Film Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

13.12.17

Shifa won tickets to watch STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI at @reelcinemas at Dubai Marina Mall.

Shifa isn’t here at the moment, so Mum and I went!! We reached pretty early, so we got our tickets and sat outside the cinema on the fancy sofa. (This Reel Cinemas felt even more fancy than Dubai Mall). And while we waited, 2 other movie-goers (the lady’s sister was a representative of Reel Cinemas, so they got special passes) were give lightsaber toys. Oh. My. Goodness. I want to say I was happy for them, but I was also extremely envious 😭😭.

So, afterwards, when it was time, we got free popcorn, a drink and water (locked and loaded for the movie!). We got to our seats and we were thrilled to find out that our seats were semi-reclining and veryyyy comfy. 

And after that, it was just waiting for the clock to strike 12 for the movie to start. But first of all, can we talk about how INCREDIBLE the Dolby Screen was. The demonstration had me absolutely floored! First, the range of sound. Next, the clarity of image. And lastly, the colour. Oh. My. Word. This had me reeling (haha, a little unintentional pun there). But seriously, a really, really great screen to watch great movies on. 

Now, on to the movie:

{Synopsis:

Having taken her first steps into the Jedi world, Rey joins Luke Skywalker on an adventure with Leia, Finn and Poe that unlocks mysteries of the Force and secrets of the past.}

(Source: IMdB- http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/)

Well, what can I say. It’s

STAR

FRIKKIN

WARS.

Incredible cast. Incredible cinematography. ALL THOSE FEELS. 

My man, POE FRIGGIN DAMERON. And my little Finnegan! And my WONDERFUL, LOVELY, BADASS SMOL BEAN, REY!!

And omggggg. BB8. AND CHEWIE. AND LEIA. AND LUKE. AND C3PO. And basically just everyone. 

Kylo Ren’s scenes were really great; powerful. One scene in particular was like “oh, *expletive*”. However, I’m still a bit confused about him. Is he conflicted? Or is he really evil? Or is he just a big cry baby.

Also, I felt like Captain Phasma needed a lot more scenes.

There are some fantastic plot points (that will be developed in the next installment, I hope) and some interesting new characters- Rose!!- also, there were quite a few jokes, which are not necessarily bad, but a little different.

A great movie, but am I terrible if I say this wasn’t as exciting as Episode VII- The Force Awakens? It felt more like a foundation stone for the next installment. 

Side note:

Can I just dress like Rey all day, everyday? That girl got some mad fashion sense 🤙🏽

Lastly, a HUGE thank you to Reel Cinemas and the partners for bringing Star Wars: The Last Jedi to Dubai’s screens! 🙌🏽🙌🏽❤️

Film Review: Justice League

13.11.17

VOX Cinemas held a Justice League Fan-Art competition, giving people the opportunity to win tickets to the premiere of Justice League 😱, and they were so incredibly kind and picked us! 🤩✨

They had a 360 degree photo booth and some cool competitions in the other cinema hall! And they had some goodies for us in the cinema, which were pretty awesome 🙌🏽

{Synopsis:

Months after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and inspired by Superman’s sacrifice for humanity, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince unite a team consisting of Barry Allen, Victor Stone and Victor Stone to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons, who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth, while the world reflects on Superman's death.}

(Source: Wikipedia)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill

Run-time: 2 hours

We enjoyed the movie quite a bit: it was a good amuse bouchée because it makes you curious to see the individual films of each (new) character; we thought they integrated some of the characters that we would come to know better in a very smooth manner. Furthermore, really loved the team dynamics- looking forward to seeing more of the trinity in action in the coming films! ❤

Also, CHILDHOOD FEELS. 

We mightn’t say it was the best superhero movie of the year, but it was definitely a step up from BvS!

✨Highlights of Justice League:✨

-Subtle SuperWonder

-Wonder Woman and Aquaman teaming up!

