QUICK REVIEW: Doctor Strange

Howdy ladies and gents, its been a while right? I was meant to review Jack Reacher: Never Go Back last week, but since Doctor Strange just came out I thought I’d skip ahead and review the latest Marvel film instead because it’s one of my most anticipated films of 2016.

So the story can be described as the following:

“Steven Strange is a brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon, but after his hands get horribly damaged in a car accident he seeks out help and on his journey he gets drawn into world of the mystic arts. And so Strange has to put aside his ego and open his mind to become a hero and save the world from dark forces.“

Firstly I think everyone who worked on this film deserve a pat on the back, they took what is arguably the hardest sell yet from Marvel Studios and made a solid, fun and entertaining film. Now this film isn’t without its flaws, but for what it was able to do with adapting its source material while also keeping in line with Marvel’s current style of comic book films is impressive. Doctor Strange‘s story is an origin story and certainly has familiar elements that we’ve seen in other superhero films, however, it has its own presence, sense of style and unique elements which make it feel completely different from what’s come in the genre before. This adventure was filled with excitement, mystery, drama and humour with some really interesting themes about life and death, the corruption of power, trust and betrayal, and changing for the better. This film did well to incorporate magic into the real world by diving in early in on, explaining how it worked and then dug even deeper as the film progressed and for the most part it worked. The only nitpicks I had with the film was that I thought the humour was a little hit or miss sometimes, and even though this film introduced magic in the MCU in an effective way, I feel like there were a few points where a bit more an explanation about the way magic works wouldn’t have gone a miss.

When it comes to the cast they were all really solid. Firstly there’s Benedict Cumberbatch who killed it as Doctor Stephen Strange, this man was smart and great at his craft yet arrogant, self-centered and not very likeable, however his transformation was quite significant and he later became someone you could root for. This film continues to show the brilliance of Cumberbatch’s acting skills as he showed a great deal of range and committed 100% to this character so you could understand him, love him, hate him and love him again over the course of the film. The next strongest performance came from Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, I knew she’d be good in this role but I didn’t expect to love as much as I did. The Ancient One was wise, calm and collected, but was also tough, badass and quite witty too and I really liked what Swinton brought to the role. I also loved Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Mondo was clearly a strong-willed individual with charm, wisdom but also some minor issues of his own and Ejiofor added such a good level of energy, charisma and intensity to this character. Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer was also quite good, while I would have liked more screen time and information about her beyond her interactions with Strange, she worked well in the film as she had good chemistry with Strange and had some pretty humourous moments too. As for Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius I thought he was good, his villain character went the way of Nero from Star Trek (2009) as he was relevant but took a backseat to Strange’s hero-based journey, so overall I thought Mikkelsen brought a great screen presence and charisma to the character, but he wasn’t a MCU villain to write home about. Also Benedict Wong as Wong was quite good, he was a no-nonsense, stern and knowledgeable character and I liked Wong’s performance. And finally Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt and Scott Adkins had minor yet notable roles to play in this film and did well too.

Ad then there’s the presentation which was lovely. Visually the film was amazing and beyond what I could have imagined, before this film came out there was a lot of talk from Kevin Feige and Scott Derrickson about the use of visual effects and how they’d not only honour the Steve Ditko artwork but also expand upon the crazy visual material in last year’s Ant-Man, and boy do they deliver. Visually the film’s very colourful and has some good cinematography, but it was the use of GCI that was truly impressive. Whether it was other dimensions, magical symbols, shape-shifting buildings or astral forms, there were some really cool and unexplainable imagery, and some super trippy sequences in particular were just insane, plus the action scenes were really cool with an “Inception times 1000, on drugs” kind of vibe and a fair amount of it was incredibly inventive, fun, frantic and made good use of hand-to-hand combat and magic. And the film score by Michael Giacchino is really good, I’ve made it no secret on this blog that Giacchino is one of my favourite film composers and his work in this film was familiar yet quirky, beautiful, harrowing and heroic and while it’s not overly memorable when compared to some of Marvel’s other films, it certainly has some standout moments especially with the two songs playing in credits, they were gorgeous and should have been incorporated into the main film.

