YJLcool

After the first Avengers film 3 years ago, we finally get to see the gang back together again! Being one of the most highly anticipated films of 2015, can Marvel deliver its magic once again with a slightly darker, serious and slightly complex plot line? (don't worry, not as dark and serious as the Dark Knight Trilogy or Man of Steel) Well, safely to say, it's still undeniably another massively entertaining and enjoyable feast for Marvel fans. There are more awesome and cooler action sequences, wonderful character moments with funny witty dialogues, spectacular visuals with more new Avenger characters filling in this time around. With writer/director Joss Whedon at helm again with all the same actors reprising their roles, the film still feels lively with the occasional team banters.

There's a lot to deliver in Avengers: Age of Ultron...aside from the main plot line, world-building, bigger and better action scenes that needs to be in the sequel, it needs to set up the beginnings of Marvel's Phase 3 plans as well. As a result, there are lots of subplots and references going around in the film for fans to take note of: Tony and Steve clashing ideologies for Captain America: Civil War, mentioning of Wakanda and the introduction of Ulysses Klaw, enemy of Black Panther and Thor's vision of Asgard for Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity War. So it's definitely not an easy task for Joss Whedon to juggle with so many characters in the same film. Thankfully, every hero does get their chance to shine. Surprisingly, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Clint Barton/Hawkeye have bigger roles this time around and are more involved than before with their character arcs. The film is very clear with its theme, by showing how misguided intentions, no matter how noble they may be, could potentially lead to more death and destruction.

The action scenes are very well choreographed with superb, top notch CGI effects. Hulk is getting more screen time smashing several Ultron robots with his fists, and even Iron Man, himself too. The massive, destructive battle between the Hulkbuster Mark 44 Iron Man suit against the Hulk is definitely one of the highlights of the film. Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Vision, they all have a good balance of action screen time to show their abilities against Ultron and his robotic armies (except for War Machine and Falcon, which have a slightly minor role compared with the rest). The final climactic battle of the film is certainly the most over-the-top, "comic booky" thing ever put on screen (not sure it's a good or bad thing).

With that being said, now comes the bad part. The film has too many new characters introduced in this sequel and not enough character development to make them memorable (despite the film's long running time) and this hurts the film a lot. The 'Enchanced' Twins' origins were simply brushed off by a few lines from the main characters and Vision's powers were not clearly explained in the film. Moreover, there's too much going on that there's simply no time for the casual audience (non-Marvel fans) to take a breather and slowly digest the new plot and character developments.

There were lots of sudden plot developments shoehorned into the story: forced romance between Banner/Hulk and Natasha/Black Widow (When did Natasha start having feelings for Banner?), the introduction of two vital team members - Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, the birth and introduction of Vision, the increased development of Hawkeye, the introduction and development of the main villain, Ultron. Not to mention, there are other members of the gang needs to be on the spotlight as well.

The main villain, Ultron is rather disappointing. His motivations of destroying humanity aren't clear enough, his grudge against Tony feels rushed and underdeveloped, which makes him less compelling. In comparison, Scarlet Witch is a far more terrifying force compared to Ultron as the film clearly shows that she has the power to tear the whole team (Avengers) apart like they were nothing.

In short, is Avengers: Age of Ultron as good as The Avengers? Well, it's near there and it's good enough, but without exceeding expectations. It seems that the film is quite rushed and fast-paced due to the editing cuts needed to make the film shorter (the first cut is said to be roughly 3 hours). The script does feel slightly weaker than the more well-constructed first film, but the action, witty dialogue is more than enough to make up for it. With the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel's second Phase is coming to an end very soon (after this year's Ant-Man).

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2015/04/movie-review-avengers-age-of- ultron.html

Cinderella has always been a love fairytale about the courage and kindness of the human spirit that we all familiar and love. It's been a very long time since a fairytale has been told as it is. There have been many mediocre or disastrous results when the filmmakers took creative license with fantasy fairy tales to make it more 'exciting' or action-packed. Still remember Snow White and the Huntsman, Maleficent, Into The Woods, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Red Riding Hood? That's what I mean.

This film is a straightforward live-action remake of the classical fairytale without the musical aspect. Yeah, there's not much singing this time around, just drama...Rather unusual for a Disney film. It was faithful to the original story, with some wonderful additions or improvements to the story as well. The film does a great job in showing us an enchanting, mesmerizing, fantastical world with its spectacular costume designs and special effects. Every scene of the film is a delightful watch, filled with beautiful, vibrant colours.

The love romance between Cinderella and the Prince Charming is more than just 'love at first sight' and not just for looks and status after meeting only once. The Prince was captivated by Ella's ability to see the world as it could be, with heart, courage and kindness. Ella was amused by the Prince's humility and courtesy without knowing that he is royalty. The film also showed that the Prince has a loving and respectful relationship with his father, the King. Their relationship is built on love, trust and mutual respect for each other. Moreover, I was quite surprised that the film actually includes the origin of the name, 'Cinderella' - a cruel nickname for Ella by her stepmother and stepsisters by adding 'cinder' to her name because she used to clean the cinders from the fire and sleep near them to warm herself when her attic room is too cold.

Lily James does a fine job as titular heroine Cinderella, a kind and innocent girl who's true to herself from beginning to end. If all of us could see the world as Cinderella did, the world would be a far more better place. I believe that Richard Madden managed to charm a lot of female audience's heart (not just Cinderella's) for his humility, chivalry and relentless pursuit of happiness and love. Cate Blanchett plays a convincing role of the evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine. The film added a bit of depth to the character, by portraying her as a woman who's changed by hardships of reality, eventually believes that status, power and wealth is everything and that kindness or love is not free.

In the film, Ella asks the Prince whether he is willing to accept her as she is, and it's her goodness and sincerity that truly made her happily ever after in the end. From someone who grew up watching and reading classical fairy tales, it's great to see this old fairytale being brought back to life with such charm and beauty. A gorgeous remake of Cinderella for the new generation.

Frozen Fever: A Frozen short film about Elsa desperately trying to prepare the best birthday celebration for Anna despite her not feeling well. It's great to see back Anna and Elsa before moving on to watch the main film.

Rating: 8/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2015/04/movie-review-cinderella.html

The Fast & Furious series is back again with its seventh latest "furiouser" installment, Furious 7. The series has changed a lot over the years...first about illegal street racing in Los Angeles, then a serious heist thriller and now a global spy thriller. (Yes, you heard me! The gang are now turned into international secret military operatives!) Over the years, the franchise has always been delivering on what they promised: bombastic action, hot babes in bikinis and lots of sports cars... with recent installments more focused on the main characters, making each of them individually defined enough to be easily recognized on screen.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2015/04/movie-review-furious-7.html

This film is also director James Wan's (mostly directed horror films like Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious) first go at the franchise, and there are subtle changes compared to the last four films, which were previously helmed by Justin Lin (who's moved on to direct the next Star Trek film). Needless to say, this has got to be the most epic, extravagant, ridiculous yet jaw-dropping, action-packed, emotional film in the franchise. In this film, the team tries to take down the dangerous ex-black ops British terrorist Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the brother of Owen Shaw (the villain in the previous installment, played by Luke Evans) who comes for revenge. In order to find and track him down, they need to assist in securing a kidnapped hacker from a terrorist group.

The film is constantly filled with tension and excitement despite its slightly long running time (2 hours and 20 minutes). The impressive, absurd yet glorious stunt-filled action sequences featured in this film will definitely keep the audience glued to the screen. They able to both match and even top the efforts of its previous installments. Aside from the usual sport cars that many viewers of the franchise used to be seeing in the past, there are more luxurious supercars being used this time around: Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, Lamborghini, and the exclusive $3.4 million Lykan HyperSport. There are also a few comic relief scenes with Roman (Tyrese Gibson) as well to relief some of tension between the action sequences.

The team have good chemistry with each other and the film does have a plot, albeit a simple one. As usual, Vin Diesel still bring his 'alpha' leadership to the team, Paul Walker as his right-hand man with life experiences as an FBI agent, Michelle Rodriguez as his racing support/lover-'miss alpha', Dwayne Johnson as the team's 'muscle man support'/connection to the police, Chris Bridges as the tech guy, Tyrese Gibson as the comic relief. There's also a new female addition to the team, Ramsey, a highy attractive hacker who's also the key to the film's MacGuffin. The inclusion of Thai martial artist Tony Jaa (Ong Bak) and mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey (The Expendables 3) also add flavour to the close-combat fight action scenes in the film as well.

However, the film is not without its problems. The franchise's biggest problem has always been the lack of compelling, memorable villains. The same can be said for this one as well. There are two villains this time around and they were constantly sidelined most of the time by each other and the big action sequences. The characters are not well developed enough, which is a waste. There are some plot contrivances here and there and some dialogues in certain scenes are particularly cheesy and corny, which I think viewers of the franchise would get used to them by now.

The film also provides the audience a nice sendoff and tribute to Paul Walker at the end. Another major problem for the film is the tragic untimely death of Paul Walker during the film production (everyone should know by now that Paul died in a car accident last year halfway through filming), which forced the studio to hire Walker's brothers to step in and that CGI would be used for his face and voice. All in all, the film has high entertainment value, delivers on all fronts and a brilliant last ride for Paul Walker.

After the huge success of two Hunger Games movies, it was announced that Mockingjay would be split in two parts. The film picks up after the events of Catching Fire, where the story continued with Katniss, our reluctant heroine from District 12 finally becomes the titular head of a growing rebellion against the Capitol through a series of propaganda videos. This time, the film is lesser on the action, explosions or heavy violence and chooses to focus on being a political drama that takes the themes of war and revolution to the next level instead.

