Looking Back at the Films of 2019 Part 8 - Ad Astra & Rambo: Last Blood

 

Yep, it's another one of these and today's reviews are for Ad Astra and Rambo: Last Blood.

Why Didn't I See Ad Astra?

Main reason, just wasn't a showing. Which sucked because the trailers/the synopsis I read before the film came out was really interesting.

What is Ad Astra?

Ad Astra is a psychological sci-fi drama movie. The film was produced by Regency Enterprises, Bona Film Group, New Regency, Plan B Entertainment, RT Features, Keep Your Head Productions, MadRiver Pictures, and TSG Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Ad Astra was written by James Gray and Ethan Gross and directed by James Gray. The story is Cliff McBride once led a voyage into deep space but was later never heard from afterwards. Now thirty years later Cliff's son Roy has decided to take the task of finding his father. While looking for him he soon discovers things are much worse than he thought.

Thoughts

The Good: One thing that made Ad Astra a good watch was the visual effects. They were amazing and quite a sight to see. You really gotta give the artist credit because it's very clear that didn't slack off when making these. Another piece of the movie to enjoy is the cinematography. There were a lot of shots that were so great it was hard to pick which one I loved more. Now to discuss the biggest highlight of Ad Astra and that Brad Pitt's performance. He's playing this really clam and collective guy but at the same time when you really pay attention both him and you are wondering "Okay, when is he going to lose it". And Pitt did a fantastic job displaying that kind of guy. The final thing I'll praise the film for is the voice over/character development. Now I lumped those two together because of the voice over, with that we really get a lot of insight to Brad Pitt's character. He's wondering what his father did, questioning if he really knew the guy, and he thinking if he can truly go through with this mission.

The Bad: None.

The Meh: Now for a majority of the movie it is realistic, but then you get some weird scenes that really don't work with the tone. Like there's a scene with space pirates. I'm not joking, the characters even called them pirates. That was just odd. And then there's a scene with a rapid monkey. Just look it up, you'll just see how ridiculous it is.

Final Verdict: Great

Why Didn't I See Rambo: Last Blood?

Now some of you already know this but those that don't let me explain. I was most definitely looking forward to this one, so much so that I reviewed all four Rambo movies before it came out. Then I had to write a post saying that wasn't going to happening.

What is Rambo: Last Blood?

Rambo: Last Blood (or Rambo V or Rambo V: Last Blood) is an action film and the fifth film in the Rambo franchise. The movie was produced by Millennium Media, Balboa Productions, and Templeton Media and distributed by Lionsgate. Rambo: Last Blood was written by Dan Gordon and Sylvester Stallone and directed by Adrian Grunberg. The story is it seems John Rambo has finally found some peace living on his ranch and being around two family members, but when one member is killed by the Mexican drug cartel Rambo sets out for revenge. Will he get his vengeance or will this be the time the enemy wins?

My Thoughts

The Good: The best thing about the film is Stallone's performance. Whenever he speaks about the ones he loves or wanting revenge, it does get a little bit of an emotion out of you. But what I also liked about his acting was despite being 73 years old (and I'm speaking about the time this movie was released) in not one scene did he make Rambo look like a weak old man. Another thing I liked or what many people liked was how intense this movie was. There are a lot of brutal things happening to people, whether they're the good guys or the bad guys. So if you can't handle things like people getting their heads bashed in with a hammer, you might want to avoid this. The last thing I'll give the movie credit for is the action. Sure it does take a while to get to the literally explosive finale but the thing is watching those smaller action scenes and then finally getting to the one we all came for makes it worth.

The Bad: None.

The Meh: One thing that was okay was the villains. They were fine, they did a lot of horrible things (which makes what happens to them at the end well deserved) but it did feel like maybe the could have written more scenes so they did come off as just decent bad guys. Speaking of which, while the movie does give you something more than just action it just needed just a little bit more of an development on all ends to really give you a gut punch.

Final Verdict: Okay

Alright, I'm done here. Please come back on Thursday, Sept 24th for my new Raiders of The Lost Media and this time it'll be about a cancelled Marvel game. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

The Devil All the Time Review

The Devil All the Time is a psychological thriller movie based on the 2011 novel of the same name. The movie is produced by Nine Stories Productions and Bronx Moving Company and distributed by Netflix. The Devil All the Time is written by Antonio Campos and Paulo Campos and directed by Antonio Campos.

