(film review) - Bumblebee

I’m trying to figure out (along with the rest of the world), how this new Transformers movie fits into the universe of the Transformers franchise.  At first, I heard it was a soft franchise reboot, but it comes across as a prequel, kinda.  I mean, Michael Bay has f’ed up this franchise in the most royal way. The Transformers franchise is basically an X-Men movie timeline at this point and nobody is interested in it any more.  We can argue it made money at the Box Office, but when nobody generally likes it, overall, it a question of, "Who Actually Cares?"

Let me get into it.

Bumblebee is a fish out of water story of a boy and his dog.  Well, I believe that is the two idioms you could use to describe a film like this.  A civil war is engaged between the Autobots and the evil Deceptacons.  Losing the battle, Optimus Prime wants to establish a new base of operations and sends Bumblebee as a scout to Earth as a potential base as they retreat to regroup.  "After a battle and being awoken and disorientated, Bumblebee is intercepted and tracked down by two Decepticons who threaten to find his leader Optimus Prime and destroy Earth.  With only his one human friend, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), Bumblebee is the only Robot to save it. He is Bumblebee."

Pretty straight forward and straight to the point.  Nothing major or anything we haven’t heard/seen before.  Think if the movie ‘ET’ and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ had a baby.  This is essentially how the rest of the movie plays out.  If anything, the same plot synopsis of the first Transformers as well, maybe.  I don’t know and at this point, frankly I don’t care, as this film is actually really really good.  At the top, I stated that I am trying to figure out where we stand in the franchise, unless from the very beginning as a reboot, I am totally fine with this and I hope they do intend to go forward in this direction.  Anything else is just confusing.

The first 5mins of the movie was AMAZING!  It reminded me of 'Man of Steel' where we see Krypton.  The little kid in me smiled with glee as we were able to finally see the Gen 1 Transformers fighting on Cybertron.  I mean, I’m just going to spoil the first 5 minutes of the movie because frankly, we need more people to see this movie to get more movies and I would be doing the movie a dis-service if I didn’t mention it.  Soundwave! Shockwave! Ravage!  Just like the toys you played with as a child!  If you are as old as me.  I don’t need to explain the Ravage and Soundwave connection I’m sure, but seeing this on screen was amazing.  Travis Knight clearly had a great vision with this movie and for what he executed in the first 5mins alone was enough to have any Transformers fan salivating for more.  Alas we don’t get any more than maybe 5-10 minutes of that, but the rest of the movie is also very good, albeit with a few nit-picky bits I didn’t like, which could arguably be the Michael Bay influence.

So it goes without saying that I found the movie aesthetically pleasing visually and the story wasn’t great but pretty serviceable.  The supporting actors next to Hailee were throwaway characters and although John Cena as a lead was ok.  He was nowhere near as bad as previous military characters in other Transformers movies.  The movie didn’t have enough Autobots and Deceptacons, but from what I saw, I was fine with.  More for the sequel?  The nit-picky things were things I thought we had moved away from in Transformers movies, and in cinema as a whole.  Maybe I was reading too much into it, but the black man dying first or more importantly, sacrificing himself to save the white man, because essentially, that is what happens.  Or at least it seems that way as you never see him again.  Weirdly enough, I didn’t notice that until my friend alerted me to it.  I did notice the black man being the butt of the joke, which was the wannabe boyfriend.  I get it we needed comedy interjected into the movie, but I thought that was what the "Fish out of water" element with Bumblebee was.  As I said, maybe I was over thinking it, but these were the things I hated regarding previous Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay.  At least there wasn’t any unnecessary explosions and over sexualized shots and 360-degree camera spins…although it was EXECELLENT in bad Boys 1.

I’d definitely suggest to watch this movie, even if you dislike Michael Bay Transformer movies, as this one is different, and it’s executed well.  Other than the nit-picky moments, this is a feel-good movie.

(film review) - 10 Cloverfield Lane

The word Cloverfield packs quite a punch.  I mean, a film produced by J.J. Abrams in which, for the most part, not a single person knew what the film was about and I remember when I first saw it in the cinema, I was still confused at the end.  I hadn't a clue as to what was going on, how it happened and why.  That was 8 years ago.  Now, we have another film with the word 'Cloverfield' in it and AGAIN, once I left the cinema, I hadn't a clue as to what was going on, how it happened and why.  Is tis great directing or sloppiness?

10 Cloverfield Lane revolves around a woman, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winestead) who gets into an accident and wakes up in an underground bunker.  She is joined by Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.) and the owner of the bunker, Howard (John Goodman).  The world outside the bunker is believed to be unsafe, told through stories told by Howard and Emmett and although Howard is holding these two people in his bunker to help keep them safe from the outside world, Michelle becomes reluctant to stay as she believes there is more at play and maybe the world isn't what she has been told to believe.  With that said, she is faced with endangering herself or her co-habitors in order to seek the truth.

