Thoughts on Treasure Planet (2002)

December 20, 2022

*Image courtesy of wallpapercave.com*
Hello, everyone. With this review, we go from the end of an official trilogy to the end of an unofficial one. For those who don’t know, this is the third year where I cover an overlooked animated sci-fi movie from the early 2000s that should be held in much higher regard than it is for its 20th Anniversary.
It started in 2020 with Titan A.E., then continued in 2021 with Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and now, in 2022, it concludes with this movie.
Like Atlantis (and, technically, Titan A.E.*) before it, this comes to us from Disney. The only real difference is that Atlantis more underperformed than outright bombed, whereas the bookending movies did**. Even so, they each deserve their own following, and hopefully, these reviews can help in some way to give them more attention.
The biggest thing they have in common is the cores of their stories, which is our protagonists going on their own adventures to achieve their main goals, whether it’s finding a new home (like in Titan A.E.) or looking for the stuff of legends (like in Atlantis and this movie).
Before I continue, I want to clarify one thing: This of course does not mean I will no longer cover animated sci-fi movies or movies I consider to be overlooked gems (far from it, especially in the case of the latter; there are plenty more examples of that). It’s just that this movie was the last big example from the early 2000s that I could remember. I am aware that there are likely more, but these were the three from that time that have really stood out to me.
Folks, for this review, we’re returning to the futuristic type of setting, as we set course for Treasure Planet.
The film serves as a reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island, which was a major influence on how we see and read about pirates in our popular culture even today (with one big example even being referenced here, which I will get to later in more ways than one). Even with the difference in settings and the majority of the characters also being reimagined into aliens, robots, and in one case a cyborg, the main plot points are largely the same with some changes here and there.
The story follows a rebellious teenager named Jim Hawkins, who has been seeking adventure ever since he was a kid, when he read about the story of Captain Flint, a pirate who is said to have hidden his loot on what came to be known as Treasure Planet. Ever since Jim’s father left when he was young, he has been trying to help his mother make ends meet working at her inn.
One day, a pirate named Billy Bones crashes nearby. When Jim goes to investigate, he discovers Billy is dying, and before he dies, he gives Jim a map, and warns him to “beware the cyborg”. Shortly after, the cyborg arrives with his own band of pirates, raiding and burning the inn to the ground in search of the map.
Jim then vows to make it up to his mother. Their friend and financier, Dr. Delbert Doppler, accompanies him on the RLS *Legacy*, which is under the command of Captain Amelia and her first mate Mr. Arrow. However, their crew is led by John Silver, who Jim believes is the cyborg Billy warned him about. Jim is then assigned to work with him. Although the two of them slowly begin to bond, Silver may have different motivations for being on the voyage in search of the planet.
What Worked: As with Atlantis and Titan A.E., there is a lot to like here as well. For starters, the voice cast is amazing. Jim Hawkins is voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who gives a fantastic performance for someone who would go on to be an A-lister with movies like Inception. He embodies Jim’s personality in a similar manner to how Michael J. Fox portrayed Milo Thatch in Atlantis. You can feel Jim’s determination through his performance, too.
South African actor Brian Murray (not to be confused with Brian Doyle-Murray, although he has also voiced a pirate) voices Silver, and he brings a lot of charm and charisma to the role to where even if you don’t agree with his methods, you still like him as a character. In fact, as he bonds with Jim over the course of the movie, you feel that he’s kind of a father figure to him. At times, you do feel like Silver’s a villain, but there’s someone I will get to momentarily that feels like even *more* of a villain than he does.
Next, we have David Hyde Pierce as Doppler, and he’s no stranger to voice acting for Disney, having worked with Pixar by voicing Slim in A Bug’s Life. Of the characters you can say provide comic relief, he’s the one of three here that’s in the movie the most. As one of the more comedic actors in this, he does get some good moments, and his delivery suits his character very well, especially in those moments. Though he’s in the movie the most, he didn’t provide the best comic relief in the movie, at least to me. As for the one who does, I’ll get to him later.
We then have Emma Thompson as Captain Amelia, who in a way is a parallel to Jim with her desire for adventure. She also gives one of the best supporting performances in the movie, which in turn makes her one of the best supporting characters.
Even though neither are in the movie that much, Laurie Metcalf (who many may recognize as the voice of Andy’s Mom in the Toy Story franchise) and Roscoe Lee Browne are both really good as Jim’s mother Sarah and Mr. Arrow, respectively. Browne in particular gives a very commanding and intimidating presence to Mr. Arrow.
Before I get to the two performances that stand out the most, the smaller roles most worth noting are Patrick McGoohan as Billy Bones, Corey Burton (Mole from Atlantis) as Onus, the *Legacy*’s lookout, Tony Jay (who you may remember as Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame) as the narrator in the beginning of the movie, and an uncredited Peter Cullen as Captain Flint himself.
Now for the two standouts.
The most intimidating presence hands down is given to the character of Scroop. As alluded to earlier, he’s the one who feels more like a villain than Silver. This is thanks in no small part to the fact that he’s voiced by Michael Wincott, who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Top Dollar in The Crow. Even outside of the two movies, his voice is still pretty menacing, whether it’s a main character or a supporting one.
The best character in the movie is also the best comic relief, and that is Silver’s pet, Morph, voiced by sound editor Dane Davis, who is otherwise best known as the sound editor for the Matrix franchise. Simply put, every comedic moment they give to Morph is hilarious. You could say he’s kind of like The Genie from Aladdin, which, fittingly enough, also shares the same directors in John Musker and Ron Clements (who also cowrote it). Though they only received story credit here, Aladdin writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were also involved in this.***
The comedic timing itself is overall pretty good. For example, when used during the action sequences, it doesn’t feel like it stops for a moment to make a joke and then get back to the action.
Speaking of the action, it’s very intense when it does happen, most notably a sequence involving a star going supernova and then forming into a black hole.
Both the comedy and the action also help enhance the story, which makes this feel distinct from its source material while still acknowledging it.
They also provide a sense of adventure and excitement, and that is further conveyed by James Newton Howard’s amazing score. To me, it felt reminiscent of Alan Silvestri’s score for Back to the Future and John Williams’s scores for Indiana Jones at times, particularly in the theme.
It may be the main music of the movie, but it’s not the only music. John Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls did two songs for this, the most famous being “I’m Still Here”, which serves as Jim’s central theme. It’s not only a really good song, but it’s also one of those Disney songs that is effective when you hear it in the movie and on its own. It fits the scene it’s used in, which itself is actually very well done. To me, it felt like the “Strangers Like Me” sequence from Tarzan, which was my personal favorite scene in that movie.
The other song, “Always Know Where You Are”, is good, but what’s surprising about it is that there were ultimately two versions made. John’s version can only be heard in the credits, and yet the other version (a cover by BBMak) is the one on the album.
One thing that I felt both worked and didn’t work was the pacing. Narrative-wise, it goes by pretty quickly. However, it goes by so quickly that it feels like one character almost gets the shaft in this movie.
What Didn’t Work: I really only have one major issue. Although Martin Short is really good in the movie, his character, a robot named B.E.N., is barely in it. He comes in at the end of the second act going into the third act. Because he’s only in the second half, he feels almost like an afterthought, as his character arc gets resolved so fast that you could be wondering why he was even in the movie, and I wouldn’t blame you.
Now, that doesn’t mean he’s not useful. He is, and also, as the third comic relief character, he does get some good dialogue. I just felt he could’ve been brought in a bit sooner, and had more screen time to make him stand out more.
Overall: Like Titan A.E. and Atlantis before it, Treasure Planet is another overlooked animated sci-fi gem that deserves way more attention than it initially got. Thankfully, in the years since its release, it has received a well deserved cult following. It also gets a lot right in terms of both acknowledging its source material and putting its own unique spin on it. The core story beats are largely intact, and really the main differences are in the character designs.
Even on its own, it still gets a lot right. It’s funny when it needs to be, it’s intense when it needs to be, and it’s even heartwarming when it needs to be. All of those moments are really sold based on the performances (even with Martin Short’s performance as B.E.N., despite him having minimal screen time), the action, the overall pacing, the humor and writing as a whole, and especially the music.
Not only that, it has compelling characters, including a very sympathetic and likable protagonist in Jim Hawkins, the morally gray Silver, the always hilarious Morph, the always determined Doppler and Amelia, and an outright psychopath in Scroop, among others.
As the old saying goes, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. It holds true for all three of these movies, and then when you see them get to where they need to go, it always feels earned.
To paraphrase another saying, a studio’s trash is an audience’s treasure. These three are treasures certainly worth seeking out, and I hope the reviews for each have helped draw more attention to them.
Next time, we go from facing pirates seeking loot to facing mercenaries seeking money. Only this time, we have Santa on our side instead of John McClane.
To close out this review, similar to Atlantis, this is actually another remake I would love to see. My only problem is it seems even riskier to do this than that. With something like this, it’s more likely to go either way. It could either be a hit or it could bomb harder than the original.
Even so, I’d still love to see it, but it’d probably be best to do Atlantis first, should they decide to go through with doing them.
*It was initially released by Fox when it came out, but is now technically owned by Disney since they bought Fox.
**They didn’t just bomb, they bombed so hard that any future plans were scrapped, including a planned sequel to this movie that would’ve had Willem Dafoe voice Ironbeard, the main villain of the movie, which of course I would’ve loved to see. The planned story was very interesting, too.
***One of their other famous works is also referenced here, so it wouldn’t be that surprising if it turns out they themselves put that in, as a bit of foreshadowing for what they would do later.

Thoughts on Halloween Ends (2022)

October 31, 2022

*Image courtesy of IMDb*
Hello, everyone. Although it has been a few months since the Transformers review, and of course there were some movies I wanted to cover in between that movie and this one, there were also some that I was determined to cover as intended.
This was one of them.
As I mentioned in the review for the previous installment, what affected its release date in turn affected this one’s.
With that, it was initially set for release two years after this new trilogy started, but it became three due to the pandemic, and for this third entry, it became four.
That four year gap ultimately seemed rather fitting, due to the gap in between the beginning and the end.
From a narrative standpoint, though, that’s where a difference comes in, which I will get to in a second.
Before I go on with the plot, I have to say something I did last time, and I should probably establish it going forward. This applies to franchises in particular (whether they primarily consist of movies (an example being the Bond franchise) or have even expanded into shows (major examples being the Marvel Cinematic Universe and especially Star Wars))*:
For those who have not seen what came before the newest installment in a franchise (whatever said franchise may be), and are interested in reading what I have to say about it, I highly suggest you go check those out, read my thoughts on them, and then come back, as it is very likely I ***will*** have to go into spoilers. Now, when I do have to resort to that, they are very minor spoilers for the latest installment, and what major spoilers there are will be for the previous ones. Regardless, I do it when necessary.
Folks, for this review, we go back to Haddonfield, Illinois, one last time (at least in *this* timeline**), as we see how Halloween Ends.
The story is set four years after the events of Halloween Kills. Michael Myers has not been seen since his previous rampage through Haddonfield. Laurie Strode is in the process of finishing her memoir while living with her granddaughter Allyson, and is finally able to start having a proper life. That is, until a young man named Corey Cunningham is accused of murdering a child he was babysitting, and is ostracized for what was clearly an accident. This slowly begins a resurgence of chaos in town, enough to bring Laurie out for one last confrontation with Michael.
Now, for this movie, especially given how it’s being received, even with that forewarning, I have to be very (and I mean ***very***) careful with what I say here, as this is going to prove to be one of the most divisive movies I have ever reviewed. This is not the first time, nor the last. In fact, going forward, having to tread lightly while still trying to give well thought out points may prove more difficult than ever, even for me. One could say that divisiveness in the world of entertainment runs more rampant than Michael did in the last movie alone.
Having established that, on with the review.
What Worked: As usual, I’ll start with the performances. Even with very glaring issues in terms of characterization that I will get to later, the cast do fine with what they’re given, although it isn’t much in some cases. Jamie Lee Curtis, in her final performance as Laurie Strode, shows dedication in making it count. She’s very protective of Allyson, especially after what happened to her parents over the course of this trilogy. I appreciated that they kept that intact here.
Andi Matichak is still good as Allyson. While she recognizes that Laurie is trying to look out for her even more now, she, too, is also trying to move on since the events of the last movie.
Also returning are Will Patton as Frank Hawkins, and Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace. Despite not being in the movie that much (more so with Lindsey), they are good for the time they’re in it.
Of course, we have James Jude Courtney once again as Michael Myers himself. Whenever Michael Myers shows up, he doesn’t hold back. Although he’s not quite as brutal as he was in the last movie, he does get some good kills in.
For those wondering, yes, they do also bring back Nick Castle in some capacity, but it’s best I leave it at that.
As for my thoughts on Corey Cunningham, I’ll say this for now: Rohan Campbell does a fine job playing him. The character himself, however, I’m saving for the next segment, which is something I haven’t done since the Halloween Kills review.
The only difference is that I’m sticking with my positives this time before going into it.
With the technical aspects, the standout one is the score, which again brings back John Carpenter, his son Cody, and Daniel Davies.
Something that at this point goes hand in hand with that is how they do the opening credits. I’ve come to appreciate how the openings of these movies are done. It really stands out in this movie because it comes back around to kick off the closing credits as well.
Speaking of that, there is something else I can say that I actually haven’t gone into with the others besides the original. These newer ones are all very well shot, but to varying degrees, with the 2018 film being the best looking one. They’re not quite up to the standards of the cinematography of the original, sure, but they all have some moments that do look very good.
The last major positive I have leads right into the return of the extra segment from the Halloween Kills review.
This is the biggest part where I have to be careful with what I say, because if I spoil anything major, people will likely be madder than they already are with the movie itself.
I thought this movie had some interesting ideas (ideas being the key word here).
Although most of the time, using a time jump can be considered a cheap way to move the plot along, I did like the idea of showing Laurie and Allyson try to move on since the last movie, so it made sense here, at least for me.
Since they do use a time jump here, you’d expect there to be a “calm before the storm” type of thing that would allow for narrative progression, and they would address certain elements that have not been touched on that much, if at all. An example would be how other residents have been affected by these events, only perhaps exploring it even more. They actually do just that here. I also thought that was a very clever idea. Halloween Kills did have a little of that, but they expanded upon it even further in this, and it was nice how they did it.
Without giving too much away, the majority of the third act is really good. All I can really say is this: You do still get what you came to see, but I have an issue even with that.
What Might Not Work For Everyone: Now we come to the one major character that is going to be an issue for a lot of people, and that is Corey Cunningham. As mentioned earlier, I thought Rohan Campbell did a fine job playing him, but one of the biggest issues in terms of characterization is with him. I do get what they were trying to do, it’s more so how it plays out that is not going to work for everyone, and it didn’t entirely work for me, either.
What Didn’t Work: The biggest issue for me with this movie as a whole was in terms of overall writing. There are major narrative inconsistencies in this. One example is how I just said that Corey was one of the biggest issues with the characterization here. He actually wasn’t *the* biggest for me. Some could argue for Laurie as well, but for me, she wasn’t, either. Her development across the trilogy was mostly consistent. The biggest victim of it was actually Allyson. It’s a similar case to someone in the 2018 film, and those who have seen that and read my review will know what I’m talking about.
There were opportunities to allow for character growth, but because of how they chose to do the overall story here, there aren’t nearly enough.
This is particularly evident within the script, which sees David Gordon Green collaborating with Danny McBride again, and it disappoints me to even say that, because I do love what they had contributed to this franchise prior, especially with the 2018 film. It felt like they put a lot of passion into that one because they had set a very clear goal, they had their focus entirely on trying to achieve it, and they did.
I even really like, if not love, some of Danny McBride’s work outside of the franchise, because he can also be really funny. Shockingly, there’s little to no humor in this one, even with him still among the writers.
As a result of all that, the script (and by extension, since he was also among the writers, David Gordon Green’s direction) is the weakest of the three, because it feels so much like the opposite of what they set out to do. Not only that, it feels like they wrote themselves into a corner after Halloween Kills, especially regarding the kills, and had to find a way out of it. Although what kills we get here were good, I couldn’t help but notice throughout how it felt like they held themselves back with them compared to that.
My point is there are so many things here that could’ve (and should’ve) been given more attention and more time.
One more thing I should mention before I give my overall thoughts: There are strobe lights in one scene, so if you are sensitive to that, look away until they stop.
Overall: Despite my numerous problems with it, I didn’t hate Halloween Ends like a lot of people have. If anything, I’m very much mixed on it. There are things that work really well, and then there are things that had potential, but weren’t utilized properly, weren’t utilized enough, or even a bit of both.
I appreciated that they wanted to go in a different direction in this, but with this being the epic finale, so to speak, it was the wrong time to do it. It gets to the point where the story felt so inconsistent because of so many ideas.***
With this trilogy, and therefore this timeline, having come to its conclusion, I can now say this: I had a fun time watching each entry, and while the very end of this one I felt was a good enough note to end it on, I can’t say the same for the rest of it. Although I did have fun while I was watching this one, I still couldn’t help but feel this could’ve been so much more to make this trilogy go out on a genuine high note.
Next time, we go from the end of an official trilogy to the end of an unofficial one.

*Yes, I know those examples have been expanded further to include stuff like novels, comics, and video games. A lot of franchises have and still are. It was just better to address this here.
**There’s multiple ones. For those wondering why I haven’t covered the entries in between the original and the 2018 film, there’s three reasons for that:
1: The 2018 film was said to be a direct sequel to the original that negated everything in between, and it was, thus making this timeline easier to follow for everyone.
2: I knew I wouldn’t have time to find the rest and review them because I didn’t have access to them.
And 3: I also knew I wouldn’t have time to look into where I *could* access them.
***As disappointed and outright mad as people are with how this ultimately did turn out, I feel it’s also worth noting that this could’ve been a whole lot worse. The biggest evidence of that is how there was something that was revealed publicly while they were still working on the movie, and that was a setting they actually did consider, but ultimately did not use (thankfully).
One version of the plot would have had it set during COVID… and no, I am *not* making that up. I don’t even wish I was, either.

Thoughts on Transformers (2007)

July 20, 2022

*Image courtesy of moviemania.io*
Hello, everyone.
As I hinted at in my previous review, we would be going from Reapers to Robots for the next one. This one is another Anniversary Review, ironically enough. It is also one I’ve wanted to do for so long.
I had the opportunity to see this at my local Regal for a 15th Anniversary screening last week. Upon going to it, I knew this would be the subject of my next review.
Given the timing of the screening, I also felt like this would be the right time for another reason that I will go into towards the end.
For now, though, let’s roll out for my review of one of Michael Bay’s best movies as we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Transformers.
The story follows a teenager named Sam Witwicky, who’s wanting to get his first car to impress his crush, Mikaela. After going to a used car lot, he gets a yellow Camaro.
He later discovers that his new car is actually Bumblebee, an alien robot sent to protect him long enough for him to summon more allies, including Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. They have come to Earth to search for a cube-like artifact known as the AllSpark, which can help revitalize their home planet of Cybertron. Sam also happens to have something that could help lead them to it.
Meanwhile, their enemies, the Decepticons, are searching for the Cube as well. During their search, they uncover files on “Project Iceman”, which is actually their leader, Megatron, who crash landed in the Arctic Circle before he could get his hands on the Cube.
Humanity is now caught in the middle of their fight to find it first.
What Worked: For the most part, the acting works. Shia LaBeouf gives a solid performance as Sam, and he conveys the varying reactions people would have to giant robots interacting with humans very well. Aside from that, in the more humorous moments, his delivery is effective to where some of his dialogue is genuinely funny.
Megan Fox does a pretty good job as Mikaela. Her relationship with Sam is hard to accept at first, but she does have good enough chemistry with Shia to where it does work. The best thing I can do for review purposes is leave it at that. Contrary to “popular belief” (and by that I mean what most other guys may tell you), she is *not* the main reason to see this movie. Yes, this movie was serious business when it came out, but that was because there was genuine hype for it, and it showed in the marketing and even the merchandise.
The one actress who has some importance to the bigger plot is Rachael Taylor (perhaps best known for her role as Trish Walker, the best friend on Jessica Jones) as Maggie, a data analyst recruited by the Department of Defense to help interpret a signal they picked up from the base attack by Blackout that opens the movie.
I actually really liked her in this, although there is one minor issue with her character that I’ll get to later.
In regards to humor, the one cast member that is easily the funniest one in the movie is actually Anthony Anderson as her friend Glen, who is a skilled hacker she goes to for further assistance. It’s not only his dialogue, but also his delivery that’s hilarious.
One other humorous moment worth noting comes earlier in the movie. Although he’s pretty much a cameo, Bernie Mac is great for the brief time he’s in it as the owner of the car lot.
Then we have two other aspects of the human cast to talk about before I go into the things I love most about this.
Those would be the military and the government.
The military scenes mainly involve a small Special Ops team that survives the base attack, led by Josh Duhamel as Captain Lennox and Tyrese Gibson as Sergeant Epps. Their scenes are among the ones I really liked, because they do get some humor, but they mostly involve tension that is genuinely effective.
Plus, they do feel like soldiers, and are very convincing in those types of roles. It’s especially surprising to get that from someone like Tyrese, who I can easily buy as a soldier or as a smart mouth racer, compared to a detective, but that’s for another review altogether.
Then we get to the government, where the two major characters here are John Turturro as Agent Simmons (leader of Sector 7, a special division dedicated to keeping anything pertaining to Transformers classified), and Secretary of Defense John Keller, played by Jon Voight.
I’ll put it this way for now: Similar to Maggie, I enjoyed their characters, but they have a similar issue as well.
Before I continue, for those wondering, I did not overlook Sam’s parents. I didn’t mention them yet because one of my bigger issues does involve them, and I’m sure a lot of people are going to agree.
For the Transformers themselves, there are also some notable names, particularly when it comes to voice acting.
The ones that stand out the most among the supporting ones are Jess Harnell (best known as the voice of Crash Bandicoot), Mark Ryan, Reno Wilson, and Charlie Adler. Harnell has two voice roles here, first coming in as the voice of the Decepticon scout and interrogator, Barricade, and then later in a more significant role as the Autobot weapons specialist and bonafide badass, Ironhide.
Adler is the voice of the second-in-command of the Decepticons, Starscream. Much like one of the two biggest names in the voice cast, he is actually a franchise veteran, having voiced several characters in the original series back in the 80s.
Ryan and Wilson are the voices of Bumblebee and Barricade’s minion Frenzy, respectively. They would later go on to have several more voice roles in the franchise.
For the voices of the leaders themselves, while Frank Welker doesn’t reprise his role as Megatron (although he would in the fourth and fifth installments), we did get the one back that people wanted perhaps even more, and that is Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime*. He is so iconic that he has continued to voice Optimus for the majority of Transformers projects that have come since, including but not limited to: the games based on the movies, the Cybertron game trilogy (the first two parts of which are really good), Transformers Prime (which was a solid show), and even the subsequent installments themselves. He’s really the only one who’s maintained the same role across the franchise, even including Bumblebee. He is also set to reprise the role once more in the upcoming Rise of the Beasts, which is scheduled for release next year.
As for Megatron himself, we have the one major celebrity voice, who I have mentioned before as pretty much becoming one of the go-to actors for villains following his role as Agent Smith in The Matrix. I even mentioned Megatron as an example in that review.
In place of Frank Welker, we have Hugo Weaving. I personally think that’s an excellent choice. Although it can be hard to tell it’s him at times compared to the second and third movies where it’s much easier because it sounds more like it’s just him, if you know it’s him with a more mechanical aesthetic given to his voice, you can somewhat tell.
Now let’s get into what I love most about this movie in particular.
For one thing, the plot is straightforward to where even the subplots are key parts of the main story rather than detracting from it, which is what not only affected the subsequent installments in this franchise (at least the ones Michael Bay directed), but can also even affect other sequels (an example being one that also came out in 2007).
Thankfully, the script from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who would successfully revive Star Trek two years later) is tightly focused on the main story first, uses subplots that serve a purpose, and incorporates humor only when necessary, even if it doesn’t always land.
What actually gives this first installment a huge advantage is that even though he was an executive producer on the first three movies, this is the one where Steven Spielberg had the most input. You can tell he was heavily involved at times here. There are some moments where this feels like it could’ve been from his production company, Amblin Entertainment. However, it’s mostly felt in the tone.
Where this movie really works is with the effects and the sound design. They still hold up today, but the Academy apparently didn’t think so. This was nominated in three categories: Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and of course Best Visual Effects. It didn’t win once. It lost those first two to The Bourne Ultimatum, but as much as I’m willing to let that slide because of how great the sound design is in that, at the same time, for the sound team on this, I feel like these were their awards.
Further evidence of that comes with the fact that they had very clear attention to detail, as they had Cybertronian subtitles that translate into English whenever the robots speak (which are always Decepticons in that case). As someone who has a thing for attention to detail myself, I appreciate that they went the extra mile to do that for at least some of the robots.
The biggest snub of them all, though, and this is unforgivable: This lost Best Visual Effects to The Golden Compass, which unlike this, does not hold up very well. In fact, now, those effects look like a video game by comparison. This wasn’t the last time a huge effects driven movie was robbed, but that’s for a later review. The fact that this didn’t even get at least *that* is criminal. It’s pretty sad when MTV gave it more recognition than the Academy did.
Plus, a lot of the effects were mostly practical, which always helps. Even the explosions were done for real, most notably the ones in the battle with Blackout’s minion Scorponok.**
Speaking of explosions, compared to the sequels, they’re used sparingly here, and this is the best directed of the original movies, and easily the best shot. That’s high praise for a Michael Bay movie, I know, but it’s true.
One more awesome thing about this movie, and I have to give them major props here: The music. The score and especially the soundtrack are really good. There are some tracks, namely “Arrival To Earth”, where the rest of the Autobots come down, that really stand out.
The score is courtesy of Steve Jablonsky, a frequent collaborator of Michael Bay, who started out doing additional music for Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and Bad Boys II (and later 6 Underground, his most recent film prior to Ambulance earlier this year) before serving as the composer on The Island, this movie, its four sequels, and Pain & Gain. His score for this movie even on its own is really good, because you can tell there are distinctions in the music for both factions. The Autobots have a more hopeful set of tracks, whereas the Decepticons have a more dramatic set, complete with choir.
The soundtrack, though, I think might be even better. This was still during the time when movies often had a soundtrack album and a separate album for the score. For the soundtrack, we have artists like The Goo Goo Dolls (who would go on to reappear on the soundtrack for the third movie), Disturbed, Smashing Pumpkins, and the best one I’m saving for near the end of the review.
What Didn’t Work: Where most of the humor falls flat, and a lot of people agree on this, is in the scenes with Sam’s parents. His Dad is tolerable. His Mom, however, is obnoxious beyond belief. It says something when at one point, even Ironhide gets fed up with them.
There is humor that doesn’t involve them, and even that for the most part is weak. There are references to bodily functions and occasional sexual innuendos, and those are completely cringeworthy.
The other issues I have are more like nitpicks on my part, but they’re still things I noticed that seemed a bit jarring. In regards to Rachael Taylor, I did find it odd that while Maggie I’m sure was supposed to be American (though that isn’t made clear, so don’t quote me on that), in the movie itself, she’s using her natural Australian accent.
The bigger issue is with Simmons and Keller. It felt like, especially with Jon Voight, that he and John Turturro were acting as if the movie was more serious than it actually is.
Those don’t bother me as much as the scenes with Sam’s parents, though.
Other than that, I didn’t really have any issues here.
Overall: With a mostly solid human cast and a very solid voice cast led by Peter Cullen, Transformers knows what it is and doesn’t go any further than that: A really fun movie with great effects and equally elaborate action sequences that still hold up 15 years later. There are so many awesome moments here where you’ll be impressed how they managed to pull them off.
Even with its problems, as an adaptation, it’s a decent movie. In fact, where I think it’s most effective is if you want to watch it as an action movie. It definitely succeeds at that, because it’s a lot of fun.
It’s even more effective from that mindset if you watch it as an action movie to make some noise. Much like I said in my review of Independence Day, I think this could also work as a good way to test your new sound system. The sound design is that good here, too.
When you put everything that’s great about it together, you get a satisfying experience and one of Michael Bay’s best movies.***
Next time, we’ll be going from the start of a franchise… to the End of one.
To close out this review, there is one big thing I wanted to address, which is the reason why rather than putting it up earlier this month, as initially intended, I am putting it up now. Five years ago today, we lost a phenomenal talent in the world of music. It was thanks in part to this movie that I was introduced to the band who would later become one of my personal favorites: Linkin Park, who made an even bigger impact through the voice of their lead singer, Chester Bennington.
The day he passed away, to say I was at a loss for words would be an understatement.
Then upon hearing that they would be showing this in my area for its 15th Anniversary around this time, I realized now would be the perfect time to put up this review. In addition to that, I had extra motivation to do so.
I felt like it would be meaningful to dedicate this review to him.
I am forever grateful to have discovered so many great songs.
Thank you, Chester.
You are, were, and always will be, a legend.
Chester Bennington
3/20/1976 - 7/20/2017
*For those who have been reading these reviews for a long time, you may remember I acknowledged that in my Predator review, where he also provided the voice for the Predator himself.
**Fun Fact: At the screening, they actually showed the featurette on how they did that scene before the movie. Getting to see that sequence again from that perspective in a theater was so cool to see.
***One more Side Note: There are some mid-credits scenes.

Thoughts on Blade II (2002)

July 16, 2022

*Image courtesy of wall.alphacoders.com*
Hello, everyone.
Before I start this review, I would like to apologize for the wait on this one and so many others that have yet to happen.
Ones like these usually take more time because there’s so much that I want to say in them. This is the main reason why sometimes they take longer than planned. One big example is an Anniversary Review I would’ve done following this one, because not only is it an even bigger movie that came out the same year, but there’s also so much to cover because it’s one of those that left an impact on so many people in so many ways when it came out. I decided in advance to bump that review back, and you’ll know why once I get to it.
For this review, I am going to cover one of my personal favorite superhero sequels, and this is the best movie to feature the title character (hopefully, for now, provided the upcoming reboot (set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe) is good). Even before I covered the original, and especially after, I had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to cover its sequel.
Folks, at long last, I finally get that chance, as I will be covering the movie where an argument could be made that it introduced its director to domestic audiences, and that is Blade II.
Before pressing on, I would advise you to check out the original and my review of it first, as this review may contain spoilers for it.
The story picks up two years after the events of the original. This time around, we have Blade investigating a new strain of the vampire virus. Dubbed the Reaper strain, it's even worse than normal vampirism, as it can not only affect humans, but even other vampires. Even with the help of his friend Whistler, and the accompaniment of a group known as the Bloodpack, their combined efforts may not be enough.
What Worked: The cast is excellent. Wesley Snipes gives his best performance of the trilogy here, as does Kris Kristofferson as Whistler (which isn’t saying much, because he’s barely in Blade: Trinity, but we’ll get to that later).
Those are the only two returning from the first one.
The supporting cast here is one aspect of this movie that stands out the most of the trilogy.
Starting off, we have a pre-Walking Dead Norman Reedus as Scud, who’s been filling in for Whistler during his absence. One of many awesome moments involves him and Whistler giving everyone their weapons before they go into a nightclub.
The moment is made even cooler as Blade and the Bloodpack are walking in slow motion as Massive Attack & Mos Def’s “I Against I” is playing.
That is one of three of my favorite tracks from the movie, two of which are on the soundtrack itself, while the third is only a carryover from the trailer. The soundtrack (and by extension, the score) I will get to in a little bit.
Going back to the cast, in regards to the Bloodpack themselves, there are some names you may recognize, the best known of which I’m saving for last.
We have Matt Schulze (best known as Vince from the Fast & Furious franchise) as Chupa, who has a bone to pick with Whistler. What’s also worth noting is that this is actually not his first time being in the Blade franchise, as he made his film debut with a minor role in the first movie.
Next, we have Donnie Yen (Rogue One, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4) as Snowman, and while he doesn’t actually speak, in a way, his sword does the talking for him. Even when he doesn’t use it, he still knows how to fight. He gets at least one awesome moment here where you do get to see some of his martial arts moves on display.
The one who gets the most development is Leonor Varela’s character Nyssa. She becomes one of the more interesting new characters from the moment she’s introduced. There is a big reason for that, but it’s best you see it for yourself.
The biggest name out of all the members, though, is Ron Perlman, a frequent collaborator of Guillermo Del Toro, who gave him a career-defining role with Hellboy. He’s not the only actor here who would go on to feature in the Hellboy movies, however.
Just when you think Chupa had a problem with Whistler, from a narrative standpoint, the grudges escalate from there.
Ron Perlman’s character, Reinhardt, really has it out for Blade, and yet Blade takes this new rivalry pretty well. Going by Wesley Snipes’ performance alone, it shows that whatever issue Reinhardt may have with Blade does not faze him at all. In fact, at least a couple times, he toys with him, and it’s awesome.
As for his performance, Ron Perlman is actually one of my favorites in this. He is fantastic here. Reinhardt is not only a great rival for Blade, but you can also tell Ron is having fun playing him. As evidenced by their collaborations, you can also tell he and Guillermo Del Toro have a great working relationship with each other.
Speaking of rivals, one major improvement this makes over the first one is with the villains. Deacon Frost was good, but the villains here are much better. They have more compelling character arcs and more interesting motivations.
Frost and his crew wanted to be gods, which is a solid enough goal for the antagonist of a first installment. However, to be able to connect with future villains, the stakes need to be raised and their motivations need to be more understandable. This absolutely succeeds at both.
Here, we have vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos (played by Thomas Kretschmann), who wants to create a new breed of vampires to carry on his legacy. That’s not only much more interesting, but his reasoning is also something people can identify with. People want to be remembered for what they accomplished in life, which makes sense. This is also one of those cases that comes with a bonus: He has a reason for crossing paths with both the hero and the main villain, and for both sides, it’s more personal.
One of the standouts here is Luke Goss as the main villain, Jared Nomak. He bears the biggest grudge out of everyone, because he happens to be Patient Zero and the carrier of the Reaper strain as a result of Eli’s goal. That’s one of the reasons why he’s the best villain of the series.
Now for everything else that makes this the best installment of the series.
This is easily the best directed and best paced of the three, and I do feel like this helped put Guillermo Del Toro on the map for domestic audiences. His sense of atmosphere and style are all over this movie.
His style definitely shows in the look of the locations, and especially the creature designs.
The effects are mostly practical, and they do hold up really well.
Where this movie really shines is with two things: the action and the music.
The action is excellent in this, and when it’s accompanied by the music, it gets you hyped for what’s about to come.
As mentioned earlier, there are three tracks I particularly love. “I Against I” is one of them, and they actually use that twice. The first time is in the scene I mentioned, and then it comes back again to kick off the closing credits.
The second one is the main theme, courtesy of Marco Beltrami, who provides one of my personal favorites of his scores with this. The theme is used perfectly: Blade narrates a recap of the first movie, and the theme is playing in the background as the opening credits come up, then the title card comes up, and then the movie really starts.
Then we get to my favorite, and it’s also one of my favorite songs of all time: The Crystal Method’s “Name of the Game”. It was awesome enough to hear in the trailer, and it comes as a huge surprise when an awesome song choice for a trailer actually does carry over into the movie. This is one of my favorite examples of that, and it comes in at the right time.
What Didn’t Work: While I do still absolutely love this movie, there are a couple issues here.
One of them is that while the CGI here is way better than that in the first one, and it isn’t used nearly as much this time, when it is used, it does not hold up well at all. It’s mainly present during the fights and whenever a Reaper’s jaws open up to infect someone.
My biggest issue I have is that because there are so many characters this time, some of them get sidelined and aren’t really given much, if anything to do.
Half of the Bloodpack get some good moments, whereas the other half (Lighthammer, Verlaine, Priest, and Asad) feel like they’re just there, and hardly have anything memorable about them. For example, with Lighthammer and Verlaine, it’s established that they’re both a couple.
All we get with Lighthammer is a character with an awesome name and a weapon to match.
There is somewhat of a missed opportunity with Verlaine in particular, because at one point, she was going to be the sister of Racquel, the vampire woman from the beginning of the first movie. That would’ve been much more interesting. However, with so many characters having issues with each other, had they gone with that, that probably would’ve been one conflict too many, so I can understand why they ultimately didn’t.
With Priest, as well as Asad, it almost feels like they’re barely in it. Priest could’ve used more screen time, especially considering he’s played by Tony Curran, one of the lesser known names here. With Asad, although he's in it a sizable amount, he could’ve been like Sergeant Apone from Aliens as more of an authority figure type of character.
As for the villains, while the performances are all really good in the movie, only Nomak is given any real development, although Eli does get some as well, albeit to a lesser extent.
The one with the least development is Karel Roden (who would later play Grigori Rasputin, a major antagonist of the original Hellboy) as Eli’s lawyer. That is all we know about him. Everything he does is on Eli’s behalf. He doesn’t get a standout moment of his own or anything like that.
Basically, what I’m saying is that had there been a little bit more in terms of character development, or at the very least given those that don’t have much some cool moments that define them, I think this could’ve elevated the movie’s status to being held in a much higher regard than it is.
Overall: Blade II is not just an awesome movie, it’s also a great sequel. With excellent performances, improved effects, Guillermo Del Toro’s distinct visual style and direction, the most compelling villain of the trilogy, great action, and an awesome soundtrack, it’s also the most entertaining of the three movies because it’s paced so well.
It also has what is easily the best performance Wesley Snipes gives to Blade himself, and the best supporting cast of the series to back him up.
While the CGI still could have used some work, and more so the character development, the fact that the majority of the effects are practical here and the performances given to the lesser developed characters are still really good does make up for that, especially when everything else is so good. Even with the majority of my issues regarding how the characters are utilized within the bigger narrative, Blade II is still an overall satisfying experience.
Sadly, for those who end up being hopeful for the conclusion upon seeing so much buildup that thus far had been really good, you might want to lower those expectations almost to the point of the potential to exceed them being between slim and none. Even in saying that, though, that might be a bit too generous on my part. That was not the first time people have had to do that for not only movies, but in general, nor will it be the last. However, as stated earlier, that comes later, as numerous other reviews will be coming first.
What you can be hopeful for is the subject of one such review, which in fact is what I ultimately settled on being next.
Next time, we go from Reapers… to Robots.

2022 Review Schedule

March 26, 2022

Image courtesy of hipwallpaper.com

The preceding image is for use until I have a proper logo for non-review posts on the site, upon which it will be adjusted to that.

Hello, everyone. It’s a new year, which means new possibilities. For the first time in three years, I feel like I can do a Review Schedule post again.

In my previous post, there were a couple things I had to address first, so I would suggest checking that out first prior to this one.

Since I addressed those couple things separately rather than start here with them, I felt it’d be more fun if I just jumped right into what I have planned.

Now, these are not in any particular order, as I cannot always promise that these reviews come out as planned, similar to how these movies and shows have had to be adjusted.

However, some of these actually follow up on movies I have already covered.

First on the List is one of many things that’s been a long time coming, as I have planned to get these out before a couple times, and they ultimately did not happen.

Now it seems like the perfect time to do it, as not only does this franchise celebrate its 45th Anniversary this year, but we also had one show finish airing a few weeks ago, and it was announced shortly after that the next one starts airing 45 years to the day we first witnessed these immortalized words pop up on the screen: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”.

That’s right, everyone, I hope to finally get to covering Star Wars this year. Even though its 20th Anniversary passed, I do still plan on starting with The Phantom Menace (AKA Episode I).

The plan for that will be as follows:

The Phantom Menace (Episode I), Attack of the Clones (Episode II), and Revenge of the Sith (Episode III) leading up to the next spinoff series, which is set 10 years after the events of Episode III… Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Then next up will be the two “A Star Wars Story” movies, those being Rogue One and Solo (but with the order swapped, as Solo is apparently set after Episode III, and before Rogue One, which leads into the Original Trilogy).

Then we go to Episodes IV-VI, which are mainly referred to by the original titles they used (which is just Star Wars (in the case of Episode IV, rather than Episode IV: A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi).

Then, despite it being an ongoing series (with an upcoming third Season), next up will be Seasons 1 & 2 of The Mandalorian, followed by The Book of Boba Fett, which finished a few weeks ago.

Then finally, we get to Episodes VII-IX, which consist of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, which conclude the main saga, or The Skywalker Saga, as it’s commonly referred as.

However, this applies to at least the movies. The shows will be included once they finish, whether it’s a miniseries or the latest Season if it’s an ongoing series.

While that does mean that it will not be chronologically (let alone canonically) accurate, it’s better for consistency.

The same applies to the Middle-Earth Saga, where I’ll be starting with The Hobbit before going into The Lord of the Rings, leading up to the Amazon series, The Rings of Power.

Next on the List is something I had also meant to do at least one for last year, which is an Anniversary Review for Aliens, but it’s one of at least two franchises that I had a backup plan in place for.

As it turns out, the flip side, the Predator franchise, is getting a new entry this year with a prequel called Prey, which is also supposed to be an origin story for the Predators.

Now, I won’t actually need to start these, as I already covered the original Alien and the original Predator in their respective Anniversary years, so feel free to go check those out before the remaining ones in the series go up.

Therefore, my backup plan I had in mind was to actually cover the remaining entries of both franchises starting with Aliens.

For the Alien franchise, that consists of Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection.

For the Predator franchise, that consists of Predator 2, Predators, and The Predator.

In between will be the two Alien vs. Predator films. The sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, might be the most difficult to cover, the main reason actually not being how the movie is shot (although that is one of them). The real main reason for me is because there aren’t really any even remotely noteworthy cast members in that one compared to the rest, including its immediate predecessor.

Any huge fans of the Alien franchise in particular may have noticed I did not include the prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, on this List. I don’t need to, because I also already covered them.

Next up we have some Anniversary Reviews that I put on the List simply because I wanted to do them.

In no particular order, we have what will actually be one of the first to go up, and that is one of my personal favorite superhero sequels, and still as of right now the best movie featuring the character: Blade II.

I also already covered the first one, and I’ve been waiting to be able to do this one anyway.

As for Blade: Trinity, that comes later. The best I can say is this: It will be covered before the MCU reboot comes out with Mahershala Ali taking up the mantle from Wesley Snipes, and as a result, we go from one perfect Blade casting to another.

For those wondering what was initially planned to be the first Anniversary Review for this year, but will now have to come later this year, it was what I consider to be the best found footage movie ever, which is a superhero movie done in that style, called Chronicle.

It could likely be the next Anniversary Review, as it’s actually already in progress at the time of this post going up.

Before I come back to franchises and close this post out, I also plan to do the two TRON films, The Thing (both the classic John Carpenter version and the prequel (and yes, it is a prequel))*, the two Blade Runner films (the original and Blade Runner 2049), and potentially numerous others.

There is one other that I can mention, and this will be the conclusion of the Trilogy of criminally underrated animated sci-fi movies. I started this with Titan A.E., then most recently I continued with Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and now I get to announce what the third one will be. Much like Titan A.E., this one also catastrophically bombed. Unlike that, but like Atlantis, this was from Disney since Day One (Titan A.E. was initially Fox, but now technically Disney owns it ever since they bought Fox).

This one is Treasure Planet. Even though that’ll be close to the end of the year, I still cannot wait to get to this one.

Now for the last few franchises I want to mention here, because going forward with these Review Schedule posts, I want to try my best to not overload them. Doing so ultimately leads to a lot of those I announce not happening as planned. Therefore, starting this year, I want to try breaking that habit.

That pun is the perfect segue to the next franchise I want to do this year. Without this franchise, even more so with the first movie, I probably wouldn’t be as eager to cover this one. The first movie alone got me into two things, and the brand itself was one of them.

Despite its soon to be newest installment being bumped, and therefore covering this franchise next year for that was a backup plan, I want to at least cover what we have already, and that is Transformers. Either way, it’ll consist of the original five movies from Michael Bay, and then what is easily the best one since the first one: Bumblebee.

Before that will be two franchises that each celebrate their 20th Anniversaries this year.

One I absolutely hope to do this year is the one that got me into superheroes to begin with.

This one started two years after X-Men, and it also started the superhero movie boom that continues today, and helped pave the way for the MCU even more than Blade or X-Men did.

Even though he didn’t start out in the MCU, this might be the best way to lead up to one particular review in that series, and that is Spider-Man.

Similarly, to lead up to a newer review, I’ll be covering the Batman franchise, from Michael Keaton through Christian Bale, and maybe even The LEGO Batman Movie, leading up to my review of The Batman. Rather than leading up to the movie itself, as I ultimately was not able to do it in time, this’ll be leading up to my review of it, because it may end up being more convenient to do it once it arrives on Blu-Ray.

In this series, do not expect Ben Affleck’s Batman to be featured here, as that is part of the DC Extended Universe, which will be a review series of its own. Anyone wanting me to cover both Cuts of Batman v Superman and both Cuts of Justice League, they will be, just not here.

Also, do not expect Adam West, either.

Around the time of the Batman series, I hope to cover one of two spy franchises that celebrate an Anniversary this year, with this one having its 20th Anniversary, which would be the Bourne franchise.

The other one, which I chose to close this post out with for a reason, is not only another one that’s been a long time coming, but it is also one of the longest running franchises ever, and it celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. With its 25th installment having concluded its most recent lead’s run, now is the perfect time to finally do it.

The last one I’m going to mention here… is the Bond franchise.

It may seem like a tall order, even with these other ones I have planned, but I think it’ll be worth it, because I get to do more content, and everyone gets to see more content.

One more thing: There might just be some surprises in between these, both newer and older alike.

In the meantime, I’ll see you guys next time with my Blade II review.

*There is a slight downside to that: I may have to do a comparison post where I go in depth in order to definitively end the debate once and for all (at least for me) as to why the 2011 movie is a prequel and not a remake (which the original actually was). The downside to that is that it would involve going into spoilers as I talk about the actual movies in question. The only times I usually go into spoilers in my reviews is to help explain the plot of a sequel, which may consist of huge spoilers for the previous movie, like more recently my review of Halloween Kills.

Other than that, I try to do my reviews with as few spoilers as possible.

Schedule Update

March 12, 2022

Image courtesy of hipwallpaper.com

The preceding image is for use until I have a proper logo for non-review posts on the site, upon which it will be adjusted to that.

Hello, everyone. Much like last time I did one of these, this was not the first post of the new year that I had planned to put out, but I had to do something, as more updates have continued to happen.

The pandemic may be starting to wind down, but a new problem has emerged in its place, with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Now, I don’t know how this’ll affect the world of entertainment, let alone if it’ll be as bad as how COVID did, but should delays start to occur as badly as they did two years ago, or even if they do happen but not nearly as often as that, as was the case last year, you can still count on me to keep tracking them, folks.

I do have some good news, though, on my end.

Before I get to that, there are two things I need to address.

1: As I just stated, in regards to delays, this year, they could go either way. They could go the way of 2020 (where they were so sporadic that it would’ve been hard to keep track of them all had I not decided to do so) or they could go the way of 2021 (where they did still happen, but not nearly as much).

For anyone wondering my stance on that, I’ll just put it this way: Expect the worst, hope for the best. Given that we are still in an ongoing global crisis (it may be winding down, but it also has not officially been declared to be over), even though some regions have it better than others, the current status of the release schedules remains unpredictable.

Even so, my own schedule will be adjusted accordingly if and/or when necessary.

2: Yes, I will be continuing to make (and add to) the Schedule Update posts, as I have been doing since Day One. Speaking of which, I know I said I was thinking of doing these in three Parts, but at this point, I think it’s best I just end them with the post where I go over everything that was delayed, which includes movies or even shows I did not initially mention. This means that rather than have it be Part 3 (as this one is), it’ll be “Part (*Insert Number Here*): The Epic Finale”. This is simply because we don’t know how long this situation will last.

Now for the good news: I will be bringing back my Review Schedule posts, as for the first time in three years, I feel like I can do one again.

I am currently working on that as we speak, so be on the lookout for that soon, along with a couple or even a few reviews that might have actually been on it.

As always, check back here for more updates, and the first few for this year will also be arriving fairly soon as well.

Aside from that, I’ll see you guys on the post for my Review Schedule.

———————————————————-

Thoughts on Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

December 30, 2021

Thoughts on Halloween Kills (2021)

October 31, 2021

Image courtesy of themoviedb.orgHello, everyone. I know it has been a long time since I put up my Tremors review, and there were a couple other movies that I had planned to come back with, but ultimately, given the timing of this review, this one I felt should come out first. However, with one of those actually being a horror movie, I might put that one up next. There are four things this has in common with that: They’re both horror sequels, they’re sequels to horror movies I’ve already covered, they were affected by delays (the other more so than this one), and those involved were determined to keep them on the schedule for a theatrical release.* This being the newest of the two, I’ll start here. Despite this movie being one of many affected by delays, this was among a few that actually had the least amount of them, as it was really only delayed once. It was originally set for an October 2020 release, but was bumped back to October 2021, which in turn caused the conclusion of this planned trilogy to be bumped back to October 2022. Now, after what was going to be two years since the previous installment, but ultimately became three years due to the pandemic**, we venture back to the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, for this review. We also witness the return of slasher icon Michael Myers, as I present my review of Halloween Kills. I will preface this one with a disclaimer, because there are a couple things I need to address. The first is that there may be some of what could be considered very minor spoilers for this movie, but they’re more like huge spoilers for the last movie. Therefore, I highly suggest the following: Watch the original 1978 film and definitely watch the 2018 sequel (in both regards, you’ll know why in a moment), read and keep my reviews in mind, watch this one, and then come back. Then you should be good. The second thing is that this has become somewhat controversial due to a few aspects, one in particular I will try to tread lightly on, even if others might not be so courteous and spoil it anyway. With that out of the way, on with the review. Immediately following the events of the 2018 film, Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen, and her granddaughter Allyson, believe they’ve finished Michael Myers once and for all by setting the basement on fire. They rush Laurie to the hospital to recover from her injuries. Little do they know that not only has Michael escaped again, but also that Laurie has motivated the rest of the town, including fellow survivors of Michael’s original killing spree, to rally together in the hopes that they’ll bring him down for good this time. What Worked: As always, I will start with the cast. The three leads in particular (Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie, Judy Greer as Karen, and Andi Matichak as Allyson, respectively) are still really good here. Also returning from the previous film is Will Patton as Deputy Frank Hawkins, who is revealed to have also survived. One of my problems with the 2018 film was not being able to see at least a little bit more of him. Thankfully, that is rectified here. One thing I actually loved here was how they reveal a little more about him. There, it was revealed that he was the deputy that recaptured Michael at the end of the original. Here, they expand upon that. There is also a flashback sequence to those events involving him and Loomis that ended up leaving him with his own trauma. As a result, he has his own reason to want to end Michael as well. We also have more returning cast members from the original as well, along with new cast members playing characters last seen in the original. We have Charles Cyphers returning as Leigh Brackett, the original Sheriff. Even though he’s not in it much, it is nice that they brought him back. The same can be said for Nancy Stephens as Nurse Marion Chambers, who was Loomis’s assistant in the original. Even so, they’re still good for the time they’re in it. There is one other returning cast member from the original to mention, and that is Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace, who was one of the children Laurie babysat in the original. I was surprised with how much she was in it, because she ended up having a lot more to do than those two. Now for my favorite of the new additions. Despite not playing the character in the original, the standout for me was Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle, who was the other child Laurie babysat that fateful night. I actually really liked him in this. Plus, he looked like he was having a lot of fun playing Tommy. Similarly, James Jude Courtney looks like he was having fun playing Michael again, especially when he gets to go ballistic with the kills this time. I’ll get to the kills momentarily. Not only did they bring him back, of course, but they did also bring back Nick Castle for a few scenes. For this review, I’ll have to do something a little different with the format. I’m adding an extra segment. I’ll be delving into with some of the divisive elements here, starting with one involving Tommy. What Might Not Work For Everyone: For some, Anthony Michael Hall’s portrayal of Tommy may seem a bit exaggerated and over the top compared to how survivors of traumatic events would really act. However, for others, like myself, it makes sense that he would want to confront the source of his trauma. Going back to the kills, this movie is nothing short of a bloodbath. It’s not quite the craziest horror movie of the year in terms of kills, because that would go to another horror movie that came out not too long ago, which I also want to review pretty soon.The kills are another point of contention. Some think it’s excessive with how brutal they are, but it’s another thing that makes sense. Michael can never truly be contained, because he is the embodiment of evil. He doesn’t care what type of person you are; if you get in his way, it’s your funeral. That is particularly true for one moment with a couple of characters. Without giving too much away, there’s a certain aspect to these two characters that resulted in controversy claiming Michael is against that type of person. While I can understand the reason for it, it is kind of blown out of proportion as well, because the reason why it’s there is what I just said. There was also another motivation for why Michael kills them, and if you have seen the original and the 2018 movie, you’ll have a pretty good idea what it is. The two biggest complaints a lot of people may have aside from that are why Laurie is sidelined for the majority of the movie and the mob mentality that comes into play here (both of which were mentioned in the marketing, so it’s not a spoiler). The reason why Laurie is on the sidelines is because she was injured in her previous encounter with Michael, and she needs time to recover before she can have another chance at bringing him down. As for the mob mentality part, it shows how Michael’s killing spree affected everyone else. They chant “Evil Dies Tonight!” to show they’ve had enough of Michael as much as Laurie has. Therefore, it makes sense to have them more at the forefront this time. In summary, what others may have issues with actually made sense for me. There are a few more positives, so I’ll go back to them. The aforementioned flashback sequence is really good. It stands out because of the attention to detail given to it, as it has that 70s feel to it. I also really liked how they did the opening credits, too. The score is still fantastic, having had John Carpenter contribute to it once again, and the changes made to it are pretty good. What Didn’t Work: The humor here is not as strong as it was last time, but it still worked for me when it was utilized. David Gordon Green’s direction and Danny McBride’s writing are not as strong as last time, either, but they do fine at keeping consistency with the tone set by the 2018 film. My biggest issue with this was actually the ending. The best way I can sum up my thoughts on it is this: The problem wasn’t so much what they chose to end it with, but more so that they chose to end it with that. Narratively, it makes sense because the stakes need to be raised higher. However, I feel it would have been more suitable to use that as the opening of the concluding chapter of this trilogy, appropriately titled Halloween Ends. It would have allowed the stakes raised in this movie to be raised even further right there. Overall: Halloween Kills is not so much a step backwards from what preceded it, especially when what preceded it was so good, as it is a decent middle chapter to a story we don’t fully know just yet. For all its faults, and some understandably divisive aspects, it was still a solid sequel for me. If you want a fun time with a horror movie in theaters right now, you’re bound to get that. If you want to see an even bigger kill count, you’ll definitely get that. Regardless of where you stand on this movie, you’ll likely still be eager to see how Halloween Ends. You’ll get that chance soon enough, you just have some waiting to do. You still have two good movies prior to this to hold you over. *They also received a streaming release in some way, but that’s a different story. For more information, look at the Schedule Update posts where I’ve been tracking the delays and release strategy adjustments.   **Same with the other sequel I’m alluding to; the previous installments both came out the same year. — *Image courtesy of themoviedb.org*
Hello, everyone. I know it has been a long time since I put up my Tremors review, and there were a couple other movies that I had planned to come back with, but ultimately, given the timing of this review, this one I felt should come out first.
However, with one of those actually being a horror movie, I might put that one up next. There are four things this has in common with that: They’re both horror sequels, they’re sequels to horror movies I’ve already covered, they were affected by delays (the other more so than this one), and those involved were determined to keep them on the schedule for a theatrical release.*
This being the newest of the two, I’ll start here.
Despite this movie being one of many affected by delays, this was among a few that actually had the least amount of them, as it was really only delayed once. It was originally set for an October 2020 release, but was bumped back to October 2021, which in turn caused the conclusion of this planned trilogy to be bumped back to October 2022.
Now, after what was going to be two years since the previous installment, but ultimately became three years due to the pandemic**, we venture back to the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, for this review.
We also witness the return of slasher icon Michael Myers, as I present my review of Halloween Kills.
I will preface this one with a disclaimer, because there are a couple things I need to address. The first is that there may be some of what could be considered very minor spoilers for this movie, but they’re more like ***huge*** spoilers for the last movie. Therefore, I highly suggest the following: Watch the original 1978 film and definitely watch the 2018 sequel (in both regards, you’ll know why in a moment), read and keep my reviews in mind, watch this one, and then come back. Then you should be good.
The second thing is that this has become somewhat controversial due to a few aspects, one in particular I will try to tread lightly on, even if others might not be so courteous and spoil it anyway.
With that out of the way, on with the review.
Immediately following the events of the 2018 film, Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen, and her granddaughter Allyson, believe they’ve finished Michael Myers once and for all by setting the basement on fire. They rush Laurie to the hospital to recover from her injuries. Little do they know that not only has Michael escaped again, but also that Laurie has motivated the rest of the town, including fellow survivors of Michael’s original killing spree, to rally together in the hopes that they’ll bring him down for good this time.
What Worked: As always, I will start with the cast. The three leads in particular (Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie, Judy Greer as Karen, and Andi Matichak as Allyson, respectively) are still really good here.
Also returning from the previous film is Will Patton as Deputy Frank Hawkins, who is revealed to have also survived. One of my problems with the 2018 film was not being able to see at least a little bit more of him. Thankfully, that is rectified here.
One thing I actually loved here was how they reveal a little more about him. There, it was revealed that he was the deputy that recaptured Michael at the end of the original. Here, they expand upon that. There is also a flashback sequence to those events involving him and Loomis that ended up leaving him with his own trauma. As a result, he has his own reason to want to end Michael as well.
We also have more returning cast members from the original as well, along with new cast members playing characters last seen in the original.
We have Charles Cyphers returning as Leigh Brackett, the original Sheriff. Even though he’s not in it much, it is nice that they brought him back. The same can be said for Nancy Stephens as Nurse Marion Chambers, who was Loomis’s assistant in the original. Even so, they’re still good for the time they’re in it.
There is one other returning cast member from the original to mention, and that is Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace, who was one of the children Laurie babysat in the original. I was surprised with how much she was in it, because she ended up having a lot more to do than those two.
Now for my favorite of the new additions. Despite not playing the character in the original, the standout for me was Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle, who was the other child Laurie babysat that fateful night. I actually really liked him in this. Plus, he looked like he was having a lot of fun playing Tommy.
Similarly, James Jude Courtney looks like he was having fun playing Michael again, especially when he gets to go ballistic with the kills this time. I’ll get to the kills momentarily.
Not only did they bring him back, of course, but they did also bring back Nick Castle for a few scenes.
For this review, I’ll have to do something a little different with the format. I’m adding an extra segment.
I’ll be delving into some of the divisive elements here, starting with one involving Tommy.
What Might Not Work For Everyone: For some, Anthony Michael Hall’s portrayal of Tommy may seem a bit exaggerated and over the top compared to how survivors of traumatic events would really act. However, for others, like myself, it makes sense that he would want to confront the source of his trauma.
Going back to the kills, this movie is nothing short of a bloodbath. It’s not quite the craziest horror movie of the year in terms of kills, because that would go to another horror movie that came out not too long ago, which I also want to review pretty soon.
The kills are another point of contention. Some think it’s excessive with how brutal they are, but it’s another thing that makes sense. Michael can never truly be contained, because he is the embodiment of evil. He doesn’t care what type of person you are; if you get in his way, it’s your funeral.
That is particularly true for one moment with a couple of characters. Without giving too much away, there’s a certain aspect to these two characters that resulted in controversy claiming Michael is against that type of person.
While I can understand the reason for it, it is kind of blown out of proportion as well, because the reason why it’s there is what I just said. There was also another motivation for why Michael kills them, and if you have seen the original and the 2018 movie, you’ll have a pretty good idea what it is.
The two biggest complaints a lot of people may have aside from that are why Laurie is sidelined for the majority of the movie and the mob mentality that comes into play here (both of which were mentioned in the marketing, so it’s not a spoiler).
The reason why Laurie is on the sidelines is because she was injured in her previous encounter with Michael, and she needs time to recover before she can have another chance at bringing him down.
As for the mob mentality part, it shows how Michael’s killing spree affected everyone else. They chant “Evil Dies Tonight!” to show they’ve had enough of Michael as much as Laurie has. Therefore, it makes sense to have them more at the forefront this time.
In summary, what others may have issues with actually made sense for me.
There are a few more positives, so I’ll go back to them.
The aforementioned flashback sequence is really good. It stands out because of the attention to detail given to it, as it has that 70s feel to it.
I also really liked how they did the opening credits, too.
The score is still fantastic, having had John Carpenter contribute to it once again, and the changes made to it are pretty good.
What Didn’t Work: The humor here is not as strong as it was last time, but it still worked for me when it was utilized.
David Gordon Green’s direction and Danny McBride’s writing are not as strong as last time, either, but they do fine at keeping consistency with the tone set by the 2018 film.
My biggest issue with this was actually the ending. The best way I can sum up my thoughts on it is this: The problem wasn’t so much what they chose to end it with, but more so that they chose to end it with that. Narratively, it makes sense because the stakes need to be raised higher.
However, I feel it would have been more suitable to use that as the opening of the concluding chapter of this trilogy, appropriately titled Halloween Ends. It would have allowed the stakes raised in this movie to be raised even further right there.

Overall: Halloween Kills is not so much a step backwards from what preceded it, especially when what preceded it was so good, as it is a decent middle chapter to a story we don’t fully know just yet. For all its faults, and some understandably divisive aspects, it was still a solid sequel for me.
If you want a fun time with a horror movie in theaters right now, you’re bound to get that. If you want to see an even bigger kill count, you’ll definitely get that.
Regardless of where you stand on this movie, you’ll likely still be eager to see how Halloween Ends.
You’ll get that chance soon enough, you just have some waiting to do. You still have two good movies prior to this to hold you over.

*They also received a streaming release in some way, but that’s a different story. For more information, look at the Schedule Update posts where I’ve been tracking the delays and release strategy adjustments.
**Same with the other sequel I’m alluding to; the previous installments both came out the same year.

Schedule Update

March 13, 2021

Image courtesy of hipwallpaper.com

The preceding image is for use until I have a proper logo for non-review posts on the site, upon which it will be adjusted to that.

Hello, everyone. This may not be the first post of 2020 2.0 (as it is right now, anyway) that I had planned to put out, but I had to make the best of the situation that carried over into 2021 on here.

A lot has happened since the previous update, so I will provide a brief epilogue of sorts to Part 1 before moving on to Part 2.

Even though the vaccine did start arriving before 2021 officially began, that did not stop the delays from happening.

Before I get to that, there is one that I forgot to mention last time. Back in Update #6, I mentioned Soul had been set for a theatrical release on November 20th, 2020, and they had planned to go through with it.

I realize I forgot to mention this in Update #7. They changed the plan, and put it straight on Disney+ instead. You may remember that I’ve mentioned the Premier Access thing with that where they charge you 30 bucks to watch a movie on Disney+. They did this with Mulan because they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

I had believed that they’d kept their word on it being a one-off thing. It seemed to be a one-off thing in regards to strictly putting it on Disney+ and charging you an additional price on top of that of the service itself. That was only temporary, as they eventually did make it available for free three months later. Surprisingly, they also gave it a Blu-Ray release, which I don’t think anyone was expecting. It was a welcome surprise, though.

With Soul, even though they chose to forego a theatrical release for that as well, they did not do the Premier Access approach they did with Mulan. Instead, they put Soul up on Disney+ on Christmas Day… for free. On top of that, it’s getting a Blu-Ray release as well.

Now, they’ve decided to try something a little different. They’re doing Premier Access alongside a theatrical release, and they’re not the only ones doing this sort of thing, but I’ll get back to that in just a moment.

The one they’re trying this approach with is their latest animated film, called Raya and the Last Dragon, which was just recently released. This was actually another one originally set for 2020 (five days after the last planned theatrical release date for Soul, in fact). They then originally bumped it back to March 12th, 2021, but then on December 10th, 2020, Disney’s Investor Day event happened, and a lot of big news came out of it. One of the announcements was that it was bumped up a week to the date that ultimately stuck, along with them trying the simultaneous release strategy.

Anyone who wants to pay an additional 30 bucks just so they can see it right away in the comfort of their home, you can do that. Anyone who wants to go to a theater to see it (which I’ll see if I can do), you can do that.

It does ultimately go the same way it did with Mulan, though: It’s available for Premier Access for two months before being made free the following month, with a Blu-Ray release to follow sometime later.

Before we go to Part 2, there are two more that need to be mentioned.

The last two noteworthy movies originally set for a theatrical release in 2020 (that weren’t previously bumped out) were Free Guy and Death on the Nile, the latter of which was mentioned last time on a couple occasions.

Originally scheduled for July 3rd, 2020, Free Guy (starring Ryan Reynolds as a non-playable character (NPC for short) who discovers he’s in a video game and wants to do something more than what he was programmed to do) was bumped to December 11th, 2020. Then back in November, both that and Death on the Nile (which by that point had been scheduled for the following week on December 18th, 2020) were pulled until further notice.

However, they did receive new dates a few weeks later. Free Guy is now set for May 21st, 2021, and Death on the Nile is now set for September 17th, 2021.

Now on to Part 2.

Around that same time, something that you could say would have been at the very least an Honorable Mention on my Most Anticipated List of 2021, if not actually made the list, was also pulled until being rescheduled not long after.

It is currently slated for release on April 16th, 2021, and is the latest video game adaptation.

After the trailer that recently dropped, I think this absolutely could have had a chance of making the list, and that is Mortal Kombat.

This is where it gets interesting, but also a little bit complicated for those who might not be following this as much as I have.

Warner Bros., the studio behind Mortal Kombat and several others I have mentioned previously, like Dune for example, had announced around that time that for pretty much their entire slate for 2021, they would be releasing their films on the dates they currently have set for them in theaters, but they’ll also be made available simultaneously on the streaming service HBO Max that same day. They actually started this with Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day, and it worked out really well for them.

There is a catch, though: They give you a month to watch it before they remove it. Obviously, it’s not permanent. They just want to strictly focus on a theatrical run after that. Their movies will still receive a traditional home media release, upon which they will add them back.

It’s just that not all theaters have reopened yet, but the ones that are they’ll put them in, so those who feel safe going back to a theater can watch one there, and those who don’t quite feel safe yet can watch it at home, so it’s a win-win situation for those interested. As long as you get HBO, you should have access to HBO Max already.

A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Paramount would be doing a similar thing with their streaming service, formerly known as CBS All Access, which has now been rebranded as Paramount+. Back in Part 1, I had originally mentioned that The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run would be on that service, but now it seems to be coming to VOD as well after all. I had mentioned that at the time, but now it seems to have been made official. In other words, it will actually be getting a Blu-Ray release later, which is indeed a “Sweet Victory” for me. Longtime SpongeBob fans will appreciate that reference.

It wasn’t much longer before the release happened, either; the service itself launched a little over a week ago on March 4th.*

Now, that movie received a theatrical release in Canada, as well as an international Netflix release, but it will be on the same streaming service as bigger movies that will receive a theatrical release here.

I felt like mentioning that first since this news came out around the same time. That, and it was a sigh of relief for me.

Now on to the bigger news surrounding Paramount+. The approach they’re taking is similar to Warner’s, except Paramount is putting their movies out in theaters first. After a certain period of time, though, then they’ll put them on the service. After 30 days, they’ll put less high-profile movies on there. As for the bigger ones (examples being Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place Part II), it’s 45 days.

For the home media release period, though, at this time, I do not know how that factors in, but I will be sure to elaborate in a later update once I do.

One more thing before I close this portion out before updating further below. This regards a change of plans on my part.

This was something I also originally mentioned in Update #6. I had announced that I would be expanding to shows as well. That part has not changed, only the one I have decided to start with.

I mentioned I had initially felt like waiting until the shows from Marvel Studios started rolling out before deciding to start covering shows in addition to movies, the first of their shows being WandaVision.

At the time I made the initial announcement, I had changed my mind upon seeing Season 1 of The Mandalorian, as Season 2 was about to premiere a few weeks later at the end of October, whereas WandaVision had been scheduled for December.

Ultimately, they bumped WandaVision into January, which of course made 2020 the first year where Marvel Studios was unable to put out anything, especially after their Phase Four slate of movies had been pushed out to hopefully kick off this year.

In general and on the TV side of things, however, Phase Four did officially kick off with this show. Only in terms of movies has it not, although the date for Black Widow has not been affected further. Even so, rest assured, I will continue to monitor it and I will mention it if it is.**

I have now decided to go back to the initial plan of having WandaVision be the first show I cover after all. This is for a few reasons.

The first is that at the time of this new update post going up, they’ve given us a break for a week, as WandaVision has officially finished, and their next show in this initial lineup is upon us: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

The second reason is because it doesn’t feel like the right time for me to cover The Mandalorian, especially given recent events.

Let me put it this way: The relationship between the Star Wars fanbase and Disney has been fractured yet again, as everyone associated with Lucasfilm or Disney is being slammed over what happened… and saying fractured rather than shattered may sound generous. However, it is somewhat true, because The Mandalorian was the one thing that allowed any goodwill to be given to Disney in regards to Star Wars.

That’s the furthest I’m willing to go into that here, so in regards to controversies, I have spoken.

The third reason, and this is for scheduling purposes, is that it might be easier to start with something like WandaVision anyway, because it’s a miniseries, rather than an ongoing one like The Mandalorian.

Plus, with it being a series set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the start of Phase Four, I’ll be able to cover it sooner, but I still have a few movies to review first to wrap up my reviews of The Infinity Saga.

In closing, folks…

Rather than do a post regarding a review schedule for this year, since the release schedule could change at any moment, I may do something a little different, at least for the next post (not counting Part 3 of this saga or any reviews).

The next post might be a little bit of a review schedule and a little bit of a Catch-Up List, because there are quite a few 2020 movies I had intended to see and review, but did not initially get to.

As for being a review schedule, while it will still include franchises, for the time being, it’s more to ensure that I’ve covered them, regardless of whether or not the new installments in those franchises are released as planned.

Near, if not at the top of the list, are the aforementioned Infinity Saga reviews, which are as follows:

Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

I hope to get those out in the very near future, because the pandemic has put me on hiatus long enough.

So expect those reviews soon, folks, and I’ll see you there.

*The way they announced that date was perfect. Two words: Super Bowl.

**Should that happen yet again, this means a domino effect will have happened three times. This basically means that with it being the first movie in Phase Four, whenever it’s been bumped further out, so has every movie following it. It could even lead to a date swap, which happened last time.

———————————————————————————————————————

UPDATE #1 (March 27th, 2021): As of today, it has now been a month since the beginning of Part 2 went up. As usual, quite a bit has happened in between updates, but some of it is actually good this time, some of it you could say is good, bad, or neutral (depending on perspective), and then we get to the usual bad part.

I will go over the good part first, because I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen for so long. For the second time, Regal is coming back. It is re-reopening, if you will. Starting this Friday, April 2nd, they’ll slowly start coming back (hopefully for real this time). They announced that they would reopen for the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, which arrives this coming Wednesday, March 31st. They also stated that by a couple Fridays later (meaning April 16th), they should have more locations opened back up in time for Mortal Kombat, which is set to open that same week.

Unfortunately, the Regal in my area was not on the initial lineup. Hopefully, mine is by the time Mortal Kombat comes out.

While we’re on the subject of the theaters themselves, with movies like those two and going through the rest of their slate this year, as mentioned previously, Warner Bros. has a plan in place for next year. Their intention is two-fold. In 2022, they plan to strictly return to theaters, but then have an exclusivity window of 45 days from the theatrical release. If you feel that gives you mixed signals, I understand, because it was confusing for me at first as well. How I look at it is this: They plan to put their movies out in theaters first, and then put them up on HBO Max (I presume; I don’t believe they mentioned that last part, but considering their strategy for their 2021 slate is to put them up on HBO Max the same day as the theatrical release, it wouldn’t be surprising if it turns out they are). Basically, I view these approaches as a response to those of their competition. Their 2021 slate having a simultaneous release is a response to Disney+ doing it, except the main difference is that Disney+ isn’t doing it for everything like they are. Disney has only moved a few of theirs to Disney+ for free, and some they’re doing the simultaneous release tactic for as well.

This leads to my next two points, and we’ll come back around to another, so keep these next couple parts in mind, folks.

For the longest time, Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios was fighting to keep a theatrical release for the first movie in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is Black Widow. Ultimately, he persisted for as long as he could… but alas, it is now among those being given a simultaneous release. Not only that, it was bumped another couple months. Most recently set for May 7th, it has now been bumped to July 9th. For those who feel safe going out to a theater, you can. For those who don’t quite feel ready yet, but still intend to see it as soon as possible, you have Disney+ for that. The only downside for the latter is if you are already subscribed to Disney+, you’ll have to pay an extra 30 bucks to watch it on top of the subscription fee.

There is one part to this tactic that I’ve managed to overlook whenever I’ve had to bring it up: For those who choose Premier Access, once you pay that extra 30 bucks, you have access to the movie as long as you remain a subscriber.

Otherwise, it’ll initially be on there for two months (example: Mulan was put up on there in September, and stayed there until November), and then once it hits home media (which in that case, was December), it won’t be long before it’s added back.

In the case of Black Widow, however… I am doing what I usually do for the movies: See it in theaters as soon as possible, and then do the same for getting the Blu-Ray when it comes out.

I haven’t missed a single MCU movie in theaters, and I am not starting now.

There is something else regarding these movies, but I’ll get back to that in just a moment.

However, we are still on the subject of Disney for what’s in between, starting with another simultaneous release, so Disney does still have something coming out in theaters in May.

That would be Cruella, which is set for May 28th, but there is one problem: It’s set to open against A Quiet Place Part II. Regardless, this was probably a safer bet for them if they wanted to even have a chance of competing with Paramount.

There is one other noteworthy announcement in regards to Disney+ for this update, but it is one that will actually be going straight to Disney+ for free.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because another division of Disney has had to do this once before: They had to forego a theatrical release and send it to streaming. This is now the second movie in a row that they’ve had to do this with.

They did it with Soul a few months ago, and now their latest project as well.

That would be Pixar’s Luca. Originally set for a theatrical release on June 18th, it is still arriving on that date, but on Disney+ instead.

The best part of this is that it’ll be on there for free.

Now back to those that are still currently set for a theatrical release, starting with July.

Since Black Widow was bumped to the 9th, the next MCU installment, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which had most recently been set for that date, has now been bumped to September 3rd.

Surprisingly, only half a domino effect happened this time. At this moment, Eternals (which prior to switching places in the Phase Four movie lineup was set to open after Black Widow, followed by Shang-Chi) is still set for release on November 5th. The next one in line following these two, even before they switched, was the third Spider-Man movie, now titled Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Speaking of which, the reason why I never mentioned that during Part 1 is because of this (as mentioned when I closed out Part 1): Because its original date was still set during 2021, everything originally scheduled for as early as 2021 would be covered in Part 2. Even though it did have its date bumped throughout 2020, it was being saved for Part 2. Now that we are on Part 2, I can go into it here.

While that technically applied to Shang-Chi as well, in order for the domino effects that happened to be explained more easily, I felt like I had to mention it.

There was one other exception (but I mentioned this towards the end of Part 1). It originally had two dates in 2020, before being bumped into this year. That would be The King’s Man.

I felt like I had to acknowledge that before moving on further, but I'll get back to that movie to close out this update.

However, before we do, on to August. This is one of two that had actually been pulled back in November, then they received new dates a few weeks later, and recently they were bumped again.

Previously set for May 21st, Free Guy (Ryan Reynolds’s new movie) is now set for August 13th.

The other one was previously set for September 17th, 2021, that being Death on the Nile, but was bumped further out into early 2022.

There is one that I haven’t mentioned yet that actually had a date originally scheduled for November 13th, 2020, before being bumped to Free Guy’s current date, only to then be bumped to a little over a month before Death on the Nile’s new date. This new one was announced a few days ago.

Death on the Nile is set for February 11th, and this one, called Deep Water, is set for January 14th.

Having been bumped out into 2022, this will be director Adrian Lyne’s return to filmmaking after what will soon be a 20-year hiatus. Up until now, he hadn’t directed one movie since Unfaithful back in 2002.

It seems he found the perfect project for him to come back with: An erotic thriller, which will hopefully be way better than the last one I saw, which came out the same year as that movie.*

With this one, however, it’s being described as an erotic psychological thriller. His filmography has a bit of both, with films like 9 1/2 Weeks, Fatal Attraction, and Jacob’s Ladder. Therefore, I can see why he chose something like this.

Since I’ve seen quite a few psychological thrillers, this shouldn’t be a problem for me. I’ll be sure to update further on this one if and/or when necessary.

But before we get to those two thrillers that kick off next year, we go back around to the last noteworthy movie of this year, which hopefully comes out this time.

Back to The King’s Man, it is currently set for December 22nd.

Here’s the thing… Spider-Man: No Way Home is also set for close to Christmas, being set for December 17th.

There are two things worth mentioning, one for each. Once I go over these, I will go over what I believe should happen in order for them to have a chance of doing well.

With The King’s Man, this delay will place it over two years since its original date, which came a few months before the pandemic even started.

As for Spider-Man: No Way Home, it was originally set for July 16th, then was bumped to November 5th (which is where Eternals is currently set to open, as mentioned earlier), before being bumped to where it is now.

Although it was bumped out of the date ultimately given to Eternals, it has some breathing room, but not nearly enough. Compare that to the space between Shang-Chi and Eternals, which is close to two months. That is a decent enough amount.

Unless Spider-Man is bumped a bit further out, Eternals will overwhelm it, which is the last thing Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios want to happen, let alone Sony.

While it is true that there is precedent for that (having Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk open a few weeks apart), I highly doubt that would work out twice.

So here’s what I would do.

I would keep The King’s Man (it’s been delayed long enough), but bump out Spider-Man. Yes, a domino effect would be inevitable, but Eternals needs some space between it and Spider-Man, and so do audiences who have been following the franchise since the beginning.

Because said domino effect would affect Phase Four of the MCU even further (minus the shows on Disney+), the rest of the film slate after Spider-Man begins in 2022, so I’ll be saving that for Part 3 where I go over everything. That includes everything scheduled for even further out.

The time will come for that, folks, so bear with me.

In the meantime, check back here for further updates as Part 2 continues.

*That being Femme Fatale from Brian De Palma. For me personally, the less said about that movie, the better.

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UPDATE #2 (April 9th, 2021): Almost two weeks later, and I have enough material for another update, folks. Since the first two things I will be going over here follow up from where I started last time, I’ll just go right into this one.

Last time, I mentioned how Regal was coming back for the second time (and hopefully for real this time). Godzilla vs. Kong was set to open four days later on March 31st. Regal had announced that they would reopen for its release two days later on April 2nd.

Unfortunately, my local Regal was not on that list. However, the company had also said that by the 16th (so next Friday), they should have more opened back up in time for Mortal Kombat, which at that time, was also set for release next Friday.

On March 30th, the day before Godzilla vs. Kong was released, these first two points were announced.

First, my local Regal’s reopening date was bumped back a week. Originally set for next Friday, April 16th, it has been bumped to the following Friday, April 23rd.

Then that same day, Mortal Kombat’s release date was also bumped back a week. Ironically enough, its original date was also April 16th, and so it was moved to the same date as my Regal’s reopening.

It may not be as big a movie as something like Godzilla vs. Kong, but it’s still a good choice that people would still turn up for. Plus, by the time it comes out, Regal would still gradually announce more reopening dates, as is to be expected for the next few weeks.

Next we have updates for three major releases from Paramount, all of which were just announced today: The G.I. Joe prequel Snake Eyes, the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick (again), and Mission: Impossible 7.

I will start with the more positive one, which surprisingly, is actually Snake Eyes. It’s the latest case of a movie being bumped up for once, which has been a rare occurrence compared to one being bumped back.

Back in July, this one had been pulled from the schedule while the studio looked for a new date. The following month, they reached one, and it was rescheduled for October 22nd, 2021.

Flash forward to today, and it was actually bumped up to July 23rd, 2021, with confirmation for a theatrical release, though it is certainly possible that it could see a Paramount+ release as well, given their streaming tactic I mentioned last time.

Now for the ones being bumped back.

With Top Gun: Maverick, which was most recently scheduled for July 2nd, 2021, it has now been bumped to November 19th, 2021. Given how it’s one of those that’s possibly been delayed the most times, don’t expect this one to hold for very long, either, folks.

Regardless of when it ultimately arrives in theaters, one thing is for certain. It will receive a Paramount+ release, and with it being a bigger release, it will be made available on the service 45 days later.

As for Mission: Impossible 7, this one actually has something in common with the other two. It was originally planned for release on July 23rd, 2021, where Snake Eyes ultimately ended up. Then it was given the aforementioned November date now assigned to Top Gun: Maverick.

It has now been moved to May 27th, 2022, thus giving it a Memorial Day Weekend release. Compared to Top Gun: Maverick, this date feels more likely to hold, but not by much. However, as with that, it’ll be made available on Paramount+ following its first 45 days in theaters.

To close out this update, we go to a different studio and a different streaming service. Starting with their 2022 release slate, Sony has partnered up with Netflix for a five-year deal. How the deal works is as follows: Sony will put their movies out in theaters first. Then once they arrive on home media, they’ll premiere on Netflix, which will be the official streaming home of Sony’s feature films from 2022 through 2026. What happens from there remains to be seen*.

As always, check back here for further details on that and more.

*At the moment, anyway.
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Schedule Update #2, Update #3 (May 16th, 2021): A little over a month later, and I have material for yet another update. Last time, I closed the update out with some streaming news. Fittingly enough, said material for this one will focus pretty much exclusively on that.

My first point and my final point for this update both tie back to my second-to-last point in the previous update. The first point here focuses on something actually being moved to Paramount+, thus foregoing a theatrical release entirely (this sort of thing is nothing new at this point, and will probably continue to happen with how long our predicament persists).

The final point here is something I view as a sort of response to their 45-day theatrical window strategy, but more on that later.

Now, folks, let’s start with what we have here.

Our latest victim of the theatrical release cancellation is something that chances are a majority of you are perhaps unfamiliar with. This is something that I was genuinely looking forward to for quite some time, for two reasons. The first and main one is actually the premise, and the second is the talent involved.

The movie, titled Infinite, is a sci-fi action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen, the Equalizer films) and starring Mark Wahlberg as a man who has hallucinations that he discovers are actually visions that he’s had in various past lives.

More often than not, the main thing that’s a deciding factor of whether or not a movie piques my interest is actually the premise, followed by who’s involved with it. Whether it’s the director, the writer, or the cast is interchangeable from there, as it depends on whose names I hear about first.

Although there are exceptions (like, say, if someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger is involved, that’s a case where anyone involved gets me interested first), as previously stated, it’s usually the premise.

So with this one, I really was looking forward to Infinite because of that. Unfortunately, it was bumped to Paramount+, with a release date set for June 10th.

Sadly this is also the latest case of there being cause for concern as well, because with less than a month before it’s released, the marketing has been virtually nonexistent for this, which can be viewed as a big red flag that the studio practically had no faith in the movie.

That being said, I’m still interested to see what it has to offer, because Mark Wahlberg has a solid supporting cast to back him up. However, when I eventually do get around to seeing it, it’s better I go into more detail with them in the review.

Moving on from Paramount+ to Disney+ for my next point, we have another case of their simultaneous release strategy, where the movie in question gets released in theaters and on Disney+ (with Premier Access, of course) on the same day.

For this one, we have Jungle Cruise. The reason why this approach was taken again here is because theaters in other countries like Brazil and other international markets remain closed due to the Delta variant running rampant in said markets.

It seems to have not been as severe for the domestic markets, so it looks like the release date of July 30th is going to hold for this one, only there’s an additional option now to watch it for those who don’t feel safe going back to the theaters yet.

To bring this update full circle, we go back to both services for my final point.

As I alluded to earlier, Disney announced something that I viewed as a response to Paramount putting their movies out in theaters first, and then making them available on Paramount+ after 45 days.

That announcement was that they’re basically doing the same thing with two other upcoming movies, those being Free Guy and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. They stated that they’re committing to having them in theaters only for 45 days, and then put them out on Disney+ afterwards.

Given how predictable it is at this point for studios to try each others’ strategies, it would not be surprising in the least if everyone decides to try this, so whether or not that does indeed happen, check back here for further updates.

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Thoughts on Tremors (1990)

July 19, 2020

Image courtesy of moviemania.ioHello, everyone. As I hinted at in the previous review, where I covered The Prestige, there were two movies I added to the list at the last minute due to the fact that they were about to be removed from the streaming s… — *Image courtesy of moviemania.io*
Hello, everyone. As I hinted at in the previous review, where I covered The Prestige, there were two movies I added to the list at the last minute due to the fact that they were about to be removed from the streaming services they were on. Therefore, I decided to cover them first.
Now that I've reviewed the first one with The Prestige, here’s the other one.
This one is actually a creature feature, as is the subject of at least one review coming very soon. You can probably guess what one of them is if you go by the poster, which feels like a parody of it.* It also feels like it’s honoring 50s and 60s B-movies.
That should also tell you that this movie in a way is a horror comedy. It has a mostly lighthearted tone, with some dark moments here and there. However, although it is bloody at points, you don’t see most of the kills themselves, but just the aftermath.
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s dig in, as I present my review of Tremors.
The story is set in the fictional small desert town of Perfection, Nevada. Two handymen, Val and Earl, grow tired of constantly getting jobs that provide minimal money and decide to head to Bixby, the closest town over. They ultimately have no choice but to head back when they discover that some mysterious creature has started picking off the residents. On top of that, their only way out of town is cut off, along with their phone lines.
With the help of a graduate student studying seismology, they realize that there’s more than one of these monsters, and that they hunt by movement. They can burst from the ground at any moment to attack their prey and drag them under.
While fighting to save their town from these monsters, which come to be dubbed “Graboids,” they have to outsmart them however they can.
What Worked: The acting is really good. For obvious reasons, I’ll start with the biggest name first,** and that is Mr. Six Degrees himself, Kevin Bacon, as Val.
With everything I’d seen him in prior to this, I did not expect him to be as funny as he was at times. He genuinely surprised me, especially considering this is one of the rare times where he doesn’t play a villain.
He also gets one of the best PG-13 F-bombs ever, but I’ll get more into that in a moment.
Then we have Fred Ward (The Right Stuff) as Earl. While he does give a very solid performance on his own, I particularly enjoyed his chemistry with Kevin Bacon. They really felt like friends to me.
Then there’s Finn Carter as Rhonda, in what would be her best known role within a career which, aside from five movies (including this one), mostly consisted of television work before she retired in 2005. It’s easy to see why this was ultimately the role that she became best known for.
The presence of her character (a seismologist) may seem like a plot convenience at first, but then over the course of the movie, she ends up being very crucial in fighting back against the Graboids.
There are three members of the supporting cast here that are most noteworthy.
The first two play the Gummers, a married couple who happen to be survivalists. The husband, Burt, is played by Michael Gross (who was known at the time for playing the Dad on Family Ties), and he is also the only actor to be in all seven movies*** plus the TV series.
His wife, Heather, is played by Reba McEntire in her film debut. In terms of singer-turned-actors, she’s actually pretty good in this. These two were the highlight of the movie because they get one of the best scenes. It involves them getting to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Seriously, they have so many guns that I was surprised this movie wasn’t set in Texas.
She also contributes the song “Why Not Tonight,” which plays over the credits. Though I’m not into country music myself, the song does fit the movie quite well. As for the rest of the music, I’ll delve more into that a little bit later.
The other one worth noting is someone I did not expect to see in this. That would be Ariana Richards; if that name sounds familiar, that’s because she would go on to play Lex in Jurassic Park.
The script is solid, balancing the comedy and horror enough to where one doesn’t overwhelm the other. It really shows in the tone, which, as mentioned in the intro, is mostly lighthearted, with some occasionally dark moments.
However, those moments still don’t detract from the tone, because they’re meant to show how much of a threat these creatures are.
With the overall consistency of the tone, it makes the pace consistent as well. It doesn’t slow down once the characters know what they’re up against, and it just gets more intense from there.
Where this movie really stands out is with the effects. They’re very practical, because they use the techniques that were common back then, namely animatronics, puppets, and miniatures. They feel that much more authentic as a result. What makes this more impressive is that they were done by ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.) when they were just starting out. The company would later go on to create more creature effects for films like Mars Attacks! and the two Alien vs. Predator movies.
The designs of the Graboids here look really good, even if one can easily be reminded of the Sandworms from Dune in regards to their appearance.
Thus, this is one of those times where a low-budget movie looks like it cost more than it did. A more recent example came out earlier this year… back when we still had the theaters. That one was within the same range as this. This one was budgeted at just 10 million, yet it feels like double, if not triple that.
What Didn’t Work: My only real issue with this is with the score. As a whole, it’s fine, but it feels like two different composers worked on it. Ironically, that kind of was the case here. There are some Western beats to it, which come from Ernest Troost, whose score for the most part ended up not being used. Aside from that, he did also provide the score for some of the darker moments early on.
Then there are some intense pieces of music to fit those moments in the rest of the movie, which come from Robert Folk, although he ended up being uncredited.
Throughout the movie, you can tell which is which. It doesn’t feel like one type of music naturally transitions into another like it would if it were the same composer for the whole movie.
It didn’t take me out of the movie, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.
A similar case can be made for some of the language in this. It’s not as noticeable, but you can also tell that what were supposed to be F-bombs were dubbed over in post in order to bump this up from an R to a PG-13. This is a case of a movie being only allowed one, although this technically got away with two, since one is hard to make out.
The one that they did keep intact is the one I mentioned earlier, and it actually works because it’s one that’s meant to be funny, and of course it is.
Overall: Tremors is a fun tribute to B-movies from the old days, and at times it even feels like one. It has just the right balance of both frightening and funny, solid performances, an equally solid script, and a consistent tone and pace to match.
Yes, it does have an absurd premise, with worm-like creatures that pop out of the ground when you least expect it. However, that’s also what makes the movie as fun as it is, because it just takes that absurdity, and runs with it.
It’s just as fun if you watch it as a monster movie on its own, and it can also work if you watch it as a horror comedy.
Regardless of which mindset you have in deciding to watch it, it’s still very entertaining.
In fact, the excellent visual effects alone, which hold up very well today, are worth the price of admission.
*I’m not the only one who picked up on that. Also, that movie was one of the Fourth of July-themed movies I had planned to cover.
**He’s in a couple other movies I plan to review very soon as well. One of them I definitely cannot wait to do, and I’m just going to leave it at that.
***This one is the only one to receive a theatrical release, as the subsequent installments have all been direct-to-video.

Thoughts on The Prestige (2006)

July 12, 2020

Image courtesy of wall.alphacoders.comHello, everyone. Although I did plan to cover at least one Fourth of July-themed movie next, the subjects of both this review and the next one I had to add to the list at the last minute, as they were about to b… — *Image courtesy of wall.alphacoders.com*
Hello, everyone. Although I did plan to cover at least one Fourth of July-themed movie next, the subjects of both this review and the next one I had to add to the list at the last minute, as they were about to be removed from the services they were on, and I felt like it’d be better that I cover them now. These two had been among the endless list of movies I’ve been meaning to see, but haven’t gotten around to yet.
I’d definitely been meaning to see this one, as it comes from the director of my Most Anticipated Movie of 2020 (which hopefully still comes out this year), that being Tenet. With this one, not only had it been among the few movies of his that I hadn’t seen, but it also is actually the first of his movies to be covered here.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present my review of one of his more overlooked films, and that is Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige.
Set in 19th Century London, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden assist in a magic trick that results in personal tragedy. One blames the other for what happened, and upon starting their own careers as magicians, they become bitter rivals both professionally and personally.
Borden develops a particular trick that becomes so famous that Angier grows obsessed with discovering how he does it, and is determined to do it better.
In doing so, their rivalry drives them to one-up each other as they begin to slowly ruin their careers and even their lives.
What Worked: First of all, there is a great cast in this movie, all of whom give performances that, much like the movie itself, are often overlooked.
Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play Angier and Borden, respectively. In a way, it feels like they’re trying to one-up each other in terms of performances with these characters. They are both outstanding in this movie.
Frequent Nolan collaborator Michael Caine* plays their mentor, John Cutter, who engineers stage tricks. He is also fantastic in this.
The same is definitely true for Scarlett Johansson as Olivia Wenscombe, who becomes Angier’s assistant.
It also is not their first time being in a movie about magicians. In her case, this was one of two in the same year she was in, and both times she worked with Hugh Jackman.**
Someone who is often overlooked in general is Rebecca Hall, who made her breakthrough with this movie. She plays Borden’s wife Sarah, and although she’s not in it that much, a lot of the key dramatic aspects of the story involve her.
There are two more actors who also play an important part in the narrative. Only one of them I can really talk about, though, because the other might be a bit of a spoiler. Even though both are only in the movie for a few minutes, they’re still really good in it.
I’ll just say this for the actor I’m refraining from bringing up here. He’s also a famous musician. I’m leaving it at that because for those who are interested upon reading this review, it’s best you go into this *not* knowing who it is.
Now for the one I can talk about, and that is Andy Serkis as Mr. Alley, who works for one of the other characters. Along with Rebecca Hall, I did not know he was in this going in, so it surprised me to see him. I also really liked him in this movie. He’s actually pretty funny.
Anyone familiar with his more famous roles, such as Caesar and Gollum, might be surprised to see him outside of a motion capture suit. He does show up physically on occasion, like when he played Ulysses Klaue in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther. This is another example.
Then there’s the script, written by Christopher Nolan himself, along with his brother Jonathan (who in addition to co-writing a few of his movies, also created the TV series Person of Interest and most recently Westworld). It’s nothing short of brilliant.
It presents a very compelling story in a manner similar to how a magic act is performed. There are three parts: The Pledge (where you’re presented with an ordinary object or even a person), The Turn (where you see something extraordinary happen, and you’re trying to figure out how it happened), and then The Prestige (the hardest part, which is where you bring everything back around).
I thought that was very clever, because you’re also shown three different points in time, with each representing each part of an act.
Much like an act, it brings everything full circle, and how it does so is just as remarkable.
There are so many twists and turns in this movie that you can’t wait to see what surprises come next.
Then comes the biggest twist of all. It’s one of those twists that makes the movie more impactful if you go into it not knowing what it is.
You won’t see it coming.
The brilliance of the script also shows in Nolan’s direction, and it feels like he started to cement his status as one of the best filmmakers working today, but we just didn’t know it yet.
The experience is enhanced further through the gorgeous cinematography from Wally Pfister, a frequent collaborator of Nolan's at the time; one of several, in fact, that worked on this. Not only that, but also the production design is equally stunning.
What Didn’t Work: I only have a couple issues.
Although it is very well edited for the most part, I did feel there was a small pacing issue, particularly in the beginning of the movie. However, once the conflict starts, it really gets going and doesn’t let up.
The score from composer David Julyan, who worked with Christopher Nolan early on in his career on films like Memento, is not that memorable. It’s a shame, because he also scored The Descent (an excellent horror movie) and its sequel, and went on to score one of my favorite movies of the 2010s: The Cabin in the Woods.
Aside from those, that’s really it.
Overall: The Prestige is an excellent movie that sticks with you long after you see it, and it’s also one of those that really makes you think. I had heard that it is very overlooked when it comes to Christopher Nolan’s filmography, and now having finally seen it for myself, I completely understand.
It’s not just the movie itself that not many people talk about, either, as both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman deliver fantastic performances that also don’t get much attention.
Although they are the standouts, the performances all around are very good.
The story itself is compelling throughout, and seeing the conflict between Angier and Borden escalate over the course of the movie is just as engaging.
This is evidence that even with his earlier work, Christopher Nolan is a genius when it comes to creating the perfect balance between entertaining and thought provoking.
This is indeed one of his more complex films, so it may require multiple viewings to be able to catch some things you missed before. Though Inception might be more complicated because of how deep the story really goes, The Prestige isn’t too far off from that.
The main reason why something like this takes more than one viewing is because of how it is structured. As mentioned earlier, there are three different points in time, and it goes through each one. However, it’s not shown in the way you might expect, because it uses a nonlinear narrative approach. Memento and Dunkirk used this, too, but in different ways.
Having said that, it’s still entertaining enough to where you’ll want to revisit it because of how satisfying the experience is.
In recent years, it has received more attention, and it absolutely deserves to.
*They’ve worked on every film Christopher Nolan has directed since Batman Begins, which consist of: That movie, this one, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, Dunkirk (in which he had an uncredited role; you only hear his voice, and it’s very brief), and he’s also about to be in Tenet.
**And 2006 had three magician movies in one year.

Thoughts on Titan A.E. (2000)

