REVIEW: LUCY

The movie I am about to review came a little late to Malaysian cinemas. It was released in the United States mid-July and it is a film that was promoted quite anticipated, especially if you are a fan of French film director Luc Besson. For several decades, Besson has carved an illustrious film career in Europe with some box-office hits in his home continent and Hollywood. Some of the popular films he directed are Leon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), and Arthur and the Invisibles (2006). He has wrote many screenplays which usually centers around crime-action drama set in Europe. I am a fan of his working style and I was anticipating this film.

His next installment as director this year’s summer release titled Lucy. Playing the title role is actress Scarlett Johansson. She is supported by Morgan Freeman, Korean actor Choi Min-Sik, and Egyptian actor Amr Waked. The film was written by Besson himself.

How will his latest endeavor fare up to his body of work? Do read on…

Scarlett Johansson in the title role of Lucy

SYNOPSIS:

Lucy is an American woman living in Taipei. After one of her party nights, her boyfriend tricked her into delivering a package to a foreign national in a hotel. Reluctantly, she delivers the package to these foreigners and to her disbelief, discovers a drug crime syndicate. Against her wishes, Lucy is forced to carry the packaged drug to the United States by stuffing them in her stomach. While being held captive, Lucy is beaten and her stomach kicked repeatedly. This spurred a chemical reaction of the drug within her body begins to shape Lucy into a human being of enhanced mental and physical ability. With her new ‘powers’, she goes on a hunt for the drug syndicate while trying to unlock the mysteries behind her phenomenon.

Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) being held by her captors

SCRIPT:

Fresh and smart idea but messily structured’ It is one of those stories that we don’t usually watch in cinemas. I won’t consider it to be a script on a brilliance level but it is something new. The story takes a well-known scientific fact and enhances it to be exaggerated fiction. The story balances itself between two plots concurrently; Lucy’s determination to avenge the villains and Lucy’s constant curiosity of her bodily changes. At times, the story felt like it explained too much for me to digest and at times, certain scenes felt like they were unexplained. You have to pay really close attention to the dialogue. The story starts well in the beginning but became over-exaggerated towards the end.

 A new and 'enhanced' Lucy is trying to find out what is going on with her.

ACTING:

Scarlett Johansson shines in the title role of Lucy. She did a great job in playing every bit a façade of multiple emotions effectively. For most actors, it is challenging enough to headline a film on his or her soldiers let alone having the movie’s title being the name of your character. Johansson did well in embodying Lucy and we do see a progression from what Lucy was before and what Lucy has the potential to become. Morgan Freeman as a scientist did reasonably okay since his role was more a supporting one. I would love the have seen more of Freeman. Korean actor Choi Min-Sik was at the top of his game portraying the villain. If he looks familiar to you, Choi was the villain in the hit Korean crime thriller I Saw The Devil (2010).

Korean actor Choi Min-Sik leads his band of baddies.

FILMING:

Director Luc Besson is known for his own unique stylistic brand of action. Lucy is no different than his other films. He blends both action and drama well. The cinematography was good when it came to capturing the colourfulness of Lucy’s adventure and the gloomy dark side of the crime underworld. At times, the visual effects seemed overdone but it was necessary to explain. However, I wish Besson would concentrate a little more on storyline as there were several plot holes within the film.

Director Luc Besson (holding camera) on set with Scarlett Johansson.

PACING:

The film starts well and builds towards a fairly decent climactic ending. However, when it came to explaining the scientific reasons behind Lucy’s problem, it felt a little draggy.

TONE (MOOD):

An innocent heroine is unwittingly thrust into strange circumstances and changes she doesn’t understand. While she endures this self-discovery, she has to battle bad people who are after her blood.

Morgan Freeman as Professor Newman who holds the answer for Lucy's (and the audience) 'abilities'.

DOWNSIDE:

The script is little heavy for my liking. I felt it could have a lighter mood to it.

UPSIDE:

Visual effects and Scarlett Johansson.

Another on-set photo of Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson

OVERALL:

By taking a scientific fact and expanding it into a story on film, it is quite fresh among the many films available today. I call this movie a combination of Limitless plus Salt (Angelina Jolie) plus The Matrix. If you liked all those films, Lucy might be your cup of tea.