The Hunger Games has always been a character-driven story filled with meaningful themes by exploring real-world issues about rebellion, politics, conflicts, war, survival that ultimately stands out among the other Young Adult franchises. Katniss' several acts of defiance against the fascist Capitol government during the Hunger Games in the first two films have finally fan the flames of rebellion among the districts of Panem to take back their nation. While the country is on the verge of war, Katniss must also try to find a way to rescue Peeta and the rest of the tributes, who have been taken hostages, tortured and imprisoned by the Capitol.

Throughout the years, the franchise has done a great job in showing us that Katniss is truly the Mockingjay - the symbol of hope and rebellion in Panem. The books are written in Katniss' point of view, but the movies have made the effort of showing us other events largely unseen by her to allow us to gain a better understanding of the events that are happening in the film, such as the political meetings or discussions of President Snow or the control room of the games in past films. Mockingjay Part 1 takes time to give us a closer look at the beginnings of war by showing us some details about the uprisings that are taking place in other districts. From the brutal public executions, aerial bombing of cities and threatening speeches by President Snow himself, people are suffering and dying. The film also shows how easily people can be manipulated by media, by showing us that the people of Panem (Capitol and all the other districts) are easily influenced by what they see and hear, especially on TV. However, the ways the Capitol uses media to control all of Panem, it also shows that the rebels can use the same strategy to fight back as well. Both sides is using propaganda as a form of psychological warfare.

The film essentially tries to tell the audience that there are no perfect governments or political systems. Political ideologies always fail in reality because of the greed of men who only seek wealth or power. In Mockingjay Part 1, we see how Katniss is being used by the rebel leaders to fight the war. There's even one particular scene where Peeta asks Katniss whether she truly knows the people she's working for, letting us in doubt whether the rebels of District 13 are fighting for the right cause or it's just another Capitol in the making. Once again, Jennifer Lawrence pulls another strong performance as Katniss as she's the one who gets the most character development in this film. With Peeta captured by the Capitol for the entire film, Liam Hemsworth gets more screen time this time for his character, Gale after being left out of the story in the first two films. The film also introduces new characters, especially District 13's rebel leader, President Coin who will soon becomes one of the antagonist that Katniss need to face in Part 2. Elizabeth Banks' character, Effie serves as comic relief this time around, but her character also shows that not all people in the Capitol are vain and oppressive as we think they are.

However, Mockingjay Part 1 doesn't feel like a complete movie and fails to reach the heights of its predecessors. It's the first half of the final book adapted to film, which doesn't really provide any conclusions, it doesn't feel like it has a self-contained plot as none of the character arcs are fully resolved. The film keeps on setting the necessary pieces for the final epic showdown between the districts and Capitol but there's nothing significant happening throughout the film as all the relevant plot twists, the actual fight is in part 2. The film spends most of its time to show us the beginnings of war but couldn't provide further details on why the rebels in District 13 have so many resources and doesn't look malnourished compared with people from other districts. In my opinion, it felt unnecessary to split the final chapter into two parts as many of the scenes actually hurts the pace of the movie. It could be a far better film with a run time of probably 3 hours or so. We are all excited for the story's conclusion and yet we were asked to be patient and wait for next year's Part 2 instead. As the credits roll, I find myself leaving the cinema asking, that's it?

Rating: 7/10 http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/11/movie-review-hunger-games- mockingjay.html

Based on the hugely popular 1994 manga/anime historical fiction romantic action drama series, Kyoto Inferno is the second instalment of the Rurouni Kenshin (also known as Samurai X in many western countries) trilogy, which tells the story of Himura Kenshin/Battosai, a retired samurai who seeks redemption for his past killings as an assassin to topple the Shogunate government and restore power to the emperor. However, his past soon comes back to haunt him. The sequel picks up where the original left off and the story continued with the Kyoto Arc adaptation, the series' best story arc. This time, stakes are higher as Japan is facing a larger threat imposed by Kenshin's evil successor, Makoto Shishio and Kenshin struggles to stop this impending threat to the newly established Meiji government he helped to restore. Finally, fans get to see their beloved characters brought to life on the big screen again.

As the first of the manga/anime adaptation's two-part finale (Kyoto Inferno - Part 1 and The Legend Ends - Part 2), Shishio, a samurai with formidable skills equivalent to Kenshin's, declared an all-out war against the new government and he intends to bring back the old days of the Shogunate - "survival of the fittest" where the strong shall live and the weak shall die. He is joined by his the Juppongatana (Ten Swords), a group of highly skilled, elite assassins and a huge army of warriors under his command to destroy everything that stands in his way. On the other hand, Kenshin is joined by many new allies, The Oniwabanshu (Hidden Watcher ninjas), a surviving remnant of the old Shogunate's spy network in Kyoto and Saito Hajime, the current chief of police of the Meiji government who was the former Shinsengumi head (military police protecting the Shogunate).

The film benefits from the strong performances from the lead characters. Takeru Sato did a great job portraying as the reluctant and conflicted hero Kenshin, who's unwillingness to kill is constantly challenged by his desire to protect the innocent at the same time. The same could be said for Tatsuya Fujiwara as the main antagonist Shishio, who managed to create a frightful and imposing presence every time he appears on screen. The goals for the characters were clear from the beginning of the film. Yosuke Eguchi and Ryunosuke Kamiki both stand out as the icy cool chief of police Hajime Saito and cheerful young assassin Soujiro Seta (who's also one of the Juppongatana members) respectively. However, I was quite particularly annoyed by Munetaka Aoki's over-the-top performance as Sanosuke. His character was not well-handled and there was a lot of forced acting and unnecessary movements whenever he appears on screen.

Despite the numerous deviations from the source material (especially with the origin of the Oniwabanshu leader Aoshi), there's a lot attention to detail went into this movie. The character designs used for the film were as close to the source material as it could possibly be. A lot of the important manga/anime plot scenes were recreated with some minor changes to keep the core of the story intact. Moreover, what's really surprising is that the details of etiquette and mannerism of samurai or ninja was taken quite seriously in the film, which makes it feels like a Japanese period piece.

The film is filled with intensely well-choreographed, well-filmed sword-fighting scenes. Many of the action scenes were tightly choreographed and the fast paced sword fights were performed with some rather inventive moves. The depiction of the various legendary kenjutsu Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu (Flying Heaven Govern Sword-Style) techniques such as Ryutsuisen (Dragon Hammer Flash), Ryushosen (Dragon Flight Flash), Ryusosen (Dragon Nest Flash) look realistic enough on screen. The fight scene as Kenshin swiftly takes down Shishio's army from all directions in a village was truly a sight to behold. Moreover, the fight between the Oniwabanshu ninja leaders Aoshi (Captain) and Okina (Elder) makes for a great action sequence as well.

As an adaptation, it is understood that it is necessary to pay homage to many of the well-known characters in the series for the fans. This results in a lot of characters are introduced in this sequel and some of them are less developed due to the limited screen time. Although the film did well in showing Kenshin's past struggles and Shishio's dark past, the subplot of the Oniwabanshu members, especially Misao and Aoshi doesn't fit in nicely to the story. Aoshi's motivations for searching and killing Battosai was unconvincing and feels downright flat. The presence of the Juppongatana (Ten Swords) was weak as other members hardly get any screen time at all (except Soujiro Seta and Cho of course). Hopefully we'll be able to see more of these characters in The Legend Ends, the last film in the trilogy.

Overall, Kyoto Inferno sets the pieces for the final epic showdown between Shishio with his Juppongatana and Kenshin with his allies. A lot of things are being pushed off for The Legend Ends and doesn't actually conclude by the end of this film, so it's rather difficult to judge this film on its own. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rating: 7/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/11/movie-review-rurouni-kenshin- kyoto.html

This year is filled with so many great animated films...The Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Boxtrolls, The Book of Life and now, Disney's new superhero animated feature - Big Hero 6. Adapted from the Marvel comics of the same name which is almost unheard of by many people (including myself), Big Hero 6 is a fun, entertaining, heartwarming and emotional film that's comparable to Pixar's superhero film, The Incredibles.

Over the years, superhero films have become more complex and character-driven with thought-provoking, challenging messages to the audience. The same could be said for Big Hero 6 as well. This is a film about the excitement of learning and innovating new things. This is a film that's filled with complex, mature themes such as dealing with grief and loss of loved ones, making the right choices in life by letting go and forgive those who have wronged you.

Big Hero 6 is a beautifully made film that's still incredibly charming and fun to watch despite its simple, straightforward and predictable story. The characters, even the awesome high-tech gadgets and suits are very well-designed. Moreover, the world presented in the film (the city of San Fransokyo - combination of San Francisco and Tokyo) is vibrant, colourful and futuristic, which is suitable for the story. Around the halfway mark of the film, we get to see the spectacular aerial view of the city as Hiro and Baymax were flying around to test the newly made armour prepared to fight with the main villain.

The key to a successful animated film has always been creating one or two memorable, lively characters that young audiences could identify with, care about and love. The film succeeds the most by putting its focus on the relationship between Hiro, the lead human character and the hilarious, cute, lovable, cuddly, friendly and adorable inflatable healthcare robot Baymax, the heart of the film. The gentle robot instantly steals the show the moment it appears on screen, providing many joys and laughters that you wish you had him by your side as a personal companion/caregiver. He's clearly meant to be the character that every kid (or the kid inside you, for adults) should love. This film did a remarkable job in balancing action, drama and comedy. There are more enjoyable action scenes to satisfy the kids who loves action and several wonderful, hilarious, moving and emotional scenes of Hiro and Baymax together on screen to satisfy those who yearn for something profound and impactful. There are two particularly emotionally moving and heartfelt scenes that brought me to tears.

However, the film does have its flaws. The four supporting human characters (including the villain) are quite underdeveloped and it feels like we hardly know them much by the end of the film other than they're friends with Hiro and they will always be there for him. However, it's not significant enough to hurt my enjoyment of the film. Overall, Big Hero 6 is the perfect animated film for young nerdy kids and adults alike. It's one of the best animated films of the year.

