Tomorrowland review

TOMORROWLAND:

A VISUALLY IMPRESSIVE VISION OF THE FUTURE WITH UNIQUE IDEAS AND A DECENT LEAD, BUT THE UNEVEN STORYTELLING BELONGS IN THE PAST!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY

A world beyond imagination is emerging in Disney’s Tomorrowland

            Disney, director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol), George Clooney (Burn After Reading, The Ides of March, Gravity), and science fiction? Sign me up! That’s pretty much what to expect when going into Disney’s latest sci-fi adventure, Tomorrowland, based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name.

            Besides adapting their animated classics into live action films, it seems like another Disney tradition is making films based on their Disney Parks attractions, with films like The Country Bears, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and The Haunted Mansion, they seem less as movies and more like a full commercial for the Disney Parks rides in disguise as a feature film, except for Pirates that is, Country Bears and Haunted Mansion were despised by critics and audiences and both flopped at the box office when they came out.

            And here’s another one, Tomorrowland, and while it’s not terrible like The Country Bears or The Haunted Mansion, it’s not as engaging as Pirates of the Caribbean, but for what they did with the special effects and concepts of the future, they’re done well.

            Teenage girl, Casey Newton (Britt Robertson-Dan in Real Life, Scream 4, The Longest Ride) obtains a mysterious pin when she was claiming her belongings from jail after she made bail from breaking into a space station. Whenever she touches the pin a vision of a magical world appears where anything is possible, unfortunately her father doesn’t believe her because only she can touch the pin and see the visions.

            So Casey embarks on a journey to discover the secret of the pin, along the way she meets Athena (Raffey Cassidy-Mr. Selfridge, Dark Shadows, Snow White & the Huntsman), a little girl who is apparently a robot from the future and claims she gave Casey the pin to save the future, and she also meets Frank (Clooney), a middle aged man who has been living alone in an old house away from society who visited Tomorrowland when he was a young boy at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The adventure to Tomorrowland begins as our three heroes battle robots out to annihilate them, giant robots, and a mission to save the future of Earth from global disasters.

            Overall, Tomorrowland is a decent adventure film for kids and tweens, however there’s not a whole lot for older audiences, except for maybe the special effects and George Clooney. The beginning of the film drags on and is pretty dull and not very interesting, it’s not until the pin shows up when the film gets interesting.

            Once the pin shows up, the sci-fi adventure we were promised in the trailers and commercials starts to unfold, the teen, little girl, and Clooney begin their journey to the Eiffel Tower where a rocket is waiting for them to go to Tomorrowland. However once they make it to Tomorrowland, there’s not as much screen time for the world as you would expect, which is my biggest problem with the movie, too much buildup, not enough Tomorrowland.

            But thankfully there’s enough visuals and exciting action to entertain, also to the film’s credit, a lot of the inventions George Clooney’s character made in his home are very creative and honestly it kind of upstages the futuristic world we were still counting down to.

            If you love sci-fi or just want something fun to take the kids to, chances are you’ll have fun at Tomorrowland, but if you want a more engaging sci-fi flick, I’d say go back to Gravity or Interstellar.

Pitch Perfect 2 review

PITCH PERFECT 2:

HUMOR AND SINGING REIGN SUPREME IN THIS PITCHIN’ SEQUEL!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

The Barden Bellas are back Pitches in Pitch Perfect 2

            Back in 2012 when Pitch Perfect came out, it was a surprise comedy hit with positive reviews by critics as well as successful box office results. At first when I saw the ads for the film, I didn’t feel that invested or interested in seeing the movie, plus it came out around the time films like Looper, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph were coming out, so I didn’t see it in its first run, I went to see it at my local bargain theater and to my surprise, I enjoyed it a lot, the cast, the characters, the comedy, all spot on and I regretted missing out on it in its opening weekend.

            Now we have a sequel, Pitch Perfect 2, directed by the producer of the first film, Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man trilogy, The Hunger Games franchise, The Lego Movie) and everyone’s favorite Pitches are back and ready to sing their way back to the top. For a sequel questionable in its existence, it’s still just as funny and entertaining as its predecessor, much like recent comedy sequels like 22 Jump Street and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and thankfully it doesn’t rehash the first movie with incredibly dull, unfunny jokes like other comedy sequels I know of, The Hangover Parts II and III, Dumb and Dumber To, Paul Blart 2, which I have not seen but I know it’s awful.

            After an incident where Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson-Bridesmaids, Pain & Gain, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) has a wardrobe malfunction and goes commando at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Barden Bellas are suspended from a cappella performing. In order to regain their status, Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick-Scott Pilgrim VS The World, 50/50, Into the Woods), Fat Amy, Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow-Hairspray), Cynthia Rose-Adams (Ester Dean-Ice Age: Continental Drift), Stacie Conrad (Alexis Knapp-Project X, Family Guy), Lily Onakurama (Hana Mae Lee-Workaholics), newcomer, Emily Junk-Hardon (Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit, Ender’s Game), and the rest of the Bellas enter the international a cappella competition against a ruthless German a cappella group, one of which no American has ever won.

            Overall, Pitch Perfect 2 is a funny sequel to a hilarious comedy, the writing is witty, the timing and pacing are decent, and Fat Amy delivers the hysterical laughs. And of course the songs and musical numbers are just as entertaining as the comedy, singing a selection of various popular songs as well as a new, original one.

            Besides the comedy and songs, the characters are just as likable and humorous as they were back in the first movie. Anna Kendrick as the leader and the brains, which works because she portrays characters like that very well in other films, Rebel Wilson is hilarious as Fat Amy and leads to some very sweet moments when she falls in love with former Treblemaker, Bumper Allen (Adam DeVine-National Lampoon’s 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, Modern Family, Uncle Grandpa), even the hilarious David Cross (Men in Black, Arrested Development, Kung Fu Panda) is in this movie as a Riff-Off Host and his energy and comedic timing shines through.

            If you’re a fan of the first Pitch Perfect and want to see some more Pitchin’ hilarious comedy and memorable musical numbers, you’ll find something to enjoy in Pitch Perfect 2, especially if you’re an a cappella performer, this is your movie this year. I still prefer the first film a little more, but as far as comedy sequels go, Pitch Perfect 2 is one of those rare comedy sequels that fights back and “Pitch Slaps” the bad comedy sequels of the modern era.            

Mad Max: Fury Road review

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD:

A SEQUEL THAT DELIVERS THE GOODS, EVEN WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF MEL GIBSON!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron battling some of the craziest bad guys you’ve ever seen in Mad Max: Fury Road

            Director George Miller (Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Witches of Eastwick, Happy Feet) returns to his post apocalyptic Mad Max franchise, with his latest fourth installment of the successful film saga that made Mel Gibson a star, Mad Max: Fury Road, which is also the first Mad Max sequel since 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome as well as the first Mad Max movie to not star Mel Gibson.

            In place of Gibson, we have rising star, Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Lawless, The Drop) as Max Rockatansky. At first I was a little worried that this movie would fail and end up being really bad because it’s very rare for a sequel, not a reboot, of an iconic movie with a new lead portraying the main character to be good, and films like Batman Forever and Batman & Robin certainly were not helping.

            But to my surprise, the reviews came out with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 4 star rating by my local newspaper, so my worries suddenly turned into joy and excitement as I sat down with my 3D glasses and gave the film a viewing. And I was completely glued to the screen from start to finish, thrilled and laughing all the way, it’s not just an entertaining popcorn flick, it’s a popcorn flick done spectacularly well, and the film knows it.

            It really feels like the film is self aware of how over the top and ridiculous it is, much like the previous Mad Max movies, but the massive car mayhem, stunts, and action sequences pretty much give Fast & Furious a run for its money.

            In the distant future, where the world is a desert wasteland and civilization has collapsed we find Max (Hardy), a survivor in Australia, captured by the War Boys, an army led by tyrannical cult leader, King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who seizes permanent control of his civilization’s water supply. Joe imprisons Max to be used as a blood bag for War Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult-X-Men, Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer).

            Max eventually escapes and runs into a group of women lead by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron-The Cider House Rules, Monster, Prometheus) driving a heavily armored War-Rig to collect gasoline who agree to help Max put an end to the War Boys’ crimes for good and bring the water back to the thirsty and poor citizens.

            Overall, Mad Max: Fury Road is certainly one of the craziest action films I’ve ever had the opportunity of seeing in the cinema, this makes The Avengers movies look like the Adam West Batman show. I mean it; the action sequences, stunts, and visuals in this film are over the top and will keep you on the edge of your seat, it feels like Fast & Furious meets G.I. Joe with its style of action, just add some high octane violence and laughably implausible stunts and you have action that makes you wonder if director George Miller is secretly insane, geez and I thought Avengers: Age of Ultron’s action was crazy, this is just psychotic, it really is some of the best action I’ve ever seen in a movie, probably even better than the action from the first Mad Max and The Road Warrior, YES, I just said that, the action and deaths are very well choreographed, creative, and very crazy.

            Also the lead cast of characters is great, Tom Hardy makes an amazing Mad Max, Charlize Theron as a badass fighter babe, that works very well, Nicholas Hoult is very amusing as Nux, he’s just hamming it up like mad and it looks like he’s having a great time playing him, the villain is very cliché, even for a Mad Max movie but Hugh Keays Byrne adds so much to the character, thus making him very memorable, and it leads to an over the top and laughable death that I dare not give away, even some of the side characters, the actors they chose do a wonderful job, especially Rosie Huntington-Whiteley from Transformers: Dark of the Moon as one of Furiosa’s Rig women who is also pregnant, she proves she can do some decent acting and she’s developed well, I’m very glad she moved on to doing something great with her acting.

