Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Movie -- Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Credit:
IMDB
Wikipedia


Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (also known as Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge) is a 2017 American fantasy comedy swashbuckler film, the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and the sequel to On Stranger Tides (2011). The film is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from a script by Jeff Nathanson, with Jerry Bruckheimer serving again as producer. Johnny Depp, Kevin McNally and Geoffrey Rush reprise their roles as Jack Sparrow, Joshamee Gibbs and Hector Barbossa, respectively. The film also stars Javier Bardem as Armando Salazar, Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner and Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth. The film also features the returns of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann respectively, following their absence from the previous movie, On Stranger Tides.

Plot:
Two years following the post-credits scene of At World's End, 12-year old Henry Turner boards the Flying Dutchman to inform his father, Will Turner, that the mythical Trident of Poseidon is able to break his curse and free him from his ship. Will does not believe the Trident exists and orders Henry to leave his ship and never come back.

Nine years later (and five after the events of On Stranger Tides), Henry works on a British Royal Navy warship. While chasing a pirate ship, Henry realizes the captain is about to sail them into the Devil's Triangle. The captain dismisses his concerns and has Henry locked up for attempting mutiny. As they sail into the Triangle, they come across a shipwreck that quickly comes to life with undead sailors, led by Captain Salazar. The ghost crew board the ship and kill everyone in their path. Henry is confronted by Salazar, who sees a wanted poster for Jack Sparrow in Henry's cell. He allows Henry to live so he can deliver a message to Jack that death is coming his way.
In Saint Martin, a young woman named Carina Smyth has been sentenced to death for witchcraft because of her knowledge of astronomy and horology. She manages to escape her cell and briefly runs into Jack, who is in the process of robbing a bank with his crew. Jack and his crew manage to evade the British Army, yet they realize the vault they stole is empty. Jack's crew abandons him for being unlucky and not delivering any loot. Carina later meets Henry, who has also been sentenced to death for supposedly committing treachery aboard the vessel of the Royal Navy, and tells him she knows of a way to find the Trident. She helps him escape, but gets caught by the British Army.

Feeling depressed after losing his crew's support, Jack goes back to town and inside a local tavern. Having no money to pay for his drink, he reluctantly trades his mystical compass. This causes the Devil's Triangle to crumble and allows Salazar and his crew to sail the seas freely. Soon afterwards, Jack gets caught by the British Army. Before both he and Carina can be executed, Henry helps them escape with help from Jack's crew, and together they sail away on Jack's ship, the Dying Gull. Carina reveals a map that will lead them to the Trident, and reluctantly decides to team up with Henry and Jack in order to achieve their goals; Carina and Henry grow closer as their adventure progresses. Salazar and his crew are roaming the seas and destroying ships in Captain Barbossa's fleet in their search for Jack. Barbossa decides to meet Salazar and offers to help find Jack in exchange for sparing his fleet. Salazar explains to Barbossa how he and his crew once sailed the seas to kill every pirate. They were undefeated until they ran into a young Jack Sparrow, who tricked them into sailing into the Devil's Triangle, where Salazar and his crew died and were cursed to remain undead. Jack's mystical compass was the key to freeing them from the Devil's Triangle; letting go of its ownership would unleash the owner's worst fear.

When Salazar's ship finds the Dying Gull, Jack, Henry and Carina escape on a rowboat while the crew remains on board to cause a distraction. Salazar and his crew chase Jack, but upon arriving at a small island, Jack realizes Salazar's ghost crew can't step on land. Barbossa arrives at the island and decides to help Jack; he breaks the Black Pearl out of the bottle and returns it to its original size. With Jack's compass, which he had managed to locate, Barbossa takes command of the ship and lets Carina navigate them to the island. During this time, both Jack and Barbossa realize that Carina is Barbossa's long lost daughter. Barbossa tells Jack that he left her at an orphanage with his diary to make sure she lived a better life, never imagining that he would see her again.

Shortly after, they narrowly avoid being attacked by a British Navy's warship, which is destroyed by Salazar's ship. Jack's crew then battles Salazar's men. During the fight, they arrive at the Trident's location, a small uncharted island, and Henry is captured by Salazar. Jack and Carina fall down a cliff after she activates a path to the Trident, which is hidden on the ocean floor. Salazar possesses Henry to walk on dry land, allowing Salazar to seize the Trident and fight Jack, impaling him with the weapon. Henry, now free of Salazar, realizes that destroying the Trident will break all curses upon the sea. He destroys the Trident before Salazar could deliver the final blow, returning Salazar and his crew to the living. As the divided sea caves in, Barbossa helps Jack, Henry, and Carina as they're pulled up to safety by the anchor of the Black Pearl. Still intent on killing Jack, Salazar grabs onto the anchor. Carina then notices a tattoo on Barbossa's arm, matching an image on the cover of the diary, and realizes her relation to him. After proclaiming his admiration for her, Barbossa sacrifices himself to take down Salazar and his crew, ensuring safety for his daughter and the others. Aboard the Black Pearl, Carina declares to Henry that her last name is no longer Smyth, but Barbossa.

