Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men: First Class

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #30, the LAST DAY of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! Over this month I’ve been reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. So after one okay X-Men film, the brilliant second film, the disgusting third film and I can’t be arsed with the Wolverine one, we’re now going to conclude this month of reviews with the only other great X-Men film in the form of X-Men: First Class.

Man I remember seeing this in the cinema and being very surprised at the end result, I mean I’d had to live through both X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine so my expectations were set incredibly low. Luckily this film found a way to be dramatic, cool, interesting and while it may not have totally convinced all of the X-Men fanboys out there, overall it was a good injection of awesomeness into the X-Men film series. So now in 2013 I’m gonna review it again and see how it fares.

When it comes to the story of X-Men: First Class it is set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the origins Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto), two mutants brought up from very different backgrounds who as adults have different ideas of how they see world as a species different to humans. The film focuses on the formation of Charles and Erik’s friendship, the relationship between them and how their differing opinions about humankind and mutantkind split them apart into groups that would eventually become the X-Men (the good guys) and the Brotherhood of Mutants (the bad guys).

The story in this film is very good as it was smart, emotional and had a great deal of character development. I loved seeing the story behind Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, we got to see new sides to them and witness some of their new abilities too. It is great to see their meeting and the focus of their relationship, the ups and downs and the eventual fall out that leads to them being on opposing sides. I like setting in this film, its much older point in time with various situations which allows for a lot of different stories to be told, some of which are interwoven. The whole Cuban Missile Crisis is a great setting for this film as the writers find a way to incorporate the mutants into it in a smart and sophisticated manner. There are problems in this film, at points there’s not enough screen time for many of the character involved and there are some unsatisfied conclusions to some of the characters and story elements.

Now let’s talk about the cast. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier/Professor X. McAvoy gives us a very different interpretation of the classic character we know from the comics, here is a more charismatic ladies man who while intelligent is a lot less of a serious character than we’re used to. I really liked McAvoy’s version of Xavier, he’s very cool, funny and epic when he’s serious. Then we have Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto,  here is a character who had a rough upbringing and definitely has a grudge against humans, especially Sebastian Shaw. I loved Fassbender in this role, he was incredibly intimidating, raw, badass and all-round amazing, he gave us a more sympathetic version of the character and gave justification as to why he is who he is at the beginning of the Bryan Singer film.

And then there’s Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, I thought Bacon was awesome as the bad guy of this film. His back story as a former Nazi scientist and the leader of the Hellfire Club and I thought his character while a bit ridiculous at times was actually really cool, evil and had some nice moments. Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique, Lawrence’s performance as Mystique is very different from what we’re used to. This character is more reserved and is trying to come to terms with her ability, she’s been made to hide her true self by Charles but after coming into contact with Magneto her opinions change. I loved Lawrence in this role as she was super beautiful and very convincing in her role. January Jones as Emma Frost looks hot as hell and I’m glad that her comic book look was added in the film, the problem with her character is that she was a bit bland. Nicholas Hoult as Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy/Beast, in this film Hank is a bit of annoying character because rather than embracing his mutant heritage he’s instead trying to rid himself of his powers, which obviously doesn’t work out too well for him. Hoult is good but not nearly as good as the other members of the X-Men team, at least not until after he becomes Beast. As for Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, she was pretty hot and I liked her in the film.

Zoë Kravitz was nice Angel Salvadore though I wasn’t too keen on how her character progressed. Caleb Landry Jones as Sean Cassidy/Banshee was okay and a bit funny but a tad annoying at times. Lucas Till as Alex Summers/Havok was nice, though I didn’t like how much of a douche he was towards Hank. Edi Gathegi I feel bad for as Armando Muñoz/Darwin, he seemed like a cool character but he’s severely wasted for plot purposes. And then we have Jason Flemyng as Azazel, this film’s equivalent of Nightcrawler (even though he’s technically Nightcrawler’s father). Even though Flemyng doesn’t say anything he’s really cool and has some great fight scenes. Álex González as Janos Quested/Riptide was okay, but he barely spoke and just threw around a lot of whirlwinds so he wasn’t too good of a bad guy. And lastly Oliver Platt as Man In Black Suit, he had some funny scenes and I enjoyed his role in the film.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the film is pretty impressive. The CGI is very nice good, there are some awesome effects used for action sequences involving Magneto, Azazel and Sebastian Shaw. I love so much of the fights and action and explosions in this film, it’s this kind of spectacle that the series has been missing for a while now. Though I have to say the effects for Beast’s face is questionable which goes from looking okay to pretty ugly. As for the soundtrack by Henry Jackson I think that it’s really good. It is sophisticated, emotional, loud and awesome at various points throughout the film and my favourite song was “Rage and Serenity“, the scene where it’s used is epic and so beautiful.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well as I’ve said before I know the X-Men mainly from the cartoons, a few comic books and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Like the previous films there are a lot of differences and updates to the characters and story from the source material. What I noticed was the inclusion of Nightcrawler’s father, Azazel, we got to see more of Charles and Erik’s powers and there was also the inclusion of Emma Frost too. But there was some messy elements like the inclusion of Alex Summers which was bit questionable and the treatment of Frost’s character personality too.

So to conclude X-Men: First Class is cracking good comic book film which takes the basic elements of the source material and modifies it in a way where it works in a dramatic and awesome way. The story is great and I love the focus on Charles and Erik’s relationship, the central performances from James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are incredible and there is plenty of action to satisfy the masses. While it may not be a perfect X-Men film that fans were looking for, I feel like Matthew Vaughn did a great job at bringing this franchise back from the shitter and into the good place in the realm of superhero films.

Rating: 8/10 (A fine film and bloody good step in the right direction for the X-Men film series!)

So there’s my review people, THE LAST ONE DONE! So have you seen X-Men: First Class and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo!

Well its been a hectic month, but I just about made it through, thanks for reading and a special thank you goes out to Tim The Film Guy for commenting and liking my material, you rule dude! Alright later on peeps!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #29 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Okay so after one okay X-Men film and the brilliant second film, we now move onto the tragic disaster that X-Men: The Last Stand aka The Film That Fans Try to Forget About.

Good god man. X-Men: The Last Stand is one of the films I actively try to avoid. This is a film that is infamous among comic book fans for its failure and horrible execution. I remember seeing X-Men 3 in the cinema and recall being very disappointed, but since then each time I’ve checked it out its gotten worse. Now I’ve had no reason to watch this in recent years, but thanks to this month of superhero films reviews I have to dive into the deep end again! And in 2013 this film sucks even worse than ever before.

In terms of the plot in X-Men 3 takes place some time after the last film. It is publicly announced  that there is now a cure for the mutants created in a secret laboratory supported by the government, it creates a divide in the mutant community. Some mutants are for the idea while others detest the idea. Magneto believes a war is coming and recruits a large team of mutants to take down Warren Worthington II and his cure. The X-Men have to stop him, though they are at a disadvantage because Jean Grey has returned as The Phoenix and joined with Magneto. So now on darkest of days the X-Men have to band together with what little team members they have left and take on the Brotherhood of Mutants.

The story in this film just pisses me off SO MUCH! X-Men 2 worked so well as it just about had the right balance of characters, action and story, but somehow that good material got tampered with in the transition of writers and director. What we get in this film is a story that has tiny elements of interest, but the execution is simply poor. This film introduces a lot of new elements into play in terms of story, characters and some comic book aspects too, but none of it matters as it is not there long enough to matter. Some of the characters changed with no real explanation as to why or some just feel inconsistent when compared to its predecessor. Too many wrong decisions were made. Why in the hell was Cyclops killed off? Why was Angel introduced if he serves no proper purpose? Where’d Nightcrawler go? WHY FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST DID PROFESSOR X HAVE TO DIE!?! Who thought that was a good idea? Fail, fail, fail!

Why for the love of god did this have to happen? I’ll never get over this.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, while Jackman has his cool character moments overall his character as gone from awesome to very cruddy, and annoyingly Wolverine is still the main character in this film. I mean his story was technically wrapped up in the last film, so there is no reason for him to be at the forefront of the story yo. I understand that he has feelings for Jean Grey, but it gets to absurdly high level and it really pisses me off how much of a lovesick puppy he becomes especially after Cyclops dies, that is not in good taste at all. Ian McKellen returns as again Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, while McKellen still gives a good performance, I wasn’t keen on how cold he was and many silly decisions were made with his character. Famke Janssen also returns from death as Jean Grey/Phoenix, in this film she’s a shadow of her former self and instead spends most of the film as the Phoenix, killing everyone that comes across he in the wrong way. Janssen was a right bitch in this film and obviously that was down to the character she was playing but even so there was no redeeming qualities about her in this film.

Halle Berry definitely has more of a leader role as Storm, in this film she’s a lot more assertive and has way more dialogue than before, but the problem is that she still doesn’t fully own her leadership role and doesn’t fully utilize her weather powers and you’d think since she’s the only original member of the X-Men team she’d have a more important role but she’s really pushes aside. We also have a new member in the form of Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy/Beast. He’s a former student of Xavier’s School who is now the Secretary of Mutant Affairs in the U.S. government. Grammer does good job at portraying the character even though I feel like he wasn’t totally utilized in the best way in my opinion. Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman is decent, he gets more screen time and gets to do more action, but in the end he’s not the version of Iceman I’d like to see. Also Ellen Page shows up as the new Kitty Pryde, she’s good and has some decent moments in the film but I feel like her character doesn’t naturally fit into the film. And then there’s Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin/Colossus, he goes from just having a cameo to being a full-on X-Men team member, but the problem is that he’s just there for fight scenes as we still don’t learn too much about the guy.

Rebecca Romijn is still as hot and agile as Mystique, Romijin is good for the short time that she’s in the film but after she loses her powers she’s useless. It is darn shame too because I liked her too. Aaron Stanford is still an arrogant hot-head as Pyro, his role has been increased in this film and while he has some wonderful action moments, I still think of him as that annoying douche who should have been taken out quickly.

