What a lovely day to revisit a world nine years removed from its most recent installment. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga follows the rise of imperator Furiosa from kidnapped child to right hand of Immortan Joe. The film takes place in a span of 15 -20 years following up to the very beginning of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). In the cast for this prequel features Anna Taylor Joe (Furiosa), Alyla Browne (Child Furiosa), Chris Hemsworth ( Dementus), Tom Burke (Praetorian Jack), & Lachy Hulme (Immortan Joe). George Miller returns to direct this fifth installment in the Mad Max world. Furiosa is kidnapped from her tribe in the green place of abundance by a group of marauders led by the charismatic and brutal warlord Dementus. Furiosa’s mother attempts to rescue her from Dementus but is caught and is murdered in front of Furiosa. As Dementus continues to show his bloodthirst and need for total rule over the Wasteland, he gets involved into conflict with Immortan Joe and the two warlords get into a struggle for control of the major outposts of production for the land Bullet town and Gastown. Dementus goes to Immortan Joe to negotiate a deal to keep the two groups from continuing to fight each and maintain their areas of control while the young Furiosa stands behind him. Immortan Joe agrees to a deal but with the caveat that Furiosa must stay with him to later become one of his breeding wives. Dementus agrees to Immortan Joes terms. Once in Immortan Joes grasp, Furiosa shaves her head to disguise herself as a boy, and beings working with crews on Immortan Joes war rigs. Over the years as Furiosa grows up and learns how to operate and protect the war rig under the direction of Praetorian Jack, she begins planning her escape back to the green place where she came from as well as having her revenge on the man who took her from there. Furiosa hits the screen on an uphill battle coming on the heels of Mad Max: Fury Road a movie many consider one of the best action movies of the last ten years and a game changer in presenting a wild thrill ride with mostly practical affects. Can Furiosa stand on its own as an entertaining adventure in this sage? Let’s discuss.

If you go into Furiosa expecting something similar to Fury Road, you will be severely disappointed but that does not mean that Furiosa isn’t good because it certainly is a good movie but there are bumps in the road on this film’s journey. The standout and highest point of praise for this movie is without a doubt Chris Hemsworth as Dementus. With a prosthetic nose and a fake beard, Hemsworth chews the scenery every time he is on the screen and presents someone who is funny, intimidating, psychotic, but is also someone who has been shaped by events in the creation of the wasteland which helps you understand where he is coming from. Anna Taylor Joy plays the title character well and keeps a similar energy to how Charlize Theron played Furiosa in Fury Road. She does not have many lines of dialogue but has moments where she is able to be a bit more emotional. She is never able to overpower anyone physically but uses wits and the skills she learns from her years of being in the wasteland to survive and fight. Alyla Browne who plays the younger child version of Furiosa does a good job as well going in the beginning from happy child to someone who loses everything and becomes colder.

Where this movie separates itself from Fury Road is in which the story is presented. Where Fury Road is a nonstop action truck chase spectacle, Furiosa (literally presented as a 5-chapter story) takes its time expanding and building the world of the wasteland and giving background to characters like Furiosa, Praetorian Jack, and Dementus. But don’t think that George Miller isn’t bringing heat with some batshit action sequences. Not nearly at the same volume of Fury Road but there are a few action sequences here that are as good and one that comes in the middle of the movie that takes place for what seems 15 minutes long is one of the best action sequences to come along in some time. Costume designer Jenny Beaven, Production designer Colin Gibson, and Hair & makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt deserve a lot of credit for the look of the world and the look the characters for this time around.

There are areas where Furiosa has its struggles in the 2 1/2-hour runtime. One area that we can most definitely say that Fury Road did better is its use of CGI. Though Fury Road is praised for its use of practical effects, it does use CGI sparingly but uses the CGI to its advantage and doesn’t make it so blatant. In Furiosa there are several scenes where it is obvious you are watching a green screen. I felt while watching some of the scenes I was watching something with CGI from the Hobbit movies. Not to say that there are plenty of moments in Furiosa that are beautifully filmed but when the CGI appears it is very distracting. Going back to Anna Taylor Joys performance, one issue I had is that because she does not speak that much there aren’t a lot of moments when her priorities are explained and at times it feels like she says she wants to do one thing but later ends up doing another. And needless to say, whenever Dementus was not on screen the movie’s energy levels decreased a lot with the exception of the movies middle epic action set piece.

Though it doesn’t equal the high of fury road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Sage still offers a entertaining story of vengeance, that expands and builds the world of the Wasteland while offering a few entertaining action sequences and an electric performance from Chris Hemsworth. 8/10.

Mile Morales makes his return to the big screen in the Sequel to the 2018 surprise hit but this time joined by a cast of literal thousands of Spider men, women, and various animals in Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse. Returning from Into the Spider Verse are Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailey Steinfeld ( Gwen Stacy), Brian Tyree Henry ( Jeff Morales), Luna Lauren Velez (Rio Morales), and Jake Johnson ( Peter B Parker). New additions to the cast include Jason Schwartzman (Dr Jonathan Ohnn/ The Spot), Issa Rae ( Jess Drew), Oscar Issac (Miguel O Hara), Karan Soni ( Pavitr Prabhakar), and Daniel Kaluuya ( Hobie Brown). Looking to find acceptance and a group of people to connect with, Mies Morales feels more alone and frustrated forever, until one day Gwen Stacey returns to his universe for a visit to tell him she has joined a unit of other spider men/women who protect the multiverse. Miles pursues Gwen on a multiverse adventure but finds that not everything is as great as it may seem. Miles quickly himself on a race against time to save everything and everyone he loves. Is Across the Spider Verse an adequate sequel to the film that came out of nowhere and shocked everyone? Lets get into it.

Across the Spider Verse is as good if not better than Into the Spider Verse and adds so much more in size and story than many animated movies have been capable of. The returning cast members are amazing again, and are given more depth this time than in the previous film. Particularly Miles, Gwen, and Rio (Miles Mother), are the standout returning characters of this movie, but I found myself particular the most impressed with Gwen and Rio and how much more they add to this story than in the previous film. The opening 20 minutes of this film is dedicated to showing how Gwen has gotten to the point that she returns to see Miles in his universe and we are given a beautifully animated and emotional opening. A conversation between Gwen and her father is one of the most beautiful scenes I have seen in any movie in a long time. This is a great movie about family and friendships and how vital they are in our lives, despite many scenes taking place in huge action set pieces, the movie maintains it human emotional touch like the first movie and the best Spider Man movies in General. Miguel O Hara chews the scenes he is in thanks to a great voice performance from Oscar Isaac, while Jason Schwartzman as the voice of the Spot, a rather obscure villain in comic book lore gives him a full arc in sort non-serious villain to full world ending threat. If you are a fan of any spider man movies, comics, tv shows, or video games you are more than likely going to love the Easter eggs this movie puts together, a majority of which come when Miles is taken to Nueva York to see the Spider Society. The animation is stunning once again and is absolute candy for the eye, at this point it feels that the creators of these two movies have created a completely new storytelling technique that I don’t think can simply just be classified as animation, there are so many styles at play here at times it is overwhelming but it is awe inspiring to watch. Daniel Pemberton knocks it out the park with mix of a techno/hip hop music score along with songs in the film and soundtrack from highly successful producer Metro Boomin make an amazing combination.

As good as the movie is there are a few flaws here. For one the movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes and on first watch it felt much longer than that, particularly the last 35 minutes it didn’t seem to quite know how to wrap it up (be warned, its a cliffhanger ending). It takes this movie a long time before the universe hopping adventure begins, the first hour of this movie is a lot of character focus, specifically on Gwen and Miles, so if your looking to see all the Easter Eggs early on, you will have to wait a while (though its worth it). An unfortunate glaring issue that occurs throughout the movie, is sound mixing problems. Many of the scenes where a loud score is playing it is difficult to hear what the characters are saying, this was the worst for me in the opening 20 minutes and final 10 minutes but a few other scenes throughout had the same issue, although at the end of the day I can assure that nothing major is muffled or unable to be heard.

Across the Spider Verse is another success for Sony and the creators of these first two movies may actually be one movie away from crafting one of the elite trilogies in movies, but we will have to see on 3/29//2024 if they can stick the landing. It has all the beats you love about a Spider Man story, action, heart, humor, all in thrilling art and animation on a much bigger scale than part 1. 11/12.

Wow… So…much…blood. Evil Dead Rise is a new addition to the cult horror franchise started by Sam Raimi in 1981 that spawned two sequels a remake and a TV show. The film is not a direct sequel or prequel but just simply advertised as a new addition to the series. The film starts Alyssa Southerland (Ellie), Lilly Sullivan (Beth), Morgan Davies (Danny), Gabriele Echols (Bridget), and Nell Fisher (Cassie), and is directed by Lee Cronin. The film is also produced by Evil Dead veterans Sam Raimi & Bruce Campbell. After being on the road working as a guitar technician, Beth goes to see her sister Ellie and her three children ( Danny, Cassie, Bridget), in their high rise apartment in a very rainy Los Angeles to spend some time and get some advice on a pressing issue. After an earthquake, creates a hole in the basement parking garage of the building, Danny discovers a hidden room, with crosses hanging from the ceiling, a record player, paper documents… And a black book that is locked by teeth. After Danny opens the book and plays a recording, translating incantations from the book, all hell breaks loose, and now a family must find a way to survive and escape the apartment from a demon possessed Ellie. Lets get into this blood soaked claustrophobic horror, that’ll make you sick to use a cheese grater for quite some time.

Evil Dead Rise is a total banger of a horror movie. First off the performances from the main 5 characters are all great but particularly Alyssa Southerland as the demon possessed mother is the standout. There are only about 20 minutes or a little bit more where she is playing a normal character, before the evil spirit takes her over and than the majority of her performance becomes ex physical and terrifying as she climbs walls, brutally attacks her family and other tenants in the building, and speaking in different tones. A great deal of credit goes to the makeup department for Rise, to create the terrifying look of Ellie and the gory effects that other characters go through as the horror deepens through the runtime. Lilly Sullivan as the younger sister Beth does a really good job portraying someone trying to reconnect with her sister and family while also struggling to find an escape for herself and her relatives from the horror lurking in their walls. The three younger actors do a great job here as well but one in particular makes a few decisions that may have you throwing your fists in the air but oh well, someone in a horror movie has to be the one who makes the decisions the audience hates. What’s most impressive is that this movie, only has 1 jump scare early on and the rest of the film relies on building heart beating tension and suspense to keep you squirming in your seat. And last but not least… this movie is SUPER, SUPER, SUPER gruesome and violent. Evil Dead Rise might be one of the bloodiest horror movies I have seen in a really longtime and the great part about it, it uses the gore to actually help make the movie even scarier which I have not seen the many horror movies be able to do successfully. The kills in this movie are epic and some of them may have you laughing (I know I did for one of them), and some may have you looking down at the floor waiting for it to be over. Oh yeah and if your someone who is sensitive about kids in peril than be warned, this movie doesn’t give a shit about the kids, I will just leave it at that. There are two sequences that looked like it took a page out of two other horror classics, The Shining, and The Thing, but not directly copying but I enjoyed the thought in my mind when watching it. The great thing about Evil Dead Rise id that you don’t need to be familiar with the rest of the franchise to enjoy it. I went in without seeing any of the previous movies, but after how much fun I had with this one, I am definitely giving them a watch.

Overall Evil Dead Rise is a really solid horror movie and will surely help keep the franchise in the eye of Hollywood, and will surely produce more entries in the future. Horror movies can really be elevated when the cast is solid, and that is the case here with the two female leads. Do not go into this movie if you are not a fan of gore, because the bloodshed is relentless. You have about 30 minutes from when the movie starts to take a breath and get ready, because after that, its no holds barred, and gives you no time to relax…And no one is safe. Definitely check this out if your a fan of the Evil Dead movies or just a fan of horror in general. 9/10.

Nicolas Cage as Dracula? Say no more… Renfield is a new horror/comedy/action film Starring Nicholas Hoult (Renfield), Nicolas Cage (Dracula), and Awkafina (Rebecca Quincy), the film is directed by Chris Mckay. In the early 1920’s, Renfield meets Dracula in hopes to make some type of land deal with him but ends up becoming manipulated by the vampire and becomes his permanent servant, finding him humans to feed on and fighting away his enemies when Dracula is healing from wounds. Feeling a tremendous amount of guilt for kidnapping and murdering people for Dracula, while staying in New Orleans, Renfield goes to a 12 step program for people looking to break out relationships with narcistic individuals. One night after Renfield saves a police officer (Awkafina), and a bar full of people from a local criminal network, Renfield initiates his journey of breaking free from Dracula and starting his life anew. Is it worth watching? Lets get into it.

I would not call this movie a modern masterpiece or anything, but Renfield is just a silly, gory, fun time but does have some issues, but I will start with some of the positives. Well start with what will most likely entice people the most to watch, which is Nicolas Cage as the dark prince. As you can expect, yes he goes all out for it, and it is very entertaining to watch Cage do the role he has previously spoke about wanting to do for so long. A great deal of credit goes to makeup & special effects designer Christian Tinsley for the look of Dracula, especially at different stages of the movie when he is fully formed with pale skin and sharp nails and dentures, and at other times when he is in a bit of a more broken and bloody state. The movie takes advantage of it’s R rating and really goes all the way with it, with multiple fight scenes with Renfield, and Dracula devouring and fighting various people. Bodies literally explode, limbs are ripped off and used as weapons, all kinds of dismemberment, broken bones, throat slashings and waves of blood add to a lot of over the top fun. Nicholas Hoult does a good job as the titular character, an anxious, regretful super powered being trying to right the wrongs of decades of being an accomplice to evil but he maintains the same emotional beats for most of the movie and holds his own without Cage. If you enjoy Awkafina’s previous performances and humor, than you will enjoy her in this as I did for the most part but if her style of comedy is not something you are into, than you may have an issue enjoying the film and the relationship that Hoult and Awkafina build.

Where this movie staggers, is that it feels just a bit bloated. Like I mention above, the movie is loaded with action and violence, and that is mostly due to a plot that involves the character Rebecca taking on a local crime ring, and Renfield and Dracula finding themselves in the middle of it. It really does not add much to the central story outside of just finding people for Renfield to rip to pieces but it doesn’t slow down the movie too much in getting it to where it wants to go. There are a few other side characters in this that are completely disposable and don’t serve much as to add to the movies body count. In addition the movie hints a romance between Renfield and Rebecca, but it is never really explored or acted on much.

Overall Renfield is a light, bloody, fun time, but feels a bit bloated in its story surrounding the relationship between Cage and Hoult. Cages performance and some fun but super gruesome fight scenes kept me entertained and should have you feeling the same if you enjoy the humor and ultraviolence. 7/10.

The sixth installment in the Shrek franchise and the second direct spin off sequel to a movie that came out ten years, Puss in Boots: The last Wish is the second chapter in the telling of the feline protagnist. Reprising his role as Puss, Antonio Banderas returns to voice, along with Selma Hayek returning as Kitty Softpaws. New cast additions include Harvey Guillen (Perrito), Florence Pugh (Goldilocks), Olivia Coleman (Mama Bear), Ray Winstone (Papa Bear), Samson Kayo (Baby Bear), John Mulaney (“Big” Jack Horner), & Wagner Moura ( Wolf). When Puss in Boots is faced with living on his final wish and being hunted by a terrifying doulble sword weilding wolf, Puss along with Kitty and a homeless therapy dog named Perrito must go to find a magical wish that Puss can use to regain his lost 8 lives. But Puss is not the only one on the hunt for this magical wish as Goldilocks and her three bear crime family are in pursuit as well as an evil former pastry chef Jack Horner. Is Dreamworks on the come around with this film? Lets talk about it.

Brace yourselves… This movie is amazing and its one of the best animated movies of the last ten years. First off the animation hybrid in this movie is beautiful. It is a combination of the 3d animation that we are used to with the Shrek films combined now with a newer style most recently seen in Spider Man: Into the spiderverse, the final result is breathtaking especially during the films many action sequences. For what would be classfied as an animated family film, this movie is mcuh more mature and adult than a lot of PG animated movies are these days from showing how we react to anxiety and fear, and learning to appreciate the lives we have in front of us and living them the best we can. There is great deal of legit hilarious moments combined with heartfelt personal scenes that really had me leaving this with a smile on my face. Lastly this movie boasts one of the best animated villains since the Disney Renaissance era in Wagner Moura’s Wolf, an incredibly terrifying and fun character everytime he is on screen. The mjaoirty of the vocal performances in this movie are really good, but Harvey Guillen was one of my faviorte performances, as his charcter brings a few of some of the movies most heartfelt moments. Puss In Boots: The Lats wish is awesome and I am really excited to see what the future holds for this franchise 9/10.

A horror movie to start the new year off. Surely this will be terrible right? M3gan is the latest project from Blumhouse studios and comes from screenwriter James Wan (director of the Counjuring 1 & 2, Insidious, & Saw), and director Gerald Johnstone. The film stars Allison Williams (Gemma) & Violet Mcgraw (Cady). After Cady survives a car accident that turns her into an orphan, her aunt Gemma takes custody of her, but is not entirely ready to become a parent. Allison works as a artificial toy developer and decides to use this oppurtunity to introduce Megan, an artificial doll that can be paired with its owners and acts as a lifelong companion. Allisons goal with this is too help Cady heal from her trauma, and to elevate her career and the status of her company. As the bond between Megan and Cady grows stronger, Megan begins to become more defensive of Cady to the point she is willing to commit horrific acts to keep her safe. Is Megan a turnaround for January horror movies? Lets talk about it.

M3gan is an enjoyable experince but dont expect a horror masterpiece. First off for people going into this, this movie is a horror comedy with a much bigger emphasis on the comedy side than horror. Some people may be confused by the tone of the film where it goes back and forth between some very funny moments a lot of which come from the films title star, combined with a few tensious moments to set up her impending evil. Allsion Willaims and Violet Mcgraw are very strong on the screen and the rest of the cast are fine but the heart of the movie is with the two female leads and their doll counterpart. Despite the movie being very silly funny and balancing some good scares, the movie still focuses on several themes that are addressed seriously. Many of these inlcude the relationship between people and technology and our relaince on it, what it means to have a relationship with another person, what it means to be a parent, and how people choose to deal with trauma and tragedy. Megan the doll looks fairly real throughout even when she is commiting evil acts to people.

Review:

M3gan is a fun time at the theatre, utilizing comedy, a little but of horror, and some social commentary. 8/10.

Big Jim is back baby! Yes, James Cameron is taking us back to Pandora in the sequel to 2009’s box office monster, Avatar: The Way of Water. Returning from the first film are Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), Sigourney Weaver (returning as Kiri, an adopted daughter of Jake & Neytiri born from Dr. Grace Augustine’s avatar), and Stephen Lang (Quaritch).New additions to the Pandora story are Kate Winslet (Ronal), Cliff Curtis (Tonowari), Britain Dalton (Lo’ak), Jamie Flatters ( Neteyam), Trinity Jo Li Bliss (Tuktirey), Bailey Bass (Tsireya), & Jack Campion (Spider). Warning, a few plot points are mentioned ahead but nothing in the the spoiler category.

Taking place 10 years after the events of the first movie, Jake and Neytiri now married have a family of four children consisting of two boys, Lo’ak & Neteyam, and two girls Kiri, and Tuktirey Aka Tuk. Kiri is the daughter of Grace Augustines avatar who died in the first movie. In addition to their 4 children they also take care of an adopted human boy named Miles Aka Spider, a boy who was left behind after the Navi defeated the humans in the first film.On top of being a father, Jake is now the chief of his own tribe. The military makes their return to Pandora to continue their mining of the planets resources ( no unobtanium this time around), and also conducting a pl mission to kill Jake Sully for revenge for destriying their operation in the first movie. Quartich returns to lead the charge to kill Jake but this time as a younger avatar version whom the militray were able to trasfer his DNA into before his death. Quaritch has a group of marines in avatar forms as well who were all killed in the first movie. Sensing that his family are in danger with the return of Quartich, Jake and his family head to the safety of a Navi tribe living on the eastern seaboard called the Metkayina. Once there, the new translaplants begin learning how to live in the water and understand the new people they live with and the creatures they share the ocean with. An event occurs that brings Jake and the Metkayina people in conflict with Quartich and his marine group. Is Avatar: waterworld worth spenidng 192 minutes in the theatre for? Lets discuss some pros and cons.

