Goosebumps guys….goosebumps.
The trailer for Avengers: Infinity War is out if for some reason you haven’t seen it yet and it is awesome!
We all know my track record with Avenger films but this actually looks so tantalising and seemingly a fitting conclusion to the colossal series of the Avengers. Loving Cap’s new hair too 😉
See you May 2018 guys!
Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons
Director: Zack Snyder
Running Time: 120mins
Cert: 12A
Rating: 6/10
It’s finally here! The Justice League is upon us and before we get into this, straight off the bat…its good. It’s not Winter Soldier (is anything?) good and nowhere near Dark Knight good but its good!
Its better than Man of Steel and most definitely better than Batman vs Superman (although that isn’t hard to do) and establishes itself as the new-ish direction of the DCEU.
While the dialogue is lacking, the story a little weak and the SFX still on the questionable side; JL makes up for in cool fight scenes, much needed humour and a pace that is much more desirable than its predecessors.
Justice League picks up where Batman vs Superman left off, with Bruce Wayne intent on putting together a team of gifted individuals to face an imminent threat; triggered by the death of Superman. Fueled by his renewed faith in humanity, Bruce sets out into various styles of recruitment to get a team together.
First up is Arthur Curry aka Aquaman – they like to put ‘The’ in front of Batman and Aquaman but I’m completely against this – the reluctant and isolated lone wolf living in the farthest reaches of Iceland. Here, he helps locals with their fish intake since fishing boats haven’t been able to get through in some time. After some light banter and mockery, Arthur establishes that he has no connection to this or any other problem and won’t be taking part in the festivities. When the threat is inevitably brought to his immediate attention – get ready ladies, this underwater scene with wife-to-be Mera is all kinds of PHWOAR – he decides to join the team.
In my heavily biased Jason Momoa loving opinion, there are not nearly enough Aquaman scenes. Considering his strength and speed and impressive skills with a quindent, you’d think he’d be used a bit more. Saying that, i appreciated the fact that there wasn’t an abundance of unnecessary water just so it would give him something to do. If they were suddenly fighting out at sea, id be looking for the bullshit.
Next up is Flash aka Barry Allen. Now, for the comic book aficionados no origin story is needed but in my case, I was a bit confused about Flash, where he came from and what he’s about. While I enjoyed his character immensely and he provided a sense of humour and humanity where the other heroes are somewhat lacking; I personally would’ve like to know the backstory with the father. Feel free to let me know whats up with that in the comments!
Flash is by no means the breakout star of the show but he definitely provides the Marvel-esque frivolity and lightheartedness that is seemingly making the MCU a success.
Now, Cyborg aka Victor Stone is a leaguer I know virtually nothing about outside of Teen Titans! Same issue with the origin story above would’ve liked more understanding but generally, he’s a viable member of the team. His intelligence and tech-savvy are all pivotal to the success of the mission and his broodiness is up there with Batman levels in his hay day.
Wonder Woman is doing it for the girls once again! Diana Prince is truly a force to be reckoned with both physically and mentally. She provides the heart of the team for sure but her growth from a naive, trigger-happy apprentice to a seasoned warrior and leader was great to see. I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of the Amazons again but would’ve liked them to be as badass as they were in Wonder Woman.
The newly beefed-up Ben Affleck makes his third outing as Batman/Bruce Wayne and I for one am loving it. While I am not a huge Affleck fan, I can appreciate the maturity that he has brought to the role. His mortality is made apparent throughout as well as his change in ideals, fuelled by the selfless act of Superman. Why he believes that he isn’t any better than Superman just because Superman made himself a celebrity/God while saving people is beyond me. Where his beef with Superman in BvS was completely unjustified; so it seems is his adulation of him now. The constant reiteration that they need Superman in order to win is ridiculous. Yes, I know he’s the strongest and the fastest etc etc but in this film arc, he’s also a bit of a dickhead. His self-righteousness really rubs me up the wrong way and relying on him to save the day, undermines the efforts of everyone involved who in my opinion did a whole lot more.
Outside of the characters, as mentioned above the pace of the film is much appreciated as I didn’t find myself thinking why I had been watching this for so long. On the flipside of that, however, is that it’s not very coherent; what with the constant jumps from the team to random meant-to-be-emotional-but-i-don’t-actually-care-about-her shots of Lois Lane.
Additionally, what the hell was going on with Superman’s face? Why so heavy on the CGI as though Mr Cavill’s jaw isn’t chiselled enough as it is! The dialogue was very basic with all the really entertaining lines reserved for Flash. The villain and by extension the story wasn’t very strong and I didn’t find him imposing enough. Considering how long they harped on about how dangerous he was; he was defeated fairly easily and admittedly I don’t think the JL did enough to keep the Mother Boxes away from him. And that’s another thing: wtf is a Mother Box?! It’s just not as catchy as Infinity Stone is it?
Despite the above though, I did not hate it.
I loved the costumes, I loved the fight scenes; I loved Bruce Wayne in all his Silver Fox splendour as well as the building relationships between the heroes (the first end credits scene being a testament to this).
Make sure to stay behind for the last end credit scene.
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch
Director: Michael Cuesta
Running Time: 111mins
Cert: 18
Last night I went to the movies after a long while and saw the patriotically titled, American Assassin starring Dylan O’Brien.
I’ve been a Dylan O’Brien fan since small roles in The Internship and then of course The Maze Runner and was excited to see what he would offer in the way of a more ‘adult’ role.
Before I go into his performance however which is well done in my opinion; this film in a lot of ways is not the best in terms of release time. There are a few who may agree with the opposite as the content is current and thought provoking and to witness the destruction near the end was actually quite emotional for me. Its not the best content to have been released in such tumultuous times for America when relationships with Muslims are strained and this film plays heavily on that animosity.
When his fiance is killed during a random terrorist attack, Mitch Rapp (O’Brien) takes it upon himself to exact revenge against the man/terrorist group who killed her. While this dedication to revenge brings him to the attention of the CIA; the dedication is overshadowed by what seems to be his hatred of ALL Muslims which isnt a good thing to watch. It plays out that his reckless and impulsive behaviour is rewarded by top authorities when he is hired to work for them to bring down a terrorist group.
Moving on from this, O’Brien’s performance is commendable although for future reference Dylan – growing a beard does not a grown up make – although it does suit him!
He embodies the character really well and you believe his passion for wanting to go after the terrorists even when the fight is no longer his to fight.
The negatives? A bit too much globe trotting for my liking. One minute we’re in Roanoke, then we’re in London then we’re in Turkey then Greece! I gather its the nature of a ‘spy’ but it was a bit much to keep up with! The characters, though played well by all involved are quite 2 dimensional: tough ex Army vet, tough as nails Black female at the head of the operation; loose cannon rookie that has exceptional skill.
On the plus side, there are some decent fight scenes especially one in an apartment that has one entire wall made of glass which makes for good viewing. They’re not overly done and believable in the technique and skill. There are a few Easter eggs in terms of ‘the real enemy’ but not too obviously so.
I liked that it was brought together in the end that things were not as they seemed which helped with the general impression of the film.
Definitely enjoyable and thought provoking as to what is going on around us right now.
American Assassin is out in UK cinemas Sept. 14
It’s been announced that Warner Bros and DC are in the very early stages of an origin story for Batman’s signature arch nemesis, The Joker.
Set in the Batman Universe but not attached to any other iteration, the film will be directed by Martin Scorsese. Joining the famed director, are writers Todd Phillips and Scott Silver who scripted The Hangover and 8 Mile respectively.
Joker has been portrayed on-screen before, most memorably by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. and most recently by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. Leto is unlikely to play the lead in this film but will reprise his role in the Suicide Squad sequel and Harley Quinn spin-off. This movie is likely to cast someone younger and possibly unknown.
Nothing has been confirmed on where this will fit into the DC schedule but it will, as always be going up against the titan that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU already has a string of successes but with a director like Scorsese in the driver’s seat, things could get even darker with DC.
Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr writes, “The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy.”
Do you think this new outlook will give DC what it needs to propel the DCU? Do we need another character taking on such an iconic role as The Joker?
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