Monday, April 28, 2014

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review (Updated)









X-Men Origins: Wolverine


Release Date: 8th April 2009 - Australia
(premiere)


Production Companies
20th Century Fox (presents)
Marvel Enterprises (in association with)
Dune Entertainment (in association with)
Donners' Company
Seed Productions
Ingenious Film Partners (produced in association with)
Big Screen Productions (produced in association with)

Distribution
20th Century Fox Australia


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 107 minutes


Budget: $150,000,000

Box Office Gross: $373,062,864 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Logan and Victor are two mutant half-brothers, born 200 years ago, suffered a great deal of childhood trauma and have always depended on each other. They're fighters and killers, as they've been through a few wars in American history due to their regenerative and self-healing abilities. In
modern times, a U.S. colonel
named William Stryker
recruits them and the other
mutants as part of a team
of commandos.

Logan then quits and becomes a logger. He falls in love with a local teacher. When Stryker offers Logan to rejoin his crew, he turns it down. However, the murderous Victor murders the love of his life, which causes Logan to seek revenge.


Cast
Hugh Jackman - Logan/
Wolverine
Liev Schreiber - Victor Creed
Danny Huston - William Stryker
Lynn Collins - Kayla
Ryan Reynolds - Wade Wilson
Scott Adkins - Weapon XI
Taylor Kitsch - Remy
LeBeau/Gambit
Will.i.am - John Wraith
Kevin Durand - Fred J. Dukes/Blob
Dominic Monaghan - Chris
Bradley/Bolt
Daniel Henney - Agent Zero
Tim Pocock - Scott Summers
Julia Blake - Heather Hudson
Max Cullen - Trevor Hudson
Troye Sivan - James
Michael-James Olsen - Young Victor
Peter O'Brien - John Howlett
Aaron Jeffery - Thomas Logan
Alice Parkinson - Elizabeth Howlett
Myles Pollard - Phelan
Stephen Anderton - Marcuse
Chris Sadrinna - Van Mier
David Ritchie - Dr. Cornelius
Asher Keddie - Dr. Carol Frost
Stephen Leeder - General Munson
Henry Brown - Curtis
Tahyna MacManus - Kayla's Sister/Emma
Jade & Joelle Tang - Mutant Twins
Phillip A. Patterson - Firing Squad Leader
(Cameo)
James D. Dever - Platoon Leader (Cameo)
Daniel Negreanu - Poker Player (Cameo)
Patrick Stewart - Charles Xavier/
Professor X (Cameo) (Uncredited)

Crew
Director - Gavin Hood
Screenplay - David Benoff and
Skip Woods
Executive Producers - Richard Donner,
Stan Lee and Avi Arad (Uncredited)
Producers - Lauren Shuler Donner,
Ralph Winter, Hugh Jackman
and John Palermo
Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Louis G. Friedman
Co-Producer/Second Unit Director: Australia/
New Zealand - Peter MacDonald
Co-Producer - Marsha L. Swinton
Military Tech Advisor - James D. Dever
U.S. Casting - Debra Zane
Australian Casting - Christine King
Production Designer - Barry Robson
Supervising Art Director - Ian Gracie
Art Directors - Karen Murphy and Brian Edmonds
Art Directors: North American Main Unit -
Helen Jarvis and Michael Diner
Art Director: New Zealand Unit - Mark Robins
Assistant Art Directors - Simon Elsley,
Jacinta Leong and Michael Turner
Assistant Art Director: New Zealand Unit -
John Allan
Assistant Art Director: North American Main
Unit - Kirsten Franson
Set Decorator - Rebecca Cohen
Property Master - Richie Dehne
Costume Designer - Louise Mingenbach
Assistant Costume Designers -
Christine Bieselin Clark and Eliza Godman
Special Makeup Effects Designers and
Creators - Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr.
Key Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist -
Nikki Gooley
Special Makeup Effects: Amalgamated
Dynamics - Yuri Everson, Garth Winkless,
Steve Frakes, David Penikas, Tim Leach,
Karen Keener Manzel, Tamara Woodard,
Jan Pearce, Mike Larrabee, Justin G. Ditter,
Michael Heintzelman, Suma Adams,
Jason Barnett, Michael Broom, Peter Clarke,
Brian Clawson, Connie G. Criswell,
Dawn Dininger, John Donahue, Davis Fandino,
David Fedele, Hiroshi Katagiri, Matt Killen,
Steve Koch, Tim Martin, Matt Mastrella,
James McLoughlin, Kevin McTurk,
Ratna Pappert and Chris Walker
Director of Photography - Donald M. McAlpine
Helicopter Aerial Director of Photography:
New Zealand Unit - Hans Bjerno
Director of Photography: Second Unit - Brad Shield
Director of Photography: North American
2nd Unit - Larry Blanford
Cable Camera Operator: Second Unit -
Keir Beck
First Assistant Camera - Tov Belling
First Assistant Camera: North American
2nd Unit - Taylor Matheson
Location Manager - Gareth Price
Location Manager: North American Unit -
Ann Goobie
Unit Production Manager: North American
Unit - Ross Fanger
First Assistant Directors - Phillip A. Patterson
and Chris Soldo
First Assistant Director: North American
2nd Unit - James Bitoni
First Assistant Director: Second Unit -
Edward Brett
Second Assistant Director - Paul Barry
Second Second Assistant Director - Scott Lovelock
Second Assistant Director: Second Unit -
Drew Bailey
Second Assistant Director: North American
Unit - Misha Bukowski
Second Unit Director: North American
2nd Unit/Stunts - Brian Smrz
Stunt Coordinators - Glenn Boswell,
Dean Choe and Mike Mitchell
Fight/Action Design - David Leitch and
Chad Stahelski
Additional Fight Choreographer - J.J. Perry
Helicopter Pilots - Rick Shuster
and Frédéric North
Special Effects Supervisor - Dan Oliver
Special Effects Coordinator - Monika Stankowski
Special Effects Coordinator: North
American Unit - Cameron Waldbauer
Visual Effects Supervisor - Pat McClung
Visual Effects Supervisor: Hydralux - Erik Liles
Visual Effects Supervisor: Soho VFX - Allan Magled
Additional Visual Effects Plate Supervisors -
Christopher Townsend and Robin Hackl
Visual Effects Designers: Hydralux -
Colin & Greg Strause
Additional Visual Effects Supervisor - Craig Lyn
Visual Effects Producer - Greg Baxter
Visual Effects Producer: Soho VFX - Ryan Stafford
Visual Effects: Luma Pictures - Patam Shohadai,
Vincent Cirelli, Steven Swanson, Steve Griffith,
Justin Johnson, Pavel Pranevsky, Oliver Arnold,
H. Harden Hammond, Glenn Morris,
Raphael A. Pimentel, Alexandre Cancado,
Jared Smith, John Cassella, Loic Zimmerman,
Thanapoom Siripopungal, Joey Sila,
James Waterson, Michael Cashore,
Jason Locke, Ryan Sivley, Jennifer Gutierrez,
Christopher Sage, Anthony Grant,
Safari Sosebee, Mathieu Aerni, Julie Garcia,
John Riggs, Elaine Wu, Marcos Romero,
Andy Burmeister, Jessica Bakke, Erik LaPlant,
Katie Godwin, Chad Dombroya, John Hazzard,
Richard Sutherland, Satoshi Harada,
Sonia Yu, Dawrath Phoue, Jacob Harris
and Madiek Sokalski
Visual Effects: Rising Sun Pictures -
Thomas Proctor, Mara Hamilton, Dan Bethell,
Gemma James, Keith Herft, Nick Pitt-Owen,
Eric So, Laura Ingram, Norma Mulroney,
Timothy Jones, Campbell McGrouther,
Sam Hancock, Nick Murphy, Les Turner,
Premamurti Paersch, Martin Wiseman,
Rob Dorris, Justin Long, Damien Thaller
and Ian Cope
Editors - Nicolas De Toth and
Megan Gill
Supervising Sound Editor - John A. Larsen
Supervising Sound Editor & Sound Designer -
Derek Vanderhorst
Sound Designer - Ted Caplan
Sound Mixing - Paul Massey and David Giammarco
Additional Sound Mixing - James Bolt
Music - Harry Gregson-Williams


