Friday, September 11, 2015

#9 of 2015 Jurassic World!

#9 of 2015


When I was a boy about 5 or 6 I saw Jurassic Park, and it scared the crap out of me, in fact as a child I was scared pretty easily and well didn't care much for being scared. and didn't watch the movie again for over a decade, I did finally rewatch it and really enjoyed the film, I don't hold it in the reverence of some people, but I found it to be a great ride of a movie with a great sense of awe with ground breaking visuals at the time. 


I then watched Jurassic Park II: The lost World. and while it certainly had some redeeming qualities I found it a massive step down from the first and decided to skip the third. but when I heard if them downing Jurassic World in a sort of sequel sort of reboot I was intrigued a fresh start sounded just like what this franchise needed, and I was totally on board when I heard Chris Pratt would be taking the lead role in this film, one of my favorite actors thanks to Parks and Recreation and Guardians of the Galaxy. so the film came out and got sort of positive but not amazing reviews as well a broke nearly every box office record in history.


so I saw it and well I pretty much loved it, yes there are moments of cheese and some silly dialogue and the story isn't that in depth, and the visuals while great aren't quite as ahead of their time as they were for the first time and some of the writing wasn't the greatest, there is one thing this movie captured very very well, the sense of awe and wonder of the first film for example when Gray (play by Ty Simpkins) first arrivals at Jurassic World and his brother is like "we'll see it tomorrow" he rushes to the balcony and "says I can't Wait till tomorrow" and the Jurassic Park theme plays and I believe I got chills, the good kind. the park felt like a real place that would be every kid's dream to visit.


Now for some criticism. I do love Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. and felt they were great when they were doing their own thing, however they did not have the best  on screen chemistry together, although their forced romance/sexual tension was pretty poorly written. but they just seemed awkward. and Bryce Dallas Howard outrunning a dino in highheels was of course completely unbelievable. those are by biggest complaints I know some people complained about the kids acting, but I liked their story arch and thought they both did respectable jobs, especially for making the environment feel scary. so yeah some people loved it some hated it, I really liked it. and universal is currently swimming in a pool of gold, so I'd say it was a success. 

4.3/5


#10 of 2015 Southpaw!

#10 Southpaw 


The Story is as follows professional boxer Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses everything including, custody of his daughter Leila Hope (Oona Laurence), because of reckless behavior after the tragic loss of his wife Maureen, and must straighten his life and career out to get back on track. 



Let me start my saying I am a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan, and will see just about everything he does, if you have not seen Nightcrawler, it is a must. it may be a bit dark for some but if you can handle that you'll love it, so anyways I love Boxing/MMA movies, Warrior and Rocky being among some of my favorite films of all time. so when I heard about Southpaw I was extremely excited to see it.



I must say I really enjoyed it, there was some criticism of the film not hinting the mark like it should or being a little overly sentimental, and while an argument could be made for that I still really enjoyed the film. Jake Gyllenhaal was as always excellent, and I was actually pretty surprised by new comer Oona Laurence as Oona Laurence, who I found to be very believable as his daughter and had good chemistry with Jake, Rachal was fine in what little part she had, and I really enjoyed  Forest Whitaker's turn as Billy's reluctant trainer Tick willis. 



To name a couple negatives were the film dragged a bit here and there. and some people might complain the story was a little by the numbers, but I'm a sucker for this kind of story so it didn't bother me. over I really enjoyed this film  it was a great boxing movie, with a good father daughter element and while it's not on par with "Warrior" or "Rocky" in my opinion I would highly recommend it. 

4.2/5

#11 of 2015 Furious 7!

#11 Furious 7


Yeah I'm a bit than more surprised that this movie ended up this high, there is a reason for that though and it's probably the same reason many others enjoyed it some much. 



I am not by any means a Fast and Furious fanboy, I saw the first one a several years ago and thought it was okay. but nothing special, I heard 2 & 3 weren't so great, so I didn't bother, but then Fast & Furious was released in 09, with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returning (Diesel was absent the last 2, Walker not in 3)  and it got decent reviews and the franchise started to peak my interest again, so I think around when Fast Five came out, I watched them (well okay I still haven't seen 2 & 3), 4 was okay, 5 was actually pretty good and Six was maybe the best so far, but they are very heavy on over the top action and light on story, however there is one thing this franchise does possess that was actually a little surprising; heart. so these guys are criminals and stuff but in the end of the day they are trying to do the right thing and they care about each, they family. that may sound a little sappy but it's probably the most appealing thing about this series to me. 



When I heard of Paul Walker's tragic passing, and the things I read about made him seem like a pretty cool guy. it made me sad. I always liked him as an actor and even though he may not have the range that some actors have, he has this certain everyman charm, that is appealing, even quietly charismatic. and the way it was midway through shooting I was curious how they were going to handle it. well that's what they got spot on. 



This is Paul Walker's movie, he is the heart and soul that drives this movie (drives haha ) and it comes across surprisingly authentic and organically. I mean sure this film is first and foremost an action film with crazy stills and even the most over the top action sequences  yet, and it's somehow very enjoyable, but the heart is in sentiment, there is the sequence near the end of the film that is just perfect. this film brought tears to my eyes. and was immensely enjoyable. it's certainly not perfect. but it is a very solid action film, with so really good cgi I must admit, great stunts and a memorable song to bout. It is a great tribute Paul Walker. as well as my favorite in the series so far.


4.2/5