The Flash Review

 

The Flash is a comic book movie based on the DC Comics' character of the same name, as well as being influenced by the storyline Flashpoint. The movie serves as the 13th installment to the DC Extended Universe. It's produced by DC Studios, Double Dream, and The Disco Factory and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The Flash is written by Christina Hodson and directed by Andy Muschietti.

The story is Barry Allen has traveled back in time to prevent his mother's death, it seems like a normal world, however, this actually has grave consequences. Not only on there no metahumans, but a newly restored General Zod has come to Earth. Barry enlist a younger verison of himself, an older Batman, and a castaway Supergirl to stop Zod and return him to his universe.

Initial Reaction

Now at first, I was fully excited about this movie. But then...I saw leaks on Twitter. Seeing those really brought my excitement down, and I went to my theater with very, very, VERY low expectations.

Cons

If there's one thing I'll never defend about this movie, it's the cameos. I'm not talking about the one where it's based on a famously canceled Superman movie, I'm talking about the ones based on deceased actors. Those two cameos were just in bad taste. Especially since not only did they use horrible A.I. and deepfakes, but one cameo in particular doesn't have a family to speak for him. So it's up in the air on whoever approved of that. Another thing I didn't like was the ending. I really don't think it was necessary for a sequel bait. Especially because this movie did contain a lot more heart than I imagined, so teasing a sequel, in my mind, didn't feel needed. And that post-credit scene with a drunk Aquaman, was so stupid. So yeah, the ending is just bad all around.

Middle Ground

Now I imagine a lot of you, much like myself, saw the leaks with the CGI, and yeah, some of that can't be defended. Especially when the Flash was time traveling in a energy sphere. Andy Muschietti can go on and on about how it was for artistic reasons, but come on, there's a way to be artistic and still make things appealing. Now with that out of the way, not all of the CGI is bad. There are scenes when it's really good. So if you're planning to see this, even though you saw the leaks, ignore that footage that was taken on someone's phone. Another mix bag was the humor. I'll admit, there was some genuinely funny moments, but some jokes just didn't work.

Pros

There's two good aspects of The Flash and one of those is the performances, especially from Michael Keaton and Ezra Miller. It's impressive how Ezra was doing an amazing job at having to play two different characters, and Keaton, Keaton pretty much steals the show. It was great seeing him play Batman again, and I had a big smile on my face, whenever he was in the Batsuit. Now for my biggest praise, and it's like I said before, this movie actually has a lot of heart to it. Because a majority of comic book movies seem hellbent on pleasing people who have this narrow view, that a comic book movie can only be good if there's an overabundance of comedy, I was expecting to see basically more of a parody of The Flash. Sure there's jokes, but they weren't the primary focus. A good portion of the movie is Barry missing is mom, and wanting what any child would want when their parent is gone, and that's having the chance to bring them back. A lot of people can relate to that. A matter of fact, there's a scene where Barry is saying goodbye to his mom, and it's really good drama. My folks are alive and well, and if I found this scene touching.

While I did enjoy quite a few things about The Flash, there are somethings that I just couldn't get behind, especially those cameos. But, I do think a lot of the hate for this movie is overblown.

My final rating is, Okay.

Well, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jun 19th, for my review of Chris Hemworth's newest movie, Extraction 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Flashpoint Review

 

With The Flash arriving to theaters this Friday, I thought it'd be a good idea to review the comic that had an influence on the movie, as suppose to Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox considering I already reviewed it.

Flashpoint was a 2011 DC Comics crossover story arc, the core issues can be found in Flashpoint #1-5. The storyline was written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert.

The story is Barry Allen has woken up and immediately notices that nothing is how he remembers it. Not only his not the Flash but his deceased mother is alive and his father never went to prison, but the Justice League he was apart of doesn't exist. To make matters worse, Wonder Woman and Aquaman have been fighting in an intense war and it only seems to escalate more and more. Now, Barry must get his powers, stop this war, and find out what caused him to be in this dimension.

• Negatives

I've got nothing, just move on.