Rating: 8.5/10

Note: Be sure to stay for the after-credit scene.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/11/movie-review-big-hero-6.html

Based on the 2004 romance novel 'Where Rainbows End' written by Cecilia Ahern, Love, Rosie is about a story of two people who were best friends since they were young. They've known each other for so long and they're absolutely meant for each other, but could never have the courage to admit that they have strong feelings for each other. Furthermore, life is not always how we expect or want it to be, as various unforeseen circumstances or misunderstandings continuously keeps them apart from each other.

Love, Rosie have the same typical flaws that many romantic drama comedies have: several unavoidable clichés and contrivances, a predictable ending. However, as in all romantic comedies, it's the whole journey that truly matters. The film takes the audience through the ups and downs of their relationships and how it affects their friendship over the years. Things didn't happen the way you expected them to be on some occasions, which is rather surprising and refreshing at the same time. The film is filled with occasionally nice witty jokes and heartwarming moments, combine with charming, likable performances from the lead characters. The two leads have great chemistry on screen and it gives the believable feeling that they've known each other for years.

There's a real genuine, non-manipulative, non-domineering relationship between the leads as we witness several loving, selfless acts on both sides when tragedy strikes one of them. However, I have to admit that there's a rather unrealistic depiction about this "friendship" - men and women can't be close friends because the sex part always gets in the way (A famous quote from another romantic comedy film, When Harry Meets Sally...). In reality, it's virtually impossible that a beautiful, attractive young lady can be close friends with a strikingly handsome man without hardly any sexual tension at all, especially when both of them are heterosexuals and they've never think of each other as siblings either.

Overall, the film succeeds in finding the heart and soul for its characters for the audience to relate with, despite its shortcomings. It's a lovely, heartfelt film that doesn't disappoint and it's well worth a watch.

Rating: 7.5/10 http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/11/movie-review-love-rosie.html

These days, few filmmakers dare to reach high enough to challenge our minds and continuously put us on the edge of our seats every time. From the backwards narrative structure of Memento, the illusionary gripping Prestige, the socio-political Dark Knight Trilogy, the dream heist Inception that offers layers of dreaming consciousness, Nolan never ceases to deliver one thought-provoking film after another.

This time around, the Nolans (script was written by both brothers) decided take us into the farthest mysteries of space-time by exploring matters of theoretical physics, to inspire us to venture out to the unknown, to reach for the skies. Most importantly, to encourage space exploration, specifically interstellar travel for the survival of our species. Before the release of the film, expectations were high with Interstellar being touted as the most highly anticipated sci-fi film of the year.

It should be no surprise that Interstellar offers another mind- challenging movie-going experience for the audience. Despite its long running time, the film is thoroughly engaging with its jaw- dropping, astounding plot twists (especially with its overambitious third act) and foreshadowing that heightens the suspense in the film. Furthermore, Nolan adds more depth to the film's main premise with some thought-provoking matters such as importance of time, personal interests vs global necessity (is it worthy to sacrifice the time with our children when the survival of our species is at risk?) through a simple father-daughter relationship story, watching the characters as they face the reality of a universe that's far bigger than them.

The film questions what things in life that really matter to us, to explore and see the world in a larger picture with our limited lifespan. Despite the seriousness and dramatic tension in the film, there are some occasionally funny scenes through the interaction between the human characters and the intelligent yet sarcastic robots, TARS and CASE.

Interstellar is as spectacular as Nolan's previous films, by showing us the wonder of space beyond our imagination. Interstellar delivers in terms of spectacle and they're all breathtaking to look at, from Saturn's giant rings, the 4-th dimensional space when a spacecraft enters a wormhole, the exploration of two different planets, the stunning rendition of a spinning black hole and the possibility of extra-dimensional space. All of them are explored in ways that makes me admire the movie very much and I personally respect the director's attempt in showing us these things. Interstellar is considered to be Nolan's most ambitious film to date.

However, it seems that Nolan's reach finally exceeds his grasp. Unfortunately, Interstellar isn't as accessible as Nolan's previous movies due to its dense scientific theories. The general audience might find the theoretical physics presented in the film too hard to understand. Its attempt to tackle some of the complicated theoretical physics concepts and philosophical ideas seemed to be rather heavy-handed this time around, especially the film's extremely audacious last act.

The film is filled with scientific jargon (space-time dimensions, relativity, time dilation, quantum gravity, gravitational singularity, event horizon, etc) and this could leave certain audience feeling completely underwhelmed. Moreover, the exposition- heavy dialogues feels like characters delivering science lessons to each other. I do understand that exposition is a necessity in science fiction (to spoon-feed the audience with knowledge on science so that we know what's going on) but it's just doesn't feel natural in certain scenes this time around, perhaps this is due to the complexity nature of the scientific concepts presented in the film. Don't get me wrong, the film is great and succeeds intellectually on many levels, but only a handful of audience are capable of understanding it.

The film greatest strength lies on its underlying scientific concepts and intriguing plot, but not its characters (with the exception of McConaughey's character). All the enlisted casts are considered to be Hollywood's most talented actors but the film underdevelops the relationships between its characters as science takes a lead role in the story. Despite stellar performances from each of the casts, none of the supporting characters are particularly memorable as their roles aren't well-realised as intended. Many of the characters have very little depth, due to the limited screen time and the need to explain heavy-handed scientific concepts to the audience. Even though Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Sir Michael Caine and Matt Damon each have their own moments, that's just not enough to provide a deep memorable impression to the audience.

The heart of Interstellar lies with the bond between the father (Cooper, Matthew McConaughey's character) and his daughter (Murph, Mackenzie Foy's/Jessica Chastain's character) and McConaughey managed to provide a stand-out performance as a strong, likable and relatable yet conflicted lead character: on one hand, he needs to reach for the stars and beyond to save humanity, while the other never wanting to let go of his family. There's a scene in the film where Cooper sheds tears of love and despair while watching 23 years of video messages left by his son back on Earth due to time dilation effect is particularly heartbreaking and would certainly evoke an emotional response from the audience.

Overall, Nolan succeeded in taking various complex theoretical physics concepts and use them all together to make a tightly woven story, which is a remarkable feat. Despite its flaws, Interstellar is still an engaging watch and one hell of a journey getting to the end.

Rating: 8/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/11/movie-review-interstellar.html

"Some stories are just too true to tell." Kill the Messenger tells the tragic true story of a journalist/reporter, Gary Webb who works for the San Jose Mercury News, uncovered a shocking scandal after he wrote a series of articles in 1996 claiming that the government and CIA was partly responsible for bringing crack cocaine to the U.S. in the 1980s to secretly fund an illegal war to stop communism. (Since it's a true story, there's nothing to spoil.)

The serious implication that the U.S. government had deliberately spread cocaine to African-American neighborhoods to help finance a secret war supporting the contra rebels in Nicaragua evoked outrage among the African-American community and create racial tensions at the time the articles was published. However, all began to fall apart when some of the country's well-known newspapers (The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times) made personal attacks against him. Gary Webb paid a huge price for writing the articles. Soon, his own life and past mistakes became the focus of the mainstream media and his articles are under heavy scrutiny by various media and the public.

Since the film is actually "based on a true story", the film most likely take a few liberties with the story (there might be some factual inaccuracies) and the events depicted mostly likely dramatized to make it a far more interesting movie, it still doesn't eliminate the fact that most of the events occurred in the past.

Jeremy Renner gives his best lead role performance in portraying Webb as a real, flawed human being. The film takes time to explore the character's life, showing how his obsession to uncover the truth slowly consumes and destroys his life...His decision to reveal the story has created a serious blow not only to himself, but to his family as well, as people who knew him slowly turned against him and drove him into depression. This essentially provides the necessary character development required for the audience to relate with.

Kill the Messenger is not a typical thriller you normally see on screen. Truth to be told, the film is rather slow-paced and it really lags in the mid section. There's barely any action to excite the casual moviegoers. Throughout the film, there are no government officials or CIA agents threatened him with violence. Instead, they choose to let the mainstream media destroy the man by destroying his credibility as an investigative reporter. Soon after, his reputation was tarnished and his career was ruined. It's a cautionary tale that shows us things are never what it seemed to be. If this film was made 15 years earlier, it could have vindicated Webb and ultimately prevented his suicide in 2004. It's a shame that it took so long for this film to appear in cinemas.

Rating: 7.5/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/10/movie-review-kill-messenger.html

The Book of Life is a refreshing new animated tale about Mexican folk beliefs, especially the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos), a day where families and friends gather to pray for and remember their loved ones who have died. Aside from its basic themes about love, family and friendship, The Book of Life features some mature, darker ones such as life and death, pursue your dreams, never forget those who have passed on and never stop looking forward to the future at the same time, always be yourself and never lose sight of who you are. The plot is done with enough wit, charm, humour and sincerity that makes it an enjoyable ride.

The story is mainly about three childhood friends, Manolo, Joaquin and Maria who got caught in a wager going on between the Mexican lords of the underworld, La Muerte (ruler of The Land of the Remembered) and Xibalba (ruler of The Land of the Forgotten). These deities each pick a champion between these two boys and bet on who can win Maria's heart and marry her. So best friends become bitter love rivals for a woman's heart. Aside from that, Manolo is torn between following his heart to become a musician or satisfy his dad's expectation to continue the family's legacy.

The film is beautiful, stylish and visually stunning. Despite its darker tone, the film doesn't feel terrifying at all. It shows us a world filled with wonder and spectacle, especially The Land of the Remembered, which is full of vibrant, lively colours despite the fact that it's actually the land of the undead. It provides us unique, captivating character designs and set pieces with close attention to detail about Mexican culture and traditions. The characters are strong, charming and lovable. The film did a fine job addressing the importance of remembering our loved ones who have died. The love triangle between Manolo, Maria and Joaquin is well developed as well.

