Sinister (2012) - Recap and Review

Sinister remains one of the best horror movie I have watched. The emphasis on the word “horror” is because most movies that are supposed to be a horror movie tend more to be torture porn nowadays.

The plot goes like this: Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a True crime writer, who is coasting on his past glories. He yearns to return to the public eye by churning out another bestseller. Ellison moves in to a new town to write his latest book about a murder of a family.

Oswalt's family consists of his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance) and their children, Ashley (Clare Foley) and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario). Ashley likes to paint on the walls and Trevor suffers from nightmares.

The local Sheriff (Fred Dalton Thompson) is not a fan of Ellison's works. He also does not approve of the fact that the writer has moved into the very house, where the murders took place. Ellison has hidden this fact from his family members.

Soon, things start to unravel at the Oswalts. Trevor starts to have nightmares quickly. Ashley is drawing very macabre paintings on her wall. Ellison himself starts losing his mind, as the brutality of the murder he watches in the Super 8 mm films starts to overwhelm his senses.

The only person to show some kind of understanding for Ellison's current predicament is Deputy So and So (James Ransone). After coming face to face with Mr. Boogie himself, Ellison decides to pack up things and leaves the house right away with his family.

This is where the movie shines. Usually in haunted movies, we tend to ask the question: Why don't they just move out of the house and be done with it. This movie, scripted by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, addresses this significant question.

Scott, who also directed the movie, deserves credit for delivering one of the best horror movies in a long time. The cinematography by Chris Norr and the music by Christopher Young add immensely to the atmosphere. Christopher's work especially merits mention and is probably the most influential aspect of the movie, even eclipsing Ethan Hawke's acting and Scott's direction.

The acting is pretty solid, considering that this is a horror movie. Ethan is an ace at playing this kind of every man role and this movie is no exception. He receives able support from Juliet Rylance and Clare Foley as the hapless family members. 

But the best casting decisions are reserved for the supporting roles. There are three supporting characters and all of them have been cast exceptionally well. 

In addition to the aforementioned Deputy So and So (James Ransone) and the Sheriff (Fred Dalton Thompson), there is Vincent D'Onofrio in a very brief role as Professor Jonas. Jonas is an occult expert and has a couple of scenes, in which he explains about Bughuul to Ethan Hawke's character.

It is quite telling that Vincent has a far better screen presence and leaves quite an impression, despite having just about five minutes of screentime. Compare this with Henry Cavill, who gets to carry an entire movie by himself and still manages to leave zero impression.

James Ransone provides most of the lighter moments in the otherwise grim film. He also shares an excellent chemistry with Ethan, especially in the scene where he requests to be included in Oswalt's upcoming book.

Same goes for Fred Dalton Thompson as the Sheriff. His early encounter with Oswalt boasts of some sharp dialogues and the actors pull it off with great aplomb.

Last but not the least, the villain himself, Bughuul / Mr. Boogie (Nicholas King). Bughuul is one of the most memorable horror movie villains. The director deserves credit for making him a truly scary and creepy character.

This is a movie that fires on all cylinders and is highly recommended to fans of the horror movies.

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Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem (2015) - Review

The second Batman Unlimited animated movie is out. I was not impressed with the first one (Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts). In that movie, Penquin/Oswald Cobblepot had assembled a group of animal-themed supervillains (Cheetah, Killer Croc, Man-Bat and Silverback) to take over the world. That plan and the movie, both failed.

This time, it is The Joker (Troy Baker) himself, who brings together a team of monster-themed supervillains (Scarecrow, Clayface, Solomon Grundy and Silver Banshee) to take over Gotham and the world.

The trouble starts on Halloween night when Solomon Grundy (Fred Tatasciore) and Silver Banshee (Kari Wuhrer) break out of the prison. They steal a car and are wreaking havoc in the city streets. Nightwing (Will Friedle) and Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopoulos) try to stop them. Batman (Roger Craig Smith) and Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal) also give chase in the Batmobile.

Scarecrow (Brian T. Delaney) comes to the villains' rescue and infects Nightwing and Green Arrow with his fear gas.

