(film review) - Sinners

There has been some talk about Ryan Coogler spending 90-100 million dollars on this movie, and having made 48 million dollars domestically and approximately 15 million dollars internationally on the opening weekend, it has been seen by local trades as "not enough" as it is not profitable and the movie will need to do much more to make that money back. Please remember that this movie is of a specific genre (no spoilers here), and unlike 'Once Upon A Time' by Quentin Tarantino, which made 41 million dollars on its opening weekend and was praised. What is the reason for this? Even Ben Stiller came out to defend this original film from the backlash and negative reports. This is a predominantly black cast, original movie within a specific genre released during a cost of living crisis and within an era where comicbook movies are booming, this movie should be seen as an absolute win for Ryan and his team because not only did he write, direct and produced a movie that did not revamp the art of storytelling or do anything that was extremely ground-breaking, this movie cuts into the layers of history, black history touching on lore, religion, music, escapism and the vamperic nature of people who want under the guise of sharing such as cultural appropriation. It has been mentioned that Marvel approached Ryan to direct the Blade movie they have been having trouble putting together, and he told them he was doing this movie. I am glad he stuck to his guns because this is a great movie. I'll explain. 

After World War I, Smoke & Stack are two notorious twins who arrive back in town after a stint in Chicago, rumoured to be working with Italian Mobsters. With the money they have, their plan is to open a Juke Joint to allow people around the town a place to go for entertainment and fun, but on the day of the grand opening, a few white people arrive who want to enter their establishment and end up causing a major problem for Smoke, Stack and the revellers inside.

I will start off with a few negatives, which are very nitpicky of me. I believe the trailers could have done a better job of showing some of the smaller scenes and other scenes without giving the movie away. They did a great job, but there is a montage at the end of the movie that would have been nice to have included to further throw off the twist, but to further the "something is going on" feel the trailer had. Hearing about the genre of this movie is a spoiler, although I understand why it is needed in some cases, having people talk about it leads you to expect and wait for it, which allows you to preempt moments, scenes and scenarios rather than simply enjoy the movie as it is. I mean, we are going to get there soon, so why spoil it for others? But other than that, this movie is great. Ryan Coogler has directed 5 films, and he is 5 for 5. He is following in the steps of Christopher Nolan and a few others who have not missed.

The story of two notorious twins trying to set up shop in their home town during the Jim Crow era, only for it to be disrupted by white people at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was attacking black people, is an interesting era to have this movie take place. Ryan weaves in religion, witchcraft and lore which includes the word 'Haints', something I heard whilst playing 'South of Midnight', having not known what a haint was before playing and to have it brought up here, a few weeks since 'South of Midnight' was released is a great continuation of folk-lore and history within the black community. With that said, the intertwining of religion and music in a period where secular music was referred to as the devil's music created an uneasy backdrop and soundtrack to the movie. It emphasised the power of music through generations, where it came from to where it is going, the talented people who produced/played music in those times of struggle as music is a form of escapism as well as a tool to create unity between people, which ironically leads to the main antagonist wanting to have, join and be with the people who are enjoying themselves for their own sinister gain under the guise of family and unity, through music.
There is a super deep cut moment for people who have watched the 'House Party' movies (specifically House Party 1), and there is a chant saying, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire, we don't need no water let that motherf*cker burn" in that movie, which played in my head in this movies as there was a moment of symbolism of people having a great time in a party until the roof caught into flames.

The music, once again provided by Ludwig Göransson is that one-two punch Ryan and Ludwig provide in the films he directs and the other creates music for. These are two collaborators who work well together, just like how Ryan and Michael work well together. There is a specific scene in the movie where the music seems to transcend time, and it was amazing. The music is a character in this movie and plays a heavy, huge and important part, becoming part of the storyline itself.

The casting here is top-notch. Thinking about it now, although this movie is a majority black cast, we have white, native indian and east asian characters, other people of colour, which was interesting and refreshing to see. But moreover, that one-two punch we get with Michael and Ryan directing him is great. Although you are aware that Michael is playing two characters and often in the same frame, there is a distinct difference between the twins. I noticed immediately which twin was the more aggressive and which one was the calmer of the identical twins, which was also interesting as not only do they love and look out for one another and share an inseparable bond, they would also distance themselves when they feel they are in a scenario they perceive as threatening. Michael provides mannerisms and characteristics that make the twins look and feel different from one another. Another standout in this movie came from a new actor named Miles Caton as Sammie, who, in his first movie, THIS MOVIE, was phenomenal. The acting and singing performed by him has catapulted him into stardom. It will not take long for Hollywood to grab him and place him into something else very soon, and the same goes for Jayme Lawson, who was equally as good. I do not recognise her from 'The Woman King' and 'The Batman', so I will rewatch those, but she did a great job convincing me that she is also a young, up-and-coming acting force. Lastly, the other two actors who stole the show and their respective scenes, Delroy Lindo and Jack O'Connell. It is quite possible that I kept these two last, wait, Wunmi Mosaku, these THREE last, because they are British, and these three also carried the movie for me. Delroy as Slim, the old wise man who has lived through and seen a lot to share his experiences,  Jack O'Connell as Remmick, the white man who wants to take something from another but dresses up his needs and his own motives under charm and persuasive tactics in the guise of unity and family and Wunmi as Annie, who provides the knowledge, exposition and heart with an heartbreaking storyline that I found quite touching. To mention Hailee Steinfeld at this point makes it seem as though she was not great, but she is great in everything she is in, from 'Hawkeye' to 'Bumblebee' and the voice acting she does in the animated 'Spider-Man' movies as Gwen Stacy.

One last thing, the costume design and the visuals are stunning. Ryan Coogler with his 'one take' shots that are now usually referred to as 'oners', long takes without a camera cut, panning from one moment or angle in a scene to another. The party scene was great for that, as it all felt seamless and rhythmic, flowing with the music. Needless to say, the shots, pictures, and imagery is stunning. The costume design is also excellent, with Ruth E. Carter's attention to detail. All the characters have a great look to them, with both Smoke and Stack dressing similarly but also very differently at the same time.

This is a solid cast for a small movie where they were all stealing scenes from one another like a 'free-for-all', and the twists and turns this movie makes are enough to have you stay until the very end and see the mid-credits scene, which can set up for a sequel. Although I'd be happy to leave this movie as it is, I can imagine a prequel with Smoke and Stack going through World War I, coming home to leave and go to Chicago to work with crime families there to finally get the money they need to lead us into this new film. I'd love to see the dynamics and storyline there, especially as the prequel could be set up as a completely different genre, and if they do a sequel ot this, maybe that could be another genre setting this franchise up as a franchise with three different genres. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and it deserves all the accolades it gets.

(trailer review) - Predator: Badlands

The braintrust, illumanati or equivalent responsible for the resurrection of the 'Alien' and 'Predator' franchise are a group of well-intentioned, creative visionaries, because, as I see it, the Predator franchise was dead after 'The Predator' by Shane Black. I am not sure if that film was terrible, as I never saw it, but I heard it got mixed reviews and possibly did not reach the levels the studio wanted, especially having opened to just over 20 million on opening weekend. The Alien vs Predator movies ran the alien franchise into the ground and Scott did not help with his prequel films like Prometeus and Covenant. The thing is, everyone loves the Alien, Predator and The Terminator franchise, so having all of these tank from pretty much bad writing and over inflated budgets, puts us, the viewers/fans and the studios where we are today. With that said, the film 'Prey' brought us back to where the franchise needed to be. Prey was great. Alien: Romulus did the exact same thing, so now we are back on the Predator-train and this trailer not only brings us closer to the Alien vs Predator franchise again, but possibly some stories we will soon see love and enjoy. We hope.

So this trailer shows us, what looks like a young predator going through what seems to be trials to possibly level up within their hierarchy structure, or is he the protagonist on a planet on a mission here? It is a little unclear at this point as this is only a teaser trailer, but what is very interesting to see, is the woman in the trailer, when her eyes roll back, is the same thing that Andy does is Alien Romulus that proves he is an android, so she is obviously and android too, especially as you see the Weyland company logo on the backs of her eyes. You see a few other Predators and a huge beast the Predator will obviously need to fight. I am not entirely sure how this movie will do and another trailer will give us a bit more to work with, but considering this movie is being directed by the same person who directed 'Prey', Dan Trachtenberg, so lets just wait and see how deep they go with this, the lore and see where it takes us and how well they do. 

