I've seen my share of comic book movies in the past five years, but it's honestly been a while since I had honest fun with one of them. Based on the 2008 run of the comic book, Guardians of the Galaxy is just the right type of humor and action in a clean and crisp package.
The pacing of the movie is impeccable with no wasted moments. There are a few gripes on my end on how they portrayed/retconned some of the characters' backstories, but it's not that big of a deal. It's a treat to see the Marvel Cosmic universe in cinematic form with all the weirdness that comes with it. Extra points go to Vin Diesel for stealing the show.
I have to say this about a Luc Besson film; no matter how ridiculous the plot seems, it's almost always entertaining. Lucy is an example of this: the plot, where a young girl suddenly finds herself in possession of amazing powers simply by unlocking her brain's potential, is a bit hard to swallow at best, cartoonishly incomprehensible at worst. But you know what, I had fun.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Choi Min-sik as a bad guy in Lucy. It's a treat to see him in any role after so long. Scarlett Johannson is okay, although I'm not sure how to feel about her growing apathy towards humanity. I felt that Besson could have delved more into her losing her grip on her humanity as she moves closer to godhood. It's an entertaining watch, but something's missing from the complete package.
I kinda wish I had seen Jerrold Tarog's Agusan Marsh Diaries before I saw Bwaya. It's a short documentary about the filmmaker's trip to the Agusan Marsh, an exotic land whose surface area is larger than Metro Manila's.
While I remember Bwaya had some aerial shots and close up views of the characters, treating the marsh as a background, the cinematographic treatment of the Marshes in this film reveals how vast this place is. Films like this make people wonder "is this REALLY in the Philippines?"
One of the gems from the Eiga Sai film festival from previous years is this film, Akunin (Villain) from Lee Sang-il. Upon watching the movie I can't help but feel some thematic similarities between this film and Norte: The End of History, which I recently watched. But such similarities are superficial at best. While both films tackle class, guilt and the nature of man in society, this film handles it in the context of a love story of sorts. Its additional themes of loneliness in modern society, and the ways people connect to one another despite horrible things happening, are something that is seen much more strongly in Japan. But that's just my take on it. Once I get to finishing the novel, I'll write a full review on this one.
Additionally, props have to go to veteran actor Akira Emoto, who surprisingly gives a career best performance in this film.
We end this slate of reviews with Non-Stop, a clever whodunit situated 40,000 feet in the air. Jaume Collet Serra and Liam Neeson collaborate for the second time in this film, and the results are okay.
Much of the fun from Non-Stop comes from figuring out who is behind the events of the film. The movie keeps you guessing until the climax of the film, whose real life believability is questionable at best. The film could probably have ended (badly) had he just explained to everyone what the hell was going on, but hey. Movie Logic.
It's not going to make any top ten lists for 2014, but it's still a heck of a fun ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment