Film Review:JOHN WICK CHAPTER 2

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

john_wick_chapter_2Director: Chad Stahelski
Writers: Derek Kolstad, Derek Kolstad (based on characters created by)
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane

Review by Gilbert Seah

The second in the series of John Wick films is in fact a continuation of the first JOHN WICK film, with the same director and star Keanu Reeves as the hit-man John Wick.

When the first film was left, Wick’s prized Mustang got stolen and his dog killed by the son of a Russian mobster. In an extended car chase and fight sequence when CHAPTER 2 begins, the audience sees the mobster grunt in disbelief to see his shop and all his men, one after another, demolished by Wick as he comes hunting for his car. The comedy is black and funny enough with sufficient violent action fight choreography to satisfy the action fans. Director Chad Stahelski knows how to stage fights, him being Reeves’ stunt double in THE MATRIX films.

CHAPTER TWO runs at full-throttle for over two hours with a minimum plot The premise involves legendary hit-man John Wick forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome, where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers. Though the story obviously is inconsequential, one would have expected the filmmakers to put in a bit more effort into the story.

Keanu Reeves makes the perfect anti-hero John Wick, shown with face bruises more than half the time. It is worthy of his character in BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE that brought him to fame. CHAPTER TWO sees more well-known actors lending a hand to make the film more exciting. COMMON plays Cassian, the head of security of a female crime boss who gives Wick a good fight for his money. Laurence Fishburne plays The Bowery King, a ruthless crime boss and Italian star Riccardo Scamarcio plays Santino, an assassin while Ian McShane reposes his role as the head of hotel, where no killings re tolerated.

The first JOHN WICK film had lots of fresh ideas whereas CHAPTER TWO rides on the first success, adding no new inventive surprises. In the first the hotel where truce must be obeyed is again reprised with Wick and the security played by Common forced to have a drink there. In the first film, there is a very sexy fight between a lady assassin in black and Wick. In CHAPTER TWO, there is a fight between Wick and a girl, this time in white, Ares (Ruby Ros) but the fight scene can nowhere be even described as sexy. Rose looks incredibly unsexy, when she dies with her huge eyes bulging. CHAPTER TWO also contains lots of repetitions. The joke of Wick and the security head fighting and rolling down the steps is repeated not once, but twice in the same sequence. Wick’s affinity to his dog, a black pitbull is also repeatedly drummed into the audience’s heads.

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 2 has lost its spark. Running at a length of over 2 hours does not help matters either. The case of more and louder in this sequel leads to boredom and a headache.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/user/eOnefilms

 

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Film Review: THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

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lego_batman_movie.jpgDirector: Chris McKay
Writers: Seth Grahame-Smith (screenplay), Chris McKenna (screenplay)
Stars: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
The LEGO BATMAN MOVIE screening was preceded by the trailer for the next LEGO project entitled THE LEGO NINJA MOVIE, which looks even more hectic from this one.
The simplistic story of LEGO BATMAN could do with a few plot twists. Batman (Will Arnett) goes on a personal journey to find himself and learn the importance of teamwork and friendship in the hopes of saving Gotham City from a hostile takeover set by The Joker (Zach Galifianakis).

The film is relatively free of violence and foul language (though BATMAN does quip: “I like fighting around…”), making it suitable for children’s viewing. But there might be too much activity taking place at any one time on the screen. The best target audience suitable would be the video game generation, whose minds can decipher multiple happenings on screen.

The film gives affectionate nods to the first LEGO MOVIE. There is a nod to the ‘Everything Is Awesome’ hit song and a quip about Master builders. Gotham City is also built like Lego Construction. The Joker’s explosion will break the connection of the city’s construction just as if the city was built on Lego blocks. Chris McKay (ROBOT CHICKEN TV film/series) takes over the directing reins from Chris Lord and Christopher Miller who serve as producers of this film. Lord and Miller directed as well as wrote THE LEGO MOVIE. THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE is credited with no less than 5 writers (Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Eric Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington) with less effective results – a case of maximum effort, minimum results, instead of the other way around.

