We are officially kicking off the "DCU" with this movie and James Gunn at the helm, so of course Superman sets the tone for the entire universe. Having seen every incarnation of Superman thus far, I'd have to say that this version is just okay. Many people will probably compare this to Christopher Reeves' or Henry Cavill's versions, and I think Gunn is taking aspects from both styles. He is definitely leaning more into the campy nature of the Reeves version though, and I think that was a misstep. Say what you want about Zack Snyder, but one thing he truly understood about Superman was making him appear as a god amongst mortals, and framing the shots in ways where you could see how imposing and powerful he actually is. There isn't enough of those kinds of scenes in Gunn's Superman, so while you still get to see how powerful Superman is, it's done in a much more light-hearted manner. It's like comparing a graphic novel to a Saturday morning cartoon. If we had more of a blend of Snyder's and Gunn's styles we could get the perfect Superman adaptation, where it's both serious and fun when it needs to **** film itself is solid and thoroughly enjoyable. Although it doesn't achieve the level of greatness I was hoping for, given the amount of hype surrounding this movie and how consequential this is for the DC brand. I felt that Lois was portrayed very well, she is both sexy and sassy and Rachel Brosnahan was surprisingly good in this role. Mr. Terrific was the breakout star in this film, he took over every scene he was in, and many times he was more interesting than the Man of Steel himself. The rest of the "Justice Gang" was fine, but at this point the movie started to feel a little overstuffed. They packed a lot of material into this film and it moves at an incredibly fast pace. I think this was another downside for this movie because instead of having a more focused story where plot points are given time to build up, we jump from one situation to the next without any breathing room. Maybe this was because of forced time constraints or studio demands, but everything could've flowed a little better. David Corenswet did fairly well as both Clark Kent and Superman. He definitely isn't as stoic as Cavill's Superman, and shows a more humanized interpretation. This sort of rendition is perfectly fine, but then they try too hard driving the point home by having Superman constantly getting curb-stomped throughout the film, to the point where you almost expected it to happen again no matter who he was facing. Gunn focused too much on the Man and not enough on the Super. Nicolas Hoult did well enough as Lex Luthor, but of all the Lex Luthors his was the least memorable, and truthfully so was Corenswet's Superman. I just didn't feel the tension between these two as much as other Superman adaptations, plus the conflict they had was completely contrived and impersonal. The worst characters in the film were unfortunately Clark's parents. They were like caricatures of hillbilly farmers with heavily exaggerated Southern accents. Easily the worst versions of his foster parents yet, and this felt more like Gunn playing up the audience for laughs. These were just horrible depictions of the people that Clark is supposed to derive all of his life lessons and sense of morality from. Krypto was also used mostly for comedic effect, and with Gunn's style of filmmaking this was almost a given. Even the surprise cameo in the film was made purely as a gag. This is probably what turned me off the most from the film, the whole MCU comedy template that was so heavy handed throughout this movie. On the other hand, the action scenes are pretty good and entertaining. There is no shortage of epic battle scenes as well, so if that's all you're here for this film will deliver. The visual effects are kind of a mixed bag, at times the CGI looks clean and properly integrated, but other times it just seems obviously computer generated. They use some of the classic Superman scores for the soundtrack and that definitely fit the tone the movie was setting.Overall, this Superman was pretty good, but not great, and this truly needed to be on another level to fix the DC film universe. If you're a fan you'll probably find something to enjoy here. I don't think this is the home run Warner Brothers was looking for though. This film is like a slightly undercooked steak with too much seasoning. They tried to launch so many characters and plot threads all together that they forgot to focus on what truly matters. The film has heart, but it doesn't quite stick the landing. I hope Gunn can learn from this movie and refine things a little more in future DCU projects.
We are officially kicking off the "DCU" with this movie and James Gunn at the helm, so of course Superman sets the tone for the entire universe. Having seen every incarnation of Superman thus far, I'd have to say that this version is just okay. Many people will probably compare this Christopher Reeves' or Henry Cavill's versions, and I think Gunn is taking aspects from both styles. He is definitely leaning more into the campy nature of the Reeves version though, and I think that was a misstep. Say what you want about Zack Snyder, but one thing he truly understood about Superman was making him appear as a god amongst mortals, and framing the shots in ways where you could see how imposing and powerful he actually is. There isn't enough of those kinds of scenes in Gunn's Superman, so while you still get to see how powerful Superman is, it's done in a much more light-hearted manner. It's like comparing a graphic novel to a Saturday morning cartoon. If we had more of a blend of Snyder's and Gunn's styles we could get the perfect Superman adaptation, where it's both serious and fun when it needs to **** film itself is solid and thoroughly enjoyable. Although it doesn't achieve the level of greatness I was hoping for, given the amount of hype surrounding this movie and how consequential this is for the DC brand. I felt that Lois was portrayed very well, she is both sexy and sassy and Rachel Brosnahan was surprisingly good in this role. Mr. Terrific was the breakout star in this film, he took over every scene he was in, and many times he was more interesting than the Man of Steel himself. The rest of the "Justice Gang" was fine, but at this point the movie started to feel a little overstuffed. They packed a lot of material into this film and it moves at an incredibly fast pace. I think this was another downside for this movie because instead of having a more focused story where plot points are given time to build up, we jump from one situation to the next without any breathing room. Maybe this was because of forced time constraints or studio demands, but everything could've flowed a little better.David Corenswet did fairly well as both Clark Kent and Superman. He definitely isn't as stoic as Cavill's Superman, and shows a more humanized interpretation. This sort of rendition is perfectly fine, but then they try too hard driving the point home by having Superman constantly getting curb-stomped throughout the film, to the point where you almost expected it to happen again no matter who he was facing. Gunn focused too much on the Man and not enough on the Super. Nicolas Hoult did well enough as Lex Luthor, but of all the Lex Luthors his was the least memorable, and truthfully so was Corenswet's Superman. I just didn't feel the tension between these two as much as other Superman adaptations, plus the conflict they had was completely contrived and impersonal. The worst characters in the film were unfortunately Clark's parents. They were like caricatures of hillbilly farmers with heavily exaggerated Southern accents. Easily the worst versions of his foster parents yet, and this felt more like Gunn playing up the audience for laughs. These were just horrible depictions of the people that Clark is supposed to derive all of his life lessons and sense of morality from. Krypto was also used mostly for comedic effect, and with Gunn's style of filmmaking this was almost a given. Even the surprise cameo in the film was made purely as a gag. This is probably what turned me off the most from the film, the whole MCU comedy template that was so heavy handed throughout this **** the other hand, the action scenes are pretty good and entertaining. There is no shortage of epic battle scenes as well, so if that's all you're here for this film will deliver. The visual effects are kind of a mixed bag, at times the CGI looks clean and properly integrated, but other times it just seems obviously computer generated. They use some of the classic Superman scores for the soundtrack and that definitely fit the tone the movie was setting.Overall, this Superman was pretty good, but not great, and this truly needed to be on another level to fix the DC film universe. If you're a fan you'll probably find something to enjoy here. I don't think this is the home run Warner Brothers was looking for though. This film is like a slightly undercooked steak with too much seasoning. They tried to launch so many characters and plot threads all together that they forgot to focus on what truly matters. The film has heart, but it doesn't quite stick the landing. I hope Gunn can learn from this movie and refine things a little more in future DCU projects.
Jurassic World: Plan B, because this whole script should've been aborted. We did NOT need ugly mutant dinosaurs, they went far enough with that ridiculous concept in the last 2 dumpster fires and there are plenty of REAL dinosaurs that they haven't used yet. Granted, Rebirth is probably more enjoyable than those sequels, but not by much. The sidestory about the family was stupid and unnecessary. ScarJo looked way too chipper, smiling in every scene when it didn't even fit the tone. The scientist/researcher felt like a hybrid of Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm, kind of fitting since the movie introduces hybrid dinos. Mahershala's character practically carried the entire film. You don't end up caring that much about any of them though, especially the annoying family. They certainly wanted to remind you that this is indeed a Jurassic Park sequel with almost as many throwbacks as Matrix: Resurrections. I didn't completely hate it though, there were some dumb fun action sequences and the visuals looked great. This was a chance for a major course correction, yet they still dropped the ball somehow. Just like Ian Malcolm said in the original, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
This movie dragged on for WAY too long, and Godzilla was barely even in it. Way too much dialogue and exposition. The human story was interesting at first, but far too much time was spent on characters that I couldn't find myself caring about. I almost fell asleep at one point. And the kid constantly crying was just grating and annoying. I didn't go into this expecting to hate it either, in fact my expectations were totally overblown because of all the positive reviews the movie had. Plus let's be honest, if this movie didn't take place in Japan with actual Asian actors and full Japanese dialogue, it never would've gotten this much praise. People probably liked this movie more for its "authenticity" rather than the actual entertainment value. The parts with Godzilla that we did get were definitely good, but they were too few and far between. The sound and visuals were mostly good, but there were too many obvious throwbacks to the original films. I would probably re-watch the 1998 Godzilla with Matthew Broderick over this any day. I truly don't understand the unfathomably high ratings for this film.
This was basically just space **** vs space drifters in a mash-up of Star Wars, Dune, and Warhammer. They throw in some of the most generic names imaginable like "Motherworld" and "Scargiver," even the name "Rebel Moon" feels completely uninspired. Certainly not the worst sci-fi I've ever seen, but so utterly disappointing. There were also some HORRIBLE CGI sequences for a movie with a $166 million budget. Where did all of the money go? This isn't the Star Wars killer that Netflix is looking for.
One of the worst sequels to ever be greenlit. This movie is a painful reminder of how NOT to adapt a video game franchise. I was only 13 when I first saw this and I hated it back then too. Annihilation was so awful that even Christopher Lambert had to turn down the role of Raiden. It's not like the first Mortal Kombat was a truly good film, but they still understood what a Mortal Kombat movie should deliver, techno music and cool fight scenes. Annihilation felt like a complete parody of the first film, with bad acting, bad dialogue, bad writing, bad visual effects, bad green screens and stock footage, bad fight choreography, bad costumes, etc. It was just bad from start to finish, in a way that truly makes it so bad that it's good because of the amount of unintentional comedy gold.
Better than expected but still not good enough. Great action and nostalgia berries. Keaton's Batman is the highlight, Sasha Calle's Supergirl is fine but I wanted more from her. If you didn't already like Ezra Miller then this film won't change your mind. The CGI is atrocious at times and this isn't what we should be getting from a film that cost over $200 million. The script is a jumbled mess that feels like 2 or 3 different stories, with not enough focus on the main villain. This movie is already bombing too, WB needs to forget about retaining any DCEU characters and do a full reboot. This film just came out way too late to be relevant in the Snyderverse, and people won't care about a movie that won't matter going forward.
They definitely failed to meet the standard set by the first Shazam film. Not entirely terrible with some entertaining action set-pieces. But the villains were bland and forgettable, the humor didn't land in most cases, and there wasn't enough of a focus on the main character. There's a strong argument to be made that the entire Shazam family was introduced way too early. It also would've made a lot more sense to pit Shazam against Black Adam, but since that movie also bombed I doubt we'll see that happen anytime soon. Fury of the Gods even tries to sequel-bait and set up other DCU threads, and it's all but certain that none of this will ever come to fruition. Overall it was just an average superhero film that lost the charm of the original.
It **** in a Morbillion different ways. It Morbed so badly at the box office that Stan Lee rose from the grave to tell Jared Leto "Morb off, you Morbius wannabe hack!!"
The first Matrix movie had a societal impact like very few other movies have had before or after and the cultural significance is still relevant to this day. I was absolutely blown away by this film and it is certainly one of my all time favorites. The sequels were not quite as good but definitely still had their moments of action, intrigue, and spectacle. After seeing Resurrections I'm now convinced that they never should've gone beyond the original. Resurrections makes Revolutions look like Citizen Kane, despite all the flaws the trilogy's finale had. I knew this latest entry to the series was not going to be as good as the original trilogy, but nothing could've prepared me for how bad this movie actually was. The first red flag is the fact that this film has to constantly remind you of how much better the first film was. About a third of the film is either trying to sloppily recreate the most iconic scenes and imagery of the first film, or is literally just showing you those scenes within the film. Then there's all the "meta" self-awareness the film has, which could have been a clever plot device but is done in such a painfully cringy way that it feels like they don't want you take this film seriously. Neo's powers are completely nerfed and it's pretty obvious that Keanu is now too old to do kung fu. Agent Smith and Morpheus are just cheap knock-offs of Weaving and Fishburne, and I can't blame those two for not wanting to return to this trainwreck of a sequel. Instead of the Architect we have the "Analyst" who is an actual exposition machine and explains any necessary plot points when the story needs to move forward. There are a lot of cool ideas like a machine civil war that get briefly mentioned and then are never spoken of again, even though these could've been fascinating concepts to explore. The new characters are like forgettable NPCs, which is fitting considering that the film's first angle is to say the Matrix was just a video game. They even introduce one of the most cliche concepts they could possibly throw into this franchise, zombies. Yes that's right, there are now zombies in the Matrix. You might be wondering if at least the action is any good... well, it isn't. The fight choreography also feels like a huge downgrade from the entire Matrix trilogy. There are so many things wrong with this movie, from the script, to the casting, to the execution, and so on. It's a nostalgia-bait cash-grab that destroys everything the franchise had worked to achieve, and based on Lana Wachowski's statements this was probably intentional. I understand wanting to make a commentary about the film industry, sequels, etc., but that could've been accomplished without creating such a disjointed mess. This is one of the most disappointing sequels ever made, if not the worst sequel in the history of film. I'd prefer to be like Neo and believe that this movie is not real.
Worst superhero film ever made and it's not even close. Halle Berry herself knows how terrible her performance was and gladly accepted her Razzie award. It's hard to imagine that anyone thought this was a good way to give Catwoman her own story. We've had two versions of Catwoman since this abomination and both of them put this mockery of the character to shame. Plus let's face it, nobody will ever live up to Michelle Pfeiffer's iconic portrayal, she captured lightning in a bottle with her legendary live-action Catwoman. Even Jared Leto's Joker seems like Oscar-worthy material compared to Halle Berry's Catwoman. This film has definitely set the bar for how awful a comic book movie can get.
This is the perfect vision of the Justice League. People doubted Zack Snyder and worried about his "dark" tone, but DC comics have always had this style and Snyder embraces it. I loved both Man of Steel and Batman Vs. Superman, so this is definitely the version of this movie that I wanted. It excels over Whedon's version in every possible way. How Whedon had butchered this film so much is unbelievable. He removed almost everything that brings the epic feel of these god-like superheroes and replaced it with a bunch of corny Avengers-lite sequences. We don't need the DCEU to be a carbon-copy of the MCU. The goofy family-friendly template might work for Shazam, but the Justice League deserves to be taken more seriously. It's very obvious that Snyder is passionate about these characters and wants to represent them in their true glory. These movies need to have their own distinct identity, and Zack Snyder has finally proven that this was always the direction the DCEU needed to move towards. I can only hope we actually get to see this continued since this was originally planned to have two more parts. This was the most entertaining 4 hours I've had in a long time, and it never felt like it was dragging on. It moves at a good pace and felt more like binge-watching an awesome DC mini-series. If you're a DC or Snyder fan you definitely won't be disappointed. #RestoreTheSnyderVerse
I cannot believe the critics gave such low scores to this movie. I saw it on the second weekend of its release in theaters and I was absolutely blown away. The movie looks and feels just like a live-action anime. I was unsure about this movie when I first saw the trailer but after I did a little research I discovered that it was adapted from an old anime/manga, so that was a huge selling point for me. As a huge fan of anime I am thoroughly impressed. This is literally the best live-action adaptation of any anime property, period. The bar was already set pretty low after recent epic failures such as Ghost In The Shell and Netflix's Death Note, which both utterly annihilated the source material they were adapted from. This made me more than skeptical of Alita: Battle Angel but the movie ended up blowing my expectations out of the water. I can understand now why the critic average is so low on this film which is certainly going to become a cult classic. Anime/manga stories are deep and complicated with many intersecting plot-lines, and a lot of bizarre and abstract ideas. Alita: Battle Angel strikes this chord perfectly with a stunning adaptation that remains faithful to its canon in almost every aspect. I watched the anime episodes after seeing the movie and I was almost shocked at Robert Rodriguez's and James Cameron's attention to detail. They really didn't want to disappoint fans of anime/manga. The problem is this type of film might be too much for the average critic or moviegoer. This is not a Marvel movie. You will have to actually think about what's happening, and there are some profound and even disturbing ideas presented. That's what anime/manga is known for. It's really sad that this under-appreciated gem would become lost in the influx of superhero films that dominate the box office. They took a huge gamble with a hefty budget on this film and it probably will not generate the revenue that studio bigwigs were hoping for. I'm hoping that word of mouth can boost support for this awesome sci-fi extravaganza because this is what both Hollywood and anime has needed. The film ended on a major cliffhanger and I would really like to see the story continued.
Anti-atheist propaganda film full of bad acting and logical fallacies. The "proof" this film offers for the existence **** is the same tired "god of the gaps" argument that never explains anything. This film is a massive misrepresentation of both philosophy AND atheism. The teacher is actually a misotheist (believing in a god and hating it), so the film just straw-mans the atheist position the entire time. Kevin Sorbo is a right-wing nut job continuing to embarrass himself with cinematic dumpster fires like this. Any self-respecting Christian should condemn this, and sadly many of them will see this and feel that this further emboldens their persecution complex. The entire premise of the story is laughably exaggerated to the point of absurdity, just like the Bible.
I rarely agree with film critics but this time they nailed it. This film has completely destroyed the legacy of Tom & Jerry. There is no single element to point at as the ultimate flaw of this movie, it is all just bad. The fact that Tom & Jerry are barely the focus of their own feature length film is unforgiveable enough. Then you have to consider the awful soundtrack, unlikable human characters, and the bizarre 2D/3D animation style. It doesn't make sense at all to have so many other talking cartoon animals next to Tom & Jerry who thankfully remain silent. Tom & Jerry may have been portrayed faithfully, but instead of getting a film with nothing else hamfisted into it, just their zany antics, we're forced to endure a horribly tired and cliched rom-com plot. Nobody asked for this movie to be about a wedding for two arrogant rich snobs in a fancy hotel. It almost seems like this was the original screenplay for the movie then they just threw in Tom & Jerry at the last minute and reshot everything. Colin Jost and Michael Pena do their best to be funny with an unfunny and uninteresting plot. The main character played by Chloe Grace Moretz comes across as amoral and self-serving, because the first thing she does is steal someone's resume to get a job in this hotel. Ignoring the logistical issues with this premise, the film still massively under-delivers and even the parts with Tom & Jerry are just lazily rehashed throwbacks to the cartoons. When will Hollywood stop rebooting and destroying classic franchises? I'm glad I watched this on HBOMAX because I would've felt absolutely cheated for the price of admission in a theater.
I see lots of people trashing this movie and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe because of the perceived political pandering ("Captain SJW" - LOL, neckbeards are funny). I honestly enjoyed this MCU flick more than Iron Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, and Ant Man & The Wasp, all of which seem highly negligible to the MCU in comparison to this entry. The movie had a fun sci-fi vibe with a retro 90's feel. Lots of hilarious punchlines, and some great supporting roles.
Was Brie Larson the best actress for the part? That's the question burning everyone's mind as they venture to the cinema for this female-led adventure, which is a first in the Marvel universe. I feel that someone better COULD have been chosen but it's always hard to say exactly who. Comic book fans have a grandiose vision of their favorite heroes built up in their minds and it's literally impossible to appeal to everyone's taste. I can certainly imagine actresses who would be WORSE at this role, but it's a real head-scratcher to think about who might actually do BETTER. More than likely a relatively unknown actress would've been the only choice left, but that's obviously not a gamble that a major film studio would be willing to take.
With that being said I still feel Brie handled the role pretty well. I had low expectations going in, and her snarky attitude is almost too much to take in at times, but she made the performance convincing enough for me to suspend my imagination.
Aside from the controversy over the lead actress and the stupid political debate (I'm genuinely sick of politics infecting every aspect of our society... movies are just supposed to be fun), the film was just a fun ride from start to finish. It was truly epic seeing Captain Marvel in her full glory tearing everything apart. Sure, it might not rank up there with some of the better films in the MCU but it's definitely a solid entry and it has me hyped up for Avengers: Endgame now.
Absolute garbage. I do appreciate that they tried to take many ideas from the animé. They get the basic concepts correct, but the changes to the plot of the source material are unforgivable. Some of the changes were made to create completely unnecessary plot twists which were vastly different from the animé, and ended up being your standard horror clichés. Ryuk was also a lot different from the animé and manga despite being the single element that remained mostly intact. In the animé he acted like he didn't care about what happened with the Death Note, and that made him even more likable as a character. In this film he's portrayed as having sinister urges for how he uses the Death Note, as if he was actually a demon or some kind of evil entity. Ryuk seemed far more neutral towards everything on the show. Light acts like an irrational dunce compared to his criminal mastermind version from the show. Misa, or "Mia" in the film, is much more sadistic and conniving than in the animé. Even L has a personality change, but most of his mannerisms remain the same. He too lets his emotions run wild, which is a huge departure from his cold and calculating nature on the show. This is mostly the result of an overly elaborate plot twist that is such a sharp deviation from the source material it makes you wonder if the director even watched the whole series. They also continue to cram in needlessly complicated plot devices that have no place or purpose in a supernatural detective story. On top of that, they keep ripping off various other horror films, and it feels like more of a horror film than a detective story. This is probably their greatest sin of all because it utterly destroys the tone that made the animé so unique to watch. It just becomes another disposable American horror movie which is definitely not what Death Note should have been like. This was easily the worst live-action adaptation of Death Note, and possibly the worst live-action adaptation of any animé period. I didn't think it could get much worse after Ghost In The Shell, but Netflix had to prove me wrong. Hollywood seriously needs to leave animé alone forever.
