(film review) - Aquaman

My Mother was the Queen of Atlantis.  She fell in love with my father, a human and then I was born.  She was driven back to the seas, when I was just a boy, but then she went missing.  Atlantis is looking to a new ruler, but is now under the threat of my brother, the Ocean Master, who wants the throne by inciting war between my two worlds.  My name is Arthur Curry and I must reclaim the throne as King of Atlantis and I am the only person who can stop him.  I am, Aquaman.

For those familiar, I think I could have come up with a better one (considering I wrote a different one 4-6 times or even more), but I’m finding these amusing.  Hopefully I will stop soon.  But for now, it gets the job done and just as it states, as jokingly as I do them, this is the synopsis of the film.  Yes, there is more detail packed into this movie, so I’ll go into it a little trying not to spoil anything.

Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), a man who is born of two completely different worlds continues to do what he feels is right, living life and saving those less fortunate – being a hero.  Having been contacted by his long-time friend, Mira (Amber Heard) who continues a conversation |they had in Justice League about the division of Atlantis, Arthur is essentially, not interested in any of the politics of Atlantis as he believes he is not of that world and he will not be accepted due to not being of full Atlantian blood.  He doesn’t want to get involved with the hierarchy of the people or becoming their King, but he is then thrust into the situation when his brother Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson), decides to take the position to, not only be the king, but to incite war among the land dwellers, his home.  Arthur must stop his brother, gain acceptance by the people of Atlantis and reclaim the throne as the true king! Oh, and have a great adventure along the way.

James Wan’s Aquaman is similar to many other movies that came before it, such as Black Panther or even the Lion King just to name a few.  Nothing ground-breaking at all, however with the run time of 143 minutes, it is over 2hrs of what he claims to be swash-buckling fun, as we travel with Arthur across many locations, challenge his brother and to also defeat his antagonist, the Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).  For the most part, this movie is good.  Although it lacks depth in the story and some of the characters, I did have a good time with it because James Wan knows how to direct entertaining movies, whether it is The Fast and the Furious (Fast & Furious 7) or The Conjuring. 

This film has many different tones to it, but he manages to bring it altogether without it feeling disjointed.  The film succeeds in being a comic book movie with some light-heartedness, some horror/terror elements and family dynamics that doesn’t actually bore you to death, but this possibly could be due to the relentless action and terrible chopping, editing and “jump-scare” explosions that occur throughout.

I felt the film, although over two hours jumped from scene to scene quickly and the lack of character development meant that some characters could have been cut out of the movie altogether.  A specific character (in whom I will not mention) could have been introduced briefly only to be a major foil in the sequel.  Their storyline ultimately did nothing for the film or the character.  They will probably bring the character back anyway, but the film was unnecessarily long due to this.

Visually, the movie is stunning and there are some excellent visuals that took my breath away and coincidently took me out of the movie for a moment as some scenes could be framed and hung and placed on a wall, i.e the “trench run” or the moment before it, or the final battle at the end or many other moments in the movie.  One of the visually annoying things I found was seeing this movie in Screen X at Cineworld.  I think I would have preferred D-Box as I found the intermittent changing of the screen's length distracting as I change focus and become more aware of the extra space and more screen...and people moving down the stairs to use the bathroom for example.

Although, loosely connected to the same universe as Man of Steel, Wonder Woman and Batman vs Superman, Justice League and Suicide Squad, it would be interesting to see where they will go next with the sequel they have mentioned for Suicide Squad or Birds of Prey and it seems as though Warner Bros do not know what they are doing although they are slightly righting the ship, but they could easily mess it up at this point.

Although, some great action set-pieces and a decent story with decent acting, I won't be in a rush to see this movie again.  However, if you liked Aquaman the ultimate surfer bro from Justice League, then you will like this movie too.  I guess at this point we are wondering when they are going to trip up since they seem to be on a winning streak, WB. It can only last soo long, right? RIGHT? Well let's hope so!

