Brain Spill Movie Review #5

The Avengers

Setting

The Avengers takes place in the modern day (2012) world. This takes place after Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. The story takes place mainly in New York City, where Tony Stark (Iron Man) has recently built a Stark Tower.

Summary

While studying the Tesseract for SHIELD, Dr. Erik Selvig and Nick Fury bring Loki to Earth. Loki uses a spear to mind control Selvig and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). Loki takes the Tesseract from the SHIELD base before he blows it up. Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson activate the Avengers Initiative. Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor (Thor), and later Hawkeye are gathered to help stop the threat that Loki poses and aim to find out what Loki is planning. The movie follows the Avengers as they attempt to stop Loki while also learning to settle the differences between them.

Characters

Nick Fury

Nick Fury is the leader of SHIELD and the Avengers initiative. He is serious and mysterious. He is not the most likable character and is not supposed to be. He is under suspicion by most of the characters for the beginning of the movie and remains mysterious for the entire movie. He is, though, a pretty awesome hero with one epic scene in the entire movie.

Agent Phil Coulson

Phil Coulson is Nick fury's right hand man. He makes appearances in Iron Man 2 and Thor as he tries to recruit heroes for the Initiative. He is probably one of the most ignored character in those movies, but in this movie, you finally appreciate him for who he is.

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Captain America is a character who feels out of his time period. He is a living anachronism. A lot of his problems come from this out-of-place feeling. This is why he is so at odds with Tony Stark who is so comfortable in the present time. He is a super soldier who was frozen in the Arctic since WW2 and carries a super shield.

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Iron Man is literally a man in an iron suite that is equipped with weapons and that can fly. This is what keeps Iron Man alive. As Tony Stark, he is a billionaire and the CEO of Stark Industries. Another reason why Stark is at odds with Captain America is because he made his fortune on selling weapons and promoting war. Stark and rogers both change to be more accepting of the other.

Thor

Thor is the Norse god of thunder who came to Earth to get Loki. Thor is pretty distant from the other characters because he is so high up in the way he acts. This is a source of tension within the Initiative. Thor, in my opinion, is one of the less focused on heroes, and he doesn't change as much as some of the other characters.

Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Banner, when angry, changes into the Hulk, a giant, green strong man. He does not get along with the government and stays hidden from his enemies to avoid changing into the Hulk. At the beginning, the Hulk is reluctant to come, but as time goes on, he learns to control his anger and to be a helpful avenger.

Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Hawkeye is a superhero without super powers. He is just able to use a bow really well (What is up with all the protagonists with bows these days?). He is also not focused on as a character and is actually under some sort of mind control spell for most of the movie. He is though, pretty awesome, and I'm happy they didn't stick with the purple outfit.

Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow

The Black Widow is the most annoying and useless of the Avengers and nobody admires her. Seriously.

Conclusion

The movie was well thought out and well paced, and they didn't skimp out on the action scenes. I think the finally action scene was about twenty minutes long. The movie also has both a balanced internal and external conflict and develops all the main characters very well. I enjoyed the movie greatly. 9 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #3

John Carter

Setting

John Carter takes place in post-Civil War Earth, but the majority of the story takes place on Mars. On Mars in this world, there are human-type people and martians, known as Tharks, who are tall, green, and have tusks and four arms. There is also a race known as the Thurns. The Thurns control the power of a mysterious energy source known as the ninth ray.

Summary

On Mars, or  Barsoom, there is a war going on. The mobile city of Zodanga is at war with the city of Helium. The Thurns have taken the side of Zodanga and their king, Sab Than. This has given the power of the Ninth Ray, which makes Zodanga near unstoppable. To halt the onslaught of Zodanga, the general of Helium has agreed to marry off his daughter, Princess Dejah Thoris, to Sab Than. Meanwhile on Earth, John Carter is a treasure hunter, looking for a cave of gold. While looking, he comes across a Thurn and is accidentally transported to Mars. Carter discovers that while on Mars, he is much stronger than others on Mars, able to punch harder and jump higher. Carter soon gets himself into the center of the Martian conflict, trying to save Dejah from the marriage and save Helium from destruction.

Characters

John Carter

John Carter is an interesting character. At the beginning of the movie, he is a treasure hunter, not wanting to get involved with the conflicts of others, namely between the United States and the Apache. John Carter develops well, changing from an indifferent man, looking out for his own good, into a man who cares enough to try to save the princess and Helium. This movie does a good job at developing its main character.

