Movie Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

With limited releases during the month of Ramadan, it was a long wait before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes released in the cinemas. The movie is a sequel to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes that released in 2011.

The movie opens with a quick recap of the the previous instalment and the focus is on the spread of a virus. The virus infected the human race all around the world, killing millions.

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The previous installment showed scientists performing tests on Apes. Given that the Apes have been through a lot at the hands of human (especially Koba - Toby Kebbell), it is not difficult to guess that the Apes want the humans to stay as far as they can. Caesar (Andy Serkis) has now become the leader of the Apes. He is the most intelligent and reasonable Ape at the same time. He wants to keep his community safe and does not prefer violence against humans unless it is necessary.

Caesar, strong and powerful (Source: Wallpapersak.com)

The Apes have found a home in the forest and have been living in it for sometime but it is obvious that their paths will cross the paths of human beings somewhere along the road. It is not long before that this happens when accidentally humans pass by the forest. The humans come across the Apes and so begins the story.

The Apes warn the humans to stay away and let them go, however the humans led by Malcom (played by Jason Clarke) come back to the forest for something they want. What follows is an emotional story with a few twists to the plot. The movie becomes more and more interesting as it progresses.

Malcom and Caesar share a moment (Source: discovermagazine.com)

The characters of Malcom, Koba and Caesar are the main characters. All the characters have strong charateristics and have been developed very well. Supporting characters namely Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Ellie (Keri Russell) and other Apes play their parts well. The story is emotional but interesting at the same time. There is no hurrying into scenes or instances; everything happens at a decent pace. The climax is exciting and has a good amount of action.

The end is set in a way that would surely lead to another sequel. The movie is worth a watch.

Rating:    7.5/10
Runtime: 130 minutes
Trailer:    http://youtu.be/3sHMCRaS3ao

Movie Review: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty is a larger than life movie with Ben Stiller playing the main lead. The movie revolves around the character of Walter Mitty, an individual who wants to achieve a lot in life but has failed to do so. He lives a simple life and keeps disappearing into a fantasy world where he dreams of himself as a hero.

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Walter works as a photo negative archiver at Life Magazine. He is head over heels for Cheryl Melhoff (played by Kristen Wig), a colleague from office but he is too scared to tell this to her. The only time he manages to share these feelings with her is in his world of fantasy.

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The story starts to develop when Ted Hendricks (played by Adam Scott) steps in. Ted, called in for restructuring informs the staff that Life Magazine would be publishing its last magazine. Ted tells the staff that he would be firing plenty of individuals as a part of restructuring. From his few meetings, Ted forms an opinion of Walter as a day dreamer. Things get worse as Walter loses Sean O'Connell (played by Sean Penn), a famous photographer's negative which would be the cover of Life Magazine's final issue.

Walter Mitty in His Fantasy World (Source: Youtube.com)

In order to solve the issue, Walter decides to go looking for Sean. As known to the world, Sean is no easy man to trace. It is during this trip from the vicious oceans to an active volcano to the Himalayas that Walter discovers his true self. Does he find the negative? Go watch the movie and find it out for yourself.

There are plenty of adventurous scenes in the movie along with moments that one can relate to as an individual. Ben Stiller is excellent in his role as Walter Mitty and the scenes from his fantasy world are pretty hilarious. Kristen Wig has a small part to play in the movie and she does justice to her role.

Time for Some Adventure (Source: MSN)

Kathryn Hahn as Odessa Mitty (Walter's sister) and Shirley MacLaine as Odessa Mitty (Walter's mother) are good too. When with Ben Stiller on screen, they do feel like a close knit family who care for each other. Other supporting cast is good too without anyone having to try extra hard to please the audience. The story does have it lows but those parts are minimal.

The movie is a larger than life movie which makes every individual to believe in their dreams once again. It is one of those movies from which you will come out with a smile on your face.

Rating:    7.5/10
Runtime: 114 minutes
Trailer:     http://youtu.be/kGWO2w0H2V8

Movie Review: Runner Runner

Ben Affleck has been all over the news recently due to the possibility of him playing Batman. Ever since the news was out confirming him to play Batman, there was an outrage on Social Media platforms justifying why Ben might not be the correct choice. Under such circumstances, Runner Runner doesn't seem like the best pick for Ben.

In addition to this, one should not forget that Affleck's previous movie Argo was a blockbuster hit and landed up with 3 Oscar wins. It is always difficult for an actor to follow up after such a huge success.

