Ghostrider 2:Spirit of Blah!

It's a BANDH today, and therefore if you are chilling at home you would probably wanna unwind by watching a flick. I am going to help you make that decision today. Continuing with the MARVEL saga, we have one of the most unpopular heroes of Marvel-Ghostrider for his second outing at the cinemas.
The movie had released earlier this year to a decent box office response despite the first one being a dud and the critics and audience reviews were even worse than the first part.

Now if you have seen the first one, you are probably not to keen to watch this one, as was the case with me initially. But you know what, you mite just end up liking this one or at least finding it tolerable.
The reason I say this is because, with the first one there were expectations-HUGE expectations. The trailer looked phenomenal and with Nicholas Cage & Eva Mendes it looked like the dream Summer Blockbuster-Sadly it failed to live upto the hype. Now though, the franchise is down in the dumps and even an average flick seems better than what it really is.

Now coming to the movie.Firstly Eva Mendes is missing without so much of an explanation as to where her character has gone. Johnny Blaze is still the Ghost Rider but is in constant struggle to keep the Rider away at night, much like how Mark Rufallo tries to keep the Hulk away in Avengers.
Then comes the favorite word in the whole world for Johnny-A DEAL.A drunken priest-Mourau strikes a deal with Johnny to save a certain boy who has been captured by mercenaries who work for Roarke(The Devil who struck the deal with Johnny) and in exchange Mourau would help him remove the curse of the Ghost Rider. Johnny grabs this opportunity with both hands and things seem to go smooth enough with an obvious interaction with the boy's mom-Nadya as the three of them manage to escape from the mercenaries(one of whom is Nadya's ex) and go to the monastery where Mourau and the rest of the priests reside. Here Mourau honors his promise as well as there is an unexpected discovery of who really is the 'Spirit' that make him the Ghost Rider. Probably among the more interesting parts of the movie. After this there is a twist of tale as Nadya's ex returns as BLACKOUT, with powers to make the surroundings dark and decay anything he touches. At the end you know who really wins and it's Blah Blah again.

Now, the special FX in most parts of the movie are well done but whenever they focus on the Rider's Face, it seems tacky and unnecessary especially because they do it time and time again. Direction is sloppy and so is the writing. What carries this movie is the visual spectacle and Nicholas Cage as usual. It's so crazy though, and credible too, that Nicholas stars in so many flops but still manages to retain his market value, quite a rare thing considering the kind of movies he does.

Nevertheless watch the movie if you have already taken the first plunge in the series. You hopefully will not regret it.

I'm going with 2 out of 5 for Ghost Rider:Spirit of Vengeance.

P.S-I'm guessing The Ghost Rider will ditch his bike soon considering the steep hike in Petrol Prices ;-) Hehe...
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Captain America-The First Avenger-And also the worst!!!

Now looking at the title of this review, I firstly want to let you know that I am not going to bash this movie and demean it. But you have to keep in mind that I am comparing this film with the other individual Avenger movies and this one along with the first movie of Hulk is the worst of the lot.

Now Captain America has been one of the biggest comic books for Marvel, so the expectation to film was always going to be high. Secondly, I feel, that the biggest challenge that was faced by the makers was that he was a superhero from the past, and therefore it is not only a superhero film, but a period film as well!...And when it cam to the comic-The Avengers, he was the lead avenger as well..but that is only in the comic world...

Now coming to the movie, Bases around the times of the World War 2, Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers, a sickly thin malnutritioned boy who aspires to get into the US Army(amazing VFX work to make him look like that though), but has failed numerous times to do so. His brother being a part of the US forces obviously caused him jealousy but also triggered the aspiration even more. Eventually they pass him through a test only to find out that he is actually a part of a Government Experiment-which lucky for him, goes right and he becomes the real Chris Evans with the muscles et all. The same experiment was later tried by Hulk as we know which went horribly wrong. Now after this he becomes a mascot to promote war bonds, more than a real war hero-which is quite lame actually.
Now there needs to be a villian in order for the hero within to come out, and that is HYDRA from Europe which is actually an organisation that is after the 'Tesseract' and use it to fuel their 'World-Ending' inventions, and you'll know what I am talking about if you've seen avengers. How Captain America rises to the occasion and save the world is obviously what the rest of the movie is about.

There is a love interest as well in the form of Ms.Peggy carter played by the beautiful Hayley Atwell and their scenes together are among the better parts of the movie. There's familiar names in form of Stark Senior a.k.a Iron Man's dad who is quite prominent throughout the film.
Hugo Weaving makes his best villian outing since The Matrix and is one of the reasons you are able to sit through the movie.
Now my major issue with the movie is that firstly, it's very slow for a superhero film. It doesn't ever feel like one to be honest because of the pace of a World War kind of film which also makes the action very limited and the special effects at a minimal. Apart from that, Captain America itself is quite sad. He doesn't seem to have any super powers except that he can use his shield really well and that too the shield is a STARK product. So you know what I' talking about. It's not ebtirely unwatchable and is necessary for the continuity to The Avengers most definitely but I hope the sequel which is planned is more fast-paced and has something new to offer.

