2015 Movie Review Part One
We’ve made it through the first five months of the year. Well, technically we’re only a little over halfway through May, but you know what I mean. It’s time for me to give you the scoop on my movie going experiences, as in, a brief review of a few movies from my Top 10 Movies I’m Dying to Watch article.
Lets start with 50 Shades of Grey. Oh, how we all obsessed over this movie on Facebook. I even joined a few groups dedicated to a discussion of all things Christian Grey. I was right there cheering along with the rest of Team Jamie when Charlie Hunnam dropped out of the movie. While I was very happy to see Jamie Dornan in the role, I wasn’t as blown away by the film as I thought I’d be.
The chemistry between Dakota and Jamie was present on screen, but the film version of the tragic romance just didn’t heat up the screen the way reading the book did for me. At first, I was super excited after spending the two hours drooling over Jamie’s abs with my sister, but even his well-sculpted six-pack couldn’t save the movie’s snooze factor. However, I will still go and check out part two. I’m just not feigning to download my digital copy of the first installment the way I thought I’d be.
On an entirely different note and experience, we have Furious 7. Watching this created an emotional moment for me as this was the last installment featuring Paul Walker’s character, Brian O’Connor. The action was seamless. Stunts were a bit over the top, yet totally believable. This is a movie and not a NASCAR race, you know. There was no going round and round a track a gazillion times for the viewers. This franchise is now known for its trademark action sequences. Think Lettie flying over a group of cars and Dom catching her mid-air while managing to land on a car on the other side of the bridge at exactly the right moment. Uh-huh. That’s crazy enough for the guys to respect and romantic enough to make the girls in the audience gush over the romance. What’s believability got to do with it, right? What makes these movies so wildly successful is the mixture of conflict among family members, honor, loyalty and the notion that even though we’re all different we can unite and make a difference in this world. Yep, there’s an underlying message in these movies, and guess what? People understand and love it. In the end, that’s exactly what this group of Furious 7 does. The characters come together despite their differences and against all odds. We’ve bought all the previous movies and have marked the calendar for the digital release of Furious 7 in July.
The Avengers Age of Ultron. Hmm. I’m not sure whether it was the lack of Loki or the weirdo romance between the Widow and the Hulk that left me feeling lukewarm about this installment. Or it could have been the Iron Man 4ish story line. Mind you, I’m not a die-hard, true to core Marvel fan, so I’m probably in the minority on this one. All the rest of my family loved it. And it wasn’t bad by any means. I’m just not dying to return to the theater for a second, third and fourth go-round.
Having said that, Marvel folks will love this movie. There wasn’t much romance other than the failed attempt to make us believe the Widow suddenly found the Hulk’s bulging green biceps attractive. Or maybe it’s just me. I’ve never been an Iron Man fan. The man flying around in the robot suit’s a bit much for me. And I was hoping to see more of the Widow-Captain America-Winter Soldier theme in this one. Oh well, guess I’ll have to wait for Captain America 3’s release next year.
Mad Max Fury Road – Oh boy, I’m excited to be writing this review. If I had to come up with a subtitle then it would definitely say something like “A post-apocalyptic Furious 7.” Yep! That’s the best way to describe Fury Road. Yes, it was loud. Yes, there was a super long chase scene, something that we find inside the F&F movies all the time. But no, I didn’t find it either annoying or misplaced as I originally thought I’d do. I had no idea this movie was coming out so soon. Therefore, it didn’t win a spot on my top 10 movie list. My bad.
And yes, I’m super naughty for not including this one because slipping up closely behind the Fast and Furious comes this little fun ride of a flick. Action. Conflict. Drama. Family ties. Fabulous characters. A post-apocalyptic setting (not to be confused with a dystopian setting). All of these things tie together in a great plot and eye candy that took five years to edit. For me, this film was the surprise hit of the year. Charlize Theron rocked the role of Furiosa. I mean, I’d recommend watching the movies simply because of her performance. Seriously. She deserves an award. One critic described the world you’ll be experiencing inside this movie as violently beautiful and I couldn’t agree more. Whether you’re into tales of futuristic America or not there’s something for everyone inside this gorgeously haunting movie.
That’s all for now. Next stop, a return to the world of the Raptors and T-Rex’s in Jurassic World. I’ll be back with more movie reviews in September. Happy viewing!
