Fury (2014)

Coming from David Ayer who made some memorable movies in his career (Training Day 2001 and U571 2000 to be my favorites) and Brad Pitt in the cast I had high hopes of Fury. But it seems like Ayer was attempting to make a Saving Private Ryan but ended up losing the game. Don’t get me wrong Fury of course is not entirely a bad movie. But it is not what you call great. Comparing with Clooneys’ recent mega failure Monument Men this looks like its way ahead. But not really so. Monument Men at least spoke of true events and the plot was digestible. But this is more like Star Wars and quite far from reality.

Fury is a heroic tale based on the ending period of the WW2. Army Sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Pitt) leading a group of tanks undertakes a deadly mission in the heart of Germany. When they become hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned this single crew must show utmost courage and bravery to face the enemy.

To speak of the good of Fury I believe the action sequences take the crown. When those bullets starts flying all hell breaks lose and for that few minutes the volume of adrenaline pumped is furious. And then comes acting. Dearly no complaints there as well. But I believe they could have done lot better. Maybe It’s something with the script that didn’t let them. Very good cinematography and set creation as well. The detailing is wonderful and it is in par with most of the high-ranking WW2 movies from the past. And for a movie of this genre the humor was quite good too.

But then why Fury doesn’t really make the cut to be great? I believe there is no true justice given for its run time. The movie goes from place to place with the tank crew but takes a long time to come to a point where the viewer should hang on to or have hopes of. The last battle is the moment of truth but the rest seems like some bitter justification to the fact that war is cruel. We already know that the war is cruel and we have seeing enough movies that proves the fact from the past. We want something more right now and Fury does not deliver that. And even the last battle seems too far-fetched and looks more Expendables than WW2 drama. These mistakes make this big production looks feeble and no matter how good it looks it doesn’t feel right in the mind.

Genre: Action | Drama | War

Director: David Ayer

Ratings: Genre 2.5/5, Overall 3/5

The Maze Runner (2014) – Ratings Genre: 4/5, Overall 3/5

It is ok for me to admit that The Maze Runner delivered more than what I expected. After a brief glance over the plot I set my self to witness another Hunger Games movie but what I got was something more thrilling, gripping and a suspenseful experience. Being said that The Maze Runner is not a fresh approach to a plot or Sci Fi nature. And it is based on James Dashner's 2009 novel of the same name.

There has being many mind boggling cinema on certain mazes (or traps true or imagery) and escaping from it including Cube (1997), Inception (2010) and Pans Labyrinth (2006) to name a few and each delivered a very powerful cinema experience. Standing against great movies like what I have mentioned earlier The Maze Runner is still has a long way to go being this is the first of a sequel of movies we are about to see in the coming years. But talking of this one alone it had done a pretty decent job.

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Thomas our 16-year-old hero wakes up in a strange place without having any memory of his earlier life. He and another group of people who experienced the same are trapped in a glade surrounded by a giant concrete maze. Though finding the way out of the maze and getting back home sounds a good idea the maze comes with many lethal surprises. But it seems like Thomas has some answers and soon the gang realizes that he is different.

For a dystopian sci fi thriller The Maze Runner has some gripping ground to start off with. And the movie steadily evolves within the first hour from nowhere to somewhere and the viewers get to feel the strange and mysterious presence of the maze. There is no scene that I can call as dragging or irrelevant thought they seems slow or not filled with enough action and suspense. But the movie quickly hit a phase of action and adventure and from there the game plan completely changes.  What I really like about The Maze Runner is it’s overall mood. As the viewer just like the people who are trapped in the maze are kept in dark so the same mysteries boggle in every ones minds. It’s as if the viewers also has to find answers to the mysteries and we are left with no options but to try. And at times we are left to make tough choices.

Equipped with strong acting and brilliant CG The Maze Runner is a movie that will keep the viewer engaged every second. And when it finished it opens up a whole lot of new questions while answering only few of the burning ones that was laid out at the start. I guess we have to wait another year to find out what happens next.

Genre: Sci Fi | Thriller | Action | Mystery

Director: Wes Ball

-Priyantha Bandara

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014): Ratings – Genre 5/5, Overall 4/5

Matt Reeves’es vision of science fiction is different to many. His movies take emotions in to count than the pure side of the movies scientific nature. This is well proven with his earlier movies like Cloverfield (2008) and Let Me In (2010). And now he teams up with the writers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and brings this much improved and very successful sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and it is magnificent. Right from the very beginning to the last scene this movie will take you through an emotional journey of man and ape alike and puts you in a tight spot as a human to determine the fate of things to come and decide write and wrong.