RATING:

7 out of 10.

REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)

As the Hollywood summer box-office comes to a close, another movie franchise from the past is served up for movie-going audiences. This time, a beloved children’s favourite animation from the 1980s and 1990s gets a live-action treatment.

The movie is titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film is directed Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans) and produced by famed directed Michael Bay along with Brad Fuller and Ian Bryce. The film stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Whoopi Goldberg and featuring the voices of Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub. The script is Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec, and Evan Daugherty. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters were originally created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. There were previous adaptations of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990, 1991, 1993, and a feature-length animated film in 2007.

Will another film adaptation do justice to the popular children’s characters? Do read on…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: (L-R) Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello

SYNOPSIS:

New York is being terrorize by a crime wave lately and hotshot television April O’Neil (Megan Fox) suspects that the mysterious Foot Clan is involved. One day, she stumbles upon on of the Foot Clan’s activities and discovers that there are masked vigilantes fighting against these criminals. She investigates the identity of the vigilantes and is shocked to discover four genetically mutated turtle with ninja skills named Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michalengo. Together, they and O’Neil work together to bring down the Foot Clan who are led by a notorious leader named Shredder.

Megan Fox in the lead role as April O'Neil

SCRIPT:

Mediocre and predictable. Since it is a movie aimed at the much younger generation, it is no surprise that the plot is quite predictable. There was actually good characterization of the part of the human lead characters but very little on the hero turtles. It jumps back and forth too much on present plot and back stories which could be difficult to follow. The film’s dialogue was kept simple and not too complicated. There were some funny lines too but would have loved to see more. The ending was not so good for me as it was extremely anti-climactic.

Will Arnett as Vernon Femwick and Megan Fox as April O'Neil

ACTING:

This film does not showcase acting talents prominently but Megan Fox and Will Arnett did pretty okay. As usual, William Fichtner gave a good performance as the villain but the film focused more on the hero turtles rather than him. The hero turtles were performed using motion capture visual effects so I can really evaluate much. I would have loved to see more of Whoopi Goldberg’s character though.

Michelangelo provided the majority of the comic relief

                                                                                                                       

FILMING:

Surprisingly, the production was not too badly done. The action scenes were exciting and the visual effects were great. The ninja turtles were primarily created on film through the use of motion capture performance like the film Avatar (2009) and the visual effects were quite well made. I was hoping for more ninja skills and stunts to be on display though as they were done too quick.

Director Jonathan Liebesman on set with motion capture performers for the ninja turtles

PACING:

Not too bad. Good start, good middle, but it got a bit tiring towards the end.

TONE (MOOD):

A group of uniquely mutated animals with martial arts skills team up with a determined investigative reporter in order to battle mysterious enemies who plots a sinister plan of epic proportions.

Ninja turtles getting ready for action.

DOWNSIDE:

Predictable storyline and anti-climactic ending.

UPSIDE:

Good comedy and good visual effects. That is pretty much it.

April O'Neill (Megan Fox) in a scene with our ninja heroes

OVERALL:

It was just an okay movie. I felt the filmmakers could have at least make it more adult-oriented rather than focused primarily for kids. It was just a decent adaptation.

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RATING:

6.0 out of 10

REVIEW: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

I am going to begin this review with writing a little bit of film history, in particular, Marvel Studios film history. For those who are unfamiliar with the studio’s history, it would be beneficial for your personal movie knowledge. Knowing a thing or two about the studio’s background would make it easier to relate to the movie I am reviewing in this posting. I will try to be brief as possible.

As with many comic book companies, the Holy Grail is to see their stable of characters be made into feature length films. In the 1980s, Marvel Comics tried several times with made-for-TV movies (airing on American television) of Fantastic Four, Thor, etc but without success. The notable success would be The Incredible Hulk TV series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno which some of you might be familiar with. In the 1990s, Marvel Comics (who now has a subsidiary called Marvel Films and eventually renamed Marvel Studios) commissioned the rights of their best-selling comic book characters to big name Hollywood studios; X-Men and Fantastic Four to 20^th Century Fox, Spider-man to Sony, and The Incredible Hulk to Universal Studios. In this deal, the studios would profit from image rights of the characters and box-office receipts from distributing the films around the world. Marvel Comics only profits a certain percentage from these profits. Personally, I call this group of comic book characters, the ‘A-List’. These movies would eventually became a success financially for all business entities involved. As what any business company would do, the goal is always to maximize profit. Therefore, Marvel Studios attempted to regain back the rights to their characters which they commissioned to these Hollywood studios. And as what any business company would do, these Hollywood studios would not relinquish the rights back to Marvel. The only character Marvel was able to obtain back the rights was The Incredible Hulk.

Sometime in the mid 2000s, Marvel Studios made a gamble. They signed a distribution deal with Paramount Pictures in which the studio would share movie receipt profits and Marvel Studios would retain all image rights to any of their characters. Since their ‘A-List’ characters are distributed by Paramount’s rival movie studios, Marvel decided to bring other characters from their stable to the forefront. I call this the ‘B-List’ characters. Hence, the world was presented with film adaptations of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and other characters in various sequels. Let me remind you that these characters are not second-rated in the world of comics but in terms of sales, the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph are ahead. The gamble which Marvel Studios took eventually gave birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe where all their characters are connected in multiple storylines.

Marvel's The Avengers

From a financial standpoint, the gamble made by Marvel Studios paid off handsomely and they continue to find more comic book characters in their vault which has potential for a film adaptation. One such potential is the relatively new and unfamiliar to many (even to me) Guardians of the Galaxy, which was created in 2008 by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and is also a remake of 1969 short-lived version of the same name.

Guardians of the Galaxy is directed by James Gunn who helmed another superhero-themed movie titled Super in 2010. The film is co-written by Gunn and Nicole Perlman. The huge ensemble cast consist of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice only), Bradley Cooper (voice only), Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Benicio Del Toro, and Glenn Close. As usual with almost all Marvel films, Kevin Feige serves as producer. If you have seen the trailer for the film, a character played by Djimon Hounsou quips “Who?” when confronting Star-Lord played by Chris Pratt. That was MY reaction when the film was announced. Maybe I am not as well-versed in comic book land but Guardians of the Galaxy seemed like an odd choice and a risky decision to be adapted into film.

Will another Marvel gamble pay off for the company and satisfy audience worldwide? Do read on…

Guardians (L-R, clockwise): Star Lord, Groot, Drax, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon

SYNOPSIS:

A young Earth boy named Peter Quill is kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings from outer space and brought onto a spaceship comprising of thugs and renegades. He grows up to be like one of them and declares himself Star-Lord. While on a quests to steal an orb-shaped object, he encounters rivalry from another group serving under the villainous Ronan The Accuser. As Quill tries to investigate the importance of the orb, he comes across several odd-ball characters; Gamora the adopter daughter of Thanos and servant of Ronan, Rocket Racoon the wise-cracking bounty hunter, Groot the bodyguard of Rocket Raccoon in the shape of a humanoid tree, and Drax the Destroyer who is known for his menacing physique. Quill and his new-found band of ragtag misfits are constantly at odds amongst themselves but as Ronan gets increasingly close to obtaining the orb in their position, they must put aside their differences and safe all life forms as Guardians of the Galaxy.

Chris Pratt as Star Lord

SCRIPT:

Smart and fresh. As you may have read the opening paragraphs of these posting, the source material for this film is pretty new which makes establishing back-stories crucial. Since it is an ensemble cast of heroes, the focus zeroes in on the leader Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) as its primary character back-story. As the movie progresses, we are introduced little by little into understanding more of who are the guardians and who are the villains. This is neatly done by writing their back-stories in passing remarks, humour, and brief monologues. Despite the film’s setting being in the far reaches of outer space and distant galaxies, the story occasionally harkens back to various cues (through music, humour, and set design) to remind the audience that Peter Quill is still an alien among other life forms in the galaxy. I think this is essential so we the audience can relate to what the lead character is going through. Each character is outlined with their own distinct ambition to succeed and slowly we start to like these characters. Another positive aspect of the film’s script is how the storyline manages to infuse several positive moral values in particular family and teamwork. Other ensemble superhero films do convey such values but with Guardians of the Galaxy, the feeling has much more impact. There are plenty of witty humour in the film and I dare to say the wit is almost at par with The Avengers (2012). You are bound to leave the cinema with some memorable lines of dialogue. The core of the film’s story centers around taking risks and making the best of any given opportunity.

