Ed's Review Dot Com

Atlas Entertainment, DC Comics, DC Entertainment,

Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, Cara Delevingne, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Adam Beach, Jay Hernandez, Karen Fukuhara

Our government is once again petrified that the next Superman that comes along may be a really bad guy who might be ready to wipe out humanity, so they figure they got to do something proactively to prepare in case a bad space alien shows up. So the plan is to put together a team of really bad folks with superpowers and keep them safely locked up and protected, but to hold something over their heads so that in case something bad happens, the will have a desire to do what is asked of them for their own greedy purposes. But when the super villains figure out that maybe they’re being used, many decide to go out on their own wreaking havoc and destruction everywhere as the rest try to contain them. What follows is an epic battle of evil vs more evil.

Each time I watch and review a movie featuring comic book characters, I mention the fact that I have never been a huge comic book/ comic book movie fan. But there have been some that have really impressed me and make me really glad I watched it. This one, however, isn’t one of those. I found this one really tedious, I’m sorry to say. But as I read other users and their comments, I figured out pretty quick that my feelings were felt by many other people as well which sort of validated my indecisiveness about this film. I was afraid it was my fault as a non-comics guy, but it’s more than that. I was bothered by Will Smith as DeadShot. He is a bit too recognizable to take on a role like that, and it bothered me all the way through that it was Will playing the part. There were a LOT of characters that are not really very recognizable, and it took a lot of effort to try to figure out all those characters and what their back story and motivation was so we could know where they were coming from. The battle scenes weren’t bad, but the feeling that I got was that it was all being done just to have something to do to fill up the time. The story did not catch me, and I was very apathetic as to whether they succeeded or not. The whole movie was just a bit chaotic for my taste and I sure got distracted all the way through. When it was over, I said, “That’s it?”, but then realized that I wasn’t playing that much attention to it. Not a great experience for me, so unless you’re a big Comic Book fan, there are many better choices that this one. Guardian of the Galaxy (which this movie obviously tried to cash in on) was a much better movie, for sure.

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Scott Free Productions,

Kate Mara, Anya Taylor Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti,

Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a risk management consultant for a large company who is sent out into the sticks to evaluate a project that seems to be running off the rails. There was an unfortunate accident which prompted the company to send her to decide whether or not to terminate the experiment. But she is surprised to learn that they are working with artificial intelligence and have created a humanoid robot that thinks it’s alive. But something may be amiss and all hell breaks loose when the robot played by Kate Mara learns she may be terminated.

This was one of those hidden gem films that sneak up on you. I had no idea this film existed and it was a pleasant surprise. It snuck up on me and caught me when I wasn’t looking. I found myself very interested in this film. The leads in this film nailed it, and it was filled with shocks and surprises. Paul Giamatti has a small role, but is very memorable. This is suspenseful, and kept me on the edge of my seat. The concept was fascinating, and very well pulled off. I was really blown away when this was over. I really did not expect to be so entertained by this movie, and it was really a lot of fun. If you enjoy science fiction, this is a great story about issues with artificial intelligence and self learning computers. Give this one a shot, it’s really a good one.

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Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Village Roadshow Pictures,

Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia

Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is a passenger aboard a commercial ship with 5000 passengers and several hundred crew all sound asleep in a sort of hibernation. The trip takes 120 years. The 5000 volunteers agreed to the journey leaving their friends and relatives behind for a new start in a new world. But a strange malfunction takes place on the self contained, self repairing ship and Jim and Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) are the only ones awakened 90 years too soon who have nothing to look forward to but growing old and dying on the ship all alone.

This was a movie that I really longed to see. This is 100% my type of movie, and I got a chance tonight to watch it on the big screen with ATMOS sound and I was in awe. The characters, there are really only 4 of them, are extremely well developed, and this is an amazingly deep story. It really makes you think, and addresses very significant moral struggles. But the suspense is “edge of your seat” spectacular and the view is stunningly beautiful. There are some shots that are some of the greatest I have ever seen. This is a stunning performance from both Chris and Jennifer, but also great performances from Michael Sheen who portrays an android bartender with great wit and wisdom, and Laurence Fishburne with his usual gusto in his role attempting to save the day. All in all, this is a wonderful people story with great characters and deep thoughts, but matched with a very exciting disaster science fiction adventure that is very, very exciting. This is the best film I have seen in 2016 and I waited to see this on December 31st. If can catch this one in the theater, this is well worth the price of the ticket. Don’t miss this the way it needs to be seen. Don’t wait for rental on this movie.

Lucasfilm, Allison Shearmur Productions, Black Hangar Studios,

Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Wen Jiang, Forest Whitaker

Jyn (Felicity Jones) lives with her parents, farming and mostly hiding out. But Jyn’s Father is a scientist and is recruited by force by the Empire to work on a new project of Lord Vader (James Earl Jones), a death star with the power to destroy a planet. When her father is abducted and her mother is killed, Jyn hides out until she is rescued by rebel fighter Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). As time passes, the death star nears completion, but a plan is hatched to steal the plans and get them to the rebel alliance so that they will know how to destroy the death star. This is the story that fits in between Chapters Three and Chapter Four and tells the background information of what happened before the first Star Wars movie back in 1977.

This Star Wars movie was made for the fans. Perhaps this film wouldn’t be as powerful to someone who did not know the characters. There are no long lasting characters, and it is a fill in film, not part of the main story, but it does fill in some very useful information that makes things a lot easier to understand, and reveals some of the mysteries that are missing between these two films. This was very entertaining film and it was quite a lot of fun. It’s a long movie, but went by so fast. There is a lot of really good action scenes, lots of suspense, and lots of throwbacks to the main films. Felicity Jones isn’t the strongest lead in a Star Wars movie, but in my opinion she was good enough. I think she played her role that she was given. Much like Luke Skywalker she did not ask to be a hero. She was a simple girl who was put into this situation because of who her father was. She has some supporters who have interesting stories too. This is not intended to be as great as the other films, and my personal opinion is that it was better than the “horrible three” Chapters one, two, and three. You just have to set your expectations a little bit lower as it’s not a part of the main series, as I’ve said before, but it’s a wonderful addition to the wealth of the story. This is not one to miss.

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Heyday Films, Warner Bros.,

Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Ezra Miller, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Jenn Murray

Newt (Eddie Redmayne) is a wizard and a writer who arrives via ship at New York City to meet with another wizard about some additional fantastic beasts he is interested in. Newt is carrying a leather briefcase with some of these creatures inside. But when some escape, he quickly finds that the wizarding world in America is much more hidden and repressed than it is in England. The Americans have outlawed fantastic beasts of any kind, so Newt is in trouble when first of all he doesn’t erase the memory of a muggle (or No-Maj as they call them in the US) on top of having some of the beasts escape, so he is pulled before the tribunal for punishment. But they don’t realize the danger that they are in, and they may need Newt’s expertise in saving the whole city.

This film is a spin-off of the Harry Potter series of books written by J.K.Rowling and made into an entire series of movies. This takes places decades before Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and tells the story of the writing of one of the text book studied by Harry at Hogwarts. Newt Scamander is credited as the author of one of the textbooks about Fantastic Beasts, and we get to meet him in this film. This was a good extension of the Harry Potter universe and we finally got to see a little about wizarding in the United States as well. It is quite different on this side of the pond, and we get to see what it was like here at the time. The special effects are outstanding, of course, and 3D and IMAX is well put to use in this film, but the story fails a little. First of all, Newt is not someone you really get to like very much. He’s kind of annoying and just not that likeable. Tina (Katherine Waterston) on the other hand is likeable in her role as a demoted Auror in the MACUSA (American Ministry of Magic organization) but the chemistry never gets off the ground and is not that acceptable. Colin Farrel is pretty good as the bad guy, but just not as impressive as the Harry Potter bad guys. All in all, it’s not a bad movie at all, and a must see for Fantasy fans, but be prepared for some really slow parts, and a lot of muttering that is not easy to follow. Boy, Subtitles would have been awesome! Aside from a pressing desire to fall asleep in the middle while things were crawling along, it was worth the effort to stay awake. The magical creatures are revealed to us one at a time and it takes a while to get to know them, but it’s worth the wait as each one appears and gives us his special abilities and features. I really did enjoy this film, so I don’t want to discourage anyone from seeing it, but I also don’t want you to expect it to be as spectacularly done as Harry was. This is a lot more like the later movies in that series where it turned a lot darker and with a lot less hopefulness. This is supposed to be a long series of films as well, and I hope the first one doesn’t turn people off from the rest of them. I know I’ll be there for the next one and hope it will be better.

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