Marvel's Ant-Man MOVIE REVIEW

So I just found out today that Ant-Man just topped this weekend's box office, but falls short on the estimates. I mean it's a good movie, but can you really blame people for not wanting to see a movie about a superhero named Ant-Man? Their loss though 'cause liked I said, it's a good movie.

The thing is that in every superhero movie, the titular character(s) should always own the show. Thankfully, the filmmakers found a way to make both Ant-Men, Scott Lang (present) and Hank Pym (past), pretty damn great characters to root for. It's nice to see the contrast between these two people and see them interact with one another.There's something these two that makes our extraordinary vision towards superheroes, human. 

Compared to Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Ant-Man is A LOT smaller in scale. But once the viewers are taken into the realms of our tiny superhero, the experience is other-worldly. Often times seeing movies like these in 3D felt unnecessary, but this time seeing it in 3D really adds-up to the experience. 

I also LOVE the way this movie ties into the rest of the Marvel movies. It doesn't feel forced or redundant, it felt natural and flowed perfectly at the time it needed to be addressed and it's fun to see a couple of folks from the previous films show up here on Ant-Man.

It's very unusual for the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 to end with an origin story and with that Ant-Man actually had a quite a bit few tropes that were acquired from the first Iron Man movie. I wouldn't go into details and I wouldn't say it's a bad thing because if it worked for Iron Man then it also worked for Ant-Man. 

I fear that the film will suffer the loss of its original writers Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, the former being the original director. Good thing is that it didn't really deteriorate, but the changes somewhat held back the movie. It could have been more witty, some characters could have been written better, this could have been THE definitive action-comedy experience from Marvel, but it still a fine movie. 

There's still a lot of great things about this movie. The cast is spectacular, Paul Rudd (Scott Lang) and Michael Douglas (Hank Pym) are my two favorites. There's some good humor in it and the action/adventure sequences truly are immersive, considering the scope when you really think about it. I mean it's a guy who shrink to a size of an ant and pulls off a heist, to us it looks like tiny ants trying to get tiny bits of your food, but to him it's like Die-Hard meets Guardians Of The Galaxy, even though none of those movies were heist movies but you get the point. 

Like every other Marvel movies, Ant-Man is adventurous, action-packed, comedic at times and above all else, a full fledged fun experience. It may not be a perfect movie, but this film in particular shines above its peers because it tells us that sometimes you don't have to be bigger to be better. 

(+)

Enter the world of the Ant-Man (the Microverse)

The Ant-Men

Wright-ish influences

Great cast

(-)

Wright-less Wright film

Score: A-

Marvel's Ant-Man now showing in theaters.

Jurassic World MOVIE REVIEW

Before I start my review, let me share this little story I had. 

This was the first time I went to Universal Studios Singapore, Transformers and The Mummy had my heart pounding mad, but not one of them made me shiver in joy and feel the nostalgia as I enter The Lost World: Jurassic Park section. That scene in this film were the boy is running around in excitement throughout the park in the beginning of the film and with the classic John Williams' score playing, that was me in The Lost World section in Universal Studios and I had the same nostalgic feel watching that sequence. That's how BIG the Jurassic movies had influenced me.

Some of the critics says that scene was a bit anti-climatic, but I don't care, it worked on me like BIG TIME. 

Jurassic World seemed to have divided critics , but the movie undeniably reinvigorated the fans and moviegoers' interest to the franchise. I can babble all day how the movie felt short in some departments, but I'd rather discuss first why this movie's awesome in all the right places. 

Let's be honest, the real reason you go to see a Jurassic movie is to see dinosaurs. Dinosaurs in action, dinosaurs eat dinosaurs, dinosaurs eat people, vegie-dinosaurs or however Lex (the little girl from the first film) calls them. Here in Jurassic World, you get ALL of them. From the half of the second act all the way to third act is just non-stop dino/monster mayhem that just escalates as the film progresses. 

The human characters are split, but they all have something in common. They're all cartoon characters, some are good and some are.. eh. Good thing is they got excellent actors to portray such characters. Despite the cheesy dialogues, it looks like they were having fun so I guess it's cool. 

