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TyLee896
Reviews
Ouija (2014)
Oujia
There's a certain quaintness to Ouija, the supernatural horror film based on the game that allowed slumber-partiers to mess around with the occult. Were it not for the omnipresence of smartphones and a scene where a character watches an expositionally helpful YouTube video, the film could easily be a relic from back when Parker Brothers first flooded the toy market with Ouija boards in the '60s. None of the clean-cut teen stars in the cast smoke, drink, do drugs, have sex, or get even remotely nude (when one character is dispatched as she's drawing a bath, she's still wearing her socks). There's no real gore and nothing beyond what looks like a relatively minor effects budget, so without the usual trappings of a pick-em- off scare flick, Ouija has to rely on atmosphere and narrative. It excels at neither. To director Stiles White's credit, the movie takes its time building a world, beginning with an opening sequence in which the hero, Laine (Bates Motel's Olivia Cooke), checks in on her troubled best pal, Debbie (Shelly Hennig, of MTV's Teen Wolf). Debbie and Laine played with the Ouija when they were kids, and Debbie may have accidentally unleashed something sinister with it. Once the ground rules are established, and it turns out that the spirit of a girl murdered in Debbie's house decades ago is using our well-scrubbed crew as conduits for a resurrection (and knocking people off when she sees fit), the atmosphere created by White and cinematographer David Emmerichs falls away, and focus shifts to the thudding script. The early part of Ouija has some creepy bits that thankfully don't rely on simple sound gags. And it has the decency to not be a found-footage movie. But once the plot machinations kick in, it becomes kind of goofy, even for a film about malevolent ghosts who possess people through a board game. Ouija is one of those movies where everything is easily solved, even though those solutions are completely absurd, and the climax relies on both the advice of a character we barely know and a totally dopey deus ex machina. Within the pungent field of other wide-release scare jobs and films derived from cardboard-based time-killers for kids, Ouija stacks up relatively well, thanks to its look and a confident performance by Cooke. That said, it's still best left on the shelf. C-
After Earth (2013)
After Earth
The Smiths are back again. I am talking about none other than brilliant Will Smith and his equally talented son Jaden Smith. The father son first seen together in The Pursuit of Happiness, are back together, working their 'Smith Magic' in the upcoming film, After Earth. In 2006, at the age of 8, Jaden Smith made his debut in The Pursuit of Happiness, the son of a struggling salesman, played by his real life father, Will Smith. Jaden made his entry as the protagonist in 2010, The Karate Kid. His effortless acting and innocent face stole the audience's heart in both the films. The 'Karate Kid' is now ready to set the screen on fire with his father Will Smith, in his first sci- fi thriller film, After Earth.
Set in near future, the Earth is destroyed following catastrophic events. Humanity abandons Earth and re-establishes society on the planet Nova Prime, light years away from Earth. In the mean while, untapped by mankind, Earth flourishes into wilderness. Events start rolling a thousand years after the departure from Earth, and colonization of Nova Prime. Ranger Corps, a peace keeping organization is established soon after occupation of the planet Nova Prime. 1000 years later, the organization is now led General Sypher Raige. Played by Will Smith, General Raige is a wise, but cold and emotionless man. He has a teenage son, Kitai, played by Jaden Smith. Kitai is a cadet in Peace Corps, and is a true teenager. With his knack of getting into trouble and most of the time, being the cause of the trouble himself, Kitai is the reason for his father's frustration, and is always in his bad books. His wife Faia (Sophie Okonedo) tells him that he needs to spend some time with his son.
Katai's behaviour reflects his need for his father's attention. She suggests that Sypher takes him to his upcoming mission trip to Earth. On their way to Earth, their spaceship enters an asteroid field and crashes on Earth. The entire crew is killed in the crash, except father and son. But Sypher is gravely injured. Katai embarks on a perilous journey with is injured father to find a way to return home. But his quest to return home is not an easy task. The father- son duo has to find their way through the wilderness on earth. Over 1000 years, Mother Nature has had a free reign. New evolved animals rein the planet. To add on, unstoppable aliens have escaped the ship during the crash. Sypher and Katai has to tread through these dangerous terrain fighting the evolved wild animals and aliens. Katai has to keep his injured father alive and find a way to signal and get back home safe.
Originally, named 1000A.E., After Earth was conceived by Will Smith while watching a television show called, I Shouldn't Be Alive, with his brother-in law, Caleeb Pinkett. Initially, the story was not a science fiction. It was about a father and son who crash their car in a mountain or some remote region. The son has to go and find rescue for his injured father. Later on, Will Smith changed the setting of the story in 1000 years into the future. Once he froze his concept, he contacted Gary Whitta (famous as the script writer of The Book of Eli), through his own production house, Overbrook. Will Smith approached him with a simple line- a father and son crash lands on Earth 1000 years after it has been abandoned by humankind. Gary Whitta was instantly won over by the idea. Excited at the opportunity to work with Will Smith, Whitta chalked out an apt script for an amazing idea, and pitched it to Smith and became the first one to be on board.
Next, M. Night Shyamlan (director of films like Sixth Sense and The Last Air Bender) was finalized as the director of the film. Shyamlan co-wrote the screenplay of the movie with Gary Whitta. Shyamlan said, "The chance to make a scary, science-fiction film starring Jaden and Will is my dream project." At first only Jaden Smith was finalized for the son's role. Casting for the father's character was yet to be decided. Much later, in April 2011, Columbia Pictures, a film studio of Sony, signed Will Smith and son Jaden Smith to star in the film with Shyamalan directing. M. Night Shyamlan is one of the best directors of present time. Known for his special ability to depict fantasy and sci-fi 'life-like-ly,' Shyamlan was the perfect pick for directing After Earth. Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, made the announcement saying, "Night is an outstanding filmmaker who has a tremendous vision for this science-fiction adventure story and we couldn't be more excited to be working again with Jaden after our experiences on The Pursuit of Happiness and The Karate Kid. We're thrilled to have the two of them together on this project".
In order to take on the adult male role in the film, he had to step aside as the producer and protagonist of the film The American Can (based on Hurricane Katrina devastation), and offered the role to Denzel Washington. The shooting of the film was also pushed back from September 2011 to January 2012. In July 2011, Will Smith, along with Shyamlan and a crew of 20 odd people, started location hunting. Most of the filming has been done in Costa Rica, Sun Centre Studios in Delaware (Chester Township, Utah and Northern California.
The Last of Us (2013)
The Last Of Us
When originally released for PS3 last summer, The Last of Us enjoyed praise, awards and a place among the ranks of the true greats of game design. Here, the engrossing tale of survival in a contemporary post-apocalyptic world returns, with a technological spit and polish for the next-gen console where it remains a brilliantly written, graceful action game, both challenging and sometimes genuinely unsettling.
But with Remastered, this intelligent story is also noticeably prettier. Animations are more graceful, detail is richer, and there are generally fewer instances where the illusion of struggling to exist in a collapsed society is interrupted by graphical impurities. Beyond this, there is also extra content originally released as separate downloads and a smattering of new features, such as customised support for the PS4 controller, meaning that Remastered is ultimately a subtle refining of a game released only a year ago, rather than a revolutionary reworking. But in the case of this masterpiece, that is more than enough.
Sonic (2013)
Sonic's back!
Back in 2010, Eddie lebron directed a cult Mega man fan film that stayed true to the game in every way. I even bought the DVD. Now, this time Eddie released a follow up entitled "Sonic."
The Good: Great cgi work Great action sequences Good casting for dr. robotnick Great sonic model Decent acting Jaleel white is back as the voice of Sonic, Genius! No one can be sonic but Jaleel white! And he still sounds the same! And it stays true to the game, that's all that matters.
The Bad: Too short, but that was only because they were on a budget, so they wanted to spend a little more time on the cgi and action sequences, and a little less time on the duration so that they had more money for the cgi.
Overall, an absolutely flawless adaptation! If you were born with a sega genesis, like me, and you are a longtime sonic fan, then you will love this movie!
FUN FACT: Yuri Naka (creator of sonic) praised this film, he tweeted "awesome." If the creator of the game likes, then you know it's good!
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Flawless!
Dragonball is a great adaptation to a great anime series. I'm a true fan of the show and I absolutely loved this film. I really liked how the characters were portrayed, Goku was great, he plays a high schooler with chi chi. Throughout the entire film they both have a love connection between each other. My favorite character was Piccolo, The actor portraying him did a great job. Bulma plays a tough fearless character, really well too. Yamcha was good, master Roshi was great, and so was Gohan. The story is basic, Goku comes home only to find that his grandpa was killed, Goku then realises he must collect all 7 dragonballs before the eclipse. But in order to do that, he must defeat Oozaru and then defeat Piccolo. The effects were really good, the acting is phenomenal, the story was great, and the character development was really good. I hope we will see a sequel, I highly recommend this to die hard dragonball fans.
-You have the power levels of a Boy Scout troop!- Freiza
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
Another masterpiece!
After the first 4 successful films, we have the fifth installment. Okay, so the idea is that the whole film is a simulation, and that carlos and rain are fake. The story is quite interesting, The character development was good, Leon, barry, Luther, and 2 various characters were all a team. Each character was done very well. My favorite was Ada, her and alice fight side by side throughout the entire film. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't enough wesker, but hey, I won't give out too many spoilers. The effects were great, great acting, great plot, and great characters. Resident evil fans will love this film.
-Don't worry Ashley! I'm coming for you!- Leon
The King of Fighters (2009)
Excellent!
As a true KOF fan I thought this movie was more than I expected. From start to finish, the characters were great, my favorite was Rugal (played by Ray Park who is notable for his roles as Darth Maul, Snake eyes etc). Maggie Q who is one of my favorite actresses play Mai, and very well at that. Iori looked extremely elaborated, his costume was great and so was his fighting. Kyo Kusanagi did a great job, his acting, his costume, everything about him, and his fighting was great. Mr. Big from the Art of Fighting shows up in the beginning of the film, he faces Mai, great addition to the film, I couldn't believe they included him. The story is extremely well adapted to the game, The basic plot is that they have to retrieve the Kusanagi sword which Rugal stole, it was one of the three relics. Iori, like in the game holds the orochi, which contains infinite power, which is why he stopped fighting in order to prevent him from hurting anyone, like Kyo's father, Saisyu Kusanagi. Overall, Great Movie to a great game!