Road to The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Fantastic Four Review

 

Yes, yet another Road to. So let's cut the introductions short and get to it.

The Fantastic Four is an unreleased comic book movie based on the Marvel Comics' team of the same name. While Constantine Film did production, New Concorde handled distribution. The story was written by Craig J. Nevius and Kevin Rock and directed by Oley Sassone.

The story is, after surviving a cosmic rays during space mission, Reed Richards, siblings Sue & Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm have gained superpowers. While this newly formed hero team is figuring things about themselves and their powers, a sinister force going by the name Doctor Doom is lurking and wants domination. Now they must pull themselves together and put a stop to him.

• Negatives

Oh boy, I got quite a lot. Firstly, the acting. It's either bad or over the top. I don't know what was funnier? The wooden line delivers or Doctor Doom's voice that came equipped with sign language. I'm serious about that last one. Nine times out of ten whenever Doom speaks he'll have his hands moving in all sorts of directions like he's Italian. Sorry for diverting there. I just had to mention that.

Next up is the action. Word of advice from the occasionally wise, whenever your budget is a total of a million dollars, don't do a big epic superhero movie especially when all four members of the team have different abilities, your villain has a very detailed costume, and so on. Otherwise you wind up with stuff like this,

And if you thought Mister Fantastic/Reed was bad, get a load of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.

Maybe it's just me, but that looks more like a red Silver Surfer then Human Torch.

I don't have anything to add to this next one. It's just funny.

Hahahaha! I just love how after he's punched not only does jump up into the air, but he falls down and is spread out. It's almost like a cartoon.

The last thing I'll touch on is the story. It's a mess. For starters, there's no explanation as to why exactly Sue & Johnny are allowed to go on the mission. Other than Reed & Ben [The Thing] knew them since they were kids. Doctor Doom is even worse. We get a slight origin with an experiment gone wrong. But it's never explained how he managed to go from college student to powerful supervillain. There's also the other villain, The Jeweler. Yes there's another villain but he's not interesting and he's ultimately pointless.

• Mix

I've got nothing.

• Positives

Let's start off with the costumes of Doctor Doom and The Thing. They're really good. They look like they came straight out of the comics. Although when looking at them I'm starting to get a good idea where some of the budget went 😆. The last thing I'll praise is this movie is pure entertaining shlock. This is a b-movie to the fullest extent. Chessy acting, cheap special effects, and bad writing, the whole nine yards and I loved every moment.

So yeah folks. This movie is without a doubt, So Bad, It's Good.

If you're curious, you can watch the full thing on YouTube, there's even a documentary about the making of this movie and how it winded up the way it is. And if you don't want to watch the doc on YouTube, then you can watch it on Tubi for free.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Apr 3rd, for my review of the newest horror flick, Screamboat. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Working Man Review

 

A Working Man is an action thriller movie and it's based on Chuck Dixon's 2014 novel, Levon's Trade. The studios in charge of production was Black Bear, Cedar Park Entertainment, Punch Palace Productions, and Balboa Productions with Amazon MGM Studios handling distribution. David Ayer directed and wrote the screenplay along with Sylvester Stallone.

The story is, Levon Cade is living a peaceful life as a construction worker after serving his time in the Royal Marines. But this peace is soon taken away when his boss's daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers. Levon must now use his old set of skills to find her and bring her home.

Initial Reaction

The reason why I was excited to see was mainly because of all of the behind the scenes stuff. It's based on something Chuck Dixon wrote? Hey he's written a lot of comic books I like, I'm in. It's directed by David Ayer and stars Jason Statham?! The Beekeeper was fun, I'm in again! The script is also written by Sylvester Stallone?! Big Rambo fan! I'm all in! So yeah, it sounded like a good time to me.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

There's two mix bags. One is the villains. While they can be colorful a lot of times they are very standard. The there's the story. Now Levon's rescue mission is pretty good. It gets you excited and sometimes leaves a bit on edge. But what brings it down a bit are the subplots. One's about hierarchy and stuff, while the other is about Levon wanting to spend time with his kid but custody battles are getting in the way. One or both of these either needed to be trimmed down or removed. Cause sometimes they can get in the way of the rescue story.

