Godzilla (2014)

Wow, this is actually a very difficult movie for me to review...

It is actually more true to it's first inception (1954, Japanese).

Japan is the ONLY country in the world to be at the receiving end of a nuclear bomb (two actually).

Godzilla (made 9 years after the bombing) is a reflection of Japan's feeling towards nuclear? (A defenseless creature, changed by a nuclear explosion, and become Godzilla. Mankind pays for unleashing the nuclear power)

The 1998 American version evolves around the same theme, except instead of Tokyo, San Francisco was the battle ground!

This version... accomplished what Roland Emmerich wanted to achieve but fail, to make a Godzilla movie from a human ground level P.O.V.

Technically this movie is an astounding achievement,, the first and half of the second act are great!!, the issue starts somewhere in the middle of the movie...

The director "lost" me!!...

Before that let me just say my, how much Aaron Taylor-Johnson (kickass) had grown...

They got good actor for most of the roles and no real big names, I believe the producer wanted the attention to focus on the lead, Godzilla himself...

And there lays the issue...
The human interest parts were draggy.

Oh I lie, there is a well known actor here, Ken Watanabe. You need Ken Watanabe to do THAT role?? What the...

Oh!?!


They built up alot of tension for the final show down and...

Frankly, I still have not decided if I like or dislike this movie... Need more processing time...

My Less Than Two Sen...

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: May 16 2014, 01:40 AM

The Monuments Men (2014)

I am not a fan of wars movies. I just am not.

With this movie, I'm glad I have made this exception.

George Clooney is the director and I think he made a good movie.

Very well scripted, very well acted with light comedy to boot

Very original story line and the subject matter of a group of international soldiers traveling Europe at the end of WWII protecting works of art in intriguing...

It wasn't a huge box office hit, and had to add it did not lose money.

It is always interesting to me how smart, well acted, and made movies do not get much attention.

I love this movie.

Give it a try why don't you

My Two Sen

Very VERY Good drama. Watched it when it was first released on DVD, can still remember it.

As in big name. I suppose Breaking Bad is a huge deal to alot of people, and I will alienate alot of people saying this, he was just "okay" in the movie... Sorry...

Okay, okay I forgot alot of people.

It was late, I was in a daze, I apologise!!

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: May 21 2014, 11:07 AM

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

What I am gonna say is what I thought I would say about the Godzilla movie!!!

This is the Summer movie to beat for 2014!

The first 10 minutes alone...

So many comic books squeeze into 2:11mins!!

Most of fan favorite X-Men did make an appearance... Though some too briefly.

What most of what fans did not appreciate in the X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) is cleverly... undone!!

We actually see Wolverine as we have never seen him before

Kudos to Brian Singer to energise up the X-Men franchise again.

Really intense movie.

Really interest mixed of past and future mutants.

Like the comic book The Sentinel are just... relentless... (COOL!!)

Interesting how Marvel ended up with the concept of mutants really (if you don't know and interest to find out, all you have to do is ask)

By Jove, GO WATCH THIS MOVIE! (Again, something I thought I would say about the Godzilla movie but didn't)

My Two Sen.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) Addendum

For my original review of the movie, please goto Mov_freak Jack Ryan Review

I stand by my original review, Chris Pine is a terrible Jack Ryan, and Keira Knightley a horrible girlfriend/wife...

On a personal note, the sooner the Americans understand they are they worst enemy, the better.

Silver lining as mentioned in my previous review, Kelvin Costner and Kenneth Branagh did they roles well, but am used to an African American playing the Thomas Harper role.

Also, high production value, so when the action kicks in the sound effects pretty good!!

My Additional Two Sens...

As the Light Goes Out 救火英雄 (2014)

As AVFAN had stated above this is a decent movie.

One help but compare this with Out Of Inferno 逃出生天 (2013) which I believe copied the Koren's The Tower (which copied Towering Inferno)...

For some odd reason, I felt the Pang Brother's vibe in this movie, more then I did on Out of Inferno, the reason being, there is a sense of eeriness to this movie, when the fire fighters are fighting fire.

At the end, the was a "zen-like" approach to it...

Most of the actors did a decent job, and as I had stated above I thought that Simon Yap hammed it a little in this one...

Go on, give it a try, you know you want to.

My Two Sen

Non-Stop (2014)

Liam Neeson is bad...

In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), his BAD decision got SO MANY JEDI KNIGHTS killed!!

In The Haunting (1999) he was a BAD paranormal researcher...

In Batman Begins (2005) he was BAD!!

