Posts

Showing posts with the label fox

LOGAN - REVIEW

Image
After two disappointing and critically panned Wolverine movies, Hugh Jackman returns to conclude his X-Men spin-off trilogy on a high note with Logan , the film that, he claimed, would be his last time ever playing the role. We meet Logan much later in the timeline: he is older, weaker, he's an alcoholic limo driver whose days are spent picking up meds to appease a sick Professor Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) deadly seizures. His eyesight is failing, he isn't healing as fast as he used to, even his claws get stuck when they come out so this is a post-Wolverine Logan at his absolute worst on his most physically draining mission yet. Because he is more vulnerable, you feel every punch, every stab and it's genuinely heartbreaking to see such a tough, once unbreakable superhero on auto-pilot, even considering suicide as an option. This is a dark, gritty and mercifully R-rated take on the character FOX studios were reluctant to jump into for so long and yet it's appa

ZOOTOPIA - REVIEW

Image
This year, Disney had a surprise hit with CG-animated feature Zootopia , a buddy-cop movie set in a modern metropolis populated by animals. We follow Judy Hopps, a determined bunny police cadet who moves to the big city to start her career. On paper and from the early trailers, Zootopia really didn't seem like much with the whole animals-acting-like-humans thing having been done many times before. Watching the film, however, you realise that the marketing just didn't pick the right angle to sell this one. Instead of going for a generic approach, why not couch the film in a Lethal Weapon -style 80's cop movie type of thing? Judy (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is one of the most endearing animated characters Disney's created in a while and just when her overwhelming positivity starts to get a little much, she has to deal with the cruel real world and Nick, a sarcastic fox con artist. Judy is first dismissed by the police force as a meter maid because of her small size

GOTHAM: SEASON 2 - REVIEW

Image
Gotham is a weird one. The first season of Fox's Batman prequel series was an uneven mess with the odd clever moment or likeable performance here and there. What should have been a simple detective show focusing on a young Jim Gordon trying to bring the person who killed Bruce Wayne's parents to justice turned out to be packed with over-the-top obscure and familiar villains all entangled in conflicting subplots. For my review of Season 1, you can check it out  HERE . Season 2 promised the "Rise Of The Villains" and we certainly got a few more key baddies including the likes of Hugo Strange, Mr Freeze, Clayface and Azrael. The first half of the season is focused on Theo Galavan (James Frain), a member of the Dumas family out for revenge against the Waynes who supposedly disgraced his ancestors: he hires the help of Jerome (this season's Joker), his niece Silver St. Cloud (Natalie Alyn Lind), his sister Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) and the newly unhinged Barbar

FANTASTIC FOUR REVIEW - PODCAST

Image
With the help of @Silent_Consumer, Jamie and I review the Fantastic Four reboot on episode 61 of podcast The Big Rewind .

DEADPOOL - VLOG 16/03/16

Image
I talk about the latest R-rated comic-book blockbuster Deadpool .

DEADPOOL - REVIEW

Image
The idea that Marvel was not only going to be introducing a rather unique crime-fighter to its already plentiful collection of movie superheroes but also was going to give the film itself an R rating made Deadpool instantly appealing as a project. The casting of Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson made sense despite a shaky attempt at bringing the disfigured anti-hero to the screen in Wolverine: Origins and having starred in the hugely unpopular Green Lantern movie. A promising leaked trailer led to a legion of fans demanding to see the full movie and... here we are! The playful yet violent tone of the film is introduced right off the bat as the opening titles show a paused car crash with credits replaced by piss-take descriptions of the cast and crew. What follows is a narrated, fourth wall-breaking journey inside the mind of the mouthy, twisted superhero who is hunting down bad guy Ajax (Ed Skrein) in order to get him to fix his mutated body. Along the way, we're taken back to W

FANTASTIC FOUR (2015) - REVIEW

Image
Where to start with this one? What could I possibly say that hasn't already been said? Indeed, this new Fantastic Four did not do well at all with the critics upon its release, nor did it do very well financially due to poor word-of-mouth. But was the film written off too quickly? Were critics much too harsh on it? Mmmwell... I'd love to say yes but this is one hard movie to defend. For one thing, the casting is tough to get behind. As brilliant as newcomer Miles Teller was in last year's mini-masterpiece Whiplash , he finds himself miscast here and, about halfway through the film, possibly due to increasing on-set shambles, soon stops giving a f***. As do we. House Of Cards ' Kate Mara is also miscast as our new Invisible Girl as she delivers no charisma or personality, something for which the script, I should point out, is entirely to blame. Jessica Alba may have been pretty dire as Sue Storm in the 2005 Fantastic Four but at least she seemed awake an

FANTASTIC FOUR - VLOG 25/08/15

Image
I finally talk about this year's super-flop Fantastic Four .  (aka Fant4stic)

GOTHAMIZED: GOATAMIZED - PODCAST

Image
Gothamized  is a completely unofficial guide to new series  Gotham  and a debate arena for all things Batman. CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE EPISODE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE In this 10th episode, we discuss the sixth episode of  Gotham , goats, Halloween costumes, Dolly Parton and chickens. (for my written review of the Gotham Pilot,  click here! ) Hope you enjoy it! You can also find us on podcast  The Big Rewind  (available on iTunes) and send us emails with your Bat-questions, Six Degrees challenges and riddles here:  gothamized@gmail.com (for the pilot episode  CLICK HERE )

LOST SEASON 3 - REVIEW

Image
Now this is what I'm talking about! After a frankly dull first season and an uneven (if promising) second here we finally have a focused, genuinely well-made, wholly entertaining season which benefits from being a little darker and a little less all about that boring old beach we've grown so accustomed to! It's an island. There's sand. We get it. Again, a lot of the wrongs of season 1 are put right and now the show finally finds itself with not only a great villain, dodgy "Other" leader Benjamin Linus, but interesting main characters you actually do care about (...and Kate). Everyone's backstories are fleshed out a bit more and interlinked with each other in clever ways, characters face real conflicts and have an immediate purpose. This time, these guys are shown no mercy. Long gone are the days when Charlie would worry about peanut butter, long gone are the boring "lets-all-sit-around!" episodes: no, this is the season where the smo