Road to Spider-Man: Homecoming- Spider-Man 3 Review

Note: This review contains spoilers. You have been warned.

Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Sam Raimi, his older brother Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It's produced by Marvel Studios(before the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Laura Ziskin Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

The story is it's been three years since Spider-Man 2(2004) and Spider-Man is now New York City's favorite hero and everything seems great for Peter Parker but then new villains have come to take on Spider-Man and a mysterious black substance has gotten on Peter and is changing him for the worse.

• Negatives

One thing that I think everybody can agree is Venom/Eddie Brock's(Topher Grace) lack of screen time. He was definitely not thought of that much when the script was written. I can only remember three scenes with him and that was when he was introduced, when we as fired from the Daily Bungle, and then Venom. So Eddie Brock really needed more screen time for people to get invested with his character and his arc.


Another problem this film has is the unnecessary love triangle between Mary Jane-Watson(Kristen Dunst), Gwen Stacey(Bryce Dallas Howard), and Peter Parker(Tobey Maguire) it really didn't need to happen if they have kept it to Peter and Gwen just being friends and Peter & Mary Jane being a couple that would have be fine or just cut Gwen completely out of the film and saved her from the next that also would have been a good idea but no the studio told Raimi to put her in so we got stuck with her.


There was also the storyline between Peter Parker and Harry Osborn(James Franco) that was being hyped up since the first Spider-Man film because Harry blames Spider-Man for his dad's death. It was they were going to fight each other as their respected identities it was going to be Spider-Man vs. the new Green Goblin but one bump on the head with Harry and it's scrapped for a large majority of the film. Then the rivalry comes back into the fray when Peter gets his black suit and then after Harry's butler tells him the truth about his father's death Harry forgives him and then they  team-up against Venom and the Sandman.


The film also has a problem with continuing Uncle Ben's death by throwing a twist which is it wasn't the carjacker from the first film it was Flint Marko(Thomas Haden Church) aka the Sandman. My problem with this is it's been talked about in the previous two films they shouldn't have made it the Sandman who killed Ben and not brought up Ben's death...again.


Then there was emo Peter. What the hell was that all about I mean the symbiote made him a darker version of himself but it didn't make him an emo. Seriously what the hell?!

• Mix

I got nothing to say here let's move on.

• Positives

Now there's not say there isn't anything good in this film cause there is something nice to say about the movie. One good thing to say is the designs for both the Spidey's red and blue suit is still a good design and I like the black suit as well sure it's just red and blue but with slight design changes such as the way the spider looks a little bit different but I still liked the look.


Also this movie wanted us to feel bad for the Sandman and I did feel for the guy. I mean his was daughter was sick and all he wanted to do was find a way to make her health again no matter what it takes. I think parents and the audience can understand where he's coming from.


Another thing I give the film credit for is all the fight scenes. Whether it was Spider-Man vs. Sandman, Peter Parker vs. Harry Osborn, or Spider-Man & Goblin vs. Venom and Sandman. All the fights were done very well by Sam Raimi so thumbs up for that.


One other good thing about this film were the performances. Yet again this film series proves the actors can still do a good job playing their characters.



I also liked how they handled Harry's death. It was sad for me to see this character that I knew since 2002 to die. This entire scene was played very well and felt sorry for his friends because well they lost their friend.




Spider-Man 3 didn't give Venom enough screen time, had an unnecessary love triangle, and I hated how they very quickly ended the rivalry between Harry and Peter. I also didn't like we yet again are told about Ben's death and emo Peter again what the hell?! but I also did like the black suit, the action scenes, and the performances are still good, and I was also very sad to see Harry die.




It's very hard for me to rate this film because if I give it a bad, awful, or my lowest rating destroy it I'll be following every other critics opinion on this movie but if I give it an okay then people might claim I'm being a "Raimi-fanboy" but screw it my final rating for this movie is Okay and if you disagree with him then alright that's fine you have you're opinion on Spider-Man 3 and I have mine.



P.S. I'm not done talking about Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series just yet because next time I'll be talking the cancelled sequel Spider-Man 4 in my segment Lost Films.

The Boss Baby Review

The Boss Baby is an 3D computer-animated comedy film that is loosely based on the 2010 children's book of the same name written and illustrated by Marla Frazee. It's produced by DreamWorks Animation and the film is directed by Tom McGrath and written by Michael McCullers.