In conclusion Doctor Strange was a lot of fun and continues to show the diversity of Marvel Studios’ work with their comic book properties. This was film was a pretty big risk which for the most part paid off with a solid origin story, solid performances from the cast, awesome visuals and a lovely soundtrack. Now while this film doesn’t correct a lot of the issues that the MCU films have accumulated over the last few years and some might not understand or like what this film has to offer, overall I do believe it is worth a watch. Oh and if you get the chance to see it in IMAX do it! 😀

So are you going to see Doctor Strange or if you have seen it what do you think of the film? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments section and I’ll see ya on the next review! Laters!:)

 

QUICK REVIEW: Doctor Strange Trailer #1

Howdy ladies and gents, it’s time for another trailer review yo! There’s been a lot of trailers dropped recently with the third for Suicide Squad, and the second for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. And while I could talk about the other trailers, the one I’ve really been waiting for is Doctor Strange. I’ve made it very apparent on this blog that I’ve been hyped for this film for AGES and now that we finally have some footage its time to talk about it.

So here’s the trailer below:

After seeing this trailer I’m definitely more interested in this film than before at least from a story and presentation standpoint.

What this trailer tells me and fans of the MCU is that Doctor Strange will be the most unique/different adventure that Marvel Studios have produced so far. I mean you’ve got another origin story, but with this trailer it is painted in the most non-superhero fashion similar to Iron Man with Tony Stark. I think how we get glimpses into the life of Steven Strange when it comes to his car crash, him being a sergeant and then going coming into contact with the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Now if that sounded a little like a mouthful of nonsense to you then fear not, I just know a fair bit about the mythology of Doctor Strange from what remember in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and my research online, and since I know about what happens to Strange before, during and after he gains his powers, so when I see this footage I’m seeing how closely their sticking to the source material and I love it.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Steven Strange looks like he goes through a lot from being all suave and sophisticated, to being in hospital and on a global trek for knowledge looking all rough and homeless-like haha. Oh and seeing Tilda Swinton bald as a female version of the Ancient One is so odd and yet intriguing as she’s very calm, yet firm and otherworldly too. I liked getting the glimpses of Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and I’m curious about Mads Mikklelsen’s villain role as he’s not looking like anyone I’m familiar with in the comics, but I’m liking what I’m seeing so far with his magic reality-shifting abilities.

But what really excited me about this trailer was the teaser was the tone and visual presentation. I’ve been hyped for Doctor Strange since I saw the concept art came out and found out about Scott Derrickson’s involvement coming from a horror film background. In this trailer things felt dark, a little horror-like and definitely had shades of the supernatural in there as well. I also love the use of visual effects, things look so trippy and beyond the realm of realism with all the unfolding buildings and astral projection stuff, holy crap it looks so cool. And some of the visual material reminds me of the acid trip sequence in Ant-Man so I can’t wait to see full-on magic, other dimensions and stuff that can’t be explained with science or basic logic.

To conclude the first trailer for Doctor Strange looks very promising. It’s still kind of weird to think that this film is actually coming out in 2016 but this trailer certainly has my attention, and while the trailer doesn’t blow my mind, it’s still got me excited for the latter ide of this year. Bring it on yo! 😀

So have you seen the first trailer for Doctor Strange and if so what do you think of it? Are you more or less excited than before? Be sure to drop me a comment and I’ll see ya on the next review! 🙂

 

ONE PARAGRAPH REVIEW: Triple 9

Howdy people, today I’m back to give you another single paragraph review and it will be on the Triple 9. If you’ve read this blog for at least just over a month or since January last year, then you would be aware of how much I was looked forward to this film and even after the reviews I saw were average, I wanted to see for myself. So without further ado here we go:

