Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

I wouldn't really say I'm a fan of Mel Gibson and he hasn't really done anything particularly noteworthy in a while. I wasn't expecting much but this movie is his return to form. He went back to what he knows, war movies. The battle scene is very long and the violence is quite gratuitous but all in all the choreography is actually really well done. There is a constant intensity. Is it a little over the top? Sure. But war is over the top, isn't it? There were a couple of scenes that just didn't work. At one point, you see warships that bomb the ridge. And in this day and age, the warships should not have looked so fake. The CGI and special effects in that scene were not up to date. Secondly, the inevitable seppuku scene was unnecessary and in poor taste. We got the idea already, we didn't need to see it.

Andrew Garfield is quite good. His southern accent sounds a little off, but it is charming nonetheless. The first half of the movie perhaps bangs on the bible too much for my taste, but that is the whole point. Garfield plays a conscientious objector (for religious reasons) who volunteers for the army anyways. The film presents an ethical dilemma that is genuinely thought provoking. The movie is emotional in all the right places. The star of the movie, however, is Vince Vaughn. I think he is hilarious in everything he does, and a war movie is no exception. He is an interesting and brilliant (kind of provocative) choice to cast as the army sergeant, providing some comic relief to an otherwise unfunny situation. 

The Matrix (1999)

I saw this sci-fi classic for the first time on the plane. It is confusing at first but the philosophy is compelling. There are allusions to Plato's Allegory of the Cave in which the learned awaken the masses to reality. The Matrix is a simulated reality, an intricate computer program controlled by machines that we all live in. They create a whole world of mystery. I love the concept--it's mind blowing stuff. The production design is excellent (very computer-like) even if it looked a little dated, but it has been almost two decades. The bullet time effect is original and clever; I guess just seeing it in 2016 makes it look a little cheesy.  It is an action sci-fi movie and the fight sequences are filmed in an innovative way. The fight sequences are excellent, influenced by Hong Kong martial arts movies.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

I still maintain that the Hobbit did not need three films to tell a complete and satisfying tale.  In the novel, Bilbo misses the majority of the climactic battle, resulting in a battle that only lasts a few pages. Comparatively, this battle lasts for over two hours.  The movie is mostly this one gigantic battle, and it gets a little old.  The whole movie is literally battle scenes without much room for plot, not that much plot was left after the second film. That being said, this is the shortest film in either trilogy, rightfully so.

Nonetheless, this movie is the culmination of over a decade of work by Peter Jackson.  This is the capstone on JRR Tolkienn's imaginative masterwork that is Middle Earth (I don't see Peter Jackson making a film version of the Silmarillion).  It is a fitting end to an excellent series.  If the series was characterized by epic battles, this movie certainly epitomizes epic battles.  If Peter Jackson was a master of visual effects, the opening sequence in which Smaug the dragon destroys the town is stunning.  Remember that magical score by Howard Shore from the original trilogy?  The final scene in the Shire (coming full circle) closes with the theme we know and love.  The ending credits have a familiar voice in Billy Boyd (Peregrin Took from the original trilogy) who fittingly sings "The Last Goodbye."  Goodbye Middle Earth...