Thursday, May 22, 2014

X-Men: Days of Future Past is entertainment at it's best.


Story - 
It goes something like this, the mutants should time travel to the past to stop one of the mutants from committing a grave mistake that would lead to their destruction in the future. To alter the course of events means to alter the entire history, affecting the past & the future. Mutants in the present day have united to alter the past, but will the mutants in the past unite?

Movie -
Bryan Singer, the director of X-Men & it's sequel X2: X-Men United knows the franchise better, gets to business right from the first scene. He doesn't waste time in introducing us to the present day scenario & the war with The Sentinels. Here, we are introduced to a small band of X-Men who fight The Sentinels & manage to defeat with the help of Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde's ability to phase through solid objects as well as time. The initial few minutes itself prove that this is an high octane action ride. In the present day, Charles Xavier & Magneto have united & along with The Wolverine & Storm meet this small band of X-Men & asks Kitty Pryde to send them back in time to alter certain event. Now Kitty Pryde has the power to send them back in time but it's limited to a month at most, anything more than that will rupture the mind. What Charles Xavier asks for is to be sent back to 1973. Knowing the danger involved, The Wolverine steps in as he can withstand the rupture through his power to heal quickly. So, The Wolverine gets sent back to 1973 where his task is to unite Charles Xavier & Magneto, the glitch? They can't stand each other & reaching Magneto is, to put in his own words "complicated". How The Wolverine succeeds in getting them together & will they stop the actual event from happening forms the first half of the film. The pace is extremely good here, you've all the whistle-worthy, clap-worthy scenes in this segment. Not revealing much, yes the first half enough provides double the entertainment for the money you've spent.
The second half elegantly passes through past & the present time, the twists come in the right time & the follow up for that twist is commendable. Like I said, Bryan Singer knows the franchise better than everybody & his vision does justice to the characters. It's a very interesting but deadly game between the mutants themselves & between the mutants & the humans. Is altering the event enough to change the course of the future? Is it worth changing if the war is inevitable? Does mutants have a chance or should the humans be given a chance? All these questions are answered as the screenplay for the second half is entire based on those answers. The pace loses a bit in the second half since concentration on building up scenes for the grand finale. The grand finale is ofcourse epic considering the huge budget spent on the film & it's the CGI which does the talking. The ending if revealed will be the worst thing for any reviewer to do, if you're a true X-Men fan then all I can say is this is the ending you were all waiting for. Ofcourse the logic does take a toss in the second half but hey that's exactly the last thing you wanted while buying the ticket.

Performances -
Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine nails it. It's a treat to watch him, wonder why he doesn't get any decent standalone film? James McAvoy takes off from the prequel & is very efficient as Professor Charles Xavier. Patrick Stewart makes a comeback as the original old Charles Xavier & he does what he does best. Ian Mckellen as Magneto is very effective while Michael Fassbender as the young Magneto gives a an elegant performance as the baddie making up for the Ian Mckellen's positive portrayal of Magneto. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, well what can I say for her, respect is the word. Halle Berry as Storm doesn't get much to do but very glad to see her. Ellen Page as Shadowcat contributes a lot during the initial few minutes which is very important for the entire film. Nicholas Hoult as the Beast renders great support throughout the film. Peter Dinklage as Trask is first rate. Shawn Ashmore as Iceman is decent but again limited scope. There's a bunch of actors playing mutants & they support really well. Not going to mention few actors as I said I'm not going to reveal much.
Special mention for Evan Peters as Quicksilver, if you're going to love this movie it's because of him. His action scene in the first half is what gonna get the maximum cheers, whistles & claps. Yes, he's that fabulous.

Techinal Aspect -
What can I say? The 3D is efficient in certain parts, but the CGI is extra-ordinary. All I can say is money well spent & it shows on screen making the film a visual treat both in the action sequences & the scenes that doesn't involve action.

Positives -
1. Evan Peters as Quicksilver.
2. The Wolverine.
3. The whole concept of the past and the present. The conception of having the characters together in their older form as well as younger form.
4. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. You just can't stop loving her.
5. Also, Ellen Page as Shadowcat & the new band of X-Men.
6. The Climax.

Negatives -
1. You wish Evan Peters was part of the plan in the 2nd half too. He's used only in the first half & it's not justified at all in not involving him in the second half.
2. Logic does take a toss.
3. The involvement of Magneto's younger version starts losing it's justification in the second half.
4. Storm literally has nothing to do. When you see her, you would atleast expect one contributing scene involving her.