The story is a town in Knockemstiff, Ohio is filled with sinister and corrupted people, such as a twisted preacher, a murderous couple, and a crooked sheriff. The only seemly good person is Arvin Russell but even he is violent in his own way. But now Arvin must fight off these evil people in order to protect his family.

Initial Reaction

Now I wasn't really going to review this movie simply because at first nothing seemed interesting. That all changed when I saw the cast. I mean you got Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgard, and etc. Then the I read the synopsis which again peak me interest, and with all that in mind I decided to give this movie a watch.

Cons

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

Middle Ground

The only gray area with the movie is it does feel a little bit bloated. The reason I say that is there's a lot of stories going on in this film, you have the main story with Arvin then you have the murderous couple then the story with a sheriff and so forth. But I was willing to forgive the movie for that because despite it's flaw the story is still good.

Pros

One good thing about The Devil All the Time is the performances, especially from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. Tom really showed his acting range by playing the character of Arvin. I wasn't expecting such a great dramatic performance from him. Then there's Pattinson who nailed it playing this disgusting preacher, dude even completely changed his voice to the point where it was unrecognizable. Another thing the movie did right was the narration. Sometimes movies with narration have a problem with the narrator telling us things we already know but here, no. The narrator was there when it felt necessary. I also liked the cinematography. Not only was it good but it also gave you an old timey feel to it. The last thing I'll give The Devil All the Time credit for is the very tense and chilling tone. This flick held nothing back, if it's going to show you something disturbing you're gonna get it.

The Devil All the Time is worth a watch. What with the performances from Holland and Pattinson, a good narrator, good cinematography, and a dark tone. Story's a little bloated but you can forgive the film for that.

My final rating is Good

Okay I'm finally done here. Come back on Monday, Sept 21st for part eight of Looking Back at the Films of 2019. For that post I'll be reviewing Ad Astra and Rambo: Last Blood. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse Thoughts

 

Okay, I was actually debating if I should do this one much like how I gave my thoughts on the previous DC FanDome event, because I didn't know if there would be any exciting announcements much like the Hall of Heroes event. But there would have to be some big reveals even if this time around it would be about the TV and comic book side of the DC world. So let's stop wasting time and dive right in.

The first piece of big news was Young Justice season 4 has a subtitle and it's going to be called Phantoms. Really curious what that means exactly. Because the second season was titled Invasion, and that was because the heroes and the planet Earth were being invaded. The third season was titled Outsiders, because it was telling the origin story of that version of The Outsiders. So is Phantoms going to give us Spectre? Or is it more metaphorical like the ghost of the past are going to haunt our heroes today? Who knows. We'll just have to wait and see.

The other bit of news we got is Tyler Hoechlin will be getting a new suit for the upcoming series Superman & Lois. They have described the suit as "badass". I'm really hoping that's true. Because I the current suit Hoechlin is wearing fine but it does have some issues, like those two straps things that come really close to connecting with the S.

Now if there's any Doom Patrol fans out there, I've got some great news. The show has been renewed for a third season. Which makes me very happy, because this show is so crazy that it just deserves another season.

This was probably the biggest story of them all. And that's Junkie XL gave us a snippet for this score for the upcoming Zack Snyder's Justice League. And I gotta I love it. It really gave me Justice League: The Animated Series vibes when I kept listening to it. What also makes it great is while I do enjoy Danny Elfman's work this music is clearly going to be better. Because with the theatrical cut of Justice League just had a very forgettable score.

What also got my eye during this DC FanDome was some Justice League wallpaper. The reason I bring it up is because it doesn't say Zack Snyder's Justice League like the previous ones have, it says Justice League: Director's Cut. So is that going to be the title? In all honesty I don't think any reporters really know. But whether it's called Zack Snyder's Justice League, Justice League: Director's Cut, or even Justice League: The Snyder Cut one thing's for certain is it's going to be Zack Snyder's vision unlike the 2017 film.

The next story actually has to do with comic books, more specifically Earth One. Basically what was said was that more Earth One stories are being worked with Batman: Earth One Vol.3 coming out "very soon". Now I haven't read every single Earth One comic, so far the only ones have been Superman: Earth One Vol.1-3, Batman: Earth One Vol 1-2. and that's pretty much it. But I like hearing this news because the Earth One stories are pretty good.

Now this wasn't the very last thing to happen at DC FanDome, I'm just putting last as a best saved for last kind of thing. But anyways, the story was Barbara Muschietti (a producer for The Flash movie) went on to say "Well, I want you to see it, so I'm not going to tell you a lot. But what I will tell you is that it's a ride. It's going to be fun and exciting and there are a lot of DC characters in it. Flash is the superhero of this film because he is the bridge between all of these characters and timelines. And in a way, it restarts everything and doesn't forget anything."

Now that those last words really got people's attention. "It restarts everything and doesn't forget anything". What could that mean? Well someone on Twitter (I forgot there name, so my bad) had a theory. They theorize that the "restart everything" might be a way to get the Snyder Cut of Justice League into the DCEU canon thus erasing the theatrical cut from the DCEU. And the "doesn't forget anything" is probably just a way of saying how nothing from DC is forgotten about. Now let me reminder you, that was just a fan theory and not from something official! So anyways I was already planning to see this movie but now I'm really interested after that last quote.

My Thoughts

So overall I thought this event was fun but I still lean towards the Hall of Heroes event. Because that one had a lot of big stories, sure there were news stories here but they don't seem nearly as big as the other ones from the previous event. However what Explore the Multiverse lacked in news coverage it made up for with fan stuff. There was something for everybody. Like WatchVerse, YouVerse, KidsVerse, and tons of fan arts and cosplays being displayed.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Sept 17th for my review of The Devil All the Time. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Tenet Review

Tenet is a spy movie. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Syncopy. Tenet is written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

The story is a CIA agent (aka the Protagonist) has been recruited by an organization that has task him with a mission that will prevent World War III. They teach him how to manipulate the flow of time, with this new ability the Protagonist must do whatever it takes if he wants to succeed on this dangerous mission.

Initial Reaction

Now like many people I was looking forward to this movie and like many I was saddened when I heard it got delayed and then delayed again. But finally I heard that it had a release date that wasn't going to change. It was especially exciting because this was gonna be my first movie to see in theaters in a long time since they had to shutdown.

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 thing I enjoyed from the movie is the action. It was really awesome and because of that flow of time thing it really makes things even crazier. What I also loved about Tenet is the performances, John David Washington was really good in this and Robert Pattinson plays a great almost wildcard character in this. Another aspect of the film that was amazing was the scope. Everything from the visuals, the cinematography, etc. was insane. I can't wait for the Blu-ray to come out so I can see how they pulled off some of the things they pulled off. The final thing I'll praise Tenet for is how complex it all is. This movie was a total mindf*ck. I mean me and my buddy Brian were just sitting trying to piece everything together, figure out what was happening, we were full blown analysing this. And it was a blast for us.

Tenet is definitely a movie worth seeing in theaters. The action was fun, the performances were good, the scope is insane, and the complexity of it is something truly amazing.

My final rating is A Must Watch

Okay guys, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Sept 14th for my thoughts on DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Tenet Review Will Be Delayed

 

Hey guys, so yep it's gonna be one of those post...again. Now as the title says my review for Tenet is going to be delayed. Why? Because I was going to see by myself but then a buddy of mine called asking if it'd be cool if we hung out and saw it and me being a nice guy I said yes. So instead of the review being here and now it will now be uploaded on Thursday. Typically I like to get reviews for recent up here as soon as possible but I really want to share my thoughts on this film with you.

So remember, my review for Tenet will be uploaded on Thursday. Anyhow that's all I wanted to tell you and until Thursday, enjoy the rest of your day.

Mulan (2020) Review

 

Mulan is a action drama and a live-action remake of the 1998 animated movie of the same name. Both of which are based on the Chinese folklore "The Ballad of Mulan". The movie is produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Jason T. Reed Productions, and Good Fear Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Mulan is written by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin and directed by Niki Caro.

The story is the Emperor of China has received news that an invading army is destroying everything in sight. The Emperor has ordered one man from every family must serve, Mulan's father being one of those men. Due to his health Mulan takes his place, disguises herself as a man, and prepares for war.

Initial Reaction

I was definitely looking forward to this movie back when it had it's March release date. But then Coronavirus happened and it was delayed. Then some good news came when I heard it was coming to Disney+. So my excitement returned and I was fully ready.

Cons

Now with interpretation of Mulan we technically have two villains. Bori Khan and Xian Lang. And their screentime isn't balanced. First we paying attention to Bori and then the story focuses on Xian, then we're right back to Bori. Because of this Xian gets development which would be fine if it didn't come at a cost for Bori. So when it was finally time for Mulan and Bori to fight you ultimately don't care because Bori didn't feel like he was developed enough.

Middle Ground

One thing in the film that could've used more work is the CGI. It's okay but for some shots it really needed more polishing. Another grey area is the acting. Some performances are good such as Jet Li as The Emperor, he was good. Which is saying a lot considering he's not in it that much. Others are okay, that being our main star Liu Yifei as Mulan. There are times when she's okay other times she comes off as wooden.

Pros

Now for the positives, that being it's a different take on the story. There was a few things that make you go "oh, I remember that from the animated movie". But for the most part it is a different story. Which is why I will never understand why people complain it's not like the original. Didn't we complain last year with the live-action remake of The Lion King because it was too similar to its animated counterpart? Another good thing about this version of Mulan is we get some cool location shots. There was quite a few times I paused the movie just to really enjoy them.  The last thing I'll give the movie credit for is the action. I had a lot of fun with those scenes and really that's the best way to describe them, fun.

Mulan's high points are it being a different take, good location shots, and exciting action scenes. Both the acting & CGI was okay. It's lowest point is the villains.

My final rating is Okay

Alright. I'm all done here. Come back on Monday, Sept 7th, because I've got some news regarding my upcoming review of Tenet. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at The Boys - Season 1

With season two of The Boys arriving tomorrow I of course look back and review the first season.

The Boys is comic book web show based on the comic series of the same name. The show is produced by Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Television, Kripke Enterprise, Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kickstart Entertainment, KFL Nightsky Productions and distributed by Amazon Stuidos.

The story is after his girlfriend was brutally killed by a Supe, Hughie Campbell joins a vigilante group called The Boys who are lead by Billy Butcher. While this is happening a new young hero name Starlight joins the superhero team of her dreams, The Seven. Both of them are soon going to discover things about Supes they never knew existed.

• Negatives

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

• Mix

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

• Positives

One great thing about the show is the satire. The Boys do a great job poking fun at the superhero genre and how it's just all over the place.

What I also liked about the series is the dark tone. This show does not mess around when it comes to getting serious, it hits you with a good amount of intense moments.

Now to discuss the more famous aspect of the show and that's the huge amount of WTF moments. Whether it's for laughs or to be disturbing all of those moments I guarantee will make you say "What the f*ck?!" or have your jaw dropping. Either way prepared to be surprised.

Another aspect of The Boys that makes it a great watch is the performances, mainly from Karl Urban and Antony Starr. Urban plays an amazing lovable asshole and Starr....Jesus. His performance as Homelander is truly great. He really made Homelander a disturbing psychopath.

What also makes this a much watch is the special effects. I figured Amazon wasn't going to slack off on them but I wasn't expecting them to be this good. They're almost cinematic.

The final thing I'll praise the series for is it's fresh take. To my knowledge we've never seen superheroes be put in a world where they're put in this corporate/celebrity status. It really makes The Seven/the overall show stand out from other live-action adaptations of the comic book genre.

Guys, I say this with a very serious tone. The Boys is one of my favorites shows. It has great satire, a good dark tone, tons of strange moments, great performances from Urban and Starr, spot on special effects, and welcomed fresh take.

My final rating is A Must Watch

Alright. I'm all done here. I can't wait for season two and guys, do come back on Saturday, Sept 5th for my review of Mulan (2020). Until then enjoy the rest of your day.