300: Rise of an Empire (2014) - 6

Top 3:
-The back story of Xerxes was kind of cool
-We get to see glimpses of the previous movie! that one was great!!
-Eva Green. You know what I'm talking about :) Although she looked pretty trashed most of the movie. Was she being forced to be here?

Low 3:
-Look at what according to historic records actually happened. It is far more interesting that this stupid plot. This is a very distasteful treatment of Artemisa overall, in reality not only did she survive, but Temistocles had to flee Greece. Where did he go live the rest of his life you ask? PERSIA!
-Sullivan Stapleton had some big shoes to fill after Gerald Butler. Having said that I need not to bother at all, I am the consumer and these guys need to deliver and sorry, but Sully cannot convince me at all that he is remotely close to the badassness of the last film. Even the secondary actors in 300 seemed more fierce and powerful than this guy.
-Do we have our secret weapon ready? Yes sir, inside our ship! Great, no one will anticipate me riding a horse on crashing tiremes to get to Artemisa. And no one will anticipate that Cersei (come on, she looks much better in Game of Thrones) will save my ass.

Score: 6 - Could have been much worse. And I can still go watch 300 and forget about this crap!

The Hunger Games - Catching Fire (2013) - 7

Top 3

-Casting of everyone aside the three main characters (I guess I need to say there's three and not two because everyone talks about Thor's brother, although to me he is just a nuisance)
-The games arena was very interesting.
-How they beat the crap out of Lenny for being such an idiot and only taking care of Katniss and not giving a fuck about the other dude he is supposed to be supporting.

Low 3

-No matter how hard they try, Jennifer and Josh suck at attempting to pretend they either love or not love one another. Have they ever talked outside the set?
-Plot twist / plan does not make any sense: Hey guys, we are going to help one person escape because she is a symbol or something, so let's put her in the most dangerous place we ourselves can design and NOT TELL HER ANYTHING AT ALL!! why you ask? how else are we gonna keep this stupid plot interesting!

-The fact that the plot was stolen from a much much better movie: Battle Royale. Several US agencies are supposed to go crazy trying to protect IPs, but this seems to not bother them at all. They are probably happy by not having to spend time with their boring wives and/or daughters because they are distracted by the tediousness of the love triangle between the protagonists.

Score: 7 - I still don't understand what makes Katniss so special to everyone. She sucks at the hunger games (has killed 2-3 guys and been saved a lot by other, more interesting competitors and Haymitch), is not very intelligent (can't uncover the so obvious plan and can't help anyone with anything) and, to be frank, she is not that hot. Maybe this is part of the current trend of having your teen books have a not so intelligent, not so good looking, not so talented at all (except for having A LOT OF LUCK!) protagonist . This way more mediocre readers and viewers will buy your shitty product. I guess it works :(

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - 7

Top 3:
-Darth Vader, Lucas was never able to create the same momentum the original trilogy had because he was missing this, a great antagonist. Count Dooku? are you kidding me? Plus the final fight with Luke is simply great.
-The final space battle sequence. From the memorable fishface guy's "It's a trap" to the travel in and out of the Death Star, this is great. Lame that they had to copy the same ending as the first though.
-Carrie Fisher looks amazing on that Suit.

Low 3:
-All modifications added by Lucas are idiotic, unnecessary and, in the case of the actual ending, even offensive.
-Han Solo wasn't as great as in the previous, infinitely superior Empire Strikes Back.
-Ewoks. You had to be on drugs to think that the Fing galactic empire could be defeated by these assholes.

Score: 7 - Good movie, but definitely not on par with te other two of the original trilogy.

World War Z (2013) - 5

Top 3

-The stick with a knife that reminded us of The Last of Us (a game with far better plot than this)

-The first sequence is fun as hell

-The cliffhanger at the end

Low 3

-The cure makes no sense: "let's save ourselves by infecting us with a terminal disease."

-Brad Pitt never seems to be worried about anything 'cause he is Brad Pitt. Plus his wife is just ugly, should have cast Jennifer Aniston to cause some emotional response on Brad.

-The zombie near the end (when Brad Pitt heroically infects himself with some unnamed disease) is laughable and nothing in comparison with the first zombies.

Score: 5 - Not bad within the zombie genre, but still, a shitty movie

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) - 4

Top 3:
-I feel like I'm missing a high fantasy movie that isn't Lord of the Rings related. This helps a bit.
-Enjoyed Ewan McGregor and Ian McShane on the screen
-Breaks some tropes, particularly with the bad guys

Low 3:
-Where are the special effects everybody is crazy about? I was NOT impressed
-You have to be kidding with an ending like that! and that nod at the fact that "the story might continue" at the end? just lame
-Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson are laughable protagonists

Score: 4 - Enjoyable if you really have nothing to do

What is A&M Reviews

A&M Reviews is a space where Adri and Mario can and will review whatever they want whenever they feel like it. The reviews can include but are not limited to film, places, restaurants, brands and trends.

The format goes as follows:

Top 3 points of subject
Low 3 points of subject
Final Score (from 1 to 10) and final descriptor