Dejah Thoris

Dejah Thoris is the princess of Helium. She is smart and comes close to discovering the power of the ninth ray, and would have if not for Thurn sabotage. She is a less interesting character, whose motives include not getting married to Sab Than, discovering the mysteries of the ninth ray, and saving Helium from destruction.

Tars Tarkas

Tars Tarkas is the leader of the Tharks, a once-great power of Mars. Tarkas is more interesting than he looks at first glance. He is the one who spares John Carter's life multiple times within the movie. He sees something in Carter that other Tharks do not. He sees Carter as a symbol of change. He hopes for change within his traditional tribal culture and change so that the Tharks can once more become a great nation.

Sola

Sola is the daughter of Tars Tarkas. She is shamed for messing up and making mistakes many times. She has led to so many mistakes that she has to run away from the Thark tribe with Carter and Dejah to avoid death.

Matai Shang

Matai Shang is the leader of the Thurns, who are the controllers of the Ninth Ray and the so-called messengers of the great Goddess. The job of Shang is to make sure that the Ninth ray is not discovered where the Thurns do not want it to be and that it stays as a mysterious force to be feared. To do this, the Thurns give the Ninth Ray only to arrogant warlords who would only use the Ray for destruction.

Sab Than

Sab Than is the arrogant warlord referred to in the above section of the article.

Conclusion

John Carter was, overall, a very good movie. It was interesting and I enjoyed it. It would probably have kept my mom awake in a movie theatre, which is saying a lot. I think that the problem that John Carter had in the box office was that it had too small of a fan base and too small of an advertising scheme to get people interested in the movie. Nine stars out of eleven.

Brain Spill Movie Review #1

Brave

Setting

Brave takes place in a Scottish Kingdom in medieval times. Stories in the movie tell of a kingdom ruled by four brothers until one brother tried to control too much power and turned against the other brothers, taking all the power for himself. In the movie, the land is ruled by four clans: the king's clan along with the clans Macintosh, Macguffin, and Dingwall.

Summary

Merida, the daughter of the king, loves to ride her horse and do archery. Her mother, Elinor, and father, Furgus, (but mainly her mother) have planned for her to be betrothed to one of the three firstborn sons of the three clans. Merida does not want this, and when the time comes, she shoots for her own hand, being the firstborn of King Furgus. In anger, Merida cuts down a tapestry her mother had worked on for a long time. Elinor then throws Merida's bow into the fire. Merida runs of into the woods and finds a witch, who she pays to change her mother. Merida gives a fruit tart given to her by the witch to her mother, who promptly turns into a bear. The story is about how Merida tries to turn her mother back into a human.

Characters

Merida

Merida is the main character of the story, the princess of the kingdom. She likes archery and horseback riding. She also is completly against getting married. Pixar makes a point of making Merida seem prideful in the beginning, especially when it come to her mother. Merida blames her mother for everything revolving around the unwanted betrothal to one of the sons of the clan leaders. Merida really wants to be free.

Elinor

Elinor is the Queen of the kingdom and has set up the whole betrothal, which is not surprising, given that she basically runs the country for her husband, Furgus. Everybody seems to listen to her, except for Merida. This really bugs her. She, at the beginning of the movie, shows the attitude of an overbearing mother. This overbearing-ness along with Merida's pride are what drives the plot forward in the story. The two attitudes continually clash.

Furgus 

Furgus is the king of the whole kingdom, though his wife basically runs the kingdom for him. He is a strong king, but is missing a leg due to an encounter with a bear. He is an interestingly stupid character with little change throughout the story. He has trouble keeping the clans from fighting with one another and with him.

The Triplet Brothers

The Brothers are not at all main characters and probably have no voice parts in the entire movie, but they do play a main role in getting people stuff. They help get Elinor out of the castle after she turns into a bear. The brothers also get the key from Maudie after Merida gets locked in the bedroom. They're mainly just in the movie, though, to add some comedy to the movie.

Lords Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall

The Lords are important because they add a sense of urgency to the betrothal and marriage of Merida. The Lords are the loose connections that the King has with the clans. The three sons of these three lords are the possible suitors, and Merida's fight for her own freedom puts the Kingdom on the verge of civil war. These lords provide an urgency to the plot.

Conclusion

The movie is very good, with a good plot, but has trouble mixing humor and seriousness. I believe that this movie is beginning of a new chapter for PIXAR. All of the other movies of PIXAR are comedic, while this movie has a much more serious plot. Though it is not the best PIXAR movie, it was very good. I give it 8 out of 11 penguins.