tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88045826720781446132024-03-05T02:48:52.916-08:00The Antman ReviewsWe're Back. We're Behind Schedule. You're Welcome. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-35420628780895423522016-08-30T15:30:00.002-07:002016-08-30T17:03:53.506-07:00Captain America: Civil War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggwOJ4erTIUA95vSIAjXOJuPwCYv-wMvnpHIsYaTEOP7T6Z0A9412vLfG6h5NoeLVMLC7iqFSP9LmSihaligKfiFouLC_aXKNnaZBbL1ij31TXpz6PpPlGy8y7F_W2xCPhveSsvtZeD_n/s1600/tumblr_o6d0bnC99s1t0giw6o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggwOJ4erTIUA95vSIAjXOJuPwCYv-wMvnpHIsYaTEOP7T6Z0A9412vLfG6h5NoeLVMLC7iqFSP9LmSihaligKfiFouLC_aXKNnaZBbL1ij31TXpz6PpPlGy8y7F_W2xCPhveSsvtZeD_n/s1600/tumblr_o6d0bnC99s1t0giw6o1_500.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>When Good Men Go To War. (An Introduction.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marvel's first film of Phase 3 feels more like an end than a beginning; an end to Marvel's current status quo as we know it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While Marvel's last team outing Age of Ultron introduced several new heroes to the roster it also saw the team take its first tentative steps towards destruction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cracks began to appear between it's members as ideological differences began to drive the team apart and to top it all off the Hulk went on yet another public rampage and Iron Man helped birth an artificial intelligence that leveled an entire city. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While it's safe to say that Marvel's heroes have amassed significantly less collateral damage than let's say a certain DC 'superhero' it seems that people have begun grow tired of the mass destruction superheroes leave in their wake </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and after an Avengers mission in Lagos results in the destruction of a building and the death of several Wakandan relief workers the international community decides that the team has operated without oversight for far too long and plans to pass a bill to create an international governing body specifically to police and monitor Superheroes.<br />This divides the team as Iron Man </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Robert Downey Jr.)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">harboring guilt from his role in creating Ultron supports the act while Captain America (Chris Evans) still distrustful of government interference following Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D and believing that the the safest hands are still his own opposes it, matters are further complicated when The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) seemingly resurfaces and Cap and the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) go rogue to bring him in.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What Is It Good For? (The Story.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Russo Brothers return to the director's chair following their highly acclaimed previous Captain America outing <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" target="_blank">Captain America: The Winter Soldier</a> and while this is the third installment of the Captain America trilogy it is also the Thirteenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall and it seems to be a tradition to have the standalone Captain America films move the MCU's overarcing story forward (The First Avenger introduced the Tesseract, The Winter Soldier destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D) and in a strange sense Civil War is more of an Avengers film than Age of Ultron was (which is not to dismiss AOU in anyway as Age of Ultron laid the foundation for the events of Civil War) as multiple characters continue down character arcs established in the last crossover installkejt: Iron Man copes with his guilt over Ultron, Vision tries to understand what it means to be human, Scarlett Witch struggles with both her powers and feelings of isolation after the loss of her brother, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">all the while the movie is still in truth a Captain America sequel, picking up the threads of where The Winter Soldier left off as Cap hunts for his former friend in an arc leading back to his debut in the Captain America: The First Avenger.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyone expecting a 100% pure adaptation of Mark Miller's 2006 - 2007 graphic novel is going to find themselves disappointed, The MCU just doesn't have the number of heroes that the comics utilized for such a large crossover event and even if they did the inclusion of all these characters would only result in a hundred sided battle for screen time, this combined with the fact that many of the elements that make up the Superhero Registration Act/Sokovia Accords are different in the comic to what they are in the film as there are far fewer powered individuals currently in the world (as the exclusion of Mutants means that fewer people are simply born with powers) and almost all the MCU's superheroes operate out in the open without a secret identity (another major element of the comic argument), and yet the film adapts the source material admirably and is able to combine the central argument (<b>should Superheroes operate freely?)</b> of the comics with the continuing narative of the Cap central movies to make the best version of the story it possibly could, paying homage to its source with many lines of dialogue or shots being taken straight from the page.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFc3DR-4O_QsIKxg0TmoOyoX02hk8-Ca65i5GEiZj19zXUaR3imwpsqfdZL7stELYp_uiEVAcggRq4sbig0NHcLjqOdMyTgtK-ja4UrP8WcdMH7OSl0U6XjmM_-uoUHpb53LTf1WGlDFRW/s1600/Cap+vs+Iron+Man+Civil+War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFc3DR-4O_QsIKxg0TmoOyoX02hk8-Ca65i5GEiZj19zXUaR3imwpsqfdZL7stELYp_uiEVAcggRq4sbig0NHcLjqOdMyTgtK-ja4UrP8WcdMH7OSl0U6XjmM_-uoUHpb53LTf1WGlDFRW/s640/Cap+vs+Iron+Man+Civil+War.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of all these little homages the one I was most happy to see delivered on the big screen in all it's impactful glory </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was my favorite Cap monologue (the 'No, you move.' speech),</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Even the decision to have the line come from someone other than Cap himself was extremely thought through as it helped solidify Cap's resolve at a critical juncture in the story, and no matter who the line is delivered by it is such an impactful piece of dialogue that it would have been a shame if it hadn't found it's way into the film.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Whose Side Are You On? (The Characters.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact that the acting is phenomenal should not really come as a surprise at this point with many of the lead cast having appeared as their characters in numerous previous Marvel installments each performer appears perfectly at ease in their roles even as the emotional stakes have never been higher.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At its core Civil War is about two relationships namely Cap's friendship with Bucky </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and how his (perhaps misplaced) loyalty for his former brother-in-arms impacts upon his relationship with </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Iron Man as their ideologies come to head to head over the direction of The Avenger's future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the story to work each hero's stance on the argument needs to feel genuine to the character </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Talking of who holds responsibility for damage caused by Superheroes: Does Thor inflicted damage fall under 'acts of god'?) and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the film acknowledges that both side of the argument are flawed and can lead to wither big brother government control or unregulated powered individuals imposing their will on the world) and ultimately each hero's decision to side one way or the other is driven by a personal agenda and this creates a strain on the group that is only further pressured by conflicts outside of the argument and as the film reaches it's apex the actual registration argument falls to the side and is no longer the driving conflict between the two leaders of the Avengers as their conflict births and reveals secrets and deeply personal grievances that further shatter their fractured friendship.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find it hard to support the pro-registration side when their argument is founded on the Avengers being responsible for the destruction of New York, Sokovia and Washington DC despite the fact that these are all situations where the damage would have been infinitely worse if the heroes hadn’t been present, and when certain Avengers break rank to assist Cap they are thrown into a specially built underwater prison, unfit treatment for men and women whom have saved millions of lives whose only crime is to disagree with the government’s plan for them, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back in The Winter Soldier Cap fought the law. And Cap won. but this time around the government institution he's battling isn't a corrupt front for Hydra but rather the highly un-corrupt United Nations, so Cap's struggle ultimately comes down to how he see's his place in the world vs. how the rest of the world see's his place in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve Rogers has always been the Avenger to best embodied the struggle between doing what he believes to be right and what the government tells him is right and Chris Evans brings real weight to both the conflict and resolve of the character as his morals are put to the test.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no arguing that much of the appeal of Superhero crossovers comes from the just how the character interact both off </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and on the battlefield, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scarlett Witch and Vision get some nice sideline development continue to build towards their comic book</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> romance (or as I call it: No Good Can Come Of This!!!) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and having two heroes fighting side by side in the same movie can lead to some pretty phenomenal action set pieces (who didn't love the sequence in The Avengers where Captain America used his shield to deflect Iron Man's Uni-Beam into the Chitauri?) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And thank Odin it actually happened! the combo attack I was most desperate to see made it from ink to the big screen:<br />Hawkeye fired an Ant-Man tipped arrow and it was glorious! it's such an iconic team up attack that I don't think I could bare having both characters in their first movie together and not have them perform it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because when Ant-man and Hawkeye join forces somebody's gonna</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> get it!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIZVKdn69p7Ct5l9LL4uQXIM545QJxgb3ULGi9XBM3b-t3eg13NPBMrg2ExfR_LK4wlYF6QxvMc1IoVFSm1Mfio1GsvwAAiaNuALsCsD4ZS6du16ywjeg6zLWdwln0DDf79vX3AmCpNnM/s1600/tumblr_o6wjxx7SM91qiikcuo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIZVKdn69p7Ct5l9LL4uQXIM545QJxgb3ULGi9XBM3b-t3eg13NPBMrg2ExfR_LK4wlYF6QxvMc1IoVFSm1Mfio1GsvwAAiaNuALsCsD4ZS6du16ywjeg6zLWdwln0DDf79vX3AmCpNnM/s640/tumblr_o6wjxx7SM91qiikcuo1_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And speaking of Ant-Man he gets a brand new trick which we won't go into due to spoiler territory but It leads to the film's 'largest' action spectacle and am honestly surprised at how early after his introduction into the MCU that his abilities are so drastically enhanced, but even disregarding his enhanced abilities his unique fighting style is still the source of many of the film's funniest sequences (with a special shoutout going to him getting into Stark's Iron Man outfit and claiming to be his conscious).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am seriously looking forward to Ant-Man and The Wasp hitting theaters in 2018 </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">now that his origin story has been squared away there is so much room for the character to 'grow' (The Puns.The Puns!).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Civil War also sees the return of William Hurt’s General Ross for the first time since his debut in 2005’s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The Incredible Hulk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">His return serves to better tie The Incredible Hulk to the rest of The Marvel Cinematic Universe and he is the perfect outside voice against unregistered heroes b</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eing a military man he is already heavily tied into the government and due to his vendetta against the Green Goliath he is more aware than anyone the damage that Superheroes can inflict.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what of the new additions? Civil War introduce two of Marvel's biggest heroes to the MCU ahead of their standalone films and both Spider-Man and Black Panther are utterly fantastic, with Spider-Man seemingly being the greatest version put to film yet as Tom Holland nails the chatty web-swinger in terms of both his acrobatic fighting style and quippy nature (will be interesting to see how well Tom Holland does once he is the lead role in a Spider-Man movie) and the film is able to introduce both Spidey and Peter Parker to the fray without tripping over reintroducing his backstory and while this is the youngest version of the character seen to date his youth it gives the character a more clear eyed optimism that contrasts to his older peers. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for Black Panther he is arguably given the most rounded character arc of the film (which actually leaves me wondering just what Marvel has planned for his solo film in 2018) and T'Challa's quieter, more reserved approach makes him a great foil for the other chattier heroes who are throwing out endless one-liners, in a Captain America centered storyline already juggling numerous other MCU characters it's incredible that their introduction seems to go as smoothly as it did.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Let Them Fight. (The Action.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I may have said previously </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that the Russo Brother brought a whole new standard of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">action to the MCU with </span><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Captain America:The Winter Soldier</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (if I didn't say I really should have) and that quality only increases here, with Civil War's action potentially being some of the best seen in a superhero movie ever. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Avenger on Avenger airport battle is utterly incredible, over fifteen minutes of pure nerdgazzuming 'who would win in a fight?' action, with certain new heroes debuting their fighting abilities for the first time, recurring heroes revealing entirely new abilities altogether, </span><br />
(<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also love the fact that an actual line is drawn between the two sides pre-fight)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the fight is helped by the fact that there's such a variety of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">characters with different skill sets at play that every fight is engaging and when it's not the brawling that is keeping you on the edge of your seat it's the character interactions with both certain Marvel characters interacting with one another for the very first time and longtime friends punching one another in the face. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQw6VEXNvylfL-uMIh43C4w9A4QsK8fCoUK6C77T9IwPQFOJ_3uJX_SpiQ3X79dXs9sN4qAwfQvKNB-2beTW0vOJbIo0kYvNFPqXbEB2QB16i5FDfD_qxn4ea0ZDrarfUsgH_TdYyTUkI/s1600/one+of+you+shall+betray+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQw6VEXNvylfL-uMIh43C4w9A4QsK8fCoUK6C77T9IwPQFOJ_3uJX_SpiQ3X79dXs9sN4qAwfQvKNB-2beTW0vOJbIo0kYvNFPqXbEB2QB16i5FDfD_qxn4ea0ZDrarfUsgH_TdYyTUkI/s640/one+of+you+shall+betray+me.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Civil War gives several recurring heroes some of the best fights they have had to date with The Falcon and Scarlett Witch both being given a massive overhaul in regards to their fighting abilities. Falcon's wings now serve for a great deal more than flying, he can deploy Redwing (a drone rather than an actual falcon as in the comics) and his fighting style seems more acrobatic than just drop kicking out the sky. Scarlett Witch on the other hand is simply given more to do with her abilities be it pulling cars from a multi story car park to flatten enemies, providing support to other team members or driving a foe down deep into the very earth itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The final fight is INTENSE and while it doesn't hold the spectacle of the airport showdown it is a far more emotional confrontation where the stakes feel pretty high and it's almost impossible to entirely root for or against either combatant, I can't speak for others but I watched the final battle with a building sense of dread.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Avengers Disassembled. (The Future Of The MCU.) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It will be interesting to see just how the MCU moves forward following the events of Civil War as the Avengers as the team is seemingly broken beyond repair, meaning that a debate target to adress the accountability of the Avengers ultimately lead to there being no Avengers at all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's hard to say when we will next see the ramifications of the events here, Iron Man is slated to next appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming and it is entirely feasible that Bucky and Cap could possibly return in Black Panther but with much of Phase 3 being tasked with introducing new characters to the MCU (Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel) and those films that are sequels to established characters are taking place away from earth (Guardian's of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 & Thor Ragnarok) it won't be until Avengers: Infinity War that we see just how the team will move forward, it will be especially interesting to see Iron Man and Cap try to find their ways back to where they were, Civil War offers no easy (Save MARTHA) solutions because life doesn't work that way, the scars inflict herein will take time to heal, if they completely heal at all.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I Can Do This All Day. (Conclusions.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Civil War may be the best entry into the MCU yet as our heroes are applied with extraordinary pressure from both within and without the team until something has to give, and when it does the team unravels brutally.<br />Are there problems? Sure. The films villain is more of a 'means to an end' than a major threat in of himself, allowing for</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a more character focused story leaves Civil War feeling as a safer chapter setting up the state of play for future events </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But we have come to know the characters well enough that it's a little heartbreaking to watch them fight, they are developed well enough that their reasons to fight (and occasionally not to fight) feel genuinely human and while it's sad to see your favorite icons come to blows it's fantastically entertaining watching them do so. <br />Civil war is a wonderful movie with some complex moral ideas, fantastic action and a lot of heart and</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I for one cannot wait for what comes next for the MCU....</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Even if it may be a little 'STRANGE'.</b></span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg662xWMwSJBMSPkJ_lIwS-RGDGiJEbyyZniP1BbxoEuFvs3ErPEAToxWMQsOyyFxuHr_662OOAdNZZKPPHqV_2jj1DUzDbxz-sWtHHiGCcElqo7T1_nZAjdvmzQMtnHD0vam39lb3-us8A/s1600/tumblr_o6d08pktzK1t0giw6o1_540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg662xWMwSJBMSPkJ_lIwS-RGDGiJEbyyZniP1BbxoEuFvs3ErPEAToxWMQsOyyFxuHr_662OOAdNZZKPPHqV_2jj1DUzDbxz-sWtHHiGCcElqo7T1_nZAjdvmzQMtnHD0vam39lb3-us8A/s1600/tumblr_o6d08pktzK1t0giw6o1_540.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-80541969312641477062015-11-02T11:39:00.002-08:002015-11-02T16:54:11.124-08:00Tremors 5: Bloodlines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fQ49SOcwuakiA1ww9FCW2NOgazu4RMFJY-0X6ZXWKYJq-SGYYPopteAuq95hRVpC4GmxyQDU0YdsG-lm56UcWvoOtN7zSryNqxsEgwhzxgV5tFq-xsyZvaNdnP6GCVssz0u3kzVYoN76/s1600/trem52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fQ49SOcwuakiA1ww9FCW2NOgazu4RMFJY-0X6ZXWKYJq-SGYYPopteAuq95hRVpC4GmxyQDU0YdsG-lm56UcWvoOtN7zSryNqxsEgwhzxgV5tFq-xsyZvaNdnP6GCVssz0u3kzVYoN76/s1600/trem52.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Critical, Need To Know Information. (An Introduction.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Right, back on the horse, lets go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's good to have Tremors back. I have enjoyed the series since I first saw the original movie way back when and each new installment only reminds me of why I fell in love with these movies in the first place - B movie goodness.<br /><br />Starting way back in 1990 Tremors is a series of comedic monster movies about giant subterranean worms whom run amok endangering the lives of the poor people living near by, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tremors 5 was originally set to be titled Tremors: The Thunder from Down Under </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and would have seen Burt and Earl (a returning Fred Ward) and possibly Val (A potentially returning Kevin Bacon) travel to Australia to battle the various Graboid life cycles, but this version of the film was sadly not to be and the project was scraped, but while countless other franchises reboot or remake their properties for new audiences even after this cancellation</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Tremor's survives and a new version of Tremors 5 began development which instead see's Graboid Slayer Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) traveling to Africa to deal with an Assblaster and Graboid incursion </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the series's greatest strengths always has been it's ability to perfectly walk the line between comedy and drama, while the serious is a story of individuals banding together to survive deadly creatures there is a reason that one of the creatures incarnation is given the name Assblasters, and the dependence on comedy to add levity</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Burt's Back. (The Cast.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, that lovable paranoid survivalist is back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward may have had top billing in the original following Tremors 2 it was Michael Gross who went onto be the star of the series, taking up the lead role in the third and fourth films as well as the short lived television show, so it's only natural that the actor would reprise the role once again, and boy am I glad he did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is an iconic quality to the character of Burt, from the moment he and Heather brutally blasted the graboid that burst into their basement into pieces in the first installment ("Broke into the wrong God damn rec room, didn't ya you bastard!") Burt has been the most quotable character of the series, maybe it's his paranoia towards big government, maybe it's his over prepared nature being constantly sidestepped by creatures that simply cannot be prepared for, but there is simply something that makes the character a delight to watch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I love the fact that Burt is now filming his own survival series, it seems like a natural progression for the character to be sharing his experience between hunts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtlNIwNKkILNdc8Y7DPwDijYMfLeboqJ_PnAIsL7_glmYImeTG-CZ5K_cyrvGtFqQ2hcHTHaxZ3yGyeDrx3RooieX0Yqn7ro4DPftsPXwIHqbqOj2EBNKCwnXmMIIP5_stchF7m92E6Le/s1600/tumblr_ndhyjiWbbh1tlrs7bo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtlNIwNKkILNdc8Y7DPwDijYMfLeboqJ_PnAIsL7_glmYImeTG-CZ5K_cyrvGtFqQ2hcHTHaxZ3yGyeDrx3RooieX0Yqn7ro4DPftsPXwIHqbqOj2EBNKCwnXmMIIP5_stchF7m92E6Le/s640/tumblr_ndhyjiWbbh1tlrs7bo1_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since its first Sequel 'Aftershocks' Tremors has carried some general sequel traditions<br />each new installment introduces a new link in the Graboid's life cycle (While this is not entirely true here we do get redesigns) and a new Sidekick for the returning lead:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Tremors 2 Earl got Grady,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Tremors 3 Burt got Jack, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Tremors 4 Hiram (Burt's Great Grandfather)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> got Juan</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and so in Tremors 5 Burt teams up with Travis Welker (Jamie Kennedy)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Travis in my opinion is far from the most annoying sidekick, with that title going to Grady and unlike desert Jack the character carries an actual impact due to the way in which his character is tied to Burt's adding an interesting new dimension to both characters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The rest of the characters are largely forgettable although the helicopter pilot is enjoyable enough to watch but beyond him most other character are decidedly one dimensional, there's a little girl, a bow and arrow wielding vet, a shady rich guy and a henchman and while their respective actors deliver strong performances </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">there is little to elevate them above the role of potential graboid food.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-kI7n4GsT7QQvkG-ut3Y657HTGpHomwSZxj0qN1qZ5zm_zwMhGZVWFx4GmoQeKzM1VrdoFSePWjbPQmasa7pSfYjqajkeM_Fj5BSjvwLlYcKrSlBEIxSDZK6xMD8TQ3vT6u50bAGlufD/s1600/tumblr_nwksb8gfaU1ubf88so1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-kI7n4GsT7QQvkG-ut3Y657HTGpHomwSZxj0qN1qZ5zm_zwMhGZVWFx4GmoQeKzM1VrdoFSePWjbPQmasa7pSfYjqajkeM_Fj5BSjvwLlYcKrSlBEIxSDZK6xMD8TQ3vT6u50bAGlufD/s640/tumblr_nwksb8gfaU1ubf88so1_1280.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>New Links In The Food Chain. (The Monster Makeover.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Being the first Tremors film in over Ten years mean that due to the advance in technology the Graboids and Assblasters are blessed with a design overhaul.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The film takes the logic that the African variation of the species have streamlined their evolutionary process compared to their Nevada or Mexican counterparts (or as one character puts it "everything is bigger in Africa").</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I for one welcome these new designs while</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the concept of the Graboid was tested and true (Big Subterranean worm that hunts using vibrations and deploys three inner tongues to grab prey) the finish effect left a little to be desired, emerging above ground looking more like an angry potato than a terrifying beast so the new sleeker body makes the creature feel more worm-like and fluid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While i'm not entirely sure I support the decision of the Graboids tongue snakes being detachable now, largely due to the questions it raises: Do they reattach afterwards, if not are the capable of self sustainability? even so they are another great example of the success of the redesign looking incredibly more functional than its sock puppet counterpart (I mean just look at those mandibles!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuXjT2i-8M7UjOSNL1LrW_oezQb4oMNMi6faITQnafjfxoGE4N3aYUF8WKcDlMLdPUf_DAY_c6ucaYfu-XY9R6MN2tjMeDeK1jSTCCSXyEjzxsLaDCzcgiXo5AO6rsyo82e0va2oUHbDi/s1600/tumblr_nwksj5rO6x1ubf88so1_1280+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuXjT2i-8M7UjOSNL1LrW_oezQb4oMNMi6faITQnafjfxoGE4N3aYUF8WKcDlMLdPUf_DAY_c6ucaYfu-XY9R6MN2tjMeDeK1jSTCCSXyEjzxsLaDCzcgiXo5AO6rsyo82e0va2oUHbDi/s640/tumblr_nwksj5rO6x1ubf88so1_1280+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />While the less said about the original design of the Assblaster the better. the new incarnation leaves the third stage in the life cycle looking far more aggressive (like teeth with wings) rather than the bird-esc designs of 'Back to Perfection' which never truly felt that threatening (... doesn't look very scary. More like a six-foot turkey.) but now their bodies show power they are carrying large men off into the sky rather than knocking them over cliffs and it takes far more than a potato gun to put them down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The decision to move the action to another continent means that the series can introduce the new versions of the life cycles while avoiding annoying fans of the older films by writing off the original designs.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhDtjraQuYFdaJfZrlUHRe9_3nnGYXC3VztSNleyuMCkSDrmmxdE7IGtjgOGz4jdHyTrIU-sytP_mGsWnitkUngkldote40TBdFlGezX6GskQUQaZh5K_ebVORItkRZoEXEvX6UEQjFzH/s1600/tumblr_nwkrvjIE8g1ubf88so1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhDtjraQuYFdaJfZrlUHRe9_3nnGYXC3VztSNleyuMCkSDrmmxdE7IGtjgOGz4jdHyTrIU-sytP_mGsWnitkUngkldote40TBdFlGezX6GskQUQaZh5K_ebVORItkRZoEXEvX6UEQjFzH/s640/tumblr_nwkrvjIE8g1ubf88so1_1280.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hang Onto Your Prostate. (Action.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The action follows the same pattern as the earlier films with most of the attacks occurring offscreen in the early encounters before becoming much more visceral in the second and third acts, and yet the lims greatest sequence doesn't feature a single Graboid or Assblaster but rather simply Burt locked in an animal cage under the hot sun of the African planes, while I won't give too much away everything from the lead in line of dialogue, to Burt's means of hydration, his personal confession and finally a big cat attack are some of the series's greatest moments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other standout moments including a flare wielding Travis facing off against an Assblaster and a new style of Graboid attack that see's the subterranean monsters get some serious air time.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The film also enjoys a sequence almost shot-for-shot recreating the Raptor in the Kitchen sequence from Jurassic Park (with the raptors replaced with an Assblaster)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>This Is A Bag Of Dicks. (Summary.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's important to remember that a direct to disc release does not automatically mean that a movie will be any worse than a film with a major cinema release,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And as such I would recommend Tremors 5 to anyone who may have enjoyed any installment of the series so far or is simply looking for an easy going monster movie to enjoy at home, while the film is unlikely to make anyone's top ten list and certainly won't forever change the face of cinema it's a welcome addition to a series that otherwise appeared to be dead,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is plenty to entertain fans as t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he film throws out some great nods to previous Tremors films (my favorite being "Why is it that critical need to know information never reaches Burt Gummer?" a throwback to the line </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I feel I was denied critical, need-to-know information."</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> from Tremors 2) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and for newcomers; if you enjoy big monsters eating people then your all set.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's cheap B Movie thrills but it's cheap B Movie thrills at its finest. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-58726840956874640592014-10-26T13:56:00.001-07:002014-10-31T17:32:22.445-07:00Oculus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbcAzxjM60ObAeirU1hgbhyphenhyphenrLrH2rWPs4d-4koje1QpfFAMEJx0QNRJZtF8s0XNBZznycTNdQZjbtRMFBwqyr5CF9sOZ6pH5fyUn2DC8s5cYTpZpi1QpKtH4J-9MuuH5wC0SGfo-Gu63S/s1600/godless_shrine.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbcAzxjM60ObAeirU1hgbhyphenhyphenrLrH2rWPs4d-4koje1QpfFAMEJx0QNRJZtF8s0XNBZznycTNdQZjbtRMFBwqyr5CF9sOZ6pH5fyUn2DC8s5cYTpZpi1QpKtH4J-9MuuH5wC0SGfo-Gu63S/s1600/godless_shrine.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Through The Looking Glass. (An Introduction.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's Halloween again! which means I get to strap on my 'Professor of Horror' cap (Just so long as there isn't anyone around who keeps track of who is, or isn't, actually a professor) and review the wonderful world of Horror and this year the first film to fall into my sights is the 2014 psychological supernatural haunter Oculus.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by Mike Flanagan the film is based on a short film '<i>Oculus: Chapter 3 - The Man with the Plan</i>' which is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">also directed by Flanagan</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with this full length version starring Karen Gillan and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brenton Thwaites as siblings who reunite eleven years after a mirror may, or may not, have caused the death of their parents in hopes of uncovering the truth.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story is told through two different time frames (present day and eleven years earlier) with the two stories happening parallel to one another through the use of time jumps (and later hallucinations).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story uses a very clever trick to establish two distinct view points to the nature of the mirror.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the events of their childhood trauma Tim Russell (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brenton Thwaites) has spent the next eleven years in a mental institution being 'cured' of his 'delusion' that a mirror was responsible for his parents' descent into madness and subsequent deaths, while his sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan) has spent that time alone in the world plotting out a way to prove the mirror's malevolence and ultimately destroy it once and for all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVL2tHzGW2QbjTuOTBk30okb9R073b8vcaxpRXwaoFNLy6wkifUdOlwD9imrU7uIhholRQjy-unlldQ9L-VhVnGJVOcavkeOU3OaJhgNswsfHKdr7kbs7btx8uOK_9MZ3baWo4v_-EBUMd/s1600/1962857_748761631827337_72707155026700172_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVL2tHzGW2QbjTuOTBk30okb9R073b8vcaxpRXwaoFNLy6wkifUdOlwD9imrU7uIhholRQjy-unlldQ9L-VhVnGJVOcavkeOU3OaJhgNswsfHKdr7kbs7btx8uOK_9MZ3baWo4v_-EBUMd/s1600/1962857_748761631827337_72707155026700172_n.jpg" height="262" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Horror Films teach us to never move into a new house - <b>EVER!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And also to never return to your childhood home - <b>EVER!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mirror, Mirror. (The Mirror...On The Wall.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While haunted or demonic mirrors are fairly common in the world of the supernatural never before have I seen one so well utilized as it plays with its victims perspective of what's real and playing on their own sense of reality, it's a horror film that excels at getting in your head and having a good poke around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have always found myself drawn to horror movies which deal with the matter of the mind, as reality is blurred and disorientated until it becomes difficult to differentiate between whether what is happening is real or a figment of the victims warped mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the very start Oculus excels at offering two explanations to every incident, one of which is a more logical assumption to an apparently paranormal problem while the other suggests the powers of the mirror.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally as the film progresses and the chaos escalates it becomes more and more difficult to believe in the rational explanation as the scale of each incident increases towards the film's ultimate climax (to both present day and 11 years ago situations) but for a great deal of the film almost all the early in childhood craziness is presented with rational and logical explanations. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The general set up of Horror films often require characters to make needlessly stupid decisions (running up the stairs rather than out the front door to safety) but every single decision in Oculus is perfectly understandable and the few that are a little more questionable can be attributed to the mirrors influence (Did I just call for help or did the mirror just make me 'think' that I called for help?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two characters are never shown to take the mirrors threat lightly, setting up several well thought out precautions to protect themselves from its influence, but unfortunately the mirror is smart enough to find ways to use the precautions to its own advantage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the mirror's origin and source of power are never expressly revealed (The less you know, the more you fear) over the course of the film we (the audience) are able to assemble a detailed picture of just what the mirror is capable of and how it functions, from leeching the life from houseplants, to its means of self defense, the mirror is a menacing entity in its own right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its ultimate weapon is disorientation and this allows for both great horror moments (Think that's an apple you're eating?) and some of the films more surreal scenes such as past and present versions of the characters switching in and out of the current situation, the mirror is able to force the adult siblings to react like scared children by simply making them believe that they 'are' children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The separate time frames that the film initially implements to inform the audience a) j<i>ust what the mirror is capable of</i> and b) <i>inflicted upon Kaylie and Tim in the past </i>devolves into a wibbly wobbly timey wimey nightmare (come on, it's Karen Gillan!!! That allows me at least one Doctor Who joke) as past and present collide in the final act</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHR3y_pwRkKi8kgTjR8zkembnYUoSnrPrkCIerF1HWKKU9mtUvQE2Vtl2qFAC5GRgw4AB0uBfEZrLG_smTgFtfa7mxvO4WTvgSKqDfea24U_9wzBb-te89UfaWiUePx2CPqndHto-5IIMH/s1600/oculus_040914_1600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHR3y_pwRkKi8kgTjR8zkembnYUoSnrPrkCIerF1HWKKU9mtUvQE2Vtl2qFAC5GRgw4AB0uBfEZrLG_smTgFtfa7mxvO4WTvgSKqDfea24U_9wzBb-te89UfaWiUePx2CPqndHto-5IIMH/s1600/oculus_040914_1600.jpg" height="240" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kaylie sets up three cameras to monitor the mirror and record any signs of paranormal activity. Fortunately the film doesn't descend into the handheld/found footage formula but instead uses the footage to tell the audience a little more about the way in which the mirror can influence people without them realizing it which is a much better use of the devices in terms of storytelling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>See Yourself. (The Cast.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the cast is small (only focusing on four characters, played by six actors) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the female cast is headed by two of my favourite actresses Karen Gillan (<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/guardians-of-galaxy.html" target="_blank">Guardians of the Galaxy</a>) and Katee Sackhoff (<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/riddick.html" target="_blank">Riddick</a>) both of whom are thankfully emerging from the world of TV to the film projects that they more than deserve, but</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the acting is strong from everyon</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e in the ccast including (or especially) the two child actors who play the younger versions of the brother and sister (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Annalise Basso as young</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kaylie and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garrett Ryan as young Tim).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rory Cochrane is compelling as the children's father who is slowly </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">indoctrinate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">d into becoming the mirror's puppet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sibling duo are well established as individual people as the film gives plenty of time to explore their unique mental states towards both the mirror and each other with each pitying the other for their 'delusion' towards their past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stated in my article that explored <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/are-horror-movies-as-good-as-they-used.html" target="_blank">whether Horror Movies are as good as they used to be</a> that character development is key to successful scary movie writing because if the audience doesn't care about a character then why would they be invested in whether or not they live or die? and Oculus at least seems to understand that simple truth as I found myself honestly caring about what would happen to these characters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Seeing Is Believing. (Conclusions.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the film never reaches terrifying in terms of scares it is nonetheless able to build up an ever increasing sense of dread as the precautions that Kaylie has so carefully devised are slowly stripped away along with the character's sense of reality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film is well directed, well acted and incredibly edited and f</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ar too often horror films get looked down upon simply due the nature of the genre but Oculus is easily one of the smartest</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> films I have ever seen, its small scale horror, only following (mainly) two characters (albeit in two different time periods) in (largely) a single location (albeit in two different time periods) but this allows time for the film to focus on these characters exploring their relationship with one another, who they are as individuals after the traumatic experiences of their childhood have impacted upon their lives before they are thrust back into the jaws of hell and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> mirror begins mangling their minds before it even begins to take an interest in mangling their bodies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcg3Kep-sZ0S2l0dpkxiYrto1-rGIIFdFb_QSfH8Z-2b1Q7Iv-8INDK7gs1sut4hP3w27fU5VOO1CSTq7uqWUFEAYdjFiIk6RI8oZiEc_VCL1pT9KdaNDIMZWSEGtsmkMu6bwdBP5jlr85/s1600/oculus2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcg3Kep-sZ0S2l0dpkxiYrto1-rGIIFdFb_QSfH8Z-2b1Q7Iv-8INDK7gs1sut4hP3w27fU5VOO1CSTq7uqWUFEAYdjFiIk6RI8oZiEc_VCL1pT9KdaNDIMZWSEGtsmkMu6bwdBP5jlr85/s1600/oculus2.png" height="266" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-62434276820000760452014-09-05T15:18:00.002-07:002014-11-03T08:40:53.181-08:00My Hopes For Jurassic World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFThuS8d6hcjTBlf20ij2vV0PWyX58ndai5TVhbgO0McGDkm-iHp2fb1NMSYwZyvoH5PPeAC28tN9C3Jm8zIDtav9isZ3JKYZmD06KKciuA3d1vJXqgIdqPYRSlR9p6yvJevMUWzreSFo/s1600/jurassic-world-VARIANT-FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFThuS8d6hcjTBlf20ij2vV0PWyX58ndai5TVhbgO0McGDkm-iHp2fb1NMSYwZyvoH5PPeAC28tN9C3Jm8zIDtav9isZ3JKYZmD06KKciuA3d1vJXqgIdqPYRSlR9p6yvJevMUWzreSFo/s1600/jurassic-world-VARIANT-FINAL.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>An Article 65 Million Years In The Making.</i></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>An Introduction. - ("<i>Clever Girl</i>")</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago a friend and I got into a small debate over the decision to continue the Jurassic Park franchise which is set to see it's forth installment Jurassic World hit cinemas next year t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he film premise is as follows -</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. This new park is owned by the Masrani Corporation. Owen (Chris Pratt), a member of Jurassic World's on-site staff, conducts behavioral research on the Velociraptors. After many years, Jurassic World's attendance rates begin to decline, and a new attraction created to re-spark visitor interest gravely backfires.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The debate saw my rival questioning why big budget studios continue to make sequels, prequels and reboots to existing film series instead of investing in anything new while I took the stance that while in most case I would have agreed with her I felt that there was still a great deal of fascinating material that could come from another venture to Jurassic Park so long as the film didn't simply repeat what it had done in previous movies (okay the discussion wasn't quite so clear-cut as that makes it seem but for the purposes of an introduction to this article: that's exactly how it went).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This got me thinking about why I felt (and still feel) such a sense of optimism towards this newest instalment in a series of films that have had its share of ups and downs (I'm looking at you Jurassic Park 3!), Exactly what is it that I was hoping this new instalment would present me with. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so here are a few items that I strongly hope will make an appearance in Jurassic World:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. More Dinosaurs. - ("<i>A</i></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i> Six-Foot Turkey</i>")</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay so I'll admit that this is somewhat of a massively obvious choice and Jurassic World failing to add any new interesting dinosaurs would be a ridiculously difficult mistake to make and yet with the exception of the Spinosaurus (which served solely as a water-based T-Rex replacement) and the Pteranodons (which flew off with easily the best sequence of the film) Jurassic Park 3 failed to introduce any new interesting creatures instead simply using the Velociraptors and the Spinosaurus as the films recurring threat and then only throwing in a few shots of any other dinosaurs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">while in the 1993 original film each and every single dinosaur that was introduced had its own incredible screen presence from the flocking herd of Gallimimus fleeing from the the T-Rex, the sick Triceratops, the terrifying, venom spitting Dilophosaurus, to the big guy himself the Tyrannosaurus Rex each one left an impact and I only hope that Jurassic World's do the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A promotional map for the film has already revealed that Ankylosaurus, Apatosaurus, Baryonyx, Dimorphodon, Edmontosaurus, Gallimimus, Metriacanthosaurus, Microceratus, Mosasaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Pteranodon, Stegosaurus, Suchomimus, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus Rex will all be exhibits in Jurassic World (if you don't know what creature a few of those names belong to don't worry about it I doubt they'll all appear on screen) while the Velociraptors have also been confirmed to be returning and why wouldn't they? they're awesome!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently the films theme park will feature a lagoon location allowing for some previously unseen water based creatures </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that will hopefully allow the film to take the action in a new direction and introduce some memorable</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> new monsters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqQga-GTMEFRSKakDvfGsdaJ8mYiBp7wK8LZRxuM14t2c-W8jAuzDr9dW9BBMtmtg8zfBJggLrdc_i59z94vpf0sSlPfSinggokuEey1KRQP14zMXK14M8_B7qJdGSJPTx4J34gQeplQd/s1600/jurassic_park_when_dinosaurs_ruled_the_earth-610x343.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqQga-GTMEFRSKakDvfGsdaJ8mYiBp7wK8LZRxuM14t2c-W8jAuzDr9dW9BBMtmtg8zfBJggLrdc_i59z94vpf0sSlPfSinggokuEey1KRQP14zMXK14M8_B7qJdGSJPTx4J34gQeplQd/s1600/jurassic_park_when_dinosaurs_ruled_the_earth-610x343.png" height="359" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. More Tyrannosaurus Rex. - ("<i>Mommy's Very Angry</i>")</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a lot of mistakes that were made by Jurassic Park 3 (The talking Velociraptor sequence is definitely one of them) but none that I find quite so difficult to forgive as the brutal murder of the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do I understand why you did it? sure, you were trying to prove a point: the Spinosaurus is scary! Only it wasn't, It featured its own ringtone to cheerfully declare it's presence, stood quietly in the background not attacking until its prey was ready to pay attention to it, and was easily defeated in the final confrontation - Not Scary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The T-Rex earned the audiences respect thanks to its incredible</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> introductory scene that displayed its full terrifying power while the Spinosaurus expects to garner the same respect and it's position of the films Apex predator by simply stealing it through murdering the big girl. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's annoying (beyond the murdering) is that the Spinosaurs could have been as scary and impressive as the T-Rex but the film never gives the creature the time to develop and when it does have screen time the film makers decisions (such as the ringtone announcement) undermine its presence, and sure you could argue that the T-Rex that dies in JP3 was a sub-adult individual (possibly even the baby T-Rex from The Lost World Jurassic Park but that doesn't change the pathetic nature of its death</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I demand that he be returned to his post of Jurassic Park's Iconic Monster, he doesn't necessarily need to be the films main threat, nor do I need to see the two titans go head-to-head one last time ending the way it should have first time around, but the big beauty does need to make a reappearance with a VENGEANCE!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. References To </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Hammond. - </b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">("<i>We Spared No Expense</i>")</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Legendary actor Richard Attenborough sadly passed away recently and as in his role of John Hammond the man introduced us to Jurassic Park with the immortal line <i>'Welcome To Jurassic Park' </i>it would only be fitting for the film to pay some small homage to the man that began it all, be it a throwaway line or a statue or memorial located somewhere in the park.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. References To Previous Installments - <i>("It's fine if you wanna put your name on something but STOP putting it on other people's headstones")</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not asking for <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" target="_blank">Avengers</a> level connectivity but some small mention of the history of the series would be welcome, it may be in the form of mentioning previous characters, the two islands (Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar), or the companies involved (InGen), even if Jurassic World just features the same style big gate that was so impact in the original just for the sake of world building, connecting the movies together and adding depth to the movies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YiJzS30wRplOs1A7VHuMGxS6sRLrcxEHWWEeLKyslcjWDiA_XGcGGnOAgnFacaF2y4QjVpUTTQJkCo77HRBWvzqH0qhqHGzhRXDtAyUtCgN-i6A4tNio8uL5z2Smfn9wADvN2gsZaF9r/s1600/jurassic-world-VARIANT-FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2YiJzS30wRplOs1A7VHuMGxS6sRLrcxEHWWEeLKyslcjWDiA_XGcGGnOAgnFacaF2y4QjVpUTTQJkCo77HRBWvzqH0qhqHGzhRXDtAyUtCgN-i6A4tNio8uL5z2Smfn9wADvN2gsZaF9r/s1600/jurassic-world-VARIANT-FINAL.jpg" height="350" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. The Correct Balance Of Science Fiction, Adventure And Character Development. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not an easy line to walk, the first film managed to pull it off perfectly while the second instalment The Lost World: Jurassic Park explored the adventure element more prominently increasing the scale of everything (More Dinosaurs, More Action, Bigger Climax) but this came at the cost of the incredibly good character development of the original (with only Ian Malcolm </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jeff Goldblum)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'s trio Malcolm who was established pretty well by the first instalment, his girlfriend Sarah Harding and his daughter Kelly receiving</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> any real development at all). While Jurassic Park 3....was not a good movie failing to manage any of these three key aspect particularly well (I would go as far to say the JP3 was awful but following the success of the first and second instalments being simply good was never going to be enough).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jurassic World needs to set up its world through <u>Science Fiction</u>, have something go horribly wrong to create <u>Adventure</u>, and needs to <u>develop its characters</u> well enough that we want to see them survive, the original Jurassic Park featured only 5 deaths but each one of those was memorable because we cared about or at least had a strong understanding of the characters so those deaths left a lasting impact.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6. Interesting Habitats. - ("<i>It's A Veggiesaurus</i>")</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally Jurassic Park's creatures are only as believable as the world that they dwell in, as the environment helps to create an atmosphere of realism by suggesting an Ecosystem that the dinosaurs follow like they did when they were the dominant species of the planet and like today's living creatures do. So it is important that adequate attention is paid to the animals environment while adding touches that would be featured in an amusement park such Jurassic World including Observation Decks, Information Posts and Photography Spots to add a human element into the equation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. An Open And Fully Operational Jurassic Park. - </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">("<i>We Have All The Problems Of A Major Theme Park And A Major Zoo</i>")</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This might be the main source of my hope for this project, the idea of seeing Hammond's dream realized, a fully functioning Dinosaur Theme Park.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's strange considering that the Jurassic Park film series is about a Dinosaur themed Theme-Park and yet we haven't once seen the park up and running, the first instalment saw the park go to hell before it actually opened while The Lost World: JP and JP3 featured romps through the jungle, and so Jurassic World will show us exactly what Jurassic Park was conceived to be, f</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rom the exhibits, the rides, the merchandise and the tour we will finally see what would have happened if life hadn't insisted in finding a way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r5h8hmYRllHdKbuOmK4eTV5ShHDjMHFb9ED8wjTqGsAGWIQNlw5jQ2bWPPBq_RKJMW8JfITzkFD-q_ClWwm2ITSGLqwJxH5KBPPNaj6hj6vq0ukILmUdnRQFiljozQTjGaUhznA7vc0T/s1600/10460476_1497099903854725_5168317554946189942_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r5h8hmYRllHdKbuOmK4eTV5ShHDjMHFb9ED8wjTqGsAGWIQNlw5jQ2bWPPBq_RKJMW8JfITzkFD-q_ClWwm2ITSGLqwJxH5KBPPNaj6hj6vq0ukILmUdnRQFiljozQTjGaUhznA7vc0T/s1600/10460476_1497099903854725_5168317554946189942_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Conclusions. - <i>("Life Finds A Way"</i>)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So just why is it that i have such hopes for Jurassic World?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps it is because much like the fictional theme park itself my hopes are pure fantasy, my imagination running wild and no matter just how good the film is it will inevitably fail to live up to my expectations </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>OR...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or maybe it is because Jurassic Park represents one of the greatest, most influential movie moments in my life and the idea of continuing that legacy is incredibly welcome (even after the misstep that was Jurassic Park 3) in hopes of recreating the sense of awe that I felt all those years ago seeing that gigantic Brachiosaurus for the first time</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are very few Dinosaur based blockbusters and even fewer successful ones (honestly I can only think of The Jurassic Park Series and King Kong) so it is not exactly an overused concept there is still a great deal of potential and with the ever watchable Chris Pratt (<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/guardians-of-galaxy.html" target="_blank">Guardians Of Galaxy</a>) in the lead role at least I can be sure the films characters will be entertaining enough and if the rest of the movie is able to build on the strengths of the series's previous installments while avoiding simply retreading old ground (as all good sequels should!) then Jurassic World has the possibility of being one of the best installments to an already pretty amazing franchise.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgd0vwnqGqOm3e8Acx0R4pOzPR5oOnaV9HWqnno65Z1UjPNpWa-CbVgO7962RnulQdbnShuLaf1xkgJw9yJ2wMxLxlCvBt1Io4aJRWQxZK_WqL2mW03k5ss45mugZy2Qr1VRDauH-UWu/s1600/jurassic_park_when_dinosaurs_ruled_the_earth-610x343.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgd0vwnqGqOm3e8Acx0R4pOzPR5oOnaV9HWqnno65Z1UjPNpWa-CbVgO7962RnulQdbnShuLaf1xkgJw9yJ2wMxLxlCvBt1Io4aJRWQxZK_WqL2mW03k5ss45mugZy2Qr1VRDauH-UWu/s1600/jurassic_park_when_dinosaurs_ruled_the_earth-610x343.png" height="338" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there you have it boys and girls my hopes for Jurassic World, Is there anything in particular you are hoping to see when it hit theaters next year? Are you looking forward to it or slightly apprehensive about the continuation of the series? Leave a comment discussing your views and opinions below to let me know. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-25381150771573417082014-08-29T14:03:00.000-07:002014-11-03T08:43:58.571-08:00Sin City: A Dame To Kill For<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTUx7jUWHF4OChIrjz-c_6mgDPuGygB9ZISTUHKZ9aaPB5oQhXnYtBHwKjf8Ve_EB6scl_HsEcZxFmK4SbS82tVYyHDb3LEv9gj63IBAjHlHV_w1Bcg8fpS4PM9PpgN8izK_LE4ZLZ3Au/s1600/sin-city-2-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTUx7jUWHF4OChIrjz-c_6mgDPuGygB9ZISTUHKZ9aaPB5oQhXnYtBHwKjf8Ve_EB6scl_HsEcZxFmK4SbS82tVYyHDb3LEv9gj63IBAjHlHV_w1Bcg8fpS4PM9PpgN8izK_LE4ZLZ3Au/s1600/sin-city-2-poster.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Welcome To <strike>Ba</strike>SIN City. (An Introduction.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in 2005 I fell in love with Sin City, I'm not sure if it was the unique visual style, the hard as nail characters or the Film Noir-esque of the world but I found myself enthralled and spent the next six months collecting and reading every single instalment of Frank Millers Sin City graphic novels, while recently I have been forced to sell them on (I'm a poor struggling writer) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I remember each and every issue with a unique clarity unlike any other graphic novel I have ever read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favourite Basin City yarn was easily A Dame To Kill For (although Hell And Back was a close second and should we ever get a Sin City 3 [which due to the box office flop this instalment is turning out to be seems somewhat unlikely]<i> </i>I hope to see it adapted).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now nearly 10 years after the release of the original film Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez have reunited to bring more tales from Basin City to the big screen (You made me wait long enough!) set before, during and after the events of the first film the fractured time-line allows for the return of several characters who were unlucky enough to die during the first movie. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Spin Us A Yarn. (The Stories.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film is comprised of four individual stories with </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">two narratives adapted from previous Sin City comics (<i>Just Another Saturday Night, A Dame To Kill For</i>) and two brand new stories that have been written by Frank Miller solely for the film (<i>The Long Bad Night, Nancy's Last Dance</i>). </span><br />
<ul><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<li><b><i>Just Another Saturday Night</i></b>.</li>
</b></ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</b>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marv (Micky Rourke) awakens in the midst of carnage, surrounded by crashed cars and dead bodies that he is apparently responsible for despite him having no memory of how he got there.</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></i><br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">The Long Bad Night</i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gambler Johnny (Joseph Gordon Levitt) breezes into Basin City and proceeds to win big at poker. Against the wrong man. Who proceeds to make his displeasure known, leaving Johnny swearing revenge.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<li><b style="font-style: italic;">A Dame To Kill For</b>.</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In which was Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who appears completely different from his appearance in The Big Fat Kill in which he was portrayed by Clive Owen, but that's all part of the story) re encounters his old flame Ava Lord (Eva Green) (a Femme Fatale if there ever was one) who still holds an unhealthy grip on Dwight despite the fact that she dumped in for a wealthy tycoon years early, she now claims that she fears for her life and draws him into a power struggle within the Lord's Empire, but is she as helpless as she appears to be?</span><br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Nancy's Last Dance</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four Years after the events of 'That Yellow Bastard' which saw John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) take</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> his own life in order to keep Nancy (Jessica Alba)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> safe from Senator Roarke's retaliation for Hartigan murdering his only son, Nancy struggles to cope with life without Hartigan and begins plotting retribution against the Senator.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film follows the narrative structure of the first instalment with three main story lines, one of which is broken into two parts and an additional shorter narrative to open the movie, an issue the reuse of this structure raises is that while the <i>'That Yellow Bastard' </i>story line from the 2005 original </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was separated into two parts it</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> had no connections or ties to the other yarns and a large time jump between Part I & II meaning the break in the story represented the jump in years as Hartigan faces the cost of 'doing the right thing' this also allowed both parts to stand alone from the rest of tales happening around it, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whereas splitting '</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Long Bad Night</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">' into two parts despite there being no time jump at all between part I and II and it having close ties to the '</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nancy's Last Dance</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">' story (such as reappearing characters) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blurs the lines between the two stories causing the four story structure to lose some of its potency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film is also able to make good use of its running time making time for all four narratives in a way that prevents any of them seeming underutilised or underfed, While <i>Nancy's Last Dance </i>receives arguably the least set up all of the story's required development was pre-established back in <i>That Yellow Bastard.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVji540jom8_7J-UtRbr2DefwoCnUClcPY_OR1HlGzcJQocyJ3Bz5-xn4WGvBfHQwREh8waGJIAtozOvMuA6w2CdT40xV1KHX1CPPwnqR6vXI87TxuJu2capali66BcVqoQXBKvxkXz9ei/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Wallpapers.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVji540jom8_7J-UtRbr2DefwoCnUClcPY_OR1HlGzcJQocyJ3Bz5-xn4WGvBfHQwREh8waGJIAtozOvMuA6w2CdT40xV1KHX1CPPwnqR6vXI87TxuJu2capali66BcVqoQXBKvxkXz9ei/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Wallpapers.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blood Red. (Visuals.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another thing the original film did fanatically was to present audiences with images ripped straight from the pages (The Rooftop Kiss with the lady in red, Hartigan's angina attack, Marv's walk through the rain,) shots mirroring the composition of their paper-based counterparts, unfortunately 'Dame' has significantly less of these moments than its predecessor while this could be due to the fact that two of the four stories were written specifically for the film (meaning that the images never existed to adapt in the first place) even <i>A Dame To Kill For</i> and <i>Just Another Saturday Night </i>seem to feature these comic book moments less prominently which is disappointing as it was the striking images that caused an appreciation of the series in the first place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which is not to say that the visuals fail to impressive but back in 2005 at the time of its release Sin City's visual style was unique and new but since then audiences have been treated to a series of films such as 300, 300: Rise Of An Empire and The Spirit that seem to utilise their own graphic visual styles so it falls to the films big comic book moments to make it really stand apart from the rest and these are less prevalent here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But once again the use of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">colourisation to</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> punctuate a single coloured item amongst the black and white neo-noir atmosphere of the rest of the shot continues to work incredibly well, be it the colour of blood, a character's features (eyes, hair or lip stick), an outfit or in a specific case an entire character (in order to differentiate the twins Goldie and Wendy (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jaime King) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one is portrayed in black and white while the other is shown in colour). It's this unique and dramatic visual style that gives Sin City a look entirely its own</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No Saints Just Sinners. (The Cast.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Do you think any 'normal people' live in Basin City? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Struggling single mothers? Office workers? Janitors? Teachers?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That sort of thing?)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film is an ensemble cast with many actors and actors returning to the same roles they played nine years ago including Micky Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jaime King</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">naturally the cast is far too large to mention everyone who contributes to making Basin City feel like a thriving metropolis </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the original Sin City film had a standout character (and trust me it did) it was undoubtedly Micky Rourke's Man-Mountain Marv who now returns to a much larger role appearing as a main character in three of the standalone stories (One of which is Marv centric) and makes a small appearance in the fourth, meaning he appears in all of 'Dames' tales and is just as enjoyable to watch as ever, in fact it's strange just how happy it made me to hear the narration grumpily mutter "When you got a condition, it's bad to forget your medicine" again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Josh Brolin and Joseph Gordon Levitt are welcome additions to the cast with Levitt playing gambler Johnny with the (perhaps over-) confidence of a man who is so used to winning that as a result fails to appreciate just what beating a man like Senator Roarke could cost him and Brolin taking on the role of pre-Clive Owen Dwight McCarthy as he struggles to keep his personal demons in check as a woman capable of sending him right back to the habits he is desperately trying to overcome breezes back into his life. (Also Dwight falls. A LOT.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Powers Boothe's Senator Roarke returns in a more prominent role than his brief appearance (in which his performance describing the nature of power ran off with the scene) in the first film with two of the movies major yarns featuring him as the main antagonist, and the man (or perhaps more likely the actor behind the man) is <u>utterly terrifying</u>, not just in the way he uses his position of power to swat his enemies as easily as swatting a flies but the man himself gives off a menacing presence of the corruption his power has inflicted upon him, a sequence in 'The Long Bad Night' involving nothing but a dark window and Roarke is more than unnerving than most recent horror films</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(although I am sad to see his moustache shaved off during the four years <i>That Yellow Bastard</i> and <i>Nancy's Last Dance/The Long Bad Night,</i> it was damn impressive).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmv2-1yKbNOgesCCDwKPnqo4RX2vg2a-LDW59J2Lv2ivE6Gx4_LuWYx4fBczitU0Q0W_vSou_QfJrrJ-952m1IyRei0tXVYHm26Au6q-TTozrL8oj7S3EiZA_tE0waPHepyhM5mmPNbMO/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Senator-Roark.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmv2-1yKbNOgesCCDwKPnqo4RX2vg2a-LDW59J2Lv2ivE6Gx4_LuWYx4fBczitU0Q0W_vSou_QfJrrJ-952m1IyRei0tXVYHm26Au6q-TTozrL8oj7S3EiZA_tE0waPHepyhM5mmPNbMO/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Senator-Roark.jpg" height="330" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dennis Haysbert steps into the role of Manute (Ava Lord's protector and wearer of a stylish golden eye) which was originally held by Michael Clarke Duncan who sadly passed away between films. Haysbert, however, does an excellent job of reprising the role and I barely noticed the change in actors at all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another character portrayed by a new actor/actress is Ninja/assassin Miho this time played by actress Jamie Chung as Devon Aoki who portrayed her in the original was experiencing her second pregnancy during filming</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christopher Lloyd joyfully makes </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">an appearance as unlicensed</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Doctor </span><strike style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emmett Brown</strike><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kroenig who shoots heroin before attending to his patients with a 'the more you pay the better quality of your service' type service. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mob-Boss Wallenquist (Stacey Keach) also appears briefly simultaneously fulfilling a minor role in <i>A Dame To Kill For</i>, adding some depth the background of a <i>The Big Fat Kill </i>(that is set to occur after</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Dame To Kill For</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) and laying the foundation for his appearance in <i>Hell and Back </i>(Even though that story may never make it to screen.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Women of Sin City come off significantly worse than the male characters with 97% (estimated) playing either strippers of prostitutes (Eva Green's Ava Lord and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lady Gaga's waitress seemingly the only two exceptions) who manipulate men through sex of their desire to protect them into doing their bidding.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bond manipulator Eva Green stars as Ava Lord the afore mentioned Dame delivering a fine performance as the scheming Femme Fatale playing the role true to the source material as she adapts to each of her male victims individual desires, I only wish that the film made a greater attempt to disguise her manipulative ways into a greater reveal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nancy (Jessica Alba) is allowed to take centre stage (that's not a stripper pun) this time around with an entire narrative devoted to her character even if she spends most of it coming across as an emotional wreck spiralling towards self-destruction over the loss of a man she barely even knew it is still nice for the character to get a little more chance to develop beyond just dancing in the background of other character's scenes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Haunting Hartigan. (Bruce Willis's Appearance in Nancy's Story Line)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While it's true that saying that Sin City is not true to real life is like saying that the Titanic suffered badly from damp (kind of a understatement) the (let's call them) elaborations are usually for the sake of stylised visuals, while the conclusion of the haunting Hartigan story-line (I won't reveal exactly what happens, but it was a tad surprising) despite being a very cool sequence puts 'Dame' into a whole new world of implausibility (his post death appearance isn't the result of a guilt addled or derange mind? He really is a ghost? Do ghost exist in the world of Sin City? Am I reading too much into this?), when Jackie Boy's head began having a conversation with Dwight back in<i> The Big Fat Kill</i> it was because Dwight was legitimately disturbed as the stress of the situation weighed on his mind, here it seems that Hartigan may actually be a ghost (very Sixth Sense) still it's a cool moment, and a surprising ending for the story-line (if not a little confusing). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqOLfeizbkgOvKrVhLU7eNnMjTZRWot5TSt1Mp_xnV1_aO8jiQ4yu665Cqvksz4mcCwnlwOofI6nJBcoZdrHgYdFg0d12yLimpPKNtcAGaBnypr-gN8VXxa8DzU0uCIsXhMiOvf9m6Fna/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Senator-Roark.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqOLfeizbkgOvKrVhLU7eNnMjTZRWot5TSt1Mp_xnV1_aO8jiQ4yu665Cqvksz4mcCwnlwOofI6nJBcoZdrHgYdFg0d12yLimpPKNtcAGaBnypr-gN8VXxa8DzU0uCIsXhMiOvf9m6Fna/s1600/Sin-City-A-Dame-to-Kill-For-Movie-Senator-Roark.jpg" height="348" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Violence Solves Everything. (The Action.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the films violence starts out delightfully gory and continues that way throughout it begins to lose its impact over the course of the film, it is thankfully saved from becoming monotonous by several impressive moments such as Marv pulling off several impressive kills including one that wouldn't be out of place in 'Game Of Thrones (you know the one I mean - Splat.), a awesome duel wielding (he has nothing on <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.com/2014/07/dawn-of-planet-of-apes.html" target="_blank">Koba</a>) shotgun onslaught, more Miho madness, Johnny's shadow beating down a goon and t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he fight between Marv and Manute which having read the comic I had been ridiculously looking forward too didn't</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> disappoint</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> as the two went at one another like two heavyweights on pay-per-view.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Hard Goodbye. (Conclusion.)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So our second (and quite possibly last) visit into Sin City was a successful one while sporting a few minor flaws (continuity between <i>Nancy's Last Dance</i> and <i>The Hard Goodbye </i>is a little fuzzy, and I would have ended Johnny's story a little differently) and not as innovative or shocking as its predecessor Dame is a welcome return to the lives of the inhabitants of BaSIN City and the unique visuals of their world, the first film was truly a graphic novel brought to life and its sequel does everything in its power to live up to that title; expanding on characters and stories seemingly only touched upon by the original in hopes of adding more depth to their world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As provocative, visceral and violent as the first batch of tales from the world I first fell in love with I only wish they hadn't made me wait almost a decade for the second. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now I will begin my campaign to ensure that the film is financially successful enough that we will get to see a Sin City 3, and after I pull off that miracle, maybe I'll go punch out God.</span><br />
<ol>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-83231423504646017612014-08-05T11:03:00.002-07:002015-04-25T03:14:36.422-07:00Guardians of the Galaxy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo9fsRl_-ifD_hrXME9lRtjCSUlnDaLsconNW2v7NMn3rhSTTypJYypU2UzYW3N7yYpTSCFxp09CDne24Q6aOiMateIKpalkCVV-e6ttAiC4PT2HQGY5p_89P-HjOn9w0UqCSvLVg8WSB/s1600/GOTG_Payoff_1-Sht_v4b_Lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo9fsRl_-ifD_hrXME9lRtjCSUlnDaLsconNW2v7NMn3rhSTTypJYypU2UzYW3N7yYpTSCFxp09CDne24Q6aOiMateIKpalkCVV-e6ttAiC4PT2HQGY5p_89P-HjOn9w0UqCSvLVg8WSB/s1600/GOTG_Payoff_1-Sht_v4b_Lg.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-Holes Assemble! </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(An Introduction.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Thief, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An Assassin, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two Thugs</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and a Maniac walk into a bar.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here we have the last film of Marvel's Phase 2 before the phase ends with The Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Guardians of the Galaxy is also the first new property to be introduced in Phase 2 (which has been otherwise entirely</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> composed </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of sequels to Phase 1 films) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and as I have mentioned previously in my articles about the superhero genre (<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/its-marvel-ous-lets-talk-super-heroes.html" target="_blank">It's Marvel-ous</a> and <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/masks-capes-and-bloody-fists-rise-of.html" target="_blank">Masks, Capes and Bloody Fists</a>) that Guardians could have potentially been the most dangerous instalment in Marvel's current run of movies due to just how far out there the films concept is when compared to other Marvel stories.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Until now the most science fiction-ee fantasy-ee character has been Thor and now audiences are being introduced to a Galaxy of crazy including (but not limited to) a talking tree and a talking raccoon but incredibly Marvel have once again pulled it off.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When thief Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt) steals a mysterious orb desired by the villainous Ronan (lee Pace) he is forced into a partnership with ex assassin Gamora (Zoe Salanda), Drax (Dave Bautista)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a revenge driven brute, a humanoid tree creature called Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and a trigger happy Raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) in hopes of passing the orb off to a buyer before it leads to their deaths, but when the group becomes aware of the orbs true power they must make a last desperate stand with the fate of the entire universe hanging in the balance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film is directed by James Gunn a newcomer to the Marvel Universe who's previous work included films such as 'Slither' and 'Super' with 'Guardians' being his blockbuster debut and the man shows real talent because the film is phenomenal! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From its surprisingly emotional opening until the closing credits (and beyond: Post credit sequence) the film carries real heart and emotion (in my second viewing a particular sequence got me feeling all emotional and I had seen the outcome once already!), the film is brilliantly funny (in fact much funnier than I expected it to be) being consistently comedic throughout and boasts fantastic action sequences, in fact I would go as far to say that it is easily one the best Marvel films to date and considering I regarded Marvel's last (cinematic universe) film <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.com/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" target="_blank">Captain America: The Winter Soldier</a> as being one of their best to date I think its fair to say the future looks bright indeed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hooked On A Feeling. (Finding it's Place AS the Marvel Universe.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's surprising just how small this new installment into the Marvel canon leaves us feeling about the scope of Marvel's universe up until this point, not that Guardians leaves the previous stories feeling inconsequential, but up until this point Phase 1&2 have been set primarily on earth (with a few trips into the nine realms courtesy of Thor&Thor: The Dark World) but now Marvel begins to tread into a infinity larger universe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXq0hBPQfRG-Kibu4Zbt3XPyyIYpVJYiRQpu8qd_WQVoQZ7BNp8bATiGK7BQnvwpwFeOiVrgH8l0eF7mBrkXWVvj0uYH8_u9c_eLBF-ci2Hcs6qVgSYfbRQAPwUjoE2wvw9xuRpTKs4Dv/s1600/1955993-cavetroll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzXq0hBPQfRG-Kibu4Zbt3XPyyIYpVJYiRQpu8qd_WQVoQZ7BNp8bATiGK7BQnvwpwFeOiVrgH8l0eF7mBrkXWVvj0uYH8_u9c_eLBF-ci2Hcs6qVgSYfbRQAPwUjoE2wvw9xuRpTKs4Dv/s1600/1955993-cavetroll.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would ask how the universe of 'Guardians' works in collaboration with the Nine Realms (is it a realm itself? is it part of a single realm? is it the space between realms? am I reading to much into this?) but I fear the answer would make my brain bleed: (if you should happen to know the answer and can word it in a way that doesn't blow my tiny mind please leave a comment below) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I Am Groot. (I Am Groot.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Am Groot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Let's Be Bad Guys. (The Characters.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guardians is a strange film compared to Marvel's other line-up because like </span><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Avengers</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> it is an ensemble piece where as all the other Marvel films (Bar the Avengers) have revolved around a single hero but unlike the Avengers the films character have not been introduced individually previously, so the film has to introduce audiences to five brand new characters from scratch while setting up a vast universe of different races, cultures and planets, Not easy. </span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- There's Another Name You Might Know Me By. (Star Lord.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no arguing that Chris Pratt's Star Lord/Peter Quill carries a strong resemblance to heroes like Indiana Jones and Han Solo who breezed cool, battling evil with a coy smile and a witty one-liner, charismatic and yet a slight oddball with his childhood on earth filling him with stories and phrases the rest of the universe cannot understand (The Legend Of Kevin Bacon).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Pratt is fast becoming a household name through his appearances in blockbusters such as The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel Jurassic World, while completely deserving his ever growing fame bringing such a sense of fun to the screen and while Guardians is is first leading role in a live action blockbuster his performance will certainly guarantee him many more in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Going Green. (Gamora.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zoe Salanda plays Gamora the adopted (in a manner of speaking) daughter of the titan Thanos (His version of adoption involves murdering your parents and subsequently your planet before your very eyes: he's a fun guy) but having grown disgusted by the actions of her dear-ol-dad plans to betray him and strike out on her own, with Zoe Salanda playing Gamora as very vulnerable as she tries to rediscover her sense of right and wrong following years of serving under those with little regard for the concept of either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Metaphorically Challenged. (Drax The Destroyer.)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there is one actor who's performance succeeded in defying my expectations it is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dave Bautista's Drax The Destroyer, I had seen Bautista act only once before in <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/riddick.html" target="_blank">Riddick</a> and while his performance wasn't bad his role was little more than the muscle bound henchman so I was surprised to find just how enjoyable and complex this role of Drax is, providing many of the films funniest lines due to his inability to grasp metaphors ("</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing goes over my head! My reflexes are too fast, I would catch it".) in fact I'm pretty sure that if Marvel ever does reach a Guardians/Avengers cross-over stage watching Tony Stark and Drax try to have a conversation may be one of the funniest things of all time, and yet his character also is largely sympathetic as he crusades for vengeance for his wife and daughter who were murdered at the hands of Ronan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Ain't No Thing Like Me, Except Me. (Rocket Raccoon.) </b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guardians's largest hurdles were always going to be presenting an audience with a talking raccoon and a talking tree in a way which wouldn't seem utterly implausible (good will and suspension of disbelief greatly helping of course.) and a large deal of the success of these two characters (and they Are two of the films biggest success's) can be attributed to the characters voice actors with Rocket voiced by Bradley Cooper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rocket is the unique product of illegal genetic testing on "lower-lifeforms" (in this case a Raccoon) and despite being somewhat of a genius (where weapons are concerned) his animal origin leads many other characters to look down of him adding a degree of complexity to the character as he constantly feels unappreciated and belittled by others, this combined with his healthy desire to blow things into tiny bits makes him a somewhat trigger happy individual.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- I Am Groot. (Groot.) </b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Groot is a sentient tree creature that serves as Rocket's muscle voiced by Vin Diesel despite only having a three word vocabulary consisting of 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot' exclusively in that order but despite his limited linguistic options Vin Diesel and the effects team are able to portray a great deal of emotion through the delivery of those three simple lines but what would you expect from the voice of the Iron Giant? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Groot's personality is also largely helped by the fact that Rocket begins unintentionally translating for him meaning that each "I am Groot" has its own unique sentence and meaning behind it even if Rocket is the only person capable of understanding it. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7SC9c2whlqmuIPFGLtrELzaYIOU14ruJPEX67EV8Y9WNEE7qUUB_PCT0lhECS2pZ2loNLLTaIoEi6AYnybUaIVmLY9rs6m2BA4y-75Yl-YVxJXFU40DEqfgU_KvI6xnsQi3M22xFkQ9w/s1600/1955993-cavetroll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7SC9c2whlqmuIPFGLtrELzaYIOU14ruJPEX67EV8Y9WNEE7qUUB_PCT0lhECS2pZ2loNLLTaIoEi6AYnybUaIVmLY9rs6m2BA4y-75Yl-YVxJXFU40DEqfgU_KvI6xnsQi3M22xFkQ9w/s1600/1955993-cavetroll.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- You Stand Accused. (Ronan T</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he Accuser</b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.) </b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one area in which Marvel's cinematic universe seems to struggle these days is that their films lead villains often seem under developed (with the exception of Loki but he has had two films devoted to his motivation which basically consisted of 'I want to be King!") and here once again the villain feels underused, but to be fair the film is required to set up the world, five main characters, numerous side characters, the races, the technology and so the naturally the slack is going to be felt somewhere and while Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace)'s motives do not require much explanation (he is out to destroy the planet Xandar because his race (the Kree) have a long and bloody history with the Xandarians) and in a way the little screen time devoted to him is a blessing as the single minded emotionless, stiffness of his performance sets up one of the films best jokes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Lovable Misfits. (The Rest.)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Rooker plays Michael Rooker....sorry Yondu, a blue alien who is the leader of a pirate-like army known as the ravengers and Peter Quill's former mentor, now double-crossed by Quill (who takes the orb for himself) he places a bounty on his ex-protege's head, Michael Rooker has always been a hugely enjoyable actor to watch (who didn't love to hate him as Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead?) and once again he spends the entire film apparently enjoying every moment of the role and proves to be pretty deadly with his arrow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Benicio Del Toro also returns as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Collector following on from his introductory post credit sequence at the end of Thor: The Dark World and while his role goes little beyond explaining the Orb's power and origin his appearance does add a great sense of scale to Guardians as the scope of his collection creates both numerous Easter-Eggs and a feel of the universe scale and variety.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou) are servants of Ronan adding a few more foes for the Guardians to face off against, Korath works well as a lead henchman while Nebula's inclusion seems to be more about setting her up for future appearances in the Marvel/Guardians universe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTGYuRyY0qt4BUeD5Dfdvib6KPhdEGi9Kgp8r8x_VeOi9ZEoqzuZVlEaChtAp5bwYuoJ_EZyTtq_gISkELD4s9m0GlSN53iEoGVHaw9WAfIwSoeHPPWI1MlMs7uzn8Uy3kTrdg5Pjw7X7/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTGYuRyY0qt4BUeD5Dfdvib6KPhdEGi9Kgp8r8x_VeOi9ZEoqzuZVlEaChtAp5bwYuoJ_EZyTtq_gISkELD4s9m0GlSN53iEoGVHaw9WAfIwSoeHPPWI1MlMs7uzn8Uy3kTrdg5Pjw7X7/s1600/Untitled.png" height="326" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
Awesome Mix Vol. 1. (The Music.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guardians also has the most unique use of soundtrack compared to any other Marvel movie as Star Lord uses the his tape player taken along with him from earth to play classic songs from the Eighties while the music is diegetic sound (part of the film world) the film dramatically blares it louder than life to dramatize key moments (such as Peter Quill escaping a space prison jet-packing through space to Escape - The Piña Colada Song or planning for the big battle to Cherry Bomb.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact my favorite scene of the film is the opening title sequence as Chris Pratt's Star Lord dances his way through an Indiana Jones-esc tomb to 'Come And Get Your Love' by Redbone oblivious to the destruction around him lost in the song.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The soundtrack also features other 80's classics such as Blue Swede's Hooked On A Feeling, as well as songs by David Bowie, The Jackson 5 and The Runaways.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Bunch Of Jackasses Standing In A Circle (References.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wouldn't be a Marvel film without references to other characters in the cinematic universe and while the films distance from both Earth and Asgard should limit the connection to many of Marvels other movies the nods to here are a few that I noticed.</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<li>The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) returns after his Thor: The Dark World after credits appearance.</li>
<li>Laura Haddock who plays Peter Quill’s terminally ill mother Meredith Quill appears in Captain America: The First Avenger asking after Caps autograph.</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Collectors collection features: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cosmo The Space Dog, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Dark Elf From Thor: The Dark World, a Chitauri from The Avengers, a cocoon rumoured to hold Adam Warlock (which was also glimpsed in Thor: The Dark World's post credit scene), a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd Howard The Duck.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanos's speaker The Other (once again played by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alexis Denisof) returns after his appearance in The Avengers</span></li>
<li>Thanos (now voiced and motion captured by Josh Brolin) returns after his Avengers Post Credits appearance in a much more prominent role possibly gearing up towards The Avengers 3. </li>
<li>We are introduced to the Third (confirmed) Infinity Stone of the Marvel Universe (The Forth if it does turn out that Loki's Sceptre holds the mind stone).</li>
<li>Stan Lee makes his regular cameo.</li>
<li>(Rumours also state that Beta-Ray Bill a horse faced Alien that can wield the power of Thor is also stated to be held within Tivan's collection but this has so far gone unconfirmed)</li>
<li>(In a Marvel unrelated cameo one of the Slugs from James Gunn's previous movie Slither can be seen)</li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ul>
<ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6gl9B9xma4uOo9lN32JLi_MHij90vdOrc0DZ0_mY5J0K__hoxbbc_YWrrMGVKKrcdqYEg4fSBB8i_5tiRNtGWaz-vvVMuG7iz2SzmwfKy5nzGFHqR7RKQEWv9263Vcfm0l85iLEPGZ-j/s1600/GOTG_Payoff_1-Sht_v4b_Lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6gl9B9xma4uOo9lN32JLi_MHij90vdOrc0DZ0_mY5J0K__hoxbbc_YWrrMGVKKrcdqYEg4fSBB8i_5tiRNtGWaz-vvVMuG7iz2SzmwfKy5nzGFHqR7RKQEWv9263Vcfm0l85iLEPGZ-j/s1600/GOTG_Payoff_1-Sht_v4b_Lg.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I Am Groot. (I Am Groot.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Am Groot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You Gotta Go Through Us. </b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or More Accurately, We Go Through You. (The Action.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel like Space Battles are becoming rare in science fiction blockbusters, sure Star Wars used to do it well, and the recent Star Trek films had some great sequences in which two ships blow big holes out of one another but it seems rare to see two armies of space faring vessels at war, in recent years Serenity had a fantastic but short battle, while one of Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith's only redeeming features was the opening engagement but beyond those no other film really jumps to mind, So Guardian's final act featuring an impressive sequence in which The Guardians, Yondu and his army of Ravengers and the Nova Corps attempt to fend off Ronan's army (a sequence that looked utterly fantastic in 3D) is a welcome scene but it's not just space-warfare that Guardians does well Guardians features a strong variety of unique action sequences that make the most of the characters individual styles and strengths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Also there is a gun named the Hadron Enforcer.... so cool.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You're Welcome. (Conclusions.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm sorry DC (I'm not sorry) but I think you've lost. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Marvel now able to earn over 90 million in the opening weekend and more importantly a fantastic film from a comic which features a space-faring, talking raccoon while you still worry that Wonder Woman will be too strange for audiences to appreciate leads me to believe that you're done, it may be over. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact DC's rush to imitate Marvel Cinematic Universe seems sloppy by comparison because Marvel have earned their current place through Individual character stories that sets up the Marvel cinematic universe as a functioning 'Universe' and Guardians is another welcome addition to that world, increasing the franchises possible future films in a hundred different directions (but Howard The Duck? Seriously?) </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So just how good is Guardians?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well currently I have seen the film twice at the cinema (seemingly an unspoken tradition when it comes to marvel films) and I would more than happily go and see it a third time, perhaps even a fourth.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the film suffers anywhere it that the film threatens to fall into the routine of previous Marvel films final battle in the air, a main character dies but then doesn't but the film is so fun to watch these narrative repeats are barely noticed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a film about friendship, how others can bring out the best in people and help shape them into being more than they were individually, its a space opera in its purest form, its own unique universe that will be built on in future installments but most importantly of all Guardians is a hell of a lot of fun. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I Am Groot. (I Am Groot.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Am Groot.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-40573099377898965212014-07-30T04:08:00.000-07:002014-10-20T17:29:04.412-07:00Dawn of the Planet of the Apes<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="dawn of the planet of the apes movie poster Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Gets A New Movie Poster" src="http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-movie-poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You Maniacs! You Made A Sequel! Damn You! God Damn You All To Hell!</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Rise of the Dawn of the Battle to Escape the Conquest Beneath the Planet of the Apes. (An Introduction.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All joking aside Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes the reboot/remake/prequel to the 1968 science fiction classic Planet Of The Apes was a phenomenal film. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(it's partly a prequel to Planet of the Apes, Partly a reboot of the series, and partly a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes) and it was exactly what the series needed in order to find it's feet again after several messy sequels and one awful Tim Burton remake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rise surprised audiences by adding surprising intelligence and emotional depth to the story of the ape civilization's origins, the film starred Andy Serkis as Caesar an ape that as a result of viral testing gains increased intelligence, displeased by mans treatment of apes Caesar began freeing his brothers from captivity and begins an ape revolution. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film was both a critical and commercial success that left audiences dying (not literally) to know what happened next and so three years later the story of Caesar continues.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Darkest Before The Dawn. (The Premise.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now directed by Matt Reeves (Rupert Wyatt having departed due to the studio pushing for a release date he didn't believe amicable) t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he film picks up ten years after the events of 'Rise' and the simian flu created as of the result of the experiments on the apes has proceed to cause the collapse of human civilization with only a small genetically immune population struggling to survive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As mankind falls, the ape civilization has thrived having established a huge colony in the Muir woods and where the apes numbers have increased drastically and under Caesars leadership have lived peacefully. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when Apes and Man finally re-encounter one another the two groups must struggle to coexist or risk war for dominion of the planet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzDCyBrImw4XFTlTwdSGy2EwLgCLxqPQsGqAiUyRhhYrK9_Vd1Etnxr8RJCNYNvA2XCQhMPeD3s_Q5xL1iMfVCLrJC7EIrCX6DaLVqbtuPwjS6Xcr_xUVUdpYMyNOwy1rYJp8zIxdmegf/s1600/Dawn-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzDCyBrImw4XFTlTwdSGy2EwLgCLxqPQsGqAiUyRhhYrK9_Vd1Etnxr8RJCNYNvA2XCQhMPeD3s_Q5xL1iMfVCLrJC7EIrCX6DaLVqbtuPwjS6Xcr_xUVUdpYMyNOwy1rYJp8zIxdmegf/s1600/Dawn-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-2.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm just going to jump in early and say that 'Dawn' may be one of the darkest 12A films that I have ever seen, the film pulls no punches in its bleak environment playing mans struggle for survival after civilizations collapse as true to life as possible and when negotiations with the apes go south and the two groups come to blows the consequence to both groups is devastating and brutal. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Dawn's plot is not overly ambitious preferring</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to explore the conflict between the two races and within the group itself, the film is seemingly edited to perfection not featuring a single unnecessary or irrelevant scene, everything ties together perfectly,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie also offers a nod back to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' that I really was not expecting, its nice to see that as the series moves forward into the darker future of the story the series still remember where it began, while not being afraid to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">play with the stories increased scale, from the first c</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">onfrontations </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">between the two groups the film happily shows the strength of the apes numbers in two very daunting scenes, raising the question on that if war is unavoidable just which group will survive and what will be left of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Dawn' actually carries a strong Cowboys and Indians vibe as the two distinct culture struggle to co-exist peacefully despite distrusting one another and individuals inside the groups working towards causing war (a sort of 'Dances With Apes' if you will), and the film is able to cause the audience to care strongly enough about both races that that they don't want to see them fight, to want peace to succeed, Obviously for narrative reasons it can't, but that just makes it all the more heartbreaking when things descend into violence because of just how close the groups came to achieving a functional peace. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Apes Are People Too. (The Cast.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I. Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans Oh My! (The Apes.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Apes are led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) who after leading the apes to freedom in 'Rise' has spent the following Ten years establishing a home and community for the apes. It truly goes without saying the Andy Serkis gets nowhere near enough credit for his work in Mo-Cap, the man is a pioneer of the motion capture technology, his work through characters such as Gollum, King Kong and Monkey (from Enslaved) has helped shaped this generation of visual effects in film, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even now when he himself is no participating he is schooling other actors in mo-cap performances (he is currently working alongside Mark Ruffalo for Avengers; Age of Ultron) and while his appearance in 'Dawn' is the result of the work of a collaboration of artist and technicians his </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">performance is his own bringing life to Caesar and making him seem as real and (for lack of a better word) human as any of the other no Computer Generated characters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also tracks a direct character arc for Caesar as he develops more and more human skills as the film progress moving from communicating from mainly sign language to the spoken word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koba (Toby Kebbell)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'s hatred of humans comes from a very simple but effective motivation: revenge for experiments conducted on him by human scientist, this hatred was glimpsed at in 'Rise' when he pushed Jacobs to his death so his actions in 'Dawn' really feel like a natural progression of elements subtly set up in the previous installment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koba's language skills also develop over the duration of the movie which is a little more surprising given his distaste of humans despite using more and more of their language</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In a sub note: Koba fire the two Light Machine Guns</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> he is duel wielding while charging into battle through flames on horse back may be the most epic film moment I have ever seen.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In a further sub note: Koba is Terrifying!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXzc1XhnGnYOV4Uge-dxPBKEskxjaXbhclmee_3s2Yv653BtSk5dPp3ns16bf7m3i2qEXKk2acIQ6hgIKPPppWeo1iIjxisbJl5NBi_XVBN5J0a-lTWiT_DBpEIM1YIygRmE0Fxs2bY8p/s1600/Dawn-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXzc1XhnGnYOV4Uge-dxPBKEskxjaXbhclmee_3s2Yv653BtSk5dPp3ns16bf7m3i2qEXKk2acIQ6hgIKPPppWeo1iIjxisbJl5NBi_XVBN5J0a-lTWiT_DBpEIM1YIygRmE0Fxs2bY8p/s1600/Dawn-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes-2.