The CGI in this movie is spectacular. We live in an age were people and movie goers are used to seeing CGI, but this is the first time this year I'm hearing people cheering in awe or screaming in terror over a bunch of CG dinosaurs. Sure the film's too reliant on it you'll kinda miss the practical effects from the previous films, but there's still some of that here too. 

The film tried to tackle as many story plots as it could, some are excellent and some just felt flat. Sure most of them are tropes, but the good ones actually hits the mark and the not-so good ones just felt generic. 

The thing is, though, with all the crazy stuff happening, you just don't care if some of things in this movie ain't that good. You're too busy geeking out on all the callbacks from the previous film, you just don't care if some of the things happening in the film are absurd or even stupid. And that soundtrack..

Despite lacking in some places, Jurassic World is undeniably a true engaging summer blockbuster flick and dare I say it, THIS IS THE BEST JURASSIC PARK SEQUEL. Screw what the critics and the nay-sayers say, this movie made my inner 8 year-old self happy and that's good enough for me. Trust, you're going to have a LOT of fun with this movie. 

(+)

DINOSAURS!!! (Clever girls)

That Monster! (the Indominus-Rex)

Them CGI

Great actors

That soundtrack

(-)

Generic archetypes and tropes

I will give Jurassic World an unbiased score, but to me that score won't matter. Jurassic World is officially my favorite 2015 movie, so far. 

Score: B 

Jurassic World now showing in theaters everywhere.

MOVIES IN ONE GO! - MAD MAX: FURY ROAD vs. PITCH PERFECT 2

Feels like forever since the last time I've done this. 

The past few months had quite a bunch of good movies to offer. but for this month, I took a week off for a full experience of rejuvenation, amusement and recreation. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I went on a vacation which limits me to only seeing two movies this month. This month I have decided to see the craziest and wildest this month has to offer; Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2.

Since I have seen both movies together at the same day and I didn't had the time to write separate reviews for each film, now would feel like the best time to unfairly compare this two movies and decide which one I liked the most. 

So going into the theaters, these are the two recommended must-see movies at my local theater. If you were a guy like me who wants to see stuff blow up, punches thrown solid and guts spilled over and you just saw these two trailers below:

If you were in my shoes, which movie you'd go see first? 

If you truly understand me, you know I went to see Fury Raod first, so let's talk about. 

At this point of time, remember that I have only seen the first Mad Max starring Mel Gibson. I was supposed to binge watch all three movies, but I didn't had the time. So hours before I go to the airport, I took this time as an opportunity to just dive in to the latest installment, leaving me slightly unprepared for the things I am about to see or feel and man... it felt great. 

The experience felt like director George Miller schooling the cast and crew of the recent Fast and Furious movies on how to make absurd, intense, electrifying without the exhausting too-much feel action set pieces. 

This film looks massive, the way that it is shot is just too glorious and too gorgeous you can see how big the scope of this thing is. The best part about it is that most of the action sequences used practical effects like the first three movies. Of course some parts were enhanced by CGI, but you'll just have that feeling in your gut that someone must have died doing this stunts and crazy stuff (which thankfully none, by the way). And no crappy shaky cams, which makes the experience even better.

The cast was great as well. Tom Hardy did a good job being Max. He wasn't trying to replicate what Mel Gibson did, but he did a fine job making this character his own. But you can definitely tell he was side tracked by a far superior supporting character, Furiosa played by Charlize Theron. 

I have very little complains about this movie, but the things I see that could turn off a first time viewer is that of the lack of dialogue in this film. The film is one big epic car-chase scene with a few brakes here and there so there's very little time for character exploration, but they surely made the most out of it. Another one is the mere fact that this movie is simply mad. So if the things you saw in the trailer are just not your thing, you'll probably won't like Fury Road. Again, this are not negatives, just the things I thought some people would not like. 

So after watching Fury Road, I set my sights on the Barden Bellas for some hardcore aca-show and I guess it was, aca-alright (?)

