Breaking News: The First Teaser Trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Released!!!

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?"

• October 2012 - Disney buys Lucasfilm. Announces Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX.
• January 2013 - J.J. Abrams announced to direct.
• May 2013 - Pre-production begins.
• October 2013 - Screenwriter Michael Arndt leaves production. Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams take over his script duties.
• November 2013 - Release date of December 18th, 2015 was announced.
• January 2014 - Abrams announced the script was completed. Casting begins.
• April 29th, 2014 - The cast list was officially announced.
• May 16th, 2014 - Principle photography begins.
• November 3rd, 2014 - After injuries and re-shoots, principle photography wrapped.
• November 6th, 2014 - Star Wars Episode VII gets the subtitle Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
• November 28, 2014 - We have our first teaser trailer:

I don't think I have ever felt this much emotion for a single minute and a half long teaser trailer in my entire life. Emotions of excitement, happiness and joy yet also nervousness, skepticism and even a slight bit of fear. Who knew that an 88 second trailer could bring me to tears of happiness?

What blew me away was seeing how different yet very similar everything looked to the original trilogy. It's been more than 35 years since Star Wars was releases in 1977 so of course the technology and visuals were going to improve. I was surprised at how almost simplistic the shots looked. Think about the prequels and even the "Special Editions" of the original trilogy. There is so much unnecessary CGi effects thrown into the shot that it becomes overwhelming. Almost to the point of looking like a Baz Luhrmann film. And while I can't say that the entire movie will always look less cluttered, this trailer makes me think so. If the most crowded shot in the trailer is that of three X-Wing fighters flying over a lake in a row, then I believe Episode VII won't be a CGI-fest like Attack of the Clones was.

I also found it interesting that we didn't see a single shot of the original cast. The only actors in the trailer were that of John Boyega in a Stormtrooper uniform, Daisy Ridley on a bizarre landspeeder, Oscar Isaac piloting an X-Wing and a shadowed figure that I believe is Adam Driver as our main antagonist.

It was also cool how there was no dialogue other than a narration from someone who sounds like Smaug the dragon. It set the tone beautifully unlike the corny dialogue from the Jurassic World trailer.

There's a ton more to talk about like the soccer ball astromech droid, the X-wings, the new Stormtrooper helmet designs, the triple-edged lightsaber (!!!) and of course, that gorgeous, triumphant moving shot of the Millennium Falcon doing battle with Tie Fighters. There's so much to take in in such a short time. need I go on?

What are your thoughts? Excited? Nervous? Optimistic? Skeptical? Well so am I.
December 18th of 2015 can not come fast enough.

Huge News: Warner Bros. Slate of Upcoming Dc Comics Movies for 2016 - 2020!?!?

Wow. This sure came out of nowhere...

I've been reading articles and hearing rumors through the internet grapevine about what Warner Bros. game-plan for the Justice League and the future of the Dc Comics Universe exactly is.

I read an article on schmoesknow.com released earlier this summer that a "rumored" slate of upcoming Dc Comics films following the March 2016 release of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The list was comprised of, but not limited to, a solo Wonder Woman film, Shazam starring Dwayne Johnson, a Flash and Green Lantern team-up film, David S. Goyer's adaptation of Sandman starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and a Man of Steel sequel. This list was neither confirmed nor denied by Warner Bros. But the bombshell that Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara is as serious as a heart-attack. Which is just about what happened when I read this slate of ten upcoming films. Consisting of...

• Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - March 25, 2016
• The Suicide Squad - August 5, 2016
• Wonder Woman - June 23, 2017
• Justice League Part One - November 12, 2017
• The Flash - March 23, 2018
• Aquaman - July 27, 2018
• Shazam - April 5, 2019
• Justice League Part 2 - June 14, 2019
• Cyborg -April 3, 2020
• Green Lantern Reboot -June 19, 2020

The booming voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader would say,
"Impressive. Most impressive."

Man the next few years of movies are going to be unbelievable! There are a few things that surprise me and concern me at the same time. For starters, The Suicide Squad?! I've only heard rumors of this production a few weeks ago! The article states that End of Watch and Fury director David Ayer is set to direct which is most intriguing. I had no idea this project was so far along. Now I'm interested in who will play Harley Quinn. (Fingers crossed for Katee Sackhoff!)

I expected to see Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Shazam and a Green Lantern Reboot on here.

I personally am super nervous about Wonder Woman. Not because I have anything against female lead movies. If anything, I am all for tough leading ladies in action movies! I'm still on the fence about Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. I've completely warmed up to Ben Affleck as Batman, but I'm still not entirely confident about Gadot. Only time will tell.

We also have received news on who will play the fastest man alive in the upcoming 2018 solo film! Ezra Miller of Perks of Being a Wallflower fame will star as Barry Alan. I'm not very familiar with his work so I can't give my opinions on him as an actor. I'm interested in what is to develop in this project.

Aquaman comes next and I am going to be watching this project intently. The king of the sea has been the laughing stock of comic book heroes for decades. But with Jason Momoa as the lead he will definitely bring a heavy dose of masculinity to a much mocked character. The thought of underwater fight scenes also interests me. I am pumped.

I've briefly talked about Shazam in my post about Dwayne Johnson's casting. I love The Rock so this film already has my money.

Cyborg came straight out of left field! Never would have called that one! I know absolutely nothing about this character. Only from the one or two episodes of Teen Titans I've seen. Ray Fisher will make an appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (along with every other member of the Justice League!). I'm not familiar with the actor and even less familiar with the source material. This will be another one I'll be watching intently.

I'm not surprised that the Green Lantern reboot is the last film on the list. It's probably planned that way so that by the time of this films release, everyone will have the Ryan Reynold's version blocked out of their memories. Much like Ang Lee's Hulk. The article says nothing about if the film will be about Hal Jordan or Jon Stewart. I love the character of Green Lantern and I'm bummed it's so far away, but if it will lead to a better movie then I'm all for it.

The Justice League news however concerns me. I despise when a film is split into two or more parts because one half will be all buildup with little payoff and the latter will be all payoff in an attempt to make you forget about a completely pointless Part 1. Why it couldn't just be a Justice League sequel in 2019 instead of a continuation is beyond my comprehension. Then again, the person who made this decision is probably the same guy who thought Jessie Eisenberg was born to play Lex Luthor...
I've warmed up to Ben Affleck as Batman by now, but I still can't wrap my mind around imitation Michael Cera playing arguably the most iconic comic book villain of all time. I digress.

From this announcement you can really tell that Warner Bros. is scrambling right now. They really can't afford any misfires now. I can't say that I'll be the first to say this but if Dawn of Justice fails to please the fans, Warner Bros. plans at a DC Cinematic Universe are done for. Then again, that is very unlikely. But I wouldn't be surprised considering all of Warner Bros. other failed attempts to kickstart an intertwining DC Comics universe. Do Superman Returns and Green Lantern ring any bells?

Despite my negativity, I really hope that this does come to fruition! What I'm interested in now is who will be directing these films and who will be starring in the roles. When we get that news, I can really begin to form my opinions because right now everything is all up in the air.

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films

The summer movie season has been over for almost a month now, I've gone back to school and the box office has suffered cinematic cardiac arrest and is in dire need of fall movie season CPR. Luckily October is just around the corner with some tantalizing titles that I am very much looking forward to seeing like The Judge and Fury.

With the lack of note-worthy movies headlining the multiplex this September, I've been wanting to do something different and fun to fill the currently empty void once occupied by reviews. I then thought about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guardians of the Galaxy has not only become the highest grossing film of the year in these United States, but also marks the record books as the tenth film in the MCU. I figured that it would be ridiculous not to make a top ten list of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Disclaimer: For those not familiar with the MCU, they are a series of interconnected films involving the Avengers and most recently, the Guardians of the Galaxy. So in case anyone is wondering why I don't have any of the X-Men or Spider-Man films on this list, it's because those characters are (sadly) not apart of this universe. Thanks a lot Sony and 20th Century Fox. That being said, let's roll.

10: Iron Man 2

No surprise with this one. Iron Man 2 has perhaps been universally declared as the most forgettable of the franchise. In all fairness, this film was almost set to disappoint. Paramount forced director Jon Favreau to rush out a sequel in two years instead of three. This lead to a rushed screenplay and a plethora of subplots and a convoluted story. That being said, Robert Downey Jr. is still perfect as Tony Stark, the action is kickin' and Sam Rockwell gives a very funny and in my opinion, underrated, performance as Justin Hammer. It's still a fun little romp, but everyone who walked out of this film left wanting more.

9: Iron Man 3

Speaking of disappointments! While Iron Man 2 suffered from a poor script, it was still helmed with great confidence by actor/director Jon Favreau. The director title was handed to writer/director Shane Black. His script focuses more on the comedy aspect and it is easily the funniest of the trilogy. That being said, the plot holes this time around are more abundant and even more ludicrous. The visuals might continue to astound, but the villains so poorly executed that it's almost insulting to their comic book origins. I put this above Iron Man 2 solely for the reason that this film served a purpose rather than a be a pointless exercise like it's previous installment. Once again, a disappointment.

8: The Incredible Hulk

And now for the one that everyone forgot even exists...
When it comes to movie about the Hulk, this takes the cake. But when your competition is Ang Lee's 2003 mopey soap opera interpretation, that's like winning a foot-race against a turtle. It doesn't really mean much. This film however is still a good superhero yarn. The origin story is well-written and evenly paced, Tim Roth eats up his role as the villain, Edward Norton is great as Bruce Banner and the action has just enough Hulk smashes to satisfy the same part of your brain that loved seeing Metropolis get eviscerated in Man of Steel. Overlooked, but worth checking out nonetheless.


7: Thor

I had to think about which of the Thor films I liked more. For me, this was not a quick or easy decision! I thought that this was a great introduction to the god of thunder by having him undergo a large character arc from a once arrogant, would-be king, to a humble warrior that learned that with great power comes great responsibility. Chris Hemsworth is absolutely perfect as Thor, but everyone left the theater talking about Tom Hiddleston as Loki. The dynamic paring of these two outstanding characters on-screen for the first time is definitely something to remember. Even if the action was slightly lacking.

6: Thor: The Dark World

Thor's first solo adventure in sequel-land delivered just about everything I wanted it to be. What Kenneth Branagh's Thor lacked in action and visual splendor, Alan Taylor made up for with stunning shots of Asgard, smooth direction and cinematography and a final showdown that is remains to be one of the most rousing entertainments I've had the pleasure of witnessing on the big screen. It was also refreshing just to have a standalone Avenger film that didn't revolve around a huge, overarching storyline. Christopher Eccleston as Malekith might not have been a great villain, but there was just enough witty one-liners from Loki to keep any fangirl (and me) satisfied.

5: Captain America: The First Avenger

Chris Evans was able to redeem himself from playing Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four by proving to the world that the star spangled man is so much more than just a really strong guy. This is one film that I can watch over and over again and find more little nuances and hidden details peppered in the background that make me really love it even more. Chris Evans is fantastic as Steve Rogers and Hugo Weaving is awesome as Red Skull. A stellar supporting cast consisting of Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones and Haley Atwel round out a wonderful supporting cast to this fun WWII film period piece in a comic book movie body.

4: Guardians of the Galaxy

This movie is so ridiculous that it's almost unbelievable that a movie that consists of a talking tree and a foul-mouthed raccoon would end up becoming the highest grossing film of the year in America. Guardians accomplishes a monstrous feat by introducing five new characters and develop all of them during the span of a two-hour run-time. Think about that! The Avengers didn't even do that! The visuals popped, the soundtrack rocked and the comedy destroyed. Any movie that can bring the song "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede back into mainstream culture is worthy of your price for admission.
We are Groot.

3: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Guardians might have been the most unique film on the list, but the best Marvel  movie of the year goes to The Winter Soldier. Once again, we are proven that you don't need to be the god of thunder or have a robot-bodysuit to be able to be a hero. The chemistry between Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansen manages to be both adorable and realistic, Anthony Mackie steals every scene he's in and we are finally blessed with two amazing villains played expertly by Sebastian Stan and Robert Redford. The Winter Soldier takes more of a crime/spy movie route and succeeds tenfold. It's one of two films this year I paid to see twice in theaters.

2: Iron Man

And now for the one that started it all. The grandfather of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all of the films yet to come. What would the movie business be like if Iron Man wasn't a critical and box office smash? Robert Downey Jr's career would have probably faded away and Marvel would have sold all of the Avengers rights away to separate studios like with X-Men and Spider-Man. With complex characters, an airtight screenplay and perhaps the greatest portrayal of a comic book character ever translated to the silver screen, Iron Man in't just one of the best comic book movies of all time, it's one of the most endlessly re-watchable films of all time. It's just about flawless.

1: The Avengers

After I saw The Avengers on opening day, May 4th, 2012, my life changed when I walked out of that theater. This might sound like an over-exaggeration but I can say with the upmost confidence that Marvel's The Avenger's changed my life. From that moment on I became obsessed with movies, characters and just gushing over films I adore. About a year later in April of 2013 I started this blog with some of my first reviews being, unsurprisingly, the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's very rare for a movie I was so hyped to see to deliver quite like this. In a sense, The Avengers is my Star Wars and this is one film I will treasure and hold close to me for the rest of my life.

News: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Confirmed As Black Adam

Well what do you know? Warner Bros. announced who will be playing a DC Comics character and the internet greets it with a largely positive response! I suppose every cloud has a silver lining.

All summer long we have been hearing these rumors of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson possibly playing a superhero/comic book character in the ever expanding (and highly rushed) DC Universe.

The Rock has been teasing about it for so long that it was starting to become annoying to the point of fans yelling, "Just tell us already!". He made it very clear that he was either going to be playing Shazam or Black Adam and sources have just confirmed he will be playing the latter.

I'm going to be completely honest. I don't know squat about this guy or Shazam. As much as I adore comic book based films, I have never been an avid reader of the material. But regardless of if I have or haven't heard of him, this news gets me excited.

You might know this already, but I love The Rock. As far as I'm concerned he is a real life superhero. And to see someone I think is awesome, who also looks the part of a superhero actually getting to play one is, in my opinion, ideal casting.

It's also wonderful to know that he will not be appearing in,
Batman Vs. Superman: This is Not The Justice League Movie I'm Serious It's Not.
If they announced one more character I'm pretty sure the cast list would explode.

All in all, I'm pumped! What's not to like? If done correctly, this could be kind of like DC Comics answer to Guardians of the Galaxy in the sense of bringing relatively unknown comic book characters onto the big screen and making them well known to the average moviegoer and average joe.

Now if only they will tell us who Scoot McNairy will be playing. I have a few ideas that I hope will come to fruition...

Movie Review #95: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

This has been a really awesome year for summer blockbusters and an even better year for comic book movies. In april we were blessed with the best Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel to date in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In late may Bryan Singer returned to the X-Men franchise to bring us a series highpoint with Days of Future Past. And earlier this month James Gunn surprised everyone with Guardians of the Galaxy.

All three of these films are certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 88% or higher. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, according to Rotten Tomatoes and fans, has been receiving the similar reception that last years Man of Steel had. Of all the Marvel movies to come out this year, this sequel has been the most forgotten about. People either seemed to love it or hate it. And being that I absolutely detested the first Andrew Garfield Spider-Man film, I stayed away from this film until its Blu-Ray release. So I went in expecting nothing, but what were my final thoughts on it?

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker faces the struggle of balancing his social life, family, friends and relationship with the great power and great responsibility of being Spider-Man. Meanwhile a new villain named Electro surfaces with a personal vendetta against the wed-slinging wall crawler. At the same time we are (re)-introduced to Harry Osborn who for particular reasons, also has a vendetta against Spidey. And theres another villain (kinda) called the Rhino who doesn't have an issue with Spider-Man, he's just a villain because we need there to be a third one. Kinda. All while this happens, Peter and Gwen Stacey's relationship is put to the test when she is up for a scholarship at Oxford and could possibly be leaving him behind. Peter also does some digging into the deaths of his parents and to see if his father left him any clues behind. And as if we couldn't have any more subplots! We have, amazingly, another subplot! The same shadowed figure at the end of the last film returns and is forming The Sinister Six: An evil gang of super-villains out to destroy Spider-Man.

If you couldn't tell by now, this film is filled to the brim with more subplots than an ensemble romantic comedy. And as expected with any movie dealing with multiple story-lines, some are fleshed out while some other far more interesting ones are left undercooked.

Before I begin bashing the film I'll let you in on what is good because there are some good parts to be found. As much as I love the original Sam Rami Spider-Man trilogy, perhaps the weakest element was the romance. Here it is done excellently. The chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone is unmistakable. Sure it travels into the schmaltzy/cheesy territory every once in a while, but their interactions are so strong that I honestly found it believable and likable. Even when it gets annoying from how adorable they're acting with each-other.

As expected, the visuals are excellent. Heck, they're probably the only part of this film that warrants the title of "amazing". The movie is expertly shot (on 35 mm film!) by Star Trek and future Star Wars Episode VII cinematographer Dan Mindel. The Spider-Man POV swinging shots are absolutely stellar.

The biggest and most critical flaw with this movie is the same issue I found with Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3: The villains stink. It's the same problem with Spider-Man 3, they threw far too many villains on the screen at once and didn't care to flesh them out or make them interesting. Come to think of it, the only villain in Spider-Man 3 that really got shortchanged was Venom. The Sandman was fully established with a reason for being a criminal and New Goblin had a personal reason to kill Spider-Man. Even though Venom wasn't developed at all, two out of three isn't bad. But of the three villains in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, not a single one was interesting.

The first and arguably the main villain is Max Dillon a.k.a Electro, played by Jamie Foxx. He's a lonely nerd that works at Oscorp and is completely obsessed with Spider-Man. He's a psychotic fan in the truest sense. Like Kathy Bates in Misery but more awkward than scary. He gets turned into Electro after being electrocuted and falling into a tank of conveniently placed electric eels. Seriously, why were those eels there? Do all big businesses have vats of eels in the basement? I'm getting off track here...

Jamie Foxx does his best with the script, but when the script has his character underdeveloped and uninteresting... he's going to come off that way. The design of Electro is really unique and cool to look at, but I've been saying that about all of the weak Marvel movie villains.

Dane Dehaan plays Harry Osborn and his on-screen friendship with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker is more natural that with Tobey Maguire and James Franco. But if there is one element of the Sam Rami films that is infinitely superior it is the development of Harry Osborn. Let me show a brief timeline of Harry's development in the original trilogy:

FYI, spoilers ahead. You've been warned.

• Spider Man (2002): Harry (played by James Franco) is introduced. His friendship is established with Peter along with his relationship with his father Norman Osborn. The film ends with his father being killed and him vowing vengeance against Spider-Man for what he's done.
• Spider-Man 2 (2004): Harry takes over Oscorp and learns Spider-Man's identity. The film ends with him discovering his fathers weapons and armor as the Green Goblin. Hinting that he will take up the mantel and follow in his fathers footsteps.
• Spider-Man 3 (2007): Harry becomes the New Goblin, tries to kill Peter but loses his memory. He gets it back by the end of the film to save Peter and tragically dies.

Let's compare this timeline with what happened to Harry in The Amazing Spider-Man 2:

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014): Harry is introduced. His father dies after sharing one conversation with him on his deathbed that lasts for less than five minutes. (Serious waste of a perfectly good Chris Cooper cameo). We learn of a genetic illness that is slowly killing Harry. Peter is re-introduced to Harry. They reminisce on their friendship as kids, (which would have been nice to see!) Harry asks Peter for Spider-Mans blood to heal him of his disease. Spider-Man says no and Harry becomes psychotic at the drop of a hat. Takes an experimental cure that turns him into an actual Goblin. He fights Spider-Man for slightly longer than five minutes and ends up in prison. And all of this happens over the course of this two and a half hour movie.

If I could describe this in one word, that word would be "rushed". Sam Rami took his time telling Harry's story over the course of three films. Here, you can tell the writers were wanting to get Harry's story over with so they could move on to the Sinister Six spin-off film. Which, to be fair, does sound like a more interesting film.

And as for Paul Giamatti as The Rhino... never-mind. It's not even worth talking about a character that even the screenwriters themselves forgot about. Don't believe me? Just watch the movie. You'll understand what I'm talking about.

James Horner, the composer of the first Marc Webb film, is replaced by Hans Zimmer of Man of Steel, The Dark Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean fame. I expected some great themes after Horner's forgettable score. That is not the case. As it turns out, Zimmer composed the score with the help of Pharrell Williams and former lead guitarist of The Smith's Johnny Marr. An interesting team to say the least. The final product is one of the most awkward and bizarre musical scores I've ever heard. Particularly in the villain theme music for Electro. It sounds like a bunch of creepy whispers played over some really crumby pseudo-dubstep. It's almost unlistenable.

Final Report: While it's far and away from one of the worst Marvel movies ever made, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a mess nonetheless. It's shot nicely on 35 mm film, the visual effects are undeniably impressive and the romance is strong, but the story suffers from an overabundance of villains and subplots. All of which are either underdeveloped or hinted at with zero payoff whatsoever.

And yet, surprisingly, I liked this film more than the first Amazing Spider-Man! The main reason I hated the first Andrew Garfield movie was because it failed to bring anything new to the screen. In this sequel, something new was brought to the Spider-Man universe that we hadn't seen before. And while it wasn't presented and executed as well as it could have been, it still made for a more interesting chapter in the Amazing Spider-Man franchise nonetheless.

Movie Review #94: Hercules (2014)

Hey look! A movie that no one is talking about! Well what better time is there for me to share my thoughts on a film that everyone will probably forget about ever seeing!

Dwayne The Rock Johnson stars as the demigod Hercules. The son of Zeus has completed his 12 labors and is now, essentially, a bodyguard for hire. He and his other muscular, battle-ready comrades are called by the Thracian king, played by John Hurt, to fight a group of rebels that are attacking the city.

