Notable Cast:
T'Challa/Black Panther- Chadwick Boseman
Erik Killmonger- Michael B. Jordan
Nakia- Lupita Nyong'o
Okoye- Danai Gurira
Everitt Ross- Martin Freeman
Shuri- Letitia Wright
Ulysses Klaue- Andy Serkis (aka Gollum from LOTR fame)
Zuri- Forrest Whitaker
Ramonda- Angela Bassett
N'Jobu- Sterling K. Brown (aka Randall from "This is Us")
Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Original Score
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
nomination-OSCAR- Best Original Song ("All the Stars")- lost to "Shallow" from "A Star is Born"
nomination-OSCAR- Best Sound Editing
nomination-OSCAR- Best Sound Mixing (lost both to "Bohemian Rhapsody")
nomination-OSCAR- Best Picture (lost to "Green Book")
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Picture (Drama)- lost to "Bohemian Rhapsody"
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Original Score
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Origianl Song (lost to "Shallow")
Write-up:
Yeah, after all the hype and all the awards and nominations, I didn't see this movie until over a year since it came out. I'd thought a couple times after all the accolades starting coming in that I should see it too, but just never got around to it.
Then my dad saw it in-flight, where he sees a bunch of his movies and he said the hype was unwarranted and it made no sense. Mind you, he's not one of those people who really follow these sci-fi Marvel movies, so he's probably just the wrong audience for it. I finally just bought it on DVD. What's $20, right?
I'd seen it twice so far and I thought it was a good time as any to write about it. I usually give movies I see on DVD the first time at least two views before I write about them, just so I can make up my mind and in case I missed any crucial details.
My first impression was that it was really good... I just wish I was able to stay awake for more of it. It was Friday night and it'd been a long week at work where I get up at 5:30am every morning. I think i fell asleep three times and a couple times were towards the action scenes at the end. I felt like such an ass for missing so much of it. Especially cuz I was getting into.
For starters, by Marvel movie standards, it's incredible. The effects and battle sequences really have advanced over the past 10 years. So visually, this was one of the best looking movies in the franchise. Possibly the best.
Second, the characters are very vibrant and have a lot of layers to them. Particularly the protagonist and the villian. They both have deep back stories that drive their character arcs. And it's hard to argue with the bad-ass-ery coming from the female characters.
Whether or not it deserved the best picture nomination... it depends on how you define best picture. It was a cultural phenomenon and one of the most talked about movies of last year, so in that respect, it deserved consideration. Especially since few Oscar nominated movies receieve that much viewership and box office earnings. I hate the fact a lot of movies nominated come out months before Oscar season because it's not representative of the whole year.
But considering it's the first superhero movie to be nominated... if this is the first one to receive that honor, I'm a little skeptical. Sure, Iron-Man spent 40 minutes stuck in a cave with little story progress, but if superhero movies can get nominated for best picture Oscars, why couldn't Iron-Man get that nomination too? Sure, that was the year of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire and there were only 5 nominations at that time so it wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. But still... Part of me still feels like Black Panther only got best picture nominations because it was the most successful movie with a primarily black cast and Oscars have come under fire in recent years about not being inclusive of minorities.
On the other hand, though, the progress towards being inclusive has been done the way it should. It's not just about having a more diverse cast. It's about writing stories for people of color to really shine and show their abilities. And lately, a lot of those types of movies have come out. They're also stories that are universal to all races. "Green Book" got some backlash for its Oscar win, but I thought that was the type of movie people would support- black and white coming together to work toward a common goal. I hadn't seen the movie, but I'd heard from friends that it's really good.
I just watched it for a second time last night and I got a lot more out of it. Not just the fact I was awake for the whole movie this time, but there were certain lines of dialogue that resonated more this time around. Maybe because I wasn't working so hard to soak everything in.
Right away, I really liked how many issues that this movie goes into. The opening mission (every Marvel has to have one, apparently) was giving a proper ending to something that happened in real life-- that story that prompted all of the celebrities to share Instagram photos holding the sign "Bring Back Our Girls"-- the girls in Africa that were kidnapped and forced into marriage and those that weren't Muslim were converted. In reality, there's still over 100 that haven't been rescued. But at least in this movie, they got to rewrite history and rescue 20 of them. Among them was T'Challa's ex-girlfriend, who planted herself there as a spy and even though they reached the result they wanted, she still gave him a hard time for infringed on her operation.
Just one of many examples as cool as the Black Panther is as a hero, he doesn't accomplish his feats alone.
This is also one of those movies where you have to kinda pay attention throughout because everything does come together later and make sense. Like the opening scene where the previous Black Panther, T'Challa's father, visits two people in Detriot and one of them is played by Randall from "This is Us" and he talks about how there was a betrayal. It didn't make sense, but it turns out it does link back to the villain and why he's motivated to take over the throne.
Going to the main two guys for a second... Chadwick Boseman has had some BIG shoes to fill in his career... he's played Jackie Robinson and James Brown (I still need to see "Get On Up"... just cuz Prince was inspired by James Brown and I hear he emulates a lot of his moves on stage)... now he's taking on a superhero role and his main movie has finally arrived. There's a line in the movie that really sums up T'Challa as a person- "you're a good man with a good heart and it's hard for a good man to be king"... he's taking over for his father, who he'd seen die in the last Captain America movie (highly regarded as Avengers 2.5 because it has nearly all of the Avengers in it), and he's trying to live up to that legacy. He's admirable because he never takes the easy way out. He tries to be just and fair. Like when people challenge him for the throne of Wakanda- he accepts their challenges because it's the proper way to do things. Even later on when the demand comes from an outsider, as crazy and sudden this is, he still goes through with it because it's best for his country.