Short story first, I loved the songs in the first Pitch Perfect movie, but I thought the was okay, if not, boring. So going in to this one, I had a small hope inside my heart that maybe just maybe some improvements would be made.

First off, the performances, the aca-numbers are aca-exceptional. They were grand, epic and perhaps even more than those of the first movie. The movie was shot by not-so-first-time director Elizabeth Banks who is also in this movie, so you can the fiery coals in her craft that she is giving her all, all of her strength and energy are reflecting throughout this film. 

The characters are still pretty one-dimensional, but the actors (or actresses for this case) did a great job owning it. Anna Kendrick kills it as Beca, Rebel Wilson playing Fat Amy felt easy and so are the rest. There are a few side characters that stood out though. 

The entire movie is about the Barden Bellas getting their groove back after a few hiccups along the way, so we spend most of the first act of the film seeing it as a homage to the first film and that just felt redundant. Then even went to some absurd situations you question the motive behind it. Well the motive is clear, but still, why go to a boot camp? It's the journey of when they're finally getting their groove back when the film got interesting. The ending wasn't as grand as you want it to be though. 

So what do these two movies have in common? energy. High energy is what makes these two movies stand out among the rest of what this month has to offer. But i'm guessing you already figured out which movie I liked better. 

Pitch Perfect 2 was good, but felt it was child's play compared to Mad Max: Fury Road. 

Score: 

Mad Max: Fury Road - A+

Pitch Perfect 2 - B-

Marvel's Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Spoiler-Free) MOVIE REVIEW

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW 

After 2 and so years of waiting, we now have the opportunity to witness the first of many (hopefully) sequel to the massive-behemoth The Avengers (2012) and Writer/Director Joss Whedon's swan song to the franchise, Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

This Hulk-sized sequels is jam packed with action, adventure and humor that we all loved from the first film, but now with a dash of dimness with what could possibly the darkest movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2. 

Everyone and everybody just wanna know, is this movie better than The Avengers? Did it exceed all expectations? Now to answer the questions.

Realistically, Ultron failed to recapture the magic of the first film. You know? that feeling of thrill and excitement of seeing our beloved heroes on-screen side-by-side for the first time. For me, this is plainly unfair for the film. This is simply because the film isn't trying to do so. The first scene of the film is one epic action sequence with The Avengers already in the midst of action. No, this isn't the first time you saw them kicking butts, wrecking stuff and exchanging witty banters. As the how the film quotes it, Ultron simply "run with it" and you should too. The magic from the first film is now off the table, Ultron is a different kind of magic. 

In terms of entertainment value, Ultron never felt short in pleasing it's audience. There is a good amount of fight scenes that could pretty much satisfy anyone. You want Iron Man vs. Ultron? Done. Captain America vs. Ultron? Sure. Thor vs. Ultron? Why Not? These and more of it, it's there to punch its way in through your eyes and will blow your mind. 

Oh and did I say the witty banters? Yes, they never go away and they are as many as the punches each Avengers threw. Well maybe not, but you get the point. Writer and director Joss Whedon knew that he needed fire extinguishers to the heat, a tasty snack to cool off the chili and so he delivers. 

The film also took its time to focus more on the relationships and connections between each Avengers and how it contributes to the menacing scheme of the titular villain, Ultron. 

Ultron (James Spader) acted more like Tony Stark's twisted reflection than being the Pinocchio to Stark's Geppetto. It's interesting to see how these face-off each other, both physically and mentally. 

Tonally, Ultron in many ways is similar to the first film, but different on others. It's bigger, bolder, tougher, darker, but with all these changes is still very comfortable on its own skin. It's a very comic book-ish movie and most probably the most out of all the Phase 2 movies and it proudly wears it. 

Now this is where the rest of the disappointment comes from.  

The story itself isn't as solid and focused as one would say. In movies like this, it's hard to become emotionally invested to the grand scheme of things especially in the ones that you should, when they're not selling it to you very well. Why is thing here? Why is this person there? Should I ship this? There are certain elements of the story that just doesn't work simply because they're not earned  and some make you feel the movie is just dragging on and makes you say "I don't care about this" because you simply feel the need to be invested to real deal and not be distracted with this certain plot points that leads to future films, but just makes the movie clustered with more stuff. A person can only chew so much until that person unintentionally spits some of the food and drool with saliva. Plus the final act started with so much energy and power and it never stops until when it ended the whole thing just felt anti-climatic. These are some of the prominent problems or blockbuster movies particularly superhero films and this film did nothing about it, except they just roll with it. 

Between this and the first film, I like Ultron  better. Because visually it's more entertaining, plus the fact that it's bigger and meaner. But bigger and meaner isn't always better I might say. 

So if you're a person who this movie change your mind about your own personal negative thoughts about superhero flicks in general, if you wanted to see a movie that would prove Birdman wrong, there's a good chance this movie might disappoint you. But worry not die-hard and casual fans, Avengers: Age Of Ultron is fun and energetic enough to keep you entertained, thus making it a solid sequel. 

Score: B+ 

Marvel's Avengers Age Of Ultron hits theaters this April.

Batman Vs. Robin MOVIE REVIEW

Batman Vs. Robin is a direct-to-video animated film which is part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It is a direct sequel to last year's Son Of Batman. Voice actors Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allan, David McCallum and Sean Maher reprise their respective roles.

In the film, Batman and Robin continues to clash in regards to their trust issues with each other. In the midst of the struggle is the re-emergence of an old-school local criminal secret society, the Court Of Owls. Batman and Robin must then decide if they are to face the threat as a unified team or to give-in to the Court Of Owls schemes of turning the dynamic duo against one another.

Batman Vs. Robin has undeniably improved from its predecessor. The film tries to be a bit more focused on having the audience by into the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Damien Wayne, who is Batman and Robin respectively incase you didn't know, as opposed to how Son Of Batman did it, which felt it dragged on for centuries. Most of the main plot points were fleshed out just fine. Do keep in mind that the film is extremely focused on Batman and Robin so they take the lion's share of the film's attention, sorry Nightwing and Alfred fans. 

Now I don't really have any problems with the characters and how they were written, except one, Damien Wayne. I don't know, I'm just not a fan of this kid. Maybe that's why I didn't enjoy Son Of Batman that much.

The animation is still top notch, though most character designs seems a bit off. The voice actors did a great job, it's like they're aware that they're aware that they have to do better than last time and they certainly did. 

Director Jay Oliva usually hits the mark on directing animated fight scenes, which is a lot in this film. The final 20 minutes or so (I lost track) was just an endless onslaught of fight scenes and each fight scene keeps getting better than the last.

Now of course, we wouldn't call this movie Batman Vs. Robin if there wasn't any fight between Batman and Robin. Though I'm not gonna tell you who won the fight, it was still very satisfying to see. Compare to the final fight between Batman and Red Hood in Batman: Under The Red Hood, this fight is a tad bit shorter but is still packed.

While I wouldn't call this as one the finest DC Animated films, Batman Vs. Robin still did a good job at improving from its predecessor. I would say it could have been more, but at the same it could have been worse. It's a fun time for Bat-fans and a must have for any fan boy out there. 

(+)

Intense fight scenes

Better writing

Moderate entertainment value

Almost unapologetic brutal and obscene

(-)

Felt longer

Score: B

Batman Vs. Robin arrives at April 14, 2015

Run All Night MOVIE REVIEW

Big thanks to Warner Bros. Philippines for giving the chance to see this movie. 

Run All Night is an action-thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Starring Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Common and Ed Harris.

This film features your typical grim, hammered and withered-Liam Neeson that we've been seeing since Taken. Whose going through his typical guilt-driven emotional dilemma caused by his very dark past. What I'm trying to say is Liam is still playing the same role and has been going with the same thing ever since still in this movie. 

It's given that the film's going to be typical and cliched, but the golden the remains, is this movie part of Liam Neeson's list of good films or bad films? Let me elaborate.

