The New 'Justice League' Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jV0c1yhksY

The link is to the new ‘Justice League’ trailer that dropped over the weekend. It was supposed to be a fist-pumping action trailer showing all the members of the JL in action. In that I thought the trailer did a good job.

However some people are now saying ironically that the trailer is not good because it doesn’t show people anything about the plot. I say ironically because I remember the trailer of ‘Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and the main complaint then was that the trailer showed too much of the plot. There’s just no pleasing some people…

Hey guys, figure out what you want with trailers and stick to that position. Me? I don’t put that much stock into trailers. It is a trailer and just a trailer. I’ll wait for the movie and then decide if it’s any good. You should too.

Matrix Reboot?

The Matrix is back! Or at least that’s what the movie studios of Hollywood are hoping for because various entertainment reports are saying that Warner Bros. is in the early stages of bringing back the franchise. I am hoping that never happen.

Now I’m a fan of the original 1999 flick that was nothing short of great, but the greatness of the movie has been diluted by 2 weak sequels that the Matrix creators, the Wachowski brothers/siblings, pushed out. By the time the last Matrix movie, The Matrix Revolutions, was released in 2003 everyone was glad that it would be the last one. Nothing has changed since then.  

So we don’t need another Matrix movie. I have little doubt the career revival of Keanu Reeves is one reason why interest in the Matrix franchise has interest but we don’t need another Matrix movie, no matter whether it is a sequel, prequel, or reboot. Please, just let the franchise die.

Review of Logan

17 years! Nothing shows my age more than the fact that I remember going to the theatres to see the first X-Men movie and seeing Hugh Jackman playing the role that would define his career; Wolverine. 17 years later, we are here; Hugh Jackman playing the Wolverine one last time.

Inspired by the story/character “Old Man Logan”, “Logan” starts in the year 2029. Mutants are on the brink of extinction, with no new mutants having been born in 25 years. With his healing factor, James "Logan" Howlett, formerly known as Wolverine, is still around. Living with the last few mutants left in the world, Caliban and Professor Charles Xavier, Logan works as a chauffeur and hustled for drugs for the benefit of Prof X whose mind is deteriorating due to his old age.

However Logan is approached by a woman, Gabriela, who want to hire him to escort her and an 11-year-old girl named Laura to a place in North Dakota called "Eden". Logan refused but he is soon approached by a man named Donald Pierce who is looking for Gabriela.

After reluctantly accepting the job from Gabriela, Logan discovers that she has been murdered. Logan, Xavier, and Laura escape from Pierce and his cybernetically-enhanced men but Caliban is captured. Looking through a video left behind by Gabriela, Logan and Xavier learn that Laura is a mutant breed by a company called, Transigen.

Transigen has been breeding mutant children using DNA samples from several mutants for the "X-23" project, but as the children got older, the company found the children to be more difficult to control and decided to put them down. The nurses taking care of the children however thought differently and helped the children to escape. Gabriela is one of those nurses and approached Logan because Laura was created using Logan’s DNA. She is, for all intent and purpose, Logan’s daughter. From there, it’s a road trip with the trio trying their best to get away from Pierce and get Laura to safety.

First off, let’s get to the elephant in the room. Yes; not only is “Logan” is not only the swansong of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it is also the swansong of Patrick Stewart as Prof X. Both actors have indicated that this is the last time they would be portraying the characters and after seeing the movie, I hope both keep their word because this movie is a hell of a way to say goodbye.

“Logan” is great! It is not just a great superhero movie; it is a great movie period! A lot of people have said the movie is like a western and I could see why. Logan and Prof X are like two aging gunslingers going out on one last ride and they went out like heroes! This is a fitting end to the characters and I hope I never see Hugh Jackman or Patrick Stewart as Wolverine and Prof X ever again because they set the bar high in this movie and it’s just that hard to see how they could top it.

Not only that, “Logan” also set things up nicely at the end for Laura to take over the role as the Wolverine. Considering that X-23 has taken over the name of Wolverine in the comics already, this would exactly be in line with the comics. FOX could even use her and her friends as X-Force.

The only unfortunate thing about the movie is the lack of a good villain. This has been the problem with the Wolverine movies from the start and it continue on with this one. Pierce was never a true threat to Logan and X-24 is just forgettable. Dr. Zander Rice might as well be named Mad Doctor XXX.

