In Retrospect: Shazam

You know man, this movie has a lot to enjoy but it really puts me in a bad mood at the end.

I'm really trying here with all of my might not to just devolve into this cyclone, this maelstrom of anger and utter fucking frustration the likes of which even GOD has never seen so I'm going to attempt to just talk about the movie. Shazam has lost none of it's fun luster in the intervening 4 years, sweet Samhain has it been that long? And I feel I appreciated aspects much more than the first go around, in particular the whole character of Billy Badass because the whole point of Captain Marvel is you pretty much gotta be a virtuous, pure of heart, selfless individual to even obtain the powers of the wizard Shazam, but this version of Billy isn't as altruistic and much more just a teenage kid, dare I say a little shit at times. He's not a completely bad kid by any stretch, but he does have several moments of selfishness, cowardice, and emotional distance to people but the beauty of it is the movie is all about the arc. We see him grow, change, and become a hero at the end and it doesn't feel like a failed attempt at character growth or anything like that cause it's done well and not super in your face. And well the performances of Asher Angel and Zachary Levi did not hurt one bit, they are what makes the movie as fun as it is. Mark Strong in terms of villains for the DC movies may be low tier but he still cuts an intimidating presence and does quite well. I'm actually really happy Djimon Hounsou isn't dead as he appeared to be in this movie and he will return in Fury Of The Gods and I'm really interested what part he may play in that. What I'm also curious about is if they will decide to adapt that stupid ass decision of Mary Marvel turning heel like in Countdown To Final Crisis, hopefully not because some comic book ideas just should never be brought to the screen. As one last huge positive before delving into one aspect I wasn't keen on, Faithe Herman and her grown up counterpart Meagan Good still own my heart completely. They just have this infectious degree of cuteness and I am powerless in their wake, easily my favorite of the whole family group and the only competition is Billy himself. This may sound terribly strange to say considering the time period we live in, but I really did not like the seven deadly sin monsters due to one specific factor that they are all CGI. There was just something about this movie where it felt so flat and fakey, and this is coming from the series of films that gave us Doomsday, Steppenwolf, and not Cheetara from Wonder Woman 84, and I think I can pin it down to they're kinda gaseous creatures that can take a solid shape so there's no weight or substance to them despite some interesting designs. But that's truthfully the biggest mark against this movie. Well....god fucking dammit, I knowww I know, he was filming a different movie at the time but fuck me sideways it has aged poorly and like I said I'm trying here. It's not working in the slightest but I'm trying. Just why? He was there! You had Superman ready in the wings and you did fuck all!! You what, let some C grade television company have any fucking semblance of a stake in the future of your projects and company, decided to do a shake up, and pretty much shit canned a series that while was finding it's footing early on when it settled we actually got some good movies out of it but oh no wait, I'm sorry, we can't have that. He is GONE, my patience has snapped, you have no sympathy from me and all I can say is catch you later you disappointing fucking traitors! Waste of my time. I'm out. Good movie, happy to see it again, fingers crossed for the second but time is running out for this series it seems. 3.5 stars, 7.5/10!

Superman & Shazam: The Return Of Black Adam

Well shit that wasn't what I expected at all!

I'm pretty sure this is the only instance of such a conundrum, considering this was an animated release in 2010 before the DC animated movies mostly had their own continuity, but what would you expect from this title? I'll give you some clues to help out. It's a notch over just an hour long, it covers the origin of Billy becoming Captain Marvel (the correct superhero name in my opinion), and while it doesn't touch a great deal on Black Adam's backstory mention is made of him being a fallen champion for the wizard Shazam. Sounds like a decently made movie showing Billy Batson come into his powers, meet up with Superman, and be a pretty formidable tag team when Black Adam comes knocking. This is partially true. What you get is that and 3 additional short stories that have no correlation with each other, focusing on The Spectre, Green Arrow, and Jonah Hex as pretty much a silver age anthology movie. Brilliant title huh? It's not a complete lie but goddamn it, I walked in expecting an hour of Superman and Shazam to get me in gear for the rest of this week so what the hell am I supposed to do? Talk about a quarter of this film or touch base on all the stories? Well I did actually enjoy all the segments, and while the animation style is unchanged throughout each story has their own flavor and storytelling style. Shazam is a contemporary, no frills, modern day crossover between two class act superheroes. The Spectre is full on 70s cop movie, groovy soundtrack and film grain included, with a highly lesser known hero of the DC universe getting his time to shine sans the origin story. Green Arrow goes back to contemporary and basic, with Oliver Queen stopping an assassination attempt on a foreign princess from Malcolm Merlyn. And Jonah Hex of course leans hard into westerns, with classic iconography in terms of setting and costuming, great music, and a pretty ruthless but awesome anti-hero depiction of his character. I feel Shazam and Green Arrow got the longer segments, but each one brings something interesting and enjoyable to the table one way or another so I do feel all of them are worth watching. Hell I'm honestly really wanting to dig into the history of The Spectre, I was ever so slightly aware of the name but knew nothing beyond that but color me intrigued after this! The animation, voice cast, and music are all quite good across the board I'll say. I feel each actor voicing their designated hero are top notch, and it's pretty damn cool to see big name talent like Malcolm McDowell, Linda Hamilton, Arnold Vosloo, and Michael Rooker in this as well! I'm still just kinda floundering here, I'm really thrown off, it's like I tried to switch gears without the clutch and I don't even know what the fuck that means because I don't know cars. I mean it was a happy surprise, I'm not mad I saw some cool shorts, but I mean you couldn't brainstorm for a better title? Granted I couldn't come up with jack shit and I was thinking on it for a bit, even if you threw a silver age comic title like World's Finest not everyone would immediately know what it was. But then again you could have called it, DC Showcase: Bronze Age Heroes or something akin to that with a collage of each hero and plainly put on the box cover this is an anthology! Once upon a time that was how comics were. You didn't get the story just on the cover, you got several stories with the longest one being the showcase. If that was what they were intending and going for stylistically, okay fine job well done, but it's not the late 1940s to the early 1970s anymore and unless you know comic book history they just ain't gonna get it, and the title is misleading. But whatever. It's in the past and I'm fairly certain this was the only case. Just...urgh, nevermind. Scores! 3 stars, 7.5/10, now that you know the frick fraking trap card on the field I leave it up to you to give it a watch and see what you make of it. If we can avoid any more surprises this might turn out to be a good week.

Conan The Barbarian

I won't lie, I liked it.

I have no clue what the consensus is on this movie, good or bad, I heard Conan The Destroyer pretty much sucks but this one I find is good! Out of all the movies this week I had the most background and foreknowledge on this movie, yet even then there was plenty I did not know or expect. A popular plot I'm sure, concerning a young boy who watches his village be burned and his parents murdered before being enslaved, and through the years becomes a mass of muscle with vengeance on the mind as he obtains freedom, meets companions, and eventually settles the score with the evil sorcerer who perpetrated it all. But what I greatly enjoy is the movie is a notch over 2 hours and it actually takes it's time liberally moving from plot point to plot point. It's not in a constant rush where it's a checklist of tasks to gain enough experience points to face the evil mage, it lets the plot and characters have their moments with the exploits of Conan having time to sink in. Despite the barbarian moniker he possesses Conan is a war master with several weapons, gifted with languages and writing, and while lavishing in the decadence of the barbarian lifestyle of PMS (Plunder, Murder, and Sex) there's more to him. Arnold is great casting and it is pretty hilaruously awesome to see him on this quest and wrecking fools, yet from all the stories I've read he was monumentally grateful for the role and wanted to do it as best as he could to which I say he did without fault. James Earl Jones is our villainous cult leader Thulsa Doom which may be the coolest bad guy name ever, and I'll admit this he's kinda scarier and far more intimidating than Vader, he just has this unearthly gaze and you know he's a threat from the start. The guy doesn't speak a word till past the hour mark but you can tell Thulsa Doom means business. Sandhal Bergman, what a badass she was in this movie playing Valeria, taking on an almost Amazon warrior vibe and at the same pace as Conan throughout and while the romance initially seemed quick as hell the chemistry and moments they share I buy completely! And we have Mako as our resident wizard, no complaints from me man, he's cool! Much more action in this one, keeping the blood packs flowing and decent choreography throughout so good work there. Let me tell you something though man, I'm not sure they liked making cuts in the editing room. For those heavyweights or just alcoholic folk out there, take a shot everytime there is a cross dissolve or cross fade as it's sometimes called. Good sweet lord, you're gonna need a liver transplant before we're through. I'm fairly certain the movie performed well and it seems like the crew making the movie formed a tight community, so a lot of the love and care show on film in some variety or another and I had a pretty dang good time watching it so yeah, full recommendation from me. I give it 4 stars, 8/10, ended on a high note and added some more experience to my geek level. I'll be casting 8th level magic in no time.

Krull

No it is not sci-fi, I refute that to my dying day!

What the fuck? Why does this film not have a bigger fanbase? True I've heard less about this film than Hawk The Slayer, the only part I knew was the Glaive but I'm straight up impressed with this movie! It's such a shame this was a box office bomb because I honestly loved it, it's more your typical hero saves princess from evil lord story but how the movie goes about telling it all in a 2 hour runtime makes the difference between stereotype and originality. So the movie takes place on an alien world where an invading force known as The Beast and his army of Slayers (Brutal.) has taken root and decides to pillage the land, purge all life, and steal a quite beautiful red haired princess named Lyssa. A goal I can respect. But her man and newly appointed king Colwyn ain't having it and with the ever growing help of a hermit, a traveling magician, a band of thieves, a cyclops, and a mystical seer take the fight to the Beast's castle with a multi-bladed chakram known as the Glaive. It truthfully did not take long for me to get into this movie and in a technical sense this is easily the best looking fantasy film I've seen of the 1980s. They spared no expense on costumes, props, set design, pyrotechnics, weapons, visual effects, and pretty amazing animatronics! Combine that with natural scenery and sets that rival Lord Of The goddamn Rings, and you got yourself an always visually interesting world. The characters fit the roles they need to play, with particular love going to Ken Marshall as our hero, who has such undeniable charm and props to him for doing all his own stunts, and our friend Bernard Breeslaw rejoins us from Hawk as Rell the cyclops who's pretty badass and again respect for the actor who could not see a single thing but still nailed it. All the acting is really good and they treat it seriously which helps immerse you more. Man, we need to get our ass back to using practical effects as much as possible, it's movies like this that actually tax the intelligence of the filmmakers because they have to do this stuff for real and have to figure out how exactly to do it, but they succeed tremendously in my opinion. Perfect example, they have to show the villain's castle crumble and float UP into the air, how do they do that? They can't string the pieces together and lift them up, it's way too complex and wouldn't look good. Well they filmed the castle upside down and all the explosions that blew pieces off would fall naturally and voila! Brilliant! Actual thought and effort, mein Gott! Like I'm completely stumped almost to the point of rage as to why this film tanked so bad, it's a really friggin' cool movie! It wasn't cause of Star Wars, it released in May. What was the competition?? Jaws 3, Staying Alive, Risky Business? Get fucked. Maybe the advertisment campaign wasn't all that, but I don't care! Buy it, rent it, watch it! 4 stars, 8/10! Conan is next, and I request that you join me. If you will not join me next time...then to hell with you!

Hawk The Slayer

More cult fantasy films! Why? Because I'm nerdier as each year passes.

I heard ever so slight things about this movie, mainly from Spoony in his Yor review but I had some interest and found an excuse to see it so let's talk about it! What I find most interesting about Hawk The Slayer is it simultaneously does the fantasy story of evil villain wants ultimate power, ultimate power finds a hero, hero kills villain, the end, and yet at the exact same time it completely doesn't fit your typical fantasy storyline at all. You see, Hawk and the evil Voltan are actually brothers and our hero is called into action when Voltan abducts the abbess of a church and demands a hefty 2,000 gold pieces for her return but obviously being family they have some past issues leading them into conflict. Hawk gathers his old adventuring companions, Crow the elf, Gort the giant, and Baldir the dwarf with the help of a witch to assist in the rescue. Sounds quite typical but the devil could not be more in the details than here. It's...different. In terms of technicals the soundtrack could be the best part of the entire film, it is all kinds of funky cool and had zero issue getting me to groove along. The editing I think is the part that could be the dealbreaker for audiences, it is cut with a lot of quick edits and seems almost comically inept to where fight scenes are over in less than 2 minutes. But the fact that it happens often almost leads me to believe it was a stylistic choice and I found enjoyment in plenty of things besides the fights so it doesn't lose major points. I find enjoyment in seeing the artistry at work, sure the backdrops are clearly paintings at times but they look really nice, the costumes are not heavy in detail but recognizable, and the world is never named once or given a broad overview but you get bits that you can piece together in your mind to craft your own vision of this world. It seems very akin to Dungeons & Dragons in how there are setpieces to the quest that aren't tightly knitted together but it still works. The acting I felt was over the top at brief instances but overall was fine and you get a strong sense of the character. Jack Palance is fucking amazing as Voltan, he is that level of go big or piss off and he nails the dramatics and isn't the having fun playing the villain type but just plays the villain to the absolute best of his ability and he is awesome! John Terry is a suitable hero lead, he's got the voice and the look, and plays a more solemn quiet hero but still always on the morally right side but with the cast that surrounds him he is the weakest link. Major props to the actors playing his companions, you actually get the sense that these characters have known each other a good while and have very good chemistry with each other and each segment that introduces them nails the type of character they potray. The elf is more solitary and has keen senses that make him a damn death machine with his bow, the dwarf is a crafty smartass but ultimately is a ride or die, and the giant is someone with intelligence and integrity but has a huge craving for food. That's not bad writing, even if there are times where I feel events occur just to pad the movie out a little but thankfully it only occurs twice. And I gotta admit I really wanted to see what happens next cause it has a tiny bit of a cliffhanger but that just shows that I did like and enjoy the movie enough. It's no major fantasy classic but if you're a sucker for that stuff like I am I think you can genuinely get some entertainment out of it. I give it 3 stars, 7/10!

Creed III

Well it kiiinda distinguishes itself from the first two movies. 

Not bad though, I still got involved with the story, I liked the characters, the focus of the fight, may have shed a tear or two, and I'll tell you this now if they legit did not want to go farther than this movie I would not be mad one tiny bit. I was really shocked when credits rolled and Michael actually directed this movie, cause I noticed severe quirks and methods of cinematography I hadn't seen before previously, I'm not sure if this is his first time directing but he did good work. The story focuses this time on the past of Adonis, which I like because we never truly got a grasp on it except briefly in the first film, where we see a childhood friend return after Adonis has retired and stirs up a bit of a rivalry to bring him into the ring once more. So yeah, kinda takes some cues from Rocky V! But I gotta tell you man the way they showcased that story was pretty profound atleast to me anyway, where Adonis has to get where Rocky was in Creed II, it's all about facing the demons of his past and to reconcile with them, to let go of years of guilt and just come to terms with how things happened. Cause Damian isn't immediately an antagonist, it almost seems like the movie is gonna cross into full blown thriller territory where he'll break into their house and do a bunch of crazy shit, but anyway you can tell there is some less than good history between the two and they don't immediately take advantage of one another. I greatly enjoyed the arc both Damian and Adonis go through, and the movie pushes that previously stated message even more so when you see Adonis still talks to Ricky and Viktor and holds no animosity in the slightest. Make peace with your past to better yourself in the future. That's a monumental message to people regardless of age or walks of life. Now I will call myself out hardcore on this, I did not know in the slightest that Sylvester Stallone stepped down from being Rocky, Creed II was his last. I did not know that. So the whole movie I kept wondering where is Rocky? Is he safe? Is he alright? And they make no direct comment or statement as to what happened between films. Now the movie truthfully is very good at visual storytelling to where if you pay attention to both background and foreground the movie tells you a lot. Bianca has stopped singing and has been producing gold records, significant time has passed since Amara has been born, and this film gets artsy, dare I say avant garde. It's pure metaphore, SYMBOLISM abound, and visually striking. You'll know it when you see it and I will give many props and great love to it because they just decided to go for that. The actors bring their A-game full force, I mean they always do but it really does make you stop and appreciate that at moments. The more I genuinely think about it the more I like it. And before I forget I fucking applaud Wood Harris as Duke, that guy gets to shine big time in this movie, he's always been there, always been a part of it but this gives him a lot of material. I appreciate that. As I was watching I thought, ehhh this so far is the weakest of the Creed series but now...I really don't think so. I'm almost stumped where I would rank it. I still feel the first movie is the best as a whole, but those sequels they give you something storywise and for the characters to where you can't count them out! So I'll just get to the rating and let you decide once you see it. 4 stars, 8/10, so check it out and see what it does for you. Apologies for kinda lacking in new releases up to this point, but hopefully this is a sign of getting back on track for the rest of the year.

In Retrospect: Creed II

I know some people consider this to be Rocky IV: Part Deux, but there's more to it than that.

If I'm being real honest I didn't ever expect them to pull out the Drago card this early, if anything between the release of Creed and before the trailers started coming out for Creed II, I figured the resolution of that 30 odd year conflict would be like the finale to the Creed series. Cause it really feels resolved but I feel not really in the way many people would think. This movie focuses almost exclusively on the drama aspect, these character's baggage, why exactly they want this fight to happen and I greatly appreciate the shift between the solution of these movies. Before the solution to Ivan Drago was to beat him down for the death of Apollo in an almost vendetta story, to defeat this massive oppresive Russian menace to our American boxing sport. But nowadays, it's just more complicated and I can truthfully see 2 points audience members can take from this: 1. This movie does not give clean cut reasons and explanations for why Adonis wants to fight Viktor Drago because I don't think even he has a full grasp on the answer. People love to have easy, clean, black and white reasons for things both in life and cinema and this movie doesn't give a lot of that. 2. There's no climactic TKO, the one punch that floors Viktor for the 10 count, it's through the history and actions of Ivan Drago that make him stop the fight. I can honestly see some audiences feel completely ripped off for not having a decisive winner. However! The movie goes out of it's way to add humanity, a little pathos, and the simple fact that anger and vengeance does not grant you victory through the father and son relationship of Ivan and Viktor. Rocky brings up that point with Adonis, that you can't let rage and revenge fester inside you and if you want to fight you need to have a real reason. Cause a lot happens for Adonis in this movie that progresses his character and defining of why he fights, he marries Bianca, they have a daughter, he moves to L.A., and he becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. That's a lot of life changing events in a relatively short span of time, and it by shittin' hell makes you think and act different in life. Rocky seems to be more on the mend and not as sick but you can tell a lot of pain, a lot of regret, and a lot of fear is on his conscience. Cause he got a bit of closure with Drago but he still lost his friend and it shows, to where he steps away from training Adonis. This movie just works so well with the emotional aspect of this story and these characters, I almost wouldn't call it a sports movie despite there being training and matches, it's not really the focus here. In some aspects I think this movie is greater than the first, the writing is great, the acting gets pushed further, and you get invested real quick because of it. Yet on the other hand, despite it being well shot it's not as well directed as the first, I actually forgot Ryan Coogler was shooting Black Panther at the time, the soundtrack was good but not as strong as the first, but those are truthfully small potatos because it still had it's moments to shine in it's own respect. It ain't bad, I'd be lying straight out of my ass if I said it was bad or even just okay. A very strong continuation and a great movie regardless. 4 stars from me, 8/10! Although I did have this slightly horrifying thought come to mind of, what if Creed III went the way of Rocky III and it just started to go a bit off the rails and get ridiculous? Cause there is a clear and distinct divide between the styles of the first two Rocky movies and Rocky III and IV, I love them all do not get me wrong, but that would be a twist wouldn't it? I highly doubt they would go that way but only time will tell come Friday.