Movie Review : The Lone Ranger

I have not read any Lone Ranger comics. Though I know of the characters because my Dad spoke of a few of his adventures. So I know a few references like who Tonto, Silver are and the term Kemosabe. So as soon as I heard that the movie The Lone Ranger had hit the theaters I had to go watch the movie.

I went to watch this movie over the weekend. I was not expecting much as I had very little idea what this was about. Just that a Texas Ranger and a Native American would get together and fight crime (along with the help of their trusty horse Silver).

The movie was loooong. It was 2 and a half hours long. And it was slow at some places. I would have loved the comic as the premise is something I would like. The dependence on the horse somehow reminds me of the Phantom comics. I enjoyed the parts where Johnny Depp was present. Those were a treat. To be honest I liked the chemistry between Tonto and Silver to be more interesting than the one between Tonto and Sam Reid. Don't mistake me, it was good. But the scenes where Tonto and Silver were portrayed was so much more engaging. John Reid was portrayed well enough by Armie Hammer.

One of the major complaints I had with this movie was that the score sounded a lot like that of Pirates of the Caribbean. I would've liked a better score. Something more original.

Anyways I am off to find the comics so I can read them and judge for myself which was better. All in all the movie was pretty entertaining but nothing to write home about. So I give it 2.7/5.

 

Movie Review: Now You See Me

I was out with a friend last weekend and I was bummed that he had already watched Man of Steel. Then on the spur of the moment we decided to go watch Now You See Me. I did not even know the premise.

Just getting to watch this movie was an adventure. The first place we tried to get tickets for this movie there was a late night show and nothing that afternoon. So we quickly used our superpowers (smartphones) to find a cinema hall that was actually showing this movie. We found one that had a show in an hours time.

The theater was 40 min away. So we raced to the car and got stuck in traffic when we were about 5 min away and the show was starting in 15 min. I raced to get the tickets and there was a long queue for the tickets. I realized that there weren't many tickets left ( which, I should've realized, meant the movie was good as the movie had been out for 3 weeks by then) . I was hoping that we wouldn't get stuck with front row seats. Luckily the seats we got were in the 4th row from the top. We rushed in to the screen where the movie was playing. We were just in time for the show.

For a spur of the moment decision, I enjoyed this movie a lot. I mean it's about magic, a heist and secret societies? Count me in. This movie was a roller coaster ride. I really enjoyed the cat and mouse chase between Mark Ruffalo and the Four Horsemen. I have always loved Ruffalo since I first saw him in Just like Heaven. He didn't disappoint here.

For all those who still haven't watched this movie, my advice would be to GO WATCH IT!! This was just great. I would give it a 4.5/5.

Movie Review : The Croods

I went to watch The Croods over the weekend with a friend. I went in to the movie thinking of just relaxing and enjoying the movie. I was pleasantly surprised when I started actively having fun. I haven't enjoyed an animated movie like this since the "Ice Age" series.

It was the same old spiel of the baby leaving the nest and the father feeling insecure about it but t was shown in a slightly different way. My favorite character in the movie was "Belt". Even though he had no dialogues he was such a great character.

This is a great movie to watch with friends & family. I would give this movie a 3.5/5.

A Good Day to Die Hard

I have been an ardent fan of Die Hard since I was young. I have watched all of the previous 4 movies. My favorite was always the Die Hard 1. And it still is. The 5th installment to the Die Hard Franchise is not a great movie. It is something that newbies to Die Hard might not really like the movie and might find better fare elsewhere.

A friend of mine, who isn't really a huge fan of action movies like Die Hard, had gone to watch the movie first. I asked her how she liked the movie. She knows me really well and said "you'd probably like it, but they destroyed too many cars in the movie." I thought she might be exaggerating, but she was not. It looks like close to a 100 cars or more were destroyed during the making of just the opening chase scene. It started out with 3 cars being blown to smithereens and then different cars were either mowed down or pushed over bridges and in one scene Bruce Willis drives his car on the top of multiple cars. It was kind of cool.

I have to admit Die hard 4.0 was better than A Good Day to Die Hard. The chemistry between Bruce Willis and Justin Long was great. I really liked their repartee. The chemistry between Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney was mostly non-existent. I just could not feel anything for the relationship. I wanted John and his daughter to reconcile int eh previous movie but in this movie I was not at all invested in their relationship. The dialogues were funny but not as funny as they were in the previous movies.

So this is a movie that can be enjoyed by fans of the series but it might not be a movie for the general populace. I'd give the movie a 2/5.

Jack Reacher

I watched Jack Reacher on New Year's. I went to this movie just because I wanted to do something that day and watching a movie sounded nice. This was the only movie playing at that time that seemed worth it. And it wasn't a bad choice. I realized while watching this movie that it was based on a book by Lee Child. I've never really read any of his books but after this movie maybe I'll give it a go.

-----SPOILERS AHEAD-----

The movie wasn't excellent, neither did it suck. I liked the first half of the movie where we know who the sniper is but no one else does. The mystery around the traitor within the ranks was also well depicted. I really did think it was the dad for a moment there. All in all I'd give the movie a 7. Its a good movie to watch but doesn't really stay with you after you've left the cinema hall.

I think they are trying to keep the ending open ended so that they may be able to make a sequel in the future or something. They made Reacher sound like a superhero who always fights for justice. It didn't quite sit well with me as he is someone who would rather be left alone.

Anyways. If you like action and Tom Cruise do watch the movie. It's worth the one watch, maybe two. And I would rate it a 2/5.

The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey

I have been waiting for over an year to watch this movie. And boy was it worth it. I only have 2 friends who love the LotR movies as much as I do. And both of them were out of the city so I had to go to the theater alone. It actually turned out to be great. I had the whole row to myself so I could giggle, cry and say the dialogues out loud along with the actors.

I am glad that this book is being made into a trilogy. I know there are people who say that the book doesn't have enough content to be made into 3 movies. But i think it's mostly people who have not read both the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings who say this. As both the books are connected a lot of the back story for LotR that is not in the Hobbit but in the appendices of the LotR books can be included in the movie as they occur in the same timeline. Plus the characters are more fleshed out in the movie. I mean there are 14 in the dwarves company and we are given time to get to know them.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a bit more dark while The Hobbit has a lot more lighter moments. This is not just in the way the movie was made out to be but the way the book was written too as The Hobbit was more of a Children's book. To that effect Martin Freeman in the role of Bilbo is great. One of my favorite parts in the book is when the dwarves come to Bilbo's door and he has no idea why. He is just too polite to ask them to leave too. This scene was directed and acted out well in the movie.

With everything said and done I am an LotR Geek. I loved the movie and for me it is way up there with some of the greatest movies adapted from a book. For me this movie would be rated a 4.8/5.