• Mix

The only gray area is the story. Now, there's a lot of good things. Such as an interesting mystery, good emotional moments, and action. The only downside was the war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman. The backstory as to why they're fighting is barely there. We got a quick image here, and a quick bit of dialogue there. I think maybe had there have been an issue or two, then maybe that part of the story would've been stronger.

• Positives

Now for the positives with one of those being, or at least from my opinion, but I think this is a good read for both new and old readers. Lifelong fans whether they like DC, The Flash, or both, will enjoy this. And newer readers will also get a kick out of this. Because while there are two references (those being Barry's mom's death and Barry's connection to the Speed Force) to another Geoff Johns' Flash miniseries [The Flash: Rebirth], you don't really need to read that to understand what's going on here. Especially since this miniseries basically gave you a shorten version of those two references.

Then we have the pacing. Much like any other forms of entertainment, whether it be movies, TV shows, or this case comics, there could be instances where things just feel slow. This isn't the case for Flashpoint. I was impressed with how quickly I finished this. I mean it, if you want to read this and you're worried about your time, don't worry, you'll breeze right through this.

The last thing I'll praise is Andy Kubert's art. It's beautifully detailed and drawn nicely. And Andy nailed two things that I think are the two essentials things whenever you're drawing superhero comics, and that's action and emotion. The action drawn here is perfect, but it's the emotional aspect that also elevates things. I've read this story, maybe three times, but that last page, where Batman says Barry's one hell of a messenger, still gets me.

While the story of Flashpoint does have its flaws, I still really enjoy this. Both from a Flash storyline perspective and a DC Comics event perspective.

My final rating is, Good.

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Jun 17th, for my review of The Flash. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Flamin' Hot Review

 

Flamin' Hot is a biographical comedy drama movie based on the memoir, A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive. It's produced by Searchlight Pictures and Franklin Entertainment and distributed by Hulu and Disney+. Flamin' Hot is written by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez and directed by Eva Longoria.

The story is Richard Montañez is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Luckily a friend helps get a job at Frito-Lay. After hearing that lays off will be coming to the company, Richard quickly starts to come up with an idea, an idea that becomes Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Initial Reaction

The reason why I decided to see this was because I wasn't expecting a big huge story regrading Flamin' Hot Cheetos. I figured someone just walked into the office one day and said "Hey, how about Cheetos, but they're really hot". So I was curious how this story went.

Cons

The biggest problem stems from the story. Ya see, Richard's story...isn't exactly an honest one. One could say he flat out lied! If you don't believe both the LA Times and a YouTuber by the name of Zack D. Films covered this story. So basically, the story continues to tell a lie that's been debunked numerous times. But even if you ignore that, this movie doesn't had anything new to the good, old rags to riches story. I mean it, we pretty much hit every trope.

-Not so good childhood. ✅️

-Had to be a criminal to survive. ✅️

-Wive or significant other always seems to have inspirational words. ✅️✅️

-Big triumphant ending with a literal round of applause, even from people who opposed our hero. ✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️

Now I said in my Bumblebee review you can use a lot of clichés, as long as you execute them well, this movie didn't. The writers wrote these tropes in the most blandest, safest way possible, and in doing so, you get a movie that in less than a month, you're going to forget about it. What they should've done is write the story surrounding the controversy over who really invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos. That would've been far more interesting.

Middle Ground

I've got nothing. Just move on.

Pros

Now I will give the movie credit for three things. One of those was the humor. I was surprised over how funny it was. And the acting was pretty good. Whether it was serious, dramatic, or humorous, the actors and actresses did a good job. Even though I'm very frustrated with her decision on directing this version of the story, I'll give Eva Longoria credit, she did do a decent job on directing. It's not a style that'll blow your mind, but for a first time director, it's good.

This movie could've been something good, but it's severely brought down by having a story continue to spread a lie. Sure, there was still entertaining stuff, but that lie spreading is a big no no.

My final rating is, Bad.

That's all for today. Come back on Thursday, Jun 15th, for my review of DC Comics' Flashpoint. That's right, I'm doing yet another comic book review. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Review

 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a sci-fi action based on both Hasbro's Generation 1 toyline and Beast Wars toyline. It's the standalone sequel to Bumblebee as well as the seventh movie in the live-action series. It's produced by Hasbro, Skydance Media, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bay Films and New Republic Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is written by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber and directed by Steven Caple Jr.

