Deadpool

I just came from watching Deadpool, and I'm not sure I should be reviewing it so soon because I'm still tingling from the awesome that is that movie. Spoilers ahead obviously.

The movie is an action packed romanticish comedy that does not fail to entertain. However if you're looking for anything other than a superhero origin story with a splash of silly, look elsewhere. Deadpool doesn't exactly stretch the brain to understand its fairly straight forward and 4th wall breaking plot.

The movie is packed with spectacular if not gore-y action scenes that are well balanced with the absurdity of the fights. The characters are well developed possessing very distinct personalities that still find a way to work in tandem and not overshadow each other. With a cast consisting of a drug addicted old blind black woman and a slightly psychopathic love lorn Indian taxi driver, things are bound to get interesting.

Wouldn't be a screenie ranting if I didn't talk about the music. One word, yasss! From timeless nostalgia to straight up rap, Deadpool seems to borrow a little of everything. While it probably won't win any awards for its OST, it still fits perfectly with the feel of the movie.

While hardcore Deadpool fans may not agree with the slight (not sure on the extent, not being that much a fan myself) deviations from his comic book counter part, I still think that Deadpool is definitely worth a watch.

There's so much more to rant about but its a more of a you-need-to-see-it-to-understand kind of thing!

I'd give it a 8/10

Also, there's a character called Negasonic Teenage Warhead....just throwing that out there...

Book of Life

Today's screenie rant is on The Book of Life!

A brilliant quirky animation directed by Jorge Gutierrez. The movie is about a museum's curator telling a tale to a group of troubled kids. The story follows a deal made between Xibalba, the god of the underworld (equivalent) and La Muerte, his polar opposite. They bet on which of two boys will marry a girl, with the winner getting to rule over Land of the remembered (Heaven equivalent).

The character design was brilliant

Overall, the story, while not exactly complicated, was sweet with just the right amount of corny to nicely balance it out. The central theme of love was strong in every drop of the story.
The character design was unique and I adored the Mexican and puppetry motif. The animation was nothing to brag about but it fit perfectly with the story.
The movie also instills proper values, which I feel movies rarely do these days.
Character wise, they were fairly well rounded and felt very human. The background characters were fixed to their stereotypes and seemed that they were there to progress the main characters.

I would have loved to see more of these two

Ultimately, I'd say a good movie for any age group and I highly recommend it to any animation enthusiast. This silly story is a great way to kill away an hour and a half.

4 out of 5 stars.

The Equalizer

I just watched The Equaliser (or The Equalizer depending on where you're from) and while the movie was nothing to lose shizz over, it was entertaining enough to keep the audience on their seats. Spoilet Alert, I will be revealing some details of the film, so if you don't mind carry on reading.

The movie is about a friendly mall worker Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), who is some kind of retired special ops but is trying to lead a civilian life at the behest of his dying wife's last wish. He befriends a teen(ish?) sex slave, Alina (Chloe Moretz), but after seeing her getting physical abused by her pimp, he decides to rescue her. He tries to persuade her pimp with near 10 grand, but apparently the whore is worth much more. McCall then decides to use his very precise form of fighting and the audience is given the pleasure of watching Denzel Washington shove a shot glass into a man's eye and take out a room full of stereotypical Russian mobsters.
Of course the plot demands more action so the randos McCall kills are actually important members int the Russian Maifa and Mafia Boss Vladmir Pushkin (Vladmir Kulich) sends his man Teddy (Martin Csokas) to deal with the situation.

Nailed the psycho look

A game of cat and mouse ensues where Teddy (who surprisingly quickly) discovers McCall was behind the assault and tries to grab him for interrogation. McCall however is always one step ahead but seems hesitant on just killing Teddy (which you get the feeling that he could do easily)
McCall goes on a spree crippling the Russian's business until Teddy is finally given the kill order.
Taking his fellow mall workers as hostages, Teddy forces McCall into the open and a great mall slaying scene takes place. Once again we were presented with the slightly graphic display of Denzel Washington's agility depsite his older years (Remember he's  almost 60).
McCall makes quick work of the villains and even kills Teddy somewhat anti climatically with a nail gun. McCall then decides the end the crime boss in Russia as well to "kill the head of the snake" and several weeks later finds Alina, who is no longer a prostitute and is happily moving away.
Inspired by his vigilantism, he opens an online forum asking people if they need his help.

Misfit's Rants:
Okay, I liked the movie despite going into it with little to no enthusiasm. But I think my lack of expectation is what made me like it. The plot was fairly well done for an action thriller ( the genre however can be heavily debated) and the casting was solid.
As usual, I was impressed with Denzel Washington, and Csokas really hit that line between professional killer and borderline psycho. Chloe's character was barely on the screen for me to feel truly emphatic with her and I wish that the relationship between her and McCall was more developed. Throughout the film I get the feeling that McCall was just waiting for an opportunity to get back in the game, despite what film is trying to imply.

One of my biggest flaws with the movie was how indestructible McCall was. He goes through the bad guys effortlessly, and even when he goes down, you know he's going to rally. I felt like he had no competition. Even Teddy did not seem as capable as him.
And because it is now mandatory for every action movie to have their hero walk against an explosion, we were subjected to several minutes of this in slow motion.

Ultimately, The Equalizer is a good movie at entertaining but doesn't hold much value otherwise. For an action junkie, this is definitely a must watch.

I give this 3 out of 5 rants.