Topic: The Movie Thread

Five more weeks to go!

Black Widow has gone through so many hairstyle changes. Now she's back to being a redhead. Also, I don't how I feel about the new uniforms.

So.... James Gunn is back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I'm surprised that Disney did a u-turn. Honestly, I thought Taika Waititi would've been a good fit. James Gunn will direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after his done with Suicide Squad 2 but Idris Elba is replacing Will Smith as Deathshot.

@WanderingBullet Glad to see common sense prevailed for once, with Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

I have no interest in any of the DC films anymore, so they can do what they want with em.

@WanderingBullet Saw that. I kind of hoped that would put the skids on Suicide Squad.

@KALofKRYPTON Are you talking about Idris Elba?

The reason they gave was because of scheduling conflict (he's filming Bad Boys 3) but maybe Will Smith decided that he's not interested in the role anymore. Otherwise, DC could've just replace Deadshot with another character and leave an opening for Smith to return in the third movie.

@WanderingBullet the whole thing.

I don't mind Suicide Squad all that much, but it doesn't need a soft reboot... Or even a sequel.

In all honesty, the DC movies haven't been 'that' bad. Suicide Squad was certainly the worst of the recent DC movies and I know Green Lantern wasn't the 'best' movie either but there have been far worse movies made.

I do have some minor gripes about BvS too but I do think that a LOT of the problems are that they aren't as good as the 'Marvel' films - at least the MCU movies and not films like the Fantastic Four (the last one was worse than Suicide Squad and Green Lantern), the Andrew Garfield 'Spider-Man; films - particularly the second, and lets not forget the 3rd Xmen Patrick Stewart era movie.

It does seem though that DC wanted to use the Tim Burton 'Batman' and the Nolan trilogy as the blueprint for the tone of their movies - something 'different' from the MCU. In fairness, that works very well for Batman, dark, gothic etc and their more 'comic' book versions - (Batman Forever and especially Batman & Robin) weren't critical successes. The last time they had success before Burton's Batman was the Christopher Reeve era Superman. The 4th Superman is worse than any modern DC flops.

I am not sure that DC needs to copy Marvel and have an interconnected 20yr plus plan. They could just as easily make 'stand alone' films - even a series of Films that stand alone - like a few Wonder Woman movies or more, A few Batman, a few Superman movies etc - all that stand on their own and not necessarily bring them ALL together for a Justice League movie. That way you could have the dark and gothic Batman Movies whilst Superman can be a bit more bright for example. Getting the right setting for the right character first and foremost. It looks like DC will need a new Batman and possibly a new Superman too...

I think its much easier to get an actor to contractually agree to a trilogy and maybe an extra film or two if the Story us right for them than get them tied to making 10+ movies for continuity and commitment to the 'Universe'.

Anyway, I am reliant on these movies coming to Sky and am only at Deadpool 2, I think the last MCU was the last Avengers Movie - I haven't seen Ant Man and the Wasp or Captain Marvel. Not sure if there is any others I may of missed...

@BAMozzy No, I think just those two are all the MCU has produced since Infinity War, so you’re only 4 hours [of middling MCU movies] away from being caught up.

It does feel like maybe the MCU is slowing down, but now that they have introduced Cap Marvel and she seems to be a hit at the box office, I assume we’ll get a sequel or two for her, not to mention another Black Panther. Does anyone know if they have an actual end to the MCU storyline planned? I heard the whole thing was planned out in the phases from the beginning back around Iron Man 1 and Capt America 1 days. If so, surely there is an end in sight, at least for the intertwined storyline with the infinity stones. “End Game” has the word “End” in it, so is it really “The End”?
I would like them to wrap it up, as much as I’ve liked nearly all these movies. But now with Stan Lee having passed on, it’s a good time to just have a powerful conclusion and let us all move on with our lives.
It’s a little like a TV series that just keeps going because it’s making money — I hate it when they beat it to death until it loses its artistic merit.
Harry Potter has kinda gone to well too much also with the new prequels. They’re nothing horrible, but they do feel a little like a cash-grab and are unnecessary as the original storyline was wrapped up perfectly.
Even Lord of the Rings is getting extended Universe stuff with the Amazon Prime series that is coming, I hear.
So, point is, I wish filmmakers would stick with keeping to the story they originally wanted to tell and not overextend it just because it will sell tickets.

@Th3solution Cool, I do struggle to keep up with which movies have released and which movies have finally been shown on Sky. I watch quite a lot of films to so I often forget what happened in the last movie and where the next movie fits in. It can be worse if the 'next' movie happens to be almost a stand alone - like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies or the Ant Man. Both of these didn't seem to tie into the Avengers as such and could be watched as independent from the story arc. Its just that the 'actors' etc were then brought into the arc.

I am sure they have the next phase of the MCU - whether that features the Avengers, the characters with or without certain members of the original line-up or not. The Avengers may not have Iron Man, Captain America or Thor for example but maybe Black Widow, Black Panther and Capt Marvel form part of the 'new' Avengers in the next Phase. I cannot see the MCU stopping after the 'End' game but maybe could be the End for some characters and the Actors in those roles. I remember reading quite a few years ago that Iron Man, at least the Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr, would be replaced by an Actress. Either way, its too lucrative and popular to 'stop'. I am certain they will have a plan moving forward. I don't think they will 'end' everything. And by End, I mean this arc and any subsequent movies will be a 'reboot' - a new actor playing Iron Man or Capt America. I am sure that the time-line will continue and we will see a new phase as opposed to starting again at Phase 1...

@Th3solution I wouldn't be surprised if one or a few of the main Avengers (Iron Man and Captain America) dies in Endgame just so they can add new characters into the next phase. Don't think they're slowing down since they have three movies this year, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-man: Far From Home.

@WanderingBullet @BAMozzy Yeah, I would be fine with more Marvel movies if they would just wrap up and conclude the Thanos / Infinity Stone story.
If they continue with new heroes and a new master plan then it would be better imo.

@WanderingBullet @Th3solution
That is the plan.

Endgame is the end of the Iron Man/Cap era for them and a wrap for the Infinity Stones.

I'm more convinced that they may not actually kill them off, but they'll be out of contract and there most likely won't be any more solo films for the original team. There won't be a reboot - if anything, Riri Williams as Ironheart and possibly Sam Wilson as Captain America will be the next stage for the mantles of the Cap and Iron Man.

They'll probably do another couple of films from Black Panther and Captain Marvel while setting up the next story arc.

I'd quite like the Fantastic Four to get the MCU treatment - but they'll have to tread carefully for it not to feel like Guardians (since Guardians was in reality the FF stand-in team).

@Th3solution I can see numerous actors moving on and thus they or their characters won't be a part of what ever plan comes next. I can't see it being a complete reboot either - Spider-Man has a new movie in the works, Brie Larson/Capt Marvel must surely be continuing and Black Panther too. I don't know how they could keep these actors in and reboot the franchise, start a 'new' arc with say a new Capt America, Iron Man and Thor for example whilst still having the same Capt Marvel, Spider-Man and Black Panther. It would have to be a Phase 4 rather than a 'new' Phase 1.

So I'm catching up with movies I missed last year, now on Blu-Ray. Later today or maybe even tomorrow, I'll be watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, having heard average things.

But yesterday I watched Johnny English Strikes Again and then this morning, to continue the spy theme, I watched Mission: Impossible Fallout. The former was great in that it did exactly what it promised; provided just under 90 minutes of amusement from the ever-reliable Rowan Atkinson. To analyse it any further would be to miss the point and take it far too seriously. I particularly enjoyed the VR training sequence and a lot of the little throwaway moments, such as the "speaking like French waiters" exchange and anything involving Emma Thompson.

