sohansurag

If there ever was a great videogame movie, it'd be John Wick. Its everything a gamer would love in a movie: a paper-thin plot where you don't have to exert your brain, a motive to kick ass and then kick ass like there's no tomorrow; all leading to a satisfying conclusion. John Wick did just that and excelled at it. Its not everyday you get to see a man hell bent on seeking revenge coz someone killed his dog. In a day and age where audiences are slapped and saturated with a superhero movie almost every second month, the directors had also crafted an enjoyable action flick.

Sequels are always at the receiving end of biting criticism and with good reason too. Sequels, be it to a good movie, a game or a book, they try hard to up the ante, top its predecessor by doing the same crap again & again (Quote Einstein here) and fails miserably at it. There are only a handful of movie sequels which actually bested its first outing. Chapter Two of John Wick's saga picks up exactly where the first left off and there on its another fight to the finish. Emphasis on FIGHT to the FINISH. The movie wastes no time to put you into the thick of action and boy, does it feel good to see John playing an orchestra with those guns.

Where Chapter Two wins is it knows exactly what to do to please its audience. People who loved the original will definitely feel right at home, people who wants more are obviously served more plot, more action and more characters and people who wants a great ending are also satisfied to a certain extent. Chapter Two recycles the best elements of John Wick and adds a bit more depth and a lot more action and never forgets where it belongs. While John Wick's premise was laughably good, Chapter 2 let's you go indepth into the organization Wick works for. It ain't anything groundbreaking but the organizations's rules and mechanisms are put into good use and serves for a good plot device.

Keanu Reeves had been the butt of memes and jokes for a while now. While he wasn't always known for his acting prowess, he was always known for his style. I was a fan and I am still a fan. There are pitfalls in any actor's career and he's gone through hell of a lot. John Wick was a well deserved break for the guy. He'd put in a lot of effort in the role and it showed. And its no different here, Chapter 2. The supporting cast were pretty good too starting from Ian McShane as Winston, the seemingly innocent owner of the Continental hotel and Lance Reddick as the all-welcoming receptionist of the same. Ruby Rose as Ares, a mute femme fatale and the same goes for Common as Cassian both out for planting a bullet in Wick's head. Reeves' old 'mentor' returns in Chapter Two, yep, Lawrence Fishburne returns as an eccentric, semi-preaching crime lord but does the job well for his meagre screen time. My only disappointment was Santino D'Antonio as the lead antagonist, he did give Wick a hard time but the guy just didn't cut it for me neither was he an intimidating villain.

Dan Laustsen is a name I haven't heard much prior to Chapter Two, but he does a decent job in bringing out Rome as well as New York to life. The total standout is the score from Tyler Bates and it just blew me away. I never paid attention to the score in John Wick, but in this one, the themes are much more apt syncing perfectly with the scenes and it definitely stands out.Try listening 'John Wick Reckoning' and tell me you didnt love it. Chances are that if you loved the movie, you're gonna love the score too.

If I had to discuss flaws it would be the complete disregard of the open violence that was happening on screen. I do believe the justification would be so that these are trained assassins and they can be super silent killers. Chapter Two also lacks a bit of emotion which was what visibly motivating John Wick in the first movie.

While it disheartens me to see a man running and gunning around for his life, unable to mourn for his dead wife and to get some peace, John Wick and Chapter Two has set a perfect example how to create a good old school action movie. Chapter Two's action was fluid and less of that motion-blur nonsense. Its well choreographed and packs a punch, the gun play felt orgasmic and there were some melee sequences that made me cringe. Calling it 'Hyper-violent' would be an understatement coz while John Wick actually laid ground to a violent action movie, Chapter 2 takes it to whole new level and believe me it just feels badass. Its definitely not GREAT, but John Wick franchise proves that you don't need superheroes to have an enjoyable action flick.

"I know it's a misleading title but hold your horses if you're a DC fanboy and want to rain down upon me a slew of abuses. Hear me out first."

Oh DCEU, you keep churning out mediocre movies and boast of box office returns as a reason to shove down more mediocrity down our throats. Although I loved Man Of Steel (coz I am sucker for Supes) we need to digest the fact that mediocrity in movies and encouraging and supporting them has only made DCEU to not push any envelope. Its no news that Marvel, despite their kiddy-friendly, formulaic movies, is at the top of their game and catching up to them is a feat for DC. If they really want to do that they would have to invest time in fleshing out characters in solo movies than dump a ton in one movie trying to get ahead of the race.