(Source: Ace Showbiz)

Runner Runner starring Justin Timberlake, Gemma Artherton and Ben Affleck is a thriller involving crime and a lot of gambling. Justin Timberlake plays Richie Furst, a youngster struggling with finances in order to complete his degree. Due to his financial issues, Richie is drawn towards gambling. After he loses everything online due to cheating, he makes it a point to get to Ivan Block (played by Ben Affleck) the owner of the gambling site.

The road from New Jersey to Costa Rica for Richie isn't easy but being a smart chap, he manages to eventually track down Ivan with some help from Rebecca Shafran (played by Gemma Artherton). Richie confronts Ivan and tells him how he was cheated on his website. Ivan thanks Richie but does not say anymore till their next meeting.

Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake meet at The House (Source: ChercaBulas Mindbox)

It is during their next meeting that Ivan offers Richie a job that would pay him a lot of money. Richie readily accepts the offer at the thought of earning a lot of money. The rest of the movie focuses on the corrupt political system and the trouble one has to go through in order to keep the gambling business running.

The movie is a bit on the slower side and there are limited number of scenes that might be counted as action scenes. The scenes with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck are the best ones in the movie. The romantic scenes between Justin and Gemma fail to impress and their chemistry is passable.

A shot from the movie (Source: Blog CDN)

Ben Affleck playing Ivan Block has a decent role but there is not much he could have done with the character. It is the strongest character in the script but not strong enough to lift the movie. Justin Timberlake's perform is second only to Ben Affleck. However his role includes a lot of running around. Gemma Artherton is present only to add a beauty factor to the movie. She has been given very few dialogues and can be seen just walking around in a lot of scenes.

The movie is by no means bad, the only issue is that it is not good enough to keep you interested. There are no exciting moments in the movie that develop the audiences interest. The best scenes of the movie have already been revealed in the trailer. On the whole, the movie is an average one.

Rating:    5.5/10
Runtime: 91 minutes
Trailer:    http://youtu.be/dyboDr1e2xI

Movie Review: White House Down

Anyone who has watched Roland Emmerich's previous movies will surely know that he loves blowing up stuff all around USA, with Washington being his favourite. Right from Independence Day, followed by The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, Roland has shown us multiple ways of how the world would go down. In this movie however it is just the White House.

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The movie stars Channing Tatum as Cale, and Jamie Foxx as the President of the USA. Cale portrays the character of a bodyguard. He ends up at the White House for an interview to be part of the secret services. However his past haunts him and he does not make it through. His career isn't the only thing that Cale has been unsuccessful at. Cale's daughter Emily (played by Joey King) isn't fond of her dad either and calls her dad with his first name. 

Cale brings his daughter along to the White House to fix up things with her, given that she is a big fan of the President. As the interview gets over, Cale and Emily hang around for a tour of the White House. Little do they know that things would get ugly in sometime. As Cale and Emily are still on the tour, a group of individuals with a not so common motive attack the White House. 

Tatum and Foxx in action (Source: Washington Times)

The terrorists might not have a common motive but they are ready to kill and do have a well sought out plan. As things start getting difficult and the terrorists take control of the White House, Cale steps up to protect the President. With this huge responsibility at hand, Cale has to also ensure that he gets his daughter out of the place safely. What follows is a series of action scenes from shooting and killing to helicopter crashes and blowing up parts of the White House. Yes, we have all seen this type of action before. However, the chemistry between Tatum and Foxx is interesting to watch. The scenes with both of them together lift up the movie.

Jamie Foxx pulls of his role with ease and adds some humor to the character. I haven't watched a President be part of the action and be humorous at the same time ever before. Channing Tatum is impressive, while Joey King manages to handle her parts pretty well. Tatum steals most of the screen space in the movie. Maggie Gyllenhall as Finnerty is passable and does not have a lot of say in the movie. Lance Reddick as General Caulfield has not been given enough screen space but impresses whenever he is on screen. Other supporting cast including Richard Jenkins and Jason Clarke do a decent job.

Tatum and Foxx prepare to shoot down some terrorists (Source: Collider)

The story of the movie is good but there is nothing special about it. Most of the action scenes in the movie are well done, especially with the part with the Limo and the Air Force One. However, there are a few over the top ones that are hard to believe even with amazing graphics. Overall, the movie has a lot of action and pretty less space for anything else. Go for it if you are looking for a good action movie and if you are a fan of Foxx or Tatum.

Rating:    6.5/10

Runtime: 131 mins.

Trailer:    http://youtu.be/Kkoor7Z6aeE