JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017)

Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Ciaran Hinds, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Joe Morton, Billy Crudup, Amber Heard
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenplay: Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, based on a story by Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio

JUSTICE LEAGUE is a much better film than expected. I was expecting another CGI laden mindless carnage outing (which to be fair, it still has plenty of it) but surprisingly, it has heart. Well, it's much better than Avengers: Age of Ultron and even Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

What I really appreciated about this movie is the balance of action and the quieter moments between our superheroes. For those who are unaware, Justice League actually has two directors. Zack Snyder had to step aside due to a family tragedy and Joss Whedon stepped in to do some re-shoots. It almost seems that the grand action pieces and the signature visual flair was helmed by Snyder while the light-hearted moments were done by Whedon.

Hey, I'm not complaining because it somehow worked for me. And thankfully, there is flow and hardly any inconsistencies. As mentioned, it's the "slower" scenes that actually made the camaraderie between our heroes believable. And there are many of these and most of these moments have smart dialogue and is quite funny. And speaking of funny, I'm glad the filmmakers didn't do a course correction and amped-up the comedy because I actually do like the "dark" and seriousness of the DC movies, but all of it just lacked soul (except for Wonder Woman).

The "new" characters to the team namely Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg could definitely have benefited if they had solo movies to explain their origins before this outing. One the film's best moment is when Wonder Woman reacted roughly to Batman when he mentioned her "dead boyfriend". That scene wouldn't have played out so powerfully if Wonder Woman didn't have a solo outing earlier this year.

Also, this movie has a very weak villain. Steppenwolf (a motion captured Ciaran Hinds) is not scary at all and is just another forgettable Big Bad Guy who wants to conquer the world. It seems the only reason he exists is to provide a catalyst to bring the Justice League together.

Lastly, I'm glad they brought back Danny Elfman to score the movie (replacing Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL). It's less bombastic and it goes back to basics drawing heavily from his own Batman (1989) theme as well as inserting hints of previous work of other composers. And I do very much dig Blues-rock guitarist Gary Clark Jr cover of the Beatles' Come Together. 

Overall, this film worked for me as I do like the characters. It's definitely a step in the right direction for the DC folks because I'm looking forward to see these superheroes on the big screen again, whether in their own films or as a team.

RATING: 7/10

VICTORIA AND ABDUL (2017)

Genre: Drama / Comedy
Running Length: 1:52
Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Olivia Williams, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith, Adeel Akhtar, Paul Higgins
Director: Stephen Frears
Screenplay: Lee Hall, based on the book by Shrabani Basu, Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant 

VICTORIA & ABDUL is based on the true events of Queen Victoria (The Queen of England who reigned from 1837 to her death in 1901), who found comfort and companionship in her twilight years in a young and handsome Indian attendant, Abdul Karim. Yes, you read it right. Obviously, such a relationship would be considered controversial (even in today's standards, what more then).

Thus, the royal family had to remove all traces of this scandalous affair from royal history. It is only until recently, a good 100 years later, a journalist Shrabani Basu noticed a clue in the Queen’s summer home that led her to discover their relationship (which she incorporated into her book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant - the basis for this movie). You can read more about it here, a story covered by Vanity Fair. 

However, one would think that with such a juicy material to work on, this film would be an interesting watch, but unfortunately, it failed to captivate. Perhaps it's the lack of in-depth material that prevented the narrative from going deeper.

It is interesting (and funny) in the beginning as the audience is introduced to how the two met. But halfway through the film, it started to drag for me. The elements of racism, behind-the-scenes of everyday life in the royal household and of course, the developing friendship of Victoia and Abdul, started to go in circles instead of in-depth.

Eventhough Abdul was painted as a man who's shrewd and naive at the same time, we were never really clear of his motives. I don't think it's entirely the fault of Ali Fazal's performance but more of the material that he was given to work on. Thankfully, Judi Dench's performance saved this movie. Despite being one the most powerful person at that era, we could feel the Queen's sadness and loneliness as she was surrounded by people who revered her and only cared for their own interests. So it wasn't surprising when she connected emotionally with a commoner who was respectful but yet unafraid of her. He looked at her as her, an imperfect human being.

All of us know that forging an emotional bond is one of the most important fundamental building blocks of a lasting relationship. But it's easier said than done. What I've learned from this movie is that having an emotional connection with anyone, regardless of age, colour and religion - is to be able to give the other person a friendly ear and having the courage to provide frank feedback. 

RATING: 7/10

THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)

Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Length: 2:13
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Taika Waititi
Screenplay: Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle & Christopher L. Yost

Oh wow. There's just so many things to sing praise about THOR: RAGNAROK I don't even know where to start. Well, let's just start with the overall reaction.  You know when someone asks you how was a particular movie and you would reply with an auto-response, "Yeah...it was fun"?

Well for Thor: Ragnarok, it's ACTUALLY really fun and enjoyable!

But most of all, this third standalone Thor film is hilarious! At times, I felt the overall tone was heavily inspired by Deadpool. Throughout the movie, I was thinking to myself, "How did Waititi get away with all these jokes?? I thought Marvel movies have a certain template the director must follow or else they would be fired/leave due to 'creative differences'?"

The comedy keeps on rolling, one after another. And the range is wide covering wit, self referencing jokes, gags, slapstick and meta humour. Thankfully, most of them lands and works really well.

In terms of the plot, Thor (Hemsworth) tries to stop Hela, the Goddess of Death (Blanchett) from destroying his kingdom, Asgard. But he accidentally goes on a detour to the planet Sakaar, where he is enslaved by the Grandmaster (Goldblum) and made a gladiator, and is forced to fight The Hulk (Ruffalo).

That said, as entertaining as it is, this is not a perfect movie. There were times I really wished the filmmakers didn't go overboard with the jokey tone but balances it out with some really serious emotional moments. There was probably one or two of such scenes but it was few and far between. And the villain was forgettable.

However, as for the performances, thanks to Waititi, he was able to get Hemsworth into a comedic groove, making his character appearing like a charming male dumb blonde (which I think is perfectly fine!). Ruffalo's fish out of water moments were absolute gold. A special shout-out to Tessa Thompson's character Valkyrie - oh my, she's so hot! Her charismatic performance here reminds me of a female Han Solo. Even the director himself appears as a memorable trash talking pile of rocks. And watch out for the cameos!

The action scenes are good but what's even better is how good this movie looks. There is this flashback scene of The Fall of The Valkyries which is absolutely stunning. But what's EVEN better is the game-like synthesizer infused soundtrack and the use of Led Zeppelin's classic, "Immigrant Song". Yes, that's THE song used in the trailer and it actually appears in the movie!

Indeed, the third time is the charm.

RATING: 8.5/10