Looking Back at the Films of 2023 Part Eight - The Retirement Plan, Outlaw Johnny Black, and The Creator

 

Man, only three of these left and I'll be finished with 2023.

Why Didn't I See The Retirement Plan?

I didn't know about this movie until at least a month after it came out. So it was best to leave a review of it for this segment.

What is The Retirement Plan?

The Retirement Plan is comedy crime thriller movie, that was produced by Darius Films and Productivity Media and distributed by Joker Films. It was written and directed by Tim Brown.

The story is, a woman named Ashley and her husband have stolen an incriminating hard drive from a crime boss. Soon, Ashley along her daughter meet her estranged father and ask for his help. Now, retired agent Matt must protect his family with every single part of his deadly skills.

My Thoughts

The Good: One credit goes to the humor. While some jokes didn't work for the most part I was laughing or had a smile on my face. Then there's Nicolas Cage's performance. Whether his being subtle or just going for blown over the top, Cage manages to bring it.

The Bad: Now even though I don't have any ill will towards this, I gotta admit I don't see it being remembered. Nicolas Cage movie or not. It just doesn't do much to stand out from other action flicks.

The Okay: I read quite a few reviewers mention how the tone didn't know what it wanted to be, I don't really agree with. There's plenty of times when action-comedy movies have bits of drama to them. The slight issue here is the tone needed to be more balanced. Cause there was a habit of being an action-comedy with bits of drama to all of a sudden being a drama with bits of action and/or comedy.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Why Didn't I See Outlaw Johnny Black?

Just like The Retirement Plan, didn't know about this movie until much later. Which sucks cause I really like Michael Jai White.

What is Outlaw Johnny Black?

Outlaw Johnny Black is a western comedy movie, that was produced by Jaigantic Studios and distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films. This was written by Michael Jai White and Byron Keith Minns and directed by Michael Jai White.

The story is, during his quest for revenge wanted man Johnny Black not only is posing as a preacher in a small town, but soon finds he must figure out why a notorious land baron is hell bent on owning a very specific piece of land and then protect it. During this adventure, he also questions if he still wants vengeance.

My Thoughts

The Good: One of three things I liked was the humor. A lot of the jokes really worked whether it was from dialogue, sight gags, facial expressions or the more psychical stuff like slapping someone. Then there's the performances. Even if you're not the biggest fan (regrading if we've seen this), I think you can the cast was really good. Especially if you're a fan of Michael Jai White. My last credit will go to Johnny Black's story. There's a good amount of focus on whether he wants revenge or justice because it's clear the town folks and rediscovering his faith is having a change to him. It might not be absolutely mind blowing, but it was handled very well.

The Bad: My only true problem was with the pacing. This movie clocks in at two hours and fifteen minutes, and it felt like it was two hours.

The Okay: Now if you ever watch this movie you'll clearly see there's a budget. However, this is one of those instances where they used the money wisely and at least it looks competently made.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Why Didn't I See The Creator?

Now I did know about this movie, but my theater only showed it weeks after it came out.

What is The Creator?

The Creator is a sci-fi action movie that was produced by Regency Enterprises, Entertainment One, New Regency, and Bad Dreams and distributed by 20th Century Studios. The Creator was written Gareth Edwards and Chris Weitz and directed by Gareth Edwards.

The story is, after a devastating nuclear warhead was dropped on Los Angeles, humanity went to war with A.I. Fifteen years later, former special forces sergeant Joshua Taylor has told about that can change the entire war. He's been assigned to find this weapon and destroy it, but he soon finds out things aren't going to be so simple.

My Thoughts

The Good: One praise goes to the overall look of the movie. Everything looks absolutely gorgeous. From skies, to land, to the robots designs, etc. It all looks amazing. It's even more impressive considering the budget was like $80 million. All of the really big studios need to watch this and realize, you don't need to a $300 million dollar budget for your movie to look good! Just get someone who knows what to do with a budget! I also want to praise the world building. We're given all the information about this world without exposition. But not only that, but it feels fully lived in and also feels like you could see yourself in. The other spectacular aspect is the action. It's fun, gripping, and above all else very intense. If you loved what Gareth Edwards did with Rogue One, you'll get a kick out this. Then there's the performances, mainly from John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles. John's character is a very conflicted man and Washington does a great job showing that conflict both from dialogue and his facial expressions and Voyles really brought the perfect amount of childlike wonder and innocent. Which is pretty impressive for her very first role. No, seriously, this is the very first thing she's ever been in. No joke. The last thing I'll praise is how character driven this is. We get know so much about these. How they feel about the war, what burdens the conflict has brought them, their motivations, everything you wanted in character focus stories.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: Even though I really dug this film, I do have one tiny issue. There are great themes going on, some come to a satisfying conclusion but sadly others don't get any endings. They're left up in the air and not in a good way.

