Your Custom Text Here
With WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, as the title suggest, war is the status quo. Director Matt Reeves returns (co-writing this film, along with Mark Bomback, who also had a hand in scripting DAWN) in what is hands down the boldest and bleakest APES entry yet, once again shifting the focus further into the world of the apes...
Read More
While technically this isn’t an origin story, Peter Parker has been established as a formidable contender in battle in Civil War. His innate powers are relatively established and honed. However, the fresh perspective crafted by Watts and the films eight writers (if you don’t count Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) make it feel that way. Homecoming offers audiences Peter’s emotional origin story. He isn’t really Spider-Man when the movie starts, he’s Spider-Boy. His personal story arc is what gives the film richness and depth, allowing the audience to relate to Peter and see his character, as more than an amusing teen with cool powers...
Read More
This film has so much story in it, so much fucking useless nonsenical information pummeled into every single scene, that there is no room for anything else. There’s no room for nuance, no room for character development, no room for logic, emotion, or even true excitement (admittedly, Bay has never excelled at putting any of these things on camera, at least during the Transformers movies). It’s a non-stop, pedal-to-the-metal, overstuffed symphony of exposition filled with more bad moments than good. And the whole thing is executed with such a staggering over-seriousness that would make the new DC universe blush, fuck even when it attempts moments of levity, they almost always fall flat...
Read More
Simply put, Wonder Woman is magnificent, epic storytelling on a grand scale, but turns intimate in a heartbeat, swelling with emotion and vigor, and graced with a performance by Gal Gadot that has no comparison, except perhaps to the iconic work of Christopher Reeve in the original Superman: The Movie...
Read More
Like the ocean it takes place on, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has had plenty of ups and downs. These metaphorical seas have been so rough, in fact, that some people don’t even remember there was a fourth film in 2011, On Stranger Tides, even though it grossed a billion dollars worldwide. I’m happy to say the fifth film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, is probably the best film in the franchise since the very first movie... even though that’s not a particularly high bar. This film definitely reminded me why I both love and HATE these movies...
Read More
Roaring back into multiplexes at age 79 like he’s got something to prove, Ridley Scott has handed down to us the goriest, and what’s more, the largest chapter of the Alien saga yet. The original remains the franchise’s most fastidiously orchestrated work of craft, and James Cameron’s Aliens gave the series its most cathartic action showstoppers. Covenant, to its credit and detriment, is simply the most...
Read More
Writer/director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy is indeed a stunning film. It is full of brilliant creative energy and spirit, but there is one specific reason it continues to stand out in audiences' minds and continues to be my favorite of the marvel universe films after three years… the characters. More than just falling in love with the Guardians of the Galaxy blockbuster, moviegoers and myself fell in love with the Guardians of the Galaxy team -- connecting with this group of loveable ridiculous misfits who manage to find each other and become a dysfunctional family. It's Gunn's perfect understanding of this that clearly helped mold Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which smartly scales down plot in favor of personality -- and while the sequel doesn't pack the full punch of the original, it's a wonderful, beautiful follow-up that is richly dense in detail and features a parade of thrilling and fun surprises...
Read More
The final act of Power Rangers is everything you could want from a Power Rangers movie. It’s fun, funny, action-packed, and filled with so many Zords and monsters that you’ll actually feel like you’re watching a big-budget update of the popular kids’ franchise. The problem is that the 90 minutes proceeding it wants as little to do with the Power Rangers as possible...
Read More