Some time later, Henry is joined by Carina as they watch his father finally set foot on land again, no longer bound to the Flying Dutchman. As Henry and Carina declare their love with a kiss, Will is reunited with his wife Elizabeth. Watching from the deck of the Pearl, Jack (joined by Jack the Monkey) sails away with his crew, opening up his mystical compass to reveal their next heading.
In a post-credits scene, Will and Elizabeth are asleep when their bedroom is entered by a silhouette of Davy Jones. Will awakens and assumes this to be a nightmare, oblivious to the presence of barnacles on the floor.





Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Movie :: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Credit:
- IMDB
- Wikipedia


King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a 2017 epic fantasy film directed by Guy Ritchie and written by Ritchie, Joby Harold and Lionel Wigram, inspired by Arthurian legends. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as the title character, with Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law and Eric Bana in supporting roles.

Plot:
Mordred, an iron fisted warlock, and his armies lay siege to Camelot, seeking to establish the dominance of magic-wielding mages over humankind. Uther Pendragon, king of the Britons, infiltrates Mordred's lair and beheads him, destroying his forces and saving Camelot. Later that evening, Uther's treacherous brother Vortigern, who covets the throne, orchestrates a coup and sacrifices his wife Elsa to sea witches in order to summon a demon knight, who kills Uther's wife and slays him in combat. The only survivor is Uther's son, who drifts away in a boat and eventually winds up in Londinium, where he is found and raised by prostitutes, who name him Arthur.

Arthur grows into a skilled fighter and man of the streets, alongside his friends Tristan and Backlack. The three confront a group of Vikings headed by Kjartan, who had mistreated one of the prostitutes, forcing them to pay her a year's wages for their behavior. Afterwards, the brothel is raided by the Blacklegs, Vortigern's minions, and Arthur learns that the Vikings were guests of the king and attacking them, therefore, constitutes a crime against him personally. Arthur tries to escape the city, but is caught and put on a ship with hundreds of other men. He learns that a mysterious, magic sword has appeared near Vortigern's castle, and the Blacklegs have been forcing all men of Arthur's age to try to pull it from the surrounding stone. When Arthur tries, he pulls the sword out and is quickly overwhelmed by and passes out from the vast power it contains. Vortigern meets with him in the dungeon, revealing his true lineage. Meanwhile, a woman, identifying herself as an acolyte of Merlin, meets with Uther's former general, Sir Bedivere. She is referred to only as the mage.

At Arthur's execution, planned by Vortigern, the mage uses her magic to stage a diversion while Percival and Rubio, two of Bedivere's men, rescue Arthur. Taken to Bedivere's hideout, Arthur initially refuses to help them, but soon collapses again when he tries to wield the sword. Suspecting that he lacks the willpower to control it, the mage persuades Bedivere to take Arthur to the "Blacklands", the realm where, years earlier, Merlin destroyed Mordred's tower in defiance of his darkness. It is revealed that Vortigern was responsible for persuading Mordred to rebel against humanity, having grown jealous of Uther's power. Arthur, having restored the sword's magic, returns determined to destroy Vortigen for his crimes.

Together with his friends and Bedivere's men, Arthur stages a series of ambushes and attacks to force Vortigern out of hiding. Aware that his maid is a spy for Bedivere, Vortigen announces plans to meet with his barons in Londonium, sending a body double in his place. The rebels quickly realize the deception, but attack anyway which was all part of his plan. In the process, Rubio is captured while Backlack is severely wounded and left behind. The others take refuge in a fighters' school, run by Arthur's mentor George, where they are quickly overrun by the Blacklegs. Seeing the mage being held at knifepoint, Arthur is overcome by his rage and unleashes Excalibur's potential, single-handly killing all of the enemy soldiers. As night falls and riots break out all over Londonium, the rebels take shelter in a safe house, where they are soon joined by Backlack and his son Blue.

Knowing that he is mortally wounded, Backlack urges the others to go on and promises that he will be coming after them soon. Unbeknownst to them, the Blacklegs' commander, Mischief John, has been following the wounded Backlack, and he and Vortigern interrogate him for information. Blue sneaks back and, when caught, tries to bluff them that he is simply a worker coming to do his shift. But he can't maintain the masquerade when his father is threatened. Arthur comes back and manages to save Blue, but not before Blue watches his father die.

Afterwards, Arthur, ashamed of his failures, throws the sword into a lake and runs into the forest. When he stops at a small marsh, the Lady of the Lake pulls him into her realm and shows him a vision of the future, where England has been ruined by Vortigern's rule and the people are left to suffer in misery. Recognizing that only he can put an end to his uncle's reign, Arthur reunites with Bedivere, George, and Percival. When they return to the rebel hideout, however, they discover all of their allies dead, Vortigern having found them thanks to information provided by Rubio. They encounter the captain, who delivers a message from the king: If Arthur does not surrender himself by nightfall, both the mage and Blue will die. Bedivere is able to get the former released in exchange for Arthur surrendering both himself and the sword.

