Directed by	Pierre Coffin Kyle Balda
Produced by	Chris Meledandri Janet Healy
Written by	Brian Lynch
Starring	Pierre Coffin Sandra Bullock Jon Hamm Michael Keaton Allison Janney Steve Coogan
Narrated by	Geoffrey Rush
Music by	Heitor Pereira
Edited by	Claire Dodgson
Production company	Illumination Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	June 11, 2015 (London premiere) June 17, 2015 (Indonesia and Australia) July 10, 2015 (United States)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Hollywood just loves spin-offs. Time and time again, there will always be a secondary character in certain films who springs out of nowhere in the most memorable fashion possible. As a result, it is no sooner than later that the production house moguls begin scrambling for funds to make a stand-alone film with that character as the central performer. That is the case with Minions. Ask anybody the first thing that crossed filmgoers’ mind when talking about Despicable Me, then the Minions would stand out, even over an all-star cast like Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Kristen Wiig.

With their rise as simply its original’s brand ambassador, the Minions spin-off project surely grants every filmgoer’s wish. Though, every wish carries potential side effects. Question lingers as to whether the titular character can still captivate filmgoers given the longer screentime.

Gorgeously animated and jollily fun, Minions might not be revered for its derivative storytelling, but it marks the titular character’s triumphant coming-of-age from mere comic relief to a surprisingly more multi-faceted lead character.

One evil master to another …

Minions takes place 42 years before Despicable Me (2010) or as the trailer put it, B.G. (Before Gru). In the main, we are introduced to the Minions (Pierre Coffin), a tribe of tiny, yellowy creatures bound to serve the greatest villains in history. As we learn throughout the first act of the film, the Minions’ loyal service falls in contrast with the fate of their masters. Their good intentions always end up with the villains’ foolish demise.

Slowly, years without any villains to serve has driven the Minions’ lives purposeless. That is until three unlikely Minion-shaped heroes in Kevin, Stuart and Bob step up to the plate as they set off on a treacherous quest across sea to find their tribe that elusive master. In a twist of fate, a series of ludicrous coincidences brings them to Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), a brilliant villainess who plans to steal Queen Elizabeth’s crown. Everything is at fine fettle before a small misunderstanding between both sides force the Minions to abandon their most sacred ideology. With the vengeance-driven Scarlet snapping at their heels, it is up to the Minions to foil her plan not only for the sake of their lives, but humanity as well.

 Minions out of Water

The main headache for writer Brian Lynch and director Pierre Coffin are to alter the Minions’ role from mere comic relief to a story driver. On the surface, it looks like a rare occasion in modern cinematic works these days that non-speaking characters are trusted to drive a story forward in a manner as spellbinding as those Chaplin-esque silent movie tropes. As is the case with spin-offs, they need to also expand Despicable Me’s universe with an intriguing back-story to match its titular character’s fun-loving presence. To that end, Minions comes out on top. Though, the narrative’s underlying theme would not be the film’s most revered quality as it seems to drift with the tide of previous greats.

An example of that can be seen from the narrative’s fish-out-of-water theme. One fact we cannot rule out is that this theme is almost every animators’ go-to weapon to reach closer towards its target audience. For a second, imagine correlating the small town kid in a big city parable with the Minions’ generally child-like personality, then incorporating them into the big city situation seems like a perfect fit in theory.

As unoriginal as the story is, it somehow makes a perfect fit when it comes into practice. Playing the hero, it is quite clear that the trio of Minion leads (Kevin, Stuart and Bob) is the personification of the fish role. A fervent Despicable Me fan might say that the trio is actually spiritual successors to Gru’s orphaned daughters (Margo, Edith and Agnes). All in all, identifying the little yellow henchmen as curiosity-driven children in the fish-out-of-water story ends up not only maintaining their comic relief role, but also add an extra layer of believability people can relate to.

 Back to the 60’s

Nine times out of ten people would judge the quality of animated films like Minions based on style. If you go deeper into the pure definition of the word “style” itself in the cinematic realm, then the first thing that comes to mind would be the eye-catching imageries. As the world goes, most of the memorable eye-catching imageries come from the living avatars in the foreground. People can be easily swayed by watching the litheness and cuteness of moving pictures come to life through something human-shaped or animal-shaped. Though, those qualities would not function well over a plain white sheet. The relevance of an equally eye-catching background to bring the level of excitement up a notch cannot be overlooked.

The same goes with the Despicable Me films. Gru and his motley crew would not gain that much cult following without the makeshift evil lair and neatly-rowed everyday suburban homes behind them. In Minions, even as the titular character moves domicile from those present time background to the Big Apple circa 1960’s, its relevance still stands. Likewise to its predecessors, Pierre Coffin’s version of the 1960’s in Minions is still a bag full of pop-culture references. Nonetheless, the 60’s inspired background does not take the edge off the film’s action-packed fun. From one action sequence (the Minions’ race-against-the-clock chase across England) to another coming at a frantic proportion, the coherent match-up of eye-catching characters and background compounds to such an exciting animation-watching experience.

 Minions & the Overkills

Without its actors/actresses seen in their physical form, it can only make the reliance on voice in animation the more important. Even if the main character’s ability to convey their emotions is restricted to just a few grunts and groans, animation has shown numerous times that the lack of speech does not stop them from being great storytellers. In 2008, Disney-Pixar manages to bring a waste-cleaning robot in Wall-E into life with only Ben Burtt’s beeps and whistles to tell the titular character’s perspective.

Pierre Coffin, the chief voice behind those cute yellow minions, has unarguably done that on a secondary character basis in the Despicable Me series. Taking the full spotlight this time around, Pierre’s gibberish-driven speech does not take away the characters’ ability to be great storytellers. On one side, non-speaking characters like Minions can only live and breathe through body language, but their sense of humor is not complete without the random gibberish as the alternative media of expression. As for the speaking characters, we don’t have to look any further than Sandra Bullock’s lively portrayal of Scarlet Overkill. Set up as the world’s first and baddest villainess, Bullock simply steals the show from the off. She gets the manic traits of a bad guy right, mingling the charming and evil sides of the role into the foxy shape of Scarlet in mesmerizing fashion.

Sadly, Bullock’s show-stopping performance does not translate well into the supporting characters. It is not as if the others have done a sloppy performance. Veterans like Michael Keaton and Alison Janney are refreshing additions to the franchise in the characters’ suburban husband and wife dress-ups as criminals Walter and Madge Nelson respectively. Also, Jon Hamm’s departure from the sleek and handsome figure of Don Draper as Scarlet’s dim-witted husband Herb is something noteworthy. Though, we can all agree they are all rather upstaged.

Conclusion

So often, spin-offs tamper what makes the secondary character stand out in those brief moments. Minions is an exception. Its step-up from secondary character to story-driving protagonist ends with technically and spiritually one of this summer’s enjoyable outings. Save for a few “oh, I’ve seen it all before” groans towards its fish-out-of-water storyline, almost every aspects of the film falls into place.

Final Score: 8/10

Let me know what you think of Minions? Have the Minions succeed in breaking out of the comic relief shell?

Directed by	Colin Trevorrow
Produced by	Frank Marshall Patrick Crowley
Screenplay by	Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver Derek Connolly Colin Trevorrow
Story by	Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver
Based on	Characters created by Michael Crichton
Starring	Chris Pratt Bryce Dallas Howard Vincent D’Onofrio Ty Simpkins Nick Robinson Omar Sy B. D. Wong Irrfan Khan Katie McGrath Jake Johnson
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Cinematography	John Schwartzman
Edited by	Kevin Stitt
Production company	Amblin Entertainment Legendary Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	June 10, 2015 (Los Angeles premiere) June 12, 2015 (United States)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$150 million

