Looking Back at the Films of 2020 Part 5 - Bill & Ted Face the Music & The New Mutants

 

Welcome to a brand new edition of Looking Back at the Films of 2020. For this installment I'll be giving my thoughts on Bill & Ted Face the Music and The New Mutants. Let's begin.

Why Didn't I See Bill & Ted Face the Music?

Really my only reason for not seeing this movie was not only was I not a Bill & Ted fan, but I also never saw the previous two movies. So that's really why I never saw this.

What is Bill & Ted Face the Music?

Bill & Ted Face the Music was a science fiction comedy, the sequel to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Thus making this the third movie in the Bill & Ted film series. The movie was produced by Orion Pictures, Endeavor Content, and Hammerstone Studios, and distributed by United Artist Releasing. Bill & Ted Face the Music was written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon and directed by Dean Parisot. The story is it's been years since the events of the last movie, and Bill & Ted have yet to write the song that'll unite the world. Later on the receive news from the Great Leader that they have until 7:17pm to write that song before all of time and space collapses in of itself. Bill & Ted come with the idea to get the song from their older selves, while at the same time Bill's daughter Thea and Ted's daughter Billie travel through time to form a band that'll help their dads with the song.

My Thoughts

The Good: One thing that I enjoyed from the movie was the humor. I was laughing with every joke that was put into this movie. It was funny from start to finish. What also made the movie pretty good was how gleeful and charming it is. This is probably the most positive and upbeat I've from 2020 so far. Despite the stakes both Bill & Ted never seem to lose their positive outlook on life or the situation despite how high the stakes are. The other thing that made Bill & Ted Face the Music a good watch was how the writers managed to have an even balance between Bill & Ted's story and Billie & Thea's story. At first I was thinking one was gonna more attention than the other, but no. Both stories are handled well and then eventually find a good spot where they merge. The last thing I'll give the movie credit where credit is due is with the chemistry between Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Remember, I haven't seen the first two movies but, with Keanu and Alex's chemistry they really do make me what to go back watch the previous films.

The Bad: The only negative thing with the film was the subplot with Bill & Ted's wives. It really had no reason to be in here. Especially when the problem was wrapped up with a line. Seriously, that was it. They go on this journey then one line later, problem solved.

The Okay: Now for the most part the special effects are good. The only really bad one was the green screen they had when Bill & Ted arrive to meet the Great Leader. It almost looked Keanu and Alex were standing right in front of video game background.

Final Verdict: Good.

Why Didn't I See The New Mutants?

Since day one, I've wanted to see The New Mutants. I quite literally grew up watching this X-Men film series. Then the movie kept getting pushed back whether it was because of COVID or not. Then we finally have an official release date no more push backs I was excited, I even made plans to see this a friend of mine. But then he texted me that he was going to see it with his girlfriend. He still invited me, but I really didn't want to be the third wheel (😆).

What is The New Mutants?

The New Mutants is a comic book horror movie, based on the Marvel Comics' team of the same name. The film was the thirteenth and final installment in the X-Men film series. The movie was produced by 20th Century Studios, Marvel Entertainment, Genre Films, and Sunswept Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Studios. The New Mutants was written by Josh Boone and Knate Lee and directed by Josh Boone. The story is five teenagers with superpowers are locked up in a hospital until they have better control of not only their powers but whatever personal problems are bothering them. Soon, strange and horrifying things start to happen around them. Their fears almost seem real and all five of them want to get out before it's too late.

My Thoughts

The Good: One of three things that's good about the movie was the cast. All five of them did a really good job despite how much was cut or shot, they still did a really good job with the material they were given. What I also enjoyed about The New Mutants were the characters. Even though I firmly believe we were suppose to get more development and backstory with them, I still grew to care and like them. The final thing that made the movie a pretty decent watch is the action. It mainly shows up in the final act but it's still good and very exciting to watch.

The Bad: The only negative thing I found with the movie was it's one of those films that did in fact needed to be longer. Cause while we still get some sort of character, it still would've been good had we gotten more of that and that's where the longer runtime would've been necessary.

The Okay: The really grey area with The New Mutants was editing. Now yes you still tell things were cut or reshoot, but given how the movie could've turned out it was handled fairly well.