THE LEGO BATMAN is too repetitious and manic for its own good. The message of Bateman/Bruce Wayne needing a family and lacking the ability of appreciating a relationship is drummed into the audience’s head much too often. From the framed photographs in Batman’s bat cave room to the dialogue – enough is enough of the message. The film contains too many scenes in which too many things occur so that it is hard to figure out what is going on. Lego-shaped blocks fly across at the screen too fast to see and words are spewed out to fast to hear. In Wikipedia, director McKay got into filmmaking cited Hitchcock as his film influence. Hitchcock always had ‘breathers’ in his films, when nothing really happens, just for the purpose of the audience to take a break.

THE LEGO MOVIE was inspired, fresh full of ideas and funny as hell. THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE should take lessons from the first movie. Too much, louder and faster never really works. THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE turns boring quite fast despite so much happening on screen at any instant. It is a question of quality vs. quantity.
McKay is fond of parodying classic films like the STAR WARS films and THE LEGO MOVIE.

Will Arnett’s BATMAN low key voice occasionally sounds like President Donald Trump – and even more so in one segment when he says: “I don’t pay taxes.” But these inspired hilarious laugh-out moments are too few and far between. But what can I say? I am only an over-rated film critic.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGQUKzSDhrg

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Film Review: 2017 Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts

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Just in time for the Academy Awards ceremonies at the end of February, there will be screenings of 3 programs of short featurettes – short features, animated shorts and short documentaries.  These run from February the 10th  and make a welcome change from feature films.  These are the budding filmmakers who might make it big one day in Hollywood.

The total running time of this animated shorts program is 86 minutes.  The program runs for Feb 10th to the 16th at different times each day at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

For complete showtimes, click on the link below:

http://www.tiff.net/events/oscar-shorts-animation

Capsule Reviews of each animated short areme0w! outlined below:-

BLIND VAYSHA (Canada 2016) ***

Directed by Theodore Ushsev

Canada’s National Film Board’s (NFB) BLIND VAYSHA has the strangest animation of all the nominees.  Done like eerie paintings, the tale centres on poor BLIND VAYSHA who was born with a green and a brown eye.  The left eye sees the past, the right the future, so she is blind for not being able to see the present.  It is an eerie story, with appropriate weird animation and colours.  It is based on a short story so I would think the animation likely flowed the illustrations of the story.

BORROWED TIME (USA 2015) ***

Directed by Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadji

A sheriff returns to the cliff, the scene of a past accident where he reminisces a past tragedy which is shown in flashback.  This animated short stands out for its attention to details (the finger movements, the puffed up flesh brow the eyes) and the music by Gustave Sabtiallaly.  The short is also exciting enough with the sheriff trying to save, one assumes is his father.

PEARL (USA 2016) ***

Directed by Patric Osborne

A feel good musical with catchy country and western songs sees a girl (the PEARL of the title is not her name but the name of the car she and her father call home) chasing her dream to make it big in the music world.  Lyrics like ‘unbroken love carried inside’ and ‘no wrong way home’  make the songs memorable.  This she does with her band as they drive off in the sunset.  It takes a bit to figure out what it happening on screen – which tends to be a bit confusing.  Still, this is an entertaining short, memorable for its music and lightness.

PIPER (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Alan Barillaro

PIPER is the new animated short form Pixar Studios.  As expected, this short is the best in terms of animated quality, and one wonders if the Academy will give a chacne fto the other nominees.  This is a funny cute tale of a sandpiper nestling, who be ventures out from her nest, edged on by her mother, to look for food like cockles.  But the nestling is scared of the incoming wave, the first of which ruffles all her baby furry feathers.  It is cutesy fun, typical of Disney with a few laugh out laughs.

PEAR BRANDY AND CIGARETTES (UK/Canada 2016) ****
Directed by Robert Valley

Told in voiceover in the first person, the narrator has been commissioned by his friend’s father to 1) to get his son, Techno Stypes to stop drinking and have a liver transplant and 2) bring from China to Vancouver.  It is no easy task as Techno has no qualms in changing his ways.  As the story implies, this is one animate short that is full of swering, full-busted women and swearing.  The drawings are done like the Dick tardy style comic strip with lanky figures often in dark background.  Director Valley does not compromise his characters by making them likeable.  An original piece and the longest running nominated short at 36 minutes.  A sad and beautiful piece, this one gets my vote for Best Animated Short.  The credits give thanks to Techno’s parents – so this might be a true story of friendship.   This short will be played last in the program, so that children can be ushered out of the auditorium owing to the short’s content.

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LAND OF MINE (Under Sandet)(Denmark/Germany 2015) *****Top 10

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land_of_mineDirector: Martin Zandvliet
Writer: Martin Zandvliet
Stars: Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman

Review by Gilbert Seah

The Danish entry for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, LAND OF MINE is a film where hate dominates, but a film in which a hidden story needs to be told. It is a film that took a while to reach screens in Toronto, having premiered two years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is a difficult film to watch, but an essential one. I have seen the film three times and is my favourite choice for the Winner for Best Foreign Film after TONI ERDMANN.

The film begins with the title, May 1945, five years after the German Occupation in Denmark. A Dane sergeant, Carl Rasmussen (Roland Møller) is driving along the road while German troops are evacuating. He sights a German stealing a Danish flag and lets him have it. “You are not welcome here,” he screams. This same sergeant is responsible for 14 young German POWs with no prior training, given the dangerous task of dismantling the land mines left on the west coast of Denmark.

Based on a true but previously hidden story, Martin Zandvliet’s LAND OF MINE is a tension-filled drama about Denmark’s darkest hour when a group of German POWs – most of them young boys – were sacrificed in the aftermath of WWII. With minimal training, they must remove 45,000 land mines from the local beach, among 2.2 million that the Nazis planted along the western coast. The POWs are just boys, recruited late in the war as older able-bodied men were dwindling.

The German boys dream of going home, to get a girl, to eat decent German food. But danger lurks every second, as they can be blown up by a land mine, if they let their guard down for even a second. There are 6 blow ups in the film, but director Zandvliet is smart enough to let them occur when least expected. So be forewarned that you will be jumping out of your seat in fright too often for comfort. On my third viewing, I still jumped up twice.

Despite the prevailing hatred for the Germans by the Danes, the German boys survive – for their innocence, their youth and the triumph of the human spirit. They even save a little Danish girl who ventures on to the mined beach despite them being mistreated by the mother. Among those playing the POWs are Emil and Oskar Belton (as identical twins), Louis Hofmann (as the group’s natural leader) and Joel Basman (as a cynic who would have liked to be leader).

This is one film that will bring tears to ones eyes. It is moving film about forgiveness, tolerance, racism and finally about doing what is right. The sergeant hates the Germans, mistreats the German boys under his command initially. After seeing them blown up by the mines, mistreated by the other Danes and mostly seeing them innocent as young boys caught in a world beyond their control, even though they are German, Rasmussen finally decide to side with the boys.

I watched an interview on director Zandvliet on TV two years ago. He says that his film is based on a story that has to be told. He also expressed his concern for the Syrian refugees and how governments should be more sympathetic to let these refugees in. This is one man who is dedicated for doing right for the human race. His awesome film LAND OF MINE demonstrates his conviction. I highly recommend this film, a great watch even after a third viewing.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GafFkkl0xt0

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Film Review: OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS – LIVE ACTION

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OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS – LIVE ACTION

Just in time for the Academy Awards ceremonies at the end of February, there will be screenings of 2 programs of short featurettes – live action and animated shorts.  These run from February the 10th  and make a welcome change from feature films.  These are the budding filmmakers who might make it big one day in Hollywood.