If I were to describe Triple 9 in one word it would be disappointed. Dear god, it hurts me that this film turned out the way that it did because it had the potential to be so much more, when I heard about this film I got so hyped; the genre and premise intrigued me, the cast was insane and the trailers got me SO hyped up, but this was definitely a case of the anticipation outweighing the viewing experience. So what’s wrong with Triple 9? Well there’s a lot of things, but the key elements came down to the story, length and characters, none of it was nearly as compelling or engaging as a thriller film should be. There was all of the regular codes and conventions with of a crime film with questionable moral and ethical choices, betrayal, tension and danger, but it was handled in the least interesting manner. I found that the film had moments of fun, action and good tension, but it was hidden within a story that felt so lacking in charisma and style, around halfway through I stopped caring what was happening, and when the key aspect of this film eventually went down, I felt like it was a little too late. As for the cast, the performances were solid for the most part but none of them were overly impressive. It did hurt that several cast members were wasted especially when it came to Aaron Paul and Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot and Teresa Palmer felt completely insignificant and while I enjoyed seeing Kate Winslet as Irina Vlaslov, I felt like more could have been done to flesh her out and give her more personality. Casey Affleck was alright as Chris Allen, but he felt so dull in this role, Anthony Mackie did his best as Marcus Atwood but I didn’t like his character and Michael K. Williams’ appearance in this film was unexpected, and yet quite interesting to watch. The most interesting characters were Michael Belmont and Jorge Rodriguez played by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Clifton Collins, Jr., these two felt the most fleshed out and interesting, but it was mainly down to their acting than anything else. In the end Triple 9, damn, besides some cool action sequences and moments of interest with certain character moments, but the dull story, bad pacing and uninteresting characters made for a dull and sleep-filled experience.

So that was my review, have you seen Triple 9 and if so what did you think of it? Please leave your comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

The Martian Review (SPOILER FREE)

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, time for another film review and today I’ll be talking about The Martian. This is another film that’s been on my 2015 anticipated list, even when there was no footage, I had hope for the film considering that it had an interesting premise, Ridley Scott was directing and it featured Matt Damon. And after the trailers and early positive word of mouth I was excited to see this. So after seeing an early screening at Cineworld yesterday I’m ready to pass judgement!

The story can be described as the following:

“When a mission to Mars goes wrong for a group of team of astronauts, they escape, however one of their members, Mark Watney is left behind and presumed dead. With limited resources and a harsh environment to live in, Watney must fight for survival while communicating with NASA, other scientists and his crewmates on a rescue plan.”

I thought the story was really good. This is another film that focuses on survival, human ingenuity, endurance and spirit. I like how there was moral, ethical and logical dilemma’s for not only Mark, but his crewmates and the people at NASA as well, there wasn’t an easy way of doing things and for a lot of the choices that some of these characters made, there’d be sacrifices or negative consequences involved. I also appreciated the realism, the scientific talk and unpredictable nature of space, the Mars environment and spacecraft equipment. The film was also a lot funnier than I expected and I think it really helped ease the loneliness and dread. While this isn’t a brilliant or unique adventure, it is a solid and well-made film from director Ridley Scott, there is a sense of confidence and intelligence with Scott’s direction and I liked that aspect a lot.

The cast did such great work with their performances, but the main star is Matt Damon as Mark Watney. This is a character who is smart and courageous, but also has to deal with the fact that death is constantly present and could take him at any moment. Damon is a really great actor and I think a lot of people forget that, but here is allowed to be dramatic, charming, funny, frustrated and so much more, and a lot of the time he has to act alone, yet pretend like there is someone is watching and he pulls that off fairly well.

As for the people down on Earth I really liked Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders, he was an interesting character because he is a good person, but he also has to think of things from a business perspective and his decisions puts him at odds with his other staff members. Kristen Wiig as Annie Montrose did pretty well and I think I think I liked her performance a lot mainly because it was the first time I’ve seen her in a serious role. Chiwetel Ejiofor as usual turns in a great performance Vincent Kapoor and Sean Bean was good as Mitch Henderson too.  Mackenzie Davis was cute and good in her role as Mindy Park, Benedict Wong was quite good as Bruce Ng and Donald Glover’s appearance as Rich Purnell was strange, humourous and entertaining for sure. As for the space-based characters, Jessica Chastain did well with her material as Melissa Lewis, she’s the most developed and important of the crew and has a lot of important decisions to make too. Michael Peña as Rick Martinez was also good, he had some humourous moments and good banter with Mark. Kate Mara was also good as Beth Johanssen, I also liked my man Sebastian Stan as Chris Beck and Aksel Hennie as Alex Vogel was good but a little forgettable. Together these characters had good chemistry and felt like a good team of individuals who cared about their mission but also for each other and Mark.

When it comes to the presentation it was really good. Visually this was a great experience. Spaced-based sci-fi films have been getting better with their special effects over the last few years with Prometheus, Guardians of the Galaxy and Gravity showing more and more impressive their art direction, realism and level of detail, and this film is no different. The Martian has wonderful cinematography, editing and sound design too. I was just stunned by the scenery of Mars, all the shots on the planet were gorgeous and the scenes in space were also very beautiful with great lighting and clarity. The film score by Harry Gregson-Williams was also quite good, William’s soundtracks tend to be a little hit and miss for me, but here he did a good job creating music that really amplified the action on-screen and it had many great moments elevating the emotional scenes.

