The Man Who Would Be King..."Black Panther"

Black Panther (2018)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker

Directed by Ryan Coogler,

The Story:

T'Challa (Boseman) is crowned the King of Wakanda following the passing of his father. However an outsider (Jordan) threatens the entire fate and kingdom of Wakanda in a bid to release vibranium weapons on a global scale.

Welcome to your spoiler-free review of Black Panther.

It's movie number 18 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe corner of your local movie-plex, and I think it's about time we come to a few facts:

1) These movies aren't going away anytime soon.
2) Fans should be glad of that.
3) Audiences apparently aren't suffering from superhero fatigue like critics seem to think every time a new superhero movie is released.

And I think it's time to start honestly talking about when will the Academy take MCU films seriously and consider them for ...

dare I say it...

Academy Awards.

Last year the big ground swell was Patty Jenkins deserved it because Wonder Woman was "amazing". (Meh...I wouldn't go that far, but still, if it furthers the superhero cause, I'm in) and because she's a woman.

Again, I hate the affirmative action take on it, I would hope it's based on merit, not gender or...

Color. 

Which brings us to Ryan Coogler, who has in the eyes of critics AND fans, yet to deliver a bad movie.

Here, he takes Wakanda and delivers the sum total history of an isolated African nation from the dawn of time to present day and given it the rich backstory it deserves.

He also populates it with some of the best second and third-tier characters in any Marvel Studios franchise.

He also delivers the Wakandan equivalent of a James Bond movie interlaced throughout the film as well.

Pick anyone from the cast, and odds are by the end of the movie, if not long before, you're slightly itching to see that character, or characters, receive their own MCU film from Marvel Studios in the near future.

So if you weren't part of the history-making audience that made Black Panther # 1 at the world-wide box office, smashing all sorts of February records along the way...

Don't delay, you'll want to see this one on the big screen.

Final Grade: A+

What's In A Name? "Creed"

Creed  (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

Directed by Ryan Coogler

The Story:

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) is a boxer with a desire to win. He also happens to be the son of the late Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Which means, he's sorta drawn to an old run-down champ named Rocky (Stallone). Will Adonis be a chip off the old block, or a chump with no heart?

The very first time I saw the trailer for Creed, I was indifferent and thought, nah, I'll pass.

Then about halfway through the trailer, Stallone popped up and I thought, is that Rocky?

Once I realized it was, my interest was raised and I figured it was worth a shot.

Even though I've only watched one previous Rocky film (Rocky Balboa) I get the gist of the series.

And I was right, it was indeed worth a shot.

Stallone is the heart of the movie as he takes Adonis under his wing to teach him that there is more to boxing than just hitting and getting hit.

He becomes the father Adonis never had and in return gets the son who never really wanted him.

His work in the picture earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod at the Academy Awards which he subsequently lost.

 Stallone was robbed.

I saw the movie, Bridge of Spies, with the performance that he lost to.

No offense, but that performance, while a great, is not at the heart of the entire movie. Take him out of the story completely, Bridge of Spies still works.

Take Rocky out of this film, nobody watches.

Hyperbole, probably, people will watch just about any film to give it a try.

However, without Stallone, there would be no heart and soul to the film, it would just be another film about an athlete who wants to overcome the odds.

Yawn.

We've seen it all a million times.

The wise sage teaching the young upstart.

But when you have Rocky as the master teaching the pupil, you're already emotionally invested in the storyline because you have a history with Rocky Balboa whether you've watched all the films, or even never watched one, you know Rocky.

Everyone knows Rocky.

And that carries some emotional heft to the story and helps transform this film into something bigger than itself.

Final Grade:  Solid B, possibly even a B+

'Fantastic'? Not Even Close... "Fantastic Four"

Fantastic Four (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey

Directed by Josh Trank

The Story:

Child genius Reed Richards (Teller) gets a scholarship to attend college so he can work on an experiment alongside Susan Storm (Mara) and Victor Von Doom (Kebbell). They get help from Johnny Storm (Jordan) when he has to pay off some debt to his father (Cathey). When the transporter shows that it works, the kids decide to send themselves to see what's on the other side. Reed invites his best friend, Ben Grimm (Bell) to tag along. When they arrive, things go horribly wrong, the teens are imbued with powers that change them into the team that would become...The Fantastic Four.

Oh. Dear. Heavens.

I believe this is a karmic payback for all who may have complained about the 2005 release of the Fantastic Four. That one is a cult classic at our house, we all loved it and shake our collective heads at the anger directed towards that film.  At least that movie got the majority of what made the Fantastic Four work, correct.

Evans and Chiklis made a dynamic duo of Torch and the Thing and much like the comics, that's my favorite part about the team.

Here, that banter and interplay is nonexistent and these characters are dull and uninteresting.

So too the dialogue.

Pedestrian acting by actors that can, and have, done better.

It's as if nobody wanted to be there, and for the audience, that relates to people that don't want to see the final effort.

Budget looking effects, a poor story where once again people feel the need to shoehorn Dr. Doom into the origin.

No.
No.
No!

He doesn't need to be there, and in fact, shouldn't be there.

And for heaven's sake, just put him in the armor and make him a despotic ruler of a small European country.

The Negative Zone. The Mole Man. ANYTHING but Doom at this point.

Or better yet, just give the rights back to Marvel and let them do things properly.

The Thing doesn't even wear shorts! How hard was putting CGI shorts on a model?

When Stan Lee won't do a cameo in your film, you need to realize: You're doing it wrong!

This is bad.

Not "oh my God, I can't watch" bad. Just wasted opportunity, and in the wave of amazing release after release from Marvel (and even Fox is finally on track with their X-Men franchise) this seems like a bargain basement offering for some small indie comic that should never have been made.

Not what you would expect, or deserve, from the comic that helped launch and keep Marvel Comics at the top for 60 years. 

Final Grade: D+  I'm feeling generous, and/or, bad for this franchise.   On second thought, the more I typed, the angrier I got about how they are failing us, and themselves with this franchise.

Revised Final Grade: F

"That Awkward Moment" When You Realize The Film Is Actually Pretty Funny

That Awkward Moment (2014)
Rated for language, crudity and general naughtiness

Starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan

Written & Directed by Tom Gormican

The Story:

Mikey (Jordan) has been dumped by his wife.  His best friends, and perpetually single bachelors Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller)  tell Mikey he won't go through single-life alone.  They are in it together!  Then naturally, they both find the girls of their dreams and things get awkward.

Look out Hollywood, there's a new Judd Apatow in town.

A talented writer/director with a penchant for naughty, but with a slice of heart to go along with it, thus making that elusive R rated date movie Romantic Comedy that the guys love, and the ladies can tolerate.  Tom Gormican is that new talent, and for his first film, he's pretty much knocked one out of the park.

The story is a lot of fun, and the dialogue is funny, with several laugh out loud bits scattered through the movie.

The ladies aren't treated as just objects, they are multi-dimensional characters who are given quality time in the film.

However, it is the film for the guys to run with, and Efron continues to leave his Disney roots far behind him.  His sense of comic timing serves him well, and I've been suitably impressed with his dramatic and comedic offerings that he's worked on since graduating from High School Musical.

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller play perfect best friends.  While not as much screen time as Efron, their stories are well fleshed out and they get to grow as characters throughout the movie.

If you haven't seen it yet, give it a spin, I'm pretty sure you'll laugh quite a bit.

Final Grade: B/B- range.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Probably not a purchase, R rated comedies have limited audience in my house, but if it's on cable in the future and I'm up late with the baby...I'm ready to laugh again!