Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
(2014) PG-13

Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, and Anthony Mackie

Plot: With this being the third post-Avengers movie from Marvel, this is the closest that could be considered a "sequel". The plot picks up with Cap working as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. performing covert missions, and trying to figure out his place in the new millennium. But with wars being fought less by soldiers, and more by spies in the modern age, Cap has some trust issues with...well, everyone.

*DISCLAIMER*

I shouldn't have to say this, but if you are reading this and you haven't seen any of the past 9+ Marvel cinematic universe movies, (Iron Man 1-3, Thor 1-2, Hulk, Avengers, etc.) I'm not going to be explaining the events of all of them here. This review assumes that you have seen all the past movies, so there are some possible SPOILERS from previous movies, NOT from this one.
You have been warned!

The Good:
Seriously? Where do I start! It is no secret that I'm a huge fan of not only the Avengers, but specifically Captain America. I loved the first Cap movie, and adored Avengers, and I dare say this movie puts those to shame. Marvel studios is definitely in their prime, and taking full advantage of that!

The action in this movie kicks the living crap out of the fight scenes from Captain America: The First Avenger. Of course I'm not saying that the first movie wasn't good, but it is clear that they took a very different approach to this movie, whereas the first was more of a World War II movie with superheroes. In an interview, Chris Evans (Captain America) stated that they based Cap's fighting more off of his moves in the video game, making him more fluid, faster, and more ass-kicky....(because that's totally a word).

Steve Rogers: Director of
S.H.I.E.L.D.
comic book uniform

Captain America:
The Winter Soldier
"stealth suit"

As a comic book fan, I was really worried when I heard that they were going to redo Cap's costume, and changed it to look like his "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." costume (several years ago in the comic books, Steve Rogers hung up his Captain America costume, and took over Nick Fury's job as director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) but the transition was not only done very well, but explained well too. Cap uses this costume as his "stealth" suit, as is displayed in the first action sequence of the movie.

For you die-hards like me, don't worry, you'll see the stars-and-stripes later in the movie, but when he dons it, I honestly somewhat missed his stealth suit. Because the action is so much more fast-paced and close up, the old WWII uniform (shown in the movie's trailer) feels bulkier, and almost out of place by the time he puts it on again.

There is so much more great about this movie, however. From just a film stand-point, the acting is top notch, and there isn't a weak link in the bunch. Personally, I really didn't like Scarlett Johannson's acting in The Avengers, but here, her character no longer feels like a walking cardboard cut-out. Samuel L Jackson's reprising role as Nick Fury doesn't disappoint, but after this many movies, you basically know how his character is going to act. Finally, Robert Redford, newcomer to the Marvel cast, provides a very rich character, and even though he doesn't throw any punches, some of my favorite scenes had him in them.

The Bad:
I really do want to try to think of some type of criticism, to prove I'm not just a rabid fan-boy, so I'll do my best here.

At this point, there have been multiple movies based on multiple individual characters, and their sidekicks, love interests, antagonists, etc. resulting in probably at least a hundred notable characters throughout all the movies. That said, there was plenty to go off of in this movie. So I do have to wonder why some of these characters were included at all.

One prime example is Emily VanCamp's character, Agent 13. I followed this movie from day one of production until release day, and only days before the movie's release, a poster was released with Agent 13 on it, and my only reaction was, "Wait...who?" Now I know that the point of this movie is that you never know  who you can trust, but holy cow do they pack a LOT of characters in this movie. Some have been in past Marvel movies, some in the television show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and some even in just the Marvel One-Shot short films you find on the special features of the DVDs. But unless you watch every single one of these shows, movies, etc. in a row all at once, you're bound to lose track of more than a few of the characters, which can dull the experience a bit. Granted, that is extremely nit-picky, but hey, I'm trying!

Verdict:
10 out of 10.
Go see this movie. I've talked to multiple people who have very different levels of interest in these movies, and they've all loved it. Don't argue, just go see it.

