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The Revenant (2015)
Perfect combination of pain, despair, revenge, and justice
I am writing this after just getting out of watching this movie for the first time, but this movie is about as close to perfect as I can perceive. As my title says, this movie portrays Leo's characters pain, despair, revenge, and justice better than anything ever.
I went into this movie with high expectations. i had heard from friends that this could be Leo's chance to finally win an Oscar, and being an avid fan of his, this excited me. But realistically, this could be nominated and win every category that it can. The entire story was seamless. For me, after watching it only once, I didn't see any plot holes, I was entranced from beginning to end, and the ending left me speechless. Needless to say, I was absolutely blown away.
Tom Hardy, while only a supporting role, and very much the antagonist of this story, was incredible. He portrayed his character beautifully, showing the hate for the Native Americans so vividly, but also showing the side of him that made you understand that he did everything because he believed it to be the right thing to do. His character was eerily funny, making me laugh at times where I felt terrible for laughing (but that could just be the twisted side of me).
Leo, on the other hand, was just as great, obviously playing the protagonist. He displayed the pain that his character felt perfectly (although a lot of that credit has to go to the director). In his eyes, in every shot, you could see the drive for his character to find justice. He showed the fear he had to overcome after the bear attack that was displayed in the trailer. While he said very few actual words the entire film, each seemed to rock me to the core. His struggle to find revenge for the people he loved was so pure and real, I'm truly baffled by the how beautifully he portrayed his character.
Finally, my favorite part of this movie was that it displayed the life of the settlers of the west unbelievably well. It showed how difficult life was, the vast difficulties that the settlers had with the natives (warranted or not), the struggles that every person living there had with money, cold, food, and generally trying to survive. And to top it all off, it was set in an incredible part of the US, in (in my opinion) the most beautiful time of the year there. While sitting there feeling horrible for the various characters, I sat there marveling at the beauty of the land around them, appreciating the all too infrequent looks back into the past.
All in all, Alejandro G. Iñárritu has created another masterpiece. I would highly recommend any person who truly loves movies to go and see it for yourself. Fare warning, it was bloody, gruesome, and full of swearing, but it is also perfectly placed in order to make the movie so much better. I loved this movie, will be buying it when it comes out on DVD, and will watch the Oscars that much more anxiously because I truly believe this could be Leo's time to finally win an Oscar (along with probably 6 or 7 more for the rest of the movie and cast). While saying something is a 10 out of 10 is difficult, this movie has earned it. Pay the 10 bucks and see it in theaters while you can. ENJOY!!
We Are Your Friends (2015)
Exactly what I expected it would be
I, like many of the more recent reviews, definitely disagree with the ratings that "We Are Your Friends" has been receiving. I am a fan of EDM in general and if for nothing else, the music in this movie was everything I hoped for. As someone who is not familiar with the finer points of DJing, the explanation of the techniques was interesting, and made me think about the other music that I enjoy in the genre.
I thought the plot was representative of what it should have been. I see reviews stating that for the title of the movie, there should have been more scenes focusing on the group of friends and their relationships, but I think what they did was enough. I do disagree with using their friendships as the title, but you can't judge a book by the cover. As with any group of young adults, you hang out when you can, but you aren't always together due to living life, and this movie represented that idea. Especially when someone is trying to "make it big" you are going to follow someone who has the ability to help you live up to your dreams and that's what Efron's character did. As far as the friends go, the only thing I truly desired was additional background behind the beginnings of their friendships.
I also liked the acting. As someone who has always been a fan of Zac Efron, I thought that his role was well played, and contrary to the vast number of people who still see him as being in High School Musical, I think he is really growing as an actor and beginning to hit a stride that the industry can get behind. Wes Bentley played an alcoholic, has-been fabulously. Ratajkowski was beautiful as ever, but there was truly nothing special about her performance. The rest of the group of friends did fine jobs, but again, nothing spectacular. And finally, Bernthal plays that role as the crook disguised as a business man better than the vast majority of the industry and this movie was no exception.
