Quick Thoughts on Dunkirk

I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this movie. The film avoided large amounts of dialogue so that it could convey the majority of its story and tension through the visuals alone and the visuals are just simply wonderful. There is brilliant subtlety to every character's movements and expressions. Tension is also hiked up through the magnificent soundtrack which almost always sounds like a ticking clock which always keeps the tension on a tight edge. I absolutely loved every moment of this film and I'm really happy I got to see it.

I truly can’t recommend this film enough. Go see this movie…..Now. 10/10

Quick Thoughts on War for the Planet of the Apes

Have you ever wondered how to write the third film in a trilogy? Many writers typically like to view a trilogy as a 3 act structure. You have the introduction, the escalation, and the resolution. While this film is definitely a resolution to this trilogy I do feel it suffers what most trilogies suffer from and that is that it peaked on the second act. It’s easier to build up to a massive world ending war than it is to actually have it as a film. Don’t get me wrong, this film is amazing and you should go see it, but I do feel like it is missing a necessary oomph that the 2^nd film provided.

Overall I really liked this film and it was a fantastic conclusion to this reboot series. 8/10

Quick Thoughts on Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

I really wanted to like this film and there is a lot that I did enjoy however the plot was not one of them. I’d say it almost feels like the movie gets bored with its own main plot and regularly finds itself getting distracted with something else. More than once I had to re-ask myself how did we get to this point in the film. The main problem is that the main plot is an investigation mystery and as an audience member I figured out what was going on really early so the film not coming back to that plot until near the end just feels like they were avoiding the resolution to add more padding.

There are some great sci-fi concepts and very visually beautiful scenes in this film unfortunately those are bogged down by an overly long film that is bloated with too many plot threads. 6/10

The Age of Spider-Man: a Spider-Man Homecoming review

I spent a great deal of time before Spider-Man Homecoming came out declaring loudly why I was going to hate this film. Some will say that I was over the top and overly dramatic with my opinion and blew things way out of proportion and you would not be wrong. I think initial anger at a trailer will never lead you to your true opinion and I often tell people that I rewatch films multiple times solely because I know my opinions will change on a film the more times I view it.

Having watched the film now I can honestly say I’m not going to tell you it’s a bad film simply because that is untrue. You can go into a film and force yourself to hate it but that isn’t going to give you an unbiased view of it. Though I had many pre-viewing ramblings about the film and its issues I can tell you that the reasons I knew I was going to be unsatisfied with the final product are true even after watching it.

I predicted that my problems with the film were going to be that they stuck Spider-Man in High school again and that they were also making him a pseudo-sidekick to Iron Man. Very much so, these two things stick out as a problem, yet despite these plot points I will still tell you that this is a wonderful film and you should go see it. In fact in my opinion there was really only 1 terrible scene in the whole feature.

They end up recreating a scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off then show the actual scene they are copying on someone’s TV before continuing to copy the scene. I feel like you just don’t need to show your reference work in-movie and it struck me as a bad idea. (I’m getting off topic, hold on)

I think what I’m experiencing for the first time is that this is no longer my era. I had my Spider-Man growing up. He was and still is my favorite hero. He was a college student who was working multiple jobs just trying to make ends meet and not succeeding very often. As with many long lived superhero figures they go through different times and ages. The Spider-Man I read as a kid, his time has passed. Maybe Spider-Man needs to be a High schooler again; maybe he does need to be Iron Man’s apprentice. I don’t know, I’ll never tell you I understand kids these days.

Somewhere out there is a kid who is watching this film and is excited to see his version of Spider-Man up on the big screen. I can’t fault a film for not giving me my version amongst the hundreds of versions that are already out there. There are a lot of things I actually really like about this film and really enjoyed getting to see. 

I’ve had a lot of people tell me lately that I’m never satisfied or happy with films or television and I tell them that can’t be true because I love film so much. Yet I haven’t put out a review in a really long time and it was mostly because I found myself really unsatisfied with movies lately. I wasn’t finding my muse to talk about them. I think I need to really change my perspective on how I view films and go about reviewing them. (Hence the reason for a long-winded speech instead of the usual fanfare)

I probably would have previously given a poor review based on it missing what I want out of a Spider-Man film but I don’t think that is fair. Out of sheer irony I realized I was becoming J. Jonah Jameson, calling this Spider-Man a menace. This is a very good film and you should go watch it. I think it’s great that Marvel and Sony were able to make a deal to get this film green lit. I don’t think we would have gotten another solid Spider-Man out of Sony without it and I'm excited to see what becomes of the property in the future. 