June 14, 2020

Image courtesy of amazon.comHello, everyone. Around this time last year, I covered a childhood favorite of mine with Tarzan for its 20th Anniversary. In my previous review, I covered another one, Dinosaur, for the same reason.The subject of this rev… — *Image courtesy of amazon.com*
Hello, everyone. Around this time last year, I covered a childhood favorite of mine with Tarzan for its 20th Anniversary. In my previous review, I covered another one, Dinosaur, for the same reason.
The subject of this review is slightly different from those. It, too, is an animated movie, but rather than being animated in one format or another (be it hand-drawn like Tarzan was, or CGI like Dinosaur was), it’s a mix of both. Whereas Dinosaur was a combination of both live-action environments and CGI characters to inhabit them (thus giving it a photorealistic feel), this is a combination of mostly CGI animation with the main characters and a few environments being hand-drawn.
There is one other huge similarity, though, particularly with Dinosaur: It deserves way more attention than it initially received. While I do maintain that those two movies should be held in much higher regard than they are (although Tarzan kind of is, but not by much), something I maintain even more is that the subject of this review is one of three animated sci-fi movies by Disney* that are criminally underrated. Coincidentally, they all came out just one year apart, too.
Speaking of coincidence, this movie also focuses on survivors trying to find a new home. Instead of an area, it’s an entire planet.
Folks, for this one, we’re going into the future, where Earth is taken away by a threat that almost demolishes our entire society along with it... and no, it’s not the coronavirus.
As one of the taglines stated, “After Earth ends… the adventure begins.” Now, so does my review of Titan A.E., brought to us by animation icons Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.
The story begins in the year 3028, where the human race has perfected deep space travel and encountered a variety of different aliens. One species composed of pure energy, known as the Drej, discovers our latest creation called “Project Titan,” which is actually a spacecraft. They then begin attacking Earth.
However, Professor Sam Tucker, the head of the research team, is able to say goodbye to his son, Cale, before boarding the ship and making the jump to hyperspace. Meanwhile, Cale is on a separate ship.
As humanity is evacuating, the mothership reaches Earth and with just one energy blast, the Drej not only completely obliterate Earth, but also the Moon.
15 years later, Cale, now a salvage worker, is found by Joseph Korso, captain of a ship known as the *Valkyrie* and an old friend of his father’s. Korso informs Cale that Sam encoded a map to the *Titan* into his ring before handing it down to him.
The fate of humanity depends on the ship being found, as it might just hold the key to a new home.
What Worked: I’ll start with the voice acting here, like I did with Dinosaur. Whereas that one didn’t really have any big names in it, this one does, with at least one A-lister, and he’s playing the hero, appropriately enough.
Cale is voiced by Matt Damon, who by this time had established himself as an actor with Good Will Hunting** and Saving Private Ryan, and would go on to have many more high-profile projects, such as the Ocean’s Trilogy, the Bourne franchise, The Martian, and most recently Ford v Ferrari.
With his performance in this, he brings his own natural likable personality to Cale, making you sympathize with him as a character in addition to his motivation. You see this in The Martian as well, where he gives one of his best performances in recent years.
Another actor who is no stranger to sci-fi is Bill Pullman, who gave one of the best movie speeches ever as one of the best movie Presidents ever in Independence Day, as well as play Lone Starr (the parody of Han Solo) in one of his first movies: Spaceballs.
Even though you don’t get an awesome speech from him here, he still plays the authority figure very well, as evidenced by Independence Day. However, you can also tell Korso doesn’t have the best intentions. He’s not so much a villain, although at points you do feel like he is.
Going back to Bill Pullman’s performance, how he and Matt Damon convey their characters’ moral conflict actually feels genuine.
Then we have the crew of the *Valkyrie*. The biggest name of the bunch is perhaps Drew Barrymore, who voices Akima Kunimoto, the pilot who also comes to be Cale’s love interest over the course of the movie. This would be one of two great female characters she would play that year, as the movie she did right after this featured another.
She also plays off of Matt Damon really well, because they do have legitimate chemistry with each other.
Speaking of chemistry, the next recognizable talent in this plays Gune, the chief scientist, and that is John Leguizamo. You may be more familiar with him from voicing Sid in the Ice Age franchise, or even more recent work like John Wick. For a lesser known role, he’s still really good here. In fact, one of the best scenes actually involves him, which is in the finale. Be on the lookout for it. I’ll just say this: It has a very subtle, but clever, setup courtesy of solid writing, which I will get to in a moment.
The next one is the voice of Korso’s first mate, Preed, which is a slightly darker, but still relatively comedic, role than a more iconic character he voiced prior. That would be Nathan Lane, who you may instantly recognize as the voice of Timon in the original version of The Lion King. He still has that level of comedic timing here, and several humorous moments in this come from him.
Then we have Janeane Garofalo as Stith, the munitions officer. This wouldn’t be the last time she’d venture into animation, as she would go on to voice Colette, the female chef, in Ratatouille.
The last relatively well-known actor in the movie is also very prolific as a voice actor, and that is Ron Perlman as Sam. He has a great scene in the beginning of the movie, which is the one where he says goodbye to a 5-year-old Cale***.
It’s not just the cast that’s solid. As hinted at earlier, it’s the script. It has three writers, all of whom went on to have greater success. Although he’s second-billed, I’ll start with John August, who right after this, would go on to co-write two surprisingly good action movies, also starring Drew Barrymore. His most recent project was co-writing Aladdin with director Guy Ritchie, which ended up being another huge surprise for me.
The other two writers would collaborate on a sci-fi series which was short-lived, but went on to achieve cult status, called Firefly. The first writer credited is Ben Edlund, who was the producer on the show, and then the biggest name credited as a writer would go on to create it… Joss Whedon, who then went on to direct Serenity, the movie that followed the series. Of course, he would also direct The Avengers and its first sequel, Age of Ultron (both of which I have reviewed).
In hearing some of the dialogue, it does sound like something that would come from them, an example being the scene with Gune mentioned previously.
The two biggest things that stand out here are the same ones I said stood out with Dinosaur: The animation and the music.
The animation style is stunning here, especially in a scene in a ring of ice. It’s one of the two most visually impressive scenes in the movie. The hand-drawn animation holds up really well, and you can tell it’s in the style of Don Bluth and Gary Goldman if you’ve seen any of their previous work. Examples such as The Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Anastasia (the latter of which they did before this) come to mind. Of course, there’s also An American Tail and especially The Land Before Time. The animation for some of the characters, like Preed, is fantastic. It feels like something out of those movies.
Some other highlights with the hand-drawn animation include other environments, like a scene on Sesharrim, home of a bat-like species called the Gaoul. This includes another great action scene involving a chase through a forest of hydrogen trees. It’s also intense, because they have to avoid touching the trees, as they explode if you do.
The CGI animation is pretty solid, too, for the most part.
The other visually impressive scene is not long before the ice ring scene. It involves creatures dubbed “space angels,” set to The Urge’s “It’s My Turn to Fly.” It’s another great scene because the creatures themselves look excellent, and the song, in addition to fitting the scene, is quite good.
The music itself as a whole is really good, especially the score from Graeme Revell. Having heard it in the movie while watching it again after so long, I found this to be a pretty underrated score from him.
As for the soundtrack, while it could have used some bigger names on it, it’s not bad. It does have some groups who might be familiar. One of them is the band Lit; you might not know the name, but maybe you know the song “My Own Worst Enemy.” They have a song on here.
The biggest name on the soundtrack is Powerman 5000, who have had their songs featured in a lot of movies and video games, and still perform to this day. In fact, a fair amount of the groups on the soundtrack are still performing. Some even have a new album coming this year, and Powerman 5000 is one of them.
What Didn’t Work: There are some plot points that are kind of predictable, and some CGI shots that may not look great now. However, that’s not to say they were so jarring they took me out of the movie; they didn’t, because everything else still held my attention.
There is one other thing, but it can be considered a slight nitpick on my part.
I haven’t really mentioned this before, so now’s the perfect time for me to establish it: Whenever I hear an awesome song in a trailer, I appreciate it even more when it’s used in the movie, so that way I can discover the song for myself upon seeing the title in the credits.
Having seen this movie for the first time since it initially came out, I can confirm that this does not do that, unfortunately. It’s especially sad because there were three songs they used in the marketing, one very prominently, so you’d think they’d use it in the movie... but they don’t. For those who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s like myself, you may have fond memories of the song “Higher” by Creed. They used this song a lot in promoting this, only to not use it in the movie or even at least put it on the soundtrack. The latter would have been understandable, because they can’t use every song on the soundtrack in the movie. In fact, sometimes a song they still want to use they have no choice but to put in the credits. The other two songs were used in a different trailer, but both in the same one. I actually first discovered one of them because of it being used there.
The first of the two is “We Are” by Vertical Horizon, and the second is “Leave You Far Behind” by Lunatic Calm, which would be used prominently in the marketing for Spider-Man, and was also on the soundtrack for The Matrix.
Although it would have been nice to have at least the first two songs featured on the soundtrack, I can understand why they chose to use them in the promotional material. However, as awesome as these songs are, they did not really fit the marketing all that well here. They used the first two to try to establish the plot, and the third for an action scene. That’s what they were trying to do, but here is the problem: the trailers they’re used in give off two somewhat conflicting tones. The one with “Higher” feels like it was trying to sell this as a sci-fi movie about exploration and trying to find a new home, though it does have that to a degree. The one with “We Are” and “Leave You Far Behind,” on the other hand, feels like it was trying to sell this as a sci-fi action/adventure movie, which it also kind of is.
In some cases, they also used the trailer voiceover that was common around that time in addition to the music. The only thing that really succeeded at was making the conflicting tones that much more obvious.
In other words, it felt like the marketing team was not properly guided on how to promote this movie. It even applies to merchandise, too, because there was hardly any aside from novels and comics, and would have included a tie-in video game that was ultimately cancelled. It shows in how catastrophically this movie bombed, and it’s really unfortunate, considering how surprisingly good the movie itself is and how much it actually holds up.
It just goes to show that marketing and merchandise, like a movie’s runtime, are more essential to proper execution than one may realize, and should be commended when done right, because the final product ends up benefiting greatly from it. Sadly, this is a case study for “How *NOT* to Market a Movie,” or “Marketing a Good Movie Gone Wrong.”
Overall: Titan A.E. is one of those movies that flew under the radar, but didn’t deserve to. All these years later, it’s still criminally overlooked. It’s better than it’s given credit for, which is evident in the talent behind it. From a cast led by an A-lister like Matt Damon and a script co-written by Joss Whedon, to an impressive blend of hand-drawn animation and CGI animation from legends of the genre and very good music, this is something that should have a following. How and/or why it doesn’t, I have no idea.
If you’re a fan of sci-fi, action, animation, or even any of the particular talent involved, this should be right up your alley. For example, Joss Whedon alone has a fanbase of his own, particularly for his work in TV, like the aforementioned Firefly.
For anyone interested in checking this out that missed out on it the first time, it is worth a look. While it is a case of not being sold properly, it’s also a case of “Don’t Judge a Movie By Its Trailer.” There have been, and continue to be, movies that had marketing which was subpar at best and flat-out terrible at worst, but then they ended up being really good, and this one is no different. It’s one of the main reasons why the movie came and went upon release, and as a result, a main reason for it becoming so underrated, hence why it felt important to mention it. Had it played out differently, whether it did well or still bombed, it might have garnered more attention, perhaps enough to gain a following.
*This one was originally Fox, but now technically Disney owns it, too, ever since they bought them.
**For which he, along with co-star Ben Affleck, would win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
***Fun Fact: Young Cale is voiced by Alex D. Linz, who also voiced Young Tarzan.

Thoughts on Dinosaur (2000)

May 31, 2020

Image courtesy of moviemania.ioHello, everyone. In keeping with the subject of the last review, Deep Impact, I am continuing to cover good movies for now. Deciding to start now proved to be perfect timing, because it coincided with the 20th Annivers… — *Image courtesy of moviemania.io*
Hello, everyone. In keeping with the subject of the last review, Deep Impact, I am continuing to cover good movies for now. Deciding to start now proved to be perfect timing, because it coincided with the 20th Anniversary of another childhood favorite of mine. It’s also the same timeframe as the previous one.
Speaking of which, for the first time since then, we go to the Wonderful World of Disney. Last year, I covered Tarzan, which was one of two Disney movies I grew up with the most. This year, I can finally cover the other one. This, too, has been one that I would always hold close to my heart.
Whereas Tarzan was set in the 1890s, for this one, we go back much further… around 65 million years. Tarzan may have marked the end of an era (that being the Disney Renaissance), but this one was right in the middle of one.
This came out at a time in the 1990s going into the 2000s where whenever children saw these creatures in something, they ate it up… and I would know, because I was one of them.
Folks, I finally bring you a review I’ve been waiting to do, and that is for Disney’s Dinosaur.
Following an attack by a vicious Carnotaurus where an Iguanodon mother had to abandon her nest, only one egg remains. The egg travels* across several different areas before finally ending up on an island populated by a family of lemurs. The matriarch of the family, Plio, witnesses the egg hatch. She names the baby Aladar, and takes him in as her adopted son, the initial vehement objections from her father Yar notwithstanding.
Many years later, Aladar has grown up, and it’s the night of the annual mating ritual for the lemurs. All seems peaceful once the ritual is over, but it is not to be. Not long after, a meteor shower occurs, during which a giant one impacts Earth. The ensuing shockwave destroys their home. The only ones who manage to escape are Aladar, Yar, Plio, her brother Zini, and her daughter Suri.
Upon making it to the mainland, they set out in search of their new home. During their journey, they encounter a herd already on a journey of their own, looking for a place known as the Nesting Grounds, which should provide enough food for them to thrive, as well as sanctuary from what predators may be in their way.
What Worked: Much like Tarzan, the animation is phenomenal in this movie, too. If you want an example of CGI animation done right, look no further than this. There is some live-action animation as well, which is basically the environments around the characters. You could say it’s photorealistic in a sense, then, because how they complement each other is excellent.
This goes to show that CGI animation can work just as well as hand-drawn animation. What’s equally as important as having the animation stand out is having it benefit the story and characters. The characters genuinely feel like they have personality and life to them. It therefore allows you to see them express emotion. There are some scenes where *you* might just feel something, too, especially if you’ve seen this before, but not in a long time.
Aside from the animation, the thing that makes this movie stand out the most is the music. There may not be any Phil Collins here, but you don’t need it. Sometimes a score is enough to suffice. In fact, the closest you get to actual lyrics is the background choir at certain points, most notably in the opening sequence that was used very prominently in the initial batch of marketing. In fact, the whole opening sequence was used as the teaser trailer.
Something you’ll be surprised to know about the music, because you wouldn’t know it from hearing it in the movie, is this: The conductor of the choir famously heard in both versions of The Lion King’s opening sequence also worked on the music here. He would later reunite with James Newton Howard on Atlantis: The Lost Empire, an underrated Disney movie.
Even when the choir is not heard, James Newton Howard’s score is fantastic. He’s done so many great scores, this being among my favorites. Following this, he would go on to score Unbreakable, and collaborate with Hans Zimmer on Batman Begins, thus giving us the theme for The Dark Knight Trilogy.
His score here, though, is one that hits all the right notes (no pun intended). There are some cues that leave you in shock and awe at what you’re seeing, some that are kind of depressing, some that are frightening, and some that just have a triumphant feel.
Now let’s get to the characters themselves, starting with the voice acting. This was a point of contention when this movie came out, because it was during a time when dinosaurs were popular, but people were mostly used to them being vocalized through growls and roars, with The Land Before Time being a notable exception. One example that was particularly popular around the time of this movie’s release was Walking with Dinosaurs, a series which only had narration.
This movie has legitimate voice acting in it, however, which was and still is Disney’s thing. For some, it may have been jarring to include it here, but I believe it helped distinguish it from the rest by solidifying that this is a Disney movie.
The voice acting here is really good. It doesn’t have nearly as many big names as Tarzan did, but it has some definitely worth mentioning.
Aladar is voiced by D.B. Sweeney, who would go on to voice a certain Airbender in The Legend of Korra**. He brings a sense of charisma and charm to Aladar, and certainly one of determination to keep everyone safe. That alone makes you want to root for him.
One of the bigger names in this is Alfre Woodard, who voices Plio. She’s had more high-profile work as of late, most recently voicing Simba’s mother Sarabi in last year’s live-action version of The Lion King. She conveys the motherly love and compassion aspects of Plio very well.
Another one is Ossie Davis (the voice of Yar), who had earlier played Eddie Murphy’s father in Dr. Dolittle. Yar is very compassionate on the inside, but prefers not to show it through a gruff demeanor. He and Alfre Woodard have very genuine chemistry as father and daughter.
Then we get to one of my two favorite characters in the movie: Zini, voiced by Max Casella, perhaps best known for voicing Daxter in the Jak and Daxter games. In addition to being Plio’s brother, he’s also Aladar’s best friend. He and D.B. Sweeney are great at playing off each other, as they do deliver some solid banter between their characters, and it’s often pretty funny.
Someone from the mid-to-late 2000s whose name you might recognize is Hayden Panettiere (yes, the same one who played the cheerleader from Heroes) as Suri. Even though she was younger at the time, she’s still good here, especially for a voice acting performance.
One of the other relatively recognizable names here is Julianna Margulies as Neera, a female Iguanodon who takes an interest in Aladar. Prior to this, she was best known for ER, and would go on to bear witness to the famous line in Snakes on a Plane. She gives a very calm and gentle performance, which in turn gives Neera a very civil demeanor, especially compared to her brother, Kron***.
Kron, by contrast, is ruthless, selfish, and very short-tempered. He’s also the dictator (I mean, leader) of the herd. If anything, you feel bad that Neera is related to him because of how unlikable he really is. There’s even one shot of him looking out at Aladar and Neera where it feels like he’s the embodiment of a character that doesn’t take too kindly to a loved one being in a relationship. It’s really surprising that they got Samuel E. Wright, the same voice actor as Sebastian from The Little Mermaid, to voice him.
In other words, if Kron doesn’t frighten you, the Carnotaurs (as they’re called in the movie) and Raptors will. I’ll get to them in a second.
The last two voice actors worth mentioning are Joan Plowright (who had a minor role in Last Action Hero) as Baylene and Della Reese (Touched by an Angel) as Eema. They’re both elderly, and yet you still care for them. Baylene is the last Brachiosaurus, and Eema is a slow mover for a Styracosaurus, which was similar to a Triceratops. Another reason to care for them is that they both feel like old friends.
There is one more character, which is Kron’s lieutenant, Bruton, but he isn’t in the movie that much. However, he is more likable compared to him.
Then we get to the best character in the movie: an Ankylosaurus named Url, who’s basically Eema’s pet, as he’s pretty much the dinosaur equivalent of a dog in this movie. There’s a running gag of sorts with him holding something in his mouth, wanting to play Fetch, and it’s hilarious. Dog lovers will most likely love him.
Url is really the only one of the main characters who doesn’t speak. The rest are either background characters or the evil ones.
There are some scary moments in this. Whenever the Carnotaurs show up, their presence alone is frightening. Then we get to the Raptors, who are less prominent, but their appearance still leaves an impact. There are two particular shots of them that stand out. One is a shot of a Raptor's eye, the other is when you get a good look at a Raptor’s mouth.
The most intense scene doesn’t involve them. It’s actually the meteor shower scene. In a way, it’s also the saddest scene. At first, it has a gorgeous display across the night sky, but then it isn’t long before you realize something’s about to happen. If you thought the characters in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom had it rough with *their* island being destroyed, you haven’t seen rough until you’ve seen this.
There is one thing this movie does that I really appreciate. It goes full circle over the course of its runtime, which is rare. Usually, it takes multiple movies to tie up loose ends in a satisfying way. It’s unbelievable that they were able to pull it off over the course of just one here. All I’ll say is this: Keep the first few minutes in mind.
A couple more things to mention: This movie’s cinematography is fantastic. It still looks great today.
It’s also edited very well. For a movie that’s only 82 minutes, it goes by quickly, and doesn’t feel rushed once. In fact, the runtime it has is actually perfect. It allows the story to be told properly, and keep the tone and pace consistent.
Overall: Dinosaur, like Tarzan before it, holds up remarkably well for a movie that’s now 20 years old. Prior to watching it for the first time in so long, I was unsure if it would hold up and be as great as I remember.
Having seen it after all this time for this review, I can gladly say that even now, I love this movie.
The animation still looks great, especially by photorealistic standards. The voice acting is really good, with some genuine chemistry and occasional banter between the characters, who for the most part you can get behind. It has a compelling story with the right amount of humor and emotion to carry it, with some suspense along the way whenever the Carnotaurs and the Raptors show up.
The score hits all the right beats, making it one of James Newton Howard’s finest works, and one of my personal favorites (“The Egg Travels” alone makes it worth a listen).
It’s one of the best shot, as well as best edited, movies when it comes to family films. It may be short, but it takes the time it has to tell its story and uses it perfectly. It never feels rushed, it just naturally progresses from beginning to end, with both one of the best opening sequences I’ve seen in an animated movie and one of the best endings to one.
The experience of watching it is something I’ll never forget, and I guarantee that neither will you, whether it’s your first time or not.
*Which is the name of what you could say is the theme for this movie.
**Yes, folks, he was the voice of the adult version of Aang. I’m just as surprised as you are.
***Pronounced “Krone.”

Thoughts on Deep Impact (1998)

May 17, 2020

Image courtesy of IMDbHello, everyone. Having gone in-depth on a cinematic abomination last time, it’s back to the usual format on this one… for now.This time, we go from one disaster to another, except one is a disaster, while the other features on… — *Image courtesy of IMDb*
Hello, everyone. Having gone in-depth on a cinematic abomination last time, it’s back to the usual format on this one… for now.
This time, we go from one disaster to another, except one is a disaster, while the other *features* one. This one came during a time where studios would release two competing movies (which does still happen now, but not as often), sometimes in the same year.
This one also came at a time where for two years in a row, competing studios released their own movie about the same disaster.
In 1997, it was Volcano and Dante’s Peak. Then in 1998, it happened again, with Armageddon and the subject of this review. Although these two have a slight difference (one being about asteroids, the other being about a comet), they’re still more or less the same plot.
Ladies and gentlemen, brace for impact… or rather, Deep Impact.
On the night of May 8th, 1998 (which, ironically, is the very same day the movie came out), teenager Leo Biederman is with the school astronomy club when he spots something that is unlike anything known to be in the solar system. The group sends a photo to their adviser, who immediately knows what the object is, but is unable to warn them.
The following year, a news team over at MSNBC is investigating what at first seems to be completely unrelated news: The sudden resignation of Alan Rittenhouse, the Secretary of the Treasury. However, while chasing this story, reporter Jenny Lerner is given information about a woman named “Ellie,” which could merely be the name of a mistress. Even more suspicious is the fact that the name was also brought to the President’s attention, but upon meeting with the President himself, it’s revealed that the name is an acronym: “E.L.E.” (Extinction Level Event).
As it turns out, Leo had discovered such an event that night. A comet is hurtling towards Earth, which the President declares could hit within a year. Despite this, the President has assembled a team of astronauts that will take the shuttle *Messiah* to the comet in the hopes of destroying it.
What Worked: Aside from the plot similarities, one big thing this has in common with Armageddon is the ensemble cast.
With Armageddon, you had names like Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler*, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Peter Stormare, and Keith David.**
You have a fair amount of well known actors here, too, and also some where you might not know their name, but you know you’ve seen them before.
I’ll start with the one who is hands down the best actor in the movie… Morgan Freeman as the President. All I’ll say is this: When you have someone like *him* as the President, what more could you possibly want? It may also have proven to be ironic with the subtle Biblical references here, considering he did play God five years later in Bruce Almighty, and then again in Evan Almighty.
There are a few other screen legends here in addition to him, the main one being Robert Duvall. He plays Captain Spurgeon “Fish” Tanner, the veteran astronaut who leads the team. He has a scene with Ron Eldard’s character after something happens to him, where they have a conversation about how he got his nickname. In addition to having a bit of humor to it, it’s also one of a few touching scenes here, and he is fantastic in this scene alone.
The other notable ones I will get to in a moment, as their characters have more minor roles in the story. For now, let’s go over some of the main cast, starting with the main character.
Leo is played by Elijah Wood, and this is one of two movies he was in that year, the other being the underrated sci-fi teen horror film The Faculty, which also had an ensemble cast.
I felt he really started to establish himself around this time, because you do see hints of the personality he brought to Frodo here, particularly in his determination to protect his loved ones. This brings about some genuine chemistry with Leelee Sobieski, who plays his girlfriend Sarah Hotchner. For an actress who sadly didn’t get to have much of a career, she’s quite good here.
The same can be said for Téa Leoni as Jenny. She gives a good performance, and has some of the personality and determination, similar to Elijah Wood’s performance as Leo. With her, though, it’s more of those aspects that you’ve seen in other portrayals of reporters chasing a story, which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it actually helps develop her character’s arc in a way.
This is evident in her scenes with James Cromwell and Vanessa Redgrave (who plays her mother). They’re really good for the time they’re in it, despite having only around a couple minutes of screen time each.
The thing that really makes her character arc stand out is that we get to see how learning about the event impacts her professionally and personally at the same time. In the case of the latter, she already has enough personal problems, and then this event comes along to make things worse. She doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother, and especially her father (played by character actor Maximilian Schell, who is also really good in this movie).
The most touching scenes involve her and her father, especially towards the end of the movie.
The personal relationships in this movie feel genuine as a result, and so does the relationship between Captain Tanner and his crew, among whom are Blair Underwood and Jon Favreau. They’re developed more naturally here than in Armageddon, but that leads to a problem I have with this movie, which I will get to later.
You even get Kurtwood Smith of That 70’s Show and RoboCop fame in this, and not only that, the biggest surprise for me among the cast was that Dougray Scott (everyone’s favorite Mission: Impossible villain) is in this, and despite his minor role, I actually liked him***. He plays Jenny’s cameraman, and you’ll easily spot him in a couple scenes.
It’s also a surprise that so many of these aspects work so well for a disaster movie, considering the script is from two writers who had done vastly different movies, one having written Ghost and Jacob’s Ladder.
The direction from Mimi Leder, who prior to this was perhaps best known for her work on ER (of which a couple cast members also show up in this movie), is equally solid. It says something when a director who hasn’t done nearly as many action movies or effects-heavy movies as Michael Bay does it better *than* Michael Bay.
There are four things I can say are evenly matched between this and Armageddon: The effects, the cinematography, the score, and the pacing. The effects in this, by 1998 standards, actually look really good. It does better wave effects than the last movie I reviewed, I’ll put it that way. Between this and Armageddon, they both hold up in this regard.
They’re both shot really well, and their respective scores are very good (this one being by James Horner, that one by Trevor Rabin, who scored Deep Blue Sea the following year).
In terms of pacing, they both go by pretty quickly, despite the half-hour runtime difference. They’re also both really intense.
What Didn’t Work: There are really only two big issues that I have here.
The first is that this does use disaster movie tropes. Examples include: world landmarks getting destroyed, New York City being destroyed (both of which kind of go hand-in-hand here), and of course the President giving a speech. There’s also foreshadowing in one scene here, but it can be easy to miss. The last one I can really mention without going into spoilers is a scientist being a hero, which you do sort of get here with Leo discovering the comet at the beginning of the movie. It also leads to the funniest line in the movie, to which the reactions are just as hilarious. The fact that they’re genuine reactions makes them even funnier in that scene.
Basically, it uses some of them, but not really all of them.
The biggest issue, though, goes back to a point I made a moment ago: The character development. Armageddon gets a slight edge on this as a result.
Here’s why: I did say the characters were developed more naturally here, but you don’t really get time to get to know a fair amount of them. In Armageddon, however, you did. Sure, they were ultimately just put in suits and shot up into space, thus not allowing for much in the way of developing them, but there was enough time for you to get to know them.
That’s really it in terms of issues, though.
Overall: Deep Impact is a very entertaining disaster movie. Even though this and Armageddon have similarities to each other, I’d actually say they serve as good companion pieces to each other, and I can even see this being a solid double feature for whenever you have a Movie Night. You have a more scientifically accurate movie with this, and a pure popcorn flick with Armageddon.
On its own, however, Deep Impact is still so much fun. You have great performances, solid direction and writing, and a consistent pace accompanied by some very intense scenes and effects that hold up really well.
While you may not get to know a fair amount of the characters, you still care about them because they are developed well enough for that.
It may have some disaster movie tropes in it, but the way they’re incorporated does benefit the story here. Plus, they also add to the entertainment of watching them, and even now, they can still do that as long as everything around the clichés works, and Deep Impact succeeds at that.
If you can at least make the movie itself fun to watch, people will eat it up.
If it’s a disaster movie, a sci-fi movie, or even a flat-out action movie, if you also get one of the best movie Presidents ever, that’s a bonus.
*In saying that, there’s another thing they both have in common right there: They each have a cast member from The Lord of the Rings in them. There are numerous other movie connections between these two movies alone, but it’ll take forever to go through all of them.
**There were a few others worth noting, but I decided it’s best to save those for when I eventually review it.
***Then again, I didn’t mind Mission: Impossible 2, either, so there’s that. I’m saying that, and even I think he’s the weakest villain in the series.

Thoughts on The Last Airbender (2010) (AKA Everything It Did Wrong)

May 9, 2020

Image courtesy of moviemania.io

Hello, everyone. Rather than reviewing another movie that has similarities to what’s going on right now, I felt like doing something a little different. As it turns out, I’ll be doing that in more ways than one with this review. Since it happened to drop on Netflix a few weeks ago, I figured now would be the perfect time to start doing this. This review marks the first time I’ll be covering a movie that I outright despise.

It takes a lot for a movie to completely infuriate me, which is why I haven’t really done any reviews for movies that people generally hate that I seem to find some things to give credit for.* Aside from maybe King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which was heavily criticized by others while I thought it was okay, the movies I’ve reviewed up to now have at worst been polarizing. However, I still found some level of enjoyment in them.

That is far from the case this time. This movie was also heavily criticized, but unlike King Arthur, I only thought it was okay initially. Over time, though, I came to realize, “No, this really is awful.”

Last year, I covered a trilogy of movies from the director that I liked, the Eastrail 177 Trilogy. This trilogy consisted of Unbreakable (his best movie), Split (which I really liked), and Glass (which, despite its flaws, I also really liked). In fact, I actually foreshadowed this review in the side note of my Unbreakable review, so this one was a long time coming. This year marks 10 years since one of the worst movies ever was released. Last year, I covered the director’s best movie… and now this year, I cover his worst.

Folks, the time has come for me to review…

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.

Even though I usually never do this, I have to for the purpose of this review. There will be some minor spoilers for both the show and the movie here. However, I will only go over the details in the show that are necessary to bring up in order to give a proper context as to why the movie fails hard to live up to the high standard set by the show. For those who want to hold off, the show comes on Netflix next weekend, so wait for that, watch it, and then come back. Only watch the movie if you feel like you must. You really shouldn’t, but if you insist, then go right ahead.

All I can tell you is you’ve been warned.

As for the rest of you, stick around, and fasten your seatbelts for the bumpy ride we’re about to endure… because I have a lot to say about this one, folks.

Based on the beloved Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the story is set in a world where people of a particular nation can manipulate, or “bend,” each of the four natural elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Long ago, they lived together in peace. Everything went south when the Fire Nation started a war. There was only one person who could stop them, known as the Avatar, who was also the only one capable of bending all four elements. Unfortunately, he disappeared when everyone needed him most.

A hundred years later, two siblings from the Southern Water Tribe, named Katara and Sokka, come across a giant iceberg containing a young boy named Aang. The boy is said to be the new Avatar, this time an Airbender. He has to learn the remaining elements in order to stop the Fire Nation and end the war, starting with Water. While searching for a Waterbending teacher, however, they are being hunted by a Fire Nation Prince who will stop at nothing to regain his honor by capturing the Avatar.

Now, before I go over everything this movie did wrong, there are some things I’m willing to give a little bit of credit, but they’re still not enough to elevate it above my stance on the movie itself. Some of the effects were okay to decent, and the production design was also okay, but the only real positive I can give is that James Newton Howard’s score is really good. However, none of these things can save it, and it’s especially a shame in regards to the score because of how good it is, but it’s too good for this movie. It felt like it was made for what could have been a much better movie.** Besides, a score is meant to enhance a movie, not carry it, which it feels like it’s trying to do here. It’s particularly evident in the music towards the end when they use the same music from the teaser trailer, which is the best part of the movie, and yet the music is the only thing that carries over from it. None of the footage you see there is in the movie.

The only thing that this movie even comes close to getting right is the intro. It does look like the very beginning of the intro for the show.

The most accurate thing this movie has in regards to adapting the first season is the plot summary on Wikipedia.

There are two more things I’d like to touch on before we dive in. No, the casting and the title being shortened to The Last Airbender are not among the problems I have with the movie. The main reason they took the “Avatar” portion of the original title out was to avoid confusion with James Cameron’s movie, which came out a few months prior. It was a wise, yet obvious choice, but here’s the problem: You’ll wish you were watching that instead anyway. Regardless of whether you like it or not, it is much better than this.

As for the casting, despite how controversial it was, I understood what M. Night was trying to do by having a diverse cast. The show somewhat had that as well with its characters, so I get that. The difference is that in the show, it wasn’t so much of a focal point of the characters and their development. It was just among their character traits and that was it. It just showed you what they looked like and went from there. Here, it rubbed so many people the wrong way that it became a major point of criticism well before the movie was even released, and to some extent it carried over to its release. This is not the first time there’s been casting controversy, but it is one of the more prominent ones.

That’s basically what it boils down to, so I didn’t need to go into more detail on this one. There will be other times where I have to touch on controversies. However, they usually end up being around when those respective movies came out, and they’re brought up to make a point; most of the time, they’re blown out of proportion to where they’re ultimately unwarranted. Besides, there are so many other issues here already that addressing it is enough.

Now let’s get into this, shall we? Let’s go over all the things this movie did wrong, both as a movie and as an adaptation of a beloved show.

Here’s how it’ll go for movies like this. I’m mainly doing this so it’s easier to follow, because as previously stated, there’s so much to go over that this format is really the only way I can do it.

It’s fitting here, then, because the movie, along with the first season, is called Book One: Water. They thought they were going to make a trilogy out of this. Anyway, each season was named for each of the other three elements that Aang had to learn in order to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar. Book One was Water, Book Two was Earth, and Book Three was Fire. Thus, each episode was called a Chapter.

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CHAPTER ONE: THE OPENING

The first thing this movie gets wrong is how it opens, which has so many problems on its own. It’s a text crawl, like the ones you see in Star Wars, except it’s accompanied by unnecessary narration. It can’t make up its mind on how to do world building. Even if they did try one or the other, the movie still would have failed.

In saying that, there’s a difference between how the show did it and how this movie does it. The reason it worked in the show was because the text in the crawl was used as the narration in the intro. As the intro played, you heard this narration, and it was brilliant.

There’s one thing that this movie mentions in the text crawl that the show’s opening narration does not: The mention that the Avatar could communicate with the Spirit World. It’s pointless here because while it was a crucial detail in the show, it was only shown to us, which allowed for buildup to it. Here, it’s like that investment in said buildup was just swept under the rug.

However, following this, it closes with mentioning the hundred-year absence of the Avatar. It was part of the narration in the show as well, except this one was important to mention because it was vital in establishing the story that so many people loved.

Here’s another reason why the intro of the show works so well. Yes, it has two methods of doing world building, too, but they accompany each other perfectly rather than conflict with one another. There, it is both mentioned and shown that Katara and Sokka discovered the new Avatar. It’s only mentioned to help with the world building and character development, and up until they show it to us, a mere mention was enough to inform us that it was part of the story.

Not only that, but also when they discover Aang, we first learn his name in that same scene when he wakes up in front of them and tells them himself.

The worst thing about this narration is that it’s throughout the rest of the movie, so once you’re past the opening, be prepared for a lot of it. You’ll be subjected to a lot of over-exposition in this, with 90-95% Telling, and the remaining 5-10% Showing. It causes the whole movie to fall apart by breaking the #1 rule of bringing your story to life with a movie, or even a TV series: Show, Don’t Tell.

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CHAPTER TWO: THE NAMES

The one thing this movie is perhaps most notorious for also occurs throughout the movie. Some of the names are pronounced differently compared to the versions in the show. M. Night wanted to honor the source material and use the Asian pronunciations. Not only is that very statement contradictory, but also the definitive pronunciations were pretty much already established in the show.

Here, they pronounce “Avatar” “AH-VATAR”. This one in particular actually goes back and forth, so even the biggest insult in regards to this is more consistent. This one is not. There are some scenes where it seems it’s pronounced right, and then they go back to pronouncing it wrong.

The three most notable ones are the ones that particularly aggravated the fans:

“Sokka” is pronounced “SOH-KA,” “Iroh” is pronounced “EE-ROH,” and the biggest one in the movie… “Aang” is pronounced “ONG.”

I was going to mention this part last, but I decided to go over it as soon as I could because as a movie in general, that’s actually the least of its problems compared to everything else.

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CHAPTER THREE: THE ACTING & THE SCRIPT

The narration and mispronunciations are made even worse because the acting is terrible. The only actors that I thought were trying were Dev Patel as Zuko, the Fire Nation Prince, and Shaun Toub as his uncle, Iroh. They weren’t necessarily good, but I felt they were giving some effort with what they were given. By comparison, everyone else in the movie felt like they were given nothing to work with. The line delivery is so wooden, the performances are lifeless, and the script itself, even if you push the mispronunciations aside for a second, is still atrocious.

These are some of the lines in the movie:

When Aang is asked how he got trapped in the ice, he responds with this: “I ran away from home. We got in a storm. We were forced under the water of the ocean.”

During an action scene in the middle, Aang says, “This was their practice area.”

Lastly, the biggest one: “It’s time we show the Fire Nation that we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs.” That was the point where I realized I owed Anakin and Padmé an apology.

There are even some parts of this movie that are so bad that they’re unintentionally hilarious, so there is something to make you laugh here, but for the wrong reasons.

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE CHARACTERS

Not only are the performances lifeless, but also all of the characters themselves.

Sometimes, they even come across as complete morons. There are several occasions where characters ask multiple questions at once without allowing the chance for at least one to be answered first. There are other times where they state the obvious out loud. They make the cheesy dialogue in the Prequels look smart, particularly Episode II.

The biggest example is actually the Fire Nation troops themselves. By the end of the movie, they end up being bigger idiots than the Stormtroopers. I’m not kidding. They’re not threatening or intimidating in the slightest. In the show, they were, like with Commander Zhao, who was practically a rival to Zuko. This allowed for a compelling inner conflict within the Fire Nation itself. He kept getting in Zuko’s way at every turn as he sought to redeem himself for his father. It also benefitted from Jason Isaacs’s performance, because he’s an intimidating presence himself. In the movie, they have Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show (back when Jon Stewart hosted it, anyway), and it’s fitting that he’s more comedic, because you can’t take him seriously at all. When he has a better performance as a minor character with only a couple minutes of screentime in Spider-Man 2 than as the main antagonist in this movie, there’s a problem.

The villains could have been more threatening if their leader also was, but another epic fail is how they translate Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko’s father, to the screen. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both played by great actors, except one is intimidating, and the other is not. In the show, they didn’t unveil him until the last season, because his voice was enough to let you know that he posed a threat. This is mainly because it was Mark Hamill playing him, who has one of those voices that can send chills down anyone’s spine. Plus, he has experience with playing villains, most notably the numerous times he’s voiced The Joker.

A far cry from that is how they do it here. In his first scene they automatically show him, which negates his threat level immediately. Cliff Curtis, as talented as he is, does great with supporting roles, but a villain is not among them. He, like everyone else, has such a stoic and blank faced demeanor in this movie that he comes across as overly dramatic. Showing Ozai right away is like showing James Bond’s nemesis Blofeld right away in From Russia with Love. It takes all the mystery of his appearance and throws it right out the window. There are even scenes where he’s looking away and it feels more like something out of Shakespeare. I kept expecting him to pull out a skull and recite the opening lines of Hamlet.

He’s only the second worst misrepresentation of a character in the movie, though. The worst character assassination in this movie is Sokka. He was made to come across as not very bright in the show, but that’s what made him lovable and such a great character, and a great comic relief as well. He, along with everyone else, had personality and charisma to him. They felt like they had life to them.

This is a bigger mistreatment of a comic relief character than how X-Men Origins: Wolverine handled Deadpool, because at least he was done justice the second time. It doesn’t help that they cast someone like Jackson Rathbone, who was in a franchise full of characters with a sense of personality called Twilight, to play a character like him.*** Speaking of which, there are some shots here that look like something pulled right out of it.

This leads me to my next point.

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CHAPTER FIVE: THE VISUAL PRESENTATION

Another huge failure on this movie’s part is how it looks. I mentioned how the characters had so much life to them. It’s also reflected through the tone, which is very lighthearted for the most part. It has some dark moments, sure, but it’s mostly lighthearted with some humor thrown in for good measure. The only things resembling humor sometimes come from the dialogue, but even more so the things you see the characters do here that their superior animated counterparts would never do.

With the movie, it does have something that’s dark, but it sure isn’t the tone. It’s how it’s shot. Sometimes, you can hardly see what’s going on. M. Night’s direction is the least of its problems here, even though it’s still terrible. It’s also a shame because the cinematographer is the late Andrew Lesnie, who also shot the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

Having just mentioned that, whereas the cinematography complements the visual effects in those movies perfectly, it doesn’t do them any favors here. Some of the effects looked okay to decent. For example, when you see one of the main animal characters, Appa, from a distance, he looks okay, and a shot of him in the water looks decent, but when you get a good look at him, the effects on him are awful. The other main one, Momo, doesn’t look much better. The only thing they did get right was getting the voice actor for them back, but that only goes so far. The worst effects in the movie are early on when Katara and Sokka first appear. When you see Sokka’s coat blowing in the wind, you can’t look away from it because it’s so painfully obvious that they’re standing around a green screen.

Even worse are some of the narrative choices, not counting the numerous plot holes in this movie.

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CHAPTER SIX: THE NARRATIVE CHOICES

The most infamous scene involves an Earthbender “prison.” In the show, they’re on a metal ship, where they can’t bend, which leaves them vulnerable. Here, they’re being held captive on the very element they can manipulate, and they don’t fight back anyway until they’re motivated to when Aang goes so far as to basically say even he knows this idea is stupid. They don’t fight back just because they only say there was nothing they could do once the Fire Nation brought their machines, so metal is actually mentioned here.

What makes this scene so infamous is when they do fight. I’m not making this up: At one point, six Earthbenders take a page out of the Step Up movies and start breakdancing to levitate a rock, and it takes a seventh to throw it.

They also occasionally use montages rather than have the sequences just play out naturally. The worst thing about that goes back to the narration: They use it to gloss over a very crucial subplot, and you’re basically told to care about what happens without really being given a chance to. You’ll know what it is if you just watch the show, and because of how much of a major plot point it is, I won’t spoil it for you. All you need to know is that they completely botched it.

This all leads me to the cardinal narrative sin of this movie. I was going to save this for my review of The Rhythm Section when I get to that, since that movie is a huge example of this, too, but this ended up being even bigger, so I’m mentioning it here.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: THE RUNTIME

My biggest gripe with this movie is actually the runtime. Now, the runtime is something that might easily be taken for granted. However, there’s one thing that should not be when considering the best length for a movie: It should be as long as you need to tell your story. Regardless of how long you intend it to be, whether it's 30 minutes or 3 hours, it should be that exact length; nothing more, nothing less. If it’s even a fraction of a second off either way, you risk everything else suffering for it, so make every second of every moment count. You also need to have enough material to justify it. An example of a movie that accomplished all of that and then some would be what was both my favorite movie of 2019 and my Best Movie of the Decade: a little movie called Avengers: Endgame. That movie is 181 minutes (3 hours and 1 minute) long. It had enough material to justify that monumental runtime, and not one moment of it was wasted.

Now compare that runtime to this. M. Night is used to his movies being around 90 minutes, but this should not have been one of them. This is actually a little bit over, at 103 minutes. Either way, he chose to condense the first season, which is 20 episodes worth of story, into 1 hour and 43 minutes. In doing so, it wasn’t going to be anything other than a disaster, and sure enough, that’s what happened. If anything, this should have been 2 hours and 15 minutes or so at minimum. Even 2 and a half hours might have been passable. At worst, he could have decided to expand the trilogy plans into 2 trilogies’ worth of movies, because there would have been enough material for them.

As it is, though, he still royally messed up here. I’m not the only one saying that, either. There are plenty of others who will tell you the same thing. Whether it’s critics, fans, or even those involved with the series, chances are they share the same sentiment you do: That this movie is a total dumpster fire.

This movie is so awful that even the creators have stated that they like to pretend it never happened. There are two reasons for this. The first is that they stated the project was greenlit without their approval. The second is that when they tried to provide input, it was ignored. They even went so far as to tell Dante Basco, the original voice actor for Zuko, not to see it; he would later mention that in an interview when asked what his thoughts were on the movie.

Having now just seen this for the first time in years for this review, I can’t blame them one bit.

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CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CONCLUSION

In summary, here’s what I recommend, although it’s pretty obvious at this point: Skip this movie, and watch the show when it arrives on Netflix next weekend. I also suggest you then seek out the sequel series, The Legend of Korra, which aired a couple years or so after this movie came out. However, you may have to look elsewhere for that, as I don’t believe they have that on the schedule for this month as well.

I especially advise you not to watch this movie once you’ve seen at least the original series, because you’ll just be infuriated by the time it’s over.

In retrospect, there is actually one thing we can thank this movie for. It allowed two shows to happen to help the fans wash the taste out of their mouths. The first is The Legend of Korra, as mentioned a moment ago, and the second is a live-action adaptation of the whole series. You may be worried that they’re just trying to take this same approach again, and it’ll be even worse. They’re actually not, and there’s potential for it. Here’s why: The creators are more involved with this new version, and they’re just adapting the series for live-action. That’s it. They’re not doing anything else with it, like they did here. They’re doing it as an actual series this time, and they’ve partnered with Netflix for it. Plus, we do have a first look at it (which, at the time of this review, still remains the only look we have at it), which is a photo of Aang with Appa, and it looks really good. Even though you pretty much only see Aang’s silhouette and mainly see Appa, it looks very spot on.

You can say that’s the movie’s version of M. Night’s signature twist, but I have a better one.

For all the criticism I’ve thrown at this movie, this was ultimately not my Worst Movie of the Decade. It was my second Worst. Flash forward to November of 2019, and a movie that proved to be even worse came out of nowhere to take its title.

What would that be, you may ask?

You’ll find out eventually, I’ll put it that way.

*In other words, I may come across as more lenient than most. It is mainly for this reason why I prefer to get my thoughts out there rather than close it out with a rating. I found that over time as I did more of these, it was the style that worked best for me.

**Oh, wait, he did score a much better movie, for which a review can be expected very soon, so look out for that.

***SPOILER ALERT: I’m still not reviewing The Twilight Saga. I’m still not breaking my rule.

UPDATE #1: Since this review’s upload, the original creators have left the Netflix series over creative differences.

Upon hearing that, many of you may have decided to write it off immediately, which I understand. However, I would still say give it a chance. Besides, as long as M. Night is nowhere near it, we should be good.

I just figured I’d take a moment to address that.

And since I suggested checking out the original series on Netflix, I should also mention that a few weeks later, The Legend of Korra did go up on there after all, so you can watch them both on Netflix now.

UPDATE #2: The original creators have now formed their own studio, appropriately named Avatar Studios, where they will focus on creating more stories for the big and small screens set within the universe going forward, meaning the Netflix adaptation has most likely been shelved.

UPDATE #3: The Netflix adaptation is now picking back up, as they have announced the cast for the leads. As for the new animated Avatar projects, they will be using CG animation, which is interesting.

Thoughts on A Quiet Place (2018)

April 26, 2020

Image courtesy of wallpaperaccess.comHello, everyone. As I mentioned in both posts regarding the schedule, the subject of this review was among those I had planned. It not only has a sequel set for release in the near future, but this review is also… — *Image courtesy of wallpaperaccess.com*
Hello, everyone. As I mentioned in both posts regarding the schedule, the subject of this review was among those I had planned. It not only has a sequel set for release in the near future, but this review is also long overdue anyway. Despite the fact that the sequel was delayed another few months, it was originally set to come out around the same time the original did, hence why I am reviewing it now.
Much like 12 Monkeys focusing on a virus, this one has a theme that’s very topical right now as well, this being isolation.
However, *unlike* 12 Monkeys, the threat here is not a virus. It’s not something you can stop, but rather something where you have to adapt to what’s around you with how the world has changed in order to survive.
Folks, I finally present my review of one of my favorite horror movies in recent years… and that is A Quiet Place.
How poetic that I’m reviewing this in the new decade, then, because that’s when the movie is set.
During the year that in reality would come to be ravaged by something far worse, much of humanity has been taken out by mysterious creatures that hunt you down if you make *any* noise.
Over the course of a year, one family, the Abbotts, is trying to survive the best they can while staying completely silent.
What Worked: The plot is very engaging, and very straightforward. The world has been overwhelmed by creatures that track their prey by the sounds they make, and so we see how the remnants of humanity struggle to endure through the eyes of the family we follow here, the Abbotts.
You see that in the performances, which are excellent. Even the child actors are fantastic in this. The parents, Lee and Evelyn, are played by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, who are also a couple in real life. That’s one of two things that bring a level of authenticity to the cast. Their relationship in the movie feels much more genuine because of it.
The other thing that brings authenticity here is with their daughter Regan, played by Millicent Simmonds. Both the character and the actress are hearing-impaired. The fact that they have an actress with the same disability as her character is reflected in the dialogue. The majority of the dialogue here is sign language, and she was actually able to teach them. It shows in the movie because one way the family has adapted is by communicating through signing. It even brings out some emotion, too, which I will get a little more into later.
The latter aspect in particular benefits the movie further because it was John Krasinski’s intention to have that, and he made the right call. This is worth noting because he not only acted in this, but he also co-wrote and directed it. It may not be his first movie (it’s actually the third movie he directed), but it feels like it is his directorial debut because of all the effort he put in behind the camera. It seems this is his first mainstream movie, though, so there is that.
It’s also because of his direction and the script that you are given a chance to connect with the characters through tension and intrigue. There are times where you’re really on edge because the creatures could be anywhere, and you want the family to survive. At the same time, though, you’re presented with some very memorable scenes, which are some of the most intensely nerve-wracking scenes when it comes to modern horror.
Throughout the whole movie, whether it’s in a suspenseful scene or a scene of downtime, you gradually learn more about the creatures, but not everything. You learn what the characters already know: The creatures are capable of running extremely fast, and they have hypersensitive hearing, despite being blind. Any sounds we would otherwise be used to, like creaking floorboards, for example, we have to be careful not to make, because they can pick that up in a second.
What makes these creatures scarier is the fact that neither us nor the characters know the bigger picture yet. We don’t know what they are, where they are from, or how (and to some extent why) they’re here. We don’t even know how to beat them.
However, this is one of those cases where we don’t necessarily need to know everything right away, as I’m sure the sequel will both expand upon what we learned here and give us new information.
Even so, it does provide enough details without slowing down just to make sure you’re caught up, as the story does that for you. It’s not set on Day 1, but rather well into the conflict already in progress. I actually thought that was more effective, because it just shows us what the situation is and how the survivors are dealing with it, and then goes from there while giving us all we need to know for now along the way.
Plus, it’s also very well shot, and the cinematography really conveys how bleak the atmosphere and tone are.
In addition to that, it keeps everything going at such a fast pace. When it does have calmer moments, it never detracts from the rest of the movie at all. The same goes for the more emotional scenes, which are genuinely touching, if not because of the accompaniment of Marco Beltrami’s score alone. Among his recent work, this is one of his best scores.
Now for the three things that stood out to me the most with this movie.
The first thing is the very menacing look of the creatures. The scenes where you see them more close up are some of the scariest scenes in the movie. For me, it felt like they took notes on what made the Alien’s look as scary as it was, and they definitely pulled it off.
The second thing is the most unsettling aspect of the creatures, and really the whole movie, and that is the sound design. For a movie that relies on silence, this still has some phenomenal sound design. It’s some of the best you’ll witness in what modern horror has to offer, and it rightfully deserved to at least be nominated. The sounds the creatures make are like the modern version of a certain other creature known for hunting…!*
The third (and biggest) thing is the message of the movie. Isolation may be a theme, but it’s more about how to adjust to it while keeping those close to you safe.
As for issues, when I first saw this movie, I had two. The first was a very minimal number of jump scares, of which I noticed at least one. The biggest one was that I felt there were some moments involving characters making stupid decisions.
Having watched it again, however, I realized what I initially believed to be issues actually served a purpose within the context of the story. There weren’t really any jump scares that were just there for the sake of being in the movie. The decisions I initially thought were stupid were either more natural or had a very important role in establishing certain scenes. Compared to all the smart decisions made throughout the movie, maybe those can be considered stupid, but on their own, they deserve more credit than I initially gave them.
Overall: A Quiet Place is one of the best horror movies in years. It has a compelling and original plot, constant tension, likable characters, great performances, and a very relevant message and theme with everything going on right now.
It is a bit of a survival thriller as well, and it has some sci-fi elements here and there with the creatures having come from somewhere else.
This is also one of the best recent examples of a horror movie that focuses more on its story and characters rather than jump scares and shock value. It shows that sometimes getting right into the story by showing the audience what the characters have been going through rather than what led to that point is better.
For those who are put off by blood and gore, there’s hardly any in this movie. It’s only in maybe one or two scenes, but that’s it.
For those who feel like getting into horror, you should be fine if you choose to get started with something like this.
It’s one of the more accessible ones out there in both regards due to being PG-13 rather than R, which shows that your movie doesn’t have to be rated R to be scary.
It’s the story and the visual presentation that matter most, and A Quiet Place nails it, from the cinematography and direction to the creature designs, all accompanied by some of the best sound design you'll find in a horror movie.
*There’s your Predator reference for this review.

