Thursday, July 31, 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - movie review

After putting off going to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I decided yesterday afternoon I would go.  They had a 2D showing at 4pm, it was a very hot day, so what better time than to visit the movie theatre.


The question often asked of me when I see a movie is "Did you enjoy it?".  I can't say I enjoyed it, but I am glad I saw it.  Andy Serkis as Caesar is phenomenal, and Jason Clarke as Malcolm I thought played his part well. Of course Gary Oldman gave his usual stellar performance in his role as Dreyfus.


So what did I come away with.  A few things.  Near the beginning of the movie, the humans make the comment amongst themselves stating they want their lives to go "back to the way it was".  This struck me as absolutely silly. You don't go backwards, you go forward.  It was the wanting to get a hydro-dam back working that had the humans getting into contact with the Apes.


Then the following:  fear and guns are not good together.  Hatred, especially bottled up hatred, distorts and creates all sorts of problems. Rejecting anything which is different from oneself can lead to misunderstanding and therefore problems.  You could say this is a anti-gun movie. As it is guns which begin the problem and keep on creating the problem.


You have two different groups, with some of them really wanting peace between them, while others either filled with fear, hatred and do not understand differences escalate the problems.  I would not recommend that this is a movie you 'have' to see. But all the Apes were done wonderfully, the directing, editing etc, was done well.  But I left thinking "how sad we cannot respect differences and listen to each other".  And is that not happening in our world right now.  Perhaps we truly need to learn to respect and honor each other once again.  I will await the next sequel and see what they do with that.
I give this movie 3 out of 5.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Hercules - movie review

Setting off to see Hercules I did not have any expectations of what I was going to see.  If there were any, they weren't very high. I was pleasantly surprised.  Should have realized Dwayne Johnson was not going to be in something which did not have some substance. Plus Brett Ratner as director usually spins a good, tight story. This they did.


At the end of the movie, I turned to my movie companion Trish and "I enjoyed that". This movie has all what you expect in a myth tale. It contains great stunts, and you did not feel you were watching generated ones, you thought you were watching real people doing them. A story line of betrayal and heroism. The good guys definitely win, when you think they may lose. Of course the hero has to come out on top. Hercules and his group of friends save the day in more ways than one.


The line up of actors supporting Dwayne Johnson was good. John Hurt as Lord Cotys, always plays a bad guy well. Ian McShane as Amphiaraus was great as the 'seer' of the bunch.  He supplies the most humor with his comments. Rufus Sewll as Autolycus (I always love his eyes) as Hercules's longest friend.  Reece Ritchie who plays Iolaus, Hercules's nephew - the constant story teller gives a sense of humanity to the story.


If you like adventure, if you like good stunts, if you like a myth coming alive then you will enjoy this movie.  I did.  Oh yes, Dwayne Johnson must have worked out considerably to get his muscles to be that big!!!!  Forget Arnold is his day, Dwayne wins!
4 out of 5 for entertainment.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Lucy - movie review

First of all thank you to all of you who have requested that I get back to doing my movie reviews, and that you missed them.  Thankfully, I'm feeling much better now and my hands can type effectively for a longer period of time. So I'm back!


Just home from seeing the movie Lucy.  I thought I was going to see an action movie, with quite a bit of 'killing' in it.  Well, yes, there was killing, but the hidden story, of our human mind potential was PHENOMENAL.  I think everyone should see this movie, if only for the information it imparts.
The main character Lucy is played by Scarlett Johansson, and if there was any doubt that she can act, then this role dispels that. She was brilliant in this role. She ends up being coerced into being a 'mule' for an Asian cartel, when the substance she has been implanted with begins leaking which expands her mind. Then the fun begins.
Due to Lucy's brain being developed more than the usual 10% it is often said that we use, she began to use more and more brain power at one time.  So the action, often taking place with her mind power in command, is intersected with wonderful visuals of nature, or of Morgan Freeman lecturing on the function of the brain.  It is these inserts which make this movie totally worth while. 


Nothing like great acting, and then more importantly, the storyline, written and directed by Luc Besson, to educate us into realizing we are more than acquiring things and going for power.  All of us interested in humanity and its growth realize we need to move beyond the smaller thinking, and this movie gives us a glimpse at what it might be like with a 'mind' at full potential.  Whether that would be how it is truly like, who knows, but it certainly makes you think. 
I give this 4 1/2 out of 5.  Worth seeing for sure if you are interested in philosophy, the evolution of human kind and the potential we all know we have.