In a similar way to Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy, watching Tom Cruise flail about reinforced my suspicion that Hollywood has a Fountain of Youth stashed someplace. I really enjoyed M:I Fallout but it didn't instantly become my favourite of the series, as reviews had suggested. The core cast they've established is excellent; I was sorry to see Alec Baldwin bow out after just two films, but I'll happily watch the continuing adventures of Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames again in the future (and I hope that Angela Bassett is a more permanent addition to the recurring characters, too). But a clever, twist-laden first half descended into a straightforward chase towards the end. I kept waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under my feet, but it was all a bit... I dunno, by-the-numbers, maybe? Which seems like a horrible thing to say about that stunning helicopter chase, but there we are.

One thing I'll always hold against it, though, is that it's yet another big film that only shot about fifteen minutes of IMAX footage, yet decided it wouldn't be at all distracting (hint: sarcasm) to maintain the different aspect ratios on Blu-Ray. It's either black bars or no black bars; pick one and stick to it, for goodness sake. Don't keep chopping and changing every thirty seconds, especially during your big finale. Winds me up no end.

Rumour has it Aquaman is gonna do the same when released. Not looking forward to that.

@RogerRoger
I really enjoyed Fallout too.

While the series is never likely to return to the heights of the original film's take on the series itself - they are mostly (here's looking at you MI2) competent stories anchoring a series of excellent action sequences and some occasional suspense.

@KALofKRYPTON Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation have been my favourites thusfar. It's tough to judge each film as a complete thing, however, because so much of the series has become "What insane thing will Tom Cruise do next?" and weaving a coherent, character-driven narrative between all that must be increasingly difficult. I think that's where Fallout lost itself towards the end; I actually loved the idea of Rebecca Ferguson's character just being Ethan's best friend and colleague, maintaining that little spark of "we could, but we never will" but going through all the contortion of resolving and explaining all of his backstory away so that they could shack up felt unnecessary. She was a total badass in Rogue Nation, one of the film's many highlights, but now I'm worried that she'll become less as the series moves onward.

That helicopter sequence, though. When he fell, I totally gasped and leaned forward.

@RogerRoger I really liked GP, RN was alright - but I watched them in quick succession which didn't help RN stand out.

I still really like MI:III - but yeah, that first one is still top of the pile for me.

As for Fergusson, yeah - she could've been anyone in Fallout really. While I do quite enjoy the formula that the series has adopted, I would like them to become a little more like the series again.

Caught up with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom the other day and was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. So much of what I'd heard was average, but I thought it was a tightly-focused "running and screaming" with a clear goal of changing the formula and advancing this new trilogy.

Whilst much of the two hours was relatively formulaic, some moments really caught me off-guard (the brachiosaurus death scene had me in tears) and the set-up for the next film looks fantastic. The cast did the job; perhaps nothing more, but then you're not really here for them, you're here for the dinosaurs, which all looked fantastic and had real character. The new Indoraptor was suitably terrifying (and cheeky) and Blue is turning out to be a great addition to the franchise.

As somebody who kinda didn't like the first Jurassic World film (for many reasons), this was a huge improvement and I'm really excited to see what happens next.

@RogerRoger
Interesting.

I genuinely thought it was crap. Not as bad the 'first' - but really not much good either.

Thankfully, I hadn't seen the reports of the recycled bits of the unused Jurassic Park 4 script beforehand; that possibly would have made it worse

I watched The Legend of Tarzan a few nights ago. Weird experience I must say.
Rather nice production, decent enough casting and moves along at a steady pace. But even with all of this locked in, it just doesn't seem to get there.

@KALofKRYPTON It's kinda like The Empire Strikes Back for me; it's a movie that exists to deliver a five-minute twist and set-up for the next instalment. The difference between Empire and Fallen Kingdom is that I actually felt like all the dots were connecting properly all the way along; none of it was just random happenstance. Or maybe I just hadn't watched a "running and screaming" dinosaur flick in a while. Jurassic Park films are wonderful experiences, but I'd never describe myself as a fan; they entertain me whilst they're on. I'm mostly showing up for the music.

I've never watched a Tarzan film. Not even the Disney cartoon.