The songs chosen for the film were great, breathes life into the scenes and provide the necessary emotional impact to keep the audience engaged throughout the film. I do admit there are a few plot contrivances here and there, but remember, this is still a kids/family film, so just cut it some slack and give it a chance. Some of the voice actors did a good job imitating the Mexican accent to make it feel like an authentic Mexican animation. Overall, it's a charming, sweet romantic film with surprising depth and plenty of heart that's good enough for both kids and adults to enjoy at the same time. A recommended watch.

Rating: 8/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/10/movie-review-book-of-life.html

The film starts with Noriko, a tall, young and attractive office lady of a cosmetics company that specializes in making 'Snow White' soap who was brutally stabbed several times and then burned in a national park. When a temporary news director, Akahoshi, who works at a news company hears some insider information from a friend, who works the same company as the victim, he decided to seize the opportunity to find the suspected killer and reveal these details to the public before the police. Akahoshi reveals his investigation online and soon, news spreads across the social media like wildfire.

Adapted from a best-selling Japanese novel by Kanae Minato, The Snow White Murder Case is a well-written, nicely executed and well-acted drama thriller that tells a gripping story with enough twists and turns to sustain viewer's interest along the way. First and foremost, the film pays not much attention to the actual police investigation for the crime, but choose to focus on the public and the people who are connected to the victim or prime suspect instead. It's a modern cautionary tale about the destructive power of social media, how it can twist the fabric of truth. It examines closely how misunderstandings or misinterpretation of a person's character can potentially ruin a person's life.

The film also exposes the judgmental nature of the public in the wake of accessible information online. Throughout the film, you get to see different versions of the same events, as told from different points of view and perspectives from many people, as each person perceives and remembers things differently. However, there are also a few who chose to tell their own version of the events that happened just to get some media attention, effectively blinding the public from the truth. It's actually quite interesting to watch the details of events shift as the film progresses. The film tries to show the audience that things aren't always what they seem to be on the outside. There are so many intricacies of human actions, emotions and intentions that we always fail to perceive, no matter how smart, intelligent or clever we are.

Moreover, the film also tries to show that first impressions can be misleading and appearances can be deceiving. Beautiful women are often invisible to the naked eye. We're always so bedazzled by the outside that we tend to fail to look on the inside. The film slowly takes us deeper into the goings-on in the workplace of the soap company and gives us a brief general look at the fierce competition between women in the workplace and in society. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is that the viewer's perspective of a certain character changes as the film progresses and we start to empathize her once the truth is slowly revealed through flashbacks which provide an emotional backstory for the main lead. Mao Inoue and Nanao both provide convincing performances in their respective roles, successfully display the multiple facets of their characters well.

The Snow White Murder Case impresses me a lot. It's actually quite rare for a crime drama thriller that has a carefully structured premise with so many ideas to convey. It's one of the most compelling, thought-provoking crime drama thrillers this year. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8.5/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/10/movie-review-snow-white-murder- case.html

There's nothing new about Dracula Untold. Unfortunately, it's just another film that favours spectacle and style over substance. With a film clocked in at a mere 85 minutes (excluding credits), the story is just not compelling enough for the audience to invest emotionally in what happens next. There's simply not enough time and everything felt rushed without proper character development.

In the beginning of the film, we're swiftly introduced to our main character, Vlad the Impaler with a series of montage about his background, what he did for the Turkish empire and why he was renowned for his brutality in warfare. Basically, he's a 15-century Transylvanian prince infamous for his practice of impaling his enemies to induce fear and ensure the safety of his people and kingdom. Unfortunately, the Sultan of the Turkish Empire demands 1000 of the young boys in his kingdom to join his army to conquer Europe. Unable to comply, outnumbered and face an imminent threat from the Turkish army, he decides to make a deal with an arch vampire demon, Caligula, at a price, to grant him power to destroy his enemies.

The action scenes are stylish, cool and surprisingly not too violent, scary or gory, which fits the intention of establishing Dracula as an anti-hero instead of a frightening monster villain. The best action scene is where we get to see Vlad summons a colony of bats to defeat the 10,000-strong Turkish army during the climactic battle. It is truly a sight to behold but ultimately it fails to impress as everything just happens too fast.

There are some fine performances from its actors, especially Luke Evans. He did the best he could in a film with a bad script. Many of the supporting characters are severely underdeveloped and completely forgettable. We don't know much about them aside from watching them appear on screen talking a few lines here and there before getting killed. None of them have enough screen time for their characters to make a memorable, lasting impression on screen, including the main antagonist, Sultan Mehmed II. We've being told that the Sultan and Vlad were close like brothers and yet we never get to see this relationship on screen at all. We don't know much about him at all. Not to mention, even the origins of Caligula, the vampire demon who sired Vlad is quickly briefed through without slowing down.

The film never bothered to fully explore its premise...the ultimate price Vlad had to 'pay' (his humanity) for becoming a vampire to save his people, family and kingdom. It doesn't truly show what a 'monster' he had become in order to win the war against the Turks. Furthermore, the film doesn't take time to establish the characters well. Because of that, the film has lost its potential. Overall, Dracula Untold is just not worth the price of admission. A forgettable film.

Rating: 5/10

First and foremost, don't judge a film by its appearance. Don't let the creepy designs of the boxtrolls discourage you from watching this film. The film may look like it has a darker and gloomy tone to it but don't let it deceive you.

For those who haven't seen the past two Laika productions, Coraline (2009) and ParaNorman (2012), it might take you quite a while to get used to the character designs and styles shown in the film. However, despite its weird and unappealing nature, The Boxtrolls is actually a surprisingly fun, charming, heartwarming adventure for people of all ages.

The Boxtrolls is a captivating mix of stop-motion and CG (computer graphics) animation that has a distinctive look that stands out from many of the recently released animations out there. We're living in an age where most animation studios have opted to use CG for their main releases, it's quite rare nowadays to find companies willing to go through the painstaking effort and a great amount of time to slowly move clay figures bit by bit, in very small movements each time to make a film.

Just try to let yourself be submerged in the world before judging it. I believe you'll find it fascinating soon enough. If you pay attention to the film, you'll notice the intense detailing that the animators put into the film. Despite their 'ugliness', the Boxtrolls are actually harmless, shy, good-natured, intelligent and adorable little creatures that roam the streets at night to look for junks to repair or create something new out of them. They fear the humans as much as the humans fear them.

Although the plot is rather straightforward, the film contains some rather complex, mature themes (by children's standards of course). Thankfully, they're expressed in a subtle manner throughout the story instead of becoming hard hitting moral lessons to be learned by the end of the film. Basically, the film tries to encourage children to be independent and stand up on their feet in a world full of adults. It teaches kids that sometimes things are just not what it seems on the outside. We should not judge a book by its cover or lose sight of what's right and wrong. Moreover, the film also shows that sometimes the life we always wanted is not really the life we truly need.

Overall, The Boxtrolls is great. It's one of the best animated films of the year. It has a unique and refreshing look that's different compared with many other animation out there. Just give it a chance.

Rating: 8/10

Note: Please wait for the mid-credit scene. Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles will have something to say about the nature of the world around them.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-boxtrolls.html

"...Brick by brick, dollar by dollar, body by body, I promised I wouldn't go back to being that person...But for you, I'm going to make an exception..." This is what Denzel, being an absolute badass, says that to his enemy in a key scene of the film. Just when you think Liam Neeson was great as a lone-wolf action hero in Taken (2008), here comes Denzel Washington, upping the ante as McCall, the Equalizer. Yeah, I was completely sold by his performance.

Based on the 1985 TV series of the same name, Denzel stars as McCall, a retired man with a shady past, armed with a formidable set of skills like no other, chose to work at a Home Depot hardware store and lives a quiet, peaceful life. However, he soon discovers all the injustice that are happening around the neighbourhood and decides to take matters into his own hands to 'equalize' the situation by helping the helpless.

First and foremost, I couldn't provide any comparisons with the old TV series as I've never watched any of the episodes before. Similar to Taken (2008) or Man On Fire (2004), I don't deny the fact that the film has a preposterous premise. One guy against the entire mob? Seriously? However, despite its silliness, Denzel Washington - a two-time Academy Award winner with numerous bad-ass roles in the past such as Man on Fire (2004), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), The Book of Eli (2010) and Unstoppable (2010), managed to deliver a strong, convincing performance with some very catchy, powerful punchlines that actually makes the viewers believe that he's the guy who is really capable of taking down the entire Russian mafia on his own. He owns the character and makes the character come to life on screen.

Aside from that, we get to know him just from his expressions when his personal background is briefly mentioned in the film. Although the film relies on a few plot contrivances for it to work (typical issue for most action thrillers) and it also includes the much overused 'walk-away' explosion scene again, but Denzel just look so bad-ass whenever he fights on screen that I willing to overlook some of its flaws.

On the other hand, Marton Csokas did a great job in his portrayal of Teddy/Nikolai, the intimidating and menacing Russian mob fixer who's sent by the mob to deal with the situation. There's one particular disturbing scene in which he slowly circles a terror-stricken prostitute while comforting and reassuring her that it's going to be okay before leading her to an inevitable fate. Chloë Grace Moretz did a fine job as Teri as well. It's such a shame that she was taken off screen rather early in the film, only to reappear again in the final moments.

