Thursday, 10 July 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Movie Review

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This film takes place 8 years after the first film. There are very few humans left, the reason is explored but I won't give it away. A group of humans run into the apes, who are evolving and living in their own civilisation. This movie does not play out how expected and takes some turns in terms of characters and story.

This film is flat out a masterpiece. The first 20 minutes plays out very reminiscent to the first 20-25 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It shows how the apes are living and how they interact and it is so brilliant. The acting from the humans (Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman) is so fantastic but doesn't hold a candle compared to the motion capture performances of the apes (Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell) they really make this film more awesome than it could ever be. The confrontation Caesar has with his son and allies (even his enemies) is just mind blowing.

I can say that I don't think this film is for everyone. People who don't like to read subtitles, may not like the fact that for the most part, the apes converse with sign language for the entirety of the film despite Caesar's english vocabulary increasing. Most of the apes use sign language with subtitles showing what the characters are saying to each other. Also, children under the age of 12 or 13 may or may not like it. They may love it, the special effects might engross them enough or they will just be confused as this is a bit of a thinker and I have compared this to Inception.

And yes, both films in this series have made me cry. I thought I was going to be fine (seeing how I didn't actually lose it at a particular scene) however the ending really got me. The apes really carry more emotion than the humans do. Also the villain in this film (who I will not spoil) is a character that I hated so much. Which I never consider it a flaw if I hate a villain in this way. There are two types of great villains. A character who is so good you can't help but love them (The Joker, Darth Vader etc) and then there are the villains that are so great you just hate them so much because they have done their job and in this film the performance is so good and the character is so unlikeable that it just makes the character so great in the most hated way possible.

I'm going to give Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A

I'm Jonathan and this is Movies for the People

Everyone GO SEE APES ON HORSES!!! NOW!!!

Apes on Horses credit goes to Schmoes Know

The Other Woman | Movie Review

The Other Woman stars Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton and the biggest piece of shit I have seen all year. The stupid plot in this stupid movie is that Cameron Diaz is dating Jamie Lannistar and she finds out that he is married to Leslie Mann. Stupid stuff happens and they come across Kate Upton. They work together to I don't know get revenge on him or some stupid shit.

Cameron Diaz performance is so unrealistic. She goes from being a bitch to a compassionate person to yet again being a huge bitch but it's okay because it is only for five minutes. Leslie Mann plays the most over the top, stupid, man reliant person. She keeps defending her husband and then hates him and then they are kissing out of no where. Kate Upton is also in the second half on the film and she is there to get men in the seats which is really, really, really dumb.

The plot of the film changes so many times that it just gets to a point where it doesn't make any sense any more. It is just girls running around while the director thinks that he is empowering women.



I'm going to give The Other Woman

F

I'm Jonathan and this is Movies for the People 

Thursday, 3 July 2014

22 Jump Street | Movie Review

22 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and is the sequel to 21 Jump Street. This film has Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum going to college to take down yet another drug empire and they have relationship problems and the plot follows exactly like the first one.

This film beats you over the head about how much this film is like it's predecessor. It actually copies several plot lines even line for line in some cases. There are so many similarities and it makes it so funny because they are so referential to even the original TV show with Johnny Depp.

I really liked this film. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum have terrific on screen chemistry and work better together than just by themselves although that may just be the characters the actors are playing. Ice Cube is so much better in this film than the last film, mainly because of his increased amount of screen time compared to 21 Jump Street. There are also some great cameos that were funny and noticeable.



This film also has the greatest end credits scene ever and not everyone will get it (especially the more mainstream audience) although most people will get it and hopefully appreciate it for the gem of comedy it is. One flaw I have is that the film is too long. Not at the end but more at the middle of the film, it may only have need 5-10 minutes less but regardless of how much I felt it went over, the point is that it went over.

I'm going to give 22 Jump Street

A-

I'm Jonathan and this is Movies for the People

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Bad Words | Movie Review

Bad Words is a 2014 comedy directed by and starring Jason Bateman. This film also co-stars Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney and Rohan Chand. The plot follows a 40 year old man who enters a spelling bee for a reason that I will not spoil.

This film has been received mixed with many accusations of the film being racist, sexist, taking way too far and all in all: offensive. I don't really get offended by movies so I didn't really think this would be an issue for me and sure enough, it wasn't. I was not offended and I found this film incredibly funny and a really enjoyable film.

The acting is very good, especially Jason Bateman who had to play an incredibly unlikeable character who plays such a d-bag, which at first I thought was a flaw but after 10 minutes, I got in to his character, not that I liked him but I respect that he was unlikeable. Kathryn Hahn and Allison Janney's characters get so screwed over in this movie by Jason Bateman for completely different reasons however I really like both of their performances.



This film is pretty funny and this is mainly because the timing of the delivery by Jason Bateman and also this film was edited to a hilarious degree that added so much more to this film. It is incredibly raunchy and filthy but I really liked it for the reasons I listed above.

I'm going to give Bad Words

B+

I'm Jonathan and this is Movies for the People

How to Train Your Dragon 2 | Movie Review

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the Dreamworks Animation sequel to the first film with Jay Baruchel as the voice of Hiccup, the lead character. In this film, Hiccup and Toothless discover an ice cave in which pirate-esk people are hiding and capturing dragons for an army.

I adore the first film on so many levels. It had great animation, hilarious moments and just so much heart. This film, blows everything in the first film, right out of the water and then some.

The characters are just so amazing in every single way. The relationship between Hiccup and Toothless will go down in not only animation's history but this will go down in film history as quite possibly the greatest relationship between a human and an animal. The relationship between Hiccup and Astrid is so damn great. I wish this was explored more but I mean, it's not a flaw, they are making a third film so by the end of the series I'm sure they will have a more fleshed out relationship but it is still developing so I am not worried just yet.



The animation is seemingly flawless. The reason I say seemingly is because so much is happening on the screen that I missed some things that happened which does add a lot of re watchability. The dragons look amazing. Every dragon has a unique design and a unique personality, distinguishing each dragon making the chemistry between each dragon so much better.

This film may be a bit frightening for young children. There are a couple of dark scenes that may frighten young children. I have a lot of reasons to believe that this film is the Empire Strikes Back of the How to Train Your Dragon series. I hope that this is a trilogy because each film steps it up and I don't want them to drag this series out like they did with Shrek. I trust the director because he is staying on for the third film.

Look, I know that these films are based off books but I have absolutely zero interest to read them because I am so invested in these movies. And yes I will touch on how adorable and funny Toothless is, he is probably the cutest animation character I have ever seen which is saying a lot seeing as how many animated films I have seen.

This film is easily in my top 5 animations of all time

I'm going to give How to Train Your Dragon 2

A+

I'm Jonathan and this is Movies for the People