Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Tuesday, December 27, 2016
While many films fall under the classification of "comic book movie" according to various outlets due to a lot of crossover audience, there were only eight true mainstream superhero flicks that came out in 2016.
Oddly enough, despite the boom of the genre, this was a year of struggles where many of them underperformed at the box office and weren't particularly critically acclaimed. There were aspects to like for just about every film on the list as even the worst movies could have gems peppered throughout, but overall, it looks like a somewhat weak group.
So how do they rank compared to each other? Let's go ahead and list them from worst to best and examine why some succeeded while others scrambled for whatever praise they could get.
#8. Max Steel
I didn't see it, so it has to go at the bottom of the list by default. Nobody seems to have anything positive to say about this movie and it looked pretty dumb as it's targeted toward a younger audience. If I were six years old, I'm sure I would have jumped at the chance to watch this, but when you add more than 20 years to that, I have better things to do with my time. Of course, if everyone had raved about it, I would have set aside the time to give it a go, but if you look around, critics hated it, audiences weren't much kinder to it, and there's been no buzz.
#7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
I was a huge fan of the turtles as a kid with the first and second films being two of the most-watched movies of my childhood. We all know the third one was awful, so when they said they were rebooting things a few years ago, I went into the Michael Bay-produced flick with high hopes which were sadly deflated. I didn't absolutely hate everything about it, but it just wasn't as well-crafted as I was hoping it would be.
Still, when a sequel was announced, I knew I would be interested in checking it out, so I went ahead and did just that. There were elements that I think they improved on, while other parts of the sequel showed that there was still a lot of tweaking necessary to get a better product out. Since this underperformed, I'm not expecting a third one to happen any time soon. Check out my Reviewpoint and Minute Man Review for more.
#6. X-Men: Apocalypse
While slightly better than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, good lord was this a disappointment compared to expectations. X-Men: Days of Future Past was so damn good and I love the character of Apocalypse, so I was really hoping this would be the best film of the franchise to date, but it was just okay with some questionable decisions that really hurt the overall movie. It was as if they had a checklist of things they needed to do and they tried to formulate as basic of a plot surrounding those elements, so when they patched everything together, it just felt hollow. Check out my Reviewpoint and Minute Man Review for more.
#5. Suicide Squad
This movie has so, so many problems...so many, in fact, that I wrote up a Fanboys Fix It article showcasing them and I had to lump tons of little things together into bigger issues just so I didn't make the post too big.
There were tons of stuff I actually enjoyed, like the cameo from Batman and the world-building, but holy shit was this movie hacked to pieces in the editing room or just poorly structured out to begin with. What could have been DC's Guardians of the Galaxy in that it would be a surprise to see such low-key characters outshining the more popular ones ended up instead being a movie that killed a lot of enthusiasm about the future of the film franchise. For all the flaws Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have, people looked at Suicide Squad as the one that could save things, and it didn't. Now, all eyes are on Wonder Woman to undo the bad mojo from three films, not one or two.
Check out my Reviewpoint and Minute Man Review for more.
#4. Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is one of my least favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but that's not to say that it's a bad one. Lots of people seem to love it because it has some elements that are slightly different yet they ignore the things that are the same. For the record, I never tend to like something solely on it being "a refreshing change of pace"—good is good, bad is bad, change can be either. In this case, the differences were okay, but nothing to make me disregard the parts that I didn't enjoy.
For example, the love interest and the villain are very lackluster with almost no dimension to them (no pun intended) and the origin story is incredibly rushed. Is it fun at times? Sure. But I think the longer we separate ourselves from this movie, the less it's going to hold up as a favorite for people. Years after its release, everybody still agrees the first Iron Man and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are among the two best of the series, but I don't think we'll be hearing many fans talk about Doctor Strange being one of their go-to films to rewatch on a regular basis like they do with The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Check out my Reviewpoint and Minute Man Review for more.
#3. Deadpool
Innovative? Check. Funny? Check. Cool action? Check. Do you get a lot of bang for your buck? Check. Does it stay faithful to the character? Check.
The marketing campaign for this film alone was amazing but who would have thought it would end up making so much money while simultaneously being praised by critics? It's Deadpool, for God's sake! This movie spent a decade on the shelf as a film that would never be made, and not only did it accomplish just that, it shattered so many of the expectations put upon it.
This isn't my favorite movie of the year by any means (hence why it's #3 on this list, even) but I think it deserves all the credit in the world and if you think it should be at the top, I could definitely see the argument.
Check out my Reviewpoint, Making the Grade and Minute Man Review for more.
#2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
I'm somewhat of an apologist for this movie in a lot of ways. When the credits came up, I asked everybody I had seen it with and most people were hating on it or they didn't know quite what to think, but I loved it outside of Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, Batman killing people and a couple other things. The extended cut is even better and fixes about 60% of the problems I had with the movie. Sure, it leaves 40% (like Eisenberg's casting and Batman killing people) but the amount of hate this film gets is preposterous.
I felt more enthusiastic about the future of the DCEU after seeing Batman v Superman than I did going into it, which may be a minority vote, but at least I'm one person out there who doesn't grimace when hearing the title of this movie. I've since seen it a handful of times (always the ultimate edition, never the theatrical) and there are more and more little idiosyncrasies that I enjoy with each viewing. Just the same, there are some black marks that bug me every time, but I'm still very high on this movie.
Check out my Reviewpoint, Making the Grade and Minute Man Review for more.
#1. Captain America: Civil War
Oddly enough, I like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice more than the average person and I don't like Captain America: Civil War as much as the average person, but I still have to admit that fundamentally, it's the better film between the two as far as fitting within their respective series. More than anything, I was disappointed that Civil War didn't have the gravitas that The Winter Soldier was able to pull off, but look at everything that was fantastic about it: Black Panther, a new Spider-Man, the airport sequence, The Raft, an implosion between a group that actually makes more sense than what Batman and Superman are doing, etc.
The MCU is simply fantastic and the worst parts of this franchise are always outmatched by all of the great things. For everything in Civil War that makes me wish they had gone a different route, they do ten that make me geek out.
Check out my Reviewpoint, Making the Grade and Minute Man Review for more.
How would you rank these movies in order?
Do you agree or disagree with this list?
Tell us yours in the comments below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Monday, December 26, 2016
Every year, TorrentFreak takes all of the statistics from the past 12 months and compiles a list of the top 10 most pirated films and television shows downloaded through various sources from a worldwide perspective.
Here are the top ten for 2016:
#10. The Grand Tour
#9. Suits
#8. Lucifer
#7. Vikings
#6. The Big Bang Theory
#5. Arrow
#4. The Flash
#3. Westworld
#2. The Walking Dead
#1. Game of Thrones
From my perspective, this makes quite a bit of sense. I've actually never heard of The Grand Tour before, so I might be living under a rock when it comes to that, but outside of that being on the list along with Vikings and Suits, nothing else surprises me.
With Suits, I just didn't think it had enough of a following. I would have thought Mr. Robot would take that spot instead for sure, so I'm shocked that's not in the top 10. Vikings is something I underestimated the popularity of, too.
But in general, comic book material is always a target for this type of activity as the fans of those genres are typically more savvy to the ability to torrent things in general. You're not going to find mid-40s housewives scouring The Pirate Bay for General Hospital episodes as much as you're going to see those CW shows on this list.
I'm a huge fan of Lucifer as well as The Flash (and admittedly The Big Bang Theory is still something I enjoy, despite my enthusiasm for it decreasing year by year) so I don't know how to feel about them being on this list. That means they're popular, but it also means a lot of people aren't watching them in means that actually matter to the networks. This could hurt them quite a bit. Perhaps if less people torrented stuff like Limitless, it wouldn't have been cancelled.
Westworld is undoubtedly my favorite new show of the year and with the amount of buzz it got, I fully expected it to make this list. Seeing as how the only two above it are the two shows which have been around longer and amassed an even bigger following over those years, it makes perfect sense.
What do you think about this list?
Would you have expected anything else to be on here instead of what the results were?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Saturday, December 17, 2016
After last year's release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens breaking box office records and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story currently out in theaters right now, the Star Wars franchise has carved out a niche in December's already packed holiday season.
While you're celebrating Christmas, why not combine it with your love of the galaxy far, far away by merging the two together with TV Store Online's selection of Star Wars ugly Christmas sweaters?
TVSO has a wide variety of "ugly Christmas sweaters" ranging from all sorts of topics, but in particular, Star Wars is the theme that stands out as the most abundant as there are over 20 different designs to choose from, including my favorite of the bunch, the Stormtrooper With Reindeer Antlers Ugly Christmas Sweater.
How do you make a truly ugly Christmas sweater with a Stormtrooper? Give him antlers, of course! The design for this holiday sweater is absolutely atrocious, making it perfect for any contest. If you’re going to take part in this beloved holiday tradition, you might as well get a Christmas sweater that represents one of your favorite franchises! Show off your inner Star Wars nerd with the help of this funny Stormtrooper sweater. Bring a smile to everyone’s face with this officially licensed Star Wars sweater!
- 100% Acrylic
- Adult unisex sizes
- Runs Small; ORDER ONE SIZE LARGER
- Great add on for Ugly Christmas Sweater parties
- Officially Licensed
I'm not a sweater guy, but this is super comfortable, and if I'm going to embrace the ugly Christmas sweater season, I might as well do it with some Star Wars flair while I'm at it, right?
So if you're looking for a gift for someone this Christmas, you want to sneak in a movie reference for your holiday dinner or you're looking for a talking piece for everyone who will laugh at the mashup of imagery instead of the standard trees and Santa Claus and snowmen, be sure to check out TV Store Online and order one today!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Friday, December 16, 2016
We're back with another unboxing video from SuperHeroStuff.com for December 2016 to celebrate the upcoming release of the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story along with the holiday season rapidly approaching.
That's no moon...that's a mystery box! The STAR WARS: REBEL SCUM HEROBOX® to be exact. Celebrate the original trilogy and the release of Rogue One with two curated collections of Star Wars awesomeness: the Gold Edition and the Silver Edition. Limited to just 450 boxes.
Prepare for intergalactic war with our new limited edition mystery box featuring our favorites from the Star Wars Saga and this December's Rogue One. How exactly do Jyn Erso and her team of resistance fighters get the plans to the Death Star? That's not nearly as big of a mystery as what's inside this box.
The Empire can be a bunch of real jerks, can't they? Way back in the day, the galaxy was a nice democratically elected republic with senators, politics, and lobbying just like we have today. Unfortunately due to the machinations of the Sith, the Republic was destroyed through a series of measures that the democratically elected senate decided was a good idea. In order to preserve 'safety' of the Republic-Turned-Empire against the Confederacy of Independent Systems and newly born Rebel Alliance, the Senate was destroyed and all power given to the Chancellor...who turned out to be Sith! Awwww! We were bamboozled!
Of course people in the galaxy can't just sit by idly as the galaxy's freedoms and liberties are trampled. Oh no, they have to do something! Adopting the symbol of the House of Marek(thank you Force Unleashed), the Rebel Alliance decided to stick it to the Empire. Not only did they blow up the Death Star once, but twice...and maybe a third time if you count Starkiller base! On the bright side of things, we are going to get even more Rebel Alliance themed goodies...and here I thought 'Rogue Squadron' was the best we were going to get! Star Wars: Rogue One is a brand new moving coming out soon that will finally tell us the story on how the original Death Star plans were stolen. All I know is it involved Bothans!
What is the best way to lend your support to the Rebel Alliance while at the same time showing solidarity against the Empire and the Sith? You have plenty options available to you! You could go sign up at your local Jedi Temple or you could hop in your X-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing, or if you are super fancy B-Wing and come help the war effort! Oh, you don't know where your local Jedi Temple is and you don't have any spacecraft? That's alright...you could always just get the SuperheroStuff Rebel Scum HeroBox! 'Scum' here is of course a term of endearment that the Imperials will never understand. They thing it is some kind of derogatory term! HA! The Rebel Scum HeroBox is available in two different types. A normal one for those that are still leery of the Empire's reach while the ultimate one contains everything a rebel would need(has hand-picked by our exceptionally trained droids)! You'll get a shirt but beyond that it is anybody's guess! You could get buttons, lanyards, POP Fun FUNKO figures, pint glasses, travel mugs, beanies, hackey sacks, ice cube trays, fabric flags...all sorts of goodies! They all have the Rebel Alliance in common though and how often do you get to see a mystery gift box with such laser focus? Exactly!
Gold Edition: $69
Silver Edition: $49
If you want to get in on the fun and reserve yourself some cool stuff for next month, place your order at SuperHeroStuff HeroBox and use the code 15-HERO-BOX to save 15% off your order of $40+.
Thanks again to SuperHeroStuff for sending this our way!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Monday, December 12, 2016
The 74th annual Golden Globe Awards will take place Sunday, January 8, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton on NBC, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Here are the nominees for all of the categories. Give us your predictions on the winners and your favorites in the comments below!
TELEVISION AWARDS
Best Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film
Olivia Colman, The Night Manager
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Chrissy Metz, This is Us
Mandy Moore, This is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Best Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film
Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager
John Lithgow, The Crown
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
John Travolta, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Riley Keough, The Girlfriend Experience
Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Charlotte Rampling, London Spy
Kerry Washington, Confirmation
Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
John Turturro, The Night Of
Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Best Miniseries or Television Film
American Crime
The Dresser
The Night Manager
The Night Of
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series (Comedy or Musical)
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Sarah Jessica Parker, Divorce
Issa Rae, Insecure
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series (Comedy or Musical)
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Gael García Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Nick Nolte, Graves
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series (Drama)
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Claire Foy, The Crown
Keri Russell, The Americans
Winona Ryder, Stranger Things
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series (Drama)
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath
Best Television Series (Musical)
Atlanta
Black-ish
Mozart in the Jungle
Transparent
Veep
Best Television Series (Drama)
The Crown
Game of Thrones
Stranger Things
This is Us
Westworld
MOTION PICTURE AWARDS
Best Original Score
Nicholas Britell, Moonlight
Justin Hurwitz, La La Land
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Arrival
Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka, Lion
Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch, Hidden Figures
Best Original Song
"Can't Stop the Feeling!" (Max Martin, Shellback and Justin Timberlake), Trolls
"City of Stars" (Justin Hurwitz, Pasek and Paul), La La Land
"Faith" (Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder and Francis Farewell Starlite), Sing
"Gold" (Stephen Gaghan, Danger Mouse, Daniel Pemberton and Iggy Pop), Gold
"How Far I'll Go" (Lin-Manuel Miranda), Moana
Best Supporting Performance by Actress in a Motion Picture
Viola Davis, Fences as Rose Maxson
Naomie Harris, Moonlight as Paula
Nicole Kidman, Lion as Sue Brierley
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures as Dorothy Vaughan
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea as Randi
Best Supporting Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight as Juan
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water as Marcus Hamilton
Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins as Cosmé McMoon
Dev Patel, Lion as Saroo Brierley
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals as Ray Marcus
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Lily Collins, Rules Don't Apply
Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Jonah Hill, War Dogs
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama)
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama)
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Ruth Negga, Loving
Amy Adams, Arrival
Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane
Best Motion Picture (Foreign Language)
Divines
Elle
Neruda
The Salesman
Toni Erdmann
Best Motion Picture (Animated)
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
Sing
Zootopia
Best Director, Motion Picture
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
20th Century Women
Deadpool
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land
Sing Street
Best Motion Picture (Drama)
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN? WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR?
LEAVE YOUR PREDICTIONS AND THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Saturday, December 10, 2016
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has a ton of potential to completely change the game as far as Star Wars films go, but on the glass half empty side of things, since this is uncharted territory (or unknown regions, as you might say) there's also a chance it could mess with the feng shui of it all and throw it off-balance.
I have my reservations about some of things I've seen so far, ranging from the ships looking somewhat fake to my speculations that none of these characters will be fleshed out enough for me to truly care about them and even the possibility this muddles with canon in ways that are upsetting to me. However, since I'm a big fan of the series, I'm also geeking out so much over some different things I'm really hoping we get to see at some point in the film.
Thus, I figured I'd write out a list of ten things I really want to happen during Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, although I'll admit that some of them aren't essential to the film's success or failure in the grand scheme of things. A few of them are minor touches that I feel could really spice things up and make a lot of difference in the overall enjoyment of the film, but if they aren't included, it doesn't mean the movie is doomed, so you won't see anything on the list like "a good plot" and "great actors" or anything substantial like that.
In no particular order, here's my list:
1. Illustrate Darth Vader's True Power
For being the biggest badass in the galaxy, Darth Vader doesn't have a great track record on film. Sure, if you count The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels along with the comics and novels, he's beyond an imposing threat, but in the movies, he's yet to come off as that same type of monster. He's always fumbling around and getting beaten as Anakin Skywalker and by the time we see him in the original trilogy due to the limitations of filming several decades ago, the action is quite awful. Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi essentially don't even duel, he holds back considerably against a wildly untalented Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back and he's somehow beaten by that same untrained kid in Return of the Jedi.
This movie needs to show him at the height of his powers as an unstoppable force (no pun intended) nobody can even dream of matching up with. Please don't give me Jyn Erso taking him down with a blaster just to make her look cooler. Don't waste Vader on two or three talking scenes where he does nothing but storm out of a hallway. Have him go on a kill-crazy rampage mowing people down, slaughtering rebels left and right. He should be the final boss fight beyond even the Star Destroyers and AT-ATs. Darth Vader should be that presence on the battlefield where as soon as he starts getting down to business, everybody panics and realizes they have to flee or possibly even sacrifice themselves to take him down.
Vader shouldn't be defeated, he should only be stalled after something huge. I'd love to see the rebels reach a point where they blow up an entire ship just to attempt to slow him down and he gets injured just enough for him to need the bacta tank we've seen in the first teaser, allowing them to jump to hyperspace and escape. That way, we can understand going into A New Hope that this badass just took all they could give him and is still recuperating, which is why he's so slow, but if he were to fully recover, he'd be able to take on the entire army himself like in Rogue One.
2. The Exhaust Port
One of the big criticisms of the destruction of the Death Star is how the exhaust port machinations make any sense. Why would they build this structure and leave it with such a huge vulnerability?
The first answer is pretty simple: what huge vulnerability? They make it a point to say how it's an impossible shot that you'd only be able to reach with a small fighter to begin with, and you'd never make it past the turrets and the enemy ships, and even then, it has to be an exact hit to cause the chain reaction. It's one air vent on a battle station the size of a moon!
However, there should be steps taken in this film to make it even harder for people to complain. We know Galen Erso is working on the Death Star and that he isn't an Imperial empathizer by any real means, so why not have him explain that he purposely added this into the plans as a failsafe?
He can clarify that no great inventor makes something without knowing how to destroy it and with such a dangerous weapon, he needed to apply the same philosophy, but he was also under close watch, so he needed to do it in a way that wasn't suspicious. If it were a glaringly obvious killswitch button, they'd never allow it, but something small like this exhaust port is exactly the type of thing they would overlook. Are the odds of destroying the Death Star monumentally against the Rebel Alliance? Sure. But a small chance is better than no chance, right?
Galen should pass that information on with the plans that R2-D2 ends up with so when the rebels retrieve it from Leia and company in A New Hope, they basically just open up the folder and read the technical layout which explains where to find the exhaust port and such.
3. References to Star Wars Rebels
I don't read the novels or the comics as I have way too many things on my plate to be able to spend the time and money on them, but I do watch Star Wars Rebels and as such, I want to be rewarded for my efforts. That show is canon and they can't keep everything under lock and key where it doesn't leak elsewhere into the movies. There are limits within reason, of course, so I don't expect Ezra Bridger to be Snoke or for anything huge like that, but since the show takes place roughly around the same timeline as this film, why not throw us a bone here and there?
Saw Gerrera is popping up, which is amazing and exactly the type of content I'd like to see apply to Star Wars Rebels. Why not have a character mention that they would send Captain Syndulla and her crew on The Ghost for the mission, but they're already on the other side of the galaxy doing something else. That way, the only character we know sticks around is Hera, but we can lose anybody else on the show or they can still be alive and it's left for the TV show to figure out. We're not pigeonholing ourselves with something super over the top like seeing Zeb and company all appear, spoiling any potential deaths that could happen on the show, but we're getting a nod that those characters are actually important members of the rebellion. Maybe Commander Sato is at the war room conversing with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma? That would be awesome. What if Director Krennic mentions past failures of Agent Kallus?
That's all I need. Just give me something that definitively proves these characters aren't going to exist solely on the animated show.
4. Alderaan
This one is very, very simple: you need to show Alderaan. All we've seen of the planet so far is the quick shots in Revenge of the Sith and its explosion in A New Hope. Give us some time on the planet's surface itself so we can see the people there who will be meeting their doom very soon. Hell, give us a scene where there's a bunch of children playing happily so it makes us feel awful as we know their time is so extremely limited. It will make the scene where Tarkin orders the destruction all that more painful to watch in the future since we'll have a better connection to the billions of lives that were lost.
5. Where is Snoke? Where is Palpatine?
I would love to see Emperor Palpatine show up in a scene, even if he's a hologram speaking to Vader, and I also would like to see that there's at least an attempt to give us a rationalization for how Supreme Leader Snoke could witness the events that transpired over the films that preceded The Force Awakens. I'm certainly not expecting a scene with Snoke, so I won't be shocked if that doesn't happen, but considering the ease of how you can film a quick scene with Ian McDiarmid, I'll be annoyed if Palpatine doesn't make some kind of appearance in some fashion. Ideally, I'd love to see Vader talking to Palpatine and when they hang up talking to each other, we can have another quick scene where Palpatine converses with Snoke, but I'll settle for just the two Darths talking.
6. Explain Chirrut Imwe
All it takes is one or two lines of dialogue to explain how Chirrut Imwe was able to survive Order 66 and the subsequent Jedi Purge and I'll be happy. I don't want there to be leftover Jedi hanging out in the galaxy by the time Luke is told he's the last of his kind save for Kenobi and Yoda, so that means if Imwe is a true Jedi like Ezra and Kana Jarrus, all three of them need to be killed by the end of this film, but there's some wiggle room if you make Imwe not a true practitioner.
The Force Awakens introduced this concept of The Church of the Force. Why not have him be one of the founding members of this? Maybe he was a Padawan who wasn't particularly skilled enough to train at the Jedi Temple, but was still imbued with some power (hence being able to see despite being blind) and those people are the ones we see like Jocasta Nu working in the archives and doing work on other planets. Jedha is going to have some kind of significance, so why not make that an ancient planet they used hundreds of years ago as a monk-like training ground for less advanced recruits who could dedicate themselves less in the fighting skills and more in the meditation practices or whatever?
I just don't want them to have this random Jedi on the team who never appeared before, was lucky enough to survive being hunted just because they wanted a Jedi to appear in this story, and all sorts of other writer-driven coincidences like that.
7. The Crawl
I know it's already been confirmed that we won't have it, but I think we need it more than ever. So many casual fans are utterly confused about the time this film takes place, making it the perfect example of a movie that needs exposition to be told to you from the onset.
They most likely are starting this film off with a flashback, which is kind of jarring, but I'm okay with it. Here's how you get around it. Do the "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." and have that fade into your cold open flashback sequence. When you're done with that, pan the camera up to the sky and the stars and then have STAR WARS pop up on the screen, give us the crawl to set everything up and explain the time jump, and then pan the camera back down from the stars into a ship flying by a planet. Done.
8. The Imperial March
I know this is the first time John Williams won't be composing the music for a Star Wars film, but if we don't get The Imperial March throughout the film, I'll be well past frustrated. I shouldn't even need to explain this, and hopefully, Michael Giacchino doesn't just want to put his own spin on things and abandon all previously established themes. Some new themes are necessary, but we need to hear some of the familiar ones as well just to make sure it still feels like a Star Wars film, and The Imperial March is an absolute must.
9. These are the Droids I'm Looking For
Artoo and Threepio need to make a cameo in just one scene or even one shot. They've been in every film so far and there's no reason why we shouldn't see them aboard the Tantive IV at the end of the movie or something like that. If we don't have R2-D2 and C-3PO, as annoying as the latter can be at times, I'll feel like something was missing.
10. A Sense of Direction
By that, I mean I want to fully see that the creators know where these characters are going and where they fit in the timeline going forward. I don't want to leave everything open ended where we have to read about it in books and get no closure at all. I don't want to wonder where these new ships and Death Troopers and everything went and disappeared during the original trilogy. Jyn Erso can't be someone who becomes the hero of the rebellion and then just never shows up or is heard from again unless she dies or they give her a reason to not be involved anymore. Director Krennic either needs to die or he needs to be sent to the outer reaches of space as punishment for failure to explain why he isn't sitting at the table in the Death Star in A New Hope. Don't create new plot holes, use this movie to patch up the ones from before.
That's what I have on my mind, but what would you like to see in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Is there anything I didn't add to my list you think needs to be included in the mix?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Welcome to the sixth edition of Fanboys Fix It, where we address the problems a certain movie has and try to figure out ways to make it better in hindsight.
To coincide with the release of the Extended Edition of Suicide Squad, I sat down to rewatch the film and see if the problems I had with it from before were fixed. They weren't. I don't think a single one of them was corrected, so since we've done a Fanboys Fix It for both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it seemed like a good idea to point our pencils in this movie's direction and start erasing and rewriting the mistakes.
With that being said, how do you fix Suicide Squad?
Core Problem #1: The Villains
Enchantress and her brother, who I don't even think has a name, was a terrible choice to go with for the adversarial element. It's one of the universal things people dislike about the movie, along with the editing, which I would devote an entire section to but can be summed up mostly by saying "it sucks and the studio clearly messed around too much". The weird dancing twitches are made fun of, not creepy. The magic power base is such an alien concept to audiences fresh in this franchise that it can seem stupid to people who haven't invested in it yet, which is why Marvel played it smart by starting off simple and then building up to that. DC refused to play patiently and rushed, so by doing so, they're making people take leaps of faith.
In a film where lots of bad guys need to be killed, you can't have normal humans being shot up the whole time, so I get why they'd want to have some kind of faceless enemy that can be chopped to bits without getting an NC-17 rating, but they had no personality whatsoever and neither did Enchantress or her brother. And if you want to talk about tired tropes, why did they have the generic blue beam of light in the sky like so many other stories have had? This "swirling ring of trash in the sky" as they refer to it doesn't seem to be any different from any other similar concept: the Space Stone in The Avengers, the Technodrome in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and so forth. All it does is floats debris in a circle above a building and then act like any energy pulse.
Instead, they should have gone with OMAC as the villain with Brother Eye. The story could be that in the absence and response of Superman's presence, different sectors of the government are looking to find an answer for how to deal with metahuman threats. One section, led by Buddy Blank (or possibly Maxwell Lord, or better yet, even have Lex Luthor be someone who is involved in the mix) wants to create the One Man Army Corps as a means to create super soldiers. Instead, they go the cyborg route with the Observational Metahuman Activity Construct. Brother Eye is a satellite that will spy on people while these cyborgs will help police those threats. Bruce Wayne can be looking into it because he sees it as a threat. Amanda Waller agrees that they need some kind of military response unit, but she opts to keep control in her own hands with Task Force X. When OMAC goes out of whack, Task Force X has to swoop in to save the day and cover the government's asses, meaning a lot of the same type of film can play out but you've just changed some important details around.
No longer do you need to get into magical backstories, since this is all just computers, which is easier to explain. Hell, you can even have a big payoff at the end where OMAC's cybernetics can be worked into the explosive nanites implanted in the Suicide Squad!
Core Problem #2: The Style
Some of the choices made for the style of this film are absolutely fantastic, but a ton of others are tiresome, lame, overbearing and just self-indulgent.
Why do I get the feeling there was a decree to try to make everybody fit into either hood/urban or grunge stereotypes instead of everybody having their own unique identity? I'm totally cool with that being used with Diablo, but I hate how they turned Killer Croc into a guy in a hoodie who says "bruh" and "shawty" and his only request is for BET. That just comes off uncomfortably stereotypical.
And what's with the tattoos? Why do The Joker and Harley Quinn have them? First off, I'm not a fan of them because they didn't have them in any other source material. Second, I'm not a fan of tattoos to begin with. Third, to hearken back to the previous point, it seems like they thought "tattoos = bad people" which is another stereotype. Finally, it pigeonholes their look for future movies. Now, if The Joker doesn't always have those same tattoos, how are they going to explain the lack of "damaged" on his forehead and whatnot? It's a choice they made where they thought it would look cool rather than if it would serve the functionality of the universe they're playing in.
Another thing with Harley Quinn's appearance is her costume. As much as I love seeing Margot Robbie in as little clothing as possible, her outfit is just ridiculous. Yes, she's supposed to be sexy, as that's one of the staples of her character, but did she need to be dressed in a way that didn't try to mask that at all? She should have been wearing something closer to her Arkham City look where it covers her up a bit more but also can still turn heads.
Core Problem #3: The Music / The Humor
Piggybacking off the style problem, the same thing can apply to some of the humor in the film. The pink unicorn fetish joke screams of people that thought they'd get the leg-up on Deadpool which works for that series, but not anything else. It's such an easy, middle school level joke, similar to when people think its funny if an old person makes out with a young person or if a gross fat guy rubs up against someone on a bus.
But the bigger problem with the humor is the music, which needed to be toned down considerably. It's obnoxious in how much the film praises itself for its soundtrack. Just as they probably thought they'd throw in some Deadpool-esque jokes with the pink unicorn, I get the distinct feeling this is a full-on attempt to replicate the musical punches of Guardians of the Galaxy.
The repetitiveness of how the music is used is what is the most bothersome part about it, too. It's literally the same joke every single time: a scene where someone bad is doing something violent and it's set to a happy song that wouldn't normally go in that environment. It's a painful attempt to be hip and to juxtapose two different forces that would take audiences by surprise when they hear it, but by the time the opening scene is finished, you've seen the joke maybe six times and it keeps happening, so it loses all its edge.
Core Problem #4: Underutilized Characters
"Hey everybody, here's Katana. She's in the movie, too. Say hello."
That's basically what we get from Katana, outside of a few sword slashes. You couldn't have done a better job introducing her and making her seem like a worthwhile character? If you had no means of accomplishing that in the script, why not just save her character for the Birds of Prey film that is rumored to happen where she could maybe be given the proper treatment she deserves?
Let's talk about Slipknot, too. He similarly just comes into the mix out of nowhere and after having seen the film twice now, I still don't know if he has more than one line of dialogue. He definitely exists just to have his head blown off to show that it isn't an empty threat, but could you at least have attempted to not make it obvious that he was a sacrificial lamb? Audiences are smart enough now to know that the person who will most likely die is the one that hasn't had any importance placed on them and that was extremely poorly done.
Also, I would have enjoyed seeing someone like General Wade Eiling in the mix of the military supervisors and a recasting of Scott Eastwood's GQ character, as I think he accomplished nothing and that ended up being a waste of Eastwood, who could have been saved for a different role in a future DC film.
Miscellaneous Extra Flaws & Nitpicking
Basically, those big problems above are the things that would have saved these movies and made them better as a whole, but there are smaller things that could have been changed as well. I'm obviously not going to nitpick every little detail, but a few things that stand out to me are as follows:
- Recast Rick Flag – Originally, Tom Hardy was going to be Colonel Flag, but I don't think he would have been great for the part, either. Joel Kinnaman wasn't bad so much as he wasn't good. That's probably half a matter of his part being written poorly and half a lack of preparation since he signed onto the film much later than ideal. I like my Rick Flag to be basically Captain America without the likability and this version just came off like your average southern military jackoff. At no point did I really root for the guy or his contrived romance with June Moon, but I also never reached a point where I believed that he was someone who was that great to be in that position of power as a leader for the team. Maybe Adam Baldwin? Maybe Kevin McKidd? Someone who could evoke a young Ed Harris would be great, where you just hate the guy but you respect that he could get things done.
- Take the "Will Smith" out of Deadshot – Will Smith is great, and I'm glad they cast him as Deadshot, but there are times where he's clearly playing Will Smith tropes rather than the Deadshot character. Those times, he should've been reigned in.
- Mallet > Bat – Harley should have used her standard mallet instead of a baseball bat.
- Capture the Flag - Two times in the film, some creatures start dragging Flag away and they have to save him. Did you need to do that beat twice?
- Killer Croc Looks Fake - Killer Croc's makeup, the way his face moves when he speaks, and any CGI they might have implemented all look off. None of it seems natural. It all looks reminiscent of Michael Chiklis as The Thing in Fantastic Four.
Well, there you have it—some insight into how I would have changed things in hindsight if I was magically given me the ability to do so. Some of these problems just cannot be fixed anymore, while others can hopefully be elaborated on in Suicide Squad and future films to help explain why we're left in the dark about so much information.
What do you think of the changes that I would have made?
Do they make the movie better or worse?
What changes would you make?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by
Anthony Mango
- Sunday, December 4, 2016
On the latest edition of Trailer Reactions for Fanboys Anonymous, host Tony Mango gives his live response and overall thoughts about the latest trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 released earlier today. Make sure to subscribe and tell us in the comments what you think of the trailer!
OFFICIAL TRAILER:
TRAILER REACTION:
Set to the backdrop of 'Awesome Mixtape #2,' Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team's adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill's true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes' aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will be released in theaters May 5, 2017.
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn (based on the Marvel comic book by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)
Starring: Chris Pratt (Peter Quill / Star Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Dave Bautista (Drax), Vin Diesel (Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Elizabeth Debicki (Ayesha), Chris Sullivan (Taserface), Michael Rooker (Yondu), Glenn Close (Nova Prime) and Kurt Russell (Ego)