The film gives a satisfying climax and the action is well choreographed. Another notable mention is that the film contains a lot of bloody and gory violence. If some viewers feel uncomfortable with on-screen gruesome violent fights, then in that case it's probably not advisable to watch this film. However, please keep in mind that these people (the mafia characters the actors portrayed) are not considered as humans, but merciless scumbags. They treat women as nothing other than sexual objects for money, willing to kill anyone without hesitation or remorse, thinking they're high and mighty and forcibly exert authority and influence over others. In the film, McCall gave them a choice beforehand, but they choose to belittle him instead. So, violence was necessary and they've got exactly what they deserve. To be honest, I don't feel sorry for them at all.

Overall, the film exceeds all my expectations. The film delivers, in spades. I expect Denzel Washington to kick some criminal ass and I've gotten more than I bargained for. Gruesome and brutal, but highly rewarding. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Highly recommended!

Rating: 8.5/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-equalizer.html

"One day someone does something unspeakable to someone you hardly knew, so you do something about it because no one else is going to...Because you can."

Here we go again...another crime thriller about girls being taken and Liam Neeson needs to go find the perpetrators before it's too late. However, it's different this time around compared with other past successes such as Taken or Non-Stop. The plot of the film is too straightforward and obvious, with no surprises or plot twists along the way, which makes it a boring film to begin with. The film's slow pace makes it even more difficult to sustain the viewer's interest. Not to mention, there's less action in the film this time as well.

Based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Lawrence Block, A Walk Among The Tombstones is about an unlicensed private detective, Scudder (also an ex-cop and recovering alcoholic) who's hired by a drug trafficker to hunt down the serial killers/kidnappers who brutally murdered his wife. During his investigation, Scudder slowly learns that these cruel men have committed similar crimes in the past but remain unpunished by law.

Once again, Liam Neeson is at his best and fits the character perfectly with his usual calm and cool yet resolute demeanour on screen. We get to see some 'Taken-style' scenes as he speaks authoritatively with the villains on phone, forcing them to comply his demands. Unfortunately, the script for A Walk Among the Tombstones is just too dull and lacklustre for any one actor to carry.

There are no catchy or memorable punchlines he can deliver aside from his performance. His sidekick character, TJ (yes, he got one this time) seems out of place and feels rather unnecessary for the overall plot. There's no development for the villains that Scudder is looking for in the film either. The film shows how scary and vile they can be, but we don't know them. We don't know who they are, where they come from or what their ulterior motives are.

There are a few plot contrivances, along with some dialogue and situational cliché's as well. Because there are no sudden plot twists or classic third act reveal on the villains, you don't really need to 'walk' along with Scudder to find and see the clues to unravel the mystery. You're just waiting for them to finally meet face to face in the end instead. The film spends most of its time saying what, when and how it's going to do, but it never says why. Because of this, it loses its meaning along the way.

Overall, it's a miss. If you wish to watch Liam Neeson as a lone- wolf action hero, I would highly recommend anyone to watch Taken or Non- Stop again instead. It's far better and exciting compared with this one.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-walk-among- tombstones.html Rating: 5.5/10

The Maze Runner is another Young-Adult book-to-film adaptation that offers a great deal of suspense, mystery and excitement with many lives are at stake. The film asks us which is the better choice – choosing to stay in our own personal comfort zone where we feel safe or we brave enough to take a leap of faith to face the unknown and search for a better path. It essentially encourages us to dare to be different in a world that wants us to conform...we should continue to expand and push ourselves to do more. Without knowing anything about the book, The Maze Runner does feels familiar in some ways and it gives the feeling that we have all seen this before (very similar to The Hunger Games, Divergent or The Giver).

Based on the novel of the same name by James Dashner, The Maze Runner is about a group of young teenagers or kids who are trapped in a place called The Glade, the center of a giant maze, without any memories of their previous lives. Every month, each and every one of them wakes up in a caged elevator that comes with supplies. Some of them have been there for years and they've set up some ground rules that everyone must abide in order to live harmoniously and co-exist peacefully together. The Glade is surrounded by huge walls that only has one opening that leads to the giant maze and it closes every night. In order to escape, they send out runners to explore the maze in order to find a way out. However, there are mysterious, dangerous creatures called the "Grievers" that come out at night to hunt for food and the runners must ensure that they're back before the maze closes every night. The runners have been doing that for years, but still unable to find a way out, until Thomas appears.

As with many other Young-Adult protagonists (similar to Katniss in The Hunger Games, Tris in Divergent, Jonas in The Giver), Thomas is different from the rest. He's curious, questioning everything around him and willing to do whatever it takes to seek and find answers. Not to mention, he's brave enough to lead the Gladers to conquer the maze. We're also introduced to Gally, another similar antagonist that doesn't like change, who wants everyone to strictly abide by the rules so that everyone can co-exist peacefully.

The first act of the movie is incredibly promising, compelling and suspenseful enough to keep viewers interested, with enough drama, mystery and tension building up in the second act. However, everything goes downhill as soon as the third act begins. The revelation in the third act is considered a huge letdown considering the thrilling, suspenseful set-up earlier in the film. Who is Thomas? Why he's the most 'promising' of them all? Who sent him here? Why 'they' sent Thomas and Teresa? What is The Maze? Why they're all trapped in the Maze? What are the "Grievers" actually? How on earth that guy (I won't spoil it for you) managed to escape and meet them at the end? The explanations are vague...the film doesn't provide clear answers for many of the questions poised earlier in the film at its conclusion and relies on the next sequel to answer them instead (some of them I highly doubt so).

Furthermore, the film never takes the time to explore its characters further and makes you care about them. The actors were convincing in their roles by providing decent performances but none of them were outstanding enough to make a deep impression. The friendship and camaraderie between the Gladers are shown throughout the film, but less profound. The only girl in the Glade, Teresa, lacks screen time and she serves no purpose for being in the film. You won't feel anything missing if she's completely removed from the story, because her role doesn't seemed to affect the overall plot of the film (there's enough suspense in the connection between Thomas and Teresa but that's not fully answered at the end of the film, so the only way to explain her inclusion in the film is probably that she's an important character in future instalments). The development of the characters felt rushed and truth be told, I didn't feel any emotional connection to the characters at all.

Moreover, there are no memorable moments or impressive action in the entire film. As soon as the "Grievers" appear on-screen, all you see are just a bunch of closeups, fast cuts and blurred, shaky action. For me, it is hard to tell what is going on most of the time. Overall, The Maze Runner is suspenseful and exciting at the beginning, but it fails to deliver a dramatic and satisfying pay-off to the audience after all the patient waiting in hope to finally see everything comes together in the end.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-maze-runner.html Rating: 6.5/10

Have you ever dreamed of a perfect world, where there's no racial, ethnic, religious, political conflicts, no violence, no war, no hunger, no pain, no suffering, no tragedy? A world where everything that is needed are all provided for you and no one wants more for anything? I believe that this is the world we all yearn for. What if we could achieve this just by forsaking our feelings, our emotions, our free will and individuality? Is it worth it to deny the extraordinary diversity of human experience, for the sake of peace? This is the premise of The Giver. It's interesting, intelligent, intriguing and thought-provoking at the same time.

Based on the 1993 novel of same name written by Lois Lowry (keep in mind that The Hunger Games is written in 2008 and Divergent is written in 2011, so it is suffice to say that these books are inspired by this particular novel), it's a story about a boy named Jonas who lives in a seemingly 'perfect' world after the collapse of mankind, where everyone is the same and they all strictly adhere to a set of societal rules established by the elders: everyone is assigned to a more compatible family unit to prevent unnecessary conflicts; teenagers who graduated from school are assigned suitable jobs according to their personality traits; (feels familiar?) language needs to be spoken 'precisely' and any words that indicate negativity needs to be questioned and addressed; you must apologise for any mistakes you've made and your apology must be accepted as well; lying is not permitted; emotions are heavily suppressed by taking daily injection of drugs and memories of the past are taken away to prevent history from repeating itself.

There's only one person in the community, the Giver of memories, who holds all the memories of the past, to provide the wisdom he needs to advise the elders when the time comes. Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of memories. As Jonas begins his 'training' with the Giver, he slowly learns about pain, sadness, anger, fear, loneliness, violence, war, death...but also compassion, mercy, benevolence, warmth, happiness, love, family, life...Through these 'trainings', he discovers the importance of choice, the wonders of experience, the joy of life and understands what it meant to be living.

The film made its point rather clear in the beginning, by portraying the world in black and white as the community do not perceive colour at all. Most audience might find the first half of the film to be boring and dull, but this is exactly how it should feel like. The absence of colour shows the absence of diversity, emotions, knowledge. Without them, we're nothing but an empty shell. As Jonas starts to feel more emotions, we slowly get to see the colours...the beauty of the world from his perspectives.

The film explores the fundamental issues about human nature in depth, which was beautifully captured in various shots and montages in the film. Yes, the world could be a better place if everyone acts and behave the same as the rest, but is there a point for doing that? Is submission to social conformity truly the right thing to do? Without feelings and emotions, can we truly say that we are alive? Human nature is fundamentally flawed. It is undeniably true that human greed, ignorance, lust for power and selfishness destroy and hinder us from creating a heaven on Earth, but there's also a hidden potential for good in humanity...there's love, friendship, compassion, mercy, wisdom, humility, benevolence. When there's love, there's hatred. When there's order, there's chaos. When there's life, there's death...As we witness death, we experience pain and loss, these feelings and emotions validates our love for one another, it also allows us to appreciate the time we have and the life we've been given. They're all and one. They come in one 'package'.