I stopped rooting for DCEU after the third strike that was: Suicide Squad, it was a serviceable movie but has only disappointed me further after the ambitious yet disastrous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And this made me genuinely skeptic going in for Wonder Woman. Going against all odds, Wonder Woman had a gargantuan task on its shoulders to come out as at least 'amply entertaining'. Suffice to say, despite its weak screenplay and a flashy 3rd act, Wonder Woman is a winner and much more than being just 'entertaining'.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman soars above all the other DCEU movies. It was a low bar to clear when it comes to DC movies but its a superbly cast, well directed comicbook movie staying almost true to its roots. Jenkins had to fight to make the movie the way she wanted it to be made. Being an origin movie and one which was never on celluloid format before, Wonder Woman does it just right. Tonally, it feels very different from the other DC movies we've seen so far when it came to composition, color balance, and the inclusion of Diana-centric battle scenes like the iconic No Man's Land scene. It's indeed a feat since the studio had been breathing down the creator's necks, strangling their creative liberty. Did I mention that Wonder Woman also has humour? Yes, you heard it right, a DCEU movie with chuckle-worthy, non-corny moments which isn't forced as well. I am going to give a blind eye to whomever compares it to Captain America The First Avenger. Apart from the genre and the war setting, there isn't much similarities between the two. Apples & Oranges, people! I'd be treading on spoiler territory so I won't tell what they've done, but DC had the balls to do what Marvel never did (you'll know it when you're done with the movie).

Despite my initial skepticism, Gal Gadot embodies Wonder Woman almost flawlessly or at least appearance-wise. Its hard to take your eyes off her when she's onscreen. She shined in her fish-outta-water sequences in London and she nailed it in the well choreographed action sequences on the frontline. Like Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark or Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, its tough to imagine anybody else but Gal in Wonder Woman's shoes for a while. I am sold on Gal playing Wonder Woman. Chris Pine still proves that he's still the best Chris in the industry. I had my doubts on his Steve Trevor character before watching the movie, but he proves to be the best addition that actually lends a lot of heart to the movie Like they say, "behind every successful woman there is a...wait, wasn't it the other way around...my bad! And its no surprise that Robin Wright aced it as Diana's Amazonian badass aunt, Antiope. Both Elena Anaya and Danny Houston might have shared a little more than 20 minutes screen time with decent performances from both but it wouldn't have hurt to flesh out their characters more, especially Elena's Dr. Poison.

As for the cons, among loose threads aplenty, it is still a 'save-the-world' narrative that we have seen a million times before. Yes, they've got the Wonder Woman character 'almost' right but that doesn't essentially make a great movie. Gal Gadot is indeed a breath of fresh air, a sight for sore eyes but the same cant be said about her acting chops. Agreed, she's new to all of this but she has a long way to go. Another major flaw is something that had also been haunting Marvel movies since day one: weak antagonists. Its tough to raise major stakes when its a superhero movie and although the antagonists in Wonder Woman tries hard to make a kebab outta the world, the lead villain is not even mildly intimidating whom still doesn't look like a menace Wonder Woman cant handle. Also that 3rd act was very reminiscent of Batman Vs Superman's loud and flashy finale, which was another weak point strikingly in contrast with a very colorful Thermyscra-based first act and a grim yet exciting battle-heavy second act.

Movie scores are something I have grown listening to and humming to all my life. Sadly, Rupert Gregson William's Wonder Woman score doesn't live up to the movie's visuals. I'd say its ridden with the same flaw as Marvel's score, its sounded generic. The only bits that was exciting was when the movie used Hans Zimmer's original Wonder Woman theme from Batman Vs Superman and that definitely gave me goosebumps.

I'll be frank, I havent read much Wonder Woman comics and like many, I was seasoned to macho-superheroes. I loved her in the Justice League tv show, 2009's animated movie (which is brilliant) and Batman Vs Superman yet I was someone who preferred wearing Superman/Batman tees to Wonder Woman tees. Today, I am glad that Wonder Woman is not just an epic win for DC it is also the first female-directed, female lead superhero movie that every comicbook fan had been waiting for aeons. It's success marks the confidence of female-lead movies in a skeptic, masculine-lead Hollywood. It also ups the ante for superhero 'solo' movies. Whether it was planned or not, just like the post's banner says "Justice Begins With Her", Wonder Woman proves to be the one who should lead the upcoming Justice League movie. Warner Bros might want to put their merchandize-selling, flying rodent-suited mascot on the back burner for their next outing.