Gogo Shoto (Noel Fisher), head of a video game company is kidnapped for his software skills. The Joker is planning to unleash a virus on the world and plans to use Gogo as his unwitting pawn.

Also in the fray is Victor Stone/Cyborg (Khary Payton), who is visiting Gotham and becomes involved in Joker's ongoing shenanigans.

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Can Batman and the rest of the heroes stop the Joker from executing his evil plans...You bet, they do.

The animation quality is not up to the usual high DC standards. The character designs look OK. The worst is surprisingly reserved for Bruce Wayne/Batman himself. He looks more like a teenager and not like a seasoned crime fighter. In one of the scenes, Batman looks weird as he drives the Batcycle.

The Batman Unlimited movies lack the thematic complexity and/or the mature tone of the recent DC Animated movies. That is not a surprise, since these movies are not part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. These  movies are based on the Mattel's toy line and are clearly targeted at a very young demographic.

Accordingly, the tone and even the jokes are pretty juvenile in nature. A kid appears twice in the movie, once taking selfie with Batman and again in the climax, to take selfie with the villains (who happily agree for the photo opportunity). In another scene, a character is playing Batman himself in a video game in a clear reference to the recently released Batman: Arkham Knight game. The game had the marketing line: Be the Batman.

The plot is pretty much non-existent and is made up of one fight scene after another. But the action scenes get tiresome really quick, especially the one long fight scene that starts at the abandoned amusement park and just goes on and on.

The climax is heavily inspired by The Matrix Revolutions and Batman rides what strongly resembles a Dinobot transformer, seen in the latest Transformers movie, Transformers: Age of Extinction. And in addition, the city wide parade scene reminds me one of the finale of Batman (1989).

The best bits involve Clayface. The movie makes full use of his awesome powers. If nothing else, this movie will at least be remembered for focussing the spotlight on one of the most underused villains in Batman's Rogues Gallery.

The worst ones involve Grundy. His attempts at humor fall flat most of the time. Even Silver Banshee's “singing” in the climax induces groans.

Recommended to children only. Adults will most probably get bored fast.

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Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Recap and Review

The opening scene is set in London. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) visits a record shop. After proving his identity using a set of code words to the store girl (Hermione Corfield), Ethan obtains the record that would provide instructions for his next mission. He has been on the trail of a terrorist organization, “The Syndicate”.

Ethan realizes that his identity has been compromised when it is revealed that the recording itself has been authored by none other the Syndicate itself. Ethan is captured and the store girl is murdered by an as-yet unidentified agent of The Syndicate.

Ethan is held hostage by Janik “Bone Doctor” Vinter (Jens Hultén). But before Janik can inflict any substantial torture on Ethan, he is rescued by Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Ilsa is a British Intelligence MI6 agent whose present assignment is to infiltrate The Syndicate.

Back in Washington D.C., CIA Director Hunley (Alec Baldwin) is dead set on getting the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) dissolved and have the IMF's assets and agents restored to CIA. IMF Agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) tries his best to salvage his agency's reputation, but to no avail.

Hunley believes that The Syndicate is a mere excuse created by Ethan to justify IMF's existence. He even subjects Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) to weekly polygraph tests, in the hopes of getting some kind of information on Ethan. Benji loves playing Halo 5 game and hates being interrupted by such mundane details.

Benji manages to beat such tests, despite the fact that he is in regular touch with Ethan. A desperate Ethan seeks Benji's help in order to apprehend the man who killed the store girl and dismantle the organization.

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This man is revealed to be one Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Solomon manages to stay one step ahead and has both Ethan and Benji framed for the assassination of the Austrian Chancellor.

With the IMF disbanded, Ethan has to use his wits and skills to clear his name and have the craft Lane behind bars.

The thing that struck me most about this movie was how much it has been inspired from the Sherlock Holmes stories and specifically, the Robert Downey Jr. movies Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (SH: AGoS).