The story is after their home planet was destroyed, the leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal, goes to Earth to keep a powerful key from falling into the wrong hands. Now, both Autobots and Maximals must join forces in an effort to protect this key, no matter the cost.

Initial Reaction

Even though I think this franchise really should've continued the path it was on, as suppose to trying to appeal to fans of the G1 series, that doesn't mean I was just gonna give up on this franchise. I was always gonna be curious about what comes next.

Cons

The only thing I hated about this, was the mid-credit scene. This was completely pointless. Especially since the movie ended on a really jaw dropping note. I mean, which sounds better? Ending a movie hinting at a crossover, or ending it with an Autobot who we more than likely knew we were gonna see again. I don't know about you, but the former sounds way better.

Middle Ground

One mix bag came from the special effects. There were times when they were really good, not so much with other scenes. Like one character was in an armored suit. What should've been awesome, sadly wasn't. Mainly cause the CGI was so obvious, that it was very distracting. Other thing was the characters. Some such as Noah and Optimus Prime, do get a pretty good story arc. Others are just kinda there. But I did enjoy the villain, Scourge. He may not be anything ground breaking, but hey, at least he's got a badass trophy hunter gimmick going for him, the villains from the last movie [Bumblebee] were just bland.

Pros

If there's anything liked, it was the action. Despite what I said earlier about the effects, I still did like those scenes. Especially the final battle. What can I say, I guess I'm a sucker for fights where it's a small squad vs. an entire army. Ya know, an against all odds kinda thing. Especially if it's done right, like it was here.

While Rise of the Beasts can be entertaining in a lot of ways, this isn't really a blockbuster that you need to see right this minute.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jun 12th, for my review of Hulu and Disney+'s newest movie, Flamin' Hot. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Bumblebee Review

 

Bumblebee is a sci-fi action movie based on the Hasbro toyline Transformers, more specifically the character of Bumblebee. It's also the sixth movie in the live-action series. It was produced by Allspark Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Bay Films, and Tencent Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Bumblebee was written by Christina Hodson and directed by Travis Knight.

The story is after losing their war on the planet Cybertron, Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to Earth to set up a base on operation. Later on, a girl named Charlene aka Charlie, unknowingly sets off his homing signal thus alerting two Decepticons named Shatter and Dropkick. Now, Bumblebee must do whatever he can to not only survive these enemies, but also protect his new friend.

• Negatives

One bad aspect of the movie is, it has an identity crisis. Nobody, not even the movie itself can tell if this is a reboot or a prequel. And this debate has been going since the movie was released. Both audiences and filmmakers can't say it's a reboot, because Bumblebee still has the same face he had in the first movie, and Sector 7 is here as well. Last time I checked, when you do a reboot, you wipe the slate completely clean. Not half of it. And nobody can say it's a prequel, because the movie makes a lot of contradictions to the first movie. Such as, Optimus Prime being on Earth, when at this point in time, he shouldn't be there. When making a movie to a franchise like this, it's best to keep it as simple as possible, as suppose to leaving the audience confused. And with what I've seen from the marketing for Rise of the Beasts, we're most likely still gonna be left confused.

Other negative is the villains Shatter and Dropkick, they were so generic. I mean it, they have no personalities other than being evil. They easily could've been replaced with any other Decepticons, and the movie would've been exactly the same.

• Mix

One mix bag came from the special effects. Now there were a lot of times, and I do mean a lot, where it looks good. Other times it's just unforgivable. Like this,

CG on Bee doesn't look bad, but man that green screen. It looks like the actors were photoshopped onto the background.

Then we have Charlie's story. Whenever she's with Bumblebee, and those two are forming their bond, it's nice, sweet even. It's a good story, when we're not focusing on the Transformers. Her story with her family, not so much. I'm 90% sure the family story, checked off almost every cliché in the troubled family story. Now you can use all of the tropes for a story like that, all you want. A lot of those are pretty much mandatory. What you need to do is nail the execution, which didn't happen. What we got with the family story was as predictable as it could get.

