Reviews Reactor

Shin Godzilla is the newest Godzilla film from Toho, the studio behind the Japanese Godzilla films dating back all the way to 1954. This one is a reboot of the franchise, yet again, for the contemporary Japan and the plot is basically what you'd expect; Godzilla arrives and wreaks havoc, all the while the Government tries to defeat it. Since the original Godzilla was inspired by the effects and scars from the WWII Atomic Bombings on Japan by USA, and how destructive and horrifying that power is, this one is similar and was inspired by the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster, all the while being disguised in a monster movie. Godzilla in this movie instills a sense of dread and fear as this indestructible monster with the power to lay waste to everything, a biological TERROR, and I really liked that about this movie. The way its proper form looked, particularly the head, was unsettling and that was the movie's intention, so ...

Baywatch is a movie based on the old TV series of the same name. It's about a bunch of lifeguards on a beach who try to uncover drug smuggling in their area...yeah, that is the plot. It's dumb, it's stupid, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it wasn't horrible either.  The movie actually had some fun in it. The Rock, as always, was charismatic, funny and likable; and Zac Efron, surprisingly, was similar to that. He got ripped AF for the movie. Alexandra Daddario was fun as well, although any movie gets bonus points for just including her in my book. Priyanka Chopra was in it as well, and between her in this and Deepika Padukone in XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Priyanka definitely was the better one.  There were legit funny scenes sprinkled throughout, but there were also a shit ton of scenes that tried too hard to be hilarious but fell flat instead. Baywatch also had a large dosage...

The Hitman's Bodyguard stars Nick Fury and Deadpo-I mean Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds in a buddy action-comedy where Reynolds is a professional bodyguard who gets tangled up with a hitman portrayed by Jackson.  What worked for me in this movie were the scenes with Reynolds and Jackson together. Their performances were what you'd expect them to give in a movie like this. Not breaking new grounds or anything like that but being their usual comedic personas, and they both were entertaining....well for the most part anyway. They had a nice chemistry, and they worked off each other well. And most of the action scenes were enjoyable, one in particular, which was a long take including Reynolds. The problem with The Hitman's Bodyguard, though, was that it had a lot of other stuff going on as well which just wasn't interesting enough for me to care because not only did it detract from the fun of the main duo, the movie took it way too seriously. It ...

You know, I see people saying they're sick and/or tired of the whole shared universe style that has been the craze for the past almost decade or so. But I, personally, still enjoy it. Thing is, there is a correct way of doing it, and then there is a shitty way of doing. I don't know why Universal thought the shitty way was the path to be on. The Mummy should have been a movie about, well, THE MUMMY. But instead, it is an amalgamation of several poorly executed plot threads in an attempt to jump-start the new 'Dark Universe', with one of them being related to The Mummy. And it all comes together to create an incoherent messy movie. There are so many things going on with multiple changing rules that you just don't give a shit.  Tom Cruise is the lead, and I will say that even in a movie like this, he still brings his charm and charisma to give somewhat of an enjoyable performance. His buddy in the movie made for some funzies as well. But even th...

John Wick 2 is a sequel to the 2014 surprise hit John Wick, and it follows him as he is forced to return to his former life once again. The trailers did a good job of not giving much away, so I'll keep it vague as well. The first one was great, so naturally, I was hyped for the sequel, and suffice to say it delivered where it mattered.  Keanu Reeves once again reprises the role of ultimate bad-ass assassin John Wick, with different character motivations this time around, resulting in a more subdued performance than last time, which nonetheless works for the story, and it's just great seeing Keanu again in style. There are some familiar faces from the previous film like Ian McShane (Winston) and Lance Reddick (Hotel Manager), giving similarly good performances. And new ones like Laurence Fishburn, resulting in a reunion of Neo and Morpheus, which should make any Matrix fan cheer up inside, and he gave a good performance as well. One of the things that stood out to ...

Well, I thought Vampire Academy might make fun of twilight movies or something, so my curiosity got the better of me and I gave it a chance. Should have left it alone.  This movie is about two girls, one a vampire pure-blood, and the other, her protector (half-blood). They attend the vampire academy, a prestigious old school, which teaches and hones their skills so that they can defend themselves from feral vamps, and also learn other stuff. I'll keep this short, throughout the entire time, it felt like I was watching a mush, a blob, floating by consisting of characters, cringe-worthy romance and love triangles, lame action, boring plot progression and subplots, and a huge sequel bait. Nothing meshed together properly, nothing hooked me, and the movie was moving so fast that (in a badly edited way) any lore or development was immediately overridden by the next scene, leaving you with nothing, hence the mush feeling.   The things that I can say I ...