Pros

Let's start with the pacing. Despite the decent story the pacing is still pretty good. A bit slow in some areas, but nothing that really bothered me. Then we have the action. Jason Statham does his usual thing of kicking all of the asses that need kicking. And I gotta say for a guy who's pushing 60 it's still crazy how he's able to pull all of these marital arts and stunts off. There's also a really great climactic showdown a grimy brothel that I had a blast watching. The last thing I'll credit is David Ayer's directing. He does a great job with the action, but I always admired how he makes his movies look realistic. With this one it's all dusty construction sites, some dimly lit bars, and that creepy brothel I mentioned earlier. So if you like Ayer's style like I do, then you won't be disappointed.

While not by any means a flawless masterpiece, there was still a bit of fun to be had.

My final rating is, Okay.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Mar 31st, where I'll begin the Road to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Superman (2025) - All-Star Superman Review

 

Another day another Superman review on this little road to the newest Superman movie.

All-Star Superman was a 2005 twelve issue maxiseries. DC Comics published the series while Grant Morrison wrote with Frank Quitely drawing every issue.

The story is, after saving a doctor and his teammates during a mission, Superman cells are overloaded with solar radiation. It made him more powerful but sadly this is also killing him. With so little time left Superman first reveals his identity to the love of his life Lois Lane then do what he does best, be a hero.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

I just know I'm gonna lose some geek credit for saying this...but I'm not the biggest fan of Frank Quitely's art. Now let me get to the positives. Frank does a spectacular job having characters express emotions through facial expressions and body language both with and without dialogue. He also applies great details with clothing, buildings, weapons, and so forth. However even though I praise his facial expressions he kind of loses me with how he draws faces. Often time they'll look puffy and have some extra details in then, like extra wrinkles. Because of this characters can look way older then what they're suppose to be.

Then we have the story. Let's start off with the positives. For starters Superman's relationship with Lois Lane. We get great tender emotional moments between them and because of that we see another side of how much dying is effecting him. He maybe solving huge issues in the world, but he still wants to make time with those closest to him. But other than love we have the theme of legacy. Like I wrote earlier Superman is trying to solve a lot of the world's problems both in strength and science. It's all about him leaving something great behind and ensure humanity's survival when he's gone. So what's the slight issue then? Well while the story is great in it's own there's one aspect I don't recall being mentioned too much, and that's the story is gonna appeal to more of a niche audience than casual readers. Grant Morrison has a lot of the Silver Age history/weirdness sprinkled throughout the story. So it does feel more like a story for longtime fans, then fans who can just jump right in.

• Positives

If there's one truly good thing it's the pacing. It's pretty good. Slow in some areas but for 99.99% of the time it's easy to read through.

While there are many aspects of the comic series I liked, there was also stuff I was okay with. Having said that though, I still liked overall. So if you're willing push forward with the Silver Age stuff, then go right ahead and give this a chance.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now, come back on Saturday, Mar 29th for my review of the newest Jason Statham film, A Working Man. And if I can't get a review for that, then come back on Monday, Mar 31st, for the first part of my Road to The Fantastic Four: First Steps with my of the 1994 Fantastic Four movie. Yes, that exists. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Batman: Hush Review

 

Initially I wasn't gonna do this, but and this is gonna sound so geeky, I got so pumped up that Batman (2016) #158 is gonna be the sequel to this storyline along with Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee returning, so with that info I just had to review this. Especially since it's one of my top favorite Batman stories.

Batman: Hush was a 2002 storyline and was published by DC Comics with the 1940 edition of the comic book series simply titled, Batman. The story arc can be find in issues #608-619. It was written by Jeph Loeb and the art was done by the one and only, Jim Lee.