Fortunately, like the spin of a wheel, the monster movie genre has been on a revival these days. It was only a year ago when rookie Gareth Edwards picked up the rubble left by Roland Emmerich’s poor 1998 rendition of Godzilla, and in the end, the thrilling 2014 rendition was enough to restore the previously tarnished pride of Japan’s most iconic monster. Spurred on by the success of the 2014’s Godzilla, Universal finally gave the go-ahead for their own monster movie, in the form of the protracted fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise: Jurassic World. Many hoped that Jurassic World would be the genuine spiritual successor to the 1993’s Jurassic Park in terms of thrills and spills that were inconsistent in its previous two sequels.

At the end of the day, fourteen years had passed since Jurassic Park 3 (2001), but not much has really changed in Jurassic World. In fact, Jurassic World allows the audience to relive the iconic moments from past installments in such revamped, yet timelessly spectacular fashion that it still pack the thrills and spills the fourth time coming.

Back in Isla Nublar

Instead of being the straightforward sequel to Jurassic Park 3 (2001), Jurassic World prefers to pick its story up from where the 1993 version left off. Almost twenty two years since an unexpected dinosaur revolt forced Jurassic Park to cease operation, Isla Nublar once again becomes the host to a collection of exotic dinosaurs of various shapes and sizes, with the titular park now rebranded into Jurassic World. As much as the late John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) believed that bringing those extinct beings back into modern life was enough to amaze the crowd, the corporate minds thinks otherwise. Pressured by their desire for a money-making juggernaut, bigger and fiercer than the other dinosaurs, to boost park attendance, manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) was compelled to oversee the creation of that bigger and fiercer crossbred in the Indominus Rex.

However, little did they knew, the Indominus Rex has outgrown its initial purpose. Driven by a newfound sense of curiosity, the Rex slowly emerges as an imminent threat to the visitors. With the Indominus Rex running loose in the open, leaving trails of rampage behind, the fate of all the people within the park rests on the hands of Velociraptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to take down the new predator in town.

Greed

When Universal first optioned the film right to Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel Jurassic Park, the first thing they had to do was to transform the science-heavy source material into a motion picture heavier on popcorn fare appeal. To that end, director Steven Spielberg managed to appease the novel fans by retaining some of the scientific elements (albeit simplified) from the original, as well as add the much necessary cinematic elements to the mix, making the 1993 adaptation the widely-revered classic we now become fond of. With that in mind, the film version of Jurassic Park, like Jaws in 1975, more than just portrays the dinosaurs as a figure of thrill from its physical appearance. In building that claustrophobic atmosphere by restricting all the action within the confines of the park, it gave the original film the much-needed horror elements to rise beyond just a B-level monster movie. So, it is no surprise that one way to reinvent the Jurassic Park franchise for screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver is by bringing the dinosaur mayhem back into the titular park the fourth time coming.

Still, it was not just the dinosaurs’ presence and the park’s atmosphere which saw Jurassic Park endure the test of time. From a barely believable scenario to begin with, the audiences were bound to the film’s universal yet relatable theme: greed. While the greed theme was rather left underdeveloped in the previous two sequels, the screenwriting duo opts to revisit the original film’s theme this time around for Jurassic World, connecting all the dots based on the idea of greed and its consequences. On the surface, the natural-born feral instinct of the Indominus Rex itself should easily represent greed as being the media which consequentially drives it to turn its back against its creators. However, the theme runs deep into the human characters as well, where they try to explore how the consequence of greed compel such change in actions and perspectives from different personalities, especially when thrown into the man v. wild situation.