This film is creepy.  It has tension and you never really know what the characters motives are.  Emmett, what is his deal? Howard, is he just crazy and insane or is he telling the truth and the world outside really is a mess.  Until the very end of the film, you never really get an understanding of what is going on and as soon as you do, you are thrown through a loop as things become even more unclear.

This film was good.  I'm guessing a lot more could have been done with a slightly bigger bunker and bigger cast, at least that way, there would be more people to trust, not trust and would have raised that suspense and tension a little more.  The acting from these characters were great and there are some comedic elements to it, but deep down, this film is a thriller.  A scary film where something sinister is lurking and monsters can come in different forms.  The only thing I would say is that, the ending of the film could have been a little better, but it is not certain that when the film is over, if this film is connected to the previous Cloverfield or not. Bizarre but worth the watch.  Nice popcorn flick.

(film review) - Iron Man 3

Most people love technology and flashy hi-tech stuff. Moreover, having an Iron Man suit is something you are likely to put on your Christmas wish-list. I mean, who wouldn't want to shoot energy proton lasers from their chest or hands? Better yet, running late for work? Suit-Up and fly to work. With invincible armor, you can do almost anything you like, right? Well, sort of, but it doesn't stop you from being human.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has endured a lot of things. Since becoming Iron Man, his life has become more important and at the same time, even more at risk. There are bad guys everywhere who want a piece of that armor or a least some kind of armor which works just the same. Obadiah Stane with the Iron Monger suit. Ivan Vanko as Whiplash with his energy powered "whips". And with almost losing his life, again, after aliens attack New York, Tony Stark is left in a state or shock and restlessness. I mean, from someone being someone who is super intelligent, one of quite a bit, to having a armor powered suit which renders him invincible, to fighting and trying to save the planet from an alien takeover/war with a Norse GOD, a Super Soldier who was frozen in captivity and a man who can double in size, strength, leap huge distances and turn green, Tony doesn't sit well with this at all and has been finding this hard to adjust to. It is a lot, if you think about it.

This time around though, we have Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a disabled Scientist who works with Maya Hansen, the inventor of Extremis, who at a New Years Eve Party in 1999, is celebrating with Tony and Killian where Killian offers Tony a job with Advanced Idea Mechanics. Tony turns the job down and years later, Killian is a successful business man in science.

However, The Mandarin emerges causing terror, with threats, jammed public broadcasting and a string of bombings everywhere which leaves Tony's pal and security chief Happy Hogan in hospital. At this point, this is the last straw for Tony who leaves the Mandarin a televised threat in which the Mandarin excepts the invitation by bombing Starks Mansion. Presumed dead and far away from home, Tony must uncover the truth about the Mandarin, the bombings and a possible love interest in Killian to Pepper Potts as he has been driving her away with his recent behaviour.

I think I was expecting too much from this film as I felt it could have been better. But with that said, remembering how the film played out, the acting, the plot, the twists, the technology and the action; this film does everything the second film doesn't and keeps the film a little bit more grounded and closer to the first Iron Man film. Not to say, in my opinion of course that Iron Man 2 wasn't good as I liked it, but Iron Man 3 excels where Iron Man 2 doesn't. The film is darker, funnier and has a more humane feel to it. The Iron Man suits are always great to see and in action, especially when 6 - 7 and then some, fly to Tony's aid in the final scenes with the bad guy. Even War Machine aka The Iron Patriot has a bigger role in this film than the previous films and added a little bit of that buddy on buddy back to back fighting Iron Man 2 left us with.

If you enjoyed the previous films, this one will be no different.

(film review) - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Have you seen the first Sherlock Holmes which came out a year ago starring Robert Downey, Jr & Jude Law? Did you read my review I did on the film? Sherlock Holmes? All I can say is that this film is missing a lot of things yet replacing with a whole lot more.

Before, I said Sherlock Holmes was batty with a sensitive nose and great eye for detail; nothing has changed.
In this film, Sherlock Holmes is caught in a game of mind games with his nemesis Professor Moriarty who seems to be 1 step ahead of Holmes in every single way possible and out whitting/smarting Holmes so that he can get away war profiteering. You'd think that with Sherlock Holmes being really intelligent and constantly "high" on opium, you'd think this would be impossible.

Without spoilling the film, I'd say that if you enjoyed the first film, you will definately enjoy the second as although there is no bare knuckle boxing, Robert Downey, Jr once again brings Sherlock Holmes to life and provides the batty, insane comedy in which IS Sherlock Holmes. As well as Robert BEING Ironman, he IS most definately Sherlock Holmes as he carries the character soo well and the relationship between himself and Watson are unparrelled in terms of working together. The brotherly love is there and believable and you can tell that the actors had fun doing this film.

Guy Ritchie once again injections his COOL into this film and you also get to see the pre-though calculations in which Sherlock Holmes does before he acts out a move/action. Even better, at then end of the film, showing how smart and calculative Professor Moriarty when they show his pre-thought process battling Sherlock Holmes. The Battle of Genius. Genius. Go see, it's very good. Infact, Great.