Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Sword Of Destiny (2016) - Michelle Yeoh , Donnie Yen

It can't be easy to create a follow up to an influential and critically acclaimed film. So when it was announced that there would be a sequel to Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I decided to keep an open mind, until I have seen the movie for myself.

 Set eighteen years after the end of the first Crouching Tiger, Yu Shu Lien who is thankfully still played by Michelle Yeoh has emerged out of hiding to once again protect the sword, Green Destiny, this time from an evil warlord. Michelle Yeoh still plays the part well, but there seems to be too much of a homage to the first film, so it is a little hard not to draw comparisons when the film is openly inviting you to do so with every turn. I'm not sure if this is coming from the source material, which is the novel where it is based on, but the reminders are a bit irritating and does not work at all. Take for example the character of Snow Vase played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo , it is obvious that she is meant to draw parallels with Jen Yu who was played by Zhang Ziyi in the original movie. For her first scene she actually walked in wearing similar clothes to Jen Yu.

That could have been handled better , instead of making her a Zhang Ziyi stand-in, she should have been allowed to stand on her own, Even if (and I'm assuming here) that she was meant to remind Yu Shu Lien of Jen Yu in the novel, they should have done it in a more subtle way. Because frankly her character was all over the place, by trying to be Jen Yu she falls flat.

None of the other supporting character fared any better. So many of them died , but you wind up not caring for them. I know that there is a limited screen time , but maybe lessening the ensemble cast would have allowed them to be more than just one dimensional characters. Then there is the main villain , Hades Dai played by Jason Scott Lee was a walking caricature. We had no idea what drove him , what he cared about, he was just simply there to be bad.
Another thing that bothers me about this movie is that it doesn't feel like a Wuxia film . I grew up watching movies of that genre and this one is too westernized. The fight choreography was okay, but there is something about how they paced it, and framed it on the screen that feels off. When you watch Wuxia films today from Hongkong, China or Taiwan , fight scenes are shot like a dance , and every frame is a painting. I can see that they attempted to do this, but failed in the nuance. The fights were well done brawls , but they aren't the aesthetically beautiful scenes that Asian cinema is so good at.

The worst mistake though that they did, is the addition of magic. There is nothing wrong with a dash of mysticism, in this film. A seer who spouts prophecy is fine, but the other magic stuff was wrong it felt like, how aliens was added to Indiana Jones, it ruined the continuity and was just ridiculous. Also the CGI , special effects was too much in your face that it looked really fake , again it should have been more subtle.
This movie is sort of entertaining, but really at the core it is bad. If you have seen the first Crouching Tiger, this would be a massive disappointment.It is the sort film that you tend to watch when you are bored and have nothing better to do.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by: Yeun Woo-Ping

Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu Lien
Donnie Yen as Silent Wolf
Harry Shum Jr. as Wei-Fang
Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Snow Vase
Jason Scott Lee as Hades Dai

Howl"s Moving Castle (2004)

I just realized that this is the first animation film I'll be reviewing, to think that I have watched a lot of those . The Lion King was my absolute favorite as a kid after all . But I'll be talking about an Anime film , which is a very different genre from a disney film.

Howl is a fantasy anime film , set in what I would refer to as a steam punk type of world, with magic of course. The story is not really japanese , it is based of a novel written by a British author . Which explains the very Victorian look of the setting. It tells the story of a young girl who accidentally meets a wizard and not the old wizened type , but a young handsome wizard named Howl. She gets embroiled in a short chase with strange shadow shape shifting type of creatures who were following Howl. He leads them away from her , and she goes on with her normal routine. But when she gets back to her store , she is confronted by the witch of the waste who as it turns out are the masters of this creatures . She is cursed to old age and to not have the power to speak about that curse . The witch then leaves her to her plight . Not knowing what to do , she leaves the next day in search of a solution to her problem and winds up inside the strange moving castle of Howl and this is where her actual journey begins .

This movie is brilliant , the plot and the strange twists in the story is enough to keep you on your seat . The animation is beautifully done , in this day and age where we are so used to Pixar type of rendering, this I have to say may actually be even more visually appealing than that. All the characters are well fleshed out, and defined . The characters don't really need to belt out into a song or depend on humor to get the movie going . Something that does not happen in western animated films . And you really have no idea where the story is going , there is no foreshadowing or a lead on . Which makes it even better . This is generally a great film, within and outside the genre of animation.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Cast Japanese /English Dub

Sophie (young)... Chieko Baisho /Emily Mortimer
Sophie (old)... Chieko Baisho /Jean Simmons
Howl... Takuya Kimura /Christian Bale
Witch of the Waste... Akihiro Miwa /Lauren Bacall
Calcifer... Tatsuya Gashūin /Billy Crystal
Markl... Ryūnosuke Kamiki /Josh Hutcherson
Madame Suliman... Haruko Katō /Blythe Danner
Lettie... Yayoi Kazuki /Jena Malone
Honey... Mayuno Yasokawa /Mari Devon

Thor: the Dark World (2013)

