Watch Online Self/less (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

A dying New York real-estate tycoon undergoes a top-secret procedure to transfer his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man, but he discovers that his new life isn't what he expected after learning about the mysterious origins of his new body and an organization that is prepared to kill for its cause. Ryan Reynolds toplines this sci-fi thriller directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall, and penned by screenwriting duo David and Alex Pastor (Carriers).

Review:

They say that money can't buy happiness in life, but for one New York City tycoon, it might be able to buy life itself. That's the premise of director Tarsem Singh's new film Self/less, a muddled mashup of genres that makes the disastrous assumption that the audience will be too brain/less to notice its many preposterous plot points.

(Sir) Ben Kingsley plays Damian Hale, an impossibly wealthy NYC businessman who has devoted his life to making bank instead of raising his daughter Claire (Michelle Dockery), now estranged from him and the director of a nonprofit. Damian is dying from a quickly spreading cancer, the end rapidly closing in with every blood-spattering cough. When someone slips him a mysterious business card claiming to offer a solution to his terminal dilemma, he takes the bait and is soon touring a secret lab in New Orleans with a crazy-smart (emphasis on crazy) scientist named Albright (Matthew Goode). Albright explains that he has developed a way to implant a person's consciousness into a "host" body, thus allowing the dying person a chance to live on with a new identity and face. But this procedure is not for everyone; only the world's brightest minds, he says, are worthy of the process called "shedding." When Damian asks how the host bodies are created, Albright states that they are genetically grown in a lab, not unlike some plants. One can't help but picture a Frankenstein-like Chia Pet that, in addition to a full head of hair, also grows a perfectly functioning brain, complete skeletal system, and all of the muscles and organs necessary to be considered human. Okie dokie.

Despite possessing one of those aforementioned "brightest minds in the world," Hale agrees to the procedure with nary a speck of incredulity regarding the outlandish method of producing a host body. His cancer soon becomes more aggressive, and when the final credits of his life story are about to start rolling, the shedding commences. All it takes is about 15 seconds or so in an MRI-like machine, and Damian is now comfortably ensconced in his cool but rather unsteady new vessel (enter Ryan Reynolds as the host body). As Albright gives him the stats on his new life, one can't help but wonder why the guy would pay all that money just to look like a 35-year-old about to enter middle age instead of someone much younger. And that's just one of the many frustrating questions that the film never sufficiently answers.

While enjoying his new existence as a wealthy New Orleans retiree who plays basketball all day and trolls for chicks at the clubs every night, Damian is also plagued by strange hallucinations (seemingly of another person's life), which can only be controlled by taking a daily pill. His discovery of the real cause of these hallucinations regrettably transforms this film from a potentially intriguing sci-fi thriller into a rock-'em-sock-'em action flick, complete with car chases, shoot-outs, and more than one death by blowtorch.

The overriding problem with Self/less is the lazy storytelling by Singh and screenwriting brothers Alex and David Pastor, who forgo character development and narrative credibility in the arrogant assumption that multiple fistfights and insane car crashes will be enough to satiate the audience. We never really find out why Damian is so jazzed about continuing life on earth, considering that he made a miserable and lonely mess of his first one despite oodles of cash to comfort him. Kingsley's screen time is so woefully brief (he's basically making a cameo appearance) that he isn't given the chance to flesh out Damian beyond giving him a thick New York accent and inserting barely noticeable pauses into his speech. Not that it even matters, since Reynolds doesn't bother to adopt Kingsley's mannerisms or in any way attempt to remind viewers that, underneath those ripped muscles, full head of hair, and Canadian-tinged intonation, there lies a brilliant, cynical seventysomething New Yawker.

While the action scenes are fun to watch, one can't help but feel that Self/less is like sitting through two completely different movies at the same time -- and the better of the two abruptly ends with the shot of Kingsley's body being covered by a sheet following the shedding. Unfortunately, the only thing left for viewers after that is, well ... less.

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Watch Online Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons' comic series is adapted for the big screen in this Matthew Vaughn-directed action thriller. The story centers on a secret agent who recruits a juvenile delinquent into a top-secret spy organization. Together, they battle a tech genius with diabolical ambitions.

Review:

In order to understand exactly what tone director Matthew Vaughn is going for in his stylish, comic-to-screen spy romp Kingsman: The Secret Service, one need look no further than a scene that takes place approximately halfway through the film. It's a pivotal moment that finds gentleman spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth) posing as a billionaire real-estate mogul in order to get closer to Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a popular Internet entrepreneur and suspected supervillain. As the two rivals sit down to share a meal, the topic of conversation shifts to spy films. Asked if he's a fan, Hart says that he is, but with the caveat that the most recent entries in the enduring genre have become "too serious."

Kingsman: The Secret Service is the antidote to all of that seriousness. A rousing dose of retro-fueled fun, replete with sharply dressed secret agents, hi-tech gadgets, lethal henchmen (er, henchwomen), and, of course, a diabolical villain with a secluded mountain-top stronghold, it aims to be the anti-Skyfall -- a sprightly franchise starter that wants to fill the gap that opened up when Q sent Bond on his 23rd assignment virtually empty-handed. Even so, there's one key element of Kingsman that separates it from virtually every spy adventure that has come before, and that difference could be the deciding factor in the future of this potential series.

The Kingsmen are an independent intelligence agency modeled after the Knights of the Round Table. Honor and integrity are among their chief virtues, and each agent takes his and her name from a noble knight of legend. Veteran Kingsman Harry Hart (aka Galahad) is on assignment in the Middle East when he makes a mistake that costs a key teammate his life. Devastated, Galahad bestows the agent's son Eggsy a medal of valor, which entitles him to any favor of his choosing at any point in his life.

The movie then flash forwards to 12 years later, as Galahad learns that another teammate has perished while attempting to rescue a kidnapped college professor (Mark Hamill) in Argentina. Meanwhile, in England, a now teenage Eggsy (Taron Egerton) isn't doing that well. After getting arrested for leading the police on a chase in a stolen car, he remembers the medal and requests his favor. Much to his surprise, Galahad is waiting for him when he exits the station. Impressed by Galahad's fighting skills when confronted by a group of local thugs, Eggsy accepts his offer to try out for the Kingsmen. But he's just one of many young hopefuls competing for a single open slot, and right as their training begins to pick up, charismatic billionaire Valentine initiates an apocalyptic plot to curb global warming with a great cull. Later, as the selection process comes down to Eggsy and one other potential Kinsgman candidate, Valentine makes a move that shakes the organization to its very core as he prepares to set his catastrophic plan in motion.

Watching Kingsman, it's plain to see that Vaughn has taken most of his cues from the colorful, pre-Bourne Identity spy films that favored upbeat escapism over gritty realism. In the wake of turning heads with his freshman crime drama Layer Cake (the movie that helped launch future 007 Daniel Craig to stardom), Vaughn revealed himself to be a capable comic-to-screen adaptor as the director and co-writer of Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. He keeps that trend going with Kingsman, successfully creating the feel of an action-packed graphic novel come to life. If it's three-dimensional characters or plausibility that you crave, you might choose to skip this assignment. On the other hand, if it's eye-popping spectacle you seek, Kingsman hits its marks with the style and skill of an expert assassin. By paralleling Eggsy's training with the Kingsmen's fight against Valentine, Vaughn and frequent screenwriting partner Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust, X-Men: First Class) fuse the discovery of an origin story with the thrill of a first adventure. It all adds up to a rousing good time -- as long as you can forgive such obvious leaps in logic as how Eggsy managed to learn the Kingsmen's distinctive fighting style while his mentor was in a coma -- and by making Valentine's threat both global and deeply personal (a scene with a child in peril may have sensitive parents wincing), the writers keep the action moving fast enough that we have little time to quibble.

Relative newcomer Egerton carries little baggage with him to the big screen, allowing him to fully inhabit the character of Eggsy and make his transformation into a superspy entirely believable. By contrast, it's precisely our familiarity with Oscar winner Firth that allows his character to command authority as the veteran agent determined to thwart Valentine's plan. And that brings us to Samuel L. Jackson -- gifted with one of the most distinctive voices in cinema, his decision to portray Valentine with a pronounced lisp helps to distinguish the character from his legendary list of big-screen badasses. At the same time, the fun he's so obviously having as Valentine effortlessly transfers to the audience. Michael Caine brings the appropriate amount of gravity to his role as the head of the Kingsmen organization, and it's refreshing to see Mark Strong in a rare good-guy role. His slack is picked up by Sofia Boutella, flawlessly agile as Valentine's alluring, razor-footed enforcer Gazelle.

Making a memorable entrance by slicing a man in half vertically, Gazalle may also be the deciding factor in whether or not the film results in the birth of a new franchise (as it so obviously intends). Outside of the horror genre, it's difficult to cite examples of successful R-rated movie series, and while Vaughn and company should be commended for their uncompromising vision (a hyper-violent church massacre, complete with blowtorches to the face, makes the climactic battle in Kill Bill feel tame despite running half the time), it could also turn out to be the burgeoning franchise's Achilles' heel: Not only will the violence cause some parents to recoil in shock, but in many ways it stands in stark contrast to the film's otherwise playful tone. For grown-ups who savor nostalgia and mayhem, however, this could be just the throwback they've been longing for.