Review
As a true fan, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was a mild disappointment. Despite this movie being below average, it inspired me to do the X-Men movie marathon, excluding the two I've already done. Most of you have expected Days of Future Past to arrive in cinemas for viewing, but let's move on to X-MEN ORIGINS. The film suffered from numerous production issues, such as rewrites to the story, executive decisions, clashes between Fox executive Tom Rothman and director Gavin Hood over its direction, etc. It would explain why Hugh Jackman is disappointed with the movie when he admitted that it fell short of his expectations. It has an unoriginal and confusing plot with poor execution and lacklustre CGI (such as Logan's metal claws and the part of the ending with the digitally de-aged Patrick Stewart, which looks too weird). Even the addition of Cyclops is redundant to the spin-off. Despite the forgetfulness and problems of the film and its continuity, there are a few strengths, like the action, which was good and the acting. But sadly, those aspects weren't enough to redeem the movie of its lesser quality.

For a few big surprises in the cast, we have Ryan Reynolds, and people think he's a good actor who wasted his potential in mediocre films. Reynolds is perfect as one of the mutants, the motormouth mercenary Deadpool. I complained that Reynolds' character (when he's not often portraying it in all of his scenes) is butchered from the comics and has completely undergone an unnecessary transformation in the climax that left him mute. In all fairness, it wasn't his fault. Liev Schreiber demonstrates his top-notch acting by playing Wolverine's half-brother/rival Sabertooth, his nemesis in the comics. Most movie audiences may have seen Taylor Kitsch in films like the overlooked sci-fi bomb John Carter. He debuted as fan favourite Gambit before becoming a major underrated star.

It's a shame that the first Wolverine movie did not meet the expectations of many fanatics eager to see the character's tragic backstory. X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is not the film that the Marvel and X-Men aficionados had promised. I re-rank the second Wolverine feature that would surpass the first with a better storyline. Still, it would be best to see this movie just once.

Star rating: (4/10) Below Average

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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review








Captain America: The Winter Soldier


Release Date: 3rd April 2014 - Australia


Production Companies
Marvel Studios

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 136 minutes


Budget: $170,000,000

Box Office Gross: $714,421,503 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
After saving New York from an invasion with the Avengers, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is in Washington, D.C. and is striving to adapt to the modern world after 50 years of being frozen. Now Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D has come under attack, and Steve gets swept up in a web of conspiracy that threatens to endanger the world.

Captain America joins forces with Black Widow as they fight to uncover this dangerous plot while fending off assassins sent to kill him at every turn. When this evil scheme comes to light, they enlist a new ally, the Falcon. They find themselves facing a dangerous foe known as the Winter Soldier.