Final Verdict: Okay.

So that's all for me. Due come back on Thursday, Sept 2nd for my review of Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Demonic Review

 

Demonic is a sci-fi horror movie. The film is produced by AGC Studios and Stabiliti Studios and distributed by VVS Films. Demonic is written and directed by Neill Blomkamp.

The story is a young woman named Carly wants to know why he mother all of sudden went a homicidal rampage. To do this, she agrees to a simulation that'll help figure out why, but the more she explores the most horrifying things become. Soon, a demon is now not only harming her mother, but now she's the new soul to torment.

Initial Reaction

My reasons for wanting to watch/review this movie is because of Neil Blomkamp. I think he has made a lot of good movies, and think he is only the most underrated directors of our time. The other reason is, I really love this concept. Using a simulated reality to get answers and then some horrifying stuff starts to happen, is a fantastic concept.

Cons

One thing that I hated about the movie was the relationship between Carly and her mother. The movie wants us to care but, the relationship isn't developed enough to really reel us in. Because of that we get not only a clichéd story with them, but a rather predictable one too. Now to tell you the biggest problem with Demonic and that's how sadly this concept isn't executed very well. I don't recall if we're ever given enough details about the simulation. And there's this one concept about this special ops team. We know of there job, but we never got to see them in action.

Middle Ground

One element to the movie that was pretty good but could've used more of, is the horror. We get a lot of good scares. Like there was this one scene where Carly's "friend" visits her and then next thing you know things get crazy really quick. Again, we get a lot of good horror moments, but we've could've gotten just a little bit more.

Pros

We've got two positives for Demonic and one of them is Blomkamp's directing. In all honesty he's directing was what really made me continue to keep on watching. The other thing is it's certainly unique. I don't know if there's another movie like this, and because of that I probably won't forget this one.

Demonic could've been an awesome movie, but sadly it wasn't. We've a generic story between Carly and her mom, but the biggest issue and this is what really let people down, were the concepts just weren't executed well. We get some good scares, but you do wish that there were more. The real positives were Blomkamp's directing and how the movie is different.

My final rating is Bad But Harmless.

Well I'm all done here. Come back on Monday, Aug 30th for part five of Looking Back at the Films of 2020. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cinematic Disasters - Battlefield Earth

Battlefield Earth (or sometimes referred to as Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000) is a 2000 sci-fi action film based on the novel 1982 novel by L. Ron Hubbard. The movie was produced by Morgan Creek Productions and Franchise Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Battlefield Earth was written by J.D. Shapiro and Corey Mandell and directed by Roger Christian.

The story is it's the year 3000, Earth has become a wasteland and all of humanity are slaves to an alien race known as the Psychlos. The humans have given up any hope, but not Jonnie "Goodboy" Tyler, he believes there's still some sort of chance to beat them. Soon, Jonnie does in fact known a way, and plans to use this new found discovery to finally put an end to the Psychlos' reign.

My Thoughts

Our movie starts off with a really bad first impression. Basically Jonnie came back with some sort of medicine for his ill father, only to be told that he died last night. When he receives that news and gets angry, the scene is horrible.

-First off, the close-up is way too close. You seen more of his arm and only half of his face. That kind of close-up would only be acceptable in a student film NOT a big Hollywood blockbuster.

-Second, it's very clear that when he shouted "Nnnoooo!", it's clear they used ADR. Because the no and the movement he made with this mouth, don't even look like they match. I'm willing to bet that the actor was suppose to have an angry yell, but for some reason the filmmakers decided to put in that no.

Then we have a wipe transition, and that's the transition from almost every other scene. This wipe transition. Because if there was anything you should rip-off from the Star Wars movies, it's their wipe transition.

Now for good portion of the movie Jonnie doesn't believe in the story of these supposed demons that took over Earth....for some reason. I was so confused by this, like dude. Humanity has been enslaved by these things for thousands of years, how do you not believe this?

So Jonnie goes away from his people...for some reason. Either I forgot or the movie didn't explain, I'm not sure which is which, but anyhow. Jonnie then runs into two men who I have every reason to call the Monkey Dudes. The first thing they is when they meet Jonnie is point their spears at him and just make money sounds. Later on, when the Jonnie and the rest of the humans decide it's time to fight back they all start jumping around and yet again make monkey sounds. No wonder the Psychlos call these people "Man Animals" (by the way, get use to hearing Man Animals, cause you're gonna hear that more times than you've heard both man and animal combined). Despite the fact they can speak perfect English and can act like normal humans, they also act like a bunch of monkeys.

Later, Jonnie and the Monkey Dudes decide to camp out, then all of a sudden they are attacked by a Psychlo. And it's such a bad scene. For starters there's no music which would probably have helped the scene...not by much but still. I have no idea what they were doing with the sound. It's like the sound to this scene is half there but at the same time half not. The sound design is just very confusing. Also and I don't know how you can fail at this, but this VFX artist made a horrible laser effect. Then we have the slow-mo....oh boy the slow-mo.

Now I was gonna lumped that in with the previous statement about but, this actually deserves it's own separate thing. The slow-mo in this movie is incredibly bad. There's nothing good about it. And for the longest time I couldn't figure out what made it so awful, until I started doing for research on the filmmaking process. The reason why the slow-motion in this is as bad as it is is because those scenes were not filmed in a way that was meant for slow-mo. Basically those scenes were shot regularly without the intent to make them be slow-mo from the start, but somewhere during pre-production the filmmakers decided to now have those scenes be in slow-motion.

So after Jonnie and the Monkey Dudes are captured they're taking to a slave prison. Jonnie later escapes by shooting one of the Psychlo and runs off. Only to quickly be recaptured and then were given our first clear look at our main bad guy Psychlos and here's what they look like.

When I first saw this, I laughed. I mean how was anybody suppose to take John Travolta wearing leather, in dreadlocks, and clearly wearing stilts seriously? I wouldn't care how much firepower or more technologically advance they are, THAT is not a good look.

Another thing I want to bring up is after they recapture Jonnie, they manically laugh. And much like hearing the word "man animals" get use to that. Because almost every scene ends with a Psychlo laughing evilly. Something goes right, evil laugh. Something goes decent, evil laugh. Someone who isn't them is the butt of the joke, evil laugh. There's so much evil laughter going on in this movie that I firmly believe that it should've called, Evil Laughter: The Movie.

So Terl (John Travolta's character) meets up with his boss and he gives him the impression that he'll be leaving Earth soon. But big twist, turns Terl will be stuck on Earth for another 50 cycles with endless options for renewal. And this scene was odd. Odd because the endless options for renewal is repeated and we're meant to believe that it was repeated in Terl's head, but with the way it was edited it almost made it seem like his boss said it again and again, despite the fact the camera was focus on Terl.

Afterwards we get this beautiful scene,

I just love how he really hammed it up in this. Thank you for that Travolta.

After that glorious bit of dialogue and acting, Terl comes up with the idea to make the humans to go gold mining, but for whatever reason his buddies just doubt him. I mean it, they look around him and then laugh at his idea when they have no reason for it. As far as we know they've never tired this before so they can't say it won't work like previous times, so why the doubt? I just don't get it.

Then we cut back to Jonnie and he yet again tries to escape but he fails...yet again. But what made this scene worth bring up is, Jonnie is running then a Psychlo shoots him....but it's only a sound effect. I mean it, the Psychlo shoots him but we don't see the laser effect, we just hear the sound. What happened? Did the CGI artist take a break that day or not show up at all?

Later on, Terl still wants to do his "let's get man animals to mine for gold" plan. Now Terl wants to know what humans like to eat so it may persuade them to do his plan. He does by and a kid you not, sending Jonnie and two other guys onto an icy mountain. Then after a couple days Jonnie and the men are naturally hungry, so after they find a rat of course they're gonna want to eat it. And because of that Terl comes up with the idea that humans' favorite food is rats........WHAT?!?! If Terl wanted to know what humans' favorite food is why didn't he just ask? They would've been a more simpler plan then sending three guys on an icy mountain. It's even more confusing because later on in the movie, when him and Jonnie are having some sort of fight, Terl brings up that humans use to hunt for game. If he knows that we use to hunt for sport, doesn't that mean he should also know that we hunted animals for food....and nobody's favorite food is RATS! There was absolutely no point to that scene whatsoever!

So because Terl doesn't believe humans are smarter enough to mine, he hooks up Jonnie to machine to make him smart. But he doesn't let the machine stop at how to mine for gold, no. Jonnie is now a freaking genius to the point where he knows molecular structure. WHY?! Why did Terl let this happen? He just wanted Jonnie to know how to mine! He doesn't need him to be the newest Einstein! So this means, that everything bad that happens to the Psychlos is Terl's fault! WORST. VILLAIN. EVER!

After that bit of nonsense, we later find Terl, Jonnie, and some other people at a forest, where out of nowhere a bunch of Forest People (that's what I'm calling them) show up, attack some Psychlos including Terl, and then they decide with no hesitation at all to join Jonnie in his rebellion. I mean it, the entire scene with the Forest People come be summed up like this,

Forest Person: Hi.

Jonnie: Howdy.

Forest Person: I don't like these alien guys.

Jonnie: Hey, neither do I. Wanna join my rebellion?

Forest Person: Sure!

Also, during this entire scene Jonnie has Terl at gun point. But instead of killing him right there, right now, he gives the blaster back to Terl.....why?! Jonnie has him right there! And it's not like Jonnie's an idiot like he was before, he's now smart. So why would he not kill Terl right there?! WORST. HERO. EVER!

After a couple of boring scenes later, Jonnie along with the Monkey People and the Forest People tell them that they all have to go to a radiation bomb center in Texas, and they all know what Jonnie is talking about. How? They weren't hooked up to the same machine Jonnie was. There either Monkey People or Forest People, neither of these groups should be smart enough to understand what Jonnie is saying.

Later on, they finally arrive at the bomb center in Texas, and somehow Terl and the other Psychlos don't know about this despite a previous scene saying they were watching them. Where they find perfectly working fighter jets. And I'm not using perfectly as some sort of comedic effect or anything, I literally mean despite it being over a thousand years, those jets work like they just came off the assembly line. With fully functionally controls and fuel that still somehow makes the jets work. But what I really love about these jets is later on during the finally battle the Monkey People and the Forest People know how to fly these things. I guess despite only having a week maybe two, Jonnie taught them how to use them.

Finally....finally! We get the "battlefield" in BATTLEFIELD Earth. All ten minutes worth of it. And it's so poorly done. The CGI is sh*t, the slow-mo is just making everything look worse, and the final fight between Jonnie and Terl is awful. The close-ups aren't necessary and neither was some of the slow-motion.

So that's Battlefield Earth and it's a perfect guidebook on how NOT to make a sci-fi movie. It has hammy or over the top acting, terrible special effects, both an awful hero as well as an awful villain, and overall it just doesn't make any sense. But holy cow, is it amazing for that.

My final rating is So Bad, It's Good.

Well I'm finally done here. Come back on Saturday, Aug 28th for my review of Demonic. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to The Matrix Resurrections - The Matrix Review

 

With a brand new Matrix movie coming out in December, it was only a matter of time before I decided to review the previous films leading into it. So let's begin.

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film. The movie was produced by Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Groucho II Film Partnership, and Silver Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. The Matrix was written and directed by the Wachowskis.

The story is computer programmer Thomas Anderson (who is also the hacker known as Neo) seems to be living a really boring life at his job, all of that changes one day when two groups, one who part of a rebellion and the other being well dressed men come to him thinking he's discovered something. At first Thomas doesn't believe it but, he soon finds out it's true. Humanity has been in slaved by machines and they are living in a simulated reality, now Neo must help put an end to all of this.

• Negatives

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

• Mix

The Matrix's only mix bag is the special effects. Not the practical ones, those are just great. The CGI however....no. It really hasn't aged well. I remember one scene where Neo's mouth disappears, and the graphics just didn't look good. But given everything else that happens with the movie you can let it slide.

• Positives

One of the best things about this film is even though it's an action flick, there's a lot of deeper themes going on. Sure, sci-fi movies in the past have done this, but I'm trying to picture what it was like back in 1999, and you see the trailer and might be under the impression that what you're gonna get is just a badass, punching, and shooting things action flick. And while you still get that, you also get a movie that explores a lot themes and philosophies. When I watched this movie as kid back in I think 2002 I didn't really can for it, but as time when by and I watched the movie more it really made me appreciate movies that have deeper meanings to them.

Now let's talk about directing...the Wachowskis did such a fantastic job. There are so many iconic shots in this. You have Neo dodging the bullets, Morpheus offering the red or blue pill and you see the reflection in his sunglasses, and that awesome shot that I still can't get out of my head, and that when Trinity is swinging away from an exploded helicopter and you see tiny bits of glass and an explosion right behind her. Just a whole lot of brilliant directing.

What also made The Matrix such a spectacular movie was the suspense. Whenever something is about to happen I'm really just sitting and waiting in anticipation for what's gonna happen next. And not only that but that third act where things start to get really crazy, with machines all over the place, Neo running for his life, and everything else, all of that had really good build up.

The last thing I'll give praise to is one of the best things about this movie and that's the action. What can I say about the action that hasn't already been said before. It's truly awesome. I have seen that lobby shootout scene at least five times, and I still get wide eyed whenever I watch it. That scene along with all of the other actions hasn't aged a day.

The Matrix definitely deserves every bit of praise it gets, whether is way back in 1999 or today. It has get themes, chief kiss directing, well handled suspense, and can't look away action scenes. And while the more practical effects are done to perfection, the CGI hasn't aged well but, that doesn't really effect the movie too much.

My final rating is A Must Watch.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Aug 26th for my Cinematic Disasters review of 2000's Battlefield Earth. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Reminiscence Review

 

Reminiscence is a science fiction movie. It was produced by Kilter Films, Michael De Luca Productions, and FilmNation Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Reminiscence is written and directed by Lisa Joy.

The story is it's the near future and Miami has been flooded by the rising sea levels, because of this dark future a man named Nick Bannister became an expert in a dangerous job. Nick can help people live their most desired memories, one day a mysterious woman named Mae comes to him for just that. However, different client's memories implicate Mae in a series of crimes. Now Nick must look to the past and uncover the truth about the woman he feel in love with.

Initial Reaction

Now I had two reasons of why I wanted to watch this. Reason #1) I find the premise very interesting. Having some sort of way to let people view old memories, and then having to use said memories to solve a mystery is quite an intriguing concept. Reason #2) I'm very curious to what Hugh Jackman has been doing post-Wolverine. Being meaning to watch his other movies such as The Greatest Showman and Bad Education but I haven't found the time.

Cons

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

Middle Ground

The only thing that slightly bothered me but no too much was the pacing. There were times when the movie could get just a little too slow in some scenes.

Pros

One thing I want to praise the movie for is the cinematography. This is a beautifully dark looking movie, it looks very gritty but at the same time there's a beauty to it. So I really dug a lot of the shots. Another thing I liked was the world. We really get to know quite a bit. From what happened during the flooding, to what jobs people had during the flooding, what people are doing after the disastrous event, and what the living conditions are for the rich or poor. And what made it even better is we learn quite a lot from so little. The other aspect of the film that was good was Hugh Jackman's performance. Sure, his character can be nice, but when he's actually angry, you may want to start apologizing soon. What also felt like made Reminiscence worth checking out is the mystery. A couple months ago I watched a movie called The Woman in the Window, the mystery for that was disappointing because it didn't keep your interest, but with this movie I was actually wondering what kinds of twist and turns were going to come next, and even trying to piece things together just like our main character was. Speaking of that mystery I can't tell you how relieved I was when the mystery wasn't overshadowed by the more romantic parts of the movie. Because before I saw I was thinking one was going to get more attention than the other. Thankfully with Reminiscence there was a nice balance between the two.

I'm actually surprised that this film is getting such a mixed response, because I actually really liked it. It's got eye catching cinematography, a very interesting world, a good performance from Hugh Jackman, an interesting mystery, and even balance between mystery and romance. The only mix bag is sometimes the pacing can be slower in some scenes compared to others.

My final rating is Good.

So yeah, if you're interested in Reminiscence I think you should check it out. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Aug 23rd where I'll begin the Road to The Matrix 4 (calling it that for now until an official title is dropped), with my review of The Matrix. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to The Batman - Batman & Robin Review

Batman & Robin is a 1997 comic book movie based on the DC Comics' characters Batman and Robin. The movie is the fourth and final movie in the initial Batman film series, and is the only one made without any involvement from Tim Burton. The movie was produced by Warner Bros. and PolyGram Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Batman & Robin was written by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Joel Schumacher.

The story is Batman and his partner Robin are called to help put a stop to Mr. Freeze. However, what the dynamic duo don't know is two more villains have entered the playing field, and their names are Poison Ivy and Bane. Now Batman & Robin must find a way to stop these three villains but, at the same time work out some issues their having with each other.

• Negatives

First off, let's just get this out of the way. Bat Nipples.....what the f*ck? Who's idea was that? And even the nipples weren't bad enough, we also have nice detailing on the asses as well. Even Batgirl gets the nipples and ass treatment....which I imagine nobody (myself included) was really complaining about. But for Batman and Robin, why?

Another thing that has been said about this movie that's been repeated a million times over but, still should be talked about, and that's this is just one giant toy commercial. Poison Ivy has a line about how every action figure of her comes with Bane. Sure, maybe that was meant for a joke, but I seriously believe that was a quick plug for the toys. And even if that line wasn't bad enough, we also have Poison Ivy changing costumes, and of course, we have the final act which literally has Batman, Robin, and Batgirl have new costumes and vehicles just pop up out of nowhere and no reason was given for them. Gotta give Batman Forever credit, at least when there was a costume change it had a story reason for it.

Now let's talk about the dialogue, this is probably the most Saturday morning cartoon dialogue I have ever heard. You got quips, one-liners, and of course puns and then Mr. Freeze's ice puns. Puns such as "Always winterize your pipes", "Tonight! Hell freezes over!", "Alright everyone! Chill", and my favorite "What killed the dinosaurs? The ice age!". Just so many lines that are so cheesy!

Let's move on to the action. What was going here? Usually when someone says action scenes are insane they usually mean good, here however it's insane for an entirely different reason. For anybody who said F9 or any other Fast and Furious movie was giving the finger to physics, make 'em watch this movie. A villain could grab someone, toss them very lightly, and that person could go flying by like 15 feet. And it's like that for a majority of the movie.

Then we have our villains....wow. To say the writer missed the mark on these characters would be an understatement. They are the most over the top bad guys for a Batman movie ever. Let's break them down,

Mr. Freeze - Yes he's got the ice puns, but what really always weird me out about this verison of Mr. Freeze is the filmmakers try to make him seem like a sympathetic villain, cause essentially that's what Mr. Freeze is, the problem is it doesn't work when we know after he's done feeling all sad about his wife, we know he's just gonna go around Gotham make ice puns and laughing about it.

Poison Ivy - This is by far the most over the top female villain yet. She is literally a Saturday morning cartoon villain brought to life. She even yells "curses!" after she's defeated.....I mean it. She does that. Look. it. up! And of course here's some of her dialogue. "Come join me. My garden needs tending" or how about "Some lucky boy's about to hit the honey pot". I gotta say, I have never heard a more hornier verison of Poison Ivy until I watched this movie.

Bane - This character is Bane in name and costume only. I've heard people complain about how Zack Snyder wasn't being accurate to the comics but this takes it to a whole other level. All this character does is flex, grunt, growl, or follows order from Poison Ivy. That's not Bane. Sure Bane has the muscles but he's one of Batman's smartest villains. Not your run of the mill really strong henchmen.

• Mix

The only true mix bag for the movie is the special effects. There times when they were nicely done, other times it was noticeable. Like there was this one scene where after a party of some sorts, Batman and Robin are chasing down Mr. Freeze on there own vehicles on this statue and it's obviously CGI.

• Positives

Now, despite all of the things I said I gotta this is one entertaining movie. I mean it, I refuse to believe that people watched this and we're only angry. I've watched this movie probably four times now, and I was still entertain by how awful it was.

Batman & Robin is one of those perfect examples of a movie that's so bad it's good. We have questionable costume designs, obvious plugs for toys, hilariously bad dialogue, action scenes that are over the top bonkers, and even more over the top villains. The special effects are okay. But overall an amazingly entertaining movie.

My final rating is So Bad, It's Good.

Okay, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Aug 21st for my review of Reminiscence. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Free Guy Review

 

Free Guy is a sci-fi action comedy movie. The film is produced by Berlanti Productions, 21 Laps Entertainment, Maximum Effort, and Lit Entertainment Group, and distributed by 20th Century Studios. Free Guy is written by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn and directed by Shawn Levy.

The story is Guy is a non-playable character working as a bank teller for the game Free City. One day Guy becomes aware of the fact he's in a game, and his decides to stop living his daily routine and become the hero the city needs. However, the developers find out about this and want to shut the game down, now it's a race against the clock as Guy must save his city.

Initial Reaction

I was looking forward to this movie for two reasons. 1) I love Ryan Reynolds, I think not only is he a good actor, but he's also a pretty funny guy. 2) I'm also gamed to see an original movie. I think of it as challenge because I won't be reviewing something that's a reboot, remake, or something relating to a popular franchise. I get to judge the film on his own original idea and how well it executed that idea.

Cons

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

Middle Ground

One thing I was okay with was the more romantic parts. I thought that aspect was done fairly well, I just wasn't full blown infested in it. The other mix bag was our main villain Antwan. I do like the fact he's a greedy game developer, because as much as we don't like it, there are developers out there that are like that. What I wasn't interested in was his characterisation. I have no idea how to describe his character. I think what the writers were going for was someone who thinks he's the coolest, but he acts so odd nobody is gonna think that. Although maybe, that's what they were going for. I don't know, like I said, it's really hard to explain.

Pros

One thing I do want to give the credit for is the humor. This is probably the funniest recently released movie I've seen so far. You do got a few that don't work but, my laughs were ranging from a snicker, to chuckles, to a full blown laugh. My favorite joke was a cameo appearance from an actor who was a big of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Didn't see that coming and it was hilarious. Another thing that makes Free Guy was the action. Because this takes place in the world of a video game, not only could the filmmakers get creative but, it also made those scenes very unpredictable. The other aspect that really made the film good was the performances from Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer. Jodie because she had to have good chemistry with Joe Keery's character in the real world, and Ryan Reynolds' character in the game world. And was fantastic with both. And what I loved about Ryan's performance was this is probably his most wholesome role yet. He really made Guy very likeable. The last thing I'll give the movie credit for is it actually stuck the landing with it's premise. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a movie that had a great premise, and they either had a decent execution or they failed entirely.

Free Guy is a movie I think you should check out in theaters. It has great humor, fun action, great performances from both Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer, and it nails it with it's premise. The only things that are in a gray area are the romances and our villain.

My final rating is Good.

So yes, I recommend you check out Free Guy. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Aug 19th for part four of my Road to The Batman. For that one I'll be reviewing Batman & Robin, I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to review that one. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Ghostbusters (1984) Review

 

With Ghostbusters: Afterlife on the way, it's time to start the road to that movie. So let's begin with the classic that started it all.

Ghostbusters is a 1984 supernatural comedy movie. The film was produced by Columbia-Delphi Productions and Black Rhino and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Ghostbusters was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and directed by Ivan Reitman.

The story is three scientist named Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler have been fired from their college university, but instead of feeling sorry for themselves they take the opportunity to start their business....a ghost hunting business. Then they get a call that something more sinister than they ever dealt with is coming, now along with new team member Winston, they must put a stop to this threat or all of New York is doomed.

• Negatives

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

• Mix

Now for a majority of the film the special effects are spectacular. A good portion of them haven't aged a day, however you do got those ones that aren't good. The biggest one being when the Terror Dogs are running around you can tell it's stop motion. Although, I can't really be too hard on the crew for this. Because they were being experimental, but at the same time if you got through the film's production history, they had a pretty tight schedule, so I guess it only makes sense that some effects are better than others.