The story is a suit-wearing baby named The Boss Baby(Alec Baldwin) is adopted by the Templeton family everything seems normal but really he's undercover in a war between babies and puppies. So he teams up with his older Tim(Miles Christopher Bakshi) to help him out in this war.

• Negatives

My only real complaint is it's very difficult to figure out if Tim's imagining this entire story because there are scenes where something happens but then there's another scene that says otherwise.

• Mix

One thing that this movie is in a grey area is the humor. Sometimes jokes work other times not so much. Now I'm not saying some jokes down right suck what I'm saying is some jokes where meant for kids others were meant for adults. So when there's a joke that's meant for a kid an adult isn't going to laugh and when a joke is meant for an adult the kids are probably going to be confused.

• Positives

There is an aspect to this movie that I really liked and that was Tim's fear that he wasn't going to be loved anymore because of the arrival of a baby sibling. I think anybody who has been in that situation can relate.

Alec Baldwin does an excellent job playing The Boss Baby. Another actor who deserves credit is Miles Christopher Baskshi he did a great job playing the older brother Tim.

My finally praise to this movie is it's animation. DreamWorks continues to show that they do great 3D animation. They also do a great job at making Tim's imagination sequence different compared to everything else by giving it an old school 60's or 70's look.

The Boss Baby has gorgeous animation, great performances mainly from the two main stars, and that feeling that you think your parents might not love because of a new sibling but that won't be the case. The humor isn't bad it's just some jokes are meant for kids and others are for adults. The only real bad thing is some scenes make you question other scenes.

My final rating for this movie is Okay.

What You Probably Didn't About Antz (1998)

Note: This post will contain spoilers. You have been warned.

So in three days DreamWorks Animation will be releasing a new film titled The Boss Baby. Some people have mix feelings about this I'm just going to wait for the movie to come out then judge it but before I can do that let's go back to the past all the way back in 1998 and tell you some stuff you probably didn't know about Antz the very first DreamWorks Animation film. Also despite the numbering there is no specific order these facts are in. Anyhow enough of that let's get to it.

1. Woody Allen who plays the main protagonist Z recorded all of his lines in five days. He also supposedly nailed every reading he did for the character. This was also his first appearance in an animated movie. He also has an uncredited input on the finished screenplay.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally suppose to the play Weaver but when Arnold wanted to be paid for the role it went to Sylvester Stallone who would played the character for free.

3. Some of the actors have been in Woody Allen films such as Sharon Stone in Stardust Memories(1980) which would be her film debut, Sylvester Stallone in Bananas(1971), Gene Hackman in Another Woman(1988), Christopher Walken in Annie Hall(1977), and then three years later Dan Arkroyd would be in The Curse of the Jaded Scorpion(2001).

4. Some the characters share some facial features similar to their actors such Weaver's lips are based on Stallone's and the filmmakers even thought having Z wear glasses like Woody Allen but that was scrapped. However in the DVD commentary they say this was done before the actors were even hired.

5. In the movie there is a war between ants and termites both sides kind of lose because of the loss life in reality ants and termites actually do go to war and ants would win because of their larger numbers.

6. This is the first computer-animated movie to get a PG rating. The film was given this rating mainly because of all the swearing but when it's on television it's obviously censored that way all the kids at home can watch it but I'm surprised it didn't get a PG-13 rating or higher because after the Ants/Termites have their war Z holds the head of a decapitated ant soldier! How the hell is that a PG rating MPAA?!

7. Woody Allen says he felt uncomfortable watching Z because the character reminds him too much of himself.

8. Sarah Jessica Parker recorded lines for Princess Bala but then for unspecific reasons she was fired then replaced with Sharon Stone.

9. The title for the movie could somewhat be debatable because it could be Antz which is an obvious plural for Ants but the lopsided Z makes some think that it's Ant Z because the main leads name is Z which is also short for Z-4195.

10. During the flood scene which is also the climax of the movie no ants expect for the main bad guy General Mandible drown. This is because the filmmakers through it would have been too cruel.

11. In the movie Z is saved twice. The first being from Barbatus(Danny Glover) during the war between Ants/Termites then in the end of the movie he is saved by Cutter(Christopher Walken) from drowning.