A lot of the supporting cast didn't really stick, but still did fair. Joel Kinnaman was pretty legitimate on what he was appointed to do, which could have been really compelling, but for Joel's part there's not really much to own with a middling character. And then there's Common, does it really have to be Common? Then again, why not?

The story's pretty much what you've imagine or guessed just by reading the title. It's very simple, easy to follow, the grit was necessary. Some of the dramatic parts, well, most of the dramatic parts wasn't really as fascinating as it should, but it's not what we came for. 

We came for the action, the suspense, and more non-stop action. Nothing really ground breaking, but are definitely breath taking, thrilling and utmost entertaining. 

The practical effects are stunning, but it's the CGI that almost killed the experience. And what's with the flying camera shots? Whose idea was to put a GoPro on Superman and put him in charge on filming? There's even this one particular action scene where the camera's shaking like hell.. Was the camera man having spasms? That's just mean for whoever put the guy in charge. 

What I'm trying to say is, if you have seen movies like Taken (all of them), Non-Stop, Unknown, The Grey and such, you've probably already seen 70-80% of Run All Night. But to answer the question, yes, it's still a very entertaining movie.

(+)

Liam Neeson kicking butts

Pretty fair cast ad characters

Dark and twisted, with some sense of humor

(-)

Absurd screenplay

Lack of challenge 

Ineffective drama

Score: C

Run All Night opens at March 12 in Philippines cinemas everywhere.

Jupiter Ascending MOVIE REVIEW

Destiny, The Wachowski edition.

Jupiter Ascending is the 2015 space opera film directed by The Wachowskis siblings. It stars Mila Kunis as housekeeper/caretaker/scrubber-of-toilets Jupiter Jones and Channing Tatum as genetically-engineered ex-military Caine Wise. Here Caine informs Jupiter of her destiny that embarks them on an intergalactic journey. 

It's a good thing I came into this film knowing nothing about it. Isaw no trailer or TV spots, I just stared at the poster for like 30 seconds and try to assets what this movie is about. Turns out that plan was a good idea, because there some cool stuff that's best experienced at first sight. 

We can all agree that the siblings do know how to make a visually appealing movie. Everything looks gorgeous. It's given that the some of the CG stuff looked pretty obvious. But think of it like this, you are watching someone play a video game with a tremendous amount of frame rates at their expense, that's so high it almost looked very real. And the action scenes, definitely worth watching on IMAX. 

I remember watching a YouTube video about different YouTubers discussing the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. One of the commentator said that today's film industry were lacking of filmmakers who dares to go bold and original towards ideas, where fresh new concepts where big-budget material like Star Wars itself at its time. The Wachowskis did exactly that with Jupiter's Ascending and I'm really happy about that. 

Now you must be wondering, what's with the Destiny reference? Well like the game, it's fun play or watch someone else play it. Overall it's visually appealing and a really fun experience. But when the game tries to sell you some story, you just don't really care.

The script is where this movie goes way down to the stink hole. The film is filled of layers and layers and layers of backstory and on top of that the main story that at some point we are required to understand and care about, it's just that we can't. I can't point out the reason why, is it because the dialogues are cringe-worthy? Some of the actors looked like they're doing a chore rather than feeling the role? And the others just go way over the top?

All-in-all, Jupiter Ascending is a masterpiece in the visual department. Don't expect more outside that department and the film will become less and less enjoyable the more you think about it. 

(+)

Stunning visuals

Insane action set-pieces

Pretty hardcore film score

(-)

Dreadful dialogue

Uninteresting story

Score: C

Jupiter Ascending now in theaters

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb MOVIE REVIEW

I wished we had a museum like that, or maybe not.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is the second sequel to the Night of the Museum franchise featuring the return of actors Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan along with the late Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams and much more, with director Shawn Levy. We also see some new faces with Rebel Wilson, Dan Stevens, Ben Kingsley and much more.