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Caesar and Koba are not the only apes to reappear many of the supporting apes from 'Rise' return including Cornelia (Judy Greer) who is now Caesar's wife, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rocket (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terry Notary)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who now has a son Ash (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doc Shaw)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who is a close friend of Caesar's own son Blue Eyes (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nick Thurston) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and Maurice the orangutan (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Karin Konoval)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who delightfully is given a little more screen presence</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> than last time around having grown into the role of the groups teacher and Caesars friend and adviser.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>II. I'm a People Person (The Humans.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the film focus's its attention primarily on the ape community it makes sure that the human cast is equally well established with t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he human cast is led by Jason Clarke's Malcolm the co-founder of the human colony who attempts to negotiate with Caesar for safe quarter in the ape territory hoping that being honest and open with the apes is the best way to avoid conflict. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As previously mentioned Malcolm and Caesar operate as parallels of one another both making their decisions based on what is the best way to protect their families, both willing to place a little faith in the opposing species in hopes of cooperation and peace.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jason Clarke is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors thanks to his performance in films like 'Lawless' and 'Zero Dark Thirty' also he made a pretty awesome villain in 'White House Down' and here he once again delivers a fantastic performance carrying the weight of the decisions that Malcolm has to make in a very honest and dramatic fashion as he strives to protect those he cares about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking on massively underrated performers Gary Oldman also makes an appearance as the human settlements co-founder Dreyfus who see's the apes as an obstacle in his path towards reestablishing human dominance, while to specifically anti-ape he will not let anything prevent him from achieving his goals even if it means war.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each apes personality is just as effectively well developed as their human co-stars (who are by no means underdeveloped) in fact one of the most surprising things about the film is just how understandable every characters motivation is, this may be because of simple narrative tools such as the films to major view points on the situation between the two groups (war & peace) being paralleled between both an ape and human counterpart: Malcolm and Caesar both wish to avoid war for the sake of their families, while Koba and Dreyfus both push towards war as they both blame the other species for past grievances (Koba's treatment at the hand of human scientists,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dreyfus's family died as a result of the simian flu). </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqSrUZh_q_YYX0b0pGxdXrF2b4k5FJs7DOyq5vP1Ak5aHWGSy82E6Tg3RDxz77mmYkUvV8dErJHaoO5P1y7xVip_KOJxNvvRJjlQ2TQ6b3PaVW5Jb15P_3nEQuNTK4fXyov-Mx_yAwZ3D/s1600/Clarke-and-Serkis--DAWN-OF-THE-PLANET-OF-THE-APES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqSrUZh_q_YYX0b0pGxdXrF2b4k5FJs7DOyq5vP1Ak5aHWGSy82E6Tg3RDxz77mmYkUvV8dErJHaoO5P1y7xVip_KOJxNvvRJjlQ2TQ6b3PaVW5Jb15P_3nEQuNTK4fXyov-Mx_yAwZ3D/s1600/Clarke-and-Serkis--DAWN-OF-THE-PLANET-OF-THE-APES.jpg" height="334" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The films visual effects are utterly superb and are a true collaboration between both actor and effects studio with the actors actions being captured through mo-cap before Weta Digital added the 'digital make up' in order to make the apes appear real, and it is important that the film succeed in making the apes seem lifelike as the film spends more time amongst the apes than it does with humans. It is through these two elements that the film performs it biggest marvel: it makes the apes real. both physically (when it rains their fur gets wet and muddy, when they are injured they bleed, and sons carry genetic glimpses of their parents appearance) and as people (even the supporting apes such as Maurice and Ash are surprisingly well rounded).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The apes culture also seems to have progressed naturally between films with some apes able to speak but a few words while the vast majority communicate through sign language, whilst also seemingly learning written word.</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well I Guess That Concludes Negotiations. (The Action.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ape attack on the human colony towards the films climax is an utterly stunning action sequence that captures the utter chaos of battle brilliantly especially in a sequence in which Koba boards and decommissions a tank causing the camera to follow the perspective of the out of control barrel as it spins revealing a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">360 degree view of the carnage, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The action is frantic and brutal as the human self belief in their superiority through firearms is questioned when the apes themselves begin to pick up guns, the apes make a surprisingly terrifying fighting force especially when mounted on horseback or throwing flaming explosive barrels in a manner similar to Donkey Kong and there acrobatic nature makes them a nightmare when it comes to base defense, Also Koba kills a bear, and its Awesome!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final confrontation is also highly dramatic while at the same time the films most cinematic moment moving (only a little) away from the rest of the films realism.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>O Green World! (Post Human Earth.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another of the films outstanding achievements is the overall appearance of the planet as nature begins to reclaim the world in the ten years of mankind's downfall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many post apocalypse films have shown what the planet may return to in our absence but none feel quite so natural as 'Dawn' which see's the world as a slightly more savage but not that different place as natural slowly but surely weathers away all of mankind's creation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">despite the films heavy use of visual effects the apes home was a built set as Reeves wanted to make the environments</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> feel as realistic and lifelike as possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">King Of The Swingers. (Conclusions.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there in lies arguably the element that makes 'Dawn' such an outstanding success is just how 'real' the film is able to make everything seem, considering we are discussing a film about talking apes the film plays as one of the most serious blockbuster dramas I have seen in recent years (if not longer)</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we have a sequel that actually bests its previous installment delivering an emotional, intelligent and suspenseful that builds upon the story of 'Rise' while moving to bridge the gap to and honoring the 1968 original (The films musical score actually features elements taken directly from the</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> original film)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A problem I have encountered writing this review is a lack of any immediate after film observations as when my three friends and I left the cinema after watching 'Dawn' the conversation failed to progress much beyond each of us announcing "That was soooooo good" constantly for the next four hours, which it turns out is a declaration of the films brilliance in itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Dawn' is a phenomenal piece of film making and a contender for my favorite film of 2014 (currently it's a toss up between 'Dawn' and <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" target="_blank">Captain America: The Winter Soldier.</a>) and I know that there are many highly anticipated films being released in the coming weeks but I cannot stress just how worth a watch this films is, I have never run a star system on this blog as I believe my opinions should speak for themselves but If I did Dawn of the Planet of the Apes would receive five stars easily and it would have earned every last one of them.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-22857562557158945142014-04-12T14:14:00.000-07:002014-10-20T17:29:14.629-07:00A Brief Discussion About Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Post Credit Sting<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following article is a brief discussion about Captain America: The Winter Soldier's post credit sting and what it means in terms of The Avengers: Age of Ultron and the Marvel Universe in general and so u</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nsurprisingly it </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">will contain some pretty heavy spoilers for both </span><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Avengers</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/captain-america-winter-soldier.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Captain America: The Winter Soldier</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So proceed at your own peril. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite there still being one more film to be released before The Avengers: Age of Ultron brings Marvel's Phase 2 to a close it seems likely that Guardians of the Galaxy will be letting the currently established universe take a breather following the events of TWS and will instead focus on building the foundations for Phase 3 films.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which means that once again it is the events of Cap's standalone story that will lead us into the big crossover of the Avengers, and as such it falls to the films (primary) post credit sequence to set the stage. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROcFkBaibkvCk4QpgogAb0SmcUkK0yUGwRdLiOL-iAqkB-6sZJOj_eQ5lnCQBLpmtnpfcaFQpjimRyqD2OErY-nfBye4TR2NN97Z8fFle9DidEIhKBipYOESIylhILG1pdf3BeZr3JZV7/s1600/DSCF0641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROcFkBaibkvCk4QpgogAb0SmcUkK0yUGwRdLiOL-iAqkB-6sZJOj_eQ5lnCQBLpmtnpfcaFQpjimRyqD2OErY-nfBye4TR2NN97Z8fFle9DidEIhKBipYOESIylhILG1pdf3BeZr3JZV7/s1600/DSCF0641.jpg" height="286" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scene shows Baron Von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) a leader of a Hydra facility reacting to the news of the destruction of both Hydra and SHIELD (Those spoilers I warned you about), it is shown that Hydra have possession of the staff Loki wielded in The Avengers (having seemingly acquired through their influences within SHIELD) it is implied that Hydra have been using the staffs energy to perform experiments on people which has resulted in the deaths of all test subjects bar two a boy with Super Speed (Quicksilver - Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and a girl with telekinetic abilities (Scarlet Witch - Elizabeth Olsen).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFD9vW-olgL8yEz8KbXZJuwyrph2Jl81-rkmV0TjFwlYCLfqbohEkmSJCmhOxOVCkDexV8jOK8J3CHblyvtZ_O4YBzC8QIGlGO6grrNHuxyVYOYFAm8I8SrLuHJS1o3qd7xUU4h3UdCxx/s1600/DSCF0673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFD9vW-olgL8yEz8KbXZJuwyrph2Jl81-rkmV0TjFwlYCLfqbohEkmSJCmhOxOVCkDexV8jOK8J3CHblyvtZ_O4YBzC8QIGlGO6grrNHuxyVYOYFAm8I8SrLuHJS1o3qd7xUU4h3UdCxx/s1600/DSCF0673.JPG" height="382" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this scene is seemingly important for a number of reasons, firstly it serves to introduce audiences to Cap comic villain Baron Von Strucker as well as the Twins for the first time all three of which will feature prominently in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And secondly it answers a question that I had not even thought to ask yet:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just what happened to Loki's Staff?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zT_O-7jLhmHL-tk2h4w5GxpkYCJPiVNP5NaSOehqBOpcdGijB43alJDJVS8J1cPNzcLBr0bAKLkpmblFKMzDgLtbrpTpwcZR0t_4hRokxf8w5Pbuh4LWs-hpKSO698ln8_u7zmKyIE1h/s1600/DSCF0641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zT_O-7jLhmHL-tk2h4w5GxpkYCJPiVNP5NaSOehqBOpcdGijB43alJDJVS8J1cPNzcLBr0bAKLkpmblFKMzDgLtbrpTpwcZR0t_4hRokxf8w5Pbuh4LWs-hpKSO698ln8_u7zmKyIE1h/s1600/DSCF0641.jpg" height="346" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This in turn is more of an interesting issue than I first considered due to just how little information we have received about it:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know that Loki received the staff from Thanos (The guy who appeared during the post credit scene of The Avengers).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know it allowed Loki to take control of people.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and that is it.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to see that it in fact has a whole other array of powers is fascinating, especially since rumors have begun to surface that the blue jewel at the head of the scepter is one of the infinity stones used in Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet (Rumors state that it may be the Mind Stone).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A brief summary of the Infinity Gauntlet: The Gauntlet grants the bearer infinite power over reality through the use of the six Infinity Stones (Mind, Reality, Soul, Time, Power, and Space) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and Thanos (That lovable rouge) is trying to collect the six stones, two of the infinity stones have already been introduced in previous Marvel movies.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Space Stone - The Tesseract - As seen in Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers (Avengers Assemble)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Power Stone - The Aether - As seen in Thor: The Dark World. </span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
So it could be that Marvel and Disney ate preparing the way for The Avengers 3 to set Earths Mightiest Heroes against Thanos himself.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another Pro of further exploration of the staff's powers is that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's are able to have their origin stories tweaked, as in the comics they are of the mutant offspring of the X-Men villain Magneto but since the X-Men, Magneto and the twins origins are all owned by '20th Century Fox' Marvel and Disney are not able to use these specific details (plus it would make very little sense anyway since the X-Men universe are about to get their own version of Quicksilver in Days Of Future Past) so the staff experiments are an effective way of both introducing the twins power while altering its origin. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So of all the current Phase 2 post credit scenes from <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/iron-man-3.html" target="_blank">Iron Man 3</a>'s last minute cameo to Thor: The Dark World's introduction to The Guardians of the Galaxy, TWS seems to raise the most possibilities for the longevity of the franchise and while it mainly serves to set up Age Of Ultron it is impressive to see Marvel potentially lay the groundwork for films that may be five of six installments down the line.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AAz60Fo0l7lqDkl8mD4-rapLj9XBnwRhHv7zfYU2Aq2jGv_jMYkFlcHyA075q4IodrzdMBJ0KTHvY8JVd_k6B8NTwE-sjaEN8Y7nVUON162JVAMB1Tc19Km71sDbk5t8_6evTa2MiOg2/s1600/DSCF0672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AAz60Fo0l7lqDkl8mD4-rapLj9XBnwRhHv7zfYU2Aq2jGv_jMYkFlcHyA075q4IodrzdMBJ0KTHvY8JVd_k6B8NTwE-sjaEN8Y7nVUON162JVAMB1Tc19Km71sDbk5t8_6evTa2MiOg2/s1600/DSCF0672.JPG" height="358" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-60031403242502016632014-04-06T12:54:00.002-07:002015-04-25T03:18:11.609-07:00Captain America: The Winter Soldier <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjFFiF8U6wlp_sQq8-KrL23X8gDBxlEASkY7O_MVJPZSHVRjNca_llxITp0fCKjU0vByy45CHtPsvM3Ljomg0b3j5psBLitpFV8yWJHZOM1kNQpqNe3ptN3KNMU9vflTHtKlABzDjLqxI/s1600/captain_america_the_winter_soldier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjFFiF8U6wlp_sQq8-KrL23X8gDBxlEASkY7O_MVJPZSHVRjNca_llxITp0fCKjU0vByy45CHtPsvM3Ljomg0b3j5psBLitpFV8yWJHZOM1kNQpqNe3ptN3KNMU9vflTHtKlABzDjLqxI/s1600/captain_america_the_winter_soldier.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Decent Men In A Indecent Time.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here we are, the final standalone sequel of Phase 2 before Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers: Age Ultron waves goodbye to Marvel's massively successful second outing of Superhero movies and as mentioned in my <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/its-marvel-ous-lets-talk-super-heroes.html" target="_blank">article exploring the current workings of the behemoth that is Phase 2</a> this was possibly the sequel I was most excited about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And boy was I rewarded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set two years after the events of <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" target="_blank">The Avengers (Avengers Assemble)</a> The Winter Soldier sees Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) working alongside SHIELD whilst trying to adjust to modern-day life, but when SHIELD is compromised from within Cap and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are forced to go on the run in hopes of luring out those responsible, placing Cap on a collision course with an assassin from his past known only as The Winter Soldier.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The decision to tailor the film towards being a Superhero/Political Thriller movie (in the same way the The Dark Knight was part Superhero flick part Mob movie) allows for a more complexly structured story that explores the differences between the way in which wars were fought in the past compared to how they are now in the age of information. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also allows the film a sense of mystery and prevents key details from being revealed too fast, although there are no prizes for guessing just who is behind the conspiracy, it's not exactly 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and there aren't that many suspects to begin with, But what is surprising is just how deep Marvel is willing to let the corruption run.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There Are Going To Be Repercussions. BIG REPERCUSSIONS. (The Plot)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of all the Phase 2 movies (Of all the current standalone installments in-fact) The Winter Soldier has the largest impact on the current standing of Marvels Cinematic Universe, The ramifications of what happens here will be felt across many different characters own stories to come as the events of TWS utterly destroys one of the most recurring elements of Marvels pre-established world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't go into details to avoid spoiling it for those of you who may not have seen the film yet, but I will say that I respect Marvels decision to shake up the status quo so aggressively, the knock on effect for the franchises other films and the television show 'Agents of SHIELD' in particular is going to be enormous.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest threat to Marvel in the return to standalone stories following on from The Avengers is one of 'Relevance'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hard to fear for the film particular hero when you know they are set to return in the big crossover several films down the line, so its important that each individual installment feels relevant and necessary to the over structure of that individual characters arc and not simply killing time until the next milestone crossover.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We unfortunately encountered this problem with last years X-Men movie 'The Wolverine' (2013) which despite being set after the events of the most (time frame wise) recent X- Men movie failed to advance either the characters or the over all story of the series, instead seemingly doing nothing more than pass the time until the release of 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Winter Soldier is able to sidestep this issue by spending the films duration developing the characters we are familiar with (Captain America, Black Widow, Maria Hill, Nick Fury) introducing us to characters that the film succeeds in making us want to see more of (Kevin Feige: I demand a Falcon/Hawkeye movie! Come on, it'll be awesome, you can call it 'Birds of Prey'..... I'm sure DC won't mind..probably) and finally better fleshing out the franchise's world in general so that by the time we return to it in The Avengers; Age of Ultron (or would that be Avengers Assemble: Age of Ultron?) the significant repercussions of TWS will carry into the future of series.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's Called Compartmentalization. (References to Other Marvel Stories) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Captain America: The Winter Soldier also seems to feature the most references to other Marvel characters and films but does so in a way that they don't feel unnecessarily forced: </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Black Widow, Nick Fury and Maria Hill all return to the big screen for the first time following The Avengers.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/iron-man-3.html" target="_blank">Iron Man 3</a>'s </span>President Ellis is once again acknowledged as the president of the United States (and we get to learn his first name - Matthew).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who has appeared in Thor, The Avengers, Agents of SHIELD and two Marvel One-Shots:The Consultant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and Item 47 returns in a much larger role.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batroc the Leaper appears for the first time.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brock Rumlow AKA Cross Bones is introduced.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The World Security Council from The Avengers reappear.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garry Shandling returns to his Iron Man 2 role as </span>Senator Stern.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven Strange AKA Doctor Strange is briefly mentioned. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As is Bruce Banner AKA The Hulk.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are several references to Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and Stark Industries. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easily missed but the Avengers Tower can be briefly spotted. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loki's staff reappears post credits.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we also get our first look at Quick Silver and Scarlett Witch. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and Stan Lee makes his inevitable cameo.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZ5EfeuP-gaGJAuwgfIWPkPbA0y1CflkCdD1WalO59nMriziu5yPnA_trKyTPbo1jDd6jqy6aYdXwIykYqyZ5fChM9tBEgwAkBwK4Bvb9FTZa5M2y9wJvTf-mFCuwh5stMJGgSrSkH0o-/s1600/winter_soldier_slide_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZ5EfeuP-gaGJAuwgfIWPkPbA0y1CflkCdD1WalO59nMriziu5yPnA_trKyTPbo1jDd6jqy6aYdXwIykYqyZ5fChM9tBEgwAkBwK4Bvb9FTZa5M2y9wJvTf-mFCuwh5stMJGgSrSkH0o-/s1600/winter_soldier_slide_6.jpg" height="334" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Is Why I Have Trust Issues. (Themes)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he theme most prevalent throughout The Winter Soldier is exploring Trust.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From his close friendship with Bucky Barnes, his unit of Howling Commandos, Peggy Carter and Howard Stark to his work with The Avengers Captain America has always surrounded himself with people he believes he can trust only to now find himself working in a career where trusting another person is not only impossible, its nearly a sure way to get yourself killed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nick Fury is shown to be the biggest opposite to Steve's need to feel able to trust those fighting alongside him as fury is suspicious of everyone (even Cap himself). Pleasantly the film offers no right or wrong answer and by the end of the story its difficult to decide which of the two outlooks served better.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SHIELD is an agency built on secrets and compartmentalization and its here that some of TWS's biggest and best ideas come into play: How much are willing to pay for their safety? How far can you go before the need for safety threatens peoples freedom? its a fine line to walk and its surprising to see a superhero movie dare tackle these kinds of questions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How Do We Tell The Good Guys From The Bad Guys? </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The Characters)</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I.The Star Spangled Man. (Captain America)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Chris Evans third outing as The Star Spangled Man and he continues to seem perfectly at ease it the role, while he many not have fully absorbed the role the way that Robert Downey Jr. has with Iron Man there only one other actors that I have known to so fully embody a superhero the way that he has - the other being Hugh Jackman's Wolverine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and regardless its great to see Evans deliver another powerful performance as the man out of time imbuing the role with both comedy and a sincerity that helps show Caps gradual and continuing development across each new film.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As previously mentioned Steve Rogers is unique amongst Marvels other heroes in that while like Thor he is displaced in a world unfamiliar to him, unlike Thor returning home is not really an option, he is completely stranded in the present day; a time in which almost everyone he knew is now dead and the world has changed so drastically he can barely reconcile it with the one hes left behind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honestly I was a little concerned about how this film would approach this subject, expecting the usual painfully unfunny man out of time jokes that these sort of situations usually create, but to both my surprise and joy the film chooses to largely ignore the comical aspects of Caps displacement and instead focus on the more tragic elements such as the feelings of loneliness, isolation and alienation:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A scene in which Cap pays a visit to an aged Peggy Carter particularly pulled on my heart strings and reminded me of the final scene in 'Captain America: The First Avenger' in which Cap after realizing that he has slept for seventy years despondently mutters "<i>It's just... I had a date</i>" - Whaaaa! heartbreaking! utterly heartbreaking! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that the film is without humor but it feels more important to play Caps loss (and it is a loss) seriously in order to better understand his struggle with the dramatic changes the world has undergone in his absence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9F7TztPlFWxf9h3VkB4UWwleEJNPMiJgW7ZlwV7xvlM7y9TgYXmc522mNma_86_mXFlv1VaSAzuM9swDlKwLMRxP3mxUeBxIA1K9JsYWlgzwaGDgh6DNiHb4fSQ2X61f0SQfcnnQVR2pM/s1600/94841018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9F7TztPlFWxf9h3VkB4UWwleEJNPMiJgW7ZlwV7xvlM7y9TgYXmc522mNma_86_mXFlv1VaSAzuM9swDlKwLMRxP3mxUeBxIA1K9JsYWlgzwaGDgh6DNiHb4fSQ2X61f0SQfcnnQVR2pM/s1600/94841018.JPG" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>II. </b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agents of SHIELD. (The Support)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's nice to see Marvel devote a little time for its supporting characters such as Nick Fury, Black Widow and Maria Hill who despite appearing across multiple Marvel stories we still don't know all that much about as individuals, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the fact that these characters are perfectly suited for the style of story in which TWS takes place allows the screen time to help better develop these side characters than in previous installments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it's reassuring to see Marvel develop the lesser known characters in the background of the main-line up heroes stories and its through this attention to character detail that the Marvel universe begins to feel like such an expansive world. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the first twenty minutes or so of the film actually feel a little Cap light as the film establishes its world and just as importantly (if not more so for this outing) SHIELD as an organisation and the key figures within it (Something that the Television Series "Marvels Agents of Shield" should have been working to achieve) before the action is allowed to get too far underway.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nick Fury is given his largest amount of screen time to date and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by the end of the end of the film I cant help but feel like he is a much better rounded character as we are given insight to both how he came to be appointed as the head of SHIELD and (to a lesser extent) how he came to lose and eye, all details that give us a better grasp of his history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TWS explores an interesting character arc for Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow once again exploring trust, both in the organisations she chooses to affiliate herself with and the people whom she surrounds herself with,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by the conclusion of the film Natasha has reached an interesting cross-roads and I look forward to seeing how she continues</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to develop over further movies (and hopefully one day her own).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TWS also sees the debut of Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who is also known as the winged hero The Falcon and easily one of this films biggest success as Mackie is able to make Wilson a welcome addition to the marvel universe (as mentioned I want a Falcon/Hawkeye crossover) he is able to bring humor to the role which helps add a little levity to the films darker moments, while keeping Cap supported both physically and emotionally creating a believable friendship between the two.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMncQ5_IAp-XxyXTQfZh1w_IrW_YmBP8u-P_zp6cSr0zz1IQsGH7uZ9KGFy3wg82VPem4L3c1HtydIKyFPE1awIDZX5CLNvY1jum5Iozk5p_bmz0WX6RKHYCa_7gtswQJRi8NqIPiBfp41/s1600/94841018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMncQ5_IAp-XxyXTQfZh1w_IrW_YmBP8u-P_zp6cSr0zz1IQsGH7uZ9KGFy3wg82VPem4L3c1HtydIKyFPE1awIDZX5CLNvY1jum5Iozk5p_bmz0WX6RKHYCa_7gtswQJRi8NqIPiBfp41/s1600/94841018.JPG" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>III. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. (The Winter Soldier) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will not go into details about the identity of The Winter Soldier in order to avoid spoiling it for those of you who are yet to see the film and are unfamiliar with the original comic but it should be noted that it is a brilliant choice of antagonist from Marvel as he proves to be a physical match for Cap while also being emotionally connected to Cap in a way that adds both real drama and complexity to each time they confront one another. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Best Defense Is A Good Offence....Or A Shield. (The Action)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie also boast some fantastic action sequences from Nick Fury proving why he is head of SHIELD during an attack on the road (in fact this film features some amazing vehicle sequences), a brutal brawl in an elevator, Cap facing down a heavily armed jet on a bridge, to the final action sequence which involves not one but THREE Helicarriers (Those of you who read my Avengers review know just how happy I was about the appearance of one) and this time we get to see them in action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's strange to think that of all the Marvels films to date TWS is probably the one with its action most heavily based in reality (well sort of like Iron Man the film boasts fictionally advanced technology).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jl2dBSvvPRfS9klFmq990IXnGXkWWGY6gTtGn_H737h7CxSn5mO4XOUN_h2T1ra8kBdC1bclE2rk6aOgdXAVsg9iYF3ilOmRNTgSNm5gxF4-5ciSYSi658ZRKc0ZXIWS5rexNC2VZtcu/s1600/BkKUzdgCQAAXffM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jl2dBSvvPRfS9klFmq990IXnGXkWWGY6gTtGn_H737h7CxSn5mO4XOUN_h2T1ra8kBdC1bclE2rk6aOgdXAVsg9iYF3ilOmRNTgSNm5gxF4-5ciSYSi658ZRKc0ZXIWS5rexNC2VZtcu/s1600/BkKUzdgCQAAXffM.jpg" height="268" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film takes Cap's shield and able to use it in a far more offensive weapon than in previous installments allowing Cap to come across as a far more potential fighter, an early sequence that sees Cap alone taking on a group of pirates reveals just how efficient a fighter he can be as he glides from one opponent to another brutally and (almost silently) deposing of each target, also its probably important to note not to get hit by Captain America's Shield once thrown it as it embeds itself into metal walls several times: I dread to think what it would do a person if thrown that ferociously. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who Watches The Watchmen? (Conclusion.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so the Marvel train shows no signs of stopping as audiences are treated to a second (stronger) solo outing for The First Avenger that aims to make the World War II hero relevant in a time of gray moral decisions, dealing with the complex issue of being able to trust the people who protect us </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not only currently the best movie of Phase 2 it is one of the best standalone stories Marvel has produced to date.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it has left me so very ready for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Avengers: Age Of Ultron</b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-25031769909972746902014-03-07T08:41:00.002-08:002014-04-06T13:10:04.447-07:00The Terminator Saga (An Overview)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiMUY8tn0ST9tjHO7plHrQS1q-cgR__lHUA-uj_ABTc5X-15TGJYiuysJ5fAduYhYNAq4jj4IRfoTxMkEXC4IXRfXi1bRsAGsExYDce4Ya1IHLoYm8X0uKbIObz8NQmzNdyVVO9Xg7Nvq/s1600/terminator-iphone-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiMUY8tn0ST9tjHO7plHrQS1q-cgR__lHUA-uj_ABTc5X-15TGJYiuysJ5fAduYhYNAq4jj4IRfoTxMkEXC4IXRfXi1bRsAGsExYDce4Ya1IHLoYm8X0uKbIObz8NQmzNdyVVO9Xg7Nvq/s640/terminator-iphone-wallpaper.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several months ago all round action legend Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would be returning to The Terminator Franchise in the upcoming sequel Terminator: Genesis (Sounds like a music project) This led me to the decision to explore the franchises previous installments which still stand as one of the greatest Science Fiction/Action franchises ever made and one that had a profound impact on my enjoyment and love of Film from a young age.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator (1984) </span></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Fight The Future.</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-MTrYXHEosS6I-M_tQ_087IdIQDz3_9VTTvN9IrF6I7gOQ3Zo7DdLkti9EcHrl0uPtNjJ1-Ik2wbW64b-6MtNfwys89v76A6YVTsEFEdO7OmP_FCrEGHKqJEx5jaLeh43iDr6pJRPdxy/s1600/NE66kPkzd3hi8d_1_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-MTrYXHEosS6I-M_tQ_087IdIQDz3_9VTTvN9IrF6I7gOQ3Zo7DdLkti9EcHrl0uPtNjJ1-Ik2wbW64b-6MtNfwys89v76A6YVTsEFEdO7OmP_FCrEGHKqJEx5jaLeh43iDr6pJRPdxy/s640/NE66kPkzd3hi8d_1_1.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Battle For The Future Begins In 1984.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How Does A Machine Begin To Comprehend Time Travel? (An Introduction: Part I)</b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this where The Terminator Saga begins....and ends.. if you think about it (Damn Time Travel!), The Terminator was the Directorial debut of James Cameron who came up with the idea in a fever dream whilst he lay ill, he later went on to Co-write the script with William Wisher Jr. and Gale Anne Hurd who brought the rights to the film from Cameron for One Dollar on the condition that James Cameron could direct the film, due to previous production companies being unwilling to let a largely inexperienced director make the movie.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film' told the story of a Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who is targeted by The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a cyborg sent back through time from the year 2029 in order to murder Sarah to prevent the future birth of her son who will lead man-kind to victory in a upcoming war between man and machine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah is protected from this murderous cyborg by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a Resistance Soldier also from the future sent back to act as her guardian. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(There is something delightfully 80's about that plot summary, I think it may be the phrase "</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">murderous cyborg").</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today 'The Terminator' stands as one of the most influential Science Fiction Movies of all time. Along with the likes of Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes and Forbidden Planet, it can also be credited as an early example of how complex ideas can be portrayed to an audience through </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">enjoyable and easy to watch action movies, In this case the film explores the idea of 'Time Travel' (Which was revolutionary at the time) but this style of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">conveying new and complex </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sci-Fi ideas through action films in order to make them accessible to causal movie goers would later be used by films such as The Matrix and Inception.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator also debuts of the classic Arnie quote: "I'll Be Back." for the first time, which would go on to become his movie trademark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original story Cameron came up with more closely resembled that of Terminator 2 with two Terminators being sent back in time (including the liquid metal version seen in the sequel) but technical and financial constraints at the time made this seem vision unrealistic and the project was cut down to the single robot story-line.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the entire production history of The Terminator is utterly fascinating from the complete lack of faith in the project from both the studio and (apparently: depending on who you talk to) Arnie himself, James Cameron firing his agent due to him hating the idea of the film and telling Cameron to work on something else, to the studio originally wanting O. J. Simpson to play the role of the Terminator but Cameron believing he would not make a convincing killer (Go figure).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sarah Connor? (The Cast: Part I)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film stars a small cast headed by Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor an unassuming waitress who finds herself targeted for termination.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah is both a believable and likable lead and reacts to the insanity of the situation in the way most people would - a mixture of fear and confusion.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You cant help but to care for Sarah as she seems utterly overwhelmed by her situation, as she struggles to both come to terms with the horrible future Reese describes and survive against a machine that wants her dead for an act she hasn't even committed yet, but as the series progresses </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah slowly develops into a stronger, harsher character becoming more like the warrior-woman Kyle describes her becoming in the future </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLewollCLtHBDdnyyXzmvDRw3XaxJk0_d77PZQIEVkVkIZ_sMmWKa1fVLrXj5fvbUbfK8OyW0md3sdbOxrvsbMgne-6mXPyvQDt6eVFtUax0LmPGJlQUVlIRDs0U-tuxW5wipnFKhNWBbR/s1600/177587_10152317498426992_1859861849_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLewollCLtHBDdnyyXzmvDRw3XaxJk0_d77PZQIEVkVkIZ_sMmWKa1fVLrXj5fvbUbfK8OyW0md3sdbOxrvsbMgne-6mXPyvQDt6eVFtUax0LmPGJlQUVlIRDs0U-tuxW5wipnFKhNWBbR/s640/177587_10152317498426992_1859861849_o.jpg" height="316" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Biehn delivers an incredible performance as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyle Reese who is sent back in time to act as Sarah's guardian and protector, embittered by the events of the future he is almost as single minded as the machine itself in his determination to keep Sarah safe from harm.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The exploration of the relationship between Sarah and Kyle is incredibly well handled as the film explores just how much Sarah can trust Kyle </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and believe</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> his </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">story.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If you met a man who told you that he was sent back in time from an apocalyptic future would you believe</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> him?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Flesh and Steel. (The Terminator: Part I)</b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The role of the Terminator is Arnold Schwarzenegger's most iconic character ever, and his performance in the first outing is the 'purest' Terminator in the series, most devoid of any sense of emotion or feeling, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> performance in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' is arguably his best since the character is given the time and focus to grow and develop but here the focus needed to be on portraying the notion that Schwarzenegger character is not a man but rather a machine with a single purpose - Killing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The casting of Arnold as the killing machine is almost ironical as he comes across very much as a Machine imitating a Man, appearing human while obviously not if you are purposely looking for a machine disguised as a man due to his impressive size and strength.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">its the lack of a human connection that makes Arnie's Machine so imposing is the fact that you can look at it and have no idea what is thinking or planning (It certainly isn't feeling) beyond its primary function to kill Sarah Connor. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Fd1TEovAMaXad29VnFvkRWf4S_GPMM-CBViOt5z68M-tN-1qFUH88ev5eVcGY9q6yjc8BTl7OkD0Asb-mxGPo9mxqftS9j3t8hsKqm55_w9LxEX_Hv0Xx1I9roT-md9NhpcyavXaEvj/s1600/davidh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Fd1TEovAMaXad29VnFvkRWf4S_GPMM-CBViOt5z68M-tN-1qFUH88ev5eVcGY9q6yjc8BTl7OkD0Asb-mxGPo9mxqftS9j3t8hsKqm55_w9LxEX_Hv0Xx1I9roT-md9NhpcyavXaEvj/s640/davidh.jpg" height="344" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Your clothes, Give Them To Me."</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Machine design and effects are created by legendary effects designer <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/in-memory-of-stan-winston.html" target="_blank">Stan Winston</a> (The man behind the '<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/predator.html" target="_blank">Predator</a>', the Dinosaurs from 'Jurassic Park' and many of the effects and designs from '<a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/aliens.html" target="_blank">Aliens</a>') and the design for the Terminator is undoubtedly one of his greatest creations.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">both internally (The Endoskeleton - the delicious machine center) and the damaged inflicted upon the human-esc exterior allowing the machinery to show through the damaged flesh. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although Arnie is the actor people most associate with this movie the film is very much an ensemble piece with each of it's three main actors carrying a very specific part of the movie</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah Connor is the audiences viewpoint, as we experience the events alongside her, learning things as she does.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyle Reese is the window to the future providing the exposition about the war and the machine.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The T-800 is driving force of the film constantly keeping the story moving. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cyborgs Don't Feel Pain. I Do. (The Action Sequences)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film boasts incredible action sequences chief amongst them a car chase from a multistory car park down a busy freeway tunnel as Sarah and Kyle attempt to flee from the pursuing Terminator as well as a almost entirely one sided shootout in a police station as the unfortunate cops fail to realize just how out classed they are. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Technoir. (The Time Travel: Part I)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a strange twist by destroying the Terminator at the end of this film leads to the machines creation in future installments with its parts being salvaged and reverse engineered to create the Cyberdyne Systems (A Cosmic Own-Goal Really);</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is also mirrored on the machines side as the need to send a Terminator back in time in order to prevent the birth of John Connor actually lead to his conception as The Resistance is forced to send Kyle Reese (John's Farther) back as well in order to protect his creation - This is called a Predestination Paradox or Causality Loop in which the user to time travel actually creates history rather than alters it (It also hurts to think about). </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tech-No. (Soundtrack.)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The majority of the films soundtrack is written by Brad Fiedel who created a score that while emotional and powerful but also conveys techno elements that firmly set the score in the 80's, with the films main theme being the standout song that would go on to become the main theme for the entire saga, albeit with the techno element reduced and the theme more dramatized in future installments.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Storm Is Coming. (Conclusion Part I.)</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator is a perfect example of how a film can subtly suggest themes to an audience without drowning the audience in the concept, with The Terminator embodying the theme of persecution throughout the film as Sarah is hunted by both the machine and the police with nowhere to turn and only having Kyle Reese to rely on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T2 also explores this concept subtly as Sarah, John and the T-800 are on the run from both the T-1000 and the police (more directly this time) again but T2 sees the trio go on the attack rather than simply running - </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breaking Sarah out of the asylum.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attacking Dyson at home.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directly assaulting Cyberdine's headquarters.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the first installment is about Flight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the second is about Fight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)</b></span></h4>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Fight For The Future.</span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVop980lUw4TLSTSFgwgG7NgkZEigmMadKUSv8MIU4TrtHuobOl1lDewOTmGmCVYekMY7ocENq7qSeGFTUBO5GhtCIXrsgK7lcnbzhD5XBtOqbzwRhjgisfdcc25CTEMkW93lO3_bovqT/s1600/b30393th3j4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVop980lUw4TLSTSFgwgG7NgkZEigmMadKUSv8MIU4TrtHuobOl1lDewOTmGmCVYekMY7ocENq7qSeGFTUBO5GhtCIXrsgK7lcnbzhD5XBtOqbzwRhjgisfdcc25CTEMkW93lO3_bovqT/s640/b30393th3j4.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>No Fate But What We Make.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Self Fulfilling Future. (An Introduction: Part II)</span></b>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following the success of 'The Terminator' which met with both surprising box office figures and great reviews, Awing critics and fans alike and with the studio now willing to place substantially more faith in James Cameron the films budget leaped from Terminator's 6.4 million to a staggering estimated 102 million, over ten times what Cameron had to spend first time around!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This allowed for Cameron's more visceral and costly ideas that he could not afford to implement previously including a machine comprised entirely of liquid metal. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eleven years after the events of 'The Terminator' John Connor is Ten years old and living with a foster family after his mother Sarah Connor has been institutionalized following an attempt to blow up a computer factory. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But once again a machine is sent back through time in order to murder John Connor and once again a protector is sent back to aid John.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyvZfMFI0t8OGQz96hKCPcq_crBY3LP502yLS3ytfN0Rvaez16u1qumYZ32qkqeVeTtpD_CcsQGXZTjXOWtA5AOa7wdKq9JKS4ouoOU9JTcJF37-WDzJT3UseeC7WnfXAzsXt8paO5if8/s1600/49893895_terminator2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyvZfMFI0t8OGQz96hKCPcq_crBY3LP502yLS3ytfN0Rvaez16u1qumYZ32qkqeVeTtpD_CcsQGXZTjXOWtA5AOa7wdKq9JKS4ouoOU9JTcJF37-WDzJT3UseeC7WnfXAzsXt8paO5if8/s640/49893895_terminator2.jpeg" height="328" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>John Connor? (The Cast: Part II)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film once again stars Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, who has become a far stronger version of the character since her last encounter with the murderous machines and yet her strength hides an emotional fragility created by the trauma of her battle against the Terminator </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and the separation</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from her son John whom she (correctly) believes</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to be in danger.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the extended cut of T2 plays Sarah's mental state more ambiguously than the Theatrical release in which she is locked away in an institution due to her knowledge regarding the apocalyptic future (Which she is completely right about, making her perfectly sane - if not a little volatile) whereas in the extended cut her sanity is called into question a little more as she hold imaginary conversations with the deceased Kyle Reese.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sane or nor Sarah has emotionally distanced herself from the world in a sense becoming as emotionless as the Terminator himself and this has greatly impacted upon her relationship with her son as she shows no real emotion towards John, adopting a military style of parenting towards him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Liquid Metal. (The Terminators: Part II)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arnies BACK! and now he's the good guy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the T-800 (but a different model from the one seen in the previous installment) which has been captured by The Resistance reprogrammed</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and sent back in time to protect John Connor rather than kill him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has never been unusual for villains to have a more lasting impact on screen than the heroes who fight them, the most memorable performance from 1991 thriller <i>Silence of the Lambs</i> was without a doubt Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector despite the fact that his screen time is a little more than 16 minutes in a 118 minute long film. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand the logic in the T-800 being mass produced so </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Schwarzenegger</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> can reappear even after his character was killed at the end of the first movie, but also </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">doesn't </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">mass producing the flesh design so they all look like Arnold Schwarzenegger limited their use as an infiltration unit? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although we did see a different</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> variation of the T-800 in Kyle's flashback from 'The Terminator' played by body builder Franco Columbo so they don't all look like Schwarzenegger (just the time traveling ones).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also explores an concept in that the T-800 is the closest thing John has ever had to a father figure as Sarah</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has taken on a string of relationship with individuals she can learn key skills from in order to develop John in the man he is destined to become before moving onto the next male leaving John with no real sense of attachment to anyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So his new found bond gives the T-800 his own </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">character with the film exploring his understanding of human emotion.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiuBM7EFy8F0_ufPltADxHUwb3I82kfWuMlZ13DI3LdIHHhZ4RjVwOuDCXvRv1wrw-7kPWGjSq78FoPlyNBXTpw-1tlemsQK5soVqxcOInZNiQjcHcVXXBHArcJJte57mfHKm6xu2ANSk/s700/4902_103125020722_7292930_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiuBM7EFy8F0_ufPltADxHUwb3I82kfWuMlZ13DI3LdIHHhZ4RjVwOuDCXvRv1wrw-7kPWGjSq78FoPlyNBXTpw-1tlemsQK5soVqxcOInZNiQjcHcVXXBHArcJJte57mfHKm6xu2ANSk/s640/4902_103125020722_7292930_n.jpg" height="268" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facing off against Arnie's Mean Machine is Robert Patrick's T-1000 a machine comprised entirely of liquid metal able to change it's appearance to take on the disguise of other people and change it's body parts into basic stabbing weapons.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T2 boasts some of the franchises most visually interesting moments thanks to the T-1000's liquid metal transformations with sequences in which it is able to blend into environment such as the floor, pass through impassible spaces and take substantial damage and literally have holes blown clean through it before morphing back into human shape,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Making it a terrifying and surreal enemy and Robert Patrick is able to convey the same emotionless state as Arnie to hide any display of humanity and while he does not carry the same physical presence as Schwarzenegger he still comes across as more than a match for the big man.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Look To The Future. (The Time Travel: Part II)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By all rights should Terminator 2 even exist? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was the first Terminator not sent back in time at the end of the war?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the time travel facility being destroyed after Kyle Reese was sent back in pursuit?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how were a further four Terminators sent back in time as well?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe I missed a line or something.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway....</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In T2 the characters look to break the cycle created by the use of Time Travel during the first installment by destroying the rapidly advancing technology before it can cause the destruction it will inflict in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The phrase "The future is not set. There is no fate, but what we make for ourselves" (Which originates from a deleted scene from the previous installment) becomes a recurring theme in the series from this installment onward but its at it's strongest here as the Connor's decide that they will chose their own future rather than be prisoners to fate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's ignore the obvious time paradoxes that this creates as if the machines never exist they can never send a machine back in time leading to their creation which negates there destruction which leads them to send a machine which.....never mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also explores the nature of our decisions and whether or not we would make the same decision twice if we fully understood the ultimate consequences,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is explored through the character of Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) who attempts to rewrite the future he is responsible for creating by destroying the work he has contributed towards the creation of Skynet, in a sense adopting Skynet's own strategy in using time travel to fix the problem before it's created.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)</span></h4>
