Friday, March 4, 2016

World War Z

 Released Year: 2013
Directed by Marc Forster

Casted by:
Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane
Mireille Enos as Karen Lane
Daniella Kertesz as Segen
Story
A zombie outbreak erupts in metropolitan areas around the world; those bitten by the creatures become zombies themselves within several (twelve) seconds. Retired United Nations (UN) investigator Gerry Lane, his wife Karen, and their two daughters manage to escape the outbreak in Philadelphia and take shelter with a family in Newark while waiting for special evacuation the next day, thanks to Gerry's friend UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umuntoni (Fana Mokoena). They find a shelter for the night while waiting for a rescue helicopter. Their hosts choose not to accompany them when they flee the next day and are subsequently bitten and changed by zombies. Their son, Tommy, manages to escape, and Gerry's family takes him in. They are flown to an offshore U.S. Navy carrier group near New York where Umuntoni is overseeing the remaining worldwide governments' reactions.

The scientists there believe they must first find the cause of the zombie outbreak, believed to be in South Korea. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs is dispatched to go and defend Gerry. Gerry is coerced into going with them under the threat of having his family sent to a potentially unsafe mainland refugee camp. The team lands at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, where the surviving soldiers hold back zombie attacks. Gerry learns that a Korean doctor was the first to come down with the rabies-like infection, after being bitten by a soldier he was treating, whom local villagers had captured when he tried to attack them. A former CIA operative held at the base for selling arms to North Korea reveals that Israel had reacted a week before the outbreak, building giant walls around Jerusalem, and suggests that Gerry talk to Mossad agent Jurgen Warmbrunn.

Gerry is flown to Jerusalem and is brought to Warmbrunn. The Mossad agent reveals they had intercepted a message from the Indian Army on fighting the rakshasa ("Demons"). He and other Israeli experts convinced the government to build the wall to protect themselves, but allowing all uninfected people to move in. As Gerry is escorted back to his plane by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), zombies are drawn to the loud music and singing in the city and pile themselves against the wall, forming a mound of bodies that allows many to clear the wall. As the city is quickly overtaken, Gerry and the IDF members battle their way to escape. On their way, Gerry notices that the zombies avoid attacking an elderly man and, in another instance, a young feeble boy. A zombie bites Gerry's IDF escort; and he quickly amputates her hand, which prevents her from being infected. Eventually, Gerry and the same female IDF escort, who identifies herself only as Segen, are able to board the last passenger jet leaving the city.

Gerry recounts the zombie attacks and remembers seeing sick, injured, and elderly people passed over by the zombie hordes, which leads him to believe this is evidence of some way to deal with them. He contacts Umuntoni to help convince the pilots to take them to Cardiff where an operational WHO (World Health Organization) facility is located. Nearing approach, a single zombie is discovered on the plane, and most of the passengers are quickly infected and converted. Seeing no other option, Gerry uses a grenade from Segen's pack to rupture the cabin and blow out the zombies, but in the process, causes the plane to crash. Gerry and Segen survive, though Gerry is impaled by debris from the crash. They make their way to the WHO facility where Gerry blacks out and falls into a coma.

Gerry wakes up a few days later nursed back to health. He contacts Umuntoni to help convince the WHO employees of his identity, but learns that Karen and his family were shipped to the mainland as they presumed he had died in the plane crash. Gerry explains his theory that the zombies ignore the infirm for the healthy, and suggests injecting themselves with a deadly but curable disease to mask themselves from the zombies. The WHO scientists agree but point out the pathogens are located in one of the zombie-infested labs. Gerry, Segen, and a WHO scientist carefully work through the infested labs but are detected. Segen and the scientist get to safety, while Gerry finds himself in the vault with the pathogens and becomes cornered by a lone zombie. Without the ability to identify the strains in storage, many of which could kill him, Gerry injects himself with one of the samples and finds himself still alive. His hypothesis is proven correct as the zombie enters the vault but does not attack, allowing him to walk back to safety with more samples as the rest of the zombies run right past him. Gerry is then treated for the disease.