(file review) - Creed II

I was thinking, do I put the number “2” or the Roman Numerals “II”.  Considering this is based off of the Rocky Franchise (a franchise I haven’t seen all the way through – yeah I know), I thought I should continue this as they did and honour the Rocky Franchise.

Anyway, if you didn’t know, Creed is a spin-off movie based off the Rocky Franchise that stars (Michael B. Jordan) as Adonis, Apollo Creed’s son of whom died in the ring at the hands of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (I almost typed the number).  So, where the first film is about Adonis making a name for himself and becoming the champion, this film is about Adonis, now the champion, is faced with the family who were responsible for his father’s death by fighting Ivan Drago’s son and centres on what both fighters are now fighting for, their motives and how ultimately, what it would mean if they were to lose.

Ryan Coogler is a great Director.  I am scared to watch Fruitvale Station as I heard and read that it is a brilliant film but very saddening, so I don’t want to cry my eyes out.  He then went on to direct Creed I and then Black Panther.  He is now 3 for 3 and was unable to direct Creed II due to filming Black Panther and prepping for Black Panther 2, so he was executive producer and brought on director friend, Steven Caple Jr. who has directed a few TV Series episodes and a few films.  As this is pretty much his first big budget movie at 50 million, I’ve got to say, although he is no Ryan Coogler, Steven Caple Jr’s directing is sound, smooth and splendid.

Whilst watching this film, Michael B and Tessa’s Chemistry is excellent, absolutely flawless. You believe they have been together a while, they love each other and that they are growing together.  Something to aspire to in a relationship soo raw.  You just like seeing them together and their relationship bloom.  As stated before the directing is sound and is a very smooth transition between the directors.  There isn’t a lot of long shots if any, like how Coogler has in both Creed I and Black Panther, so trying to identify any visual or directing tropes from Steven is still unidentifiable at this time, but with that said, I don’t see how Hollywood will not be asking him to come back to direct more movies as he knows Ryan and Ryan is a part of the Disney’s umbrella due to Black Panther, so it is fair to say that he could be asked to direct some Star Wars Mandalorian episodes to further build his credibility as a director (if needed – probably not due to this film), but with the character building and emotional scenes in this movie (I was close to tears in some parts – maybe due to personal reasons), Steven is a very capable director.  Visually, some of those shots, the fighting with the punches etc, I was holding myself as though I felt them too with a few exclaims.  Sound, Visuals, Acting, everything is superb; and the film runs as smooth as butter, in which I cannot stop reiterating.  Oh, and before I forget, it has a montage. Even Rocky has a montage.....montaaaaaaggggee.

If you can, go and watch it.  If you enjoyed the first one, you are bound to love this one, even if it isn’t directed by Ryan.  However, for me personally, I am very interested in seeing what else this guy Steven has up his sleeve.

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Fallout

A lot of people don't like Tom Cruise for his scientology or for his height, maybe for both, but for me, I don't actually care.  Tom is a superb actor with quite a bit of range but I really love a few of his films.  Live Die Repeat (or whatever they decided to call it in the end), Minority Report, Tropic Thunder and Mission Impossible, the latter being his best work and one of the best franchises out there.  His dedication to stunt work is unparalleled and I have to say his character of Ethan Hunt is what the Character John McClane is to me.  Over the years, unlike Bruce, Tom has NEVER dialled in a performance to my knowledge, I don't think he would know how to, as he is someone who has to be ALL THE WAY INVOLVED, to even breaking his ankle doing a REAL STUNT in this movie for AUTHENTICITY.  So, when they say, break a leg in showbiz, Tom actually did.  But was it worth it?  Well without sounding bias at all, of course it damn well was!!!

Fallout picks up 2 years after the events of Rogue Nation and the capture of Soloman Lane.  What is left of Lane's terrorist group get a hold of 3 Nuclear Weapons known as Plutonium Cores, while Ethan (Tom Cruise) is re-tasked to retrieving the Plutonium, he is also being shadowed by lead operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) from the Special Activities Division.  When IMF discover that an extremist named John Lark is interesting in purchasing the Plutonium, Ethan must capture him, but when that goes wrong, Ethan must pose as him.  When Ethan is actually outed as the real John Lark, IMF are forced to disband or be labelled traitors to the country and Walker must capture or kill Ethan.

Just when you think the Mission Impossible franchise could not get any better, they prove me wrong with this one, just like they proved me wrong with the last one.  Sure, I'm bias but who doesn't love all that spy stuff? On top of that, trying to keep up with the Mission Impossible story per movie and with whom you should trust is a task in itself, always has been and doubles up in this movie then times' it by 10 just to make you feel on edge.  No one can be trusted, but the world needs to be saved from these extremist groups.

As usual, Tom Cruise literally breaks a leg for this performance and apparently, flew a helicopter by himself with hidden camera's just for authenticity.  He carried out real Halo Jumps proving, there is no one in the movie world as an actor, as dedicated to their craft as him and the film is all the better for it.  There is a shot where he jumps out of a Cargo Plane which looked Amazing. The visuals and cinematography is excellent. The camera work is excellent and as usual, the action is very visceral and entertaining.  I do chuckle when he limp/runs off after breaking his ankle though, I'm not going to lie.  These films are what they say on the tin, action, espionage, thrillers and/or spy films done right.  However, it would be interesting where they will go with 7 because not only do they get better, the stunts get wilder and wilder.  Oh, and just in true Mission Impossible fashion, there is some running and there are motorbikes, two MI must haves for EVERY MOVIE and strangely enough, you may role your eyes at them, but they are still entertaining, regardless.

I cannot think of any flaws with this film at all as Henry Cavill is excellent, the supporting cast are also excellent and if anything, maybe we could have the IMF team do just that little bit more than what they are already doing, somehow.  It's great to see Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames etc, but where do they go next? Does Ethan have a successor because he must die, right...eventually?  Well, let's hope Tom doesn't and he intends on doing more movies because although we have no clue where they can go next, wherever they do go, it will be entertaining, guaranteed, Tom's Leg Approved.

(film review) - Ant-Man and the Wasp

So, recently we had Infinity War and Thanos came and shut things down.  He did what he came to do and that is (in case you didn't know), reduce the galaxy to half.  I won't go into his reasoning as that would be spoilers for those who may not have seen Infinity War yet, plus I've said enough already, but I can assure you, the post credits scene is something to look out for at the end of this movie.  But with that said, this movie is also a must see to give us an idea of what is to come next AND the fact that this movie is absolutely hilarious and a nice palette cleanser for what had JUST HAPPENED in the MCU.  I'll explain.

After the events of Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers have disbanded and everyone has gone their separate ways.  Due to Ant-Man's involvement, this has driven both Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank into hiding.  Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is on house arrest and spends his time trying to entertain himself and his daughter when she comes around and only has a few days left.  Hope and Hank (Michael Douglas) are planning on a rescue mission to the quantum realm and as Scott having been there, Hope reaches out to Scott to bring back a ghost from the past.  Meanwhile, a Ghost and a black market dealer Sonny Birch (Walton Goggins) are also after the technology making things difficult for both the mission and Scott.

First of all, this movie is a tremendous palette cleanser for the previous MCU movie as this movie is light-hearted and incredibly funny, the polar opposite to Infinity War.  There are moments that are touching, moments that are serious and lots of action with a ton of funny moments.  A comedy heist just like the original Ant-Man movie but this one may actually be funnier.

There are some great acting from the supporting cast members such as Michael Peña, Hannah John-Kamen and David Dastmalchian, the former and latter being returning characters.  The score is superb and Peyton Reed has done it again and I can only dream and Hope for a 3rd movie directed by him because he knows what he is doing to bring light-hearted fun and entertainment combined with action.

It was great seeing Lawrence Fishburne come over from DC and the ending credits is something that is required to stay behind for due to the nature of these Marvel Cinematic Universe movies which give you an insight to what may happen next.  If you can, watch it, you will laugh your head off and it is a feel good movie.