-Barry geeking out

And

-The Bat fangirling 😂

But... coming to a few not-so-good points of the film. Firstly, the tone of the film was not properly established- like it didn’t feel DC-enough to us. We also felt that some of the jokes were not as well timed as they could’ve been. Furthermore, Batman didn’t have to praise Superman at the cost of his self. True, what he did was wrong and he felt quite guilty about it, but at the same time, dude, stop being so... not confident? Also, Barry was shown only as a nerdy person, but we wished they would’ve played up the intelligence part a bit more. Lastly, it felt like Aquaman could’ve done cooler stunts like washing away the bad guys with a massive tidal wave! 🌊. But they’re probably saving that for the Aquaman movie. 

All-in-all, maybe a bit flawed (because we’re probably over-thinkers), it was a really good watch! We would recommend you to go and watch it.

Film Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

18.05.16

A huge thank you to VOX Cinemas, Empire Movies and Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) for bringing us the premiere of X-Men: Apocalypse! A special thanks to the photo booth people for helping us saving some memories with hilarious poses 😂

{X-Men: Apocalypse Summary- With the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.}

(Source- http://m.imdb.com/title/tt3385516/)

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Rose Byrne

Run-time: 2h 27m

To be honest, this movie wasn't really a fast-paced, action-packed movie, but the thing that is really cool was it was very visually and aesthetically appealing. Another important thing is that the storyline is extremely compelling and you're drawn into the new world of the X-Men with new possibilities and new stories to come. 

The acting, of course, was incredible and we highly appreciated that Egyptians were played by Egyptians (or at least people who knew how to speak proper Arabic 😁) and that Storm was true to her heritage. Besides that, we wish that she were more like her kick-ass self, but she still didn't disappoint. Psylocke was awesome and I wish we could've seen more of her and more in action, and Olivia Munn is just precious. Of course the rest of the X-Men were brilliant as usual, and the new kids who joined in did a fantastic job, but I think two characters that stood out (to me) were Quicksilver and Nightcrawler. Quicksilver is of course, incredible and, and as for Nightcrawler, you see that he's just a cute, naive kid, with a really big heart.

There weren't many jokes or comical scenes, but the ones that were included were well-timed and really boosted the film's appeal. 

There is only one thing that I thought was a bit unrealistic. I will try to explain it without revealing too much: during the climax, something happens that involves Jean Grey and I felt that her recovery from the event should've been much slower. But of course, this is coming from a person who hasn't read the comics, so yeah, my point may not be so valid. 😁

So, even though we thought this movie was quieter/less action-oriented and the second part (X-Men: Days of Future Past) is still our favourite (of the new ones) we really, REALLY enjoyed the film 🙌🏽

Rating: 9/10

Film Review: Captain America: Civil War

                                                     

                                                                   (Source: Wikipedia)

{Captain America: Civil War Summary:

Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man.}

At the start of the movie, you keep trying to decide whose team you want to be part of and who is right, and probably towards the end, you don't know who to agree with. The movie was very entertaining, packed with action and well-timed humour. Although initially it seemed like the movie was a 'talk-more and fight-less' kind of movie, but we couldn't have been more wrong. Also, while the middle fight sequence was for a serious cause, it was highly entertaining and basically showcased the entire ensemble, which was just THROUGH THE ROOF!

One part that we disliked a little was the very irrelevant seeming and very untimely kiss scene.

The last scene, however, was extremely intense, I (Shifa) really, REALLY couldn't handle it and I almost started crying because it just felt like "how did we even get here; how could've this even happened?" I think the writers came up with something very good, something that can hurt and maim and kill us, but while doing so, they do it so well. This is the definition of the last fight scene.

As for the characters, Spidey was PERFECT; at first we were like, who does this kid think he is, but then he was really, really good, and really funny. Black Panther was just fantastically fantastic, sleek and just so darn cool, and Ant-Man just made the movie a lot brighter.

The only flaw we found in the characters was that Natasha [always] does not live up to her awesome abilities and she's really underrated! She's an extremely kick-ass woman and I think Scarlett Johansson plays her so well, can you give her a proper part already?!!

So to sum up, Civil War was incredible and hilarious and intense and just really good and you should watch it if you want to cry from laughing too hard and from almost feeling like dying.