The story is, Batman's old enemies are attacking him on a level they've never tried before. All these new methods are linked to a new villain in Gotham City who wants to destroy the Dark Knight in a psychical and psychological way. Now, Batman must stop this villain before he wins, but at the same time he's having complicated feelings when he realizes both him and Catwoman are falling for each other.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

It's the story, but let's get through all of the good stuff, and trust me there's a lot of good stuff. Let's start off with the action. There's plenty of action in this. Anytime Batman's gonna throw down with somebody or a chase scene or a combination of the two, it's exciting. But the best thing about it is how balanced it is. While Jeph Loeb wrote lots of action scenes, it still left plenty of room for more quieter moments. Whether it'd be just two characters talking or stuff focusing on detective work. Now there's a lot of Batman stories where the scale is grand, this isn't one of them. Despite how big the story sounds it's actually very small. A matter of fact this small story is always diving deep into Batman's thoughts on the case as well as if he can trust some like Catwoman not only as an ally, but as a possible romantic lover. Speaking of trust, that's a very big theme. You'll read about how trust is a very fragile thing and how no matter how big or small an alliance or friendship is, there's sadly a good chance that kind of trust can be broken. So with all of that good stuff there is a slight issue. When the storyline first starts the conspiracy is very interesting and for awhile keeps you guessing, but I fully admit once you keep going you do start to get a full idea who Hush [the new villain introduced to this story] is way before the big reveal in issue #619, or chapter 12 if you're reading this in a collected edition.

• Positives

Let's start off with the pacing. Despite this story being twelve issues long this a breeze to get through. Jeph didn't waste a single beat.

The biggest praise goes to Jim Lee's art. I'm a big fan of his art. Let so you some samples. Starting with...

Just look at this. The coloring, the smoke, this is just pure Batman. I remember when I was a kid, before I cared about reading and the people who made these comics possible, I remember seeing this and being blown away.

Then we have this iconic image where I'm pretty sure Batman and Catwoman shippers have this as their wallpaper be it on their computer or phone.

First let me just say this isn't a spoiler to how they end up by the end of the storyline. Having said that, I'm not very much of a romantic guy, but that's just a gorgeous piece of art. Jim's art throughout this entire story is just larger than life and has his own cinematic flair to it. His got details whether it'd be for the buildings in Gotham City or Metropolis, vehicles, or the design of the characters. And when his art is combined Scott Williams' inks and Alex Sinclair's colors, you get imaginary that not only worked in the 2000s, but even today looks amazing.

Now while I mentioned that slight flaw in the story I still love Hush. It's still fun and I say you should give it a read.

My final rating is, Great.

Anyways, that's all for now, fingers cross the sequel is good and hopefully I can give a review when that story is done. Preferably for this year. So, come back on Thursday, Mar 27th, where I return to the Road to Superman (2025), with my review of yet another comic, All-Star Superman. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Snow White (2025) Review

Snow White or Disney's Snow White is a musical fantasy movie and a live-action remake of the 1937 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Productions was Walt Disney Pictures and Marc Platt Productions with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in charge of distribution. Erin Cressida Wilson wrote while Marc Webb directed.

The story is, the Evil Queen rules over a once peaceful kingdom with an iron fist. After seeing an enough of this ruthlessness, Show White decides to join others to put a stop to the Queen's rule and liberate the kingdom. But the Evil Queen won't go down without a fight.

Initial Reaction

This wasn't a movie I was really looking forward to mainly because apparently the PR department forgot to tell Rachel Zegler not to make an ass out of herself. But I figured I might as well review because I thought you guys would like that.

Cons

We've got three big negatives. Let's start off with the songs. A majority of them are very forgettable. I mean it. I only remember two of them. There's "Heigh-Oh" but that's not this movie's own original song that's from the 1937 film. Sure they changed just a little bit, but it's still a song people are gonna affiliate with the 1937 film. Then there's the villain song "All is Fair", but I'm gonna remember that one for a very different reason. I'll go into details why when I touch upon performances. But all of the other songs, nobody's gonna remember them. Then there's the Seven Dwarfs. Sure they have their personalities, but the CGI on them is so uncanny that whenever they're on the screen you're just gonna be taken out of the experience. I mean it, if you thought they looked creepy in the trailers, just watch them go through entire scenes, you'll feel very uncomfortable very quick. Disney will more than likely NOT learn any lessons from this but if they learn one, hopefully it's let never give realistic skin texture to designs that are meant to be cartoony. And what's funny is Disney could've avoided this if they had just hired actual actors. But no, they thought uncanny valley was a better idea. Then there's the story. Remember all those times Rachel Zegler was saying stupid things like how Snow White won't be rescued by the prince and all that other crap? Well that stuff didn't happen. When watching this movie there's a clear as day clash going on. It's trying to recapture stuff the original movie did but at the same time trying to be different from the original. You really start to notice it when after Snow White leaves the Dwarfs' house and meets the bandits aka the group of characters who were gonna replace the Dwarfs. Cause after that meeting you can tell that stuff was just reshoot to hell. So we get a Frankenstein of a movie.

Middle Ground

The only thing I've got is Marc Webb's directing. Now if you watch his previous films such as [500] Days of Summer & his Amazing Spider-Man films, the guy clearly has a great style. But here don't see much of it. Mainly because he more than likely had to work with what he got from those previously mentioned reshoots. So hey, A for effort.

Pros

I've got two, one goes to the performances from Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Now Rachel isn't gonna set the world on fire with this performance, but given the polar opposite mishmash of material she had to work with, it's amazing she was able to get a good performance. Then there's Gal Gadot. Now I've heard complaints about how hammy she is, but ya know what? I liked it. Much like Rachel, she's got a mess of script to work. So yes, it's a bit over the top, but hey, it's much pretty than being a bore. And because of that hammy acting it's one of the reasons I remember her villain song. The last aspect I'll write about is the pacing. While the movie isn't good at least it's a breeze to get through.

So yeah folks, not very good. But yet at the same time I have seen much worse.

My final rating is, Bad, But Harmless.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Mar 24th, for my comic book review of Batman: Hush. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 

With the live-action remake just around the corner it's time to review the classic.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an animated musical fantasy film based on the Brothers Grimm's 1812 fairy tale. Walt Disney Productions produced with RKO Radio Pictures distributing. The writers were Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, and Dorothy Ann Blank and Webb Smith, with directing duties handled by David Hand, Perce Pearce, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, and Ben Sharpsteen. It's is also the first in two categories. It was the feature length animated film and the first cel animated feature film.

The story is, the Evil Queen has been told by her magic mirror that the fairest one of all isn't her, but Snow White. Driven by jealous the Queen sets a plot to kill Snow White and be crowned the fairest of them all.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

If there's one mix bag it's character. Let's start off with our the best ones, those being the Dwarfs. I don't know if I can add any more praise to them? Cause everything has already been said. They are charming, they can be funny, and the best dwarfs are Doc, Grumpy, and Dopey. Okay that last one was my bias opinion but those previous statements are true. Then we got Snow White and Evil Queen. We don't get too much about them BUT, we can identify what their characteristics are. Snow White is kind and seems to be able to make the best out of a bad situation. The Evil Queen is extremely vain and cold. So their characters are simple but it works. The worst definitely goes to the Prince. We get nothing with him. He shows up for a couple of minutes in the beginning has like three or four lines, disappears, then we don't see him until the end. Sure he's part of an iconic ending but that's all he's got.

• Positives

Now for the fun stuff starting with humor. There are quite a few moments that'll get a good chuckle out of you. Not a full belly laugh, but still enough to get a laugh out of you. Some of the best, unsurprisingly comes from the Seven Dwarfs.

The next thing I'll touch on is the more dark moments. I forgot how dark it can get. I knew about the Huntsman and the poison apple, but I completely forgot about stuff like the Queen demanding to have Snow White's heart be put in a box. Yeah, that's actually in the movie, pretty shocking isn't it?

The last aspect I'll praise is the animation. I get some could argue it's a little rough but keep two things in mind. 1) Disney's VERY first animated feature film and 2) 1937 technology. But even with those factors it's still amazing with what they made. Like I said previously, this beautiful work was done in the 1930s. They were no where near close to the tech we have now. Hell a simple ripple effect for water looks fantastic.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an essential film to watch. Not just in the animation genre, the fantasy genre, or etc. It's movie making history that has to be seen if you're gonna have a love for movies.

My final rating is, A MUST WATCH!

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Mar 22nd, for my review of the live-action remake of Snow White. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Review

 

The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (or just The Day The Earth Blew Up) is an animated sci-fi comedy based on the Looney Tunes. While it's the fourth movie to release in theaters, it's the first fully animated Looney Tunes flick. Warner Bros. Animation produced with Ketchup Entertainment distributing. The story is written by oh boy, here comes a list folks, it's written by Kevin Costello, Alex Kirwan, Peter Browngardt, Derrick Bachman, Eddie Trigueros, David Gemmill, Ryan Kramer, Johnny Ryan, Jason Reicher, and Michael Ruocco and with Peter Browngradt also directing.

The story is, Porky Pig & Daffy Duck were once job hunting until they find one at the Goodie Gum factory. It started off as on ordinary job until Daffy finds out the gum is all part of an alien plot. Now, Daffy & Porky become Earth's only hope and must put a stop to this cosmic threat. But first, they got to make sure they don't drive each other crazy.

Initial Reaction

Having reviewed previous Looney Tunes movies, minus Looney Tunes: Back in Action, I thought it'd be fun to review another, especially since I want to forget Space Jam 2. But I was also curious because for some reason Warner Bros. didn't want to distribute it. And with recent news about Max removing the Looney Tunes from their streaming service, I thought it'd also be good to support this iconic franchise.

Cons

I don't have anything. So just move on.

Middle Ground

The only mix aspect I had with the movie was the humor. Now for at least for a majority of the runtime it is very. Great gags, some funny lines, and sometimes just funny character designs. Looking at you Farmer Jim. But there were some moments when it's just loud noise or something stupid.

Pros

Now for the good stuff. Let's start off with Eric Bauza's voice work. I love what this guy does. I think he plays a perfect Porky and Daffy. He captures their characters, or least this version of them, very well and I hope he continues to play these two in the next movie. Well, hopefully the next movie. Then there's the pacing. The movie clocks in at one hour and thirty-one minutes, and not one once of time is wasted. This is a breeze to get threw. The next thing I'm gonna praise is the animation. Browngradt and co. were shooting for a style very reminiscent of the Looney Tunes shorts of the 1950's. And I think they did a good job capturing that, and it's not just the character designs alone. They also got the wacky style as well. So if you like stuff that has a more old school look to it, here's your movie. The last thing I'll give the filmmakers credit for is them focusing on other characters. Now I'll always be a Bugs Bunny fan, but I do like that Porky and Daffy are the central focus. Hell, even though I just said Bugs is my favorite, I'm actually glad Daffy got some sort of spotlight.

I gotta say I came out liking this a lot more than I thought I would. Sure there was a slight issue but that's almost forgivable.

My final rating is, Good.

So folks, give this movie a chance. Do not let this be another Transformers One, where despite the good quality it bombed at the. Especially now, since apparently Warner Bros. isn't showing this franchise any love. Anyhow, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Mar 20th, for my A Look Back at review of the classic Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and give this movie some love.