Thoughts on 12 Monkeys (1995)

April 5, 2020

Image courtesy of IMDbHello, everyone. In my previous post, I provided an update on the changes that had to be made to the schedule due to current events. I have since had to amend it with further updates, the first of which I closed out by hinting … — *Image courtesy of IMDb*
Hello, everyone. In my previous post, I provided an update on the changes that had to be made to the schedule due to current events. I have since had to amend it with further updates, the first of which I closed out by hinting at the possibility of surprise reviews in between that I ultimately decided to add to the list.
The subject of this review is one such occasion.
Given the circumstances, I decided to start catching up by seeing what was On Demand for free. I saw that they had just added this one, so I figured I’d start here.
Clearly by total coincidence, I picked a movie that focuses on a virus.
There’s actually more to it than that. It’s not just about a virus, but it’s also about someone trying to prevent the outbreak before it happens, so it’s made more interesting with a time travel aspect added to the plot.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present my review of the sci-fi thriller 12 Monkeys.
The story is set in 2035. The majority of the human race had been decimated by a plague in 1996, and those that remained had no choice but to go underground in order to survive. The ones responsible for the chaos are believed to be part of a group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. In the present, a prisoner named James Cole is chosen to be sent back to 1996 to not only locate the virus, but also provide information that could prove vital in developing a cure.
Initially, he is sent back too early, arriving in 1990. Upon being arrested and put in a mental hospital under the care of Dr. Kathryn Railly, he also meets fellow patient Jeffrey Goines, who has a very radical outlook on certain aspects of society.
Upon being brought back and giving the scientists the information he gathered, Cole is then sent to the correct time. When he arrives, however, he slowly discovers that Dr. Railly and Jeffrey each play an important part in the events that are about to transpire.
What Worked: First of all, the acting is fantastic in this movie.
Bruce Willis gives one of his best performances as James Cole, showing that he can play a more serious role outside of his action hero persona. He had that in Unbreakable, but even more so here.
Madeleine Stowe (The Last of the Mohicans) is really good as Dr. Railly, playing off of him very well. She shows commitment to helping him when we first meet her, and then gradually comes to realize what’s at stake when he needs her help.
David Morse (who, following this, would be in another movie I intend to cover very soon) plays a character named Dr. Peters, who we’re first introduced to in 1996 when we see Dr. Railly again. He’s not in it that much, but the scenes he is in I recommend keeping in mind, particularly that scene.
Christopher Plummer also has a small role in this as Dr. Leland Goines, Jeffrey’s father and a virologist.
I saved the best for last for a reason. He also ends up being very crucial to the plot in ways that I won’t get into. The best performance in the movie for me was actually Brad Pitt as Jeffrey himself. When he first showed up in the mental hospital, from that moment on, I loved him in this.
Not only does Bruce Willis give one of his best performances, but also Brad Pitt gives one of his. He is excellent in this movie. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and he may not have won, but he at least deserved that nomination.
The great performances are accompanied by a smart script from duo David and Janet Peoples. David in particular has done some pretty well known work, having also written Unforgiven and co-written Blade Runner.
What really makes this movie as unique as it is comes in three aspects. The first is the score from composer Paul Buckmaster. Although he didn’t do much in the way of film composing, he was very prominent in the music industry nonetheless, having worked with the likes of David Bowie and Elton John, along with numerous others. Even so, he brings a very distinct style to his score here. It sounds like something out of a French movie. Now, this may seem baffling at first. However, once you see that this was inspired by the 1962 French short titled *La Jetée* (or “The Jetty”*), it makes sense, as it feels like it’s their way of honoring the source material in some capacity other than acknowledging it in the opening credits.
The second aspect is Roger Pratt’s gorgeous cinematography. He frequently collaborates with director Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame), and it shows, because their particular visual techniques complement each other perfectly. Outside of working with Terry Gilliam, he has also shot such films as Tim Burton’s Batman, Troy, and two installments of Harry Potter (those being Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire).
The third aspect is the production design. This movie cost nearly 30 million dollars, and it looks like it was more in the range of 40-50 million. I similarly praised Underwater for this in my review. Whenever a movie looks like it cost more than it actually did, that’s never a bad thing for me. I give credit where credit is due if they manage to pull it off by creating something that impressive with the very modest amount given to them. Underwater was one such example, as is this, and there are plenty of others, one of which is another 2020 release that will be covered in the near future.
The biggest praise I can give to this is how they approach time travel here. Instead of trying to change the past, the protagonist is merely observing it in order to help make a better future. I thought that was very clever.
It also benefits the story structure, because it makes you want to see what happens next even more. It all culminates in a brilliant twist, and that alone is something you need to see for yourself.
At first I thought I predicted how it would play out, having been accustomed to how it’s been done in other time travel stories. Then I realized that there had been details leading up to it which are very easy to overlook.
This is one of those movies that upon first viewing, you may have some questions about certain things. With multiple viewings, you might actually catch some of those details you initially missed. Once you’ve pieced everything together, though, you see how shocking the twist really is.
What Didn’t Work: My only flaw is that there are a couple pacing issues. It’s a little slow in the first act, but then it picks up once Cole is brought back to 2035 and sent to the correct time and the second act begins. Shortly after the second act begins, there’s another pacing issue, but then after a few minutes, it picks back up again and doesn’t stop.
Overall: 12 Monkeys is an excellent sci-fi thriller with equally excellent performances (particularly from Bruce Willis and especially Brad Pitt), a captivating and thought provoking story, and a fantastic variation on the time travel formula with a unique visual style to accompany it. Although it does center around a virus, it’s not so much an outbreak movie with time travel in it as it is the other way around. Rather than showing the cause and effects of the virus or even the aftermath, it focuses more on trying to prevent it, which also makes it a clever variation on the genre of outbreak movies by having it be a “What If?” scenario.
In saying that, it’s both straightforward and complex at the same time. The plot is easy to follow, but how it unfolds requires your utmost attention.
It may take multiple viewings, but it rightfully earns its rewatchability because on the first viewing alone it’s as great as it is, and then it gets even better upon revisiting it.
Regardless of whether you’re viewing it for the first time or revisiting it, it’s always entertaining from start to finish, and will stick with you long afterwards.
*As for what a jetty is, it’s part of a building that ties to a certain character trait given to James Cole. All I can say is this building ultimately ends up having major significance throughout the movie. In fact, it’s one of the key elements of the short that inspired its use in this movie, so it actually factors heavily into both of them.

Schedule Update

March 14, 2020

Image courtesy of hipwallpaper.com

The preceding image is for use until I have a proper logo for non-review posts on the site, upon which it will be adjusted to that.

Hello, everyone. I am aware that it’s been a few weeks since the Underwater review, but I have decided to change the original plan a little bit to make some of the newer reviews come sooner so you are still being given some new content. Unfortunately, given how the events of the past several days have affected the world of entertainment, I have to make changes anyway.

Several movies that I had been looking forward to reviewing for you have been delayed due to the events of the coronavirus pandemic that continues to spread as we speak. I will recap the original plans for them so you know some of what’s been delayed.

The first planned reviews I mentioned were of every DC Extended Universe movie up to this point. The series consists of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, and Shazam!. At the time of the original post being made, Shazam! was the most recent release. As mentioned there, I had originally intended to do it for Birds of Prey, but it has now been included in this series of reviews before the release of Wonder Woman 1984. This was for two reasons:

1: It ensures I have more time to cover these properly rather than rush them out just to be sure I’m able to see it as soon as I can.

And 2: It was also because of what I had thought might be best to start with, which was one of the longest-running film franchises ever.

Even if Wonder Woman 1984 is delayed, this plan will hold, and in the event that it is indeed delayed, that, too, will be included for when the next installment, The Batman, arrives next year.

The aforementioned long-running franchise is of course the James Bond franchise. The plan is still to cover the previous ones, from Dr. No all the way up to Spectre. There are benefits to this one, which is really the only case in regards to all the delays announced so far. We do have a new date, and it is still coming out this year. Around Thanksgiving, we can expect to see James Bond in action with No Time to Die. Plus, this may ultimately prove to be the right call, as Bond has done pretty well opening in November anyway, compared to the second weekend of April as originally scheduled.

Following that delay, there was one delayed almost a whole year, but since it’s the biggest one by far, I’ll go over that one last.

The next delay that happened was a movie that was going to come out in just under a week at the time of this writing, which was A Quiet Place Part II. The only thing we know so far is that it is still scheduled for later this year. As for when, no new date has been set for that or any of the others I am about to mention, which were originally scheduled to open as far out as just around a month later.

Then we get to the three most recent delays for other well known movies. The first was supposed to come out at the end of this month, which was the remake of Mulan. However, considering how big it was going to be, particularly in China, it was inevitable that this would happen.

The one that surprised me was Antlers, a new horror movie produced by Guillermo Del Toro. That was set to come out around this time next month. I did not think they would pull that.

The one that didn’t surprise me, because it’s been delayed before, was The New Mutants, which is something I’ve really been looking forward to. It was so close to coming out this time, too, having been set to open the weekend after Mulan. This is the one that I really hope they find a date for within the rest of the year so it can finally come out, and I can finally see it and review it for you. Of course, I still hope it’s good, and it looks like it will be, as the newer footage that’s been released of it certainly shows promise that it hopefully lives up to. Although the reason for it being delayed (which is hopefully the last) is understandable this time, it still disappoints me that they had to delay it again. There are so many reasons why I hope this overcomes its unfortunate reputation that they deserve a post of their own.

For now, though, it all comes down to this: I hope it comes out so it can help the Fox era of X-Men movies go out with some dignity and allow us to have even more hope for when the characters we know and love make their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. There is something else pertaining to that franchise, but first, I’ll go over the biggest delay.

The biggest delay came after the announcement for No Time to Die. I had originally stated that the reviews for this franchise would most likely happen this year, but would be a certainty for next year if they didn’t, as that was supposedly when it would end. Now, it sounds like it’s no longer the case, as the latest installment of the main series was delayed by close to a year. These reviews would be for the Fast and the Furious franchise (or The Fast Saga, as it’s apparently called now), because the ninth main installment, titled F9, would have come out towards the end of May. This and No Time to Die are the only movies that were delayed but had new dates planned. Since this has been bumped to next April (when the supposed final installment in the main series was set to come out), we’ll have to wait for that finale a little bit longer, too.

These delays most likely will not be the last. In the days and weeks to come, there are guaranteed to be more.

What makes these delays worse is that since most, if not all, of these movies might end up being bumped to (at the very latest) the fall and winter season, some of the ones that had been scheduled will be pushed back to sometime next year just to accommodate these.

On a side note, for the time being, Onward will probably be my last review of a newly released movie until this whole situation is under control. The main reason I say that is because theaters have been closing down with all of these delays happening, and it won’t be long before it affects every theater in America, including the ones in my area. I was hoping to have my last review of a new release be for Bloodshot, but as it is right now, Onward is still the most recent movie I was able to see in theaters. I do still plan on seeing Bloodshot, of course, but it likely won’t be in theaters. Once this situation has improved enough, I will get back to newer releases as soon as I can. In the meantime, I can catch up with ones I haven’t gotten to yet, and I have quite a few. There are even some that I had planned for this year that won’t be affected by this situation at all.

I’ll get to the ones that can still be expected first.

The DC Extended Universe reviews, from Man of Steel up to Birds of Prey (or up to Wonder Woman 1984, provided it’s not delayed first).

The Bond franchise, from Dr. No up to Spectre, since I now have more time to do this one.

A Quiet Place, which is long overdue anyway.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Catch-Up Reviews, from Avengers: Infinity War up to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Hopefully, Phase Four still kicks off this year with the releases of both Black Widow and The Eternals.

These ones can now be added to the list:

The Fast Saga up to this point, from the original up to Hobbs & Shaw (and yes, even though it’s a spin-off, it’s still part of the franchise, so I’m counting it).

I can officially announce a review of the original Mulan is coming, despite being among those I wanted to be a surprise, alongside a review of the remake.

The X-Men franchise can be added as well, which goes from the original up to Dark Phoenix (and yes, I am including both Deadpool movies).

Numerous other catch-up reviews, as well as some very special reviews.

With our current situation being bleak and dire, and the current output of new offerings looking barren, as new content gets put out here, there is one thing we can do.

The best we can do is hope and pray that the release schedule for the rest of the year can at least somewhat be saved. Even with that, at the moment, it’ll be a miracle if it can, folks.

That being said, no matter which review comes next, I’ll see you there.

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UPDATE #1 (March 26th, 2020): Since this post’s upload, both Black Widow and Wonder Woman 1984 have been delayed. Unfortunately, no new release date has been set for Black Widow. Although it’ll more than likely still come out later this year, this means that The Eternals will possibly get bumped to around this time next year at the earliest. Thus, this also means that the rest of Marvel Studios’ entire slate for Phase Four, and possibly even beyond that, depending on how long this crisis persists, will be affected. It’s not just the movies that’ll be affected, either. Their first few shows for Disney+ have been postponed, too.

However, there is a bright spot to these two announcements: Wonder Woman 1984 did receive a new release date, which ended up not being as far out as I thought. I thought it would have been bumped similarly to No Time to Die, if not F9. It turns out that was actually not the case. It was only bumped back a couple months. Instead of the first weekend of June as originally planned, it has been bumped to the middle of August. The wait may be a little bit longer, but it’s not by that much.

So as I said when mentioning Birds of Prey, the plan still holds. I will cover it prior to this.

If need be, I will be providing further updates if they affect the schedule in any way.

On a side note, pretty much the majority of theaters across America have been closed down, save for maybe drive-ins in a couple areas. Among that majority of theater closures for the time being are indeed the theaters in my area, which didn’t surprise me, because it was inevitable.

However, as stated in the original post, I do have a plan in place during this time. Once everything is back to normal (or at least as close to that as it was), the same case will apply to the schedule. There might even be some surprise reviews in between that were not originally planned that I later ended up deciding to add.

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UPDATE #2 (April 4th, 2020): Over the course of the past week, since the previous update, several more movies have been delayed, and some of the ones that were previously delayed have now found new dates.

This means my reviews of both the original Mulan and the remake are not the only reviews I intended to keep a surprise until I uploaded them.

Therefore, now I have to spoil even more surprises, only this time, it’s beyond my control. At least in the reviews themselves, I am capable of trying my best to do them with as few spoilers as possible. Since this is a schedule for reviews to come, though (which more than likely will have no surprises left in regards to new releases by the time this is all over), the only thing I can do is adjust my schedule to match the actual one.

Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the biggest announcements as we did last time. I’m going by the original list of what I had planned based on the schedule as it was before all of this went down to keep it consistent.

The first on the list was actually one of the first to be delayed, but has now found a new date. This one is A Quiet Place Part II. Originally, it was scheduled to come out just under a week after the original post was made. It has now been rescheduled for Labor Day weekend. Even though I have plenty of time to review the first one anyway, I’ve decided when to upload that review. I plan on it being at least sometime this month, but a perfect time would be within the next few days to match the timeframe of both when the first one came out and when the sequel was set to come out.

The next one is Mulan. As mentioned in the original post, that was supposed to come out the week after A Quiet Place Part II. With this latest update coming more than a week after its initial release date, a new one has been announced. Mulan is now slated to open towards the end of July.

It was actually among the most recent bunch of delays, which come from Disney. Also among them was a new release date for Black Widow.

Originally scheduled to open at the beginning of May, Black Widow has been moved to the November spot previously occupied by Eternals. I stated in the previous update that should this indeed happen, the latter would possibly get bumped to the beginning of next year at the earliest. That also meant that the rest of the entire slate of Phase Four would be affected, and I was right. The way in which that would happen I also predicted: Each movie following Eternals would take the date originally occupied by the one that followed it. Basically, a domino effect happened here.

Several of the new dates announced by Disney were for those, in fact. There were some others, but the only huge one worth noting outside of them was Mulan.

Another huge one that has been highly anticipated is Top Gun: Maverick. I can now announce plans for a review of the original alongside this one. This one was delayed, but also given a new date. Instead of close to the Fourth of July, it’s now opening close to Christmas.

In the “Schedule Adjustment” post I made at the beginning of the year, I mentioned Ghostbusters as a possibility. I can now fit that series in, as Ghostbusters: Afterlife has been bumped from mid-July to early March of next year.

There were more than just these (and there will continue to be more), of course, but some I can still keep a surprise.

Plus, there were some others I mentioned in the original post that had been delayed, but as of this update, no new dates have been set for them.

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UPDATE #3 (June 27th, 2020): A couple months have passed since the last update, and everything seemed to be smoothening out. We had some delays here and there, but nothing really worth noting for another update… until now. I’ll start with the one that was the deciding factor for me on whether or not to do another one. If it happened, I’d feel I would then have enough material. If it didn’t, I probably wouldn’t. I’m also starting with the most recent ones, as these were just announced earlier this week.

Shockingly, this one is the least bad of the bunch for this update, as it was only pushed back by a few weeks. That would be my most anticipated movie of the entire year (as I established in the original schedule): Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. This was originally set to come out on July 17th, but was then bumped back two weeks to July 31st. Then a couple days ago, it was bumped by almost another two weeks. At the time of this update, it is now set for release on August 12th, a Wednesday. This is probably to give it more of an advantage to hopefully do well.

Now we get to the ones that have not only made things worse, but also more confusing for everyone, especially me, despite my best efforts to piece everything together for you.

One of the other most recent ones is actually Wonder Woman 1984. A lot of you may be wondering why this one is being mentioned here when I already covered it in a previous update. Yes, folks, this one was indeed delayed again as well. It is now set for release on October 2nd.

The most recent one that’s noteworthy was set to come out on November 20th, which up until now had it set to open against Pixar’s latest movie Soul (currently set to open that same day) and No Time to Die, the new James Bond movie (which was set to open five days later). It has now been bumped to towards the end of May.

That would be the culmination of the MonsterVerse so far (and hopefully, there are more after this, because I for one have really liked all of the previous entries), a new Clash of the Titans, if you will… known as Godzilla vs. Kong. I’m actually fine with this one, for two reasons:

1: I was somewhat expecting it.

And 2: May is a better spot for it anyway, because had this stayed in November, both of the aforementioned movies would have more than likely crushed it.

Speaking of which, what was more concerning for me and now even more so, was where they originally placed Tenet. Its original date was a week before Mulan’s first rescheduled date. Then Tenet was set for the week right after it. Here’s why: There was always a possibility Mulan would annihilate it either way.

Then around the same time Tenet was moved, Mulan followed. As mentioned earlier, Tenet was slated for the 17th, with Mulan set to open the following week. Then Tenet was moved to the week after Mulan, which still hadn’t moved yet.

This resulted in Wonder Woman 1984 having to be bumped again, but I’ll get back to that in a second.

Now Mulan is set to open after Tenet again. However, there is a bit of breathing room in between this time. Mulan is set for August 21st.

A newer one, which is one of two surprises I now have to spoil (again; thanks a lot, COVID, for making me spoil my plans!), would be Bill & Ted Face the Music.

Up until recently, that was one of the few movies left that had not been affected, as it was scheduled to open towards the end of the summer, on August 21st, which of course would have placed it against Mulan. They then bumped it up a week to August 14th, which was where Wonder Woman 1984 had been slated to open upon being moved from June.

However, when that was moved to October, they put Bill & Ted there. Then with the new date for Tenet, they bumped it back to August 28th to avoid competition with it.

Thus, another surprise I had planned was reviewing Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey to prepare for this one.

I considered mentioning one that had also been moved to that date a few months ago, but with how everything’s going right now, I don’t want to end up getting everyone excited for something that could very well be delayed yet again. All I’ll say is this in regards to that one: I still want to see it and hopefully be able to own it to complete my collection for that particular series.

With that out of the way, and having established that it’s not that one (since I was planning on covering that series anyway; I still won’t mention the name, but some of you may have figured it out since I mentioned it in the original update), I unfortunately have to mention one that kind of broke my heart, because it was part of my childhood.

Oddly enough, both of these surprises feature Keanu Reeves, except in this one, he has a smaller part. With how they decided to approach this one, Tenet being moved may have been what made me decide whether or not to provide a further update, but the way they decided to handle this one is actually what solidified it for me. This is the one that made me feel I had enough material to do one.

For those who are very nostalgic for a particular Nickelodeon cartoon, like myself (something about a pineapple under the sea…), you may have been looking forward to heading out to the theater a third time to see him on the big screen again.

I was hoping to, because I had done so for the first two movies. The animation style they decided to go with for this one had me interested, and then a few weeks ago, I heard that the director of this one (as with the director of the second one) was among the original writers for the show. In other words, he gave the fans some of the most quotable lines in numerous iconic episodes.

It gave me a little bit of hope, since it felt like they knew the source material, so I was genuinely looking forward to this, because it’s always nice to look back on fond memories of something you grew up on.

Folks… we are still getting the movie, don’t worry. However, it still hurts that I have to disappoint you with how we’re getting it.

This sort of thing is nothing new, as it’s happened with several others, but this is the first time I’ve felt it was worth mentioning. This is the latest movie to have its theatrical release cancelled, and be put on streaming instead.

The subtitle has a whole new meaning, then, because The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is no longer coming to theaters. Instead, it will be put on VOD and CBS All Access early next year.

Hopefully, it’ll eventually find its way to home media, as most of the others put on streaming ultimately did. Even if it doesn’t mean a Blu-Ray release (as much as I’d love that), if I have to resort to Digital, then I’ll take it.

The best I can say about that one is that at least we’re still getting the movie.

Since we have to wait a little bit longer, there is something positive that came out of this: The same week this announcement was made, the remaster of Battle for Bikini Bottom (the best, and possibly definitive, SpongeBob game) also came out. So for those who want to relive their childhood, particularly that part of it, you at least have that to hold you over.

If any further announcements and delays are made, and they more than likely will be at this point, I will gladly provide the updates.

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UPDATE #4 (July 25th, 2020):

Well… it’s happened, folks. Even more delays have occurred, a couple even being pulled indefinitely until they know when it’s safer to put them out.

I’ll just say a couple things before we get started in going over this new batch.

The first is that I will do a separate post where I go over the list of every delay that has happened so far, including those that were not originally scheduled to come out for at least another year. Besides, there might be some who are interested in hearing what might have been delayed beyond next year. I am also planning on doing another one going over one particular movie that was delayed even before the pandemic started, but its status at the moment I felt it’s probably best that I save for that.

All I’ll say is this: I’ll be doing something a little different with this one.

The second is that at least a couple of the ones I will be going over in this update are sequels to which I’ve already covered everything I needed to that came before. I’ll get to those momentarily.

With that out of the way, let’s go over these.

I’ll start with the ones that I’m sure will infuriate quite a few of you if they haven’t already. These two were delayed indefinitely. There are so many people I know who have been looking forward to them.

The moment this first one was announced to have been pulled indefinitely, I had a feeling I would end up having enough material for another update. Flash forward to now, and evidenced by the fact that I’m doing one, I was right.

This was my Most Anticipated of the entire year, and now it might end up dethroning The Batman as my Most Anticipated of 2021*, if the pandemic persists hard enough to where they end up being unable to release it before the end of 2020.

If you’ve been following these updates, and recently saw my review of The Prestige, you would know that it was Tenet. As mentioned earlier, this was originally set to come out just last week. Then I mentioned in the previous update that it was bumped back twice, first to the 31st, and then again to August 12th. Now it has been pulled indefinitely.

I believe other than the pandemic, there’s another reason why they decided to pull this one: The movie that was bumped to around this time. It was originally scheduled to open towards the end of March, but then after Tenet was delayed, this one followed. At the time, Tenet was still set to open on the 17th. This one was delayed to the week after it (meaning it would have opened this weekend, and more than likely crushed Tenet).

Then Tenet was delayed to the week after it, in which case it still probably would have been overwhelmed by this one, as at the time it had not moved yet.

Then they were bumped to just a few days apart in August: Tenet on the 12th, and this one on the 21st.

Now, this, too, has been pulled indefinitely. That would be the remake of Mulan.

As for the ones that have been delayed to next year, I’ll start with one of the first to be delayed because of the pandemic. That would be A Quiet Place Part II. Originally set to open a few days following the upload of the original post back in March, it was rescheduled for Labor Day weekend a few weeks later. Earlier this week, however, it was bumped back to April of 2021, which is around the time the original came out.

There’s one that up until now had not been affected, and it would have come out the week after A Quiet Place Part II. Originally set for September 11th, this has now been rescheduled for June 4th, 2021. This does give me more time to cover everything that came before, though, so there is that.

It’s another horror sequel, ironically enough, and that would be The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It**. It does make sense why they would put it there, however, as the first two Conjuring movies came out during the summer anyway.

A couple more horror sequels were delayed. The first one is Halloween Kills, the sequel to the 2018 film, which in turn was a direct sequel to the 1978 original. As you would probably expect, this one was supposed to open this October, but was bumped to next October (and by extension, the sequel to this one, Halloween Ends, was bumped back to the following year). However, another one took its place.

Originally set for release on June 12th, but then bumped to September 25th before being bumped back three weeks to October 16th, which was the original date for Halloween Kills, we have Candyman.

This one, oddly enough, shares the same name as the original, much like Halloween did. It also takes the same approach as Halloween by being a direct sequel, despite being a further installment in the franchise.

The delay for Candyman is actually one of the few to be mentioned on this one that are the least bad. There are a couple more positive things, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Now for the latest ones that are not horror movies. Another one that’s not too bad is Death on the Nile, which was bumped back a couple weeks from October 9th to October 23rd.

The biggest one to note is another one that was delayed a few months. It took a similar approach as A Quiet Place Part II by going back around to the time it was supposed to come out. This one was originally scheduled for June 26th of this year, but then was bumped close to Christmas, only to just recently be bumped back to near the Fourth of July again.

The highly-anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick has been moved to July 2nd of next year, which was actually partially due to a different reason than you may think. I will go more into that in the post about the delays themselves.

One more thing, and this is a rather interesting approach, especially for a sequel that people have wanted for so long. This one is Bill & Ted Face the Music. It was previously slated for August 28th, but was bumped back a few days to September 1st, and this is how they’re doing it with this one. They’re releasing it in select theaters (as there are a few that are open) and on VOD that same day. That’s probably the best way to see if it’s safe for people to slowly start flocking back out to the theaters once again. They take a movie that isn’t huge like Tenet, Mulan or even Top Gun, but people are still looking forward to it nonetheless, and try that with it.

I wanted to end this one on a slightly brighter note, so here we go.

Another one of the first to be delayed was another horror movie, Antlers. Up until recently, it had not received a new date. Now it does have one. We can expect to see it in February, which I for one am happy about, because I’ve been looking forward to this.

I’ll also have a few less reviews to do with some of these, and here’s why: I’ll ultimately have already covered what I needed to prior to them.

Even at least one that will be mentioned in the upcoming post applies to this.

There are three among the ones mentioned at the time of this writing, with more likely to follow sometime later.

The three that apply are:

A Quiet Place Part II (as I reviewed the first one earlier this year)

Halloween Kills (I reviewed the original and the 2018 sequel when the latter came out)

and Death on the Nile (I have reviewed Murder on the Orient Express).

So if there’s one good thing to take away from this update, folks, it’s that for once, I am actually free to review some newer movies when they’re released.

Even with that having been said, I will provide further updates when necessary (not if… when), and be on the lookout for the couple other posts to come later.

If the pandemic’s not over, you can guarantee that these updates are not over.

*Apologies for having to spoil that, by the way, but blame COVID for that, not me.

**Why they couldn’t just call it The Conjuring 3, I have no idea. If they were going to use a subtitle, it could have used some work. The same can be said for another sequel that I didn’t originally mention, but I digress.

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UPDATE #5 (September 5th, 2020):

Another day, another update, folks.

With the previous update coming nearly a week after uploading the Tremors review, I have some more news in regards to schedule changes, both for my own and for the release slate itself.

Some good, some bad, and some in between.

I won’t just start with the bad news this time. I’ll be going into the worst of the worst, and go up from there.

So two updates ago, I mentioned that The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was no longer coming to theaters. This actually applies to the US. The streaming plans for it here are still happening, but it does still have a theatrical release somewhere, as it recently opened in Canada. Not only that, but there’s also this: A mere ten days before the last update was made, Netflix acquired the international distribution rights outside of three territories: The US, Canada, and China.

A similar thing happened to another movie, and at first, I felt it was actually worse up until some new information about it came to my attention just a couple days ago, which I will get to in a moment.

Mulan is now being shown in some areas where theaters are open, China being one of them.

America has also now received it, but on Disney+. The reason why I initially thought this was even worse was because it would be available for those who are both subscribed and willing to pay an extra 30 bucks to watch it through Premier Access.

A lot of people were not happy to hear this, myself included, and for good reason. Then just a couple days ago, some more news came out about it. It turns out this is temporary, as it’s only set to go through November. Once that time is up, it’ll be available for everyone in December for free, so the only thing you’ll be having to pay for is the service itself.

A lot of people are jumping at the chance to watch it now, which I understand, because they were as interested in this as I was. As for me personally, I actually feel waiting is a better idea, because on top of saving 30 bucks, I still get a chance to see the movie regardless. They stated this is supposed to be a one-off thing, so let’s just hope they meant it.

There is another positive to Mulan ultimately being sent to streaming instead of in theaters: They no longer have to risk directly competing with Tenet in theaters yet again.

Speaking of which, now we start getting to the good news. In between the previous update and this one, a plan was ultimately put in place for Tenet. Early screenings were held from August 31st through September 2nd, and then the release itself followed on September 3rd.

September 3rd also had some significance for me, because up until then, two of the three theaters in my area had opened back up.* Now the moment has come where I can finally say this.

I did not think I’d be able to do so before the end of the year... but this is one of those times where I’m glad I was wrong for once.

Folks… I have all my theaters back now… and I could not be happier. If you either follow the site (particularly these updates), know me in general, or both, you have a pretty good idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.

The first one to reopen was my local Regal just a little over two weeks ago. I took full advantage of celebrating it by seeing the first new movie to open in six months. I am working on the review right now as we speak, along with several others, but I might start with that.

Not long after that, one of the other two theaters in town had reopened, and now both of them are back in business, and I can get back to reviewing new releases again.

In the previous update, I mentioned doing two separate posts, one going over every delay we’ve had thus far, and one going over one particular movie that had faced several delays well before the pandemic for numerous reasons. In fact, only the last delay was due to the pandemic.

I held off on revealing what it was because I didn’t want to hold out hope for it, only for it to be delayed yet again.

The date held this time, and it has finally been released, so I can say this: I won’t have to do the latter post now. I’ll go over the delays in the review.

However, while I plan on seeing it within the next couple days or so, I have to go by one of my rules before I can review it. Whenever a new release is part of a franchise, I feel like it’s best to have covered everything that came before in order to provide a proper context.

There are a couple more I have planned to see, so I will go into at least one in the next update, so stay tuned for that.

*Technically, four, but the other one is a dollar theater for movies that are on their way out before they hit home media, and that’s usually a last resort for me (plus, that one is the only one in my area that is still closed anyway). The three I’m mentioning here I’ve been waiting to reopen because I usually go as soon as I can the moment a movie I’m interested in is released.

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UPDATE #6 (September 25th, 2020):

Well… this was unexpected. I’m having to do two updates in the span of a month. There have been more delays that happened in between, folks.

Before we get to that, however, I do have some good news. I have seen three movies since the previous update.

The first one came the day it went up.

This is the first time in as long as I can remember where I was equally looking forward to both seeing the movie itself and doing the review of it, and for those who have been following these updates especially, you’ll probably know what it is.

The second I saw a few days later. I hinted at it in the previous update, even though everyone probably already knows what that one is, too.

The third was one of the surprises I had to spoil back in Update #3. The first of these three is an original movie, while the other two are both new entries in a franchise, so I still have to follow my franchise rule for them.

Now on to the new delays.

We’ve had quite a few on this one, folks, as they’ve started picking back up again.

There was one that happened just last week, and we were so close to receiving another new release. They first pulled this with A Quiet Place Part II when they initially delayed it a few days before its original release date back in March.

Since it has now happened again, I’m starting with this one. The new Gerard Butler movie, the disaster film Greenland, we would have received this weekend.

The reason we didn’t is because they bumped it before we could. It’s now been bumped to Winter of this year, with a new date currently unspecified, as this is now the fourth time it’s been delayed.

Speaking of unspecified, there was one set for this weekend, but had been bumped prior. Oddly enough, it’s been the fourth time here as well, which is one short of how many times you say his name before he appears.

That’s right, folks. Candyman has been delayed again… and I had actually watched the original again for both my review of it and to prepare for this one, too. This has been moved to next year, with no specific date announced yet here, either.

To make matters even worse, there are more we were so close to getting, and I’ll start with the one that was set to open following Greenland. This one would have come out next week. It’s been delayed a couple times already. That would be Wonder Woman 1984, which has now been bumped back to Christmas Day.

That’s good for it that it still gets released this year (for now). However, this creates a problem: Warner Bros. is now more or less competing against themselves, as they have had Dune set for the week of December 18th. I have predicted pretty much since Day One that that movie would likely get bumped, and as much as they plan to keep it there (which they do, by the way), they’re going to have to bump it if they want it to have a chance, and if they want to be able to make the second part.*

This is especially true now, since another movie was recently bumped back to its spot. This one was originally set to open the week of October 9th, and then was bumped back a couple weeks to the 23rd, as mentioned in Update #4. That would be Death on the Nile, which now gives Dune competition again. The first time it didn’t seem like too much of a problem, but then Top Gun: Maverick was bumped back to around Christmas before that was bumped back again to pretty much its original placement, just a year later.

As for what was originally placed near Dune, that would be Steven Spielberg’s latest project: His version of West Side Story. This has been bumped back by almost a year, to next December (only a week off from its original date).

So for those who still have nightmares about Cats, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer before you can get rid of them. I’m just going to move on from that so I am not deemed liable for any potential PTSD flashbacks from any poor souls out there who sat through it so I don’t have to.

Speaking of nightmares, we get to the biggest one of this new batch. I thought the domino effect from last time was bad… this time was worse, because we also had a date swap.

The entire slate of movies in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been moved further out. With shows set in said universe, that’s a different story. We are still getting one of them this year, but more on that in a moment.

As a fair amount of you may be well aware of by now, Black Widow was set to kick this Phase off back on May 1st, before being bumped to November 6th. It has now been bumped back to May 7th, 2021. It’s still set as the first entry of Phase Four, but then this is where the date swap also comes in. The original plan was to have Eternals follow that up, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in turn following that.

When the pandemic first hit, Eternals was set for November 6th, with Shang-Chi to follow on February 12th to coincide with the first day of the Chinese New Year (keep that date in mind, folks). Then when Black Widow was moved, everything else followed suit. Then just recently, it happened again, except this time, Black Widow has the May date that Shang-Chi had. That movie is now set for July, but now Eternals is following it, having been scheduled for next November.

In other words, 2020 will be the first year since 2009 with no new installment in the MCU arriving in theaters (Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk kicked it off in 2008, but it wouldn’t be until 2010 onwards that we’d get at least one a year, starting that summer with Iron Man 2).

I’m going to try to end this one on a more positive note.

We are still getting something in February, as it turns out. The King’s Man, the latest installment in the Kingsman franchise, was bumped back once again a couple weeks ago to February 26th, but then something good happened. They bumped it up a couple weeks to February 12th (see?), so we might just have something to do for Valentine’s Day Weekend.

In regards to the Disney ones, none of the aforementioned MCU films were announced as going straight to Disney+ instead. Thus, it seems they not only stated the Premier Access experiment with Mulan would be a one-off thing, but they actually kept their word.

We are still set to get at least one Disney movie before the end of the year, that being the other Pixar film this year, Soul, which was confirmed to still have a theatrical release on November 20th as planned.

Although Black Widow was bumped out, leaving us without an MCU movie for this year, we are still getting one of the Disney+ shows this year, with WandaVision set for a debut in December.

So even though fans of that franchise, especially huge ones like myself, won’t be able to get their fix for the year in the way they hoped with at least one movie and maybe a show, at least we’re still getting something with that.

Now for the one to cap this one off. If there is one good thing that we’ve known all year we would certainly be getting, that would be Season 2 of The Mandalorian, which starts in just a few weeks.

Thus, I can announce something new to come in terms of reviews. Though my main focus is of course on movies, I never left shows out of the question, and in fact I had been considering it for some time.

I can announce the first one I plan to cover, and I knew from the moment I finished it that I would want to start here.

I have of course decided to start with Season 1 of The Mandalorian. As for when the review of Season 1 will be up, I don’t know. I just felt it was more important to announce it anyway.

I initially felt like waiting until the shows from Marvel Studios themselves started before I decided to go ahead and expand to TV reviews (since they do tie in with the movies), but then I saw that, and I changed it to that.

Having announced that, I will incorporate them when I can, and do ones that won’t cause me to shift the review schedule around too much, especially when there might be some that I really want to do.

I’ll start with shorter shows first, and maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll expand into longer-running ones.

*For those who don’t know, this new version of Dune is set to be a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel, with this movie set to cover roughly the first half, and a planned followup to cover the second.

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Update #7 (October 6th, 2020):

Not even two weeks later, and I already have more material for another update, folks.

This actually began with the same movie I started with last time, which was Greenland. Five days after the last update (the same day it was originally set for a theatrical release), it was announced that Greenland would be going straight to streaming. Those who happen to have HBO Max, you’ll be receiving it there if you’re in the US, while internationally (namely the UK, Canada, and Australia), those interested can see it if they happen to have Amazon Prime.

While we’re on the subject of streaming, one movie I was interested in, Run (the followup of Indian-American director Aneesh Chaganty, who made one of my favorite movies of 2018 with Searching) was also moved to a streaming service. It was originally set to open back in May right on time for Mother’s Day Weekend. You’ll be able to finally see it on Hulu starting November 20th.

The next two are ironically the first two that were affected when all this chaos started: No Time to Die and F9. The former was most recently set to open on November 25th, just in time for Thanksgiving. However, October 1st came and denied us of that yet again, as it was announced that they had decided to bump the movie back to April 2nd, 2021, and then another domino effect happened.

That slot was originally placed for F9 after being originally scheduled for release back in May. It has now been bumped to May 28th, 2021 in order to give the April slot to No Time to Die.

Making matters worse is this: The moment they heard that No Time to Die had been bumped back again, Regal decided to close a lot of their locations… including my own.

It’ll only be a matter of time before my two local theaters are affected as well.

I’ll close this update out with something that I had predicted pretty much since Day One. I mentioned this last time, too. It had been set for the week before Christmas, but then it had direct competition when Wonder Woman 1984 was moved to Christmas Day, thus making Warner Bros. compete with themselves.

I had a feeling that they would have to bump it if they wanted it to have a chance of both doing well on its own and doing well enough so they can make the second part.

And I was right.

Ladies and gentlemen, you’ll have to wait 10 more months before you can see Dune. It has been bumped to October 1st, 2021. This in turn caused them to bump what was inarguably my Most Anticipated Movie of 2021 out into 2022, a few weeks after they released the trailer promoting a 2021 release date:

The Batman.

I’ll be going more into that in the next update, because I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Until the delays stop and everything goes back to normal (or rather as close to normal as it was), the updates will not.

We might be approaching the point where there’s hardly anything left to come out in 2020, and I’ll have to move on to the second post I hinted at doing back in Update #4.

Yes, I mentioned originally doing two posts, one going over everything in regards to these delays, and the other going over the delays for one particular movie which had been delayed multiple times already, with only the last one being due to the pandemic. However, as mentioned in Update #5, I ultimately scrapped having to do that second one, because I didn’t need to.

I have now decided to still do a second post, but in regards to these delays. What was originally going to be two parts has now been expanded to three.

Part 1 is where I cover everything delayed from this year, as I’ve been doing for a good portion of it, which is also the reason why I haven’t been able to do as many reviews as intended. The pandemic resulted in me not having nearly enough new material to work with.

Part 2, which I’ll be moving on to next following this update, is where I cover everything originally scheduled for as early as next year.

Then Part 3 is where I just go over literally everything, and although I’ll be recapping everything from Parts 1 and 2, that’s necessary because it will also include every date change anyway, even some scheduled beyond next year.

That’s right, folks; even ones scheduled further out have been affected, too.

So I’ll be back soon with another Schedule Update post that can be considered Part 2 of the “Delay Dissection” Saga.

Thoughts on Underwater (2020)

February 2, 2020

Image courtesy of wallpapersafari.comHello, everyone. As I promised in the post regarding the new schedule, my next review would be coming soon. Now, here it is. You might be surprised by this one, as much as I was with the movie itself, so let’s di… — *Image courtesy of wallpapersafari.com*
Hello, everyone. As I promised in the post regarding the new schedule, my next review would be coming soon. Now, here it is. You might be surprised by this one, as much as I was with the movie itself, so let’s dive in with my first review of both 2020 and the new decade.
Folks, I present to you my review of Underwater.
The story follows a team of scientists tasked with drilling for resources at the bottom of the ocean. However, during their mission, part of their station, the Kepler 822, is hit by a massive earthquake. Upon regrouping, they realize that the longer they stay there, the more the rest of the Kepler will succumb to the pressure. They decide that their best chance of surviving is to suit up and go to another station, the Roebuck 641, that’s more stable, despite being a mile away.
Unfortunately, the slowly increasing pressure is the least of their problems... because once they set out to find the Roebuck, they not only have to face total darkness, but also what dangers might be lurking within it. On top of that, what seemed to be just a natural disaster may be something much more frightening.
Before I get into my thoughts on this, there is something that needs to be addressed: I am aware of the criticism stating this is just another Alien clone, and therefore I am aware of some parallels between that movie and this one. However, if I go over them here, it’ll more than likely involve major spoilers, and I usually try my best not to do that. Now, do I share that same sentiment that it’s just another knockoff of Alien with a different coat of paint? No, because there are several things that stood out to me with this that gave it a slight edge. That doesn’t mean I consider it better than Alien as an overall movie, let alone as a sci-fi horror movie (it’s not). Thus, it also doesn’t mean that I felt it was a beat-for-beat remake of it. If anything, I felt it was more inspired by Alien and trying to be its own thing. I’ll go more in depth on that in a moment, but for now, let’s get to my thoughts.
What Worked: Although the majority of the time I usually start with the cast anyway, there’s a particular reason why it’s important that I go over the lead right away on this one. Our main protagonist, Norah Price, is played by Kristen Stewart. Some of you may instantly be hesitant to see this movie upon hearing she’s even in it at all. While I can certainly agree that her character could have been played by anyone else, the fact that she was in it didn’t make me all of a sudden not want to see it. The premise alone was enough to keep me interested. Plus, you’ll be surprised in hearing this as much as I was while watching it… I honestly kind of liked her in this. It may take some time for you to buy her as a mechanical engineer, sure, but ultimately, you grow to like her character over the course of the movie, mainly because she puts everyone else before herself.
The fact that I liked her in this was a more than welcome surprise for me, especially after the last movie she was in, Charlie’s Angels In Name Only*. Therefore, to say I needed that would be an understatement.
As for the rest of the cast, there’s Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Jason Bourne) as Captain Lucien, who suggests that they walk the mile over to the Roebuck. He’s the rational one of the group, trying to keep everyone calm and focused, yet also keeping something from them. He balanced those aspects very well in his performance, and I really liked his character. What also genuinely surprised me is how his secret was handled within the context of the story. It’s mostly kept in mystery as to what he knew, what he experienced, etc., because it’s after a certain thing happens in the middle of the movie, which leads everyone else to discover it for themselves.
Then we have John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane, The Belko Experiment**) as Liam Smith, a fellow engineer, and Jessica Henwick (Marvel’s Iron Fist, the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong) as Emily Haversham, a biologist. Even though Smith doesn’t really get to do much, there’s a reason for that; besides, I still felt John Gallagher Jr.’s performance was solid enough, despite probably being the weakest out of everyone.
As for Jessica Henwick, I thought she was awesome in this. Emily’s actions ultimately make her another strong female character.
There are two other scientists in the group. The first is Rodrigo Nagenda, played by Mamoudou Athie. Although he’s only in it for a few minutes, I still really liked him for the time he was in it. I also think he will get more attention with a more high-profile project coming out next summer that’s part of an established franchise.
The second is the comic relief for this movie: Paul Abel, played by T.J. Miller (perhaps best known as Weasel, the sidekick from Deadpool). Then again, really any movie he’s given a supporting role in has him as the comic relief, and this one is no exception. However, he’s not the type of comic relief that ends up being more obnoxious than hilarious. He’s genuinely funny in this, and most of his jokes are in the first few minutes of his screen time early on in the movie. Aside from that, he uses them sparingly, and they never feel out of place.
The last major cast member listed for this movie is worth noting for one reason. For any gamers out there reading this review, particularly those who happen to be fans of the Dead Space series, Gunner Wright, the voice of main protagonist Isaac Clarke himself, is also in this. Look out for a scene involving a transmission being played back for the crew, and you’ll hear him.
Now for the technical aspects. I still found the plot very interesting, despite it appearing as inspired by Alien. Here’s where the several things that give this a slight edge over it come in.
The first is the setting: Instead of a ship, this is set at the bottom of the ocean, which is a bigger environment with pretty much the only contained environments being the stations themselves. Therefore, rather than the creature attacking us in our own territory, they’re attacking us in theirs. On top of that, it’s as dark as you can possibly go, so since the surroundings are bigger, when the creatures strike, it’s more unpredictable. They can literally be *anywhere*, and you won’t see them coming. Being in an environment like that is genuinely scary.
With that being said, this doesn’t mean that the scares are jump scares you can see coming a mile away. They’re still jump scares, but they’re genuinely effective ones here.
Then there’s the time it takes for the chaos to begin. Buildup may be more suspenseful, but sometimes just getting right into it helps. If you’ve seen the trailer, it actually fools you into thinking it builds up. Where you see the station start to become unstable… it opens with that, and doesn’t let up. It’s literally one of the first scenes in the movie, and it just gets more unsettling and more intense from there.
Of course, when you have a creature feature, you’re bound to have some brutal kills in it. This is where it also doesn’t hold anything back. For a PG-13 movie, it felt like it was a ***hard*** PG-13 to where it was right on the cusp of being an R, particularly with one death scene halfway into the movie. All I’ll say is this: you’ll probably never look at diving suits the same way ever again.
The last thing that stood out to me and made this feel like its own thing is the main reason why I definitely didn’t want to go into spoilers on this one, because in this case, it would be a huge spoiler. This would be the ending. How it plays out is insane, because it has this big reveal that I did not see coming.
That last part is where I get to what automatically piqued my interest in this up a couple notches: The director, William Eubank. This isn’t the first time he’s had a big reveal like that in a movie. I first saw that in his last movie, The Signal, which I loved, and that was only his second movie. Having now seen his third, his style is really starting to impress me. Even though I haven’t seen his first movie, titled Love (another sci-fi movie), with The Signal and now this, I believe he’s becoming one of the most underrated directors working today. I not only want to seek out his first movie, but after this, he has two projects lined up next. Whenever they come out, I will definitely be looking forward to them. One of them is an action movie, so being the fan of action movies that I am already, I’m absolutely in for that. The other one is similar to this, and it’ll of course have a sci-fi twist on it, and I’m intrigued to see what that’ll have to offer.
It’s also worth noting that Marco Beltrami is one of the composers. His score here is really good, although with a composer of his caliber, that can be expected. For evidence of that, he has a very wide range of various genre experiences from his early work in the 90s up to now. Some of his most recent work prior to this includes Ford v Ferrari, A Quiet Place, and Logan.
One more excellent thing on display here is the cinematography. Simply put, this movie looks fantastic.
In regards to flaws, I would say the creature effects could have used a little work, but the designs themselves make up for that. Something that could have used some tweaking was the writing. It needed to make this feel more like its own thing in terms of the characters and their traits in addition to the narrative rather than mainly in the narrative. That’s really my main flaw, but I’m still willing to give it a pass because everything around it is so surprisingly good.
Overall: While not original, Underwater still has a lot going for it to make it stand out up against what came before. It’s not as scary as Alien, but it does have some elements that are scarier. Did I expect it to be better than a sci-fi classic? Of course not. Was I expecting a fun time with a sci-fi thriller that’s like it, but kind of its own thing, yet still entertaining from start to finish? Yes, and it’s exactly that.
What’s most impressive with this is all the production value that went into it. You’d think the budget was higher than it is, like maybe 100-120 million dollars, to warrant something of this quality. However, it looks really good for a movie budgeted at only 50-80 million. The acting is solid, even from Kristen Stewart. It’s shot very well, it’s intense throughout, and the creatures, in both design and effects, are as frightening as the environment they inhabit. The score is great, as you’d expect from someone like Marco Beltrami. It's so brutal in terms of deaths that you really would feel like it was rated R.
All of this comes together in one of my biggest surprises of the year so far. It’s definitely the most underrated so far for me. It makes it all the more sad that it didn’t do well, because it really does deserve more attention. For a January movie, a surprise such as this is a more than welcome one, especially from a director who hopefully gets more recognition in the future.
It’s one of the better January movies in recent memory for sure. We have two other surprisingly good ones that I’ll be reviewing soon.
But in addition to those, see Underwater when you can. It’s better than the trailer made it out to be. Much like in the movie, there’s so much more underneath the surface.
*Yes, I’ve seen it. Just you wait, folks… because when the time comes (and it will), I have something very special planned for *that*, which you can consider my review of it; doing it in my usual format is barely scratching the surface, and you’ll know why. I may at least do reviews of the original two movies (AKA the ones that were actually *good*; seriously, they’re a lot better than people give them credit for).
**The latter in particular is an underrated movie.

Schedule Adjustment

January 5, 2020

Image courtesy of hipwallpaper.com

The preceding image is for use until I have a proper logo for non-review posts on the site, upon which it will be adjusted to that.

Hello, everyone. With both the 2010s having just concluded, and a new decade having just begun, there’s some adjustments to the schedule that I would like to make. For those eager to see what’s on the schedule for 2020 going forward, I will get to it, but first, there’s something that needs to be addressed.

Since I started, and especially over the course of last year, I’ve realized that I’ve made a habit of overloading the schedule with reviews I hoped to do. As a result, this led to a lot of them not coming as planned. That does not mean that they won’t ever be made (of course they will), just much later than initially intended. From now on, I have decided to only announce what is either most likely or definitely expected, and any others I plan to do will be done in between and on my own time, including some long-overdue ones to make up for that.

Now, on to the schedule itself.

As such, here’s what I plan to review for the first year of the new decade:

Every DC Extended Universe movie up to this point (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, and Shazam!). This was originally intended to be leading up to Birds of Prey*, but considering what I might start with, I may end up having to include that in the lead-up to Wonder Woman 1984 instead, since that comes out later in the year.

One of the long-overdue reviews: A Quiet Place, since the sequel is coming out this year.

The Bond franchise, with No Time to Die (the 25th Bond movie) coming out this year as well. In regards to these scheduled reviews, I’ll most likely start with that, since it’s one of the longest-running film franchises ever.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Catch-Up Reviews I promised last year, which, to recap, are the following movies: Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. These are not only the concluding chapters of what we now know as The Infinity Saga, but also the stepping stones for a new beginning, as Phase Four kicks off this year with the release of both Black Widow and The Eternals.

The Fast and the Furious franchise reviews will most likely also happen this year since the ninth installment in the main series is coming out. If not, it will be a certainty for next year because that’s apparently when the franchise will end.

I might also do Ghostbusters this year, since Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which is being touted as the proper third installment everyone wanted, releases this year. Having just said that, I should probably include the most recent attempt at reviving the franchise as well. That way, a proper context as to why they’re trying again so soon will have been established.

An absolute certainty is my most anticipated movie of the entire year: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. If you thought something like Inception played mind tricks on you, judging by the first trailer for this alone, this might actually top it.

However, it won’t stop there. There are plenty others I haven’t mentioned, and since it’s the beginning of a new decade, I figured why not just surprise everyone with the rest, and so starting this year, I’ll do just that.

With all that having been said, I’ll be back with my next review. What might that be? You’ll just have to wait and see, folks, so look forward to that soon, and I’ll see you there!

*I will just call it Birds of Prey throughout the review, including in the title. The full title is really only worth mentioning once, similar to how it’s been promoted, particularly in the TV spots. The full title is shown because it’s the logo, but only Birds of Prey is stated out loud in voiceover; I will take that same approach in reviewing it. I will even reiterate that when the time comes for me to do the review.