“The first rule of fight club is: you do not
talk about fight club…”, unless you have been living on mars for the past 13
years, I’m sure you have heard that infamous speech somewhere before. Fight
Club (1999), is one of my all-time favorite movies. It is exciting, funny,
deranged and violent at the same time.
Edward Norton plays a depressed, emotionally scarred man with an average job,
who seeks help from various support groups. There is nothing special about him.
However, his life changes when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Tyler Durden
is everything Edward Norton’s character ever wanted to be; he doesn’t care
about anything or anyone does what he pleases and treats life as a big joke.
Together they start an underground fight club with a strict set of rules.
Winning a fight is irrelevant; the fighting is more of a therapy. After a while
Tyler Durden pushes the members further and further into chaos, giving them
assignments like picking fights with strangers and losing. Things go out of
control when the club turns more into a terrorist organization and it’s up to
Edward Norton’s character to stop Tyler Durden. This leads to a very
interesting plot twist that reveals another psychological aspect of Edward
Norton’s character.
Edward Norton was perfect for the role of depressed employee; he has got both
the face and the voice for it. Having him narrate the story was also a very
good decision from director David Fincher. Norton’s voice just suits the movie.
I’m not the biggest Brad Pitt fan, but he also did a really good job playing
Tyler Durden. The carefree bad boy Tyler Durden has become one of those
characters you just can’t imagine being played by anyone else, the look, the
voice, the infamous fight club speech, it has all become iconic.
Violence, witty lines, excitement and humor are all awesome, but I’m especially
a big fan of movies that make you think. Movies you can relate too. And Edward
Norton’s character is one many of us can relate to. Though he may be an
exaggerated version, thousands of people feel depressed sometimes. This movie
depicts what happens when depression overflows and we start thinking and acting
radically, losing our grip at reality and all the destruction and
self-destruction that follows.
Few movies will receive a 5/5 from me. Though I am a mild judge of the movies
that I enjoyed, I do have a standard for what movies should be like. Fight Club
is one of the movies that made my standard what it is today.
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Superhero movies have been very popular these
last few years, some were good, some were great and some were not so good
(Green Lantern). The Avengers (2012) is one of the great ones, and we have Josh
Whedon to thank for that. Putting together so many already established
characters played by big movie stars in one movie is really dangerous. There is
always a big chance that they try to steal the show, and by doing so end up
ruining the movie. Luckily, that did not happen here.
The earth is attacked by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s brother. Nick Fury
(Samuel L. Jackson) and his organization S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t stop the villain,
so they rally up Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor
(Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)
and The hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to form a team of super heroes and defeat Loki. As
I have said before, putting together so many characters, some whom already have
a very successful franchise, is dangerous work. However, it works really well.
Each of the character’s personality adds into the mix, creating a fun dynamic
and some exciting scenes. The movie climaxes into one of the greatest over the
top combat scenes I have seen in a long time, ending the movie like all good
super hero movies should end.
All characters each add their unique touch to the movie, even the characters
Black Widow and Hawkeye, who don’t really have any super powers, are awesome.
However I do want to talk about one particular character and that is The Hulk.
Our mean green beating machine already has two completely different movies to
his name, and although both movies were decent, neither really got The Hulk and
Bruce Banner. Josh Whedon and Mark Ruffalo did get him, very much so. The
entire movie is great, but only the Hulk-scenes gave me goose bumps. If you
have seen the movie, you know which scenes I’m talking about. If you haven’t…go
see it, trust me!
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Coriolanus (2011) is a movie portraying
Shakespeare’s last tragedy in modern setting. It confirms two things we all
already knew, that Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, and that Ralph Fiennes is
an incredible actor. In this case Ralph didn’t just play an amazing character,
he also directed the movie.
Coriolanus has an interesting plot, in which the main character goes through a
lot of suffering before the end. We expect nothing less from a play written by
Shakespeare. It tells the story of a roman soldier, Caius Martius, who gets
banished from Rome and joins up with his arch enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard
Butler), to take revenge. Caius Martius is a good soldier, who has served his
nation well. However, he has a big temper and some radical ideas about ruling a
nation, which eventually gets him banished. The banishment causes his anger to
swell and makes him go as far as to join up with his sworn enemy. The story is
set in a modern setting which reminds us of the Iraq War. The dialogue remains
unchanged, which goes to show how timeless Shakespeare’s plays are.