Cast
Chris Evans - Steve Rogers/
Captain America
Scarlett Johansson - Natasha
Romanoff/Black Widow
Samuel L. Jackson - Nick Fury
Sebastian Stan - Bucky
Barnes/Winter Solider
Anthony Mackie - Sam
Wilson/Falcon
Cobie Smulders - Maria Hill
Frank Grillo - Brock Rumlow
Emily VanCamp - Kate/Agent 13
Robert Redford - Alexander Pierce
Hayley Atwell - Peggy Carter
Maximiliano Hernandez - Agent Sitwell
Callan Mulvey - Jack Rollins
Toby Jones - Armin Zola
Garry Shandling - Senator Stern
Ng Chin Han - Councilman Yen
Jenny Agutter - Councilwoman Hawley
Alan Dale - Councilman Rockwell
Bernard White - Councilman Singh
Georges St. Pierre - Georges Batroc
Joe Russo - Dr. Fine (Cameo)
Christopher Markus - SHIELD Interrogator #1 (Cameo)
Stephen McFeely - SHIELD Interrogator #2 (Cameo)
Ann Russo - Strike Agent (Cameo)
Robert Clotworthy - Fury Car (Voice)
June Christopher - SHIELD Computer (Voice)
Gary Sinise - The Smithsonian Narrator (Voice)
Thomas Kretschmann - Baron Wolfgang von
Strucker (Cameo) (Uncredited)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Peter Maximoff/
Quicksilver (Cameo) (Uncredited)
Elizabeth Olsen - Wanda Maximoff/
Scarlet Witch (Cameo) (Uncredited)
Stan Lee - Smithsonian Guard (Cameo)

Crew
Directors - Anthony & Joe Russo
Concept and Story - Ed Brubaker
Based on the Marvel Comics - Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
Based on "The Winter Soldier" - Steve Epting,
Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark (Uncredited)
Screenplay - Christopher Markus and
Stephen McFeely
Associate Producer/First Assistant Director -
Lars P. Winther
Executive Producers - Victoria Alonso,
Alan Fine, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee
Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Louis D'Esposito
Producer - Kevin Feige
Co-Producer - Nate Moore
Casting Director - Sarah Finn
Production Designer - Peter Wenham
Head of Visual Development: Marvel -
Ryan Meindering
Co-Head of Visual Development: Marvel -
Charlie Wen
Concept Illustrators - Rodney Fuentebella,
Andrew Kim, Josh Nizzi and Andy Park
Supervising Art Director - Thomas Valentine
Art Directors - Beat Frutiger, Kevin Ishioka
and Steve Christensen (Uncredited)
Set Decorator - Leslie Pope
Property Master - Russell Bobbitt
Costume Designer - Judianna Makovsky
Makeup Department Head - Allan A. Apone
Hair Department Head - Camille Friend
Director of Photography - Trent Opaloch
Director of Photography: Second Unit - Igor Meglic
"A" Camera Operator - Andrew Rowlands
Aerial Cinematographer - David B. Nowell
"C" Camera Operator: Second Unit -
Jacques Hatkin
"A" Camera First Assistant - Taylor Matheson
Unit Production Manager - JoAnn Perritano
Supervising Location Manager - James Lin
First Assistant Directors: Second Unit -
Douglas Plasse and Nick Satriano
Second Assistant Directors - Gregory Hale
and Brian Relyea
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Spiro Razatos
Underwater Director of Photography - Pete Romano
Stunt Coordinator - Thomas Robinson Harper
Stunt Co-Coordinator - Casey O'Neill
Stunt Coordinator: Second Unit - Andy Gill
Fight Choreographer - Chris Carnel
Fight Choreographer/Stunt Double: Bucky
Barnes/Winter Solider - James Young
Aerial Coordinator/Pilot - Kevin LaRosa
Helicopter Ground Coordinator - Kevin LaRosa II
Special Effects Supervisor - Daniel Sudick
Suit Construction Supervisors: Legacy Effects -
Lindsay MacGowan and Shane Mahan
On-Set Coordinator: Legacy Effects -
Christopher Swift
Visual Effects Supervisor - Dan Deleeuw
Visual Effects Supervisor: Second Unit -
Geoffrey Baumann
Visual Effects Supervisor: ILM - Russell Earl
Visual Effects Supervisor: Scanline VFX -
Bryan Grill
Visual Effects Supervisor: Sony Pictures
Imageworks - Peter G. Travers
Visual Effects Supervisor: RISE Visual Effects
Studios - Florian Gellinger
Visual Effects Supervisor: Whiskytree - Votch Levi
Visual Effects Supervisor: Lola VFX - Edson Williams
VFX Supervisor: Cantina Creative - Stephen Lawes
Additional Visual Effects Supervisors: Scanline
VFX - Danielle Plantec and Stephan Trojansky
Visual Effects Producer - Jen Underdahl
Visual Effects Producer: Whiskytree - Jonathan Harb
Visual Effects Producer: RISE Visual Effects -
Robert Pinnow
Animation Supervisor: ILM - Steve Rawlins
Animation Supervisor: Scanline VFX - Bernd Angerer
Animation Supervisor: Luma Pictures -
Raphael A. Pimentel
Lead CG Supervisor: ILM - Daniel Pearson
CGI Supervisors: ILM - Tim Belsher, Jose Burgos,
Greg Kegel, Jean LaPointe and Scott Younkin
Creature Supervisor: ILM - Kaori Ogino
Digital Model Supervisor: ILM - Bruce Holcomb
Viewpaint Supervisor: ILM - Ron Woodall
Compositing Supervisor: ILM - Francois Lambert
Compositing Supervisors: Scanline VFX -
Stefano Trivelli and Brian Connor
Supervising Sound Editors - Shannon Mills
and Daniel Laurie
Sound Designers - David C. Hughes
and Al Nelson
Re-Recording Sound Mixers - Tom Johnson
and Juan Peralta
Additional Re-Recording Mixer - Christopher Scarabosio
Foley Artists: Skywalker Sound - Ronni Brown
and Sean England
Film Editors - Jeffrey Ford and
Matthew Schmidt
Music - Henry Jackman
Music Supervisor - Dave Jordan


Review
Remembering in 2011, I posted my review of the first Captain America movie when shown in theatres. A few years have passed, and in return, the star-spangled American hero is back for his exciting sequel. The mighty Marvel brand has shown no sign of ceasing its mega-hit movies soon. Disney owns Marvel and is known to fund Marvel's projects. First things come first in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, which you could describe as a patriotic/espionage action blockbuster. It's an improvement on Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, even though I'm not a fan of the Marvel heroes.