Perhaps the main reason this movie isn't generating any buzz is because it's directed by Brett Ratner. If you're unfamiliar with that name, let me briefly inform you. He's probably one of the most hated directors working today. Not because he consistently churns out bad movie after bad movie, but rather for his offscreen reputation which I'm not going to delve into at all. I personally think that judging a director by his actions rather than the movies he produces is the exact opposite of what a movie reviewer should do. I said in my Maleficent review that I don't care for Angelina Jolie as a person, but I praised her performance as the highlight of the film. And that is the case here. Brett Ratner might be a jerk in real life but he knows how to shoot action.

I was expecting this film to be a complete Zach Snyder, Matrix/300-esque ripoff that we've seen time and time again recently with an overabundance of CGI and slow-motion fight scenes. To my great surprise, no! The fight scenes were well choreographed, the slow-motion was used very sparingly and the majority of the CGI was used on the few animals and creatures seen in the trailer. It was actually rather refreshing to see on screen.

I am a huge fan of Dwayne The Rock Johnson. He's the modern action star of my generation and probably the coolest celebrity alive. While he might not be the greatest actor, he does his job well enough as Hercules. It's entertaining watching The Rock hit people with a giant stick. Is it just me, but does he look more like Conan the Barbarian than Hercules? While watching this film I couldn't help but find a resemblance between The Rock and an early 1980's era Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The supporting cast is completely expendable. Hercules has a posse of sorts with other warriors and I don't remember a single one of their names. The only one I actually enjoyed was Ian Mcshane. I couldn't be able to tell you if your had a gun pointed at my head, but he had a few good lines and a rather interesting character trait with that being he can see how he is going to die. Which leads to some interesting situations that I enjoyed seeing.

Honestly, I'm not gonna waist much time on this film. It's not terrible, but it's not memorable. It kind of reminded me of G. I. Joe Retaliation in the sense that I completely forgot that I saw a movie ten minutes after leaving the cineplex.

Final Report: The action scenes might be filmed in a more traditional way and The Rock is always fun to watch, but the bottom line is that Hercules is neither as inventive or as fun as it should/could have been. It comes off as both dull and boring, but it's mostly just a waste of time.

Movie Review #93: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

At first I found it to be rather unusual that the tagline to the first Guardians of the Galaxy poster was "You're Welcome." But when I walked out of the theater today, I realized that the tagline meant something along the lines of,
"You just saw one of the funniest, action-packed movies of the year just now. You're welcome."
Ah, now it all makes perfect sense.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the last (and easily the most hyped) Marvel movie of the year. It is also the biggest gamble the studio has made since.... well, ever! It's a risky and ambitious project to adapt to the silver screen because prior to this films release and inevitable success, no one had ever heard of these guys! Heck when I heard that Marvel was going to make a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy, I thought they were talking about that Zach Snyder animated movie The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. Does anyone remember that film? I never saw it, but that was the first thing that came to mind.

Nonetheless, the first trailer made it loud and clear that this movie was gonna be something completely different from all of the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the tone and visuals. And talk about a breath of fresh air because Guardians of the Galaxy is everything we wanted it to be and then some!

For a film as off-the-wall as this, the plot is pretty straightforward. Chris Pratt plays an outer-space outlaw named Peter Quill a.k.a Star-Lord. He is on the run from an intergalactic super-villain named Ronan the Accuser played by Lee Pace because Quill stole something that he wants. And what he wants will give him the power to destroy the galaxy. Star-Lord comes across an assassin named Gamora played by Zoe Saldana, a revenge-hungry psychopath played by WWE star Dave Bautista, a giant tree-like creature called Groot played by Vin Diesel and a foul-mouthed, gun-smokin', genetically modified Raccoon named Rocket played by Bradley Cooper. Forming the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I am a huge science-fiction fan. I crave movies that take place in outer-space and on strange planets. And we get so much visual eye candy that it was like looking through the Hubble Telescope at the most colorful galaxy in the sky! This is without a doubt the most visually unique comic book film I've seen since Hellboy: The Golden Army. The futuristic technology, spaceships and weapons were all designs that I hadn't seen before. Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't just have the distinct, colorful visual style of The Lego Movie, it also has the characters and humor too!

Chris Pratt is perfectly cast as the wise-cracking Peter Quill. Pratt expertly walks the line of womanizing scoundrel and lovable underdog. I mean how can you not love a character that gives himself a nickname because no one else does? Zoe Saldana is also a lot of fun as Gamora. She and Pratt have feisty chemistry together. Dave Bautista really surprised me as Drax. Is his acting terrific? Not really. But come on, they didn't cast this professional wrestler for a deep, tour-de-force performance. They needed a buff dude that can get angry at the drop of a hat. And he does that very well. And it's awesome. What is perhaps the most interesting aspect these three lead characters share is that they all have interesting, heartfelt and surprisingly emotional backstories. Which was something i didn't expect all three leads to have!

But regardless of how terrific Star-Lord, Gamora and Drax were, everyone who walks out of this movie is going to be talking about Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. Talk about getting lost in a role! This character might be a thief on screen, but he steals every scene he's on screen!

Vin Diesel as Groot is essentially the Chewbacca of the movie. He might not say much, but you'd be surprised how emotive and likable of a presence they made a walking, 8-foot tall tree. The only words he can say are "I am Groot" and only in that specific order. And like Han Solo with Chewbacca, Rocket can understand Groot and I found it extremely funny how he was able to have essentially a one-sided conversation with a character that says the same thing over and over again.

I am a lover of film scores and while Tyler Bates score is fine, it's completely overshadowed by the absolutely fabulous soundtrack! The song choices for certain scenes add another level of comedy that just makes it even funnier. Ever since that first trailer debuted I haven't been able to get Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede out of my head. And I'm not complaining!

I have but two issues with the film. Ronan the Accuser is your typical, one-dimmensional, generic baddie with no backstory or character arc. The only things kind of cool about him is the actor that plays him and the way he looks because his costume and makeup are terrific. What is it with Marvel movies and their villains recently? This is the tenth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we've only had one really terrific villain in Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

Luckily, my second issue is more of a personal flaw than an actual drawback. With this being the last Marvel Cinematic Universe film until The Avengers: Age of Ultron, I was hoping there would have been a post-credits scene teasing about what was in store. What we got instead was Howard the Duck. And I am not even joking. I guess writer/director James Gunn thought it would be rather clever to include such an obscure 80's science-fiction reference, but I was disappointed. Again, a very small issue I had in a movie that was filled with so much great stuff!

Final Report: Guardians of the Galaxy might sound ridiculous on paper and look even more ridiculous in the trailers... and that's because it is. And that's precisely what makes it so terrific! It knows exactly what it is and just rolls with it. It has all the comedy, colors, emotion and Chris Pratt of The Lego Movie, with a hysterical on-screen team and a toe-tapping soundtrack to boot!
Hooked on a Feeling? Nope. I'm hooked on this movie.

Movie Review #92: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

I"ve finally gotten around to seeing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes! The only reason it took me so long is that Transformers 4 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I've been frightened to set foot in my local multiplex since. Just kidding! The real reason is that I've been flat broke all month because I had spent all my money on Taco Bell. And sadly, I'm not joking about that...
But I was going to see apes ride horses in the theaters one way or another! It just took a lot longer than I wanted it to.

If you went back in time to 2011 and asked any movie reviewer what their top 10 most anticipated films of the summer were, I'd bet you that not many people would be really looking forward to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But to everyone's surprise, it was actually a really awesome movie! The film received stellar reviews from critics and fans alike and went on to do well at the box office. And three years later we now have our highly anticipated sequel!

This time around the apes have taken over and the only humans left are those immune to the virus. Caesar and the rest of the apes have been in the wild for roughly ten years. They've been living peacefully until they encounter a group of humans for the first time in many years. The group, lead by Jason Clarke and Keri Russell, was trying to get to a hydroelectric power dam to bring the lights back to the rest of the survivors living in San Francisco. Which leads the humans and apes to work together and help each other out. But that's just the gist of it because the story is much more complex, compelling and emotional than that. And that is a very good thing.

If I had to pick out one or two flaws with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I would say that the human characters weren't very interesting. Probably because the apes are just far more interesting. I might like James Franco and John Lithgow as actors, but in that film I did not care about what there fate would be. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes however, I genuinely cared for the human characters! Jason Clarke is a great actor (see Zero Dark Thirty for further evidence). His character might not be the most fleshed out, but he has a genuine likability about him that made me want to see him come out of this safely. The rest of the human cast, consisting of Keri Russel, Gary Oldman and Kodi-Smit Mcphee, give fine, if forgettable performances. There's nothing bad about them per say, but none of them really stood out as much as Jason Clarkes'. Speaking of stand-out performances, let's get to the real stars; the apes!!!

We've all heard of the phrase "Less is More" at least once or twice in our lives, right? That quote really comes into play during the first ten minutes of this film. There isn't a single audible line of dialogue during that period of time. It's just the apes communicating with one another using hand gestures and occasional grunts. Those ten minutes allow us, the audience, to become immersed in the environment and the atmosphere with the help of some steady handed cinematography and a terrific score by Michael Giacchino. In a summer blockbuster like this, long drawn out quiet moments aren't exactly what you would first expect, but that is what gives this film the extra mile and my respect.

And while there are quiet, intimate moments, there are more than enough action-packed, heart-pounding, apes riding horses while firing machine guns moments to be had! Particularly in the thrilling third act that both pumped my adrenaline and tugged at my heartstrings. The film cost $170,000,000 dollars to make and not a single dollar was spent unwisely. Weta Workshop, the visual effects company behind Avatar, King Kong and The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, has really outdone themselves with what might be their most impressive work yet. But motion capture work is only as good as the performances given by the actors being animated, and this film brilliantly showcases a scene-stealing Toby Kebbell and an Oscar-worthy Andy Serkis.

There are many terrific actors working today that desperately deserve recognition from the Academy and Andy Serkis, no questions asked, tops that list. He has wowed and amazed us for years with his legendary portrayal of Gollum that elevated the art of acting into a whole new galaxy of class. And his performance as Caesar is quite possibly his best work to date. He commands such an unparalleled presence on screen in this film. When he speaks, motions with his hand or just doesn't do anything at all, our eyes are focused on him, anticipating what he will do. He's also able to convey so much emotion just from a look in his eyes. That's why motion capture is a tool that should be used to animate creatures instead of people, because you can get human-like responses from animals with motion capture. When you try to use motion capture to animate humans, they end up appearing more like dead, soulless, stiff ghosts rather than people. Yes I'm looking at you Robert Zemeckis.

The only times Serkis is not the center of attention is when Toby Kebbell as Koba appears. Who is Toby Kebbel you may ask? He's an English actor not primarily known for motion capture acting like Andy Serkis. Why do I bring that up? Because he delivers the best, non-Andy Serkis motion capture performance I've ever seen. He plays the ape from the first film that was tortured and experimented on and he has a bit of a temper. Well when I say "a bit", I mean more like a seething hatred and prejudice of all humans. There was a particular scene, that I will not spoil, when he switches emotions from calm and collected to loathsome detestation in the blink of an eye. It's was incredibly shocking and actually quite terrifying. And I loved every minute he was on screen.

Final Report: With exciting action sequences, stunning effects, a great villain, a powerful performance by Andy Serkis and more apes on horses than you can shake a stick at, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes improves upon its 2011 predecessor in every possible aspect! Making this "The Empire Strikes Back" of the series.

Sorry for the long wait. I saw this film a week earlier than this but had a bad case of writers block every time I approached my keyboard. Better late than never I guess.

Expect a Guardians review very soon.

Movie Review #91: Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Last wednesday I worked my very first eight hour workday. From nine to five I packed up, carried and loaded boxes in the humid weather for nearly eight hours straight. And yet the pain I felt then was nothing compared to excruciatingly painful theater experience that this film was.

I previously mentioned in my Super Bowl Highlights post that if I got a chance to see Transformers: Age of Extinction I would see it. And boy do I hate keeping my word.

Transformers: Age of Extinction takes place a few years after the events of the last film. Autobots and Decepticons alike are being hunted down because humans now view them as bad and unsafe. Enter Cade Yeager, played by Marky Mark without the Funky Bunch. He's an inventor from Texas who bought a broken truck that he later discovers is Optimus Prime. They both decide to work together and reunite the Autobots to take down a corrupt corporation trying to build their own Transformer army.

I did mention that I was rather intrigued by this film though. I wouldn't dare call it excited though. To me, it seemed like a step in the right direction by ditching the original cast and getting a brand new one. Casting Mark Wahlberg as the lead sure is a step up from Shia Labeouf. Not to mention the impressive additions of Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammer to the cast. But even the best actors can be reduced to mere caricatures of cliches and tropes with the wrong screenwriting. And the script hasn't differentiated from the first three films because this film is nothing new.

Mark Wahlberg is our main protagonist and he is easily the best part of this entire film. He's a very likable protagonist, which is hard to come by in a Michael Bay movie. You really like the guy because he just wants his daughter to be safe. Parental figures have been put in a really bad light in the first three Transformers films so it is nice to see one you can actually get behind. And during the battle sequences he's always there to help and actually fight, which is something you never saw Shia Labeouf do.

The rest of our heroes, his daughter and her boyfriend, on the other hand are simply awful. They are both completely unlikable and annoying. She constantly disobeys her father and every time he rescues her she always thanks and hugs her boyfriend who does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And I really do mean absolutely nothing. He doesn't add anything to the plot, he's not funny and he sure as heck isn't a good actor! The only thing he does is surrender, run away and smart of to Mark Wahlberg's character. Yeah, this guy is dating his daughter and he's back talking to her father. Hey genius! That's not how you make a good first impression! Ugh. I feel bad for Mark Wahlberg for having to put up with these two idiots.

As with any generic Transformers movie you have to throw in a government conspiracy with your typical government bad guys. These roles are occupied by Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci. Kelsey Grammer commands a great on screen premise in big, dramatic villain roles. But here he's just forgettable. His performance isn't bad really. I mean it's probably second best only to Mark Walhberg's. Thankfully his dialogue doesn't consist of a bunch of cringe-worthy, tasteless "jokes". Leave that to Stanley Tucci's character! Stanley Tucci is one of those actors that you can almost count on to be great in everything he does. And he really tries. Boy does he try. I feel that Michael Bay was trying to turn his character into the next John Tuturro. Every time he says a stupid "joke" you can just see in his eyes that deep down it's killing him on the inside. Sometimes they got a chuckle out of me, but most of the time I just felt bad for the guy.

Some of the Autobots were alright. John Goodman and Ken Wantanabe lend their voices to two Autobots and they have some fun in their roles. You can tell that Goodman  channeled his inner Walter Sobchak for this film. He of all characters probably had the most laughs. That being said, I still didn't care about any of them.
I never got to know any of them. Their history or their different personalities. So if I'm watching a movie called Transformers, how do you expect me to care about the Transformers if there's nothing for me to go off of?! If someone asked me when I walked out of the movie, "Who was your favorite Transformer?" I would probably respond with something like "The green one, I guess." And that's the thing is that they rarely ever use their names! The only way I could tell them apart was by what they looked like and their voices. And that is such a shallow, one-dimmensional way to describe a character. Let me try describing the Transformers actually:

• Optimus Prime - Blue and red with a sword and shield and has a really cool, commanding voice.
• Bumblebee - Yellow.............. and that's it really. (There is honestly nothing interesting about this one)
• Hound - Brownish with grenades and gatling guns and is voiced by John Goodman so that's awesome.
• Crosshairs - Green with guns (Not much t this guy either)
• Drift - Blue, samurai-like appearance with giant katana sword 

Oh yeah and they all have to be inconspicuous so let's make them all look like multi-million dollar cars. Really? THAT is keeping you from being detected? Seriously? I don't get that. If you really wanted to blend in then why don't all the autobots look like Gremlins? You know I would love to see one that looks like a Volkswagen Thing.

The only real redeemable element this film has over the others is the addition of the Dinobots. These guys were really cool to see on screen. I loved the T-rex bot and the Triceratops bot and the ones that I couldn't tell what they were. (I'm pretty sure one was a Stegosaurus) I'm a big Jurassic Park/Land Before Time fan and I kind of loved seeing these guys take up the screen. Even if it was only during the final battle. That's the real problem with this film! The Dinobots were criminally underused!

When it comes to Michael Bay's direction.... well there is none. If you've seen a lot of Michael Bay movies (or even only a few) then you should expect to see every Michael Bay-ism possible. What are some of his cliches you might ask? Well here are just a few:

• Low angle shots of people getting out of cars.
• Having the camera focus in on the legs of the female protagonist/any female on screen.
• Sunset backgrounds.
• Spinning cinematography.
• Hyperactive editing.
• Explosions.
• Explosions in slow-motion.
• Explosions that look like fireworks.
• Explosions that look like fireworks in slow-motion.
• Explosions that look like sparklers.
• Explosions that look like sparklers in slow motion.
• Explosions that look like fireworks and sparklers at the same time.
• Explosions that look like fireworks and sparklers at the same time in slow-motion.
• Theatrical film runtime of nearly three hours long.

All of these are seen on screen at least 10 different times. Each. I dare not even count all of the explosions. I don't think numbers go up that high.

In all seriousness, this film has no style. There isn't any passion or joy in this filmmaking. It's just a bunch of loud special effects and sounds trying to compete at which one can be more annoying. Michael Bay doesn't deserve any of the credit. It's the people at Industrial Light and Magic that deserve the praise because without their terrific special effects, this movie would be absolutely nothing.

Final Report: There's a great quote that George Lucas once said;
"Special effects are a means to tell a story. A special effect without a story would be pretty boring."
Transformers: Age of Extinction has no story or character and masks it with an overabundance of blaring special effects. And what George Lucas said rings true because this film after a while, was pretty boring.

Movie Review #90: Jersey Boys (2014)

I felt rather awkward when I walked in to see Jersey Boys because even though I couldn't see everyone in the theater, I just knew that I was the youngest one there. By about 40 years. At least.

Jersey Boys! Yeah I know this movie came out last week but I couldn't get around to it because of my job. But where I work is being remodeled so I'm out of a job for possibly three weeks. That's good news for me getting to see more movies but bad news for my wallet. So it comes as both a good thing and a bad thing. But I saw Jersey Boys nonetheless. On the opening weekend of Transformers: Age of ExSTINKtion, which is a movie that most people in my age group would be flocking in herds to see. I personally don't see the appeal in Michael bay films but I do enjoy me a good movie musical. Even if this one felt more like a musical biopic.

Jersey Boys is a film based off of the smash hit Broadway musical of the same name that tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, their rise to fame and all the bumps along the way.

This film is directed by Clint Eastwood. Yeah, interesting choice to say the least. I'm not saying he's a bad director. Far from it! He's directed two Best Picture winning films along with some other really stellar dramas. That being said when he directs a bad film, it doesn't come off as bad but rather just slow and boring. And when taking on a material like Jersey Boys, it better have some energy to it. And while it's never uninteresting, it is definitely slow. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Firstly, the film looks great. I love the time period this film takes place in. Mostly because I wish I lived back then. When cars were built to look cool, men wore suits, women wore skirts, rock 'n roll was on the rise and the thing everyone did on the weekend was cruise around town. Wait, I'm talking about American Graffiti now. Eh, whatever the time period still fits.

I am a big fan of rock 'n roll biopics and music movies like The Buddy Holly Story, Ray, That Thing You Do and La Bamba. And Jersey Boys really felt more like those films than a Broadway musical adaptation. What I mean by that is that whenever the characters break out into song it's always for a show or a live performance in the film. Random supporting characters don't just break out into spontaneous song and dance routines, the only actors that sing are those playing the Four Seasons. Which honestly comes to me as rather refreshing. Speaking of the Four Seasons, let's talk about the cast.

At first I thought Clint Eastwood chose a bunch of unknown actors to play the four lead roles, but they are more well known for theater than they are on screen. The only actor reprising his role from the original Broadway cast is John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli. Casting theater actors in a movie musical can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It's great for the musical numbers because they were without a doubt the highlights of the film. Kudos to John Lloyd Young because it's amazing how similar he sounds to Frankie Valli! And he gave the best performance in the film. All of the actors sang live on screen which didn't work out too well for Les Miserables, but here it is stellar. It's not so great for some of the dialogue scenes. On stage you have to act for the people in the back rows. You have to really emote and express on stage, but in a movie you can understate things. When you overly emote or express on screen, it comes off as over-the-top and out of place. Overall, the performances were fine, but the over-the-top arguing scenes happen, they do stick out like a sore thumb.

One thing I thought was rather strange was the narration. Instead of your typical storybook/Morgan Freeman off-camera narration, the lead actors break the fourth wall and let the audience in on what's going on. Kind of like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or basically any Muppet movie ever. I take it the only reason the narration is this way is because that was most likely how they told the story on stage. Which does make sense, because you would actually have an audience in front of you! In a movie an off-screen narration would not only be a lot more understandable, but also less confusing. Here's what I mean: During the Four Seasons' performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in the middle of one of their songs one of the band members turns towards the camera and starts reciting exposition. I was just sitting there wondering, "Why?" I just didn't get the purpose.

The supporting cast isn't really anything too special. That is of course with the exception of the great Christopher Walken. He plays a mob boss and he steals every scene he's in. He had a majority of the funniest lines because come on, it's Christopher Walken. His iconic voice and deadpan delivery are just comedy gold. And he's also a great actor and awesome human being too.

As I mentioned before, Clint Eastwood's films come off as either spectacular or boring. Strangely enough thought, this film was neither. I mean it was slow, but not slow enough that it made me check my phone every ten minutes to see what the time was. And it wasn't energetic as it could have been with this being a jukebox mob musical. I mean I was entertained and fascinated by the story. But I just know that with a more lively director like an Adam Shankman or a Rob Marshall, this could have been something really spectacular.

Final Report: Clint Eastwood's adaptation of this popular Broadway show wasn't as lively as it could have been. But as it is it's not bad at all. The musical numbers are a blast and the story is rather captivating. I just know it could have been so much more. Jersey Boys is worth a rental but instead of seeing the film, just buy the soundtrack! All the best parts of the film with not a dull moment to be had.