Pleasantly surprised. Since X-men 2, I've waited for a good showing of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. I should rephrase that. I've been waiting for Wolverine to be in a good movie. X-men 3: The Last Stand was not very good. It had a few bright spots, but overall was a bit of a letdown. I then had hopes for X-men Origins: Wolverine. It was better than X-men 3, but I still felt like it was missing something.
The Wolverine is what comic fans and movie fans alike have been hoping for. It had a great story and lots of great action. My favorite scene was the train fight scene. Seriously, it was something straight out of a Bond movie. The story had a love story, humor, action and everything you could really want in a good movie. They even create a good challenge for a man that can heal every wound, making it near impossible to kill him.
It was a big surprise to me, but even more surprising was how much my wife enjoyed it. It was a good balance of story and action, unlike most of the movies this summer which have gone a little heavy on the action, especially in the last 30 minutes. You still get your climactic final scene, but you don't have to worry about it dragging on for what may seem like forever.
One of the best parts of the movie comes after the first two minutes of credits, so stick around for a bit after the credits start. You don't need to stick around long after that though. Nothing happens at the very end of the credits.
+ the bad-a$$ness that we've been waiting to see from Logan
Well, I already talked about the news of Batman vs. Superman that was announced at Comic Con. It was pretty hard to top that news. But, there were a few surprises outside of that too.
The funny thing about San Diego is that so many film companies try to surprise their fans that the unexpected has become the expected. While there, it doesn't matter that much because you still get caught up in the excitement.
I've watched what I could of most of the panels online (I wish I could see the clips shown...oh well).
I would say one of the disappointments was The Amazing Spider-man 2 panel. A couple of years ago, Andrew Garfield (a.k.a. Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-man) surprised the panel dressed in Spider-man cosplay. This year it was similar, but it didn't seem to go as planned. He was introduced on stage as Spider-man. Then he ran off and Andrew Garfield "showed up late." The Amazing Spider-man 2 did introduce the first images of Jamie Foxx as Electro in several of the Comic Con magazines leading up to the big event.
As we continued over to Fox, they had a quick panel with Hugh Jackman and the director of The Wolverine. We knew this wasn't going to be all they showed us. Hugh Jackman did try to surprise us with a "little indie movie" he's been making. At that point the entire cast of X-men: Days of Future Past came out. It was very cool to see all of the old cast of the first three X-men movies and the cast of X-men: First Class on one stage.
Since Marvel had three movies yet to be named, I expected to hear Black Panther, Doctor Strange or some other movies to be announced during the panel. They didn't announce anything new except for Avengers 2 will be called Age of Ultron. That is pretty big news for comic book fans, but it means very little to those that don't follow the comics. The panel opened with Tom Hiddleston taking over the panel as Loki, Thor's mischievous brother. It was a very fun opening and they showed some footage to tease fans for the Thor movie opening in November. The Guardians of the Galaxy panel featured most of the cast, but it still didn't make me any more excited for that movie.
That was all of the major movie news that came out of Comic Con this year. I would have loved to hear a little more about Robocop and Godzilla, but I'll have to wait for the trailers.
I went to the San Diego Comic Con last year, 2012. It was my first time and it was great. I would definitely recommend going whether you like comic books or not. If you love movies, it is a great place to go too. I love it all, so it was Nerd-vana for me.
Last year, I saw Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill talk about Man of Steel. This year Zack Snyder made a return to Hall H (the place where all the majority of movie panels take place). I think a lot of people were wondering if we would see him or any of the Man of Steel cast during the Warner Bros. panel. There was an announcement not too long ago that we would be seeing a sequel and a team movie within the next two years. I, along with others, questioned whether it was really possible.
While we are not seeing a Justice League movie in 2015, we are going to see both a Superman sequel and a "team" movie. On Saturday, Zack Snyder made the biggest announcement of Comic Con 2013 weekend. The other panels were loaded with movie stars and made some interesting announcements, but Snyder's announcement trumped them all. In 2015, we will see a Superman/Batman movie. My hope is that they title it World's Finest in honor of the comic book that hosted the pairing of these two characters for years.
The announcement (see it at the bottom of this article) was made by quoting a panel of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns where Batman defeats Superman. Harry Lennix, who played General Swanwick in Man of Steel, read this line to the crowd:
I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the man who beat you.
The official press release announces that it will be a Batman vs. Superman movie (not sure which character is taking the top billing). This is a very difficult proposition. You can debate who would win a match for days on end. Batman would carry Kryptonite. Superman could use his heat vision. Blah, blah, blah. The truth is that the general movie-going audience is going to have a hard time believing that Superman couldn't take down a human being, even one of extraordinary skills, in seconds. Kryptonite hasn't even been announced to this movie world yet. You have to create a Batman that can perform superhuman feats while still being only human. Is this possible? I believe so, but it's still shaky ground.
The other question that arises with a "versus" movie is what brings this two icons to be at odds. Does the government manipulate Superman to take down a relatively unknown "menace" in Gotham City? I doubt it. Does Lex Luthor manipulate Batman into taking down Superman? Again, doubtful. However, I do believe that this is likely closer to the path they'll take. Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne team to rebuild Metropolis. Bruce Wayne, having already operated quietly as Batman in Gotham for years, believes Superman to be a threat to the whole world. While investigating ways to take Superman, the two have to face one another.
Will there be villains? Maybe. I think Lex Luthor is introduced in this movie; however, like I originally thought when it was just a Superman movie, he's mainly behind the scenes. I still think there will be a Metallo or some other threat. It is entirely likely though that Superman and Batman are their own adversaries and nobody else is there to interfere.
