Another historic first: buying a cinema ticket at the senior citizen's rate of $5! And what did I watch? "The Mandalorean and Grogu". For a Star Wars spinoff, this one was a silly fun ride. Outside of the Skywalker circle, the galaxy feels gritty and street-level. The stakes are personal. Single dad, blue-collar work, getting down and dirty required. The mission is kill or capture (preferably capture) ex-Imperial officers who are hoping to one day revive the Empire while currently running their own criminal empires.
Mando gets into some amazing action sequences, adept as he is in hand-to hand, blaster, arial and space combat. So while the scale of the conflict is comparatively small, the size of the explosions are still franchise-worthy. And a lot of animal cruelty is par for the course for Mando, granted they are all trying to eat him first.
But it wouldn't be "The Mando... and Grogu" if the 50 year-old baby didn't get to take centrestage for an adventure of his own -- with Babu Frik and his workshop crew assisting. It's funny that Grogu wants so much to fight like his Dad, but his assets have more to do with the make friends and influence people persuasion.
Little of what happens in this movie has much to do with the greater conflict. Mando is a contractor with the New Republic, which trusts him enough to replace his previously destroyed Razor Crest with a beautifully restored stock model -- which he immediately guts for speed and functionality. He's clearly not about to flip it for coin.
But that's just it. The plot didn't have to be even set in the Star Wars universe to be engaging. But the fact that it does gives it a huge lift. That AT-AT walkers are frantically blasting and stomping at Mando as he zips among their quadruped legs, causing mayhem; the thrill of an x-wing squadron swooping in along with that swell of William's theme, no lightsabers, and the recurrence of later characters like Rebels' Zeb, that old guy from Kim's Convenience, and Sigourney Weaver finally making an appearance, dealing with aliens she can at least negotiate with... it's a lot of fan service and great vibes all around.
5 bucks gets you quite a bit of happiness when you're old.
Disney-Marvel tends to focus on the family dynamic a lot. But it's only now that we finally get a long-awaited introduction to the Fantastic Four, and my favourite title growing up.
MCU's FF takes place in the 828 universe, so it's the first movie of the franchise to be set entirely outside 616. A different universe presents the opportunity to design the world differently from the usual realistic-familiar 'view outside your window'. On 828 Earth, supervillains abound, but all of them are kept in check by only one team of four superheroes. It's a world fully dependent on the four and is quite helpless without them. They, particularly Susan Storm (Vanessa Kirby), are the world's most respected policymakers. If any alien species were to land and ask to be taken to the leader, the Four would be it.
No surprise, then, that the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) makes first contact with them, announcing the world-ending arrival of the Devourer, Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who thankfully makes an appearance as the imposing physical being he is supposed to be and not a disembodied cloud. Sue's brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), is depicted previously as a thrill-seeking pain-in-the-a**, but I'm glad that here he is able to play a key role in defeating Galactus -- using heart and brain over bravado and flame.
I love Ben Grimm's (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) character design, and I mean his physical appearance in which he appears stylishly clothed rather than just rockin' trunks the whole time, and also his personality who has come to terms with how he looks, so much so that it seems Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is more broken up about it than Ben is. Ben's flirting with a grade school teacher in full view of her students suggests he's not too self-conscious of his exterior. Good for him!
When we first meet the Four, they are already an established world-protecting force. Their origin is re-told in a commemorative, almost worshipful, television documentary complete with mid-century soundtrack and editing style. The vibe is upbeat, orchestral with a bombastic swing and overall very optimistic. But the main point of the opening scene is to introduce Sue's pregnancy. She's carrying Franklin Richards, the most powerful being in the MCU, bar none. But for now, he's a baby whose parents hope to give the most normal of lives to. Sure, that's gonna happen.
The plot was quite a thrill -ride, as long as we don't ask too many awkward questions about the science of how some of the plot-devices could have worked -- like how would slingshotting around a neutron star using existing inertia accelerate a non-FTL spacecraft to near lightspeed? Also, the timeline plays fast and loose with how quickly the earthlings can coordinate globally to mount a defence response, and how long it takes for Galactus to arrive despite salivating over the possibility of satiating his eternal hunger once and for all. But once he puts boots on ground zero (it's always going to be Manhattan) Sue gets to show who's the most powerful among team Fantastic.
I quite enjoyed the movie. The setting was a weird blend of old-fashioned aesthetic meets super-futuristic vibes which applies to the people, their costumes, and their personalities as well. The theme of protecting family resonates consistently throughout. It's cheesy, and done so many times already, yet it still sucks us in because wanting to belong is so integral to our emotional make-up. Done this warmly, it's a great family film that makes a solid introduction to Marvel's First Family making its 'First Steps' as the next beloved superteam in the MCU (Go, Thunderbolts!).
Disney's 'live' Snow White is now streaming. It's been much maligned, panned, and shunned by the movie-going public, going by its poor box office performance. The lead, Rachel Zegler, has also received much online abuse and the roasting hasn't stopped even though she's moved on to other projects.
The question is, did the movie deserve the hate it got? First. it's a remake of a beloved original vintage Disney animation, so already the audience is communicating to the studio to please stop re-inventing the wheel and make us some new stuff instead.
That said, this 'live' production fills in a lot of detail missing in the original that present teachable opportunities for parents to discuss with their kids after. Primarily, the nature of 'beauty' which is central to the story. Zegler is no mega-babe compared to the statuesque Gal Gadot -- Wonder Woman herself -- who plays the Queen. But that is the point of this movie: that beauty is not in the outer appearance alone, but the totality of a person and how they behave towards others. The one who is beautiful adds to the lives of others, rather than takes away from them. The Queen's favourite magic trick demonstrating long-term impact by comparing the fragility of a flower to the hardness of diamond is eventually reversed by Snow White. It's an important distinction that the original animation glosses over, but the 'live' version gets a bit heavy handed with.
Other lessons include how an ideal society functions. In Snow White's version it's when people are kind and share their resources with each other from the goodness of their hearts rather than from a political mandate. The Queen's way is essentially survival of the fittest (or fairest) pitting winners who can acquire and protect resources from others, and losers who can't -- a philosophy that turns the literally once-harmonious kingdom into a gloomy scrabble for individual survival. It's a criticism of the current state of the USA even before 47 took over, but it's probably so on-the-nose that it rubs the domestic audience the wrong way. Under the spectre of potential new wars, mass deportation, the new anti-DEI pushback, it does seem far-fetched that people being kind to one another can make it all better.
Also re-examined is the concept of 'true love'. How would a passing stranger of a prince experience 'true love' encountering Snow White's lifeless body and be motivated to kiss her without the suspicion of necrophiliac tendencies? In the 'live' version, Jonathan is no prince, but a selfish rogue whom Snow White influences to change his ways through mutual cooperation and suffering before love materializes between them. This added storyline could be a criticism against how modern men and women expect true love to occur between strangers meeting on dating apps and getting disappointed because no one will ever be 'the one' this way.
As far as the 'live' is a musical, true, there are a lot of song and dance numbers to keep the narrative lively. But the music was not particularly memorable other than the callbacks to some of the original's. The lyrics were also more tell than show, so sure, fun but overall meh.
'Live' Snow White I have mixed feelings about. I might have appreciated it better if I had kids to bring and have something to chat about with them later, but the movie was clearly not pitched to my demographic. Perhaps that's the reason this movie wasn't as profitable as it could have been: having fewer and fewer kids means less and less reason to pay money to watch movies like this, while the jaded and childless are hate-watching the movie that is not meant for them. Also, perhaps the overall positivity of the narrative can be annoying as it runs so counter to their normal, everyday experience of life. And their biased reviews are turning audiences off unfairly -- even audiences whom the movie is meant for.
Why would there be a need to remake a beloved animated movie from 2002 into a 'live' action one in 2025? To be honest, this one is the first 'live' action Disney remake I've watched, but only because the original resonated so hard with me. Would the story impact a second time?
It's a narrative that plays well in animation. The premise of aliens on Earth makes for a silly, nonsensical plot, so the animated medium of the original blends the incongruous elements into a seamless, believable universe. 'Live' action, though, needs a more realistic and grounded treatment, backgrounded by the fantasy elements of life and technology beyond the stars.
The plot and characters are updated, and some of the original's plotholes which we allowed for creative license get more of a logical explanation in the 'live' version. And then there is the concept of what "ohana" entails that gets explored and enhanced as well.
Conceptually, the story is the same. Two tiny outcasts find kinship and bond with each other amidst a chaos that is often of their own making. Through their misadventures, they bring out the best of each other while the lives of everyone concerned with them steadily fall apart. Sometimes, destruction is required before something new can arise from the rubble.
Some things that get updated are that Lilo's (Maia Kealoha) penchant for photography is gone since today, taking pictures of random people without their consent is no longer socially acceptable. Lilo's outfit is less traditional and more current. Big sister, Nani (Sidney Agudong), has help from well-meaning neighbour, Tutu (Amy Hill), a completely new addition to the original cast.
The 'live' action has its share of controversy. The role of Cobra Bubbles, the social worker in the original is split between an actual social worker (Tia Carrere) and Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B Vance) doing undercover work investigating the alien presence on Earth. This split role explains why an ex-CIA agent with alien contact experience is currently working as a social worker. We always wondered if it was something he did or said that got him such a demotion. Now we know better.
Spoiler Alert: making Jumba (Zack Galifianakis) the main antagonist in the 'live' version seems like a betrayal of the character from the original, but we have to remember that in the original there was no motivation for his change of heart. He was always about capturing Stitch, disassembling him, and remaking a better monster. In the original, after finally capturing Stitch, Stitch politely asks Jumba for help to which he makes an inexplicable turnaround claiming, "he's very persuasive". In the 'live' version, Jumba follows through with his original motivation and gets increasingly unhinged with every failure.
Even bigger spoiler alert: Many fans of the original are upset when at the conclusion, Nani relinquishes custody of Lilo. In the original, Nani and Lilo remain as a family under the auspices of alien providence. In reality, aliens have no jurisdiction to enforce such protection once they leave the planet. It makes sense for there to be a more enforceable solution in the 'live' action, and that is for Tutu, who has been portrayed as a surrogate mother figure to both Nani and Lilo to take custody of Lilo.
Meantime, Nani is allowed to pursue her dreams studying Marine Biology, which again to many fans looks like a betrayal of the wholesome original ending when then family gets to stay together. 'Live' action Nani is accused of 'girlbossing', which is not true at all. First, Nani has to be persuaded to go to university, having won a full scholarship, and has turned down the offer time and again. She finally goes when Lilo tells her to go because that's what their parents would have wanted for her.
So what does this mean for the 'ohana' concept that was so central to the original? While ohana means family, it isn't limited to the nuclear family. The concept of family includes found family (which was part of the concept in the original) and now includes Tutu who is also found family and has been part of the extended family this whole time. Ohana also includes family members who are deceased and whose wishes are still respected. When no one is "left behind or forgotten", that includes Nani too. Despite being Lilo's primary caregiver for most of this movie, Nani needs care from her ohana too, which Tutu provides. Girlbossing would actually be Nani taking care of Lilo all by herself, but ohana brings the village to raise the child.
And finally, in 'live' we get to see Lilo achieve personal growth and gain some maturity. Animated Lilo gets everything she wants at the end, but at no personal cost. In 'live', Lilo decides she cannot be a selfish brat any longer, agreeing to part with Nani for a time so that Nani can become who she needs to be. Lilo does say "I like you better as a sister than a mom", so she makes the sisterly decision to let Nani go. This way, Lilo proves that she is ohana to Nani as much as Nani has proven time and again that she is ohana to Lilo.
