The Amazing Spiderman 2: Although the general population identifies The Amazing Spiderman 2 as a bad film, I still have to say that I really enjoyed it. And I don’t mean that I feel the pros are just barely able to outweigh the cons. I have seen this movie twice and both times found myself thoroughly impressed with the film. I found it just as good, if not better than the first film. I personally love the way that Andrew Garfield portrays Peter Parker. Emma Stone is fantastic as Gwen Stacy. I really enjoyed the moral and emotional dilemma that Peter and Gwen have to deal with in order to continue with their relationship in the wake of the death of Gwen’s father. I thought that it was a very compelling story because I found myself able to agree with both sides of the argument. On one hand, continuing their relationship would put Gwen in danger constantly, as well as the disrespect it shows towards the final wishes of her dead father, yet on the other hand, ignoring the feelings that both Peter and Gwen feel for each other would be a tragic waste of a potentially fantastic relationship. I enjoyed this film’s rendition of Electro (possibly a bit too cliché at times, but I wouldn’t say it’s enough to make the film bad in any way) and found the casting choices of both him and Green Goblin were extremely impressive. And another thing that I constantly find extremely impressive and fun with both of these films is the positions that spider man takes during his swinging sessions. It’s blatantly reminiscent of the classic comic art and I love watching the swinging scenes because of the visuals.
!!!!Spoiler Alert!!!: And when it comes to the execution of the last part of the film with the death of Gwen Stacy, I thought that was one of the most beautifully well done scenes of any comic book film ever made. I’d put that scene up there with the moment when Pepper Potts tries to quit working for Tony Stark when she finds out he’s Iron Man. And I thought that changing the cause of death from whiplash to her head hitting the ground made the whole scene deliver that much more of a gut punch.
Neighbors: I found Neighbors to be a hilarious movie. Maybe it’s not noteworthy enough to go down with the greats of comedy. However, it should definitely be a candidate if you’re looking for a movie to laugh at with friends. I can’t say I was expecting much of a story to justify and explain the shenanigans of the film outside of the simple hatred the characters have towards each other shown in the trailer, but I was pleasantly surprised that the plot was quite a lot deeper than than I suspected without trying to be too dramatic. Seth Rogen can obviously feel right at home in a comedy role, and Dave Franco has been around the block, but I was quite pleased to see that Zac Effron was able to hold his own in the role. Although I refuse to see most of Effron’s most popular films, I still feel like he is an actor with a lot of potential in the spotlight of Hollywood and I feel like he is making the transition to more mature roles extremely well. Overall, I would definitely recommend Neighbors if a crude comedy is what you’re in the mood for.
Godzilla: I thought Godzilla was fantastic. I am always happy when a movie can shock me with a plot detail I didn’t see coming. And (SPOILER ALERT) having Bryan Cranston’s killed of in the film and having it happen so early on left me absolutely dumbfounded. And the fact that there were multiple monsters in the film other than Godzilla also surprised me. I really enjoy Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an actor and I enjoyed his character overall, however, I definitely hear the complaints that his character seemed to lack good direction. However, I found the most amazingly exhilarating and exciting portions of the film were the fights between the monsters. I rarely scream in excitement the way I did when Godzilla shot energy out of his mouth. I had an absolute blast seeing this film on the big screen. And even if it isn’t an extraordinary film (I recognize that I’m usually an incredibly forgiving critic) it’s still an incredible Godzilla film.
X-Men: Days of Future Past: I find the new direction that the X-men franchise is taking to be extremely intriguing. Ever since the credits began to role on the midnight showing of X-men: First Class, my faith in the franchise has been restored in a very big way. And Days of Future Past has done more to renew my faith in the franchise than any other X-men film has. Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender turn in wonderful performances. Time travel often times leads to very intricate and intellectual story telling. I enjoyed getting to watch Wolverine having to deal with the difficulties and surprises of time travel, and getting to witness the major effects of his actions had on the overall timeline of the entire franchise. It’s safe to say the X-men franchise is heading in a new and exciting direction because of this latest installment.
Maleficent: Ever since I first heard about the concept of the Maleficent movie, I had my concerns, and when I found out that she was not only going to be the main character, but the protagonist, I had low expectations for the film. However, I still went and saw it and I’m glad I did. It’s a delightful and fun film. I found myself enjoying the chemistry between the characters as soon as they were introduced. Now, something to recognize about this film is that it is trying to identify certain plot details of the original Sleeping Beauty story as lies that were told in order to paint Maleficent as an evil, cold-hearted, demon. At first, there were times when I found these changes to be a bit odd, but I then recognized that both stories are completely made up, and getting offended as soon as someone calls one story a lie and the other truth would be silly and disliking the film because of that would be ridiculous. Angelina Jolie was fantastic in the role and her interactions with Aurora were absolutely adorable. On top of everything else, the film was visually stunning. The flight sequences were on pare with the flight scenes of How to Train your Dragon.
This in only the reviews of the movies I saw in May. Next time we’ll be discussing June. Let us know what you thought of these movies. If you disagree, tell us why (be polite). If you agree, tell us why (still, be polite).