The total running time of this animated shorts program is 130 minutes.  The program runs for Feb 10th to the 16th at different times each day at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.  The Live Action program is the most international of all the programs.

For complete showtimes, click on the link below:

http://www.tiff.net/events/oscar-shorts-animation

Capsule Reviews of each live action short are outlined below:-

ENNEMIS INTERIEURS (France 2015) **

Directed by Selim Aazzazi

An interview at a local police station turns into an inquisition during which a French-Algerian born man sees himself accused of protecting the identities of possible terrorists.  This close-up of France’s troubled history with its former colonies has one man controlling the fate of another with the stroke of a pen during a turbulent period in the 1990s.  The film is basically  two handler with the two men arguing with each other.  The film is clearly biased towards the Algerian, even though the narrative does not stay in one direction.

LA FEMME ET LE TGV (Switzerland 2016) ****

Directed by Timo von Gunten

This French short from Switzerland tells the tale of elderly woman, Elise Lafontaine and the Le Grand Trains Vitesse (GTV), the high speed train.  Her daily routine is to wave the Swiss glad every morning and evening the train passes her house by the tracks.  She leads a humdrum life cycling to work in her barry store in the town of Monbijou.  Things take a turn when she starts exchanging notes with the driver daily.  I want to live life again, she tells her son who thinks she should be in a home.  This is a very charming and beautiful film based on true events about hope and living.  Elise is wonderfully portrayed by veteran French actress Jane Birkin.  

SILENT NIGHTS (Denmark 2016) ***
Directed by Aske Bang

What is remarkable about this 30 minute short is the amount of material in the story that should easily fill a full-length feature.  The story follows Inger, a Danish single woman who volunteers at a homeless shelter.  She meets, pities and falls in love with an illegal immigrant from Ghana, Kwame who hides the fact that he has a family back home.  Ing has a mother who is old and eventually passes away.  SILENT NIGHTS is set during Christmas and shows how human decency prevails.  A touching and moving short, well acted and directed.

SING (Hungary 2015) ****
Directed by Kristof Deak

SING is my pick for the Best Live Action Short.  The entire project is a metaphor for the prejudice present in the modern adult world.  And the children in this choir show the audience how to deal with the problem.  Zsofi is struggling to fit in at her new school and singing in the school’s famous choir is her only consolation.    However the choir director may not be the inspirational teacher everyone thinks she is.  Zsofi is told her singing is not good enough.  She is told to mime during the performances.  Zsofi and her new friend Liza work to uncover the cruel truth and set things right.  Brilliant and wonderfully executed!

TIMECODE (Spain 2016) ***
Directed by Juanjo Gimemez Pena

This Cannes short Palme d;Or Winner tells the story of two parking security guards Diego and Luna.  Diego works the night while Luna the day shift.  They communicate through the video surveillance recordings at the timecode each of them leaves at the end of their shifts.  Irrelevant, comical and utterly charming, this is also Spanish dance at it most original.  Do not try to logically analyze the narrative, the trick is to just enjoy the its flow.

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Film Review: A MAN CALLED OVE (Sweden 2015) ****

a_man_called_ove.jpgDirector: Hannes Holm

Writers: Hannes Holm (screenplay), Fredrik Backman (novel)

Stars: Rolf Lassgård, Bahar Pars, Filip Berg

Review by Gilbert Seah

Nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and Make-up & Hairstyling, A MAN CALLED OVE stands to compete with the big guys like the favourites THE SALESMAN, TONI ERDMANN and THE LAND OF MINE but the film has already been a hit in the U.S. when it opened last September as well as in its native country Sweden. The film is a dark horse but it might just be the winner as the Academy is made up of older voters and this film about an old retied widower is just the type of film that suits the voters.

