Avengers: Endgame Review

Avengers: Endgame

Release Date: 24th April 2019 - Australia

Production Companies

Marvel Studios

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia

Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 181 minutes

Budget: $400,000,000

Box Office Gross: $2,797,501,328 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

With Thanos' plan succeeding after he wipes out half of the universe, Tony Stark and Captain America, Black Widow, and the other Avengers assemble once more when they devise a solution. With the help of Scott Lang, they must reverse the Mad Titan's actions and bring back the people already extinguished by Thanos.

Cast

Chris Evans - Steve Rogers/

Captain America

Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark/Iron Man

Scarlett Johannson - Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Brie Larson - Carol Danvers/
Captain Marvel

Chris Hemsworth - Thor

Mark Ruffalo - Bruce Banner/
The Hulk

Bradley Cooper - Rocket Raccoon (Voice)

Paul Rudd - Scott Lang/

Ant-Man

Don Cheadle - Lt. James

Rhodes/War Machine

Jeremy Renner - Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Josh Brolin - Thanos

Karen Gillian - Nebula

Chris Pratt - Peter Quill/

Star-Lord

Zoe Saldana - Gamora

Dave Baustia - Drax the
Destroyer

Pom Klementieff - Mantis

Vin Diesel - Groot (Voice)

Terry Notary - On-Set Groot/
Cull Obsidian

Benedict Cumberbatch -

Doctor Strange

Tom Holland - Peter Parker/
Spider-Man

Chadwick Boseman - T'Challa/Black Panther

Elizabeth Olsen - Wanda

Maximoff/Scarlet Witch

Anthony Mackie - Sam Wilson/The Falcon

Sebastian Stan - Bucky

Barnes/Winter Solider

Winston Duke - M'Baku

Danai Gurira - Okoye

Florence Kasumba - Ayo

Letitia Wright - Shuri

Tom Hiddleston - Loki

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor - Ebony May

Carrie Coon - Proxima Midnight (Voice) (Uncredited)

Michael James Shaw - Corvus Glaive

Tessa Thompson - Valkyrie

Taika Waititi - Korg (Voice)

Gwyneth Paltrow - Pepper Potts

Jon Favreau - Happy Hogan

Evangeline Lilly - Hope Pym/
The Wasp
Michael Douglas - Hank Pym

Sean Gunn - On-Set Rocket

Tilda Swinton - The Ancient One

Benedict Wong - Wong

William Hurt - Secretary of

State Thaddeus Ross (Cameo)

Callan Mulvey - Jack Rollins

John Slattery - Howard Stark

Robert Redford - Alexander Pierce (Cameo)

Frank Grillo - Brock Rumlow (Cameo)
Maximiliano Hernandez -
Agent Sitwell (Cameo)
Linda Cardellini - Laura Barton
Ben Sakamoto - Cooper Barton
Ava Russo - Lila Barton
Cade Woodward - Nathaniel Barton
Alexandra Rachael Rabe - Morgan Stark
Ross Marquand - Red Skull (Stonekeeper)
Emma Fuhrmann - Cassie Lang
Hiroyuki Sanada - Akihido

Kerry Condon - F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Voice)

Samuel L. Jackson - Nick Fury (Cameo)

Cobie Smulders - Maria Hill

(Cameo)

Hayley Atwell - Peggy Carter

Ty Simpkins - Harley Keener

(Cameo)

Stan Lee - Driver (Cameo)

James D'Arcy - Jarvis (Cameo)

Natalie Portman - Jane Foster (Cameo)

Marisa Tomei - Aunt May

(Cameo)

Jacob Batalon - Ned (Cameo)

Angela Bassett - Ramona

(Cameo)

Rene Russo - Frigga

Michelle Pfeiffer - Janet Van Dyne

Jackson A. Dunn - Scott Lang (12 Y.O.)
Lee Moore - Scott Lang (93 Y.O.)
Bazlo & Loen LeClair - Scott Lang (Baby)
Ken Jeong - Security Guard (Cameo)
Yvette Nicole Brown - S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent (Cameo)
Joe Russo - Grieving Man (Cameo)
Jim Starlin - Support Group Man #1 (Cameo)

