Stars Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella, Eddie Marsan, Roland Møller, with Til Schweiger, Toby Jones and John Goodman Directed by David Leitch This is a raucous action-packed spy-thriller that’s also (whisper it) a comic-book movie. Not your typical super-hero stuff but based off an One Graphic Novel, The Coldest City by prolific writer, Antony Johnston (and you really should look up his other works in various genres too). Set in Berlin during November 1989 as the Wall was coming down, the plot kicks off not unlike James Bond’s Dr No adventure. Our spy here, Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) has been dispatched by MI6 to investigate the death of James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) and the moment she lands in Berlin (as like Bond arriving in Jamaica) her picture is taken, her cover is blown, and the enemy makes their move almost immediately leading to a close quarter brawl in a car. Her contact, ‘their man in Berlin’ David Percival (James McAvoy) has been entrenched for so long, he’s ‘gone native’ and not likely to be trusted. Her mission is simply to retrieve a list of coopted agents that Gasciogne was supposed to retrieve. Unlike, Bond, there’s no megalomaniacal maniac with a metal hand waiting in the wings. The setting of the end of the cold war creates a cold atmosphere in which the story takes place, but also gives us an almost bleach blue hue throughout reflecting the time and world Lorraine has to navigate. The 1989 setting also gives an excuse for some awesome 80s song to rock the soundtrack, and while the stars mostly hold up the story, we’re really here for the action set-pieces. Coming from ex-stunt coordinator and one-half of the directors of John Wick (2014), the action smartly builds up from the quick and dirty brawl in the car at the beginning to a bravura extended take towards the end. And I say ‘extended’ take because it’s designed as a single take shot, and it mostly is for the first 3/4 of the set-piece, but if you know what to look for, there are a few subtle edits in there for stunt-person replacement or effects work; similar to Hitchcock’s ‘behind-the-back’ editing for his extended take real-time movie, Rope (1948). For those who have been crying for a female James Bond, this is it. Charlize Theron owns the role and plows through the scenes with aplomb and skilled assurance in the stunt work. The double act with McAvaoy works well and there is a fizzle of chemistry there, and also with Sofia Boutella as rookie French agent Delphine Lasalle. Some of the bigger names such as Toby Jones, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Bill Skarsgård, Eddie Marian, all pop in and out at times just to bring an air of sophistication, but still deliver the goods (or not: Schweiger is a clandestine contact, so no action scenes for him) as one might expect of them. All that being said, there is a turn in the tale that might turn some people off from the whole endeavour, but it would hardly detract from the entertainment value as an action movie. If this is the start of a new franchise for Theron, it’s a decent start (and keep in mind Bond didn’t really hit his stride until movie 2 or 3). If not, it’s still a decent action spy thriller with a slightly drawn-out plot or story. For those of you keeping track, Leitch’s next film is Deadpool 2. Rating ***1/2 / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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Stars Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard, Harry Styles, Barry Keoghan, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, with Mark Rylance, James D’Arcy, Tom Hardy, and Kenneth Branagh Directed by Christopher Nolan I can’t think of any other director who has such as fascination with the way time works within the structure of film. For some, storytelling is a liner process. We have a start, middle and end; often in that sequence, and time flows flows almost linearly in that fashion as well. The visual aspect of film (and applicable to comics as well) can muddle that time factor within a story’s structure, and Christopher Nolan has constantly played with that in most of his movies, if not all. Most evidently in Inception where time passes differently on different levels of the dream plane. That’s also in addition to the numerous flashback sequences. For Dunkirk, time factors into the soundtrack as well with the tick-tock of a pocket watch embedded into the rhythms of the excellent score by Hans Zimmer. The story here, written by Nolan himself, intertwines three stories that ultimately cross paths with each other at key moments. The conceit being that each story takes place over different spans of time. The first is entitled “The Mole”, taking over the span of a week as we follow a few soldiers (Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard and Harry Styles among them) making several attempts to get off the beach at Dunkirk and make their way home. “The Sea” follows Mark Rylance’s small boat captain making his way to Dunkirk to help rescue the soldiers. This takes place over a day while the third story “The Air” has a couple of of Spitfire pilots (Jack Lowden and Tom Hardy) with about an hour’s worth of fuel battling in the skies over the sea the small boats are crossing. Despite the disparate time factors each story takes, the editing brings similar factors in each story together, keeping the pace so tight that the movie comes in at a very slim 100+ minutes. A rarity for a summer film, much less one from Christopher Nolan whose last film, Interstellar, crossed the hind-numbing 3hr mark. But Nolan is at the top of his game here, utilising the IMAX presentation and frame the way David Lean would have in his own widescreen epics, giving us a scope of grandeur. Most of the young stars are unknowns, but that works immensely to the benefit of the story, while the known stars bring the gravitas to their scenes. While Tom Hardy holds court in the sky and performs behind a mask (again), the land story as Kenneth Branagh and James D’Arcy paring off while Cillian Murphy is paired with Mark Rylance on the small boat. They carry the more serious conversations to reflect the weight of the decisions made where the rescue operations are concerned. Given the scale of the operation and the scope of the event, it is a little disconcerting to see the sparse beaches tho, especially after the bravura single-take chaos featured in Atonement. Despite that, the sparseness adds to the enormity of the scope giving the movie a feel of the old epics. IT also doesn’t diminish the impact of the film, nor detract from the overall importance of the story presented here. Nolan’s film is an impressive piece of work that is very likely destined to be a classic. Rating ****1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Dane DeHann, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Sam Spruell, with Rihanna, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu, Alain Chabat, and Ethan Hawke Directed by Luc Besson The prospect of Luc Besson returning to science fiction films is enticing given the highly imaginative and very appealing The Fifth Element back in 1997. Then again, there have been so many advances in effects and film presentation in the last 20 years, that coming up with something fresh and enticing for a very jaded sci-fi / fantasy audience weaned on the likes of Avatar, Star Trek reboots, Star Wars revivals, trips through The Matrix not to mention the TV escapism of Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009) or even The Expanse (2015-). Heady competition indeed. This is a time when original Sci-Fi / Fantasy adventure isn’t really thriving and audiences will pounce on anything not living up to their expectations, no matter how ridiculous those expectations may be. I’m not making excuses nor giving validations, I’m just going by what the movie was to me backed by some knowledge of the comics the movie is based on. And I like a majority of Besson’s movies going back to the likes of Atlantis (1991), The Big Blue (1988), La Femme Nikita (1990), Subway (1985), and more. The man has an atypical sense of humour, often clashing the normal with the odd or absurd, and somehow making them all part of the same world. You can se this happening in films like Adele Blanc-Sec (2010), The Family (2013), Angel-A (2005), and even The Fifth Element where a majority of the characters are obviously out of their element (no pun intended) like Ruby Rhod or Father Vito Cornelius. A lot of what he likes and does in his movies are here in Valerian. And more. The movie opens with two remarkable set-pieces that are practically masterpieces at film-making in their own right. The first is the origin of Alpha, its history spanning over 200+ years, showcasing some of the more imaginative alien designs put to screen, most of them adapted straight from the comics. All this plays out backed by the haunting Bowie track, Space Oddity. Following quickly is the introduction to an alien species later called The Pearls, their lives and their cultures before the destruction of their planet that serves as a plot point to the main story. This sequence alone is gorgeous in design and execution, playing out in near silent movie mode save for Alexandre Desplat’s amazing score and the alien’s own minimal language. Then the movie proper kicks in and so do the few problems with the story. Besson remains fairly faithful to the characters in the comics where the writing is concerned, but something is a little lost in the translation in terms of performance by Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline respectively. Their escapades are not unlike the comics where the characters may stumble from one plot point to another but the flirtatious chemistry between them doesn’t translate as well as one would hope. They do try, tho, knowing they’re playing second fiddle to the world their characters inhabit. Of course you have your oddball characters and casting as a string of characters flit on and off screen, not many having the opportunity to truly establish themselves save for one or two set-pieces. Bubble (Rhianna) gets her moment to shine; Ethan Hawke’s Jolly the Pimp, Alain Chabat’s Bob the Pirate, or even Herbie Hancock’s Defence Minister amount to nothing more that colourful cameos. Briefer still feature the likes of Rutger Hauer or directors Louis Letterier, Gerard Krawczyk and Olivier Megaton popping in and out as other American directors used to do in a John Landis film. It might be clear the cast had more fun making the movie. Still, Besson does throw together an escapade of an adventure that scours through Alpha, the titular City of a Thousand Planets, and it’s many areas or territories. Before that is a romp through the Grand Bazaar, a multi-layered and