MOVIE REVIEW: GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)

Ghostbusters is a movie that seemed to come around with allot of controversy. And most of this controversy seemed to be for controversy's own sake, as most people I talked to weren't too concerned about it being made with a bunch of female protagonists. As it turned out, the movie actually turned out to be pretty good.

The movie is about a bunch of scientists who go around capturing ghosts. One of them starts as being reluctant (not because of skepticism, but because of the damage to her career in academia it may cause), but becomes part of the group after she encounters a ghost. After forming the group, they get an office, find a fourth member (a non-scientist subway worker), hire a sexy dumb male intern (Chris Hemsworth, looking like he was born for comedy), and start capturing ghosts.

This is a pretty standard Ghostbusters movie. And it is a good one at that. It constantly goes around with tongue-in-cheek-style humour in its approach to situations and lets defined characters (in the ghost busters) react to situations in a believable manner. The only stumbling block this movie has is the ending or the more dramatic moments. Here, the movie stumbles. When the movie tries to get too serious, it doesn't work.

Unfortunately, the climax (involving someone killing themselves to set-up a master plan, to let you see serious) feels like it drags for the sake of having a big ghost battle climax (ala Marshmallow Man). Chris Hemsworth, despite being a good thing, is also over-used. It is like they realised how good he was and then doubled the length of all his scenes so the joke is slightly overblown as opposed to being appreciated.

While not as good as the original, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The comedy and characters are really good, the story is good and the effects are good. It did stumble by putting a bit too much a good thing in and also not nailing the change from comedy to serious well, but still highly enjoyable.

And the only reason I remember the Chris Hemsworth actor is because he is an Avenger.

3.5 out of 5 Ghosted Waffles

MOVIE REVIEW: RUSH (2013)

Rush is a movie about car racing based on real-life events. If this sounds boring, bear in mind that it sounded boring to me as well. However, The Social Network (about the creation of Facebook) showed me that even the most boring sounding movies can occasionally be awesome. On the other hand, of course, even awesome sounding movies can be quite bland (I am looking at you, 47 Ronin).

Well, Rush is awesome. This movie is based around the Grand Prix series of races in 1976 and the rivalry that developed between two of its leading competitors. James Hunt (played by Thor himself Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl) are locked in a rivalry to determine who is the number 1 race car driver. This rivalry also transcends them in that it shows a battle between passion, raw talent and recklessness (represented by Hunt) against professionalism, preparation and cold calculations (represented by Niki) to see which one will come out on top.

Director Ron Howard nailed the tone of this movie. It would have been easy to cast either Niki or James as the outright villain. James could have been shown trying to inject some life into a sport that has become far too clinical, or Niki could’ve been shown trying to prove that being professional can succeed even when you are not born with raw talent. Instead, this movie shows them both as heroes and villains simultaneously. Rush shows what drives each of them to push eachother past their limits instead of going for a simple hero/villain route (except for maybe the final scene), but it never feels like it didn’t have the courage to do this if it wanted.

This decision elevates this film above simply what it appears to be on paper. It is the story of a rivalry where two equals vie to see who is best. When the film shows them racing, it reinforces this point. Although a couple of races are cut short (with a racer retiring with no explanation), the car races are shown to be close, gritty and dangerous affairs. The camerawork is excellent both showing the adrenalin-rush of racing at high speeds and also contrasting Jame’s playboy lifestyle vs Niki’s more sombre life.

Rush is an excellent film and one of my favourite films of 2013. For a film based on Formula One and a couple of their drivers, and based on a true-story, I cannot believe I was riveted by it for 2 hours. Although some of the races felt a bit short and the end may have started to feel a little bit preachy, it just goes to show that you can make an awesome movie out of anything. And yet, even with adding magic, 47 Ronin (also based on a true story) ends up being pretty disappointing.

4.5 laps out of 5 on the waffle-circuit

Thor: The Dark World

Marvel has done an excellent job of concisely summing up the vast mythology of a comic-book character who hails from Norse mythology and is armed with magical weaponry as difficult to pronounce as it is to spell. I left feeling that Marvel really should have done more of that with The Dark World.

The Dark World begins with a prologue of how Thor’s grandfather lead the Asgardian armies to defeat Armageddon-happy dark- (or possibly just emo-) elf Malekith and save the universe from certain darkness. Gramps wasn't thinking very hard that day and decided to hide the villains evil weapon where no one could find it. That is until love sick Jane Foster and, with the help of her merry science friends, happens upon a portal that leads Jane to said ancient evil called ‘The Aether’. This then awakens the villainous Malekith from his deep sleep to once again bring darkness to the universe. But you have to give full credit to the Asgardians as they at least left it in a cave as opposed to plain sight. Just imagine a world where a major character in this movie didn’t happen to stumble across this magical plot device.


The problem is that you never truly understand Malekith’s motives as they are just so plain. All he wants is to turn out the light in the universe. The movie suffers from this lack of conflict. Thor and his Scooby- gang never felt like they were in any immediate danger. Sure they lose a few battles and Asgard get its first beat down in god knows how long, but none of this felt like it had many lasting consequences. The movie did, however, succeed in making you forget to worry about this as the interpersonal relationship between Thor and his family was enjoyable to watch. Honestly the movie’s best moments are the brotherly interactions between Thor and Loki. Watching them squabble with each other brought some much needed life to the movie. I could watch a whole movie dedicated to this kind of Lethal Weapon-type buddy-cop drama set in space with magic and Vikings and Bazooka’s!.

Once again the romance between Thor and Jane never takes off. It’s rather awkward and dull, and the movie actually could have done with a love triangle between Thor,Jane and Lady Sif to spice things up. They hint at this possibility only to completely drop it in favor of keeping the chemistry-less pairing of Thor and Jane to grate on my nerves.

The action scene are competent and more visionary this time round. With new director Alan Taylor bringing a more naturalistic approach, the fight scenes have a grittiness that serve the story well. This was often achieved by positioning the camera right in the heart of battle. Thor’s charming yet slightly goofy sense of humor was used well and Jane Foster’s scientific intern Darcy, played by Kat Dennings, landed some great one liners.

 Thor is an entertaining movie. Director Alan Taylor puts together some good action sequences, which are slightly hampered by a weak story and chemistry-less coupling of Thor and Jane. The personal clashing of Thor and Loki pulls the movie forward all while delivering an amusing space adventure (with Vikings). Also the cameo from a certain "Avenger" was absolute gold.

Something 3.5 out of 5 Meow-meow Waffles