The movie doesn’t just have a good plot and good acting, it also looks really
good. We get to see some scenes where Ralph Fiennes is covered in blood and
looks menacing and fearless, battling enemy after enemy and coming out
victorious as if he could win the war by himself. But we are also offered
scenes where the main character feels pain, discomfort, betrayal and anger.
Ralph acts this out so well that we can actually feel the conflict happening
inside Caius’ heart.
If you are familiar with Shakespearian plays, you know that he wrote for a very
wide audience. He wrote complicated plots for the higher class, and added
fighting and bloodshed as entertainment for the lower class. His plays usually
ended with a stage full of dead people (Hamlet is a great example). Coriolanus
is no exception to this rule. The ending scene contains a lot of death, and,
although the plot makes it inevitable, it feels a bit out of place.
There aren’t a lot of bad things to say about this movie. It has a great plot,
great acting and it looks great. Although the ending feels a bit out of place,
it is completely justified by the plot. Shakespeare knew what he was doing, and
clearly so does Ralph Fiennes.
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A hundred years ago (1912) Edgar Rice published
a series called “John Carter of Mars”. An adventurer with a tragic past lands
on a strange planet and becomes it’s hero by saving a princess with his
incredible jumping power. The series predates a lot of big titles that are
still to this day very popular. A lot of John Carter’s characteristics were
used for heroes such as Superman (lands on a strange planet and becomes its
hero) and Super Mario (has the power to jump really high and saves a princess). A cool idea for a movie, wouldn’t you think?
Well, unfortunately, it could have been so much better.
John Carter (2012) has two major problems. The first one is the character John
Carter (Taylor Kitsch). It’s a pretty boring and generic character. John Carter
is pretty much a flawless hero, just like we have seen so many already. He is
strong, righteous, helps the weak…a good guy. The only tension-building aspect
of his character is that he doesn’t really care about Mars (or how it’s called
in the novel and movie, Barsoom). Carter just wants to go home, but of course
there comes a moment where he changes his mind and he does start to care, and
that moment is, unfortunately, incredibly predictable.
The second problem is the plot itself. As I have said before, the stories of
Edgar Rice are a great idea for a script. However, in this case it wasn’t
executed as well as it could. The plot of John Carter, just like the character,
is very predictable. It’s nothing new, you have seen this a thousand times. Maybe
it was new a hundred years ago when the series was written, but today we need a
bit more. The predictability, combined with the generic character and the
movies length, make for a pretty boring experience.
Luckily, the movie isn’t all bad. Disney spend a lot of money on the special
effects, money they have lost because the movie flopped, however they are
pretty good. The movie looks great; there are some cool effects and
real-looking creatures. One creature in particular is Woola, a strange, big-faced
dog, who is both adorable and hilarious. A real joy to look at. And we also
have a great performance by Lynn Collins as the very attractive, smart and
ballsy princess Dejah Thoris. The movie also contains a couple of really great
fight scenes, which make it more bearable to watch. These elements turn a dull
movie into an average movie; they are what kept me watching all the way to the
end.
In conclusion, John Carter was a good idea that was badly executed, which
caused it to flop. I don’t really recommend it; there are a lot better movies
to watch.
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Fighting movies have always been pretty popular,
and we have had some really big titles in that genre, like Ali (2001) and
Million Dollar Baby (2004), not to mention the Rocky series. Gavin O’Connor’s
Warrior (2011) can certainly hold its own in the list of great fighting movie
titles. A touching and well-written backstory combined with good looking fight
scenes is the key to a great fighting movie, and O’Connor really hit the nail
on the head with his movie.
The plot is about two estranged brothers, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy
Conlon (Tom Hardy), who share a love for mixed martial arts, but have a
complicated family history involving their father (Nick Nolte) and the death of
their mother. After years of living apart and holding grudges, both brothers
enlist in the same mixed martial arts tournament and end up facing each other
in the ring.
As I’ve said before, the combination of plot and fight scenes is what makes
this movie so good. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy are both very good actors, they
both succeed at emoting the audience and having us feel empathy for them. The
movie is filled with complicated family-relations, rivalry between brothers as
well as big brother caring for younger brother, father and motherly love,
friendship and sense of duty. All these emotions climax in one final moment
that makes it hard for even the toughest and coldest viewers not to get
teary-eyed.
