Akira/ My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: CR #43/44

This week, I was planning on tearing a movie apart, until a golden opportunity appeared out of the blue. I was able to see one of the most highly regarded animated films of all time in amazing quality. Yet, I didn't want to drop me original plan. So I decided to put them together. This is my double review of...

Akira

PLOT
Taking place in 2019, 30 years after WWIII and the destruction of old Tokyo, Neo-Tokyo is on the verge of destruction. Kaneda is the leader of a youth bike gang with his friends. When chasing after a rival gang, Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo, gets into a wreck and is kidnapped by the government and entered into a secret project. At the same time, there's a group of rebels who are trying to save the children in this program who have been given essentially super powers. Tetsuo, armed with these unmastered powers, escapes and runs rampant in the city while Kaneda, the rebels, the governement, and the other super-powered children try to stop him from destroying the whole city and finding out the truth of the Akira project.



PROS
The animation in "Akira" is simply amazing. It's fluid, detailed, and even impressive by today's standards. The film earns the title of "greatest anime film" with its animation alone.

"Akira's" story is very original, at least for its time. It's full of big ideas, symbolism, and large scale destruction.

The film's pace is extremely fast and never lets up. There's always something going on in "Akira", whether it be extreme violence, story revelations, or world building, no frame of the film goes unused or feels wasted.

The score for "Akira" is also great. It's surreal and tribal, with a lot of chants and odd noises and instruments. It adds an odd feeling to the whole movie that somehow fits.


CONS
The plot can be a little convoluted at times. A lot of the bigger moments and their explanations are more hinted at then anything. While I'm glad the whole thing wasn't spelled out, I just wish there was a little more to help the viewer fully understand what's going on.



CONCLUSION
For years now, I'd always heard of "Akira" and how great it was, how it changed animated films forever and inspired so many other films like "The Matrix" and "Chronicle". Now that I've finally seen, I can agree with those statements 100%. While not the most cohesive movie, "Akira" is a marvel of animation and still holds up 25 years after its original release. I was enthralled by the film and couldn't stop watching. If you love animation in any way, shape, or form, this is a must see.


RATING
RUN TO

Equestria Girls... Uggghhhhh....

PLOT
Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been invited to the Crystal Empire for a celebration. That night, Twilight's crown is stolen by a bitter former student of Princess Celestia, ruler of the land of Equestria, named Sunset Shimmer. She escapes through a portal that leads to a world that no one has ever seen before. Twilight must go in alone, except her pet baby dragon Spike runs in after her, to retrive the crown and save Equestria from destruction. Once through the portal, Twilight discovers that she has been turned into a human and Spike has become a dog in this new world centered around a high school that human versions or her friends all attend. Now, Twilight must become princess of the Fall Formal dance to win the crown and save both her world, and this human one.



PROS
The first 10 minutes of the movie are great, because they take place in the pony world. This part also serves to tie up some loose ends from the recent season finale.

The animation, like on the show, is great. It's very colorful and fluid with a lot of stuff going on in the background.

The song "Helping Twilight Win the Crown" is a great song. While I realize it's insanely simple and probably not that well done, I still found it to be incredible catchy and fun.



CONS
Where to start. The plot, once we've entered the human world, is horrible. There are many plot holes and useless things that are really distracting. There's a whole soccer scene that's not funny in anyway, and turns out to have nothing to do with the movie. It's supposed to move the plot along, but without the scene the plot would've just kept going. The whole thing feels rushed and lazy.

The humor in the movie is extremely cliched and bad. This is a real disappointment, since the show is usually really clever and funny. Yet, most of the jokes here fall flat and have been done to death before.

Flash Sentry, who's a new love interest character for Twilight Sparkle, is a horrible character. He's whole personality is that he plays guitar, that's it. He contributes nothing to the story except for one thing that could've easily been resolved without him. It's also revealed at the end that he has a pony counterpart. While it has been said that he won't, thankfully, play a role in the show, this makes his character even more worthless.

Besides the song mentioned in the "Pros" section, all of them are forgettable and bad. A lot of them don't even have a place in the film. Another problem with the songs is that three of the four songs are all in the last 20 minutes. They don't give you enough time to soak in the songs, which are already bad, so this makes them even more forgettable.

Near the end of the film, the whole thing goes off the rails. The villain and her plan are reveled in their true form, both of which don't make any sense. If you think about her plan for more then a minute, there's a huge flaw that I won't go into since it's a spoiler. It's just poorly done.

There are a tons of in-jokes and references to the brony fandom, which I'm not quite sure how I feel about. On one hand, they stop the movie to a screeching halt for these references which contribute nothing to the plot and are gone just as fast as they appeared. On the other hand, they stop the movie to a screeching halt, which I desperately wanted each time these jokes appeared. Either way, these references feel like the animators and writer Megan McCarthy are jingling keys in front of our faces so we don't pay attention to what's actually going on in the film.


CONCLUSION
I know what you're probably thinking "Sam, why are you so mad at this film? It's a straight to dvd movie, what did you expect?" Well, being a big fan of the show, I expected at least something decent from this movie. What I got was a rushed mess of film made to capitalize on the recent "animated girls in high school" craze going on in kids entertainment. Whatever advancements the show had made on making little girls entreatment not sound like a bad thing, this film has nearly crushed them. While I'm still going to watch the show, I'll hopefully never see this movie ever again.


RATING
RUN AWAY!!


If you missed last weeks round up of reviews, you can check'em out here:http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/12-years-slave-bad-grandpa-captain.html










 

12 Years a Slave/ Bad Grandpa/ Captain Phillips: Triple NR's #53/54/55

…Hello?

…Is anybody there?

…..

I guess I'm all alone here, just me and my blu-rays.

Good think I remembered my remo-…

Where…where's my blu-ray remote? I swear I packed it.

It…it's gone…

no…no… it's not fair….IT'S NOT FAIR!!!


Hey people, sorry I've been away for, what, four weeks now? Yeah, every sunday after I saw a movie, I was either too busy or just too tired. So today, I'm up and early, and I'm reviewing three of the biggest movies out this fall season. These movies may have been out for a while, but they've yet to be judged by yours truly. This is my first triple review of…

Captain Phillips

PLOT
Our story follows Captain Richard Phillips, a cargo ship captain who's commandeering a ship going on a normal route on the Atlantic ocean. At the same time, there are a group of Somali's who are almost forced by their situation and higher-ups to capture a ship and gain some profit from its contents. These pirates just so happen upon Captain Phillips' ship and manage to get on board and capture the ship. Now Captain Phillips must try to survive and reason with these desperate pirates to save not only himself, but his crew as well.


PROS
The main actors of the film, Tom Hanks and the people playing the pirates, give knock-out performances. The Somali's, even though they're from Philadelphia I think, look very convincing and also manage to be sympathetic. Tom Hanks, even though we've seen many time how great of an actor he is, gives an Oscar-winning performance, especially near the end. I won't spoil it, but let's just say "Captain Phillips" covers a side of tense and violent situations that little no film covers.

"Captain Phillips" is extremely tense and never losses this tension throughout its over 2 hours running time. While there isn't a lot of explosions and action, it manages to be engaging and entertaining while still being character based.


CONS
While "Captain Phillips" is tense throughout, it does drag a little once they enter the life boat. While it's not a huge problem, I did find myself becoming bored during this time.


CONCLUSION
First of all, let me apologize for how short this review is, it's been about a month since I've seen this film. Yet, I don't want this review's length to take anything away from how I feel about "Captain Phillips" It's a character driven thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat the entire time, and by the end you may even have a tear or two in your eye. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and will be shocked if no one from this film doesn't get at least a nomination at this year's Oscars'.

RATING
RUN TO

Bad Grandpa

PLOT

Spinning off from the infamous Jackass skit, "Bad Grandpa" tells the story of 86-year old Irving Zisman who's just lost his wife. Instead of having a mourning period, Zisman see's this as an opportunity to finally do all the debauchery he's always dreamed of. That is until his daughter forces him to take his 8-year old grandson, Billy, cross-country to his real father. Now Zisman must deal with his grandson as they go on a road trip full of accidents, pain, and hilarity

PROS

"Bad Grandpa" is just like any Jackass movie, except this time it has a story. Now, that's not a bad thing. I personally love the Jackass movies and crack up at least once in every one. While this is more of the prank side of Jackass then it is the crazy stunts, it is still funny.

If there's one thing that will live on past this movie, it's the kid. Jackson Nicoll is his name and he is a pro at this stuff. He never hesitates, never does anything half-way, he goes all in and gets the best factions out of people. I feel this kid is going places, and we'll all remember that the role that got him his fame was the chubby kid in "Bad Grandpa"

CONS

Unfortunately, like a lot of comedies, the best jokes are spoiled in the trailer. While there are a few surprises here and there, in particular a scene in a male strip club, most of the scenes that would've had me singing this movie's praises are in the trailer.

The point of "Bad Grandpa" is to be a Jackass movie with a story, and this story is bad. While I did enjoy the movie, the story would have to come in and just bore me. It's extremely cliched and is saved by the film's style of comedy.

CONCLUSION

While not the best Jackass movie in the series, it is definitely a solid one and had me laughing throughout. Yet, it's not something you need to rush out and see. If you have a bunch of friends over one night and just want something to put on and laugh at, "Bad Grandpa" is perfect for just that.

RATING

WALK TO

Well I've already used the Intermission poster…

How about this…

Now that's over…

Let's get serious…

12 Years a Slave

PLOT

Based on a true story, Solomon Northup is a free black man living i Saratoga, New York in 1841 who has a family and is a skilled violinist. One day, two men invite Northup to join their circus as a violinist and wine and dine him. When Northup wakes up the next day, he's been abducted and chained up, ready to be sold. Now, Northup must try to survive his slavery as we watch the horrible atrocities done to him and many other slaves during a 12 year period.

PROS

Everyone brings their A-game in terms of performances for this film. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup and give a quiet but powerful performance. All of the white actors; Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Paul Dano are all despicable human beings and give equally amazing performances. The stand-out in terms of white actors is Michael Fassbender who plays the main plantation owner who's known as the "N-word breaker", and he earns that title and then some. If I see Fassbender on the street in the next few weeks, he's dead, I hated him that much. Luckily, that's how I was supposed to feel.

"12 Years a Slave" holds nothing back when showing slavery during this time period. Luckily, it never feels gratuitous, since we care about Northup and know that slavery really was this bad and maybe even worse. The film is so dark and brutal that in the first 10 minutes I had to look away at one point.

The cinematography, like director Steve Mcqueen's (no not that Steve Mcqueen) two other films, is beautiful. Even though the images are horrible and hard to watch at points, they're shot so well that it emphasizes the horribleness and almost forces you to watch.

CONS

Really there's not much wrong with this film besides the occasional nit pick. 

CONCLUSION

"12 Years a Slave" is not only and honest and extremely well made film, it's also a very important film. This is a film that dares to question this horrible time in American history, that is not afraid to go all out for the sake or proving a point. The reason I know this is movie that everyone who can stomach it needs to see is that this is the first movie since becoming a serious film fan I actually cried in. I've always come close to crying and teared up in movies, but this was the first time a tear or two fell down my face. If you have any interest in seeing this film, drop everything and do so.

RATING

CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!!