For that, I would like to single out two characters that embody that idea of greed in park manager Claire and the park’s head of the security Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio). At the beginning of the film, these two characters come across as similarly apathetic figures who view the dinosaurs as nothing more than materials, on a corporate and military sense respectively. However, when the going gets tough, these two characters’ responses to greed lead them to different paths. As she ventures along the park’s wilderness alongside Grady, Claire begins to sympathize with the dinosaurs left for dead by the Indominus Rex. In contrast, Hoskins only becomes much more apathetic. Hoskins’ way of treating Owen’s raptors as military weapons would result in his downfall.

Fortunately, director Colin Trevorrow manages to convey such thought-provoking theme like greed so dominant in Jaffa/Silver’s treatment loudly and clearly without damaging its prospect as the popcorn fare of the summer. Considering how the narrative contains a plethora of characters, it is also an exceptional collective effort from the director and screenwriters to be able to develop them into more than just one-dimensional figures. While set up as a fast, action-driven narrative, it would be hard not to let out a bit of chuckle by moments of breather such as Jake Johnson’s notable cameo as the nerdy park employee Lowery.

The Dinosaurs are coming …

Greed theme aside, it is undeniable that Jurassic Park’s main appeal after all remains on the dinosaurs themselves. To begin with, special effect designer Stan Winston was given perhaps the most difficult task in 1993 when he had to revive these prehistoric beings into cinematic life. Thankfully, Winston rose to the occasion. With silver screen magic comprised of life-like animatronics and a bit of special effect touch-up, the dinosaurs’ appearances and movements compound to such spectacular view deserving of its status as Hollywood’s greatest cinematic icons. Even when the seven years had passed since Winston’s death, the late designer’s Midas touch was still spiritually felt in the shape of its dinosaurs. As breathtaking sequences such as herbivorous dinosaurs like Stegosaurus smoothly lumbering across the park’s open field or carnivorous ones like the Indominus Rex, Raptors and the winged Pterodactyls wrestling against each other and wreaking havoc on the facilities unravel in front of our very eyes in Jurassic World, the familiarity of such scenes would only serve as a belated yet worthy ode to Winston’s fundamental contribution in making all the magic happen in the first place.

As a result, it was to no surprise that the Winston-inspired dinosaurs became the personification of all the thrills and spills expected in the Jurassic Park films. Though, this time around, Trevorrow tries to breaks out from the shell of making Jurassic World just dinosaur pageantry. While the dinosaur onslaught is still a thrill to watch, some of the actors/actresses are also in the mix of some of the coolest moments in Jurassic World. From having to see Claire’s character fleeing from the chasing packs of dinosaurs on heels throughout the film to the picturesque moment of Owen Grady straddling an ATV while herding his Raptors forward, these are just the moments needed to make the human characters similarly fun action figures to watch like the dinosaurs.

Raptor trainer Star-Lord

In a film as CGI heavy as Jurassic World, it is almost every actors’ and actresses’ challenge to stand out amidst the presence of its computerized counterparts, in this case being the dinosaurs. Perhaps, the lead actors from the previous Jurassic Park films in Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum have been the rare exceptions with iconic brainy characters such as Dr. Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm respectively. In no means of going overboard, but Chris Pratt could just join that very rank of rare exceptions in his role as Raptor trainer Owen Grady.

On the surface, the rugged figure of Owen Grady represents a change of trend in the Jurassic Park franchise, where the brainy, scientist-type characters now gives way to the brawny, military-type ones. Though, on one side, the remainder of Dr. Grant’s or Ian’s traits is still plain to see. At least, it comes from Owen’s cynical attitude towards anything corporate-driven. Still, to the eyes of the modern moviegoers, it is undeniable that Owen Grady comes across as a crude reflection of Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord persona from the Guardians of Galaxy. A muscle-bound, professional Raptor trainer yet still not short of that easygoingness and sense of humor, Owen Grady is not only next in line as cinema’s instantly likeable character, but also marks Chris Pratt’s startling rise from comedian to action hero. Add to that, Bryce Dallas Howard’s portrayal as park manager Claire is another bright point. Providing the foil to Grady’s easygoing nature, Bryce has all the tools required to bring the uptight, workaholic Claire into life, carrying the character to a good stead as she transitions from typical damsel-in-distress to tough heroine.

