The Good Dinosaur (2015) review

What’s this? Two Pixar films in one year? Yes folks, for the first time ever, the animation giants have achieved the feat of having two new films open up in the same year. Of course back in June we got the truly amazing ‘Inside Out’, which was easily the company’s best film of the past few years, and now here in November, we have Pixar’s second 2015 effort, ‘The Good Dinosaur’. However, the reason why this film ended up getting released the same year as ‘Inside Out’ could be regarded as a rather troubling one. For you see, this film was originally supposed to be Pixar’s 2014 release directed by Bob Peterson AKA the voice of Dug the talking dog in ‘Up’. However, in August of 2013, it was announced that Peterson had been removed from the film and that it was being completely reworked after he had been having trouble with the final act, with fellow Pixar employee Peter Sohn (AKA Emile from ‘Ratatouille’) taking over as the new director. Now for the record, this isn’t the first time that this has happened with Pixar. Production of the first ‘Toy Story’ was briefly shut down after the edgier take on the story suggested by Disney’s then-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg proved to be a disaster. Its first sequel, ‘Toy Story 2’, was not only reworked from its initial direct-to-video state but the final product was completed in just nine months. But from today’s perspective, pair all of that production turmoil with the middling reception of Pixar’s post ‘Toy Story 3’ run and basically you have a lot of people predicting that this film was going to be a disaster. But in the end, ‘The Good Dinosaur’ very much proves its critics wrong because while it may end up being one of Pixar’s simpler stories, it’s still a very charming and beautiful effort from the studio.

‘The Good Dinosaur’ sets up a world in which the infamous meteor that resulted in the extinction of all dinosaurs ends up missing Earth entirely, allowing the dinosaurs to live on and further evolve. 65 million years later, a young Apatosaurus named Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) lives on a farm with his family; his father Henry (Jeffrey Wright), his mother Ida (Frances McDormand), and his siblings Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby (Maleah Padilla). But because of his fearful nature, Arlo continually finds it difficult to help his family around the farm so that he can truly earn his ‘mark’ (a mud-print on the farm silo). His father tries to help him overcome his fears by giving him the job of dealing with pests that try to steal their food. But after a flash flood in which Henry is tragically killed, Arlo ends up getting washed far away from home when he falls into the river right next to the farm. Remembering what his father told him about ‘using the river to find his way home’, Arlo soon comes across a feral cave-boy who he names ‘Spot’ (Jack Bright), who ironically happens to be the same pest that Arlo was trying to stop and was inadvertently responsible for the events that led to Arlo’s father’s death and Arlo getting swept away from his home, and the two become friends as they brave the wilderness and all sorts of potential threats, including a group of carnivorous pterodactyls, as they try to get back to Arlo’s home.

To be perfectly frank, ‘The Good Dinosaur’ is a much simpler story compared to some of Pixar’s other films. It’s basically just a story about the main character trying to get home. But even with that said, I feel that there’s much more to this film than just that. For one thing, it genuinely is a very unique take on the classic ‘boy and his dog’ story, except in this case the boy is ‘the dog’ and the dog, in this case a dinosaur, is ‘the boy’. But then it also carries some really strong themes, mainly the idea of being able to overcome your fear, resulting in a great character arc for Arlo as he very much finds himself outside of his comfort zone. Though at the same time, the film also stresses that fear is a natural thing and as one character puts it, “If you ain’t scared… you ain’t alive.” There have been some who said that the film is too ‘kiddie’, that it’s the first Pixar film that’s ‘just for kids’ (which therefore gives me the assumption that they apparently forgot about ‘Cars 2’, which was the ‘real’ first Pixar film to get that ‘description’ by critics). But quite frankly that’s far from the truth as this film is a great ‘coming-of-age’ story that gives us a great friendship between the two main characters, Arlo and Spot, even though it starts out with Arlo being angry at Spot for getting them lost in the first place. But as time goes on, the two grow closer as they look out for each other in this dangerous world of dinosaurs and, without giving anything major away, this leads to some very emotional moments as one would normally expect from Pixar films.

This film feels very much like ‘Wall-E’ in that it focuses more on visual storytelling than it does with dialogue, especially in a great scene in which Arlo and Spot lament about their lost families. And of course, the animation is the usual Pixar level of excellence, even though there have been some who felt that the more cartoony characters don’t mix very well with the photorealistic environments, something that I didn’t really have any major problem with. The film’s voice cast was another element of the film that got redeveloped along with the story. Initially, the film was going to star, among others, John Lithgow, Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, and Judy Greer. But from this initial cast, only Frances McDormand stayed on as the voice of Arlo’s mother while Lithgow was replaced by Jeffrey Wright as Arlo’s father and Harris, Hader, and Greer’s characters, Arlo’s original three siblings, were replaced in favor of just two siblings, his brother Buck and his sister Libby. But just like how the film works great without a whole lot of dialogue, the film’s small voice cast is, in a way, able to stand out more because of it. Arlo was originally voiced by Lucas Neff before the filmmakers switched him with Raymond Ochoa to give Arlo a younger voice and that’s definitely a good idea because it better reflects how the character matures over the course of the film. Wright and McDormand are great as usual in their small roles as Arlo’s parents and the film features some very memorable side characters, including director Peter Sohn as a Styracosaurus named Forrest Woodbush who ‘owns’ a bunch of animals that reside on his horns and Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, and A.J. Buckley as a trio of T-Rex ‘ranchers’.

Given the film’s current rating of 78% on RT, this is definitely going to be one of the more polarizing entries in Pixar’s lineup alongside films like ‘Brave’ and ‘Monsters University’. Some have accused this film of being ‘simplistic’ and that it’s only ‘for kids’, which is an argument that unfortunately has been made from time to time over the years by certain people when it comes to animated films. But I’m going to concur with an argument made by my friend Kyle over at ‘Kyle’s Animated World’; what’s so bad about Pixar making a film that isn’t a complete masterpiece? I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t ‘hate’ ‘Cars 2’ and feel that both ‘Brave’ and ‘Monsters University’ are solid efforts from the company even if they aren’t amongst their absolute best. ‘The Good Dinosaur’ is another fine case of that. Yes it’s one of the simpler affairs from the studio but there’s more to it than what some may claim. As a film that’s more about visual storytelling than dialogue-based storytelling, it perfectly executes its themes of courage and friendship through the main character Arlo’s main story arc and his overall relationship with the feral cave-boy Spot. And of course like many Pixar films, it features amazing animation and some genuinely emotional moments that I guarantee are going to make you tear up. Similar to how Marvel managed to overcome some production troubles with this year’s ‘Ant-Man’, ‘The Good Dinosaur’ managed to overcome its initial production troubles to become yet another great effort from Pixar that’s great for the whole family and not just for kids as some of its critics claim it is.

Rating: 4.5/5

For those who have already seen the film, please check out my friend Kyle’s ‘spoiler’ review of it in the link provided below;

http://kylesanimatedworld.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-great-dinosaur-pixar-does-it-again.html

Marvel's Jessica Jones: Season Review

(WARNING: This post may contain minor spoilers! In case any of you have not yet seen the show in full, don’t worry because I will not be giving away any ‘major spoilers’ in this review.)

Recently I may have made it seem like I’m not that big a fan of ‘darker’ superhero stories, hence why I usually prefer the lighter and more family-friendly affairs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For the record, that’s not entirely true. I mean, yes, at the end of the day I do sort of prefer the lighter-hearted superhero flicks and TV shows as I feel that they’re easier to get into, especially for someone like me who actually isn’t that big of a comic book reader. But even with that said, I have liked ‘darker’ superhero films in the past, namely Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’, which still stands as the best superhero film trilogy to date. Ultimately the problem that I have with ‘darker’ superhero stories is when they’re done for characters that, to put it simply, are not known for having ‘dark’ storylines. The prime recent example of this was ‘Man of Steel’, as the film’s extremely dour tone really didn’t gel with the optimistic and inspirational tone that has usually defined the ‘Superman’ franchise. That’s one of the reasons why I’m rather worried about DC’s upcoming slate of films as I fear that their alleged ‘no joke’ policy (emphasis on ‘alleged’ as this may ultimately just be a rumor) is the wrong way to go when only a few of their characters are fit for a ‘darker’ cinematic universe. And while I know that there are some out there who want to see ‘darker’ MCU films, I’m not entirely on board with that because I feel that doing so would exclude the franchise’s main target audience; kids.

But if you are one of those people who wants to see Marvel Studios tackle darker material, then you’ll surely be very satisfied with the shows that they’ve been producing with Netflix that will soon lead to a ‘Defenders’ crossover series. Of course earlier this year that partnership started off with a bang thanks to the excellent debut series, ‘Daredevil’. After the disappointing effort that was the ‘Daredevil’ film back in 2003, Marvel Studios truly did the character of Matt Murdock AKA ‘The Man without Fear’ justice in a gritty and hard-edged series that definitely went beyond the boundaries of what you would normally see from the MCU films. But let me tell you, folks, the dark things that happened on that show are nothing compared to the psychological episodes that occur in Marvel’s second Netflix series, ‘Jessica Jones’. This truly is Marvel Studios’ darkest entry to date… and as you might guessed, that’s one of the reasons why it ends up being another great installment of this ever-expanding universe. It’s a show that fully embraces its noir atmosphere to produce a highly compelling and emotionally complex story headlined by an excellent lead ‘anti-heroine’, a truly terrific main villain, and a supporting cast of really well-developed characters. Thanks to shows like this, ‘Daredevil’, and the ABC duo of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘Agent Carter’, I think it’s safe to say that Marvel is now on DC’s level when it comes to the superhero TV market.

After a brief stint as a superhero that ended in tragedy, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), capable of super-strength and the ability to ‘fly’ (or to be more specific, jump really high), takes on a new career as a private investigator for the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. One day she is approached by a couple from Omaha looking for their daughter Hope (Erin Moriarty), an NYU student who has been missing for about a month after she told her parents that she was ‘taking a break’ from college. Jessica takes on the case but is horrified to discover that Hope has been with Kilgrave (David Tennant), the same man whose powers of mind control were directly responsible for the incident that made her quit being a superhero and the PTSD that she now suffers from because of it. Initially thinking that he had died during that incident, Jessica quickly finds out that he’s still alive and fears that he’s come back to get her. She manages to find Hope but Kilgrave’s mind powers end up taking control of her again, forcing her to kill her parents. Now compelled to prove Hope’s innocence, Jessica embarks on an all-out crusade against Kilgrave so that he can be stopped before he ruins someone else’s life.

This is very much Marvel’s ‘noir’ series with its hardboiled mood, edgy visual style, and dark storylines. ‘Daredevil’ dabbled in this manner a little bit but ‘Jessica Jones’ fully embraces it and while both of these shows are obviously geared towards older audiences, the latter is easily much darker than anything that happened in the former, and not just because it’s full of violence and sex. There are some seriously messed up things that happen in this show, particularly in Episodes 8 through 10; ‘AKA WWJD?’, ‘AKA Sin Bin’, and ‘AKA 1,000 Cuts’, which, not surprisingly, are the best episodes of the season. And while the writing occasionally veers into formulaic territory from time to time over the 13-episode run, it’s still the most mature story that Marvel Studios has ever done through its psychological themes. The characters are extremely well-layered, many of whom find themselves directly affected by Kilgrave as a result of Jessica’s own mission to stop him and each dealing with this trauma in their own way. Jessica herself is a very well-written lead character reminiscent of another classic P.I. character, Veronica Mars, which is a very fitting reference given that Krysten Ritter had a supporting role in ‘Veronica Mars’. As noted earlier, the incident that caused Jessica to quit being a superhero results in her having to cope with PTSD. This is really exemplified early on in the series, before she actually does come face-to-face with Kilgrave again, in moments where he appears to her in purple-bathed visions, which of course correlates to the character’s comic identity as the ‘Purple Man’ without actually having him have purple skin.

The interesting thing about this entry in the MCU lineup is that it introduces not one, but two new main superheroes. Jessica Jones, of course, is the main character but the series also introduces the character of Luke Cage (Mike Colter), who will be headlining Marvel Studios’ third Netflix series next year, presumably after Season 2 of ‘Daredevil’. As Jessica Jones, Krysten Ritter brings the perfect mix of sarcastic wit, hard-edged tenacity, and emotional vulnerability that makes the character such a compelling anti-hero. And as Luke Cage, Mike Colter conveys a much more reserved but very strong composure as the man with the unbreakable skin. Fans of the comics know that these two end up having a relationship and Ritter and Colter have solid chemistry while also having a very ‘interesting’ connection to each other that ends up complicating their relationship as the series goes on. Backing the two of them up is an excellent supporting cast of characters that, as noted earlier, also end up getting thrown into Jessica’s crusade as well, each affected by it in their own way. That includes Rachael Taylor as Jessica’s best friend Trish Walker, a radio host with whom Jessica has a very strong sister-like friendship with, Wil Traval as Will Simpson, a cop who goes a bit too far in order to stop Kilgrave, Eka Darville as Jessica’s neighbor Malcolm, a drug addict who goes through a major arc of redemption over the course of the series, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Jessica’s steely lawyer associate Jeri Hogarth.

And then there’s David Tennant as the main villain, Kilgrave AKA ‘The Purple Man’. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been much more positive towards the villains of the MCU films compared to most of those on the internet who feel that Loki has been the only ‘good’ villain. But even with that said, I think we can all agree that the villains headlining Marvel’s Netflix shows have been particularly excellent to the point where they actually outshine Loki. First there was Vincent D’Onofrio’s excellent turn as Wilson Fisk in ‘Daredevil’ and now with ‘Jessica Jones’, I got to say… David Tennant manages to outshine even D’Onofrio to become the franchise’s new ‘best’ villain. Kilgrave is such an intimidating foe that he is, quite frankly, a pretty damn scary villain given his ability to easily take over the minds of anyone he comes across and tell them to do whatever he commands, with the most common command of his being the one to tell his ‘minions’ to kill themselves. But at the same time, despite being such a despicable SOB, he also manages to convey an unexplainable charming persona. Tennant (AKA ‘the fan-favorite Doctor Who’) really shines in this role, perfectly capturing the character’s reprehensible attitude while also managing to provide some hilarious ‘dark comedy’ from time to time. Simply put, Kilgrave is one of those ‘perfect’ villains; one that you hate with a burning passion and yet can’t stop watching, which actually makes sense given the fact that he could literally command you to keep watching him.

Now unlike some of the people I’ve seen over the past week, I’m not going to compare this show to any of the MCU films. I’m not going to compare it to ‘Daredevil’, although I will say that I do sort of prefer it by just a slight margin. And finally I’m not going to compare it to the other female-led superhero show that debuted this fall, ‘Supergirl’ (an ‘early impression’ post for that series is coming soon), because both shows are very different in terms of execution. So while I won’t be making any sort of hyperbolic statement that makes other superhero content seem inferior by comparison, what I will do is commend this show for being another excellent effort from Marvel Studios, whose partnership with Netflix has allowed them to produce stories that are far darker than what, thankfully, we’ve seen in the MCU films. And ‘Jessica Jones’ truly defines the term ‘dark superhero story’ with its intense/violent action sequences and psychological twists. Until now, Marvel has never really delved into the ‘noir’ genre but now they have this show, which yet again shows how versatile the studio has been over the years in regards to bringing to life stories that span all sorts of film/TV genres. And the story they tell in this series is one standout tale with its highly developed and emotionally complex characters and a main villain that not only stands as one of the MCU’s greatest villains but also as one of the best TV villains of all-time period. Seeing how ‘Daredevil’ is going to be getting a second season next year, we may very well get to see another season of the excellent show down the road.  

Season Rating: 4.5/5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) review

While most film franchises based off of ‘Young Adult’ book series have had mixed results in terms of financial and critical success, with some not even making it past one film, ‘The Hunger Games’ series, based off of the books of the same name by Suzanne Collins, has easily been the most successful of these franchises since it started three years ago. With its strong story and characters, the series is very much deserving of its status of being a ‘global phenomenon’ just like ‘Harry Potter’ was in the decade before the release of the first ‘Hunger Games’ film in 2012. Though for most people, the series really established itself as a premier franchise with its second installment, ‘Catching Fire’. For the record, the first film was very much a critical and commercial success when it was released in March 2012 but it did attract some polarizing responses from audiences, mostly due to the film’s ‘shaky cam’ style and rapid editing during the action sequences. But as for ‘Catching Fire’, the first in the series to be directed by Francis Lawrence (no relation to series star Jennifer Lawrence), it’s pretty much universally regarded as the better film, which is rather ironic considering that the book it was based off of was arguably the least popular entry of the series. The success of ‘Catching Fire’ resulted in Lawrence being brought back to direct the final installment of the series, ‘Mockingjay’. But then things got a bit controversial when it was announced that ‘Mockingjay’ would be split into two films.

Of course the practice of splitting the final installment of a series into two films was kick-started by the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise when it split its final book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, into two films. But ultimately the reason why that was actually a good thing was because the book did have enough material to justify two films. Other franchises then followed suit but it was clear that these series’ final installments weren’t big enough to be split into two films. That was very much true with the ‘Twilight’ series with ‘Breaking Dawn’ and without them even being released yet, the same will clearly be said for the ‘Divergent’ series with ‘Allegiant’ and its second part, ‘Ascendant’. As for ‘The Hunger Games’, the same general argument came up; that ‘Mockingjay’ simply didn’t have enough in it for two films. I on the other hand was a bit more optimistic after coming across an article that stated that the main reason why this decision was made was so that the filmmakers could expand upon the plot in ways that Collins couldn’t when she wrote the book due to the limitation of having to cram it all into just one book. Ultimately though, the skepticism towards this decision still stood and that was made even more evident by the less positive reaction towards last year’s ‘Mockingjay Part 1’, though I felt that it was still really good even if it was more about the series’ politics than the action. Now we finally come to the last installment of the ‘Hunger Games’ film series, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, and… I finally see why this should’ve just been one film. For the record, I still really liked this film like I did the previous three but ultimately I feel that this is the weakest of the series as the complications of ‘Mockingjay’ being split into two films finally start to take effect.

‘Part 1’ of ‘Mockingjay’ saw Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), survivor of the 74^th and 75^th ‘Hunger Games’, slowly but surely becoming the ‘Mockingjay’, the face of the growing rebellion of the citizens of Panem against the Capitol and their dictatorial leader, President Snow (Donald Sutherland). During this time, Katniss’ main love interest Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), who had been captured by the Capitol during the events of ‘Catching Fire’ and turned into a ‘puppet’ for Snow, had been rescued but was revealed to have been brainwashed by Snow in order to kill Katniss. As Part 2 begins, the rebels truly begin their attack on the Capitol but after they destroy the Capitol’s primary weapons supply in District 2, Katniss’ request to go after Snow is declined by rebel leader President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), who tells her that she will instead be maintained as the symbol of the revolution. Going against Coin’s orders, Katniss sneaks into District 2 where she is assigned into ‘Star Squad 451’, along with her best friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) and, later on, Peeta, despite the fact that his ‘brainwashing’ is still partially in effect, therefore making him a liability for the squad. Despite this, Katniss ventures forward to the Capitol in order to finally kill President Snow and bring his tyrannical rule to an end. But after a while, she and her closest friends and allies soon begin to truly be affected by the horrors that have come from this war between the Rebels and the Capitol.

Whereas ‘Mockingjay Part I’ was more about the political side to the growing rebellion and the propaganda that both the Rebels and the Capitol were spreading in order to sway people to their sides, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’ is very much focused on the action. And with that in mind, the action sequences are pretty darn good. The film is definitely well-directed just like the previous two films, proving that the addition of Francis Lawrence as director was arguably the best thing that could’ve ever happened to this franchise. However, while the film is very much well-directed, the plot sort of suffers a bit compared to previous films. To put it bluntly, the film’s emotional beats don’t really hit on the level that the film was trying to achieve. This is primarily the result of two things; A.) The aforementioned ‘action-oriented’ pacing and B.) The fact that the film is primarily focused around Katniss. Katniss is very much the main character of the film and is in nearly every scene in the film. But because she’s focused on so much, there are times where she actually overshadows some of the other characters. Certain characters like Johanna and Haymitch are only in the film for brief amounts of time and this gets even more problematic when other characters end up biting the dust. Don’t worry I won’t reveal who dies for those who haven’t read the book but with that said, I feel that the major deaths in this film didn’t really get the attention that they should’ve gotten, particularly a very important death that should be very personal to Katniss and yet really only gets one major scene in which she is shown to be heavily affected by it.

The best thing that comes from the film’s overt focus on Katniss is that, because she truly is the main star of the film, this is very much Jennifer Lawrence’s film. She’s always been terrific in the role, even though the character sort of lost her edge in the first ‘Mockingjay’ film due to her being so concerned about making sure Peeta was rescued from the Capitol. Thankfully that isn’t as much an issue this time, however, and this can literally be described as a case where Jennifer Lawrence is both figuratively and literally carrying the film, and pretty much the entire franchise, on her back. The only other member of the cast who gets screen-time that’s anywhere close to Lawrence’s is Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Hutcherson has definitely grown the most out of anyone in this cast to the point where I’d argued that he was actually the standout of ‘Mockingjay Part I’. Hutcherson is equally terrific here as Peeta might actually have more to work with than Lawrence given the fact that the character continually runs the risk of jeopardizing the whole mission due to his brainwashing by one of cinema’s best villains in recent years. Yes Donald Sutherland has been particularly great in these films as the truly despicable SOB Snow, who somehow always manages to maintain his cool no matter what the situation is. Of course the rest of the cast is great as well, as they’ve been throughout the entire series, but as I noted earlier, quite a few of these characters are generally downplayed in favor of Katniss.

Despite what I’ve said in this review, I want to make it clear that I do not ‘hate’ this film. I still really like it for a lot of the things that made the previous films great. Francis Lawrence’s direction is once again excellent, the film has some really well-done action sequences, and the film’s cast is outstanding, particularly Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Donald Sutherland. But at the same time, this actually ends up being my least favorite of the four films and ultimately this is because I now realize that this really should’ve just been one film. And I’m not saying that because the first film was more focused on the politics and this film was more action-oriented. The real reason why I think this should’ve been one film is because due to this film’s action-heavy pacing, most of the set-up for this film was a result of the first film, meaning that there’s not as much character development in this one. And because the film is focused more on Katniss than anyone else, certain character deaths don’t get as much focus as they should’ve gotten. In other words, if this was just one film, then maybe the characters that do die would’ve gotten more screen-time and therefore their deaths would’ve been more impactful. Again, I do still like the film and very much feel that ‘The Hunger Games’ is easily the best franchise of its ‘genre’ after ‘Harry Potter’, even though I don’t like referring to the latter as being part of the ‘Young Adult’ genre. But ultimately ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, while it does do its job at being the finale to this franchise, doesn’t really deliver on the epic finality that it was trying to achieve.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Hunger Games: The Story So Far

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Today I’m going to be doing something a little bit different that may end up being the start of a new series on this website. The final installment of the ‘Hunger Games’ series, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, will be out soon and because I have already done reviews for all three of the previous ‘Hunger Games’ films, obviously doing a retrospective post would be completely redundant. But I did want to do something as a way of commemorating the impending release of the new film so I decided to do a post that would do either one of two things for people; either refresh their memory of the previous films or, in the case of newcomers, get them ‘up-to-speed’ with everything that has happened so far. Because as we all know, franchises have become a huge thing nowadays and some can go on for a while, to the point where it could potentially get a bit confusing for those who are going into this films fresh. So consider this the first in a series of posts that I like to call ‘The Story So Far’. And today, I’ll be recapping what has so happened so far in the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise beginning with 2012’s titular first installment and concluding with the most recent release, 2014’s ‘Mockingjay Part I’. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the series or someone who doesn’t know a single thing about it, this post will help you with pretty much everything you need to know in time for the finale to the saga of Katniss Everdeen, the ‘girl on fire’.

‘Hunger Games’, based off of the book series of the same name by author Suzanne Collins, takes place in the dystopian world of Panem, which is established as being located within the ruins of North America. Panem consists of the lavish and extravagant city/totalitarian government that is ‘the Capitol’ and the oppressed and much poorer 12 districts that surround it. The ‘Hunger Games’ that the series is named for is an annual event that the Capitol holds as a means of punishing the districts after a rebellion 74 years earlier had resulted in the Capitol defeating the rebellion and the 13^th District supposedly being destroyed. Every year, one young boy and girl from each District are selected as ‘Tributes’ to partake in a nationally televised duel to the death. As the first ‘Hunger Games’ begins, it is the year of the 74^th Hunger Games and in the poorest district of all, District 12, young Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) prepares for the annual Reaping ceremony along with her sister Prim (Willow Shields). Prim is scared to be chosen but Katniss assures her that it won’t happen because it’s her first time participating in the Reaping and unlike the older kids who have been in multiple Reapings, her name has only been entered in once. But as fate would have it, when the Reaping occurs, Capitol representative Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) ends up selecting Prim’s name.

Not wanting to lose her sister, Katniss boldly volunteers to take her place as the female representative of District 12. Along with male representative Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the son of the local baker who had once helped Katniss years earlier by giving her bread when she was starving, Katniss is immediately whisked away to the Capitol. The two are placed under the mentorship of District 12’s only winner, the drunken Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), who’s key piece of advice for them is to attract sponsors who will help them during the games by sending them gifts while they’re in the arena. He also warns them about the ‘Career Tributes’ from Districts 1 and 2 who are much more prepared for the games than they are, having been trained for them from a young age, and are basically the fan favorites. When they arrive at the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta begin their training for the Games while also attempting to attract sponsors, as Haymitch suggested. Katniss quickly ends up becoming a crowd favorite, primarily due to both her bold sacrifice to save her sister as well as the reveal by Peeta that he is in love with her during the live interviews with TV host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci).

When the 74^th Hunger Games begin, Katniss narrowly survives the bloodbath that occurs at the start as a result of most of the Tributes trying to grab supplies at the Cornucopia located at the center of the arena. Katniss manages to stay clear of the other Tributes for a while but ends up getting brought back into the action by Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley), who drives her back with a forest fire controlled by him and his fellow Gamemakers. She then escapes from the Career Tributes as well as, to her surprise, Peeta, who has apparently formed an alliance with them (though ultimately this was just him trying to ‘gain their trust’). With the help of District 11 tribute Rue, Katniss manages to kill District 1 Tribute Glimmer, steal her bow, which is the weapon that Katniss works with the best, and destroys the hoard of supplies that the Careers have been collecting. Sadly, Rue ends up getting killed by District 1 Tribute Marvel, who Katniss then kills in retaliation, and her emotional grieving causes a riot in District 11. In response to this, Haymitch suggests to Seneca a rule change that would allow two winners if both come from the same district. After this change is announced, Katniss finds Peeta and the two outlast all of the remaining tributes. But when Crane changes the rules back to there being only one winner, the two defy the Capitol by threatening to commit suicide via poisonous berries. Quickly named the co-winners of the 74^th Hunger Games, the two return home to District 12 though they are warned that their actions aren’t going over too well with Panem’s ruler, President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland).

The second film, ‘Catching Fire’, opens as Katniss and Peeta are preparing to go on a Victory Tour through the other districts. But before that happens, Katniss is visited by Snow at her home, who makes it clear that her rebellious actions have not only caused uprisings across Panem but have also put her and her loved ones in danger. This forces Katniss to have to convince Snow that her romance with Peeta in the arena was true and not just a means of defying the Capitol. But even after the Tour is done, which ultimately does nothing to stop the uprisings despite Katniss and Peeta’s best efforts, Snow and new Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) develop a new plan to both subdue the uprisings and get rid of Katniss via the 75^th Hunger Games AKA the third ‘Quarter Quell’, a special Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years where a special rule change is instituted. Snow announces that this year’s Quarter Quell will consist entirely of surviving victors and because Katniss is the only female victor from District 12, this of course means that she’s forced back into the arena once again. Katniss and Haymitch try to keep Peeta from having to compete again as well but during the Reaping, Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch’s place when the latter is initially chosen as the male tribute. The two return to the Capitol to once again prepare for the Games. This time around, Haymitch advises them to make alliances with some of the other Tributes, telling them that they’re all angry at the Capitol for making them compete in the Hunger Games a second time.    

Despite all of the attempts made by the Tributes to try and sway the citizens of the Capitol to protest the Games in the hopes of stopping them, the 75^th Hunger Games start without a hitch. Katniss and Peeta ally themselves with charming District 4 champion Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), his elderly mentor Mags (Lynn Cohen), tech-savvy District 3 Champions Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) and Wiress (Amanda Plummer), and fiery District 7 champion Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) as they try to survive in this new arena that is divided into 12 sections like a clock where each section contains a different kind of hazard ranging from angry monkeys to a poisonous fog. Beetee comes up with an idea to defeat the remaining Tributes by using the electrified tree hazard to electrocute them. But when that plan fails, Katniss instead uses the lightning to destroy the arena’s force-field and as the arena crumbles around her, she is extracted by an airship commanded by members of the rebellion, including Haymitch and Plutarch. They tell her that they’re on the way to District 13 so that she can become the face of the rebellion; the ‘Mockingjay’, named after a mockingbird/jabberjay (blackbirds) hybrid species symbolized by a pin that Katniss wore during the Games. However Katniss is discouraged to learn that Peeta wasn’t rescued along with her and was captured by the Capitol along with Johanna. After being sedated after angrily attacking Haymitch for not protecting Peeta, Katniss is told by her best friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) that while her family is safe, District 12 has been destroyed.

As it turns out, District 13, the district that was apparently destroyed during the original rebellion against the Capitol, had survived by relocating to an underground facility. There, Katniss meets the leader of the district, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) who, along with Plutarch, encourage her to become the ‘Mockingjay’ for the growing rebellion. Katniss is at first reluctant to do so given the fact that Peeta was abandoned in the arena but then changes her mind after seeing that Peeta is alive but is being manipulated into being a pawn for the Capitol in order to quell the rebellion. She agrees to be the face of the rebellion on the grounds that Peeta and the other captured tributes be rescued at the earliest opportunity. With the aid of Gale and her new film team, Katniss begins to inspire the citizens of Panem into fighting back against the Capitol by means of rousing video speeches and a song called ‘The Hanging Tree’ that Katniss learned from her father, who died in a mining accident prior to the events of the series, that becomes an anthem for the rebels. After a few attacks against the Capitol by the Rebels, including the sabotage of the Capitol’s power source (the dam in District 5), and an attack on District 13 by the Capitol that the district was warned of ahead of time by Peeta during a live Capitol broadcast, President Coin finally orders an extraction mission to rescue Peeta, Johanna, and Finnick’s love interest and fellow Hunger Games victor Annie Cresta (Stef Dawson).

While the Capitol is distracted by a propaganda video starring Finnick, a Special Forces team, Gale being one of them, head to the Capitol to break the Tributes out of the Tribute Center. Despite the Capitol’s power returning in the middle of the operation and President Snow, who Katniss communicates with at one point in the hopes of distracting him further, revealing that he knew about the rescue mission, the team somehow manages to return with all of the tributes. But when Katniss tries to see Peeta, he starts attacking her though is knocked out by Katniss’ bodyguard Boggs (Mahershala Ali) before he can kill her. When Katniss comes to after being knocked unconscious by Peeta, she is told that Peeta has been ‘hijacked’ by the Capitol; brainwashed to kill Katniss by altering his memories of her via the venom of genetically altered wasps, ‘Tracker Jackers’. As President Coin announces to the people of District 13 the successful rescue of the Tributes and the planned assault on the Capitol’s primary military facility in District 2, Katniss witnesses Peeta violently struggling about in solitary confinement as doctors try and find a way to reverse Peeta’s brainwashing.

And that’s the story of ‘The Hunger Games’ series… so far. For fans of the franchise, hopefully this will help refresh your memory as to what’s happened so far in these first three films. If you’re not familiar with the franchise, though that’s probably unlikely given how this franchise has become a global phenomenon a la ‘Harry Potter’, this post should help you familiarize yourself with the world and characters of this series just in time for the release of the final installment, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, this weekend, in which Katniss Everdeen and the citizens of Panem begin their final stand against President Snow and the Capitol. As I stated in the intro to this post, I’m considering making this ‘Story so Far’ thing a recurring segment on Rhode Island Movie Corner so sound off in the comments section below to tell me if you liked this post and want to see more of them. Until then, as they say in the ‘Hunger Games’, ‘May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor’!  

The Peanuts Movie (2015) review

Like many a generation, I grew up with one of the most iconic franchises in all of pop culture; the ‘Peanuts’ franchise. The adventures of the ‘lovable loser’ Charlie Brown were first introduced through a daily comic strip created by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in 1950. The comic ran for nearly 50 years from 1950 to 2000, ending a month before the passing of Schulz on February 12, 2000. Aside from the comics, the series has also been known for numerous TV specials, almost all of which were made by the duo of producer Lee Mendelson and director Bill Melendez, many of them centered on major holidays like Christmas (the first and easily most famous ‘Peanuts’ special) and Thanksgiving. As for this year, which marks the 65^th anniversary of the comic strip’s initial debut, the Peanuts gang now come to the big-screen in a brand-new computer animated film, ‘The Peanuts Movie’. This is actually the fifth ‘Peanuts’ film to be released following 1969’s ‘A Boy Named Charlie Brown’, 1972’s ‘Snoopy, Come Home’, 1977’s ‘Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown’, and 1980’s ‘Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!!)’, but it’s the first in 35 years and definitely the biggest to date given the crew working on it. The film is produced by Blue Sky Studios, ‘Bridesmaids’ director Paul Feig is also one of the producers, and the screenplay was co-written by Schulz’s son Craig and his son Bryan. And amidst all of the skepticism from film fans, this team turned out something that’s truly special.

For Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp), nothing ever seems to go his way, from trying to fly a kite, which almost always ends up in a tree, to playing baseball, where his pitches always end up knocking him straight out of his clothes. But one day, when a new kid, the ‘Little Red-Haired Girl’ (Francesca Capaldi), moves to the neighborhood, Charlie Brown is almost instantly smitten by her. At the same time, though, he’s worried that his constant bad luck will also ruin his chances of attracting her attention. With the advice of ‘local psychiatrist’ Lucy (Hadley Belle Miller), Charlie Brown, with the help of his loyal dog Snoopy (voiced by the late Bill Melendez via archival recordings that are also used for Woodstock), begins looking for some way to turn his luck around, become a ‘winner’, and most importantly woo the Little Red Haired Girl. As a result, Charlie Brown finds himself embarking on a life-changing adventure where his true character shines through even with all of the unlucky things that happen to him. Meanwhile, Snoopy embarks on an adventure of his own. After finding a typewriter in the school dumpster (after attempting to go to school with Charlie Brown and the other kids), Snoopy begins to write about the World War I Flying Ace as he fights his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron.

Compared to numerous other films that were based on popular media franchises, ‘The Peanuts Movie’ is easily one of the most faithful adaptations of its source material because the filmmakers clearly had a lot of passion for this beloved franchise and that truly shows in the final product. This is not a case where the characters were translated into modern times to make them ‘hip’ for younger audiences. This film still has the characters using land-line telephones and typewriters. It’s full of numerous references to the classic TV specials, from a mention by Linus of the infamous ‘Great Pumpkin’ to even a few re-creations of classic moments, like the ice-skating sequence from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’. All of this helps make the film a charming piece of nostalgia for fans of the franchise along with the film’s excellent animation. I know that there were those out there who were questioning the decision to translate the world of ‘Peanuts’ into computer animation but the end result is something truly special. It may be computer animated but it is very much faithful to the hand-drawn animation style that the franchise is known for, right down to the fact that sometimes the film actually implements that exact style into the animation, from thought bubbles that use the classic hand-drawn animation to the imperfections in how the lines were drawn that made Schulz’s comics so endearing in the first place.

But ultimately one of the biggest strengths of the film comes in its writing; its story, its characters, and the messages that it conveys that make it such a great story for younger audiences. Some critics have stated that the film isn’t that ‘ambitious’ in terms of its plot and while I will admit that the plot is rather simple compared to other animated films, that is by no means a bad thing when it comes to this film. For one thing, the messages that are conveyed in this film are really great life-lessons for kids. Things may never seem to go Charlie Brown’s way but he never gives up and as he comes to learn, who you are as a person is more important than whatever you may accomplish in life. And of course, all of these characters are iconic and the voice cast does an excellent job in bringing these characters to life. Aside from Snoopy and Woodstock being voiced by archival recordings of the late Bill Melendez and Kristin Chenoweth voicing Snoopy’s love interest Fifi in his fantasy sequences, the main characters are all voiced by generally unknown child actors. The most notable of the bunch is Francesca Capaldi as both the Little Red-Haired Girl and Frieda, who starred in the Disney Channel show ‘Dog with a Blog’, but for the most part everyone else in the voice cast are basically newcomers. And ultimately that was the best route that the filmmakers could take because it helps maintain the natural atmosphere that was also a defining trait of the franchise.  

There’s usually quite a lot of skepticism that film fans tend to have whenever it comes to a film that is based off of a popular franchise, namely because they fear that it won’t stay true to the spirit of its source material. But then you have a film like ‘The Peanuts Movie’, which is… quite frankly one of the best films of the year. And that’s because it does stay true to the source material from its terrific animation that honors the classic traditional 2-D animation style of the franchise while translating it into the realm of computer animation to its heartwarming story with strong messages like how it’s not about your accomplishments that define you but who you are as a person. There seriously isn’t anything I can think of that I disliked about this film and to be perfectly frank, I don’t even want to say anything bad about it. I really, really, really loved this film just as much as I love this franchise. Believe me when I say folks that by the end, there was nothing but a big smile on my face as I saw these lovable characters translated perfectly to the big screen. Truly this is something that Charles Schulz would’ve been proud of; it was a project that was done with love from all who worked on it, resulting in one of the best feel-good films of the year. If you’re a ‘Peanuts’ fan, I’m certain that you’re going to love this film and for those who aren’t familiar with the franchise, this will serve as a really nice introduction to this iconic franchise and its beloved characters.

Rating: 5/5!

Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2016: PART 2 (Top 10)

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s two-part post in which I’m listing my Top 20 most anticipated films of 2016. This is Part 2 and today I’ll be listing my Top 10 most anticipated films of next year. If you haven’t already read Part 1, you can check it out at the link provided below. But for now, here are my Top 10 most anticipated films of 2016 from Marvel heroes to escapades in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, or as others may call it, ‘Space… the Final Frontier’.

Kicking things off at Number 10 is the latest film from a legendary film duo.

10. HAIL, CAESAR! (February 5)

We all know of the many film classics from the duo of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, from the 1998 cult classic ‘The Big Lebowski’ to their arguably superior 2010 remake of ‘True Grit’. As for their newest film, ‘Hail, Caesar!’ it is very much looking like the kind of quirky comedy that the two are known to make. My good friend Matt Goudreau noted that the first trailer made it look a lot like their 2008 film ‘Burn after Reading’. I’ll admit that I’ve actually only watched one of their films, their ‘True Grit’ remake, but I am really interested in seeing their new film. I guess you can say it’s due to the fact that the film is focused around 1950’s Hollywood which, as a film fan, I think is a pretty interesting subject to focus on. And of course, you can always expect a terrific ensemble cast from the Coen Brothers and this film is no exception. Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, and so on and so forth. The film is getting released in February, which may or may not be a good thing given the usual quality of films released during that time. But of course, this is the same duo that brought us classic films like ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ so I think we’ll be fine.

After ‘Moana’ landed the #15 spot in yesterday’s post, Disney Animation’s first film of the year lands the Number 9 spot on this list.

9. ZOOTOPIA (March 4)

It’s great to see that Disney is currently in the middle of what can arguably be regarded as their second ‘Renaissance Era’. I’d say it got started around the time when John Lasseter become the animation studio’s Chief Creative Officer. Slowly but surely the company returned to top form with hits like ‘Tangled’, ‘Wreck-it Ralph’, and of course ‘Frozen’, which became the company’s biggest animated film in nearly two decades. Anyway, for the first of Disney Animation’s 2016 slate, we have ‘Zootopia’. The directing duo behind this film consists of a pair of directors that were responsible for some of the studio’s recent hits, Byron Howard (‘Tangled’) and Rich Moore (‘Wreck it Ralph’). ‘Zootopia’ is described as a buddy comedy set in a world designed entirely by animals, for animals. I’ve liked quite a few of the ‘buddy comedies’ Disney has done in recent years like ‘Tangled’ and the highly underrated ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’ so I’m definitely interested in seeing how this one turns out. And of course like many Disney animated films, it’s got a really nice ensemble voice cast, including Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, and of course Disney’s ‘John Ratzenberger’; Alan Tudyk. For the record, I refer to him in that way because just like how Ratzenberger is the lucky charm for Pixar, Tudyk has starred in the studio’s last three films, mostly in villainous roles, and will also be a part of the voice cast for ‘Moana’.

Speaking of Disney…

8. THE JUNGLE BOOK (April 15)

If you recall my Top 10 most anticipated films list for 2015, you might remember seeing this film amongst the ‘Honorable Mentions’. But, as could happen with any of the films on this list, it ended up getting pushed back and is now set for release this April. I’m guessing this was to allow extra time for the filmmakers to finish this new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story and ‘remake’ of Disney’s 1967 animated classic. Obviously there’s been quite a bit of frustration that some have had with Disney over all of the big live-action remakes that have been getting announced these past few months but I’ve been more optimistic about them due to how much I loved ‘Cinderella’. If that film could turn out so fantastic then I’m confident that at least one or two of these upcoming ‘remakes’ are going to be too. And I’ve been a fan of most of Jon Favreau’s films; the first two ‘Iron Man’ films (yes I even like the second film), the modern Christmas classic ‘Elf’, and 2014’s charming indie flick ‘Chef’. Pair that with a terrific ensemble voice cast that includes Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, and Scarlett Johansson and some damn good looking visuals (as evident from the recently released first trailer) and you have what looks to be a really fun jungle adventure that, like ‘Cinderella’, will be highly respectful of its original adaptation while managing to be its own thing.

Number 7 is shaping up to be one of the most unique entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

7. DOCTOR STRANGE (November 4)

‘Doctor Strange’, Marvel Studios’ November 2016 release, is set to introduce one of Marvel’s most spectacular characters, the ‘Sorcerer Supreme’ Dr. Stephen Strange, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As such, the film will start to explore the mystical, or as Kevin Feige put it, ‘supernatural’ side of the MCU, which is sure to produce quite a lot of stunning visuals as evident from what was shown at D23 this year (from what I’ve heard, for the record, having not actually been there). Serving as the director of the film will be Scott Derrickson, known for horror films like ‘Sinister’ and ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’. Definitely an ‘out-of-left-field’ choice for Marvel but of course that hasn’t stopped them before. And as far as casting is concerned, you really can’t do much better than Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. But then you also have some other big names like Tilda Swinton as ‘the Ancient One’, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, and a few ‘soon to be named’ characters played by Rachael McAdams and, so it seems, Mads Mikkelsen. This film is definitely compiling an exceptional cast that, along with Derrickson and writer Jon Spaihts, will surely continue the terrific run of Marvel Studios as it begins Phase Three. Though of course it’s not the first of Marvel Studios’ outings next year… that one’s coming up later on.

A much more outgoing superhero hopefully gets redeemed after a disastrous film debut in my Number 6 pick.

6. DEADPOOL (February 12)

‘The Merc with a Mouth’ first made his live-action debut in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’… where he was ruined by having his mouth sewn shut by scientists and given all sorts of mutant powers that the character clearly did not have in the comics. Thankfully it looks like Fox will finally fix that mistake and Deadpool will be done proper justice in this brand new film, which again sees Ryan Reynolds returning to the role of mercenary Wade Wilson which is good because despite what happened to the character in ‘Origins’, Reynolds was definitely a perfect choice for the role. Now it looks like he’ll finally get the chance to be in a ‘good’ superhero film with what is clearly going to be a no-holds barred violent and crass R-rated film. And given the nature of the character in the comics, I’m perfectly fine with it being that way (see my last post, specifically the part about ‘Batman v. Superman’, for my rant about how I’m hesitant about studios like DC going a darker route for characters that are unfit for that kind of mood and atmosphere). While Fox may have struck out big time with their recent ‘reboot’ attempt of the Fantastic 4, they’ve had much better luck with the X-Men franchise and being that this is a part of that franchise, I’m confident that ‘Deadpool’ will end up being a fun smaller-scaled entry in the superhero genre that packs a bigger punch than some of its fellow superhero films.

‘Harry Potter’ is very much the ‘Star Wars’ of my generation and taking the N umber 5 spot is a brand new adventure set in the magical world of J.K. Rowling’s iconic franchise.

5. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (November 18)

In recent years there have been quite a few Potter fans who have been clamoring for J.K. Rowling to write another ‘Harry Potter’ book. But whether or not she ends up doing that, we will be getting another cinematic adventure set within the world of wizards in the form of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’. Inspired by the fictional in-universe book of the same name, this new film sees the return of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ through ‘Deathly Hallows’ director David Yates to the franchise while Rowling herself serves as the film’s screenwriter. Set in New York in the 1920’s, the film will follow the ‘author’ of the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ book, Newt Scamander, played by one of my favorite up-and-coming actors, Eddie Redmayne, as he tries to track down all sorts of dangerous magical creatures at the risk of threatening the state of relations between wizards and Muggles (referred to in this film by an American term, ‘No-Maj’). Aside from Redmayne, the cast also includes Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell, and Ron Perlman. I’m legitimately interested in seeing how this planned film trilogy is going to turn out given its roots as an in-universe textbook. But quite simply at the end of the day, I’m definitely excited to see more films set within the magical world of the ‘Harry Potter’ universe.

After a phenomenal series high-mark in 2014, Fox’s star superhero franchise is set to continue next year with another highly promising superhero epic.

4. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (May 27)

The ‘X-Men’ franchise returned to top form after a few disappointing entries in the late 2000’s with 2011’s ‘X-Men: First Class’. Part of the success came from the return of the series’ original director, Bryan Singer, even though he only served as a producer/writer for that film. But he would subsequently return to the director’s chair for 2014’s ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’. That film defied all expectations to become the series’ best installment to date, inspired by one of the classic X-Men comic storylines while also erasing some of the series’ past mistakes… namely those that came in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. Now Singer is back for ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’, which is seemingly set to be the final installment of this pseudo trilogy that started with ‘First Class’. This time around, it’s the ‘First Class’ era cast leading the way after ‘Days of Future Past’ featured characters from both that era and the ‘2000’s films’ era. And as the title suggests, this film sees the X-Men going up against the ‘first’ mutant, En Sabah Nur AKA Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac, a great choice in my opinion). Of course many of the returning regulars of the series are returning, including James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), and Evan Peters (Quicksilver). As for newcomers, there’s Olivia Munn as Psylocke and Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the younger iterations of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler, respectively.

Remember back when ‘Days of Future Past’ was coming out and a lot of fanboys got pissed over the look of Quicksilver when the marketing started up? Well hopefully most of those fanboys ended up getting proven wrong when Quicksilver ended up being one of the best parts of that film. But the fanboys are back again with this film as there’s been a lot of negative buzz over the first look of the main villain Apocalypse. Given his purple skinned appearance, there were quite a few comparisons made between him and Ivan Ooze, the main villain from the first ‘Power Rangers’ film. That seems to be the common thing on the internet nowadays, isn’t it? People comparing things to other things, usually in a negative manner. Well thankfully I’m not one of those people and I feel that the fanboys are seriously overreacting. Isaac has stated that the character’s design was going to be a combination of practical and digital effects. And of course it should be noted that this film is still a few months away so the ‘effects’ on display at the moment aren’t necessarily going to end up being the same in the final product. And at this point, I find it ridiculous to doubt this franchise after one of the biggest superhero films of all time. It’s clear that Bryan Singer, who if you recall first came into this franchise being rather unfamiliar with the series, is one of the main driving forces of this franchise’s success so I’m hyped for the next installment of the ‘X-Men’ franchise now that Singer’s back in charge of the franchise that he kick-started way back in 2000.

Following in the footsteps of ‘The Force Awakens’ is the first in a series of upcoming spin-offs that are set to expand the ‘Star Wars’ universe.

3. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (December 16)

While everyone is currently buzzing over ‘The Force Awakens’ and the new trilogy of ‘Star Wars’ films, Lucasfilm is also developing a series of spin-offs that take place in the ‘Star Wars’ universe but are not intended to cross over with the main trilogy. At this time, we already know of some future ‘Anthology’ films, including a Han Solo film directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and a Boba Fett film that was originally supposed to be directed by Josh Trank before he dropped out of the project. But first, we got ‘Rogue One’, directed by Gareth Edwards, fresh off of 2014’s summer hit ‘Godzilla’. If you recall my ‘Star Wars Month’ post back in May in which I listed my Top 10 favorite Star Wars video games, one of the games that I listed was the 1995 first person shooter game ‘Dark Forces’. The opening mission of that game had main character Kyle Katarn finding the plans to the Death Star for the rebels. This new film obviously won’t follow that story route but it is the same general plot. Set in between the events of Episode III and IV, this film will follow a group of Rebels in their quest to steal the plans to the Empire’s new powerful weapon. The diverse ensemble cast is headlined by Felicity Jones and Ben Mendelsohn but perhaps the biggest selling point of this new film is that it’ll primarily focus on a group of characters who aren’t Jedi. They’re just regular people thrust into a grand situation which should result in a highly compelling adventure. I’ve always been wanting this franchise to branch out from its usual storylines so I’m very excited to see what Lucasfilm has in store for all of these new ‘Anthology’ films.

While I’m confident that these new ‘Star Wars’ films are going to be awesome, I’m equally excited for the next installment of the other ‘Star’ franchise, even if J.J. Abrams isn’t ‘in the Captain’s chair’ this time around.

2. STAR TREK BEYOND (July 22)

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m a major fan of J.J. Abrams’ two ‘Star Trek’ films. The 2009 series reboot is legitimately one of my Top 10 favorite films of all time and the 2013 sequel, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, is not too far behind. But it seems like I’m in the minority amongst Trek fans when it comes to liking these films because there are quite a lot of vocal Trekkies who HATE these two films with a burning passion. This is primarily because they feel that these are not ‘Star Trek’ films… despite the obvious fact that they helped save the franchise after it had suffered the one-two punch of the critical/commercial disappointment of ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ and the cancellation of the series ‘Enterprise’. It wasn’t that big of a deal with the 2009 film at first but then came ‘Into Darkness’. Once Trekkies found out that the film oh so dared to make a few callbacks to ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ (though seriously not as much as they claim), they became even more vocal in their disdain towards these films and now suddenly the 2009 film started getting a lot more flak. There was even an event at Las Vegas in which the film was labeled as the worst film in the franchise. Yes, those Trekkies viewed this film as being worse than ‘Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’, ‘Star Trek: The Motion-Less Picture’, and ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’. Talk about a case of over-reacting. 

Regardless of all of that overly critical bashing, I still love both of J.J’s ‘Trek’ films for being highly entertaining fast-paced sci-fi adventures that, contrary to what some people say, still very much feel like ‘Star Trek’ films but now come with the energy of the ‘Star Wars’ films. So with that in mind, I’m very excited for the next installment of this new ‘Star Trek’ series, ‘Star Trek Beyond’. This time around, however, J.J. isn’t directing the new ‘Trek’ film for obvious reasons. Instead, Justin Lin will be taking over as director and while I’m certain that many of those hardcore Trek fans are upset with having yet another ‘action director’ taking on the franchise, apparently they forgot that Lin is one of the best action directors in the business today for his work on the recent ‘Fast and Furious’ films, particularly the fifth and sixth films. Plus, from what I’ve read, he’s a major ‘Star Trek’ fan. Admittedly, J.J. has stated that he’s more of a ‘Star Wars’ fan than a ‘Trek’ fan but I don’t see why that was such a big deal. But this time around, a definite ‘Trek’ fan is in control backed up by a screenplay co-written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg. It seems like this new film will be much more based around the theme of exploration which should definitely please fans of the franchise. But as for me, I’m just excited to see the next installment of one of my favorite series of recent years (the reboot series, to be specific) which I believe couldn’t be in better hands.  

Okay I’ll admit it… My Number 1 is totally obvious

1. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (May 6)

Yeah I know, I’m very predictable given how much I adore the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But when you have a franchise that has had a run that is as great as the MCU has had since its inception in 2008, can you blame me? And to kick off Phase Three of the MCU we have ‘Captain America: Civil War’. ‘Winter Soldier’ directors the Russo Brothers return for this film which is set to be based around one of the biggest Marvel comics storylines of recent years, ‘Civil War’, in which the Avengers find themselves on opposing sides of a new act that is meant to regulate superhero activity following all of the international incidents they have been involved in over the years. Leading the charge for each side will be, of course, Captain America and Iron Man. We’ve definitely see the rivalry between them come into play in the ‘Avengers’ films, with Cap being the honest and patriotic hero while Iron Man is much more brash and arrogant. For the record though, that doesn’t mean that Iron Man is the ‘villain’ of this film nor are the Avengers that are on his team like Black Widow, Vision, and War Machine. Ultimately the main idea of this story is that it’s a conflict of ideals. Those on Cap’s side oppose the new act while Iron Man and his team support it. Sure in the ‘Civil War’ comics, Iron Man’s team became authoritarian and tried to capture all unregistered super-persons but I’m pretty sure that Marvel isn’t going to make them go ‘that far’.

Now with that said, while this is being marketed as a Captain America film, many fans have pointed out the obvious fact that… there are a hell of a lot of superheroes in this film. Not only are Captain America and Iron Man in it, but then you also have Black Widow, Falcon, Bucky AKA ‘The Winter Soldier’, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Vision, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, as well as the MCU debuts of Black Panther and Spider-Man. Obviously I’m not too worried about that given Marvel’s efforts in establishing these characters beforehand before throwing them all together into one film. But with that said, I am genuinely curious to see if they really are able to keep the main focus on Cap given how many other characters are in this film. Because if this ends up not being the case, then this probably should’ve just been called ‘Avengers: Civil War’. But with that said, if this film is able to make it work (and I don’t see why it won’t because of obvious reasons (Marvel, duh!)) then it’ll prove that the Russo brothers are the perfect choice to follow Joss Whedon as director of an ‘Avengers’ film. They’re currently slated to direct the two-part ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ so you can pretty much consider this film to be their test project just like how J.J. Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ films led the way to him directing ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.

So those are my Top 10 most anticipated films of 2016. What other films are you looking forward to seeing to next year? Sound off in the comments below.

Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2016: PART 1 (#20-11)

As we near the end of 2015, many of us are doing two things; A.) Getting ready for the debut of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and B.) Beginning to look ahead to next year, 2016, and the many films that will be hitting theaters over the course of those 365 days. Like any year, there are quite a variety of new films that will be coming out in 2016. Of course you’ll have your superhero films (and for the record, no this list won’t be dominated by those films despite what my obvious love for the genre may suggest) but you also have some interesting new continuations of classic franchises, including ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Harry Potter’. So today, I’ll be presenting you my Top 10 most anticipated films of 2016… actually strike that, that’s not enough. For you see folks, I actually have a much bigger list than that. How about a Top 20 list of my most anticipated films of 2016? Yes I actually did manage to find at least 20 different films that I’m looking forward to seeing next year. So you know what that means? That means this will be a two-part post. So today, I’ll be presenting you films #20-11. In other words, consider these next ten films to be the ‘Honorable Mentions’ to my Top 10, which will be posted tomorrow.

20. RATCHET AND CLANK (April 29)

Starting off these big Top 20 list is… a video-game based film? Yes as many of us know, the genre of video-game based films has never really produced anything great since it infamously got underway in 1993 with the ‘Super Mario Bros’ film. There actually have been some rather decent efforts from this genre over the years, like ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’, but for the most part these films end up being pretty darn terrible, from the infamous follow-up to ‘Mortal Kombat’, ‘Annihilation’, to the many, many stinkers from Uwe Boll. 2016, however, could potentially be a redemptive year for the genre as there are quite a few upcoming video-game based films that could end up being rather good. While most of the attention will be going to films like Duncan Jones’ ‘Warcraft’ (which is not on the list only because I’m not too familiar with the franchise, though I do plan on seeing it) and another film that will be appear later on in this list, there is another film that will come out before either of those films; ‘Ratchet and Clank’. This animated film will be based off of the hit sci-fi action platformer series of the same name by Insomniac Games. The film is being produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, the company responsible for the first ever CGI animated series, ‘ReBoot’, who will also be making a film based on the ‘Sly Cooper’ series that may or may not come out in 2016 as well. I’ll admit I haven’t played a lot of the ‘Ratchet and Clank’ games aside from the first one but the trailer makes the film look like a rather fun family-friendly sci-fi adventure.

19. ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (May 27)

Here’s another potentially controversial entry, namely because it’s a sequel to a rather unpopular film that somehow managed to gross $1 billion when it was released back in March 2010. I’ll admit that I’m still amazed as to how Tim Burton’s 2010 ‘sequel’ to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ managed to join the billion dollar club despite attracting a generally mixed reaction from both critics and audiences. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the film and I recall that I somewhat liked it though ultimately I ended up liking future Disney big-budget fantasy films like ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ and ‘Cinderella’ more. But even with that in mind, I’m willing to give it a re-watch because I’m genuinely interested in the sequel that will be coming out next year. I’m interested in seeing how the filmmakers will be expanding the world of Wonderland (ah-hem, sorry Underland my mistake), particularly through the introduction of Time, both figuratively and literally as the main villain (Sasha Baron Cohen). Ultimately though the key reason why I’m optimistic about this film is because it’s actually being done by a different director this time. While Tim Burton is still attached as a producer, this new ‘Alice’ film will be directed by James Bobin. And while Burton’s recent films have been getting a lot of flak from film fans, Bobin’s recent track record is much more appealing given his work on the last two ‘Muppets’ films. I mean at the end of the day this may just turn out the same way as its predecessor but who knows?

18. BOURNE 5 (July 29)

From 2002 to 2007, Matt Damon kept audiences on the edge of their seats as the amnesiac former CIA operative Jason Bourne. The Bourne trilogy was a solid hit for Universal and each of the three films were highly entertaining and engrossing fast-paced spy thrillers highlighted by a terrific lead performance by Damon. Contrary to popular opinion, my favorite film of the trilogy was actually the first film, 2002’s ‘The Bourne Identity’, directed by Doug Liman. The two sequels by Paul Greengrass, 2004’s ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ and 2007’s ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, were really good as well (heck I’d even argue that ‘Ultimatum’ is the best of the series) but I wasn’t too big on Greengrass’ shaky cam style that was used during the action sequences. The series then continued under a new direction in 2012 with a ‘spin-off’, ‘The Bourne Legacy’, which focused on a new character, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), but took place in the same timeline as the Damon trilogy. Ultimately though, ‘Legacy’ didn’t fare as well as the previous trilogy both critically and commercially and I’ll admit that I too was rather ‘meh’ on it. But 2016 could mark a return to form for the series in the form of a fifth Bourne film. Why? Because it marks the return of both Damon and Greengrass to the franchise after it seemed like they were done after ‘Ultimatum’. It’s unclear at this moment if this film will be based off of one of the ‘Bourne’ novels by Robert Ludlum but it will definitely be interesting to see these two return to their iconic franchise.

17. BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (March 25)

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I’ve been rather critical about this follow-up to 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’, a film that I’ll admit I’ve become more critical towards as well recently due to its rather unwarranted dour tone. My reasons for this have ranged from the film being set to introduce numerous new characters at once like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the new Batman to the alleged ‘no joke’ mandate by Warner Bros that is apparently supposed to differentiate the developing DC ‘Extended Universe’ from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now let me make something very clear… I’m not against darker superhero stories. I’m a huge fan of both Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy and Marvel’s second and much more successful take on ‘Daredevil’ with the Netflix series. What I am against are darker superhero stories for characters that aren’t like that at all. One of the prime examples of this was, as noted earlier, ‘Man of Steel’. While I do commend the filmmakers for crafting a genuinely new take on the character of Superman, the film’s very dour tone and atmosphere really goes against the hopeful and heroic nature of the character. If you want to see what a more fitting modern take on Superman should’ve been like, go check out the new show ‘Supergirl’… it’s far superior. But as for the films, it seems like DC is trying to do a much more serious take on their heroes and quite frankly I don’t see why this is a good idea.

And of course there’s also the fact that this film will be introducing several new main characters to the series… even though this film was originally meant to be a sequel to ‘Man of Steel’. And don’t try and tell me that they weren’t actually going to do another solo ‘Superman’ film. I distinctly remember Zack Snyder once said something about doing another ‘Superman’ film first before getting into anything ‘Justice League’ related. And yet here we are now and ‘Batman v. Superman’ is looking more and more like a ‘Justice League’ film. So yeah, suffice it to say I’ve been rather concerned about this film and the first trailer didn’t do much to change my mind. But then came the Comic-Con trailer and I’ll admit… I was much more positive towards it. I finally got a real sense of the epic scale of the story and I’m glad that the filmmakers are addressing some of the more controversial points of ‘Man of Steel’, namely all of the ‘collateral damage’ that Superman caused during his fight with Zod in Metropolis. With that said, though, the things that make me very hesitant about this film are still around. To be clear, despite my obvious adoration/preference for Marvel, I don’t want this film and the DC Cinematic Universe to fail. I do want to see a ‘Justice League’ film but I’m just worried DC is rushing things just so that they can catch up with Marvel, who at this point has already gotten out two ‘Avengers’ films. I’m hoping for the best, folks.

16. SUICIDE SQUAD (August 5)

Though if we’re talking DC’s 2016 slate, the more interesting of the two would have to be their August release, ‘Suicide Squad’. The big reason for this being that this is slated to be the first major comic book film to focus on a group of villains. Admittedly that does put some pressure on this film because it has to make us like a group of bad guys but it does look like this film is shaping up to be a very insane entry in the superhero genre that, given director David Ayer’s previous work, seems like it’s going to be a more mature R-rated comic book film. Granted, we don’t have much to go off of yet other than a trailer that was released publicly just because it got leaked online during Comic-Con weekend but this film definitely has a lot more edge to it compared to other films of the genre. As for the film’s big ensemble cast, I think it’s safe to say that the two biggest selling points are the live-action debuts of Harley Quinn and the new Joker and I also think that we can all agree that Margot Robbie is perfectly cast as Harley and will no doubt be the film’s biggest scene-stealer. As for the Joker, Jared Leto will be the first to follow in the footsteps of Heath Ledger’s critically acclaimed take on the character. His new look has attracted quite a bit of controversy amongst comic book fans but it does look like Leto is genuinely going to embrace the psychotic side of the character, even more so than Ledger did in ‘The Dark Knight’. So while I’m still very much a Marvel fan, I’m definitely interested in seeing how this particular comic book film turns out.

15. MOANA (November 23)

Just like how Pixar had two releases this year, Disney Animation’s got a double feature of new films slated to come out in 2016. The first of these films you’ll see in part 2 of this post as part of my Top 10 while the second film, slated for release in November, takes the Number 15 spot on this list; Moana. Directed by the duo of Ron Clements and John Musker, who have produced numerous hits for the studio including Renaissance era favorites ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Aladdin’ and, more recently, ‘The Princess and the Frog’, ‘Moana’, the first computer animated film the duo have made, looks like it’s bound to be another big hit for Disney Animation in their second Renaissance era with its unique South Pacific based story and imagery. Plus it’s got the Rock himself, Dwayne Johnson, voicing one of the main characters; an actual demi-god. As I just stated earlier, Disney Animation has been on a great run in recent years thanks to films like ‘Frozen’, ‘Wreck-it Ralph’, ‘Tangled’, and ‘Big Hero 6’ so I think it’s safe to say that we can expect a pair of quality animated films next year from the House of Mouse.

14. ASSASSIN’S CREED (December 21)

And now we come to the previously mentioned big-name video-game based film that could potentially break the curse of the genre; ‘Assassin’s Creed’. As noted earlier, ‘Warcraft’ is technically going to be the first big test of this genre in 2016 but because I’ve never played that game, I’m more interested in the film adaptation of Ubisoft’s ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise. I’ve been playing quite a few of the games recently (the Xbox 360 era games to be exact) and have become a fan of the franchise so I’m interested in seeing how this new film turns out, which will wisely decide to take on a new story that is still set in the world of the games. The biggest selling point of the film is easily the casting of Michael Fassbender in the lead role. Fassbender, along with co-star Marion Cotillard, reunite with director Justin Kurzel, after the trio had worked together on this year’s critically acclaimed take on ‘Macbeth’. So with those credentials, along with the addition of other great actors like Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson to the cast, it looks like this film could be a really awesome end-of-the-year release (it is slated to be released on December 21^st, 2016) and one of the first ‘great’ video-game based films.

13. GHOSTBUSTERS (July 15)

You ever have the feeling of wanting a film to succeed just to shut up all of the cynics who bashed it for whatever reason? This is definitely one of those films. Pretty much since it was first announced, this new take on the ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise has been subject to much scrutiny on the internet. And unfortunately, it has primarily stemmed from the fact that the film will be focusing on a female-led group of Ghostbusters. So yes, one of the main reasons why I am looking forward to this film is that I hope it will shut all of the sexist haters up. But at the same time, I genuinely think that this could be really good. It’s being directed by Paul Feig, who has a really solid track record in recent years with films like ‘Bridesmaids’ and this year’s ‘Spy’. Both films also showcase that he and star Melissa McCarthy are definitely at their best when working together. McCarthy stars alongside another Feig veteran, Kristen Wiig, as well as current SNL stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and the film will feature cameos from Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver so at the very least this feels like it will be very much connected to the ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise. Again, at the end of the day, I’m rooting for this film to succeed just so that it will prove its biggest critics wrong.

12. FINDING DORY (June 17)

If you ask me, it isn’t a complete year of film without a Pixar release (see 2014 for proof of that) and this year, their new film will be a sequel to 2003’s ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Finding Dory’… calm down sequel haters, they got that Day of the Dead film coming in 2017... Relax! Director Andrew Stanton returns for this new film along with Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, and a few other characters from the first film. Thankfully this new film isn’t looking like a simple ‘rehash’ of the first film as I initially feared. Instead it sees Dory heading out on a journey to reunite with her parents. New additions to the cast include Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy as Dory’s parents and ‘Modern Family’ stars Ty Burrell and Ed O’Neill. Though of course, I think most of us can agree that the real star of the show is Ellen. She was the most memorable part about ‘Finding Nemo’ and I’m confident that her very lovable personality will once again carry this film. As I pointed out earlier, obviously there are quite a lot of people who aren’t too happy with Pixar’s decision to do sequels to some of their original films, namely after ‘Cars 2’ became the first Pixar film to attract a generally negative response from both critics and fans of Pixar. But this is one Pixar fan who feels that Pixar had never really lost their way; they’ve only had a few misfires. And unless proven wrong, I believe that this will be a solid follow-up to one of Pixar’s most classic films.

11. 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI (January 15)

Ok now this is one that I’m pretty certain hardcore cinephiles are going to grill me for because A.) It’s a January release and B.) It’s a Michael Bay film. In the eyes of those cinephiles, neither have produced anything great. But if you’ve been following me for a while you know that I’m an unapologetic fan of most of Bay’s work (save for ‘Bad Boys II’, the one that ironically people actually do like), even some of the more derided ones like the ‘Transformers’ sequels and ‘Pearl Harbor’. Obviously the latter film might make some people hesitant about him taking on another true story, in this case the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, but this time around the film was written by the writer of ‘Prince of Thieves’, which spawned Ben Affleck’s film ‘The Town’. Even as a fan of ‘Pearl Harbor’, I agree that the big issue with that film was the decision to focus on a group of fictional characters and their romance instead of the people who were actually involved in the event. This time around, however, it looks like they are focusing on the real people who were there. Plus, the cast is led by John Krasinski in a very much against-type role and standout character actor James Badge Dale. This could be the 2016 equivalent of ‘American Sniper’, another film that was released nationwide in January… or it could be another dumb and loud Michael Bay film. But at the very least, I’m confident that it’ll least be entertaining. I can always expect that from the master of Bayhem.

CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR PART 2 OF THIS TOP 20 LIST OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2016 IN WHICH I’LL BE LISTING MY TOP 10.