 Just to add a whole bunch more confusion as to where things in Marvel are taking place, Sony brings in 'Morbius' while a future 'Blade' movie is slated for the MCU at some point in the near future. We don't particularly know what will happen with Sony's Spider-Man movies either, as Andrew Garfield has quite a lot of fans backing him up for another Sony movie. Time will tell, but before it all comes together, here's the next chapter in Marvel's Multiverse Movie Multitude.
We meet young Michael Morbius (Charlie Shotwell) at the age of 10, where he bonds with his surrogate brother, Lucien (Joseph Esson). The pair share a blood disease in common and reside at a hospital in Greece. After an incident involving Lucien and his medical equipment, it's discovered that Michael is highly intelligent - a regular MacGyver if you will. As a result, Michael and Milo's (by the way, Michael calls Lucien "Milo" in this) adoptive father and hospital director, Nicholas (Jared Harris), makes arrangements for Michael to attend medical school in New York City. After 25 years, Michael (Jared Leto) is up for a Nobel Prize for his work on synthetic blood, which he publicly declines. In the hopes of splicing bat genes with his own, he hopes to cure his blood disease, and has therefore captured a collection of bats to experiment on, as discovered by his colleague, Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona). His experimentation, however, is illegal, but after confessing his plans to both Nicholas and Milo (Matt Smith), he receives funding to carry out his experiment on international waters. The experiment, as we can all tell by trailers and common sense, transforms Michael into a vampire with seemingly uncontrollable bloodlust. Once his hunger is satisfied, he pretty much goes back to normal. The conclusion is that the cure works, and even enhances his abilities, gaining him things like echolocation, super strength and agility, and even being treated as a fellow bat by his bat buddies. The unfortunate drawback, however, is this thirst problem. His synthetic blood can only feed him for so long. But when Milo is refused help due to the cures unfortunate side effects, Milo takes matters into his own hands, giving us another Marvel non-MCU anti-hero in the form of Morbius, the living vampire. This one clearly didn't do so hot with the critics, and a lot of that has to do with some of this origin story stuff being played out - especially when it's hard to figure out just who was asking for a 'Morbius' movie, as opposed to just having him come in as a villain somewhere in a future 'Spidey' or 'Blade' movie. Nevertheless, perhaps the most intriguing aspects of this movie, to no one's surprise, are the mid-credit sequences which, without saying too much, tie in with the events of the MCU's 'No Way Home'. It paves the way for some future stuff, but it's hard to say exactly what. All in all, I came out of this with similar feelings that I had with the two 'Venom' movies. These films are by no means spectacular, but I'll be damned if I don't have fun with them. I wasn't on the lookout for this, but I can't deny it grabbed my attention, being somewhat familiar with the Marvel villain. I'm glad that I saw it, and didn't come out of it regretting a thing. There are a few rough spots here and there, and I can see where critics are coming from. But if you can view this with the proper lens, I think you can enjoy it for what it is. One thing's for sure - Leto was much better here than he ever was as the Joker (and I stand by that). 3/5
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 Putting my cards on the table right away, DC has completely proved me wrong, and not for the first time. When the trailer first came out for this, my thoughts generally leaned towards it being another eventual failure because it felt too soon after "Batfleck" - especially with the release of the Snyder Cut just last year. It looked like "just another Batman movie", and I figured people weren't gonna care as much as they did with the 'Dark Knight' series.
On top of everything else, things in the DC Extended Universe feel ultimately confusing at this point. But with all that aside, this does act as a VERY good 'Batman' movie. I'm altogether kind of blown away with how thoroughly good this was in as much as it connected with various dark Bat Titles - not the least of which is an old favourite - 'The Long Halloween' (which I really should read through again). It also draws from further familiars like 'Year One' and 'Ego', and finally plays with Batman's detective side rather than his superhero/action side. Some prefer that action side, sure, but even with that in mind, this is something long overdue! The film opens on Halloween night in Gotham City, where mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones) is killed by a mystery man who calls himself "The Riddler" (???) in various messages (both video and written) left for Gotham's detectives and The Batman (Robert Pattinson), himself. Batman has been a vigilante at this point for about two years, working alongside Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). Up until this point, it has mostly been on petty thug crimes, and there's a wonderful opening to this where we see how it all works; how Batman uses fear as a tool against the lawbreakers of the crime-ridden city. As Batman continues his detective work with some help from his understandably concerned butler, Alfred (Andy Serkis), it sets him on a path in which he meets the likes of the Penguin (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell), Selina Kyle - better known as Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) and at the top of everything, notorious mob boss, Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). The whole situation ends up being perhaps the most taxing event of his career so far, but little does he know that this Riddler character isn't exactly the only recent threat to the city of Gotham. Now, when it comes to DC movies and my particular tastes, it can get a bit confusing. The DCEU is pretty dark, there's no question. But, much like with Marvel, I think some of it should be dark, but some of it light. But Batman has this limit for me. Personally speaking, I'm one of those guys who doesn't think Batman should be killing people (at least that we see on screen), and I don't think "Dark Batman" means "He should get away with killing". To some, it works, but for me, I just always knew there was a good way to do it without it needing to be on certain levels. I've always said they should look to the 'Arkham' games and stuff like that, and well... here we basically are! One caption on a poster for this says "the Batman movie we've been waiting for!", and I think for a lot of fans like myself, that rings absolutely true. This really does remind me a lot of the 'Arkham' games when it comes to things like the film's atmosphere, and even Batman himself. Pattinson as Batman was something I was always convinced could work, but I have to admit that to some degree, he actually impressed. He will undoubtedly fall into the age-old debate of "who is the best Batman?" (Kevin Conroy). He takes a different, more intensely quiet and mysterious approach to the role, and it works quite well. The guy moves slowly at all times like a Jason Voorhees, but when he fights, he fights with the reflexes of a cat... bat.... well, you get the picture. This one comes from Matt Reeves as well, which is almost immediately a good sign that the film is in good hands. This is the guy who gave us the last two titles of the new 'Planet of the Apes' trilogy, and 'Cloverfield', which may not be for everyone, but it's still one of the best concepts for a found footage film I've ever seen. According to sources, there are two sequels planned for this as well, and I really look forward to seeing where it can go. Just thinking of things like new takes on various villains in this universe - especially Scarecrow for yours truly has me super excited. So if you have the means to do so at this point in time, I highly recommend this as a big-screen venture. But get comfy, 'cause it's like, 3 hours long. 5/5  Not to be confused with the 2016 David Ayer film 'Suicide Squad', this one has 'Guardians of the Galaxy' director James Gunn behind the wheel. As a fan of those 'Guardians' movies, when I heard about Gunn taking the helm of this project, I got pretty excited and it has been on my "must-see" list since the news first emerged. Although there was controversy surrounding his name, considering what I knew he could do with an ensemble cast and his directorial style, he was just perfect for the job.
The film opens, hitting the ground running as intelligence officer, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) deploys two "Suicide Squad" teams (or Task Force X teams) to the South American island of Corto Maltese after its government is brought down by anti-American radicals. Team One is led by Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), and further consists of Savant (Michael Rooker), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion), Javelin (Flula Borg), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Weasel (Sean Gunn), and of course the great Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). We learn the basics really quick for those who may not have bothered with the first film, and it's simple - in exchange for completing the tasks set by Waller, these criminals get ten years off their prison sentence. Meanwhile, the second team, who has the same deal, approaches the island. Led by Bloodsport (Idriz Elba), this team further consists of Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone/Steve Agee), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior). The team's collective purpose for this mission is to locate a man known as the Thinker (Peter Capaldi), a metahuman who heads a top secret experiment potentially endangering all of humanity known as "Project Starfish". The teams are to bring down the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim, which holds said project. The main focus here is on the second team, as plot-wise, Bloodsport is in this to protect his daughter from jailtime. He's the lead here while Harley plays everyone's favourite DC anti-hero. I am very happy to report that James Gunn's directorial style was what I wanted to see and more. Not only does he totally succeed in delivering a lot of that humour we know him for with the 'Guardians' films, but he makes damn sure he delivers us a good R-rated superhero (or anti-hero) movie complete with violence, language, and even a bit of nudity. One could probably consider this DC's answer to the 'Deadpool' movies. There are plenty of laughs, and a lot of the laughs have to do with how over the top things can get. I honestly had a smile on my face through this whole thing, as it somewhat represents a release of all that pent of rage we've all been feeling under the shadow of Covid 19. One could consider this a pretty great outlet for the times. With an ensemble cast like this, one probably gets to wondering how all these names are handled. This certainly sounds like it has the potential to be another 'X-3' with too many characters in so little time. I have to say that Gunn handles things very well. I had to appreciate that he managed to make Harley more of a background character, but she still manages to steal the show here just doing what she does. There is a moment that might make Harley fans wince and cringe a bit, but don't worry, she doesn't exactly disappoint. Harley fans should get just as much a kick out of her here as they did with the last two films featuring her. One big question people have is "Is this a sequel?" Well, it's like this. Producer Peter Safran has described this as a total reboot, despite the fact that several cast members return as their respective characters. It's further confusing to try to figure out where 'Birds of Prey' lands in all of this too. Personally speaking, I think it's all open to interpretation. DC seems to have developed a bit of a talent over the past while in that they are making movies that could stand on their own instead of necessarliy being part of the DC Universe we see from 'Justice League'. Unlike the 'Avengers' films, there's not a whole lot of important connective material. So this very well could be a sequel, but really, it's meant to stand on its own. I think it plays more on the potential the original film had with same cast members. Again, look at 'Deadpool'. Ryan Reynolds was always perfect for the role, but 'Wolverine' really screwed it up. As far as 2021 movies go, as well as DC titles, this is easily one of my favourites. I didn't come out of this quite as mind-blown as I expected, but I really enjoyed it. Gunn did a great job here, providing some new faces, tackling a huge cast, making things stylistic, and absolutely not holding back on the R-rated violence we fans not only want but somewhat expect from a movie like this. It's another comic book title that deserves an R-rating in order to do it justice. I also have to admire that he just plain went for it. I mean, Project Starfish is really crazy and even kind of stupid when you think about it, but somehow he made it work really well here. What more can I say? I am impressed, and would love to see Gunn take on more of these (if there are going to be any more). 4/5  Is it just me, or are DC films the undisputed champions of the "mixed review". The first 'Wonder Woman' seemed to be the most positively reviewed while basically everything else ends up being a fun ride with some great visual effects, but with little substance. People love them just as much as people seem to hate them, and some, like myself, aren't exactly fans, but understand some of the appeal. This is one of those truly medium entries into the DC library. A friend of mine gave it a one-word review of "meh", and I have to say, I'm right there with him.
The film opens sometime in the past where a young Diana Prince (Lilly Aspell) participates in an athletic competition for the Amazonian women on Themyscira (the hidden world where the Amazonians live). This part of the film is pretty awesome, and could easily be watched a a clip before going through the first (and far superior) film; it sets up Diana's overall character. I won't say much about it, but it's a lot of fun, a good point is made, and it makes you think of Diana's actions as a hero the first time around. It's a very entertaining section of the film, and Lilly Aspell is one of these young actors I would suggest keeping an eye on for years to come - she delivers enough that you can really route for her, and in such a short window of time. After a peek at Diana's youth, we Fast-forward to 1984, where Diana works as a senior anthropologist as the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. In the meantime, she fights crime as Wonder Woman throughout the city. One day, at work, she meets an insecure brainiac named Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), who looks up to Diana, and even envies her. Barbara is asked by the FBI to examine a relic that appears to be simple plastic, but apparently has the ability to grant wishes. Barbara makes a wish to be more like Diana, and Diana unknowingly makes a wish to see her deceased lover, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) again. Diana gets her wish (kind of) as Steve returns in the body of another man, but more interestingly, Barbara inadvertently becomes more like Diana than she could have imagined. Meanwhile our villain is a wealthy oil tycoon named Max Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal) who is after the stone (dubbed the "Dream Stone") to not only save his failing oil company, but go power hungry and wish to become the embodiment of the Dream Stone itself. This way, he has the power to not only grant wishes, but take whatever he wants. Each wish comes with a cost, however, and there's a bit of a Money's Paw thing going on through the film. While the first film easily remains DC's best modern title (at least in the 'Justice League' Universe), its follow-up isn't terrible, but fairly bland. If 'Wonder Woman' is a fresh, cold, glass bottle of Coca-Cola, '84' is a bit more like an unrefrigerated can of Coke you got from your basement stash - it's tolerable, but it's just nowhere near the same. A lot about this is very reminiscent of older superhero movies, and 'Batman Returns' was a title that kept springing to mind. I find Barbara's journey here very drawn from Michelle Pfeifer's Catwoman. Hell, she even becomes Cheetah Girl, and gets manipulated by a rich tycoon named "Max". This is where my mixed emotions about the film really come into play. The fact of the matter is, this is a movie entitles 'Wonder Woman 1984', so for it to play like an oldschool superhero movie does make a lot of sense. That said, however, it still feels like a somewhat lazy excuse to go back to nostalgic roots instead of giving us a worthy follow-up to such a great predecessor. 'Wonder Woman' is DC's bread and butter, and though the film wasn't necessarily bad, it wasn't quite what it could have been. I can't say I was thoroughly disappointed; this wasn't like watching 'Batman & Robin'. But it might be in the same realm as... well, 'Batman Returns' - it's okay, but it has nothing on the previous film. It's just average at best, and certainly not the heroic film the first one was. 3/5  AKA 'Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Immancipation of One Harley Quinn', or, by the time I'm writing this, is now on IMDb as 'Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey', which is probably the most accurate title for the film, since it's far more a Harley Quinn film than a story about the Birds of Prey. But I digress. To be perfectly honest, I didn't have very high hopes for this. But I'm happy to say that I was mostly pleasantly surprised... mostly.
This one takes place after Harley (Margot Robbie) and the Joker (Sir not-appearing-in-this-film) break up, no doubt an extra effort on DC's part to ditch the God awful Jared Leto Joker (and to make it clear, Jared Leto is a fine actor, but his Joker is among one of the most screwed up characters in superhero movie history). In a fit of rage, and wanting closure on the subject, Harley does anything from adopt a Hyena from a black market pet shop (and name it Bruce) to blow up the Ace Chemicals factory, where the Joker "made her". So they keep the continuity from 'Suicide Squad'. Word spreads fast that the breakup has happened, and Harley no longer has the Clown Prince of Crime protecting her. A lot of the fun through the movie is being introduced to a variety of characters that she's wronged in the past who are now hunting her down. Meanwhile, Harley is looking for a girl named Cassandra Cane (Ella Jay Basco) who apparently has a diamond that can access the bank accounts of the Bertinelli crime family. After meeting the girl, Harley soon finds herself reluctantly protecting her (more as in protecting the diamond) from the twisted criminal, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor - who is having a great time with his role) and his right hand man, Victor Zsaz (Chris Messina), who definitely lends himself to the film's R-rating. These two are also keeping track of a mob killer who is only referred to as "The Crossbow Killer", but we all know her better as Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and she's out for revenge after Sionis killed her whole family - The Bertinellis. The other Birds of Prey come into it as Officer Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) who is investigating the mob killings, and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) who works for Sionis, but betrays him after she sees how far things can go in his club. I could deal with details all day, but yes, they eventually all cross paths and the title of the film does have some meaning - but it's definitely a Harley Quinn movie as opposed to a real team-up movie. The whole thing is told from the perspective of Harley, and as you may have heard by this point, there is a bit of back and forth jumping. But I don't think it's enough to really confuse anyone. Speaking for myself, I was able to follow along pretty well. It's kinda fun having Harley tell the story, because it somewhat reflects her personality in all of its style. If I was to compare it to anything, I'd have to say that this is DC's answer to 'Deadpool'. It's R rated, can be brutally violent, but it's still more of a comedy than a superhero movie. In fact, I'd say this owes a lot to 'Deadpool' for paving the way. With the success of this and 'Joker', I daresay, DC might just be able to get something off the ground with R-rated films. Anyway, for what this is, it's pretty cool. But I'm still not entirely loving it like so many others. I meet it halfway, enjoying the execution of the story and the film's overall style. But at the same time, there are some nitpicks that tend to irk me. The fight coreography was sometimes cool, but often strangely off. Pay attention to the fight scenes and watch how many people either wait their turn (prison scene) or just do nothing at all (car chase scene). It's not a first, but it's just something that makes no sense for what this is. Beyond that, I hate to say it, but Harley's narration can be a little bit grinding at times. But again, these are nitpicks. For the most part, the film is enjoyable. Just remember that it's not totally a Birds of Prey movie when you go check it out. 3/5  I find it kind of remarkable that people are calling this, in so many words, pretty much the worst of the franchise. At the same time, however, I also find it kind of remarkable that given this day and age, 'Deadpool' and the MCU paving a clear path, studio influence is STILL too much, especially when they don't entirely know what the hell they're talking about.
Unless you're in the MCU area of things, your stories are generally rushed, have some big names slapped on them, and advertise a title that will put butts in seats. Some of the now most notorious cases of not getting superheroes right go to Fox (so thank you, Disney); 'The Fantastic Four', and about half of the 'X-Men' franchise are prime examples. 'Origins: Wolverine' should have been so much better, since they had the right idea, Gambit has just been completely blown over, and then of course we have 'Dark Phoenix', now failing miserably for a second time. But is it so bad that it's the worst of all X-Men films? One's perfectly entitled to opinion, but personally speaking, I wouldn't say so. In all honesty, I think I disliked both 'Apocalypse' and 'Origins: Wolverine' more - but it does end up just about on par with 'X-3' for me in that it covers the same story, fails again making stupid decisions, and rushes through everything. One might also compare Phoenix to Venom, as a prime story with a massive fan base that they just can't seem to get right. Which is a crying shame because this movie SHOULD have been the make-up for X-3. The film hits the ground running when the lead, adult X-Men, go on a space mission to rescue some astronauts. The team is now comprised of Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and of course, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), all led by Xavier (James McAvoy), back home. During the mission, Jean undergoes this crazy death-to-life instantaneous, unsuspenseful transition, which of course resurrects her as Phoenix, as most of us understand the basic story at this point. Upon their return home, Jean starts to lose control of her powers, explained by an ancient force which destroys everything in it's path until it came into contact with her. She essentially absorbed this power, and now it's growing unstable, and she releases it through fits of rage. Now the rest of the X-Men have to face the hard truth that if Jean gets too out of hand, something crucial may have to be done. While the preference would be to help Jean through her problems, the X-Men also have to face off against an alien race who is looking for Jean and her newfound remarkable powers. I might make it sound interesting, but trust me, it's not what it should be. The trailer managed to do the same thing to me. I thought things were gonna go back to solid storytelling, and the eye candy was gonna take a back seat. But nope. That's where I'd actually compare this to 'Apocalypse' - the best reason for being there are the visual effects. But would you believe that unlike 'Apocalypse', I did find a few moments I enjoyed here - and they pretty much all involved Magneto ( Michael Fassbender). Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto makes a good appearance here, and I find it interesting what they did with his character. He's now trying to live a life of peace out of the way of things, since nowadays the President and the X-Men are living in peace. Erik has been given his own spot of land with which he can come and go as he pleases, as long as he keeps his mutant powers at a bare minimum. I won't spoil his role in this completely, but he's hands down the most interesting character in this one - and actually I'd say all of the new ones, but most easily this one. Some of the mutants were thrown in for easy convenience though. For example, Nightcrawler, as they needed to be able to teleport the astronauts from ship to ship in space. Storm was interesting enough, and I appreciated the casting choice, but she underused her abilities far too much. Most of the time, it's sparks of lightning from her fingers. It's most definitely one of the weakest of the franchise, and it's sure to live in infamy along with the other bad 'X-Men' titles. But I still think I've seen worse. Not MUCH worse, mind you, but still worse. This one at least had some interesting moments here and there; for me, a scene where Beast is talking to Xavier in the kitchen, the whole train scene from the trailer, and anything with Magneto were all perfectly good scenes. But sadly, not enough to save it from still being bad. 2/5  Let's face it, the DC universe hasn't exactly been my favourite place to be when Marvel is too busy keeping me in their glorious clutches. I've still given every DC film a fair shake, but for my money, 'Wonder Woman' was the only time I was thoroughly impressed. I gave 'Aquaman' a decent review as well, if only because it made me like a character I otherwise had no use for. So when the hell is DC's next big hit? Well, I think we pretty much have it here with 'Shazam!'
We meet a foster kid named Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who gets placed in a group home after some trouble with the law while searching for his birth mother. It's here that we meet Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) who eventually becomes Billy's close friend. One day after helping Freddy out with a bully problem, Billy gets chased into a subway where he is randomly summoned by an ancient wizard named Shazam, who has been on the search for someone who is pure of heart for centuries to pass his powers to. Billy is chosen, and in a hurry, as a man named Sivana, who feels that Shazam has wronged him in the past, becomes a bigger problem than Shazam can handle. As we probably know by the trailer, by now, by saying the name "Shazam", Billy turns into a full grown superhero (Zachary Levi) and vice-versa. He and Freddy go around town testing out his superpowers as 14-year-old kids probably would, and soon we learn that with great power comes great responsibility. It's all very well executed. Meanwhile, this Sivana character has joined forces with the 7 deadly sins, and is terrorizing anyone who may have wronged him in his past. Soon enough, Billy and Sivana discover each other, a rivalry is born, and the rest of it plays out as more of a superhero movie than a comedy. I'd equate this one to something more along the lines of 'Kick-Ass', where really, it's more of a comedy than anything, but it's not without moments of good action and drama. I hae to admit that it's pretty awesome to see one of the two big mainstream comic companies give a movie like that a shot. It's a giant step forward for DC, to be sure, and hopefully this helps nudge the gate open for more good DC material. Sure, at times the film gets really silly, but it eventually gets surprisingly dramatic towards the end. It kinda throws you for a loop, and before you know it, you're kinda sitting back, routing for Billy. It's a refreshing blend of totally silly and respectably thoughtful, and I have to agree with most that it's probably one of the better titles DC has cranked out. Here's hoping those guys are on the right track. 4/5  I will be the first to admit that when it comes to DC, there's a bit of a disconnect with me. I tend to lean more towards Marvel's collection, and tend to consider most of what DC cranks out to be fantastic eye candy, but with minimal story-telling and character development, being a huge rush to try to catch up with Marvel.
While I can't say I've ever really and truly hated any of DC's stuff, most of it has been disappointing with the exception of 'Wonder Woman'. Call me a band-wagoner if you must, but keep in mind that films like 'Suicide Squad' and 'Justice League', I still managed to give a pass to, despite seeing their flaws. The real question since mid 2016 has been "will anything ever be better than 'Wonder Woman', or even as good?" While the short answer is "probably not" (let's face it, the strong female superhero is one thing DC managed to beat Marvel to), I have to admit that 'Aquaman' here actually does come out pretty well, all things considered. In fact, this pretty much makes second place for me as far as DC's collection is concerned. A frank surprise, considering that by all rights, Aquaman ought to be about the lamest superhero in the DC Universe. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is born to a lighthouse keeper named Tom (Temuera Morrison) and an Atlantian woman named Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) who strongly believes that one day Arthur will unite the worlds of land and sea. However, Atlantian rules dictate that the love between Arthur's parents is forbidden, and Atlanna is pretty much hunted down into exile for her "crimes". Meanwhile, Arthur takes up the role of Aquaman, being stuck somewhere between his appreciation of land dwellers, along with his father, and being half Atlantian, but not necessarily able to show his face around Atlantis due to what he represents. Orm (Patrick Wilson), Arthur's half-brother (and full-blooded Atlantian) uses a pirate named David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) as a link between worlds in order to wage a war on the surface dwellers, after decades of our pollution causing problems. His betroved, Mera (Amber Heard) wants no part of it, and calls Arthur to Atlantis in an attempt to stop the worst from happening. To me, this is sort of DC's answer to 'Thor' (the powerful being who is after a specific weapon [the Trident of Atlan, here] in order to make things work, and eventually take his rightful place on a throne, after proving himself worthy). However, plenty of challenge lies ahead for him. perhaps a little less so here, though, as Aquaman is already an established member of the Justice League, and has been for a year. So we do get the best of both worlds here. This is slight origin story blended with hitting the ground running, and the execution of it all flows quite nicely. Up until this point, a strong criticism of mine when it comes to DC has been that things feel rushed and kinda messy. This one isn't that bad. I suppose my only real criticisms here lie within the overall bland acting, as so much of it is taken so seriously by so many, save Momoa, who seems to fully recognize that the whole thing is kinda silly, and goes for the 'Thor: Ragnarok' execution. First coming out of this, I thought the opposite, but after sitting on things for a while, it's clear that Momoa had the right idea for his role, so kudos to him. More criticisms go with a lot of the CG animation here with the impression that at this point, things could look much better. But all in all, this one really isn't that bad at all. Maybe it's due to my overall unfamiliarity and disinterest I've always had with this character, or perhaps I've just lowered my expectations so far, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one overall. While it's no 'Wonder Woman', and still feels rushed in parts (which is odd considering its 2.5-hour running time), it manages to do its own thing without going so incredibly over the top. And while I'm not exactly standing and cheering when it's over, I can nod my head with approval and assume that DC is starting to get their shit together. Despite it being a 3, it's certainly a high 3. 3/5  We are living in a pretty interesting time for the web-slinger. Spidey has always been one of the staple superheroes out there, but he's certainly been through his ups and downs. However, it seems that today, things seem to consistently be going well for the character since Disney made their deal and Tom Holland put on the mask.
But while Marvel is able to have their cool teen Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Sony still gets to play around with things too. Earlier this year we had 'Venom', which you pretty much either liked or hated (I thought it was kinda bad, but still fun for what it was), and now we have this, which I admittedly kinda hope becomes, at least a small series of some sort. We finally get to see the likes of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) - the 'Spider-Man' who takes up the torch after Peter Parker, gaining his powers with a very similar spider bite. He lives in Brooklyn with his mother, Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and cop father, Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry). Miles gets himself into a bit of trouble here and there with graffiti artistry, but he's an all-around good kid, and a well-liked kid at his school. Miles also has a raport with his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) - your typical bad ass uncle who's a bit of a bad influence on Miles in some regards, but still loves him and wants to keep him out of harm's way. The big bond they seem to have is within graffiti artistry. They end up in an abandoned subway tunnel so that Miles can throw up a mural, and this is where "the bite" occurs. In the meantime, Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber), with the help of a female Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn) attempts to use a particle accelerator in order to open up other dimensions, and reunite with another version of his wife and son. This ultimately goes haywire, and several different versions of Spidey come out of it as a result, including an aged Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spidey Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and her machine, SPDR, and of course, Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). Together, they have to work to stop Fisk from causing any more damage, and evetually get back to their respective homes. All the while Parker helps train Morales up as a new Spidey for his dimension. What's crazy unexpected about this one, however, is just how conveniently it fell with its release. Shortly following the passing of the legendary Stan Lee, his animated cameo here will make you think, or perhaps even manage to bring a tear to your eye with the way he shows up. Stan Lee's passing didn't entirely effect me so deeply until this cameo. I know how weird that might sound, but anyone who's seen it has got to agree to some degree that this particular cameo hits you in the feels. The film is loaded with good stuff though. It's one of the most stylized adaptations for any kind of comic book I've seen since 'Scott Pilgrim', making things seem like a comic book come to life. Every now and then you see the art style change, comic panels float by, and the mixture of graphic art and music really make things feel authentically Brooklyn. Its also one of these animated films that's loaded with neat little visual pop-ups that beg for it to be seen more than once, if only to catch anything you might have missed, previously. My only real criticism here is mostly just a nitpick, and that's that between Noir, Ham and Peni, there's not a whole lot of development going on with them. They kinda show up to be interesting additions to the cast that some viewers may not know of, including yours truly (I had no idea Peni or Ham were a thing). But otherwise, this carries a solid story, style and execution, throwing a lot of familiarity at us with a lot of different. Hell, I haven't even mentioned what a badass Aunt May (Lily Tomlin) is in this. Easily being listed as one of my top picks of 2018 once I get that Top 10 list up, I can fully seeing this being a sort of new 'Scott Pilgrim' for me in that it will be a solid go-to movie I can watch again and again, and be completely inspired by its overall execution. But don't take my word for it on how good it is. Just go over to IMDb and see how its listed on the Top 250 as #29, or Rotten Tomatoes, balancing the critic and audience meter between 97% and 94% respectively. It's worth seeing in 3D if you have the means, too. But I will forewarn everyone reading this of one very important detail - it's busy and bright with stylized colour, and there's even a theatrical warning that various sequences could potentially cause seizures for those who suffer from such a debilitation. So not EVERYONE is gonna enjoy it. But, such is film. I loved the hell out of it, and see ownership in the near future. 5/5  The inevitable DC ultimate team-up movie answer to 'The Avengers' has finally arrived. The universe has slowly been redeeming itself for audiences and critics alike with the release of 'Wonder Woman', and I have to admit that when it came to making 'Justice League' it's evident that the studio is finally starting to listen to the mass audience.