Now we move onto the useless or completely wasted characters. Anna Paquin as Rogue has just been turned into a moping teenager whose jealous of Bobby and Kitty’s friendship. She feels alone because she can’t be intimate with anyone and yet she forgets about the fact that Wolverine was the first REAL friend she’s ever had, not only that but once the cure is announced she proper jumps on the bandwagon to get it without even considering any other options, such a waste of a character. And then there’s Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Stewart is good but very much wasted due to him being killed off. WHY!?! And then we have James Marsden as Cyclops. Ah man in this film he’s even more of a pussy than before due to the death of Jean and then he finds her only to be killed off in the beginning of the film. I feel bad for Marsden as he is actually famous for this role and yet his character is butchered so badly and then done away with so swiftly that it sickens me. Also Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut is hilarious and has some funny moments but otherwise he’s another one of those throwaway characters. And lastly Ben Foster as Warren Worthington III/Angel was just a pointless addition to the film, sure he has a bit of purpose because of his father’s plan for a cure, but Warren doesn’t do anything significant like join the X-Men or help in the major battle at the end of the film, which renders his appearance in this film pointless.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the CGI is pretty good, but the presentation of Phoenix’s powers was badly handled (where’s the fire and why does she look like a demented alien woman?) and all of the action scenes were okay but none of them had any unique or stand out moments. As for the soundtrack by John Powell is not as nicely handled as it was in X-Men 2 and there are a lot of repeating themes throughout the film that are a little overbearing. The best song is “Angel’s Cure“, that piece is beautiful and dramatic.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well as I’ve said before I know the X-Men mainly from the cartoons, a few comic books and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. From what I saw in this film there are a good few element from the comics kept and updated for the film. But I think that the main offender in this case is the handling of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” story arc in the comics that’s adapted into an original story, while it was an interesting idea, I feel like the way it was executed was very foolish and messy.

So to conclude X-Men: The Last Stand is still one of the most disappointing and disgusting film in the realm of comic book films. It took the great material from the last film and completely shits on it with a terrible story, poorly handled character development and poor use of the source material. This is just a cluttered mess of a film that was forgotten about by comic book fans and audiences for a real. It sucked back then and it sucks right now! FAIL, FAIL, FAIL!

Rating: 4/10 (This film is the reason why the X-Men series needs to be rebooted damn it!)

So there’s my review people, only 1 more to go yo! So have you seen X-Men and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men 2

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #28 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. After the not too impressive X-Men yesterday let’s talk about the far superior sequel that Bryan Singer crafted in the form of X-Men 2 aka X2 aka X2: X-Men United.

Yeah, X-Men 2 is some cool stuff. I remember watching this in the cinema and being so happy afterwards. After all these years X-Men 2 is still been one of my favourite comic book films and even though there are a few things I would have changed about the film, it is still awesome and I have a great time watching it. So its been a while since I watched it last, have my views changed in 2013? Read on and find out.

Now let’s talk about the plot. After the events on Liberty Island, everyone at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is settling in. Magneto is locked up in a plastic cell, Rogue and Bobby Drake have finally gotten together, and Wolverine has set off to find his origins. But after a mutant attack on the President, everyone starts to fear any type of mutant. William Stryker, who plans to stop all mutants, raids the mutant school, causing Wolverine and his team of mutants to go into hiding. Stryker has managed to capture Xavier and will use him to create another version of Cerebro. So now the remaining X-Men must now team up with their enemy, Magneto, to stop Stryker before it’s too late.

The story in this film is a lot better than the last film. Rather than having a plot that doesn’t quite add up to anything, this plot gives us a lot better material that’s brilliant in regards to the story, characters and spectacle. With William Stryker’s plan to eliminate the mutants, it makes for some high stakes storytelling especially with all the characters involved. I also like how Stryker tied-in with Wolverine’s past, his son had connections to Charles Xavier and because of Xavier’s previous experiences with trying to help humans, Magneto is interconnected in this too. The film’s story just felt a lot bigger in scope than before and it felt a lot smarter and was way more interesting because of the comic book elements that was added in. I loved the Wolverine origins, the continuing struggles for the mutants against humans and the progression of Jean Grey’s abilities.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine. In this film Logan is still trying to find out about his past and is having flashbacks via nightmares. I think this is where Jackman really started to own the role as Wolverine, here he’s more aggressive, dramatic and more in line with his comic book roots. Patrick Stewart is still great as Professor Charles Xavier. Stewart gets more screen time due to his expanded role in relation to the plot and his performance is fabulous offering some moments which are cool, assertive and classy. Also Ian McKellen is magnificent as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. Like Xavier, Magneto’s role is expanded in this film due to the story, in this film Magneto is even more sophisticated, aggressive and brutal. McKellen has many great scene-stealing moments and great lines of dialogue too.

Now let’s talk about Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey. I actually liked her character a lot more than the last film, in this film Jean had a more pivotal role and this film really started to look into her powers too. Even though she was still playing with the emotions of both Logan and Scott, Janssen was nice. Halle Berry fares a lot better as Storm, this time her character has a lot more to do and is brought the front of the story. Berry looks sexier than before in the role and she has much better scenes when it comes to using her powers. James Marsden unfortunately doesn’t get too much better as Scott Summers/Cyclops. He does have a few more moments to shine and isn’t as much of a useless background character is in the prequel, but he is still a bit of a pussy and isn’t the character I know from the comics.

Anna Paquin was still good as Rogue, I thought she had some nice moments in terms of action and I also like how she tries to establish a relationship with Bobby. Shawn Ashmore makes for a cool Bobby Drake/Iceman, he has an expanded role in this film and I liked his story elements and budding relationship with Rogue. Also Aaron Stanford stands out very well as John Allerdyce/Pyro. You can see he’s a guy who doesn’t completely live by the rules, has issues with the mutant discrimination and really wants to show off his abilities. Stanford has some great moments especially when he displays his powers.

