Tag: DC Comics

REVIEW: ‘Black Adam’ is a botched attempt at an anti-hero

‘This isn’t a traditional superhero!’ The movie shouts at us as it takes the route of a generic superhero movie.

Dwayne Johnson stars as the titular character in this film taking place in DC’s cinematic universe. A being with tremendous power, Adam was sealed by magic within a tomb 5,000 years ago after defeating an evil tyrant in the kingdom of Kahndaq.

The film picks up in the present day with Adam being being summoned back in the midst of Kahndaq once again being in turmoil, with outside forces subjugating its people and exploiting the natural resources. Many in Kahndaq see Adam’s return as a good thing, as he has the power to liberate them, but others on Earth see him as a threat, and a special unit of super powered beings are sent to reign him in.

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Phase 4 shows the MCU is running on empty

No, I’m not being paid by Warner Bros. or DC to write this.

Honestly, for the longest time I rejected this notion. Marvel Studios had a really good track record here at this site. Aside from “Thor: The Dark World,” most entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe received a 3 out of 5 or higher from yours truly.

For those who may not know, that’s enough to get a “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. That was true right up through the summer of 2019.

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REVIEW: ‘The Batman’ is a brilliant caped crusader story

Some of the best elements of the “Batman” interpretations by directors Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan are melded into the new crime epic featuring the Dark Knight.

In director Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne, who spends his nights out in Gotham City as the caped crusader. The film picks up with him meeting with Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) after a night of fighting criminals to consult on a murder case.

The victim is the city’s mayor, and the suspect is the Riddler (Paul Dano), who leaves behind haunting clues. The killing sets Batman on an investigation, where he partners with Gordon and a cat burglar, Selina (Zoe Kravitz). The investigation brings him in conflict with the city’s underbelly, with the likes of the Penguin (Colin Farrell) in his way.

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REVIEW: ‘Wonder Woman’ sequel mostly falls flat

Before fighting Doomsday and Steppenwolf, Wonder Woman emerged in the 80s to battle corporate greed.

“Wonder Woman 1984” opens with the Amazon warrior now fighting crime while also working at the Smithsonian. At her job, where she goes by Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), she meets a researcher named Barbara (Kristen Wiig). Early in the movie, Barbara comes across a stone that supposedly grants wishes.

Barbara, who’s rather insecure, wishes to be just like Diana. Diana, meanwhile, wishes for her lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) to be resurrected. Despite thinking it’s just a legend, it turns out the stone actually works for the two. It also works for a desperate businessman named Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) who has aspirations of more power. These three wishes end up bringing the characters into conflict.

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DC FanDome: Breaking down hype and hesitation

There was a ton of movie news over the weekend and a lot of it came from DC’s virtual convention titled FanDome. The event had trailers and details released on several upcoming superhero movies.

From Batman to Flash, there’s a whole lot to breakdown from FanDome. So, here’s my recap on the whole thing.

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Monday Movie Report: WB pushes back ‘Batman,’ shifts schedule

A new “Batman” film and other pictures in development under the Warner Bros. umbrella are being pushed back because of the coronavirus.

According to Variety, WB has altered its plans for “The Batman,” a prequel film to “The Sopranos” and a picture titled “Many Saints of Newark.” Most notable is “The Batman,” which stars Robert Pattinson and was set to hit theaters June 25, 2021.

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Monday Movie Report: ‘Guardians 3,’ ‘Suicide Squad’ moving forward

Director James Gunn stated recently that both comic book movies he’s working on are still set to go, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Variety, Gunn said on Twitter that a new “Suicide Squad” picture and a third “Guardians of the Galaxy” are moving ahead.

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REVIEW: ‘Birds of Prey’ is fun, but doesn’t soar high enough

There’s a feeling with this movie that the creative team said ‘we have Harley Quinn, let’s just slap a movie together around that character and it will all work itself out.’

Unfortunately, that doesn’t really happen here.

“Birds of Prey” picks up after the events of the 2016 movie “Suicide Squad” and audiences soon learn that Quinn (Margot Robbie) is no longer together with the criminal mastermind Joker. She’s not exactly able to enjoy her new single life right away, though, as Quinn soon learns that there’s a lot of people, whether it be random individuals or hardened criminals, who want her dead. Now that Joker isn’t with her anymore, those forces have a clear path to Harley.

One of those criminals is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), who also goes by Black Mask. As Black Mask’s feud with Quinn develops, other characters are drawn in, including a detective named Renee (Rosie Perez), a mysterious assassin in Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and a dangerous singer trained in combat who goes by Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). Eventually these figures all become tied in a web that leads back to a young pickpocket named Cassandra (Ella Jay Basco), who stole a jewel that everyone in Gotham is after.

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Best of the Decade: Comic Books

This is a series called “Best of the Decade.” It’s a list including 10 movies that I found to be the best in a specific genre from 2010-2019.

The 2000-2009 decade built the foundation, but the past 10 years is where the super hero/comic book genre established itself as a juggernaut in Hollywood. Today, in part because of these 10 films, the comic book/super hero genre is at a whole other level.

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Movie Report: Zoë Kravitz joins cast of new ‘Batman’

Zoë Kravitz is joining the new on-screen adaptation of “Batman.”

According to Variety, Kravitz has been cast as the anti-heroine Catwoman in “The Batman,” directed by Matt Reeves. Variety reports the movie, starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, will start pre-production soon with filming possible late this year or early 2020.

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