The Fault in Our Stars Review

JUST A HEADS UP THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS!

The Fault in Our Stars is a romantic comedy which is based on the novel by John Green. Usually I don't make an effort to go the cinemas to watch romantic movies but after seeing all the praise that the internet and my friends were giving this movie I felt like I had to see it just to see what all the fuss was about. For the most part Fault is your generic romantic comedy however it does the genre so well that you actually don't mind that the movie is a tad cliched because it is such a pleasure to watch and yes there is a massive tear jerker moment in the film. If you didn't feel something when watching this film that you are just cold hearted!

The movie stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort who was also in Divergent, regardless of the past the two actually had amazing chemistry in the movie. From the get go you see the two fall for each other as they meet each other in a Cancer patients support group, before I continue I just have to say many negative review of this movie criticized the film for being manipulative since both the title characters in the film actually suffer from cancer and that claim while understandable is complete bollocks. Just because a movie can show something serious like cancer and actually make you feel for the sufferers doesn't make it a manipulative movie, any movie that can make you feel for the main characters in my books is regarded as a good movie. Now that is out of the way, Hazel (Shailene) and Augustus (Ansel) have amazing chemistry and watching the two in the film actually felt somewhat natural to me albeit a few scenes here and there.

Ansel absolutely kills it as Augustus in the film and it is safe to say that he actually carries this film and saves it from being mediocre and elevates it to being a movie many people will watch multiple times.  Augustus' character is just dam charming and literally speaks his mind, something which I really loved about his character because not only did it make me laugh throughout the movie (even in serious scenes) but it made his character more relatable. One of the quirks that I really enjoyed about Augustus was how he just holds a cigarette between his teeth and as he says "you put the killing thing right between your teeth but you don't give it the power to do it's killing". This gesture actually symbolized how the cigarette not killing him is the one and only area in life where he can have power of his cancer ailed body.

From the beginning of the film we already know that this love between Hazel and Gus is doomed as one of them is fated to die at any point, this is something which is unavoidable considering their predicament. From the start we assume that Hazel is going to die first as her cancer seems to have the better of her compared to Gus but as the movie progresses the dynamic slowly shifts as we see Gus start becoming more and more ill and slowly our hearts weaken as we see the cancer get the better of the charming prince.

For me one of the saddest scenes in the film was the pre-funeral where Hazel and Isaac speak their eulogies so that Gus can see what they would say at his actual funerals. Most of the theater actually started to cry when this scene played out because it was heart touching and emotional. Especially when we then skip 8 days later when Hazel is attending Gus's actual funeral.

As cliched as this film is, it actually embraces the cliches and makes them enjoyable to watch and has us invested in the characters (especially Gus). While some characters like Dafoe were good but seemed a bit unnecessary during some parts of the film the movie was overall was a nice, relaxing watch.

I give this movie four Ansel Elgort heads out of five. I watched this movie with a group of friends but if you can definitely take your date of significant other to watch this film because chances are couples that can relate to this film more will enjoy it more. Ok? Ok.

Review by Armour Dude

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review

BE WARNED THERE MIGHT BE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW SO IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MOVIE TO BE SPOILED READ THIS AFTER YOU WATCH THE FILM!

Dawn of the Planet of Apes simply put is one of the best movies of the year so far and a worthy follow up to the surprise hit that was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. What this film excels in pretty much every ascpet compared to Rise, director Matt Reeves has truly outdone himself and expanded upon everything that was put in place by the first film and the result of his hard work is this masterpiece of a film that is exhilarating, suspenseful, emotional and down right epic. Dawn is the perfect middle chapter in the rebooted apes trilogy easily comparable to the likes of The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back.

For the first 20ish minutes of the film there is hardly any talking and that isn't a bad thing at all because the first part of the film focuses solely on the apes who communicate through a mixture of sign language, body language and the occasional word or two. To be honest the first 20 minutes were actually amazing and I kind of wished the film kept going like this with minimal human interaction and lo and behold the film actually focuses more on the apes with the human element taking a back seat and acting as more of a side story.

That isn't to say that the human characters in the film were bad but they were just overshadowed by the apes in every way. The only point the humans served in this film was to compliment the apes story and show how similar the humans and apes are. Like I said the apes stole the show especially Andy Serkis who embodied the heart and soul of Caesar. With every small micro expression we could see and feel the decisions that Caesar had to make and how they affect him and his newly built community. This feat would have been unachievable without the work of Serkis. Also like i have said the humans in the story are there to parallel the apes like with Malcolm's (Jason Clarke) family who were the human counterpart of Caesars family showing that these two families are essentially fighting for the same cause.