12. Antz is the second computer-animated film to be made the first being Toy Story back in 1995.

13. Film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel(may they rest in peace) really liked this movie. They both praised the film, Roger says he liked because it's "sharp and funny" and Gene Siskel greatly enjoyed the film and has preferred over Pixar's A Bug's Life which was released the same year. Siskel has even placed it at number seven of his best films of 1998.

14. Antz was released on DVD on Mar 23rd ,1999 becoming the first feature-length CGI-animated film to be available of DVD.

15. At the bar scene Z says he doesn't drink from the anus of another creature. In the trailer "anus" is changed to "caboose". Either way it doesn't matter how you phrase it the ants are drinking out of some else's ass!

So there you have it the things you probably didn't know about Antz. If there's any that I missed I apologize. Anyhow I'm really looking forward to see The Boss Baby hopefully it's good or at the very least decent.

Lost Films - Disney's American Dog

Disclaimer: I could be wrong on some details. So take this with a grain of salt.

So originally I wasn't going to do another one of these until April for Sam Raimi's unmade Spider-Man 4 but I was bored so I decided screw it let's do another Lost Films only this time I'll be talking about an incomplete 2007 Disney animated film called American Dog.

Part One - The Plot

The story would have been a dog actor named Henry who stars in his own action show where he is a secret agent. While filming another episode for his show one of the stunts go wrong and Henry blacks out. He then would have woken up on train in the Nevada desert 2000 miles away from home. Henry then has to make new friends to get him. The new friends would have been a one-eyed cat and a giant radioactive rabbit. While on this adventure Henry still would have thought he was on TV.

Part Two - Downfall

The ultimate downfall to this film was Disney though this was "too surreal and too bold". Before that even happened in 2006 after John Lasseter became Chief Creative Officer at Disney Animation he attended two screenings of this movie and gave Chris Sanders(the writer and director) some notes on how the story could be improved. Now according to John he was replaced because he was very stubborn to some of the changes both he and other directors suggested. Lasseter was evening quoted to say "Chris Sanders is extremely talented, but he couldn't take it to the place it had to be".

Part Three - From American Dog to Bolt

After Chris Sanders was removed from the project he was replaced with Chris Williams and Byron Howard. The original title was removed and the animation team was giving eighteen months to complete the film instead of the usual four years that is what it normally takes to make a 3D animated film. So then the story and character designs were reworked into 2008's Bolt. Also in honor of American Dog Chris Sanders used the one-eyed cat with the eye patch in his webcomic Kiskaloo.

Part Four - Concept Art & Test Footage

Concept art can be easily viewed just by typing in Disney American Dog in Google images. You can also very test footage which was shown at SIGGRAPH in 2005.

Here's a link http://vimeo.com/91895271

Beauty and The Beast (2017) Review

Sorry that this review is late but the theater that I go to kept selling out of tickets three days in a row so I had to see it on a Monday. Anyways here's my belated review for this movie.

Beauty and The Beast is musical romance fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. It's co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandevillie Films. The movie is a live-action remake of the 1991 film of the same name based on the French tale by Jeanne-Marie de Beaumont.

The story is the exact same as the previous film, Belle's father Maurice(Kevin Kline) is captured by the Beast(Dan Stevens) then Belle(Emma Watson) takes his place then they fall in love. Meanwhile the narcissistic hunter Gaston(Luke Evans) wants Belle to br his trophy wife and then the two suitors will come into conflict with one another.

• Negative

I really don't have anything bad to say.

• Mix

I guess the only thing you could have mix feelings about is the film is a retread of Disney's first Beauty and The Beast film. But I can't really say that's a bad thing because of the way the film is designed.

• Positives

One positive thing to say about this movie is the sets and CGI. The designs from the Beast's castle, Belle's village, and the forest are all done very well and a gorgeous to look at. The CGI on the Beast and the other characters such as Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, the wolfs, and the mirror are very polished and amazingly done.




Now let's talk about our stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens are great as Belle and The Beast I really believed they were playing their respected characters. Luke Evans also does a fantastic job as Gaston he played the character to a perfect ten.




Another thing the film done right was it's music. Each and every song got just the right amount of time to shine. Like I said in my review for 1991 film I'm not into musicals but both these versions of the film do well on their music and loved everyone of these songs.




I also want to give this film credit for giving us something new to this tale in a film format because while somethings are a reenactment of the previous film this does give us something else. For one instance the Beast doesn't need to be taught anything by Belle he already knows when he's in the wrong.




The last thing I will say about this film is it's humor. The humor in this film works the comedy will get a laugh out of you but I wouldn't say anything that will make laugh nonstop. Most of the humor goes from Lumiere, Cogsworth, and LeFou. All the parts with them really worked.





Beauty and The Beast while at times does to the exact same things as the previous film it does put in some new things in it, the sets and the CGI are beautiful done, the cast does a perfect job as their respected roles, the music is a blast to here, once again Belle's and the Beast's relationship is developed very well, and the humor will make you laugh.





My final rating for this film is Great.

A Look Back at Beauty and The Beast (1991)

Note: This review contains spoilers. You have been warned.

The new Beauty and The Beast movie is coming out in two days and as always I'm going to look back at the previous Disney film with the same name.

Beauty and The Beast is 1991 animated musical that is the 30th Disney animated feature film and the third film in the Disney Renaissance. It was based on the French tale of the same name back in 1740 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. 

The story is Belle's father Maurice(Rex Everhart) has been taken prisoner by the Beast(Robby Benson) so to free him she offers herself in his place and she unaware that he was once a prince altered by a magic spell.

• Negatives

Now I understand you guys think this is just me nitpicking this is just something I want to get off my chest. Sometimes Belle's and the Beast's romance can be pretty corny. I mean the ending is they kiss and everything and everybody goes back to normal. Yes I know that it was part of the story because of the circumstances but it was pretty clichéd.

• Positives

Know it's time to talk about all the good things that came from this movie one of them being the animation. I mean what can I say that hasn't all ready been said the animation from this film is stunning the animators really knew how to do their job because there's even some 3D backgrounds but they don't really take away from the 2D animation.


Another great thing about this movie is how the developed the relationship between Belle and the Beast(by the way I have to call him the Beast because his real name is never given) it's not after spending one day together their in a love it's first she hated him then through time they started to develop something between themselves.


Now let's talk about the main villain and another reason to watch this movie Gaston(Richard White). This guy is just full of himself even at the point when there's an entire scene of him singing about how great he is. Seriously Gaston is the prime example of an egomaniac which makes it so satisfying when he's put in his place and then die sorry if that sounds twisted but the way he talks about himself is just demanding some way to shut him up.


Another thing I love about this movie is Lumiere and Cogsworth seeing this to butt heads was just funny their great friends who get along but at the same time they can get on the other's nerves it was very entertaining.


My final positive to give to this movie is the music it's very well done. Which is kind of a funny thing for me to say because I'm really not into musical but here I liked listening to music in this film it's beautiful.



Beauty and The Beast is one of the best made Disney films it has gorgeous animation, Belle and the Beast relationship is perfectly developed even if I do find their relationship to be cheesy at times, Gaston is a great villain, I loved seeing Lumiere and Cogsworth interact with each other and the music is very good.



My final rating for this movie is A Must Watch.

Lost Films - Justice League: Mortal

Disclaimer: I could be wrong on some details. So take this post with a grain of salt.

November 17,2017 is the year we will get to see the Justice League on the big screen but this wasn't the first time Warner Bros. was going to do this. For any of you who don't know back in 2009 we were going to get a film titled Justice League: Mortal which would have been directed by George Miller of Mad Max fame. But let's start all the way to the beginning all the way back to 2007.

Part One - Planning

In February 2007 Warner Bros. hired couple Kieran and Michele Mulroney to write a script for they yet untitled Justice League film. Then in June they handed in the script and the studio gave them positive feedback. Then in September 2007 Warner Bros. hired George Miller to direct, they also hoped to get the film started before the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. They also thought of doing the film in motion capture. Motion capture was used for such films like The Polar Express and Beowulf. The budget for this film was supposedly $220 million.