Russell Bobbitt - Diner Owner (Cameo)

Jack Champion - Kid on Bike

Sam Hargrave - New Asgard Truck Driver (Cameo)

Crew

Directors - Anthony & Joe Russo

Based on the Marvel Comics/Groot Creator/

Executive Producer - Stan Lee

Based on the Marvel Comics/Captain America

and Groot Creator - Jack Kirby

Star-Lord/Mantis Creator - Steve Englehart

Star-Lord Creator - Steve Gan

Gamora, Thanos and Drax Creator - Jim Starlin

Groot Creator - Larry Lieber

Rocket Raccoon Creators - Bill Mantlo and

Keith Giffen

Mantis Creator - Don Heck

Captain America Creator - Joe Simon

Screenplay/Co-Producers - Christopher Markus

and Stephen McFeely

Associate Producer/Unit Production Manager -

JoAnn Perritano

Executive Producers - Louis D'Esposito,

Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo,

Jon Favreau, James Gunn and Trinh Tran

Producer - Kevin Feige

Co-Producer - Mitchell Bell

Co-Producer/Senior Visual Effects Producer -

Jen Underdahl

Casting Director - Sarah Finn

Production Designer - Charles Wood

Production Designer: Additional Photography/

Supervising Art Director - Ray Chan

Head of Visual Development - Ryan Meinerding

Concept Artists - Bob Cheshire,

Sean Hargreaves, Andrew Reeder, Paul Catling,

Paul Chandler, Roberto Fernandez Castro,

Tim Hill, Chris Kesler, Olivier Pron,

Pete Thompson and Ivan Weightman

Visual Development Concept Illustrators -

Anthony Francisco, Rodney Fuentebella,

Ian Joyner, Alexander Mandradjey,

Jerad Marantz, Fausto De Martini, Josh Nizzi,

Andy Park, Phil Saunders, Constantine Sekeris,

Tully Summers, Justin Sweet and Jackson Sze

Visual Development Concept Artists - Wesley Burt,

Aleksi Briclot, Melissa Encinas, Adi Granov,

Ryan Lang, Iain McCaig, Karla Ortiz,

Stephen Schirle and John Staub

Art Directors - Julian Ashby, Thomas Brown,

Jordan Crockett, Jann K. Engel,

Beat Frutiger, Kevin Houlihan,

Chris 'Flimsy' Howes, Mike Stallion,

Brian Stultz and Kevin Gilbert

Art Directors: UK/Scotland Unit - Jim Barr

and Mark Swain

John Plas, Mike Stallion,

Brian Stultz and Mark Swain

On-Set Art Director - Sean Ryan Jennings

On-Set Art Director: Second Unit - Matthew Gatlin

Set Decorator - Leslie Pope

Property Master - Russell Bobbitt

Costume Designer - Judianna Makovsky

Makeup Department Head - John Blake

Prosthetics Makeup Department Head:

Legacy Effects - Brian Sipe

Hair Stylist: Ms Saldana - Peter Tothpal

Director of Photography - Trent Opaloch

Director of Photography: Second Unit -

Paul Hughen

"A" Camera First Assistant - Taylor Matheson

Supervising Location Manager - James Lin

Supervising Location Manager: UK/Scotland

Unit - Matt Jones

Location Managers: UK/Scotland Unit -

Duncan Bradfoot, Lindsey Powell,

Aurelia Thomas and Naomi Liston

(Uncredited)

Production Supervisor - Jason Tamez

Production & Development Manager - Kyana F. Davidson

First Assistant Director - Chris Castaldi

First Assistant Director: Second Unit - David Sardi

Second Assistant Directors - Jeff Okabayashi

and Matthew Haggerty

Second Unit Director - Sam Hargrave

Second Unit Director: Additional Photography/

Visual Effects Supervisor - Dan DeLeeuw

Aerial Coordinator/Helicopter Pilot - Cliff Fleming

Stunt Coordinator - Monique Ganderton

Fight Coordinator - James Young

Motion Capture/Movement Choreographer -

Terry Notary

Picture Car Coordinator - Dennis McCarthy

Special Effects Supervisor - Daniel Sudick

Legacy Effects Supervisors - Lindsay McGowan

and Shane Mahan

Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: Weta Digital -

Joe Letteri

Visual Effects Supervisors: ILM - Russell Earl,

Dave Dally and Dan Snape

Visual Effects Supervisors: Weta Digital -

Matt Aitken, Phillip Leonhardt and

Sean Noel Walker

Visual Effects Supervisor: Digital Domain - Kelly Port

Visual Effects Supervisor: Cinesite - Simon Stanley-Clamp

Associate Visual Effects Supervisor: ILM - Jay Cooper

Associate VFX Supervisor: Digital Domain -

Scott Edelstein

Additional Visual Effects Supervisors -

Swen Gilberg and Mårten Larsson

Additional Visual Effects Supervisors: Second

Unit - Stephane Ceretti and Jesse James Chisholm

Visual Effects Producer - Lisa Marra

Visual Effects Producers: ILM - Katherine Farrar,

Danielle Legovich and Kacy McDonald

Animation Supervisors: ILM - Kevin Martel,

Michael Lum and Edward Zhou

Animation Supervisor: Double Negative -

Ben Wiggs

Animation Supervisor: Cinesite - Eamonn Butler

Animation Supervisors - Robert Hemmings

Senior Animation Supervisor: Digital Domain -

Jan Philip Cramer

CG Supervisors: ILM - Jeremy Bloch,

Steve Sauers, Justin Martin and Kevin Sprout

CG Supervisors: Cinesite - Chris Petts

and Rob Andrews

Asset Supervisors: ILM - Bruce Holcomb,

Ben Lambert, Gareth Jensen, Lana Alan

and Michael Kriukow

Senior Virtual Production Supervisor - Matt Madden

Compositing Supervisor: Framestore - Matthew Twyford

Compositing Supervisor: Lola VFX - Edson Williams

Creative Finishing Supervisor - Evan Jacobs

Editors - Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt

Additional Editors - Tia Nolan,

Peter S. Elliot and Craig Tanner

Supervising Sound Editors - Shannon Mills

and Daniel Laurie

Sound Designers - David Farmer and Nia Hansen

Production Sound Mixer - John Pritchett

Re-Recording Mixers - Tom Johnson

and Juan Peralta

Additional Re-Recording Mixer - Tony Villaflor

Foley Artists - John Roesch, Shelley Roden,

Dan O'Connell and John Cucci

Music - Alan Silvestri

Music Supervisor - Dave Jordan

Music Score Recordist - Peter Cobbin


Review

Because I was looking forward to seeing the new AVENGERS: ENDGAME movie, I knew the day would come, and I was happy when it did. The film is a bittersweet conclusion to an ensemble superhero team introduced in 2012. Now the 22-film saga is over, culminating in ENDGAME. It was a haunting goodbye for the few main actors like Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Chris Evans, who have been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) long enough it's a logical end for their characters. With Marvel shifting their focus to ongoing solo projects, there won't be a new Avengers movie except for a reboot.

ENDGAME certainly has positive aspects, such as direction, acting, entertainment value and emotional weight, particularly outstanding performances from Downey, Jr., Josh Brolin, Scarlet Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Ruffalo, Evans, Paul Rudd and Chris Hemsworth. There isn't any easy way to conclude this chapter, but directors Anthony & Joe Russo did this to surprise moviegoers. I won't tell you exactly why this film has such an emotional impact. But you might take a hanky or a box of tissues. Otherwise, I might pull a Homer Simpson moment.

