Wrath of the Titans (Movie Review)

Wrath of the Titans

I expected less but got more with this one. Wrath of the Titans turned out to be an OK watch. The special effects were great and the mythical creatures has a God of War-ish tinge to it although I must say that Perseus wasn’t as heroic as I would have liked him to be.

Sam Worthington’s Aussie accent emerges far too often for my liking though and you see it happening a lot in almost all his movies. Liam Neeson as always does an excellent job in this movie but then again I’m biased cos’ I’ve always liked Liam Neeson. Ralph Fiennes is pretty cool too and Hades is a lot more identifiable & likeable which makes him a stronger character this time round.

The plot’s pretty simple on the whole but the thrills that pull you along more than makes up for the lack of an awesome storyline. I’d choose Wrath of the Titans over The Hunger Games anytime.

I give Wrath of the Titans a semi-titanic 3 out of 5.

Clash of the Titans (Movie Review)

Clash of the Titans

I really needed a break this week and managed to catch the remake starring Sam Worthington last Thursday but boy was I disappointed. I have pretty good memories of the original movie and this one didn’t have any of the magic of the original. I must say that the old stop motion creatures were more memorable compared to the CG ones in this one. In fact, I must say that the original stop-motion Medusa was a lot creepier compared to the new one.

Most of the characters where 2-dimensional and by comparison to other fantasy movies I’ve seen in recent years; this one bored me to death. The only thing I liked about the movie was Liam Neeson & Ralph Fiennes who played Zeus and Hades. Other than that the movie was run of the mill which I can sum up in 3 bullet points:

1. The hero suffers a great tragedy
2. The hero is introduced to his party of warriors and they go on a journey
3. The hero defeats the monster & main villain then lives happily ever after with the love of his life

“Clash of the Titans” is the kind of movie where the plot’s pretty obvious. You know how it’s gonna play out and as a movie-goer the way the journey is told is just as important as the special effects. The journey from Point A to Point B is really ho-hum compared to movies such as “The Lord of The Rings Trilogy” or “Troy”. Sam Worthington’s Perseus doesn’t build any bond whatsoever with his companions and when each of them die, you just don’t feel anything for them especially the two hunter dudes.

Sadly even though I didn’t expect much out of this one I was still very disappointed by it. Even “The Wolfman” was better than this one. Don’t bother watching it, you’d definitely regret it as much as I did. I give this version of “Clash of Titans” a very disappointing ONE out of FIVE.

Rating: 1 Star (out of 5)

Avatar (Movie Review)

Avatar

Avatar was greeeeeaaaat! I just wish traffic today wasn’t that bad cos’ me & my colleagues missed the first 30 minutes of the movie… *sighs* … oh well. I’m gonna be catching it in 3D tomorrow with my MAG (Mentoring & Accountability Group) members in Malacca. We’re going down there for a day-trip! But I digress…

The movie was a visual feast and I can’t wait to watch it in 3D. The plot isn’t anything new but that’s not what I’ve come to expect from James Cameron. He’s a great storyteller and the movie looks great on the big-screen. Lots of CG but the quality is way up there with at least 60 to 70 percent of the movie told entirely with CG characters. I can’t say I like the designs of the blue-skinned Na’vi but the creature designs are definitely cool.

Sam Worthington does a great job here and there are very few slips to his accent. I only caught his Aussie accent once or twice. And it’s always great to see Sigourney Weaver on screen. I miss Ripley (Weaver’s character in the Alien series).

Avatar is a great movie to end the year with and I heartily recommend it to all sci-fi & action fans out there. I give this one a stellar 5 out of 5!

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Double Trouble

Terminate the Enterprise?

The weekend was pretty hectic. Helped out at a Youth Camp on Saturday and Sunday morning. Rushed back to Pee Jay for Star Trek (picked up some Baskin Robbins along the way too) and celebrated my aunt’s 70th birthday with my cousins.

Now back to the real purpose of this post. For the first time in a long time I watched 2 movies twice. Caught Terminator: Salvation on Thursday and Friday last week; Star Trek during its opening week and one more time yesterday with my cell members.

Star Trek was so much more AWESOME the 2nd time round and yes Zachary Quinto is great as Spock. Funnily enough in both movies I’ve found that I liked the supporting characters more. Sure, one might argue that Spock is a central character in his own right but technically Kirk is the hero of Star Trek as is the case in most stories. Sam Worthington’s Marcus Wright is a favourite of mine too as opposed to Christian Bale’s John Connor in Terminator: Salvation. Supporting characters play a great part in a movie and it’s rare these days that the strength of a movie can be placed on just one character. Point to note: one doesn’t always have to be the main character to be great in a movie.

Ah life is good in movie land this summer. Star Trek & Terminator: Salvation were both great and I “wonder” just what’s Up next?

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