Posts Tagged ‘x-men’

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X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

December 23, 2016

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult
Director: Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Superman Returns, X-Men 2)

Bottom Line: Judging from the trailers, this movie looked every bit as messy as Batman Vs Superman so I skipped it in theaters and now having watched it at home, I can see my fears were completely justified. It’s terrible. When an X-Men movie starts off in ancient Egypt and looks more like a sequel to The Mummy you know things are not looking up. Oscar Isaac seems like a highly capable actor, especially in last year’s Ex Machina, but his portrayal of Apocalypse will probably go down as one of the worst roles of his career. The rest of the new cast adds little to the overall story. The new Cyclops is kind of cool, but Sophie Turner is horribly miscast as Jean Grey, feeling nothing like a young version of Famke Janssen’s take on the character. I was excited to see Jubilee in action for the first time, but she is merely a background character.

I wasn’t looking forward to director Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise – especially after Matthew Vaughan did such a good job with X-Men: First Class – but he managed to bring his original trilogy and the reboot together seamlessly in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, making a solid movie out of a concept that could have been executed so poorly. Well, he couldn’t save the mess of a script he’s dealt here and history repeats itself, as the X-Men franchise once again delivers two good movies and a third one so bad it’s likely going to need another reboot.

This movie is all action spectacle and little else. You’ll likely be looking at your phone after 15 minutes.

Replay Value: Another X-Men movie that doesn’t exist to me.
Sequel Potential: I think the franchise dies again with this film, but Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has another adventure due out next year with Logan.
Oscar Potential: How about Razzie potential?

Grade: 2.5/10 (horrible/skip it)

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The Wolverine (2013)

August 2, 2013

Starring: Hugh Jackman
Director: James Mangold (Walk The Line, Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 To Yuma)

I can’t say I was too excited to see The Wolverine, but with a lack of other options that fit our time frame and a girlfriend and mother that refuse to watch movies in 3D, it seemed like the obvious choice. After the disappointing X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 and the travesty that was 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine–a film so bad it killed off an entire franchise before it even started–my interest in the continuing sagas of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine had pretty much evaporated. Fortunately, Matthew Vaughn breathed new life into the the X-Men franchise in 2011 with First Class and then The Avengers put everyone on alert, and the result is a pretty good solo Wolverine flick.

Interestingly enough, The Wolverine acknowledges the previous X-Men films–even the shitty third installment that includes the death of Jean Grey–and manages to bridge the gap between time periods and tell its own story, all while not totally sucking. That’s an accomplishment after the terrible origin film. Obviously Hugh Jackman is great as the title character and while this film doesn’t really challenge the actor’s abilities, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role.

Setting the film in Japan was a good concept. I liked seeing Wolverine interact with mostly human characters in an environment you wouldn’t really expect to see in a film about a mutant superhero. It was a breath of fresh air in the comic book genre. Although, there was a scene that takes place on top of a train that while kind of awesome and funny, is pretty ridiculous for the human Japanese characters. The two Japanese lead actresses did a good job and Rila Rukushima was particularly awesome as Yukio. In fact, aside from a two hour running time that feels more like two and a half hours, The Wolverine‘s biggest weakness is in its villains. Viper is the main villain in the film and is played by a Russian actress that I’m unfamiliar with. Not only is the character a Poison Ivy rip off, but a white woman playing the lead antagonist in a film with a Japanese setting seems wildly out of place. Everything about her sucks: the acting, the concept, the motive. Ugh. The climax is a face off with the Silver Samurai that, well, is just bizarre. Wolverine fighting ninjas and yakuza? Awesome. Wolverine fighting mutants and old, Japanese men in robot suits? Crap.

Basically, The Wolverine is an enjoyable film that could have been much better with a different final act and more interesting villains. As it is, it’s still a step forward from the last film in the Wolverine franchise, and the mid-credits scene (the best moment in the whole film!) is reason to be excited about the future.

Grade: 5.5/10 (Recommended/Rent It)

Replay Value: Not worth owning unless you’re a die hard fan. I’ll probably never see it again.
Sequel Potential: Wolverine will be making his next appearance in 2014’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
Oscar Potential: None.
Nudity: None.
RottenTomatoes Scores: Critics: 67% Audience: 75%
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10

Recommendation: Not really worth theater prices, but something that’s worth watching when it comes out to rent. I’d rank the X-Men films as follows: X-Men: First Class, X2, X-Men, The Wolverine, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

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X-Men: First Class (2011)

June 13, 2011

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones
Director: Matthew Vaughan (Kick Ass)

Quick Thoughts: X-Men: First Class breathes fresh air into the X-Men franchise. The original series of films was mostly acclaimed with the possible exception of Brett Ratner’s messy X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, giving this film some pretty high standards to live up and it easily blew those expectations away. Matthew Vaughan’s First Class manages to stand on its own while simultaneously giving enough nods to its predecessors that it works as both the start of a new franchise and a prequel to those earlier movies.

