Showing posts with label Ian McKellen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ian McKellen. Show all posts

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Mr Holmes (2015) - Trailer

Ian McKellen aged elderly Sherlock Holmes 2015 movie Mr Holmes wallpaper image screenshot picture

The trailer for the latest Sherlock Holmes movie adaptation starring Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, X-Men movies) as the titular character has been released.

The movie is based on Mitch Cullin's book: “A Slight Trick of the Mind. The pastiche focuses on an elderly Sherlock Holmes coming to terms with the physical frailties of old age.

McKellen is an actor with an uncanny ability to disappear into his roles, whether heroic or villainous in nature. I enjoyed his turn as the Master of Magnetism in the X-Men movies including the latest one, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Equally absorbing are his performances as Gandalf the Grey/White in the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit movies.

Supporting cast includes Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada and John Sessions.

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Bill Condon has directed the movie. His previous efforts such as The Fifth Estate, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 have not been critically acclaimed, irrespective of their box office returns. On the plus side, he has already worked with McKellen on Gods and Monsters, a movie that featured the actor as the real life director, James Whale in his final days. Hope that this movie will enjoy both critical and commercial success.

The music is by Carter Burwell. Carter is well known for his frequent collaboration with The Coen Brothers, such as Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men and Fargo. 

The trailer is OK. Most of the recent adaptations have heavily focused on Sherlock's supposed love life with Irene Adler. Even though Irene Adler is mentioned in only story (A Scandal in Bohemia) in the Canon, she has been an integral character, starting with the Guy Ritchie directed movies, followed by BBC Sherlock and now the latest Russian TV Series.

Hope the movie turns out better than being just another cash cow to capitalize on the hot streak enjoyed by Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic character. 

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Image Source: Wikipedia

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Friday, September 6, 2013

Ian McKellen to play Sherlock Holmes


Ian McKellen Gandalf the Grey White and Magneto is now Sherlock Holmes in Bill Condon's adaptation of "A Slight Trick of the Mind" by Mitch Cullin

It has been announced today that Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, X-Men movies) will be playing Sherlock Holmes in Bill Condon's adaptation of "A Slight Trick of the Mind" by Mitch Cullin.

McKellen is an actor with an amazing ability to disappear into his roles, whether heroic or villainous in nature. I enjoyed his turn as the Master of Magnetism in the X-Men movies and that is one of the main reasons, I am looking forward to the upcoming Bryan Singer movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Equally great was his performance as Gandalf the Grey/White in the Lord of the Rings movies.

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This is one of the best casting choices for the legendary detective and I am very excited to see McKellen's take on the iconic character.

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Image Source: Casa de Tijolinhos

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Movie Review: The Wolverine (2013)


The Wolverine 2013 Hugh Jackman Logan poster based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 limited series

This is a spoiler heavy review. Readers who wish to avoid plot details are recommended to skip the review.

The movie opens with the nuclear bomb attack on Japan in 1945. Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is a Prisoner of War (POW). Just as the bomb is about to be dropped, Logan is released by a Japanese soldier, Yashida (Ken Yamamura), who in turn is saved from the deadly blast by Logan.

Cut to the present. Logan is living in the woods and has recurring flashbacks of his one true love, the deceased Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). The only other living being, Logan has any connection with is a big, lumbering Grizzly Bear. The latter becomes the target of some hunters and Logan is forced to put him out of his misery.

Rila Fukushima as Yukio in The Wolverine 2013 movie Hugh Jackman Logan

Logan's encounter with the hunters at a local bar is interrupted by Yukio (Rila Fukushima). She works for an aging Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), who wishes to see Logan one last time. Logan reluctantly travels to Japan to honor his friend's last wish.

Logan soon finds himself in the midst of an ongoing plot to kill Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto). This leads to the centerpiece of the movie - a chase sequence that starts at Yashida's funeral, continues on the streets and ends with Logan taking on assassins atop a speeding bullet train.

A wounded Logan discovers that he is losing his healing powers and faces the prospects of being mortally wounded. There are a few other supporting characters - Harada (Will Yun Lee) an archer, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), a mutant with the ability to inject poison and Mariko's father Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada).

Silver Samurai in The Wolverine 2013 movie Hugh Jackman Logan

The movie climax involves Logan facing off against Silver Samurai. The movie's version of Silver Samurai is a hulking robot, operated by Yashida.

This is an out and out Hugh Jackman movie. There are a number of shots of Hugh's immensely ripped body. In his sixth outing as Wolverine/Logan (counting his cameo in X-Men: First Class), Hugh has the role down pat. This time, he fleshes out his signature role more, thanks to the loss of his self-healing ability.

Hugh Jackman as Logan Wolverine in The Wolverine movie review 2013 James Mangold

Most of the remaining cast members are stereotypes - the young sidekick, the damsel in distress, the evil businessman and a few more. Don't miss out the excellent promo for X-Men: Days of Future Past in a mid-credits scene.

Will Yun Lee as Harada the archer, Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper the mutant, Tao Okamoto as Mariko and Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen in The Wolverine 2013 movie

Pros

  1. Hugh Jackman's performance
  2. Very much a personal story - No threats of world wide apocalypse or scenes of city wide destruction .

Cons

  1. Badly staged action sequences
  2. Convoluted climax
  3. Lack of chemistry between Hugh Jackman's Logan and Tao Okamoto's Mariko
  4. Jean Grey's flashback scenes

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Recommended to fans of Hugh Jackman/Wolverine. Click here to read all my posts related to Marvel Comics.

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Image Sources: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Marvel Entertainment and Dune Entertainment

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Trask Industries Viral Commercial


James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men Days of Future Past Poster

We get our first look at the Sentinels in this viral commercial for X-Men: Days of Future Past, upcoming superhero movie from Bryan Singer.




Bryan Singer returns to the comic book franchise, he started way back in 2000. The movie has a large ensemble cast (even by the usual Bryan Singer's X-Men movie standards). The cast of the original X-Men movie series (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Daniel Cudmore) comes together with the cast of X-Men: First Class (Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult) to make this movie the must watch movie event of Summer 2014.

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Image Sources: Wikipedia, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Marvel Entertainment, Bad Hat Harry Productions and Dune Entertainment