(trailer review) - Wednesday: Season 2

I am sure that I have mentioned it before at some point on this site in a review somewhere, but I watched the first season of Wednesday and I really enjoyed it. I grew up on the Addams Family movies, and Wednesday was one of my favourite characters. Her sadistic behaviour, played wonderfully by Christina Ricci was great, and Jenna Ortega was equally great. I even heard that she didn't blink, and on the rewatch, I do not believe I saw Jenna Ortega blink once. Even the dance she did at the dance was so Wednesday, cooky and weird and great, it started a trend after the show had concluded. Here we are, a sequel, and equally, this trailer makes it seem as though the second season will be just as great as the first.

If you are new to Wednesday, the beginning of the trailer set you up with what you are expected to see, shenanigans and lots of dark twisted humour and shenanigans as we start of with Wednesday travelling and she has to go through a metal detector and all the things you should never have on you as a person, let alone carry on a flight is hilarious. Talking to Thing about the sun screen is funny, but it is the music that does it for me in this trailer as we see all the clips of things going on and the stare-down with the beast, Wednesday is scared of nobody and nothing. Seeing the other classmates is cool, as there will definitely be dynamics between them again, like Elphaba and Glinda. There is like to be something else sinister afoot in the town and Wednesday is going to solve the mystery, but as it stands, on the back of the first season and this trailer, I am interested as I had fun with the first one, let us just hope they keep with the same energy.

(episode review) - Star Wars: Andor: Season 2 - Episode 1-3

I did not write a series review for the first season of Andor, likely because I was caught up on everything else going on, but I did watch the show and really enjoyed it. In short, Andor is about a man named Cassian Andor who, through oppression, joins a faction of Rebels to fight against the evil Empire. In a bit more detail, Cassian is hunted for the murder of two imperial troopers by two passionate and eager imperial officers determined to track him down, but when he meets a man named Luthen, he decides to work with him and his team of Rebels to take down an empire garrison to hopefully help ignite the passion of other Rebel forces across the galaxy with the funding of Mon Mothma in whom the Empire is monitoring.

The first season is excellent. There are some amazing moments with great characters, but the show is slow-paced and very political. It is spies and double-crossing. There are gunfights and space battles. A lot will say, THIS IS STAR WARS. For me, well, I guess I would agree. It is not what I grew up on, but it is, dialled down and heavily fleshed out. Star Wars is not just laser swords, blasters and explosions; it is politics, it is spies, it is good vs evil. So now that the second season is out, released 3 episodes at a time covering the span of 4 years before the events of Rogue One, the first 3 episodes were good.


Episode 1
Having now joined a Rebel faction under Luthen, Cassian is a spy working within the Empire as a test pilot. His plan to steal a Tie-Fighter goes horribly wrong when the Tie-Fighter he steals is a new prototype, and he lands on a planet to meet his contact, only to find a bunch of Rebels who do not trust him. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, Bix and Brasso try to keep a low profile while they wait for Cassian. Director Krenic has a meeting with other imperial officers to spearhead an anti-Ghorman whispering campaign to obtain their minerals. The three-day wedding celebrations have started for Mon Mothma's daughter, but she has an unexpected guest arrive.

Episode 2
Luthen's assistant Kleya has trouble trying to get hold of Bix, having not heard from Cassian. Held captive, Cassian tries his best to rally his captors together, as they struggle to work together whilst being strapped for food. Syril tries to instil confidence in a new recruit to be like him. The imperials visit the area, Bix and Brasso are held up as they continue to carry out immigration audits. Mon Mothma's husband shows his jealous side, and her beneficiary starts to get cold feet about the cause and his involvement in it.

Episode 3
Bix and Brasso realise they may not be safe as the imperials are closing in, and one officer approaches Bix in an aggressively violent manner. Mon Mothma has a misunderstanding with her daughter and realises she is on her own. Syril and Dedra have dinner with Syril's mother. Kleya is able to speak with Cassian.

These were 3 great episodes. Slow, building character and developing a story which is going to be around the Ghorman people, it would seem. Set 4 years before the Battle of Yavin, these 3 episodes are designed to show us how the Empire are trying to resource minerals for their Death Star project, where Mon Mothma is with the cause financially, how unorganised the Rebels are and how it will never be safe for Cassian, Bix and Brasso. The third episode had some dark scenes and imagery, but I cannot help but love the realism of the characters. Someone of a high rank will definitely abuse their power. And the last shot of Cassian was so upsetting. Let's see how far they go with the excellence of this show.

(episode review) - The Last of Us: Season 2 - Episode 2

 

I feel weird. Ultimately, I am conflicted. You see, I always heard about the game 'The Last of Us', a PlayStation game, revered for its gameplay and fantastic story. I want to say I even watched the cinematic on YouTube at some point, but it was so long ago, once I got to the game, I only remembered a fight between two people, but could not remember the other story beats. I started 'The Last of Us' series without playing 'The Last of Us Part 1' game, so everything was new to me. Joel, Ellie, the Fireflies, the world, it was all new to me when watching the show. I had no idea who Tess was or the guy and his brother or the two lovers, Bill and Frank, but it was all captivating. It was a great story being told and laid out to us, but to a brain that did not know what was happening. But last night and since I have now played the two games, part 1 and part and completed them, I honestly do not know how to feel about the execution of THE SCENE, if I already know how it went cinematically via the game. I just do not think it hit me the way Ned Stark did in season 1 of Game of Thrones. 

We pick up with Abby and her gang caught out in a storm, held up at a Lodge. They see the town in the distance they believe Joel to be in. In trying to devise a plan to get Joel, Ellie, and Jesse go out on a morning patrol, only to be caught in the storm and having to seek shelter. Whilst works are being carried out on the pipes, authorised by Joel, the underground network of fungus attract the horde and the people of the town are forced to defend the town from the infected and as Joel is reported missing, Ellie goes after Joel to try and help him only to find him with Abby. This episode was great. It started slowly, but the tension gradually built up until it was chaos. When Abby was caught by herself and the workers disturbed the fungus, is when it all kicked off. The episode was VERY reminiscent of the episode 'Hardhome' in Game of Thrones (look it up - it is so good, well, in my opinion). All the different infected running and attacking, and then we have the rescue, and then the scene at the Lodge. Everything in this episode was executed exceptionally well, although I do feel I should have waited for the show to conclude to be hit with that emotional gut punch, or maybe I am dead inside. Either way, maybe I should not have listened to my friend and played the game first. Going forward, there is going to be some great storytelling. 

(trailer review) - The Fantastic Four: First Steps

 

You heard it here first, "No you won't!". Let me circle back to that in a moment, because just like that, Marvel are trying to get people into a frenzy.  Yes, they have been in a bit of a low period due to rushing projects out, but their latest project have been pretty decent. 'Your Friendly Neighbour Spider-Man', 'Agatha All Along', 'Deadpool and Wolverine', 'Daredevil: Born Again', Marvel are on a little come-up. 'Thunderbolts*' looks good and should that movie and this movie hit, maybe, just maybe we are back from that low point, but this trailer, this trailer is the premium fuel Marvel needs.

We start off with an introduction to who these people are, scientists who went into space, but return changed. They do a lot for the city and planet, so they are revered as heroes and celebrities. But the Silver Surfer comes to the planet and tells them their planet is marked for death, so the Fantastic Four need to find a way to save the planet from the planet-eater Galactus. The quick snippets of Jonny flamed-on, the Silver Surfer emerging from flames (I think), The Thing running through concrete pillars, Sue using her invisible abilities like in the first trailer again, and Reed stretching, it all looks great. And just before you see Galactus walking a few blocks to the shops, at the end of the trailer, it ends with a sentence from Reed Richards saying, "We will protect you", which makes me think they will fail. Something is telling me that although currently being the smartest person in that world, he will not find a way to protect his planet, and they will all be transported to the world where the 616 is, but we will see.

(trailer review) - 28 Years Later

What in the actual dystopian Robin Hood modern warfare is this? I have not seen 28 Days Later in years, nor have I seen 28 Weeks Later in probably an equal amount of time. I will say that I do believe I have them both on DVD (remember those?), and maybe I should rewatch them before this movie, in fact, I will, but did you see those pillars/columns? I am not only so lost, but I am also intrigued AND also concerned. Maybe on the rewatch, I will be ok and get a better understanding, but this looks like it is going to be an absolute madness of a film, somewhat reminiscent of 'A Quiet Place' but with infected people and not aliens.

At first I thought this was a military outfit going out to investigate and kill the infected and maybe this is true and a survivor makes it out, but I saw bows and arrows and I instantly thought of films like Robin Hood (because the character looked a little like that, he was from that time - Aaron Taylor Johnson) and Lord of the Rings, but this is how people have adapted to survive. Seeing those pillars or columns of skulls is definitely disturbing, and those infected people running, yeah, this definitely makes me feel uncomfortable. I have not seen the previous films for a while, but I do remember the 'Rage' virus infected people and transformed them pretty much immediately from even a tiny drop of blood. What is this all about if not just survival? Can they survive the infected? Have they got or are they looking for a cure, hence the reason why they have gone onto the mainland? I mean, why would you leave the sanctuary of your island to travel to the island where the infected are? I heard they are working on a Trilogy, but this is wild, disturbing, and I am totally down to see it. It would be interesting to see how evolved the infected have become in 28 years.

