Weekly Review – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

            “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” is a very interesting breed of film. It’s a science fiction film, but one can easily lose sight of the fact while you’re experiencing the drama of the movie. It’s a movie that appeals to fans of the classic Planet of the Apes series of films, and it’s still widely accessible to nonfans of the famed franchise. Dawn is spectacular in that it gets you so deeply and emotionally invested in talking computer generated animals, with the artistry and finesse of any best picture nominee at the Academy Awards. You never see this type of effort and deep story telling with just any summer blockbuster, and this was one no one thought would do as well as it did.

            Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and with this film, they did the impossible. Dawn is bigger and better than its predecessor. Ten years have passed since the events of the first film, the Apes are now a larger group, and they’ve formed a society, and a culture. Still present in this film is the leader of the Apes, Caesar, who plays the role of the alpha male among the Apes. He is their king, and he does all he can to keep his tribe safe, secure, and content. But everything changes when humans make their way into the Ape’s section of the Red Woods. A brief encounter causes both the humans and the Apes to get on their guard. These are two equal sides who are very afraid of each other because no one knows what the other is really capable of.

            From this moment on in the film, it becomes a battle against suspicion and tension as Apes and humans fight to trust one another and to co-exist. It becomes clear that everything Caesar and his Apes are going through are mirrored through some of the hardships that the humans are facing themselves. In that respect, the movie does a fantastic job of delivering a drama and not just another summer blockbuster hell bent on showcasing over the top special effects and fights. The film takes on a very human feel, and acts more as a metaphor for race wars and how people should hold brotherhood above all. We all have problems, and we all have people, family, and friends we’re trying to watch out for.

            Its marvelous how there is no clear cut villain, even when a character does something genuinely evil, you know where their coming from, and you feel their pain rather than all out hate them. And this is a strength the first film has as well, and it’s refreshing to see it repeated in this sequel, all be it in a different way. And it’s incredible to see the evolution of a series that began as a popcorn flick, turn into a comment on society for all ages. You can really pick and choose who your favorite character is, and there are no weak characters in the film to begin with. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is worth your time.

Weekly top 5.

            With every week, there are new movies, and with new movies comes an ever changing top five movies with every new week at the box office. Here are this week’s top five movies.

 1 – Fifty Shades of Grey, with 81.7 million.

2 – Kingsman: The Secret Service, with 35.6 million.

3 – The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water, with 30.5 million.

4 – American Sniper, with 16.4 million.

5 – Jupiter Ascending, with 9.4 million.

            If there’s anything to say about this weekend’s box office, I would say, unsurprising. However this does not negate the fact of how infuriated I am that a movie as dry and heartless as Fifty Shades of Grey made the number 1 spot this past weekend. Full disclosure, I have not seen Fifty Shades of Grey, nor do I plan to ever, ever sit through this film. I say these things, and I have this reaction because I’ve read through part of the book this film is based on, and I’ve also seen the trailer. After seeing it’s trailer and reading its reviews, I had my fingers crossed that this movie would not succeed. My efforts have clearly been in vain. The numbers prove that this movie crushed its competition at the box office in a big, huge way. Oh my god! I would have said this brings light to the fact that there is dying hope for quality filmmaking, because this is clearly a project that was there to help cash paychecks for a few starving actors. There is hope, I was thankfully wrong, please let me tell you why.

            Kingsman: The Secret Service, was without a doubt the polar opposite to Fifty Shades this past weekend. Here’s the short, short, short version why. Kingsman was excellent, Fifty Shades was toilet paper. The film, Kingsman, is based on a little known comic book I’d never heard of. Personally, and I mean this in the most positive way possible, I do not think I want to read the comic after the brilliant impression this film left on me. It is self-aware without being too self-aware, its breaks some of the rules in tune with a spy action thriller while creating all new ones. A friend of mine said it best, Kingsman is like Spy Kids for grownups. I’ll be giving the film a full review soon enough.

            Did you see any of the movies in this week’s top five box office? Are you surprised by any of these numbers? Do you have the good enough sense to dislike Fifty Shades of Grey, like any self-respecting human being should?

For good measure, I've also included a link to the trailer for Kingsman: The Secret Service

Today in Movies – The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Trailer

            Are spy thrillers making a comeback? I’m just asking, because first we have the film “Kingsman: the Secret Service,” and today the trailer dropped for, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” The film stars Henry Cavill (Man of Steel 2013) and Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger 2013) in the lead roles, and is adapted from a classic television series. (And one I’ve never seen, because I was born in 1993, and unless a TV show had a dinosaur in it I wouldn’t sit through it)

            Check out the first trailer for the film here.

            One word hits me when watching this trailer, style. From start to finish the whole look and feel of the film’s trailer is very suave, sophisticated, and to the point. I’m impressed with Henry Cavill’s American accent, it fits the period the film is going to be portraying, and it sounds improved from where he had it in Man of Steel. Armie Hammer is equally impressive with his Russian accent, as one who does voices myself, I give them both big props.

            It looks like we’re in for some good fun with “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Spy shows, in contrast to other television shows that have been adapted for the big screen, appear to have a great track record. The, “Mission Impossible,” series starring Tom Cruise, nuff said. Have you seen the new trailer for, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?” What did you think of it? Are you looking forward to it?

Today in Movies - Hitman: Agent 47

Looks like the trailer for "Hitman: Agent 47" has dropped! Adapted from the video game series, "Hitman," this film is the second cinematic outing for the character of Agent 47. But if the film world, and nice looking trailers have taught us anything, it's that viewers should tread lightly. Especially with movies adapted from video games.

Check out the trailer here via the link!

http://youtu.be/HELfuiarPpo

Agent 47, is not a sequel to the Hitman film from 2007, it is a reboot. The film stars Zachary Quinto, (Star Trek 2009, American Horror Story) and Rupert Friend (Meet Me In Montenegro 2014, Homeland) in the lead roles.

The film also has most of the production team from the original Hitman film from 2007 working behind the scenes. They're saying they want to learn from their mistakes. Having seen only part of the first Hitman film before getting entirely fed up with it, it's safe to say mistakes were made. I will be going back to that film for a once over and put up a review after covering B-Movies.

This trailer may look very promising, but so did the trailers to Clash of the Titans (2010) it's sequel Wrath of the Titans (2012) and Lucy (2014). All had spectacular looking trailers that made the viewer purely intrigued by the story but fell flat upon release. Two out of these three films may have been spectacularly entertaining, but this does not negate the fact that these films were not very good.

Clearly Hitman: Agent 47 looks like it has a world of effort put behind it. The action sequences look inspired from the glimpses one can catch in the trailer. The story appears to portray Agent 47 more as a villain rather then an antihero, and that's an interesting dynamic, given the character is in the title.

What do you think of the Hitman: Agent 47 trailer? Does anything stand out to you? Do you think this will be the first American video game movie to do its source material justice?

Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Poster-
"Spider-Man" (2002)

            It is now official! Spider-Man will be fighting alongside the Avengers and other Marvel heroes very soon! I woke up to the news this morning, and it was a story that broke late last night while I was asleep! (Figures all the good stuff happens while I’m out of it or absent!) Yes it’s true, Sony Pictures has made a deal with Marvel, that Marvel Studios can use the character of Spider-Man in their movie universe. However, Sony will still retain their film rights to the character, and they can still make a Spider-Man movie whenever they want.

Poster-
"The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)

            Now, as it stands, my understanding of this deal is as follows, Spider-Man/Peter Parker is cleared for Marvel Studios use. I haven’t looked for word about whether or not other characters are included in this deal, like Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, or Marry Jane, to name a few. I haven’t bothered to look for any information about if fans and audiences should look forward to a Solo-Spider-Man Marvel Studios film. Additionally, I don’t know how Marvel plans to reintroduce the character through their cinematic universe, or if they’re going to choose to act as though Spider-Man had always been in New York City during the events of past Marvel films. These are all important questions, I’ll let you know more through a follow-up right here on this blog.

            Here is my personal opinion about how Marvel should treat Spider-Man. If they go the Solo-Movie route, I don’t think they will until after their scheduled second half of their third Avengers film. If they plan to introduce Spider-Man before then, this seems to currently be their main course of action, there have been talks of making Peter Parker a character in the third Captain America film, “Captain America: Civil War.” Cap 3 would be the best place for him to show up, because it would likely be the production most prepared for a Peter Parker appearance, not a Spider-Man appearance. In addition, Civil War refers to a story line in the comics where a movement known as the Super Hero Registration act is introduced causes problems for, and splits superheroes into two separate factions. Having Parker in the midst of this conflict whilst hinting toward his being Spider-Man would work.

            We don’t need to see yet another retelling of Spider-Man’s origin story, because we don’t need to watch Uncle Ben die a third time on screen, this much is plain. It would be great if Marvel just sets us up for a thrill ride with Spider-Man, because apart from Batman, or Superman, Spider-Man is one of the top recognizable comic book superheroes on the planet. Marvel’s been trying to make this deal for years, and now that something’s finally gone through I have complete and total faith that they are going to deliver on their golden child. Remember, this is the studio that made Guardians of the Galaxy a near household name, and that was a superhero team even the most seasoned Marvel fans hardly knew.

Marvel Characters Property Chart as of 2014

Update. 2/10/15 at 1:45pm

Alright, it looks like we have answers here people! Sources say, Peter Parker as a character, is going to be recast and reintroduced. Marvel Studios plans to wipe the slate clean. As for other characters from the Spider-Man mythos, like J. Jonah Jamason, Flash Thompson, and Norman Osborne, among others, we'll be seeing them again too. Finally, Spider-Man/Peter Parker, is going to first appear in a Marvel film, before he goes on to lead his own solo-film. This is fantastic because it means audiences will get the chance to get to know the new Peter Parker before getting the chance to root for him as he adventures off on his own! This caps off all the internet knows for now, if any more breaking news happens, I'll do my best to report on it.

Weekly Review – Lucy (2014)

            Spoiler Warning:

            Lucy, the 2014 film starring actress Scarlet Johansson, is a blight on the face of the science fiction film genre. Therefore, the following is a rage fueled film analysis. Plot details and other information will be given away during the course of this written review. If you feel I’m being too tough on this movie, or if you have your own opinions about a film so offensively awful, please start your own blog. (Smiley face, exclamation point.)

Lucy (2014)

            Lucy, is like a very bad drug, we should teach our children to avoid this movie, and they should just say, “NO,” when offered a screening of the film. However I won’t waste my time wondering who’s to blame for such an atrocious cinematic outing, because it’s really quite clear. Collectively, it’s the people behind the scenes on this production who deserve a very precise and point making, slap to the face. The people who believed that this film idea had something to say, that sloppily wrote any cool sequence into a 120 page screenplay, and gave everything a weak plot line to string it all together. Then there’s the studio, who allowed creation of this, thing, (for lack of a better word) through proper funding, and human resources.

            Plainly speaking, Lucy should not have been made! At the very least, they should have sat on the idea before going on to make the film. These ideas presented could have used some refinement, or an overhaul. Some scenes feel out of place, and the actors involved appear to be working for a paycheck, just a paycheck. Any shred of any interesting idea, metaphor, or message, are completely lost under the distracting emotionless acting, and absurd sequences within the film. It also fails at being a film that should have created a female hero for both men and women to get behind.

            The film itself, took no longer than four minutes, four measly minutes to lose me completely! Here’s three major points that will illustrate why.

            Strike one, a thoughtless opening monologue by Scarlet herself. Perhaps I shouldn’t call it a monologue, because the opening dialogue lasts all of one sentence and acts as though it’s a hook into the film. It isn’t. In this moment the film asks us, “Life was given to us a billion years ago... What have we done with it?” It’s not a Professor Xavier, speech on mutation/evolution, it’s not a War of the Worlds style warning of what forces may be out there, gunning for humanity, no. This should however, be something that makes the audience think and wonder about what may lay ahead in the film. It’s supposed to start the film off with a bang when the director opts for opening dialogue, this does not do that what so ever.

            Strike two, the movie throws the character of Lucy at the audience as though we’re already supposed to know her. Granted, Scarlet Jo gives the character a personality, allowing us to make our own assumptions about who she is and where she comes from. However, this personality does nothing because the character was never given a proper setup before being taken out of her normal life, assuming she has one, to begin the film’s adventure. Deduct points for Ms. Johansen acting like a dumb-blonde for 100% of the time she’s not a super genius. Scarlet playing a dumb-blonde plays into strike three, but for the moment, allow me to break down how this section of the opening scene plays out.

