10s Movie Review - Justice League

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action.. Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Connie Nielsen, Diane Lane, Amber Heard, Robin Wright, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Billy Crudup

Description: Fuled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to face an even greater enemy.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 45: A DC COMICS MOVIE

Review: I don’t like saying this, but “Justice League” reminds me a lot of “The Avengers”. Not only the tone and the humor, but also the story structure is similar: short introductions of all the team members, the search of a bad guy Steppenwolf, and even the way the team fights against itself. Or take the entrance of Steppenwolf teleports to Earth thanks to a magical cube, and tries to get his hands on it while soldiers try to stop him. It’s not necessarily copied, the so-called Motherboxes do come from the original stories, but they are clearly playing it safe with the intention of “Justice League”. He therefore misses the impact, innovation and own identity that “The Avengers” had.
It turns out to be a successful formula, which proides a significant improvement over the overambitious “Batman V Superman”. Whereas the dark predecessor threw all kinds of subplots, themes and comic strips into a blender and hoped for a form of coherence, Zack Snyder had a clear them for the sequel. The film opens with the meaning of Superman’s emblem, the symbol for hope. This time it’s not a nice one-liner, but the core of the film. Truly every character ans subplot revolves around hope: Flash’s relationship with his father, Cyborg’s resurrection, Batman and Wonder Woman’s struggle with their past and Aquaman’s cantankerous and lonely quest for more. The tone is therefore more consistent than ever in the DCEU.  
Steppenwolf is allowed to join the lon line of uninteresting bad guys. His background as the seconds of Darkseid and his role as a military leader of the Planet Apokolips are hardly explained. Moreover, there is not glimmer of charisma or personality. “Justice League” has more lack of construction. Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman haven’t been able to benefit from a solo film yet, and have to try to develop their characters within some scenes.
The best thin about “Justice League” is, especially for the fans, that the fifth DCEU movie finally has a grip on the source material. The interaction between all the heroes is convincing and strong. And especially The Flash is a pleasant and enjoyable presence.
Compared to the other superhero movies that came out in 2017, “Justice League” is too safe to compete with. “Justice League” feels more like a rectification, mainly due to the optimistic and heroic tone in the last few shots.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Aquaman

Director:  James Wan
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 144 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Randall Park, Michael Beach

Description: A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.

Review: It appears that the underdogs in the superhero world, get the most colorful films with a lot of creativity and freedom. “Aquaman” is a spectacular and very overwhelming film.
“Aquaman” is hard to analyse, because James Wan makes the same mistakes as many other directors: the film is long, the narrative is a bit unclear and some characters are very one-dimensional. But somehow you walk out of the cinema with a big smile.
Because “Aquaman” has tons of charm. And not in the sense of “ultimate popcorn entertainment’, because these movies are easy on the eyes but very forgettable. “Aquaman” is also pure eye candy, but there is one big difference: the movie is never boring, never too serious and embraces absurdity. The film is visually stunning, wonderful filmed and a treat for the senses.
There are several films that you can see influenced Wan in making “Aquaman”. “Indiana Jones”, “True Lies”, “Avatar”. It’s two hours of mind blowing action and visual effects.
Jason Momoa is a great choice for the title role. After seeing him as Aquaman, it’s hard to think about someone else in the role. And that means he did a good job!
DC still doesn’t win it from Marvel, but James Wan did a solid job. It’s a hell of a thrill ride and extremely entertaining!

Rating: 3,5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 131: The Danish Girl

Director: Tom Hooper
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Amber Heard, Ben Wishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sebastian Koch

Description: A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

Review: “The Danish Girl” starts in 1926, where we meet Einar and Gerda Wegener. Einar is a very successful painter, Gerda’s work isn’t as popular. When Gerda asks Einar to dress up as a woman, because her model is absent, it’s the beginning of a big change in their lives. Einar feels surprisingly comfortable in woman’s clothing. When the two plan on a joke, where Einar dresses up as a woman and pretending to be Lili, the long way from man to woman starts for Einar. He isn’t Einar anymore, he is Lili.
What I find conspicious is that the radical transformation hardly gets any social resistance. The film is set in the twenties/ thirties and this is a pretty shocking and groundbreaking action. It’s not very realistic. What we see is a melodramatic story where Lili struggles with her identity an Gerda stays by her side.
The actors make this movie good. Eddie Redmayne is really strong, but it’s Alicia Vikander that steals the show. She is sublime and manages to lift the film to a higher level. The chemistry between the two is very good.
The film looks fantastic, the ydillic shots of Denmark, the costumes, paintings and décor. But the movie is simply a melodramatic story with great actors.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 101: Magic Mike XXL

Director: Gregory Jacobs

Genre: Comedy/ Drama

Runtime: 115 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Elizabeth Banks, Amber Heard, Donald Glover, Andie MacDowell

Description: Three years after Mike (Channing Tatum) bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.

Review: Channing Tatum broke through as the lead in a dance movie called “Step Up”and returned to his ‘roots’ in “Magic Mike”. This Steven Soderbergh directed movie was loosely based on Tatum’s past as a stripper. The movie was a hit and fans were really excited about a sequel. This time without Matthew McConaughey and director Soderbergh, but some extra women in the cast and more sexy dance movies and six-packs.