The Accountant is an action-drama-thriller directed by Gavin O'Connor, who directed one of my favorite films of 2011 i.e Warrior, and it is about a guy with neurological disorder/autism who lives as an accountant (both normal and the dangerous kind), using his disorder to his benefit. Now, this isn't an action heavy movie with fights around every corner, but instead is a drama with some thrilling action sequences. The movie takes its time to tell you about the main character, as well as secondary ones. It sets up the world well enough that you care and are involved in the plot, which is something I quite enjoyed and it even felt a bit fresh.  Ben Affleck gave an excellent performance as the accountant. He had subtlety, depicting the character's issues with socializing quite well, and at the same time showing dedication and fierceness when needed. Anna Kendrick was sweet and fun as the love-interest, and I enjoyed her rather limited screen time. JK Simmons was...

The Purge: Election Year is the third movie in the franchise which is set in a world where America holds an annual purge, and everything becomes legal including murder on that day. After watching this movie, I'm still waiting for them to properly utilize this world they have created.  Election Year has, well, politics thrown into the mix where Frank Grillo returns as the lead, and this time he's the head of security for the senator, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, who's fighting in the election and wants to end the purge while the evil government opposition is trying to get rid of her during the purge. Couple that in meh execution along with some forgettable subplots and side characters, bad and way over-the-top acting, stupid/nonsensical scenes, and just an overall forgettable experience, and you have another wasteful purge movie (Anarchy was fine, loads better than the other two). The only characters I had any interest in were the two leads, that'...

"One last ride." So finally watched the 7th installment in the popular Fast and Furious franchise. Its amazing how this franchise has increased its popularity and success, be this long, and not be based on a book or something. Directed by James Wan, who previously was known only for famous horror flicks like The Conjuring and Insidious, did a great job delivering a full on high budget action film and a great send off to Paul Walker, gotta give him kudos for this. The passing of Paul Walker had an overall presence throughout the movie. And it only got more potent as the movie went on. This is the last film of his, and the movie gave him an amazing send-off. The tribute at the end was truly beautiful. In fact, this marks the first time that I was brought to tears in a cinema. I did a full re-watch of all the previous parts prior to watching this, so everything was fresh in my mind and while watching the tribute, I Just couldn't hold it anymore. Knowing that this will b...

*Sigh* So much potential, such a waste. This movie really infuriated me. The universe it is set in was just brimming with potential of a really epic franchise but instead we got a lame ass love story that almost reached Twilight level (Almost). There was no chemistry whatsoever between the two leads, everything was rushed, and even the acting felt emotionless. The movie went on for too long, had bad pacing and the villain sucked. I mean Eddie Redmayne (Stephen Hawking in Theory of Everything) is an awesome actor but boy oh boy was he horrible in this movie. Whatever he was trying to do with that phony cliche villain voice and style just didn't work. That aside, there was some good stuff in the movie. Some characters I did like, like Sean Bean's. The setting was awesome. Action was actually well shot and good, did ran on for too long sometimes though. CGI was great, beautiful effects inhabited the screen and made weird technologies and alien planets come to life. Soundt...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first stand-alone anthology film in the franchise and is set right before the events of Episode 4: A New Hope. The story follows a group of rebels which leads the charge for retrieving the plans that could aid the rebel alliance in destroying the Death Star.  Now I was really hyped for this movie ever since it was announced for various reasons: First Star Wars stand-alone film. Gareth Edwards directing it. (I loved Godzilla 2014)  War movie feel which caters to my Battlefront fan side.  Curiosity and anticipation for how they would end it, which, knowing the story, would be great if they don't veer away from it too much.  And suffice to say that the movie met my expectations and more.  The main rebel team i.e. Rogue One was likable. Each character was fun in their own way. They were led by Felicity Jones, who plays Jyn Erso, daughter of the Death Star architect. She did a good enough job in the t...

"Oh what a day.....what a lovely day!". Definitely was a lovely day, and how can it not be when you watch something like this. Prior to watching this, I did a marathon of the original trilogy and didn't liked them very much. They may have been great in their own time but not anymore. No idea why people loved them. And I was of the opinion that this movie won't be that different from them. Luckily, I was wrong, so very wrong. The movie takes place in a post apocalyptic world where nuclear war destroyed everything. Chaos and pure madness is what remains. Now, in the previous movies, this whole post apocalyptic world didn't really interest me all that much. But in Fury Road, I got just the type of execution that clicked with me and the world hooked me in. Story was never the selling point of these movies anyway. Tom Hardy filled in the shoes of Mel Gibson as Mad Max. He played his one of the more typical roles, with less talk and tough guy voice and such, and he...