(trailer review) - Thunderbolts*

I believe the first trailer for this movie came out in September 2024. That was the Teaser Trailer, you know, to give you an announcement of this film and when it is coming out. We are only in April, and I am pretty sure we literally had a trailer not too long ago, but this, apparently, is the FINAL trailer, and if I am honest, the hard sell and push for this movie is because the Marvel franchise has dipped a little. Deadpool said it himself in Deadpool and Wolverine, and he was not wrong. This movie essentially is 'The Expendables' or 'The Suicide Squad', a bunch of "nobodies" called in to stop a threat. It also looks like it's going to be an emotional movie centred around regrets, maybe. We shall see.

With both her father and sister's "friend's" best buddy and ex-assassin, James by her side in a makeshift team, Yelana must work with the team and put aside the struggles of her past decisions and face them head on as well as try and stop a new and deadly force known as The Void created by the hands of Valentina.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Daredevil: Born Again

So, I am not going to say I am conflicted, but I am going to say that I am interested. I am interested in a lot of things right now. My mind is all over the place, thinking. Was this a good show? Was this everything I hoped it to be? Did this match up to, beat or do badly in comparison to the Netflix show? What worked? What did not work? Did I hype up the Netflix show in my head? Am I not seeing its flaws? Like I said, I have a lot of questions and my mind is all over the place with my thoughts, but ultimately, whilst the Disney+ version of Daredevil is VERY different from the Netflix version, I will say this first and foremost...I really enjoyed this first season of Daredevil: Born Again, and I am very interested to see where the show goes now that they are shooting season 2 currently, and rumour has it, we may see more heroes appear.

You see, Disney/Marvel have had quite a few shows from 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier', 'Loki', WandaVision', 'Hawkeye', 'Moon Knight', but these were all developed in troubled times. Not only did we have the pandemic and the writers' strike, but during the reign of Bob Chapek, who wanted everything to come out quick and fast, Disney pushed out a lot of shows with a drive to get people onto Disney+. The show 'Echo', which ultimately comes before this show, I personally feel that Echo was stuck between the  "Netflix-level" grit and the family-oriented Disney brand. I also think the 'Blade' film has been here for several years, too, but now that 'Deadpool and Wolverine' have come out and done well, we should be in a good place with that. We got what we got with Echo, but Disney not only decided to cut and dissect this 18-episode show to rebuild, despite its flaws in places, but this was a very good show in the end. It does not quite match the Netflix energy, but it does come close and in some places surpass it.
Let me break it all down for you.


The first episode sets you up with the main characters from the original series and the new side characters that have been introduced in this new show. We get a bit of drama to set up the story going forward, and we also get our first "hallway" fight that is seemingly a one-shot, which is amazing to see.

Some time has passed, and the second episode is slightly slower and more dialogue-driven, but the stakes are high. Matt is representing a vigilante, but going forward through episodes 2, 3 and 4, we have the courtroom drama where Matt is doing what he can, but the Law is failing the people he is representing. With Hector Ayala, it is crooked cops; with the shoplifter, it is the system. Along with important and meaningful conversations with other characters in the show, these are the things that ultimately push Matt to make his decision in episode 5.
In episodes 2 to 7, Wilson Fisk is also dealing with his issues of trying to be Mayor, but ultimately, things are not going the way he thinks they should and being Kingpin may be the better option. His relationship is in tatters, and his new circles do not respect him, but whilst trying to make the city of New York a better place, he is also trying to clamp down on vigilanteism and all the episodes until episode 7 is a slow transformation for him as he gives into who he really is.

The last 3 episodes 7, 8 and 9 is where the shows picks up in regards to action andif you only came to a Daredevil show just for action, although he is a lawyer, these three episodes are for you as Daredevil battles and fights a villain named Muse and another villain comes back to cause havok. It is full steam ahead, and by the finale, we are looking at an all-out war on the streets of New York, ready for season 2.

So in the end, the making, scrapping and remaking of the show to appease the viewers who loved the Netflix show, in my opinion, has worked.. The fact that this show was brought on by the fans petitioning for Charlie Cox to come back and said, "Nah, we want Vincent back too!" is a testament to how great these actors were in the original show and how much the show and they were loved. You can feel the acting between the two when they share the screen; it is excellent, but the show does come with a few negatives because of this.

I personally feel that the Daredevil show is about Matt Murdock being a lawyer and a hero. Wilson Fisk IS a villain in the background and in the Netflix show, the main villain, but the show was never about him, persay and there was never this yin and yang between them. Although I loved what they did and it was very interesting how they did it and how it played into the story, I felt it was very heavy-handed in places, and it took me out of the show sometimes. I just felt it was not necessary throughout the entire season, although I understood what they were trying to do. Matt is battling himself, thinking he can give up being Daredevil when that is who he is, and Wilson is battling himself, thinking he can simply be Mayor and not The Kingpin, when that is exactly who he is. I got it, understood it, but felt it was very heavy-handed in trying to push that across to the viewers. With that said, I am sure there are people who didn't quite get that, nor did they want it.

Another negative about the show (for me anyway and due to the nature of my job here),  knowing before going into the show that they planned out, shot, then scrapped, then restructured, rebuilt, reshot, and this is what we got, helps to paint a picture in my head whilst I amwatching and construct a narrative around what is, what was and what may have been. It gave context to the White Tiger story and context to the Muse story, both of which were very short-lived. Granted, the actor passed away in real life, but hearing this was going to be a lawyer show for like 6 episodes until Matt dons the suit explains why Muse's storyline was ultimately never fleshed out well enough and felt rushed.

With the negatives aside, Vincent and Charlie are Wilson and Matthew, respectively. They were born to play these characters as they have embodied them for years now, and they do such a great job at it. The acting is stellar. Vincent and what he does with his voice is remarkable and Matt, during the conversation with Jon Burnthal as Frank Castle, damn near made me weep. I said once before, 'An all-seeing actor, playing a character who cannot see, acting as a person who can see, is simply an actor doing the Lord's work at this point. That was in season 3, the prison break scene, and Charlie has not lost a beat. The supporting cast is great, Jon and Debra. The tiny scenes they have, they bring their A-game, and if anything, Jon steals the scenes effortlessly. They are batting for 6 and knocking it out of the park, so it will be great to see more of them if they come back in season 2.

There isn't much more I can say regarding this show, that, although it had its flaws in places, Kevin Feige did what he needed to do, and I cannot see many original Netflix watchers being mad at this effort. Chances are, they know exactly what I know or even more and understand the challenges and pressures they had to do this season. Episodes 1, 7 and 8 give us exactly what we should expect going forward, especially with the touching up on episodes 2 to 6. Episodes 2 to 6 were not terrible or bad, but once you understood what was done in the restructuring, place these episodes in a different light, and you can tell the pacing is different, albeit still very good.

They worked with the skeleton of what they had, and if I am honest, another negative this show has is the lack of fleshing out the other side characters. They served a small purpose in this show, but I feel the Netflix series would have gone deeper with the side characters or major characters such as Muse. Netflix would have had half or a whole episode dedicated to him and his backstory. They did that with Wilson, they did that with Benjamin, they had great flashbacks with Elektra fleshing out Matt's relationship with her, even with Stick. It's all good that the dialogue was great in places and one of the episodes I'd shed a tear, but they initially had 18 episodes planned and halved it to 9, so maybe if they had 13 episodes instead, like the Netflix series, it would help with character development and building up the dynamics between characters better for the audience to care about them. For example, that episode that made me tear up, was great written dialogue but the characters have a history, and it shows, so in the finale, the dynamic is there and it is great to see the back and forth between them because it was previous built up in an earlier episode but even more in the previous series.

Going forward, I think we are in great hands. I am hoping that we get to see the rest of 'The Defenders' appear (hopefully Spider-Man too), and we just get the gang back. With better planning, more time, more money and the connection to the MCU, we should be able to get a great show centered around Daredevil and maybe, if they can get the cobwebs away from the gears and lever, maybe continue with sequels to the Netflix shows too or introduce more characters because maybe we can have a street level thing going on including 'Moon Knight' and even 'Ms. Marvel'.

Disney have the money and the potential, and we CAN love it all if done well.

(trailer review) - Havoc

What is really interesting about this film is, although I heard about it once a little while back, I completely forgot Tom Hardy was in this but I do not think I even knew that the person behind this movie was Gareth Evans, the man behind the excellent 'Raid' franchise (it is two films deep, he needs to make a third, he really does) and the 'Gangs of London' series. At this rate, he is known for high action, gore and martial arts, and we love him for it. The Raid was the John Wick of its day. A police officer goes into a building with his team to save his kidnapped brother from a mob boss. The film Dredd had the same premise. The sequel to The Raid, although I cannot remember the plot, the action was intensified as it brought on a couple of antagonists that were truly wild. Gangs of London is a story involving an undercover cop who is trying to infiltrate a gang and bring the gang down from the inside. I mention these because as I said, high action, martial arts and gore, and this trailer gives us just that, with Tom Hardy.


This trailer looks great. A man, Tom Hardy, is brought in to save Forest Whitaker's son and bring him back before a gang finds him to kill him because of a murder he may or may not have committed. This film looks chaotic, but it also looks really good. I would say the trailer was badly put together because it looked like there was too much going on near the end, where they shoved some, if not all, of the brutal deaths or fighting moments into one section of the trailer. It was just a little too much for me, as if it was a hard sell on the violence, but with that said, it is not like I am not going to watch a Gareth Evans project, that would be very silly of me. Also, the throwing of the washing machine is hilarious. I'm due to start Gangs of London season 3 shortly, so that will be my fix until Havoc arrives.

(trailer review) - Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

If you have followed me for any period of time, you may have learnt a few things. I have not seen all the movies or even the classic ones. I do not just watch comic book and action movies. My cousin was 2 years older than me, so some films were introduced to me by him. I have mostly seen Arnold movies over Sly. I love Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson movies. As well as John McClane being one of my favourite protagonists, Ethan Hunt is quite possibly at the top as I love sci-fi and spy movies. This trailer not only brought a tear to my eye, but it just had me so intrigued, and I even wondered, did they show every scene in this movie as a lot seems to be going on.


This is the sequel to Dead Reckoning part one, which was a movie that ended on a cliffhanger. Ethan Hunt is essentially battling an AI threat to save the world. It sounds bonkers, but effectively, a man named Gabriel has been tasked to do the bidding of the AI and he also has a vendetta against Ethan Hunt. This film is to pick up after the events of the first movie and looks like it pulls from every experience Ethan has gone through where he has saved the world and often, by going "rogue", to lead him to this moment facing the entity and its henchman. The part in the trailer where they are reeling off a list of "achievements" Ethan has done, such as the bombing of the Kremlin or the gassing of the security briefing, I'd imagine there is more listed there. Also, it is so great to see Nick Offerman, but the disbelief they have of someone they have trained to be a ghost and do the impossible mission makes me laugh. If you see Ethan, it is often because he wants you to see him. This ultimately looks like it may be the last Mission Impossible movie for Tom Cruise, but seeing the gang back along with Hayley Atwell, who is a new addition to the team, and those Dutch angles, I am completely involved. I have no idea where this movie's plot is going but I need to see this now! Our lives are the some of our choices. I have chosen this mission. I have accepted it.

(trailer review) - Tron: Ares

The first Tron movie came out in the 80s, and I loved it. The second Tron came out 28 years after that and I will not say it was trash, but it just was not as good as the first movie, or from what I can remember, but maybe I need to rewatch it. But that could be due to several things: the direction they took, the special effects, I cannot remember exactly what happened in the story, so it definitely was not memorable AND the digital updates to Jeff Bridge's face were a little sloppy, that I do remember. This trailer, though, Tron: Ares.....ok, ok, you have my attention.

The trailer starts off with an aerial shot of a city (which I am damn sure they will use in the movie, and you'll see the "trails" from high up looking like a game of 'Snake') and a police operator stating that vehicles are racing, going at 120mph. Then we have the reveal, those Tron bikes (Light cycles) we all love and like from the original movie and the sequel, in the real world. Immediately, I was like, what??? The police are chasing them, or at least trying to keep up until one of the bikes turns on the "line-border" thing it does, and splits the police car right down the middle. Then we see the easily guessed words "Worlds Will Collide" or something very similar to that, because I said it before it came up. Then we see, and I want to say, the "Dreadnought", I think it is called that. I'm reaching back around 30+ years for the name, but once I saw that, I knew the city was going to be doomed. It looks like whoever, the army maybe, is putting up a valiant effort, but I think it may take more than just a few missiles to take down a dreadnought. Maybe someone else needs to step into the battle, like-for-like, because with those other vehicles and flying ships, they look great, but that city is going to get trashed. This looks like a really interesting take on the story here, and the special effects look decent. Just from the trailer alone, it looks better than Tron: Legacy, but I'm sure from the trailer alone, Tron: Legacy looked better than Tron, so we shall see with further trailers. It definitely has my attention. 

(trailer review) - Superman

It has been a while since the last Superman trailer, approximately 3 months. There was all this talk about the dog, Krypto. All this talk about having too many characters (superheroes) in it. People trashing a trailer that showed Superman doing a barrel roll and saying his face looks weird because of the lense they used for the shot. People have even said that Superman is not flying correctly. The character is fictional. Anyway. This is a sneak peek of the movie and although they did not show many new clips/scenes etc, this extended scene involving Krypto is good.

Superman hits the ground with a thud, assuming, after a big battle and he is hurt. He calls on Krypto via a whistle. This is a repeat of the first trailer. The difference in this sneak peek trailer is the interaction between Krypto and Superman where Krypto is being a dog happy to see his owner and wants to play only to realise Superman is hurt and takes him to the Fortress of Solitude where they are met by (and I'm guessing), fortress robotic caretakers.  "Operating" on Superman by lining him up to the sun to regenerate his cells as the Fortress of Solitude turns towards the sun is excellent. I feel like James Gunn is going to knock this one out of the park. All the other clips are basically the same or have a little bit more context like the Green Lantern fighting the big glowy eyeball thing in the city while Clark is with Lois inside the building. This looks like it is going to be really good and if James brings ANY of his sensibilities to this project like what he did with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in it, we are in for a real treat.

(trailer review) - The Naked Gun

Ok. So I was about to start prepping some food, and I opened up YouTube to listen to my daily regulars. I saw the trailer for 'The Naked Gun'. First of all, I knew about this film starring Liam Neeson as I heard about it a little while back, but I completely forgot about it. Considering I used to love 'The Naked Gun' series when I was younger, I said to myself, "Nah, I have to watch this trailer before I start", and here I am, with tears in my eyes filled with happiness and joy having simply seen the trailer just once and knowing full well, the neighbours heard me laughing out loudly. This teaser is EXCELLENT!!!

So, if you do not know of this series, it is about a Police Officer who works for a team called Police Squad called Frank Drebin. I don't know if he is accident-prone, really terrible at his job, or does not have a clue about spatial awareness, but he solves the crime in the end, and all is well. It is all comedy, and you may call some of the comedy gags "slapstick". This trailer is hilarious! The fact he was the little girl at the beginning is so silly, but hilarious and JUST when you are finished laughing at him with his foot up and his poker dot (or strawberry) briefs on under his little school girl's skirt, the teaser ends with all the members kneeling down to their respective fathers who were also in Police Squad and have since died, and when it came to the OJ Simpson one, the son looks over to the camera with a funny look like, "we aren't even going to go there and address this" and walks off, I could not stop laughing! That wink wink, breaking the 4th wall meta joke was absolutely hilarious. I think the character OJ played was called Nordberg. If this trailer represents the film in its entirety, utter lunacy, I am down! I cannot wait for it to drop. I just hope they have an updated version of the squad car with the flashing light(s) on the top because that was always bonkers, but great!

(trailer review) - Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld

 

It was only two days ago that I stated that the Star Wars franchise has not had much success in the last 10 years with quality films or shows apart from Andor. Not that I was lying, but I did not consider the animation department and the decent-to-great shows they have provided. The final season of The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels & Star Wars: The Bad Batch. But this 'Tales of the Underworld', whilst seemingly feeling forced (no pun intended) because it looks like it stars or centers around everyone's two favourite "bad guys", it looks like they have come up with a story to push onto us and I am fine with that because, well, these two characters are two of my favourite characters within the Star Wars Franchise.

This looks like it is a story split between two characters that may end up finding each other near the end and either working together or going their separate ways. Asajj Ventress, for whatever reason, is a uniquely designed character with flaws and issues, who wields a lightsaber and was once both Anakin and Ahsoka's enemy, so it would be incredibly interesting to know what her story is now, especially as she has been thought to have died.

As for Cad Bane, he is another cool-designed character who has been pretty ruthless over the years, and I also believe he was said to be dead. Maybe this takes place before the events involving 'The Book of Boba Fett'. Two bounty hunters, one story? If there is anything I want more, it's Asajj Ventress in live action, maybe this show will help with that going forward.