It would be a disservice to write this review without mentioning Tony Kebbell who portrayed Koba. Why do I have to mention him? Because he gives Serkis a run for his money as he portrays the tortured Koba, a friend turned foe. Koba was the real villain of the film and a worthy adversary for Ceasar as he shows the corruption within every race but can you really blame Koba after everything that he was put through. One of the most harrowing and emotional scenes in the film for me was when Koba confronts Caesar after finding out that the humans will work on the dam and points to each one of his scars and says "Human Work". Honestly Koba is one of the most memorable and best villains to date as we see his rise and fall. What made him a great villain was the fact that we got to see him develop over the two films and tho it doesn't come as a shock that he is becomes the antagonist it is still shocking to see his extreme beliefs.

One of the greatest things that this film does is that it utilizes everything that was built in the first film and uses every scene in the movie to either foreshadow a future scene in the film (Koba's fall). While I was watching this film I was easily able to see the nods to the first film, for those willing to look there is a tonne of symbolism in the film and references to deeper themes such as fundamentalism, isolationism and so on but I wont mention that because I find that stuff rather boring. 

Ultimately Dawn is a magnificent example of why I love films and shows what Hollywood and Weta can do when they actually try, it's an exciting, thrilling, visually breathtaking film that will have you feel for the apes . This movie easily rivals the magic of the original films and tops its predecessor and is a smart gripping sci-fi that has you hooked from the start of the film

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes gets my exclusive gold rating (5/5), it is definitely a film I would rewatch in cinemas for full price. Absolutely check this film out on the big screen to get the maximum impact, trust me you will not regret it.

Review by ArmoUr Dude

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Anime Spotlight

Usually I don't watch many anime's unless there is hype behind it or unless the manga is exceptionally well done like with Attack on Titan, Psycho-Pass, Full Metal Alchemist and Darker than Black. However this year we will be treated to three amazing manga adaptations (one of which is a remake), two aired over the weekend and I have to say I was definitely surprised by how well the anime's turned out.

The first anime which aired this weekend which blew me away (because I didn't read the manga till the show aired) is Tokyo Ghoul. This anime is a Dark fantasy/Horror, a genre of anime which I'm actually not familiar with unless you group Darker than Black here. Tokyo in many respects actually did remind me of DTB, however this show starts off intense and then kind of tricks you into thinking this is a light hearted story until the protagonist Kaneki is nearly killed by a Ghoul (who take human form). But here is the kicker, the ghoul which attacked him also died and emergency services in a state of haste transplanted the ghouls organs into Kaneki to save his life which essentially turns him into a half-human, half-ghoul who has to eat human flesh to survive but being half human Kaneki is trying his best to fight his ghoul side and not eat human flesh even tho he might die without it. If the story doesn't hook you the animation in this show will, it is beautifully made down to the internal struggle which is portrayed interestingly within Kaneki. I will definitely be adding this show to my weekly rotation and fans of anime or people that need something different to watch should definitely check this anime out.

The next anime which aired on monday was Akame ga Kill!, a show which I have been looking forward to ever since stumbling upon the manga a while back. The manga is amazing and the show is off to a good start as well, if the manga is any indication then this show should keep getting better and better as the twists are revealed. Akame ga Kill similarly to Tokyo Ghoul starts off by tricking you into thinking that the show is a typical anime with an ambitious hero who wants to become a household name by becoming a commander in the army. However as the first episode progresses the show completely turns this premise on it's head and becomes a dark fantasy story about a corrupt government and a group of assassins who are trying to cull the evil. When watching the show just be warned it is a bit dark and could get gory but compared to the manga the violence is a bit toned down, probably to appeal to a larger audience but regardless the show delivered an amazing first episode. If the manga is any indication then if the anime continues the way it began then this show will be absolutely amazing.

The third of the new animes isn't really a new anime but rather a season 2. This year we will be treated to Psycho-Pass season 2, the first season was absolutely amazing and I am keen to see what season 2 will bring especially after the events that transpired in season 1. While season 2 doesn't air till October we have something else to look forward to, a restart of the first season with new scenes added in to make it sort of fresh. Regardless I will be watching the restart of season 1 and what is better is that after season 2 we are getting a movie so don't expect psycho-pass to go away any time soon.

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The Flash Pilot Impressions

As many of you may know by know the pilot episode of CW's The Flash was leaked online and fans around the world went crazy. As one of those fans I just feel like I have to talk about how awesome the pilot was. Even tho I didn't get the episode, I will respect CW's message and give my impressions instead of reviewing the pilot. Right off the bat I'll say this that this show does a lot similar to Arrow but at the same time it does enough to distinguish itself as something completely new.

