The Movie Journal of Mr. Alan Gekko

A journey through film courtesy of the written reviews of a young and slightly sarcastic film critic.

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Review #0029: Now You See Me 2

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Crime Caper-Comedy/ Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Jay Chou, Sanaa Lathan, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine/ Runtime: 129 minutes

Let me absolutely honest with you guys: Now You See Me 2 truly is a goofy, flashy, fun sequel to a goofy, flashy, fun film made 3 years ago that finds itself built around the world of magic and illusions. In addition to that this is also the kind of movie where every time your brain is trying to demand that you blast a hole through this film’s admittedly quick-moving storyline, the director, screenwriters and absolutely game cast tries something funky and weird to make you pause for a moment and that moment manages to buy Now Your See Me 2 a little more time to keep you in the blissful haze of its, let’s just be real here, admittedly ridiculous yet entertaining world.

Honestly though if absolutely nothing I said in the beginning helped steer you in either direction maybe what I’m about to say will be the defining thing to help you figure out if Now You See Me 2 is your cup of tea or if this is one vanishing act you can afford to miss; Woody Harrelson is in this movie and in addition to playing his original character from the first one also portrays his original character’s fey, quirky, a bit light in the loafers, and potentially murderous and egotistical twin who was only mentioned, but never seen in the first one and by using “the latest in cutting-edge technology”, Harrelson is able to play off of himself in multiple, and very dialogue-heavy scenes, and honestly it's truly about as delightfully dizzy as you could possibly imagine. Now if THAT sounded either too dumb, too idiotic, or just too much of a waste of your precious time and money then please see something else because what I just described is honestly the type of buzz Now You See Me 2 rides pleasantly along on.

Now the plot for Now You See Me 2 holds together longer than most of you would expect which in the world of film basically means that things will make sense until basically the halfway point, though I can safely say that anyone walking into this one without having seen the original Now You See Me probably more than once, though to be fair I could be wrong there could be some gifted people who caught everything the first time they saw it, will most likely if not definitely be lost. All the same the plot for this one is as follows: warning spoilers for those who haven’t seen the first one may follow, but then again like I said earlier…..if you haven’t seen the first one why exactly are you seeing this one again? Following the events of the first film The Four Horsemen, four (duh) world-famous magicians who use their "powers" to expose greedy criminals find themselves in hiding while their leader, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) spends his time exploring the new organization they all became a part of in the last one: The Eye, an organization of powerful magicians who do... well damn…you know that's never actually made clear. Anywho it isn’t long before fifth "Horseman," and team “chaperone” (spoiler from the first one) FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) calls the team back into action for a gig meant to expose a crooked cell-phone tycoon, but things don’t exactly go as planned and in a twist the gig turns on the Horsemen which results in team member Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) thought dead by the world being outed as alive and Rhodes being outed as the Horsemen’s mole and soon the team finds itself in the middle of a convoluted vengeance plot with some unexpected connections to the first film while all the while Rhodes finds himself having to spring and subsequently team up with nemesis Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) in order to find the team before it’s too late….(dun dun dun!!)

Now I just have to say that it needs to be acknowledged that the universe that has been created in Now You See Me and the sequel is one of the most surreal as well as comically cartoonish in its Vegas aspirations that I have ever seen; I mean let’s be real here guys: these are 2 movies which hinge on a group of street magicians who have become pop-culture icons, and which also configure magic into absolutely routine action-movie clichés to the point that you'll either smile watching such gems as Mark Ruffalo, instead of Hulking out (ha! See what I did there?), using illusions and magic tricks to dodge and fight common thugs in a recognizable straight out of West Side Story or The Outsiders back-alley fist fight or you'll absolutely abhore and even hate the concept and therefore not be into what Now You See Me 2 is trying to get you to watch and maybe even enjoy.

That being said there are two new additions to the Now You See Me family that, one more so than the other I might add, I thought helped enhance this series, I mean they are working on a 3rd one I hear, in time for its second chapter. The first of these is the new main antagonist making life difficult for the Four Horsemen this time out and that is a young man named Walter Mabry: a wealthy, slightly wacky and slightly psychopathic entrepreneur who is played with a double dose of devilish and twisted ego by none other than Daniel Radcliffe, and aside from surprisingly not doing that bad of a job let’s face it kids…the gag of casting Harry Potter as the adversary of a team of magicians is just too delicious to ignore, but honestly to discuss Mabry and to even mention his motives any further would shine too much light on the secrets of Now You See Me 2, but trust me when I say that Radcliffe does a fantastic job of plugging almost seamlessly into a charismatic ensemble that is already dripping with absolute chemistry and charisma.

Sadly the same can't quite be said for other newcomer Lizzy Caplan, who replaces original Now You See Me star Isla Fisher because gee it’s not like Fisher almost died doing an underwater sequence for the first Now You See Me, and even when it comes time for the movie to explain her absence the movie seems unsure of how to go about it…Anywho I say sadly not because Caplan is horrible in her role as new Horseman Lula because she isn’t; she actually does a fantastic job. It’s just that there’s a lot of personality in Now You See Me 2 and it just feels like although Caplan is doing her absolute best and I applaud her for that she's just not quirky enough to stand apart from Harrelson's twin act, Eisenberg's broody megalomania (which might not be acting), Dave Franco's mega-watt personality or even from Bruce Banner’s ehhh Mark Ruffalo's haggard special-agent approach to the material and while it is a great performance it just seems like Caplan is artificially turning on the anti-establishment charms that just seems to exude naturally from her co-stars.

All in all though despite a few flaws in the overall approach Now You See Me 2 still manages to deliver the goods. Indeed as far as summer movies go if you feel this is something that you know you will be able to enjoy AND you’ve seen the first one Now You See Me 2 truly does offers up as much razzle as it does dazzle, and this is a film that is bound to entertain…..so long as you treat it like the best of magic tricks and either leave your brain at the door or you don't sweat the details. On a scale of 1-5 I give Now You See Me 2 a 3.5 out of 5.

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Review #0028: The Nice Guys

MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Mystery-Comedy/ Stars: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Yaya DaCosta, Kim Basinger, Ty Simpkens, Murielle Telio/ Runtime: 116 minutes

I think it is safe to assume at this time that Shane Black loves detective stories; this may be due in no small part to the fact that he’s practically spent his entire career sharing that tremendous passion with audiences and although he has to be fair mixed things up a bit genre-wise over the years with a little bit of dabbling in fantasy, the spy game as well as some playtime in the Marvel superhero sandbox each one of those dabbles still, to some extent or another, boils down to an unlikely duo of truly damaged individuals who possess a determination that won’t stop until they solve the mystery; plus within these films Black also has truly managed to honor the greats like Chandler and Hammett with some of their best trademarks such as windy and sprawling plots, quick-witted heroes, and not to mention a healthy dose of cynicism, and in the process manages to place some truly fun and engaging characters into genuinely original tales of redemption and heart. Indeed I think it’s safe to say that this love is extremely palpable whenever watching one of Black’s movies unfold, and while this does go all the way back to 1987 and his work on the original Lethal Weapon, I can safely say that upon seeing his latest journey into that realm that is The Nice Guys that Black is not only still at the top of his game, but that the detective genre truly is still just as strong and powerful as it’s ever been.

Now although the film is the fourth time that Mr. Black has played around in the private eye sandbox, following The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang respectively this one has the additional joyous pleasure of taking us back to 1970s Los Angeles and within this cynical, post-Watergate-drenched setting we as an audience soon get to know the perfectly-named Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a smart-but-seemingly idiotic, bumbling, and almost always drunk P.I. who finds he is able to function mostly due to his self-sufficient teenage daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice), but also by exploiting the elderly citizens of LA who hire him on mostly dementia-fueled jobs. It’s because of one of these jobs which takes the form of an old woman hiring him to find her niece; a young woman named Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio) who also happens to be a porn star that a few days prior had been discovered dead that Holland winds up meeting Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), a world-weary heavy for hire who has been employed by a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) after she gets wind of Holland asking questions about her and upon finding Holland, Jackson surgically and methodically breaks the private eye’s arm and successfully convinces him to stay away, but soon Jackson finds himself having to reunite with Holland and ask for his assistance when he believes that Amelia’s life may be in danger. Of course, albeit with plenty of completely understandable reluctance, Holland agrees to the job, but soon this genuine odd couple winds up uncovering a conspiracy far larger than they could have anticipated….

Now although The Nice Guys is, obviously in many ways, a throwback this is also a film which I feel I should tell you often takes advantage of those sensibilities by generating up certain expectations and then truly surprising the audience with some clever last minute sharp left turns. Yet as winding and compelling as the plot is, we also see there is no sacrifice of character building at all as we truly get to intimately know all of the key players at the center of the story, and really truly care about what happens to them by film’s end. Also while the script brings back many of the classic and yet still awesome Shane Black trademarks, including whip-smart kids and even a bit of the Christmas spirit, the “buddy cop” leads are obviously front and center, and Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe honestly are absolutely nothing short of perfect as we get to see that a subtle goofball/straight-man line is drawn between them that takes the form of their individual approaches to solving the case, and the back and forth banter between the 2 of them is plain and simply quite magical as it often proves blissfully goofy while simultaneously remaining grounded and real. Indeed both of our main characters have faults that make us laugh as well as personal histories that give them important context, and they share an unusual connection in that here are 2 guys who find themselves constantly in danger of letting their emotional baggage as well as the worst parts of themselves take over, the drink in Holland’s case, and apathy in Jackson’s, and while these guys are not in any way, shape, or form built to live in the hero spotlight for long you still at the very least want to see them bask in it for a little while.

Now The Nice Guys is only Black’s third feature as a director, and although the script presents him with new challenges that were not to be found in either Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Iron Man 3, Black is still able to step up to the plate and deliver on each and every one of them if for no other reason than because he and these challenges are just so within his wheelhouse of things he can do and do extremely well as we see that as it was in reality, Black’s 1970s Los Angeles is a truly sleazy and slimy place, but it’s still painted in such an atmospheric way that it’s brilliantly inviting for fans of the genre. Also as a director, Black demonstrates an absolutely fantastic eye for terrific visual comedy be it Holland talking to Jackson while in a bathroom stall and struggling to handle a gun, book, and lit cigarette simultaneously, or our two heroes stepping out of an elevator in a hotel to find themselves witnesses to an incredibly violent scene. Indeed from this movie’s opening shot, which takes us as an audience up and over the, at that particular time, absolutely dilapidated Hollywood sign, Black manages to transport you into The Nice Guys’ noir-ish world, and by the time the credits roll you find that your only regret is that you couldn’t have stayed in the world longer.

All in all this may not be the special-effects laden spectacle that a number of its competitors in the industry will be this summer, but The Nice Guys is nevertheless a crowd-pleaser on the same level. This truly is a film that manages to be equal parts entertaining and emotional, but in the process lets you escape to another world for an hour and 56 minutes. Indeed as I said before the detective genre has persisted in Hollywood because it has everything you could want from a film and Shane Black’s latest truly delivers on all of those things and at the same time so much more. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Nice Guys a solid 4 out of 5.

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Review #0027: Captain America: Civil War

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Action/ Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Bruhl, William Hurt, Frank Grillo, Martin Freeman, John Slattery, Marisa Tomei, Alfre Woodard/ Runtime: 147 minutes

At this point in film history I think it is safe for us to say that the team-up film truly is Marvel Studios’ bread and butter as not only did they set the world on fire back in 2012 with Whedon’s The Avengers, but in the years since that historic milestone they have continued to excel in orchestrating creative groupings and pairings which then demonstrate the tremendous fun and inventiveness that comes from bringing absolutely engaging, interesting characters together and not only have they as a studio repeatedly set a high bar in this area, and constantly reaching for it, and usually succeeding, with each new project, but they also now have the entire industry attempting to do it, too. However upon seeing Captain America: Civil War I can safely say that this film has done the incredible and succeeded in ways that raise the bar higher than we ever thought it could possibly go as the film, which functions as both a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Solider and Avengers: Age of Ultron, is easily far and away the most comprehensive MCU chapter to date, and while that must’ve been a great deal to put on writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, this movie still manages to soar because not only is this challenge accepted, but it is answered in truly brilliant and highly entertaining fashion and in the process manages to bring together tremendous character dynamics, an emotional narrative which actually feels earned after years of story work, and spell-binding, fun action sequences to give us easily one of the best films Marvel has ever done.

The plot is as follows: Inspired by the 2006-2007 Marvel Comics event series, the film picks up with the titular character working with his Avengers teammates – Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Black Widow, and War Machine in their continuing efforts to stop terror and villainy and all that bad stuff around the globe, but after what should’ve been just another routine mission in Africa winds up causing a tremendous deal of collateral damage however the team suddenly finds itself under scrutiny and the subject of controversy and in an effort to finally put the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in check, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (yes the Thaddeus Ross from the Edward Norton Incredible Hulk film) presents the team, as well as former members Tony Stark/Iron Man and Clint Barton/Hawkeye, the opportunity to continue their work, but only if they sign the Sokovia Accords: a proposed piece of legislation named after the Ultron-destroyed city from Avengers: Age of Ultron that in essence forces The Avengers to work under a United Nations committee that will determine exactly when and where the team goes into action and while this idea is supported by some, including Tony, Vision, Black Widow and War Machine, it is safe to say that Captain America, Falcon and Scarlet Witch are not shy about their resentfulness of the idea behind this, but while the Sokovia Accords are the powder keg for everything that eventually happens it winds up being Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider who inadvertently lights the fuse as a terrorist attack soon happens that is pinned on Captain America’s best-friend-turned-assassin, and while Cap is instructed to leave the situation alone, it’s an order that he rebels against thus turning him into a fugitive and soon battle lines are practically being drawn and everyone is set on a collision course that by the end of the film will change the course of the MCU forever…..(dun-dun-dunnn!!)

Now it is no secret that Captain America: Civil War features the absolutely largest ensemble we’ve seen yet in a Marvel Studios movie, and yet the film still manages to give us some truly amazing and quite terrific character work in that not only do we get to truly understand who these pop culture icons are at their core, but we also get to gleefully see them play off of each other as well and honestly there truly is no better example of the former that we get to witness in this film than Mr. Chadwick Boseman as the newly introduced superhero T’Challa a.k.a. Black Panther and that is because Boseman not only does a fantastic job with this character,  but he plays the character in such a way that we get a big screen interpretation that really truly is every bit as regal, intelligent, bold and passionate as the hero that we read about when we read the comics and suffice it to say anyone who was worried about the Black Panther solo movie that is still forthcoming will be able to breathe a sigh of relief because Boseman nails it and then some. Also while they don’t have as much screen time as some of the other Avengers characters nobody in their right mind should walk away from this film not loving and appreciating the absolutely brilliant return of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man whose hero worship of his fellow teammates, snarky quips, and just pure joy at being able to play this character is still just as delightful and evident as it was during his solo outing from almost a year ago as well as the long-awaited arrival of Tom Holland as our new Peter Parker/Spider-Man and while I can’t say much about him I can tell you that Holland manages to do the amazing and incredible and in just the handful of scenes he is given manages to completely and fully encapsulate everything that the fans of this legendary character love about the spectacular web-slinger and have been waiting to see from a big screen version of the character that I promise you it will overwhelm you with excitement about the future of this iteration. He is that phenomenal.  

To be fair though this is a film that isn’t just about singular impressive performances however because this film is also an opportunity to see how these heroes both not only relate to each other, but also how they act when they are at odds, and the end results are absolutely stunning with the headliner, of course, being the key conflict between Captain America and Iron Man and honestly their battle isn’t just physical, but emotional as well and it’s hard just watching the conflict that has been simmering under the surface of their friendship finally just erupt into an all-out fight between the two and I promise you that their fight truly will tug at your heartstrings and even make you want to tear up a little bit as well because the truth is while neither one of them is 100% wrong, neither one is 100% in the right either. We also get to see best friends of Cap, teammates, and former opponents Falcon and Bucky go at it and they honestly have, besides Steve and Tony, one of the most complex relationships in the movie, but this is also one that actually translates into a ton of laughs whenever they’re paired up and then, on the more serious side of the story, we get to see Wanda and Vision be wonderfully brought together and not just because of their relationship in the comics, but also because there is a bond between them as they are what could be considered “newborns” in the superhero realm and it seems like seemingly everybody gets a moment with everybody, and yet the film still manages to bring it all together in a way that allows to feel organic and also never swing too far away from the central plot either to the extent that it is safe to say that all of this couldn’t be pulled off is this film followed the most basic superhero movie structure and so I applaud the fact that this film actually burns that book and trades the ashes of that book for a much more unconventional and risky approach and, without giving anything away to you guys, the film decides to trade out a big, splashy, blockbuster finale and instead gives us something much more intimate and personal that unsurprisingly works if for no other reason than the fact that this is something that the audience has honestly earned over the last eight years due to the terrific stories that have come before this moment as well as the fact that we genuinely do really care about the characters, and while some could argue that this film takes some big swings I can safely say that it’s because of those that Marvel is able to knock this film out of the park like everything else they’ve done if not more so.

Now while it is incredibly easy to respect this film because of the emotional and quite thoughtful approach it takes towards its characters instead of just having them punching and kicking each other until they stop due to both their mothers being named Martha, here’s looking at you Batman v. Superman, I can safely tell you that the punching and kicking in this film also happens to be pretty phenomenal as well because in terms of action sequences Marvel truly has come a long way since the ehhh not too bad, but still could’ve been better final battle in the first Iron Man film, and while The Russo Brothers did blow audiences, this critic included, away with their battle and set pieces in Captain America: The Winter Solider, I can safely tell you that their sequel ups the ante in every away as we get to see that from the Avengers’ explosive opening mission at film’s start to Cap and Winter Soldier’s attempts to escape from a building that is teeming with cops, every single set piece and every single bit of action is all intricately crafted with the utmost care as well as incredibly memorable although I feel I should mention however that every scene in this film, although great in their own rights, all pale in comparison to the airport-set hero vs. hero battle in the second act because that right there is a scene which, without going into any specific details so as to avoid any spoilers, will quickly go down as one of the absolute best in the history of the comic book genre. Indeed all I can say is that once you see it you will never forget it.

All in all the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the whole truly has been filled with great, fun-filled blockbuster gems, and it can be said with confidence that Captain America: Civil War has continued that now 13 movie trend as this is a movie that is equal parts thrilling, fun, emotional, smart, and indeed truly thought-provoking. On a scale of 1-5 I give Captain America: Civil War a solid 4.5 out of 5.

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Preview for my review of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR coming 5/9 to Tumblr!!

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Review #0026: Point Break “2015″

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Action-Thriller/Stars: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone, Teresa Palmer, Matias Varela, Delroy Lindo, Max Thieriot, Nikolai Kinski/Runtime: 114 minutes

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one puts it on YouTube, did it really happen?” I shit you not people this is an actual line of dialogue, delivered with “total sincerity”, from Ericson Core’s remake of Kathryn Bigelow’s beloved Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves-starring film Point Break. It’s also at the same time one of several of the dumbest “wisdoms” I’ve ever heard that are suggested by a dumb-ass screenplay that’s absolutely littered with Bazooka bubblegum philosophy.

Yet if you’re one of those who is ok with the pseudo-Zen sentimentality of the insta-upload of dumbassery in that statement then the shallowness of this derivative and completely and totally unnecessary reshit of a remake might not bother you as much as it did me because while the original Point Break wasn’t Shakespeare by any means it was never insultingly stupid either.

This is that and so much much more and not in a good way. More like in a not enough toilets in the world to contain the amount of shit that this “movie” essentially spews out at you way. I say this because for starters all Ericson Core’s Point Break essentially does is take the BROADEST outline of the 1991 genre thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze possible and then makes it relatable for an audience that are the kind of people who chug 15 Four Loco energy drinks and then stay up for a week watching X-Games on Ecstasy videos and by doing so Core completely and totally misunderstands everything that was important to the original film, and becomes one of those dumbass directors who believe that ramping up the “EXTREME” at every single damn turn in this damn shit-fest will just lead to a more rewarding experience for you and the people you love to “enjoy and treasure”. Trust me when I say not only does it not, but it’s also exhausting as well because say remember the exciting skydiving sequence in the original? Well shit no one wants to see that so this time out you are not only going to get large-scale skydiving, but you’re also going to get surfing and motor cross stunts all within the first 15 minutes!

The only problem with all of that is the skydiving sequence from the first movie actually mattered because by the time it arrived in the original, you actually gave a damn about the characters involved in the stunt unlike the new Point Break who has a cast that have as much depth as actors in an Pepsi ad. Plus right off the bat, Point Break 2015 makes a fundamental error in setting up the main character of Johnny “Utah” (I put Utah in quotes because it is a nickname this time out, which makes no damn sense whatsoever….just saying) because in the original Keanu Reeves’ version of the character was a former athlete who now was a clean-cut and dedicated FBI agent who finds himself having to reluctantly join a group of surfers suspected of robbing banks wearing masks of dead Presidents. (Speaking of…..the crooks actually do wear similar masks in one scene of this reshit of a remake, and yet after that never again, because once again this reshit of a remake doesn’t get why that gimmick was so important in the first place.) Anyway but when Reeves’ Utah gets pulled into the wake of Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi, it truly goes against everything that Utah stands for and this sets up an internal conflict that truly transcended the impressive stunts. Point Break 2015 however paints “Utah” (Luke Bracey) as a former extreme-sports addict who recognizes the actions of Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez) and his crew because they behave the way that he once did therefore not only is there no internal conflict but now there’s also no high stakes in the game anymore.

It’s also strange but worth noting how after one criminal mission we get to witness at the start of the movie, Bodhi and his team of elite athletes really truly do stop committing crimes (hence, the lack of presidential masks) and yet all this really does is avoid creating any conflict that honestly would need the FBI’s manpower to deal with thus taking the wind out of the movie’s sails before it has any chance to go anywhere plus we’re also left with new versions of Bodhi and Utah, and honestly it’s here where the comparisons between the original and the remake, which truly are inevitable when reviewing this movie, show just how wrong and stupid and shitty this remake absolutely is because whereas Swayze’s Bodhi was a charismatic Zen flame that did an excellent job of drawing in Keanu’s Utah moth, Ramirez’s Bodhi belongs more to the tattoo-and-leather Euro-trash category of extreme-stunt seekers and by making this change there’s significantly far less appeal – to both him, and to the movie.

Now is Point Break 2015 bigger than the original? Yep and that’s because whereas Kathryn Bigelow limited her action to the sleepy beach communities of Southern California (for the most part), Core’s Point Break is a global affair (sorry Earth) that has “Utah” chasing Bodhi to the far-reaches of the Earth to stop the maniac from… well, again, as I said before he’s not really committing any crimes after the first 15-25 mins, so I’m honestly not sure why the FBI is so hell-bent on bringing Bodhi to justice and once again we are shown that bigger in terms of Hollywood remakes rarely if ever means better. Thankfully however we do get some forms of “relief” such as the members of Bodhi’s gang are all interchangeable and forgettable and Teresa Palmer has a painfully thankless yet still amusing in a corny way role as the Mother Hen of the gang, which basically consists of cooking for the guys after they complete their “missions”, and also sleeping with “Utah” because holy shit the script for this piece of crap actually thinks it needs an emotional conflict when in reality it would just have been better off not even existing plus Delroy Lindo and Ray Winstone, despite knowing that they truly are in one of the biggest crap-fests of both their respective careers still do an admirable job with the limited screen time they both have.

All in all “Let’s just be here.” another pearl of wisdom that you will hear spoken by a “serene criminal” in Point Break 2015 but honestly upon seeing this I advise you that when you are at the movie theater deciding what to see, however, you should just be anywhere else but in the screening rooms showing this garbage dump. The fact of the matter is that this is a remake that should never have existed except only in Andy Warhol’s fever dreams and the fact that it does is not only evidence of the growing demise of originality in Hollywood but also is confirmation of the laziness of a generation who simply want seemingly every classic or cult classic movie updated for them because they’re too lazy to see and appreciate the original movie just because of how long ago it was made. On a scale of 1-5 I give Point Break “2015” a 1.5 out of 5.

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Preview for my review of Point Break “2015″ coming 5/2 to Tumblr!! 

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Review #0025: Everybody Wants Some!!

MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Comedy/ Stars: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Glen Powell, Wyatt Russell, Will Brittain, Forrest Vickery, Temple Baker, Tanner Kalina, Austin Amelio, Juston Street, Quinton Johnson, Dora Madison Burge/ Runtime: 116 minutes

I think it is safe to start this review off by stating that Richard Linklater’s 1993 film Dazed and Confused is an absolutely truly fantastic film. I mean this was a movie that turned out to be one of the absolute best coming-of-age stories that I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in my going on 9 years of reviewing movies and when this said movie also comes outfitted and equipped with a wonderful collection of great actors, some of whom are A-list stars nowadays (I’m looking at you Affleck and McConaughey) absolutely and truly iconic performances, and one of the most addicting and no matter what endlessly listenable soundtracks I have ever heard it is not really that big of a shocker that this is also a movie that still remains as fresh and as entertaining to watch either by yourself or with a group of friends today as it did the moment it was released and while this really was a feature that never really needed a sequel, “spiritual” or otherwise somehow Linklater’s newest and supposed “spiritual sequel” Everybody Wants Some!! still manages to pull off the incredible and in our hearts feel like a project that those of us who love Linklater’s work or just people who enjoy this particular kind of comedy have honestly been eagerly awaiting for the last 23 years and like Babe Ruth at bat this movie is a true home run from start to finish and is one that the moment it’s done you want to see it again right away or as soon as possible.

The plot is as follows: set in fall 1980, our story centers on a college freshman named Jake who is a baseball player who has just arrived at his new Texas-based college and immediately finds himself mixed up with the absolutely ridiculous yet hilarious as heck group of guys who will be both his teammates and, oh lord, his housemates and in the days leading up to the first round of classes, Jake finds himself quickly assimilating with this tight-knit tribe of guys as they bond over girls, drinking, partying, smoking weed, just straight up chilling, and playing ball (duh) and while there’s really, to be honest with you, no big drama or absolutely strict script structure and the film plays more as a “three days in the life” of story it is thanks to an absolutely eclectic and immensely enjoyable ensemble of truly fun characters and a pretty large collection of fantastically funny set-ups and situations that this film truly does come together as a pretty darn great bit of cinema.  

Now because of the loose way in which the film is put together, I think that it’s safe to say that appreciation for Everybody Wants Some!! will hang and be determined by you as a member of the audience’s thoughts about hanging out with this roving gang of wild and crazy college baseball players at its center and yet if you’re able to stick it out you will find that this is truly far from challenging as those of you who stick around will gain an immediate appreciation for the specific brand of rambunctiousness that this film is trying to sell to you right from the film’s opening moments, which without going into spoilers involves a ceiling nearly collapsing under the weight of a newly-filled waterbed and over the course of the film we get the chance to feel like we’re part of the team and join them as they embark on such activities as picking up girls at the local disco, playing a bit of uber-competitive ping pong, and just chilling out listening to music and smoking weed, and throughout the course of the film, the director does an absolutely brilliant job of just bringing you into the manic and madcap energy and just lets enjoy a window into the individual lives of this ensemble of truly wild and crazy guys.

Now to be fair I can understand how that might be a wee bit challenging for some viewers as it is such a large ensemble to follow, with no less than 10 characters playing integral parts in the narrative, but once again the director does an absolutely superb job of making the whole enterprise absolutely manageable and does so by giving us an incredibly wide variety of the absolutely weird yet great personalities that find themselves thrown into living under the same roof and being on the same team together including but not limited to: the disturbingly competitive McReynolds, the borderline insane Jay Niles, the absolutely god-awful gambler Nesbit, the absolutely epic pothead Willoughby, the group’s most adventurous pickup artist Finnegan, and the southern-fried Billy Autrey or as his teammates call him Beuter, and not only do these guys stand out on their own as individual three-dimensional characters, but just like with Dazed and Confused 20+ years ago, there still is a legitimate simple pleasure to be found in watching the absolute rambunctiousness and just general insanity of youth, as this team of knuckleheads constantly find themselves in circumstances that are just ripe for antics and shenanigans to occur.