(film review) - Avengers: Infinity War

We can only marvel at the marvellous way Marvel have managed to miraculously manipulate us by manifesting and making multiple movies with many mini story-arcs that eventually mount up to a massive match with a force with such the momentum of mammoth-like magnitude, us viewers and heroes alike, will be tested.  Furthermore, Marvel and Kevin Feige will be tested as this has never been done before in history, ever.  It has all been building to this.  20 Films has led us to this point.  How did it fair?

Well, I don't want to go into this soo much as I've covered most of the Marvel Movies since Day 1.  Iron Man (ok, maybe not that one), Iron Man 2 all the way up to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1 & Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther.  The Former being a shot in the dark to the latter grossing $1,346,913,161 Worldwide.  Very pale in comparison to $585,174,222 for Iron man when they first started.  Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe money making machine, all chaperoned by our lord saviour Kevin Feige has a very impressive resume and what he has done, may never be done again, EVER! Or at least in the near future.  Setting trends hundreds of other movie studios have tried to copy successfully and lots of them failing and falling at the first hurdle.  Having a Franchise is ALL the rage right now and this is why.

Our Heroes are now facing the biggest bad they have ever faced, Thanos (Josh Brolin) who is on a quest to meet the goals he has set by collecting all the Infinity Stones to wipe out HALF of all life.  Whilst Iron Man and Captain America are still on the outs, both individuals soon gather their own separate teams to combat Thanos and his forces called 'The Dark order'.  When things start to look dire, our heroes decide to take the fight to Thanos...but do they succeed?

Other than seeing what you saw in the Trailers (if you watched the trailers, of course), I cannot go into any more details without spoiling the movie.  But I've got to say, from the two brothers that has brought us 'The Winter Soldier' (blowing us all out the water! I mean, who is Captain America? Lame!!!), then bringing us 'Civil War' (with the big Airport Scene!) and then this, these guys are definitely on a roll.  And to think they are tidying up the sequel to this movie they have already shot and possibly placing a nice tidy bow over the MCU at this point, we will see, but in short, this movie is great!

The acting, the visual, the scope.  The interaction between the characters and the combinations.  Remember when you saw Spider-Man holding onto War Machine in Civil War as he jetted through the air, yeah, there are similar crazy combinations of characters who wouldn't necessarily cross paths and do.  The interactions between the characters are great and provide good comic relief to a movie that is very dense.

It's really a matter of, we have come soo far in the MCU and The Russo brother have done soo well up until this point, I feel they have stuck the landing.  If you have enjoyed the films up until this point, you ought to love this movie.  Let's just hope Endgame is just as Big and Bad as Thanos in the first 5 minutes of the movie.  If you don't get that reference, go watch it!

(film review) - Tomb Raider

I don't want this to be a long review, but I would like to say first and foremost, this makes for a very interesting review.  Why? Well, I am a gamer and I've always been a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise from when it first came out.  And No! I'm not talking about the films starring Angelina Jolie, I'm talking about the games they were based off of which came out in 1996.  I'm pretty sure a few of you reading this were not even born at this point or could hold a computer games controller, but it was a very long time ago.

You see, the very first game came out when I was in my teens (please don't, I know) and although Lara Croft was essentially a big breasted, no shit taking, gun totting hottie in short shorts and a tight top, the game was actually very decent.  Yes it appealed to teenaged boys, but it also appealed to teenaged girls.  I guess the aesthetic before people started bending over and/or showing their back on Instagram.  But that is a whole different thing altogether.
Lara is an archaeologist similar to Indiana Jones and she's basically out here discovering artifacts but comes across a tyrannical lady named Natla who wants to discover a artifact to become immortal - or something like that.  Then Tomb Raider 2 came out which was also good and after that, 3, 4 etc etc and I dropped off after 2 because the games didn't seem to stretch the imagination in terms of story and gameplay.  Essentially, it was the same shit and it got boring for me, real quick.  Years later, I got Angel of Darkness, which was dry and then once Legend and Underworld came out, we were back on form.  More of what they were going for in the first couple of games and more dynamic graphics, gameplay and challenging puzzles.  I enjoyed those games.  Then they launched the Anniversary of the original which was amazing and then they rebooted the franchise.  Needless to say, I got all the games since Legend and they have been brilliant... especially the reboot in which THIS film is loosely based on.

I didn't watch the Angelina Jolie movies as they looked very cornball and cheesy and very different to the games at the time, but due to this one being based on the recent reboot in which I thoroughly enjoyed, I thought it was only right to watch and undoubtedly compare the movie to the game but to try my best to take the movie as a whole on its own merit.

In short (well, as short as I can), Lara has set sail to discover a mythical island but when her ship gets destroyed through a storm, she is kidnapped, escapes and then finds herself fending for herself and using her survival instincts to kill wildlife to survive.  When she is almost raped, is when she takes her first life and discovers a cult leader named Mathias who is hellbent on releasing the spirit of Himliko for reasons I cannot remember and Lara has to solve puzzles and travel through various terrain in order to stop this mad man and escape the island, if the island will let her escape.  In a nutshell.

This film cherry picks from the above synopsis of the game and if I am honest, I was fairly underwelmed with what they chose from the game to adapt into the film and what they did with the story beats in comparison to the game.  However with that said, the movie was an interesting watch.

In short, the story is similar to the game.  We have a crazy guy named Mathias (Walton Goggins), check.  We have a ancient woman named Himliko, check.  Lara (Alicia Vikander) has to survive and escape the island, check.  There are also some moments which are directly lifted from the game, albeit a few changes, but there is a general flow and storyline to the movie, which involves Lara's father and family secrets.

After watching the movie, I felt like, the movie is only a small part of the game in terms of story, in comparison.  If you enjoyed the movie and don't mind playing the game, then you would love the game as it is more fleshed out and layered.  The game is a cross between some kind of survival horror (in places) and does a great deal to keep you on your toes the entire time and always concerned and wondering how Lara will get out of this situation because it seems very dire.  This movie does not capture any tension at all.  I mean, there IS YouTube in which you can probably watch the gameplay with cutscenes and stuff if you really want, but it also does not do enough to make you feel that invested in some of the characters and although the plot is flimsy (just like a video game), it does not do enough to have you buy into the mystical world and how much of a threat the entire island is as well as the people on it, unlike the game.  This is well the game excels and where the movie could have done a lot to try and capture.

Have a watch though, it is a decent film regardless and I cannot fault any of the acting and cinematography as it was all pretty standard, but 1, doesn't play like a Jolie movie and 2 doesn't play out like the game as it IS its own thing, but a decent computer game movie, unlike countless of others.

(film review) - Ready Player One

If I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, I've not seen a Steven Spielberg movie in a while.  Well directed by anyway, as he does produce a lot of movies.  The last directed movie I saw was The Adventures of Tintin and the last produced movie, well executive produced anyway, Transformers: The Last Knight.  While I fell asleep watching Tintin (but I did like it, I was just exhausted), I can say I didn't really like Transformers: The Last Knight because although it was the usual Transformers fun, it was essentially not that great.  So, seeing the trailer for this movie and all the easter eggs, I knew this was going to have, made for a really interesting watch.  And having seen the movie, I can tell you exactly how it was.

In the real world 18 year old Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), otherwise known as his avatar handle Parzival in the virtual world is known as a Gunter.  He lives in Columbus Ohio with his Aunt and does what most people do in their living conditions, escape reality to enter the virtual world of the Oasis.  The Oasis (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow is a place where you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want and be whomever you want to be.  Wade aka Parzival is an avid gift hunter and spends his time tracking gifts and collecting coins, but when James Halliday dies, a prerecorded message went out to all users enabling them to own and control the Oasis if they are able to find the 3 keys hidden in the Oasis.  But with power, comes corruption and corporate.  Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), the CEO of Innovative Online Industries also wants to seek out the 3 hidden keys to control the Oasis himself, so the ultimate hunt and a game of cat and mouse ensues as everyone in the Oasis tries to track down all the clues to finding the hidden keys with a powerful and hungry Nolan who will stop at nothing, even if it means real world crime, just to achieve his goal.

I tried not to spoil this movie by giving too much away, but with that said, the plot it straight forward, but the fun comes with the chase, the tension and of course, the many many many easter eggs littered throughout the movie.  An Easter Egg is a item/object that represents real life or universal pop culture.  It is a message, image, or feature hidden in a video game, film, or other, usually electronic, medium and it's sole purpose is to be found but may represent, ie. real life or pop culture.  A lot of films will do this, but if you are still unsure and you have played video games or have watched TV/Movies over the years and still do not know what an Easter Egg is, THIS movie will DEFINITELY have you understand what one is before the movie is even quarter of it's way through.  Another reason as to what makes this movie fun to watch is EXACTLY this and how many you can find.  Steven Spielberg (and just like the book this movie is based on) uses all the references he possibly can grabbing from past directing work, games and Warner Bros. content.  This means that, not only is the DeLorean time machine from the film Back to the Future franchise directed by Robert Zemeckis in it, a film which is under Steven Spielberg's production company and Spielberg being the mentor of Robert, but there is a very brief Batman cameo, a Warner Bros intellectual Property and a prominent Iron Giant cameo among many many more.  Not to give too much away but you will see popular game characters and as we are in the world of gaming, a lot of things you will come to recognise as a gamer, like a lot of things you'd come to recognise as a watcher of movies.  Wreck it Ralph did something similar.

Spielberg will have you rewatching this movie over and over again because not only is it fun, but the easter eggs alone will keep you busy.  The acting is superb although cheesy in some places and if i'm honest, I didn't realise the film would have more than a few curse words, but if you are a gamer, curse words are apart of your vocabulary.  Although I had only seen Tye as Cyclops of the recent X-Men franchise at this point, he was very good in this movie and acting along side Ben, made for good tension and drama.  It was also nice to see, Hannah John-Kamen, who I had recently seen in Tomb Raider and is in the up and coming Ant-Man and the Wasp.

If you like Nostalgia, movies, gaming and that classic Steven Spielberg directed movies such as Batteries Not Included or anything else you found fun in the 80's, this movie is definitely for you!  Plus, there is no way you will see EVERY Easter Egg in one viewing, have a re-watch.

(film review) - Black Panther

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was a great film.  Arguably for me, the best stand-alone movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Captain America: Civil War, was a great film.  My opinion on the Russo Brothers second movie with Captain America comes in as a tie for me with it's predecessor.  I just don't think it passes TWS, BUT it does do a great job in introducing the Black Panther character flawlessly to steamroll right through this movie.  You got to see this character, his values, how he presents himself, part of his story AND a glimpse of his country.  As soon as he arrives, it's absolutely no nonsense and you immediately loved the character and like me, wanted to know more.  Now having his own movie, it is a wonder how this movie will go.  Directed by the young Ryan Coogler, who also directed Fruitville Station & Creed, Ryan does the most masterful job on showing us who Black Panther is and where he comes from, Wakanda.

Picking up shortly after the events of Civil War, The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to be greeted by his mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and his Royal Guard the Dora Milaje.  Now that his father, T'Chaka (John Kani) is dead, T'Challa must now take up his Kingship and rule his nation of Wakanda as their new King.  With the emergence of a long time enemy of Wakanda Ulyesses Klaue (Andy Serkis), T'Challa must go on a mission to take down this enemy, but when the mission goes wrong on 'Day-One', this sets some uneasiness with some of the locals and also coincidentally brings forth a new foe Erik 'Killmonger' Setvens (Michael B. Jordan), who is a direct threat to T'Challa and the Throne.  T'Challa must overcome these challenges and threats to himself, his people and the throne.

This is a great and very layered film.  From the beginning of the movie until the very end after the Credits.  The Social commentary and political standpoints in this movie are very apparent, but do not beat you over the head with it.  They address current issues in real life flawlessly as well as negating stereotypes and turning them on it's head.  Very culturally aware and without coming across preachy, is able to drip feed a tiny bit of history of the real world, what has been done, what we do as people and what is likely to happen.  Baring in mind that the MCU is set in the "real world", this movie does a lot to change the narrative a little and opens you up to ideas of what could have been, could be and how things should be.

At first, when I heard and read reviews of this film, I was slightly disappointed once I had finished watching it, but then I asked myself, "what could have been done better?" I thought about this long and hard until I decided that although the film isn't perfect and should have been a little longer, ultimately I needed more from the villain.  This made me realise that, not only was the villain great, his story was also great.

The visuals are amazing.  The colours usedThe acting in this movie from everyone was excellent.  Sure some accents were not THAT great, but you understood where they were going with it and what was being said.  The costumes and outfits were amazing and very well realised and detailed.  Pulling a lot of real life culture into this movies and you could see it.  I've not read a Black Panther comic book, BUT the imagery looked as though it was taken directly from the comics.  The fights scenes although, not a lot, were all pretty good.  The mission fight was just excellent in every way and the use of the camera and the angles were great.  The last fight scene was not THAT great, a little CGI heavy, but they were awful and did not take away from the story.  I do believe that Marvel did a better job in giving us what they have done for a few films now, with their bad guy.  Mentioning the bad guy; excellent.  You understood his motives and although sometimes you just want to hate the bad guy and he must be defeated, he makes you feel sympathetic to his cause.  The film is VERY funny in places, may actually make you cry and I walked away from the film ranting and raving about the character M'Baku (Winston Duke).  People will have their favourites but he was mine.

A lot of people may want different things from this movie due to it being a comic book/superhero movie, but this movie is much bigger than that.  The fact that it didn't really feel like a superhero and it feeling different, but still feeling the same was an achievement which walks the same line as The Winter Soldier for me.  A stand-alone movie that raises the bar and connects to the larger MCU story-arc and will definitely get you excited for Infinity War.  Go watch it...you may even watch it more than once because it is THAT entertaining.

(film review) - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Unless I'm attending a secret screening and on the off chance, I have not seen the movie trailer for the film I'm about to see, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY for me to sit down in a cinema and watch a movie I have no clue about.  That being said, a friend of mine told me to watch the trailer as it is funny, but I only went to see this movie because it was something different from the superhero and sci-fi movies I usually review.  I mean, c'mon guys, I do watch other movies, heck, I watch a ton of movies and a lot of them have not been reviewed on here yet, but as it is 2018, I'm going to do my best.  And with THAT said, this movie; I thought was some small town story about some small town issues of family dramas and something that doesn't interest me a great deal.  And boy was I right and soo damn wrong at the same time.  I'll explain.

3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is about a white woman who lives in a small town who has some outrageously terrifying, horrific and brutal actions taken out on her daughter in which leaves her daughter dead.  Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), having mourned for her child, puts up 3 controversial Billboards for the attention of William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), the towns revered Chief of Police which leaves the town divided.   Not only has nothing been done to capture the culprit, half the town side with Mildred whilst the other half are against her and her methods.  When mother's boy Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) with a penchant for violence gets involved, things only get from bad to worse for Mildred while she does everything she can to get justice for her daughter.

I honestly thought this film was brilliant.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Very dark humour, in a crime film written and directed by Martin McDonagh which not only pulls on your heart strings but also makes you laugh out loud if you are not already crying.  I almost cried a few times because I kept thinking and putting myself in Mildred's situation.  The acting in this is great, Frances is excellent, Woody is excellent and Sam is also excellent.  I mean the acting is great all around and the dialogue is more than witty, not to mention very tongue in cheek, but the movie comes together very well.  Was shocked when it ended, but wasn't surprised.

A great film I would recommend to anyone who likes crime films and/or comedy.  I think the best way to think of this might be to think of 7 Psychopaths, same director.