Ten years after the pandemic decease humans are at the brink of extinction. The apes who have survived lives in the woods formed up massive crowds and a form of civilized living. But when the humans bring war to the Apes door step and Apes leadership is questioned, the battle rages.

The very first thing that will blow the minds of the viewer is how insanely good looking this movie is. Thanks to the astounding works of the computer graphics and set creation the green rainy forest and the abandoned dying city both look absolutely realistic. And when the thought provoking plot is mixed up with ultra-realistic expressions of the apes this movie can sink right down in to you. And speaking of the plot it’s carefully written to give the viewer a very good perception of things occurring and the flow is very good.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as a story is completely far-fetched and it is amazing how it works this well. But if you’re expecting more and more battles of large scale and less talk (or sigh language) then it might disappoint you a bit. But never forget that battles are never justifiable without the correct amount of emotions. And here the wait for the final battle is worth every bit of drama and once you realize that the world will never be the same again for Apes and Humans both there is slight hope left for both. And amazingly you might wish that apes will find their peace once again. Make your own judgment of who’s to be blamed, us or our ancestors.

Genre: Action | Drama | Sci fi

Director: Matt Reeves

-Priyantha Bandara

Expendables 3 (2014) : Ratings – Genre 2.5/5, Overall 1.5/5

It would be bold and ok to say that after two consecutively engaging and improving sequels, Expendables has screwed up bad this time. This movie looks like it’s out of place and going nowhere and a huge potential of acting, bullets and explosives are flat out wasted.

The tattooed bad ass underground private soldier gang Expendables is back and they are facing a known enemy from the past. Barney (Stallone) decides to recruit young blood for the last battle saying adios to his old gang and it turns out to be a bad idea. Facing Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson) is trickier and tougher than it seems and Expendables patience and talents tested to the brim.

So why exactly this movie did went wrong? It is definitely not the cast and not the action because both of them have more than enough vibe to pull off some awesome movie. I think where it fails is the poor story line which has many connectivity issues and weak flow compared to the previous movies. It feels like some cast is not given a fair chance to perform and their presence is just a mere hallucination of the fact that Expendables is has many old school heroes in one place. This was common in pervious movies as well but the plot and direction was smooth enough for the fans to positively accept it. The only refreshing addition that worth witnessing is Mel Gibson where he brings in some true spark to the dull story line.

Talking of the good Expendables 3 is a high octane action jump start right from the beginning. The action is almost 90% farfetched but we all know the drill here. So there is nothing I can complain about it. Action sequences, cast and set creations are good. The whole movie sees no lush greens or hope of a blue planet but takes place entirely in dull, harsh environments except for the night club and city scenes. There are enough destructions and explosions corner to corner and some really good witty one liners. And Arnold finally wants everyone to GET TO THE CHOPPAH!

Genre: Action | Adventure

Director: Patrick Hughes

-Priyantha Bandara 

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) – Ratings: Overall 3/5 | Genre 4.5/5

Tom Cruise movies sell. I mean they really sell. But when the movie is equally good as Tom himself and it can pull some really mind blowing stunts without making the viewers to worry about the huge plot holes it is definitely a blockbuster. Edge of Tomorrow is a fresh look at the age old sci fi genre that based on alien invasions and courage’s humans who defeat them. And it’s the modern day Independence Day movie and it seriously rocks the foundations of sci fi that came out lately. Huge production, staggering CG and awesome acting makes Edge of Tomorrow one of the best action sci fi’s lately. I wish I can say the same about the plot but though it is amazing at a glance there are plenty of places it fails. But it doesn’t matter when you start to watch because it’s so entertaining that some of your senses get instantly freeze. 

In not so distant future the world is invaded by an alien race known as Mimics. The world is at war and seems like the humans are capable of defeating them. Major Cage (Tom Cruise) who is a publicity agent for the ARMY than a real soldier is sent to the front line of the crucial battle against Mimics without his will. Cage finds himself terrified and helpless when the battle becomes bloodier and a massacre of humans than expected. But coincidentally he discovers a way to manipulate time and relive the same battle and perfect it to realize that the aliens can be defeated using a different strategy. Rita (Emily Blunt) a fellow soldier joins him for the ride. 

