1.) I have heard of Bob Marley (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir), but I do not know much about him, and this movie made him interesting to me at least. He only wants peace and love in the world (especially in his home war-torn country of Jamaica), but he also needs peace within himself, especially with his dad. His way to help others is through his songs; the only thing he knows best. If you want to know who this man is, this movie may be a good start.
2.) The reggae music is introduced well here. While I admit that this is not my type of favorite music, I will say that it is entertaining to hear. The movie even shows how it is made through Bob Marley and his friends. If you like reggae music, you will enjoy its process and rise to fame.
3.) The movie makes you care about Bob Marley through his chemistry with his friends and his wife, Rita Marley (played by Lashana Lynch). Their performances make you believe they have known each other for a long time and love each other. They will go through thick and thin working with Bob’s songs and spreading the message of love and peace. The cast works great together and you can buy that these people are close.
Cons:
1.) Since this is a biopic movie about a singer, some cliches are unavoidable. From a struggling singer trying to start his career to suffering from fame, the standards of these types of biopics are typical despite having an interesting individual to watch. If you have seen many biopics regarding singers, you know what to expect here.
2.) One of the big subplots in the movie is that there is civil unrest in Jamaica due to the two political parties being at each other’s throats. There are gang violence and police presence to the point that Bob Marley had to leave his home for a couple of years. How does this get resolved? The movie tells you through an epilogue. That was underwhelming; it would have been better to see how that happened rather than being told in the ending.
3.) I apologize if this sounds bad, but I had difficulty understanding what the Jamaican people are saying. Their accents are so thick that I swear that they are speaking a different language (which I am sure they are at times). I got the gist of what they were saying, but the only people I truly understood were non-Jamaicans (i.e., British people). Once again, I apologize for this, and it may change if I see this movie again and put in subtitles or get better audio.
Overall:
As mentioned, I have heard of Bob Marley, but not by much. I was curious to check out this biopic about him, and after watching it, I say the movie was not too bad. I cannot say if this is accurate to who he is (though I am willing to say so considering his children and wife were involved in making this movie), but despite some setbacks like typical biopic cliches, this is a nice watch. Bob Marley’s message of peace and love holds strong in this movie despite its flaws.
Welcome back once again to Marvel Movies Marathon where we look at the X-Men film that fully revitalized interest in this superhero team and fixed many of the mistakes in some of their past movies (until they screwed it up again later). Let’s look at this new X-Men film that is more or less a crossover of the past and present X-Men team: X-Men: Days of Future Past.
For the purpose of this review, I am going to talk about The Rogue Cut version of this film. It adds 17 minutes to the runtime which includes a subplot involving Rogue (played by Anna Paquin) and alters a few scenes that fit that subplot.
Pros:
1.) I might as well get this out of the way first: how does The Rogue Cut compare to the original? It makes the film much better because it adds more dimension and layers to the plot and characters even if they are not necessary. Many examples include the remaining X-Men discussing the consequences of changing the past may end up erasing some of their existence, a rekindling romance between Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast (played by Nicholas Hoult) and Raven a.k.a. Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence), an explanation of how the Sentinels found the remaining X-Men in the last act, and the biggest change of all: having Rogue be more involved in the story instead of being seen in a cameo in the original cut. While her role makes a slightly small impact on the main plot and I understand why the filmmakers had to cut it originally, it was nice to see her again.
2.) The writing is absolutely fantastic. Ignoring many some of the small nitpicks and obvious continuity issues, the mutants becoming extinct is already a big conflict, so what is left of the X-Men has to go back to the past by sending Logan a.k.a. Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) to his younger body and stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask (played by Peter Dinklage) by getting help from a younger Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X (played by James McAvoy) and a younger Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender). It is not as simple as it gets since Xavier is a complete drunk, Magento is in jail for apparently killing President John F. Kennedy, and Mystique is determined to kill Trask even if it means screwing over Xavier and Magneto since her Brotherhood of Mutants got killed. Their arcs are all fantastic from Xavier learning to let go of the loss and learn from Wolverine to Magneto further realizing that mutants must take control of their future by stopping humanity to Mystique learning to let go of her prejudices thanks to his stepbrother. Even the main villain, Bolivar Trask is not some evil human who hates mutants; he respects them to the point where he wants to use them as research and keep the human race from extinction. Most of the characters are fantastic (even the minor mutant characters from the future thanks to The Rogue Cut), and they make the audience care what is happening…
3.) …The biggest reason for that is the film does a fantastic job of giving tension and high stakes. The future Sentinels are no joke: no matter how hard the mutants fight and manage to slow them down, these robots cannot be stopped and that is established at the beginning of the film.
