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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
An above-average follow-up, but disappointing compared to it's predecessor.
WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!
Whoa, there is a lot to talk to about "Age of Ultron". I remember watching "The Avengers" at cinema 3 years ago and highly enjoying the film. As a result, it's usually typical that I'm eagerly waiting for the next instalment. I was thrilled to see Ultron as the titular antagonist, I mean, what could go wrong? Watching the film today, I came to think of the film as being just "good" and nothing really special emitting from what Joss Whedon could have achieved.
"Age of Ultron" occurs sometime after Shield is disbanded after the events of "The Winter Soldier" (Another great Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe). With the Avengers needing a break in saving the world, Tony Stark decides to join Bruce Banner in jump-starting a Chitauri Computer System known as Ultron. It succeeds, but is too successful as Ultron soon becomes sentient and plots to bring peace to Earth by eradicating humanity. And as usual, the Avengers have to clean up the mess, joined along by mysterious twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Who start off as villains) and another sentient robot known as the Vision.
The Good: Of course, the Avengers are assembled near-flawlessly. Robert Downey Jr. continues to dominate Tony Stark/Iron Man with his quirky, energetic acting, Chris Evans delivers what he has to as Steve Rogers/Captain America and Scarlett Johansson portrays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow with great flexibility and versatility. I admit not liking Pierto/Quicksilver, but I did enjoy the additions of Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda/Scarlet Witch who came off as interesting and intriguing and Paul Bettany's Vision, who was a brilliant addition to the franchise. Out of the heroes, Jeremy Renner was one who stole the show as Clint Barton/Hawkeye. He had so much development and much of the plot even focused on him and we had a nice touch with his family. Heck, he played a bigger role than "The Avengers" and this is where "Age of Ultron" holds one of it's strongest points. Ultron was the best character in the entire movie. He was dark, intimidating and downright sadistic, yet displays a very quirky and humorous personality like Tony Stark and I've got to say James Spader definitely nailed it as Ultron. He was WAY better than Loki. My only gripe was to see him battle the Avengers all alone for a longer period of time. Oh, and his final moments were beautifully crafted and a must-watch for the Marvel Fanboys. The visuals are spectacular as always, nothing much said. The soundtrack was well-crafted and Ultron's version of "I've got no Strings" is a great version of the original Disney classic song; Dark, gritty and haunting, it fits the film perfectly. Also, the fight scenes are amazing and yeah, it's a must-watch; intense, grand-scaled, exhilarating, it's what you had hoped for. And lastly, the post- credits scene; You HAVE to watch it if you're a real Marvel fanboy...
The Bad: Yep, with many goods to highlight "Age of Ultron" there is no doubt there will be some degree of junk thrown into this. Mark Ruffalo still portrays Bruce Banner/The Hulk masterfully, but his role in the film was weaker than I thought and I felt The Hulk was somewhat underwhelming myself. The Hulk's romantic involvement with Black Widow was forced and hammy and I felt it just hampered the storyline. Chris Hemsworth as Thor was kind of at his weakest. His sudden detour in the middle of the film was a mess and although it is a set up for "Ragnarok" I couldn't understand what on Earth is going on with his storyline. Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver just turned out to be meh. Unlike the one in "Days of Future Past, I found to be bland and uninteresting, unlike Scarlet Witch. Samuel L. Jackson was probably the weakest in terms of main characters. His role as Nick Fury was in my opinion, very limited and stale. His role in the final fight was also kinda meh to me. I mean, come on man, Sam Jackson could do way better than that. The film was also unnecessarily long (Do we really need 2 hours and thirty minutes for this film) and with fight scenes happening in such a short time- space, the film kinda gets boring and the pacing becomes somewhat jarred at times. Also, Ultron may be the film's greatest point, but I felt that he needed to be stronger. I mean, I don't want another villain who depends on an army to reign supreme. The side-characters were somewhat underwhelming and I'm not really sure if they were memorable. Don Cheadle's James Rhodes/War Machine makes an appearance, but so much little of him is actually seen in combat and Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Falcon is downright useless. Really, he only appears for a few minutes and that's it. I'd at least expect a little from him.
