Fantastic Four review

FANTASTIC FOUR:

DECENT CAST, BUT THIS IS A FANTASTIC BORE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: * out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX AND MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

(From left to right) Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell as the Fantastic Four

            We all remember the Fantastic Four, whether it’s the original Marvel Comics or animated Saturday morning cartoons, or even the original live action films directed by Tim Story, and I’m sure we all made fun of those movies, right?

            Anyway, back in July 2005, the first Fantastic 4 movie was released in theaters and while it did well at the box office, critics and nerds responded negatively about the film. I was 11 when the film came out, and I kind of liked it back then but it wasn’t a movie I thought about that much, probably because it came out the same summer and year as Batman Begins and Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

            Sadly I got to know most of the Marvel superheroes from their movies and reading the comics to get me hyped for the film’s release. From great Marvel movies like The Avengers, X-Men, and Spider-Man to failed attempts like Elektra, Punisher: War Zone, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

            But the negative reviews for the first film didn’t stop the sequel to get released, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, released in 2007 and was the only Marvel movie with its branding label to receive a PG MPAA rating. This one was a little better than the first one, it had a stronger plot and the Silver Surfer was pretty fun to watch, but again, didn’t think about the film much because of other summer 2007 movies like Spider-Man 3, Transformers, and The Simpsons Movie.

            So now eight years later after the release of Rise of the Silver Surfer, director Josh Trank (Chronicle) steps in to reboot the franchise. When I first heard they were rebooting the Fantastic 4 I honestly didn’t know how to feel about it, while I enjoyed other reboots like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy or Mark Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, I pretty much had no expectations with this movie, the trailer didn’t really sucker me in all that much and I just said “Eh, maybe it’ll be good, I don’t know!” that and all my eyes were drawn towards Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, NOTHING ELSE MATTERED!

            But since I am a long time supporter of film releases of Marvel superheroes, I went to one of my local theaters, sat down and watched it…and it BORED ME and followed pretty much NOTHING from the original comics, I have a whole new appreciation for Tim Story’s Fantastic 4 movies, comparing them to this movie makes the 2005 Fantastic 4 movie look like Spider-Man 2, confused? Well, perhaps after I describe the plot, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

            Ever since he was a boy, brilliant mind, Reed Richards (Miles Teller-The Spectacular Now, Divergent, Whiplash) has been exploring the universe in his garage after school every day. After he succeeds in a scientific breakthrough at his school’s science fair, he is offered a scholarship to work at the Baxter Foundation, directed by Professor Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey-The Mask, House of Cards, Grimm).

            Once Reed and his best friend, Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell-Billy Elliot, Jumper, The Adventures of Tintin) make it to Baxter they meet Franklin’s daughter, Susan Storm (Kate Mara-We Are Marshall, 127 Hours, Transcendence), Franklin’s son, Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan-Chronicle, That Awkward Moment, The Boondocks), and computer technician and scientist, Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).

            So the five of them collaborate on building a machine that can teleport organisms and objects to another dimension, codenamed Planet Zero. When Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Victor teleport themselves to Planet Zero, they get attacked by a powerful substance that gives each of them special powers, and after they arrive back to Earth, the impact of the teleportation blast affects Susan as well.

            So the substance gives them super powers, Reed Richards has the power of elasticity, Susan Storm can turn people and objects invisible and project forcefields, Johnny can set himself on fire, throw fireballs, and fly, just by simply saying “Flame On”, Ben has been transformed into a rocky monster that has super strength, and Victor has been transformed into an electric powered, power hungry supervillain called Doctor Doom, who plans to plunge the Earth into Planet Zero.

            So Reed, Susan, Johnny, and Ben become Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, and The Thing, better known as the Fantastic Four to stop Doctor Doom before the world is destroyed.

            Yeah I know what you’re probably thinking now, this sounds nothing like the 2005 Fantastic 4 movie or the Fantastic Four comic books, and you’d be right. They didn’t even attempt at a Fantastic Four movie, the origin story is changed, The Human Torch is now an African-American (I’m personally not against this but it doesn’t make sense with the story), the actors seem too young to portray the characters, the acting and script is extremely wooden, which is a shame because the actors who play the characters are very talented in other films, it’s mostly the script that’s the problem, and the film is extremely lacking in action, there’s only ONE superhero battle throughout the entire movie, the rest is just buildup and poor development.

            Whether you like or hate the previous Fantastic 4 movies, at least it’s an attempt, the actors looked like the characters, they had more action, and the characters are developed, and most of all they weren’t dull or boring, this on the other hand is and it fails as a comic book movie, now is it the worst Marvel movie ever made? Probably not, I still think Howard the Duck is the worst, but this is at least the worst with the Marvel label on it, this pretty much makes Elektra, Punisher: War Zone, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance look like good movies and it really saddens me that a decent director and a talented cast, and even producer Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service) could end up with such a boring mess.

            And sadly we have a sequel coming along, let’s hope it’s better, because as of right now, Fantastic Four is a “Fantastic Bore”. If you want a great Marvel Comics movie from Fox, wait until Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, and The Wolverine 3, Marvel, buy the film rights back for Fantastic Four from 20^th Century Fox and reboot it properly either as a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, ABC TV series, or a Netflix series, I can guarantee they would do a much better job with it than these guys.

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F review

DRAGON BALL Z: RESURRECTION F:

A DOUBLE DOSE OF SUPER SAIYAN ACTION AND THRILLS ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR DBZ FANS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT, TOEI ANIMATION, AND 20^TH CENTURY FOX

(From left to right) Goku, Frieza, and Vegeta ready to battle for the fate of the planet in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F

            Looks like I got my wish back when I reviewed Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods last year, another theatrical Dragon Ball Z film was right around the corner, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F, the fifteenth film based on the incredibly popular Dragon Ball Z anime. Like Battle of Gods, Resurrection F did not get a wide theatrical release, but instead a limited release through Fathom Events, and it still angers me that the 2009 live-action film, Dragonball: Evolution got a wide release and I’m still suffering from it.

            But fortunately, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F are here to save the day. Packing the same animation and English voice cast we know and love from the series, over the top action, and a decent sense of humor, everything the original series was known for.

            Some time after the events of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, we find the villainous Frieza being resurrected by the remnants of his army who used the seven Dragonballs to summon the dragon, Shenlong to bring the pieces of his obliterated corpse from his defeat by Vegeta and Bulma’s teenage son, Trunks and use their newly acquired resurrection machine to bring the evil overlord back to life to exact revenge on the Super Saiyans that have destroyed him and sent him to the most vile and despicable hell imaginable for any villain, with a new army and a brand new form.

            And that’s where our favorite doofus with a big heart and aggressive Super Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta come in, training with Lord Beerus’ right hand man with a severe Earth food addiction, Whis to enhance their fighting capabilities and powers. While that’s going on, Goku’s first son, Gohan is now a family man with his wife, Videl and their newborn baby daughter, Pan, Krillin is now a policeman, sporting some hair, and married to Android 18 (Did I miss something?), and Master Roshi is exactly the same as he ever was, but they are soon called upon by Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, Vegeta’s wife, Bulma, and Piccolo who warn them that Frieza has been resurrected and is coming to Earth to destroy them.

            When Goku and Vegeta hear about Frieza’s return, they must master their Super Saiyan God forms, make it back to Earth, and stop Frieza once more, before the entire planet is destroyed, with the seven Dragon Balls along with it.

            Overall, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F delivers the same amount of excitement and humor that Battle of Gods delivered last year, however I actually this film to be a little funnier than Battle of Gods, there were so many moments in the film where myself and the audience burst into laughter, cheering and applauding to go along. One extremely positive thing I can say about this film is that they finally turned Frieza into one badass villain, I swear every time I watched him on the series, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter because of how silly he looks, but once his Gold Frieza form appeared in the film, it became much easier to take him seriously.

            And like Battle of Gods, it makes me hate Dragonball: Evolution even more, because of how much it didn’t live up to the source material and made die-hard Dragon Ball fans vomit with disgust, me included. Both Battle of Gods and Resurrection F are perfect examples of what everything Dragonball: Evolution isn’t, that movie can suck my Dragon Balls. (PS if you weren’t expecting a Dragonball: Evolution rant in here, I owe you all a Coke!)

            If you’re a long time fan of Dragon Ball Z or a newcomer and loves the anime and Battle of Gods movie, you’ll have a ball with Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F, and I’m hoping to see another Dragon Ball Z theatrical movie next year, with two great full length Dragon Ball Z movies released back to back, one more should pretty much eradicate my memory of Dragonball: Evolution with a Kamehameha Spirit Bomb on Steroids. 

Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation review

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION:

A FIFTH MISSION THAT SHOULD GLADLY BE ACCEPTED!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND BAD ROBOT

Tom Cruise doing the impossible once more in Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation

            Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Minority Report, Edge of Tomorrow) reprises his role as the iconic secret agent, Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the long running Mission: Impossible film franchise, based on the TV series of the same name, Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation. In the director’s chair is frequent Tom Cruise collaborator, Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow) and Mission: Impossible III director and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol producer, J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, Super 8) returns to produce. 

            Like most of the Mission: Impossible movies I enjoyed Rogue Nation a lot, just as much as Mission: Impossible III and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but personally when it comes to an IMAX experience, Ghost Protocol was done better, but it was still pretty immersive and fun on the giant IMAX screen with 12,000 watt sound.

            Some time after the missile crisis of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the IMF has officially been disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg-Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames-Con Air, Lilo & Stitch, Dawn of the Dead), and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner-The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy, American Hustle) out in the cold, they are called back into action to face off against a network of highly skilled secret agents known by their codename, the Syndicate that are hellbent on creating a new world order through a series of terrorist attacks.

            Ethan and his team join forces with a seductive British agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson-The White Queen, Hercules) who may or may not be a double agent working for the Syndicate as they face their most impossible mission yet.

            The plot is basically like any other Mission: Impossible movie, Tom Cruise gets a call about a mission, a group of bad guys have powerful weapons, and they have to stop them in the most impossibly implausible ways imaginable. But plot aside; the film is filled with incredibly over the top stunts, exciting action, and even some gripping suspense from Tom Cruise hanging onto a flying airplane to surviving a flipping car crash, while driving the car.

            Of course the acting is decent, for a Mission: Impossible movie, Tom Cruise as the cocky action leader, that works, Simon Pegg as the comic relief geek, of course that works too, Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) as a corrupt CIA agent, talk about perfect casting there, the list goes on.

            The CG special effects have certainly gotten better as the films went on, we all know how dated that train fight was back in the first movie. However unlike most summer blockbusters that come out these days, a lot of the stunts and action were practical and were right there in front of you in all its over the top glory, but it’s not quite as over the top as films like Kingsman: The Secret Service or Mad Max: Fury Road.

            So as a whole, the film is a blast whether you’re watching it in a regular theater or on an IMAX, personally I probably would have loved the IMAX version even more if the film had select scenes shot with IMAX cameras like what director Brad Bird did with Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but I digress.

            So if you’re a fan of Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible, you’ll love Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation and with Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation being this awesome and entertaining, I’m excited to see what Cruise has planned next for Mission: Impossible 6.

THIS REVIEW WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 5 SECONDS!