Final Verdict: Great.

That's gonna do it. Come back on Saturday, Sept 28th, for my review of, The Wild Robot. Until then,enjoy the rest of your day.

Transformers One Review

 

Transformers One is an animated sci-fi action movie, based on the Hasbro toyline and it's also the franchise's second animated feature film after 1986's The Transformers: The Movie. This movie's produced by Paramount Animation, Hasbro Entertainment, BayHem Films, New Republic Pictures and Di Bonaventura Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Transformers One is written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari and directed by Josh Cooley.

The story is, friends Orion Pax and D-16 were a couple of miners just getting by through life on their home planet. One day on the job they a chip with a message from a long-lost founder. Soon they along with others set out on this quest, but what Orion and D-16 don't realize, is this adventure will soon turn them into legendary enemies.

Initial Reaction

At first I was actually excited for this, but then my feelings changed when the first trailer debuted. Oh boy, I know the newest ones were an improvement, but man, that first trailer made me incredibly skeptical.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

My only mix feelings for the movie is the humor. It's not atrocious, it's just okay. I'll admit I did laugh at some bits, while others not so much.

Pros

First thing I'll credit is the cast. While some of the voices will take time to get use to, Keegan-Michael Key being Bumblebee being the biggest example, the cast still provided a great job. Then there's the action. At first I thought we'd be in for something very tamed when compared to the live-action films, but surprisingly we're not. The action is very thrilling, fun, but can also be really violent. Hell one guy's death is so brutal it rivals the live-action Transformers' deaths. Now for the animation. Other than Wonder Park, I haven't seen many Paramount Animation films. However, from what I've seen from this movie was really good. Smooth movements and such, but I think what I liked most was the use of colors. When Orion, D-16, and co. reach what's their planet's surface world, wow. The landscape looks absolutely beautiful, and something you'd want as a wallpaper for your computer. The last thing I'll credit is the story. Some aspects were a little rushed, but overall it's done very well. Sure the action plays a part, but the true and clear focus was on Orion Pax and D-16 and how they become the legendary rivals we know them as.

Thankfully the first trailer was very wrong about what Transformers One is all about. The movie I saw, while not flawless, is way better than what I was worried about.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Sept 26th for part eight of Looking Back at the Films of 2023. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Superman (2025) - Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Review

 

Surprise! Bet you didn't expect this! But yes, for this Road to I'll also be reviewing what influenced James Gunn's upcoming Superman movie. Although not everything single one. Cause he listened a lot. So instead I'll be reviewing what I can. But enough of my rambling, let's get to the review.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? was a 1986 storyline that was published in the 1939 volume of Superman with issue #423 and ended in the 1938 volume of Action Comics with issue #583. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? acts as the final tale to the Silver Age version of Superman and his long history, before the reboot following Crisis on Infinite Earths was fully set in motion. The story was written by Alan Moore and drawn by Curt Swan.

The story is, a Daily Planet reporter is interviewing Lois Lane about what happened to Superman following his disappearance ten years ago. She recalls how his enemies attacked him but in far more violent ways than before. Her, Superman, and their friends were all wondering the same thing during this dark period, how will this end for the Man of Tomorrow?

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Nope, nothing here either.

• Positives

Now I do got somethings to say for this section, starting with the pacing. You'll just breeze by this, without feeling like the story is dragging on. I myself was able to finish reading with only a few minutes, while getting a lot of story.

Then we have Curt Swan's art. I'm probably gonna lose comic geek points for this, but I'll acknowledge that Curt is a legendary Superman artist and deserved to be spoken about in the same vein as the other great artist and not just being a Superman artist. Having said he's not my favorite out of the more old school comic artist, but I think he did a phenomenal job here. He's got very clean lines, his action scenes were well done, and he greatly worked well with the tone of the story being told. It's also very fitting a guy mostly recognized as the top Silver Age artist was lucky enough to get the chance to draw this, especially since it's very fitting given what version of Superman this is. And fun fact, this was Curt's last major contribution to Superman comics, and what a way to go out.

Speaking of tone, I loved the tone of this. While Alan Moore is mostly known for dark stories such as V for Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke, and his most famous of all, Watchmen. While he still applies that darker tone here, after the big bads are defeated, during the latter half of Action Comics #583 there is a more hopeful tone. Especially for the ending.

The other fantastic aspect of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is how it manages to balance out the two different eras. What I mean is while the story's tone is more in line with the grittier take on comics like we've seen from the late 80's to now, the story still sticks with a lot of the more outlandish stuff of the Silver Age. Such as villains called the Kryptonite Man, Metallo's more goofier costume, and side characters such as Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang getting more gimmicky powers. While being dirtied up a bit like the Modern Age, there's still some love given to the Silver Age.

The last praise I'll give is how this did give the Silver Age version of Superman a great ending. I won't give anything away just in case you want to read this, but what I will say is after so many years of this version of the Man of Steel fighting the good fight whether it'd be serious or just outright goofy, he deserved the ending he got.

While not being a huge fan of the Silver Age (another thing that'll probably make me lose some geek cred 😆), I absolutely love this story. If you're a fan of Superman or getting into the character, then I strongly recommend reading this.

My final rating is, A Must Read!

That's gonna do it for me. Sadly the next stop will be....Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 😫. Thankfully that won't be until Nov 25th, but still. Anyways, due come back on Saturday, Sept 21st for my review of Transformers One. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Underrated Films - Darkman

 

Darkman is a superhero movie, that was produced by Universal Pictures, Renaissance Pictures, and Darkman Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. Darkman was written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Daniel Goldin, Joshua Goldin, and Chuck Pfarrer and directed by Sam Raimi.

The story is, because his attorney girlfriend ran into conflict with a corrupt developer scientist Peyton Westlake is brutally beaten and disfigured. Now after receiving superhuman abilities from an experimental treatment, Peyton is left unstable but seeks revenge on those who left him for dead.

Why It's Underrated

Simply put, it just doesn't get enough attention. Even when Sam Raimi was receiving praise during his Spider-Man trilogy years and so forth, the movie just can't get any sort of attention. It largely remains under many people's radar.

My Thoughts

Now I do want to bring two slight problems I have. One being Danny Elfman's score. Man, I just realized this is now the third time I've wrote about his music, but anyways, while he does have many great musical bits played throughout the movie, there were times when it just sounded a little too close to his score for the movie he worked on previously to Darkman, that being 1989's Batman.

Then we have the special effects. As for makeup and the rest of the practical effects, they're great. Raimi had a top notch team working with him and they haven't aged a day. But then there's the optical effects. These haven't aged well, they're very dusty.

Now for the positives, one of those being the villain named Robert G. Durant. He was awesome. He's a classic gangster character, but has this very calm and intense energy to him.

The other good aspect is Liam Neeson's (and yes am I referring to THAT Liam Neeson) performance. While we do have scenes with his regular face and he does a fantastic job at that, most of the film his face is covered with heavy makeup. So he mainly has to use his voice, but especially his eyes to convey what emotion his character is going through, and he was tremendous at that.

My last praise and it's truly the best thing about the entire movie is the story. While we get some of the usual superhero stuff, ultimately the story is a tragedy. We had a very good and noble man, who didn't deserve what happened to him. And whether he wins or not doesn't matter, he's not the same man as before. He wasn't just damaged physically, but he was also damaged mentally as well. So sadly Peyton Westlake truly did die and Darkman was born.

While not without flaws, Darkman is a really good movie. Whether you're into superheroes or not or just a fan of movies in general, I say give this one a watch.

My final rating is, Good.

Well I'm all done here. Come back on Thursday, Sept 12th, when I return to the Road to Superman (2025). What will I be reviewing? You'll just have to find out. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a dark fantasy horror comedy, the sequel to Beetlejuice, and the second film installment of the franchise. It was produced by Plan B Entertainment and Tim Burton Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith and directed by Tim Burton.

The story is, it's been thirty-six years since the events of the first movie, and Lydia is now not only a mother but a host to a supernatural talk show. She receives news that her father has passed away, and returns to Winter River. Things take a turn when someone befriends her daughter and after finding out who he really is, Lydia has no choice but to call upon Betelgeuse for help.

Initial Reaction

While I was looking forward to this because I absolutely loved the first movie, apart of me was a tiny bit worried. Mainly because the writers of the first movie didn't return. Whenever that happens it's go to be optimistic yet still questioning things.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The main mix bag is the story. While there's still plenty of enjoyment to be had, the slight issue is there's a bit other subplots going on that maybe the story could've done without. What made the first so great was the story was very straightforward, and while still fun, the sequel really should've taken that approach.

Pros

The first praise goes to Danny Elfman's score. I'll admit a lot of his most recent stuff just hasn't been wowing like his previous work, but I felt like that wasn't the case here. I felt like this was a return to form for him. Then there's the humor. One of my worries was the movie just wouldn't be funny, thankfully that wasn't the case. There's really funny sight gags, but I think the best was how they wrote Charles Deetz's death. It's so over the top you just can't help but laugh. Now let's move onto the special effects. While I did have slight issues with the first's but still loved a lot of what was done. Here, I don't really have any issues here. They looked flawless, even the sandworms (which are still done with stop motion, so if that makes any of you happy, glad I could give you the good news 😉😆), are much more polished. The other great aspects of the sequel is its look. This time around the cinematography still maintains a gothic look but makes use of a lot of neon colors, and it works. I really loved the style Burton and co. went with. It was a bit of old mixed with new. The last praise goes to Michael Keaton. If you liked his performance as Batman in The Flash, then you'll love his return to this classic character. While being seventy-three Keaton manages to bring the energy he had in 1988 back for this movie. It's like he never stopped being the ghost with the most.

While not perfect, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is still a blast to watch and I say if you're planning on seeing this then it's definitely worth it.

My final rating is, Great.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Sept 9th, for my Underrated Films review of Darkman. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Beetlejuice (1988)

 

With the newest Beetlejuice movie just around the corner, it's time to look at the first movie.

Beetlejuice is a dark fantasy horror comedy and the first installment to the Beetlejuice franchise. It was produced by The Geffen Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Beetlejuice was written by Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, and Larry Wilson and directed by Tim Burton.

The story is, a recently deceased couple are now ghost and want to leave at their house in peace, but the newest family moving in will ruin those plans. Against their better judgment, the couple call upon bio-exorcist Betelgeuse to scare them away.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Nope, nothing here. Just keep scrolling.

• Positives

One pro is the humor. It's very funny in it's attempts at dark comedy. There's even scenes funny moments that leaves you shocked, mainly cause they were really pushing it with their PG rating. And sometimes the comedy doesn't even come from the physical stuff but some really good bits of dialogue.

The other great aspect of the movie is Danny Elfman's score. Danny has made many great pieces of music throughout the history of cinema, and his score for Beetlejuice is one of them. I think what makes it amazing is it sounds like music you'd hear at a dark carnival. And considering some of the dark and odd things Tim Burton makes, perfect fit.

Then there's the pacing. The movie's runtime is one hour and thirty-two minutes, and you just breeze by. I mean it, after watching this it didn't feel like I sat on my couch for that long. But even with that short feeling I still felt like I got a fully told story.

My next point is the special effects. While things looked weird with the sand worms, the rest of the special effects have aged incredibly well. But I should also praise the design of the movie. Each set has its own unique look very different from each other. That also goes for anyone who's dead in this movie. Just by looking at their design you already get a story or a brief glimpse of how their character died. Such as one guy who's body is entirely charred.

The last thing I'll praise is Michael Keaton's performance. Other than Batman, Beetlejuice is also an iconic role for Keaton. What really impressed me is, while his normal voice can pop up once in awhile, once he gets rid of that and starts acting like his deviant, fast-talking, ghost with the most character, you also most forget it's Keaton underneath all of the makeup. I mean it, sometimes Keaton just disappears into Beetlejuice, which gets me excited of what we'll see from him in the upcoming sequel.

Whether you watch this whenever you feel like it or watch this during the Halloween season, Beetlejuice is an absolute classic.

My final rating is, A Must Watch.

Okay that's a wrap. Come back on Saturday, Sept 7th, for my review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.