Ultimately however it is the film’s period setting that is the key to giving this film the “spiritual sequel” feel, and just like how the director perfectly captured the mid-1970s with Dazed and Confused, I can safely tell you that he succeeds with that task yet again as Everybody Wants Some!! is an absolutely fantastic, immensely enjoyable, and perfectly recreated trip back in time, hopefully not in the Hot Tub Time Machine though, to 1980 as everything is lovingly and fantastically recreated from the various haircuts that these guys are all sporting to also the various bars and nightclubs that this squad frequents. Also once again the director has put together an absolutely killer soundtrack that movie fans will be listening to for decades and within it are such gems as Van Halen (naturally), The Sugar Hill Gang, The Knack, Foreigner, and even a punk version of the Gilligan’s Island theme song (I swear to you guys I’m not making this up by any stretch of the imagination), and it is through this legit soundtrack that the writer/director brilliantly manages to create a very specific yet special, memorable, and truly nostalgic in every sense of the word atmosphere.

All in all though in the 23 years since Dazed and Confused was released, Richard Linklater has ventured into a wide variety of different genres, but with Everybody Wants Some!! we as an audience get to bear witness to a truly fantastic homecoming as this film, like it’s 1993 “spiritual predecessor”, is a nostalgic, amazing, truly special, and slightly bittersweet celebration of the fun and freedom of youth as well as the joy of living life to the fullest and making every moment count. On a scale of 1-5 I give Everybody Wants Some!! a 4 out of 5.

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Preview for my Review of Richard Linklater’s newest film Everybody Wants Some!! coming 4/26 to Tumblr and Facebook!! 

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Review #0024: The Jungle Book “2016″

MPAA Rating: PG/ Genre: Fantasy-Action-Adventure/ Stars: Neel Sethi; Voices of: Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Garry Shandling, Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi/ Runtime: 105 minutes

I have seen the new Disney version of "The Jungle Book" twice now and both times I am not ashamed to say that I got to see it in the company of some absolutely enthralled children and honestly…there are moments when I envied them, but not too many because here is a movie that is so confident in its effects, so precise in its characterizations, and so clear about what it is trying to say about humanity and its relationship with nature that it will make you feel about their age again after seeing it.

Now if you’ve seen Disney’s great animated movie from 1967, you know what the story is here – though to be fair this live-action version of the classic tale also has a splash of The Lion King thrown in for good dramatic measure; all the same the plot of this movie follows Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a young boy/Man-cub who has lived in the jungle for as long as he can remember while all the while being raised by a pack of wolves led by Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o) and while Mowgli is definitely seen as a strange presence amongst the other animals in the community, he is largely accepted… that is, until the scarred and dangerous tiger Shere Khan (an absolutely terrifying Idris Elba) arrives back on the scene and having permanently damaged an eye in an encounter with a human, Shere Khan’s desire is to kill Mowgli, though much to Khan’s dismay he can’t because of a peace agreement among the animals in times of drought. Fortunately this leaves the young boy with an opportunity to escape, and Bagheera (a perfectly cast Sir Ben Kingsley), the panther who initially rescued Mowgli and brought him to the wolf pack, agrees to shepherd his journey to the man village. Of course as well all know in this movie a trip through the jungle is fraught with all kinds of perils and adventures as we soon see Mowgli deal with everything from a tussle with the entrancing snake Kaa (a seductive Scarlett Johansson), to lessons in relaxation with the honey-loving bear Baloo (an amazing Bill Murray), to deal-making with the enormous Giganthopithecus King Louie (a interestingly cast but still quite effective Christopher Walken)…

Now from the opening sequence of young Mowgli (Neel Sethi) racing through the jungle in the company of his wolf family and the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), through its comic set pieces with Baloo the Bear (Bill Murray) and its sinister interludes with Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), the despot Giganthopithecus King Louie (Christopher Walken) and the scarred Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), the movie really bears you along on a subdued yet effective current of enchantment which climaxes in an absolutely thunderous extended action sequence that dazzles while neatly tying off every lingering plot point that still exists at that point in the story. Also I feel I need to say that it's not accurate to call this "Jungle Book" a "live-action" version, since so much of it has been generated on a computer and yet director Jon Favreau and his collaborators render such distinctions moot as combining spectacular widescreen images of rain forests, watering holes and crumbling temples, a couple of human actors, and realistic CGI mammals, birds and reptiles that nevertheless talk, joke and even sing in celebrity voices, this film creates a kind of surreal zone that seems at once illustrated and tactile. Indeed it is the sort of movie you might inadvertently dream about after either reading one of Rudyard Kipling's source books or re-watching the 1967 animated Disney film, both of which contribute strands towards this one's creative DNA.

Now like a lot of Disney’s ‘60s and '70s output, the animated film was relaxed to a fault so much so that it seemed like a succession of beautifully rendered, mostly jokey set-pieces strung together by memorable songs, including "The Bare Necessities," "I Wanna Be Like You" and Kaa's seduction song "Trust in Me", but it nevertheless still made a deep impression on '60s and '70s kids like Favreau and so this incarnation is a more straightforward telling that includes just two brief musical numbers, "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You"—performed by Sethi with Murray and Walken, respectively and  then delegates a longer version of the ape's song and a version of "Trust in Me," performed by Johansson, to the approximately seven-minute end credits sequence, which are so intricately imagined that even that is worth the ticket price by itself but the other numbers, including the elephants' marching song and "That's What Friends Are For," performed by a barbershop quartet of Beatles’ mop-topped looking vultures are MIA; I mention all this however not because I consider the film's lack of music a shortcoming, but because it gives some indication of how gracefully this "Jungle Book" juggles the competing interests of parents and kids as musically, visually and tonally, this is a film that gives enough nods to the 1967 version to satisfy those of us who remember that adaptation, but not so many that the film becomes a glorified rehash and in fact Kipling's tales are a stronger influence to be honest right down to the scenes where the wolves, Mowgli and other creatures recite a stripped-down version of Kipling's poem "The Law of The Jungle".

Also the film brilliantly creates its own, more politically evolved version of Kipling's literary ecosystem, with its ancient animal beliefs and practices, such as predators and prey declaring a "water truce" during a drought so that they can all drink from a parched watering hole without dying. Plus it even invests Mowgli with a touch of optimistic environmentalist fantasy as where humanity's mastery of fire and tools was presented in earlier films as a threat we see in this film Mowgli using ingenuity to solve problems beyond the capabilities of his animal pals so that the idea we are given seems to be that humanity is not necessarily fated to subjugate and destroy nature and that people and animals can live in harmony if we behave with kindness and mercy while showing reverence for the ancients of other species and the movie takes these ideas and others seriously, but in a matter of fact way, so that they don't feel clumsily superimposed, but rather discovered within a text that has existed for more than a century plus it helps that Kingsley's unhurried storybook narration hypnotizes the audience, as surely as Kaa hypnotizes Mowgli, into buying everything Favreau shows us.

Now Favreau does something brilliant in terms of voice casting as he leans on distinctive-sounding stars to earn knowing chuckles from the audience, and it works as we get to see, among an extremely talented cast, Murray who is a shambling pleasure-seeker in life as well as in many of his movie roles absolutely delivering in his wry and even savagely hilarious to an extent portrayal of Baloo, Walken who is legendarily good at playing funny-scary villains who love to mess with heroes' minds doing that to pretty good extent with his portrayal of Louie who one could even argue in this version has been merged with Marlon Brando's performance as Col. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now," as Louie does enter the story swathed in gloom, Kingsley who just naturally excels and is a perfect fit as the protective and slightly militaristic Bagheera and so on yet the film is never content to use our affection for its voice actors as a storytelling crutch as these are strong, and clearly motivated characters, not movie star cameos wrapped in CGI fur with one of the most impressive being Elba's Shere Khan as in this film his looming menace is envisioned so powerfully that he'd be scary no matter what, but then the character becomes the best animal villain since Scar from “The Lion King” through imaginative empathy to the point that we horrifyingly understand and even appreciate his point-of-view even though his way of carrying it out would mean the death of poor Mowgli.

All in all though The Jungle Book “2016” is a true triumph as the by-now familiar story of a young boy raised by forest creatures but who finds himself fated to re-join Man has been re-imagined here as a funny, scary, affecting family adventure with not only mythic heft but a refreshing lack of swagger as well and while this was made with the latest in movie-making technology this is also a film which has the values and storytelling sensibility of an Old Hollywood classic that truly feels as though it has always been around yet we as an audience are only now having the pleasure of discovering it for the first time. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Jungle Book “2016” a solid 4 out of 5.

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Preview for my Review of Disney’s The Jungle Book “2016″ coming 4/20 to Tumblr!! 

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Review #0023: Green Room

MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Horror Thriller / Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Patrick Stewart, Mark Webber, Eric Edelstein/ Runtime: 95 minutes

Green Room is a rather unique film; I say this because here is a film that finds its director, a Mr. Jeremy Saulnier, in a supremely confident mood and seeing as back in 2013 this is a director who gave audiences a stripped-down, taut, yet beguiling film called Blue Ruin which established him as one of the most promising new American directors to watch I think it is safe to say that he deserves to be because with Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier sticks to his strengths as this is a movie that is sparse, and yet straight to the point and like a really good B-movie, unfolds in a gritty and concise manner with sudden gory but painfully realistic bursts of violence to jolt audiences into a frenzy and yet even when it dovetails away from these fights, this film is just as compelling in how it moves the plot along and builds its tension and suspense to enjoyably unbearable levels and despite the similar style to Saulnier’s previous work, Green Room never feels tired and instead serves as further, rousing proof of just how compelling and revelatory of a filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier is and simply put, Green Room is also terrific, and extremely potent storytelling period.

Now I can easily say with the utmost confidence that should you want to see this based off this review that you are honestly most likely better off knowing as little as possible about Green Room before you see it. If anything the only prior knowledge that you need is that you’re about to be taken on one of the most striking, whirlwind and honestly just downright brutal cinematic jaunts you have most likely ever seen, or will most likely ever see, in a long time. That being said if you wish to know what this movie is about before going into it just keep reading….

Still with me? Alright the plot is as follows: So we are introduced to a down on their luck punk rock band known as The Ain’t Rights who recently have found themselves in the process of finishing up a long and unsuccessful tour, and are honestly about to call it quits when they, through a journalist that is interviewing them, get an unexpected booking at an extremely isolated, and slightly run-down club, that I should also feel is owned by, operated by, and has a patron population that are white supremacists, deep in the backwoods of Oregon, but what starts out at just seemingly and merely being a third-rate gig to earn some quick yet desperately-needed cash quickly and terrifyingly escalates into something much more sinister when they witness the aftermath of a vicious murder backstage that they weren’t meant to see and soon find themselves trapped backstage, and having to face off against the club’s depraved owner, a Darcy Banker (Stewart), who is a man who will do absolutely anything to protect the secrets of his nefarious enterprise and his equally as vicious gang of henchmen and while Darcy and his henchmen think the band will be easy to get rid of, The Ain’t Rights, with the help of a young woman who is trapped backstage with them, soon prove themselves much more cunning and capable than anyone expected and with that the stage is soon set for the ultimate life-or-death showdown….

Now Jeremy Saulnier has been vocal about how Green Room reflects his own past in the DC punk scene and honestly after having watched the movie I can say that he does a very good job drawing from of his memories of when he was part of that scene as the story really truly builds in a fantastic and organic fashion that strongly suggests it has come from a mind that knows this world incredibly well to the point that it feels, in a terrific way mind you, almost as if this is a story that just festered, entertained, and then ultimately grew in Jeremy Saulnier’s mind as he tediously waited in countless green rooms before he performed over the years. Also this movie does a fantastically subversive job in how it allows the plot to truly form and develop as the film goes along and at the same time also managing to keep you on your toes, as well as laugh, wince, and even be downright shocked when you least expect it and the film repeatedly keeps raising the stakes in order to showcase to each and every one of us in the audience just how drastic and intense and horrifying this situation has become for the hapless band and the young woman stuck with them and this is honestly one of the main reasons the film works as well as it does and that’s because you truly get to witness just how out of their depth and timid the band truly are against this gang of honestly quite disturbingly professional and seasoned white supremacists and you find your mind constantly trying to imagine a solution to just how in the holy hell they are going to get out of this increasingly bleak and deadly scenario alive and yet as the screws holding the plot together begin to tighten you find yourself horrifyingly unable to form an answer.

Now this is a film where honestly there is not a single weak performance as truly all the performances in this film are strong especially the three names seen on most of the posters and promotional bits as Anton Yelchin after his subtle turns as Kyle Reese and Chekov in Terminator Salvation and the new Star Trek movies respectively unleashes his inner bad-ass as here Anton gives us a character that although he is soft-spoken can truly kick some ass with the best of them when the situation is grim enough (and trust me this definitely qualifies), Imogen Poots who, after the hilarious 90’s movie brought to the 21st century that was Need for Speed, showcases her inner punk and badass here as well plus she really truly does possess what has to be one of the most curious arcs in the entire film as she slowly but surely makes the move from being the outsider and wildcard that she is when we first meet her to proving her worth and showing that when the situation calls for her to get bloody boy can she ever to the point that some people lose their stomach when they witness just what she’s capable of (literally) and Patrick Stewart who honestly, and for reasons I still have yet to figure out because of how much of a damn good job he does, honestly does not get to play a bad guy all that often, but much like Ben Kingsley showed us in Iron Man 3 or Cary Elwes in Ella Enchanted, this is a Brit who can turn on the bad when given a truly out-of-left-field role like this and Stewart is an absolute marvel to watch as we get to see him leave his Captain Picard and Professor Xavier nice guy persona at the door and instead give us a character that truly is an amoral, vicious, and just plain dark as hell bastard who sees no problems with what he’s doing and who by equal turns attempts to soothe his captives while at the same time engage in a football-like huddle with his thugs in search of the best way to slaughter these troublesome kids and then stage their deaths somewhere far away and while he may not qualify for 'pure evil' status he is still most definitely the wheel that turns the gears of this movie as the situation at hand begins to bottom out for our poor survivors.

All in all though Green Room is a smart and scary grindhouse flick, an exhilarating throwback to midnight movies and an instant cult film in the making all rolled into one amazingly done film that despite the brutality and depravity being displayed on screen you find you really truly want to watch it again as soon as the screen cuts to black and the credits begin to roll. On a scale of 1-5 I give Green Room a solid 4 out of 5.  

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My preview for my review of Green Room coming 4/17 to Tumblr!!

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My Preview for my Review of David Fincher’s classic film Se7en coming 4/7 to Tumblr!! 

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Review #0021: Risen

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Drama/ Stars: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, Stewart Scudamore, Maria Botto/ Runtime: 107 minutes

As surprising as you guys may be to find this out I have a friend, shocking right?, who likes to share his very lovely and delightful opinion of movies just as much with me as I do with all of you, but who also is at the same time happens a devout Christian. I bring this up because when a certain little religious film named War Room came out and against all odds was actually a box office hit despite what can best be gently described as widespread negative reviews someone at my friend’s church, knowing his affinity for cinema, unfortunately suggested that maybe he might want to review it thinking he could provide what could best be described as a Christian perspective when in reality I think the church just wanted a single positive review for that stinker from someone in the film community.

As it turns out that kinda sorta didn’t exactly go to plan because upon reading it his review was one of the most savage I have ever truly had the “pleasure” of reading and when one reads it one also sees that the general gist of my friend’s review was in a weird way an act of defiance against the Church and went something like “Just because I’m Christian doesn’t mean I like trashy movies or that I’ll give one a pass just because it’s religious based.” In addition my friend also lamented the fact that most faith-based movies are cheap, slapdash, poorly acted, heavy-handed, and simply not very good.

While that is his opinion it is MY opinion that should my friend or any of you for that matter see the new film Risen, a retelling of the story of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ from the perspective of a non-believer, as well as a film which also happens to be the latest fighter in this religious arena of film he or any of you would be shocked to discover that while Risen is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, it is just as importantly a step in the right direction due to a larger than usual budget and more recognizable talent in front of and behind the camera and while there’s an obvious religious message this film is wisely more concerned with weaving a compelling story than ham-fistedly hammering home a beleaguered point and due to that it’s actually pretty damn good.

The plot is as follows: A Roman centurion named Clavius (a terrific Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love) has been brave and driven, and steadfastly serving Pontius Pilate for a long time now (a fantastic Peter Firth), but after the body of Yeshua (Cliff Curtis, Fear the Walking Dead), better known to most of us as Jesus of Nazareth, disappears from his tomb, Clavius finds himself, accompanied by his sidekick Lucius (Tom Felton, Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter), tasked by Pilate with finding the body and in the process quashing the rumors that the Messiah has risen from the dead, but soon what Clavius will discover will shake him to his very core and slowly but surely make him question everything he was led to believe in.

Now I perfectly understand that this is not a particularly surprising narrative which is due in no small part to the fact this is a tale which is, after all, one of the most well-known out there, but thanks to the brilliant decision to tell it from the point of view of a character who in our minds essentially can fit into the role of practically a skeptical cop, Risen can actually feel fresh and at least they try to take a different approach out of things. Suffice it to say when this film works best it is more or less a detective story as we find ourselves as an audience following Clavius as uncovers various clues and interrogates a few suspects as the mystery unfolds and deepens and there actually are even a few tense scenes as we see Clavius try to unravel this mystery and in the process find Christ’s disciples, and although Risen feels like a procedural, think Law & Order: Jesus Christ Unit or CSI: Jesus edition or NChristIS, lead actor Joseph Fiennes actually acquits himself well as we get a terrific performance from him here as he does a terrific job conveying the world-weary soldier that is our lead Clavius who we learn just wants a day without death, and who finds that he truly can’t reconcile the things he sees on his journey with what he’s been taught to believe his whole life. The supporting cast for the most part also does a great job with Peter Firth doing a fantastic job of showcasing a Pilate who is more concerned with the political aspects of what the missing body of Jesus could lead to more than anything else and Cliff Curtis also does a great job with his limited screen time as honestly one of the warmest portrayals of Jesus that we’ve seen in a long time.

Now directed by Kevin Reynolds, the man who gave us such gems as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Count of Monte Cristo, and, of course, the “infamous” Kevin Costner and Dennis Hopper-starrer Waterworld, I feel it is safe to tell you that Risen truly is a well-constructed movie and it even starts with an epic battle scene so you as an audience can witness for yourself just how much of a badass Clavius is and while in certain parts you can most definitely feel the strain of this film’s limited budget thankfully Reynolds knows how to handle himself capably when it comes to action, and suffice it to say that he gets more than his money’s worth, as he delivers for us as an audience an opening that will immediately grab your attention.

Unfortunately however while the costumes, sets, choreography, staging, and framing for this film are all absolutely solid and wonderful it is unfortunate that Risen otherwise looks like muddy digital poop and the reason I say that is because from a color perspective, everything we are shown on screen finds itself showing up as varying shades of brownish-grey that actually bears a striking resemblance to swirling and absolutely dirty mop water to the point that it’s flat and regrettably ugly, and in the process diminishes what could otherwise have been seen by the audience as some absolutely breathtaking scenery.

Also we find that Jesus’s, called Yeshua in this film’s Apostles are painted here in this film more as a jolly, good-time group of bros rather than the devout, somber followers of one of the most iconic religious figures of all time as they’re usually depicted and honestly while this provides an element of comic relief to the film I know people will be mixed about it and while admittedly I can see how some are saying that this is a bit awkward and honestly doesn’t quite fit with the more serious tone of the rest of the film I say that again this is an attempt to do something different, and to even honestly really show these people as joyous and basking in the light of Christ, and to the movie’s credit they may show all that and do so admirably, but these guys to be fair can come across as goofy and silly to some people and that is something which is sure to rub some of the potential viewers of this film the wrong way.

All in all there may be a few minor plot holes, and the portrayal of the Jewish leadership is truthfully not particularly flattering in the least, but Risen truly is an interesting attempt to tell one of the most well-known stories ever told from a different perspective and while it’s more of a tale about one man’s redemption rather than the story of Christ, Risen still exceeds most of its faith-based counterparts and largely avoids the smug, holier-than-thou pitfalls that those counterparts quite often fall into and while it is definitely not perfect by any means, Risen still at least has more potential than a lot of those other films to reach a broad, more mainstream audience. On a scale of 1-5 I give Risen a solid 3.5 out of 5.

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Preview for my Review of the movie Risen coming 3/27 to Tumblr!! 

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Review #0020: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: Action/ Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, Tao Okamoto, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan/ Runtime: 151 minutes

It is easy to say that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice truly is a film that has to serve many purposes for a single film as this is first and foremost a natural continuation to Man of Steel, the 2013 contemporary origin story for Superman that introduced the world to a young British actor named Henry Cavill as Kal-El, an alien from the planet Krypton whose presence on Earth ultimately results in…well let’s just call them “complications.” In addition to that Dawn of Justice also has to offer us an entirely new take on the Batman character and, in order to differentiate itself from Christopher Nolan’s recent trilogy, they decided to cast Ben Affleck as a grizzled, seasoned, but burned out Caped Crusader whose primary mission finds itself changing from simply hunting down the criminal element to strategize and trying to take down a new adversary (I don’t think I have to tell you who….just look at the bloody title) and finally, Dawn of Justice, as the subtitle implies, also finds itself saddled with the purpose of laying groundwork for future DC Comics movies by having to sprinkle in recognizable references to the other members of the Justice League and although this concept was once a truly revolutionary idea nowadays however that’s what we as an audience like to call “world building,” and we have even come to recognize it as essential to any forward-thinking movie franchise even though most of these nods raise questions that aren’t answered here. Needless to say this movie had a lot of responsibility riding on it and upon seeing it I can safely say that although some purposes are handled more effectively than others the film still succeeds right where the fans have been wanting it to since it was first announced.

The plot is as follows: Following a brief, but brilliantly done because the film knows we’ve already seen it a million times to the point that the fans know it by heart, recreation of Batman’s tragic origin, the film brilliantly opens Batman v Superman at the end of Man of Steel during the fight scene between Superman and Zod. This time however we witness it from the viewpoint of Bruce Wayne (Affleck) who is on the ground in a crumbling Metropolis, and because he’s Batman (spoiler but if you didn’t know that coming into this shame on you) but also because he has employees in a building that is in the path of all the destruction, Wayne springs into action to rescue as many innocent citizens as possible and it is while doing this that Batman, a human hero, looks up in the sky and doesn’t see a bird or a plane or even a superman. Rather he sees a destructive alien force that has the potential to wipe out our planet with little to no resistance and so a paranoid Bruce Wayne/ Batman, acting more out of fear and paranoia rather than rational thought, begins to plan to take down the Man of Steel any way he can. However we soon see that Bruce Wayne’s not the only person terrified of Superman as across the way in ol’ Metropolis a brash young businessman named Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has begun pulling various strings behind the scenes in order to put himself in a position of his own in order to retaliate against Kal-El if ever the need should arise because as far as Wayne and Luthor are concerned Superman has changed the game as they know it while all the while Superman has started to find himself in a world that he feels is slowly but surely turning against him not the least of which because of all the collateral damage that occurs in the wake of every well-intentioned feat of heroic derring-do that he commits and soon these 3 will find their lives all colliding in a way that will change their world forever….    

Now rather than run from what can only best be described as the extremely controversial, for a Superman film anyway, end of Man of Steel, Zach Snyder and Oscar-winning screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo) have actually made the wise choice of embracing it and using it to make the characters and their actions actually integral and one could even argue vital to the action in Batman v Superman. Plus Terrio’s screenplay also does a good job at spending more time than any other previous Superman film asking extremely relevant and potent questions about how the governments of the world would react to the arrival of an all-powerful being like Kal-El because come on guys this isn’t the Richard Donner days, where Superman instantly is embraced as a well-intentioned savior, and a symbol of good; this is 2016, and as we are nowadays a cynical movie-going audience we find ourselves, like Bruce Wayne, automatically assuming due to the age we live that Superman could be a threat, and as such we feel he must be feared until he can be controlled and/or regulated and Terrio’s screenplay brilliantly taps into the fear and paranoia and to an extent makes it palpable and relatable for each and every one of us.

“Well this is all well and good Alan but they do eventually fight, right?” I can hear each and every one of you asking me as this is Batman v Superman, not FOX News, after all. To answer your question yes they do but here’s the beauty of it: Zack Snyder doesn’t rush to the main event, and instead chooses to build to it slowly by explaining, from both sides, why a throw down between these DC icons eventually becomes necessary. You’ll have to see it to fully understand why, but I can tell you that the v in Batman v Superman is earned, and there’s a winner and that information alone should be worth enough for you to pay the price of admission.

Now sadly the weakest character in Batman v. Superman is Superman himself, but that’s not because of Henry Cavill as Cavill does give a hell of a performance as the Blue Boy Scout and his bespectacled alter-ego Clark Kent, but because honestly Superman’s moral quandary that is presented in this film really truly just isn’t nearly as gripping as Batman’s absolutely homicidal paranoia or Lex Luthor’s maniacal scheming, and the movie is honestly more compelling when it spends more time with the newcomers to all of this than when it lingers on the Blue Boy Scout starting with Ben Affleck who, following his ehhh-turn as Daredevil way back in 2003 here really plugs in to the suspicion, paranoia, and mistrust that are absolutely essential to playing an older Dark Knight as we get to see that this is a Batman who has suffered numerous hardships as conversations with his trusted manservant Alfred (a stoic and fantastic Jeremy Irons), or glimpses of a defaced Robin costume hint at horrible tragedies from Bruce’s past and yet when it comes to Superman, we encounter a Batman who sees an enemy he hasn’t figured out how to best, not yet, anyway, and Affleck, unlike when he played Daredevil, now has the gravitas and the life lessons necessary to play both Batman and Bruce Wayne convincingly and so his portrayal of Batman is an absolutely fantastic new look at one of the most famous comic book characters of all time, and he is easily one of the reasons why I like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as much as I do and I think it is safe to say that Affleck’s Batman will prove to be an excellent rock on which Snyder and company can build the fledgling DC Cinematic Universe on. As for Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor….I will not lie to you guys Jessie Eisenberg has done some pretty amazing work (Now You See Me, The Social Network), but with his portrayal of Superman’s greatest nemesis Eisenberg not only delivers but he takes the role of Luthor to another level in this because here is a man through whom we get to witness what happens when a person who possesses a public mask to hide their absolutely sociopathic and savage tendencies barely maintains it and it starts to finally crack, and it’s fascinating seeing Eisenberg portray all of the complex emotions, often without saying a word, that reside inside this clearly insane individual.  Now you may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned Wonder Woman yet. Trust me when I say this is not because Gal Gadot is bad as Wonder Woman because she is not. Not by a long long shot. It’s just that while she is fantastic in the role especially in the final fight scene I can easily say that a lot of you are going to feel that most of Gadot’s scenes, either as Diana Prince or as Wonder Woman, feel merely like window dressing for the character’s eventual role in Justice League, as well as her own solo movie. Plus honestly the same can be said for all of the references to the Justice League heroes because while there is an organic and fresh way that they are introduced – and one particular scene (one of my favorites in the whole film) hints at what may be a very cool wrinkle in a future film, but at the end of the day they are still placeholders and may even frustrate casual fans who won’t get the vague references. Indeed it is safe to say that the distractions of the DC Cinematic Universe are both a blessing and a curse because although they’re necessary due to Snyder setting up more movies with this one film they’re also fluff in an already busy story.

All in all though and at the end of the day Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice improves on Man of Steel by introducing a terrific Batman, terrifically complicated Lex Luthor, and pretty darn good Wonder Woman thus giving us some of the best versions of those characters that we’ve seen on screen for a long while and while this film is far from perfect I feel it’s largest sins can be overlooked because of the massive feat the blockbuster actually does accomplish and that is the fact that this not only establishes a strong core for future DC movies, but also immediately should make us all more confident and far more interested in what Snyder will attempt to bring us in his Justice League movies. Indeed the dawn of the DC Cinematic Universe truly is upon us and I can’t wait to see what we are given next. On a scale of 1-5 I give Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice a 4 out of 5.

[mralangekko-blog]

My Preview for my Review of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice coming 3/25 to Tumblr!!!