Let's get straight to the point, what do I think about this movie? It really is not much. Admittedly the film started with a high energy, but somewhere in the middle or in the second act everything was just, dull and sometimes even awkward. The movie had a few scenes that warrants some solid laughs here and there, but you can't help to to notice the gap in between those scenes. It's like waiting 10 minutes or so to laugh that hard again (which isn't really hard as you think) and those gaps are just, dragging.

There were some funny moments too that we've seen in the previous films, or at least that's what I think. To be perfectly honest, I don't exactly know if I was missing something in this film by not remembering much about the previous one. All I remember about Night at the Museum 2 was Amy Adams playing a wax Amelia Earhart, a bunch of Cupids who sounds a lot like the Jonas Brothers or are they the Jonas Brothers? and not much. The first film I remember pretty well. 

There were also some moments that were meant to pull your heart strings and make you roll on the floor and cry or at least make you tear by just a bit, but here's thing. Most of those scenes were at the ending involving what could have been a really powerful farewell. Even the one with Robin Williams felt real, probably because you know what happened to him here in real life making his character's farewell felt a bit personal between him and you and I really like things like that. But after all those what-could-have-made-me-cry scenes, they have to pull off this one scene where every single one of those farewells went completely flat. I tried to look at it in a different perspective and it makes more sense than it did before, but that ain't really much. In my eyes and in my heart, those said scenes just felt powerless on me. 

The movie still had some entertaining action and comedy scenes that will satisfy both the young ones and the young at heart. Some awesome performances and some good CGI and film score. There's this one clever scene that I liked, wasn't the best, but definitely smart.  

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb had all the right elements for a finale, but not enough firepower to be really effective. 

(+)

Great performances

Tidbits of chuckle-fill scenes

Good action set pieces

Promising plot

(-)

So-so overall execution

Ineffective emotional scenes

Dull moments

Score: C+

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb now in theaters. 

Top 20 Movies of 2014

Welcome to the second and last of my most biased list of 2014. Here I'll be sharing my TOP 20 MOVIES OF 2014. They don't have to be the best nor the worst, but if I liked them, loved them or just enjoyed the hell out of them, they'll be on this list. 

If some of your favorite movie(s) are not on this list, it's probably because I've never seen them or I never really liked them.

So without further ado, here's my list..

20) Interstellar

This film could have been easily placed at the top 10, if it weren't for the less-polished story. Nevertheless, the movie had the most spectacular visuals of space in cinema this year. Director Christopher Nolan did his best to bring us to the deepest reaches of space and he didn't disappoint 

19) Big Hero 6

2014 is definitely the year Marvel ruled the cinema world. Here they've handed Disney some of their most obscure properties and together (but mostly Disney) they've have made one of the most action-packed and entertaining animated film in a long time. Marvel -1, Disney Animation - 1, it's a win-win. 

18) Guardians Of The Galaxy

Speaking of Marvel, here's a game changer to the superhero movies. Taking some old school comic book that only hardcore Marvel fans have read (plus its modern incarnation) and adapt it to the big screen. What could go wrong? Everything, it could have been a disaster, thankfully it didn't. 

17) John Wick

It's nice to see an action-packed film that's not dumb. This film defys every single action movie who gives away good story for good action. It's just nice to see Keanu Reeves back at a good entertaining action film.

16) Chef

Chef was pretty straightforward. Once the film starts it's journey into the highroad of feel-good, it never stops going upwards. Watch this with an entire buffet right in front of you and you are in heaven. 

 15) The Babadook 

To be honest, I didn't see a lot of horror movies because of it's very low standards. Thank goodness, Director Jennifer Kent decided to spit on them and show them how it's done. This is real horror, and it's not even based on a true story. 

14) The Wind Rises

Director Hayao Miyazaki never loses grace and touch, and for his last entry he decides to go out with a bang. It's everything you'd love and expect from him, simply beautiful, elegant and really REALLY moving. Plus, knowing the fact that this is his swan song makes you wanna stand up and cheer for him as soon as the credits roll. 