No matter what he's up against, he always does the right thing, something that can't be said about many of the other Avengers.
Michael B. Jordan- I'd known him since my time watching "All My Children." I got into the show because Jesse McCartney had played J.R. Unfortunately by the time I had a chance to watch, he'd been long gone. Funny thing is finding out how Chadwick Boseman had played Reggie before Michael and he'd left the show due to conflicts with the writers. Reggie was originally a gang member adopted by Jack Montgomery and Chadwick thought it was playing to racial stereotypes. And supposedly the character evolved when it was offered to Michael. I don't remember much about him on the show except that he was protective of his family, particularly Jack's other adopted daugher Lily who has autism and struggled in several social situations.
It's amazing to see where his career went after that, although it took a decade until he hit it big as Creed. He's really good in that role. I will say, though, I'm glad I saw Creed first. Because even though he has good reasons for being the way he is, I find his character extremely unlikeable when his intentions become clear.
There are three great female characters that kick ass in their own ways. His younger sister, Shuri, is the comic relief in several scenes, but she's super smart and designed a lot of the weapons. How she designed the Black Panther suit to come out of the fang necklace-- as much as Iron-Man's suit had advanced over the course of the movies he'd been in, Black Panther has him beat there. Not only super convenient, but it has this cool mechanism where it absorbs damage and throws it back at enemies. Nakia and Okoye from the Royal Guard are great to see fight. Okoye especially, if she and T'Challa got into a fair grappling match like he had to do to defend the throne, she'd probably kick his butt. It's funny in one scene where the three of them go to South Korea to find a piece of Vibranium stolen from a museum and she has to wear a dress and a wig and she's so over it.
At the start of this Marvel franchise, Vibranium was just the strongest metal on Earth and a disc of it became Captain America's shield. But it's crazy how much they advanced its usage in this world. It was used to make Ultron's suit in the second Avengers movie and a lot of it had been mined for his benefit. But to find out it originated from a meteor that hit Africa and Wakanda used it to advance their society and way of life... wow... it's amazing how many uses that metal had.
They bring up some interesting political issues too. Some more obvious than others. The scene introducing Erik Killmonger has him in a British Museum. I thought when I saw the title of the place "yeah, full of artifacts the British stole from other countries" and that's ultimately where they went with it. He makes a note of this with a pickax AND corrects a curator about its origin in the same blow.
His devious nature also comes out when he hired someone to steal the hammer from the museum, only to kill him and bring him back to Wakanda as his ticket in. He has roots to the country and wants to take over the throne with his own agenda. And after that, he starts to become very unlikeable. Not just because he defeats T'Challa, despite the fact he'd defended the throne once already.. although I don't think I'd have supported him if he showed up that first day. But when he has them burn all the heart shaped flowers so nobody else can get the Black Panther powers... that was the breaking point for me. I understand how he wouldn't want anyone to have the ability to overthrow him... but it's not as if he's going to live forever and there won't be a need for any more Black Panthers after he dies of old age.
Another one that's a little touchy... the reactions when T'Challa was overthrown and another Black Panther took over... Nakia wanting to overthrow Erik as soon as he won the throne in teh battle and Okoye saying how she doesn't like the guy but still is obligated to serve the throne... it brought back to the 2016 election and clearly they were leaning towards it when they wrote this part of the story. So many people were so upset about the results that riots and protests broke out and to this day, people are still #Resist... I can understand not liking someone elected to political office, but I'm under the opinion you need to eventually accept the results and move on and wait for the next election to change things. Bear in mind that 2016 happened because enough people were so sick of Obama's policies that they voted to change them...
the scenarios between this and the movie are still not quite the same. Our election was legit because the candidates campaigned for that entire year or so opposed to the movie where an outsider suddenly burst on the scene after everything had been decided and changed things.
The biggest political issue... and it's a heavy one because there's a lot of sides to it. Wakanda is a country of great wealth and technological advancement, but it keeps all of that to itself. There are men of color throughout the world struggling and whenever they try to rise up, they're unable to overcome their oppressors. Then there's whether or not to offer refuge to displaced people. Addressing the immigration situation and racial tensions all in the same blow... I don't think a Marvel movie has made me think so much about the state of the world in a long time, if ever.
Prince had an album called The Rainbow Children where one song ("Family Name") talked about how all the minorities coming together would make them the majority. Several other songs on that album drummed up conversations like this that make you reflect on the world and your beliefs, political, religious or otherwise. I'm not particularly a fan of this album because it leans on preachy about the Jehovah's Witness faith, something he'd become a part of and was very enthusiastic about. Not to mention his first wife Mayte wrote in her memoir about her interpretation of the album and how people from that faith worked to alienate Prince from her. A lot of fans will say it's one of his best composed albums and it is musically very strong.
Part of me is glad he's not around in this political climate, from the presidency to the R. Kelly thing... but I would have liked to hear what he had to say about Black Panther. I know he liked movies and I think he'd had a lot of great feedback about this movie and might have even written an album about things that inspired him about it.
So overall, getting back to reality, this is a really great movie I enjoyed and I'm sure I'll get more out of it the more I watch it.
