Brightburn

Pretty much what I expected.

I'd be seriously surprised if DC has not had an evil Superman Elseworlds story, and I actually haven't read Red Son but I'm sure it's not an evil Superman story. This isn't entirely either, which I actually like that they build their own mythos and do their own thing. So our story takes place in what I am almost certain is Kansas where a couple who have been wanting a baby get delivered one from the stars themselves, 10 years pass by and the boy named Brandon (I'm not sure whether to be honored or not about that) is a very smart and kind boy. But his 12th birthday arrives and things start to go amiss, he's drawn to an ominous glow in their barn, starts acting narcissistic, and begins to learn about his powers from then on. Which is something I really like, how his powers suddenly hit when he's 12 years old instead of the Smallville route where they develop and grow over time. Another aspect I enjoyed and actually really wanted more of is his backstory, cause the way he turns evil seems more like a possesion thing with strange voices and him being drawn to the craft that crashed on Earth. More so it takes on a nature vs. nurture stance where he's not an evil kid who wants to do evil things but is more something part of his genetics like a blood rage where he lusts for death and destruction. It gets pretty screwed up, but I just wanted to know more about where he came from. Jackson Dunn does a good job and so does his mom played by Elizabeth Banks, I mean she acts her heart out and he can be both sweet and intimidating. The dad on the other hand kinda sucks both in performance and story, not Tommy Wiseau levels but he just doesn't seem very interested in the story and it suffers because of that. It's a family drama with horror elements in it, and the drama is handled adequately however the horror is lackluster. This is a scary story before he starts raising hell, you can build such an incredible atmosphere of mood and dread because you know this is gonna go south and they could have built suspense as to where you think he'll finally snap. But no. Have a movie full of jumpscares and a few somewhat effectively creepy shots. Christ, I wasn't expecting nail biting fear or moments I would be quaking in my chair but give me something! You have a creative and possibly truly unnerving movie ut then you just throw cheap shock scares that do precisely dick for the overall quality of the movie. It's shot quite well with some Man Of Steel style shots thrown in, and there is one shot that made me just go, "Ooooh shi-" but it's not scary. Granted I kinda love the design of his costume, with this weird Cthulu-esque stitching around the mouth and nose of the hood, the tattered red cape, the glowing red eyes, even though honestly and I'm such a nerd for saying this, but it just reminded me of Hooded Justice from Watchmen. That's not a bad thing, it's just what I see. So did I like the movie? Sure, it has an interesting premise and I could see people enjoying it but at the same time I just wanted more in certain aspects. 2.5 stars, 6/10, rent it if you're curious and want to see a severely dark superhero or villain movie.

The Lego Movie 2

Damn.

The Lego Movie 2 is a fine movie, I really enjoyed it, and I do highly suggest you get out there and watch this movie! However. It's....not better than the first movie. But I really do like it! It's just when you pit it to the first movie it kinda sorta falls flat. Ow! Who threw that? I mean I look at it like this and I think you will agree. The Lego Movie is very much like the first Star Wars movie. No, no, no not that you silly bean! We're talking 1977 Star Wars. Before the movie came out, and while it was being made, nobody had any faith in this project, the trailers looked unremarkeable, nobody but the George Lucas had any faith and standing in the movie. Same for The Lego Movie, everyone thought it would be consumerist garbage doing nothing but selling you toys for over an hour and a half, nobody had faith in it, people just weren't biting. Then both movies hit theaters. Boom. People loved it! I love it, you love it! And...I really feel like they should have followed similarly. Like go for an Empire Strikes Back style and they do try to do that with mixed success, and even did a fake out ending when it got to a really dark place which I really hated. I know they can't do that, this is not grand epic storytelling, this is a comedy movie the whole family can enjoy. But that's nothing, that's nitpick stuff at best! How's the movie actually? Very good, the animation is still excellent and taking on a space theme with other newly created characters is wonderful to see. The humor is still great and made me laugh probably more than anybody else in the theater if I'm being embarassingly honest. The story again is basic and actually has a very nice and dare I even say life affirming message at the end, so you'd think I would give this movie a stellar review! 10/10, 4 stars, two thumbs way way up! Buuuuut! It kinda treads the same stuff, same jokes, same story material, yes there's plenty new but the stuff that I noticed didn't really do it for me. But you can love this movie just as much if not more than the first, and I will fully grant you that it took me several viewings of The Lego Movie for me to fully appreciate it, enjoy it, and love it so I have no problem seeing this movie again. But I'm telling you, if this movie gets nominated for Best Animated Feature and the first one didn't, I will be severely shocked. Not upset, but shocked. So I give it 3 stars, check it out. Go see it, let me know how much you enjoyed it, what they could improve, speculate over the next movie! Just have fun with it. And I will see you next week with a movie from another Hollywood heartthrob of mine.

Power Rangers (2017)

Alright, that was a good movie!

Power Rangers are back and I love it. The movie was a lot of fun, had good effects, and yeah it had faults, more nitpicky than major but we'll get to that. Okay positives, the kids are great. I actually love how they made them these sort of bad kids, like they are not infallible teenagers who always do the right thing because they're such goody two shoes, they have problems, Jason screwed his scholarship by letting pranks get out of hand, Billy lost his dad and is on the autistic spectrum, Kimberley did some bad things like knocking this guy's teeth out and leaking a solicit picture of one of her classmates, Zack is taking care of his terminally ill mom, and Trinni is a distant closed off kid. And that's the beauty of it, they are not these perfect little kids, they have issues and act like, oh I don't know TEENAGERS! Also I love the fact that they can't fully fight, when they morph they are very competent fighters but martial artists they are not. But truth be told, Billy is my favorite, both in the show and this movie, he is Billy Badass to me. The Zords looked great, classic Zords with updated technology. Bryan Cranston was pretty good as Zordon, and he always does good performances in supporting roles which makes me wonder how amazing he would be in a lead role (No, I have not watched Breaking Bad yet!). But not everything went smoothly. Okay, Elizabeth Banks you were not a bad Rita but you could not top the original, I'm happy you had fun with it and gave her a good menacing character with a history but didn't work for me all that much. The Power Coins were...useless. Now for those of you who are new, Power Coins are what allows the teens to morph into the Power Rangers, that is how their technology works. In this movie they do nothing! They never use them, oh sure they find them and that automatically makes them Rangers material but they replace it with this nonsense, "You must be at one with each other in order to morph." so they never really morph until the end. Which doesn't make any sense because they sell the Morphers and the Power Coins toys in store, so I fully expected them to use their Morphers. They never did! That sucks. Also, criminal underuse of the theme. You know the theme. They use it once, when all the Zords roll out and it is magnificent, I waited until the end of the credits to hear the theme in it's entireity. Never did it happen. The music is good though, my favorate pieces is when they all finally morph, it sounds very Tron Legacy, it's awesome! And for fans or hardcore fans of the show, there are easter eggs and little nods, it's great fun and make me geek out in the theater. They do set up a bit of sequel bait, nothing major like (I wish) Lord Zedd would come down and start wrecking stuff, but it makes me excited at the prospect of a future film. Also quite an ingenious decision to have the after credit scene a little after the credits begin, since kids don't have the patcience to wait until after all the credits have rolled, so nice touch guys. Oh, and did you know the original producer of the television show, Haim Saban helped produce this movie? Awesome! I would recommend this movie, especially to fans, and maybe others who want a fun movie that might interest you in a global phenomenon over 20 years old and still going. The majority of the people in that theater were little kids, like before they even reached 12 years old, the fans are still there for the Power Rangers, generation after generation. And you know what? I want to watch the show all the way through now. So when I buy the movie when it hits video, I can have more fun with it. Well that's it for today but tomorrow, something big is coming.

The Lego Movie

Yeah not quite what you were expecting for the first review of the year. But a great movie nevertheless.

The story is actually not that original at first but grows and grows the deeper you delve into it. It follows an everyday average guy who gets swept up in a grand adventure through a case of mistaken identity. Sound familiar? It should but because of the characters themselves and the unique setting you really don't mind that the plot is like that because it takes you for turns and different scenarios that make the film great. Everything and I do mean everything is made out of Legos! Not just the characters, but the ground, the sky, the water, everything! And the animation style itself is kind of blocky (ba dum tss) like it's not exactly Harryhausen style of stopmotion to where it is so fluid and looks completely real it is more like how little Lego videos are made online. They can't move that fluidly because they are made of blocks so it seems stilted and that is by no means a bad thing. In fact, people loved it so much so that they screamed betrayal when the Academy Awards did not feature The Lego Movie for Best Special Effects and Best Animated Movie. The humor is great and some of it does rely on how the whole world is made of Legos so they can build different and crazy stuff but not entirely. The acting is great and we got a hell of a cast in this movie. We got Chris Pratt as our hero, Elizabeth Banks as our heroine, Will Ferrell as our villain, Liam Neeson as a corrupt cop, and even God himself Morgan Freeman as the mentor to our heroes. So quite a bit of star power behind this fun little movie. Bottom line, it's a great movie and I never get tired of watching it. If you want a visually different movie or just like Legos I highly recommend you seek this movie out. You'll like it and your kids will love it.