            -It’s the early afternoon, Lucy and some guy she met at a party are standing outside of a hotel. Attention is brought to a briefcase and its contents, something shady is going on while the two argue about whether or not Lucy takes the case inside said hotel. And then suddenly.

            Strike three, Lucy has her wrist handcuffed to the handle of the case right at the 4 minute, 50 second mark. It is here I felt the film waving bye, bye, to me as I completely left the universe this movie tries to set up. Does this character have no common sense? I’m not going to go down the list of things wrong in this scenario because I don’t want to set the record for longest internet blog by a film critic. So here’s the ultra-super-mega-condensed version of what happens for the rest of the film. Anyone looking to avoid further spoilers should avoid the section in Italics.

            There’s a drug in the case, four packages of it. Lucy has one package surgically inserted in her body, against her will and for smuggling purposes. She gets beaten half to death, after denying an Asian man sex, allowing the package in her system to break, releasing the drug. She becomes super smart. She escapes her captors. Morgan Freeman gives a speech to college kids, (those lucky, lucky youngsters) Lucy finds out what the drug is, and she can sense she’s going to die soon. She discovers Morgan Freeman’s character, and goes on a search to meet him in person. Skipping ahead, once she meets him the films ultimate metaphor is delivered to the audience, “Nothing matters, and time governs all.”

            And finally, through the magic of “No One Cares,” Lucy takes one fully loaded sequence to learn, 1) she can travel through time and space. 2) She can become a computer. 3) She can escape death by manipulating her last moment of life to become omnipresent. 4) She can leave all she has learned throughout the course of the film on a flash drive for Morgan Freeman. And she does!

Species (1995

Limitless (2011)

            For a movie that is sold as a fictional venture that explores what happens when a human being unlocks the full capacity of their mind, Lucy is very dumb, because it’s extremely illogical. If I were to compare it to anything, in an attempt to be optimistic, Lucy is very much like the film, Species. It’s about a rapidly evolving female lead character, who wants nothing more than to accomplish a grand goal. There is hope though dear reader, because there is a much better film out there that fictionally explores what happens when a human being unlocks the full potential of their cranial capacity, it’s called Limitless.

            The fact of the matter is, shockingly life was given to these filmmakers, and what have they done with it? They suckered Scarlet Johansson and Morgan Freeman into making Lucy.

Why People Watch "B-Movies" (Bad Movies/B-List Movies)

            People love to watch movies, it’s one of the few forms of entertainment that most likely will never go away. They’re a part of American culture, though they’re not limited to the United States alone. Love of film spans entire continents, groups, and generations. With the immense number of films produced year after year, it’s near impossible to watch every film ever made. With so many to choose from, there are always people discussing, and separating them in various categories. The simplest conversation relating to this idea of categories is what a good movie is, and what a bad movie is.

            For this particular post, I’d like to talk about what makes a bad movie, or B-Movie. The B in B-Movie can stand for Bad, or it can refer to a B list film. Something that qualifies as a B list film, is a film with actors you may have heard or seen before, but are not quite world famous. The production value of these films are high in quality, and the film has seen a straight to television, home video, or digital download release. A B-Movie qualifies as a very low budget production, sometimes with no more than a thousand dollar budget. Often the cast is primarily made up of 'no name actors,' many of these actors may in fact be starting out. The films will more often than not have some over use of sex, gore, or violence. And they’re fantastic in their own right for that.

            Film goers come in all forms of likes and dislikes. Some people prefer only the Oscar winning films over all else, others enjoy tracking down and viewing the hidden gems of the film industry. Then there are those film goers who search and dig for the absolute worst of the worst, the people who love watching movies so bad, they’re great.

            Take for example, a 1984 film, from little known Troma Entertainment, “The Toxic Avenger,” one of the more original super hero films of the B-Movie world. The setup to each film in the series sums up as follows…

            “In the small town of "Tromaville New Jersey," little 'Mop Boy,' Melvin Ferd, was a 90 pound scrawny, weakling, wimp of a nerd. Being teased and tormented eventually led to Melvin falling into a vat of toxic chemical waste. Soon he underwent a transformation that made him into a hideously deformed creature of super human size and strength.”

            Does this sound appealing to you? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, Troma films are not exactly for everyone. The film has a shoe string budget, was filmed on a camera that would have been considered high grade in the 70’s, and overuses sex and violence. However, it was also a massive hit with young film goers, and eventually the Toxic Avenger became the face of Troma Entertainment. But the company itself still operates making low budget projects that seek to shock an audience rather than deliver politically correct messages. The Toxic Avenger series, as well as several other Troma properties, are positively loaded with nudity, blood, guts, gratuitous sex scenes, racial and other forms of spectacularly crude humor.

            Yet in spite of all of this, Troma is a widely loved and celebrated house of independent arts. Their fans know and love that they do all they do for the love and reaction to their shocking entertainment. It’s so absurd and bizarre, some of the monsters, and plots they’ve created as a studio, and some of their material I honestly cannot describe on this post. This being because of how gross and gruesome some of their stuff is, but also in part due to the fact that I just can’t do it justice. More importantly though, none of it, no matter how disturbing or intense, is meant to be taken seriously. The fans know it, they’re just in it for the laughs, and to have a good time, and that’s what keeps classic B-Movies and their makers strong.

            Troma is just one example that I believe to be a fantastic point to jump off and into the world of B-Movies. I know I’ll cover more in the time to come. For now, know that people watch bad movies for these reasons and more. It gives the audience something they can’t see anywhere else, not even in a theater that plays multimillion dollar works from the most famous names in Hollywood. B-Movies are there to add a little spice to the DVD and Blu-Ray collections of film goers, they’re something that was made for the love of the craft. B-Movies, are entertainment at its finest.

Weekly Review - Big Hero 6 (2014)

           Seeing as how Big Hero 6 was recently released on DVD this past week, I figured what better time than now to talk about it. I’ve heard that the film deviates quite a bit from its original source material, so I’ll let you know now, I will be judging this film as it is.

            Disney has quite the track record for making incredible film, after incredible film, animated, or live action, narrative or documentary, Walt Disney Pictures sets the bar high for any film studio looking to make a family film. That in mind, Big Hero 6 is perhaps the world’s most okay film ever. It does nothing to undermine the superhero genre of film, although the movie does nothing new with the idea of a superhero film either. It’s still a highly enjoyable film, but even the most entertaining movies can be forgotten as easily as they entered the public eye.

            Although the Walt Disney Company may own Marvel comics, and their movie studio, Marvel Studios, it still relied on name recognition to turn in a large part of the film’s box office, or so it feels. The characters are well played, and have nice designs, though we’ve seen all of this before. A main character in a Disney film, “Hiro,” suffers great loss and tragedy in the form of the death of his brother Tadashi, this sets events in motion that lead to Hiro and his friends becoming super heroes.

            Clichés and classic tropes plague this movie when it simply isn’t needed. It incorporates the funny lovable sidekick, Baymax, who can be added to Disney’s extensive library of lovable sidekicks. It has a cast of outcast, or incredibly skilled characters. Though their dynamic as friends is fun to watch it still leaves something to be desired in this by the numbers style of filmmaking. It’s funny to see the big guy in the green armor act afraid of heights, it’s funny to watch stoner humor, even in a PG. environment where it’s more implied rather than explicit. But this would be even funnier had the public not seen all of these different factors in dozens of other films in the many years prior to this film’s release, from Spider-Man (2002) to Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004).

            Although this one point does not carry the movie, one of the film’s saving graces is its main attraction, Baymax. The big white robot with a non-threatening, huggable design, is really very charming. Whether the character is being caring, unintentionally funny, or the super team’s heavy hitter, the filmmakers really did something right when they developed this character. Something that is rarely seen in recent films, Baymax is a robot character that knows exactly who he is. He never acts human, he never says anything like he wants to be more human. Baymax is simply just himself, and that’s a nice dynamic for a robot in a children’s film that interestingly turned up a character that had just as much heart as the human characters in the film.

            I must admit though Big Hero 6 did hit a soft spot with me, and the film over all is worth a watch. Though the ideas presented in the film are not all too original, there’s enough of a story going on to keep the viewer interested as it moves from point A to B. Add the fact that this movie holds the stamp of approval of Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee, and you can just sit back and relax through the movie.