13) The Fault In Our Stars 

You gotta give YouTuber John Green for writing a spectacular teen novel without breaking the teen novel-cookie cutter, well maybe just a bit. What's even more spectacular is that the film perfectly captures the essence of the book. The film definitely deserved the praises it gets, unlike the other teen novel-movies out there, yuck. 

12) Edge Of Tomorrow

So it's a movie based from a manga that is based from a book, but compared every other sci-fi/action movies out there this felt more original and miles ahead more entertaining. Somewhere, Tom Cruise is doing his Risky Business stint with his fellow Scientologist, probably on top of Oprah's sofa.  

11) Under The Skin

Oh my, this film got my heart beating real fast and that is very unusual for an art house film. And yes, EVERYTHING about Scar Jo is art. 

10) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

In terms of Marvel movies, the ones that are the REAL game changers are the ones that had a rough start. Before this it's popular statement that Captain America films are mediocre, until brothers Director Anthony and Joe Russo came up with the best way to end the trend. Make Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best action-packed, political thriller, spy, superhero film ever made. Funny enough, this used to be my number 1 movie of 2014, until I saw better films mention above.   

9) How To Train Your Dragon 2

I had little kids asking if there are animated films better than Frozen, then I brought them to see this movie, they were educated. This is how you make an epic and meaningful animated movie, better than Frozen, better than the first How To Train Your Dragon movie and the best animated film of 2014. 

8) The Raid 2

True that movie didn't had the suspense of the first film, but it still got the grit and speed of it's predecessor, if not, better. Everything is in a larger scale and you feel the jeopardy every character is in. People say "why call the movie The Raid 2 if they weren't even raiding anything crucial like the first film?" Well it's simply because the entire city is an oversize version of the same apartment and in both places, all hell breaks loose. 

7) Nightcrawler

Wanna be educated how to be the best of what you do? Let a creepy guy that looks like Jake Gylenhall enlighten you. Every sleekness of the scenes and every suspense just felt so real. Lesson learned, never underestimate a skinny white guy. 

6) Gone Girl

A very unhealthy movie to see with your significant other, the film is thought-provoking, spine-chilling and very eerie from every shot, every performance and even the music. What a film to make you feel like you know nothing about what's going on. 

5) X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Time-travel is very difficult plot point to tackle, even so these film managed to handle it very well and remain consistent throughout the entire film. It never loses it cool and class. The franchise had some tough times and this film was the savior. The more I watch it, the more I appreciate it. Thus, making it the best superhero movie of 2014. 

4) Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Just when you thought you're done with movies about monkeys, wait 'till you see this (and Rise, seriously watch that first before watching this. You'd never expect that a movie like this will have you emotionally attached to it in a great extent and will make your visuals entertained from point A to point B. The movie could have been simply Call Of Duty: Monkey Warfare, but it's way more than that. 

3) Frank 

Michael Fassbender is on a roll this year. From mass murdering mutant to deranged talented musician. Frank and his friends will bring you on an strange journey of finding your identity and your groove. Perhaps the film's greatest asset is its weirdness and makes you wonder, maybe being weird will indeed set you free.

2) Whiplash

Just when Peter Parker thought he had the worst version of J.K. Simmons, wait till Reed Richard comes and smack him in his face, or throw a chair at him like what J.K. Simmons' character did at him. If the movie taught me one thing, is that the journey to out performing yourself is pure "nightmare". What this film is a nightmare, a brilliant, inspiring and well-acted one. 

Before I reveal my number 1 pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

1) The Theory Of Everything

Never in my mind and in my heart I would ever realize that I would be so attached, so moved and so mesmerize to the beauty and tragedy of Stephen Hawking's life. The movie could have been easily a semi-boring biopic, but no the film played with our heartstrings by making our hearts overjoyed with the happy and lovely scenes and break it whenever it wants to. Despite all the tragedy, the film made us want to focus on the beauty of life throughout the darkness. If Stephen and Jane can do it, so can you. It's moving, touching and inspirational and thus my Top 1 movie of 2014. 

There you have it, my top 20 movies of 2014. I hope you guys have a great 2014 and i'll see you guys next year with more reviews and shenanigans. See you all in 2015!