(trailer review) - From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

 

Growing up on action movies meant that I saw them often and I loved them. I love seeing a bad guy getting whacked up by the protagonist or the hero. So when John Wick came out, that was simply an action film "junkie's" dream. Remember, the first John Wick movie all started because Theon Greyjoy killed a puppy of a man who didn't want to sell his car to him. You know, of he stole the car, maybe everything would have been fine, but he killed the puppy which was a present to him from someone he held dear (yeah, I don't wish to spoil it) so, John Wick seeks revenge and here we are, 4 films later and a spin-off series and now a spin-off movie and this looks great. So great, by the end of the trailer, I got a little emotional because I managed to channel my cousin without even noticing, picked up on it and realised, this is that type of action movie we love. Ana De Armas kill it in the last bond movie and it looks like she will do the same here.

It does not take long to set the tone and the world this movies takes place in. Ian McShane talking to an obviously sad little girl with blood on her face because it is likely she has just seen and come out of something horrific and is likely to be made n orphan, so here he is giving her the opportunity to seek revenge, but as a Ballerina through a faction Seen in the John Wick movies. Seeing Lance Riddick honestly got me a little emotional and everyone loves it Darryl Dixon. The style of the font, the cinematography, the scenes and shots as well as the close hand-to-hand fights, it's stylish and sexy and to top it off, the Babayaga himself shows up a the end just to seal the deal. To fully confirm to you, which world we are working with here and also, where in the story. It is just an excellent trailer especially if you are a fan of the franchise. Some of those moves, the grenade in the mouth and steel door, the ice-skating boot, the flamethrower Vs the fire hose, excellent.

(trailer review) - The Last of Us: Season 2

 

(TEASER TRAILER)

I stated in my last trailer review that I purchased the second remastered copy of 'The Last of Us' game and played it last year, 2023 and after watching the first season of this show. I am sat here watching this second trailer and I am still a little conflicted because although I wanted to play the game before watching the show, I in fact watched the show first and I do believe it helped me to understand the world of the game, the areas and what the game they could not flesh out because although the game is very cinematic, those elements or storylines could only work in a game setting. But now I have seen the first season, played the first part, I am honestly wondering if I should continue with the watching first, then playing after or should I flip the order for this second season and play first then watch after? Needless to say, this looks amazing already. And I am really looking forward to watching the second season next year.

This is where it all kicks off. Ellie already has doubt and does not trust Joel, but as the audience we understand why he did what he did. But with this new person, Abby, now getting involved, it wil be interesting to see how this all unfolds because from what I heard, the second part of the game is a lot to deal with emotionally. The game. Making you emotional. So it is blatantly obvious at this point, a lot of "eye-water" will fill the eyes of many viewers and followers of the story. The set designs look amazing! Some of the scenes are horrific. That fence part and the fence is caving in, what do you even do? I wonder if we will get any other types of infected. Although I completely the first game, I do not know what they all look like or how they will be transferred to screen but I do think this show is going to be heartfelt and epic just like season 1. Seeing Catherine O'Hara is also nice.

(episode review) - Agatha All Along - Episode 3

 

I feel like this episode was a little shorter than last week but to be fair, I did watch two episodes back to back. 'Agatha All Along' is shaping out to be a really well-put-together TV show from Marvel in a while. Weirdly, I believe the original slate of TV shows for the MCTVU (Marvel Cinematic TV Universe? - I don't know) was meant to be 'Loki', 'Falcon And The Winter Soldier' and then 'WandaVision' (If memory serves me accurately) and due to the world's pandemic problem and the shift (Disney felt they needed) in the storytelling for 'FATWS', 'WandaVision' ended up being the first show out of the gate and while the premise seemed a little weird, kooky and out of place for the MCU, the execution was superb. The acting was great, the story was great and it gave us Agatha, a twisted witch trying to take all of Wanda's powers. Agatha All Along doubles down on what came before and with mastery.

This episode picks up where we left off at the end of episode 2 and the witches are now on the Witches' Road where they will be tested. They find themselves inside a house with a puzzle they will need to solve before the time runs out or they will all die! A slight spoiler, but this was such an excellent episode. If I am honest, I am sold on the mischievously evil character of Agatha and how Katherine Harn sells the character to us. You want to follow her but you cannot trust her and in the episode, this is alluded to several times. There were a few times I actually burst out laughing due to things Agatha and Sharon said or did. I actually feel like Sharon stole the episode and has done since the beginning of the series. We still do not know who the Teen is, but we do get a bit more insight into these characters. As the plot thickens, it will be interesting to see where this show goes especially as "chaos" ensues.

(trailer review) - Sinners

So when this trailer dropped, the first thing I thought to myself was "Michael B. Jordan has been quiet for a little while, was he not meant to be working on a vampire film with Ryan Coogler?" As I watched the trailer, I saw the name 'Ryan Coogler' pop up and asked myself, "Was the film called Sinners?". I came to the quick realisation that I did not actually know what the film was going to be called, but this must be it and considering Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan is the tag-team the black community has been longing for, this is going to be great, right? Fruitvale Station, Black Panther (although not the lead), Creed. Not to mention the fact that Ryan Coogler has not directed a film that was not great. So let's see what this film has to offer from this trailer.

Creepy! There are women out there who love Michael B. Jordan but do not like scary movies but will risk it for this movie, I am pretty sure about that. This film looks excellent and this is just the first initial trailer. It does not show too much, Michael B. Jordan is a twin, we have Wunmi Mosaku from Deadpool & Wolverine, Loki and other shows like Lovecraft Country. Speaking of Lovecraft Country, it did give me that feel, but most importantly, you do not see what they are scared of and are fighting to survive from, the mention of 'beast' and the preacher saying, "You keep dancing with the Devil, one day he's going to follow you home". I love it. It actually sounds like something a black grandmother would say to their child who always wants to be out late trying to have fun and partying. I cannot wait for a second trailer but either way, I am watching this because my boy Delroy Lindo is in this. It was such a crime he did not get anything for 'Da 5 Bloods.

(episode review) - The Penguin - Episode 1

I remember a time when many people did not like Robert Pattinson because he played a Vampire that sparkled. I watched a few Twilights and I must admit, they were ok, but when you want a story of a Vampire having seen Wesley Snipes play Marvel's Blade, and so well, might I add, you do not really want anything like a sparking vampire. So when Robert was announced as the new Batman after Ben Affleck who was meant to be the next Batman going forward after Christian Bale, people were upset. Nobody wanted the Twilight boy to be Batman because he is a "terrible" actor. But the thing is, you can be in a franchise where you may not like that character, TV show, theme etc, but that does not make the actor, a bad actor. I heard about Robert and his capabilities and he was excellent in Tenet, but playing Bruce Wayne, Year 2 of his career as Batman, while people had their discrepancies, Matt Reeves directed a great film with a great story and great actors. In that film, the character ' The Penguin', played by an unrecognisable Colin Farrell, was simply amazing, so hearing they would do a TV show, could only mean great things, right? Right!

This show does not waste any time letting you know what time it is and what you as a viewer are in for. Gritty, Dark, Gangster/Mob TV show in the vein of The Sopranos but with comic book characters no more than 10 minutes into the show, you fully understand the set-up where The Penguin is and what he might need to do next. Having watched the entire first episode, The Penguin shows us Gotham, the gangsters/mobs/crime lords who are vying to fill the power vacuum created after the events of the Batman movie. We find out his intentions and I will take a gamble that during the series, we will see The Penguin rise to prominence as a Mob boss in his own right.

There were only a handful of things I did not like about the show, such as Penguin's voice which seemed as though it sounded slightly different from the film, and there was some CGI used with the driving, but other than that, this show was really good. They highlight The Penguin as a character with impulse issues and someone who came from nothing trying to climb up the criminal ladder. It would be nice to see Batman pop in here and there or maybe see something in the skyline, but so far, the story of the Penguin is masterfully hand-crafted and a joy to watch because this character seems to simply, make mistakes, get caught making them, but manages to slip away. It's the, being able to take a Medium/Genre like Comic Books and mould/fit/craft them into another genre, like a crime drama, just like how Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a homage to a 1970s political thriller and look how loved that film was.

(trailer review) - Thunderbolts

He took his arm out of the dishwasher! First of all, I just want to get this off of my chest first and foremost. The Disney company has been going through a lot of changes in the past 4-5 years. The world also went through a pandemic, so I am not about to be one of those people who have or will say that they hate the multiverse, or say that this latest phase is trash. I liked She-Hulk and what they were trying to do with it, I also liked Echo and what they were trying to do, although I wish they went all the way in, rather than partly in. The TV shows are fine, just fine with a few really good ones. Although I will not say Secret Wars was trash, it did disappoint me because it had all the potential, the potential we now see in Captain America Brave New World. I enjoyed The Eternals and all the rest were decent, but when you set the bar THAT HIGH, it is definitely going to be hard to try and maintain that type of quality where your parent company wants to make unforeseen changes and demand you to pump out double the workload. I will say it again, people are not comic book fatigued, we are mediocre fatigued. It's the quality, not the quantity. This year so far, is a perfect example of that. Deadpool & Wolverine, Agatha All Along and this teaser trailer, YES! I think they have ironed out the kinks and we are back to regular scheduled programming (quality) because this teaser trailer looks great.

I am getting the vibe of The Suicide Squad and Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has tasked Bucky (against his will) to get/obtain Red Guardian, Black Widow and U.S Agent, but it looks like the bigger problem, with these ambiguous/bad guys, is that they will need to deal with a bigger bad, The Sentry and to take him down. Randomly, I think the Guardians of the Galaxy game has a similar concept (which is an excellent game by the way), but they might try to incapacitate him somehow or maybe bring him onside, either way...from what I understand about The Sentry, he is Marvel's version of Superman (like many of their other characters such as Gladiator) but The Sentry has Dissociative Indentity Disorder and his other side is an even bigger problem. I am here for it as this looks really good, so it is most likely going to come down to execution and story, but considering Kevin has the reigns again, I will say, 'In Kevin we trust'. That moment Bucky stops the humvee is a baller move. And I love how everyone in the Limo were concerned he was coming after them. Hilarious. He IS that guy! Also, Steven Yeun, hmmm...let's see how it pans out.