Shazam! mini movie review

 

Rating: A-

In some unknown realm in a hideaway lair sits the Wizard Shazam, aging, alone, desperate for an heir.  The World is on the verge of chaos and a champion must be found.  Meanwhile Billy Batson is a boy on the run, desperate for a family and a home, in and out of foster care.  After a course of events (simply stated, you know, spoilers), Billy is chosen.  A 14 year old boy who, when he shouts "SHAZAM!", becomes an adult superhero. Zachary Levi brings the fun, and seriousness, to this new Shazam, an adult kid learning to harness his powers.

In Shazam! we find ourselves watching a more lighthearted DC superhero movie mixed with a little 1988 "Big", humor, a family tale, and horror fantasy.  But don't let the movie trailers fool you, there is still a darker element to this big screen superhero telling.  It's not all jokes and fun as a boy discovers how to become a hero.  There's a real balance in tone between hero and villain, electric light facing grim envious dark.

Shazam! really is a fun movie.  A nice departure for DC who tends to take themselves seriously at times.  Unlike the other DC heroes we've gotten to know through the years, Shazam is lesser known, but equally deserving of our time and attention.  Though he wasn't in Justice League, I'm glad we got a proper introduction to his interesting origins.

And, with this being a DC film, we get to see the other side of this superhero universe from those on the outside looking in.  There's nods to all the other heroes.  Backpacks.  Memorabilia.  Souvenirs.  Newspaper clippings.  Even if you didn't know this was a DC film, there's acknowledgments here and there to Superman and Batman all over the place.

It's nice seeing a movie focus positively on family, as family is a strong thematic element.  In Shazam! we see a family made up of foster kids, which is really nice to see attention placed on some of the difficulties kids can face in the foster system, but also positive elements as well.

For those with kids, this is a PG-13 movie, and it earns its rating.  You might want to see it first and then decide if you want to take your kids, and then you'd be seeing it twice: win-win.

(PS. Stay for the very end of the end credits.  There's more than just the mid credit scene, and I'm amazed how many people left the theater and missed it!)

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.
 

Aquaman, mini movie review

 

 Rating: C+/B-

I've been struggling with this review for some time, to the point where I meant to write this a few weeks ago, but couldn't bring myself to the keyboard.  My family loved Aquaman, the DC comic origin story based off the character we met in Justice League.  What I faced was the conundrum I feel while watching many movies.  The battle between pure entertainment vs technical struggles covered up by a shiny veneer.

Aquaman is, at its surface, above the water if you will, a really fun movie.  A Summer flick released during the Winter.  A good ol' fashioned popcorn movie.  Don't think, be dazzled. There's a lot of dazzling.

Jason Momoa plays Arthur, Aquaman, a man trapped between two Worlds: land and ocean.  Part human/part Atlantean.  He's connected to the sea.  Is sensitive to marine life, as displayed during a flashback while he was a child visiting an aquarium.  He blames himself for his Mother's death, a woman of Atlantis royal birth.  He blames himself for quite a lot.

As the movie plays out we see Arthur find himself as he grows to become Aquaman.  No spoilers, as this is expected.  We've already met Aquaman in Justice League, which takes a great deal of edge off any mystery if Arthur will make it, as we already know he will.  We've already seen him in action, and because we know his future, a certain level of suspense is suspended.

The plot of Aquaman is crowded.  There's underwater wonder.  A dash of Indiana Jones.  War. Family clash.  Self discovery.  Flashbacks sprinkled here and there.  Hero's  Journey.  So many spliced together functioning parts that aspects of this story don't feel fully realized or explored.  Throw in there some corny lines and stilted dialogue.  And DC really needs to learn how to do proper facial CGI (I was a little distracted by the faces of some characters when they were made to look younger). 

But the special effects!  The scenery.  There's a lot of eye candy.

Overall Aquaman is a fun movie, and worth the watch, especially if you're into super hero movies.  One of the better DC movies.  I'm glad they're taking the time to make origin stories.  Justice League felt overcrowded simply because so many character had to be introduced before the story could really get going, dragging the movie down.  If you want a good escapist movie, Aquaman is a good detour out of reality.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language. 

Suicide Squad mini movie review

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

For starters Suicide Squad is considerably better than Batman v Superman.

Second of all, I went into this movie curious. There has been a lot of buzz for this movie for well over a year.  There was considerable excitement over the first released trailer; It was thought that Suicide Squad, about a group of DC comic villains getting together to save the day, would be the money monster to jump start the DC movie universe, especially after the lackluster said Batman v Superman movie.

Then the movie reviews started coming out, none of which were encouraging.  Most of them bad.  The sudden news of expensive re-shoots to bring the same tone from the trailer to the movie also didn't bode well, if this news was true.  Again, not encouraging.

I went into this movie not knowing quite what to expect.  Would it have the same humor and sparkle as the trailer?  Would it be messy like Batman v Superman?  Did DC finally get their act together to prove competition to Marvel?

My answer to the first question is a so-so.  There was humor and good moments.  There were also a lot of corny lines that felt miss placed.  Now, it isn't all humorous, which is a good thing.  There were some depressing moments, particularly surrounding the backstory for Will Smith's character, which worked.  Parts of the movie had the right tones for what this movie was wishing to convey. 

The second question, would this film be messy?  Yes, yes it was.  But not nearly as bad as Batman v Superman.  (BTW, I completely forgot Superman died in that movie.  Completely left my mind.  That's how forgettable it was.  I can't even remember if there was a hint if Superman survived.  I should check wikipedia . . . later.)  There weren't any random dream sequences created to trick the audience, feeling like some kind of drug trip of sorts.  The first half of the movie was a lot of set up, dragging the pacing and timing of the movie.

Backstories are important, but it felt a bit much, though I understand their necessity.  With Marvel's Avengers each character got an origin movie, and those that didn't were first placed into another movie for proper set up, so when the assembly movie came together we were able to get right to the action.  There hasn't been a proper set up in previous movies for the characters in Suicide Squad, so the first part of the movie was dedicated to a lot of their set up.  I didn't know anything about Will Smith's Deadshot.  Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn I had familiarity with thanks to the animated DC series, which my younger brothers watched when we were kids and I occasionally watched as well.

The third question, does DC hold a candle to Marvel?  Not yet.  One thing DC has been struggling with, which Marvel accomplishes in spades, is good storytelling.  DC struggles with telling a strong fluid story with good character development and sequence of events.

Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is a thing of beauty; she nailed the character.  Jared Leto's take on The Joker is appropriate and terrifying.  The Joker had to be completely different from Heath Ledger's portrayal, and it was, fitting the tone of Suicide Squad.

In the end Suicide Squad isn't my cup of tea.  Never was.  Evil fighting evil is an interesting concept, but I guess I like the idea of evil becoming good, and finishing that thought would spoil stuff.  I'm not a fan of glorified violence, though many didn't share my thoughts, reflected by the fact that this movie made $65 million yesterday alone, on track to make around $145 million opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.

Maybe DC finally found the movie to boost their movie universe after all.

MPAA: Rated PG - 13 for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language.

Nerd Tuesday! The Ultimate DC vs Marvel Battle!

 Okay, I probably made this sound a whole lot more Epic then it really is, but when I went to Sensuous Sandwich for lunch today with my Dad and brother Steven, they had this Marcel vs DC fighting brackets on the giant chalkboard.  It's going to play out over 12 weeks, as voting is done while paying tips.  (It's a good way to make a little extra tip money.)  So, for fun, I pulled out a pen and we cast our own votes on a napkin.

Voting had already started for the first bracket, and Wolverine had already won, but I would have chosen his win as well.  I'm honestly not a huge Hulk fan, and the Wolverine is hard to kill.

Jean Grey vs Black Widow.  This was a tough one.  I personally chose Jean Grey, because she's crazy powerful, but I think, in the restaurant, Black Widow will win thanks to popularity.  But regardless if it's Black Widow or Jean Grey going against Wolverine, Wolvie will win.  He would kick Black Widow's ... and we already know Jean Grey asked him to kill her, though if she fought all out and didn't want to die, Jean Grey would win.  Her loss is due to a mental/emotional breakdown.

Loki vs Bucky.  Yeah, I don't even need to think this over.  Loki.

Ironman VS Captain America.  I personally would want the Cap to win, but thanks to the comics (and potential spoilers for the future of the Marvel Movie Universe) Iron Man wins.   Didn't mean to spoil anything there.  We'll know when the movie come out, but I'm thinking of the comics and Sebastian Stan's Marvel movie contract.

Now Loki against Iron Man?  I'm giving it to Loki again.  It did take, what, how many Avengers to beat him?  Yeah . . . and Iron Man is going solo.

And the final Marvel clash, Wolverine against Loki.  I'm giving it to Loki.  They're both super popular characters, super popular, but I just like Loki, and he's got skill.

Okay, now DC.

Aquaman vs the Green Lantern . . .

Yeah . . . not a fan of both.  On this my Dad and brother had a small debate.

Steven: Aquaman needs water to fight.  All Green Lantern has to do is throw him into space and he's beat.

Dad: If Green Lantern finds Aquaman in a bathtub, he's toast.

Okay, disturbing visuals aside, I'm giving it to Aquaman because, in the case of this fighting scenario, Green Lantern stumbles upon Aquaman swimming in an Olympic sized pool.  Case close.  And I really didn't like that movie.

The Joker vs Catwoman.  I personally think Joker would win, but my Dad said she's hot, so go with her.  (That spurred a "which version of Catwoman do you find hot?" discussion, but I won't get into that here.)

Batman vs Wonder Woman.  Batman.  Not going to think this one through.

Superman vs Sinestro.  Superman.  Another one I don't need to think through.

Back to the top!  Aquaman vs Catwoman.  I'm saying Catwoman, because this battle was fought in a desert.

Batman vs Superman!!  The great debate!!!  Technically, if Superman wasn't all small town moral and all that, Superman would pulverize Batman from miles away.  Kryptonite would have no effect.  Laser eyes.  But since the comics always paint Batman like a genius, and Superman as an idiot, Batman always seems to win in the comics.  And Batman wins here, too, though if Superman didn't hold back, he would win faster than a speeding bullet.

Now Loki vs Batman.  Honestly, unlike Superman (who has a weakness against magic and deception, proven by Wonder Woman), Batman would stand a fighting chance.  He's smart and knows how to exploit an opponents weakness, yet Joker is not nearly as powerful as Loki, and Batman has yet to defeat him, so in this battle . . . 

Loki Wins!

Now the real question . . . where was Thor during all this madness?