Venom 3D (2018) USA

Another superhero, another world saving story.

Genre:

Action, Science-Fiction, Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 3-minute read.

Review:

     I have been taking some break from reviewing the films. That does not mean I have stopped watching the films. But not as much as before. Now I'm thinking to get back with this one. As usual watched it on the opening day itself. That's pride I'm being a cinephile. Opted the best seat in the hall and watched in the digital 3D version. But that was only the technology attached to it, I did not find anything special from that aspect. From my recent observation, it seems Hollywood giving up on that technology.

     Now coming to the filmm, I must say that the Iron Man is the most commonly loved superhero these days. His AI suit can be compared to this film. I mean Venom might be an alien thing which they call it in here a black alien symbiotic substance, but our hero in this story gets his superpower after merging with that thing into one.

     I am not into comic books, so I don't know much about this character, but I think he's supposed to be an antihero. The way everything turned out at the end was neatly done. As per my research, this is not the part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That means this is not going to be the part of the Avengers series. Now the good news is that, Sony's own Marvel Universe that has the recent Spider-man film starring Tom Holland is an adjunct to this.

     Spider-man was the most adopted superhero theme in the recent time. In the last 16 years, there were like three versions of the spider-man films. We all seen Venom in the Tobey Maguire's third Spider-man film. Turning red and blue suit into complete black. I think that was awesomely done. Especially how the both, Spider-man and Venom communicate and work together. On this one, those parts were intensively turned into comedy.

 Eyes, lungs, pancreas, so many snacks, so little time. 

     I don't have to agree with the film critics as I always do. But I independently say this is an average film. One of the main reasons was, I'm kind of bored of superhero film. I mean, that's not entirely true, What I meant was the intro. This is nothing much different than the Spider-man story. His personal struggles, job, romance and all, feels like everything repeating in a different form.

     The best thing about this film was the Tom Hardy. As always, his performance was great. As I've said, they should have trimmed down the intro to get going with the actual story. If they did not wasted the scenes for silly jokes and intro, it could have turned out to be a decent film. Believe me those who are not into the films, like those who watch films occasionally might enjoy it. Not the regular goers like me.

     The runtime was not an issue. The casting too was not that bad. The graphics were acceptable standard, but I expected, even better shots. The most important of all was the end part, and it was okayish, because of how easy predictable it was. I think it's not good for young kids. It could be a little scary for them, especially swallowing the head thing like that. And some dialogues seems fun for an adult, but I don't know how it would affect the children which is pretty much about cannibalism.

     Now all eyes on the 'Silver & Black'. The Sony's next Marvel Universe film, where Silver Sable and Black Cat are going to be introduced. And as I'm hearing, Tom Holland can also be seen. It's going to be Sony's own Avengers. From that perspective, this film must be seen to get ready. Other than that its just an okay film to watch on Netflix or Amazon fire stick on the weekends.

Suitable for:

Tween, Teen, Adult, All

Final verdict:

Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent

Similar movies:

Spider-man, Ant-man, Iron Man, Thor, Doctor Strange, Deadpool.

External link(s):

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The Villainess (2017) South Korea

She did not choose this life, but it did.

Original title:

Aknyeo (Korean)

Genre:

Action, Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.


Review:
     It's a woman centric film. Not a tale from the normal society. A complete action-thriller, but there were sufficient drama, especially in the middle part, where the pace slows down to build a new perspective. It never reveals whether it is a revenge story or not, except the opening event. Because there were full of twist and turns when it enter the third act. Having patience is a must for this flick.

     At first, for me it looked like 'Kill Bill' meets 'Salt'. But I had this kind of feelings many times for the Korean films. They reminds me some other films from other continents. It's only at the beginning or overall the basic platform, but when you finish watching them, you won't feel the same. This was a well developed story and the characters. Particularly the opening and end were strong. What comes in between them is where some viewers might think it let them down. For that, one of the reasons was it being two hours long narrative.

     That's fine for me. Because, there were too many things to accomplish. They had to use the variation in the pace to reach the other end very convincingly or close to that. When the first half ends, it kind of restarts like a new story in a new setting. Maybe that did not work. Because we all knew there could come a twist, but on the brighter side, we did not what was it. Certainly not something new we had seen in a cinema. Especially the possibility. In such a dark tale, that path was often used.

 I wish you two had met under different circumstances. 

     A woman, single handedly takes down a notorious gang. Following that, nabbed by the cops, she gets an offer that she can't say no to it, in order to save herself and her yet to born child. So it's her new identity, a new beginning, but surrounded by full of dangers. She has to play along to get along and that's when a twist comes in. The entire scenario changes. The remaining story till the conclusion intensifies and end with a bloodbath.

     Very well designed stunt sequences. If you are an action film fan, you would enjoy them. That East Asian traditional axe, hammer, sword/machete or barehanded fightings were the highlights. As I've mentioned, the opening and the end fights take our breathe away. Yet very rarely there were silly stunt shots. Maybe, technically failed. Viewing them from the unusual camera angles, with slow and fast motions gives hard time to get used to it. Overall, the film survived because of obviously the stunts.

     It was not among the best Korean films. But one of the decent action films that passes by every year. This film could possibly get a sequel. It has all those qualities to qualify. You would know it when you see the final shot, that it's not over yet. Because the front character was so powerful. Maybe going international in the sequel could get a worldwide attention. But anyway, I'm rooting for that. I'm not a big Korean film fan, but Japanese. Though 90-95 per cent of the time, they always delivers a good entertainment, instead of Japanese films' artistic appeal. It isn't a must see, but still I feel you should not miss it.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


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


Similar movies:
Kill Bill, Salt, Colombiana, New World, The Man From Nowhere, The Yellow Sea.