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Watch Online Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his teammates reunite for this pulse-pounding sequel, in which they attempt to take down a secret international organization known as the Syndicate--highly skilled ex-IMF agents who are intent on bringing down their former outfit. Christopher McQuarrie directs this new entry in the Mission Impossible franchise, with Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Simon Pegg co-staring.

Review:

One mission that seems almost impossible for Hollywood to achieve these days is to continually reenergize a popular film franchise, making each entry as good (if not better) than the last. But that's exactly what Tom Cruise and company have done with this tentpole, which is now 19 years old. The Mission: Impossible series has employed a different director for each movie thus far, and every one has put his own stamp on the material -- a major reason why the franchise still feels fresh after nearly two decades. Brian De Palma got the series off to a strong start back in 1996, but John Woo stumbled badly four years later with a pretentious, over-the-top follow-up. Thankfully, J.J. Abrams put everything back on track with 2006's intense Mission: Impossible III, and Brad Bird raised the bar even higher with the sensational Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in 2011. Now, it's Christopher McQuarrie's turn to sit in the director's chair, and the frequent Cruise collaborator -- he co-wrote Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow, and wrote and directed Jack Reacher -- delivers a slick, involving thrill ride that can proudly takes its place alongside the best installments in this series.

Rogue Nation gets off to a high-flying start with a scene in which Cruise's Ethan Hunt dangles precariously from an Airbus A400M cargo plane in an effort to get aboard and thwart the delivery of some poisonous gas; the sequence has already become famous due to the fact that it's really Cruise hanging on to the side of the plane midflight. From there, the movie races from one action set piece to the next -- with the best being an elaborate assassination attempt at the Vienna Opera House -- as Hunt tracks Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the leader of a terrorist organization known as the Syndicate that's made up of various rogue spies and is responsible for several global catastrophes. Unfortunately, Hunt's search is greatly hindered when CIA chief Alan Hunley (an excellent Alec Baldwin) insists that the Syndicate doesn't exist and shuts down the Impossible Mission Force. He then seeks to bring Hunt in and hold him accountable for IMF's recent rash of reckless behavior, including an incident from Ghost Protocol in which they nearly destroyed the Kremlin. This leaves Hunt as a man without a country, on a mission without authorization or support. And to make matters worse, he keeps encountering Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), an intriguing beauty connected to the Syndicate who might be a double or even triple agent. Is she trying to help Hunt, or is she just using him to get what she wants? One of the film's greatest strengths is the way it keeps her intentions murky throughout the proceedings.

Another strength is the return of Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, and Ving Rhames as Hunt's IMF allies. Pegg once again provides just the right amount of comic relief, and Renner is solid as Hunt's right-hand man, who is torn between his allegiance to Ethan and his commitment to his new employers at the CIA. Rhames, great as always, is unfortunately underused here, but he does manage to steal every scene he's in.

But the film belongs to Tom Cruise. Even at 53, he proves he is still one of the silver screen's greatest stars, and Ethan Hunt might just turn out to be his signature role. Cruise has always been considered a modest actor with a limited range (even though he's been nominated for three acting Oscars), but it's difficult to fault him for continually drawing on his strengths as an action star and pumping out fun, if mostly lightweight, popcorn fare. He's got charisma to burn, and no one can deny his utter commitment to a role: No other actor of his stature performs dangerous stunt work like he does (to name just one other example, he swung around outside Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Ghost Protocol). And while the cargo-plane sequence is getting all of the attention, Cruise's motorcycle derring-do in Rogue Nation is equally amazing, providing the movie with one of the most exciting chase scenes in recent memory.

Praise must also go to McQuarrie, best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplay for The Usual Suspects. He helped revise the script for Ghost Protocol, but was denied an official writing credit; with Rogue Nation, he makes the most of the opportunity to call the shots as the film's writer/director. And while the movie hews closely to the blueprint of glossy espionage flicks, it does so with the utmost professionalism and craft. Give McQuarrie and Cruise credit for not merely propping up what could have become a tired franchise, but injecting it with a newfound sense of energy and enthusiasm. Mission: Impossible is one Hollywood tentpole that shows no signs of aging.

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Watch Online Taken 3 (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Former covert operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) must race to protect his daughter while tracking down the criminals who framed him for killing his wife in the adrenaline-fueled third chapter of the Taken saga. Bryan and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) are taking their first tentative steps toward reconciliation when she is viciously murdered, and he is targeted as the prime suspect. Now, with the CIA, FBI, and every cop in the country hot on his trail, Bryan realizes that it's only a matter of time before his enemies get to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), too. Determined to keep her alive at any cost, he realizes that his only hope for saving her is to clear his name before he is captured. But while Bryan does possess the "particular set of skills" to stay one step ahead of the men who want his entire family dead, proving that he's innocent of murder and seeing that the real killers face justice might be the last thing he ever does.

