(trailer review) - Alien: Romulus

 

I am playing hop-scotch when it comes to trailers at this point, as I think back to my earlier years watching trailers. One; I think there were more trailers than what we are getting now and, two; I watched ALL OF THEM. I may not have watched some of the 'clip' ones or the 'scene' ones or even the 'behind the scenes' ones but I watched a lot of them and for the most part, I do not believe it ruined the experience for me unless the trailer over did it which occasionally happened, Batman V Superman, I am looking at you! I already knew I wanted to see Alien: Romulus because the Alien franchise is one of my favourite Sci-Fis. I love sci-fi, I love space and spaceships, and we have an alien, on a spaceship, attacking people and you have a bunch of people trying to survive. Usually you end up with a lone survivor, almost like playing a computer game, but this is the formula. But the first trailer was excellent because of the horror, terror, claustrophobia, it gave everything an Alien movie should give. This trailer dials the tension, terror and horror up to eleven and I am definitely here for it.

Quiet and Airy, only a few people investigating a ship (Romulus, maybe) and an Alien or Aliens are on board. The scene with the water and  the facehugger tries to force itself into the man's mouth, holding onto and strangling him around the throat to impregnate him, although seen many times in many alien movies, this depiction is truly terrifying. I cannot even watch an ER or medical programme with something going down the throat without feeling off, so the shot not long after with the face hugger removing it's appendage from the throat is equally horrorfying. Watching them leap 3-5 meters trying to grab their hosts with force that knocks/pushes you back, then the uneasy feeling and absolute dread you would have feeling something moving inside of you and trying to burst out!? The shock-horror on her face is more than accurate. Elements of Alien and Aliens, two heavily regarded as excellent movies, I hope this one works out and maybe Fede can keep the franchise going.

(trailer review) - Transformers One

When I saw the first trailer for this Transformers film, I simply was not sold on it. It came across as though it was skewed more towards the children. Colourful, childish, childish jokes...I was not sold at all. Not to say that having a film for children is bad or should not be done (I'm a grown man after all) but some animated content, cartoons or anime (if you will) can be directed at both kids and adults, Pixar does that well. Since seeing that trailer, I have heard this film is really good. Although I do not believe it, I have decided to watch this trailer and see for myself because I really enjoyed Mutant Mayhem, so if any of what they are showing me is any better than what I have previously seen and I have already made up my mind, maybe this trailer could change my mind, maybe. This trailer...well, it is better.

I will not say I have done a 180 (one eighty) on this movie and I am sold on it, but this trailer is a lot better than the first one I saw. I love the gradual change in the voice acting from both Hemsworth and Tyree Henry, even hearing Scarlett Johansson this time around is nice because it is either, she had no speaking lines in the previous trailer I saw or she had a line in it but I didn't care because I was not interested. This looks a little more epic. Two brothers/friends who receive power and they both have two different ideologies on how to move forward with this power so they can make their world a better place. Definitely giving me Professor Xavier and Magneto vibes, definitely. Depending on how you see things, nobody is wrong and they do say, the best villain is the person who thinks they are doing the right thing. I am not fully disinterested now, I'll say that.

(episode review) - House of the Dragon: Season 2 - Episode Seven

 

Just when the story is starting to pick up, we are now on the penultimate episode where, in Game of Thrones' case, things always went down, but here, things are going down differently and there is no shock value or major moments per se, but it is definitely looking like a win for Team Black, which leads me to think that this so-called "win" is not going to go down well. In the episode before last, we discover that there are more dragons but not enough Valarian blood riders so Rhaenyra has been on the back foot since Daemon has been gone for a while, with a misfire last episode, this episode was definitely a major win but I can see this all going up in flames by the end in the finale.

There is a chance that there will be more in-fighting or dragon riders switching sides or trying to state a claim to the throne. The dance of the dragons is ramping up and it is only going to get worse as Aemond and Aegon will be butting heads, another brother also has his own dragon and might want to state a claim because of the chaos at King's Landing, not to mention Daemon and whatever his intentions will end up being since he is being haunted by his past and life decisions.

I cannot be sure if there will be a dragon fight nect week in the finale because there are still more dragons to be claimed and more chess pieces to be moved. Rhaenyra also does not want to fight and wants to threaten team green into submission, but due to it being a finale, someone is going to die, I just do not know who.

(film review) - Deadpool And Wolverine

So, I decided to watch the teaser trailer and the first trailer and leave it at that. Why? Well, with all the rumours going around, I did not want to spoil the experience for myself because sometimes, trailers give away too much, and I just wanted to watch this movie with fresh eyes and thoughts. Not thinking at the back of my mind, "Oh, this is when so and so turns up". I did see a small clip of an actor in a suit and I wished I never, but that was due to someone talking about the film and showing clips of the latest trailer (something I had not seen and was trying to avoid), but if I am honest, I think I did pretty well. The spoiler did not hold much weight in comparison to what was to come in the movie at all. But what was to come, I hear you ask?! Cameo after cameo after cheeky cameo, and while all these cameos served a purpose in the movie, I could not help but applaud the team behind this movie and what they managed to do. In 2024, smartphones combined with the internet reign terror on movie sets, letting people know about specific actors and characters in movies, but Deadpool and Wolverine managed to avoid that and deliver a movie that is not only about cameos but about heart, history, decisions and other. I believe that, by this point, you have successfully guessed that I loved this movie.

Wade Winston Wilson, aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), is head-hunted and specifically tasked to help assist an entity with a problem they have. Deadpool decides that the only person who will be able to help him with this task is Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The two go on an adventure to fulfil that task and save the world/universe at the same time, kinda... especially when these two are essentially oil and milk and do not get on.

I am going to try not to spoil this movie as it will be extremely difficult to talk about it due to there being so much going on, and the trailers do absolutely nothing to give the movie away. With that said, I am going to keep this fairly simple and start with the acting. Born to play Iron Man, we can see no other person than Robert Downey Jr. This is almost the same with Chris Evans as Captain America. This also rings true for Ryan and Hugh as Deadpool and Wolverine, respectively. These two guys ARE their comic book characters, AND whilst one has been at it for around 24 years, there is no denying that these two actors as these two characters are so well loved and revered at this point, it feels like home when both actors play these characters. Hugh has stated before that he would not play Wolverine again after Logan, and here he is, playing Wolverine again, after Logan and again, pretty much delivering such a performance, many may feel he stole the show. This could well be due to familiarity bias because, at this point, we know Hugh as being excellent as Wolverine. To the purists out there who ranted and raved about Wolverine needing to be comic book accurate in height, which is 5'3, and Hugh standing in at 6'2, it was because he was so good, nobody cared, the acting, the story and the delivery were that good. The story is good, but a little messy. It could have been worse, but it was serviceable, and everything else in the movie helps to elevate the movie, allowing you to disregard the messiness of the story. There is also a slight weightiness to Wolverine's story, and this also rings true for Deadpool himself. I won't go into the other actors involved, but Paradox and Cassandra were ok, but they did not have many layers or substance to them. The film is more about Deadpool with Wolverine than what the villain is doing, so yes, villainess or sinister things, but nothing close to that of Killmonger or Thanos. No real heavy lifting here, a little more for Cassandra due to her proximity to certain characters in the X-Men universe, but the film is definitely carried by Hugh and his portrayal of Wolverine.

The visuals. Straight from the beginning, this movie gives you the slo-mos we have been used to from the first movie, as well as the "choppy" storytelling. Moreover, whilst there were no beautiful shots that made you think, "wow, what a visual", there were some excellent fight scenes with great choreography. Not quite a Chad Stahelski, but still great to watch. There were plenty of times I said "orfff" or "ouch" because whether these guys can regenerate or not, some of these shots should hurt a great deal, and I felt it!

The music and the jokes were just line after line of funny lines with track after track of brilliant music. The intro, great music (among other things), and the visuals were excellent. Near the middle of the movie, great music and near the end of the movie, great music. The music accompanying the fights was spot on as well, but if you are aware of music cues, you do need to listen out for them in this movie. The jokes were so funny, and there were times I was laughing so hard that I missed another joke. This movie is witty, smart, and quick, and the fourth wall breaking was superb. There are jabs flying left and right, making it hard to keep up with b cause I'd be laughing as another jab is landing. It reminded me of Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. The jabs were speaking directly to the audience about the current state of affairs and your thoughts about the last few years at the establishment, basically....what do they call that, meta-commentary? But I will say, the jokes, jabs, and comedy did not feel forced for me.

Finally, the story, well, back to it. Whilst not amazing, the delivery and execution were great, unlike a few Marvel movies in the past few years. There is quality here. Everything worked and made sense, but the delivery, direction and demand from the director of these actors is what has made this film work for me, even if the story is a bit messy. A combination of everything coming together in perfect harmony to bring you something to watch, have to encapsulate you, laugh (and at some moments) and cry at others. I am not sure if it is due to the familiarity bias with some of these characters, but I have to be honest and say, I did get emotional...even if it was a little bit.

I do believe this is a movie that will be loved by many, liked by loads and disliked by some. With that said and in comparison to what he has had of late, this is a really, really fun movie that is quality and gives us promise of what to come. Maybe, just maybe, Marvel is back "on form". We just need more quality like this in Captain America: Brave New World and The Thunderbolts. Maybe, just maybe, Marvel can get back to where they were, on top.

(trailer review) - Captain America: Brave New World

In the infamous worlds of Busta Rhymes in 'Woo hah!! Got You All in Check', "Got you gassed on super unleaded fuels"...this teaser trailer did the business. It did the absolute business!!! Now, having watched this trailer ONCE and I am compelled to write a review immediately, shows how much excitement I feel from what I just witnessed. I have not yet decided to watch it again and again because I am buzzing from the feel I got simply from watching this only once! But then, the downer of it all, unfortunately, is where my head goes to, where my thoughts go to and what I remember, when I saw a similar toned trailer, is that of Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion had all the promise of being what Captain America: The Winter Soldier was. Ask anybody who is worth their salt, if The Winter Soldier was a great MCU movie and they will tell you, it is one of their best. Secret Invasion had promise, but it stumbled to be a series in the tone and execution of that film. This on the other hand, known for troubled reshoots or simply reshoots after reshoots and changes, looks as though, we might, just get that 'The Winter Soldier' tone we have longed for, we MIGHT. And if Disney play their cards right, they will be back on form as the question now is, will they hit it out of the Park with Deadpool and Wolverine and then this?

This teaser trailer (this is important to understand, it is a teaser trailer - something that shows you, but doesn't tell you, only to alert/inform you of something is happening) is great! It picks up with Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. He has a new suit and shield. General Ross is now played by Harrison Ford and they even alluded to the change in actor like how they did in Ironman 2 from Terrance Howard to Don Cheadle. They show some action, they show some "sleeper cell" moments of, who can you trust in your team? Similar to Hydra being within the government all along and the end stinger of Sam flying breaking the sound barrier and the FOOT OF THE RED HULK!!!! WHAT??? The Red Hulk has been Rumoured for years since 'Age of Ultron' but now we see a glimpse of him and this simply is the icing on a teaser cake. Nice tease indeed. Please bare in mind that the Hulk reveal was tactical by Disney, but I guarantee you this, for the next few days to a week, this teaser trailer is ALL everyone will be talking about because of that big red foot.