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos continues to be awesome as Mystique, she continues to be one impressive woman as she infiltrates several locations, fights off loads of enemies and changes into several people. As for Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker I thought he was very good as this man who has a military background and has ties to Wolverine’s past. Cox was great in the villain role and he lended himself very well to the source material he was given. But one of the most stand out performances is Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler. This character is one of my favourite characters from the comics and he is wonderfully brought to screen in this modified versions. Cummings was very cool, funny and incredible as Nightcrawler and was one of the best people in the film. And Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama/Deathstrike was cool, she was the crazy mutant with the same abilities as Wolverine though she had much more agility and karate skills.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually this film is so good, the CGI in impressive and the make-up is nicely done too. I also love the action in this film, its wonderfully crafted and is very exciting to watch especially when it comes to the brilliant opening sequences with Nightcrawler in the White House or seeing Wolverine fighting people or Pyro’s fire scenes too. As for the soundtrack by John Ottman its great, its way better than the last film with a better sense of epicness, it’s not overly amazing, bit it does its job well.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? As I said before I’ve only read a bit of the X-Men comics and my knowledge is more in lines with cartoons. But from what I know this film adapted some of the source material well like Nightcrawler’s abilities, Wolverine’s back story and the introduction of William Stryker was good too.

So to conclude X-Men 2 is still a kick ass film. It takes the Everything in this film is miles better than the prequel, the storytelling is better, the returning cast are better utilized and the action is on another level. Even after all this time X-Men 2 is still a good superhero film and has a good few comic book elements implemented that makes it so much fun to watch. While the film isn’t perfect and has a few things that I’d personally change, I’d say that this is still one of the best comic book films and it deserves respect.

Rating: 8.5/10 (Still a fine comic book film and arguably still the best X-Men film)

So there’s my review people, only 2 more to go. So have you seen X-Men 2 and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Favourite Songs #18: Chaka Khan – I Feel For You

Howdy people of the interweb, and welcome to the eighteenth edition of my series of blog posts dedicated to some of my favourite songs ever in life. Today we’re gonna talk about one of my favourite songs ever, I know I’ve probably said a few times already but this one truly is special. It’s time to talk about “I Feel For You” by Chaka Khan.

I think I’ve heard this song a good few times throughout my life, but I don’t think I started listening to it properly until I was around 18 or 19 years old. Ever since then I found the song in full on YouTube my world changed and I can’t imagine life without the amazing sounds of Chaka Khan yo.

Check out the sexy bit of 80’s music material below:

There is something truly beautiful about this song that I can’t really describe. You just need to listen to it and then you’ll embrace the magic of this song. I think “I Feel For You” is just the definition of a great pop song with some R&B influences. I love the way the song starts out with rapping from Melle Mel, then beat kicks in and then the music drops. All of the music production along with Chaka Khan’s vocals makes for an amazing song. What really elevates the song is Chaka Khan’s voice, she has a naturally beautiful voice and it sounds so good in the verses and chorus but my favourite moments are when she reaches those high notes, those are the moments where the song just touches my soul in a way that not many others can.

This song sounds like pure happiness and I feel great every time I hear it. It just has a perfect sound. Chaka Khan vocals, along with Melle Mel rapping, keyboard and guitar by David Frank of The System and harmonica from Stevie Wonder, it is a special combination that comes together in a sensational way. by the way the only way to truly experience this song is in the full album version, the radio edit isn’t enough!

“I Feel For You” is definitely one of the stand out tracks on her Greatest Hits album.

So to conclude “I Feel For You” by Chaka Khan is simply one of the best songs of the 1980’s and definitely holds up today in my opinion. It is pure goodness with great music production along with amazing vocals from Chaka Khan. This definitely one of her best singles and love it to death and I highly recommend the song as it is worthy of your time.

Well that’s another song review done, what do you think of this song by Chaka Khan? Whatever your thoughts are leave me a comment below and be sure to come back next time for another song review yo! 😀

 

Terminator Series is Rebooted. New Trilogy to Begin on June 26, 2015!

Okay I thought that after seeing this yesterday that it was a joke, but upon further inspection I see that this is legit and it’s actually happening, so let’s talk about it. The Terminator film series is getting frigging rebooted… The follow information comes from superherohype:

“Skydance Productions, Annapurna Pictures and Paramount Pictures have jointly announced they will partner on a rebooted Terminator movie, to be released by Paramount Pictures on June 26, 2015.

The first in a stand-alone trilogy, Terminator will be produced by Megan Ellison of Annapurna and David Ellison of Skydance. Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake of Skydance will serve as executive producers. Laeta Kalorgridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry) are attached to write the screenplay.

Launched in 1984 with star Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, Terminator spanned 3 subsequent films, which have earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

David Ellison most recently executive produced, along with his partners at Paramount, World War Z,Star Trek Into Darkness, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. A 5th installment of in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise is in active development, along with a 3rd film in the “G.I. Joe” franchise, among other films.

Megan Ellison most recently produced the Academy Award®-nominated Zero Dark Thirty, The Master and executive produced Spring Breakers via her Annapurna Pictures banner and has David O. Russell’s American Hustle, Spike Jonze’s Her, and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher set for release later this year.”

