Wonder Woman (2017)

Introduction:

It was inevitable that I would watch Wonder Woman. It has Amazons in it. How am I supposed to resist that? Well you also have the fact that the character has always been around since I was a kid. I used to watch Challenge of the Super Friends a lot. But I got the feeling from the trailer that this movie would be a lot less silly and lot less 70s.

Summary:

On the hidden isle of Themyscira Amazons from ancient Greece are still alive and doing well, thank you very much. Their queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) tries to convince her spitfire of a daughter Diana (Gal Gadot) that she doesn’t need to be trained as a warrior. Even though the Amazons have been created by Zeus to battle Ares, the Gods were all destroyed many centuries ago.

Unfortunately it looks like Ares is also alive and doing well, thank you very much. Currently he has The Great War blazing across Europe and threatening to engulf the entire world. An American spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) brings this news to the Amazons after he crashes on their island in his biplane. It doesn’t take long for Diana to grab her Lasso of Truth, her sword and shield and join forces with Trevor to find Ares. She suspects the ancient god is somewhere in the thick of the war, and will stop at nothing to destroy him. But this Wonder Womanis going to find that the world is deadlier than she even imagined. Robin Wright, Danny Huston and David Thewlis round out the cast.

Good Points: 

• The cast does a great job bringing these characters to life
• Some excellent visuals and action scenes keep things interesting
• The movie moves at a good pace, balancing well between action and drama 

Bad Points:

• The story is pretty familiar, super hero origin stories are a dime a dozen
• The bookend scenes tying this movie to the Justice Leaguefeel unnecessary
• The final battle against the big bad is by the numbers and fairly uninteresting

Overall:

Yeah the movie got its share of hype when it came out, so it is hard to not to come at it with high expectations. What you get is a solid superhero origin story that doesn’t break new ground, but is well put together and paced. The engagement of the cast and the handling of most of the action scenes make the film work. Not quite a wonder, but still a fun time.

Scores(out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 4

Acting:  4

Script:  3

Music: 3

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

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Anime Juke Box - Konya Wa Hurricane -Bubblegum Crisis

Going a bit classic with the anime juke box today. Heading back to 1987 and the original animated video series Bubblegum Crisis. While there is a crisis in the series, it has nothing to do with bubblegum. It has everything to do with rogue androids and hot women in power suits blowing them up. I've already featured one song from this fun series a few years ago, but there are so many awesome 1980s rock songs in this series that I have to share another.

This is the song that starts off the series. The band Priss and the Replicants (fun nod to Bladerunner - one of many!) are rocking out on stage. The performance is intercut with the destruction one of the androids is unleashing on Tokyo. The style of the song (and the performance sequence) is borrowed from Streets of Fire, and I think it actually makes this even better. It's a great way to start off the series, and the song is pretty darn catchy (with lots and lots of english thrown in there for good measure: "Give me touch... burning touch!")

So here is Priss and the Replicants performing Konya Wa Hurricane from the series Bubblegum Crisis.

The Babysitter (2017)

Introduction:

And then you see the name McG as the director of the film and a shiver runs down your spine. Not because he directed the two Charlie’s Angels films, but because he is still going around by the name McG. Still, you’ve got a horror comedy film about a babysitter who may or may not be involved in the dark arts. Well that just sounds like a fun Sunday movie to me.

Summary:

Cole (Judah Lewis) is not your typical 12-year-old boy. He has overprotective parents, gets picked on at school and even has neighborhood bullies that make his life miserable. But he is able to make it through the day, and that might be because he still has a babysitter. Bee (Samara Weaving) is super sexy, has a keen knowledge of geek culture and she treats Cole like a peer. Cole thinks she is swell.

Until one night he sneaks downstairs to see what the babysitter does when he is supposed to be asleep. Turns out that Bee may be the leader of a cult! Joined by the wisecracking John (Andrew Bachelor), the perky Allison (Bella Thorne), the hulking Max (Robbie Arnell) and the mysterious Sonya (Hana Mae Lee), the five commit what looks like a full on blood sacrifice right in Cole’s home. Now it is up to Cole to escape the house of horrors, and enlist the help of the girl next door, Melanie (Emily Alyn Lind) to stop Bee and her minions. Because Cole is starting to think that Bee is more than just The Babysitter.

Good Points:

• Combines in your face outrageous style with an over the top premise to great effect
• Some excellent chemistry between Cole and Bee makes their relationship work
• The entire cast in on board for style of the film 

Bad Points:

• Goes very over the top, getting a little too crude at times
• Some of the stylistic choices may annoy some viewers
• Never really gets scary, so horror fans may be disappointed

Overall:

Did I mention this was over the top? Well that is going to make or break the movie for you. The film takes a Tarantino style and ratchets it up to 11. The gore is gratuitous, there is some very crude humor thrown in that doesn’t always land. But the heart of the film Cole and Bee’s relationship is what makes it all work. The two actors really pull it off and give the movie a bit of heart at the center of all the ridiculous hijinks.  The movie knows what it is and goes right for it. I had a great time with it. 

Scores(out of 5)

Visuals:  4

Sound: 4

Acting:  4

Script:  4

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

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And Then This Happened... Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

It is bad enough when you are hosting a nice dinner party and one of your guests turns out to be an idiot with the manners of an insane chameleon. But it is even worse when you are the dinner guest and you happened to bring the rude idiot with you. Of course, you had hoped he would act a little less annoying than usual, but time and again he proved you wrong. Jedi are known for their patience. But this, it was just going too far. Can't really blame Qui Gon here. Caption time!

And then this happened...

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Introduction:

When Guardians of the Galaxy arrived in theaters in 2014, the results were unexpected. In the lead up to the film’s release, the Marvel faithful were excited but everyone else saw what looked like Star Warsclone with a talking raccoon. What we got was something that was a lot more fun than the last crop of Star Wars prequels. A sequel was inevitable, and it had a lot to live up to.

Summary:

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still calling himself the Star Lord and is still traveling with his rag tag group of heroes. These include Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and baby Groot (Vin Diesel). Now known as the Guardians of the Galaxy they are still getting in and out of trouble but these days they do it for “good causes” like protecting powerful batteries for the golden skinned Sovereign people. But nothing goes as planned and Rocket may or may not have stolen some of the batteries and well… things go wrong.

Before you know it Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are dragged into the mess and the Guardians are facing hundreds of deadly Sovereign ships. But help arrives when a mysterious being named Ego (Kurt Russell) saves the day. He brings the Guardians to his home world and reveals his god-like powers. Ego then claims to be Peter’s father, and that he needs his son’s help for a special mission. It isn’t long before 70s music is playing, Rocket is shouting and shooting and the galaxy is in peril again.

Good Points:

• Maintains the fun spirit of the previous film.
• The cast does a great job balancing humor and drama
• Excellent visuals and productions design

Bad Points:

• The flow of the story moves in fits and starts
• Looking for nonstop action, you won’t find it here
• Gets a little too self aware at times

Overall:

In some ways it would be silly to expect this film to top the predecessor. We are expecting a lot from this film and it delivers on quite a bit. Lots of humor and fun for sure. But the movie feels a little too long and could have trimmed a subplot or two to make it flow a bit better. The characters are so much fun you don’t mind spending the extra time with them. Well worth checking out, especially if you enjoyed the previous film.

Scores(out of 5)

Visuals:  5

Sound: 5

Acting:  4

Script:  3

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

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The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

Introduction:

So there is now an official Cloverfield trilogy which is blossoming into a full-blown “series” as of this writing. So far these films all share some element of surprise in their marketing. When it comes to this film, the surprise was along the lines of “where the hell did this come from?” because I didn’t know anyone who even heard this was in the works. Springing fully formed from the head of Zeus and onto Netflix we have a sci-fi horror hybrid. But is it worth checking out?

Summary:

Earth is in trouble. Natural resources are running scarce and a new source of energy needs to be found. So the Cloverfield space station is launched. Using technology based on particle accelerators, the science team believes they can create an endless source of energy… they just need to get the damn thing to work.

We meet Ava Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) the communications officer aboard the station. She is dealing with some personal tragedy in her life and is finding it hard to focus on her job. She will need to focus, because a freak accident causes the station to malfunction and be hurtled to a mysterious location in space. While trying to figure out what is happening the crew realizes that they have opened a dimensional door. That caused all kinds of horrifying and bizarre things to occur. This includes finding a living person inside a wall, strange emanations of magnetic fields, and eyeballs just not behaving in sockets. As the horrors mount the crew becomes certain that they actually crossed dimensions and being in an alternate reality may create a paradox… a Cloverfiled Paradox so to speak. David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O’ Dowd, Zhang Ziyi and Elizabeth Debicki round out the cast.

Good Points:

• Some solid acting by the cast
• Some excellent visual effects and sets
• Manages to build up some solid thrills and WTF moments 

Bad Points:

• Feels very disjointed and messy at times
• The story is very, very, very familiar
• Connections to the previous films in the series feels like an afterthought

Overall:

There are elements of a top-notch sci-fi thriller buried in this movie. It’s got a solid cast that does its best with a messy script. But the whole thing feels very uneven. It also is highly reminiscent of Event Horizon and similar films. Not a bad time for lazy Sunday viewing, but certainly the least of three films currently bearing the Cloverfield moniker. 10 Cloverfield Lane is easily the superior film.

Scores(out of 5)

Visuals:  4

Sound: 3

Acting:  4

Script:  2

Music: 4

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

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And Then This Happened... This Island Earth

If there is one thing 1950s science fiction films taught us, it is to never trust anyone coming out of a flying saucer. There are a few exceptions, like good old Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still. More often than not you end up with an Invasion of the Saucermen situation.

Sometimes you get to meet cool aliens with lumpy foreheads (before Star Trek made that a thing) and unusual wildlife (larger of course and with a higher degree of intelligence). But then there is the technology, and believe me, that technology is always something to see. This Island Earth has some pretty neat looking devices including the famed Interocitor. But just what the heck is this thing? I think we need a caption for it.

And then this happened...