Review:

There's a reason why the "I have a particular set of skills" speech from the original Taken became so iconic: It was the thrill of watching an actor as talented as Liam Neeson bring some palpable gravitas to the clichéd role of the seemingly retired killer called back into action. Seven years later, Taken 3 proves once and for all that Neeson should stop relying on this particular set of skills.

He's back as Bryan Mills, who must now clear his name and protect his pregnant daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) after his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) turns up dead in his apartment, with all evidence pointing to him as the killer. Bryan must elude a tenacious police detective (Forest Whitaker) who wants to bring him in for the murder, all while unraveling how Lenore's current husband Stuart (Dougray Scott) is mixed up with a conscience-free Russian baddie poised to go on a killing spree if he doesn't get paid.

Olivier Megaton (who also helmed Taken 2) directs this installment of the increasingly tired franchise, and it seems like he failed to compose a single frame that he wants us to look at, because he cuts away from every image after about a second and a half. This is true of both the quieter scenes that set up Bryan's relationships with his daughter, ex-wife, and Stuart, and the frenetic chase sequences and indecipherable one-on-one fistfights. Either Megaton has no faith in his own direction, or he has zero respect for his audience's attention span.

Already a renowned actor, Liam Neeson enjoyed one of the most unexpected third acts in any movie star's career by becoming an action hero in his mid-fifties with Taken. He rode that box-office wave for a few years, putting out a string of similar-looking suspense flicks: Unknown, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and of course, the obligatory Taken 2. As a result, seeing Neeson play this type of role no longer feels surprising or exciting.

Taken 3 doesn't offer up anything new, and screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen -- who have masterminded the entire franchise -- assume audiences will be happy with more of the same. It's such a lazy movie that it's left unclear at the end if one of the recurring characters, Bryan's old buddy Sam, is alive or dead. When the filmmakers themselves are this disinterested, it's clear that the people who are suckered into buying a ticket for this flick are the ones who have been taken.

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Watch Online Lucy (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis :

Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson headline this EuropaCorp/TF1 Films co-production directed by Luc Besson, and released by Universal Pictures. The story centers on a woman (Johansson) who falls prey to sinister underworld forces, but who gains superhuman abilities that allow her to strike back at her oppressors.

Review:

Following in the recent tradition of high-concept sci-fi action thrillers like Inception, Lucy is at its best when it's either reveling in explosive action sequences, or delving into deep, metaphorical philosophy. The moments in between, when the characters actually attempt to explain the pseudo-science that drives the plot, as always, are this genre's weak points. But while you're in the middle of enjoying the ride, it probably won't matter.

The story rests entirely on the oft-quoted factoid that human beings only use 10% of their brains, proposing that thus, activating that unused 90% could offer us wild and crazy superpowers. Of course, any nerd worth their salt knows this figure isn't even true -- it's a bastardization of the assertion by early 20th century neurologists that they only understood how we use around 10% of the brain. But in the end, this probably isn't a deal-breaker for most viewers, because director and writer Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional) is adept at distracting us with sweet car chases and tense shootouts. He eventually eclipses the dumb exposition from the movie's first act with some way-smarter content, which comes in the form of subtext. It's sort of like The Matrix (the first one, anyway), where the story makes a lot more sense if you take it as an analogy for more abstract, spiritual ideas. But in the meantime, you get to follow a badass woman as she rapidly evolves beyond the human understanding of the universe and exacts unflinching, hardcore beat downs on the Taiwanese gangsters who get in her way.

That woman is the titular Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), who is kidnapped by Asian drug kingpins and used as a drug mule to cart a bag of a new, uncut synthetic superdrug across borders. The only catch is that the criminals do this by surgically implanting it into her abdomen. So when one of her captors (who apparently didn't get the message from his superiors not to beat the hostage) beats the hostage, the bag leaks and Lucy gets a rapid overdose of the mysterious substance, which instantly sends her body into evolutionary overdrive, granting her access to the latent abilities offered by that heretofore unused 90% of her brain. She can do everything from control her own metabolism and heart rate to perceive and manipulate electromagnetic fields, and as the process that the drug set into motion continues, she only gets more powerful. She's free from attachment and fear, and injury doesn't mean much when she can control the divisions of her own cells. With the gangsters still on her tail, she tracks down Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman), a neuroscientist who focuses on the evolution of the brain.

You may remember one of the last times Besson focused his movie around a female supreme being, the orange-haired Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) from The Fifth Element. But Lucy is a very different character; she's not cute or bubbly, she's cool and calculated. Like Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, part of Lucy's character arc is that her abilities make her so removed from her ego, her attachments, and her former perceptions of space and time that she's in danger of no longer relating to the human experience.

But this isn't to say that Lucy is cold -- as a film or as a character. Besson's directorial style is kinetic: His edits and cutaways crackle with hyperactive references, and Lucy's exploits in superhuman badassery are dotted with tongue-in-cheek humor. The plot points may sound kind of silly on their own, but by the end, Lucy literally sits through a sequence in which she realizes that time isn't linear, humans just perceive it that way. The idea of utilizing 100% of her brain's "capacity" emerges as a metaphor for profound, nonphysical enlightenment. This is where the Matrix comparison becomes apt. Remember "There is no spoon,"? It's like that.

It's possible that Besson (or the studio) tried to balance out the fact that the movie gets so heavy in the final act by making it kind of stupid in the first act. This would explain the apparent lack of a science consultant, who could have made the brain stuff at least sound like it kind of makes sense. But if you can forgive or ignore those faults, Lucy delivers the goods by the end, both as a brainy thought experiment and as a summer popcorn flick.

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Watch Online The Last Witch Hunter (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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"How do you know when there is magic in the vicinity?" a baby-faced priest (Elijah Wood) asks Vin Diesel's witch hunter early on in this would-be supernatural thriller, as the two search an apartment for signs of sorcery. Seeing none, the priest says, "No magic here." One assumes he's referring to the lack of witchcraft evidence found in the room, but he could just as easily be expressing his thoughts about the insipid movie he's stuck in.

Diesel stars as Kaulder, a valiant 14th-century warrior who is cursed with immortality by the Witch Queen (a maggot-encrusted Julie Engelbrecht) just before he slays her in a cryptic underground lair. Kaulder intended to perish with the merciless queen so he could be reunited in the afterlife with his late wife and daughter, who died from the Black Plague that the queen unleashed upon Europe. Now, he's condemned to be forever separated from his loved ones and dwell in eternal loneliness. What to do? Become the Catholic Church's go-to guy to track down the world's most wicked witches and put them under lock and key in the "witch prison," of course.

Jettison ahead to present-day New York City, where Kaulder lives in an ultra-plush apartment with a killer view of Central Park, drives a newly minted Aston Martin, collects a horde of deadly weaponry, and beds the occasional stewardess. Kaulder receives his witch-hunting assignments from his longtime mentor Dolan the 36th (an always welcome Michael Caine), the latest in a succession of priests charged with aiding Kaulder with his missions. Unfortunately, an ancient Nordic warlock named Belial (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) murders Dolan, plots to resurrect the Witch Queen and unleash a new global pandemic. Kaulder teams up with Dolan the 37th, the aforementioned baby-faced priest, and Chloe (Game of Thrones' Rose Leslie), a sexy white witch, to combat Belial. Naturally, the fate of the world depends on them.

A movie titled The Last Witch Hunter should provide plenty of thrills and chills, and raise the level of a viewer's pulse, but instead the Breck Eisner-directed film continually flatlines with uninspired overdoses of CGI mayhem and convoluted witchy mumbo jumbo that come at us so fast and furious they create fatigue instead of intrigue. It doesn't help that Diesel delivers his usual one-note, guttural performance without a trace of humor, and on the whole is given very little to do, other than look gravely concerned and lethargically react to all of the weird stuff happening around him. The fact that Kaulder can't be killed and that any injuries he suffers heal almost instantly also sap the story of energy. It's a dull superhero who doesn't have a weakness. Fortunately, Caine, excellent as always, lends the tale a necessary touch of believability, while Leslie enlivens every scene she's in with a heartfelt and often comic sensibility that lifts the film occasionally out of its doldrums. But not even she can work enough magic to prevent the movie from casting a spell of absolute boredom over its audience.

The Last Witch Hunter is Vin Diesel's attempt to launch a new action franchise and it just might work. Teen boys and Diesel diehards will flock to the film, but repeat visits will likely be few. Here's hoping The Last Witch Hunter lives up to its name and is indeed the last we see of Diesel's dreary hag hunter.

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Watch Online Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the second film based on author James Dashner's young-adult adventure series, picks up right where the first movie ended: Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his fellow Gladers, having escaped from the deadly labyrinth of the first story, are taken via helicopter to a fortified WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department) compound, where they are promised safety and a new life. But once inside, Thomas learns that WCKD is up to some very wicked things indeed. The shadowy organization, led by the mysterious Ava Paige (an underused Patricia Clarkson), want to drain their blood, since they are immune to a nasty virus called "the flare" that turns humans into zombie-like creatures known as "cranks." Paige's ultimate goal, or so she claims, is to find a cure for the flare, and she believes that Thomas in particular might be the key. But he doesn't want anything to do with her blood-sucking research, and persuades his friends to escape once again. When they do, they discover that the outside world is a barren, apocalyptic landscape that has been scorched by solar flares. The gang then spend the rest of the movie running from WCKD soldiers and fighting off terrorizing cranks -- along with an interlude in which they are captured by a mercenary leader (the always reliable Giancarlo Esposito) and must persuade him not to sell them back to WCKD -- as they attempt to reach a distant mountain safe haven where the Right Arm, a resistance group also working on a cure, are located.

And that's about it. Unfortunately, The Scorch Trials doesn't do much to advance its dystopian tale. It offers very little in the way of character development, answers zero questions about the flare and the deadly virus it spawned, and its plot ends up pretty much where it started. Worst of all, the story plays out in sluggish fashion, with long dry spells between the action set pieces (the best one takes place in an abandoned mall populated with menacing, fast-moving cranks). Its bloated running time (131 minutes) also doesn't help. Fortunately, O'Brien, who is in nearly every scene, is immensely watchable as Thomas. We always cheer for him and fear for him, although we know nothing bad is really going to happen to the movie's protagonist. Kaya Scodelario is equally good as Teresa, the lone female who escaped the maze. She is the one character we do get to know better, and her questionable actions propel the story into its next (and presumably) final installment, The Death Cure, in which Thomas plans to bring down WCKD and exact revenge on his persecutors.

The Scorch Trials isn't a disaster, but it is a disappointment. Director Wes Ball manages to stage a couple of impressive action scenes, but it's all to little effect. Sadly, the movie feels like a placeholder, and it suffers from the problem of many middle films in a trilogy: It isn't nearly as good as the original, and it serves as little more than a bridge to what one hopes is a rousing finale. Mostly, though, The Scorch Trials is just a trial to sit through.

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Watch Online The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Young Adult dystopian films are apparently here to stay. Divergent, the first book in author Veronica Roth's best-selling YA trilogy, was adapted for the big screen in 2014, and the series is back almost exactly a year later with the sequel. The Divergent Series: Insurgent picks up immediately after the events of the previous movie, as the series' teen heroes Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) flee a walled-in and bombed-out future Chicago.

Insurgent jumps straight into the action, and assumes the viewer has seen the first film -- very little ancillary exposition is provided. While Divergent seemed bogged down by the need to explain every detail of its far-fetched world, Insurgent bypasses that for a more driven story. Tris, Four, and the other Divergents are fugitives from the oppressive faction system, which segregates society according to individual character traits. The society's leader, Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet), is hunting down Divergents with a vengeance, believing that one of them possesses the ability to open a mysterious box that has been passed down by the founders of the faction system. Teaming up with other societal outcasts, the Divergents fight back against the oppressive regime.

There's a considerable amount of depth to Woodley's performance as Tris this time around -- much more so than the rather one-dimensional character she inhabited in the prior installment. Tris is haunted by the decisions she made at the end of Divergent, including playing a large role in the deaths of numerous people close to her. A reoccurring image throughout Insurgent is the simulation-induced appearance of her mother (Ashley Judd), who was killed in the first film. Tris is burdened with guilt, but still has the ability to express love, empathy, and honesty -- which is fitting, given her class-system-defying status of being Divergent.

A notable trend in these YA film adaptations is the presence of accomplished older actors playing authority figures (think Donald Sutherland in The Hunger Games or Patricia Clarkson in The Maze Runner). Insurgent is no different, and benefits greatly from performances by Kate Winslet and Naomi Watts. Winslet is a holdover from the first movie, and her role as the relentless despot Jeanine Matthews remains an important cog in the overarching story. Watts appears as Four's assumed dead, but actually alive mother, who turns out to be the leader of the underground "faction-less" clan.

Despite the ensemble cast and some inspiring performances,Insurgent treads water for the majority of its 119 minutes. The action scenes are well-crafted and frequent, but the near-ridiculous concept of the story tends to invalidate the best aspects of the film. The majority of Tris' hand-to-hand combat scenes take place inside simulations, with the character unconscious from a serum. The bulk of the movie is an awkward dance between reality and replication, but surprisingly, it pulls itself together for an effective (albeit convoluted) ending. Teens will love the defiant lead characters and the shoot-'em-up action, but critics should pay special attention to Woodley. She's a tremendous young talent, and while she's tied to the Divergent series for another two films, she seems ready to explode into superstardom soon. 

