Deadpool and Wolverine (July 25, 2024)

July 31st –

I know that this came out last week, but as my last post showed, I was at San Diego Comic Con, and I didn’t get into the Thursday panel where they showed the movie. Hence me watching the movie and writing this up a week late.

Also. I wanted to do it like this so that this would be my 600th post!! Woooo! I still haven’t finished typing up the SDCC post yet, so when I post that, I’ll post this. (Just finished, so here we go!) I can’t believe it’s been this many posts!

First off, I enjoyed this very much. I still like the first DP the best out of the three, but this was so much more that just a Deadpool movie or just a Deadpool and Wolverine movie. This was a goodbye to the Fox Marvel universes. It was very well done in that regard. I assumed it would be something like this, but wasn’t sure how they were going to play it. The movie went by surprisingly quickly.

The way everything we’ve seen meshed together so well was fun. The buildup of what Logan did was well stretched out. The team-up aspect was so perfect. Two characters who’ve had their positives and negatives as stated by the fans over the years got so many things we’ve wanted, and other things we never knew to think about.

It was a bit sad that the cast from the Deadpool movies took a back burner, but that’s just because there was a lot to do and many many guest stars to see. Though, we’ll probably see them all again at some point I’m sure.

There were some cameos spoiled for me, but in the moments they happened, I was still so happy to see them that that didn’t matter really. And others I didn’t know about at all and thus, they hit like they should have.

Wade and Logan’s character development was clear and of the norm. They both went on journeys and they learned oh so much. I can only imagine what Wade will be used for beyond his actual appearances in a show or a movie going forward.

There was heart as always and total utter chaos everywhere else, haha. The humor and acting were amazing of course. Ryan was just born to be Wade. And Hugh did such a great job as another version of the same character he’s been playing for so very long. Everyone got some version of what they wanted with all these characters.

I’m happy I finally saw this and can be on the Internet normally again haha. It certainly will be great to see if again’

Mid-credit scene: not really, but it’s just so lovely.

End- credit scene: Yes, it’s a fun little call-back.

Fly Me To The Moon (2024)

July 11, 2024 –

That was indeed a fun movie. It made me want to do research on the days before the Apollo 11 launch with all the funding issues to see if there were fears of not getting it before lift-off.

The cast did a great job. All roles, both fake and real were done very well. There was a lot of heart throughout the film. Other than being in a theater for Star Wars back in 1977, I think watching Apollo 11 launch would be another choice if I could go back in time to see a big event like that.

There have been a couple movies that took place during the launch both fictional stories and more concrete ones founded in reality, and I’ve always enjoyed them. Every time you see the people in the control room anticipating the successful launch, landing and return, you always feel it. You hold your breath, you let it go when it all goes well even though you know how it ends. And I certainly felt that here too.

Yes it was also a romcom, and it worked in each scene with the two leads. There was humor and serious moments, it was just enjoyable to watch the two mesh. The music was also fun, I think almost everything was of the time but there were a couple modern day choices.

I had fun watching this movie and will probably watch it again when it comes to a home release. If you want a uncomplicated enjoyable experience, go for it!

Mid-credit scene: Nope

End-credit scene: Nope

The Bikeriders (2023) (delayed release date: June 21, 2024) – via AMC ScreenUnseen

June 17, 2024 –

Well, that was a pretty good movie. It was based on a real biker club that one member decided to take photos and recordings of for eventual college.

The cast was mostly unknown to me other than a few of the main characters. But all of them did a fantastic job. Tom Hardy and Austin Butler we’re brilliant. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie based on real events that didn’t have a structured plot to it. It was essentially just telling a story of how things happened and how they ended. It took place during the late 60’s into the 70’s.

The music was well-picked and scored. The set and costume design were great. The emotional hits, hit. It went by faster than I thought would. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but it was a well made movie that I would suggest anyway.

Mid-credit scene: Nope

End-credit scene: Nope

Inside Out 2 (2024)

June 13, 2024

I saw articles loving this and others not being a fan. I enjoyed this movie a lot!

I still like the first one more, but this was more complex, giving the new emotions. The story wasn’t overly complicated in what was actually happening, but the emotions were all over the place since there were new ones.

The new emotions were very accurate to what we all feel like when they set in. Very well written. The visuals were amazing of course. And there was heart at the core of the movie just like the previous one.

I felt so many feelings, as expected and I’m happy for it. I’m so glad this sequel was made!

Mid-credit scene: No, but there are some quick scenes at the start of the credits.

End-credit scene: Yes. It’s nothing big, but it’s fun.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (May 10, 2024) (early screening, May 8)

May 8, 2024 –

Well, that was a fascinating continuation of this PotA reboot!

The visuals were great, I certainly would have seen this in IMAX 3D if I could have. Though sometimes I still think the music overpowers the dialogue in some theaters.

As such, I’m not 100% certain of all the characters names. But, I enjoyed each of them. The protagonists were decently fleshed out. And the antagonists perhaps could have been more so, but they were still enjoyable. The movie did a good job of connecting us to them as we met them. There were some good surprises too. The plot involved a pretty simple journey but held the attention of the viewer.

The connections to the past from 300 years previous were few but they were well-made. And having recently rewatched the other three movies, those events were fresh in my memory. The potential for the future is intriguing. I’m unsure what could happen, but I want to know more.

I liked this movie, and I did feel the run-time, but I was excited to be back in this world and learn of things that happened, so I didn’t mind it.

Mid-credit scene: Nope.

End-credit scene: Nope.

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024)

March 28, 2024 –

Well that was really fun movie! I maybe should have refreshed my memory since the last movie, but I remembered stuff pretty quickly. And I still think watching the Monarch show would have raised my awareness of Easter eggs and stuff a bit.

The 4 or so returning characters were nice to see. And of course everyone’s acting was great. The monsters were as glorious as ever. The effects were fantastic. I forgot to say that I saw this in Real D 3D. Though I was very surprised that this film, which was filmed for IMAX, didn’t have an IMAX release at this theater. But I assume that since it was so close to Ghostbusters last week, that that had the IMAX screens still. It was still decently 3D in normal 3D.

The plot was as it was laid out in the trailers. I always love diving into lore with fandoms and there was certainly some new lore here. Some of which I predicted before the reveals, but still was a good experience. And that is also why I need to watch the Monarch show since that is essentially all lore. Hopefully I’ll get to it before the next Monsterverse movie.

There were a couple surprise monsters that I didn’t expect, and I enjoyed their presence on-screen. The fight scenes were big and bold and all over the place, such fun! And they looked great in 3D, so I assume they looked amazing in IMAX 3D.

The ending seemed a little quick, only in that I wanted maybe one more scene with the humans to, I don’t know, talk? Not sure, but I didn’t mind that to much. But I enjoyed this. Hopefully we get news of what the next movie will be soon. And I wouldn’t say no to more shows, both animated and live action. The Netflix show for Skull Island was really good, I hope there’s another season of it at some point.

Mid-credit scene: Nope.

End-credit scene: Nope.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

March 21, 2024

Well, I was right, I enjoyed this a lot! It had a nice balance of new and old characters that worked very well. It actually went by faster than I thought it would. I probably should have rewatched Afterlife before this since I had to remind myself of who some characters were and if they were in the previous movie. But I didn’t mind that. Also the effects and music were great!

The cast did a great job, McKenna Grace was essentially the lead, and she certainly had the most screen-time. Most everyone else in the cast took, maybe not a back seat, but a passenger’s seat? But it still felt fine. I would hope for more even character development in the next movie since I do enjoy all the cast members. I wouldn’t say no to some of the cast having less time if perhaps some kind of series could be spun out of this. Doing so would give each set of character extra time to be developed. I doubt anything like that is planned, but it would be a fun idea.

The plot is essentially as simple as the trailer shows, and they didn’t deter much from that story. The solution was a little bit quick once that one thing happened, but I didn’t mind too much. I would have liked to see some references to the past when a certain moment happened, but perhaps something like that could happen in a future movie.

Not too much more to say really, I just had a good time with this movie. I have the same positive feeling now, that I did after I watched the previous movie. It’s a good time!

Mid-credit scene: Yes, just a funny little scene.

End-credit scene: Nope.

Damsel (March 8, 2024) (early screening- March 6, 2024)

It was strange seeing a Netflix film in a theater. But it was a fun experience. We got a free drink and a small popcorn, and we got items to wear and keep. The items to wear were various bows and ribbons, we could make our own bracelets (I didn’t because I had too many things in my hand already), and flower crowns.

The movie was exactly what the trailer suggests. And I enjoyed it! Of course the twist doesn’t hit as well when the movie is advertised as such, but that was fine with me. It just made me intrigued by what the characters were going to go.

Millie Bobby Brown was, of course, brilliant. She did a marvelous job. Most of the movie was her acting by herself, so she had the most to do, but I enjoyed the other cast members performances as well.

The story was well done, there were a couple more twists that I didn’t expect and liked. The music in this film was very well chosen. It wasn’t overly dramatic nor too loud or overbearing.

I will probably watch this again after it comes out, not right away, but I certainly will enjoy it again. I wouldn’t say no to more from this world, though I can’t really guess as to what that would be, but it would be fun I bet. I’m glad I saw this movie, and suggest it.

Mid-credit scene: Nope

End-credit scene: Nope. As this is a Netflix movie, I didn’t expect anything at the end, but stayed till it all the same.

Madame Web (2024)

February 14, 2024

Well. It was better than Venom 2. It’s wasn’t an altogether bad movie, it wasn’t amazing, but I’ve seen worse movies.

There are numerous Marvel related problems (which I will vaguely mention later) all over the place, but honestly the most distracting thing was that characters just made decisions that didn’t make much sense some of the time. One that has nothing to do with plot is a camp fire was left as characters were leaving and they didn’t make sure it was out. I would think a director would think about something so simple. But again, they are small thing that just irked me.

The cast did a good job I thought. I would have enjoyed seeing them in a Marvel Studios produced version of this since it would have been more well put together. Though I can say that about all of Sony’s Marvel movies since Venom. They all kind of feel like they could all be movies on their own without any of the Marvel characters there.

Oh, and this movie was set in 2003, for no discernible, reason. And it also felt like a superhero movie that was made in 2003.

I don’t tend to notice a lot of cinematographic things while watching movies unless they really stand out, but there was some quite shaky camerawork in some scenes that I was surprised by. Like I could feel the camera moving as it rotated. Maybe that was just a quality problem with the film file or something, I’m not sure.

The plot was essentially what it was advertised as in the trailer. it just seemed like similar circumstances continue throughout the movie to put characters in danger and then it all eventually ends. Just a bit repetitive. The characterization of the girls was a bit weak, we got introduced to them and then had maybe one or two scenes learning a tiny bit about them and that’s all. And I know that this is Cassandra’s movie, but a little more character development for the girls would have been nice.

The villain. In the comics, he’s really not that important a character, and one could argue that he’s really not here. He doesn’t even have powers in the comics. But after the initial scenes with him, the movie doesn’t really give us character development of him either other than his mission throughout the movie. But we didn’t learn anything else about him at all. The actor did a good job, but the writing was just barely serviceable for his character.

I think they did an ok job with the time-powers ish, but I don’t know, something felt off about the editing. Also, I think the sound-design was a bit too loud in many scenes.

Now for the Marvel related issues. The fact that this takes place in 2003, is just odd. I don’t know why that choice was made, and all three girls being around before Spider-Man exists is just weird. Cassandra being around beforehand, sure, but the others being around is just messy. And just, wow, the origin of the powers is just totally made up. in the comics, Cassandra is a mutant. Of course they couldn’t do that origin here, but this seems to be Sony’s main problem, they keeps picking characters whose origins tie into heavy Marvel lore but Sony doesn’t have access to many of these things. For example, Venom without Spider-Man, one of the only Spidey villains whose origin directly is connected to Peter and Spidey in the comics, and Sony makes it without that aspect. I’m guessing that what they actually did was based in some actual mythology, but it just was a bit cheap. There were some other aspects that I won’t mention since they’d be more spoilery, but after watching the movie and then reading this or the other way around, you’ll probably get what I mean.

In general, it wasn’t horrible, it just was a bit chaotic. I still like this movie over Venom 2. Maybe it’s tied with Morbius. It was still fun at times, but things moved so fast that there wasn’t a lot of time to sit with characters. I would probably wait to watch this at home. But this technically should eventually connect to the other SSU movies and shows, so we’ll see what happens with these characters. Like I said, I liked the acting from everyone.

Mid-credit scene: No

End-credit scene: No

Aquaman (2): The Lost Kingdom (2023)

December 21 –

A fun end to this iteration of the DC Films universe. It was an adventure, and I enjoyed it! And it surprisingly didn’t feel as long as it was.

The plot was decent, the acting was fantastic. The visuals were well-done also. Though I saw it in IMAX 3D and somehow, there were only a handful of shots that actually looked 3D. The rest kind of felt literally flat. Perhaps it was my theater, but if not, DC really didn’t need to make this 3D. The first movie worked very well in 3D. This one didn’t have much of that visual depth that one associates with 3D. I definitely expected it to at least.

The cast was pretty small and centered on the main characters we already knew. Beyond the antagonist, and some henchmen, there weren’t many new characters to get to know. But it’s been so long since we’ve seen these characters (2018) that I didn’t mind that.

There was some interesting Atlantean lore that I wish there had been more time with, and perhaps more with the villain itself. But, it was a fun adventure and I’m glad to have seen it. Also, it was funnier than I expected! I certainly had a few laughs that I enjoyed.

Mid-credit scene: Yes, it’s just a continued part of one of the ending scenes in the movie. It’s a gag scene really, might as well stay to watch it.

End-credit scene: Nope. Which makes sense since this is the end of this era of DC films.