Thor Ragnarok: A Review

Thor Ragnarok is currently the latest movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the third installment in the Thor franchise.

Now, before we get into the major details of the film and the review, there are a couple of things that I MUST mention:

1) The MCU only uses the Norse Mythology as a reference to the creation of the characters, Thor, Loki, and so on and so forth. This is very important for later.

2) This movie, at the time I believe, was supposed to be the last movie before Avengers: Infinity wars. The Avengers' 4th film is supposed to be massively large, and extremely serious. So, instead of a buildup to that in terms of tone and... texture? This movie takes on a more comedic approach to things. 

If these points have turned you away from the movie, I advise you to stop reading further, since they did the exact opposite to me. 

Anyhow. 

This movie is set two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. We start off the movie with Thor giving an opening monologue, and you notice it isnt in the "ye olde english speake" that you get in Thor 1 and 2. His language seems a lot more informal now. Maybe spending more time on Earth helped? 

The film was first sort of introduced to us as a post credit scene in Doctor Strange, where we see the Sorcerer Supreme talking to Thor about his brother and father being on Earth. This was a scene that most movie viewers were looking forward to, especially seeing how Strange would be helping Thor with his situation. Months later, when news was released that Hulk was also going to be in it, excitement grew once more.

The film is actually based off a few events from the comics, and not just one story arc like what they attempted (see: failed) to do with Iron Man 3 (The Extremis Saga) and Captain America: Civil War (The Civil War storyline). Now, those titles were very much misleading in terms of what they were promising us, but Thor became an exception to that.

The title, Ragnarok, talks about the Norse mythology's End of Days, where the world is engulfed in flames, a lot of the gods are killed and the world begins once more. In the original mythos, Midgard (or Earth) was the one that would die. In the movie, they deviate from that a fair bit. And I am thankful for this actually. I mean... they did do a lot of things mentioned in the recipe... just not all of it.

The movie begins with a monologue from Thor about the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we already start to see the comedic side of Thor that we had begun to see in the aforementioned movie. Then we meet Surtur, and his introductory scene are quite important for two reasons.
One, look at him! Tall fire giant with a flaming sword, looking every bit as amazing as he did in the multiple trailers we saw him in! But the actual thing is that Surtr talks about how Ragnarok is already begun, and that Thor cant stop it.
Two, in the dialogue between Thor and Surtr, we get some key important details. Thor thinks of himself more as a hero now, not a god or a king; Surtr is now officially one of the many... things, for lack of a better word, in the MCU who died and came back; and lastly, The Step By Step Instructions On How To Start Ragnarok; That Odin is no longer on the throne (seems odd, considering the end of Thor 2) and that Thor is also one of the larger causes of Ragnarok (The Poetic and Prose Edda have a different plan for Thor at Ragnarok) (The original "sources" of the Norse Mythology)

After that short exchange, we come to one of the first fight sequences of the movie. Its quite well done, and the song being played in the background is Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". It follows the recent trend that we see in movies that have more than one enemy attacking the protagonist, rather than one at a time. (Thank god) The choreography was excellent and well executed.

Now, why I mention the song that is being played in the background is this: Immigrant song by Led Zeplin was specifically chosen since its lyrics mention Norse religion. Beyond that, Led Zeppelin is notorious for rarely licensing out their music in films, television or even games, so the fact that they allowed the song for this film is quite remarkable. 

Going along the sequence of the movie, the next major point is the play titled "The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard", which is a play about the events at the end of Thor: The Dark World. This... This is one of four reasons that this film is a must watch. They got Chris Hemsworth's (Thor) older brother, Luke to play Thor in the play, Matt Damon (you cant make this up if you tried) to play Loki, and Sam Neil as Odin. This segment alone had people rolling with laughter in the theatres.
A key feature in this is that the title is "Loki of Asgard", not Jotunhiem, like it was said by Loki in The Dark World. A key difference in the mindset of Loki compared to his previous appearances.

The next major event is the one that most moviegoers were looking forward to since Doctor Strange, and that was the involvement of Doctor Strange. This part was a bit of a disappointment personally. While the entire segment was humourous, it felt more like an over glorified cameo more than anything else. It wasnt what most viewers were expecting. The scene moves really fast, and this trend seems to follow through in the remaining part of the film as well.

From here on, mostly spoiler events come up, so I wont be discussing it scene by scene, but I MUST bring up the other 3 things that I feel make this movie a must watch. 

1) When Thor is entering the Contest of Champions in Sakarr, the music that is played in the background is "Pure Imagination" from the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie with Gene Wilder. That movie was released in 1971 and its music is used in the middle of space, in 2017,  not to show a sense of wonder like it did with the original movie, but to make things incredibly uncomfortable and strange.
For anyone interested, the original music is here:

2) The fight between Thor and Hulk:
Now we've all seen this in the trailers that have come out, and theres not really not a lot to say about it, except that you need to see it since its the first time we see Thor as the God of Thunder. We dont see ANY indication of his powers besides his use of Mjolnr in the first two films, and all the Avengers movies, till now.

3) Loki and the Grand-Master.
I will talk about both characters soon, but the performances of both of them just outshine everyone else in the scene they're with.


The movie is quite well made, directed and produced, if with a few glaring flaws. It serves two purposes, visibly. One to set up the events of Infinity Wars, and the second to work as a soft revamping of the Thor franchise. This movie takes and breaks apart the golden world of Asgard and now its forced to build anew for the future. It spoke about the infinity stones at the beginning, but then thankfully went off into its main plot. The movie is a comedy action film, that deals with the End of Days. Thats the main summary of the movie.

Pros:

• The direction and casting of this movie was brilliant. It was near flawless. According to the director, a lot of the scenes were ad-libbed or improvised (saying that about 80% of it was), and this just made the entire thing more enjoyable to watch. The humour was a nice touch, as it did downplay the more serious moments when needed, to avoid getting too heavy.
  
• The setting. With the Thor franchise, you get beautiful scenery and location shots that you dont in any of the other MCU movies, that lend it a sort of ethereal quality, and drives home that this isnt a movie about Earth as such, or about Humans. Every scene with the Bifrost bridge, every location shot of Asgard and the other nine realms that we see.
  
  However with this one, we get a similar treatment, but with a different tone to it altogether, as seen with the entire setting of the planet Sakaar. We also see new regions of Asgard itself in this film.
  
• Thor: God of Thunder. Till now, I have always liked Thor, but he always seemed... lacking in the appearances of a god, especially one who is so important in Norse Mythology. This one time, we see him as the god of lightning and thunder.
  
  
  Here. The thing is that considering that Thor was created in the comics to combat the Hulk, and as the strongest Avenger, we never really saw much of his fighting in any of the films. In the first film, it was minor skirmishes, and the scene with the Destroyer felt... meh. Similar thing with the second movie, and in Avengers. (Age of Ultron's Tripple Ka-me-ha-me-ha blast doesnt count at all).
  
  But here, we see the power  that is the God of Thunder. THIS is someone I can believe will be the cause of Ragnarok!
  
  We saw Thor going god-mode in the trailers a few times, and it is worth watching those scenes in full. Where you see Thor no longer holding his punches and fighting back and matching the Hulk for his immeasurable strength.
  
• The Grandmaster
  This guy is played by Jeff Goldblum, and he does an incredible job of just bringing out the creepiness inherent in this character. Just the way you have an immortal who has a total disregard for life, and still makes the moments funny.
  
  Just...  
  
  
  That face. I dont think anyone would have been able to pull it off like he did. It even creeped out Loki.
  
  The Grandmaster is an immortal who is one of the strongest beings in the known universe (at least his race is known to be).
  From his introduction itself, you have a sensation that something is wrong, when you see him. The acting and the character in itself is incredible.
  
• Loki!  
  
  
  He's come a long way since the ending of the second Thor movie's ending.
  
  Here, we see Loki as being acknowledged by his family finally. Odin says that he was proud of him (whatever be the circumstances), and Thor himself tells Loki that he thought the world of him. Hes also had a time to be Asgard's ruler, and has had to spend weeks with the Grandmaster, which couldnt have been a pleasant experience for him to acknowledge someone with more power than him.
  
  Hes gone from embodying "Chaotic Evil" to "True Chaos" and parts of "Chaotic good" in this one. He fights Hela, and stands for Asgard, and even takes on a more traditional approach to Ragnarok (but him and Hiemdal dont die).
  
  There is a LOT of character development for him since the beginning. I mentioned earlier about how he said that he was from Asgard, and not from Jotunhiem, in the play? Further proof of that.
  
  Unfortunately, he didnt get to go "god-mode" like Thor and Hela do, but theres always next time.
  
• The accurate portrayal of a sibling relationship.
  Now. I am an only child, but I've seen enough sibling behaviour to see the way Thor and Loki, and even Hela interacting with each other is essentially spot on.
  I dont wanna list out all of it, cos someone on Tumblr already did, and for your viewing benefit,
  
  TA-DA! :
  
   Do give this a read. Its worth it.
  
  
  
  

  Cons:

  
  
• The pacing of the movie. The scenes in this moved too fast personally, and it felt like it was kinda rushing through a lot. This is seen especially in the scenes with Odin, with Strange, and even in the background scenes of Hela on Asgard.
  
• Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The God of Lightning and Thunder himself. Somehow, somehow, he has managed to get taken out by electricity a grand total of seven, so far, since his introduction in Thor 1. In this movie alone, he has been electrocuted a good 6 times.
  
  In fact, lets do a small count down.
  
  
  1: When Darcy tasered him (but that was when he was depowered and exiled)
  2: A net fired at him when he landed on Sakaar
  3: Stopped by Valkyrie upon his capture
  4: Again, by Valkyrie, in the space craft to the prison
  5: Third time with Valkyrie, in front of the Grandmaster
  6: Valkyrie. Again… For Thor calling her a traitor/coward
  7: Grandmaster. WHEN Worldbreaker Thor. Goddamnnit… I give up... I honestly do...
  
  
  
• The Doctor Strange appearance and disappearance. He showed up in the movie about a total of Three Minutes and Thirty Five Seconds. The entire scene was rushed, and it just... it was sloppy, and it really felt like a glorified cameo more than anything else. It was a nice idea to do a post credit scene at the end of Doctor Strange, but then at least give the guy some more screen time.
  
• The Humour! A lot of people have mentioned that the humour, while great, was too much and too often, stating, "sometimes you'd end up not having enough time to prime yourself for the next joke, so that would fall flat". I agree with this. Coupled with the pacing issue that we see, this actually makes the movie feel less like its telling a joke, and more like it has its family at gunpoint and the only way to save them is to finish their standup gig.
  
• The trailers being a deliberate misdirect. All I'm gonna say here is that we never properly saw the conclusion to the fight between the Hulk and the massive fire giant that we saw in the trailers. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT! 

Overall, I loved the movie, and feel like it is a good way to wind up before the events of Infinity Wars. Of course, Black Panther starts in a few days, so lets see. 

It is and always will be fun to see Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. It IS disappointing that we wont be seeing many actors come for the later movies, for fairly obvious reasons. 

This movie has a massive tonne of easter eggs in it, including things like why Valkyrie is called SR-142, why Thor needed to get his hair cut, and who the blonde lady who pushed Valkyrie out of the way was intended to be. If you're interested, take a look at this and/or this.

Hope you enjoy watching it. :) 

My Review of The Justice League Movie

Now, unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, then you would be aware of the ongoing DCEU (DC Extended Universe), and the films that have been released till now.

I'm here to talk about the latest one.

Before I begin though, this film is being released on the same day as the animated series (Justice League - 2001) first aired some sixteen years ago.

Now, I'd like to go through this in parts, firstly talking about the characters, then the actual way the movie is presented, the pros and cons, and then a concluding statement.
Normally at least.
But, since there is the situation of Marvel vs DC among all the denizens of the world, that needs to be brought up as well to an extent.

Since this is going to contain Spoilers, I'd advise you not to read ahead, and merely skip to the ending for the Marvel Vs DC comparison and Conclusion. I also apologise in advance about how long this is, but I cant help it this time. I guess I'll get the hang of things with more practice.


The Characters!
We have the Justice League (never actually mentioned by that name in the movie), comprising of Barry Allen, Cyborg, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. It isnt till halfway through the movie does our favourite boy scout join the party. Beyond the Justice league, we also have other important characters who make the story, the story. We have Lois Lane, Martha Kent (MARTHAAAAAAA..... Ahem. Wont happen again), Alfred and Steppenwolf. Now, there are a few other characters who are named, but not much is spoken by/of/to them in comparison to the main cast

Barry Allen, easily the life of the movie. Ezra Miller was able to do justice to this character (pun not intended... Sorry). The youngest and most inexperienced of all the members of the team, he shows his childish nature quite often, but without it being detrimental to the scene, or causing the audience to become frustrated by the lack of seriousness.

He is such a dork, and I love this. He freaks out over the Batman's stuff, gets super excited running around the bat-cave, and then feels really hungry afterwards. He is described, in movie as "tripping over his own feet as well as (my own)" by Aquaman, and this is also shown in the way he runs: he looks like hes constantly running downhill. There's no grace of finesse, just the speed. For a guy who can travel ONLY as fast as Superman, its a given that he has little control over it.

Next we have the Cyborg. We've already seen the background of how Victor Stone got his cybernetically enhanced body, and we see how he's grown with it and can perform near perfect technopathy. Iron Man, take note. THIS is what the Extremis sage should have looked like.
Ray Fisher really nailed the whole "Frankenstein" way of dealing with the change.

Cyborg is the second youngest of all the heroes, and its shown. While not as childish or carefree as the Flash, you do see parts of his less serious side. I am really really thankful that they gave him his famous "Booyah!" quote from the original Teen Titans show (GO! is a mess. Dont even go there.)
The later adjustment of his suit makes it look closer to the one from the TV show and the animated movies, but the original one looked... TOO CGI, that it kept my attention more than the plot did whenever there was a close

Coming back to how Cyborg and The Flash are the youngest heroes on the team, you appreciate the bonding they have, such as the fist bumps, and the scene about "being the accidents" of the team, despite the fact that barring Superman, they are easily the more important members of the team (plot wise).

Aquaman. Jason Momoa does a fantastic job with this character and acts as the secondary (tertiary even?) comic relief in the movie. Audience did find this annoying, but it was mentioned that the film is gonna be more lighthearted compared to the other films. Like the scenes with the Flash, these moments of humour dont take away all that much from the character as such. We see that in the scene with the Lasso of Hestia.

Talking about the way Atlantis was shown, while I'm happy that Mera and Atlantis is shown, it seems a lot like this is the first time he's been to Atlantis. Seems odd, and their interactions quite awkward.

There are a few things which I am thankful that they added to the movie! He doesnt talk to fish! Thank god for they mentioned this!

Continuing about the underwater parts of the film, I like how they choreographed the fighting sequences underwater; pushing off surfaces while underwater is one thing, but using the water to unbalance the enemy is actually logically how a water fight sequence would be, especially by a race of mermen.

Throughout all interactions between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, I kept thinking about the Flashpoint timeline. In BVS, there was an allusion to the Injustice timeline. I dont know if this was intentional, like in BVS, but to someone whos seen the Flashpoint movie, and read some of the comics, it seemed like a setup for it. 

Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman was just phenomenal. I should at this point like to point out that I havent yet seen her standalone movie (I will get to it once I can). So for me, seeing her personality and such is a first time for me (the scenes in BVS dont really count).

There is a really nice interaction between her and Batman, when they get the third motherbox, about how they both are interacting with the rest of the world. She tells Bruce to get some sunlight (I paraphrase), and he calls her out on the hypocrisy of that in her own behaviour in the last century or so. Not to mention, in the same scene you have Diana comforting/reassuring that Superman's Death wasnt Bruce's fault. Of course, from there, the dialogue turns into a fight, but its a nice touch.

Again, the interactions she has with Aquaman had me thinking a lot of the Flashpoint Paradox timeline, though this may be unintentional. I may just be seeing it since I am aware of the comics of that series, and have seen the cartoon movie, so may not be visible to everyone.

I do dislike a couple of things about the character, I should mention. She has "one move", where she bangs the gauntlets of Atlas together to create a shock wave. Its good, but its kinda all she does. Considering that she is one of the strongest in the Justice League, it seems a bit of a waste to have her do not much else. Sure, she can use a sword with a ridiculous amount of proficiency, but, shes versatile in usage of practically most weapons.

Secondly, she doesnt/cant fly. I dont remember her flying in BVS, and I didnt see her flying in this one either. I may be missing a large part of the movie lore since I havent seen her standalone, but yeah. Seems odd.

And lastly, Batman Vs. Superman.
No seriously.

Its nice to have a batman thats a lot more calmer and less bloodthirsty. You can see the development of character between the two movies. Theres not a lot to add here on the whole "Batman" part of the character. This version differs quite a lot from the Nolan trilogy version, in that there is less swinging of fists and more gadgets. Seriously, he is really reliant on the grappler, and his (totally amazing) rides. You dont really see much of the "Bruce Wayne" side here, or at least the version that the rest of the world sees. This adaptation seems to be going more and more towards the version from the cartoons.

Speaking of cartoons, the relationship between Batman and Wonder woman resembles the one from the cartoons as well, albeit in the development stage.

Coming to Superman, 

Yes, there is something glaringly obvious that everyone can (not) (un)see. I will bring it up soon.

This version of Superman... Delivers the most brutal lines, quoting the Batman even, with "Do you bleed?"

That line had the entire theatre just going "DAMN". I am unashamedly one of those people.

Once he gets his head screwed around, he becomes the boy scout from the cartoons. He makes jokes, he moves fast, and he manages to hold his own against the entire remaining part of the team.

Speaking of, you know a character is overpowered when he effortlessly headbutts wonder woman into the ground, and makes the villain look like a minion level monster.

The whole interaction between the Justice league and Superman was incredibly well thought out and well made. The scene between Barry and Superman in (perceived) slow motion, was again, a moment when the theatre was at the edge of its seat. The one between Batman and Superman shows how the whole progress of time was for Superman, being dead for a while. 

Now, the movie some things which are worth mentioning, things that stand out in the movie.

THE PROS:

• The Parademons, actually felt like a credible threat. Most other movies... ALL other movies, have minions that are... cannon fodder level of monsters. This is one of the first movies where the monsters actually look like their own threat, without having to rely on numbers. Yes, they do have a strength in numbers, but even individually, or in small groups, they are able to fight well, without the aid of Steppenwolf. They are a credible threat in this universe. They're also like the concept of the undead army: they conquer and take over the body of the conquered.
• NO STORMTROOPER AIM. Parademons are the main ones with the guns in this movie, and they ACTUALLY HIT their targets! They waited for the fast moving targets to be presentable and then hit them, like they did with The Flash and Batman.
• Steppenwolf. One of the few villains in movies that are just powerful. He managed to fight the Amazons, the Atlanteans, one demigod, one Human-Merman hybrid, one speedster, and a walking talking boombox, in less than a few days, and he still kept coming back for more. At no point did Batman even directly engage with Steppenwolf.
• The interactions between the team. Making them more human, with more normal speech and mannerisms. Noteworthy among them, Diana telling Bruce about needing a contingency plan, Flash and Aquaman after the Lasso of Hestia, and the end credit scene where the Flash and Superman race. (Ah... for those wondering... The Flash is faster, any day of the week.)
• The DELIBERATE (I assume) change from the trailers. I liked how they alluded to a lot of things in the trailer, or showed them in a different order to make it look different. This is what the purpose of a trailer should be: to allude to the movie, and not showcase everything. (I feel like they paid some attention to the criticism towards the latest Spiderman and Thor movies regarding this)
• We see the mention of the Green Lanterns, the old Gods, in the flashback to the old Unity war.

Of course, there were plenty of things which, again, stand out and should be noted:

THE CONS:

• Ideally, this should be a pro, but the thing is that I saw this movie in 3D, at one of the good theatres. I do NOT think that this experience would have been as enjoyable in a non 3D film, the way the graphics were played out. This is just my opinion, and I may change my mind when I can see it in 2D again later.
• This version of Batman has been at it for about... 20 years, if I'm not much mistaken. Every other character gets an allusion to their pasts, but Batman doesnt. Diana gets a mention of Steve Trevor, Cyborg gets a talk about his accident and mom, Aquaman gets a thing about his mother leaving him on the Surface for his safety, we see barry talk to his dad even... But Batman of 20 years, doesnt get any mention of his villains, his robins, or anything. Its currently still speculation WHICH robin is the one that Joker killed (most people thinking that its cannon with Jason Todd). We dont see much of his past, but we see a small part of everyone elses!
• Henry Cavill's moustache... It has to be said...
  The first scene in the movie is a part of a montage used for Superman's memorial. At this moment itself, its obvious that something is slightly... off about the actor. We know its the same Henry Cavil, but its not the same face. Later on, I learnt that it was CGI removal of his moustache, thanks to his filming parts in Mission Imposisble 6. This doesnt bother me as much, now that I know that it was issues between studios... But... There are scenes where the level of CGI used are different. It doesnt look uniform throughout. In fact, I think the scene where he "wakes up" and at the farm (Not the in between scenes) are the only ones without CGI.  Its just so.. odd. The inconsistency just makes it stranger.
• Continuity issues. This is a major problem for me. In BVS, we saw Victor becoming the Cyborg BEFORE Superman died, yet this was turned around for this movie. We have the rubble floating at the end of BVS, over Clark's casket, but we apparently needed a motherbox to bring him back? What? There are other mistakes like this in terms of continuity but these two are the two major ones that stuck out to me when watching the movie itself. 
• The main soundtrack for the movie, or the music that you normally associate with the movie, was shown only for one fight sequence, and that was with Aquaman, and nothing iconic or spectacular was shown for the team up at the end.
  
• While I mentioned that it was a good thing that they changed the order of things to be shown in the trailers, I do not like that they removed a lot of content, such as Barry's intro to the Speedforce, Alfred's line in the batcave, and stuff like this. Yes, they had a direct order from WB to make the film no more than 2 hours, not including credits, but that makes the movie feel like another BVS. If they make an extended edition/directors cut/ultimate edition... well, you know what to do. 

The Comparison to Marvel:

(Yeah, there is actually a comic about this. Check it out. )

This is something that is quite unfortunate, but we have to bring this up.
Till now, I am yet to find a review online that doesnt take the time to add a paragraph or so, comparing DC and Marvel.
There IS a lot of hate regarding the entire DCEU, thanks to the famously misunderstood "Save Martha" line from BVS (explanation given if I ever get around to finishing my review of BVS), and the wasted oppurtunities of Suicide Squad (ditto).
However, Wonder Woman has pretty much saved the day for the DCEU and should have done something of a turnaround or at least a pause, in the DCEU hatred that seems to stem from nothing except for the fact that it ISNT MARVEL.

Lets compare the two series.

By now, the DCEU has completed five movies:
Man Of Steel, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League.
Thats 5 movies released, with 2 of them dedicated to origin stories, and one of them being a semi intro to Batman.

Marvel's Phase 1, had released 6 movies:
Iron Man 1&2, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and The Avengers.

So.. its not like there is a pacing issue, considering that the number of movies are similar.
Also, Marvel was the pioneer. It was the one that set up the notion of an extended universe of a scale this large, in live action.
(Lets not talk about the animated cinematic universe... DC wins that hands down and Marvel didnt venture too deeply into it either)
Yes. But it doesnt have the patent for a large scale cinematic universe.
Seeing Marvel's success, other industries have tried to emulate such complicated networks but so far DC is the only on to come up with something close to their comic book counterparts.

The comparison is quite unfortunate.
Mostly because of how the two series are almost like entirely different genres.
I cant place the quote exactly but...
it was something along the lines of

"The Avengers are a group of humans pretending to be Gods,
while the Justice League is a group of gods, pretending to be human."

Now, while this doesnt work, cos... Thor, Batman, Barry, and related... You get the picture. I hope.


Anyhow, the bottom line for this movie:

I grew up watching the animated tv show, and I can see a lot of the parallels from the initial episodes. I can appreciate the jokes and the way the movie is directed and put together. This movie was never made as a competition to Marvel's hugely successful cinematic universe, and it shouldnt have ever been seen as such. This is the continuation of the story at the end of BVS (possibly WW... I did mention that I havent seen it yet?).
The direction is well done, and the sequence of events is logical.
I will be honest, that scene where Kal-El advances on Batman, I half expected either Bruce or Diana to randomly shout out, "Martha", for some ill advised comedic purposes, and mayhaps even laugh at itself, but (thankfully) this wasnt to be.

The action scenes are on point, and the dialogue isnt rushed or forced. It fits the overall theme of the movie (being lighter than its predecessor, BVS) and the characters are true to their counterparts in the comics. Batman is broody, Diana is badass, Clark is Superman, and Cyborg and Barry are uber dorks. Aquaman, has shown the greatest improvement in my opinion, but thats just me.
Prior lore of this universe is set up properly, and without taking too much away from the main film, and doesnt have wasted moments or unnecessary scenes in it.

The credits scene with The Flash and Superman, taken directly from the comics, and Superman: The Animated series, was a nice touch, especially the number of speed related show offs between the two.

All in all, worth watching. Worth watching in 3D.

Hope you enjoy watching it, and I hope you watch it with an open mind. :)

At 3 in the morning

So... This is another attempt at poetry. 

This time dealing with something that's been a part of me my entire life: travel. 

I've been travelling since I wasnt even able to walk, and my folks always liked travelling by train, even back then. 

And since coming to college, there's been... A collection of moments that you don't really notice till you're awake at 3 in the morning and everything and everyone around you is asleep. 

Which is what was happening on a recent trip back home for a long weekend, where I took this picture from inside my closed off lower side berth. :)

Enjoy. :)

And as always, I'm open to criticism. 

A world apart, this world outside,

That shimmers past in the darkest light

Moving too quickly for eyes to focus,

Of life and lives living like us

From inside this train, we rock along,

To the lull of the tracks, like a song,

Seeing lights burst softly, then vanish,

Falling asleep, to dreams most lavish

Compartments and carriages, now softly asleep,

Breaking silence with snores from dreams so deep.

Lights peering in, standing still, 

While we move along, through valley and hill.

The world shaking beneath and all around,

As metal groans, and chest does pound,

We drift slowly to the rhythm of the track,

Through darkness and silence, and dreams to ransack.

"I've got all this ringing in my ears and none on my fingers."

"I've got all this ringing in my ears, and none on my fingers."

Yes, the title is the same as a song by Fall Out Boy. What can I say?
I'm a fan.


So, this is my first COMPLETED poem I've written (meaning, its not my first attempt at poetry, just that this one is the first completed one. The other thing, is huge, massive and all things that trigger a "thats what she said" joke.)

A little backstory: Its about someone who desperately wants to play the music in his mind, but unfortunately he doesnt have the talent he needs to make it happen. Then he does. :P
Then he plays. :)

Enjoy :)


Trading my mind for a rhythm in my fingers,
to play the songs that haunt me so.
Trembling hands running with the music that lingers, 
that echo, set your pulse racing and your eyes aglow.
Turning my dreams into the notes on the pages,
into words and lyrics for the voices to live,
that dance in the wind, painting like brushes, 
The music of my thoughts and the melodies I give, 
to call the listeners of this world, the dreamers,
the weary travellers and the world weary thinkers,
alike, to the edge where I play my symphony, 
where the sky thrums with notes, dancing in harmony.

Its short, its simple.

So, let me know what you all think. :)

An open rant on Love trumps All.

A minor rant. I have NO Idea why there are so many lines between the sentences... it makes it a lot longer than I ever intended it to come out... So.. Read this with a little amount of patience please.

So there are two types of people on social media (the majority of the people fit under this. If you dont, good for you.)

People who are complaining about the President of the united States: Donald Trump.

and

People who remind the first set of people that Trump isnt the president of THEIR Country (Unless you're American. In which case, denial dont work, this is whom you're stuck with for four years.)

Things I would like to point out/add:

He may not be your own country's president, but considering that the USA has a large influence on how the economy and trends (yes, trends) work, its better when one of the largest powers in the UN isnt being run by him.

Secondly, considering how many of you are doing your level best to go to the States to either study, or emigrate there, him being in power DOES Affect you, and the Irony of all your "He isnt My country's president" should reach you about.... Now?

This is the man who influenced/inspired the largest protest rally, made up of an entire GENDER (and some members of the other genders) (yes, plural).

This is the guy who still wants to build a wall between USA and Mexico.

This is the guy who called into question the integrity of the election process (which he was right about, but cos of Russia, and not because of the votes coming in from the undocumented mexicans he seems to have a fascination with.).

He has done nothing to Control or Squash the Alt-Right movement.

(Bad joke about Ctrl+Alt+Delete... I'll think of something towards the end mostly.)

Now, American presidents have often been referred to as "The leader of the free world" and having someone with such character, who can inspire such protests... Well, its kinda like a rubix cube being used as the final puzzle piece in a large convoluted problem. Sure, the size and shape fits, but I dont think any of the faces are what anyone can consider an overall solution.

Coming to my second point.

Cmon.

We know that there are millions of kids who want to go to the states to study.

Now, breaking news:

Studies are going to be one PART of your day. It may be a large part of the day, but its still one part of it only.

The rest of the time, you're gonna have to fend for yourself.

You need to step outside, to go buy food, to get whatever additional work done, and so on.

Basically experience life.

Now most of you wont be coming back except during the semester breaks, or the major holidays like Diwali. Meaning you'll be there in the USA for an extended period of time.

You wanna say that line again, about how since you're not American, it wont affect you?

Now, most of you, or a few, I dont know..

Some of you wont be going abroad, and living there, so the second point doesnt have anything to do with you.

But the first does.

And that is,

(Quick recap)

He managed to get an entire gender to protest his election into the office.

And keep in mind:

3.3 Million Joined the Womens' March (3 times the inauguration) with no violence.

People marched against Trump in all 7 Continents. Yes. 7.

This included Antarctica. You should now be thinking two things:

How on Earth did this guy manage to inspire such a reaction? In ANTARCTICA?!

Ah... Antarctica. I wonder if the penguins were around.

If you werent thinking the latter, you're lying. :P

Point is...

when I wake up slightly early and check social media before I have to get ready for classes, I dont wanna have to see Sharma Ji's son's aunt posting a picture saying that non americans have no right or no need to talk about foreign affairs since it doesnt concern them.

Because invariably, I know that the same person is going to post 100+ messages and pictures of her kids going off to the States for a job or to study, with all the appropriate hashtags and tagging.

When an issue against a person's character is due to the fact that multiple nations, genders, and people feel legitimately threatened, then it becomes important that people globally come together to help.

Not this idiotic notion of "Not my issue, so I cant see it. LALALALALALALALA IM IGNORING YOU."

And I wanna just end this by saying a few things:

Go to the States if you want to. Nothing wrong about that! Just make sure you know what you're getting into. No one is questioning your choices, or condemn them.

Dont tell someone whos standing on behalf of Women rights that it doesnt concern them since its not their country. Yes, we need to give more focus to our own Nation's problems, but when its something large scale, it doesnt hurt to give ear and word once in a while. Dont stamp it out just because you dont like it.

If you, or your loved ones and family, feel targeted by this post, then I want you to keep three things in mind:

1) The numbers I pulled about the Womens' march were correct. I did in fact look them up before mentioning them.

2) If you are someone who's name IS Sharma, it was purely coincidental. intention was humour.

3) I really thought I had a third one.... Hmmmm... oh! yes!! My opinions are my own, and my blog is there for me to express said opinion. I dont intend to offend or hurt.

and in the trend of all 9Gag posts:

sorry for the long rant.

Here is a potato.

What happened, but didnt really happened.

This Saturday, around 10 AM, we all get an email saying that both Tuesday and Monday are holidays. In that order. Originally Tuesday was declared as a holiday, but then at the end of the same email, Monday being a holiday was added, almost as an afterthought.

Thus began an almost exodus as college students gleefully began planning with their friends to go away from the campus for a few days. Following that, crushed hopes and dreams when they found out that getting their leave approved by their faculty advisor would be next to impossible (But a few managed somehow).

Most of us left and got out and what not.

Many did not.

I was one of those many.

BUT! 

I had a plan! 

I was going to use that time to do stuff! Important stuff! 

I was going to do a movie marathon of the entire Harry Potter Series (Except the order of the phoenix), the LOTR trilogy (NOT the hobbit one. That one needs to get retconned after the second movie...), and possibly The Chronicles of Narnia (Why did they ever stop making those movies, I wonder..)

But then I met an old roommate of mine. Who introduced me to "Salad Fingers."

Now, for those of you who dont know what Salad Fingers is, please look it up, BEFORE YOU GO SEE IT.
THEN, go see it.

I dont normally get creeped out, but good god, this one twisted my mind around along the horizontal direction, then halfway vertically, and then let it snap back like an elastic band.


So I needed some time to recover from that, because it REALLY REALLY got under my skin, and through my head.

So I found the perfect solution:

Music.

Music is possibly one of the two things which can clear and heal the corrosion of the mind.

In my second year, I had started going down a slightly darker path, where I found it ridiculously difficult to get out of bed in the mornings, loss of appetite, lack of sleep, and then sudden reversal.
There were moments when my thoughts would be extremely dark and I would just be staring at things through a greyscale filter in real time.

So what I ended up doing was reading. Reading being the second thing that can help clear the corrosion of the mind.

I guess I must have needed some help back then (Im fine now! Thank you for asking! :D ) because I ended up reading some... 33 books in 5 days on my laptop.

Anyhow, how does that relate to this post?

Salad Fingers got under my skin like nothing on the internet ever has. I say this, keeping in mind that I have read a tonne of Creepypastas, and stories from the interweb.
Stuff like...
The Russian Sleep Experiment (based off stories from Japan's Unit 731, Nazi Experimentation during the second world war, and so on)
Ben Drowned (This one was especially well done.)

But this... for some reason... it just bothered me a little too much. I dont know why but stories about how the mind deteriorates hits me somewhat harder.

So. Music. The cure.

Last time, in my post I mentioned some amazing instrumental music from video games. I tried looking for something similar on youtube this time, and I was really not disappointed.

How many of you guys seen the movies of Pitch Perfect?
Yes! THIS is where I landed up in my internet search after looking for ways to cleanse my mind of that creepy hell which is the 10 episode series of SaladFingers (I am still not 100% over that, and its still got me somewhat shuddering at each memory of that..... voice.....)

But. Pitch Perfect 1 and 2. The Acapella movies which made me regret being born in a family with such musical talent, but having none of my own. (Apparently I used to sing when I was younger, but it hasnt manifested itself anytime lately..)

So what did I find?
Take a look :D

So the guy who made this video, Mike Tompkins makes these amazing videos, all Acapella, and made using people from all over the world. Take a look at his channel and take a look at his videos!

I'll put up the two videos which actually helped me calm down a bit and get back to normal. (or whatever my equivalent of normal is.)

Ooooh.... Speaking of..

Normal, can also be taken to mean mean, or average.

So if you took all the characteristics of all the people in the world, and took the average, or their mean, then you notice something slightly odd.

The "normal" which is considered as the average of all these people is purely theoretical.

Meaning, not one single person exists in this world of ours who is "Normal".

Just thought I would throw this out there. 

Now, I love the song "Closer" by ChainSmokers, and I think this rendition of their track is simpl incredible. I really hope you guys give it a listen and enjoy it as much as I did.


BUT. I wasnt done yet. Through some suggestions here and there, I found some other stuff.

There is this channel, Wintergatan. He made...
You know what, just take a look at this.
He made this through one part trial and error, one part genius. He calls it the Marble Machine, which uses 2000 marbles to make music.

This is... I am in awe of this machine. The guy took one year to make it, and he did it by hand (no usage of computer software except to make the giant programming wheel.) There are "How it was made" videos where he talks about the construction and working of the machine.

As cliched as it may be for me to say this, as an electronics and communications engineer, to me this is honestly an engineering marvel. (That statement may make no sense, so ignore it if it doesnt. If it does, stop, stare, oooh, aaaaah, and continue.)

Apparently, this machine has some major flaws in the construction, and he is making a second machine, this time, using a CNC, and CAD for making the structure digitally. 

That project is going to happen through 2017, so I have some stuff to look forward to besides the release of the Nintendo Switch, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 

So, just to recap:

What happened: VIT Declared a holiday a little too late for us to plan our escape.

What followed: People making plans to go to Pondicherry and Bangalore.

What I planned on doing: Movie marathon of the Harry Potter Series (Except Movie 5), Lord of the Rings (And only these.), the Chronicles of Narnia, and possibly (Now that I think about it, the two Pitch Perfect movies.)

What ended up happening instead: My old roommate creed the crap out of me, and I found solace in music, engineering (or a product of), and inspiration to make this blogpost.

Since I have two more days in my extended weekend, I wanna know something from anyone reading this:

what music do you listen to when you want to "normalise" or just chill out?

Whats your favourite music?

Till then,

Looking Forward To 2017.

Hope you guys are having a great week. :)

- Ryan

My Review of The Assassin's Creed movie

Assassin’s Creed: A review

Assassin’s Creed, the movie based off the games of the same name, released a few days back in 2016. For fans of the series, it was released the same day that Desmond Miles opened the Grand Temple in Assassin’s Creed III.

Despite critics giving it poor ratings and writing it off as another failed video game movie, it is everything but. It was specially mentioned that the movie doesn’t have anything to do with the games which have been released, but is a part of the same universe, and the movie doesn’t disappoint.

It even plays out like an assassin’s creed game. In the beginning we get a glimpse of what the memory inside the Animus is like, followed by an introduction of the real time character protagonist, and then begins the plot.

So let’s start at the beginning. All assassin’s creed games are divided up into memory sequences. Within the Animus memories, the local languages are made into English for the gamer’s convenience. However, with the movie, it remained true to the actual memory of the ancestor being revisited. It’s a nice touch, I thought.

The sequence of events is so clear and cut in the movie that I am seriously expecting an Xbox 360 notification in the corner of the screen somewhere, saying “Achievement Unlocked.”

Now. A few things about this movie really stand out to me, and I have both good and bad things to say about this movie, but the good far outweighs the bad.

Firstly, the direction and the editing. Critics gave the movie a low rating, saying that the movie spent more time in the real world than inside the memory of the ancestor. I have to say, this is true, but the generalization is unjustified.

The way the direction and editing of the movie are done, it seamlessly switches between the Animus memory and the real world, so you have one moment where a polearm swing starts off with Aguilar, and ending with Callum lynch, showing how the animus works at synchronizing the memories of both ancestor and descendant. So, a lot of the scenes were never really 100% inside the animus, like what we find inside the games, leading to the generalization of “65% of the movie is in the real world, and not in the animus.”

The second thing I liked about this was the Animus. In the games, all of them till Assassin’s Creed III, we had an animus which would make the subject in an almost comatose state as he/she would progress through the memories of his/her ancestor. Basically the memories would be visible to the subject only in their mind, and these memories would show up as electrical data and viewed and recorded by whoever was monitoring the situation outside the Animus.

Not the best way to go about in a movie. People were complaining about the premise of the movie already, and now we want to add the whole “Wait. He went to sleep, and woke up with super agility and strength? Is this a remake of The Matrix?” to the mix? Nope.

The new animus actually features a movable arm which helped the memories take shape in a semi physical form, visible to the observers directly, instead of through a monitor. Again, coming back to the visuals and the direction, this was amazing.

The fight scenes, both big and small, had the audience at the edge of their seats. The combat shown was incredible and looked incredibly realistic and not drawn out or over exaggerated like most other films tend to do.

A lot of people said that they didn’t understand the movie because they didn’t play the game beforehand. Now, most likely these are the same people who would be marching up and down the aisle screaming the words “video game movie curse” to anyone who would listen, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. A lot of terminology that game fans are familiar with have been mentioned and explained, like the Bleeding Effect, the leap of faith, and the Apple of Eden.

The actual plot is actually pretty simple. The movie revolves around one thing mainly: finding the Apple of Eden. That’s what the Templars’ Abstergo foundation want. That’s what the majority of the movie is about. The whole part about meeting other assassins in the facility, and seeing the switch at the end of the movie made it better than just having everyone parading around like NPCs.

Characters are pretty good as well. We don’t have the single minded evil scientist in Sophia Rikkin, which we saw in Warren Vidic. We have a protagonist character with a past, and character development, and an actual personality. We had side characters who brought a lot to the movie.

The bleeding effect shown in the movie was very well thought out and executed. Instead of having personalities of the old assassins threatening to overwrite the subject’s mind, it shows up as hallucinations which don’t cause nearly as much damage as they did in the games.

The movie plays out like the game, and to veteran Assassin’s Creed players, you can even mentally distinguish between the memory sequences. However, there are a few things which don’t sit well with me about the movie.

The length. While the movie is about one hour and fifty minutes, I feel like the movie was focusing entirely on the main plot of an AC game, and not bothering to deal with any of the side quests. Yes, the movie was amazing, but I would have liked to have seen some more of the scenes between each memory sequence of the Assassin Aguilar.

The bleeding effect and the Abstergo industry. Now, I did praise the inclusion and execution of both above, but there were a few drawbacks and flaws which I thought were pretty obvious. Abstergo has been the face of the Templars in the 21^st Century, and no longer officially go by the name “Templars.” The setting of Abstergo: Spain was very well done, but it looked a lot like a reuse of the models used by Castle Sant’Angelo (the one from Brotherhood)’s interior, and the abstergo facility from AC III. I would have liked them to have gone for a more modern and unique look for the facility, but maybe I’m just asking for a bit much.

Most assassins in the games are shown to have three abilities that set them apart from everyone else: free running, combat mastery, and the eagle vision. Through the bleeding effect, these abilities are passed on to the subject inside the animus. Callum Lynch was bestowed with both free running and combat mastery, but throughout the movie there was never any mention of eagle vision. Once the movie started and the first two sequences had been completed and we saw the way the free running and combat was being transferred, I was eagerly looking forward to how the movie would showcase the eagle vision. Suffice to say, I was incredibly disappointed that it never made an appearance. I mean, sure, leaps of faith, and free running are iconic to the Assassin’s Creed universe, but so is possession of the Eagle Vision! Hopefully they add this in the upcoming movies.

Lastly, the presence of Michael Fassbender himself. It seemed there was a bleeding effect between the real world and the movie of sorts as well. Fassbender, known for his iconic portrayal of the mutant Magneto in X Men: First Class, Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, seems to have some of that fame pass on to the movie. Don’t get me wrong, his acting was phenomenal, both as Lynch and Aguilar.

However, in the movie, there was…

The security guards were carrying batons, and the plastic and glass ones. Similar to the ones we see in the X men movies when Magneto is kept under guard. Towards the end, you had a security officer in the 21^st Century, shooting with a Crossbow. A Crossbow. Miniature, and possibly made entirely from fiberglass or other light materials. There was also a lack of any firearms.

Yes, there was a notion that none of the patients should be harmed or had unnecessary force exerted on them, but there was no contingency for having actual firearms in case of an emergency?

People at Abstergo acting like Michael Fassbender was still Magneto, with the ability to take their guns and shoot them with it. The management of the Abstergo facility seems to be either really lazy, or really stupid. The inclusion of a crossbow in the 21^st century was appalling to say the least.

So in conclusion, I have to say that the movie was amazing. I don’t know what most of the critics were thinking when they gave this movie a bad review and rating. Most of the reviews given seem like they were already of some biased opinions before going to see the movie, and in some form, contemptuously looking at the movie for being based off a game. People also saying that the movie ended without closing all loose ends, despite the fact that the movie was intended to be a part of a trilogy and not as a standalone movie.

Yes, I can accept that out of 10, 2 points can be taken off for not including the eagle vision, the inclusion of the crossbows and pretending that it was Magneto not Callum Lynch they had imprisoned, and the weird potential romance between Lynch and Sophie Rikkin.

A good movie, worth watching in the theatres. Probably not in 3D because most 3D glasses tend to make the scenes darker and less visible than they ought to.

Laa shay’a waqui’un matlaq bale kouloun moumkin.

Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.