Dumbo (2019) Review

Dumbo is a fantasy adventure and a live-action remake of the 1941 film of the same name. The movie is produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Tim Burton Productions, Infinite Detective Productions, and Secret Machine Entertainment and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.



The story is a circus elephant is born with large ears that allow him to fly. This is soon discovered by entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere and he wants to make Dumbo a star. However Dumbo's owners soon discover that everything isn't all glitz and glamour.

Initial Reaction



Now so far Disney in my opinion has done pretty well with their live-action remakes in recent years. 2015's Cinderella was good, 2016's The Jungle Book was great, I haven't seen the 2016 remake of Pete's Dragon so I can't give a quick opinion on it, and I really liked 2017's Beauty and The Beast. So of course I would be looking forward to this newest remake of a Disney classic. Although as per usual I was also being skeptical with me excitement. None the less I was still excited to see this movie.





Cons



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.







Middle Ground



The only thing about Dumbo you'll have a tough time with is Michael Keaton as V.A. Vandevere. Keaton gives a pretty good performance but his character is kind of generic.







Pros



One aspect I liked was the titled character. Much like his 1941 counterpart he's adorable and you just want to see him come out on top. Another thing I think you'll enjoy about the movie is the performances. Each of the cast does a good job acting as their respected characters. Especially Danny DeVito as Max Medici. He was one of the most entertaining characters in the film. The part of Dumbo I liked was Tim Burton's style. You get so many wonderful shots in the movie. That they'll leave you amazed. What I also enjoyed from Dumbo (2019) is the darker tone. I was not expecting that from this flick. Which I think will really help it stand out from the original 1941 film. The another facet of Dumbo (2019) I enjoyed was much like the 1941 version was the emotions. During the big climatic end of the film I got a little emotional.






Dumbo (2019) is a film I feel the whole family can enjoy. Dumbo is a great and cute animal character, the performances are also especially Danny DeVito's, Burton's signature style is gorgeous, the darker tone is welcomed surprised, and the emotional moments are there. The only thing that's stopping me from giving it a higher rating is V.A. Vandevere. While Keaton does have a good performance his character is just a little bland.






My final rating is Good






All right guys that's going to do it for me. Come back Monday, April 1st for my review of the newest DC animated movie, Justice League vs. the Fatal Five. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo is a 1941 animated film and the fourth Disney animated film. The movie was produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. Dumbo was written by Otto Englander, Joe Grant, and Dick Huemer and directed by Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and Bill Roberts and Ben Sharpsteen.



The story is a young circus elephant is born with large ears and is sadly given the name Dumbo. One day during an incident at the circus, his mother is taking away and locked up. Despite all these hardships he meets a mouse that shows him his ears have so much potential.

• Negatives

My only real complaint is that pink elephant sequence. It's pointless. No really if you watch the film really carefully it's serves no purpose what so ever other than to be filler. It also goes on for way too long.

• Mix

The truly grey area I find myself in for this movie is the ending. The ending to Dumbo is very abrupt. On one hand maybe that's because of the strike that was going on during production so maybe I should forgive it for that but on the other hand I still don't like it.

• Positives

One of the best things about Dumbo is the animation. The movie was made very cheaply compared to another Disney films around this time but the animation is so well done you really can't say it's cheap. It's beautiful to look and it's nicely done. Now sequence feels weird and/or out of place.



The other great aspect of the movie is the humor. This is quite a funny film. One of the best jokes is how they got away with Dumbo being drunk. I'm not making that up by the way that really happened, and it's hilarious.



Another thing to enjoy about the film is how emotional it is. Dumbo really delivers on the drama, comedy, and so much more. That scene with Dumbo and his caged mother will always grab at the heart strings.





Dumbo while in my opinion isn't the greatest film from the Golden era but it's still enjoyable and will hold a special place in people's hearts. The animation is greatly done, the humor is very much funny, and it hits you with a lot of emotional moments. The mix bag is the ending and the only thing I didn't really like was the "pink elephant" scene.





My final rating is Good





Well I'm all done here. Come back on Saturday, March 30th for my review of the 2019 remake of Dumbo. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Dark Phoenix - X-Men: The Last Stand Review

X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics' team the X-Men. It's a sequel to 2003's X2: X-Men United and the third installment of the X-Men film franchise. The film's story is loosely based on the X-Men story arcs The Dark Phoenix Saga and Gifted. X-Men: The Last Stand was produced by Dune Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, The Donners' Company, and Ingenious Film Partners and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The movie was written by Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg and directed by Brett Ratner.



The story is there is a cure for mutants. In doing so mutants are now debating if they want to keep their powers or live among regular people. Magneto sees this a way to destroy mutants so he sets out to create an army to destroy the cure and the people who made it. The X-Men want to stop Magneto and his army but while that's happening an even bigger threat rises. That threat being Jean Grey who now goes by Dark Phoenix.

• Negatives

One of my biggest problems with the movie is how Jean Grey the Dark Phoenix herself was pushed to the side. She was hyped up in X2: X-Men United, then she gets some awesome moments and then when she joins Magneto she does basically nothing until the final act. It was real let down to see one of the most powerful characters in Marvel just be a henchmen.



My other complaint with The Last Stand is when you watch X-Men and X2: X-Men United back to back they were very subtle with there themes. X-Men 3 on the other hand not so much. I mean Mystique literally refers to her real name (Raven) as her "slave name". I mean seriously? I mean I'll give Kinberg a pass since this was his first project with the X-Men franchise, but Penn helped write the second movie he should have some idea how this works.



The other part of the film that really sucks is the love triangle subplot among Iceman, Kitty Pryde, and Rouge. It's introduced, talked about a little, and then it goes nowhere. So it was really pointless.



The final thing I'll complain about with this movie is they introduced why too many new mutants. Yes I know this is part of the story what with there being an upcoming war but what I mean is some of them have story arcs. We have to deal with this person's story, that mutant's story, oh don't forget about this subplot with this mutant. In matter of fact some are introduced and don't really do much. The biggest example being Angel.

• Mix

My real grey area in this is it's humor. Now having watch all three films it does feel rather odd how much jokes are in this. Yes if you watch the other films they do have humor but it didn't feel out place. In some not all scenes there were times when I'm thinking "did we really need that". Other times I thought it was appropriate. Like this moment with Wolverine.

Getting kicked in the nuts hurts bad enough but imagining getting kicked there when someone has adamantium bones.

• Positives

Now despite some complaints and all my other less than stellar comments, X-Men: The Last Stand actually does have some good qualities to it. One of them being good character moments. The best one is when Logan and Scott are taking about moving on from Jean's supposed death and Scott delivers an amazing line. No I'm not gonna tell you what is it. It's best if you watch the movie for that.

The other thing to enjoy from The Last Stand is the story surrounding the cure. It was actually a really good debate piece for this film. Because on one hand you have mutants who think it's an insult to them thinking their some sort of disease but on the other hand you have mutants who don't like their abilities and think it's something great.

My other admiration for the movie is the performances. Despite the script not being as good as the first two movies the actors still give it their all. Including Kelsey Grammer as Beast he was one of the best parts of the film.

I also feel like the movie doesn't get enough praise for the more emotional moments involving Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix. I mean the final act of the movie when it's Wolverine and her face to face was actually a heart breaking moment.

My final praise for The Last Stand is the action. All of the action scenes were awesome and were a lot of fun to watch. There wasn't a single one where I was like "nah this isn't good".

X-Men: The Last Stand isn't the worst X-Men movie ever made (that rightful title goes X-Men Origins: Wolverine). It has great character moments, a nicely done subplot with the cure, the performances are still strong, good emotional moments, and even better action. The real mix bag is the humor. The bad things are Dark Phoenix's treatment, less than subtle themes, a really really REALLY pointless love triangle, and introducing way too many new mutants.

My final rating is Okay

In my opinion X-Men: The Last Stand is kind of like Spider-Man 3 before Spider-Man 3 was released. Everyone pretty much focuses on the bad and says it's the worst film ever and push all of the good aspects a side. They seem to forget a film can be simply okay.

Anyhow I'm done here. Come back on Thursday, March 28th for my "A Look Back at" review for 1941's Dumbo. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Us Review

Us is a psychological horror-thriller film produced by Monkeypaw Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. The movie is written and directed by Jordan Peele.

The story is the Wilson's have taken their children to the beach house their mom grew up in when she was a child. Everything seems to be going smoothly for the family until their family vacation turns into a fight for survival. And just take make matters stranger than they already are they see that their attackers look exactly like them.

Initial Reaction

In all honesty while I was looking forward to the movie I wasn't too excited about it. It has nothing to do with the film it's self I just didn't think my theater was going to show it. All I thought I could do was enjoy the trailers and commercials. Then to my surprise I saw that my theater is having a showing for it and on the day of it's official release as suppose to a month later like they usual do with these original films. So I was fully hyped to see the movie like everybody else.

Cons



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.







Middle Ground



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.







Pros



One of the things I really dug about Us was the performances mostly from Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke. Let's start off with Lupita's performance. She's phenomenal. She had to play her evil doppelgänger Red. The reason why I found this amazing is simply due to how she changed her voice. Now what I liked about Winston's acting is in some scenes he has to play an murderous monster and then play the funny man. Speaking of funny.  The movie's got some good jokes in there. No it's not a full blown horror-comedy what I mean is that while there's jokes in the film it doesn't detract from the horror aspects of the flick. The other compliment I want to give Us is the horror parts. From the very beginning your going to be in for an intense movie. Another thing I liked about Peele's newest film is how things escalated. Cause by judging from the trailer you'd go in thinking this will be a home invasion film. Yes you do get that but you also get something more. The final thing I'll give Us credit for is the big twist. I'm not going to give it away because I don't give spoilers away for my recent film reviews. I'll just say it was perfect. Mainly because it was set up so well.






Us as of right now is the horror movie moviegoers need to see. Lupita & Winston's performances are spectacular, the humor is good but thankfully downplayed, the horror elements are executed well, the escalating events made the stakes of the movie even better, and the twist at the end is awesome.





My final rating is A Must Watch





Alright I'm done here. Come back on Monday, March 25th when I return to the Road to Dark Phoenix with my review of X-Men: The Last Stand. Until then go see Us.

Road to Toy Story 4 - Toy Story Review

Hi guys and welcome to my review series of the Toy Story films leading up to Toy Story 4. Let's begin.

Toy Story is 1995 3D animated adventure comedy film and the first feature-length film from Pixar. The movie was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Toy Story was written by John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Joe Ranft and directed by John Lasseter.



The story is Woody (a cowboy toy) has a great life with his owner Andy. Then one day a new toy comes into both their lives. A space ranger toy named Buzz Lightyear. Both Woody and Buzz are not seeing eye to eye as they both want to be Andy's favorite. Then during a fight they learn they must work together to get back home to Andy.

• Negatives

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

• Mix

To be honest I do have a problem with some of the Randy Newman songs. Remember I said some not all. One of two songs is "I Will Go Sailing No More". It's basically Newman singing how Buzz is feeling even though the film is demonstrating that as it's going on. Other than those kind of scenes everything else about the his score is great. I mean come on who doesn't love "You've Got a Friend in Me"?

• Positives

One thing the film definitely has earned it's praise is the animation. For 1995 CG animation is very well done. There's so many details whether the object or setting is big or small. I've seen this film a least four times and I'm still amazed about it.

The other feature to the movie is the performances. Mostly Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Tom Hanks as Woody. They play off each so well and I honestly can't see anyone else playing these characters. Which makes me really grateful these two came back for the sequels.

Another part of Toy Story to love is the atmosphere. Primarily Andy and Sid's rooms. In Andy's room everything feels homey, nice, and overall just a good place for a toy to be. Sid's room on the other hand. Jesus! That was basically what I thought every distributed kids room looked liked. Seriously Pixar showcased his room as if it was a horror movie.

My other compliment to the film is it's humor. There's plenty of jokes for both adults and kids to enjoy. My favorite is when Mr. Potato Head calls Slinky a kiss ass without verbally saying it. Like I said great jokes for the whole family.



Now let's swing back to Sid. I definitely agree with people saying he's the bad guy. I mean from the toy's perspective he is. But at the same time I believe we see just a little bit of yourself in him. I mean come on. We've all done something pretty violent to our toys one point in our lives. Maybe not something at his degree but something a little similar.







Toy Story is one of the most see animated movies. The animation is done to perfection, the performances (notably Allen and Hanks) are great, the atmosphere was done very well, the humor has something for both kids and adults, and Sid is a good bad guy for the toys. The only real grey area is Randy Newman's score.






My final rating is Great






Alright everybody that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, March 23rd with my review of Jordan Peele's newest horror flick Us. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Captain Marvel Easter Eggs

NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Hello everyone and welcome to the first easter egg post of 2019! Today let's talk about some of the easter eggs I noticed in Captain Marvel. Now remember these are just some of the easter eggs I noticed so don't expect every single one.








The story of Captain Marvel takes some inspiration from the 2008 Marvel Comics crossover event Secret Invasion. Much like that story this movie has Skrulls infiltrating Earth. They are many differences between the movie's story and that comic story arc the biggest one is the Skrulls infiltration is not as big as the one in the comic storyline.







Now it wouldn't be Captain Marvel unless we had Mar-Vell. In the comics he went by the name Dr. Walter Lawson. He was a Kree officer running secret missions on Earth. We get something like that in the movie only we have a Dr. Wendy Lawson.







Speaking of characters. We have a girl named Monica Rambeau. Monica Rambeau was the first woman to bear the name Captain Marvel before Carol Danvers. In the movie she's only a little girl. We also get a nod to her powers when Nick Fury says "only if you learn to glow".







Captain Marvel finally gives us the answer to how Nick Fury lost his eye. It turns out he lose it to Carol's cat Goose. Yes I know that's stupid.







Despite his sad passing we get a Stan Lee cameo. This time he's a passenger on a train reading his lines for the film Mallrats.







Speaking of Mallrats. That's an actually film from 1995 written and directed by Kevin Smith. And yes Stan Lee does make a cameo in that film as well.







We also get another cameo. This time it was by Kelly Sue DeConnick. She was a writer for the Captain Marvel comics from 2012-2015. Much like Stan Lee her cameo was a passenger on a train.







During one of Carol's flashbacks to Pancho's we get a glimpse of the game Street Fighter II: Champion Edition.








The Tesseract makes yet another comeback. Thus making this it's fourth appears the last one being Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos crushed making it one of the infinity stones.







We also get some nods to some previous costumes. When Carol and Monica are changing the suits colors one was black and gold. Which could be a nod to one of Carol's previous costumes (the image on the left) and the other one's color scheme was green and white. The latter of the two belonging to Mar-Vell.







Another Marvel Cinematic Universe item that appears again is Nick Fury's pager. The remaining Avengers those being Steve Rogers (Captain America), Natasha Romanova (Black Widow), Bruce Banner (the Hulk), and Sam Wilson (Falcon). They meet up with Captain Marvel thus setting things up for Avengers: Endgame.

Alright everyone that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, March 14th where I'll begin the Road to Toy Story 4 with my review of Toy Story. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Captain Marvel Review

Captain Marvel is a comic book film based on the Marvel Comics' character Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. The movie is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The movie is written by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and Jac Schaeffer and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

The story is in 1995 Carol Danvers a soldier for Starforce has gone back to Earth. Her mission is to stop a war between the Kree and the Skrulls or the planet will be devastated by this battle between the two alien warriors. During this mission she discovers things related to her past.

Initial Reaction



Now I'm going to be fully honest. This is the first MCU movie that I wasn't really fully excited for. Mainly because I wasn't a fan of Captain Marvel both Mar-Vell or Carol Danvers. I also did't help that the marketing just felt bland and then there was Brie Larson's "activism". Both those things were not doing this movie any favors. But none the less I was still interested in seeing it and I not only want to support Marvel Studios' films but comic book movies in general.





Cons



One flaw in this movie is how Nick Fury lost his eye. Remember that one scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier where Nick said "Last time I trusted someone, it cost me my eye." Well in Captain Marvel it's not something serious it was just a joke. Then at the end at the movie we find out where the name "The Avengers Initiative" got it's name and it was something really forced. My other problem with the movie is during the second act there's a what I felt like was a rushed bond with Maria Rambeau and her daughter. I say rush because at one moment they meet up and then boom they believe her story. I mean Carol's been gone for six years and one quick meeting everything's good. I'm not saying the film should have spent the last acts of the movie focusing on that but like I said it really felt rushed. Now to talk about Brie Larson's performance. Sadly those trailers where she isn't being very charismatic were accurate. She's very wooden. It's like she tries to give emotions but it just falls flat. My other problem with the movie are the flashbacks. The main issue being there's no weight to them. There just random moments in our title character's life and that's it. The final aspect of Captain Marvel I didn't enjoy was the post-credit scene. It was one of the worst post-credit scenes I've seen since Thor: Ragnarok.






Middle Ground



The other grey area is the CGI. Some of it is good other times not so much. The other mixed bag with the movie is the humor. Some of it is fine but other times I was just shaking my head and wondering why.






Pros



One thing I liked about the movie is the tribute to Stan Lee. That pulled on the heart strings and was just beautiful. Another thing I liked was Talos. At first it seems like there's nothing going on for him but once we get to the third act there's a whole other lair to his character that I wasn't expecting. The other thing I liked about Captain Marvel was the makeup on the Skrulls. It was really well done and had lots of details to it. The last thing I'll give the film credit for is Samuel L. Jackson's performance. He was really good and still continues playing Nick Fury to a perfect ten. I also loved the mid-credit scene. It really gets you hyped for Avengers: Endgame.







Captain Marvel sadly isn't what we all thought would be Marvel's answer to 2017's Wonder Woman. The tribute to Stan Lee was great, Talos was a surprisingly laired character, the makeup on the Skrulls was good, Samuel L. Jackson's performance was very well done and a perfect mid-credit scene that sets up Avengers: Endgame. The CGI really needed some polishing in some scenes and some jokes worked while others didn't. The really bad parts were the stories behind Nick's missing eye, how "The Avengers Initiative" got Avengers in the title, Larson's performance, random flashbacks that really don't have weight to them, a rushed reunion with Maria Rambeau, and an awful post-credit scene.





My final rating is Bad But Harmless






So yeah Captain Marvel was a real letdown. Hopefully the Russo Brothers can make her awesome when Avengers: Endgame comes out. None the less expect an easter eggs post on Captain Marvel on Monday, March 11th. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Review

With Star Wars: Episode IX coming to theaters in nine months, It only made sense I would review all of the films (expect the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie) including a re-review of The Last Jedi. So let's begin.



Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is a 1999 epic space opera. The movie is the first installment of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. The movie is produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was written and directed by George Lucas.



The story is Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi have sent to deal with the Trade Federation's decision to cut off all routes to the planet Naboo. Then during their meeting to discuss the matter they are attacked. Later on they find a grand conspiracy related to the matter.

• Negatives

Let's just get this out of the way. Yes Jar Jar is annoying and unfunny. Now let's just move on because everything about this character has already been said.

• Mix

One thing I'm conflicted on is the midi-chlorians. On one hand I actually kind of like the idea. It's not bad it's kind of interesting. But on the other hand it does kind of ruin the whole idea of the force being a mysterious power.



Another thing I feel that's a mix bag is the CGI. There are plenty of times were it is quite good and pleasant to look at. Other times no so much. I won't say it's so bad it belongs in a video game or it looks like a something SyFy made all I'm saying is it definitely could have been polished up a bit.



Now to talk about performances. Some are pretty good to bad. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor were quite good in their respected roles. And I'll just come out and say it but Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker not as bad as people make him out to be. I just think he's performance was serviceable. He's not really bad nor is he the worst actor in the film. Now Natalie Portman on the other she sadly has the most bland performance in the film. She really sounds like she's doing either the second or third take everytime.

• Positives

One aspect of the movie everyone should give The Phantom Menace for is the cinematography. All the worlds are beautiful and unique. Each setting has it's own look and you'll can tell which world is which.

Another thing I enjoy which is what everyone enjoyed is the action. Those lightsaber fight sequences are just amazing and can be instantly loved. I just couldn't get enough of that final duel.

The other part of the movie to like is Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. He really cool and mysterious character and I felt sad when he dies. Darth Maul is an awesome villain. Like Qui-Gon he's very mysterious. They both do so little but at the same time you're really drawn to them.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is in my opinion the expect of a decent movie. The good parts are the cinematography, the action scenes, and Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. The parts that really needed more work on were the CGI and the performances, the concept of the midi-chlorians in my opinion might cause people to be conflicted. The only thing that I felt was truly bad was Jar Jar Binks.

My final rating is Okay

Alright everyone that's going to do it for me. Come back Saturday, March 9th for my review of Captain Marvel. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.