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Interstellar (2014)
My DIFFERENT Take on Interstellar
SPOILER ALERT!
Firstly, Interstellar is a great movie. My best movie 2014. Like other Nolan's movies, it raises so many questions. If you have watched it, then you know what I'm talking about. The wormhole paradox. Chicken and egg situation of who's first.
Humans survive the blight and live well into the future. But perhaps their survival comes at great cost, high casualties, endless suffering and pain. Perhaps they have to leave earth and colonize the Moon, Mars or other nearby planets within solar system. The situation / living condition on this planet may not be great, but under the circumstances, perhaps its good enough for these survivors. They wonder if there is another way, a better way to survive. Or perhaps go back in time and change history.
Their desperation force them to think hard, and with evolved mental capability, future humans discover 5th dimension (5D) and how to create wormhole. Now finally they have the ways and means to transfer the knowledge to past humans. But, past humans can only learn 5D by getting into a black hole and retrieving data from inside. The nearest black hole is far away, unreachable by past humans. Thus, future humans put a wormhole near Saturn as a shortcut to allow past humans to venture into Gargantua. This is where past humans (and movie audience) got it all wrong. THE PURPOSE OF THE WORMHOLE IS NOT TO SEARCH NEW PLANETS, BUT TO GO INSIDE GARGANTUA AND LEARN 5D, AND USE THE KNOWLEDGE NOT JUST TO SURVIVE, BUT TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE.
Prof Brand himself said his calculations will not be completed unless he obtain data from a black hole. Fortunately Coop realize the importance of getting into Gargantua. Coop learns 5D and transfers the info to Murph, who then completes Prof Brand's calculations.
We learn at the end that future humans use 5D to construct Cooper station (and perhaps others) near Saturn, which is well inside our solar system. This is proof that in order to survive, humans need not go to other planets, simply constructing a space station using 5D tech and transport humans from earth to live there is suffice. Plan A is the way to go. The movie tag line simply says humans are not meant to die on earth, it doesn't say humans are meant to die on other far-away-only- reachable-by-wormhole planets.
Without 5D and wormhole, humans will still survive, but perhaps that's pretty much it, surviving. But with 5D and wormhole, humans not just survive, but doing really well. No paradox or time travel loop here. Only to create a different (and better) time line for future humans.
Repeated viewings is advisable. Can't wait for Nolan's next movie.
Iron Man Three (2013)
Style but no substance. Worst Iron Man ever.
The Dark Knight trilogy has set a benchmark for other comic book movies to follow. Not just in terms of action, but also on story-telling. It is proof that you can make things grittier and less campy without sacrificing box office performance. Outside comic book, Skyfall comes to mind. You may lose younger audiences but will more than make it up with the increase of adult viewers searching for quality. I know Iron Man 3 will never be as good as Nolan's Batman, but I clearly don't expect it to be so flatly disappointing as this.
First, the good points.
Lots and lots of action. Spectacular sensory overload. Hardcore Iron Man fans will love this.
Guy Pearce is perfectly cast as villain. This guy is underrated.
Funny extra scene between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. It appears at the end of long main credit, not after the 'animation' credit earlier.
Stan 'The Man' Lee does appear in this. Something I look forward to in every Marvel's movies.
Enough. Now the bad points.
The theme is grittier than previous movies, but the twist around two thirds of the movie about Mandarin is very anti-climax. The director spent considerable screen time developing Mandarin's back story and building up the stress and anxiety among the audiences, only to blow it away. Twist works if the audiences being led to think of something, only to be proved wrong later WITHOUT sacrificing the quality of the character (Bruce Willis' Dr Malcolm Crowe in The Sixth Sense).
The story has many plot holes. Many scenes on project Extremis and the soldiers experimented with it left me thinking, yearning for more information. Early in the movie, Pearce's character talks about using the untapped potential of the human brain but the director fails to develop this idea further and connect it to Extremis. How they manage to explode? What gives them the amazing physical prowess? Why they turn orange? Bla bla bla...
I love Iron Patriot and the new colors, but he doesn't have much screen time.
Mark 42 is supposed to be superior than others. But some scenes will show how weak and fragile it is (breaks into pieces when it hit a lorry on a bridge, when hit a container crane at a port, a child snaps Mark 42's finger easily). Perhaps the intention is for some comic relief, but clearly not funny at all. It undermines the grittier feel of this movie overall and the seriousness of a particular scene specifically. I understand that Mark 42 is still in prototype mode and not battle-ready, as mentioned by Jarvis. So why is Tony Stark gambles his life by using it? Better to use older but battle-ready suit. He clearly has plenty to choose from (Iron Legion).