Later, as Gerry and Segen are taken to the mainland refugee camp in Nova Scotia where Gerry is reunited with his family, he explains they were able to use these diseases to create a masking agent, allowing them to rescue refugees still trapped by zombies and fight against them. He says that this isn't the end and the war has just begun, but there is hope as people have used the masking agent to evacuate people or fight back.
 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:
After watching the lousy Pride+Prejudice+Zombie, I feel "sad&bad" for the genre of Zombie lol~ Actually my darling recommended this movie and mentioned that World War Z 2 is coming out soon in this year, so I must watch the sequence in cinema (if it was released in m'sia).

Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Released Year: 2003
Directed by Peter Jackson

Casted by:
 Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
 Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
  Ian McKellen as Gandalf
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli
 Orlando Bloom as Legolas
Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee
 Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took
 Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum
Miranda Otto as Éowyn 
David Wenham as Faramir
John Noble as Denethor
Liv Tyler as Arwen
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
 Story
Gandalf leads Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Théoden to Isengard where they reunite with Merry and Pippin, who helped the Ents destroy Saruman's forces. With Saruman himself defeated, Gandalf retrieves Saruman's palantír. Overcome by curiosity, Pippin steals a glance into the seeing-stone, and suffers an immediate mental attack from Sauron himself. From what Pippin was able to recount, Gandalf deduces Sauron will attack Gondor's capital Minas Tirith, so he rides ahead to warn them, and takes Pippin with him as 'punishment'. They meet Lord Denethor, steward of Gondor, bitterly grieving the death of his son Boromir. Pippin offers his service to Denethor after confessing Boromir died protecting him.

Meanwhile, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are led by Gollum to Minas Morgul where they witness the Witch-king of Angmar leading an Orc army to drive Denethor's younger son Faramir and his men from Osgiliath. At Gollum's urging, the three begin climbing a precarious stair carved in the cliff face that will take them into Mordor via a 'secret way'. But having overheard Gollum's plot to regain the Ring, Sam keeps a suspicious eye on him. In Gondor, Pippin follows Gandalf's instructions and secretly lights the beacon to signal Théoden to assemble the Rohirrim and come to Gondor's aid.

While helping Théoden gather his forces, Aragorn is approached by Elrond who says Arwen is dying. After seeing a vision of her son she refused to leave Middle Earth. Elrond then gives Aragorn the sword Andúril, Isildur's sword Narsil reforged, so he can reclaim his birthright while gaining reinforcements from the Dead Men of Dunharrow. Joined by Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn travels to the Paths of the Dead, recruiting the Army of the Dead with the promise to release them from their curse once they fulfil their oath to Isildur.

Faramir is gravely wounded after a futile effort to retake Osgiliath, and believing his son to be dead, Denethor falls into madness. Gandalf is left to command the city defences against the Orc army led by Gothmog. But as Gothmog's forces eventually force their way into the city, Denethor tries to kill himself and Faramir on a pyre. Pippin alerts Gandalf and they save Faramir, but Denethor leaps to his death from the top of Minas Tirith just before Théoden and the Rohirrim arrive. Initially the Rohirrim have the advantage at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but are eventually overwhelmed by the Oliphaunt-riding Haradrim while the Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden. Though Théoden's niece Éowyn, having posed as a male soldier, battles and slays the Witch-King with Merry's help, Théoden dies of his wounds. Aragorn arrives with the Army of the Dead, they overcome the Orcs and win the battle. The Dead are released from their curse, and the wounded are tended to. In the Houses of Healing Éowyn meets Faramir, and they comfort each other. Aragorn and the other captains of Men decide to lead all who can march upon the Black Gate as a distraction, so Frodo and Sam can get to Mount Doom.

Meanwhile, Gollum manipulates Frodo into leaving Sam behind before they arrive at the tunnel leading to Mordor, and then tricks him into lair of the giant spider Shelob. After a terrible chase, she paralises and binds Frodo. Sam returns and drives Shelob away, but believing his friend to be dead takes Frodo's sword Sting and The One Ring for safekeeping. When he sees Frodo's body being taken by Orcs to Cirith Ungol he realises Frodo's still alive, and gives chase. Sam rescues Frodo from the Orcs, and returns the Ring to him. Aragorn's army draw out Sauron's forces and empty Mordor, allowing the exhausted Hobbits to stagger to the volcano, but they're attacked by Gollum when they reach Mount Doom. Frodo finally succumbs to the Ring's power and claims it as his own, and refuses to destroy it. Gollum attacks Frodo and bites his finger off to reclaim the Ring, but then (while holding the Ring) Gollum falls into the volcano where the Ring was made. Sam manages to save Frodo. The Ring and Sauron are both destroyed, causing a chain-reaction that consumes the mountain, topples Barad-dûr, and kills most of the fleeing Orcs as the ground crumbles beneath them. Gandalf flies in with eagles to rescue the Hobbits, who awaken later in Minas Tirith and are reunited with the surviving Fellowship members.

Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and takes Arwen as his queen. They, and all others present at his coronation, bow before Frodo and the Hobbits. The Hobbits then return to the Shire where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Frodo, unable to cope with the traumas of his journey, departs Middle Earth for the Grey Havens with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves, leaving Sam the Red Book of Westmarch which details their adventures. Though saddened by Frodo's departure, Sam is gladdened by the warm welcome he receives on returning home.
 L² Scored: 10/10 

L² Comment:
Finally I found a friend who own the Blu-Ray version of the extended version of this movie. If not mistaken, the whole movie is about 4 hours ++. After spending such a long hour in my friend's house, finally I complete watching the whole set of this movie series *applause :p

This movie jointly holds the record for the largest number of Academy Awards won with Ben-Hur & Titanic. Not sure whether there will be any epic movie as big as this, but Lord Of The Ring will always be one of my favorite :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Pride + Prejudice + Zombies

Released Year: 2016
Directed by Burr Steers

Casted by:
 Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet
Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy
Jack Huston as Mr. Wickham
Bella Heathcote as Jane Bennet
Douglas Booth as Mr. Bingley
Matt Smith as Mr. Collins
Charles Dance as Mr. Bennet
Lena Headey as Lady Catherine de Bourgh[
 Story
In 19th century England, Colonel Darcy travels to the home of a wealthy family to investigate rumors of a newly infected zombie. He arrives at the home and sits with the family before taking out a small vial containing carrion flies as a means to detect the undead (as they are attracted to dead flesh). The flies land on the house's patriarch, whose eyes turn red. Darcy breaks a glass and stabs the man in the throat before decapitating him. One of the young girls in the house retreats upstairs to check on the niece of the recently dispatched zombie. She discovers the niece devouring a servant; the niece then proceeds to attack her, and then they both kill everyone in the house.

The Bennet sisters - Elizabeth, Jane, Kitty, Lydia, and Mary - have all been sent to China by their father to learn in the art of weaponry and martial arts. Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters to be married off to wealthy suitors. As it turns out, the Bingley family has moved in nearby and are throwing a ball, wherein Mrs. Bennet hopes that the young and handsome Mr. Bingley will win over one of her girls. Elizabeth, on the other hand, doesn't want to seek a husband.

The Bennets attend the ball. Bingley instantly sets his eyes on Jane. Darcy is in attendance and takes notice of Elizabeth, but he makes comments that she is unappealing, which Elizabeth overhears. She walks outside tearfully and encounters Mrs. Featherstone, now a zombie. Mrs. Featherstone converses with Elizabeth, before she is killed by Darcy. A horde of zombies then attack the party, prompting the Bennet sisters to spring into action. As they slay every zombie in their path, Darcy instantly becomes smitten with Elizabeth when he witnesses her in combat.

