BvS: Dawn of Justice (2016)

June 23, 2017 can't come soon enough after seeing Wonder Woman (precisely who I went to see) in all her resplendence and force today (March 24). The Dehradun theater full of some extremely well-versed crowd (comic book nerds as yours truly!) clamored with whistles and applauds!  I wish I could watch all my DC-Marvel flicks in Dehradun instead of yet-to-catch-up NCR!


 
Good days are coming for DC! The promising Justice League is taking shape too. If nothing else, Suicide Squad (read Margot Robbie aka Harley Quinn) will ensure that :)
 
About the film, how can a comic book nerd not enjoy a movie featuring the big three with Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman! Went in without reading any reviews and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Not a perfect film (but a Zack S film never is, you either love his style or don't), but it achieves enough to brush aside the flaws.

Recommendations:
1) WATCH in 2D
2) Work through the first half patiently, second half more makes up for any deliberations.
3) REMEMBER - Superman and Batman become the heroes that we know today after this film's conclusion. Supes "sacrifice" and Bats (un)brand of justice for Lex Luthor are powerful scenes that subtly bring forth the real heroes to the world.

Finally, with all the overtly critical reviews doing the rounds, I rest my case with the below image that sums the situation neatly.



Image source 


8.2/10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Director: Francis Lawrence

Keeps you engaged with strong performances from lead actors and a few wisecracks here and there. The music is engrossing too (still humming 'The Hanging Tree'...there is nothing Lawrence can't do!). Felt tad too long, given it lacked great content of first two parts.

Overall, a good buildup to the finale of series.


6.9/10

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

Director: Ridley Scott

A disappointing affair.  Ridley Scott is known for creating characters that etch into your memory forever—Maximus, Ripley, Deckard. Nothing like that in this film. Summing it up:

- Decent special effects
- Dull acting
- Not enough substance justifying the length.

Best part of the film was the kid playing God; perfectly executed the hatred one might feel following 400 years of slavery. Points to expansive sets too.

Charlton Heston’s Moses remains the one to beat. In fact, the animated version “The Prince of Egypt” was definitely much better than this recent take.

6/10

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Hands down the sauciest summer blockbuster of 2014—entertaining as hell!

Every single character in the film packs a punch and you totally (G)root for them. It is one of those rare films maintaining a balance of power between good and bad, all through.

Film has a beautiful build up of all the characters with each one of them reaching crescendo. Director shrewdly wards off any triteness in screenplay and familiarizes you to characters without traditional flashbacks and too many back stories; he rather lets actions of the characters speak for themselves—audience is settled into knowing and conciliating with them in natural flow of story.

All five heroes—Quill, Groot, Drax, Rocket, and Gamora—have connected well with the audience and are going to stay with us a while. They have the usual, appealing premise: a band of anti-heroes, mercenaries, and brats coming together to save the world. The goodness in them isn’t apparent but inherent; now they know it and so does the galaxy!

Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, with his whistling arrow, was a top-drawer. With all his nonsensical antics earlier in the film, you don’t bank on him to wrap it up this good! But boy does he NAIL it against the Kree soldiers :)

Always nice to see Stan Lee getting some, dude deserves it all! Looking forward to Cosmos the Soviet Dog taking charge in the skull outpost in upcoming film(s). Howard the Duck was briefly there; maybe Marvel is just pitching the character...and because they can—unlike the counterparts, DC.

When it comes to comics, I was only somewhat familiar with the Guardians, more so to the recent 2008 team, and have never gone deeper in all the Guardians of the Galaxy stories—my to-do immediately.

8.5/10

(rating upped after multiple viewings, obviously!)

Dracula is Back!!

The origin story of Dracula is being retold in 2014. While Luke Evans does look the part, the act is going to be a tall order. Considering, how accurately and fascinatingly Stefan Sileanu brought the legend to life on big-screen in the Romanian epic VLAD TEPES (1979/80). 
 
Come fall of 2014, and we will know whether this film measures up to the greatness of original.

At this point, it seems upcoming film will be more of a fantasy than history—unlike 1979/80 one. In any case, I look forward to seeing one of the most intriguing and mystical legend live onscreen again, and hope you do too!

More on IMDB.
My take on the Vlad Tepes of Romania.