7. TMNT: OUT OF THE SHADOWS
Didn't see it.
SCORE: Nothing.
6. SUICIDE SQUAD
(badass, not going to lie)
This pains me to no end, but Suicide Squad is my Phantom Menace. Its possibly the most disappointing film of my entire life. I sometimes watch the trailers again, and cry. And to hear how the public, and one of my best friends love it, pains me too. Why? Because I'm jealous they were able to enjoy it, and I wasn't. What happened? It had so much going for it. And don't tell me it was because of the reshoots, or WB's interference. Hell, they probably made it better. We could have gotten a crappier version in theaters if it wasn't for them. We don't know. But what I know, is that the problems stem from the script. Not from the editing. Ayer was not the guy meant to write this film, (which makes me happy that he's not writing Gotham City Sirens), as seen in the villain's motivation, the treatment of female characters, and the damn team mission. Its so simple. Evil Witch is wrecking havoc in city, government sends team of prisoners to deal with her. Easy. So how the hell was he able to make it so convoluted, I'll never know. Another criticism I have for the film, are the visuals. You guys want to give Snyder shit for his lighting and "dark" visuals, but this films takes the cake. I could barely see what was going on, with its messy technicolor flair and grimy, and not in a good way, fight scenes. I also hated the editing, but everyone has already said what needs to be said about it, so I'll just leave it at that. And now onto to the Joker. I actually liked Leto's flair. It was the placement of the tattoos on his face, and the dialogue he had to work with that I had a problem with. If it weren't for the performances, minus Cara Delevingne, I would downright hate this film. But, because of Will Smith's charm, Margot Robbie's wackiness, Jay Hernandez's sympathetic performance, Jai Courney's [frick]ing awesome Boomerang, and Joel Kinnaman's.......chicken eating skills, it's just stuck in a floating space of disappointment. And the occasional fun time I sometimes have when watching it, particularly with friends. Oh, I also love the songs that were released for the film, particularly "Sucker For Pain" and "Heathens." But because they were settled to the end credits, I'm not giving the film a win for that. Oh, and that Deadshot and Batman confrontation in the snow is still a killer scene.
RATING: 4.5/10
5. X-MEN APOCALYPSE
As time as gone by, my love for Deadpool has dwindled. And its not the film's fault. I still enjoy Ryan Reynold's performance as the titular character, Morenna Baccarin as Vanessa, the ever so funny TJ Miller, Brianna Hildebrand stealing my heart, and whoever played Colossus. I still love the hand to hand combat and fight choreography. The set pieces are are still amazing as ever, and the color of the film is so effin vibrant. Now, the problem I have is that the jokes don't land, for me, anymore. For any other film on this list, jokes not landing wouldn't make a dent. But for Deadpool, humor is everything. And when they don't fully work, the character doesn't fully work. Now, its not to say I hate the humor or anything, but it hasn't made me laugh since I saw it in theaters. At the most, it causes me to maybe giggle.
RATING: 7.5/10
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
What can I say that hasn't been said already? This is a great film. It practically does justice to almost all of its characters, without having any one being shoved down your throat. As a huge fan of the first Cap and Winter Soldier, I was already walking into this one with huge expectations. It featured great high stakes that never felt any less intense than the few minutes before, and absolutely insane action set pieces. I mean, the African chase scene is spectacular in the way it transitions between multiple settings. And what else can I add to the discussion of the airport scene? It featured Spidey hanging onto War Machine, while circling around Giant-Man. If that doesn't make any comic fan nut with excitment, then you aren't a comic fan. Atleast, not a super hero one.The hand to hand combat is also very impressive, even though I think it was done much better in The Winter Soldier. The performances all around were great, of course. Tom Holland nailed the innocent charm of a young Peter Parker as an outsider. Chadwick Boseman was bursting with cat-like ferocity that Black Panther needed, and Sebastian Stan performed amicably as the confused and grief-stricken Bucky Barnes. Chris Evans as Captain America, and this will be a controversial opinion, was overshadowed, in my opinion. I don't think he was given enough material to really let go or to shine, something that I felt he had alot of in The Winter Soldier. It just felt like he was missing something. It especially didn't help that he was standing next to RDJ as Iron Man, who, in my opinion, gave his best performance in the entire MCU. The usual Tony Stark snarky, charm was there as expected, but with it, came raw emotion and ferocity. I mean, it was the first time where I felt sympathetic for this man, where in previous installments, I just found him as a high school jock; exciting to see play in the field, but not someone I can feel empathy for.
Now, onto the criticisms. First of all, this film has alot to get through when it comes to its visual effects, but alot of the CGI is rather dodgy, especially the CGI of Black Panther and Spider-Man. Now, these two had alot of CGI applied to them, but it doesn't really excuse anything. Another criticism I have for the film, and to the fans, is how everyone proclaims it gives Cap a perfect trilogy. Thats not true. This is not an excellent trilogy, and thats because you need to know more about what happened in Age Of Ultron than The Winter Soldier. Another criticism I have, is the direction of Vision. I liked his occasional flirting with Wanda, but I felt the character was just floating around, with nothing to do besides spout philosophical lines. Which kind of makes me a hypocrite based off of my liking of another CBM on this list, but what can ya do? We're all hypocrites of something.
RATING: 8.5/10
2. DOCTOR STRANGE
I also want to say, that this film probably features my favorite cast in the MCU, since Guardians Of The Galaxy. Benedict Cumberbatch is fantastic as Doctor Strange, being able to delve into the classic RDJ/Tony Stark charm, but in a subdued manner. He's also able to bring the annoyed rage that Stephen Strange would have, at any given time. I mean, that scene he shares with Rachel McAdam's Christine Palmer in the suite is intense. Speaking of Rachel McAdams, I think she did a servicable job as the MCU movie version of The Night Nurse. She was charming and had a few great comedic moments. Tilda Swinton was adorably charming as The Ancient One, (that smile she gives off of when Stephen is curious about how she kept her medical license is so sweet), and heartbreaking when she needed to be, especially with her death scene. Its a very somber moment she shared with Stephen, and its one of my favorite cbm moments of the year. The one who stole the movie for me, on the other hand, was Chiwetel Ejiofer as Baron Mordo. He's just an exceptional actor, and I can't wait to see what he does as Mordo in the future.. He had great chemistry with Cumberbatch, showcasing the right amount of ferocity and passion that a friend turned enemy would have. He's going to make a great villain.
A great villain. Oh boy. Here we go. Onto the criticisms. I'll start off small, don't worry. Now, the film is very humorous, and I was okay with that because many of the jokes land. But then, there are some that completely ruin the tension of a scene. Like for example, after the death of The Ancient One. Stephen's cape wipes his tears away from his face, as he's washing the blood of his mentor from his hands. Now, that seems dramatic and intense. Except, the film doesn't play it off that way. It plays it off as a comedic moment, which feels really disrespectful to The Ancient One's character. I think, and this is common with some MCU movies, the filmmakers need to learn to respect the tension and drama they've been building in their movie, instead of backtracking on it with a joke break. Now, Doctor Strange does something well, which I find sparse in other MCU films; It features a great score. Its a mix of eastern music and psychedlic rock, which matches the weirdness of Doctor Strange. So, why is it on my criticism section? Because Michael Giacchino, the composer, was too much like himself. As much as I enjoyed the score, alot of times when I heard it, I was transported to Star Trek. I understand composers take cues from their previous films, but I thought it was heavily done this time around. And now onto the major criticism I have for this film. Mads Mikkelson as.......[frick], I forgot his name. Kaecilius! Thats right....yeah, he was shit. My god, what a waste of Mads. I don't care how badass his magic dagger or sword was, I felt nothing with Kaecilius. No intensity, intimidation, charm, character development, or any of the aspects which make a compelling villain. He was just there, giving off context dump, with one tone of voice. I felt more threatened by Baron, and he wasn't even a villain yet!! Anyway, with all that aside, I love this film. And with rumors suggesting that the good ol' doctor will show up in the threequel of the God Of Thunder, I'm even more excited for the future of Stephen Strange.
RATING: 8.7/10
AND MY NUMBER ONE FAVORITE CBM OF 2016 IS...........................................
Featuring an oscar worthy cast, a whomping 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a box office intake of over 1.2 Billion dollars worldwide, its safe to say that MAX STEEL is a huge succe.....
I haven't seen it....and neither has anyone else
RATING: Nothing
My actual favorite comic book movie of 2016 is..
1. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
(ULTIMATE EDITION)
Look, I can go all day praising Ben Affleck's Batman. We've all had. So I'm not going to do that right now. Instead, I'll be praising a different hero potrayal, and that is Henry Cavill's Superman. Arguably, (see?), the most controversial aspect of the film. Hell, the most controversial aspect of the DCEU. When someone brings up Superman, is usually when the back to back disputes start to form. Look, I didn't grow up with Reeve's Superman, and I'm not that big of a fan. I think it's cheesy and its hard for me to get into them. I appreciate what they did for the cbm industry, though. But I grew up watching the Justice League animated series, and I've recently been delving into some of his comics, so I'm not oblivious to the mainstream Superman potrayal. With that being, I love this portrayal of the big, blue boy scout. God, I'm basically pushing myself into the volcano, but whatever. I love it. Ever since Man Of Steel, I've been able to sympathize and relate to this loner, and it doubled for me in BvS. Would I have liked for them to go classic Superman instead of continuing his loner journey? Yes. But I ended up enjoying it, and especially in the UC. Clark is just trying to do good, trying to be the hero the public clearly wants, as seen from the Superman statue. But life continues to push back, as seen in the senate bombing. I mean, the scene after, where Supes is looking at all the dead bodies in body bags, breaks my heart, just from the look on his face. Say what you want about the amount of dialogue Cavill has, that man can do wonders with just a facial expression. I also love what Snyder does with the Clark-Lois relationship. They both clearly help each other, and the way they deal with these ordeals is pretty great. Another aspect of Superman's journey that I love, is his relationship with his mother. Make all the "Martha" jokes you want, I get it. But I love Diane Lane's performance, and she has fantastic chemistry with Cavill. My favorite moment between them is when Clark calls Martha in the middle of the night, to ask why his father never left Kansas. Its a small and touching moment, that is probably the most human scene in the film. And that alone, made me feel heartbroken when he sacrificed himself. I also want to note, that the Ultimate Edition does a great job with the Clark Kent scenes, in showing what really made Superman angry, about Batman's actions, that the theatrical cut didn't really touch upon.
Like I said before, all of you guys have seen my avatar, right? So what I'm about to say next shouldn't surprise you. Michael Cer....I mean, Jessie Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor is the comic book villain portrayal of the year. I'm not taking that back. What a little shit, he is. He's like one of those anime villains who push their glasses up in the dark, and you see a little shit eating grin on their face. That's Lex. What a conniving psychopath he is. He's more evil than this universe's Joker. Blowing up a building full of innocents, creating an international, African situation, turning into Dr. Frankenstein and creating his own monster, and possibly conjuring up a New God invasion, coming November of this year. So yeah, he's accomplished alot already as a villain. The reasons why he does these things, are a little vague, until the rooftop scene he shares with Superman. Its a great scene for Lex to really show his distaste and hatred of Superman's power and god-like presence. He also has the best dialogue of the movie, and thats because Chris Terrio wrote most of Lex's lines. Very quotable.
Another aspect of the film that I greatly enjoyed, was the sheer brutality of the titular fight. It was very short, I'll admit that. But it caught me by surprise. I sort of expected a heavy, and flashy tussle between these two heroes, (or between one hero and one villain, as I interpreted Batman that way). But we got was a knock em down fist fight. It was very "in your face", and you could feel every punch, crack or kick. I remember in theaters, I felt very cringed at the amount of pain Batman was putting Superman through. The guy was getting pummeled by the world itself, and now this? C'mon. I also greatly enjoyed that, whichever hero was getting the upper hand, their theme would start playing. Nice little touch.
This film has one of the best showcases of cinematography, I'd like to add, particularly in the Knightmare scene. Which shouldn't surprise anyone, considering Larry Fong's work from Watchmen. There's many beautiful shots here that are able to tell a story on their own, like the shot of Wonder Woman and Bat's standing over Superman's body, while Lois is crying on top of him. You can see the ray of light shining down on him, the cross with the crow, in the background. It's not subtle at all, but it's effective in what Snyder is trying to share. I also love the way this film utilizes colors, in that in many scenes, a particular color is showcased, while everything is else desaturated. The colors are definitely in full effect, in the Day Of The Dead scene, (which presents a great score). There's also a great shot in the Ultimate Edition, of Lex on a rooftop, staring into the sunset.
Now, I do have criticisms of this movie. Particularly, the third act. I enjoyed the Doomsday fight somewhat, but it was a huge mess. The CGI was just very wishy-washy, especially with Wonder Woman's different movements and jumps. And the whole electric explosion Doomsday did every few minutes, was quite naseating. I also want to say, despite my excitment for the Wonder Woman solo film, that I don't think Gal was as strong as everyone suggested. She has presence, don't get me wrong. I just think her delivery of some lines needs some work. I thought she did well in the first scene she shares with Bruce, but the doomsday fight showed that she needs improvement with her threatening dialogue. Hopefully, she's better in Wonder Woman. My third criticism, is that I had really hoped that we'd see more scenes shared between Bats, Supes, and WW as allies. I understand that they didn't have enough time to socialize in between the titular fight and doomsday tussle, but I was still dissapointed. Hopefully, Justice League is able to scratch that itch.
All in all, this is a messy, sometimes unneccessarily dark, un-subtle film that is proud of itself and so am I. Its a pure Zack Snyder film, and that's going to alienate alot of people. But being a fan of him, I loved it. And I had lot's fun of watching it (yep, I had "fun" watching BvS.....atleast, more than SS. Sorry, thats the last dig at SS, I swear).
RATING: 9/10
Now, comment. Insult me for my rankings, share yours. You know, the usual. I don't [frick]ing care.
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