Furious 7

//It's been a while since I posted..//

In all honesty, if my uncle did not ask me if I wanted to join to watch the 12:40pm screening of Furious 7, I probably would not have seen it this past Saturday. But I'm glad I did.

I would have just waited to redbox the film because compared to previous years, I rarely visit the movie theater.

When I use to work at the local dine-in theater near my hometown, I remember Fast & Furious 6 was released and all my coworkers would joke and say: "it's the same thing over and over again" in regards to what to expect from the franchise. 

True. But if you have seen all the films or hell, even a few, and you have grown attached to the characters, I urge you to see this Furious 7.

In a span of 13 years, audiences have "enjoyed the ride" with  Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker).

The day before I saw Furious 7, I attended a roundtable held at my university and the topic was Toy Story. The panelists discussed how my generation "grew up" with Toy Story, throughout the years. (I.e Andy went off to college around the time I was about to leave for college too)

I found the same feeling with the Fast & Furious franchise. I mean, I do not drag race or have I been involved with heists and such but this series is more than just about fast cars. Family was always a recurring theme, which I related too as many others did.

The characters had amazing chemistry especially since off-screen it was seen that the whole cast did treat each other life family. After Paul Walker's tragic death in November of 2013, Furious 7 was decided to be the end of the  franchise and will be done "for Paul."

I am not going to go in to all the cool car scenes that were prevalent in all the previous films, but I want to point out the CGI effects that was used in the film. Using CGI on Paul's brothers, who served as stand-ins for the scenes Paul was not there for, I couldn't even notice that it wasn't actually him. So kudos to you, editors and special effects team.

And just like my Facebook feed, the last scene was one of the best because it was so bittersweet. Ending the series and paying tribute to Paul Walker, by allowing his character to live forever and remembering all his smiling moments throughout the years. It was beautifully shot and montaged and the choice of song, Wiz Khalifa's See You Again ft. Charlie Puth could not be beat.

All I could say about this film is: Paul Walker is definitely smiling from heaven because of Furious 7. 

(cheesy, I know. But hey bonus points for rhyming?)
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EDIT - 18 May 2015

So Furious 7 is NOT the end of the franchise.. but the end for Paul Walker's character. Oops.

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CREDITS

Writers: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson
Director: James Wan
Producers: Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell
Main Cast: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jodana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris
Running Time: 137 minutes

Hercules

I find mythology fascinating. I love the stories of gods, goddesses, and creatures such as centaurs and cyclopses. Growing up, one of my favorite movies that my family owns on VHS is: Disney's version of Hercules. In addition, in my Latin III class in high school, I had to do a presentation on Hercules, or shall I say: Heracles? Therefore, I know a thing or two about Hercules and I was pretty excited to see Brett Ratner's version. As a fan of Hercules, Ratner's portrayal of the Greek hero did not meet my standards. 

The background did stay congruent to the original myth. Hercules, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, was introduced as the son of the mighty Zeus and a mortal Alcmene. He is known for his strength and his adventures of completing "12 Labors". 

The basis of the film was Hercules trying to protect the kingdom of Thrace by capturing Rheseus (Tobias Santelmann). Hercules initially accepted this task because he was promised to be paid double his weight in gold. Later he realizes that Thrace is corrupted and decides to fight for what is right.

Although the film is 98 minutes, I felt like it was shorter. Nothing really amazed me in the film. It was not a complex plot and it did not bring anything new to the table. The action scenes were standard. The acting was nothing spectacular. 

I did appreciate the script and the characters. Tydeus (Aksel Hennie) was one of my favorites. He is seen as savage, but loyal. He did not have any audible lines, but his actions made up for it. I also enjoyed Amphiarus's (Ian McShane) comical stunts, such as when he is predicting his death but survives each time.

Hercules is a film in which I would rather wait until RedBox. It was not terrible, but not amazing. It is okay. As of now, I find Troy (2004) to be a better film centering around Greek mythology than this film. I always prefer Hercules over Achilles, but not in the case of films.