multi-dimensional marketplace which could give Alpha a run for its money in terms of depth and design. Suffice to say, this is a visual feast that warrants multiple viewings with a serviceable story. Some may enjoy it, but quite likely, many will find it pedestrian. The threat isn’t quite the galactic consuming Evil of The Fifth Element, but there’s also nothing wrong with keeping the scale a little on the smaller side, like the extinction of one alien species for nefariously selfish purposes. This is a sci-fi adventure in an older sense, based on a comic that found its success in the 1970s influenced by the space adventures of the pulp era. Get past the performances of the leads and you have an enjoyable and highly entertaining visual extravaganza that you will very likely want to revisit time and again. Rating ***1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Elza Gonzalez, Lily James, and Kevin Spacey Directed by Edgar Wright Coming from director Edgar Wright, there would be certain expectation for some outlandish action and silly comedy. Wright has a passion for those elements in films and it is evident in his previous works from Shaun of the Dead (2004) through Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010) and The World’s End (2013). For Baby Driver, he takes it one step further. Well, not really.... The pacing of the editing in his movies have always been spot on, but to have the entire movie synchronised to the music and soundtrack? The bar has been raised. The conceit for the tunes lies in his lead character, Baby (Ansel Elgort) who suffer from a ringing in his ears and uses music to drown it out. His passion for the tunes is infused into his daily life (from walking, running and anything else) and completely informs his driving. His skill behind the wheel makes him practically indispensable to heist planner, Doc (Kevin Spacey) who often uses different crews for heist jobs. Baby does the driving to pay off a debt and on his last job, he meets Bats (Jamie Foxx), an obviously unhinged individual. Things seem fine until Doc calls in one more favour and Baby has to figure out how to get out safely with his new girlfriend, Debora (Lily James). While the seasoned members of the cast do well enough (Spacey, Foxx, Hamm), the movie is carried by Elgort and the music. Baby does come across as meek at times, until the action kicks in and he’s in his element. The action is key to the movie but it’s the editing and pacing in line with he rhythm of the music that elevates the movie. Knowing that the movie was edited on the fly during filming and all the car stunts were done practically instead of using CG effects makes it all the more impressive. Add to that Wright’s own cinematic language. The director has been building his own unique signature visuals, particularly with the editing and transitions. His penchant and love for old fashioned cinematic action bits has informed the way he films his own action scenes, often with longer takes and less cutting or mixing, all to showcase the meticulous choreography and work put into it. just check out the opening scene here, and you can note the pacing and editing, as well as the sound design, matching the music’s rhythms. As a whole, the movie is a mini masterpiece and masterclass in editing and pacing while being an impressive action flick. The humour works in their moments and there an easy charm in the chemistry between Elgort and James as the lovebirds. Sure it goes to outlandish extremes as you’d expect from Wright, but it doesn’t get into the stratospheric ridiculousness of the Fast and Furious franchise. Wright manages to keep a few things grounded enough to ensure your utter enjoyment. Rating: ****/5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Michael Adamthwaite, Gabriel Chavarria, Amiah Miller, and Toby Kebbell Directed by Matt Reeves From the Rise to the Dawn to the War, this has been a fairly good prequel trilogy to the 1968 Planet of The Apes (in a way) slowly building up the world our three astronauts (you see them launch in Rise of The Planet of The Apes) would return to way back in that first movie. The only discontinuing oddity is the use of the names such as Caesar or Cornelius. Otherwise, we have s reasonable progression of how the apes become intelligent, develop their civilisation and here, in War for The Planet of the Apes, we see the beginnings of humanity’s descent into savagery, albeit not entirely. Part of the plot within this entry is how the virus that had wiped out most of humanity (as seen in Rise of The Planet of The Apes) is now mutating within the remaining humans causing them to lose their ability to speak. Evidently, this does not mean they completely lose all higher brain functions as evident in a new character, a mute little girl (Amiah Miller) discovered by Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Maurice (Karin Konoval). While she isn’t able to speak vocally, she manages to learn the sign language used by the apes. She also becomes a link to the original 1968 film. Although it’s not entirely clear how much time has passed since the end of the previous film, the war between the humans and apes seems to be a status quo. Caesar’s fame on both sides has grown to legend. An assault by an elite team of soldiers led by a nameless Colonel (Woody Harrelson) leaves Caesar’s wife and son dead, and Caesar seeking vengeance. Not wanting to endanger the rest