Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: 2014 6 out of 10


The Amazing Spider-Man 2  2014 6 out of 10

It took me awhile to get around to watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2.   Mainly because I felt the reboot from 2012 was a waste of time basically remaking the already universally known Spider-Man origin story.  You can read my thoughts on that film below.
http://bradgeekness.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-amazin-spider-man-2012-5-out-of-10.html


The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a more enjoyable than the first one.  We didn't have to revisit already stomped on ground this time around.   The action sequences were visually electrifying (sorry had to go there) .    My thoughts about this movie were still very mixed.
I was visually engaged with Spider-Man and his webslinging actions --but disengaged from the story which seemed loosely patched together.   I've never been a big fan of Jamie Foxx and his character of Electro wasn't a strong point of the movie for me.   His character's transformation from nerd that no one notices to villain was very sudden.  I didn't really buy into his storyline.  Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy's "off again " "on again" relationship stuff seemed tired and bland.   The Green Goblin storyline worked much better as a headline story in the previous Spider-Man series instead of a sub story to Electro and when he shows up near the end it felt really forced.  And what an absolute waster of Paul Giamatta.   To waste an actor of his talents with a throw away sequence at the end of the film was a shame.


So again I liked all of the action pieces  (more than I did Batman vs Superman).....but not the story.     I hope that Disney in connection with Sony and MCU will do Spider-Man right this time around in the upcoming Spider-Man Homecoming next year.




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Divergent Series: Allegiant 2016 5 out of 10


Allegiant 2016  5 out of 10

Well I stuck around for the third installment in this franchise with the hopes that what was beyond the wall was worth the letdown that the second movie in the franchise was.   What was beyond the wall wasn't worth the wait after all.

The plot  for this third installment was just bland and uninteresting. 
The character played by Miles Teller has become as predictable as Mr. Smith from Lost in Space, no reasonable person would trust this guy or include him in any adventure.   The movie had some good moments. The chase to get beyond the wall was visually interesting -but once they make it to the other side the plot ground to a halt and the story became predictable and tired.   It is almost like the characters that we grew to love in the first film as complex characters have become stupid and two dimensional.  It is no wonder the franchise didn't make it to its final installment in the theaters.   The Producers made the mistake of trying to turn one book into two films to squeeze as much money out of the franchise as possible and instead basically killed it.    The final film (if it is made at all) will be a TV movie.   That means the budget for the finale will have a TV movie budget and is sure to disappoint the fans of the franchise.    At this point I've lost interest in this story the same way Catching Fire killed the Hunger Games franchise for me.  I probably won't even bother with the  TV Movie finale.


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Friday, November 25, 2016

Flashback Friday Movie Review: Flatliners 1990 6 out of 10


Flatliners 1990  6 out of 10

I never got around to seeing Flatliners when it came out back in 1990,  which is a little weird because I pretty much watched everything.    Back in the day I wasn't much of a Kiefer Sutherland or Julia Roberts fan.  I grew an appreciation for him after Dark City and the tv series 24 (Still not a fan of Julia).   I noticed it was playing on Chiller TV the other day and figured I'd finally get around to checking it out.

Flatliners has a quality cast that consists of Kiefer Sutherland,  Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon.  They play a bunch of medical students that decide to experiment around with death to see into the other side.   The movie has a cool cast and an interesting concept.  They take turns stopping their hearts and then bringing each other back from the edge,  the results aren't what they planned for.

As I mentioned above I loved the concept - but the execution feel flat (sorry bad pun)   The concept could have been taken in so many interesting and cool directions.  Instead it ended up being a little dull.  The characters end up being haunted by sins or traumatic moments from their past and struggle to resolve those issues.  I was really hoping for something more interesting out of a concept that opened so many doors.   It was cool to finally see the movie with it's 1990 retro mullets and catch these actors when they were young again, but I had just hoped for more out of the story.

I hear that a remake is in the works.   Hopefully they can take it in a more interesting direction. 

                           

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Saturday, November 19, 2016

Star Trek Beyond 2016 6 out of 10 (Maybe Trek should stick to TV)


Star Trek Beyond 2016   6 out of 10

I've seen every Star Trek movie.  
I no longer see them in the theaters , but I do eventually get around to seeing all of them.  
I'm to the point now where I think Trek should just stick to TV.  
I'm sure my comments will make some Trek fans.....but in reality a Trek show is better for Trek fans than occasional so-so movies.

The latest Star Trek movie had some great special effects and some cool action sequences that should have excited me more, but didn't.
The cast in this alternate Trek movie universe is solid, I can't fault any their performances.  I watched this latest Trek movie last weekend and I just wasn't that into it. (I actually feel asleep twice) It seems like it should be exciting, but it just wasn't. (From my comment on Facebook I believe my Podcast Co-Host Russell may disagree--which could make for a good discussion on the Podcast). My issue with the film is the screenplay.  It just seemed so random and not big screen worthy.  The twist of the film left me underwhelmed and the story as a whole was just ho-hum.


An hour into the film I was wishing it was Galaxy Quest 2 instead of Star Trek.   The screenplays for most of the Trek films just haven't been as good as some of the stories told on TV.    Despite the campy look the original Star Trek actually had some really good stories that the film versions of Trek have rarely lived up to.   
I would rather watch a couple of back to back episodes of the original TV Series than one of these movies. I'd rather even watch Next Generation Q episodes than these films.  I just think the TV shows lend themselves to more interesting storytelling that fits Trek better.

Star Trek Beyond was okay popcorn entertainment.... but it wasn't memorable.....just like so many of the Trek films.

                            

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