Movie Review: The Mist

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening....whenever it is you have come across this entry.  With the TV series starting up we decided to check out the 2007 flick The Mist.  It stars Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurie Holden (along with half a dozen other Walking Dead alum).  As of 6/28 it has a 7.3 rating.  "A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives."

• Those are nice paintings he has there, especially the Thing 
• Watch out, there will be a killer clown next....what?  Oh wrong flick
• That was almost...the storm of the century...get it...
• Ah there is Andrea...wonder if everyone is going to hate her like on most things she is on
• Oh shit there is Dale!  Its like a prequel to the Walking Dead!
• Oh Frank Darabont directed it that sorta makes sense
• And there is Carol....with her weird short hair....does she always have weird short hair
• Oh and President Ellis from the Marvel flicks, good casting
• There is always one who starts saying its end of days...I hope to be that guy one day!
• Opening the door after knowing two people died in the mist makes perfect sense
• The CGI is bad in this flick!
• And we go down the violence path quickly!
• The Punisher is pretty much a bad ass in all flicks
• Maine people are kind of harsh on out-of-towners
• The chunk of the monster is going to be gone
• Nope, it isn't gone...my bad
• A problem of some magnitude he says
• The bill is due?  It must be paid?  Isn't that what The Governor said to Tyrese?
• Billy your mommy is dead...and you'll be dead soon too
• I wouldn't go into that mist even if there weren't monsters in it
• Obviously something is going to grab the guy and the rope right?
• That is disgusting!  Bugs are gross
• Turn off the lights it is attracting the bugs....and what the fuck was that?!?!
• Love that one group is turning lights out and the others are turning on brighter lights!
• I might not leave the the house again thinking these things are outside...
• This has become a shit show of bugs and fire...awesome
• People are not basically good Andrea!
• They don't quite understand single file I don't think
• Oh the doors are open, that is a good sign
• Are those webs?  How did they not notice the webs?
• There are people in the webs!  Oh shit is about to burst open!  RUN!
• All our fault?  Damn military!
• I like this old lady...kill them all with fire!
• That place would have been burned to the ground as I walked out
• For a god fearing person the crazy lady sure is violent and vulgar
• Walking on the moon is against the law of God?
• Really good casting in this flick
• The boy?  Yeah another reason to hate religion
• Yeah honking is a great idea!
• Forget the gun and GO!
• Stinger through the roof?
• Sorry wifey, you and your son and next buddy
• And when the gas runs out?
• How many bullets left?  Enough for everyone?  Or just the boy?
• I think I'd sit there for a while at least
• Is it wrong that I hope he gets saved after killing everyone else?
• And that is good story telling!

I really enjoyed the flick.  It isn't perfect but what flick is?  Overall however this flick was very enjoyable.  My biggest complaint about the flick is that the flick is a little long.  At just over two hours it feels slightly long.  It didn't feel like two hours but it was long.  Personally I would cut out the neighbor storyline and character completely sense we don't know what happened to his group and it wasn't really needed.  That character could have been added to other people there.  

I liked the ending in that it wasn't the typical hollywood ending and I read that one of the major requirements for Frank Darabont to do the flick was for the ending not to be changed.  I saw it coming once I read that.  I like it but I think they needed to have them sit there for a while.  They sat in the dead car for all of what 2 minutes (it seems, they could have added a time lapse or a note saying days later or something).  

What I really liked about this flick was the excellent casting.  Everyone was good to excellent.  The crazy lady, Carmody, was fantastic as was the old lady and Andrea from the Walking Dead.  Oh and is there a more underrated actress around than Laurie Holden?  I've loved her acting since I first saw her on the Shield!  While Jane isn't the most charismatic actor he was very good in the role.

Overall I agree with this flick and I rate it the same as everyone else 7/10.   

Until next time remember...if you see a strange mist coming over the mountain lock yourself up and turnoff the lights...oh and stay way from crazy religious people!

Movie Review: Transformers 5

Let me start by saying this....DO NOT SEE THIS FILM!  I regret it because we should not be giving ANYONE money for this movie.  This movie is one of the worst things I've seen put on film.

Okay let me do one of my usual formats, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good:

There was NOTHING good about this movie except when it ended.

The Bad:

Everything from the first films continues to be bad:

• The camera shots are awful.  There are so many times that you can't tell what is going on it is horrible
• There are times where you don't know if things are up or down
• Some of the CGI effects are horrible; like the irish whip Marky Mark does near the end of the flick
• They introduce several new Transformers...only for them to die without knowing why they were
• They did a bit right out of Boarderlands or Suicide Squad with Decepticons which was awful
• The introduction of Hot Rod
• Several times you don't know what happens to certain transformers but then they show back up
• The acting 

The Ugly:

This film had so many plot holes that Optimus Prime could easily drive through them!  The plans these people come up for in the flick make no sense.  There are time line shifts that make no sense in the flick.  The entire thing with Nemesis Prime doesn't make sense either.  

Don't get me started on the whole Unicron idea.  I won't ruin that jem for everyone but it is AWESOME!

Overall I give this piece of shit a 1/10 only because 0/10 isn't an option on IMDB.  I will NOT, repeat NOT, give this franchise any more of my money.  I will NOT be fooled again.  I am going to watch the animated flick soon to clear my mind and remind myself that Transformers was enjoyable at one point!

Unwritten Rules

I am not a fan of rules...I mean no one is right?  We all hate having to follow rules.  I want to show up to work when I want and dressed how I want (I hate pants and shoes).  But it gets even worse when people bring up "unwritten" rules.  You can do some searching on your own and find lots of so called unwritten rules (although most I found are not rules as much as not being a dick...chew with your mouth closed is an unwritten rule).

However certain things seemingly have a shit ton on unwritten rules and Major League Baseball is one of them!  Good grief I swear anytime I turn on Mike and Mike during baseball season (which is 9 months of the year for the love of all things good and evil) they are talking about someone breaking some unwritten rule.

Today I open up Facebook and I see that Seattle broke one of these rules and beat Detroit.  I think it showed up on my feed because I get a lot of Tiger stuff posted by friends back in the Mighty MI.

Detroit had a perfect game going until this happened and that is just not done.  Click here for the news story.   This line from the story really bothered me.  "Ordinarily the unwritten rules say it’s bad form to break up a no-hitter or perfect game with a bunt hit, because that’s not considered as pure as recording a hit by swinging the bat."

WHAT THE FUCK!?

Let me rephrase that, the other team should NOT do whatever it takes to win because the other team is having a good game.  So again I say...WHAT THE FUCK?!

This isn't flipping little league this is their job!  They play the win the game to paraphrase one famous football couch.  It bunting will get a rally going (which it did in this case) then do it.  If you aren't breaking a rule then do it I say.  Hell if you can break a rule and not get caught then do it because the other team is going to.  Do unto other as they'd do unto you....but do it first!

I am getting off topic here (I know a surprise) but unwritten rules are bullshit.  Here are some others:

Don't run up the score

Yeah you can't play the game.  If you are winning by too much (which is what exactly?) don't play too hard because....I don't know why.  Don't want to hurt the feelings of the other team?  I mean there is no chance that the other team can come back win the game just because you're winning right?

Retaliate

What is the old saying, something about they put one of ours in the hospital we put one of theirs in the morgue?  Something like that right?  Anyway that is baseball for you.  If they hit one of our guys we are going to hit one of theirs.  This year a fight started because a pitcher did it from two years ago! TWO YEARS AGO!  And it was because he broke the next unwritten rule...

PLAY THE RIGHT WAY

I won't put another WTF gif up but seriously what does that mean?  The right way?  Oh you mean the way it has always been done?  

For the record I'm not a guy who likes a lot of change in his stuff.  I'm pretty old school but when people get mad because they "watched their home run too long" or "he flipped his bat" I get angry.  I remember at work one time people got mad at me because I'd throw cups I marked wrong.  I wasn't angry it was funny and kept me sane but "it wasn't the right thing" bullshit.  So he flipped his bat, here is an idea, do better next time pitcher man!  Don't let the kid hit a home run off you!  

So while I'm as traditional as the next guy I have one thing to say to you people who think this is right...WHAT THE FUCK?

Movie Review: Big Trouble in Little China

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever it is you have come across this entry.  Today I am checking out the flick Big Trouble in Little China.  It stars Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall and Dennis Dun.  "An All-American trucker gets dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle in Chinatown."  This is one of those flicks I have wanted to see for a while.  As for 6/19/17 it has a 7.3 on IMDB.  Lets go get in some "big trouble" (See what I did there?)

• Jack Burton has a lot to say...or he likes the sound of his voice...like me

• I didn't realize this was a John Carpenter flick, nice!
• That is a lot of money Jack!  You are getting scammed brother
• For not wanting to talk about it he sure is talking about it
• Ah the 80's when anything and everything could happen at the airport.  Made action flicks much more fun
• SWEEP THE LEG!
• Huh, the kidnapped girl sure is calm
• I have to say this sure did escalate quickly
• These guys really like their hats and funny looks

• Oh and grunting...always lots of grunting in martial arts flicks
• Did that guy have back scratchers of death?
• Awesome James Hong is in this flick!  He is awesome

• Gracie Law?  Really?  
• Russell was pretty funny back in the day, him as the nerdy salesmen was great
• Those hats seem really impractical, you can't really see around them
• Phone guys sure were different back in the 80's
• Good thing they didn't search him for weapons
• I think that guy was actually hulking up....brother
• That would take amazing strength to do the wheelchair thing
• They left her with paper and pen yet they tied the other one up?
• No one else hears those shots or the girls screaming?
• Why the cartwheel?  Kung fu fights never make sense to me!
• Was that a dive by Cattrall?
• Wouldn't that grate weight a shit ton?
• This flick sure seems long and it is only half through
• Of course, why wouldn't there be a fire pole into the sewer
• It is like a fat beholder!  AWESOME!

• Oh shit, I just looked up Egg and he is grandpa from 3 ninja's, the ultimate ninja movie!
• How did the lightning guy miss?  How is he that bad?
• That is an awesome crossbow
• Of course, just hit the guy with a big rock!  Killer Croc was right all along!

• They are stopping at a red light?

Well that was interesting for sure.  I'm not sure what to say about it.  It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination but was it good?  I think I give it a 6/10 so slightly lower then the others on IMDB.

Almost everything was good or better but on a whole something was missing.  What I can't say for sure.  I am not a huge fan of the wire acts like this or Crotching Tiger.  It becomes old hat very quickly.  

I didn't like the ending either because it is just left there.  I wonder if there was going to be a follow up and the box office failure stopped that from happening.

The acting was okay to good and the effects were well done.

Just felt something was missing and I wish I could say what.  I'm glad that I watched it and ticked another flick off my list but I didn't love it like I wanted to.  

Until next time...here is hoping that you don't find yourself in big trouble...but if you don't listen to what old Jack Burton says and you'll be just fine!

Movie Review: Avalanche Sharks

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening...whenever it is you have come across this blog.  Ii was looking for something to blog about and thought I'd look around Netflix and decided I do a cult flick. Well that didn't work out because Netflix reminded me that I watched Zoombies!  Well that led me to this flick, Avalanche Sharks!  "Avalanche Sharks tells the story of a bikini contest that turns into a horrifying affair when it is hit by a shark avalanche."  It stars Alexander Mendeluk, Kate Nauta and Benjamin Easterday.  I cannot wait to see this AWESOME flick!

• Good grief, do ski people really talk like surfers on snow?
  
  
• OH MY GOD THAT WAS AWESOME!  Ghost snow shark thingy
• Do people really impale themselves on things while skiing?  That makes it a lot more interesting.  Now I want traps and shit and we have a very interesting spectator sport!
• She is really pissed off for being late.  
• So the guy is a schedule freak
• This movie is what happens when film makers realize that go pros are cheap
• Why in the hell did that girl throw her top/vest at the sheriff?  Also isn't it cold to be in a bikini?  
• Oh of course, a creepy mountain guy who knows about the snow shark alien things
• My god, the writing on this flick is just awful.  Keith Shaw, the writer, should be ashamed.  I wouldn't allow my name
• Did they really use "CGI" for the fire?  I mean why?
• Is that guy just randomly twirling the fire thing for no reason
• Do they really have those PA systems at ski resorts?  Every ski move, all of them bad, seem to have them.  Even Always Sunny mocked them
• I'm so worried about my brother....lets go have sex....amazing characters in this flick.  Hope my brother would worried that much about me if I went missing
• Movies like this make me miss the message boards on IMDB
• Good god if I was Keith Shaw I'd be in witness protection.  I might even start going by Michael Bay
• Really?  An oral sex joke?  
• You know...the file, there can be only one file
• People Meat?  Is that another sex joke?
• Love is the answer?  My god I think anyone named Keith should change their name because that is this writers name.  
• Of course they just happened to find his goggles.  Of course
• They can just replace the sheriff?  What kind of place is "Mammoth Mountain"?
• Why take just on snow machine?  
• I just told you a story...so...lets make out?  GOOD GRIEF!
• I love the idea that she is going to fuck the winner of a snow machine race.  Because...um...movie logic?
• They killed all of his dogs?
• People don't just randomly die?  That is actually how it works!
• So the logical person from the beginning isn't anymore?
• Also how did they attack through the hot tub?
• So the new sheriff just left the girl...and was that the story guy?  I feel like it was
• There is not enough panic in their voices for ghost snow sharks
• Yes, keep shooting, it obviously works well
• I'm not crazy I'm a Marine?  What the fuck does that mean?  
• Yep leaving is probably the best option, the stupid ski patrol/new sheriff guy was the smartest of them all
• Don't ever look back....at this movie or your career after this movie!

I have no idea what to say about this flick.  It has a 2.3 over in IMDB as of 6/15 and that is high. Unless you want a bad movie do NOT watch this flick.  it is painful, plain and simple.  The writing is awful.  The acting isn't much better.  The CGI isn't horrible, if I had to find something good.  The one shot of the shark on the truck near the end wasn't horrible.

But seriously this is flat out bad and obviously a made for TV flick.  I give it a 1/10.  If you want a bad movie for 90 minutes this is a bad bad movie.  Until next time...remember....don't look back...never look back!

Movie Review: Hairspray

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever it is you have found this entry.  Today I'm watching the 2007 version of Hairspray.  It stars John Travolta, Queen Latifah and Nikki Blonsky.  "Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show."  Lets see what a whole movie about hairspray is about

• I'd rather not look at your hair....it is bad
• Nice to see Cyclops relax and let his hair down
• Nine months?  That is a weirdly specific time frame....
• Ugg Amanda Bynes makes weird faces
• Why do they have Travolta as her mom?
• If that is detention why wouldn't all the kids just go there?  Its much better than regular class
• So dancing has always looked like people were having seizures, it isn't a new thing!
• Cyclops was enjoying that dancing a little too much!
• Good grief what did she do to her hair?
• Mix?  Those Kids?  Good grief!
• Really too much with the "fat mom" stuff
• Does Walken do the voice now because it is expected of him?
• This flick is LONG...or it seems that way at least

Over on IMDB as of 6/12 this flick has a rating of 6.7 and that sounds about right.  I'd give it a 7/10. You know that makes it average in my book.  

I am disappointed that this movie wasn't really much about hairspray at all.  Okay I'll get a little more serious (well probably not) about this flick.  I will say that the acting was well done.  No one came off as just horrible.  John Travolta came off a little over the top but I think that is part of the charm of the character.

I can't really talk about anything more about this flick as it is a musical.  I can't exactly try to insert logic into the flick can I?  I mean how does everyone know the words to the song or the dance moves?  Yes I'm making fun of musicals one of my favorite genre.  It does make me laugh everything I think about it and the South Park episode about High School Musical is exactly what I think.

Overall it was a fun flick if not slightly long.  Check it out if you you need something fun to watch.

Movie Review: Colossal

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening...whenever it is you have come across.  Today I'm checking out the flick Colossal.  It stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis and Austin Stowell.  "Gloria is an out-of-work party girl forced to leave her life in New York City, and move back home. When reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, she gradually comes to the realization that she is somehow connected to this phenomenon."  Warning, there are major spoilers in my thoughts.

• I feel this girls pain, I had to move home briefly and it SUCKED...in that moving home felt like such a failure
• This is what it is like talking to people from home town.  Another reason I never go home
• What is in the pillow case she is carrying around?
• That is a lot of beer
• The music is weird in this flick so far
• Still want to know what is in the pillow case!
• Ah, an air mattress, I know those things very well
• Good thing phones have endless power
• No one called her till now?  I hope if a giant monster attacks a major city people call me about it and not wait!
• That is one HUGE air mattress
• These people are really calm considering a giant monster is attacking a nuclear power
• Ah that is how she figured out she is connected to the monster
• If a monster did what I did there would be a lot more footage of the monster wildly gesturing and flipping people off
• Ah it is the playground, that explains 25 years ago
• She looks like a crazy person
• How did the air mattress deflate?
• Wait she can feel the attacks?
• He is really calm realizing she controls the monster/is the monster
• So more people can create giant avatars of themselves?
• Again they are extremely calm over all this
• I wish I had left my home town and did something special
• I'm confused, is it because she is drunk she is hitting on this young kid?
• Her friend is going to be devastated 
• Oh he figured it out already
• DAMN!
• Wow this movie took a very dark turn
• Wow...her ex is an ass
• Why wouldn't she leave?  Of course, because he'll destroy Seoul.  
• Wait...she was struck by lightning?  That is why she scratches her head.  They were both struck by lightning?
• Why are the sirens going?
• I'm so confused right now, it is nowhere near 8:05
• Shit, maybe I'm wrong
• Does no one see them fighting in real life?
• Is it wrong that stomping a major city sounds like a lot of fun...what does that say about me?
• Is she going to commit suicide?
• Yeah that was a satisfying ending to him

Well that was an interesting flick.  On IMDB as of 6/10 it has a rating of 6.3.  That is about what I'd say but I'll be kind and round it up to a 7.  It wasn't a bad flick by any stretch of the imagination.  It was average with an above average everything. It is a case of the sum being less than the parts for some reason.  I can't say why but I don't feel right about giving it more than a 7 even though I initially said it was an 8.  

Everything about the flick was at least good.  The story was interesting story that I don't remember ever being told before.  While I didn't like where the story went with the main characters (it wasn't how I would have wrote it).

The acting was average to above average.  Both Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis were fine in their parts and it was a different role then I'd see from Sudeikis in the past.  

The special effects were also pretty well done.  I was surprised to see it done as well as it was.  

Honestly, as I said, it should be rated higher I don't know what is stopping me but something is.  If you can find a copy of it you should check it out.  

Bottom 100: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening...whenever it is that you have come across this entry. This time I'm looking at #72 of the the Bottom 100 on IMDB (as of 4/29/17) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  It stars John Call, Leonard Hicks and Vincent Beck.  "The Martians kidnap Santa Claus because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents."  This makes sense that the elfs are actually martians!  

• Oh wow...this starts amazingly!
• KID TV?  Nice
• It is the doorman from the Jeffersons!  
• Wow, that elf wasn't even hitting the "toy"
• What the hell just happened?  Did she have a fit?
• Mr. Anderson?  Neo looks different then I remember
• These are Martians?
• Forgot how to sleep?  That is like forgetting how to sweep...which someone told me once....
• Hamburger?  They have cows on Mars?
• Sleep Spray?  Nice
• Voldar seems thrilled
• Childrens bodies but adult minds?  What?
• This flick is so bad it keeps locking up on Amazon Prime ha ha
• Oh shit, this is where Michael Bay got his idea of ALWAYS putting in some random military scene
• Well that was pretty blunt, we're from Mars
• Nice, stock footage of mid air refueling, always cool
• Dropo is a good name for a band!
• Torg?  
• Whole US Space Force?  That's a thing?
• Good thing isn't -91 at the south pole
• How'd the kids get out before Kimar and company?
• Voldar doesn't like you Betty, and neither do I!
• BEST POLAR BEAR EVER!
• Wait...so Martian Manhunter is of these guys?  I will not be able to John the same way again!
• Martian Monkeys?
• Always?  You just meet Dropo how can he always make you laugh?
• They kind of made Santa a moron in this flick
• Old movies always seem to have a karate chops in fights
• Why would the workshop close?  It is all automated isn't it?
• Is that Jamie Farr?  Nope he isn't credited but sure looks like Klinger
• How would switching the bulbs change anything?  Wait, that is how you turn the machine on and off?  Weird
• Why would they meet again?  They're literally worlds apart

Well that was bad but very entertaining.  This shouldn't be on the bottom 100.  This is just hokey and old.  That isn't a bad thing.  This was kind of entertaining and I almost want to make it a holiday tradition to watch this.

Was it a good flick?  No but it is also over 50 years old, very few films hold up for 50+ years.  I can't say to go watch it but there are worst ways to waste 90ish minutes!

Are people talking about Wonder Woman for the wrong reasons?

The best version of Wonder Woman?

If you follow my blog hopefully you read my Woman Woman review.  It was an honest review of a movie nothing more...at least I hope.  I didn't plan to put in a bunch of other junk about sex or politics and whatnot.  Hopefully I wrote my thoughts on the movie, the actors, the writing, the directing, the editing...the things within the movie.

I didn't want to bring in that Wonder Woman was the first flick to have a female superhero in its lead since what...Catwoman?  (Maybe Elektra...but I feel like Catwoman was after that).  I want to say that was back in 2002 (Just looked it up Catwoman was 2004 and Elektra was 2005).  And lets be honest while Catwoman was fighting evil she is not a superhero, she is one of those characters that fight for her own reasons much like Punisher...but I am getting off course.

I am embarrassed to have found this picture

A lot of the buzz I'm seeing about Wonder Woman is because it stars and was directed by a woman. At first I was confused by this.  I mean of course Wonder Woman has a female lead, can't have Wonder Woman played by a dude....that would just be weird....and he would have to have some amazing legs to pull off that outfit!

And personally I rarely pay attention to the director of anything.  I might be swayed by Kevin Smith or Joss Weddon....and then it hit me.  The few directors I know are men aren't they.  It is a big deal that this is the major action movie to be directed by a female director.  No it a HUGE deal!

But then I thought of something else, if I saw that Patty Jenkins was directing, lets say a movie about a woman who fights to get her children back from a kidnapper, would I go see it ONLY because she directed it?  No.  Why?  Because she doesn't have a track record yet.  That isn't sexist it is the truth. However if I see a flick that I'm on the fence about seeing and see that Kathryn Bigelow is directing it that might push me over the edge to see it.

The other thing I see almost everywhere is this division of men and women talking about....not the film but what it means to women.  First off I can't say what it means to women.  Just like I couldn't say how it would have felt (and will feel) when the first African American superhero flick is shown (I think that is going to be Black Panther) although one could argue Storm if you really wanted to.  The point is I am a white guy so I can say how important it is to see someone who represents you on the screen makes you feel.  I will never (hopefully) say some is wrong for feeling that way.

And she is right, we are

Here is what makes me more upset than anything though...that this HAS to be a topic!  This was a wonderful thing for people who are fans of Wonder Woman, men and women.  Why isn't that enough?  Why does it HAVE to be about men vs. women?

Instead of shouting from the roof tops that this is a victory for women, shouldn't we be shouting it is a victory for everyone!  That perhaps we took a tiny step forward and proved that it isn't about sex but it is about good film making and story telling.

We should celebrate that one of the most iconic superheroes was given the treatment she deserved. The key now isn't to make sure we have more female directors (although perhaps more female directors/writers could write better stories for women, I don't know that....I can't write for male characters even) but to make sure we have better female characterizations.  If you make a good movie with good female characters people will watch it, male or female.  If you make crappy one dimensional characters, male or female, people will not.

It should be true though damn it!

However that isn't to take away the historical nature of this flick.  Patty Jenkins did something that NO woman has done before and that should be applauded.  She broke a barrier and no man or women can take that away from her.

My review of the flick might not have been 100% positive but the flick was good enough that I will be going to see the next Wonder Woman flick whenever it comes out.  I hope she can correct the mistakes made in the first one (and again, I don't blame her for everything, a director doesn't have full control) and make an even better film.  We have Captain Marvel coming out in 2019 (I think) and I will see that and I know nothing about the character.

So I ask you, my dozens of readers, are you talking about Wonder Woman for the right...or in my opinion wrong reasons?  Or is there a wrong reason?  Is any talk about this flick and what it has done a good reason to talk about it?  Perhaps this whole blog goes on to show I am nothing but a sexist pig after all!

Movie Review: Wonder Woman

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening....whenever it is you have come across this entry. Today I'm writing about the new flick "Wonder Woman".  I'm not feeling 100% so no description of what the flick is about, look it up if you have been in some cave and don't know!

Overall the movie was a thumbs in the middle for me.  A 6.5/10

I enjoyed the story of the film for the most part but like most DCEU flicks this one just felt a little flat for me.  It might be because of the high bar that Marvel has set or that that the DC TV Universe has set.  I always fail to see how DC can produce some of my favorite TV shows (Batman The Animated Series; Justice League; Arrow; Flash) yet their movies more often than not leave me feeling blah.

It might be the creative team lead by Snyder but I'm not 100% sure of that.  It might be casting (more on that to come) I'm not sure but something seems to be off with their formula.

Much like last years Batman v. Superman this flick continues us on the path toward Justice League which looks to be more and more like a train wreck that we won't be able to look away from.  Lets get more into Wonder Woman though.

The biggest thing for me in this flick was that the writing was BAD!  I mean corny bad.  The part where Dr. Poison basically looks into the camera and says "and it will be terrible" literally made me sigh and shake my head.  There were other examples too but overall the writing drug this film down for me.

Another thing that hurt this flick was that it was nearly 2.5 hours long!  IT IS LONG AND FEELS IT!  Why?  Because every time Diana turns to fight someone else you get a slow or stop motion shot. I swear to god you could cut 20 minutes off this flick if you got rid of all those.

Lastly the CG in several parts of this flick was lacking.  Several times it looked like a video game and not in a good way.

While I didn't love her I didn't hate Gal in the starring role.  I'm still not sold as her as Wonder Woman but I didn't hate it.  She does a decent job in the role but I failed to completely feel she was "Wonder Woman" at times.  Too many superhero poses and close ups (which you can't blame her for) ruined it a bit for me as did her "trying to look tough" look that came off, in my opinion, as "look at me I'm tough" like young Diana did.

That isn't to say I hated everything.  This was the first time I liked Chris Pine and the young lady who played his secretary was wonderful in her role.

Honestly what hurt this flick for me was all behind the camera/off screen.  Bad writing, bad directing (at times), bad writing, bad CG, bad writing (did I mention that yet), bad editing and a few plot holes hurt this more than anything the actors did.

The actors did the best with what they were given and that alone I applaud them.  They were given a mix of chicken, chicken byproducts, feathers and a little bit of shit and told to make sure believe it was chicken salad.  If I closed my eyes really tight and didn't chew a lot I bought it!

Again I'd say a 6.5/10 but due to nothing the actors did.  A better writing team and perhaps a director who could not use the same gimmick each time (if it was her fault, it could have been a studio or editor decision) and this could have been higher.

I've seen it compared to the first Thor which I also gave a 6 for some of the same reasons.

Worth going to see if you enjoy superhero movies that is for sure.  It isn't a home run but a solid standing double/sliding triple if you will excuse the baseball analogy.  It is the best DC flick since The Dark Knight but I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing!