Purely Movies Reviews

Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "The Magicians season 1 TV review" People are saying that The Magicians is like an adult Harry Potter. Though there is the common theme of magic, the settings and characterization are completely different. Magic in The Magicians is seen as a dangerous form. It is not glamorized and some side effects are nasty. No character here is perfect, there is no role model. Everyone is stripped down to their individual behavior and thoughts. What you get in the end is a decent TV series that give you a reason to follow through the whole season. Episode 1-13: I admit that there are some episodes that seem to go nowhere in plot development. One thing commendable is that you never know what will happen to the characters next. Right down to the end of the first episode where the mysterious villain attacks the school. The characters are vulnerable. Although some of their characteristics are annoying, they feel real. Most of their actions have believable motivat...

Rating: 3.3/5 Review: "Shadowhunters season 1 TV review" The first adaption of The Mortal Instruments received negative response from critics and fans and did not do big in box office. Thus, a sequel was not greenlighted and the fans are given a 13-episode season. Having a TV series is not necessary a bad thing as there is more time to develop the characters. After a decent first episode, the rest of the episodes felt more episodic with subplots to fill up the runtime. This results an unnecessary drawn-out season. The story: The Mortal Instruments film has only two hours to adapt a book. Though fans complained that a lot of details are left out, I enjoyed its brisk pace. Although the TV series has longer time to develop the characters, at the end of the season, I felt nothing much for the characters. Even when it comes to the big twist between two characters, it felt lackluster. Despite its shallow character's development, Shadowhunters still tries its best to lo...

Rating: 4.2/5 Review: "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice 3D IMAX movie review" "Batman V Superman may have a disjointed plot but is saved from its stunning action scenes, visual effects and brief but decent emotional development of Batman and Superman." Batman V Superman has to be one of the most anticipated film of the year. Who doesn't want to see two iconic superheroes clash head to head? Unfortunately when the review embargo was lifted, critics were not amused; it scores a low 30% on rotten tomatoes. The thing is that director Zack Snyder is never viewed positively by most critics. So is the sequel to Man of Steel really as bad as what the critics say? I would say not. The story: First of all, Zack has a penchant for attractive visuals and action scenes. And it shows in this. Most of the action scenes happens in the third act. So what happen in the first and second acts? Critics have complained of its disjointed plot. I would agree to some extent ...

Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "The Shannara Chronicles season 1 TV review" For a TV fantasy series, the scope and visuals are pretty decent considering TV series do not have the budget as a film would have.  Aside from decent visuals, The Shannara Chronicles is fairly engaging though it veers off to the safe fantasy young adult romance cliches. Episode 1-10: Adapted from the popular novels, the first episode spends little time introducing the massive amount of characters, clans, the world and whatnot. It thrusts straight into the story where Ellcrys, an ancient tree, is dying.  Amberle, the Elven princess, must set on a journey to save it. Each episode is one step closer to the goal. Friendship and romance are forged. For a young adult series, it surprisingly has many deaths, major and minor alike. The pacing may not be as fast-paced as some big-budget fantasy films but it is packed with enough conflicts and action. Honestly, I would rather watch a condensed 3 hours film rath...

Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "Galavant season 2 TV review" The second outing of Galavant is a little underwhelming. The pop culture and self-awareness jokes are getting more forced and less amusing. The musical set pieces are not as entertaining as in the first season. That said, it is not a bad season but compared to the first, I felt disappointed. Episode 1-10: It continues where the first season ends off. The whole season is on the bonding between Galavant and King Richard which is a decent story and character development. Of course, with their different characteristics, you can expect tiff gags where on and off, they would fight for whatever reasons. One thing that is increasingly getting on my nerves is the frequent self-awareness jokes. Even during the songs, they would break into the self-awareness tone. Season 1 has balanced those jokes but it felt like the season 2 has indulged the jokes. Nonetheless, each episode is not boring and often filled with ridiculous jokes...

Rating: 3.2/5 Review: "In the room movie review" "A decent arthouse film that may only appeal to fans of Eric Khoo." Arthouse local director, Eric Khoo, is back with a controversial film. Surely, its awareness increased when Eric refused to edit for the classified rating, R21. It is apparent that the version, that will be shown in local cinemas, is cut. The uncut version is only shown in film festivals and probably in Hong Kong too. The story: It is no surprise that sex takes up the bulk of the film. In the six stories, sex is the main theme. But do not let the racy theme deter the viewing. Eric, being an artistic director, serves more than just a titillation piece. He plays with emotions and thankfully knows when to end each story. Each story varies in runtime. The shortest story must the first one, in English, where a talk between two men leads to a surprising twist of love. It moves on to a funny second story, in Cantonese, that is the most outstanding ...

Rating: 4.3/5 Review: "Deadpool movie review" "The non-linear straight-forward plot and exciting action make Deadpool a worthy watch in the Marvel's film franchise." Kudos to Ryan Reynolds and the team for insisting that this film is made true to the nature of the source material. Superhero films are often classified as PG-13 with the exception of Watchmen, Blade and a few more. So imagine my surprise when it is announced that it has received an R rating in USA especially a 20th Century Fox film. What you get is loads of bloody fun with some pretty neat action. The story: What makes this stand out from the other superhero films is the presentation. Sure, it has same old love story and superhero origin story. But the switching back and forth in present and past is a wise choice. Deadpool starts in the middle and then unravels the origin before hitting the climax. If the story is told in a linear form, it will be forgettable. Now that leaves the action....