Zoe Saldana as Gamora

ACTING:

Convincing and memorable. The choice of casting by the filmmakers could never have been better. Each guardian is given relatively equal screen time and every single actor portraying them gave top class performances. Pratt as the leader Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord gave both his dramatic and comedic sides pretty good balance. Saldana as the tough no-nonsense strong female lead Gamora, managed to hold her own against Pratt. The surprise package here is Dave Bautista as Drax. Being tough does not necessarily lead to being intelligent and Bautista carried that characteristic really well. We only here the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as Groot and Rocket Raccoon respectively. All I can say for both of the CGI characters, they brought their souls to life. The villains were slightly overshadowed by the heroes in the film. I would love to have seen more of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) becoming more bad-ass as his physicality and weapon gave such an advantage. Bautista as Drax is the surprise package her.

Dave Bautista as Dra

                                                                                                                        

FILMING:

When Marvel hired Joss Whedon to direct The Avengers (2012), it felt like a surprise choice. Whedon had only done one feature film prior, and the appointment of him was a huge gamble on the part of Marvel Studios. For Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Studios made another gamble in hiring a relative new director with 3 films under his belt James Gunn to direct and co-write the film. Just like the decision of Whedon as director, I too had my doubts of Gunn’s ability. And boy, I was again proven wrong. James Gunn is a genius! What Gunn brought to the table was keeping the story simple yet explainable while being surrounded by an action adventure atmosphere. The action sequences were reminiscing of Star Wars films and the cinematography captured it beautifully with various colour facades. The set designs, wardrobe, and make-up did a good job in creating other believable alien worlds. The Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) looked just convincing enough to give that alien world ‘look’. Somehow, I felt the CGI was a little too much and quite the overkill. However, this does not damage the movie entirely as whole. I have to give extremely high praises to the movie’s soundtrack. The soundtrack (not to be confused with background orchestral motion picture score) is a pure genius of a music compilation. Gunn utilized songs from the 1960s and the 1970s to enrich the story further by associating them at key scenes in the movie. The songs featured are very popular. I won’t be surprised if the music from the film becomes a talking point after the film.

Bradley Cooper voices Rocket Raccoon

PACING:

No complaints. Fantastic! The film gets increasingly interesting as the movie progresses. Almost every scene that comes along, there are 

more unexpected surprises for the audience to enjoy. What surprised me is how the film managed to balance between just the right amount of action, drama, and humour. These elements are juggled back and forth to avoid the film having a dull pacing.

VIn Diesel voices Groot

TONE (MOOD):

A group of reluctant anti-heroes juggling between revenge and redemption sets out to safe the galaxy they once had issues about. All done in a light-hearted and funny mood.

James Gunn directing his brother Sean Gunn who was the CGI double for Rocket Raccoon

DOWNSIDE:

A little bit of a CGI overkill. It doesn’t affect the story. A lot of ‘blink-and-you-will-miss-it’ moments so when watching it, you have to pay real close attention.

Before CGI...

 

After CGI...

UPSIDE:

Two words: Fun and funny. This film will surprise from all aspects; action, adventure, comedy, drama, and many many more.

This is one film that I can't wait to see them in a sequel.

OVERALL:

As you reached this section of the review, I thank you for reading all the way. It was a gamble to read such a long review. I mentioned the word ‘gamble’ a lot in this review. To me, it seems to have some sort of ‘theme’, not only in the production behind the film but also the story of the film. Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel’s greatest gamble and could potentially be Marvel’s greatest film.

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RATING:

9.2 out of 10

REVIEW: DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Sequels... prequels... reboots... Movies like these are abundant nowadays that I sometimes get a little fed-up and tired of it. However, rarely there will be a film that will capture the imagination and attention of the audience. One such film is Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). The film is meant to be a reboot and prequel of the Planet of the Apes franchise which spawned 5 films from 1968 to 1973. The franchise received a remake via director Tim Burton with the same title Planet of the Apes (2001) but was not met well with many critics and audience. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (from here will shorten to RotPotA) was well received by both critics and audiences. I personally liked it very much. A sequel to that film was released this year.