The plot here is very creative. When the real time travel or time loop hits the center stage the whole phase and the feel of the movie quickly changes. This is where it gets the true edge against other similar alien invasion movies and the tight grip remains till the very end. While some viewers can be utterly confused by the fact of this time loop and the repeating scenes I’m sure no one would lose interest of the movie because of it. The element of surprise is very good and movie throws in some real candy for the viewers without delays. The flow and the phase is indeed appealing and the peaks and off peaks are well balanced. However as mentioned earlier the plot has many weak points and as a sci fi that makes sense Edge of Tomorrow is far behind. 

Tom has a history of alien invasion movies such as War of the Worlds (2005) and one of my personal favorite Oblivion (2013). Edge of Tomorrow is another jewel for his collection proving that he is still hot as he used to be decades back. Emily Blunt is sharp and very well fit for her role. The duo does a perfect job on the set and they spark while the aliens bleed. 

What makes Edge of Tomorrow is so good is its action and animation. They hit you very unexpectedly and some scenes are so majestic and detailed that you might feel that one viewing is not good enough. Starting from the production to the finishing touch of sound this movie is a true action flick and no one can say otherwise. 

Genre: Action | Sci Fi

Director: Doug Liman

Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina (2007) Ratings: Genre 3.5/5 | Overall 2.5/5

Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina is the brilliant second installment of the Appleseed (2004). It’s a continuation to the futuristic plot surrounding human girl Deunan Knute and her Hybrid worrier boyfriend Brialeos Hecatombcales. This is a continue to the Appleseed (2004) story line by taking it further towards the future and brings in better animation and better actions sequences to life. 

This time Duenan and Brialeos team up with a Bioroid Tereus who is created using DNA of Brialeos. While this takes a toll on both Duenan and Brialeos emotions they keep it aside and fight a common terrorist who threatens to disturb the known life at the Utopian city of Olympus. When the world satellite networks falls on the hand of this high tech and visionary terrorist and humans and bioroids becomes his slaves Olympuse’s own force E.S.W.A.T struggles to save the city. 

There are clear improvements to the animation quality of this movie from its predecessor with more details and more clarity and bigger and better conceptual thinking involved. Even the machinery and the war craft itself has improved. There are few familiar characters continuing their appearance in their new CG form and both Duenan and Brialeos are in their full glory with better detailing. Same goes with action sequences as well. The first half hour of the movie maybe has too much of a dose of action but soon the story falls in to place and calm down a bit. 

Talking of the plot it is slightly less appealing than from its big brother. Maybe since the viewers are already familiar with the base of Appleseed and this movie is not delivering anything extraordinary or surprising. But there is good flow though it has noticeable plot holes and weak points. But the emotions between the two main characters are somewhat deeply revealed and their relationship evolves to a new stage. 

All in all Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina is a clear improvement to its predecessor and worth checking out. As this would be last known installment of the story and the latest installment after this is a prequel. 

Genre: Animation | Action | Sci Fi

Director: Shinji Aramaki

Appleseed (2004) Ratings: Genre 4/5 | Overall 3/5

This certain type of a futuristic sci fi animation is mostly scene from Japanese animation studios and most of them are literally mind blowing. They carry purely creative futuristic settings, technology, action and eye popping details to start with. Though most of the serious sci fi fans will despite the plots in most of them still they are the kind of movies that will keep you engaged for a long time if you are a fan. Appleseed (2004) is one of such wonderful animation movies from Japan and first one of its trilogy. And it’s based on the comic book by the creator of Ghost in the Shell (1995).

Appleseed follows the earth after the 3^rd world war which has almost wiped out the entire economic and social system as we know now. And the world is completely in ruins and several groups keep on fighting for their territories. The war is taken over by high tech machinery and only the bravest fighter’s fights in flesh in the front. And in a distant place a Utopian society exists in harmony with humans and human like half machines knows as bioroids. Worrier Deunan is bought in to this peaceful society from the action packed frontline to realize that her known to have disappeared boy friend Briareos also lives there and he is also a different kind of half machine half human right now. Deunan starts to wonder what purpose she can serve in this society when she soon realizes that the battle for mankind is far from over. 

