Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 3D Movie Review

Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets

3D Movie Review Written By: Adolph Vega

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Watch my video review for Valerian below :

3D

The 3D visuals for this movie are very impressive and make an enjoyable yet flawed experience. This movie mostly uses the diorama 3D visual effect. This visual effect gives the viewer a perspective into the screen and makes great use of 3D depth. Occasionally the movie uses pop out 3D and it looks nice. I do feel like the pop out 3D element is muted and not as pronounced as it could have been. The 3D doesn’t look good in a few scenes within the darkness of space. Those dark scenes look slightly out of alignment and give the viewer a disorienting ghosting double effect. Fortunately those dark disorienting scenes are rare. Overall the 3D is definitely a worthwhile addition to this movie, but it’s far from a perfect 3D visual presentation. 

Final Verdict:  Good 3D

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Movie

Prior to watching this movie I had no knowledge of Valerian and it’s comic book history. Sadly this movie does a pathetic job of introducing this universe to a wider audience.

Valerian is actually the name of the male lead character that works with his partner Laureline. Valerian and Laureline work together for the galactic federation. Dane DeHaan plays Valerian and Cara Delevingne portrays Laureline, and sadly I didn't like these lead characters. This movie shows them working together as a team and sadly they have zero chemistry together on screen. I also question the acting ability for both individuals. The acting is bland and wooden for both of the main characters. Dane DeHaan as Valerian sounds like a bad impression of Keanu Reeves throughout this movie. Cara Delevingne as of Laureline seems bored throughout this movie. Laureline will often become frustrated at Valerian and his antics and she is always criticizing him. Many times the criticisms are justified but regardless I found this back and forth banter between these characters to be tedious and annoying to watch. Sadly this movie is focused on two very unlikeable protagonists.

The movie throws the viewer into the deep end and doesn't do a decent job of setting up this universe. This movie is a science fiction movie that is set several hundred years into the future. In some ways the movie is similar to “Star Trek” and humanity has joined an intergalactic federation of planets. Unlike most “Star Trek” stories (excluding Deep Space Nine) this movie is set mostly within one location, which is a gigantic intergalactic space station. This space station is called Alpha and is home to over a thousand planets and cultures that live together in peace. This movie has a massive cast of characters that are not properly introduced. It’s really hard to keep track of all these characters and their motivations. The main story is about Valerian and Laureline discovering the truth about an alien species that was thought to be extinct. The story flies by at the speed of light and the movie rarely takes the time to give the viewer an explanation to what is going on. When the movie does try to explain itself it feels forced and inorganic. The movie is extremely rushed and underdeveloped and I felt like they crammed too much into one movie.  The premise within this movie is interesting and captured my imagination with many fascinating elements. One scene within this movie has a character interacting with a parallel invisible dimension while being present in a visible dimension. This inter-dimensional scene is very creative and is fun to watch.  The alien designs are inspired and look unique and new. The movie introduces a trio of small brown aliens called the Shingouz. These aliens’ trade secrets for money are full of personality. These aliens looked similar to the 1980’s “Alf” character and I really loved these silly aliens and they were a wonderful element of this movie. Another alien named bubble can morph itself into different forms, and makes for a very fun strip tease scene. Many aliens within this movie are not bipedal humanoids and I appreciate that element of the movie. Too many works of science fiction portray space aliens that look extremely similar to humans or other earth approximating creatures. So I applaud when works of science fiction take some effort and make creative creature design. Even the aliens that look humanoid do look distinctive. I really enjoyed the ideas represented within this movie; I just wish it were better executed.  

Before I conclude this review I must discuss the visual effects. The visuals for this movie are simply gorgeous. The special effects are a real treat and are the definition of eye candy. Many scenes look lush, with rich vibrant colors that look appealing and attractive. The visual style is distinctive and it works well for this sort of movie. I enjoyed the computer graphics and how they presented other worlds, and other dimensions. This movie looks beautiful and compliments this movie perfectly.

In closing this is a movie that I wanted to love, but I couldn’t get over it’s many flaws. I was entertained by this fun action sci-fi movie. Miserably the awful wooden acting and the poor story development hamper a remarkable premise. The ideas within this movie are compelling but are poorly executed within this movie. Unfortunately this is a beautiful mess of a movie.    

