Movie Reviews

There’s a huge problem at the center of Ghost in the Shell. You already knew that, though. You’ve heard about the whitewashing controversy and the problems of co-opting Asian culture for western audiences. But as bad as you might have heard that whitewashing problem is, it’s even worse. It’s impossible to discuss the movie’s troubled treatment of identity politics without spoiling some big reveals, but before we get into those, there are plenty of other things that make the live-action remake a disappointment.

The joy of the Power Rangers TV series was how campy it was. It was pure fun to watch teenagers jump around in nerdy spandex suits, fly giant robot machines, and fight ridiculous monsters (one was called Mr. Ticklesneezer, another was, I kid you not, Chunky Chicken). To make a modern Power Rangers movie you can either embody that wacky spirit, scrap it for a gritty reboot, or try to do both with middling results. Saban’s Power Rangers takes the latter route, updating the ‘90s series as an edgier, darker origin story with shards of silliness. The problem is, Power Rangers is never quite sure if it wants to distance itself from the source material or embrace it.

It’s telling that Rogue One’s best character is a robot.

Doctor Strange is Marvel Studio's latest entry into its ever growing cinematic universe, and while Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofer fighting against the evil forces of Mads Mikkelsen is all well and good, can it really compare to 1978's made-for-TV Dr. Strange film?

Anomalisa is a tough stop-motion act to follow (to be fair, Charlie Kaufman typically sets the bar pretty high), but if anyone is suited for the task it’s Laika, the studio behind delightful animated features like ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls. Their latest effort blends Laika’s usual wit and charm with stunning visuals matched by an equally remarkable journey, making Kubo and the Two Strings an epic worthy of the eponymous character’s vibrant mythology.

“In a democracy,” says Holly Hunter’s Senator Finch in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, “good is a conversation, not a unilateral decision.” The 32 minutes added to the movie’s “Ultimate Edition,” now available digitally and released on Blu-ray and DVD July 19, include a lot of unnecessary shoe leather, and fills in gaps that don’t need the extra gob of narrative spackle.

Here’s the thing about this Fantastic Four movie: it was supposed to be horrible. This movie has been riding an almost unprecedented level of bad buzz since earlier this year. Strangely, it seems to have started over literally nothing. Fans were upset they hadn’t seen anything official from the movie and began to suspect it stunk. Then, depending on who you talk to, the director was fired, the actors were upset and the script was a mess. But, the days of speculation are over and none of that bad buzz matters any more; there’s an actual film that can be judged on its own merits. Sadly, Fantastic Four, on its own merits, is still horrible.

Opening on November 7 is the new Disney animated hullabaloo titled ‘Big Hero 6.’ In ‘Big Hero 6,’ five regular human beings are brought together to fight crime alongside an inflatable robot doctor. I swear that all of this will make sense, kind of. Ahead, as a service to the world, we answer every question that you could possibly have about ‘Big Hero 6.’

Director James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy is a big gamble for Marvel Studios. It's an unknown quantity even to most comic fans. It's a space opera at a time when non-Lucasfilm space operas don't perform well. It's a movie with a talking raccoon at a time when even Disney princess movies don't have talking animals. Of course, all of Marvel's movies have been gambles. Iron Man wasn't a household name, despite how we think of the character now. Thor was a sci fi fantasy movie -- what could be worse? Captain America seemed an impossible sell for overseas markets. Bringing those franchises together for Avengers? Insanity. Marvel Studios' safest bet was probably Hulk -- a household name and a proven quantity -- and that's been the studio's weakest performer. So it looks like the big gambles are where Marvel excels. If Guardians Of The Galaxy is the studio's biggest gamble to date, it makes a weird kind of sense that it's also one of the studio's most delightful successes.

I love my job. I make Transformers vs. G.I.Joe comics on a monthly basis (with the help of my co-writer John Barber). As part of due diligence, it's my duty to see Transformers: Age of Extinction. My ticket is a business expense. I'm making my comic not just for fans of Transformers and G.I.Joe, but for the rest of planet Earth, too. As a Transformers author I need to know how the larger world percieves Transformers so that I can play up to certain expectations and run counter to preconceived notions. In that capacity, I documented my observations about the film.