Tuesday, August 30, 2016
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
20th Century Fox
Rated PG-13
Running time: 120 minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of Independence Day: Resurgence on YouTube.
In Twentieth Century Fox's Independence Day: Resurgence, it has been 20 years since the war of 1996, but a distress signal had been sent out - and the aliens are coming back.
In the sequel to Independence Day, Produced, Written, and Directed by Roland Emmerich and based on Characters created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, it has been 20 years since the alien war of 1996. Humanity has combined their technology with the alien's technology to help improve the defense of Earth - but the aliens have responded to a distress signal from a mothership from the previous war, and have returned to Earth in greater numbers.
While the first movie seemed more of a contemporary movie - Independence Day: Resurgence, the first movie sequel as of 2016 to be released twenty years after the original movie, is set in the present day but seems more of a science fiction film than the first one with all of the alien technology involved as well as having a huge base on the moon. However, Resurgence seemed less silly to me then the original Independence Day. Aside from one character that eventually became comic relief, the main silliness to me was what looks like an unintentional pokemon referance. The film also reminds me of the movie Starship Troopers.
This movie is a combination of old, as well as a new generation of heroes Maika Monroe, Jessie T. Usher, Liam Hemsworth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Angelababy, and Sela Ward as these characters work together as an international generation of heroes in order to fight off an even bigger alien invasion on Independence Day. While the movie seemed bigger, there did not seem to me to have as many powerful dramatic scenes in this movie as the first movie had. For political reasons there were certain landmarks that were not depicted destroyed during the movie.
Some of the background of the movie might be a little confusing. A lot of the background is explained in the prequel novel Independence Day: Crucible, which is like required reading if you want to understand what happened in between the two movies, as well as understand the references that Resurgence had made.
A lot of the stars from the first movie Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, John Storey, and Brent Spiner reprised their roles in this one and were like mentors to the new generation. Will Smith is not in this movie, aside from a couple of pictures, and while there were occasional references to Smith - there was no memorable scene at least to me where they explained what happened to him. That was explained in the book Crucible. Usher as Smith's adopted son in the movie had big shoes to fill as he leads the new generation of fighter pilots against the aliens. Former President Bill Pullman, despite his aging abilities, is still a leader in this movie.
Once again the movie spent a lot of time at Area 51, which in a way ties the movie back to the original Independence Day. It also explained how Brent Spiner's character returned for this movie. The movie also spends some time at Cheyenne Mountain with President Sela Ward as they lead the attack against the aliens.
There was a cameo with Robert Loggia who reprised his role in this movie, his final film role. The movie was Dedicated to Robert Loggia during the credits.
I love that they created a website for the movie warof1996.com
The movie sets up the sequel Independence Day 3.
Click below to watch another movie trailer of Independence Day: Resurgence from YouTube.
Click below to watch the Superbowl TV spot of Independence Day: Resurgence from YouTube.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language. Running time: 120 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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Sunday, June 5, 2016
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Twentieth-Century Fox/Marvel
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 144 Minutes
Click below to watch a trailer of X-Men: Apocalypse from YouTube.
In Twentieth-Century Fox/Marvel's X-Men: Apocalypse, Professor Charles Xavier/James McAvoy and his mutant students, must go up against the first mutant Apocalypse/Oscar Isaac and his Four Horseman, Storm/Alexandra Shipp, Psylocke/Olivia Munn, Angel/Ben Hardy, and Magneto/Michael Fassbender to stop Apocalypse/Isaac from literally destroying the world.
Produced, Written and Directed by Bryan Singer and based on the X-Men characters from Marvel Comics, this is the ninth film in the X-Men series and a sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Mutant/god Apocalypse/Isaac, who takes other people's powers to make him even more powerful, awakens after being buried by his worshipers since the year 3600 BC. Seeing the world as it is today in 1983, and still feeling angry at being betrayed by his worshippers - Apocalypse/Isaac decides to destroy the world because they are lost, and wants to remake it with the strongest in control as he seeks out his new Four Horsemen and having them devoting themselves to him as his children.
With Apocalypse/Isaac considering himself a god, I think this is the most religious of the X-Men movies and has a lot of Old Testament themes to it. The movie definitely has a more disaster movie feel to it, instead of just an action movie. The launching of the nuclear missiles is both intimidating, and yes we've seen this in other disaster movies. There was not enough desperation from the government for me when they had lost control of their nuclear missiles. Although with all of the world-wide destruction in the movie, you do not feel all of the death from that as the cities get destroyed. The deaths that you feel are the more intimate, one on one deaths.
Being released in 2016, with Apocalypse's first appearance in an X-Men movie, this marks Apocalypse's 30 anniversary since his first appearance in the X-Men comics (July1986).
Due to the international feel of the movie, there are subtitles for the various languages - including Egyptian and a very rudimentary Polish language.
With the new timeline, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, there is a younger group of the core of X-Men, basically children learning how to control their powers, with Jean Grey/Sophie Turner, Scott Summers/Tye Sheridan, Nightcrawler/Kodi Smit-McPhee, and newcomers Quicksilver/Evan Peters and Jubilee/Lana Condor - although Condor did not get to do anything with her powers, but I am looking forward to seeing them in future movies. Quicksilver's/Peters scenes I think are the most fun. Returning X-Men Raven/Jennifer Lawrence, Hank McCoy/Nicholas Hoult, and Havok/Lucas Till continue their roles - as well as returning CIA agent Moira MacTaggert/Rose Byrne, who is also the unrequited love interest of Xavier/McAvoy. McAvoy finally got to shave his head for his role as Xavier.
I think this was Michael Fassbender's best characterization of his character Magneto in the X-Men movies. It definitely gave me the feels for him and his family in this movie, which also includes his return to Auschwitz.
It was great seeing Tomas Lemarquis as Caliban, thus setting up the Morlocks in the X-Men Universe.
One of the fun things in the movie is that they showed a clip of the Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais" as one of Apocalypse/Isaac's first experiences to the modern world. I wish they would have used a better clip from that episode to make it even more fun.
Stan Lee makes his appearance in the middle of the movie, along with his wife Joanie Lee.
There is an awesome uncredited cameo in the movie.
In the beginning of the movie - at least in my theater showing - Alexandra Shipp, who plays Storm, talks about how much she enjoyed playing the role and that hundreds of people worked to put together this movie and that everyone should enjoy it. This insert seems like an appeal to all of the fanboys who have been criticizing comic book films lately.
I saw the movie in RealD 3D. Outside of a few action scenes and the opening credits, I mostly did not notice the 3D - which gave depth into the movie, instead of things coming out at you.
There is one after credits scene, which sets up new elements for the X-Men universe, including the upcoming Wolverine sequel. There was also one scene in the movie, that to me, sets up a possible Phoenix story, while Psylocke/Munn sets up the X-Force movie.
Click below to watch another movie trailer of X-Men: Apocalypse from YouTube.
Click below to watch a final movie trailer of X-Men: Apocalypse from YouTube.
Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 144 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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Sunday, May 8, 2016
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 146 Minutes
Click here to watch the TV spots of Captain America: Civil War on YouTube.
In Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Studios Captain America: Civil War, the consequences of the Avengers world-wide actions put Iron Man/Robert Downey, Jr. and Captain America/Chris Evans on opposite sides.
This is a non-spoiler review. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. There is one MCU continuity issue for me, but is a very minor non-issue when concerning this movie.
The thirteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and as of 2016 the 75th anniversary of Captain America, the movie is set one year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron and deals with the events of the past few movies, Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, and based on the 10th anniversary of the Marvel comic book crossover storyline limited series Civil War by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.
Actually this movie is really more of an Avengers movie than a Captain America movie. At the very least, the story is just as much about Tony Stark/Iron Man/Downey, Jr. as it is about Captain America/Evans. You also got to see more of the background of Captain America's friend Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier/Stan. The movie has an ensemble cast of Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow, Sebastian Stan/The Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie/Falcon, Don Cheadle/War Machine, Jeremy Renner/Hawkeye, Chadwick Boseman/Black Panther, Paul Bettany/Vision, Elizabeth Olsen/Scarlet Witch, Paul Rudd/Ant-Man, Emily VanCamp/Sharon Carter, and Tom Holland/Spider-Man.
This is an international movie as the characters travel to various countries - and the MCU country of Wakanda is represented well in the United Nations. There are sub-titles in the movie as several of the characters speak various languages.
The politics of whether or not the Avengers should be under oversight by the United Nations when informed by U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross/William Hurt were very important issues. I am basically Team Cap/Evans, who was against the accords and feels that the Avengers are better policing themselves instead of the government policing them - but the reasons why Tony Stark/Downey, Jr. are for the accords are very compelling, and I totally felt for him and could go for Team Iron Man. I totally understand the reasons which split the Avengers, and I felt for both sides - which is especially sad as they are friends.
Aside from the politics, the theme of this movie is that of loss. There were a few times where I felt for the characters at their loss.
It is awesome to see the Avengers using their full powers and fighting abilities fighting each other. Even without their powers, they are incredible hand to hand martial artists. Also, the number of Avengers, despite the fact that they were split up, makes me appreciate just how powerful a group of Avengers really are - and why there needs to be some kind of oversight with this kind of power. Some of the action scenes were very dramatic done with film strobe usage.
Introducing Black Panther on his 50th anniversary and one of the first black superheroes in American comics, as well as introducing Spider-Man into the MCU was awesome. Black Panther/Chadwick Boseman was done right - and Spider-Man/Holland was awesome and actually had more to do in this film than I had expected. Actually, all of the Avengers had their own scene moments and made you really appreciate them as characters - especially the vulnerable Scarlet Witch/Olson. Even a couple of minor MCU characters had scene moments in the movie, which make me appreciate the scope of the MCU more.
There are a few terrorist acts in the movie - and as a member of my local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), I totally sympathized with the first responders dealing with the aftermath of those acts in this movie. It also brings home the idea of world events being bought into the movie.
There is an intense helicopter scene, that hopefully was done with CGI, that was incredible.
For Stan Lee fans, his cameo is at the very end of the movie. You can enjoy the movie without worrying about missing his cameo.
I saw the film at a 9:00 Saturday morning showing and the theater was half-full. There were a lot of kids in the theater. I can only recall one language word in the movie and that was as a reaction word from Spider-Man and is not used as a graphic language word. In fact, the kid behind me had more of a reaction to a simple kissing scene than that one word.
There are two after-credits scenes. In my theater, a lot of people left after the first after-credits scene, but there were still a few people who stayed for the second after-credits scene. It is curious that one of the after-credit scenes in Ant-Man was used in this movie.
Spider-Man will return.
Click below to watch a trailer of Captain America: Civil War from YouTube.
Click below to watch another trailer of Captain America: Civil War from YouTube.
Click below to watch the Team Cap and Team Iron Man trailers of Captain America: Civil War from YouTube.
Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 146 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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Sunday, April 3, 2016
GOD'S NOT DEAD 2
Pure Flix
Rated PG
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of God's Not Dead 2 from YouTube.
In Pure Flix's God's Not Dead 2, high school teacher Melissa Joan Hart is asked a question about Jesus in class and her response gets her in trouble with the school board and she winds up in court.
In this sequel to God's Not Dead, high school teacher Melissa Joan Hart, who is is a Christian and taking care of her grandfather Pat Boone, is teaching history in class when one of her troubled students, Hayley Orrantia asks a question about Jesus. Hart gives a simple answer - of which high school principal Robin Givens hears about. Now the school board threatens to fire Hart and make an example of her in court, and public defender Jesse Metcalfe must defend her.
I liked this movie better than the first one as it was not an in your face film in the beginning of the film as the first God's Not Dead. The Christian music gave you the feeling of a Christian film in the beginning of the movie. I will admit to tearing up a couple of times during the film as Hart undergoes this burden. I felt it rather sad that Orrantia's atheistic parents Maria Canals-Barrera and Carey Scott - who practically disowned their religious son - were taking the religious issue to court for the publicity of getting Orrantia into an ivy league school, as well as principal Givens controlling Orrantia.
I liked the legal arguments both for and against the religious aspects in the classroom according to the law, the separation of church and state. This was a pretty intense trial film, both with the trial and the protests outside the courts. It is curious on how the media was anti-religion - but as the religious leaders said, there is the silent majority. There was at least one religious argument that was not brought up that I would have liked to see in the movie even though they had the perfect setups. While I am not a lawyer, I have been summoned to jury duty before and had some issues with some of the procedures presented in the movie. Family was also an important theme in this movie, and also had me tearing up at some of the familial relationships.
Several of the stars from the first movie, Trisha LaFache, Paul Kwo, David A.R. White, Benjamin A. Onyango, as well as The Newsboys appeared in this movie. As well as Duck Dynasty's star Sadie Robertson's first feature film. This was former senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson's final film appearance. I will admit that Kwo's reappearance was the most interesting appearance of the returning actors.
