Furious 7 Review

If you've seen any Fast and Furious movies since the fifth one, you probably know what you're in for when you see this one. And this film delivers on that.

The film follows the team as they are hunted by Jason Statham, a criminal who is seeking revenge for his brother who they injured in the last movie. In order to survive, they must bring him down.

This movie follows the same formula as the two before it, which were the ones that put the franchise at the height of it's popularity at a point where many franchises would have died. It has very little street racing, and is more about car chases and insane action. There are plenty of crashes, fights, explosions, and stunts that defy the laws of physics and logic. So yeah, it's a big dumb action movie. But it's also a good one.

The charm of these films lie in how over the top they are. This film realizes that it isn't realistic, and embraces it with its ridiculous action sequences. There are a few times I laughed at how over the top it was, but it was fun.

There was also a scene at the end of the movie that was inserted in memorial of Paul Walker. This scene is surprisingly heartfelt and felt like a perfect goodbye for him. I am glad that they were able to complete the movie without him, and overall, this was a good final film for him.

In summary, Furious 7 is a big, stupid, fun action movie, that is sure to please fans of the previous two. There are plenty of good action sequences, and is very enjoyable if you don't mind turning your brain off for some time.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Star Wars/ Batman v Superman/ Terminator Trailer Reviews

This has been a huge week for trailers. Yesterday, (or the day before I started writing this) the second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, and then the second trailer for Terminator Genesys. Today, the first trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was leaked days before its premiere. So I've decided to do a review for each in one post.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Holy crap, this trailer is great. I am probably one of the few people who weren't absolutely blown away by the first teaser trailer, (not that I didn't like it) but this was almost perfect. This is another teaser trailer, but it shows more than the last one. I feel like it showed the perfect amount. It was enough to get me excited, but not enough to spoil too much. It has some pretty good imagery, and looks like it captures the feel of the original trilogy. And if that wasn't enough, the ending will get to you.
5 out of 5 stars

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

As you all probably know, the production of this movie has been plagued with controversy. The casting decisions of Ben Affleck as Batman, and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor has been very unpopular among fans. Add in the mixed response to Man of Steel. So I was waiting for a trailer to see how things will turn out. And this trailer was serviceable to show the Ben Affleck Batman, and he seemed like an OK portrayal of the dark knight from what I've seen so far. Although, the trailer didn't have what I really wanted to see: Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. I had always been more concerned about Eisnberg being casted than Affleck. When I first heard that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman, I thought nothing of it. I wasn't thinking about Daredevil at the time, and when I heard about the controversy, I tended to be on his side because of his more recent movies. But I still can't see Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I mean, I'm trying to keep an open mind since Batman fans have had a history of bad casting judgements (Michael Keaton, Heath Ledger), but for now I can't see it.
As for the trailer itself, it was pretty good. I like how it's trying to differentiate itself from Marvel with its darker tone. The story that's being told looks like it could be interesting. Overall, even though it may not calm as much skepticism as it could, it's still a pretty intriguing trailer.
4.0 out of 5 stars

Terminator Genesys

Um... like the Star Wars trailer, this also shows more than the trailer before it.
All jokes aside, let's talk about this trailer. It has caused buzz online for the reveal that John Conner is a terminator, with many people calling it a spoiler. When I watched it, I definitely thought that as well. However, now that I think it over, this just may be something that happens early on, and there may be more surprises that haven't been revealed yet. But for right now, unless somebody who works on the film denies it, this feels like a huge spoiler. Either way, I think it would have been better if I went into the movie not knowing that.
Although other than that, I can't really see anything else in this trailer that would put me off of this movie. I thought it was at least passable. I don't think that I should really let something that may or may not matter get in the way of judging this trailer. However, it is still my least favorite among these three.
3.0 out of 5 stars

So as you could probably tell, my favorite of these three is the Star Wars trailer. It builds excitement without even giving what the movie's even about (you hear that Terminator?). Overall, there is sure to be a lot of hype building for all of these movies.

Insurgent Movie Review

For a series about not fitting in, the Divergent series has had a hard time standing out among other young adult novel adaptations. Nonetheless, we're getting the sequel that takes a franchise that wasn't that great, and takes it back a few steps.

The sequel follows the characters from the first one, as they are now fugitives. They must fight the corrupt government which is hunting them down.

The last film had nothing particularly wrong with it, but it wasn't good enough to really enjoy either. The sequel is no better, in fact it's a little worse. This movie is even cheesier than the original. There were even a few times where it sprung some unintentional laughter from the audience. The strongest laughter came from an unnecessary PG-13 sex scene that seemed to come out of nowhere.

The plot is also getting sort of confusing with a plot revolving around a complicated device which I still don't fully understand. Maybe it was explained better in the books, but I'm still confused.

Anyway, this device creates a few scenes of the main character in a simulation. These sequences have a surreal feel, and sometimes feels like the Matrix. However, they also provide some of the cheesiest parts, and some at times pretentious symbolism, so I can't really call them the high point of this movie.

Overall, this is still a forgettable Hunger Games ripoff. It still feels generic at times, but it is also laughable with its writing at others. The Divergent series probably will not be remembered for very long after it finishes.

2.0 out of 5 stars

It Follows Review

It Follows is the type of movie that I wanted to enjoy more than I did. This horror movie has received a lot of praise during its run in limited release, earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%. Although I wasn't as impressed. It was a good film, but I personally didn't find anything really spectacular about it.

The plot revolves around a college student who has sex with her boyfriend and starts to notice weird things happening. By having sex, her boyfriend passed a curse onto her in which she can see an entity trying to kill her, and the only way to stop it is to have sex and pass it on to someone else.

The film pays homage to the scary movies of the eightys. The main characters are similar to the teen victims of the slasher flicks, and, of course, there is the idea that premarital sex can get you murdered. The setting also appears to have an eightys feel to it, through many details such as the design of the cars shown.

But unlike many of the most famous horror films of the decade, it's scares are psychological. It focuses on creating atmosphere, using few jump scares and little gore throughout. It was scary, but I think it could have been creepier.

This movie does not break any new ground in the horror genre. I think that there are plenty of other recent horror films that are scarier, but this is still not a bad movie. It has plenty of tension at times, and an intriguing premise. The "it" which follows her is a pretty creepy antagonist. It takes the form of several different normal people, and may leave you afraid of anybody who walks in your general direction. So, it's a pretty good movie, but it's just somewhat overhyped.

I may be in the minority with this review, but I was expecting a lot more from this movie. Maybe the hype killed it, but I thought it was just OK. If you listen to the other critics, I wouldn't stop you, but I personally didn't see it as a new classic like so many people.

3.0 out of 5 stars