External link(s):

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American Fable (2017) USA

So innocent, imaginative young kid, and then there's an adult world full of complications.

Genre:

Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.


Review:
     A thriller from a debutante writer, director. Obviously she did not get support from a big production house, but within the small scale, she has given a nice film. Of course, there were a few flaws. Particularly in the writing section. Overall, the film is very intriguing. The music, locations, performances supported the narration so well. This could be one of the under-noticed film, due to unfamiliar cast and crew. But surely a decent film.

     The story of a farmer family. In a small rural America, where farmers are surrendering to death for unable to pay back the loans, a 11 year old girl is not disturbed by the adult's way of life. Her best friend, a chicken named Happy, roam all over surrounding places. One day she finds a man trapped in her silo. They two becomes friends and help each others needs. But the girl never knew there's a complication behind meeting him. And when that breaks loose, drastically things changes and brings an end to the narration with a twist.

     The storyline was good, but kind of reminds 'Pan's Labyrinth'. This was more a thriller than a fantasy, yet a few scenes defines it could be influenced by fable as the title say. It had a philosophical touch too. The timeline of the tale was 1980s and in the eyes of adult, it is a perfect thriller that focused on the farmers' issue. But, since the story was narrated from the eyes of a kid, that's where magical perspective blooms. So the mix of both these things makes the film very special.

 Important people don't have to say they're important. 

     When it comes to the film's drawback, the curves of the storytelling, the scenes were not smoothened enough. I mean the ideas were awesome, but small-small thing had hard time to get away with a perfect blend. For example, the girl could have broken the door/lock from the outside or given foods and other items through the window, instead of climbing up. But the major parts of the film had nothing wrong and can be enjoyed. What it all says is the rookie mistake, but surely the filmmaker has talent and hoping her next one would be a top notch.

     The little girl was very impressive. It reminds many big stars of the present who once did such a wonderful film as a child artist. So I wish her future to be great. She was all over the film, the rest of the cast had little scope, but they all did good as well. Predicting the story is not hard, but there's always one thing bothers is that the doubt between reality and fiction. You know it's not usual for one to find a man trapped in a silo. It has to be one way or the other as I've said. For that, you have to wait till the commencement of the third act. Because sometimes, the could be the film's greatest twist.

     As I've said, it was not a perfect thriller. Nor ignorable! Most of the scene seems intentional, because they were initiated in the early stage like an intro, only in the latter half, once again, they were brought into the narration with the following consequences. How such things were used to complete the storytelling was well planned design. On this, don't believe the film critics. Me either, if you are not a film fanatic. But all I say is, it is not a bad film as you see on the internet. Those who takes chances and appreciates small scale films should try it. But generally, I recommend it to all!



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


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


Similar movies:
The Wonders, One & Two, Pan's Labyrinth, Baba Joon, The Blackcoat's Daughter.


External link(s):

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Raw (2017) France, Belgium

An extreme desire for blood and flesh!

Original title:

Grave (French)

Genre:

Drama, Thriller.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.


Review:
     Totally unexpected. I had no idea what I'm about to watch. Because usually I do small research of films I watch before the click play. I did not know it was even a French film or a horror. But it was not actually a horror in a sense. Seeing the initial set up, I thought it would be about a freshman medical student. Then things turned out strangely. Like it was decades ago when I was young, I have felt uncomfortable for those intentional film. For this, it felt all real. As the contents, I disliked them. But the film succeeded if that's what it's intended to give to its audience.

     It lived up to what the title meant. But on the other hand, I thought it was making fun of vegetarians. You usually won't find many vegetarians in Europe, but this film's topic was bizarre. Because you know someone who has never consumed meat in his entire life, but then when he begins this new habit, it is like completely going out of control. It's not just one, but two from the same family. Something was very clear, that one not knowing the differences. Because they were never before used to it.

     Justine is all set to join her sister to practice to be a veterinarian. Coming from a pure vegetarian family, she has to go through some of college traditions. From the beginning itself, it did not go well for her. It affected her health and body. A drastic change in a short period of time, forcing her to uncontrollable desire. Then on one accidental situation, it turns even worst. Ultimately, a conflict between the sisters arise. It takes them to unexpected paths and finally how it all ends were revealed with many uneasy events.

 An animal that has tasted human flesh isn't safe. 

     I have seen many films like this, but this one was a stand-alone from all of them. I'm not saying it is a masterpiece, but they have got all things right just as they wanted. Obviously this is for grownups, though not all of them can watch without feeling disgust. Some of article, reviews says, people left the cinema hall halfway through. A very challenging film to watch. You might think I'm exaggerating for a simple cinematic performance, but that's what I really experienced. Only when you give it a try, you might get it.

     A bit confusing as the story progressing. Like what kind of universe, it is set in. Because whatever happens around Justine, seems nobody caring. Where were the professors! So many doubts. It's just what it is. An imaginative perspective, what if kind of situation turned more uglier. But if you analyse it properly, the only issue was the cannibalism. Not that one showing a desire in consuming  meat all of sudden. So, I appreciate the writing, direction and performances, but definitely it is not my cup of tea. Probably for most of you as well.

     So this is not for all, but selected viewers. Films can be anything, only we have to assert whether we liked it or not. The maker knew what they were doing, the kind of subject they have undertaken for their film. Often a film like this hits the screen, and makes some noise among the film critics and film goers. I don't know on what merit one should decide to watch it. Because it is not for entertainment, nor an art, nor a message film. But I still think it is worth a watch. Just be aware of what you are going to watch.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


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


Similar movies:
The Neon Demon, We Are What We Are, Upstream Colour, Under the Skin, Lost River.


External link(s):

WCA geolocation:
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