The Addams Family - Film Series Retrospective

There are a lot of ways that one could describe the characters who are the focus of today’s retrospective. Some might call them “creepy” and “kooky”. Others might say they’re “mysterious” and “spooky”. And yet, most would agree that “they’re altogether ooky”. Yes, folks, today we’re celebrating the classic franchise that is The Addams Family. It all began in 1938 when cartoonist Charles Addams first published a series of cartoons for The New Yorker which introduced audiences to the titular family of Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Grandmama, Thing, Lurch the butler, and Cousin Itt. The cartoons served as a satire of the all-American family by having the Addams Family fully embrace their macabre lifestyle without any regard for those who find their antics disturbing. Suffice it to say, they were a huge hit, resulting in the characters transitioning into other forms of media. Arguably their most famous spin-off is the classic TV series starring Carolyn Jones and John Astin as Morticia and Gomez that ran from 1964 to 1966. Aside from that, there were also a few animated series made by Hanna-Barbera (with one of them notably featuring a then 11-year-old Jodie Foster as Pugsley) and more recent works such as a Broadway musical in 2010. But for the purpose of today’s retrospective, we’ll be focusing on the characters’ appearances in feature films which, since the ’90s, have primarily consisted of two major cinematic incarnations. First, there’s the 1991 live-action adaptation that was followed by a sequel in 1993, resulting in a pair of films that have very much become staples of the Halloween programming blocks for networks like Freeform. Then, there’s the franchise’s recent animated outing that came out last year and is set to get a sequel sometime next year (you know, unless COVID-19 subjects it to the same issues that have plagued countless other upcoming releases). And so, without further ado, prepare to snap your fingers to Vic Mizzy’s iconic theme song as we look at the Addams Family films.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)

We begin with the first live-action film adaptation of The Addams Family, which was released in 1991 and was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Before he went on to direct films like the original Men in Black trilogy, this film served as his directorial debut after starting out in the industry as a cinematographer on many of the Coen brothers’ early films like Blood Simple and Raising Arizona and other classics such as Big and Misery. Unfortunately for him, though, the film’s production was consistently plagued with problems such as health issues for multiple members of the cast and crew, a change in cinematographers that even forced Sonnenfeld to step in and do it himself for a stretch of time and, most infamously, a change in the distributor. Originally handled by Orion Pictures, the studio ended up selling the film to Paramount out of fear that it would be another commercial flop for them at a time when they were struggling financially (sure enough, they would ultimately end up filing for bankruptcy that year). But upon its release, the film did quite well at the box-office as it grossed over $191 million worldwide on its relatively modest $30 million budget, and while its overall critical reception was mixed at best, it’s clear that it managed to be a hit with audiences and it’s easy to see why. Overall, the film does a great job of capturing the madcap atmosphere of the original show and the delightfully dark and twisted visual style of Charles Addams’ original cartoons right down to some spot-on recreations of key moments from the latter. Plus, it’s all bolstered by an excellent ensemble headlined by Raul Julia, who is delightfully theatrical as Gomez, and Angelica Huston, who’s a practically pitch-perfect fit for the role of Morticia. This makes up for what is easily the film’s biggest shortcoming in that anything that doesn’t directly involve the Addams family (namely, everything regarding the main antagonist, a loan shark who tries to disguise her adopted son as  the long-lost Uncle Fester to steal the Addams’ fortune) is a lot weaker by comparison. Ultimately, though, the film still manages to be a solidly entertaining (albeit far from perfect) romp that, at the end of the day, ends up being one of the better adaptations of an old television sitcom from the ’60s, a subgenre that notably trended in the ’90s as evident from other TV-to-film adaptations such as The Flintstones, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dennis the Menace.

Rating: 3.5/5

ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (1993)

Fueled by the first film’s success at the box-office, Paramount quickly developed a sequel, Addams Family Values, which hit theaters in 1993 and saw the return of both director Barry Sonnenfeld and most of the main cast from the previous film (save for Judith Malina, who was replaced in the role of Grandmama by Carol Kane). The film also took on a much different tone compared to its predecessor as it was more reliant on its macabre humor rather than its efforts to replicate the zany antics of the TV series, which is ultimately the catalyst behind it being one of the rare cases of a genuinely superior sequel. Yes, thanks to this pivotal change in direction, Family Values is a lot more consistent with its humor and, really, is just a better-made film, for the most part. Much of this has to do with it having a far superior villain than its predecessor thanks to Joan Cusack’s delightfully campy turn as Debbie, a gold-digging femme fatale who marries Uncle Fester with the intent of killing him to collect the inheritance. The only real downside, though, is that, because the film is largely focused on Fester and Debbie’s relationship, it results in Raul Julia and Angelica Huston not getting as much to do this time around as Gomez and Morticia. But at the very least, the film makes up for this by simultaneously giving Christina Ricci a larger role as the precociously cynical Wednesday. Ricci had already made a great impression in the role back in the first film, but thanks to this film’s subplot in which Wednesday and Pugsley are sent away to an overly chipper summer camp and, naturally, cause a whole bunch of chaos there, she’s far and away its biggest standout. With all this in mind, I can safely say that if you were among those who found to be the first live-action Addams Family film to be a bit underwhelming, I believe that you’ll probably get a lot more out of this one. It truly is a great example of a sequel that managed to improve upon its predecessor in almost every possible way and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the film that was largely responsible for the positive reputation that this duology has maintained over the years.

Rating: 4.5/5

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (2019)

And finally, we cut to nearly three decades later when the Addams Family made their return to the big screen in a new animated feature, which served as the second outing for the directing duo of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan after the smash hit that was 2016’s Sausage Party. Obviously, these two films are quite different from each other when it comes to both their target audiences and their overall sense of humor, but in this case, Vernon and Tiernan do manage to maintain much of the consistent humor that we saw from Sausage Party. Yes, there are quite a lot of modern references (as is admittedly the case with a lot of modern adaptations of older bits of source material), but for the most part, they don’t completely overtake the film to the point where they overshadow anything that made this franchise so popular in the first place. In other words, this new film does just as great of a job as the live-action films did when it comes to capturing the zany and macabre nature of the titular family, especially when it comes to its overall visual style. While there was some… to be perfectly blunt, rather hyperbolic backlash towards the Addams family’s character designs (which seemingly only stemmed from most folks’ fondness for the live-action films), these designs brilliantly match the look of Charles Addams’ original cartoons. And just like the live-action films, they’re brought to life by a terrific ensemble, from Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron as Gomez and Morticia to Chloe Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard as Wednesday and Pugsley. Really, the only ‘negative’ thing that I can say about this film is that the main plot is your standard ‘fish out of water’ story with some blatantly obvious payoffs. Despite this, though, this new take on The Addams Family does manage to be a solidly entertaining family flick, and while I didn’t end up seeing this when it first came out exactly one year ago, I’m certainly interested in seeing what will come from next year’s sequel.

Rating: 4/5

*Snap Snap*

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) review

I must admit that I went into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker feeling rather hesitant, a genuine first for me when it comes to Star Wars. Now, to be clear, this had nothing to do with the film itself since I had full faith in the amazing cast and crew who has brought this sequel trilogy to life and, of course, J.J. Abrams, who returns to the director’s chair after getting this whole trilogy started with 2015’s The Force Awakens. What I didn’t have faith in… was the Star Wars fandom. It’s been well-documented at this point that the Star Wars fandom has been in quite the volatile state these past few years after the release of 2017’s The Last Jedi, which has easily become one of the most polarizing films of all-time. While some found it to be quite arguably the best Star Wars film to date for its willingness to take risks when it comes to its writing, others thoroughly hated it for that exact reason. And because of this, the film spawned a small but incredibly vocal faction of critics who have taken it upon themselves to declare war against Disney, Lucasfilm, and the latter’s president Kathleen Kennedy for their allegedly piss-poor handling of the franchise. As such, J.J. Abrams now finds himself having to deal with perhaps the worst set of expectations ever thrust upon a Star Wars film; trying to appease those who despised The Last Jedi while simultaneously trying not to piss off those who preferred that film’s method of storytelling. It’s a complicated task that’s clearly been reflected in the film’s overall reception, but J.J. manages to pull through to deliver a satisfying finale to the Skywalker Saga.

In the year since the events of The Last Jedi, the severely limited forces of the Resistance have struggled against the might of the First Order, now led by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). And if that wasn’t enough, the whole galaxy receives an unexpected broadcast from none other than Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who supposedly met his end during the Battle of Endor as seen in Return of the Jedi. When Ren confronts the Sith Lord, Palpatine reveals that he has an armada of powerful Star Destroyers that will serve as the ‘Final Order’ and destroy the galaxy once and for all. The only one who could possibly stand in their way is Rey (Daisy Ridley), the Force-sensitive scavenger turned Jedi from Jakku who had trained with the late Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and is now guided by Luke’s sister, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Rey and her friends, former First Order stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and Resistance commander/pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), soon learn that Palpatine is hiding out on the uncharted planet of Exegol. And because of its elusive status, the only way to reach it is by finding a device known as a Sith Wayfinder that will give them the planet’s coordinates. Thus, Rey, Finn, and Poe find themselves in a race against time to find the Wayfinder and reach Exegol, all while being endlessly pursued by Ren and the First Order, before Palpatine can unleash the ‘Final Order’. In the process, Rey continues to struggle with the growing connection that she has with Kylo Ren and finally begins to uncover the secrets behind who she really is, which effectively poses some major ramifications for the galaxy.

Despite its immense success with both critics and audiences, J.J. Abrams’ last Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, received quite a bit of flak for allegedly being a ‘carbon copy’ of the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. This, in turn, can explain why a lot of attention was made about Rian Johnson’s efforts to ‘freshen things up’ with The Last Jedi… even though one could argue that it too could be described as a mirror of its original trilogy equivalent, The Empire Strikes Back. As for Rise of Skywalker, the argument of ‘been there, done that’ has once again become a source of contention amongst critics, especially due to the return of Emperor Palpatine as the main antagonist despite the previous film’s concerted efforts to “let the past die”. But just like the whole ‘it’s just A New Hope again’ debate that now dominates the conversation when it comes to The Force Awakens, I’d argue that this isn’t as big of a deal as it’s been made out to be. Sure, all three films in the sequel trilogy do share some similarities with Episodes IV through VI, but it’s not like they’re downright ripping off the plots of those films. Instead, these parallels only help to strengthen the sequel trilogy’s narrative while also providing some nice callbacks and solid conclusions to some of the series’ longest-running plotlines. And because these newer films have done a phenomenal job when it comes to developing their main characters, this paves the way for some incredibly powerful emotional moments. In other words, J.J. Abrams once again proves that he’s a natural when it comes to crafting that classic Star Wars atmosphere. And while The Last Jedi ended up providing some of the most gorgeous cinematography that the series has ever had, J.J. and his long-time cinematographer Dan Mindel continue to prove that they can deliver visuals and action sequences that are just as amazing by comparison.  

One interesting thing to note about Rise of Skywalker is that it’s the first entry of the sequel trilogy where the lead trio of Rey, Finn and Poe are all together for a good chunk of the run-time whereas the previous two films had them separated in various ways. This wasn’t a bad thing, for the record, but it is nice that this film finally gives these three a chance to work together and Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac are all fantastic once again in their respective roles. Rise of Skywalker also does a wonderful job when it comes to furthering their overall character development, whether it’s Poe continuing to grow as a leader for the Resistance or Rey learning about her heritage and what that could potentially mean for the galaxy. All this great character development from the protagonists is matched perfectly by their foil, Kylo Ren, as Adam Driver continues to shine as the emotionally volatile Dark Side user whose complex character arc reaches its cathartic conclusion in this film. The four leads are then excellently backed by several of the sequel trilogy’s great supporting players, including Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux and Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, although fans of the latter will be disappointed by her severely limited screen-time. After that, the film adds in some fun new characters including Keri Russell as Zorii Bliss, an old acquaintance of Poe’s, Richard E. Grant as First Order General Pryde, who slowly works his way into becoming Kylo Ren’s sinister second-in-command, and Naomi Ackie as Jannah, who is revealed to be a former First Order stormtrooper just like Finn.

Moving over to the series veterans who notably make a return in this film, the biggest of the bunch is, of course, Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine. Regardless of how one feels about the decision to bring the character back, McDiarmid is once again terrific as the imposing Sith Lord, especially since he opts for the generally more subdued version of the character from the original trilogy instead of the cartoonishly over-the-top iteration from Revenge of the Sith. Another welcome return comes via Billy Dee Williams’ suave smuggler Lando Calrissian, who promptly continues to be one of the most charismatic figures in the entire Star Wars galaxy. But easily the most notable element of this film’s cast is how Leia ultimately factors into everything. While it was originally planned to give her a prominent role a la Han Solo in The Force Awakens and Luke in The Last Jedi, those plans ended up falling by the wayside after Carrie Fisher’s untimely passing in 2016 after she had finished working on The Last Jedi. However, instead of just giving Leia an unceremonious off-screen death as a lot of films tend to do whenever an actor/actress doesn’t return to reprise their role, J.J. manages to work her in via the use of unused footage from The Force Awakens. The overall implementation of this footage into the film is a truly fascinating feat to behold given how much work clearly must’ve been done to make it all possible. Nevertheless, it does its job beautifully and effectively gives the most iconic heroine in the Star Wars saga the emotionally fitting send-off that she damn well deserves.

I’m well aware that everything that I’ve said in this review isn’t going to fly well with certain audiences. Just like The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker has been an incredibly polarizing affair to the point where even critics are just as mixed towards it as audiences are. As alluded to earlier, while The Force Awakens may have managed to scoot by without getting dinged too hard for supposedly being ‘too much like A New Hope’, it’s clear that critics weren’t as forgiving towards Rise of Skywalker for doing the same thing. And yet, as someone who has been a fan of the sequel trilogy ever since the first teaser for The Force Awakens was released, I found Rise of Skywalker to be a perfect finale for this trilogy. As a film that’s truly grand in both scale and emotional depth, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker provides a wholly satisfying conclusion to both the sequel trilogy and the entire Skywalker Saga as a whole. Sure, some have argued that it attempts to undo a lot of the controversial plot-points from The Last Jedi, but the ways in which J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio conclude the story of Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren still feels consistent with what we’ve seen from the previous two films. And through it all, J.J. and his crew continue to go above and beyond when it comes to the film’s incredible action sequences and breathtaking visuals. Sadly, though, it seems like The Rise of Skywalker will end up being regarded as a ‘failure’ even though I’d argue that it isn’t the film’s fault. Instead, I’d attribute it more to the period in which it was released where the Star Wars fandom proved to be in a state of total disarray, thoroughly compromised by its utterly ambiguous expectations.

Rating: 5/5!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) review

(Disclaimer: I promise that there’ll be no MAJOR spoilers in this review)

When Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, many assumed that this was the end of the Star Wars film franchise. After all, it was the final installment of the highly controversial prequel trilogy whose purpose was to officially close the gap on the story of how Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. However, this all changed in 2012 when Lucasfilm was bought by Disney for $4.05 billion. Now the House of Mouse was in control of arguably the biggest franchise in all of pop culture and, sure enough, it immediately got to work on a new line of Star Wars films. It all began in 2015 when director J.J. Abrams returned audiences to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. As was the case with the previous first installment of a new Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Force Awakens was put under some of the heaviest expectations ever seen from the film fan community, as many hoped that it would deliver where they felt the prequel trilogy did not. Thankfully, the film did manage to meet those expectations, for the most part, as it was a major critical and commercial success upon its release. Oh sure, there are still the nagging criticisms that have been made by those who have accused the film of being a remake of Episode IV: A New Hope, but the film was well-received by critics and audiences and it became only the third film ever to gross over $2 billion worldwide.

One year later, Lucasfilm then initiated a new line of spin-off films (referred to as ‘Star Wars stories’) with Rogue One. Set in-between the events of Episodes III and IV, it focused on the Rebellion’s efforts to steal the plans for the Empire’s devastatingly powerful battle station, the Death Star. And overall, it proved to be another critical/commercial success for Disney, even after it had to go through some highly publicized reshoots to fix its ending. But now, the time has come for the next installment of the main saga, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This time around, though, J.J. Abrams is not the one behind the camera. Instead, directorial duties go to Rian Johnson, and while this may technically be Johnson’s first big-budget outing as a director, he has made quite a name for himself in the film industry thanks to his work on several critically-acclaimed projects. This includes the 2005 neo-noir thriller Brick, 2012’s sci-fi action thriller Looper, and three of what many consider to be some of the best episodes of the iconic TV series Breaking Bad (headlined by the show’s antepenultimate episode, ‘Ozymandias’). And after the whole ‘TFA copied A New Hope’ incident, many fans are hoping that Johnson will deliver a fresh, new take on this legendary franchise. Does he do so? Well, I don’t know if I can call The Last Jedi that ‘fresh and new’, but what I can say is that Johnson does give us a highly satisfying follow-up to what was an equally terrific first installment of this new Star Wars trilogy.

At the end of The Force Awakens, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a young scavenger from the desert planet of Jakku, traveled to the remote planet of Ahch-To to find the elusive Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Having learned that she is capable of using the powerful essence known as the Force, Rey seeks Luke’s guidance in learning the ways of the Force in her efforts to realize her true potential. However, Luke is hesitant to train her at first after he had previously failed to protect his former protégé/nephew Ben Solo from the Dark Side, which ultimately led to him becoming the feared First Order commander Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Eventually, though, Luke does begin to train her in the Jedi arts when it becomes apparent that a connection has started to form between her and Kylo Ren, with the latter being shown to still be struggling with letting go of his past identity even after killing his father, Han Solo. Meanwhile, the Resistance, led by Luke’s sister (and Kylo Ren’s mother) General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), finds itself under attack from the First Order after their main base of operations is discovered. With the Resistance fleet at risk of being destroyed by the First Order, pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), ex-stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) enact a desperate plan in order to help the Resistance escape their foe’s wrath.

To put it quite simply, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has it all. In terms of visuals, it’s one of the best-looking Star Wars films to date thanks to the excellent cinematography from Rian Johnson regular Steve Yedlin and the franchise’s consistently strong visual effects. As one might expect, this results in some excellent action sequences that range from epic lightsaber duels to high-octane space battles. But just like The Force Awakens, this film’s writing (which was handled solely by Johnson for this installment) is just as strong as its visual game. As a follow-up to its immediate predecessor, the film does an excellent job of continuing the story that was established in The Force Awakens while also further developing both its new collection of main protagonists and the saga’s iconic returning characters. And really, Johnson deserves a lot of credit for getting so much depth out of what could arguably be described as a simple chase plot. If I had any sort of issue with this film, it’d be that it does admittedly feel a tad bit overlong due to its hefty two and a half hour runtime. Now, to be clear, it’s not like there were any parts of this film that dragged or anything because there weren’t any. It’s just that, without spoiling anything, by the time that the finale rolls around… there’s still about half an hour of the film to go. But again, this isn’t really that much of a shortcoming in a film that is solidly paced.

If I had to list what my favorite aspect of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was, it would have to be its characters. Even when dealing with the franchise’s consistently high expectations, many of the new characters introduced in The Force Awakens proved to be just as endearing as the saga’s original heroes. Sure enough, this trend continues with The Last Jedi, starting with the new trilogy’s lead trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe. All three of them are great once again thanks in large part to the excellent performances from Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac, respectively. The same goes for the film’s main antagonist as well, as Adam Driver is fantastic once again as the fascinatingly complex Kylo Ren. And while there’s not really a lot of new characters introduced in this film, the ones that are do prove to be quite memorable, including Laura Dern as the Resistance’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, the latter of whom proves to be a delightful addition to this trilogy’s group of main protagonists. But, of course, we cannot forget about the iconic leads from the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke and Leia. After only having a brief non-speaking role in The Force Awakens’ final scene, Luke now takes on a far more substantial role in this film’s story where he gets some great new bits of character development that give us an idea of how much he’s changed since Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. And as for Leia… well, as we all know, this was sadly Carrie Fisher’s last time in the role following her death this past December. Not much more to say about this except that, for what is her last appearance as one of the most iconic sci-fi heroines of all-time, it may arguably be her greatest performance in said role.  

Well, given my stance on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I guess that it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that I quite enjoyed Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Now, granted, I don’t mean this in the sense that I found it to be a ‘fresh’ new take on the franchise as I’ve seen some critics opine (though, at the same time, that doesn’t mean that I think that Johnson’s directorial vision was neutered by Lucasfilm… as I’ve also seen some critics claim). When I say that I loved this film, I mean that more in the sense that it just simply delivered on everything you’d want from a great Star Wars film; a strong story, great characters, and terrific visuals and action sequences. If you loved The Force Awakens, then I’m sure that you’ll probably love The Last Jedi as it proves to be an excellent continuation of the story that its predecessor set up. And, sure enough, it sets up the groundwork nicely for the final installment of this new trilogy that will be coming in 2019, Episode IX, which will see J.J. Abrams returning to the role of director. And while I know that some feel that he’s ‘too safe’ of a choice for director after what Rian Johnson did with this film, the quality of TFA is more than enough to give me full confidence in my favorite director working today to once again deliver when it comes to this franchise. To paraphrase one of the biggest lines from The Force Awakens, I fully believe that J.J. “will finish… what [he] started…”

Rating: 5/5!

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) review

While the superhero genre has come a long way since then, the original X-Men, released on July 14, 2000, was very much the first ‘big-time’ superhero flick of the 21^st century. And while he (nor most of the film’s cast, for that matter) may not have been that familiar with the franchise when he first started working on it, Bryan Singer ultimately ended up becoming one of the pioneering directors when it came to modern-era superhero films, later paving the way for other directors like Joss Whedon and the Russo brothers to leave their own mark on the genre. Singer then followed his first X-Men film up with an even more successful sequel in the form of 2003’s X2: X-Men United. And of course as we all know, he then left the franchise to work on other projects (most notably another superhero project in 2006’s Superman Returns), which then led to the films starting to drop in quality with a highly disappointing ‘threequel’ in 2006 and an even more mediocre spin-off in 2009. Thankfully the series started to get back on track in 2011 with director Matthew Vaughn’s 1960’s-set prequel, X-Men: First Class. But while he may not have directed the film, part of the film’s success, if you ask me, came from the long-awaited return of Bryan Singer to the franchise, as he served as the film’s producer/co-writer. Three years later, Singer would finally return to the franchise full-time as he helmed X-Men: Days of Future Past, inspired by the iconic comic storyline of the same name. And to put it simply, the film proved to be not only the best X-Men film to date but also one of the best superhero films period. It also officially cemented the franchise’s overall road to redemption by pulling a much-appreciated continuity retcon that erased the events of the series’ weakest installments from its official canon.  

So now we come to what is, at the moment, seemingly set to be the final film of the franchise’s First Class era: X-Men: Apocalypse. The new film sees the X-Men take on their greatest enemy yet in the form of the ‘original’ mutant En Sabah Nur AKA Apocalypse. With Bryan Singer back to direct, most of the First Class era cast returning to reprise their roles, and some very promising new additions to the cast, who wouldn’t be excited for the latest film in this great series? Well, if you recall my previous post on this film… apparently most of the internet. Yes, while the franchise seemed to be in good standing following not only Days of Future Past but also this year’s highly successful spin-off Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, for various reasons, just didn’t get much positive attention online in the months leading up to its release, at least when compared to the other superhero film releases this year like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. And it looks like the internet’s general undermining of the film has now translated to its current critical reception, as the film sports a measly 47% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time that I’m writing this, which actually makes it the lowest rated film of the main series not counting X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And yeah… I don’t get it. With great action, great characters, and the always great direction from the franchise’s best director, X-Men: Apocalypse is yet another highly entertaining and overall just straight-up awesome installment of the X-Men franchise.

10 years since the events of Days of Future Past, telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) has reopened his school for Gifted Mutants in Westchester, New York while both Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) have gone into hiding since the incident with the Sentinels in Washington D.C, with Mystique actually now seen as a ‘hero’ to many young mutants all over the world for her ‘efforts’ in stopping Magneto during the event. While all of this is going on, an ancient mutant known as En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) is awakened from a centuries-long slumber by the cults that view him as the world’s first ‘true’ mutant. Once awakened, Apocalypse begins recruiting his new lieutenants, known as the ‘Four Horsemen’, in order to help him cleanse the Earth and preserve it for the strongest. These Four Horsemen consist of the weather-controlling Storm (Alexandra Shipp), psychic-energy wielding Psylocke (Olivia Munn), the bird-like winged mutant Angel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto, whose seemingly peaceful new life in Poland is destroyed when his past comes back to haunt him. When Apocalypse kidnaps Xavier as part of his plan for world domination, Mystique and Dr. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) AKA Beast are forced to lead a team of young mutants, including telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), optical-blasting Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) AKA Cyclops, and teleporter Kurt Wagner (Kodi Smit-McPhee) AKA Nightcrawler into a battle against Apocalypse and his four Horsemen with the fate of the whole world at stake.

I’m rather surprised that critics are taking issue with the film for being ‘overloaded’ with action. After all, this film is titled X-Men: Apocalypse, not X-Men: Minor Incident. If you ask me, the amount of action in this film is very suitable for this kind of story in which the X-Men take on an all-powerful god-like mutant. As a result, the action sequences in this film are excellent and are backed by some very impressive and obviously highly complex CGI work. And without giving too much away, this film’s Quicksilver scene somehow manages to top the equally terrific scene that came before it in Days of Future Past. In short, this is just yet another well-directed franchise effort courtesy of Bryan Singer. In keeping with the ‘time period’ theming of the past few films (e.g. the Bond-esque 60’s setting of First Class), this film’s 80’s setting is well-developed and the dialogue is punctuated with plenty of humorous lines that liven up the mood in just the right way, from Xavier’s failed attempts to hide the fact that he’s flirting with Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), who had previously appeared in First Class but had her memory wiped by Xavier at the end of it, to one hell of a joke about trilogies at the expense of the original Star Wars trilogy. But even with the film’s great use of humor in mind, the film still manages to have some highly effective emotional moments, mostly in the form of key story beats for a few of the main characters. I mean I wouldn’t say that the film carries the exact same amount of emotional depth as some of the other X-Men films but it’s not like the film is completely lacking of it either, as I’ve seen some critics argue.

James McAvoy is once again great as the young Charles Xavier and while he may not be the main protagonist this time around compared to Days of Future Past, he still plays a vital part in the overall story. He also finally adopts the bald look that has defined the character in the comics as well as in the films when he was played by Patrick Stewart. However, for the second time in the span of three films, Michael Fassbender is ultimately the biggest standout of the cast, primarily because Magneto gets a lot of the film’s best emotional moments as he is shown to have started a family in Poland while trying to stay ‘low-key’ following the events of the previous film. As for Mystique, some have argued that Jennifer Lawrence ‘phoned it in’ this time around as a sign of her not being that interested in returning to the franchise. However, I thought that she was just as good as she’s been in the previous two films. And like how First Class was Magneto’s story and Days of Future Past was Xavier’s story, Apocalypse is arguably Mystique’s story as she finds that since the Washington incident, she has actually become a ‘hero’ for many of the younger mutants, even though she herself doesn’t see herself as one. It should also be noted that the character doesn’t appear in her natural blue form as much this time around compared to previous films, which I can definitely tell will be a problem for some fans. But considering how uncomfortable the makeup process for the character has been throughout these films (which, according to Lawrence, has recently been made easier due to the fact that the filmmakers just have her wear a full bodysuit instead of having all of the elaborate body-paint applied to her), I don’t blame her for not wanting to be like that throughout the whole film.

As far as the new cast is concerned, Singer and company did a pretty great job in casting new actors/actresses to take on the classic character roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler, previously played by James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Alan Cumming, respectively, in the franchise’s original film trilogy. Tye Sheridan gets quite a few really effective emotional scenes as Cyclops and fans of the character will be pleased to know he gets more to do this time around than he did in previous films. Also, as expected given their relationship in the comics, Sheridan forms a nice ‘chemistry’ with Sophie Turner as Jean Grey. I’ve seen a few articles online express criticism over her accent in the film but I personally didn’t really see anything wrong with it. Turner is excellent in the role and I’m certain that a few noteworthy scenes in this film will very much give X-Men fans hope that the character’s most iconic comic storyline will finally be done justice on the big-screen after the last attempt in doing so obviously didn’t turn out very well. Another character that makes a long-awaited return to the series is Nightcrawler, now played by Kodi-Smit McPhee. It might actually surprise some people that Nightcrawler ends up having quite a lot of humorous moments in the film and McPhee handles them quite well as the fact that this Nightcrawler is much younger than when he was played by Cumming in X2 shows that, at this point in his life, he can be rather socially awkward at times.

And finally, let’s talk about the film’s big baddie, Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac in a very unrecognizable turn due to the character’s great makeup design. Unfortunately, though, the character was continuously mocked online in the months leading up to the film’s release solely because of when the first photos of him were released, the internet made countless comparisons between him and Ivan Ooze, the villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers film, even though subsequent trailers made it clear that he would very much look exactly like the character does in the comics. So with all of those jokes at the character’s expense out of the way, how does this big baddie fare in the film? Well overall I think that he was a decent villain. I’m not saying that he’s the ‘greatest’ comic book film villain ever and, not being a big comic reader, I have the feeling that some fans may not entirely be pleased with how the character is portrayed in the film. Still, Isaac did manage to make Apocalypse a pretty intimidating villain thanks to his strong commanding presence, especially when he’s flanked by his Four Horsemen; Storm, Psylocke, Angel, and Magneto. Granted, none of them really get much to do in the film, other than Magneto of course, but at the very least they each get at least one memorable moment in the film. So in conclusion, while this version of the character may not entirely live up to expectations, he’s still a pretty solid antagonist in his own right.

While I usually try not to bring in notes from other critics’ reviews to use in my own reviews, I honestly don’t get some of the criticisms towards this film. The action is over-done? If you ask me this film has just the right amount of action for a story of this scale. The film is emotionless? There are plenty of great emotional scenes in this film, many of which come from characters like Magneto and Cyclops. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. This is most definitely a film that is far better than what its current RT score suggests, which I’m now certain is yet another sign of how this film has been getting the shaft in terms of positive buzz compared to other superhero films like Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War. In short, X-Men: Apocalypse is yet another highly entertaining installment in the franchise that has redeemed itself over the past few years, primarily by erasing the events of its weakest installments from its canon. It’s well-directed, well-acted, and features some incredibly awesome action sequences. Now with all of that said, would I say that it is ‘better’ than Days of Future Past? No, not really but understandably that is a very tough act to follow and I didn’t go into this film expecting it to be better than its immediate predecessor. With that in mind, this film is simply yet another well-made installment of the franchise and one that is most certainly becoming a very, VERY underrated entry in the superhero genre. Needless to say, I’m very excited to see where the franchise goes from here considering that this film is supposedly the final installment of the First Class era series.   

Rating: 4.5/5

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) review

(Note: Fear not, those who haven’t seen the film yet, for I will be as spoiler-free as possible during this review.)

It was over 38 years ago when George Lucas released the first installment of his epic space saga, ‘Star Wars’, later retitled ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’, into theaters. Despite all of the problems that occurred during the film’s production, it became one of the biggest hits of all-time, spawning two equally critically and commercially successful sequels and creating one of the biggest and most beloved franchises in pop culture history. After 1983’s ‘Return of the Jedi’, it seemed as if the story of Luke Skywalker and his friends had finally come to a close. Lucas initially had plans for a sequel trilogy but those plans ended up getting scrapped. However, Lucas would soon return to the world that he created through the creation of a prequel trilogy, beginning in 1999 with ‘Episode I: The Phantom Menace’, which explored the rise and fall of the original trilogy’s main villain, Darth Vader AKA Anakin Skywalker. However, while this second trilogy was just as commercially successful as the first, the prequel films did not receive the same critical acclaim as their three predecessors. Many ‘Star Wars’ fans were especially disappointed with the films as they felt that Lucas had placed greater emphasis on visuals than story and characters, the opposite of what made the Original Trilogy so beloved. Regardless, the films were still big commercial hits and when 2005’s ‘Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ was released, once again we all thought that this was the end of the ‘Star Wars’ saga.

And then, in 2012, everything changed when Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced that new ‘Star Wars’ films were going to be produced. Not only was there going to be a brand new trilogy of films that would follow the events of the Original Trilogy, as Lucas had originally planned, but there were also going to be ‘spin-off’ films that would further expand the universe. In January of 2013, J.J. Abrams, fresh off of resurrecting the ‘Star Trek’ franchise with 2009’s ‘Star Trek’ and 2013’s ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, was hired to lead off the new series of ‘Star Wars’ films. And over the next two years, Abrams began production on what has arguably become the most anticipated film of all-time; ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’. Seriously, I don’t think there has been a film that has been this anticipated since, well, the last time ‘Star Wars’ made a comeback on the big screen with ‘The Phantom Menace’. And with that said, yes we are all very much aware about what happened the last time we ‘Star Wars’ fans hyped up a new film this much. That ended up backfiring big-time for most people and even though I was very excited for this new film, primarily because one of my favorite directors working today was directing it, I made an effort to keep my expectations in check hoping that, at the very least, this would not become another situation like ‘The Phantom Menace’ where most people would end up being very disappointed by it. But now that ‘The Force Awakens’ is in theaters, I can happily say that you will not be disappointed by what J.J. has given us.

It has been 30 years since the events of ‘Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’, in which the Galactic Empire had finally been defeated by the Rebel Alliance. But in the years since then, a new villainous faction has emerged in the form of the First Order to oppose the Rebel Alliance, now known as ‘the Resistance’. As the film begins, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is sent on a mission by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) to retrieve a vital piece of information that both the Resistance and First Order are after. When the First Order catches up with him, Poe is captured but is freed by Stormtrooper FN-2187 (John Boyega), dubbed ‘Finn’ by Poe, who defects from the First Order when he finds himself unable to follow their vile ways. The two end up getting separated and Finn soon finds himself coming across Poe’s droid BB-8, who is carrying the aforementioned vital piece of information, and its current companion Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger living on the planet of Jakku. With the First Order aggressively pursuing them, Finn and Rey embark on a life-changing adventure to bring the information that BB-8 is holding back to the Resistance before the First Order, and more specifically Dark Side user Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), gets it first. Along the way, their journey even sees them coming across legendary figures like the one and only Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his trusty co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew).

There have been quite a few people that have made comparisons between this film’s plot and the plot of ‘A New Hope’. And yes if you really do look at it, it’s true that this film follows quite a few of the same beats of that film, like the fact that the two main factions are after a piece of information of great importance to both sides or how the film’s finale revolves around a powerful space weapon. But even with that said, unlike some of the film’s detractors, I didn’t mind at all the fact that this film is very reminiscent of ‘A New Hope’ in regards to its plotting because it just shows how much J.J. Abrams respects the original trilogy while also making sure that ‘The Force Awakens’ is its own story. In other words, ‘The Force Awakens’ is very much a new ‘Star Wars’ film. It all feels like a very fitting continuation of the story since we last left it in ‘Return of the Jedi’, giving the major returning characters from the previous trilogy further character development that respects what has been set up before while also establishing its new main protagonists who will lead the way for the rest of this new trilogy; Finn, Rey, and Poe. And I must say that in our current age where the internet could spoil anything about a film (I very much sympathize with anyone who unfortunately had something about this film spoiled by jackasses trying to ruin everyone’s fun), it’s nice to go into a film like this generally unaware of what’s going to happen and I will say that there were some things in this film, namely certain plot-points that I of course won’t at all reveal in this non-spoiler review, that I didn’t see coming.

One of the major reasons why fans loved the Original Trilogy, particularly from a modern-day perspective, was that it was primarily done with practical effects in a time when CGI wasn’t even a thing yet. As a result, one of the major complaints of the prequel trilogy, as well as the changes made to the ‘Special Edition’ versions of the original films, was the over-reliance on CGI. So fans will be very happy to know that this new film does not go down the same ‘CGI-heavy’ road of the prequel trilogy. After all, J.J. did the same thing with the ‘Star Trek’ films, opting to utilize as many practical sets as possible for a sci-fi film of that scale. And that is once again the case with ‘The Force Awakens’. Sure there are obviously still quite a lot of CGI effects in this film but unlike ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’, in which Lucas went as far as to just shoot the actors in front of a green-screen and not actually shoot on a set, the major set-pieces of ‘The Force Awakens’ were filmed in real locations and they definitely look much better because of it, resulting in some pretty awesome action sequences. Not only that, but the screenplay by J.J. and ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ writer Lawrence Kasdan, as well as J.J.’s direction in general, really captures the same fun spirit of the original films through fast-paced action and witty dialogue.  

As many of us know, the cast is a combination of both returning members of the Original Trilogy and a whole bunch of newcomers. Fans of the original trilogy should be satisfied with the appearances of the original leading trio of the series, all of whom easily return to their iconic roles with ease, especially Harrison Ford, with Han Solo basically having the most substantial role of the original trio in this new film. And right from the get-go, the new cast of leads are well-established and all three work greatly off of the writing. John Boyega gets a great redemptive character arc as Finn, the former Stormtrooper who rejects the ways of the First Order but then perhaps gets a bit too in over his head as a result, Oscar Isaac brings a Han Solo-esque charm and wit to the role of Poe Dameron, whom Isaac himself dubbed as the ‘best freaking pilot in the galaxy’ (a claim that he basically does back up given his piloting in the film), and Daisy Ridley captures a lot of the same relatable qualities that Luke had in the Original Trilogy and brings that to the role of Rey. Now let’s talk about the main villain, Kylo Ren. Without giving anything major away, Ren has a particular connection to the ‘Star Wars’ lore that not only makes for one hell of a reveal, but it also brings quite a lot of depth to the character and his motivations. It’ll be very interesting to see how Ren’s story arc will play out in subsequent films.

‘The Force Awakens’ is a film that very much lives up to the massive hype that the fans built around it. Like with Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this film squashes the fears of any skeptic/cynic who thought that Disney’s purchase of the brand would lead to its downfall. It’s a film that both continues the ‘Star Wars’ series in grand fashion while also honoring its previous installments. Under J.J.’s excellent-as-usual direction, the film is a rousing adventure full of awesome action, funny dialogue, great character moments, and moments that just simply feel epic given the legacy of this franchise. As you could see from this review, I didn’t make much comparisons to the last set of ‘Star Wars’ films, the much-maligned prequel trilogy, because I wasn’t willing to go down the same path that I know many other reviewers are; using this film as another way to bash the prequels. Instead of being stuck in the past and busting a trilogy that seriously isn’t as bad as the internet constantly puts it out to be, I kept my eyes firmly locked on the future and based on this first film, I can tell that we are in for one hell of a new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, with Rian Johnson set to direct ‘Episode VIII’ in 2017 and Colin Trevorrow to helm ‘Episode IX’ in 2019. But for now, I end my review with this message to the one and only J.J. Abrams. Thank you J.J. for giving us one of the most exhilarating film experiences in recent memory that proves just how special this franchise has been to many people and how it will be again for a whole new generation of fans. ‘Star Wars’ is back!

Rating: 5/5!