First Class takes a look into the lives of our favorite mutant heroes before they became established forces of good and evil. Set in the 1960s and amidst the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film focuses largely on Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender), and how they developed into the alter-egos we now know them as: Professor X and Magneto. Xavier is a young academic brought in by the government due to his excessive knowledge of the mutation gene and to help them against a potential new threat: a band of possible mutants, led by Sebastian Shaw (Bacon). Lehnsherr is after the same man, but for different reasons; Lehnsherr was a prisoner of war and his mother was murdered by Shaw and the Nazi regime. Upon meeting and realizing they have the same mutual enemy, Xavier and Lehnsherr team up, with backing from the United States government, to form the first class of X-Men, utilizing Xavier’s telepathic abilities to recruit other mutants across the world.

When I first heard about the concept behind X-Men: First Class, it seemed like a good idea, but the last X-Men movie was so underwhelming that my interest in the franchise was pretty moot. Fortunately, this movie is absolutely fantastic. From the story, to the casting, to the action sequences, all the way down to the music, this movie blew me away. I was on the edge of my seat and entertained throughout its entirety. The pacing was great and the character arcs of Xavier and Magneto are so well developed that the film exceeds its status as a pure action flick and dives into the territory of great film-making.

Though James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender aren’t complete unknowns, neither of them are stars. However, the casting in both cases is simply genius. McAvoy is charming, funny, and entertaining as Charles Xavier, turning a character I’ve always found mostly boring into someone compelling. While McAvoy is great, Fassbender as the future Magneto is the star of this film. Fueled by vengeance, Fassbender’s Erik Lehnsherr goes through the full development, reasonably transforming from a conflicted, anti-hero into the next big supervillain. The chemistry between the two actors is notable and its easy to see why, years later, Professor X and Magneto can sit down for a friendly game of chess despite their conflicting–and often deadly–differences. Magneto really is a fascinating character. One of the few villains in the superhero universe whose motives aren’t completely corrupt and self-fulfilling. While Xavier plays the eternal and sometimes naive optimist, Magneto arguably fights for the rights of his people. He’s almost like a violent Martin Luther King, Jr. This film really does a fantastic job of giving a believable identity to that character. Jennifer Lawrence is also great as Mystique.

At this point, you have to credit director Matthew Vaughan for knowing how to make a good action movie. Last year’s Kick-Ass was just the warm-up and this movie exceeds all sorts of expectations. It’s easily the best entry into the X-Men franchise and surpasses Bridesmaids as the most entertaining movie of 2011 to date.

Viewings: 1
Replay Value: I’m looking forward to seeing it again and will definitely buy the DVD.
Sequel Potential: This film works not only as a prequel to the previous X-Men movies, but also as the first installment in a new series altogether. I’m looking forward to seeing this portion of the story continue.
Nudity: None… but damn, Jen Lawrence, January Jones, Rose Byrne, and Zoe Kravitz all look fantastic.
Grade: 9/10 (Potential Classic)
RottenTomatoes Scores: Critics: 87% Audience: 88%
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
Recommendation: A great action movie and character drama, X-Men: First Class is not only the best film of 2011 so far, it’s also the best in its franchise.

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Bunch Of Short Movie Reviews

June 16, 2009

Okay, so my goal to make a new post each day might have been reaching a bit. I clearly am not meeting that goal and on Fridays and Saturdays I simply don’t have the time to do it. So I’m going to lower my expectations and shoot for 4-5 updates a week. I’m finding myself having a hard time writing movie reviews. I want to talk about some of the films I’ve seen recently, but I can’t seem to find my voice. It just isn’t feeling right to me lately…. with that said, here are some quick thoughts on some recent films I’ve seen:

Zack & Miri Make A Porno – I liked this a lot more the second time I watched it. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood during my first viewing, or my woman was dragging me down, or my expectations were too high after hearing so many people say how good it was… whatever the case may be, I was really underwhelmed the first time I saw it. However, my initial reaction was misguided as this was a fun and humorous flick. It has a unique plot and plenty of crude humor and it’s Kevin Smith’s best film in nearly a decade. Also, Justin Long absolutely kills it in his cameo role as a gay porn star at a high school reunion. “Yes… fucking movies”

Grade: 6 out of 10 (recommended)

Observe & Report – I went and saw this with a group of people and I liked it more than everyone else. Seth Rogen seems to be in everything lately, but this is the first time I’ve seen him in a darker role since he played a random bully in Donnie Darko back before he was a star. I think this was Rogen’s best performance to date though and I found this dark comedy to be pretty damn funny and entertaining all around. Spoiler alert… the ending was pretty shocking when Rogen’s character walks up and shoots the streaker. That took me by surprise… what was even more surprising was how everything in the film was building up to a depressing conclusion, but somehow an unemployed former mall security guard can walk up to someone, shoot them in broad day, and not only avoid a jail bid, but have everyone cheering for him like a hero in the end. I thought it was a corny way to end an otherwise ominous film.

Grade: 6 out of 10 (recommended)

Milk – It took me forever to watch this movie. I rented it on March 11th and returned it on May 19th… I started watching it at least eight different times before I finally sat through the whole thing. That’s not a knock on the film though, it’s just a reflection of how much of a priority film-watching has been to me lately… because this movie was really, really good. I was shocked when Sean Penn won Best Actor earlier this year since all the hype was pointing towards Mickey Rourke and, to a lesser extent, Frank Langella. I saw both of those performances before the awards and even though I hadn’t seen Milk yet, I didn’t think Penn was going to top either one. I was wrong. Having seen all the nominated performances (aside from dude in The Visitor), I think Penn was hands down the best. It’s one of those rare performances where the actor completely becomes the character… so much that you forget that you’re even watching Sean Penn. It was truly remarkable. On top of that, Harvey Milk’s story was an interesting one, James Franco was really good, and Emile Hirsch is quickly rising on my list of favorite actors. While Milk probably won’t have enough replay value to be worth owning for me, it’s definitely something I’d highly recommend everyone see at least once.

Grade: 8 out of 10 (excellent)

Rachel Getting Married – I only rented this movie because of the buzz surrounding Anne Hathaway’s performance… an actress more known for corny teeny-bopper flicks than Oscar-worthy material. I can’t say the story particularly interested me, but Hathaway was as good as advertised and I’m looking forward to seeing her test her acting chops even more in the future. The best scene in the film is when Hathaway gives a grimace-inducing speech at her sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner. This movie is worth watching for Hathaway alone, but if you don’t care about great performances in mediocre movies, you can skip this one.

Grade: 5.5 out of 10 (worth watching/recommended)

Lords Of Dogtown – Yeah, this movie is a bit older. It’s basically a film adaptation of the excellent 2002 documentary Dogtown & Z-Boys and follows the rise of a group of teenage skateboarding phenoms who build their skill sets by sneaking into someone’s back yard, draining their swimming pools, and honing their talents on their makeshift half-pipes. I can’t think of too many documentaries that have been recast with actors and turned into feature films, so I can see a lot of potential problems with the concept–most noticeably having an actor playing a real person that has already starred in the same story as themselves. However, all the actors did fairly well, and once again, Emile Hirsch knocked it out of the fucking park… which would give him a streak of three straight solid-to-excellent performances I’ve seen from him. Heath Ledger was also in this and was nearly as unrecognizable and amazing as he was playing The Joker. I didn’t even know it was him until halfway through the movie…. probably the first time he showed potential of his greatness. Overall, a fun and loyal adaption with surprisingly solid performances, but honestly, the documentary was much better and more interesting.

Grade: 6 out of 10 (recommended)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine – This movie got kind of slammed by critics, but I enjoyed it. It didn’t blow my mind and it doesn’t hold a candle to the much superior superhero films of last year (The Dark Knight & Iron Man), but I had fun watching it. I can’t say I’m familiar with any Wolverine comics at all, so I can’t comment on how faithful the adaptation was or if fanboys are going to think they butchered it. For all the hype surrounding a long awaited Gambit appearance, his character was pretty lame, didn’t contribute much to the film, and wasn’t nearly as bad ass as I remember him in the cartoons or video games. All I can really say about this movie is that it was entertaining, Lynn Collins is fucking gorgeous, and I need to get on Hugh Jackman’s workout regime for this film ASAP.

Grade: 5.5 out of 10 (worth watching/recommended)

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