Well here we are at the halfway point of 2016. And for those
who have following this blog for the past few years, you know what that means.
As is tradition this time of the year, today I will be going through all of the
films that I’ve seen so far over these past six months. And this year actually
gave me a few more films to talk about than usual as a result of me getting the
opportunity to go to this year’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas this past
March. There I got to see quite a few new films before they were released in
theaters. Some of them have already seen a theatrical release and others are
still on the way. But for now, it’s time to go through the good and the bad of what
has been a pretty solid year for film so far. Of course there have been a few
‘stinkers’ here and there but, as always, there have been plenty of great films
to balance all of that out. Now usually when I do these ‘Recap’ posts, I simply
go from my least favorite films of the year to my Top 5 favorites so far.
Admittedly though, in past years it was never really in a 100% ‘exact’ order.
So to help keep things in check this time around, I’ve been maintaining a
rankings list of every new film that I see this year (note: anything that can
be credited as a ‘2016’ theatrical release) on my Letterboxd account (click here for the link). Now this isn’t the first time that I’ve done this. I did
something similar in 2011 back before I started this blog, when I was writing
reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. However, things got a little complicated by year’s
end due to me not keeping much track of the ratings that I was giving to the
films that I saw that year, as well as sometimes even forgetting to update the
list from time to time. So this year, thankfully, things have gone much smoother
in terms of me keeping a general record of what I’ve seen. So with all of that
out of the way, let’s look back upon my 2016 ‘year in film’ so far.
Before I begin, I’ll
briefly go over the one film that I’ve seen this year that I haven’t given a
rating to yet but will do so once it comes out. This is due to the fact that I
initially saw it when it was in its ‘rough cut’ status.
SAUSAGE PARTY
When I saw this at SXSW, I only saw its Rough Cut. The film
wasn’t completed yet (something that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg made very
much clear when they were introducing the film) so there were quite a few
frames of animation that weren’t completed at that time. So because of it, I
decided not to give it a rating when I did my SXSW Recap but I promise that I will once the film comes out in its
completed form. So with that said, what I can say about the film based on what
I saw? Well, it’s very much a Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg comedy. The film is full
of their style of humor so if you’re not a fan of that kind of humor (e.g.
expect plenty of pot jokes) you might not get very much out of this film.
However, it’s certainly shaping up to be one of the most unique animated films
in recent memory. It very much is an R-rated animated film even though the
style seemingly evokes a Disney-esque atmosphere. But while the film may be
about a bunch of talking food items a la something like Toy Story, it doesn’t end up being a light-hearted romp once the
groceries learn of what really happens when they are bought by humans…. They
get eaten. What follows is a very unique adventure full of food puns and
outrageous moments that have to be seen to be believed. Case in point, the
finale of the film, which I won’t spoil here but needless to say… it’s
something. Despite the fact that I only saw its ‘Rough Cut’, if I had to give
the film a rating right then and there I would probably give it somewhere
around a 3.5/5. But for now, you’re just going to have to wait and see
what my rating will officially be for it when Sausage Party is unleashed upon the world on August 12th.
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)
LONDON HAS FALLEN
2013 saw the release of not one but two different Die
Hard-esque action films set in the White House. Of those two, the bigger hit
was director Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has
Fallen and the success of that film has now led to a sequel. But without
Fuqua behind the camera this time around, London
Has Fallen proves to be one heck of a disastrous sequel to a film that, to
be perfectly frank, I actually thought was the lesser of the two 2013 White
House-set action films. I mean it’s bad enough that the film has fairly lousy
action sequences (as well as some pretty weak CGI) and a stupid plot. However,
as many have pointed out, the biggest problem with the film is that it ends up one
of the most culturally offensive films in recent memory. And the big reason for
that is because it portrays the city of London as basically being totally inept
when it comes to dealing with terrorist attacks. It’s even more of a problem
considering that this was released only a few months after the Paris attacks
this past November. The film very much has a ‘America! F*** Yeah!’ attitude to
it but that’s not a good thing in this case (unless you’re a Donald Trump
supporter... I wish I was kidding but this film seriously feels like it
represents Trump’s vision of the world). Like I said before, while I didn’t
‘dislike’ Olympus Has Fallen, I
actually preferred Roland Emmerich’s White
House Down because I felt that Olympus
tried to be way too serious at times for a film that was basically ‘Die Hard in the White House’. And while London doesn’t try to be as serious as
its predecessor for the most part, it ends up being worse primarily due to how
insultingly xenophobic it is.
OTHER DISAPPOINTING/MEDIOCRE
RELEASES
GODS OF EGYPT
The latest film from director Alex Proyas, most known for
cult hits like 1994’s The Crow and
1998’s Dark City, experienced quite a
bit of controversy in the weeks leading up to its release due to the fact that the
film, despite being set in Egypt (as well as being directed by an Egypt-born
director), starred a pre-dominantly white cast. But as someone who doesn’t like
to get into a lot of race-related discussion when it comes to film, that lack
of diversity wasn’t the only problem that this film had to deal with. To put it
simply, Gods of Egypt is an
undercooked, and in some cases even a bit ‘overdone’, fantasy epic that I think
it’s safe to say has nothing in common with actual Egyptian history with all of
the crazy visuals that this film creates, including the metallic-looking Iron
Man esque armor that the Egyptian gods wear in battle. Most of the action
sequences are just nothing but CGI overload and the cast is generally wasted;
some of them are legitimately trying (e.g. Game
of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Horus) while others over-act like
crazy (e.g. Gerard Butler as the main villain, Set). The film tries to be a fun
action-adventure flick but ultimately it ends up being extremely corny with all
of its attempts at humorous banter. And because the film does focus more on its
visuals, there’s little to no character development. While I personally hate to
see films ‘bomb’ at the box-office, even if it’s a film I don’t like, as soon
as I saw the trailer for this film I pretty much knew that it was going to do
poorly at the box-office… and it did. It barely managed to earn back its $140
million budget.
HARDCORE HENRY
At the very least, I will give Hardcore Henry credit for having a genuinely original concept for
an action film. All of the action in this film was filmed in the first-person
perspective, putting the audience in the shoes of its titular character, a
cybernetically enhanced man named Henry, as he tore through Moscow in order to
rescue his wife Estelle from the villainous telepathic warlord Akan. However, as
unique as its method of shooting is, this film is absolutely dumb as hell. The
film’s ‘avatar’, Henry, is just that... an empty shell. And despite the fact
that Danila Kozlovsky does manage to be a pretty charismatic ‘love to hate him’
villain, Akan is given no backstory whatsoever, including how he somehow
manages to have Jedi-like telekinetic powers. The only one who gets any shred
of character development, if any, is Sharlto Copley as Henry’s main ally Jimmy,
who keeps dying but manages to keep coming back somehow in different personas.
As for the action, while it does give the film a unique ‘style’, it does get
tiring after a while due to it hitting the same general note over and over again.
And while the film does live up to its title of being ‘hardcore’ given how
brutal the action can be, it also comes off as being quite immature at times.
I’m going to be totally honest with you folks… when I saw this at SXSW, I left
before the Q&A after the film because I was feeling so winded as a result
of what I just saw. I even got ‘interviewed’ by a few people working for the
distributor who asked me my thoughts on the film. Simply put, it’s probably a
good thing that I didn’t give my ‘full thoughts’ on the film in that moment. I
mean I think it’ll be cool if someone tries to do another ‘first-person’ action
film in the future but hopefully that person remembers to actually give that
film a well-written story with characters whom we actually give a crap about.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING
I hate to have to put Neighbors
2 in my ‘Worst of the Year’ list at this point because I was generally
looking forward to the film having been a fan of the original Neighbors. It was a well-balanced comedy
that benefitted heavily from not outright demonizing the fraternity that served
as ‘antagonists’ to Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne’s characters. Not only that, but
the solid representation of the brotherhood of fraternities (which I can at
least verify due to one of my best friends being a Sigma Chi alumnus) will no
doubt help in regards to making it a new essential college flick. And for the
record, the sequel is very much capable of becoming that kind of film as well.
This time around, the focus is on a sorority and once again director Nicholas
Stoller does do a solid job in not outright vilifying the sorority and
establishing a clearly solid sisterhood amongst its members. And like the first
film, there are definitely some very funny moments in this film, namely through
the pranks that the two sides commit against each other just like in the
previous film. However, this time around I found that the jokes were much more
hit and miss. For one thing, the climax is much more anti-climactic than the
epically hilarious fight between Mac and Teddy in the first film, even though
the message that this film’s climax conveys is genuinely appreciated. And while
the pro-feminism vibe that the film creates is well-handled for the most part, sometimes
the film rather annoyingly hits you over the head with it even after getting
its point across earlier. In short, Neighbors
2 is by no means a ‘bad’ film but unfortunately I was rather disappointed
by this lackluster sequel.
NOTEWORTHY RECOMMENDATIONS
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
This film has been subjected to some particularly harsh
reviews these past few days, with some calling it ‘boring’ and others just
calling it ‘one of the worst films of the year’. However, is the long-awaited
sequel to 1996’s smash hit Independence
Day really as bad as those recent reviews suggest? Not really. I mean sure,
at the end of the day this film is just as silly and cheesy as its predecessor.
In fact, it’s so cheesy that save for the modern-era visual effects, it
sometimes feels like it was made in the 90’s when the original came out. And
yet, even with all of that said and the fact that the film does start off on a
rather slow note, I’ll admit that I was totally engrossed by it by the end.
Yeah it’s silly and there’s not much in terms of plot and character development
but the action sequences are pretty solid and the visual effects up the ante of
the previous film when it comes to epic alien vs. humanity action. It certainly
isn’t ‘boring’, that’s for sure. There may not be any Will Smith this time around
but Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are back and are just as enjoyable as they
were in the first film. So in short, it could be argued that perhaps this
sequel came out way too late. It’s been 20 years since the original Independence Day and blockbusters have
come quite a long way since then so maybe a film like this doesn’t really cut
it anymore for most people. However, this is far from being an outright
‘terrible’ film; it’s just a fun, mindless popcorn flick and there’s nothing
really wrong with that, if you ask me. And even though the film does end on a
quite blatant ‘sequel-baiting’ note, I won’t lie in saying that I’m genuinely
interested in seeing how Emmerich and co-writer Dean Devlin plan on finishing
this so-called trilogy. Though hopefully if a sequel does get made it won’t
take 20 years this time.
MONEY MONSTER
George Clooney and Julia Roberts star in Jodie Foster’s
newest directorial effort, Money Monster,
in which they play the host and producer of a popular finance TV show that gets
hijacked during a live broadcast by a gunman. As I noted in my review for the
film, it’s very much reminiscent of Sidney Lumet’s 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon, namely due to the
fact that it’s a story of a televised standoff between a gunman and the police
in which it’s revealed that the gunman isn’t such a bad guy and is only doing
what he’s doing because he was wronged by ‘the establishment’. Foster
establishes a solid amount of tension during the scenes in which Clooney’s
character, as aided by Roberts’ character, attempts to negotiate with the
gunman (Jack O’Connell) and the three leads all do a phenomenal job,
particularly Jack O’Connell as the young gunman who we do come to sympathize
with as the plot unfolds. Admittedly the film does kind of lose a bit of steam
by the end of it as a result of the characters leaving the confines of the TV
studio and heading out into the streets of New York. This is namely due to the
fact that the conspiracy plot that the film tries to uncover regarding the
company that O’Connell’s character foolishly invested in before it was hit by a
major stock market crash is rather underdeveloped. Still, the aforementioned stand-off
scenes in the TV studio are very well-directed and thanks to that and a
terrific trio of leads, Money Monster proves
to be a very solid thriller. It’s by no means one of the best films in its
genre but it still does its job in being an entertaining popcorn flick.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS
Despite receiving the same level of critical thrashing as
producer Michael Bay’s Transformers films,
2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
a flawed but enjoyable film that at the very least didn’t pull the
controversial ‘alien’ origin story retcon that had been brought up in
pre-production, was a solid commercial hit, resulting in a sequel that
thankfully feels more like a proper TMNT film.
For one thing, the film introduces some of the franchise’s classic characters
including the mutant duo of Bebop and Rocksteady, who are definitely a major
highlight of the film, and the vigilante Casey Jones, enthusiastically played
by Arrow’s Stephen Amell. But
ultimately the best thing about this film, at least when compared to the
previous film, is that it feels much more like a proper TMNT film, placing more focus on the Turtles instead of April
O’Neil, as was the case in the first film. This time around, the Turtles are
the stars (and are once again one of the best parts of the film thanks to their
excellent camaraderie with each other) while the human characters are relegated
to supporting roles. And sure, at the end of the day, this film is just as
mindless and silly as its predecessor. But of course, that’s always been this
franchise in a nutshell and at the very least this film has a much more
fitting/light-hearted ‘we know that this is totally silly’ vibe. By comparison,
the first film tried to be way too serious at times for a film called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Thankfully
that’s not the case this time around. It’s still not perfect by any means but
at the very least I’m confident that fans of TMNT who weren’t too big on the previous film will be much more
satisfied with this new film.
DON’T BREATHE
A film I got to see early at SXSW before it’s released this
August, Don’t Breathe is the latest
film from director Fede Alvarez, who Sam Raimi selected to helm the remake of Evil Dead back in 2013. The two team up
again for this new film, which also sees the return of the new Evil Dead’s leading lady, Jane Levy. The
film centers on a group of delinquent burglars (played by Levy, Dylan Minnette,
and Daniel Zovatto) who attempt to rob a blind old army vet (Stephen Lang).
However, they soon learn that this old man isn’t as helpless as he may seem and
now find themselves stuck inside his house while he’s in the middle of hunting
them down. Now despite the fact that the film is being labeled as a horror
film, I’ll admit that it’s more of a thriller-type story in its overall
execution and on that note, it does have some legitimately tense moments,
particularly a scene in which Levy and Minnette’s characters find themselves
stuck in the Old Man’s basement in pitch-black darkness, effectively putting
them at his level seeing only what he can ‘see’. Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette
both do solid jobs but Stephen Lang is the big standout in what was quite a
physically demanding performance. Sure it’s not really much of a horror film
and character development is rather lackluster, as can be common with horror
films, but overall Don’t Breathe is a
pretty solid and intimidating thriller. In short, it should end up as a pretty
decent commercial hit when it’s released on August 26th.
THE FINEST HOURS
Disney’s The Finest
Hours is the true story of ‘the most daring rescue in U.S. Coast Guard
history’, when crewman Bernard Webber and his four-man team rescued the 32
survivors of the SS Pendleton, an oil
tanker that was split in half during a particularly brutal winter storm off the
coast of Cape Cod. And while some have argued that the film doesn’t really do
enough to honor Webber and his crew’s accomplishments, I think that the film
does a fine enough job in portraying their heroism. Scenes in which Webber and
co. traverse through the rough waters of the Atlantic, particularly the
infamous ‘Chatham Bar’ that is capable of running ships aground even in the
best of conditions, are suitably thrilling as are scenes in which the crew of
the Pendleton work together in order
to keep the half of the tanker that they’re stuck on afloat for as long as
possible. Sure the film’s plot may be a bit straight-forward at times (e.g.
Webber’s fiancé Miriam is reduced to a ‘50’s era housewife’ role, though Chris
Pine and Holliday Grainger do have a solid romantic chemistry that results in
some very sweet moments) but the courage and indomitable will of those caught
up in this whole situation is very much clear throughout. With some solid
visual effects work for the sequences set at sea and excellent performances
from the two leads, Chris Pine as Webber and Casey Affleck as Ray Sybert, the Pendleton’s engineer who ended up
becoming the leader of the crew due to the captain being lost on the other half
of the ship, The Finest Hours is a
solid, old-fashioned historical thriller. Like I said in my review, I’m always
interested in real-life stories like this that took place in my home region of
New England.
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
Another film I got to see at SXSW prior to its theatrical
release, director Jeff Nichols’ Midnight
Special is a quite unique entry in the sci-fi genre. But at its core, the
film tells a very human story of a father, Roy (Michael Shannon), going on the
run in order to protect his son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), who’s shown to have
a very unique power, from the government. The best way to go into this film is
to know little about it beforehand because it does hold your interest
throughout and you’re curious as to where the plot is going to go in regards to
the truth behind this young boy’s powers. Admittedly the film doesn’t answer
all of the mysteries that it sets up but even with that in mind, it’s still a
very fascinating film regardless. Plus, it’s very much an actors’ showcase.
Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton (who plays Roy’s friend/accomplice Lucas),
Kirsten Dunst (who plays Alton’s mother Sarah), Adam Driver (who plays an FBI
agent, Paul Sevier, who investigates into the matter and quite frankly has a
lot of funny moments due to his occasional awkwardness), and Jaeden Lieberher
all do fantastic jobs in their respective roles. In short, for what was
director Jeff Nichols’ first big ‘studio’ picture, following his previous
efforts which include 2011’s Take Shelter
and 2012’s Mud, Midnight Special is definitely one of
the most original films of the year and one that fans of the sci-fi genre are
sure to love.
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Believe it or not, I actually saw this film twice in
theaters. The first time was during its opening weekend because even though
this film was subjected to the same level of critical mauling as its 2010
predecessor, I was generally interested in seeing it and I did end up liking
it. And then, I ended up seeing it a second time as part of a doubleheader with
a certain animated film that’s going to appear much later on in this list at
the only drive-in theater still operating in Rhode Island. And yes… I still
liked it. Now like I said in my review of the film, I very much recognize that
these live-action Alice in Wonderland films
have their extremely vocal critics and to be perfectly frank, this new film won’t
do much to change the minds of the uninitiated. However, at the same time,
these films undeniably also have their fans and I’m not afraid to admit that
I’m one of them. Sure, like its predecessor, this film’s plot is very loopy and
the extensive use of CGI can be a bit of an eyesore at times. However, also
like its predecessor, the film does benefit from a solid visual style and even
with its shortcomings in terms of the writing, I’d dare argue that there were
even a few legitimate heartfelt moments in this film. But ultimately there are
two primary reasons why this film actually manages to outdo its predecessor.
For one thing, director James Bobin gives the film a much more family-friendly
vibe, as evident not only in the brighter color scheme but also in regards to
not pulling any of the punches that the previous film did that made you
question why it was rated PG (e.g. Alice walking on the heads of the Red Queen’s
victims to cross her moat). But another great thing is that, while in the first
film she was a rather unsure protagonist due to her constantly doubting her
destiny of defeating the Jabberwocky, Alice is a much more confident
protagonist this time around, something that’s very much reflected in Mia
Wasikowska’s equally more confident performance. In short, this film may not be
perfect but I did enjoy it enough that I will buy it on Blu-Ray when it comes
out. That’s usually the case when I see a film twice in theaters.
(Note: My second
viewing of the film resulted in my original 3.5/5 rating going up to
a 4/5)
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
For years there was much talk about a potential sequel to
2008’s J.J. Abrams-produced found footage monster film Cloverfield. However, due to Abrams, director Matt Reeves, and
screenwriter Drew Goddard having other commitments, it seemed as if that wasn’t
going to happen anytime soon. Then, just this past January, J.J. pulled a fast
one on us by unveiling that a ‘sequel’ was indeed coming… in just two months in
the form of 10 Cloverfield Lane.
However, this was not a direct sequel to Cloverfield
because while it does share a similar premise of characters reacting to a
‘major incident’, this film does not feature the monster seen in the original
film and instead focuses on a young woman who finds herself trapped inside a bunker
with a mysterious stranger in the wake of a supposed nuclear attack. What
follows is an extremely tense and claustrophobic thriller and features excellent
performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whose character is a smart and
strong-willed female lead, and John Goodman, who absolutely steals the show as
the aforementioned ‘mysterious stranger’ that Winstead’s character ends up
being stuck with. Admittedly, though, the film does kind of lose a bit of steam
at the end when it introduces the main threat; aliens. Now for the record I’m
not saying that this twist came out of nowhere or anything but the film really
doesn’t do much to explain anything about them to the point where they kind of
seemed like an afterthought. But despite that, 10 Cloverfield Lane is still a very well-made, arguably
Hitchcockian, thriller and I’m very much interested in how this, in following
the original Cloverfield, could lead
into a very unique anthology series focusing on different kinds of ‘monster
threats’. Because after all, as the film’s tagline states, ‘Monsters come in
Many Forms’.
DEADPOOL
Kicking off 2016’s spread of Marvel/DC superhero films was Deadpool and boy was it one heck of a
start for the genre this year. Released in February right around Valentine’s
Day weekend, the film went onto become the highest-grossing R-rated film of
all-time. And while it’s technically a ‘spin-off’ of the X-Men franchise, it ended up becoming the franchise’s
highest-grossing entry to date and you can definitely see why it was such a
huge hit with audiences. After the fan favorite ‘Merc with a Mouth’ was handled
poorly in his live-action debut, 2009’s X-Men
Origins: Wolverine in which the filmmakers did away with all of the
character’s trademark elements/quirks (namely his ‘mouth’), Ryan Reynolds was
finally given the chance to do the character justice on the big-screen after
the highly enthusiastic response to leaked test footage made by director Tim
Miller convinced Fox to go ahead with an unapologetically R-rated superhero
flick starring Deadpool. And yes folks, this film very much lives up to its
status as an R-rated superhero flick as it is full of bloody violence and
crude/sexual humor. Because after all, that is very much representative of the
character in the comics. You should’ve seen how angry fans got when a petition
was launched for a toned-down PG-13 rated cut for younger audiences, even
though it wasn’t intended to ‘replace’ the R-rated version and would have at
least been a noble effort from the filmmakers (who respectfully admitted that a
PG-13 cut wasn’t really ‘possible’ by that point) to give younger fans of the
character (and yes, they are out there) something they could enjoy. Regardless,
this film very much did justice to everybody’s favorite fourth-wall breaking,
chimichanga-loving, bigmouth mercenary, with Ryan Reynolds finally getting the
chance to shine in a superhero film after previous attempts like Green Lantern failed to attract much
positive attention from critics and audiences.
However, I don’t really see this film as being much of a
total ‘game-changer’ for the superhero genre as a lot of critics/fans have
argued since its release. Now don’t get me wrong, Deadpool is a very, very entertaining entry in the superhero genre
and thanks to the character’s trademark meta humor, it’s up there with Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the
funniest superhero films to date. However, the only real ‘game-changing’ thing
about this film… is that it’s rated R. Because while it definitely delivers on
an accurate representation of its titular character, the plot is very basic, Ed
Skrein’s Ajax is a rather weak villain whose only real memorable quirk is that
his real name is ‘Francis’ (“He got Ajax from the dish soap!”), and Morena
Baccarin is unfortunately wasted in the role of Deadpool’s girlfriend Vanessa, who
is a mutant shape-shifter in the comics but ends up being just a straight-up
damsel in distress. Sure the film pokes fun at the superhero genre but a lot of
times it also ends up pulling the same conventions that it’s mocking. While I
do recognize that having a complex plot isn’t really the point for a film like
this, hopefully the sequel does do more to truly go all the way with its
attempts to subvert the genre. But again, let me be clear, this film is still a
very fun ride and if this means that there will be more R-rated superhero films
because of how successful it was at the box-office then by all means. But to
reiterate the point that I made in my review, that shouldn’t mean that every
future superhero film from here on out should be rated R just because the
fanboys want that more. Because at the end of the day, at least when talking
about this year’s slate of superhero films, I’m going to be remembering the
so-called ‘toothless’ PG-13 rated superhero films more. Speaking of which…
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
First off, yes, I liked this film better than Deadpool. And second, yes I did like the
highly controversial DC Comics superhero epic, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Like its immediate predecessor,
2013’s Man of Steel, this film has
been quite the polarizing flick amongst both critics and audiences. Though this
time around, critical reception has been much more negative by comparison. The
film does have its loyal fans but it also has a substantially large amount of
extremely vocal dissenters. And while it’s certainly not a box-office failure,
grossing nearly $900 million worldwide, Warner Bros. was expecting it to do
much better than that (i.e. $1 billion worldwide, as was the case with the last
two Dark Knight films). However, at
the very least, this film certainly isn’t as bad as its incredibly low RT score
of 27% implicates. And sure, it definitely has some major flaws, namely due to issues
that come from the film’s rather messy screenplay and occasionally erratic
editing. As a result of both of these problems, some elements to the plot
aren’t really delved into that much, namely how Lex Luthor (And for the record,
I was fine with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex. He may be a bit too goofy for some but
he does have his moments, including an epically savage bit of trolling that is
directed towards a senator) orchestrates his whole villainous plot against Superman.
And just like with Man of Steel, some
will take issue with the film’s generally serious tone. It’s not completely
‘dour’ as some critics are saying, primarily thanks to some funny quips here
and there from characters like Perry White and Alfred, but it certainly ain’t
no MCU film either when it comes to ‘light-hearted’ moments.
However, even with all of this said, there’s no denying that
director Zack Snyder gives the film such an awesome visual style that’s
straight out of the comics. And despite the film’s script issues, the finale is
pretty darn epic and I’d argue that the film had plenty of solid emotional
moments, even that controversial ‘Martha’ scene that, like the equally infamous
neck-snapping scene in Man of Steel,
isn’t as bad as some put it out to be. Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot manage to
prove their critics wrong by absolutely stealing the show as the new Batman and
Wonder Woman, respectively. In short, despite its faults, Batman v Superman was still a pretty solid effort in the superhero
genre and I’m at least confident that the upcoming Extended Cut that will debut
with the film’s home media release will be a superior version, as was the case
with another Snyder film’s Extended Cut, Watchmen
(Disclaimer: It was officially released online right around the time that I was
writing this and from what I hear, it IS a superior cut that still may not win
over ‘everybody’ but at least fixes plenty of the narrative problems that
people had with the film. Good to hear!) And as for the future of DC’s
developing ‘Cinematic Universe’, while this film may not have fared well with
critics it’s not the end of the world just yet. We still have Suicide Squad later this summer and then
Wonder Woman next year. And as for
the upcoming Justice League film,
which will once again be directed by Snyder, current reports suggest that the
filmmakers are at least aware of the issues people had with BvS and with the promotion of DC’s Chief
Creative Officer Geoff Johns to basically become the company’s ‘Kevin Feige’,
I’m confident that things will be much smoother for DC’s films here on out.
IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE
Director Ti West, who’s mostly been known for horror films
including 2011’s The Innkeepers and a
segment in 2012’s horror anthology V/H/S,
takes on the western genre with In a
Valley of Violence. Ethan Hawke
stars as a drifter who enacts revenge upon the deputies of a run-down western
town after they commit a horrible deed against him. But while the film very
much has the usual Western feel to it, one of the most interesting parts about
it is that it actually has a pretty decent sense of humor. This humor primarily
comes from the fact that once Hawke’s character starts to enact his revenge
upon the town’s deputies, it becomes very much apparent that the latter party
clearly wasn’t prepared for something like this so a lot of the humor is the
result of them frantically scrambling around the town trying to stay alive.
Ethan Hawke is great as the drifter as is John Travolta as the town’s Marshal.
The same can be said the rest of the cast, including James Ransome as the
Marshal’s son (and the film’s main antagonist) Gilly and Karen Gillan and
Taissa Farmiga as a pair of sisters who operate the town’s hotel; Gillan’s
character being Gilly’s fiancé and Farmiga’s character becoming Hawke’s
character’s primary ally during all of this. Pair that with an excellent score
by Jeff Grace that’s very reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s Oscar-winning score
from The Hateful Eight and you have a
very unique and original entry in the Western genre. In a Valley of Violence will be released in theaters on September
16th. Hopefully when it’s released there won’t be any theater issues
like the one I witnessed when I saw the film at SXSW in which a distracting
patron was tossed out for using his phone during most of the screening.
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!
Director Richard Linklater’s newest film is a spiritual
sequel to his 1993 classic Dazed and
Confused. While not featuring the same characters from that film (e.g.
there’s no Matthew McConaughey going “Alright alright alright!” or Ben Affleck
ready to paddle young incoming freshmen), Everybody
Wants Some does follow the same general story structure as its ‘spiritual
predecessor’. There’s not much of an actual plot and it’s more like a series of
events involving a bunch of various characters; in this case the members of a
college baseball team during the last weekend of the summer before the semester
starts. But like Dazed and Confused,
the film very much succeeds through how it establishes a fun and light-hearted
atmosphere throughout. While the main characters in this film are ‘jocks’ and
occasionally act as such (e.g. sometimes they can be jerks), they do manage to
be a fun group to hang out with. Plus, the main cast of leads, which mostly
consists of unknowns with the biggest name being Glee’s Blake Jenner as the film’s main character Jake, do have
excellent camaraderie with each other. Admittedly I wouldn’t say that this film
isn’t really ‘thought provoking’ or anything but it’s still a genuinely fun
ride throughout with plenty of memorable moments, including a ‘rap number’
performed by the cast during the credits that I’d argue is guaranteed to put a
smile on your face. Simply put, as he did with Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater gives us a very
nostalgic-fueled ride complete with an awesome 80’s rock soundtrack. In short,
this very much is the 80’s equivalent of Dazed
and Confused.
NOW YOU SEE ME 2
I quite enjoyed 2013’s magic caper thriller Now You See Me. Despite some flaws,
namely in regards to a lack of focus on what should’ve been the film’s primary
group of protagonists, the Four Horsemen, the film was full of really cool
magic-based visuals and was an all-around solid and entertaining thriller. I
guess you could say that as someone who grew up with the Harry Potter franchise, I’ve always been interested in magic-based
stories. As for the sequel, it actually does manage to be the superior film. As
noted earlier, one of the issues with the original film was that it tried to
balance out the screen-time between the Four Horsemen and the FBI agents
pursuing them and admittedly the film spent more time with the FBI agents,
which definitely came as a detriment to the Horsemen. Now that lead FBI agent
Dylan Rhodes is revealed to be the de facto leader of the Horsemen, this film
is allowed to spend much more time focusing on them, allowing for better
character development, and the cool magic-assisted heists that they pull off.
But director Jon Chu then takes it one step further by giving the film a much
more energetic tone compared to the first film that helps keep things running
smoothly at all times. Like its predecessor, Now You See Me 2’s plot is full of twists and turns. And while your
results may vary in regards to how well you think they were all pulled off, Now You See Me 2 succeeds in not only
being another entertaining magic-based thriller but one that actually manages
to outdo its already solid predecessor by improving on some of the previous
film’s flaws.
EDDIE THE EAGLE
Now on the surface, Eddie
the Eagle is very much what you’d expect from a film in the sports genre.
Story-wise it does carry quite a few of the traditional sports film
conventions, from the gruff coach that warms up to the main character by the
end to a moment where it looks like the main character’s ‘Cinderella story’ is
over but then by some miracle it is able to continue after all. But despite the
fact that it is a generally straight-forward sports flick, Eddie the Eagle is a really entertaining film that very much wears
its heart on its sleeve. It very much represents what made its protagonist, Eddie
‘the Eagle’ Edwards’, such a popular figure in the media. Because while Edwards
was never a really successful athlete, coming in last in both of the events he
participated in at the 1988 Winter Olympics, he very much won over the audience
with his unabashed optimism and ‘never say die’ spirit, two things that
athletes of any sport can no doubt learn from. Sure the film isn’t necessarily
‘historically accurate’ in regards to telling Edwards’ story but it still
maintains a solid light-hearted atmosphere throughout with a solid sense of
humor (e.g. when Eddie decides to immediately do a jump from a higher ski hill
after successfully pulling off a single jump from a smaller ski hill). Pair
that with excellent performances from Taron Egerton as Eddie and Hugh Jackman
as Eddie’s coach (albeit a fictional one but that’s beside the point) and you
have one very entertaining sports flick. Sure at times it becomes your
traditional underdog sports flick but it’s still a very well-made and
all-around feel-good story regardless.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Well you’ve heard me talk about this film quite a lot these
past few weeks. It all began when I did a post on the primary reasons why I was
extremely frustrated with the internet for basically giving this film the
complete shaft when it came to hype, at least when compared to the other
superhero film releases of the year. From all of the idiotic/premature backlash
at the film’s main villain’s design to the aggravating argument that the film
wasn’t doing enough to stand out in the increasingly scrutinized superhero film
genre, I’ve slowly realized that these X-Men
films have been subjected to much, much scrutiny despite all of the good things
that have come out of them, especially in recent years. And poor Bryan Singer,
despite everything that he’s done for this franchise and the genre in general,
has never gotten the credit that he truly deserves as one of the genre’s most
important pioneers. Ultimately all of that undermining very much affected the
film upon the release, as it was subjected to mediocre reviews… and suffice it
to say I don’t really get some of these ‘issues’. Overloaded with action? The
film’s called X-Men: Apocalypse, not X-Men: Minor Incident. There’s no
emotional drive? Well the scenes where Magneto loses his family and Cyclops
learns of his brother’s death pretty much negate that whole argument. Was that
Wolverine scene just ‘fan-service’? Maybe, but who cares? It was awesome! In
short, this is yet another super entertaining Bryan Singer directed X-Men film full of great characters,
epic moments, and hilarious bits of dialogue. And sure, maybe Apocalypse wasn’t
as big of a villain as fans were hoping but he’s far from being an ‘mediocre’
villain. In short, I’m quite frankly pissed that this film has been so
criminally undervalued both prior to and after its release. No this didn’t set
the franchise back a decade as some have stated. Instead, it’s just an
extremely underrated entry in both the X-Men
franchise and the superhero genre in general. I can’t say it’s ‘better’
than Days of Future Past but hey,
that’s a tough act to follow.
13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI
Quite frankly one of the best films that I’ve ever seen
released in January, a time where new releases are generally rather mediocre in
quality, 13 Hours is proof that
director Michael Bay is very much capable of directing a film that isn’t just
explosions galore with little to no plot. 13
Hours is easily Bay’s most mature film to date, telling the true story of
what happened on the night of September 11, 2012 when a military security team
were forced to combat waves of Islamist militants that were attacking the
American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. This incident has become a
major point of political controversy here in the U.S. but the film wisely
doesn’t go into too much detail over that kind of stuff. Instead, it focuses on
the six men who put their lives on the line to protect their fellow Americans.
Of course, like with any Michael Bay film, this film is non-stop action but it
also allows for some breaks between the action to establish the camaraderie
between the six men. That camaraderie is legitimately strong and the six leads
are all great, especially John Krasinski in a very much ‘against type’ role and
James Badge Dale, who finally gets to take on a lead role after having
established himself as an excellent character actor in films like Iron Man 3 and The Walk. So while the politics behind this incident are arguable
until the cows come home, 13 Hours decides
to focus more on the humanity of its real-life story and I’ll admit, there was
even a scene in here that made me rather teary-eyed… and yes, this occurred in
a Michael Bay film of all places. As a result, it’s easily one of Bay’s best
films… and I know that for many, that won’t be saying much.
MY TOP 5 OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)
(SPOILERS- 4 out of
these next 5 were released by Disney... and for the record, no I was not ‘paid’
by them. They’ve just had a really good year so far.)
5. THE JUNGLE BOOK
Following in the footsteps of the first well-reviewed Disney
live-action remake, last year’s Cinderella,
The Jungle Book once again proves
that the slew of upcoming Disney live-action remakes aren’t, in any way, a
completely lost cause. Director Jon Favreau brings us a new spin on Rudyard
Kipling’s classic novel that both respects the original animated Disney classic
that came before it as well as well as being its own thing, namely by
implementing more of the story elements from Kipling’s novel. It’s not a
musical like the animated film but still has familiar beats like some of the
film’s classic songs (e.g. ‘Bare Necessities’ and ‘I Wanna Be Like You’). Visually,
the film is one of the absolute best-looking films of the year. And that’s
saying a lot considering that the entire film was shot on a soundstage in L.A.
with Mowgli being the only major human character (and, technically speaking,
‘real’ element) in the entire film. But everything does look excellent,
especially the photo-realistic animals. These animals are portrayed by an
excellent ensemble cast, with every major player being a perfect fit for the
role, from Bill Murray as Baloo to Christopher Walken as King Louie. And
despite the aforementioned fact that he’s the only human in the film and he’s
basically interacting with characters who aren’t really there until
post-production, Neel Sethi manages to make it all convincing as Mowgli. In
short, like Cinderella, the new Jungle Book proves to be a solid
compliment to the animated classic that it’s inspired from without
over-shadowing it, which is the fear that some animation buffs have had in
regards to all of these upcoming Disney remakes… that they’re going to
‘replace’ the original films. But like with most remakes, that’s not the case
at all.
4. FINDING DORY
2003’s Finding Nemo is
easily one of Pixar’s most beloved films and for many fans, one of the absolute
best parts of the film was the forgetful but cheerfully optimistic Dory, voiced
by Ellen DeGeneres. 13 years later, Ellen’s iconic character took center stage
in her own sequel, Finding Dory, a
film that proves that Pixar can do high-quality sequels to their films outside
of the Toy Story franchise. Instead
of just rehashing the same plot from Finding
Nemo, this film instead focuses on a new story in which Dory travels the
ocean in order to find her long-lost parents. And this story ends up being just
as charming and heartfelt as the previous film, placing great emphasis on
themes such as the strength of family and teamwork and the idea of embracing
one’s faults instead of being ashamed of them, which of course in Dory’s case
has always been her short-term memory. Ellen is once again phenomenal as Dory
and the film also introduces plenty of great new characters who are just as
lovable as the original protagonists, including Modern Family’s Ed O’Neill as a curmudgeonly octopus named Hank and
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s
Kaitlin Olson as Dory’s childhood friend Destiny, a near-sighted whale shark.
Pair all of this with Pixar’s always great animation (in fact, I’d say the Finding films have been some of the
studio’s most gorgeous looking films animation wise) and you have an excellent
animated flick that is full of heart and once again proves that Dory is easily
the franchise’s most beloved character.
3. DEMOLITION
I will openly admit that Demolition
is a rather odd film to talk about because it’s a dramedy centered around an
investment banker who has to come to terms with the recent loss of his wife.
And I know what some of you may be thinking… how the heck is a film about a guy
whose wife had just died supposed to be funny? Well, simply put, the humor in
this film never comes from that part of the plot. Instead it comes from all of
the odd ways in which the main protagonist, Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), copes with
his loss, from writing a complaint letter to a vending machine company solely
because of one of their machines failed to work for him at the most inopportune
moment to taking apart the bathroom stalls at his workplace. Obviously his
methods of coping are in no way ‘normal’ and when other characters get angry at
him for it, namely his father-in-law Phil (played brilliantly by Chris Cooper,
who gives arguably the most emotional performance in the entire film), you do
understand where those people are coming from. But even with this in mind,
Davis still proves to be a very likable lead and Jake Gyllenhaal is excellent in
the role, especially due to his great comedic timing. But don’t worry because
the film is not all about the comedy. Once the film’s third act kicks in, the
humor is downplayed and the film finally starts to really focus in on the
dramatic elements of the story. And it actually does manage to not be jarring
because we’ve had so much fun following Davis’ crazy antics that by the time he
finally starts to really cope with the loss of his wife, we fully sympathize
with him and the emotional catharsis that he comes to is very effective.
Somehow, someway, this film manages to pull off one of the most daunting
balancing acts of all-time as far as being a ‘dramedy’ is concerned. That is
why it was my favorite film at this year’s SXSW Festival.
2. ZOOTOPIA
Disney Animation’s modern age revival continues with yet
another fantastic animated feature in the form of directors Rich Moore and
Byron Howard’s Zootopia. I mean, it’s
already great enough that the film was well-animated, featured an excellent
cast of characters voiced by an equally excellent ensemble voice cast, and was,
at its core, an entertaining ‘buddy cop’ story. That alone would be more than
enough to make it an excellent entry in the Disney animated canon. But then
there’s more to Disney’s 55th animated feature that truly makes it
stand out and that is the fact that this film also succeeds in terms of its
strong themes. The idea of combatting racism and prejudice is very much present
in this film, from the ‘predator-prey’ esque relationships between certain
animals to the conflict that emerges between main characters Judy Hopps and
Nick Wilde as a result of rabbits like Judy being generally distrusting of
foxes like Nick by nature. And let’s be honest… in a time where a certain
racist bigot is one of the primary nominees in this year’s presidential
election, this film’s messages are something that a lot of people should really
take note from. These messages come together along with all of the film’s
aforementioned strengths and the end result is a fantastic animated feature
that very much appeals to both kids and adults, something that has always been
one of the main reasons as to why Disney’s animated films so iconic. And now Zootopia stands alongside Frozen as the two Disney ‘Revival Era’
animated features that have joined the billion-dollar club and rightfully so.
Not only is it one of the best Disney animated films of the past few years,
it’s also one of the studio’s best period.
1. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
I know, I know… I’m quite predictable at times, aren’t I?
Actually, I’ve only been able to see Civil
War once since it’s been in theaters, which is the first time that this happened
to me with an MCU film since Thor: The
Dark World. The reason why? Well, it’s just simply because I was rather
busy dealing with school and the slew of new releases since then actually
didn’t give me much time to see it again. Still, as you can probably guess, I
absolutely loved the latest installment of the MCU, the first of Phase 3. After
doing a phenomenal job with The Winter
Soldier, the Russo brothers once
again deliver an exciting as well as effectively dramatic superhero flick in
which the Avengers find themselves on opposite sides of an impending act that
looks to regulate superhero activity in the wake of all of the incidents that
they’ve been involved in. While the film is very much inspired by the Civil War storyline from the comics, the
film wisely doesn’t try to be a very faithful adaptation, which I think many
will agree is a good thing considering the comics’ generally polarizing
reception. Instead of being a direct adaptation, this film keeps the same idea
but implements it into the canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reflecting
everything that’s happened in the past 12 films. And while it seems as if the
comics portrayed Iron Man in a much more villainous role in this story, the
film thankfully doesn’t go that route and actually manages to give both ‘Team
Cap’ and ‘Team Iron Man’ legit points to stand on instead of just favoring one
over the other. And amidst all of the excellent action in this film, in fact
I’d argue this is one of the best MCU films to date in terms of action, there
are plenty of effective and emotional character moments which very much benefit
from how well all of these characters have been developed over the course of
the previous 12 films. The finale in particular where a certain bombshell of a
reveal is brought up is particularly emotionally powerful.
There was a lot of talk about why the film was called Captain America: Civil War even though
it was practically another Avengers-level
film given how many characters were in it. Somehow the Russo brothers actually
managed to keep it focused mainly on Cap while still giving solid screen-time
to everyone else. It certainly shows that they’re very much capable of handling
a massive ensemble cast like this one, which is good considering that they’re
going to be doing the next Avengers film.
The cast is of course as excellent as they’ve always been and new additions
like Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man
(who’s arguably the best Spidey to date, which for me is actually saying a lot
considering how big a fan I was of Andrew Garfield’s version of the character)
are excellent additions. The only major downside of the film to me was its
‘main villain’, Zemo. Ironically, it seems as if Zemo is actually one of the
best-received MCU villains to date but as someone who defends many of the other
MCU villains as being way better than the internet constantly puts them out to
be, I didn’t really think Zemo was ‘one of the best’. I mean I get why people
feel he’s one of the best considering that he’s technically the most successful
MCU villain to date due to the fact that his plan of turning the Avengers
against each other technically did work. However, he’s barely in the film to
make much of an impact outside of the plot. Thankfully, like Winter Soldier, this film manages to get
by without really focusing much on a villain as the film instead focuses more
on the protagonists and the conflict that emerges between them. I’ll admit I
may be looking into this too much and as noted earlier I’ve only seen the film
once so far. Still, thanks to this film, Phase 3 of the MCU is off to an excellent
start and if anyone dares to pull that damn ‘superhero fatigue’ argument that
refuses to go away, just remind them of how successful Civil War, the 13th (!!) MCU film, has done both
critically (it’s the best reviewed superhero film of the year so far) and
commercially (it’s the fourth MCU film to join the billion-dollar club).
And that has been
2016 for me so far in terms of film. There have been plenty of great films so
far this year and there will no doubt be plenty more on the way, from the 1920’s
set American spin-off of Harry Potter,
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,
to the next installment of the Star Trek franchise,
Star Trek Beyond, to Disney’s next
big animated feature, Moana. And of
course there’s also the first big spin-off of the Star Wars franchise, Rogue
One. So what have been some of your favorite films of the year up to this
point? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.
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