Movie mini reviews

[Dog Pants]

Hahaha, I'm literally watching it now. It's fine, I like the bad guy.

[Joose]

How odd, I watched that again the other day as well. It does somehow manage to make even less sense than is acceptable for even a MiB film, and the story is utterly forgettable. Brolin does do a superb Tommy Lee Jones though, you are right about that. I thought the bad guy was a bit uninspired; he is kinda like a cross between the bad guys of the previous two films.

I almost wrote "Brolin fucking nails Tommy Lee Jones" but that sounded upsetting.

[Dog Pants]

Mrs pants and I were discussing how we couldn't remember any of the detail of MiB 2. Maybe that's why I didn't have a problem with it.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

The Hateful Eight

Really very Tarantino, deeply pleasing.

Incidentally, I'm sure it's very good looking, especially if you can get to a proper 70mm screening, but even if not, go watch, very good.

[Dog Pants]

Robocop

I wasn't expecting much from this. Some dumb action with annoying bits, but I felt at the time like the latter was tolerable for a bit of the former. I was actually pleasantly surprised. The original it is not, and I don't really think there's any value in comparing it as a direct remake, it tries to do something different. The 80s version was very reflective of a certain vision of the future of its time - corporate dystopia and ultraviolent crime. It was a vehicle for those environments and it played them up entertainingly in almost cartoonish style. The new version is more teen-friendly, so replaces the gore with choreographed gunplay and becomes a more serious film. That could have killed it, but by replacing the 80s triumvirate of government, corporation, and criminal gang with a 21st century version it puts some interesting political commentary in which bumped up my opinions of it. American foreign policy and right-wing mass-media sensationalism both come under fire, which adds a bit more context to the collective psychopathy of the megacorp. Samuel L's character in particular could have been a role-model for Donald Trump's political rantings.

Not the old Robocop we all remember and love then, but a different film with a similar story and a few wry nods to its predecessor.

[Roman Totale]

Deadpool

I'm a huge Deadpool fan, but unfortunately he's been somewhat oversaturated in the comic world for a few years now. Sadly this upswing in popularity lead to a low point in writing, and the character became a sort of Bugs Bunny with guns (fortunately quality has improved again in recent years).

That's the reason I've been quite nervous about this film and kept my expectations low (couldn't bear another Wolverine Origins). I'm glad to say my fears were unfounded - this film is great. I thought Guardians of the Galaxy was funny, but this packed in way more laughs. Similar to GOTG though it's just incredibly fun (as well as violent and very, very crude).

Very enjoyable. Oh for reference, there is an end credit scene.

[buzzmong]

I concur for the most part. It's a great film. Packed full of jokes, some rather sutble, and a couple of rather clever ones.
Personally, I think GotG is the better film out of the two, but only just. Ryan Reynolds makes a brilliant Wade/Deadpool.

[Roman Totale]

Personally, I think GotG is the better film out of the two

Oh I agree with that - it's certainly got more depth, substance and emotion. I think Deadpool is the funnier and funnest of the two though.

A couple of things that disappointed me, purely from a comics angle:

Spoiler:

One. Instead of his healing factor being derived from Wolverine's, instead it's done by activating "dormant mutant genes". I don't like this as it implies that everyone could potentially be a mutant, and it also removes the reason for a large part of the love/hate relationship he has with Wolverine. Plus I suppose this now makes him a mutant, which he never was, and leads me on to...

Two. I wasn't keen on the X-Men pursuing him to join them, instead of it being the other way around. I've always like the fact that Deadpool is desperate to be accepted by the X-Men (and other hero groups), but isn't because he's really not suitable as a "hero". He was always mocked by the X-Men for not actually being a mutant. I did love Colossus in this, but I think they were a little too accepting of him murdering a bunch of dudes in the middle of the road. Again that's another thing I love from the comics - Wolverine is accepted as a hero, despite being a killer, yet Deadpool is shunned by the same people much to his chagrin.

But they were just minor niggles, didn't affect my enjoyment of the film.

[Joose]

Im going to see Deadpool on Valentines day. Brilliantly, this was my wife's suggestion.

[Roman Totale]

After seeing the film I'm sure she'll have another great suggestion for what to do on International Women's Day...

[buzzmong]

[Mr. Johnson]

I also saw deadpool on Valentine's day. Alone. In a packed cinema.

That didn't stop me from liking it though, loved the self-referential jokes and the fact that it's basically a parody of the other marvel films. It's good fun!
There were a couple of minor niggles but those are pretty negligible, except maybe for the fact that his makeup constantly seemed to change. He goes from looking like a severe house fire victim to Ross Kemp after having a nasty tumble down a garbage chute.

[Roman Totale]

Hail, Caesar!

I'm a big fan of the Coen Brothers, and I was pleased to hear Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode state they'd laughed all the way through the film. Sadly, I was a little bit disappointed. It's a good film, full of the usual CB humour and turns, but overall it felt a little flat to me. Weirdly I think my favourite part was the film within a film which is basically 15 minutes of Channing Tatum tap dancing.

[buzzmong]

Kung Fu Panda 3

Saw this at the weekend for a friend's birthday while in the midst of a bout of flu. It's a decent film. Pretty much more of the same for the KFP series, each film is a good natured story of self discovery, and par the course for a Disney film. I probably wouldn't watch it again for a while, but I did enjoy it and say it's worth a shout if you enjoyed the previous films.

[Joose]

The Last Witch Hunter

Vin Diesel is a Viking(?) who becomes immortal for some reason and kills bad witches. Fast forward to modern times and he is still killing bad witches, but is rich now. Bad witches have a plot to make bad things happen.

Really bloody stupid. The plot makes little to no sense, I'm not super clear on what the bad guys were actually trying to do let alone why they were doing it. I dont understand why killing witches makes you rich. I dont understand why Vin Diesel's character has apparently not learned some basic fucking things about the witches he has been fighting for hundreds of years. The dialogue is frequently gibberish, but that's ok because Vin Diesel's voice is pitched so low you feel it more than hear it.

Having said that, if you want to watch a big man light a sword on fire and hit monsters with it you can do a lot worse. Absolutely fine if you want something to simulate the animal parts of your brain whilst you shut down your higher functions.

Did you know that Vin Diesel's name is really Mark Sinclair? Not quite the same is it?

[Dog Pants]

He's also a D&D geek, in case there's anyone left in the world who doesn't know that.

[Dog Pants]

Quick catchup on some films I've watched on Netfilx recently:

22 Jump Street
I think I'm the last person in the world to see this. Silly cop comedy, not as good as The Other Guys, but a similar sort of thing. It had its moments, I don't regret watching it, but it wasn't all that good.

Django Unchained
I think Tarantino is chilling out a bit. This is a revenge story in a Western setting (a lot of Westerns are revenge stories, I seem to remember), and it bears Tarantino's hallmarks of violence and swearing, but it's fairly moderate compared to his old stuff. That 's not a bad thing though, and it is pretty violent in some parts. Instead it's carried by a compelling story and good pacing.

Housebound
This was a random pick because it was on the comedy listing, even though it looks like a horror film. In actual fact it's a comedy thriller, and I was happy to see the New Zealand Film Board in the opening credits - those Kiwis know how to make funny films on a low budget. It didn't quite meet my high expectations, but it's not a bad film. The comedy is very subtle, gently lampooning the genre by injecting ridicule into tense situations. For example, the creepy tension builder that might normally have seen the film's heroine in the bath hearing creepy noises; in this case she's having an almighty piss, stopping to listen whenever she thinks she hears something, then carrying on. For about a minute. Interesting enough, certainly worth a go, but don't expect to be howling with laughter throughout.

Hot Rod
Silly comedy about a wannabe stuntman. I stopped watching about an hour in because it wasn't really funny, but it was dragging like a dachshund on viagra. Reminded me a bit of Jack Black's style, but not as good. Others might enjoy it though.

Magnificent Seven
Yeah, the classic Western based on Seven Samurai. I'd never seen it, so I thought I'd educate myself. And it was eminently watchable - some of the events and acting showed its age, as would be expected, and it's all rather civilised compared to more modern Westerns, but it's compelling, charming, and carries a certain intensity as a result of its all-star cast.

[Dog Pants]

30 Seconds or Less
A mediocre action film crossed with a mediocre dudebro comedy, about a pizza delivery guy forced into committing a bank robbery. It's not bad, I don't regret watching it, but I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see it.

World War Z
I gave this a watch out of morbid curiosity, and it's actually not bad. Nowhere near as good as it would have been if they'd followed the book, but not the abortion I expected it to be.

[Joose]

World War Z
I gave this a watch out of morbid curiosity, and it's actually not bad. Nowhere near as good as it would have been if they'd followed the book, but not the abortion I expected it to be.

I think it's another example of something that would have been better received if it was a fully standalone thing, with the book just recognised as an influence rather than it being "World War Z - The movie".

[buzzmong]

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justic

I enjoyed this. Ben Affleck is actually really good as an older and more bitter Batman/Bruce Wayne. All the performances of the main actors were pretty good, Irons was a bit underused though and much more laconic than Michael Caine was.

I'd actually say, which is suprising from the trailers, that it is more focused around Batman and him dealing with Superman in his world than it is about Superman directly. I'm not going to do any plot spoilers, but I will say the first three quarters of the film is very good, only the last quarter is a let down.

I would have liked to have seen it expand more upon the "Is Superman god?" theme it maintained and questioned for the two thirds, plus seen a proper resolution to it. Batman's dreams of a possible future were a good touch though.

All in all while it's not a great film, it is decent and worth a watch. It's not The Avengers though.


(As an aside, considering Affleck is going to probably be Batman for the next 3 years, as Justice League Part Two is scheduled for 2019, I think he's going to do well in the role).