Also, yes there are both MID-CREDITS AND POST CREDITS SCENES so stick around and finish your popcorn!

Bonus Easter Egg breakdown, and
explanation of mid-and-post credits scenes:

(do not read this at all, until after you've seen the movie.
This section contains HEAVY SPOILERS)

This movie in particular seems to be taking advantage of packing in as many easter eggs as it can, linking the whole universe together. I just wanted to offer a quick breakdown of the ones I caught, just for fun. Now I didn't look these up on any web site, so I'm sure I've missed some, these are just ones that I personally noticed:

Batroc the Leaper
Serving as the beginning of the movie's antagonist, Batroc, a.k.a. Batroc the Leaper, is a comic book villain whose power comes from his legs. No, really, he's a French supervillain who has very powerful kicks, and wears a purple and yellow costume, which they did a great job nodding to in the movie. His inclusion seems to be more for fun, as it doesn't look like we should expect him to be in any future Marvel movies.



Avengers Tower
Referred to as "Stark Tower" during the first Avengers movie, the building can very briefly be seen towards the end of the movie. Instead of the full name of "STARK" being on the side, instead there's just the Avengers' "A" referencing that it will most likely just be called Avengers Tower in the coming movies.




Natasha's necklace charm
This was a fun one, though I'll admit I heard about it online a few months ago. In a few scenes throughout the movie, you can see that Natasha (Black Widow) is wearing an arrow charm on her necklace, which could easily be a nod to a romantic bond between her character, and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye.





Doctor Strange
At one point, when the group is interrogating Agent Sitwell, he breaks down, and mentions a list of "notable" people that may be a threat to public security. One name he mentions is Stephen Strange (better known as Doctor Strange). Strange is a character in the Marvel universe whose title is "The Sorcerer Supreme", a character with magical powers, who is on the list of characters getting a movie after Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Casting rumors at one point showed that Johnny Depp stood a chance for the role, but such rumors have not been proven at this time. Mads Mikkelsen's name was also mentioned, but again, all just rumors.


Pulp Fiction reference
At the very end of the movie, when the characters are all looking down at *HUUUUUUGE SPOILER* Nick Fury's tombstone, there is a passage on the stone that reads:
" 'The path of the righteous man' -Ezekiel 25:17"
This is a nod to Samuel L Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction, who reads that (fake) Bible passage several times in the movie. 


Brock Rumlow / Crossbones
After the final fight, Rumlow's body is shown badly charred, but still alive. Rumlow, in the comics, goes on to become the villain/assassin known as Crossbones. His costume in his final fight scene could be a nod to this as well! No word on his future in the Marvel cinematic universe yet though. (Fun fact: In the comics, Crossbones is the character that shoots and "kills" Captain America after the Marvel Civil War)



The Twins (Mid-credits scene)
So who are the mysterious "twins" that mister monacle-face was looking so deviously at? Well, the monacle-wearing German is a villain named Baron Von Strucker. It has been confirmed that he will play an important role in the first few scenes of Avengers: Age of Ultron. His two captives? A brother/sister duo of mutants from both X-Men and the Avengers, named Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, both of which will have a very prominent place in Avengers: Age of Ultron!

Bucky's fate (Post-credits scene)
Two big game-changers were recently revealed by actors from Captain America: 
1. Chris Evans (Cap) will be retiring from acting after his stint with Marvel (which goes for two more movies)
2. Sebastian Stan (Bucky/Winter Soldier) has a multi-movie deal with Marvel, that will keep him in the game long after this movie.
So what does all that mean? Well, in the comic books, after Captain America is "killed", Bucky, now a good guy, steps up to the plate and takes over the mantle of Captain America, with a new costume, but Cap's old shield. I'm going to take an educated guess that they won't KILL Captain America, but it would make sense that Bucky could potentially don the stars and stripes as the new Captain America! We'll have to wait for Cap 3 to know for sure, but I'm definitely not ruling it out!

Did anyone else catch any easter eggs that I may have missed? If so, let me know and I'll include them in my overall list!

Top 5 Worst Comic Book Movies

It's almost here! The most wonderful time of the year for movie lovers...The summer movie blockbuster season! And you know what makes good movies even better? Reflecting on the WORST movies before you see them!

This year, like the past few before, will be packed full of huge comic book adventures, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Guardians of the Galaxy. But before we feast our eyes, let's take a look at some of the dregs of the comic book movie universe.

5. Fantastic Four (1994, unreleased)
I'd love to put this one higher on my list, but just mentioning it feels kind of unfair. It wasn't released in theaters, and there's very good reason for that. This movie has had such a sordid, on-and-off production history that it has become somewhat of a joking myth to some comic fans, and even has a documentary being made about it's production life, and eventual death. I can talk about how bad it is until judgement day, but why not click this link and check out the original trailer for yourself? As we all know, the series was eventually rebooted about ten years after this train wreck, and is even seeing another reboot in 2017. This "movie" is a great example of mismanagement, and cash-whoring of franchises that deserve so much better.

Yeeeah...that's not conspicuous at all.

4. Daredevil (2003) / Elektra (2005)
Before he was "Batfleck", pretty boy Ben Affleck donned the cowl of the blind superhero Daredevil. The movie also featured Daredevil's anti-heroic love interest, Elektra, played by Jennifer Garner. The movie featured supervillain Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin, who honestly wasn't terrible, and even had Colin Farrell portraying Daredevil's arch rival Bullseye, who sported a big fleshy bullseye stuck to his forehead...*sigh*

For whatever reason, after the non-existent success of Daredevil, the movie execs thought it would be a good idea to give Elektra a movie of her own.An uninteresting spin-off of a failed movie's worst acted character? How could that NOT be fantastic, right? Well, at it's time the movie performed lower than any previously released Marvel movie to date. It did perform above it's budget, but not exactly with any impressive numbers. Reviews were extremely lack luster as well, and on a personal note, this movie SUCKED. The acting is crap, the action is crap, heck the whole thing could have been made into a half hour extra on the Daredevil DVD, that I still wouldn't have watched. Daredevil will actually see a Netflix-exclusive reboot of its own starting next year. Thank the stars they're not bringing him back to theaters again!

3. Steel (1997)
Aaah yes. One of Shaq's several 90's forays into the film industry. What I was not aware of when I first saw this as a kid is that this movie was actually based on a DC comics character, though the movie is absolutely nothing like the comics, with the exception of character names. So, the guy was a great basketball player, and Space Jam became a cult classic, so how could this not fail, right? ....Right?

Well,  the movie's entire box office gross totaled less than 1/10 of the movie's overall budget. But how?! How could a co-star like Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club) not redeem this? Because the movie is CRAP. They somehow skipped any potential A-list comic characters, hell even the B-listers like Catwoman, and went straight to one of the newest, most publicly unaware heroes. And then they cast a non-actor to play him. And THEN they took away any comic book elements, and basically made this a black Robocop! I mean just check out that costume. It looks like Shaq really wanted to go to Comic Con, bought a Captain America mask from Target, and painted over it...and yet, I saw this movie...a few times.

What we wanted...

2. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
The Silver Surfer. Fan-favorite herald of the great and mighty Galactus, the towering planet eater that every single comic book fan wanted to see portrayed on the big screen. Can't you just picture it? A 400-foot tall powerhouse who steps on anything in his path and eats entire planets?! How could this not be totally...awesome.....he's a cloud. He's a f$%&ing CLOUD?!?! No, seriously. Ya got us. He's probably just hiding inside the cloud or something, right? Oh...he's not?

What we got.

The original plan was that after this movie, Fox was going to make a Silver Surfer spin-off movie, and they were saving the "real" Galactus for that. The problem is, this movie bombed so hard (and rightly so, it was TERRIBLE!) that the movie never happened. I remember seeing this movie for the first time at an employee showing at the movie theater I used to work at. The manager that night was the biggest Fantastic Four fan I've ever seen, and he was speechless when the credits started to roll. And I don't blame him. The movie surpassed its budget by the skin of it's teeth, and no sequel or spin-offs were made. And nobody cared.

1. Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998)
Nowadays everybody knows Nick Fury as being portrayed by Samuel L Jackson, but what most moviegoers don't realize is that the version portrayed in the newest Iron Man, Avengers, and Captain America movies is actually the "Ultimates" version of Nick Fury, whose comic book appearance was actually modeled after Samuel L Jackson, with the agreement that if a movie was ever made, Jackson was going to play him. (true story)

In actuality, Nick Fury is white, and in this movie he was portrayed by David Hasselhoff. No, really! This movie was made for TV, and was intended to be a pilot for a Nick Fury / S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show in the late 90's. Personally, I love this movie because of how fricking horrid it is. To me, the best part is that when they cast Jackson to play Nick Fury in the Avengers movie, David Hasselhoff actually spoke out and was very angry that he was not approached to star in the role. To be honest, he really does look the part. They did the costume design great for this movie, but the acting was...oh man it was so bad I really can't describe it here. You've got to see it for yourself here, in the movie's trailer. If you can find a copy, grab it, buy a six-pack, and enjoy!

Hollywood's newest trend?

I have some great news! It seems that Hollywood is finally retiring the zombie and vampire fads of the past decade! Granted that earlier this year we did see the release of "I, Frankensten" and "Vampire Academy", but the fact that you can count the number of undead movie releases on one hand, is a great sign.

"The Hunger Games: Games of Hunger"
Oh, its just "Hunger Games"?

Yes it seems the champion is being dethroned, so what pray tell is going to take it's place? Everybody always jokes about how Hollywood is fresh out of ideas, but movies will still, inevitably, come out. There is a trend on the rise, and "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" are serving as the bridge into this new drift of film.

Prepare for the reign of young adult fiction book movies.

Last year saw the release of plenty of these films, including (but not limited to) "Enders Game", "Beautiful Creatures", "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones", "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters", "Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "The Host", and many more.

"The Hunger Games: Maze Runner"
Whoops, its just "The Maze Runner..."

The danger is that they're being replaced with as many Hunger games clones as possible. Now don't get me wrong, "Hunger Games" was extremely well done (though a bit unsettling for my tastes, what with the child murder and all). My issue with this is that because it was made so well, every studio wants to emulate it with every book they can get their hands on.

That isn't necessarily bad, but it could (and seems like it will) get old really fast. Expect to see a lot of these in the next year or two. 2014 will see the release of "Divergent", "The Maze Runner", "The Giver", and "Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1" just to name a few. Disney also announced last year that they'll be helming a movie based on the "Artemis Fowl " book series. Any way you slice it, its a great time to be a young adult actor/actress in Hollywood.

"Percy Jackson & the Hunger Games"
Wait, wait..."Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters"

So what is the "Hunger Games" theme that everybody is playing off of? Well, there's a few key elements:
1: Lead character is 14-17 years old.
2. Dystopian setting (anti-utopia, usually controlled by a well meaning, but overbearing government)
3. Love triangle
4. Dark/gritty color scheme

But I do have a big fat problem with this, in a way. Most of these books are part of a series (Twilight, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, Enders Game, etc.), and the movie big-wigs are milking the crap out of it. Aw hell, I'll just say it. STOP DOING TWO-PART MOVIES. This started with Harry Potter, and was very necessary, as the book was gigantic, and had a LOT of story that was being built up over the course of seven books. But then you have a series like Hunger Games. I haven't read the books, but I've seen them, and they're not very big. If they can fit the first two into their own movies, they do NOT need two movies to tell the last book. Hobbit, I'm looking at you too. One book, three movies?! But I digress...

