Horsemen are four mutants that do the bidding of Apocalype and each represent a period during the biblical apocalypse: Death, Famine, Pestilence and War. This Apocalypse will more than likely never be seen like this again in the future. The Apocalypse that fights the X-men looks very different and my guess is will be the one we will be seeing on screen. Watch this short video and you will be caught up to speed on Apocalypse. Hopefully it'll help you get more excited for the next film.
Question of the day: Who would you rather see carry on and fight Apocalypse, Original X-men now that everyone is back or First Class? Let me know in the comments!
Time to wake up horror fans. It was announced this week that Rob Zombie has a new movie in production. All that has been released is a picture with a creepy painted clown face and the title “31.” Yes, it looks like an uppercase “I” and that has caused much confusion, but according to Rob’s post on twitter, it is indeed called “31.” There has been a teaser trailer released and if you are a fan of any of RZ’s films then this might make you a little excited. The teaser, which I can’t say is much of a teaser, recaps his six films over the last decade: House of 1000 Corpses (2003), The Devil’s Rejects (2005), Halloween (2007), Halloween II (2009), The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009), and The Lords of Salem (2012). It then ends with the picture of the clown face and an audio clip of distorted laughter, which is pretty creepy. Who or what is it?! I own and have seen all of these movies with the exception of The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. I was 13 when House of 1000 Corpses was released, and I believe that is when my interest in horror movies really peaked. I always liked to be scared, but for those of us who have twisted minds and want to see horror movies taken to the extremes, you can count on Rob Zombie.While many strongly feel that he did a horrible job with Halloween II, I really enjoyed it. I loved the cast, and I loved how dark the film was. He took it in a different direction and wrapped up his interpretation in his second installment which I don’t believe was intended to be a remake of the original Halloween II (1981). Yes, it was brutal and at some points I wasn’t even sure if I, myself could handle it. But I like when the boundaries are being stretched.Don’t we want to be truly scared or disgusted to the point where we keep replaying the movie over in our head afterwards because we can’t get over how messed up it was? I know I do.I feel that horror movies lately have been lacking that. While there have been a few that I’ve really enjoyed recently, I find most of them to be repetitive or predictable. (Let me just be clear though that the Human Centipede 1&2 might have been taken a little too far.. 0.o )
Anywho, I unfortunately have yet to find a site that specifies what this movie really is about. My first thought was that it’s about Captain Spaulding, which would spark my interest even more. Some say that it’s Halloween III, relating it to the clown mask that Michael wears as a child on Halloween night. I’m sorry to say that I don’t believe Rob Zombie will be having anything to do with directing another Halloween movie. Who knows though. Some people suggest it could be a reimagined remake of Stephen King’s “IT” while many believe it’s going to be a film about John Wayne Gacy. Oh, and let’s not forget about the few random people who have wondered if it’s a remake of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988).That would be….interesting.The question is, what does the title stand for?Whatever it is, he stated it is for “hardcore fans who want it nasty and brutal.” Oh boy. All I can say is I am down no matter what it is, especially if his wife is in it! (:Thoughts?Watch teaser here:
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