Where I have issues with this movie is the long lasting feeling that some movies give you when you leave the theater. Movies that I would rate higher than this, I think about days after seeing the movie and remember finer points about the movie and how subtle actions or lack thereof change the way I personally feel while watching the movie. I liked the movie, thought the music was great, but when it comes down to it, my reaction to it stopped when I left. There was no additional thinking necessary. It gave you all the information, and then just left you to enjoy the movie for what it was, which is good, but definitely not worthy of a higher rating.
I think that if this was a story directly replaying what had happened with a huge artist (say Hardwell or Aoki) and not just a fictional DJ that people would be all over it, but as it stands, I liked it. Don't be turned off by the negative Nancy's that have reviewed this previously, go see it and form your own conclusions about it.
Fantastic Four (2015)
Great Stars Diminished By Poor Plot
Ladies and gentlemen, I had huge hopes for this movie. I personally love the lead roles (until you go outside the fantastic four), I think that they have had great young careers and they show huge amounts of promise. I think that someday in the future they will all be even bigger stars than they currently are, and are becoming, but I think all of them will look back and realize that this was a poor investment of their time, because this movie is a total bust.
Now, I understand that there are a plethora of movies that are around 100 mins long, but for this type of superhero movie, where you had to establish a past, acknowledge the general issue to be addressed by the movie, and still have time for the rest of the plot and the decent ending, it doesn't work. By about 40 mins in they were just beginning to get some of their powers. That leaves them with an hour to deal with the rest of the movie, which is not enough, again.
I didn't like the first movie, I thought it was way too targeted at a very young audience, and I thought that this would be much better because it seemed to have more of a darker side to it, but the first one at least gave you the entire story. There are plot holes galore in this one.
For instance, they rode the tail of a worm hole back to earth. And then just left it there, like it was no big deal, they didn't finish the ending, they didn't describe any back lash, they didn't do anything with the ending. Instead, after Von Doom almost destroys the world after they just reopened a portal to "Planet Zero", they get a big government contract and a huge lab, seemingly just because. Now I understand that one wasn't the worst but it bothered me so I had to get it off my chest.
Second, what was the energy on "Planet Zero." was it radioactive, did it change their DNA, what did it do... Oh that's right, they were just concerned with going back.
Third, the fight scene, are you kidding me, there are about 50 different things wrong with it, like how did Reed magically gain the strength to decompress his arm back to normal size, how did Johnny break out of his rocky prison, none of it really makes any sense. Then to top it off, it took maybe 10 mins and then it was done, left incomplete, like this movie should have been.
Fourth, the script. These writers can't honestly believe that these lines are good enough for this style of movie. They probably told each other to look into their eyes a total of about 20 times collectively throughout the movie. And I understand there are likely other major issues with the script, but seeing it just once (likely the only time I will see it) this stood out to me the most.
Fifth, the year break. There is a part in the movie where the characters go about their lives with their powers for a year without showing a single second. During which, initially you had no clue what was going on, and after they described what was going on, you regretted why you wondered at all.
I'm just going to end this here because I really can't stand thinking about it. I am only giving this a 4 because of the actors, they actually didn't do too terribly although it still was not my favorite showing for any of them. But Miles Teller will be a lead in other bigger movies, Kate Mara has displayed her abilities multiple times now, and Michael B. Jordan is an incredibly dynamic actor so I guarantee he will do big things in the future.
All I am saying is that I heard that there was going to be a sequel to this movie, and to the writers, producers, and any one else that has to do with it, if you are going to make it like you made this one, don't.
Boyhood (2014)
Phenomenal For Different Reasons
What is good about this movie is not why it was so critically acclaimed. I personally think that the fact that it was filmed over the course of 12 years is relatively negligible. The only benefit that it added was that you had a very clear aging process of a kid rather than jumping around between different actors like in Slumdog Millionaire. I think that what was so great about this movie was the perspective from which it was shot.
From the beginning of the movie you have the main character at a young age, not really understanding why they were leaving his father too much but generally understanding that they were going to be entirely different after they left. And what you see throughout the rest of the movie is the progression that the main character goes through as he learns what causes different life experiences and how his views of the world change.