</div>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Manifest Destiny. </span></h3>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPGGiI2RbZbsBvFCYz-yo9FxeVfHumt2_OLesBqSKJEDj5dye_2oVg1gpuMnWGWF8QHUdNz0ATMzploxczsobopQztVFFZP-Fj2jjjWe4-WCK6G-jqKIWULwMdLW-NmQdxfUhys7XKgln/s1600/MPW-48200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPGGiI2RbZbsBvFCYz-yo9FxeVfHumt2_OLesBqSKJEDj5dye_2oVg1gpuMnWGWF8QHUdNz0ATMzploxczsobopQztVFFZP-Fj2jjjWe4-WCK6G-jqKIWULwMdLW-NmQdxfUhys7XKgln/s640/MPW-48200.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Machines Will Rise, Man Will Fall.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>End of Days. (An Introduction: Part III)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By all accounts there shouldn't even be a Terminator 3 as T2 seemingly resolved the story, destroyed Cyberdyne and prevented Judgment Day, but alas the future is inevitable and so was a sequel to such a successful follow up as T2 which due to being both critically praised and financially successful was still hot property but Cameron happy with his conclusion to the story decided not to continue involvement. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the whole "The future is not set" thing turns out to be a massive lie as it is revealed that Judgment Day is inevitable and the events of T2 only managed to delay it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently I have begun using the expression "They've Taken 2'd it" by which I mean that a film has become more restrained in its action and violence in order to lower the age rating and attract a larger (and younger) audience at the cost of the films quality, but maybe I should have simply said that Taken 2 'Terminator 3'd it', since it is an earlier example of the same process as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines drops the age rating down to a 12 with significantly less violence, gore and swearing a shame considering both the first and second installments originally being rated an 18 upon release.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8qzszU8xnGJyiLfdPuXslZbW2_L5gkPcdiB4PUhYSG3apiyncrPG39-zqty69JXbWs15IcDyiPBvbnM9SMnnkG1dZby_xjomgbRgUPSKiRY2DXqAsXvCb-vu2hafXUAIYOuiq7nNTWr7/s1600/tumblr_md2256JkXS1rtmzxgo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8qzszU8xnGJyiLfdPuXslZbW2_L5gkPcdiB4PUhYSG3apiyncrPG39-zqty69JXbWs15IcDyiPBvbnM9SMnnkG1dZby_xjomgbRgUPSKiRY2DXqAsXvCb-vu2hafXUAIYOuiq7nNTWr7/s1600/tumblr_md2256JkXS1rtmzxgo1_1280.jpg" height="329" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to make the film better? Add more of this!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Katherine Brewster? (The Cast: Part III)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film once again stars John Connor who is once again played by a different actor this time Nick Stahl who following Judgment Day failing to come to fruition and the death of his mother has become a drifter in hopes of remaining off the radar as a precaution in the event that his previous attempt to alter the future proved unsuccessful and the machines come looking for him again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guess What?... It was! And they do!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />John's fatherhood issues towards the Terminator are briefly readdressed in this installment although in truth this main theme of the last installment is largely glazed over here, rather than being addressed it is instead limited to two lines that seemingly come out of nowhere, lacking place and subtly (Basically yelling "HERE IS AN ISSUE FROM THE LAST FILM!!!!) before being completely forgotten for the rest of the movie. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Sarah Connor is dead.....<b>Seriously?!!! </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mean: yes, I can see the reasoning: the previous films mentioned that she would die before Judgment Day occurs and the third installment sees the action finally shift on to John's shoulders this would have been fine if Nick Stahl had any kind of impact on screen but he is bland and forgettable, making the way in which the film effortlessly glosses over Sarah Connor's death all the more frustrating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Connor learns that from the Terminator that he will be killed in the future, after deciding that he doesn't want to know how it happens Katherine Brewster proceed to ask the Terminator anyway (completely ignoring his wishes).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest problem this faces is just how bland the main cast is, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arnie comes across a little better than the others in this respect due to the fact that as a cyborg he is excused from displaying emotion. But Nick Stahl </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(That Yellow Bastard! - Sin City) and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Claire Danes are not compelling leads coming across as whiny and uninteresting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which causes the film in to suffer as these characters are the faces of the world they are trying to save, and if the audience doesn't care whether or not the lead characters live or die they are not going to care about the rest of the world either.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She'll Be Back! (The Terminators: Part III)</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' the T-1000's liquid metal design allowed it to take on the appearance of anyone, it continued to return to the appearance of the Police Officer due to the privileges that such an appearance allowed such as gaining access to restricted areas and making it easier to gain information from people, </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' the T-X believes that by simply taking on the appearance of an attractive woman it will gain even greater privileges.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that I have a problem with the notion of a female Terminator, Logically if the Terminator is an infiltration unit so it makes sense to replicate both genders as a greater way to avoid detection and the Liquid Metal design allows for the unit to switch between both genders and appearances (In the same way the T-1000 took on the appearance of John Connor's Step-Mother in T2), my issue arises when after being discovered by the T-X's intended target (John and Katherine) and having its cover blown the machine doesn't simply take on a new appearance to once again avoid suspicion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmXhQGkCr5x-LPeiEhT1PitDnNpxS5sPjbn7DSPaUFPHFM5qqe8o1ndyM8Zvei1qsLpkZo6mIkOwNCqnfl_25DFak9VPUrnEepkTVmkOKP0jkIr60zCQQ-mN1vBfoGlZd97SW4mZNeuWp/s1600/2010003-txmetal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmXhQGkCr5x-LPeiEhT1PitDnNpxS5sPjbn7DSPaUFPHFM5qqe8o1ndyM8Zvei1qsLpkZo6mIkOwNCqnfl_25DFak9VPUrnEepkTVmkOKP0jkIr60zCQQ-mN1vBfoGlZd97SW4mZNeuWp/s640/2010003-txmetal.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I understand that by returning to the same appearance it gives the film's audience a handle on the character in-order to prevent them becoming confused with who they are watching but without suggesting even a slim reason to return to that same appearance (Like the Police Privileges of Terminator 2) it just seems a illogical decision for what is essentially a machine that operates out of logic. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also doesn't a Terminator that is built with part components and part liquid metal seem like a step back from one built solely from liquid metal technology? the liquid metal allows the T-X to change its appearance just as the T-1000 did but being able to change appearances was just one of the advantages the liquid metal permitted it also made the T-1000 nearly indestructible, able to pass through otherwise impossible areas, able to camouflage itself and change into any simple weapon.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what advantage is there in returning to a endoskeleton based design with limited liquid metal to allow changing in appearances? </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well the T-X is the first terminator with built in weapons (other than stabbing-hands) such as flame-thrower and a plasma cannon, as well as having the ability to reprogram other machines to do her....(it's) bidding.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the T-X's biggest problem: it misses the point in that it looks human but its not, Arnie managed to go the entirety of Terminator 1&2 without showing a single hint of emotion or humanity (it is what made the films rather far fetched idea seem believable), Robert Patrick's T-1000 also succeeded in this making his machine all the more creepy, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">while Kirsten Loken's TX shows a variety of emotion ranging from annoyance to surprise to fear (That's right the damn Terminator shows fear!)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the TX seems at it's most robotic and lifeless when imitating Katherine's fiance, when it should be going out it's way to convince her she <b>is</b> human. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZS9TEehS32J_JlOO6vtGbrNWUDArm80UaccGrNA7f6XGnJoHf9yk8yOJ_6owU58lVjdOaNrfQTjZ7gSDJbOhQjvOXDDNb_sNfNL_3ADWeR8vuBI5WP_7h3UajiHzAERzJPYFs49t_xLV/s728/4902_103125020722_7292930_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZS9TEehS32J_JlOO6vtGbrNWUDArm80UaccGrNA7f6XGnJoHf9yk8yOJ_6owU58lVjdOaNrfQTjZ7gSDJbOhQjvOXDDNb_sNfNL_3ADWeR8vuBI5WP_7h3UajiHzAERzJPYFs49t_xLV/s640/4902_103125020722_7292930_n.jpg" height="350" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best scene of the film.....and no one dies!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh and Arnies BACK.....again.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the character development Arnie's T-800 experienced in T2 is now undone as this is a newer more advanced model of the two previous incarnations the T-850.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T3 debuts the most battle damaged Arnie to date, as the series has progressed more of Arnies facial features have been stripped away by battle damaged in order to offer a slight peak at the machine underneath with T3 taking this to the extreme wheres as the previous installments damage has been minimum this time around just under half of the T-850's metal interior is exposed. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A moment I really enjoy from the film is that when the T-850 is being controlled by the T-X John is able to help him regain control of himself not by persuading him that he is able to make his own choices but rather that as a machine he cannot and is in fact going against his main objective by attempting to kill him reinforcing the differences between man and machine</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T3 also marks the first appearance of the T-1 the earliest design that will ultimately lead to the birth of the Terminators but at this point in this creation the machines are limited to what is essential a Mini-gun on Tank-Treads.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>(Fuck my destiny. (</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Time Travel: Part III)</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An interesting question raised by Skynet's continued existence after team Connor fought so hard to alter the future is that if Judgment Day is truly unpreventable (their efforts only delayed it) and the previous attempts alter the timeline only created the events the time traveler were hoping to prevent how does the T-X systematic slaughter of John's future lieutenants effect the future? </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does it have any impact at all? in Terminator: Salvation John Connor mentions that the future he now experiences is not the one his mother warned him about, but if anything they actually seem to be holding their own better against the machines due to John's in depth knowledge granted by this experience gained through the machines traveling through time. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No Fate But What We Make. (Conclusion: Part III)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps I am being a little harsh on T3. Its not as if it is without its own standout moments, such as Helicopter Crashing One-Up-Manship, Arnie Swinging from a Crane as the T3 drives through everything in her path, or paramedics attempting to lift an unconscious/rebooting Arnie only to find that he weighs a little more than he should (So how is it the motor bike supports him so easily in the next scene?....Never mind.) </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as a sequel to two of the greatest Science Fiction Movies of all time the film already had higher expectations set upon it and was never going to be able to get away with being simply mediocre, especially since the sequel was unnecessary in the first place, as the story was effectively resolved back in T2.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the biggest problem this film encounters is just how bland it is.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bland Story</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bland Characters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bland Violence </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bland Machines</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bland Sci-Fi</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film only really serves in order to allow the story to reach it's apocalypse stage and what comes next which is a shame as Judgment Day had been built up so effectively by the previous installments that now we are finally able to see it comes across as more of a whimper than a bang. The Human Race nearly ends in the fires of Judgment Day, Three billion lives vanish in an instant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and no one really seems to care.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator Salvation (2009)</span></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Aftermath.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnAlCUVmejqSj3ImUXcnk3ihf72P209VF67ODpE_VHtbTTVqo0NuksJtJceluBYFurzFmZCmw_ui2j4_O2UiklcgrR5956IkrIl4cb5pnw1l2MmR6_cDQt0H-Y3CpnoGtPsGATqII8G_B/s1600/MPW-48200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnAlCUVmejqSj3ImUXcnk3ihf72P209VF67ODpE_VHtbTTVqo0NuksJtJceluBYFurzFmZCmw_ui2j4_O2UiklcgrR5956IkrIl4cb5pnw1l2MmR6_cDQt0H-Y3CpnoGtPsGATqII8G_B/s640/MPW-48200.jpg" height="640" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>What Remains.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Future Was Hours Ago. (An Introduction: Part IV)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After years of waiting (and at one point never actually expecting to see it) the Terminator narrative moves beyond the impending Judgment Day and audiences are finally treated to War we were promised so long ago. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although due to the constant screwing around with the time-line the future we get differs a little from the version we had so often seen in flashbacks (flash forwards?) and dreams, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The future landscape is more of a baron wasteland than the skull ridden ruins previously seen</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">someone went around and gathered up all the skulls) and t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he machines armory is more modern than the futuristic versions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that originally shown (where the hell are my plasma lasers?!!!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These changes were obviously made to give the film more of a realistic feel but at the cost of the hopeless post-apocalyptic vibe the previous installments were able to create as endless hordes of chrome bodied skeletons swarmed across the battlefield (one of the few things that Terminator 3 was able to depict well).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking back until this installments all depictions of the post apocalyptic wasteland were always portrayed after dark (or this could have something to do with the nuclear fallout) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is possible (likely even) that the conditions of the war and will continue to deteriorate into the bleak futuristic version previously seen as the war rages on for years (With Terminator: Salvation being set in the early years) this idea is further reinforced by the fact that Salvation was intended to be the start of a new Terminator Trilogy before future Terminator development was halted due to legal trouble and rights issues.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BIcurpiwE9dRYIKZWKhfTZQ8traJixjPak0184PXqXNkitPkpt5CvSfnzkNzqMG9nYomGHMWto7djISnc6Yp_fiyHg6ZTHbijQLKT2gSy_g1ZsZl4gKgRt-yxf7O2p6DcKUzVPvmwcqa/s1600/man_of_steel_poster_3_-625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BIcurpiwE9dRYIKZWKhfTZQ8traJixjPak0184PXqXNkitPkpt5CvSfnzkNzqMG9nYomGHMWto7djISnc6Yp_fiyHg6ZTHbijQLKT2gSy_g1ZsZl4gKgRt-yxf7O2p6DcKUzVPvmwcqa/s640/man_of_steel_poster_3_-625.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Flesh-less T-800 - Not Stop Motion Anymore.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film features multiple reference to past Terminator Movies such as:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah Connor's Audio Tapes from the end of 'The Terminator' being played.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Connor's struggle against a battle damaged T-600 is styled after the finale confrontation in the original movie.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyle Reese's Rope Alteration to the Shotgun in 'The Terminator' is explained.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The origin of John Connors facial scar seen in glimpses of the future in previous Terminator films is explained.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A skull get crushed underfoot by the T-600 in homage to the recurring nightmare.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Connor listens to 'Could You Be Mine' by Guns and Roses just as he does in T2.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Connor also displays the hacking skills he used as a kid in T2.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The finale battle once again takes place in a factory where once again factory noises are used to distract the Terminator.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The classic quotes "I'll be back" and "Come with me if you want to live" make their appearances.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0ZKz1blNCIH-UuqPzIYl9jkOYPo-B-XihUFMurmPXtcZaTc0h4pRvJNrQEDM7LvCL34SJfJmN_lzMNS7VERPhsBigcYMTZASQFMb0kMuR9QJQ9cMLBNbHijo-T95fpvpnOXA0N8fTpmV/s1600/2010003-txmetal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0ZKz1blNCIH-UuqPzIYl9jkOYPo-B-XihUFMurmPXtcZaTc0h4pRvJNrQEDM7LvCL34SJfJmN_lzMNS7VERPhsBigcYMTZASQFMb0kMuR9QJQ9cMLBNbHijo-T95fpvpnOXA0N8fTpmV/s640/2010003-txmetal.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is nice to see that the film is made by people with a real love for the franchise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kyle Reese? (The Cast: Part IV)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This the most current installment once again stars John Connor, who is once again recast this time played by The Dark Knight himself Christian Bale. Bale is a brilliant actor due the length he is willing to go to immerse himself in a role (his weight and muscle fluctuation for roles like The Machinist, The Dark Knight Trilogy and American Hustle is utterly staggering.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's strange to think that after three films of characters praising the man who John Connor will become (Leader of the Resistance, Destroyer of the Machines) we finally get to see the man in action (albeit in his early days).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyle Reese returns although much younger than in previous installment this time played my actor Anton Yelchin, the return to the character even under the portrayal of a different actor is welcome as we get to learn a little more about Kyle and his development into the version we were familiar with, such as why he tied the shotgun to the rope in the first installment and from who he learnt it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this installments standout star goes to Sam Worthington fresh from his success in Avatar as Marcus Wright a death row convict from 2003 who after his "execution" wakes to find himself in 2018 following the destruction of Judgment Day with no memory of what happened between the two events.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately advertising for the film gave away the major revelation regarding this character undermining a pretty strong plot twist </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Architects Of Our Own Destruction. (The Time Travel: Part IV)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator Salvation is the first installment of the franchise not to feature Time Travel albeit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">directly as the film does raise some concerning issue such as the machines themselves knowing of the time travel exploits that have not yet occurred. But their knowledge of the fact that if they do not send a machine back in time to kill Sarah and prevent John's birth and in doing so will necessitate John to send Kyle back in pursuit which will directly lead to johns birth, meaning that the machines are thus responsible for their own defeat will still inevitably force them to send the very first Terminator back as it becomes the blueprint that the machines will ultimately be built on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they send a machine back in time - they create their own worst enemy and lose the war.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they do not send a machine back in time - they will never even exist.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's this linking mind-melting paradox that makes time travel films such a Sci-Fi mine field with very few films able to tread it safely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You're 10 Years Too Early. (The Terminators: Part IV)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that we have finally reached the future and the war we were promised all those years ago the variety of the Machines is really allowed to flourish with the movie introducing (and occasionally reintroducing) us to</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Improved versions of the<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>T-1</b>'s first seen in 'Terminator 3'. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rubber skinned <b>T-600</b>'s mentioned by Kyle Reese in the very first Terminator film. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The<b> T-700</b>'s the machines primary combat units.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flying <b>Hunter-Killers</b> originally seen in Kyle's nightmare in 'The Terminator'.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The<b> Hunter-Killer-Tank</b> that was also first glimpsed in Reese's nightmares makes a Cameo appearance.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snake-like <b>Hydrobots</b>. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flying scouts <b>Areostats</b> .</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bike-like <b>Moto-Terminators</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The gigantic human gathering <b>Harvester</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A <b>Transport Ship</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a <b>Hybrid Infiltrator </b>that I wont go into on account of the plot.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh and Arnies BACK..... again...... sort of... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The<b> T-800</b> Arnie's Model from the original movie returns </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in Prototype form played by Roland Kickinger </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance digitally overlaid with CGI.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sheer variety of designs show just how well established and developed this franchise has been until this point as the studio is finally able to bring all the ideas that until</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this point have only been mentioned to the big screen.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TVXer02K_2UIUR0VWM0FecaGQXqmAmF_fTXv3j1n__CmwkomipyspR3WT2fw538-fJy5Vv6Bd5JwhA268rF6qcmh49JYRYJhVWqhOxRitb2JyDSMgbIFZAgNdhw4U4j_8Of1Cob_sS5U/s1600/terminator_salvation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TVXer02K_2UIUR0VWM0FecaGQXqmAmF_fTXv3j1n__CmwkomipyspR3WT2fw538-fJy5Vv6Bd5JwhA268rF6qcmh49JYRYJhVWqhOxRitb2JyDSMgbIFZAgNdhw4U4j_8Of1Cob_sS5U/s640/terminator_salvation.jpg" height="350" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Harvester Says Hello.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final confrontation between Marcus, John and a Prototype T-800 (Lovingly dubbed T-RIP) is a strong action sequence but its biggest</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> weakness it is that it descends into ANOTHER Terminator fight in a factory as seen in both the first and second installments.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hasta La Vista Baby (Conclusions: Final) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator franchise has always been a key film series in my development into the film lover that I am today, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can still remember the first time that I watched each of the Terminator Movies, </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator: When I was just a kid (The age eludes me) at my Grandparents house, they let me stay up and watch it for some reason, I still clearly remembered</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> sitting in that armchair watching Arnie cut out his own eye for the first time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator 2: Judgment Day: I remember me </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(only a little older than when I had seen the first one) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and my Two Brothers sat upstairs at a friends house watching Judgment Day whilst our respective parents gossiped downstairs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: Buying the VHS with money that I had received as a Christmas gift, immediately settled down to watch it the moment we arrived home.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator: Salvation: In Shewsbury Cinema (But since that was only in 2009 i'm not sure if it counts) and loving every minute of it, A few days later me and some friends traveled to London and came across this guy.</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZFXbtX6u-BpfBluwLtmPXWDChZSf5VW0QQt-UISeEYaiV7KFAU3t0aNr1bRp2fvA_qmCIIgwl-nzvvPCg8bM4s8eRu-0aVKWKqe9cXec0jCraW2lsJHkVbH-2IAH_UCnJ4sfeH3NBTwn/s514/4898_93307779341_8322272_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZFXbtX6u-BpfBluwLtmPXWDChZSf5VW0QQt-UISeEYaiV7KFAU3t0aNr1bRp2fvA_qmCIIgwl-nzvvPCg8bM4s8eRu-0aVKWKqe9cXec0jCraW2lsJHkVbH-2IAH_UCnJ4sfeH3NBTwn/s1600/4898_93307779341_8322272_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Myself and friends Martyn Price and Alan Walker with a model of the rubber skinned T-600 - 27th June 2009</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it should come as no surprise that I credit this series is being massively influential to my love of Science-Fiction an Action films. The only other movies series that come close to having such an impact are the 'Die Hard', 'Alien' and 'Predator' franchises. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could be said that each movie represents the filming conventions of a particular decade </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Terminator - The 80's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator 2: Judgment Day - The 90's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - The 2000's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terminator: Salvation - Early 2010 (Technically 2009 but displays many conventions of films from 2010.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>An Action Movie With Ideas Above It's Station.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is important to remember that Time Travel raises issues in almost all movies where it is featured and even movies renowned for its use such as 'Back to the Future' and 'Looper' are not without flaws raised by the complexities and effects of time travel ( I think that 2002's 'The Time Machine' is able to avoid the worst of these problems as the plot actually explores the constraints of time travel, i.e after traveling back in time Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pearce) is unable to prevent the death of his childhood sweetheart due to the fact that it was her death that drove him to create the time machine in the first place - intricate no?).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your enjoyment of ANY film that delves into time travel depends upon ability to look beyond these issues and not over think things (Like I have been doing for this entire review - and now my brain is melting). </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At its core The Terminator Series has always been more than just a tale of Man vs. Machine,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is one of cinemas most iconic science fiction series thanks to its strong story line, impressive visual effects dramatic soundtrack and heart stopping action sequences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It can also be held largely responsible for launching Arnie's action career (Think of all the fantastic films and terrible puns we could have missed out on). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It explores mans ability to make his own future and the danger that our technological progression could inflict if we advance too fast.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But on the outside it's a kick-ass series about Arnie Killing Robots and like the machines themselves this franchise just keeps on going.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S3lMZQLiZfbLZ4kEj9Ab6VAMrdsdIgBSKf_hyOIeyhm3R494p5wI-_4Y4DCvf_XUSB5uahFv9dfANRtiSPosQS3ycXRl4yn-uDUbsaR42CDP0Yosdzs0tYByvw7k_kuX-Vfb4TiRnrN-/s1600/Bh8lurFIQAAbGXq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S3lMZQLiZfbLZ4kEj9Ab6VAMrdsdIgBSKf_hyOIeyhm3R494p5wI-_4Y4DCvf_XUSB5uahFv9dfANRtiSPosQS3ycXRl4yn-uDUbsaR42CDP0Yosdzs0tYByvw7k_kuX-Vfb4TiRnrN-/s1600/Bh8lurFIQAAbGXq.jpg" height="270" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-16195350658283231772014-02-25T14:30:00.001-08:002014-03-14T16:31:19.489-07:00It's MARVEL-ous (Let's Talk Super Heroes: Part II)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc-ogTrT0exG6QjnMgY2HBG8SOS9uNX2fWqEiOzFJ11EdKaihXD4VSdwLdwtTyapfLHs_Q5LhBFzXdXcCmSAr1eCQ3m2wkK0kOI4BAyZI1yol6P5oiKaMxcgKg-7LqjDie4VRCxhUNSar/s1600/marvel-studios-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc-ogTrT0exG6QjnMgY2HBG8SOS9uNX2fWqEiOzFJ11EdKaihXD4VSdwLdwtTyapfLHs_Q5LhBFzXdXcCmSAr1eCQ3m2wkK0kOI4BAyZI1yol6P5oiKaMxcgKg-7LqjDie4VRCxhUNSar/s1600/marvel-studios-logo-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cant Help But MARVEL.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago i wrote a short piece on the changing face of the Superhero Genre and while I continue to work on my upcoming Terminator Overview (Which is quickly becoming my biggest review yet) I decided to take a short break to write partly a follow up piece to my <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.com/2014/01/masks-capes-and-bloody-fists-rise-of.html" target="_blank">previous article</a>, part reaction to this weeks release of the first Guardians of the Galaxy trailer, partly a reaction to Marvel's Phase 2 as a whole and just how pre established characters have developed post <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" target="_blank">Avengers</a> and finally partly an introduction to my inevitable Captain America: The Winter Soldier review.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWu6YyXg6zm7sra3caVSJNN9-U9ehjxECUExERL6PIvRwEI1ujU4U77uIGmXN1hvnC1dmveiG2tO3v2LSi-BokUmWpu_Jd5FPQeUl2WQx1SM8vsNoe2m0nmSjDwObALKwdC8P7gdKn90Tr/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWu6YyXg6zm7sra3caVSJNN9-U9ehjxECUExERL6PIvRwEI1ujU4U77uIGmXN1hvnC1dmveiG2tO3v2LSi-BokUmWpu_Jd5FPQeUl2WQx1SM8vsNoe2m0nmSjDwObALKwdC8P7gdKn90Tr/s1600/images.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It Comes In Phases.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It really should be obvious by now that Marvel and Disney are currently the leading force in the superhero genre with Phase 1 having already fundamentally changing the scope and just how large studios approach Comic Book adaptations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beginning with Iron Man back in 2008 and ending with The Avengers (Or Avengers Assemble: This still bothers me) in 2012 which showcased just what Marvel's cinematic Universe had become capable of in the past four years and five movies there was no denying that Marvel had struck hit after hit with each new movies audience only growing, while film-goers were introduced to new characters they may not have been so open to viewing on the big screen without a little coaxing from the previous movie's hero easing the transition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But due to the hand in hand nature that makes Marvel's current film series so unique compared to any other saga it is important that each film is able to stand as its own single installment, fit as part of a film series for that character alone (for example: Iron Man 1-3)<b> AND </b>as part of Marvel's overall cinematic universe and in doing so each film features a ripple effect that effect another movie an example being that </span><a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/iron-man-3.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Iron Man 3</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> establishes that the current President of the United States of America is President Ellis played by William Sadler the knock on effect of this being that while never seen during the events of Thor: The Dark World (and presumably) Captain America: The Winter Soldier President Ellis is still the leader of the United States in both these movies as well as all the films are share the same universe meaning each new installment will directly or indirectly effect the world of a different character (however minor).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Pretty tough to keep track of Huh?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it is the feel of connectivity that makes the Avenger's universe so very rewarding to invest in as you can't help but wondering what one hero is doing during the events of another's movie, searching for Easter Eggs and references.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it does very much feel like a shared 'Universe'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A universe that is about to get a whole lot bigger with the introduction of The Guardians of the Galaxy, If Thor opened the idea of there being more to Marvel than just Earth bound Heroes then Guardians is going to push just how far out there audiences can get.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIOqZuglxMqf1TN7qlgkROZJemsWwQ5WZrCVtl3Q8BeBpzJjoJGBQpqvGswmqHPUFOUHv4qGvR3A2xSDGiPm9wfYD9C5OtV_APvdbk6o7JZSJ5m1QSDRB8nTH3NZDtPPkrg1eyI9Kyv5z/s1600/marvel-studios-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIOqZuglxMqf1TN7qlgkROZJemsWwQ5WZrCVtl3Q8BeBpzJjoJGBQpqvGswmqHPUFOUHv4qGvR3A2xSDGiPm9wfYD9C5OtV_APvdbk6o7JZSJ5m1QSDRB8nTH3NZDtPPkrg1eyI9Kyv5z/s1600/marvel-studios-logo-1.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>While We Were Waiting To Get The Band Back Together. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the biggest issues to face the currently crisscrossing series is that once the Heroes have returned to their individual films they should be allowed to continue to grow and develop individually rather than simply waiting around to all meet up again, So far the two movies released following the Avengers Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World explore this return to individualism in two different ways with Iron Man approaching the issue from a character standpoint with Tony Stark actually being traumatized by the events of the avengers having to overcome an issue that occurs as a result of the battle in New York and how this effect his relationship with his status as Iron Man and his dependence upon his suits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Thor: The Dark World instead choose to focus on how the impact of the previous movies have effected Thor's world itself, how Asgard's absence from the Nine Realms as a result of the Bifrost's destruction has effected the rest of the universe, During the events of the film not only is Thor's actual world threatened but so is his personal one as their are both deaths and twists that insure our future return to Asgard will never be the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Needless to say that by the conclusion of both films the two title characters have moved on substantially from where they were back in 2012 which guarantees that when they inevitably meet again they will not simply be the same people as last time around, they will have grown and hopefully the same will be true of Captain America when he returns to the big screen in March.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Phasing Out.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is daunting to think just how close we are to the end of Phase 2 with Captain America: The Winter Soldier set for release in just over a month, Guardians of the Galaxy set for release in early August and that The Avengers: Age of Ultron began filming back in February.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OmBM7Fco3XSjSNiI88tpA-q0v3rJRHtq3xrPP2YVgp6mHpqJnJ4-lcrj_pKDKbN7-FBqmdH-obpU3_FGhSPjgboMU1eQ0GqKo8O9m2BsJHakfJZbt0prhpgEslvbjW2-65JfQ_Bfkajn/s1600/captain-america-banner1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OmBM7Fco3XSjSNiI88tpA-q0v3rJRHtq3xrPP2YVgp6mHpqJnJ4-lcrj_pKDKbN7-FBqmdH-obpU3_FGhSPjgboMU1eQ0GqKo8O9m2BsJHakfJZbt0prhpgEslvbjW2-65JfQ_Bfkajn/s1600/captain-america-banner1.png" height="244" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of all the Phase 2 follow up films the one I was/am easily the most excited about was Captain America 2 as of all the Phase 1 introductory films Captain America seemed to recieve the most mixed reception, I personally loved it (Not my favorite, But damn enjoyable) but amongst others it seemed to split people, a friend of mine suggested that perhaps this was due to the heavy patriotic content and national exclusion of the film and that other countries could not appreciate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the film and character the way that Americans could, but I suspected that it had more to due with the film having more to achieve in a single installment than previous Marvel films as it is required to</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Introduce audiences to the character of Steve Rogers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Introduce audiences to his world: World War II.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set up the Red Skull and Hydra.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Establish the Tesseract it's origin, it's powers and in doing so set up a major plot point for the Avengers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Show Steve's transition into becoming Captain America.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Convey Cap's entirely military career fighting the Nazi and Hydra.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have Cap travel from Past to Present Day in order for him to be Avengers ready.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it is a lot to squeeze into a lone installment with Cap's military career featuring enough material for a Trilogy of films but the need to get him both introduced to the audience through his origin story and yet in the same movie in the present day to allow for his Avengers appearance forced his entire combat history to be condensed into a short montage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so The Winter Soldier is Captain America's first standalone film without any major time constraints giving more time for character development and world building. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Bunch of A-Holes.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Phase 1 only featured a single sequel (Iron Man 2) Phase 2 is amusingly comprised entirely of sequels and features only a single new film property Guardians of the Galaxy which had its first Trailer debut last week and while it is impossible (or more to the point: irresponsible) to judge a film based on the contents of its trailer Guardians early footage looks INCREDIBLE! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It will be interesting to see just how closely Guardians ties into the other established Marvel franchises with both The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World's post credit sequences each introducing a character whom will feature in Guardians with Avengers introducing the terrifying force that is Thanos while Thor 2 introduced The Collector played by Benicio del Toro but beyond these two introductions the films seems rather far removed from anything that has been established up until this point.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the best thing about Guardians so far goes easily to the films tagline which is simply "You're Welcome".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YOU'RE WELCOME.</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can we please take a moment to appreciate the fact that there is currently a film in existance that stars a talking Raccoon AND a talking Tree and so far that films only tagline is - You're Welcome.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE8p8OEH9T9WGHbH79UjQjJoyRE4AdSr4_Wl2DFMnnYxbIxbsaZzGVNSpdoqo6O81RHWBYcIY1uxgHUE_dFiBYi7zqPJ1uQUxxf75aMGchNbl1dYbwXwGJj3OWR8do8xZIAEXPfRKndr5/s1600/harold-ramis-quote-meme-DONT-CROSS-STREAMS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE8p8OEH9T9WGHbH79UjQjJoyRE4AdSr4_Wl2DFMnnYxbIxbsaZzGVNSpdoqo6O81RHWBYcIY1uxgHUE_dFiBYi7zqPJ1uQUxxf75aMGchNbl1dYbwXwGJj3OWR8do8xZIAEXPfRKndr5/s1600/harold-ramis-quote-meme-DONT-CROSS-STREAMS.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>End Phase.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's marketing brilliance and while I predict that Guardians of the Galaxy will more closely to connect to The Avengers 3 than any other film (Hopefully setting the worlds greatest heroes against the might of Thanos) it does open up a lot of possibilities for Phase 3 which while may already have another Captain America and Thor installment in the works along with The Avengers 3 while Marvel is also set to begin introducing new heroes with Black Panther and Dr. Strange films rumored and Edgar Wright's Antman adaptation currently in pre-production.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DC you may have you're work cut out trying to compete with this monster franchise that continues to show no sign of slowing down.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-41163500691736957582014-02-25T13:20:00.001-08:002014-02-25T13:53:03.852-08:00A Tribute To Harold Ramis <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyjTvzIwviZvUZ6ZbbZdcfbRiFaz0wZd2BaVMTe6M2g9kepNHL4rTblhg3B6TnxY6K5zuExBHD6FD_tfMA_g7UmWajJUO45iRFNh7D4WLLqSOSAvPNjrGmLo5mYlSW7-QrhFO-VHyGeTy/s1600/harold-ramis-quote-meme-DONT-CROSS-STREAMS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyjTvzIwviZvUZ6ZbbZdcfbRiFaz0wZd2BaVMTe6M2g9kepNHL4rTblhg3B6TnxY6K5zuExBHD6FD_tfMA_g7UmWajJUO45iRFNh7D4WLLqSOSAvPNjrGmLo5mYlSW7-QrhFO-VHyGeTy/s1600/harold-ramis-quote-meme-DONT-CROSS-STREAMS.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday saw the sad passing of Harold Ramis </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director of countless brilliant comedy movies including Caddyshack, Groundhog Day, Bedazzled and National Lampoon's Vacation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Co-writer of both the iconic Ghostbusters movies in which he of course starred in the role of Dr. Egon Spengler.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His work brought joy to millions and inspired film lovers all over the world (myself included) and he shall be dearly missed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for making me laugh and teaching me that complex expedition can be simplified with the use of Twinkies. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">R.I.P Harold Ramis and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't Cross The Streams.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-78983383420678111802014-01-06T07:21:00.002-08:002014-01-08T15:45:59.319-08:00Masks, Capes and Bloody Fists. (Let's Talk Superheroes)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY3LJZ9NmFCA_XHKmFGrdhGqRr8eUi-WSiH9LDakDeTc8xcfiUi5HBaesNGASQ7gfIaeQXfgQZJpwQQJZJ03POm3yLYSypp54sRUejoy9GuNgvhm5_aX7HtYNGIAis6Cks-4aM-DKHJRSh/s1600/the-avengers-concept-art-2304x864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY3LJZ9NmFCA_XHKmFGrdhGqRr8eUi-WSiH9LDakDeTc8xcfiUi5HBaesNGASQ7gfIaeQXfgQZJpwQQJZJ03POm3yLYSypp54sRUejoy9GuNgvhm5_aX7HtYNGIAis6Cks-4aM-DKHJRSh/s640/the-avengers-concept-art-2304x864.jpg" height="330" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Man vs. Thor from 2012's <b>Avengers Assemble</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have said on numerous occasions that over the past few years Cinema has been experiencing a kind of Superhero Renaissance with more comic book heroes making the leap to the big screen than ever before as characters such as Ghost Rider, Iron Man, The Green Lantern and Thor finally being given their own standalone movies with even more characters such as The Guardians of the Galaxy set to join them later in the year </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and The Antman</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> set to be released in 2015, while the reception of these new adaptations has largely varied with The Green Lantern and Ghost Rider (and its sequel) being particularly criticized while less know characters like Iron Man have gone on to gain massive financial and critical acclaim, effectively became the figure head character for Marvel's Phase One series of movies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As cinema goers are being introduced to new characters old classics that they know and love are being rebooted and re-imagined with 2012's 'The Amazing Spider-Man' relaunching the beloved web swingers story with a second installment set for release later this year, Man of Steel giving a new lease of life to Superman with its sequel set to reveal a new adaption of Batman after the completion of Christopher Nolan's ground breaking Dark Knight Trilogy which it's self rebooted Burton's and Schumacher's movies</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I previously mentioned in my <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/iron-man-3.html" target="_blank">Iron Man 3 Review</a> the two major forces responsible for the revitalization and current sate of the superhero genre can be attributed to the Iron Man movies and The <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-dark-knight-trilogy-overview.html" target="_blank">Dark Knight Trilogy</a> for where The Dark Knight Trilogy showed that Super Hero movies could be tackled with the same drama and emotion as any other genre, Iron Man taught us that Super Hero films could be fun, light hearted movies again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLe71ogWxq-rfxKordCmDuWAkJ5-cf5r_XtN0vKeraBJgyQlfXDXZGcXo2-Ou9zZ4_wWvc2pwMdJ0HfpGF3EZgSq87ZiU-T_G3QjrNcqMBMv2oqeWuCp31XPkdv92kzRV_jVMf4zJ1HBt2/s1600/891978_501719799863630_44650585_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLe71ogWxq-rfxKordCmDuWAkJ5-cf5r_XtN0vKeraBJgyQlfXDXZGcXo2-Ou9zZ4_wWvc2pwMdJ0HfpGF3EZgSq87ZiU-T_G3QjrNcqMBMv2oqeWuCp31XPkdv92kzRV_jVMf4zJ1HBt2/s1600/891978_501719799863630_44650585_o.jpg" height="292" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Amazing Spiderman</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no arguing with the fact that Superheroes are more popular than ever and while more and more make it to the screen the most recent development in the genre is how the individual worlds of these characters have begun to overlap allowing for franchise crossovers with the first major example released being Marvel's 2012 <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/marvel-avenges-assemble.html" target="_blank">Avengers Assemble </a>(or The Avengers depending on continent) which was a massive movie success, this should really come as no surprise do to the effort that was put into making the film, looking as far back as 2008 when Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk subtly (at first) began to acknowledge one another with tiny (at first) references it caused a massive stir of excitement amongst audiences but Marvel Studios knew the need to establish the characters as individuals before establishing them as a team so that by the time that the Avengers finally 'Assembled' we already had a clear idea of everything we needed to know about them and their world, it took five films and four years to reach this stage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While both The Amazing Spiderman and the X-Men expand their own borders with Spiderman having multiple sequels planned as well as two spin-offs revolving around the characters of Venom and The Sinister Six panned and X-Men set to unite both current and prequel movie streams with <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/x-men-days-of-future-past-pre-thoughts.html" target="_blank">Days of Future Past</a> released later this year and another movie X-Men Apocalypse set to follow it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffUoYVMK1MSyIanMZZVfCIYzdMXdSHHK31nmwEYbGiQLJqXXT2FzoWau2ByGNXfckym4RRDe9ZTvGxlFdcWVi5trYDTAk3g4fE3mkMxdnMwnjrN9dAH93UHYBE1bl4q43kmpW-1JI9BUs/s1600/man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman-concept-art-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffUoYVMK1MSyIanMZZVfCIYzdMXdSHHK31nmwEYbGiQLJqXXT2FzoWau2ByGNXfckym4RRDe9ZTvGxlFdcWVi5trYDTAk3g4fE3mkMxdnMwnjrN9dAH93UHYBE1bl4q43kmpW-1JI9BUs/s1600/man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman-concept-art-5.jpg" height="242" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Iron Man 3</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Girl Power. (The Gap In The Superhero Market)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is still one area of the Superhero Market that remains completely untapped and that is a standalone film starring a female superhero, it seems strange that this has only really been attempted once in recent years with 2005's Daredevil spin off Electra but unfortunately Electra's first and only solo outing met with a largely negative reception (also Catwoman: But the less said about that disaster the better), even so as Marvel's Phase 2 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blazes forward they still haven't managed to launch their own Avengers branching female lead (with Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow providing the female presence for most of Phase 1 & 2 in a supporting role) and so this is one area at least where DC can really begin to regain ground from Marvel as DC showcases arguably the most iconic female hero of them all Wonder Woman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEXySdKRAAHAwCOEYsuwYMFGLewPuKkIGZ1uV2P2KMoqKoyPMqT3R7eMSSFsznReUPA8MEAp4UPHw3DEKFl-5fQrWIQ7fU40XGrJOK_bZlab_GkhydoABNWWp7r2EkuGdeWfCntxgJNUn/s1600/man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman-concept-art-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEXySdKRAAHAwCOEYsuwYMFGLewPuKkIGZ1uV2P2KMoqKoyPMqT3R7eMSSFsznReUPA8MEAp4UPHw3DEKFl-5fQrWIQ7fU40XGrJOK_bZlab_GkhydoABNWWp7r2EkuGdeWfCntxgJNUn/s640/man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman-concept-art-5.