EVEREST (2015)

Genre: Adventure/Drama
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Watson, Kiera Knightley, Michael Kelly, Naoko Mori, Sam Worthington
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Screenplay: William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy

"Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she's going to come around and whack you." Geraldo Rivera 

 

Do not be tricked into thinking that EVEREST will leave you breathless with stunning visuals and edge-of-your-seat suspense. At least that's what the trailer attempts to communicate. This is no Cliffhanger action adventure movie. Yes, the visual of Mount Everest is majestic, but this movie is more of a man-versus-nature genre. The film reminds us again that mother nature doesn't care about heroism, kindness, friendship, your family or your pregnant wife. She doesn't play by the rules.

 

Based on a true story, this film chronologized a group of climbers' expedition to the mountain's summit in 1996. Of course, not everyone made it down safely. So if you've no prior background to what really happened (who made it, and who didn't), please leave it that way when you walk into the cinema. The emotional payout will be better. 

 

And speaking of that, this movie needs to be experienced on the big screen and not on TV or worse, a tablet/phone. As good as the top notch cast are (given that their characters are fairly one-dimensional), the true stars of the movie are the director of photography, the visual effects people and of course, the mountain ranges. Audience will certainly feel like they are right there, experiencing the somber tragedy of the mountain slowly becoming the executioner and tomb for certain climbers. Although I caught the movie on the normal 2-D version, I'm pretty sure the IMAX 3D version would be more immersive.

 

As one of the characters in the movie said, "The mountain will always have the last say". 

 

Rating: 8/10

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:08
Cast:  Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Wes Ball
Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel by James Dashner 

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24 

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS touches on the age-old question of whether is it right to sacrifice a small group of people to save the larger population? Just like the rest of the post-apocalyptic YA novels adapted to the big screen, this sequel expands its universe beyond the "maze" in the first movie.

This movie starts where The Maze Runner ended with our protagonist (O'Brien) and his fellow survivors are being taken to a secured location with the promise of a ticket to the promised land. Of course, not all is what it seems. And our survivors are on the run again. Although not quite like the maze we saw in the first film, but the "playground" now has expanded to include crawling through air vents, running away from zombie-like creatures through tunnels and fallen buildings and surviving severe weather conditions. The filmmakers have definitely amped-up the action sequences and some scenes are near terrifying (think Resident Evil). 

Although there are some interesting characters added to the group in this second installment, it still doesn't fare very well in the acting department. Compared to The Hunger Games franchise, the performance here rivals the bad acting we see in soap operas.

To be fair, I like what they did thematically with where all these are going, and I was genuinely entertained. However just like snacking on junk food, I was tricked to feeling full - it was just not as satisfying as a healthy gourmet dinner.

Rating: 6.5/10

   

SICARIO (2015)

Genre: Action/Drama
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, Victor Garber
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan

SICARIO is an intense take on the drug cartel. It is gripping and tension-filled. The violence is shockingly realistic but not gratuitous. (In Spanish, "sicario" means "hitman")

This movie tells a story of an idealistic by-the-book FBI agent (Blunt) who is recruited by a shady government operative led by an equally shadowy character (Brolin). Their ambitious mission is to take down a drug lord in Mexico. Blunt's character is brought into the plan for reasons she's unclear of. The audience is kept in the dark too as the plot slowly unveils its grand plan leading to a violent and brutal conclusion.

From a technical standpoint, I'm always intrigued with movies which are able to drum up an atmosphere of dread from get go. In this case, it's because of the perfect synergy of Villeneuve's impeccable direction, tight editing, superb cinematography and the bass-heavy score. There is an action sequence 1/3 into the movie which was so intense the guy sitting next to me in the cinema hall pulled his legs towards his chest.

In terms of performance, as good as Blunt is, the show belongs to Del Toro. He crushes it as a middle-aged merciless gunman. He steals every scene he's in. The rest of the supporting cast is equally solid. 

Although it has the thrills of an action flick, the heart of this film is actually a drama which takes place in a world of grey, where our protagonist is faced with difficult decisions which would compromise her moral values. I was hoping it would focus more on the latter like what Villeneuve's did in his last film Prisoners, but somehow the end results didn't give me a satisfying emotional punch in the gut. Nevertheless, Sicario stands apart as one of the best action drama movies I've seen.

Rating: 8.5/10