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mike_culligan22
Reviews
Hercules (2014)
Not as advertised
Hello fellow movie lovers. This review contains spoilers.
The trailers I saw for this movie made me believe it was going to focus on Hercules and his legendary battles with monsters from his labors.
However, they quickly gloss over those monsters in the first few minutes, then say "this is the story of the real Hercules," and the movie doesn't contain any Gods, magic, mythological beasts, or demi gods. Instead, the movie says there was only a man, a mercenary, who happen to have people spread myths and legends. That he also was never alone, but pretty much always had the backing of his friends in battle.
As a huge fan of Greek mythology, I went to the theatre expecting what the trailer advertised, and was hijinxed by another "Brothers Grimm" that didn't even make up for it by adding some magic later, but left one wanting... The story was way too easy to call as well. I'd love to have seen another "Brothers Grimm" after seeing its value upon rewatching, but if they make a sequel to this Hercules, I think I'll pull an Autolycus, only I won't be returning.
Only surprise to me, was them chaining up the "animal" at night because he suffers PTSD, then having him unchained at night in another scene helping Hercules with his "ptsd." Pretty sure they just missed the error but it still made no sense.
All in all, I gave it a 4/10 because it was watchable and had some nice action. The advertising for this movie lost it a few points alone since it wasn't what was advertised, the acting was OK but who in their right mind would ever have cast the baker who moved to Germany in "How I Met Your Mother" as a fighter...also her scenes seemed like they just wanted to add a Legolas character as well as a female to the ensemble of characters. I love Atalanta, but wow what a waste of her myth.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
Better than I thought. Better than most.
Wow, just wow. I bought this movie for my collection thinking it'd be along the same lines. It blew me away how good this was. Way better than the past few DC animations that have come out. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole movie and even shed some tears. Also, there is something after the credits, so stay tuned.
This movie kept up a good pace of speed(no pun intended), never really slowing down but more like speeding up as it progressed. A lot of emotions flowing every which way since I knew the characters back stories. I highly recommend watching or reading some comic books or shows with the Justice League before watching this if you're a new comer, just because it will grab you that much more as you watch it.
The voice casting was spot on, and you'd be hard pressed not to recognize some familiar voices if you've ever seen a DC animation before.
This truly is a must see for any comic book fan.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Way better than I had expected.
I'm an avid fan of the Alice in Wonderland animation by Disney as well as the book by Lewis Carroll. Watching the trailers made me realize it wasn't a remake but a 'return' which had me giddy with joy for a new story.
Even though the Cheshire Cat didn't amuse me as much as in the animation and book, and the dormouse wasn't tired and used a sword like every other mouse in every other movie, this movie was awesome.
Being a Tim Burton film I was shocked how well he kept this movie in the range of children. I sat in the theatre with people of all ages who appeared to enjoy the film. The most mature part of the film would be either the heads in the moat of blood, the eye part with Dormouse, and the fake breasts scene. Very tastefully done Tim! I applaud you for not taking this movie too far away from it's start.
The trailers led me to believe the movie may be too built around the Mad Hatter, advertising Johnny Depp and basically no one else, I was pleasantly surprised when it followed Alice the whole time essentially. I think the actress who portrayed Alice, Mia Wasikowska, was the best cast decision in the whole film. The best Alice I've ever seen cast and one I wish to see again in perhaps a reprisal in another Wonderland tale. I absolutely fell in love with her. I loved how Alice took care of the Jabberwocky, and her line "Off with your head!" Epic.
The soundtrack throughout the movie and credits were wonderful, I liked them all.
10/10 Stars from a very satisfied Wonderland fan.
Mia Wasikowska is my new favorite actress because of her performance as Alice.
Edited to add this: Alice is 19 now. My question is why is everyone complaining about her not being the same naive girl she was before? Hard to believe everyone complaining remained as ignorant when they were 19 as when they were 7. I choose not to wear the codfish on my head.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Far better than I had expected.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this earlier today. After I saw the trailer that was horribly put together it made the movie look incredibly bad but when you actually watch the movie, your impressed it's not.
I frowned upon the casting of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine for the X-Men movies but I can't say who I'd like to portray him since I don't know anyone that really fits into his role. Jackman had apparently worked out and beefed up for the role, looking much stronger than in the previous X-Men movies, now if only he'd lose some height, ha ha.
This movie strays from the early comics of Wolverine and only about 20% of it remains true to his back-story that was written. The James Howlett story arc is new to the marvel universe and in my opinion a failure. I preferred the mystique of the Wolverine of Old, a hidden past, not knowing much. I've been a huge fan of Marvel comics since I was about 7 and loved picking apart all the things wrong with this movie compared to what I believe is the true Wolverine story.
7/10 For being a story arc that is fairly new explaining Wolverines past as James Howlett, I gave it that rating.
Pretty good for a reworking of his storyline, you'll only be upset if you're truly a comic book fan who followed Wolverine in his early years and hold it to that standard.
Edit: Adrian Paul would have made a better Wolverine. Especially since they're suppose to do the next movie about his time in Japan.