Tag Archives: aaron taylor-johnson

04.27.24
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The Fall Guy

Colt Seavers, a down-and-out stuntman, must find the missing star of a new blockbuster film he’s doubling on, while (hopefully) winning the director (and his ex-girlfriend)’s affection back.

David Leitch continues to be a leading voice in action movies with his creative and passionate voice for action and comedy that often turns out star-studded and visually appealing. Much of the film’s charm comes from Ryan Gosling’s brilliant turn as Colt. Like his Oscar-nominated Ken in Barbie, Colt is a sad shell of a “cool guy” who’s too evidently madly in love. Gosling’s comedic timing is at the lightning speed of his Ken, or Holland March from The Nice Guys, and his big personality infuses Colt with a foolishly endearing heart. Emily Blunt also gives one of her most entertaining performances of late as the romantic lead, and Winston Duke is also loads of fun as Colt’s best friend and the film-within-a-film’s stunt coordinator, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, and Stephanie Hsu also round out the stellar cast. Waddingham in particular is very extravagant but delightful as Gail, the producer of the film Colt’s working on.

The most clever and thrilling part of The Fall Guy is that Leitch makes the movie stunt-filming scenes as high-stakes and exciting as the actual action scenes of the film. The great scale, dedication, and sound effects make shooting an action movie stunt feel like the incredible, hard-achieved feat that it really is. Additionally, the lightspeed humor feels effortless thanks to the writing, editing, and the cast’s delivery. The lively soundtrack does have a few generic and overused selections, but it’s not enough to sink this smooth romantic action comedy where all the different genre pieces play off each other pitch-perfectly. The director’s career as a stunt coordinator is made evident by the love and tribute to the stunts community here, in this blockbuster that’s hilariously pleasing and greatly worth the big screen price of admission.

05.01.15
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Avengers: Age of Ultron

ratings4

When Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as they battle to save the planet from destruction at the hands of the villainous Ultron.

Avengers: Age of Ultron hits you with everything you expect from a blockbuster superhero movie. The cast are all lovable, not to mention their high sense of humor. I felt that the most amazing job came from James Spader, who uses only voice to fantastically portray the menacing A.I. trying to bring “peace” to the world by replacing humanity with robots as the dominant species on the face of the Earth. Ultron is the best Marvel villain yet, as he is unpredictable, and even feels human in the flesh. Newcomers Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen do a decent job. They don’t play a huge role in the film, and I was slightly disappointed by them, as I expected more from them. Another thing I liked about the cast is that each Avenger is humanized, and given a reason to care for. For example, Hawkeye in no longer “that cool guy with the bow and arrow”, he now also feels to the audience like a real person, with a family and a reason to fight. All the main actors are at their best, and I love the new character of Vision, I can’t wait to see what the filmmakers do with him next.

Now, about behind the camera. I felt that writer/director Joss Whedon put such great effort into the film, from it’s cinematography, its stunning visual effects, its boldly hilarious script, and its fantastic cast, to its brilliant storyline. Unfortunately, Whedon won’t be returning to direct the third and fourth Avengers films, but this is definitely a milestone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Recently, there have been two concepts constantly being used brilliantly (and in various ways) in contemporary sci-fi film: Time Travel and Artificial Intelligence. Last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past showed us the best of modern time travel (not as a film, but as the concept being used in the movie), Avengers: AOU does exactly that with A.I. The ending is a great setup to Phase Three. I can’t wait to see what Marvel has for us next!

Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a must-go for all fans of Marvel’s work! It has a stellar cast, a great sense of humor, and is a very entertaining time at the movies!

Avengers Age of Ultron.jpg

06.08.14
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Godzilla

My rating: ratings4

When two creatures known as “MUTOs” (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) awaken and threaten our existence, the huge beast Godzilla must restore balance as humanity is left defenseless. The movies stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Lieutenant Ford Brody, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins as two scientists, Elizabeth Olsen as Ford’s wife, and Bryan Cranston as Joe, a scientist who is Ford’s dad.

This movie is filled with action, destruction, and awesome monster fight scenes. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Cranston both did a great job acting, and Bryan Cranston did have a few emotional scenes. The visual effects and the soundtrack are both great. The most exciting parts are the first hour and the last half-hour, which is the boss fight between Godzilla and the MUTOs. The half-hour between those two parts isn’t as interesting, but once Ken Watanabe says, “Let them fight,” everything starts to warm up again. Godzilla feels very similar to last year’s blockbuster Pacific Rim, with all the monster battles and city destruction (especially San Francisco), but Godzilla feels more realistic and exciting, and the scenes before Godzilla first arrives on screen are still interesting. The best scene of the entire movie is when Ford and a couple other soldiers enter skydive into the city, just as the final battle between the monsters begins.

The director, Gareth Edwards, clearly knows how to make a great movie (this is his first blockbuster movie, his other movie was the low-budget Monsters) and I hope he makes a lot of great movies in the future (including a Star Wars spin-off that he is set to direct). The movie is very well-done, including the cinematography, visual effects, and casting, and it’s very exciting. I think anybody 12 or over would love this movie and will have a great time watching it.