Whilst the supporting cast’ appearances are at best brief, they also deliver some solid performances. On Vincent D’Onofrio’s case, his role as park security Hoskins is far from the sort of baleful presence which makes Wilson Fisk a thorn in Daredevil’s back, but the slimy personality D’Onofrio brings to the table only adds to his personal collection of great villainous roles. That extends to even the juniors like Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins. While the two characters as brothers with a rather dysfunctional relationship feel like a carbon copy to those of Hammond’s grandchildren Tim and Alex Murphy in the 1993 version, their chemistry is still believable in its own way. When the action takes a breather for the emotional scenes, their characters really break out from the pack.

Conclusion

The fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise has been a long wait. Based on the special effect galore, the long wait pays off in the end. Whilst far from the heights of the original, Jurassic World succeeds in bringing the classic franchise back into modern life without casting away key elements which made the original iconic. While the dinosaurs and the stellar cast are the stars of the show, the return of Isla Nublar as the home of the Jurassic Park is the real star as the thrills and spills inconsistent in the previous two sequels comes back with a bang. Really, all the terror which happened in Isla Nublar should only stay there.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Directed by	Francis Lawrence
Produced by	Nina Jacobson Jon Kilik
Screenplay by	Danny Strong Peter Craig
Based on	Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Starring	Jennifer Lawrence Josh Hutcherson Liam Hemsworth Woody Harrelson Elizabeth Banks Julianne Moore Philip Seymour Hoffman Jeffrey Wright Stanley Tucci Donald Sutherland
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Jo Willems
Edited by	Alan Edward Bell Mark Yoshikawa
Production company	Lionsgate Color Force
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release dates	November 21, 2014 (US)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$250 million

The early 2000’s was about the wizards of Harry Potter, the late 2000’s was about vampires in Twilight and the early 2010’s is the butt-kicker female archer of the Hunger Games. And treading the path of its predecessors in splitting the final book in halves, the first half of Mockingjay, well, is high in its dramatic moments but somehow just short in a cacophonous scale. Still, the always flawless Jennifer Lawrence further usurps herself like none other into Katniss Everdeen emotionally and dynamically, to stems herself as one, if not, the best all-round versatile actress out there.

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Directed by	Don Hall Chris Williams
Produced by	Roy Conli John Lasseter
Screenplay by	Robert L. Baird Dan Gerson Jordan Roberts
Based on	Big Hero 6 by Man of Action
Starring	Scott Adsit Ryan Potter Daniel Henney T. J. Miller Jamie Chung Damon Wayans, Jr. Génesis Rodríguez
Music by	Henry Jackman
Cinematography	Julio Macat
Edited by	Tim Mertens
Production company	Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates	November 7, 2014 (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$165 million
Box office	$98,643,891 (still ongoing)

The million dollar question pretty much is: “how do you top off the gargantuan heights that came from Frozen a year ago?” Disney’s victorious response to that is by joining forces with another of the equivalently flourishing brand in the comic book powerhouse Marvel with Big Hero 6. In Marvel’s maiden venture into the animated realms, Big Hero 6 is, in the end, a suitable mix to shepherd in the two big fanbases, one who yearns for the fast, furious and action-packed superhero elements of Marvel and the other the ever comical and heartwarming lore as well as the cute characters the touch of Disney.

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As expectedly, the title holder Manchester City are perched in second, just a place behind the rampant table-topper Chelsea. However, the fact numerically is that already in the wee hours of the season, they are five points behind from the West London club. Apart from the numerical, footballing-wise arguably they still look just half the goal-pumped beast that rocked the country last season.

A lot of the inconsistencies compared to last season’s swagger strangely comes from their home form, where over the last few seasons they’ve been irresistible, unstoppable there but has wavered a bit so far this season. After two recent successful travels to Hull and Aston Villa, post-international break, they have to strive for the same target, albeit in a contrasting place.

