Suicide Squad and Sausage Party: August is always just a slew of disappointment, some are just worse than others

Today, I look at the (deservedly) universally hated Suicide Squad and the generally liked Sausage Party.

Suicide Squad:
After the disastrous events of Batman v. Superman (both the actual film events and the crushing disappointment), government agent Amanda Waller puts together a team of superhuman criminals and outcasts to face any major supernatural threats that may attack. When an ancient being threatens to destroy the modern world, this "suicide squad" is dispatched against their will to dispose of the threat. Meanwhile, team member Harley Quinn's psycho boyfriend and master criminal The Joker orchestrates her escape.
    This was a film I was excited to see after seeing the fun and over-the-top look of the film from the marketing. I was skeptical of Jared Leto as The Joker, but after hearing positive reception about his small role I was happy to see what he had to offer. I was devastated when I saw the film.
    It's a film that seems just mediocre when you first see it, but slowly you realize how much you hate it the more you think about it. At least that's what I felt.
    The cast are all just there. The only real stand-outs were Viola Davis, who was admirable as the ruthless and calculating Waller, and Margot Robbie, who, despite some cringey one-liners, was absolutely perfect as Harley Quinn, though her relationship with other team members was underdeveloped. Will Smith was good... as Will Smith. He was just miscast as Deadshot and they try to make this scumbag contract killer into a nice guy because he has a daughter, which somehow excuses his killing random people for money.
    Common just kind of shows up. For about 30 seconds. And then the Joker kills him.... for now reason (cause y'know, crazy).
    Adam Beach appears as Slipknot, the deadliest Squad member in comics, who is reduced to a cameo with one line before he disappears from the film in a comedically awful fashion.
    Jai Courtney does a fair job as Captain Boomerang, bringing a fresh take to the character in the vein of a chav/bogart punk that I found entertaining, despite, again, some cringey lines on his part.
    Ben Affleck has a cameo as Batman, and Jared Leto is absolutely terrible as The Joker. I've already elaborated on his performance before, so I'll link to an in-depth take on it here: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-not-like-Jared-Letos-Joker/answer/Matthew-Cotter-6?__snid3__=328470377&__nsrc__=1&__filter__=all
    Cara Delevingne seems to confuse her two careers, strutting about the screen as if on a runway and not saying or doing much instead of, you know, acting. Her villain entirely relies on her sex appeal to get by and that's kind of insulting.
   The rest of the cast are bland and the movie just comes off incredibly rushed (which apparently it was, as David Ayer, who had a much darker vision for the film, was forced to write in in 6 weeks and had most of it cut in reshoots to appeal more to the success of Deadpool by giving it a forced comedic overlay). Characters are given personality traits they've never before possessed (Killer Croc is now super in touch with his black heritage and is more a comedic relief character instead of a terrifying force of nature like he should be), and all motivations are rushed (even Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, the only character I really liked, is given a forced backstory which he tells in exposition only and even then it's just so the audience goes 'Oh, he had a sad life so now I like him.')
    The CGI effects are abysmal and confusing and the entire film is just boring and ugly to look at. The soundtrack reeks of "focus group" and all the songs are by mainstream artists and the most cliche music choices are made during the opening montages.
    Suicide Squad is trash. I'm not a Marvel fanboy, but I certainly would take anything (even Ant-Man) over this mess of marketing. DC just keeps making the same mistake: playing catch up with Marvel and fucking up their films as a result instead of slowing down and just focusing on making a good film individually. More creativity and effort went into the design of the posters than the actual film, apparently. 4/10 stars.



Sausage Party:
In a local supermarket, foods worship the idea that one day they will be chosen to be in The Great Beyond, a place of magic and wonder where they can finally have sex, as long as they are good now. One sausage, Frank, finally seeks to learn the truth of what lies beyond the supermarket after a store accident leads to a warning from a dijon mustard that the Great Beyond is a lie and what lies beyond is an unimaginable horror.
    Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg bring their most twisted film to date. Turning the CG animation world on its' head, they take full advantage of the medium to get away with sickest, most taboo stuff they can think of that would never skate by in a live-action film.
    The voice cast are incredible, and I won't list them here, because part of the fun of the movie for me was finding out who voiced certain characters. (Sammy Bagel Jr., my favorite character, is voiced by a well-respected actor which I found pretty amusing considering who this character is and what he does).
    The animation is of decent quality, having a nice, colorful palate and crisp imagery. Most of the jokes rely on food and sex puns, which gets grating at times, but there's enough cleverness to balance it out. The plot takes some incredibly unexpected turns that I found both ballsy and hilarious and overall the film was a great time (though I think it'd be better drunk or high, and I think that was the intention all along).
    Sausage Party is a fun comedy with some sly humor and an effective social satire on religion, surprisingly. I say just stop reading this and check it out for yourself. 6.5/10 stars.