In Taken (2008) he was a BAD a$$ father!!!

In Clash of the Titans 2010 he was a BAD father!!

In Unknown (2011) a BAD assassin!!!

In Non-Stop (2014) a BAD a$$ Air Marshal!!?!

As I said, Liam Neeson is BAD!!!!!

This is an interesting movie. Not original mind you (Airport (1970), Executive Decision (1996), Flightplan (2005) & Red Eye (2005)) and have to add, the 1 hour 46 minutes movie, does keep you entertain and for most part at the edge of your seat!!

Not sure if Liam Neeson is gonna stop being BAD, seeing how Taken 3 is in the works...

I for one say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

My Two Sen

You are too kind...

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

A little bit of Aliens (1986) and a whole lot of Groundhog Day (1993)
Add a dash of Starship Troopers (1997) and Matrix (1999) too
Then let it rise for a hundred years or two
And that's the recipe for Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

(Lyrics from Recipe of Love, sorry, not skilled enough to make it rhyme)



I like this!!

I like this alot.

The beginning of the film is probably one of Tom Cruise most original openings!! And unpredictable!!!

Did I mention I LIKE THIS ALOT!!

Who would have thunk that Emily Blunt can be so buff!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Doug Liman is BACK!!!

RUN!! RUN I SAY to watch this movie.

My Two Sen

Maleficent (2014)

Talk about a twist!!

The retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the P.O.V. of Maleficent!!

Having watched Sleeping Beauty (1959) repeatedly, this is an interesting watch. Before I go on, Disney had two terrible summers, namely

John Carter (2012)
With a budget of $250,000,000, grossed: $73,058,679. (Side note, Taylor Kitsch was in two bombs that year. He was also in Battleship (2012) which had a budget of $209,000,000 and grossed $65,173,160.)

The Lone Ranger (2013)
With a budget of $215,000,000 and grossed $89,289,910.

It is my believe that they are putting alot of eggs in this basket, to show that they could still make legitimate Summer Blockbusters...

Did they managed it??

I think they did.

They got the script right, so much so that if you ARE familiar with the animated feature Sleeping Beauty, chances are you will like this movie.

Interesting how Ms Jolie had to play her character's anguish, betrayal, pain, all with a calm demeanor and through her eyes...

Elle Fanning is sweet as Aurora and Sharlto Copley is just a plain old meanie!!!

From a digital effects point of view, it is actually an amalgamation of Lord of The Rings and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe! Not bad!!

It is also interesting that Imelda Staunton who plays one of the pixies Knotgrass, was also in Harry Potter as the dreaded, Dolores Umbridge!!

Even the main song Lana Del Rey's cover version of Once Upon A Dream is beautifully haunting!!

I do have one tiny criticism about the movie... This would not be a Sleeping Beauty movie without a Prince Charming and they cast... Brenton Thwaites... So is the casting director a fan of One Direction!!!???

As always, and forever shall be...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jun 7 2014, 01:25 AM

Hi. Where have you been?

I've missed your surly, I-DON'T-LIKE-ANYTHING-MOV_FREAK-LIKES reviews...

I have to look up the original Get Carter to see how much I loathing it!!

Just a heads up, I LUV Edge Of Tomorrow and X-Men Days Of The Future Past so....

You have successfully merged Edge Of Tomorrow with Into The Darkness in your mind. Sounds cool. Please share

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jun 10 2014, 11:43 AM

Or Spock for that matter, no, no, Uhura! UHURA!!

Yes it is Edge of Darkness (2010). So did you mean to say Edge of Darkness or Edge of Tomorrow??

Nah... Since his racist slur in Hollywood, the bigshots there had not forgiven him since, and he had not respawned ONCE!!

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jun 10 2014, 07:49 PM

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Well, this turns out to be a difficult movie for me to review...

No no, do not misunderstand, this movie is good, it is just that the story went to and unexpected direction for me and the outcome...

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

We revisit the village Berk and life is good.

Everyone prospering, human and dragons are co-existing, but hark, our male lead it no where to be found...

The movie really starts with Astrid finding Hiccup and he is exploring far and wide, mapping everything.

Well, I am not going to give you a blow by blow of the movie, the animation is great, scored grand and the story... dark!

And this goes back to my original difficulty.

Alright, story is not a rehash of the first and expended the universe of HTTYD for sure but for the better? I don't know...

I reserve the right to make that call when the third movie is available.

In the mean time, go enjoy the movie, just because I have reservation about it, doesn't mean you cannot enjoy it!!

My Two Sen