The Bingley sisters invite Jane over for tea at Netherfield. Mrs. Bennett forces her to go on horseback, thinking she will be invited to stay overnight due the oncoming rainstorm. While on the ride, Jane encounters a zombie and fires her gun. The gun backfires leaving a bite-like wound on her hand. She kills it but then spots a zombie woman with her child. Jane hesitates and is attacked by the zombie. At Netherfield, Darcy orders her confined to her room, in fear that she may have been bitten. Elizabeth arrives at the home to care for Jane. While in Jane's room, Darcy releases his flies to detect a zombie, but Elizabeth catches each fly with her hand and returns them to Darcy.

After Jane recovers, the sisters attend another ball thrown by the Bingleys. There, Elizabeth meets a soldier named Mr. Wickham, who seems to be charming and polite. He tells Elizabeth that he has had a history with Darcy and does not wish to further challenge him. Another group of zombies attack the party, resulting in Bingley injuring himself, and Darcy joining Elizabeth in fighting the horde. The Bennets are visited by Parson Collins, who intends to marry one of the sisters. He initially sets his eyes on Jane, though he is told that she is with Bingley. He later tries to seduce Elizabeth, and proposes to her, but states that she must give up her life as a warrior, something that she adamantly refuses to do. Mr. Collins later decides to settle with Elizabeth's friend Charlotte.

Elizabeth travels with Wickham to the In-Between (an area outside of walled-in London but inside a royal moat) to a church where some zombies live and worship, while feeding on pig brains to keep them from going completely savage, which would occur if they ate human brains. Wickham wants Elizabeth to join him in helping the zombies. He also suggests that she run away with him, but she remains conflicted. Elizabeth and Wickham then meet with Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a notorious zombie killer with major authority and wealth, to try and persuade her to come to peace with the more "civilized" zombies who do not eat human brains. Darcy and his aunt blatantly refuse. When she arrives home, Elizabeth is told that Darcy has convinced the Bingleys to move away. When Darcy approaches Elizabeth with a proposal of his own, she expresses her outrage at his actions and fights him in a duel. Elizabeth gets the upper hand, and Darcy leaves.

Darcy writes Elizabeth a letter to apologize for his actions and to state that he separated Jane and Bingley for fear that Jane only wanted to marry Bingley for his wealth, having overheard Mrs. Bennet drunkenly mention it. Darcy also mentions that Wickham had tried to elope with Darcy's fifteen-year-old sister for her fortune. Darcy's letter states that he is battling zombies in London, and that they have overrun the walled city. Elizabeth is then cornered by Lady Catherine and her bodyguard Wilhelm. Catherine knows that Elizabeth and Darcy have developed an attraction toward one another, yet she still wants Darcy to marry her sickly daughter, Anne. Wilhelm attacks Elizabeth, but she claws his face and fights him off, causing him to get crushed under a pile of bricks. Catherine decides to protect Elizabeth's family and takes them to her estate. Wickham ran off with Elizabeth's youngest sister, and she must go rescue her.

Elizabeth joins Darcy in London and helps him battle the undead. Darcy encounters Wickham at the old church and rescues Elizabeth's sister. While fighting Wickham, he impales him and reveals a bite mark on his chest, revealing Wickham was undead all along. Before Wickham can kill Darcy, Elizabeth rides in and chops his arm off and knocks him unconscious. Darcy rides with Elizabeth across the bridge as the army destroys the last remaining bridge to keep the zombies trapped within the In-between on the inside of the moat. Darcy is injured in the explosion and is rendered unconscious. Elizabeth tearfully admits her love for him. After Darcy recovers, he finds Elizabeth and tells her that he heard what she said on the bridge. They share their first kiss and agree to marry. The two have a joint wedding with Bingley and Jane, officiated by Parson Collins. In a mid-credits scene, the now one-armed Wickham is leading the zombies toward them, ready for war.
 L² Scored: 2/10

L² Comment:
Seriously, I kinda feel my money being wasted to watch this kind of movie in the cinema. This movie is based on Seth Grahame-Smith's same name novel in 2009, which also is a parody of Jane Austen's novel "Pride & Prejudice" back in 1813. The zombies are not scary, the fighting action by the girls are lousy... the only thing that brighten me in this movie is Douglas Booth. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Deadpool

 Released Year: 2016
Directed by Tim Miller

Casted by:
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool
Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle
Ed Skrein as Francis Freeman / Ajax
Gina Carano as Angel Dust
Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus
Leslie Uggams as Blind Al,
 Story:
Wade Wilson is a former special forces operative who works as a mercenary in New York City. He meets escort Vanessa Carlysle at a local bar and they become romantically attached. One year later, Wade proposes to her and she accepts, but he suddenly collapses. Wade is diagnosed with terminal cancer and though Vanessa remains by his side, he fears losing her.

A recruiter from a secret program approaches Wade offering an experimental cure for his cancer. Although Wade initially refuses, he decides to leave Vanessa and undergo the procedure. At a laboratory, Wade meets Ajax and Angel Dust, whom he instantly resents. Ajax injects Wade with a serum designed to awaken latent mutant genes, then has him subjected to weeks of torture to induce stress and trigger the mutation without success. Wade discovers Ajax's real name, Francis Freeman, and mocks him. In response, Ajax straps Wade into an airtight chamber which raises and lowers the oxygen level to keep Wade constantly on the verge of asphyxiation. Ajax reveals to Wade their true purpose: to make super-powered slaves to be sold to wealthy customers. Several days later, Wade develops a healing factor which cures his cancer and he escapes from the chamber with a severely disfigured face and skin. He attacks Ajax, but relents when told that his disfigurement can be cured. Ajax subdues Wade, impales him with a rebar and leaves him for dead in the burning laboratory.

Wade attempts to return to Vanessa, but is afraid of her rejecting him because of his appearance, and keeps himself away from her. After consulting his best friend Weasel, Wade decides to hunt down Ajax and have his disfigurement cured. He becomes a masked vigilante, takes the alias "Deadpool", and moves into the home of an elderly blind woman named Al. Following a string of leads, Deadpool tracks down Ajax to a convoy of cars on an expressway. He kills all the escorts, corners Ajax and demands a cure to his disfigurement. The confrontation is interrupted by two X-Men, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, who have been trying to recruit Deadpool. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ajax escapes. Colossus handcuffs himself to Deadpool and begins dragging him away, in order to take him with them back to the X-Men's mansion. Deadpool cuts off his own hand and escapes. His hand slowly regenerates overnight.

Ajax goes to Weasel's bar and learns about Vanessa. In response, Weasel calls Wade and tells him Vanessa is in danger. Wade goes to the strip club where she works but hesitates before he can face her. As a result, Ajax has time to kidnap Vanessa. He and Angel Dust tell Deadpool to meet them on a decommissioned helicarrier in a scrapyard.

Deadpool convinces Colossus and Negasonic to help him, and the trio takes a cab to the scrapyard. While Colossus and Negasonic battle Angel Dust, Deadpool fights his way through Ajax's henchmen, and eventually engages him in close combat. After Angel Dust knocks out Colossus, Negasonic uses her power to repel her, but accidentally destroys the equipment holding the helicarrier upright. As the helicarrier tips over, Colossus wakes up and takes Negasonic and Angel Dust to safety, while Deadpool successfully saves Vanessa. Ajax, still alive, attacks Deadpool, but is subdued and reveals there is no cure for Wade's disfigurement.

Colossus urges Deadpool to spare his enemy, but Deadpool kills Ajax. Wade turns to Vanessa, who removes his mask revealing his face. Vanessa is angered that Wade left her, but still loves him. She accepts him, and they reconcile by kissing.

In a post-credits scene, Wade announces a sequel featuring Cable and tells the audience that the movie is over.
  L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:
Ryan Reynolds was casted as Wade Wilson back in 2009 "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". But when it become Deadpool, Scott Adkins was the actual cast. Within so many X-Men movie series, Deadpool should be the one which consist a lot of comedy elements in it. Wade Wilson is different than those superhero, he is actually half good half evil actually. Overall this movie is over my expectation, good job ! By the way, Reynolds is also one of the producer for this movie :)