The film also points out that it is the search for truth that truly liberates us and gives us real freedom, not hiding from it (Ignorance). In the film, you can see the look of amazement on Jonas' face as he sees the snow, animals, hears various music and dances, beautiful sunset for the first time. Most notably, his newfound love for Fiona, compassion for the baby Gabriel and finally his decision to give the people back their freedom to feel and to choose. We can also see his struggles, his sadness and frustrations when he learns about the darker side of human nature. We can see that Brenton Thwaites and Jeff Bridges both provided a decent performance to carry the film and successfully deliver the novel's core messages well. Meryl Streep done what she could for for her rather limited role as the Chief Elder. Taylor Swift's cameo appearance was rather surprising as well. It's rather unfortunate that it needs the success of two immensely popular book series (The Hunger Games and Divergent) to greenlight this film. As a result, it feels all too familiar and it does give the feeling that we have all seen this before. It's such a shame.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-giver.html Rating: 7.5/10

The Hundred-Foot Journey is such a delightful, pleasant experience. It's a feel-good, lovely film that's filled with amiable characters, witty dialogue, wonderful cooking scenes and comes with a sweet and heartwarming message. It has a simple story with a layer of depth and meaning in it. The Hundred-Foot Journey is a film about the passion for cooking.

Based on the novel of the same name written by Richard C. Morais, the film tells the story of the Kadam family who retreats and seeks asylum in Europe after their home is destroyed by an angry mob due to an election dispute in Mumbai, India. Finally, the family decided to open an Indian restaurant in the French countryside, which provides a terrific backdrop to the story. However, there's a Michelin-starred restaurant which serves classical French cuisine across the street, exactly 100 feet apart, managed by a strict owner, Madame Mallory with utmost perfection. As cultures clash and conflict arises between the two feuding restaurants, a heated 'war' happens between the two restaurants until Hassan's (an incredibly talented chef among the Kadam family) passion and talent for cooking impresses Madame Mallory so much to the point that she is willing to take in Hassan to be a chef under her supervision.

The film tries to show that food is a universal experience and cooking is all about traditions, memories and love. No matter who you are, where you are in the world, it is food that always brings us together. No matter what your cultural background is (French or Indian), it is food that keeps us connected. Food allows us to communicate our thoughts and express ourselves.

Food gives a glimpse into other people's lives. We can learn about traditions, cultures, relationships just from the food we eat as specific recipes comes from different places and times. To cook for someone is an act of generosity and love. This was clearly shown when Hassan prepares the five 'mother sauces' of Classical French Cuisine (Béchamel, Espagnole, Hollandaise, Tomato, Velouté) specially for Marguerite (a lovely sous chef who works for Madame Mallory), as a sign of love.

Food brings people together. This is why we use food to mark special occasions (birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc). We spend our time to gather around the table not just to eat, but to talk and share our lives with each other, to strengthen our relationships. Food also allows us to remember life's precious moments with special people. The time we share with our families, friends or community by eating together is precious. People can easily remember their families simply by returning to foods they enjoyed as children. This is what brought Hassan to tears when he tries a spoon of home-cooked curry when he is alone in Paris...he missed his family, his home very much. A person's preference in food or even how a person eats reveals who he or she is...the way you eat or the way you cook reflects the way you live.

The film won't succeed without stellar performances from the casts to carry the film. Helen Mirren delivers a great performance as her portrayal of Madame Mallory is truly exceptional. The moment when she's tasting Hassan's omelette and gives an otherworldly reaction was priceless. Not to mention, Om Puri was fantastic as the head of the Kadam family. His stubbornness and persistence provides many laughs along the way. It is such a joy to watch them quarrel and compete with each other. It was also great to see the intense rivalry between Hassan and Marguerite despite their affection for each other.

While the film does not offer anything new, it felt sincere, charming, funny and enjoyable. When the credits roll, you'll feel like you knew the characters. It's a well-made, well-acted film with a story that's full of life. It shows that the power of food able to magically create acceptance, warmth, togetherness, harmony and unity.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-hundred-foot- journey.html

Rating: 8.5/10

Oh my...Look how far it has fallen. The first time was fun. The second one was good. So third time's the charm? Not so much, really. It's gone worse. Before walking into the cinema, we all know that The Expendables franchise is just a bunch of action movies about a group of old action stars get back together to do some old-school action fun, for old time's sake. They're never meant to be taken seriously in the first place. Initially, it's actually quite fun and entertaining to see the each of the actors bringing something to the screen and show us what action is all about.

The Expendables 3 has the biggest assembly of action stars in one film, and this time it's a huge mistake to do so. There's just too many of them and none of them are given enough screen time for them to shine. Harrison Ford, Jet Li or Arnold Schwarzenegger only get to appear on screen for a few minutes to do some shooting in the finale and that's it. Rather than adding more character depth to the old Expendables team, the film chooses to introduce a group of young and inexperienced Expendables to capture a dangerous war criminal who controls an army of soldiers, who's also a former highly experienced Expendable as well. As expected, they get easily taken down by the main villain and Barney needs the old team back again to save them. Why bother wasting so much screen time finding and recruiting them in the first place? Just because one of the Expendables got hurt and now they're scared? All of them are hardcore professionals...surely they would know what they have signed up for right?

The film repeats the same mistake again by introducing characters to appear without giving them a proper background. The film has no character development at all. They're just there, appearing on screen, do some talking and action then voilà...you have a movie. Please...it's the third one now, don't just tell us about the characters, show us instead. How the original group of Expendables was formed? Why there's a rivalry between Barney and Conrad? How the existing Expendables know each other? There's an entire action scene dedicated to break Wesley Snipes' character out of prison. Why he is there in the first place and needs to be transported by train to another prison?

It's actually a big mistake to get rid of the old team much too early in the film. Sure, Antonio Banderas do stand out as the noisy talker who keeps talking non-stop (although it's quite annoying later on); Mel Gibson is menacing enough as the main villain for the Expendables despite doing nothing much in the film (In my opinion, Van Damme is a better villain than Gibson); Wesley Snipes a welcome addition to the crew and his character was quite promising in the beginning of the film. It's rather unfortunate that he got sidelined in favour of the young newcomers. Other than them, all the young Expendables fail to make any strong lasting impression at all. They could have added some interesting, serious banter between the young and old Expendables team. Such a missed opportunity.

There's also another problem...the finale. A group of 10 mercenaries trapped in an abandoned building that's filled with C-4 explosives (including 3 in a helicopter) still capable of resisting an entire army of soldiers with heavy artillery, tanks and helicopters without serious damage. Impressive, but not realistic at all.

Just like the title of the movie says, most of members of The Expendables are truly expendable. This was shown clearly in the film when Stallone has decided to replace Bruce Willis' role in the franchise to Harrison Ford's Max Drummer due to a disagreement over money for the role. A missable film.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-expendables-3.html

In Hong Kong, land space is limited, soaring residential property and rental prices have made it extremely difficult for many ordinary Hong Kong citizens to own a house of their own without tying themselves up in a lifetime of debt. This is mainly due to rampant property speculation which caused prices to rise uncontrollably in the property market over the years. As a result, society has become increasingly shallow, superficial and materialistic over the years as the desire for more money to afford a property leads to further erosion of moral values and core ethics, affecting future generations.

Temporary Family is basically a story about the lives of four people who are forced to live together in a luxury apartment after their plan to resell it backfired due to property market cooling measures implemented by the Hong Kong government. Lung (Nick Cheung) is a desperate property agent who tries to earn more money to buy a 1,000 sq ft flat to please her air-stewardess girlfriend Julie (Myolie Wu) so that she would marry him. Charlotte (Sammi Cheng) is a recent divorcée who refuses to accept that her husband just doesn't love her anymore and unable to move on, even after receiving a large sum of money after the divorce. Lung's step-daughter, Ah Hak (Angelababy) has a flat but she doesn't like the location and she wants to stay with Lung instead. Very Wong (Ou Hao) is a rich mainland colleague of Lung's who is eager to prove his worthiness to his wealthy dad that he can be successful without his father's help.

The film has a weird blend of comedy and drama that works quite well. Some of the jokes were quite funny and entertaining. Nick Cheung and Sammi Cheng both delivered strong acting performances to carry the film. Another thing worth mentioning is Angelababy Yeung's appearance without make-up. WOW. It really shows what a huge difference make-up can have on a woman's appearance. (Don't get me wrong, she still look attractive though) It's quite rare for an actress to be willing to make such an appearance in film. As usual, there's a few Hong Kong celebrity cameo appearances (Jacky Cheung, Ivana Wong) throughout the film as well.

As the film progresses, it starts to shift its focus to Charlotte, who is still hoping that one day she can reunite with her husband of 10 years. She has dedicated most of her life for her husband. Her emotions and drive provide the necessary emotional backdrop to show the audience why a residential property should be a home instead of a mere trading asset. The film lets its audience to sit back, reflect, and think about what is the fundamental purpose of owning a property in the first place...is it a home for you and your family to live in or just something that you can trade countless times with other people? A house should be a place for you to provide shelter to your family to create memories together. Most of the property speculation are mainly driven by greed or desire to make profit. Furthermore, society nowadays has become so obsessed with money, property ownership to the point that people are willing to forsake love and relationship for them. It's sad but true at the same time.

Despite its thoughtful premise and decent acting performances from the main casts, the script is just not compelling enough to leave a strong lasting impression to the audience. The film does not push its themes further enough to pack a punch. It takes a more light-hearted, entertaining approach by providing a happy ending for its closure. Overall, Temporary Family is still a decent film to watch, it's just that I was actually hoping that the film would take a much more ambitious approach to push it further.

Rating: 6.5/10

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/09/movie-review-temporary-family.html

Café. Waiting. Love (等一个人咖啡) is a romantic comedy film based on the novel of the same name written by Giddens Ko (柯景腾/九把刀) , who's also the writer/director for the 2011 Taiwanese hit, You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩). The film is directed by Jiang Jin lin (江金 霖) instead of Giddens Ko himself. So, did they manage replicate the success of the previous film? Unfortunately, no.