The biggest question is "Who will play Batman?" As I stated before, I think Callum Blue would be a good choice. I've only seen him in The Tudors and as Zod in Smallville; however, I think he may be a good choice. I also like Matt Bomer. If you've ever seen the pilot episode of Chuck, he can definitely do the physical aspect of Batman. He still may need to add some bulk. I'm sure they'll find some relative newcomer that is perfect for the part.
No matter the choice of actors, villains or even storyline, I'm expecting this to be the biggest box office hit of 2015. That's pretty big considering the movies coming out in 2015. This is also the most risky movie for Warner Bros. If they don't succeed with this movie, the success of Man of Steel doesn't matter. They won't be continue their major comic properties for years. High risk, high reward.
I loved the first Red. It was a fun movie. So, I was really looking forward to this one. While I didn't enjoy it as much as the first, it was still a fun movie to see.
We see a lot of the same characters, as well as some new ones. They still make jokes about their age compared to younger spies.
The plot left a little to be desired compared to the first, but if you don't focus on it to much, you'll enjoy the movie nearly as much.
+ a similar stunt to the Bruce Willis getting out of the car stunt in the first movie, my favorite part
- I love Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones, but I liked Morgan Freeman more
+ Mary Louise Parker = funny
+ Byung-hun Lee = awesome action
Grade: 80 (a sequel is rarely as good as the original, but this one makes a good attempt)
Monsters versus giant robots...'nuff said! But is it?
This movie was everything I expected and more. Guillermo del Toro, the director, makes very visually stimulating movies. This was no exception. While you have to suspend belief for the concept of this movie, you may actually believe that giant robots manned by two pilots is actually in our future.
The only thing this movie lacks is more of a story. There is some story, but not much of one. It actually took me too long to figure out that two characters were father and son.
I saw this movie in IMAX 3D and I think it was worth it. You should also stick around through the credits as there is an additional scene after the initial credits.
The Back to the Future trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies. Not even as a trilogy, each of the movies is fun in their own right.
I know that people complain about reboots and remakes because "Hollywood has no original ideas anymore." In some sense I understand this. On the other hand, I think that has been the case for years (going back to when movies first started using books and plays as a basis) and nothing is hurt if you remake a movie. There is always the original.
I think that Back to the Future is one of those movies that could benefit from a remake. It's been almost 30 years since the first movie came out and we're nearing the "future" date of October 21, 2015 that is featured in the second movie.
I think there are a couple of cool ways you could handle this movie remake. The first would be to go with the original formula. Have the movie set in 2015 (or whenever the movie comes out). Marty travels back to 1985 where he encounters his parents. Then he travels to 2045 in the second movie where you can still have the flying cars and hover boards and whatever other futuristic things there might be.
The second way to handle the movie is to not just go with the original formula, but go with the original years too. You have Marty travel from 1985 to 1955 and then to 2015. It would be fun to see how a 1980s kid would react to our age of cell phones and technology.
No matter how you remake the movies, part of what made those movies great was Marty and Doc Brown. He may be getting too old, but I think Zac Efron might play Marty perfectly. Watch 17 Again and see if you agree. For the Doc, I have no clue. It's hard to capture Christopher Lloyd's zaniness. Then, you have the car. It's as much a character as anybody else. I'll be honest with you, it'd be hard to not see the Delorean. But, if you set the movie in present day, nobody is going to use a Delorean for a time machine (unless the writers can give good reason for using a Delorean). Maybe a McLaren?
I love the first Despicable Me. It was clever and funny. The sequel wasn't nearly as good as the original, but still one of my favorite movies this year.
The movie focused a lot on its prime marketing creations: the Minions. Those scenes were hilarious even if not always needed. But, the kids stay interested that way. There are plenty of laughs to be had by the adult audience as well. There are things that that kids won't even understand that we (adults) will think are hilarious. All-4-One, YMCA, and more...
There is plenty of good stuff during the credits and it's actually one of the only reasons to see the 3-D version.
The Lone Ranger was one of my most anticipated movies this year. Did it live up to the hype? Sort of...
This was a fun movie that had some really good parts. If you like Pirates of the Carribean, this movie is along the same lines. It's the same kind of humorous action we see in those movies.
I loved the memories of my childhood watching Tonto, the Lone Ranger, and of course Silver. The movie even uses the William Tell Overture in the final action sequence. It's sad that listening to the music now makes the movie seem campy, but I loved the faithfulness to the original. I also enjoyed the Princess Bride style of storytelling.
The movie isn't great, but it's fun. I laughed and enjoyed the action. It was everything I wanted from it. There is some after credits stuff, but you can leave when you see Tonto start wandering through the desert.
+ Memories of my childhood
- A bit corny
+ Fun action
- I stayed the entire time watching Johnny Depp walk through the desert
Honestly, I wasn't that interested in this movie. Like Identity Thief, I didn't think this movie looked very good from the previews. Like Identity Thief, I was wrong and actually liked it.
This is a fun, mindless movie. If you look at it closely, the story isn't that great. It is fun though and that's why we go to the movies. The story is your basic mismatched "buddy cop" movie like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Rush Hour or Lethal Weapon. Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock play their pretty standard roles. I laughed out loud and that's really the biggest thing you need with a comedy.
If you're looking for a good comedy for a date or eventually a night at home (when on DVD), this will fit the bill. I look forward to seeing the sequel soon.
+ Fun
- Story not the best
+ Good team up
- Having the same name as the unspeakable NBA team in Miami
