Frank | Movie Review

Frank stars Domhnall Gleeson, Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scoot McNairy. In this film, Domhnall Gleeson joins a band and the leader singer, Frank, played by Michael Fassbender, is a person who always wears this huge head and never takes it off. He showers with it, eats liquid food through a straw and even sleeps with  the mask on.I don't want to say too much about where this movie goes and how it unfolds.

Domhnall Gleeson plays a character who starts out kind of normal, and becomes a person who holds a certain amount of power in the band. The film shows what he does with that power. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an absolute psycho whose character slowly develops, maybe not becoming any less crazy, but development nonetheless. Scoot McNairy is great as always and is sort of a transition for Domhnall Gleeson's character. Michael Fassbender pulls off one of the best performances of the year.


I absolutely adored this movie. I thought the writing was on point the whole time. It knew when to unleash it's comedy. It is really funny when it wants to be, and you really care about the characters when they want you to care about the characters. I found myself in particular, really attached to Michael Fassbender and Scoot McNairy. I love how as the film goes on, you start to doubt the quality of the band, however I loved the song at the end, just saying.

I'm going to give Frank

A+

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

The Boxtrolls | Movie Review

The Boxtrolls is an stop-motion animated that was on my top 10 most anticipated movies of the year since January. The movie stars Issac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark) as the main character, Eggs. Eggs is a baby who was taken by the Boxtrolls and raised by them. He thinks that he himself is a Boxtroll because that's all he knows. All the Boxtrolls (and Eggs) are named whatever is on the box that they wear (Shoes, Fish, Fragile, Wheels, Bucket, Sweets etc). Ben Kingsley voices Archibald Snatcher, a man-ish who is trying to steal all the Boxtrolls so he can get his white hat. If you are not confused right now, it's because you have already seen the movie.

This movie looks absolutely incredible. This is from the makers of Coraline and Paranorman so I was looking foward to the animation. There are definitely some scenes that you look at and you just have to take a moment and pay respect to whoever put in so much attention to detail that it looks almost flawlessly. The cheese scene will hopefully go on to be iconic in the world of stop motion animation.

My main problem with this movie is that it takes a long time to pick up. The first 45 minutes to an hour was very slow and I found quite weak in the humour department. I don't mind if it's not a comedy but the story was lacking and it seemed as if they were dragging out the story to make it a movie length story. They repeated the same plot points over and over and maybe even repeated the same lines once or twice. However, there was a certain point in the movie, just over half way, where it picks up and becomes a really solid and funny movie that I enjoyed and wanted for the first half.

Overall The Boxtrolls is a mixed bag with stunning stop motion

I'm going to give The Boxtrolls

B

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

Grand Theft Auto V | Video Game Review

Okay guys, after a long break, The Usual Reviews is back with a review for hands down the most popular video game of 2013. Grand Theft Auto V is yet another addition to the controversial, violent and drug heavy game.

The story mode focuses on three
main characters: Trevor, Michael and Franklin. Trevor is the most popular and craziest character. He is the biggest reason this game is so controversial. Then there is Franklin, he is the most interesting character. He goes from a poor man to a crime lord. Finally, there is Michael, his storyline is the most boring, but at times he can be the most fun to play with.

The online mode is very fun. Earning money and trying to level up as fast as possible so you can compete with others is a lot of fun. The only problem with the online mode is that sometimes you are left with nothing to do and are just roaming around, left with only robbing convenience stores and annoying people online, they need to add more missions and I'm not going to bother to go in to the fact that the online mode needs more heists such as bank and jewellery stores, just like the story mode has. At least having online races and death matches is fun depending on who you are playing with.

The graphics in this game are absolutely stunning and the world is so clear and detailed. I can't wait to see how this game looks on current gen systems when it is released in December on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Overall Grand Theft Auto V is a really fun game that leaves you with lots of gameplay

I'm going to give Grand Theft Auto V

8.5

I'm Jonathan and this is Games for the People 

Old Reviews

Hi guys, check out some of my older reviews here. I will still be writing reviews on both, but it is incredibly difficult to archive the reviews on to here.

X-Men 2 (X2) | Movie Review

X-Men 2 is the sequel to Marvel's first major success: X-Men. Say what you will about Blade but X-Men really did blow everyone away. X-Men 2 is a continuation and introduces new mutants like Nightcrawler and also furthers characters like Mystique and Magneto.

This is one of my favourite Marvel films. While their aren't very many negatives I have with the film, I will get them out of the way now. It does feel a bit dated but in terms of superhero movies that are dated, it does hold up really well in comparison *cough* Spider-Man *cough*. Their are some scenes that are kind of 'why did that need to happen' moments but I still stuck with the film.

The action was splendid, the opening scene was a real treat and was homaged in DOFP for those of you who notice it. This film really does give further depth to Wolverine's character and shows what he does when he is presented with situations that are not an easy fix. This movie also gives an insight on whether Magneto is really the 'villain' or not. Bryan Singer should not have left X-Men 3 to do Superman Returns, but alas.

X-Men 2 is a terrific superhero film and holds up for the most part

I'm going to give X-Men 2 

A

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Movie Review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. It picks up after The Avengers and Steve Rogers is starting to cope with modern times with the help from others. However (without spoiling too much) something is happening with S.H.I.E.L.D meanwhile The Winter Soldier comes after Captain America.

Black Widow is a great partner for Cap and Nick Fury is an awesome side character. The Winter Soldier is one of my favourite Marvel villains from all the movies he is awesome and has such a menacing feel to him.

The first time I saw this film, I felt in slowed down a little at the beginning following the boat scene, but upon a second viewing, I have realised that I may have just not have been listening to the incredible dialogue.

This film has a few different genres. It goes from action to political drama and even a bit of spy espionage. It mixes all these genres and creates not only a fantastic Marvel movie, but just a great movie in general.

This movie is my third favourite Marvel movie

I'm going to give Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A+

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

Godzilla (2014) | Spoiler Review

In my spoiler free review, I stated that I needed to elaborate more on the film but I couldn't do that without spoiling certain plot points. This is my first spoiler review and this might be long, it might be not, but the length of my spoiler reviews will vary in length. Okay lets get started...

The first 30-40 minutes with Bryan Cranston were really good. He had character depth and emotion. However they decided to kill him off and dedicate the focus on Aaron Taylor Johnson's character. In my opinion he is a pretty plain character. His wife, played by Elisabeth Olsen, had great character development however her scenes mainly consisted of talking to Aaron Taylor Johnson on the phone.

The other thing that bothered me is that the MUTO's had more screen than Godzilla. They weren't stand outs either, they were pretty generic and had a scream that was no where near as cool as Godzilla's scream. Another thing that sucks was the airport scene. You get a great reveal with Godzilla as it pans up to show him. Then it cuts and doesn't show the fight. That was the point where I felt personally, it was too much teasing and now they were just being cruel. That scene would've been awesome. But I wasn't expecting Pacific Rim and out of all these flaws, it is the one I can overlook the most.

By far, the best scene without Godzilla, in my opinion, was the tsunami or tsunami-ish scene. It was intense and that dog was so likeable for some reason.

The final fight scene was very epic. I would have preferred a day time fight scene or a better lit major city scene, but this was still jaw dropping. The scene were Godzilla breaths the atomic breath down the MUTO's breath was one of the greatest scenes in film history

I stick by my A- grade but I hope you guys can see why I needed to elaborate further.

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

X-Men: Days of Future Past | Movie Review

X-Men: Days of Future Past is yet another instalment in the up and down X-Men series. I have just started reviewing so you guys don't know much about me. I am a HUGE Marvel fan. I love Marvel movies and comic books so much. Anyway, the film stars Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawerance. In the film, the Sentinals have taken over the world and Kitty Pryde must send Wolverine back into the past to stop the Sentinals from taking over the world. That's right, a time travel movie, this could go horribly wrong right?

WRONG! This is a fantastic movie. It is splendid, the movie does not shy away from fixing the timeline from the films that were not directed by Bryan Singer. This film has a great sense of humour while also keeping a moderately dark tone. The characters are the best part of the film. Quicksilver by far steals the show, but every mutant gets their time to shine. Every single one of them. That's right, Toad fans! The dialogue between Fassbender and McAvoy gave me chills. Magneto is officially the best developed superhero villain ever. This film really gives a great insight about his point of views and how 'evil' he really is.

2 from 2, that's right I will be doing another spoiler review but for the meantime...

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a seemingly flawless film and that is after seeing it twice

I'm going to give X-Men: Days of Future Past

A+

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews 

Godzilla (2014) | Movie Review

Hello Everyone! This is not an easy film for a first review. Welcome to the blog and today I will be reviewing Godzilla. This film stars Aaron Taylor Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe and Elisabeth Olsen. While it is titled 'Godzilla', the film is primarily focused on the build up. The film starts out with Bryan Cranston as the lead but slowly turns into Aaron Taylor Johnson's film. I really liked when Bryan Cranston was the main focus and it reminded me of Jaws with an interesting and emotional build up. But when the film started to focus on Aaron Taylor Johnson, the film slowed down because his character was a little emotionless.

The actual monster, Godzilla, gets maybe 10-15 minutes screen time. However those 10-15 minutes are absolutely mind blowing. Godzilla is so awesome and the end is worth the movie ticket alone. I saw this in 2D so I cannot comment how the 3D looks but even in 2D, it was incredible. The Godzilla creature has so much emotion on it's face which shows how much attention to detail the special effects crew put in to him.

I may have to do a spoiler review to go more in depth but for now...

Godzilla is a fun movie that could have benefited with a more interesting main character.

I'm going to give Godzilla

A-

I'm Jonathan and this is The Usual Reviews

Introduction to the Blog and How This Works

Hello my friends! Welcome to my blog. My name is Jonathan. I thank you for viewing this blog. I will start off with a few 'rules' that I will stick by on this blog.

1. I will not spoil a movie unless the title has 'Spoiler Review' in the title. I am completely against spoiling and people who spoil movies.

2. I will 100% give my honest opinion on a film. I will not lie or give dishonest opinions on a film just because it has a '95%' on rotten tomatoes or '8.5' on IMDB.

3. I am willing to take constructive criticism from you guys. By all means tweet me @jonathanmaroon

I will be reviewing: Movies, books, TV shows and comic books. I will focus primarily in that order movies being the most popular. I thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy your stay!

- Jonathan