Keanu Review

From the visionary minds of Key and Peele comes the film Keanu. The comedy duo of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are best known from there sketch comedy show "Key and Peele" and long time fans will even remember their MADTV days. Keanu marks the first time the duo have paired up for a film and for a first outing I would say they did pretty well.

Jordan Peele plays a man who after a bad break up, finds an adorable kitten on his door step and decides to care for him and name him Keanu. When the cat is stolen by a gang, the man and his cousin (played by Keegan Michael Key) go out looking for him. Their search gets them involved with a local gang, some assassins and a bunch of other crazy characters.

The premise alone is enough to get any fan of the comedy duo excited and it does lead to some funny situations. But a few days after watching it, I can't remember that many jokes from the movie. The best humor comes when the duo works of each other and other characters as well as like some comedies of this year, using George Michael music.

Keanu  is one of those comedies that you can enjoy if you pop it in every once in a while or watch when its on TV. Not a very memorable movie, I don't expect it to be on my best of list, but if you're up for a comedy with a cute animal in it, I would give it a recommendation.

Grade: B-

Disney's The Jungle Book Review

The Jungle Book delivers the epic feel of adventure that is great for the whole family.

I have to admit I have never read Rudyard Kipling's book but from what I can grab it focuses a little on the adventures of Mowgli, a young boy being raised in the jungle, but also includes short stories like "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and "Toomai and the Elephants". When it comes to the film adaptations of this story, most movies stick with the Mowgli plot save for its conclusion. If you're looking for a faithful adaptation of Kipling's novel, you'll be kind of disappointed.

This new adaptation from "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau is more of a live action/ CGI adaptation of the Disney animated movie from 1967. The story is about Mowgli having to journey to the man village in order to escape the wrath of the vengeful, man hating tiger Shere Khan. Along his journey he meets animals like a python named Kaa, lazy brown bear named Baloo and a monkey king named Louie. It's beat for beat a re telling of the 1967 movie except for the ending and having less songs. Yes there are songs in this movie but it's only the two well known songs ("Bear Necessities" and "I Wanna be Like You").

What separates this version from the animated one is it's look and performances. It blends CGI and real performance together nicely and gives us some incredible visuals. The animals look great and the voices they have are near perfect. Idris Elba gives Shere Khan a menacing cunning feel that only Elba can bring and Bill Murray and Ben Kingsley were pretty much born to play Baloo and Begheera. The only ones I had an issue with were Christopher Walkin as King Louie and Scarlett Johansen as Kaa. They do okay but every now and again I felt like all I heard was Christopher Walkin and Scarlett Johansen, not the characters. Everyone else does okay.

While not at times seemless, the backround and set pieces are nice to look at. My favorite has to be King Louie's palace. It looks like one of those abandon Indian temples that looks like danger is every corner, again, like Indiana Jones would do. And that's not a bad thing, as it fits with the whole journey aspect of the story.

It can get shockingly dark and scary at times, like a jungle would be. This comes not only from the jeapordy Mowgli is put through but also the little hints at how dangerous humans can be to the natural world. Fire, or "the red flower" is a key part of the movie depicted as the one thing that can give you absolute power through its use, be it destructive or protective. While not a spot on adaptation of the classic novel, Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book takes audiences on an adventure the whole family can enjoy together or by themselves

Other Junk: Daredevil Season 2 Review

After the mediocre performance of the Ben Affleck led Daredevil, Marvel entertainment was looking to find another way to introduce audiences to the character. Once Disney came in and bought up most of the characters, people were unsure if the character would ever get another chance to come to life. But to most people's surprise, Marvel announced that they would be creating 5 new shows for Netflix, 4 based off separate characters and 1 that would bring all these characters together in a group. Those characters ended up being Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. These 4 will eventually team up to be known as "The Defenders" a sort of street version of The Avengers. Daredevil was the first of these series and it made a huge debut on Netflix. People could not stop talking about it and for good reason. It did not have the restrictions the movies and Marvel's only show on TV at the time Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. No, this show felt like something that you would find on HBO or Showtime. It was dark, violent and at times a little heavy. It caught a lot of people off guard and I believe that's what led to its success and the clamoring for a second season. Well only a year later, we got our wish.

Daredevil focuses on Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox) who is a blind lawyer who runs a firm Hell's Kitchen, New York with his associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. What most people don't know is that during the night Matt takes justice into his own hands as the vigilante known as Daredevil. The first season focused on Matt and his firm trying bringing down the powerful criminal Wilson Fisk a.k.a Kingpin (played by Vincent D'Onfrio). It was a solid first season with great performances and gripping story.