• Positives

If there was one thing I truly liked, it was the action. Regardless of the quality, this franchise doesn't fail when it comes to action. The best came from the final fight, and especially the beginning. The opening sequence was pretty much the G1 cartoon brought to life.

Now, I by no means hate this movie, I did have some fun with it. However, I do believe it's overhyped. The only reasons why this got great reviews was because Michael Bay didn't direct, and because people finally got their nostalgia pandering. 

And before any of you say I'm just being a bias and bitter Bay fanboy, read my reviews for the previous five movies. I haven't given one, not one of those movies a very high rating, despite being a big fan of Michael Bay.

My final rating is, Okay.

Well folks, the road to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is finally over. Come back on Saturday, Jun 10th, for well, my review of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review

 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an animated comic book film and the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. It was produced by Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Animation, Columbia Pictures, Arad Productions, Lord Miller Productions, and Pascal Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.

The story is about a year has gone by since the events of the last movie, and Miles has adjusted nicely into being Spider-Man. Suddenly he's hit with a big surprise when Gwen arrives and takes into the multiverse, where he meets the Spider-Society. When a new threat comes, Miles comes into conflict with the Society on how to handle it.

Initial Reaction

So my reasoning is just like everybody else's. I love Into the Spider-Verse, so when a sequel was arriving, I just had to see it.

Cons

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

Middle Ground

One mix bag I had with the movie was the story. Now, don't get me wrong, it's still a very good story, the problem stems from, it's not a completed story. Sure, we knew this was part one of a two part story, but that doesn't mean we need an abrupt ending and such. Look at all the other movies that were part of multipart story but still managed to tell a full story in the very same movie. Then there's the animation. It's actually better than the first, because the filmmakers did leave up to their promise, with different universes having their own look, where it kind a dips is there were times when it seemed like they didn't know what style to use, so they just said "let's us all of them". Especially evident in Gwen's universe. That had so many style changes, and weird stuff going around, that it was very distracting.

Pros

So was there anything I liked? Yes, for instance, the action. Good fights, but my all time favorite was when you've got all these Spider-People chasing after Miles. It also got pretty intense, especially when Miles and Spider-Man 2099 are fighting some futuristic looking train. Then we also have the voice cast, they did a spectacular job. If you loved their work in the first movie, they you'll love them here. I even liked Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099. The last thing I'll be positive about is the humor. The audience I saw this with was having a great time, and thankfully it came at an appropriate time too. Sorry if I keep repeating that praise, but given some of the comic book movies we've been given, that really does seem like a major accomplishment.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse carries on the same heart and humor from the first movie. However, there really still a few missteps here and there, hopefully when Beyond the Spider-Verse comes, we won't have this slight issues.

My final rating is, Okay.

Alright, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jun 8th, for the final part of my Road to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, with my review of Bumblebee. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Why Spider-Verse Sucks

 

With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arriving on Friday, I thought I'd review the comic book event that started the franchise. For any of you wondering why I didn't do this for the first movie, it was because it simply didn't cross my mind. Lackluster reasoning, I know, but enough of that and let's tell you why this comic sucks.

Spider-Verse was a 2014-2015 Marvel Comics storyline, that can be found in the 2014 volume of the comic series, The Amazing Spider-Man within issues #9-15. The story arc was written by Dan Slott and drawn by both Olivier Coipel and Giuseppe Camuncoli.

The story is Peter Parker thought it was just gonna be another day of being Spider-Man and stop some criminals. He quickly gets shocking news when other Spider-Men tell him they need his help to stop The Inheritors. Can Peter and his fellow Web Warriors stop them, or they doomed to be their food?

Reasons Why It Sucks

Reason #4: Too Many Tie-In Plugs

One thing that became incredibly annoying when reading the main storyline was also seeing a red box basically saying "Hey! Do want to know what happens in this adventure?! Well read this miniseries!" Just check this out, this happens in issue ten.

Then we have.

