Review Of : The Avengers

I just watched the Premiere Screening of 

"THE AVENGERS" 

courtesy of Maybank a few days ago. :D 

Directed By Joss Whedon 


Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson 


Synopsis:

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk," "Iron Man 2," "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Marvel's The Avengers" is the superhero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. "Marvel's The Avengers" is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series "The Avengers," first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when "Marvel's The Avengers" assemble in summer 2012.


(Source: WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES)

The movie was awesome and great. :D

So, one of the most anticipated movie of the year, or maybe a few years (esp. for MARVEL fans) just opened in Malaysia yesterday. All in all, The Avengers really did lift up to my expectations. Of course, you might not want to get your hype too high up. :p

Well, before you watch the movie, I recommend you to watch previous MARVEL films such as Ironman 2, Thor & Captain America which I'm sure most of you have watched it. Since the background story of the film relates to it.

The story begins at a remote S.H.I.E.L.D. facility of which then Nick Fury arrives when he was informed that the Tesseract (which if you' haven't watched Thor, it's a unlimited, powerful source of energy which originated from the realm of Asgard) is activating by itself and then opens a portal, delivering into our world, Loki. (which is the exiled brother of Thor who seeks of power &  revenge) Loki then took the Tesseract. With this, Nick Fury re-activates the Avengers Initiative in order to stop Loki & retrieve the Tesseract. 

The Avengers was quite well-written.

I'm quite surprised that Whedon did a good job on The Avengers despite there're multiple main characters in the film. All the characters from Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Hulk, Loki to Nick Fury was given fair screen time and each played their part in the film. Eventhough Nick Fury's script mostly consists of occasional one-liners.(which isn't really a bad thing, since it does give the movie a little more "dramatic" scene. :p) The movie surprisingly contains humour & charm too. 

This film is highly recommended to be watched on the big screen. The sound effects,  cinematography are really good. Visuals are quite good too. Watching in the cinema adds the extra "epic-ness" and "awesome-ness" to many scenes in the film especially action scenes. The action sequences was well shot & played. But, there was one scene where really reminds me of Transformers 3. (If I tell you, I'm afraid it might be a spoiler for the movie. :P) 

Story & Plot of the movie was great.The story was well-scripted as it tells many conflicts in the Avengers as they meet up, Loki's diabolical plans, etc. The Avengers fits to a nice puzzle of the previous Marvel films. (:

Acting was really good. To elaborate about each character would take up time, so all in all, the charcters played really well in the movie. 

Visual effects was awesome.. Cinematography was well crafted & executed. 

Btw, the movie is also screening in 3D & IMAX. 

Despite having the runtime of the movie to be around 2 hours 20 minutes, you actually can't feel that the movie is that long. :) 

In a nutshell, The Avengers was really good. A highly recommended must-watch movie.

  

My Rating?

Plot : 4.25/5

Storyline : 3.75/5

Characters**:4.5/5 

Effects** : 4.25/5

OVERALL : 8.75/10.

Trailer:

Review OF : Battleship

Just watched 'BATTLESHIP'. (:

Directed By Peter Berg

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano and Liam Neeson

Synopsis: 

Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic-scaled action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Inspired by Hasbro's classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper's fiancee; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper's older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper's crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone's superior (and Sam's father), Admiral Shane. Berg directs this epic action-adventure also produced by Scott Stuber (Couples Retreat), Sarah Aubrey (The Kingdom), Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir of Hasbro (the Transformers franchise), along with Duncan Henderson (Master and Commander). The film is written by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber (Red).

(Source: UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES)

                             

The movie was awesome. 

The first time I saw Battleship's trailer on the silver screen, I was thinking "hey, this movie must be somewhat epic." And my comment still stands. Eventhough I was thinking it might be a typical cliche "alien-comes-to-earth-and-destroys-everything-but-humans-fight-back-and-win-the-war" kind of movie, this film is more than just that. The story line & plot was really good. 