In conclusion The Martian is a return to form for Ridley Scott, offering up a thrilling and dramatic story, great performances and brilliant production value. While I wouldn’t say it blew me away, it is definitely on the higher end of films I’ve seen post-summer season and in 2015 in general.

Rating: 8/10

So what did you think of The Martian? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them below and let me know. Until the next time, see ya later! 😀

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor in Talks for Role in Marvel’s Doctor Strange

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a little more comic book film news on the Marvel side of things and this relates to the upcoming Doctor Strange film coming out in 2016. The following information comes from superherohype:

The Hollywood Reporter brings word this evening that 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor is in talks for an undisclosed role in Marvel Studios’ upcoming film Doctor Strange.

According to the outlet, some of their sources indicate he could be taking on the villain role of the film while others have refuted that. Check back here for further confirmation on the casting as we learn it. Ejiofor is no stranger to villain discussions, as he was previously in talks to be the lead villain of the 24th James Bond film, Spectre, though those talks fell through.

Scheduled to hit theaters November 4, 2016, Doctor Strange is scripted by Jon Spaihts and is said to follow the story of neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions. Scott Derickson will direct the film, which sees Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role of the Sorcerer Supreme.

I read this yesterday and I grinned a lot. Marvel Studios seem to be attracting talent left, right and center with their upcoming films, and to add someone as talented as Chiwetel Ejiofor just makes me happy. These comic book films are super big blockbusters and when they’re good, the word of mouth surrounding them spreads like wildfire especially when it comes to the actors. Ejiofor I’ve always liked since I saw him in Four Brothers and then in Firefly and since his amazing performance in 12 Years a Slave, the man has become super popular. And if he does have a role in this new Marvel film I’ll be so happy. 🙂 Now I don’t know much about the villains in the mythos of Doctor Strange (besides Baron Mordo and Dormammu), however several people in the comments section of the site claim that he could be either Brother Voodoo, Mordo or Dormammu. Any of which I would be happy with, though since Mordo is classically a white character, it would be interesting to see if they would change the race for the role.

Anyway what do you think of this news and do you think Ejiofor is a good fit for this film or any other films in the MCU? Please be sure to comment below and let me know your thoughts.

 

My Thoughts on the 2014 BAFTA Winners

Howdy ladies and gents, I have arisen from the depths of the earth to make a new film post. So the BAFTAs have come and gone and while I didn’t tune in to watch it because my TV was occupied by my family, I still read up on the winners and just wanted to deliver my thoughts.

Well the winners of this year’s BAFTAs was certainly unexpected and had a few surprises which is ultimately a good thing because the people who give out these awards obviously could see the talent in some of these films that weren’t just the favourite choices to win big.

Right now have a look at the full list of winners below:

Best Film: 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding British Film: Gravity

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Leading Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

Original Screenplay: American Hustle

Adapted Screenplay: Philomena

Animated Film: Frozen

Documentary: The Act of Killing

Film Not in the English Language: The Great Beauty

Outstanding Debut: Kieran Evans, Victor + Kelly

Cinematography: Gravity

Visual Effects: Gravity

Original Music: Gravity

Make-Up & Hair: American Hustle

Costume Design: The Great Gatsby

Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Sound: Gravity

Editing: Rush

British Short Film: Room 8

British Short Animation: Sleeping With The Fishes

Rising Star: Will Poulter

Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema: Peter Greenaway

BAFTA Fellowship: Helen Mirren

So it seems like Gravity got a lot of love last night winning in several awards including British outstanding film, cinematography, visual effects, music, sound and best director. For some of those awards it is a given like visual effects and cinematography, which to be fair are rightfully won because the film really was unmatched in those areas. I’m also happy it got recognized for its great soundtrack, I really loved it especially at the end of the film.

12 Years a Slave at got least the two awards that I hope for, best film and best actor for my man Chiwetel Ejiofor. Other awards I’m happy with include Barkhad Abdi getting best supporting actor for his work in Captain Phillips, well deserved in my opinion. And even though Rush only got an award in editing, the film did have so great editing so it is nice to see it be recognized for something.

And then there are the rest which I don’t really care about or didn’t see so I can’t give an opinion. Jennifer Lawrence for me wasn’t that great in American Hustle, I didn’t see Blue Jasmine unfortunately, but I can guess that Cate Blanchett did a good enough job to earn her award. Frozen was a given for the animation award and The Act of Killing is a really good documentary that I’ll have to check out at some point considering the critical praise it’s getting.

As for the Oscars that’s coming up in a few weeks, I dunno if I’ll tune in and watch it online again because that takes a lot of effort and while this year will be a close call, I’m not sure I’ll get the result I want. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Well that’s my quick thoughts on this years BAFTA winners, nota bad turn out in my opinion. What did you think of the winners? Right down your thoughts in the comments below.

 

12 Years A Slave Review

Last night through the power of my Cineworld unlimited card I got to see an advance screening of 2013’s critically acclaimed film, 12 Years a Slave. After this film dropped in the US there was a lot of Oscar talk, so I was expecting a hell of a lot prior to watching it. So does it deliver or not? Well read on and find out!

The story can be described as the following:

“In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty at the hands of a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.”

I thought the story was a dramatic piece of work that was emotional and intense from very early on. There are themes of racism, slavery, love, trial and endurance. Solomon’s journey is one that takes place over a longs space of time, in a number of locations and the film does well to cover everything thanks to its non-linear storytelling. The film doesn’t hold back on the level of cruelty and violence, it is in your face and even after seeing a lot of film depicting the hardships of people of the black variety, this film still finds a way to be shocking and hard to watch. As I’ve said before on this blog, as a black guy, watching films like this is always kind of hard because this kind of stuff happened in real life many years ago, it’s part of my people’s history, so to see adaptations of what they went through is difficult at points.

When it comes to the cast they were all incredible offering up some truly lovely performances. Chiwetel Ejiofor pretty much gives the performance of his life as Solomon Northup. Solomon is well-spoken, talented and a respected man in his community before being bought into slavery where he has to endure hardships of the hardest kind, where he suffers at the hands of many white people while longing for his family and freedom. Ejiofor’s performance is stellar throughout, it is a sight to behold and there is a point where his acting make me tear up too, it was really emotional. The next great performance comes from Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps. The best way to describe Fassbender in one word is: monster. He is a monster. Edwin Epps is disgusting, cruel, intimidating, doesn’t like anybody who isn’t on the same page as him, has no respect from black people and treats them like disposable objects. Since X-Men: First Class Fassbender has excelled in every role he’s been in, but I feel like this is his best role to date as it was so real and aggressive, hopefully he’ll get noticed for some awards.

Lupita Nyong’o makes her film debut as Patsey here and she is REALLY good, her character gets put through so much drama Nyong’o handles her material with a great deal of emotional depth. Sarah Paulson as Mary Epps is pretty good as Edwin’s wife, she has her own issues and levels of cruelty towards black people. Benedict Cumberbatch is great as William Ford being one of the kinder variety of white people who interacts with Solomon on his journeys, it was weird to hear Cumberbatch in an American accent but I thought he was really good in his role.

I really liked Brad Pitt as Samuel Bass, his character was this perceptive man who could see the injustice in slavery and wasn’t afraid to speak out about it. Paul Dano is very good as John Tibeats, a subordinate on William Ford’s plantation, he was another horrible guy who took pride in his hatred for black people and had no toleration for disobedience. Paul Giamatti as Theophilus Freeman was another horrible, unsympathetic and horrible character who is impossible to like. Not too long ago I enjoyed seeing Giamatti as a lovely man in Saving Mr Banks and here he’s on the opposite end of the spectrum which just shows how talented he is. Oh and a shout out goes to Scoot McNairy as Brown and Michael K. Williams as Robert as they were good in the film too.

In conclusion 12 Years a Slave is simply put, a beautiful and painful beast of a film which has some of the best performances from the actors/actresses involved. I was still thinking about the film on the walk home as my heart was still beating It is dramatic and very intense and if you can handle the level of violence then I recommend the film very highly, if this had come out last year for us in the UK it would be at number 2 or 1 on my top ten list.

Rating 9/10 (If I gave it a rating any lower I feel like I would be doing this film a disservice)

So for all those who have seen 12 Years a Slave what did you think of it? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo 🙂