He and his friends aren't members of every other movie where Murphy's Law comes into effect. They throw saw blades at a wall and no one gets killed, he has a discussion with his dad about texting and driving and he doesn't get in a crash, he drinks, smokes, and does drugs like a vast number of young kids today and it doesn't really affect him much. He is a product of divorce and that wears on him more than anything. From learning the cruelties of love and relationships through his mother's failed marriages, to watching true happiness and commit take hold of his childish father, you watch this young man change and grow into something many people can relate to.
However, the best part of this movie is that it is truly filmed from his eyes. While the movie is about him, it's not. It's about his life, him growing, him experiencing different things, him meeting new people, and his mindset changing. His life is more about what is happening around him than the singular narrative that is going on in his head and that is the part that I believe was most successful with this movie.
Fast & Furious 7 (2015)
The Perfect Ending
What is great about this movie is that it is the perfect finish to this series. For any movie fan that likes cars, for any person who can appreciate the meaning of family and for any person who just purely likes very action packed films, this is the perfect ending to a pretty great series.
I admit I was fairly skeptical when the first few movies came out. The plots seemed very dry and more about the cars than anything else. When they made Tokyo Drift, I was almost ready to give up on the series. But beginning with the fourth movie and concluding with this one, it has become one of my favorite series ever.
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are the perfect compliments to each other, the classic muscle head and the tech savvy friend, both striving together to find common ground. Then when you begin to build in their supporting cast, you can't doubt the prowess of the writers. The dysfunctional nature of the first few movies turned into an incredibly complex story line, filled with plot holes that continued to be filled as the movies continued.
This movie finished the series perfectly. It completed the story like between Toretto and Leddy, it showed the family side of this group that all fans love, it showed the finale of Brian O'Connors changes. All of it worked perfectly in sync and then concluded with the perfect tribute to Paul Walker.
I won't spoil the plot ending for those who haven't seen the movie, but for me this movie was everything it needed to be. It isn't a movie that movie snobs will look at and be able to critically debate the nuisances but it will be one that they will appreciate. It won't win awards, but to those who have followed this series closely it will be a satisfying ending to the story. I will personally never be able to watch any movie with any of the the main cast of this final movie without thinking of the Fast and the Furious series.
If you are at all debating seeing this movie, don't. Just go and watch it. You will not be disappointed. It truly is the perfect ending to this underrated series.
The Hangover Part III (2013)
Not too bad but interesting concept
Honestly, I thought that the movie wasn't as bad as I had heard going in the the premier. I think it was way more original than part 2 but not quite to the originality of part 1. The fact that they changed up the story line so it wasn't just the characters getting drunk and retracing their steps was a nice addition to the series. Specifically, I thought of the movie as a transition in Allen from a very juvenile version of Allen to a Allen that is growing up. But overall the jokes were dumb humor which should be expected from this type of movie where most of the humor is centered around one of the characters being significantly less intelligent than the others. I also liked that they brought back some of the very minute characters from the first movie and actually expanded on the things that they said. I also loved how they did the same kind of reference to the old movies at the very end after the credits, I thought it was funny and also was a good way to end the movie while leaving the audience to interpret what happened.
The characters themselves were an interesting change. I didn't like that again Doug was not included in the majority of the movie. I did however enjoy John Goodman's character, Marshall. As always the banter between the three main characters was humorous, but the humor was the same as the previous movies.
The one major interesting little detail that I was not sure how I felt initially was the references to other movies. In specific parts of the movies, such as Chow escaping from prison in the beginning of the movie in the pretty much the exact same way as in Shawshank Redemption, it was a bit too copied. I enjoyed the reference but at the same time, it reminded me of the way that the Scary Movies reference movies, and because I don't like those movies, I didn't like that style.
Overall I thought the humor was on point with good references to the relationships of the characters. Rating the movie, I would probably give the film a 6 or 7, with the added point because of the final scene after the credits. Through all of this though, I do not believe they should make a 4th movie.