Damn, Hollywood really like to reboot stuff yo, its so unnecessary. Where’s the new stuff? But anyways let’s look at the facts here. The Terminator series has had four films. Two of them really awesome, one okay and one questionable entry that divided audiences. For me I love the James Cameron films, ESPECIALLY TERMINATOR 2! Terminator 3 was alright but just didn’t have what I was looking for in a Terminator film. And then there’s Terminator Salvation, a film that just annoys me due its questionable storyline, lack of charm like the previous films and just not being very interesting for me. Now Salvation wasn’t completely shit, it had some cool future stuff going on there, but I feel like that film should have been awesome. It was really the last chance for the series to be cool and continue. But in the end it just didn’t have the smart and enjoyable qualities that made the series so famous and adored.

So now the studios have decided to say “fuck it” and reboot the series because that always rectifies film franchises that have had a questionable last entry. At first I was okay with the idea of the series being rebooted, but now that I think about it I’m not actually okay with it. I’d much rather the series just be left in the past and just enjoy the material we have to work with now. But instead we’re possibly gonna a get a retelling of the story of how Skynet takes over the world and how one person will have to save the world and will somehow involve time travel in some capacity. I dunno if  can be arsed with that again especially after it was done so well before, plus it was a unique concept back in the 80’s and 90’s, but I dunno how well that would work again in today’s realm of cinema. Unless they change-up everything and give us something completely new. But how they’d be able to pull that off is behold me. In the end I’m very wary of this, but I won’t comment on it until get the story and director.

 

Escape Plan Trailer #1 Review

Howdy ladies and gents, looks like it’s time to review another film trailer! I was just floating around the internet a little while ago and then I saw that the trailer for Escape Plan was up and I was like “Damn, been waiting for this for ages, gotta check this out and then review it!” So yeah that’s how we got here haha, anyways let’s move on.

Here’s the trailer below:

Alrighty then, after I watched this trailer I was actually smiling thinking that is could actually be a good film. So what have we got here? Sly Stallone is guy who can escape of any prisons and has gotten of loads for ages, but eventually he’s thrown into a prison he can’t get out of… At least not alone. So this is where Arnold Schwarzenegger comes in, he’s another inmate that wants to get out too. And so the both of them decide to team up to escape. Obviously there’s a good few other elements that come into play like the people on the outside who have contact with Stallone’s character and just like any normal thriller there are elements conspiracy and betrayal on the horizon and it looks like fun.

I think what attracts me to this film is the fact that Sly and Arnie are in a film together and it’s not just another Expendables, but just the two of these action icons in one film together and that just makes inner action junkie all giddy. Now obviously this film could be another crappy action thriller, but I think it ha all the right elements in place at the moment, plus it looks like there will be a showdown between the both of them. I just want to see the action and carnage go down, so sign me up! And lastly I remember when this film was known as The Tomb, but I didn’t know it was known as Exit Plan before it got to its current title, didn’t know it was this hard to name a film haha.

In conclusion Escape Plan looks like it’ll be a good time in the cinema and I am genuinely interested in seeing how this film turns out. Sure The Last Stand and Bullet To The Head weren’t exactly the epic action films that a lot of Arnie and Stallone fans were look for, but I reckon this film has the power to potentially rectify that and be a decent action thriller.

So what do you think of Escape Plan? Are you interested or just don’t care? Whatever your thoughts are drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post. 😀

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #27 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Today we’re gonna talk about the film that in a lot of ways made comic book films the popular genre they are today, I am of course talking about Bryan Singer’s about X-Men.

Ah X-Men, this is one of the films that really helped comic book films become popular again, so it should be awesome right? Well it is good, but not that great. Funnily enough I actually saw this film after X-Men 2, so yeah after the awesome sequel it was kind of lame to go back to the less impressive prequel. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good elements about X-Men, but each time I’ve watched the film since the mid-2000’s it’s gotten worse and worse. So in 2013 has my opinion changed? Read on and find out.

In terms of the plot the film focuses on the mutants Wolverine and Rogue as they are brought into a conflict between two groups that have radically different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutant-kind: Professor Xavier’s X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto.

The story for the most part is pretty interesting. I liked the way it started out with Senator Kelly hating on the mutants and trying to get them to get registered so that they can be separated from humans. We also get to see the differing opinions about how mutants feel towards humans from both the good and bad perspective. Charles Xavier thinks that mutants can coexist with the humans, whereas Magneto, due to his past experiences believes that mutants are superior and need to take the humans out. I like all the conflict between humans and mutants and within the mutant groups themselves. I also love the introduction of Wolverine and Rogue, their characters are treated well along with Xavier and Magneto. However this film presents a lot of problems, since there is a great focus on Wolverine and a few select other mutants, other characters don’t get enough screen time to be relevant or just end up being background people. By the end of the film you really want to see what happens next and luckily even though this film isn’t overly amazing, it sets up the groundwork for some really impressive material in the sequel.

Now let’s talk about the cast. Let’s start with Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine. In this film Wolverine is drifter, he has no home and gets in fights for money because he beaten because of his mutant abilities. However his life changes when he comes into contact with Rogue and eventually the X-Men and from there he has to adjust to his new surroundings and try to decide where he stands when he unintentionally becomes part of this war. Hugh Jackman was nobody before this film came out, but this is the role that made him the popular star he is today. Jackman maybe a bit pretty for the role, but I think he did a great job portraying all of Wolverine’s mannerisms from his powers to his personality traits.