Final Verdict : 6 / 10

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TM & © 2017 STX Financing, LLC. All Right Reserved

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War for the Planet of the Apes 3D Movie Review

War for the Planet of the Apes 3D Movie Review

Review Written By: Adolph Vega

Check out my Video Review on YouTube below: 

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3D

Unfortunately the 3D visuals for this movie are not impressive and don’t do much of anything. Occasionally you will see rifle barrels pop out of the screen. A few scenes have snow falling and the 3D looks decent as the snowflakes fly around in 3D space. The 3D visuals do help make the digital apes seem more lifelike because there a three dimensional shape instead of flat 2D shape. The 3D visuals never wow the audience and are a subtle and minor aspect of this movie. Overall the 3D visuals for this movie are mediocre, forgettable and simply not worthwhile.

Final Verdict: Weak 3D 2D RECOMMENDED

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Movie

“War for the Planet of the Apes” is the third movie within this rebooted movie franchise. I really respect what the filmmakers have done with this franchise and how they created an interesting and believable world of apes. This trilogy is possibly one the best trilogies of cinema with all three movies being enjoyable.

The first thing I must mention about this movie is how misleading the title of the movie is. The title of this movie “War for the Planet of the Apes” seems to imply an action movie when that isn’t the case. The trailers are also very misleading and give an impression of a non-stop action spectacle. I mention this because the title and trailers give the audience an inaccurate picture and could potentially set up false expectations. This movie is very dramatic and serious and has lots of subtitles instead of spoken dialog. In many ways this movie feels like a thoughtful independent movie instead of a summer blockbuster. The movie does have some action scenes but the story is more focused on characters and plot than action. I feel that some people may find this movie boring because of the slow pacing and lack of action. This movie isn’t your typical summer blockbuster; it’s very cerebral, tense and suspenseful. I am not a marketing expert so I don’t know how to accurately make the trailers showcase this style of movie and give a correct portrayal of the movie. I usually don’t discuss the title of a movie or the marketing within the review, but for this occasion I believe that it must be mentioned.

The movie takes place several years after the events of the previous movie in this series “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”. This is the third movie within the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise and it continues the story of Caesar and the super intelligent apes that follow him. This movie builds upon the previous two movies of this franchise, and they are required viewings before watching this movie. The movie begins with a few blocks of text on screen that give the viewer some context going into this story. This movie is about the ape of Caesar (the leader of the apes) and a small group of apes that follow him to investigate a nearby human military base. Broadly speaking this movie is about family, survival and the concept of mercy. The performances of the various apes are perfectly captured by cutting edge special effects. The acting and writing for this movie is truly excellent. I never once doubted the computer graphics on screen and it was a spot-on showcase to what the power of computer-generated characters can do under capable filmmakers. The characters might be digital creations but the have depth and substance. The movie does an excellent job of making these apes relatable and makes it easy to have empathy for them. This world that this movie presents is realistic, gritty, sad, tragic and is totally believable and thought provoking.

This movie has many returning characters but also several new ones. One of those new prominent characters is that of The Colonel. The Colonel is portrayed by Woody Harrelson and is the villain of this movie. This is easily one of the best performances by Woody Harrelson in his entire film career. This character has one excellent speech where you understand everything about this character and his history. I wanted to stand up and cheer after this speech because it was so perfectly delivered and it hit all the right notes. Another new character that is notable is that of an ape who used to live in a zoo. This character is used as comic relief and is very charming and very helpful to the plot. Many times he says what the audience is thinking and is a wonderful addition to this movie. Another new character is that of a young girl. This young girl is semi-adopted into the ape clan and is another stand out. This girl is a simple character and doesn’t have many lines but is a joy to watch on screen and has beautiful sweet innocence presence on screen.  The movie keeps some of the best characters from the previous movies and adds several new additions that are all excellent and interesting. This movie does a wonderful job with handling all these characters and making them feel complete and meaningful.

The only problem I had with this movie was with the ending. I won’t spoil this aspect, but needless to say it is the definition of a deus ex machina

ending. The conclusion makes sense within context of the location this movie is set, but it still feels too convenient. Maybe the deus ex machine ending was intentional for the narrative but it feels cheap and like a cop-out. Overall the movie does end in a satisfactory manor that feels like a closure to this series of Apes movies and delivers catharsis.

In conclusion this movie is an excellent science fiction film. My issues with this movie are minor and related to the ending and the slow pacing. The story, characters and acting are all truly wonderful. These “Apes” movies have done something truly spectacular and made a perfect trilogy and this third movie wraps things up nicely. “War for the Planet of the Apes” is an incredible summer movie, and Andy Serkis (motion capture & voice actor for Caesar) deserves award recognition for this performance within this movie, because it’s perfectly executed and is totally believable. This movie is almost perfect and totally resonates with its emotional and dramatic elements. This movie is easily one of the best movies of 2017 and should not be missed.