The title of the film is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The film is directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield). The cast of actors consist of Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Judy Greer. Writing partners Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver who scripted the previous films returns to pen the story while Mark Bomback joins the team.

Will this sequel be better than its predecessor? Do read on...

The community of apes living in the nearby jungle

SYNOPSIS:

Several years after a worldwide virus outbreak, humans are forced to survive on very limited resources from day to day. As a community in San Francisco feels the strain of living, a group of people ventures into the mountains to repair a dam that could help provide electricity. Along their venture, they encounter a group of apes and accidentally injure on of them. The group of apes is lead by Caesar whom at the end of the previous film has been let into the wilderness. To the groups surprise, Caesar (Andy Serkis) can communicate in English. As both human and ape groups try to work together and find a compromising solution to obtain resources, deceitful individuals within each group plot to see the opposing sides vanquish. It is up to the leader of the group of humans Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caesar to find a way to co-exist.

Andy Serkis returns in the lead role of ape leader Caesar

SCRIPT:

Solid and emotionally strong. From start to finish, each scenes evolve into more excitement as the film progresses. I found myself glued to the story line wanting to know more. The plot is not complicated and pretty straightforward. The story unravels bit by bit pretty neatly. Good characterization for lead roles. Despite this being a sequel, there is a little bit of continuation from the previous film but all is explained from the start of the film. There very good underlying moral themes in this movie. I also loved the fact that these themes parallel what we would go through in real life.

The cast of new human characters lead by Malcolm (Jason Clarke, middle)

ACTING:

Now, this is tough to evaluate. The focus of this movie is about the apes. The previous film RotPotA was highly praised for the almost realistic expressions of the apes. The same goes with this film. Their expressions were not only equal than the previous film, it was even better as now the apes have more purpose in this film. Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman performed well in this film but I couldn't say much for the rest. Praises also go to Toby Kebbell who played Koba, an antagonist ape against Caesar's protagonist.

Filming a scene with Andy Serkis on the horse and Jason Clarke on the ground

FILMING:

Excellent and revolutionary. The apes are created entirely using Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) with the assistance of motion capture from the actors. For those unfamiliar with motion capture, it is a method where the body movements and facials expressions of actors are digitized in the computer to created the necessary emotions either physically or facially. Once again, WETA Digital, the New Zealand based company responsible for the CGI did exceptionally well. This time, there are more visual effects compared to the previous film. This film may look like it is out to showcase the visual effects but what I REALLY felt is that the visual effects was more technical support in order to enhance the story. Most films with heavy CGI tend to go all out in designing extravagant stuff but not this film. I feel a visual effects should only function as an enhancement of the story and this is exactly what this film did.

Toby Kebbell (center) plays Koba, an antagonist among the apes

PACING:

A little slow in the beginning as it tries to establish some information for those who didn't watch the previous film. It picks up well in the middle and builds to a good climactic ending.

TONE (MOOD):
It is a battle between man and animal as they try reach an understanding while questioning their own personal moral values and loyalty. 

Gary Oldman plays Dreyfus, the leader of the human colony in San Francisco

DOWNSIDE:

The pacing was a little slow. If you did not watch the previous film, you might not understand.

UPSIDE:
Great visual effects and great story. There are a lot of emotional resonance that could make a strong positive impact for those watching.

L-R: Andy Serkis (Caesar). Toby Kebbell (Koba), Jason Clarke (Malcolm)

OVERALL:

A must-watch. What I really love is that the film-makers did not got all out to showcase their wonderful visual effects but more using the visual effects as a tool to enhance the story.

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RATING:
8.5 out of 10

REVIEW: DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Taking a break from all the big budget Hollywood blockbuster extravaganza, I am gonna review a much smaller movie. Well, this film is definitely smaller in terms of budget and the genre has a particular interest to me. I have always been fascinated with the paranormal and the supernatural, so a horror film in cinemas is something I look forward to.

The film is titled Deliver Us From Evil and it is directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister). Australian actor Eric Bana headlines the film with supporting actors Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, and Joel McHale rounding up the cast. Famed film mogul Jerry Bruckheimer is the producer which I believe is his first foray into the horror genre after many action-adventure and drama films. The story is inspired by the true story of Ralph Sarchie and the script is adapted from Sarchie’s book Beware The Night. Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman wrote the screenplay. Coincidentally around this time last year, I reviewed a supernatural horror film title The Conjuring. The film was also inspired by a true story and I liked that film.

