Runtime:156 Minutes
Plot
"A frontiersman named Hugh Glass on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear".
My Thoughts
Before this film came out there was a lot of rumblings about it going on, from the extreme conditions that the cast and crew had to endure to get this film made, too the controversial "Bear Attack" scene to the praise Leonardo DiCaprio was getting for his performance. After seeing this film I can say that this was a very good film and one of the best I have seen in the last 12 months. first I Want to start with the cinematography, the film is just beautiful, not in a special effects/CGI way but in a natural way, from the embers flowing up into the tree from a campfire to the tranquil sound and fluidity of a river the characters are traversing to some of the wide angle shots that really let you see just how vast and lonely the open wilderness can be, this film was shot brilliantly and was a sight too see, for me I had never seen such shots done in a movie like this before and I commend the cinematographers for this. onto the acting which was top notch, Leonardo DiCaprio lived up the hype/expectations I had heard about his performance from early reviewers, He was excellent as Hugh Glass, I have seen a good amount of Leonardo DiCaprio Films and for me this performance ranks up there with his Performance as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator". He showed so many different emotions and multi layered facets to his caharacter in this film that I was amazed overall. Tom Hardy was also excellent in this film he is quickly moving up my favorite actors list, everything I have seen him in, he has always excelled and impressed me, and I can see why he is getting buzz for Best Supporting Actor in the Oscars, One more actor I have to mention from the cast Will Poulter was excellent in this film as well in his portrayal as Bridger, the only other film I have seen him in was "We're the millers" and this was a completely different role and he was very good, I look forward too seeing what he does in the future. the rest of the cast did an excellent job and I saw no weak performances anywhere top to bottom good job. The next part of this film that really caught my eye was just the harshness and unforgiving nature it had to it, watching this film you really felt just how hard it was to survive in the wilderness and what it took to make it through, nature is unforgiving and the setting of this film really made the viewer see that. Lastly the "Bear" attack scene was a sight too behold it was visceral and bloody and DiCaprio did a magnificent job portraying the hurt and pain in his characters eyes as he was basically mauled to Death by a grizzly bear. There was not much about this film that really bothered me, something to note for anyone thinking of viewing this film the runtime is 156 minutes or 2 hours and 36 minutes so anyone who is not a fan of long running movies may want to skip this. for me the runtime was fine and the film flowed together pretty well, I will say there were some points of the film that felt they could have been cut from the film and would have not changed much and would have cut down on the run time, other than that I did not find much wrong with this film and I recommend it too anyone who wants to see a beautifully shot film with excellent acting. Rotten Tomatoes Gave the film an 80% saying " As starkly beautiful as it is harshly uncompromising, The Revenant uses Leonardo DiCaprio's committed performance as fuel for an absorbing drama that offers punishing challenges -- and rich rewards". I felt that score is a little low but overall agree with what was said.
Rating
Well Acted, Beautifully shot, and very punishing atmosphere combine for an excellent film 8.7/10!!!
The Next film to review is "The Forest" Starring Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken and Stephanie Vogt
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Plot
"A young woman searches for her twin sister in a Japanese forest only to find herself surrounded by paranormal force".
My Thoughts
This is going to be short and to the point, the film was below average in aspect except for the ending it surprised me just a bit and I did not see it coming, other than that I would say pass on this film on all fronts, unless you have 90 minutes to waste and do not mind seeing a run of the mill cliched filled boring film. There was nothing memorable about this film whatsoever the acting was subpar, the CGI was bad enough that you could tell it was CGI and plot/story overall was not very engaging or interesting Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 11% saying "The Forest offers Natalie Dormer a few chances to showcase her range in a dual role, but they aren't enough to offset the fact that the movie's simply not all that scary". I agree with everything that was said, all of the supposedly "scary" parts of the film you could see coming from a mile away and that took all of the surprise out of them. I do not recommend this film at all, I did not think I would say this so early in the year but the second film I have seen is definitely one of the worst I have seen in recent memory.
Rating
Bad film all around nothing redeeming whatsoever except a somewhat surprising ending, Pass 5/10!!!
The Next film up for review is "Ride Along 2" starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart and Olivia Munn
Runtime:101 Minutes
Plot
"As his wedding day approaches, Ben heads to Miami with his soon-to-be brother-in-law James to bring down a drug dealer who's supplying the dealers of Atlanta with product".
My Thoughts
I enjoyed the first "Ride Along" film and wasn't really sure what to expect from this film, now having seen it I can say it was funny and had its moments, I don't really need to say much other than Ice Cube and Kevin Hart have good chemistry together and the magic and worked just as well together in this film as the first one. Ken Jeong was a nice addition to this film and his character and chemistry meshed well with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube.You know what to expect from a film like this, and I will say it had a few moments that had me really cracking up and that is what I want to do when watching a film like this.Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 14% saying " Ride Along 2 presents a cop-comedy sequel whose well-matched stars can't break the law of diminishing returns -- or lock up a script that unabashedly steals from the original". I agree somewhat the film did feel similar to the first one and other than different location it felt like the same film, again I will say when seeing a film like this most viewers should know what to expect from the get go, and for me it was to laugh and be entertained and I laughed enough to justify the ticket price for me. Overall if you are a fan of Kevin Hart or Ice Cube or enjoyed the first film or just want to see something that will allow you to laugh for an hour and 41 minutes then I recommend this, if you are looking for great acting or a really good script, I would say skip it as this film does not provide that at all.
Rating
Solid Comedy film, what I expected nothing more or nothing less. 7.0/10!!!
The next film to Review is "The Boy" Starring Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans and James Russell
Runtime: 97 Minutes
Plot
"An American nanny is shocked that her new English family's boy is actually a life-sized doll. After violating a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive".
My Thoughts
I don't really have much to say about this film, I knew going in not to expect much and that is exactly what I got, the film had no scary parts at all (not even a jump scare moment the plot seemed interesting before actually seeing it play out on screen, the acting was passable nothing special here but this isn't a film that you would be expecting Oscar worthy acting in the first place, the only part of the film that vaguely interested me was the ending of the film the last 15-20 minutes were somewhat of a surprise, the actual ending of the film was cliched and expected for a PG-13 "Scary" movie, but other than that this film was forgettable in every sense of the word. Rotten Tomatoes only has the rating listed for this movie which was 29% (which is always a sign of a terrible film). I do not recommend anyone to see this film, unless you have 97 minutes to kill and do not mind films that when they are over you leaving saying "I wasted 97 minutes of my life that I cannot get back". skip this movie.
Rating
Terrible Film, nothing redeeming about it at all other than a somewhat surprising last 15-20 minutes not the actual ending itself. 5/10!!!!
