Mary Poppins Returns review

This isn’t a movie that was on my anticipation list, but it did catch my attention a bit lately with the trailer back in September and with all the awards buzz and talk it’s been getting. I haven’t watched the first Mary Poppins in years, but I was familiar with what occurred and knew about the character and world, so with all this, I was curious enough to see it and see what surprises it would give. I really enjoyed it. Was this a sequel that needed to occur? No. Was this fun to watch? Yes.

The original is definitely used as a blueprint to make this movie, and it’s very obvious in the structure of the story, as it follows very similar beats, though it mixes things a bit to give it a bit of a different flavor but very similar structure if that makes sense. So, if you are a fan of the original and want something similar with what you got before but with hints of something different, you will enjoy this movie. If you like musicals, especially upbeat, you will enjoy this. If you are expecting this to really shake the world of Mary Poppins and do something completely unexpected, then you are watching the wrong movie, though I don’t think many would go into this movie expecting that.

One aspect I really enjoyed was the design of the world, there were elements that reminded me of the Paddington movies (if you haven’t seen the 2^nd one, I strongly recommend checking it out). The design made the visit to this world very pleasant and it was very fun to watch. I also really enjoyed the animated sequence, as the animation reminded me of the original movie and it’s style of animation, so they stayed faithful to the time period and the animated world that was already established.

How is Emily Blunt in the title role character? I thought she was great. Keep in mind, don’t go in expecting a recap of what Julie Andrew established, instead Emily Blunt took the character and made it her own. I haven’t seen the original in years but I have seen enough recently to know there is definitely a difference in her take, but she does a great job and was fun to see her interact with the world around her. I also enjoyed all the other characters that popped up throughout the movie. I am surprised to see Angela Langsbury with a great voice even at her age, speaking of surprise, it was great to see Dick Van Dyke do some fun dance moves in the movie during his cameo, a big part of me wished he was kept a secret instead of advertising it, I think the cameo would have been more fun that way and would have caught everyone off guard instead of waiting for him to appear.

The best way to describe this movie is familiar but pleasant. I thought this was a good movie and I enjoyed my return to this world despite the fact it was so many years since my last visit there.

Movie releases during Christmas 2018

As you can tell, this Christmas has a ton of movies that have been released. You have a ton to choose from, from Aquaman to Mary Poppins Returns. The hard part is to choose what to go see. However, if you are me, you just go ahead and see all of them, but I am sure there are many of you that can only see one of two, so I am going to give a recap on each one to help you get an idea of what each one contains and the hard part, sort of ranking them, which will be mainly on preference here.

Let’s start with Spider Man Into The Spiderverse. This is my top pick of the Holiday season. This movie was excellent, the animation style was so unique, plus it had a great story and characters. I have already seen it twice and look forward to seeing it again, and yes that will make it my third time but this movie is worth so many views. I understand we have so many Spider Man movies already but this one gives us a fresh take on the character(s) and gives us a really awesome premise. This one is a must see, and based on the online reactions, it looks like everyone agrees. This one is my top pick to go see this Holiday season.

Believe it or not, Bumblebee is a breathe of fresh air after all the previous Transformers movies that were made with no real thought, and this one was made with care. From the director of Kubo and the Two Strings, Travis Knight comes in and adds heart to the story, and simply takes out the excess and simplifies the Transformers, it feels so much easier to follow, and you will find yourself caring about the characters and what they go through. This takes place in the 80s and does have the feel of an 80s movie. Honestly, overall this is a good movie with a heart and I do recommend checking it out, I worry this will probably not get as much attention but I think it’s worth checking out. 

If you want an insane fun spectacle with lots of action and tons of creative visuals with the feels of an Saturday morning cartoon, Aquaman is the movie for you. This movie was a blast from start to finish. The worlds we are taken to are just amazing, and you get a fun little treasure hunt adventure in the mix. In fact, I plan to check this one out in IMAX soon. I know DC doesn’t have a great track record, and even if you aren’t a fan of the DCEU and you like what I listed above, you will have fun. Also, you really don’t need to see the other DCEU movies to enjoy this, so I highly recommend checking this one out.

An iconic character returns after 55 years, though 25 in movie land, Mary Poppins Returns does have the feel of the old movie, and also does take the majority of the beats from the old movie as well, and gives you a few different variations, so this movie is somewhat new yet very familiar. Enjoying this movie comes down to how much you are a fan of the original and also if you really enjoy musicals, if those are your things, then check this out, you will have a good time. (I will post a full review soon)

The last one I want to bring up is Mortal Engines. Unfortunately, because of an already crowded season, this is one I say you could pass, the visuals are amazing and the idea of moving cities are really cool, and there is a lot of potential, but it seems like the great story isn’t fully realized, which is unfortunate as the visuals are really cool. If you are still interested in seeing this, then go ahead and check, but if this didn’t really interest you, then you can pass.

I do plan to see Welcome To Marwen soon, and when I do, I will share my thoughts. Also, if you want more thoughts on the movies I listed above, I posted individual reviews for each one as I saw them. Thank you for reading.

Aquaman review

My experiences with the DC movies have been interesting to say the least. Obviously the Dark Knight trilogy was great, and there were other good movies, but let’s focus on the DCEU, which started with Man of Steel back in 2013. I liked Man of Steel, it wasn’t anything mind blowing, but it was a good movie. Batman V Superman was frustrating. Suicide Squad was forgettable. Wonder Woman was a great movie, in fact my favorite movie of the DCEU at this time. And then Justice League was entertaining, but didn’t really leave much of an impact. After Justice League, I really wasn’t excited for any more DCEU films. That changed earlier this year when I saw one of the trailers for Aquaman and we were shown glimpses of Atlantis and what kind of movie we were getting, even the trailer in early October shot up my anticipation levels even more.

As a member of Amazon Prime, I was able to get tickets to an early screening tonight. This movie was a blast, a very fun entertaining movie. The biggest highlight for me was the visuals. We are treated to an amazing world here, a giant smile could be found on my face as we were taken down to the world of Atlantis and we did a fly through the world. This is a dream for anyone that wants an overload on visuals in a movie, whether a spectacular world to visit or a ton of inventive action that is fun to watch. Great job James Wan for creating an amazing visual experience that comes together in such a tremendously awesome way. We are also treated to an adventure story where we go to a few different locations besides Atlantis that makes the film so much fun to experience. Along with the visuals, we were given a soundtrack that was really fun to listen to.

With the visuals we are treated with, we are given really good performances. Jason Mamoa as Aquaman is great here and is totally making the role his own. Along with Aquaman, we are given a ton of great characters and everyone is having a ton of fun in their roles and add to the visuals. Honestly it felt great to see everyone feel like they are having a fun time in the DCEU, which feels very refreshing, it’s like they took notes from Wonder Woman and saw where to improve. The story won’t blow the doors down, but it will keep you engaged throughout the movie and will help to drive the experience and make it worth it.

My hope at this point is that the DCEU improves to the point that we are very excited for the next entry. With the trailer for Shazaam, it looks like the DCEU is starting to add more fun into their movies, I just hope they continue to get better. The question may be whether you have to watch the other DCEU movies to get ready this, the answer is no, you don’t have to see any of the other DCEU movies to enjoy this or follow what is going on, you just have to go in wanting to have a fun time at the movies. You will get amazing visuals with a fun set of characters and a story that is good. This movie comes in as highly recommended.

Mortal Engines review

Back in December 2017, we were introduced to a teaser for this movie. It was simply a couple of cities on wheels, one huge one was chasing down another one and simply capturing it and devouring it, it was produced by Peter Jackson and that was it, I was intrigued, but my desire to see this really grew when I saw the next trailer which debuted in June of this year, and I was hyped and really thought that this would be the next big franchise that would blow everyone’s minds, this trailer had amazing visuals and it just looked awesome.

Forward to when I saw this, and I still hope that if a sequel happens to occur that they will be able to fix the problems with this. So lets start with the good, the visuals. The design of this world was cool, the idea was very intriguing and cool to look at. Someone made the mention that it kind of reminded them of Howls Moving Castle, and while I was watching this world, I couldn’t help but think of elements of a world that would be designed by Miyazaki himself, the scope just felt amazing. The first third of the movie was very engaging, especially at the beginning of the movie when London chases down one of the smaller cities, how it was edited together, I was just blown away, and at first I was thinking why were people panning this movie.

As the movie started to progress through the second half, I was starting to see the problems with the movie that everyone mentioned, how the dialogue had issues and how there were issues with pacing and the construction of the story. Keep in mind, I didn’t hate the story, or the script or the pacing, I recognized why they were problematic here. I was still able to enjoy this movie and had a fun time watching it, but I will admit by the time the third act of the movie was occurring, it was starting to lose steam and it wasn’t as entertaining as the first and second act of the movie were.

So the next question would be how are the characters in the movie. They were alright I guess, I felt they had potential, there was one character that was super awesome, Anna Fang. I thought the characters had a good set up at the beginning and had potential to have really great arcs, but then it just seemed like with everything else it started to lose steam. This movie had a great premise and a great set up that I think if they took more time to work out the kinks in the story and characters, I really think this could have been an amazing movie.

Overall, I am very glad I saw this on the big screen. If you go in recognizing that this movie has big flaws and are here for the visual feast, then I do think you can go into this movie and have a great time, but don’t go in expecting a story that will blow you away, just expect the visuals to do that, and they did and I was satisfied for that reason.

Bumblebee review

Let me start with my history with the Transformers movies that were directed by Michael Bay. I really liked the first one, it was a very fun blockbuster. The second one was entertaining when it was released, though it is not a good movie at all. The third one made an attempt to improve, it felt like there was effort to be decent. The fourth and fifth one were just forgettable, the fourth I was just sitting there just hoping the movie would end. I was basically done with the Transformers movies after the fifth one (well, actually the fourth one, but I was kind enough to give the fifth one a shot). I didn’t think much about the Bumblebee prequel when I first heard about it, but my interest peaked when I heard that Travis Knight was directing it, the one who directed Kubo and the Two Strings a couple of years ago, then I saw the first trailer and it just seemed like a more simple movie that looked to actually be good and nothing overdone. So, when the most recent trailer came out in September, I started to become excited.

I got to see the movie during their early screenings to the public on Saturday. This movie was actually a breathe of fresh air for so many reasons. First off, this movie actually had heart, there were characters that you actually cared about, and there were moments in the movie that I just sat there and was taken back by the fact that there was good character development in a Transformers movie. Another aspect that was refreshing was that the crude humor that somehow makes it’s way into the previous installments were no where to be found, and I was so happy to find that this movie was not plagued in it.

One thing that this movie did was to dial back in the amount of characters in the story. If you remember all the other Transformers movies, there were so many characters that it became hard to follow who was who and in fact when it came time for the action sequences, it was really hard to follow a lot of the time. This one, there was action that was great but it wasn’t overwhelming and the designs of the characters felt so much nicer and it felt so much easier to follow who was fighting who. When the movie opens up on Cybertron at the beginning of the movie, it felt like it took us back to the 80s cartoon series, and it was great. This movie felt more simple, and by making it more simple, it felt like it took time to develop the characters, to help us understand them and feel for them, especially Bumblebee, who was more likeable than in the last couple of installments.

Travis Knight really seemed to care about the source material and really took the time to give us something that truly mattered. You will hear that this movie felt like an 80s movie, and not just in the setting but also in the feel of the movie, and they are right, it actually felt like a movie that could have been made in the 80s. With this Holiday season, I could see this movie being overlooked, but if you can find the time, I do recommend it, whether you are a Transformers fan, or whether you just want a good movie to take your family to, I think this movie is worth seeing.

As I continue to see the movies coming out this Holiday season, I will post my reviews on this blog. Stay tuned.

Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse review

This movie was high on my anticipation list for this year, especially after the glorious teaser that dropped last December. I wasn’t familiar with all the different variations of Spider Man out there before this, but this just looked awesome and this was the new kind of Spider Man movie I wanted to see. Forward to today when I got to check out a special screening of it, and wow was this incredible.

I am going to do my best to not go into spoilers here as I want to leave this movie fresh for everyone when they get to see it next week. If this movie wasn’t high on your list because it looked weird or that it was another Spider Man or whatever, I urge you to put this at the top of your to go see list next week, it is that excellent.

A little explanation of the animation, it is to mirror a comic book come to life, and wow was it spectacular, every scene was just gorgeous to look at. I had one of those personal pizzas while watching this and I did not want to eat it because I wanted to keep my eyes on the screen because how gorgeous the animation was. If you have been watching the trailers, you can already tell how amazing the animation is. There is nothing else like this, kudos to the team that worked really hard to get this right, every frame in this movie is a work of art.

When it comes to the story, it works great despite the fact that there are all these different versions of Spider Man, yes despite the fact that there are many different versions of Spider Man, the story works great. The focus is mainly on Miles Morales and how he becomes Spider Man, also there is the Kingpin who builds a collider to open a portal to other dimensions, which basically brings a ton of different Spider people into Miles’s dimension. That is all I am going to say here about the story, yes that sounds like a ton of stuff already but trust me it all works great together and they balance it perfectly. Speaking of Spider people, the characters are great, and when they come together, there is a ton of magic that occurs, the interactions are so much fun and…..man this is just an excellent movie, seriously, you just need to experience this movie for yourself.

This is easily the best animated movie of the year, and also one of my top Spider Man movies as well. I am seriously hoping that everyone gives this movie a shot and checks it out, I really think no one will regret it, this is just an excellent movie, and is a fun movie for the fans, for the family, for the nerds, for just anyone. I really hope this is a box office hit because this is a movie I would love to see a sequel to in the future. I heard that they are working on sequels in the future, and I hope that these do happen. This movie will easily be on my top 10 list of the year when I publish it after this month.

One more thing, this movie does feature a Stan Lee cameo, I won’t say where it is and what the contents of this cameo are, but it is a great cameo and works perfectly. Go see this movie, it is worth it.

Thank You Stan Lee! We Will Miss You!

As many of you already heard, Stan Lee passed away at the age of 95 earlier today. While we knew this was going to happen, that doesn’t make it easier with the fact that this is sad news. I really wasn’t aware of the impact he had on my childhood until later. I did not grow up reading comic books, but I was first introduced to X Men and Spider Man when I was about 9 years old, through cartoon shows and video games. When I was 14, the X Men movie came out in theaters and that was the beginning of the comic book movie craze, so while I didn’t read comic books, I did watch these movies as I am a big movie buff. When I was 16 the first Spider Man movie came out and that continued to make a difference. When Spider Man 3 came out I started to take notice of his cameos, and started to notice the man responsible for these characters, and with the formation of Marvel Studios, I realized how big these stories are and how many characters there are at Marvel. 

Despite all the fame, I was always great to learn how thankful he was for his fans, and within the last few years he would make it to many conventions and premieres or other events. There is a video where he told his fans that he didn’t consider them as his fans but his very good friends. 

I enjoyed all his cameos in each Marvel movie. I also got a kick out of his cameo in Teen Titans Go To The Movies, as it was not expected, and it seemed like he was getting a kick out of his cameo in that. Below are my top 5 cameos from Stan Lee

1. Spider Man Homecoming

2. Spider Man 3

3. Captain America Winter Soldier

4. Thor Ragnarok 

5. Ant Man and the Wasp

Runner Ups: Big Hero 6, Avengers Infinity War, Captain America Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

At the end of the day, I just want to say thank you Stan Lee for everything you have given us. These big superhero movies, the formation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all these wonderful stories, are all because of Stan Lee. Thank you.

Movies Coming out in Last Quarter of 2018

As we begin the last quarter of 2018, it looks like we will have some really good movies in store for us. I thought it would be fun to put together a list of the ones I am most looking forward to, along with others that I have a little anticipation for, and some that may not be too interesting for me but might grab your attention. Again, this is just my list and next to each movie I provide the anticipation level for each movie to show how much I am really looking forward to it.

-Venom (October 5) – Anticipation level: High

Thoughts: This really wasn’t an anticipated movie for me for a long time, don’t get me wrong I think the characters seemed cool and it would be awesome to see how he could turn out on the big screen (especially after how poor he was done in Spider Man 3). One of the detracts is how it is separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but somehow it is part of the world of Spider Man Homecoming. Regardless, I think Tom Hardy is a great actor and I think he will do the character justice. I am also interested to see how the Spiderverse could expand, as I think the Spider Man universe has a lot of cool characters.

-First Man (October 12) – Anticipation level: Ecstatic

Thoughts: From the director of La La Land, we get our next movie from him. This and even Whiplash were very good movies, and very well crafted, and I always like to see movies about space travel, so yes this is a must see for me. Also, it recently got great reviews at one of the most recent film festivals so that is enough to tell me that this director has crafted another masterpiece. There are also suppose to be a few shots that were shot using IMAX cameras and so I plan to check this out on an IMAX screen opening night.

-Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (October 12) – Anticipation level: Medium to High

Thoughts: I actually really enjoyed the first movie three years ago, it was a fun Halloween movie with a bit of creepiness but with a bit of an adventure vibe. I feel like this is a repeat of that and it could be a ton of fun. A big plus is that Jack Black is returning and he added a sense of fun to the movie.

-Johnny English Strikes Again (October 26) – Anticipation level: Low

Thoughts: I actually haven’t seen the other Johnny English movies so I don’t know how this franchise is, but the fact that this is the third sequel, and I think the actor is pretty funny at physical comedy, I may take a look and see if this is something worth looking into.

-Bohemian Rhapsody (November 2) – Anticipation level: Low

Thoughts: This isn’t on my must see list at all, but I like the song in the trailer (which Wayne and company play while driving at the beginning of Wayne’s World) and it is a popular song, and I don’t know a lot about the group. While it would be cool to learn a bit about them, I am going to wait to see how everyone reacts to it first.

-Nutcracker and the Four Realms (November 2) – Anticipation level: Medium

Thoughts: I don’t know how everyone feels, but the first trailer had a bit of a vibe of Alice in Wonderland, the Tim Burton version, to me that’s okay because I liked it when it first came out, and this could at least be visually appealing. Also, it looks like they have some good actors involved. We will see how this is when it comes out.

-The Grinch (November 9) – Anticipation level: Medium

Thoughts: The original cartoon version is a good one, the Jim Carrey version is not. One thing I can admit, I feel this could be a nice palette cleanser after the Jim Carrey version. The trailers make the movie seem like it could be a ton of fun, so we will have to see. I also have to add this, but with this movie coming out, they will release a new Blu-Ray release of the original Grinch cartoon, and this time around, we are actually getting a new release of another cartoon that I enjoyed as a kid, “Halloween is Grinch Night”.

-Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (November 16) – Anticipation level: Ecstatic

Thoughts: The first one for the spinoff Harry Potter series was enjoyable a couple of years back, I got to admit I have not seen it since theaters, but I do want to rewatch and be ready for this. I also feel this movie gives me an excuse to start going through the Harry Potter movies again, as it’s been a while since I last saw them. Also, we get a younger version of Professor Dumbledoor which will be nice to see. I am sure this will deliver the same amount of fun that the first one brought. Also, did you see the most recent trailer, which I thought was great.

-Creed II (November 23) – Anticipation level: High

Thoughts: The first Creed movie three years ago was a surprise for me and this has Adonis Creed take on the son of Ivan Drago. If you don’t remember, Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed in Rocky 4. There were elements that helped trace the first Creed movie back to the original Rocky series, so I am hoping that this delivers.

-Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet (November 23) – Anticipation level: Ecstatic

Thoughts: Wreck It Ralph was a great movie 6 years ago, and I am more than excited with the fact that they are returning to this world for a sequel. Also, I have really enjoyed the trailers they have given us so far, especially one of the more recent trailers where we had that scene with all the Disney princesses, I really like that they got the majority of the original actresses to come back and voice these characters. I am still hoping that they will bring some more video game characters into the mix. Regardless, I am looking forward to checking this out, and I am sure many others will be as well, might need to get my tickets ahead of time.

Green Book (November 21) – Anticipation level: Medium

Thoughts: Ever since the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I really haven’t seen Viggo Mortensen in much, he was in Hidalgo and some smaller films, but what has shocked me is that he appears in movies where he is barely recognizable, this is one of those. Recently watched the trailer and it looks intriguing, and it looks like it’s got a good story behind it.

-Mortal Engines (December 14) – Anticipation level: High

Thoughts: Peter Jackson is producing this movie, and I really like the world that the trailers have given us so far, so I am hoping that this movie delivers. This is based on a book series that I have not read so I won’t be able to compare, but the world looks cool so there is hope.

-Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (December 14) – Anticipation level: Ecstatic

Thoughts: I first heard about this movie this past December when they gave us the first teaser, and I could tell right from then that this was going to be something unique. The most recent trailer during the early part of the summer only increased my desire to see this. This has so many cool ideas and I like the look of it. The story focuses on Miles Morales when he encounters Peter Parker as a middle aged Spider Man, and finds out he is from a different universe, the Spiderverse refers to a multiverse, and there are going to be different types of Spider Men, including Spider Gwen. My anticipation is sky high.

-Mary Poppins Returns (December 19) – Anticipation level: Medium to High

Thoughts: I originally had this as low, but the most recent trailer actually really caught my eye, and my anticipation level raised quite a bit. This looks like this could be a good movie, they have a ton of good actors involved and it looks like it has a fair amount of magic that can make the experience more pleasant. Who knows, this could become one of those where my anticipation grows as it gets closer.

-Bumblebee (December 21) – Anticipation level: Medium to High

Thoughts: Okay, if this were directed by Michael Bay, my anticipation level would be extremely low, so let me explain why this is fairly high. First off, Travis Knight, who directed Kubo and the Two Strings two years ago, will direct this. Second, I saw the trailer released a few months ago and it was actually pretty good, and the most recent trailer just got me more excited. This looks like to simplify everything and give us a good story, and a classic nostalgic Transformers movie. Will it deliver, only time will tell, but with Travis Knight in the director’s chair, I am certainly hoping so.

-Holmes and Watson (December 21?) – Anticipation level: Low

Thoughts: I didn’t know this was going to be a movie until recently. I recently watched the trailer and simple way to put it, if you are a fan of Will Ferrell and John C Reiley as a duo, you will get a kick out of this movie, the best part of the trailer was John C Reiley trying to shoot killer bees. Personally, I am waiting for Robert Downey Jr to return to the role in the future (fingers crossed we get another one of those movies in the near future). A cool note, it looks like Ralph Fiennes will be playing Moriarty, which I think is a great choice.

-Welcome to Marwen (December 21) – Anticipation level: Medium

Thoughts: It is directed by Robert Zemeckis, who has brought us a lot of great movies, while I am not super certain of this movie at this time, I do like the story it tells. Steve Carell plays an artist who was brutally attacked and nearly made it out with his life, and now he is trying to recover, and one of the ways he is able to confront these difficult situations that he has faced, he creates toy figures which becomes a way for him to tell a story in his mind that allows him to confront his fears. It does look interesting but we will have to wait to see if it delivers. Check out the 2^nd trailer and see for yourself.

-Aquaman (December 21) – Anticipation level: High

Thoughts: So far, the only DCEU movie that I really liked was Wonder Woman, and I also liked Man of Steel, the other ones were not that great. I saw the trailer for this and it looks pretty cool, so I am hoping that this will be an enjoyable movie that will bring more hope into the DCEU that it desperately needs right now.

So this is my anticipated list. I guarantee I missed out on many, and I am sure there will be ones that aren’t on this list that will become surprise hits, but we will have to wait to see what those are when they come out.

Summer of movies 2018

Another summer has gone by, and so that means time for me to go over the movies that we got this summer and share what was the most impacting to what was most underwhelming. So here is my review of the movies this summer, and again, this is just what I saw and not everything that came out.

Most memorable

-Avengers Infinity War – The one we have been waiting a long time for. I remember when The Avengers came out in 2012, and I thought it couldn’t get any bigger than that, well now it has. This was an incredible movie going experience on so many levels, not only for the action, but for the emotional impact, either you were crying or in shock at the end, I was in shock, and that made waiting for Avengers 4 (title eventually to be announced) more painful. I was excited for Infinity War, but now I am counting down till the next chapter (8 months to go).

-Mission Impossible: Fallout – It’s rare for a sixth entry in a series to not only be amazing, but possibly be one of the best entries in the series. I haven’t decided if this is my new favorite or second favorite, I still really like Ghost Protocol the best for now, but I am waiting to see if that changes for this in the future. This was a great movie going experience, I also made sure that my first showing for the movie was an IMAX showing and I am so glad I did that, the last sequence of the movie was filmed with IMAX cameras and it made the difference. This also involves my favorite use of cinematography in the whole series, every shot is gorgeous, and it has some incredible action sequences, probably some of the best in the series. Also, I really like the soundtrack in this. If you have not seen this, I strongly recommend seeing this in a theater if you still can. If you miss it, then I say this has a great reason to upgrade to get an UHDTV (4K, the next big thing).

-The Incredibles 2 – After 14 years of waiting, we finally got the sequel to The Incredibles. The fair question is if it was worth the wait, and I say yes, I think there was a great story that was told in this. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is Mr Incredible staying home watching the kids when his wife goes to save the world. This takes him out of his comfort zone and where he looks down on the responsibility at first, but eventually he learns the importance of his role as a father. I really appreciated that message about family, and I appreciate Brad Bird taking the time to make sure that the story was right to do before giving a sequel to a beloved film. The show stealer is Jack Jack of course, and my favorite parts is when he fights off the raccoon and also with Edna.

-Won’t You Be My Neighbor – This wasn’t really on my list of movies to see, but I saw a lot of good word of mouth that I became curious, so I checked it out. I was glad to see it. Okay, this wasn’t a movie that made going to the movies fun, but this was something I appreciated the crew going out of their way to make. This explores the life of the man who created the show Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I didn’t watch the show much as a kid but I totally remembered it. Despite the fact, this left an impact and allowed me to reflect my actions around others and those around me and how they affected me to be the person that I am today. I encourage you to check this one out as it will leave an impact with you.

Other great summer flicks

-Crazy Rich Asians – This recently got a lot of buzz, so I became curious and decided to check it out, and I am glad I did. This featured a lot of great shots and locations to look at. As well, this featured a very good story, this story wasn’t new but just how it was crafted was something I appreciated. All the performances were great, everyone from the newcomers to seasoned, and some in between. This is something that is really worth your time checking out.  

-Ant Man and the Wasp – After the insanity of Infinity War, it was nice to get a movie that was more fun and light hearted. This takes place a couple of years after the events of Civil War, and shortly before Infinity War (almost during), and it deals with Scott Lang waiting to get out of house arrest, but then things happen and boom this is where the story starts, and when it starts, it keeps going until the end. There were plenty of laughs and fun. I have to point this out as others pointed it out, but many of the Marvel movies focus on saving the world or the galaxy or the universe, this movie focuses on saving a couple of individuals. And after all the fun, we get an amazing mid credit sequences.

-The Meg – A movie about a giant shark that is actually fun to watch, count me in. I was shocked to find out this was more fun than I anticipated it to be. This is how I would describe the movie, Jaws on steroids with late 90s action movies thrown in the mix. This is honestly the perfect summer movie if you just want to go enjoy a big budget action movie with the fun and excitement and don't have to do a lot of thinking. I also liked how some of the mini submarines looked like those little spaceships in the Phantom Menace (yes the movie isn’t that good, but the designs for some of the stuff was pretty cool, like the spaceships). Also, it featured a lot of fun dialogue, you actually get Jason Statham saying Dory's famous phrase "Just keep swimming".

Enjoyable

-Teen Titans Go To The Movies – I had no desire to see this. I started to see some of the original cartoon show from 2003 last year, and still working to watch it all, but anytime I saw clips of Teen Titans Go, I was never impressed, and with the trailer for the movie, my first thought was it should be fine for the kids but I won’t bother seeing it. Once I saw it was getting good reviews, my curiosity hit it’s peak and I decided to go check this out, and I was laughing quite a bit, in fact I think there was a good 5 to 10 minutes where I couldn’t stop laughing.

-Christopher Robin – Winnie the Pooh is someone that many are familiar with, while we may not have watched it all the time, we knew the characters and loved aspects of them. What stuck out about this is that I remember watching a few of the cartoons of Winnie The Pooh when I was Christopher Robins age when he was a kid. To be an adult now like Christopher Robin is in this movie and then rediscovering these characters after not really watching them for a long time, it had that sense of feeling of trying to rediscover that magic from when I was younger. I wasn't a big Winnie the Pooh fan growing up, but there was always a sense of charm whenever I thought of these characters, and seeing these characters all these years later that sense of charm transfer over. 

-Solo: A Star Wars Story – I am among those that liked The Last Jedi, and yes I am aware that there are those that are on the opposite side of the coin, but regardless, I wasn’t really ready for another Star Wars movie so soon, and plus this wasn’t one that was high on my list, besides the behind the scenes drama. The trailer came out and I was intrigued, and then it arrived in theaters, and I had a fun time watching this. I didn’t think this was a mind blowing movie, but I don’t think it was suppose to be, it was meant to be a fun little adventure. I also thought the performances were good. So yes, this one actually surprised me.

-Oceans Eight – Eleven years ago, we were given the conclusion to the Oceans Trilogy, though I thought we could get another one after that, but after the passing of Bernie Mac who was one of the members of the team, it seemed like the world moved on. Then they announce that they would do a spin off with an all female cast, and I liked who they got. It arrived in theaters, and I enjoyed it, I don’t think it was anything fantastic, but it was an enjoyable movie that I think was worth seeing, and the cast did a great job.

Watch Once, then move on

-Kin – What, you didn’t hear of this? Don’t worry, I don’t think many did, the first thing that stood out to me was the teaser poster, just the colors looked cool and it caught my eye. I saw the trailer, and I thought “sure, why not, I will check it out”. I got to see it opening night, and it wasn’t anything remarkable, but it was an okay movie, and there were aspects that I liked more than others. The gun was awesome, in fact all the sci-fi elements were cool. The story was okay, it progressed the movie, there were complaints it felt like two different movies, and I agree with that complaint, but I was glad to see this. Also, what was cool was that it was an original story which was refreshing, okay so the elements weren’t new but this wasn’t a sequel or a remake, it was something different.

-Skyscraper – This isn’t a movie I really remember much about, I saw it almost a couple of months ago when it came out, it looked interesting, but I have to be honest, I really enjoyed it as I was watching it, yeah we saw this kind of movie quite a few times, but seeing The Rock take on a skyscraper, why not, that was enough for me to make it to theaters. There were moments that it did keep me on the edge of my seat. I thought this was at least worth a one time watch, but in a cheap seat (do those still exist?) or Redbox.

-Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – First things first, I was not looking forward to this, I kept having Lost World vibes when I saw the trailer, and unfortunately, when I saw the movie, I couldn’t help but get those vibes. Regardless of the story being nothing great, there were quite a few thrills that I was entertained by. I did not consider this movie a waste of time, while this probably isn’t one I would rewatch again and again, I still had enough fun to see it at least once and get some good thrills out of.

Major disappointment

-Fireworks – The first time I learned of this movie was earlier this year when GKids announced they got the rights to distribute it here in the states, I saw the poster (which looked really nice) and the words “from the producer of Your Name”, and I was intrigued. I made sure that I would see this the night it came out, and it was only a limited release of a few days. I saw it and at the end I was disappointed. I thought some of the visuals were good, but that was about it, and the visuals were not enough for me to be that impressed. Last year, we got a couple of great movies from Japan, Your Name and A Silent Voice, and I actually enjoyed Mary and the Witch’s Flower earlier this year, so I was hoping for something good. I walked out of the movie trying to figure out what was the point of the movie was. This was a major disappointment, and didn’t even come close to matching what made Your Name or A Silent Voice great.


So that wraps up Summer of 2018, and we head into Fall and Winter of 2018, which looks to have a lot of movies that should be great. I can't wait to see what great ones we get. 

Personal Ranking of Mission Impossible movies

This has been an intriguing franchise to watch all these years. The most interesting part about it is how it has gone in many different directions, and how for the most part each movie is not the same. Sure, some story elements can be the same for some movies, but the direction they explore these elements can change quite a bit, especially with the fact that the director has changed with each movie. What is more awesome, is how they push insane action and also how they will attempt to push for more practical effects as opposed to digital effects. I am very grateful for digital effects, especially for movies like Doctor Strange, but there is still something very special about doing the movies in real time and using practical effects, that is a process that has always captivated my imagination, and one of my favorite aspects about film-making. Also, it is great to see Tom Cruise attempt to wow us with some amazing stunt work, from jumping onto another building, dangling from an airplane that is taking off, and to climbing the world’s tallest building, he will do anything to wow the audience.

Since the Mission Impossible franchise is about to get it’s sixth entry, I decided to go back and re-watch all the previous movies to prepare for the experience of the newest movie. I decided I wanted to take the time and rank the movies. As always, this list reflects my opinion. Enjoy:

5. Mission Impossible 2 – This is probably a no surprise for anyone, as this is more likely at the bottom of everyone’s lists. Ironically, this was the first Mission Impossible movie I saw all the way through, and in theaters. Obviously one of the weaker and more unusual entries in the series, it is very stylized and doesn’t have the same things that makes the rest of the entries great. I have to give quick props that it does do something a bit different than the rest of the series, while that something wasn’t very good, it did attempt. I do really like the music in this. A crazy stunt in this is when the bad guy tries to stab Ethan Hunt and he is millimeters from stabbing his eye, they put a camera in the knife so they could stop it at the right moment.

4. Mission Impossible – The one that started it all. It was interesting going back to re-watch this and to think where the series has gone since then. A lot of great cast members here like Emilio Estivez who is the computer hacker at the beginning of the movie, and also Jean Reno who joins Ethan Hunt’s team during the second half of the movie. As well, we have Jon Voight playing Jim Phelps, and for those who don’t know, Jim Phelps was the main character in the original, and so I think this is suppose to be him many years later, I won’t go into too much of his character here since it does involve giving off spoilers to the movie, but still worth a watch. One of the big highlights is when they go to CIA Headquarters to steal the NOC list, and Ethan Hunt is hanging off a rope and has to be very careful to not trigger any of the alarms which is done through sound and touch. It’s funny to watch a lot of the technology and to see some of it dated today as opposed to how we have it now.

3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – This and the second on this list tend to switch on occasion as both are really good. This was directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who directed Jack Reacher which was a big surprise in 2012. This involves the Syndicate, which is basically an Anti-IMF, and just seeing the pieces come together and how it was formed and everyone’s involvement and all made this great to see. This is one that I saw in theaters opening weekend, and didn’t think highly of when I first saw it but it has gotten better as I re-watched it over the years. Rebecca Ferguson’s character has been a great addition to the team, and especially as I was sitting there trying to figure out who’s side she was really on, there were moments that I was just sitting there and second guessing it all. I also really liked the sequence where Ethan Hunt needed to switch out the card in an underwater tank to allow Benji to make it through without getting caught, and just how intense that scene got, and of course we can’t forget the scene at the beginning of the movie with Ethan Hunt hanging on the door of the airplane trying to get in. I think the finale was very good, just how it approaches solving the problem in a different way which has made this very intriguing, and I would say probably one of my favorite finales in this series, it was about outsmarting the villain.

2. Mission Impossible 3 – If I am not mistaken, I think this was JJ Abrams first attempt at directing a film, and it is very impressive. I really like the story of Ethan Hunt having a relationship and how that drives a lot of his decisions, and it really helps to boost his determination, especially near the end when he needs to retrieve the Rabbit’s Foot. We did see him fall in love in Mission Impossible 2, but this relationship felt more genuine than that one did. Of course the biggest highlight of the movie is the villain, portrayed by the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, if anyone in this series won the award for best villain, it would be him. I was watching a documentary on the DVD for this movie and he even mentioned that he didn’t see the character as a villain…..but instead as a maniac, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman sold that description perfectly, especially how he tells Ethan that he is going to kill his wife right in front of him, and just how chilling that is (honestly his portrayal as antagonists in various films, especially this, made it very difficult to buy his portrayal as a good guy in Hunger Games Catching Fire). I do have to bring up this, but an overlooked insane action sequence in this movie that is crazy intense is when Ethan drops the Rabbit’s Foot on the streets of Shanghai, and you have the cars just driving normal speed, and the team’s van stops millimeters right in front of Ethan’s face, Tom Cruise wanted everyone to drive the normal speed and not slow down to make it feel genuine, talk about insanity to get a shot for a movie. This one is totally worth checking out.

1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – This is my favorite entry in the series. This was Brad Brid’s first attempt at directing live action after directing classic animated movies like The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, and he does a superb job. They also shot some of the sequences using IMAX cameras, so when this arrived in theaters, I made sure I made the effort to see this on an IMAX screen, and it was totally worth it. The most insane stunt was to see Ethan Hunt climb the outside of one of the world’s tallest buildings, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. They use the IMAX cameras to film that scene, and when watching it on the IMAX screen kept me on the edge of my seat, just making sure that he doesn’t fall off. I actually remember watching it the first time and when Ethan is trying to cut through the glass and it fails and pushes him back and he falls a few feet before getting a grip back on the glass with his special gloves, I remember knocking over my drink because of how much that shocked me and just hoping he doesn’t fall to the ground. This is my favorite entry because of the larger than life aspect of the entire movie, and just the adventure aspect of this movie, they go through many locations, from the Kremlin to Dubai to Mumbai and many other locations in between. One of the complaints I have is the villains feeling weaker than the other entries, but the team working with each other makes up for it. However, I heard a suggestion from a critic that the real antagonist of this movie is not the people but instead, it’s the situations they were placed in, and you think  about it, it actually makes sense, all of their tech malfunctions on a consistent basis, and they are on the clock of failing just about each time, until the very end, nothing really works perfectly beforehand, honestly the situation or timing being more of the perfect villain actually works, but of course you can’t beat a madman like Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s character.

With the sixth entry out this weekend, I will be interested to see where it fits in my list. I will for sure share my thoughts on the movie when I see it. Thank you for reading.

Willow - 30th Anniversary

On May 19, 1988, the movie Willow came out in theaters. Since this is one of my favorite movies, I wanted to do a post on this. My purpose here is not to talk about how the movie got made, but talk about my experiences with it, and also how it affected the industry as a whole. As well, I would like to talk about things that I would like to see from the 30^th Anniversary.

The first time I discovered Willow was when I was 5 or 6 years old, I was living in Brampton Ontario, which is up in Canada. Me and my older sister were at home with a babysitter and he put that movie on, I did not watch it all at the time, but I remember coming in at certain parts throughout the movie and just being mesmerized at the parts I was seeing. Later on when I would go back and recheck it out, I was just blown away by this world that was presented, something about this world ignited my imagination to new territories. I discovered this movie before I discovered Star Wars. This movie throughout the early part of my childhood was not something I would watch every single night or anything like that, but it stood out to me on a consistent basis. Also, the movie featured the best demise for a villain ever.

When I learned about DVD, and that all my entire childhood that I was getting only half the picture when I was watching the movie on VHS, I began to wonder how much of the picture I was missing all the years I was watching it as a kid. Then in late 2001, Willow finally arrived on DVD and I got to experience Willow in a new way with the entire picture, I was so excited. I felt that I could experience Willow in the way it was meant to be seen, in 2.35 aspect ratio. Also with the DVD came a few extra features which allowed me to see some behind the scenes work. The biggest surprise was to learn that one of the visual effects was a groundbreaking achievement that helped pave the way for computer generation work. A simple way to put it, all the great visual effects that can be done on the computer today are partially thanks to this movie. The sequence in question is when Willow must transform Raziel back into a human, she is currently a goat near the last half an hour of the movie and so he must use the spell he was taught to transform her into a human, and as he does so, she is transformed into many different animals until she is finally back into her human form. This sequence used a technology that was not yet created at the time. The only idea they had was to fuse images together, it would scan the pictures into the computer and then would program various aspects of the picture to transform from one animal to another. If you look up the featurette “From Morf to Morphing”, you can learn how they developed the technology and how it affected things from that point on. This technology helped evolve digital effects and amazing effects like in Terminator 2: Judgement Day back in the day, and would continue to push the digital effects industry.

 

When the 25^th Anniversary took place five years ago, the movie was re-released on Blu-Ray, which of course I bought, no questions asked. The movie was restored and the picture was great to look at, as they took time to make the picture look great for high definition, and even added a few new extra features on top of what they already added for the DVD. Unfortunately, it appears the movie was discontinued on Blu-Ray, so if you were trying to find it on Blu-Ray, you would not be able to as easily, and it would be expensive to get a copy. So for the 30^th Anniversary, that would be my first big recommendation, to re-release it on Blu-Ray, or even 4K Ultra HD. If they restore the picture yet again for 4K, I will buy a new copy, especially if they add any new extra features. I think they could do a lot of cool for the 30^th Anniversary, so I will take time to put my wish list on what I would like to see. It would make sense that not all of these would happen, but a few of these could and would be awesome. Anyway, here you go:

-A 30^th Anniversary release of the movie on 4K Ultra HD or Blu-Ray with a 4K restoration of the film. Even include new bonus features including a documentary on the whole making of process of the movie, cover from how the movie started in pre-production, and how some more of the practical effects were made, how certain shots were completed, and how the scoring session for the movie was done by the late James Horner. Also talk about the legacy of the movie, especially after all these years and how it’s still remembered by many fans, and the impact it had.

-a new 2 disc CD of the original soundtrack of Willow, it will feature of the score done by James Horner. They could even do an isolated score on the Blu-Ray.

-A Visual History book of Willow. If you are familiar with the Visual History series of books like Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Labyrinth, or Dark Crystal, then you should know what I am talking about. This would be a great way to get a bunch of sketches or photos or anything from the production of the movie.

-Re-release the comics that were released at the time the movie came out and include them in a new graphic novel. If I am not mistaken, Marvel released a few issues in comic book form to promote the movie. They could even do a new limited comic book series that touches on other aspects of the world of Willow, like the backstory of Madmartigan, or even on the feud between Bavmorda and Raziel, or even the story of the brownies. It could be a 4 to 6 issue mini series that would be cool to get.

-a new board game to get our hands on, or even re-release the old video games, like Willow on the NES, or the arcade version of the game that could be ported to an SNES cartridge. The SNES cartridge sounds like a bizarre idea but I have seen companies reproduce old game cartridges for old systems, so this could be done. But of course the easiest way is to make it available to buy and download as a digital version for the Nintendo online store or something like that.

After 30 years, there are fans like me that have been affected by this movie. It still holds a special place in my heart, and I still enjoy visiting the world of Willow every time I put the movie on. I hope they try to do something special with the movie for it’s 30^th Anniversary and don’t let this moment pass by.

Where Do We Go After Infinity War? (SPOILERS)

I waited to write this to give everyone time to see the movie. Before I dive into spoilers and where everything could go after Infinity War, I want to give my quick spoiler free reaction. It’s very simple, it’s incredible and you should see it, especially if you are a Marvel fan. If you haven’t seen it, drop everything and head over to the theater.

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Okay, I presume if you are still reading, you have seen it. This was an epic event, I got to experience it on an IMAX screen opening night, and it was totally worth it. Right off the back, one of the concerns on our minds was if juggling too many characters would be too high of a risk and it wouldn’t work out the way they were hoping it would. The good thing with Marvel is that they have been building to this, and they have experimented with many heroes in the past, like the first Avengers. They took their time to build it, and because they proved themselves with different approaches including team ups, I was confident they would succeed, still concerned but confident.

I want to take time to address my thoughts on big questions that came up during the movie. Some are confirmed, others are pure speculation:

Why can’t Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk? 

There are ideas, but the one that really stood out to me was that the last time he was on Earth, he basically did a ton of damage to an entire city in Age of Ultron, in fact if you remember they had a warrant for his arrest for the damage he did, which was when he was under the influence of Scarlett Witch when she was working for Ultron. At the end of the movie, when Black Widow was trying to get Hulk back, Hulk just shuts her off and flies away, and we find out he makes it to Sakaar, and there is a quote from Hulk which stands out, “Earth hates Hulk”. Though Thor tries to convince him otherwise, Hulk does think this and when you think about the destruction that he has done, it probably is hard for Hulk to make an appearance when they are on Earth. This will be one thing that will be fixed in the next one I am sure.

Where is Hawkeye?

Simple answer…..he was playing Tag……okay I am kidding, but Jeremy Remner has a movie called Tag coming out later this summer. The Russo brothers have confirmed that he is on a secret mission, and that is why he isn’t found during Infinity War, and also he was under house arrest when he cut a deal with the government to protect his family. Scott Lang (Ant Man) did the same thing, and there is more to his story (more on that later). I feel there will be more to Hawkeye’s story in where he was at, especially that Nick Fury and Maria Hill were about to contact him when the insanity started to take place.

Is Gamora trapped in the Soul World? 

This theory has been confirmed by the Russo brothers themselves, they explained that Gamora is trapped in the Soul World, which is why after Thanos snapped his fingers, he was transported to the Soul World and he was able to see her as a child. I think her presence will play a big part in Avengers 4.

What possibility did Doctor Strange see that would make him give up the Time Stone? 

If you remember throughout the movie, Doctor Strange refused to give up the Time Stone, and vowed to protect it, it was brought up so many times, but when they were on Titan, Doctor Strange looked into the future to find over 14 million possibilities and only one of them was where they were successful. At the moment when Thanos was about to kill Iron Man, Doctor Strange was willing to give up the Time Stone. When Doctor Strange was about to turn to ash, he told Tony that this was the only way. We aren’t sure if Doctor Strange revealed the plan to Tony Stark or if he had him try to figure it out for himself, but if anything, it’s clear that Tony Stark will play a very big part in the next movie.

What did Shuri do when the Black Order was breaking into her lab to steal the Mind Stone? 

Shuri was working to get the Mind Stone off and after the Black Order broke in, she was doing something before turning off the hologram and kicking butt. She was probably doing one of two things, one was trying to back up Vision’s mind into her computer, or she could have been backing up the data on the Mind Stone. Either way, what she was doing is probably going to help the Avengers out in the next one.

Did Valkyrie and Korg make it out alive? 

At the beginning of the movie, we see Thanos attack Thor’s ship, and we immediately presume that Thor lost all his people….or did he? The directors confirmed that Valkyrie had made it out alive, and I believe they confirmed that Korg made it out too. So yes, they are still around.

Did the Collector get killed? 

I think it’s safe to assume yes, but you never know because it’s obvious that the Guardians of the Galaxy showed up after Thanos got the Reality Stone, but that doesn’t mean that the Collector was there when he got it, he could have escaped beforehand.

As you know, this was Thanos’s movie, yes the Avengers and all the Marvel characters played big parts, but this was focused on Thanos’s quest to find all the Infinity Stones and to wipe out half the universe. That is why the ending is very bleak, because it is about the bad guy achieving his goals, and the next Avengers movie will be about everyone trying to fix the problems that have occurred. This is where some of my thoughts on the future Marvel movies will come into play. I honestly think that the next two movies in the MCU were set up this way on purpose between Avengers 3 and 4, I think each movie will bring things to the table that will solve the problem that had just occurred.

Ant Man and the Wasp (July 6, 2018)

Of course, after the dark ending, we will want a fun adventure movie in the MCU to brighten our day, and this appears to deliver that. I have been told that this will start with taking place sometime after Civil War. Scott Lang is placed under house arrest after the events of Civil War and after that had occurred, Hope Pym and Hank Pym approach Scott with a new mission where they need him. They are trying to stop a new villain called the Ghost who stole Hank’s tech. In the most recent trailer we find out that Hank opened up the Quantum Realm and that his tech was stolen and that they need to retrieve it. We don’t know why the Ghost wants the tech but it appears that she is able to come in and out of the Quantum Realm at will. As you already know, I really liked the first Ant Man movie, and this is something I am really looking forward to because the tech and ideas just look really cool. Of course, we get Michael Pena’s character and his two sidekicks back as well, which will add to the fun in this. Also, based on what I hear, they will find Hank’s wife in the Quantum Realm, I don’t know how but that is a big part of the story. So, why do I think this will play a big part in leading up to Avengers 4. Well, the big thing is the Quantum Realm, I think the things they discover there will play a part on trying to bring everyone back from being turned to ash. So first off, there are different theories as to what exactly happened to everyone when they were turned to dust at the end of Infinity War, and one of them is that they are put in the soul stone. If you remember at the end of Infinity War after Thanos had snapped his fingers, he first goes into the soul world and approaches Gamora who is a child, and it’s all orange and all, at least that is how I think of it. Discovering the Quantum Realm and what is possible there will open up many possibilities as to how they can fix the problems after Infinity War. If you click on this link, you can see why I think these predictions are solid. Regardless on how big or small the answers are, I am still looking forward to this for so many reasons.

Captain Marvel (March 6, 2019)

During the end credit sequence, you may recall Nick Fury and Maria Hill were in New York when they were turned to ash, right before Nick was vaporized, he was trying to use a pager to reach out to someone, when he was gone and we saw the pager, you saw it was sending something and then a logo appeared and there were many that were probably confused, for those that are familiar with Captain Marvel knew exactly who Nick Fury was trying to reach out to. For those that aren’t familiar with Captain Marvel, she is the equivalent of Superman, she ended up getting all these super powers and she is basically invincible. I don’t know much of her origin story this movie will explore a bit of that. In case you don’t know this will be a prequel movie, it will take place in the 1990s, so before the first Iron Man, and we see Nick Fury before he got his eye patch. Also, Agent Phil Coulsen will make a return here. Some of the things I hear is that she will be working for the Nova Corp on Xandar. I don’t know all about her powers since I haven’t read her comics, but I am intrigued and I might take a look into those. One of the things is that she can fly in space. The reason her movie is a prequel is to help set up her character and help show why she was called at the end of the movie, but most importantly she is going to play a big part in helping to defeat Thanos or to help fix the current problem everyone is in.

Avengers 4 (May 3, 2019.....maybe a week earlier than that if we are lucky)

Now the obvious next big question is what is going to happen in Avengers 4. How will the fix the problem?

One of the big things that kept getting discussed was that Avengers 4 was going to be a time travel movie. So will they go back to stop Thanos and create a new timeline? That is a possibility, but I have a different idea in terms of that. I think they are going to use time travel to go into Thanos’s past and see what lead him to want to seek out the Infinity Stones in the first place, and see what they could to do to change Thanos’s mind. With Gamora trapped in the Soul World and her being the only thing that Thanos truly loved, something will happen that will help to want to have Thanos reverse this big issue.

Another theory about Avengers 4 that has been brought up is that they are going to make a new Infinity Gaunlet for Iron Man to wear and collect the stones so he can reverse the damage done. This would be appropriate since he started the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it would be fitting for him to end this arc of the MCU, plus his character has grown tremendously over the many movies. Plus there is something that was pointed out to me lately that I never considered but started paying more attention, and when I point it out, it will incept into your minds, but it has to do with Tony Stark’s left arm, it always seems to get injured and there are times you see him in later movies holding his left arm, and even in Civil War, he makes the comment to Black Widow, “My left arm is numb, is that even normal?” So there is a theory where he could lose his left arm when fixing the universe, especially when you realize that Thanos’s gauntlet was damaged after he snapped his fingers and destroyed half the universe.

One thing that was confirmed, the characters that die here will remain dead. One of the comments I read from one of the writers is that the feeling overs Infinity War is short lived, and that the feelings over Avengers 4 will be greater and more lasting. Let me explain what I think that means. Yes, the impact on the after effects of Infinity War were devastating, heck, my entire theater was stunned at the end. Regardless, as many are already predicting, everyone that turned to dust will be coming back during Avengers 4 (Spider Man, Black Panther, and Guardians of the Galaxy all have sequels coming), so we basically know this feeling is short lived, but they want this feeling to stick for a while. However, many have confirmed that the deaths in Avengers 4 will be permanent, especially with the fact that many of the contracts for these actors will be up after this upcoming movie, and Avengers 4 is meant to be a finale of sorts. Something really interesting, all of the heroes that were spared from being turned to dust are basically the original Avengers, with the exception of a few like Nebula and Rocket. It obviously sets it up that this will be the last hurrah for the original Avengers team before they move on, and it would make sense for a few of them to be killed in this next one. Captain America is high on the death prediction list, and I could see that be the case.

Do you remember that kid from Iron Man 3, the one that helped Tony Stark out after ending up in Tennessee? He is supposed to return in Avengers 4. I don’t know what role he will be playing or if it will be a big or a small role, but he will be in it. I bet some other MCU characters will make a return in this one. Right now it’s hard to say who they will be, I am going to guess that Erik Selvig will be involved in some way. I think I heard a while back that the actor Stellan Skarsgard mention that he had one more movie in his contract with Marvel before he was done, this was pre-Thor Ragnarok, and we assume it’s going to be for this. He could help with coming up with ideas in defeating Thanos since he had been controlled by one of his minions. Speaking of Thor characters, maybe Lady Sif could come to help since she was not killed off in Thor Ragnarok. I would like to think that Agent Coulson would make an appearance since he is alive in the show Agents of Shield, but I am going to chalk that as an unlikely, but here’s to hoping. Maybe Valkyrie could show up and help out since they were on the way to Earth at the end of Thor Ragnarok before the invasion happened. I am sure Pepper Potts and Happy will show up. A part of me is really hoping that Elisabeth Ross makes an appearance, she is Bruce Banner’s original love and hasn’t been seen since the Incredible Hulk, many consider that move to be non-existent but they brought back William Hurt’s General Ross for Civil War and also briefly in Infinity War, so I consider the possibility there. Plus, with Bruce Banner’s issue of turning into Hulk, maybe she would be the key to help him. Also, when you consider the idea of time travel, that opens up any character that have died to make an appearance, for example, characters like Obadiah Stane who was the villain of the first Iron Man that was killed off could show up when they are going back in time, and like Red Skull they could find a reason to return to his character again. The possibilities are limitless with time travel. One thing that has been told to us by the writers, if we thought Infinity War was big, they told us that they only scratched the surface and Avengers 4 would be bigger.

The title for Avengers 4 will be ???. I am not good at guessing titles, so I am not going to try here. The directors did say it was a spoiler and would not reveal the title until sometime after Infinity War was released. I presume we won’t find out until later this year, maybe they will reveal when they drop the trailer for Avengers 4 in (November?). We heard it is not Infinity Gaunlet as originally predicted, and that it is suppose to be something that would scare us, one of the predictions was Endgame since this is more about the end of one era of the MCU and heading into a new one. Other popular predictions are Avengers: Disassembled, though I think it would be something more positive since this is Marvel we are talking about.

Regardless of what the predictions currently are, this is exciting and I can’t wait to see the movie when it arrives in theaters next year. The killer part is waiting for the movie to arrive, but I am also excited for the bread crumbs that will be placed along the way to help us get ready for this. I hope you enjoyed this read and I will catch you next time.

The Road to Infinity War

Since the beginning of March, I have gone through all the Marvel movies that are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to prepare for Avengers Infinity War. I have gone through all of them starting with Iron Man and concluded with going to a theater to see Black Panther. I can say that I am officially prepared, it was great to pick up on little details that I may not have considered before, but was great to once again see this world build up from a simple good movie to a whole universe that has expanded into many different ways that I did not think possible. Today, I want to take the time to put the movies in my own personal order. This order reflects on which movies mean the most to me. I will start from the bottom and build to the top, because I want to reveal my favorites later on.

18. Thor: The Dark World – This and Iron Man 2 kind of switch out between one another, but I went ahead and put this one at the bottom because this had aspects that just did not work for me. I find Darci to be pretty annoying, a villain that was forgettable (yeah, I am aware of the criticism of the villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be the weaker aspect of the movies, but this one could have been way better), and a romance that was fell flat. I have to admit, I did not mind the romance between Thor and Jane Foster in the first one, but this one just made me wish that they would split the couple apart, which thankfully they did. I also felt there were issues with the pacing. That said, I still like the visuals and the moments between Thor and Loki were great, I also like what we get to explore in Asgard.

17. Iron Man 2 – The sequel to the one that started it all, unfortunately it was not the movie that we were hoping for. There were a ton of pacing issues, much like Thor The Dark World. As well, a villain that could have been really cool, and just seem to lose his momentum as the movie progressed. This became a movie that was focused more on world building instead of focusing on the main story, but at the same time, it was understandable and I can still forgive them for that, plus we got a cool introduction to Black Widow, and Justin Hammer by Sam Rockwell was a fun addition to the cast. So yeah, there were a ton of problems, but I had more fun with it this time around then when I tried to watch it again three years ago.

16. The Incredible Hulk – I don’t mind this one as much as other people do. I have seen lists on Facebook where people are gearing for Infinity War and this has become the entry that has been neglected or disregarded, and the reasons I completely understand. I got to admit though, this was still an entertaining movie when it came out, and Edward Norton’s take on Bruce Banner was pretty solid. The final fight between Hulk and Abomination were pretty cool, and some of the moments of humor were nice, obviously there has been much better use of humor in later movies, but the jokes they used were pretty good here. I don’t consider this a complete misfire at all.

15. Iron Man 3 – We could totally go into the biggest pet peeve of the movie, the villain, the one that actually came off as amazing in the trailer, and then…..yeah, if you have seen the movie, you know the reveal, but in case you haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it here. With that out of the way, watching this again was nice to see the character of Tony Stark develop in this one. His experience of saving the world in The Avengers left him with PTSD. Maybe the fault was that expectations were high after the first Avengers movie and also the fact we were hoping this would make up for Iron Man 2.

14. Thor – Until 2011, the only superheroes we got for the still small Marvel Cinematic Universe was Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. I was not familiar with Thor as I never read the comics growing up, or new much about any of the superheroes unless a movie came out of them, so going into this I wasn’t too sure what to expect. It was a solid movie, I really liked the production design and also the score that accompanied the movie. It was a solid entry.

13. Avengers: Age of Ultron – Following up on the first Avengers has to be a difficult task to complete, as you can tell, this didn’t make my top 10 in Marvel movies, but honestly, I wouldn’t scratch this off in any way, it was very entertaining and I actually enjoyed the villain in this. This has a ton of aspects that I thrillingly enjoyed. Also featured one of my blink and you’ll miss moments that made me laugh. So yes, this is flawed, but ton of great moments that make this one that I can put on and just watch for fun.

12. Captain America: The First Avenger – This was not anticipated at all by me, but the trailers did kind of spark my interest, but I wasn’t too sure what to make of it going in, but this was a movie that really surprised me. I really enjoyed the World War 2 setting with sci-fi elements thrown into the mix, kind of had that vibe of The Rocketeer. Also features one of my favorite villains, not because of motives, but just because of the design and the performance.

11. Spider Man Homecoming – Andrew Garfield’s turn as Spider Man kind of decreased my interest in another Spider Man movie, not because I thought he was a bad actor, but just the direction and everything about that reboot series, so yet we got another reboot, but they made the right choices with the rebooted character, in particular Spidey’s story in his first solo movie, which is to ditch the origin story and focus on his growth in this Avengers world. Also, this movie featured a twist that shocked me and the rest of the theater when we all first saw it. The approach to this movie was very entertaining, and still holds up now.

10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – This features one of my favorite opening credit sequences. Seriously, if you aren’t at least smiling at that sequence, then I don’t know what to say. I have talked much about this already so I won’t go too much into it, but this movie was a ton of fun to watch and re-watching it in preparation for Infinity War, I found myself just having a blast.

9. Doctor Strange – I remember everyone talking about how excited they were for Doctor Strange, and once again, someone that doesn’t read comic book, I didn’t get the fascination when hearing about the character, that was until I saw the trailer, and what this would introduce to the MCU. This has the most inventive special effects for a movie, yeah we have The Matrix and Inception with similar effects, but that doesn’t diminish the wonder I feel when seeing these things on the screen. Actually, this featured the best use of 3D in a very long time.

8. Ant Man – This movie ended up on my top 10 of 2015, it was a surprise to me as I wasn’t thinking there would be much out of it. My mind was still gearing towards Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. They introduced Guardians of the Galaxy, but I felt this was when they really started to crank out the more obscure characters and try to see how they would be received. This really delivered in so many ways. I really enjoyed the concept of the film, which was a heist movie with superhero elements. You can never go wrong with the use of Michael Pena’s character.

7. Captain America: Civil War – I don’t know where to start with this, this was a movie that featured so much, and the buildup of the universe is what made this entry worth it, and featured many things that made me think, like which side would I put myself on. Also, it introduced me to a character that I immediately became excited to see a solo movie for, that was Black Panther. What came before it is what made me emotionally invested, how were these characters going to come out of this, what would result. Yes, this featured the most forgettable villain, but for this movie I feel that was okay because the movie wasn’t about the villain but about the conflict and how everyone became challenged because of this conflict. Yeah, I have another Captain America movie that beat this even though this was excellent.

6. Black Panther – I already said it, I was looking forward to Black Panther’s solo movie after his debut in Captain America: Civil War. The world of Wakanda was breathtaking, and just awesome to look at, and is another example of how amazing the world building for the MCU really was. It also featured very intriguing characters that you would like to see solo movies for. This features a very good music score and a very good message. This felt like a very unique solo movie. If you asked me if I thought this would become so popular that it would become number three in the all time box office in the US, I wouldn’t have believed you.

5. Thor Ragnarok – As you can tell, the Thor movies weren’t among my favorites in the MCU, at least until this one came out. This was the movie that got me more invested in the character and really enjoyed the adventure that he was on. Everything about this felt very fresh thanks to the director. Everything about this movie was very unique. Also, the ending was a bit of a surprise for me as I didn’t think it was going to end the way it did. But everything about this movie was just a blast to watch. A part of me wants to find the original script and read it to see what was scripted and what was improvised.

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – After Iron Man 3 and Thor The Dark World in 2013, I figured I had the direction on where everything was going heading into Avengers Age of Ultron. Not only did this prove me wrong, but it managed to destroy any possible idea I may have had. This was a movie that really surprised me in so many ways, first off by the action, by the direction and by the story. I never thought about the idea of SHIELD becoming corrupt from the inside. The first Captain America movie was a solid entry, but the sequel went from a fun adventure movie to a political thriller, even made me think about what I would do in these kind of situations. Yes, Civil War was excellent, and I juggled as to which one I liked more between this and Civil War, but in the end I liked this one more as this one surprised me way more as to what to expect.

3. Iron Man – The one that started it all, still among one of my favorites. I went in not expecting anything, and walking out being blown away. As you can read in my last post, I did not find out about the end credit sequence till about a couple of weeks later. Here is a question for everyone, when and how did you discover the end credit sequence? This movie had great action, and gave us a lot of cool attitude, and I also really enjoyed the soundtrack to this. This was a great set up and we didn’t even know how big things would go from there, but the fact they started off right is what makes this excellent.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy – Up to this point, the only Marvel movies we had were about Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. This was the first time that they featured any other Marvel characters, and there were probably many that didn’t know what to expect going in. I went in the first weekend because it was a Marvel movie but also the idea behind it really caught my eye, kind of reminded me of a Star Wars movie. Did they expect this to be the hit that it became to be? So many questions, but this was the first time we were introduced to new characters and were not featured any of the bigger known characters. Actually, this was a group of heroes that were not very well known, but I don’t count as I said many times before, I didn’t read the comics growing up. But this became a big hit and blew many away, myself included, and not only that, it is one of those that you can rewatch again and again just because.

1. The Avengers – This is my favorite Marvel movie (before Infinity War, but we will see where we place that afterwards). We had many superhero movies before, but this was the first time that we had this kind of movie where you combined superheroes from other movies. This was something that was not done before, and that was what made this exciting. Not only that, it was an incredibly entertaining movie, with tons of laughs. I was among those that was concerned with them replacing Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo, as I enjoyed Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, but Mark Ruffalo did a great job. What made this work was we had a director that knew how to make each character interaction work, every laugh worked because of this. I enjoyed coming back to the theater each time I could to see this because of how entertaining it was.

Well, there you go, this is my personal ranking of the Marvel movies. I hope you enjoyed it. I will post my review of Avengers Infinity War sometime after I see it.