Patrick Stewart also makes for a great Professor Charles Xavier. I love how he is a powerful telepathic mutant who believes that humans can coexistence with mutants, there is a nativity to his thinking but you can’t help but rooting for him especially when some things work out. Sir Patrick Stewart is a fabulous talent and even though there wasn’t too much of him in the film he was still awesome regardless. And there’s Ian McKellen who makes for an awesome Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto.You can see that Eric had a difficult life prior to the present time in the film and due to his past experiences and the growing hatred against mutants from people like Senator Kelly, as Magneto he’s got every right to despise the humans and want them to be taken out. Sir Ian McKellen is one of the finest actors ever and he puts his skills to good use as he is classy, assertive and totally badass as this classic mutant villain.

Then we have Anna Paquin as Marie/Rogue. I liked Paquin in this role, she was a timid character due to her powers and was forced to leave her family after an incident involving her boyfriend at the time. She eventually comes into contact with Wolverine and the two become quite close. I like their relationship, they’re technically friends but I see it more like a father-daughter relationship and that’s wonderfully done. Also Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique was quite impressive. She was Magneto’s loyal second-in-command and due to her ability to transform into anyone she has a lot of freedom to be versatile and do a lot of things. Romijn-Stamos was good in her role even if she didn’t say very much or was that similar to her comic book counterpart. Also Bruce Davison as Senator Robert Kelly was cool, his character was an asshole trying to get mutants exposed and registered under a new act. Davison portrayed his character pretty accurately to what I know from the comics and I thought his character was convincing.

Then you have the people I just can’t stand in this film, so let’s talk about them now. Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey was okay, but I didn’t like how simplified her character was and how even though she was in a relationship with Cyclops was leading Wolverine on. Then we have James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, my god did his character get butchered. In comics he’s meant be this assertive leader with a great screen presence, but in this film he’s almost silence all of the time, doesn’t really stand out at all and has no epic moments in the film. And then we have Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm. Oh Storm, YOU ALSO GOT BUTCHERED! Storm is a strong, female character with African heritage and has the ability to control and manipulate the weather, but her character is so simplified and nerfed in this film. Berry has barely that many lines of dialogue, is never really at the forefront of the story and her powers aren’t fully utilized. It hurts me so bad! But the worst offenders come next.

Tyler Mane as Sabretooth. Holy crap this guy sucks, I know he’s meant to be a tiger-like person but when compared to the comics he just terrible. He’s just a big, roaring idiot who has very little dialogue and has a pretty stupid-looking expression on his face most of the time. He is not intimidating or scary, he’s just stupid. And then there’s Ray Park as Toad. Honestly he wouldn’t have been my first choice for a villain in these films, he’s really not that interesting of a character and he seems to get the best of the X-Men even though he doesn’t look that strong at all.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Honestly the film from a visual standpoint is decent for its time but has ages terribly. This is the point before cool fight choreography had been made and loads of practical effects were in place with not too much CGI applied. Because of those factors there’s a lot of bad-looking wire work here and lame fight scenes and nothing in the action department screams out “awesome!” to me. As for the soundtrack by Michael Kamen its good and has its moments of epicness especially in the sequence on Liberty Island, but otherwise the score is just there and has other bits of music that just sounds strange and irregular.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well I’ve not really read that many X-Men comics, my knowledge is from the cartoon shows, online research and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Most of the basic aspects of the comics are kept intact like characters, names and powers. Though a lot of things were simplified or changed or left out completely. Things that didn’t work was Cyclops non-leader role, the changes to Mystique’s character, and the simplification of characters like Storm, Jean Grey and Sabretooth to name a few.

So to conclude X-Men is a pretty good starting point for this film franchise as it establishes the basic elements that makes the comics so captivating like the discrimination against mutants from humans, the whole relationship between Charles and Eric and bringing in Wolverine’s origin story. Everything else is just a bit of mess with some stupid decisions made in relations to characters, action sequences and the comic book source material. In the end its a decent film, but is nowhere near as great as some claim.

Rating: 6.5/10 (It is good, but has many issues that prevent it from being awesome)

So there’s my review people, only 3 more to go. So have you seen X-Men and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: The Dark Knight

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #26 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Okay so today we conclude our review of Batman films with one of the most overrated films in recent history, The Dark Knight.

Now I’m gonna talk about a film I don’t like to discuss with most people. Why? Because everyone bums the hell out of this film like it is the best thing since sliced bread and in my opinion it really isn’t. Fans and critics went made in 2008 when this film released and it has been hailed for changing the comic book superhero genre since. I saw the film when it released and I thought it was good, but not nearly as godly as people made it out to be. Ever since then I’ve watched the film a few times but my views still haven’t changed. So now in 2013 I’m revisiting the film again, has my opinion changed? Read on and find out.

Taking place after the events in Batman Begins, Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

The story was pretty interesting for the most part but not perfect though. I like the way this film continues on from the last with its visual and verbal references, but I also like how the story progresses and gets more complex and higher in stakes. the introduction of the Joker makes for some very dramatic, suspenseful and unpredictable situations that have intriguing results. There’s a lot of interesting themes about corruption, morality, justice and injustice and nature vs. nature, and there’s all beautifully explained in the film. I think one of the reasons I’m not keen on the film is because there’s just a lot of aspects that I don’t care about, when the film isn’t focused on Batman or the Joker, then my interest fades, plus sometimes the film feels long and tedious. I guess the only reason I don’t like this film is because it doesn’t really feel like a comic book film, it feels more like a long thriller film with just a few comic book elements thrown in. And while that may work for most film audiences, for me who is a nerd and a fan of the more comic book side of Batman, this film just feels lacking.