ENDGAME is the best of both worlds for the MCU and The Avengers series. This sequel is much better than its predecessor, Infinity War and is the best movie of 2019 to date. You won't miss it.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Review

The Hunchback of Notre Dame


Release Date: 12th September 1996 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Walt Disney Feature Animation

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 91 minutes


Budget: $100,000,000

Box Office Gross: $325,338,851 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

In 15th-century Paris, a deformed bellringer named Quasimodo yearns to live outside of the Cathedral bell tower from his cruel caretaker, the Minister of Justice, Judge Claude Frollo, who has hidden him from the outside world while raising him as part of his penance.

Against the wishes of his master to never leave his sanctuary, Quasimodo sneaks out to attend the Festival of Fools and meets the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda and the soldier Phoebus. Frollo's ruthlessness meant that the three ranged against his oppression and attempts to rid the Court of Miracles, the home of the gypsies. It is up

to Quasimodo to defend

Esmeralda and the Notre

Dame Cathedral from the

man who raised him.

Voice Cast
Tom Hulce - Quasimodo
Demi Moore - Esmeralda
Heidi Mollenhauer - Esmeralda (singing voice)

Tony Jay - Judge Claude Frollo

Jason Alexander - Hugo
Charles Kimbrough - Victor
Mary Wickes - Laverne

Jane Withers - Additional Laverne Dialogue

Paul Kandel - Clopin
Kevin Kline - Captain Phoebus
David Odgen Stiers -

Archdeacon
Corey Burton - Brutish Guard/Additional Voices
Bill Fagerbakke - Oafish Guard
Mary Kay Bergman -

Quasimodo's Mother/
Additional Voices

Frank Welker - Djali/Baby Bird
Jim Cummings - Gypsies/

Guards

Crew
Directors - Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale
Based on the Novel - Victor Hugo
Animation Story/Screenplay - Tab Murphy
Story - Kevin Harkey, Ed Gombert, Brenda Chapman,
Jeff Snow, Jim Capobianco, Denis Rich, Burny Mattinson,

John Sanford, Kelly Wightman, James Fujii, Floyd Norman,

Francis Glebas, Kirk Hanson and Christine Blum
Story/Sequence Directors: Paris - Gaetan &
Paul Brizzi
Story/Character Designers/Visual Development -
Geefwee Boedoe and Sue C. Nichols
Animation Screenplay - Irene Mecchi,
Bob Tzudiker, Noni White and Jonathan Roberts
Additional Screenplay Material/Artistic

Supervisor: Story/Supervising Animator:

"Laverne" - Will Finn

Producer - Don Hahn
Co-Producer - Roy Conli

Casting Director - Ruth Lambert

Art Director - David Goetz

Artistic Coordinator - Randy Fullmer

Character Designer/Visual Development/
Supervising Animator: "Quasimodo" -

James Baxter
Character Designer/Visual Development/
Supervising Animator: "Esmeralda" -

Tony Fucile
Character Designer/Visual Development/
Artistic Supervisor: Background - Lisa Keene
Character Designers/Visual Development -
Geefwee Boedoe, Marek Buchwald,

Peter DeSeve, Thom Enriquez, Vance Gerry,

Darek Gogol, Joe Grant, Rick Maki,

Jean Gillmore, Sue C. Nichols and

Rowland B. Wilson
Character Designer/Visual Development/

Artistic Supervisor: Layout - Ed Ghertner
Character Designer/Visual Development/

Animator: "Esmeralda" - Anne Marie Bardwell
Character Designer/Visual Development/

Animator: "Quasimodo" - Shawn Keller
Character Designer/Visual Development/
Rough Inbetweener - Joseph C. Moshier

Artistic Supervisor: Layout, Paris Unit - Daniel St. Pierre

Production Manager - Patty Hicks

Production Manager: Paris Unit - Jean-Luc Florinda

Supervising Animator: "Frollo" - Kathy Zielinski
Supervising Animator: "Phoebus" - Russ Edmonds
Supervising Animator: "Clopin" - Michael Surrey
Supervising Animator: "Victor" and "Hugo" -
David Pruiksma
Supervising Animator: "Djali" - Ron Husband

Artistic Supervisor: Clean-Up - Vera Pacheco

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Christopher Jenkins

Additional Visual Effects Unit Supervisors:

Additional Visual Effects Animation -

Dave Bossert, Mauro Maressa and

Dave Tidgwell

Artistic Supervisor: Computer Graphics Imagery -

Kiran Bhakta Joshi
Songs: Music/Original Score/

Songs Producer and Arranger/Score

Producer - Alan Menken
Songs: Lyrics/Songs Producer/Latin Lyrics

Adaptation - Stephen Schwartz
Editor - Ellen Keneshea

Associate Film Editor - John K. Carr

Supervising Sound Editors - Lon Bender

and Larry Kemp

Re-Recording Mixers - Mel Metcalfe,

Terry Porter and Dean A. Zupancic

Foley Artists - John Roesch and

Hilda Hodges

Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan

Vocal Arrangements/Conductor -

David Friedman

Music Recordist and Mixer - Bruce Botnick

Review

Like most people, I was appalled by the news of the near-destruction of Notre Dame's cathedral. It was engulfed in flames and caused by a short circuit. I decided to look back at THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, by which I mean the Disney animated version in the wake of this devastation. I have been waiting to review a childhood classic I had not seen for a long time. I had never read the book nor watched the other film adaptations that preceded the animated version. It is, therefore, said that HUNCHBACK is one of Disney's darker films churned out. Because the movie contains adult themes such as religion, lust and genocide, I believe it would be a surprise for anyone watching this Disney film.

HUNCHBACK could have been aimed entirely at adults if it weren't for the gargoyles, particularly the one voiced by Jason Alexander, who provided comic relief. However, implementing characters who are second bananas to the main character in this film is not a good idea for Disney. It is not appropriate because it creates a tonal shift. These secondary characters aren't significant to the plot. What's important is the main character of Quasimodo, who yearns to be accepted by mainstream society and escape his confinement inside the walls of Notre Dame. One main character in the movie I compliment is the main villain, Judge Claude Frollo. Frollo is a particularly frightening villain who seeks to destroy the gypsies. It is up to the hero Quasimodo to stop Frollo from carrying out his plans of damnation. Not since Scar in The Lion King have we seen a villain so menacing and scary.

The animation is beautiful, and the backgrounds depict the scenery of 15th-century Paris, including the entire Notre Dame cathedral. Most of the songs by Alan Menken, including "Hellfire", "God Help the Outcasts", and "Out There", are good and fit effectively into the score of an animated musical like HUNCHBACK. The voice-overs are equivalent to live acting, with superb performances from Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline and Tony Jay. They all have lent their voices to HUNCHBACK, thus creating a rich and complex set of characters.

Not exactly the best Disney animation, but HUNCHBACK still comes close to The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast by high standards. You better watch it with a parent or guardian if younger viewers have questions about the mature content in the film. So exercise viewer discretion, everyone.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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Shazam! Review

Shazam!


Release Date: 4th April 2019 - Australia 


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures

New Line Cinema
DC Comics
DC Entertainment 
Seven Bucks Productions
The Safran Company

Distribution
Roadshow Distribution 


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 132 minutes


Budget: $100,000,000

Box Office Gross: $365,971,656 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
We all have a superhero
inside of us -- it just takes a
bit of magic to bring it out. In
14-year-old Billy Batson's
case, all he needs to do is
shout out one word to
transform into the adult
superhero Shazam. Still a kid
at heart, Shazam revels in
the new version of himself by
doing what any other teen 
would do -- have fun while 
testing out his newfound 
powers. But he'll need to 

master them quickly before 

the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana 

can get his hands on 
Shazam's magical abilities. (Source - Google)


Cast
Asher Angel - Billy Batson
Zachary Levi - Shazam
Mark Strong - Dr. Thaddeus Sivana
Jack Dylan Grazer - Freddy Freeman
Grace Fulton - Mary Bromfeld
Faithe Herman - Darla Dudley
Ian Chen - Eugene Choi
Jovan Armand - Pedro Pena
Cooper Andrews - Victor 

Vasquez
Marta Milans - Rosa Vasquez
Djimon Hounsou - Wizard
Adam Brody - Super Hero Freddy
Ross Butler - Super Hero Eugene
Michelle Borth - Super Hero Mary
D.J. Cotrona - Super Hero Pedro
Meagan Good - Super Hero Darla
John Glover - Mr. Sivana
Wayne Ward - Sid Sivana
David Kohlsmith - Young Billy
Ethan Pugiotto - Thaddeus Sivana (1974)
Landon Doak - Sid Sivana (1974)
Caroline Palmer - Billy's Mom
Keisha T. Fraser - Rachel Batson
Andi Osho - Ms. E.B. Glover
Lotta Losten - Dr. Lynn Crosby
Lisa Truong - Ms. Kwan
Carson MacCormac - Brett Breyer
Evan Marsh - Burke Breyer
Steve Blum - Sin (Voice)
Darin De Paul - Sin (Voice)
Fred Tatasciore - Sin (Voice)

Crew
Director - David F. Sandberg
Shazam Creators - Bill Parker and C.C. Beck
Superman Creators - Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Story/Screenplay - Henry Gayden
Story - Darren Lemke
Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Jeffrey Chernov
Executive Producers - Richard Brener,
Christopher Godsick, Walter Hamada,
Dave Neustadter, Dany & Hiram Garcia,
Geoff Johns, Adam Schlagman and
Dwayne Johnson
Producer - Peter Safran
Co-Producer - David Witz
Production Designer - Jessica Spence
Set Decorator - Shane Vieau
Costume Designer - Leah Butler
Director of Photography - Maxime Alexandre
Second Unit Director - John Mahaffie
Stunt Coordinators - Kyle Gardiner and
Larry Lam
Fight Coordinator - Chan Griffin
Special Effects Supervisors - Mark Lawton and
Cameron Waldbauer
Special Effects Coordinator - Rocco Larizza
Visual Effects Supervisors - Kelvin McIlwain
and Mike Wassel
Visual Effects Producer - Cari Thomas
Additional Visual Effects - John Dykstra
Animation Supervisor - Peter Dydo
Film Editor - Michel Aller
Music Supervisor - Season Kent
Music - Benjamin Wallfisch


Review
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) hasn’t had a great film since 'Wonder Woman', although the release of 'Aquaman' changed all of the fans’ perception of DCEU for the most part in 2018. However, after years of unsuccessfully copycatting the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 'SHAZAM!' marks a definite shift away from this mimicry and is among the latest movies to come from DCEU along with the forthcoming release of 'The Joker'. I remember the title character when I first watched the episode of 'Justice League' which was called Captain Marvel. However, this name has nothing to do with Marvel’s titular super heroine. Although the 'SHAZAM!' comic is hardly obscure for DC, it predates the film by about 80 years.

This cheerful, exciting romp reminds me of Richard Donner’s 'Superman' where you get this lighthearted feel to the movie and be highly entertained. In 'SHAZAM!', there’s even a heartwarming subplot about the foster home and the occasional bits of drama where the main character is desperately searching for his long-lost mother from whom he was separated when he was younger. The way the film portrays 'SHAZAM!' it is as if it was more like a comedy rather than any average superhero feature. Not many films from the genre, like 'Iron Man' or 'Guardians of the Galaxy', had the ability to convey this infectious hilarity, nor had the sense of cheesiness which isn't a bad thing.

I must say Zachary Levi was a perfect casting choice for the role of Shazam. This is because he usually does comedies, so he was playing to his strengths. Young Jack Dylan Grazer does well as Billy's foster brother and best friend Freddy Freeman. Even Mark Strong gets his chance to shine in a DC movie as Shazam's arch-nemesis. He seems to be doing better in this role in a DC movie than what he did as Sinestro in 'Green Lantern'.

'SHAZAM!' is an outstanding film for both DC fans or anyone who has never read the comics. It is a fast-paced, lighthearted popcorn blockbuster that is bound to keep audiences excited and enthralled. Remember, to say the magic word!

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

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