Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) review

For years, DC Comics has excelled considerably in the realm of animated films and TV series. This run of dominance truly started in the 90’s thanks to the DC Animated Universe, a shared universe of animated TV shows and films developed by writer/animator Bruce Timm that were all set within the same general continuity. Kick-started by the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, it went on to spawn multiple TV show spin-offs, including Superman: The Animated Series and two Justice League shows. A few years after the DCAU line concluded, DC initiated a new line of animated films known as the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. Since 2007, 26 animated features have been produced under this banner centering on DC’s iconic superheroes. Many of these films were directly based on either new or classic storylines ripped straight from the comics, including The Flashpoint Paradox and Batman: Year One. As for critical reception, though, it’s been varied, to say the least. Some installments like Batman: Under the Red Hood and the 2009 Wonder Woman film have been well-received, whereas others like Justice League: War and Superman: Doomsday attracted a much more polarizing reception. This year saw one of the latter in the form of Batman: The Killing Joke, an adaptation of Alan Moore’s iconic 1988 graphic novel. But, as I made very clear in my original review for the film as well as the first part of my Top 10 Worst Films of 2016 list, it was a disastrous adaptation, to say the least. However, this wasn’t the only DC animated release of the year that had a brief theatrical release due in part to the popularity of the source material it was based on. And I’m happy to say that this other one is the superior film of the two; Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.

For the record, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is not technically part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. Still, it’s worth noting because it’s inspired by one of the most notable eras of the character’s history. You see, while nowadays the Dark Knight is known more for his dark and brooding nature (he is called the ‘Dark Knight’, after all), in the 60’s that wasn’t the case. Back then, the most notable iteration of Batman outside of the comics was the 1960’s Batman TV show. Adam West starred in the role of Bruce Wayne while Burt Ward starred as Dick Grayson AKA Batman’s trusted sidekick Robin. The show lasted for 3 seasons with 120 episodes in total, including a feature film adaptation in 1966 in the form of Batman: The Movie. And while some may find the series to be way too campy nowadays (especially after the two Batman feature films directed by Joel Schumacher, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, were campier in tone compared to the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton that helped re-establish Batman as a darker/serious character), it’s still regarded as a classic part of the character’s legacy. Recently, the series finally made its way onto Blu-Ray after years of legal troubles prevented it from being released on home media. Thus, it could be said that this was one of the major factors that led to the development of this new film, which features three members of the original series’ cast; West, Ward, and Julie Newmar, the series’ original Catwoman. And for fans of the series, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is a satisfying return for this iconic interpretation of DC’s legendary protagonist.

The story could generally be considered as a spiritual sequel to Batman: The Movie. Simply put, it sees the dynamic duo take on the same villainous quartet that they faced in the original film; Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler. The rest… is exactly what’d you expect from the 60’s era Batman series. The plot is full of ludicrous and over-the-top moments, whether it’s due to some of the ridiculous ways in which they set up the plot (there’s literally one point where they go up into space) or the intentionally blatant attempts at conveying moral messages, like the perils of jaywalking at night. And, simply put, that’s why this film is so damn fun to watch. It’s all done in a well-handled self-aware manner and fans of the series will no doubt appreciate the various Easter eggs scattered throughout, including the series’ trademark of onomatopoeia sound effects that pop up during fight scenes (“WHAM!” “PUNT!” “BAM!”) and a whole bunch of character cameos that occur during the film’s highly entertaining finale. As far as the voice acting is concerned, Adam West returns to his trademark role with ease, even after all these years. By comparison, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar’s reprisals of their iconic roles do show their age (though it’s admittedly more apparent with Newmar than it is with Ward) but it does seem like all three had a lot of fun reprising their respective roles. Being that they’re the only surviving members of the original cast, every other main character in the film (namely the other three main villains; the Joker, Penguin, and Riddler) are played by sound-alikes, though these sound-alikes did do a nice job at representing the characters as portrayed by the likes of Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin.   

If you think that the image of Batman and Robin being tied down onto a humongous TV dinner as it moves down a conveyor belt leading to a big oven is too ridiculous, this film is not for you. Understandably, it seems like there are some people who aren’t too big on the 60’s TV series because of how different it is in tone compared to recent iterations of the character. However, for fans of the series, this is a loving tribute to the show that they love. For being a direct-to-video animated film, it does a much better job than The Killing Joke in terms of representing its source material. Sure, some parts of the plot drag a bit but, overall, the film successfully captures the spirit of the original TV show, right down to the flashy sound-effect visuals and the over-the-antics of its characters. And it’s all done in an effective self-aware manner that honors the show while still managing to maintain a fresh spin on the material. In short, when it comes to the two major DC animated features this year that managed to get a brief theatrical release due to the popularity of their respective source material, you’re much better off with Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders than Batman: The Killing Joke, even if you’re not very familiar with the original series. There’s no controversial characterizations to work around and there isn’t a prologue that’s completely unrelated to the main story and sees the characters ‘getting it on’, if you know what I mean. It’s just a fun, light-hearted Batman adventure; something that, for the record, you don’t really see a lot of nowadays. Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming sequel, which will feature the one and only William Shatner in the role of Two-Face. Holy Star Trek, Batman!

Rating: 4.5/5

Top 10 WORST Films of 2016: Part 2 (#5-1)

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s end-of-the-year list in which I’m counting down my Top 10 WORST films of 2016. This is the second half of a two-part list and today, I’m listing my Top 5 WORST from this past year. If you haven’t read through it before, be sure to click the following link to be directed to Part 1 where I list films #10-6. But now let’s get back to the list!

This next film attracted quite a considerable amount of controversy in terms of its casting. But, as it turns out, that wasn’t even the worst of it.

5. GODS OF EGYPT

Prior to this film’s release, there was quite a lot of controversy surrounding the fact that, for a film set in Egypt, the main cast was predominantly white. And to put all this into perspective, the director, Alex Proyas, was born in Egypt. At the very least, unlike some other instances of controversial white-washing, Proyas and the film’s distributor, Lionsgate, did apologize for this instead of just trying to make an excuse for it (e.g. they needed A-listers for it to be financially successful). However, the predominantly white cast ultimately isn’t the film’s biggest problem. Gods of Egypt is an overproduced and in some cases undercooked fantasy-adventure flick. It’s overproduced in the sense that it’s a ridiculous spin on the traditional story of Egyptian gods, in which these gods fight each other wearing elaborate Iron Man esque armor because, you know, Ancient Egypt! And the action sequences are just CGI overload. I’m not usually one to complain about CGI but this is a case where the film goes quite overboard with its visuals. And with that over-reliance on CGI comes a severe lack of any character development or plot (that’s where the ‘undercooked’ aspect that I was alluding to earlier comes into play). Thus, much of the film’s talented cast is wasted; Chadwick Boseman, Elodie Yung, Geoffrey Rush, etc. Sure, some are trying their best with the terrible material, like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as main protagonist Horus, but then you have Gerald Butler completely hamming it up as the main villain Set. In short, Gods of Egypt aspires to be a fun action-adventure film a la Indiana Jones but ultimately ends up being a considerably lackluster affair. And while I generally hate to see films bomb at the box-office, I’ll admit that when I saw the first trailer for this film, I could tell right away that it was going to be one of the year’s biggest commercial flops… and it was.

At Number 4, we have the latest installment of a franchise that’s really starting to fizz out. It’s even more noticeable when considering that this franchise wasn’t really that good to begin with.

4. THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT

Now, like I said two years ago when I listed Divergent at the Number 9 spot in my 2014 ‘Worst of’ list if you’re a fan of this franchise then all the power to you. Clearly, I’m just not part of this franchise’s target demographic. But even with that said, the Divergent series just doesn’t do much for me. In the genre of ‘young adult’ based book-to-film franchises, this isn’t anywhere on the level of The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner. Thus, the first film, Divergent, landed at the Number 9 spot on my ‘Worst of 2014’ list for being extremely dull and rather unbearably overlong due to its hefty runtime of two hours and twenty minutes. When it came to the first sequel, Insurgent, I didn’t end up seeing it in full before I published my ‘Worst of 2015’ list. But I have watched it since and, yeah, it would’ve ended up on that list. The series saw a change in director with this installment, going from Neil Burger to Robert Schwentke, and despite having marginally better pacing compared to the first film (i.e. this one wasn’t nearly two and a half hours long), the story was still generically dull and it was this film where I realized that I do not give a crap about any of the main characters. Looking back at that list, it would’ve probably edged out Unfriended from the Bottom 10 and be at the Number 7 spot, right below Fifty Shades of Grey. And now, this year, we have Allegiant which, as you’ve probably noticed, lands the highest spot of any entry of the franchise to date at Number 4. This is because watching this film, it’s become apparent that this franchise is now running on fumes as it nears its end.

First off, this is supposed to be the first of a two-part finale because, of course, this has become the trademark of the young adult genre following the success of the two-part adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The only thing, though, is that Deathly Hallows is the only instance where splitting the final entry of a series into two films fully worked. It clearly didn’t work for Twilight and with The Hunger Games, the results were mixed at best. So you take the already dragged out narrative of Divergent, split the final book into two films, and yeah you can see where this is going. Heck, they’re still incorporating new ideas into a story that should probably be over by this point. But even if this is ‘probably’ the most interesting of the films in terms of what they’re bringing into the story, it’s still a very dull affair. And while this is also the most visually-heavy entry of the series to date, the CGI visuals are lousy, which is rather inexcusable considering this film’s sizably large budget of $110 million. It also doesn’t help that I legitimately don’t give a crap about any of these main characters for being the trigger-happy, violence-eager sociopaths that they are. Seriously, these films feel more violent in tone than The Hunger Games due to how often the main characters get into fights, and that was a series about televised battles to the death involving kids, for crying out loud. Thus, the talented cast members of these films (e.g. Shailene Woodley, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels, the list goes on…) are once again wasted due to the mediocre material. And even then, it’s starting to look like even most of the main cast is starting to be bored by all of this.

But you want to know the most embarrassing thing about this film? It may very well be the last film in the franchise… in terms of ‘theatrically-released’ films, I mean. When this film was released, it was absolutely savaged by critics with a pathetic 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And that wasn’t the only ‘series low’ this film was hit with. While both Divergent and Insurgent managed to gross nearly $300 million each, Allegiant couldn’t even manage to break $200 million. It only grossed $179 million worldwide. Thus, it’s currently unclear if the final installment of the series, retitled Ascendant instead of Allegiant Part 2, will even see a theatrical release. It may very well get to the point where it ends up being a TV film that would then segue into a spin-off TV series. Not only that, there’s a possibility that most of the main stars, including Shailene Woodley AKA the main star of the entire franchise, aren’t even going to be returning for it. However, back in September, Woodley stated in an interview on The Today Show that this isn’t finalized yet. Still, if it does happen, talk about going out on a low note. I mean, imagine if this happened to The Hunger Games; imagine if they announced that Mockingjay Part 2 was going to be a made-for-TV film. Who knows if Jennifer Lawrence would’ve returned to play Katniss? Thankfully that didn’t happen but it could happen for Divergent. And even after all the negative things that I’ve said about these films, I’ll admit that even I feel a bit bad for those involved with this series if it ends up coming to this.

Sadly, for Gerard Butler, Gods of Egypt wasn’t the only stinker that he starred in this year. And this one was much worse.

3. LONDON HAS FALLEN

2013’s Olympus Has Fallen was one of two films that year that were basically ‘Die Hard in the White House’. The other film was Roland Emmerich’s White House Down and while both films received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, Olympus was the more successful of the two from a financial standpoint. It earned more than twice its budget at the box office whereas White House Down did not break even despite grossing more worldwide. But, to be honest, when comparing the two, I prefer White House Down. Because even though both films are generally mindless action flicks, Emmerich’s film was at least much more self-aware about it and more lighthearted in tone. By comparison, Olympus Has Fallen tries way too hard to be dramatic and serious at times despite its ridiculous nature. Sure, it technically gives the film a bit more depth compared to White House Down but it does clash with the over-the-top nature of the action sequences. But, like I said, it was a hit, hence why we now have a sequel in the form of London Has Fallen, which transfers the action from Washington D.C. to England’s capital. And… oh boy, this one’s a rough one. Oh sure, it starts out harmless enough with some decent moments involving leads Gerard Butler, who plays the main character Mike Banning, Aaron Eckhart, who plays the President of the United States Benjamin Asher, and Angela Bassett, who plays Banning’s boss at the Secret Service, Lynne Jacobs. But then that all goes by the wayside in what is ultimately a generic and mindless action flick. The action sequences are lousy and it also doesn’t help that some of them are paired with some pretty weak CGI.  

But, believe it or not, that’s not the worst thing about this film. This film’s biggest flaw is that it is one of the most culturally offensive films of the year. Released not too long after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, France, this film really makes the city of London look BAD, specifically in regards to how ineffective the city’s police force is at dealing with terrorists. Heck, some terrorists even masquerade as police officers. This film is so xenophobic that you’d swear it was written by Donald Trump. Seriously, this is a case of a film that is so oozing to the brim with patriotism that you can just put the ‘America, F*** Yeah’ song from Team America: World Police over the action and it’d have the exact same effect. I usually abstain from going political in these reviews but here I must make one comment because I feel that it needs to be said. As much as I love my country, sometimes there can be examples of ‘too much patriotism’. This is a prime example of that. And the next time I watch Olympus Has Fallen, I bet that I’ll notice more of the same sort of overblown patriotism that I didn’t notice the first time. Bottom line, this film is culturally insensitive and, for me at least, it once again reinforces the fact that I preferred Roland Emmerich’s entertaining/mindless action extravaganza White House Down over these two films that try way too hard to be emotional heavy-hitters. But, like Olympus, this film did well at the box office despite the negative reviews, meaning that we have another one of these on the way, titled Angel Has Fallen. Oh boy…

For most of the year, London Has Fallen was at the very bottom when it came to this list. But then came these final two films. And at Number 2, we have the lowest of lows in a year that saw plenty of great animated films.

2. NORM OF THE NORTH

It seems like January is usually the time of year where we get a subpar animated film. It was the case in 2014 with The Nut Job and this year, that film was Norm of the North. 2016 was a pretty great year for animated films everywhere else. Disney Animation had a one-two punch in the form of Zootopia and Moana. Pixar had a billion-dollar hit with the highly-anticipated sequel Finding Dory. And Laika Entertainment had a critically acclaimed flick on their hands with Kubo and the Two Strings. Norm of the North… has twerking polar bears and pissing lemmings. Yeah… this is pretty much one of the biggest low points in the history of animation. The animation here is mediocrely subpar to the point where it’s like something out of a direct-to-video film… from the 90’s. The story is a generic ‘save the homeland’ plot and the film is really nothing more than just a series of lame pop-cultural references, a ton of pop songs, and, again, twerking polar bears. Now, usually, when it comes to animated films, I’ll admit that I sometimes give ‘lesser’ animated films a pass if, at the very least, they’re harmless for kids. But, going off fellow film critic Chris Stuckmann’s review of the film, it looks like even kids won’t get much out of this. In his review, Chris noted that kids were getting bored at his screening and seemed relieved when the film was finally over. That is saying something…

So, what can be worse than Norm of the North, you ask? How about a completely pedestrian affair from one of the most notable personas in the film industry? Thus, my pick for the WORST film of 2016 goes to…

1. YOGA HOSERS

Kevin Smith has been a major player in the film industry since 1994. Over the years, he’s amassed a considerably large fan base thanks to many of the cult-classic films that he’s made, including his 1994 directorial debut Clerks and its 1995 prequel Mallrats (yes, Mallrats is a prequel; it’s set one day before the events of Clerks). But, nowadays, he’s arguably more known for hosting geek-related podcasts like Fatman on Batman and starring in the hit AMC show Comic Book Men, proving that he’s just as big of a geek as most of us are when it comes to things like Star Wars and Marvel and DC. The reason why I say that he’s become more known for this kind of stuff nowadays is because if his newest film Yoga Hosers proves anything, it’s that Smith is just starting to mess with us now in terms of his directorial efforts. Yoga Hosers is the second installment of a True North trilogy, in which all three films are horror films set in Canada. The first of these films was Tusk, released in 2014 and starring Justin Long as a podcast host who gets turned into a walrus by an old sailor. I haven’t seen Tusk but I’ve heard that it was mediocre. The second film of this trilogy, Yoga Hosers, centers on two characters who originally appeared briefly in Tusk; the Colleens, two high-school freshmen who work at a convenience store. The Colleens are played by Harley Quinn Smith, Kevin Smith’s own daughter, and Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp. Speaking of Depp, he appears in both this and Tusk as ‘man-hunter’ Guy LaPointe.

Yoga Hosers… is one of the laziest films that I’ve ever seen in terms of directing. The plot is completely stupid. It follows these two girls as they combat a bunch of mutated Nazi bratwursts… yes, you’ve read that right, Nazi bratwursts (all of whom are played by Kevin Smith, by the way) that emerge from their victims’ rear ends. And aside from that, the whole film is nothing but jokes at the expense of Canadians, specifically the myth that when they say ‘about’, it comes out as ‘aboot’. Throw in some terrible visual effects and lame running gags and you have one hell of a poor horror comedy. The only real positive thing that I can say about the film is that, at the very least, the camaraderie between Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith is legit. They have been friends for years and you can at least see that in the film regardless of the nepotism on display here. But Johnny Depp on the other hand… I have absolutely no idea what’s he doing in this film. This hasn’t been a good year for him in general, namely due to a troubling divorce/domestic violence scandal, but this is easily the worst performance of his career (I’m guessing it’s the same situation with Tusk as well). In short, this is just embarrassing on all accounts… and to make matters worse, this isn’t the last of the True North trilogy. The last installment will be starting production soon; Moose Jaws, AKA ‘Jaws with a Moose’. And while, again, I haven’t seen Tusk, it seems as if these films have been going down in quality with each new film. So, given how bad Yoga Hosers turned out, I can only imagine what we’re in for with Moose Jaws.  

And those are my Top 10 Worst Films of 2016. Ahh… now that was cathartic. You see, folks, this is why I do these ‘worst of’ lists first; like getting a flu shot, I do this list first just to get it over with. Now I can work on my big Top 12 list of my favorite films from this past year. Be sure to check that out in the first few weeks of the New Year! 

Top 10 WORST Films of 2016: Part 1 (#10-6)

It’s time once again for the annual look back on the year of film. And for those who are new to this blog, I do things a little differently than most critics. Namely, I start with my ‘Worst of the Year’ list instead of my ‘Best of’ list, which I save for the first week or so of the New Year. Why do I do this, you ask? Simple, it’s because I want to end the year on a good note instead of a bad note. I’m well-aware that, compared to ‘Best of’ Lists, the ‘Worst of’ Lists are always the more popular of the two amongst folks on the internet. If the rise of shows like ‘Honest Trailers’ and ‘Cinemasins’ have proven anything, it is that people really love to see others rag on films. But I’m not one of those people. So, with that said, I’m just going to warn you now… don’t expect to see me get ‘really angry’ when I start to talk about these films. To be honest, I rarely get angry at films anymore because I find it to be a little ridiculous to get so worked up over a simple film. Now, don’t misconstrue me, that doesn’t mean that I’m ‘going soft’. While I don’t usually go to see a lot of the ‘worst films of the year’ in theaters, I try to at least have a full ‘Top 10 Worst Of’ list by the end of the year and I’ve done so again this year. So, without further ado, let’s get started with my personal Top 10 WORST films of 2016. This is Part 1 of 2 and today I’ll listing Films #10-6. Also, for the record, I will be addressing some spoilers with these films but because this is the ‘worst of’ list, it’s not like I’m recommending these films or anything.

To start things off, we have a first for me with these lists; a Dishonorable Mention.

DISHONORABLE MENTION – INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

I list this as a dishonorable mention because, technically, I gave the film a positive review back in June, scoring it at a 3/5 rating. However, I’m clearly one of the few people who DID give the film a positive review. I also noticed that while reviews weren’t as bad initially, with the film’s initial RT score hovering around 50%, they got really savage on the first day of release. And, admittedly, I can see why. For a film that serves as a sequel to a film that was made 20 years ago, it feels like this was made in the 90’s. It just has a 90’s-narrative mentality to it that may have worked back then but definitely doesn’t fly today. So, with that in mind, why then did I give it a positive review? Well, I’ll admit that, at first, I thought it was going to be as big of a disaster as everyone was saying. The film didn’t start off on a good note; it was an awkward intro, to say the least. But then, for some reason that I can’t explain, I got hooked. For as cheesy as it was and despite the minimal amount of story and character development, I was fully into it by the end. But, keep in mind, this was back in the summer when I first saw the film. I haven’t seen it since and, as many film fans will undeniably point out, opinions towards films can change over time. There’s a possibility that I may have over-exaggerated a bit when it came to giving this film a positive review. But, until I end up re-watching it, my original thoughts towards it still stand, hence why Independence Day: Resurgence avoids landing in the Bottom 10. Though, with that said, I’m sure that it’s in many other ‘Worst of the Year’ lists.

As usual, the first few spots on this list go to films that I ultimately had ‘mixed’ feelings towards; films that weren’t outright terrible but weren’t really that great either. And kicking things off at Number 10 is a film that, unfortunately, was a disappointing effort from a talented cast and crew.

10. THE ACCOUNTANT

The newest film from director Gavin O’Connor (Miracle, Warrior) attracted some controversy upon release due to the premise surrounding its main character, a mild-mannered accountant who moonlights as a business partner of some of the most dangerous criminals in the world while, at the same time, also being a highly-functioning autistic. This controversy mainly stemmed from the idea that the film sets up that those with autism are supposedly the perfect candidates to be trained in combat and turned into assassins. So, as I noted in my review for the film, I understand if some people found this implication to be an offensive portrayal of those with autism. However, at the same time, I think the film did do a decent job of making the main character, Christian Wolff, to be a sympathetic figure who, despite being an undeniable badass when it comes to his combat skills, desires to find a legit human connection that he’s never really had. One of the best scenes in the film is a conversation between Wolff and fellow accountant Dana Cummings in which Christian admits to her the difficulty that he has in socializing with others, even though he wants to have that kind of connection. Ben Affleck does do an excellent job in the main role; he succeeds in making the character sympathetic in non-action sequences while also asserting his character’s badass status (no doubt helped by his turn as Batman) in the action sequences. Affleck is also backed by a solid cast that includes the likes of Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, and Jon Bernthal, just to name a few. And, at the very least, the film is well-shot and well-edited, especially in the action sequences.

But the film’s biggest downfall comes with its pacing. It’s simply too overlong, even at a runtime of 128 minutes. Now, granted, this isn’t an ‘action-heavy’ story as the trailers might’ve implied. It’s more of a character study and that’s fine; in fact, in this case, it’s good that the film decided to focus more on the story than the action. However, it doesn’t help that a lot of the dialogue scenes are dragged out more than necessary. It even gets to the point where this sometimes hinders the emotional impact of the moment, including a big monologue from J.K. Simmons’ character, a top government agent, about how he’s connected to Christian and the big reveal at the end that Jon Bernthal’s character is Christian’s younger brother. At the same time, other parts of the plot were rather underdeveloped. In this case, the one plot-point that especially comes to mind is how Marybeth Medina, the young woman placed in charge of the investigation on Christian, had a criminal past that she withheld from her superiors when applying for a job with the government. Simmons’ character then threatens to report this if she refuses to help him, which she does end up doing. Thus, this whole thing about her criminal past never gets brought up again after that scene, basically making it entirely pointless in the grand scheme of things. So, in conclusion, despite the best efforts of director Gavin O’Connor and its talented cast, The Accountant could’ve benefitted from being trimmed down a bit. Again, I have no issue with the fact that this film focused more on story than it did the action; it’s just that the balance between those two aspects was off by a considerable amount.

As much as I hate to say it, my Number 9 pick ended up being the most disappointing film of the year for me.

9. NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING

I’m a big fan of the original Neighbors. It was a funny ‘prank war’ comedy that benefitted immensely from not outright villainizing the fraternity group that comes into conflict with main characters Mac and Kelly Radner. While I myself am not a member of any fraternity, it’s clear that the film does a nice job of representing the true brotherhood of fraternities. Thus, the first film definitely stands as a modern example of a ‘great college film’. So, with that in mind, I was really excited for Neighbors 2, even if it was basically just rehashing the same plot of the first film with the only major difference being replacing the fraternity with a sorority. In the end, though, I, unfortunately, found the film to be rather underwhelming. Obviously, humor is a subjective thing, just like film, but personally, I felt that there weren’t as many ‘laugh-out-loud’ moments as there were in the first film. In fact, some of the best parts were clearly cut from the film as they were in the trailer and not the final cut, like a cameo from LL Cool J as one of the sorority girls’ fathers in which he dumbfoundedly goes through some of his daughter’s ‘adult’ items. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some funny moments in this and like the first film, they mainly stem from the various pranks that both sides commit against each other (e.g. the sorority girls crying loudly while watching The Fault in Our Stars to annoy Mac and Kelly). And the cast, as usual, is clearly having a lot of fun, just like they did in the last film. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne still have great chemistry together and Zac Efron is still very much a standout like he was in the first film in the role of former frat leader Teddy. Ultimately, though, I think that the main issue with the film is the fact that a lot of it felt scaled down compared to some of the big moments from the first film, particularly the ending.

I think many of us can agree that one of the best parts of the first film was the final fight between Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. And the trailers for this film implied an equally hilarious final fight between Rogen and co. and the new primary addition to the cast, Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays the sorority group’s leader, Shelby. However, that fight doesn’t happen; instead, a much more ‘dialed back’ ending occurs. When Shelby and her friends find themselves low on funds to the point where they’re about to get evicted from their house, they decide to throw a big party. However, this party ends up being exactly what led Shelby and her co-founders to form their own sorority in the first place; a sexist ‘frat party’, the only viable option that they had at this point. Ultimately, they realize their mistake and, with some encouragement from Mac and Kelly, band to stick together no matter what happens to them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do think the way in which they come to this conclusion is fine, namely in terms of the messages it conveys. Still, from a comedy standpoint, it lacks the impact of the fight from the first film. And while I do commend this film for its unabashed feminist stance, at the same time the film occasionally drills this message in way too much. We get it; the system is sexist. By comparison, the first film’s themes were executed more subtly, particularly the uncertainty of getting older, something that, for the record, was seen from BOTH sides of the main conflict. In short, while I will say that this film does have the potential to become a ‘college classic’ like the first film, unfortunately, I felt that it didn’t live up to the hype that was built up from the original.

This past March, I got the opportunity to go to the 2016 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. While there, I got to see a lot of great films… this wasn’t one of them.

8. HARDCORE HENRY

Hardcore Henry had quite a lot going for it, namely because it’s an action film set from a first-person perspective. In other words, the audience sees all the action from the perspective of the titular character, Henry. As far as I know, there hasn’t been any other film like this before and, to its credit, the film does live up to the ‘hardcore’ part of its title. The action is frenetic and insane from beginning to end and there are some genuinely memorable action sequences, including a big final battle at the end set to Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ in which Henry jacks himself up with adrenaline before decimating a whole army of thugs. However, all that impressive action can’t make up for the film’s biggest downfall; it’s one of the most mindless action films of all-time. Plot and character development in this film are practically non-existent. The film is basically just Henry going from place to place and killing any bad guy in his path, which means that the first-person gimmick does end up getting stale after a while. It’s just non-stop violent action that doesn’t give you a break whatsoever and the whole film has an arguably obnoxious ‘young and immature adolescent’ mentality to it. Henry himself, our audience avatar, is literally a blank slate. I get that this is probably the point as most ‘first-person shooters’ encourage us to mentally step into the shoes of the character we’re playing as. But this isn’t a video game; it’s a film. The same goes for most of the other characters as well, including Henry’s ‘wife’ Estelle, who is abruptly revealed at the end to be the main villain’s wife instead, and the main villain Akan, who has unexplained Jedi-like telekinesis powers. When and where did he get these powers, you ask? You’ll have to read a prequel comic (that was given out to us SXSW patrons after the screening) to find that out.

The only major character to get any sort of character development at all is Jimmy, played by Sharlto Copley. There is this running gag in the film where Jimmy is constantly getting killed and yet somehow manages to reappear just a few minutes later in a different get-up. As it turns out, the real Jimmy was paralyzed from the waist down by Akan, which then led to him cloning himself. Not only that, but each clone has its own unique personality traits, including a hippie biker and a British WWII general (“Jolly Good!”). Copley is very much the main highlight of the film… but he is only able to do so much. I won’t lie, folks, the first time I saw this at SXSW, I left the theater as soon as it was over, and before the ‘audience Q&A’ started, because I felt winded by the whole experience. And even when I saw it a second time a month later when it was officially released in theaters, my original opinion of it still stood. To reference the review of the film that I published in April (Disclaimer: Not the one that came from my ‘SXSW Recap’ post), it was basically like playing Call of Duty on crack… and that’s not a good thing. I’ll give it credit for its uniquely original approach to filmmaking but I feel that someone like, say, George Miller could do a much better job with this kind of story. To end on an interesting note, at the SXSW screening, a few other audience members and I were approached by members of the film’s marketing and interviewed about the film. They subsequently used these interviews in the official marketing campaign. They didn’t end up using any of my interview footage but I can tell you one thing; during this entire interview, I was doing my best to not admit my true feelings towards the film.

One of the biggest video game franchises in the industry got a film adaptation this year. The results… were kind of mixed. And no, I’m not talking about Warcraft or Assassin’s Creed…

7. THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE

This installment of the ‘video game based’ film genre is particularly notable because it’s based on a series that initially started out as a collection of games for mobile devices. And before any of you say anything, no I’m not judging this film for being based on a phone app. I’ll admit that I’m a fan of the Angry Birds games. I’ve played most of the installments that make up the main series; the original, Seasons, Rio, both Star Wars games, etc. And sure, the large amount of Angry Birds games out there can be rather overwhelming at times but they’re ultimately harmless and enjoyable time-wasters that are easy to get into. And the film itself is the same thing; harmless fun for kids with colorful animation and cartoonish mayhem. However, I just found most of it to be rather dull. It isn’t until the third act of the film when it starts to resemble the games AKA the birds taking on the pigs. Now, sure, with that said, it would obviously be rather stupid to just have the entire film be just that. Still, let’s just say that the film’s best moments come in the final third, including a fun parody of the Quicksilver scenes from the X-Men films. But that, as well as a solid voice cast that is, at the very least, well-fit to each role (e.g. Josh Gad as the hyper yellow bird Chuck and Peter Dinklage as the ‘legendary’ Mighty Eagle), isn’t enough to save this film. At the very least, though, compared to one of the next animated films on this list, at least kids will get something out of this. But as for adults, not as much. Also, would it be weird if I said that a film called Angry Birds was perhaps just a bit too mean-spirited?

Normally I don’t count direct-to-video released films in lists like this unless they have some form of a theatrical release. This next film did have a brief theatrical release… and boy was it a disappointment considering its source material.

6. BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE

Since 2007, DC has been producing a series of direct-to-video films based on their iconic characters. Referred to as the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line, many of these films have been based on new and classic storylines ripped straight from the comics and there was undoubtedly a lot of hype behind the latest installment of this series. And the reason why is simple; it was adapted from one of the most iconic DC Comics storylines of all-time. The Killing Joke, written by Watchmen creator Alan Moore in 1988, is regarded as one of the best Batman stories of all-time and, more importantly, the quintessential Joker story. It told the story of how Batman’s most notorious adversary came to be, proving how just one bad day can change everything. Thus, when an animated adaptation was announced starring Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, arguably the most famous duo to play the roles of Batman and the Joker, respectively, in animation, fans were really hyped to see the iconic story translated to film. The results, though, were not as great as people hoped, namely due to the filmmakers trying to work around the biggest controversy surrounding The Killing Joke. Because while the graphic novel was a major success upon release, there was some controversy over its portrayal of Batgirl AKA Barbara Gordon. The story saw her shot in the waist by the Joker, effectively paralyzing her from the waist down. While this ultimately led to her adopting a new superhero persona as Batman’s assistant Oracle, it was a very controversial moment in comics history as many felt that the level of violence directed towards Barbara was too much. Thus, the filmmakers decided to try and further develop her character in this adaptation by way of a 30-minute prologue. This was also their way of expanding the story so that it would meet the requirement of a feature-length runtime, which they wouldn’t have been able to do with The Killing Joke alone.

And boy was this move an epic fail. This introductory prologue has NOTHING to do with The Killing Joke. The Joker doesn’t appear in this segment at all and the ‘main villain’ of this segment, a mobster named Paris Franz, doesn’t appear again after it’s over. But of course, the worst thing about it is that it makes the whole Batgirl situation even worse when it was intended to fix it. This prologue makes Batgirl out to be a hopeless romantic that constantly gets distracted whenever someone hits on her. Case in point, there’s seriously a scene in which she’s pursuing Franz but she ends up losing him when he starts to flirt with her. Thus, Batman decides to take Batgirl off the case, as he remarks that she’s this close to going off the deep end when it comes to combatting crime (in other words, it’d get to the point where she starts killing her foes). Batgirl gets angry about the situation, they tussle for a bit… and then they have sex. Yes, Batman has sex with his crime-fighting partner who’s basically been like a little sister to him all this time. And, for the record, yes, I am aware that sometimes other forms of DC media have alluded to a romance between the two… that doesn’t make this any better. So, yeah, this prologue with Batgirl is easily the worst part of the film, and despite the best efforts from Tara Strong in the role (who, for the record, is NOT at fault for the character’s shortcomings), this is effectively one of the worst portrayals of a superhero character in the history of the genre. But that’s only the first third of the film. Many felt that, even with the terrible prologue, the film does improve once it does start to get into the Killing Joke part of the story.

But, to be honest, I thought that even the Killing Joke part of the story was mediocrely handled. Maybe it’s just because I’ve only read the original story a few times prior to watching this but something about the overall execution seemed off. To the filmmakers’ credit, they did do a great job of staying as true to the source material as possible, from the tributes to artist Brian Bolland’s work on the graphic novel to the almost 100% accurate repurposing of the original dialogue. However, there are some minor changes here and there that don’t work as well as the filmmakers want them to. The one that especially comes to mind for me is the scene where the Joker, before his accident, learns about the tragic death of his wife Jeannie. The graphic novel handles this moment perfectly, best represented by a single panel in which the Joker says nothing with a completely defeated look on his face after a cop tells him of his wife’s accident. Here, it’s seen from the perspective of the Joker’s new criminal acquaintances and we don’t hear a single word of that conversation. Another moment that people keep bringing up is the ending. During the final confrontation between Batman and the Joker, the latter tells a joke that even Batman ends up laughing at. This ending, in the novel at least, ambiguously mulled over the possibility that Batman killed the Joker in this final moment. But in the film, they do not establish the impending arrival of the police to their location, which makes the ending awkward in execution. And that’s the best way to describe this whole film; awkwardly executed. The attempts to further develop Batgirl as a character don’t work at all and they end up hindering the entire film, even when it gets to the iconic parts of The Killing Joke. And despite the hype surrounding this being rated R, that rating is ultimately pointless. Heck, the animation isn’t even that good, and this got a theatrical release, for crying out loud. In conclusion, you’re better off with the other DC animated release of the year, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. That at least was an accurate representation of its source material.

And that’s the end of Part 1 of my Top 10 WORST films of 2016 list. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow when I post Part 2, in which I’ll be going over my Top 5 WORST films of the year.

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) review

Oh boy… sometimes you come across a film or TV special that you look at and wonder, “Why?” Recently, I saw one of those kinds of specials… and it just so happens to come from one of the most iconic franchises of all-time. Yes, folks, today I’m reviewing the most infamous thing that ever came out of the Star Wars franchise. No, not the Star Wars prequels. No, not Star Wars Kinect. And no, not even Jar Jar Binks. I’m referring to the infamous ‘thing’ that is The Star Wars Holiday Special. In 1978, just one year after the release of A New Hope, someone decided that it’d be a good idea to make a Star Wars TV special starring most of the original cast from the film; Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, etc. It aired only once on November 17^th, 1978 on CBS. Since then, it has never been re-aired and it’s never seen a home video release. George Lucas himself, who had little to do with the actual special, has since distanced himself from it. He’s even stated that “If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it” Sadly, for good ol’ George, the internet has made this easier said than done. While the special has never seen an official release on home video, there have been numerous bootleg releases of it over the years and it’s now easily seen on video sites like YouTube. That is how I ended up seeing it in order to do a commentary for it that I recorded with my good pal and Sabers, Phasers, and Lasers, Oh My! co-host Alex Corey… and, well, for those who haven’t seen it, believe me when I say that it’s truly as bad as its reputation suggests.

The main plot of the special is that Han and Chewbacca are traveling to Chewbacca’s home planet of Kashyyyk (which would make its official series debut decades later in Episode III) so that Chewbacca is back in time to celebrate the Wookiee holiday known as ‘Life Day’, hence why this is called the Holiday Special and not the Christmas Special. Unfortunately, for them, stock footage of Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters from A New Hope are currently keeping them busy. Thus, most of the special ends up being about Chewbacca’s family, namely his wife Malla, their son Lumpy, and his father Itchy, as they impatiently wait for him to return. To pass the time, they end up watching all sorts of random skits and, basically, music videos. This includes Harvey Korman in drag as a four-armed cook, Harvey Korman as a malfunctioning robot that grabs his ass and sticks a finger up his nose (I wish I was kidding about that) as he tries to teach us how to build a translator device, Bea Arthur and hole-headed Harvey Korman (I WISH I was kidding about that one…) in a cantina on Tatooine that’s about to close for the night due to an Empire-initiated curfew, a music video featuring the band Jefferson Starship performing in a purple void, a circus troupe performance, an animated adventure starring Luke and company that was created by Nelvana Ltd., the same force behind the Droids and Ewoks cartoons from the 80’s, and a weird virtual fantasy sequence that’s, well, basically Wookie porn (Again, I wish I was kidding…)

This special is… unreal. For 90 minutes, we spend almost all that time in Chewbacca’s home watching his family just go through their daily routines. And, oh yeah, I forgot to mention… there are no frigging subtitles for a special in which the main characters are Wookiees, so you’ll never know what they’re supposed to be saying. And they really are the main characters of the special. Despite having the main characters of the franchise in it which, you know, is the reason why fans would probably watch this in the first place, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO are barely in it. Both Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher appear in one brief scene each up until the finale and while Harrison Ford has a larger role compared to them… you can tell through his performance that he clearly doesn’t give a crap about any of this. Maybe this is the reason why he wanted Han to be killed off in Empire Strikes Back, something that didn’t happen for real until The Force Awakens. The guest stars of the special, including Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, and Art Carney, have more screentime than most of the main characters, and even then, none of them make any of this better. Harvey Korman gets the worst break of them all as the legendary comedian is stuck doing extremely embarrassing bit parts, all of which I listed earlier in the plot synopsis.

The whole special in general is incredibly boring. The so-called main plot of the special is bare-bones, to say the least, and most of the skits that occur throughout have literally nothing to do with anything with the A-Plot. They’re literally just there to pad out the runtime. Now, from what I’ve heard, the reason why this special is mostly just skits is because it was developed by filmmakers with backgrounds in variety TV. Still, there’s no denying that these skits were their way of trying to make up for the special’s general lack of narrative. And, as you probably guessed, most of these segments are quite terrible. The ‘circus acrobats’ sequence is weird and nonsensical. A lot of you on the internet, even if you haven’t seen this, are probably familiar with the infamous cooking scene in which Harvey Korman overacts like crazy when he starts to ‘Stir, Whip, Stir, Whip, Whip, Whip, Stir! WAH!’ That virtual reality sequence, featuring singer Diahann Carroll, is even weirder and just goes on for eternity. Seriously, I’m not kidding, it’s basically porn! A lot of people have said that the animated sequence is the ‘best’ part of the special and while I guess I agree with that, it’s still nothing special. Oh yeah, and this was the first time we were introduced to the character of Boba Fett. What a random place to debut one of the most popular characters in franchise history. The sequence where Harvey Korman plays a malfunctioning robot in an ‘instructional video’ is also very drawn-out but, boy, does it deliver some truly insane moments courtesy of the many ways in which the robot malfunctions. As I alluded to earlier, there’s literally a moment where, during one of his malfunctions, he grabs his buttocks. And the way in which the sequence ends consists of him sticking a finger up his nose to move out of frame. Yes… that happens in this special. Finally, there’s the sequence with Bea Arthur singing a song with Tatooine locals. I’ll just be frank… I zoned out by this point. Finish it all off with a disastrous musical number performed by a ‘clearly out of it’ Carrie Fisher and you have The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Well, I can now say that I’ve seen The Star Wars Holiday Special… and I can also safely say that I will never watch it again. As I’ve noted in the past, I’m one of those rare Star Wars fans that do like the prequel films. I recognize their flaws but I also feel that they’re seriously not as bad as a lot of the internet puts them out to be on a regular basis. This… makes those films look like total masterpieces by comparison. For those who haven’t seen it, this TV special is seriously just as bad as everyone has said. It’s completely nonsensical from beginning to end, with minimal plot and drawn-out sketches that are completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It has the main actors of the franchise but severely underutilizes them in favor of a cast of characters we don’t give a crap about and, at the same time, can’t understand at all because they’re a bunch of Wookiees and we aren’t given any subtitles. Though, to be fair, it seems like most of the main actors didn’t give a crap about this either, especially Harrison Ford… and who can blame him? It’s easy to see why George Lucas completely regrets this as it is easily the worst thing that has ever come out of the Star Wars franchise. Simply put, it’s one of the biggest misfires in the history of television.

Rating: 0.5/5

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) review

I think it’s safe to say that Star Wars is easily the most famous franchise in pop culture history. Ever since George Lucas released the first film, Episode IV: A New Hope, back in 1977, the series has gone on to become one of the biggest global phenomena of all-time. While not every film in the series was well-received by critics and, particularly, audiences (i.e. a certain ‘prequel’ trilogy), they have all been huge commercial hits at the box-office. And when Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion, that effectively led to the announcement that we’d be getting more Star Wars films. We got our first taste of this new run of films last year with the one and only critically-acclaimed, $2 billion grossing Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which continued the story that originally concluded more than three decades earlier with Return of the Jedi. We’ll be getting the next installment of the main saga next December, but until then, this December sees the release of the first major ‘spin-off’ of the franchise (not counting the 2008 Clone Wars film), which will pave the way for new films set within the world of Star Wars that stray away from the usual proceedings of the saga films. The first of these ‘Star Wars ‘Stories’’, Rogue One, takes place in between the events of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and Episode IV, A New Hope. Under the direction of Gareth Edwards, director of the 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Rogue One focuses on the events that were listed in the opening crawl of A New Hope; how the Rebel Alliance managed to steal the plans to the Empire’s planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star. What follows is another exciting adventure in the Star Wars series that also affirms the great potential of future spin-offs.

Being set between Episodes III and IV, Rogue One takes place in a time where the Jedi Order has been extinguished and the Empire is now reigning supreme across the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance, now the only major force left that can combat the Empire, learns that a defecting Empire pilot, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), has been given a message to deliver to them from weapons designer Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), who had been forced into working for the Empire, about the development of a superweapon. As a means of tracking down Galen, the Rebellion enlists the aid of his distant daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), who has been spending the last few years fending for herself after escaping from the Empire when they came for her dad. And thus, Jyn, along with Rebel Officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Andor’s droid assistant and reprogrammed Empire enforcer droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Rook, mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), and blind Force-warrior Chirrut Ȋmwe (Donnie Yen), head off on a mission to find Galen and learn more about this new weapon. Of course, as they all find out, this weapon is the Death Star, a fully-operational battle station capable of destroying an entire planet in one fell swoop. Recognizing the magnitude of what the space station can do, and learning about a secret in regards to its design that was implemented by Galen himself, Jyn and company take on the risky venture of trying to find the plans for the Death Star, all while dealing with the sizable threat of the Empire’s forces, particularly Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who was an old acquaintance of Jyn’s father.

While Rogue One does start off on a rather slow note, it immediately begins to pick up once the main characters are brought together. What follows is the usual exciting action of Star Wars combined with the stylings of a war film, a genre that the filmmakers have been alluding to frequently in interviews when it came to describing the film. And you can see that with this, particularly in its epic third act battle on the paradise-like planet of Scarif. In fact, I’d argue that Rogue One has the best action sequences to date in regards to Disney’s new line of Star Wars films. The whole third act, in general, is practically worth the admission price alone. And while I would still give the edge to The Force Awakens when it comes to the overall story and characters, Rogue One also deserves some major credit when it comes to its overall execution. For being a ‘Star Wars prequel’ (stay with me, folks…), it does a much more conservative job of serving as that. Sure, there are references to A New Hope here and there but they’re definitely subtler in execution compared to the references made in the prequel trilogy. And, of course, the film deserves much credit for its effective recreation of the world of Star Wars (as seen in the original trilogy) through its production design. From using the appropriate Empire/Rebellion era outfits to the practically seamless replication of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV, you’d swear that this film was made around the exact same time as A New Hope.

Now given the fact that this does take place before A New Hope, Rogue One has the challenge of dealing with the potential predictability of its plot. I promise that I’m not going to spoil anything that happens in this film but let’s just say that if you’ve at least seen A New Hope, you probably have a good idea about how this all ends. But, even with that in mind, the film does succeed in establishing a solid amount of emotional depth through these characters. I wouldn’t say that it’s ‘as strong’ as Force Awakens in that department but it’s still solid. There were some legitimately effective emotional moments in this film and you really do see the commitment that the ‘Rogue One’ crew have when it comes to completing their mission. And part of this solid characterization does come courtesy of the excellent ensemble cast. As Jyn, Felicity Jones brings a great combination of the spunk that Daisy Ridley brought to the role of Rey and the roguish nature of Han Solo to the role, resulting in her becoming yet another great Star Wars lead heroine. She’s matched well with Diego Luna who, as Cassian, gets a solid arc in which we see how he contrasts with Jyn as a loyal soldier to the Rebellion. The rest of the film’s diverse cast is excellent as well, with major standouts including legendary Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen as the badass warrior Chirrut and Alan Tudyk, who provides the vocal/mo-cap performance for K-2SO, easily the most sarcastic droid that Star Wars has ever seen. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the much talked about return of Darth Vader. He’s not in the film that much (probably about four minutes or so) but, without giving anything away, I assure you that we can now forget about the time when he once said that he didn’t like sand… or the time he screamed “NOOOOO!!!!!” after learning about the death of his wife.

I was excited by the announcement of Star Wars spin-offs because it meant that this would lead to new possibilities in terms of stories within the massive world of Star Wars. And Rogue One starts this new line of spin-offs on a high note. Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk about the film having to go through reshoots, apparently to primarily fix the ending. But, ultimately, this didn’t negatively affect the film in any way. Thanks to the solid direction of Gareth Edwards, Rogue One is a well-matched mix of the usual Star Wars escapades with the war film esque nature of its plot. It also manages to overcome its status as being a film set in-between Episodes III and IV with its solid handling of teases, cameos, and fan-service. Going into this film, anyone who’s at least seen Episode IV could probably guess the way in which this film’s story ends. Though, to the film’s credit, it does manage to elicit a solid amount of emotional depth, especially considering this story’s place in the overall Star Wars lore. All that, as well as a solid cast and incredible action sequences, shows that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will no doubt pave the way for more great spin-offs in a galaxy far, far away. In short, for a film that is the most dreaded word amongst Star Wars fans, a ‘prequel’, it ends up being the best Star Wars prequel to date, though obviously for most Star Wars fans that is not saying much.

Rating: 4.5/5

Warcraft (2016) review

In the world of PC gaming, Warcraft is easily one of the most famous franchises in the history of the platform. Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, the series first started out with a trilogy of real-time strategy games; 1994’s Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, 1995’s Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, and 2002’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. But since 2004, the franchise’s arguably most popular installment has been the ‘massively multiplayer online role-playing game’ (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. As of October 2015, around 5.5 million players have active subscriptions to the game, which has obviously become a worldwide pop cultural phenomenon. Thus, it’s only fitting that we now have a feature film set within the world of Warcraft (no pun intended). And for a film that’s part of the controversial ‘video-game based film’ genre, and by ‘controversial’ I mean the fact that most of the genre’s output has been absolutely savaged by both critics and audiences, it certainly has some major credentials in terms of its crew. Specifically, its director, Duncan Jones. The son of the late rock legend David Bowie, Jones has made a name for himself in the film industry thanks to two critically acclaimed sci-fi films in 2009’s Moon and 2011’s Source Code. With Warcraft, however, Jones takes on what is easily his biggest project to date and with that comes a lot of pressure. Not only does the film have to appeal to the longtime fans of the franchise but it also must do enough to appeal to those who are generally unfamiliar with the franchise, me being one of them. So, with that said, does it achieve this? Well, ultimately, I’d say yes and no…

When their homeworld begins to be destroyed by a dark magical force known as ‘Fel’, the orcs of Draenor, led by the powerful and sinister warlock Gul’dan (Daniel Wu), travel via a portal to the human world of Azeroth. Once there, the orcs begin to attack various settlements all over the area, kidnapping large amounts of humans to use as sacrifices for Gul’dan so that he can reopen the portal and bring the rest of the orc Horde through it. This eventually ends up attracting the attention of the kingdom of Stormwind, ruled by King Llane (Dominic Cooper). When traces of Fel magic begin to become noticeable all over Azeroth, Llane sends his military commander, Sir Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), to investigate. Enlisting the aid of Medivh (Ben Foster), a powerful sorcerer known as ‘the Guardian’, and young mage Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer), Lothar begins to investigate further into the matter, which ends up resulting in him and his men coming into conflict with the orcs. However, at the same time, some members of the Orc race, namely Durotan (Toby Kebbell), the chieftain of one of the primary orc clans, Frostwolf, begin to consider breaking ties with Gul’dan, who wields Fel magic, so that the orc race can truly survive. And to do so, they decide that the best option is to form the unlikeliest of alliances with the humans, who likewise work to stop Gul’dan before he can summon his Horde army and take over Azeroth.

As I noted in the intro, I’ve never played any of the Warcraft games. Thus, this film has the challenge of making it so that newcomers to the franchise can at least understand what’s going on. And for the most part, the film does succeed in doing so. Now, granted, it’s not a complete success as I’m sure that are some references to the games here and there that I most definitely didn’t get. But as far as establishing the, again no pun intended, ‘world of Warcraft’, the film does do a solid job of establishing the primary ‘story’ of the war between the humans and orcs. In fact, the plot of the film is basically the set-up for said conflict that is the backbone of the entire series. While some critics have noted that the plot was rather incoherent, I personally didn’t really notice that. Still, like I said before, those who have played the games are no doubt going to get more out of it, specifically in terms of how certain moments factor into the franchise’s lore. As for the visuals, which have been one of the most talked about aspects of the film, well, all that buzz was warranted. The visual effects in the film are outstanding. Now sure, some will probably take issue with the fact that, like the latter half of the Star Wars prequels and the Hobbit films, there are quite a lot of visual effects in this film, namely in terms of the environments that it creates. And while I have read that there were some actual sets that were constructed during filming, overall I think it’s safe to say that most of the action sequences in this film are primarily computer generated. Still, it’s hard to deny how much detail was put into these visual effects. From the grand environments of Azeroth to the impressive motion-capture work for the Orc characters, this is easily one of the best-looking films of the year and it does lead to some impressive big-scale action sequences.

But while the visuals are great and the story at least isn’t as confusing as critics are claiming, the film does lack in terms of character development. I don’t want to go as far as to say that this is a case of ‘style over substance’ but still, emotional depth is very slim here. And, no, this has nothing to do with whether you’ve played the games or not. Certain character moments in the plot (e.g. a tragedy that befalls Sir Lothar) just don’t have the emotional impact that the film is trying to achieve. Still, the film’s cast does do a decent job with the material that they are given. Of this cast, there are two main standouts. The first is Toby Kebbell in the lead orc role of Durotan. Kebbell’s become a major figure in the world of motion-capture performance work in recent years thanks to his great turn as Koba in Dawn of Planet of the Apes. And while Koba is easily the stronger character, Kebbell does do a good job in the role of Durotan, the lone orc who decides to stand up against Gul’dan because, unlike him, Durotan cares about his fellow orcs. The other major standout is Paula Patton in the role of Garona, a half-human/half-orc slave who is captured by Lothar’s forces and subsequently joins them in the fight against Gul’dan. Again, while character development is rather lackluster in the film, Garona does at least get more of it than most. She’s probably the most interesting character in the entire film; a half-human/half-orc who is obviously torn between worlds. And the film does a good job of exploring that internal conflict, primarily represented by a key decision that she makes during the finale.

I will admit that this film is a hard one to recommend because it all depends on the audience. If you’re a fan of the Warcraft series, I think it’s safe to say that you’re probably going to really like this film. From the perspective of a Warcraft outsider, it seems like Duncan Jones and his crew did do a solid job of respecting the source material, particularly in terms of the production design. But for anyone like me who went into this being generally unfamiliar with the franchise, it is quite a bit of a hard sell. At the very least, the film does a decent job of establishing the universe so that it’s easily accessible to newcomers. But at the same time, you really do have to be a fan of the franchise to get the most out of it. And while the plot isn’t as convoluted as some critics have said, at the same time it is very simple and character development is rather lackluster save for a select few characters. At the very least, the visuals are fantastic and I think that they at least deserve some attention come awards season (and yes, I’m fully aware that this would be the ONLY real way in which this film gets recognized during awards season). So, in conclusion, while the hunt for the first universally beloved film based on a video game still goes on, this will no doubt please fans of the franchise, at least more so than any other entry in the genre. And while this is nowhere near being one of my favorite films of 2016, at the very least I will say that this isn’t as bad as its current 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests. Granted, it isn’t exactly a film that I plan on re-watching anytime soon but, for the most part, I liked it fine.

Rating: 3/5

Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2017: Part 2 (#10-1)

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s two-part list of my Top 20 Most Anticipated Films of 2017. This is the second half of the list in which I’ll be listing picks #10-1. For picks #20-11, click the following link to be taken to Part 1 of this list. But for now, let’s not waste any more time and get back to it. These are my Top 10 most anticipated films of 2017.

Kicking off the Top 10 is a film that’s shaping up to be an exciting return of one of the cinema’s most iconic creatures to the big screen.

10. KONG: SKULL ISLAND (MARCH 10^TH)

King Kong is easily one of the most iconic creatures in film history. The original King Kong from 1933 is regarded as one of the most classic films of all time. Since then, Kong has appeared in a few other films over the years, including a crossover with Godzilla and a 2005 remake directed by Peter Jackson. But, next year, the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ will be returning to the big-screen in Kong: Skull Island, which is set to connect with 2014’s Godzilla as part of Legendary Pictures’ new monster film series. This will eventually lead to a new Godzilla/King Kong crossover in 2020. But as for Kong: Skull Island, it seems as if that, for now at least, it’s not going to be making any major attempts at connecting with Godzilla. For one thing, it’s set in the 70’s. The first trailer for the film was quite excellent, showcasing the film’s cool art style as well as the fact that this Kong is apparently going to be frigging huge. I mean just look at the final shot in the trailer in which Kong appears in front of a pair of humans. While you can only see his face, he absolutely towers over the two. Obviously, this is to help match up Kong scale-wise with Godzilla, but still, I’m intrigued with this new version of the character, who will be portrayed by Terry Notary via motion-capture. Notary is no stranger to the process, having worked with Andy Serkis, who did the mo-cap for Kong in Peter Jackson’s remake, on the Planet of the Apes films. And speaking of the cast, this film has a MASSIVE ensemble cast; Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell and Corey Hawkins from Straight Outta Compton… the list goes on and on.

And then came the second trailer. That trailer impressed me because it finally gave us an idea of what this film was really going to be like. It again establishes the main plot of a group of explorers venturing into an uncharted island in the South Pacific before they come across Kong. But this trailer also shows that Kong (shown in his entirety for the first time in this trailer and still very huge) isn’t the only creature on this island. As the main characters learn from an island ‘resident’, played by John C. Reilly, there are also these ‘devilish’ creatures known as ‘Skullcrawlers’. We also see a few other creatures of varying shapes and sizes, which shows that this will truly be a true ‘creature feature’. Not only that, but it looks as if this Kong film is going to be much different when compared to other films in the series. Namely, I think it’s safe to say that we won’t be seeing this Kong rampaging through New York, climbing up the Empire State Building, and combatting fighter planes until his untimely demise (“Twas beauty killed the beast.”) This is called Kong: Skull Island after all so it looks as if all the action in the film is going to take place on Skull Island. In short, this is shaping up to be an exciting monster flick. I’ll admit that when it comes to King Kong, I’ve only seen the Peter Jackson remake. But I did really like that remake so I am very excited to see this new film and, subsequently, the upcoming crossover involving Kong and Godzilla. And while I’ll admit that I only ‘liked’ the Godzilla remake, I think that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) is going to deliver on this one.

There’s only one animated release in this year’s Top 10 list, and, surprisingly, it isn’t a Disney or Pixar film.

9. THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (FEBRUARY 10^TH)

As someone who grew up as a big fan of the LEGO brand, I was excited to see 2014’s The Lego Movie, even though it had been a few years since I had been a regular ‘player’ of LEGOs. And while the idea of a LEGO film may have seemed like nothing more than a soulless cash grab, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller gave it heart, effectively making it one of the best films of that year. And now there will be more LEGO films on the way, starting off with a spin-off that centers on the character that many felt was the biggest standout of The LEGO Movie; Will Arnett’s Batman. Arnett’s take on the Dark Knight takes center stage in The LEGO Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay, who was the animation director for The LEGO Movie. The trailers for this film have been fantastic, previewing what looks to be another fun LEGO animated film, this time centered around Arnett’s hilarious ‘full of himself’ characterization of Batman. I’m also curious about a report claiming that the film will seemingly incorporate every major onscreen iteration of Batman to date, and by that, I mean hopefully more than just the line from the ‘Wayne Manor’ trailer when Alfred reminds Batman of his previous ‘moods’ (“I have aged phenomenally!”). Newcomers to the cast include Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, Michael Cera as Robin, and Rosario Dawson as Batgirl. And who knows? Maybe we’ll even see a cameo from someone from The LEGO Movie. One thing’s for certain, though… after a more serious take on Batman in Batman v Superman, I have the feeling that fans are eager to see a more upbeat take on the iconic superhero.

Two slots ago, we talked about one of the cinema’s most iconic primates, King Kong. But next year will also mark the return of another, and newer, ‘top ape’.

8. WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (JULY 14^TH)

After a disastrous remake in 2001, the Planet of the Apes franchise rebounded a decade later with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Featuring some impressive motion-capture work as well as an excellent performance by Andy Serkis in the lead role of ape leader Caesar, it was one of the surprise hits of 2011. Three years later, the franchise took it one step further with the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. A superior sequel in almost every way, the Matt Reeves-directed flick was an emotionally charged sci-fi drama that continued to raise the bar in terms of motion-capture effects. So, with that said, I can only imagine the epic action and visuals that we’re going to get with the next installment, War for the Planet of the Apes. Matt Reeves returns to direct and Andy Serkis and most of the series’ mo-cap regulars (Terry Notary, Judy Greer, Karin Konoval, etc.) reprise their roles from the previous film. As for the ‘human’ cast, once again they’ll be bringing in new characters, highlighted this time by Woody Harrelson in what appears to be a villainous role as ‘The Colonel’. In fact, it’s looking like this is shaping up to be a dark sequel. Per the current synopsis, the apes suffer heavy losses and Caesar apparently ends up going to a dark place when he begins to avenge his fellow apes. I mean, simply put, damn! But, then again, the primary subtitle for this film is ‘War’ so I guess that was to be expected. Simply put, it looks as if we’re inching closer and closer to a new ‘adaptation’ of, just simply, Planet of the Apes and I’m 100% confident that those who loved Dawn of the Planet of the Apes can’t wait to see the next installment of this hit franchise. I know I am!

We’re finally starting to get into the Marvel Cinematic Universe now with my next pick; a film that quite frankly has a lot going for it.

7. THOR: RAGNAROK (NOVEMBER 3^RD)

While Thor has been a vital member of the Avengers, his solo film franchise has unfortunately been, arguably, the least successful sub-franchise of the entire MCU. While the first Thor film did get good marks back when it was first released in 2011, which is good considering that it could’ve easily been a disaster, I rarely hear it brought up in a positive manner nowadays. And as for the sequel, 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, it’s commonly regarded as the weakest installment of the entire MCU. But when it comes to the upcoming third installment, Thor: Ragnarok, I feel that this film could very much redeem the Thor franchise. The Dark World was clearly a prime example of an MCU film that was regulated by the studio’s controversial ‘creative committee’. But now that they’re gone, I think that this new Thor has quite a lot of potential. It’s being directed by Taika Waititi, who directed episodes of the HBO show Flight of the Concords as well as this year’s critically acclaimed adventure comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He is easily one of the most ‘out of left field’ directors that Marvel Studios has ever hired and I’m confident that he is going to bring a lot to this third Thor film. Of course, Chris Hemsworth will be returning as Thor along with Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and Idris Elba as Heimdall. But this film is also setting up an impressive ensemble cast as well. Cate Blanchett will be playing the main villain, Hela, Tessa Thompson (Creed) will be playing Valkyrie, a new love interest for Thor, Jeff Goldblum will be playing a character known as ‘Grandmaster’, and Karl Urban will be playing an Asgardian warrior named Skurge. But perhaps the most exciting addition to the cast is the return of Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk. The film is being described as somewhat of a ‘sci-fi road trip’ story and after all the great interactions between them in the Avengers films, I’m really excited to see Thor and Hulk work off each other in this film. In short, I’m confident that this will redeem the Thor franchise in the eyes of most MCU fans. I mean, the fact that it’s going to be set primarily within the Nine Realms instead of on Earth, a common criticism of the previous films, is a good sign.  

This year’s Captain America: Civil War saw the long-awaited debut of one of Marvel’s most beloved characters in the MCU. And next year, he’ll take on his latest ‘solo adventure’.

6. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (JULY 7^TH)

I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed when it was announced that, due to the new deal between Marvel Studios and Sony, the Amazing Spider-Man franchise wasn’t going to continue. I mean I know that the second Amazing Spider-Man film underperformed both critically and commercially but why couldn’t they just continue the franchise and bring in Kevin Feige and his team to help improve it? Still, I won’t lie when I say that Tom Holland proved to be a fantastic new Spidey in Civil War so I am enthusiastic about the first installment of a new line of Spider-Man films, Spider-Man: Homecoming, directed by general newcomer Jon Watts. While the character rights are still owned by Sony, at the same time this new film is basically an official MCU film. Holland will be returning as Peter Parker, of course, along with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. Even Robert Downey Jr. will be appearing as Tony Stark, which is fitting considering that he was the one who recruited Spider-Man to join his team in Civil War. The film is also boasting a massive ensemble cast that also includes Zendaya, Donald Glover, and Tony Revolori (Zero ‘the Lobby Boy’ in The Grand Budapest Hotel). As for the villains, Michael Keaton makes the jump from DC to Marvel as the Vulture while a few other villains will be appearing as well. With that said, to some, it may seem like the film is once again making the same mistake that hurt both Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2; an overload of villains. But the reason why I’m not worried at this point is simple. I have faith in Marvel Studios and the fact that this will apparently be a ‘John Hughes style’ school comedy excites me as it’s sure to be another unique take on the superhero genre.

Arguably the most famous superheroine of comics finally takes center stage in her own film. Kicking off the Top 5…

5. WONDER WOMAN (JUNE 2^ND)

The first big female-led superhero film of the current age of the superhero genre, Wonder Woman certainly has a lot going for it. It also now has the pressure of trying to be the DCEU’s first generally well-received film after the polarizing reaction to Man of Steel and the generally negative reactions to both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. But I think that this one has a chance, especially because this is basically the first entry in the franchise under the supervision of the DCEU’s ‘Kevin Feige’, Geoff Johns, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay. Gal Gadot will reprise her role from BvS as the Amazon warrior Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman as the film will explore her origins and events of her life before BvS. The film will be set during WWI and while it may seem like a cross between Captain America: The First Avenger and the Thor films, it does provide a unique backdrop for a superhero film. Chris Pine co-stars as Diana’s love interest, Steve Trevor, and based on the two trailers that have been released, it looks like he’ll certainly be more than just ‘the love interest’, while at the same time being sure not to overshadow Wonder Woman in her own film. The film is being directed by Patty Jenkins, who was previously set to direct Thor: The Dark World for Marvel Studios until she dropped out due to creative differences. And quite honestly, I think this film suits her better. And for the record, no, it’s not because it’s Wonder Woman but because I think she’ll get more creative control over this film instead of having to deal with a creative committee. And given the reports on the behind-the-scenes debacles that Zack Snyder and David Ayer went through with BvS and Suicide Squad, respectively, ‘creative control’ is going to be key to this film’s success.

For those who aren’t big fans of Disney’s current trend when it comes to their live-action films, hear me out on this one…

4. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (MARCH 17^TH)

Disney’s current trend of live-action reimaginings continues with a new live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, inspired by Disney’s beloved 1991, Best Picture-nominated, animated feature. Obviously, the legacy of the original puts a lot of pressure on this new version, not to mention the backlash from those who aren’t fans of Disney’s current ‘live-action remake’ practice. As for me, as I’ve gone over before in the past, I’m fine with Disney doing live-action versions of their animated classics. It’s not like they’re intended to replace the originals, which seems to me to be the main problem that some Disney fans have with these remakes. This isn’t a case like the original Star Wars trilogy where George Lucas has been withholding the original versions of the films from us in favor of the altered ‘special editions’. The original animated films are still going to be there. Heck, they just released a new Blu-Ray edition of the original film, for crying out loud! And even if some of the remakes do poorly with critics, they don’t hurt the original in any way. If anything, it just makes the originals stronger. At the very least, the films have been solid hits with audiences but recently they’ve been doing well with critics as well. Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella ended up being the first of these ‘live-action remakes’ to be generally well-received by critics, and it even managed to improve upon some aspects of the equally terrific original. It was then followed a year later by Jon Favreau’s adaptation of The Jungle Book, which is easily one of the most well-received films of the year so far (and rightfully so, if I may add). And we even got a third well-received Disney remake just a few months later in the form of Pete’s Dragon, a remake of a rather obscure live-action Disney film from 1977.  

Anyway, apologies for getting off track there for a second. Let’s talk about the new take on Beauty and the Beast. The film is being directed by Bill Condon, who is no stranger to musicals having written the screenplay for 2002’s Best Picture winner Chicago and directing 2006’s Dreamgirls. And yes, the new film will retain the original film’s music courtesy of Alan Menken; ‘Be Our Guest’, ‘Gaston’, and of course the titular track, just to name a few. As for the cast, this film has assembled quite an excellent ensemble. Emma Watson will take on the lead role of Belle, which I think many of us will agree is a perfect choice, while Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens stars as the Beast. Luke Evans will star as Gaston while Josh Gad takes on another big ‘Disney sidekick’ role as LeFou. As for the Beast’s enchanted staff, Ewan McGregor will be Lumiere, Ian freaking McKellen will be playing Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson will be playing Mrs. Potts. Add in other big names like Kevin Kline (Maurice) and Stanley Tucci (an original character named Cadenza, a harpsichord) and you have a premier ensemble. The first main trailer for the film showed off its impressive and beautiful visual style, and like the previous great Disney remakes, it’s looking like this new film will both respect the original and be its own thing at the same time. As a big fan of the original Beauty and the Beast (my third favorite Disney animated film of all-time, if you remember my recent ‘rankings list’), I’m really looking forward to this one. And after the trio of excellence that was Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Pete’s Dragon, I’m confident that this will continue the studio’s live-action remake hot streak.

Christopher Nolan’s newest film… need I say more?

3. DUNKIRK (JULY 21^ST)

For his newest film, Christopher Nolan will be taking on a true story with Dunkirk. It will tell the tale of the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’, a moment from World War II in which many Allied soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, France right in the middle of the Battle of France. This moment in time was even featured in another big film, 2007’s Atonement (Remember that big single-take sequence on the beach? That was Dunkirk.). But, suffice it to say, it’ll be very exciting to see Nolan’s take on the event and the first teaser very much set the stage for what looks to be an intense war film, highlighted by the closing shot in which a bunch of Allied soldiers notice and prepare to brace for an incoming fighter plane attack. Casting-wise, the film features what will surely be the usual excellent Nolan ensemble cast; Tom Hardy, in his third Nolan film after Inception and Dark Knight Rises, Kenneth Branagh, James D’Arcy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance… Harry Styles? Yeah, apparently Nolan decided to cast one of the members of One Direction in the film. Eh, I don’t mind, I trust Nolan’s judgment. Also, like his previous film, Interstellar, it looks like this will be another film that is going to be a ‘must-see’ in IMAX as it was shot on 65 mm and will be projected on film in the theaters that are still capable of doing so. You do have to give filmmakers like Nolan credit for keeping the art of using film stock alive, especially in an age where most filmmakers nowadays shoot on digital. But aside from that, I’m just excited to see the newest film from one of my favorite directors.

Boy, let me tell you, picking a #1 out of these next two was quite a hard process. But, somehow, I managed to make it happen. And yes, these next two picks will probably be so obvious to anyone who’s been following this blog for some time now. At #2, we have the highly-anticipated follow-up to the biggest film of 2015…

2. STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII (DECEMBER 15^TH)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a genuine success. Obviously, it was the most anticipated film of 2015 for many people but it did run the risk of being a potential disappointment, as was the case with the prequel trilogy when it was first released. Thankfully, though, that did not happen. I mean, sure, you still have people pulling the argument that the film was a ‘remake’ of A New Hope (Which I still argue it isn’t. Can we please let that go?) but for the most part it proved to be a big hit both critically and commercially. So, who wouldn’t be excited for the next installment of this new trilogy? This time, however, we’ll be getting a change in director. It’s sad that we won’t see J.J. Abrams return but, at the same time, I don’t blame him for not wanting to spend the next half-decade or so working solely on these films. Instead, Rian Johnson will be taking over as director for Episode VIII. Johnson’s definitely proven himself to be a premier director in recent years, having helmed 2012’s sci-fi/time travel hit Looper as well as some of the most well-received episodes of Breaking Bad, including the critically acclaimed third-to-last episode, ‘Ozymandias’. With those credentials, one can only imagine what he’s going to bring to the world of Star Wars. And I must say that I like the idea of having different directors for each of the primary installments of the saga; it helps keep things fresh. And Johnson certainly has great material to work with, especially considering how Force Awakens ended. Will we see Rey begin to train with Luke? How will the First Order and, more specifically, Kylo Ren respond after the destruction of Starkiller Base? For now, we don’t know what’s going to happen... and that’s what’s so great about the anticipation for the continuing story of the Star Wars saga.

And finally, my most anticipated film of 2017 is… the return of those ‘bunch of a-holes’…

1. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (MAY 5^TH)

Back in 2013 when I did my ‘Most Anticipated Films of 2014’ list, I had listed Guardians of the Galaxy at the #10 spot. Obviously, at that point, we still did not have any real idea of just what to expect from this film. I mean this was a pretty big risk for Marvel Studios at the time in regards to going with a generally unknown team of superheroes and doing a whole film based on them. But, of course, we all know how great it turned out to be in the end. And even after two whole years since its initial release, Guardians of the Galaxy still stands as my favorite MCU film to date thanks to its strong characters, great humor, excellent visuals, and terrific emotional depth. And that is why the upcoming sequel ultimately beats out Star Wars: Episode VIII as my most anticipated film of 2017, though, let me be clear, this was only by a small margin. Writer/director James Gunn returns to direct the continuing adventures of everyone’s favorite intergalactic ‘bunch of a-holes’. In this new installment, Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord tries to learn more about the identity of his father. And who is his father, you ask? Why that would be the one and only Kurt Russell in the role of Ego, who in the comics is an actual living planet… yeah, I know that sounds rather weird but need I remind you that this is a franchise with a talking raccoon and a tree creature.

The main cast members of the original film all return to their respective roles; Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as Groot (who will be in a ‘younger’ form in this film after sacrificing himself at the end of the first film), and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. The Guardians will also be getting a few new recruits as well, two of whom are returning characters, Michael Rooker as Yondu and Karen Gillan as Nebula, as well as newcomer Pom Klementieff as Mantis. It’ll definitely be interesting to see what they bring to the team dynamic, especially considering that Yondu and Nebula played generally antagonistic roles to the team in the first film. And of course, I know we’re all excited to learn what songs will be included on the soundtrack, Awesome Mix Vol. 2. So far, we haven’t gotten any concrete reveals in regards to featured songs but based on what was shown at Comic-Con earlier this year, it seems like ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac and ‘Come A Little Bit Closer’ by Jay and the Americans will probably be featured in the soundtrack. But at the end of the day, I’m just super pumped to see the further adventures of the Guardians. You could only imagine how excited I was when the first trailer was released online this past month. Getting to hear ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ once more, seeing that funny interaction between Star-Lord and Drax at the end, it was just perfect and I look forward to getting ‘hooked on a feeling’ once more with these ragtag team of misfits. One last question, though…

And those are my Top 20 most anticipated films of 2017. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your most anticipated films of 2017, especially if they’re films that I didn’t mention here. Because there’s a lot more coming out next year that I haven’t even gone over yet.