Tag: Fantasy

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies review

Director:
Peter Jackson
Cast:
Martin Freeman
Ian McKellen
Richard Armitage
Rated: PG-13

“The Hobbit” saga comes to a close in “Battle of the Five Armies,” directed by Peter Jackson. The film starts moments after the end of the second film, “The Desolation of Smaug.” The dwarves, led by Thorin, played by Richard Armitage, have regained their kingdom containing endless piles of gold and the evil dragon Smaug has been set free.

After leaving the mountain kingdom, Smaug begins destroying the nearby lake city. The fact that Smaug has now left the gold in the dwarf kingdom, though, has been spread by word of mouth and it sets in motion the events of the final installment as a number of armies descend on the location.

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Dracula Untold review

Director:
Gary Shore
Cast:
Luke Evans
Sarah Gadon
Dominic Cooper
Charles Dance
Rated: PG-13

“Dracula Untold” of course tells the tale of the world’s most famous vampire, but this time, instead of going down the Bram Stoker route, this film goes for what feels almost like a super hero origin story.

The movie picks up with the main character, Vlad, the ruler of Transylvania, a few years after fighting in multiple wars where he became known as one of the most fearsome warriors in the region. Retired from his life as a soldier, Vlad rules his kingdom and spends time with his family, and things seem good.

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Hercules review

Director:
Brett Ratner
Cast:
Dwayne Johnson
Ian McShane
John Hurt
Rufus Sewell
Ingrid Bolso Berdal
Rated: PG-13

Brett Ratner already screwed up a good premise to an X-Men movie, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise he can’t pull off something like “Hercules.”

In this new telling of Greek mythology, the titular hero, played by Dwayne Johnson, is a mercenary, fighting bandits and pirates for gold. It’s alluded to he may be the son of Zeus, however, this movie tries to ground itself in a more realistic setting. Therefor, we get a Hercules that is a bit more human.

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How to Train Your Dragon 2 review

Director:
Dean DeBlois
Cast:
Jay Baruchel
Cate Blanchett
Gerard Butler
Craig Ferguson
America Ferrera
Djimon Hounsou
Kit Harington
Rated: PG

Five years later and none of the main characters have developed Scottish accents.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” returns audiences to the island of Berk, where the viking warrirors there have adapted to life with dragons. There are dragon races, dragon stalls and other features to make everything work perfectly. The village is happy and the main character Hiccup’s (Baruchel) friends are having a good time racing each other. Hiccup on the other hand, though, seems to be less than content at Berk and spends his time searching the world for new places.

The adventure starts when Hiccup, and his now girlfriend Astrid (Ferrera) discover dragon trappers who are working for the villain Drago (Hounsou). Drago is working to build a dragon army and will take out anyone in his way. After the villain’s plot is discovered, Hiccup goes to try and reason with him. His journey is derailed though when he meets a person who has built a dragon sanctuary, a person that he has a connection with.

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Maleficent review

Director:
Robert Stromberg
Cast:
Angelina Jolie
Elle Fanning
Sharlto Copley
Rated: PG

Angelina Jolie stars as the title character “Maleficent,” which explores the background and supposed true story of one of Disney’s most famous villains.

The film explores a romance that she had with a man who would eventually betray her, how she became a cold hearted being, and her involvement in the spell put on sleeping beauty, AKA Aurora, played in this film by Elle Fanning.

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47 Ronin review

Director:
Carl Rinsch
Cast:
Keanu Reeves
Hiroyuki Sanada
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

The movie “47 Ronin” says that it was inspired by a true story, although I doubt the real thing included dragons and witches.

Keanu Reeves stars in “47 Ronin,” portraying the character Kai. As a young man, Kai is found in a forest and brought in to live in a land filled with samurai. The samurai, however look down on Kai as they feel he is unworthy of any good treatment, in particular, the lead samurai Oishi (Sanada).

The situation changes, though, when the lord of the land is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and is forced to take his own life to reclaim honor for his family. This is followed by the samurai under his guide becoming masterless, making them “ronin.” In response, Oishi seeks out the help of Kai and the other samurai to avenge the death of his master.

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The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug review

Unfortunately, it looks as if “The Hobbit” trilogy won’t be as great as Director Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“Desolation of Smaug” picks up a short time after the events of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, is continuing on his quest with a traveling group made up of dwarves lead by Thorin, played by Richard Armitage and the wizard Gandalf, played by Ian McKellen.

The group is being chased by a pack of evil orcs who are trying to stop them on their quest to reach the caverns where the dragon Smaug resides. The group is on a quest to kill Smaug and retake the land back for the dwarves, which in the process would make Thorin king. Along the way they are met by enemies and allies, and some who fall in between.

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Frozen review

Director:
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Cast:
Kristen Bell
Idina Menzel
Jonathan Groff
Josh Gad
Santino Fontana
Rated: PG
Trailer

Disney’s has made another classic in “Frozen.”

The movie is built on two intertwined character arcs, with the story following the sisters Anna (Bell) and Elsa (Menzel). The plot begins by showing that Elsa has the power to create and manipulate ice. Because of the lack of control over her abilities, her parents decide it’s best for her to hide them from the world, including her sister. After the death of their parents, the movie moves forward to the day of Elsa’s coronation as queen.

Everything seems alright at the coronation for a while, that is until Anna, being the more free spirit that she is, makes a bold announcement that doesn’t sit too well with Elsa. The whole ordeal causes Elsa to reveal her power and flee the kingdom. In the process of running away she freezes the entire land in the middle of summer. To end the cold spell, Anna decides to confront her sister and get her to end the winter that now exists. Along the way she is joined by an ice seller named Kristoff (Groff) and his reindeer as well as a living snowman named Olaf (Gad).

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About Time review

Director:
Richard Curtis
Cast:
Domhnall Gleeson
Rachel McAdams
Bill Nighy
Rated: R

For once we have a time travel movie that isn’t all that confusing.

Tim (Gleeson) is the main character of “About Time.” On his 21st birthday, Tim finds out from his father (Nighy) that his family has the ability to travel backwards in time, but only during one persons life, not being able to travel to a time before the person was born.

Tim soon grasps the opportunities he has with the ability, and it helps him through life as he starts working as a lawyer in London. As time goes on, Tim also meets his true love in Mary (McAdams) and helps the relationship along with his power, however, as he does he learns that he can’t make everything perfect.

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The Mortal Instruments review

Director:
Harald Zwart
Cast:
Lily Collins
Jamie Campbell Bower
Kevin Zegers
Robert Sheehan
Rated: PG-13

One might notice similarities with other movies and books when viewing “The Mortal Instruments” as it tends to rip off more than a few things.

The film follows Clary (Collins), a teen who lives in New York City with her mother. One day, while hanging out with her friend Simon (Sheehan), she witnesses a murder, however, the being that was killed was actually a demon.

The murderer turns out to be a man named Jace (Bower) who hunts demons. It turns out that Clary has the same abilities as Jace does allowing her to hunt demons too. Upon learning this, Clary’s mother is kidnapped and she now has to rely on Jace and his team to track down the culprit and discover who she really is.

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