The Expendables 3 (2014) review

I will admit that I’m a fan of ‘The Expendables’ films and I am also aware that I’m kind of in the minority on that. I mean sure when you really look at these films, they’re generally nothing more than dumb cheesy action films that are very much in line with the action films from the 80’s. Still, even with that in mind I still find both ‘Expendables’ films to be very entertaining. The first film, despite some occasionally clunky editing and for also being a bit too serious at times, managed to still have some awesome action sequences that I feel managed to make up for a good chunk of the film’s shortcomings. But ultimately I prefer the sequel, ‘The Expendables 2’, more than I do the first one. It didn’t take things as seriously as the first film did and it had much better action sequences and a far more memorable villain compared to the generic warlord and CIA agent from the first film. So now we come to the third ‘Expendables’ film, this one helmed by Patrick Hughes, who has recently been hired to helm an American remake of ‘The Raid’. As for this film, it’s faced quite a bit of controversy recently for a few major reasons. The first, and clearly the most infamous, was when a Digital Copy of the film was leaked online by piracy sites a few weeks before it was set to be released in theaters. Seeing how it is estimated that the leaked copy of the film was viewed more than 2 million times, it certainly is playing a key factor in the film’s poor performance at the box office. But then you also take into account that this is the first film in the series to be rated PG-13 after the far more violent/bloody R-rated first two films. Some may feel that this means that the new film will be ‘watered down’ compared to its predecessors. However, ‘The Expendables 3’ still manages to be a fun and corny action film that actually isn’t affected by the PG-13 rating that much.

After rescuing one of their old teammates, ex-medic Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes) from prison, the mercenary group ‘The Expendables’, led by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), are then tasked with intercepting a shipment of weapons that are set to be handed over to a Somalian warlord. However, once there, they soon find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is none other than Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who co-founded the group with Barney many years ago. He was believed to be dead after being ‘killed’ by Barney when he found out that he had gone rogue but it turns out that he’s still alive. When one of the members of the groups is severely injured in the operation by Stonebanks, Barney ends up disbanding the team so that none of the others would end up the same way. He then proceeds to enlist a new younger group of mercenaries (played by Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, and Victor Ortiz) in order to capture Stonebanks and take him into custody. However, the operation soon goes haywire and Stonebanks ends up taking the new recruits hostage, leaving Barney with no choice but to reassemble the old gang in order to take down their former ‘ally’.

Like the two films that came before it, ‘The Expendables 3’ is an incredibly cheesy action film that very much feels like it came from the 80’s with its constant one-liners and its fair share of story clichés. However that’s part of what makes these films fun to watch in the first place. They harken back to the classics like ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Rambo’ and while I may not have been an ‘80’s kid’, I can certainly see the impact that those films have made on the action genre. I also have to give these last two films a lot of credit because after the first film tried to be more serious than it needed to be, the sequels have thankfully not made the same mistake. They opt for a much more light-hearted tone which is much more suited for films of this nature. There has been quite a lot of speculation regarding this film being ‘toned down’ to a PG-13 rating after the previous two films were rated ‘R’. However I can assure you that this is not that big of a problem. Sure, that does mean that there are some really noticeable instances where the violence is heavily edited so that we don’t see anything too violent or bloody. But at the same time, this film does get rid of something that I’m well-aware has been a major problem for a lot of people and that is the use of CGI blood squibs whenever someone is killed so the downgrade to PG-13 isn’t all that bad. Heck, even under a PG-13 rating this film is still pretty damn violent, especially during the insane finale.

It’s clear that because this film is rated PG-13, the filmmakers are trying to market the film towards younger audiences than they used to. That fact is most noticeable in regards to how this film spends more time on the new young members of the Expendables than the older ones. So with that said, if you’re going into this film expecting to see a lot of the main members of the Expendables, you’re more than likely going to be disappointed (I can safely say that fans of Terry Crews will be especially disappointed in regards to the amount of screen-time he has in this film though from what I hear, this was due to scheduling conflicts) because aside from Stallone, most of them disappear for a good chunk of the film. Despite this, the film still has its fair share of stand-outs within its very large cast. The biggest standout would easily be Antonio Banderas as Galgo, a sharpshooter who is initially turned down by Ross to join the team but ends up getting hired eventually. Banderas steals every scene he is in, mostly because he gets a lot of the best lines in the film and that’s because he’s always talking, which ends up annoying most of the other Expendables because of his motor mouth. As for Mel Gibson as the main villain, his presence in the role more than makes up for the fact that he actually doesn’t do jack for most of the movie. Overall, every member of the cast does their job even though some don’t have as much screen-time as others.

These ‘Expendables’ films aren’t for everyone, so if you’re not already a fan of these movies, ‘The Expendables 3’ isn’t really going to change much for you. It’s just like the last two that came before it; it’s cheesy, it has a fairly standard plot and little to no character development. It’s more about the action and how many action stars can fit into one cast, so much so that some don’t get the proper screen-time they deserve. Yes, these films haven’t fully delivered on the action spectacle that the first one promised back in 2010 and there are quite a few things that could have been done to improve them but I still managed to enjoy this new one just as I did the other two. This film may not be as violent as the two that came before it as evident by its PG-13 rating but aside from a few occasionally heavily-edited action sequences and a greater focus on the newer additions to the Expendables, the film isn’t affected too much by the lower rating. It’s sad that this film had to become a victim to piracy because it’s clear that the whole ‘leak incident’ played a key part in the film’s incredibly poor opening weekend. Now considering the general critical reception towards these films, franchise fatigue might have been another factor as well. However, I hope that this film’s bad luck may change soon because it’s a really entertaining film just like the other two that came before it.

Rating: 4/5

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) review

While I can’t say that 2011 was one of the best movie years in recent memory, I will say that it definitely had its fair share of surprisingly good films, like ‘The Muppets’ and ‘Fast Five’. But perhaps the biggest surprise of 2011 was ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, a reboot of the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise most famous for the original 1968 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall and perhaps most infamous for director Tim Burton’s critically maligned 2001 remake, which resulted in 20^th Century Fox abandoning their plans for a sequel, resulting in this new film being made. I’m not sure how many of us were actually looking forward to it, but in the end the film turned out to be pretty darn good for a few reasons. Not only was the film well-written, giving us a group of characters that we really cared about, but it also featured a phenomenal, Oscar-worthy performance by Andy Serkis in the lead role of the genetically-enhanced ape Caesar. This year, Caesar returns in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ once again played by Serkis. This time, however, there are a lot of changes in the cast and crew. Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield’) takes over for Rupert Wyatt as director and a new ensemble cast takes over in a film that takes place many years after the events of ‘Rise’. But in the end, ‘Dawn’ manages to be one of the rare sequels that is superior to its predecessor as it is just as well-written, well-acted, and impactful as the film that came before it and quite frankly does those things even better.

At the end of ‘Rise’, the ALZ-113 virus, developed by the biotech company Gen-Sys, began to spread across the world after an airline pilot became infected with it after coming into contact with a Gen-Sys employee that was the first human to truly become exposed to it. As this film begins, it is now 10 years later and the virus (AKA the ‘Simian Flu’) has spread all over the world eliminating most of the human population. While all of this is going on a community of apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), have made a living in the Muir Woods but their peaceful home is soon invaded by a group of humans who are among those who survived the virus and are currently living in a safe-haven in nearby San Francisco. In order to keep the community’s power running as it is soon set to run out in a few weeks, its co-founder, Malcolm (Jason Clarke), leads a small group into the forest to try and find a dam that could provide them the power they need. But the only problem is that it’s located right near where the apes have set up their home, resulting in them having to go through it in order to reach the dam. Malcolm and his group do initially manage to gain the apes’ trust, but soon this peaceful truce comes to a standstill when one of Caesar’s ‘allies’ starts a war against the humans, who themselves have been preparing for war in fear of an attack by the apes.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ effectively ups the scale and scope of the previous film, as you would normally expect sequels to do. But just like the previous film, the writing is the film’s greatest strength because it gives us characters that we really care about. For the first fifteen minutes or so of the film, the focus is entirely set on Caesar and the apes and because of this we are allowed to become fully immersed in the world of the apes and become attached to them. The visual effects for the apes are even better than they were in the previous film and will completely make you forget that these apes are just computer generated creatures pretty much as soon as the film begins. But of course, we do become invested in the human characters as well, specifically Malcolm, his wife Ellie (Keri Russell), and their son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who take over for the main characters of the previous film, who by this point have been dead for years being that they were at ‘ground zero’ when the Simian Flu first hit. In this film, we get to see how both sides, though different in many ways and generally mistrusting of each other for obvious reasons (the humans blame the apes for the virus (even though it actually isn’t their fault being that it was developed by Gen-Sys) and the apes are fearing about what the humans would do to them given the mistreatment that some of them were given back before the virus first spread), are basically striving for the same thing; they’re both just trying to survive in this post-virus world.

Ever since ‘The Two Towers’ was released, everyone has been asking the following question and after seeing this film, I do feel that I have to bring it up again here; why hasn’t Andy Serkis won an Oscar yet? Once again, he is phenomenal in this and in my opinion, this is the best role of his career; yes, I think he’s even better in these movies than he was in ‘Lord of the Rings’, one of the reasons being that if you really think about it, Caesar is a little more layered of a character than Gollum was. In fact, I think this is the film where Serkis gives his best overall performance to date. A key scene near the end of the film involving Caesar and his son Blue Eyes actually made me kind of emotional and that’s a testament to how truly great of an actor Andy Serkis is. I also have to give both of these recent ‘Apes’ films a lot of credit for getting a really good cast of human characters that aren’t necessarily a group of ‘A-list’ actors. I mean, of this cast, the one that most audiences would recognize would probably be Gary Oldman (who is of course excellent in this in a role that is actually much more complex than you might expect) but overall everyone does a very good job in this. Jason Clarke (who’s definitely one of the most underrated actors working today) comes off as very natural and likable in his role as does Keri Russell and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Clarke and Serkis in particular work off each other really well here, more so than Franco and Serkis in ‘Rise’.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ is one of the rare sequels that actually manages to outshine its predecessor, which was also just as great for similar reasons. The direction by Matt Reeves is fantastic, as is the writing that allows us to sympathize with the key protagonists from both of the ‘sides’ in this movie; the humans and the apes. And after the film’s opening sequence, we are already invested in the characters and are fully immersed in their world. These two groups are both just trying to survive and in the post-‘Simian Flu’ world that they live in, that doesn’t really come so easily. Of course, Andy Serkis steals the show (seriously Academy, give this man an Oscar because he’s been long overdue for one) but is backed up by a terrific cast. All in all, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ is one of the best summer blockbusters of this year and also one of the best sequels in recent memory because it does what good sequels do; expand on the universe as well as the overall scale and scope while also maintaining the great writing from the previous film. I know that some people are going to try and compare this film with a certain summer blockbuster that came out a few weeks ago (which I won’t name here but you might already know what film I’m talking about) given the very negative critical reaction towards that film but I’m not going to be one of those people seeing how I was one of those who did like the film and I’m also not one who compares films that often. But for the record, yes I will agree that ‘Dawn’ is the better film.

Rating: 5/5!

22 Jump Street (2014) review

At the beginning of ‘22 Jump Street’, Officers Schmidt and Jenko are in the office of Deputy Chief Hardy who says the following statement to them; “Ladies, no one gave a s*** about the Jump Street reboot but you got lucky…” That statement alone can pretty much sum up how 2012’s ‘21 Jump Street’ turned out. I mean, I doubt that many people were actually looking forward to the film, being that it was a film based off of an old TV show of the same name from the 1980’s that was perhaps most famous for launching the career of Johnny Depp more than anything else. But in the end, ‘21 Jump Street’ ended up being one of the funniest films of that year and now directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who are coming into this fresh off of this year’s smash hit ‘The LEGO Movie’, and the main cast return for the sequel, ‘22 Jump Street’. Now of course, we all know that most comedy sequels tend to be pretty inferior to their predecessors, usually because a lot of them just copy the same plot as the first film but don’t have the same good material to work with. And while this film does basically copy the same plot of its predecessor, at the same time the filmmakers are completely aware of that and because of that, ‘22 Jump Street’ turns out to be one of the best comedy sequels of all time due to the fact that it’s so self-aware of what it is doing.

After their successful stint going undercover as high school students as part of the resurrected ‘Jump Street’ program, Officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) are eager to continue working as regular police officers. However, after a botched attempt at capturing a group of drug dealers, Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) puts them back into the program (now located at 22 Jump Street after the Koreans bought back the church at 21 Jump Street) because, as he puts it, the reason they failed to catch the drug dealers was because they weren’t doing the ‘same undercover student thing’ that they did the first time. As for this time, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) to go undercover at M.C. State in order to locate the supplier of a new drug referred to as WHYPHY which, like the drug from the last film, resulted in the death of a student. While their mission seems simple enough (after all, this is the same exact mission they did before when they went undercover as high school students), Schmidt and Jenko’s relationship starts to be challenged when Jenko befriends a jock on the football team named Zook (Wyatt Russell), resulting in Schmidt beginning to feel left out.

So yeah, this film’s plot is basically just rehashing the same beats from the first film with not too many differences in regards to how it’s structured; Schmidt and Jenko try to do their jobs as cops, they mess up, they’re sent undercover to find a drug supplier, and their relationship starts to become strained when one of them becomes more popular than the other. Really the only difference here is that Jenko is the one who becomes popular, not Schmidt. So with all of that said, why then is the material here just as good as it was in the previous film, if arguably not better? Well, the main reason for this is, as I stated earlier, the cast and crew do realize that they are copying the same plot as the first film. The amount of meta humor in this film is ridiculously high. It constantly acknowledges the similar plot threads along with the fact that they have a bigger budget this time to work with ($50 million compared to the first film’s $42 million budget) although, halfway through the movie, it’s noted that they’re really starting to run out of money. Because of this, this film could probably go down as one of the smartest comedy films of all time for managing to have so much great humor in this film while also playing off of the fact that we’ve seen all of this already in the previous film.

As in the first film, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are both terrific here and of course one of the greatest strengths of the film as a whole is their camaraderie with each other (or, to reference the RT consensus, ‘bromantic chemistry’). These two work off each other so well and I really like how in this film, Tatum does some really impressive stunt work in this that doesn’t really seem that possible for anyone to do (in fact, I’m pretty sure I recall that at one point, Schmidt (who of course they play up as not being as fit as Jenko) says that he’s like Superman or something… ironic considering how Tatum played Superman in ‘The LEGO Movie’). They also give Ice Cube more to do here than in the first film (where really all he did was just yell at Schmidt and Jenko… this time he becomes much more involved in the plot) which then results in one of the film’s funniest moments. Now don’t worry, I won’t dare give it away but I will say that it does revolve around an incredibly awkward situation that emerges between him and Schmidt due to something that the latter does in this that, simply put, the Captain doesn’t approve of. The other new additions to the cast, including Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, and Jillian Bell also do really good jobs as well.

I know that I talked about this a few months ago when I reviewed ‘The LEGO Movie’ but after seeing how this film turned out I once again have to point out directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s phenomenal track record. They’ve made two excellent animated films; one based off of a very short children’s book and the other based off a toy line, the latter of which could have easily have ended up being nothing more than a commercial for the brand. Then they made an excellent live-action comedy out of an old TV show, which ironically was a drama in its first iteration. Now, they’ve made quite frankly one of the best comedy sequels of all time, if arguably not the best. These two have made a name for themselves when it comes to taking projects that don’t seem like they would be able to work and being able to make phenomenal films out of them. And in regards to this film, that’s saying a lot considering that this film’s plot is a near ‘carbon-copy’ of the first film. But thankfully, everyone involved realized this resulting in a film that is incredibly self-aware of what it’s doing with excellent material that has quite a lot of meta humor in it. This is easily my favorite comedy of the year so far; in fact, dare I say it, I think this film’s even better than the first one.

(P.S. Make sure to stick around for the first half of the end credits. Why? Because you don’t want to miss some of the best ending credits to ever be in a film.)

Rating: 4.5/5

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) review

2011’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ is one of my personal favorite films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I will admit that I may be a little biased about this seeing how I first saw the film the day after I watched the terrible ‘Captain America’ film from 1990 (the less said about that one, the better) but ‘First Avenger’ has stood out as one of the best films in the MCU. It is, in many ways, an old school summer blockbuster with the modern tricks, showcasing director Joe Johnston’s talents for period pieces in a film that was mostly set during WWII. Also, the film did an excellent job with the portrayal of the character of Captain America AKA Steve Rogers. While I may not have read any of the comics these films were based off of, I’ve heard many say how he’s one of the less interesting characters in the Marvel universe. That certainly wasn’t the case in the film, as it gave us a character that we could root for before he was subjected to the superhero serum but was someone that maintained his patriotic sense of duty and honor as well as a likable persona after he became Captain America. Of course, that was mostly thanks to Chris Evans’ terrific performance in the role.

Like his fellow Avengers, Cap would return for ‘The Avengers’ and while it wasn’t a major element of the film, it did give us our first look at how Steve was trying to adapt to the new world he now lives in, having been reawakened from an icy slumber to find that he had been asleep for more than 70 years. The journey of this ‘fish out of water’ continues in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ where a lot has certainly changed, not just from the time period in which the story takes place but also behind the camera. Taking over for Joe Johnston for this film are brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. Marvel has been known for making some bold decisions in regards to the directors they hire (including Joss Whedon and Shane Black, to name a few) but this is certainly one of the most interesting choices they’ve made so far. That is because this is pretty much the Russo brothers’ first major action film. They’ve mainly been known for their work on television, mostly for comedy shows; they’ve each directed (sometimes as a duo, other times by themselves) a handful of episodes for the cult hit series ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘Community’. It may seem like an extremely ‘left-field’ choice for Marvel, but let me tell you, these two certainly delivered.

‘Winter Soldier’ takes place two years after the events of ‘The Avengers’. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) AKA Captain America has been living in Washington D.C., where he not only continues to work for the organization of S.H.I.E.L.D. but also tries to adapt to his new life in the modern world. The latter goal hasn’t really been that easy as he continuously finds that it has been harder to trust people now than back when he was living in the 1940’s. But he soon finds himself facing a brand new threat when S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is critically injured in an attack led by a mysterious assassin known only as the ‘Winter Soldier’ (Sebastian Stan). Now finding himself on the run from not only this powerful enemy but S.H.I.E.L.D. as well, Steve teams up with agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) AKA Black Widow and former Pararescueman/war veteran Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) AKA ‘The Falcon’ in order to stop the Winter Soldier but in the process, they discover a much darker plan occurring within S.H.I.E.L.D. itself that spells doom for millions of people.

The first thing to note about this film is that it is very much different from ‘The First Avenger’ in many areas, specifically its overall style. ‘The First Avenger’ was, of course, an old-school World War II action movie. This film is, as advertised, a political thriller and as such, it’s a pretty damn good one at that with a plot that is full of plenty twists and turns. That’s especially in regards to how this film really sets the stage for what’s to come down the road in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perhaps even more so than any of the previous MCU films. It definitely leaves you wondering what’s going to happen now considering what happens in this film. This genre of film also blends well with the character arc of Captain America as he continues to discover how much things have changed in the 70+ years he’s been ‘asleep’; in other words, it’s a ‘fish out of water’ story both figuratively and literally. But even with the passage of time, Cap still retains his strong sense of honor and patriotism, which shines through just as it did in the last two films he was in. True, it may not mesh well with the current world he now lives in but to paraphrase a quote from Coulson in ‘Avengers’, sometimes we ‘might just need a little old-fashioned’.

I also have to give a lot of credit to the Russo brothers for their work on this film because for a duo who have mainly been known for working on comedic shows, the direction here is fantastic, especially in the action scenes. This film has some great action set pieces and some pretty good camera work as well. It’s interesting I say that because like how the whole movie is very much different than ‘First Avenger’, that can also be said for the cinematography during the action sequences. Upon rewatch, I find that ‘The First Avenger’ had some of the best action from not just any recent superhero film, but any of the action films to have come out in recent years, mainly because Johnston kept the camera steady during the majority of the action scenes allowing us to see most of the action. Here, the cinematography is more in line with the handheld camerawork style that has been really popular these last few years. However here, they do it well as it’s not to the point where the camera work is so shaky that we’re unable to see just what the heck is happening onscreen.

Now in his third appearance in the role of Captain America, Chris Evans gives probably his best performance in the role to date. He was already doing an excellent job in ‘The First Avenger’ and ‘The Avengers’ but he’s really at his best here now that he’s had two other movies to really fine tune his performance. The same can be said for Scarlett Johansson, who also makes her third appearance in the role of Black Widow in a MCU film. Evans and Johansson have excellent chemistry, the relationship between their characters is a really good one without really going the way of a ‘romantic’ connection, and after all of this, who doesn’t think Marvel should do a Black Widow movie? Come on Marvel, make it happen! The returning ‘vets’ from previous Marvel films, including Samuel L. Jackson in what is easily his most substantial role to date as Nick Fury, are excellent as well. As for the new additions to the cast, the biggest standout here would be Mackie as Falcon. Like with Black Widow, he has excellent camaraderie with Cap and the scenes of him in action are pretty damn cool. Robert Redford also does an excellent job here as Alexander Pierce, a senior leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. and friend of Nick Fury.

Finally, we come to the titular ‘Winter Soldier’ for whom this film is named after. I do sort of wish that he was in the film just a bit more (you know, because his name’s in the damn title) especially considering that he’s not really the main villain here. But for what it’s worth, they still do a really good job at handling his whole character arc/relationship with Captain America. Normally, I don’t spoil important plot points like this, but this is something that many comic book fans know about and for those who aren’t comic book fans like me it wasn’t exactly that big of a secret considering who’s playing him. For you see, the true identity of the Winter Soldier is that of James ‘Bucky’ Barnes, Steve’s best friend from his World War II days who had apparently died during the events of ‘The First Avenger’ but as soon as the title for this film was announced, many of us knew that this wasn’t the case. Again, I do wish the character was given more to do but Sebastian Stan does do a very good job with what he’s given and I’m hoping they’ll dive more into this storyline with ‘Captain America 3’.

‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ was one of the best films of Marvel’s Phase One. ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ is both one of the best films of Marvel’s Phase Two and one of the best MCU films period. For one thing this film, probably more so than any other MCU film, really sets the stage for the future path of the MCU. But on its own, ‘The Winter Soldier’ is an effective political thriller and a very exciting superhero film. You really have to give a lot of credit here to directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who proved that they could do an action movie (I have no argument against them directing ‘Captain America 3’ now), one that has great action sequences and cinematography but also one with excellent writing and performances. Is it the absolute best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even more so than ‘Avengers’? Well, I’ll have to watch this film again to see where it will ultimately stand compared to the other films in the MCU, but no matter what, it’s definitely going to end up being one of their best. DC, I’d take notes if I were you.

Rating: 5/5!

Pixar: Sequel or Not?

In recent news, Pixar announced two sequels that were in development; one was the long-awaited sequel to 2004’s ‘The Incredibles’, with Brad Bird returning to write the film (no confirmation yet on whether or not he’ll direct it). The other sequel was ‘Cars 3’… which, simply put, was not as anticipated given the negative critical reaction to its immediate predecessor. This has all raised a few questions, and some worries, about the path that Pixar is currently taking with their animated movies. They do have two original films coming out next year in ‘The Good Dinosaur’ and ‘Inside Out’. However, after that, they have not only a ‘Cars’ and ‘Incredibles’ sequel in the works, but a ‘Finding Nemo’ sequel as well. Now, I’m not that worried about Pixar when it comes to them announcing ‘sequels’. But this did get me thinking about whether or not the films in Pixar’s filmography could possibly get a sequel because many of them have a real sense of finality, meaning that there’s really no need to continue the story through another film. But there are some possibilities here and there.

This was something I was going to do some time ago most likely around the time ‘Monsters University’ was released. Ultimately though I never published it on here, so with this recent news in mind, I decided to finally finish it. This is what I like to call ‘Pixar: Sequel or Not?’

TOY STORY FRANCHISE

Possible Sequel: It’s possible, but I don’t want it to happen

This has been somewhat of a developing rumor in regards to the possibility of Pixar doing a ‘Toy Story 4’, which might even lead into a whole new trilogy. Overall, I think it could be done seeing how at the end of ‘Toy Story 3’ Woody, Buzz, and the gang were left in the care of a new owner, Bonnie, meaning that there can possibly be some new stories for this franchise to explore. However, I really don’t want a ‘Toy Story 4’, or new trilogy for that matter, to happen. Why? Well, it’s quite simple… why should Pixar even attempt to follow up on one of the greatest film trilogies of all time; one where every film in the trilogy is fantastic. I don’t want to see the legacy of this franchise tarnished if this supposed fourth film doesn’t turn out to be that good. Quite frankly, I’m more of a fan of what Pixar is currently doing with the franchise right now in regards to the short films that they have been making. This currently includes ‘Hawaiian Vacation’, ‘Small Fry’, and ‘Partysaurus Rex’. There’s also the half-hour long special that they released this past Halloween, ‘Toy Story of Terror!’, and there’s another one coming out this winter, ‘Toy Story that Time Forgot’. I think that this is a nice simple way of keeping this franchise relevant without having to do another movie. Like I said, it could happen but that doesn’t mean I would want Pixar to do another ‘Toy Story’ film. Just leave the film franchise where it is.

A BUG’S LIFE

Possible Sequel: Can’t see it

It has been almost two decades since ‘A Bug’s Life’ was released in 1998… so I doubt if Pixar currently has, or ever will have, plans to do a sequel to this film. Nothing really screams ‘sequel’ with this one anyway.

MONSTERS’ INC/UNIVERSITY

Possible Sequel: Unnecessary

Pixar, you’ve already done a prequel and despite my, and many others’, initial hesitation towards it, ‘Monsters University’ turned out to be really good… in fact, considering how it was not nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, apparently now kind of underrated. I mean sure, it still wasn’t up to par with Pixar’s best films but it was still a very entertaining, heartwarming, and well-made prequel to ‘Monsters’ Inc.’, which has actually sort of become one of my all-time favorites from Pixar. But in regards to this franchise, the only step now would be to do a sequel and I don’t really see a possibility here for a follow-up to the first film. There is the whole scenario about the Monsters switching from scare energy to laugh energy but I can’t really see them doing another film just based around that. The only way I can see them continuing this franchise is by going the ‘Toy Story’ route and do short films instead. They just released a new short, ‘Party Central’, which ran in front of ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, and that one was pretty good.

FINDING NEMO

Possible Sequel: Confirmed- We’ll see where it goes

This was the first of the upcoming three sequels to be confirmed; ‘Finding Dory’. Currently set for a 2016 release date, this film will follow the amnesiac Dory (once again voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) as she reunites with her family… this one could go either way. There is the chance that it could be a very solid follow-up. Andrew Stanton returns to direct this film and they do have a few of the other members of ‘Finding Nemo’s cast returning, including Albert Brooks and Willem Dafoe. However, I’m fearing that this one could potentially go the route of films like ‘Taken 2’ or ‘Hangover 2’ and just do a retread of the first film’s plot. I mean, it doesn’t actually look like it will be that way, but regardless of that I’m going to be rather cautious about this one.

THE INCREDIBLES

Possible Sequel: Confirmed- Finally!

Out of all of Pixar’s films that have come out as of now, ‘The Incredibles’ is the only film in their filmography that truly demands a sequel; I mean, the film ended by basically setting up a potential future film. Thankfully, we are getting one, and Brad Bird will be back to write it. However, there’s no word yet on whether or not he’ll direct it. Also, it will probably be a few years for this film to come out seeing how Bird is currently busy with 2015’s ‘Tomorrowland’. I hope that Bird will be back in full capacity; not just as a writer, but as its director as well. Regardless, I’m very much psyched to hear this news and eagerly await this long-awaited sequel.

CARS FRANCHISE

Possible Sequel: Confirmed- But does anyone really want it?

‘Cars 3’ has been announced to be in development alongside ‘The Incredibles but the question here is… does anyone really want to see it? The first ‘Cars’ film did not exactly get the same amount of critical acclaim as previous Pixar films but it still got solid reviews from critics. ‘Cars 2’ on the other hand, while a success at the box office, got slammed by critics. I’ve only seen ‘Cars 2’ once and at the time, I didn’t think it was that bad but at the same time it wasn’t a ‘great’ film either. It had a solid idea for a ‘Cars’ sequel being that it followed the characters of Lightning McQueen and Mater on a world tour but the execution of it was where things went wrong; namely for focusing too much on Mater to the point where Lightning became a side character. So if they are doing a ‘Cars’ sequel, they should make sure that give these two equal roles in the film. I’m not entirely looking forward to ‘Cars 3’, but at the same time I’m not dreading it either.

RATATOUILLE

Possible Sequel: Not really

Just like ‘A Bug’s Life’, nothing about ‘Ratatouille’ screams sequel to me. I mean, the only way I can possibly see a sequel to this would require the filmmakers to have to revert back to square one seeing how at the end of the film, Remy the rat had become a successful cook in his own right. There’s nothing they can do to follow up on that.

WALL-E

Possible Sequel: I can kind of see it happening

Now here’s a Pixar film that could potentially be followed up on. After all, the plot of ‘Wall-E’ revolved around us humans leaving the Earth after it had become so polluted due to mass consumerism. At the end of the film, the humans began to return to the planet and that’s where there could be a sequel to this; we could see how they attempt to inhabit the Earth again and try to return it back to the way it once was. I have no idea how the characters of Wall-E and EVE would fit into this story, but as a whole, a sequel to ‘Wall-E’ is possible.

UP

Possible Sequel: Nah, not really…

While this film was based around the idea of adventuring to new places, I’m not sure how they can follow up to 2009’s ‘Up’. I mean even if they did, it’s unlikely that the character of Carl would be in it seeing how he’s, well, old. Besides, his relationship with Ellie, along with his future relationship to his new friend Russell, was the heart of the film. I hate to say it, but if they do decide to do a sequel to ‘Up’, which would probably take place a few years after the events of the film, it’s rather likely Carl would be dead by this point meaning that we would lose one of the great characters from its predecessor. Quite frankly, I don’t think it’s worth it to do an ‘Up 2’ for that exact reason.

BRAVE

Possible Sequel: If so, please do it better...

‘Brave’ was a rather disappointing effort from Pixar. I’m not saying that it was a bad film by any means; it’s just that the film starts off with an incredible first half before veering into ‘Kids film territory’ for the rest of the film and these two halves of the film didn’t particularly mix well. I’m not even sure that there’s potential for a sequel. I wouldn’t be too bothered if they did do a ‘Brave 2’ but if they did, I hope that it will turn out better than the first one.

For the record, I’m not trying to say that Pixar should absolutely do sequels to their film because as I’ve pointed out, many of these films have a great finality to them. There’s not much of a need to follow up on some of these stories, like ‘Ratatouille’ or ‘Up’ because they end at the right time. There is some potential for future stories with films like ‘Toy Story’ or ‘Wall-E’ but overall, ‘The Incredibles’ is the only Pixar film right now that deserves a sequel and thankfully, we will be getting one. I’m not saying that I want to see some of these films to get sequels but I wouldn’t mind if they did. However I hope that Pixar will continue to make more original films like the upcoming ‘Good Dinosaur’ or ‘Inside Out’. After all, that’s exactly how they became the company we all know and love today; through their original stories.

Muppets Most Wanted (2014) review

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2011 was Disney’s reboot of ‘The Muppets’, the first ‘Muppets’ film to be released theatrically in more than a decade. It was clear that with this film, writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller had a lot of respect for the franchise, and that really showed in the final product. It was a film that was not only both charming and funny, but also one that had a lot of heart to it as well, resulting in what was definitely one of the best films of that year. Now, the Muppets are back again with ‘Muppets Most Wanted’. Most of the members of the previous film’s behind-the-scenes crew return for this one, including director James Bobin, writer Nicholas Stoller, and songwriter/music supervisor Bret McKenzie. This one, however, features a new cast of leads (not counting any of its cameos) in place of Jason Segel (who also does not return as one of the writers) and Amy Adams. How does this one hold up? Well, it may not exactly have the same amount of heart as its predecessor, but it’s still a very fun and zany film, one that pretty much captures the essence of why the Muppets are as memorable as they are.

‘Muppets Most Wanted’ literally opens right at the end of the last film, as the Muppets now look ahead wondering what to do for a ‘sequel’ now that they are famous again. A new opportunity arises when ‘tour manager’ Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on a world tour. Despite Kermit’s hesitations, the Muppets agree to go on this world tour. What they don’t know is that this is actually a ruse set up by Dominic and his partner Constantine, the world’s number one criminal, who plan to steal the Crown Jewels of Britain and frame the Muppets for the crime. Constantine just so happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit, so part of the plan consists of Constantine taking Kermit’s place in the group while Kermit is sent to jail. Constantine manages to fool most of the other Muppets, including Miss Piggy, into believing that he is Kermit. However, Walter, Fozzie, and Animal figure out he isn’t and try to help Kermit get out of jail before Dominic and Constantine can succeed with their plan.

While this film is just as charming as its 2011 predecessor, it doesn’t really have the same heart that ‘The Muppets’ had. That film was, in every sense of the term, an open love letter to the franchise with the intent of making the franchise prominent again, which it did. As for this one, though, it’s basically just your average sequel. It goes through most of the motions that most sequels go through when they get made. However, that’s not really a bad film in regards to the film itself. This is really more of a case of the way that the film is executed. This is, as advertised, an international road trip/farce that’s more in line with a film like ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ or ‘Muppets Take Manhattan’. This is an old school ‘Muppets’ film and it’s a pretty solid representation of the franchise in general. There still are a few good morals and touching moments in this film, but I can’t say it’s as heartwarming as the previous film, a film that appealed to both the young newcomers to the franchise and those who grew up with it to begin with. This one is still a solid family film, though it kind of feels like this one is just a little bit more geared to kids.

With that said though, this is still a very fun movie full of pop culture references, zany humor, and cameos galore. And I do mean ‘cameos galore’ because there are a ton of them in here, probably even more so than in the original. There are appearances from people like Tom Hiddleston, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Lady Gaga just to name a few. All of them seem to be having a lot of fun doing this film keeping in line with the film’s silly atmosphere. The same can be said for the 3 three main leads; Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, who plays a Russian guard at the prison Kermit gets locked up in, and Ty Burrell, who plays an Interpol inspector who works with Sam the Eagle as the two investigate the robberies being committed by Dominic and Constantine. If I had to choose a standout from the three, it would have to be Burrell. He and Sam the Eagle work off each other really well and a lot of the film’s funniest lines come from those two, like the one that has been shown in the trailer where they show off their badges, trying to one up each other in regards to how big their badges are.

All in all, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ is a pretty solid representation of the Muppets franchise as a whole; fun, zany, but also charming at the same time. However, I can’t quite say that this one was as heartwarming as its predecessor. That’s not entirely a problem here because in execution, this is very much a farce and as such, it’s still a very entertaining family film in that regard. It’s clear that everyone involved had a lot of fun making this film and it does show in the final product. Overall, if you really liked 2011’s ‘The Muppets’, than you will probably enjoy this film; if you didn’t, then you probably won’t like this one either. In the end though, I do think that ‘The Muppets’ was the better film because, from the bottom up, it was an open love letter to the franchise and as a result was a lot more heartwarming and sweet because of this. This film on the other hand, while still a charming and goofy family film, doesn’t really have that same benefit. Still, it’s a fun film that the whole family can enjoy; that includes both general newcomers and long-time fans.

Rating: 4/5

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) review

In 2004, we were introduced to the legend that is Ron Burgundy, the anchorman from San Diego with ‘a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo… in other words, Ron Burgundy was the balls’. ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ is one of the best comedies from this last decade, mainly because it’s so quotable thanks to both its great cast and its great writing, although in reality most of it was actually improvised. But as for a sequel, that took a while to get going. At one point, Paramount even passed on a proposal for it, and it seemed like the project was officially dead… until now. It may be nine years since the original film came out, but everyone’s favorite news team is now back for ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’. But can Will Ferrell and Adam McKay deliver a rock-solid follow-up to probably their best film together? After all, as films like ‘Hangover Part II’ and ‘Grown Ups 2’ have proven it’s fairly common for most sequels to hit comedies to be incredibly inferior to their predecessors. However, in the end, ‘Anchorman 2’ manages to be that rare exception. It may not end up being as good as the original, but it comes pretty damn close.

After the events of the first film, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his wife, fellow news anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), are enjoying massive success in New York as co-anchors for one of the city’s prestigious news networks. However, things start to change when Ron is fired from his job, while Veronica is promoted to be the first female nightly news co-anchor, due to the fact that, according to famous anchor Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford), he’s one of the worst news anchors ever. This puts Ron in a serious depression for a few months until he is approached to work for a new network, GNN, which is set to be the first 24-hour news network. Ron accepts the job and rallies up the old Channel 4 news team to join him; field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), and meteorologist Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). Together, they hope to capture the former glory that they once had back when they worked in San Diego.

First, let me just say that like the original, this is a very goofy movie. There are plenty of ridiculous moments that occur in this movie that I don’t want to reveal for those who haven’t seen the film yet. If you can accept this film’s very silly tone, then you’ll have a good time with it and I will go on record saying that I did laugh consistently throughout this movie. Sure, as with most comedies, not all of the jokes were bull’s-eyes, but for the most part they worked very well. It doesn’t really feel like a repeat of the first film. Sure, there are certain callbacks to the original but it’s not like this is a note-for-note copy of the previous film. But this film, like the last one, wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t for the outstanding cast. The returning players, Ferrell, Applegate, Rudd, Carell, and Koechner all fit back into their roles with ease even after nearly a decade and the camaraderie amongst them is top-notch, as it was in the first film. The new members of the cast, including James Marsden as a new rival for Ron and Meagan Good as the manager for GNN who becomes another love interest for Ron, are welcome additions as well.

I’m just going to come out and say it; 2013 has not been a good year for comedies. As of now, my list for the Top 10 worst films of the year includes 5 comedies, which is an unfortunate sign of the declining quality of today’s comedies. Thankfully not all of the comedies this year have been bad. If I were to name the two best comedies of the year so far, in a currently unspecified order, they would be ‘The World’s End’ and this movie. Which one is the best of the year? It’ll take a while for me to figure that out but one thing’s for certain; ‘Anchorman 2’ is one of the best comedy sequels ever, one of the rare films in that group that manages to be almost as good as its predecessor. It may not end up being as funny or quotable as the original, but it is still very funny even though not every joke hits and is just as goofy as its predecessor. It may have been nearly a decade since ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ came out, but Ferrell and director Adam McKay succeed at continuing the story, although I think the idea of another film is a little too much.

Rating: 4/5

DC Comics' Comic-Con 2013 Announcements

Over the last few days, I’ve been working on this little editorial about whether or not Hollywood is spending way too much on films that perform poorly at the box office; mainly after hearing that ‘R.I.P.D.’, a film with a budget of $130 million, is only set to gross about $17 million. But… something happened today at San Diego Comic Con International and because of it, that first editorial might not happen now because… well, let me just say that the next few years are going to be pretty sweet in regards to comic book films. The news came from DC Comics’ film division, and while only one film was officially confirmed at Comic Con, there are also two films that are reportedly in production. The first film is a crossover that will star arguably the two most famous heroes in DC’s lineup. The second film is the first solo film for a key member of the ‘Justice League’. Finally, the ‘Justice League’ movie that DC has been working on for a few years might finally be coming together.

In terms of films, DC has been having a pretty good year so far. Their main film this year, ‘Man of Steel’, has been performing very well at the box office. It has grossed over $600 million worldwide despite receiving mixed reviews from critics (and partially from audiences as well). Obviously, this has led to DC green-lighting a sequel. Director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer would both return for this new movie and after seeing ‘Man of Steel’, I have the upmost faith in them because, as that film proves, they were the right men for the job. But today, during DC’s Comic-Con press conference, Zack Snyder revealed some major details about this upcoming film, which is now set to come out in 2015. He introduced Harry Lennix (who played Colonel Swanwick in the film) to the stage, where he read a short passage. The passage is as follows…

“I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”

DC fans should recognize this as a passage from Frank Miller’s highly acclaimed graphic novel, 1986’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. So why did they quote a line from a Batman story when this is supposed to be a Superman film? Well, that’s because the next ‘Man of Steel’ film will be a crossover between Superman and Batman. DC fans, rejoice! As mentioned earlier, Snyder will return to direct and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane will reprise their roles as Superman, Lois Lane, Perry White, and Martha Kent, respectively. As for Batman, seeing how Christian Bale recently confirmed that he will not be involved with any of DC’s future film projects; a new Batman will be cast. However, while a new actor will don the cape and cowl, ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’ director Christopher Nolan and his wife, producer Emma Thomas, will serve as executive producers; this continues Nolan’s run with DC, despite reports that Nolan did not want to be involved with more DC films.

Where do I even begin with this? This has to be one of the most exciting stories to come out in the last few years in terms of comic book films. I’m pretty sure that many comic book fans were anticipating a crossover film between these two icons and even though it was only confirmed today, this is an idea that has been in the works for quite some time. In fact, before Christopher Nolan made ‘Batman Begins’, a Superman/Batman crossover was pitched in 2001 by Andrew Kevin Walker (writer of 1995’s ‘Seven’). Obviously, as we know now, this project never happened but now things have changed, albeit a different team working on it. Another positive thing about this is that this is the perfect place to introduce the actor that will take over for Christian Bale in the role of Batman. But who will DC cast? Back when George Miller was working on a potential ‘Justice League’ film, Armie Hammer was cast as Batman. While that project was cancelled and ‘The Lone Ranger’ is currently performing poorly at the box office, he’s still my top pick for the part.



After this highly anticipated crossover, the next DC film will reportedly be a ‘Flash’ movie, which will come out in 2016. This is the one DC solo superhero film they really needed to make before ‘Justice League’. I know a lot of people are wondering about a possible ‘Wonder Woman’ movie, but I think that a ‘Flash’ movie is a safer bet for DC. Also, in the 70+ years that this character has been around, there has never been a live-action ‘Flash’ movie. Sure, there was a short lived TV series that aired for only one season from 1990 to 1991, and the character made cameo appearances on the show ‘Smallville’, but he has never been in a live-action movie. That means that this character is long overdue for one. As for casting, I’d recommend someone like Bradley Cooper or Ryan Gosling as I feel that either of those two would be a perfect fit for the character.



Speaking of ‘Justice League’, that was the last of the three movies that were revealed to be in production, and this film will hit theaters in 2017. While I certainly am excited for the Batman/Superman crossover, I’d say the ‘Justice League’ news is the most satisfying, because now it is clear that DC is taking their time in developing a Cinematic Universe. If you remember, back in 2012, DC had planned a live-action Justice League film for a 2015 release, so they could directly compete with ‘Avengers 2’ (UPDATE: just confirmed to be titled ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’) but when that initial plan was announced, I feared that DC was just rushing this film into production just so that the movie could come out the same year as ‘Avengers 2’. Keep in mind; at the time that this announcement was made, ‘Man of Steel’ wasn’t even out yet and DC had no other film plans at that point. Thankfully, that did not end up happening (reportedly the first draft of the screenplay was tossed out) and now, thanks to these upcoming DC movies, I’m more at ease about the possibility of a live-action Justice League film.

Before I conclude this editorial, I just want to point something out; in terms of the ‘rivalry’ between Marvel and DC in regards to their films, I mainly lean towards Marvel. I’m not saying that DC’s movies were bad. In fact, for the most part, they have been really good, namely Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy and ‘Man of Steel’. It’s just that, for the longest time, I feared that DC was going too fast in order to make a Justice League movie that would directly compete with ‘Avengers 2’. But while ‘Avengers 2’ is probably my most anticipated film of 2015 (keep in mind, that’s two years from now), today’s news might change things down the road. After all, why wouldn’t I be excited about a Superman/Batman crossover? Not only that, but this film will be followed by a ‘Flash’ movie in 2016 and a ‘Justice League’ movie in 2017. DC, I have to hand it to you, you finally got on the right track and I eagerly await these next three films. It’s a good day to be a fan of comic book films.

Fast and Furious 6 (2013) review

It’s truly amazing how far the ‘Fast and the Furious’ series has come ever since it was just a simple street-racing franchise back when it began in 2001. I’ll admit that for a long time, I was never really a big fan of the series, mainly because I thought it was… just that; a franchise that was more focused on the street races than actual story. Looking back, that was clearly the case with the first two films in this series. However, it feels like this series has been on a better run since director Justin Lin took over the franchise in 2006. While ‘Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’ and 2009’s ‘Fast and Furious’ were still focused on the street races, they do benefit from better direction and the latter also benefits from the return of the original cast. Then, there came ‘Fast Five’, the first film in the series to abandon the street racing theme, with the end result being more of a heist film. So now, this series has reached its sixth installment; quite a feat for any franchise that has not done a reboot after all of this time. ‘Fast and Furious 6’ is not really a heist film like its predecessor but that doesn’t stop it from being an exhilarating action film from beginning to end.

After successfully stealing $100 million from a crime boss in Rio, professional criminal Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his team, including ex-cop Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Dominic’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) have since spent their time ‘in retirement’. But, all that changes when Dom is approached by DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), the same agent who chased after them in Rio, to help him take down a group of criminals led by former British Special Forces solider Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). Dom ultimately ends up helping when he learns that one of the members of Shaw’s crew is his ex-girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who was thought to have been killed in ‘Fast and Furious’. Dom gathers up his team to help Hobbs in taking down Shaw in exchange for full pardons for the whole team. More importantly, Dom looks to get Letty back in order to make their family whole again.

Don’t go into this movie expecting some major Oscar contender, because you won’t find it here. But that’s the whole point of the movie. ‘Fast and Furious 6’ is a film that doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. It’s just a straight-forward action film that is extremely entertaining. Lin is a director that knows how to direct some impressive action sequences, as this movie once again proves. Sure, there are still some moments that completely defy all logic and physics, but when considering what has happened in this franchise before (remember the safe being dragged around the streets of Rio in the last film?), it’s not really that big of a surprise. The plot is fairly simple, and the reintroduction of Letty into the franchise is a bit of a cop-out after the events of ‘Fast and Furious’, but again, that’s not what this series is all about. It’s about the fast cars and the high-octane action sequences. It’s just that since Lin took over, the movies have gotten much better at doing just that.

But that doesn’t mean the writing is devoid of substance. For one thing, one of the key themes that have been a part of the series since the beginning, the importance of family, is still present here. This is mainly thanks in part due to the cast. Yes, these characters are supposed to be criminals but they’re there for each other (to quote Vin Diesel in the film, ‘You don’t turn your back on family, even when they do”). Here, it’s shown in contrast with Owen Shaw, who doesn’t really react much when a member of his team gets killed and in Shaw’s mind, the code of family makes Dom and his team ‘predictable’. The acting may not be ‘Oscar’ material, but in terms of action movies go, it works for this movie. The cast just works well together, leading to some really funny dialogue (namely from Tyrese Gibson as Roman Bridges). The new additions to the cast are also pretty good as well; namely Gina Carano as Riley, a member of Hobbs’ team who has some really awesome fights with Michelle Rodriguez, showing off her fighting skills from all those years in MMA.

‘Fast and Furious 6’ won’t be winning any Oscars, but really, who goes into these movies expecting a great story anyway? This film knows what it is and it doesn’t try to be something that it’s not. It succeeds at being what it wants to be; an entertaining action film with impressive action scenes, even if they do defy all logic and physics. Sure, the plot is fairly simple but after six films, that is something that you just expect to see in these movies. It’s amazing how far this series has come, and it’s mainly been thanks to Justin Lin, who has breathed new life into this franchise. The last three movies (this included) have easily stood out as the best in the series. Also, be sure to stay a while after the credits for a post-credits scene that sets up the next film. Sadly, Lin won’t be back to direct the next one but the character (more importantly, the actor playing him) that they introduce certainly has me excited for what’s to come in ‘Fast and Furious 7’.

Rating: 4/5

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) review

The 2009 ‘Star Trek’ reboot certainly took many people by surprise. J.J. Abrams took a franchise that had been in decline for 7 years and implemented a new sense of energy into it that it had never seen before. The end result was a sleek, exciting, and stylish new take on the Star Trek franchise. Abrams and the writers made the bold move of creating a new alternate universe but in the end, it did work out in the film’s favor. Now, four years after that film, Abrams and the main cast (or shall I say the ‘crew of the Enterprise’) return with ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Now that the Enterprise crew has come together, the writers now have more freedom to explore the Star Trek universe further without having to adhere to the series canon. The end result may not be as good as the previous film, but Abrams delivers an exciting new Star Trek film once again, thanks in part to a much stronger main villain.

After an incident on a Class M planet where the USS Enterprise violates the Prime Directive (Starfleet’s most important rule; there shall be no interference with the development of any alien civilization), Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) finds himself demoted for going against Starfleet orders, having done so in order to save his first officer, Spock (Zachary Quinto), from a perilous situation. However, Kirk soon finds himself back in control of the Enterprise when a former Starfleet agent named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacks Starfleet directly, fleeing to the Klingon home-world of Kronos. In response, Kirk is ordered to lead the manhunt to capture Harrison but as the Enterprise heads off on its mission, Kirk and his crew soon find themselves in a dangerous situation that only gets worse and worse as they attempt to capture this dangerous fugitive and bring him to justice for his crimes against Starfleet.

If there was any problem with the last Star Trek film, it was that the main villain Nero was rather weak (mainly because of his plan) but because the film was focused on the relationship between Kirk and Spock, it wasn’t that big of a problem. This film, however, belongs to Benedict Cumberbatch, who just does a fantastic job as John Harrison, and he steals the spotlight whenever he’s on screen. Like ‘Iron Man 3’, this is another film that is full of spoilers, one of them being Harrison’s true identity. This is something that may have been spoiled already for some of you (for it was debated about who Cumberbatch was really playing ever since he was cast in the role) but I won’t mention it here along with any other major spoiler. All I can say is that the film itself pays much homage to a classic Star Trek film and it is a pretty unique new take on the ‘story’ of that film, despite the fact that there are certain elements of this new film that are sort of underdeveloped; namely the inclusion of another villain aside from Cumberbatch.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto do a fantastic job once again as Kirk and Spock. Like the last film, the relationship between the two is the most important aspect of the film and the two work great together. If it wasn’t, then a key scene near the end of the film wouldn’t have been as tear-jerking as it was. The returning cast is great as well, including Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. It is true that the focus is still on Kirk and Spock, but like with the last film the writers do a good enough job at giving each of them enough to do in the film. As for the new additions to the cast (aside from Cumberbatch), they do fine jobs as well, but some of them don’t really play as big of a part in the film as you may think.

All in all, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is a satisfying follow-up to the last film. Having listed this film as my most anticipated film of the year, I’m happy to say that, for the most part, it did not disappoint. For some, this depends on whether or not you’ll like the homages towards an older Star Trek film; most importantly, the identity of the film’s main villain. In fact, you can pretty much call this film a ‘remake’ of that other Trek film. Still, the new take on this story does work pretty well, despite the fact that there are certain elements of the film that were rather underdeveloped. As for the main villain, Benedict Cumberbatch easily steals the show; a definite improvement over the last Star Trek villain. Of course, the acting is still top-notch all-around, the relationship between Kirk and Spock is one of the many highlights of the film, and the film is entertaining from beginning to end. It may not be as good as the last ‘Star Trek’ film, but that is one heck of a film to follow.

Rating: 4.5/5

(Stay Tuned for a Spoiler Discussion Post on the film)

Iron Man 3 (2013) review

To say that ‘The Avengers’ was a success is one heck of an understatement. Grossing over 1.5 billion dollars worldwide and receiving rave reviews from critics, it was the final piece of the puzzle for Phase One of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, effectively capping off Marvel Studios’ successful run that they have been having since 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ first set up the massive universe they had created. So now, with ‘Avengers’ out of the way, the big question now for Marvel is… what’s next? That’s where Phase Two comes in; starting off with ‘Iron Man 3’, the third entry in what is arguably the star franchise of Marvel Studios (seeing how the two Iron Man films are the highest grossing films in the Cinematic Universe, not counting the Avengers). This time around, Jon Favreau isn’t behind the camera and in his place is Shane Black, the writer of the first two Lethal Weapon films and director of the cult hit ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, a film that also happened to star Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr. Can Black deliver with Marvel’s first ‘Post-Avengers’ flick?

After the events of ‘The Avengers’, Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been dealing with anxiety attacks, nightmares, and sleep deprivation because of his experience during the Chitauri invasion of New York. But while Tony is working to get his personal life back on track, America is caught up in multiple terrorist attacks that have been committed by the terrorist leader known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). After the ordeal becomes personal for him, Tony sends out a threat to the Mandarin, who responds by directly attacking him. Now on his own without the help of his suits or his technology, Tony must now rely on his ingenuity to rise from the ashes and take on the Mandarin and his army of soldiers who are enhanced with a formula known as Extremis.

‘Iron Man 3’ is similar to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in how it’s a character-based story. We see how Tony’s experiences in ‘The Avengers’ have changed him as a person. He’s not really the playboy billionaire that he was in the last two films. He’s realized that he is just a small part of a bigger universe. Black, co-writer Drew Pearce, and Downey Jr. convey this very well in the film, which is darker in tone than the previous films. More importantly, this film proves that the solo superhero films can still work, even after a film like ‘The Avengers’. ‘Iron Man 3’ is a Tony Stark movie; it puts him on his own where he has to use his own skills in order to survive. To quote producer Kevin Feige, ‘He can’t call Thor, Cap or Nick Fury, and he can’t look for the Helicarrier in the sky’. It would be awesome to see those guys in this movie, but if this film proves anything, it is that we can wait for ‘The Avengers 2’ in 2015.  

Let’s talk about the villain, the Mandarin. More importantly, let’s discuss the big twist in the middle of the film that revolves around him. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for those of you who haven’t seen the film yet but I feel that I need to address this twist because of the controversy surrounding it. The bottom line is that if you’re a fan of the character in the comics, you’re not going to like this twist because it involves a drastic change to the character. Even as someone who is not a comic book reader, I wasn’t big on the twist at first but when you think about it, it actually works pretty well from a story perspective. However, this is undeniably a huge change that won’t please everybody and if you don’t like it, that’s understandable.

Robert Downey Jr. is once again excellent as Tony Stark, dialing back on the arrogance that was a bit too much in ‘Iron Man 2’ and coming off more charismatic like he was in the first ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Avengers’. Gwyneth Paltrow is also great again as Pepper Potts; the chemistry between her and Downey still works great and this film also gives her more to do than in previous films. As for Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, the camaraderie between him and Downey is far more improved than it was in ‘Iron Man 2’ and as a result, he’s much better here than in the previous film. In regards to Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, I can’t really talk about him that much considering the major character twist but I will say that Kingsley handles the character changes very well. Finally, we have solid performances from other members of the cast, including Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall as scientists Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen (though the latter could have been given more to do).

It’s hard to top ‘The Avengers’, but ‘Iron Man 3’ is a key example of how solo superhero films can still work compared to the multi-hero films. It’s a film that puts its focus on the one thing that it should be about; Iron Man, more importantly Tony Stark. It shows how the events of ‘The Avengers’ have changed him as a person and proves that he can still save the day even without the help of Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, and/or S.H.I.E.L.D. Granted, the way that the main villain is translated to the big screen will not go well with everybody, but it worked in terms of story. I can’t really say this gives us a clear idea of what Marvel has in store for us for Phase Two, but I certainly can’t wait to see what comes next.

Rating: 4.5/5

2012 End of Year Preview: Part 2: October

Welcome back to this 4-part look into the upcoming movies in the final quarter of 2012. This is Part 2 and today we'll be looking into the films coming out during the month of Halloween, October.

*Director Tim Burton's first film of the year, May's 'Dark Shadows', was neither a critical or commercial hit. But Burton isn't done yet this year, as his second film 'Frankenweenie' hits theaters on October 5^th. Like with many of his previous projects, this film is a remake but this remake just so happens to be based off one of Burton's old projects of the same name, a live-action 1984 short film which he made while working for Disney about a young boy who re-animates his dog Sparky back to life after he died. This new version is stop-motion and stars many actors who were in previous Burton films, including Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Martin Landau.

*2008's 'Taken' was one of the first to establish Liam Neeson as a premier action star. He returns to his role of ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in 'Taken 2'. This new film follows Mills as he travels to Istanbul on vacation with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). Mills soon runs into trouble again when he runs into a group of gangsters looking to enact revenge on Mills for their comrades who he killed in the first film. 'Taken 2' hits theaters on October 5^th.

*Ben Affleck proved that he is a all-star director with the acclaimed Boston thrillers 'Gone Baby Gone' and 'The Town'. For his third directorial effort, Affleck leaves Boston for Iran with 'Argo', which is based off of the true events of a rescue attempt by the U.S. government to save six U.S. diplomats during the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis. Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who comes up with a plan to convince Iran that the diplomats are a part of a film crew who are scouting on location for a science fiction movie. The film also stars Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and Alan Arkin and will hit theaters on the 12^th.

*For those looking for a comedy, 'Here Comes the Boom', the latest from Happy Madison, comes out the same weekend as Argo. Kevin James stars as a biology teacher who becomes an MMA fighter when budget cuts threaten his school.

*October 19^th sees the release of the latest entry in the highly successful Paranormal Activity franchise, 'Paranormal Activity 4'. While the last two entries in this series were prequels, this is the first true sequel to the original film from 2007. This film follows a young teen and her mother who start to experience strange events in their home when the series' main character Katie, now possessed by a demon, moves in next door with her sister's son Hunter, now called 'Robbie'. Paranormal Activity 3 directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost return to helm this new film.

*That same weekend sees the release of spy thriller 'Alex Cross'. It is the third adaptation of the hit book series of the same name by author James Patterson. The previous two films, 'Kiss the Girls' and 'Along Came a Spider' starred Morgan Freeman in the role of Cross. This film stars Tyler Perry as Cross, who fights a serial killer known as 'The Butcher', played by Matthew Fox.

*The final big-name release in October is the much talked about 'Cloud Atlas', an epic adventure film from the creators of 'The Matrix'. Set during multiple time periods, the ensemble cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by author David Mitchell and will be released on the 26^th.

Nothing really major in terms of limited releases this month, so that's it for October. Check back soon for Part 3 where we take a look into the month of November.