Now let’s talk about the cast who do a good job at bringing these characters to life for the most part. Christian Bale was still pretty good as Bruce Wayne, I feel like his character went through hell in this film as he had to fight the terrors of Gotham while trying to keep himself intact and eventually get out the crime fighting life and move on with Rachel. But as Batman, Bale was still dodgy. He is intimidating, but his voice is still terrible and over the course of the film gets worse. Michael Caine is still awesome as Alfred, Caine is just a great actor and he shows us his talents as Bruce’s trusted butler who helps Bruce and his alter ego, offering advice and being funny at times.

But let’s talk about the main reason this film works and that is Heath Ledger as the Joker. This version of the Joker is just a psychopath, he is a nutcase with a twisted sense of humour and morality and he does bad things just to see will happen. I remember seeing this film in the cinema and remembering that this is why I liked the film so much and that rule still applies today. Ledger is just magnetic in this role, every time he’s on-screen all attention is on him and his charisma  and powerful persona makes him amazing to watch. He is crazy and I love it, and while I can’t say it’s my favourite interpretation of the character (That is still Mark Hamill), this in my opinion is way more interesting and captivating than Jack Nicholson’s version.

Also Gary Oldman as James Gordon is great. Oldman’s role is more expanded than before and we get to see his character pushed to the forefront of the story. Gordon has to deal with his alliance to Batman and Harvey Dent as well as the Joker’s crazy actions. I just love how much more screen time Gordon got and how he ascended to the role as police commissioner. As for Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face I thought he was pretty cool. As Dent Eckhart was nice as the district attorney who really wanted to clean up Gotham and do justice the right way. Eventually Dent gets corrupted and goes on the path of revenge as Two-Face and I liked his interpretation of the character as he was corrupt, on-edge and shell of his former self. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes was nice and I found her version of the character to be more engaging and likeable than Katie Holmes. You could see that even though Rachel had moved on with Harvey Dent, that she still feelings for Bruce and because of his life as Batman it made things a great more complicated. And lastly Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox is still badass, I just like how he keeps supplying Bruce with all his gadgets for his duties as Batman.

Now let’s talk about the presentation, visually the film is pretty impressive, the cinematography is wonderful, the presentation of the action and Batman’s fight scenes is a hell of a lot better and the editing is much smoother than before. I also like the special effects applied to Aaron Eckhart after he becomes Two Face too. The only  thing I wasn’t keen on was the fact that Gotham City lost its visual style from the first film and just adopted a very normal look in this film which I just didn’t agree with. As for the soundtrack by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer it is hella cool. The two basically take the themes from the first film and build upon them while introducing new themes too. The music is loud, dramatic, suspenseful and versatile and it really adds to the scenes where it is used.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? When it comes to Batman I’ve only read a few comics, most of my knowledge comes from years of watching Batman cartoons and research online. Well since Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe is more realistic, several things were updated or modified to work in the real world. As such many things have a more grounded approach. For example the Joker no longer has bleached skin and instead has paint and scars on his face and Two-Face instead of having acid on his face and a split personality, his face is burnt away in a fire.

So to conclude The Dark Knight is still a great film and is a wonderful piece of material from director Christopher Nolan. It has a story that has a lot of interesting themes and thriller-esque elements and with a fabulous central performance from Heath Ledger it is a film worth watching. That being said, I still don’t think its the best comic book film ever made, it strays too far from the source material and almost doesn’t feel like a superhero/comic book film at all and there’s just a few small things that I don’t agree with. Now loads of people think I’m crazy because of my views on this film and I’ll continue to fight my corner until the end of time, but as it stands The Dark Knights is awesome, but not as extraordinary as a lot of fans and critics make it out to be.

Rating: 8/10 (A fine Batman film, but not as godly as many make it out to be)

So there’s my review people, only 4 more to go! So have you seen The Dark Knight and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: Batman Begins

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #25 of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. Alrighty then, we’ve talked about both of the Tim Burton Batman films, we’ve also talked about the ONLY Joel Schumacher that matters, so we’re skipping ahead to 2005 with the awesome Batman Begins.

Okay now we’re talking. I remember not being initially interested in this film at all due to its whole dark and realistic approach and lack of traditional Batman comic source material. But then I gave the film a chance around 2 or 3 years later and I found out that I really liked it. The film was definitely different and there were a number of things I wasn’t keen on but otherwise it was a solid film which I appreciated. So its been a while since I’ve seen it last time and now that I’ve watched it again has my opinion changed? Read on to find out.

So the plot in this film tells the origin story of the Bruce Wayne from his fear of bats to the death of his parents to his training with the League of shadows to his eventual transformation into the hero known as Batman. In this film Batman has to deal with the villain Scarecrow and the much larger threat in the form of Ra’s al Ghul and his plot to destroy Gotham City.