Showing posts with label Lupita Nyong'o. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lupita Nyong'o. Show all posts
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Saturday, December 16, 2017
[Spoiler-Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VIII- The Last Jedi
Date: Saturday December 16 2017
Time: 10am
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess/General Leia Organa- Carrie Fisher (RIP 2016)
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyega
Rose- Kelly Marie Tran
General Hux- Domhall Gleeson
DJ- Benicio Del Toro
Vice Admiral Holdo- Laura Dern
Duration: 151 minute (+ many trailers... 8)
Opening Remarks
Only a movie like this could get me to downtown Stroudsburg this early on a Saturday. Especially when I was up a little late the night before and I had a harrowing drive home from work cuz people were going 20 miles an hour because of 2 measly inches of snow. :sigh:
Anyway, totally worth it. I definitely didn't want to wait too long because I didn't want to hear any spoilers about this one.
I think the only time I caught any spoilers for a movie was accidentally walking in to see the end of Sherlock 2... almost a year of anticipation ruined cuz I got to the theater too early and I've never gotten over it.
The theater had a few open patches throughout the main stadium seating section, but not many for three people, so we took the back row of the "orchestra" section. Roughly the same area where my mom and I saw The Judge back in 2014.
So yeah, those are two rather blatant RDJ references, but the coincidences just kept popping up. I actually had a dream about him last night where we were talking stuff and we had a nice chat. But when I asked Robert when he was going to do any non-Avenger movies, he was evasive about it. Pretty much said that being in the Marvel movies still feels like the best Halloween ever.
And coincidence again... I saw the trailer for the new Avengers movie for the first time today. Among many others... so many dang trailers! and commercials! This 10am movie wound up becoming an 10:20 movie.
Trailers
Spiderman- Into the Spider-verse
I have no idea what the hell is going on with this one. It's animated. We're following a young black teen Spider-man and we see him talking to who appears to be an older Peter Parker, asking how many there are. Dude, what the hell? Why does there have to be multiple Spider-men? It makes the whole storyline of Peter Parker randomly being bitten by a radioactive spider totally pointless. Because it makes him less special.
Early Man
I saw the movie poster for this by the ladies' room and I was saying how we'll see the trailer in the next couple months. Nope! More like the next couple minutes... it's by the same people behind Wallace & Gromit so we have an all British cast. The Stone Age meets the Bronze age, cavemen vs. Vikings (I think??). And how this tribe of cavemen had this thing of hunting rabbits. But with people like Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall and so on in this, how can it not be good?
Every Day
Man, after seeing this trailer, I said "I have to read this book"... I somehow get the feeling that movie won't be quite as good as the book, but it's a really cool idea. And I'm sure that the LGBT crowd will love it too because all kinds of relationships come into place. Basically, it's about a girl and another person who wakes up as a different person every day- and each person happens to be someone that this girl knows. Sometimes they're a guy and sometimes they're a girl and the main girl falls in love with this person's soul. So many possibilities, but one thing is clear- it's going to be a tearjerker at the end and it's going to probably suck, but I'm willing to take that risk.
Jurassic World- Fallen Kingdom
I'm afraid the movie is going to get so hyped that by the time it comes out, it's going to be kinda disappointing. I just know my dad is super excited about it and there are very few movies he gets THIS excited about. The two of us had seen every one of these movies in the theater, so that tradition will for sure continue.
The story here seems to be that the island is going to be destroyed by a volcano eruption and Owen and Claire have to try to save all the dinosaurs. Lots of crap happens and we have an Ian Malcolm cameo where he says his most famous line from the original movie "Life will find a way." Well, we shall see, won't we?
Rampage
Yikes, they're hyping up this Dwayne Johnson movie as much as San Andreas and it's probably just as doomed to fail. It's kinda like Mighty Joe Young meets King Kong meets genetic engineering and we have to save a city from being taken over by mutant animals.
Samson
It takes place in 1170 BC in Israel and it's about the Biblical figure infamous for his hair. No idea how this is going to turn out, but at quick glance (and it was a very short quick trailer), they may finally do a Biblical movie where people can't complain about it being whitewashed. If anything, the next movie demonstrates that movies are more diverse than they've ever been
A Wrinkle in Time
I'd heard this movie was coming because Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling are among the cast members. I know it's based on the Madeline L'Engle children's book (which I've never read). It looks a lot more epic than the book entails. It's about this girl whose dad is with NASA and he supposedly disappears and she may discover where he's really been this whole time. The visual effects look amazing and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe with more time and more promotion from the large cast of characters, it'll become more clear
Avengers: The Infinity War
This really was the last trailer they showed- I'm not slotting it last for any special emphasis. But yeah, I think Thanos is coming to Earth looking for the other infinity stones to put on his gauntlets. The Vision has a stone on his forehead and it may be taken away from him. I see Loki, I see Doctor Strange, Black Widow is blonde for some stupid reason (dude, this character is a redhead, you can't bloody change that!)... and maybe Captain America has been off the radar for a while because they seem to be welcoming him back kinda how Superman was welcomed back in the Justice League movie, except Steve Rogers grew his hair out a bit.
Seriously, it looks like EVERYONE in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be here and lots of crap is going to happen. There isn't much dialogue, more narration, so I don't know what's going on. I just know there were only a couple of Tony Stark/Iron-Man screenshots and when he's out of his armor, Tony just looks lost and confused like his PTSD from Iron-Man 3 is coming back and he can't handle it.
I mean, I'd almost welcome him being killed off because I'm dying for Robert to do some other projects... even though I'm kinda over Tony Stark, it would still be sad to lose him.
Ok, I'm done. Now for...
The Main Event
In a nutshell- Episode VII was about finding Luke Skywalker and the Resistance rebels destroying yet another version of the Death Star.