In terms of acting, the originals, like Chris Evans, who was getting used to the costume of being the original American superhero. We have Robert Redford as one of the supporting cast as he plays a senior authority figure in S.H.I.E.L.D. Though he is a veteran actor, I haven't seen much of his talented work. Sebastian Stan comes back in the sequel and is perfect as the arch-foe.

It worked hard to write that I'm no fan of Captain America since he represents a foreign country, and I am a pure-born-Aussie. I had only read one comic issue of Captain America roughly 30 times and set to the decade where he is unfrozen. THE WINTER SOLDIER is an all-time great feature, just going to be a near-perfect addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

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Monday, April 21, 2014

Mulan (1998) Review








Mulan


Release Date: 3rd September 1998 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Feature Animation

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/
Action/Adventure

Rating: G

Runtime: 88 minutes


Budget: $90,000,000

Box Office Gross: $304,320,254 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
In a society bound by tradition, a young Chinese girl named Mulan learns that her father is to get called to arms to fight the invading Huns led by the dreaded Shan Yu. Knowing that her father would not survive the battle in his weakened state, she disguised herself as a male soldier and took his place in the Imperial Army. Little does Mulan know that her spiritual ancestors have sent a guardian to protect her, only that her protector is a disgraced small dragon named Mushu. Mulan
tries to earn the respect
of her fellow soldiers and
her commanding officer,
Captain Shang, during her
time in the Imperial Army.

Now, Mulan has to keep her identity safe from the army and sets out to prove her worth for her family's honour by marching into a battle where the fate of China and the Emperor's life are at stake.


Voice Cast
Ming-Na - Mulan
Lea Salonga - Mulan (singing
voice)
Eddie Murphy - Mushu
BD Wong - Shang
Miguel Ferrer - Shan Yu
Donny Osmond - Shang
(singing voice)
Harvey Fierstein - Yao
Soon Tek-Oh - Fa Zhou
June Foray - Grandmother Fa
Marni Nixon - Grandmother Fa
(singing voice)
George Takei - First Ancestor
James Hong - Chi Fu
Pat Morita - The Emperor
Miriam Margoyles - The
Matchmaker
Frank Welker - Khan/Cri-Kee
James Shigeta - General Li
Jerry Tondo - Chien-Po
Gedde Watanabe - Ling
Matthew Wilder - Ling (singing voice)

Crew
Directors - Barry Cook and
Tony Bancroft
Poem - Guo Maoqin (Uncredited)
Based on a Story - Robert D. San Souci
Story Co-Head - Dean DeBlois
Story - Robert D. San Souci,
John Sanford, Tim Hodge,
Burny Mattinson, Barry
Johnson, Ed Gombert,
Chris Williams, Julius
Aguimatang, Lorna Cook,
Thom Enriquez, Joe Grant
and Floyd Norman
Additional Story Material - Linda Woolverton,
Jodi Ann Johnston, Alan Ormsby, David Reynolds,
Don Doughtery, Jorgen Klubien, Denis Rich,
Joe Ekers, Theodore Newton, Larry Scholl,
Daan Jippes, Frank Nissen and Jeff Snow
Screenplay/Story Supervisor - Chris Sanders
Screenplay - Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik and
Raymond & Eugenia Bostwick-Singer
Associate Producers - Kendra Haaland and
Robert A. Garber
Producer - Pam Coats
Martial Arts Fight Advisor - B.H. Barry
Production Designer - Hans Bacher
Art Director - Ric Sluiter
Artistic Coordinator - Jeff Dutton
Character Design Supervisor - Chen-Yi Chang
Character Designers/Visual Development -
Richie Chavez, Peter DeSeve, Paul A. Felix,
Jean Gillmore, Caroline Hu, Sai Ping Lok,
Rick Maki, Sue C. Nichols, Alex Nino,
John Puglisi, Robh Ruppel and
Marcelo Vignali
Visual Development/Lead Animator:
"Little Brother" - Shawn Keller
Layout Supervisor - Robert Walker
Background Supervisor - Robert E. Stanton
Supervising Animator: "Mulan" and
"Fa Zhou" - Mark Henn
Supervising Animator: "Shang" and "Fa Li" -
Ruben A. Aquino
Supervising Animator: "Mushu" - Tom Bancroft
Supervising Animator: "Cri-Kee" - Barry Temple
Supervising Animator: "Shan-Yu", "Falcon"
and "Elite Huns" - Pres Romanillos
Supervising Animator: "Yao" and "The
Ancestors" - Aaron Blaise
Supervising Animator: "Chien-Po" and
"Ling" - Broose Johnson
Supervising Animator: "The Emperor" -
T. Daniel Hofstedt
Supervising Animator: "Chi-Fu" and
"Grandmother Fa" - Jeffrey James Varab
Supervising Animator: "Khan" and
"General Li" - Alex Kupershmidt
Clean-Up Supervisor: Los Angeles  - Vera Pacheco
Computer Animation Supervisors - Rob Bekuhrs
and Eric Guaglione
Film Editor - Michael Kelly
Associate Editors - William J. Caparella
and Albert Coleman (Uncredited)
Sound Designer/Supervisor - Lon Bender
ADR/Dialogue Supervisor - Curt Schulkey
Re-Recording Mixers - Mel Metcalfe,
Terry Porter and Dean A. Zupancic
Foley Artists - Catherine Harper
and James Moriana
Songs - Matthew Wilder
Lyrics - David Zippel
Music - Jerry Goldsmith
Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan
Music Coordinator - Tom MacDougall
Score Recordist and Mixer - Bruce Botnick