I’m not sure when my next review will be but I hope that it will be a shorter timelaspe than this last one.

Thanks for reading.

Let's Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

Let’s not lie to ourselves and say we don’t like the X-Men. Marvel sure seems to have a beef against them. They’ve been trying to underplay their uncanny band of mutants left and right. I don’t know if the rest of you have been paying attention but the recent storylines being published ranges from finding a new cure for mutants to a virus that is killing them as well as making them infertile. At the same time Marvel has been up-playing Inhumans as the new mutant across most of their mediums. Unfortunately, they have a very hard pill to as they are slowly coming to realize no one really cares about the Inhumans hence the reason why no one really knows who they are, whereas the X-Men have been one of your strongest brands for over 50 years. I know Marvel wants the rights back from Fox but that doesn’t mean they should try to kill of one of their best franchises. Whereas the media blackout from Marvel regarding the Fantastic Four might’ve worked (the film being bad didn’t hurt either), the X-Men franchise is still beating strong and with a wealth of wonderful storylines to adapt will keep doing so for quite some time. So with that rant out of the way, how did I feel about the new film?

The Negative

This film draaaaaaaaaaaaged really badly. The movie is about 2 and a half hours long and it just feels like it. I think it was a problem with the pacing as I felt like I was watching the same standing around discussing scene over and over again just is various different locations. The main villain himself didn’t do much for the vast majority of the flick but that made sense because he was an unstoppable powerhouse who whenever he actually did something it was to a massive scale and terrifying. Apocalypse should have won but for film convenience he regularly sat back and did very little. I feel like the film would have been better if we had one massive exposition scene and then just got on with things quickly.

The Positive

I just can’t stay mad at this film. As an X-Men fan this movie was filled to the brim with wonderful nods to the fans. I fear these things will mean very little to the average film-goers but for me it truly made this film fantastic. Little things like getting to see Cyclops wear his iconic blue uniform for the first time, or finally getting a proper adaptation of Wolverine’s Weapon X harness made the kid-nerd in my explode in excitement. The very fact that we got an adaptation of the Apocalypse storyline in film alone made me extremely excited. Superhero films for the longest time only wanted to be taken seriously and attempted to only adapt some of the more feasible storylines or even worse change things so that they could be taken more serious. I have been overjoyed with the fact that superhero films are now adapting some of the weirder sides of their comic book counterparts and even better the audiences are loving it. Something like this or Guardians of the Galaxy would never have seen the light of day during the early 2000’s when superhero films were just starting to take off again.

In Conclusion

It does my nerdy heart good to see films embrace superheroes and comic books for what they are, a wild ride into the fantastic. I’m very curious to see what will become of the X-Men franchise now that the prequel trilogy is over. Sure the series has had a few flops but if they keep up this momentum, I’m certain that the X-Men franchise will never die, despite how Marvel wishes to break it before getting it back under their thumb. 4.5 out of 5.

Let's Review: Ratchet & Clank

I am a huge fan of the Ratchet & Clank franchise. I am one of many that grew up playing these games and always thought that it should be adapted to the big screen. Someone out there certainly heard us as this film finally got enough steam to be made. Though my fears now wash over me as I know that the vast majority of video game to film adaptations are usually quite terrible. In fact, I am finding it a bit hard to list one that actually did well. At the same time its Ratchet & Clank, how terrible could it be? ……Let’s review Ratchet & Clank.

The Negative

I have never seen a film that quite missed the point as badly as this one. I almost want to say no one actually played the games whoever made this film yet it was Insomniac Games that actually helped produce this.  Many of the tropes of the series were just plan gone or looked at as weird. The two main characters honestly don’t even have that much dialogue with one another as they are separate from each other for most of the film, because the film thinks it’s weird that Clank would ride on Ratchet’s back like a backpack even though that is the video games ENTIRE modus operandi. The movie also over looks some of the most basic aspects of the games such as grind rails. How amazing would an action sequence where Ratchet goes across grind rails fighting enemies would have looked had it been on the big screen? That doesn’t even go over the fact that I’m entirely certain Ratchet uses his signature Omniwrench twice. I felt like I was watching a Zorro film where they decided that he never used a horse because that would be too weird and stopped him from using his whip but thank god he pulled out his sword twice. Everything that makes the games fun and exciting were simply gone from this movie.

And now for my biggest complaint….HOW DO YOU INCLUDE THE R.Y.N.O. BUT DO NOT FIRE IT ONCE!?!?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? THAT COULD HAVE VERY WELL SAVED THE ENTIRE FILM FOR ME BUT INSTEAD WE SAW IT ONCE AND IT WAS DESTROYED IN 5 SECONDS! WHY WOULD YOU INCLUDE ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS FROM ANY GAME SIMPLY NOT TO USE IT?!?! SERIOUSLY!?!?......... ‘Ahem’. I do apologize. I may have gotten a little too upset there. Moving on.

The Positive

What do you really want me to put here. The story was so-so and bare minimum reusable garbage that regularly flies out of the mouth of Hollywood. For how awesome Ratchet and Clank can look in video games the CGI on this outing was okay at times but you could tell when they avoiding exceeding their animation budget. The voice acting of the original cast members of the game were good, even though the film tried to drown them out among famous actors (many of whom did not give a great performance). I’m sorry I may be getting into overly cruel territory but this film really disappointed me.

In Conclusion

This film was bad. As a fan of this franchise I am neither happy this film got made nor am I pleased that I got to see it. This film was just devoid of everything that makes this series great and I am truly upset that this will turn many new possible fans away from this great series, even worse it might convince producers that people are no longer interested in seeing more games come out. All in all this was a bad turn out and I’m worried about what this might mean for the future of this dynamic duo. 0.5 out of 5.  

Let's Review: The Jungle Book

I think it’s interesting that Disney is on a massive live action adaptation kick lately. In a time in film when everyone is complaining about remake after remake, Disney is still pushing ahead with this. Even then this latest stream of live action Disney remakes has had some good and some bad. The trailers for this movie looked good but I honestly wasn’t sure what I would be walking away with. Let’s review The Jungle Book.

The Negative

I feel like the CGI was 50/50. It’s really hard to describe the type of stylization they used for all of the animals in the film but it was like photorealistic without ever ignoring the fact that what we were looking at was CGI. I was always aware of the fact that what I was watching was probably all green screen. Certainly many of the main character models were very solid; I have to praise the Baloo model in particular, as it was certainly a standout for the film.

I really didn’t care for the fact that they turned one of the best lines from the book into an oddly propaganda speech in the movie. The Law of the Jungle is used less as unspoken words to live by and more a rehearsed oath that characters rather unenthusiastically speak multiple times in the film. The movie even pokes fun at it when Baloo calls it out for being propaganda (even though he too recites it unenthusiastically by the end of the film). It simply felt like one of the best lines wasn’t really understood and instead got repeated to the point where it hardly meant anything at all.

The Positive

The best thing going for this film is the amazing voice cast they got to play these iconic characters. If Disney was going to drag this story out of their vault “one last time” they at least did it with voice actors who could perfectly re-create the characters that we love. Bill Murray as Baloo and Ben Kingsley as Bagheera are both wonderfully performed. I had two concerns with the film and that was Christopher Walken’s King Louie and Neel Sethi’s Mowgli. Luckily both performed wonderfully and really stood out in the film. Competent child actors are really hard to find but Neel Sethi did an amazing job as Mowgli.

In Conclusion

The film is another solid adaptation of The Jungle Book and unfortunately that’s about it. I’m worried that in Disney’s rush to readapt all of their properties to live action they are simply going to just rehash all of the old storylines instead of trying to explore something new within these stories. I feel if you are going to adapt something again you should try to adapt it in a way that sheds new light on different aspects otherwise what was the point in doing a new feature altogether? 3.4 out of 5.

Let's Review: Deadpool

I’ll be entirely honest when I say that this film had me worried. As a Deadpool fan I had already been massively disappointed by his appearance in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine film; and I know for a fact that I’m not the only one.  Like most characters in fiction, Deadpool has a special place in the hearts of the fans and we want to see the character given the proper adaptation that he deserves. From the interviews you could tell that the people running this project had a passion for this character and that can mean all the difference. So did Deadpool disappoint every fan’s dreams again? Let’s review Deadpool.

The Negative

The villain was sorely underdeveloped. I can’t exactly blame them either. Deadpool’s tone has the ride the edge of being a crude comedy while also retelling some of the darker aspects of the character. Deadpool certainly has some skeletons in his closet and the overly dark nature of such things would have been ill fitting in the tone that the film was going for. Having a villain that was mostly nondescript certainly didn’t hurt as it was easy to have the villain simply be a villain for evils sake. Though I do wonder what kind of film could have been made had we flipped the coin and sought to adapt the character’s darker nature instead.

Some people will never be happy. Certainly I’ve been on both ends of this sword before, but they did have to change certain aspects of Deadpool’s story in order to allow it to flow better as a cohesive plotline for the film. Now I’ve never been one to shy away from saying that the source material is better (which it is) but the changes made here really aren’t that bad considering the end result. I’m saying that I understand if certain fans will feel jaded but I for once was not affected by the changes made.

The Positive

The reason the changes didn’t really bother me is because as fans we got WAY more than I was every expecting to receive. Despite having to change certain aspects of the story I have never seen a more pure adaptation of a comic book character than with this film. What we got was the character Deadpool in a movie and I could not have been happier. Even better the film also adapted a great deal of Deadpool’s personal side characters, which is something even the video game didn’t do. Little touches like that certainly proved to me that this was a passion project by the producers and it really paid off for them.

Not only was this a good superhero film, it was also one of the best comedies I have seen in a long time. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard in a theater. Between the opening credits sequence that went out of its way to insult everybody who had worked on this film to the series of 4^th wall breaks where Deadpool addressed us all personally, I was simply overjoyed to see that the tone of this character was captured so magnificently.

In Conclusion

This was by all means a really good film, a film that I will probably find myself re-watching multiple times over the years whenever I feel like I need a good laugh. I’m sure I stand with many in the awe and wonder that allowed this film to be made so perfectly for the fans. Even if you are not a longtime fan of Deadpool, I highly recommend checking out this film as it will certainly try its hardest to get you there. 4.9 out of 5.

Let's Review: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Anyone who knows me knows that Star Wars is my favorite movie. I absolutely love this franchise and my excitement as well as my expectations were incredibly high before this movie came out. I honestly didn’t hate the prequel films, sure they weren’t as good as the original trilogy but what could really beat those films. I knew without a doubt that I would love this new film just like all the other Star Wars films before it. Was I right? Let’s review Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The Negative

I didn’t like it……..well that’s not entirely fair nor is it entirely true. As with a lot of movies in my library I eventually come around on the film after a few more times viewing it, but I will admit that my initial reaction to the film was disappointment. I feel like The Force Awakens is missing some special ingredient that will allow it to stand out in the Star Wars franchise. The film is almost a complete copy of Episode IV: A New Hope and I know I am certainly not the only one that feels that way. Now just being a copy of Episode IV isn’t really that bad in its own right, you could copy worse films. What makes this a bad thing is that the film honestly doesn’t have any moments that truly define it as its own. For as much as fans gripe about Episode I, it at least had the amazing Pod Race sequence and the stunning 3 way lightsaber battle at the end. Episode VII suffers from not having any really jaw dropping action sequences. The starfighter segments are just sort of there and the lightsaber battle at the end is undoubtedly lackluster.

I think this wouldn’t have been a problem if the film’s plot was more original but it just feels like sequences we have seen done better before. I think the film was so desperate to get us back to that galaxy far far away that we knew and loved from the original trilogy that it forgot to be really distinctive in any way or fashion. The film brought back practical effects but many of them didn’t look particular good or stood out too much. We brought back John Williams, but aside from a few notable pieces most of the soundtrack just felt like re-hashes of the old series. This is my overall problem with Episode VII, it’s not a bad film by far but it’s unimaginative, unoriginal, and uninspired. Now being within the Star Wars pantheon of films, being the most indistinctive is probably one of the worst things to be known for and it feels even worse knowing that the rich expanded universe was discarded for a reused plotline.

