Movie Review: X Men: Days of Future Past..past average but not First Class..

When I first heard that the second installment of this prequel franchise was not being directed by Matthew Vaughn who, for me, delivered a truly first class movie, with the first installment, I was rather despondent. While the X-Men franchise was quite decent, First Class was in a different league and I was worried that the return of Bryan Singer to the helm would again lower the standard to greater focus on action and less on underlying tension and plot development. My fears weren't unfounded though I wasn’t completely disappointed after watching what Singer has managed to put together.

From the opening credits itself (we are back to the DNA strands and psychedelic colours, this time in 3D) it was clear that this movie was picking up more from X Men: Last Stand in terms of treatment, rather than First Class. The jaw droppingly brilliant action scene that followed that further added credence to that notion. Post that, though, there was a refreshing change – time seemed to slow down and it almost felt as if Vaughn was back in charge. Upto around the halfway point the movie holds your attention without trying too hard and at a dangerously poised sequence, complete with underlying tension and unexpected developments, the excitement is quite palpable

Unfortunately, that moment doesn’t hold its own for very long and the next half of the movie, goes back to formulaic action and set pieces with some unnecessary dialogues thrown in. What’s worse is that some of that action is completely unnecessary and you wonder why it needed to be depicted that way in the first place. All the action though, is accompanied by high quality effects and more than the occasional round of humor every now and then

What this movie desperately lacks is a coherent plotline that remains the consistent focus through the length of the movie. While First Class deeply explored the rich bond between Charles and Eric (something even the entire X Men franchise before it only implied, but never really portrayed), Future Past is more about making the story work without much focus on the characters or anything else for that matter

This is really a pity because Future Past’s glittering star cast has too many gems – some of which (like Halle Berry and Ellen Page) are pretty much wasted given the talent they have. Fassbender continues to have tremendous screen presence and Hugh Jackman is in vintage form with his now pet portrayal (the only thing we really missed in First Class, I guess). James McAvoy also portrays the vulnerability and uncertainty of his character (a far cry from how we saw him in First Class) rather well as does Jennifer Lawrence portray Mistique.

Future Past tries to check many boxes – but at the end of the day, doesn’t manage the tight packaging and presentation of First Class. After the unexpectedly solid start that First Class gave this franchise, I was hoping for more from the second installment - still, Future Past is a better than average watch and hopefully with something better in store, the future still shines bright on this franchise (just bring back Vaughn)

Movie Review: Godzilla..just don’t go..

 
Pop quiz: Did you like Pacific Rim? If you did, then ignore the title and ignore probably the rest of this review as well. You might still wanna go since, quite obviously, mindless monster madness is right up your alley. For the rest of you though, Godzilla fails on too many different fronts.Plot, build-up, acting, climax – other than special effects – none of it is there

For many of us, self included, we saw Godzilla during childhood and wanted to revisit the spectacle with high quality effects of today. Sadly, while the effects are there, you’d be better off with the older memories. In fact, I can’t even get my head wrapped around why they had to make this movie. Making a new-age Godzilla movie made some sense. The version they have made, makes no sense at all!! Try this one for starters, the movie Godzilla features the actual Godzilla for barely 20 minutes in the entire movie runtime of over 2 hours!! Or..the best scene in Godzilla doesn’t feature Godzilla at all but rather some birds!! You can probably understand my angst by now

The 1998 version of Godzilla has been the butt of many a critic joke. However, I still have fond memories of that movie. Roland Emmerich is quite the veteran for disaster movies and I still feel that movie had a near perfect build up for showcasing a creature wreaking havoc in a city towards the climax. In comparison to that, the premise as well as build up of the new age Godzilla is almost laughably ridiculous. They’ve managed to morph the terrifying giant lizard to a heroic avatar coming to aid in time of need. Only my own principles refrain me from sharing more, in my bid to convince you of the futulity of watching this drivel

One saving grace the movie could’ve have was the awesome screen presence of Bryan Cranston. In fact, the opening scene is quite powerful and the Breaking Bad veteran is on top of his game. Sadly though, this relief too is well, fleeting. The rest of the pack doesn’t even begin to measure up  and the absence of plot means it all squarely rests on the action and effects – the only aspect that this re-make delivers in

Giant wars are experienced with jaw dropping proportions and the CGI isn’t obvious. The enormity of Godzilla really comes through in what is perhaps the best representation of the monster thus far. Wide angle shots are plentiful and wholesome – whether it’s the shot of Mount Fiji in the backdrop, an entire city losing power or buildings collapsing in California – the scale is faithfully rendered each time.

If that alone can justify a 2 hour assault on the senses that defies all manner of meaningful cinema then you can possibly still watch this monstrosity. Me..I wish somebody had given me such a clear warning before watching – I wouldn’t have ventured out for a sighting in the first place

Movie Review: The Amazing Spiderman 2..a swing and a miss..again

His name might be Marc Webb but the director of the second installment of the aforementioned unnecessary reboot to the franchise (check out my review of the first one to get more on that) doesn’t seem to have a great understanding of Spidey as such. Its not the ‘Adventures of Spiderman’ Mr. Webb..it needs  to be woven around an emotional core, a central identity or rather dual identity of Peter Parker and what it stands for - an overarching plotline. As you may have guessed, the sequel, like the original, offers none of that

Instead, you get the by now familiar Marvel treatment. A cheesy start and even more frustrating follow through to almost the interval stage of the movie, save for one ‘electric’ showdown sequence that pretty much saves the first half of the movie. If there’s one thing the Marvel franchise seems to have mastered – its how to depict action in a superhero flick. Jaw dropping visual effects not being enough, the action now gets slowed down enough for you to follow how Spidey pulled off what he did. Neat trick and fits perfectly into the Spidey scheme of things. Wish Sam Raimi had thought of that

Unfortunately, that’s the only part that seems to have been thought through in 148 minutes of very little web slinging action. As for the 3D, I didn’t find much of it other than those few and far between glorious moments when the camera fixes its onto Spidey and you get his dazzling and breath taking view of the New York skyline and skyscrapers. But that’s it. Even the much watchable Emma Stone doesn’t seem to lift the film enough though the chemistry between Parker and Gwen is also quite ‘electric’

Andrew Garfield in any case is too cool to look the part of geeky Peter Parker but to give him credit he tries his best despite that. The villain, I was told is stronger this time around. Sure he is, but the finale or a sorry excuse for it that you get to watch seems to belie that expectation as well. The movie is in ‘build-up’ mode for so long that you hope that either the climax is really worth it or maybe they save that for a separate movie. Unfortunately, neither of the two happens.The story tries to make some bold moves which seem completely out of place and leave you wondering why that had to happen (perhaps someone wanted out of the franchise??)

Maybe I am too biased. If you hadn’t given us the Sam Raimi version of things maybe I would’ve been okay with what’s been handed to us in this franchise. But unfortunately, I’ve seen the real Spiderman 2 and this one doesn’t even try to come close.  The franchise continues to swing but misses each time – the Spidey action and awesome effects is all I can recommend for the sequel as well. Oh..and don't stick around for the end credits..there's nothing there..just some action sequence from X-Men: Days of Future Past at mid-credits