Season 2 sees Matt and his friends dealing with the debut of 2 new characters, both with major significance in the Marvel world. The first of these characters we encounter is Frank Castle, better known as "The Punisher". Castle is an ex-military soldier who comes home from war only to have his wife and kids get murdered by the mafia and is now a ruthless vigilante who hunts down and kills criminals with military precision. He is eventually caught and is put on trial with Murdock's firm being Castle's attorneys and the public split on whether Frank is a hero or a threat. As the show goes on we learn more about Frank and what may have caused his families death. Jon Bernthal does a magnificent job bringing Frank Castle to life. He has the menacing presence of the character and the range to go from compassionate to unhinged in seconds. It's a show stealing performance to say the least.

The next new character is Elektra, Matt's old girlfriend. Her story ark takes up much of the season as Matt is torn between helping her with her quest to find out more about a secret society known as "The Hand" and his firm with the Castle case and for the most part it works fine but it does drag the season down a little. We already have the drama with Castle and now to add Elektra and her drama to the already busy story we have going on with our three main heroes and it reaches a point to where you think stories have been thrown aside. I talked about it a lot in my Batman V. Superman review and while both have that problem, Daredevil pulls it off better. In Batman V. Superman it felt like each scene was that, a scene. We'd see Batman do Batman things and then cut to Superman and his drama. But I've already went into detail about that so why does it work here? Well for one, it's a show, stories can be stretched out farther and secondly the show gives us enough time with each story. It can get overwhelming at times but each story does get its time in the spotlight. I still do not like it when superhero movies have to throw everything at us but the show's pacing gives us the audience enough time to take everything in.

While the show does get bogged down by its many storylines, ultimately Daredevil season 2 builds off of what made its first season great. Hypnotizing action scenes, deep and interesting characters and heavy drama. If your a comic book fan or love the superhero genre, defiantly give this show a watch. And for those who have finished the second season and are looking for other shows to fill the void I recommend Arrow or Jessica Jones. Both carry that same type of tone and feel with Arrow having the more vigilante feel and Jones as a psycho-thriller noir story.

Grade: A

Coming Attractions:The Jungle Book and possibly another think piece. 

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

When the early reviews came out for Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice came out critics were slamming it, HARD. At the time this post was written the movie has a "rotten" rating of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, a score lower than Ben Affleck's last venture in the superhero genre Daredevil which sits at 44% (a "rotten" rating). However, it's audience score (at the time this review was written) sits at a positive 73%, a staggering difference to say the least. So what has split critics and audiences? Well lets take a look. (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

Batman V. Superman takes place after the events of Man of Steel which saw Superman destroy the city of Metropolis in order to stop General Zod from destroying Earth. A government case is made which puts Superman on trial for his actions. While some view Superman as a hero, other see him as a threat. One of the people who sees the man of steel as a threat is Bruce Wayne, who witnesses first hand the destruction Superman is capable of and because of what he saw has started a crusade as Batman to bring down Superman. His quest to fight Superman leads him to discover some interesting scientific expeditions led by Lex Luthor, who is also on Superman's watch list. Lex apparently has files on select Metahumans (humans with exceptionable abilities) like Barry Allen (The Flash), Cyborg and Aquaman. One person looking for those files is Diana Prince a.k.a Wonder Woman. Lex has also been medaling around with Kryptonian technology to bring about the end of Superman. Lex has discovered that Wayne knows about his experiments and kidnaps Superman's mother to blackmail Superman to kill Batman, all while preparing the creation of Doomsday (A being that can kill Superman).

So yeah that's a lot to take in during one sitting. It feels like there are 3 different movies taking place. One theory I'm floating around is that the movie's director Zack Snyder wanted to make an adaptation of the Batman story The Dark Knight Returns but the studio wanted the movie to bring about the creation of the Justice League. These two stories that do not work well with one another are jammed into the movie in an attempt to set up an "extended universe" as DC and Warner Brothers call it and let me tell you it shows, badly. On the one hand, there is this excellent recreation of The Dark Knight Returns that is bogged down by sloppily shoe-horning in Justice League set up because the studio said so. It's only an opinion but it does have some credential to it.

The story telling in this movie is atrocious. One moment we're with Superman as he saves Lois Lane from terrorists, then we go to Batman waging war on Superman, then we cut to Lex Luthor being evil, and so on and so forth. There is no seeable thread tying these stories together. It feels like a scene happens and then we  move on to another scene. It's messy storytelling if I've ever seen it. With so much story being thrown at the audience in such a messy way, they have no idea how to react to it. I saw this movie in the same theater I saw Force Awakens when it opened and compared to Star Wars, this audience was dead. Whenever something epic like Wonder Woman's appearance happened, I only heard a few people silently cheering. In Force Awakens, when a character like Han Solo showed up the audience went nuts. It shows that throwing everything story wise at your audience is not a good idea. It didn't work with Spiderman 3, The Amazing Spiderman 2, and Daredevil season 2 but will get to that in due time. Bottom line: Don't give us 3 stories in one movie.

But enough negativity, lets focus on some positives. Ben Affleck is great as Batman showing once again that the internet shouldn't over react to casting choices. In fact, most of the cast does a great job with their characters. Your mileage may vary on Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor though. I could see him being the son of a Kevin Spacey/Frank Underwood style Lex Luthor but his spastic and annoying attitude can ware on a man quickly. Back to positive stuff, the visuals in this movie are spectacular. Zack Snyder's bread and butter is his visuals and no where does he shine better than with comic book movies. You feel like the pages from a comic are leaping out on to the screen. Anything having to do with Batman is the highlight of the movie which got me to wonder if Zack Snyder wanted to make a Dark Knight Returns movie.

Sadly, that is not what we got. We got an over 2 hour mess of a movie with glaring problems overshadowed by certain positive aspects. All in all, Batman V. Superman is a failure for DC comics and Warner Bros. as not only has this movie further divided the fan base but it might have turned people off to the DC movie universe entirely. If the rest of DC's films mirror this one, expect groans every time the DC comics logo appears at the beginning of the trailer. The studio should take a step back and look at Marvel's universe. Giving us bits and pieces of other events in movies based around one of many major characters instead of trying to put as much into one movie as possible. Is it a 29%  worthy movie? For me, no, it was entertaining enough to feel like a quick sit and some positives over shadow the negatives. It's on par with Man of Steel, a sentence the studio wanted to avoid as much as possible given the reaction to that film but sadly these two films having glaring problems. If you are curious about seeing it I do recommend it but if you hated Man of Steel I say avoid this movie.

Grade: C-

Looking Back: Man of Steel

After the succe of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC comics decided to role up their sleeves and start working on their own cinematic universe. While Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice will show the vastness of its world and characters lets not forget that all of this started with the Superman reboot Man of Steel.

Man of Steel is popular for being one of the most polarizing movies for comic book fans. It gives audience a new look on Superman but at the same time it betrays some the classic tropes that fans of the character admire. I found the movie to be too long, trying to hard to be like The Dark Knight, too much obvious Jesus symbolism and having blatantly obvious product placement. I did enjoy Henry Cavill as Superman and the idea of Superman being a polarizing figure. I find it to be mirroring how our society would react. He's a hero but some wonder what if he decides that Earth is not worth it. Dawn of Justice, hopefully, will dive deep into what it means to be a hero and a defender of Earth.

Man of Steel is an origin story and basically combines the story of the first two Superman movies that starred Christopher Reeve. A child by the name of Kal-El is sent away from his dying world of Krypton and ends up on Earth where he is found and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. The child, now going by the name of Clark Kent, grows up learning to control his special abilities and tries to figure out where he belongs in the world. But when Earth is invaded by Kryptonian forces that were banished from the planet before its destruction, it's up to Clark to stop them and save Earth.

During the battle, much of the major city Metropolis is destroyed. And someone who witnessed this destruction first hand was Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. Wayne's witness to the destruction caused by Superman will be the reason to why he will be fighting Superman in Dawn of Justice, which is a sequel to Man of Steel.

The dark tone that was criticized seems to be amped up for Superman's battle with the Dark Knight of Gotham. This works for me as director Zack Snyder stated that a lot of the movie would be borrowing from comic book artist and storyteller Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, a story that focused on an old Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement to be Batman one more time and in the process has a battle with Superman. The big difference is that the movie is seeting up the creation of The Justice League and the DC universe, a lot to do in one movie. It's no doubt obvious that DC is playing catch up with Marvel and their cinematic universe. Unfortunately, they are about 8 years late to the party. Batman V. Superman has to build a universe in one movie, a task that took many years for Marvel to do.

Man of Steel is not one of the worst comic book movies to come out but its not one of the best either. Like I said previously it had its faults but it had some good stuff in it. Like it or hate it, it's up to you. It will be interesting to see how the reaction to DC's other films compare to this one, especially ones like The Flash which will in no way will be tied to the popular CW series of the same name and character. And lets not forget Marvel and their stacked line up. Only time will tell if DC and its Extended Universe will be something to look forward to or something to dread.

10 Cloverfield Lane Review

"Monsters Come in Many Forms". That is the tagline for the spiritual successor to the massively popular sci-fi monster horror film Cloverfield. Before I go on about the movie first I'm going to talk about the massive viral campaign this movie had as well as warn you in advance that there will be spoilers as I will talk about the ending of the film. I'll give you warning after I give my grade and tell you what I have planned next.

Let's talk about marketing for movies. Where most movies will give you trailers and screenshots, 10 Cloverfield Lane as well as its previous successor had the idea of spreading out the story through the internet. Websites for companies that existed in the movies, social media accounts for characters, and even hidden messages inside websites leave little breadcrumbs for die hard fans of this series. If you really want to find out more about this check out the Cloverfield Clues blog after you watch the movies.

This franchise also likes announcing itself unexpectedly by dropping a trailer only months until its released. That's kind of risky move but one thing that I along with many others commend about the trailers are that they don't give anything away,  a trend that is common amongst a lot of modern day movie trailers (looking at you Terminator Genisys).

The movie is about a woman named Michelle who after leaving home after a fight with her boyfriend, gets into a car accident and wakes up in an underground bunker. She finds out that she was taken there by a man named Howard, who owns the bunker, and is there with another man named Emmet. Howard tells Michele that there was an attack and now they have to stay in the bunker for at least a year or two. Michelle's skepticism of Howard's claims given his irrational behavior and mysterious past give way to dramatic and tense moments as she tries to discover what is really going on outside the bunker.

John Goodman gives a Oscar worthy performance as the crazed conspiracy theory bunker owner Howard. Goodman's stature and figure makes him look imposing next to Michelle and Emmet. Little small ticks give way to a frightening performance. Howard cements the tagline of the movie.

Michelle is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, an actress well known amongst horror movie fans. Michelle is probably one of the smartest characters I've seen in these types of movies. Her actions feel natural for a person in this situation. I found myself agreeing with most of her decisions as I saw myself making those same decisions if I was in her situations. Finally there's Emmet who is played by John Gallagher Jr. He is nice guy who's made some mistakes but is not as interesting as the other two.

10 Cloverfield Lane may not be the exact sequel fans wanted but what we got was a tense thriller that mirrors something you would see out of a Twilight Zone episode. The movies biggest flaw is that its being connected to Cloverfield. It only leaves us with more questions than answers and its ending feels like a cop out but more on that later.

Grade: B+

Coming Attractions: Man of Steel look back, Batman V. Superman review, Daredevil Season Two Review

SPOILER ALERT!!
At the end of the movie we find out that earth is being invaded by aliens, who possibly might be like the creature from the first movie. This is where the movie will split audiences. Those that love the tense claustrophobic thriller might be put off by the sudden shift into alien territory. My guess is that the writers were stuck on how they should end it and decided to go with the aliens and make it a Cloverfield successor. I feel that even if they did not go with aliens, audiences still would've been split on the ending. I personally liked the ending as it gave Michelle the ending to her character arc and added more speculation to the story. But as I said earlier, the movie leaves us with more questions than answers and the ending is where that problem comes from.

Zootopia Review

When I first saw the trailers and marketing for Zootopia I was expecting a buddy cop movie from Disney that relied on a lot of animal jokes and puns. Something okay but not memorable. Boy was I in for a surprise. Zootopia deals with subjects like race and gender stereotyping, class warfare, attitudes of police officers, roles in society, and many other things you would find in an Ayn Rand novel. I bring this up because like many other critics out there, we were not expecting a movie called Zootopia, a Disney film about cute talking animals, to talk about risky subjects like that. I think that shock value is what is getting the film so much attention but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The story takes place in this world where animals have evolved from their predator/prey to form a society that mirrors ours. In this world our main character Judy Hopps, a rabbit voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin. She is the first rabbit cop in Zootopia which is a big deal because most people don't believe a rabbit should be a police officer. At first she gets hazed for being a rabbit and finds the utopia she thought she would be living in and her dream of making a difference by being a cop where not what she expected them to be. But when she gets involved in a missing animal case she encounters a sly con artist fox named Nick Wilde who is voiced by Jason Bateman. Wilde gets roped into Judy's case and discover what's been going on and how society really works.

I would compare this movie to something like Animal Farm, a story that uses talking animals to discuss hot button social issues. Going back to my earlier thoughts on the high praise the movie is getting, I think most of the praise comes from the unexpectedness of all the heavy themes thrown in with the decent humor of the movie. The humor is not extremely funny but it does its job of relieving tension after the dramatic and scary moments. Yeah, there are scary moments in this movie including a jump scare that will scare even the adults in the audience.

But with that all said is the movie worth the praise it is getting? Yes, yes it its. Zootopia does a fantastic job of dealing with the social issues of today in a very clever way while also sticking to the Disney look and feel of its story and characters. It's a movie I hope one day to show my kids. Its themes and some of its humor plays to an adult crowd but I would take time away from the movie so that you can experience it again from a fresh perspective. When I saw the movie again the shock value of the themes wasn't as poignant as it was the first time but I still chuckled at the jokes.

Grade: A+

What's to Come: 10 Cloverfield Lane review and a look back on Man of Steel.