DC got the hint that 'Avengers', lets just face facts here, is simply a bigger film that more people enjoyed. They were smart and pulled in Joss Whedon to assist with some of the writing here. A perfect move on their part, if you ask me, if only because he's able to write dialogue for characters that allow us to empathize and sympathize with. It helps that he writes with a sense of humor as well, so as to show us, the audience, that the movie isn't supposed to be taken too seriously. This was something that wasn't truly established in either 'Man of Steel' or 'Batman v Superman'. It's only my humble opinion, but in both cases, the movies were more about eye candy than story or characters. 'Justice League' ended up adding some dimension to each of the characters within it. When it came to Cyborg, there was a bit more of an origin story being told because Cyborg tends to be a bit more unfamiliar. Then Flash and Aquaman were a little lighter brushed on because we know who they are. As far as performances go, all pretty good. There was nothing here that blew me away, in particular, but each actor did well enough portraying their respective superhero. Flash added a real sense of humor to everything, as did Aquaman, but in a darker way. Affleck as Batman is actually something I was happier to see this time around because he felt more like Batman here than he ever did in 'Batman v Superman'. And of course we have the gorgeous Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, who pretty much gives us what we want here. It seems evidently clear here that they understand Wonder Woman IS their real lead. She represents the movie everyone liked out of this universe, and they definitely use her to their advantage. The overall plot of the movie is basic enough. Some ancient evil being named Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) comes out of nowhere and aims to collect three mystical boxes with which he can pretty much take over the world. Bruce Wayne gets hold of this information and essentially becomes the recruiter for the Justice League. The challenge ahead, however, may not be able to be faced without Superman, who (potential spoiler but not really) died at the end of 'Batman v Superman'. I can't say much, but I will say this. What IS done with Superman is actually kinda awesome. So, like most DC films I find this isn't without it's flaws. But this time around I found them rather easy to shrug off. The film's dialogue and sense of humor add this new level of enjoyment to everything. Even some of the characters I fully expected to dislike (specifically Aquaman and Cyborg) I ended up enjoying far more than I thought. Much of this was a pleasant surprise to myself, and I think established fans of this universe will get exactly what they're looking for her. Not perfect, but there was enough here to allow me to leave the theater feeling more fulfilled than usual. 3/5  In DC's fourth film of the new universe, I think it's safe to say they finally made things work for them. Yeah, I'm afraid I'm one of those "Team Marvel" guys, disappointed in how all three of those first movies went down. But that's just me, and I fully recognize that this universe still has its fan base.
I always judged this universe to "move too fast". It couldn't be argued in comparison to the Marvel universe, jumping from 'Man of Steel' to 'Batman v Superman' and then getting sidetracked with 'Suicide Squad'. I would personally compare this to Marvel releasing their universe in the order of 'Iron Man', 'Civil War' and... hm, 'Guardians of the Galaxy'? Anyway, this film came along and put some ease on the whole situation by FINALLY giving us another solo movie - my Marvel comparison probably being 'Captain America: The First Avenger' as the whole movie takes place during World War I (and yes, I know 'Cap' was WWII). We open up with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) receiving a letter and photo from Wayne Enterprises portraying her during WWI; the photo he finds when investigating metahumans in 'Batman v Superman'. From there, the movie is a flashback origin story, taking us to the island of Themyscira where we're introduced to the Amazons; an all-female race created by Zeus to protect mankind against the corruption of Ares. They live in peace and harmony, but stick with their warrior training in case Ares ever returns. Eventually, pilot and spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands nearby the island after getting gunned down by Germans. The Germans pursue the crashed plane, and soon an epic battle takes place on the beach of Themyscira. After interrogating Steve using the Lasso of Truth, the Amazons learn about the war taking place outside of their hidden island. Diana takes it as a cue that Ares has returned, and decides to help Steve and hunt down Ares herself in order to end the war. What truly makes this movie stand out is probably the contrasting environments and a "woman's place" on either side. For example, on Themyscira, they are a race of women who live in peace among no men. Once she heads to the war, you see just how women were treated back then, and Diana is overall confused and often disgusted by what mankind has become. In this day and age of women's rights, it makes for a good reminder of various ways women can still be treated, and that it was just commonplace back then. On top of that, there's just the fact that we finally have a female superhero movie that doesn't suck. It manages to highlight women's issues, but it doesn't get preachy about it, and it doesn't just straight up put down the male race in the process. It pokes at us here and there with a sense of humor, but I was never actually insulted by anything (unlike last year's 'Ghostbusters' with Chris Hemsworth's role) Anyway, the action sequences don't really stray from what we've seen in recent DC Universe films, so it manages to be a part of everything just the same. And if the DC Universe does have anything really going for it, it's the visual style. All in all, it's the best of the new DC movies, adds to the universe nicely, and I daresay will provide a landmark in entertainment as this is still something the Marvel universe is lacking. Good on you, DC. 5/5  I think 'Power Rangers' was the first time I saw people get totally obsessed with something that I didn't quite understand for myself. The original air date was August 28, 1993, making me just barely 11 years old. When it aired, I can admit, I enjoyed it for whatever it was. It was colourful, action packed, featured every day people in hero roles, and it was kinda weird all at once. I never got the same obsession that others did with it though. I gave it the first few episodes of the first season, got bored, and continued watching 'Animaniacs' instead (which aired that September).
But while I was watching my cartoons, this seemingly even more cartoonish live action show was really taking off. It became a phenomenon of sorts, and yeah, I still caught it here and there if I was at a friends house and that's what they were watching. I still never really understood the obsession, but it wasn't like I wasn't into some pretty weird cartoons as a kid either. Look at 'Ninja Turtles', as a perfect example. If you pretend that it never existed, and think of the whole idea, it's really messed up. Look at 'Super Mario Bros' as one of my biggest gaming obsessions... I mean, just... LOOK at it! All this lead me to the conclusion that I was finally growing out of certain things. A show like 'Animaniacs' could still be greatly entertaining to me because it still delved into adult humor as well as being pretty kid friendly. It was like the little upgrade we got after the far more child-friendly 'Tiny Toons'. But getting back to the point, 'Power Rangers' was pretty much responsible for giving me that feeling of childhood going away. So, maybe it wasn't for me, but it ended up ultimately getting respected by me for doing so well. Eventually, I'd grow up and see that they taught some valuable lessons along the way. Lessons such as how important team work can be, and to stand up to your bullies... which I hope helped more than it hindered... but anyway, I eventually understood the appeal it had to people. SO, here I am, present day, and I see a trailer for a 'Power Rangers' reboot. And honestly? I couldn't help but find myself curious about it more than I would have just brushed it aside when I was younger. Maybe, for me, this was gonna fit like the new 'Star Trek' or the new 'James Bond' movies where I respected the old material, but maybe the new stuff could pull me into it better. And in some ways, it succeeded, but in a lot of way, it sadly failed as well... but perhaps for stranger reasons than you might think. So, now that I've written so much set up, I'm gonna start the ACTUAL review (sorry, this has taken me a lot of thought, and I aim to make it one of my more detailed reviews). If you don't feel like reading it all, though, just scroll down to the rating I gave it and call it a day. But I do feel like I have some important stuff to say that doesn't fully rest on this movie alone. So, let's start this off, shall we? The way the story originally aired back in '93 was that this horribly dubbed witch wizardy space person named Rita, along with her henchmen, are found on the moon by two astronauts. Because of this, some head in a tube named Zordon tells his robot sidekick named Alpha 5 that Rita has escaped and that they need the help of "teenagers with attitudes" (that line really makes me cringe, by the way). Alpha... somehow beams them into this headquarters, so to speak, and Zordon tells them that it's up to them to save the world because Rita is being a bitch and throwing monsters down to Earth trying to conquer it. Most of the episodes are relatively the same formula consisting of "Rita's at it again", "We need to help!", "It's morphin time!" and then they all ride big, awesome, mechanical dinosaurs (well, three dinosaurs and two big-ass mammals) and save the day until the following week when they did it all over again. While the scenes involving the actors were American, the actual Power Ranger fights were stock footage from a Japanese show called 'Super Sentai', and when you watch it all together now, it's hard to ell which part of it is cheesier. Along the way lessons are learned, fears overcome, and toys eventually sold like crazy. The movie, on the other hand, shows us what happened between Rita and Zordon in the beginning, and allows us to see actual training for the big fight instead of them just kinda figuring it all out on their own, as the show would have you believe. I mean, okay, they were in Jason's high school karate class, and Zordon explains to them how to morph, but... damn, were they otherwise self-sufficient! So, I really and truly enjoy that part of it. One may call it too much exposition, but I say it's about time. If the original 'Power Rangers' show was a combination of Japanese stock footage and 'Saved by the Bell', this movie is more like... if the 'Breakfast Club' were the real Power Rangers. I'm not making that up, either. They pretty much all have their resemblances to the Breakfast Club. In short, Jason's the "athlete", Billy is the "brain", Kimberly is the "princess", Trini is the "basketcase" and Zack is the "criminal". In fact, I'm not 100% on it, but I feel like they even quoted 'The Breakfast Club' in this from time to time. But that MIGHT be a good thing, overall. This generation could use a new Breakfast Club that's a bit updated, and this totally works because it doesn't mean remaking a classic, but all the good qualities are still there. This movie gave us some good character development between everyone, each struggling with their own inner problem. This leads them to get to know and train with one another against simulations, but they can't actually morph unless they become a fully functional team and work together completely. This leads to them trying time and time again to morph but failing, and not necessarily knowing which one of them is holding something back. They even make some of the problems they have more adult, which leads me to a segway into negativity territory. The more adult adaptation of this works very well with modern society. For example, I won't spoil who, but one of them actually stuggles with confusion on sexuality. It's something that is good to address in something like this where kids will be watching as well, letting them know that it's nothing to be ashamed of, and your friends can help if you need someone to talk to. But I daresay, it does go over the line a few times, unnecessarily. Things such as the opening scene involving Jason and his friend trying to smuggle a cow into the gym locker room and... having a back and forth about milking him... yeah... and this wasn't something that could be mistaken for something else, it's a very blatant joke about giving a handjob to a male cow. The guy even says he had to use two hands! See, now, I have a MAJOR problem with this kind of thing. This is right up there with Michael Bay making Michaelangelo a straight up pervert. It's just fully unnecessary. And I admit that raunchy humor can be pretty funny at times, but there's a place for them; in raunchy comedies. This? This is 'Power Rangers'! It leads me to believe that they made it more with our generation of late-20-to-early-30-somethings in mind, but that STILL doesn't mean the raunchy humor needs to be there. It doesn't add anything, and makes it seem like they're not respecting the source material at all. 'Power Rangers' was a show meant for kids at the time, and those kids grew up with it, much like I did with 'Ninja Turtles'. I can't help but feel it could be something parents may wanna bring their kids to, in order to sort of show what they grew up with, and maybe the kids will enjoy it just the same. But a lot of the dialogue and language to this is quite a bit more adult than it ought to be, considering it's 'Power Rangers'; a show that was always meant for kids more than adults. With all the language aside, though, it's really not too bad. They changed the characters up a bit, yeah, but I feel like I cared about these particular characters more in the 2 hours this movie took than I ever did with any members of that original team. I did, however, find that getting to know a lot about these characters could drag quite a bit. They don't really even become Rangers until about the last half hour of the movie, which, given the circumstances I suppose is understandable, but I DID find myself growing slightly impatient with it at times. However, when they finally DO become the Power Rangers, they do a great job with the fan service aspect of things. I couldn't help but even get some goosebumps when they finally went into battle and the 'Power Rangers' theme comes on. Even if I didn't like the show much, that theme, I have to admit, is pretty awesome. It just gets you all pumped up for action. Other positives, as one may imagine, include the visuals. Even without the big battle stuff going on, there ends up being some pretty cool and trippy scenes. There's also good delving into these guys actually discovering and exploring their newfound powers, much like they did in 'Chronicle', which is something I can always appreciate, especially since in the old show they just kinda seemed to know what to do. But as far as other negatives? Other than my personal opinion of it dragging a little, and the unnecessary jokes and language, there isn't much to pick on. 'Power Rangers' was always pretty cheesy to me, so I expected nothing less, but actually got a bit more. The film's downfall truly is the adult humor, again, Power Rangers never needed raunchiness to succeed. So, in closing, if you were a fan of the show and want to see a fresh, new take on things, you might check this out. It definitely has some fun moments, and parts of it are pretty reminiscent of the old show. If you do, however, plan to bring your kids to see this and introduce a whole new generation to such a worldwide phenomenon... keep in mind there's a joke about jerking off a cow, language, and some suggestive stuff here and there. Otherwise, Go Go to the movies and check it out for yourself because if nothing else, you can see an updated version of 'The Breakfast Club'! 3/5  Our story opens way into the future, in the year 2029. Mutants are on the verge of extinction from a virus, Professor X has turned into a senile old man, and Logan (Hugh Jackman) is driving a limo and hustling for prescription drugs. He is also now mostly going by the name of James, and is, shall we say, having trouble healing lately. He, Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and another mutant named Caliban (Stephen Merchant) have taken up residence in an abandoned smelting plant in Mexico.
Some time soon we are introduced to a little girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), who we soon find out has some pretty kick-ass mutant powers of her own. I mean, seriously, Laura made Hit Girl look like Dora the Explorer. Anyway, a woman named Gabriela wants Logan and Xavier (namely Logan) to escort Laura to a place known as "Eden", where more of her kind are awaiting her. Meanwhile, a group called the Reavers; a mob of cybernetically-enhanced enforcers, pursues them throughout the film. We learn why, soon enough, but I feel like it would be a bit much of a reveal if I were to say much more. I won't lie about having a few minor issues with the film. For starters, there's a chance I missed some stuff along the way, but I feel like it's never FULLY explained in good detail whatever happened to the rest of the mutants, including the rest of the X-Men. According to Wikipedia, the answers are there, and are pretty much what I had assumed once the questions came to mind. So I'll pat myself on the back for more or less figuring it out, but I DID still need confirmation. Another thing... Okay, so, this is an R-rated 'Wolverine' movie. It's something we have all been dying to see, even before the likes of 'Deadpool' arrived on-screen. This may sound like a silly complaint coming from yours truly, but I swear that since they got the R-rating they pushed the language to the brink of almost being pointless. Okay, so add some f-shots and some colourful language, that's fine, but to hear Logan basically using the F-word as much as possible, it kinda takes you out a bit. I mean, it went from 'X-Men' to 'Lebowski' a little too hard. But where in 'Lebowski', the language fits the mood and setting, this IS still an X-Men film. Everything built up until this point HAS been relatively clean, so the sudden change in atmosphere, while cool at first, gets kinda weird kinda quick. Though, I will admit, it will often bring a giggle when you hear Xavier curse. But seriously, it's just whatever the language is and perhaps its a nitpick on my part... and again, a REALLY weird one, since I probably swear more than most people I know. I mean, the F-word has gotten to the point where it just kinda fucking slips out without me noticing. But don't fret, folks. I'm in no way bashing this film. What is does do well, it does extremely well. It really is the first X-Men film I've seen, probably since about X-2 where I felt some genuine emotion towards the characters involved. Facing facts, Hugh Jackman has played Logan/Wolverine and Patrick Stewart has played Xavier for 17 years now. It does get sad to watch when you start to think about the fact that they have both said they are hanging it up. These guys helped usher in a whole new breed of Superhero films back in 2000, and they have been steadily playing these roles since then. I mean, think about how sad you got when say, 'Harry Potter' came to an end. That was the span of 10 years, so add +7 years to whatever sadness you may have felt when that ended. Besides feeling that tug on your heartstrings, though, there's plenty more going for it. We see Logan for the first time ever, struggling with his healing factor. This gives way to some actual vulnerability for a character we otherwise know can get up from pretty much anything, including a shot to the head, and being totally ripped apart with bad CG by Phoenix. One tremendious flaw about 'Origins: Wolverine' was always that Wolvy and Sabertooth just kept attacking and kept healing. There was no real threat between them either way. With this whole new twist, we can finally actually worry about what happens to him. As I mentioned before, Laura also kicks some serious ass in this. One may complain that she screams the entire time she does it, but to me, that's forgivable just to see her... well... upstage Wolverine, herself, quite frankly. Again, I would compare her to someone like Hit Girl from 'Kick-Ass', but the main difference is THIS is a little girl tearing people to shreds in self-defense within the confines of a dramatic action thriller. The blood and gore she dishes out is that much more brutal in that sense. Hit Girl was mostly a character made for shock value in an action comedy, so we loved her for being over-the-top, but it wasn't so easy to take 'Kick-Ass' too seriously. Finally, there's Xavier. I mean, holy crap, can we just nominated Patrick Stewart for an Oscar now and give these superhero films some headway? His nosedive into senility was something to be admired. He remains the kindly old man we all know and love, but in this, he also plays a truly tragic character. Imagine having HIS powers, and then one day, things just aren't quite right anymore. He's medicated, needs assistance to the bathroom, and the way he talks, he often reminisces about his past. You get the impression through the film that he misses how it all once was, and that there are things he wishes he could change. Anyway, looking at this review, I am babbling. All in all, the film is great, despite a few little nitpicks. If you're seeking out the eye-candy kind of 'X-Men' like 'Apocalypse' and 'Days of Future Past' were, you'll be sorely disappointed. What you see from the trailers is pretty much what you end up getting for atmosphere. This time around, it's about story and character as opposed to just making shit look cool, and it's something to be admired. One last note, and without giving too much away, expect an interesting and thought-provoking opening sequence. It's pretty intense, and well worth the price of admission alone. 5/5 |
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