The Positive

Now that I’ve gotten that rant out of the way, let’s talk about what I do walk away from this movie with. I think Episode VII did in one movie what the Prequel series couldn’t do in 3, have memorable characters. All of the new main characters have distinctive personality quirks and personal goals that make them all stand out wonderfully. This was a major problem in the prequels where the majority of the characters were incredibly bland and lifeless. I am significantly more excited to see what becomes of these characters far more than I would anyone from the prequel series.

In Conclusion

Like many films I feel like my opinion on them waxes and wanes as time goes on and I figured that given enough time I would eventually come to enjoy The Force Awakens. Actually the thing that helped me the most was going out and buying a massive visual encyclopedia that let me divulge into every little secret the film had to offer (I really shouldn’t be asking for a massive exposition speech). I enjoy the film but I also think it might be one of the weaker outings Star Wars has to offer. When I think about the Star Wars films I think about how each of them brought something new and fantastical to this already rich world, while Episode 7 certainly adds to this already rich universe it also feels like not enough.  3.7 out of 5.

Let's Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

It has been a long time since I have posted anything. This has been a long winter hiatus and a lot has happened in the mean time. I have had a really hard time sitting down and writing, but I love writing and I want to do more again. So I have the great honor of starting my return to reviews with a film that had everyone expecting it to be terrible and the reviews have agreed with that thought. I almost didn’t go see this film because I’m honestly tired of being disappointed by films about characters I use to enjoy. So was this film as bad as I was expecting? Let’s review Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Negative

Batman kills in this film. This is something that does need to be addressed as Batman’s moral code against killing is one of the most interesting and well defined aspects of his character. That said, Batman killing really doesn’t bother me in this film. I think it’s actually really fascinating that they decided to play with Batman a bit in this film and make him an older version of the character that has been beaten down a little by his ongoing battle through Gotham. You’re probably wondering why this is in the negatives then. The answer is this has been one of the major complaints towards the film and I honestly think it was a very interesting take on the character. The public at large knows by now who Batman is, I should think it would be okay for us to explore different versions of him or aspects of him that have shown up in alternate material. We are talking about a character that has had around 7-8 live action films already.

The major problem I have with this movie is Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. This is not a complaint about Jesse Eisenberg’s acting as I believe that he actually pulls out a great performance in this. Simply put the character doesn’t work. The character is clearly insane or at the very least unhinged from society and the rest of the world. Almost every piece of dialogue and action from him just strike me as nothing but the machinations of a madman. Nothing about this character makes me believe he would be in charge of a powerful and rich company nor that government officials would ever make deals with him. I have heard him described as being similar to Batman’s archenemy the Joker in this film and I would agree that the two are far too similar. Luthor should be his own character and not a copycat Joker, plain and simple.

The Positive

I have heard people complain about how grainy and washed out this film is color wise and to that I simply ask do you remember Man of Steel? I really shouldn’t be defending one films problems with the example of another film but I think it stands to reason to Batman v Superman actually improved on a major problem found in Man of Steel. We have seen the before and after shots for Man of Steel where we have seen how colorful the film actually was before they viciously grayed it all out. This film actually brought the color back and I highly appreciated it for it. With BvS I can honestly say I saw a lot of improvements for a sequel. They actually took the bizarre extreme violence/action of Man of Steel and turned it into an important point of conflict as well as story development for the characters to go through. I think the mark of a good sequel is not only improving where the original failed but also taking the problems of the original and turning them into solid character drama.