This movie, Episode VIII is about the aftermath of the former and the Resistance fighting to survive to fight another day while being actively pursued by the First Order.
The way this movie was put together, it almost felt like the subsequent Star Wars movies after the original. The crew is split apart and we're following 3 different groups of characters.
We have Rey on that far-off planet trying to convince Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Rebellion (or in this case, The Resistance) and she's also having several via-the-Force conversations with Kylo Ren.
We have Finn and his new comrade Rose, who are going to another planet to find a code-breaker to help disengage the tracking device that's allowing the First Order to pursue Resistance ships.
And we have Poe Dameron trying by all means necessary to buy them the time to do so.
Of course, we also have a few scenes where we're following the bad guys. General Hux and Supreme Ruler Snoke (who we get to see "in the flesh" in this movie... opposed to a hologram in the previous installment)... but we really care more about the good guys, right?
So, I had one wish for this movie after seeing the previous one... GIVE OSCAR ISAAC MORE SCREEN TIME... the previous movie had him either in the cock pilot or simply M.I.A. after his ship crashed on Jakku (good on him lobbying with J.J. Abrams to not kill off his character and they basically rewrote the movie because of him... after seeing him play a couple of not-so-nice roles, I was really glad what they gave him here).
And boy was my wish granted... couldn't be happier.
The guy is pretty reckless as a pilot, but damn, he's so good at what he does. Of course, that does land him in hot water with authority, but characters like him are always great when they're done by charismatic actors like him. Some pretty hilarious moments. But the best part was where Leia and her Vice Admiral mutually agree about him in their last scene together.. I wish I remembered the exact dialogue, but it was pretty much saying how much of a rebel he is, but despite that, they like him.
Kylo Ren still has a bit of a temper on him and that does come into play. (Particularly in the last battle scene- one of the best scenes in the movie by far and I'm sure people are already talking heaps about it). But we also get to see more of that vulnerable side of him that's conflicted. He and Rey have these odd conversations that randomly start happening, where she learns what happened to him and Luke's Jedi Temple and there seems to be a chance they'll be allies. How things go down, though, it's hard to predict. Even going into the final movie, I don't know how it's going to go and that's kinda exciting.
Some people who saw the last movie complained about him not being threatening because we see him without the mask. Supreme Ruler Snook actually has a bit of dialogue a lot of those people could agree with... don't bother with the helmet because he comes off as (again, I can't remember the exact dialogue) a child wearing a mask.
Domhall Gleeson (son of British acting great Brenden Gleeson) returns as the First Order general, so full of snark, but it's kinda funny how his authority gets undermined throughout this movie. Each person gives him their unique dose of that.
Former Storm Trooper Finn finds a new partner in Rose, whose sister was involved in the big battle scene at the beginning of the movie. She's a new character and in some ways, the heart of the movie. She and her sister came from the very same planet the two of them are visiting to find the code-breaker and we learn how they came from some sad circumstances where they were basically weapons test subjects as children. She's a prime example of why things need to change in the world, why the Resistance exists in the first place. The code-breaker they wind up meeting is played by Benicio Del Toro and like with many of the characters he plays (although I only have his Bond villain to go by personally), you never really know what to expect. Either way, it makes things interesting.
Going by the Empire Strikes Back, I was sure this movie would have a cliff-hanger ending. Throughout the final battle scene (where the Resistance evacuates to another planet with an abandoned rebel base), there were at least 3 moments where I thought the movie would end and I was oddly ok with that. But the way it does, it's not a cliff-hanger, but we are still left wondering how the hell the good guys are going to completely defeat the bad guys.
But in the same fashion as Once Upon a Time (a show I'd been meaning to do a write-up on because I decided last season was my final season. I want nothing to do with it without Emma Swan and certainly not after the previous season finale broke my heart a million times), you always have to have hope...
I'm not giving anything major away, but Luke Skywalker does get involved (with everything that's happened, why wouldn't he?) and it is absolutely epic.
The movie is extremely character-driven and you kinda need to care about these characters to be invested. While it stays true to the mythology of the original trilogy, there are moments of humor that have a modern feel to them. Meaning that they are a little over the top and obvious and sometimes they're self-deprecating.
But this audience really enjoyed this movie. There were laughs at the right times. A couple moments had some cheering because a character got what they deserved. There was even a moment where the movie went dead silent and I heard people making some random comments throughout it, so into it. And of course, we all clapped at the end, because, why wouldn't we? Ultimately, it's movies like this that are the reason why the theater experience exists and why it will never go. Nor should it.
Grade: A
(You can't beat the original and never will... but this was better put than the previous one, which I enjoyed, but there were areas where I thought it could be better. With this one, I have a feeling I'm just going to be finding new things every time I watch it. And sometimes, that's the best part of revisiting movies, other than seeing old friends again)
Time: 10am
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess/General Leia Organa- Carrie Fisher (RIP 2016)
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyega
Rose- Kelly Marie Tran
General Hux- Domhall Gleeson
DJ- Benicio Del Toro
Vice Admiral Holdo- Laura Dern
Duration: 151 minute (+ many trailers... 8)
Opening Remarks
Only a movie like this could get me to downtown Stroudsburg this early on a Saturday. Especially when I was up a little late the night before and I had a harrowing drive home from work cuz people were going 20 miles an hour because of 2 measly inches of snow. :sigh:
Anyway, totally worth it. I definitely didn't want to wait too long because I didn't want to hear any spoilers about this one.