The movie starts off as Alex Hopper; a troublemaker who doesn't take life seriously & his brother, Stone Hopper decides to send him to join the navy. The whole movie takes place on the waters of Hawaii. During the international Naval excercise; RIMPAC, they encountered an extraterrestrial-looking structure that crashed into the sea. As they tried to examine it, the structure launched an electromagnetic force-field across the whole of Hawaii, restricting all external contact with it. With only Hopper & his team with a few other countries' marine on the ocean, they try to destroy the alien invaders as well to make contact with the other navy.

As the movie proceeds, each character begins to bring up their character such as Liam Neeson 's character of Vice Admiral Shane, Colonel Gregory D. Gadson's  character of Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales, an Army combat veteran and double amputee and a few others.

As I said, eventhough the story might seem rather simple, in actual fact, it's quite well done, for a movie with this sort of genre.

Battleship have got to be embraced by watching it on the big screens. The graphics, visual fx & sound fx. The action sequences are really good. Lots of explosions too. ( maybe Peter got inspired by Michael Bay :p) 

I actually like how Berg managed to relate the film to the board game's concept. Eventhough the board game features a fleet of ships against another fleet, the movie use the character of the aliens instead. Surprisingly, it actually fits quite good. 

Story & plot of the film was good. As I've stated in previous paragraphs.  

Acting was reasonably good. Eventhough quite a number of reviewers said that Rihanna's acting was below expectations as she lacked expressions & one or two unnecessary lines. All in all, the film's characters were well-driven. 

Visually, epic & stunning. Although the aliens' ships, weapons closely resembles from Transformers 3, the graphics are really good. Special effects was great. 

According to other reviewers, there is an after-credit scene. So, don't go out of the hall just yet. (which I missed, might try to watch it again! :P )

All in all, the movie is just epic & unique it its genre. Battleship is a must-watch, especially on the big screen. (: 

My Rating?

Plot : 4/5

Storyline : 3.5/5

Acting**:3.75/5 

Effects** : 4.75/5

OVERALL : 8/10.

Trailer:

Review Of : Titanic (3D)

TITANIC. 

Watched it last week, but decided to give it a review. :) 

Directed By James Cameron.

Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton

Synopsis : 84 years later a 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiance, Caledon 'Cal' Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning..

(Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX)

One word. Amazing.

I should have watched this film a long time ago. Of course not when it was released in 1997, I was very young that time. :P I bet for those people who've watched Titanic 15 years ago, or watched it before the 3D version was released, you would had came out of the theatre breathless. 

The film starts off as a group of treasure hunters explores the wrecks of RMS Titanic in search of a diamond; "The Heart Of The Ocean".They discovered an old safe buried under the ruins of the ship & excavates it out, in hope to find the diamond but all they could find was an old painting of a woman wearing the diamond. An old woman claims that she is Rose Dewitt Buketer;the woman in the painting, a passenger on the ship and tells her whole story. 

What I could say, is that TITANIC deserved the 11 Academy Awards. The story was very touching, the acting was indescribable & visually, it was stunning. 

There was no special effects in 3D. The movie itself was already great. 

But, there was one change made to the film, the scene where Rose views the night sky. The scene was unrealistic & inaccurate according to an astrophysicist. Therefore, that scene was replaced with a more accurate view of the sky on that night. 

The story was really touching, notably the scenes when the Titanic hits the iceberg & its gradually  sinking. The audience was brought into the tense situations as they try to evacuate the passengers, the sacrifice, selfishness & love for one another was seen throughout. 

Cameron did the great job with tackling the story of the said "unsinkable ship" with love story &  experiences of the passengers in the Titanic. 

Storyline of the film was very touching & captivating, from the drama of Jack & Rose to the sinking of the ship. 

The acting was truly great. The actors really embraced their characters well. 

Music was no doubt, great. I mean, that's why it was a hit & won Best Music & Best Original Song. Check out some of their music here.

Visually, stunning. From the exterior of the Titanic to the interior & the visual effects throughout the film.

TITANIC is truly one of the greatest film I've watched. 

My Rating?

Plot : 4.75/5

Storyline : 4/5

Acting**:4.5/5 

Effects** : 4.5/5

OVERALL : 9/10.

Trailer:

'Marvel’s The Avengers‘

ELECTRON. 

Electrokinesis. 

I would create the superhero of Electron. With his ability to control & manipulate electrical charges around him & create electricity. Here is how he gained his powers.. 

ABILITIES: 

He not only create electricity also harness electric currents from any electrical sources & create an electrical ball by concentrating electrons & electrical charges and forcing them together.  With this, he is able to throw balls of electricity that are as lethal as a lightning bolt towards enemies in the knick of time! 

Besides that, he could also charge an electrical device too. Just in case, a car can't start, he could harness electrical charges & direct them to the car. Thus, starting the car up. How convenient is that? ;)

Furthermore , with deep concentration, he could focus on creating electromagnetic powers. this is done by running an electric current to an object. With this, he could almost achieve the ability of Telekinesis... 

Lastly, he could generate an electrical force shield by manipulating electrical charges into a shield. This can protect him from enemies too. 

"But with great power, comes great responsibilities.." 

Besides all these abilities, if he is unable to control his powers, it may lead to an unstable electrical storm. But, if controlled properly, he is able to control not just storms he created, but also storms nature created & use it against his enemies!! 

Comic version of Electron.   

Noticed he have a pair of titanium gloves on his hands? 

This is to enable him to easily control his powers and not backfire at him, 

In later times when he was recruited into the Avengers, he removed his gloves 

(as shown in the first image) because he is able to control his powers . 

One thing unique thing about him, is that he don't need any weapons, or armor...He just needs the electrical charges which are already around us.

He will definitely be able to assist the rest of the Avengers in defeating villains. He could assist Thor; by creating an electrical storm, Ironman; just in case Ironman's armor went out of juice, he could charge him like a battery charger, Captain America; just in case Captain America lost his shield, he could generate an electrical force shield.  ;)

Electron should be included in the next Avengers movie. 

Review Of : The Hunger Games

Just watched "THE HUNGER GAMES" courtesy of GSC cinemas. 

I know many of you might have already watched this movie. :P

Directed By Gray Ross 


Starring  Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth



Synopsis: Based on the Suzanne Collins novel of the same name. In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 13 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female rep, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Highly recommended to read the book first before watching the film.

First & foremost, the movie had left out a few parts that's in the book. If you're just going to walk into the cinema, you might not really understand the details of the movie. Such as Katniss' & the Districts' background, etc. The movie didn't really went off from the book but some of the audience might be a little confused at certain scenes ( as to why does this happen? or what is that? etc.)  The novel was written in Katniss' point of view (mostly in monologue), therefore it might be kind of difficult for Ross to direct such film and make it "understandable" for the audience. But he actually did it by making the movie from different perspective ( e.g. the hosts explaining the game, conversations, etc.) 

The film might be a little "slow" at the beginning and also the unnecessary usage of the "shaky-camera" style during the first few scenes in District 12 and also in later scenes . A number of reviewers actually state that the movie could've been better if the fight scenes were more intense (aka violent, bloodshed, etc. etc. :p). But, because of Ross wanting the movie to be rated as PG-13, the violent scenes was reduced to showing the audience parts of killing quickly and stabs, cut off from the screen. 

In my opinion, despite all that, the movie was actually quite good. Could have been better though. 

Most of the lines & dialogues was mentioned in the film as I imagined while reading the novel. The characters were really brought up by the actors really well as described in the book. (:

Most of the plot wasn't much altered but they're quite a number of scenes removed, sadly.Maybe because of time constrain. :/ 

The music composed for this film really played well with the scenes in the film. 

I'm really looking forward to Catching Fire (which will be the sequel to this movie expected to be out in 2013) to be better.(:

My Rating?

Plot : 3.5/5

Storyline : 3.75/5

Acting**:4/5 

Effects** : 4/5

OVERALL : 7.5/10.

Trailer: