The Delayeds

Late January and early February this year saw three pushed-back movies. The first one is Warner's ticking time flop that was handed to Universal, Seventh Son. This Big Lebowski reunion was pushed back one year from its initial January 2014 release as a result of the end of Legendary's contract in Warner Brothers and the film is quite shit so that's probably why. Second one is The Wachowskis original science fiction starring Mila Kunis as the queen of the universe and Channing Tatum as human-slash-dog Jupiter Ascending. This film that also starred soon-to-be-Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne was pushed back by Warner from its summer 2014 release citing more time to finish special effects. But reports had it that new action scenes were added to the final cut.  The last one is Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn's follow-up to X-Men First Class in his increasingly outstanding filmography. Previously titled only The Secret Service, Kingsman was bumped from October 2014 release which makes it Fifty Shades of Grey's counter-programming. That plan didn't work out, but kudos to everyone who saw Kingsman instead of Fifty Shades.

Seventh Son
Legendary's track record has been quite spotless. But 2015 and moving to Universal might be their bullet to the head. With Blackhat and this film flopping, we wonder whether Warner is Legendary's good luck charm. Seventh Son's trailer looks okay, it promises you mindless action-packed fantasy with incredible cast that includes Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. The story is about a hunter who underestimates a witch, making her crazy with fury and that hunter needs a help of a special apprentice who has to be the seventh son of the seventh son (pretty complicated,no?) to defeat that witch. Seventh Son is pretty forgettable. I'm not going to talk very critically, the action scenes and effects were quite good, but there's just too many stupid going on that not even soon-to-be-Academy Award-winner Julianne Moore can chew enough scenery to save it. But it's an adequate entertainment if you have time to kill. And make sure you're a fan of either Jeff Bridges or Julianne Moore, otherwise you're in it for a bad time. At least you'll walk out of the theatre loving Alicia Vikander though, her costumes are amazing. Seventh Son: rated 1.5/4

Jupiter Ascending
This film has so many unfairness directed at it. You'd expect more respect given to the creators of The Matrix. This film is one of the rare original sci-fi. But Jupiter Ascending wasn't aiming for political undertones or some other overanalyzed analogies or the fifth dimension, it was only for your entertainment. And heck it delivers. Mila Kunis is gorgeous like always, Channing Tatum is pretty cool, set designs are crazy, costumes are breathtaking--it's whatever you wanted for a fantastical sci-fi film. The action scenes are so good, you'd slow things down in your mind and think--I understand that this film is made by the people who made The Matrix. That score by Michael Giacchino is super bombastic it made every action scene way better. The few complaints that I had were that the film, although aiming for epicness, didn't feel that epic and big--the story is quite uneven and add that with very advanced sci-fi lingo those things could be a turn-off. And the lack of memorable villains, sure we had Eddie Redmayne reading lines through his nose or something but he wasn't villainous enough to be memorable. All in all, I'm glad that I watched this in cinema on a really big screen with thundering speakers, because I wouldn't bat an eye if I saw this on TV, heck I would think twice to rewatch this on a small screen. Jupiter Ascending: rated 2.5/4

Kingsman: The Secret Service

One word: YES. This film had it all. Engaging story, full-on crazy cool action, guns, cars, awesomeness, Colin Firth gone badass. Matthew Vaughn is a very dependable director, he made X-Men cool again with First Class after it was 'ruined' by Brett Ratner. He made Kick-Ass and thank God had little to do with the godawful Kick-Ass 2. Kingsman is touted by many as a spoof to the spy-action movies, I saw it differently. It is a whole different take on the spy genre, elevated it from being self-serious and grim to fast, funny and fun. Not to mention it is incredibly foul-mouthed and violent. Bond and Bourne are only PG-13, this film is rated R. What made this film worked is all the actors are cast against type. Colin Firth as a real badass, Mark Strong not as a baddie and Sam L Jackson as a baddie but with a twist..on the tongue. That lisp made Jackson's Valentine way better than it should've been. And the true find is Taron Egerton as the main character Eggsy--he could be on the same level with these veteran actors. The only thing that bugged me is that the talk-of-the-town scene in the church was cut from theatres in Indonesia. So, I have yet to see that scene. But hot damn, Kingsman: The Secret Service is my first favorite of 2015. Kingsman: The Secret Service: rated 3.5/4

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I don't know, Focus maybe?
or Whiplash!