Awards

1999 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score -
Matthew Wilder, David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith (Nominated)


Review
This film produces a massive scope and a fascinating Chinese backdrop that would have impressed the late director David Lean if he were alive. MULAN was based on a legendary Chinese poem and had an empowering message. It's no wonder Disney has to put any creative liberties into turning this ballad into an animated musical. It is fair that Disney never gives up trying to replicate movies with the same formula repeated many times. Even the frequent use of comical characters has toned down the movie's darker themes. Unfortunately, MULAN runs at a minimal 88 minutes and, to some degree, does not deliver enough action scenes to warrant the film a PG rating. On a positive note, the animation was delicate. The feature had some great moments, including the title character donning her disguise as a male soldier and the avalanche scene.

I could not help but gain an appreciation for Jerry Goldsmith's well-conducted and bombastic score. I was impressed by his musical genius. Also, I praise Eddie Murphy for putting his energetic voice for the hilarious dragon Mushu and two of the feature's songs, "Reflection" and "I'll Make a Man Out of You".

MULAN is good, but adding more action could have enhanced the plot. It would have been on a larger scale to be Disney's hugest achievement. Buy or rent it and enjoy it with the young ones or for the sake of honour.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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Friday, April 18, 2014

The LEGO Movie Review










The LEGO Movie


Release Date: 3rd April 2014 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
Village Roadshow Pictures 
(in association with)
LEGO System A/S (in association with)
Vertigo Entertainment (production)
Lin Pictures (production)
Warner Animation Group
RatPac-Dune Entertainment (in association with)
 
Distribution
Roadshow Films


Genre: Animation/Family/
Comedy
 
Rating: PG
 
Runtime: 100 minutes


Budget: $60,000,000

Box Office Gross: $470,759,687 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
When a typical, perfectly average, rules-following LEGO mini-figure named Emmet gets mistakenly identified as the most incredible person and the key to saving the world. He gets recruited into a fellowship of strangers on an epic to defeat an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously unprepared.


Voice Cast
Chris Pratt - Emmet
Will Ferrell - Lord Business
Elizabeth Banks - Wyldstyle
Will Arnett - Batman
Morgan Freeman - Vitruvius
Liam Neeson - Good Cop/
Bad Cop/Pa Cop
Nick Offerman - Metal Beard
Alison Brie - Princess Unikitty
Charlie Day - Benny
Channing Tatum - Superman
Jonah Hill - Green Lantern
Cobie Smulders - Wonder Woman
Graham Miller - The Duplo Aliens
Billy Dee Williams - Lando
Calrissian (Cameo)
Anthony Daniels - C-3PO (Cameo)
Keith Ferguson - Han Solo
Shaquille O'Neal - Himself (Cameo)
Will Forte - Abraham Lincoln (Cameo)
Dave Franco - Wally
Jake Johnson - Barry
Keegan-Michael Key - Frank
the Foreman
Chris McKay - Larry the
Barista (Cameo)/Additional
Voices
Jorma Taccone - William
Shakespeare
Christopher Miller - TV Presenter
David Burrows - Octan Robot/Additional Voices

Live Action Cast
Jacob Sand - Finn
Will Ferrell - Man in Upstairs
Amanda Farinos - Mom (Voice)


Crew
Story/Screenplay/Directors - Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Based on LEGO Construction Toys - Ole & Gotfred Kirk Christiansen and Jens Nygaard Knudsen
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Creators - Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
Story - Dan & Kevin Hageman
Associate Producers - Will Allegra
and Amber Naismith
Executive Producers - Alison Abbate,
Matthew Ashton, Bruce Berman, Jon Burton,
Kathleen Fleming, Benjamin Melniker,
Steven Mnuchin, Zareh Nalbandian,
James Packer, Matt Skiena, Michael E. Uslan,
Jill Wilfert and Seanne Winslow
Producers - Roy Lee and Dan Lin
Co-Producer - John Powers Middleton
Advisor/Art Director: LEGO Team - Michael Fuller
Production Designer - Grant Freckelton
Visual Consultant: Live-Action
Photography - Bill Bzreski
Art Directors: Live-Action Photography -
Jay Pelissier and Sue Chan
Concept Artists and Designers - Mark Ackland,
Nadia Attlee, Kristen Anderson, Andy Bialk,
Felicity Coonan, Pavel Elagin, Chris Georgiou,
Toby Grime, Matt Hatton, Shane Prigmore,
Tim Pyman, Chris Reccardi, Phil Rynda,
Charles Santoso, Nori Tominaga,
Vivienne To, Donald Walker, Phil &
Simon Whiteley, John Yost and
Mike Zarb
Story Department Co-Producer - Igor Khait
Set Designer/Decorator: Live-Action
Photography - Danielle Berman
Cinematography - Pablo Plaisted
Director of Photography: Live-Action
Photography - Barry Peterson
Head of Animation: Animal Logic - Rob Coleman
Animation Co-Director/Supervisor/
Editor - Chris McKay
CG Supervisor - Aidan Sarsfield
CG Supervisor: Animal Logic - Damien Gray
Lighting Department Supervisor - Craig Walsh
Compositing Supervisor - Julien Leveugle
Special Effects Supervisor: Live-Action
Photography - James Lorimer
Visual Effects Supervisor: Live-Action
Photography - Kirsty Millar
Editor - David Burrows
Additional Editors - Robert Fisher Jr.,
Tom Hansen and Doug Nichols
Re-Recording Mixer/Sound Designer/Supervising
Sound Editor - Wayne Pashley
Supervising Sound Effects Editor -
Fabian Janjurjo
Re-Recording Mixers - Greg P. Fitzgerald
and Phil Heywood
Additional Sound Re-Recording Mixers -
Peter Purcell, Gregg Rudloff and
Michael Semanick
Foley Artist - John Simpson
Music - Mark Mothersbaugh