With the worst of humanity taking control of these monsters and wanting to see mutant-kind extinct, these Sentinels clearly symbolize all of humanity’s hatred. When the climax comes in, and the Sentinels find and kill the remaining X-Men while Wolverine is trying to stop the past from getting worse despite the limited time remaining, that is an example of heightened tensions reaching their limits.
This is so good that this film might as well be the X-Men film equivalent of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. I want to say that this film is perfect, it is not, but it is so close to being one.
Cons:
1.) As much as I love this film, I have to acknowledge the typical continuity issues in the X-Men films:
a.) The events of X-Men: The Last Stand where humans and mutants achieve peace is pointless considering where X-Men: Days of Future Past leads.
b.) Bolivar Trask changed from being a black man originally played by Bill Duke to a short white man played by Peter Dinklage. It is a great casting choice, but that is certainly questionable.
c.) Wolverine somehow got his adamantium claws back despite losing them in The Wolverine.
d.) How did Kitty Pryde (played by formerly Ellen Page) get time-traveling powers? Her powers are phasing, so I have no idea how it also upgraded into sending people through time.
e.) Charles Xavier mentioned that Mystique was captured during the Paris Peace Accords when she murdered Trask, but I guess she somehow escaped so the first three X-Men films can happen.
f.) Wolverine was not in the Vietnam War or with William Stryker (played by Josh Helman) (and he looked much younger in this film) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but he is with some lady in New York City.
g.) Toad (played by Evan Jonigkeit) is in the film, but he looks much different from the first film.
I feel like at this point, the filmmakers just do not care about changing characters and events unless it is the more important plot points.
2.) I have some nitpicks on the film as a whole:
a.) Remember some of the mutants from X-Men: First Class like Azazel, Emma Frost, and Banshee? They are killed off-screen and you see some of their bodies when Mystique investigates Trask’s office. Their potential has certainly been wasted.
b.) Peter Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver (played by Evan Peters) is in this film, and he is cool. However, he is not in the film for long; when Magneto gets rescued by Wolverine, Xavier, and him, that is basically the last time we see Quicksilver. He could have been a great help in stopping Mystique from murdering Trask with his super speed.
c.) The one change I did not like in The Rogue Cut is after Xavier encountered Mystique in the airport via Cerebro, he had no idea where she was going. In the original cut, he figured it out by observing the plane ticket that Mystique had. He could have read her mind to learn her destination at least, but that would have made sense.
d.) Alex Summers a.k.a. Havok (played by Lucas Till) is in the film, but his only role is that he got rescued by Mystique in Vietnam and was transported back to the United States. We will never see him again until X-Men: Apocalypse.
e.) I am not exactly sure how the effects of time traveling work. Kitty Pryde sends a person back through time via their younger bodies, and after warning of the events of the future, the timeline that Kitty is in suddenly disappears. That must be slightly complicated when Wolverine goes back in time because the people disappearing in the future timeline do not take effect until Mystique decides to not kill Trask instead of Wolverine, Xavier, Beast, and Magneto interfering in Mystique’s attempted murder. At least Avengers: Endgame‘s explanation of time traveling makes more sense.
f.) A wasted character in this film is Bishop (played by Omar Sy). He was a big deal in the comics during the Days of Future Past, and he is only regulated as a side character. He gets a little more screen time in The Rogue Cut, but he should have a bigger role at the very least.
I love this film, but I have to acknowledge the few flaws I noticed.
Overall:
The Days of Future Past is a bleak future where the hatred against mutants has increased immensely to the point of being an apocalyptic future (not to be confused with a certain mutant) of Sentinels hunting what is left of the mutant race. It has gotten so bad that Kitty Pryde has to go back to the past to prevent the event that started it: the murder of Senator Kelly. While there are plenty of changes in the film adaptation (i.e., Wolverine is the one who goes back in time), the main concept is the same. You might have thought I may not like this film because of the glaring writing flaws and continuity issues, but the truth of the matter is that I love this film. The tensions between mutants and humans have never been any higher thanks to the Sentinels, mutants dying with very little of them remaining, and it takes a long time for the main conflict to be resolved especially when the threat of an even worse future is possible. I can forgive the few writing and continuity issues; this film is that great.