(Images: Wikipedia)

X-Men- Apocalypse: A fun, albeit overblown and uneven, chapter in the never-ending franchise

Today, I look at the latest installment in the X-Men series, what I thought to be the final, but which clearly shows there is no end in sight for this saga.

X-Men, Apocalypse:
Ten years after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Charles Xavier is running a successful mutant academy and mutants are becoming more integrated into society. In this new alternate timeline, Mystique is on the run, now a hero and martyr for mutant rights after her selfless acts at the conclusion of the past film. Magneto is living a quiet life under the radar in Poland as a factory worker, as he is now a wanted man for trying to kill President Nixon and destroy Washington, D.C. During this time of peace, a cult in Cairo, Egypt awakens the ancient mutant Apocalypse, the world's first, who is all-powerful. Quickly learning of man's history and capacity for destructions, as well as the creation of their own "superpowers" (nuclear weapons, technological advancements), Apocalypse decides to recruit four followers (his "Horsemen") and imbue them with advanced abilities, and plans to cleanse the Earth of those who he views as weak and unfit to live in the same world as him. With the help of CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Xavier's old flame), the retired X-Men must find a way to stop Apocalypse from tearing the world apart.
    One thing I appreciated right off the bat with this film was the alternate timeline plot that Days of Future Past allowed. Now that the original series of films has been annulled, the series can proceed down numerous new paths without worrying about getting tangled up in continuity (though there's still some here, such as the age of the character Angel not fitting with either timeline).
     One thing I found laughable was the lack of aging on characters. Now, obviously the actors haven't aged, but the makeup team didn't even attempt to make them look older. They already clarified Mystique ages slowly so that doesn't bother me much. More like Beast, Moira, Xavier, Havok, Magneto, etc. all looking roughly the same age they did in First Class, which took place 20 years prior to this one. Apparently if you just make Magneto more unshaven and slap mullets on Havok and Xavier that equals aging. Even Quicksilver hasn't aged at all. Being a teenager/college-aged in the previous film made him living in his mom's basement plausible, but ten years later?!! With his abilities he never thought to go out and make a name for himself or do something? His mom (also the same as she was before) never bothered him about this? He even acknowledges, jokingly, what a loser he is and how nothing has changed in his life. Why? Because people like young, fun, carefree Quicksilver. (They also never clarify how or why exactly Magneto ended up with his mom, who just seems way below Magneto's league. Of course, their fling happened years prior, as Magneot is Quicksilver's father, so maybe they just make her look older and drained.)
    These ages lead to problems with the age of Havok compared to his brother Scott. Scott/Cyclops is in his late teens in this film, whereas Havok looks a few years older, but really should be middle-aged by this point, making their parents elderly, but they look to be in their 50's. Just issues like that got in the way for me.
     I think Jennifer Lawrence is a fine actress, but she just doesn't do it for me as Mystique. I think she's got the look right, and certain scenes work, but her youth makes some of the speeches she gives come off as naive, cringey, and undeserved. And her new status as a freedom fighter seems completely out-of-character (Mystique in the comics and original timeline is a cold-blooded killer and her original movie counterpart rarely speaks even), and kind of political. I don't think anyone is deluding themselves that Mystique has only gotten a larger role due to Lawrence's current mega-star status. Luckily, she's downplayed in this movie compared to last time (where she was the instigator of the entire plot and was placed the same size as Wolverine on the poster), but still has more screen time than the character would've had otherwise.
    The rest of the cast are a lot of fun, and just seem to be having a great time doing these movies. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy both have their more dramatic moments, particularly Fassbender, who is able to bring a lot of emotional weight and grounds the film more in reality. Where Ian McKellen made Magneto both charming and very intimidating and shifty, Fassbender humanizes him and makes him more tragic, as if every time he tries to leave his violent past behind him and live a normal life, violence seems to find him.
    Sophie Turner is good as Jean Grey, though at times her character feels like her role on Game of Thrones. Luckily, her character her is nowhere near as aggravatingly naive and arrogant as her part on the HBO series has become, and has more of a genuinely powerful feel to her. Tye Sheridan also does a surprisingly great job as young Cyclops, who gets more development here than he did in any of the original films (poor James Marsden). Kodi Smit-McPhee was great as the partial comic relief Nightcrawler, who has been sorely absent from the series since Alan Cumming's fantastic portrayal in X2. However, of course the shining star of the cast is Evan Peters as Quicksilver. Taking one of the X-Men I was most aloof about in other media and making him into my favorite film character is a terrific feat, and he has yet another spectacular and entertaining slow-motion sequence in this film, topping the excellent "Time in a Bottle" scene from the previous film. I wasn't expecting them to do it again, but I hope it becomes a sort of tradition as the series progresses. Peters is just having a blast, and it rubs off of me as a viewer, and he provides much-needed comic relief in a world where everyone is always just talking about mutant politics and how hard it is to be themselves. Even though his comic relief is sometimes misplaced (the dramatic low point during the second act is tainted by his goofy antics), but is so well-executed and his character so lovable I excuse it. Lucas Till returns as Havok, getting a lot more screen time than the last movie. Here, rather than being Cyclops' younger brother, he takes the part of the older, and in the limited screen time they have, they have a lot of chemistry as a believable brother pair. Rose Byrne was bland here as Moira MacTaggert, who only serves as exposition and as love interest to Xavier here. She was a lot better in First Class, where she seemed to have more to do, and Byrne is usually a good actress, so I was disappointed. Lana Condor appears in a borderline cameo role as everyone's least favorite mutant, Jubilee. Hopefully in future films she has more screen time and can change the negative perception the character has from the animated series and comics.
     As for the villainous characters, Alexandra Shipp and Ben Hardy are fine supporting characters as the troubled characters Storm and Angel, and both of these characters, in their limited development, are leagues more interesting than their counterparts in the originals. Shipp's accent is also far more convincing than Halle Berry's embarrassing attempt at one in the original X-Men. Olivia Munn reportedly gave up the role as the girlfriend in Deadpool to play Psylocke, as she felt it was a stronger female role. Psylocke is a waste of space here, just thrown in to pander to fans who have waited for her appearance in a film for decades. She has few lines of dialogue, and spends most of her time strutting and hopping around in a latex suit (fun fact: fashioned at an LA sex shop), and has one fight scene with Beast and then skulks off camera as a sequel tease. She's not a character at all, she's a plot device and piece of eye candy. It's pretty pitiful, so let's hope to a sequel to shed more light on her and flesh her out a bit more.
     Now, the big question is of the titular big bad: Apocalypse. Oscar Isaac is a fantastic performer, so he is able to create a palpable sense of menace and dread when he's on screen. His determination to kill and lack of conscience or reason makes him so terrifying, and he is definitely one of the more memorable villains in the series, alongside Ian McKellen's Magneto and Brian Cox's William Stryker. However, as many have stated before me, his motivation (at least for the most part), seems very unclear. It kind of leaves it to the audience to pick up the pieces and determine for themselves his motive. He wants to cleanse the Earth. Why? Does he see humans as weaker than he is? Does he want only strong mutants and humans to live beside? Is he upset that humans didn't progress how he wanted and are trying to replicate his power? World peace by cleansing out the bad people? All of these options seem valid. His appearance is also hilariously reminiscent of Ivan Ooze from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie. So he's a weakly developed villain, but Isaac's strength as an actor makes up for it, so he's kind of a mixed bag.
     The action set-pieces in this film are, like other installments, not as prevalent as in other films, but the first few are pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, the action peaks early on with the Quicksilver scene being the midpoint climax, and there is a scene shortly after it I won't spoil with a cameo in it, but it's also really awesome and surprisingly bloody for a PG-13 film. However, the final battle, while it had moments (thanks to Quicksilver namely), didn't do it for me overall. I felt it was kind of schlocky and too CG-heavy. I felt the films were at their best when they had more reserved, personal climaxes, where the action was more grounded in reality, and more multi-layered and not one huge video game-esque melee battle. I also felt the earlier films exhausted the best set-pieces for the most part, as I feel they had sequences that really played around with the mutant powers and really showed what these characters could do, while also being a thrill to watch. Here, it's just a bunch of people in bright costumes throwing CG beams and heavy rubble at each other, and feels just not right. I couldn't tell if too little or too much was going on, and you know it's bad when you can't even determine what's wrong with something because it's so fucked.
    X-Men: Apocalypse is solid summer movie material. Is it one of the best in the series? No. But there have been worse. Much worse. That's why the intense backlash this film has gotten shocked me quite a bit. It may be a slightly mixed film, but by no stretch is it bad. It's well-plotted and written for the majority, and has a lot of fun, technically astounding scenes, and characters you can actually really get attached to and like, which is more than can be said for much of its competition lately. 7/10 stars.

