Movie Geek's Blog

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper

Directed by: James Gunn

Super hero movies are of huge demand in all the corners of the world, and the case of India is no different. Indians have a rich history of making Super Hero movies block busters in the box office, and this past have compelled the distributors of Guardians of the Galaxy to hit the film in Indian screens just seven days after its United States release. The speculations of the movie distributors are now slowly proving to be right as Indian audiences welcomed the movie with open hands and a warm heart. Most of the theaters are packed especially with the educated youth in the country. The initial reports about the film are positive in nature, and this James Gunn film is showing all evident signs of emerging successfully in the Box Office. The movie which has the capability to boast about its ensemble star cast has Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace and Micheal Rooker in the lead roles. The director has succeeded in extracting the maximum from the actors, and he was amply supported by the technical crew members. The movie will impress all kinds of audiences, and it will not let you down in any manner. Now, let us discuss the movie in detail.

Image Source: www.wired.com

Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' can be considered as the right blend of super hero movie and space action adventure. The movie tells the story in the back drop of space, and this premise it self is a huge point of attraction. Peter Quill, an American pilot and adventurer gets trapped in the Galactic prison, and from here the movie begins. Soon, he join hands with some other abducts, and forms an alliance called 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. The alliance soon start their war against the dreaded baddie, Ronan, and this forms the remaining part of the story. 

The movie is completely filled with high octane action sequences, and breath taking visuals. The film is crafted perfectly by the director, and there is not even a second of boredom in the 122 minutes running time. The filmmaker and his crew has shot the film in such extravagant ambiance which will provide you the real life feel of entering the space. All the actors have done their role in the perfect manner. Chris Pratt was excellent as Peter quill, and he showed up an impeccable performance. But my pick among the lots is none other than the mesmerizing Zoe Saldana. 

The movie is brilliant in all areas of film making. The film is perfectly etched, and it has some fine elements which will glue you to the seats till the end. The story telling style is pacy, and it is a perfect epitome of making super hero movies. All the characters have given equal importance and screen space, and this clearly shows the crafting finesse of the director and screen writer. This movie will not disappoint you if you are an ardent lover of super hero movies. 'Watch Guardians of the Galaxy and enter a new world filled with thrill, adventure and action'. 

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★

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"You'll believe a man can fly!" That was the tagline for Richard Donner's Superman.

Movies are neither the best nor the worst, it is never perfect or totally weird, movies are an opinion, no definitive answer can ever be determined about a movie. It’s a personal thing and Superman is that personal film which everybody loves despite of all the cheap props it may have used. Superman is loved unanimously.

In Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2, Bill talks about Superman to Beatrix Kiddo [Uma Thurman], I would like to share that little part first.

“Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne; Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us.”

First Blue, then Red and then may be Yellow are the colours you remember Superman for, no other fancy superhero costume make it look better. Superman is godly and his costume is something you don’t like to see tampered.

Superman is absolutely delightful, you sit watching a film where you know this bespectacled guy is going to become Superman soon and you wait for that first scene when Clark Kent almost tears apart his shirt to show us the big “S” on his chest, that moment is the definitive superhero moment in our lives. [Till the time Christian Bale pulls Falcone on the roof of his car and yells at him; “I am Batman” in Batman Begins].

People of the Gotham city lose hope when Bane beats Batman or when the bad guy dominates any other superhero but people of Metropolis believe in Superman, Superman will never let them die. They never give up on Superman.

You realize this later only that how perfectly Clark Kent complements Superman. Kent is weak, a coward and was one of the biggest critic of Superman. A few people I talked about Superman complains that how is it possible that Lois Lane couldn’t see that Clark Kent and Superman had an identical face [Since Superman doesn’t wear a mask]and believes it as a major plot hole but the way I see, it was the main theme behind the Superman-Clark Kent equation. It was intended to be like that.

Lois Lane, played by Margot Kidder, was one woman who spend more time with both Clark Kent and Superman and Clark’s characteristics made him look coward and weaker than most of his colleagues and on the same time Superman was the one alpha male she has ever seen in the whole world. This comparison made Clark look even weaker and it was not their faces but their strengths which Lois Lane found tough to compare, though she had a doubt in one sequence in the film which Clark successfully evades. 

Christopher Reeve was the iconic Superman and any superman that came later had to look like him in a certain way; the face, the physique or the body language, it was like Brandon Routh [Superman Returns] and Henry Cavill [Man of Steel] auditioned to play Christopher Reeve and not Superman.

Gene Hackman was the chosen one to play Lex Luthor, he was very humorous, amusing and witty but still a diabolic and ruthless conspirator, even though I liked Kevin Spacey’s performance of Lex Luthor more satisfying in Superman Returns by Bryan Singer.

There is a less than 15 minutes part by Marlon Brando who plays the role of Jor-El, father of Kal-El [Superman’s name in Krypton]. Brando was paid $3 Millions for that little important part he played.

Now, whether you are a movie fanatic or not, you should watch Superman, because it’s not a film, Superman is a way of life.

Movie Geek's Ratings: ★★★★½ Brilliant

Cast: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder

Directed by: Richard Donner

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Author: Amrit Rukhaiyaar

Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews


Okay, so I was having a little chat with my friend some days back about movies, movie reviews and about The Movie Geek’s Blog. He asked me if I am only going to maintain a blog that praises every film, or I am going to be harsh as well to those who deserves.

This remark was like an eye opener for me, and I rushed to check my previous reviews and I found out that most of the reviews I write are for the films I liked. 

How can I call myself a movie critic when I am resisting to grab all my chances to criticize films I hated watching. I am not being funded by Warner Bros or the Fox studios, I have all the rights to let go my words, however abusive it may sound.

Following the advice he gave, I decide to write about a film franchise, which went from Alright to Bad to Garbage after every new part that came. I am talking about the Resident Evil Pentalogy [I don’t even know if that word exist or not].

So I watched Resident Evil: Retribution [the 5th part] a few weeks back only because I have this syndrome to finish off movie franchises I started, and I had to watch this film and I will continue watching it even if they come with a 6th part, which they will.

When the original film; the part 1, Resident evil came in, I kind of enjoyed it [okay I watched it in 2005, forgive me for saying that], it was one of the first few zombie films I watched. I can’t fake to be sophisticated enough saying I did not like it at all and totally trash this film; instead I admit I liked the first film of the franchise. The whole concept of the Umbrella Corporation was fascinating; they remained untouched even after the greatest of apocalypse.

Zombie films are a very dangerous investment for the producers if they are looking for some critical reception; most zombie films fail because of several reasons. The authorities do not consider such films for any form of accolades or awards, critics do not prefer rating them anywhere above a 6 on a scale of 10. These films have to be extremely innovative to climb the ladder of success and critics &  user ratings. 

Some of the coolest zombie films I saw in the recent times are Shaun of the Dead, Zombie land and Go Goa Gone. They were successful because they used the element of humor in the background to present the supposed Horror.

Resident Evil on a completely different note tried a serious approach to present an apocalyptic tale that failed miserably as it became more and more unrealistic with every new addition to the franchise. 

A zombie film is kind of a fantasy film itself, so in a good zombie film, there should be no other fantasy element. This keeps the horror intact, while in this franchise, you will come across a dog with 4 faces, zombies with 4 tongues, some characters that never die, characters that multiply, laser beams and many more things that you will ultimately regret being a witness to a crap like this. I will make some honest remark that you can like the 1st part as it had a story to go after and save the curiosity of the viewer till the end, you can continue to see what happened later to Alice and the others she befriended in the 2nd part.

In the 3rd part, you can see some really nice cinematography and lots of brightness and sun in this otherwise dark patched film also do not miss the little section that showcased Las Vegas covered in deserts after the T-Virus infected everyone. 

Do not go any further; if you are into good movies only, the 4th and the 5th part are real shame to this otherwise entertaining franchise.

If you are only into great cinema, do not bother yourself to watch any part of the Resident Evil franchise.