Final Verdict: 9/10, EDITORS CHOICE MOVIE AWARD

™ and © 2017 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Property of Fox. 

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Transformers The Last Knight 3D Movie Review

Transformers The Last Knight

3D Movie Review

Written By: Adolph Vega

Watch our video review via YouTube below : 

 

3D

The 3D in this movie isn't good , it isn't great, it is spectacular. The movie was shoot with IMAX 3D cameras, and it looks incredible in that format. I watched this movie in laser projected 4K IMAX in the biggest screen in the state of Texas and I was not disappointed, because the massive action scenes look sharp , vivid and are perfectly executed . A vast majority of recent 3D movies are post converted and are not recorded in 3D, and you can really tell the difference with this movie . Obviously IMAX scenes are not accessible to everyone and are more expensive than other cinemas but regarding this movie it's totally worthwhile . Why is the 3D so well done ? It's because they use 3D to make the action scenes more memorable and epic . The movie has tons of objects popping out of the screen, and it looks amazing. Some objects will travel in 3D space and travel from the background to the foreground and give the viewer some truly amazing visuals. The movie jam packed full of action scenes that look great in 3D. You really feel like your staring into a window of action scenes that are actually happening. Occasionally 3D depth is used to give a sense of scale and height which makes the visuals very immersive . So many scenes use multiple layers of 3D at the same time and slow motion to highlight specific characters and weapons and looks incredible. Honestly if you watch this movie in 2D your doing yourself a disservice. I usually like to highlight a specific scene or scenes were the 3D is especially interesting or well done but this movie has so many of those scenes it's hard to narrow it down, it's all fantastic. The 3D visuals and action scenes are perfectly intertwined and go hand in hand together. The 3D in this movie is possibly one the best uses of 3D that I have seen in years. If you can watch in IMAX 3D, you won't be disappointed and I will give this movie my highest recommendation and is truly awesome. I hope this movie will inspire other movie studios to record in IMAX 3D because it's a must see in 3D movie .

Final Verdit:

GREAT 3D, Editors Choice 3D Award 

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Movie

It is what it is. Transformers do what Transformers do.

This movie is the fifth movie in this popular franchise . You should know what to expect from this film franchise, because it's been fairly consistent in quality over the years . If you haven't seen any of the previous entrees in this franchise then I wouldn't suggest you watch this movie because you will be totally lost. This movie franchise is reviewer proof therefore; I will try to keep this review brief and be fairly straightforward.

The transformers have been present on earth for centuries . This history of Transformer and human interaction has been hidden and this movie reveals that story . This movie takes place in the present, but also has many flashbacks to scenes in the past. Mark Wahlberg returns and reprises his role from the previous movie. (Transformers 4: Age of Extinction) Mark Wahlberg is Cade Yeager and is an inventor and watches over several transformers . The Earth is in trouble and the transformers are both the cause and the solution to this problem. How this story was presented is interesting and better done than the previous movies within this franchise. However the story barely makes any sense. I have watched all the previous Transformers movies and I actually liked this one the most .

The plot within this movie very convoluted. It has many multiple parts that are happening at the same time and it can be very difficult to understand what exactly is going on. The best word to describe this plot is combocomplexlicated . Combocomplexlicated is a new word that I invented that is a mixture of the following words: combination , complex, and complicated. Combocomplexlicated perfectly describes something that is overly convoluted when it doesn't need to be . The movie has a massive cast of characters . You know very little about each character, and some of them are new and others return from previous movies. The plot is essentially an excuse for action scenes. The movie begins with an action scene, and about 70% of this movie is action, and the remaining 30% is people explaining the action. The movie has a crude sense of humor and is very corny, but I have to admit it made me laugh several times. Other times the comedy made me cringe and roll my eyes. The movie has plot holes big enough to drive an Optimus prime through. The action scenes are enjoyable to watch and are the only reason to really watch this movie. The action is big , crazy ridiculous but I was able to enjoy it .

The movie is far from being perfect, yet I liked it . The transformers movies are not "high art" and they aren't trying to be. This movie is all about over-the-top action and pure entertainment. I was entertained by this movie and it succeeded on that aspect. Ultimately movies are about being entertained and I cannot deny that I had fun watching this movie . I laughed , I cringed , I was confused and I had fun with this silly action movie. It is what it is , and this is possibly the best transformers movie ever,  but that isn't saying much .

Final Verdict: 6/10

© 2017 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.

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