The story is about Si Ying, a college freshman who gets a part-time job at "Café. Waiting. Love" coffee shop because she develops an instant crush for a good-looking popular boy named Zeyu, who's a frequent customer at the café, after he 'saved' her from a bus accident. Si Ying eventually meets with Ah Tuo, a 'legendary' college senior at the coffee shop. The two eventually become good friends after Si Ying daringly stands up for him when he is teased by his friends. As time passes, Si Ying learned that Ah Tuo is a passionate, honest, straightforward and sincere young man who has been working multiple part-time jobs to realize his dream of travelling around the world and formed a bond with him. On the other hand, Ah Tuo is also deeply attracted to her kindness and unique sense of right and wrong. However, Si Ying only sees Ah Tuo as nothing more than a good friend because of her crush on Zeyu, until finally when he decides to leave Taiwan for his travels then she finally realizes where her heart truly belongs.

While You are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) is a memorable, feel-good romantic comedy that gives the audience a familiar, nostalgic feeling about real-life adolescent romantic relationships (which I gave a high rating of 8.5/10), the romance presented in this one is rather unrealistic, nonsensical and occasionally silly to the point that it feels like it could only take place in films. Moreover, the romance is further hampered by the film's lack of seriousness and unrealistic portrayal of the characters. Come on, who is stupid enough to be willing to dress in a bikini and carry a cabbage for long periods of time? The character romances are handled rather poorly as the film lacks coherency and doesn't take itself seriously enough to let the audience feel that the romance is a serious matter.

The film is filled with too many cheesy, corny and cringe-worthy dialogues that makes some scenes really unbearable to watch. Aside from the ridiculous 'supernatural' or 'magical' scenes between the leads involving hot sausages and bowls of tau fu fah (Chinese hot sweet soybean pudding), the film also comes with a surprising plot twist that doesn't make much sense either. The café owner's (played by Vivian Chow) tragic love story is incredibly overdramatic to the point that it feels artificial and hard to relate with. Some of the romantic subplots are not resolved properly...the café's lesbian barista's feelings for the cafe owner is not addressed further or touched upon later on the film.

However, I have to admit that the film is beautifully shot, well-edited and wonderfully casted. Despite its silliness, some of the slapstick humour does work in some cases and manage to provide the audience a few laughs here and there. Jiang Jin lin (江金霖) and Giddens Ko (柯景腾/九把 刀) do know how to pick suitable good-looking stars with sufficient appeal (and knows how to act as well) to attract the audiences. The assembled cast (especially Vivian Sung 宋芸樺, the female lead) tried their best to convey the necessary character emotions convincingly to the audience.

Although the romance between the lead characters is there, the film doesn't express its themes well enough. Basically, the film tries to show us the difference between love and infatuation. Since infatuation can sometimes lead to real love, these feelings are most often confused for each other by many people. Infatuation is the state of being completely carried away by passion without reason and depends largely on physical attraction. When you experience infatuation, you tend to have difficulty concentrating and your mind is totally consumed by thoughts of the other person. You constantly wondering about what they do, who they're with and your mind filled with uncertainties about whether they really love you or not. Eventually, you have an idealized vision of what this person is like without truly knowing them at all (by imposing various qualities we desire most in that person).

On the other hand, true love is something different. Love is a tender, passionate, intense affection for another person. Love is a gradual process that only deepens with the passage of time. You can tell this person anything about yourself...he/she is someone you can express yourself freely, a person you can fully trust and confide your secrets with. You tend to feel safe, secure, peaceful and comfortable when you're with that person. Most importantly, you truly care for the person even after knowing his/her faults.

Overall, this film is a massive letdown that didn't live up to my expectations. If you're fan of the novel or Giddens Ko (柯景腾/九把刀), you might be able to sit through most of the silly scenes and forgive its flaws and absurdities. But for me, it's definitely a miss.

First and foremost, Lucy isn't exactly the typical sci-fi action film that you would expect. The film shares many similarities with Limitless, Watchmen, The Matrix, The Tree of Life, Her and Transcendence. The film has a slightly misleading neuroscience premise that's based on the age-old, silly '10% of brain' myth that most humans use only 10% (or less) of their brain capacity. In actual fact, humans use nearly 100% of their brains in various ways...with many parts of our brain are not accessed consciously but rather subconsciously most of the time. However, humans never actually use 100% of their cerebral capacity consciously at the same time.

The film is basically a story about a woman who is being forced to work as a drug mule manage to 'unlock' her entire brain capacity, consciously at the same time and gain exceedingly powerful physical and mental abilities after a packet of a newly-developed synthetic drug called "CPH4" breaks inside of her body. However, her body becomes highly unstable and starts to disintegrate due to the limitation of the human body and she needs more and more of the drug to sustain herself. The film asks thought-provoking 'what ifs' questions that are meaningful, provocative and worthy of our attention: What if the synaptic networks of our brain are so perfectly connected that we are capable of transmit more information at one time? What if we have access to all our motory functions, deepest memories and knowledge in fractions of a second? What if we are capable of using 100% of our cerebral capacity, consciously at the same time (all regions of the brain are pushed to the limits and we are able to control the subconscious regions of the brain)? Most importantly, what would happen if a person eventually gains complete control/mastery of elementary/subatomic particles that exist in the quantum realm?

The film gives some rather clear answers that may seem absurd, nonsensical or silly to many, but some of them actually makes perfect sense if you think about it carefully. However, it is true to say that the film borrowed a few scientific principles (the basics of quantum mechanics and brain functions) and embellished them a bit for entertainment purposes. At first, the person acquires various enhanced physical and mental capabilities: perfect marksmanship, extreme agility, instantaneous reflexes, fast absorption of knowledge, immunity to pain and fear...and subsequently, telepathy, telekinesis, the ability to interpret/decipher/control various electromagnetic waves, atemporal and able to perceive time in a non-linear perspective, clairvoyance, quantum teleportation across space-time continuum and matter or energy manipulation.

In short, the film is actually a mixture of facts and fiction. Some parts of the film do require a fair amount of suspension of disbelief from audiences as the writer/director has taken some creative liberties with its grand and rather ambitious sci-fi premise (Besson has admitted that this film is a lot more fiction than science). Although some of the main lead's abilities look downright silly and ludicrous, they're actually quite new and imaginative.

While all facts are not necessarily 'true'; some fiction are not entirely lies either. Just that the 'world' around us behaves like so, we tend to perceive it like so. This doesn't mean that in other parts of the Universe, the same rules apply. While some people might find it hard to understand, all things, including living beings, consist of matter which has mass and each of them occupy a space-time dimension. We are bounded by the laws of motion and gravity. We are our own observer as time is relative while we're moving through space-time.

Although the film's premise is not horrible or completely illogical, the execution is rather sloppy at places. The film shows the evolution of all living things on this planet by cutting in various shots of nature or Universe. Unfortunately, all these pieces just don't fit together nicely and seems rather out of place. There are numerous plot contrivances to allow characters to perform a certain action just to move the plot forward. There's no character development and backstory. The characters in the film don't have any significant emotional attachment to any other person on the screen.

Despite its shortcomings in characterization and plot, Scarlett Johansson managed to pull out a great performance to carry the film. Her panic shaking as she cries and begs for her life when she meets Mr.Jang for the first time or even when she wakes up after heavy sedation feels real and truly gives the feeling that she's in peril. Later on, when she is able to access her deepest memories and cry profusely during the phone conversation with her mum, it clearly shows her character's vulnerability. But as Lucy rapidly evolves, her lack of expression shows that she is gradually losing her emotions and humanity. It shows that she has truly become transcendent and no longer has any petty human concerns. On the other hand, Choi Min-sik done a great job as the merciless, frightening Korean drug kingpin, Mr.Jang. His presence on screen shows that he's not the man you would want to mess with. Unfortunately, Morgan Freeman doesn't have much to do with his character other than delivering exposition for the audience to know more about the premise.

In my opinion, this is by no means a terrible film, it's rather fast- paced, thought-provoking and entertaining. The purpose of science fiction is to seek answers for big important questions, to pique your interest or curiosity to further question, to find the truth and making sense of the world around us. This film succeeds in this aspect, despite its flaws. I believe that you'll appreciate this film more if you're willing to make an effort to take a step further to ponder and think, seek answers to extract the facts included in the film.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/08

To be honest, I have to say that the first half of Break Up 100 is rather boring. The film introduced a lot of irrelevant supporting characters that doesn't provide much to the story other than serving as comic reliefs. Surprisingly, there's a lot of HK movie celebrity cameo appearances throughout the film but none of them are actually compelling or memorable enough to make a deep impression on the viewers. Occasionally, it tries hard to be funny with some rather unusual moments here and there, but nothing seems to work. It feels like the film doesn't have a plot. But just when you're ready to dismiss Break Up 100 as yet another one of those long line of disappointing romantic comedies, things start to improve, when the tone of the film starts to shift to become more serious in the second half of the film.

Break Up 100 is a story about an on-off couple, Sam (Ekin Cheng) and Nam (Chrissie Chau), who have been romantically involved for 8 years. Nam is the more mature and responsible of the two, who often worries about everything, including their future, while Sam is the irresponsible, carefree man-child, who doesn't worry or think too much about anything. As a result, Nam becomes the dominating and controlling partner who often threatens to break up with Sam, pushing him to change his behaviour. They have already broken up and reconciled 99 times. For 99 times, she insists that he should be the one to apologize. When Sam finally decides to do something useful with his life, Barbara quits her job to support him. Unfortunately, the inevitable 100th break up happens again and this time it comes with serious repercussions and consequences that put the relationship to the test.

The film gives a realistic portrayal of love between Sam and Nam. It carefully avoids most of the cringe-worthy nonsense found in many romantic comedies we've seen in the past. The on-screen chemistry between the leads is convincing enough for the audience to watch them going through life together. Chrissie Chau's acting ability has improved a lot this time around and I believe this is her most mature and engaging performance I've seen so far. On the other hand, Ekin Cheng is convincing enough as the free-spirited childish adult who's willing to change for the sake of his partner.

