Metal Reviews

Not a bad production, but not nearly as good as Breakfast with Hunter. Haven't read any of Hunter's stuff in quite some time now that I think of it. Will have to fix that...oh, and more shotgun golf. God Bless America, dammit!

Captain America: Civil War

The Russo brothers once again knock it out of the park with what may be Marvel's best production to date. Aside from the uninteresting villain Zemo, who really just exists to move the plot forward, Civil War roars on all engines with awesome action set pieces, quick but effective pacing and excellent debuts from MCU newbies Black Panther and Spider Man. Believe the hype, fellas.

Very excited for Dr. Strange in November. The casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One is admittedly odd but at this point, I'm willing to give Marvel the benefit of the doubt on just about anything.

I liked that he was just a depressed guy who wanted to troll them, made a decent step down after Ultron. They should have had the balls to let him shoot himself, though.

Maybe a little too dark of an ending for the PG-13 MCU audience, I think. It's incredibly against that character's type anyway. But then again, I've been a Cap reader for quite some time, so my expectations for Zemo were probably much grander than the general folks. With the wealth of backstory that the Russo's could have mined from, it's just disappointing to see them turn one of Cap's most powerful adversaries into a simple wounded family man. It works for the story they were trying to tell, sure, but it really sells the character short of what he is in the comics.

Yes, no doubt. It did seem like they left it open for the character to return in future films, from the ending - I think Daniel Bruhl is too good an actor not to reuse, personally, and I got a sense that Martin Freeman's character could make a return too, he was too oily not to turn evil on them eventually...

13 Hours: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this Michael Bay production. A straight forward, high intensity war flick that thankfully avoids the politics and lets the guns do most of the talking. John Krasinski is a long way from the Office but acquits himself quite well as the central figure of the swarthy band of warfighters which includes notables like James Badge Dale (The Black Donelly's) and Max Martini (Pacific Rim). While nuance was definitely not the goal here, there's just enough quiet moments set against the backdrop of gunfire, RPG and mortar assaults to give the boys a little bit of humanity and emotional depth. If the battles in this movie were at all indicative of the actual combat that took place in Libya then those were some really incredible people who defended that compound.

Fans of Black Hawk Down should not miss this one.

I was living down in SoCal at the time and vaguely remember hearing about this on the news.

Great old school adventure flick from the same folks who made King Kong. I think they might have used some of the same sets for both movies. Should pair this up with Island of Lost Souls.

Doctor Strange

A dazzling, Inception-esque piece of eye candy anchored by one of the MCU's best assembled casts. Should be a welcome departure for those tired of Marvel's standard cape and tights fare. Would definitely recommend watching it in 3-D IMAX.

Will be seeing the sequel (which is supposedly even better) this week.

Speaking of Marvel films that go against the norm, how good was Logan? Proper violent and sweary, just as Wolverine always should have been. Even Stephen Merchant brought the spinechills, while Patrick Stewart's senile Prof X was an incredible performance.

Haven't seen it yet, but I've heard nothing but good things. Will probably go catch it this weekend.

John Wick 2 was rock solid, by the way. Not as lean or efficient a film as it's predecessor in my opinion, but it does everything a sequel should do. And we finally get to see the fabled pencil kill which is worth the price of admission by itself. Welcome back, Mr. Reeves. We've missed you.

Finally got around to seeing this. The best of the X-Men franchise without a doubt and a wonderful coda for both Jackman and Stewart. Many a manly tear was shed at the end. The Shane references were so damn spot-on.

Wonder Woman

While not without it's flaws, the DCU finally has a big winner on it's hands with the headlining feature debut of the eponymous Amazon. Aside from the 5-10 minute bookends of the film, this is mostly a pure origin story. While not true to the original comic mythology, the backdrop of World War I plays nicely as a more believable call to arms for Diana to leave her home island and journey to the world of men. Gadot is proving herself quite capable is the role of a lifetime deftly matching a nurturing feminine side with a warrior's soul on the other. Aside from her Amazonian cohorts, the rest of the cast really doesn't measure up. Stiff-as-a-board Chris Pine displays zero of the old school swagger that should be expected of hero pilot Steve Trevor, the Etta Candy character is mostly wasted and main baddie Ares was terribly miscast (no spoilers here). Action scenes are largely well done (could do with less Snyder-esque slow-mo shots), the plot stays on course for the most part and the humor is not Suicide Squad cringe worthy. All in all, an imperfect but solid flick which could have been a total disaster for DC, but may have turned out to be it's saving grace. Worth your time if curious, fellows. Oh, and more Gadot in that blue ballroom gown please!

War for the Planet of the Apes
Haywire

For like the 25th time! As badass as samurai flicks can get.

Never was a big fan of the original, but 2049 may be my favorite movie of the year. Stunning visuals, impressive world building and top notch performances from top to bottom. Even grumpy-than-thou, give no fucks Harrison Ford lifted his game here. Almost guaranteed to be unfairly overlooked during the current awards circuit, but maybe that's a good thing.

up there with Undefeatable, Hercules in New York, etc.

Will have to get back into Rifftrax--hard to go wrong with drug ninjas, biker gangs, and taekwondo bands!