Outside that problem, the movie was great. “Logan” is a gritty, violent, but thoughtful superhero movie that in my mind is the best X-Men movie ever. The bittersweet yet uplifting end of the movie reminds me of the ending of La La Land; sad, sweet, and perfect. Watch “Logan”, this movie is great! 

Review of John Wick 2

What is the strangest Hollywood action franchise currently in existence? If your answer is John Wick, then give yourself a clap because you are right.

In 2014, an action film starring former A-lister Keanu Reeves came to the screen and knocked everyone’s socks off with non-stop, stylist, beautifully choreographed action scenes. It was a fun film that was a surprise hit. Come 2017 and we now have John Wick: Chapter 2 and it is still a non-stop, stylist, beautifully choreographed action film!

Director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves doubled down on what made the first film tick and then went on a “world-building” mode as we get to see the world John Wick is set in. Set shortly after the end of the first film, John Wick tracks down his stolen 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 at a chop shop owned by Abram Tarasov, brother of Viggo and uncle of Iosef. He dispatches Tarasov's men in a violent fight that heavily damages his car but spares Tarasov after getting an agreement of "peace" between the two.

After arranging repairs for his car, John is visited by Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio who called in a “marker” John owned him. An unbreakable promise between the two parties, John had no choice but to agree to kill Santino’s sister, Gianna. After doing the deed, as John expected, Santino send his men to kill John to tie up loose ends.

They failed and Santino put out a $7 million open contract on John's death. John goes after Santino and while he managed to kill his men, Santino himself escape to the Continental. He makes it clear that he intends to seek indefinite refuge there but John shoots and kills D'Antonio, opening himself to retaliation from the whole of the underworld.

As I wrote earlier, John Wick 2 is a doubling down of John Wick so if you like the first movie, you would probably like this one as well. The movie is bigger, with more car chases, more gun-fu, and more locations. The film starts with a bang and the action do not stop.

It is also pretty funny with some comedic moments mixed in. The script and plot is nothing to write home about but the witty dialogue was a pleasant surprise and served the film well. Helping this is the simple fact that few can served up one-liners with a face more stonily than Keanu Reeves.

However don’t hope for any emotional scenes like the one in the first movie where John screamed at Viggo on why he needs to kill his son just for killing his dog. John Wick 2 is a far less emotionally engaging film than the first movie, and there aren’t a lot of people to cheer for in this movie. The movie makes no bones about the fact that almost everyone, including John Wick, is a “bad-guy” and the movie is about bad people killing worse people.

Still, if you are looking for an action thrill ride, you can’t go wrong with John Wick 2. This is one film that’s know it’s an action flick and is unafraid to show it. Watch it!  

Review of La La Land

The movie award season is upon us and this year the hot favourite to sweep the season is the feel-good musicial, La La Land. Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, La La Land is director’s Damien Chazell’s follow-up to his 2014 film Whiplash and much like Whiplash, music played a big role in the movie.

Gosling’s Sebastian Wilder is a musical purist in LA who has just spent his last penny trying and failing to open a jazz club in the city. He meets Stone’s Mia Dolan and the movie is about how the duo chased their dreams amidst setback after setback. Back by strong performances from the two leads, smart direction from Chazall, and good songs; La La Land is one of those strange movie that managed to be both a great romantic comedy and a wonderful drama.

In short, it is great!

It is an exceptional film that pays homage to classic musicals while making it’s mark on the genre. Some people are already calling the movie a classic; I won’t go that far but I can see why they would say so. La La Land is an endearing film that you could watch endless times without getting tired of. Director Damien Chazell had a clear vision for the movie and he implemented it beautifully.

In this, he is helped ably by Gosling and Stone who gave it their all in their performances. The two leads are not natural singers or dancers and that, strangely, played well in the movie. Emma Stone was especially good in this movie and I would be shocked if she didn’t win Best Actress at the Oscars. Honestly I never thought much of her as an actress before La La Land. She’s cute and commendable but I never thought of her as a great actress. I do now. 