Ernie Hudson was great as the judge and had much more of an acting challenge in this film than in his more famous Ghostbusters role, and Ray Wise once again played an antagonist - this time as the smarmy prosecution lawyer supposedly doing this for the good of all students.
While The Newsboys were in the movie, God's Not Dead 2 is much more of a trial film for the case of Hart. It is not as much of a Newsboys concert film as the first film was, although there is some Newsboys concert footage.
At the end of the movie the audience applauded and were singing God's Not Dead. During the credits, there was a list of similar trials that had taken place. These went by too fast for me to read them, but I noticed that at least one trial as of 2016 was still ongoing. There was a website shown for support.
A lady who was sitting behind me reached down and wished me God Bless You while she was leaving.
There is an after credits scene at the end of the movie. The lady who was sitting behind me missed the after credits scene as she had left with most of the audience leaving during the credits, although there were a few people still left in the theater to watch this important scene.
Rated PG for some thematic elements. Running time: 121 minutes.
Click below to watch the music video of The Newsboys song God's Not Dead from YouTube.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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Rated PG
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of God's Not Dead 2 from YouTube.
In Pure Flix's God's Not Dead 2, high school teacher Melissa Joan Hart is asked a question about Jesus in class and her response gets her in trouble with the school board and she winds up in court.
In this sequel to God's Not Dead, high school teacher Melissa Joan Hart, who is is a Christian and taking care of her grandfather Pat Boone, is teaching history in class when one of her troubled students, Hayley Orrantia asks a question about Jesus. Hart gives a simple answer - of which high school principal Robin Givens hears about. Now the school board threatens to fire Hart and make an example of her in court, and public defender Jesse Metcalfe must defend her.
I liked this movie better than the first one as it was not an in your face film in the beginning of the film as the first God's Not Dead. The Christian music gave you the feeling of a Christian film in the beginning of the movie. I will admit to tearing up a couple of times during the film as Hart undergoes this burden. I felt it rather sad that Orrantia's atheistic parents Maria Canals-Barrera and Carey Scott - who practically disowned their religious son - were taking the religious issue to court for the publicity of getting Orrantia into an ivy league school, as well as principal Givens controlling Orrantia.
I liked the legal arguments both for and against the religious aspects in the classroom according to the law, the separation of church and state. This was a pretty intense trial film, both with the trial and the protests outside the courts. It is curious on how the media was anti-religion - but as the religious leaders said, there is the silent majority. There was at least one religious argument that was not brought up that I would have liked to see in the movie even though they had the perfect setups. While I am not a lawyer, I have been summoned to jury duty before and had some issues with some of the procedures presented in the movie. Family was also an important theme in this movie, and also had me tearing up at some of the familial relationships.
Several of the stars from the first movie, Trisha LaFache, Paul Kwo, David A.R. White, Benjamin A. Onyango, as well as The Newsboys appeared in this movie. As well as Duck Dynasty's star Sadie Robertson's first feature film. This was former senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson's final film appearance. I will admit that Kwo's reappearance was the most interesting appearance of the returning actors.
Ernie Hudson was great as the judge and had much more of an acting challenge in this film than in his more famous Ghostbusters role, and Ray Wise once again played an antagonist - this time as the smarmy prosecution lawyer supposedly doing this for the good of all students.
While The Newsboys were in the movie, God's Not Dead 2 is much more of a trial film for the case of Hart. It is not as much of a Newsboys concert film as the first film was, although there is some Newsboys concert footage.
At the end of the movie the audience applauded and were singing God's Not Dead. During the credits, there was a list of similar trials that had taken place. These went by too fast for me to read them, but I noticed that at least one trial as of 2016 was still ongoing. There was a website shown for support.
A lady who was sitting behind me reached down and wished me God Bless You while she was leaving.
There is an after credits scene at the end of the movie. The lady who was sitting behind me missed the after credits scene as she had left with most of the audience leaving during the credits, although there were a few people still left in the theater to watch this important scene.
Rated PG for some thematic elements. Running time: 121 minutes.
Click below to watch the music video of The Newsboys song God's Not Dead from YouTube.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
Follow us on Facebook: Pancho's Movie Reviews
Friday, April 1, 2016
BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13
Running time: 151 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice from YouTube.
In Warner Bros. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman's/Ben Affleck's and Superman's/Henry Cavill's different ideologies finally come to a head in a fight to the finish.
A sequel to Man of Steel, and loosely based on the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller - with Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Executive Produced by Christopher Nolan and Directed by Zack Snyder. The movie is the second installment of the new DC Extended Universe.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice seems to me to be told from billionaire Ben Affleck/Bruce Wayne/Batman's point of view - especially after the 9/11 type of events that had happened from Man of Steel. This is Batman's introduction, and origin - as well as Bruce Wayne's/Affleck's and Clark Kent's/Cavill's first meeting - and these events have Batman/Affleck and half the world very concerned about the power of Superman/Cavill.
I happened to like this film - although a lot of people felt it was too slow as most of the action happened toward the end of the film, which also dealt with the Doomsday story line from the comics. There was a good use of Superman's/Cavill's powers throughout, and you got to see Batman's/Affleck's hand to hand fighting with the bad guys - some of which are based on the Batman: Arkham games - as well as fighting with Superman/Cavill. I liked the dramatic setup and characterization of the movie, although some people were confused by the plot, which also includes dream sequences. Most of Superman's/Cavill's characterization of the movie was actually set up in Man of Steel, so the movie seems more of Batman's/Affleck's viewpoint.
There is a lot of religious overtones in the movie with comparisons of the Greek Gods, as well as of Christianity - God vs Man - between Batman/Affleck and Superman/Cavill. My favorite line is, "devils don't come from Hell beneath us, they come from the sky." When you consider that devils are fallen angels, this line really hit home for me. There is also another theme presented in the movie with the major characters about parentage.
I thought Affleck was great in his introduction to the DC Extended Universe as Bruce Wayne/Batman as a tragically hardened vigilante. Cavill was able to put on twice as much muscle mass for this movie than he did for Man of Steel and had looked very much like what Superman should be. There were also a couple of shots in the movie were Cavill/Superman looked like Christopher Reeve/Superman to me.
With Holly Hunter as a Senator in the movie conducting a Senate committee hearing on Superman, I could not help but think about the movie The Incredibles of which Hunter was also in and had in that movie dealing with similar issues about superheroes.
The movie portrays a younger Lex Luthor/Jesse Eisenberg than has been seen in previous incarnations, but is quite literate of books. For a dramatic movie, most of the humor in the movie comes from Luthor/Eisenberg in his sarcasm. While I could accept Eisenberg's portrayal of Luthor, I would have preferred him to be bald from a childhood accident, thus having issues with his father. It is interesting to me that Luthor's concerns with Superman are similar to Batman's but on a more psychotic level and based on the comic All-Star Superman.
It was good to have the stars like Laurence Fishburne, Amy Adams, and Diane Lane from Man of Steel in this movie. Jeremy Irons as Alfred is the only major character from Batman's comic book series, outside of his parents Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan. Other cameo appearances in the movie were nice to see, some of whom are real people.
This is the first time that the trio, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have appeared in a live-action film. I thought Gal Gadot was great as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. The movie also sets up the premise for The Justice League with cameos of the future metahuman members of The Justice League. I liked the musical introductions/themes that Hans Zimmer created for the various characters, which are supposed to be used in future movies for these characters. It is too bad that Zimmer has quit writing music for superhero movies after being burned out of writing them for eleven years.
What is anachronistic for the film is that the Daily Planet is actually printing newspapers. A friend of mine used to be a printing manager for the local Los Angeles Times printing plant. He left after 25 years because The Times does not "print" newspapers anymore. The Times is all online now.
While I had expected what was going to happen, I had mixed feelings about the end of the movie, both positive and negative. A lot of fans were very disappointed with the end. I will admit that I can not wait to see how this will affect future movie sequels in the DC Extended Universe.
During the end credits, there was a Special Thanks section with what seemed like about a couple dozen names of comic book creative artists who have worked on Batman and Superman comics at one point over the decades. A lot of material from these creative artists were touched upon in the movie.
With the very dramatic tone of the movie, there are no after credits scenes during the credits as with a Marvel movie.
Rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual situations.
Click below to watch another movie trailer to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice from YouTube.
Pancho
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Rated PG-13
Running time: 151 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice from YouTube.
In Warner Bros. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman's/Ben Affleck's and Superman's/Henry Cavill's different ideologies finally come to a head in a fight to the finish.
