When I found out that Samuel L. Jackson was playing the villain and Mark Strong was playing a hero, I knew I just couldn’t miss this movie. The best way to describe “Kingsman” would be if Quentin Tarantino did James Bond. By the end of the movie, it even becomes one of the themes that this isn’t your typical spy movie.
Eggsy leads a troubled life. His father was a Kingsman who was killed in action and his mother, in commemoration of her husband’s death, was given a medal of bravery. The agent who gave her the medal, Harry Hart, played by Colin Firth, tells them if they ever need help, to call the number on the back of the medal and deliver the secret message. Flash forward 17 years; a scientist is kidnapped by an unknown group led by Bond-worthy villain, Gazelle. She is a master assassin with prosthetic legs made out of razor sharp blades. Enter main antagonist and Gazelle’s partner, Richmond Valentine. Played brilliantly by Sam Jackson, Valentine is an internet billionaire and known for his philanthropy and he is meeting with various people who hold positions of great political and monetary power. Valentine later announces that he is giving away SIM cards and promising free cellular and internet access.
Following up with Eggsy, he is shown living with his mother, half-sister, and an abusive stepfather. His less-than-perfect home life leads him to act out and steal a car. With the one phone call he gets in jail, Eggsy calls the number on the back of the medal that Harry gave him. After bailing Eggsy out, Harry proceeds to tell him about the Kingsman. The Kingsman is a secret intelligence agency similar to the CIA or MI6. In lieu of a recent death of one of the Kingsman at the hands, or feet, of Gazelle, there is an opening for a new agent and Harry convinces Eggsy to apply. What follows is a series of training scenarios that the candidates must endure. By process of elimination, the choice of the new Kingsman agent comes between Eggsy and a girl named Roxy.
Through all the of training, the Kingsmen have been investigating Valentine’s connections with several VIP disappearances. Harry tracks down the kidnapped scientist from the beginning and questions him about Valentine, only to receive a literally mind-blowing response. Harry, undeterred, goes undercover as a wealthy possible investor and meets with Valentine himself. Valentine reveals his views on humanity; humanity is like a virus and global warming is simply Earth’s equivalent to a fever and he plans to do something before the virus kills the host. Later, Valentine tests a special feature on his SIM cards in a small church. By broadcasting a certain signal that stimulates aggression in the brain, the entire church becomes violent and there is only one survivor. Harry had tracked Valentine down and was responsible for most of the deaths in the church, despite not having one of Valentine’s SIM cards. After the massacre, Valentine and Harry meet once more and Valentine reveals his grand plan in typical Bond-villain fashion. He plans to broadcast the aggression-inducing signal worldwide and watch as the human race kill each other off, except for those that Valentine has deemed worthy to live. What happens after their conversation the most shocking scene in the entire movie, and definitely did not follow the spy movie stereotype. It is now up to young Eggsy and just two others to stop Valentine’s plan from happening
I am a lover of James Bond for many reasons, and most of those appear in “Kingsman” also. One of my favorite parts of Bond films was when Q would introduce all the new technology and gadgets and “Kingsman” doesn’t disappoint in that department. I also loved that there were several conversations referencing James Bond and typical spy movies. The script was well written and filled with the spirit of Bond, going as far as telling how to mix a proper martini. Bond villains are usually pretty outlandish and their sidekicks are just as unique, and “Kingsman” delivers on that point too. It is never explained why Gazelle has her blade prosthetics, it’s just accepted and it makes her even more badass. Valentine can’t stand violence and hates the sight of blood, yet his plan is to watch the world destroy itself; if that isn’t outlandish then I don’t know what is.
“Kingsman” has all the right ingredients to a great new genre of spy movies. It has some wonderful references to the traditional secret agent stereotypes, but halfway through the film it casts aside all the rules and I couldn’t be happier. Until that point, it was building up to be just another spy movie with some comedy thrown in. It’s when it starts making up it’s own rules that “Kingsman” really starts to shine.
I have always thought that music can make or break a movie or even a video game. For example, “Star Wars,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Star Trek,” and “Harry Potter” are all known for their amazing scores. In case you aren’t aware, scores are different from soundtracks in that a score is the almost constant background music. Everybody knows Darth Vader’s Imperial March even if they aren’t a fan of the saga, and that song is part of the score. For any gamers out there, games like “Minecraft,” “Final Fantasy,” “Legend of Zelda,” and “The Last of Us” all have amazing scores. One of my most recent favorite composers is Henry Jackman. His recent works include: “X-Men: First Class,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Big Hero 6,” and now “Kingsman.” He is also said to be doing the score for “Captain America: Civil War.” The score was one of the first things I noticed about “Kingsman” and it’s incredible how much it adds to the film.
Overall, I adored “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” I love a good action film and with the added comedy and lack of romance that “Kingsman” brought to the table, it was hard for me to find anything really wrong with it. With stars like Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong, Michael Caine, and amazing newcomer Taron Egerton, I think it would be extremely difficult to make a bad movie. Small word of caution: this is and R rated movie, and for good reason. There is vulgar language throughout and violence is also very prevalent. This is definitely not a movie you would want to take your child to. Regardless, I thought “Kingsman” was a great movie and I look forward to watching it again sometime. I would give it a 7.5/10. Stick around for a couple minutes after the first credits! There is a special mid-credits scene you’ll definitely want to see!
Fury
I’ve always had a love for history and especially American wars, so seeing “Fury” was a no-brainer for me. I assumed it was going to be good with Brad Pitt, Jon Bernthal, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, and rising star Logan Lerman, but it far surpassed all of my expectations. David Ayer captured my heart working on films like “U-571,” “Training Day,” “End of Watch,” and “Sabotage,” and he definitely did not disappoint with “Fury.”
The film starts in April 1985 when the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany. We are immediately thrown into the action when the last tank of the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, “Fury,” is making its way back to its American base camp. We are introduced to Staff Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Pitt), gunner Boyd “Bible” Swan (LaBeouf), loader Grady “Coon-Ass” Travis (Bernthal), and driver Trini “Gordo” Garcia (Pena). The tank’s assistant driver/bow gunner had been killed and Lerman’s Norman Ellison is the replacement. The only problem is, Norman was trained as an Army typist and has never even seen the inside of a tank or been on the front lines of the war. The established crew, predictably, gives Norman a very rough time and has no sympathy for his inexperience. Norman has no time to become adjusted to the horror and brutality of war before he is directly responsible for another tank’s demise, and Wardaddy lets him know just how angry he is with him. After a brief skirmish, in which Gordo orders Norman to shoot dead bodies, Norman breaks down and says one of my favorite lines in the film, “I was trained to type 60 words per minute. I was not trained to shoot dead bodies…” Wardaddy decides to teach Norman a lesson about war by forcing him to shoot a captive German soldier. After this rather traumatic experience for Norman, Wardaddy makes a change and we see him beginning to feel responsible for the younger soldier. A small group of American tanks, including Fury, continue on to take a German town and the men are given the night to relax, drink, and enjoy some local female company. Wardaddy takes Norman to a nice apartment occupied by two women, but the other three men find them and a tragic scene takes place that shows inferior the seasoned men feel to Norman. The next day the tanks leave the town to take the neighboring one, but they are intercepted by a battalion of SS Officers and the final battle takes place.
As I mentioned before, I expected to like “Fury.” What I didn’t expect, however, was exactly how much I would love it and how emotional I would get. War movies have the unique ability to draw you in and make you instantly care about the characters, and “Fury” is no exception, especially dealing with the topic of tank-warfare. Tanks involve being in such close quarters with the crew, and you definitely get the feeling that these men are truly brothers. They’ve been with each other since the beginning of the war and Norman’s arrival brings about a great deal of tension. The scene in the apartment really hits hard and it is extremely obvious that the men don’t feel as important to Wardaddy anymore. They feel like Norman is being given special treatment and they feel betrayed by their leader. The tank has become their home and Norman threatens their already established brotherhood. Predictably, they do all eventually accept Norman and even give him his own war-name. “Fury” is, essentially, one giant emotional roller coaster. The men constantly joke with one another when they’re not in battle, but when it is time to fight the fun disappears. Each battle sequence carries an air of despair and intensity that keeps you on the edge of your eat and biting your nails. A movie focused on tank warfare isn’t common, so “Fury” gives a very fresh take and a wholly different perspective on war.
I believe “Fury” will go down in history as one of the great war movies alongside “Saving Private Ryan,” “We Were Soldiers,” “Glory,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Letter From Iwo Jima.” It does a spectacular job of displaying both the horrors and the brotherhood of war. I’m not an emotional person at all, but “Fury” had me openly crying multiple times, and I would give it 9/10.
The Giver
I first read The Giver in grade school, and it has since been in my top three favorite books of all time. Naturally, my expectations were extremely high for the film, especially when I heard who was all going to be in it. With Jeff Bridges as the Giver and Meryl Streep as the Chief Elder, everybody’s hopes were high. Rising star Brenton Thwaites took on the lead role as Jonas, and they couldn’t have picked someone more perfect. Iconic eye color aside, Thwaites is exactly how I pictured Jonas to be. He excellently encapsulated Jonas’s curiosity, intensity, and integrity without over-doing it. The film is set in a futuristic seemingly-utopian society where everything is the same. Everybody wears the same clothes, lives in the same kind of house, and follows the same strict rules. The world that Lois Lowry has created is so intricate and so detailed, but surprisingly uncomplicated. When children come of age a ceremony is held and they are assigned to a job in the community; birthmother, nurturer, teacher, pilot, etc. They then spend the rest of their lives trained for, and working at the one job. They may apply for a spouse and two children if they choose, but then they go to the House of the Old where they are eventually “released.” At Jonas’s ceremony, he is skipped; they don’t call his name. Jonas has been selected to be the Receiver of Memory. In a world where “precision of language” is a high priority, the difference and significance between “assigned” and “selected” is not lost on Jonas. He meets the Giver and is told that their way of life is not the way it has always been. The Giver holds all the memories of the past, good and bad, and now it is his job the give them all to Jonas. As time goes on, Jonas realizes that everyone’s lives are empty without color, emotion, seasons, and choices. It is up to the Giver and Jonas to fix their broken and corrupt community.
It is always difficult to make a book into a movie. It is even more difficult when the book is written in first person because in a movie, you don’t always know what a person is thinking. Even though Thwaites does an amazing job at letting us in on his thoughts with his body language alone, it still left me wanting just a tiny bit more. The book explains everything about the unfamiliar place that Jonas is in. He explains all the rules and regulations and their general way of life. Without being strictly told, it can be a challenge to get all of these amazing intricacies across in film. If you haven’t read the book, you’ll definitely miss out on somethings, but you shouldn’t be too lost. One of my biggest criticisms is Jonas’s eye color. It’s a very small detail, but it carries a lot of weight in the story. People with the ability to “see beyond” have light (blue) eyes. The Giver, Jonas, and two other characters had them in the book, but Jonas has dark eyes in the movie. They made up for it by having each of these four characters having a sort of birthmark on their wrist, but it was an obvious cover-up for the fact that Brenton Thwaites has dark brown eyes. Again, it’s a very small detail, but it was one they should have easily fixed.
The producers seem to have taken a page out of Peter Jackson’s book in that there were things added in the film that weren’t there in the book. Chief Elder played a massive part in the movie, but was almost nonexistent in the book. Personally, I thought it added a lot of dynamic. In the book we only see Jonas’s side of the story, but with the Chief Elder’s bigger role we get a brilliant look at the other side. Fiona also had a much bigger role, but, again, it added a lot to the movie. An important theme of the story is love and the fact that a life without love is an empty life, so Jonas needs someone to love. A romance is hinted at in the book, but that hint is greatly expanded upon and comes to life on film. It brings home that theme of love and has you rooting for their forbidden romance.
One of my favorite parts of both the book and movie is the “giving of memories.” As a young girl it played to my creative imagination, and what was brought to the big-screen is beyond anything I ever imagined. It truly blew me away and left me feeling like I was Jonas experiencing all these new things for the first time.
As a whole I though The Giver was an excellent movie, and a nice change from my usual action film. The old saying, “the book was better,” still holds true, but it was surprisingly close in my opinion. Aside from a few things here and there, they stayed pretty close to the book, even going as far as taking lines straight from the text. It’s a great family film and one I definitely want to see again. Overall, I would give The Giver an 8/10.
Guardians of the Galaxy
If you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know that I’m a huge Marvel fan and the fact that I saw Guardians of the Galaxy the night it came out should come as no surprise to you. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little unsure about the direction that Marvel decided to go with the Guardians. Until now, all the characters have been…relatively normal. Sure, you have a genetically altered super-soldier, a demigod from Norse mythology, and of course, Hulk, but all of those things are slightly plausible in some sense if you keep a very, very open mind. There are performance-enhancing drugs that can at least make you feel like a super-soldier, Norse mythology, for all we know, could hypothetically be real, and gamma radiation is a real thing. Guardians of the Galaxy is a whole new ball-game. Peter Quill is essentially the most normal person in the entire film, and he’s not even completely human. Gamora is the last of the Zen Whoberi, a species exterminated by the Badoon, but that’s another story. It is never stated exactly what Drax the Destroyer is, but he certainly is far from human. Then we have the real stars of the film, Rocket Raccoon, a cybernetically and genetically engineered raccoon, and Groot, a Flora Colossus from Planet X. Another risk that Marvel took, as if that cast wasn’t enough, is the fact that only the first 10 minutes takes place on Earth.
The film opens on Peter Quill as a young boy at his mother’s deathbed. After her inevitable passing, Peter is taken by Yondu, a Ravager, for no explainable reason. Flash forward 26 years, we find an older Peter Quill on the planet Morag stealing a mysterious orb for The Broker. It is here that we get our first look at Kree Ronan the Accuser’s main henchman Korath the Pursuer. Yondu discovers that Peter has escaped Morag and issues a bounty for his capture, while Ronan sends Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora after the orb. When Peter attempts to sell the orb on the Nova Corps home world Xandar, Gamora engages him, and eventually bounty hunters Rocket and Groot get involved in the chase too. After the four are arrested, they are sent to be imprisoned in the Kyln. At the Kyln, we are finally introduced to the last of the Guardians, Drax. Ronan killed Drax’s family, so Drax makes an attempt on Gamora’s life due to her association with the Kree, only to be stopped by Peter claiming that Drax can exact his revenge on Ronan himself. Gamora reveals that she plans on betraying Ronan and selling the orb to an unnamed third party, thus prompting the group to make their escape from the prison. Meanwhile, Ronan meet with Thanos to discuss Gamora’s betrayal. Yes, we finally get to see Thanos! And not just for five seconds this time. Granted it’s only a five minute scene, it does an excellent job at portraying the ruthlessness of both Ronan and especially Thanos. Now that the Guardians have escaped the Kyln, Gamora leads them to Knowhere; a remote criminal outpost built in a giant severed head of an ancient celestial being. Gamora’s contact just happens to be Taneleer Tivan, the Collector. We already know from Thor: The Dark World that Tivan already has the aether, so keep that in mind. When given the orb, Tivan at last tells us about the Infinity Stones. He opens the orb to reveal a glowing purple stone, relaying to the group that this particular stone destroys all but the most powerful beings who touch it. Ignoring the obvious warning, Tivan’s assistant grabs the stone, triggering a massive explosion. Meanwhile, Drax has gotten himself drunk and, aching for revenge, calls Ronan and makes him aware of their location. Ronan arrives and the first epic battle ensues. Without giving too much away, Ronan gets away with the orb, and now it is up to the Guardians to save Xandar from imminent decimation.
Let me start off by saying that this movie far surpassed every single expectation I had. I was blown away by how much I loved it. Part of the reason why I loved it so much is because it was so different from any other superhero movie I’ve ever seen. With the exception of the Avengers and X-Men, superheroes generally work alone or with a partner, so to see a team work together like this was incredibly refreshing, and with a cast like this (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, and Lee Pace), you just can’t go wrong. One of the greatest things in this film is the absolute hilarity from start to finish. Normally, if there’s a funny part in a movie I’ll give a quiet little chuckle, but this was different; many times I found myself laughing out loud along with the rest of the audience. Several times I laughed longer than was probably necessary, but I just couldn’t help it! Groot is by far the funniest character I’ve seen in a very long time, rivaling Tommy Callahan in my favorite comedy, “Tommy Boy.” Because Groot’s only lines are, “I am Groot,” he relies heavily on facial expressions and body language. That, paired with his child-like innocence makes his character all the better and more fantastic. He truly stole the spotlight. Another one of my favorite things about this movie is that we are finally formally introduced to the Infinity Stones. Fans of the movies, but not the comics, desperately needed an explanation, and we finally got one. Granted it’s not a very thorough explanation, it still introduced what was to come in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Really the only big critique I have of the film is that some of the comedy took away from the rather serious situation. Ronan is planning on using an Infinity Stone to destroy an entire planet. If he succeeds, he will inevitably destroy other planets and countless lives will be lost. The severity of the situation, while not lost of the Guardians, is actually much bigger than what is portrayed.
Thankfully, I was only left with a couple questions; another refreshment from the usual open-ended Marvel movie. One that can probably be easily answered is, if this is part of the MCU and part of Phase Two, then where is S.H.I.E.L.D. or Thor? As for S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s a simple explanation that the organization doesn’t exist anymore due to the events of The Winter Soldier. But if Thor hails from Asgard, does that mean that the Guardians could or have potentially gone there? However, Asgard is in another realm, so that could be a moot point as long as the Guardians have no way to travel across realms. The question on everyone’s mind is, which Infinity Stones are what, and what does this mean for the rest of Phase Two and all of Phase Three? All over the internet you can find people speculating, but the most popular theories are that we now know four of the six stones. The Tesseract has been confirmed to be the Space Stone and is currently in Asgard. The aether, though never confirmed, is widely believed to be the Reality Stone, and is in the precarious possession of the Collector, though after the explosion that may be a bit of a problem. The orb is confirmed to be the Power Stone, and I won’t spoil what happens to it. Fans suspect that the Chitauri Scepter that Loki had, now in the possession of Baron von Strucker, contains the Mind Stone. That leaves the Time and Soul Stones, which will lead to the inevitable appearance of Adam Warlock.
As for the end-credit scene, you’ll just have to wait and see that for yourself! Overall, I would give Guardians of the Galaxy 9/10 and definitely worth seeing it in theaters!
X-Men: Days of Future Past
I could barely contain my excitement when I found out that the new X-Men movie would involve bringing back much of the original cast. However, I was a little disappointed with how little they were in the movie itself; the focus is still on the First Class cast. The film also holds true to the First Class continuity, with a few references to the other X-Men movies thrown in. I hesitate to say they continue from the first movies because of the terrible continuity errors, but I’ll touch on that later.
The film opens with a quick update on what’s been happening. Basically, the dystopian world is under the control of the Sentinels (super-powered robots with the ability to adapt to a mutant’s power) and are seeking out mutants and exterminating them. Enter Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Bishop, Sunspot, Blink, Warpath, and Colossus fighting off a hoard of Sentinels, and most of them are killed until it is revealed that that reality isn’t real. Kitty sent Bishop’s consciousness back in time to deliver the warning that Sentinels were coming, saving them all. Her group reconvenes with Storm, Wolverine, Professor Xavier, and Magneto where it is decided that Kitty will send Wolverine’s consciousness back to 1973 to stop Mystique from murdering Bolivar Trask, the designer of the Sentinels, as his death at the hands of the mutant shape-shifter will spark the implementation of the Sentinels. After some convincing, Wolverine gets the young Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy to join him in getting Magneto out of his prison under the Pentagon. Of course, breaking someone out of the Pentagon is a bit tricky, so the trio seeks the help of superhumanly-speedy Peter Maximoff, or as fans of the comics will know him as, Quicksilver. His scene is easily one of the highlights of the film, filled with moments of absolute hilarity. After getting Magneto in on their plan, they go to Washington D.C. to stop Mystique. As can be predicted and without giving too much away, things don’t go quite as planned and the X-Men’s usual antagonist comes forward to reek more havoc than his future-self ever did.
As is with the other X-Men movies, there are some pretty glaring continuity errors. Perhaps the most obvious is the fact that Professor Xavier is alive. In the end-credits scene for X-Men: The Last Stand, you see that Professor’s consciousness is somehow saved and put into someone else’s body. While that explains how he survives, it does nothing to explain how he has the same exact body. Phoenix vaporized Xavier’s body, so he was presumably put into his twin brother’s body, but that connection is never explained. Another error is Wolverine’s claws. In the “present” year 2023, they should be made of bone, seeing as Silver Samurai destroyed his signature adamantium ones in The Wolverine. It is hinted that Magneto had something to do with the repair, but it is never explicitly stated. Furthermore, at the end of the movie, Wolverine never retracts his claws so you never find out if, in this new timeline, Wolverine goes through the Weapon X program at all. The last obvious continuity error is Bolivar Trask. Granted it isn’t a big deal, in X-Men: The Last Stand Trask is played by African-American actor Bill Duke. In DOFP, he is played by Caucasian Peter Dinklage. Again, it isn’t a big deal, but some it’s a small detail that the OCD side of me is slightly bothered by. However, all of these continuity errors are rendered insignificant because of the new timeline that Wolverine has created.
Even with those errors, I loved the movie. Seeing X-Men alumni come back warmed my heart, even though I had to watch them die in the beginning. The action kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I was surprised how well it kept my attention. With the other X-Men movies, the lines between who the main antagonist is is always blurred, and this one is no different. The “bad guy” title is passed around throughout the entire movie, and that’s just one of the reasons why it’s such a nail-biter. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic movie! I look forward to seeing it again and picking up on even more Easter Eggs. My personal favorite Egg was Quicksilver wistfully mentioning to Magneto that his mother once knew someone who could control metal like him. For those of you who aren’t as well-versed in the Marvel Universe, Magneto is in fact Quicksilver’s father. Little tidbits like that are what make this movie so good. Director Bryan Singer knows his facts and he shows that he truly cares about the fans by scattering them throughout the film. To the more sensitive viewers, be warned: several scenes will probably get you to tear up for quite awhile. While there isn’t a mid-credits scene, don’t get up too soon! Stick around because there is an after-credits scene! Overall, I would give X-Men: Days of Future Past an 8.5/10.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Now that I have the censored parts out of the way, I can get into the really good stuff. Some of this may be a bit confusing if you haven’t seen the movie, so I suggest you do that before reading this. The end of the movie left me baffled with a million questions. First, where is Stryker? We see that Mystique is impersonating him, so what did she do to him? It’s unlikely that she killed him, so is he just unconscious somewhere? This brings up another question concerning Wolverine. Does he get involved with the Weapon X program? Does he get his adamantium skeleton? What does Mystique taking him do for their relationship? Like I mentioned before, he never retracts his claws in the last scene so you don’t know if he had the adamantium injections. It isn’t known if the Weapon X program even exists. And if the program doesn’t exist, does Deadpool? Jean Grey and Cyclops are also alive in the new timeline. As heart-warming as that is, it brings up an interesting question. Will Jean Grey embrace her inner Phoenix again? And will we get more of the Wolverine/Cyclops/Jean Grey love triangle in the next movie or has she made her final choice in Scott? One of my biggest questions is what has happened? Wolverine has no memories since 1973, so how has the world evolved?
Another big question on everyone’s mind is what’s up with that after-credits scene? The scene is a mutant in ancient Egypt building pyramids with telekinetic energy, and thousands are chanting “En Sabah Nur” at his feet. As the camera pans to view the mutant’s face, you see that he has blue skin and red eyes, and there are four horsemen in the distance behind him. That’s it. If you were as confused as I was, don’t worry. After a bit of research, I discovered that the words the people are chanting mean “The First One” meaning the first mutant, Apocalypse. Because he can alter his body at a molecular level he’s extremely powerful and nearly unbeatable. Being raised in the Sandstormers clan, he believes that only the fittest are worthy of survival and he himself is a tool of evolutionary progress. He takes it upon himself to rid the universe of the weak mutants and recruit the strong. He hibernates for extended periods of time to recuperate and get stronger, so this scene alludes to the fact that he was last active on Earth in the height of the Egyptian civilization. In the comics, he is awakened from a long hibernation when mutant Cable time travels. Given the time ripple that Wolverine just caused, it’s no surprise that the next movie is being named after him. The horsemen in the background are Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. Apocalypse brainwashes people into doing his bidding, and they take on the role of one of the horsemen. In the comics, this includes Wolverine, so it wouldn’t be surprising if producers bring that aspect to the big screen.
Godzilla (2014)
Having never seen any other Godzilla movies or TV shows, I had no idea what to expect with this newest installment. Based on the trailer, I got the feeling that it could almost be an unofficial prequel to Pacific Rim, which I suppose it still could be. The film begins with images of nuclear bomb “testing” and a huge…something with spikes on its back coming out of the water. Jump forward to the Philippines in 1999 when scientists find a massive skeleton with two egg shaped pods, one of which has hatched. Whatever was inside this egg made its way to the sea and to the Janjira nuclear power plant near Tokyo, Japan. This is where we meet Joe and Sandra Brody, along with their son, Ford. Joe and Sandra both work at Janjira and are at the plant when they start experiencing seismic activity which eventually leads to an explosion that collapses the plant. The destruction id blamed on an earthquake and the area is evacuated and quarantined. Jump forward again fifteen years when Joe is arrested for trespassing into the quarantine zone, forcing Ford to help him out. After some convincing, the father and son go back to Janjira only to find that something much bigger is going on. The plant has basically been incubating a monster, and it’s ready to hatch. Upon hatching, it reeks havoc on the plant, kills plenty of people, and flies away. On his way back to the US, Ford learns that this thing is labeled a MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) and it feeds off of radiation. Ford reveals that his father had been doing research and discovered that the MUTO had been using echolocation, meaning it was communicating with something else. That something else happens to be another MUTO, but the female. It escapes its temporary home and goes to meet its mate near San Francisco to breed. While the US Military ultimately fails to properly handle the situation, Godzilla finally makes his grand appearance and a huge battle ensues.
Throughout the film, as much as I liked it, I could easily predict each twist. They were terribly veiled, but luckily for me, that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. I felt the beginning was way too dragged out. I understand the importance of all the background information, but it took up a third of the movie and, in my opinion, that’s just too much. It didn’t help that I didn’t comprehend half of what was being said because of the scientific jargon. The average population isn’t going to understand fast-paced conversation about seismic patterns, echolocation, or radiation-eating creatures. I had to rely on context clues because I honestly had no idea what what going on. One thing I did understand was that these MUTOs fed on nuclear power. The US came up with a plan to destroy them with…you guessed it…a nuclear bomb. How that makes any sense in the world, I may never know. Their reasoning for this is that supposedly the blast is what should kill them, which makes a little bit of sense, but what if that doesn’t work? You just pumped three colossal beasts full of power and now you have nothing to fight them with. They already tried to kill Godzilla with nuclear weapons and it failed miserably. Godzilla himself was a sight to see. The CGI was absolutely gorgeous for him, and his spine-chilling roar is something that will haunt my dreams is a terrifyingly good way. The MUTO, however, I was a little disappointed with. They looked and sounded amazing too, but I couldn’t help but feel like they looked like a weird combination of a centaur and an Acklay of the Star Wars universe. I expected them to be more original. As I mentioned before, this could be an unofficial prequel to Pacific Rim. Godzilla and the MUTOs could easily be painted as some of the first Kaijus to come through, seeing as their exact origin in never touched on. If I’m going to be honest, this was really just a glorified alien-dinosaur battle, but an amazing one at that. Even though the trailer had my expectations set higher that what was met, I still loved it. I think more could have been done with the battle scenes, but what I saw was excellent. What draws me to movies like this is that it’s not your typical action/sci-fi movie. When you see an action film you expect humans doing all the fighting, and the “good” humans being the victors. In Godzilla, humans really did more harm than good, and it was Godzilla that came out relatively on top in an incredible fashion. I loved Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in this and their chemistry makes me even more excited to see them as brother and sister in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is definitely one that needs to be seen on the big screen to get the full effect. Overall, I greatly enjoyed Godzilla and would give it a 7/10.
The Twilight Saga
I know this series is a a few years old, but I still have some strong opinions about it that I felt needed to be shared. I also want to try something a little different and instead of choosing just one movie I’m going to review all five of them. That brings up another point; while I am reviewing the movies, I will have to draw on some knowledge I have from reading the books.
This series is all-around terrible for young, impressionable girls. First, if Bella wants to be with Edward, she has to live with the knowledge that at every moment Edward wants to rip her throat out and drink the very essence of her life. Bella seems to be not at all bothered by this. In fact, she blindly accepts it because he’s “hot” and she “loves” him. Every second she spends around him she is putting her life at risk. At least Edward tries to stay away from her because he knows the danger she’s in. Bella is an idiot for continually putting herself in harms way and Edward blatantly tells her that it causes him physical pain to be around her and not kill her. And yet she ignores that he’s in pain and still wants to be around him. So she loves him, but she subjects him to excruciating pain every second they’re near one another. If that’s true love then I don’t want any part of love, ever!
Secondly, if they want to spend forever together, Bella has to die. There’s no way around it; she has to die and become a vampire. Vampirism is greatly romanticized here. The focus is on how she will become nearly invincible, incredibly beautiful, superhumanly strong, may gain a special “power” or gift, and she will sparkle in sunlight. Um, what? What about the part where she will want to kill people all the time? That part is touched on, but one of Bella’s “gifts” is superhuman bloodlust control. How convenient.
I, personally, would never want to live forever. It’s unnatural and I couldn’t stand to live with myself for that long, let alone live with someone else. I would have to watch every person I have ever cared about die. But again, Bella just accepts this because Edward is gorgeous and she’s apparently in love with him.
Her entire life revolves around him. She becomes defined by her relationship with him. He breaks into her house and watches her sleep most nights and if that isn’t creepy then I don’t know what is. That’s stalker behavior and the fact that she thinks that him doing that is “sweet” and even falls in love with him is insanity and she belongs in an asylum.
Before this, Bella has presumably never had a boyfriend; never had someone she had real feelings for. Edward is her first and last boyfriend. Last time I checked, that is far from practical. That’s more like a Disney princess movie and we all know how realistic those are.
In the second book/movie, Edward dumps Bella because he thinks he’s too dangerous for her, which is right and I commend Edward for that. In response, Bella goes into a deep depression for four months because apparently that’s a completely acceptable reaction when a boy breaks up with you. After her dad threatens to send her back to live with her mom, Bella becomes an adrenaline junkie. When she subjects herself to danger she hallucinates that Edward is pleading for her to stop, so she continually puts herself in harms way. Again, this is apparently a completely acceptable reaction when a boy breaks up with you. I hope you’re catching my sarcasm. After one of Bella’s particularly dangerous stunts, Edward thinks that she is dead so he goes to the Volturi (vampire police) to off himself because he just can’t stand to live in a world where Bella doesn’t exist. Dramatic much? He doesn’t think twice about his family, he doesn’t care that they all love him. He only cares that his then ex-girlfriend that he broke up with is supposedly dead. Don’t get me wrong, he has every right to be upset and be emotional. But to kill yourself over it? Turns out Bella isn’t actually dead, so she jumps on a plane to Italy at a moments notice to save him. She doesn’t even consult her father, she just goes. Oh wait, she leaves her dad a note…yes, I’m being serious. An 18 year old girl leaves her dad a note before she goes to Italy to save her ex from killing himself because he thinks she’s dead. Yes, she’s technically an adult and can do as she pleases, but she still lives in her dad’s house. Common courtesy calls for at the absolute least a phone call. A conversation has to be had before a teenager hops on a plane to another continent.
For some reason, Bella is obsessed with having sex with Edward. Being from another time, Edward refuses to have sex before marriage, which is surprisingly admirable given that he’s a teenage boy with raging hormones. So Edward and Bella get married. When I was 18, the last thing on my mind was marriage to my then-boyfriend. Sure, some couples get married at a young age and it works out great, but that usually happens after they’ve been dating for a few years. Edward and Bella just met a little over a year ago and now they’re getting married? And almost solely for the reason of having sex. After their marriage, they do have sex and Bella gets pregnant with a daughter who ends up being the death of her. Literally. Bella dies during childbirth and comes back as a vampire. That little girl is then aging at an accelerated rate and will most likely meet her maker in about 10 years. That just goes to show that a vampire and a human probably shouldn’t be together.
My biggest issue with this series is the gender roles that are displayed. Edward plays the typical male protagonist, and Bella plays the typical female protagonist. Even with smaller characters, stereotypical gender roles are rampant. It is repeatedly mentioned that Bella’s father doesn’t really clean and he can’t cook, which leaves Bella to do it for him, filling the role of a stereotypical female. She also is a damsel in distress throughout the entire series. She lets Edward and Jacob defend her and rescue her countless times. Edward is all too comfortable being the heroic, protective, barbaric, alpha male. He goes as far as buying Bella the safest car he can get his hands on. Another character, Mike, gets made fun of when he can’t handle a gory movie because real men should be able to take blood and gore in stride. The gender roles in this series are infuriating, and it will undoubtedly poison young girls’ minds into thinking they need a guy to be happy and to save them.
One last thing before I wrap this up is Bella’s choice in a guy. This may just be my inner Team Jacob coming out, but it’s the obvious choice. Edward is a creepy, overprotective, ancient, alpha male stalker who Bella has to die for. Even though Jacob is literally the alpha male of the werewolves, Bella wouldn’t have to change to be with him. Additionally, the only reason there are werewolves in the first place is because of the “bad” vampires that are in town and the only reason they’re even there is because of Edward and his family. If the Cullen’s would just skip town then there would be no werewolves and Bella could be happy with Jacob. That’s the path her life should have taken, and Bella even admits that. However, she stupidly goes against nature and chooses a guy that wants to kill her 24/7 until he turns her into a vampire. Yeah, real romantic.
Contrary to what you just read, there is a part of me that likes the Twilight Saga because of the potential it holds. I think Stephanie Meyer is a fantastic writer, but she just made a few huge mistakes here. The overall storyline is good, but the execution needs a lot of work. Meyer helped to kick off a generation of vampire, werewolf, and even zombie filled shows, books, and movies. Many of which have found a special place in my heart. To any girls who may be reading this, I am telling you right now, do not aspire to be Bella! Aspire to be independent and strong and confident. You absolutely do not need a guy; you only need your family, your friends, and, if you’re like me, God. If I had to give this series a rating, the movies would be 2/10 and the books would be 3/10.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
WARNING: I tried my very best to leave out any spoilers. Anything perceived to be a spoiler can be seen in one of the trailers.
Sorry DC diehards, but I am a Marvel fanatic and they are making great headway in Phase Two. Iron Man 3 was a hit, as was Thor: The Dark World, and now the highly anticipated Captain America: The Winter Soldier has finally been released. Picking up two years after the events of The Avengers, Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) aid other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in taking care of a hostage situation. When Rogers discovers the Natasha was given her own special mission that compromised his mission as well as plenty of innocent lives, his suspicions and annoyance with Director Fury rises to a new high. When Rogers confronts the Director about this, Fury finally lets the Captain in on his big secret. Named Project Insight, the basic idea is three beefed-up Helicarriers are linked to satellites which are designed to eliminate threats before they ever happen. I have had a great level of dislike for Fury since he first made his cameo appearance in Iron Man, but this movie surprisingly made me have a change of heart. While I believe Rogers has every right to be apprehensive of Fury, everything is not as it seems. We see even in the previews that the Director is attacked, and this is where we get our first glimpse of The Winter Soldier, and it is a terrifying one. After this attack, Fury goes to Rogers and tells him that S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised. If you have been living under a rock for the past few months and don’t know the soldier’s true identity, I won’t spoil it for you. When Natasha and Rogers talk about this mysterious mercenary, more about the master assassin’s past is revealed and you see true fear in her eyes. Alexander Pierce, a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. official, questions Rogers about Fury, but when Rogers refuses to give away any information, Pierce deems the Captain a fugitive. With all of S.H.I.E.L.D. now after them, Rogers and Natasha take the data that Natasha got from her “special mission” to a familiar place in New Jersey. It is here that they learn just how compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. is. With the help of new ally named Falcon, they must stop an organization thought to be destroyed from killing literally millions of people.
As a whole, I greatly enjoyed the movie. I never took Captain America very seriously because without his vibranium shield, he doesn’t do much. This movie completely changed that. In the first fight scene Rogers is taunted into fighting without his shield and I was completely blown away. The stunts crew did an absolutely fantastic job with all of the hand-to-hand combat scenes. That alone has moved Captain America up to my second favorite Avenger. Excuse my language, but he is seriously badass in this movie. Gone are his sweet, old fashioned, all-American antics – the Captain means business this time. He sets the tone for the entire movie as The Winter Soldier is much darker than The First Avenger. That much is blatantly apparent throughout the entire film, even in things as small as Captain using his shield as more of an offensive weapon instead of just defensive. The darker tones benefitted the movie, as well as the significantly minimal use of CGI. It made everything seem more real and easier to connect to. One problem that I have, however, is the hypocrisy. Even though they’re trying to save millions of lives, they completely destroy everything in their paths. Plenty of people are still dying, but it seems it only matters when millions of lives are at stake, not hundreds. And there is the mystery surrounding the Winter Soldier. There are plenty of questions to be asked regarding that situation, but none of them are addressed. However, with the way the movie ends, those questions could potentially be answered in the next Captain America film, which has been confirmed. It has also been confirmed that the Captain will appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, set to be released in 2015. Overall, I give Captain America: The Winter Soldier a solid 8/10.
WARNING: MID/POST CREDITS SCENE SPOILERS
As is with all Marvel films, there is both a mid-credits and post-credits scene. In the mid-credits scene, we see Baron von Strucker with a very special weapon, which I will not give away. Fans of the comic books will know exactly who this is, while movie-goers will probably have to research him later. Two very special people are also shown in captivity. One has superhuman speed, and the other has telekinetic powers. These two are going to be very important in Age of Ultron, as they are none other than Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Again, plain movie-goers will more than likely have no idea who these two are, or their significance, but Marvel diehards are going to be pretty excited about their appearance. It has already been stated what their importance in the Avengers sequel will be, so this isn’t that big of a spoiler. The weapon that Struker has, though, has me wondering just what they plan on doing with it. I am very disappointed with the post-credits scene. It was entirely too predictable, and I wasn’t too sure whether to be happy or concerned about it, but I’ll let you watch that and decide for yourself whether or not you like it. The remainder of Phase Two of the Marvel Universe includes Guardians of the Galaxy, set to release August 1 this year and ending with Avengers: Age of Ultron set to release May 1, 2015.
Frozen
Having grown up in the 1990s, I’m a Disney kid to the core and couldn’t resist watching Frozen. The Disney classics will always have a special place in my heart, but they’ve really outdone themselves with Frozen. While the older Disney films are about finding your true love and love overcoming all odds, Frozen looks at the unbreakable bond between two sisters. Elsa and Anna are sisters in the kingdom of Arendelle and they are as close as can be until Elsa accidentally loses control of her powers and hits Anna. When Anna is healed, her parents are told that they must remove Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers and Elsa must be kept away from the world. Having no memory of why Elsa suddenly shut her out, the sisters drift apart through the years until Elsa’s coronation when all hell breaks loose. To selflessly protect her sister, Elsa runs away and Anna with her bleeding heart and unconditional love, goes after her. Along the way she meets Kristoff and his trusty reindeer sidekick Sven, and of course the adorably hilarious snowman Olaf. Together they track down Elsa to get her to save Arendelle. As I said before, Disney has really outdone themselves. Having been a bit of a tomboy, I never had the dream of being a princess, but I can see the allure. However, I believe that a better message to young girls is one about strong, independent females who don’t need a guy to save them. Disney definitely did that with Brave, but Merida came across, at least to me, as a bratty, whiny teenager. Frozen has a big love element, but the biggest love story here is the one between Elsa and Anna. Having two older sisters myself, I connected with this movie in ways I haven’t with any other Disney film. The surprise ending left me questioning if I would make the same choice that Anna did, and the answer is a resounding yes. The love between sisters is something that overcomes almost every other love. The love between a man and a woman, woman and woman, or man and man, is nothing compared to the bond between sisters. While Disney can sometimes be very superficial and has a habit of not portraying reality, Frozen is different. It deserves every award it is nominated for and more! It’s simply that good. It’s one I will be talking about for months, years even. It makes me excited to have daughters and show them the movie after they’ve had a fight so they can remember how much they love each other, regardless of everything. I’m going to be bold and say that Frozen, in my opinion, is the movie of the year, the generation even. You can still catch it in some theaters, and it is absolutely worth it! And definitely worth buying it once it’s out! I would give it a perfect 10 out of 10!
Devil’s Due
I unfortunately don’t have much to say about Devil’s Due. The age old plot of a woman being pregnant with the Devil is just that; age old. It has been done how many times now, and according to the directors, the script was literally “a found-footage take on Rosemary’s Baby.” The Paranormal Activity series made the “found-footage” filming style popular, but now it’s just being overdone. The movie starts with a newlywed couple, Zach and Sam McCall, honeymooning to the Dominican Republic. While on a night out, things go awry and after being kidnapped and subjected to a mysterious Satanic ritual that is never explained, Sam learns she is pregnant. Throughout the pregnancy, nothing that you wouldn’t expect to happen with a person carrying the spawn of Satan, happens. Overt rage when she or the baby is “threatened,” super-strength, telekinesis, cravings for raw meat, odd trances, the whole nine yards. Complete with a weird, stalking Satanic cult that again, is never explained, I’m sure you can use your imagination to figure out how the movie ends. Though it has an amazing plethora of flaws, there are a few shining moments. Several scenes had me truly terrified with the anticipation of waiting for a demon-possessed woman to snap at any moment. The film is filled with predictable, but surprisingly effective jump-scares. Ending with a cliffhanger that I saw coming within the first five minutes, I left the theater feeling very uncomfortable and completely abhorred at the idea of pregnancy. Overall I felt Devil’s Due was uninspired, entirely too predictable, and unoriginal, regardless of the good scary scenes. Don’t bother paying ridiculous ticket prices to see it in theaters or even buying it when it comes out on DVD and BluRay; just wait to rent it for a night for a mild scare. Overall, I would give Devil’s Due 4/10.
My Thoughts on Things Mostly of the Movie Variety 