Will this year’s supernatural horror thriller be a film that I like? Do read on…

The real Ralph Sarchie in which the movie is inspired from.

SYNOPSIS:

Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) is a veteran New York police detective who is well-respected among his peers. One day, he and his partner (Joel McHale) gets a case which involves a woman throwing her baby at a lion’s den in a zoo. While he and his partner investigates the case, they notice certain connections to events they cannot explain. Together with the help of the woman’s ‘medical consultant’ named Father Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), Sarchie discovers a world he is very unfamiliar and probably not prepared to face.

Eric Bana portrays the real life character Ralph Sarchie

SCRIPT:

Straight forward and mild. The story was pretty basic. It is your usual cop drama with added elements of the supernatural. The subject matter deals with demons and possession. Usually, films like this needs a strong back-story but this one was touched quite minimally. As the film progresses, it became more of a biographical drama of Ralph Sarchie rather than a horror movie like it was marketed. Good character development for the male lead roles but less on the female. I would have liked to see more. Great climactic ending if you are a fan of demonology and the occult.

Father Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez) and Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) team-up

ACTING:

Films like this usually give the opportunity for the actors to showcase their talent as stories like these usually involves intensity and danger. However, the acting was pretty much mediocre at best. I was expecting more from Eric Bana since he is quite an established actor. Joel McHale did well in his supporting role which also doubles as a light comic relief. Edgar Ramirez did reasonably well in one of his first lead roles after being a supporting one in other films for quite some time. I would have loved to see more of Oliver Munn.

Olivia Munn as Jen Sarchie

                                                                                                                       

FILMING:

Director Scott Derrickson has so far been successful in providing good scare moments for the audience but somehow this film lacked of it. There were some moments but too few to warrant what I feel is a supernatural horror film. He focused more on the film being a biographical drama rather than a horror film and he didn't quite find the right balance. I liked the cinematography as it gave a bleak and dark look like in horror films. High praises to the prosthetic make-up effects and visual effects.

Scott Derrickson (middle) on set with Bana and Ramirez

PACING:

A little too slow for my liking. It had a very good start but withered down towards the middle but build up to the good climactic ending. The middle part of the film felt a little draggy.

TONE (MOOD):

A veteran law enforcer who is grounded in reality and skeptic in the spiritual battles new villains that he cannot see or feel with the help of an unlikely source.

Eric Bana and Joel McHale play parter in crime.

DOWNSIDE:

The pacing is a little draggy. More drama than horror.

UPSIDE:

Good intense climactic ending.

Ralp Sarchie (Eric Bana) apprehending a suspect

OVERALL:

It was an okay. Not that scary but has it moments. If you want to know more about demonology (which is different from ghost hunting), this film might suit you.

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RATING:

6.0 out of 10

REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

The summer blockbuster everyone has been waiting for. Well, at least for me it is. Just by looking at my avatar profile picture, you could tell I am a big fan of the popular toy and cartoon franchise Transformers. It has been 3 years since the giant transforming robots appeared on cinema screens. They have now returned in a fourth film in the franchise with a new group of cast members and redesigned robots. I won’t be bias in this review. The only thing I would be bias is including more movie stills than my other movie review postings.

Autobots (L-R): Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Drift, Crosshairs, and Hound

The title for the new film is Transformers: Age of Extinction. The director from the previous three films, Michael Bay, returns in the hot seat. Ehren Kruger, who previously wrote the second and third film, also returns to write the script. The cast of newcomers consists of superstar Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Kelsey Grammer, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, T.J. Miller, and Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime. Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Ian Bryce return as producers.

Autobots (L-R): Hound, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Drift, and Crosshairs with their human counterparts.

How will this fourth installment fair up to previous films? Do read on…

Mark Wahlberg takes over the lead role from Shia LaBeouf

SYNOPSIS:

Several years after the events of the last film, the good faction known as the Autobots are currently in hiding. Despite saving the planet from annihilation, the Autobots are blamed for all destruction caused in the city of Chicago. A covert branch of the C.I.A. led by Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) is hunting down all Transformers both the good faction and also the bad faction known as Decepticons, Attinger’s primary target is capturing Autobot leader Optimus Prime who is now in hiding under the roof of inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and his teenage daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz). Cade and Tessa form a partnership with Optimus Prime and a few surviving Autobots to battle Attinger who has form an alliance with a quirky scientist (Stanley Tucci) and a mysterious villain.

Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) discovers a beaten-up Optimus Prime in a design which is a tribute to his cartoon look

SCRIPT:

Disoriented and messy. As much as it is a science fiction film and logic is thrown out the window, the writer’s attempt at giving it some sort of ‘believability’ failed. The scientific references were not established firmly thus making it difficult to follow. The script was bombarded with too much scientific jargon that even a fan-boy like me was questioning what the hell are they trying to explain. There were too many story motifs which made for difficulty to follow. Characterization was mediocre with the exception of Wahlberg’s lead character. Speaking of characters, there were too many of them and some roles felt unnecessary to the movie. After the negative feedback from the 2^nd film (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and mediocre feedback from the 3^rd film (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), I find it surprising that the studio and producers are still hiring Ehren Kruger to write this installment. There were too many main villains in this movie. Having too many main villains in a movie has ruined films such as Spider-Man 3 (2007) and The Amazing Spider-man 2 (2014).

Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) and Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor) with the Autobots

ACTING:                                                                                                                                 

The film does not showcase much of the acting despite having quality and established actors in Wahlberg, Tucci, and Grammer. Peltz and Reynor didn’t do much to excite me too. The only positive point when it comes to acting performances is I would rather have Wahlberg’s lead character than Shia LaBeouf’s annoying Sam Witwicky from the previous films. For Transformers fans, it was nice to see legendary voice actor Frank Welker in the role of Galvatron battling Optimus Prime. This echoes those many fights they have encountered and even sweeter when you here the original voices being used. Though I won’t equate acting to the performance of the robots, the main villain Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan, Jetfire from the second film) was really bad-ass and menacing.

Tessa Yeager (Nicola Peltz) screaming for help while...

...while Optimus Prime protects her from Galvatron

FILMING:

The only plus point in the movie is the visual effects. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has improved tremendously and upped the stakes from film to film. I like the newly redesigned robots and their movements have more ‘fluidity’ compared to previous films. More ‘fluidity’ meaning the action scenes felt more like motion-capture but in reality it is not. There were more scenes created totally from scratch rather than using natural settings as background. However, I sincerely symphatize with all the creative animators and graphic artists at ILM for their efforts are over-shadowed by bad scripting and bad editing. The music had different feel to it which is nice and as with most Transformers films, the sound designs and sound effects are top notch. Again, the horrible storyline over-shadowed these achievements.

Director Michael Bay filming in China

PACING:

This is the longest film in terms of duration of all Transformers films which runs at 2 hours and 45 minutes including credits. Director Michael Bay is known for making films of long duration and rarely does the pacing feel draggy. For this film, it was draggy. It had a slow start, picked up a little bit in the middle, and mellowed down towards the end. As the film reached its end, I lost my interest as the horrible storyline took a toll on me.

Stanley Tucci and Li Bingbing sharing a scene

TONE (MOOD):

A group of rejected robotic alien heroes together with their unlikely human partners must band together to decide whether to fight the authority figures or save Earth from another potential annihilation.

Peltz, Wahlberg, Reynor, and Tucci on the run with an item I would not reveal for it is a spoiler

DOWNSIDE:

Very very bad script and draggy almost throughout.

Father and daughter exiting Bumblebee

UPSIDE:

Stunning visual effects, stunts, and fight scenes in the usual Michael Bay style.

Irish actor Jack Reynor, a relative newcomer to the acting world.

OVERALL:

I admit, I was disappointed in this film. Going into this film, or any summer popcorn film for that matter, I would care less about the story and focus on the fun. It is still a family fun film as Michael Bay has cut down a little on his crude adult themed humour. Somehow, the script insulted my intelligence as a movie-goer. Watch it only, and ONLY if you are a die-hard Transformers fan.

Michael Bay at work

RATING:

5.5 out of 10