Bumblebee (2018) review

There were several hit franchises that dominated 80’s pop culture, with most of them defined by their merchandising and popular animated TV show adaptations. One of these franchises was Transformers, which followed the adventures of the titular autonomous robotic organisms who were embroiled in a war between two rival factions known as the Autobots and Decepticons. The toy line was developed by Hasbro and Takara Tomy and served as a rebranding of the latter’s Diaclone toy line, and in turn, it was the inspiration for the popular animated series The Transformers, which ran from 1984 to 1987. The franchise would then continue over the years with new themes, shows, and even a feature film adaptation in 1986. And in 2007, the series made its live-action debut via director Michael Bay’s Transformers, which was a major commercial hit upon its release amidst decent but overall polarizing reviews. This reception quickly changed, however, once the film starting to get sequels. While they continued to be hits at the box office, critical reception only got worse with each new film, with most critics deeming them as some of the worst films of their respective years of release. But now, for the first time since the live-action series started more than a decade ago, there’s a new Transformers film hitting theaters that wasn’t directed by Michael Bay (who’s still involved as a producer). Instead, directorial duties go to Travis Knight, CEO of the stop-motion animation company Laika who recently made his directorial debut in 2016 with the critically-acclaimed Kubo and the Two Strings. And for his Transformers film, Knight goes back to basics with a prequel/spin-off centered on arguably the most popular Transformer of the series after Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the adorable yellow scout Bumblebee. What follows is a film that could very well win back those who were extremely unsatisfied by the previous Transformers films as Knight’s take on this long-running franchise is quite arguably far more respectable to its source material.

The year is 1986 and teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) has just turned 18. Frustrated with her current predicament of not having a car, she ends up coming across a yellow Volkswagen beetle at a garage owned by her friend Hank (Len Cariou), who lets her have it on account of it being her birthday. However, as Charlie soon discovers, this is not just an ordinary car. Instead, it is an Autobot scout, B-127, who she ends up naming Bumblebee (initially voiced by Dylan O’Brien before reverting to the character’s film series trademark of communicating via the radio). As the two begin to bond, Bumblebee struggles to cope with a damaged memory core that was sustained following his arrival on Earth, and soon enough, Charlie ends up being roped into the mission that had brought Bumblebee to the planet in the first place. Specifically, a pair of Decepticons named Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux) arrive on Earth looking for Bumblebee, who supposedly has information about the current plans of his superior, Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Having speculated that the Autobots plan on establishing a new base of operations on Earth, the two form an ‘alliance’ with the government group known as Sector 7 to track down their target, claiming that the Autobots are the ones who will pose a threat to humanity. Thus, Charlie and Bumblebee now find themselves pursued by both the government and the Decepticons as the latter works to follow Optimus’ orders and protect Earth from this new alien threat.

One of the most common criticisms about the Transformers films has been their writing, usually due to instances where they try to over-complicate their plots. That isn’t the case with Bumblebee, though, as it opts for a far more simplified plot that pays clear homage to films like E.T. and The Iron Giant. There aren’t any ancient transformers or crazy government conspiracies to be found in this film; instead, it’s just a story about a girl who comes across an alien robot and the situations that they get into, several of which involve the government. Now with all this said, it should be noted that there are instances where this film is perhaps a bit ‘too’ simple. Its plot is as basic as you can get for a film like this and it’s also rather light on action sequences, with the biggest action set-pieces reserved for the climax. At the end of the day, though, the ‘back to basics’ approach that Travis Knight takes here is one that’s truly worth appreciating. For all intent and purposes, his style of direction arguably serves as a course correction for almost all the major issues that audiences have had with the Michael Bay-directed Transformers films. This film’s action sequences are a lot easier to comprehend and it isn’t overstuffed with Transformer characters. There are only a few in this film and the ones that are there aren’t just giant, grey-colored robots that all look the same. Plus, given that this is set in the ’80s, the character designs are primarily based on those from the era that Transformers fans refer to as ‘Generation 1’ AKA the earliest and perhaps most beloved incarnations of these characters. As such, for those who grew up with the original Transformers toys and their subsequent animated TV series adaptation, you’ll be pleased to know that these classic designs are well-executed in live-action form.

But while the film, in general, does dial back on almost all the extremes of Bay’s Transformers films, it’s still very limited in terms of character development. Simply put, the only two major characters in this film that get any attention are Charlie and Bumblebee. But for what it’s worth, the relationship that these two form over the course of the film is arguably its greatest strength. And while this may seem outlandish to some people given the previous films, it does, in fact, result in a Transformers film with actual heart that’s not just a case of ‘style over substance’. A lot of this is thanks to Hailee Steinfeld, who’s quite excellent as easily the best human lead to come from this series. Not only does she work well off the CG-created Bumblebee, but despite what was said earlier about the film being rather lacking in character development, she does get to work with the majority of what’s there. Most specifically, it’s established that following the recent passing of her father, she’s become quite emotionally distant from the rest of her family, especially after her mother Sally (Pamela Adlon) quickly remarried. And it is through her relationship with Bumblebee that Charlie manages to rebound from her recent loss, an arc that Steinfeld handles very well. As for the rest of the cast, they’re good in their respective roles despite not having as much to work with compared to Steinfeld. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is John Cena as Sector 7 agent John Burns. While Cena’s certainly proven himself as a solid actor in recent years, Burns only serves as an obstacle for Charlie and Bumblebee who had some previous experience with the latter as seen in the opening.

As I’ve noted numerous times in the past, I’m an unabashed fan of the live-action Transformers films. I still have highly positive feelings towards the original 2007 film and I’ve never ‘disliked’ any of the sequels even though I’m fully aware that I’m in the minority on that one. And with all this in mind, while it’s not necessarily my favorite entry in the series, I will agree that Bumblebee is undoubtedly the most well-made of the bunch. Under the confident direction of Travis Knight, almost all the major issues that fans have had with Michael Bay’s Transformers films are practically non-existent here. The action sequences are far more coherent from a filmmaking perspective and the plot isn’t overstuffed with overly complicated plot-lines, disposable characters, and awkward bits of humor (e.g. there are no pot-consuming mothers who wonder if their kids were masturbating in their bedrooms). And while the plot itself is easily the series’ most simplified to date… given the reception of the previous films, it’s safe to say that most audiences will not mind in the slightest. In other words, Bumblebee is a Transformers film made for Transformers fans by a Transformers fan. Not only does it base itself around the most popular era of the franchise, Generation 1, but thanks to a strong lead performance from Hailee Steinfeld, this film does boast the heartfelt narrative that many felt was severely lacking in the previous Transformers films. And while it’s currently unclear right now as to where the film series will be heading next following the underperformance of The Last Knight, if future films are anything like this one, then it’s safe to say that Transformers fans will be in for a real treat.

Rating: 4/5 

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) review

Well, here we are once again with another crazy installment of director Michael Bay’s series of films based on Hasbro’s best-selling toy franchise, Transformers. This series has gone through quite a lot since the first film debuted back in 2007; yes, this series has been around for a full decade now. That first Transformers film, believe it or not, did do decently with critics and audiences upon release. Clearly, the hype for it at the time was huge and, for the most part, it delivered in a time when it was the ONLY live-action Transformers film. But then came the sequels, which were all subjected to some of the most savage reviews in recent years, effectively turning this franchise into one of the most critically reviled of the past few years. And yet, as someone who still fondly remembers the experience of seeing the first film in theaters way back in 2007, I’ll admit that I have genuinely liked each entry in this series. Yes, that even includes the critically-maligned sequels like 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen and 2014’s Age of Extinction. Thus, while most of the internet dreaded its impending release, I was still genuinely looking forward to the fifth installment of this commercial beast of a franchise; Transformers: The Last Knight. Michael Bay, of course, is back to direct and claims that this is his last entry in the series. But, then again, he said the same exact thing twice before after 2011’s Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction. But until we know for sure, he’s back again along with Mark Wahlberg, who reprises his role from the previous film as the series’ new main lead. And, of course, now that it’s out… the reviews for it have turned out exactly how you would expect them to turn out. This also includes my own review as, once again, I’m one of the few people out there who’d be brave enough to admit that they did, in fact, like this film… before you click away to another site, at least hear me out, okay?

At the end of Age of Extinction, Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) headed off into space to confront his creators over their continued attacks on the planet Earth, where he and the other Autobots have made their new home. However, as this film begins, it’s established that he’s yet to return from this mission. Thus, all the Transformers that are left on Earth are still regarded as outcasts by humanity despite more of them arriving on the planet day after day. Inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) has likewise been on the run as well, helping his Autobot allies whenever possible and dealing with the newest government group hellbent on hunting the Transformers down, the Transformers Reaction Force (T.R.F). During a confrontation with T.R.F. in Chicago, Cade comes across an old Transformer who gives him a mysterious talisman. He is then approached by historian Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins), who tells him that he’s been chosen by the talisman to save the world from its impending destruction due to a forthcoming collision with the Transformers’ home planet, Cybertron. Now allied with Oxford Professor Viviane Wembly (Laura Haddock), Cade embarks on another journey to save the world from the threat of the Decepticons and other dangerous Transformers. The two are tasked with finding an ancient spear, once wielded by the famous wizard Merlin (Stanley Tucci, who played a different character, Joshua Joyce, in Age of Extinction), that is the only thing capable of preventing Cybertron from destroying Earth. However, this becomes problematic when Optimus finally returns to Earth, corrupted by those who created him to help them destroy the planet and rebuild Cybertron.

Despite what that seemingly simple plot synopsis may suggest, trust me when I say that a lot of crazy stuff happens in this entry of the Transformers series. As witnessed in the trailers, this film covers everything from King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the Round Table to Nazis in World War II. And while I’ve personally never had many issues with the allegedly incoherent nature of the plots of these films, this time around… I’ll admit that there were times where I was completely lost as to what was going on in this film. Though with that said, I think that part of the reason why is because even though this film is still two and a half hours long, just like its predecessors, it goes through a lot of these new plot elements at a lightning-fast pace. By comparison, the other films tended to focus on only one Transformer-related conspiracy (e.g. the real reason behind the Apollo 11 mission in Dark of the Moon). Here, though, it seems like they’re just throwing everything but the kitchen sink in. So, yeah, the writing in this film is just as messy as it was for the other films in the franchise. But, once again, I do have to give this film credit for its technical aspects. Say what you will about these films and their mindless plots but they are, at least, well-made from a visual perspective. Michael Bay truly is one of the best in the business when it comes to this stuff and, to the film’s credit, it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the action sequences. And, once again, the money’s, at least, on the screen when it comes to the visual effects; it just goes to show that you can never fault these films for having mediocre effects. Thus, while I’ll admit that there were times where I was completely overwhelmed by the incomprehensible nature of the plot, I was ultimately still hooked to this film by the time that the final battle rolled around.

Of course, a crazy/messy plot means that you’re not going to get that much out of this film’s characters. As is common in these films, most of them are just stock characters who are just there to be used for some awkward attempts at humor which, admittedly, is yet another recurring aspect of this series. Also, you know how a common criticism of these films has been how they tend to focus more on the human characters than the Transformers themselves? Well, brace yourselves… because this film is easily the most egregious example of this. This one is legitimately more about the human characters this time around while most of the Transformers, even the major ones like Optimus and Bumblebee, are practically reduced to minor supporting roles. Still, I will admit that from this ensemble cast, I felt that there were a few notable standouts. I still think that Cade Yeager is a likable enough main protagonist and that Mark Wahlberg’s fine enough in the role. As for the new members of the cast, though, one major standout is the film’s youngest star, Isabela Moner, as, fittingly enough, Izabella, a young girl who was a survivor of the Battle of Chicago in the third film. Since then, she’s managed to survive on her own with the aid of a few Transformer allies. And while she ultimately isn’t in the film that much, Moner does manage to make her a rather badass supporting character and I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing her return in future installments. Finally, to his credit, it seems like Sir Anthony Hopkins is having a lot of fun in this film. Despite what I said before about the film’s awkward humor, he does manage to get some of the better humorous bits of dialogue in this film along with his Transformer butler, Cogman (voiced by Jim Carter). In other words, he at least makes the most out of the ludicrous material that he’s been given.

So, yeah… here I am again in the same situation that I was in back in 2014 when I reviewed Age of Extinction, one of the worst-reviewed films of that year. Transformers: The Last Knight is, likewise, one of the most critically derided films of this year and will no doubt appear on many folks’ ‘Worst of’ list by year’s end. And, in some cases, I can see why. This film’s plot is all over the place, thus making it just as silly and mindless as its predecessors if not more so than ever before. And I’ll also admit that this was the first time where I did feel that parts of the plot were incoherent because they go by so fast even in a 2 ½ hour film. With that said, then, why am I giving this the rating that I’m about to give it? It’s the same rating that I gave to the other sequels, which makes me one of the few people out there who did like this film. Well, I honestly can’t explain why other than the fact that I’ve been a fan of these films since the beginning and that, simply put, this one just delivered on exactly what I was expecting. Yeah, there are plenty of stupid moments in this film but, by the end, I was just as hooked by it as I was by the other live-action Transformers films. And I’ll also admit that, as crazy as I know it will sound to most people, I’m still eager to see more Transformers films, which will no doubt come after this film defies its critics to become another box-office hit for this franchise. I mean, for one thing, the proposed next installment, a spin-off headlined by arguably the franchise’s greatest character Bumblebee, will be the first of these films to not be directed by Michael Bay. Instead, it will be directed by Travis Knight, who helmed last year’s critically-acclaimed stop-motion flick Kubo and the Two Strings. Who knows? Maybe… just maybe, this one could turn out to be one of the better entries in this series. I know that this is an arguably foolish thing to hope for at this point but, hey, nothing wrong with being hopeful, eh? 

Rating: Well, at the risk of being crucified by the film fan community… 4/5

Transformers: The Story So Far

Now I know what some of you may be thinking. Why the hell am I doing another installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ‘Story So Far’ series, in which I go over the events in a franchise’s previous outings to catch people up on the overall story in time for the latest installment of that series, for… Michael Bay’s Transformers films? These films have NEVER been known for their writing, so why am I doing it for a series that’s been all over the place plot-wise? Well, first off, for obvious reasons; the new Transformers film, Transformers: The Last Knight, is coming out this weekend so this is meant to tie into that film’s release. And to be honest, I couldn’t think of anything else to do for it. I mean, there’s no way in hell that I could’ve done an ‘In Defense’ post for these films because I’d just be laughed off the internet if I had even attempted that. So instead, I figured that by doing this, I’ll be saving some of you folks the trouble of having to re-watch the previous films, which I will be doing. Because as I’ve made it clear in the past, I am a fan of these films; yes, even the critically-maligned sequels. Obviously, though, I’m in the extreme minority on that. However, despite being on par with the Star Wars prequels as one of the most critically despised franchises in recent years, these films still manage to be huge hits at the box-office, with the last two entries even going over $1 billion worldwide. Thus, it seems to me like no matter how much critics and film buffs rag on them, a lot of these folks will still go watch them regardless of their hatred for them. With that in mind, hopefully, this is helpful in some way, shape, or form; if not, well… I don’t know what to tell you because I’m no miracle worker. Thus, let’s look back on the ‘infamous’ saga that has been Michael Bay’s Transformers series.

(Disclaimer: I’m aware that quite a few other websites and YouTube channels have done exactly what I’m doing now, from Collider to io9 to Screen Junkies. With that in mind, I’d like to assure you, folks, that there was absolutely no intent on copying what those other sites have done in their respective posts/videos that recap the events of these films. Heck, as someone who does like these films, I’d say that this does give my post a different spin to it compared to others.)

TRANSFORMERS (RELEASED: 2007)

The film opens with narration from Optimus Prime (voiced by the character’s original voice actor from the 1984 TV series, Peter Cullen), the leader of the Autobots, a group of ‘autonomous robotic organisms’ from a planet named Cybertron who can transform into any mechanical object that they’ve analyzed, hence the name of the series, Transformers. Optimus explains that their planet had been destroyed following a long and intense war with a rival faction known as the Decepticons, led by the evil Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving). Part of the war was over an ancient Cybertronian artifact known as the AllSpark, a cube-like object that contains the power to create life by giving the Transformers their ‘soul’ AKA their ‘spark’. When the planet was destroyed, the Cube was lost as well, leading to both sides traversing across the galaxy trying to find it. It isn’t until quite sometime later when both sides learn that the Cube now resides on the planet Earth. In the present day, Decepticons Blackout and Frenzy attack a U.S. military base in Qatar and Air Force One, respectively, to acquire information about the Cube’s whereabouts. This information comes courtesy of an old pair of glasses that an old explorer named Captain Archibald Witwicky (W. Morgan Sheppard) wore when, on a mission into the Arctic Circle in 1895, came across the body of Megatron, who had crash landed on Earth when he tried to find the Cube. Witwicky’s encounter with Megatron led to the cube’s coordinates being imprinted on his glasses.

Back in the present, Archibald’s great-great-grandson Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) ends up buying his first car; an old 1976 Chevrolet Camaro. However, he soon discovers that the car is in fact one of the Autobots, Bumblebee, who can only communicate via radio/TV recordings due to damaged vocal cords (He does have a few spoken lines at the end of the film, in which he’s voiced by Mark Ryan, but then goes back to using radio/TV audio to speak in the subsequent films) and has been appointed the role of being Sam’s guardian. After being pursued by several Decepticons who are looking for his great-great grandfather’s glasses, Sam and his classmate/love interest Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) come across the other Autobots; Optimus, first lieutenant Jazz (voiced by Darius McCrary), weapons specialist Ironhide (voiced by Jess Harnell), and medical officer Ratchet (voiced by Robert Foxworth). The Autobots inform them of Megatron’s plans to use the AllSpark to create a new army and take over Earth. But when the two go to get Archibald’s glasses for them, they are arrested by a government group known as Sector Seven, led by agent Seymour Simmons (John Turturro), that has been monitoring alien activity on Earth for several years. When the group ends up at Sector Seven’s headquarters, hidden inside the Hoover Dam, they discover the still-frozen Megatron AND the AllSpark locked away inside it. However, the Decepticons soon start to attack, allowing Megatron to awaken from his frozen slumber. With the aid of a group of Army Rangers who had survived the attack on the Qatar base, including Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sgt. Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson), Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots head to the nearby Mission City to try and get the AllSpark away from Megatron.  

During the intense battle that follows in Mission City, the protagonists manage to defeat most of the Decepticons. However, Bumblebee ends up losing his legs after an attack from Megatron’s second-in-command Starscream (voiced by Charlie Adler) and Jazz is torn in half when he tries to fight Megatron. Bumblebee ends up giving Sam the AllSpark as the latter tries to get it away from Megatron. But Megatron soon comes after Sam, resulting in him being saved by Optimus, who tells Sam to push the Cube into his chest to destroy it, even though it would mean his death as well. Sam instead forces it into Megatron’s chest, killing him. Thus, with the AllSpark destroyed, save for a small shard that Optimus collects from Megatron’s body, the Autobots end up taking refuge on Earth. The U.S. government disbands Sector Seven and the remains of the deceased Decepticons are disposed of (for now, at least) in the Laurentian Abyss. The only surviving members of the Decepticons are Starscream, who escapes into space, and Barricade, who would later cameo in the third film where he is killed by human soldiers during the big final battle in Chicago… and yet, he is apparently set to return in the new film despite this. Ah well, anyway, Sam and Mikaela begin a new relationship and Bumblebee opts to stay with Sam. The film ends with Optimus sending out a message to his fellow Autobots who are still out there, “taking refuge amongst the stars”, to join them on Earth. “We are here… we are waiting…”   

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (RELEASED: 2009)

First off, let me answer the one question that I’m sure you all have right now… yes, Revenge of the Fallen has a plot. I know that it may seem unfathomable, but the critically reviled second installment of this Transformers series did indeed have one. It’s just that the film doesn’t get into it until more than halfway through its 2 ½ hour runtime; trust me, I legitimately timed it when I re-watched this film in 2014 prior to the release of Age of Extinction. Anyway, the film begins two years after the events of the first film. The Autobots have joined forces with the U.S. Military to form a special task force known as the Non-Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST) to deal with any surviving Decepticons still on Earth. During their latest mission in Shanghai, one of the Decepticons that they’re hunting, Demolisher, warns them that “The Fallen shall rise again”. When they get back to base, National Security Adviser Theo Galloway (John Benjamin Hickey) scolds them for the chaos that they’ve caused in Shanghai and suggests that the reason why Decepticons are still on Earth is that they’re hunting the Autobots. He also suggests that perhaps it is time for the Autobots to leave Earth once and for all so that humanity will no longer be attacked by the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Decepticons steal the AllSpark shard that Optimus took from Megatron’s body and use it to revive their fallen comrade at the bottom of the Laurentian Abyss. Once resurrected, Megatron heads into space to meet with his master, The Fallen (voiced by Tony Todd), an ancient Decepticon who seeks to conquer the planet that he had tried to take over once before. Because as we see in the opening scene, which is also noted by Optimus in his traditional opening narration, Transformers existed on Earth long before the events of the first film and The Fallen was one of them.

Meanwhile, Sam is about to head off to college in Philadelphia. However, this also means that he’ll be leaving behind Bumblebee (because freshmen can’t have cars on campus) and Mikaela, who he promises he will stay faithful to but has trouble when it comes to saying the three words that truly matter (‘I love you’). While getting ready to make the move to college, Sam comes across a second AllSpark shard that was lodged within the clothes that he wore during the battle in Mission City. When he inspects it, he is suddenly inundated with Cybertronian information. After dealing with a bunch of kitchen-appliance Transformers that came to life via the shard’s power, which also results in his house being destroyed in the process, Sam gives the shard to Mikaela for safe-keeping. Once he gets to college, however, this new information that he has starts to materialize via symbols that he starts to see all over the place. But when Optimus comes to warn him of the impending threat, Sam insists that he wishes to live a normal life and that “this isn’t [his] war”. Soon, though, Sam, Mikaela, and his eccentric roommate, conspiracy blogger Leo Spitz (Ramón Rodriguez) are captured by Megatron and the Decepticons, who try to extract the information that Sam has from his brain. The Autobots manage to come in and save them just in time, but during the subsequent battle in a nearby forest, Optimus is killed by Megatron. With no one left to stop him, having previously noted that only a Prime can do so, The Fallen begins his plan of world domination and demands that Sam is delivered to him with the information that he has.

This forces Sam into hiding with Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, and Autobot twins Mudflap (voiced by Reno Wilson) and Skids (voiced by Tom Kenny). Sam deduces that the symbols that he’s seeing are a map that leads to a new source of Energon, the Transformers’ energy source. Leo then proceeds to bring them to someone who could help; a rival blogger known as ‘Robo-Warrior’. As it turns out, ‘Robo-Warrior’ is Agent Simmons, who now works at his mother’s deli since the disbandment of Sector Seven. It is through Simmons that the group learns about the Seekers, a group of ancient Transformers that still reside on Earth. They end up finding one, Jetfire (voiced by Mark Ryan), at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and revive him with Sam’s AllSpark Shard. Although they are initially concerned to find that Jetfire is a Decepticon, he informs them that he has since switched sides. Likewise, Wheelie (also voiced by Tom Kenny), a Decepticon spy that had tried to steal the AllSpark shard from Mikaela and was subsequently brought along for the ride, switches sides as well once he learns about this new information. After transporting them all to Egypt, Jetfire informs them that The Fallen seeks to restart an Energon machine known as the Sun Harvester that absorbs energy from stars. And in this instance, he plans to use it on Earth’s sun. Jetfire also instructs them to find the Matrix of Leadership, the artifact that is used to start the Sun Harvester but can also be used to revive Optimus… which also basically makes this film a live-action adaptation of 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie since the Matrix appeared in that film as well and there was also a scene in which Optimus dies after a battle with Megatron.

Sam and the group then travel to Petra (AKA where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), where the Matrix of Leadership is supposedly located in an ancient tomb made from the bodies of the Primes who had first stopped The Fallen from destroying Earth back in the day. While they do manage to find the Tomb and, supposedly, the Matrix, it evaporates into dust in Sam’s hands when he tries to pick it up. Meanwhile, they manage to convince Lennox and the NEST team to fly Optimus’ body and the other Autobots out to Egypt, despite not really having the means to revive Optimus just yet. Of course, the Decepticons then proceed to attack them, resulting in another long and intense battle. During this fight, Sam is supposedly killed by Megatron; however, in death, he is approached by the Primes who inform him that he’s earned the right to use the Matrix. Thus, he is revived and the Matrix materializes in his hands, which he immediately uses to revive Optimus. Jetfire then volunteers to sacrifice himself so that Optimus can use his parts to defeat The Fallen before he’s able to start his machine. Optimus does so, destroys the Sun Harvester, hidden within one of the Pyramids at Giza, and then kills The Fallen. Megatron and Starscream then proceed to flee the battle but vow that they will return. Victorious once again, the Autobots and their allies return home. Sam returns to his normal life and his relationship with Mikaela stays strong, especially after he finally tells her ‘I love you’… for now, at least. Which brings us to…

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (RELEASED: 2011)

After helping the Autobots stop the Decepticons from taking over the world twice, Sam has since graduated from college and is gearing up to find a new job. However, it’s revealed that Mikaela has broken up with him for ‘reasons’ (i.e. Megan Fox was basically booted off production after an incident in which she called Michael Bay ‘Hitler’). Luckily, for Sam, he’s found a new girlfriend in Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), an assistant curator. Sam manages to get a job at a telecommunications company, Accuretta, later learning that his employers had gotten a letter of recommendation courtesy of Carly’s flirtatious boss, Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey), who happens to be one of the company’s board of directors. The stress of this close relationship between his girlfriend and her boss, along with the disappointment of being nothing more than a mail carrier at work, begins to put more and more pressure on Sam, who wishes that he was out there working with the Autobots instead and doing stuff that truly matters. Meanwhile, the Autobots and NEST have continued to monitor alien activity on Earth while also assisting the military in other global conflicts. On their latest mission to the abandoned facilities of Chernobyl, they come across a fuel cell which Optimus recognizes from an old Autobot ship known as the ‘Ark’.

The film’s opening sequence reveals that during the final days of the war on Cybertron, the Ark, captained by Optimus’ mentor Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), was severely damaged in battle and subsequently crash-landed on the Earth’s moon. Once this is discovered by NASA in 1961, they use the iconic Apollo 11 mission to the moon as a cover for investigating the crashed ship. Inside it contains the comatose Sentinel and a series of artifacts that he created known as the Pillars, which can teleport matter between two points via a space bridge. Optimus and the Autobots then proceed to collect the Pillars from the Ark and revive Sentinel with the Matrix of Leadership. While this is going on, Megatron and the other Decepticons, who know about the Ark and have apparently laid a trap for the Autobots, start to eliminate various humans who were involved in the manned missions to the Moon to investigate the Ark. When Sam and Simmons, along with Simmons’ personal assistant Dutch (Alan Tudyk), investigate further into the matter, they learn that the Decepticons have already collected several other Pillars from the Ark and were simply waiting for Optimus to revive Sentinel, the only one who knew how to use them. And to make matters worse, Sentinel then reveals that he has joined forces with the Decepticons in their plot to use the Pillars to transport Cybertron to Earth and use Earth’s resources to rebuild their planet. He then kills Ironhide and uses the Pillars to bring several Decepticons hidden on the Moon to Earth. When Sam tries to warn Carly, they learn that Dylan is also in league with the Decepticons. Carly is taken prisoner and the Decepticons coerce the world’s governments into forcing the Autobots to leave Earth to allegedly prevent any future conflicts. However, the Decepticons then proceed to destroy the Autobots’ departure ship and invade Chicago to begin the process of transporting Cybertron to their current location.

Sam, meanwhile, embarks on a personal mission to save Carly with the aid of Epps, who had left NEST after the events of Revenge of the Fallen, and some other former members of the task force. While initially overwhelmed by Decepticon forces, they are eventually saved by Optimus and the Autobots, who reveal that they weren’t on the main section of their ship when it was destroyed. Sam manages to save Carly and the group begins to fight back against the Decepticons, later aided by Lennox and NEST once they’re able to successfully infiltrate the city. During the battle, they manage to temporarily halt the Pillars’ transportation process until it is restarted again by Dylan. The subsequent confrontation between him and Sam results in the former being killed when he gets electrocuted by the main Pillar. The Pillar is then subsequently destroyed by Bumblebee, preventing the transportation of Cybertron from occurring and resulting in the planet’s apparent destruction. Meanwhile, Carly manages to convince Megatron to turn against Sentinel by making him believe that Sentinel will overtake him as the leader of the Decepticons if they succeed in rebuilding Cybertron. Megatron then attacks Sentinel before he manages to kill Optimus, who then proceeds to kill Megatron by removing his head and spine from his body. Optimus then kills his former mentor, bringing an end to the devastation in the Windy City. Sam and Carly reunite and affirm their love for one another while the Autobots once again embrace Earth as their home. And thus, Dark of the Moon officially concluded the arc of Sam Witwicky, the boy who became a vital part of an intergalactic war when he bought a car that turned out to be an alien robot (“Who knew?”). But this ultimately wasn’t the end for this series, as it continued in a new direction in…

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (RELEASED: 2014)

Age of Extinction served as a ‘soft reboot’ of the franchise, focusing on new characters while still taking place after the events of Dark of the Moon. Since the big battle in Chicago, the truce between the Autobots and the U.S. government has ended, as the former now find themselves hunted by an elite black ops group known as Cemetery Wind, led by government official Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), who views all Transformers as a threat to mankind, and field agent James Savoy (Titus Welliver), who claims that he lost a sister during the Battle of Chicago. They’re also aided by a neutral Cybertronian bounty hunter named Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan) and immediately establish themselves as a serious threat when they find and execute Ratchet, who refuses to reveal the location of Lockdown’s primary target, Optimus. Meanwhile, in a small town in Texas, widowed inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) struggles to make a living and provide for his teenage daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz), who’s about to go off to college. When he and his business partner Lucas Flannery (T.J. Miller) come across an old, rundown semi-truck in an old theater, the three learn that the truck is, in fact, Optimus, who was severely wounded after an encounter with Lockdown in Mexico City. This then results in them being attacked by Savoy and Cemetery Wind, but they all manage to escape with the help of Tessa’s boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor), a rally car driver. During their escape, however, Lucas is killed by Lockdown.

Now fugitives, Cade and company, along with Optimus, meet up with the surviving members of the Autobots; Bumblebee, commando Hound (voiced by John Goodman), tactician Drift (voiced by Ken Watanabe), and paratrooper Crosshairs (voiced by John DiMaggio). They discover that a robotics company named K.S.I. is working with Cemetery Wind in their efforts to eliminate the Autobots. In return, K.S.I. CEO Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) is given a rare metal alloy, which he and his associates call ‘Transformium’, to build his own robots. This includes Galvatron, who was created via data from the deceased Megatron (fittingly enough, Galvatron is voiced by Megatron’s original voice actor from the 80’s animated series, Frank Welker, who will finally voice Megatron in The Last Knight after the character had been portrayed by Hugo Weaving in the original trilogy), and Stinger, modeled after Bumblebee and touted as a ‘superior’ model to Bumblebee’s annoyance. After infiltrating K.S.I., the group is attacked by Galvatron and Stinger, as the former conveys some of Megatron’s sinister qualities and subsequently breaks free from Joyce’s control. Eventually, Lockdown enters the picture and takes Optimus prisoner, claiming that he plans on bringing Optimus back to those who created him, the ‘Creators’ AKA Lockdown’s superiors. Tessa gets captured as well, resulting in Cade, Shane, and the Autobots having to save her and Optimus before Lockdown’s ship leaves Earth per the agreement that he had with Cemetery Wind, who are given a device referred to as a ‘Seed’ that they subsequently give to Joyce, who intends on using it to create more Transformium. After saving Tessa and Optimus from the ship, along with dealing with a few enemy forces in Chicago, the protagonists learn that the ‘Creators’ used these Seeds to terraform planets and create Transformium, which also resulted in the destruction of all life forms on the planets that they used it on.

After convincing Joyce of the Seed’s dangerous capabilities, the group heads to Hong Kong to get it away from Lockdown and Cemetery Wind. Meanwhile, Galvatron, now fully reincarnated as Megatron, takes control of the other robots in K.S.I.’s inventory, fully intent on using the Seed to take over the world. After initially being outnumbered by the Decepticons, Optimus and the Autobots manage to gain a leg up on them with the aid of ancient Transformers known as the Dinobots that were previously imprisoned on Lockdown’s ship, with Optimus riding Dinobot leader Grimlock, who transforms into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, into battle. Meanwhile, Cade manages to kill Savoy as revenge for all the harm that he and Cemetery Wind have caused to him and his daughter. After the group manages to get the Seed to safety and away from Galvatron and Lockdown, Optimus ends up in a fight with the latter. Cade and Attinger get involved as well, resulting in the latter being killed by Optimus, who had previously vowed revenge against the human responsible for the deaths of his comrades. Optimus then manages to kill Lockdown with the aid of Cade, Tessa, and Shane. Galvatron then proceeds to retreat, once again vowing that he’ll return. And thus, with his faith in humanity restored thanks to Cade and his family, the film ends with Optimus heading off into space (with the Seed in tow) to finally confront his Creators. In his final narration, he warns them to “Leave planet Earth alone…” and that he’s coming for them, thereby setting up the events of this week’s new release, Transformers: The Last Knight.

And, thus, that’s the ‘Story So Far’ for the Michael Bay-directed Transformers films. Thanks for following along and you can expect a review of Transformers: The Last Knight sometime in the next few days. Given my track record with this franchise, I’m predicting that I’ll probably be one of the few people crazy enough to like it even when it inevitably gets slammed by critics. Only time will tell…

Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2017: Part 1 (#20-11)

Well, folks, since we’re getting closer and closer to the end of the year, I figured that it was a good enough time for me to do my annual ‘Most Anticipated Films of Next Year’ list. I’ll admit that I’m always unsure about when I should post this because some of the films that I discuss in these lists tend to get pushed back a year. Some past examples of this happening to me included my 2014 list, when Tomorrowland was apparently still intended to be released that year, and 2015 when I put Jon Favreau’s remake of The Jungle Book as an Honorable Mention… and then it was pushed back to April of this year. Thankfully no instances of rescheduling have happened with any of the films that I put in last year’s list (yet…) but anyway, now it’s time to look ahead to 2017. And let me tell you… there’s quite a lot of exciting new films coming out next year. Heck, 2017’s film lineup is even more exciting than 2016’s lineup. And with that said, yes, as I’ve gone over before, there have been quite a few people on the internet who have been expressing disappointment towards a lot of this year’s film releases… but that’s another story. It’s time to look ahead at 2017 and like last year, I’ve managed to come up with not just a Top 10 but a full Top 20 list of my most anticipated films of 2017. From the newest superhero films to some very intriguing sequels, and yes even some original films are in there, you can bet that I’m excited for many of the films that will be hitting theaters next year. So, without further ado, this is Part 1 of my 2-part list of my Top 20 most anticipated films of 2017. Today I’ll be going over #20-11 but first, here are my Honorable Mentions…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Instead of giving each of these five films their own heading, I’m just going to rattle them off here quickly. First, there’s the new reboot of Power Rangers (March 24^th). Not being a big fan of the Power Rangers franchise, despite technically being part of the generation that grew up with it, I don’t have much personal stake in this new film but I am generally curious as to how it’ll turn out. Will it be able to appeal to both long-time fans and newcomers to the franchise? Next up is the reboot of The Mummy (June 9^th), the recently-designated ‘first’ entry in Universal’s new line of monster films. It’s unclear at the moment as to how this planned ‘Cinematic Universe’ will pan out but this new take on The Mummy does sound interesting, especially considering the talent involved, including Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, and Sofia Boutella in the title role. Another reboot that I’m quite intrigued about is Jumanji (December 22^nd). For the record, this isn’t a remake of the 1995 film starring Robin Williams but is instead a sequel. I’m genuinely curious as to how it’ll connect with the original and if you ask me, you can’t go wrong with a film that stars people like Dwayne Johnson and Karen Gillan. Going into the horror genre for a moment, we have Alien: Covenant (May 19^th). Ridley Scott returns for another installment of the franchise that he helped start back in 1979 with this sequel to 2012’s Prometheus, which in turn was a prequel to the original Alien. While it will be centering on a new cast that includes the likes of Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup, Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace will be reprising their roles from the previous film. Will this new film answer some of the unanswered questions that people had after watching Prometheus? We’ll just have to wait and see. And finally, there’s The Greatest Showman (December 25^th). Hugh Jackman will star as P.T. Barnum, who was a co-founder of what would eventually become the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus. As someone who has many fond memories of going to see this circus as a kid whenever it came to Rhode Island, I’m definitely interested in seeing its origins represented on film. The film will also star Zac Efron, Rebecca Ferguson, and Michelle Williams.

And now we move on to the Top 20 and boy do we have a rather controversial film to start things off at #20.

20. TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT (JUNE 23^RD)

Yes, folks, you’re reading this right… I’m genuinely looking forward to the fifth entry in the highly maligned live-action Transformers franchise. I’m not afraid to admit that I am a big fan of all four of the previous films in the series. I still argue that the first one is actually really good even after everything that happened with its sequels. And yes, I still like the much critically derided sequels, including the second and fourth films which were some of the worst-reviewed films of their respective years. Sure they’re really nothing more than mindless CGI-heavy action films but I still find them to be really entertaining popcorn flicks nevertheless. So with that in mind, I’m still interested in seeing this franchise continue, which it will do so next year with Transformers: The Last Knight. Michael Bay, of course, returns to direct and this will supposedly be his last Transformers film. Though with that said, he said the exact same thing after the third film and yet he ended up doing a fourth one so who knows? Mark Wahlberg will be returning as Cade Yeager along with Stanley Tucci as Joshua Joyce, both of whom made their series debuts in the fourth film, Age of Extinction. The film will also see Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson return to the franchise as Lennox and Epps, who appeared in the original trilogy but were both absent from Age of Extinction. Like I said before, I’m very much well aware that this will probably be just as mindless as the other Transformers films. But with that said, if it is anything like those films, I’m probably going to like it anyway. Plus, I’m just curious about some of the recent reveals surrounding the film, like how it’s apparently going to involve King Arthur and even Nazis. Yes, you read that right… this new Transformers film is going to include King Arthur and Nazis. I won’t lie, folks… at this point, I’m just eagerly curious to see just what the hell they’re going to do with all of this. The only question, though, is this; will those who aren’t fans of the franchise finally get the damn hint and not go see this new film if they don’t like this series that much?  

Thought #20 was controversial? Wait until you see #19.

19. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES (MAY 26^TH)

And now we move on to another franchise that hasn’t really fared well critically when it comes to its most recent installments; Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to the upcoming fifth installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales. Johnny Depp, of course, returns as the eccentric pirate Jack Sparrow as he tries to find the Trident of Poseidon to combat an old foe, the ghostly pirate Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). Geoffrey Rush returns as Hector Barbossa while Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario debut as new characters named Henry and Carina. But perhaps the most interesting development of this new film in terms of its cast will be the return of Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, who was last seen as the new captain of the Flying Dutchman at the end of the third film, At World’s End. Sadly, Keira Knightley won’t be returning alongside him as Elizabeth. So, as I noted before, the recent Pirates films haven’t fared as well critically with both critics and audiences when compared to the first film back in 2003, one of the surprise critical/commercial hits of that year. Basically, the main reason why has been due to the common criticism that the series tends to get really overcomplicated at times with its plots. Will this be the case with the new film? Who knows? But, with a new screenwriter and a new pair of directors in Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, directors of 2012’s Norwegian Oscar-nominated Kon-Tiki, perhaps this one will change things up a bit. The recently released first trailer does grab your attention by way of its excellent visuals and rather a dark atmosphere. Ultimately, though, it’s unclear if this will be as big of a box-office hit as the previous Pirates films given that this is the fifth installment of the series. But, at the same time, considering that two of the four films have grossed over a billion, I have the feeling that this one will still be another sizable commercial hit for the franchise.

With the next two films on this list, we have the one-two punch that is Pixar’s next two animated features. The first is the one that’ll be released later in the year but it is still shaping up to be an excellent entry in the studio’s filmography.

18. COCO (NOVEMBER 22^ND)

Of the two Pixar films that are coming out in 2017, I have the feeling that the one that most fans are looking forward to more is the one with an original story. That film is Coco, a story that takes inspiration from Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration. Not much is known about this one yet other than the fact that it’ll revolve around a young boy named Miguel who uncovers a mystery involving his family that’s been unsolved for a century. In the director’s chair is Lee Unkrich, who’s been involved with Pixar since the original Toy Story. He helped co-direct Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo before he was promoted to the position of primary director for 2010’s Toy Story 3, and we all know how that turned out for him. The film grossed over a billion at the box-office, won another Best Animated Feature Oscar for the studio, and was also the third animated film after Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Pixar’s own Up to be nominated for Best Picture. So clearly Pixar’s got one heck of a talented team working on this film, one that is 100% certain to produce some absolutely gorgeous visuals based around Day of the Dead. So, with all of that said, why then is it only at number 18 on this list? Well like I said before, it’s only because we haven’t seen any form of ‘footage’ yet and don’t know much else about it aside from the aforementioned synopsis. After all, we are still more than a year away from its release. Trust me though when I say that I am super excited to see this film, as I’ve always been for Pixar films. It’s just that I’m not one of those folks on the internet who is constantly pressuring the studio to do more original films after they did a few sequels. Speaking of Pixar sequels…

Oh boy, I’m going to get so much flak for putting this above Coco…

17. CARS 3 (JUNE 16^TH)

So why is this film, a Pixar sequel, ranked above an original story Pixar film, you ask? Well, like I said before, it’s only because we haven’t seen much from Coco yet. Granted, we haven’t seen much from Cars 3 either (aside from a recently released teaser that I’ll talk about in a bit) but being that it’s the third entry of that franchise and it’s coming out earlier in the year, we do know a bit more about it than we do with Coco at this moment. Anyway, the Cars franchise has been more of a commercial success for Pixar than it has been a critical one. It’s definitely been one of Disney’s biggest franchises in terms of merchandising, having amassed over $10 billion in sales. As for the films, though, critical reception has been a bit more mixed. The first Cars film, at the very least, did fine with critics. Granted it wasn’t as critically acclaimed as the studio’s other films but it still did fairly well at around a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The second film, however… was the company’s first negatively received film. It got to the point where some people treated it like it was a criminal offense. How dare Pixar make an animated film that wasn’t a complete 15/10 masterpiece? I’m not kidding, people actually made that analogy online. And now as a result, whenever a Pixar film doesn’t get at least a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (e.g. Brave, Monsters University, The Good Dinosaur), it’s immediately seen as a disappointment. But in Pixar’s defense, from what I’ve heard the second Cars film was a bit rushed because of the pressure to be finished by its planned release date. And while I’ve only seen it once, I remember liking it okay.

So, with that said, I do believe that Cars 3 does have the potential to redeem the film franchise. After Cars 2 took a major detour story-wise by going on a world tour and having a rather random subplot involving secret agents, Cars 3 is set to return to the series’ roots of celebrating small-town Americana. The film is being directed by Brian Fee and while this is his first film as a director, he’s been involved with Pixar, and most importantly the Cars franchise, for quite a long time as a storyboard artist. Many of the main characters of the franchise will no doubt be returning in this film, including main protagonist Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). Per the film’s currently released premise, at this point, McQueen is now a racing veteran who must now contend with a new generation of racers to prove that he’s still one of the best. You can most certainly sense that from the film’s first teaser, which strikes an effective emotional chord by showcasing what will surely be a devastating crash that Lightning is involved in. So, in short, as I stated earlier, the Cars franchise isn’t as well-liked as some of Pixar’s other franchises, especially after Cars 2 was so critically derided. But, also like I said before, I think that this new Cars film does have the potential to at least be an improvement over the previous film, especially since, from a story perspective, it’s going to be more like the first film, which I do think is underrated. And while I do have the feeling that Coco will probably be the better-received of Pixar’s two 2017 releases, I’m still very much looking forward to the continuing adventures of Lightning McQueen and company.

Ride or die…

16. FAST 8 (APRIL 14^TH)

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the Fast and Furious franchise will soon be releasing its eighth (!) installment. Who’d thought that a franchise that originally started all the way back in 2001 would still be going strong today more than one and a half decades later? Not only that, but this is one of the rare cases in which the sequels increasingly got better and better, namely the ones directed by Justin Lin. Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6 were the first installments of the franchise to perform solidly with critics and both films were huge hits at the box-office. And then there was Furious 7. James Wan took over as director and the film managed to become the first of the franchise to gross over a billion. Though of course, part of that was no doubt due to the film being the send-off of star Paul Walker, who tragically passed away in a car accident before filming was complete. But this series isn’t over yet and now we’ve got Fast 8, which will take Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his crew to New York. Once again they’ll contend with Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw as well as a new villain played by Charlize Theron. Once again there’s a change in director but the new director is quite promising; F. Gary Gray, who’s coming off of 2015’s hit biopic Straight Outta Compton. And from what I hear, this new film is going to shift focus in terms of ‘genre’. While the first few Fast and Furious films were simple street-racing stories, Fast Five shifted gears (no pun intended) and became a heist film. But as for this new film, it will apparently be more along the lines of a spy caper. And for the record, yes, you never go into these films for the plot but still, it’s going to be interesting to see what they’re going to do next in terms of action. Pair that with the always excellent camaraderie of the main cast and you’ve got what is sure to be another big hit for the franchise.

The one and only Edgar Wright will have a new film out next year. And it lands the #15 spot on this list.

15. BABY DRIVER (AUGUST 11^TH)

Edgar Wright is a filmmaker who needs no introduction. He’s given us some of the funniest comedies of the past few years, namely his Cornetto Trilogy; 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, 2007’s Hot Fuzz, and 2013’s The World’s End. While all three films are different in terms of genre, with the only real ‘connection’ between them being the appearance of Cornetto ice cream in one way or another, they’re all excellent send-ups of their respective genres; zombie films, buddy cop action films, and sci-fi films. Of course, as we all know he almost directed Ant-Man for Marvel Studios last year but he ended up dropping out due to creative differences. And you know what? I think that it’s actually a good thing that this happened. It allows Wright to have full creative control over his work instead of having to deal with a ‘creative committee’, which was still in effect at Marvel Studios at the time. And this will certainly be the case with his new film, Baby Driver. Described as a crime drama that was apparently inspired by an old music video that Wright made back in 2003 for the band Mint Royale, the film will center around a young, silent getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) as he ends up partaking in a heist gone wrong. The film will also star Lily James as the driver’s girlfriend, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm as members of a gang of bank robbers, and Kevin Spacey as a crime boss. Music will also no doubt play a huge part in the film as the main character Baby is being described as ‘music-obsessed’ and I’m excited to see what kind of soundtrack Wright comes up with for the film. But of course, at the end of the day, the main selling point of the film is the fact that it’ll be another film from the master of ‘visual’ comedy, Edgar Wright.

As Harry Hart once said, “Manners. Maketh. Man”.

14. KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE (OCTOBER 6^TH)

Matthew Vaughn gave us one of the most entertaining films of 2015 in the form of Kingsman: The Secret Service. Based on the comic series of the same name by Mark Millar about a young delinquent who is recruited into a spy organization, the film was a stylish ode to the classic spy films of the 60’s (e.g. the Bond films) complete with awesome action and a great cast. And next year will see the release of a sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Matthew Vaughn returns to direct and the major players of the first film will return to reprise their roles, including Taron Egerton as ‘Eggsy’, Mark Strong as ‘Merlin’, and… Colin Firth as Harry Hart? Yes, despite being (SPOILERS!) killed off by Samuel L. Jackson’s Valentine in the previous film, Firth will be back for this film in some as-of-yet unknown form. Did he fake his death? After all, one of the teaser posters (featured above) is an image of a pair of glasses that Hart wore in the first film (with one of the lenses taken out) that are positioned in front of a quote saying that “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” At this point, who knows? Anyway, the film will see Eggsy and co. heading to America, where they’ll be teaming up with their US counterparts, the Statesmen. New additions to the cast include Halle Berry and Channing Tatum as Statesman agents, Jeff Bridges as the head of Statesman, and Julianne Moore as the new main villain. I absolutely loved Kingsman: The Secret Service so you can bet that I’m excited to see another installment of this stylish spy thriller franchise.

My #13 pick is one of the biggest question marks of 2017’s film lineup. However, I’m still rooting for it to succeed despite the odds that are currently against it.

13. JUSTICE LEAGUE (NOVEMBER 17^TH)

I still have hope, folks, which I know is something that’s rather questionable at the moment for many people after DC’s two 2016 releases, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, both performed horribly with critics and were generally polarizing amongst audiences as well. However, I’m confident that their 2017 output will fare much better, especially now that Geoff Johns has taken over control of the franchise. In other words, he’s become DC’s ‘Kevin Feige’ and that will no doubt help the DC Extended Universe moving forward. And sure, Zack Snyder is still back as the director but I have faith in him to succeed with this long-awaited adaptation of DC’s iconic superhero team, the Justice League. The first ‘trailer’ that was released during Comic-Con showed off a different kind of film compared to Batman v Superman. Instead of being a generally serious/dark superhero flick, this new film looks much more light-hearted in tone as primarily seen in some of the interactions between characters, like when Batman and Wonder Woman discuss the former’s rather failed attempt to recruit Aquaman and with Bruce Wayne’s first encounter with Barry Allen AKA The Flash. Newcomers Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller (though I use the term ‘newcomers’ loosely because they both cameoed in BvS) are also shaping up to be excellent new additions to the cast as Aquaman and the Flash, respectively. Granted this change in tone doesn’t mean that this new film is trying to be exactly like the films of Marvel Studios but it certainly looks like the filmmakers are, at the very least, aware of the problems that people had with BvS (the theatrical cut, at least). It may be unclear at the moment if DC will be able to turn their luck around with both this and their other 2017 film (which, spoilers, will be appearing in Part 2 of this list) but I’m still confident that they’ll be able to make it work with Justice League. I may be a bigger fan of the MCU but I genuinely want Justice League to succeed just as much as everyone else.   

One of the most iconic castings of the superhero film genre will be back for one last go in this, my #12 pick.

12. LOGAN (MARCH 3^RD)

Hugh Jackman is Wolverine; no doubt about it. Ever since he was first cast in the original X-Men film back in 2000, he’s become one of the most successful superhero casting choices of all-time. He quickly became the most popular character in the franchise, even if it did come at the occasional expense of other characters’ development, and has appeared in every X-Men film to date, even if it was just for an awesome cameo like in First Class and Apocalypse. But with his next X-Men film and the third Wolverine spin-off, Logan, this will be Jackman’s final turn in the title role. James Mangold returns to direct this film after helming the second spin-off, 2013’s The Wolverine. And just like how that film was based on an iconic Wolverine storyline of the same name from the comics, this one will also be inspired by another big Wolverine-centered storyline, one that I bet a lot of fans have been waiting to see done on the big-screen; Old Man Logan. For those unfamiliar with this storyline from 2008 written by Mark Millar, it’s basically Wolverine’s Dark Knight Returns as it centers on him years into the future. Plus, while the last Wolverine film grappled with going all-out as an R-rated Wolverine film, though ultimately it only did so in the form of the Extended Cut which was released when the film hit home video, by all accounts it appears that this will be the R-rated Wolverine film that fans have been waiting for.

They recently released the first trailer for the film and I must say that it looks fantastic. One of the best things about director James Mangold’s superhero films is that they’re more than just ‘superhero films’. The Wolverine, being set primarily in Japan, featured a lot of great Japanese elements in it. In the case of Logan, it’s clear that he’s going for something out of a western. And you can totally see that in the trailer, especially with the use of a Johnny Cash song, ‘Hurt’, a fitting choice seeing how Mangold directed the Johnny Cash Biopic Walk the Line in 2005. The story, set years in the future where it’s established that something happened to most of the mutant population (possibly because of Wolverine as deduced by the line “Logan, what did you do?”), sees Wolverine and Professor X (again played by Patrick Stewart in what will no doubt be his final turn in the role as well) having to protect a young girl named Laura (known in the comics as Wolverine’s clone, X-23) from a group known as the Reavers. Now despite what I said earlier, it’s becoming clear that this isn’t a direct adaptation of Old Man Logan. But, to be fair, it’s hard to do an adaptation of that now given the appearances of characters who are currently over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, as someone who isn’t a big comic reader, I’m not bothered by this. Really, it’s the overall execution of the film itself that matters the most. And thanks to an international red-band trailer, we can now rest easy knowing that the film will indeed be R-rated and that the filmmakers are truly going ‘all-out’ with this one. But at the end of the day, I must say that this first trailer really delivers in terms of hitting you on an emotional level. And that’s a feeling that I bet a lot of people will have when we go to see this; the last go for one of the greatest leads in the history of the superhero film genre. It’s going to be an emotional rollercoaster.

And closing out the lower half of the Top 20 is the latest film from Ben Affleck. Director Ben Affleck, to be more precise…

11. LIVE BY NIGHT (JANUARY 13^TH)

While Ben Affleck is currently pre-occupied with being the DCEU’s Batman, 2017 will see the release of his latest directorial effort, his first since he won Best Picture for his 2012 film, Argo. Despite having only directed three films to date, Affleck’s proven himself to be one of the top directors in the industry thanks to 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, 2010’s The Town, and Argo. For his newest film, Affleck takes on his second adaptation of a story by author Dennis Lehane after Gone Baby Gone; Live by Night. Affleck stars as Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston police captain who moves to Florida and ends up becoming a gangster. The film also stars Zoe Saldana as Coughlin’s girlfriend, Sienna Miller as his mistress, and Brendan Gleeson as his father along with Elle Fanning, Chris Cooper, and Chris Messina. I should probably note, though, that even though this film’s current wide release date is January 13^th, 2017, it will see a limited release this Christmas, effectively qualifying it for this year’s awards circuit. So, technically, that would mean that this is a 2016 film… so why then is it in this ‘Most Anticipated of 2017’ list? Well, simply put, I had first made this list before this film got its limited release date. Plus, I don’t know just yet if I’m going to be able to see this film before the year’s through so for now, it stays on this list. But, regardless of when I see it, it’s safe to say that I am really excited to see Affleck’s next directorial effort.

And that concludes Part 1 of my Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2017 list. Thanks for following along and be sure to come back tomorrow when I post Part 2 and list my Top 10.

2014 Midyear Recap

Well we are now officially halfway through 2014… and you know what that means. It’s time to do my annual Midyear recap of the year so far. If you’re new to this site, basically what I do here is that I just go through all of the films that I’ve seen this year so far. I don’t really do any rankings on this post, though I do basically go from worst to best. The only time I’m doing any film rankings is right at the end when I list my Top 5 of the year so far. So with that said, how has 2014 been so far in regard to the movies? Well, overall I’d say that 2014 has been a pretty solid year so far. Sure, as is every year I’ve definitely seen a couple of stinkers but so far the good has at least outweighed the bad, which is always a good thing in my opinion. Summer 2014 in particular has been really good so far. Out of all of the films I’ve seen so far this summer, there has been only one movie that, at worst, I was only ‘meh’ on. But now let’s not waste any more time and get onto the recap. This is how the first half of 2014 has been so far for me in regards to the movies that I’ve seen.

STINK-BOMBS

As that title suggests, these are my picks for the worst films of the year so far. And what’s the number one worst film I’ve seen so far, you ask?

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR SO FAR:

THE LEGEND OF HERCULES

I have a suggestion for a new title for this film; ‘Legendary Stinker’ because holy s*** was this one bad. It’s a film that tried to be the next ‘300’, especially in regards to its visual style, but failed to do so for multiple reasons. First of all, despite the fact that this is a ‘swords and sandals’ flick, the movie’s action is pretty much bloodless as the film’s rated PG-13. There’s some very violent action in this movie, but you really don’t see any bloodshed. Secondly, this movie’s visual effects are horrendous; seriously, they look more like they came from an old PlayStation 1 game; they’re some of the cheapest visual effects that I’ve seen in recent memory for a film with a fairly decent budget. Finally, the acting is pretty bad from all involved. I mean no offense to Kellan Lutz but right now this guy is not fit to be a leading man as he comes off as being very bland in the role of Hercules. The only positive thing I can say about this film is that from time to time Scott Adkins provides some entertainment as the main bad guy… but only because he’s so over-the-top. Do you want to know how bad this movie is? It’s so bad that I’m actually looking forward to a Brett Ratner film… that being the other ‘Hercules’ that is set to come out this year. If anything, hopefully that one will be much better than this turd.

OTHER DISHONORABLES

TRANSCENDENCE

Not only is this one of the worst films of the year so far, but it’s currently the most disappointing film this year for me because I was actually looking forward to this one. The main reason for this was because it was directed by Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s long-time cinematographer and it looked like maybe Pfister’s experience working with one of the best directors working today would help him when it came to directing his own movie. But while I do still think that Pfister has potential as a director, ultimately the biggest problem with ‘Transcendence’ is that it’s a major snore-fest. Nothing really happens in this movie despite the fact that technically in regards to the plot things are happening (it’s kind of hard to explain but to put it quite simply, this movie is really boring). It may have some really excellent cinematography and a fairly solid cast (even though A.) most of the characters are very flat and uninteresting and B.) Some members of the cast don’t get much to do), but at the end of the day, this film unfortunately starts Pfister’s directorial career on a very, very low note. I don’t necessarily blame him for it, and I do hope that this won’t be his only foray into directing but quite frankly he definitely should have gone with a different first film than this one.

I, FRANKENSTEIN

Yet another stinker from January (which by this point is not at all surprising in the least given the usual slate of films that come during this month of the year), ‘I, Frankenstein’ tries to be the next ‘Underworld’ (it’s even based off of a graphic novel of the same name written by the co-creator of the ‘Underworld’ franchise, Kevin Grevioux) but ultimately comes off as a pretty dull fantasy action flick (Quick Disclaimer: I have not seen the ‘Underworld’ movies). The characters in this movie are incredibly bland as is the story and the action sequences sometimes feel a bit too over-bloated at times. None of them really stand out in anyway, and also on multiple occasions, the CGI is actually pretty bad, mostly in regards to the gargoyle and demon creatures in this movie. The only reasons why this isn’t my pick for the worst film of the year so far is that if anything else, Aaron Eckhart is at least trying in the lead role of Frankenstein’s Monster and the action sequences are at least not shot in the shaky cam style that currently dominates quite a lot of action movies these days. But aside from that, everything else about this movie is pretty mediocre.

‘MEH’-FLIX

These films are ones that I’m hoping won’t be in my ‘worst of’ list at the end of the year because while I don’t completely dislike these films, I’m not that positive about them either. So basically, these are the films that I think are just ‘okay’.

     A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST   

         

Seth MacFarlane’s second directorial effort does have a decent amount of laughs in it, but overall his last film ‘Ted’ was the funnier movie. This film’s biggest problem is that there are at least two-three instances where nothing funny is either happening or being said for a good 10-15 minutes. It is during these times where the film tries to develop its story and characters, namely the romantic relationship between MacFarlane and Charlize Theron’s characters, and while the two of them do have really nice chemistry, that still results in a severe lack of humor during these periods of time and that can’t justify a near two-hour run-time whereas ‘Ted’ had enough material and was only 10 minutes shorter than this film. The film has a good cast (MacFarlane does a pretty solid job for his first major on-screen performance) but overall ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ could’ve been a whole lot funnier. To its credit, though, it’s much funnier than most of the comedies I saw last year.

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

The first major 2014 release I saw this year, this film was originally supposed to be released in December of 2013 but it ultimately got pushed back to January 2014 to make room for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. That made me worried that the film wasn’t going to turn out that good considering that it got pushed back to the usual ‘dead’ month of movie releases; January. But, after seeing it, I can safely say that I realized that it perfectly fit to have the film come out in January. It’s not a bad film by any means; it’s certainly better than most of the films that come out in January. But the thing is… this movie doesn’t really ‘wow’ you with anything. It’s a fun and entertaining little spy film and it does feature some really good performances from Chris Pine and Kevin Costner, among others, but overall aside from that nothing about the movie really stands out. This is only director Kenneth Branagh’s second action film after ‘Thor’ and I feel that he needs to work more when it comes to doing action sequences. I do feel that this franchise does have potential but if they do make a sequel, I think they should go with a much-more experienced action director. As for this film, I can only recommend it as a rental.

OCULUS

Not being a major horror film fan, I was actually sort of looking forward to ‘Oculus’; the premise looked interesting (partially thanks to the trailer), and the film was getting pretty good reviews from critics. But in the end, I found myself having very mixed opinions about it. It’s one of those cases where most of the best things about the movie also resulted in some of its major problems. This film has a terrific cast, including Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, Brenton Thwaites, as well as some really standout performances from its two kid actors, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan. This film’s second half also featured some genuine creepy moments… but that was after a first half that, well, kind of dragged. The whole idea of the past and the present starting to mold together is interesting but at the same time also gets rather confusing at times. Finally, while the ending did catch me by surprise, it also feels more like sequel bait than anything else. I haven’t seen the original short film that this was based on, but overall I think I would’ve been better off with that. Again, I don’t think this film was bad, but really I’m just ‘meh’ on it.

WORTH-WHILES

Now we’re getting into the good stuff. Here are all of the films (excluding my Top 5 of the year so far) that I do recommend in one way or another.

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

While Zack Snyder may not be behind the camera this time for the follow-up to his hit film ‘300’, the same film that put the ‘Man of Steel’ director on the map, director Noam Murro does manage to maintain the original film’s style pretty well though this one doesn’t really have the same amount of mysticism as the original had. Really, if you liked the original ‘300’ then I think you will like this interquel (being that it’s mostly set around the same time as the original film though at times shows events that take place both before and after the events of ‘300’) because it does maintain the same visual style and is full of bloody action and Snyder-esque slow-motion. However, that does mean that this is sort of style over substance. Now the same could be said for the original ‘300’ but at the same time I did find that there were some really nice themes that went on in that film and sometimes the same thing occurred in this film as well. But for the most part, most of the main characters in this are fairly bland… save for one, Artemisia (played by Eva Green, who’s easily the standout in this film). If only because of Green’s great turn as this sexy but fierce villainess, I do feel that this movie is at least worth checking out. I mean, yes it’s not the best-written film ever but like its immediate predecessor it is still pretty entertaining and with these films, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ROBOCOP

It’s safe to say that many people were not very happy about this film being made, seeing how it’s was a ‘remake’ of one of the best sci-fi films of all time, 1987’s ‘Robocop’; definitely a hard act to follow. But I was surprised to find that I actually really enjoyed this film. The main reason why I liked it so much was because while it’s techincally a ‘remake’ of the original film being that it follows cop Alex Murphy as he becomes the robot lawman Robocop after almost dying at the hands of a crime ring, the film manages to be its own thing while making some references to the original film. Ultimately, this film is a reboot and the end result was a film that was actually pretty entertaining, though it was still flawed in some areas. For one thing, it actually had the WEAKEST villains in the history of the franchise with one that was barely used in the film at all and another that really didn’t come off as being that villainous despite the fact that this character was credited as being one of the main villains. Plus, for a film that is called ‘Robocop’, it actually focuses more on the supporting characters than Robocop himself, which is sad because I do feel that Joel Kinnaman actually did a pretty good job in the role given what he had to work with. Hopefully, if they make a sequel (which for the record I do hope they make), they can improve on the first film’s shortcomings. But even as is, I’d say that this is the best Robocop film since the original.

DRAFT DAY

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked ‘Draft Day’. Sure, like with most sports films, the overall story is a little predictable but quite frankly the film’s greatest success is that it really holds your interest throughout the entire film. That’s saying a lot considering that this is based around the NFL Draft and all of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes with teams’ general managers as they try to land it big in the draft. The movie makes it work because the film has a generally speedy pace meaning that there wasn’t any time when the film was starting to drag. It’s also not just about the Draft itself; I also liked the other side of the main story in which Browns GM Sonny Weaver (played by Kevin Costner, who does a pretty good job in this) finds himself in a stressful situation because everyone’s putting their faith in him to hopefully turn the Browns’ luck around. Sure at the end of the day it may seem like nothing more than a commercial for the NFL but I still found the film to be pretty entertaining. In other words, this is probably one of the biggest surprises of the year so far for me.

MUPPETS MOST WANTED

Everyone’s favorite puppet performers are back in ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, the sequel to 2011’s surprise hit ‘The Muppets’. As for ‘Most Wanted’, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Muppet movie. It’s a whole bunch of zany fun filled with enjoyable musical numbers and a bunch of cameos. However, I find myself liking 2011’s ‘Muppets’ much more, which is actually kind of ironic because I’m surprisingly finding that while the last film was critically acclaimed, it seems that generally audiences have had a bit more mixed reaction to it. From what I’ve seen online, the main reason for why some people weren’t too big on it was because it didn’t focus on the Muppets enough, whereas this film is much more focused on them. But ultimately the main reason why the first film was better is because it really benefited from the fact that it was an open ‘love letter’ to the franchise, resulting in a film that had a lot of heart. This, on the other hand, is more or less your basic sequel going through the usual motions. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but overall I prefer the first film more than this one. But even with that in mind, I’m glad that this franchise is back as I feel it’s one of those rare franchises that are able to appeal to both young and old. Sure, this film in particular may be a bit more oriented towards kids but there’s still enough there for adults to enjoy it as well.

NOAH

Certainly one of the more controversial films of the year, this film did manage to be a pretty successful hit at the box office and with most critics which did catch me by surprise because I kind of thought that because of its controversial take on the Bible story of Noah’s Ark and the fact that this was director Darren Aronofsky’s first major big-budget blockbuster, I kind of thought that this film would’ve been a potential flop… but it wasn’t. For the record, yes this film does take quite a few artistic liberties with the story of Noah but at the same time, I also liked how Aronofsky took a more ‘humanistic’ approach to the story. It’s still the same general story of Noah’s Ark but this film focuses more on Noah as we see how he struggles dealing with the massive burden that has been placed upon him, resulting in him nearly committing a terrible act himself but only because he was ‘commanded’ to do so. This film really explores how there is darkness in all of us but it all depends on whether or not we let that darkness overpower us and I feel that that main theme was handled very well. The film has excellent visuals and good performances from all involved, with Russell Crowe giving one of the best performances of his in recent years as Noah. This is not the same story of Noah that you’re used to, but it is still a pretty compelling alternate take on it.

GODZILLA

After the whole disaster with 1998’s ‘Godzilla’, or as some call it ‘Godzilla in Name Only’, director Gareth Edwards brought us a film that is much more deserving of the name ‘Godzilla’. Now this has been a fairly divisive film (despite it getting pretty solid reviews from critics); some really love it, and some really hate it. As for me, I’m kind of in the middle; I like the film, but I don’t love it. First off, it’s definitely a ‘Godzilla’ film. I’m not that big of a ‘Godzilla’ fan but I can safely say this is much more of a ‘Godzilla’ film than the ’98 film was. Also, the final act of this film really delivers on epic monster action. But one of my biggest problems with this movie is that it teases us just a bit too much early on as the camera cuts away from not one but two of Godzilla’s fights with the creatures known as MUTOs. Now at the same time I do appreciate that Edwards didn’t drop the ball on the monster fights right away, but still it’s pretty annoying to have the film cut away from some potentially awesome monster fights. As for the human characters in the film, they may not be given as much quality material to work with, and are focused on a bit more than ‘Godzilla’ if you really think about it, but then again that’s always the case with ‘Godzilla’ films. Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche stand out amongst the cast despite the fact that both of them are only in the film for barely 10-15 minutes. Everyone else does a fine job but most of them come off as being either rather dull (e.g. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, though for the record I don’t think he was ‘bad’ in this) or woefully underused (e.g. Elizabeth Olsen). But as is, ‘Godzilla’ is a fun little summer blockbuster that is a welcome return for the ‘King of the Monsters’… however, I kind of like ‘Pacific Rim’ more as I feel that film better delivered on its premise more than this film did. But with that said, I do look forward to the planned sequel… but for that one please filmmakers do two things for us… have Godzilla fight one of his classic foes and don’t tease the action as much.

JERSEY BOYS

Do you want to know the main reason why I was interested in this film? It wasn’t because of the source material (I haven’t seen the actual Broadway musical this was based on) or because I’m a big fan of music. It was because this film was directed by Clint Eastwood. Who would’ve ever thought that the same man who brought us films like ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’ would direct a musical? Well, he did, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I mean given the fact that there are some shady elements within this story of the origin and eventual break-up of the Four Seasons, namely some associations with the mob, it does sort of make sense for Eastwood to direct this film after all. I also liked the fact that this film had a pretty laid-back pace, even if it did mean that the film was just a little bit too long. However, I did really get into the film (after it did sort of take about twenty minutes or so to get going) thanks to a few things. First off, the music is great (I seriously don’t care if I sound like an old man; I just love this kind of music). I also liked the main cast, the majority of whom had already played these roles on stage. I know some have said that their performances feel more suited for Broadway than a film, but I still felt that the four main guys did a really good job, especially because they all had a great camaraderie. If you haven’t seen this one yet, I feel it’s worth checking out.

MALEFICENT

Fans of arguably the greatest Disney villainess of all time might be a little disappointed that this new film, a live-action retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ from Maleficent’s point of view, portrays her as its protagonist rather than the main villain. However, this does actually work for two main reasons. First off, as it has been noted already by everyone, Angelina Jolie is fantastic in this. Simply put, she was perfectly cast in the role and she does make the character very sympathetic in regards to how this film portrays her not as a villain, but as someone who was betrayed who enacts revenge against those who wronged her, which I did find to be an interesting new take on her story. The second major strength of the film is the relationship between Maleficent and Aurora (Elle Fanning, who may not have as much to work with as Jolie but I have to say I found her Aurora to be much more interesting than the Aurora from the original animated film); it’s sort of a motherly relationship, which provides the real heart of the movie. First-time director Robert Stromberg (who has been known more for his work in production design… phenomenal Oscar-winning work on films like ‘Avatar’ and previous big-budget Disney tent-poles ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’, I might add) makes a pretty solid debut with this film, which I found that I liked more than Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and almost as much as Sam Raimi’s ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’. All in all, Disney delivers another solid big-budget live-action fantasy.

CHEF

(Fun Fact: The first time I saw this, the theater I was in had to be evacuated just a few minutes after the movie started due to construction on the nearby entertainment complex located within the same mall my theater is located in. Because of that, I had to go see the film the following day instead. Thankfully no incidents occurred the second time.)

This film clearly shows that after spending the last few years directing nothing but big-budget films like the ‘Iron Man’ films and ‘Cowboys and Aliens’, Jon Favreau must’ve been fairly frustrated with the studio system. In his newest film ‘Chef’, his frustrations with Hollywood translate into the main plot in which the main character, Chef Carl Casper (played by Favreau himself in one of the best performances of his career), also feels like he’s unable to express his creativity, albeit in his case as a chef in a fancy restaurant, not as a director in Hollywood. Because of this, the film has an excellent message that you should always stay true to yourself and it really emphasizes the idea of freedom of expression. This movie is a really heartwarming feel-good film that quite frankly is just really, really pleasant to watch and amidst all of the summer blockbusters we get every year, this film is a definitely good change of pace. I don’t necessarily think that it’s one of the ‘best’ films of the year so far, mostly because I didn’t find the film to be as ‘funny’ as a lot of people were saying, but I was able to overlook that because the film is so charming that it’s really impossible not to like it. Of course if you do see it, make sure that you do eat something beforehand because otherwise if you don’t you might regret it.

NEIGHBORS

Definitely one of the best comedies of the year so far, ‘Neighbors’ works because while it is centered on a ‘turf war’ between a fraternity and a couple with a newborn baby, the film doesn’t have a ‘villain’, per se; the main couple Mac and Kelly are a likable couple (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne have excellent chemistry; Byrne in particular is the film’s biggest standout because she just has great comedic timing) but because we see that the members of the frat are trying to become a part of their frat’s history (which is actually a pretty admirable goal), they’re not portrayed as being unlikable. Plus, having seen this with a friend of mine who is in a fraternity, I can easily verify that this film does do a very good job at portraying the brotherhood of fraternities, as these brothers will stick by each other no matter what even when they start to fight. I mean, if this film did portray these guys as being nothing than just a bunch of a-holes, I don’t think that the movie would’ve worked as well as it did and it would’ve painted frats in a negative way. Thankfully, that didn’t happen here with this film and as is, it’s a fun little film that has quite a lot of laughs.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

Once again, the newest Transformers film has been universally bashed by pretty much everyone and once again, I find myself in the minority as one of those who really enjoyed this film. Like with the first two Transformers sequels, I do feel that this one is definitely better than what everyone’s putting it out to be. Now I will agree that the film is overlong at a runtime of nearly 3 hours. The main reason why this is a problem is because this film could’ve easily ended at one point and had the other half of the film saved for a later release date but instead it keeps going and even I’ll admit that I was rather exhausted by the end of the film. But as is typical with Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’ films, the visual effects and action sequences are phenomenal and while the human characters may not be the most developed characters ever, the new additions to the cast are a very much welcome breath of fresh air for the franchise, highlighted by Mark Wahlberg who proves to be a superior lead than Shia LaBeouf. I’m very eager to see what happens next for the film franchise, though I do think that it’s time for a different director to take over, just because I’m sure that Michael Bay doesn’t want to keep making these films for the rest of his life. They already take up more than a third of his directorial filmography. But as is, Bay delivers yet another entertaining popcorn flick in this lucrative franchise.

VERONICA MARS

First off, I just want to note that I wasn’t one of the contributors to this film’s Kickstarter campaign because at the time it was going on, I hadn’t seen the original show. But after that Kickstarter campaign became one of the most successful ventures ever on the site which resulted in this film being able to get made, I was finally compelled to watch the show and I’m really glad that I did. It’s easily one of the most underrated shows of this past decade and it’s really sad that it only lasted three seasons ending on a rather low note with a finale that actually would’ve been good if it had been a ‘season finale’ but instead was the ‘series finale’, leaving fans with a lot of questions left unanswered. Thankfully now we have this movie and if by any chance it means that there won’t be a follow-up, this is a much more satisfying conclusion to the series. And yeah, the movie’s basically a ‘love letter’ to the fanbase (after all, they were responsible for the movie being able to get made) which means that technically it is geared more towards the fans of the show. But still, I think that this movie can appeal to non-fans because it continued to represent why the show was so good in the first place; intriguing storylines, memorable characters, and one of the best female TV leads ever in Veronica Mars thanks to both the excellent writing and Kristen Bell’s performance in the main role. I love the show, and I loved the movie.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

I’ll be honest… I did not expect this film to be as good as it was. Now for the record I was looking forward to it but I never thought that it would get excellent reviews from critics… but it did. This film offers a much more original story than what we’re used to seeing these days though for the record this is based off of a light novel so the term ‘original’ can only go so far. ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ is a film that revolves around Tom Cruise’s character Bill Cage stuck in a time loop but the film manages not to become tiresome because of this situation. In fact, this movie’s greatest strength is its humor, which comes from Cage’s trial-and-error campaign. Speaking of Cruise, this is probably the best he’s been in quite some time, especially because his character in this does have an arc and doesn’t immediately start off as a badass soldier, like a lot of the characters that Tom Cruise tends to play these days. Also excellent in this is Emily Blunt, who hopefully will get more roles in action movies because she is a legitimate action star and her character in this is a great action heroine. This film unfortunately has been performing rather poorly at the American box office (thank god for the International box office for saving this movie from being a flop) so that means that if you haven’t seen this film yet, you’re really missing out.

TOP 5 OF THE YEAR SO FAR

5. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

This is easily the ‘Man of Steel’ of 2014 and by that I mean that this film has been very, very polarizing amongst both critics and audiences. How polarizing is it, you ask? Well, on my podcast group ‘The Feature Presentation’, I’m the only one of us five main guys who actually liked it; in fact, I’m really the only one of us five who actually prefers the Marc Webb directed reboot series to Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, which for the record I still like but at the same time I don’t feel is perfect. And yes, I don’t think that this film is perfect either, but I never found it to be as overcrowded, either in characters or plot-lines, as everyone was saying it is. Maybe it was and maybe that does result in a film that’s rather uneven in a lot of areas but I never really got that impression when watching this. What I really loved about this film was the cast (specifically Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone), the action sequences, and the visuals. Going back to Garfield’s performance, I also feel that this film really captured who Spider-Man was as a superhero; someone who gives the people of New York hope when all seems lost. That’s why he’s my personal favorite comic book superhero. He’s someone who is down-to-earth and just like us who just so happens to have superpowers, making him one of the most likable superheroes of all time. But I will say this about the film and, at the same time, this new Spider-Man franchise; if Sony really wants to develop their own Cinematic Universe a la Marvel, then they really need to start executing it because it’s really only teased at the end of this film. Now I do like the idea that they have in mind (e.g. ‘Sinister Six’) but again if they want it to happen, they actually have to do it. But still I do like what they want to do and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming sequels as well as the announced ‘Sinister Six’ and ‘Venom’ spinoffs… the fact that I’m saying all of this and that I have more faith in Sony than DC right now… says a hell of a lot, folks.

4. 22 JUMP STREET

One of the main reasons why most comedy sequels tend to suck is because a lot of them copy the same plot of the first film. This sequel does copy the same plot as ‘21 Jump Street’ but at the same time everyone involved with it is very self-aware of that. Not only does this film have just as much good material as the previous film had but a lot of this film’s humor comes from how the characters are very much aware of the situation they are in; they’re doing the exact same mission that they did in the first film, with the only major difference being that this time they’re going undercover at a college and not in high school. But it does work thanks to the great bromantic chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and a very smart script that plays off of the fact that this is basically repeating every major plot point from the first film. This is easily one of the best comedy sequels of all time, if not the best, and right now it’s my pick for the best comedy of the year. It’s another great film from the excellent directorial duo that is Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Speaking of those two…

3. THE LEGO MOVIE

Lord and Miller struck gold twice this year, starting off the year with this February release, ‘The LEGO Movie’. Now at first glance, this could have been nothing more than a glorified commercial for the LEGO brand and regardless of how good the film turned out, it sort of still is a ‘marketing gimmick’ (but really that’s unavoidable). But even with all of that in mind, the film really delivered when it came to the writing. The film has a great message that shows that we are all special in our way, whether we play by the rules or boldly go outside the box. This film speaks to both groups and this film really does a great job of representing the legacy and popularity of the brand, primarily through a great twist that was genuinely unexpected in an age where moments like that could be leaked at any time before a film even comes out, potentially ruining the moment. With terrific animation, a great voice cast but most importantly a whole lot of heart, ‘The LEGO Movie’ is easily the best animated film so far this year and at this point, as far as I’m concerned, Phil Lord and Chris Miller can do no wrong. After all, all of their film projects up to this point were deemed unlikely to be that good and once they came out, we were all proven wrong.

2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

My personal favorite film of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (not counting ‘The Avengers’) had to be ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ for being very reminiscent of an old-school summer blockbuster but having the modern blockbuster magic at the same time. Its immediate sequel, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ may be set in a different time period (in this case the present day) but the end result… is quite frankly the best solo MCU film to date. Yes folks, I feel that this film is even better than the first ‘Iron Man’. While I never minded that ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ didn’t try to connect with the MCU that much, ‘Cap 2’ really takes advantage of the grand scale of the MCU as it really sets the stage for what’s to come in future MCU movies due to some incredibly game-changing events (e.g. SHIELD taken over by HYDRA). While their previous filmography in comedy doesn’t really suggest that they’d be a good choice to direct an action film, directors Anthony and Joe Russo did an excellent job with the movie with excellent visuals, a very good amount of humor (what else would you expect from two directors that before this were mostly known for comedy), and some very well-shot action sequences that were shot in a shaky cam style but it was effective enough and wasn’t annoying (like some other movies with lots of shaky cam work recently like ‘Alex Cross’ or ‘Battle: Los Angeles’). Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson give their best performances in the roles of Captain America, Black Widow, and Nick Fury to date along with a terrific supporting cast, resulting in one of the best superhero films yet… though another superhero film managed to edge it out for the best of the year so far. That other film is…

1. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

For many people, this was their most anticipated film of the year being that it was a film based off of an iconic X-Men storyline from the comics, had a large ensemble cast of old and new members of the film franchise, and was directed by the same man who brought the franchise into relevance in the first place, Bryan Singer. It may not have been my most anticipated film of the year (that honor went to ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’) but overall it’s the one film this year that quite frankly delivered the most without any real disappointments. Sure, the film actually does focus more on the trio of young Professor X (James McAvoy in particular is the biggest standout of this film), young Magneto (Michael Fassbender was just excellent here as he was in ‘First Class’), and young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence, who already did a really good job in ‘First Class’, was even better in this film). But even then this is the first time in an X-Men film where there is no weak link in the cast whatsoever. Even though a lot of members of the cast are basically just doing cameos in this film, they all do their job well in a film that quite frankly really delivers on its action and characters, really showcasing the ‘group dynamic’ that the X-Men have been known for. Singer returning to the franchise (even if, at first, it was only as a producer/writer for ‘First Class’) saved this franchise from rock bottom after the disappointing ‘X3’ and the horrible ‘Origins’… oh yeah, and now thanks to this new film we can now forget about those two as it’s clear that the filmmakers wanted to erase the mistakes made by those two films… and they did. All of this is why ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ is currently my favorite film of 2014.

But we still have half a year and this Top 5 is definitely subject to change. What new films will make my Top 12 ‘Best of’ list by the end of the year? Well, tune in near the end of the year for that list. Until then, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more movie reviews.