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Tags :
Chosen One | Future Dystopias | Heroic Mission | Lovers on the Lam | Misfits and Outsiders | Out For Revenge | Post-Apocalypse | Virtual Reality

Watch Online Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - MovieTimeUs

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The run-up to Marvel Entertainment's The Avengers hits an enormously satisfying stride in Captain America, a whiz-bang, retro-futuristic adventure that mercifully eschews the brooding Dark Knight trend to offer an exhilarating thrill ride that perfectly captures the enduring optimism of the 1940s. Eye-catching set and vehicle designs, crackerjack pacing, and a talented, highly watchable cast all help director Joe Johnston create an impressive alternate reality in which Nazis with laser guns seem perfectly logical.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was a 98-pound weakling with the heart of a lion and the spirit of a hero. All he ever wanted was to serve his country by fighting injustice overseas, but as World War II rages and his best friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan), prepares for deployment, scrawny Steve can't even pass a standard Army physical. Steve gets the opportunity of a lifetime, though, when Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) gets a glimpse of his true bravery and invites him to take part in a top-secret test to create the perfect soldier. Immediately transformed into a stalwart super-human by a serum that enhances his inherent goodness, Steve earns the nickname Captain America and becomes a piece of government propaganda before answering a higher calling -- teaming with military contact Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and brilliant engineer Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) to rescue a group of American solders trapped behind enemy lines. During the clandestine mission, Captain America discovers evidence that rogue Nazi Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is secretly using an ancient artifact to power a revolutionary weapon capable of bringing the world to its knees, saves Bucky from certain death, and finally gains the respect of gruff Army Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones). Later, Captain America uses the intelligence gathered during that daring rescue to plan a mission that will defeat Schmidt and permanently disable Hydra -- the undisclosed arm of the Nazi regime dedicated to harnessing mystical powers and using them for evil. Meanwhile, Schmidt reveals himself as the Red Skull, a frightening villain whose powers are only exceeded by those of Captain America. With the soldiers he rescued and his best friend Bucky by his side, the fearless super-soldier invades Hydra headquarters and wages the ultimate fight or freedom.

In The Rocketeer, Joe Johnston established himself as a filmmaker capable of creating an atmosphere that was simultaneously antiquated yet tantalizingly futuristic. By ramping up the sci-fi elements considerably and creating a hyper-stylized portrait of the 1940s, he perfects that unique tone in Captain America. Though rooted in our familiar reality and set during a crucial point in world history, Johnston's take on the classic comic seems to exist somewhat out of time. But it's precisely those constant technological contrasts and contradictions (Hydra has surveillance cameras in its headquarters, yet the countdown clocks on their self-destruction devices are flip-number analog) and occasionally sketchy special effects that in the long run will likely make Captain America feel less dated than its moodier contemporaries, even if it doesn't appear to represent a major leap in special-effects technology. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Ford and Robert Dalva's quick-cut editing reveals Captain America as a contemporary action film even as cinematographer Shelly Johnson's fluid camerawork harks back to the era before filmmakers began relying on jittery handheld camerawork to create a sense of urgency. Comparisons to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones sagas are inevitable given both the serial-style nature of Captain America as well as some of the content (namely a motorcycle chase that echoes the speeder bike pursuit from Return of the Jedi, and a climactic scene that recalls the face-melting finale of Raiders of the Lost Ark); however, in borrowing from the best, director Johnston and company turn out an adventure that also stands shoulder to shoulder beside them.

When it comes to a hero's saga, everything else will buckle if the main character's story arc doesn't ring true. With screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely in charge of script duties and the capable Chris Evans behind the shield, though, fans can rest assured that this take on Captain America is built on a solid foundation. Not only do the writers manage to pace the story so that it still feels brisk even while crossing the two-hour mark, but Evans' physical transformation from famished bully-bait to hulking hero is just as convincing as it would have been on the pages of a comic book, and the way he co-opts the costumed character originally created to sell war bonds comes off as entirely natural. Likewise, the romantic spark between the Captain and Peggy (looking every bit like the iconic pinup models of the era) is apparent even before the fuse of the main plot is lit, and the rest of the script is filled with memorable one-liners delivered with zeal by Jones and Cooper, in particular, who truly make the most of their supporting roles. And though he only gets a fraction of the screen time of his other co-stars, Tucci, too, is a major standout as the deeply humanistic Dr. Erskine -- who seeks to atone for creating a real-life monster.

Whether you're a devoted fan of the character or just an average moviegoer seeking to beat the heat with a solid action-adventure, Captain America is that rare blockbuster that offers a little something for everyone (though some of the action may be slightly too intense for preadolescent viewers) while also building impressive momentum for Marvel's forthcoming all-star comic-book adventure that has rabid comic fans everywhere champing at the bit. 