I won't give away any plot details for the pilot but fans who have read the comics or even know about Flash's origins won't be disappointed as it very true to the source materials. For viewers who haven't read or know about the origins of the Scarlet Speedster will be in for a surprise as the show tells the origins in a clear, concise way and even teases out many future plot points from the alter egos of some of the supporting cast who comic fans will recognize to larger overarching stories that might bring many of DC's universes together in the future.

At the start I was a bit worried that CW might have burned their budget in the pilot and at this stage I am still a bit worried but I remain optimistic because the effects in the pilot were down right amazing and for most of the pilot I actually felt like I was watching a movie because of how well put together all the effects were and they were easily on the level of B grade and dare I say low budget A grade films. I really hope that the visuals of the show are consistent and I just love how they blended the super hero premise with cop elements.

On to the main event, Grant Gustin as the Flash. At first when I heard about the casting of Barry Allen on Arrow, I was skeptical (surprise?) about the dick from glee becoming one of my favorite super hero but after watching the pilot all my doubts about Grant Gustin not being able to portray the Flash have been cast aside and now whenever I imagine a live action flash all I see is Grant Gustin, he embodies the flash perfectly with his charisma, quick wit and dorkiness which we know the Flash for.

All in all I am eagerly awaiting the other episodes and the official release of the pilot so I can talk about all the Easter eggs and the future plot threads that were teased in the pilot. The CW definitely has a hit on it's hands and as it stands right now the Flash has hit all the right notes to surpass Arrow as one of the best comic TV adaptations of the current age.

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Transformers Age of Extinction Review

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS, THEN AGAIN THERE ISN'T REALLY MUCH STORY TO SPOIL...

Before I start I actually went into this movie expecting nothing buy a simple movie to unwind with after a long day at work and somehow this movie let me down on my simplest of expectations. Age of Extinction is the fourth entry in the subpar series of Transformers movie which went downhill after the iteration, oh and it is also the start of a new trilogy. I know that these movies are made for the fans which is why critics bash the movie hard but for the past 2 and this one I can understand the hate because this movie does almost nothing right at all. The only good thing this movie did was start fresh with a new cast which in my opinion were much better than Shia and co. This movie casts Wahlberg who is just a vanilla character, Nicola Peltz as his daughter who is also fine in her role and the token hot girl and a couple other forgetful characters. What Wahlberg does that I did enjoy is that he wasn't constantly screaming "Bumblebee!' or 'Optimus!!', he actually took initiative unlike Shia Labeouf.

The story in this movie is pretty much non existent after the opening act which is a shame cause this movie was actually starting out fine but somewhere along the line it just went off the rails and started to make less sense as the movie droned on. I say droned on because honestly this movie was way too long and many of the scenes were irrelevant and didn't serve any purpose to the film. The irrelevant scenes were basically scenes to explain stuff which was self explanatory pretty much making this movie play out like a children's book, further solidfying that movie is indeed aimed at children and the casual movie goers. One thing that really got on my nerves about this film however was the fact that the whole last portion of the movie was just explosions, literally, no story or dialogue just boom after boom which got irritating at a point.

The human cast of the movie was very vanilla and I didn't really care for them at all much like in the Godzilla film. The human's only purpose seemed to be was that they do whatever they want resulting in some sort of massive world ending scenario. One thing which really annoyed me was the fact that throughout the movie Wahlberg's character had to deal with his daughters' accent switching boyfriend who was trying to get his approval and we didn't see any reason in the film for Wahlberg to approve of him in anyway but by the end of the film he did for some odd reason, despite the boyfriend being a coward. The human's played their part and that is it, there were no real memorable scenes with humans at all in this film.

Moving on to the real reason people go to see these films, the Transformers. I was actually disappointed with the transformers this time round, the Autobots  other than Hound were pretty crap and not enjoyable to watch at all. There was one Autobot that really got on my nerves and that was Drift, we get it he is a samurai but I guess we constantly needed to be reminded that he was with a rather racist asian accent. I say racist because it seems that his lines were specifically catered to make sure the accent is thick, I don't know if this was supposed to be a joke but I honestly found it rather annoying and distasteful.

The other reason I really wanted to see this movie was cause of the friggen Dinobots. The whole movie I was waiting for them, and waiting until they finally showed up for the last act and thats it. The Dinobots were severely underutilized, with the film's long run time should have included more dinobot action because they kind of just came and went and the initial confrontation between Optimus and Grimlock was kinda shit because we saw literally all of it in the trailer, that's right the whole fight between Optimus and Grimlock lasted a whopping 2 minutes and ended with one hit. That was another thing I disliked, the fact that Optimus made Grimlock and co submit by hitting him once, then mounting him like a pony. For my the Dinobots could have elevated the film to a higher level but instead it kind of dragged it down because I expected them to do something awesome and amazing but they didn't.

Overall this film was a massive letdown, even the CGI wasn't up to par (the other sequels had better CGI imo) because all we saw in this movie was debris making it a bit hard to follow the action. The other downside is the lack of story and many plot holes in the film which made you wondering how the heck something happened. For example when we first met Optimus he was damaged and said he needed a medic but as soon as he scanned another truck, he was back up to speed and free of damage and the movie keeps going expecting us to just accept it.

I give this movie one and a half Grimlock heads out of five. The fact that this movie had dinobots was good but I do hope that in the future they utilize them more than they did in this film and also the last act of the movie was just mind numbing explosions non stop. If you enjoy that stuff or loved the previous Transformers movie then chances are you will enjoy this one as well. If you hated the other Transformers movie maybe just give this one a sip as you aren't really missing out on much.    

Review by Armour Dude

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22 Jump Street Review

JUST A HEADS UP THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE RATING SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM.

22 Jump Street is the action comedy sequel to 2012 surprise hit 21 Jump Street. Following their success in the Jump Street program Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are back and in college trying to fight another dealer who is distributing the drug 'WHYPHY' . If you are thinking, isn't this what they did in the first film, then you are correct because this film has pretty much the exact same story as the first film, from start to finish. The movie itself states this fact and actually makes a joke out of it which further elevated this movie to be on par with the first film in many aspects. This film doesn't try to be new or one up the first film, it just did everything exactly the same and in that regards this film delivered but in many ways for myself fell just a bit short of its predecessor.

Jenko and Schmidt return with their amusing guy love relationship which blossomed in the first film, in this sequel we see a hilarious next level of this relationship which puts them in a relationship (metaphorically) and plays on this to deliver some comedic scenes and gags. Instead of doing things exactly the same as the first film, this movie actually switched the undercover roles for Jenko and Schmidt with Jenko this time being the popular guy, running with the jocks while Schmidt is left to hang out with the artsy side of college (nerd side in a sense). This role reversal adds to the overlaying joke about the two being in a relationship and in many ways cements the two running gags throughout the movie as they constantly compliment each other.

Surprisingly however the most enjoyable character for me in this film had to be Captain Dickson (Ice Cube). Ice Cube really stepped it up and delivered the jokes magnificently. The best joke in the whole film actually involved Ice Cube as he finds out that Schmidt actually slept with his daughter at college and had even congratulating him for Schmidt's victory (before he knew), what followed was one of the most hilarious sequence of jokes and reactions that I have seen to date in movies. We also got a brief scene with Eric and Mr. Walters from the previous movie as we see them adjusting in jail and I was a bit disappointed that their characters weren't utilised as much since I actually enjoyed those characters in the first film.

The reason I mention the characters from the previous film is because many of the new characters that we are introduced to in this film were rather boring and I didn't care for them at all. This was especially true for the character played by Jillian Bell, I found her character boring and annoying because the only thing she did in the entire film was make old jokes which got bland after the first few but it just kept going throughout random points at the film and eventually became tedious. The other new characters shown in the film were rather useless and thrown away before the films final act which was a bit disappointing.

The one thing that movie does really well is that is recognizes itself as a sequel and in some ways breaks the 4th wall by referring to the fact the movie is a sequel and even makes fun of sequels in general. The one that comes to me off the top of my head is that when Jenko and Schmidt walk into the newly renovated 22 jump street and Captain Dickson telling them that they had a bigger budget to do stuff this time round. The other more genius joke that this film made is in the credits itself when we see a fabulous sequence of title cards for future Jump Films from 23 Jump Street: Med School all the way to 43 jump street: Space School (the number might be wrong). This credits sequence is hands down of the best credits scene to date.

Overall this movie was more or less the same but it was still a really enjoyable comedy film which does many things right but ultimately for me falls short of the first one. I give this movie three and a half Ice Cube heads out of five. IF you are looking for a movie that is a nice easy watch and hilarious then definitely check this film out, many people actually enjoyed it more than the first.

Review Written by Armour Dude

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Quick Update

I know I've been lacking in posts lately but that is because I've been super busy with work but I should be up to speed by the end of this week (3 day weekend woo). Here is just a short list of the stuff that is coming within the next few weeks. Sorry for the delay.

Movie Reviews
- 22 Jump Street
- The Fault in Our Stars
- Transformers Age of Extinction
- The Raid 2 (super late but I didn't have the blog up when I watched so chucking it up now)

TV Reviews
- Orphan Black Season 2 Review
- Tyrant First Impressions
- The Flash Pilot Impressions

Miscellaneous
- Top Movies to look out for in the second half of 2014
- Trailer Reviews (TMNT, Purge 2, Dracula Uprising and many more!)

I have my work cut out for me but I enjoy doing this so hopefully you guys enjoy reading them

- Armour Dude

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