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CREDITS

Writers: Ryan Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos, and Steve Moore
Director: Brett Ratner
Producers: Beau Flynn, Sarah Aubrey, and Barry Levine.
Main Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, and Rufus Sewell
Running Time: 98 minutes

Electric Slide

Tristan Patterson’s Electric Slide is based off the real-life story of Eddie Dodson, a man who executed over sixty bank robberies in the Los Angeles area in the 1980s. The film premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in New York and screened at the 67th Festival De Cannes in South France. 

Eddie Dodson (Jim Sturgess) is a fashionable, flirtatious, furniture salesman who is unable to stay out of debt. He takes out a loan from the bank, borrows money from the notorious Roy (Christopher Lambert), and then proceeds to extend his credit line to pay back Roy. 

He forms a relationship with the chic Pauline (Isabel Lucas), who always waits in his car for him after a robbery. With Eddie’s appeal to expensive suits and Pauline’s appeal to designer shoes, Eddie’s lack of business from his furniture shop and never-ending debts do not suffice. After one successful and clean robbery, robbing banks just comes naturally and easily for Eddie.

Eddie has a distinct way of robbing banks. He heads towards a female bank teller in his neatly-pressed suit, matching fedora, dazzling carnation near the pocket, and statement sunglasses. First, he compliments the teller or points out a minor detail to make the teller feel noticed. Then he hands over a note that states he is robbing the bank. But at the end of each note, he always includes an “XO”. Once the teller reads the note and looks at Eddie, a gun is pointed directly at her. After the teller hands over the cash and before Eddie leaves the bank, he repeats his initial compliment to the teller.

After multiple successful robberies, Eddie and Pauline begin to get too comfortable and careless, which leads to their mistake. Eddie is unable to make it to the getaway car with Pauline in time, which leads to him ditching the standard plan and Pauline as well. Ultimately, Eddie’s actions get him to a situation where he cannot flirt his way out to safety.

Since the story is set in the 1980s in Los Angeles, the sets exhibited are captivating and retro. Patterson uses the 80s backdrop to its full potential, with not only the scenes, but the costume and make-up too. The always present carnation on Eddie’s statement outfit is noticeably bright especially since it contrasts his suit.

Expanding on the topic of fashion, fashion is a motif in Electric Slide. It is undoubted that Eddie is a well-dressed man especially during this era. He uses his fashion senses to ease his way in some of the tellers’ hearts. In one instance, he tells the bank teller that he “loves how the bananas hang off her ears”, in reference to her cute accessory. Women love to to be noticed and even if it is just something minor as their earrings, a compliment from a stranger, better yet a fashionable man, can make her day and her heart flutter.

Eddie is not the only character with a trendy style. A notable character who dresses fabulously is Pauline. One of the two cops who are after the “gentleman bank robber” find a shoe that belongs to Pauline and infer that the man they are after has a female companion with him, who has expensive taste since the shoe was designer. That shoe reveals Pauline’s materialistic characteristic trait and relates to Eddie’s motivation to keep robbing banks, which is to buy Pauline nice things.

What makes Electric Slide more than just a story of a man robbing banks in the 1980s is Jim Sturgess’s alluring acting. Sturgess puts on a superb portrayal of a criminal who enjoys the finer things in life and uses his attractiveness effectively.

The cops were able to arrest Eddie due to parking violations. The bank teller, which happens to be the woman with the banana earrings as well as the teller who was robbed by Eddie twice, had the chance to identify who the “gentleman robber” is at the police lineup. She kindly requested that Eddie, who was number four, say the line “give it to me” like how he did when he robbed her. She clearly knew that number four was Eddie but she directly said “I am sure it is not him” to the cops to protect a man who held her at gunpoint, twice, and who made her eyes gleam with awe, twice.

Electric Slide shows that infatuation can make people do wild things. When Eddie is surrounded and asked why he is doing such things, his reply is simply: “I just wanted to get my girl a nice present”. Granted that Eddie is head over heels for Pauline, he also aims to charm everyone else, including the audience and myself in which he succeeds.

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CREDITS

Writer: Tristan Patterson

Director: Tristan Patterson

Producer: Kirk D’Amico, Christine Vachon, Hans Ritter, Eric Eisner

Main Cast: Jim Sturgess, Isabel Lucas, Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Lambert 

Running Time: 95 minutes

The Raid 2: Berandal

The Raid: Redemption (2011) set an impressive standard for not only Indonesian martial art films, but for action films in general. Director and writer Gareth Evans as well as actor Iko Uwais continues the Jakarta-based story with the second installation of the intended trilogy, The Raid 2: Berandal. Just like its prequel, the film shows an astounding amount of intensity and swift, skilled choreography. But The Raid 2: Berandal has no limits in regards to charismatic cinematography, spectacular production sets, and cunning sound effects making it a captivating, well-thought out action, crime film.

After discovering that corruption is present within the police force of Jakarta, the once rookie Rama (Iko Uwais) is pulled into a mission to go undercover to further expose the issue. Rama engages in a close relationship with the reckless Uco (Arifin Putra), who is the son of the respected and feared mob boss, Bangun (Tio Pakusadewo).  

Uco eagerly waits for the day that Bangun will hand over more responsibility and authority of the family “business” to him. Bejo (Alex Abbad), an independent crime mobster, also craves for more power and eventually proposes a deal with the avid Uco. As the 150 minute film progresses, the number of mobsters and those involved increase due to multiple characters’ desire to control the “lands”. 

Although Rama’s mission is to expose the corrupted police force, his intentions are to protect his family and to avenge his brother’s death. Rama struggles with focusing on the mission’s objective because he is constantly dealing with the vigilant violence and merciless murders initiated by the mobs. The longer he is undercover, the more involved he is with Jakarta’s mob scene and drifts further away from the chance of returning to his what used to be normal life with his wife and son.

Being an action film, viewers expect fast-paced scenes that gets their heart beating and eyes fixated on the screen. Evans succeeds in this aspect, but goes above and beyond. The numerous fight scenes are defined by its nifty shots, disoriented camera angles, and shaky camerawork to give off a fierce feeling but then shifts to scenes with more stability to create a balance that will not overwhelm viewers with impulsive, endless violence. The quickness of the film is very intricate and brisk and viewers need to give full attention to experience the film thoroughly. 

The production sets in The Raid 2: Berandal are also truly splendid and diverse, opposed to The Raid: Redemption, which was restricted to an apartment complex. But since this is the sequel, Evans was able to gain funding to expand the shooting locations. Almost every scene had a long shot or an establishing shot that showcased the beauty and uniqueness of each scene. The first fight scene was set in a mostly gray and neutral colored prison bathroom, whereas the last fight scene was set in a bold red and isolated restaurant. In between those scenes, there were sets such as a muddy prison courtyard, a vibrant nightclub, and a busy highway.

The sound effects employed were highly effective. The shots fired, bones broken, punches thrown, cries heard, and blood squirted would not be as animated if it were not for the sound effects. Sound did not only emphasized the violence, but it dramatized key points such as when a character had a self-realization moment. When a character became aware, the outside sound muted. For example, in the premiere fight scene at the prison bathroom, before the fight commenced, the volume of the film evidently lowered to demonstrate Rama’s concentration.

Even though the film consists of riveting characters, the film is more plot-driven. The plot outweighs the character development because the characters are more static than dynamic. Rama’s character arc is almost non-existent because he starts off as aggressive and concerned for the safety of his family and remains that way throughout the film. Even if Rama did undergo more character development, it would not affect the film much because the story advances due to the interactions of all the characters and is not centered solely on Rama.

As mentioned previously, The Raid 2: Berandal has no limits. Evans has no restraint with portraying the countless brutal brawls.The intensity is high, the blood is endless, and the hearts of viewers will race. The Raid 2: Berandal is visually appealing due to its cutting-edged cinematography but is also visually appalling to those with a weak stomach or hematophobia, the fear of blood.