In conclusion, I'd say "Age of Ultron" is a good follow-up to "The Avengers". Yes, it was somewhat disappointing compared to the previous one, but I believe there is still hope in this franchise, as marked by the post-credits scene. There was a lot of potential built up into this film. Some sky-rocketed, others just fell out of the scraps. In the end, it was a worthy film, but only if it could have been better...
A final rating of a 7.4 is the best I'd give to this film, whose closest number rounds up to 7. But I am positive there will be spark of light in "Infinity War". Only time will tell...
Jeom-bak-i: Han-ban-do-eui Gong-ryong 3D (2012)
An underrated and good film, although it still has flaws...
(Note, this review MAY contains Spoilers!)
I remember watching this movie on YouTube two years ago. I was initially pessimistic about it, considering that this movie is Korean. As I watched more, I couldn't help but find myself liking this film. After all, I am a lover of dinosaurs and its quite badass having a Tarbosaurus as the protagonist.
To start off, the story is basic: The life of a Tarbosaurus named Speckles. Initially having a happy life, his family and life is shattered when a Tyrannosaurus named One Eye appears usurps their territory, killing them in the process. What follows is the tribulations and struggle of Speckles who tries to survive during his lifetime. Overtime, we get to see his character mature as he grows up.
So, what are my thoughts of this film? As stated before, I like this film. For kids, it is an enjoyable dino-flick and I think the film is suitable for families of all ages. However for dino-nerds and professional critics, its a hard watch as many usually point out the lack of logic and the excessive flaws of any film possible (Even the best ones).
The Good: To start off, I like the character of Speckles. You can quickly empathise with him and his maturity and growth over the course of the story is very well done. Other characters include Blue Eyes (Another major character), Speckles's family and One Eye (The antagonist) who while somewhat generic, seem to serve their purpose quite well. One Eye is a character that you WILL hate, so that's a good plus for me. The animation is brilliant and that's what I think is the movie's best element, considering that Speckles was meant to be a 3D film. The story is simplistic, but I think it works and flows with the coming-of-age genre quite decently. Aside from the titular Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, there are also several dinosaurs not known to the public (E.g. Tsintaosaurus, Therizinosaurus, Pukyongosaurus and Charanosaurus) featured which I think helps the film in being colourful and more diverse in establishing different fauna. Lastly, the music of the film is superb in my opinion. It catches the mood quite effectively and provides a sense of adventure and thrill in this film.
The Bad: Not every film is perfect.The same can be said for Speckles. Firstly, the film's story is shown through narration, which goes through different voice-overs depending on Speckles's age. Needless to say, it was insipid (Especially the narrator for infant Speckles) and I felt it was distracting and a juvenile attempt to make the film more geared towards kids. While there is a good species number of dinosaurs in this film, its easy to point out that several of them are actually FROM North America (Tyrannosaurus, Torosaurus and Ankylosaurus for example). Some animals are even over-exaggerated (One species reaching lengths of a 100 feet, despite being way smaller!). One Eye also seems to resemble Scar from The Lion King (Notice that BOTH have scars) and are cunning, but I'd say both are good villains in their own right.
In conclusion, Speckles the Tarbosaurus results in it's pros slightly overpowering its cons to make itself known as a film kids could enjoy. There are heart-warming scenes which while depressing, also makes the story a little bit more forced when it comes to empathising with Speckles, but they are sad nonetheless. For dino-nerds, its a mixed bag and its a tough call when it comes to watching something realistic about dinosaurs. However, Speckles the Tarbosaurus makes for a good substitute and I'd say its an enjoyable film. For anyone who was kids who love dinosaurs, I'd say give them a watch. You'll let me know :).
For my evaluation in terms of story, characters, music, animation and my own personal enjoyment, I would give Speckles a 7.8 out of ten. My best recommendation is that you should rather watch the movie on YouTube rather than just buying it. Kids will love this film and adults will find it heart-warming and depressing Overall, its a good dinosaur film albeit with its own set of flaws and a nice departure from NOT using well known dinosaurs (E.g. Apatosaurus) as the protagonist, having shifted to a lesser known species (Tarbosaurus) for a boosting popularity.