Snowpiercer Movie Review

Something Special

Snowpiercer is not your average action movie; it is so much more than that. Director Joon-Ho Bong directs the film starring Chris Evans and John Hurt. Snowpiercer takes place in a dystopian future where an attempt to prevent global warming backfires and kills all life on earth, expect those who boarded the Snowpiercer; a train that travels non-stop across the globe. In the train, a class system evolves. The people in the front of the train being prosperous and living a life of luxury, the people in the back of the train being beaten, dehumanized, and without hope. The film centers around Curtis (Chris Evans), as he leads a revolution to get to the front of the train and regain hope for the rest of the citizens from the back. Despite this great and innovative premise, based of off the french graphic novel "Le Transperceneige", it's Bong's fresh direction and keen eye for detail that takes the film to the top of the 2014 movie list. There are so many things that are executed perfectly in this film, the only real downside being the fact that's it's a limited release. 

The action, the story, the characters, the tension, everything; utterly spectacular. The acting was also one of Snowpiercer's best elements. Chris Evans recently stated that he's considering giving up acting. Chris- Please don't. Evans' performance in this movie was one of the best and most gripping performances I've seen all year, and undoubtedly the best one of his career. Everyone else does a good job, particularly actor Kang-ho Song. While all actors do their job, and very well, it truly is Evans who steals the show and keeps the audience invested. His character has depth, twists, and an uncanny ability to relate to the audience; despite a third act twist. The action in the film is also spectacular. It's not over the top, it is extremely well crafted and realistic and is present to keep the story moving; quite literally. No over-blown special effects, not an over-abundance of shaky-cam, just gritty and exciting, fight-for-you-life action. You understand the high stakes throughout, and the characters are done so well that you are invested in their stories and want to see them achieve success. In the end, it pisses me off so much that films like Transformers 4 make $100 million in it's opening weekend and quality action cinema like this gets a limited release. It may be out of your way, but I suggest every sees this film, It truly is one of the best films of the year. Final Rating: A

X-Men: Days of Future Past Movie Review

The X-Men are back and better than ever.

X-Men: Days of Future past follows Wolverine as he travels back in time to save the mutant race and stop their near-extinction. Can Wolverine stop the upcoming apocalypse? Can the good guys trust Magneto? Can Fox trick us into forgetting about X-Men: The Last Stand? All these questions and more are answered in the best X-Men film of the franchise. 

2014 has to be one of the best years for summer movies of all time. We were given the Captain America sequel, Edge of Tomorrow, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and the upcoming sci-fi flick Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. And compared to most of the truly extraordinary films this summer, Days of Future Past reigns superior. Bryan Singer returns to direct his franchise and he comes back in tremendous fashion. Despite his last two films (Superman Returns, Jack the Giant Slayer) being less than satisfactory, he returns at the top of his game to the films he apparently was born to direct. Everyone in this film is great and utilized to perfection. It's definitely a crowded movie, combining the main cast of the original X-Men trilogy and the main cast from First Class, yet somehow through Singer's direction and Simon Kinberg's script, everything flows perfectly. Hugh Jackman is great again as Wolverine, Halle Berry returns and has maybe 3 lines of dialogue in the whole movie which, less face it, is a pretty great move. The guys who really stood at though were James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender playing young Xavier and Magneto, respectively. 

They both deliver powerhouse performances and, despite their limited screentime, steal the show. Well, most of the show. There is one character who, with even less time of screen, steals every screen he is in. And that of course is the character Quicksilver. Quicksilver is awesome. No real other way to put it. His powers are so wonderful and visually creative, and the performance by actor Evan Peters was fun and effervescent. While all the performances were great, the visuals were another tremendous part of the film. No big, loud, never-ending, Michael Bay, Man of Steel, action sequences in Days of Future Past. While there were plenty of big, beautiful action set pieces, they were all done to further the plot of the story and actually had great weight to them. The audience understood the high stakes and could stay invested. In the end, Days of Future Past takes back it's place as one of the best best franchisees in this superhero craze. And hopefully we will be seeing Wolverine snikting his claws at Hulk and Spider-Man on the big screen soon. Final Rating- B+