Antboy 3 (2016) Denmark

The Sidekick's way to the superheroes league.

Genre:

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.


Review:
     The third film in the 'Antboy' series and probably the last one. If that's true, then it'll be a decent trilogy in the category of children's superhero film. When I saw the first film, I did not think it would come this far. All these three films were decent. The first one was okay. Following, the second film looked much better, but still an average. And now this, surely the worst among three. Watchable, though not any good.

     The basic plot itself failed. There's no story, just an evil corporation against the Antboy and other superheroes. The best thing about the film was the intro of the Sidekick. At first, it was so suspenseful, yet you can predict that, but once it is revealed at some point, the film loses its charm. What the remaining part is to cover puts the film a back foot to below average. So it is easily the screenplay that failed to deliver.

     The story continued from the previous part. Albert is also known as The Flea was released from the prison for the good behaviour. But the people of Middleland do not trust him, and so the Antboy. While all the eyes on him, the CEO of Exofarm plans to takeover the city with the company's invention, the Exoskeleton. On the other side of the tale, a new unnamed superhero making some news in the town. Who joins whom and fight against, all the unpuzzling part comes in the final of the third act.

 To be a hero does not mean not having weaknesses. But overcoming them to help others. 

     As usual, I was not looking forward to it. Because I did not think there will be another sequel. But after seeing this, I felt it was unnecessary. They say it was based on the Danish children's book, but I don't know whether it was just the characters that borrowed or the whole story. This kind of storyline might suit for the book, but not for the film. Because of too simpleness. This same film in Hollywood would be considered a television film probably rated PG for the summer telecast.

     If you have seen the serious superhero films from DC, Marvels, Sony et cetera, this would seem very silly. But the target audience is the kids aged below 9-10. So even if you watch it, you can't just blame it for not providing you the entertainment you were looking. But you can share your experience, that's what I wanted to do in here. Still, I pointed out a few other things, even if the youngsters reading it, should know them.

     It reminded me the gap between the two films of 'Kick-Ass'. It was just a couple of years, but the young cast grew up. Yeah, in this you can say they're in their teenage, which makes it the final chapter in the 'Antboy'. But that does not how it ends. It was an open end, without any clue about the future of the franchise. Who knows, they might surprise us with another installment.

     The actors/kids performed well. Decent filmmaking as well. Only if the story was much better, the film would have triumphed. Especially for a superhero film, the stunt sequences were too ordinary and too short, as well as too late to come into the party. All these stuffs would come only in the adult's mind, but I think the little kids would just enjoy it. So they should be watching it, not us.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Antboy 1 & 2, Sky High, Spy Kids, Kim Possible, Miraculous, Big Hero 6.


External link(s):

WCA geolocation:
Right now we're in

A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) Denmark, Norway

With an old clue, a new hunt begins.

Original title:

Flaskepost fra P (Danish)

Genre:

Crime, Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 6-minute read.


Review:
     The third film in the 'Department Q' series that adapted from the book series of the same name. For this the director has changed, the one from 'In Order of Disappearance' and I think it was a good move, but the result was not as expected, at least not for me. As the sequels proceeding, it's losing its charm. Yeah, for me still the first film was the best one. That following parts were just okay, which rely highly on the great foundation that laid in the first.

     Actually this story was good, despite like any cop-and-kidnapper-chase-thriller. But it was developed on the sensitive issue like faith which made the film a little shy. Because they don't want to bring in any serious debate, but wanted to balance everything as much as possible to be neutral from all kinds of this film series' fans/viewer's perspective. So you will be entertained as the title promised, but at the end if you consider it just a film, then it's okay. Otherwise, particularly from the atheist's viewpoint, its not any favourable.

     The story has a clear explanation for whatever happens, especially about the film character who commits the crime. So it is a challenging time for what Carl Morck believes in. So far we saw him as a tough cop, but this particular case he's dealing with is like he had never encountered before. There are some great scenes, like chasing a train which is actually a turning point in the narration. But the rest of the film was mostly has cliche like any cop who tries to solve the crime.

 With that attitude you'll never enjoy a pork roast. 

     The plot for the crime was focused on the initial stage of the tale. The following narration was highly influenced by the cops and their attempt to resolve the issue. But before coming to that, an intentional connection between the two cases was not definitely a masterstroke as I expected. Although it looked something new on the screenplay, which might have worked so good in the dark and slow paced crime-thriller.

     While they are, Carl and Acid are looking to decipher the puzzle they have got which is dated back nearly a decade, now they come to know that two kids were kidnapped in a similar fashion. They begin to dig deeper from the previous clue for the new incident. If they are right, it is much closer than they have thought to solve it. But how it helps to plan for the fight and their full efforts which told in the final act with a fast pace.

     Little disappointing was they wanted to remain those two cops as the heroes. So all the heroic acts were a build up from them alone in most of the accounts for the cinematic edgy moments. Especially how the finale turns out, is not appreciable from the writing perspective, other than giving satisfactory episode to the hardcore fans of the film franchise.

     For me the locations were awesome, all the scenes shot at the right time of the day and its light that sets a fine tone regarding all the developments taking place. A decent follow-up and surely worth a watch if you had liked previous two films, but don't expect it to be the best in the series. Anyway, still some people think it is the best one so far. Now I think it's time to wait for 'The Purity of Vengeance' if they are on to it.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
The Absent One, The Keeper of the Lost Causes, Easy Money, A Second Chance.


