The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) review

2014 gave us the unexpected smash hit that was The LEGO Movie. The reason why I say that it was an ‘unexpected smash hit’ is because, going into it, many feared that it would be nothing more than just a soulless cash-grab with the sole intent of capitalizing on the LEGO brand. But, under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, a duo who are well-known for delivering Grade-A hits out of risky ventures (e.g. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and, hopefully, the upcoming Han Solo film), it ended up being a charming and excellently animated story that served as a love letter to both sides of the LEGO fandom; those who played ‘by the book’ and those who dared to experiment with the iconic bricks. And because of that, while it may not have been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars that year (easily the most controversial ‘snub’ of that year’s ceremony), it ended up being one of the most well-reviewed films of the year and grossed over $469 million worldwide. Thus, a new line of LEGO films will be on the way in the next few years under the supervision of Lord and Miller. The first of these to come out is one that is based around a character who many felt was the ‘breakout star’ of the original LEGO Movie: LEGO Batman, voiced by Will Arnett. Arnett’s hilarious take on the Dark Knight now takes center stage in his own film, The LEGO Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay, who served as an animation co-director on The LEGO Movie. And just like The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie is a highly entertaining screwball adventure that manages to find the humanity within its plastic protagonists.

In Gotham City, Batman (Will Arnett) is the most popular figure around. Beloved by Gotham’s residents, the Dark Knight spends most of his time taking down the many villains that make up his iconic ‘Rogues Gallery’. However, it soon becomes clear that despite all this fame, Batman is also quite a lonely figure, who spends the rest of his time alone in his luxurious mansion and whose greatest fear is, as noted by his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth (Ralph Fiennes), being a part of a family again after the death of his parents all those years ago; the exact moment that led to him becoming Batman. Thus, Batman (or, to be more specific, his ‘real identity’, Bruce Wayne) unknowingly ends up adopting a young orphan by the name of Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) from the local orphanage. With some encouragement from Alfred, Batman begins to take the young man under his wing as his new sidekick, Robin. And, as it turns out, Batman is going to need all the help he can get, as the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), eager to prove to Batman that he truly is ‘his greatest enemy’ after a fight between the two ends with Batman telling the Joker that he means nothing to him, unleashes a sinister plot that threatens everyone in Gotham. The sheer magnitude of this plan forces Batman to do something that he normally doesn’t do; team up with others, which he does with Robin, Alfred, and Gotham’s new Police Commissioner, Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), who takes over the job from her father, Jim Gordon (Hector Elizondo), with the goal of getting Batman to team up with the Gotham police force to help make the city a safer place. 

Just like The LEGO Movie, this film features terrific animation as done by the Australian animation studio, Animal Logic. While the film is computer-animated, it manages to achieve a great stop-motion feel to it all, which fits perfectly with the LEGO brand given all the fan-made films that have been made over the years. It’s fast-paced, bright and colorful and full to the brim with little Easter Eggs thrown in here and there. And of course, being a film about Batman and DC Comics, this film is CHOCK-FULL of Easter Eggs. I’m not joking; this film basically covers every major era of Batman in the span of 104 minutes, from the campier days of the 60’s TV show to the more serious and grounded storylines of the more recent films, namely Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Heck, this film features arguably every villain who’s ever appeared in a Batman comic, even the obscure ones like King Tut and Condiment King which, yes, are in fact real. Even the film points this out (“Probably Worth a Google!” – Joker). But, of course, this film isn’t just a bunch of references for eagle-eyed fans of Batman to notice. That alone would’ve made it an enjoyable film on its own merit but there’s also a solid arc in this for Batman, as he learns the value of teamwork instead of him just trying to act like the entire world revolves around him alone. The problem, though, is that he’s reluctant to start up a new family because of what happened to his old one, and, for the record, no, they don’t show that incident again; the film is very much aware that we’ve already seen that dozens of times. This is what ultimately gives the film its heart and thus, provides us with an endearing cast of main characters to latch onto on an emotional level.

As stated earlier, Will Arnett’s take on Batman truly was one of the best parts of The LEGO Movie. Arnett basically riffed on the usual characterization of the generally dark superhero by making him a superficial celebrity who constantly reminds everybody about how awesome he is. And yet, through it all, Arnett still managed to make his Batman likable, basically the opposite of his character from another 2014 animated film, The Nut Job. This time around, of course, Arnett is the star of the show and he is great once again, especially thanks to the great character arc that Batman has in this. And just like how Batman ends up finding an excellent team to work with, this film has an excellent supporting cast as well. Zach Galifianakis brings the right amount of manic energy to the role of the Joker while also getting a fun villain arc in which he’s just trying to get Batman to notice him, which… actually, makes him the most sympathetic Joker to date. Michael Cera exudes the proper eagerness and wonderment for the role of Robin and the film relishes its many opportunities to joke about how weird it is for Batman to have a ‘ward’ working alongside him. Rosario Dawson’s Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, is also a great addition to the cast and a great female lead who’s arguably more capable of taking down the bad guys than Batman. It’s also good to have an actual ‘good’ Barbara Gordon story after her disastrous characterization in last year’s The Killing Joke. Rounding out the main cast is Ralph Fiennes, who’s quite awesome and hilarious in the role of Batman’s trusty butler Alfred. Heck, Fiennes would’ve been a great Alfred in the live-action Batman films but, of course, Jeremy Irons is currently in that position so we’ll have to settle for him being the LEGO version of the character. And just like The LEGO Movie, there are plenty of fun voice/character cameos here and there.   

The original LEGO Movie helped revitalize Warner Bros’ animation division after the studio’s hand-drawn animation division, Warner Bros Feature Animation, was dissolved after a series of box-office flops in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Clearly, the LEGO films have become Warner Bros.’ most dominant animated franchise and rightfully so as they’ve been great takes on the LEGO brand. First, there was The LEGO Movie and this year that streak continues with The LEGO Batman Movie. For fans of the character, this film is ‘geek nirvana’. There are references galore that cover every major facet of the character’s long history, so much so that it’ll probably require a second viewing to catch them all. And the film does indeed warrant a second viewing (heck, I saw it twice this weekend) because aside from all the fun Easter Eggs, the film also has a charming story with an endearing cast of characters portrayed excellently by a pitch-perfect voice cast. Pair all this with excellent animation and you have a highly entertaining animated film that will please both Batman fans and those who are total newcomers to the franchise. And no, I’m not going to compare this to the current DC Extended Universe films, something that a few other critics have been doing, because they’re completely different entities. What I will say is that thanks to this film, Warner Bros.’ LEGO franchise is still going strong two films in. Up next, we have The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the second LEGO film of 2017 and based off the company’s highly successful franchise of the same name, and then followed by the official LEGO Movie Sequel in 2019. If all goes well, we may get more LEGO films in the years to come, though I must ask… where’s my LEGO Bionicle film, damn it?

Rating: 4.5/5

BEST FILMS OF 2014: #12-10 + Honorable Mentions

Well now that we’ve got the crappers of the year out of the way, and given some of the terrible films that I have seen this year I am so glad that this is the case, it’s time to start looking back on this past year to highlight the really good stuff from this year in movies. And really, as far as films go, 2014 was a pretty darn good year. Sure, this year may have become infamous for certain events, like the recent Sony hacking scandal over the film ‘The Interview’ (which is even sadder considering that the film itself isn’t very good), and unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of great film legends this year like Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman, which unfortunately is just to name a few, but as far as the films went, a lot of them were really good. This year had a lot of excellent blockbusters and also some strong award contenders as well, giving audiences a nice variety of films to enjoy. So now it’s time for the one thing that you can always expect from film fans like me whenever a year is over… Top 10 lists! But, if you’re new to this blog, I actually do a Top 12 list for the ‘Best of the Year’ instead of a ‘Top 10’ list. Why? Well, because I do see a lot of movies and I want to cover as many that I liked as possible, which I feel usually can’t be done in just a ‘Top 10’ list. I’ve seen some people this year actually do a Top 20 best given all of the great films from this year but I won’t be doing a list that big.

Before I start though, let me lay down the three main disclaimers that I always put out before I do these ‘Best of’ lists. Rule number one is to warn you all that this is a SPOILER post. I will be talking about key plot-points of the films on this list in great detail so if you have not seen any of these films, I recommend you watch them first before reading what I have to say about them. Second, like every year, I haven’t seen every major movie from this year’s lineup of films. So, if you don’t see a film like ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, ‘Whiplash’, or ‘Birdman’ on here, this is why. And with that said, I will put this out there in that my list primarily consists of blockbusters. I’ve heard some people say that there’s not much of an excuse to have a blockbuster heavy list due to all of the great films from this year but I feel that this is an unfair statement to people like me who don’t go out of their way to go see the big award contenders. I just see what I want to see and a lot of times, the films I see are blockbusters. And finally, and most importantly, please be respectful of my opinion of these films as I know that some of you will no doubt disagree with me on certain films (or in some cases how I rank ‘em). Film is subjective so something one person likes won’t exactly be someone else’s cup of tea. All I ask is that you don’t give me or anyone else who likes one of these movies crap just because you didn’t like it. Comments like those (that say something along the lines of ‘your opinion doesn’t matter’ or something similar to that) unfortunately are still fairly common throughout the internet and they give all of us film fans a bad name. So do us all a favor and just don’t do it. So now with all of that out of the way, let’s get on with the list. But first, as always… the Honorable Mentions and this year I have 6.

VERONICA MARS

First, a quick disclaimer; I was not one of the 91,585 backers who donated money to this film on Kickstarter when the campaign was first launched back in March 2013. That’s because at the time I hadn’t seen the show yet but after it made headlines for breaking multiple Kickstarter records, I decided to finally check it out and as you probably recall from the two ‘Veronica Mars’ posts I did back in March (reviews of both the movie and the TV show), I, like many, fell in love with the show for its smart writing that elevated it from being just your average teen drama and for its many memorable characters, highlighted especially by one of the best female leads of any TV show in Veronica Mars, played perfectly by Kristen Bell. And really, that’s all I need to say because the movie is pretty much the same thing. I will admit that it’s kind of difficult to recommend this movie in a way for anyone who hasn’t the show but ultimately I don’t think that it’s necessarily required to have seen the show first before watching the movie. But like ‘Serenity’, the film adaptation of the show ‘Firefly’ that, like ‘Veronica Mars’, also got prematurely canceled before it could really shine, I do recommend you check it out because it really is a great show and it will make watching the film even more satisfying.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

‘Edge of Tomorrow’ was one of the most critically acclaimed blockbusters of the year, but ultimately it wasn’t as big of a commercial success. Sure, it at least got its budget back so it wasn’t a complete disaster. But here in the U.S., it really underperformed, just barely reaching $100 million domestically while the international box office had to help save the film from being a total box-office bomb. Still, this lead to a lot of film fans becoming very depressed over the fact that while a critically reviled movie like ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ ended up grossing more in one week than ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ had grossed domestically at that point in time, ‘Edge’ was struggling to make it big here in the U.S. (believe me, I’ve seen many, many people say this). Ultimately though, while I do like the film, I don’t technically ‘love it’ as much as others do. Yes, the film features some incredible action sequences and a lot of funny dark humor and both Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are fantastic here, with Cruise playing against type as a character who’s initially a coward before he becomes a badass and Blunt proving to be a top-notch action star. Ultimately though, it just wasn’t one of my absolute favorites from this year (again remember folks, this is all just my opinion). Don’t get me wrong, though… I still really liked it but this is why it’s only an Honorable Mention on my list.

BIG HERO 6/THE LEGO MOVIE

 

Just on account that there were a lot of great movies that came out this year, these two animated films just barely missed the Top 12. But with that said, I do want to emphasize the fact that these are two terrific animated films. ‘The LEGO Movie’ could’ve easily ended up being a commercial/soul-less cash grab being that it was based on the popular construction toy brand LEGO. But, under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who at this point can do no wrong, ‘The LEGO Movie’ was full of heart and did a great job at highlighting the popularity of the LEGO brand; in other words, it was pretty much a love letter to the LEGO fan-base. Also, the animation was outstanding and the voice-acting was excellent from top to bottom. ‘Big Hero 6’, the latest animated film from Disney, once again showed that Disney is now back on track in terms of their animated films, as was shown in recent years with films like ‘Wreck-it Ralph’ and, of course, ‘Frozen’. ‘Big Hero 6’, inspired by the Marvel comic book series of the same name, is pretty much the animated equivalent of watching a Marvel Cinematic Universe film; it’s loads of fun, it has a bunch of memorable characters (especially the healthcare robot Baymax), and has some awesome action sequences, which in the case of this film is benefitted from excellent animation. And of course, as one might expect from a Disney film, it’s also got a lot of heart. I won’t try and compare it to ‘Frozen’ as some people have done, but it’s safe to say that Disney is in the middle of its second animation Renaissance.

FURY

As I said in my Top 10 worst list in which I listed director David Ayer’s other film from this year, ‘Sabotage’, at Number 3, ‘Fury’ and ‘Sabotage’ are similar in a lot of ways, namely in regards to being very brutal in terms of their violence and for having a cast of characters that, for the most part, could be rather unlikable. However, while ‘Sabotage’ was just violence for the sake of violence with a cast of irredeemable characters, ‘Fury’ handled these aspects a lot better in my opinion. The brutal violence does work in ‘Fury’ because it’s a war movie and let’s face it; war is brutal and it can really bring out the darkest parts of humanity in all who partake in it. And sure, the main characters of ‘Fury’ can be fairly unlikable at times in regards to them constantly mocking the new addition to the crew of the tank ‘Fury’, Ellison, for his inexperience in tank combat. But there are times where you can see that there is still some humanity in them and it’s clearly shown that in war, sympathy won’t get you very far. The action sequences in ‘Fury’ are superb, the five leads all do excellent jobs, and you can really sense the camaraderie amongst them. ‘Fury’ may be a very hard-hitting war film, but it’s also a very compelling war film.

INTO THE WOODS

While it’s true that Disney toned down a lot of the darker parts of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s multiple Tony Award-winning fairytale musical, I feel that the changes were ultimately for the better. Because while ‘Into the Woods’ does get fairly dark in the second half of the film, for the most part it’s a very light-hearted story with a lot of humorous moments. And while it can be a bit over-the-top at times, it’s understandable given that it’s a fairy-tale, more specifically a ‘crossover’ of famous characters like Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. This film benefits from some really stunning visuals, solid musical numbers, and a great ensemble cast from top to bottom, highlighted by Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep in the roles of the Baker’s Wife and the Witch, respectively. Now because I haven’t seen the original Broadway musical, I can’t say much about how much this film stays true to it. But even with the toned down changes in mind, I think that it will at least do the musical justice… but then again, this is from the perspective of someone who hadn’t seen the original musical so please keep that in mind.

Speaking of musicals, to kick things off at Number 12, we have my pick for the most underrated film of the year. Many will no doubt list ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ as their most underrated but like I said earlier, that film was well-received by critics so really it’s only underrated in the sense of its box-office performance here in the U.S. This film, on the other hand, did not get that same recognition either critically or commercially.

12. JERSEY BOYS

I’m not going to lie… this has quite frankly become my favorite musical ever. I’ve had the soundtrack playing on repeat ever since I first saw the film adaptation of the popular Tony Award-winning musical ‘Jersey Boys’ and after seeing it a second time in theaters, I then went to go see the actual musical on Broadway. For anyone’s who unfamiliar with it, ‘Jersey Boys’ is based on the true story of the rise and fall of the famous 60’s rock-and-roll group The Four Seasons. Though for the record, it’s mostly dramatizing the events so obviously not every moment in the story actually happened in real life. Still, it’s a very fun musical featuring some great classic music that quite frankly is much better than a lot of songs we hear today (and no, I don’t care if I sound like an old man for saying that). However, the film adaptation first interested me not because of the musical itself (which I hadn’t seen yet at the time), but because it was directed by none other than Clint Eastwood. Who would’ve thought that the star of the ‘Dollars Trilogy’ and director of gritty dramas like ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Mystic River’ would ever direct a film based on a Broadway musical? Well you see, considering that this story does feature elements like the mafia and that the main characters sometimes ran into trouble with the law, you can sort of see why Eastwood was actually a really good choice to direct this film.

While the film is maybe just a bit overlong, I did like its fairly laid-back pace and I was still very much engrossed in the story, particularly when the Four Seasons actually do get together, which I feel is where the film really shines. All four leads work off each other very well and they all do a terrific job performance-wise, with the biggest standout being Vincent Piazza (who you might recognize from ‘Boardwalk Empire’) in the role of Tommy DeVito. I didn’t realize this until after seeing the actual musical, but Tommy is quite frankly the best character in the entire musical given that he arguably has the best material to work with as compared to the other three leads. But even with that said, the other three (John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli (reprising the role that he originated when the musical first made its debut in 2005), Erich Bergen as Bob Gaudio, and Michael Lomenda as Nick Massi) are all superb as well. The songs were performed live on set and while 2012’s ‘Les Miserables’ made this practice rather controversial for fans of musicals, it’s actually done to great effect here, mostly notably with what is arguably the musical’s most famous number when Frankie Valli performs ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’.

Now I’m not going to compare this film to the musical that much as they’re both their own thing but I will say that there are two major advantages that the musical has over the film. In the key scene at the end of the story when Frankie’s daughter Francine tragically dies of a drug overdose, the song ‘Fallen Angel’ is performed in the musical. In the movie, however, the song ‘My Eyes Adored You’ was used a second time after its original use in the scene where Frankie divorces his wife Mary. For the record, I have nothing against that song as it is a really good song, but I feel that ‘Fallen Angel’ is much more fitting for that scene. Also, the film does away with the narrative structure of the musical, where the story was done in four ‘seasons’ (get it?), though really it’s not that big of a loss here. Though I will give the movie credit in that it does one thing better than the musical in that it gives some much needed development to the relationship between Frankie and Francine. In the musical, which by the way the actress who first played the role of Francine when it first debuted is still in the role and is now old enough to the point where she also plays Frankie’s mother (which is just weird), they don’t share any major scenes together aside from a talk on the phone. The movie adds in a scene where Frankie talks to her at a diner which I feel is one of the absolute best scenes in the movie, where they both realize that things haven’t been going the way they were hoping it would and that Frankie regrets not being there enough for her. It’s a terrific scene that adds much needed depth to a plot-point that was just glossed over in the musical. And in short, ‘Jersey Boys’ may not be the best musical ever (I do agree with the RT consensus in that it is a fairly straight-forward entry in the musical biopic genre) but it’s surely a film that deserves much more attention than what it got while it was in theaters.

Splitting the final book of a popular series into two films has been a rather controversial practice and my Number 11 pick is no doubt proof of that. But, in the end, I found that I was in support of the decision to split the final book of this series into two films based on the quality of the first half of the story.

11. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY- PART 1

In 2010, the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise became the first major film series based on a popular book series to split the final entry in its series, in this case ‘Deathly Hallows’, into two separate films. While I was fairly hesitant about the decision, ultimately it worked out in the series’ favor as there was enough material to satisfy two feature films. And because it worked so well for ‘Potter’, other studios began to do the exact same thing with their book-to-film franchises but not really to the same results. ‘Twilight’ split ‘Breaking Dawn’ into two films and without even seeing them, I could tell that it wasn’t going to work based on the poor quality of the previous films. And while the final entry in the ‘Divergent’ series, ‘Allegiant’, hasn’t yet been adapted to film, the fact that I wasn’t too compelled by ‘Divergent’ tells me that this won’t be a good idea either. And then we have ‘The Hunger Games’ and its final entry, ‘Mockingjay’. Ever since it was first announced that ‘Mockingjay’ was to be split into two films, the reaction has been fairly mixed to negative as many feel that there wasn’t enough material to justify two feature films. And that response has pretty much been the same now that the first ‘Mockingjay’ film has been released as many have felt that it was just a fairly dull ‘set up’ for Part 2. I, however, disagree…

The big complaint with this film is that there wasn’t enough action, which I actually think is rather unfair to blame the film for as ‘Deathly Hallows Part 1’ was also a very slow film with less action than ‘Deathly Hallows Part 2’. Anyway, I agree that the length of ‘Mockingjay’ doesn’t really justify two films, though comments made by the filmmakers eased my worries a bit before seeing the film. Apparently, this was done because when author Suzanne Collins first wrote the book, she was pressured by the studio and had to cut out certain plot elements in order to meet their demands. Because of this, I feel that the movie does succeed in expanding upon certain things, like giving characters like Effie (who brings much-needed levity to the bleaker atmosphere of this part of the story) more to do compared to their roles in the novel. That has actually been an advantage that the movies have had over the books in that because the movies don’t have the first-person narrative from Katniss’ perspective, we’re allowed to see more of this universe and the characters within it. And admittedly that’s a good thing seeing how Katniss isn’t necessarily the most likable lead ever (and this film is kind of proof of that fact), though Jennifer Lawrence is once again superb in the role as she’s always been. Though in the case of this film, I actually have to give the most credit to Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. The transformation that the character goes through in this is fascinating and this is Hutcherson’s best performance in the role to date.

But the big reason why I feel that it does work to have this in two parts is that ‘Part 1’ does have a legitimate beginning and end with a very clear goal for the main characters, specifically Katniss is looking to rescue Peeta, who was captured by the Capitol at the end of ‘Catching Fire’. And by the end of this film, that goal is met though we learn that Peeta has been brainwashed by the Capitol as shown when he tries to kill Katniss when she first tries to speak to him after he’s rescued. I feel that this film does end on a neat little suspenseful cliff-hanger as we see Peeta in isolation as the rebels of the districts of Panem prepare to take on the Capitol. Yes, this film doesn’t really have as much action as the first two films, but that’s fine because ‘Mockingjay’ is structured differently than the first two films and really, there’s still a decent amount of action in this film. Even with less action than before, I was still very much engrossed in this story, in fact more so than the first two films thanks to all of the political drama of the rebellion with both the rebels and the Capitol working hard to sway public opinion to their sides. Director Francis Lawrence’s direction is once again solid as it was in ‘Catching Fire’, proving that he truly was the best man for the job to direct the remaining films in the series a la David Yates with ‘Harry Potter’. Obviously, this split hasn’t fared well with a lot of people but quite frankly, I do feel that it at least worked with Part 1. But even with that said, now we just have to see how Part 2 turns out. And while I haven’t read the book in a long time, I know that a lot of crazy stuff goes down in that half of the story so I’m interested in seeing how that translates into film.

Starting off the ‘Top 10’ is my pick for the best comedy of the year and the fact that it’s a comedy sequel is really a testament to how great it was.

10. 22 JUMP STREET

For the most part, comedy sequels have been rather mediocre and one of the main reasons why this is usually the case is because a lot of them tend to directly copy most of the major plot points from the first film with only a few cosmetic differences (like how in ‘The Hangover Part II’ they switched out Vegas for Thailand). ‘22 Jump Street’ does fall into that category of rehashing the main plot points of ‘21 Jump Street’ so in a sense it really shouldn’t have been as good as the original. But, with the direction from the aforementioned all-star duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who as I noted earlier can do no wrong at this point), ‘22 Jump Street’ actually does succeed in being not only as good as the first film but quite frankly is even better than it. Yes, this is actually better than the first ‘Jump Street’ movie, which for the record was also incredibly hilarious, which is impressive considering that not many people were expecting much out of it given that it was based on an old TV series from the 80’s that was really only known for being one of the first major starring roles for Johnny Depp. Therefore, ‘22 Jump Street’ is easily the best comedy sequel ever which may not be saying a lot for some given the typical quality of comedy sequels but in this case it doesn’t disappoint in the slightest.

So because this film is basically just retreading the same general plot of the first film, only in this case Officers Schmidt and Jenko are undercover in college instead of high school, most of the humor in this film is meta-based with the characters fully aware of the situation that they were in. In the first film, most of the meta humor came in the scene where Jenko and Schmidt are in Deputy Hardy’s (Nick Offerman) office (and the same can be said for the scene in Hardy’s office in this movie) but here there is a whole lot more of it. For the first half of the film, the humor revolves around the self-awareness of the characters going through the same general case from the first film. There’s also a few funny references added in here and there, like the fact that Schmidt and Jenko’s captain is played by Ice Cube (due to the fact that, to quote Schmidt, his office looks like a ‘cube of ice’) and even a reference to one of Channing Tatum’s previous films, ‘White House Down’, when Jenko suggests that they join the Secret Service and while that idea is rejected, Jenko thinks it was a good idea. The latter half of the film features jokes revolving around the characters worrying about their operation (in reality, the film itself) going ‘over-budget. During a big chase scene at the university, Schmidt and Jenko are trying to be very careful not to crash into anything for fear of going ‘over-budget’ and when some of the bad guys do crash into things, they do comment about how while it does look cool it also looks very expensive.

The two most hilarious bits of humor come as a result of one hell of a great plot twist, when Schmidt learns that the girl that he meets and begins dating, Maya, is none other than the daughter of Captain Dickson, resulting in a very hilariously awkward dinner scene between Schmidt and Maya’s family, where Schmidt yells at a waiter to get the Captain some water (“he’s black, he’s been through a lot”) and the Captain starts to rage when he goes up for seconds. The other best hilarious moment comes shortly afterwards when Schmidt and Jenko are in the Captain’s office and Jenko is unaware of the ‘elephant in the room’. It takes him a little while to realize what’s going on but then he does (‘OH S***!!!! OH S***!!!!) and then he starts going around the building telling everyone about Schmidt f***ing the Captain’s daughter. Admittedly though, not all of the jokes hit, namely three bits that are untimely due to recent events that had happened before the film’s release. In one scene, Schmidt and Jenko, while hiding from the bad guys, act like one of them is giving a blowjob to the other and when one of the bad guys find them, he calls them the other ‘f-word’, leading to Jenko ranting at him for using that word in 2014, which was only awkward due to a recent incident when Jonah Hill used that exact same word on a paparazzo. The other two awkward bits are when Maya constantly refers to Schmidt as ‘Maya Angelou’, who had just recently died, and when one professor references Tracy Morgan, who had just been in a severe car accident. It’s not really the fault of the writers, though. These things just happened around the time the film got released so they were just unavoidable, really.

Still, the direction from Lord and Miller is once again superb showcasing their creative talents, like their talent for visual jokes, like in this film when Schmidt and Jenko end up tripping on the drug that they’re investigating into, with Jenko having a ‘nice trip’ with happy scenery while Schmidt ends up in a ‘bad trip’ where it all looks like hell and music from Creed is playing. Not only that, but the camaraderie between leads Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is absolutely superb. This film also has one of the best end-credit sequences in the history of film with faux sequels imagining Schmidt and Jenko in more undercover situations, like at a culinary school and flight academy just to name a few (heck at one point Schmidt is even recast with Seth Rogen due to a contract dispute (“What contract dispute? I’ve been here the whole time”). But at this moment, a third ‘Jump Street’ film is actually in the works and believe it or not, I’m actually rather worried about this one, mainly because it’s looking like Lord and Miller might not be returning to direct it. Now I’m not saying that they’re 100% necessarily required for the film to be good but their direction has certainly been one of the main reasons why these last two films have been so great. And also, just try and name me a good comedy ‘threequel’… if you can’t, don’t worry about it because from what I can tell, there hasn’t been any. I will note that I’m optimistic about it, but it’s a cautious optimism especially due to the high expectations that we’ll be having about it given the two that came before it.

SOMETHING COOL!!!!

Check back tomorrow for Part 2, where I’ll be listing films 9 through 7…

2014 Midyear Recap

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

STINK-BOMBS

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

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR SO FAR:

THE LEGEND OF HERCULES

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

OTHER DISHONORABLES

TRANSCENDENCE

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

I, FRANKENSTEIN

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

‘MEH’-FLIX

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

     A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST   

         

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

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

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

OCULUS

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

WORTH-WHILES

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

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

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

ROBOCOP

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

DRAFT DAY

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

MUPPETS MOST WANTED

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

NOAH

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

GODZILLA

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

JERSEY BOYS

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

MALEFICENT

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

CHEF

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

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

NEIGHBORS

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

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

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

VERONICA MARS

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

EDGE OF TOMORROW

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

TOP 5 OF THE YEAR SO FAR

5. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

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

4. 22 JUMP STREET

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

3. THE LEGO MOVIE

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

2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

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

1. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

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

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

The LEGO Movie (2014) review

(As you can tell, this review was a little late but, sadly, there is a big reason for why it took me a while to write this. My dad was injured in an accident a couple days ago and, at the time I am writing this, he has just passed away as a result of his injury. As such, I dedicate this review in memory of him because I know that he knew how big of a LEGO fan I am. Love you Dad!)

Sometimes, there is a movie that, in one way or another, will directly appeal to your childhood. For me, ‘The LEGO Movie’ is one of those movies. When I was growing up, LEGOs were probably my favorite things in the entire world and while I’m not as big of a LEGO fan now as I was when I was a kid, I still have a general passing interest in the brand. As such, this was the first major movie of 2014 that I was anticipating because I was really excited to see an actual ‘LEGO Movie’ on the big screen (this being the first official theatrical LEGO movie). However, at first glance, one might view this as a cynical marketing gimmick done by Hollywood with the main purpose of selling LEGO products which would make sense considering that these are construction toys we’re talking about here. But then you take into account the two men directing this film, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Their previous two films, 2009’s ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and 2012’s ‘21 Jump Street’, were some of the best films of their respective years and in the end, ‘The LEGO Movie’ will most likely end up being one of the best films of 2014 for a few good reasons. It’s certainly the first great film of 2014, that’s for sure.

Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) is just your average guy (or ‘minifigure’ if you want to be precise) who lives a very ordinary life as a construction worker in his hometown of Brickville. However, things begin to change when he comes across an object known as the ‘Piece of Resistance’, which is the only thing that can stop a powerful weapon known as ‘the Kragle’ (in reality, a tube of ‘Krazy Glue’). Emmet soon finds himself at the center of a prophecy where he is believed to be ‘The Special’, the only one who is capable of stopping the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who plans to use the Kragle to take over the world by freezing it in place and bringing an end to the idea of ‘creativity’. Emmet joins forces with the ‘Master Builders’, people who are capable of building anything without the need of ‘instructions’, unlike people like Emmet. With the help of allies like freedom fighter Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), wise old wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), and even the ‘Caped Crusader’ himself, Batman (Will Arnett), Emmet sets off on his journey to save the LEGO universe as he tries to prove to everyone (including himself) that he truly is ‘The Special’.

At first, this story may seem like your traditional ‘unexpected hero’ story and that would seem like that’s the case here… or is it? I say that because, without giving anything away, this film pulls one heck of a plot twist near the end that I guarantee a lot of you will not see coming (on that note, I applaud Warner Bros and everyone involved on the project for not giving this key part of the movie away in the marketing). Not only that, but this twist is a really good one as well as it does a fine job of representing the legacy and popularity of the LEGO brand through the eyes of its fan base. The story itself speaks to both the LEGO builders who always follow the instructions (I’m not afraid to admit that I’m one of them) as well as those who like to go ‘outside the box’ and by doing so, this movie will appeal directly to both groups of fans. As directors, Lord and Miller certainly fall into the latter group as proven by some of the creative decisions that they have made in their films, which is once again evident because of this film’s unexpected turn of events.

Also, the animation in this film is fantastic. From what I hear, this film was a mix of computer animation and stop-motion animation. With that in mind, I now want to know what parts of this movie were actually done in stop-motion. I mean, sure, the majority of the film clearly must be computer animated but part of the reason why it’s so good is because, in execution, it really feels like stop-motion animation. It’s quite amazing to see how everything in this movie, even special effects like fire and water, is made to look like they were really made out of LEGOs. Of course, like with a lot of great animated films, this one also boasts an excellent voice cast. Everyone is well cast in their respective roles and this film has a great cast of characters, including the no-nonsense Bad Cop who has a split personality where he’s also sometimes a Good Cop (Liam Neeson in a rare comedic turn) as well as a great comedic interpretation of Batman as done by Will Arnett. Also, be sure to be on the lookout for some pretty cool cameos along the way.

My friend Augie made a good point recently about how Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been very successful at taking projects that wouldn’t seem to be good ideas at first and turn them into something that ends up being far better than what we initially expected. I mean, I’m pretty sure that none of us were thinking that ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and ‘21 Jump Street’ would turn out to be as good as they were, but they were. The same can definitely be said for ‘The LEGO Movie’. On the surface it does look like a ‘marketing gimmick’ to sell products and in the end there’s part of it that no doubt feels like a feature-length LEGO commercial (it was unavoidable). But then this film pulls one of the best twists in recent memory and as a result, it turns out to be a very well-made animated film. It has excellent animation, a terrific voice cast, and a story that may seem simple at first glance but in the end it turns out to be one that has a lot of heart. This film does a great job at representing the LEGO brand and its dedicated fans. For LEGO fanatics, this is an absolute must-see but even if you aren’t, this is still one that I highly recommend because it truly is one of the best animated films in recent years.

Rating: 5/5!