Review
For many of you who once had a childhood obsession with all things LEGO, the idea of a movie about your favourite toy might have you racing to the cinemas. However, some of you may not be too keen on this movie after seeing it as undistinguished and underwhelming due to its hype. Frankly, THE LEGO MOVIE is humorous and refreshing. It tells a child's dream of a world made out of LEGO as this wish finally comes true. This film isn't supposed to be a cash-grab in the movie theatres.

Some audiences do not appreciate the message of THE LEGO MOVIE, and it's supposed to be a family comedy with non-stop laughing proportions. While I didn't care about THE LEGO MOVIE for its meaningful and simplistic story, I appreciate the style of the movie in spoofing plot clichés like good vs evil, self-awareness and so forth. People will find this movie wittier and different from Toy Story. It was extraordinary in CGI to suggest that the film consisted of several thousand LEGO mini-figures, bricks, and millions of tiny changes.

The selective range of the voice cast takes a poll position without becoming too predictable or dull. The best voiceover stealing the show was from Liam Neeson, who makes the hammy routine out of the "Good Cop, Bad Cop". Do not get me wrong about this old saying. Neeson's take is very entertaining. Will Arnett put the fun in the LEGO version of Batman by having his character egotistical? If George Clooney or Adam West were out there, they would be pleased with this interpretation of the dark knight compared to their own.

Forget playtime. You'll see an all-ages accessible film that appeals to all LEGO collectors in your adulthood. Many of you will watch this feature and reminisce about the good old days as a child playing with the toy brand.

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

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Monday, April 14, 2014

The Fearless Four Review










The Fearless Four


Release Date: 5th December 1997 - USA


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
Bioskop Film
Munich Animation Film


Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 89 minutes
                 78 minutes
                 (edited)


Budget: $15,000,000


Plot Summary
While not sharing their appearances, the four fearless animals have one thing in common. Their goal is to play and perform music. The animals consist of a dog
named Buster, a donkey,
Fred, a cat, Gwendolyn and a
rooster, Tortellini. Together
these four animals left their
old lives as they journeyed
to the city of Bremen to
seek fame and recognition.

Little did the animals know that Bremen is not what it seems, as there are dark secrets and corruption. Will The Fearless Four be able to use their musical talents to prevent this evil plot?


Voice Cast (English)
James Ingram - Buster
B.B. King - Fred
Oleta Adams - Gwendolyn
Zucchero - Tortellini
Christopher Gaze - Narrator
Ian James Corlett - Dr. Greed/1st Assistant/Hunter #2
Scott McNeill - The Manager/
2nd Assistant/Hunter #1/The
Recording Director/Guard #1
Garry Chalk - Platini/
The Baron/The Miller/Guard #2
Kathleen Barr - Mozart/
Wasp #2/Big Mother Berta/
Samantha
Richard Newman - Ackerman
Robert O. Smith - Dr. Sevenbrains/Taxidermy Representative
Michael Donovan - The Heir/
The Host/Guard #3
Stevie Vallance - The Heiress/Wasp #1

Crew
Producer/Director - Eberhard Junkersdof
Director/CGI Director - Michael Coldewey
Director/Animation Director - Jürgen Ritcher
Based on the Fairy Tale "The Bremen Town Musicians" - Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
Screenplay - Bert Henry, Dagmar Kekulé and Georg Richel
Voice Director: English
Version - Michael Donovan
Character Designers - Carles Burges, Sandra Cama and Carlos & Jordi Grangel
Painted Background Designer - Walter Kössler
Animation Supervisors: Stardust Pictures, London - Robert Stevenhagen and Darren Vandenburg
CGI Supervisor - Nico Tuma
Editor - Uli Schön
Sound Designers - Donald J. Malouf
and Nikki Moss
Supervising Sound Editor - Alexander Saal
Re-Recording Mixers - Andy D'Addario,
Ray Gillon and Dean A. Zupancic
Re-Recording Mixer/Sound Re-Recording
Engineer - Hubertus Rath
Score & Original Songs - Peter Wolf
Lyrics - Ina Wolf


Review
Charming, joyful and melodic how 2D comes and goes to please children of all ages. In the 90s, Disney was the prominent player in animation after The Lion King. Other non-Disney films, unfortunately, fail to imitate its wizardry. There lived an obscure movie from Germany in 1997 based on a tale for children entitled THE FEARLESS FOUR. I haven't watched it for a long time. I'm excited to review this movie, which I fondly remember as a child and have grown up with this movie. How uncaring for Warner Bros not to release the English translation in cinemas or a DVD/Blu-Ray package. It let me down and forced me to find it on YouTube. The film's character animation didn't share the qualities of Disney or Don Bluth. It is distinctively impressive on its own. More appealing is that it is the earliest movie to combine its hand-drawn animation with outdated computer graphics.

