A Step Up In The Prequel Game... "Alien: Covenant"

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Rated R

Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir, Carmen Ejogo,

Directed by Ridley Scott

The Story:

It's been over a decade since the Prometheus mission failed miserably. Now, as the colony ship Covenant is heading towards its destination, a strange SOS lures it to a habitable planet. Ah, but what the crew doesn't realize is that the android David (Fassbender) has been up to all sorts of shenanigans in the meantime.

So basically Covenant goes all in with what Prometheus only teased audiences with: the Aliens.

If you're going to be the prequel for one of the greatest science fiction movie of all time, you have to eventually show us the little face-huggers.

Prometheus hinted at it, but mostly beat around the bushes about what story they were trying to tell.

Now, we're putting it straight into the title, and finding out that androids are directly responsible for the misery inflicted by these evil critters.

Fassbender gets to play dual roles as androids who are both good and evil, as one by one, the crew of the Covenant fall prey to David's dreams of godhood.

Still, it's enjoyable as the series comes ever closer to going full circle, and Scott apparently has plans for a few more of these.

Much like the Terminator series, anything after the first 2 has never lived up to the originals, but at least they're trying to create an overall narrative and salvage what they can go forward.

Final Grade: C+

I Figure The Game Is Better Than The Movie..."Assassin's Creed"

Assassin's Creed (2016)  

Rated PG-13

Starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cottilard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson,

Directed by Justin Kurzel

The Story:

Cal (Fassbender) is a convicted felon. He's killed, but brought back to life to participate in an experiment. When hooked to a machine, he's able to channel the life and times of Aguilar, his ancestor and learn the secrets of being a member of the Assassin's Creed.

I'm assuming the game is similar to the movie.

Only more interesting and less confusing.

:)

The production values on the film are astounding, especially the look of the historical eras they produce.

But yeah, this one just never clicked as I watched it.

I get where they were going, and what they were trying to do...

But quite frankly, I never really cared nor felt engaged with any bit of the storyline.

Which you would think Assassin's vs. the Knights Templar would be an interesting idea.

Quite frankly, I was bored throughout pretty much the entire movie, and that's the kiss of death for an action film.

Final Grade: C- Changed my mind...D+

If Only It Were The End... "X-Men: Apocalypse"

X-Men Apocalypse (2016) 

Rated PG-13

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Lucas Till, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, Alexandra Shipp, Olivia Munn,

Directed by Bryan Singer

The Story:

En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse (Isaac) was the first mutant, he stole his powers from others like him and made himself powerful and immortal. Buried for centuries in Egypt, he is awakened in the 20th century and begins to find his new horsemen, including Magneto (Fassbender), Storm (Shipp), Angel (Hardy) and Psylocke (Munn).  It's up to Professor Xavier (McAvoy), Mystique (Lawrence) and Beast (Hoult) to recruit and lead a new team of X-Men, including Jean Grey (Turner), Cyclops (Sheridan) and Nightcrawler (Smit-McPhee) into battle to save the world

Boring.

No wait, this is a superhero movie...

Super-boring!

The one exception: the Quicksilver (Peters) scene. That's amazing stuff, and I could watch that anytime. I wish they would have done that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but oh well, too late now.

I'm not trying to pick on Fox and say that the X-Men should move back to Disney so that we can have one cohesive universe...

But if they're listening, they should.

:)

But at least, unlike the Fantastic Four, they've been moderately successful with the movies, especially after rebooting with First Class and Days of Future Past.

I'm not sure what went wrong but I found myself consistently indifferent to this movie.

I wanted to like it, but it seemed to be in a constant state of "there's so much going on, yet nothing's really happening!" for nearly 2 1/2 hours!

So much potential, and instead it's like watching a franchise tread water until they can get to the next movie.

I'm afraid I have to say it, but when I look back on how much I enjoyed this to just about any other film in the X-Men experience, I'm unimpressed.

Plus, take into account how much I love this genre, and what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is doing, so much like Batman vs. Superman, I have to grade accordingly...

Final Grade: D+

You're In The Driver's Seat..."1"

1 (2013)

Not Rated

Narrated by Michael Fassbender

Directed by Paul Crowder

The Story:

Forget NASCAR. Forget the Indy circuit. This tells the tale of the drivers who took to the road courses and risked their lives for the thrill of the race and the pleasure of the crowd.  They interview many of the legends of the day that lived to tell about it.  They also, rightfully, honor the many who were not so fortunate and passed in a sport that was, until only very recently extremely dangerous.

Jackie Stewart. Mario Andretti.  Among the many that are interviewed about why they drove, who their favorite racers were, and how dangerous they thought the sport was.

For those that watched Rush, this documentary will seem very familiar as they do concentrate a great deal on that time frame.

It all makes a great deal of sense though, as Niki Lauda helped usher in the change for safety for the drivers.

And it really is a huge distinction when you see some of the crashes that killed the early drivers and those that later drivers were able to walk away from.

The movie even ends on a high note with a proud proclamation that no drivers had been killed in Formula One races since the 1994 tragedy that took the life of champion Ayrton Senna.

Sadly, real life intervened before I could post this review, and another driver passed away after 9 months in a coma earlier this summer.

While even 1 life is too many, compared to the multiple deaths that Formula 1 racked up through the early years with multiple deaths every season, they have come a very long way.

Final Grade: B

It's About Time...Travel... "X-Men: Days of Future Past"

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

Directed by Bryan Singer

The Story:

The X-Men are being wiped out by the Sentinel program. To save themselves, Professor Xavier (Stewart) and Magneto (McKellan) join forces with the remaining X-Men, they run a risky gambit of sending Wolverine (Jackman) back in time to find Professor X (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) to try and stop Mystique (Lawrence) from making a huge mistake that will cause the creation of the Sentinels.

Confused?

Don't be.

It will all make sense before the whole thing is over.

And in the process, they build on the great work from X-Men: First Class and bring the entire X-Men franchise back to relevance and in direct competition with Marvel Studios.

Nothing like a bit of friendly competition.

If Marvel can't get their franchises all back under one roof (boooo), then I'd like to at least see them be successful and well made.

I was never really thrilled with any of the Wolverine or X-Men movies until First Class came along.

Now, with Days of Future Past, Fox resets the entire franchise and is able to go forward (or backward) and do anything they want.

Bravo, well played.


Fox better enjoy this while they can, because it is just about time for them to begin recasting all of the roles once again.

I'm not sure how many more turns in the claws Jackman has, but he's leaving some really big shoes to fill.

Good luck.

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Enjoyed it, bought it. One of the 10 Best of 2014. Looking forward to the next installment.

Now Playing..."X-Men: Days Of Future Past"

X-Men- Days of Future Past (2014)

Rated PG-13 for language, violence, and Hugh Jackman's bum

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page,

Directed by Bryan Singer

The Story:

In the future, the war between humans and mutants is nearing its end.  What is left of the X-Men make one last stand.  If they can use Kitty Pryde's (Page) talents to send Wolverine (Jackman) back to 1973, he can avert the assassination of Dr. Bolivar Trask (Dinklage) by Mystique (Lawrence).  The government will capture Mystique and use her unique DNA to create the Sentinel program and use those weapons to wipe out mutant-kind.  Wolverine will need to reunite Xavier (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) to help him stop Mystique, and hopefully change the future.

Well, how about 20th Century Fox.

In one fell swoop, they fixed everything that was wrong with the X-Men/Wolverine franchise with a bit of a soft reset button.

All it took was a bit of time travel, and a willingness by the franchise to embrace the awesomeness of X-Men: First Class and move forward.

Initial reaction?

This is probably the best X-Men movie yet. 

I may have to watch First Class again just to make sure, but it was pretty darn good.

I was never that enamored with either of the first X-Men movies, and I didn't hate the 3rd nearly as much as every other human.

Totally disappointed with the first Wolverine solo movie, mostly for the total butchery of Deadpool.

:: sniff ::

But again,  one fell swoop, and everything can now be different.

The best parts of the movie:


1) Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver - Awesome. Hilarious.  Now that we've seen what the X-Men can do with him, let's see what Joss Whedon can do in The Avengers.

2) Blink - She was awesome, and short-lived (once upon a time) in the comics.  She was awesome in the film.

If you've abandoned the franchise at any point, come on back.  If you've never set foot in the franchise... you might get a little confused, but I think the plot is solid enough not to lose you too much, give it a try.

And yes, sit through the entire credits.  You'll be treated to a scene that does two things:

1) It sets up the next X-Men movie.
2) It answers an age old question about how something was made.

:)

And yeah, I still don't get people that get up and leave at the end of comic book films!

I felt bad for this one lady and her kids.  The husband/dad was growing impatient at having to sit and watch the credits roll.

As the credits just about finished, he told her "there's not anymore credits to put a scene into, let's go".

Jerk.

So they left, and were out of the theater just as the teaser played.

Ah well...

I think I'll have to give the X-Men the ranking of 2nd best comic-book movie of the year so far.

Moving ahead of Spider-Man 2, but trailing Captain America.

Let's see how the Guardians do in August.

Final Grade: A-/B+ range

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'll be adding it to the X-Library this Christmas.

The Origin of Species... "Prometheus"

Welcome back to Science Fiction, Ridley Scott.  Russell Crowe misses you already.

In fact, I would say that Science Fiction flicks in general have missed Ridley Scott, since of the 32 movies he's directed, this is really his 3rd venture into the genre, but when 2 of your first films are Alien and Blade Runner, you've already put your stamp on the experience.

The story:

Well, the origin of mankind is finally revealed.  We were apparently born from the belly of big aliens that have our DNA!  So awesome of a discovery, a trillion dollar space expedition is sent to the planet in question to find our creators and say "hey dad, wassup?"  Except when we arrive, some very bad things are found, and it's a race to survive the meeting!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Alien: The Beginning.

Because really, that's what this all boils down to.  Sorry if that spoils anything for anyone, but you might as well get the elephant in the room out of the way, he simply takes up much too much space.

So yes, Aliens created mankind...mankind creates Alien.

Poetic justice.

And really, a nice way for Ridley Scott to return to the franchise that probably made him into the sought after director that he is.

Yep, the strong female lead is here.  Dark corridors. Oozing critters.  Exploding bodies.

Plus, it's only obvious that a sequel is possible/inevitable by the way the movie ends, and I'm not talking about the sequel(s) that already exist...from the past.

Holy Back to the Future!

Michael Fassbender brings charm and slime all in one as the ship's robot (don't trust robots...ever...) while Noomi Rapace gets to go all Sigourney Weaver as the doctor who insisted on the trip.  Also along for the ride, the criminally underused Idris Elba as the Captain, Charlize Theron in an extended cameo, and Guy Pearce buried in makeup.

Worth a viewing, and your enjoyment factor will likely increase depending on how much of a fan of Alien, or the entire franchise, you really are.

Hmmm...does that franchise have rabid groupies?