(On another note, if we want to compare the fight between major superheroes of the recent movies, Civil War's root cause/provocations of the fight just shattered the cause of fighting between Batman and Superman which, in comparison, seems childish and fickle.)

Although this is not our favourite Captain America movie, we still give it 100/10

Film Review: The Dressmaker

VOX Cinemas, are just absolutely the BEST. They were EXTREMELY kind and amazing and INVITED us (yes, we still CANNOT get over that fact) to the premiere of The Dressmaker. What made this premiere EVEN cooler was that His Excellency the Ambassador of the Australian Embassy in the UAE attended the premiere with us and even spoke a few words. And that was just AWESOME. And he told us that the movie was done by AUSTRALIAN WOMEN. HOW COOL IS THAT?! (We're not biased towards Australians or anything, okay guys :p)

{The Dressmaker Summary: 
A glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.}
(Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2910904/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

Starring: Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving, Judy Davis
Run-time: 1h 58m

This wasn't one of the movie types that we would have generally chosen- it's sort of a more non-commercial, indie-sort of movie- but we enjoyed it a lot.
The movie was able to successfully combine a variety of emotions and genres, and that was pretty great. The cinematography was brilliant and the scenery was stunning. And of course, the acting was superb. Also, the dresses created were really lovely.
This movie dealt with societal gossip and the repercussions very interestingly.
We felt like there were some parts which were a little dragged out, but we're not really sure which particular parts. Furthermore, some scenes/sequence of events were a bit strange. Not confusing as such, but just a little weird.
And lastly, we know that Kate Winslet is a fantastic actress, but I just felt like they should have chosen an Australian woman to play the role.
Overall, a very good movie.

Rating: 8.5/10

Once again, thank you SO MUCH VOX Cinemas for INVITING us (:'''''''') ❤️❤️) to such a great movie! We loved it!

Hope you have a lovely day/night!

Salam, Peace!

Film Review: The Divergent Series: Allegiant

08.03.16

Thanks to Vox Cinemas for giving us a chance to win tickets to this awesome movie, and it was held at the majestic Mall of The Emirates. We'll tell you, watching the premiere is so much... Fun, incredible-ness, brilliance; we'll forever love Vox Cinemas and attending the premieres they host. ;___;

{Allegiant summary: After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four beyond the wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it.}

(Source: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt3410834/)

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz

Run time: 121 min

Shifa:

The movie started out really well, continuing from where they left off (for fans who remember; but for people who did not watch the movie at all, maybe they should've done some introduction. Of course, since it's the third movie in the series, it's assumed that they would've watched the first two, or at least read the back-story by now (cheating!).).

I think there wasn't a dull moment in the movie, and I felt it flowed better than the previous one.

However, as with all great books and movies, we all know (or subconsciously know), from the beginning that the sweet talker is always evil. Nevertheless, although I think the ending was very expected, it was still surprising that they would stray away from the book, but I do think this is because they are making another part, and they wanted to be kind to us in the beginning (so that can easily crush our hearts and souls).

Overall, I really liked the movie, and I think it is my favourite along with the first. 9/10 (P.s. Peter needs to get his own movie, hahaha; he's great.)

{Shifa, non-book reader, you know nothing, okay.... -,- please read the book and decide. But yes, I agree, Miles Teller as Peter is pretty hilarious. So okay, in that sense... I'll allow it. -Safa}

Safa:

I really enjoyed this movie, I think it might have been my favourite. But I also think it might have been due to the fact that it didn't pan out like the book. I know that's supposed to make me mad, but I think it was a good thing because it (the movie) did good on the technology front. However, some of the parts (the CGI) was a bit comical and I was in fits of laughter.

Overall, they did a good job of the movie and I'm eager to watch the last part.

Rating: 8.5/10

Thinking about the last part though. ALREADY FEEL LIKE DYING. WE CANT. How could you, directors, writers, producers (and of course, the brilliantly mean/meanly brilliant Ms Veronica Roth.)?!!! *shakes fist angrily forever*

Until next time then!

Salam, Peace!