The fight scenes themselves are thrilling to watch. The matches don’t look like
choreographed dances, as they do in most action and kung fu movies. They
actually look like real MMA fights, exhausting, brutal and painful. Great
choreography in combination with some good looking camera work causes the
audience to flinch at some brutal shots. Entertainment at its best.
Warrior is another recent title that scores pretty high in my book. Joel and
Tom made very convincing brothers. Tom Hardy is one of the rising stars of the
past years, and he deserves all the attention he has been getting. Definitely a
movie I recommend, not only for the MMA fans, but also for the general movie
fan who likes a touching story.
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Chronicle (2012) is a movie that follows the growing
trend of the so-called “Found Footage Film”. In this type of movie the camera
work appears to be done by one of the actors holding a handheld camera, giving
the movie a more realistic feel. Other big titles in that genre are The Blair
Witch Project (1999) and Cloverfield (2008). I’m not a big fan of this genre; however I have
to admit that it contributed greatly to the feel of this movie. It wouldn’t
have been the same otherwise.
Chronicle tells the story of three young boys, Matt, Steve and Andrew, who discover
a strange, crystalline artifact, after which they start to develop telekinetic
powers. Unlike most super hero movies, the young boys don’t feel the need to
fight for justice and all that is good, instead they use their powers for their
own amusement.
Of course every super hero movie, conventional or not, needs a villain. And
director Josh Trank created a very real villain, one many of us can easily
empathize with. One of the boys has been bullied at school and mistreated by
his father, leaving him angry and frustrated. This causes him to become
obsessed with power and eventually leads him to losing his mind.
The movie ends just like every super hero movie, with a huge battle between
good guy and bad guy. However there is no heroic feeling here. The audience
isn’t cheering for the good guy to beat the bad guy and restore justice, the
audience is witnessing two boys in great pain, suffering. The battle ends in one
brutal moment, but I won’t give any further details regarding that matter.
This movie combines the joys and hardships of teenage life with super hero
science fiction, a formula that works surprisingly well. I recommend
watching this movie if you are sick of typical Hollywood super hero movies and
want something else, just don’t expect to see Iron Man-like special effects.
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Sherlock
Holmes faces off against his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, in a fierce battle of
the mind…and the fists and guns and explosions…
A Game of Shadows (2011) is the second installment of Guy Ritchie’s take on the
world’s most famous sleuth and once again Sherlock Holmes is transformed into a
Victorian James Bond. Not only is he solving cases, he is also fighting,
running, jumping away from explosions, and all that other Hollywood goodness.
Is that a bad thing? No, not really, although it may not suit the traditional
image of Sherlock Holmes, it does work. Both movies have been tremendously
successful. And Robert Downey Jr. is pretty damn good at what he does. The role
of a genius, thrill-seeking madman suits him very well, as he has proven in the
previous Sherlock Holmes and in the Iron Man movies. Of course not all credit
goes to him. His chemistry with Jude Law, playing Dr. John Watson, makes this
movie truly entertaining to watch. Those two bring us from a burst of laughter
to the edge of our seats, and I couldn’t imagine anyone replacing either of
them.
In this movie our favorite Detective and his trusted sidekick have to take on
Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), a mastermind, whose intelligent rivals that
of Holmes himself, that decided to use his intellectual capacities for evil.
Alongside all the action I have mentioned before, we also get to witness a
thrilling battle of the mind between Holmes and Moriarty, each trying to outsmart
the other. Holmes’ nemesis is not only brilliant, but he has a talent for elaborate
schemes, and seems to be missing a conscience, making him an adequate rival. He
even appears to have the upper hand most of the time. The epic battle between
both mad geniuses culminates in one final moment, which I won’t reveal here for
obvious reasons. I was happy that Guy Ritchie chose Jared Harris for the role
of Moriarty, because Harris just radiates both wit and evil. He makes a
terrific antagonist.
In conclusion, this is a pretty decent movie. It has a solid script, good
action and thrilling battles, all garnished with a good amount of humor.
However, the best thing about this movie is the choice of actors. If Ritchie
did one thing right, it was picking the correct actor for each role. They
really are what make this movie, and its predecessor, the successes they have
been.
Leave me a comment with your thoughts on the review,
or on the movie itself. I’d love to hear what you guys have to say. If you have
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