Appleseed has simply jaw dropping quality animation. It will be the first thing that would grab the viewer from the throat and then the action kicks in. The animation is a mix of 3d and 2d graphics which gives a certain blended beauty. Though this type of action and animation is witnessed earlier Appleseed does it really well. The viewer gets to engulf in a deep and thoughtful plot which reveals with solid explanations to the technology and rational of its existence. If you’re watching a subtitled version this section can be a bit tiresome. (I have seeing both subtitled and English dubbed so I know this for a fact). Though the plot is not perfect it is quite good for a war based action sci fi and it’s entertaining enough. 

With limited character development and superficial plot Appleseed has the potential to fail. Yet I feel like it had done a good job in most legs though it is not perfect. As I have now seeing the trilogy in full I certainly admire it more. This is a good start. 

Directors : Shinji Aramaki , Steven Foster,  Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Original title: Appurushîdo

Genre: Sci Fi | Action | Animation

Godzilla (2014) Ratings: Genre 3/5 | Overall 2.5/5

Gareth Edwards who is the director of the latest edition of well-known Godzilla seems to be building his career with monsters, aliens and atomic bombs. His previous works give ample evidence for that fact and this time Godzilla comes with a combo of all of those. There are plenty of humongous monster action and earth shattering destruction. Seems to be like demolishing crew has hit the big city and they don’t know where to start or where to end.

I have mixed reactions toward this movie. On one side it is very good with CG and cinematography but on the other side there is nothing much to gain from the plot overall. Though the movie is supposedly centered on Godzilla in most scenes the monster takes a backseat. But that’s not entirely negative as maybe we are to see it in action in movies yet to be made. But for anyone who wanted to see lot of Godzilla in Godzilla will be somewhat disappointed. Maybe this time the movie is more concentrated on creating a Godzilla image in a different way and find its routes with the legendary Godzilla movie character  unless for hardcore fans of the comics and the previous movies for the rest it’s making little sense.

The story goes through several phases and they are not stitched perfectly to have the smoothest of flow. The movie is long and there are plenty of things happening yet we all see where it’s headed. It starts to build a solid plot concentrating on one character but suddenly the batten is handed over to someone else who seems to be less competent and enthusiastic. All of these little things make Godzilla this time quite different than previous ones. It is obvious that the director wanted to build a solid foundation from the point of humans than from the point of the monster itself. But the message will be communicated to different fans differently.

I’m not going to compare the previous Godzilla movies with this one as obviously at this age the industry has evolved quickly and more can be done on the screen. But to answer the question if the Godzilla 2014 has the same amount of heart as previous ones are up to the fans.

Genre: Action | Sci-fi | Thriller

Director: Gareth Edwards

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Ratings: Genre 4.5/5 | Overall 3/5

By the time I sat down to watch this I have already heard quite a lot from the comic fans that this is beyond what they actually hoped to see. Captain America being sort of a side roll in the Avengers and the first movie being somewhat less attractive than many other Marvel flicks I had mixed feelings. But Captain America: The Winter Soldier bitch slapped me and caught me at the first punch.  And it’s simply overwhelming to witness that this has being one of the best super hero movies up to date and for over two long hours it’s just intense and gripping as its first 10 minutes. And Chris Evans just climbed my favorite super hero ladder a few notches with a Ka-Boooom.

I don’t want to waste my words explain the plot a lot. It does what super hero movies supposed to do and it’s heroic, adventures etc with lots and lots of plot holes. But hay no one expect top notch script from a superhero movie so it doesn’t matter. But what it really matters is that Captain America: The Winter Soldier pulls off all the unimaginable and farfetched stunts so easily and the viewers are kept on the edge of their seats and it gives no time to relax. The sheer amount of mind blowing action that appears within short intervals are just awesome. And the interesting thing is one after the other they become stronger and better and has its unique twists to make them differentiate from the previous.

What make Captain America: The Winter Soldier so good is that it’s brilliant flow. There is no second wasted and no punches thrown in vain. And there is awesome sense of tense and unrest steadily built without putting too much pressure or indigestible acceleration of events. And visually the movie delivers a feast with super good CG combined with live action.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an unexpectedly good super hero movie. And it’s being a while since we have witnessed one. And it can be simply enjoyed even if anyone does not have a thorough knowledge about the previous movie or the Avengers at all. So it’s a very good standalone entertainer. Though I have no high hopes for a better Captain America in the next movie as Hollywood has this certain trend of bigger action and poor movie as the franchisees grow I have truly enjoyed this one.

