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User
Reviews 28
Approval 99%
Soundoffs 3
Album Ratings 1843
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Last Active 07-10-16 10:28 am
Joined 06-14-14
Review Comments 652
| Awesome Movies, Vol. V
The movie frontier. | | 1 |  | Soundgarden
Superunknown
Super: From the extremely imaginative director of Guardians of the Galaxy, Super is a superb (pun-intended) film that manages to surpass similarly-themed, realistic superhero tales such as Kick-Ass and Defendor, making for a surprising blast of entertainment that leaves you thinking: should we actually be cheering for this so-called "hero" at the centre of this picture? Well, it's definitely easy to root for Frank Darbo (a.k.a. The Crimson Bolt) as he's played by the ever-dependable Rainn Wilson in a shockingly-emotional performance. It's a performance that allows him to explore his subtle comedic chops, but also lets him cut loose in some truly stunning dramatic moments as well (plenty taking place during the film's outstanding final third). Ellen Page, Nathan Fillion (in a hilarious cameo), Michael Rooker, Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon are all fantastic in their supporting performances, giving this film a terrific cast in support of an equally terrific story. With outstanding direction from James Gunn, Super is a modern masterpiece in every regard. Hysterical and thought-provoking; it may even make you tear up a bit at the end. | | 2 |  | Bruce Willis
The Return of Bruno
Unbreakable: Both my favourite Bruce Willis and M. Night Shyamalan film, Unbreakable weaves a compelling tale about a modern-day Superman who doesn't realize he has such extraordinary powers. It was a mistake to market this film as a mystery, you can thank Quentin Tarantino for that Superman quote because it was on his all-time favourite films list a while back and he sets the record perfectly when he says that the film would have found a much bigger audience than The Sixth Sense had it been more open about what it was actually aspiring to be: a real-life superhero story. This was something that slowly started to surprise me upon my first viewing, the film is beautifully-shot and the performances are genuinely natural, making this film a breeze to get through. The Orange Man scene is easily the defining moment of the film, shocking, haunting and marvellous in every conceivable way. Overall, the film is a masterpiece, the score alone still sends shivers down my spine, but the performances and great direction on-display throughout make this film a mesmerizing experience. A must-see. If I couldn't sell you on the film, let Quentin Tarantino tell you about the greatness held within: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjhHjhyv6sw | | 3 |  | Dark Tranquillity
Damage Done
Darkman: Quite possibly Sam Raimi's most underrated film, along with Army of Darkness (which is my personal favourite of the Evil Dead trilogy), Darkman is an oddball film. Weird monologues ("What am I? Some... kind of a... freak?! Is that it?!"), awkward situations ("Take the f%@#ing elephant") and over-the-top villain performances ("Because I built it... I BUILT IT ALL!") make this film a wonderful, well-crafted mess all-around. "Mess" shouldn't be considered a fault though, as the messiness of the film is what gives it its charm, elevating it above drivel such as The Shadow and Dick Tracy, both of which were released around the same time (in the 90s) in order to compete with "Batmania". Overall, Darkman is a delightful blend of literary materials such as The Shadow (Raimi wanted to direct the film adaptation, but was declined, instead giving us this original and far-superior film), The Invisible Man and a dash of the classic film Robocop for good measure. | | 4 |  | Flesh And Blood Robot
The Sound That Revolvers Make
Robocop (1987): Speaking of Robocop, what's not to love about this film? It's a classic through-and-through in every way. Hard-hitting, perfectly-paced, brutal, hilarious, intriguing, the film has everything that a die-hard action fan truly wants... and more! Every time I go back and watch the film, I'm always surprised by how it still manages to impress me after all of these years; the factory shoot-out, even the moments before then, with Clarence threatening the cocaine dealer, are amazing. The score in particular helps to elevate the action sequences, allowing them to feel subdued and grandiose in the same regard, and the jaw-dropping sound of Murphy's pistol begs for a powerful sound system. Not much to say about this film that hasn't already been said about it, it's simply perfect in every way and a prime example of a film that DIDN'T need to be remade (even though it did turn out to be a lot better than the majority of us thought it would). | | 5 |  | Ozzy Osbourne
The Ultimate Sin
The Wraith: Capping off my self-proclaimed "deadman trilogy", The Wraith is about a young kid who gets brutally murdered by a gang of thugs over the jealousy of his beautiful girlfriend, Keri, who they concuss in the process of putting him in a fiery grave. I would consider this film to be the visual inspiration for The Crow because, like that film, the flashbacks have a distinct blue-and-red tinge to them. Another thing that make the two films very similar is their kick-ass soundtracks. Where The Crow had such great bands as The Cure and Rage Against the Machine, The Wraith has amazing songs throughout by Ozzy Osboune, Billy Idol, Mötley Crüe and, most-notably, a fantastic theme-song by Tim Feehan known as "Where's the Fire". Though the film is extremely campy, it's campy in the best way possible as it never takes things too seriously where you're left rolling your eyes in process. | |
riffariffic7
02.04.15 | A list of non-comic-based superhero films. Hope you guys get the chance to check these films out if you haven't already seen them. We need more superhero films like these nowadays. Why adapt a comic-book/graphic novel when you can create something fresh and original? | Clumseee
02.04.15 | The Incredibles. | riffariffic7
02.04.15 | That's the obvious one though. Plus, I already listed The Iron Giant, which is from the same director, Brad Bird. As much as I love The Incredibles, I prefer Ratatouille (which is my favourite Pixar film thus far, also directed by Brad Bird though). I wanted to mention non-comic-based superhero films that many people may not be familiar with. Have you seen more than 2 or 3 of these films? | Kubrick
02.04.15 | "Why adapt a comic-book/graphic novel when you can create something fresh and original?"
For a lot of different reasons, but mainly:
1. It's much more difficult and time consuming (read: costly) to create an original idea for a superhero movie with new characters/setting/plot etc.
and , most importantly
2. There is no built-in fan base. Superhero movies based on comics are a very good investment for studios because there is a huge built-in fan base that you're pretty much guaranteed to make money off of regardless of the quality of the film. So it's a much, much lower risk investment compared an to original superhero movie that could flop much more easily. Furthermore superhero movies in general are quite expensive, so there's not much point for studios to take a risk when they can make guaranteed money and with less effort/cost at that.
Also, just my opinion but I think the last thing the movie industry needs is MORE superhero movies (regardless of whether they are original ideas). We're absolutely inundated with movies from this genre every year as it is. | adr
02.04.15 | Kubrick lives |
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