Drew Pierce is credited with the story. Drew's previous credit include Iron Man 3 and is currently working on Sherlock Holmes 3. It is not much of a stretch of imagination that he has borrowed ideas from the previous two Sherlock Holmes movies.

In the first Sherlock Holmes movie, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) is working for Professor Moriarty. He orders her to work with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) with the clear purpose of utilizing his detective skills to retrieve a device. When Irene Adler seems to be lagging in her mission, he threatens to have Sherlock killed. In the sequel, Moriarty poisons her in order to punish her for her failure. 

There are clear parallels between Sherlock/Irene and Ethan/Ilsa. Ilsa is Ethan's equal and outwits him a few times in the movie. Ethan also refers to her as “The Woman”. And Ilsa's acting on the behest of Solomon Lane to retrieve the data from Ethan also reminds one of Irene Adler working on Professor Moriarty's orders to retrieve the device.

There is even a scene in which Ilsa undresses in front of Ethan, as he watches her naked back. Readers might remember that there is a similar encounter between Holmes and Adler in the hotel in the first Sherlock Holmes movie.

At least, this version of Sherlock and Irene do not make out at any point in the movie, unlike the RDJ movies or the CBS Elementary or the recent Russian TV Series. Ilsa might still appear in the inevitable sequel...

There is an action set piece set in an opera in Austria, that should remind readers of a similar scene in SH: AGoS. Another nod is Ethan's diorama on the wall detailing what he thinks are related events and incidents that have been orchestrated by Solomon Lane. In SH: AGoS, Sherlock maintains a diorama listing what he thinks are the worldwide criminal activities of Professor Moriarty.

One of the popular fan theory surrounding the Sherlock Holmes Canon is that Professor Moriarty is a creation of Holmes, since Dr Watson has never actually seen him. This is indirectly referred to in the beginning of the movie, when Hunley states that The Syndicate is just a figment of Ethan's imagination.

Benji resembles Dr Watson in the scene in which Ethan asks him to leave stating his inability to protect him. Benji gets emotional and boldly asserts that he is Ethan's friend and he firmly intends to stick through with Ethan to the very end, despite Ethan's insistence on him leaving. In The Final Problem, Sherlock asks Dr Watson to let him face Moriarty alone to which Dr Watson bluntly refuses.

The bad guy (Moriarty) is Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), formerly of British Intelligence. His style of working is similar to Moriarty. And just like Moriarty, Lane is referred to as “He” in many scenes. References are made to his vast network of resources and agents. Ilsa mentions that Ethan has met his match in Lane.

Janik “Bone Doctor” Vinter is Moriarty's right hand man, Sebastian Moran. The actor, Jens Hultén even bears a passing resemblance to Paul Anderson who played Moran in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

To quote Sherlock Holmes himself from The Empty House: “The parallel is exact”.

Coming back to the movie, the movie is not as exciting as the previous entry, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. That movie was fun and had a momentum that lasted from the first frame till the last.

This one pales in comparison. The action sequences are not as gripping. The climax involves an incredibly boring fight between Ilsa and Janik. I did like the Road Rage type kick Ethan gives to a bad guy during the motorcycle chase scene.

The abject objectification of Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust character is a major eye sore. There are a number of scenes in which the camera gazes too long at her posterior. At least, Ilsa is smart enough to remove her high heel shoes before each action scene. Something that another female lead character famously failed to do so in a recent global Dino blockbuster.

The movie did have some postives. The scene in which Ethan, Ilsa and Benji discuss about the simple disguise using masks not working anymore was a nice touch. As was the scene in which Benji confidently states that Ethan can hold his breath underwater for a superhuman period of time.

Recommended only to die-hard fans of the Mission Impossible franchise and/or Tom Cruise.

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Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015) - Review

Spoilers ahead. Readers who wish to avoid spoilers are recommended to skip the post.

I was not impressed with the companion web series (Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles) that was released last month and was not sure about this movie.

This movie proved to be a pleasant surprise. Featuring alternate versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the movie has an excellent script, screenplay, direction and astounding action choreography (as most DC Animated Movies do).