To sum it all up, it is to make the Etihad home sweet home again for the host.

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Directed by	Josh Trank
Produced by	John Davis Bryan Burk
Screenplay by	Max Landis
Story by	Max Landis Josh Trank
Starring	Dane DeHaan Alex Russell Michael B. Jordan Michael Kelly Ashley Hinshaw
Cinematography	Matthew Jensen
Edited by	Elliot Greenberg
Production company	Davis Entertainment Company
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	February 3, 2012
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million
Box office	$126,636,097

Oddly spun then staggering towards its climax, Chronicle injects a fresher twist to the undying superhero genre, which basic concept might be unoriginal but becomes anew with its realist approach, from the camera movements, the minimalist but still impressive superhero action that enthralls the gradually-paced narrative into more than what audiences expected.

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Directed by	Franklin J. Schaffner
Produced by	Arthur P. Jacobs
Screenplay by	Michael Wilson Rod Serling
Based on	La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle
Starring	Charlton Heston Roddy McDowall Maurice Evans Kim Hunter James Whitmore James Daly Linda Harrison
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Leon Shamroy
Edited by	Hugh S. Fowler
Production company	APJAC Productions
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	February 8th, 1968
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5.8 million
Box office	$32.6 million

Originally adapted from a French novel written by Pierre Boulle in 1963, but if the brand Planet of the Apes are to be commemorated by sci-fi and film buffs up to this day this post is written, then it’s of this greatly chiseled 1968 Hollywood rendition that will long live in theirs or the many Charlton Heston’s fans heart, as the daring sci-fi hit, that explores further into the controversial buzz of a world where sovereignty roles between ape beings and human kind are reversed, discreetly posed in a cocoon of a rather light, and campy archetypal action-adventure film vein, which not only entertains visually as the large-scale blockbuster it required to be, but also delivers its vicious matter with an incisive, reflective widespread perspective. Read More

Old habits die hard. It is a saying that will ring true to people as they aged physically but mentally they are still their younger selves. It is similar with Dale, a struggling painter in a mid-life crisis, who yearned for those fraternity years when he could just be himself. His wild self. That chance to relive his young self comes in the form of his neighbor Annabelle, his old female ally and a “life of the party” myth turned reality. Only now, she’s clean, a shadow of that wild child. Dale tried to convince the once wild child to revisit that spirit which made her popular amongst the frat community. Though, little did he know, it would become the biggest regret in his and Annabelle’s life.

BEER PONG

No SAS, no bash. It is still at the early dawns of the season, but it has been crystal clear that Liverpool this season have looked like the ghost of their irresistible selves from a season ago. A record which reads winless in a 90 minute match since demolishing Spurs at North London in match-day three says a lot about the reeling after effects Brendan Rodgers suffered to adjust a revamped team plucked out of Suarez and Sturridge’s firepower.

With another disappointment coming in the form of a midweek Champions League defeat at Basel, the pressure is already boiling from the get-go for Brendan Rodgers to get any sort of victory on the board to settle the case temporarily.

Though, Alan Irvine’s West Brom side has had the happier form of the two and seemingly have recovered from an unsure start with two solid displays away to Spurs and at home dismantling Burnley. Surely, he’ll relish the chance to compound misery to Liverpool’s malaise. Mind though, it’s Anfield, the monumental talisman for Liverpool, particularly how they blown team off the roof there.

So, will it be Liverpool back on their classic attacking swagger at Anfield? Or will Alan Irvine replicate the West Brom of 2012/13 season and take another three points on their travel against the big boys?

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A male busker whose been through a lot of tough luck in his life as a New Yorker meets a prep-schooled girl in an underground subway station, where they shared their views about their definition of music. My first short play script, enjoy I guess!

MUSIC IS FROM THE HEART