As the film progresses, it poses some serious questions about relationships: Does true happiness in a relationship come from compromise and obedience or mutual understanding and acceptance? Should we compromise to the extent that we should sacrifice our own identity to become someone else to suit our partner needs? The film tries to point out one of the major issues in today's relationships: As years goes by, you slowly discover your partner's imperfections and you would likely want your partner to change his/her faults and annoying habits to be the way you want. So you tend to respond by blaming, putting more emphasis on the rights and wrongs, insisting on changes and keep on reinforcing your ways on your partner. Sure, you can help them change their habits and behaviours, but not the core personality that defines the person...even if such changes would be in that person's best interest. In long term, they will start to lose their own personal identity and it will push them to the point where they don't love themselves anymore. When we feel unappreciated, unaccepted and unloved by someone we hold dear, it's easy to fall into apathy or despair. We will eventually feel that nothing we did really make a difference, thus losing the ability to love.

While it takes the film quite some time to reach these points, it does closely examine these questions and daringly gives an open ending that leaves its audience with much food for thought. Although Break Up 100 doesn't have a great script to back its thoughtful premise, it does handles itself quite well by making it not too weepy or melodramatic. It's still worth a watch.

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2014/08/movie-review-break-up-100-100.html

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a modern reboot of the 30-year-old popular franchise of the same name. This film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Michael Bay. For those who are not familiar with the franchise, it's basically a story about four mutated turtles who grow up in the sewers, raised and trained by a mutated rat who knows the art of Ninjutsu to fight against the evil Foot Clan led by Ninja Master Oroku Saki, also known as The Shredder.

There are some new changes to the origins and designs of the turtles in the film which might upset a lot of fans of the franchise. Surprisingly, I'm probably one of the few who are fine with most of changes. Come on, the original storyline is quite ridiculous: Splinter was originally the Ninja Master Hamato Yoshi's rat and he was smart enough to learn his fighting moves to become a master without the mutagen (although the best storyline would be the current depiction of Splinter in the 2012 ongoing TV series, who is actually Hamato Yoshi himself). The four Turtles were accidentally exposed to the mutagen after a traffic accident with their young owner as a bystander...So I'm okay with the changes to the origins.

Moreover, I find the new designs of the turtles to be quite realistic, modern, very distinctive looking and look cool. The CGI renders of the turtles were look great on screen. However, my biggest gripe is the depiction of their size and strength in the film. Sure, they act like teenagers, but they don't look like teenagers. Their larger physique show that they're much too powerful compared with their previous live- action or animation counterparts. These turtles can crush vehicles easily, deliver punches and kicks strong enough to send you flying.

The best thing about the film is that it did a great job in portraying the turtles on screen, retaining the distinctive personalities of the turtles we've known for years: Leonardo - the eldest, most disciplined tactical leader of the turtles who fights with two katanas, Donatello - the nerdy and geeky turtle with a bo staff, he's the brains of the group, Raphael - the hot-tempered, strong, aggressive and tough turtle who uses a pair of sai, Michelangelo - the wisecracking, easygoing, goofy but lovable turtle who uses a pair of nunchaku, who's essentially the provider of comic relief among the turtles. Among the turtles, Raphael and Michelangelo are the ones that stand out in this film. The family dynamic between the turtles and splinter was good as well. The film shows the camaraderie of the turtles and how they interact with each other throughout the film...the usual brotherly in- fighting between Raphael and Leonardo, with Raphael often challenges Leonardo's leadership, the mutual love and respect for Splinter or the brotherly banter between Michelangelo and the turtles. Despite the fighting and arguments, they're still brothers and love each other very much.

There's a few good character moments especially Mikey's crush on April, Raph's touching confession near the end of the film, the amusing turtles elevator scene, Mikey losing himself when Splinter tempting him with pizza, Mikey and Raph Victoria Secret ad. The film also delivers some great action scenes, notably the awesome Splinter VS Shredder fight, the spectacular, fast-paced, exciting snowy mountain action sequence and the climactic Turtles VS Shredder battle.

There's a lot more fun when the Turtles finally appear on screen. It's such a shame that the film gave too much screen time to April and her cameraman, Vernon. (It's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, so give them more screen time!) The human characters in the film are dull and forgettable and they're just sort of there to serve the plot. Not to mention, the film's storyline has some noticeable flaws. It has numerous plot logic issues (especially the villain's main plan), bad dialogues and some unnecessary human scenes. Occasionally, it feels like there's some gaps between scenes, plot contrivances throughout the film. Some of the character lines are poorly written as well.

Furthermore, the film lacks a memorable and compelling villain for the story, just like many of this year's blockbusters. There's a lack of character development for Shredder and Karai. Shredder is a strong villain for the turtles mostly because of the giant mechanical suit, but there's not much depth in him. His character motivations were unclear. I'm also not quite particularly happy with the portrayal of Foot Clan as a local crime syndicate...who are no longer highly trained ninja/assassins, but soldiers with guns.

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn't great, but it's still a fun and entertaining sci-fi action comedy film, mainly because of the turtles, but don't expect a great story with meaningful catchy dialogues. In my opinion, it's still a far better film compared with the previous TMNT trilogy. There have been many versions of TMNT throughout the years, but the ongoing 2012 TV series is still the best one so far.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun, entertaining, spectacular sci-fi action comedy adventure. However, despite the rave reviews from the critics and mainstream audience, I just don't think the film actually lives up to the hype and expectations to be a great one. Let me explain why.

The story is mainly about a band of interstellar thieves, thugs and assassins - Star lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot and Drax, got caught up in a huge galactic threat when one of them retrieved a highly-desired mysterious orb from a desolated planet. These individuals eventually decided to work together as a team and become heroes along the way to stop the threat.

Before this, the Guardians Of The Galaxy consists of characters not known by many, even among the Marvel fan base. It's officially the first Marvel film that ventures into space, introducing the general audience to the expansive intergalactic worlds in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...with an entirely new team and not the previously established Avengers. It brings the audience to a whole new unseen world, featuring a multitude of alien species with distinctive personalities and abilities, with addition of exciting spaceship battles and chases as well.

The visuals are spectacular and the action scenes were great. Many of the 1960s/1970s pop classics that forms the soundtrack blends in quite nicely with the film. Each Guardian have their own kick-ass, cool or funny character moments in the film. The action scenes between Drax and Ronan or Korath, Gamora and Nebula, Star Lord and the Sakaaran army are really well done. But, among the Guardians, it is actually a giant walking tree and a talking raccoon that stole the spotlight compared with the others! When Groot extends his arm and pierces through a few Sakaaran army soldiers and repeatedly slams them against the walls is both shocking and awesome.The 'We are Groot' scene or Rocket's expression when Drax tries to comfort him by gently petting his head are beautifully done and emotional at the same time.

All the Marvel films, since Iron Man, did a great job of making fun at itself by injecting decent amount of humour and witty lines into the story, keeping the audience laughing along the way. This worked out fine...the engaging sense of humour actually helps to balance out the drama and action to make the films fun and entertaining to watch. But this time, they went overboard with it. Guardians of the Galaxy is so overly playful with itself that it has gotten too self-absorbed with its humour. It felt cartoony at times and lacks the seriousness it needs to be an epic film. It's been shown that billions of lives are at stake and even the galaxy is under serious threat. How do you even care what's at stake when the film doesn't take itself seriously when it should? (Moreover, some of the jokes presented in the film didn't work for me at all)

The film has too many new characters and most of them only make brief appearances...there's a lot of new unfamiliar places or locations which are previously unheard of without proper explanation. There's no character depth for each of the Guardians, you don't feel like you know them much by the end of the film as their backstories were only briefly touched upon. Gamora, also known as the galaxy's deadliest assassin or the Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy, trained by Thanos, gets easily beaten by others? The romance of Gamora with Star lord feels forced as well. I was also slightly disappointed that Thanos only make a brief cameo appearance...I expected more of his involvement in the film. It didn't create any strong lasting impression for the characters, much like Captain America: The First Avenger and Iron Man did for their main characters. The pacing doesn't flow well as the story never slows down and there's too many things to cover in the film.

There's so many small fine details that the general audience (those who are unfamiliar with the Marvel Universe) most likely won't know or understand: No one knows who Tivan/The Collector actually is or the Yaka arrow that Yondu carries around with him...the film didn't clearly explains what the infinity stones represents (mind, power, reality, space, soul, time), no mention of the Infinity Gauntlet, who is the giant figure that uses the Power stone, etc. Most of these details should be explained in this film instead of relying on the next sequel to do the job.

Like all the previous Marvel films (except Thor, who has Loki), Guardians of the Galaxy lacks a memorable and compelling villain for the story. There's a lack of character development for Ronan The Accuser. Ronan's lieutenants, Korath and Nebula (also Thanos' adopted daughter), bring nothing to the table...we don't know them much at all. For those who are expecting a great epic teamwork battle in the finale will be disappointed. Why would a villain who hates an entire race and planet, tries to avenge his father's and ancestor's deaths could be easily distracted? 'What are you doing?' I find myself having the same response as Ronan, questioning the director's decision for making Star lord pulling such a ridiculous act on screen. Come on, you have a villain who's in possession of the Power stone and this is what you can do with the character?

Like I mentioned earlier in the review, the film was fun and entertaining, but it was too much that nothing feels serious anymore. It's certainly not the best Marvel film ever. In my opinion, X-Men: Days of Future Past still remains as the best Marvel film of the year.

Rating: 7.5/10

Note: The post-credit scene was quite disappointing and not worth the wait. They supposed to add something that raises the expectations for future films but they didn't. That sucks.