Friday, August 30, 2013

The Wolverine (2013)

[the wolverine movie you all have been waiting for]
The Wolverine (2013)
IMDB- 7.1
Rottentomatoes- 68%
RJG Rating- 80

The immortal mutant ,Wolverine ,is invited by a soldier who he had rescued in World War 2.

Starring- Huge Jackman
Director- James Mangold

First of all ,The Wolverine is a sequel to 2006's XMen:The Last Stand (aka XMen3).

Huge Jackman is the heart and sole of this movie.He was born to play Wolverine and it doesnt matter even if everything fails ,Jackman would still be able to shine as Wolverine.But fortunately ,this isnt like XMen Origins (which was a colossal failure).Jackman gives one of his best performances as Wolverine.The movie has some good supporting actresses,Rila Fukushima (Yukio) and Tao Okamoto (Mariko) help keep the story running.

The story tries to pack enough drama and action into its 2hr duration.While this is a good approach ,i felt there was a bit too much drama that dragged a bit.The story focuses entirely on Wolverine and theres little time wasted on anyone else.The concept behind making him a mortal was a bit fuzzy ,but thanks to Jackman ,this isnt a big deal for the audience.From start to finish Jackman carries the movie with style and total power.
The villains were a bit of a disappointment.Viper, the Ninjas nor the Silver Samurai were of the same league as Wolverine and just seemed way too inferior.

Having Jackman go topless for majority of the movie was a clever trick by director,James Mangold.He knew exactly what the fans want and delivers it.Direction was good.Pacing was a bit slow generally ,but it picks up with the brilliant action scenes.All the action scenes were fast and intense and gave the movie the much needed adrenaline.The dramatic scenes are not meaningless and do have some depth in them.

Setting the movie in Japan was another great idea to infuse fresh blood into the superhero franchise.Since the movie is a standalone chapter in the XMen franchise ,not much memory of the previous movies are needed.Watching the movie was like reading a comic book, and at the end of the day ,thats what matters.

And do watch out for the end credits scene ! It does send a chill up your spine!

Overall ,fans wont be disappointed with Wolverine.Its one of the best superhero movies of this year.A must watch!

Acting- 4/5
Story- 3.5/5
Direction- 3.5/5
Action- 4.5/5
Drama- 4/5
Thriller- 4/5

PS:My ranking of the XMen series
1-First Class
2-Wolverine
3-XMen
4-XMen2
5-Origins:Wolverine
6-XMen3

Now You See Me (2013)

[over the top , empty vessel]
Now You See Me (2013) 
IMDB- 7.3
Rottentomatoes- 49%
RJG Rating- 20

4 magicians use their audience to rob a bank.Is it real or just a trick?

Starring- Mark Ruffalo,Jesse Eisenberg,Woody Harrelson
Director- Louis Leterrier

Now You See Me has one of the best cast of recent times.Mark Ruffalo (Hulk from Avengers) ,Jesse Eisenberg & Woody Harrelson (Social Network and Zombieland),Morgan Freeman & Michael Caine (Dark Knight) ,Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) ,Isla Fisher and Dave Franco. And what happens when you pile up so many good actors? You fall flat on your face.

All these actors go so over the top ,that at a point its unbearable to watch the movie.Jesse was the most annoying.His only talent here was to talk fast and thats all he does.Its time he selects more diverse roles.Woody & Mark play characters that are so poorly drawn up that they just end up acting below par.Morgan & Caine can be excused for sleep walking their way through this movie.Isla Fisher is another wasted actress in this movie.The only one that is worth watching is Dave Franco.

The story is one that fills up the crazy plot with really fantastical magic tricks.The problem here is that the writers dont know what the difference between magic tricks and actual magic are.Much of the plot is progressed with the help of real magic ,which is quite baffling since this is a movie about 4 street magicians.Well one of them atleast is a hypnotist who seems to have actual powers at times.

The story has trouble defining what it really is.At times its about magic ,at others its about a heist.And its better we dont talk about the heist, because thats another totally lame idea.Character development is utterly pathetic.While focusing on the 4 magicians at the start of the movie,it leaves them all of a sudden and focuses on the cop played by Mark Ruffalo.

The logic behind actions is completely missing and its extremely hard to connect with any of these low IQ characters.The movie tries so hard to act like a very intelligent magic movie ,without doubt it fails!

Direction was poor.Louis Leterrier does make a stylish movie with a well established cast, but the poor story and direction wastes the potential.On a positive note ,the action sequences were fun and the fight/chase scene between Ruffalo and Franco is a big highlight.

My frustration with the movie reached a peak with the finale and the twist.Both which were completely idiotic.The entire movie leaves you with plenty of questions ,for which finding answers will be a vain attempt.

Overall ,Now You See Me is plain nonsense and crap ,but its a timepass watch if you can switch your brains off.

Acting- 1/5
Story- 0.5/5
Direction- 1/5
Action- 3/5
Drama- 1.5/5
Suspense- 2/5
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