The comic book movies has been getting more divided these days. On one hand, we have Christopher Nolan's quality adaptations like The Dark Knight trilogy and Man of Steel (hopefully!) which combine style and substance. On the other hand, we have 'others', which offer only style, with the intention of making big bucks easily by shamelessly cashing-in on popular and established franchises. Iron Man 3 belongs in 'others'.
A story has a beginning, middle and an end. Again, kudos to Nolan for ending his Bat-trilogy before it gets irrelevant. Every director must have balls to do this. Better to exit when you are on top. I hope this is the end of Iron Man movies. I don't give a sh*t anymore about Marvel's Phase 2.
Now bring me MAN OF STEEL!!!
Oblivion (2013)
Get Ready for Cruise Control!
I have always been a sucker for Tom Cruise's movies, and this is no exception.
Tom single-handedly carries this movie. Its difficult nowadays to find actors from his generation that still maintain box office draw. Tom is not just a survivor, but he's getting better. This is the man Hollywood can count on.
The cinematography is epic, because of that new camera they used. The CGI is superb. Tom, Olga and Andrea also easy on the eyes. Visually, this movie is very nice to look at. I love the beautiful locations (desert, waterfall, oasis, etc).
The story is almost original. There are some parts that remind me of other sci-fi flicks like The Matrix and Independence Day (you'll know which parts I refer to after watching this). Still, I was entertained and was kept on the edge of my seat.
There are some parts from the soundtrack that sound like Inception, or maybe that just me.
I don't care whether Tom jumps on Oprah's sofa again, but he is the undisputed king of the box office.
The Avengers (2012)
Entertaining popcorn flick it may be, but best superhero movie it is NOT!
INTRODUCTION
After watching both Ironman movies, all Hulk movies, Thor and Captain America, watching Avengers is a sensible thing for me to do.
WHAT'S HOT
Great casts. Majority of them carry their parts well. Its nice to see all the familiar faces from previous movies.
Great action scenes and impressive visual effects. The final New York scene is awesome. So many things to focus on, sensory overload!
Ironman. On the field, Steve Rogers may be the unofficial leader of the team, but it is Tony Stark who performs most of the important, life-saving duties. The backbone of The Avengers.
Scarlett Johansson and Cobie Smulders. Enuff said.
WHAT'S NOT
Loki. I understand that sometimes a couple of jokes here and there can be good, but when some of the jokes come from the result of the main villain being stupid, weak, being thrashed around, that's not good. What makes a good superhero movie is, among other things, the villain. His or her on-screen presence should instill fear, uncertainties, and in some ways, respect.
Alien soldiers. There is no doubt that Ironman, Hulk, Thor and Capt America can kick aliens' ass anytime anyday, but Black Widow? Come on... I understand that this is a comic book movie, therefore any logic should be thrown out of the window, but Black Widow beating many alien soldiers without much difficulties is way too much. No doubt that she is a formidable fighter and can overcome many human opponents as we have seen in Ironman 2, but to be on the front line during an alien invasion is a no-no. She is more suitable for espionage, covert, intel-gathering, kind of duties.
Black Widow. Same as above.
Familiar story lines. Using a space portal to send alien soldiers and ships to attack earth? We have seen that in Transformers : Dark of The Moon. Huge alien attack craft that looks like 'fish'? Also seen that in the same Transformers! Destroying alien mothership using a nuclear warhead? Seen that in Independence Day.
Police / Army. I know this movie is about a team of superheroes saving our world from alien invasion, but the apparent lack of support from the police and armies in fighting the aliens is so glaring. The freedom of 6 billion people under threat and yet you rely on less than 10 persons? The results are our heroes performing less important tasks such as saving civilians cornered by weak and easily defeatable alien soldiers (as evidenced by Black Widow) in a bank and rescuing people trapped in a bus! Delegate those things to the police, firemen, or ground troops, and focus on the bigger task of defeating Loki and closing the space portal.
CONCLUSION
An enjoyable movie. I had a good laugh on some of the scenes, mostly involving Hulk. In my opinion, The Dark Knight is still the best comic book movie, and maybe the title will go to The Dark Knight Rises in 2 months time.
New Year's Eve (2011)
Like! But Not That Much.
When I first noticed the poster for this movie, I was amazed with the all-star cast. So I was determined to watch it, even though Rotten Tomatoes gives it a low rating. I went to the cinema with a low expectation, so as not to be disappointed later.
The story is simple, with mini-plots about bunch of people from various backgrounds but somehow connected on New Year's eve. Six degrees of separation? Some plots are boring and bit of a drag, but I found myself enjoying Pfeiffer/Efron scenes about making wishes come true, and 'Meyers/Biel versus Schweiger/Paulson' scenes are funny. The rest are so-so. Some laughs here and there. Sofia Vergara has the most one-liners. It's fun to see many famous people in this film, even though just for small, brief parts.
Overall, it's a feel-good movie about hope, love, second chance, guilt, etc. I love New York City, and what a better way to show its colorful atmosphere other than annual New Year celebration at Times Square. Not the best movie for this month, but not the worse either. Enjoy.
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Give this movie Oscar for animation!
I was aware of the comic which this movie was based on, but never read them. So I went to this movie with a neutral expectation. Not too low because Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson at the helm, and not too high because I'm not a big fan of animated movies.
The story is good and tight. A bit slow in the beginning when the characters are being introduced, but picks up pace soon after. Its non-stop, swashbuckling, globe-trotting, machine-gun-fire-evading action, a sensory overload!
The animation is really really excellent. Sometimes I forgot to listen to the dialog because I was busy paying attention to all the details on the characters, the skin texture, hair movements, shadow and lighting, etc.
Score by John Williams never disappoint me. Superb. It provides a sense of thrill, urgency and mystery to the movie. Its like watching animated Indiana Jones!
The chase scene in the North African country is the masterpiece for this movie. Now, that's what Spielberg movie is all about. Highly recommended animated movie for everyone. Best animated movie this year. Glory for Oscar next year!
In Time (2011)
In Time is definitely IN!
I had the privilege of watching this movie earlier than most people in the world because its released early in Malaysia, to profit from Deepavali public holiday crowd on 26 Oct.
The story is simple. Time is the commodity in the future. But the best part is how the filmmaker show the audience how to use this commodity in normal everyday life. How much time you pay for certain things, where to get extra time, etc. Simply brilliant.
I never cared too much about Timberlake before, but his performance in Social Network caught my attention, and In Time further proves that he can act. The pace can be quite a drag here and there, but its full of suspense all the way, many chase scenes and all.
For those of you who are tired of prequels, sequels, three-quels, superheros, robots, aliens, etc, give In Time a shot, its definitely worth your time. The most original movie this year. 109 minutes is a commodity well-spent.
X: First Class (2011)
10 is maximum? I'll give this one 11!!!!
My number 1 movie this year. Nuff said.
After The Dark Knight (TDK), I wonder if future superhero movies will be as good. Although not as superb as TDK, X-Men First Class is almost there.
I grew up reading X-Men comics, but previous movies didn't really make me wanna buy DVDs and re-watch them again and again. Xmen and X2 were OK, but with the third movie, everything just went downhill, and I lost my hope in superhero..... until TDK appeared in 2008. Phew!
The casting of Fassbender was the best decision for this movie. Although Ian McKellen did a good job in previous movies, I didn't felt much pain or agony in THAT Magneto. But in Fassbender's hands, now THIS IS MAGNETO. "Perfection".
The rest of the casts also were good. Too bad not much screen time for Rose Byrne, I like her very much. This is HER year (Xmen First Class, Insidious & Bridesmaids).
Many people felt disappointed when the adamantium claws won't appear in this movie. But trust me, Fassbender's Magneto alone is damn worth the ticket price. Errrr.... Wolverine who?
My number 1 movie this year. Sorry, I had to say it again.
Warrior (2011)
My top 5 movies of 2011!
I watched this movie at Kuala Lumpur City Center last month and it just shot into my top 5 list! Not much promotion for this movie as I recall, so its a sleeper hit this year.
I first noticed Tom Hardy in Inception. He wasn't that tough-looking in it, so I had my reservation about him playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Then I saw him in Bronson, so I was 50-50 confident that he can play Bane well. After seeing Warrior, I am 1000% confident he will break Batman's back next summer!!!! Sorry Bruce....
I didn't really knew Tom Edgerton before, but his role in this movie really put him in my radar. His torn, in-dilemma character is one of the best this year. I'll give him Oscar for this one. You can feel the attachment to him. From being a normal everyday teacher, struggling husband to care for the family, to mixed martial arts' (MMA) contestant, I truly enjoyed the transition.
There were not many MMA movies around, so for those of you who are sick of boxing movies, watch this one. The fight scenes not overly done, but very very intense, not just because of the choreography, but also because of the emotions involved.
Can't wait to see Tom Hardy as 'the man who broke the bat' next year!
Real Steel (2011)
Real Steel-y Good
I watched this movie 2 weeks ago, and I like it. Definitely in my top 10 movies this year.
Dakota Goyo stole the whole movie with his performance. It seems those 4 auditions he went for were really worth it. I still can't accept Hugh Jackman without his adamantium claws, but its refreshing to see him in this fatherly role. Not much screen time for Evangeline Lilly, but she made a good eye candy.
The trailer really doing injustice for this movie. At first, I thought its just another robot smash 'em up movie, but I was wrong. The connection between father and son is what carries this movie.
The special effects were nice and not overly done. I'm sick of Autobots vs Decepticons, so its really good to see other robots fighting each other.
Overall, an action movie with soul. Definitely a must-watch this year!