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Reviews
Thor (2011)
A nice welcome pack to Marvel's cinematic universe
A good movie that chronicles the story of Thor and how he became the king of Asgaard and earth's greatest defender. But even so, I expected an all out action flick, as the trailers seem to have us believe.
To my astonishment, it had too much humour for my liking. Also, the storyline involving a god of importance like Thor is often very deep and intense. But director Kenneth Branagh made the movie simple and straightforward as if he'd just read Thor's book and decided to do a movie about it.
Two scenes peaked my interest though, that is when Odin was in his Odin sleep and helped Thor regain his powers on earth, as well as the post-credit scene, when Nick Fury shows Dr Selvig a brief case with the tessaract.
But despite my light remarks, I have given the movie at least 7/10 because the flaws I've highlighted are fare outweighed by the great things that occur in the movie.
The Brave One (2007)
Execution good enough for a descent rating.
A movie of this genre, a thriller so to speak, is usually accompanied by a suspense that leaves you the edge of your seat from start to finish, not knowing what's going to transpire next, with the unexpected evidence getting unmasked towards the end. Think of The state of play, starring Ben Affleck, as a hypothetical example. This one is pretty much straightforward. A popular New York deejay, Erica Bain and her fiancee, get brutally attacked by a viscious gang. Both get terribly injured and hospitalised. Erica survives but her fiancee unfortunately dies after a lengthy period in coma. She manages to recognise one of the attackers but rather than bring evidence to the police, the emotionally distraught Erica chooses to avenge herself in the same brutal fashion.
Terrence Howard does a good job as a detective on her trail. To encapsulate, the execution of the movie, coupled by the emotional punch that flavours the movie from start to finish, is good enough for me to give the movie a descent rating. It's actually what saves the movie from failing. But it would've been even more good if there was suspense with those unpredictable twists and turns, which we are accustomed to seeing in the movie of this genre.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Dark, beautiful & a well crafted movie
Firstly, I have to admit that when this movie was mooted for release, I had umpteenth doubts about its success. I also felt that both Batman and Superman needed at least one solo movie apiece, prior to the release of such an iconic movie. Adding more salt to the wound, Superman is the adopted son of Metropolis and was born in planet Krypton, which is where his natural constituency originated. Batman on the other hand, is from Gotham city. So I wondered where and how they would meet. I was also extremely anxious to know how Batman, with his ordinary powers, would match the powers of the God of planet Krypton.
However, as soon as the movie commenced, all my doubts were cast aside by the brilliant work of director Zack Snyder. In the commencement, the movie beautifully enchants by continuing from the Kryptonian battle between Superman and General Zod. They both land in Gotham city, which becomes the focal meeting point for Batman and Superman. The catastrophic battle wreacks havoc all over Gotham city. And from then onwards, the movie evolves into an enthralling battle. There was this melancholic flow that subtly flavoured this movie. It engulfed me and had me sobbing right through till the end. The action sequences and the CGI effects were immaculate at best.
Ben Affleck's performance of Batman definitely equalled that of Christian Bale in terms of true greatness. The DC Comics have diametrically changed the farcial appeal of Clark Kent, from a witty character who only becomes serious when imperatively required to a more serious one. Hence Henry Cavill is not my favourite character for the role. But Albeit the late Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman will always remain the most memorable ever, Henry Cavill had his great moments also. Jesse Eisenberg outperformed himself as the villainous Lex Luthor, and so are the supporting actors, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons e.t.c.
My favourite scene arrived during the brief introduction of the Justice League superheroes, when Lex sends Diana (Wonderwoman) a video e-mail featuring Auqaman, Cyborg and The Flash. It truly showcased Snyder's acrobatic prowess as one of the best directors in the comic movie universe. The movie itself crosses boundaries, meanibg it can even be enjoyed by non-comic movie fans.
In a nutshell, I am truly elated that the amount of critics for this movie was hugely outnumbered by by the plethora of fans who truly enjoyed the movie. My rating is 10/10.
Man of Steel (2013)
A lacklustre effort to a legendary movie
As a child, I've always been the no.1 fan of Superman. So I had big expectations going to the cinema to watch this movie, that it would be one of those greatest superhero movies & that it would bring the DC.Comics back to the limelight it so badly needs nowadays, seeing their lack of activity compared to the Marvel Comics. And of course all the ingerdients were there. Zack Snyder directed the flick, David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan wrote the script. Nolan was also overseeing the production. There was also a talented cast: Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Russel Crowe as Jor-El, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Michael Shannon as General Zod & Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. So my expectations were justified.
Cut to the chase & highlight the flaws. The plot was too thick, too complicated with too many potholes as IMDb user reviewer Iyre mentioned. Henry Cavill looked too serious for the role of Clark Kent & hardly packed the humour & jokes that once characterised Clark Kent. Gone is the nerdy Clark Kent who is not well acquainted with the activities of planet earth & how it operates.
Superman's reflexes are also unnecessarily exaggerated so much you can barely catch glimpse of him flying. There's also a lack of romance. The biggest flaw to me came when Lois Lane got to know who Superman is from the start. There's also too much action for the first installment of a movie. I expected the movie to first spend a large proportion of its time chronicling the background of Superman in a way that is very enchanting to the audience, as was the case with Iron Man & Batman Begins. IMDb gave the movie 7.3/10, which is really an undeserved gift. Enough said. 3/10 is my rating.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa
The Avengers (2012)
A perfect action-filled adventure
I watched this movie at the cinema and I have no reason not to corroborate the great reviews it has generated. That said, Joss Wheldon showed a perfect understanding of each of those superheroes as he was able to find space to depict each of their individual characters.But what made this movie a blockbuster winner in my perspective are the mesmerizing action sequences, the stunning computer generated scenes and of course, the plethora of an ensemble cast, that is Robert Downey jr (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Evans (Captain America), Samuel L.Jackson (Nick Fury), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Stellan Skarsgaard (Dr Erik Selvig), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye).
Mark Rufallo was ordinarily effective as Bruce Banner albeit he will never surpass Edward Norton for the same role. However, there are some things I would've loved to see in the movie that I believe would've complemented this great flick very well. I felt that the presence of Jane Foster was of crucial essence since Loki threatened Thor that he would pay her a visit. Hulk's new face didn't dwell well with me as it looked more animated compared to the fierce looking one of the Hulk re-boot. I so wish there were also some enchanting melancholic scenes, which could have added nicely to the entertainment this movie offered.
And how can Bruce Banner concede so easily to joining a S.H.I.E.L.D. led operation, after the gamma radiation feud he had with General Thunderbolt Ross? And Phil Coulson's death (if he is dead) was also untimely, if not needless as he was a marvellous complement to the S.H.I.E.L.D. as an underground operator.
But despite my remarks, this is an awesome blockbuster. So if you're looking for a great, entertaining flick which is not in the realms of extra-ordinary, this one's for you. My rating is 8.8/10.
Seka Samuel Gaula South Africa
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
It's either worse or equal to Iron Man 2 disaster
This is my second review of Captain America that I'm submitting at IMDb.I just felt I had more perspectives to get off my chest, pertaining how utterly disappointed I am of this movie, which I will enumerate below; 1. Somewhere in this movie, Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) makes a mention of Captain America's genetic code being different to the serum that was injected to him. My problem with this statement is that the genetic codes are much more aligned with the DNA technology & there was no such medical technology in 1941, the era in which the Captain America events took place.
2. Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is the commander of the military army, alongside Colonel Chester Phillips & I bet my whole world that in 1941, there were no women in positions of seniority as males were very chauvinistic. In the military,females were only recruited to work as nurses in military hospitals. So I'd have at least been impressed if Peggy was a nurse who went out of her way to aid Steve Rogers/Captain America.
There is also a scene where Peggy is rendering instructions to the army & ends up punching one soldier to the balls. Phillips comes in & orders her to step aside so he could give his own instructions to the army. That left me clueless as to who had more authority than the other.
3. Why does Captain America's shield keep coming back to him after he throws it away to fend off adversaries? And why does Johan Schmidt have a red skull? As is customary with part 1 of a comic movie, why was there no significant amount of time spent on chronicling the background of the superhero & the villain? 4. Captain America is well renowned for having assisted America defeat the Germany's Nazi group during the World War. This I greatly anticipated to see, perhaps towards the end. But to my disappointment, it was nowhere close to be seen.
Marvel please, can you re-boot this movie prior to proceeding with the sequel? And please bring a good director next time because someone really needs to undo the damage caused by Joe Johnston.
Joe Johnston, I despise you for having denigrated the classic legend of a superhero I idolized so much as a child.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa
How to Steal 2 Million (2011)
A weak cheap budget movie & a waste of my eyes
I watched this movie with great anticipation albeit I reserved my skepticism. The movie is intriguing due to its star-studded local cast, though unknown internationally. It circulates around a man dubbed Jack, who's just done some time in prison & is now endeavouring to launch a construction firm to rid himself off crime. However, he receives a tempting offer from his old acquintance, Twala. Twala's father, Julius, has R2 million stuck in the safe of his house. Twala entices Jack to to organise a friend to rob the R2 million from his father. Jack then approaches some woman, Olive, and they prosperously manage to get the R2 million by holding Julius & his security at gunpoint.
Julius then manages to recognise Jack as one of the two robbers & gets to confront him. Cut to the chase, in the end, Jack murders Julius & then a cat fight about the money commences. Jack then goes to dig a hole where he hid the money and gets killed by Twala, who was following just behind him. Twala himself gets killed by some untrustworthy police officer (or so I believe), who had an affiliation with Julius. Olive becomes the only survivor as it turned out that Twala reserved some money for her to maintain both her & the child & the movie ends. Olive then grabs her son & the cash & departs by a bus.
Simply put, this is the worst movie I've seen in the drama/mystery/crime genre.The storyline is very cheesy with no complex issues that compel viewers to intruiguingly form their own perspectives (think of Ben Affleck's State Of Play), only to be surprised by mystery revelations in the end. Everything is laid bare from start to finish. Movies of this nature are often characterised by white actors in lead roles but surprisingly here, we got black actors in the lead. And how did Julius recognise Jack as one of the robbers? Could it be because they were wearing masks that didn't fully cover their identities with no device that criminals often utilise to disguise their voices? What stupid criminal would commit such a grave mistake? The end is too cliché, I've seen so many American movies end like that. It appears to have been adopted in one of those American movies. I guess they were endeavouring to incorporate the American mafia style into this movie as it is absolutely disloyal to South Africa's criminal style. This is also a cheap budget movie anyway, playing out like a TV crime drama.
Enough said, my rating is 1/10 & it's lucky to even get that from me.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa
Invictus (2009)
Typical in your face movie
The movie looks very impressive but only to foreign people, who are clueless about South Africa's political history. The same could be said of its director, Clint Eastwood, who seems to have just read a book about Mandela & his commitment to help South Africa win the World Cup Rugby and did a movie about it, without any profound knowledge about South Africa's political heritage.
Eastwood makes it look as if Mandela had it all his way after becoming the president of South Africa,and we South Africans know there's no truth to this. There's no F.W.De Klerk in this movie & some white Afrikaaners who still endeavoured to make things difficult for Mandela & the entire black race in a post apartheid South Africa, meaning those who thought that blacks were going to oppress whites in the same way that whites maltreated blacks. There's more humour in the movie & less the emotional trauma that engulfed the black race during this period.
Towards the movie's end, there's a white guy lifting up a black kid in rejoice after South Africa trounced New Zealand to win the World Cup. That to me was so unrealistic it was like a fantasy dream.
And what about the flaws in this movie, which IMDb movie reviewers declined to mention? Morgan Freeman struggling to pronounce Mandela's middle name, "Rholihlahla", when Mandela took oath for the first time as president of South Africa? That was a total disgrace because Mandela had always taken pride in pronouncing African names correctly. If Eastwood was smart, he would've hired someone to pronounce Mandela's middle name & pretended as if it was Freeman doing so.I hear from a reliable source that they did the same with Terrence Howard, who will also try his luck as Mandela in the upcoming movie, Winnie, alongside Jennifer Hudson, who will portray Winnie Mandela. Adjoah Andoh's accent was also very annoying & I can assure you there's no South African who speaks like that.
And Freeman keeping quiet in singing the national anthem during the final match between South Africa and New Zealand? Aah common! Mandela always sang our national anthem to the full to encourage other people to be patriotic about our country.
To encapsulate, I think it's for the better that South Africans portray their own political heroes because they know their political history better than anybody else. They also won't struggle to emulate the African accents of their political heroes since they are naturalised in them.
And the movie is very predictable, looks like a sports like Disney movie & doesn't leave any memories behind. If I had to give anyone credit in this movie, it would be Tony Kgoroge, who portrayed Mandela's bodyguard, Jason Tshabalala. Watch the movie & you could really see him trying his best to invoke those much needed emotions in the movie. And what did Matt Damon do to be nominated for an Oscar award in this movie? I give the movie 6/10 & it's even lucky to get that from me.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa
District 9 (2009)
Excellent flick but with flaws like any movie
The global movie fraternity has hailed District 9 as an astounding rare breed in the history of the sci-fi genre, one which comes once in about 50 years. I watched it, purchased it and I corroborate every positive review it generated. But like any movie, it has flaws, which the same fraternity has astonishingly declined to mention. The lack of character development is visible throughout the movie.
For starters, Vanessa Haywood, who brilliantly portrays the character of sole ostensible protagonist's wife, Tania van der Merwe, only appears in the commencement and the end of the movie. Personally, I felt it would have been more electrifying to have her character developed in the form of her defying MNU instructions and going out to look for her husband, Wikus van der Merwe, relentlessly endeavouring to discover the truth pertaining her husband's sexual intercourse scandal with aliens (allegations proapagated by her father) and even involved in some fighting hypothetically speaking.
Additionally, character development of Wikus' chief nemensis Kobus Venter, corrupt MNU CEO Dirk Michaels, Nicolas van der Merwe, MNU heads and the likes would have at least complented this classic flick. This is one error that Neill Blomkamp has to discard in future movies. In the disc's featurettes, Neill enunciates that he didn't want the action to be so over-the-top. But from what I witnessed, the action became so over-the-top that Neill declined to mommentarily deccelerate the pace of the action in order to give a more analytical detail to the storyline (the illegal genetic research programme performed on Wikus to be precise), as was the case with the Incredible Hulk, when Thunderbolt Ross explained to Emily Blonksy the serum that was developed and what culminated to scientist Bruce Banner evolving into the green hulk, and Banner and Betty Ross sharing a private conversation in Betty's House.
Maybe Blomkamp was hell-bent on completing the movie within the running time of 108 minutes. But despite the flaws, District 9 rates amongst the best science fiction movies, if not the best, ever made, largely because the great stuff that transpires in the movie outweighs any minor flaws I have detected. The movie prosperously combines sci-fi & comedy, but simultaneously evokes emotions, as its end almost left me bursting in tears. And this is all thanks to Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for an unprecedented original story. 8.8/10 is my rating.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa
Yesterday (2004)
Yesterday, another lacklustre movie from director Darrell James Roodt
A great, gripping movie? Not by a long shot.If you want a cure for insomnia, watch Yesterday. The movie is very boring & the actors are so dull, so unnaturally reserved as if they were legally restricted from expressing their inner- most emotions. There are no high pitch emotional arguments which are normally characteristic of a great drama when it reaches its climax, as we've seen in mesmerizing drama's like Mystic River & The Dead Girl.The approach is very cautious for my liking, as if the director, Darrell James Roodt, was scared of committing mistakes. And that's precisely what culminated to the movie's downfall.
The storyline, though interestingly authentic, also lacks depth. After falling ill, Yesterday (a strange name for a woman) discovers that she is HIV positive, and her dream thereafter is to live long enough to see her child go to school. And that's it. With some imagination, the storyline could've been developed well & a great movie could've emerged out of it.
The great international reviews that the movie has generated are extremely appalling at best, not to mention its Oscar nomination as the best foreign language film. I've never been impressed with the work of director Darrell James Roodt. Almost all of his movies have been box office flops, Cry The Beloved Country, Sarafina (which was at least a bit enjoyable), Yesterday included, you name them.
Leleti Khumalo, who portrays the lead role of Yesterday, is a prodigious, globally renowned actress & she has my out-most respect. But she can't save a movie all on her own.IMDb rated the movie 7.7/10. That could be the reason why Yesterday tops my list as the most overrated movie I ever came across.
Seka Samuel Gaula Cape Town, South Africa