After that, we go to issue eleven, and guess what, another tie-in plug! This happens throughout the entire story and it's very annoying. Not too mention but some of these stories to fell necessary to read. Like what's the point of seeing Miles and Ultimate Spider-Man (the cartoon one, not the comic one) going a recruitment adventure? We're either A) Gonna see those characters die just as quickly as they were introduced, or B) They're gonna pushed to the background. Which brings me to my next point.

Reason #3: Too Many Characters

I mean it folks, there were just too many Spider-People crammed into this story. Like I said previously these characters either die just as quickly as they appear or they just get pushed to the background. So because of this, you really don't care which one dies. I mean, maybe if you're a hardcore Spider-Man fan maybe you care, but even then you'd have to admit, it didn't matter at the end. Because the only purpose that one specific character played, was to add to the bodycount. What should've happened in that we just stuck with a small team of Spider-People and then worked with that.

Reason #2: The Villains

The second worse thing were our villians, The Inheritors. These bad guys were boring! I mean it, they are as stereotypical as they get. Most of they dialogue is just "Hahahaha! We're going to feast of these Spider-People! Hahahaha! or "It's time to hunt! Oh how I love to hunt these little delicious meals! Hahahaha!" and if it's not meal talk is just them talking about how great they are, in the most standard way possible. I also noticed there's nothing separating one from the other. They all come off as the same character, but different clothing and gender. And other than Morlun (I'll get into the writing about him later), everyone else is pretty much forgettable.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY SPIDER-VERSE SUCKS IS.....

THE WRITING!!!!

The writing for this story is just terrible. It's so inconsistent, that I wouldn't be surprised if a former Marvel employee came out and said Dan Slott was just making things up as he went all. Cause the story almost gives off that impression.

One bad thing is the characterization of Morlun. When he first appeared in the 1999 volume of Amazing Spider-Man and the storyline Coming Home (issues #30-35 if you were curious), he was pretty awesome. A decent villain in my opinion, but here, Dan writes him like your genetic bad guy, who gets into petty fights with his older brother, like a child. Way to give J. Michael Straczynski a giant middle finger there Danny boy.

And just to prove my point about the inconsistencies, get a load of these events.

So, let me see if I got this right. Daddy Inheritor can take on and straight up kill a version of Spider-Man with cosmic powers, without breaking a sweat mind you. But he can't beat Kaine (a clone of the main canon Spidey) who's only ability is he recently turned into a giant spider, to the point where he actually dies. How and why did nobody at Marvel call Dan out on this?! This isn't a slight mistake, this is just terrible writing.

Then there's the thing that was absolutely driving me crazy throughout the whole story, and that's Peter Parker (the real one, not an alternate) apparently forgot how to kill people like Morlun! What I mean is going back to the Coming Home storyline, Peter found a way to finally defeat Morlun. So did that bit of knowledge crossover to this story? NO! Before the final acts, Peter goes on and on about how he just doesn't know how to beat Morlun and his family. Again, Peter went through this, he even mentions fighting Morlun before and what happens to his body when he's actually beaten. So how come he doesn't realize it here? Because Dan Slott's writing is terrible. That's why. Either he didn't bother doing research, did very little research, or he did do his research and he deliberately chose to ignore certain events, just so his story can give the impression that there's actually stakes. I'm believing it's the last one, because like I wrote before, Peter mentioned these events. So Dan Slott must've purposely ignored somethings.

The Only Good Thing

There's really only one thing saving this story from me giving it my lowest rating, and that's Olivier Coipel's artwork and Giuseppe Camuncoli's artwork. Despite given a very terrible story to work, these two by no means slacked off. That's really the only reason to check out this story. Everything else sucked, but not their handiwork.

My final rating is, Awful!

So yeah, if you want to see good Spider-Verse stories, just checkout Ultimate Spider-Man and its The Spider-Verse multipart episodes and Return to the Spider-Verse multipart episodes. You can also watch Into the Spider-Verse or Spider-Man: No Way Home. Or just go watch the final two episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Those episodes came out in 1998, way before Dan had this idea, and they're also far superior than what he wrote.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jun 3rd, for my review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.