I think the only time I caught any spoilers for a movie was accidentally walking in to see the end of Sherlock 2... almost a year of anticipation ruined cuz I got to the theater too early and I've never gotten over it.
The theater had a few open patches throughout the main stadium seating section, but not many for three people, so we took the back row of the "orchestra" section. Roughly the same area where my mom and I saw The Judge back in 2014.
So yeah, those are two rather blatant RDJ references, but the coincidences just kept popping up. I actually had a dream about him last night where we were talking stuff and we had a nice chat. But when I asked Robert when he was going to do any non-Avenger movies, he was evasive about it. Pretty much said that being in the Marvel movies still feels like the best Halloween ever.
And coincidence again... I saw the trailer for the new Avengers movie for the first time today. Among many others... so many dang trailers! and commercials! This 10am movie wound up becoming an 10:20 movie.
Trailers
Spiderman- Into the Spider-verse
I have no idea what the hell is going on with this one. It's animated. We're following a young black teen Spider-man and we see him talking to who appears to be an older Peter Parker, asking how many there are. Dude, what the hell? Why does there have to be multiple Spider-men? It makes the whole storyline of Peter Parker randomly being bitten by a radioactive spider totally pointless. Because it makes him less special.
Early Man
I saw the movie poster for this by the ladies' room and I was saying how we'll see the trailer in the next couple months. Nope! More like the next couple minutes... it's by the same people behind Wallace & Gromit so we have an all British cast. The Stone Age meets the Bronze age, cavemen vs. Vikings (I think??). And how this tribe of cavemen had this thing of hunting rabbits. But with people like Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall and so on in this, how can it not be good?
Every Day
Man, after seeing this trailer, I said "I have to read this book"... I somehow get the feeling that movie won't be quite as good as the book, but it's a really cool idea. And I'm sure that the LGBT crowd will love it too because all kinds of relationships come into place. Basically, it's about a girl and another person who wakes up as a different person every day- and each person happens to be someone that this girl knows. Sometimes they're a guy and sometimes they're a girl and the main girl falls in love with this person's soul. So many possibilities, but one thing is clear- it's going to be a tearjerker at the end and it's going to probably suck, but I'm willing to take that risk.
Jurassic World- Fallen Kingdom
I'm afraid the movie is going to get so hyped that by the time it comes out, it's going to be kinda disappointing. I just know my dad is super excited about it and there are very few movies he gets THIS excited about. The two of us had seen every one of these movies in the theater, so that tradition will for sure continue.
The story here seems to be that the island is going to be destroyed by a volcano eruption and Owen and Claire have to try to save all the dinosaurs. Lots of crap happens and we have an Ian Malcolm cameo where he says his most famous line from the original movie "Life will find a way." Well, we shall see, won't we?
Rampage
Yikes, they're hyping up this Dwayne Johnson movie as much as San Andreas and it's probably just as doomed to fail. It's kinda like Mighty Joe Young meets King Kong meets genetic engineering and we have to save a city from being taken over by mutant animals.
Samson
It takes place in 1170 BC in Israel and it's about the Biblical figure infamous for his hair. No idea how this is going to turn out, but at quick glance (and it was a very short quick trailer), they may finally do a Biblical movie where people can't complain about it being whitewashed. If anything, the next movie demonstrates that movies are more diverse than they've ever been
A Wrinkle in Time
I'd heard this movie was coming because Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling are among the cast members. I know it's based on the Madeline L'Engle children's book (which I've never read). It looks a lot more epic than the book entails. It's about this girl whose dad is with NASA and he supposedly disappears and she may discover where he's really been this whole time. The visual effects look amazing and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe with more time and more promotion from the large cast of characters, it'll become more clear
Avengers: The Infinity War
This really was the last trailer they showed- I'm not slotting it last for any special emphasis. But yeah, I think Thanos is coming to Earth looking for the other infinity stones to put on his gauntlets. The Vision has a stone on his forehead and it may be taken away from him. I see Loki, I see Doctor Strange, Black Widow is blonde for some stupid reason (dude, this character is a redhead, you can't bloody change that!)... and maybe Captain America has been off the radar for a while because they seem to be welcoming him back kinda how Superman was welcomed back in the Justice League movie, except Steve Rogers grew his hair out a bit.
Seriously, it looks like EVERYONE in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be here and lots of crap is going to happen. There isn't much dialogue, more narration, so I don't know what's going on. I just know there were only a couple of Tony Stark/Iron-Man screenshots and when he's out of his armor, Tony just looks lost and confused like his PTSD from Iron-Man 3 is coming back and he can't handle it.
I mean, I'd almost welcome him being killed off because I'm dying for Robert to do some other projects... even though I'm kinda over Tony Stark, it would still be sad to lose him.
Ok, I'm done. Now for...
The Main Event
In a nutshell- Episode VII was about finding Luke Skywalker and the Resistance rebels destroying yet another version of the Death Star.
This movie, Episode VIII is about the aftermath of the former and the Resistance fighting to survive to fight another day while being actively pursued by the First Order.
The way this movie was put together, it almost felt like the subsequent Star Wars movies after the original. The crew is split apart and we're following 3 different groups of characters.
We have Rey on that far-off planet trying to convince Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Rebellion (or in this case, The Resistance) and she's also having several via-the-Force conversations with Kylo Ren.
We have Finn and his new comrade Rose, who are going to another planet to find a code-breaker to help disengage the tracking device that's allowing the First Order to pursue Resistance ships.
And we have Poe Dameron trying by all means necessary to buy them the time to do so.
Of course, we also have a few scenes where we're following the bad guys. General Hux and Supreme Ruler Snoke (who we get to see "in the flesh" in this movie... opposed to a hologram in the previous installment)... but we really care more about the good guys, right?
So, I had one wish for this movie after seeing the previous one... GIVE OSCAR ISAAC MORE SCREEN TIME... the previous movie had him either in the cock pilot or simply M.I.A. after his ship crashed on Jakku (good on him lobbying with J.J. Abrams to not kill off his character and they basically rewrote the movie because of him... after seeing him play a couple of not-so-nice roles, I was really glad what they gave him here).
And boy was my wish granted... couldn't be happier.
The guy is pretty reckless as a pilot, but damn, he's so good at what he does. Of course, that does land him in hot water with authority, but characters like him are always great when they're done by charismatic actors like him. Some pretty hilarious moments. But the best part was where Leia and her Vice Admiral mutually agree about him in their last scene together.. I wish I remembered the exact dialogue, but it was pretty much saying how much of a rebel he is, but despite that, they like him.
Kylo Ren still has a bit of a temper on him and that does come into play. (Particularly in the last battle scene- one of the best scenes in the movie by far and I'm sure people are already talking heaps about it). But we also get to see more of that vulnerable side of him that's conflicted. He and Rey have these odd conversations that randomly start happening, where she learns what happened to him and Luke's Jedi Temple and there seems to be a chance they'll be allies. How things go down, though, it's hard to predict. Even going into the final movie, I don't know how it's going to go and that's kinda exciting.
Some people who saw the last movie complained about him not being threatening because we see him without the mask. Supreme Ruler Snook actually has a bit of dialogue a lot of those people could agree with... don't bother with the helmet because he comes off as (again, I can't remember the exact dialogue) a child wearing a mask.
Domhall Gleeson (son of British acting great Brenden Gleeson) returns as the First Order general, so full of snark, but it's kinda funny how his authority gets undermined throughout this movie. Each person gives him their unique dose of that.
Former Storm Trooper Finn finds a new partner in Rose, whose sister was involved in the big battle scene at the beginning of the movie. She's a new character and in some ways, the heart of the movie. She and her sister came from the very same planet the two of them are visiting to find the code-breaker and we learn how they came from some sad circumstances where they were basically weapons test subjects as children. She's a prime example of why things need to change in the world, why the Resistance exists in the first place. The code-breaker they wind up meeting is played by Benicio Del Toro and like with many of the characters he plays (although I only have his Bond villain to go by personally), you never really know what to expect. Either way, it makes things interesting.
Going by the Empire Strikes Back, I was sure this movie would have a cliff-hanger ending. Throughout the final battle scene (where the Resistance evacuates to another planet with an abandoned rebel base), there were at least 3 moments where I thought the movie would end and I was oddly ok with that. But the way it does, it's not a cliff-hanger, but we are still left wondering how the hell the good guys are going to completely defeat the bad guys.
But in the same fashion as Once Upon a Time (a show I'd been meaning to do a write-up on because I decided last season was my final season. I want nothing to do with it without Emma Swan and certainly not after the previous season finale broke my heart a million times), you always have to have hope...
I'm not giving anything major away, but Luke Skywalker does get involved (with everything that's happened, why wouldn't he?) and it is absolutely epic.
The movie is extremely character-driven and you kinda need to care about these characters to be invested. While it stays true to the mythology of the original trilogy, there are moments of humor that have a modern feel to them. Meaning that they are a little over the top and obvious and sometimes they're self-deprecating.
But this audience really enjoyed this movie. There were laughs at the right times. A couple moments had some cheering because a character got what they deserved. There was even a moment where the movie went dead silent and I heard people making some random comments throughout it, so into it. And of course, we all clapped at the end, because, why wouldn't we? Ultimately, it's movies like this that are the reason why the theater experience exists and why it will never go. Nor should it.
Grade: A
(You can't beat the original and never will... but this was better put than the previous one, which I enjoyed, but there were areas where I thought it could be better. With this one, I have a feeling I'm just going to be finding new things every time I watch it. And sometimes, that's the best part of revisiting movies, other than seeing old friends again)
Sunday, December 27, 2015
[Spoiler Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VII- The Force Awakens
Date: Friday December 18 2015
Time: 11am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my sister, mom and I)
Duration: 136 minutes (+ 6 trailers)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Finn- John Boyega
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Maz Kanata- Lupita Nyong'o
Former Princess, now General Leia- Carrie Fisher
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Opening Remarks and Trailers:
It wasn't my intention to see the movie the day it came out... but I also didn't want to wait too long. God forbid there are a couple nerds that plaster social media with spoilers and break the non-verbal contract of non-posting for a couple weeks after its release...
There was a small line in front of the box office, namely because it didn't open until 15 minutes before the start time. The theater was half-full, not super crowded by the time the movie started. Most arrived during the previews.
And leave it to the BIG movies where they have multiple previews.
1) we walked in at the end of "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass"- we saw it a couple movies ago for the first time
2) "Allegiant"- I'm going to keep asking until I see it- why do we need two movies for this final book?
3) "Captain America: Civil War"- oy, the tension in the room [in the trailer itself] on this one... right now, I can see this from both sides. it's also a good thing that RDJ is booked for two more Avengers movies because it wasn't looking good for Iron-Man with that Captain America/Winter Soldier tag team.
4) "X-Men: Apocalypse"- this is the final X-men movie in this franchise, I think, and they're pulling out all the stops. Oscar Isaac is in this one as well, but other than his voice [not iconic yet], there was no sign of him. It definitely looks like an end-game type of story that explains how Professor Xavier went bald, but like the way he became paralyzed in this franchise, I'm not completely on board.
5) Another "Batman v Superman" trailer, but different than the same damn one I'd been complaining about these last several reviews. Disappointed because Ben Affleck seems to be doing that stupid Bat-voice Christian Bale ruined the character with... Excited to see Wonder Woman get in the action and about the possibility all three can come together to defeat a common enemy
The final preview- for Disney's "Zootopia" elicited a groan from me. But there was a scene that so hilariously fit how I was feeling at the time that all was forgiven :P It involves sloths at the DMV...
Review:
The subtitle really should be "reawakens" but that would be a little too pretentious and self-aware...
I had a literal "Fan Boys" moment when the words "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared on the screen... then the movie and the text crawl...
Basically, it brought us up to speed on what we can expect from the state of the galaxy, which, appeasing the nervous Luke Skywalker fangirls, includes him.
Going in, I didn't go through the trouble of dissecting all of the interviews and trailers. But thanks to one particular picture, I actually guessed one plot point involving Poe Dameron (new hot-shot X-wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) a storm-trooper who's gone rouge.
An unlikely collaboration with some great action-packed results.
Right away, I really liked all of the new characters and the actors who portrayed them. Unless he gets saddled with a traitorous storyline in a future sequel that's of Lando Calarissan proportions, Oscar Isaac doesn't need to worry about people not liking Poe Dameron.
The only real downside is that he has the least screentime of the three new core cast members. And the majority of his scenes are in the X-wing cockpit. For me, that's about as satisfying as having RDJ in the Iron-Man suit-- occasionally, you see his face, but he's not the one doing all the acting.
But that's just me personal nit-picking...
Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a scavenger who lives on the planet Jakku (think desert planet Tatooine, but with one less sun). You thought Princess Leia was a strong female character. You thought Luke Skywalker was a reluctant hero. She's the combination of these two archetypes and does it amazingly. Assuming she does more in her acting career than this franchise, she's going to be the biggest new star to come out of it.
Finn gives us a perspective that we probably didn't think to explore until he presented us with the opportunity. How does one come a storm trooper? What makes them tick? Do they have any free will? And is it possible one to stop being a storm trooper?
His greatest highlights come from how he interacts with the other characters. Also finding out whether he will be able to rise to the occasion when he's in the trenches- either on the ground or manning the guns on a spacecraft. For anyone who hasn't seen a Star Wars movie before, he's the one that can be identified with the most because they're discovering their way through this crazy fictional world together, basically.
In one trailer, which was basically cast interviews on set, there was a lot of talk about doing these trilogy right. It would have real sets and rely much less on CGI.
There are also a lot of elements in the storyline, dialogue and otherwise that harken back to the original franchise. Particularly the notion Rey and Finn wind up with the task integral to fulfilling the plot. And along the way they do run into Han Solo and Chewbecca, which of course is awesome itself.
As for the First Order, which is the new wave of storm troopers and enemy forces, we find our new mega villain known as the Snoke- who is particularly this giant ugly CGI character being played by Andy Serkis, a new general (Domnhall Gleeson is kinda like Peter Cushing's character in the first Star Wars movie except he has ginger hair), a female storm trooper platoon leader (never see her face, but we hear her- she's Finn's former commander). And of course we have our main villain Kylo Ren, who probably carries the most spoilers of anybody so I can't say all that much. But there's one aspect of his personality that generates one of the movie's funniest moments-- probably the closest the theater came to breaking out in full hilarity.
Another character I hope to see more in the future sequels is played by Lupita Nyong'o. She's another motion-capture role, so we see her expressions and her voice in a different body. I wouldn't exactly say she's like another Yoda, but she is wise and helpful to our protagonists.
Beyond that- the movie plays out really well from start to finish. There's a lot of great laughs and gripping action sequences- some where we were holding our breath. There are plenty of twists as well as room for sequels. There's a lot of potential with these new characters the way they're written. As a big fan of the series in general, all the hype leading up to this was met and I can't wait for more.
Heck, my mom wants to see it in 3D- which I probably won't be up for unless we can bring in someone else who hadn't seen it with us the first time.
One day later, she had a talk with my sister because she gave away a big spoiler from the movie at a workplace Christmas party... yeah, unfortunately, it's probably not the kind of movie you can talk about in full for awhile.
But it seriously should have been considered one of the best movies of the year.
I hadn't seen the Mad Max movie from this year. One of my aunts saw it and said it was great. But the reviews overall are uneven, so I cannot trust it be given "best movie of the year"- certainly not by IMDB. They're great with trivia, but their ratings system isn't idiot proof...
But yeah, this Star Wars movie has to be one of the best movies this year. Definitely the best movie I saw this year... which probably suggests that it was a sucky year for movies... more on that in a future entry.
Grade: A+
Time: 11am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my sister, mom and I)
Duration: 136 minutes (+ 6 trailers)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Finn- John Boyega
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Maz Kanata- Lupita Nyong'o
Former Princess, now General Leia- Carrie Fisher
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Opening Remarks and Trailers:
It wasn't my intention to see the movie the day it came out... but I also didn't want to wait too long. God forbid there are a couple nerds that plaster social media with spoilers and break the non-verbal contract of non-posting for a couple weeks after its release...
There was a small line in front of the box office, namely because it didn't open until 15 minutes before the start time. The theater was half-full, not super crowded by the time the movie started. Most arrived during the previews.
And leave it to the BIG movies where they have multiple previews.
1) we walked in at the end of "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass"- we saw it a couple movies ago for the first time
2) "Allegiant"- I'm going to keep asking until I see it- why do we need two movies for this final book?
3) "Captain America: Civil War"- oy, the tension in the room [in the trailer itself] on this one... right now, I can see this from both sides. it's also a good thing that RDJ is booked for two more Avengers movies because it wasn't looking good for Iron-Man with that Captain America/Winter Soldier tag team.
4) "X-Men: Apocalypse"- this is the final X-men movie in this franchise, I think, and they're pulling out all the stops. Oscar Isaac is in this one as well, but other than his voice [not iconic yet], there was no sign of him. It definitely looks like an end-game type of story that explains how Professor Xavier went bald, but like the way he became paralyzed in this franchise, I'm not completely on board.
5) Another "Batman v Superman" trailer, but different than the same damn one I'd been complaining about these last several reviews. Disappointed because Ben Affleck seems to be doing that stupid Bat-voice Christian Bale ruined the character with... Excited to see Wonder Woman get in the action and about the possibility all three can come together to defeat a common enemy
The final preview- for Disney's "Zootopia" elicited a groan from me. But there was a scene that so hilariously fit how I was feeling at the time that all was forgiven :P It involves sloths at the DMV...
Review:
The subtitle really should be "reawakens" but that would be a little too pretentious and self-aware...
I had a literal "Fan Boys" moment when the words "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared on the screen... then the movie and the text crawl...
Basically, it brought us up to speed on what we can expect from the state of the galaxy, which, appeasing the nervous Luke Skywalker fangirls, includes him.
Going in, I didn't go through the trouble of dissecting all of the interviews and trailers. But thanks to one particular picture, I actually guessed one plot point involving Poe Dameron (new hot-shot X-wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) a storm-trooper who's gone rouge.
An unlikely collaboration with some great action-packed results.
Right away, I really liked all of the new characters and the actors who portrayed them. Unless he gets saddled with a traitorous storyline in a future sequel that's of Lando Calarissan proportions, Oscar Isaac doesn't need to worry about people not liking Poe Dameron.
The only real downside is that he has the least screentime of the three new core cast members. And the majority of his scenes are in the X-wing cockpit. For me, that's about as satisfying as having RDJ in the Iron-Man suit-- occasionally, you see his face, but he's not the one doing all the acting.
But that's just me personal nit-picking...
Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a scavenger who lives on the planet Jakku (think desert planet Tatooine, but with one less sun). You thought Princess Leia was a strong female character. You thought Luke Skywalker was a reluctant hero. She's the combination of these two archetypes and does it amazingly. Assuming she does more in her acting career than this franchise, she's going to be the biggest new star to come out of it.
Finn gives us a perspective that we probably didn't think to explore until he presented us with the opportunity. How does one come a storm trooper? What makes them tick? Do they have any free will? And is it possible one to stop being a storm trooper?
His greatest highlights come from how he interacts with the other characters. Also finding out whether he will be able to rise to the occasion when he's in the trenches- either on the ground or manning the guns on a spacecraft. For anyone who hasn't seen a Star Wars movie before, he's the one that can be identified with the most because they're discovering their way through this crazy fictional world together, basically.
In one trailer, which was basically cast interviews on set, there was a lot of talk about doing these trilogy right. It would have real sets and rely much less on CGI.
There are also a lot of elements in the storyline, dialogue and otherwise that harken back to the original franchise. Particularly the notion Rey and Finn wind up with the task integral to fulfilling the plot. And along the way they do run into Han Solo and Chewbecca, which of course is awesome itself.
As for the First Order, which is the new wave of storm troopers and enemy forces, we find our new mega villain known as the Snoke- who is particularly this giant ugly CGI character being played by Andy Serkis, a new general (Domnhall Gleeson is kinda like Peter Cushing's character in the first Star Wars movie except he has ginger hair), a female storm trooper platoon leader (never see her face, but we hear her- she's Finn's former commander). And of course we have our main villain Kylo Ren, who probably carries the most spoilers of anybody so I can't say all that much. But there's one aspect of his personality that generates one of the movie's funniest moments-- probably the closest the theater came to breaking out in full hilarity.
Another character I hope to see more in the future sequels is played by Lupita Nyong'o. She's another motion-capture role, so we see her expressions and her voice in a different body. I wouldn't exactly say she's like another Yoda, but she is wise and helpful to our protagonists.
Beyond that- the movie plays out really well from start to finish. There's a lot of great laughs and gripping action sequences- some where we were holding our breath. There are plenty of twists as well as room for sequels. There's a lot of potential with these new characters the way they're written. As a big fan of the series in general, all the hype leading up to this was met and I can't wait for more.
Heck, my mom wants to see it in 3D- which I probably won't be up for unless we can bring in someone else who hadn't seen it with us the first time.
One day later, she had a talk with my sister because she gave away a big spoiler from the movie at a workplace Christmas party... yeah, unfortunately, it's probably not the kind of movie you can talk about in full for awhile.
But it seriously should have been considered one of the best movies of the year.
I hadn't seen the Mad Max movie from this year. One of my aunts saw it and said it was great. But the reviews overall are uneven, so I cannot trust it be given "best movie of the year"- certainly not by IMDB. They're great with trivia, but their ratings system isn't idiot proof...
But yeah, this Star Wars movie has to be one of the best movies this year. Definitely the best movie I saw this year... which probably suggests that it was a sucky year for movies... more on that in a future entry.
Grade: A+
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)