Film Review: Neerja

(Source: InstaBollywood.in- http://www.instabollywood.com/post/2929/neerja-hd-poster.html)

Starring: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Parth Akerkar, Bobby Arora
Run-time: 2h 2m

Plot:
Neerja is a portrayal on the life of the courageous Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on the Pan Am flight 73 in 1986. The flight was hijacked by a terrorist organization.
(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5286444/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

I think movies/books that are based on real life situations are always good. And this movie was just wonderful. It's also a very important movie which deals with very important things such as enormous strength and bravery in times of major crises. I felt that they were able to make the movie a very natural-feeling one. The cinematography and dialogue were also very well done. There were excellent amounts of suspense, bravery and some tender parts that complemented the entire feel of the movie. 

Although I don't particularly like Sonam Kapoor's acting skills, I think she was able to do justice to this role. 

As we all know that this movie is based on real life and we know the ending, I advise you to BRING YOUR TISSUES. 

Rating: 10/10

Film Review: Deadpool

(Source: ComingSoon.net- http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/647041-deadpool-has-officially-been-rated)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller
Run-time: 1h 48m

Plot:
A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.
(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431045/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

Everybody has been raving on about this movie was months and months, so I did go in with high expectations. I was not disappointed! The movie was funny from start to finish (including the post-credits scene) and it was a great debut film.

The movie was more of an introduction to your friendly neighbourhood badass, so don't be too sceptical about the baddie who wasn't really so bad. 

Many of the jokes were of course innuendos, a lot of profanity and pretty crass. So, HIDE YOUR MOTHERS, CHILDREN, PETS- hell, just hide everyone!

Rating: 8.5/10

Film Review: The Martian

(Source: SciFiNow- http://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/the-martian-new-poster-has-matt-damon-castaway-in-space/)

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Aksel Hennie
Run-time: 2h 24m

Plot:During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/)

According to movie: loved the movie; it was fantastic! The set and setting looked amazing, and the involvement of people in the movie was great - as in, everyone seemed to play an important part. Matt Damon did a fantastic role, and I think one of the characters who really stood out was Jessica Chastain as Commander Lewis. 5/5 According to book: the movie really paled in comparison to the book - I expected a lot more action - more so because everything in the movie was in a condensed form, I felt like they missed out so many important or exciting parts. The book was much more thrilling, naturally, and I think I actually felt my emotions shoot all over the place, not knowing what would happen next. I did not like the fact that they changed Venkat Kapoor, or that they made Annie kinder. I would have preferred Mark to be more sarcastic and rude(ly funny), and I did not expect Matt Damon to fit the role of Watney, but I think he did a good job. I did not expect Jessica Chastain to make a good commander Lewis, but I think she was really good! In fact, the best of all the astronauts. I also think Martinez/ and Johansson/Kate Mara had good parts, but seriously, what even were Sebastian Stan and Vogel's parts? They disappointed me a lot. At least Vogel had some substance to his part as he participated in something. It felt like Sebastian Stan did nothing, and this is terrible because he is a really good actor and he could have played Beck really well. Finally, in the last scene, I do not like the fact that they almost completely changed everything, and I don't understand why they couldn't have just stuck to the original - why did they have to make Commander Lewis in the centre of attention? She doesn't have to prove anything! Her authority and quick thinking were more than enough, but maybe I feel this way because I've read the book and felt like she had done enough for Mark and the writers don't have show as if she has to prove her worth or something to the audience. However, overall, I really did like the movie, even though as a book reader, it is a little difficult to not keep comparing the book to the movie, but I need to remind myself - what can I really expect!? 3/5 because of changing parts and not giving enough importance to other people's parts.-Shifa

After reading the book, I thought- although many great parts were omitted- the movie was successful in capturing the essence of the book, even though they didn't/weren't able to include all the details. Furthermore, I felt that Ridley Scott made the movie intelligent and kept the space jargon and elements intact, yet made it easy for a vaster majority of audience to understand and enjoy.As a movie on its own, The Martian is shot wonderfully. The CGI is fantastic and the authenticity of details related to space travel is there. Ridley Scott keeps the movie consistently entertaining. However, I don't think the relationship between Beck and Johanssen was very plausible, because it wasn't developed that well.
So, an overall rating: 9.5/10
-Safa

