Batman (1989)

Gotham City is home to criminals and a corrupt police department. There is effort from Harvey Dent and Commissioner Jim Gordon, but there is only one person who can stop the criminals: the Batman. The police are out looking for the masked figure. Prize winning photographer Vicky Vale is hired to uncover the identity of Batman. Jack Napier is an enforcer to Gotham's underword boss Grishom. After a freak accident at the acid factory, Napier takes on a new persona: the Joker. The Joker soon takes over the underworld and performs villainous crimes, and it is up to Batman to stop him. Tim Burton created a dark and gritty atmosphere with Batman; it wasn't like the Adam West 1960's Batman, which was silly. There is a dark and stylized Gotham in this film, and it is great to look at. 

The performances in this film are great. Michael Keaton is Bruce Wayne, the playboy billionaire who lost his parents when he was young, and he was taken in by Alfred, his butler. He does a great job both as Wayne and as Batman, the crime fighting vigilante. The show-stealer, however, is Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Nicholson puts on a dark comical spin on the villain, and is excellent in the role.

The score by Danny Elfman is fantastic in the film, and has a very memorable theme that goes well with the feel of the film. However, the score seems to be ruined by countless Prince songs going over the score. The Prince soundtrack didn't work for me with the feel of the film.

The action scenes are great and very well stylized for the 80's decade. It is one of the original superhero films, and one of the darker ones. It is a great popcorn film, nothing really that special of a film though.

Overall, Nicholson and Keaton delivered two great performances in a well made film by Tim Burton, and a great score by Danny Elfman. Batman is definitely worth checking out if you are a comic book fan or an action fan in general.

4/5

The Hunger Games: MockingJay Part 1

With the Games now destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people. She also tries to save Peeta (Josh Hutchinson) from the Capitol's clutches.

Following the trend of other popular book-turned movies like Lord of The Rings, Twilight and Harry Potter, Mockingjay is split into two parts, which means we have to wait a whole year for the conclusion to the Hunger Games saga. That really disappointed me, as this film was merely a set-up to the final clash between Katniss and the Capitol. But I still went into the film with high expectations, having enjoyed the previous films. However, the film was very slow, and even boring at times.

There were a couple action scenes, and they looked visually stunning. . The performances here are great. Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss and is excellent in the role once again. Josh Hutchinson's Peeta was great as well, and the effects on his character towards the end of the movie are really good. Julianne Moore was great in the film as the leader of District 13. This is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's last film, and he delivers a really good final performance.

The film's runtime is 2 hrs and at times, it may seem slow because there isn't much that happens, but the stuff that does happen is exciting and will keep fans excited for the epic finale next year. The events that happen in the finale of part 1 are thrilling, but it ends up leaving on a cliffhanger.

Overall, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 was a very solid buildup to part 2, with excellent performances, but the film is slow and boring. I would recommend the film still.

3.5/5

The Fault in our Stars

The Fault in our Stars is directed by Josh Boone and stars Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolfe, Laura Dern, Sam Trammel, and Wiliem Dafoe. The Fault in our Stars is based on the bestselling novel by John Green.

The story follows the relationship between Hazel (Woodley) and Gus (Elgort), two teenagers who met at a cancer support group. Hazel has stage 4 thyroid cancer, and she has to have an oxygen tank and a cannula around her nose to help her breathe, while Gus had osteosarcoma, and had his right leg amputated, but he has a prosthetic leg.

Reuniting after their sibling roles in Divergent, Woodley and Elgort were great here. They delivered one of the better on screen romances I had seen in a while. They had really good chemistry together. Nat Wolfe was good in the film as well, playing Gus's friend Issac, who had a tumor in his eye and wears a glass eye now. Laura Dern and Sam Trammel are also good playing Hazel's parents, and Willem Dafoe was great playing the author of Hazel's favorite book series.

The themes in the film deal with cancer, and at times, the film gets real emotional. And I admit that I cried while watching this movie. Overall, The Fault in Our Stars is a really well done film. It has great performances from Woodley and Elgort as the main leads. Its a film that I highly recommend.

P.S: Soon I will read the novel by John Green and will be making a book-movie comparison blog, so look forward to that.

- TheQuirkyCritic

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Review by Alexander Hall

                How To Train Your Dragon 2 is directed by Dean Debois and features the voice talents of Jay Baruchel, Gerald Butler, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, America Fererra, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig. It is a sequel to the 2010 animated hit.

                5 years have passed since the first How To Train Your Dragon. Dragons and vikings are successfully united in the island of Berk, thanks to the efforts of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon companion, Toothless. Hiccup's dad, Stoick (Gerald Butler) wants Hiccup to become chief of the village, and become a man but Hiccup is unsure that he has what it takes. When Hiccup and Toothless discover an ice cave that is home to many dragons and the dragon rider, they find themselves at the center of a incoming battle to protect dragons.

                How To Train Your Dragon 2, like its predecessor,  has beautiful animation. Sometimes the film looks live-action, with some great cinematography shots, and the computer animation makes this film one of the better looking animated films.

                The film deals with more mature subject matter and is not just a film for kids, but it is something adults will enjoy, with themes of family, and young adult hood. But the film supplies the comedy that the original had.

                I think How To Train Your Dragon 2 is just as good as The Lego Movie and Frozen. Some critics have said that Dragon is better than Frozen and Lego Movie, and I can understand why they believe that. The film made me tear up in some scenes, and it reminds me of The Lion King so much.

10/10

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellan.

Set in a futuristic timeline where mutants are being exterminated by machines known as sentinels, Professor Xavier and Magneto send Wolverine back in time to the 1970's to get the younger X and Magneto to join forces again and stop the creation of the sentinels and change the future.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the best superhero films I have ever seen. It has a great mixture of action and humor with some of the best scenes in a movie ever. Ths humor comes mostly from the film being set in the 70s'.

First, let me talk about the acting. Hugh Jackman proves once again why he was casted as Wolverine. He is perfect in the role. He delivers a lot of emotion as the character this time around, with less action than the previous predecessor, The Wolverine. Jackman was vicious in The Wolverine, but he showed a less vicious side in this film. Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart were great in the supporting roles of older Professor X and Magneto. They're not in the movie as much as I thought they would have been, but the scenes that they were in were great. The movie was mostly focused on the X-Men First Class actors, like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. They showed such great chemistry as young Professor X and Magneto having to team up again to save the world. Jennifer Lawrence was the atandout in the movie, I felt, playing Mystique. She had a lot of action scenes that sjowed that she was a force to be reckoned with and the emotion ahe showed was so amazing.

The setting for the futuristic timeline the film was set in was so apocalyptic and grim. Mutants getting killed and the sentinels reigning. I was so emotional and speechless, and with the post credits scene, it got me pumped for X-Men Apocalypse. Overall, X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the best films of the year. It delivers on so many expectations I had and was looking for in a big blockbuster superhero film.

10/10