Like the character that Donald Glover plays says in the movie: “All we got to do is ask them what they want”. And that is “Magic Mike XXL”. We get more naked body parts and lap dances. The ‘Kings of Tampa” have to practice for their last performance, where Mike returns after being absent for three years. During their road trip they get in trouble a couple of times and they meet some colorful people along the way. Like Rome, played by Jada Pinkett-Smith, the owner of a club. She actually outplays all the guys in the film.

There isn’t as much humor in this film as the first. The story on the other hand, has become more important. This takes the pace out of the movie, it drags a bit. And that final dance act should be the highlight of the film. For many people it probably is, but I hated it. Male strippers should look masculine, but for me it’s a big turn off.

For the fans of the first movie, they get what they want: more half naked men and more sexy moves. But for the people who want a bit more, like humor and pace, it’s a letdown. The movie was saved by the women, pretty strange when it’s about stripper men.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 94: Paranoia

Director: Robert Luketic

Genre: Thriller

Runtime: 115 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, Amber Heard, Richard Dreyfuss, Embeth Davidtz, Josh Holloway, Julian McMahon

Description: Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) is an entry-level employee at a powerful corporation. He finds himself occupying a corner office, but at a dangerous price: he must spy on his boss's old mentor to secure for him a multi-billion dollar advantage.

Review: Adam Cassidy is a young and ambitious man working for a company that specializes in smartphones. When he stuffs up a presentation, he and his co-workers end up on the street. Because Adam is angry, he uses the company’s credit card and buys his colleagues a fun night out. Adam’s boss Nicholas Wyatt finds out and leaves him with two options: They turn him in to the police or he has to spy on Wyatts old mentor, Jock Goddard. Adam, who doesn’t have a penny to spare and is struggling with a sick father, takes the job. What seems like an easy job, turns out to be his worst nightmare.

A thriller doesn’t need to have a good developed story to captivate you. With the correct mix of a good script, pace and the right actors you get a long way. “Paranioa” seems to have all those things: a script about corruption within the current crisis, acting legends Ford and Oldman and hot talent Liam Hemsworth. But “Paranoia” hits and misses.

The movie starts out just fine. But things get very improbable. Everything is high-tech, but the competition easily breaks through each other’s security. And there are very bad dialogues. This movie lacks originality.

Liam Hemsworth looks great, like his brother Chris, but doesn’t have that same charisma and talent. He is a bit superficial. Amber Heard shows us that looking good doesn’t mean you can’t act. Harrison Ford is doing a routine job, nothing noteworthy there. But Gary Oldman shows us that he can still pull of the villain role.

“Paranoia” misses its chance with the mediocre script and the lack of intensity from the actors. Even Ford and Oldman can’t save it. It’s a standard thriller that you won’t remember for long.

Rating: 1,5/ 5

Movie Moments: "Pineapple Express"

I’ve wanted this movie for this item for a while now, I just had to rewatch it first. I did so I decided to pick my favorite scenes from “Pineapple Express”.

Moment # 1: Crossjoint
Dale visits Saul to get some weed, when he finds a crossjoint. You light it at three points. They smoke it and say it’s great, but they almost choke on their own coughs and don’t sound like they are enjoying it at all.

Moment # 2: Dale witnesses a murder
Dale is supposed to visit Ted Jones for work, but instead he witnesses him killing someone while sitting in the car. Jones is with a female cop. Dale wants to drive off, but instead he hits two cars which draws the killers’ attention. Dale manages to get away eventually, but he’s in big trouble.

Moment # 3: Getting rid of the phones
Saul thinks it’s better to lose their cellphones, because he thinks the cops will track them down and find them. They have all kinds of ideas like tying the phone to an animal or building a hot air balloon. Dale smashes his phone and Saul wants to smash it on a tree. Instead he throws it in the woods and the phone is lost. Saul’s genius idea to find it: call it.With what Saul?

Moment # 4: Saul, Dale and Red fight
Saul and Dale visit Red. Saul trusts him, but Dale doesn’t. They start a fight, which ends up with Dale punching a hole in the wall and Red being tied up with ducked tape.

Moment # 5: In the dumpster
Saul and Dale are running away and try to hide. In panic Saul jumps in a dumpster, but Dale doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Saul thinks they should still hide there, because he’s in the dumpster already.

Moment # 6: Fork
Dale is trying to tell his girlfriend Angie that she’s in danger, when Saul walks in to warn them. Angie thinks Saul is a bad guy and stabs him with a fork in the back. Saul screams like a girl.

Moment # 7: Police car
Because Saul spilled slushies all over the front window of the police car, he can’t see where he’s going. Saul kicks in the window with his foot, but can’t get it out. Now he has to drive with one foot sticking out of the front window.

Moment # 8: “I love you”
Dale calls Angie to tell her he loves her. Angie takes him back and tells him she wants to marry him. Dale than realizes that she’s very shallow and superficial if she takes him back, because he made a mess.

Moment # 9: Dale’s ear
Matheson, one of the bad guys, shoots Dale in the ear and now there is a piece missing. Dale tries to put it back on.

Moment # 10: Dale saves Saul
While all the weed and the barn it’s in is on fire and Saul is unconscious, Dale has to save him. His pants catch fire, so Dale takes them off. Saul won’t wake up, so he carries Saul outside… in his underpants.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 7 : Police car