Part Two - Production and Downfall

Warner Bros. wanted filming to start as earlier as February 2008 in Australia this is also where post-production would also be done. Some shooting took place at Sydney Head. Then in January 2008 the film was on indefinite hold which would allow for more options for casting. Also around this time the studio thought the script could use more work which was a difficult challenge because at this time the writer's strike was going on. Then when the strike ended Warner Bros. wanted to continue filming somewhere in mid-April 2008 still hoping to get a 2009 release date. In February 2008 the studio decided to move production from Australia to Canada even through George Miller wanted to stay with Fox Studios Australia. More trouble came because then there was the Screen Actors Guild strike in June 2008 at this time The Mulroneys again rewrote the script with Warner Bros. and Miller's approval. We finally got the title for this film in which was Justice League: Mortal in March 2008 also around this time Warner decide that Australia wouldn't be housing production of the movie. Miller had this to say "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Australian film industry is being frittered away because of very lazy thinking. They're throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars of investment that the rest of the world is competing for and, much more significantly, highly skilled creative jobs." Then in December 2008 there were rumors that George Miller had left the project this was disproving from other filmmakers of the project. Now there are multiple reasons why this film didn't happen one of which could be the two strikes cause this film's downfall and the other being creativity but the ultimate downfall is Warner Bros. decided to continue doing solo superhero films.

Part Three - Cast and Crew

While casting for the film was never official various news sources reported that George Miller wanted younger actors that they could "grow into their roles over the course of a film trilogy". Now I don't have any information if this film was going be a trilogy but let's move on to who was going to play what superhero. The list goes

D.J. Controna as Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El

Armie Hammer as Bruce Wayne/Batman

Megan Gale as Diana Price/Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira

Common as John Stewart/Green Lantern

Adam Brody as Barry Allen/The Flash

Santiago Cabrera as Arthur Curry/Aquaman

Hugh Keays-Byrne as J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter


Now let's move onto the villains of the movie and other stars of the film.


Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul

Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lords

Zoe Kazan as Iris West

Anton Yelchin as Wally West(He would later pass away on June 19,2016)


Now let's list the crew that was going to help this the movie we almost got.


Dean Semler - Director of Photography

Marit Allen - Costume Designer(She would later pass away on November 26,2007 then replaced with Weta Workshop)

Emily Seresin - Costume Designer

Ken Ralston - Visual Effects Supervisor

Richard Norton - Stunt Coordinator/Fight Choreographer

Mark Rogers - Still Photographer



Part Four - Tie - In Video Game

Apparently Warner Bros. had a lot of faith in this film because there was also going to be a tie-in video game with the same name as the film it also would have been released in 2009. It would have been developed by Double Helix(who would later go on to make the Green Lantern movie tie-in video game back in 2011 titled Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters). Then like the film the project was shut down. Now to this day we don't have prototypes or demos that have been released to the public but we do have pictures. Here's a link to view them

http://lostmediaarchive.wikia.com/wiki/Justice_League:_Mortal_(Scrapped_Tie-In_Movie_Video_Game)



Part Five - Inspiration For The Story

Now before I go on to anything else let's talk about what the film's story would have been the story would have been "Batman distrust the metahumans of the world creating an army of robots to replace the Justice League only for it to backfire and result in an army of robots who want world domination so now Batman has no choice but to trust the very people he planned against. The inspiration for the film would have been the stories JLA: Tower of Babel(which would get a movie in the direct-to-video animated film Justice League: Doom) and Superman: Sacrifice.



Part Six - Released Script, Concept Art, and Megan Gale's Wonder Woman Costume

Before I move on with the documentary based on the film here are some links to the leaked script, concept art, and what Megan Gale's costume would have been like.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4tilNmOgu5TRk9VMHU2QVdsaWc/edit

http://www.blastr.com/2015-6-1/images-day-wonder-woman-aquaman-and-martian-manhunter-revealed-justice-league-mortal

http://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-costume-miller-justice-league-movie/



Part Seven - The Documentary

The legacy of this movie continues because on May 25, 2015 a documentary surrounding the film's troubled production was announced. Later on July 17, 2015 teaser posters showing Batman, Superman(the one I'm using), Green Lantern, and other members would also be released and were made by BossLogic. The movie is to be produced by both Purryburry Productions and Caldwell Entertainment. The title for the documentary is supposedly Miller's Justice League Mortal set to be released somewhere in 2018 all it needs is Warner Bros. approval. Hopefully that documentary happens because I'm curious to what we would have gotten. Also if you want to here's a link to their official Twitter account. https://twitter.com/jldoco?lang=en


Anyway we still have eight months till Justice League comes out and I'm hoping it's another good movie from the DC Extended Universe.