The Counselor (2013)

Stars Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt & Javier Bardem

Directed by : Ridley Scott

Just looking at the above 2 lines of names you would think that not much could go wrong with the movie, right? Those are some of the biggest names in show business for goodness sake! If you thought that then you'd be dead wrong!

My advice for this movie : DO NOT WATCH THIS!!

Yes. You read it right. Don't waste your time. This movie is bad. The story is beyond saving and you'll get confused at what's actually happening. Once you get what's actually happening you'll find out that nothing much is happening, really! Just lots of talking and talking and more talking.

The main character is played by Michael Fassbender and his referred to as 'counselor' all through the movie. There's no name for him. Should have been a warning sign but I missed that. *Sigh*
Rating : 1 out of 5 stars.

RoboCop (2014)

As we all know this movie is a remake of the original RoboCop that came out in the 80's. The old movie became a cult classic and anyone attempting to remake it will have his work cut out for him. Since nostalgia is always tainted with overly emphasised positives, it's no wonder that hardly anyone can measure up.

Having said that, I feel that the new RoboCop is a decent movie. I hardly remember the old one except for the main plot line so comparison is futile. The new RoboCop manages to entertain. It's not a great movie but far from being a dud. The story remains largely the same as the old one but the violence is toned down. Also the new black suit makes him look more like a cop in hi-tech suit of armor rather than a cyborg per se but that's a minor annoyance. This new RoboCop is much more agile and we can really believe that it is much more of a threat compared to the old one who's really lumbering around and behaves more like a tank than a humanoid cyborg.

The story diverge from the old one when we realize that this Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) retained his emotions, intellect and memory after his transformation. He is really a man inside a machine but the top brass in the company (played by Michael Keaton) that created him wants nothing more than him being a machine with a human face. Thus we have the conflict in Dr. Norton (Gary Oldman), the scientist who transformed Murphy, who really wants Murphy to be more human but has to make him more like a machine.

Overall this movie is watchable but don't expect too much and don't compare it to the old one. One note though, when it ended, I felt that it left a little too many things unresolved and hanging but then again, there's plenty of material for a sequel because of it.

Rating : 2 and a half stars out of 5

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....

So... can I call you Mr Conformist now???

You know what? I have not seen your "fire" for quite some time now. And I really appreciate you dropping you opinion here at my reviews.

Is that not why we have this forum?

Where people with passion for a said subject matter can share their opinions!!

I did not not like it...

A little too "loud" for me to like like it!!

I agree. While the suspense is really good, it all comes down to a personal revenge which is fine but also quite underwhelming as I expected bigger confrontation. Perhaps they think the 'swift but tense final confrontation' with the cartel boss will have more shock value than a dozen bullets flying everywhere. I was more disappointed with Emily Blunt's role here, they probably meant to make her an observer and we viewers see the heinous world through her eyes, feel her emotions etc and basically feeling quite lost for 3/4 of the movie. But she was underused here. Expecting more 'active role' and then you realize her purpose was just to sign a piece of paper at the end of the day. Acting-wise, they're all great though. Nevertheless Sicario is still worth watching imo.

Well, you are right about Apollo 13.

I will actually go as far as this movie being Apollo 13 meets Castaway!!!

Oh? I thought the "shower" scene was Matt (Scurvy-ridden and all). If not, my bad.

The most interesting character to watch for me in Sicario is Benicio Del Toro. Although Emily Blunt is the top billing star in it, Del Toro just kills it for me personally. His minimum dialogue performance just speaks volume about the character he's playing. Many criticisms were made on the script switching gear to Alejandro just does not bother me one bit. Kate just out of her depth in the world where Josh Brolin operates. Her purpose in the story is that "fish out of the water" surrogate for the audience to follow. Just don't see her becoming the conventional heroine to save the day. At the end of it, you can't win the war on cartels just like how Josh Brolin sums it up in the movie.

Actually, I was told that The Godfather II is way better than it's predecessor

Star Wars Empire Strikes Back is almost everyone's favorite

I LOVE Conjuring 2

So it exist, but DEFINITELY NOT this!!!!