Pros:

The movie is visually incredible. Shocking right? Their ais much discussion out there about if James Cameron is wasting so much time making these movies, but I think if you can make a movie look as good as this is and put in so much detail into every shot,character,creature, wave, than I say let him keep doing it if he really wants to. Wieather you choose to see this movie in a 3D format or a regular format you will be amazed either way but be advised if you go to see it in 3D that it will look like a video game but personally it didnt really bother me.

Cameron adds emotional beats for this movie that help raise it to a higher level than the 1st film. These emotional beats come through the struggle of Jake to protect his family from the ongoing danger while they also try to adapt to a new world that they can survive in. Much like the first first, a big theme in this movie is the relationship of these characters to the environment they live in and the creatures they share it with. The Metkayina trible shares deep personal connections with all the life in the ocean, to the point where they can speak with them, this is played to great emotional affect in the end of the second act and in the 3rd. I will say out of all the performances in the movie the one who really steals the whole thing is Zoe Saldona , particuarly in the final hour where she really excels. .

Cons:

With so many characters in this movie, a majority of them being new, the movie really has a tough job at times giving eveyone their screen time and development. The first 45 minutes of the movie has a lot of focus on Jake and how he leads his family, the middle of the movie focuses a lot on Lo’ak and Kiri, and than the third act just kinda shoehorns everyone else in. You really dont learn a lot about the new Metkayina characters accept for the fact that they have a bond with the ocean. It felt like for a large part of the movie Jake & Neyteri were sidelined while trying to jump around with their kids and the new tribe characters. A chartcers that really could have been scrapped is the charcter Spider, a human boy who lives with the Navi. He is literally running around the whole movie in a Tarzan type outfit going back and forth between the Navi and the marines, while developing a romance with Kiri. It just didnt flow (no pun intended) with the story and the character could have been cut off for the best. Outside of that I wouldnt say there arent any other bad performaces here but a mjaoirty of them are just not exemplorary. Like the first film though, many of these characters are not memorable. For me personally I found myself a bit bored at times especially in the middle acts which never happened with me in the first one.

Plot wise the movie has a pretty simillar template the first movie. Characters go into a unfamilliar environment, must adapt and learn among the new people, develop bond with the enivornment, fight off evil invaders. Though obvioulsy not identical to part 1, the criticism is valid that Cameron prioritized making people go “WOW look at this” over making a different story. And yes, at 3 hours and 15 minutes, the movie does feels like it could be significantly shorter, give or take a few characters, and plot points. I dont have a problem with a movie being 3 hours long as a lot of my favirote movies are 3 hours, but when you are watching something and you think “do we really need this?”it can make the experince a bit sour. If anything though, the runntime is defentley worth it when you make it to the last hour which is nonstop action, and some very brutal kills even for a PG-13 movie.

Review:

Avatar: Way of Water is another beautful, technical marvel in James Camerons arsenal, but the abundance of characters with scatterbrain development are what keep it from being one of his best, though the movie is still full of breathtaking action and delivers strong emotional moments. 7.5/10.

The MCU makes its return to the world of Wakanda in the sixth and final film of it’s phase 4 in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Returning from Black Panther are, Letita Wright (Shuri), Angela Basset (Ramonda), Danai Guirra (Okoye), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Winston Duke (M’Baku), and Martin Freeman ( Everett Ross). New additions to the cast include Dominique Thorne (Riri Williams), and Tenoch Huerta (Namor). Director Ryan Coogler returns to direct. If you are not already aware, this movie was made in very difficult circumstances due to the tragic death of the male lead Chadwick Boseman from Colon Cancer. Coogler and company made the decision to instead of recasting for a new Tchalla, to continue the story without this character and in doing so have Tchalla pass away in the film. Warning this is a spoiler review .

Plot:

The movie opens with Shuri and Wakandan scientists frantically trying to save Tchalla from an illness that is killing him. In a last dtch effort, Shuri attempts to create a new heart shaped herb that had been previoulsy destroyed by Erik Kilmonger, in the first film. Before she has a chance to use the herb, Queen Ramonda, walks down from a flight of stairs to tell Shuri her brother has died. We move into the first emotional tribute to Chadwick, a celebratory funeral procession in the streets of Wakanda, and a completley silent Marvel Studios intro with only clips of Tchalla from previous marvel installments playing in the logo. We fast forward a year later, where Wakanda is facing critcism from the rest of the world as it remains Isolated to protect itself and its most valuable resource Vibranium. In the Atlantic Sea a Navy Seals operation is attempting to mine Vibranium out of the depths of the ocean. They are attacked by a new threat of warriors from an underwater city called Talokan, led by their superhuman winged feet king Namor.

Ramonda Brings Shuri to a lake where the queen thrown the Tchalla Funeral robes into a fire, which she describes as a ritual marking the end of mourning and a new beggining. Ramonda tells Shuri their is something she should know about Tchalla but is interuppted by Namor appearing at the shore of the lake. Namor wants Wakanda to return an american scientist who helped build a virbranium mining machine , or he will return with his army to destroy Wakanda. Shuri and Okoye leave for America where they find agent Everett Ross in Virginia. He tells them more details about the american operation, and that the American goverment believes Wakanda was behind the attack. Ross tells Shuri & Okoye that the scientist who built the Vibranium mining machine is a 19 year old college student named Riri Williams. The two head to MIT university to find Riri. She takes them to a wharehouse where she has been building tech in secret including an “iron man” suit. The FBI closes in on the three, and a chase ensues. After Shuri, Okoye, and Riri escape from law enforcement, they are abmushed by a group of warriros from Talokan. The warriors defeat Okoye. Shuri pleads that they spare Riri and take the two of them to Talokan to negotiate a peace with Namor. Okoye returns to Wakanda, where in an emotional moment, Ramonda releases Okoye from her position as general of the Dora Milaj. Ramonda goes to Haiti, to find Nakia, Tchallas lover and asks her to help find Shuri as Ramonda believes that Namors kingdom is somehwere in the Yucatan penninsula where Nakia is familliar with.

Namor meets with Shuri, and explains to her how him and his people came to Talokan. Namor’s family in the 1500’s were invaded in their land by conquistadors who brought disease with them. Namors mother and her people in a effort to survive from Smallpox drink a vibranium liquid found in the water that allows them to live underwater. Namor is born as a mutant with wings on his feet and the ability to breathe on land and is seen as a god among his people. As a child he returns to the surface to bury his dead mother in her home soil, but finds slavery and attrocities occuring. He murders the occupiers of the surface, and explains after this moment he had no more love for the surface world. Namor takes Shuri on a tour through Talokan. As a gesture Namor gives Shuri one of his vibranium made bracelets. Shuri t negotiates a peace to spare Riri and stop a war from occuring but Namor fears that the surface world will attempt to enslave and destroy his world if they find Vibranium. Namor tells Shuri if Wakanda will not be an ally to Talokan in the war against the surface, than they will be an enemy and will be the first destroyed. Nakia finds Shuri and Riri, and rescuces them both but kills a woman. Namor finds the dead woman in Ririr’s holding quarters. Namor becomes enraged and rallys his soldiers to go to Wakanda for revenge.

The group from Talokan flood Wakanda, and drown Ramonda. Namor Tells Shuri that they have a week to join them in an alliance or he will go to war with them. At the funeral of Ramonda, M’baku tells Shuri that vengeance and hatred is not a path to go on for war, but sympthaizes with Shuri that she has had more loss than anyone could imagine.Now more unprotected than ever, Shuri with the help of Riri begin looking to recreate a new heart shaped herb combining the braclet Namor gave her with the DNA of Tchalla. In the meantime, to better protect her people, Shuri has the citizens of the City temporarily relocate to the Jabari mountains that are looked over by M’Baku. Shuri and Riri discover that if Namor can be drawn away from water and be “dried out” that he can be weakened and defeated. Back in her lab, Shuri is able to create an artificial duplicate of the heart shaped herb. In a small ritual with just her, Nakia, and Riri, Shuri drinks the herb and goes to the ancestral plane. There instead of one of her lost loved onces, she finds Kilmonger. Kilmonger tells her that she cannot be noble or hypocritical like her brother and father were, that she needs to “handle buisness” with Namor, but she insists she is nothing like Kilmonger and will not emulate his actions. Shuri with her new powers puts on her Black panther suit and reveals herself to M’Baku and the other council members. Shuri asks of the council and M’Baku to go to the ocean and fight Namor and his army. M’Baku warns Shuri that killing Namor will result in a eternal war with Talokan.

The Wakandans take a ship to draw out Namor and his warriros in the atlantic ocean and a battle ensues. Shuri traps Namor inside a flying craft that uses heat to dry him out and dehydrate him. Namor starts destroying the ship with his vibranium spear. Shuri gets the craft to a nearby dessert where it crashes out on a beach. Namor and Shuri begin fighting each other, and Namor appears clearly weakened after being dried out heavely on the craft and on the sand of the dessert. Namor spears Shuri, but she is able to pull herslef out and blows the remaining ship up behind Namor. While holding a spear to Namors neck, Shuri tells Namor that Wakanda will protect Talokans’ waters’ and people if he yields. Echoing a simillar statement from her brother when he was faced with killing Zemo in Civil War, she tells Namor that Vengeance has consumed both of them. Namor Yields and the two nations begin an alliance and avoid war. Shuri goes to visit Nakia in Haiti to enact the post funeral ritual of burning the final robes that she wore at her mothers funeral, the same ac that Ramonda did earlier. Shuri starts seeing flashabcks of Tchalla and cries. In the Mid credits scene, Nakia brings out a child to meet Shuri. Nakia tells Shuri that the child is her and Tchalla’s son. Nakia explains that her and Tchalla did not want him to grow up in Wakanda due to the pressure of the throne, and that Ramonda had met the child. The child introduces himself with his haitian name Toussaint, and tells Shuri his Wakandan name is Tchalla.

Positives:

Where this movie shines the most is the cast and the tone of the movie. Deciding to not recast Tchalla and re-molding the story to deal with the death of the character allowed these actors, in my opinion, to really show true emotions that they were feeling. From all accounts, everyone involved with Black Panther was very close to Chadwick and for many, his death was a shock, so you can imagine it was not difficult to let those emotions pour out in scenes of this movie.This is a mostly serious, quiet, slow burn of a movie with a few well times jokes and action but mainly focus3w on the characters dealing with loss, grief, and anger. The fact that Marvel could make something with a tone like this is imporessive considering a lot of their films tend to have a high level of jokes/action with some serious storylines. Everyone in the cast is great but the true standout of the movie is Angela Basset. This woman is a force throughout and balances being a mother to botj her daughter and the nation she leads, while also being a fierce leader who wants to remind the world that Wakanda should not be played with lightly.

One of my favirote things about the first Black Panther movie, was the score by Ludwig Goransson. He knocks it out he park again in Wakanda forever, this time combining african and latin elements for both worlds represented in this movie. I really enjoyed the Talokan people themes particuarly one of my faviortes being when Namor and his warriors attack the Navy seal crew and we seem them for the first time and we hear the “Sirens” score. One of my favirote scenes of the whole movie is when Namor takes Shuri through Talokan and the song “Con La Brisa” plays during the scene. Ludwig’s score for this one and the predecessor, t have really helped the Black Panther movies feel different from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic universe and appear more as their own story.Ruth Carter should get another oscar nomination, because the cosstumes and makeup design for this movie are stunning.

Cons:

Despite the amazing effort of Coogler and the team to essentially rewrite a new movie after a terrible tragedy, this movie is a long running narrative mess. Wakanda Forever has three movies in it, the first being a tribute for Chadwick Boseman, the second being a sequel to Black Panther, and the third continuing the marvel machine as they now have 30 movies in ther guantlet. This movie has way too many characters, way too many side plots, and holes in the script. We have multiple scenes with agent Ross that overall do not contribute much to the main story. Doninique Thorne does a great job playing Riri, but her character just feels rushed. We meet her and are shown and told that she is this young super genius but we are not given any details on how she became so. It just reeks of Marvel throwing in a character in there because they knew they had to get people for her Disney + show. Removing Riri and Ross from this movie you could add more scenes for M’Baku and Nakia who though have good performances, have the least amount of time on screen. l Nakia doesnt show up till dam near more than a hour after the movie starts!

Though the origins of Namor and Talokan are explained in the movie there are still several things with these new characters that dont make quite sensse. Why can Namor breahe on land without a mask but his people cant? How are Namors soldiers killed? In their introduction scene, several of them are gunned down but, Okoye couldnt kill any of them with her spear. This movie tells us that Talokan are suppsosed to be a much bigger threat than Wakanda but they dont really show how. Yes they live in the water and can control whales, but what technology do they have that makes them superior? Suppsoedly their city has vibranium so shouldnt they have some type of weaposn or even ships or boats that can match Wakanda? Tenoch Huerta does a really good job playing Namor but overall he is basically Kimonger 2.0, another anatagonsit who wants to destroy the world for whats it has done to his people.

Visually this film is an improvement over the first but the action is not. With the exception of the car chase, most of the action here is badly shot, confusing to tell what is happening and usses a lot of emphasis on slow motion which is usually Zach Snyders calling card.

Final thoughts:

Black Panther Wakanda forever is an heartfelt adventure with a lot of great character moments but its long runtime and multiple storylines drag it down and stop it from being a great movie. 7/10.

Dwayne the Rock Johnson smashes his way into the world of superheros in the latest DC universe film Black Adam. Joining the rock in this adaptation also stars Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Noah Centineo,Quintessa Swindell, and Mohammad Amer. The film is directed by Jaume Collett Serra.

In 2600 B.C a young slave boy (Teth-Adam) is given the powers of Shazam by the council of gods and uses his powers to overthrow the king of his home city Kahndaq. We fast forward to present day in Kahndaq, where the city is being run by a group of high tech mercenaries called Intergang who essentially have the city in a tyrnanical state. A group of archeologists and resistance fighters led by Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), while looking for an artifcat called the crown of Sabbac, awaken Teth-Adam from his thousand year slumber in an attempt to save them from intergang forces. Ishmael (Marwan Kenzari), betrays the group led by Adrianna has he has his own plans for the crown of Sabbac. Adam awakens to a world he is not familliar with and begins wreaking havoc on intergang forces in the city. Shortly after these events, leader of the Suicide Squad Amanda Waller calls in another group of super beings called the Justice Society to head to Kahndah to stop Adam and imprison him. This group consists of 4 new heros being Dr.Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centino). The 4 beings fight wage battle with Adam in the city, but soon learn he may be the only hope in saving the world from a much bigger threat. Does Black Adam really shift the balance of power in the DCEU? Well lets get into it.

I will say my favirote thing about this movie had to be Pierce Brosnan. There is just a cleverness and sense of grounding that he brings to the role that keeps the movie from completley going off the rails (which its pretty rough throughout). There are many attempts at humor throughout the film, and the most times I felt like laughing were from his jokes. Not too suprised by his characters name Dr. Fate, he has the ability to see future events and can alsoc reate copies of himself to trick and decieve his opponenets. From many of the films action scenes, he uses these powers in ways that elevate the action and the tension throughout. And other than its just good to see Brosnan in a big screen movie again, and that his charm has not wavered. Now how about the rest of the movie?

If you are in the 5-15 age range or if you are just lookig for pure action/adventure and not much else than you will move this movie. But if you enjoy action, story, good character development, and not having your eyes/ears abused with noises and explosions than this aint it. I think the most offensive thing aboout this movie is it promises us the takeover of the D..C verse by the Rock but this movie completley puts everything we love about him to the side. I think with the exception of a few scenes the rock does not even change facial expressions for the majority of the movie. The rock does not have an inch of charisma in this movie and just swaps it out for stocisim and dull jokes. There is not a single standout or remotley memorable charcters in this movie outside of Dr Fate. The members of the Justice society should bring some much needed energy to the movie being a new group of characters but Hawkman, Atom smasher, and Cyclone just feel there because they needed extra people to be there. There are several fights between Adam and Hawkman in this movie, and not one time, NOT ONE DAM TIME, do they make you think that Hawkman has a chance against him. Aldis Hodge is just under utilzied to just tell Adam “your being bad, you need to be good, use your powers for good”. Also this movie has something that I have not seen since the very early days of Marvel (pre MCU), a character skating around on a skateboard, giving the bad guys running the city hell, I just interanally groanded watching this unfold on the screen.

The climax of this movie is just flat our ridculous and combines imagery that combines something that looks like it came from one of the Mortal Kombat Games and Jason and the Argonauts. This movie is a 2 hour orgy of fights, flying, explosions, dust flying, and nonsensical looking CGI. Some may enjoy this, some may not, but for me it kept remidning me of Man of Steel which I am not an adamant fan of. I dont think this movie has done much to change the heirarchy in the DCEU, which quite frankly with the direction their going in right now and several on/off set issues I dont think their is a heirarchy right now. I wont deny that this movie has its fun moments but it is not enough for me to recommend it to anyone. 6/10.

Spooky season is upon us and bless us all we are getting some new original (kinda) horror movies to enjoy this season. Smile is a new horror thriller from director Parker Finn, and stars Sosie Bacon, Jessie Usher, Kyle Gallner Kall Penn, & Robin Weigert. After witnessing a bizarre and horrificly gruseome suicide occur in front of her, Dr Rose Cotter ( Sosie Bacon), begins seeing, and hearing a variety of distrubing images and sounds,all revolving around different individuals smiling back at her. With the help of her ex boyfriend Joel (Kyle Gallner), Rose discovers a pattern of simillar events that occured earlier (even back from her childhood), related to the suicide she witnessed. Battling her own sanity and demons, Rose goes on a race against the clock to find the culprit of these events and save herself and other’s from a simillar fate. Are you going to be smiling after watching this movie? We’ll lets get into it.

First and foremost, this movie is the Sosie Bacon show. She is in dam near every shot of this movie, and dominates throughout. The movie thrives off of the tension and restlessness that Rose expericnes throughout which is conveyed amazingly throght Sosise’s body language throughout. The rest of the cast is fine and play their roles well, but she is the star of this movie, and I imagine we will be seeing her a lot more after this.

Now to the actual quality of the movie. Yes it is very good. Its filled with tension that feels breathable, and many of the scares (with the exception of a few, the previews spoiled), are unpredictable and terrifying. I am usually not a fan of horror movies that assualt you with pop up scares, but smile wracks them up and exceutes them amazingly well. On top of effective pop up scares, there are several images in this movie that are extremely disturbing (an image at the end of this movie really stuck with me for hours after it was over). A common fear that we all have that the movie uses to its advantge is when you are sleeping at night, and you are in a daark room and you think you see something in the distance and keep squinting to try to see what it is. This happens quite a few times throughout the runtime and is chilling.The biggest thing that this movie uses to its advantage is the tension. We are with Rose tightly trying to figure out what is going on and they make you sweat and wait for it, all the way to the final 20 minutes. Smile also boasts one of the better music scores in a horror movie conducted by Cristobal Tapia de veer.

Their were only a few negatives of this movie that I had and one other I think some people may have with it. The movie has pockets of humor thoroughout, despite a fairly serious tone thoruhgout. The films opening suicide is followed by jokes by cops, and it just doesnt seem like something that blends well with the tone, and other scenes like this occur throuhgout. Smile’s concept is not the most original ever done being we have had several horror movies done around smiling charatcers, and films about charactcers witnessing an event and than jumping in countdown for their lives (The Ring comes to mind). This movie is also pretty long compared to a lot of horror movies, and with all the jump sacres and tension this might not sit well many viewers. Still through all this Smile is a tense, thrilling, and very scray time the movie. And judging by recent news of the films financial success, I will not be surpised if we have sequels/spinoffs for the future. Parker Finn has my blessing. 8/10.