I joined CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to have a look at new movies coming to theatres, including the rebooted “Superman” and the chilling “Sovereign.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” for “Booze & Reviews!” This week I review the return of the Man of Steel in “Superman” and then suggest some supersized cocktails to go along with the movie.
Click HERE to listen to Shane and me talk about the 1978 Superman, the highest grossing actor of all time at the box office and the Disney – Playboy crossover that never happened!
For the Booze & Reviews look at “Superman” and some supersized cocktails click HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the rebooted “Superman,” the chilling “Sovereign” and the documentary “Apocalypse in the Tropics.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: “Look, up at the IMAX screen! It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s the rebooted Superman!” Set in the DC Universe, the new film is the story of 30-year-old Metropolis journalist and Kryptonian Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman (David Corenswet) and his commitment to the old-fashioned values of truth, justice, and kindness. “My parents sent me to serve the people of Earth and be a good man,” he says. His benevolence has left the cynical public skeptical of his motives, including tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) who is tired of being overshadowed by the Man of Steel, and is steadfast in his belief that Superman’s unrestricted power is a threat to humanity. “Superman is not a man,” he says. “He’s an ‘it’ who somehow became the focal point of the entire world’s conversation. Nothing has felt right since he showed up.” Capitalizing on the fear of the “other,” Luthor uses technology and disinformation to dehumanize and destroy Superman.
CAST: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Milly Alcock. Directed by James Gunn.
REVIEW: The new “Superman” is a state-of-the-art movie with whiz-bang special effects that nonetheless feels old-fashioned. The moody, sombre vibe of the Zack Snyder films has left the building, ushering in a heartfelt story that harkens back to the optimistic, earnest tone of the 1950s and ‘60s comics.
Where Snyder portrayed the Man of Steel as a modern god, new DC head honcho James Gunn frames him as an extraterrestrial with human foibles. “They’ve always been wrong about me,” Superman says, “I love, I get scared… but that is being human. And that’s my greatest strength.”
It’s a throwback, but there’s a timeliness to it as well.
Gunn’s “Superman” reflects a polarized public, poisoned by tech billionaires, the government and on-line toxicity. Hope is a rare commodity, and anger is the new normal.
Sound familiar?
You don’t have to look further than your X feed to see the real-world inspiration for Gunn’s Metropolis. He weaves hot button references to the Russia–Ukraine war, grooming, Fox News and even bot farms that stoke outrage 24/7 into the story’s fabric. Shows like “The Boys” and the animated “Invincible” have used similar methods to essay the world’s current cynicism, with often grim results, but Gunn flips the script, opting for optimism.
Is it corny or is it heartfelt and hopeful? It’s all that, and proudly so.
Under the superhero’s S-shield is a beating heart, brimming with compassion for a world in which goodness is as rare as a hair on Lex Luthor’s head. It’s a gear shift from Snyder’s dark, introspective storytelling; not necessarily better, just different. It’s more surface, but it’s a pretty good surface. The messianic messaging is gone, replaced by a Clark Kent conflicted by his dual identity as an alien and a human, raised on a Midwestern farm. Mix in some of Gunn’s trademarked goofy humour, and a riff on John Williams’ classic “Superman” theme and you’re left with a character-driven film that values uplift over angst.
David Corenswet brings both nostalgia and a modern sensibility to his charismatic take on the Man of Steel. His heroics recall the Supermen of the past, but his Clark Kent is of the present day. In a less cartoonish performance than the exaggerated take of some earlier movies, his Clark is grounded in reality.
He shares great chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Whether they’re sharing intimate moments as Lois and Clark, challenging one another as journalists and love interests, or in action as the movie leans into the big set pieces of the final third, Brosnahan’s dynamic Lois easily sits on the shelf next to Margot Kidder’s beloved performance.
Every superhero movie needs a villain, and Nicholas Hoult delivers a cold, calculating tech billionaire framed as a modern-day baddie.
There are fun supporting turns from Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific and Nathan Fillion as the abrasive Green Lantern Guy Gardner, but the film’s scene stealer is the CGI, scruffy-but-loyal superdog Krypto.
It would be easy to be cynical about a movie that wears its heart on its sleeve as loudly and proudly “Superman” does, and while it gets a little supermanic in its final half hour, it delivers an up-to-the-minute feel filtered through the nostalgic lens of a vintage comic book.
I join NewsTalk 1010’s morning show “Moore in the Morning:” and host John Moore to talk about how “Superman” director balanced the film’s nostalgic feel with a modern sensibiltiy.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
My CTVNews.ca review of “Superman” is up!
“’Superman,’ the latest iteration of the Man of Steel now playing in theatres, is a state-of-the-art movie with whiz-bang special effects that nonetheless feels old-fashioned…” Read the whole thing HERE!
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” the new sci fi action comedy from director James Gunn, brings the hip needle drops, off-kilter humor and mismatched, misfit superheroes you expect, but adds in unexpectedly heart tugging sentiments about family, second chances and personal growth.
The action begins on a downbeat note. Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the smart mouthed genetically engineered racoon, is feeling down, wallowing in the maudlin sounds of Radiohead’s “Creep.”
Star-Lord, a.k.a. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is using booze to grapple with the change in his girlfriend Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). She was killed by Thanos, but, courtesy of an alternate timeline, a version of her returned, but different, with no memory of her adventures with the Guardians or her love affair with Quill. “I’ll tell you something,” he says. “I’m Star-Lord. I formed the Guardians. Met a girl, fell in love, and that girl died. But then she came back. Came back a total d**k.”
Their world is given a shake and bake by caped supervillain Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). He is a powerful cosmic entity, with a third eye jewel embedded in his forehead, working with the man responsible for creating Rocket’s unique genetic makeup, a Dr. Moreau type known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). The ultimate plan is to kidnap and study Rocket to use the chatty racoon as the basis to sidestep the evolutionary process and create more hybrid species. “My sacred mission is to create the perfect society,” he says.
During the invasion, Rocket is severely injured, revealing to his co-Guardians—Star-Lord, Nebula (Karen Gillen), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (the voice of Vin Diesel) and Gamora—the extent of his genetic modifications.
As the racoon wavers between life and death, the film cleaves into two parts, Rocket’s origin story and the rescue mission to save his life. “Are you ready for one last ride?” asks Peter.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” succumbs to the usual superhero movie pitfalls. By the time the end credits roll, it has become a loud, slightly over-long orgy of CGI, but James Gunn brings something most other superhero movies don’t have.
Within the wham-bam action overload is a genuine sweetness that overrides the bombastic action. Under his watch the movies provide the expected wild ride while grounding the otherworldly action with poignant relationship drama. These movies are about logical, not necessarily biological, families, and that connection, above all else, is what makes these movies so effective.
If Gunn (and Bautista) can make a character named Drax the Destroyer loveable, then anything is possible.
I make the perfect cocktail to enjoy while watching Harley Quinn, Bloodsport and Peacemaker rampage through “The Suicide Squad.” Have a drink and a think about the movie with me!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
The difference between the 2017 “Suicide Squad” film starring Will Smith and this weekend’s sequel, “The Suicide Squad,” goes far beyond adding the definite article to the title. I accused the first film of “trying to echo the very movies it should be an antidote to.” You know, the self-important, self-absorbed superhero blockbusters that forgot to unpack the fun along with the story. “The Suicide Squad,” now playing in theatres, has some social commentary but it doesn’t forget the fun. Or the violence, daddy issues or anthropomorphic weasel.
There’s a lot happening in “The Suicide Squad.”
At the beginning of the non-stop 132-minute rollercoaster ride, cold-blooded government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) offers a selection of the world’s worst criminals a deal. the Join Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad, work for her and, and in exchange she’ll reduce their sentences at the notorious Belle Reve prison. Stray outside the job, however, and a chip inserted at the base of their skull will be detonated, ending the mission forever.
Signing on for the mission to invade the (fictional) South American republic of Corto Maltese and steal and destroy a piece of alien technology from evil scientist The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), are a motley crew of supervillains.
There’s assassin Bloodsport (Idris Elba), patriotic vigilante Peacemaker (John Cena) who will kill anything or anyone in the name of peace, the neurotic “experiment gone wrong” Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), the dumb-as-a-stump fish-human hybrid Prince Nanaue (Sylvester Stallone), the rodent loving thief Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), the unhinged Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), crazed criminal and former psychiatrist Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and field leader Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman).
Add to that TDK (Nathan Fillion), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Javelin (Flula Borg), Mongal (Mayling Ng) and Savant (Michael Rooker), and you have a dysfunctional “Brady Bunch” charged with saving the world, if a giant, telepathic alien starfish doesn’t get them first.
“The Suicide Squad” has many of the same features as a Marvel movie. The world is at stake, there’s an alien lifeform causing trouble, there’s villains and a team of outsiders with special skills who fight back. They may look the same on paper, and share blockbuster budgets, but DCEU’s “The Suicide Squad” is seedier; a sister from a different mister.
The kills are squishier and bloodier than anything seen in “The Avengers.” The sense of humour is more juvenile than “Thor: Ragnarok” and you’re not likely to find a cute rat with a backpack in “Black Widow.”
James Gunn has not forgotten his schlocky Troma Films roots. His resume includes a screenwriting credit for “Tromeo and Juliet,” and “The Suicide Squad” pays homage to “The Toxic Avenger.” That sensibility helps define the new Squad movie’s most memorable bits but Gunn also tempers the gross stuff with a certain kind of sweetness and some not-so-subtle social commentary.
When the characters aren’t in motion, kicking, shooting, punching, gouging or stabbing, they often engage in character work, explaining how and why life pushed them toward joining this unorthodox team. The stories are dysfunctional—being trapped in a box with live, hungry rats is the stuff of nightmares—but they create a bond between the Squad that is unexpected in a movie that, in the beginning anyway, values brutality more than empathy.
Built into the story of an invasion of another country are questions of US foreign policy and military integrity. Casting the likable John Cena as Peacemaker, a “hero” willing to do anything to protect his perceived ideology, is subversively brilliant. When one Squad member snarls, “Peacemaker… what a joke,” the line drips with meaning.
But don’t get the idea that “The Suicide Squad” has fallen prey to the foibles of the self-serious 2017 version. Gunn brings enough fun and absurd action to make the sonic overload of the second kick at the can equal parts silly and serious.
