The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)


User Reviews

Picking up almost immediately after the events of "Breaking Dawn Part 1," Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) must brave raising their newborn child Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) in a world where vampire children are forbidden. When Irina (Maggie Grace) spies close friend and werewolf guardian Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) out for a snowy stroll with the rapidly growing Renesmee, she assumes the young girl was turned into a vampire as opposed to being born – which in vampire lore, represents an unignorable dilemma from permanent immaturity, potentially destructive tantrums, and general untrustworthiness. Betraying this inaccurate vision to the inflexible Volturi leader Aro (Michael Sheen), she incites a war between the Cullens and their sympathizers and Aro's army of skillful followers.
There's something exhilarating about the Twilight Saga finally coming to a close. The repetitious nature of witnessing Lautner dramatically remove his shirt, seeing scantily clad forest people metamorphosing into over-sized werewolves that appear entirely too cuddly despite gritted canines, and looking at Stewart's blank face trying desperately to emote, has equated to a tiresome journey. The numerous problems plaguing the series haven't been solved, once again demonstrating the excruciating preposterousness of vampire strength and speed (and now more conspicuously the feeding on wild game), unconvincing computer graphics (isn't this franchise much too lucrative to ignore possibilities outside of Rodeo FX and Hydraulx?), and an overabundance of comic relief.
The pervasive humor in "Breaking Dawn" is perhaps the greatest scourge of the production. The first half-hour is so blanketed by one-liner riffs that it's difficult to understand the intent. These constant little jokes don't progress the story and only serve to pollute the tone, which gravely requires seriousness to market sense for the wildly fanciful, fairy-tale-like characters. Imprinting, the love triangle, a very PG-13 sex scene, Bella arm-wrestling to prove her fortitude – all of these and more are purely comedic (while aspiring to be expectedly essential) and further detract from the severity of quenching bloodlust, rearing an enigmatic child, and engineering an army for an epic closing battle. The casting of Michael Sheen is easily the most garish selection, bestowing upon the goofy role expressions, dialogue, and cackles that garner awkward laughs. Later, the elaboration of special powers beyond merely being immortal bloodsuckers (the mastery of electricity, elemental distortion, mind control, etc.) is presented as pathetically derivative of X-Men mutants. The lengths the vampires will go to conceal their vampirism has apparently made it necessary to exploit flashier abilities, akin to superheroes. Jacob even comments of Bella's "Jedi training."
Admittedly, it's amusing to see the much-awaited culmination of the Volturi's mercilessness and the Cullen's protective righteousness. The highly anticipated, skull-ripping campaign isn't without unexpected and momentous casualties. An unfortunate twist surrounds this momentary enthusiasm and welcome realization of acerbity and violence, however, revealing a method of misdirection tantamount to storytelling treason – which will unavoidably displease the casual or uneducated viewer (namely those not familiar with the book, should they exist in crowds for this release). At least Bella's narration quickens the overly simplistic plot, resulting in a finale for the theatrical phenomenon thankfully clocking in at less than two hours.

Storyline

The final Twilight Saga begins with Bella now a vampire learning to use her abilities. And happy to see her daughter, Renesmee is flourishing. But when someone sees Renesmee do something that makes them think that she was turned. This person goes to the Volturi, because it is a violation to turn a child. And the penalty is death for both who turned the child into a vampire and the child, cause they deem a turned child too dangerous. Alice gets a vision of the Volturi coming after them. So the Cullens try to convince them that Renesmee is not a threat. So they ask friends and family to come stand with them. But when someone who has it in for the Volturi shows up and tells them they should be ready for a fight. And they get ready.


Cast

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Billy Burke, Dakota Fanning.

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)


User Reviews

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away is fantastic. You see segments of most of the Cirque du Soleil shows, which are all terrific. The cinematography is excellent, the music is beautiful, and the acrobatics are incredible. There's a weak story line that does not interfere with the beauty of the movie at all. If fact, there is hardly any dialogue. You just sit back and enjoy the amazing sights on the screen. If you've seen any of the Cirque du Soleil shows, you'll enjoy recognizing them again on screen. The ending aerial act will take your breath away. Additionally, before the movie starts, there's a brief documentary about the making of the film, which makes the movie even more enjoyable.

Storyline

A young woman in a small Mid-Western town goes to a traveling carnival one evening, where she is urged by a silent clown to visit the carnival's circus and see The Aerialist, the show's star attraction. She is entranced by The Aerialist, but during his act he misses a catch and falls to the ground. She rushes to help him, but then the ground beneath them gives way and they fall through into the dreamlike world of Cirque du Soleil. Separated, they travel through the different tent worlds trying to find each other, interacting with the strange and wonderful performers and performances of Cirque du Soleil.


Cast

Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov, Matt Gillanders, Jason Berrent, Dallas Barnett, Sophia Elisabeth, Lutz Halbhubner.

Life of Pi (2012)

Life of Pi (2012)


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With his latest movie, "Life of Pi", Ang Lee further establishes himself as one of the greatest contemporary movie directors. Starting from his Taiwanese beginnings, and his highly enjoyable, family-harmonizing "Father Knows Best" trilogy (1992-1994), through his Academy Award winning works on gracefully choreographed, highly spiritualized Far East martial arts tour de force "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000, best foreign-language film) and on an uncommon yet nostalgic portrayal of the Old West in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005, best director), to his other titles like "Sense and Sensibility" (1995), "The Ice Storm" (1997), and "Lust, Caution" (2007), quality and Kubrick-like versatility shown in his movies offer continuous attraction for wide audience of his admirers.

Lee's latest and, so far, easily, greatest movie, "Life of Pi" is based on a screenplay adapted from the acclaimed fictional adventure novel written by Canadian author Yann Martel.

Throughout his childhood, due to matching pronunciation of French word "piscine" (pool, swimming pool) and English word "pissing", Piscine Molitor Patel, named that way after later abandoned Parisian swimming pool, so predictably suffers from being nicknamed "Pissing Patel". In order to avoid it, once in high school he finally shortens his name to Pi Patel... Nowadays middle-aged Pi tells the story of his life to a visiting writer, apparently a book author Yan Martel's alter ego, who is seeking for the literal inspiration. Retrospectively, Pi divides his childhood and adolescence into three segments. In the first segment he gives shorter account of his life until the age of 16, describing his interaction with his family and schoolmates, in particular his relationship with his father and a girlfriend, concentrating on his exploits of God and spirituality, meandering between multitude of religious practices… while in the last one he briefs about his testimonial given to officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport, investigating the reasons why the ship his family was relocating on from India to Canada sank. Most detailed, and therefore the longest, is recollection of his 227 days in a lifeboat, an extraordinary ordeal he went through after the ship has capsized and everybody else, crew and passengers, died…

…Well, everybody human, but not everybody living. Namely, a number of terrestrial animals from their discontinued family zoo, offered for sale and brought along with other family belongings, have survived, too. But, not for long, because, while confined in the most limited space as they were, surrounded by vastness of the ocean, the law of the "survival of the fittest" prevails, takes its tall, and pretty soon Pi finds himself in a company of a single one topping the food-chain, a Bengal tiger curiously named Richard Parker.

Not to reveal the story further, it is with greatest pleasure to inform that cinematic excellence has been achieved in several categories: in an engaging tale—whether allegory or depiction of realistic, believable events, filled with protagonist's rarely matched curiosity, imagination and his often reasonably unanswered doubts, encouraging the same in viewers—of an uncommon character, indeed, brought to on-screen life by outstanding performances from two contributing leads, remarkably presented via ubiquitous, yet inconspicuous animation, exceptional, CGI aided visuals and superb usage of 3D photography, all along complemented with an uplifting score. All these assets work seamlessly together in unfolding an intense relationship between Pi and Richard Parker, complex yet basic, difficult yet simple, initially charged with Pi's dreadful fear, swiftly shifting to respectful care, instantly boosting his never overbearing confidence and relentlessly improving his survival skills. Wholesome artistic experience reaches and maintains its pinnacle particularly in clever tactics and constructive survival techniques 16-year old Pi uses—amply benefiting from his instructive lifestyle of a zoo owner's attentive son, certainly well acquainted with animal psychology—to suppress the fear and convincingly impose himself as an equal to the one of the most elaborate "killing machines" among mammals, desperately striving for his own survival, nevertheless, generously, for survival of his seemingly sufficiently tamed companion, but still, initially and ultimately, magnificent adversary, Richard Parker, as well.

"Life of Pi" is, certainly, one of the most impressive movies of 2012, year that has just come to a close.

Storyline

In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Richard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.


Cast

Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu, James Saito, Jun Naito, Andrea Di Stefano.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)


User Review

Firstly, I have to make a statement- the LOTR movies, for me, have set an impossibly high bar both in this universe and within the movie world as a whole. Their cinematic beauty and value cannot be denied.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, however, is an entirely different movie. Sure, it's set in the world of Middle Earth, but that's really about all it holds in common with the aforementioned trilogy, alongside a few familiar faces. Many members of the audience I was in complained that the movie took a long time to get going, but it actually was paced rather well, with a suitably sized introduction with Ian Holm and Elijah Wood making way for the current storyline. The first thing you notice as a viewer is that this movie is notably funnier. Whilst the LOTR trilogy had it's lighter moments, The Hobbit revels in the lighter side of life, with lots of genuinely hilarious moments interspersing themselves with scenes of real peril.The visually stunning moments are still there, and whilst I saw this movie in 2D, some moments would have been absolutely perfect in 3D. At first, it's a little difficult to get into, especially when the light-hearted opening with the countless visiting dwarfs gets underway. However, if you can remind yourself as a viewer that The Hobbit was a book written for a much younger, impressionable audience, then you'll likely have a good time watching this. That said, it is far from childish, and although it is a lighter, more fun affair, there are still many parts within the story that an adult audience can relate to.

Martin Freeman has been a firm favourite of mine since his humble beginnings on British terrestrial television, and seeing him here on the big screen is both a welcome and bizarre experience. That said, his demeanour and technique are perfect for the role of Bilbo Baggins, as he exudes the homely, simple manner of a Hobbit very effectively. Ian McKellen is perfect as everyone's favourite wizard, and Richard Armitage (another former British television star playing his trade to the silver screen)is a brilliant Thorin (son of Thrain!), mixing a toughened heart with a tortured soul. If anything, Thorin may turn out to be the true hero of the piece. The rest of the dwarfs are also brilliant, and many of them are the highlights of the movie.

The special effects are once again spectacular, with the eye wateringly stunning rock giant battle a particularly memorable moment. The makeup effects are up to the job, too, and the attention to detail is ridiculous, right down to the individual scratches and weathered look of the weapons the characters wield. If you enjoyed the LOTR trilogy, then Peter Jackson will have you in awe again, although The Hobbit trilogy looks set to be a much more relaxed and 'fun' adventure. At the end of the day, the only complain to be made about the movie is that it simply isn't LOTR. Those movies set such a high level that even Peter Jackson himself can't seem to top them with this effort, but that's a minor complain for what is otherwise I very well made movie.

Cinematic, adventurous, enjoyable and epic- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey knows its audience and caters to them very well indeed.

Storyline

Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever ... Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities ... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to ...


Cast

Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sylvester McCoy, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Lee Pace.