Film Review: Dheepan

(Source: Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dheepan)

Starring: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby

Run-Time: 1h 55m

Plot:
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

(Source: IMDb- http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4082068/)


The trailer (of this movie) was very interesting, intense and capturing. However, it was a bit misleading with the storyline.
The acting was really something; the movie flowed really well and the whole affair was a quite engrossing. But, towards the climax, I was confused why the events unfolded in the way that they did and it was also unclear on how the protagonists, despite the circumstances, were able to settle. 
In all, the movie was a interesting but quite heavy, and not really my cup of tea. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Film Review: The 5th Wave

(Source: Moviepilot.com- http://moviepilot.com/posts/3544372)

Starring: Chloe Grace-Mortez, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe

Run-Time: 1h 25m

Plot:

Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.

(source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2304933/)

Characters not as I imagined (as usual) but irregardless of their looks, even their attitudes weren't right. Some characters weren't even introduced properly and so there is quite a lot of confusion. Sentiment of a lot of things was lost; emotions were diluted.

The scenes were changed too much and that just alters the dynamics- of well, everything!- and makes it the same old thing. Also, when they change/shorten the scenes, they end up missing out vital parts, which creates many plot-holes and errors.

One thing that really peeved me off was how some important revelations in the story were revealed in the most nonchalant way.I felt like the whole movie was a Wikipedia summary (of the book). Extremely disappointed. 

((Apologies if this seems like a half-hearted attempt at a review, but I was not impressed))

Rating- 4/10

Film Review: Bridge Of Spies

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Austin Stowell

Run-time: 2h 21m

Plot:

During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/)

I think the movie started out brilliantly. It started with the scene that made you wonder what was happening, so you were hooked from the first moment.

The movie was a serious one, but the well-timed jokes were excellent. At first, I expected it to be a dramatic-sort of movie - much like many others, where the would base the story around the war or certain events of the war, but this concentrated more on the "technical" side of the war; things that happened in the background. It took me a moment to realise that since the movie was inspired/based on true events, it couldn't have (and shouldn't have) been over-dramatic. This was one of the reasons why I thought that the movie felt very real (you realise that things from your history books are ACTUAL things that have happened).

I especially love when they make movies or shows showing under-appreciated events or people during the war times because in history lessons, you never actually learn about them apart from the events that we usually hear about. When you see success stories (or even failed stories, for that matter) during these times, it makes you realise that these are ACTUAL people and ACTUAL events.

Though the movie seemed quite long, it was really shot well and Tom Hanks, once again, played his role incredibly! (I'm not biased towards Tom Hanks, okay! :3)

-Shifa

We went in to the cinema expecting a brilliant film because of such a killer cast (not to be biased, but especially Tom Hanks!). But what we got was so much more!

I absolutely loved this film and I think it's so important because it addresses some very necessary, important and basic humanity requirements. I already knew halfway through the film that it was going to be an incredible one. 

Furthermore, I really like war movies/books because we have studied about it (the World Wars and the Cold War) in school and so, it's close to my heart. Also, this film was like Goodnight Mister Tom (novel by Michelle Magorian) in the sense that it was set in the war time, but didn't actually revolve around it all that heavily, and this made me like the movie even more. 

Lastly, I don't even have to mention this, but the acting was absolutely brilliant. I must however mention one point: they didn't give us a feel of Russian/German lawyers and their side of the story.

All in all, a brilliantly shot film. 

-Safa

Rating: 10/10

Film Review: The Last Witch Hunter

(Source: Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Witch_Hunter)

Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie

Run-time: 1h 46m

Plot:
The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history.
(Source: IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618442/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

The movie was shot well and there was a pretty impressive ensemble of the cast. However, the movie was just drenched in clichés and was extremely predictable right from the main character's personality and personal loss, down to the "surprise" betrayal.

The CGI was pretty great and, of course, Vin Diesel and Michael Caine were lovely, but unfortunately neither Caine nor Diesel's cool factor mask the enormous bright red gash of clichés that were bleeding throughout the movie. 

Rating- 5/10