I also have to give pops to the ending of this movie. All I can say is “WOW”! The bittersweet ending was just perfect. It shows the cost the two leads made to make their fantasies happen, yet at the same time, it was not a downer but a celebration. Yes, there are scenes of what-could-have-been and they were beautiful in themselves, but in the end these two made it and they were not going to give up their success for anything.   

La La Land is nominated for a record-tying fourteen Oscars at the 89th Academy Awards. I’m pretty sure it won’t win that many but after watching the movie I can understand why they got so many nominations. It is just one hell of a movie. Watch it!  

The Last Jedi

After the unfortunate success of “The Force Awakens”, Lucasfilm have confirmed that the next Star Wars movie will be called “The Last Jedi”. Stated to be released in December 2017, fans have already begun flooding the internet with speculation on who is “The Last Jedi”.

After the death of Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke Skywalker was the sole surviving Jedi but at the end of “The Force Awakens”, Rey found Luke and many fans are assuming Luke will train her and she will be “The Last Jedi”. Some fans even speculate “The Last Jedi” would be Kylo Ren as he was trained by Luke.

Honestly, I think fan boys are speculating for no reason other than trying to get themselves hyped for the movie. I think the answer of who is “The Last Jedi” is pretty simple. The movie crawl of “The Force Awakens” clearly state that Luke is the last Jedi so guess what; question answered!  

Review of Rogue One

When I heard that Rogue One was out, I thought it made sense for Disney to make the movie. After all, The Force Awakens was nothing but a remake of A New Hope so for Disney to go back to the lore of A New Hope makes perfect sense for the gutless wimpy company that created Mickey Mouse.

Rant off; now onto the movie.

Rogue One is the latest of the Star Wars movie and unlike The Force Awakens, it is very different from all the previous instalments of the franchise. More than any of the other Star Wars movies, this one was a war movie and in a way, it’s strange it took them so long to make a war movie of Star War because…well, the whole saga is about the never-ending war between good and evil right?

More importantly, the movie works!

The movie is about the construction of the Death Star and how it affects lives even before it began blowing up planets. The movie starts with Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic catching up with fugitive research scientist Galen Erso. Krennic need Galen to complete the Death Star and Erso's wife Lyra was killed in the ensuing confrontation. However their daughter Jyn managed to escape and is taken to safety by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera.

Fast forward 15 years and we now see the adult Jyn in prison. However she was soon busted out by the Rebels. At the Rebels main base on Yavin 4, Rebel leader Mon Mothma informed Jyn that the Rebels broke her out for a reason; a pilot Bodhi Rook had defected from the Empire and he claims he got a message from Galen about the Death Star. However this pilot is being held by Gerrera.

Led by Rebel intelligence captain Cassian Andor and his droid K-2SO, Jyn travelled to Jedha in an attempt to extract Rook. With the aid of blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe and his mercenary friend Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera who shows her a message from Galen. Galen had secretly built a weakness into the Death Star and directs them to retrieve the schematics from a high-security Imperial data bank on the planet Scarif to discover it.

However the Imperial knows something is up and Krennic orders a low-powered shot from the Death Star to destroy Jedha's capital, causing the death of Gerrera and his group. Grand Moff Tarkin congratulates Krennic on the success of the Death Star before using Rook's defection and security leak to take control of the superweapon. From there, it becomes a race as the Rebels tries to steal the plans from Scarif while the Imperial try to find out what Galen was hiding from them.

Just looking at the plot of the movie and you could tell that Rogue One is no remake. To me, that by itself makes the movie far superior to the imitative crap called The Force Awakens. Rogue One was also helped by some solid performances. Felicity Jones was solid as the lead, but I was really impressed by Mads Mikkelsen who made the most of a very limited role. His performance as Galen was nothing short of excellent and he even managed to make Galen’s dying speech work for him. Considering how ridiculous the dialog was, that took skill!

There was also some beautiful action in this movie. The battle of Scarif was sprawling and confusing, but that’s the way it usually is in war and the movie didn’t shy away from that. The movie also didn’t shy away from the deaths. I won’t spoil the ending but I must say I’m a little surprised by the final death toll of the movie.

I shall always say director Gareth Edwards, writers Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, must all be massive Star Wars fans because they successfully made a Star War movie that link neatly into the existing plot of the original Star Wars trilogy. As it has been widely said almost by everyone who had seen the movie, the end of Rogue One goes neatly into the start of A New Hope and that was great to see.

However not everything in the movie worked, especially the middle section of the movie. There was a lot of moving parts as the story jump from planet to planet, and not always for a good reason. It seems that the writers believe more locations equal to the movie being more epic, so prompt have the characters flying all over the place.

The movie also assumed you had watched all the Star Wars movies already. When Jimmy Smits showed up as Bail Organa, the movie assumed you know who and how important he is. Same goes for Mon Mothma, Grand Moff Tarkin, and several others.

Overall however, Rogue One is a fine addition to the Star Wars saga and gives me new hope (pun intended) that Disney is not going to destroy the franchise as I had feared after The Force Awakens. Watch it! 

Goodbye Princess Leia

2016 has been a bad year for celebrities. Many of them died this year and now, just a few days before the end of 2016, come news of yet another star that has gone.  Carrie Fisher, better known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie, has passed at the age of 60.

Unfortunately, this news was not totally unexpected. The Star Wars actress suffered a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles less than a week ago and has been receiving treatment. Sadly, she lost the battle. The actress first starred in A New Hope when she was just 19, and she will probably make her last on screen appearance in the forthcoming Star Wars Episode VIII movie, which will hit the cinemas next year.

Perhaps it is fitting that the Star Wars movies that has overshadowed most of her other works will be the last movie she appeared in. Goodbye, Carrie Fisher. You will be missed.

Review of The Accountant

Much like his good friend Matt Damon, I always found Ben Affleck to be a strange person to be an action star. However much like Matt Damon, Affleck has been a surprising effective action star. “The Town”; “Batman vs Superman”; and now Affleck did it again in “The Accountant”.

The film has Affleck as Christian Wolff, a mathematical genius who works mainly as a forensic accountant for dangerous criminal organizations that are experiencing internal embezzlement. Such work got the attention of the U.S Treasury Department whose director, Raymond King (J. K. Simmons) want to catch Wolff before his retirement.

However all the Treasury Department knows of Wolff is that he is good, and that his alias is "The Accountant”. With little to nothing to go on, King blackmail young Treasury analyst Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to help him identify and arrest the “Accountant”. With the heat on, Wolff was advised by his friend "The Voice" to lay low and take a non-criminal account.

The case is auditing the books of robotics corporation Living Robotics, whose in-house accountant, Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), found suspicious financial discrepancies. The company's CEO, Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) willingly cooperates with Wolff's investigation while believing Dana's findings to be a mistake. Wolff discovers that $61 million dollars has been embezzled from the company. From there, Wolff finds his life in danger as an assassin (Jon Bernthal) target him for death and he find that Dana is also targeted by the assassination team.

Now I know the reviews of “The Accountant” have been decidedly mixed but I enjoyed it immensely. Ben Affleck is excellent in this movie, giving a committed performance that brought Wolff to life. Whether he was killing assassins or solving math problems, Wolff was a believable character.

In fact, I say the cast on the whole was excellent. Both Simmons and Bernthal made the most of their limited time on screen and Cynthia Addai-Robinson gave Medina the right mix of intelligence and desperate to make the character work. However the best part of the movie for me was the slightly sweet, off-beat feel of the movie.

This film has several complex things going on at the same time; pained social interactions, brutal intense action scene, complex math accounting problem; yet the movie does works! Director Gavin O'Connor works in the twists well and for an action film, the movie has some surprising emotional depth. I could see the connection between Wolff and his assassin a mile away but when it happened, the scene worked remarkably well. A lot of that has to do with the acting but the direction of the film also helps.

Having said all that, some things in the film did not work. The reviews of the film is mixed and while I don’t agree, I can see why that’s the case. Like I said earlier, the movie has many gears in play and you can argue that there was too much. The movie has a scattershot feel to it and fans who like their action movie to be focused on good guy- bad guy action will be disappointed with this film.

On the whole, I thought the movie to be excellent and I would highly recommend it. Much like “John Wick”, I have a feeling “The Accountant” will be a franchise. If that’s true, then I will be here for the sequel. It’s good. 

Crazy Expectations

As the third film in the DC-Warner Bros movie franchise, there’s a lot riding on Suicide Squad. It's box office expectations are high, and after the US$800million+ haul of Batman vs Superman, I can understand why. Having said that, I sometimes wonder what world Hollywood is in?

According to reports, it took US$175million to make the movie. It took them another US$100million to market it. That’s US$275million in total. Let’s put it at US$300million. So it took Warner Bros US$300million to make the movie, yet those same reports state the movie would NOT be considered a success unless it make back between US$750-US$850million.

What? A movie need to make half a billion dollars in profit to be a success? Mind you, this is not US$500million in box office receipt (which would be profitable) but US$500million in profit! Either Warner Bros are really confident in the movie or the executives there are delusional; maybe both! 

I intend to see the movie to find out which is it.  

Grand Admiral Thrawn Is Back

Common sense has prevailed!

That's my thought when I read that the Star Wars character Grand Admiral Thrawn is now not only back but also part of Star Wars canon. Thrawn first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy of novels (1991-1993) as the Grand Admiral who held the Imperial Empire together after the lost of the Emperor and Darth Vader in Return of The Jedi.

However when Disney took over, Thrawn and all characters in the Expanded Universe (which includes Star Wars books, video games etc) were placed under what was called the "Star Wars Legends" banner. That were now considered non-canonical story that does not reflect or affect the Star Wars movies or TV series.

Problem with that was the simple fact that Thrawn is a fan-favorite! Fans loved the cold, skillful and cunning Chiss who gave the winning Republic all they could handled despite being out-manned, outgunned, and having no Force-users on his side. Fans wanted Thrawn back and Lucasfilm, wisely, has now decided to give in.

Thrawn will be part of Star Wars Rebels: Season 3 and Timothy Zahn confirmed he is writing a new Thrawn novel (simply titled Thrawn). So finally; common sense has prevailed!

Batman Kills!

In an article in IGN, it is stated that Ben Affleck's Batman in the recent Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice had a kill count of 21 which makes it the movie where Batman kills the most.

Every time I read about this, I feel like slapping my forehead with my hand. Guys, get this in your head; Batman kills! Not only that, Batman kills a lot and kills pretty often. In movie, in comics, in video games; Batman killed before.

Guess what people, when you shoot a missile from the Bat-mobile and the car Batman was aiming at explodes...the guy inside will die. That's the normal way of things and most of Batman's villains are ordinary thugs and criminals. Also guess what, Batman is suppose to kill people. When Batman first came out, he carried a gun and just outright shoot the criminals.

So stop making a big deal of Batman killing people. The original version of Batman is much more trigger-happy than any water-down version of Batman we currently have and yes, that includes Ben Affleck's Batman.

X-Men and Avengers

For years, fans have been dreaming about it. Now it seems the superhero dream is about to come true as 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios are rumored to be trying to pair up some of their characters in one big movie extravaganza.

As many fans know, 20th Century Fox holds the movie rights to the Spiderman, X-Men and the Fantastic Four franchises while Marvel Studios has the rights to every other characters in Marvel. So when Spiderman made a cameo in Captain America: Civil War, fans hope for more of these tie-ins. If rumors in Hollywood are to be believed, these hopes may be coming true.

I hope not.

I know I may be in the minority here but I don't think it's a good idea to have the X-Men and Avengers franchises joined in one. Before you blow your top, hear me out;

In the latest superhero movies (Captain America: Civil War & X-Men: Apocalypse), the big complain is that there were just too many characters on the screen. Just look at the poster I put up on top. There are 10 heroes there. Now imagine if the X-Men are in there as well? 

We don't need that. Superhero movies are coming bloated as it is and I for one hope everyone take a step back from that. Also, having the franchises separate means the movie studios could take a flop or two and still keep going. Honestly, that's my biggest fear. If the franchises join and the movie is a flop...

We don't that. I don't want that. It's not a risk worth taking. They are doing well as they are now so why risk it? Keep the X-Men and Avengers franchises separate.

Review of Captain America: Civil War

After Captain America: Winter Soldier (which I liked a lot), Captain America seem to have taken over the mantle of the main Marvel franchise from Iron Man. For most of Captain America: Civil War; that view holds up.

Taking place about a year after Avengers: Age of Ultron, the movie starts with the Avengers laying in wait for Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo in a cameo). In the ensuring fight, Rumlow blows himself up, hoping to kill Captain America (Chris Evans). Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) saves the Captain by moving the blast into the sky with telekinesis.

Unfortunately, the blast destroys a nearby building, killing several humanitarian workers from the kingdom of Wakanda. The situation becomes a political hot potato and U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) informs the Avengers of the Sokovia Accords. The Accords will establish a UN panel to oversee and control The Avengers.

The team is divided on this with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) supporting the accords and Rogers wanting the team to remind independent of any government. At the UN conference in Vienna where the accords are to be ratified, a bomb kills the king of Wakanda. Security footage shows the bomber being Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the Winter Soldier. The new king of Wakanda, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), vows vengeance.

Informed of the government's intentions to kill him, Rogers decides to bring in Barnes, his childhood friend and war comrade, alive. The situation escalates and The Avengers are spilt into two, with members either with Iron Man or Captain America.

Now, as a movie, I thought Captain America: Civil War was excellent. Much like the recent Batman vs Superman, it asked serious questions about violence and vigilantism only this time, the movie has guys on both sides of the equation. This gave Captain America: Civil War an advantage as the movie is able to switch views convincingly.

Credit must also be given to directors Anthony and Joe Russo who managed to successfully juggle all the characters in the movie. Everyone got a chance to shine, even long mostly forgotten heroes like War Machine (Don Cheadle). However the best lines go to new heroes like Spiderman (Tom Holland), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) so it’s not like the directors don’t know where the current Marvel movie is going.

The action was mostly solid and with a strong story, everything looks great…until the end of the movie.

Say what you want about Batman vs Superman, but one thing almost everyone agrees on is that BvS landed the ending. The ending of that movie was great. It was wonderful. The ending of Captain America: Civil War unfortunately sucks!

I won’t spoilt the ending here but after all the fights, the arguments, and the big reveal near the end; Stark and Rogers came to an “understanding”. The unfortunate thing is I can’t understand how that understanding came about after just a letter and a promise of future help?

I’m sorry but even for a superhero movie, that’s ridiculous. I can understand Marvel felt a need to have both Iron Man and Captain America staying friendly with each other for the movies going forward but this ending looks like something from another movie. It just doesn’t make sense.

That in essence was the movie. A good, almost great, movie that was utterly destroyed by an ending that came from another movie. Good movie…pity about the ending though. 

Live-Action Pokémon

Remember Pokémon Apokélypse? A 2010 short film directed by Kial Natale and produced by Dylan Innes and Lee Majdoub, it's a fan-made live-action film based on the Pokémon franchise. Well, it seems that 6 years after the release of that short film, Nintendo is getting into the action.

Entertainment sites had said that Nintendo is trying to get a live Pokémon movie off the ground and several Hollywood studios like Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros., and Sony were interested. No word yet on whose getting it or even who is the target audience for the live-action movie (would kids with their cartoons want to see a live movie?), but it's an interesting idea to say the least.

Of course the history of turning games to movies is filled with losers and disasters, but with Assassin Creed and Warcraft on the horizon, I guess it make sense for Nintendo to give this a try. I just hope they don't screw it up.

Review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

If you need me to tell you what Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is, then you are obviously a guy I don’t know and someone I have no interest in knowing.

The first feature film to show both Batman and Superman together has been promoted like crazy by Warner Bros. Pictures. The backlash by critics and Marvel fanboys has been just as intense. So in the end, who is right?

I fall strictly on the side that says Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a kick-ass movie that do not deserve half the criticism it has been receiving. Luckily, I’m not alone because fans throughout the world has been flocking to see the movie. At last count, the movie earned over US$750 million and still counting. No matter what they say, this movie is a hit and a richly deserved one.

Directed by Zack Snyder, starring Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman, the movie begins 18 months after Man of Steel. The destructive attack by General Zod in Metropolis has made Superman a controversial figure. Half the world fear him and the other half worship him. On his part, billionaire Bruce Wayne sees Superman as a potential threat to humanity and aims to find a way to stop him. Superman also has the same view on Batman, seeing the Bat of Gotham as a threat who do more harm than good.

Outside the two, other players are also in the action. LexCorp's mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) tries to convince Senator June Finch (Holly Hunter) to allow him to import Kryptonite retrieved from the Indian Ocean as a "deterrent" against Kryptonians. He also wants access to Zod's body and the Kryptonian scout ship. Gal Gadot appears as a woman named Prince who also has an agenda of her own.

In the end, Lex orchestrates events that force Batman and Superman into conflict and unleashes a monstrous creature called Doomsday. A monster so powerful, it require Superman, Batman and Prince to join forces to defeat it.

Now considering all the criticism the movie has been getting, you must be wondering what I like about the movie. Simply put, I like the fact director Zack Snyder takes so much risk with the movie.

Unlike the recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this is a movie that has a vision and is bold enough to implant it. In some way, I think that’s one of the reason why so many people dislike it. This is a movie with its’ own vision of the superheroes and does not care about the previous visions in other movies. Case in point; Batman.

Ben Affleck’s Batman is one that has been operating in Gotham for over 20 years and is jaded by his fight. Forget the vision by Christian Bale, Michael Keaton or Val Kilmer; this is a brand new Batman that has never been seen before in film and that was great.

I also like how the movie refuse to hold your hand. Gal Gadot’s character is clearly Wonder Woman but the name “Wonder Woman” was never mention once in the movie. Ditto for the only characters. Aquaman; Cyborg; The Flash? You don’t know who they are? Too bad. Go Google it. This movie do not serve things up on a plate and I love it!

The ending fight was also very good. When Wonder Woman show up and you could see the Trinity together for the first time; Wow! (You don’t know who are the Trinity? Go Google it).  The performances of the main actors were also very good. Ben Affleck's performance as Batman was excellent and Gal Gadot made good use of her character’s limited screen time.

However, I’m less of a fan with the performances of some of the other characters. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor was strange. So much so that I just can’t take him seriously as a threat to Batman or Superman, much less both of them together.

The movie was also a movie of 2 halves. The first half was a mystery with Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, and Prince moving quietly to get an advantage on each other. The second part of the movie was more like a regular superhero movie with fights and destruction the order of the day. The two halves perhaps does not gel as well as they should.

On the whole however, I thought there were way more pluses than minuses in the movie. The critics are wrong about this one, this is a very good movie. See it and judge for yourself. 

No Flop

Flop? What flop? Despite the mixed to negative reviews they are getting, movie-goers seems to be watching Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and doing it again and again. Warner Bros. Pictures is currently laughing their way to the bank as BvS: Dawn of Justice has already made over $500 million worldwide…within the first week of release!

Holy shit! I know a lot of people were looking forward to the first live-action film to feature both Batman and Superman, but I don’t think anyone expected these numbers so quickly. I haven’t seen the movie yet (most probably next week) but the numbers augers well for Justice League where Aquaman, Cyborg, Green Lantern and the Flash will join up with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

No matter the final number, half a billion dollars at the box-office means there is no way BvS will be considered a flop. Bad reviews or not, it looks like Marvel is getting some serious competition on the movie front. 

The Future Is Here

In the 80s, there was a movie called “Back To The Future 2”. In the movie, Michael J. Fox went to the year of 2015 and among the various things they had, there was a sneaker that could lace itself. They are a year late but guess what; we now have the world’s first power-lacing sneaker!

Nike had unveiled a sneaker that could lace itself, all with just a touch of a button. However don’t expect to see this sneaker anytime soon. The self-lacing sneaker, which has the unfortunate name of "Nike HyperAdapt 1.0," will only be available for members of its loyalty Nike+ app. So normal mortals like you and me are out of luck.

Still, it is a self-lacing shoe. That means that the future is here, ladies and gentlemen. The future is here! 

A Gay Luke?

 Okay, it is official. Hollywood’s love affair with homosexuality has gotten out of hand.

Now Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams has been publicly saying that future Star Wars adventures will include gay characters. Okay, I have no problem with that but when Luke Skywalker himself, actor Mark Hamill, says that Luke's sexuality is “open to interpretation”, that’s just bullshit.

Hamill was quoted as saying, “"They say to me, ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. ... If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”

That is just silly. Luke Skywalker is clearly not gay. You know why? Because he kissed a girl that happened to be his sister in the original trilogy! Everyone would like to forgot it happened, but it did. He kissed a girl, it was his sister, now he might be gay?

What nonsense! Are you kidding me? Was the trauma of kissing his sister too much for him? All those years living as a hermit And here I thought the new Star Wars trilogy is supposed to be canon.

Review of Deadpool

Like its comic book character, the movie version of Deadpool is like a cockroach that just refused to die.  The movie version of Deadpool first showed up in X-Men Origins: Wolverine where the character ended up with it’s mouth sewn shut and it’s head chopped off.

However using the Days of Future Past reset, director Tim Miller with writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick totally ignore the version in X-Men Origins and created a version far similar to the character’s comic book origin. As the box office shows, it worked! With a total gross of over US$600 million worldwide, Deadpool is a huge gamble that had paid off handsomely for 20^th Century Fox.

Reprising his role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, actor Ryan Reynolds is Wade Wilson. A former Special Forces operator who now works as a mercenary in New York City, Wade meets escort Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin) at a local bar and they become romantically attached. One year later, Wade proposes to her and she accepts. However Wade is diagnosed with terminal cancer and though Vanessa chose remains by his side, he does not want her to watch him die and enter a secret program that offers a possible cure for his cancer.

At a laboratory, Wade met Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano) and discover the program he signed up for was an experimental one where they try to awaken the latent mutant genes within the subjects. To do this, the subjects are subjected to days of torture to induce stress and to trigger the mutation. Ajax also reveals to Wade their true purpose: to make super-powered slaves to be sold to wealthy customers.

After horrendous torture, Wade develops a healing factor that cures his cancer but also leaves him severely disfigured as a side-effect. He escapes and attacks Ajax but hesitated when told that his disfigurement can be cured. Using the moment of hesitation, Ajax manages to defeat Wade and impales him with a bar. He then leaves Wade for dead in the burning laboratory.

Of course, Wade survived and after consulting his best friend Weasel (T.J. Millar), Wade decides to hunt down Ajax and have his disfigurement cured. He becomes a masked vigilante and takes the name of (you guess it) "Deadpool". His confrontation with Ajax leads to a huge battle along an expressway which got the attention of two X-Men, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.

Ajax escape from Deadpool and goes on the counterattack. He goes to Weasel's bar with Angel and learns about Vanessa. In response, Weasel calls Wade and tells him Vanessa is in danger but they were too late. Ajax and Angel kidnapped Vanessa and Deadpool is forced to enlist Colossus and Negasonic to help him rescue her.

As I said earlier, Deadpool was a huge gamble. One of the reasons it was considered a gamble was the simple fact that it was an R-rated superhero comic book adaption. There’s just not many of those around. Luckily the brutal combat and foul-mouth antics gives the film a crazy energy that fits the character to a T and film-goers are lapping it up.

A lot of the credit has to go to Ryan Reynolds. I will admit I’m not a big fan of the actor. His CV has far more misses than hits and I never understood why he’s considered a big movie star. Deadpool makes me “get it”. I finally understand why people in Hollywood like him so much. His performance here proves to me he can be great if given the right role and this, Deadpool, was a role he was born to do. His winking while breaking the fourth wall was especially effective.

The movie was also gleefully irrelevant. It doesn’t take itself seriously and it more interested in creating a fun movie. That it does manage. Deadpool is fast, funny, and mercilessly not family-friendly. The encouragement Deadpool gave his Indian taxi-driver was hilarious, totally unkid-friendly and has some of the best scenes in the movie.

Of course, the movie is not perfect. For a movie that’s so wonderfully non-standard, the ending was very much so. A damsel-in-distress, a tortured hero, and a happy ending; been there and done that. It just doesn’t gel with the rest of the movie.

Also, I never felt there was any danger to Deadpool. Ajax and Angel were just not creditable threats to a guy who can regenerate a hand that’s been chopped off. This is one movie that required a bigger badder villain than what was on offer. On the power meter, Ajax and Angel just weren’t on the level of Deadpool and that was a problem.

However, I would still recommend the movie. The movie is a breath of fresh air much like Guardians of the Galaxy, and I think that’s a good thing for the superhero genre. Deadpool is very much a black comedy and one that works. Come on Cable!