Superman is not the son of Zor-El, but of General Zod and is raised by Mexican immigrants.

Batman is Kirk Langstrom and not Bruce Wayne. In the Batman Canon, Kirk Langstrom is Man-Bat. In this universe, he becomes a pseudo-vampire in his attempts to cure his cancer. He feeds on the blood of the bad guys.

Wonder Woman is not the Princess Diana of Themyscira, but is Bekka. Bekka is a New God of New Genesis, the daughter of Himon and the wife of Orion.

A pre-credit sequence is set in Krypton. (DC fans can rest easy. The similarities with Man of Steel ends right here). Jor-El (Yuri Lowenthal) is about to imprint his DNA on his wife Lara Lor-Van's (Lauren Tom) using a machine to send their soon-to-be born son to Earth. General Zod (Bruce Thomas) intervenes and forcefully puts his own DNA instead.

The baby is adopted by migrant Mexican parents. Named Hernan Guerras, this version of Superman is a bit arrogant because of the difficulties he endures in his upbringing, 

Cut to the present. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are based at the Tower of Justice. Unlike the regular versions, these characters are ruthless when it comes to punishing bad guys.

The government, headed by President Amanda Waller (Penny Johnson Jerald) is not willing to take any steps to challenge the Justice Leaguers.

Trouble starts for our characters, when leading scientists are killed off one by one by unidentified assassins with the specific purpose of framing Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The victims include Dr Victor Fries (Mr Freeze), Ray Palmer (Atom) and Silas Stone.

The public's hatred of the Justice League increases, thanks to the media campaign run by reporter Lois Lane (Paget Brewster). President Waller is forced to execute “Project FairPlay”, which is a brainchild of Lex Luthor (Jason Isaacs). Lex has always been wary of Superman and has put plans in place to neutralize him and his colleagues, should they go rogue.

Are the heroes able to prove their innocence? Who is out to frame them? What happens when Waller initiates FairPlay?

I would recommend the readers to check out the movie for the answers.

The story is credited to Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, both of whom have worked on some of the best DC Animated projects including Superman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Animated Series.

Like these classic shows, the movie also delves deep into the lead characters. Each of the DC Trinity characters get an extensive back story.

Considering that this is an animated superhero movie, the script manages to hold our attention for the most part, until the mystery is resolved. Kudos to Bruce and Alan for the excellent story and screenplay. 

The animation is done in Bruce Timm style which is refreshing after all the anime and other styles that have dominated animation in the recent past.

The action sequences are executed very well, especially the last one between Supes and the bad guys which is exceptional. The last 20 minutes has non-stop action and successfully combines great character moments and action beats.

This is classic DC Comics and a must watch for fans of Supes, Bats and Wonder Woman.

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Ant-Man (2015) - Recap and Review

The movie starts with a pre-credit scene set in 1989. Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is furious when he realizes that his secret formula for “Pym particle” is being stolen by Howard Stark (John Slattery), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan). An angry Hank retires from S.H.I.E.L.D  and vows to keep his formula a secret.

Back to the present. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is in San Quentin Penitentiary. The day he is released, he is met by his buddy, Luis (Michael Pena).

Despite Luis' best sales pitch for another con, Scott opts for an honest living with Baskin Robbins. But not for long.. His boss fires him as soon as he finds about Scott's run-ins with the law in the past.. Scott again refuses to participate in another of his buddy's plan.

Scott's determination to play it straight weakens, when he realizes that he has to have cash to play any role in the life of his daughter, Cassie Lang (Abby Ryder Fortson). Cassie is now living with his estranged wife, Maggie Lang (Judy Greer) and her current husband, Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). Paxton is a cop.

Dr Hank Pym's daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is also estranged from him.

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Yes, the movie takes a heavy-handed approach to show the similarities between the previous Ant-Man and the current one. Will the two sets of father-daughter be united at the end? Hey, this is a Marvel/Disney movie we are talking about. A movie that has been specifically designed to appeal to as wide a global audience as possible..