Just as Vortigern is about to kill his nephew, a giant snake controlled by the mage attacks and devours the captain and his men, while the others free Vortigern's prisoners and lead them in a revolt against the Blacklegs. A desperate Vortigern sacrifices his only daughter and is transformed into the demon knight, confronting Arthur in a separate dimension. Despite his fighting skill, Arthur is quickly beaten. Just as he is about to submit, he witnesses a flashback of the moment when his father was struck down, having turned his own body to stone to prevent Vortigern from seizing the sword. Arthur snatches the sword before it impales Uther, who gives him the right to wield it. Arthur then destroys Vortigern's weapon and kills him violently.

In the aftermath, Arthur, George, and Percival begin building the round table, where Arthur and his knights will meet. Arthur also dissolves Vortigern's pact with the Vikings, declaring that they must respect England's power if they wish to avoid war. Blue and the prostitutes arrive with the crown of Uther, which Arthur accepts. King Arthur then addresses his new subjects, holding the sword aloft in the air.


Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Movie :: Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)

Credit:
- IMDB
- Wikipedia


Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy and the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, and Kurt Russell. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his mysterious parentage.

Plot:
In 2014, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Baby Groot are renowned as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ayesha, leader of the Sovereign race, has the Guardians protect valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster in exchange for Gamora's estranged sister Nebula, who was caught attempting to steal the batteries. After Rocket steals some for himself, the Sovereign attacks the Guardians ship with a fleet of drones. The drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, but the Guardians crash-land on a nearby planet. The figure reveals himself as Quill's father, Ego. He invites Quill, Gamora, and Drax to his home planet, while Rocket and Groot remain behind to repair the ship and guard Nebula.

Ayesha hires Yondu Udonta and his crew, who have been exiled from the greater Ravager community for child trafficking, to recapture the Guardians. They capture Rocket, but when Yondu hesitates to turn over Quill, whom he raised, his lieutenant Taserface leads a mutiny with help from Nebula. Taserface imprisons Rocket and Yondu aboard Yondu's ship and executes his loyalists while Nebula leaves to track down and kill Gamora, whom she blames for all the torture inflicted on her by their father, Thanos. While imprisoned, Rocket and Yondu bond. Groot and Yondu's loyalist Kraglin free Rocket and Yondu, and they destroy the ship and its crew as they escape, though not before Taserface warns the Sovereign.
Ego, a god-like Celestial that manipulated the matter around its consciousness to form his "home" planet, explains that he projected a humanoid guise to travel the universe and discover a purpose, eventually falling in love with Quill's mother Meredith. Ego hired Yondu to collect the young Quill after Meredith's death, but the boy was never delivered and Ego has been searching for his son ever since. He teaches Quill to manipulate their Celestial power. Nebula arrives at Ego's planet and tries to kill Gamora, but the pair reach an uneasy alliance when they discover caverns filled with skeletal remains. Ego reveals to Quill that in his travels he planted seedlings on thousands of worlds which can terraform them into new extensions of himself, but they can only be activated by the combined power of two Celestials. To that end, he impregnated countless women and hired Yondu to collect the children, but killed them all when they failed to access the Celestial power. Under the influence of Ego's power, Quill helps him activate the seedlings, which begin to consume every world. However, Quill fights back when Ego reveals that he caused Meredith's death due to the distraction she posed.

Mantis, Ego's naive empath servant, grows close to Drax and warns him of Ego's plan. Gamora and Nebula also learn of the plan just as Rocket, Yondu, Groot and Kraglin arrive. The reunited Guardians reach Ego's brain at the planet's core, and fight the Sovereign's arriving drones. Rocket makes a bomb using the stolen batteries, which Groot plants on Ego's brain. Quill battles Ego with his newfound Celestial powers in order to distract him enough to allow the other Guardians and Mantis to escape. The bomb explodes, killing Ego and disintegrating the planet. Yondu sacrifices himself to save Quill, who realizes that the reason Yondu kept him was to spare him from the fate of Ego's other progeny, and that Yondu was Quill's true "daddy". Having reconciled with Gamora, Nebula still chooses to leave and attempt to kill Thanos. The Guardians hold a funeral for Yondu, which is attended by dozens of Ravager ships, acknowledging Yondu's sacrifice and accepting him again as a Ravager.
In a series of mid- and post-credit scenes, Kraglin takes up Yondu's telekinetic arrow and control-fin; Ravager leader Stakar Ogord reunites with his ex-teammates; Groot starts growing back to normal size, exhibiting typical teenage behavior in the process; Ayesha creates a new artificial being with whom she plans to destroy the Guardians, naming him Adam; and a group of uninterested Watchers listen to their informant discussing several experiences on Earth.