Maleficent - Magnificent

I'm so proud of Disney.  They have really stepped up their fantasy game, and joined the modern age where women are independent and self-suffecient and don't need men to take care of them.  Bravo!  I hope the days are gone when Disney and Pixar make movies about a damsel in distress who desperately need a man to save the day.  Maleficent, is such a movie.  Disney takes one of their oldest stories, "Sleeping Beauty", and decides to tell the tale from the "villains" point of view.  

Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, explains why Maleficent cursed the King's daughter, Princess Aurora, played by Dakota Fanning's little sister Elle and the youngest Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne.  It starts with Maleficent as a child, finding love as a teenager, and having her heart broken as an adult to the point that she seeks revenge on all humans in the nearby kingdom.  This is a visually pleasing and exciting movie.  There's lots of fantasy inspired creatures and fairies, and the magnitude of Maleficent's magical powers are fascinating and enchanting.

This isn't really a movie for children under the age of like ten.  It's kind of violent.  There are dark battle scenes, a fire-breathing dragon, ferocious fighting trees, and Maleficent can be kind of scary performing her magic and casting spells.  Some of the creatures of Moor (a magical realm near a human kingdom) can be cute and frightening at the same time.  It could give a sensitive little one nightmares.  The adults will enjoy it.  I sure did.  The pre-teens in the theatre with me applauded when it was done.  I'd say, they enjoyed it too even though they were a bit squirmy in the beginning when the action was a little slower.  

I thought Maleficent was magnificent especially since there was a twist to the happy ending.  There was just one thing I didn't like about the movie, the only black man in the movie getting bitch slapped by the white king.  Totally wasn't ok with that.  Other than that, it was great!  You'll enjoy it, but keep the teeny tiny ones at home.  You can thank me later. 

Nothing to see next week, but "Orange is the New Black" starts on June 6th.  

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Top 3 of all the X-Men Movies

I have seen just about every single Marvel Comic movie since Howard the Duck back in 1984.  (Yes Howard the Duck is a Marvel movie.  See the list here.)  So, it means a lot when I say, X-Men: Days of Future Past is one of the best, and definitely in the Top 3 of all the X-Men movies.  I've always enjoyed the X-Men movie series.  They usually are full of action and special effects with a great storyline.  My least favorite was The Wolverine, and even that was entertaining.  But, Days of Future Past is going down as one of my favorites and here's why.

I love sci-fiction movies, and it doesn't get more sci-fi than a movie that takes your from the future to the past with a plausible story.  My little Imp friend, Tyrion Lannister, (G.O.T reference) or Trask, a military scientists, creates these robots who in the future can seek out and destroy mutants and humans carrying the mutant gene.  In a dystopian future, the mutants send Wolverine's conscience to the past to stop the events that lead to the mass production of these robots that will cause a blood bath of a war in the future.  Hello, doesn't that sound AMAZING?!?!  It is.  A plausible storyline always helps make a huge movie a great movie!

The mutants are the best.  Although Hugh Jackman as Wolverine will always be my favorite, Peter Maximoff or Quicksilver, steals the show in his scenes.  His speed and ability is one of the most awe-inspiring.  He can do so much just by being faster than a speeding bullet.  I'm always impressed by Magneto's ability.  I would love to be able to move darn near anything metallic especially cars in my way when I'm trying to get to work.   My new favorite actor, Michael Fassbender, does a young Magneto magnificently.   But, Jennifer Lawrence, as a youthful, determined, and vengeful Mystic or Raven is impressive!  She gets a lot of flack sometimes for not being able to act, but I think she's great, and I was thoroughly convinced that she was out for blood.  There are many other exciting mutantic displays by Shadow Cat, Beast, Storm, Iceman, and Bishop among many others.  You definitely won't be disappointed in that aspect.

One other aspect of the movie that I liked is how it ties all the other ones together.  Sometimes, sequels and prequels make timeline mistakes that a die-hard fan would notice.  Days of Future Past picks up where both The Last Stand and First Class left off which is kinda hard to do since one is a prequel, but they make it work.  Just about everyone from the franchise makes an appearance and that is satisfying even if some of the cameos are brief (ROGUE).  I loved everything about this movie.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine is my favorite and X-men is my second favorite, but mostly because it's the first.  X-Men: Days of Future Past is great, full of a great sci-fi story with lots of mutant action.  It's my third favorite of the series, and one of my all-time favorite Marvel Comic movies.  I enjoyed it, and I know you will too.

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent is next week!

Godzilla - Go see it!

I'll keep this short.  If you want to see gigantic prehistoric looking creatures battle it out, then go see Godzilla.  It's very entertaining!  There's an actual storyline that you can follow, and some characters that you kinda care about...kinda.  The movie's action is great although I would like to have seen more fighting between Godzilla and Muto.  The acting is atrocious, but who cares about these C-list actors (Richard T. Jones has a minor role) because you really came to see a radioactive lizard destroy a radioactive bug.  You won't be disappointed!

SN:  CAN WE PLEASE STOP REMAKING MOVIES?!?!  THERE ARE SOME VERY CREATIVE SCREENWRITERS OUT THERE.  USE THEM.  Now that I've gotten that off my chest.  The new X-men comes out next week.  Can't wait to see it!  Until next week.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Not so amazing the second time around.

A superhero movie with way too much romantic teenage love drama is not that interesting to me or most superhero moviegoers.  It's not like when Clarke Kent loved Lois Lane, and as Superman kept trying to save her, or Batman and Catwoman's love games.  No one really cares about Peter Parker's undying and somewhat stalkerish love for Gwen Stacy.  It completely slowed down the story in The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro.

I really enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield.  I didn't understand the big deal when that other Spiderman series starring Toby Maguire was in the theaters.  I didn't like a single one, so I was a little hesitant to see this new series, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I liked how witty Peter Parker was, and the action in the story kept me entertained, and while the action scenes in this sequel were great, I found this movie to be a snoozefest...literally.  The lady in front of me started playing solitaire on her phone, and I'm pretty sure the guy behind me was snoring.  Heck, I even took a quick nap too.  

Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon and Electro was thrilling with and air absurdity.  No one ever thought that a man high off electricity should maybe be kept away from it?  And, we're supposed to believe that a sickly teenager can walk into a high-powered prison because he's wealthy and take down two armed guards with his bare hands?  I know it's just a movie, but it was a little far-fetched even for a comic book inspired film.  But, that love story between Peter and Gwen was the straw that broke the camel's back.  It was excessive.  It took over the movie, and made it more of a rom-com than an action movie.  I didn't sign up for that, and most of those in the theatre didn't either.  

The best part of the movie was when the movie ended, and we got a sneak peek of the X-men movie during the credits.  What sucks is that you have to sit there for two and a half hours to see it.  I can't recommend this movie because it's boring and the energy flatlines throughout.  If you want to see a blue  Jamie Foxx or some pretty cool special effects, then take a look but remember I warned you.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't so amazing.