May 3 2020

Dwayne Johnson Weekend – San Andreas (2015) Movie Review Revisited

Director: Brad Peyton

Writer: Carlton Cuse (Screenplay) Andre Fabrizio, Jeremy Passmore (Story)

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Paul Giamatti

Plot: In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across the state in order to rescue his daughter.

Tagline – Where will you be, who will you be with?

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Explosive Disaster Film

Story: San Andreas starts as we see how fire and rescue helicopter pilot Ray (Johnson) can make the most daring rescues, off duty he is a divorced father to Blake (Daddario) who is about to start her college life in San Francisco.

Earthquake expert Dr Lawrence Hayes (Giamatti) at Caltech has notices the sudden shifts in the plates, which sees the whole San Andreas plate moving, causing a mega Earthquake. Ray must save his ex-wife Emma (Gugino) before travelling to San Francisco to save Blake before the city is completely destroyed.

Thoughts on San Andreas

Characters – Ray is a fire and rescue pilot, he has a military background and is willing to risk more to save people in need. He is going through a divorce because of the loss of their daughter, remaining close with both his other daughter and wife, he hasn’t always opened up about what happened. When the earthquake hits, he risks everything to first save Emma and head to San Francisco to save his daughter, overcoming anything that comes his way. Emma is the wife that has started to move on with her life after their loss, she is moving in with her new partner, trying to get a smile back in her life. Blake is the couples daughter, she is about to start college and is already very independent, she is in San Francisco when the earthquake hits, trapped and rescued by two tourists as she uses what her father taught her to survive the mass panic in the city. Dr Lawrence Hayes has been researching earthquakes for years, along with his team, they discover something unusual in the patterns, which sees the first earthquake happen, this gives them the information about the next big threat along the San Andreas Faultline.

Performances – Dwayne Johnson is a natural in this type of role, the action hero is going to be a role he was always going to be made for, this is no different. Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario work well as the important women in the main characters life, with Paul Giamatti bring the experience to his role as the expert.

Story – The story here follows a fire and rescue pilot who after an earthquake hits, looks to rescue his ex-wife and daughter from the danger they find themselves in before it is too late. When it comes to the disaster genre, everything always splays out in a similar style, with a story that is always entertaining to watch, with this being no different, we get put through obstacles to make the rescue, while others just panic. We have a thin redemption arc for Ray who wasn’t able to save his other daughter, which plays heavily on most of his decision making.

Action/Adventure – The action in this film revolves around the destruction happening around cities after the earthquake, we have buildings falling, tsunami and crashes everywhere.

Settings – The film uses the big cities along the Western Coast of America, with San Francisco being the min target of the earthquake, the golden gate bridge, as always get destroyed.

Special Effects – The effects in this film are used to show the destruction being caused, certain bits struggle because of the scale of destruction.

Scene of the Movie – Helicopter building top rescue.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – When you think about it, Ray is getting sacked in the morning.

Final Thoughts – This is a big disaster movie that doesn’t hold back with the destruction, that is an easy to watch film that plays into Dwayne Johnson’s strengths.

Overall: Disaster Movie Treat.

May 3 2020

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – C – Cosmos (2015) Thoughts

ABC Film Challenge

World Cinema

Cosmos

Why I’ve Picked this choice – Every month I try to review each movie in the selection, we do get a few suggestions of previous reviewed films, but for the most part, I have watched a film from start to finish. Cosmos is one film that I have tried a couple of times to get into, I just couldn’t get into this one, I would love to hear what other people think of the film though, tell me if I missed out on anything.

May 3 2020

Blood Quantum (2019) Movie Review (Now on Shudder)

Director: Jeff Barnaby

Writer: Jeff Barnaby (Screenplay)

Starring: Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Maija Tailfeaters, Forrest Goodluck, Kiowa Gordon, Olivia Scriven, Stonehorse Lone Goeman

Plot: The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gMaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Never Holds Back

Story: Blood Quantum starts as we meet the Mi’gmag community, the sheriff Traylor (Greyeyes) with his family, ex-wife Joss (Tailfeathers) with their teenage sons Joseph (Goodluck) and Lysol (Gordon) who find themselves getting into trouble too often. One day people start getting out of control, becoming ravenous biting people, only for the community to find themselves immune to the infection.

6 months later, the community find themselves one of the last still standing, fighting of the zombies that come their way, not willing to let anyone coming into the community without proper tests, trying to keep the community together in a world where they are in control.

Thoughts on Blood Quantum

Characters – Traylor is the local sheriff of the Mi’gmag community, he has respect from the local people, only his two sons often find themselves in trouble, once the infected start heading towards the community reserve, Traylor brings the people together to start a community, which is fair and honest to keep people safe, while being willing to do the difficult decisions. Joss is the ex-wife of Traylor, she is the local doctor, her skills will help the community stay together and be vital going forward in this world. Joseph is the child of the two, he gets in trouble to keep up with his half-brother, with his good-natured always causing more conflict between the brothers. Lysol is the half-brother of Joseph, he is always in trouble with the law, which is why Joseph finds himself getting into trouble more, he thrives in the zombie filled world getting to let his angry intentions out.

Performances – Michael Greyeyes leads the film with a great performance, which is echoed with the rest of the cast, they show us the struggles, the psychotic side to what they could become and how the good sides in their characters can come through strong.

Story – The story here follows a Mi’gmag reserve as they must come to grips with being immune to a zombie outbreak even if they get bitten, they come together to deal with the new problems of the world as we see how one family gets torn apart by the actions in this new world. When it comes to zombie based stories, we do need to find something to make it stand out, this does bring us something new, by having a full group of immune people in a community together dealing with the threats coming from the outside. Seeing how the family starts to come to clash brings the human element to the story. Where the story can become stronger than other zombies, is with nothing seems to be off limits and you will have shock value to what happens.

Horror – The horror in the film does focus on the fast moving zombies, we see a lot of blood splatter with a lot of shocking moments when it comes to seeing certain death moments.

Settings – The film is set in a reserve, which shows us just how together the family and people are.

Special Effects – The effects in the film focus on injuries and how ferocious they are.

Scene of the Movie – Home disturbance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The catalyst seems too safe, going against the creative ideas of the rest of the film.

Final Thoughts – This is a blood filled zombie fest that does bring enough originality to the genre and doesn’t hold back on anything it does.

Overall: Blood Splattering Fun.