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Tags: serum, soldier, Superhero

Watch Online Terminator Genisys (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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The Terminator franchise found a winning structure and framework throughout its first two movies thanks to director/co-writer James Cameron, and the filmmakers behind Terminator Genisys do their very best to stick to that formula in the fifth installment. For viewers looking for unique cinema fare, however, that doesn't necessarily mean that the characters' surroundings have remained the same. After a familiar opening that sees John Connor's trusted lieutenant Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) travel back to 1984, this incarnation takes a sledgehammer to the timeline that fans are familiar with. The beginning of Genisysshows the decisive battle between the humans and cyborgs that forces the latter to attempt to kill John's mother, Sarah (previously played by Linda Hamilton), before she can give birth to her son. Reese volunteers to leap back in time to stop the cyborg due to his love for Sarah (his destiny is to meet her and become John's father), but as he is leaving, he sees John (Jason Clarke) attacked from behind by a robot who infiltrated the human army.

After this happens, Reese goes back to a past in which Sarah (portrayed this time around by Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke) has been protected since childhood by her guardian T-1000, played by the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first appearance in the franchise since 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. With the timeline altered, Reese convinces Sarah that rather than go to 1997 to stop Judgment Day, they instead need to go to 2017, which is when Skynet, the artificial-intelligence system that will give rise to the deadly cyborgs, will upload itself onto the new Genisys phone application (spearheaded by both Connor and Danny Dyson, the son of original Skynet creator Miles Dyson). But when John Connor shows up in the present, Reese, Sarah, and the T-1000 realize that he has been corrupted by the robots and is now their enemy, further complicating their attempts to blow up the prototype time machine and stop Genisys from launching in order to save humanity.

The film sticks to the same type of action scenes that made the franchise's most impressive effort, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, an enduring thriller hailed as not only a great popcorn flick, but one of the classics of its era. Genisys sneaks in several neat homages to the earlier movies, such as a scene in which Reese hides out in a 1984 department store that's a shot-for-shot reenactment of a similar moment from the originalTerminator. Present-day Arnold fights a CGI version of himself from the 1984 film, and viewers can count on Ahnold uttering his T-1000's catchphrase at least once.

The plot heats up after Reese departs for 1984, as it become clear that Sarah is already the tough, jaded warrior she was eventually destined to become. In addition to fighting a T-3000 on their way to preventing billions of human lives from perishing in an electronic Judgment Day, Sarah must wrestle with her belief that Kyle is destined to die fighting the robots as the T-1000 ponders his own mortality and aging. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to see where the remainder of the story will go after Connor shows up in 2017 and Sarah spots Reese as a kid (both Kyles have the same fingerprints). The dialogue sounds like fan fiction written by a sci-fi enthusiast; there is a ton of action involving the principal characters, but apparently nobody was worried about the quality of the dialogue or fostering believable character development. Besides that, the film also could have used more of J.K. Simmonsas O'Brien, the friendly cop considered crazy by his more pragmatic partners for believing in time travel. Even more frustratingly, the story line involving Danny Dyson (Dayo Okeniyi) is dropped after one scene of exposition between him and the T-3000. For a character who has essentially grown up with the audience, it would have been a nice touch to see him enjoy his own subplot (as he did in the short-lived TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).

Emilia Clarke does the best she can with a character who vacillates wildly between an assured fighter and a wounded human still suffering from a traumatic childhood. Courtney's acting as Reese is fairly wooden and uninspiring, butSchwarzenegger steals the entire movie by imbuing the T-1000 with more humanity and believable emotion than any actual human character. As the T-1000 has become more acquainted with people throughout the series, Arnold has been able to provide a seemingly one-note character with as much humor and pathos possible for a cyborg whose voice doesn't change in tone. Formerly the biggest movie star on Earth, Schwarzenegger is clearly hoping that a return to his most iconic role will prove the key to his comeback.

Jason Clarke, a veteran actor whose credits include Zero Dark Thirty and the TV series Brotherhood, does high-quality work as a character whose role switches from hero to villain in the span of a single scene. This movie is no classic: Even when it tries to make a statement (humans are so infatuated with interactive technology that we are losing our ability to truly communicate), it doesn't do so with any serious conviction or new perspective. However, it is sure to please any fan of the previous Terminator flicks. Genisys provides a legitimate shot in the cybernetic arm of the franchise, without completely alienating any young viewers watching Arnold and company for the first time. Here's hoping the inevitable sequel can keep the torch aflame for Cameron's return.

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Tags:
artificial-intelligence, cyborg, destiny, forces [military], robot, science-runs-amok, timeline, time-machine