The Godfather Part II both continues the story of the first by following Michael, and makes flashbacks to the life of Vito Corleone, showing how he became the Godfather. In the movie Michael is trying to make his family strong, while trying to kill off his enemies. When in attempt is made on Michael's life he tries to root out the traitor in his family, who turn out to be his older, but less capable brother Fredo. The story is well done; Michael tries to hold his family together, and in doing so, resorts to violence. This dynamic is especially present when Micheal is eliminating all his enemies, and in doing so, decides to kill Fredo. The story has intrigue, drama, and violence which makes the movie both intriguing, yet questionable as it portrays the distinct morality of the Corleone family. Al Pacino continues to be a be an exceptional actor; he has the perfect mix of paranoia and fury when faced with certain situations. He asks friends and family questions to test their loyalty, and is shaken when he discovers that his child was aborted. The flashbacks of Vito are a good method to compare Micheal and his father, who he tried to be like. Robert De Niro is also a great actor, capturing the mannerisms that Marlon Brando had in his role as Vito. Though the flashbacks provide an interesting look into the Corleone family, they do take away from the focus of Micheal's story. All-in-all the film is a impressive and fitting sequel to the first movie.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Spectre
(I) (2015)
Disappointing
26 November 2015
The movie opens with a great tracking shot following James Bond (Daniel Craig) through a Day of the Dead parade. The beginning scene is the movie's strongest because it has a great action sequence and establishes the tone of the film. Sadly, the rest of the movie pales in comparison to its introduction. The main plot is Bond's search for the mysterious organization Spectre. The subplot is about the takeover of Bond's agency M16 by people working for Spectre. The movie attempts to connect both plots; but, in the end they only work to take focus away from each other and ultimately diminishes the film. Many elements of the story meant to be surprises were predictable, and lessened the effectiveness of these reveals. The actors are good, but the roles they played belittled them. Both Lea Seydoux, who plays Bond's love interest, and Christoph Waltz, the film's villain, act well, but have too little screen time, relevance, or good scripting to let them stand out. Lastly, the action sequences after the opening one are also underwhelming; they are either too short or not particularly exciting. Overall, while the movie does have great moments, it lacks a focused plot or interesting characters, preventing it from being an intriguing film.
The Martian
(2015)
Decent Sci-fi Survival Movie
27 October 2015
The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott, is a fictional movie set on the planet of Mars. The movie begins with a group of astronauts making a mission on the planet when a storm hits. The crew is forced to evacuate, and one crew member is injured and abandoned. The allegedly dead astronaut , Mark Watney(played by Matt Damon), awakens alone. The plot of the movie is focused upon how Watney survives, and how he is rescued. The majority of the film is spent focused on the former. This is the movie's strongest portion, mostly due to a great performance by Matt Damon, and a witty script. The other part of the film, how Watney is rescued, is gone about in a realistic way. While this does help the audience become immersed in the movie, it creates sections of the film where Watney, who should be the main focus, is drowned out by other characters and dilemmas. Even though they sometimes take away from the film, these additional characters are still strong editions; they are each well developed, and have good writing. Lastly, the story unfortunately makes few surprising deviations from what the audience can predict will occur, leaving it somewhat underwhelming. Overall, The Martian is an intriguing and entertaining movie, but is never astounding.
Ant-Man
(2015)
Enjoyable yet simple
27 September 2015
Ant Man is about a likable burglar, played by Paul Rudd, who finds a suit which allows him to shrink down to the size of the ant. The owner of the suit, and previous Ant Man (Michael Douglas) trains the main character to use the suit in order to stop the villain, who is attempting to militarize a shrinking suit of his own. The cast is solid and has good chemistry, and the movie is pleasantly humorous. The action, though there is not a lot of it, is exciting. It includes great special effects, largely in sequences when the hero shrinks and controls ants to aid him. On the other hand the story is for the most part underwhelming, though it does benefit from having a smaller scale than most superhero movies. The villain of the movie, played by Corey Stoll, is wasted, lacking interesting personal motivation or interaction with the main character until the ending.
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