The story was pretty cool. Even though I am a very adamant comic book fan, the more realistic, dark and gritty tone really worked thanks to the great script and good direction from Christopher Nolan. Everything works in a more practical and realistic fashion, though there are comic book elements implemented as well and I think they’re incorporated nicely. The reason I liked the story so much was due to Bruce’s origin story, I don’t think there’s been a Batman film to date that’s gone this deep into Batman’s life prior to donning the suit. We get to see his childhood, his training and the creation of his lair, suit, weaponry and so on. I also like the part of the plot involving Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows plan to destroy Gotham, I thought it was pretty cool and hardcore. I think my only issues with the film is the fact that it wasn’t as comic book-esque as I had hoped, Batman is character I’ve always enjoyed in the animated TV shows and to see all of the source material changed and modified to work in the real world just didn’t gel with me at times during this film.

Now let’s talk about the cast who do a good job at bringing these characters to life for the most part. So let’s start with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I do like Bale’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne, I think he gives us the most accurate version of the character from the comics and his journey through this film is pretty cool and much more detailed than any other Batman film before it. However I can’t say that Bale makes a good Batman though. Bale as Batman is just terrible due to one key factor… His voice. I understand that Batman is different from Bruce Wayne and needs a different voice, however Batman in this film sounds insanely stupid! He’s all gruff, gravelly and as a lot of people have been saying online, sounds like he has throat cancer. Though it does make for some unintentionally funny lines of dialogue.

Then we have Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth. I do love Sir Michael Caine and I think this is the first film where I really became accustomed to him as an actor. Caine’s version of Alfred feels like he has more of a backstory and feels like he has more of an active role in Bruce’s life after he becomes Batman. You can see that Alfred definitely care for Bruce and wants to help him out, but he also isn’t afraid to speak his mind and voice concern when dangerous situations look like they’ll occur. Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes was where I personally found the weak link in the film. Don’t get me wrong she’s not that bad in the film, but she’s not that great either. Dawes is a character made for film and has no relation to the comics and as a love interest for Bruce I just didn’t care because that is the one element in superhero films that I can deal without. Also Gary Oldman as James Gordon was cool, again like Michael Caine’s Alfred I feel like Oldman’s Gordon had a more active role than his predecessor and left a better lasting impression on me. Oldman is a fine actor and while his character isn’t as big as he is in the sequels he’s still pretty cool here.

Then we have our first villain in the form of Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard. Neeson is one of the most awesome actors out there and I loved his character in this film how he becomes Bruce’s mentor only to turn out to be the bad guy later on down the line. You can see that Ducard has much mystery surrounding his character and that as good as he may seem he has ulterior motives and I thought Neeson did great in the role and made the character magnetic on-screen. As for villain number two who was Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow we was different, his character was very clever, questionable and strange and as the Scarecrow he was even funkier using his toxins to make people freak out and hallucinate. But as good as he was I felt like he could have been better and when he is taken out it is done in the most anti climatic way.

Tom Wilkinson makes for a cool Mafia boss as Carmine Falcone, he’s an intimidating bastard who plays a small part in the larger picture of evil plans going down in the film and Wilkinson was good. And lastly Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox was just the coolest guy ever. He’s a guy that works at Wayne Enterprises but also supplies Bruce with all his gear necessary for his missions. I like the relationship that Bruce and Lucius start in this film and since the character is played by Morgan Freeman you can’t really complain can you?

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the film is nice I like look of Gotham City because it is so dark, has great lighting and has a unique colour palette that really helps show off how ugly and distinguishing the city is. I also like a lot of the action sequences in this film, Batman’s attack sequences are nicely pulled off though it is badly shot and edited at times because you can’t really see what’s going on. As for the soundtrack by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer its pretty good, the score that they create while it doesn’t have that same level of epicness and gravitas that Danny Elfman’s scores did back in the Tim Burton’s films, it does have a main theme that sounds pretty beastly and overall the soundtrack amplifies the action in the film very well.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? When it comes to Batman I’ve only read a few comics, most of my knowledge comes from years of watching Batman cartoons and research online. I think everything in this film is modified to work in the real world so characters, vehicles and weapons work in a more practical and realistic manner. There are a few comic book elements retained like the death of Bruce’s parents and his fear of bats and his martial arts skills too. I’m not too familiar with the villains of the films so I can’t talk about them. Other than that everything else is either new or changed for film purposes.

So to conclude Batman Begins is a pretty cool film. A lot of people these days say that this film is the weakest element in The Dark Knight Trilogy but I think that is unfair as it was the film that created the foundation for the sequels to build on. This film created a new, dark and realistic world for Batman and redefined the character with much stronger storytelling, themes, characters and wonderful presentation. The film does indeed have problems and I don’t love it as much as I did before, but out of all the three Batman origins we’ve had so far this is my favourite and I recommend the film highly.

Rating: 7.5/10 (It’s dark, gritty and different but it’s still hella good!)

So there’s my review people, and now we’ve reached the FINAL 5 FILMS! WOOOO! So have you seen Batman Begins and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

Man of Steel Video Review

Alrighty then well Man of Steel is out and I’ve already done my written review a little while ago. But in case you’re not keen on reading I’ve done a video review for you lot to have a look at if you’re interested. Please check it out as I would like a few more views please! 🙂

Here’s the link below:

So what did you think of Man of Steel? Do you agree with me or think I am mental for my score? Whatever your thoughts drop them below and I’ll see ya one the next film review yo! 😀