While the makers of FEARLESS FOUR pushed its story to a modern touch and for the English dub, it's not all faithful to its original release in Germany. Some scenes are bowdlerised by the studio when considered taboo and left in the cutting room. The characterisations are decent. The villain, Dr. Greed, has bared a resemblance to one of the Simpsons characters. The four musicians included James Ingram, Oleta Adams, Zucchero and bluesman B.B. King. These lads are responsible for each of the singing and voices of the animals.

THE FEARLESS FOUR has a profound message that teaches us that we shouldn't treat our pets the rough way around. This rare kids' musical requires devotion from anyone who hasn't seen it.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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Monday, April 7, 2014

Pacific Rim Review












Pacific Rim


Release Date: 11th July 2013 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
Legendary Pictures (presents)
Double Dare You (DDY)

Distribution
Roadshow Films


Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 131 minutes


Budget: $190,000,000

Box Office Gross: $411,002,906 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
The war began with deadly monstrous creatures called Kaiju that emerged from the ocean through an inter-dimensional gateway, and they began to attack humanity. To battle against these giant monsters, the humans have created massive robots called Jaegers as a weapon against the Kaiju. As the war rages on, the Jaegers are becoming nearly defenceless. Now, a Kaiju
apocalypse is growing, and
humanity's last hope is a
former Jaeger pilot and an
untested trainee when
they're teamed to pilot a
legendary but seemingly
obsolete Jaeger.


Cast
Charlie Hunnam - Raleigh Becket
Idris Elba - Stacker Pentecost
Rinko Kikuchi - Mako Mori
Charlie Day - Dr. Newton Geiszler
Max Martini - Herc Hansen
Robert Kazinzky - Chuck Hansen
Ron Perlman - Hannibal Chau
Burn Gorman - Dr. Hermann
Gottlieb
Clifton Collins, Jr - Ops Tendo Choi
Diego Klattenhoff - Yancy
Becket
Mana Ashida - Young Mako
Robert Maillet - Lt. S.
Kaidanovsky
Heather Doerksen - Lt. A.
Kaidanovsky
Charles, Lance & Mark Luu - Wing Triplets
Ellen McLain - Gipsy Danger AI (Voice)
Joe Pingue - Captain Merrit
Milton Barnes - McTighe
Paul Michael Wyers - Young Raleigh
Tyler Stevenson - Young Yancy
Jane Watson - Raleigh and Yancy's Mum
Robert Morse - Raleigh and Yancy's Dad
Peter Kosaka - Young Mako's Father
Yiren Stark - Young Mako's Mother
Trek Buccino - Young Newt
Drew Adkins - Young Gottlieb
Santiago Segura - Wizened Man
David Fox - Old Man on Beach
Jake Goodman - Child

Crew
Screenplay/Producer/Director - Guillermo del Toro
Story/Screenplay - Travis Beacham
Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager - Callum Greene
Producers - Jon Jashni, Mary Parent
and Thomas Tull
Co-Producer - Jillian Share
Casting Director - Margery Simkin
Production Designers - Andrew Neskoromy
and Carol Spier
Conceptual Artists - Wayne Barlowe,
Oscar Chichoni, TyRuben Ellingson,
Hugo Martin, David Meng, Carlos Salgado,
Stephen Schirle, Keith Thompson,
Simon Webber, Simon Lee and Allen &
Doug Williams
Supervising Art Directors - Elinor Rose Galbraith
and Richard L. Johnson
Set Decorator - Peter P. Nicolakakos
Property Master - Christopher Geggie
Costume Designer - Kate Hawley
Head of Makeup Department - Jordan Samuel
Director of Photography - Guillermo Navarro
Director of Photography: B Camera - Checco Varese
Unit Production Manager - D.J. Carson
Second Assistant Director - Jack Boem
Third Assistant Directors - Kathryn Hughes,
Travis McConnell and Gerrod Shully
Trainee Assistant Director - Andrew Pritchard
Stunt Coordinators - Branko & Robert Racki
Fight Designer/Choreographer - Bradley James Allan
Creature Effects Designer: Spectral Motion/
Visual Effects - Mike Elizalde (Uncredited)
Creature Effects Supervisors: Spectral Motion -
Jason Detheridge, Steve Newburn and
Sean Sansom
Creature Effects Coordinator: Spectral Motion -
François Dagenais
Special Effects Supervisors - Rocco Larizza
and Clay Pinney
Special Effects Coordinator - Laird McMurray
Visual Effects Supervisors - John Knoll
and James E. Price
Visual Effects Co-Supervisors: ILM -
Lindy DeQuattro and Eddie Pasquarello
Visual Effects Supervisor: ILM Signapore -
Nigel Sumner
Visual Effects Art Director: ILM - Alex Jaeger
Animation Supervisor - Hal T. Hickel
Digital Production Supervisor: ILM - Michael Di Como
CG Supervisors: ILM - Tim Belsher,
Pat Conran, John H. Han, Ryan Hopkins,
David Meny and Victor Schutz
Digital Model & Viewpaint Supervisor: ILM -
Dave Fogler
Digital Creature Model Supervisor: ILM -
Paul Giacoppo
Creature Supervisors: ILM - Michael Balog
and James Tooley
Roto and Paint Supervisor: ILM - Beth D'Amato
Compositing Supervisors: ILM - Jeff Sutherland
and Jon Bowen
Pipeline Supervisor: ILM - Brian Cantwell
Film Editors - Peter Amundson
and John Gilroy
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor -
Scott Martin Gershin
Sound Mixer - Glen Gauthier
Dialogue/ADR Supervisor - Becky Sullivan
Re-Recording Mixers - Tim LeBlanc,
John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff,
Joseph E. Colmenero (Uncredited)
and Michael Jesmer (Uncredited)
Foley Artists - Gary A. Hecker,
Jeffrey Wilhoit, Gary Marullo,
Christopher & James Moriana and
Catherine Harper
Music - Ramin Djawadi
Ambient Music Designer - Mel Wesson
Music Scoring Mixer - Alan Meyerson


