Movie review for ‘Spy’ (2015) and some movie-related news.

When I watched ‘Mad Max’ in the theatre last week, I’m introduced to the movie trailer of ‘Spy’. It looks funny and reminds me something like Johnny English, a mix of comedy and action-packed spy theme that works perfectly well but Rowan Atkinson (a.k.a. Mr. Bean) is not in the picture here. The main star of the movie ‘Spy’ is Melissa McCarthy, portraying a desk-bound CIA analyst who volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer. I’m not meant to insult, but it is her huge body size that opens the door for more hilarious stuff in the movie. She may not possess the rightful image of a great spy, but hey, she nailed the mission.

I wonder why the title of the movie is so simple. Just ‘Spy’. It’s too simple. If I’m in charge, I would prefer to name it ‘The Unlikely Spy’ or something like that. I’m expecting for many good laughs as the trailer hinted. There are still plenty of humorous scenes in the movie but nothing is extraordinarily funny or would be deem memorable. The best laughs are already shown in the trailer. Hence, there isn’t much more to expect from the whole movie in terms of hilarious elements. Fortunately, on the other hand, the movie didn’t disappoints from its clever plot and some good action sequences, which must be a challenge for her (Melissa), but she still seized it. Something unimaginable from her came right into your eyes. That’s cool.

The chemistry between Melissa with the other main casts in the movie is all good. Everyone else delivered good performances (Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne) but it is still Melissa who steals the show. I’m also quite surprised with Jason Statham’s comedy role here, as he usually portrayed serious guy in his past films. There are some good plot twists, and some interesting gadgets shown which are very important substance for movies like this and is not overlooked in this film. Overall, this movie is very entertaining and not a single part of it is draggy or boring. A nice movie to remove my Monday blues’ mood. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Spy’ a total of 7.2. Early this year, we had a great spy-related movie already; Kingsman: The Secret Service, and now by mid of the same year, we have another good one; ‘Spy’.

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Let’s talk about the present box-office intake of Avengers: Age of Ultron which is expected to be a massive hit this year. It has been almost a month since its release on US market and several days earlier for other international markets, and the box-office figure of the movie already looks promising. Currently, it has already grossed over 400 million in US and 860 million overseas for a total of US$ 1.26 billion. Despite having lower domestic grossing compared to the first Avengers movie back in 2012, but with China now making a huge impact in the movie market now, the movie is still projected to reach over US$ 1.5 billion to set it on par with its predecessor.

The other movie that is nearing that figure unexpectedly and is still the highest grossing film of the year is Furious 7, the seventh instalment of ‘Fast and Furious’ film franchise. The movie created exceptional wave of hype across the world from its over-the-top actions and stunts and also a touching tribute to Paul Walker (this was his last film before he died from car crash in 2013). And so, the movie’s current box-office intake stands at US& 1.49 billion. And it is still up and running in theatres worldwide. It is going to get past 1.5 billion mark very soon. Now everyone is predicting that which one will top the table this year? Avengers 2 or Furious 7.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) is good. And Oscars 2016 prediction for Best Actor has started! That’s a bit too early.

Before I watched ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, I heard a lot of good words about it from those who have watched it earlier. It is indeed a very good and an entertaining film about a spy organization which recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program, just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. It’s something of a spy film, but this movie achieved an extra mile by mixing James Bond with Johnny English successfully. Seriousness combined with comedy. Nice.

The film starred Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. I have never see Colin in roles like this (previously he was always in drama-type films of which he had won Academy Award for Best Actor from his portrayal as King George in The King’s Speech). So, seeing him handling action stunts here is something refreshing. A young newcomer, Taron also did exceptionally well in this film. He may be a young potential star to look out for right now. Talking about the stunts, the action scenes in the movie are very cool! It’s a bit too quick, but I can still follow the pace. The training program is also interesting to watch.

The story is very much predictable in this kind of spy film but I’m okay with it. Sometimes, we don’t need shocking plot twist. Just sticks to the typical spy formula seems to still work out for this one. The only disappointment is why Colin’s character died. I expected him to go until the last scene and teamed up with Taron to defeat the villains. In the end, it’s only a one-man show for Taron. Nevertheless, this movie is seriously entertaining and enjoyable. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ a total of 7.8.

On the other hand, I’m quite surprised that with the Academy Awards just concluded few weeks ago, people are already discussing on Oscars prediction for next year. That is a bit too early to judge, but I joined in the analysis and shared a bit of my view here. The strongest category for next year’s Oscars is still the Best Leading Actor (similar to this year when Eddie Redmayne won for his portrayal as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything in a fierce competition particularly by Michael Keaton). Many Birdman’s fans still couldn’t get off their disbelief that Michael failed to win. Please accept the fact that Eddie had already won and he deserved it. Maybe timing is not right for Michael in a category so crowded despite his strong comeback performance in Birdman.

And Eddie may come up again strong in next year’s Oscars for his performance as a transgender in an upcoming film called The Danish Girl, a film directed by Academy Award winner (too) Tom Hooper and is set for release this November. Another perfect timing and opportunity to push Eddie for a back-to-back win in Oscar’s Best Actor to match the feat by Tom Hanks last time in the Academy Awards. His expected strong competitors would be those who have not win Oscars before and are very much overdue like Leonardo di Caprio, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender. They all have very highly potential films coming up this year. Strong competition again, and sets to look intense and exciting again.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review: Spy Kids 4 – All The Time In The World (2011)

I didn’t go for this in cinema last time when it was released way back months ago, and so I couldn’t try on the aromascope which is how 4D is delivered from this film of Spy Kids: All The Time In The World. Actually, there is no big issue on not able to try that because the comments over that 4D on smell is not good. Okay…forget about that 4D thing….

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World is one of the worst reviewed film last year, and I still go for it. Why? Because I want to see how worst it is? Nope….I just want to give it a chance and judge it from my own perspective. Actually, after watching the film, I think the movie is still okay and fun to watch if we take it lightly. Once you are watching this sort of film, you have to chill and not to think much, and try to indulge yourself into the spy kids adventure in the film. I tried that and it works actually. I find the movie is actually quite entertaining eventhough there are ample of weaknesses from many aspects of the film.

The story revolves on a retired spy whom is called back into action, and to bond with her new step-children and she invites them along for the adventure to stop the evil Timekeeper from taking over the world. That sounds interesting! However, there are too many lame or dumb-fun scenes from the film that brings adult audiences to a weird state and probably children to an enjoyable moment. Of course this sort of film’s plot would be illogical, and so I accept all the weird things going on throughout the film; weird gadgets, weird tricks, weird gestures, weird behaviours, weird voice, weird actions, weird villain, etc.

Really,.,..you have to take it lightly….I particularly enjoyed the film too, eventhough many things are bad. The performance by the casts are considerably okay, eventhough many others said that Jessica Alba was acting so fake in the film. The kids are all right in the film. I just find that the villain section of the film which supposed to be major highlight of the film is not being emphasized much with lack of depth, full of stupidity, and dumb! yes…dumb and pointless in the film. Anyway, overall, the film is still worth-watching and I would rate the film 6.0.