Everyone was concerned about Ben Affleck taking over the role of Batman, I mean just look at Daredevil. I won’t lie that I wasn’t concerned but I also believed that Affleck has been making some smart choices lately and I was intrigued enough to wait and see what he would do with the role. In all honesty, Ben Affleck completely nails the role. I think nailing both Bruce Wayne and Batman is a really difficult thing to pull off but Affleck just knocks it out of the park. I think it really helps that he has a far more interesting Batman to work with than were used to seeing in these films. I think Henry Cavill also greatly improves from his stoic-heavy performance from Man of Steel. One of the standout performances of the film is definitely Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth. Irons’ Alfred really held the level of snarky repertoire of a man who had spent years arguing with Batman and really helped sell this version of a more war torn dark knight. I would discuss some of the other heroes that appeared in this film more but I believe they were mostly delegated to just cameo appearances and leave me looking forward to seeing more of them in future installments.

In Conclusion

After leaving this film I honestly wondered if maybe I was the one in the wrong. I actually liked this film a lot more than I did The Force Awakens, which is something I never expecting to say when I first knew about these two films before they came out. But then I remember that these reviews are simply my opinions and not set in stone facts that all should obey. I’m actually quite excited about seeing a sequel to this film. I’m excited that DC is finally going to show us more heroes than just Superman or Batman. I went into this film expecting absolutely nothing and came out of it having had a good time. I think reviews for a film are important, but I also think you should reserve final judgment for yourself. I give this film a 4 out of 5.

Let's Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

I haven’t really seen the previous Mad Max films but I was aware of them. It wasn’t through lack of interest that I hadn’t gotten to them it was always just something on my list for later. That said when the trailer came out for Fury Road I found myself to be very excited since it looked like a really over the top action flick. My surprise came when the reviews started to come out and each one of them gave the film perfect scores. My excitement doubled to see this film. So did the film live up to the hype? Let’s review Mad Max: Fury Road.

The Negative

The film is a massive action set piece with very little breathing room. That said when the film actually does take a moment to stop and collect itself the entire pacing comes to a dead crawl. This pause isn’t unwarranted as it took a lot of effort on the part of our heroes to reach this point but at the same time it almost singlehandedly derails the momentum the film had going. I’m not sure how the film could have reached this point without killing the speed but as it is now this moment just feels out of place.

Everyone has gone mad. I mean that is the point of a Mad Max film after all but what I really mean is sometimes it becomes impossible to really invest yourself into this world because absolutely everyone in it has gone bonkers. Even when you think you are following completely sane characters in their venture for freedom, the film goes out of its way to remind you that they all have sanity issues and that is the only reason some of them are surviving at all.

The Positive

Everything has gone mad. Yes it can be a positive as well. The main driving force behind the Mad Max universe is that with everyone being insane you are going to witness some of the most insane action sequences. I simply must applaud director George Miller for his mastery in executing some of the most over the top and death-defying car stunts ever put to film. You do wonder how they pulled the majority of these stunts off with CGI being used to a bare minimum within this feature.  

This film is a marvel to look at. Between the high octane stunts and the gorgeous desert landscape, this movie captivates the audience. I honestly didn’t want to remove my eyes from the screen for even one second in case I missed another fantastic site to gawk at. Director George Miller has stated that he is releasing a version of the film that will be entirely in black and white. I’m really intrigued to see this version and how the new dynamic will change up the visual splendor this film provides.

One of the greatest aspects of this movie is the acting. Of particular note is Tom Hardy’s Mad Max who has surprisingly little dialogue yet says so much through simple gestures or looks. Max’s story arc of redemption is very subtle but one that is accomplished wonderfully. Nicholas Hoult also turns in a rather bizarre performance of War Boy Nux, but one that fits perfectly within this world. It is Nux’s story arc that really gives us a glimpse into how the main villain operates. The true star of the film is Charlize Theron’s performance as Imperator Furiosa. Theron’s performance commands every scene she is in and honestly eclipses everyone else in the film.

In Conclusion

I think that Fury Road lived up to a ton of the hype that it had going when it first came out. I also feel that the film probably isn’t as perfect as many critics make it out to be. This movie is a marvel to behold with insane stunts and wonderful performances by the entire cast. The issue being if you’re not into action films with insane over the top stunts performed by equally insane characters; this film is just not for you. I can see a great number of people not enjoying this film simply put because it’s not what they are into. For those who have been looking for a masterful work of art within the action genre, this is exactly what you have been waiting for. 4.2 out of 5.