Fantastic Flop: comparing the Fantastic Four movies

By now most people are aware that new Fantastic Four movie is a critical and financial failure, but is it worse than the 2005 version? People have voiced their displeasure about the story and effects but why does the 2005 version get a pass? This question has been plaguing me for a while so I decided to compare the two Fantastic Four to see which team is truly fantastic based on 3 categories: Characters, story and villain.

Round 1: Best Characters

Both movies focus on the basic team: Mr.Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing. Each team interacts well but for me I have to give the point to the new version. The old version of the team was kind of assholes. I feel what these characters are going through. They are young adults who are transformed by a cosmic events and are now being tested on by the government. It's a lot to take in. With the old version, the powers felt like an afterthought.

Round 2: Best Story

This is a tough one but I'm giving it to the old version. It followed the basic three act structure down to a point. The new versions story is all over the map.

Round 3: Best Doom

Doctor Doom, the teams main villain, has been under utilized in all Famtastic Four films. Both have the similarities like having an interest in Sue Storm, being a companion of Reed Richards (Mr. fantastic) and being involved with the project that gave the group their powers. The new film has him as an ex-employee of the Baxter Company turned hacker and is only returning because Sue will be a part of the project. During the experiment Doom is abandoned on a distant planet after Reed failed to save him when the planet the experiment was dealing with, stated erupting. His genetics are changed because of a powerful lava in the planet's core. When he returns he looks to not only kill Reed but everyone else involved with the project, except Sue of course. In the old version Doom is the owner of his own company and is engaged to Sue. He accompanies the group on a space voyage that gives them there powers. Once Sue re connects with Reed, Doom becomes jealous and vows to destroy Reed and his friends. Both have valid hatred for the team but I'm going with the new version because this Doom straight up kills people, showing he truly does not care for humanity after what happened to him. He is someone who I could see being a dictator of a country. The old Doom feels like a comic book villain but he'd doesn't have that hatred of humanity the new Doom has.

Both movies fail to capture the spirit of The Fantastic Four and by all means bad movies. But if I had toto choose I'd go with the new film. But seriously Fox, please give the rights back to Marvel. I would love to see a new MCU built of the team seeing as they are the original team of superheroes Marvel made. If you have a different opinion please comment

Weekly Round Up: Straight Out of Compton and American Ultra

I'm doing something different this week. During the past week I saw two movies, the N.W.A. biopic Straight Out of Compton and the stoner action movie American Ultra. In order to prevent my fingers from falling off after all the typing I would have to do for a full review I'm going to sum up my thoughts on both films in short paragraphs. Lets start with Compton.

Out of the two movies, I would strongly recommend seeing Straight Out of Compton first. The movie is about the rise and fall of the rap group N.W.A., if you want to know what N.W.A. means please google it. Its main members, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre deal with the police brutality of the L.A.P.D., the complication of the music industry itself, and the dramas of their own personal life. If this was released in the fall it would fall into Oscar contender and I still believe that it is worth all the praise. It has one of the best performances done by Ice Cube's son, who is coincidentally playing his father. If you are interested in the story of N.W.A. and remember a time when rap was considered dangerous go see this movie. If your not into biopics or rap, I would recommend American Ultra.

American Ultra stars Jesse Eisenberg as stoner who is secretly a stealth agent for the American government. The government tries to eliminate him but his creator activates him and now he is a deadly weapon. He must also protect his girlfriend who is played by Kristen Stewart. Stewart gives one of her best performances, showing how far she has come in acting since her performance in the Twilight Saga. The action scenes are a lot of fun but once those end the movie kind of stops. If it followed the John Wick formula it would be a good action film. But for what we got, it's just decent.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Review

As a spy movie, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is unique addition to the genre. Director Guy Ritchie brings his unique style that was seen in the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It does not have the intense action of the Mission Impossible  franchise nor does it have the Bomd style drama but for what it lacks in those catalogues it makes up in enjoyment and style. The plot revolves around a suave American CIA agent played by Henry Cavill and a tempered KGB agent played by Armie Hammer having too team up during the Cold War in order to stop an arms dealer from setting off a nuclear bomb.

The advantage this film has over Bond and Mission is its style. The set pieces and costumes make you think that you're in the Cold War era. The acting of Cavill and Hammer isn't bad either. Both suffered from poorly received summer blockbusters so it's good to see their skills being used better. The action is some of the most fun action scenes since the Mission Impossible. It's not better than it but since the new Bond film was not out at the moment it gives it some good competition.

Overall Man From U.N.C.L.E. is a stylish spy movie with a witty script that audiences may find enjoyable until the next Bond film premieres in the fall.

Grade: B

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Review

While offering a different taste of the spy genre, the Mission Impossible franchise is one that the viewing public is often quick to dismiss. No one gets that excited whenever the next movie is announced and its a shame because the Mission Impossible movies are actually pretty good. If I had to give a few reasons why the movie isn't more anticipated I would say one is Tom Cruise and his ever troubling social life or the fact that the franchise itself is not a very memorable one. Its not marketed the way Marvel does its cinematic universe. Another reason could be because no one is not aware of the original source material.  The Mission Impossible movies are based off the old television show that existed way before I was born so the youth of today probably think this is an original idea when in reality it is a surprisingly good reboot of a popular television show. Last and not least if someone was to read online that the franchise constantly has a different director every film it might turn a viewer off. But what about the movie itself?
In short: it was good. Granted it is no Fury Road but it does offer competition. If you were not into the gritty world of Mad Max then you might enjoy the stunning sets offered in Rogue Nation. The team of Impossible Mission Force( I.M.F.) lead by Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt venture around the globe to places like London, Vienna and Morocco all in the name of stopping terror. The terror in this case is a group called The Syndicate, an anti I.M.F. so to speak, lead by Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris. Along the way Hunt is caught up in British Intelligence drama when he meets Illsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is a British spy that is deep undercover in the terrorist group.
Rogue Nation is a fun spy movie that offers a different tone than that of the Bond movies and has action sequences that will satisfy an action-spy junkie in the theater

Grade: A

Trainwreck Review

It's hard for a comedy movie to do well in the battle of summer blockbusters with the various comic book and action movies coming out. But every year their seems to be one comedy movie that does really well in summer. Last year it was Wes Anderson's Oscar nominated film The Grand Budapest Hotel and this year it is Judd Apatow's Trainwreck. Apatow has a knack for directing comedies that focus on  adults growing up in the world, an idea that is rarely seen well in the movie world. Apatow is responsible for directing comedy classics like Knocked Up and The 40 Year-Old Virgin and was the creator of the cult-classic television show Freaks and Geeks. While this film has the same premise as the previous two films he directed, an adult having to grow up and learn how to live in the adult world, the Amy Schumer written story about a woman giving up her youthful ways is another .

The premise for the movie is that Amy Schumer plays a woman named Amy Townsed that leads a promiscuous lifestyle ever since her father divorced her mother and drilled into her head that monogamy is not realistic. After years and years of sleeping with one can only assume thousands of other men, Amy feels like she is in a rut. Her rut breaks when she meets sports doctor Aaron Conners, played by Bill Hader, because she has to write a profile about him for the magazine she works at. But soon Amy realizes that she is falling in love with the doctor and what makes it weirder for her is that the doctor loves her back Amy then starts to wonder if now is the time to clean up her act.

It is no secret that since Amy Schumer wrote this that some of her own personal experiences would flow into her character. Anyone who has seen Schumer's stand up and or television show on Comedy Central will notice the similarities between character and creator. But while the Schumer and Hader love story is funny and heart-warming the real comedy comes from the athlete cameos. Basketball superstar LeBron James provides some of my favorite funny moments in the film, even holding an intervention for Hader's character that has NBA commentator Marv Albert doing hilarious real time commentary. There is also a subplot revolving around Conners having to do knee surgery on Amare Stoudemire. Although his is where the movie will become a little dated as it shows Amare with the Knicks when at the moment he just signed with Miami but it can be glanced over.

Fans of both Apatow and Schumer can feel relieved that this movie did not turn out to be a disaster but rather another great addition to the Apatow collection. Schumer, Hader and even LeBron himself give some hilarious performances and the story is that of Apatow movie. If you are not a fan of Schumer's comedy or the themes of previous Apatow films than I would recommend something else. But if you're looking for a good summer comedy that also deals with deep themes like growing up I would highly recommend buying a ticket to see Trainwreck.

Grade: B +

Ant Man Review

First let me address the elephant in the room. Yes, I know Edgar Wright, the director of comedy classics like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, was supposed to direct Marvel's Ant Man but he left due to creative differences. However, Marvel still decided to use some of Wright's original script for the movie and even gave him writing credits. Odds are in a few years Wright's original script and ideas may find there way online but for now I am reviewing what Ant Man I saw in theaters, the Peyton Reed directed version. For what its worth, I thought it was pretty good.

I wouldn't say its up to par as other Marvel films like Guardians of the Galaxy or Winter Soldier but still it is enjoyable for all audiences. I enjoyed Paul Rudd's performance as thief turned hero Scott Lang as well as Michael Douglas's performance as Hank Pym, the original Ant Man for all you non comic book readers. In fact, most of the actors do a pretty good job in this movie. However there is the black sheep that is Michael Pena's character, Luis. I have read many reviews that thought Pena's character resembled more of a stereotype than an actual person and the same was said about the rest of Scott's heist crew. I however found both Pena's and the rest of the crews acting to be quite enjoyable, even though I could see some ethnic stereotype oozing out. But its nothing too offensive so don't worry PC people of today. Now onto the plot.

The basic plot of the story is that Scott Lang is a thief who wants to do good because he needs money to pay for child support so he can see his daughter again. He comes across the Ant Man suit during a theft from there ends up being trained by the original Ant Man, Hank Pym, so that he can enter a research facility to steal the Yellow Jacket suit made by Pym's former associate Darren Cross, played by Corey Stoll. However, Hank's daughter Hope believes that she should be in the suit but her father won't let her because he is afraid he'll lose her like he did her mother. From there its your basic Marvel super hero story. Good guy fights bad guy, lessons are learned, pasts revealed, a Stan Lee cameo, and Avengers build up.

One can really tell where the Wright script is being used and where the revised version is being used. I can't help feeling that Wright wanted to make it more of a comedy action film like Hot Fuzz while Marvel wanted a super hero heist movie. Marvel also felt like this is just the precursor to the Civil War movie that comes in 2016, the same year Batman and Superman are supposed too duke it out for the first time on screen. That being said there are a lot of Avengers references in this movie, including a cameo by one of them as well as their new base. But the cameo was worth because it gave us a cool scene and some connection to future films. There is also a subtle hint of a certain swinging and wall crawling super hero that is set to debut in the MCU soon. These were probably added on once Marvel got the rights to said character.

One thing I did enjoy about the movie was the Ant Man suit. Whenever there was a shrinking scene it looked damn impressive. You can really tell Marvel had to wait until the technology was right to make this movie. The fight scenes that feature the Ant Man suit are some of the most fun fights in super hero movies with things shrinking a growing quickly. Thankfully scale gags were used very little in this movie which is a good thing as I would have grown tired of them.

Ant Man is a great movie for the Marvel cannon. It's a fun movie that builds up something bigger in the near future. Mind you however that there is some serious tone issues. The film tries to mix Wright's script with the Marvel script and it makes for some odd tone issues. But if you can look past those I'm sure you can enjoy the film.

Minions Review

With the ever growing popularity of Disney Pixar's Inside Out, it is safe to say that movie going public lost interest in the Illumination Entertainment's newest addition to the Despicable Me franchise, the Minions movie.

Now the idea of telling the backstory about the small, yellow, pill shaped assistants to the despicable Gru sounds like an interesting idea until you remember that the whole movie has to feature the Minions. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the Minions but I don't think they can carry an entire movie. They were usage is best as comic reliefs to the drama surrounding Gru and his adopted daughters. The Minions use a language that mixes Spanish, English, and gibberish. Starting to see where people can get a little annoyed? Now a little Minion gag here and there would be just fine but a whole movie dedicated to the small annoyances does not sound fun. But I have to be honest, I smiled through the whole movie. 

The plot revolves around three minions named Kevin, Stuart and Bob as they try to look for the most evilest master in the world. They do this because this is all the minions know, working for an almighty evil, and without that all mighty evil to work for the minions get depressed and may eventually die. Eventually, the trio finds their new master in the form of Scarlett Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock, and her husband Herb, voiced by Mad Men star Jon Hamm. Both provide fun performances, especially when Bullock's character starts acting crazy. But their performances fail to elicit a reaction that a certain "despicable" character gets at the end of the movie. All the kids in theater were happy to see this character pop up and interact with the minions during the credits. It made me wonder why we didn't get that movie instead. The minions growing up with the person would have had the heart felt drama the first Despicable Me film had.

Deep down I enjoy the Despicable Me movies, there is something so upbeat and enjoyable about them that I find myself coming back to the movies whenever they are on TV. But all good products are not without their faults. For instance, the second movie gave popularity to the either loved or hated song "Happy" by Pharell Williams. Also, a lot of characters just straight up die in the Minions movie. These aren't sad or dramatic events but rather if the comedic violence of Tom and Jerry had grim consequences. There was also a lot of adult jokes in the film which felt weird. Not Ted 2 level, but it's there when you see it.

While the minions themselves can get annoying, I'm talking near Jar-Jar Binks level of annoying, it never got to the point where I wanted to leave the theater, unlike a certain Jai Courtney film made me do. Overall the movie Minions as well as the Despicable Me franchise is fun and harmless. Inside Out is the far superior product in theaters but Minions offers something different and fun for kids and adults.