batman

Movie Review: Lego Movie 2 The Second Part (2019)

~ Alyxwrites ~ Leave a comment

113310_1335664.jpeg.1500x628_q95_crop-smart_upscale

Summary: It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.
Pros:
Cast and Characters.
  • Chris Pratt as Emmet Brickowski. He is an everyman, construction worker and inexperienced Master Builder from Bricksburg. He’s just an awkward kind of guy but he has a heart of gold and he’s a likable guy. I don’t always find Chris Pratt that great but I think his voice over work is great. His Emmet is innocent and earnest and it really works. He also plays another character in the movie, who I figured out what his role would be early on but I liked that character as well. I also love the little nods to some of his other characters.
  • Elizabeth Banks as Lucy / Wyldstyle. She is a Master Builder and very broody and intense. I like her a lot, she’s funny and I think the movie also is a lot about her and her ideas of what is important. She’s really trying hard to not be optimistic about things but you learn a lot about her as the film goes on and I like her little arc in the film. Characters like her, are always so badass but have to remember where they came from. Elizabeth Banks is great in this role, her delivery of coming off too dramatic but a little deadpan at the same time really works.
  • Will Arnett as Bruce Wayne / Batman. He was great! He is a DC Comics superhero who is a Master Builder and he has some great one-liners! I love the scenes he has with Queen Watevra and some of the stuff he says is just so ridiculous that it really works. His role isn’t that huge in this one but his scenes are funny.
  • Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi. She was probably my favorite in this film compared to her being Secret Life of Pets 2, which she annoyed me, but I liked her in this. She is the shape-shifting alien queen of the Systar System. Our first meeting with her makes you wonder if she’s good or not and throughout the film you wonder if she’s a villain or not. I like that it keeps you guessing because the movie doesn’t make it obvious. She has the best songs in the movie and I love her delivery because it comes off like “Supervillain!” but in the next scene you’re like “Sooo are you a bad guy or not?” lol it’s great and it really keeps you on your toes. Great job Tiffany Haddish, I think she was great in this voice over role, the animation really worked for her voice and she was really great in this role. I didn’t think “Tiffany Haddish” while watching, I started to forget it was her and then I’d go “Wow, that’s awesome”.
The Animation. The lego animation is great. It’s really cool to see how they do certain things with legos! Like how the explosions are little legos! Or anything that’s water is lego! It’s super cool. I never was into legos like that as a kid so it’s really cool to see how all of this stuff was put together by kids and then you have this big imaginary world based on what they created. Plus, Queen Watevra being a shape shifter, her shifting is really seamless and pretty dope. It’s really cool and unique, very impressive.
Fun Story. I like that this story picks up from the last one, five years later, but right after really. I don’t want to spoil anything but I like the lego stories coincide with what’s going on in the human world and how certain things have a connection like the “Systar System” talks about the little boy from the first movie’s little sister. That’s so cute. Everything that happens has a double meaning, it has its meaning for Emmet and Lucy and the other characters but it’s also for Finn and Bianca. I really loved it. Plus, I can relate to it.
So Funny. I don’t think I laughed as much when I watched the first one, in fact, I think the first one kind of annoyed me. It was good and cute but I liked this one way better. I laughed a lot more, and I thought the humor was handled better too. I liked a lot of the side characters humor. The banana was hilarious and I really liked Queen Watevra, she had some great moments and lines.
Great Message. At the end of the day, the message is about family, particularly between a brother and sister and how important it is to maintain that relationship between siblings. I love that. I have 5 siblings and while we may not always get along, I love them more than anything. I would kick ass for my brothers and sisters. So, I think this movie does a great job at talking about that and how siblings play with toys. Not to mention, the things that Emmet and even Lucy have to learn. I love it.
The Songs. This movie has some great songs, I particularly like Queen Watevra’s songs and I thought Tiffany Haddish did a great job performing them. “Not Evil” and “Gotham City Boys” was great! I was like yasss! That “Everything is Awesome” song is such an ear worm and I have a love/hate relationship with it. But the songs in this one I didn’t dislike from the beginning lol.
Cons:
Doesn’t explain. Some things they don’t explain and I needed an explanation. I don’t want to spoil anything but I wish they would have explained how the legos are able to move on their own. You’ll know what I mean when you see it. Rex, I get but I just wish they would have gone into that more.
The Real World. I also don’t think they should have cut to the real world as much as they did. It was a great surprise in the first one to see what the legos were actually being controlled by people and we know that going in, unless you haven’t seen it, but I think they showed it to us way too much. Just a few times before the big climax at the end where we get to see way more. Leave a little more to the imagination in terms of that.
Overall, I really liked this movie way more than I thought I would. I liked this one way more than the first one. It’s just so good. The characters are still great and I liked them a bit more in this one, the voice acting is great and I really have to give to Tiffany Haddish. I love the animation because it’s soo cool, I love the lego stuff and it’s so impressive. I also think the movie is really funny, I laughed and I thought it was charming and I liked how it connected to the real world. Also, the songs are awesome! I really liked the two songs Queen Watevra got to sing, plus her name is awesome. My only issues is that I wish the movie explained more about the legos in the real-world thing when it came to them talking or being sentient. Not to mention, the amount of times they showed the human stuff, it could have been cut down a bit more. But I think this movie is great! I really liked it and it’s a great fun movie.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen The Lego Movie 2: The Second Act? What are your thoughts? Is it better than the first?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
Don’t forget to like and follow this blog for more movie reviews.

Movie Review: Shazam! (2019)