Genre: Action | Adventure

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Need for Speed (2014) Ratings: Genre 3/4 | Overall 2/5

As there is a common belief that soccer is the universal sport of planet earth if you ask a gamer what is the universal game they would most probably say Need for Speed or NFS.  It’s nearly impossible to find serious gamer who have not played even a single edition of NFS. And for the love of the game the long awaited Need for Speed movie is here and from a gamers perspective it’s everything they can ask for. But from a movie fans perspective there are critical downsides to it. So before you watch this think to which category you belong to. I as a person who played NFS from the very beginning when the game was supported on DOS and had nothing much to offer than pixelated moving objects have no reason to dislike the movie.

The plot is very straight forward. When street racer Tobi Marshall (Aaron Paul) is betrayed and sent to prison he has no other ambition than proving himself right. Once released he find a fast ride and get in to the legendary undercover street race to beat his rival.

For anyone who liked Need for Speed there are definitely two reasons, the nearly fantasy collection of super cars and the long races. That’s right. Need for Speed has some cars that blow your speed brains out. For motor heads its porn and the movie follow its games lead and pump in some really expensive rides. The awesome collection includes 2013 Shelby GT500, Saleen S7, Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, McLaren P1, GTA Spano, Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and Koenigsegg Agera. I’m quite certain that it’s the most expensive car line up in a movie so far ‘if’ they were the real deal. But then again for movies like this with so many of them get crashed at the end the real cars with real specs are out of limits. Apart from the cars the races are quite well done. However as the bar is already set up very high by the all-time king of street race movies Fast and Furious, Need for Speed is lacking some innovation there. But still the races are very entertaining and full of destruction.

Why Need for Speed fails to make a mark as a movie is for obvious reasons. To start with the plot is very lose and utterly impractical. You can say the same about Fast and Furious too but F&F had some charm in the cast (Heavily with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker) that made the fans forgive the movies crappy plot holes. But NFS is lacking that charm and it doesn’t look good. Aaron Paul is a good actor made his way up the ladder with the awesome TV show Breaking Bad but it seems like this role is not something that completely fits him. He is a character actor than an action star and maybe the fans expect more of him than some cheesy lines and pretending to drive inside a car in a studio. So the cast and plot both are not working in favor of the movie and that’s a big letdown.

It’s still too early to predict if Need for Speed will become a big and a good movie franchise in the future if they make a sequel. But at the moment it drags behind few spots on the top street car race movies of all time.

Genre: Action | Crime

Director: Scott Waugh

Sabotage (2014) Ratings: Genre 3/5 | Overall 2/5

It seems like after the comeback of Arnold he is not making any positive headlines. The Last Stand (2013) and Escape Plan (2013) both have being quite dull. And his this year’s supposedly block buster Sabotage is also not making big waves. True that action movies are not for Oscars. But when it comes to Arnold it was used to make some sense. Sabotage is an action + slasher movie hybrid. But the problem is it doesn’t do neither right. There are certain things that make you watch it till the predictable end. But once you’re done you will quickly move over. Yet for serial action movie lovers there are plenty of things to enjoy. But Arnold is not one of them.

The movie is based on a gang of hardcore DEA agents who pulls out a lethal raid on a drug cartel safe house and volt. And after attempting to steal 10 million dollars from it the whole gang goes out of commission and gets investigated by the high up. But after many months the investigation gets cleared and they get reinstated to find out that their team is one by one getting murdered by someone.

While the action part of it is done quite good the whole ridiculous plot and twists makes Sabotage a disaster. There are twists in side twists and when the whole show reveals itself there is not enough juice to fire up the big engine. Maybe if this was straight forward like those good old 80’s action flicks it could have done ok. Or maybe the action and the plot doesn’t fit well together. And the other noticeable element is that Sabotage is over the top gruesome. But sadly that red stuff is not adding value than disgust.

However keeping all that aside the viewers would watch this till the end only because it has this extra pumped action figures and big bullets flying in all directions. Director David Ayer has made sure that those were done right.

Director: David Ayer

Genre: Action | Crime