Not being a guy who is really into the disaster film genre anymore (I turned off movies like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 before I was even a third of the way in), I was more than tentative to give San Andreas a chance. It’s a genre that once interested me in my younger days. I enjoyed movies like Independence Day, Deep Impact, Cloverfield while loving Titanic (my favorite movie of 1997), The Impossible (my favorite movie of 1992), World War Z (my second favorite movie of 2013), I Am Legend (my second favorite movie of 2007), War of the Worlds, The Perfect Storm and, shamefully, Armageddon.
Category Archives: Action
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
Honestly, there is no point in reading this review until after you’ve seen the movie. There is no way that my review of a Star Wars movie will influence your decision to see it or not. So this review will have spoilers. To be clear, this is not a review to belittle, but rather my honest thoughts on the film, not a recommendation on whether you should see it. If you come here quickly to look at the score, I gave it an 89/100. Undoubtedly, if you’ve watched the other films, you’ll want to see this one in the theater. If you’re new to the franchise and wonder which movies you need to see before watching Episode VII, I would recommend watching IV, V, and VI. Those are the ones that will help you best understand this film. You don’t need to see I, II, or III. I’m not sure if you can fully appreciate VII without seeing IV, V, and VI first. It is assumed that you have seen these films. If you haven’t, there is no real effort or desire to explain anything that happened in the past.
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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The second-best action movie heading into the final month of the year has got to be Mad Max: Fury Road, which also happens to be one of the best remakes of a movie ever. I’ll be honest in saying that I didn’t like the 1979 original movie, which starred Mel Gibson. I waited until maybe five years ago to watch the film, preferring to keep it as one of those classics to watch on a rainy day. Not so much. It was more disappointing to me than both Blade Runner and Total Recall. That is saying something, as both of those movies I felt were overrated. Blade Runner gets some slack because it was so far ahead of its time. However, I still thought it was overrated.
Sicario (2015)
With three months left to go in 2015, we have a new contender for the best movie of the year, and the name of that movie is Sicario. This movie is a fantastic ride that will keep you thoroughly engrossed and guessing throughout. Like many great movies over the last couple of years, the less you know about the movie going in, the more you will like this movie. For me, this has been the case recently with films like Ex-Machina, The Drop, The Gift, and Chef. All of these were surprises, and each is a movie that I plan on watching again in the future.
The same can be said about Sicario. Once you know how the movie ends, you’ll want to watch it again to try to see it through a new set of lenses. It’s intense. It’s filled with drama. It will leave you with your mouth hanging ajar. That is, if you let it. This is a movie that requires your attention. If you doze off for even a couple of minutes, you might miss something important. If you miss something important, you might feel lost. If you feel lost, you might get frustrated. But if you are willing to work as hard as the movie does, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most exciting, well-crafted, and original movies that you are likely to find this year (or any year, for that matter).
Insurgent (2015)
As I mentioned near the end of my review on Divergent, what is Kate Winslet (The Reader, Little Children) doing in a movie franchise like this? Anybody could have played the role of this minor character. There isn’t any depth to her character. The movie isn’t going to win any awards. And Winslet could be spending her time in films that showcase her acting prowess. I understand it from the film’s standpoint. Why not get another big name? Even if it costs 10+ times as much money as getting an unknown actor, it makes sense. The movie covers its costs in the first week or two anyway.
I’ve always come back to the fact that appearing in movies such as Insurgent allows her to sustain her way of life to take on more roles in independent films that can’t afford to pay her as much because they won’t make as much at the box office. And if this is the reason, then I am cool with it. I am willing to give Naomi Watts (The Ring, The Impossible), who also appears in this movie, the same leeway. It does bother me that these talented actresses are merely supporting less-talented actors and actresses in a film that relies on young-adult fantasy and adventure scenes rather than their leads’ performances. Nonetheless, I’m willing to accept this, hoping that Winslet and Watts will continue to deliver Oscar-contending performances in future films.