A Spoiler-filled but very entertaining review/discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjNSCLQGzLA  (RedLetterMedia)

                                 (Image: Wikipedia)




Notes (SPOILERS ahead):

-The end credits scene foreshadows the new R-rated Wolverine film, which I am excited for, as it will provide the character with a much-needed but somewhat bittersweet final chapter, as it will be Hugh Jackman's final appearance as the character he began playing nearly two decades ago.

-The spoiler-heavy action scene I mentioned earlier is actually where Wolverine escapes Stryker's compound as Weapon X, mad with rage and amnesia. Bryan Singer makes a cameo as a guard Wolverine slays on his way out. Funny enough, I was actually thinking to myself right as the scene began how refreshing it was to have an X-Men film where Wolverine is absent. *sigh* Regardless, a very cool and violent scene reminiscent of the mansion raid scene in X2.

-The way Apocalypse is killed in this film made sense, but ultimately was kind of bland for me. All the very powerful mutants just blasting him with CG lasers and rubble until he disintegrates with Jean's Phoenix power. Also, I find it amusing that now, in regards to comic book movies, with all the resurrections and retconning that happens, particularly in this franchise, whenever a character is killed, I always see in the synopses on Wikipedia "the character is seemingly killed/destroyed." Same goes for here. Apocalypse was disintegrated into fucking air. I don't think he's coming back.

-There's a totally random and out-of-place scene where some mutant teens go see Return of the Jedi at the mall cinema, and have this conversation about which of the trilogy is the best. They all debate between Empire and Star Wars, before Jean Grey says "At least we can all agree the third is the worst." I was confused with the random bashing of Jedi and why the scene was included, until I quickly realized Singer was not-so-subtly taking a jab at X-Men: The Last Stand (originally the conclusion to the trilogy, and the first film he did not direct). I appreciated it, but also felt that anyone not familiar with X-Men movies would be thoroughly confused as to what the reference was all about. This scene does kind of make me question why mutants are so respected now in this new timeline, because Nightcrawler is able to walk around the mall publicly and no one bats an eye at a blue boy with fangs, a tail, and giant three-digited feet and hands? In a world where bigotry still exists against other humans, I highly doubt in one decade mutants would become this integrated, even though they establish the new timeline's people are a lot more progressive than in the old one.

-Blob, played by "Giant" Gustav Claude Ouimet, cameos early on, continuing the tradition of these films of just shoving in recognizable faces from the comics into cameo roles.

-The scene where Magneto's family is killed by clumsy police officers while trying to arrest him is heart-wrenching and well-executed. While I predicted what was about to happen, Fassbender's performance is so convincing for a comic book film that it saved it from being just a cliche tug at the heart-strings. The way in which he executed the officers is also really clever but also unnerving.

Captain America- Civil War: A mostly redeeming new installment in the increasingly stale Marvel Cinematic Universe

Again, a really late review, but I only recently saw this film in theaters.

Captain America, Civil War:
After another somewhat destructive attempt at containing a violent situation, the Avengers are contacted by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (the headstrong, stubborn military official who's usually off hunting the Hulk), representing the UN, who criticize the Avengers' often reckless nature, despite the amount of people they save. Ross instructs them to support a new set of bills that will put the Avengers under the jurisdiction of the UN, who will first discuss if a situation even needs their attention. Captain America doesn't want to be a part of this, for obvious reasons, and it leads to a split in the team: those in favor and those opposed. Iron Man leads those in favor, as he is in complete agreement with the UN (for reasons which are very apparently selfish). Meanwhile, a string of recent terror attacks are blamed on Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, who is still on the run after escaping the clutched of HYDRA at the conclusion of the previous film. Captain America violates his commitment to his team to chase after and save his old friend from persecution by the government, all while new players come into the fray and a mysterious new villain pulls the strings of the entire situation.
    I wasn't even particularly excited for this film, but saw it more out of obligation, and was pleasantly surprised by how entertained I was with it. Is it a flawless film? Hell no. In fact, the entire basis for the conflict in the movie is contrived and clearly one-sided (Captain America's side is clearly in the right throughout the entire movie, and the government in this film is one of the most misguided and idiotic and stubborn in all fiction). It's not even the best Captain America movie (it's not as bland as the first, but is nowhere near as focused as the second). It was, regardless, a fun blockbuster movie, and really should just be considered an Avengers 2.5, as the only Avengers absent from the film are Hulk and Thor. The Russo Brothers are actually able to juggle the overstuffed roster of heroes, villains and supporting characters fairly well, but the character relationships meaning anything to you really rely on you seeing all the previous Marvel films first (great monetary strategy there, Disney/Marvel).
    One of my most dreaded aspects of this film was Spider-Man, as I felt having him introduced in someone else's film was no way for such a major character to get treated, and I felt it was just too much. While I still hold on both of those accounts, he wasn't in the film all that much, and I actually liked Tom Holland's portrayal a lot. Time will tell if he bests Tobey Maguire, but he was nowhere near as annoying or unlikable as Andrew Garfield's portrayal, and felt like an awkward, funny teenager. The suit itself is design-wise excellent, but the CG looked way too synthetic and they'll need to work on that in future installments.
    Daniel Bruhl as the main villain Helmut Zemo was actually a breath of fresh air for an MCU antagonist. He was genuinely compelling (as much as a summer blockbuster villain can be, anyway) and didn't rely too heavily on crazy costumes or a gimmick to make him stand out. However, once his motivation is revealed as an overdone and almost comical cliche, all the mystery and menace surrounding his character washes away and he falls flat. Even though a problem with many Marvel villains is they only show up for one installment and don't do much interesting, I hope he can be involved in future installments so he can do something interesting and redeem the damage done to his character.
    Frank Grillo briefly returns as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, the renegade STRIKE leader from the previous film. While I was sad his role was cut short, I also felt he was used appropriately, the same way Batroc the Leaper was used in The Winter Soldier: have a more minor villain show up at the beginning to reintroduce the heroes using an exciting action sequence and provide a match for Captain America in a cool fight.
     New introductions to the series include Martin Freeman in a very minor role, and Chadwick Boseman, who does a fine job as T'Challa/Black Panther, prince of Wakanda and who is on a revenge mission against the Winter Soldier, bringing him to butt heads with Captain America. While is screen time is limited compared to other heroes, he is a welcome addition to the ensemble.
    There were many narrative problems with the movie, from some cliched and rushed scenes (the death of a character's father was cliche and totally handled poorly), and, again, as many have pointed out, the government and Iron Man in this film are very unsympathetic and their motivation is garbage. "The Avengers cause collateral damage wherever they go, resulting in thousands of deaths." Yeah, versus billions of deaths if they did nothing, which Ross almost acknowledges when he's not smugly and unflinchingly showing death footage of their various battles to guilt them into agreeing with him. And the UN bill wouldn't even stop the casualties, just acknowledge when the casualties were "worth it" for the greater good. And the government was all for nuking NYC in The Avengers, which would've resulted in far more civilian deaths had Iron Man not stepped in.
     As far as I understand, the Civil War arc in the comics was less a UN board squabbling over whether to let the Avengers fight and more a registration act like in X-Men, where each hero would have to publically register themselves (still a really stupid idea). But the motivation felt more realistic because the entire controversy in-story was set off when heroes neglected to contain a villain who can explode on command, resulting in hundreds of children dying, as they were fighting in a playground. Here, it's because an accident near the beginning leads to a few dozen deaths at a government office complex in Lagos, in addition to the other times the Avengers' actions led to unintentional carnage. That just feels a little forced to me, as the benefits of the team so clearly outweigh the flaws.
    The relationship between Bucky and Captain America feels a bit forced at times, but ultimately gets more fleshed out in this movie, and the final three-way battle between them and Iron Man is a lot more emotional and investing than expected, even though, crushingly, it (and the other events in the film) have little impact on the team in the end.
     Captain America: Civil War has plenty wrong with it, and often has too much going on (I didn't even mention the inappropriately placed and a bit creepy romantic interest shoved in this film- who is the niece of Captain America's original love interest) but it should just be taken at face value. It's better than the last two Marvel films for sure, and balances out the fun, campy humor with some more serious and dark moments, creating a good bridge of tones I felt should be kept for future Marvel films. 7/10 stars.

Two great reviews (the former more a discussion) about the film, with Spoiler Segments, that cover a lot of what I left out of this review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJvUTFVqwJQ (RedLetterMedia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q6X8oHh7wA (Your MovieSucks)


                          (Image: Wikipedia)

Deadpool: Finally, something new from the comic-book film genre

Today, I review the incredibly popular new film Deadpool, which I saw two weeks ago.


Deadpool:
Wade Wilson is a wise-cracking former military guy who runs a business where he is paid by people to rough up those who have wronged them. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he is approached by a mysterious government operation which promises to save his life in exchange for his body for science experiments. Thinking the payments will go to his wife, he agrees. After being turned into a mutant with regenerative abilities, he finds out the people running the facility, led by the sadistic mutant Ajax, plan on selling the mutants as slave soldiers to foreign powers, and if not, simply kill them, and that no payments are being made to their loved ones. Wade escapes the facility, but the process leaves him horrifically burned. Seeking vengeance on Ajax and his associates, he becomes the fast-talking vigilante "Deadpool," who begins a state-wide killing spree searching for Ajax, all while attempting to reconnect with his wife, who believes he has left her or is dead.
    I've never really been a big fan of the Deadpool character. I find his humor often obnoxious and feel he appeals mostly to teenaged boys for his edgy humor style. However, the trailers for this film made me excited to see a balls-to-the-wall, funny, gruesome comic book movie. And I got that.
    Despite not every joke landing for me, I found myself laughing quite a bit at this movie, as well as being impressed in the creative way the directors handled the smaller-scale action sequences.
    The storyline is a typical origin-type movie, nothing too special, but the humor and non-linear style were somewhat effective in covering this up. Ryan Reynolds had to prove himself as Deadpool after the atrocious portrayal in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and his role in the equally bland Green Lantern (both of which the film jokes about). Reynolds is extremely charismatic in the role, bringing to life Deadpool's quirky and flamboyant humor, and his penchant for extreme carnage, but never making him feel either too noble nor too cruel. The film's tone juggles the lighthearted humor with the graphic bloodshed really well, never feeling like it went too far.
    The climax was a little too small-scale, only featuring a small band of mercenaries and a rather dull location, but I'd take a more reserved climax over the bullshit "save the city/planet from the blue laser cannon" which has plagued the genre for the past several years.
    The cast were serviceable, even if Ed Skrein's villain Ajax suffered from underdevelopment. T.J. Miller and Leslie Uggams bring some added humor to the cast as Wade's best friend and blind housemate, respectively. The two X-Men featured: Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapičić) and the obscure Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) also were welcome additions, serving as some quirky and noble balances to Deadpool's unfiltered violence and ruthless attitude.
    Some of the jokes (especially one at the end) were very predictable, and if you aren't familiar with comic book movie history or lore, some of the references may fly right over your head, but ultimately, I think fans of the comics book genre will be pleased, and general audiences can have a laugh at most of the movie as well.
    Deadpool is a fun popcorn movie that packs in gore, profanity, sex, drugs, alcohol, etc., all usually no-no's for the comic book film genre, but I think that's what has made this film the biggest R-rated film of all time. Aside from the hype and excessive promotion, I think people wanted something new and fresh from this stale genre on movies. And I guess it took a movie where the protagonist beheads people, gets sodomized with a dildo, and calls people "cocksuckers" to show people that comic book movies can do more than just the usual "hero saves the city story." Ultimately, I did't love Deadpool, I thought the film had highlights but I'd be strained to say I'd ever watch it again as a whole. However, the movie is very entertaining on a superficial level and on a first watch and I was sometimes pleasantly shocked by how far it took certain jokes or action scenes. Reynolds carried the movie on his shoulders, and this may be his career-defining role, other than Van Wilder. I really respect the film and enjoyed it for the simple fact that it's something new. Though knowing Hollywood, soon every comic book film will be like this, and kind of defeat the point. 7/10 stars.

Two other terrific reviews which cover everything else I could've said but didn't have the time to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXEhfeESgCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2C2Svm-r1M



                                                          (Image: Wikipedia)

Fantastic Four: I think this is a great example of how superhero films are hitting another dark period

Today, I look at the latest failed attempt at making an adaptation of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's classic superhero team. (Sorry this review is almost two months late.)

Fantastic Four (or Fant4stic):
Reed Richards, a young genius who has recently discovered the secret to interdimensional travel, is enlisted as a help on a research project at the Baxter Institute in New York by Dr. Franklin Storm and his children Sue and Johnny, and is also assisted by his childhood best friend Ben Grimm and Sue;s former flame and genius computer scientist Victor Von Doom. When a trip through their portal goes horribly wrong, the five of them end up with strange and horrible superpowers, and the government begins training them to be biological weapons.
    I actually didn't get the hate behind this movie. I thought it was a decent, surprisingly dark and moody superhero film, with the occasionally bad-looking effect. I actually enjoyed it a fair amount -- until the last twenty minutes, when I realized how rushed the finale was, and cliche, and totally uninspired and worthless and dull. And it made me resent the rest of the movie.
   Before I heard the bad news that this film bit the big one, I had no interest in seeing it. After hearing the stories about young director Josh Trank's completely unprofessional behavior on set, and his getting kicked off the new Star Wars spin-off as a result of this film, and hearing about the bastardization of the main villain, I couldn't wait to see this epic bomb.
   But when I saw the film, I didn't mind it for the most part. The main cast (Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Reg E. Cathey, the latter two being Wire alumni) were fine, and although Toby Kebbell was a little over-the-top (and came off like a more serious Gilfoyle from Silicon Valley) he was a decent interpretation of Dr. Doom. Speaking of which, let's get the positive out of the way: from what I heard, the original premise for the film was supposed to be a David Cronenberg-esque body horror film that would show the real ramifications of the type of powers that the Four have. There are still elements of that film in here, especially in the scenes immediately following the cosmic accident and a scene with Dr. Doom at the end blowing up people's heads with telepathy (which I found shockingly violent and awesome).  Certain updates of the story (interdimensional travel instead of space storm. Johnny being black) stayed in the script, others didn't. In the original script, Dr. Doom's name would be changed to Victor Domashev, something a little more realistic to fit he tone of the film. Fanboys didn't like this, and bitched so much the producers made Trank change it back to Von Doom. I wouldn't have minded the change, and felt it would have been appropriate. The Thing's CG work looks good and fells like a good use of digital effects.
    Now for the problems: the climax has no fucking build-up... at all. They build up this plot about the government trying to make the heroes into weapons, and then they just drop that plot, make the heroes reconcile their differences, and introduce a brand new villain in the last fifteen minutes! The new Doom was pretty cool I thought... until he just opens up a blue laser portal for NO reason and is defeated like a bitch in ten minutes. Not to mention the whole second half moves way too fast compared to the pace of the first half, all the character motivations feel like they move too quick and there's no build-up. Say what you will about the Tim Story films, but at least they BUILT to something. In my opinion, this film could have been vastly improved by the plot being stretched an extra forty minutes, building up the team's bonding, and played up the slimy government agent as the villain, eventually reintroducing Doom in the finale and having him take over Latveria as a stinger ending.
   Fantastic Four is a shameless cash-grab, and a poor example of when a director has bold ambitions and a big budget, but not enough experience to handle it. The ending soils a pretty decent superhero film with potential, and if the sequel proves to be anything like this, I see no future for adaptations of this superhero team. It's like the brand-name is cursed. 4/10 stars.



(Image: Wikipedia)

Ant-Man: Yet another Disney/Marvel cash cow

Today, I look at the film no one wanted to make, and fewer wanted to see.

Ant-Man:
Scott Lang is an expert thief who has just gotten out of San Quentin. He wants to reconnect with his young daughter, but his wife and her new SFPD husband don't trust him. Scott is roped into one final job by his friends so he can pay child support and see his daughter again. Unfortunately the mark is the home of elderly scientist and former superhero Hank Pym, who then enlists Scott's help to steal back his old "Ant-Man" tech from his former protege and head of Pym Technologies Darren Cross, who plans to sell it as a military weapon.
    Despite being initially excited for this film, I was troubled recently by news of its' production. Edgar Wright, one of the most talented comedy writers and visually striking directors of this generation (and one of the few comedy filmmakers who uses the medium of film effectively), wrote the script for this film and was slated to direct, considering this was a passion project of his for some time. Suddenly, months into production, he dropped out for unknown reasons. Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Firefly, The Cabin in the Woods, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) then went on to say that Wright and Joe Cornish's script was the best Marvel script he had ever read. Marvel stated this was due to creative differences, which really means Marvel wanted to make a whorish cash cow full of references to other Marvel films which would most likely function as a two-hour ad for the next film, and Wright wanted to make a relatively stand-alone film (much like the first Iron Man), that felt too unique from the other Marvel films (which worried Marvel/Disney, because originality and having a personality is risky). Wright's script went under several re-writes, with the film now have two more writers, Adam McKay and star Paul Rudd. Whedon expressed sadness over this change, as he felt the original script was such a perfect one. During this clusterfuck of changes, Patrick Wilson and Matt Gerald (from Marvel's Daredevil) were also cut from their roles in the film.
   Paul Rudd does play an effective Ant-Man, and Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas are good leads as well. Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Wood Harris, Michael Pena, T.I., and David Dastmalchian make up the supporting cast, and with the latter three providing some nice comic relief. Corey Stoll plays Yellowjacket, the film's main antagonist, who is everything that is wrong with Marvel villains as of late: no subtlety to the role and no real origin (he's Saturday morning cartoon levels of evil from his first scene), no payoff to his character, no discerning characteristics other than his costume, hammed up to the extreme, more emphasis on looking awesome than developing the character, and (SPOILER alert) he is killed off so he cannot appear in any sequels. And the worst part: Stoll, much like all the villainous actors in the MCU, is underutilized and is not well-cast. Despite being a fine actor, Stoll was obviously miscast in this role. He's pretty good at playing gruff or stoic villains, not Lex Luthor-type machiavellian manipulators. Better suited for this role would have been someone like Aidan Gillen or Mads Mikkelsen (I would've also suggested Idris Elba, if he was not already in the MCU), but Stoll was cast because he's in two successful TV series. John Slattery and Hayley Atwell make cameos in the film, as do Gregg Turkington and Martin Donovan. Stan Lee also appears for his obligatory cameo.
   I was actually surprised with this film's ability to restrain from constantly shoving Marvel references down my throat... for about the first third. Then, it was a constant flurry of Marvel references and winks at the audience until it made me want to throw up in my mouth. The time when Yellowjacket cheesily title drops not only Ant-Man, but also Tales to Astonish in about thirty seconds of each other at the start of the film is when I knew this was going to be bad.
   The action sequences are blandly shot and loaded with cartoonish CGI, and while these sequences are entertaining, they push the boundaries of even the Marvel universe, to the point of laughability. In fact, many times I was howling with laughter, not because of any of the actual jokes in the film, but because of the campiness and silliness of the entire film. I mean, I know it's Ant-Man, but I think Wright would have handled the material with more maturity and subtlety. Peyton Reed, the director Marvel replaced Wright with, is known for his films Bring It On, The Break-Up, and Yes Man, so basically he's a director-for-hire with no visual flair or personality, much unlike Wright; also unlike Wright, he has no experience directing an action film. I don't hate Reed's films, I just find them bland and it angers me that he was replacing such a talented filmmaker. And just like with this film, Reed was told by the studio to edit down the content of his successful Bring It On to appeal to a wider audience and avoid an R-rating.
    Ant-Man has its' moments, but is ultimately a cheesy, cartoonish example of when a studio has too much creative control over a film or franchise. I know Marvel has their next thirty-or-so films planned out, but I think they won't make it that far if they continue this trend, because I think fans will just stop going if they continue making bland products like this. I have ceased calling it a film because Marvel doesn't treat it like one. Film is an art form, but Marvel treats it like a product, something that only exists to finance their next line of products. Or maybe I'm wrong, considering the amount of fanboy praise this has been getting, I think people are so blinded by their love of Disney and Marvel and Pixar and all this other stuff that they won't admit to themselves when these studios fuck up, so they just say they love it. Regardless, I'd one day like to see Edgar Wright's untampered script, just to maybe get a glimpse of what he had envisioned for this film. 2/5 stars.


                                                (Image: Wikipedia)

Even the poster looks bland, like something a teenager could put together in a weekend.


SPOILERS:
So Falcon (Anthony Mackie) appears in the film as a way to tie The Avengers into this yet again. One thing I did enjoy was Lang mentioning how if Pym just called the team everything would be solved. The mid-credits sequence has Hank giving daughter Hope his wife's old Wasp suit, teasing her as the superheroine (also, it irked me how Pym tells Hope that her mother died a hero, when the correct word would be heroine; I know that's like me being a grammar Nazi, but it still bothered me). The end credits scene has the Winter Soldier held by Captain American and the Falcon, who says that if Tony Stark won't help them, then maybe "a guy" will. The end-credits scene is in Widescreen, unlike the rest of the film, which makes me suspect it's really more like a scene lifted from Captain America: Civil War, which would be insanely lazy.