Taken 3 - this time they took the dog

  Liam Neeson returns in the third instalment of the Taken series as Bryan Mills in all of of his growling glory, and apparently he's the one who is on the run even though nobody has been kidnapped. Neeson isn't the only one who is reprising their Taken roles, Famke Janssen is back as Bryan's ex-wife Lenore St. John, Maggie Grace is the daughter from hell that is always attracting danger. The new faces in the film are Stuart St. John, Lenore's husband who is played by Dougray Scott, even though the character was played by Xander Berkeley in the first movie. Forest Whitaker appears as Sgt. Frank Dotzler, an intuitive police inspector trying to put all of the pieces together. Spoilers ahead!

  So the film begins with a guy being killed by a group of Russians and them speaking about some one owing them money. The next scene shows Liam Neeson buying a giant panda for Kim's birthday, the leads to an awkward chat with the boyfriend and then leads to Bryan leaving and chatting to Lenore on the phone, this then leads to them having dinner and possibly rekindling the fire they once had with each other. A day later Stuart shows up telling him to back off because he's getting to close to Lenore. 

  

  Some time later Lenore suddenly texts Bryan to meet with him at his house, but he find her lying on his bed with her throat slashed, police find Bryan and try to arrest him. Mills knows he's being set up and break free and goes on the run, he learns that it was a group of Russian mobsters that took her and killed her. Inspector Dotzler is in charge of capturing Mills but even he knows that it wasn't him that did it. 

  After meeting with Kim at her college, she thinks that Stuart is involved some how, Bryan decides to go after him. This leads to an impossible car chase, insane shoot out in convenience store and alot of smashed bottles. Bryan catches up with Stuart and he reveals that he owed money to the Russian mobsters and he got Lenore killed and Kim will be next. 

  Bryan gets his old special forces buddies to help him protect Kim and bring down the Russian Mobsters, they break in to a skyscraper and Bryan unleashes his 'particular set of skills' on everyone, he goes one on one with the mobster leader only to find out that both him and the mobsters were both tricked by Stuart. Kim once again gets kidnapped, this time by Stuart and Bryan chases after him. 

  To end this movie Bryan basically kills a load of people, f**ks up a porsche by driving it into a plane and possibly endangering the life of his only daughter that so happens to be pregnant and still beats the bad guy, mission accomplished Bryan Mills. 

  Altogether this movie isn't actually bad its just doesn't belong in the trilogy, its got lots of action, a good cast and a decent storyline. The setting of the film is very disappointing, the first two movies were in really interesting, naturally beautiful and in some cases quite dangerous locations, but typical Los Angeles doesn't really compare to Paris or Istanbul. The camera work and editing is really chaotic and choppy in some scenes, it obvious they were doing that to create tension and atmosphere but instead it made the movie very hard to watch.

  A major positive element in the film was Forest Whitaker's performance, he played his character so well that I actually wanted him to catch Bryan Mills simply to see if he carry the movie all by himself. Each scene Dotzler was in he was the strongest character and that most compelling one to watch at that. Whitaker's character is major part of the plot and storytelling, he's the only character trying to put all of the pieces together without punching someone in the face,  and he's actually doing his job as a detective.

  One scene really stood out to me in a bad way, the showdown between Bryan Mills and the Russian mob leader was rather uncomfortable to watch, mainly because I'm seeing Liam Neeson getting his ass kicked by a guy only wearing pair of Y fronts. This scene also shows that every major villain in the Taken trilogy has to be Eastern European not American, Canadian or British. 

  Sadly the movie continued the annoying Taken tradition of having a really cheesy ending that would make anybody feel awkward and want the movie to hurry up and end. Its understandable that they put the 'nice' ending in to counter balance the grim tone, but that tone is non existent in the film, hence why the happy ending didn't have the desired effect on the audience this time around. 

  What disappointed me the most about this film is that Bryan Mills is the one that is supposed to be chased by an unstoppable pursuer but the movie changes into a more violent Mission Impossible sequel, which genuinely makes me sad because I was expecting to see Bryan Mills overcome incredible odds and come out changed forever, but instead it follows the original worn out Taken formula. 

  The two saving graces of this film is that it is miles better than Taken 2, and if you just watch the movie as if it wasn't apart of the Taken franchise its really enjoyable just don't expect a performance equal to Schindler's List from Liam Neeson. 

I think it is safe to say that the version of Taken 3 below is the one we'd all want to see.

What is next for AMC's The Walking Dead?

  As soon as the mid season break ended, those Walking Dead writers didn't waste any time putting all of us die hard fans in a maelstrom of emotion and leaving the rest of the audience with gaping jaws. But after watching episode 9 of season 5 and getting over the feels, I couldn't help but wonder what happens next. 

  It obvious now that the writers are not following the comics books to the letter, which is allowed due to the man who wrote the comics is one of the executive producers of the show, better known as Robert Kirkman. On most occasions if a TV show or a film doesn't follow the source material its based off, I would go off on a huge rant (what fan wouldn't) but on this occasion I cannot because at the end of the day, Kirkman created the source material and can do what he wants with it. 

  If The Walking Dead does so happen to follow the comics closer then that means 'The Group' are on route to meet an odd character called Aaron who take them to the Alexandria Safe-Zone a huge walled off community, in this place Rick and gang try to live a more civilised life, but like usual they have to be the only bad asses that step up when the proverbial poop hits the fan. This then should lead to a huge war between groups of survivors that are a little bit good, a little bit bad and a little disturbed.

  So say by season 7 we should be in for a real s**t storm with lots of Walkers, hopefully a few little things that should have happened earlier will finally occur like Carl losing an eye, Rick losing a hand and a load of characters that I'm not going to name dying in gruesome fashion. But this will only happen if Robert Kirkman says so, and so we'll just have to wait and see. 

Could Matthew Vaughn possibly be directing a Star Wars movie?

  Since the Star Wars: Force Awakens trailer hit the internet, the buzz around the franchise has been intense, many (including myself) though J.J. Abram's would ruin the franchise, due to huge criticisms over his versions of Star Trek which today many Trekkies scorn, yet I myself and many fans were surprised by how good the trailer looked and how it retained alot of the original atmosphere. With Rian Johnson being announced to be the director for chapter 8, Vaughn could be a possible contender for directing chapter 9. 

  Its common knowledge that Abrams may not be directing the next planned chapter of the saga, the biggest rumour going around now is that Matthew Vaughn is in contention and has stated he's increasingly interested in directing chapter 9 or even directing the next Indiana Jones movie that may or may not have Chris Pratt playing the role of the legendary tomb raider.

  Matthew Vaughn is known for many successful movies like the Kick-ass films, X-men: First Class, Stardust, Layer Cake and Kingsman: The Secret Service. Vaughn's newest product is the Fantastic Four reboot and by watching the newly released trailer, you can instantly see the difference in quality, atmosphere and attitude. This proves Vaughn once again can take a damaged franchise and return it to its former glory. 

  With such a strong list of profitable movies that are known for never straying away from the source material, it hard not to be a little excited at the prospect of Vaughn being at the helm of one of the biggest science fictions franchises of all time. 

The Crow Reboot: Luke Evans drops out, who could be the next contender?

  Last week it was announced that Luke Evans (The Hobbit, Dracula Untold and Immortals) has had to leave the project due to their being no actual start date to the film, Evans didn't want to pass up any other possible opportunities, so left for more present opportunities. 

  So now there is a large open spot to portray the un-dead avenger on the big screen, but still the question is being asked, who can truly fill the shoes that Brandon Lee left behind. Others have tried before like Vincent Pérez, Mark Dacascos, Eric Mabius and Edward Furlong. But each film and actor have never been able to capture the same magic. Below are my top three actors that could possibly do the comic and original film the justice they both deserve. 

Tom Hiddleston: He's proven he can hold his own as the classic marvel villain Loki and has gained much popularity because of it, his style of acting is so versatile he can pretty much get away with anything, which makes him a perfect candidate for the role. 

Nick Stahl: being no stranger to comic book movies, Stahl appeared in Sin City as Roark Jr or that creepy yellow guy. He's proven he can act well in diverse settings and supernatural narratives, this is proven by his performance in the sadly missed TV show Carnivàle. 

Jake Gyllenhaal: even though he's never appeared in any comic book movies, Gyllenhaal has shown he can transform himself into various characters dark or light, the best example being Donnie Darko. I think he could be the best actor for the role and can recreate the look just as well as the original. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: many would think Gordon-Levitt would be able to pull off playing The Crow, but what puts my faith in him is that in almost every film he's in he plays the role perfectly and always maintains his presence, this occurs especially in Nolan's Inception, Gordon-Levitt was surrounded by incredible talent Leonardo Dicaprio, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe, and yet appeared as one of the strongest characters in the entire movie.

  The director of The Crow reboot Corin Hardy has recently announced that the movie will be closer to the graphic novel and will emotionally brutal, he's also stated that he'll start auditions for the lead role after The annual Sun dance Film festival. But what I want to know is who do you think would be perfect for the role that is Eric Draven? 

The Lady from Shanghai - a good second half

  If you wanted a murder plot you got it, if you wanted a femme fatale and reluctant hero then you got it, but if you wanted a solid, well put together movie sadly this film will leave you disappointed. In 1947 Orson Welles directed and starred in a  adaptation of Sherwood Kings's novel 'If I die before I wake', this film was a crime drama and classic film noire, and it was profoundly titled The Lady from Shanghai. 

  Alongside Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and F for Fake) was Rita Hayworth (Gilda and Cover Girl ), Everett Sloane (Citizen Kane, Somebody Up Their Likes Me and Lust for Life) and Glen Anders (Sally of the Saw Dust). Beware spoilers ahead.

  The film begins with a narration by Michael O'Hara (Welles) and then appears on screen saving Elsa Bannister (Hayworth) from a group of thugs, O'Hara being a big tough Irishman dispatches with quickly, he quickly shows interest in Elsa but discovers she's married to a suspicious lawyer named Arthur Bannister (Sloane), she manages to talk Arthur into giving Michael a job on their cruise across south america to San Francisco. 

  On this cruise Michael and Elsa become closer and Arthur grows more suspicious. Shortly after the cruise Michael is approached by George Grisby (Anders), he's Arthur's business partner and he offers O'Hara $5000 to help him fake his death. O'Hara accepts Grisby's offer but instead gets framed for Grisby's actual murder and he is sent court knowing the only way to prove his innocence is to find the actual gun that killed Grisby and who it belonged to. 

  At the court case O'Hara cleverly tries to attempt to commit suicide using sleeping pills, but it was a ploy to escape and meet up with Elsa in China town. Michael finds Elsa but pulls a gun from her bag and accuses her of killing Grisby and planning everything, she confesses but Michael passes out due to accidentally swallowing too many sleeping pills.

 Elsa takes Michael to an abandoned theme park, he wakes up in a house of mirrors and meets Elsa, then they are both joined by Arthur, the unhappily married couple point guns each other and a shoot out ensues. All of the reflections are shattered and both Arthur and Elsa are shot, Arthur dies and Elsa lies on the floor pleading to Michael to save her but instead he walks away knowing his life will be better without her and he realises that he was the most honest out of all of them. 

  The Lady from Shanghai is sadly a bad film filled with holes and issues but it does have a fair few good elements in it which saves the movie and makes it bearable to watch. 

  The first half of the movies is a mine field of issues, first off the cinematography and editing is shocking. The opening scenes are all tracking shots there's barely any scenes where the camera is in a static position and all of the shots are edited in a choppy and unrhythmic style that makes it difficult to actually watch, luckily both issues gradually improve as the film progresses and eventually becomes unnoticeable. 

  The acting through the movie is very unnatural and doesn't flow well, this is saved by the well written dialogue. The fault lies with the actors which is surprising due to the amounts famous names in this film, but you can take it one step further and blame Orson Welles the director of the film knowing that he could have done a better job and a better Irish accent to boot. 
  
  All of the settings in this film were very vibrant and alive, in almost every shot there was something going behind the characters showing the viewers that there is a world moving around them and they aren't the only ones in it. There were various different locations in this film like New York, Cuba, The West Indies and San Francisco.

  In this film there are minor elements that make the first half poor, especially random scenes like Elsa sitting on the side of the yacht holding a dog that's never been in the movie or even mentioned and will never be again. Also the large amount of oriental racial stereotyping, I know it was 1947 but by today's standards the movie could probably get taken to court. What really disappointed me with the whole of the movie was that some scenes were shot brilliantly then the next scene would look like they threw it together in fifteen minutes, alot of this was down to Orson Welles being pressured by the studio and budget issues. 

  The only character development seen in this film is mostly between Michael O'Hara and Elsa Bannister, they both start out as bland simple characters but morph into something bigger and more complex. O'Hara began as a simple Irish brawler but becomes the unlikely hero and cagey detective and Elsa goes from being a classic damsel in distress to the person who manipulated the entire movie from the first scene, but what maker character unique was she still actually loved Michael and just let her resentment for her husband. Arthur's character maintained the classic evil husband role but he was presented as the most powerful character in the film and commanded alot of presence when he was in a scene. Last of all the character I think actually stole the show, George Grisby was a person I loved to hate. He was the most interesting person to watch when he was in front of the camera, even though he was a pawn in the master plan, for a while he had me believing he was the master of said plan. 


  The defining change in this movie for me was when they got off the yacht, before that I was slowly getting tired of all the mistakes and wooden acting, but the real story began to reveal itself and the quality of acting, cinematography and editing gradually improved. My favourite scene in the movie is the court case, everything you want happens in that one scene, amazing tension is built between Elsa, Michael and Arthur, there were some funny jury members that kept sneezing and interrupting the judge and lawyers and it also reveal the affair between Elsa and Michael to Arthur and that moment is the metaphorical breaking point leading to the climatic end of the movie . 

  The final scene in this movie is renowned for being one of the best shoot outs in movie history, it occurs in a house of mirrors featuring multiple reflections of Elsa and Arthur, these reflection represented their different sins and façades they've put on to retain their wealth and status. Their resentment for each other comes to a boiling point the pair shoot at each other shattering all of the glass and in process revealing their true nature and thus killing each other. O'Hara witnesses this and instead of helping Elsa he leaves her to die, earlier in the film O'Hara talked of a story where a group sharks killed each other in a violent frenzy and everything around it ended up dead, that story was basically a foreshadowing of the films finale. 

  This movie is a tale of two kinds of people colliding, you have the strong independent people and there are people who are so stupidly rich that its all they care about, this movie also shows that people that strong independent people have the endurance to keep moving forward yet the other break under the pressure, thus why O'Hara walked out alive and Elsa, Arthur and Grisby did not. 

  Orson Welles is known for his masterpieces and being the first real Auteur director, but this movie is not one his finest but it still a good film you just need to tough out the forty five minutes.

The Scribbler - Insanity or Freedom?

  As crazy, psychedelic mystery thrillers go, The Scribbler manages to open your mind to new possibilities. The movie was adapted from the movie's writer Daniel Schaffer's graphic novel directed by John Suits, who is best known for his horror mysteries and Sci Fi dramas. This was Suits first movie with a cast of established actors, like Katie Cassidy (Taken, Nightmare on Elm street 2010 and Arrow), Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, Looper and Last House on the Left), Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Wrong Turn), Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 17 again) and Billy Campbell (Dracula and The Rocketeer). Beware spoilers ahead.

 The movie begins with a character with a multiple personality disorder called Suki (Katie Cassidy)  who has been detained by two detectives (Eliza Dushku and Michael Imperioli), they ask questions about the deaths that have occurred in the building, and implicate Suki's involvement and want her story. Suki's story begins with her being released by a mental institution and has been sent to a half way house called Juniper Tower to recover, this half way house contains strange colourful individuals, one of the being Hogan (Dillahunt), the only male on the top floor and Alice (Trachtenberg), a girl in black hung up on Hogan. 

  Suki has been told by her doctor Sinclair (Campbell) to use a portable machine called a 'Siamese Burn', this device was created to eliminate all of the different personalities in her mind, but one specific personality keeps emerging and leaving messages on the walls, this personality is called The Scribbler. Suki uses the machine but every time she blacks out someone on the top floor keeps committing suicide, the residents of Juniper Tower have come to see this as normal and carries on with their lives. 

  Suki begins to believe she's causing the deaths by letting out The Scribbler, in an effort to prove Suki wrong Hogan tries the 'Siamese Burn' and it gives him a sense euphoria and turns his eyes white. Hogan preaches that the 'Siamese Burn' doesn't remove personalities its just brings out your true personality and it lets you tap into your brain's full capabilities. Sinclair visits Juniper Tower to check in on Suki but also look for a former patient who has gone missing. Alice soon discovers the machine and uses it to bring out her powerfully jealous and vindictive personality,Sinclair reveals that Alice is his missing patient and that she has violent, homicidal tendencies. Alice almost kills Hogan and Sinclair. 

Suki tries to stop Alice but she's too strong for her, Suki finally realises that The Scribbler has being trying to warn her of Alice, and to defeat her, Suki needs to let The Scribbler out. Alice and The Scribbler fight on a rooftop in the rain, to end it The Scribbler tries to help Alice but she refuses help and finally understands what she is and jumps off the roof, the leaves The Scribbler on the roof in the rain screaming silently. 

  After the showdown Suki regains control of her body due to The Scribbler needing Suki's normal personalty to communicate with others. The two Detectives don't believe what Suki told them, but she warns them that they can't control her or Hogan now that they've used the 'Siamese Burn' they can be free of anything.  

  The mise-en-scene of the film has a definite comic book theme, the movie takes elements from Frank Miller's Sin City, Sucker Punch and Kick-ass. The location was very secluded and isolated, this added to the tension that the movie creates from the very beginning, the movie focuses on Juniper Tower so much that you forget there is a world outside of its doors. Every use of colour emphasises what the characters are feeling in the scene, the colour green is used regularly when something pivotal occurs, this immerses the viewer in to the movie and gives them subtle indication to the change in direction of the film. 

  The structure of the story in this film is surprisingly linear, which is unexpected for a movie in this genre, usually a psychological mystery thriller is more erratic and has no rhythm. The movie may have upset alot if people not following the norm but I think the story had to be linear, if the movie was non linear then the message of the film couldn't reach its audience successfully. The story is basically questioning if being insane is truly being free, the character of Suki is constantly asking this question in different ways through the movie, and its not until the end of the story that she finds her answer.

  Their were certain scenes in this film where comedy took control and lifted the bleak somber atmosphere and turned it into cynical humor.There were two scenes of this movie that i found really comical, the scene where Suki is arguing with a talking British Bulldog, and the fact that it gives her attitude was just perfect, the second scene is when she tries to K.O. Sinclair with a frying pan (nuff said). I think Schaffer put these comical scenes in to show that even an insane mind can find humour, seeing that the story is being told by an possibly insane character its only fitting that there would be some strange moments that the viewer would find funny. 

  Not all of the characters in this film are strong but you can identify the ones that are. Alice and the two detectives didn't have alot of presence in the film, as a viewer i didn't care enough about them as characters, simply because they needed more development. The three characters that did stand out was Hogan, Sinclair and Suki. Hogan played a very pivotal role in the story because he takes the role of Suki's emotion anchor and is the one who grounds her when she starts losing control. Sinclair doesn't get much screen time but he does have a great impact on the story being the one who sends Suki on her path and also created Alice's dark side, Suki's character is a good character simply because she's a character constantly struggling with her own sanity, Katie Cassidy translates this effectively to the audience. 

  All together this film asks alot of questions that some viewers didn't want to hear the answers to, this is most likely why it got low ratings in the box office. The Scribbler questions anti-conformity and true free will, the 'Siamese Burn' machine represented conformity or "The Cure" but this device ended up actually helping Suki and Hogan expand their mind even further. The various characters that resided in Juniper Tower all had a type of mental disorder, but Schaffer has questioned if that's actually them truly expressing themselves to the "normal" public. 

  The Scribbler may have not done well enough to be merited by the majority audience but those who took some time out of their lives to understand it, would have realise what a good movie it actually is, and I believe it will become a sure fire cult classic in years to come. 

New Japan Pro Wrestling - Wrestle Kingdom 9

A new year has dawned, most countries have massive firework displays and spend the night drinking but not Japan, instead they put on a massive wrestling performance for world to watch called Wrestle Kingdom and we true wrestling fans thank them for it. This huge event that is usually compared to the WWE's Wrestlemania is produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling, one the forerunners in Puroresu (Japanese professional wrestling). 

Puroresu is a blend of American and British wrestling, Lucha Libre and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), in Japan its often referred to as Strong Style and it blurs the line between entertainment and sport. In Japan the art of professional wrestling is treated like a sport, its still choreographed but the competitors do not pull punches and there are no fancy storylines, only one story is told in strong style and that is who is the best in the ring.

For nine years NJPW have displayed there best talent to the world, but what make this event even more special was that for the first time it had English commentary. 

Before all Puroresu was done with Japanese commentary, which was fair being its their country but for other audiences, but it was hard to really enjoy the performance when you have absolutely know idea what is being said, but thanks to NJPW's partnership with Global Force Wrestling (GFW) we can now watch what Japan has to offer with ease. 

The English commentary featured the voices of the ever enthusiastic Matt Striker and the legendary Jim Ross, both former WWE commentators who left the company and went to other promotions, and in this case they both now commentate for GFW. 

Another huge reason why this Wrestle Kingdom event is so special is that its the first to feature the NJPW faction known as the Bullet Club, a group of western wrestlers who that dominating the competition. alot of Puroresu purists think they are tarnishing the name of Japanese wrestling and "corrupting" the younger generation of Puroresu fans. 

What the purists can't deny is the Bullet Club gimmick is something western audiences can relate to, and this makes NJPW more popular and prosperous and gives wrestling fans an alternative to the stale products that certain companies are dishing out on a weekly basis. 

The entire event as a whole was a perfect example of what a wrestling show should be. The show had its weak matches but they were heavily out weighed by the stronger matches. the show was a showcase of eleven matches, six of them being title matches. 

The first contest was a fifteen man over the top rope battle royal, this gave all of the wrestlers that didn't get their own match to appear on the biggest show of the year. This match feature Puroresu legends The Great Kabuki, Hiro Saito and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. 

The second contest was a four way tag team match for the IWGP Jr heavyweight tag team championship. Competing in this match was Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida), The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and the title holders reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly). The match was a tag team wrestling clinic with high flying, mat wrestling, brawling and super kicks to the face.  

The next match was a six man tag team match with one team comprised of Bullet Club members and the other with NJPW originals. Representing Bullet Club was Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett and Yujiro Takahashi facing off against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma. This match didn't have much impact on the show but it was a classic example of the old guard squaring off against the new guard. 

The fourth match being similar to the last match, once again featuring two teams facing off but this time in two teams of four. The competitors were Mikey Nicholls, Naomichi Marufuji, Shane Haste (these three representing Pro Wrestling NOAH) and Toru Yano battling Suzukigun (Davey Boy Smith, Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka). Like the previous match it ended very abruptly and had no major highlights, but it was interesting to see NJPW feature talent from their rival company Pro Wrestling NOAH, showing that in Japan competition and rivalry can put aside to put on a fantastic show for their loyal fans. 

The next match was some more than a wrestling match, this contest featured long time rivals Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba facing off in a MMA rules match, this meant only to win is by either K.O. or submission. This match managed to capture everything that is real about professional wrestling and leave out the choreography and theatricality, it was a real brutal contest between two protégés of the British wrestler and MMA trainer Billy Robinson who sadly past away last march.

The fifth match was a hardcore style battle between two pro wrestlers that could be classed as human tanks, this match featured Togi Makabe colliding with Tomohiro Ishii for the Openweight Championship. These two monsters gave a great example of Puroresu and strong style, throwing everything they have at each other and then some more. 

The sixth match once again showed the audience a high flying spectacle but this time in a singles match for the IWGP Jr heavyweight championship between Kenny Omega and Ryusuke Taguchi (defending). Sadly the match has alot of outside interference which broke up the flow of the match, but the athleticism is still top notch and graceful as ever.

Match seven was a classic two versus two tag match for the IWGP tag titles. The champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defended their titles against Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. This match was a classic tag team match, slow and steady to begin with but then builds up for an epic finish. 

The eighth match features a confrontation of two of the most charismatic wrestlers in Japan, maybe even the world. Tetsuya Naito and A.J. Styles faced off in a singles match, this contest was a highlight reel of athleticism, it was filled with exciting and shocking moments. 

Usually the main event is the best match of the night, this time the match before stole the show. The ninth match of the show was a grudge match for the IWGP Intercontinental title between Kota Ibushi and Shinsuke Nakamura (defending). Both huge fan favourites tore the house down with a match that was filled with tension, electricity, punches, elbow shots, precision kicks and deadly knee strikes. 

Even though it was hard to try and follow the last match the main event didn't disappoint. This particular match was a year in the making and could only have been resolved on the biggest stage possible. The final match was a stage for two of the most decorated pro wrestlers in Japan to tell their story of who is the best, for the IWGP world heavyweight championship Kazuchika Okada went to battle with the champion Hiroshi Tanahashi to be crowned champion. This match would go on to last forty minutes, there was no interference, no element of the Bullet Club and there was zero western involvement because this was a fight between two masters of Puroresu. Okada had his deadly Rainmaker (hammerlock twist into a closeline) and Tanahashi had his High Fly Flow (high angle frog splash), both men looked to finish each other with their signature move. After an dramatic showdown the match finally ended and a loyal crowd erupted with cheers out of respect for both participants. 

Puroresu and professional wrestling is a show put on by incredibly talented people men and women that put their bodies on the line for a loyal crowd and if a wrestling promotion fails to see that, then they are doomed to fail. 

Wrestle Kingdom only comes round once a year, and for a very good reason. Through out the year rivalries are formed and alliances are shattered and only one event can be the battleground to their conclusion, in the end its what makes wait worth while.