External link(s):

WCA geolocation:
Right now we're in

Beyond Beyond (2014) Sweden, Denmark

A little kid's fight against the natural phenomenon.

Original title:

Resan till Fjäderkungens Rike (Swedish)

Genre:

Animation (3D), Adventure, Fantasy.

Length:

Approximately 3-minute read.


Review:
     Animated film from Sweden? I don't remember I have seen one. So probably this is my first from that region. It was less than 80 minutes, that means short and sweet. They should have stretched it a bit longer, but the point of the narration was perfectly accomplished, so it does not matter even it was shorter than the usual length. This is a pure children's film, that families might as well enjoy it. I thought everything in it was cute. The characters, and the simple story. But the animation obviously was not that great as we see in Hollywood. Also not bad to ignore it completely.

     This takes place on the planet of the rabbits and tells the story of a young Jonah. He's the happiest kid, living with his loving parents, but until one day when the feather king gets his mother. Missing her presence, the desperate Johan in a boat at the sea alone, uses the situation after receiving a sos radio message. He now enters the forbidden land without an invitation and his adventure begins to fight for his mother's return. It also helps him to learn an important lesson that ends with what seems the right way.

 The feather king took my mom.
And I want her back. 

     After seeing this I think the director should get a shot at Hollywood, so that he can come back and make the international quality animated features for his nation. I said that because American production houses usually pour a big amount because of their international market that gets them five to ten times what they have spent. If you are an animation film fan, then you should try this. But you should not compare it with any Hollywood animations. I saw it during the week of Christmas and New Year, the best season to watch such magical tale.

     I liked how they avoided the word 'loss' or 'death'. You would understand the situation in the story, but the film is not intended to go details. This is the film about losing someone you love and when unable to cope, especially the little kids who can't understand such concept, this film tried to give something fictional version of logic. For that reason alone, it's worth a watch with your little ones. Like the Americans say after someone had died that he/she/it is in a better place, this film set in that place and that's why it was called 'Beyond Beyond' that rhymes with 'Mirror Mirror' kind of fairytale.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Mune, The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, The Little Prince.


External link(s):
    

WCA geolocation:
Right now we're in

A Second Chance (2015) Denmark

When the GOOD is as bad as the BAD it become.

Original title:

En Chance Til (Danish)

Genre:

Drama, Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 6-minute read.


Review:
     I was not sure about watching this film, but like usual ignoring the critics made me realise how much it was underrated. From the director of the Oscar winning film 'In a Better World'. After that great feat which ignited her international career, quite did not go well accordingly, including one project in the Hollywood. So she went back and made this Danish thriller-drama. Very strongly written screenplay, but feels it has flaws and then on its progress, they had all patched so brilliantly to make you think yourself you had got so wrong. It was not based on any book, but looks it could make one fine.

     This is a story of 'the good' and 'the bad', and when 'the good' turns very bad, what would 'the bad' decide to do. A decent middle class couple who can do anything for their newborn child and another couple who are drug addicts whose newborn was completely neglected. When the tragedy strike in one of these families, the nightmare begins for another. A series of events follows where they all go for an extra mile to get a second chance. So see it to believe what people are capable when they are in the desperate situation.

     Like the title and its tagline indicating, the narration carefully and intensely built the plot in the first act. That is the part you have to be watchful to learn the characters which is obviously a bit slower than the rest of the film. In the second half where it all turns to one direction to move on with a couple of quick twists. Totally unpredictable stuffs, because they were silly or maybe kind of familiar and you won't expect that to happen, but it does. I think that was the very clever, beside the powerful performance had brought a good balance between the pace and the contents of the film.

 People look different when they are dead. That's just how it is. 

     It did not win any big awards internationally or contended for the Oscars, but still the film is worth a watch. No matter what the critics say, this is one of the best films of the year. Like I said the story might look stupid in the paper, but the filmmakers stunning presented it on the screen. I won't be surprised if an improvised versions were made in other languages including Hollywood. After those fine progress it made in the middle part, the conclusion was somewhat ordinary. It suddenly skips a couple of years forward with one final short scene before the credits roll up which will make us feel good. That was a nice way to end after the shock the narration had given to us.

     From the actors, Nikolaj Coster-Wakdau was the screenpace ruler and did not fail to deliver. If this film is winning an award means he should be on the top of the list from the film followed by the direction and screenplay. In one of the film posters he just looks alike the current James Bond, the film was a lot better than the impression the posters give. His co-stars were not bad either.

     There is sentiment in it, but not that effective, so the lack of melodrama is the big drawback. A theme like this should have bettered that part in order to make the overall film even better. Because the characters do not count when the subject it dealing with was has much higher priority. So the viewers always would be busy looking for what might happen to the story rather thinking its characters all the time. And that is because of the neutrality. Like I said before when 'the good' is as bad as 'the bad' it become, then everything end in an equal position and you might stop backing anyone particularly. There are many films like this, but this is kind of refreshing and very realistic. Definitely, I must end my review recommending it. So I hope you all enjoy it as I did.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Changeling, Blood and Ties, Gone Baby Gone, The Tiffany Rubin Story, The Carlina White Story.


External link(s):
      

WCA geolocation:
Right now we're in