The Rogue Cut also enhances the film in a similar vein as the extended version of The Lord of the Rings: it may not be necessary, but I prefer that over the original (for the most part). This is the best X-Men film ever made (besides Logan), and I highly recommend this version of the film to any X-Men fan. The future glows bright in this film and the filmmakers prevented the X-Men series from going into obscurity (until they screw it up again).
9/10
I do wonder about this: since the X-Men are coming to the MCU, how is the TVA going to explain all of what happened in this film and the Deadpool films? We will just have to wait and hope that Marvel Studios does not screw this up like they have been lately.
1.) As I said about the first Dune, the world is so fascinating. There are so many objects, people, religions, planets, terminologies, etc. that is hard to keep up what they are (to a fault), but they are so compelling to see. From the sandworms to the Lisan Al Gaib, Dune is such an interesting world with many amazing costumes and environmental designs that it is no wonder it is considered to be Star Wars before Star Wars.
2.) The writing is spectacular enough to make you invested in Dune and its characters. I mentioned in the last film that I found the characters to be standard or weak, but this film made me start to appreciate them. From Paul Atreides (played by Timothee Chalamet) to Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (played by Austin Butler), all of these characters are compelling in their own rights which is reinforced by their stellar performances. This is how you make an investing world with fantastic writing (though there are issues).
3.) The directing, the cinematography, and the editing are top-notch. There are so many beautiful and great shots with careful placements of characters and objects that many of them might as well be paintings or pictures on a wall. If you somehow do not believe me, the trailer I posted on top and even the director Denis Villeneuve’s past works like Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Sicario, and Prisoners should prove my point. The presentation is something you should watch to believe, and it is glorious to see.
Cons:
1.) As much as I like the world of Dune, I do not fully understand what is truly happening. While compelling to watch and I appreciate the film does so much show-don’t-tell, I feel like there has to be a little more exposition despite how long this film is. One example that I will be slightly vague on is that a ritual happened with Lady Jessica (played by Rebecca Ferguson), and when that ritual ended, the women around her were horrified when they learned something about her. I will explain slightly more why this can be an issue, but it is not enough to deter my enjoyment of this film since it at least delivers these scenes well.
2.) The film introduces plenty of new characters, and I like them all, but I wish they got more screen time. One character I was highly fascinated with is Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen; this psychopath that everyone fears other than his uncle, Baron Vladimir Harokonnen (played by Stellan Skarsgard), who is also honorable in one-on-one matches. He also has a cool yet simple appearance that is reinforced during that colosseum scene where everything is black and white. Despite having a fair amount of screen time in the middle of the film, he barely gets any more after that, especially what happens to him in the end. It is a shame despite there being a good reason why because I want to learn more about characters like him, and that is a good sign if that happens.
3.) As cool as the battle scenes are, there are not many of them and they are slightly over before they begin. The trailers made it look like a war epic when there were very few battles in this 2-hour and 45-minute film. They looked amazing, especially when the sandworms got involved, but this film is more focused on the characters than the battles. I still appreciate the little we get here, but it is a shame that there are not any more of these.
Overall:
When I reviewed the first Dune, I did say it was a great film in terms of visuals and its world, but I thought the story was standard or weak. Rewatching it before its sequel, I appreciate the film more, but I still acknowledge some of its weaknesses. Now that I have watched this sequel yesterday and pondered on it, I believe it is much better than the first, but some of its issues hold it back from agreeing with the critics saying it is the best film they have seen this year. The filmmaking and the world of Dune are fantastic, but I feel that the one thing that holds it back is that the world is too complex and too big to fully understand what is happening. I am not saying it is terrible, but I can certainly understand why the Dune book is known to be notoriously hard to adapt (from the little I have heard from that series). While I cannot speak for the series’ fans if they will love it or not, I can say that it is a big cinematic experience in its own way (especially on IMAX and repeated viewings) that deserves to be seen.
Welcome back once again to Marvel Movies Marathon where Wolverine gets his own movie…again. Will it work better than the last time this character got his own spin-off movie, or will it suffer the same fate as that terrible movie? Let’s find out with the second movie of our favorite X-Man himself: The Wolverine.
Pros:
1.) One of the big plot points of this movie is that Logan a.k.a. Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) loses his healing factor, making it hard to fight anyone. This puts tension and danger in this character like never before (and will be used again in Logan), so he cannot always go berserk against those who stand in his way or he will surely die. I wish this movie took full advantage of it (and the franchise eventually will in Logan) since this is rarely explored and eventually resolved in a slightly predictable manner. I still like this idea, and I will explore this a little further when I do an Overall Previous Marvel Movies review on Logan later.