• Positives

So now let me tell you the best things about this film. One of those being the music. I'll praise the theme song later, but what I want to give praise to is the score. You don't really hear as much as the songs, but whenever you do it's good. The score really sets the tone for the more scary parts of the film. Now to discuss the theme song......what is there to say? It's the Ghostbusters theme song. That song much like the Jaws theme, it has a life of it's own. I actually meet people who haven't seen the movie yet, but they're fully aware the theme song.

What I also loved about the movie was the pacing. This film goes by a lot quicker than I remember from my last viewings. Yesterday in preparation for this review, I watched the movie at 7:00 on the spot, and then next I know it's over and it's only like 8:47 maybe 8:48, I don't remember the exact time, but my point is that's when you know a movie has great pacing. When you can look at your watch and "Oh wow, didn't know I was watching the movie for this long."

Another aspect of Ghostbusters that makes it an all time classic is the humor. This was probably my 4th viewing of this movie and to this day, I still laugh at all of the jokes. And it's not just that the jokes are funny, but what makes them work is they're subtle and not in your face about it.

The other thing that that people love about this movie was the performances. Bill Murray, Dan Aykrody, and Harold Ramis worked perfectly with each other. Their chemistry with themselves really made this movie. Then you got everyone else, especially Rick Moranis. The guy played the role of Louis so well that's there's no way you can picture anybody else in that role.

The last thing I'll praise the movie for is the likeable characters. My favorite is definitely Venkman. I liked not only his sense of humor, but also how is basically the smart mouth of the group. And of course you'll also like the other characters such as Ray and his almost childlike excitement. So many likeable characters....expect for Walter Peck...nobody likes Peck.

Ghostbusters is one of the many great movies that came out of the 80's. It has great music, great pacing, a perfect sense of humor, even better performances, and has a great set of likeable characters. The only mix bag is the special effects.

My final rating is Great.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Aug 14th for my review of Free Guy. Really been looking forward to that one. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Titans - Season 2

 

With Season three only three days away, naturally I'd review the second season. So, let's get started.

Titans is a streaming tv series created by Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, and Greg Berlanti for the app DC Universe. The series is produced by Weed Road Pictures, Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution. This season consist of thirteen episodes.

The story is Dick Grayson has moved a brand new team of Titans to San Francisco. Everything seemed like it was going to be easy, until the a girl named Rose Wilson enters their lives, and just to make this more intense she's the daughter of Dick's old Titans team enemy, Deathstroke. Now both old and new Titans must band together to put a stop to Deathstroke, before he eliminates them.

• Negatives

My only real problem with this season was the finale. I hated it. I felt like they wrapped up the storylines way too quick, and of course you got that bullsh*t death with one of the titans. All I did after that scene happened was laugh all the way through the episode, you mean to tell me this character can go toe-to-toe with Superboy, but yet get with stand an electric shock.

• Mix

One mixed bag with this season was the first episode "Trigon". It was still a good episode, but it really had no reason to be the season premiere. You could've kept it with the first season and cut completely of season two, and everything would still be the same.

The other gray area was the CGI. It did look good in some areas, but then there were times when the CG was so bad, it looked like it could rival a SyFy original movie.

• Positives

One positive about season two is the action. It was awesome and fun, I especially loved when the fights were hand-to-hand combat. The choreography for those were pretty good.

Another good thing about Titans - Season 2 were the performances. Our standard cast was great, I loved Esai Morales as Deathstroke, and at first I was worried about Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne but after a while, he really does start to grow on you.

The last thing I'll give this season credit for is how characters other than Dick Grayson get the spotlight. A lot of times we'll still be focusing on the same story, but other characters will be the focus on that episode or will have an entire scene only on them. Because of this we really get understand what all of them are going through, and how they feel about the situation they're in.

Honestly I feel like the hate for this season is over blown. It's not bad, it's just alright. It has good action, good performances, and other characters other than Dick get the spotlight. The mix elements are the first episode and the CGI. To me, the only truly bad aspect was the season finale.

My final rating is Okay.

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Aug 12th where I'll begin the Road to Ghostbusters: Afterlife with my review of the very first movie, Ghostbusters. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.