Like everyone , I was really excited about this. Come on , another superhero flick from the marvel cinematic universe that is awesome . I'm not gonna waste my time and yours with a synopsis , more or less with this film's marketing you most probably already know what this will be about. It's simply Thor part 2 and he gets to kick ass that's what is important. But I was pleasantly surprised at how good this movie was , and I don't mean blockbuster "good" but cinematic gem. This movie is more than just a comic book superhero film , it is part fantasy , part sci-fi , and all epic. There is only one other superhero franchise I would attach the epic moniker to , and that would be the critically acclaimed Christian Bale-Batman series. There was so much depth in this movie . Chris Hemsworth we already know is great at being Thor, and here he goes unto another level, he was able to flesh out his character. But I have to give props to Tom Hiddleston who portrays Loki , his performance blew me away , I think he deserves an award for it. Plus there is the storyline, that was a great script , I think the story of Thor :The Dark World is so far the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise , I will even go so far to say that in my humble opinion that this is also the best film in the franchise.The Viking Funeral scene was so beautiful, it was a visual splendor , every screen cap felt like a painting , that was shot lovingly. And there were so many twists and turns , every character even in a short while were actually given a chance to shine. And the dramatic scenes did not felt like a nuisance to all the action like in most special effect films of this magnitude . It felt integral, and you actually felt for the characters instead of feeling detached and eagerly awaiting for the next explosion. This is a masterpiece among the large numbers of superhero films we have now . You won't just be enjoying yourself with a blockbuster , you'll also be viewing Art..it's that good.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Alan Taylor

Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
Anthony Hopkins as Odin
Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Christopher Eccleston as Malekith
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Algrim
Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
Zachary Levi as Fandral
Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
Jaimie Alexander as Sif
Rene Russo as Frigga

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower

City of Bones is a teen fantasy set in modern day New York , it tells the story of Clary Fray , who like all teenage heroes or heroine in this genre discover that they have some sort of special power after something catastrophic happens to them, in which they will go on a voyage of self discovery and follow clues to save the day guided by an other worldly being that they just met and might fall in love with. Yup heard it before and seen it before , well not quite City of Bones was able to make certain twists in this genre which was an amazing surprise for me .

The basics is all there , Clary Fray is a shadowhunter , which is basically somebody who hunts bad things in the night, she sees something extraordinary , her mother disappears, she meets other shadowhunters and she joins them . That is the core of the story , what it differs from the other teen fantasy drama , is (I really don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it so read only at your own peril) , the addition of a major gay character , and hints of incest , something I've never encountered before( Dumbledore doesn't count, that fact about him was never revealed in the Harry Potter films), although they did play it down that was still a nice twist . I had to laugh at the incest part because Lena Heady who plays Queen Cercei in Game of Thrones is in this movie, you'll know what I'm talking about if you watch it. Anyways aside from that , with a big budget , it is a given that the special effects would be amazing, because it really is . The acting was nice, the cast performed well especially the two leads , they actually had facial expressions unlike other more famous teen fantasy franchises cough* twilight cough*. And there were somewhat scary parts, the vampires and demons especially were menacing and not cartoon-ish . I haven't read the book so I don't know if they translated it well on screen , but I did enjoy it, it was a fun ride . All in all a good popcorn movie, it really did not disappoint.

Watch Trailer Here

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

So it's been a while since I posted something, so I decided to start with something light. The new Percy Jackson flick starring the next big thing "Logan Lerman", who just totally blew all of us away with his performance in Perks of Being a wallflower, (which I still have to write about by the way) gave us an okay delivery . To be fair this is a summer movie and this part is not as juicy as the one in perks, but I have to say; Percy Jackson is a great ride, it is fun to watch it is great to enjoy, worth the money you pay for it , just don't expect any top caliber acting or amazing story lines. It is pure and simple a popcorn film. There were bad parts, and somethings were kind of ludicrous, I have a feeling that somehow they were trying to give this story a heart, but it really doesn't succeed in that score, so I think they should have had just dropped it, and focused on the mythology and the action. After all that is why we watch it in the first place anyway.

watch trailer here:click

Krabat (2008)- David Kross , Daniel Bruhl

Based on a dark children's tale, Krabat is a nice change from the sort of fantasy tales that Hollywood would normally churn out. The film tells the story of a young orphan boy who learns under the tutelage of a sorcerer. But this master of magic is no benevolent wizard like Dumbledore or Gandalf, instead he harbors a secret from which the entire movie revolves around and slowly unfolds to.

The story in itself is very engaging, it tends to be told in a manner similar to a suspense film, and the mystery of what is going on is given in tidbits and really keeps you hanging. With an excellent cast the film doesn't lack anything in the acting department, David Kross and Daniel Bruhl deliver excellent performances again, Kross does well in his ability to create a sense of innocence and a dark foreboding and Bruhl is magnificent as a sort of big brother and mentor like figure to Kross. I especially love the setting, the costume and sets, especially the mill acts ad a character in itself, the place does create a sense of imprisonment and shadowlike killer instinct which works very well in the movie. Despite a few inconsistencies the movie is a gem and an excellent watch, I think in a way it is sort of similar to Pan's Labyrinth in creating a dark fantasy and tends to approach that other film's greatness.

watch trailer:Here

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Goodbye Lenin (2003)- Daniel Bruhl

Same Same But Different(2009)-David Kross, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk