by rodvanblake | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
For most who watched with bated breath as Earth’s mightiest heroes took a huge L in Avengers Infinity War at the hands of Thanos, the arrival of Captain Marvel was a much anticipated film. Brie Larson who stars as Captain Marvel kicked up a lot of dust with statements made at an award ceremony. Some were angered by the statements to the point of review bombing and even calling for a boycott of the latest installment to the MCU. I think it had less of an effect because people still wanted to see if there would be any bearing on Infinity War as well as influence on what is to come in End Game. Korath the Pursuer, Ronin the Accuser and Agent Colson All that aside I was going to see this film and I wasn’t alone as it raked in over 150 million opening weekend. I am also judging this film on its’ merits as a whole and not solely on political agendas as I do think they influence this movie but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy it. There were also many side characters that I knew were going to make an appearance and I was curious to see how they would fit in here. Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as a young Nick Fury. We finally get to see how he lost his eye! Don’t worry though no spoilers here. Young Nick Fury With this being Marvel’s first film starring a female lead most will want to compare it to Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot. As I stated I enjoyed Captain Marvel but had...
by rodvanblake | Feb 26, 2019 | Blog, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
I meant to see this film when it first came out and it took me a couple weeks but I am certainly glad I did finally catch it. Now I had been hearing of a lot of criticism about this film which had me apprehensive but was pleasantly surprised when I went to see it in 3D with Dolby atmos sound. Now I realize that most won’t do this but I also watched the anime episodes from 1993 and that helps my opinion of this film tremendously. Grewishka Here is what I liked about this film a lot. The action and visuals were great and Alita’s character model is one of the best uses of CGI I have seen in a minute. You know she is 100% fake and brought to life with motion capture but aside from the absurdly large anime eyes and body when they go to close to her face it looks as if it could be real. It can be off putting at times. They reset the locale from Kansas to Panama city and do a good job of building this future world for those of us not willing to dive into the anime or read the Manga which is the source material for this film. This brings me to my next point and foil to most of the criticism I see floating about the internet. depictions from the anime This film for the most part was heavily faithful to the source material. For those out there complaining about Alita’s proportions, the relationship between her and Hugo, whitewashing or the treatment of animals in a...
by rodvanblake | Jan 4, 2019 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
Jason Mamoa as Aquaman Now at first I was a bit skeptical as to how Warner brothers was going to bring this character to life in his own feature film, especially after his introduction to the cinematic universe in Justice League. Jason Mamoa was an interesting and good casting choice in my opinion for a few reasons, but that did not mean the execution would go well. To begin with I like the fact that they ditched the traditional blonde haired blue eyed version we were originally given in the cartoons and comic of old. Nothing wrong with that aesthetic but we have plenty like that to choose from and having someone with Hawaiian heritage play the role has some symmetry to it. It fits. Being a marine biology major only adds to the surfer dude attitude and overall mans man vibe you get from him on screen. I was a bit worried about that when he appeared in Justice league as that was all we got to see of him. In this film he gets to do more, not much more but more nonetheless. Black Manta played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II The supporting cast is good in this film but there are some that I would have liked to see more of. Specifically one of Aquamans most known villains Black Manta could have used some more fleshing out but I think they’re saving him for a future film. The premise behind Aquaman is kind of silly and not to be taken too seriously and DC leaned into that but still had some serious moments without overdoing it. Dark...
by rodvanblake | Dec 27, 2017 | Blog, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
This review is very late to the party! I realize that yet found it hard to do this one earlier as I was trying to figure out whether I wanted to do a review of this film with or without spoilers. As stated in the title there will be spoilers here so if you have yet to check out the Last Jedi, I suggest you do so before reading any further. The fact that this movie has been so divisive within the fan base influenced me to go all out and talk spoilers contrary to how I usually go about my review blogs. I don’t think you can really talk about this movie without getting into the meat of what you do or don’t like about it to give a true review. You have been warned so here we go. This film for me was a mixed bag of overall enjoyment with a string of disappointments throughout leaving me not angry but still frustrated despite having a good time. There were stunning visuals, awesome space battles, a lightsaber fight with the red Praetorian guards with some call backs to the OT, and then there were completely stagnated or simply forgotten plot lines, wasted characters, clumsy structure and finally the spoiled icing on the cake, the mishandling of Luke Skywalker. I’ll try to be concise while going through all these things and more but it’s going to be hard as there was a lot going on or not depending on your opinion. JJ Abrams has a...
by rodvanblake | Nov 22, 2017 | Blog, movie review, Pacing, Storyline
It’s been about a week now since the much anticipated Justice League movie was released. I have seen a few other opinions on this film some good, some bad and some in between. So I figured I would offer my spoiler free review for those of you interested in the genre. There seems to be a trending movement to hate on DC films recently that I don’t understand. This film was by no means perfect. It was enjoyable despite it’s shortcomings and I believe a step in the right direction when it comes to the DCEU trying to right the ship so to speak. For those who are not in the know this film is DC’s version of the super team a la Avengers which is Marvels super team. Comic book aficionados are no doubt familiar with these characters, but I felt this was another opportunity for DC to take a page out of Marvels book with respect to how they handled their cinematic universe as all members of the Avengers or at least the most prominent ones had individual films to give each a fleshed out backstory. I say this because this may help the general audience care more about the characters and therefor make the enjoyment of the film better. Most people like to know something about the characters to make sense of why they act the way they do. When that is missing some characters may come off as jerks for no reason,and people may dismiss them or ask why they were even included. ...
by rodvanblake | Nov 3, 2017 | Blog, Character Journey, movie review, Pacing
November has begun with a bit of a bang with much more to come for fans of comic books, comic book movies which have become a trend or just science fiction and fantasy in general. The third Thor film released today with the Justice League set to hit theaters later this month on the 17th, and early next year the long awaited Black Panther hits some time in February. I must admit I was quite excited for this film after the teaser in the end credit scene of Dr. Strange which segues nicely into where this film picks up the trail of the God of Thunder as he and Loki search for their father Odin who’s missing. Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Mark Ruffalo all reprise their roles as Thor, Odin, Loki, Heimdall and The Hulk from the previous Thor films by Marvel studios. They are joined by newcomers to this series by Karl Urban, Cate Blanchette, Tessa Thompson, and Jeff Goldblum who play Scurge the executioner, Hela Goddess of Death, Valkyrie and the Grand Master respectively. Most of my anticipation for this film as I am sure it was for most people stemmed from the reuniting of Thor with Hulk who have had at best a rocky friendship beginning with the Avengers film which was easily one of the best efforts from Marvel studios to date. I would also add that they should do what ever it takes to give the Hulk the solo film he deserves but I understand that Universal...
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