Based on Fredrik Backman’s beloved novel (a 3.8 million bestseller), A MAN CALLED OVE tells the story of Ove (Rolf Lassgård from Downsizing, The Hunters, After the Wedding), a retired widower and a curmudgeon who keeps a critical eye on his neighbours and their goings on. He is all but given up on the world, until Parvaneh (Bahar Pars) and her family moves in across the street and an unexpected friendship emerges.

When the film opens, Ove is shown as an old grump. Films about old codgers have always been a favourite subject for filmmakers with films like GRUMPY OLD MEN (Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon) and the recent Scandinavian entry by Dome Karukoski called THE GRUMP. Like the grump in THE GRUMP, Ove is angry at all around him, but director Holm (Adam & Eva, Behind Blue Skies) ensures that he is a likeable character.

Ove (young Ove played by Filip Berg) is shown pining over his late wife (Ida Engyoll). He smells her clothes and visits her grave at least once a day bringing flowers. Who cannot like such a devoted husband? But Ove wants to end it all, as he sees no purpose in living. So, he attempts various ways of doing himself in including hanging himself in the middle of the living room, often with no success. During the time, when he is in ‘limbo’, his brain races to recall past memories. Director Holm uses this time to flashback and reveal to the audience the early life of Ove – from the loss of both parents to finding the love of his life. The film also plays as a romance. The dinner date scene and the marriage proposal scenes are both very romantic. Though more than half he film is in flashback, the transition from current to flashback is carried out very smoothly.

Holm’s film is not one with special effects or stunning cinematography. The cinematography by Göran Hallberg is still impressive with him giving the film a hazy romantic atmosphere. It is a film about human beings. It is good that Holm trusts the source material and the charm of the book rubs off the film nicely.

The film is immediately likeable for it will make the audience both laugh and cry at Ove’s undertakings. One can also relate with the main character – whether it him being a loner, a romantic or a senior or a misunderstood man.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMZuic0dG1w
 

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Film Review: 2BR02B: TO BE OR NAUGHT TO BE (2017)

Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

  MOVIE POSTER2BR02B: TO BE OR NAUGHT TO BE, 18min, Canada, Sci-Fi/Fan Fiction
Directed by Marco Checa Garcia

Based on the short story “2 B R 0 2 B” by Kurt Vonnegut. Set in a dystopian future where population is strictly controlled, a Father waits for his children to be born. In a deserted hospital waiting room, one man must ask himself exactly what he is willing to do, to give his children a chance at life, any life at all.

Review by Kierston Drier

 A short story by Kurt Vonnegut turned short film by director Marco Checa Garcia, 2BRO2B: To Be Or Naught To Be is a beautifully balanced, heart wrenching and well composed piece of cinema. To open, anyone who has read the original by Vonnegut will be delighted by the amount of literary detail that the filmmaker attempts to keep in the cinematic adaptation.
Set in the dystopian future, where death is rare and birth strictly controlled with rigid population regulations, a young man must choose which one of his three new triplets will live just after their birth. To add extra tension, the birth of this new child will be accompanied by the requirement to take his own grandfather to an early grave. Distraught and emotionally unwell, our hero must dissect the cause of this turmoil by unraveling its’ necessity with one of his society’s founders. This seemingly perfect world so strictly controlled is thrown into chaos when our hero attempts to kill the antagonist- making one more space available for another one his children to be able to live. With elements similar to Children of Men, and The Giver, this is film that does not allow you to watch it passively. It demands to be engaged with.

2BRO2B: To Be Or Naught To Be is one of those rare gems of short cinema that will set your philosophical mind in motion, make you question the nature of choice, freedom and safety, spellbind you with its’ cinematic beauty, all while bringing you to your emotional knees. There is true craftsmanship in this piece. There is a level of polish and richness that any lover of science fiction and literature will appreciate and admire. Bravo Marco Checa Garcia, Bravo.

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Film Review: QUESTIONS (2017)

Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

  MOVIE POSTERQUESTIONS, 6min, USA, Fan Fiction/Action
Directed by Zack Russell Bartlett

Based on “Question” DC Comics. Two faceless vigilantes search for answers as they take on a dangerous criminal.

Review by Kierston Drier

QUESTIONS is a unique fan-fiction, as it is based on a DC comic that has yet to be turned into a movie. This allows a considerable amount of directorial freedom, while still providing a rich world on which to draw from to establish characters, setting and tone. Thick with Noir elements, director Zack Russell Bartlett brings us a hard-boiled detective with a quick wit, and his tough female accomplish within a vigilante crime case. The unique element here? Our detective and his partner have no faces. At least, faces with no discernible eyes, noses or mouths.

A fascinating opening to a crime-fighting duo. A faceless hero gives a sense of the unknowable to our heroes. Philosophically speaking, this can be considered an asset, as many DC comics’ heroes have an unknowable or other-worldly quality. From a cinematic view, a special nod must be given to both the director and the actors, for being able to so clearly indicate their emotional motives without the ability to show facial expressions. Even with this hinderance, our characters’ feelings and struggles are clear.

An interesting piece with action, comedy and clarity, QUESTIONS will make you want to read to comics, and want to see these characters on the big screen.

 
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Film Review: ARKHAM’S JOURNAL (2017)

Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

  MOVIE POSTERARKHAM’S JOURNAL, 7min, Canada, Fan Fiction/Mystery
Directed by Matthew P.H Rea

Based on “Batman” DC Comics. Filmed in and around Toronto, this short proof-of-concept film provides a small insight into the untold stories of Gotham’s darkest hour. With the timeline loosely based around the batman comic, “Knightfall”, Arkham’s Journal is told through the words of Dr. Arkham’s Journal, detailing the lives of all the Arkham Asylum patients.

Review by Kierston Drier

Director Matthew P.H Rea uses ARKHAM’S JOURNAL to explore the the question “where does evil come from?” in the DC Batman Comics. Told through doctors’ notes, this piece walks through the lives and backgrounds of those residing in the Arkham Asylum.

This vibrant short doesn’t give us the whole story, and this may be one of its’ stronger points. Instead of spelling out the complete and total backstory of each villain, it shows just enough to spike our emotional centres- our fear, our intrigue, our disgust and our sympathy.

Evocative and beautiful, with strong gothic visuals and the dramatic density that rings true to the series tone and makes the franchise proud, ARKHAM’S JOURNAL brings us right to the brink of wanting to know what comes next. A strong, engaging and visually riveting piece, that stands alone while still fitting within a rich and elaborate world.
 
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Film Review: Star Wars “Revengant” (2017)

Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

REVENGANT, 7min. Germany, Fan Fiction/Sci-Fi
Directed by Ferdinand Koerner

KYLO REN is on the HUNT for a ancient SITH HOLOCRON that the Resistance gathered on the planet DAHENDOR in the Outer Rim. Will KANE ALTIS be able to rescue himself before the HOLOCRON is found by KYLO REN and his REVENGANT?

Review by Kierston Drier

Anyone creating Fan Fiction has put forth a challenge. While they may have landed in a fertile story and rich universe, they must also live up to the expectations of the audience, and must seamlessly carry on the pre-established world. Enter REVENGANT a seven minute German Star Wars Fan Fic from Ferdinand Koerner.

In Koerner’s piece, Kylo Ren is hunting on the Outer Rim’s planet of Dahendor for Sith Holocron. Full of action and special effects, our hero’s engage in an epic chase/fight sequence deep in the heart of the forest. As a film goes, these filmmakers show everything they can with their special effects, no easy feat for a cinematic team recreating the iconic franchise.

Hats off to the epic challenges that come with recreating a story in such a rich and well-loved world. And as for plot, there is a short and punchy story that leaves us wondering what our hero’s will do now. You’ll have to watch and see, but the good guys don’t always win.

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