Deadpool Review

     Good things come to those who wait and Deadpool is a fine example of that saying. The "merc with a mouth" finally hit theaters February 12th and boy did it deliver!
     Deadpool tells the story of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) , a former spec ops agent, that falls in love with an equally demented escort by the name of Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin). Unfortunately Wilson is diagnosed with terminal cancer and will do whatever it takes to recover. When approached by a secret program, Wilson decides to take on whatever is thrown at him in order to be healthy once again. However this program is not all it seems and is actually trying to build a mutant army. Through a series of cringing torture, Wilson ultimately becomes a mutant with extreme healing abilities. Wilson is not the same though and becomes acquires a demented appearance from the torture. Wilson escapes the facility and hopes to find Vanessa but he's not the only one. When the leader of this torture complex, Ajax (Ed Skrein) kidnaps Vanessa, Wilson takes on the mantle as a foul mouthed, hilarious anti-hero by the name of Deadpool.
     This film executed the character of Deadpool perfectly. Ryan Reynolds was born to play this character and got the bad taste of Green Lantern out of our mouth (but not before cracking a few jokes about it in this film). Reynolds isn't the only good performance in this film. The brutally honest Weasel (TJ Miller) and the straight edged X-Men, Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) work great with Deadpool. Skrein does a solid job as Ajax and ultimately gets the job done as the villain. The chemistry between the characters is remarkable but it's not the only well accomplished aspect of this movie.
     The director, Tim Miller, tackled the breaking of the fourth wall in a well timed and gut-busting manner. A worry of mine going into the film was that audiences would be drowned with jokes. However they were very well paced and beautifully written. This movie had a lot of talk around it when it was approved for an "R" rating. They could've easily just gave it a rated "R" for a storm of curse words and blood but they didn't. Even though there is a great bulk of curse words and blood, it isn't used as a cop out. It's very well placed and adds to the humor in a beautiful way. From the opening credits, audiences will be laughing their ass off. Although this movie isn't strictly humor and action.

     Miller accomplished a film with a lot of heart at its core. The relationship between Wade and Vanessa is surprisingly very well developed and easily buyable. Their deranged lifestyles mold well together. Another intriguing aspect of this film is the narrative trajectory. The film tells the story through a series of flashbacks and it works very well.
     There are very little concerns with this movie. One complaint is the secret-agency that tortures Wilson. The film could have explained this society a little better. We weren't really sure where they came from. They just showed up and tortured Wilson. It would've been nice to see a little more development. My next complaint is nit picking so it doesn't affect my rating too much. The budget for this film was next to nothing for a superhero film. There were a few shots that it was a little obvious that it was CGI. However that's a very minor complaint.
     Deadpool might be one of the better superhero films we've gotten in awhile and the fact it can poke fun at superhero films by breaking the fourth wall only enhances the experience. If you're old enough then I highly recommend going to see this film in theatre. It's so much fun and you will laugh the whole time.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Review

     When most people hear the name Michael Bay they automatically think "Oh, that one dude who puts all those explosions in his movies". While this true in his more recent films especially the Transformers franchise, Bay has shown us that he can direct a solid action film if given the right story. Some of his previous films such as The Rock and Bad Boys often go unnoticed now. With 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Bay returns to his days of a high octane, fun, and entertaining action filmmaking.

     13 Hours tells the story of an elite group of Spec-Ops that must defend their base after an American ambassador is killed at a U.S. compound in Libya. However when their allies and enemies are just everyday people roaming the street, it makes for quite a confusing situation.
     It was great to see Bay make a film and not overdo it with classic Michael Bay-isms. There were many explosions. Although they were much needed and paced very well. There were no girls in daisy dukes washing tanks. There wasn't that overuse of blue and yellow lighting we get in every single one of his films. This felt like a natural and fresh take from his previous projects. Although there was one classic Bay-ism that took me away from the film.
     There are a lot of slow motion shots. While they work for some scenes, there were times where it just felt unneeded and dragged on a little too much. There were also some normal story problems as well. Pacing was a little off at times. It was understood, Bay was trying to show how war can often be waiting around at times, however it felt like this dragged on as well. I also felt as though are characters were never that vulnerable and it felt a little too patriotic at times. I am happy Bay did not dabble in the politics of this film but he could have done a little better with the character development.

     The performances in this film are pretty solid for the most part. Jack Silva played by John Krasinski is the main focus on the story and Krasinski really does well for his first action blockbuster. You can definitely see the anger in his eyes in certain scenes and he goes through quite the range of emotions in this film. The standout for me was Kris 'Tanto' Paranto played by Pablo Schreiber. Tanto is the kind of the comedic relief for this serious story but the jokes are well placed and stay true to the character. There was not any case where his jokes took the audience away from the action.
     This is just a January action-flick so the expectations weren't that high going in. Although this is a fun, pulse bounding, action film that I believe Michael Bay really needed for his career. Other then lack of character development, too much slo-mo at times, and bad pacing here and there, this is a pretty fun action film that you don't have to see in theatre but there's a smidge of more enjoyment by doing so.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

The Revenant Review

     Is The Revenant the film that will finally win Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar? That will certainly be an interesting result to see when the award ceremony rolls around in February but man does he give a stellar performance in The Revenant. This highly anticipated film directed by Alexander González Iñárritu has been the talk of award season. It just recently brought home the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama. While it's not the best film of the year it certainly deserves much of the hype it has gotten thus far.
     The Revenant tells the story of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) a frontiersman who has been through quite a brutal turn of events. When Glass is left for dead after a bear attack and witnesses his son's death by the hands of John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), he will do whatever it takes to track down Fitzgerald and get his revenge.

     There are two elements of this movie that particularly stand out. The first is the brilliant cinematography. The cinematography was done by Emmanuel Lubezki who won the Oscar for Best Cinematography the last two years. This film also gained a lot of attention when audiences and critics found out Iñárritu was to shoot the majority of the film in natural lighting (there are some campfire scenes that use artificial lighting). Although you can tell Iñárritu is a little limited to mostly shoot during the day and at dusk or dawn, to pull off such a daunting task is incredibly impressive. You can see the beauty of it while watching this. This is not the only beautiful aspect of the cinematography though. We get those long continuous shots much like Iñárritu gave us in Birdman. However there are a bit more cuts in this film just because it switches locations at times. The long continuous shots put stress on the actors to perform well since there are less cuts which leads us into the second element of the film that really stood out.
     The acting in this movie is very well done. Even though DiCaprio is not given a lot of dialogue in the second act of this film, he carries the performance with body movements and facial expressions. That is very much easier said then done. DiCaprio is not the only stand out performance of this movie. Him and Tom Hardy both have such a powerful on screen presence when we get them together. You can tell they feed off each other very well. Hardy's character is beautifully written and acted out. It would not be surprising to see both DiCaprio and Hardy get an Oscar nomination. More particular stand outs in this film are Domnhall Gleeson and Will Poulter. Both of these young up and coming stars, bleed talent throughout this film.
     The only concern with this film was the second act and a little character development with Glass. Without giving away spoilers, we see him get attacked by the bear and they could have developed his recovery a little better. The first and the third act are brutal and has you on the end of your seat most of the way. However the second act has a bit of a problem with pacing and tends to drag on just a little bit. It seems as though they could have cut about twenty minutes out of this film.
    Although the pacing of the second act is a bit slow and Glass' recovery was a tad bit rushed, this is one of the best films to see in the theater all year due to the gorgeous cinematography and vast landscape that almost acts as its own character. Although it's not my favorite film of the year, I would very much recommend seeing it in theaters.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

The Hateful 8 Review

   

     Critics say that the best directors are those who can get great performances from their actors and Quentin Tarantino certainly does so in his eighth feature film The Hateful 8. This film is surrounded with fantastic performances that help to carry this murder-mystery like story.
     Hateful 8 tells the story of John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his voyage to take Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock, Wyoming in order to be hung. Unfortunately, inclement weather forces them to bunk up at at a nearby haberdashery. This haberdashery is not what it seems though. Full of deceit and conspiring, Ruth must do whatever he can from keeping Domergue from escaping.
     Quentin Tarantino manages to scrape out masterful performances on all cylinders with this film. Particular standouts include Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Walter Goggins, and Michael Madsen. Tarrantino does an exquisite job of layering these characters and these performances really display that.

     Furthermore the story is very intriguing as well. This takes after many Tarantino's films in its manner to tell stories in an unorthodox order of events. It very much feels like a western Reservoir Dogs due to the use utilization of the majority of the story taking place in one setting and how the order of events are presented to the audience.
     There are only a few complaints with the him. The dialogue is a bit underwhelming at times. Tarantino does an effective job with the dialogue but it does not have that witty taste to it like most of his previous films. It is a bit dry at times. Some scenes tend to drag on as well. Tarantino scenes quite often are long and drawn out to increase the tension of the story. However in Hateful 8 there were some scenes that could of easily been cut down to decrease this run time of 2 hours and 47 minutes. Tarantino could have easily made this a great film but due to these complaints it's just pretty good.
     Overall this is a film that needs to be seen in theaters (preferably 70mm if you have the opportunity) due to its intriguing storyline and wonderful performances. If it weren't for the long runtime and dry dialogue at times this might be a legit Oscar contender.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (SPOILERS REVIEW)

****PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FAST IF YOU ARE TRYING TO GET TO NON-SPOILER REVIEW. UNFORTUNATELY THE BLOG POST IN ORDER OF DATE POSTED SO I CANNOT MOVE THE NON-SPOILER TO THE TOP. ****

      It is finally upon us, The Force Awakens!!! I have had the opportunity to see this movie three times thus far and still notice new aspects of the film upon each viewing. So I will express my thoughts.
     THIS IS A SPOILERS REVIEW SO I WILL BE DISCUSSING IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE PLOT. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM THEN I HIGHLY ADVISE YOU TO NOT READ ON. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!

Initial Reaction
Star Wars is back and damn does it feel good! While this is not the most perfect film, it returns us to the beloved franchise for the first time since 1983 (sorry prequels). Hardcore and casual fans will have a lot of fun seeing this film and get that sense of nostalgia that we had with the original trilogy.

Dislikes
Under Utilization of a Character: I discussed how there was an under use of a certain character in my non-spoiler review. That character was Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). The character was supposed to be Boba Fett 2.0 and hardly appeared on-screen. I would have liked to see more of this character instead of just a silly plot mechanism to deactivate the shields of Starkiller.

Smothering of Characters: At the beginning when Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) first interact the chemistry is great and is pretty solid throughout the whole film. However I did feel as though when they were aboard the Millennium Falcon that the film was trying too hard to establish their relationship especially after their little celebration with each other when escaping from enemy TIE Fighters. It just felt like a little too much smothering. Although that was the only case where it was evident.

Han's Death: The idea of the death itself is not what bothered me. It was how it was executed. They could of gave us a more in depth relationship with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his son Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) or Ben Solo. It was fairly obvious Han was going to meet his doom when he said his final goodbye to Leia. They could have set it up a tad bit better.

Another Spherical Space Station: I understand JJ's logic trying to take the safe route but when will the Empire learn to stop building spherical space stations that can blow up so easily? However history does have a pattern to repeat itself sometimes.

Likes
The New Cast: This new cast and characters is great. The first new character we are introduced to is Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and the man just oozes confidence. He brings a comedic and swagger about to this character, alongside his companion BB-8. JJ Abrams did a fantastic job when it comes to bringing an emotional appeal to this droid. The little guy is a hoot. Then we are given Kylo Ren. One of the more complex villains of Star Wars that we've had. He's obviously a fanboy of Darth Vader yet he acts very differently then Vader due to internal conflict within him when it comes to the lightside vs the darkside. Finn is quite the active character and John Boyega does really well this character. He's very funny when on-screen but also a very brave and kind soul when it comes to his friends. The new cast member that stole the show for me was Daisy Ridley. Rey is a very complex character with a shady past (which we will discuss speculation later on). This was Ridley's first full length feature film and she knocks it out of the park. It's so refreshing to see a strong female lead that is charming, vulnerable, kickass, and smart. She navigates her way around the Force and it adds to future excitement for these films.

The Cinematography: JJ Abrams and the camera crew do a great job with the cinematography. We get beautifully done rack focuses and continuous shots where you'd often think a cut would go. Practically any scenes involving X-Wings and TIE Fighters are a joy to watch because of this mix of nostalgia and fresh approach that is brought to the table within the cinematography.

The Old Cast: Harrison Ford goes out with a bang. The second him and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) appear, you get immediate excitement seeing the dynamic duo back on-screen. Harrison Ford gives his all in this final suit up of this iconic role. The humor is still there and he's still the smuggler that fans fell in love with so many years ago. Plus, Chewy really helps carry the team especially after a rampage upon seeing Han's death. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)  is now a general and while Fisher has been out of acting for a bit, she still does enough to get the job done. When it comes to Luke (Mark Hamill), while he does not speak a single line of the dialogue, the overall look is great and the man can really sport a nice beard.

The Setup For Future Films: This film has a lot of unanswered questions but it does a great job setting up for Episode VIII especially with the cliffhanger ending of Rey finding Luke. We have to wait till May 2017 and that will be quite painful with all the uncertainty with these characters and their story.

Future Questions and Speculation:
Where Does Rey Come From?: The theory I have taken a liking is that Rey is in fact the daughter of Luke. It seemed that was what they were setting up for throughout the film. Rey could have possibly been trained as a Jedi before Kylo and the Knights of Ren overthrew Luke. So out of fear, Luke dropped off Rey on Jakku but not before wiping her memory. This would make sense with her ability to use a lightsaber and use Jedi mind tricks on a stormtrooper. However they could be throwing us a curveball and Rey's parents could be an unknown couple of characters.

Captain Phasma's Fate? We are told she was thrown into a trash compactor but we never actually see this happen and with how much they under used her in this film, it would not surprise me if they brought her back in Episode VIII.

Who is Supreme Leader Snoke? I am hoping this is in fact Darth Plagueis and Rey's staff is secretly his lightsaber. Darth Plagueis was the master of Darth Sidious and while we were told he was killed by Sidious in his sleep, he was able to save loved ones from death in his lifetime. Was he able to save himself though? This would give a very powerful and badass villain to this trilogy if it is in fact Plageuis.

There are many unanswered questions that I am sure will be addressed in the next two films. Overall this is a great starter for the new trilogy and JJ Abrams really did well to resurrect this colossal film trilogy. This wasn't my favorite film of the year but by far my favorite movie going experience of the year.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Non-Spoilers Review)

     ***This is a non-spoiler review!!! Which means there will be no discussion of the plotline, take that as you will but don't blame me if there's something that angers you. You chose to read this****

   

      It's finally here! Hardcore nerds such as myself have waited so long to see Star Wars hit the big screen once again. While the prequels are part of the Star Wars franchise, they do not capture the true essence of what Star Wars actually in. So let's dive into a review!!!

Complaints: 
Only a few minor complaints but still some nonetheless.
- Misuse of a character: I can't go too much into detail here but I felt as though the development of a certain character was not well done. It could have been utilized in a much better way (will go into more detail in a spoiler review).
- Character interactions: There was a particular scene in particular where the characters' interaction bothered me. I felt they threw too much too soon and should have paced it out a little more.

There will be more in-depth complaints in the spoiler review so keep you're eye out for it after you've seen the film

Approvals:
Lots of approvals on this one
- Stands alone as a film: JJ Abrams perfectly combines that nostalgia from the original and puts his own mark on this film. Really well done.
- Cinematography: Really well done continues shots and rack focuses. Often times you'll find places where a cut would have been appropriate but he continues the shot that'll mesmerize the audience.
- Good introduction to the new characters: They introduced and got us engaged very well with these new characters. I particularly loved Rey, Poe, and BB-8. I really excited to see the direction they take with these characters in future films.
- Those old characters still kickass: Han Solo and Chewbacca are the best dynamic duo in the business. Nuff said.

It's hard for me to get into the nitty/gritty details without revealing spoilers so I hope this at least did the job to spark your interest. Overall this is very fun film that introduces us to the future of Star Wars and sets up perfectly for future films.

8.5 out of 10

Spy Review

   

     The summer comedies officially kicked off with Paul Feig's "Spy". Although this film isn't a laugh your ass off every second kind of movie, there are a few scenes that will crack you up. There are other aspects of this film that stick out though.
      The action scenes are very well choreographed. Paul Feig showed off his to ability to not only make a compelling comedy, but also presents the audience with very high paced grueling fight scenes.
      The main character, Susan Cooper, is played by the clumsy and hysterical Melissa McCarthy. Although, some of McCarthy's previous films show her dim wits and clownish personality can get a tad bit old at times, she has a bit of a fresh character in "Spy". We see how she develops from a CIA desk guide into a spy that actually goes out into the field and tackles new missions. Feig did a wonderful job of giving us a believable character to get behind.
      The highlight of this movie, surprisingly, was Jason Statham. Jason Statham plays the loose cannon spy known as Rick Ford and he practically steals every scene he is in. Statham showed off his comedic chops in this movie with the overbearing, egotistical personality that comes with the character. Truly a delightful surprise for this film.
      Although there are many other perks to this film, there are some flaws as well. When I go to see what was supposed to a comedy, I expect to laugh a whole lot (if it's good, that is). Unfortunately, spy didn't have me laughing too much. There were a few one liners that cracked me up but nothing memorable. Statham is what makes the comedy fun but even he doesn't get a whole lot of screentime I think Feig focused too much on the action and didn't give those hilarious moments the audience got with his previous films such as "Bridesmaid's" or "The Heat".
      All in all, this is a solid and fun film. I wish there was more laugh out moments but still a delightful movie. Definitely, worth the see in theaters.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10