            Of course, like everybody in a Mad Max movie, the War Boys are so over the top you just can’t stop laughing at them, you got the muscular big guys, the weapon wielders, the drivers, and plus one of them is a guy chained to a War-Rig with giant amplifiers attached to the vehicle, and has an electric guitar that shoots fire, where do I even start with that?

            I hope this leads to more Mad Max movies, if George Miller continues taking this route with the franchise, we could have another trilogy of Mad Max movies that are just as awesome as the original Mel Gibson films, if not better. If you’re a fan of the Mad Max franchise or looking for some massive action this summer, then stop reading this, go to your local theater, watch the movie, and have yourselves “A Lovely Day”.            

Avengers: Age of Ultron review

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON:

EXPLOSION FEST, HULK SMASHING, MALEGASM GALORE, AND A SEQUEL THAT MANAGES TO BE JUST AS ENTERTAINING AS ITS PREDECESSOR!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MARVEL STUDIOS

(From left to right) The Hulk, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Iron Man, Quicksilver, Thor, Nick Fury, and Captain America Assembling once more to defeat the evil Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron

            Director Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity) and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are back in the highly anticipated sequel to the most successful comic book movie of all time, Marvel’s The Avengers. The first film is undeniably a blast from start to finish and it was amazing seeing everyone’s favorite Marvel heroes together on the big screen for the first time, plus it was pretty much the movie that defined 2012, sure The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man made money that year, but come on, The Avengers was the highpoint of that year, even months after it came out I was talking constantly about it.

            Of course due to The Avengers’ success, we finally have the sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron which offers just as much rock ‘em, sock ‘em, Hulk Smashing, thunder clashing excitement as its predecessor. Just add in new characters, more supporting Avengers, an intimidating and funny villain, and more Hulk screen time. Everyone’s favorite characters are back, weapons developer, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Mighty God of Thunder from Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth-Star Trek, The Cabin in the Woods, Rush), Super Soldier, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans-Fantastic 4, Scott Pilgrim VS The World), scientist exposed to Gamma radiation, Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo-The Kids Are All Right, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and master assassins Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner-The Bourne Legacy, The Hurt Locker, American Hustle) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson-Lost in Translation, The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, Lucy) assemble once more to defeat a new villain in town.

            Some time after the events of all the Marvel movies after The Avengers, we find the Avengers breaking into a top secret Hydra base led by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker who has been experimenting on humans using Loki’s scepter. During their heist the Avengers encounter two of his experiments, twins, Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson-Kick-Ass, Nowhere Boy, Godzilla) and Wanda/Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen-Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla) Maximoff, who both possess extraordinary powers, Quicksilver is a super fast speed demon who gives the Flash a run for his money and Scarlet Witch who can harness witch magic such as hypnosis and telekinesis, and were experimented on to destroy the Avengers.

            After their Hydra heist, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner begin developing a peacekeeping program known as the Ultron Program, an artificial intelligence built to preserve the world’s peace. Unfortunately when they use the scepter to activate the Ultron Program, things go horribly wrong as the villainous Ultron (James Spader-The Office, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Lincoln) emerges and plots to destroy humanity by creating an army of robots, but he says he stands for a good cause, yeah, right!

            So Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, with the help of Col. James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle-Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Flight), Air Force Pararescueman, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie-The Hurt Locker, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders-Veritas: The Quest, How I Met Your Mother, The Lego Movie), and former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson-Pulp Fiction, Shaft, Django Unchained) must re-assemble to put an end to Ultron’s A.I. army and save the world once more in an explosion fest with one-liners and nukes.

            Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron is an equally entertaining sequel to an amazing movie. Although the film does hit many “Been there, done that” moments from the first Avengers movie but unlike that film, Age of Ultron’s story is darker and a bit heavier on character development, which I’m glad they did because I didn’t want a shot by shot copy of the first Avengers, what happened in the first Avengers? The heroes meet each other, hate each other, learn to become a team, and blow things up.

            In this film, pretty much the entire middle act takes place at a safe house where we learn more about Hawkeye and Black Widow, and the character development is surprisingly decent for a movie that runs on goofy one-liners and explosions. But don’t worry, it all comes full circle and leads up to an exciting climax that strangely resembles the climax from the first Avengers, just add in super speed, witchcraft, War Machine, a robot army, a flying city, and lots of nukes and Smashes.

            I enjoyed Avengers: Age of Ultron a lot but I think I still prefer The Avengers just a little more, mainly because seeing all the characters together for the first time was absolutely amazing and watching and listening to them work off each other, this movie swam in a lot of familiar waters but there’s enough new elements thrown in to make it float.

            In my opinion, this is the must see movie of the year, if you’re a fan of the Marvel comics and movies or big budget summer blockbusters, then why are you still reading this review? Just go see the movie and enjoy some action, trust me, I’m not done watching it yet.