All said and done, I hope DC and WB doesn't become all smug with one blockbuster in the pockets and continue its race with Marvel. So yea, let's trash DC if they follow this good movie up with more loud, mediocre, CGI-heavy movies.

Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg is based on Ernest Cline's 'Holy Grail of Pop Culture' of the same name and it rather borrows a large chunk of the concept from the book than adapt it word by word to the big screen. Having read the book it feels taboo to compare the book with the movie. My only regret is, like most book-to-movie adaptation, the movie had to be watered down to be contained into 120 minutes thereby diluting a lot of plot. Spielberg clearly has taken the creative liberty in adapting the book to a more contemporary audience. Of course, he generously pays homage to major pop culture references from the book, but he has added a lot too. Read on to find out if its worth your time, virtual or not.

Set in 2045, when the world is on the brink of chaos, people are resorting to a virtual reality world called the OASIS for both work and leisure. Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an orphan from the desolate 'stacks', along with the whole world, is off to find an easter egg in the OASIS planted by the game's own brilliant nerd of a creator, James Halliday. Finding the egg grants the player complete ownership of the company. Wade has to figure out all the clues that Halliday has cleverly hidden in the OASIS' vast game worlds. He is also in a race against the evil corporation, IOI, run by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelson) and is hell-bent on finding the egg making Wade's and his friend's adventure difficult.

Much of the movie takes place in the OASIS and is packed to the brim with awe-inspiring visuals and nerd culture. With the amount of action happening in the OASIS it was almost impossible to track a whos-who of pop culture icons and references. From Batman to Tracer, from Akira to Halo, one thing is sure, this could be one of THE most paused movies of all time when it releases on home video. This movie could have easily been something cashing in on nostalgia and pop culture references: a la 'cameo fest', but with Spielberg at the helm, it was both a boon and a curse. As mentioned early on, Spielberg, Cline, and Penn took their liberty to adapt the movie to be a visual epic than a straightforward adaptation and it does the job rather well. The first set piece, which was a racing sequence with absolutely no musical score had 'Spielberg' written all over it. But at the same time, there were moments so unremarkable and it felt like any other AAA director could have done the same. The real world felt very underwhelming and so were the issues that IOI caused in it which were reduced to one-liner dialogues, hardly exposing any of the dire issues or the repercussions of IOI that plagued the world.

Coming to performances, the lead Wade Watts aka Parzival played by Tye Sheridan was better off as an avatar. Even under Spielberg's direction, Sheridan's Off-OASIS performances were just okay. Olivia Cooke, on the other hand, was oozing charm and the right amount needed for her character as both Samantha and her OASIS avatar Art3mis. Ben Mendelson, as usual, chews the scenery. The guy proves once again why he's the go-to choice for antagonists. Mark Rylance is another actor whom I am fond of seeing on screen. Whether it be Bridge Of Spies, BFG or Dunkirk, Rylance's performance always feels natural and its no different here as both James Halliday and his avatar Anorak. Screen time for Simon Pegg's Ogden Morrow was unforgivably short.

John Willam's absence was really noticeable and Alan Silvestri's score, although not bad, just didn't stick. Fortunately, the soundtrack makes up for it which starts off with the energetic 'Jump by Van Halen' and ends with the equally preppy 'You make my dreams come true by Hall & Oates'.

In the end, Ready Player One is confused who it is for. If you're expecting a visually stunning action movie with a serviceable story to boot then this is definitely up your alley but if you're expecting a Spielberg directed, plot-heavy and character-driven epic, you might be disappointed.

The same goes for the fanservice in the movie. Is it for the 40-year-olds who might get high with most of 80's and 90's pop culture references in the movie or for the newer generation who'd be pleased with the more recent pop culture icons they have sprinkled gratuitously. The age-old question of "Book or Movie, which one's better?" still applies here and the answer is 'Yes, it always will be the book". While reading the book I thought it'd be great to see it on celluloid but it's the other way around. The only thing I was able to appreciate more after watching the movie was the book itself which I found was only mediocre.