Tag: Action movie

Posted on

Man of Steel is Now My Favorite Superman Movie! #MovieReview

ManOfSteelA young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

First off, I have to say that this was an excellent film. The actors were phenomenal, the direction was on point and the action was intense. Being that many of my friends saw the movie before me and raved about how good it was, I walked into the theater expecting a great movie. Thankfully, Man Of Steel didn’t disappoint.

They changed quite a bit of Superman’s backstory, but they didn’t stray too far from the beaten path. They just enhanced it and added little twists here and there. I particularly liked the storyline’s direction and the flashes of Clark Kent’s childhood during the story. Most of us already know the tale of his childhood, from the past Superman movies and of course the old CW series Smallville. However, the way they laid it out in ‘Man of Steel’ made me feel like I was introduced to Clark Kent/Superman for the first time.

Oh, I loved the new suit!

Now there were some parts of it that gave me a little deja vu. I noticed elements were taken from other movies for the development of the planet Krypton and the creatures that resided there. That fact didn’t take away from the whole experience of the movie though.

Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El ~ Not only was Cavill stupid freaking hot in this movie, he embodied a more emotional Superman. He took thisManofSteelSuperman role and modernized it, made it fit the world we live in now. Even the way he spoke registered as a Superman of this day. When I first found out Cavill was going to be the new Superman, I was doused with excitement. I’ve followed his career ever since he was a young buck.

I remember him as Albert Mondego in one of my favorite flicks, The Count of Monte Cristo, Charles Brandon in the series The Tudors and Theseus in the movie, Immortals. And now he’s Superman! I’m almost sure he won’t live this role down any time soon, because so far he is the best Superman.

Yeah, that’s right. I said it! 😉

Don’t get me wrong. Reeves will always be Superman in our hearts, but in this new day and age, Cavill has owned this character and taken him to a-whole-nother level. I think he deserves the Superman cape.

ManOfSteelLoisAmy Adams as Lois Lane  ~ Finally! A Lois Lane that isn’t annoying as hell. Thank you writers of Man of Steel! I’ve never been a Lois Lane fan, even though Superman loved her to death. In my opinion, every Lois Lane before this one expressed her annoying demeanor and personality, more so, the Lois Lane from Smallville. Ugh, I could not stand her. That aside, I loved the way Amy portrayed this character. Of course, she was nosey and curious like any reporter, but she was likeable, to me at least. She did some things in this movie that the old Lois Lane would’ve never done, like the right thing for the sake of mankind for instance. The old LL was selfish, all about getting her story out and didn’t care who she had to exploit to do it, but this new LL had a fairly sizeable conscious and actually listened to reason. Yeah, I was shocked too.

*Please Lois Lane fans, don’t send me any angry messages.* LOL!

Russell Crow as Jor-El ~ OH MY GOD! Best Jor-El EVER! Russell Crow owned that role! We all know he’s an exceptionalManofSteelJol actor. Well he reminded us of that fact in this movie. Jor-El was a badass. When General Zod accosted him like he was merely some defenseless scientist, he put Zod on his backside. *grin* Loved that scene! What I liked most about his character was that he was more dangerous in death than alive. Sure, he showed his physical strength when he went up against Zod and his army, but he displayed his brilliance and never-ending power in the afterlife when his son needed him. He was a soul that never died. I was awestruck while watching him.

Someone needs to give him an award for that role. Seriously.

ManofSteelZodMichael Shannon as General Zod ~ Michael first caught my attention in the movie Jonah Hex, then again in the series Boardwalk Empire, and recently in the movie Premium Rush. I think he has a crazed disposition in real life and it shows in the characters he plays. Don’t get mad at me for saying that. Just remember, it takes one to know one. 😉

General Zod had a deep-seeded cause for his madness and his passion to see it through was relentless. I feel Michael expressed that passion beautifully. Yeah, he was the bad guy and pretty damn crazy, but his goal had merit. No, I don’t agree with wiping out the human race to achieve this goal. Genocide is never the answer. *grin* But his will and determination to rebuild his world on earth could be felt through the screen. He would stop at nothing, not even Superman, to get it done.

Michael delivered an applause-worthy performance.

The fight scenes between General Zod and Superman had me about to jump out of my seat. They were epic, and probably the longest battle scenes I have ever seen. And the graphics… wow. Outstanding! The whole movie was awesome, but the Superman vs Zod scenes were memorable. It was so fast and intense, I was afraid to blink. I might’ve missed something. 😀

For the record, I will be going to see the Man of Steel a second time, just for the action scenes.

Posted on

After Earth, Why Did it Bomb? #MovieReview

AfterEarthOne thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai. When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance. Written by Columbia Pictures

Last weekend, I went with the family to go see After Earth. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t read the critic reviews on the movie before I went to see it.

And I’m glad I didn’t.

From watching the trailers alone, I expected to get nothing less than a good action/sci-fi/thriller movie. To my delight, that’s exactly what I got.

There was a heartfelt message in this movie that was difficult to miss. I cried, smiled and giggled at some parts. I had the perfect movie-going experience. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Okay, I’ll do my best to explain this without giving away too much of the movie.

The thing I liked most about this film was the development of the father and son relationship. In the beginning, there was an obvious disconnect between Cypher—the father, and his family, more so with his son, Katai. Throughout the movie, flashes of the tragic backstory explained his emotionless demeanor and disconnect. He wanted to reconnect with his family again, and to do that he had to start with Katai. So he took Katai on an excursion, which turned out to be disastrous.

They crashed landed on earth. Now keep in mind, this is 1000 years later. The air was different. There were no buildings and roads, or subways and such. Nature had completely taken over, and animals, who were inferior to humans, ruled the planet. Some had even grown to massive sizes.

After gaining consciousness, Katai found his father alive, but fatally injured. That wasn’t the just of their dilemma though. The beacon to contact their home station had been damaged, and the other beacon was on the tail of the ship, which was torn off during the fall, and was more than a few miles away from them. On top of that, an alien creature known to torment and kill humans, crash landed with them. This creature feeds off fear. In addition to fighting and fleeing from all the other threats on earth, Katai had to cast aside his fears and battle this creature.

It gave a new meaning to the term, ‘Man up!’

I was literally on the edge of my seat during many parts of this movie. There were some powerful and scary scenes that pulled all kinds of emotions out of me. 😀 I walked out of the theater glad I saw the movie. And YES, I will be purchasing it when it releases in bluray. I have to add it to my sci-fi collection.

When I got home, I looked up the critic reviews and was shocked at what I found. The critics totally ripped the movie apart. I couldn’t help but think to myself, they couldn’t have seen the same movie I saw.

I had the same experience with John Carter. The critics panned that movie and I absolutely loved it. I only wished I would’ve seen it in the theater. After I
saw it and enjoyed it, I decided not to listen to the critics anymore.

Look, I understand the movie world is pissed at M. Night Shyamalan for what he did to The Last Airbender. I agree wholeheartedly that that flick was an epic fail, and I too was highly displeased because I’m a huge Avatar, the Last Airbender fan. But come on, let’s not stay mad at the man. After Earth was a great comeback. It was a fabulous storyline and it played out very well. In addition to that, Will Smith and his son, Jaden were a dynamic duo.

Instead of listening to the critics, I suggest you go see the movie yourself and make your own judgment.