While I generally believe that it's time Disney starts making original content again, Lilo and Stitch 'live' gives us a little more insight to the animated original. But I draw the line at making yet another 'live' remake of its sequels. Once is enough.
Well, here's a melding of two worlds I did not expect. The original Karate Kid and its remake turn out to be parts of the same Karate universe. Legends brings them all together and shifts everybody west to the gritty streets of New York.
Having regained his confidence after Xiao Dre's (Jaden Smith) victory in Beijing, Mr Han (Jackie Chan) restarts his school of kung fu. His prize student, Li Fong (Ben Wang), is already skilled in martial arts, but lives under the shadow of his deceased older brother. His Mom (Ming-Na Wen) forbids Fong from any further fighting due to the circumstances of her older son's death, and moves them both to New York for a fresh start.
Of course, the Karate Kid formula gets Fong in trouble with his newfound girlfriend's (Mia, played by Sadie Stanley) ex, Conor Day (Aramis Knight). The game now is to win the 5 Boroughs Championship of which the Conor is 5-time reigning champion.
While Conor is intense and ruthless in training, he's not really played up as a bully. Fong already has his own inner demons to fight. It takes both Mr Han and Daniel la Russo (Ralph Macchio) to combine forces and get him in shape for the fight both physically and mentally.
Yes, in a flashback at the beginning of this movie, the legend of how Miyagi-Do Karate came from Han kung fu roots is told. It's satisfyingly respectful that the late Pat Morita's Mr Miyagi is remembered as the common link between Mr Han and Daniel-san. "Two branches, one tree".
It is important to set up how skilled a fighter Fong is right at the start. He impresses Mia's dad, Victor (Joshua Jackson), who becomes Fong's student in using kung fu to train for an upcoming prize fight. This way, we see our protagonist as a trainer rather than as a trainee, an interesting break from formula. This leaves Fong's training by Han and Daniel to be more comical as the two coaches discuss and demonstrate their strategies using Fong as a practice dummy.
What's not clear to me, though, is the need to bring in the discipline of Karate as the 5 Boroughs tournament doesn't seem to be specific to any single discipline. The portrayal of the tournament felt rushed. There was little build up in getting to know the opponents, their motivations and stakes. Conor and Fong looked evenly matched going in, so despite being down by a few points in the early game Fong didn't look like he was in trouble. Then again, perhaps that wasn't the point. Fong's demons have more to do with his response after the match to fulfil his redemption arc. Another nice variation of the formula.
Overall, Legends brings a fresh take to the Karate Kid franchise, thrilling to view as a first-timer, yet heavily nostalgic for those of us who have followed this narrative since the '80s.
'A Minecraft Movie' did not resonate with me. Although I don't play the game, I thought I would give the movie a go as lately video game-based movies like Sonic and Super Mario Bros were decently entertaining enough. Perhaps Minecraft was meant for a younger audience, but the audience around me was mostly children and it didn't seem like they were very entertained either. While not disruptive, thankfully, the kids maintained a low-energy level of polite watching. The occasional question seemed more frequent than laughter.
What didn't work for this movie is the open-ended nature of the source material. The game is mostly about learning to interact with the environment by discovering new materials and crafting recipes, then becoming creative in reshaping the environment with these new discoveries. The game raises the stakes from time to time by sending waves of hostiles for the player to defend against. But it is up to the movie to design a motivation for these attacks. While the main villain's arc does fit the overall theme of how society represses creativity by showing how the different characters react in either healthy or unhealthy ways to their own experiences of repression, really, the chief antagonist has the least provocation to overreact as she does. Without strong motivation for the villain, the stakes are uninteresting.
The humour tends to lean too hard into slapstick. Jason Momoa's character, "Garbage Man", is the butt of most of the jokes. Tough guy gets scared and screams like a little girl. Tough guy gets his ass kicked by cannon-fodder level enemies. Tough guy falls down a lot. It gets old after the first couple of gags. He does swoop in later to pull off a spectacular save, so I guess he finally learns how to play, but frustratingly, his process happens off camera. Jack Black's character, "Steve", takes the mentor role, playing the straight guy to Momoa's goofball. Black sings funny, improvised songs but again, once too many times to be funny every time. Sure, the 'rule of three' is there for a reason, but humour is in the escalation of each of the three stages. Here it's just the same thing repeated and falls flat.
I did identify with the theme of repressed creativity, however. I've been trying to be more creative in the last couple of weeks working on some personal projects. But I'm finding that my more responsible commitments have been holding me back from fully realising my creative goals. I recognise I'm still at a learning phase and so my creations are still super crappy, but having the discipline to keep practicing will eventually get me where I want to be. Baby steps. So, while I may not have enjoyed the movie as much as I hoped to, I still appreciate the encouragement I got from it.
Added another $16 to Ne Zha 2's over $2b gross earnings to date. It's pretty bold to make the titular character look adorably un-cute. Ne Zha's design is that of a short, pug-nosed, gap-toothed troll, but his charm is more in his heart to stand against adversity while overcoming prejudice over his disadvantages acquired from birth. It's not easy for a person of demonic heritage to live among and be accepted by human beings.
In this episode, Ne Zha's demon self has to be hidden from the gatekeepers of immortality, or his quest to save the life of his best bud, Ao Bing, will fail, resulting in the destruction of his hometown by Ao Bing's pissed-off dad, the Dragon King. That is a summation of the main plot, while the sub-plots involve other factions pursuing their own selfish agenda and pissing each other off both by grand design and more often by a blind sense of self-righteousness seeking to do good, but causing an intricate mess of chaos instead. It's a case of everybody being a hero of their own tale, while being the villain in someone else's.
It's a complex, ambitious piece of storytelling accompanied with spectacular animation, which is what people are mostly paying to see. The scenes are stunningly rendered and beautifully composed, inspired from classical Chinese-Taoist themes. There is an epic sense of scale as the camera moves from individual character detail to a zoom out shot taking in the murmuration of entire armies swarming in formation, colliding in battle in a way that we can almost see each individual combatant within the swarm at the same time. It's breathtaking to behold.
While technically impressive, the storytelling could have been more economical. Perhaps some references to mythology are lost in translation, given my woeful lack of context. Some scenes felt draggy, and I felt myself dozing off at one point. My poor brain was having to keep track of which faction was doing what to whom for what motivation, and I probably needed that micro break. Also, the process of attaining immortality was confusing as Ne Zha had to succeed at beating up a series of random critters that are minding their own business -- but without much sense of progression of difficulty level -- in order for him to be granted immortality. Yet, the same deity who granted him immortality was busy making thousands of immortality pills for... not sure whom exactly. So is immortality gained by beat-em-up, or by swallowing magic pills? Unclear.
Which leads me to the observation that magic in this universe has no rules. Magic is wielded as a convenient deus ex machina. Want something to happen, just name a mystical device/spell and there you go. How powerful a character is depends on what things they can name at the time they need it. If that's the only rule, it's a bit cheap, sorry to say.
Ultimately, what carries the story is Ne Zha himself and his small but loyal group of supporters, namely his parents, his mentor, and his counterpart, Ao Bing. They are all pure of heart, sincere in their intentions, and courageously brave the turmoil they are thrown into. These qualities are what an audience can get behind, especially when balanced by the main character who is also an obnoxious stinker who learns and grows throughout the movie.
