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Showing posts with the label Andy Serkis

The Batman | Average Guy Movie Review

Only in his second year, a young Batman faces one of his first big challenges when a psychopath with a penchant for riddles begins targeting Gotham City's most powerful, leaving messages for the Batman at every crime scene. Through the course of his investigation, the caped crusader will wade through the city's underworld, teaming up with a cop and a cat burglar along the way. When a character is re-imagined as frequently as Batman there's a danger that things might start to get a little repetitive. As filmmakers run out of places to go, these different iterations inevitably begin to blur. Thankfully however, that is not a fate that has befallen Matt Reeves' The Batman . The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes  director has taken a young caped crusader and inserted him into a gripping mystery thriller, set against the backdrop of a grim and desolate Gotham City. There is something very Se7en -esque to this, as the titular vigilante and his cop best friend try to make a diffe

Venom: Let There Be Carnage | Average Guy Movie Review

After a year of living together, the relationship between Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom (also Tom Hardy) is strained. While Venom wants to get out there and munch on bad guys, Eddie is trying to keep a low profile as he tries to get his life back together. But when the pair visit Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), Venom accidentally shares a piece of himself with the death row inmate, resulting in the emergence of a new symbiote - Carnage. This allows Kasady to escape his execution and bring chaos to San Francisco. And the only one(s) who can stop him, aren't getting along right now. Sony's superpowered antihero odd couple are back, and with the both of them stuck in Eddie Brock's body, things are getting tense. Imagine what it would be like sharing your body with a toddler on a sugar rush, that's Eddie's life with Venom.  How do you enforce rules on a being that's a) more powerful than you, and b) can control your body? The answer being; with great difficulty

Long Shot | Average Guy Movie Review

Recently unemployed journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) stumbles into a new line of work after a chance accident reunites him with his former babysitter, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron). As the US Secretary of State, Charlotte is promoting a bill designed to encourage more environmentally friendly practices the world over. She is also preparing to run for President in the coming election, and she hires Flarsky to be a speech writer on her team, much to the chagrin of her advisors. But when sparks begin to fly between this odd couple, and politics and personal feelings begin to mix, could everything Charlotte has worked for come crashing down? Director Jonathan Levine delivers a colourful look at politics with Long Shot. This is an idealistic view of politics, one in which politicians - some at least - actually care about the work they're doing, beyond the usual approval ratings and expense claims. We will never see a politician like this, they'd either bend to the s

Black Panther | Average Guy Movie Review

Set a week after the events of Captain America: Civil War, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) travels home to be crowned King of Wakanda. But before he can decide the future of his nation, an old enemy, Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) joins forces with a mysterious stranger (Michael B. Jordan) to threaten Wakanda and challenge T'Challa's reign. In order to face this new threat, the young King will have to rely on all those he trusts...including another outsider. Ryan Coogler, the director behind Fruitvale Station and Creed helms the 18th movie in the MCU and the first to feature a black superhero in the titular role. Much like Thor: Ragnanrok, there's a degree of separation to Black Panther, it's very much a stand alone movie. But it's also very important to the wider MCU because of the major role Wakanda will play in Avengers: Infinity War. Writer Joe Robert Cole described the story as a cross between The Godfather and the James Bond films, "a big operatic

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi | Average Guy Movie Review

After destroying Starkiller Base, what's left of the Resistance is on the run, with a First Order fleet hot on their heels. In an attempt to aid their escape, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) sends Finn (John Boyega) and Resistance Mechanic Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) on a secret mission. Meanwhile on Ach-To, Rey (Daisy Ridley) attempts to convince Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to show her the ways of the Force and to join the Resistance in the fight against the First Order. In what is a first for Star Wars (unless you count Rogue One), the story picks up immediately after the events of The Force Awakens. Rey finally gets to hand Luke his father's lightsaber - although she doesn't get quite the response she expects. It's here that Mark Hamill demonstrates his abilities as an actor, for Luke isn't the optimistic Jedi Knight we saw in Episode VI. Having endured a hard life along with the loss of his new Jedi Temple at the hands of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), he has become di

War for the Planet of the Apes | Average Guy Movie Review

Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his clan are in the fight for their lives when a Colonel - in what's left of the US Military - takes it upon himself to wipe out all of the apes. Still struggling with the events that started the war and what happened to Koba, Caesar is just trying to protect his own. But after a devastating surprise attack by the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), Caesar and his closest friends find themselves on a mission of vengeance. Along the way they will meet new friends 'Bad Ape' (Steve Zahn) and a mute human girl (Amiah Miller). Director Matt Reeves second instalment in the reboot trilogy sees Andy Serkis back in the motion capture suit delivering yet another breath taking performance. It is incredible to see how far Weta Digital have come with the motion capture technology. Through Rise, Dawn and now War we've seen incredible leaps in the imagery and the look of the apes. Watching the apes travel from the forest up into the mountains through the sn