The villain of the piece is Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), former protege of Hank and current rival. Darren has developed another version of the Ant-Man technology and has unimaginatively named it “Yellowjacket” for obvious reasons. He plans to sell it to Hydra (who else?) for a large sum of money and it is up to Hank Pym to stop this from happening.

Hank's solution: He organizes a plan with Scott and his buddies to infiltrate the Darren's corporate headquarters and steal the suit. Throw in a few training montage scenes and of course, the necessary fight scene between heroes and Voila! we have our Ant-Man movie.

The most obvious aspect of the movie is this: The movie shamelessly rides the coattails of the success of Avengers and the brand name of Marvel Studios. There are a number of references and name dropping to those set of characters throughout the movie.

Gone are the days, when each movie stood on its own legs and was measured by its own merits and demerits. Today, thanks to the idea of a shared cinematic universe, all a studio has to do is churn out one massive global hit and the rest of the movies can have a free ride coasting on the aforementioned success.

As if Marvel's brand name is not enough, the parent studio (Disney) has enough money and marketing muscle to make sure that every single person, not living under a rock, is aware of the movie's release date.

All of this leads to the single most important question: Under the circumstances mentioned above, does the quality of the movie really matter?

People are going to show up en masse to see the latest Marvel Studios movie anyway. But for the sake of the discerning readers out there, who actually want to spend their time and money on a quality product, I am going to present my thoughts on the movie...

Edgar Wright, the visionary director (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) was originally attached to the movie since 2006. Yes, even before Iron Man came out and launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to both critical and commercial success.

Edgar's movies tend to carry his quirky sense of humor and quick camera shots. He had a strong vision for the Ant-Man movie (as any self respecting director would do). But as the Marvel Cinematic Universe grew leaps and bounds over the years, Edgar's vision went out of sync with the Marvel Studio's bigger plans for a shared movie universe.

Edgar stepped out and in came another director who was more willing to play along with Marvel Studios' cleverly crafted plans for box office domination: Peyton Reed. The final product still bears Edgar's influence but lacks his signature wit and energy.

Instead, we have a lackluster movie that has been designed to appeal to as broad a worldwide audience as possible and make as much profits as possible for Marvel and Disney studios.

Evangeline Lilly sleepwalks through her role and also happens to be burdened with a hideous wig. Interestingly, Corey Stoll also sported a similarly out-of-place hairpiece in the FX Vampire horror show “The Strain”. Another coincidence: Corey also looked bored as Dr. Eph Goodweather. In this movie, he is slightly better as the antagonist, but is just as forgettable.

Michael Cena goes overboard as Luis. Some of his attempts at humor work and some fall flat. Many of these attempts come off as childish and predictable.

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Michael Douglas is OK as Dr Hank Pym. He is reported to have shown interest in having his real life wife, Catherine Zeta Jones to play his reel wife, Janet van Dyne/Wasp in the inevitable sequel/upcoming MCU movies. Hey, if BBC Sherlock can do it, so can we. Nepotism is after all a common human trait.

As for Paul Rudd, he has hit the cinematic jackpot by being cast as a lead in a MCU movie. He seems to have learned his lessons well - Just as the studio marketed the movie by associating it with the Avengers and the Marvel brand name, Rudd himself has been claiming to have followed Chris Pratt's lead in training himself for his role. Way to go, guys. All of you deserve some sort of medal for milking the value of “Positive Brand Association” for all its worth.

The movie has a couple of scenes, in which characters mouth anti-feminist dialogues, referring to female anatomy. I am sure, this will be lost even on the female audiences as well.

Fans of Marvel Cinematic Universe will love this movie. There are the usual ingredients they have come to expect from a MCU movie:

1. Heroes fighting each other - In this movie, Ant-Man fights Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) at the Avenger's mansion. A MCU movie is not complete, if the heroes don't fight each other and that is a proven fact.
2. Mid-Credits and Post-Credits scenes, that will have the fans stoked for the next movie and ensure a box office success well in advance.
3. Cameos from supporting MCU characters - In addition to Falcon, Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Captain America make their appearances.

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