2.) I like the change of scenery and setting. Japan feels like a different sense of fresh air with its culture, environment, and people. From the yakuza to the samurai, it is nice to see something new in terms of an area to explore. One great example is when Wolverine fights Shingen (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) which is similar to a samurai battle, but Wolverine uses his adamantium claws instead of a sword. Japan is a great change of scenery, but this may be a bias since I enjoy Japanese culture anyway.
3.) The first act of the movie is not too bad. From Wolverine being imprisoned in Japan during World War II to his time being isolated due to his guilt for killing Jean Grey (played by Famke Janssen), it is easy to care what is happening to him since we have seen and understand what he has went through in the previous films. His arc is decent as well since he avoids becoming the Wolverine for the already-mentioned reasons. Not a bad start to his arc as well as the writing…
Cons:
1.) …However, I will not go as far as to say that the writing is decent nor will I say it is terrible. There are problems with it and I will list them here:
a.) The last time we saw Wolverine in X-Men: The Last Stand, he seemed content and happy since the mutants were living in peace, but this movie suddenly shows that he is now sheltered and alone. It makes sense why he is like that, but it is not consistent with the last time we saw him in the previous chronological movie (it would make more sense if they included that deleted ending scene from X-Men: The Last Stand where he left the X-Men).
b.) It is a little convenient when two Japanese characters usually speak to each other in English instead of Japanese. It strikes me as odd and lazy for writers to make an excuse for audience members to not read the subtitles.
c.) Wolverine getting Yukio’s (played by Rila Fukushima) prediction of his death wrong is so predictable that the writing poorly gives any tension to it.
d.) I do not understand how Ichiro Yashida a.k.a. the Silver Samurai (played by Haruhiko Yamanouchi) is absorbing Logan’s agelessness into his own.
e.) Yukio joins Wolverine by the end of the movie, but it goes absolutely nowhere, especially since the mid-credits scene shows Wolverine on his own two years later with no mention of what happened to Yukio (especially since she gets retconned and recast in Deadpool 2).
f.) Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart) is alive as seen in the end credits scene in X-Men: The Last Stand, but how did he get his own body back when he transferred his mind to some random guy’s body the last time we saw him?
These issues do not ruin the movie…
2.) …But what does not help at all is that I found many of these characters uninteresting. At best, they are cliched characters that could have potential, but they are not explored enough to be given a chance. The only reason I somewhat care at all is that their actors did a great job in the performances, or in the case of Mariko (played by Tao Okamoto), she is very attractive. Ichiro Yashida wants to leave a legacy by living forever, Mariko does not want to be the head of her grandfather’s company, Shingen hates his father and daughter since he wants the company, Viper (played by Svetlana Khodchenkova) is an evil mutant scientist who wants money and power (I think), Noburo (played by Brian Tee) is a corrupt minister of justice, and Yukio is loyal to the Yashida family that adopted her (especially Mariko). Once again, there is not much depth to them when I can see an attempt for it.
3.) The only remaining problem I have with this movie is many of the nitpick changes they made from their comic book counterparts:
a.) Viper is a mutant in this movie, but in the comics, she is not only a human but a Hydra agent. In fact, one of her nicknames is Madame Hydra; you can see a version of that character in Season 4 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
b.) The Silver Samurai is a mutant, not a mech in this movie…
c.) …In fact, Ichiro Yashida is not supposed to be the Silver Samurai. It is supposed to be either Shingen Yashida or Kenuichio Harada (played by Will Yun Lee) since both of them became the Silver Samurai in the comics.
It is not that big of a deal since some changes from the comics to movies/TV shows are fine, but these small changes did bother me slightly.
Overall:
With Wolverine getting another run of his own movie (and it is definitely not going to be the last), I can definitely say that The Wolverine is a big improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but not enough to say that it is great. If I have to describe this movie, think of it as a Yakuza (or Like A Dragon) movie, but nowhere as intriguing as in those games. There was some potential, but it certainly did not hit a home run. At the very least, there are no visible continuity issues that this movie has over its predecessors, but if you want a fantastic Wolverine movie, then Logan is a great choice for you. The Wolverine did overcome the errors of its predecessor, but not enough to make a fantastic ronin in the land of the rising sun.
benzeyeview 