Avengers Endgame review

Just as I stated, I would provide a review on Avengers Endgame after I saw it. I am going to be going spoiler free as there is a lot that happens that I don't want to ruin anything, so this won't be very long for that reason. First off, kudos to the marketing team for not revealing everything.

The word I would use to describe the movie is amazing, it is epic, maybe a good way to describe it is amazingly epic. This movie felt like one big payoff over the last 11 years of Marvel movies. This movie felt like the end of an era of the MCU, and also allowed a new one to begin. I really don't want to say much else at this time as I worry that anything I could say could reveal a little too much, but this movie is epic, and it is one that you should see ASAP, even this weekend if you can still get tickets. I will do a spoiler filled review soon, but I think I want to give at least one more week before I share more of my thoughts on the movie. As far as where I would place it, I want to see it at least a couple of more times and think about that.

The Road to Endgame

This is it, we have made it to the concluding chapter of this era in the MCU. I will be seeing Avengers Endgame on tonight at 6:00 PM, and I am so excited, this is like waiting for Christmas to come. It continues to get harder to wait, but I can't wait to see what happens. Anyway, in preparation for the final chapter of the Infinity Saga (as Kevin Feige has called it), I went back and rewatched all the movies, including seeing Captain Marvel in theaters. I felt it was time to take the list I made last year and update it, including adding Avengers Infinity War, Ant Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel into the list.

21. 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 when we explore Asgard.

20. 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.

19. 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.

18. 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. 

17. 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.

16. 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 honkestly, 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. 

15. 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.

14. Captain Marvel - One of the newest heroes to be introduced into the MCU. I have heard much about the character and how awesome she is, so I was looking forward to her solo movie, and I really enjoyed it. The big highlights were the 90s setting, I have very fond memories of the 90s, as that was where I did a lot of my growing up. Also, it was fun seeing all these little Easter eggs that connected throughout the MCU, and of course Goose the Cat (or Flirkin). I am also impressed with how they de-aged Samuel L Jackson and it really looked like they took him from the 90s and brought him here to film the movie. This movie is a ton of fun to watch. 

13. 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.

12. 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 Endgame, I found myself just having a blast. Also, when I first watched the movie in the theater, during the first 20 minutes I was laughing so hard that I thought I was going to pass out.

11. Ant Man and the Wasp - After the release of Infinity War, I was looking forward to this, one of the reasons was to see what Ant Man was up to, but mainly because I recalled that article I read that featured Evangeline Lilly back in late 2017 where she talked about the role this movie would play in the MCU moving forward, and I figured this would help shed light on potential solutions for the next Avengers movie, so yes I was anticipating this, read my post on thoughts after Infinity War for more on my theories regarding this. I got a very fun movie with plenty of laughs, and also had some really cool tech and gave us more of a look into the Quantum Realm and the possibilities it gave us. Also, Luis and the truth serum.

10. 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. 

9. 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.

8. 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.

7. 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. 

6. 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. 

5. 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.

4. 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.

3. 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.

2. Avengers Infinity War - This was my most anticipated movie last year and I even wondered at times if they would pull it off, let alone it be something that I would want to rewatch quite a bit. This is one of those movies, despite the dark ending, that I can rewatch quite a bit. Seeing all the characters come together (minus a few) and see them interact with one another was like a dream come true. I also keep thinking how gorgeous the visuals of the movie look, obviously from the CG work on the movie, but also the colors of many of the shots in space, especially when they go to Nidavellir to make Thor's new weapon, the colors and the scope of the place are just amazing. All the locations in space they go to are just amazing. This movie features many awesome action sequences and many moments where you want to cheer, I still remember the moment where Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive in Wakanda, and just getting very excited at that moment. This is a movie that I find many awesome things each time I rewatch it.

1. The Avengers – This is my favorite Marvel movie at this moment, but of course we will have to see where Endgame falls on this list after the movie comes out. 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. I still enjoy going back to rewatch it. Yes, the MCU has gotten so much bigger and has grown so much since the Avengers first assembled here, but there is something so perfect about this outing that it still stays on the top of my list after all these years. And this is something I can rewatch quite a bit.

I am stoked to see Avengers Endgame tonight. Once I see it, I will share brief thoughts on the movie that night, but I will keep it spoiler free, and then will go into more details on the movie a week or two later. 

Alita Battle Angel review

Warning: May contain potential spoilers

This was suppose to come out last July, and then it was delayed till December, and then it was delayed again till February, so I began to go from very interested to very concerned. However I decided I wanted to give it a shot, so I got into a special screening on Thursday, and I got to admit that I really enjoyed it. I want to address the main attraction of the movie, and that’s the visuals, and wow were the visuals were incredible. The world that was created for this movie was just spectacular, and were captivating. A part of me wishes I could jump into the screen and wonder around this world, that’s how cool it was. 

Next part that was amazing in the movie was the action, the action was so cool. One of the highlights was the Motorball sequences, besides movies, another favorite past time activity for me is Rollerblading, so that was cool to see that here. All the other action sequences were cool as well and that added to the amazing visuals. 

I was also invested in the main character of the movie, Alita, she was very intriguing and I enjoyed learning about her and cared what happened to her. There was a moment where something happens to a supporting character, and while I didn’t care for this supporting character, I did care about how she felt and that affected me more than what happened to this supporting character, it is a spoiler so I am trying to veer away from the details, but I am willing to go into this movie after this it comes out. I liked some of the other supporting characters like Christopher Waltz’s character who was the scientist that helped find Alita.

How was the story, I thought it was fine, there is a lot of world building and there is definitely a fair amount of setting up for future installments. It didn’t bug me that much, and I kind of hope they do get enough to make a sequel as I would like to see what happens. Let me put it this way, the main character was so interesting that it helped drive the story for me, there were flaws but you can tell there was a ton of effort put into the movie that I really appreciated it.

I look forward to seeing the movie again when it officially comes out in theaters. If you want to see this or are interested, I recommend checking it out in IMAX, it is worth seeing on the biggest screen possible to get the biggest experience.

19 Anticipated movies of 2019

Now that we are in 2019, it's time to talk about the movies I am most excited to see this year. I decided to do 19 of them because it is 2019 after all. So here is the countdown.



19. Knives Out – I don’t know too much about it, but it is directed by Rian Johnson, who decided to do this while waiting to direct his own Star Wars trilogy, it sounds like a small film but the idea of him filming it and getting it released when they only announced it a few months ago has me intrigued, and he also managed to get James Bond to come aboard.

18. Hobbs and Shaw – I never thought we would get these kind of movies out of the first Fast and Furious movie back in 2001, I figured maybe one sequel or two, and that was it, now this is the first spin off for characters that didn’t debut till much later. I don’t know too much yet, but we got Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. Also, we get the actress who played the White Widow in Mission Impossible Fallout.

17. Other Side of Heaven 2 – This is a sequel to a movie that came out in 2001, it is about an Elder (Elder John H Groberg) that serves a mission in Tonga and his experiences there. This movie sees John H Groberg return to Tonga many years later with his family. The movie looks really good based on the trailer we got, so naturally I am intrigued to see the story continue. This is based on real events.

16. Missing Link – Laika is one of those studios that I keep an eye on and when they release a new movie, I am there to go see it. This looks to be funny, and I really hope that delivers the same kind of magic that has occurred in the other movies by the studio. They have a great cast.

15. Shazaam – While the track record for DC isn’t very strong, they are working to go a new route. If you have seen the trailers for this, you can tell that this is going to go for the fun and goofy side of things. This looks ridiculous and I am excited to see how this all turns out.

14. Are You Afraid of the Dark – I don’t know anything about this, except it’s being made by Nickelodeon. This is based on a show that debuted on Nickelodeon in the early 90s. I watched this show every so often and was very intrigued by it, so I am very intrigued on how this will turn out. We will see what to expect when we get a trailer.

13. Artemis Fowl – For the record, I have not read any of the books, so I don’t know too much about it. I did have a few friends explain the premise, and I have seen the trailer, and it does have my interest peaked, I am just hoping this turns out better than A Wrinkle in Time.

12. Lion King – Jon Favreau returns to Disney to direct another live action remake. They have a great cast and the trailer looks great. I don’t know if this will be a beat to beat remake or if they will try to do something different with the story, but we will find out this summer.

11. Dumbo – I first heard about this back in 2014, and I didn’t think much about it after the announcement, but then we got the first trailer and my interest grew, and it grew more with the second trailer. Yes, I placed this above the other live action remakes, and mainly because this one has me the most intrigued to see how they pull it off.

10. Spider Man Far From Home – This will be the first movie in Phase Four of the MCU (though I heard they would be doing away with phases), but this is supposedly taking place minutes after Avengers Endgame. I look forward to see how they continue to develop Spider Man in his next adventure.

9. Men In Black International – I am going to honest, I wasn’t really into the idea of a spin-off of the Men In Black series, even though they got great leads in the movie, but then I saw the first trailer a couple of weeks ago, and my excitement grew. This just looks like it will be a ton of fun, I just hope they don’t mess it up.

8. Detective Pikachu – I am not a big fan of the Pokemon series, I did watch a bit of the show during it’s first season when it debuted in 1998, but after that year Digimon debuted and I ended up watching that more. However, I saw the trailer last month, and for some reason, this looks like this could be a lot of fun, it also features many of the Pokemon I am more familiar with when I saw the show during the first season. Movies based on video games don’t have a great record, but I am hoping this turns that around.

7. Lego Movie 2 – One of the biggest surprises in 2014, The Lego Movie was a blast with a very good message at the end, and the animation was very unique. The next question is how do they continue the story after the first one. Well, there is a lot of great possibilities on how it will continue. All the characters were fun, I enjoyed playing with Legos as a kid, so I very curious on how this will turn out next month. Since they took years to get this released, I am thinking they took time to give us another great story.

6. Godzilla King of the Monsters – I enjoyed the new Godzilla movie that came out in 2014, and I did like Kong Skull Island when it came out two years ago. The trailers that we got recently really caught my eye, as it features epic monsters. This movie feels like it could be big. Please don’t let this one be a disappointment. 

5. Glass – Spoiler alert, I was in the theater seeing Split at the end of January in 2017, and it was a good movie, good performances and everything, and then at the end of the movie, they revealed the big twist, it took place in the same universe as Unbreakable. When I got home from work that night (I was working nights at the time), I rented Unbreakable to rewatch it to catch little connections, it revamped my interest in a movie I had not seen in years, and they are giving us a sequel to Unbreakable and the trailers look great. I look forward to see how this story continues.

4. Captain Marvel – I first learned about Captain Marvel back in 2016, I think it was when they announced the movie. The trailers give us a glimpse of the world of Shield in the 90s when Nick Fury was younger as well as Phil Coulson. This has a sense of coolness every time I watch these trailers. I just like the vibe that these trailers gives. Another plus is that after this movie, we will get Avengers Endgame about a month and a half after. I really think a lot what happens here will help give big hints as to what will happen in the next Avengers movie.

3. How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World – First thing I want to bring up is the fact that this trilogy has started at the beginning of this decade and will end with the close of this decade, let that sink in. The first one was a big surprise for me, along with others that experienced it back in 2010, and I also really liked the second one as well. This was a movie that was delayed a few times, but I think the delays mean they took the time to get the story right to conclude this trilogy, and I look forward to seeing how they wrap up the story. I also heard that tissues might be needed.

2. Star Wars Episode 9 – Let me start off with this, I did like The Last Jedi, I don’t think it was a masterpiece, and I probably put it a little too high on my top 10 list for 2017, but I still really enjoyed it despite it’s issues, and I am still very intrigued what will happen next. I have been a big fan of Star Wars for a long time, and have enjoyed going back to the galaxy far, far away, even if the movies were flawed. Also, I was a big fan of The Force Awakens in 2015 when it arrived, and with them bringing back JJ Abrams to direct this final installment for this sequel trilogy, I am very curious on where we go from here. Questions on who Rey’s parents are is the least of my focus, but more of my focus is how you conclude not only this trilogy, but all the previous trilogies as well, give one big epic conclusion, that is what my interest will be with this last installment. Yes, there will be other Star Wars movies down the road, but this is suppose to mark the end of the Skywalker saga.

1. Avengers Endgame – I have a feeling that this is not a surprise to anyone, and in fact, I am certain that this is the most anticipated movie for everyone this year, and if you have seen the ending of Avengers Infinity War, it isn’t hard to see why. Not only that, this is a movie that is suppose to wrap up the stories of the MCU in the last decade, and also help spring the MCU into new territories that we haven’t explored yet. There are so many rumors and speculations on what will happen in this epic movie, they range from time travel to alternate dimensions, in fact, I should put together my own theories on what I think will occur because many have already done so. The plot has been tightly under wraps, and I am very thankful for that, because how often do we get a movie where we don’t know too much on what will occur before going in. I am unbelievably pumped for this movie.

Top 10 of 2018

With another year over, it is time to reflect on my personal top 10 of the year. Keep in mind, this list does not reflect what everyone is thinking, but is my own favorites, and also I have not seen everything this year, so with all that in mind, let’s get started.

10. Searching – Picking the number 10 was really hard, as there are so many great movies I saw that could go here, but I decided to go with this movie. We have had found footage movies for a long time, and there are some that were well done and entertaining and intriguing to watch. However, I haven’t really had any that had an emotional impact on me, until this one. How this movie was crafted and put together, I was drawn in on the mystery of the movie and at those moments I thought I had it figured out, I learned I didn’t and it kept me on my toes. I won’t reveal the reveals at the end, but this movie left me satisfied.

9. First Man – For the longest time, I enjoyed movies that deal with space travel, even the ones that were super cheesy. This was on my radar because of the director and because of the subject matter. I am not familiar with the struggles of getting to the moon, except for the fact that they did make it to the moon. It was very intriguing to see the struggles on what it took to get there, including an aspect that I just didn’t think about beforehand, and that is the families that had to sit there wondering if their husbands would survive the trip. It really kept me interested, and I also got to see this on IMAX and when they make it to the moon, it was really breathtaking. Also, when I got home, I ended up watching Apollo 13.

8. Bumblebee – I was done with the Transformers movies after The Last Knight, I am certain others were done way before that though. When I first heard of the Bumblebee spinoff, I didn’t think too much about it, except it might be nice. However, once I learned who the director was, my intrigue grew. I was really surprised by the movie we got when I got to see it, the phrase I kept using was this movie had heart, and it really did, you really cared about the characters, and you could see Bumblebee’s emotional responses and could really feel for him. This was a big shock compared to the other ones. The action in the first 10 minutes is excellent, and in my opinion, along with the opinions of others, is the best in the series. But also, it took everything and simplified it and really gave us a story that mattered. Yes, there are similarities to ET and The Iron Giant, but I was really invested and really liked the movie a lot. It also had a great sountrack.

7. Ralph Breaks the Internet – This was a highly anticipated movie for me, and I was wondering if this would deliver. This delivered in a different way than I was anticipating, so this didn’t have the video game characters that I would have liked, but it did have great jokes in regards to the internet and how it’s used these days, and it also gave a great story and really focused on the development of the main characters. I was really surprised at the direction these characters went, and just how complicated things can get. Yes, a lot of the things in regards to the internet will more likely be out of date in the coming years, but the aspects of friendship that are presented in this move will not.

6. Won’t You Be My Neighbor – I kept hearing about this movie so I decided to check it out and see how it is. I was really surprised, I remember watching aspects of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but I don’t remember too much beyond that, but watching this documentary made me appreciate the person that he was and the positive interactions that he strived to make with the children around him. This gave us a great perspective on the goals of the man and his show, if there came times I didn’t think much about his decisions when making the show, I would just reflect on this movie and realize what he was striving to do and doing very simple things that made the difference for all who would tune in and watch the show.

5. A Quiet Place – One of the more original movies of the year, A Quiet Place deals with monsters on Earth that are able to find people through sounds, and so this family learns to survive by staying very quiet, they learn to sign and they learn to be very quiet to avoid making any sound whatsoever. I am not someone that likes to go to horror movies, but this one I chose to make an exception because I was hearing very good things. The experience of being in the theater was very interesting, and it was a pretty busy theater, but within the first 15 minutes, when the family was getting around, you could hear the audience attempting to be very quiet, and that included trying not to make loud noises with their food or how they eat. This was a unique movie in the story it told and how it presented itself, and I found many cool things even after my first viewing.

4. Paddington 2 – Back in 2015, we were treated to a family movie called Paddington that I had no desire to see but then it got good reviews and so I decided to go see it, and I was really surprised by it. A sequel came out early in 2018, and I thought it wouldn’t reach the heights of the first as it was years since I saw it, and wow was I wrong. This movie was a great movie and I was spending time trying to recommend this movie to people as it featured so much good. Let me explain by what I mean by so much good, the main character attempts to find the good in those around him and attempts to try to do good that essentially brings out the good in others, how the small acts of an individual can make a difference in the community and how being there for those you love can bring people together and help do good for those in return, to see good happen to everyone in this movie. This is a family movie I strongly recommend checking out.

3. Mission Impossible Fallout – Just when you think that a sixth entry couldn’t be amazing, we are treated with Mission Impossible Fallout. The first trailer caught my attention in February and I knew I wanted to see it on the biggest screen possible, and then I was surprised to find myself really invested in the movie. First off the attempt to do the action sequences on location instead of green screen, where we are taken for these action set pieces is mind-blowing, and the cinematography was just stunning. Not only that, but it felt like the story was very intriguing, yes the action is the main focus here but I felt they tried to give us a good story and characters that you are drawn in on what happens. This was so much fun to watch and I continue to enjoy watching it.

2. Spider Man Into The Spiderverse – This is the Spider Man movie I didn’t know I wanted. The first teaser debuted in December of 2017 and I knew I wanted to see it, I didn’t know if it would hold up beyond the visuals, and I am glad to say that it totally it. Not only does it feature the most stunning and unique animation, it also features a great story and characters where you are really invested on what will happen to the characters and how they will make it out. There are so many different versions of Spider Man that you think it would collapse on itself, but it doesn’t even do that, every character’s involvement plays a role and makes the experience more rewarding, in fact, you will want to see their own movies afterwards, even Spider Ham. This is the most unique movie I have seen in a while, and I heard they spent time trying to get the animation right so it could look as great as it did, and I am so glad they spent that time trying to get the look right, I hope to see more of this kind of movie in the future.

1. Avengers Infinity War – This was my most anticipated movie of the summer and it just blew me out of the water, and it features the most gut punching ending that you would expect. That ending is the reason why Avengers Endgame is the most anticipated movie of 2019, but with all that aside, this movie earns my top spot for my personal top 10 for so much more. First off, the amount of characters in this movie, everyone’s favorite heroes (except for Ant Man and Hawkeye) play a role in this movie, from big to small, and seeing everyone come together from different franchises was just awesome, Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy working together was great, and even the little moments where Rocket approaches Bucky about the arm, just how everything is balanced in such a big epic movie is amazing and well worth the price of admission. As well, this movie features a very compelling villain, Thanos, who steals the show whenever he is on screen. The technology that aids the storytelling has come along so far and it’s amazing to see the payoff here. It’s awesome to think where we were 10 years ago with the MCU and now where we are at, this movie is one big payoff. Can’t wait to see how Avengers Endgame wraps everything up.

That is my personal top 10 of 2018, I hope that you enjoyed, and I look forward to sharing more with you in 2019.

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.