I'm going with 2 out of 5 for Captain America!...
P.S. Don't forget to watch the credits...

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THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN-4 MINUTE PREVIEW!

THOR-A Superhero like no other!!

The Latest Marvel Superhero to hit the screens last year was Thor, and he is a superhero like no other. Reason: he is a GOD, the god of thunder actually who is strong and powerful but also arrogant of his own abilities.He definitely looks like he could take a pack of supervillians and destroy them but like all superheroes, you have to take the fall before you rise up, and Thor is no different.

This was actually made as a build up movie for the Avengers and it could easily been just another movie. But this movie delivered BIG TIME. So much so that they have 2 sequels planned already and trust me, I am really excited about it.The biggest reason is because of Chris Hemsworth who brings out the character to an absolute connect in both, the action scenes as well as the scenes where he is just another muscular guy.

Now coming to the premise-Thor is from Asgard, another 'Realm' altogether. He is a God and is the heir to the throne of Asgard but is banished to earth by his father due to his arrogance of wanting to attack Jotenheim, home of their enemies, The Frost Giants. Now his brother, Loki, like you'll would know if you'll have seen Avengers is no sweet guy. And in this movie too, it's Loki who is behind the downfall of his brother. How Thor manages to live on Earth, strike a friendship with the beautiful Natalie Portman who finds him on Earth and ofcourse returns to Asgard to save it from sure destruction is what the rest of the movie is all about.

It's a typical ending, but the continuation to Avengers and the prospect of Thor 2 and 3 makes it really exciting. The scene that strikes you the most is when he wants to get his hammer out of a rock on earth and fails. It's a scene where you awe at Chris' performance and his muscles at the same time. It's what these movies are made for, emotional connect with the super fun factor.

Natalie plays the role of a girl next door to perfection and looks the part too. I was seriously disappointed that she wasn't there in Avengers but I'm glad that she's going to come back for the sequels. Loki though, will have lost respect in the upcoming movie especially after what Hulk did to him :-p Haha...

All in all, it's among the better Marvel Superhero movies and you will definitely find it a treat to watch!!

I'm going with 3.5 out of 5 for Thor...

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The Avengers-Lives up to the Hype!!

The wait is over!!One of the most Hyped movies in Superhero Film History opened up for viewers 2 weeks back in India and just a week back in the US to a thunderous Box Office record and some rave reviews as well...So does this movie live up to the hype, or is it just cashing in on fans of the various films..well, just like Marvel's most movies are-This one does not disappoint....

Bringing together an ensemble like this, is no easy task, not only am I referring to the number of Actors on Screen but the sheer scale of the characters...While you have the more recent, Captain America and Thor of last year on one hand, you have modern day idols like Bruce Banner aka The Hulk and ofcourse the Genius, Flambuoyant and Super Awesome Tony Stark aka Iron Man!!....Hawkeye and Black Widow, although vital, seem to be add-ons in the film, but don't make you feel like they have no role to play...I particularly liked Scarlett's opening scene where she speaks Russian and it sounds so good that you don't care what it means...this one's for the guys out there I'm afraid.

For the girls ofcourse, there's plenty options...

Now the premise would make total sense to you, if you have seen ALL of the movies related to the characters, especially Captain America and Thor as it released just last year as a purpose for a build up to this movie. The Super Villian is non other than Loki-Thor's half brother who he let go off but who comes to Earth to destroy the world(nothing new there I know)...but it does not feel like you've seen the premise before...

The presentation is fresh, and each character gets an equal amount of attention. Mark Ruffalo takes over from Edward Norton and although his caracter as Bruce is average, THE HULK itself is the best you've ever seen...He's funny and ultimately takes away all the applause of the audience. I particularly liked him in one scene where Loki seriously is trying to make him understand the implications of harming him,. and HULK just starts smashing him all around the room...It's a scene that will not go out of your mind easily....
Captain America is boring again! I don't particularly like him, but he does manage to fit in as a part of the ensemble.
Thor is definitely one of my favorite superheroes as of now. He has carried on brilliant form from his individual movie as well(More on that in my review of Thor).
But the one man, who you cannot stop loving is TONY STARK-Robert Downey Jr. has ensured that he will play Iron Man forever and any other person even trying to do so in the future will be doomed!!...He's as good as ever....

The best bits of this movie is ofcourse in the last half hour where all hell breaks loose...These 30 minutes are the reason to watch this movie in 3D, or else the experience just isn't complete.

It's a visual delight, and the story is not compromised in anyway. There's definitely an Avengers 2 coming(don't walk out even when the credits are rolling), and we have Iron Man 3, Thor 2 & even Captain America 2 planned for...So it's just the beginning of what could be one of the best superhero franchises ever....

I'm going with 3.5 out of 5 for The Avengers!!!!!Watch it in 3D!!!!!!

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