Final Word - Watch it because it's entertainment at it's best.
My Rating - 4/5 [3.5 for the actual film + 0.5 rating only for Quicksilver. After a long time I clapped, cheered during a scene & it truly deserved it.]

Friday, May 16, 2014

Godzilla - The King of Monsters, saviour of the city. Finally Hollywood pays a true homage to Gojira.


Plot - 
Let me clarify that this movie is not about Godzilla vs Humans, it's treatment is completely different than the 1998's Roland Emmerich's Godzilla. This movie solely lies on the battle of the monsters where humans are made into just spectators unlike the previous film where humans were made to battle it out directly.
So, this time Godzilla is back but for a reason & that reason is what holds the movie till the end. He has his monster friends who call him out for a battle & humans are caught in between them. All the humans do is get shocked looking at the monsters in Japan followed by Honolulu & of course California. The story begins in 1999 where a nuclear plant is being attacked by an unknown force, we are introduced to Joe Brody played by Bryan Cranston who is the first one to detect the unusual events that occurs. The attack results in a mysterious meltdown of the nuclear reactor leaving Brody's wife dead. Now Joe Brody, the Hollywood's most conventional be-the-only-person-to-know-it-all, continues his search for the truth behind the nuclear meltdown. 15 years later, the truth is revealed & it comes with it's own price. The monsters get unleashed & what follows forms the entire film.

Movie -
The first 15 minutes of the film starts as a prologue with the events that occur in the nuclear reactor. Then the story moves forward to the current times where the characters of Aaron-Taylor Johnson & Jennifer Olsen are introduced along with their son. Soon, Aaron has to leave for Japan to get his father who is currently been arrested for getting inside a prohibited zone. After the father-son reunite, they opt for their own journey back to the prohibited area in search for the truth. The entire first half is about introducing the main human characters & move the story forward along with them. Apart from Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Bryan Cranston there is Ken Watanabe to introduce the audience to the respective monsters as the story moves forward in it's own pace. The main character, Gojira aka Godzilla makes an entry only towards the end of the first half & it's a superb introduction scene for him.
The second half shifts to Las Vegas where all the monsters are headed to. All the attempts by humans to contain these monsters go in vain. The story moves in a brisk pace here as the audience anticipate a huge showdown between the monsters & any scenes before the final battle adds as a built up having a positive effect on the scenes that unfold. The audience get to view the three huge monsters, they get to sympathize with the big guy, they get a glimpse of human emotions & efforts to witness as well as do their part in this epic battle. The final showdown like I mentioned is epic & is worth all the wait. The movie ends on an open note & yes there'll be a sequel. But to the ones who expected an after credit scene, realized that it's not a Marvel movie a tad bit late.

Performances -
Bryan Cranston sets the mood of the film as the scientist & the father of Sam Brody. He forms the emotional involvement in the initial 15 minutes. Juliette Binoche is effective in her brief role. Aaron-Taylor Johnson puts up an honest effort to make up for all the scenes not featuring the monsters. Jennifer Olsen gets very little scope. Ken Watanabe gets limited exposure but all his scenes contribute majorly to the film.

Technical Aspects -
As usual it's done brilliantly. You get to see choppers to trains to submarines being played upon as broken toys, you get to see a tsunami, you get to see several money shots of Godzilla, all that money spent proves to be worthy. The 3D, well enhances the film.

Positives -
1. Godzilla himself.
2. The epic battle between Godzilla & the MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms)
3. The effective initial 15 minutes.
4. Portraying Gojira/Godzilla in it's original form nowhere like the 1998 version.

Negatives -
1. Godzilla has roughly about 20 minutes screen appearance & he's absent for the larger part.
2. MUTOs though positive additions to the movie remain unidentified creatures as far as the Indian audiences go. As happened with the audience in my theater, they seemed largely disconnected with MUTOs till the entry of the big guy.
3. Humans are turned into mere spectators throughout since the entire movie is about the battle between the three monsters. This could be a negative aspect for those people who expect  Godzilla vs Humans showdown.

The movie is typical Hollywood in all aspects, got way too many cheesy scenes, entire climax is heavily relied upon the battle that turns out to be epic & despite it's cheesiness what makes this movie so good is the fact they've got everything right this time. It's pretty clear whose side we are on, it's not the MUTOs, it's definitely not the humans...  yes it's the big guy, who gets all the sympathies followed by loud cheers as he gets up, walks towards the ocean & swims off.

Final Word -
This Godzilla is a true homage to the original Gojira series. He's the King of the Monsters & he's definitely the saviour of the city. GO FOR IT !!!

My Rating - 4/5