"The Hunger Games: The Giver"
Ack! This one's just "The Giver"

In short, get ready to be sick of movies starring angsty teens in repetitive plots. I'm placing my bet that we'll be seeing a lot of them for the next 10 years or so.

Now if only they had waited until now to do an Eragon movie...maybe it would have been at least a little better.

The Crow

The Crow
(R) 1994

Starring:Brandon Lee, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott

The Story:
Based on the comic book series of the same name created by James O'Barr, The Crow follows Eric Draven, a musician living in a crime-ridden town with his Fiancee Shelly. The movie begins with the dual homicide of both Eric and Shelly on Devil's Night, October 30th. One year later, Eric is resurrected by a crow and given supernatural powers in order to reap revenge upon his and Shelly's murderers.

If you like...:
The Warriors, The Fifth Element, Robocop, Demolition Man, any Batman movie from the 80's or 90's

The movie garnered a lot of attention due to the accidental death of lead actor Brandon Lee during filming. To sum up, due to an error by the prop master, Lee was shot with a gun that was supposed to be filled with blanks, and was fatally wounded. After rewrites and some time away from production, the movie was completed using body doubles and special effects.

The Good:
The Crow carries a vibe very reminiscent to what I feel that Tim Burton's Batman movies SHOULD have looked like. Everything is very dark and gritty, giving the movie somewhat of a post-apocalyptic vibe due to the amount of crime the city experiences.

For a mid-90's action movie, the fight scenes are definitely a lot of fun. Eric Draven has no qualms about killing, which makes him a fun anti-hero to root for. Draven definitely gives off a terrifying vibe when he dons the "crow" make-up, and doles out vigilante justice. His character reminded me of what The Joker might look like if he wasn't so colorful. Scary for sure, but definitely awesome. Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) lends his talent excellently as Draven's support, police sergeant Albrecht. If Draven were Batman, Albrecht would undoubtedly be his Commissioner Gordon.



The Bad:

Let's be honest, there's a reason that Brandon Lee wasn't in a whole lot of movies over the years. As an actor, he wasn't the best. Then again, Draven, his character, isn't really expected to have long, heart-felt monologues. He's expected to kick ass, which he does. Still, in certain scenes it can be hard to get past his shaky voice work.

The plot is pretty bland as well. I mean, it gets the job done. He's out to kill four specific gang members, and that's all. But halfway through the movie we're introduced to a crime lord who basically gets himself involved just to be a dick. Top Dollar (played by Michael Wincott) definitely is a fun villain, if not a bit creepy with the ladies, but still felt a bit unnecessary in the overall plot, especially as the main villain. A minor complaint, but it did bug me.

Verdict:
6.5 out of 10
It's definitely fun, but other than the tragic death of lead actor Brandon Lee during filming, I'm not entirely sure that it needs to be called a "cult classic". Then again, if you're looking for a fun action packed 90's movie, give it a try.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

I'm back! It's been a busy few weeks, but here's a new review for ya!



Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
2005 (PG 13)

Starring: Steve Burton, Steve Staley, Crispin Freeman, Steve Blum

Plot: The movie functions as a sequel to the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation. Without spending several hours recapping the story, characters, and spoiling the ending of the game, I'll try to summarize:

*takes a deeeeep breath* The movie itself actually begins with a brief summary of the events of the game, from beginning to end. The game (and movie) centers around Cloud Strife, an ex-soldier turned mercenary who assists a rebellion who is seeking to take down an evil corporation called Shinra, whose goal is to siphon the planet's life stream, and convert it into energy, unaware that in doing so, they are killing the planet.  Enter Sephiroth, a genetic experiment created by Shinra in an effort to create a perfect soldier, who wants to take over/destroy the world in a bloody quest for vengance against his creators. **SPOILER ALERT** He was killed during the ending of Final Fantasy VII.

The movie takes place several years after the events of the game, during which time large numbers of children have been stricken with a mysterious ailment that many believe to be the doing of the planet, angry at those who tried to kill it. The heroes of Final Fantasy VII must reunite in order to stop three mysterious new enemies seeking to resurrect Sephiroth.

Confused? It's to be expected. If you're not confused, you've probably beaten Final Fantasy VII, and watched the movie already. The game itself spawned a multitude of spin-off games, and a lore that spans decades. It's actually rather impressive considering it all came from one video game. If you want to know more, definitely go back and play the game, or check out the Final Fantasy Wiki. But here, I'll only be covering the movie itself.

The Good: I've said it before, I'll say it again. With animated movies maintaining popularity as they do, it's important for companies to set theirs apart in some way. Advent Children does this through gorgeous, action-packed visuals. And for this movie being almost 10 years old, it still looks beautiful. The animation is crisp, hair and clothing moves in a believable way (for anime-styled characters that is), action scenes invoke a sense of awe, whether it be in the scale of the monsters, the speed of the action, of the visuals of the sparks flying, or magic spells being cast. This is also one of the earlier computer-generated movies that I remember seeing that managed to fit such a massive amount of people on-screen at the same time, which still manages to impress.

In terms of sound, the score continues to impress, evoking a range of emotions. Most of the soundtrack consists of orchestrated versions of music pulled straight out of Final Fantasy VII. My personal favorite is the piano-only version of the video game's battle music. The voice acting is also wonderful. Popular voice actors including Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop), Steve Burton (Kingdom Hearts), and Quinton Flynn (Metal Gear Solid 2) are instantly recognizable by their fans, and bring into the movie the talent that they're known for as video game / anime voice actors.

If you're a well-versed fan of the Final Fantasy VII universe, the story is easy to follow, and offers plenty of fan service, whether it be a familiar place, or a familiar face.

In 2009, an extended version of the movie was released on Blu-Ray, titled "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete" which includes 25 extra minutes, and many completely redone scenes. For hardcore fans, this is a must.

The Bad: I'll start with the obvious: If you're NOT well-versed in the game, you're going to have a rough time with the story and characters. There's a lot to this movie, and aside from the short intro to the movie, the makers definitely assumed that if you are watching the movie, you already know the plot of Final Fantasy VII.

While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can get dangerous in the fact that sometimes it seems they assume too much. Personally, I'm a big fan of the game, and have played several of the spin-off titles. That said, I still find myself scratching my head a few times during the movie.

Verdict:
This movie is hard to give a final score to, so I'm actually going to split it into two sores.
If you're a gamer, 9/10.
If you're not, 6/10.

No matter which way you look at it, the movie is presented stunningly. It's worth a watch solely for the visuals, but if you are familiar with the series, it is exponentially better.

2014 Movie Guide part 2

And we're back! After taking a look at the upcoming movies from January - March of this year, let's take a look at April, May, and June! Summer blockbusters, aaaaaw yeah!

As usual, the trailer for each movie is linked to the title (if trailers are available for that movie).

April:
4/4
-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Ehem...as some of you may know, I'm a bit of a Cap fan...so my feelings on this movie are grossly biased. BUT I will still say something in more of an impartial light: Its being described as more of a "political thriller/action" so expect something much deeper than just *POW POW*. It picks up two years after the events of "The Avengers" with Cap struggling to adapt to modern society. Personally, I'll be first in line.

4/11
-Draft Day
Ugh...the only thing more boring to me than sports, is sports movies. Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner star in a movie about a sports manager for a football team. Watch the trailer, because I don't really care.

-Oculus
Horror movie. Surprise.

-Rio 2
I love animated movies, but they really have to try hard to stand out nowadays. I never saw the first Rio. The visuals look good, but the story just doesn't seem to stand out to me. Either way, I may watch it if its on TV sometime.


4/16
-Heaven Is For Real
Based on the book of the same name (I knew that thanks to my awesome book-loving wife), this story is based on the true story of a young boy who has a near-death experience, and sees heaven, which affects the lives of his friends and family. As a Lutheran, I'm a bit skeptical since I've never read the book, but I may actually give this one a try. The movie stars Greg Kinnear, a personal favorite of mine.

4/17
-Transcendence
Johnny Depp stars in a near-future science fiction epic where his character melds his brain with a machine to create the ultimate artificial intelligence. Seems like it will be somewhat political, but with a supporting cast including Morgan Freeman and Paul Bettany, I'm pretty intrigued! The feel of the trailer reminds me vaguely of the early 2000's movie A.I. mixed with the Terminator franchise.

4/25
-The Other Woman
Occasionally I enjoy a good chick flick, and the plot of this one honestly gave me a chuckle. Three girls all being played by the same guy decide to get their revenge. Not a fan of any of the actresses though, and the fact that Nicki Manaj exists in a movie turned me off 100% instantly. Just saying.

May:
5/2
-The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A lot of people I've talked to actually don't like the new Spider-Man movie as much as the old Toby Macguire series, but personally I adored the first Andrew Garfield one. This guy IS Peter Parker. I'm extremely excited for this movie! Villains inlude Rhino, Electro, and Green Goblin, and talent includes Paul Giamatti, and Jamie Foxx.

5/9
-Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
Starring Patrick Stewart, Dan Aackroyd, Jim Belushi and Kelsey Grammar, this is an animated "sequel" to the original Wizard of Oz. Personally I feel like the animation is just awful compared to what movies nowadays have been able to do. I mean look at Frozen, or even re-watch the trailer for Rio 2, they look ten times more detailed. Plus, why do we need a sequel to Wizard of Oz? The whole thing just feels totally unnecessary.

-Neighbors
A couple consisting of new parents and a young baby have new neighbors move in next door: a fraternity of loud, partying college guys. Hilarity ensues as the couple wages an all-out prank war against the frat, but the college guys retaliate with force. This looks to be a raunchy comedy, but the trailer sets up some great jokes! It's Seth Rogen vs Zac Effron!

5/16
-Godzilla
I've never really been big into Godzilla in the past, but I've always enjoyed gigantic monster movies like Cloverfield. This homage to the original Godzilla, with modern day special effects, looks down right spectacular! That monster legitimately scared me when I first saw this trailer! This movie carries a much MUCH darker tone than the 2000 film starring Matthew Broderick, as well as a big name cast including Bryan Cranston, and Ken Watanabe.

5/23
-X-Men: Days of Future Past
Did you like the original Bryan Singer-directed X-Men movies from the early 2000's? How about the more recent X-Men: First Class? If you liked either or both of those, chances are you'll be interested in Days of Future Past. I've always loved the X-Men, so I have high hopes for this movie. Recently they've released a lot of images of the various characters in the movie, and frankly a lot of their costumes just plain SUCK. I'll still see it though!

5/30
-A Million Ways to Die in the West
Directed and written by Seth McFarlane (Family Guy, Ted) and starring a lot of big names including Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Charlize Theron, Sarah Silverman, and more, this movie is just going to be a gory, curse-filled, sex-joke-filled, most likely nudity-filled, probably drug and alcohol-filled mess. If you're into South Park and Family Guy, probably right up your alley.

-Filth
Based on a book written by Irivne Welsh, the author of Trainspotting, you can expect about the same. The movie looks grossly inappropriate, but in a much more demented way than your usual R-rated comedy. James Macavoy stars as a corrupted cop in Scotland. Be warned, the trailer is pretty R-rated in its own right.

-Maleficent
Angelina Jolie stars as the title character in this live-action adaptation of the famous Disney villain. The visuals look stunning, but I wish they had chosen a different lead actress. This is another one of those movies where it very well may be great, but it just feels kind of unnecessary. The visuals, though....wow.

June:
6/6
-Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise is nuts as a person. The guy is just crazy. But when it comes to action movies, he can act his ass off! I love every modern Tom Cruise action movie, and Edge of Tomorrow looks very promising. He stars as a soldier who is cursed to re-live the same failed military invasion every day of his life. It's like Groundhog Day meets the video game Starcraft.

6/13
-22 Jump Street
Good god. Why is this a thing?

-How to Train Your Dragon 2
Remember what I said like 4 movies ago about how you need to make your animated movies stand out somehow since there are so many nowadays? Yeah. This movie is how you do it. The first How to Train Your Dragon is fantastic, and this just...wow. I can't wait for this movie. Just watch the trailer, it speaks for itself.

6/20
-The Purge: Anarchy
Another horror movie, yes. But the premise actually has me interested for once! This movie is a sequel to the 2013 film The Purge, in which America is a dominant world power with a strong economy, and almost nonexistent crime rate. This is achieved through The Purge: an annual event where for 8 hours, all crime is completely legal. I ignored the first film because it was your basic "we're being stalked" horror. The sequel however tasks a group with reaching a building across town, and having to survive The Purge. The plot sounds very much like a Hunger Games type of survival movie. There is no trailer as of yet, but if you click here, I placed a link for a trailer for the first movie.

6/27
-Transformers: Age of Extinction
Its the same as the first three, but with no Shia LeBeof. Big whoop.

The LEGO Movie

I still haven't forgotten about my 2014 movie preview! I promise! Besides you're all set until March anyways so what are you complaining about?!

Anywho...this is one of those rare opportunities where I got to see a movie within a week of it's theatrical release, and I couldn't WAIT to review it!





The LEGO Movie
(PG) 2013

Starring:
Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Will Forte, Nick Offerman, Shaquile O'Neal, Billy Dee Williams, Cobie Smulders, and on and on AND ON!!

The Plot:
Based on the popular children's toy, the movie is set in a LEGO world and follows the story of Emmett (Chris Pratt, Parks & Recreation), a regular guy who follows the instructions. He soon finds himself being looked up to as "The Special", the one who will save the LEGO world from evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell, Anchorman). With the help of his fellow master builders (including, but not limited to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, NBA all-stars, Batman, Superman, and several surprise guests I don't want to spoil here).





The Good:
Where do I begin? No seriously, this movie is fantastic! Most animated movies in this day and age throw in a few subtle jokes for the adults, or try to fill in the gaps with needless potty humor and fart jokes. This movie had me in stitches even during its most "serious" moments, and I can say the same for every single other adult in the theater (which was just about everyone).

The movie is animated very well. It's made using a mix of stop-motion and computer animation, resulting in some spectacular shots, and some hilarious moments. The water in the movie was probably the most visually incredible, if not a bit trippy. Anyone who has interest in the animation aspect of movies will greatly enjoy seeing how the obviously plastic figures move and interact.

The voice acting is also superb, and even the voice actors that I can't stand (coughJONAH HILLcough) had some great lines that were very well performed. The star-studded cast kept on coming until the very end, and even led to some unsuspected and wonderful twists in the last half hour.

Usually I'm not one in support of the "moral of the story" of movies like this. But the "anyone can be creative" and "you're all special" messages were so subtle, yet just obvious enough that it ties the whole movie together.





The Bad:
Honestly, while the movie comes in at a respectable 1 hour and 40 minutes, it felt a bit rushed at times. The very beginning of the movie shoots through the introduction of the world, and came close to feeling overwhelming.

My only other complaint (and I'm REALLY reaching for complaints) is that the LEGO universe is so expansive nowadays that I felt that there were some missed opportunities. Some of the most subtle references had me laughing the most, but there were so many LEGO sets that could have been included, but I feel like they weren't just because of the companies in charge of making the movie. (e.g. Warner Brothers had a hand, which means they'd include a ton of DC Comics characters, but without the rights to any Marvel Comics characters, even though there are plenty of Marvel LEGO sets).

But again, I'm trying hard to find things to complain about, and if that's the best I can muster, that should tell you something! Besides, there's always room in the sequel, eh?

Verdict:
10 awesome overpriced LEGO sets out of 10

As the movie's song says, "Everything Is Awesome."