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Man of Steel.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flesh and Bone vs. A Man of Steel. (DC Stirs) </b><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being completely honest I have never found Superman to be a compelling character, I have always found him to be bland overpowered and most of all boring which may go to explain why i was so dubious about going to see the newest Superman adaptation Man of Steel but after much persuasion I relented, took to the cinema to watch it and to my own surprise thoroughly enjoyed it. Not that it didn't have its flaws (The narrative style was to close that of Batman Begins and the level of destruction during the final showdown between Superman and Zod is beyond ridiculous) but the film succeeded in making Superman interesting which in itself no easy feat.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Man of Steel serves as DC's first step towards an eventual Justice League crossover movie but rather than follow Marvel's approach of using standalone installments to establish each and every character individually before throwing them together DC is taking a much more immediate approach with the sequel to Man of Steel seemingly being a Batman vs. Superman film that will also feature The Green Lantern John Stewart and Wonder Woman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warner Brothers want Avengers level cross marketing and the want it now. But at what cost?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the major contributors towards The Avengers success is that the film required little to no actual set up as audiences will already be familiar with the movies heroes, their individual worlds, their strengths and weakness, the villain having been introduced previously means that the audience is already aware of his power, motives and goals and the means through which he aims to achieve them (the Tesseract) already having had its origin and power explored previously,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not that i don't believe that a Justice League movie could succeed, the film easily has the same potential that the Avengers held but DC needs to get its house in order first: Superman may be rebooted and ready to roll but movie goers only just saw the conclusion of the best Batman trilogy to grace the big screen and even though these films may have been one of the largest contributing factors to the aforementioned renaissance it's conclusion and overall tone of the trilogy in general (Which adopted a realistic stance on the caped crusader) has required the character to once again be rebooted to bring the version of the character back in line with the more fantastical elements that other heroes bring to the screen meaning that audience will once again have to familiarize themselves with a new version of the character and what makes him unique compared to previous versions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7W4CyPF8DiDNBkaxgGiwlcEP0Y1CxJajOjF-9_KIPc5XehMtEWC1Yl9hbaU8f1o7A_r_5jfuVo7l1v8K4LZRVepBClRVSLb_MRee1bnAr_T4hjvS2qDPzBTIMpuaByCwLFUcg4cJ_-3A/s1600/batman-concept-artbatman-begins---concept-art---concept-art-other-9alvqmjl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7W4CyPF8DiDNBkaxgGiwlcEP0Y1CxJajOjF-9_KIPc5XehMtEWC1Yl9hbaU8f1o7A_r_5jfuVo7l1v8K4LZRVepBClRVSLb_MRee1bnAr_T4hjvS2qDPzBTIMpuaByCwLFUcg4cJ_-3A/s1600/batman-concept-artbatman-begins---concept-art---concept-art-other-9alvqmjl.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Dark Knight</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Green Lantern's previously poorly received installment will see it ignored as part of the JL movies cannon and if plans go ahead to introduce John Stewart rather than Hal Jordan this new character will require introduction as well as characters like The Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman (To be honest I'm not entirely sure of JL's major character line up beyond Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman: Which oddly is kind of my point) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who have never been featured in a live-action film before and Wonder Woman will also require re-introducing due to her long absence from the screen. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The characters need and deserve to have the proper time focused on allowing them to be developed into actual characters before a Justice League movie can even be considered as this will be the difference between the film featuring a roomful of DC most iconic character and a roomful of actors in costume.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Needless to say some assembly is required.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who Guards The Guardians? (Marvel's Phase 2's most dangerous Project)</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOBbJdbW-X9yDEnDA_etHPw73LoHcVztcJNb2F-VtjIVrd_aclythZAGHko1PKZsNydLodXuZM2dy9VlH9PZjmlq0rDHUlum_KsJf4ckKE6Lw-xEeR0fihRru4K3bgBFiKaovbsUxvNNi/s1600/guardians-of-the-galaxy-photos-concept-art-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOBbJdbW-X9yDEnDA_etHPw73LoHcVztcJNb2F-VtjIVrd_aclythZAGHko1PKZsNydLodXuZM2dy9VlH9PZjmlq0rDHUlum_KsJf4ckKE6Lw-xEeR0fihRru4K3bgBFiKaovbsUxvNNi/s1600/guardians-of-the-galaxy-photos-concept-art-full.jpg" height="278" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guardians of the Galaxy </span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strange as it is to think about it Marvel's Phase 2 will soon be drawing to an end with only Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy set to be released be for Phase 2 reaches it's finale with The Avengers; Age of Ultron and yet before we get to see all our favorite heroes gather once again Marvel is set to debut there most potentially risky film since Kenneth Branagh first took Marvel's cinematic universe away from planet earth with Thor i am of course talking about Guardians of the Galaxy which is the most unique and surreal Marvel Movie to date, but where as in Thor the majority of the film was set on earth and Agent Coulson turned up to give audience a feel for the familiar Guardians will be set away from anything currently explored by Phase 1 or 2 and so will hopefully expand the scope of Marvel's universe even further than Thor did opening up doors for Phase 3 and 4 films. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What's one more body amongst the foundations? (Conclusions)</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it seems we truly are living in the golden-age of comic book adaptions with more heroes and story-lines being adapted to fill the film going audiences appetites than ever before and as DC prepares to unite its heroes under one roof and Marvel's Avengers, Guardians, X-Men and Web Swinger's worlds continue develop and grow and more and more standalone universes like Kick Ass and Watchmen spring up to help improve the quality of the Superhero genre with each new release The future looks bright indeed. </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-79727605927994642172013-10-08T13:44:00.002-07:002015-01-26T04:17:51.267-08:00When Will The Xenomorphs Next Invade the Big Screen?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbN4w1t2qwPjRo3FM4i5Vk5rznOYzEuVS6LKDef9fu_mTImV_whOJvVUEX5KMOG6KX7BAaIIjl_BVYkJqo1oPzJK2pMq6PBboJu-YrZ9Vo_0NYmkgcUyCGaMXQ0mbCzTUYBYXvyVkWXb5i/s1600/DjangoQuote_Curiosity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbN4w1t2qwPjRo3FM4i5Vk5rznOYzEuVS6LKDef9fu_mTImV_whOJvVUEX5KMOG6KX7BAaIIjl_BVYkJqo1oPzJK2pMq6PBboJu-YrZ9Vo_0NYmkgcUyCGaMXQ0mbCzTUYBYXvyVkWXb5i/s640/DjangoQuote_Curiosity.jpg" height="359" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Soon there will be no one left To Hear...You...Scream.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point it should come as no surprise to anyone that I am a massive fan of the 'Alien' Franchise, This is after all my Third article focusing on this film series (Following my <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/alien-resurrection-horrors-of-halloween.html" target="_blank">Alien Resurrection</a> Review as well as the very first review I posted <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/aliens.html" target="_blank">Aliens</a> - Ah I have come a long way, but at some point im going to have go back, I can do better now.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in recent years the franchise has been struggling due to disappointing sequels (Personally I prefer Alien 3 The Directors Cut -*Obviously* over Alien Resurrection, I know that many of you may disagree, like much of this article it all comes down to personal preference) followed by some truly terrible crossovers which saw to major Sci-Fi franchise's come together only to produce little more than a visually impressive but mindbogglingly stupid and emotionally empty monster mash up and a sequel that takes two of the biggest Sci-Fi Icons and reduces them to B-Movie Material - I am of course talking about the Alien Vs. Predator Movies (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I swear one day I will go into full detail on why I hate those two movies so much but for now our focus is elsewhere)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end result saw both franchises racing to distance themselves and re-establish themselves as the greats they once were (and this is where things get complicated). While <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/predators.html" target="_blank">Predators</a> chose to celebrate it's roots in an all-out homage to the first installment while upping the violence, action and stakes, the eventual return to the Alien series with the 2012 Prometheus instead chose to take the Alien out of the Alien Series. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I'm A Stranger Here Myself. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like any good joke the set up was perfect: Ridley Scott the mastermind behind the film that started it all returned to direct a prequel that suggested answers to the many of the overlooked issues of the original, but all we found were more questions, questions we hadn't even thought to ask yet (personally I blame Damon Lindelof)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest problem with Prometheus is that while the film moves away from established Alien territory it fails to introduce enough new material to stand on it's own and instead is forced to fall back to insinuating that the Xenomorphs would be making an appearance, the pile of engineer corpses, the mural on the wall that clearly shows Xenos, The fact that the Hammerpede had acid for blood the sticky substance between David's fingers are all used to hint at the fact that the Double-Jawed Monsters might be lurking somewhere but all the set up is ultimately meaningless as the only connecting strand to the Xenos we get has nothing to do with the build up and has no real impact on the story save for being and ending sting to placate fans. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the while you could say that I should have gone in a little more opened minded the films trailer seemed to be engineered (Sorry) for the sole purpose of drawing comparison between Alien and Prometheus from the shot of Acid burning through the space suits helmet, the cry of "Cut it off" - Kind of a give away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make no mistake I enjoyed Prometheus, I really did and I can easily see just what Ridley Scott was hoping to achieve with Prometheus greatly expanding upon the scope and scale of the 'Aliens' universe and proving that there is much more depth to the world than first appeared, while at the same time both distancing itself from and discrediting AVP. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3T2RMpX8d8o-NMe4BuvqnoA4mIUYM9Kv_xbSvuiJlOHqQZBWbJBjWjO22uyrVSZJF4ffqCjfgPjF1kWdAn9XjMW5FDp43LtAYJ8n56YoW5Imp3Yu3UkOLH_Kj5rk7A3pHITK3P9cl0kFQ/s1600/prometheus_deacon_concept_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3T2RMpX8d8o-NMe4BuvqnoA4mIUYM9Kv_xbSvuiJlOHqQZBWbJBjWjO22uyrVSZJF4ffqCjfgPjF1kWdAn9XjMW5FDp43LtAYJ8n56YoW5Imp3Yu3UkOLH_Kj5rk7A3pHITK3P9cl0kFQ/s640/prometheus_deacon_concept_art.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art: The Deacon in Prometheus</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as Prometheus 2 inevitably advances, leaving any notion of the Xenos behind in order to expand upon the elements that were introduced but not explored and becoming more Engineer focused with Ridley Scott himself claiming that a Prometheus sequel would be even further removed from Alien than the first installment I am left to wonder when (if ever) I will see the Aliens that I have come to know and love on the big screen again? and what form they might take from now on? or is this the end of the line for the chest-bursting monstrosities? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sincerely hope not as there is still so much potential for the series,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Game Over, Man.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The varieties of the Xenos continues to diversify, Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem finally brought the Predalien to the big-screen but there are hundreds of different subspecies across Alien's expansive media of books, comics and video games and I am still hoping to see the Praetorian make the leap to film one day and while even though the 2013 video game Aliens: Colonial Marines sucked (And boy did it) it did give us interesting new Xenomorph varieties such as The Crusher, The Boiler and The Raven which would be great additions to the screen one day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoV9i1jOuDlR-YOke9M69lpUr5lxGyaOHr7izObi9Y8A2pnDWh_GugWOgsohJfTbNXqLxaEcHM-mRZYzAxXSQqWTusApDMOegHaT80ucBracqP3JzfJHjQ_wJqQQFrJcEiPMXNL2WoexR/s1600/DjangoQuote_Curiosity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoV9i1jOuDlR-YOke9M69lpUr5lxGyaOHr7izObi9Y8A2pnDWh_GugWOgsohJfTbNXqLxaEcHM-mRZYzAxXSQqWTusApDMOegHaT80ucBracqP3JzfJHjQ_wJqQQFrJcEiPMXNL2WoexR/s1600/DjangoQuote_Curiosity.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The AVP relationship may have broken down but they did create somthing beautiful together - The Predalien</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are still so many great concepts that could be adapted to make fantastic stories for Alien Movies</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Planet-wide infestation that follows the outbreak as it develops growing from the discovery of the eggs to the forced abandonment</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of the planet as humanity is overwhelmed and a small group of survivors attempt to escape off-world before it's too late.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reuse Aliens: Colonial Marines's starting point</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in exploring the Marine expedition sent to discover the fate of the Sulaco, Even this limited starting point could be adapted into a follow up to Prometheus that sees the crew sent to investigate the fate of the Prometheus encounter the Deacon (Avoiding its inclusion at the end of the film from being utterly pointless, this may even allow the answers to Aliens unresolved issues). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hell, You could even reboot the AVP series only this time set it in the future and do it well. (Although I suspect this is probably the least likely option as both franchises go through their awkward breakup stage and avoid one another).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know that the series has made several missteps in the past but the franchise still has so much to offer the world of film that it shouldn't simply be cast aside an abandoned, by all mean carry on Prometheus's crazy plot-hole ridden narrative, I have nothing but high hopes and expectations for its sequel but all I ask is that cinema doesn't forget where this story began - In a pulsating egg, in a crashed derelict spaceship, on a desolate wasteland of a planet, in the blackness of space, where <b>No One Can Hear You Scream.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.....And while we are on the subject - When Will I Get A <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/predators.html">Predators</a> Sequel?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-70642070114452187422013-09-20T15:57:00.003-07:002013-09-20T16:02:45.843-07:00Riddick <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_o1Bi0AZ9lBGoibL0BybkW7tDhCQ53eLD7vNAL0HC80_3TIwlVs7qpOhSvSZBzBO5rAPCvzCgUxuxxq3CZ3DaApSJhiRSV_JLrbP7OgDODxrfyTxe7JqOUAkXwLazIv6LLHBwOiBP6spv/s1600/0b59899eae8202dafbf9279f113d9284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_o1Bi0AZ9lBGoibL0BybkW7tDhCQ53eLD7vNAL0HC80_3TIwlVs7qpOhSvSZBzBO5rAPCvzCgUxuxxq3CZ3DaApSJhiRSV_JLrbP7OgDODxrfyTxe7JqOUAkXwLazIv6LLHBwOiBP6spv/s1600/0b59899eae8202dafbf9279f113d9284.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hope Begins In The Dark. (An Introduction)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back Pitch Black was a remarkable film, a perfect blend of strong Science Fiction, A interesting and unique protagonist surrounded by a cast of likable and well developed secondary characters (with Keith David's Imam being the standout but Cole Hauser and Radha Mitchell also deliver power performances in an already strong cast), a new and different visual style (courtesy of Riddick's Eye-Shine and the Monster's Point of View) and a surprisingly original Alien creature design.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by David Twohy back in 2000 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pitch Black saw a spaceship crash land on a desolate world where the survivors slowly realize that an escaped murderer may not be their biggest threat as a total solar eclipse frees a light sensitive race of murderous aliens and sends the planet into complete darkness, Riddick (whom carries a unique ability to see in the dark) may be their only hope of survival.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And while people give Pitch Black's sequel The Chronicles </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of Riddick a hard time (and I agree with many of the complaints)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I respect what they were attempting to achieve</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> by taking the series in a dramatically different direction rather than simply rehashing the premise of the original which had already proved a successful formula,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the film instead focusing on the growth and continuation of Riddick's story as he is forced to contend with a planet destroying army whom threaten the whole universe while at the same time fleeing from bounty hunters who are out for the price on his head.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However the difference</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the two film's styles proved too jarring for audiences with Riddick going from talented killer to near superhero qualities between movies. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chronicles attributes this to Riddick being a member of the Furyan Race and therefor naturally stronger than most but the increase in abilities causes the film to loose the sense of realism created in the original where it seemed like Riddick could just as easily die as any other member of the cast.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(It is also important to mention that The Chronicles of Riddick is another example of how a film's Director's Cut can be infinitely better than the general release version with Chronicle's Director's Cut:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Delving deeper into Riddick's Furyan heritage.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Better developing both major and minor characters.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Better explaining the universe of Riddick.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More details on the Necromongers.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is also more violent restoring footage that was cut to allow for a lower age rating and is all in all a much better movie.)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humorously due to the lukewarm financial and critical reception that Chronicles received and diminished interest in the series due to little movement over the past years Diesel and Twohy are attempting to regain public interest in the franchise by skipping the planned follow up to Chronicles that would explore the Necromongers and the Underverse and instead returning to the franchises roots with a filler story that retreads elements of Pitch Black (What Chronicles was attempting to avoid), which is a great way to both gain new fans and win back old fans who's interest may have wandered in recent years by giving audience exactly what made them fall in love with the series in the first place.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so Riddick returns to his roots.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This Ain't Nothing New. (The Plot)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddick picks up shortly after the events of Chronicles and sees everyone's favorite Eye-Shined Killer unhappy with his new position as the Necromongers Lord Marshal and longing for his home-world of Furya but he is promptly betrayed by his loyal subjects and left for dead on a wasteland world.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when Riddick discovers that its is only a matter of time until tropical storms will free a countless number of murderous Mud-Monsters he is forced to activate an abandoned mercenary station's emergency beacon which attracts the attention of two groups of Bounty Hunters with very different goals. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The films plot progression is pretty basic, easily being separate into its various acts:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Act One - Riddick vs. The World.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first 20 minutes of the film see's Riddick stranded alone struggling to survive a hostile world, this is actually where the film is at it's strongest with a wounded Riddick attempting to reconnect with his animal-side and simply survive on a hostile planet where everything seems set on killing him.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its an impressive sequence as the audience gets to see just how capable a survivor Riddick is as he resets bone, scavenges for food, builds up an immunity to the Mud Monster's venom and creates his own weapons.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Act Two - Riddick vs.The Mercs.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddick himself actually takes a back seat for the majority of this act as the film focuses on introducing and exploring the mercenaries who come hunting for Riddick (namely Dahl, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Johns, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Diaz and Santana) before they begin to get picked off one by one as Riddick implents his plan to escape the planet.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Act Three - The World Takes All.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which finally sees the deadline reached allowing for the emergence of endless swarms of Mud-Monsters forcing all parties to team up in order to flee the planet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although their are surprisingly fewer deaths at the hands of the Mud-Monsters than you might expect with Riddick himself killing off the majority of the human cast before the storm even hits.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMyAnYAyq_702I4i5Dj2U7payUbeWS-Gmqk4RyRvzv2FDh3ppHm72kkvOqMz8BDFRmId3XXvErFP5Hzmt2sdGMRUf2LlgqgGpQOCoQ0KdReC5CYjEGYu9teNVzQ_L8rjHEEUhtNTeQ_C8/s1600/$(KGrHqVHJBkFIV4vdS!1BSH6VK4Q8Q~~60_12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVMyAnYAyq_702I4i5Dj2U7payUbeWS-Gmqk4RyRvzv2FDh3ppHm72kkvOqMz8BDFRmId3XXvErFP5Hzmt2sdGMRUf2LlgqgGpQOCoQ0KdReC5CYjEGYu9teNVzQ_L8rjHEEUhtNTeQ_C8/s640/$(KGrHqVHJBkFIV4vdS!1BSH6VK4Q8Q~~60_12.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who's The Better Killer? (The Cast)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richard B. Riddick still makes a likable protagonist and 'Riddick' proves that no one understands the character of Riddick better than Vin Diesel himself who continues to effortlessly make the character charismatic and memorable, Playing him as a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> murder with his own code and sense of honor, while his new found desire to search for his home-world</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of Furya adds a new perspective on the character that while never fully utilized here is great set up for potential sequels.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film cleverly introduces two separate teams of Mercenaries who come hunting for Riddick one of which is a large team of brutal and immoral mercs led by Santana (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jordi Mollà)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and a second smaller and more professional team led by Johns (Matthew Nable - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a surprising twist the farther of the bounty hunter Johns from Pitch Black which </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is another nice call back to the film that I really did not see coming</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of the majority of the supporting cast Johns is arguably the most likable character driven solely by the need to uncover the details of his sons demise, who's morals begin to unravel as his need for closure builds.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While his methods seems far more professional and calculated than that of Santana whom uses brutality of the sake of brutality. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John's second in command is Dahl played by Sci-Fi's strong female actor Katee Sackhoff who does well here despite perhaps not being as well developed as she could otherwise been, also the film seems to be drawing a lot of fire due to a misplaced line about her character being a lesbian that is disregarded later, but Sackhoff delivers a strong performance regardless with Dahl coming across tougher than most of the male characters present easily fighting off the constant and unwelcome attention of Santana.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55ZiYMvSmkTGjN4jFX2H2gmp8qaFkUZpmBWyPmdvF_dnO52gX_Y3JcYoeIOFBUPXPz3E7u_TD9o-My2woZoMBwP7UfEBneq2wrqUXRX1XCd8PB5qUJB5gKt2G-rsrwjbake1NEO6ZDRna/s1600/tumblr_mt67bdeVUh1s9pzbso2_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55ZiYMvSmkTGjN4jFX2H2gmp8qaFkUZpmBWyPmdvF_dnO52gX_Y3JcYoeIOFBUPXPz3E7u_TD9o-My2woZoMBwP7UfEBneq2wrqUXRX1XCd8PB5qUJB5gKt2G-rsrwjbake1NEO6ZDRna/s640/tumblr_mt67bdeVUh1s9pzbso2_1280.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santana is a bad man - pure and simple. He is a murdering, raping monster albeit not a particular threatening one, in fact I found it hard to invest in the character at all once I realized that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santana's death was revealed in an early trailer for the film</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A sequence in which he is forced to disarm a rigged explosive by turning a key multiple times with each turn threatening detonation (effectively playing Explosive Russian-Roulette) had the possibility of being incredibly tense and dramatic sequence but it's impact is somewhat diminished by the fact that I knew not only that Santana was going to survive this but also exactly how he would eventually die, this seems to suck the energy from not only this scene but the character entirely which is a shame as while Santana is not a likable character, Jordi Mollà is able to portray Santana well as the Merc who is so used to being the most feared killer on the planet that he suddenly seems unable to cope when someone more dangerous turns up.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddick finds a Jackal</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Pup (I named him Jim Carrey for reasons involving Kick Ass 2) and raises it to adulthood (Raising the question: Just how long was he stranded?). It quickly becomes one of the more memorable movie mutts and you cant help but enjoy Riddick and the Hound's interactions, with the Jackal eventually becoming</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the character I most wanted to survive the movie.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the cast are little more than corpses in waiting with none of them really developed beyond minor traits - one is religious, one is superstitious and its hard to care for any of them but since its their deaths you are watching for anyway this doesn't impact the film at all. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Karl Urban's Vaako returns (albeit briefly) in a short flashback that explains Riddick's fall from Necromonger Glory and while </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a shame to see the Necromongers swept under the rug and the dramatic resolution of the previous movie resolved so quickly it is necessary for the plot to move straight</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> into Riddick's current situation without a lot of unnecessary back story.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4-K8sVEpjdM7ezezPglJI6lWeuI9g3_EWrpcQNVTmWhZrZenQDBeJhR0t62tWu-DnqLpIFTREBeHLlofEAmsQoAyOHYF40_XiOj-rbsQc5LLujnymCHbyKHMex4uXDIwLX1mbarm3THp/s1600/$(KGrHqVHJBkFIV4vdS!1BSH6VK4Q8Q~~60_12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4-K8sVEpjdM7ezezPglJI6lWeuI9g3_EWrpcQNVTmWhZrZenQDBeJhR0t62tWu-DnqLpIFTREBeHLlofEAmsQoAyOHYF40_XiOj-rbsQc5LLujnymCHbyKHMex4uXDIwLX1mbarm3THp/s640/$(KGrHqVHJBkFIV4vdS!1BSH6VK4Q8Q~~60_12.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Just Add Water. (The Creatures) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The planets Eco-System is much more developed than that of the planet we were introduced to in Pitch Black with multiple life forms ranging from</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Reptile Bird-Like creature - similar to a vulture. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A species of Eel - that resides in the small water-holes of the planet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jackal like pack creatures - nicknamed Dingo Dongos by one character.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the Scorpion-esc Mud Monsters - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that look like Xenomorphs crossed with Grabboids. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of this film's series biggest strengths has always been creative and unique creature design from the Light Sensitive Monsters of Pitch Black to the Color changing Hounds of The Chronicles of Riddick and in this installment the creatures designs are at their strongest yet with each design seemingly perfectly 'Alien' but at the same time realistically plausible.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As much as I enjoy the species diversity that is found in Riddick, the strength of the creatures in the original came from the fact that they had grown to such enormous numbers below ground that they had effectively crippled the ecosystem, wiping all life off the planet almost entirely (With the only exception being a creature that had evolved to produce light - the one thing the carnivorous species couldn't survive) and as a result the predators had resorted to cannibalism in order to survive due to a lack of any other food source.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Pitch Black's instigating incident was an eclipse that allowed the light sensitive monsters to swarm the surface in 'Riddick' the catalyst is a traveling storm, when the storm hits thousands of the poisonous Mud-Monsters emerge from the earth where they were hibernating due to needing to keep their skin constantly wet to survive, but what happens after they emerge? do they roam the land until the storm passes before reburying themselves before it passes again? or do they travel with the storm like a roaming plague killing off all life in the storms path? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(As much as I hate to keep bringing it up) Pitch Black was able to deliver a clear understanding of how life on the desolate planet functioned, It didn't function particularly well, with only one species thriving after murdering off the rest of the planet 'but' the life cycle made perfect sense and the audience could piece together a clear picture of how the planet had reached such a unbalanced state.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddick's introduction of a more varied wildlife means more complex ecosystem </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and as such more</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">species interaction</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Do all of the dog creature get killed off now that the mud-monsters have overwhelmed the planet? the bird like creatures would arguably survive due to being able to fly beyond the monster's reach) which makes the emergence of the doomsday creature a little more complicated than first time around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I will concede that perhaps I am giving this more thought than is necessary and in truth the storm and the monsters it brings are nothing more than a plot devise to give the film an impending deadline in order to force Riddick off world.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMIP3T-3ABaRicfQjtdzxjF7B9hZP_iotMvz3VOZE2Ng7vk8Odtp703WphN75TQyWPvQzMZqGjmVf4VlaC4BeeubhOhHrb4WVfetDtzWpyv0icYZmUGuYUSMTxgLX11V2DG-3Tm5LQsBX/s1600/Riddick-2013-Wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMIP3T-3ABaRicfQjtdzxjF7B9hZP_iotMvz3VOZE2Ng7vk8Odtp703WphN75TQyWPvQzMZqGjmVf4VlaC4BeeubhOhHrb4WVfetDtzWpyv0icYZmUGuYUSMTxgLX11V2DG-3Tm5LQsBX/s640/Riddick-2013-Wallpaper.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Action. </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The action is well handled be it fighting creatures or humans with memorable sequences including a nighttime attack on the mercenaries base by Riddick which ends in a great shot of Riddick disappearing into the dark dragging a corpse behind him and another sequence in which Riddick and Johns are forced to fight their way through the hordes of Mud-Monsters up-close on foot as well as a impressive one-on-one confrontation between Diaz (Dave Bautista) and Riddick.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the standout is easily the films climax that sees Riddick alone facing an endless stream of Mud-Monsters atop a jagged mountain as a thunderstorm rages the scene is stunning and the musical score perfectly dramatizes the moment making it seem both bleak and epic.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gone To The Dogs. (Conclusions) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At it's core I suspect that Riddick's biggest problem is the same as the one that can be found in the 2011 prequel to The Thing (and to a much lesser extent the movie Predators) in that while it is a original film that expands the series universe it also follows the pattern of the previous film a little too closely. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddick never reaches the levels encountered in The Thing but the film cannot help feel a little familiar but overall the film is an enjoyable Sci-Fi Monster Movie delivering exactly what you expect from this kind of film.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's far from perfect but there is no denying that it is an enjoyable watch boasting action and humor and impressive monsters while proving that Vin Diesel and Riddick himself are once again on top form. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-69484144038083314942013-08-21T16:15:00.002-07:002014-10-30T06:04:56.508-07:00Evil Dead (2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunBjDKVLLuFWA0CcyMKCFaw68oIQy7_NV0gRZixGG5kglDjTnMmXOmJ_XPrk2SCgsyPuORY8_4fxn9ROj-ynl5GNuGDBzi16kWWAXKIzKp_wjS8zQ_Ks2FNciWA0_Il1MtuSn8ThOvl3e/s1600/evil_dead2013-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunBjDKVLLuFWA0CcyMKCFaw68oIQy7_NV0gRZixGG5kglDjTnMmXOmJ_XPrk2SCgsyPuORY8_4fxn9ROj-ynl5GNuGDBzi16kWWAXKIzKp_wjS8zQ_Ks2FNciWA0_Il1MtuSn8ThOvl3e/s1600/evil_dead2013-2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We've Replaced This Critics Brain With A Chainsaw Blade, But Be Quiet. Let's See If He Notices". (The Introduction)</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those of you who may have read my <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/evil-dead-2-dead-by-dawn-horrors-of.html" target="_blank">Evil Dead 2 Review</a> and my recent article exploring whether or not <a href="http://theantmanreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/are-horror-movies-as-good-as-they-used.html" target="_blank">Horror Movies Are As Good As They Used To Be</a> will no doubt be aware of the fact that I am a huge fan of both Bruce Campbell and the Evil Dead series.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I was a little disheartened to hear that not only was the Horror Classic getting a remake (Not a good sign in a current climate where Remakes of some of the Horror genre's have been receiving a lukewarm reception at best) but also that the films Iconic Hero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) would not be present - How could the film possibly succeed without the support of Campbell's legendary Chin? </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my eye's the project seemed doomed from the start.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I (and I am willing to admit this) was <b>wrong</b> (and I will now proceed to discuss why).</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeizYgLWeS63oCE4nkxI3VVz4clBdQgcEEP6gSrl6hNTx5SnWNQtUJYJK42SG-mwl9AnF10233hGM0tBaTwKNmpGdmKCsPMXZ4Ajk5hLMZVdul9zs8M3c2UIM2aWoOcd9Mv4gGYVjIDYe0/s1600/Deadpool_FB_Artwork_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeizYgLWeS63oCE4nkxI3VVz4clBdQgcEEP6gSrl6hNTx5SnWNQtUJYJK42SG-mwl9AnF10233hGM0tBaTwKNmpGdmKCsPMXZ4Ajk5hLMZVdul9zs8M3c2UIM2aWoOcd9Mv4gGYVjIDYe0/s640/Deadpool_FB_Artwork_1.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"This... is my boomstick!" </i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directed by Fede Alvarez and produced by Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert the force behind the original trilogy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story of Evil Dead sees Five former friends reuniting at a cabin deep within the woods in-order to help one of their own overcome a drug addiction but the discovery of a book bound in human-flesh in a hidden basement awakens a dark force within the woods which begins possessing the friends one by one.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its encouraging to see so many of the people behind the original Trilogy involved in the making of this movie as it means that the series is still in the hands of the people who care about it rather than simply being interested in how much money can be made from it, it also means that the movie carries the same feel and style as the previous instalment which prevents fans feeling alienated as it stays true to the key elements of the story (The book in the basement, The living forest) whilst changing various elements to make the relationships between the characters stronger and better developed, the reason for their visit to the cabin carry more meaning, changing up small elements to enhance the story and the characters before proceeding to rip them to shreds.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"I Never Even Saw These Assholes Before". (The Cast)</b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with the original the film main cast consists of a group of five friends but in this adaptation they are slightly older and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> have all grownup and gone their separate ways with David (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shiloh Fernandez) - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mia's Brother - having left the group and his sister when his mother fell ill leaving Mia (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane Levy) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to take care of her mother's worsening condition alone (Which would ultimately lead to her drug use) and so his return creates a lot of tension amongst the group who felt abandoned by his departure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The relationship between David and Mia is the films key emotional theme as David attempts to mend fences with his sister and support her during her struggle as he failed to do so previously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where as in the original version the future victims had travelled to the cabin during spring-break to drink and have sex (as teenagers so often do in horror movies) the remake ingeniously presents a different motive - To Help Their Friend Overcome Her Drug Addiction - this not only gives the characters reason to be at a cabin far away from civilisation but also works to prolong the disbelief of the involvement of a supernatural element when the situation begins to spiral out of control as the group dismisses both Mia's warnings and early signs of possession as being hallucinations due to her withdrawal symptoms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mia seems to be a likable girl who's life may not have gone in the direction she would have wanted but still has hope for redemption which makes it kind of heartbreaking once she is possessed and begins the slide into insanity as you cant help but feel like she deserved a chance to start anew and is undeserving of all the terrible things she now endures. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimTW1P5Jgh2vi5_vo6DVNP8N2TIkxTO3XaSjHwv9QJlDqZ9FgxVm70lrhMLQTGG5Vl3gXL6U8zJp_-hpR2BaknYHFDcNypksa2dnNsHIkyp46eJQ3vwiwmdFIfhKEzWe_LigRwz_ExjR6/s1600/sd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimTW1P5Jgh2vi5_vo6DVNP8N2TIkxTO3XaSjHwv9QJlDqZ9FgxVm70lrhMLQTGG5Vl3gXL6U8zJp_-hpR2BaknYHFDcNypksa2dnNsHIkyp46eJQ3vwiwmdFIfhKEzWe_LigRwz_ExjR6/s640/sd.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound 'fine'?"</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over members of the group consist of Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) a school teacher who is responsible for reading from the book and summoning the evil that now threatens them, early in the film Eric seems like he will become an unlikable character due to being responsible for the whole situation as he goes out of his way to read the contents of the book (Which someone had gone to great efforts to make illegible) and yet as the situation worsens Eric not only seems o take the brunt of the violence but also seems to be the only character willing to take the steps needed to set things right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the cast are not so well developed and although their reasons for being present are nothing more but impending corpses and even though each gets their own moment in the gory limelight (Olivia(Jessica Lucas)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Shaving with Glass, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) disarming herself) their character do not receive the attention the brother and sister duo.</span></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKTXtWZKGpWUKx3jIhmR5TZwucNewqAMEILLexdUGVy6A4igAWYZNTlw55XN09-UEAH8uX-Z9gVnS_IYbTPuJBy9tJ8LPEU_DX6UvY0JyXY-gn9eN3g4eMzCszOkG31PLf_eT1d-4Wqc9/s1600/sd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKTXtWZKGpWUKx3jIhmR5TZwucNewqAMEILLexdUGVy6A4igAWYZNTlw55XN09-UEAH8uX-Z9gVnS_IYbTPuJBy9tJ8LPEU_DX6UvY0JyXY-gn9eN3g4eMzCszOkG31PLf_eT1d-4Wqc9/s640/sd.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"That can't be your face... did your neck throw up?"</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Farewell To Arms. (The Violence)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Calling this film violent is like saying that the Pope is a some-what spiritual individual.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply the variety of the films violence and weapons is utterly INSANE!, With characters being attacked with/or attacking the possessed with .</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boiling Water.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fire.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Branches and Vines.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Machete </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Crowbar.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Nail-Gun.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Pair of Pliers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Stanley Knife.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Electric Knife.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Shard of Broken Mirror.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Chunk of a Broken Sink.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Needle.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Hammer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Shotgun.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Chainsaw. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Truck.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being Nearly Drowned.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being Buried Alive. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And each and every one of these weapons are used to great effect as bones are smashed, limbs are severed, flesh melts, blood is spewed and the violence is so well handled that when the characters are injured its convincing enough that it makes each and every single confrontation so tense that regardless of the weapon they are facing each new wound could be any characters last.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJcwvDAqKRo4P4Zo1ViynfUie1Ku9-wn7tRUimMxxSeOVf71FhYuh-ZRjYF45lOja1Uk0kQ_UJjcSfIICeptfldYUrhUszf2YyWsq8BEfU9UIj3kUirEg-g0R6BgXgK8bFJK7ubKuEUZw/s1600/sd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJcwvDAqKRo4P4Zo1ViynfUie1Ku9-wn7tRUimMxxSeOVf71FhYuh-ZRjYF45lOja1Uk0kQ_UJjcSfIICeptfldYUrhUszf2YyWsq8BEfU9UIj3kUirEg-g0R6BgXgK8bFJK7ubKuEUZw/s640/sd.jpg" height="270" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"When you've just emptied two barrels of a shotgun into the head of your favorite bartender it's a pretty good bet that happy hour's over."</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film does often linger on shots of the weapons several scenes before they are wielded such as the nail-gun being display in use early on in the film before being used against the survivors later on, while many of today's horror films use this technique (A specific scene from the recent remake of 'Friday the 13th' involving a wood-chipper jumps to mind) the sheer number of weapons in this film cause these shots to make it impossible just what weapon is going enter the fray next.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Hey, She-Bitch". (The Deadites)</b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the origins of the Book of the Dead are explored in detail in the 1981 version the remake only offers a glimpse into its origin, With the audience aware that something</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> horrible and book related has occurred</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> at the cabin in the past but never revealing the full details of exactly what happened and how it came about, this creates a better sense of mystery surrounding the book.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Deadites (with the exception of Mia) do not talk once they are possessed removing any trace of humanity by replacing normal movement and sound with bursts of twitching and clicking sounds.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The newly possessed also seem to be fans of self mutilation: cutting, burning and generally deforming their own facial features. </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there is a single complaint I have against the deadites in general it is that the old 'revert to innocence in order to lower their victims guard' trick is a little overused leaving the audience screaming their best <i>Jurassic Park</i> "Shooooot Errrrrr!!" impressions at the screen.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4qrRDr3HdJfT5dWug1dmFd2zEqFy9UvMS2PKID3MIeLVkja-J5DzblbmuHKS57DJstZdlCrJ09rhryBviMvuLHqTt0hHlGQsy6Xx-J0N92O9xlLsZZHQVdOxmJKNQyB-F3ho9rO2hDFE/s1600/Deadpool_FB_Artwork_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4qrRDr3HdJfT5dWug1dmFd2zEqFy9UvMS2PKID3MIeLVkja-J5DzblbmuHKS57DJstZdlCrJ09rhryBviMvuLHqTt0hHlGQsy6Xx-J0N92O9xlLsZZHQVdOxmJKNQyB-F3ho9rO2hDFE/s640/Deadpool_FB_Artwork_1.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Another poster child for birth control."</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final confrontation features several genuinely eerily moments early on as the audience is able to make out the appearance of the attacker but not the facial features. Once the face of the demon is revealed the effectiveness wears off somewhat but the creature still holds a dangerous and menacing presence and makes for a great final confrontation in possibly the greatest horror movie environment ever.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Klaatu... Verata....Ni????". (Conclusions)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So is the 2013 Remake better than the original?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well No. - But it is unfair to judge the two films by the same standards (Not only due to the lack of Campbell's Chin) The original version <i>The Evil Dead</i>'s production consisted of a group of friends who came together to try and make a Horror film whist operating under a tiny budget, so it was required to be creative </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and original in order to build tension using inexpensive but effective filming techniques like the 'Possession Cam' while the 2013 remake features both a considerably larger budget and the benefit in the advance of film technology. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the best way to describe t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he remake would be</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>to call it<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b><i>The Evil Dead for Today's Horror </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Audiences </i>as it is more reliant on Gore (Which it does exceptionally well) than suspense based scares, whilst its larger budget allows it to be more daring than its predecessor. So all in all Even thought this film suffers from the absence of Bruce Campbell (But wouldn't everything be better with more Bruce Campbell?) this movie is a faithful and enjoyable adaptation of the 1981 original which not only does its source material justice but also delivers its own barrage of shocks and gore whilst keeping the audience guessing about just what is going to happen next. It creates hope for both the future of the franchise and the horror genre in general and I highly recommend that both fans of the original and horror fans in general should check it out.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also the film features the best post-credit scene<b> EVER</b>!!! (and it doesn't even feature Samuel L. Jackson)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-82435101797440476882013-07-26T16:19:00.002-07:002014-01-13T06:57:14.514-08:00Are Horror Movies As Good As They Used To Be?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rKayUz3miFikEtbR-5HQ-HpV0DqhiSxDnFwqVE79JH1taAIOQ_J9G3-wRBqNDo9m9DHEfcQS8B7wQoPAcMmX_c3qwfdgpriLufzWOWWDkugCswAOUQpn4KZHqJDnOKSueeQ3oLU_G-Hu/s1600/01-The-Evil-Dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rKayUz3miFikEtbR-5HQ-HpV0DqhiSxDnFwqVE79JH1taAIOQ_J9G3-wRBqNDo9m9DHEfcQS8B7wQoPAcMmX_c3qwfdgpriLufzWOWWDkugCswAOUQpn4KZHqJDnOKSueeQ3oLU_G-Hu/s640/01-The-Evil-Dead.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Evil Dead - 1981</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Horror, The Horror. (An Introduction) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After recently watching and hugely enjoying the 2013 Horror Movie <i>Mama</i> (Staring Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and while I found it genuinely suspenseful and creepy with some greats scares thrown in it dawned on me that I have not genuinely found a Horror Film "Scary" in a very long time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then a strange thought struck me the last scene from a movie that truly sent chills down my bones and left me feeling shaken was in fact from a from a film rated with a 12 certificate - Lumpy (Andy Serkis)'s demise in the Bug Pit from the 2005 remake of <i>King Kong</i> (Those damn worms still creep me out and i'm not even bothered by insects) but since I would class this more as disturbing (And It Is!) than scary I cannot remember the last time a film has genuinely scared me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this may simply be a change in me since as a child I would often be terrified by movies that even so much as hinted at being scary with my overactive imagination devising far worse scenes than I could ever see on screen (Seriously I still remember the first time that I watched <i>The Mummy</i> on VHS and even before the expedition set off in search of Hamunaptra I was already hiding behind the sofa out of fear of every single sarcophagus) but as I got older my imagination was reined in and I began to actively seek out scares growing to love films like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Evil Dead, Alien</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Thing</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to name but a few.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But over the years the genre has begun to suffer with these types of movies seemingly being less well received by critics every year leading me to wonder if its not just me who may have changed of the general audience or even the genre itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no denying that the style in which Horror is portrayed is constantly changing </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as it moves from the glory days of the Silent Slashers, T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he Paranormal Visitations and Possessions</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, to the impact more modern styles of Horror Story-Selling such as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meta-Movies that explore the Horror Movies own conventions, the 3D Film Craze,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hand-Held Camera Docu-Horrors and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 'Gore-fest Movies</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">' (Classified as Torture-Porn by Critics) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have had on the genre.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This all proceeded to raise the question:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are Horror Movies As Good As They Used To Be?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Back to Basics. (A History of Horror)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now to best answer this question it is necessary to explore the history of this genre.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp-BueSOXHOZdqa4WALTmqDOTc1Xbk6J549vuB2bsDgKlmuNjinAPXOKrglj2LasyYEx7blIc6p3egbMG1Lq_x4OZNEl4c2zclETE7o3rS_XjaJXCQe0FzTecAJfvS128Un8NeEeW3MFX/s1600/199032_3832564167559_163029648_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp-BueSOXHOZdqa4WALTmqDOTc1Xbk6J549vuB2bsDgKlmuNjinAPXOKrglj2LasyYEx7blIc6p3egbMG1Lq_x4OZNEl4c2zclETE7o3rS_XjaJXCQe0FzTecAJfvS128Un8NeEeW3MFX/s640/199032_3832564167559_163029648_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Horror of Dracula - 1958</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earliest traces of the horror genre in film can be found back in the 1920's in which several silent short films featured elements of the supernatural, although<i> Le Manoir du Diable (The Haunted Castle) </i>a Three minute long French Film<i> </i>by Georges<i> </i>Méliès<i> </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is credited by many as being both the first horror film and the first vampire film, while Japan also explored horror early on, Hollywood dramas would later to go on to use Horror Themes in films such as <i>The Phantom of the Opera</i>, <i>Wax Works, The Hunchback of Notre Dame </i>and<i> Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Cinema progressed so did the Horror Genre with the 1930's seeing Universal Pictures release a series of Gothic movies that would send some of today's biggest movie icons </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">including </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dracula, The Wolfman, Frankenstein </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">into the limelight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 50's and 60's Horror slowly moved away from its Gothic structures creating films like <i>Night of the Living Dead</i>, <i>The Haunting </i>and<i> Rosemary's Baby </i>and probably the most famous of all Alfred Hitchcock's<i> </i>work with films like <i>Psycho </i>and <i>The Birds.</i></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5kSmEbDLLDhrk1x76g-rWyhL1SHSY5q6ECSvSQdBWRSfeeQRVg0S_qoTuoiBxx1nk0EXgulKY05UmhomWdKsGYppijZrKMJO2nE_GAUGXvgTLxEFZRSqQAwVjSy6OgLTU5WllOcOKpEz/s1600/199032_3832564167559_163029648_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5kSmEbDLLDhrk1x76g-rWyhL1SHSY5q6ECSvSQdBWRSfeeQRVg0S_qoTuoiBxx1nk0EXgulKY05UmhomWdKsGYppijZrKMJO2nE_GAUGXvgTLxEFZRSqQAwVjSy6OgLTU5WllOcOKpEz/s640/199032_3832564167559_163029648_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Shining - 1980 </i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it is upon the 70's and 80's that we reach the foundations of the horror films that we know today with the genre moving from B (Low Budget Commercial Pictures) to more financially backed A-Movies that satirized modern society resulting in the release of films like George A. Romero's <i>Dawn of the Dead </i>that mocked consumer culture, the Devil taking up the mantle as villain in films like the <i>Omen </i>and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Exorcist. </i>Werewolf and Vampire movies once again came into their strength with the release of <i>An American Werewolf in London, Fright Night </i>and<i> The Lost Boys.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>W</i>hile<i> </i>Wes Craven released his cannibal slasher </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>T</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>he Hills Have Eyes </i>which he would later follow with the definitive horror movie<i> A Nightmare on Elm Street, </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven King's Novel </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carrie </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was adapted into a movie along with his hotel-horror novel <i>The Shining</i> that would go on to be considered a classic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Alien</i> and <i>The Thing</i> proceeded to create the schematic for many great Science Fiction Horrors that would follow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But while the big budget movies reigned supreme Horror's B-Movies made a strong return as well with interdependent movies such as <i>The Evil Dead </i>and <i>Poltergeist.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the true contribution to the horror genre was the production of the most noted slasher films ever, such as <i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i>, John Carpenter's <i>Halloween, Friday the 13th </i>(All of which followed the rule: If your killer wears a mask, he's scary) Films that would go on to become major franchises that would shape the future of the horror genre.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 90's are most notable for the influx (Yeah I just used the word 'Influx' in my article: truly I have made it) of sequels most of which were poorly received by fans and critics alike largely due to the excessive number of Slasher movies that were released following the styles sudden success. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 90's also saw the birth of the Meta-Self Referential Horror Movies including <i>Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Candyman </i>and<i> Scream </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that tried to explore new possibility of the genre</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> through acknowledging the conventions of previous movies (such as the Rules in </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scream </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">exploring what it takes to survive a horror movie)</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today Of The Dead. (Modern Horror)</span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"Welcome to Fright Night. For Real". - </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Fright Night (2011)</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside of remakes the horror movies mid 2000 onward slowly became focused on two main horror categories gore based torture-porn films such as <i>Saw</i><i>, The Collector</i> and <i>Hostel; </i>And found-footage and handheld movies like the <i>Paranormal Activity </i>Series<i>, Apollo 18, Diary of the Dead</i>, <i>REC </i>and <i>The Last Exorcism </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As audience have grown to expect more from film the level of just what can be shown of screen continues to grow resulting in films pushing violence</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and gore to the limits producing films like the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saw </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Series that expertise solely in being as visually grotesque as possible but at the loss of key elements like character development.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he rise in popularity of Found Footage Films could be attributed to the fact that before film audiences were overexposed by the massive number of these types of films that would be eventually released the found footage style was able to create a unique sense of believability new to Horror films, as film like the <i>Blair Witch Project </i>were able to create the impression that the footage could be real and have actually been discovered, The style also limits what the viewing public's awareness to what it happening on screen as the audience is only ever able to see what the camera (And character behind the camera) sees allowing the character and viewer to be surprised at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite being used almost exclusively by the Horror Genre the effectiveness of Found Footage Film </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was ultimately</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> lost as more and more films adopted this style due to its ability to produce effective scares at low cost.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to films such as <i>28 Days Later</i>, the 2004 remake of <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> and TV shows such as <i>The Walking Dead</i> Zombie Films have flourished over recent years and have seem to become so popular they may now their own sub-genre outside of horror films, while <i>The Twilight Saga</i> succeeded in staking the future of Vampire Horror in its tracks producing films such as '<i>Daybreakers</i>' where the vampires took on the role of the protagonists and it seems that only recently this trend has begun to subside with films like the 2010 remake of<i> </i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fright Night </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let Me In </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which see's the blood-suckers finally return to their original role.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Oh and for the last time: 3D in Horror Films Is..Not...Scary!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Evil Reborn. (Sequels, Prequels and Remakes)</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"I'm coming apart! Oh, mother of God, I'm coming apart!"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> - The Amityville Horror (1979)</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Horror Movies produce more sequels than any other film genre </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously I cant get a </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serenity</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> or <i>Dredd</i> sequel but there have been: </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7 </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saw</b> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">movies.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7 Original </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Nightmare on Elm Street</b> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">films a cross-over and a remake. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8 Original </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Halloween</b></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> films and a remake...That Got A Sequel. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10<i> <b>Friday the 13th</b></i> films with a crossover and a remake </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(and a future remake planned)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 <i><b>Child's Play</b></i> films (with <i>Curse of Chucky</i> out in October).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Paranormal Activity </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">films (with the Fifth installment being released next year)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 <b>Wrong Turn </b>films (This saddens me greatly)</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem the genre encounters is that the quality of each movies seems to drop further an further the longer the series goes on. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is because Horror's strength comes from originality and the more focus is given to each movies world the less original the scares seem to be and so the movies is forced to try harder to gauge a reaction from audiences, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A perfect example is the <i>Paranormal Activity</i> films with the paranormal occurrences from the first film starting out very small (the sound of footsteps and key's dropping on the floor) before building and building as the film progresses allowing the suspense to build along with it allowing the major moments (such as Katie being dragged out of the room by an unseen force) to cause the greatest reaction from the audience, the second installment leaps for the big scares early on (Such as all the cupboards opening and trowing out their contents) and instead has to rely heavily from jump-scares (From a damn Automatic Pool-Cleaner) and the same major scares used during the first installment for the rest of the movie.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Even the films that were once considered the champions of the Western Horror Genre like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Halloween, </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><i>A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Child's Play </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">are struggling to find their feet but only from poor sequels but one remake after another.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the sheer number of horror films that have been remade or re-imagined in recent years is utterly staggering:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Carrie</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Hills Have Eyes. </i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dawn of the Dead.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Amityville Horror.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Evil Dead.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Wolfman.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Halloween.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Friday the 13th.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A Nightmare on Elm Street.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Maniac.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Last House on the Left.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Omen.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>When a Stranger Calls.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Wickerman.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Hitcher.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I Spit On Your Grave.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Invasion of the Body Snatchers. </i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Prom Night. </i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Psycho.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Fright Night.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>One Missed Call.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Crazies. </i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dark Water.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>House of Wax.</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Fog.</i></span></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Bloody Valentine. </span></i></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To name but a few </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and while foreigner language Horror Movies like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let The Right One In, The Devils Backbone, La Horde, Shutter and REC </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seem to continue to be well received by critics and audiences alike the current lack of creativity in the Film Industry is preying upon these movies for English language remakes such as </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quarantine</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which is simply a shot for shot retelling of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">REC</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let Me In</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a US remake of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let The Right One In</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> films like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Grudge</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ring</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pulse </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are all creations of this policy to recycle foreign movies into more audience approachable versions....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and they say creativity is dead.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrenvLOpsZ1OX4UIdLIzJMNmjRpoGYfkboGR4y2jkuSsGwxqqr8-uHdmFxBEbW7svuZOVYdyN6uZpxIhiPZMysCoc0R4beTuE4cE0v_jPjBRbX6B4T0rshsUoOz-WZCUiljoycxX7KTn-/s1600/10900773bd58412a389593617a0c2b2f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrenvLOpsZ1OX4UIdLIzJMNmjRpoGYfkboGR4y2jkuSsGwxqqr8-uHdmFxBEbW7svuZOVYdyN6uZpxIhiPZMysCoc0R4beTuE4cE0v_jPjBRbX6B4T0rshsUoOz-WZCUiljoycxX7KTn-/s640/10900773bd58412a389593617a0c2b2f.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A Nightmare On Elm Street - 1984</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Men Whom Fight The Darkness. (Characters of Horror)</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i> "A survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality".- Alien (1979)</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It should come as no surprise that main characters in horror films need to be compelling, or else why should the audience care when bad things happen to them? it is a vital part of the films mechanics that we should want them to escape or survive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This important notion is lost upon the <i>Saw</i> franchise which after introducing some complex characters in the first two installments seems to lose its way come the third and instead begins focusing on death traps than the victims attempting to survive them, In fact the audience is encouraged to root for the characters death in order to witness the gruesome demise the complex death trap creates but this more gore based approach to the films creates a cycle of death the films are unable to recover from as with characters being introduced solely for the purpose of dying in the traps preventing the audience the time to become emotionally attached to them before their subsequent demise (even characters that survived previous installments return only to be killed off).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet horror movies have given cinema some of its most memorable characters such as Ashley Williams (Bruce Campbell), Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), R.J. Macready (Kurt Russel), Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) characters whom the audience can (if not always related to) care about and this is where another recent problem with the genre occurs, all the before mentioned characters are from films before 1985 in fact there are very few horror characters in the past ten years warrant mentioning at all. this is due to the films shifting their focus from the films protagonists to the villains as characters like Jason Voorhes, Chucky and Michael Myers became more popular.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>IT'S ALIVE! (Defining Moments in Horror) </b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"They're Coming to Get You ,Barbara!" - Night of the Living Dead. (1968)</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The horror genre has provided audiences with many powerful cinematic moments over the years, ranging from the first time the girl crawls out of the television in <i>The Ring, </i>Robert Carlyle's desperate flight from the farmhouse as he is pursued by an ever increasing number of sprinting infected in<i> 28 Weeks Later, </i>The Flock of Birds growing in the playground in Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece <i>The Birds, </i>To Jack Nicholson pounding on the door with an axe in <i>The Shining</i> each of these moments are as powerful or cinematic as any other genre and it is important that they are viewed as such.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EnjnBQ9dViHzwEewyMHLKEjFE7CzcT-c1EeAf30UaLzpMxASIPfgxMA_jsJwShrIMo7IBOd0R2KQh-Gu87RPzLtzze6ycAYPNSNr1CyMxUT0vPhr0Fe5KeogHcGkKellkNpDYz_Tdrrr/s1600/birds-on-the-playground-hitchcock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EnjnBQ9dViHzwEewyMHLKEjFE7CzcT-c1EeAf30UaLzpMxASIPfgxMA_jsJwShrIMo7IBOd0R2KQh-Gu87RPzLtzze6ycAYPNSNr1CyMxUT0vPhr0Fe5KeogHcGkKellkNpDYz_Tdrrr/s640/birds-on-the-playground-hitchcock1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Birds - 1963</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy. (</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy)</b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". - All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and No play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All work and no play makes Jack........</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wait...uh sorry, back to the article. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laugh In The Face of Death. (Horror Comedy)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"It doesn't matter what happened. What matters is what looks like what happened and what looks like what happened...is purdy nasty!" - Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil. (2011)</i></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A surprising growth in horror interest recently comes from Horror Comedies that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rather than spoofing horror movies like films such as </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dracula: Dead and Loving It </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and The </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scary Movie</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> series follow the conventions and plot styling of scary movies but with the scenes playing out comically p</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rime examples of this are </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shaun of the Dead</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tucker & Dale vs. Evil,</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Shaun of the Dead</i> at its core is approached as a standard Zombie Movie but gains laughs from the characters attitudes and responses to the situation they find themselves in, while <i>Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil </i>instead plays upon a reversal of the conventions of a Hillbilly Slasher movie with college kids attempting to kill two innocent hillbillies the wrongly believe are out to murder them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing that HC's have been able to achieve over standard Horrors in recent is to make their characters memorable - Shaun, Ed, Tucker, Dale and Bill Pardy are all lovable characters that you genuinely hope make it out of their (albeit comedy) struggles alive, so why is it that and humored version can accomplish this when the 'pure' versions no longer can? </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBddpHmKefLFmmMZXjbqWLJwGBt9W4lkdLG9hZDFXj55E62rPfGYckgmWUyCMnqRHrRq_UJQ3_mcD5_ybhfFEu0B0rqea8mn2DCckpYapUuTdYHhFPci4tQ_UCxBY1MXs7gEDcGOxTfz_/s1600/shaun-of-the-dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBddpHmKefLFmmMZXjbqWLJwGBt9W4lkdLG9hZDFXj55E62rPfGYckgmWUyCMnqRHrRq_UJQ3_mcD5_ybhfFEu0B0rqea8mn2DCckpYapUuTdYHhFPci4tQ_UCxBY1MXs7gEDcGOxTfz_/s640/shaun-of-the-dead.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Shaun of the Dead (2004)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Terrifying Conclusion (The Answer)</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">"A ghost is an emotion bent out of shape. condemned to repeat itself, time and time again.” - Mama (2013</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">)</span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in truth the largest change to the Genre in past year has been the pacing; Whereas previous films looked to build tension gradually through a combination of atmosphere and the films score the approach to Horror eventually became predictable as horror-movies became more and more similar new techniques such as Jump-Scares and False-Scares were developed and employed in order to catch viewers off guard by subverting the audiences expectations, whilst this originally worked these techniques became popular with film makers and were used up to a point where audiences came to anticipate them as well, and since has since failed to develop an new tools to catch film-goers unaware the genre has failed to progress much in recent years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So are Horror Films as good as they used to be? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But are any films? Why do audiences now jump at the prospect of seeing legendary action stars like Arnie or Stallone star in action flicks like <i>The Expendables</i>, <i>The Last Stand</i> and <i>Bullet To The Head</i> if not in hopes of recapturing the glory days of action cinema? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that action films (or more to the point Horror Films) released these days are bad (<i>Skyfall</i> was incredible!) but cinema changes with trends and it is only natural that we should occasionally miss what we once so thoroughly enjoyed (cheesy or not) and today's horror audience requires more than just the faceless killer they once found so terrifying becoming more demanding as their expectations rise, You cannot scare an audience with the same tricks that you could get away with mere years ago (Jump-Scares are now just annoying) but this is a good thing as fear is by far one of the most difficult emotional responses to generate from an audience which is why its so rewarding when done well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while there is still hope for the genre it depends upon its ability to try new things and remain original, As the more you know about something the less you fear it. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-65726791413388857552013-06-06T16:42:00.003-07:002015-01-19T04:49:44.414-08:00Jack Reacher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg9n9s4m_du_rLDgWjXl_NHbGOWvKyC9y7fEjeJHdG9WNQ2vDcuyQzdmkScUBcUoxmb1Dbqn7vrEXv1RQW3n3MLgCY_4wDgYoY-weDAh0hPrN-Ad_7n8SvMhHfeATxjzJJMkGRupkLo6z/s1600/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg9n9s4m_du_rLDgWjXl_NHbGOWvKyC9y7fEjeJHdG9WNQ2vDcuyQzdmkScUBcUoxmb1Dbqn7vrEXv1RQW3n3MLgCY_4wDgYoY-weDAh0hPrN-Ad_7n8SvMhHfeATxjzJJMkGRupkLo6z/s1600/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>"There are four types of people who join the military. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>For some, it's family trade. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Others are patriots, eager to serve. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ext you have those who just need a job. </span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Than there's the kind who want the legal means of killing other people."</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Novel Idea (An Introduction)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Based on Lee Child's story 'One Shot' and Directed by Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of The Gun) Following the shooting of 5 people seemingly by a former U.S. Army Sniper the accused gunman writes a single note before being mysteriously beaten into a coma <i>"Get Jack Reacher"</i>, (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Cruise) a former U.S. Army Military Police Corps Officer who since leaving the Army has become a drifter, determined to prove the man's guilt Reacher </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">begins to investigating the shooting with the help of defense</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> attorney Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike) and discovers that the shooting may not have been so random after all and there may to be more to the shooting than there first seemed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adapting books into films is a common practice in today's movie industry but the success often varies for every 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'Shutter Island' there is a 'Alex Cross' or 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the critically acclaimed adaptions such as 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy' or 'The Shining' find fans of the original source material often be unhappy with the differences made for the sleeker narrative</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (such as the loss of Tom Bombadil - For the final time he added nothing to the overall plot!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it is no wonder that when Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher fans of Lee Child's novels </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were seemingly annoyed with Reacher towering 6'5 tall while Cruise is 5'7 (At least that is what the internet tells me) many believed he was not the right build and was unable to carry the tough image making him unsuitable for the role and while I have not read any of the Jack Reacher Novels I can understand the desire to protect the image of a character you have grown attached to (I myself am still constantly annoyed about the fact that Idris Elba was dropped for Tyler Perry to play the role of Alex Cross)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how did the movie turn out and does Tom Cruise make an effective Reacher?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Four Types of People (The Cast)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Cruise has never truly amazed me as an actor, he is competent enough but his acting never really seems to go beyond Tom Cruise as Tom Cruise with many of his characters seeming identical, there are exceptions to this with films like 'Collateral', and 'The Last Samurai', thankfully 'Jack Reacher' turns out not to only be another exception but (in my opinion) Cruise best performance to date with Cruise brilliantly portraying Reacher as a man who simply will not be stopped in his quest for justice no matter what is thrown at him, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also displaying a detective approach similar to Marv's from </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'Sin City' - <i>"When I need to find something out, I just go out and find somebody that knows more than me, and I go and I ask them. Sometimes I ask pretty hard."</i> a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">nd yet Reacher also possessive a keen insight into the human mind as seen in a sequence in which he is able to effortlessly reveal a link between two of the victims as well as a strong knowledge of military procedure. </span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiAzQiRItGguT7nptt9g6UWPEE90PiWueHUQ-YYt9dSVXLaqnwNojsAoGEhvIWsTD8ZK3t8rq9eVR0vR_OuF4GtdO_nB94LaVblJQe3J1Fu9PGiNh7LGpwpP1BRVdPNVPP-6oLK5t0A0G/s1600/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiAzQiRItGguT7nptt9g6UWPEE90PiWueHUQ-YYt9dSVXLaqnwNojsAoGEhvIWsTD8ZK3t8rq9eVR0vR_OuF4GtdO_nB94LaVblJQe3J1Fu9PGiNh7LGpwpP1BRVdPNVPP-6oLK5t0A0G/s640/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I was born in October; when I get to my birthday I'm going to pull the trigger</span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosamund Pike also delivers a strong performance as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">defense</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> attorney Helen Rodin who is assigned the helpless case of defending the man accused of the shooting and brings Reacher in to look at the evidence, spending much of the film as the withdrawn Reacher's only real link to both the case and the world in general. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also am enjoyable romantic (but not really) back and forth between the two which while failing to really lead anywhere supplies enjoyable banter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the acting throughout the movie is strong from every performer from the main names to the minor characters</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with o</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ther noteworthy characters are Robert Duvall's Gun Shop owner and former U.S Marine Sergeant Cash and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jai Courtney who makes for a strong primary antagonist and all round bad guy as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charlie the main henchman. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conspiracy Anyone? (The Twists and Turns of the Plot)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I have always enjoyed a good Thriller/Conspiracy movie and I hold films like 'State of Play', 'Enemy of the State' and 'Edge of Darkness' in high regard as the twists and turns that these types of movies are able to produce are more shocking than in any other genre each one both attempting to catching you completely off guard while driving the story forward. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and Jack Reacher may be one of the best Conspiracy Movies (How's that for a Poster Quote?) with the attention to detail being nothing short of utterly astounding, the narrative progressing at a natural pace and action scene perfectly positioned in the story to make sure the film never becomes to wordy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story of Jack Reacher features some interesting turns, less about the overall scheme itself and instead largely involve just how far the culprits of the shooting are willing to go in order to protect their identities and force</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Reacher to back off.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also another "which of these two are in on the scheme twist" as previously seen in 'Salt' but this one at least manages to be unexpected.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Five Victims, One Shot. (Attention to Detail) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The opening sequence in which the Sniper arrives at the location he intends to shoot from, sets up his equipment and begins spotting for targets is so well executed that each moment that pass, each action he performs builds the suspense towards the inevitability of him pulling the trigger, and leaves you hoping that at least a few of his intended victims can get away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To pace a scene as effectively as that takes skill and it plays out in a way that seems to haunt you for the rest of the film every time it cuts back to just before the time of the shooting.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKriMkXWmoL1QRXtVChMzeF12SDwsilwu7msOmcA7ayqYGduxi2AxM5YuFyBSX0gzkN35729kkrZQA6OhQAA09jrbY2w0ap0Zdys7Vb63AsIoJxlAA6UZaX4l9O9eCukgK6lw-tpOuka1/s1600/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKriMkXWmoL1QRXtVChMzeF12SDwsilwu7msOmcA7ayqYGduxi2AxM5YuFyBSX0gzkN35729kkrZQA6OhQAA09jrbY2w0ap0Zdys7Vb63AsIoJxlAA6UZaX4l9O9eCukgK6lw-tpOuka1/s640/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" height="272" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I hate snipers, If you're going to kill someone at least have the decency to be in the same room. </i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another example of this attention to detail can be seen in the films later car chase sequence in which Reacher flees from the cops driving Chevy Chevelle Muscle Car in what turns out to be one of the greatest car chase sequence in today's cinema </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with Tom Cruise doing all his own driving stunts not only is it a exciting and gripping scene it is incredibly well shot and executed right down to a sequence in which the car stalls and Reacher struggling to get it started again being improvised after the car actually stalled. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The action is impressive throughout with great car chases, gun battles and hand to hand combat sequences. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final confrontation (a shootout in a quarry in heavy rain) plays out brilliantly, part sneaking mission, part sniper battle making for an incredibly</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> tense showdown. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the films only real flaw is that the ending sequence feels a little rushed with a minor plot threads left seemingly unresolved (or at least suggested to be resolved but not fully explained how) but alas that is what sequels are for right? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Exile. (Conclusions) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So all in all I think that Jack Reacher is a phenomenal movie that completely caught me off guard (I went into the film not really knowing what to expect) and I was rewarded by a gripping and incredibly well shot movie with enough twist and turns to keep me guessing from start to finish, I left feeling incredibly satisfied and I can only hope that fans of Lee Child's novels did so too.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXB8xwRIcqizAJJgIXNT-tLG5y5LkapBAtL6VUlBHfxvaWVbPCmZa2wlkPo6a-2sHHZVM13Ffof_S7owTt7jLksG6qCli8Dk3Uvf1h59GvpQj-tuQ4SOpAKnXVr1sPCziVe1TOfW56HRqA/s1600/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXB8xwRIcqizAJJgIXNT-tLG5y5LkapBAtL6VUlBHfxvaWVbPCmZa2wlkPo6a-2sHHZVM13Ffof_S7owTt7jLksG6qCli8Dk3Uvf1h59GvpQj-tuQ4SOpAKnXVr1sPCziVe1TOfW56HRqA/s640/__back_to_the_future_trilogy___by_damovieman-d3htsio.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's 'Jack Reacher' author Lee Child himself behind the desk.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-46582054390364654552013-05-09T15:59:00.000-07:002013-05-15T15:16:43.299-07:00Iron Man 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva32-G4HhdnZGRE9IyYfH0-WJc7a6oUZbYZ9aqjvftAaTUX2nOnxRyWq2EHpz2insGflW5x0d3zaut9rfZPbwF5QrS4xP4zOv88v1wQGJeWm4NYsiIYVr7RhXCD7JjXGNECIrhE09G27N/s1600/72828_10151356604560592_672650470_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva32-G4HhdnZGRE9IyYfH0-WJc7a6oUZbYZ9aqjvftAaTUX2nOnxRyWq2EHpz2insGflW5x0d3zaut9rfZPbwF5QrS4xP4zOv88v1wQGJeWm4NYsiIYVr7RhXCD7JjXGNECIrhE09G27N/s1600/72828_10151356604560592_672650470_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aftermath As A New Beginning. (Proceeding 'The Avengers')</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you follow up "The Avengers" and return to the singular character narrative without feeling a sense of loss? Last year Marvel combined it multiple heroes with and did so brilliantly </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">changing the superhero genre forever by expanding what it was these kind of movies were capable of</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but as a result the franchise reached such a ridiculously high quality that you cant help but be left wondering where can the series go from here?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter how you look at Iron Man 3 there is no avoiding the fact that it is an Avengers sequel, The continuing of Stark's story also continues</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the evolution of the Marvel Universe so from the off you cant help but anticipate how things have changed Post-Phase 1. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well Iron Man 3 seems to be the right film to test the water, since the 2008 Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. portrayal of the Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">can be largely held accountable for the following surge in interest</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in The Avengers so it only seems right that Ol' Tin Head's third installment should be the first release of "Phase 2" of Marvel's Movie Mash Up.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the first installment not to be directed by Jon Favreau instead being headed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and may prove to be Robert Downey Jr's last outing as Tony Stark since "Iron Man 3" see's the end of his contract with Marvel before re-negotiations commence to decide his future in the franchise. Marvel seem confident about the return of Tony Stark since the advertisement campaign for this film has been a little insane (Countdowns to poster reveals, Trailers for upcoming trailers).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gTzcBnC5VnvxL6bo29ShZIut-HUMlntpPnmuS7BG8Ovbwu5hEeLzYl7CTFJy1M4Y95zGgR_qb46sSWtxV6jR-eZ9uMntdrea6B514RPEAMcRvoFh6p888R-GRskjLIIQgKQY3NgIcING/s1600/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gTzcBnC5VnvxL6bo29ShZIut-HUMlntpPnmuS7BG8Ovbwu5hEeLzYl7CTFJy1M4Y95zGgR_qb46sSWtxV6jR-eZ9uMntdrea6B514RPEAMcRvoFh6p888R-GRskjLIIQgKQY3NgIcING/s640/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Man begins by raising interesting question about Stark's mental state and how the events of The Avengers have lead to changes in him after being faced with his own mortality in comparison to heroes who's abilities dwarf his own and as a result Stark has locked himself away from the world with his sole focus set upon building more and more Iron Man Suits but when a terrorist known only as The Mandarin begins launching a series of devastating bombings on the United States Tony is lured out of his solitude and towards a confrontation with The Mandarin. </span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Terrible Privilege. (Robert Downey Jr. IS Tony Stark)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would argue that no other actor would be able to replace Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, I would rather see the series end than see him recast as his performance brings the character to life and make him his own. In fact no one can really be credited for this current renaissance of Super Hero movies as Robert Downey Jr. and the 'Iron Man' Movies, for where 'The Dark Knight Trilogy' showed that Super Hero movies could be tackled with the same drama and emotion as any other genre Iron Man taught us that Super Hero films could be fun again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Man 3 begins by raising several interesting questions 'Is Iron Man more than just the armor?', 'Where does Tony Stark end and Iron Man begin?' and 'Is he just a man in a suit?' </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the film explores these questions by using the destruction of his Malibu Home to cut Tony off from his newly made Avengers buddies, his current tech (with the exception of his prototype Mark 42 suit) and his resources in order to force Tony to rely on his brain to get him out of trouble instead of just his suits and explore what Stark is truly capable of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the film explore Stark's relationship with the Armor, the Iron Man outfit really takes a back seat this time around as Stark is forced to think on the fly, developing crude new tech from wherever he can salvage.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is also nice to see time given to explore Tony Stark's fragility following the events of The Avengers and the way in which he is almost suffering from Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder due to his near death experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one really relishes their Super-Hero status as much as Tony Stark and while 'Iron Man 2' explored his new found status impacted upon his already massive ego, 'Iron Man 3' deals with the impact self-doubt can have on the most self confident individuals)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LLOp33SQW8Slwqq98hb17k1HFRpU1-gloXIA7OflfUud5cX8nNoYkJezE7axsGM2nYzoYkUSlHzIpNcCx7g0BbJ8zNB85_IkpqQ94nNSNw_zisyW7QLPsPJyf9OxqzgPYVbyfIeav6Az/s1600/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LLOp33SQW8Slwqq98hb17k1HFRpU1-gloXIA7OflfUud5cX8nNoYkJezE7axsGM2nYzoYkUSlHzIpNcCx7g0BbJ8zNB85_IkpqQ94nNSNw_zisyW7QLPsPJyf9OxqzgPYVbyfIeav6Az/s640/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back Up. (The Cast)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its nice to see the films focus return to the Iron Man-centric characters once again with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau)once again taking center stage, giving the audience opportunity to see what has happened to them since the events of Iron Man 2.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony's relationship with Pepper continues to be the heart of the film, exploring the issues raised by the way in which his new found obsession with building suits has been distracting him from the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">relationship</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and the effect this has had between them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">War Machine gets re-branded this time around and instead becomes Iron Patriot, the only major differences being the colour scheme.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rhodey is also finally given some (Albeit brief) fight sequences outside of the Iron Patriot Suit which serves as a nice reminder that this character can be more than just the straight man to Tony Stark's humor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliKiSzhcApoZgzchQEYc0aJTLwpg156Vz98xMR-p9_xtTZ2Q2ktD9x-auz48oyKUQnBXWMvg-uI82Ecez_lI2RxF6TxcX2znnorYR125IzQLqo7yMrLK9AWigGYgmsD9ayyh0DhC44L60/s1600/iron-man-3-trailer-11-questions-raised-118967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliKiSzhcApoZgzchQEYc0aJTLwpg156Vz98xMR-p9_xtTZ2Q2ktD9x-auz48oyKUQnBXWMvg-uI82Ecez_lI2RxF6TxcX2znnorYR125IzQLqo7yMrLK9AWigGYgmsD9ayyh0DhC44L60/s640/iron-man-3-trailer-11-questions-raised-118967.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul Bettany returns as the voice of JARVIS Stark's A.I system who is given much more to do in this outing than in previous installments especially due to the fact that now t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he suits can now also remote pilot</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with JARVIS controlling them remotely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca Hall plays scientist Maya Hansen creator of the Extremis virus and Tony Stark's former love interest who's limited screen time never really see her rise above exposition territory, But the film does reveal enough about her to get across her feelings on how her work on Extremis is being used for warfare instead of its original design to help people as the film explores the theme of the intention of science. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stark also gets himself a kid side-kick named Harley (Ty Simpkins) in a strange E.T-esc sequence in which a kid finds a Super-Hero hiding in his garage. Usually I hate child sidekicks (I'm looking at you Short Round) but the child is a competent actor and the banter between him and Stark prevents him from ever becoming annoying, in fact the back and forth between Harley and Stark features many of the funniest lines of the film (Such as Harley trying to convince Stark that they are connected) and it adds another level to Stark's character as it is the first time we have seen him closely interact with a child.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You Will Never See Me Coming. (The Villain) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 'Iron Man 3' we finally see Tony battling his primary nemesis (The Joker to Tony Stark's Batman) The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley). I wont go into too much detail in order not to ruin anything but Stark's confrontation with The Mandarin doesn't exactly play out the way you may expect it to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the film taking a brilliant twist on the character that will catch both causal and die hard fans off guard due to brilliant misdirection, Arguably as a result fans reaction to the films interpretation of the character may vary but it is arguably the best way to subvert expectations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I will say is that Sir Ben Kingsley steals every scene that he is in and through his performance you cant help but feel he feels a real love towards his character.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ryIJIH1WqsqVb1Ajr74ADV16MSehDTJOfXYUpueiUVgI2clkQogXmVNz8-f69jFXGjkglPDm2nLf5sR3cSlCCKw2zkFz_IBhW-w9Kj0_nLTiFzurKsQFOJdOPMwP8vX8duuNdtQehEzS/s1600/iron-man-3-trailer-11-questions-raised-118967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ryIJIH1WqsqVb1Ajr74ADV16MSehDTJOfXYUpueiUVgI2clkQogXmVNz8-f69jFXGjkglPDm2nLf5sR3cSlCCKw2zkFz_IBhW-w9Kj0_nLTiFzurKsQFOJdOPMwP8vX8duuNdtQehEzS/s640/iron-man-3-trailer-11-questions-raised-118967.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also Best Villain Voice Since Bane.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guy Pearce also backs up the villain squad as Aldrich Killian (the man has Kill in his name: I think he may be evil) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pearce is one of those actors who I always enjoy watching regardless</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of the role and while is flashback geek may not feel entirely convincing his modern day rebirth more than makes up for it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Extremis </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike the first two Iron Man Installments the villains power is not technological based this time around but instead in the form of Human Alteration.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear that extremist would have been a difficult subject to tackle before the release of 'Avengers Assemble ('The Avengers' Dammit!)' which in a way expanded the scope of what these movies could realistically involve (With the first two installments opponents being solely Tech-Based), so by introducing Asguardian Gods and Aliens the possibilities for villains have been greatly increased.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extremis is a genetic alteration to the human body that allows the subject to under go high speed regeneration after sustaining injury to such a extent that the user is capable of regrowing entire limbs, it also increases the strength of the subject and allows heat manipulation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The effects of Extremis allows for some impressive cinematic moments including a sequence in which an Extremis user melts a water-tower's support structure with his bare hands as well as some less impressive moments such as another user who breathes fire, It only happens the once which is just as well as in the context of an Iron Man story it just appears goofy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet Extremis allows for the final confrontation to be more that simply to men in metal suits bashing one another like the first two installments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Action! the Sound! </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film's action sequence are incredible with notable mentions going to a daring mid-air rescue that boast a fantastic stunt team rather than having to rely on CGI.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another being Stark foolishly announcing his address in a threat to the Mandarin who proceeds to turn up and blow it to hell.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The destruction of Tony's Malibu Home is a nice turn for the film as it not just an impressive visual moment but also serves to both limit Stark's options and resources and appear as a display of The Mandarin's power as he literally 'hits Tony where he lives'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the 3D proved to be well done (Post-Converted) it failed to really add anything to the movie mainly being used to heighten the depth of field than gimmicky fly by moments so seeing it in 3D may add depth to the film but those of you who chose to view it in 2D will not miss out on much.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly the ACDC seems to have vanished from the films soundtrack while the instrumental score strongly resembles that of Avengers Assemble's (The Avengers Damn It!) dramatic score.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSEwkKj1U_f3YHafpmUS4HYKHfh7GlQVf9YmIBgjXd6O9on7SYervta3gkY-CWP4xUwMA-oRY3vCqKcctdT0OmM3_dri6o3KFXnzguMfR1oOOsP5agh7J6yxmZN7tFQ12Bg8msjZ4-j_r/s1600/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSEwkKj1U_f3YHafpmUS4HYKHfh7GlQVf9YmIBgjXd6O9on7SYervta3gkY-CWP4xUwMA-oRY3vCqKcctdT0OmM3_dri6o3KFXnzguMfR1oOOsP5agh7J6yxmZN7tFQ12Bg8msjZ4-j_r/s400/iron-man-3-hulk-buster-concept-art.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark 38: The Heavy Lifting suit (Igor) </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Suits You Sir. (The Armor) </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are also introduced to the widest selection of different armors we have see to date with the total now reaching 42 different suits,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark 42 can now remotely assemble onto Stark upon command (to mixed results) as well as remote piloting which eliminates the need for Stark to be in it at all furthering his self doubt but allowing for a brilliant final action sequence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other notable mentions go to 'Mark 38' The Heavy Lifter Suit (Let's face it: It's The Hulk-Buster) and 'Mark 35' The Red Snapper which features ground shattering fists. In fact the sheer number of different suits may have served as walking advertisements in a almost 'There will be toys for this' campaign but there is variety enough and they appear at such a perfect time you don't really notice.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Clean Slate. (The Ending)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again I wont go into much detail and risk spoiling anything and instead briefly mention that the ending can be viewed in a couple of different ways from removing distractions, to Stark letting himself be vulnerable again, all in all if this were to be the final outing for Stark it would be the perfect ending both narratively and emotionally bring the character to a fitting conclusion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its hard to describe exactly how I feel about the movie as when I walked away from the cinema I couldn't escape the feeling that something was missing, something that even now I cant quite put my figure</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on, Was it a bad movie? Not at all, It is another example of just how well Marvel understands its own franchise and character continuing in a very natural way but it seemed to lack the heart that the previous installments had. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So all in all an enjoyable (if not perfect) return to the Solo-Character-Centric Marvel Stories and welcome edition to the ever expanding Marvel-verse and I recommend checking it out.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUN1F785snANDSq5tjp4cIadgTDyOaq7lovc-L73Az_oCXv3P0TgV_DMioY2XYMVuskZMTZfBcbGUFv5YtYP4SnCrp8lTroH0pe6EbXQ70p_d0Yn6wea7klPIljfqt1w4rIke8oM6AmmDd/s1600/iron-man-3-tony-stark-robert-downey-jr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUN1F785snANDSq5tjp4cIadgTDyOaq7lovc-L73Az_oCXv3P0TgV_DMioY2XYMVuskZMTZfBcbGUFv5YtYP4SnCrp8lTroH0pe6EbXQ70p_d0Yn6wea7klPIljfqt1w4rIke8oM6AmmDd/s640/iron-man-3-tony-stark-robert-downey-jr.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh and be sure to stay after the credits for a special treat. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-19715305978803583402013-04-02T16:26:00.003-07:002014-10-30T06:03:42.528-07:00Silent Hill: Revelation (3D)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbobKJQAvMeb1KuLDCKCRtGOeNOVyTq1j-Mrz_ljhDNo3g1JNa_RsqNmdKMIWRNyEyMIqcV9KKrrjr_06rOEa3OTbdgVDC7TDd6F6vF8BDYLZ9Pq3Z6vyRiyKdkvQ9MtoK9Aq2eJ3xrpOv/s1600/silent-hill-revelation-3d-poster-pyramid-head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbobKJQAvMeb1KuLDCKCRtGOeNOVyTq1j-Mrz_ljhDNo3g1JNa_RsqNmdKMIWRNyEyMIqcV9KKrrjr_06rOEa3OTbdgVDC7TDd6F6vF8BDYLZ9Pq3Z6vyRiyKdkvQ9MtoK9Aq2eJ3xrpOv/s640/silent-hill-revelation-3d-poster-pyramid-head.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>There Are Many Silent Hills.<br />- Leonard Wolfe</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Silent Introduction. (A Look Back At Silent Hill)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">et me start this review by admitting to a few things:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I am a Fan of the Silent Hill games.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I believe that Silent Hill 2 was the best instalment in the series.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, I am not one of those fans that gets annoyed with each new instalment because its not Silent Hill 2 again.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said I will try to avoid going on and on about the game series and instead narrow my aim to this movie and the one proceeding it, so lets delve into the darkness that is "Silent Hill: Revelations".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Released in 2012 "Silent Hill: Revelation" continues the story set up in Christopher Gan's 2006 movie "Silent Hill" followed Rose (Radha Mitchell) and Chris </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Sean Bean)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Da Silver (why not named Mason I will never know) who's adoptive daughter Sharon was plagued nightmares of the town of Silent Hill leading Rose to decide that the best course of action is to take her daughter to the place she seemed terrified of without stopping to inform her Husband. Gripping scenes of Sean Bean wandering about in search of plot shortly ensued.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Silent Hill was far from awful and yet the problem was that for every positive step the movie would take will also take a negative one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It managed to encapsulate the look, sound and feel to Silent Hill perfectly and the designs of the creatures seemed to have been effortlessly lifted from the games; Rose and Cybil's encounter with the Lying Figure from Silent Hill 2 (The guy with no arms) really nails the mood and atmosphere of the games.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl0GatYizxz13P3zuj4RQ2Vvqn0CVsxYUASWEfY7bgBMSqvmyqkyWuJBUE6NLKUqFhAojjrnudsEcI57jhRnT1bHfTfvlSaj2byrJbZ0SGwYhZ3uED75-dUztVrxBEeBjPMmC1t1dRQKq/s1600/Silent-Hill-Revelation-3d-Pyramid-Head.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl0GatYizxz13P3zuj4RQ2Vvqn0CVsxYUASWEfY7bgBMSqvmyqkyWuJBUE6NLKUqFhAojjrnudsEcI57jhRnT1bHfTfvlSaj2byrJbZ0SGwYhZ3uED75-dUztVrxBEeBjPMmC1t1dRQKq/s640/Silent-Hill-Revelation-3d-Pyramid-Head.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet the plot is incoherent, abandoning the premise of the game and blaming it all on witches (I'm not even joking). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sean Bean who would have been brilliantly cast as the first games protagonist Harry Mason is dropped for Radha Mitchell's Rose solely for the purpose of including a line about "Mother being God in the eyes of a child" that appears twice throughout the film, this leaves Sean Bean trailing behind the plot for the entire movie breaking the flow of the narrative and spoiling all tension as he recaps thing we just witnessed (His original role being simply to appear at the beginning and ending of the film, but the studio pushed for his role to be greatly expanded due to lack of a male presence). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the most unforgivable sin the movie commits (I can forgive Pyramid Head, The Lying Man and the Nurses making an appearance even though they're are a product of James Sunderland's subconsciousness and therefore specific enemies to him alone and consequently have no reason to appear - Sorry, Silent Hill 2 pride) is that it is <b>boring</b>, the film plays out with Rose travelling to a different location, encountering a new creature before running away to the next area to repeat the cycle which fails to be scary on any real level (And Witches Really?).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now despite my raging here I actually don't hate this movie, I am simply disappointed in it due it getting the key elements to making possibly the first ever good Video Game movie correct and tripping on the simple stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now 6 years later we have a new instalment "Silent Hill: Revelation" </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Written and Directed by Michael J. Bassett </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which follows the plot of fan favourite 2003 video games Silent Hill 3 which seer's Sharon now known as Heather and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">her farther Christopher now known as Harry </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eight years following the events of Silent Hill in hiding with from The Cult known as The Order who want to lure Heather back to the dark town.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Silent Story. (The Plot)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Silent Hill" which saw Rose and Sharon trapped in the Fog Dimension of Silent Hill while Chris (Still in the normal world) return home following his failure to find either his family or the plot, revealing that they were both in different dimensions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set Eight years after these events "Revelation" reveals that Rose was able to contact Chris and through the use of the "Seal of Metatron" was able to send Sharon alone home, leaving herself trapped in the Otherworld, She also warned Chris that "The Order" would come looking for Sharon in order to take her back to Silent Hill as she was essential to their plans of birthing a God that would wipe the world clean.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From here on in the Witch angle from the first film is pretty much completely dropped (Thank God) receiving the odd mention but otherwise the film instead attempts to closely follow the events and plot of the game (The whole Witch element in the first movie annoyed me as the film is taking the established Silent Hill story deeming it implausible and replacing it with something even more ridiculous - The games UFO Endings made more sense).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film doesn't so much alter elements from the first film as ignore them entirely and hopes you do the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Here are several examples -</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cults beliefs and motives have not only changed but they are almost completely opposed</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to the ones they held but a film ago.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sharon's age at the time of "Silent</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hill" is upped from 8 to 11.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fractured elements of Alessa recombined inside the church during the end of Silent</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hill but are now split again.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently a large group of cult members survived the finale despite their only sanctuary being infiltrated and destroyed. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to the fact that Claudia is Dahlia's Sister who is Mother of Alessa and Vincent is Claudia's son that makes Heather and Vincent cousins, this is corrected by altering the origin of Sharron that was mentioned in the previous instalment. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not such a great start continuity wise. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Silent Souls. (The Cast)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cast is headed by Adelaide Clemens as Heather Mason/Sharon Da Silver, Clemens (in her first major role) delivers a strong performance as almost 18 year old Heather as she struggles to come to terms with just who she really is, even while she is given little to work with early on in the film beyond the "Am I losing my mind?" element of her character that comes with almost all protagonists in these types of films, But Clemens gives a strong performance and you cant help but root for her as a character.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix-24STUk3CSqUqZmEKgPELuKqkw__ZjNsuAT6nFxwJeMzcZZV7yJyGHSSJLoDfa2bzOFRnrMU-cQg_aoSaonD0wie4Qb-FmUH-81nQY05sV_Levgr13EpNwR1lO45Nw1jxIAo7pk-AXO/s1600/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiix-24STUk3CSqUqZmEKgPELuKqkw__ZjNsuAT6nFxwJeMzcZZV7yJyGHSSJLoDfa2bzOFRnrMU-cQg_aoSaonD0wie4Qb-FmUH-81nQY05sV_Levgr13EpNwR1lO45Nw1jxIAo7pk-AXO/s640/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" height="427" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sean Bean's Christopher (Although he actually gets to become Harry Mason now due to hiding his identity, yet his character more closely resembles James Sunderland) gets the chance he was denied last time around taking up an actual lead role in the movie </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this time with his absence being key to the plot rather than a tacked on element.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While his American accent is just awful he is still an engaging and likable character who is willing to go to any length to protect his daughter, wanting a normal life for her all the wile plagued by the fear of her connection to the town of Silent Hill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While it is good to see Radha Mitchell's Rose return for Revelations her role is limited to blatant plot explanation and Radha seems to show no interest in the role whatsoever, not so much performing her role as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">coldly</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> reading out dialogue and in truth its hard to blame her Rose goes from the main character of the first film to a foot note in this one.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpBeQrHJOcRPA9lVZpAx-JY3LGB2feWvC_HRV3NHMzTNazQbM5nOBP3IWfpKsKeZPEX88c93LPTMsQk39Shi-3sqPxoWNPKWUpZYM29doXQcHdt2vcgm3geZ7TLJlPM0VjCqSW4R7zcbz/s1600/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpBeQrHJOcRPA9lVZpAx-JY3LGB2feWvC_HRV3NHMzTNazQbM5nOBP3IWfpKsKeZPEX88c93LPTMsQk39Shi-3sqPxoWNPKWUpZYM29doXQcHdt2vcgm3geZ7TLJlPM0VjCqSW4R7zcbz/s640/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The role of Villain falls to Carrie-Anne Moss this time around as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Claudia Wolf leader of "The Order" cult and sister to Christabella from the first film with her role very much limited to a "I am the Villain" capacity with her character stating her desire to destroy and reshape the world but never delving into the reasons why.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact the whole God Birthing ritual is not addressed very well the Why? to the How? remaining a mystery with all that the audience knowing is that it requires Heather. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Vincent portrayed by Kit Harrington is another character who's role differs massively from his game counterpart taking much of Douglas's position throughout the film. His character has his own "Big Reveal" moment which comes as no surprise to anyone and then is quickly forgotten about, but he is likable enough as Heather's Assistant/Love interest . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Private Investigator Douglas Cartland (Martin Donovan) makes an appearance but with his involvement largely r</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">educed</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from the game in order to allow for Vincent to take his role he is quickly forgotten about with even a plot issue he raises going unresolved by the end of the film.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dahlia (Deborah Kara Unger) is also back.. for a scene, In fact I actually forgot she was in Revelations at all, with her appearance once again being limited to mumbling some brief exposition before disappearing entirely (why include these characters at all if you're not going to use them effectively?).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact many of Revelation's characters roles are just for exposition, appearing revealing elements of the plot before disappearing with little left to do with the rest of the movie. </span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Silent Spider. (Analyzing a Scene from Revelation) </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with Revelation can be summed up in a single scene: The Mannequin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taking shelter from Silent Hill's decent into the Otherworld Heather takes refuse in a storeroom full of old mannequins where she realize that she is not as alone as she thought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this scene could have been incredibly scary with Heather exploring the seemingly deserted room while the Mannequins subtly move in the background, little by little in order to build suspense before a sudden and terrifying reveal, instead the scene follows Heather as she comes across a mannequin with eyes that move (straight away, Bye any sense of suspense!) then she comes across a naked woman who then turns into a mannequin (Why? I have no idea) before ultimately discovering another woman cocooned in plastic by a CGI Spider-Mannequin creature that looked just terrible (and the woman's sole purpose is to be killed off by the mannequin and never mentioned again)</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaIClnVM5qZlyV0Xmw6Dc9k4F5PAiz-rRO6FAX4GeTu8BMnOGxRRnTbGtusQblvOgardJuA0MTpVvLxYhrw60iqBCqtUEjsahhsocz4mur5MjIjGtck6Fm_dNkivGRA2WjiSeZpcV_s7H/s1600/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaIClnVM5qZlyV0Xmw6Dc9k4F5PAiz-rRO6FAX4GeTu8BMnOGxRRnTbGtusQblvOgardJuA0MTpVvLxYhrw60iqBCqtUEjsahhsocz4mur5MjIjGtck6Fm_dNkivGRA2WjiSeZpcV_s7H/s640/silent-hill-puppet-monster.jpg" height="324" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The CGI! Fear The CGI!!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and so the problem with Revelations is that it drops any essence of subtly or suspense and rushes into the big 3D CGI monster reveal but what are you supposed to fear from a goofy looking CGI spider? (For the last time people, 3D is not scary!!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this scene like all of the monster confrontations in this film resolves far too suddenly, leaving the scene feeling like it was cut short before the climax.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Silent Sinners. (The Creature Designs of Revelation)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where as the creatures from the previous instalment were one of the films saving graces looking identical to their game origins while both intriguing and disturbing the only four new monsters introduced in this new instalments are the Mannequin seen above, The Missionary who looks more like a S&M demon than its creepy shuffling, bag headed counterpart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAzlE7Hlg1m4qp0UvjgK8Fx5ZfQcIzRXwIxExLYovtS9ammI97b5Zy1FeRznkqQ7fP0-zBT1DSqLMoUoy0ne24eHRRdHEiKnFjxhE29bg6w01PW6cu75oXeBhcrXhOvHMv1VL9LKw4WMX/s1600/tumblr_mb6v75cLKl1qegjq5o1_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAzlE7Hlg1m4qp0UvjgK8Fx5ZfQcIzRXwIxExLYovtS9ammI97b5Zy1FeRznkqQ7fP0-zBT1DSqLMoUoy0ne24eHRRdHEiKnFjxhE29bg6w01PW6cu75oXeBhcrXhOvHMv1VL9LKw4WMX/s640/tumblr_mb6v75cLKl1qegjq5o1_1280.png" height="266" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lady Ga Ga's New Music Video</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leonard Wolf who obviously was not overly memorable as I seem to have completely forgotten what it looked like and Memories of Alessa the dark alter-ego of Heather that controls Silent Hill and all these new monster look laughable at best with special mention going to Disc-Head the Missionary who look like a low budget fan film monster rather than a big-budget movie creation and that is a big problem for the film as it is focusing on Monster attacks rather than building atmosphere only to have the monster reveal to look goofy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nurses make a reappearance along with the Lying Figure (Albeit only for little more than a single shot). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pyramid Head also reappears</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Obviously)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> but at least the film gives an excuse for his appearance this time around beyond the "fan service" inclusion last time (his role is still solely for Fan-Service but they do sneak a reason into the plot).</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Silent Dimension. (Scenes Filmed For 3D Not In 3D)</b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with 3D films once released onto 2D discs is that many of the moments that were specifically shot for the use of 3D appear out of place within the rest of the film, with most of these moments relying on slow-motion to heighten the effects so that without the use of 3D the severed fingers flying at you this really slows the pace of the film, this problem is encountered in many other 3D horror films with the most notable exception being "Resident Evil: Afterlife" which had so many 3D slow motion shots that watching it on DVD or Blu-Ray is almost unbearable (Not that it was easy watching to begin with: Awful, Awful Movie). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Silent Salvation. (Saving Graces and Conclusion)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are an abundance of references to the games from the Red Shoe that can be seen in the hotel room (Jack's Inn, specifically room 106), the Happy Burger restaurant, the iconic pipe makes its appearance, the barbecued dog can be seen, Robbie the Rabbit can be spotted numerous times throughout the film and the Map that Heather looks at in Brookhaven Asylum being the actual in-game map from Brookhaven Hospital.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the ending makes allusions to other Silent Hill stories in which Travis (From "Origins") makes a cameo and the Prison Convoy from Silent Hill Downpour can be seen, these small references are enjoyable to watch out for throughout the movie while never being forced into the uninitiated viewers face.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film does have its merits Adelaide Clemens and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sean Bean do their best with what they have to work with, The carousel sequence while a little short e-captures the feeling from the game but unfortunately the plot is a mess ignoring elements from is predecessor (You set it up now you have to live with it) and fails to have a single sequence that I would deem scary, although the film is not boring so it has the first instalment beat in that aspect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Revelation is not terrible (It is still a master piece compared to the "Resident Evil" movies) I cant help but be disappointed,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> disappointed as a Silent Hill fan, disappointed as a Horror Movie Fan, disappointed as a fan of Creature Design, But most of all disappointed in myself for expecting better. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-89356233855461328532013-03-14T17:12:00.000-07:002014-08-20T17:00:55.551-07:00The Dark Knight Trilogy (An Overview)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraTerIorxhcGAUMX5E0L7_WOTByths5kK6ZU9O_K7MLtGU_UZCShsISNwOJCHTNv00Zu3WVt5ylguSiIY1ZY3NUOwwV0pKVOu29ge-lUDOB28j1FaaA8txk_0zfQmBAxkeGwsYoYkt_QF/s1600/trilogy-poster+2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraTerIorxhcGAUMX5E0L7_WOTByths5kK6ZU9O_K7MLtGU_UZCShsISNwOJCHTNv00Zu3WVt5ylguSiIY1ZY3NUOwwV0pKVOu29ge-lUDOB28j1FaaA8txk_0zfQmBAxkeGwsYoYkt_QF/s640/trilogy-poster+2.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When a forest grows too wild, A purging fire is inevitable and natural.</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> - Ra's al Ghul</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>Back in 1995's when Michael Gough's Alfred muttered the line "Broken wings mend in time" it seems that he was talking about the Batman franchise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since between Joel Schumacher's rubbish "Batman Forever" and the abomination "Batman and Robin" it seemed that he succeeded in clipping this franchises wings for good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But alas Hollywood seems to have fallen in love with Reboots these days and for once I am incredibly grateful as it gave us "The Dark Knight Trilogy".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
"Batman Begins" The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" are directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception, The Prestige), written by David S. Goyer and are largely head accountable for revolutionising The Super Hero genre by taking on it's subject matter as seriously and realistically as possible adding complex emotional depth and psychological studies of its characters oh and a Bat-mobile which is essentially a Tank!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The following is an overview of the entire Dark Knight Saga exploring everything from its Story Line to Character Design and as such there may be a few spoilers for those yet to see the Trilogy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman Begins (2005)</span></b></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Fear.</b></span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rEXkwUoHQJ7CZQDxZP93R5ELAYLq5MVXgAJzoIoX8-KKziUT80sG-4qG53TDuN1P2Sm6RRoTWuwQXDZFOp_WfnmPW3Ix8uM1nC1Pum0f_Xf9kV6t-Uk6eNKasqdTsJm4noGrmxi5TPIU/s1600/51tDmlhOKWL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rEXkwUoHQJ7CZQDxZP93R5ELAYLq5MVXgAJzoIoX8-KKziUT80sG-4qG53TDuN1P2Sm6RRoTWuwQXDZFOp_WfnmPW3Ix8uM1nC1Pum0f_Xf9kV6t-Uk6eNKasqdTsJm4noGrmxi5TPIU/s640/51tDmlhOKWL._SL500_SS500_.jpg" height="640" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>W<span style="font-size: x-small;">hy do we fall, Sir?</span></i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So that we can learn to pick ourselves up</span></i></div>
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i> - Alfred</i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Means to Fight Injustice. (An Introduction Part I) </span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The start of the trilogy See's Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travelling the world in search of an understanding of the criminal mind following his parents murder, Approached by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) He is offered training by the secret sect of Assassins known as "The </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">League</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of Shadows" and event that will set him down the road to becoming the vigilante known as the Batman. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman Begins takes an interesting step forward in terms of superhero movies with the entire film being played as closely to real life as possible in terms of Batman's gadgets and tools which are based upon realistic technology as Nolan tackles the character from the view point of "What if this were real?" approaching every aspect of the story as realistically and believably as possible in an attempt to ground the story in reality.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike previous interpretations of the character the series keeps its focus primarily on Bruce Wayne rather than his Batman persona delving into the conflicts that arise in his life as he attempts to bring justice to Gotham adding a unique and complex insight into the man beyond the Bat studying the psychological issues that his double life has on both him and those closest to him.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film begins by exploring Bruce's self imposed exile from Gotham following the death of his parents as he attempts to gain a greater insight to the criminal mind by living among them a story largely unexplored by other Batman media.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also delves into the impact that the persona as Batman has on his reputation as Bruce Wayne and how he is view by those people who are unaware of his secret </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as well as the way in which Bruce Wayne serves as a secret identity for Batman, not the other way around. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of all three members of this Trilogy Begins takes the most liberties with its time frame, jumping from Bruce's childhood before his parents deaths (giving the audience an insight into their relationship), to immediately after the tragedy (allowing the audience to survey the aftermath) to the court case, to Bruce's exile, his training and ultimately his return.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With many of the events not taking place according to their appropriate order, allowing for a better understanding of the events that shaped Wayne into the Man/Bat he becomes as a result of these events </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>More Than A Man. (The Cast Part I) </b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman Begins features an impressive cast with many of the actors going on to become regular Nolan contributors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Headed by Christian Bale in the main role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Bale delivers a great performance that portrays the emotional fragility that Wayne is forced to cope with due to the burden of leading a double life in a way in which no other actor attempting to play the character has been able to encapsulate. </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The films love interest comes in the form of Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) Gotham's assistant district attorney and Bruce's childhood friend the history between the two characters makes the relationship much more interesting as the film explores the way in which his absence over the years has effect both their relationship and her view on Bruce's return, with him wanting to show her that he is more than a self-centered rich kid but being unable to do so with out putting her at risk. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Become Fear. (The Themes Part I) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout Begins the film explores the theme of Overcoming Fear an direct example in which is that when a young Bruce Wayne is traumatized by bats eventually leading him to want to leave the theater during a scene featuring bats which in turn results in his parents death at the hands of a mugger, Holding himself responsible upon his return to Gotham he takes the symbol of the Bat as his crime fighting persona.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This theme is further enforced by the choice of Scarecrow (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cillian Murphy) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as the films antagonist as he seeks to exploit fear through the use of his hallucinogenic gas.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film as delves into the influence of Father Figures on our lives with Bruce's journey being instigated by the death of his parents he is constantly shaped by mentors and father figures who better him as a person. This starts out in the form of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Henri Ducard </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who teaches him the skill he will require when he returns to Gotham (albeit for different reasons than Bruce expected) and helping him move past the guilt he felt over his parents deaths. Upon his return this mantle is taken by three different men </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Cain) - who acts as Bruce's most dependable and loving adviser forgiving his mistakes and helping him get back on his feet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) - who equips himwith the equipment he requires to become Batman and advise him on technical </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">aspects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Gordon (Gary Oldman) - Who serves of an example of honesty and Justice while helping Batman in the field. </span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each of these three character serves as a different part of a whole guide for Bruce allowing him to learn and ultimately become a better person through their continued assistance.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Time To Spread The Word And The Word Is PANIC. (The Villains Part I) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JjqW-A34vymRfOee1TC5ZeeJWsN2fi1sgDSe0CM4VvhpGVO1wdDo-Uc3aPgzmCvMQveWFB5CKde_8b6H35YhlctiPar85VcZlufMsLiA4ZmKf3b8DN4Gt2bkFV_gmZLl0j51Jz5lL809/s1600/batman-begins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JjqW-A34vymRfOee1TC5ZeeJWsN2fi1sgDSe0CM4VvhpGVO1wdDo-Uc3aPgzmCvMQveWFB5CKde_8b6H35YhlctiPar85VcZlufMsLiA4ZmKf3b8DN4Gt2bkFV_gmZLl0j51Jz5lL809/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="168" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself....And Scarecrow. (Scarecrow)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the film theme is based largely around Fear and Overcoming Fear it only seems right that Dr Johnathan Crane AKA Scarecrow ( Who would go on to appear in all three films) who personifies </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fear should </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">debut</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> as the primary antagonist for the first two acts of the movie.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">portrayed by Cillian Murphy (another repeat Nolan contributor) Crane is portrayed as featuring neither a intimidating strength nor genius level intelligence but rather an deep insight into the human mind specifically fear, manipulating a deeply personalized fear response from his victims through the use of a chemical fear gas that causes the victim severe hallucinations.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92AFescjpSxgj3nzBvvzVIhAUWc1Vbq_-GdvV3llCn9IyCiGL88GT2bXAPyk9KURT6dZJfJOMuj5Qh9ulSUpDSUF5eWvmN2SMmXgYx7S2YJb9ZCTSE7rXoll0M_UcZWlJIhCEhgEArZ5K/s1600/Neeson-Batman-Begins-wide-560x281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92AFescjpSxgj3nzBvvzVIhAUWc1Vbq_-GdvV3llCn9IyCiGL88GT2bXAPyk9KURT6dZJfJOMuj5Qh9ulSUpDSUF5eWvmN2SMmXgYx7S2YJb9ZCTSE7rXoll0M_UcZWlJIhCEhgEArZ5K/s400/Neeson-Batman-Begins-wide-560x281.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- The Demon's Head. (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Ra's Al Ghul)</span></b></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Liam Neeson's performance is brilliant (but what did you expect it's Liam Neeson!) as Ra's Al Ghul, Bruce's mentor and a man who will go to any length to secure his version of justice.</span></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ra's is an interesting opponent for Batman as the two character feature strong parallels of one another with Ra's being a strong embodiment what Wayne could become if not for the rules that he he uses to keep himself in check, a theme that reappears in The Dark Knight" with Harvey Dent's Two Face but comes across much stronger in begins as Bruce has already begun down the path to becoming like Ra's only to turn away at the last moment. </span></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also the full circle nature of Student vs. Master is very well done (if not a bit cliche) and serves to show how far Bruce has come since the start of his journey.</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9NrFZb8E_Sl-lBH5JTFxCw23_LIguHohPlIQURFjFMUkTNpQLHT3gsDjiuuxrD9bDDNEaP2H-Yb-zgYNqTW6V12vjau_sZ4x5h0Vu0OWNocwJSEH8YGBLJpujMV15a-q1F3YvZFgj0jr/s1600/42667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9NrFZb8E_Sl-lBH5JTFxCw23_LIguHohPlIQURFjFMUkTNpQLHT3gsDjiuuxrD9bDDNEaP2H-Yb-zgYNqTW6V12vjau_sZ4x5h0Vu0OWNocwJSEH8YGBLJpujMV15a-q1F3YvZFgj0jr/s400/42667.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- The Mark. (Zsasz)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also Victor Zsasz appears very briefly. (Many of you will not know who Zsasz is but, IT'S ZSASZ!)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Spelunking? (The Equipment Part I) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman Begins takes an interesting look at the assembly of the equipment that would go on to become Batman's outfit and equipment, as the film is attempting to bring the events to life as realistically as possible Batman's supplies come in the form of rejected military prototypes.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tumbler was the first thing designed for the new trilogy as Nolan believed (correctly in my opinion) that the Batmobile is the essence of the Batman film you are attempting to create , and "The Tumbler" is a true embodiment of Nolan's new vision for Batman, not beautiful but practical, abandoning the neon laced design of the previous installments for a more practical vehicle. that combines the speed of a Ferrari with the strength of a Tank.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZtTPZjeHjEpWZSSYO-bptoQgK4mQ656EkO-yKbvFOZwR-fLlpubMNvXP_-zZ1X6DGySTtqZf1kiewdaa_OAYeESkkpPm27T63puKBDzoEMZ6JlLka7LLckPCe4gRKA4EtxpkYMQv1dX6/s1600/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZtTPZjeHjEpWZSSYO-bptoQgK4mQ656EkO-yKbvFOZwR-fLlpubMNvXP_-zZ1X6DGySTtqZf1kiewdaa_OAYeESkkpPm27T63puKBDzoEMZ6JlLka7LLckPCe4gRKA4EtxpkYMQv1dX6/s400/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" height="176" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Does It Come In Black (The Look Of The Trilogy) </b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each film seems to feature its own unique colour pallet with Batman Begins strongly featuring strong use of the colour orange as seen from the main publicity material such as poster but also preventable throughout the film perhaps to better highlight the dark silhouette of Batman's outfit against the brighter colour. The Dark Knight then shifts its colour tone to darker blues reflecting the darker tone of the movie while The Dark Knight Rise favors grey and whites.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5_YdfR7R541YDzBRYD25JKF_weWkYDZzLFrrQyoc1H4aThKCyefGZwm2IbyT-L6yBJokgSQx9Obg2uoJuXIhoO3AZBSYVHzpvgFejS4PSKwAh-j6OQgGV3jk70pa2fgA-zyUzPFkkOW8/s1600/batman-begins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5_YdfR7R541YDzBRYD25JKF_weWkYDZzLFrrQyoc1H4aThKCyefGZwm2IbyT-L6yBJokgSQx9Obg2uoJuXIhoO3AZBSYVHzpvgFejS4PSKwAh-j6OQgGV3jk70pa2fgA-zyUzPFkkOW8/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conclusion of Begins sets up (or rather hints at) the appearance of Batman's main nemesis The Joker and suggests escalation in the war on crime</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which continues into...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dark Knight (2008) </span></b></h4>
</div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Chaos.</span></b></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQHU8V5lggXw4uoE9Am8PNcWVUG33BCsTTQRIsZPmXjQpCa9e_-c7xoMeohbYbLVk4TnNyIj6VkLC8cclntwFpSA5Q0nvhxvsOaPYZZ4tkL19TeTWr7CDIlNgZljeFhGCuPNEBgae1nan/s1600/The-Dark-Knight--Joker--Poster-batman-522340_600_961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQHU8V5lggXw4uoE9Am8PNcWVUG33BCsTTQRIsZPmXjQpCa9e_-c7xoMeohbYbLVk4TnNyIj6VkLC8cclntwFpSA5Q0nvhxvsOaPYZZ4tkL19TeTWr7CDIlNgZljeFhGCuPNEBgae1nan/s640/The-Dark-Knight--Joker--Poster-batman-522340_600_961.jpg" height="640" width="396" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-size: medium;">T<span style="font-size: x-small;">his city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them.</span></i><i style="font-size: small;"> </i><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">- The Joker</span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>All Part Of The Plan. (An Introduction Part II) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here sits the gem of the saga (in my opinion at least) following on from the events of Begins with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and the new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) Batman's campaign to eliminate crime from Gotham has been largely successful, But the Mob is unwilling to give up without a fight and the appearance of a criminal calling himself The Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens all their plans.</span><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<b>You either Die a Hero or Live to see yourself become the Villain. (The Themes Part II) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dark Knight explores the ideas of escalation in exploring the notion of Batman himself being responsible for the continued crimes of the Joker, his presence encouraging the Joker and driving him to greater and greater extremes. as well as the notion that Batman's methods could violently escalate with the creations of a device than can spy on Gotham's 30 million people slipping further and further across the line into vigilantism.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also explores just how much victory can cost with the lives of the characters are shattered forever in the aftermath of the Jokers reign of terror, things will never be the same, and interesting notion for the superhero genre in which films resolution more commonly feature things returning to normal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Batman's Greatest Failure</b>.<b> (A Twist You Wont See Coming) </b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dark Knight's gripping plot features a moment many of you wont see coming (I didn't) in which it is showed just how human Batman's limitations really are. This Trilogy aims to portray the story of Bruce Wayne as true to real life as possible and the unavoidable fact is that Batman is just a man, no matter how skilled he cant save everybody</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3rivmoTIlJcQ8Lsx4mxA_kVJa2nP_n7S5v4BeazJ8LjsROIi6Y-oANlN3QotlwmqDeif6c4XevXg_n37z1xIdBpQfCrdYSXCYXPirgUls-zse3s2WJwIR7h2Sm3rT4Dio9JPOQbo2w3-/s1600/43-ruins.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3rivmoTIlJcQ8Lsx4mxA_kVJa2nP_n7S5v4BeazJ8LjsROIi6Y-oANlN3QotlwmqDeif6c4XevXg_n37z1xIdBpQfCrdYSXCYXPirgUls-zse3s2WJwIR7h2Sm3rT4Dio9JPOQbo2w3-/s640/43-ruins.png" height="264" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Death of the Tumbler, Rise of the Bat-Pod. (The Equipment Part II) </b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Bat-Suit is made up of separate pieces to allow greater movement and fluidity in combat also allowing Batman to turn his head which the previous suit did not permit while appearing more streamlined compared to the bulky outfit of Begins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghonzjA61b7cU3TQbvkD9GcoAHF6uJt4j03b40PN5bghffW3SjC8pIreSFnChyMK3BZ3JDQSO94T0HMDgv0lGtr4VouzWlSkfbvDCXLduhUwmvurhvuS13Zv3Fd8YZ6w8loB8N35RZ5YrS/s1600/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghonzjA61b7cU3TQbvkD9GcoAHF6uJt4j03b40PN5bghffW3SjC8pIreSFnChyMK3BZ3JDQSO94T0HMDgv0lGtr4VouzWlSkfbvDCXLduhUwmvurhvuS13Zv3Fd8YZ6w8loB8N35RZ5YrS/s400/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The film also see's the introduction of the Bat-Pod that separates from the tumbler (the bat-pod consisting of two of the tumblers wheels) a smaller, faster and more mobile vehicle that still packs some of the tumblers punch, this vehicle continues the logical progression of Batman's equipment with his tools being salvaged from other tools causing the equipment developments to seem more natural (rather than look what I just built).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<b>I Believe In Harvey Dent (The Characters Part II) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film introduces District Attorney Harvey Dent, who with the help of Rachel Dawes is attempting (Largely successfully) to clean up Gotham through the law, operating in a way Batman cannot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harvey Dent also begins a relationship with </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachel Dawes and the film</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> explores how they form a successful duo in the court room, and other rooms...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also delves into the impact this has on her relationship with Bruce who still believes that she is willing to wait for him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rachel Dawes is the only character among the cast to be portrayed by to different actors as Katie Holmes role is replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal who delivers a competent (if a little bland) performance.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do You Know How I Got These Scars? (The Villains Part II) </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxHaIWyRB0EjRWPIA2O7dWaXF25jCwkWdSQHi61suHNGE2-RJZY7CWakXz3S1yxPV8OFD2IaY1qvMrtvnQxEStxb1_RJ8KWD4koYB0gZibB0w_LroPN8iyXcJk2c4kd5yiuzO_WmZob31/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="250" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- The Clown Prince of Crime. (The Joker)</b></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main antagonist for The Dark Knight comes in the form of Batman's primary villain The Joker, Nolan's version of the Joker portrayed by Heath Ledger (in his last and without doubt greatest performance in which you forget your watching an actor and simply get lost in the madness of the performance) is more threatening and unpredictable than previous incarnations of the character and stays true to the notion that the less you know about this character the more you fear him, with The Joker making up several back stories for himself during the course of the film in which none may be the true event that had lead him into becoming the Man....Clown? that he is today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3howCX2OaP1OAFQmQenq_BwdAw8F_xb-U4N15rI-0IwaXtm47UaxMaovY1Iy3o__XsSzDpV0T6zc-ck_N6AwruQr2WPR0kkZqf8q3K8ssukZb_8El-TvUQJagJwOfRbo7ZUL0ae6pH8k/s1600/batman-begins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3howCX2OaP1OAFQmQenq_BwdAw8F_xb-U4N15rI-0IwaXtm47UaxMaovY1Iy3o__XsSzDpV0T6zc-ck_N6AwruQr2WPR0kkZqf8q3K8ssukZb_8El-TvUQJagJwOfRbo7ZUL0ae6pH8k/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="183" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">- T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">he Two Faces of the Law. (Two Face)</span></b></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plot of The Dark Knight also gives full focus to the character of Harvey Dent and his eventual fall from grace as the Joker's campaign against Gotham takes it toll on both his body and mind driving him from his standing as "Gotham's White Knight" in which he was a figure of hope proving to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the people of Gotham</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that the law can work and make a difference, into a corrupt vigilante who determines "Innocent or Guilty", "Right and Wrong" and "Life and Death" by a flip of a coin. Another dark reflection of Batman, Two-Face is an example of just where taking Justice into ones own hands can lead as the sense of right and wrong is abandoned for cold and uncompromising judgement. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;">The Dark Knight is the first Batman film to not feature flash backs, relying on "Begins" to have done the expiation the first time around. It is also the first Batman film to take the character of Batman outside of Gotham with the character traveling to Hong Kong to capture a criminal who has fled from Gotham's jurisdiction but as Batman doesn't operate inside of the law he is able to pursue in one of the Saga's most defining scenes.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without going into too much detail the ending to "The Dark Knight" is rather...Dark.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Films directed by Christopher Nolan's are often most memorable through the use of the opening and ending, highlighting the drama, triumph and defeat as highly as possible in order to gauge the strongest reaction from the audience and here is a fine example with Bruce's entire world and the public's understanding of the vigilante known as The Batman damaged forever and what's more dramatic is that Bruce makes the decision himself in order to protect Gotham.</span></div>
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dark Knight Rises (2012)</span></b></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Pain.</b></span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchjI3JkenHKV8Vvrf6PFlFHHx3EfhqJny_lv8bbDMFCUbB8sWSUIgX97g3dmGtGnqqR1n9dANa7nll21fDxLBOxVcwU3OP3K959Y1cvByF9xGnTUwauCTpbHLnI0Pffr5NSlBWavJUMb/s1600/trilogy-poster+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQchjI3JkenHKV8Vvrf6PFlFHHx3EfhqJny_lv8bbDMFCUbB8sWSUIgX97g3dmGtGnqqR1n9dANa7nll21fDxLBOxVcwU3OP3K959Y1cvByF9xGnTUwauCTpbHLnI0Pffr5NSlBWavJUMb/s640/trilogy-poster+2.jpg" height="640" width="427" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>N<span style="font-size: x-small;">ow is not the time for fear, That comes later</span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> - Bane</span></i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Rise. (An Introduction Part III) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the final installment of the Trilogy The Dark Knight Rises (Which I still believe should be called "Knightfall") it has been eight years since the events of the previous movie and Bruce Wayne has hung up the Cowl and become a recluse as a result of the psychological damaged caused by his battle with the Joker, But is tempted out of hiding by the appearance of a mysterious Cat Burglar Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and a cunning and brutal mercenary name Bane (Tom Hardy) who has his own plans for Gotham.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In order to protect Gotham from the consequences of Two Face's actions during "The Dark Knight" </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon and Batman </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">effectively</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">buried</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">truth</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in order to prevent the Jokers victory but</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> any victory based on a lie no matter how hard fought will be a short term one at best and this returns in a interesting way in "The Dark Knight Rises" </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> crime rising from the very depths of Gotham and posing a far greater threat than anything faced before.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest problem with the plot of Rises is that it happens twice, with Bruce Wayne lured out of retirement and having to learn how to be Batman again, before Bane shows up effortlessly breaks him and Wayne struggles to rise all over again, as a result the narrative struggles mid way through the movie as the film retreads ground it previously </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">explored </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(but this time around with chanting), While this interrupts the flow of Wayne's tale the film avoids damage as this allows the other characters stories and situations time to mature and progress, and since Rises is by far the most ambitious yet it serves well to give the rest of the film events time to develop before bringing Bruce back into the fray.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film also suffers from (if not multiple plot-holes then) multiple gaps in the narrative (After escaping the prison how does Bruce make it back to civilization? and then from there how does he reach Gotham?)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Broken Bat. (The Cost Of Being The Bat)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Bruce Wayne is reintroduced at the start of the movie it is clear that he is not in good shape mentally or physically with the cost of victory having proved too much to bear and as a result Bruce now has hung up the cowl completely and become a recluse having lost all interest in the outside world due to his failure to protect what he cared most about.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is handled incredibly well in film (especially by a brilliant performance from Bale) and its nice to see that the film takes itself seriously enough that Eight years on thing are not simply better because The Joker and Two-Face were defeated, the lasting impact of the consequence are played with full force ultimately leading to a heart-breaking scene between Bruce and Alfred as Alfred (in a performance that proves that he is the true dramatic punch behind the film) reveals painful truths in an attempt to force Wayne back into the world but not as Batman.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also in a strange twist The Dark Knight Rises is probably the Batman film with the least amount of Batman featured, choosing instead to delve into the complexity's that his return to his life as a vigilante has on both those closest to him, but more to the point to Gotham as a whole, exploring the fact that may not be glad of his return following the belief that he is responsible for the death of Harvey Dent and now in fact view him to pose a greater threat to Gotham than Bane himself (a fascinating issue that is more touched upon than thoroughly explored)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also see the first time Batman appears in combat openly in the day time a risky decision based on the emphasis of stalking in the dark enforced by the previous films, but one that works well do to the huge scale of the film and the weight of what is at risk.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yes there are small issues such as the fact that Wayne still uses his Batman voice when around people who already know he's Batman, my counter argument to this is that while Wayne is Batman he might actually view it as a separate personality and as such so the voice instinctively. Is there any truth to this? Probably not. But I view it as a interesting theory that raises some interesting issues as regards to Bruce's mental state.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Then I Will Break You. (The Villains Part III) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJHhpIdQztiTHqcEZlD4IesLw_qqH42hmkhId6KbnaE5__8HlfB0JsfKREFuthdbCDfexDsyU1H7OSJj8HkKnaUsmr3CIsT0y8PE2xMdQSzhhLMmWslNKu3kLrIFN_HM7WNnYi3KRR6e8/s1600/batman-begins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJHhpIdQztiTHqcEZlD4IesLw_qqH42hmkhId6KbnaE5__8HlfB0JsfKREFuthdbCDfexDsyU1H7OSJj8HkKnaUsmr3CIsT0y8PE2xMdQSzhhLMmWslNKu3kLrIFN_HM7WNnYi3KRR6e8/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- Born Into Darkness. (Bane)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bane portrayed by Tom Hardy is cold and calculating deducing Batman's Identity as Bruce Wayne with ease, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If The Joker was a living embodiment of unpredictability then Bane is living ruthlessness from his scheme to his combat style every blow is aimed to break something. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Posing both a mental and physical threat to Batman (especially in his weaken condition) Bane poses the largest threat to Gotham to date due to the sheer scale of his plan and its simplicity compared to that of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Ra's Al Ghul. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">One of Bane's note worthy scene is the speech he delivers to a crowd of scared Gotham city residents from the steps of Blackgate Prison as he prey upon the poor's mistrust of the rich and promises that "This Great City!" will endure all the while planning its destruction. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The threat of Bane is incredibly apparent the first time that Batman faces off against him in single combat, with Bane effortlessly outclassing Batman, Beating him nearly to death and breaking his back in the process. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem featured by Bane in the greater narrative of things is when in the Third Act a shocking plot twist is revealed (which warrant later discussion) the significance of his role drops drastically which does allow for a surprise twist in his ultimate fate but also undermines his lead villain role up until that point in the movie</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AueTSZg6ShvjBr7KXtubi0xADLd3UJdNJDeejSDUu4EP67PbibHBx2H2LLLTNiEhviy3uTfllTFa1jw1VgIlu3Jdlc4yxQCZpkT_TOPm-XqmK7Eh7wr6yrsntfEzrtQAQAe8JRFKUrki/s1600/batman-begins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AueTSZg6ShvjBr7KXtubi0xADLd3UJdNJDeejSDUu4EP67PbibHBx2H2LLLTNiEhviy3uTfllTFa1jw1VgIlu3Jdlc4yxQCZpkT_TOPm-XqmK7Eh7wr6yrsntfEzrtQAQAe8JRFKUrki/s400/batman-begins.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>- A Brazen Costume For a Cat Burglar. (Catwoman)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While not a villain Batman is forced to square off against Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) a amoral cat burglar who switches sides more than Ray Winston's character in "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" who is l</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ooking for a chance to start anew as her life of crime begins to catch up with her.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The role of Kyle is used as an insider perspective to show that perhaps social revolution is not as fun as you may think, trapped as Gotham goes to hell,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and while never overly comedic Kyle does supply lighter banter for the more serious tone of Batman.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Little Air Superiority. (The Equipment Part III) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the final installment of the trilogy Batman's equipment only really receives one major new upgrade dubbed "The Bat" which is the films version of the Bat-wing which replaces the Bat-Pod as Batman's primary mode of transport allowing for faster transport throughout the city resulting in some great aerial shots of Gotham and one awesome action sequence as the Bat and multiple tumblers go head to head.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigi7A3MjAEAZuZnWlCP2alPheyubMDDRlPIDVS8Ujf6yYum2g94oBb3lg080FN40cvg52_pCren1mDn5c-qGS0-amBOQCgi8gmUzrD6jbKu5iFt4Gn6kEvRHgP1iONEjk1VAOfXKqR_Qkq/s1600/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigi7A3MjAEAZuZnWlCP2alPheyubMDDRlPIDVS8Ujf6yYum2g94oBb3lg080FN40cvg52_pCren1mDn5c-qGS0-amBOQCgi8gmUzrD6jbKu5iFt4Gn6kEvRHgP1iONEjk1VAOfXKqR_Qkq/s400/529621_10150902921055592_709235575_n.jpg" height="232" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Tumbler and Bat-Pod both reappear reminding us that the tools that Batman uses can cause great destruction in the hands of those less deserving. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Knife That Cuts Deepest (A Twist That You Probably Will See Coming) </span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue with the big plot twist in Rises (That I will not reveal) is that when the true design behind Banes goal is revealed anyone with anything above a basic understanding of the Batman Mythology will see the twist coming a mile off, and to anyone without a basic understanding of the Batman Mythology the twist will seem like a last ditch effort to shock the audience, this is a shame as if re-watched its actually set up very well throughout the film (albeit subtly - although in my opinion plot twist should be introduced subtly throughout the film before the payoff is revealed.) </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue is raised by having plot twists centered around characters is that by not allowing the character enough screen time makes the reveal feel underwhelming, but in allowing too much screen time the twist becomes predictable, a difficult line to walk.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Legend, Mr Wayne (Concluding The Trilogy)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Rises has more (or at least more noticeable) flaws than the previous installments it is still a enjoyable and incredibly high quality movie and a worthy end to the Dark Knight Saga bringing Bruce's story and the story of those around him to a fitting conclusion as well as continuing the theme found </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">persistently throughout the trilogy that anyone can be Batman</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Legacy (The Future and Lasting Effect of The Dark Knight) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the completion of this trilogy and Nolan's and Bale's departure from the character what does the future hold for the Batman franchise and what impact has these films had on the Superhero genre?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As previously mentioned The Dark Knight Saga can be considered as one of the main forces behind the idea that superhero movies can be as heartfelt or dramatic as any other genre, with this trilogy featuring a tone not found in other superhero movie (a notion seemingly deliberately juxtaposed by 2008 Marvel Movie "Iron Man" which took a more fun and light hearted approach)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are already talks of another Reboot for the caped crusader as DC try to match Marvel's "Avengers" success and get a "Justice League" movie off the ground, a plan that may take a while as DC characters are hardly cross-over ready meaning it might be a long while before Batman returns to the big screen and this may be a good thing since after a trilogy of this caliber to rush off and reboot it immediately following its completion would completely undermine these great movies, and they are great movies, a new and different take on a character many audiences are familiar with, reinvented in a way which had never been done before and telling a engaging and moving story of one man's quest for justice along the way.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-2333602017305370982013-02-08T15:06:00.003-08:002013-05-11T14:14:55.774-07:00The Dying Art Of Movie Posters <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is said that as technology advances so does the media of film, from analogue to digital cinema, the use of 3D on mass in today's movies, the same can be said of movie posters and movie trailers.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where as once posters serve as the face of the film, the primary form of advertising since</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> once the only real way to see a trailer for an upcoming movie would be a the cinema previews screening or "TV spots" played at home, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the fact that now the majority of the movie going population now has access to the internet in some form (or at least you do since your reading this) has altered the way in which upcoming films are advertised.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today through the use of video sites such as YouTube anyone and everyone has access to previews of upcoming movies on demand, so the movie poster (once the main tool in the advertisement tool box) role is greatly diminished, we have even reached the point where upcoming trailers are advertised my trailers (The "Inception" of advertising</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I agree that you will probably be more compelled to go see a movie that you have an idea of what to expect and this is the trailers sole purpose but as a direct result the significance of posters in film advertising</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">resulting (In my opinion at least) in a decline of the quality of poster and ultimately "Box Art" a prime example of this is the movies 1975 movie "Jaws" </span></div>
<div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8K_JSFiD-M-R7_f0IOsCmXqFuCcc3T13_fdGpfz6kaltkxdG2cQZALXmM_4PhiDGa42yJp-FnRyVTwouxIO7vnzmydcJCt0aoexwkKxSx1Xys78c41ukEwrbiGHgJ56hO6zwKxi5-1VZb/s1600/posterstop1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8K_JSFiD-M-R7_f0IOsCmXqFuCcc3T13_fdGpfz6kaltkxdG2cQZALXmM_4PhiDGa42yJp-FnRyVTwouxIO7vnzmydcJCt0aoexwkKxSx1Xys78c41ukEwrbiGHgJ56hO6zwKxi5-1VZb/s400/posterstop1.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jaws (1975) by Artist Roger Kastel</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A brilliantly creative and simple poster that was successfully able to sell the idea of the film through a single image (Big Shark eats Ladies) that has since become an standout image and the first thing you think of when the movie "Jaws" is mentioned.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or Drew Struzan's iconic series of posters made for the "Back To The Future" Trilogy </span></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0szx9TkWQGVSMlu0dGMLeGD3YySF2MA9jkv1oSpj3bF4YabV7Ntbg83mA-ibQpeXS2tEranmqgAXL9m0Oo7KqKam4zmunYYSrAhYhWGcTGKv-qgpj1ZnnJf_gdr87cNTTKW9Ge1WJi4nm/s1600/posterstop1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0szx9TkWQGVSMlu0dGMLeGD3YySF2MA9jkv1oSpj3bF4YabV7Ntbg83mA-ibQpeXS2tEranmqgAXL9m0Oo7KqKam4zmunYYSrAhYhWGcTGKv-qgpj1ZnnJf_gdr87cNTTKW9Ge1WJi4nm/s400/posterstop1.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back to the Future (1985) by Artist Drew Struzan</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or more to the point any of the posters produced by this fantastic artist, his work including (To name but a few)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiog70i2stYPVyOTk1GEIXPeFNaV8XpmlJGk27tS7nujaplh0pE-UUvsdO9eHHCZSEOJgpbuuDQrmYSHTZrHtwAim3QaY-xa0hyphenhyphenee76e-cLyLSPrpCIWpklDZs868MsqqY0_3Mlr8o-gn14/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiog70i2stYPVyOTk1GEIXPeFNaV8XpmlJGk27tS7nujaplh0pE-UUvsdO9eHHCZSEOJgpbuuDQrmYSHTZrHtwAim3QaY-xa0hyphenhyphenee76e-cLyLSPrpCIWpklDZs868MsqqY0_3Mlr8o-gn14/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Thing (1982) by Artist Drew Struzan </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpBPzxh4NpXx267mpwvbED2RpU8_pAMRRdZc3B6I2llA3DkU5OhKscrokybIDEbxmickqCpubNizl4uC8FhlcdiIP7AVklQmYL3CsU9JqJOmPbwtjjWE2-A5NEirswxjpJykSh2bdodRm/s1600/posterstop1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpBPzxh4NpXx267mpwvbED2RpU8_pAMRRdZc3B6I2llA3DkU5OhKscrokybIDEbxmickqCpubNizl4uC8FhlcdiIP7AVklQmYL3CsU9JqJOmPbwtjjWE2-A5NEirswxjpJykSh2bdodRm/s400/posterstop1.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Star Wars: Episode I (1999) by Artist Drew Struzan</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75q-j-xaiY6s1Tpi_Bio7C2p1mmjcViyXYsCaMwVFiUyekhzbPWlU4vSs_EMcGSMpi6RapJ-LCiENeCKjn_x5MPNApqvkuaKHxoHzW7jyKJ2l5xg4M8lSrcmicyWxh0YGrbFahI1lRRQD/s1600/222c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75q-j-xaiY6s1Tpi_Bio7C2p1mmjcViyXYsCaMwVFiUyekhzbPWlU4vSs_EMcGSMpi6RapJ-LCiENeCKjn_x5MPNApqvkuaKHxoHzW7jyKJ2l5xg4M8lSrcmicyWxh0YGrbFahI1lRRQD/s400/222c.jpeg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982) by Artist Drew Struzan </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as this criminally unused image for Hellboy II: The Golden Army.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPO_x1Zj-MqSqwQ7shMnVKvQQdSqOmWJ-Tj9Fd-28lUDgPLY4wzXursXBxnRPUG1khQxMZyoxor3XaPE1vAlKFVQqVr1-pJQPg4w2eJYAGXc4T9tI_L1_rDzq_N0dGP9CM8CFpQnVi63sq/s1600/posterstop1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPO_x1Zj-MqSqwQ7shMnVKvQQdSqOmWJ-Tj9Fd-28lUDgPLY4wzXursXBxnRPUG1khQxMZyoxor3XaPE1vAlKFVQqVr1-pJQPg4w2eJYAGXc4T9tI_L1_rDzq_N0dGP9CM8CFpQnVi63sq/s400/posterstop1.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) by Artist Drew Struzan</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are posters as an art form, able to sell their product effectively and yet standalone as an art form in the own right but not all the best movie poster are created trough the artist approach, such as this photographical poster for the Bond movie "Goldeneye".</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvWpPK1zCs7KsJlvl9T3gQElD7Jb0BsEXFxQlWofQDGJVhOS2qP_t-dFuEhMrhFk8v4xn-_YzHUke2eLgkU__DVXFv1P7SorehS9_M01FebYE2DaC_37QvriX5DF6-XKf0NIQhaT-lMTv/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvWpPK1zCs7KsJlvl9T3gQElD7Jb0BsEXFxQlWofQDGJVhOS2qP_t-dFuEhMrhFk8v4xn-_YzHUke2eLgkU__DVXFv1P7SorehS9_M01FebYE2DaC_37QvriX5DF6-XKf0NIQhaT-lMTv/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Goldeneye (1995) poster designed by Terry O'Neill, Keith Hamshere and George Whitear</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A complex and heavily detailed image that highlights several key scenes from the film while creating a sense of drama and excitement. The teaser poster for Star Wars Episode 2 is also note worthy adding a sense of drama through a simple layout.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as the age of online marketing moves forward and the demand for such advertising material becomes second to video marketing the effort spent on these images and as a result </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyQGQ7pdd1N30DdWfRUtMD9uWXBlR0_Be0n5912210Dq2F_CZR-Fl57RmQLUjMd5g6QzqOok0-nt41QR5TvFV5IeZJ6UhDNUsmZwkNIbs9Dlt87e0PVLX5yC4Y9p9iOePPU0_1CFtBRci/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyQGQ7pdd1N30DdWfRUtMD9uWXBlR0_Be0n5912210Dq2F_CZR-Fl57RmQLUjMd5g6QzqOok0-nt41QR5TvFV5IeZJ6UhDNUsmZwkNIbs9Dlt87e0PVLX5yC4Y9p9iOePPU0_1CFtBRci/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gangster Squad (2013)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1TbboGseeuHRE2W84nRaV4It2xlOC36jbpF9cvqRH6-MWC6wbmZJl06EorVzsPycLVSc1TrnYp77YM533dB5vTQeA0etSgKpe1QDgRZj09H9PrRIORN4gWYT-2aQNfIHPmYN5oUyRCOz/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1TbboGseeuHRE2W84nRaV4It2xlOC36jbpF9cvqRH6-MWC6wbmZJl06EorVzsPycLVSc1TrnYp77YM533dB5vTQeA0etSgKpe1QDgRZj09H9PrRIORN4gWYT-2aQNfIHPmYN5oUyRCOz/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lawless (2012)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ2dun-GBNypBz8YSQqpdNBy2MgyrqVm17b0NnIZ_Q8ViDU3xohqorTyZmuq1YhNXeLw83RsfglbaOYwBLOOj7kfYy3V-Qh1W5LN9J37hOBwwUUuS706QN3y8fz2gYAvxZ11oOg4m5rmS/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ2dun-GBNypBz8YSQqpdNBy2MgyrqVm17b0NnIZ_Q8ViDU3xohqorTyZmuq1YhNXeLw83RsfglbaOYwBLOOj7kfYy3V-Qh1W5LN9J37hOBwwUUuS706QN3y8fz2gYAvxZ11oOg4m5rmS/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Hunger Games (2012)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggutgpikWsmVF1bM9klr-4BsN_d3N2Olw85AHHlt_9IOqNSILhNQhwbxjpwwcGQPOULjUnwnv4n9YmkLqOYHISQxlyVf6-fvWcxwCfbBqxjUfwFQ_KpeqzWclwAw87eKGVkvqG17KyN556/s1600/i_thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggutgpikWsmVF1bM9klr-4BsN_d3N2Olw85AHHlt_9IOqNSILhNQhwbxjpwwcGQPOULjUnwnv4n9YmkLqOYHISQxlyVf6-fvWcxwCfbBqxjUfwFQ_KpeqzWclwAw87eKGVkvqG17KyN556/s400/i_thing.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green Lantern (2011)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And while not bad posters ( I rather like the B-Movie style approach to Gangster Squad) the sense of effort and artwork is lost and the dramatic flair is largely diminished. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make no mistake there have still been many great posters released in recent years such the majority of the "Inception" advertisements, "X-Men: First Class" produced two great poster but eventually went for a lesser design and "Shutter Island" posters are other examples the jump to mind but </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">poster design now seems more calculated and instead of giving the movie a face aims to enforce things that the trailer has already presented the viewer.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The art seems to have left the advertisement </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and I cant help but feel like we have lost something</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> important.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-55420714166182253242013-01-29T18:43:00.004-08:002013-06-05T07:58:38.190-07:00X-Men: Days Of Future Past (Pre-Thoughts)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKk-V207suwfbynqTjY-g_F1IYO3BuXvy02KMMqBgr0DeLTpXrrlwG5BQwrSIavYK6Xc2farn-F9ByNUnbNLn9boJC_MtJIImFhYCtvkbVuwqTMhKVT2XCFu7Iucj4Izsngml9IvVQvIy/s1600/X-MEN-DAYS-OF-FUTURE-PAST.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKk-V207suwfbynqTjY-g_F1IYO3BuXvy02KMMqBgr0DeLTpXrrlwG5BQwrSIavYK6Xc2farn-F9ByNUnbNLn9boJC_MtJIImFhYCtvkbVuwqTMhKVT2XCFu7Iucj4Izsngml9IvVQvIy/s640/X-MEN-DAYS-OF-FUTURE-PAST.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently we have received a bombardment of news regarding "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" which in its self is rather surprising since we actually got "The Wolverine" coming to our screens this year and news about that film is actually proving harder to come by.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Days of Future past see time travel arrive in the universe as the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">X-Men try to alter a future where after a Senator is assassinated </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mutants are hunted by the government to near extinction. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I do have one minor issue with the upcoming Future Past which i'm struggling to move beyond and that is the return of director Bryan Singer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't get me wrong, what Singer did with "X-Men" was incredible turning out a solid and well rounded movie from source material that could have lead to disaster and this only improved with "X2". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here is the thing: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After X2 he walked away from the franchise,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> directing "Superman Returns" instead of "X-Men: The Last Stand" and as a result the series struggled between different directors for a while with both the Third installment and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" both featuring some great moments but also suffered from major flaws such as continuity issues (Xavier pick a appearance for when you stop being able to walk! Either Old or Young!) and the death of a lot of major character.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then Matthew Vaughn came along and directed the best installment to date "X-Men: First Class" which was not only the best X-Men film but also (in my opinion) one of the greatest Super-Hero films in a long time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now for the sequel Singer is returning to direct and replacing Vaughn, leaving me largely unsure how I feel about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mean he truly is a great director and has been present in shaping most of what the franchise has become, and yet the series made some great strides forward under Vaughn with First Class.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what are you thoughts? The casting news does seem to be shaping up really nicely with a mind blowing number of previous actors form all movie set to return </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mean seriously so far the list confirms</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James McAvoy<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Young Xavier</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patrick Stewart<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Old Xavier</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Fassbender<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Young Magneto</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ian McKelle<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">n - Old Magneto</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jennifer Lawrence - Mystique</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nicholas Hoult - Beast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hugh Jackman<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Wolverine</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anna Paquin<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Rouge</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ellen Page<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Shadowcat </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shawn Ashmore<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> - Iceman</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is a pretty awesome cast list so far.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And thanks to the quality of the Future Past storyline the potential for the film to out-shine the previous installments is ever present. I suppose in the end only time will tell.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-12990866580548660652012-12-12T16:59:00.001-08:002015-12-28T12:36:02.513-08:002012 in REveiw<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So since the world didn't end I am able to give my opinion on this year’s film highlights.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It should be noted that at the time of writing this I am yet to see "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" which is why it is not mentioned any where. Also the </span>opinion<span style="font-size: small;"> expressed here in are my own and if you do not agree with anything I may have written....Go write your own Blog!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Best Films of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Avengers Assemble (The Avengers)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Dark Knight Rises<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dredd<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Skyfall<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Grey<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Prometheus</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Men In Black 3</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Expendables 2</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Safe House</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Director of 2012</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joss Whedon</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This came down to either Christopher Nolan for his epic conclusion to his Dark Knight Trilogy and Joss Whedon for brilliant cross hero adventure The Avengers (Avengers Assemble). I decided to go with Whedon because where as Nolan's Batman is without doubt set to become an example of Cinema history by elevating Super Hero Movies to a level of quality they have never known, tackling the character of Batman in a realistic and humanizing way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Joss has done something completely different entirely, something never done before, he has taken four different Super Heroes from four different franchises placed them together and surprisingly made a movie that not only works but is incredible and fun to watch, the characters are well balanced with each character and an array of minor characters being given there moment to shine, a feat that not many directors could accomplish.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Best Actor of 2012</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Liam Neeson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mainly for his brilliant and tragic performance in "The Grey" as one man who knows how little the odd of his survival are pushes on anyway, but also for his roles in "Taken 2" in which he breaks out his specialized set of skills once again, "Wrath of the Titans" in which God goes EPIC! and his brief cameo in "The Dark Knight Rises".</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglakwIebwsMMafRHNCFUkoxFnDwst4PY8A0y1bmUmgcRmjWjg_dKGYQ5RcPjZvnEwhOm8nVhmBtOL5yHAe19A5YqGEqmEmFTJuIvgRyzH7IwNX412qs7XSXD-2IFbe-MwW30agNLE-fd0Q/s1600/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglakwIebwsMMafRHNCFUkoxFnDwst4PY8A0y1bmUmgcRmjWjg_dKGYQ5RcPjZvnEwhOm8nVhmBtOL5yHAe19A5YqGEqmEmFTJuIvgRyzH7IwNX412qs7XSXD-2IFbe-MwW30agNLE-fd0Q/s640/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Actress of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Charlize Theron</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Charlize Theron delivered two incredible performances this year with her cold and calculating Vickers from "Prometheus" to her Vengeful and Power Hungry Queen Ravenna in "Snow White and the Huntsman" (How bad-ass is both of those names?) Ravenna warranting special mention due to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A. the Child like nature of her performance with her throwing a tantrum when she fails to get what she wants. and B. Her desire to remain youthful and beautiful as she believes that Men devour beauty and throw women aside as they get older.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Both of these elements are interesting and she portrays them perfectly through her performance.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Scene of 2012 </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bane vs The Dark Knight Round I (The Dark Knight Rises)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In a incredibly dark scene Batman(Bale) squares off against Bane(Hardy) for the first time with the fight not exactly going in Batman's favor, in fact in my opinion what makes this scene so great is how incredibly outclassed Batman is against Hardy's behemoth with Batman throwing everything he's learnt against him to no avail, Bane's victory looks effortless, the scenes bleak the music dark and it creates a great moment of dread for the audience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiIj8e22s9WIKnmK2v66UW1JEG0Ns5pPepkexXARvx1LULfylYXpmgI5YPd24EB8IfE67dOIRvtEXl3O56mQydNeQJsDIeQFeU_POkYg9S4r8ssLOwQZpAq1gaC8C4NLW_8N7OOdgRwD5/s1600/Bane-vs.-Batman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiIj8e22s9WIKnmK2v66UW1JEG0Ns5pPepkexXARvx1LULfylYXpmgI5YPd24EB8IfE67dOIRvtEXl3O56mQydNeQJsDIeQFeU_POkYg9S4r8ssLOwQZpAq1gaC8C4NLW_8N7OOdgRwD5/s640/Bane-vs.-Batman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Best Soundtrack of 2012</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Dark Knight Rises by Hans Zimmer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dramatic, Bleak, Moving, Awe Inspiring, Hope inspiring this soundtrack flows perfectly and adds a great sense of drama to the Dark Knights last outing. I strongly recommend checking out the track "Rise" for and example of how one track can portray such a wide array of emotions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Best Animated Film of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Aardman's done it again! It's Smart, It's Funny, It's Claymation! Kracken's Biscuits its Good! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcul4vUnAK5HEgmbSOWhwX8n3-_AXVVdmUR4hCmbkPvJKwEXh1BEWFYlKq-yeuZfU3bv1hVnuIuAZo7oWT31GjK5CjLvrkN-CGFDTzuF5KP7o1sL5GkBQgstHzO7EoTR3h1EI8sZSHnGsZ/s1600/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcul4vUnAK5HEgmbSOWhwX8n3-_AXVVdmUR4hCmbkPvJKwEXh1BEWFYlKq-yeuZfU3bv1hVnuIuAZo7oWT31GjK5CjLvrkN-CGFDTzuF5KP7o1sL5GkBQgstHzO7EoTR3h1EI8sZSHnGsZ/s640/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Use Of 3D In 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dredd <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Namely for the incredibly effective Slo-Mo sequence in which the Drug "Slo-Mo" slows time to one tenth of it usual speed creating some incredibly effective 3D moments such as water traveling through the air or a fall from a great height being viewed in a new light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Biggest Disappointment of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Taken 2 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not that it was a bad film! it simply failed to be as action packed or </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">edgy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> as the original, the stakes are meant to rise up not fall, yes he has more at risk with both his ex-wife and daughter in jeopardy against an enemy who's stake is personal instead of simply business like in the original, but Taken made for a far more tense and dramatic movies as there were moments when it actually seemed that Neeson's Mills might fail and lose what he cares the most about and Taken 2 never seem to quite match that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Most Surprisingly Good Film of 2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wrath of the Titans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">it's not perfect, not by a long shot but its good to see the film take steps to correct the mistake made by previous installment "Clash of the Titans" (such as including an actual Titan this time around) it takes the chance to really delve into Greek Mythology pulling out some impressive sequences such as an attack on a small fishing village by a Chimera and battling</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> a tribe of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cyclopes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Where as it is still just as stupid as the previous installment it is damn fun to watch a proved a massively enjoyable film, also Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson GO EPIC! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Also the first installment had no where near enough Bill Nighy)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Uj_XlzlbAlarA0YLLp5tot-6_SffxXAt8vJWVTTjDPkwYRtoYYpDlcd9JCZ6BEyYhHc4vgyp2qZVA0D5Ih3KJBDEwEfdI88lbt1OUpW9MMtW4BpBdG7RI1waixFvqwOkx32RJ9Cca0iL/s1600/chimera+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Uj_XlzlbAlarA0YLLp5tot-6_SffxXAt8vJWVTTjDPkwYRtoYYpDlcd9JCZ6BEyYhHc4vgyp2qZVA0D5Ih3KJBDEwEfdI88lbt1OUpW9MMtW4BpBdG7RI1waixFvqwOkx32RJ9Cca0iL/s640/chimera+(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Lines of 2012</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Doth Mother Know You Wereth Her Drapes? - Tony Stark (Avengers Assemble)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ma Ma's Not The Law, I Am The Law. - Judge Dredd (Dredd)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Was Wondering What Would Break First, Your Spirit, Or Your Body - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a Waste of Good Scotch. - James Bond (Skyfall)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There Are Always Men Like You - Old German (Avengers Assemble)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Were You Expecting An Exploding Pen? - Q (Skyfall)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neptune's Naval! - The Pirate Captain (The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now Is Not The Time For Fear, That Comes Later. - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Puny God! - The Hulk (Avenger Assemble)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Win! I'm Better Than Me! - Boris The Animal (Men in Black 3)</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Antagonist Death Line of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dredd - Judge Dredd (Karl Urban): "Yeah"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Worst Antagonist Death Line of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Expendables 2 -Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone): "His Name Was Billy"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Most Over Hyped Film Of 2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Hunger Games</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I myself am a fan of the Hunger Games Novels and felt that where the film was a strong interpretation of the books and highly enjoyable it was no where near deserving of the acclaim it received, not that it was a poor movie, it was a decent attempt to adapt a complex and difficult novel but it featured many flaws that many seem to have overlooked, such as blatant exposition via the commentators, little character development on anyone but Katniss herself, and the most annoying child actor ever seen as Prim (Too Much Screaming).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A shame since I know this series to be capable of so much more, but in all fairness it was the first outing, It will be interesting to see if they are able to expand upon these characters and world in Catching Fire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Best Villain of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Javier Bardem (Raoul Silva): Skyfall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">An excellent performance from Bardem see's Silvia as a creepy, unbalanced psychopath with some serious Mummy issues, With a motive unlike any of Bonds other villains - Revenge against M.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiYwfyWpjd0BpLEoBtedif9o9jNPJ27o2jOMXwup_eRG8X-ayb3jobwxuq7VGU0Kq8pjjcvZdE3_iwMmJgWAcsbIOPVbkLqyIVWGjalrqG4IqBOVhr_yfWg13ICyiAwGcE1Ykf46S-VxQ/s1600/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOiYwfyWpjd0BpLEoBtedif9o9jNPJ27o2jOMXwup_eRG8X-ayb3jobwxuq7VGU0Kq8pjjcvZdE3_iwMmJgWAcsbIOPVbkLqyIVWGjalrqG4IqBOVhr_yfWg13ICyiAwGcE1Ykf46S-VxQ/s640/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Villain With the Most Unclear Motives of 2012 </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) - The Expendables 2: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He wanted Plutonium?, To pay for acting lessons?<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Most Surprising Death of 2012<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Now that would be telling - Skyfall </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">But you wont see it coming.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Best Death of 2012 (Spoilers Ahoy- Feel Free To Skip This One)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The Fall of Ma Ma - Dredd</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Negotiation's over. The Sentence is death." After shooting her through the chest Dredd forces all round bad girl Ma Ma to inhale a dose of Slo-Mo a Drug the Slows the brain perception of time to 1%, He then proceeds to lob her out of the nearest window of the top floor in a 200 story building - the result: The fall takes a little while.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Most Awesome Cast of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Expendables 2 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Duh! its Got Stallone, Willis, Arnie, Van Damme, Norris, Crews, Li, Lundgren, Couture! It's like the Holy Grail of casting!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkuJGOJ1RwmSZnPycQcz4dfHXTkP3kvVD6WfjyZj3JbFnHYCAlIwlhaP7QecYf-Llav5HjekLsIgek4oKx8o7LcszUDVlMMCLpTtRxdpNrFihXC_Fe_dc3f76-Zk5W22uZNrJMAT647Zv/s1600/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkuJGOJ1RwmSZnPycQcz4dfHXTkP3kvVD6WfjyZj3JbFnHYCAlIwlhaP7QecYf-Llav5HjekLsIgek4oKx8o7LcszUDVlMMCLpTtRxdpNrFihXC_Fe_dc3f76-Zk5W22uZNrJMAT647Zv/s640/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Most Unavoidable Sequel of 2012</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Paranormal Activity 4</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Its basically replaced Saw as the one a year tradition</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>The Bruce Campbell Award (Best Chin Acting of 2012)</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Karl Urban: Dredd<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So many emotion portrayed only through the use of his chin, OK! so its mainly </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">only mild annoyance, but its such a variation of mild annoyance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKqVRfo9ARPDcZPG3SiwUuzyyU__H-L9DhrZWoLWkp9CpWeLHnQE8V4d2egN10-O2F8vLHknKFSRnfT379pgakPPIU8F2ssV2IKNhgAEx5A4fnxvg7O6vzgOAIm5jvQ5nkV8am1gIc13O/s1600/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKqVRfo9ARPDcZPG3SiwUuzyyU__H-L9DhrZWoLWkp9CpWeLHnQE8V4d2egN10-O2F8vLHknKFSRnfT379pgakPPIU8F2ssV2IKNhgAEx5A4fnxvg7O6vzgOAIm5jvQ5nkV8am1gIc13O/s640/The-Pirates-In-an-Adventu-007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Michael</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Bay Award (Best Explosion of 2012)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bridge Over Explosive Water: The Expendables 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After rescuing Arnie in what can only be described as the prologue to The Expendables 2 the team attempt to escape the country in there plane, but not before raining fiery death down upon the army they are fleeing from.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0BdG12iYXOoDML9oH8t5Mrs88LeTA7Eu6Xwox59s0IFSuIpBjfnrqc3o3nk8dNnx_o7UwQVmAZPwjVyjJXD9w7G_KjAokYV1pBsbU9YQ91HALgfKXy0AfzAx9Wn47WKrKFtJNRLX4JOSi/s1600/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0BdG12iYXOoDML9oH8t5Mrs88LeTA7Eu6Xwox59s0IFSuIpBjfnrqc3o3nk8dNnx_o7UwQVmAZPwjVyjJXD9w7G_KjAokYV1pBsbU9YQ91HALgfKXy0AfzAx9Wn47WKrKFtJNRLX4JOSi/s640/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Film That I Am The Most Annoyed About Being Remade of 2012</b><br />Total Recall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The original had ARNIE! AAARRRRNNNNIIIIEEE!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Film With The Most Unanswered Questions of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Prometheus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So Wait, How exactly did this set up "Alien"? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Best Voice of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Tom Hardy's Bane: The Dark Knight Rises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"What a Lovely, Lovely Voice"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Most Convincing Young Guy Playing an Old Guy of 2012</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Guy Pearce (Peter Wayland): Prometheus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A King Has His Reign And Then He Dies, It's Inevitable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsAg3SFNg8Kt1MIZBeoRk6Bqk5pXneq-t3Ufb4mBykvkGEY0d0iPlV_V7h3xHxHIajIRs_BQAbU1mV2kyfg5sH0hhsPS0JeDcBk0bTxBNB3P3WLJmYDQQ6TE_PTbynaV3-r82ZOBDLzfE/s1600/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsAg3SFNg8Kt1MIZBeoRk6Bqk5pXneq-t3Ufb4mBykvkGEY0d0iPlV_V7h3xHxHIajIRs_BQAbU1mV2kyfg5sH0hhsPS0JeDcBk0bTxBNB3P3WLJmYDQQ6TE_PTbynaV3-r82ZOBDLzfE/s640/1345134019-4131487833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Film With The Greatest Sequel </span>Possibilities of 2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dredd</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dredd was an exceptionally good movie as you can tell by the number of times its sprung up so far, but due its small budget almost all the action takes place in the mega block of Peach Trees, I hope a sequel would give the film chance to move deeper into the Mega Cities and then hopefully beyond it into the wasteland of the post apocalyptic Scorched Earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Saga I Am Happiest To See End In 2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Twilight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">No Question. It's Over! It's Finally Over! We Are Free!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Most Pointless Thing I Have Written In 2012</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804582672078144613.post-3500490068991278902012-05-13T07:07:00.000-07:002015-04-25T02:31:43.043-07:00Avengers Assemble (The Avengers)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVSO1PhVW7AJj56m-bVSglxleQHKEnJQv-k5DumLACXdXMHnLoQJce-aFYBA_e4HdzuDXwrnYcpRtYn6Lg4ZpR5uaKWsPC1dPH8ILMbj3y6e-Zma0ebgXPjxbMy2n50NoW2rnwKWiKUKl/s1600/Marvel_avengers-assemble-poster_29022012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVSO1PhVW7AJj56m-bVSglxleQHKEnJQv-k5DumLACXdXMHnLoQJce-aFYBA_e4HdzuDXwrnYcpRtYn6Lg4ZpR5uaKWsPC1dPH8ILMbj3y6e-Zma0ebgXPjxbMy2n50NoW2rnwKWiKUKl/s1600/Marvel_avengers-assemble-poster_29022012.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So
a Thunder God, a Green Rage Monster, a Super Soldier from World War 2, and a
Playboy Millionaire in a Robot Suit walk into a bar...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four Pillars to One Tower. (Mapping the Referencing)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is a 2012 superhero action movie
directed by Joss Weadon (Serenity) and is unique in that it is a super hero
movie starring multiple heroes from across multiple Marvel movies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The Avengers see’s
the return of Asgardian trickster Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who launches an attack
on a Shield facility stealing the Tesseract, fearing for the safety of the
planet Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is forced to unite Iron Man (Robert Downey
Jr), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), And Bruce Banner
(Mark Ruffalo) in the hope of forming a team strong enough to defeat Loki and
his army.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
So to say that this crossover
has been hinted at over the past few years would be like saying that the
Titanic suffered badly from damp, the work that has gone into crossing over
these various films in order for them to effortlessly mesh with one another is
remarkable</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some brief examples.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Iron Man (2008)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Tony Stark’s father
Howard Stark is mentioned as having been instrumental defeating the Nazis. (Captain
America: The First Avenger)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Agent Phil
Coulson (Clark Gregg) is introduced.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">S.H.I.E.L.D. is
introduced.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nick Fury (Samuel
L. Jackson) is introduced. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nick Fury appears
post credits informing Stark that he is not the only “Hero” out there and
mentions to him the “Avengers Initiative”. (Avengers Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Incredible Hulk (2008)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Emil Bonsky Is
injected with the same super soldier serum as Captain America. (Captain
America: The First Avenger)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Rocket
Launcher used against the Abomination features the Stark tech logo. (Iron Man,
Iron Man 2)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Tony Stark
appears at the end of the film and informs General Ross about putting a team
together. (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Avengers <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Iron Man 2 (2010)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Captain America’s
Shield is seen. (Captain America: The First Avenger)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nick Fury continues
to hound Stark about the Avengers initiative. (Avengers Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Black Widow (Scarlett
Johansson) is introduced. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Agent Coulson
leaves for Mexico for “secret stuff”. (Thor)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When Tony Stark
skims through his Dads note book an image of the Tesseract is visible (Captain
America: The First Avenger, Avengers Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Screens showing
The Hulk battling the army can be seen. (The Incredible Hulk)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Thor’s hammer is
seen post credits. (Thor)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thor (2011)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Erik Selvig mentions
a friend of his who was performing research into gamma radiation before he disappeared.
(The Incredible Hulk)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Agent Coulson
reappears following the footage of Thor’s hammer from (Iron Man 2)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">S.H.I.E.L.D. is
present throughout the film</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Hawkeye (Jeremy
Renner) appears briefly. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When the
destroyer appears Agent Coulson Is asked if it’s one of Starks. (Iron Man, Iron
Man 2)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Loki appears post
credits when the Tesseract Is introduced. (Captain America: The First Avenger,
Avengers Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Tesseract reappears
and its power is shown. (Thor, Avengers Assemble)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Howard Stark
designs the Captain’s armour and features heavily throughout the film. (Iron Man,
Iron Man 2)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nick Fury
recruits Captain America Post credits to “Help Save the World”. (Avengers
Assemble)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see the films have been carefully setting up the
world of one another and the overall Marvel Universe for some time creating not
a “film Series” but a “film Universe”, and in doing so allows for Avengers
Assemble to seamlessly draw these characters together as all the cross over leg
work required to introduce these characters to one another has already been
completed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_A6YWff_19sVNo-lEUVDJLD4dAP9kuMKLCeL-teGlYf4BO2FQzuKrXsP-KTpKRCvcad0LWo4MFPEnbJ4fy4UbfpuqSW21GwwTgy_e_G7IgMaO7OnO3FKlfIEDymKKQL_X1m2JdlD4AFx-/s1600/the-avengers-film-still.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_A6YWff_19sVNo-lEUVDJLD4dAP9kuMKLCeL-teGlYf4BO2FQzuKrXsP-KTpKRCvcad0LWo4MFPEnbJ4fy4UbfpuqSW21GwwTgy_e_G7IgMaO7OnO3FKlfIEDymKKQL_X1m2JdlD4AFx-/s640/the-avengers-film-still.jpeg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earth’s Mightiest
Heroes (The</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Cast)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joss Whedon may have been the perfect directing choice due
to his experience in balancing large casts full of complex and very individual
characters and his expertise don’t go to waste here with each character being
given plenty of screen time for development and their own character arcs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The wide variety of different characters works as
effectively with each hero representing perfectly reflecting their own
individual issues: Iron Man is forced to question the nature of sacrifice, Thor
struggles with the emotional burden of having to stop his own brother, Captain
America feels alienated in a world in which he doesn’t understand and the
gentle and kind Banner struggles with the inner rage of the Hulk. It is these
very human problems and issues that make the heroes so likeable and relatable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quality of acting is incredibly high as the cast are
able to carry their characters across films while remaining true to their individual
characters (Stark still doesn’t like to be handed things, Thor worries about Jane
Foster and Captain America misses Peggy), but it is the edition of Mark Ruffalo
(Replacing Edward Norton) as Dr. Banner that brings a completely new
perspective to the character of Bruce Banner as a gentle and kind man who
greatly fears the destruction caused by the Hulk, giving a new sensitivity to
the role lacking in other movies (and this in my opinion makes Ruffalo the best
Banner to date).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow’s back story is greatly
expanded upon and through her own personal sub plot detailing her complex
relationship with Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye adding an emotional depth to the
character unseen in “Iron man 2” making the character seem far more rounded and
better developed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those of you who were disappointed by Hawkeye’s brief
appearance in “Thor” will not be disappointed here as he is given a lot more to
sink his teeth into this time and despite featuring less screen time than the
other Avengers he is still given enough for him to make the impact that his
character lacked last time around. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the supporting cast are brilliant without exception Samuel
L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is finally given more to do than simply turn up post
credits, despite being absent in the events of the larger battles he is still
given his chance to shine beyond the “Man behind the curtain” role he has
played up until this point. But once again the true king of the supporting cast
is without a doubt Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson, who is almost able to steal
every single scene that he appears in providing both comedy and raw emotion
when it is most needed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there is one under
developed character it is Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill who’s role is limited to
little more and Nick Fury’s assistant, her scenes featuring her doing little
more than simply following his various orders but even she gets her time in the
limelight thanks to a early on action sequence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in the corner of EVIL, Facing against the Avengers is
Loki in a great performance by Tom Hiddleston who really seems to enjoy his
role as the menacing antagonist, who hopes to make up from his fall from
Asguard by ruling earth and like most terrifying villains is devout in his
belief that he is doing the right thing. He is able to make his character both
frightening and fun at the same and is given some great one on one scenes with
the majority of the Avengers. Unfortunately the only weakness is that the army
that he uses in an attempt to take over the planet are never really expanded
upon beyond “Evil Invasion Force” but Hiddleston is able to develop his
character so well that the army is simply seen as a expansion of him and his
goals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3wByOPi0hS20EHptojvnIvwjxXf178VKDOmvn3phWIIVYUzMARTk0eDdGgcmUYCT6xeSEOaLbpXtafa4DpwvYodfYCZ8IzvrP2-bbdk4faV3k1R4VlwF1ghD0hfrUKA1TVJUthIDsmG7/s1600/avengers-assemble-review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3wByOPi0hS20EHptojvnIvwjxXf178VKDOmvn3phWIIVYUzMARTk0eDdGgcmUYCT6xeSEOaLbpXtafa4DpwvYodfYCZ8IzvrP2-bbdk4faV3k1R4VlwF1ghD0hfrUKA1TVJUthIDsmG7/s640/avengers-assemble-review.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">War comes</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to Marvel (the
Plot)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plot follows the simple story of these multiple heroes
having to put aside their differences in order to unite and stop Loki from
taking over the planet, but through the use of numerous subplots and character
development this rather simple storyline is expanded into a much more deep and
human experience than a simple tale of Good vs. Evil with each character
getting their own chance to shine which avoids the effect of one character
being elevated above the rest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And despite moments when things look their bleakest the film
never becomes too dark or depressing thanks to the brilliant and funny dialogue
by Joss Whedon (Ironman calling Thor Shakespeare in the Park, Captain America’s
reaction to hearing a reference that he gets) while scenes that should seem cliché
heading off in directions you can possibly suspect (Loki standing up to the
Hulk, Loki’s Spear encountering performance issues with Starks chest, Loki
threatening Black Widow) preventing the film from ever becoming dull.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And for those of you who up until this point have been
questioning Marvel’s grand scheme of approaching the Avengers through cross
laying the individual character stories, then doubt no longer as the characters
fit together perfectly and it saves a lot of time on having to bring the individuals
heroes together.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1bg_u8V84gkua_dEM4PBd7rPwOC1lGP3tTj9ZlGp6sSb5g3YJAm7f9Wuq3SXE2rYsB7XBxFCiVbZwKy9pcXC4LOotYR1p7UIpryM-oh_tjndM85tLWn6jatghGEfUh99FfxhaeXDPjyp/s1600/ironman3-ironlegion-poster-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1bg_u8V84gkua_dEM4PBd7rPwOC1lGP3tTj9ZlGp6sSb5g3YJAm7f9Wuq3SXE2rYsB7XBxFCiVbZwKy9pcXC4LOotYR1p7UIpryM-oh_tjndM85tLWn6jatghGEfUh99FfxhaeXDPjyp/s640/ironman3-ironlegion-poster-full.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suit up! (The Effects)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The visuals throughout the film are impressive with great
CGI used bringing the combat to life on a grand scale. The action is brilliant
with a wide variety of sequences ranging from a car chase through S.H.I.E.L.D
tunnels, to Thor, Captain America and Ironman fighting one another in a forest,
the Hulk smashing up the Helicarrier (Yes the Helicarrier is in this movie!)
And the final action sequence involving a massive battle in the city that looks
incredible with special mention going to one continuous shot that passes
throughout the city showing all the various Avengers in battle (a scene that
couldn’t help but reminded me of Whedon’s continuous shot used in Serenity’s
opening sequence).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Iron Man’s weaponry remains largely unchanged from the
previous film until he gets a new suit that combines the accessibility of the
suit-case suit from “Iron Man 2” and the heavier firepower of the standard
suits to allow him to fight all out in the heavier <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>final battle. Captain America’s suit also gets
an update to appear more closely to the comic design in a more streamline
appearance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first time the CGI appearance bares some resemblance
of the actor playing him through the brilliance of motion capture better connecting
these two distinct characters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And all these brilliant visuals are assisted by the
fantastic score by Alan Silvestri which fits brilliantly to the visuals helping
the raise the scale of awe and deepen the quieter, calmer moments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 3D! (The 3D)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like almost every action film released these days Avengers
Assemble is released in 3D, the 3D process is impressive in the Avengers if not
all that necessary, adding depth to the screen and making the moments when used
in action scenes look good but leaving you uncertain why it was so vital to
include.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuO4QvviaGzkyo_Y2kEDbwhKw7fnVPQMOVSYvCI6WGY_-1sYUt5F43GF9dA_fPy82TJaP1pPwKUN_ebMCWmjxhOeoqy_dbugmodKsRkntf1UkXn_F-x2fKWAsBjA3JWblt_hMqpyzrJDwV/s1600/Marvel's+Avengers+Assemble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuO4QvviaGzkyo_Y2kEDbwhKw7fnVPQMOVSYvCI6WGY_-1sYUt5F43GF9dA_fPy82TJaP1pPwKUN_ebMCWmjxhOeoqy_dbugmodKsRkntf1UkXn_F-x2fKWAsBjA3JWblt_hMqpyzrJDwV/s640/Marvel's+Avengers+Assemble.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In Summary</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to sum up Avengers Assemble I will simply say that I had
really high expectations going in and when I came out this movie had surpassed
them, Featuring brilliant action, well developed characters and great dialogue
that ranges from moving to hilarious (and did I mention that the Helicarrier is
in this movie?). In fact I have actually seen this movie again since I started
writing this review.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I highly recommend seeing it (stay after the credits) and
future superhero films now have a new level to beat. It is nothing short of a
gem in a few disappointing months of film and with a doubt the best film I have
seen released this year.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17282396102966443754noreply@blogger.com0