of his apes, Caesar sets out alone going after the Colonel only to be joined by the Orangutan, Maurice and a couple of soldier apes, Luca (Michael Adamthwaite) and Rocket (Terry Notary). Along the way, the find the mute girl who forms a bond with Maurice, and gradually with the other apes. She also intrigues Caesar. They soon find a chimpanzee who calls himself “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn) who helps them find the Colonel and his base, and things don’t go well from there. Harrelson’s Colonel proves himself a dangerous and formidable opponent to Caesar, at which point the references and influences of many other movies fly by fast and furious. Director Matt Reeves manages to cherry pick his moments to build an impressive war / prisoner-of-war movie. The cast for the apes is remarkable, led by Andy Serkis, Karin Konoval and Terry Notary, the veterans of all three movies. It is Serkis’ show here and his performance is utterly captivating, especially knowing that everything he does from body movements to facial expression and line delivery all comes from his own performance, layered by the special effects to make him an alpha ape that is Caesar. Props, too, to newcomer of the Apes franchise, Steve Zahn, bringing some levity to the proceedings but not taking us completely out of the movie with his antics. And also to Amiah Miller and her angelic presence more in the second half of the movie. Because of the use of sign language for the apes to communicate, and the cross-country travelling, the music by Michael Giacchino soars throughout the movie, doing more than to simply underscore the emotions or the action set-pieces. The score is very prescient throughout the whole film, and Giacchino more than proves his versatility in delivering the goods, making the music a solid part of the movie’s story. Note that Giacchino also scored Spider-Man: Homecoming as well as Gifted, which might make him the hardest working and most sought after composer these days. Director Reeves has gone on record saying there could be more entries coming that would still lead up to the 1968 original, although if not, this would be a good capper to a prequel trilogy. Reeves pulls off some impressive stuff, dropping in references to the original Planet of the Apes movie series while creating his own world here without making it all look like some set where the action takes place. Aside from the effects work of putting the apes on screen, everything else looks very old-school and practical, and that’s alway a bonus on my end. Either that, or they’ve pushed the effects envelop again and nothing on screen is real but computer pixels all the time. Reeves has taken what he’s learnt from directing the previous instalments and managed to avoid the pitfalls. The grounding of the action and reliance on the performers, actors and stars elevates the movie above the norm of what you might expect, and the core stars deliver a depth to the performance that still shines through beneath the layers of effects. Caesar’s rage or depseration, and Maruice’s tenderness and compassion can be seen in their eyes and facial expression, and it works wonders for the story. Balancing that is Harrelson’s brutal and dispassionate Colonel who berates Caesar for his emotions. There are layers upon layers in the performances and in that, coupled with he action set-pieces, we have the makings of a movie that’s going to stand the test of time. Rating: **** / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. Directed by Jon Watts So let's just say that, yes, Spider-Man: Homecoming is fairly good and entertaining as he would expect. The high bar is set by Sam Raimi's Spider-Man II with its excellent action set-pieces, strong characters built upon the established baseline of the previous film, a great and sympathetic villain, and Aunt May's magnificent speech about being a hero that resonates throughout the film. For Homecoming, the story and plot almost seems too busy where Peter (Tom Holland) is concerned. Sure, he's constantly trying to prove himself to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), that he is a bona fire hero, albeit one utterly lacking in experience. While it works perfectly, tying to the high-school drama, it feels slightly schizophrenic to the derring-do heroics while dealing with the team of villains led by Adrien Toomes (an excellent Michael Keaton). In addition to Toomes’ cohorts, some sporting names or devices that might raise the spider-sense of some fans, there are also Peter Parker’s school-mates. There, as well, are a plethora of characters with familiar names- Ned (Jacob Batalon), Flash (Tony Revolori), Liz (Laura Harrier) among others although they are not who we might expect. The same applies to the snarky Michelle (Zendaya). So yes, there is clash in tone where the high-school drama and the super heroics are concerned and many of the characters flit in and out, not that it’s a totally bad thing. After all, this is a very different Spider-Man who’s had a taste of the big leagues and somewhat doesn’t quite take in the whole “Power and Responsibility” thing into his thought process for now. Most of the time, he’s reacting to the situations while trying to prove his worth to Stark, and making a bigger mess of things along the way. Then again, that’s part of the story we’re dealing with, an odd balance between a curse and a boon, rushing forward from the events of Captain America: Civil War, albeit several months later. There’s no faulting the performances and new Spidey, Tom Holland, gives Peter an earnestness that’s been missing from the previous incarnations, delivering a very nice balance between being in and out of costume. Holland practically carries the movie and his interactions with Keaton are beautifully conceived, leading to a pivotal and very key Spidey moment. The casting is solid, particularly with Batalon pulling a nice double act with Holland. Marisa Tomei does well as this version of Aunt May, but somewhat feels underused, being there more to fret over Peter than provide any sage or life advice. Still, director Jon Watts manages to find a balance for the most part given the rather desperate pieces and set-pieces. Maybe having six credited writers might illustrate the problem with tone, but Watts pulls it all together still, shining quite well with he teen/high school drama while keeping the action set-pieces different enough from the previous films. All this is wonderfully aided by Michael Giacchino’s score that occasionally recalls the cartoon themes. This is entertainment in the grand Marvel Studios fashion, putting Spidey into the MCU where he belongs, even if it’s just for a while. He gets to mix it up with the bigger universe, particularly Iron Man, with others getting a sneak in or a name drop… and of course, the cameos. The pacing is rapid and the action goes as big as it can manage without going over the top, like some other massive threat from the sky again… oh wait. did they manage that too? You can decide on that yourself. Rating: *** / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John C Reilly, Corey Hawkins, Tian Jian with John Goodman and Toby Kebbel Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts Didn’t do this when it was initially released, but the home-video edition is out now. The original King Kong back in the 1933 was an interesting adventure film given the time the movie came out. Having the giant ape on screen was a marvel of effects work. It has influenced several filmmakers since the, most notably Peter Jackson, who made his own version in 2005, utilising the latest in effects technology for his movie. Jackson’s adaptation, a marvel in effects work and cinematography, was perhaps overly faithful and terribly elongated. Twice as long as the original despite following the same beats. Then there was the 1976 remake that set the story in the (then) modern days with it’s notorious 1986 sequel, King Kong Lives. Be it a remake or sequel, the subsequent films since the original had the same problems, how do you make your lead character interesting? Kong was the giant ape, and what are the humans going to do about it? Some will want to help or protect him while everyone else would want to destroy him, and in Kong: Skull Island, it’s really no different. The nature of Kong here, however, is quite different. Sure, he still comes across as the fearsome giant ape, but there is now a purpose to his existence unlike before when he was just one among the freakish creatures that thrived on Skull Island: a mysterious oddity of evolution that could be used to turn a profit. Set in the mid-1970s just as satellite technology is improving in mapping our world, an expedition to a newly discovered (via satellite) mysterious island filled with members with multiple purposes. A proper geological team wants to do a proper survey, while a mysterious clandestine organisation with government backing wants to investigate for possible origins of giant monsters. While this organisation, Monarch, might tie this movie to 2014’s Godzilla, it does so in tenuous ways without beating you over the head with their connections until the post credit scene. What follows, story-wise, is an interesting beast with colourful characters. Kong, for one, towers over his previous incarnations, reportedly coming in at 104 feet tall. When the geological teams use seismic bombs and sonar to map the island, Kong attacks the helicopters dropping the bombs. The military unit, led by Samuel L Jackson’s Colonel Packard, suffers losses and the colonel takes it all personally, declaring war on Kong. A secondary team with ex-SAS soldier turned tracker, James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), in the lead learn about Kong and his purpose. Conrad and war-photographer, Weaver (Brie Larson) try to stop Packard while all of them try to survive the island and its creatures. There is a complexity to the characters and their situation that is rare in movies like these. Setting it in the 70s helps the movie tremendously, particularly with its close connection to the Vietnam war and the impact of that on Packard and the American mentality of the time. The reflections on war are evident either in Packard’s men, the lost WWII pilot (John C Reilly) who crashed on the island decades earlier, or even the likes of Conrad and Weaver. Another boon to the movie is director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. While it may seem like he’s finding his feet in the early part of the movie, once the story gets to Skull Island, the movie is a visual gem. The design of the shots and the cinematography is absolutely spectacular, rising far above the expectations of the genre. It has the feel of a 70s film and yet some of today’s sensibilities mixed in producing an almost timeless movie. The elements of films ranging from adventure exploration to fantasy to war films blend seamlessly, even with a hefty and liberal sampling of particular anime features and tropes. Such a mishmash of genres don’t often gel well, but they do so here. While Kong: Skull Island may be part of shared universe franchise most studios are getting into these days, the movie stands alone for the most part. You get one grand adventure with some impressively conceived action set-pieces, with the cast delivering solid performances, even for the performance-captured giant, here performed by Toby Kebbel and Terry Notary. Both Kebbel and Notary worked with former King Kong performer Andy Serkis on the new Planet of The Apes films. It’s also nice that Brie’s Weaver is no damsel in distress, but Tain Jing’s San, being the only other female character, is mostly sidelined with minimal dialogue and having no real purpose (aside from securing the China market for box-office returns). An oddity, but not a major distraction. Ultimately, the movie delivers in terms of adventure and entertainment. The creature effects are impressive raging from majestic (that buffalo) to scary (that spider, the birds, etc) while the gorgeous cinematography gives them all an exotically beautiful world to inhabit. It is quite likely this Kong will reign for a long while. Rating: **** /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. Stars Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock, Isabela Moner, Tony Hale, with Gemma Chan, Peter Cullen, Jim Carter, John Turturro and Stanley Tucci Directed by Michael Bay When it comes to movies like these, I try to leave the baggage at the door. I watched the cartoons growing up; I read the comics. None of that should carry into these adaptations because, really, what’s the point of following any of what’s come before? Since the first Transformers flick came out, I gave up on expecting anything to resemble the original source material in the subsequent movies. There was a juvenile aspect to the characters that grated and was wholly annoying, and it did not let up in the sequels, nor is it completely absent here. The characters bicker and complain and practically yell at each other over and over, while logic of any sense or comprehension is crushed under the massive yet fluctuating weights of the Transformers themselves. As much as everyone might want to blame director Michael Bay for “ruining their childhood”, I’d throw the writers into the mix, whether they are creating the story or following orders where story points are concerned. Half the time, the story is the problem as much as the characters themselves. Optimus Prime is supposedly so strong that he has to be taken out of the story near the climax only to come in at the last minute to win the day. Always or so far, like getting killed off (2nd movie), getting tangled up in some wires (3rd movie), crashing so far away from the action (4th movie), or in this case, momentarily brainwashed by villain Quintessa (Gemma Chan) before flipping sides again and simply disappearing for the moment before rejoining the big fight at the end. Meanwhile, we have another ancient artefact hidden on Earth that could lead to the salvation or destruction of the planet. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is hiding out in some junkyard on Native Indian grounds helping out the remaining Autobots who are being hunted by another government sanctioned squad of robot hunters, the RTF. Working with the RTF is Colonel Lennox (Josh Duhamel) who has his own clandestine mission to find this artefact. His superiors have no qualms of teaming up with the Decepticons (again?) in an effort to grab the artefact instead of (logically) talking to the Cade and The Autobots about it. Cade is dragged into matters by Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) supposed guardian of Transformers history on Earth, and teamed with historian Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock). The plot is slim and the story is a mess, but Michael Bay plies his technical wizardry and delivers some worthy action set-pieces, particularly where the humans are involved. At least, it’s more relevant when the human lives are at stake particularly during the climatic, if aborted assault. The characters are mostly annoying as usual (at least, to me), but that could be a given where this cinematic series is concerned. I didn't catch it in 3D but its evident when scenes filmed with the IMAX 3D come on screen as the aspect ratio fluctuates throughout. It's also evident that those scenes are designed for IMAX 3D, and would most likely look spectacular in that format. Not too sure if it's worth paying for it tho. Ultimately, this is still a Michael Bay film with all its overblown testosterone laden excesses, even if he still manages to pull off the occasional set-piece. There’s entertainment to be had but don’t expect what you think you know based on the old cartoons or comics. Whether you’ll enjoy it all or not is a matter of taste and expectations in this case. Bay has his vans and his following, and more than likely, it’ll be the international market with it’s lack of passionate baggage that will determine the movie’s monetary success or failure. It will all depend awn what you’re bringing to this. Rating **1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support. |
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