A sequel to Man of Steel, and loosely based on the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller - with Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Executive Produced by Christopher Nolan and Directed by Zack Snyder. The movie is the second installment of the new DC Extended Universe.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice seems to me to be told from billionaire Ben Affleck/Bruce Wayne/Batman's point of view - especially after the 9/11 type of events that had happened from Man of Steel. This is Batman's introduction, and origin - as well as Bruce Wayne's/Affleck's and Clark Kent's/Cavill's first meeting - and these events have Batman/Affleck and half the world very concerned about the power of Superman/Cavill.
I happened to like this film - although a lot of people felt it was too slow as most of the action happened toward the end of the film, which also dealt with the Doomsday story line from the comics. There was a good use of Superman's/Cavill's powers throughout, and you got to see Batman's/Affleck's hand to hand fighting with the bad guys - some of which are based on the Batman: Arkham games - as well as fighting with Superman/Cavill. I liked the dramatic setup and characterization of the movie, although some people were confused by the plot, which also includes dream sequences. Most of Superman's/Cavill's characterization of the movie was actually set up in Man of Steel, so the movie seems more of Batman's/Affleck's viewpoint.
There is a lot of religious overtones in the movie with comparisons of the Greek Gods, as well as of Christianity - God vs Man - between Batman/Affleck and Superman/Cavill. My favorite line is, "devils don't come from Hell beneath us, they come from the sky." When you consider that devils are fallen angels, this line really hit home for me. There is also another theme presented in the movie with the major characters about parentage.
I thought Affleck was great in his introduction to the DC Extended Universe as Bruce Wayne/Batman as a tragically hardened vigilante. Cavill was able to put on twice as much muscle mass for this movie than he did for Man of Steel and had looked very much like what Superman should be. There were also a couple of shots in the movie were Cavill/Superman looked like Christopher Reeve/Superman to me.
With Holly Hunter as a Senator in the movie conducting a Senate committee hearing on Superman, I could not help but think about the movie The Incredibles of which Hunter was also in and had in that movie dealing with similar issues about superheroes.
The movie portrays a younger Lex Luthor/Jesse Eisenberg than has been seen in previous incarnations, but is quite literate of books. For a dramatic movie, most of the humor in the movie comes from Luthor/Eisenberg in his sarcasm. While I could accept Eisenberg's portrayal of Luthor, I would have preferred him to be bald from a childhood accident, thus having issues with his father. It is interesting to me that Luthor's concerns with Superman are similar to Batman's but on a more psychotic level and based on the comic All-Star Superman.
It was good to have the stars like Laurence Fishburne, Amy Adams, and Diane Lane from Man of Steel in this movie. Jeremy Irons as Alfred is the only major character from Batman's comic book series, outside of his parents Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan. Other cameo appearances in the movie were nice to see, some of whom are real people.
This is the first time that the trio, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have appeared in a live-action film. I thought Gal Gadot was great as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. The movie also sets up the premise for The Justice League with cameos of the future metahuman members of The Justice League. I liked the musical introductions/themes that Hans Zimmer created for the various characters, which are supposed to be used in future movies for these characters. It is too bad that Zimmer has quit writing music for superhero movies after being burned out of writing them for eleven years.
What is anachronistic for the film is that the Daily Planet is actually printing newspapers. A friend of mine used to be a printing manager for the local Los Angeles Times printing plant. He left after 25 years because The Times does not "print" newspapers anymore. The Times is all online now.
While I had expected what was going to happen, I had mixed feelings about the end of the movie, both positive and negative. A lot of fans were very disappointed with the end. I will admit that I can not wait to see how this will affect future movie sequels in the DC Extended Universe.
During the end credits, there was a Special Thanks section with what seemed like about a couple dozen names of comic book creative artists who have worked on Batman and Superman comics at one point over the decades. A lot of material from these creative artists were touched upon in the movie.
With the very dramatic tone of the movie, there are no after credits scenes during the credits as with a Marvel movie.
Rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual situations.
Click below to watch another movie trailer to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice from YouTube.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
Like us on Facebook: Pancho's Movie Reviews
Labels:
Action,
Amy Adams,
Ben Affleck,
Diane Lane,
Gal Gadot,
Hans Zimmer,
Henry Cavill,
Holly Hunter,
Jeffrey Dean Morgan,
Jeremy Irons,
Jesse Eisenberg,
Lauren Cohan,
Laurence Fishburne,
Rated PG-13,
Zack Snyder
Friday, March 25, 2016
LONDON HAS FALLEN
Gramercy Pictures
Rated R
Running time: 1:39 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of London Has Fallen from YouTube.
In Gramercy Pictures London Has Fallen, United States President Aaron Eckhart attends the British Prime Minister's funeral in London - and suddenly has to go on the run with Secret Service Agent Gerard Butler to escape terrorists.
In the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, three years have passed and the western world's leaders are gathering to attend the state funeral for the British Prime Minister - when terrorists attack and President Eckhart and Secret Service Agent Butler go on the run throughout London.
The movie has several actors from Olympus Has Fallen reprising their roles in this movie, especially Vice President Morgan Freeman, Director of the Secret Service Angela Bassett, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Robert Forster, Butler's wife Radha Mitchell, and Secretary of Defense Melissa Leo. Freeman always has a presence as a leader in his leadership roles and this was no exception. Alon Aboutboul was good as the terrorist arms dealer on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. So was Charlotte Riley as the MI6 agent. I wish Riley had more to do, she could have been a kick ass character.
With recent real world events, some of the terrorist scenes can be difficult to watch, as well as the news videos accompanying them. I had a relatives that were in the cities of those real world events, so these scenes hit a little home to me. I also felt a little upset that the movie opened with news reports of terrorism attacks in the Philippines, including the failed real world police operation which lead to the deaths of several members of the Special Action Force in the Philippines. The trailer's initial release also had controversy as to it's timing to the anniversary of the 2005 London bombings attack.
There were typical car chases and explosions but I liked the action sequences with Butler taking charge of President Eckhart's protection throughout the movie, as well as the political scenes both with the heads of state and with Vice President Freeman and the National Security Council at the White House. The movie set up all the political players with graphics of their titles as they are introduced. I had a problem with how the terrorists got pass all of the world security Dignitary Protection services of not only the United States, but all of the other western Dignitary Protection services for the various heads of states in what is supposedly the most protected event in the world, and I also did not like how filmmakers did the tag of the movie.
It is curious that underneath the political terrorism, the theme of the movie was about family, which I liked.
I think this is the first time that I have seen Marine One in action which I liked.
While I think Olympus Has Fallen is a better film, London Has Fallen is a typical action popcorn film.
Click below to watch another movie trailer of London Has Fallen on YouTube.
Rated R for violence and language. Running time: 1:39 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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Rated R
Running time: 1:39 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of London Has Fallen from YouTube.
In Gramercy Pictures London Has Fallen, United States President Aaron Eckhart attends the British Prime Minister's funeral in London - and suddenly has to go on the run with Secret Service Agent Gerard Butler to escape terrorists.
In the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, three years have passed and the western world's leaders are gathering to attend the state funeral for the British Prime Minister - when terrorists attack and President Eckhart and Secret Service Agent Butler go on the run throughout London.
The movie has several actors from Olympus Has Fallen reprising their roles in this movie, especially Vice President Morgan Freeman, Director of the Secret Service Angela Bassett, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Robert Forster, Butler's wife Radha Mitchell, and Secretary of Defense Melissa Leo. Freeman always has a presence as a leader in his leadership roles and this was no exception. Alon Aboutboul was good as the terrorist arms dealer on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. So was Charlotte Riley as the MI6 agent. I wish Riley had more to do, she could have been a kick ass character.
With recent real world events, some of the terrorist scenes can be difficult to watch, as well as the news videos accompanying them. I had a relatives that were in the cities of those real world events, so these scenes hit a little home to me. I also felt a little upset that the movie opened with news reports of terrorism attacks in the Philippines, including the failed real world police operation which lead to the deaths of several members of the Special Action Force in the Philippines. The trailer's initial release also had controversy as to it's timing to the anniversary of the 2005 London bombings attack.
There were typical car chases and explosions but I liked the action sequences with Butler taking charge of President Eckhart's protection throughout the movie, as well as the political scenes both with the heads of state and with Vice President Freeman and the National Security Council at the White House. The movie set up all the political players with graphics of their titles as they are introduced. I had a problem with how the terrorists got pass all of the world security Dignitary Protection services of not only the United States, but all of the other western Dignitary Protection services for the various heads of states in what is supposedly the most protected event in the world, and I also did not like how filmmakers did the tag of the movie.
It is curious that underneath the political terrorism, the theme of the movie was about family, which I liked.
I think this is the first time that I have seen Marine One in action which I liked.
While I think Olympus Has Fallen is a better film, London Has Fallen is a typical action popcorn film.
Click below to watch another movie trailer of London Has Fallen on YouTube.
Rated R for violence and language. Running time: 1:39 Minutes.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
Follow us on Facebook: Pancho's Movie Reviews
Saturday, February 20, 2016
DEADPOOL
Twentieth Century Fox
Rated R
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Click below to watch a movie trailer of Deadpool from YouTube.
In Twentieth Century Fox's Deadpool, God's Perfect Idiot, mercenary superhero Ryan Reynolds goes after a British villain Ed Skrein who nearly destroyed Reynolds life and face and kidnapped his fiancee, the hot chick, Morena Baccarin.
THIS IS AN R RATED MOVIE - DO NOT BRING YOUR KIDS as there is graphic violence and big boy curse words throughout the movie, as well as sex and nudity. This is a different kind of superhero story, and was always intended to be an R movie. Although, surprisingly there is not as much sex and nudity as I was expecting given the hype that I was exposed to. But there is genuine love that grew between Baccarin and Reynolds and in a sense this is the driving force behind the movie. Most of the graphic violence comes from Deadpool's use of his katana swords. What's great is that computer generated graphic test footage was incorporated into the movie and not just used as a gimmick to sell the movie to the studio.
Based on the Marvel Comics character created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicienza, and as of February 2016, is released 25 years after his first appearance in New Mutants #98, the Merc with a Mouth Deadpool is an antihero with moral ambiguity who constantly breaks the "fourth wall" and talks to the audience as he goes about fighting the bad guys looking for Skrein and Skrein's henchwoman Gina Carano/Angel Dust. While the movie is marketed as a comedy - there is a lot more drama in the movie Deadpool than I had expected, similar to the movie Ted which also was a comedy but had a lot of drama to that movie. Most of the drama dealt with Baccarin's relationship with Reynolds and his developing cancer. This is a tour de force performance for Reynolds, especially as he had spearheaded the making of the movie.
The first half of the movie goes back and forth between the present day of Reynolds searching for Skrein so that Skrein can cure Reynolds of his disfigurement, and the origin story of former special forces operative Reynolds/Deadpool - who was trying to find a cure for his terminal cancer. After the movie gets caught up, Deadpool is a fairly straightforward superhero film.
With the creation of Deadpool by supposedly the same secret organization who created Wolverine - at least in the comics - both characters have mutant healing factors. With the promise of a cure, and abilities most men would only dream of, Deadpool's creation cured his cancer - but permanently disfigured him and messed up his relationship with Baccarin. The movie Deadpool is basically the eight X-Men film to be done - especially with a CGI character Stefan Kapicic as Colossus, as well as having a moody teen Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead as the only two X-Men shown in the movie that is trying to recruit Deadpool. This is also the first X-Men related movie where Wolverine does not make an appearance. Wolverine was originally supposed to have a cameo, but was cut from the movie. Pictures of Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine, however do appear in the movie. The movie also has no relationship to the previous Deadpool appearance in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Deadpool's elderly blind woman roommate Leslie Uggams and Deadpool's best friend T.J. Miller were also good in the movie.
For Stan Lee fans, a gratuitous cameo is in the middle of the movie in a strip club.
There are two after credits scenes, which teases Deadpool 2 - with a major X-Men/Deadpool character to be introduced when it gets made. I am also looking forward for Monica Baccarin to becoming the mutant Copycat in a future movie, which was sort of teased in that Baccarin played a lot of roles. Both the opening credits and the closing credits of Deadpool are very creative and are indicative of the type of movie Deadpool is, as well as the music for the opening credits and the closing credits.
The movie broke several box office records for an R-Rated movie, including the first R-Rated movie to open above $100 million at the US Box office. This is especially of interest as Deadpool was made on a smaller budget than a regular superhero movie.
Rated R for graphic violence, graphic language, sexual situations, nudity, and drug use. Running time: 108 Minutes.
Click below to watch an R-Rated review of Deadpool from YouTube.
Click below to watch the comic movie trailer of Deadpool from YouTube.
Click below to watch the romantic movie trailer of Deadpool from YouTube.
Pancho
All people smile in the same language.
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