Review
Many people had sought a real movie about "mechas" fighting giant monsters. These audiences instead had to watch Michael Bay's series of Transformers when there were just giant robots fighting each other. Contrary to the belief, PACIFIC RIM is not another movie from the same director that brought the franchise. It's a colossal motion picture that never ceases to amaze me. The idea for the film came from screenwriter Travis Beacham and is intriguing for Guillermo del Toro of Hellboy fame. It's been a long time coming for a director like del Toro, who is creative and daring enough to bring us a visual epic about machines battling giant monsters. This film is a homage to the mecha anime shows and old Kaiju movies. PACIFIC RIM creates a world filled with these two retro sci-fi fantasies and is a childhood dream brought to life. What seemed impossible for Hollywood that something wouldn't work has proved ingeniously fantastic.

Looking at PACIFIC RIM, the concept and some of the characterisations have turned out brilliant. However, the film's acting is exceptional, with new actors proving their worth as credible Hollywood celebrities. Idris Elba was perfect for the role of the Marshal. Perhaps the director cast Elba after seeing him in Thor as the bridge keeper and recognised him for his strength in portraying a character that is a leader and an authority figure. More recognisable actors like Ron Perlman and Charlie Day are there as the supporting leads. Perlman gracefully takes on the role of an arms dealer with an over-the-top performance. He had been the director's lucky charm because Perlman had starred in almost all of Del Toro's successes.

The most notable aspects of PACIFIC RIM are the explosive action sequences and the awe-inspiring visuals, in which the latter created the biggest of the creatures and the machines. Without CGI, the film could have ended on a cheap, low-budgeted scale.

PACIFIC RIM achieves the impossible, cementing itself as one of the few films in this category. This movie has proven better than Michael Bay's Transformers, which lacked a few crucial ingredients, including a sense of nostalgia. I rank it on the scale of excellent movies. I highly recommend it.

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Need for Speed Review










Need for Speed 


Release Date: 13th March 2014 - Australia


Production Companies
Touchstone Pictures
DreamWorks SKG
Electronic Arts
Bandito Brothers

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 131 minutes


Budget: $66,000,000

Box Office Gross: 
$203,277,636 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a business associates joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind.


Cast
Aaron Paul - Tobey Marshall
Dominic Cooper - Dino Brewster
Imogen Poots - Julia Maddon
Scott Mescudi - Maverick
Ramón Rodriguez - Joe Peck
Rami Malek - Finn
Michael Keaton - Monarch
Dakota Johnson - Anita Coleman
Harrison Gilbertson - Little Pete Coleman
Stevie Ray Dallimore - Bill Ingram
Alan Pflueger - Flyin' Hawaiian
Brian L. Keaulana - Right Seater
Logan Holladay - 'DJ' Joseph
Carmela Zumbado - Jeny 'B'
Jali Jay Lynch - Jimmy
MacIntosh
Nick Chinlund - Officer Lejeune
Chad Randall - Big Al
Rich Rutherford - English Paul
Tony Brakohiapa - The Gooch
Brent Fletcher - Texas Mike
Paul Dallenbach - Johnny V

Crew
Executive Producer/Film Editor/Director - Scott
Waugh
Story/Screenplay - George Gatins
Screenplay/Producer - John Gatins
Executive Producers - Frank Gibeau, Max Leitman, Tim Moore and Patrick Soderlund
Producers - Patrick O'Brien
and Mark Sourian
Casting Director - Ronna Kress
Production Designer - Jon Hutman
Costume Designer - Ellen Mirojnick
Director of Photography - Shane Hurlbut
Stunt Coordinator - Lance Gilbert
Co-Stunt Coordinator - Mike Smith
Picture Car Coordinator - Steve Mann
Special Effects Supervisor - Joe Pancake
Special Effects Coordinator - Elia P. Popov 
Visual Effects Supervisor - Kevin Baillie 
Film Editor - Paul Rubell 
Music - Nathan Furst 


Review 
This is not like those faithless and boring video game movies that lacked the quality viewers deserve when paying $15 bucks to watch it. I have once been had the enjoyable experience of playing two games of its series, 'NEED FOR SPEED' begins the movie on a fuel-injected high, took the games key elements to drive the cinematic impact. Made with the driving coordination of actors who were provided with driving lessons. Car crashes completed through the use of physical effects is simply Hollywood going back to its heydays. Other vehicle-oriented action features such as 'Bullitt' also featured the lead actors doing their own driving stunts to pilot the cars in a hot pursuit of each vehicle whammed up on a dynamic scene. That is why its filmmakers decided to cut the chase and not to put a huge or minimal amount of CGI for a high budget. The movie's cinematography is also worth looking at, I was particularly impressed with the use of zoom angling.

Director Scott Waugh took the seat passionately after releasing his previous work 'Act of Valor' and he is able to demonstrate better treatment on a video-game adapted movie that an avid gamer would expect. The director is good at making the ensemble cast with Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper as the main leads. As if the 'NEED FOR SPEED' movie is not packed with enough sequences of racing action, it has an endless treat of side-comical parts.

'NEED FOR SPEED' nearly put the 'Fast & Furious' franchise out of commission, even at its gratitude that it's wildly superb for a feature? Just race down and don't miss out, whether or not you have played the games does not matter. This film is suitable for an array of audiences. OK, I know you are all waiting for my opinion on this. What film is better, it's 'Fast & Furious' or 'NEED FOR SPEED', the answer is 'Fast & Furious' .

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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