READY PLAYER ONE - Why you should watch it!

I have returned from the Oasis without a single key or coin to show for it. However, I do have a ticket! 

I went to Ready Player One the day before it officially opened in theaters and it was amazing! I really enjoyed the story and how Spielberg created an incredibly CGI-filled world. Today will be part review and part reasons to watch list. But first, some background.

NOTE: Spoilers beyond this point. You shall not pass...if you don't want spoilers.

Ready Player One - Background

For those unfamiliar with the book, I first recommend reading it. It is a fun story that probably has even more pop culture references than the movie. For those who wish to not read it, here are the highlights:

What is Ready Player One?

Ready Player One is about a teen living in a dystopia version of Ohio in the year 2049 where he becomes the first person to find one of three keys hidden inside a video game called Oasis. In the story, the creator of the game, James Halliday, died, leaving behind an enormous fortune. The right to his fortune is hidden inside the game as an Easter egg. The Easter egg can only be found after acquiring all three keys, also hidden in the game. When our hero, Wade Watts, finds the first key, he finds himself in a race against an evil corporation to find the remaining keys and prevent the corporation from taking over the Oasis. 

Now that you have a short background, we will dive into the review. 

Ready Player One - Review

Having read the book prior to the movie, I have a bit of a preference toward the book. That being said, I really enjoyed this film. The film starts off like a classic Spielberg film, introducing us to the world with smooth, sweeping shots. The way Spielberg paces an opening, and films in general, is always impressive to me. In this movie, we jump right into the action with an amazing car race sequence that got my adrenaline pumping immediately. Also, listening to Van Halen's Jump helped too!

The movie grabs you and keeps you interested throughout. The characters Wade Watts/Parzival, played by Tye Sheridan, and Samantha/Art3mis, played by Olivia Cooke, had a great dynamic between each other. It was fun and light, but kept the romantic connection strong as the movie progressed. The side characters were, at least for me, a bit more forgettable. Well, except for Sho, played by Phillip Zhao. James Halliday, played by the great Mark Rylance, was my favorite character. He portrayed the anti-social, nerdy side well and displayed the heart behind the character in a genuine way. Honestly, in that regard, I felt the movie did better than the book. 

The story itself was going to be difficult to deliver. The book was packed with references and the movie had to at least live up to that. I couldn't imagine being the producer on this movie. The amount of phone calls and favors they made/asked for had to be ridiculous! Even with all the references, the story had to be sound. Thankfully, it was faithfully adapted by the writer of the book, Ernest Cline. Zak Penn helped too (another solid, Hollywood writer). The references did not get in the way of the story, but the story wasn't trying to be overly complex. It was a simple story that was told well. The movie was a great example of all pieces of production coming together to make a solid movie. 

The best part about the movie was the CGI. Movies have been improving CGI for a few years now. Star Wars and Marvel films tend to be the first movies that come to mind when you think of CGI-heavy movies, but I believe this one deserves serious consideration. The car race sequence and final battle scenes are the most epic CGI experiences I have ever seen. For many, Spielberg isn't the name that comes to mind when they hear about a CGI movie. He's been known for Academy Award winning films and pop culture classics like Jurassic Park, Jaws, and E.T. Yet, he has been quietly working on some amazing CGI films like The Adventures of Tintin and The B.F.G.

I could probably go on forever about the CGI and Spielberg's talent, so I'll stop here and just say, it was impressive. The movie overall, is a solid film with impressive CGI that is fun entertainment. Now for the Top 10!

Top 10 Reasons To See Ready Player One

These are in no particular order:

1. STEVEN SPIELBERG!
2. The impressive CGI of fake people in a fake world
3. A Delorean that doesn't go back in time
4. Mark Rylance acting awkward and not like a big, friendly giant
5. Seeing Director Krennic again lose to a rebel group
6. Awkward teenage romance
7. Raging adults wearing headsets and power gloves
8. 80's music
9. An abundance of outdated, but lovable pop culture references
10. A giant freaking egg!

Have you seen Ready Player One? Do you agree with this review? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments or on social media. 

-J.J.

Avengers: Infinity War is Coming!!!

Get hyped because the Avengers are coming to town! Although made pretty clear in their latest trailer, Avengers: Infinity War is coming a little bit early. Premiering April 27 and it's already tracking to be the best selling MCU movie of all time.

I am beyond excited for this film to drop. It feels like this is the movie every fan has been waiting for. A sort of semi conclusion to the old MCU and an opening to the new universe. The event that brings everyone together to fend off the "spiritual journey" of Thanos. 

However, this film is actually quite a bit different than the comic book, The Infinity Wars. 

The Comic

The Infinity Wars comic book is a six-part series made back in 1992 about Adam Warlock and what happens after he is deemed "unworthy" of using and controlling the Infinity Gauntlet. It's a complicated story, but I will try to simplify it.

Magus, the evil incarnation of Adam, was created from the use of the gauntlet and now Magus wants revenge against Adam. Probably blames Adam for keeping him locked up emotionally. For Magus to defeat Adam, he needs help. Magus sets out on a universal conquest to find 5 cosmic cubes in order to create an army of evil superhero doppelgangers and conquer the universe.

Pretty crazy right! I'd say more, but I don't want to ruin it. The story has a fair share of twists and turns. The film is different.

The Film

I stumbled upon a "logline" for the film in an article by Anthony Breznican at Entertainment Weekly: 

"It's the story of a humble rock collector, traveling from afar to fulfill his lifelong dream, only to run afoul of mask-wearing troublemakers."

Pure gold! Humble rock collector gets me every time I read it. He's right though. It's a story about Thanos and his unquenchable thirst for domination and power, which can be achieved through the collection of the infinity stones. 

The Difference

The big difference between the comic book series and the movie are pretty apparent. Thanos in the film is a combination of comic book Thanos and comic book Magus. In the comic, Adam Warlock is an important character. In the film, we are hinted at creation of Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. From my understanding, the Adam Warlock in MCU movie series will more likely follow the Earth X series with Kismet. Although, I don't know if we'll see a Mar-Vell reincarnation. 

There are quite a few more differences, but I feel those would be moving in on spoiler territory, so I won't mention them. You're welcome!

Anyways, I'm excited to see this story unfold on the big screen and bring some closure to lingering questions in the collective series of Marvel films. We'll also get more questions, but that is a discussion for after the film's release. 

Next week, I hope to blog a bit about the Ready Player One movie coming out on March 29th. If not, it means I'm too busy living in a virtual world controlled by Grandmaster and ants with oversized spectacles. Sounds like an Ant-Man meets Guardians of the Galaxy movie that I would totally watch!

- J.J.

Movie Review - Logan

I just watched the new X-Men movie, "LOGAN," staring the same Hugh Jackman for the last 17 years (its like they tried to make him old). Anyways, I am going to jump into a bit of the background for the story based on the Old Man Logan comic books before jumping into the review. So, no spoilers yet. 

OLD MAN LOGAN: 

Mad Max meets Borderlands? It's not funny, but it is amazing!

The comic series, Old Man Logan, takes place 50 years after the destruction of all the heroes in the newly formed United States of Amerika. A wasteland ruled by Red Skull (Marvel property), Wolverine turns pacifist in order to take care of his wife and daughter on his own secluded piece of "paradise" (also known as Hulkland). It isn't until his home is no longer safe (meaning he owes rent) that Logan teams up with a blind Hawkeye (another Marvel property) to hit the road and deliver a secret package. The package turns out to be the super soldier serum, enough to create an army. Before they make the delivery, Hawkeye and Logan are attacked and killed. 

Except, Logan can't die. Logan wakes up in Red Skull's trophy case of fallen heroes. Enraged, Logan breaks out, kills Red Skull's men, and decapitates Red Skull...with Captain America's shield! Logan returns home and finds his family murdered by the Hulk's family. 

Now the claws are out! Logan massacres the Hulk's family (including the Hulk), sparing only Bruce Banner Jr. Logan makes an oath to defeat all the world's supervillians and bring peace to the land with the help of Bruce Banner Jr. 

Crazy story right? Now, for the movie (Spoilers Incoming):

LOGAN: 

Mad Max meets True Grit + a mutant road trip with a crazy old man...

Before I start, make sure to go to the theater to watch the movie (if you are planning to watch it). There is a little surprise that I think you can only see at the theater. Anyways, on to the review.

Logan, staring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart (Professor X), takes place in the year 2029 where all the heroes have been destroyed and Logan is now working as an aging limousine driver, trying to earn enough money to buy a boat.

The job also pays for Professor X's medical bills as he suffers from seizures and failing body. Helped by another mutant, Caliban, the trio are thrust into danger after a young Mexican woman and her daughter seek Logan's help to reach Eden (conveniently located in North Dakota). As many have gathered from the trailer, the "daughter" is actually Logan's clone, Laura Kinney (X-23 or Dafne Keen). 

Forced into a father role, Logan takes care of Laura (along with Charles) as they go cross country to get her to Eden. 

The movie becomes a western road trip movie with plenty of violence and language you would expect in a rated R Wolverine film. What I didn't expect was the amount of meta references and heart. This location, Eden, was literally stripped from the pages of an X-Men comic. The location of Eden (down to the map coordinates) was taken from the comic, which Logan dismisses as false, unrealistic writing. It turns out that Eden is in fact a place, at the correct coordinates, and in North Dakota. It played well into the story, but brought some much needed humor to fans of the comics and movies. 

For the heart of the film, you see how much each character struggles with their age-related problems, past demons, and even the occasionally language barrier. From Professor X's devastating death to Logan's own untimely demise, it was all a bit heart wrenching. It didn't help seeing kids cry either over Logan's death. More brutal than the violence.

The performances by all the characters were incredible. Patrick's senile old man with bouts of wisdom, Logan's dismal of happiness and family, to Laura's whole performance. Laura, played by Dafne Keen, was by far the best part about the movie. From her use of silence to her child-like admiration for Logan, she had a well-played role that would have been tough for anyone (especially an 11 year old). This movie could setup an X-23 movie that people might enjoy. 

Even the villains were rightfully evil and the tension that was built played well to the flawed, aging protagonists. I especially hated (and really liked) Donald Pierce, played by Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, Gone Girl). He made you want to punch him...and join his team. But, like Piggy in Lord of the Flies, everyone pays a price.

My only real qualm with the film was a trivial one...North Dakota. I've been to North Dakota and I can confidently say this: "They were not in North Dakota!" Too many mountains and trees, not enough open plains and wind farms. 

OVERALL: 

Logan lives up to the hype and it crushes the predisposed notion of what a comic book movie looks like. It was more than a fan service Wolverine movie. It was a really good movie. Period. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - "Review"

On Saturday, December 19th at 10am, my brother and I relaxed in reclining leather seats and watched a story from a galaxy far far away! Below, I will be giving a short review and general thoughts on this film (and I can already say its pretty positive). Keep in mind readers who haven't watched it yet that I will be having some major spoilers beyond this point, so if you want to keep it a surprise, avert you eyes away now.

When i sat down and watched the LucasFilm logo flash on the screen, I was excited and ready to be transported into another world. And transported at hyper-speed I was!

Immediately after, I was surprised by the lack of one classic Star Wars staple: the story crawl.

Every Star Wars film had the crawl; it was as iconic as the opening theme that blasted my eardrums with joy. Instead, Rogue One jumped right into the story. I already had an inkling that this was going to happen (stupid media rumors), so I wasn't to thrown off by the possibility. Also, it made sense. This is really just another story within Star Wars, not the main story line we all have fallen in love with. Still, lets talk about the story.

THE STORY

I actually enjoyed the story immensely and was refresehed by the new direction of the film. It had much more of a "war" focus and felt grittier than other Star Wars films. Below I will recap the story, but if you care not to read it, feel free to skip ahead:

The face of a James Bond villian...

The story jumps us to an imperial ship landing on the home planet of Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones), daughter of Galen Erso (played by Mads Mikkelsen). The imperials were sent to retrieve Galen, who was responsible for creating the super laser for the Death Star. Galen, realizing his inability to refuse, sent his wife and daughter to hide and wait for a rebellion friend, Saw Gerrera (played by lazy eye master, Forest Whitaker). However, the escape plan goes off course as the Jyn's mother doubles back to defend her husband. She confronts the imperial soldiers, lead by Orson Krennic (played by Ben Mendelsohn) and is killed in a gunfight. The group takes Galen and searches for Jyn. Unable to find her, they leave. After an unspecified amount of time, Saw Gerrera arrives and takes Jyn to safety. Then we fast forward.

One is not like the other...because one of them is evil.

Years later, see a rebel spy, Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna) find information about a potential weapon called a planet killer (a.k.a. Death Star) and its creators. It leads to them finding and extracting Jyn from Imperial capture. While Jyn was being extracted, she reacted like any normal rebellious fighter, she rebelled.

Busting out and was able to smell fresh oxygen until a reprogrammed imperial droid by the name of K-2S0 (played by the lovable Alan Tudyk), "congratulated" her for being rescued. The rebels gave her an offer she couldn't refuse, help them find Galen and they would let her free. Cassian, K-2S0, and Jyn then headed off to the planet of Jedha to find a imperial deserter and friend of Galen Erso, Bodhi Rook (played by the multi-talented actor and rapper, Riz Ahmed). What made this really interesting is although Jyn was looking to get her father back, Cassian was under orders to kill Galen once he was found.

The group arrived on Jedha and were soon in the middle of a rebel attack on the Imperial controlled planet that was harvesting crystals to power the Death Star. After an insane battle, they are soon surrounded by Imperial forces. It wasn't until a blind warrior, Chirrut Imwe (played by Ip Man and martial art master, Donnie Yen), and his gun totting heavy sidekick, Baze Malbus (played by Jiang Wen) that they were able to escape the Imperial forces. That didn't stop them from being captured by a splinter rebel forces group. They were taken to their leader, who just so happened to be, Saw Gerrera.

Saw Gerrera gives Jyn a holo message from her father where he explains that he created a flaw in the Death Star (the one we are all familiar with) and that the plans needed to be given to the rebels right away if they were to have any chance to defeat it. It was at the end of message that the Empire planned to test the power of the Death Star on the Jedha. Not utilizing its full potential, they focused the attack solely on the city of Jedha. The rebel group, including their new friends and deserter pilot all left the planet just in time to escape the devastating effects of the Death Star's blast.

With the help of the former imperial pilot, they go to Galen's base of operations and hope to extract him (or in Cassian's case, kill him). As they try to fly under the radar on the stormy planet, they crash land outside of the landing area. Cassian and Bohdi leave the ship to find Galen, Cassian hoping to assassinate Galen without Jyn knowing. However, the wise words of blind Chirrut cause Jyn to go after her father. The

The attempt goes array after Rebel ship are dispatched to the base and attack. The attack leaves Galen dead and the extraction plan ruined. They regroup at Yavin 4 and talk with the rebellion council to encourage an attack at Scarif to retrieve the Death Star plans. Although his had split support, ultimately the council decided against it. Cassian, trusting Jyn, gathers a small group of rebel fighters and take a stolen Imperial ship named Rogue One to the Scarif.

If the most enjoyable character is the largest, this is completely accurate...but they need to make Donnie Yen bigger.

Cassian, K-2S0, and Jyn steal imperial uniforms and infiltrate the main archival tower while therest of the rebels caused a distraction. It was an epic 300 like battle where you knew that escape was impossible. Cassian and Jyn get inside and find the plans, labeled Stardust. Unable to go back to upload after K-2S0's sacrifice, they climbed the archive tower to the top relay dish. As they climbed , they were attacked by Orson and his Death troopers. Cassian is shot and Jyn climbs solo. Jyn gets to the top and puts the plans into the relay system. Unable to send, she re-positions the relay dish. Once she finished, she heads back to send the plans to the rebel forces. A TIE fighter comes out of nowhere and shoots the bridge and tosses Jyn back. She climbs back up and heads for the console when, you guessed it, Orson arrives holds her at blaster point. He gives his claim to victory when Cassian, you guessed it again, shots Orson. Jyn sends the plans to the rebel forces and the rebel forces that could retreat fled.

The Death Star arrives at the Scarif and destroys the base, killing all the remain rebels, including Cassian and Jyn.

Gosh, that was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be and I didn't mention the imperial side. Anyways, the story blends perfectly with Episode 4, leaving right were we start in Episode 4. The ending scene with Darth Vader laying waste to rebels was something straight out of a sci-fi horror story. It was awesome! What was also awesome were all the new characters.

CHARACTERS

Cassian Andor and K-2S0 looking at amazed at life...or the impending doom rolling toward them.

It was great to see some brand new faces and it really showed off the universe with the casting choices. In film, diversity has been made into a somewhat controversial topic of discussion, but necessary. Some argue diversity is needed (which I agree), but not at the cost of changing original stories with per-determined characters (sort of agree, sort of don't agree). What is great about Star Wars and most sci-fi stories is that having diverse cast is actually needed to create a better story. It doesn't feel forced or pandering to a certain crowd, it just feels normal. Each character had something interesting to bring to the story and each was truly unique. From Cassian's order focused spy life, to a Chirrut's force focused ability to overcome his blindness, it was great to see.

Blind Ip Man in a galaxy far, far, away...

Of all the characters, my two favorite would have to be K-2S0 and Chirrut. K-2S0 was once again another lovable droid, but with a fun sense of humor. He was one part C-3PO, one part Boba Fett, all hilarity. His humor is on full display on Jedha and again on Scarif when he dispatches Storm troopers.

Chirrut was nearly the opposite of K-2S0. Not to say he didn't have a great line on Jedha ("Why are you putting a bag on my head, I'm blind!"), but overall he was mostly a stoic, wise force believer. In Rogue One, they really put focus on the Force as a belief or spirituality instead of a actual power. His character was also one bad dude! Defeating a handful of storm troopers with only his staff is beyond awesome!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Don't Mess with the Moff!

My last thought that I want to mention is the use of CGI in the movie. I was quite surprised when I saw Peter Cushing return from the grave to reprise his role as Grand Moff Tarkin. We first saw the technology used first in Gladiator and later a more refined version in Fast & Furious and Marvel's Captain America: Civil War. Then later in the movie we see Princess Leia, who hadn't aged a day since Episode 4 in the 1970s. The technology was quite incredible and as much as they used Grand Moff Tarkin in the movie was quite a testament to the improvements made. I could definitely see this be used to continue aging actors careers in long running franchises in a few years. Rogue One was a great movie and although it had a few short comings with the writing (like sassy Vader), I felt it was still a great addition to the Star Wars universe.

Well, I was really long winded today...I am sorry about that. If you enjoyed it, let me know and I can do more movie "reviews" like this in the future. I am fully aware that this wasn't really a review and more of a synopsis with a few things I liked sprinkled in, but I enjoyed writing it to share with you the awesomeness of the movie.

I also want to thank everyone for signing up to the newsletter. I hope to have some awesome content come your way for the New Year. Also, finally shout out to Josh for winning the Lootcrate giveaway! I hope you enjoy the cool nerd merch!

May the Force be with You and enjoy the holiday season! -J.J.

Suicide Squad Review - Better Than Critics Say It Is!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch the latest DC universe film, Suicide Squad, and I wanted to offer a more balanced review than what I saw on the internet prior to its release.

As everyone may know by now, Suicide Squad has received quite a bit of backlash from critics (currently sitting at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes). However, I feel that the critics may be overreacting on the film’s perceived mistakes and shortcomings. This review will spoil the movie so proceed at your own caution.

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The movie does not ease anyone into introductions and jumps right into the characters and uses flashbacks to develop the character’s origins. Although I was thrown off guard by the approach initially, I actually liked it and felt it was fitting for the tone of the movie. Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and Amanda Walker (Viola Davis) were by far the most interesting characters in the movie for me. Will brought a cool, hitman energy to the character that I felt was in line with the comic books. He is definitely the star in this movie, but Margot almost stole the show. Her portrayal as Harley Quinn was near perfect, hitting both the Brooklyn accent and fun attitude of the character. Her performance alone should be worth a look by producers as a potential spin-off with real potential. Viola Davis’s performance as Amanda Walker was chilling…and in a good way. Now that I reflect back on it, Viola Davis may have had the best performance of the three.

The Villains in their graphic skull glory....well maybe not glory.

The character that was most hyped coming into this movie was obviously the Joker. The stories of Jared Leto's interactions with cast members and his method performance was what people thought would be a major character in the story. In reality though, his role was really more of a cameo, but an important one to the film. Joker did move the story forward in his quest to retrieve Harley Quinn and it put another unique element to building Harley's backstory. For fans of the comics, they already knew that Joker's participation in the movie would be limited as he is not an official member of the Suicide Squad. So, due to his lack of participation in the movie as a whole, I think it is hard to truly judge Jared Leto's Joker performance to harshly. It was cameo performance and should be treated as such.

Spooky!

The other characters each had varying importance within the movie and having that variation wasn’t bad. The character I feel was actually most important to movie was Col. Rick Flagg. He’s kind of the center piece of this whole movie in a way. His girlfriend, June Moon (A.K.A. Enchantress) is actually the main villain and the one person Col. Rick Flagg doesn’t want to lose. Amanda Walker manipulates this relationship to have Enchantress do her bidding. That is until Enchantress goes off the reservation and escapes the watchful eye Amanda Walker. I could go on and on about the story from here, but I would rather not spoil the whole movie. What I can say is the movie was simple and straightforward, which I found to be somewhat refreshing. The movie did try to over reach and become something it wasn't meant to be. It was not meant to complete against Marvel or do better than Superman Vs. Batman to justify DC movie universe. It told a story about a bunch of villains, when backed into a corner, can come together to defeat a greater evil.

ADDRESSING CRITICISM: FILM STANDPOINT

Here I will be addressing some of the major film criticism that I heard from critics, but I will be talking a bit about the David Ayer's approach to the film. I feel it is important to note before judging a movie too harshly.

Being a fan of both comic books and general cinema helped me appreciate what the director, David Ayer, was trying to do with this movie. Each director has a different style and David’s style is definitely more character focused; something that was mentioned also by Jai Courtney and other cast members. He wants to see strong performances and give the actors that room to deliver the performance. Overall, I feel like his cast did accomplish that goal.

Sipping espresso and reading film criticism....the good life!

David (and the cast) also brought more empathy to their characters. Deadshot's backstory involved his daughter, Harley Quinn's backstory revolved around her complex relationship with Joker, and Diablo (Jay Hernandez) also focused around his family. Other characters in the movie (Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, and Katana) are not as well developed, but it doesn’t make them bad characters by any means.

As many could gleam from the trailer, this movie was going to be an ensemble piece in a similar vein as the Avengers, except it’s in a different universe and the main “Protagonists" are actually villains. Unlike other films similar to Avengers or Captain America Civil War, many of the characters introduced in this movie were first introduced to audiences in this movie. Only fans of the comic books or cartoons would have basic knowledge of what was going to happen. That may be a reason why some critics had a problem with the movie. Marvel has been blessed with the ability to release individual origin stories and then move to the larger ensemble movie. DC simply worked it in reverse.

Other criticism revolved around a thinly written script and poor plot, which I disagree with. To say the plot is poor is hard to justify. I believe the plot was quite simple, but to say it was poor would seem more like a knee-jerk reaction. In terms of writing, especially for film, people need to understand just how hard that is to accomplish. Sometimes writing can be elevated by an amazing performance by an actor or actress. Other times, writing can be element that helped inspire the direction and performance of the actors. Film is a different world in terms of writing since film is a visual medium. Was the writing Oscar worthy? No, but is it really bad? I don't think it is at all! I think the writing was fitting to the story and fit the darker, comic book style that the director initially set out to accomplish.

Overall, what this movie did was give us something different while still fitting within a DC Cinematic Universe. The acting was solid, story was nice and simple, and the action was well done. I can't speak for the critics, but there are no hard and set rules to film criticism. It really boils down to did people like it or not and then justify. From my experience in the theater and among other DC fans, I think people did like it! So, I would recommend checking out this movie if you are a fan of comic books, particularly DC, or wanting to see a different take on the traditional film anti-hero discussion.

These are my thoughts on the movie, but I would like to know what your thoughts are on the movie? Did you like it or did you agree with the critics? Please leave a comment below or share this article with your fellow comic book fans.