~ Alyxwrites ~ Leave a comment

screencap-from-shazam-trailer

Summary: We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word – SHAZAM. – this streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid can turn into the grown-up superhero Shazam.
Full disclosure. This is the only “DCEU” movie I have whole heartedly enjoyed. This is the only one I have to say I enjoyed from start to finish.
Pros:
Cast and Characters.
  • Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as William “Billy” Batson / Shazam. So, this character is played by two people obviously. Billy is a troubled orphaned boy who is searching for his mother. As a child, he was lost at a fair and has searched for his mother ever since. He has a hard time fitting in with his foster families (even if they do want him) because he’s so hell bent on finding his birth mother that this current family really wants to make things work with him. When he meets the new family, he still has a hard time connecting to the kids because he’s so ready to leave. However, Billy isn’t mean though. I mean, he’s hard to connect to and he does do some mean things, but he isn’t like spiteful. He’s sad and really wants to find where he belongs. I quite liked Asher Angel. I’ve never seen him in anything, but he handles that one particular emotional moment really well, I really felt for him. I also think he has good comedic timing when he needed to have it and I wish we got to see more of him, but I guess people go for Shazam! As for Levi who is Shazam, he is basically Billy just physically an adult. He has the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles and the Speed of Mercury. He learns these powers along the way but also, he’s a 14-year-old so he’s having fun. I like Zachary Levi, he has a nice charm to him that makes him fun to watch. He isn’t who I would have pictured when I thought of Shazam but he’s clearly having fun and he does a good job. My only problem is I think Asher Angel kind of has this coolness to him and Zachary Levi, as his adult version, didn’t have that same coolness. Otherwise, I believed they were the same person.
  • Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. He is a physicist who is pretty much the black sheep of his family. His dad is played by Lionel Luther from Smallville! lol, Thad was a kid, he was summoned by the Wizard Shazam but was not chosen so he has dedicated his life to finding out a way to get back there. He’s obsessive and clearly won’t stop at anything to get what he wants. When he does get the powers he gets, he uses them for his goals, which was mostly to get back at his family. Later, he decides he also wants the Champion’s powers, so he goes after Shazam. I mean, Mark Strong is a good actor and Sivana is an interesting character, but I didn’t really care that much about him to see what kind of trouble he might cause. I mostly just loved him physically fighting Shazam. Mark Strong is always imposing though.
  • Jack Dylan Grazer as Frederick “Freddy” Freeman. Freddy is the first person in the new foster family that Billy connects to. He is disabled but he does his own thing because he doesn’t care. He’s a superhero enthusiast and of course becomes the only person who knows about Shazam. It’s his idea to test out what his powers are, among other things. Freddy is likable, but I think that has a lot to do with Jack Dylan Grazer who is very likable himself. He just truly enjoys life and it’s great to have a character, with his circumstances who is like that without feeling forced or annoying.
The Foster Family. So, the foster family that Billy is “adopted” into has a lot of people floating around. They’re all likable and I won’t go through them all, but I think it’s important to mention them.
  • Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley. Billy’s youngest foster sibling at his new home, an energetic and effusive little girl. She’s very sweet and just pure innocence. I’m so impressed at how much Faithe was close both physically and characteristically to the comic version of her.
  • Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield. Billy’s foster sister at his new home, the “den mother” who helps take care of the other kids and is debating attending college in California. Mary is the oldest, so she takes on the role of making sure everyone does what they’re supposed to and making sure they’re okay at school. She’s also very smart, so she’s thinking about what she might do for college. She’s likable and though her role isn’t large, she seems to be a protector and a kind of ‘go get ’em’ kind of girl.
  • Ian Chen as Eugene Choi. Billy’s foster brother at his new home, an obsessive gaming enthusiast and budding techie. He’s a smarty-pants, as there always needs to be one. We really don’t see a ton from him but he’s cute and likable and you get to know him enough.
  • Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña. Billy’s foster brother at his new home, a shy, sensitive kid who has trouble opening up. We don’t see a lot from him, but I like his willingness to help at the end.
  • Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez and Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez. The foster mother and father of the group home where Billy and his friends live. He is a beautiful man lol. But anyways, they’re fine, they do what they’re supposed to, and they have great chemistry. They’re cute.
Superhero Aspect. I like that the powers of Shazam had to be given to someone who was worthy and while Billy may not be the perfect kid, he is a good kid and he has potential to be great. I liked that that was something that didn’t just happen to him, he was chosen, even if he wasn’t the first choice. That was pretty cool. Plus, he’s a kid who is magically aged up to an adult (I used to think that Shazam inhabited Billy Batson’s body and whenever he said his name, they like switched places, not that Shazam is the aged-up version of whoever has his power) but he’s still a kid. That’s a neat idea. Plus, going on the journey to find out what his powers are, it’s always fun to see a person discover their new abilities along the way. Plus, Billy learns a lot of lessons in there as well.
Awesome Action. The action, especially in the latter half of the film is handled so well. I like the choreography of the fights between Shazam and his villain. I also really liked how Billy was quick enough on his feet to understand how he could use his powers to an even bigger use. Like when he gets smart and “SHAZAM” to evade the fight for a moment, or to make the villain lose him in the crowd. I thought that was handled well. Also, the big battle at the end, was fun. Good job movie.
Fun, Energetic and Hilarious. I didn’t expect much but I laughed quite a bit throughout the movie. It has a light nature to it even with its darker elements. It doesn’t try too hard, it just is. Jack Dylan Grazer and Zachary Levi, and by extension Asher Angel have good chemistry and whenever they’re on screen together, it really builds like a friendship into perhaps a brotherhood. There are some pop culture references, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with the jokes nor does it feel forced. It’s also just a lighthearted movie so it doesn’t feel like a long slog.
Nice Story. In the end, this movie is about family and being true to who you are. Billy’s entire journey is him discovering himself and just how important family is but it’s not always going to be the family you expect. It’s a sweet message and it also makes Billy relatable because sometimes you find family in the places you expected the least. Not to mention, it’s all about who you are on the inside. That is what allows Billy to be chosen and become Shazam and realize his fully powers.
Cons:
Pacing Issues. I think the pacing of the movie is inconsistent. There are some slow moments, or moments where the movie slows down to the point where it begins to feel too long. I think the climax at the end, while cool, took too long to happen.
The Designs of the Deadly Sins. In the comics, these characters have a look that makes them stand out from each other. In the film, they’re all rock creatures and while they seem to have their own design, we never know which sin they are. I guessed throughout the film who might be. Gluttony at least had an obvious design. He looked like Gluttony from Fullmetal Alchemist. I also know Envy because he was the smallest, other than that, no idea. I just wish they had more of a unique look to them. Plus, they reminded me of the rock generals from TMNT.
Freddy and Billy’s Argument. So, they have an argument about midpoint through the movie, while Billy is full Shazam. People record it, but I thought it was a little left field. I mean, Freddy knows the secret and they’ve been training for a good amount of the movie to test his powers, but then Freddy says something at school that Billy does not agree too but I guess he decided he would do it anyway but Billy forgets about it and Freddy is all upset because Billy didn’t do the thing that Billy never said he would do anyway. So, Freddy calls him out on the things THEY WERE DOING TOGETHER! If anything, I believe what Freddy was accusing Billy of doing was Freddy’s idea first and Billy just went along with it and furthered it. So, I thought, while this argument served its purpose, it came out of nowhere to me. Like Freddy, you aren’t a victim here.
One Dimensional Villain. So, spoiler alert but Mark Strong plays the villain in this movie. I mean, he always does lol, I was surprised when his character in Kingsman was a good guy and remained so lol. Anyways, while I think Mark Strong is a good actor and he looks like his comic book counterpart (from the New 52 anyway), his character left a lot to be desired. I did not care about what he wanted to do at all. I didn’t think he was that much of a threat. After he did what he’s wanted to do for years, his story was really kind of over. They combined his plot in the comics with Black Adam from the first Shazam! (New 52). I don’t mind that, but I just think he was very cookie cutter and I feel like he could have been more sinister than he was. He looked cool but that was about it for me.
Overall, I really liked this movie A LOT. Like I said, this is the only DCEU (is that still a thing these days?) film that I have liked from beginning to end. The main characters are all interesting and I really liked the chemistry between Billy (Both versions) and Freddy. I thought Asher Angel had a coolness about him while also maintaining a kind of tragic feeling considering his background. Zachary Levi, I felt was a little different than Asher Angel, like he had way more childlike glee than Asher did. The superhero aspect was fun in how it was handled and how Billy and Freddy worked it out together. It was fun and energetic, and quite funny. The action is also handled well. I was into it. The story is also nice and has a sweet and relatable message. Now, for a few of the cons, I think the villain was one dimensional even though he was imposing physically, I don’t think he was that interesting once he completes one of his ultimate goals. The is a bit of a pacing issue and I didn’t care for the Seven Sins’ design nor did I think the argument between Freddy and Billy that prompts a lot of the third act was founded. BUT Shazam! is a great movie and I think everyone should give it a chance.
Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen Shazam! What did you think about it? Tell me your thoughts down below!
What is your favorite DC movie overall?
Thanks for reading!

Movie Review: The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

~ Alyxwrites ~ 1 Comment

the-lego-batman-movie

Summary: A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick.
Pros:
Cast and Characters.
  • Will Arnett as Bruce Wayne / Batman. My Batman will always be Michael Keaton (even if he owns it as The Vulture), but Will Arnett does a great job with this character and it surprised me in The Lego Movie and its great still. We spend way more time with Batman than Bruce, but he’s arrogant, vain, a bit of an diot and mean. The things he says just shock people due to the absurdity but with the voice Arnett uses, you just have to laugh at it. I think he has a good grasp on this character, in this universe at least. This is a Batman that has fun. I’ve never seen Batman smile as much as he does in this movie lol.
  • Zach Galifianakis as The Joker. Of course way more toned down than how this character usually is, but while I never really thought The Joker was a “funny” person, he is in this movie. He has a sincere voice, which is so weird, and he’s so emotional because he doesn’t think Batman takes him seriously, or acknowledges him to be his great villain. It’s pretty funny and Galifianakis’ delivery with him helps because even though we know he’s evil, the voice just doesn’t make him intimidating at all. It just makes him feel like this little kid trying to scare his older brother who won’t give him attention any other way.
  • Michael Cera as Richard “Dick” Grayson / Robin. So Dick Grayson is like my favorite, I love him, he’s my favorite Robin, as Nightwing he is awesome and I do like his outings as Batman. So of course I know they’re poking fun at his original incarnation with the underwear (and no pants) for his costume. RIP! *sound effect* but he’s so earnest, happy-go-lucky, optimistic and looking for a family himself. There are times where he is annoying, which I know his character can be made annoying, he is a little kid, but I never disliked him (I might be biased though) and he’s a sweet kid. His acceptance of Batman, and his want to be involved is so sweet. Michael Cera has really good comedic timing, I don’t always find him funny, but he should do more voice acting because I thought he did really great in the movie.
  • Rosario Dawson as Commissioner Barbara Gordon / Batgirl. She’s no-nonsense, she takes over for her father and tries to be what Gotham needs, and even tries to appeal to Batman, to work together. She knows the importance of teamwork and tries to get Batman to understand that. Babs spends a lot of her time in this movie, trying to appeal to Batman. When she’s kicking butt though, it’s awesome. Plus, I like how she doesn’t fall to any of his “charm” or insults. Rosario Dawson has great delivery for this character, her voice has that sarcastic tone that you’re not sure if she’s serious or not, which I think fits this character.
  • Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth. The entire movie, I knew I knew this voice but I could not figure it out. At one point, I did think it was Ralph Fiennes but I wasn’t sure, I also think it’s funny that Lord Voldemort is in this movie but Ralph Fiennes is playing Alfred lol. But he’s Alfred, he’s the backbone for Bruce/Batman. He is family, his father, (even though Batman says some rude stuff to him about family) but he never gives up on him. That’s why Alfred will always be the MVP. Ralph Fiennes’ delivery is great, he kind of reminded me of J.A.R.V.I.S sometimes but that’s not a bad thing. His role is to keep Batman honest, but to always appeal to him too.
The Story. So the story is pretty basic. Batman is still the hero of Gotham, but The Joker feels like he’s not important in Batman’s life, so he basically comes up with a plan for ultimate revenge. So almost a scorned lover type of deal lol, and then you have Batman’s whole thing with family. We all know Bruce is scarred for life due to his parents dying (MARTHA!) which keeps him from admitting he can’t do everything on his own (Ya know, the Batfamily is legit huge lol) so Alfred tries to get him to move on and welcome people in his life but he refuses. So, these two stories collide and we have a big mixture of a great time while Batman tries to learn what it means to have a family. Plus, the Joker talking to him like they were together, makes for some funny dialogue.
The Humor. I think the first half is much stronger than the second half, that’s with the story and the humor. I laughed way more in the first half than I did the second, and I think that’s because one, the superhero genre, being as big as it is, needs a little fun poked at it, but at the same time, this movie isn’t trying to take itself too seriously. It knows what it is and I think helps some of the ridiculous bits of the film. Batman in his bat cave with Alfred was some great moments, or even when he first meets Barbara, and Dick’s introduction all that I quite enjoyed.
The Visuals/Effects. Just like in The Lego Movie, the visual effects really cool. I love how everything is a lego, the lava, the fire, the gun/laser shots, it’s all part of the lego family. It’s amazing how these animators are able to create this world with digital legos. It’s amazing to me and that deserves all of the praise.
Entertaining. I think more than anything, a person will have fun watching this movie. It’s super bright, and fast paced, most of the time, and it’s fun! I think even if you don’t like the story, it could be a fun ride and I think that’s what’s more important here for this movie is to have fun with the characters.
Cons:
The Message. It wants to talk about family, and learning how to not try to do everything on your own, something that Batman has to learn, and while I get that, it really hammers it in and I didn’t care about it because they kept trying to be like “Okay this is the message!” “Hey, did you know this is the message?” “Don’t forget this is the message” and I know it’s a kids movie but adults will watch and we’re not dumb and kids don’t need things hammered in like that either. Relax. We know it’s about family. Be more subtle. I mean Barbara spends a lot of the movie trying to appeal to Batman, I like her, but jeez, she’s like a poster telling you encouraging things and you just want to tell it to shut up.
The Heart. So, I liked The Lego Movie, I saw it way after everyone else did, but I quite enjoyed it and I liked what it was trying to do. I don’t think this is better than that movie, even though it seems like it’s trying to be, it’s not, and I don’t think movie quite captures the heart that the first one did. Maybe it has something to do with that whole message problem, from my first point but I think this movie lacks heart behind all of the humor.
The Humor. This is here because not all of the humor is funny. Sometimes it does that little thing where it pauses like where the laughter track would be and I’m like it’s not funny. It’s funny, but I think the first half is probably more funny than the last half. I think the first half is better in general.
Overall, I very much enjoyed The Lego Batman Movie. I think it’s really fun and a great ride. The characters are fun and great, the voice acting, I think really helps elevate the movie, you can tell the actors are having fun with their characters. I think the visuals and the effects deserve extreme praise, because it’s amazing seeing this world of LEGO come to life the way it does. The story is good, it’s a basic one, but it’s good and it’s unique in ways how this movie approaches that storyline. It’s also funny, I laughed quite a bit in the beginning. However, humor is subjective and the second half wasn’t nearly as funny as the first, nor did I think every joke landed, sometimes they felt really childish, while trying to sound super mature. I think the message is hammered over our heads, we know what you’re trying to say, you don’t have to tell us every five seconds, it’s sad when characters are kind of just there to constantly say “we’re a team!” “We have to work together!” I KNOW!!!!!!! I also think this movie tries to have heart and while it’s kind of there, it’s not enough to make the points it wants to make stick. But I still like the movie. It’s really fun.
Rating: 3.98 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen The Lego Batman Movie? What did you think about it? I mean, it did come out earlier in the year, I’m probably one of the few people who just now saw it lol.
Which one do you think is better: The LEGO Movie, or The LEGO Batman Movie?
Tell me your thoughts and picks in the comments below! Don’t forget to like and follow this blog for more movie reviews!

book_page_tab_the_end_49247_1920x1080

Movie Review: Justice League (2017)

~ Alyxwrites ~ 1 Comment

justice-league-batman-wonder-woman-aquaman

Summary: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.
So I’m going to say that I wasn’t necessary excited for this movie as the other DC movies haven’t been very good outside of Woman Woman which I liked enough. So, WW set the bar high and I was more interested in seeing Jason Mamoa as Aquaman to see his take on it, and to see Ezra Miller as The Flash SINCE I LOVE EZRA MILLER and I love The Flash. So I was excited to see them. But anyway, on to the review.
Pros:
Cast and Characters. I think one of the best things this movie has going for it is that the cast is good, they have pretty good chemistry with each other and they’re all fun.
  • Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A wealthy socialite and owner of Wayne Enterprises who also dresses up like a bat and protects Gotham City from criminals. He is a highly trained, a masked vigilante equipped with a lot of tools and weapons. In this film Bruce spots a parademon and makes it his mission to try to recruit the others to help fight as Superman died. I mean, Bruce is Bruce, Batman is Batman. I think Ben Affleck is a good choice for both characters. Being this older version of the character, he’s even more jaded than usual but at the same time, weirdly optimistic. I think he does a good job in understanding the character at this point in his life. I appreciate that he doesn’t growl when he talks as Batman but he does mumble since he talks through his teeth.
  • Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman: Diana is a antiquities dealer, an immortal Amazonian warrior and the crown princess of Themyscira. She has superhuman abilities and is awesome. She is very different from the Diana we knew and loved from her solo outing, she’s still hurt and angry from the events that happened there and it shows because she isn’t nearly as eyes wide open as she was before, that also has to do with the fact that she’s been around for years. Diana is still trying to find her footing even though she helps whenever she’s needed. In this film, she works with Bruce, but she also opposes a lot of his theories and she basically is the one who understands the most what’s going on, as she keeps telling us. Gal Gadot is still great in her role, I love her facial expressions when she’s fighting, and when she’s enjoying whatever fight she’s in.
  • Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / Flash: In this film, I believe Barry is probably about 20 as he’s a University student. We first meet him when he’s speaking with his father in prison and it’s easy to tell that this sort of thing still bothers him, but as we get to meet him more, we find that he is a bit awkward, likes to crack jokes and obviously the youngest of the group. I liked his energy throughout the movie, he was funny, he was always smiling and I think Ezra Miller has really good comedic timing. I mean I get why people wouldn’t like him but I loved him and I can’t wait to see his solo movie. He was definitely the comic relief in the movie. I also liked the little extra things he would do for the role, like whenever he got ready to run, he would do a yoga pose, or he would breath deeply to prepare. I also enjoyed how when he was hungry as he burns a lot of calories that he would affect his body posture and facial expressions to show it.
  • Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman: He is a meta-human with aquatic abilities and superhuman physical attributes due to his Atlantean physiology. He’s been a Good Samaritan to the people in a small town that lives on the water. He likes his alcohol and he’s super cool with all of his tattoos (good use of Momoa’s personal tattoos honestly) and it’s easy to tell that he’s distrustful of most people he doesn’t know. I liked that about him because it shows that something may have happened with him. I think Jason Momoa definitely enjoyed this role because he was able to be strong, funny and have fun. Whenever he was fighting, he would do “yahoo!” and I loved how he would comment about Bruce being dressed as a giant bat. He was totally a bro, but a likable bro lol.
  • Ray Fisher as Victor Stone / Cyborg: A former college athlete, and a genius who gets into a car accident that nearly kills him. His father uses technology to reconstruct his body giving him abilities that allow him to fly, turn his arms into cannons and manipulate technology. Victor has to deal a lot with his struggle of his humanity and if he is still a human even though he’s mostly machine. I like that he has to deal with that throughout the movie before having to decide whether or not he comes to term with it. I liked Ray Fisher enough, I didn’t think he was the most memorable of the team but I didn’t think he was bad or anything, he was okay. He’s so handsome lol.
Supporting Characters. I was going to go through the supporting characters but I realized that they’re not very important at least to this movie. Sure, Jeremy Iron as Alfred is great just as he was in BvS. Amy Adams returns as Lois Lane and she’s not in the film very long, she’s there to serve a plot point and that’s about it, same to be said for Diane Lane as Martha Kent. I guess outside of Alfred, Joe Morton as Silas Stone is probably the most important side character but that’s mostly because of his connection to the plot lol.
The Humor. I think the movie is funny, it has a lot of moments where I just cracked up because the characters, mostly Aquaman and Flash, had a lot of great lines, or interactions with other characters. I love how Barry tried to fist bump Victor and he would never do it. Or Aquaman’s reactions to the plan that Bruce had, or just most of his expressions. I don’t think every joke lands BUT I think a lot of them do that helps the movie from feeling slow and boring.
The Flash’s Effects. I will go into this more later, but I do think that The Flash’s effects were cool. I liked how they tried to distinguish this version’s lightning effects to be different with the blue instead of the red/yellow. It’s different and I thought the colors were pleasing in the film.
The Action. Not all of the action works but there are some great moments in the film. Steppenwolf goes to Themyscira and fights the Amazon, that entire scene was great! It was great to see the Amazons again and see them be awesome! There is also a fight in the middle of the film, I thought that fight was much better than the one at the end, I would have been fine if the movie focused on that storyline instead but that fight was really cool. Also Wonder Woman’s first fight scene in the museum (?) was AWESOME, that felt like it was right outside of a comic book.
Cons:
The Villain. Oh boy, this dude was so generic that anytime he showed up, I was like “oh yeah, you are the villain trying to do something for Darksied” meh. I don’t even think they mentioned Darksied again so if you missed it when he said it, you will absolutely no idea what he is trying to do. He wants to destroy and change the planet. Okay, but for what? No one ever really talks about it again other than the fact that it’s BAD! He was just a big villain with his “gross” minions and I wasn’t at all worried for anyone, or at all scared of him. I mean, of course he’s a movie villain, but I didn’t think he struck up any type of fear in anyone. Which leads me into my next point.
The Story. It was really weak. I mean, I felt there weren’t any stakes. Again, there is too much going on in this story. I wanted to give a lot more bullet points for this but I’ll just put it here since it all has to do with the story.
  • No stakes. I wasn’t worried about anything going on in this movie, other than the fight in the middle when Arthur, Victor, Diana and Barry all show up to see if Bruce’s plan worked, I didn’t think they had anything to worry about really. Whatever threat they wanted to build up, just didn’t build up. Diana just kept saying over and over that it was dangerous but it didn’t seem that way other than her saying it.
  • The emotional weight. There were a few moments of emotional weight that SHOULD have hit but didn’t and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’re really just meeting Arthur, Victor and Barry in this movie and we know nothing about them in this particular world/universe. Barry’s moments with his father in jail are always emotional moments and I think Ezra Miller’s and Billy Crudup’s emotional abilities were wasted in that scene as it felt forced in there. Victor’s struggle with his humanity was nice and it helped give him something to do in the first half of the movie, but honestly, a solo movie or something before this would have helped with that. Also, Mera and Arthur have a talk after Steppenwolf fights them in Atlantis and I know what they were talking about to an extent but I also didn’t care.
  • The plot. I mean who cares. Steppenwolf comes back because Superman is dead, and tries to go after these Mother Boxes to remake the world. Okay. Again, why exactly? He really only says it once. Again, they suffer from too much going on and not knowing how to balance it all for me to truly care.
The Characters. Don’t get me wrong, I liked them. But I also thought that there wasn’t really much to them, story wise. I think the actors worked with what they were given.  When I tried to go back over the characters, I realized that they were kind of shallow. There were moments when Bruce made me think of Bruce from Injustice but it was inconsistent. I thought Diana was very different and for some reason they definitely played up her being a woman more (the shots of her butt, people commenting on how pretty she is… take more notes from her solo movie please), and I get that she’s a different person than she was in her movie, but that is what makes her interesting. Victor has his humanity struggles and his connection to the Mother Boxes but I don’t think they did much with him outside of what he could do with the Mother Boxes. Arthur and Barry had a bit more heart personally, but that’s because of how cool they are.
Designs of Characters. I didn’t like the design of Cyborg, the Parademons or Steppenwolf. Cyborg’s design wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. I was pretty optimistic before I saw the film about his design because I figured the film wasn’t finished that he would look better but he didn’t. I think you could tell that they had to replace Ray Fisher’s body with CGI because the way his head moved compared to his body was odd. The Parademons could have had a different design, I mean I know they more or less look like that in the comics but they look too much like other things from other movies. A friend of mine mentioned they looked like Ultron’s henchmen which now I can’t unsee that. Steppenwolf looked like that hammerhead shark guy from Pirates of the Caribbean and I think his design could have been different. He’s this big grey guy and I think they could have done a little more with his design.
Special Effects. There are a lot of moments in the movie where the special effects looked really bad and weird. The effects on Cyborg were awkward, I didn’t like the blue light on his forehead and then the red light with his eye. It didn’t look well together. There is a particular character that shows up a few times where it’s easy to tell that something was digitally done to their face (a friend told me why that happened) and while I get it now, it still bothered me and I noticed it every time they showed up and was so bad.
The Fight Scenes. Not all of them were bad but there were some badly choreographed fights. Most notably, the one in Atlantis. I was really looking forward to that because I want to see how it looked underwater and it was meh. It was disappointing. The fight scene at the end, the big one, was also lackluster and there were times when The Flash was running that all you saw was a bunch of lightning and I mean I get it, he’s so fast BUT I WANT TO SEE THE ACTION. The big fight at the end, there are moments when I had no idea what was going on, there was this weird orange tint on the screen and they would cut away or do a long shot when someone was fighting. Why?
Disjointed/Structure. I don’t know if everyone really knows this, but Zack Snyder had to step down from finishing this movie due to a tragedy in his family, so Joss Whedon (Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) came in to finish the film in post production. He was originally hired to write additional scenes that would be reshoots but due to the tragedy, Whedon ended up finishing the post production of the film and filmed the scenes he wrote. I think it’s easy to tell that it was handled by different people because it gets very clunky in there. It almost feels like one of those puzzles where you have to slide the pieces in order to make it fit and someone didn’t know what they were doing at first, and then someone had to come behind them and fix it and they tried their best but one piece was still not fitting correctly.
Bad/Awkward Cuts and Transitions. Wow, this movie so many bad and awkward cuts and transitions. There was a particularly bad one that I was so shocked at how bad it was and it happened quite a lot in the movie. In the beginning, there’s a scene with Batman and a thief, and there’s a bit of dialogue and then it just cuts to the next scene. Later with Diana and Victor, they have a conversation and after it’s over, the scene cuts awkwardly again.  There’s a lot of that in the movie and it’s really distracting.
Overall, the day I saw Justice League, I found myself liking it more than I do now. This review has been hard because the more I thought about it, the more I found myself not liking it as much. I believe it’s definitely better than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad but definitely nowhere near as good as Wonder Woman. It has a lot of flaws, but it’s fun. I did have fun watching it. I enjoyed seeing this characters on-screen together, I loved seeing Ezra Miller as The Flash and seeing Jason Mamoa as Aquaman, they were new and felt fresh. It was great to see Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot return as Batman and Wonder Woman and I liked Ray Fisher as Cyborg. I think the actors were fine in their roles. I liked some of the action, the music was fun, I particularly liked the credits song and I thought that it had a lot of funny moments. However, there were a lot of times where the characters felt like shells of what they should be, or have been, the action wasn’t consistent, the story was clunky with no stakes, I didn’t believe the danger. The special effects were inconsistent and there were a TON of bad and awkward cuts and transitions. I wanted to really like this movie, I like it enough that I would buy it, but I don’t think it’s as good as it could have been. I just hope that the future movies, get better. Perhaps the solo movies will be handled better.
Rating: 2.89 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen Justice League? What did you think of it? Comment below and let me know!
Who is your favorite DC comics character?
Don’t forget like and comment this blog!
P.S. There are TWO credit scenes.

My Top 10 Worst Films of 2016

~ Alyxwrites ~ 3 Comments
original
People normally do the BEST first but since there was more on that last to consider than this one, I’m going to put this one out first. Plus, save the best for last right?
This is my personal list of the worst films of this year. I either didn’t like them, perhaps had a bad experience watching it or I may have liked them but they were bad movies, I can identify bad movies even if I liked them. This list is my opinion, it’s alright if you don’t agree. I haven’t seen everything so films that you might have thought were terrible, I probably didn’t see. I don’t always make it a habit to see bad movies, or movies that look bad, or movies I don’t want to see period but things happen lol. Also, not every film on this list I did a review for, but the ones I did, I will put a link.
Dishonorable Mentions: Regression, The Free State of Jones, The 5th Wave
My Top 10 Worst Films of 2016
10. X-men: Apocalypse
xmenapocalypseimaxThis is here because this has the most rewatchable value to me. I liked a lot of the movie but I can’t necessarily say the entire thing was a great experience. I mostly liked the characters. The new young squad (especially Nightcrawler) but they were way underutilized, Erik and Charles of course. I think Oscar Isaac was a good casting choice but they did him wrong with all that makeup and costuming. However, Apocalypse the character did not live up to his name, I’m sick of Mystique being a forefront character when she’s not, outside of Magneto, the Horsemen were useless. There were some missed opportunities and I think the climax was kind of lame. Plus, what was up with that Phoenix thing? I thought Jean isn’t supposed to be aware of that? Weird.
9.  Suicide Squad
suicide-squad-movie-characters-calendarI enjoyed the experience of watching the movie but I think it was a mess. Some of the characters were interesting but they hardly get enough time to really flesh them out or for the audience to really connect with them. I enjoyed Harley Quinn, The Joker (probably in the minority), Deadshot and Amanda Waller and to some degree Captain Boomerang but everyone else got pushed the side. The storyline was jumbled, I was sick of hearing “we’re the bad guys” but you never really see that other than everyone trying to escape once they’re out of prison outside of Harley Quinn. We get it, you don’t have to keep telling us. The villain was LAME and that stupid beam of light. Gosh.
8. Now You See Me 2
screen_shot_now_you_see_me_2_-_official_trailer_Out of all the movies on the list, I like this one the most… HOWEVER I know it’s pretty terrible. Most of our faves from the first film have returned, with some new additions but the plot… lord have mercy the plot is all over the place. There is a lot of holes, I know “magic” but magic cannot fill a plot hole or bad/confusing writing. I get the movie, I get the overall idea, but there was some details that should have had some extra care. I think Jack still gets shafted, there was a lot of weird stuff that happened with him towards the end that don’t really make sense (how are you in two places at once bro?), why does everyone go through so much work just to do one thing? It’s a bit overkill. Also, the twist with Morgan Freeman was not a twist, the look of Woody Harrelson playing a twin brother was cringe inducing, a lot of choices made were stupid… villains why would you think you killed someone when you didn’t even check to see if they were dead? Loose ends man. Also, the final “trick” was soooo overkill, it was fun to watch but makes no sense lol.
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
x1-12-pagespeed-ic-mv2wztnxkbThere were definitely parts I liked: Batman, Wonder Woman, that 6ish minute fight between Batman and Superman but that was probably about it. I was so upset when I was finished with this movie because it should have been two films, it was such a great set up for a Justice League movie but it should have been more than just a set up movie since it’s these two comic book ICONS squaring off. Superman was hardly in this, what exactly what his problem with Batman? He didn’t have one because it didn’t make sense for him to have one, they show someone with a Bat brand but is that it? Also, Clark is the worst journalist ever, why would he NOT know who Bruce Wayne is? I mean, Lois Lane is your girlfriend, if all of you guys exist in the same universe, someone needs to know who Bruce Wayne is. What was the deal with Lois? Her whole plot seemed to be shoehorned in with the bullet thing. Martha…? So? I don’t need to keep seeing The Wayne’s die, we know, they’re dead. Stop. Lex’s plans were muddled (though I did enjoy him to an extent) and it was just too much for one film. Should have been Batman v Superman and then a Dawn Of Justice film. Instead they shoehorned cameos in there, I just meh. I hate hearing “the extended edition helps”, well I shouldn’t have to buy a whole other movie for the first movie I saw to be better. The theatrical film should have been the right movie. No thanks.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-out-shadows-trailer-internationalI saw this with my younger brother  and I think this movie is stupid lol. “Out of the shadows”? Where? lol I like the turtles, I appreciate they made their designs smaller than they were in the first film, I don’t think this movie really grasped itself. Of course Leo and Raph have to fight each other, of course Donnie has to use technobabble that means nothing, of course Sensei is also not very much in this movie unless he randomly shows up to give a word or two of wisdom. Tyler Perry… what? Bebop and Rock Steady were a love/hate thing.  What was with that genitalia joke? Ugh. Casey Jones and April O’Neill were miscast, I mean I like Stephen Amell for the most part but I think he was trying to hard and lord Megan Fox is so miscast. The action was cool, the fight scenes, mostly the scene with the tank in the water was awesome but outside of that… meh. Also, who designed Krang? Ugh so nasty. Also, lol of course the villain is amassing a weapon in the middle of the sky.
5. The Young Messiah
young-messiah-6I didn’t review this. It was one of those movies that I just wanted to see and boy was it bad.  I dig the idea of showing a film where Jesus is an adolescent but I just think everyone phoned it in. The little boy who played Jesus… I don’t know who told him that what he was doing was good because it wasn’t. He kept shaking his head the entire time he spoke, it was so irritating! The whole point of a movie like this is to encourage hope for what Jesus will become but none of that is here. It’s boring, it’s tedious, it’s way to long and there is this demon dude in the movie who just feels random.

 

4. Nina
maxresdefault1I think we all knew this was going to be a bad one. Zoe Saldana was woefully miscast and I think she knew it too. All that makeup on her, horrible. Why do that? If you have to put that much makeup to look like someone you KNOW you don’t look like… then DON’T BE THE PERSON!!! I do think you can tell Zoe Saldana has extreme love for Nina Simone but that doesn’t mean she should have played her, she could have been involved but not as the character. I was surprised that she could sing but obviously not Nina. The movie also this weird look, I understand they were trying to capture the time period, but the movie looked like they didn’t have enough money to really do much in post production. Definitely not a rewatchable movie. It just feels so dark, so muddy and there’s nothing interesting about it. Nina Simone should be in an interesting movie BUT SHE’S NOT! WHAT!? LAME!
3. The Divergent Series: Allegiant
divergent-allegiant-movie-reviewsI actually forgot this movie came out this year because it was so terrible. After seeing Insurgent I kind of figured it’d get worse. Being that this is the last book of the trilogy, for some reason, they wanted to split the films which was a bad choice, the book wasn’t that good. No. All of the characters became boring, Tris became way too trusting and everything interesting about her from the first movie, falling away and her becoming stupid. I did not appreciate the fact that Four is never humanized by Tris calling him by his real name “Tobias”. The dialogue was stupid, it was too long and tedious, it was boring. No real stakes were created. Characters that should have been there weren’t, characters that may have betrayed/died inspired nothing because we didn’t get the chance to be with them. Yeah… terrible. It’s sad that the last part is no longer happening but if you’re not going to follow the source material enough, then don’t do it. I’m all for changing things for film because not everything translate well, not to mention, maybe they will fix something that didn’t work in the books… but don’t change it to be cute. It doesn’t work.
2. The Purge: Election Year
Worse experience ever. Also no review. I hated this movie with a passion. I actually almost walked out with my friend and we were going to see Tarzan instead. It was so stupid, just too much, it makes no sense. I don’t care if it’s part of a trilogy, I don’t care… I hated it. How are these people getting guillotines and stuff?? How are they getting these weapons!? Why are you so mad about a friggin candy bar!? How could you drive your car with all of those Christmas lights on it? Why are people killing so much? Why is no one robbing banks? Why aren’t we seeing that type of crime being committed…I highly doubt a lot of people would be using murder on their purge night. Sure, no one will be robbing banks, or electronic stores or anything like that. Ugh. I get the point, I get it, I get it, I get it. Doesn’t mean it was done with good execution. Stay in your lane.
1. When The Bough Breaks
mv5bmze5nzyznzg4nv5bml5banbnxkftztgwmty5ntm3ote-_v1_ux477_cr00477268_al_Oh my goodness… this movie is terrible. You guys… the premise was stupid, the characters were stupid, the execution was horrible. So the girl goes crazy once she puts on that red dress and changes her hairstyle? lol okay. The boyfriend=overacting. I feel like everyone in this movie was tricked lol. It was just all terrible. The story could have been interesting, but nope, it turned into the typical “i’m crazy and I love the husband and I’m going to make sure the wife is out of the picture” thing. Ugh!!! The dialogue is laughable, the stakes are are nonexistent, it’s not thrilling but instead cringeworthy and the climax was extremely over the top. This movie could have benefitted from better writing and better care because it’d be cool to be black actors in movies like this but… the writing HAS to be good.
So yes this is my list lol. I still haven’t seen everything which probably would be here if I did IE: Max Steele, Meet the Blacks, Fifty Shades of Black, Norm of the North, Nine Lives etc… but again I don’t make habits to see movies I think will be bad or don’t want to see lol.
Let me know if you agree with this list. Let me know if you don’t. What films from 2016 made your list for the Worst? Let me know in the comments below. Be sure to like this blog!
P.S. It’s okay if you disagree with me, remember this is my personal list but please don’t be rude about it. We can have a dialogue if you’d like, I’d welcome it, I love hearing differing opinions.

Movie Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

~ Alyxwrites ~ 1 Comment
I’m going to be real, I was really looking forward to this movie only for Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jared Leto (Joker) and to see what Viola Davis would do with Amanda Waller.
Pros:
Cast/Characters. I’m not going to name everyone but the people who stood out.
  • Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn). This was good casting and she owns this role. Considering how insane Harley is, Robbie does such a good job keeping her humorous, sexy, and out of her mind but self-aware. At the same time, there are times when she’s emotional or appears vulnerable and Robbie gives another side of Harley Quinn that’s not always shown. She also comes off like she’s the only one who enjoys doing what she does. Everyone may have had their reasons but she loves doing it. She’s unpredictable and Robbie portrays all of that (there’s a great flashback scene between her and Batman and a bunch of water). A lot of the humor in the film comes from her.
  • Will Smith (Floyd Lawton/Deadshot). I was curious to see how he’d do since he’s usually always playing a hero type and to be honest, he still plays that here. His character is probably the one with the most humanity out of the Squad, he falls easily into the “leader” just toeing the “hero” line. He’s given a backstory enough to the point that we know his character more than anyone else’s. He does well in playing someone who’s mean, awesome with a gun and who will knock you out if you piss him off. But he still makes that face where he looks like he’s about to cry lol.
  • Jared Leto (The Joker). I already love Jared Leto, so I tried to make sure I wasn’t just biased. It wasn’t enough to have a full judgement personally, but with his role (small, don’t expect a large role) I enjoyed him. You hardly see the tattoos which is what most people were upset about, he’s wearing clothes and the camera isn’t panned so much on him that you can see the “damaged” tattoo on his forehead. I like the fact that he was like a mob boss and that he irrevocably loved his girl. I can’t wait to see more.
  • Jay Hernandez (El Diablo). I wish there was more of him in this film. He has these really cool fire powers, he’s a metahuman, he was born with his power and before he used it to his advantage and now after being personally affected by it, he’s trying to change his ways. He was great in how he tries to remain in control of himself and how he refuses to get involved because he’s afraid of himself. When he does let loose, it’s pretty awesome.
  • Viola Davis (Amanda Waller). I love me some Viola Davis and Amanda Waller is ruthless and it reminds me of her character in How To Get Away With Murder just with a bit more darkness in her. She will do whatever it takes to reach her objective and the interesting thing I find about Davis, is that she doesn’t physically look intimidating but she puts all of that into her eyes and she does this little pursed smirk that makes you take a step back. So the fact that she comes off unsuspecting but then turns around and loads off some bullets… oh yeah.
The Chemistry/Camaraderie. It’s really easy to have an ensemble cast like this and focus only on a few characters and everyone else is just there… which this does happen and I’ll talk about that more later but overall, the team has some great chemistry with each other. This isn’t Smith and Robbie’s first movie together and they just have a natural companionship between them and Harley and Floyd are the main ones who gravitate towards each other. I’m not sure if it’s because he feels kinship in her, or because she’s so insane that he for some reason feels protective of her. I’d want to argue a bit of both. They all recognize that each has their own thing and they’re really good at it but they crack jokes at each other, exchange looks and understand each other. That part I think, is one of the better parts of the film.
The Soundtrack. Man, the music is awesome. The songs chosen to fit certain scenes, to introduce certain characters was handled so well that it becomes it’s own life instead of just being part of the movie. It is a soundtrack that I would listen to it on it’s own due to the fact that the songs were great choices and the pieces created for the action scenes, emotional scenes or more “somber” parts were also great. The song playing when the Squad is walking together towards the end was a great theme for the team itself.
Costumes. There’s not much to say being as no one is really wearing a “costume”… kind of but I liked everyone’s unique look. The time that had to go into developing Killer Croc’s look had to be long because he looked awesome! Watching him swim in the water… wow, the care in his appearance is obvious. Enchantress’s first appearance is definitely creepy, I liked the whole look she had going on when she’s all decrepit, dirty and looking like she’s disintegrating. It was a really interesting take on her look and I liked it. She has another look later that is a result of her obtaining something (trying not to spoil lol) which was fine but I preferred the other look. I liked a lot of the Joker’s mob boss outfits, business man like looks, same with Harley, I liked her outfit, yeah it was skimpy and her shorts could have been longer but she’s worn stuff like that in the comics.
Cons:
The Villain. Meh. The idea was nice, I guess, and the design behind the character was also really cool but I don’t particularly care for that character being the villain because their motivations were rocky at best. I mean I get it, it was definitely stated but it was stupid and cliche. Considering what the villain wanted, I think they could have done something else than the typical “beam of light” in the sky thing. Unfortunately, there are very few comic book movies with compelling and interesting villains so it’s not surprising really.
The story. This movie definitely seems to be more character driven than actual story driven because stuff is just happening and the characters are involved. Sure, the story is about this group of villains who are forced into working for the government, or they’ll die, and they have to work together. Yeah, I get that because that’s basic. However, while that’s fine, because that’s all it is, the movie just becomes flashy and action packed. It falls flat because when the team actually comes up to face the villain, the whole matchup seems mismatched. Why couldn’t this team fight something else? Or maybe it would have been fine if the script had a bit of fine tuning.
Other characters’ development. Now I mentioned the ones who were standouts, everyone was more or less good but like I said, it’s obvious that even in this ensemble cast, Will Smith’s character comes off as the lead, as well as Margot Robbie so it was hard to get the other characters interesting because outside of being curious about them, they’re not interesting. Katana was awesome in action but she doesn’t add anything, while Diablo was great, his backstory is rushed and condensed to him narrating it and a quick flashback, Rick Flagg is their “official leader” but outside of being kind of a plot device, he’s fine. I liked Boomerang because he was funny and seemed interesting but there’s nothing really there for him, same with Killer Croc, or why was Slipknot (or whoever Adam Beach’s character was) brought as well outside of “he can climb anything” because that’s lame. I know that in movies like this it’s hard when there isn’t films before to set up the characters but there needs to be a balance and there wasn’t one.
The Overall Look/Lighting/Editing/Transitions. These are together because the issues kind of go hand and hand.
Fortunately, this film isn’t washed out like Zack Synder’s DC films, because the colors are there however, during fight scenes, the lighting is really dark where it’s hard to see what’s going on. There are two major fight scenes and they both suffer from this. I think it’s easy to tell there is a lot cut from the theatrical release. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be another BvS thing where the theatrical cut was mediocre but everyone says the Unlimited Edition is so much better because if I didn’t care much for the theatrical release, why in the world would I pay more money to buy what should have been the theatrical version? Some transitions were cut quick where it was almost jarring to go from that to that and it’s like what….? When it comes to the fighting, while some parts were really cool, it was mostly because the camera wasn’t moving or it was in slow motion that it was actually easy to see who was kicking butt and who was getting their butts kicked.
Overall, I enjoyed Suicide Squad for what it was. I do think it’s much better than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and I do think it gives hope for the DCEU but it’s not like “Ohhhh yeah! We got more to come!” I think we can save that for when Wonder Woman and Justice League comes out. I think this movie has some interesting characters, mainly in the standouts of Floyd Lawton, Harley Quinn, The Joker and Amanda Waller, they are easily the better parts of the film and Lawton and Quinn help carry it for the most part, with their easy companionship and chemistry. The music is amazing and helps build the atmosphere of the movie and it’s good enough that it can stand on it’s own enough to listen to without the film. While the Joker isn’t a main character, his scenes are great and I believe in Jared Leto’s portrayal of him in the future. On the other hand, the movie does suffer from a weak villain and the motivations for a climax, the film fails to truly give the other characters enough to make them interesting outside of being plot devices or a funny “sidekick” and it has technical issues in the weak story, dull lighting, choppy editing and obvious cuts.
Rating: 2.90 out of 5 stars.
Have you seen Suicide Squad? What did you think?