Stay for the mid-credits scene. I enjoyed it as whichever studio got to animate this part had the most fun with it. We could have used that type of humour sprinkled more liberally through the rest of the movie as the fart and toilet jokes weren't doing it for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience, though I also feel that the movie suffered from too much of a muchness. When Chinese cinema learns the value of 'less is more', that's when I think it will be unstoppable.
The first time I watched this trailer, I was instantly hooked. But being a more arthouse project, the film got a very limited run. Glad I got a ticket to today's screening at The Projector -- and the very first time I took advantage of the senior citizens' price.
'Flow' is a beautiful piece of storytelling. There isn't much of a plot but a journey as we, the audience, literally follow the flow of wherever the story takes us. In a world seemingly left behind by the human population, our protagonist, the black cat, lives a relatively comfortable life in an abandoned house probably once occupied by a sculptor with a cat obsession. For some reason -- which isn't important since cats don't ever ask 'why' -- the world is flooded in a deluge that drowns all but the tallest of peaks. The cat is able to swim to a boat cast adrift, only to find it is already occupied by a capybara. Thus begins the tale of a boat that eventually collects an odd assortment of stranded animals: a materialistic lemur, a golden retriever, and a heron secretary bird injured while protecting the cat from hostiles.
The animation is smooth, and while it betrays computer graphics, the style looks like every cel is painstakingly painted. Each animal behaves like it should, and anthropomorphizing is very limited to how the capybara, heron, and to some extent, the cat quickly figure out how to steer the boat using the rudder. Through the journey, we are treated to scenes of bravery, compassion, heroism, generosity and of course, conflict, as this microcosmic Noah's Ark learns to trust one another and eventually care for each other.
What I also love about this movie is that there is no human dialogue at all. Each animal makes its own sounds, but meaning is communicated through tone and body language The artists must have studied the movements of each animal carefully, and faithfully reproduced them convincingly on screen. As I'm watching them, I'm also thinking about my animals at home. Would they be able to survive as ably if their human owners unexpectedly disappeared?
There's an obsession over mirrors and reflections as a recurring theme. Clearly, the movie is an allegory about unity in diversity, and how different talents complement each other when contributing to the greater good. The goldie gains the cat's trust by mirroring its movements, so there is a strong statement that's being made about what we can accomplish together as we navigate the chaos and uncertainty of living in our reality.
But I also detect an undercurrent of caution against selfishness too. The boat picks up a pack of dogs stranded in rising waters, but almost immediately they cause problems for the original crew. Although not outright hostile, there is a conflict over ownership of the things the lemur has brought on board. They also eat all the fish the cat had worked hard to catch. And when their help is really needed to save a life, they bail. While it was a moral obligation to save their lives, there really was no time to set boundaries and conditions before taking them on board.
Overall, this movie is more of an experience than anything else. It moves from one situation to the next. Some are breathtakingly gorgeous, others are tense and ominous. Like the current that keeps the boat moving forward, so too do we go with the flow.
Continuing with the witchy vibe from the last few posts, we get a storm in a stirring ladle from 'Wicked' star, Cynthia Erivo, who is upset over a fan edit of the movie's promotional poster. In homage to the 'live' Broadway poster of the musical, the fan casts the shadow of the hat's brim over Erivo's eyes to create a more photorealistic version of the same.
Erivo takes exception to her soulful eyes being "erase[d]", and by extension, the erasure of her entire being. Seriously? It's a movie poster, not a personal boudior portrait. The character being portrayed in the poster is Elpheba, supported by her best friend, Glinda (played by Ariana Grande). The Broadway poster sets an important scene focusing on the relationship between the two characters. There is the sense of closeness, of course, but also confidentiality, conspiracy, and with just a hint of a smile (and with obscured eyes), a sinister plot being hatched. Less is more.
What exactly is happening in the OG movie poster? With Erivo's face in full view, choosing "to look down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer..." those eyes, beautiful as they are, "communicate" nothing of the relationship, or the scene the two characters are in. In fact, it looks like Elpheba is not even paying attention to what Glinda is whispering in confidence to her, and by looking straight at the audience, it's like Elpheba can't wait to spill the tea for us. Besides, Elpheba is not a fourth-wall breaking character like Deadpool or She-Hulk are (unless she is in the movie?), so if Erivo is promoting anything in the movie poster, it's not the movie, but herself -- especially since she is so perturbed by a fan edit that she takes so personally.
When you're in a movie poster, you are not you. It's distastefully unprofessional for a performer to put themselves above the production they're in. Get over yourself.
The long-awaited, much-promised Deadpool & Wolverine is finally here! I loved the first two of Deadpool's movie outings because of the very personal emotional stakes driving them. But with D&W, the scope went so broad, trying to cover so much ground that the overall flavour fell flat for me.
There's a lot to like about the elaborate set-pieces, spectacular fight choreography, and the always on-point sound and music design. There's plenty of fourth wall breaking, some quips eliciting 'ooh's from the audience for the burns delivered to all and sundry. Fight scenes were impactful, with I'll-burn-in-hell-for-laughing use of improvised weaponry, and every punch, stab and slash so viscerally sold, it's breathtaking. And when you have two main characters whose main super thing is healing fast, the action is non-stop, save for brief periods of exposition, and sometimes for interactions with an impressive list of cameos returning to the MCU stable.
What seems off about this latest Deadpool movie is that seeks to accomplish too much. It gives loads of flash and bang, but less of the heart and pathos that previously kept us sympathetic and rooting for what would otherwise be the erratic, annoying psycho that he is. For one thing, the colour palette really pops in D&W, making a clear departure from the moody, muted, grainy look of the earlier Fox-produced iterations. In addition, the stakes in D&W are set so high that it's easy to lose focus on the really important issue that's driving the plotline. Deadpool was a 'love story', Deadpool 2 was a 'family movie'. The unlikely narrative threads eventually and deftly wove themselves into exactly what each story promised to be. But in D&W, the foundational element wasn't clear, or if it was there, I didn't notice it.
The human element also took a backseat in D&W. The Deadpool franchise had strong supporting human characters -- Vanessa, Blind Al, Dopinder, Weasel, and Peter, but while they featured in the 1st act (minus TJ Miller's Weasel), their presence was mostly reduced to a photograph Deadpool would look at now and then to remind himself and us what was 'real'. Instead, D&W tended to focus more on the superpowered folk, which is it's own kind of fun, but it's disappointing when there's more super than human in this sort of narrative.
Of the three Deadpool movies so far, I'll say that the first two have tied for first place as my favourite, while D&W clocks in as a close second. It's fun, there's lots of verbal and visual humour in the ridiculous situations D&W get involved with, there's lots of exciting 'whoa'-inducing scenes, and it's still not a movie to bring small children to, which is a big plus. Still, I wish it had more of a point other than being a celebration of itself as the latest arrival in the MCU.
One one hand, Godzilla Minus One is a classic monster movie. On the other, the monster is a metaphor for one man's war trauma and his struggle for redemption.
The monster movie is a breathtaking visual experience. Godzilla is terrifyingly portrayed. There is the slow build with the appearance of schools of dead deep sea fish. Fins appear out of the water, like in Jaws, but they are multiple, ominously spiked, and enormous. Where the fin in Jaws announces a presence of dread and terror, Godzilla's fins herald a force of nature that paralyzes us in our helplessness. This is a creature of sheer destruction. While apparently mindless, it is certainly indiscriminate, flattening buildings, machines of war, and people in its wake.
Toho studio once shot actors in rubber suits campily stomping on miniature city skylines. This time, it's moved on to much more realistic levels. Whatever effects -- practical or CGI -- are being used, we are present at ground zero, every impact a gut punch. As scenery is literally blown away, so are we. Watching Ginza getting destroyed is like watching a tsunami made of earth and rubble instead of water, and the aftermath is devastating to behold. Even if we weren't already invested in the human characters in this movie, we still feel the tragedy of each life lost to every 'holy s...!' moment. This is one movie that deserves a cinematic rerun. I'd buy a ticket right now if it got one.
Godzilla, the metaphor, is equally impactful as an exploration into trauma and survivor's guilt. Our hero, Shikishima, should have already been dead even before the start of this movie. A kamikaze pilot who makes an emergency landing on a friendly airstrip without releasing his ordnance is by all accounts a deserter and a coward -- and he knows it. Given a second chance to makes amends, he freezes instead, and watches as everyone dies around him.
A two-time survivor, it's painfully ironic that he has lived although he has nothing to live for. Arriving home to war-devastated Tokyo, he finds he has outlived his parents who perished in the air raids. Between the war and Godzilla, Shikishima is rendered passive and helpless, but also alive bearing an overwhelming load of guilt because of it And like his guilt, Godzilla grows every time he survives another certain death moment.
Meanwhile, he has picked up a sort of family: a girl and a baby, neither of which are biologically related. They move into his place uninvited, but he does nothing to evict them. His passivity is also a kindness, and slowly they become important in his life. He takes on a risky but well-paying job for their sake. However, because of his trauma and guilt, he stops short as a provider but they never become a full-fledged family.
During Godzilla's attack on Ginza, Shikishima again -- and not of his own accord -- survives but suffers another painful loss. With the threat of yet another attack on Tokyo, Shikishima finally understands what motivates a person to sacrifice themselves. He had no real connection to his country before, so he couldn't die for it when he was a kamikaze pilot. Yet connection to country still isn't enough motivation to fly a plane into the enemy. It's one's connection to time -- someone in the past to avenge, and someone's future for whom he would give his life to ensure. It is at this point that he takes control of his life and makes a plan to defeat the monster rampaging through both his city and his psyche. When you have something to live for, then you will be ready to die for it. There are no heroes in such a sacrifice, only redemption. Yet, he will be remembered as a hero whose sacrifice mattered, instead of being one of his fellow kamikaze who sacrificed themselves for something that ultimately didn't.
A bit late to the party. The official teaser trailer for Wakanda Forever dropped days ago at SDCC 2022 and I've been watching so many reaction videos responding to Ryan Coogler's latest masterpiece. For a trailer, the shots are beautifully composed and the way they are cut together is powerfully emotive. The focus is on the real life loss of Chadwick Boseman, the entire trailer a loving tribute to the Black Panther character who has done so much for African representation in the mainstream movies. Marvel not recasting him tells us there can be no other who can fill his traditional sandals. Whomever is going to be the new Black Panther will have to create and own a new mythology by themselves, and make us care as much. I do not envy the actor or actress who will accept the mantle.
What I wish to do, now that this movie has been so hyped, is to temper my expectations with low-bar predictions and hope that I am totally wrong. Last thing I want is to enjoy the trailer more than the actual movie, and I really enjoyed the trailer. So, my hopefully wrong predictions are as follows:
1) There won't be a single Black Panther replacement, but rather a 'Spartacus'- style Black Panther Squad
2) Namor looks like the main antagonist, but the action-packed conflict will brief as Atlantis and Wakanda team up against a common enemy
3) Queen Ramonda's (Angela Bassett) powerful speech about her "entire family is gone" is a flashback to the snap (do we know if Shuri and T'challa both dusted?) and not referring to current events
4) It won't be just T'challa we will be mourning, but Wakanda itself, along with its vibranium will be destroyed in the conflict with the Atlanteans. The title, "Wakanda Forever", as well as Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" which accompanies the second half of this trailer, building excitement, anticipation, and hope, are both ironic. Perhaps at the end of the movie, there remains a seed from which Wakanda can rebuild and reinvent itself from scratch -- a sort of cliffhanger to end Phase 4 and bring in Phase 5 of the MCU saga.
