Spider-Man VS Aquaman

Another day, another superhero movie, well actually two this time. It's Marvel VS DC, Spider-Man VS Aquaman. Who is going to win? Or are they both just good films? Read on and find out!

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Apart from Miles Morales, the comic books have never made me fall in love with another Spider-Man that wasn’t the original - Peter Parker. Although ‘love’ may still be too strong of a word for Into the Spider-Verse, I actually did want to spend more time with the crazy cast of characters the film put on the big screen. It was a Spider-Man fan’s dream: a film that gives a fresh take on the superhero whilst keeping true to what makes Spider-Man, Spider-Man and opening the character up to the whole world - anybody can be Spider-Man. It’s crazy to see an animated superhero film treated with such love and creative flair, balancing different and unique animated techniques with crazy characters, stylised action and a great story. Through all the weird multiverse stuff that goes on, the film still manages to adapt Miles’s origin relatively faithfully and continues to bring the story back to him and his place in the world as a new Spider-Man. I think it would have been cool to see even more Spider-People - even if just for brief cameos or jokes like the post credits scene (make sure you stay, it’s hilarious!). However, the film still works and is a lot of fun with just handful. It’s so strange to see this work, especially after reading similar comics come out over the past couple years where it hasn’t. We got Spider-Ham on the big screen and it actually worked and hell, this film might even get an Oscar. Between this, the PS4 game, Homecoming and the latest run of comics, Spider-Man really is making a resurgence after a bumpy few years! 

4/5

Aquaman

I think I need to apologise to director, James Wan and DC for being quite negative about this film up until its release. There was nothing in the marketing that made me think this film was going to any good and yet I was proven wrong when I finally sat down and watched the actual film. Aquaman is a weird, bombastic, all over the place, completely out there and absolutely tonnes of fun. Now for the first twenty minutes or so I thought I had been proven correct: the film was full of exposition dumps, melodramatic acting and contained every superhero trope in the book. I can’t pin point the exact moment this changed for me, but I settled into it and the ride the film took me on was one that never really let up. It’s like DC thought they might never get a chance to make an Aquaman film again so decided to make seven in one. There’s so much going on in this film that I’m surprised that it actually flows quite nicely - balancing all the action, story and world building so that it’s accessible and mesmerising all at the same time. The film could have very easily been thrown in with this year's Venom as yet another awful superhero film, yet somehow keeps itself afloat - despite the fact that it contains a slow-motion sequence of its leads walking out of the sea set to a cover of Africa by Pitbull. It’s bizarre that this film works at all really - every idea seems to have been thrown in and yet the bizarreness is endearing - I walked out of the cinema with a massive goofy grin. DC seem to be getting it now - the source material is weird, and we should embrace it, less Disney Channel show dialogue would have been great but the absolute balls to the wall craziness this film gets up to and relishes in is a joy to watch. 

4/5

It's good to see the studios finally grasping that if they want comic book movies to stick around then they need to make them completely unique. These two films came out on the same day, both center around superheroes and both are completely different to each other. Most importantly though, they are both good films. 

What did you think of either of the films? Agree or disagree with my opinion? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Wonder Woman

It’s here, it’s finally here, Wonder Woman’s first live action feature debut. You may be worried that the latest entry into the DC Extended Universe would follow the trend of their less than great previous films, but worry no more, Wonder Woman is the superhero film the studio needs right now, but more importantly it’s film the world needs right now! Read on and find out why.

This film tells us the origins of Wonder Woman, a long time before the events of Batman V Superman, during WW1, when a pilot crashes on the mysterious island, Themiscyra, he tells the young warrior who saves him, Diana, of the war to end all wars and without hesitating she joins him to help bring an end to the fighting.

In the wide range of superhero films on offer today, Wonder Woman is kind of generic, it’s a good mix of Thor and Captain America but is able to stand on its own two feet. Its main strength lies in the films message, this is what makes it stand above the rest, delivering a solid superhero origin story that commentates and criticises our world, views and values. When Diana first ventures from her island, it’s her first interaction with ‘man’s’ world. She’s naïve and obviously there is comedy to go with that but there is also a fresh look on the way we do things, which in her eyes isn’t all that good and throughout the film she begins to learn that men aren’t all bad but they’re also not all good. Diana’s arc throughout this period of realisation is one that insights hope and joy within the viewer and that’s what brings this film home, elevating the formulaic superhero film into something more special.  

Playing the icon is Gal Gadot and boy does she bring her A game. She truly carries this film and breathes life into Diana, making the character her own and diminishing any doubts audiences may have had about her taking on the role. She owns Wonder Woman. Everybody in this film does a great job, even with the little amount that some characters get. Up there with Gadot though is Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, the two have amazing chemistry and together they steal the film, creating real emotional connections between the two characters in the space of a couple of hours, you care about these characters and what happens to them.

My favourite element of this film is the action. The action is so badass, it’s so cool, it looks beautiful with great cinematography and sounds awesome with an excellent score. The theme we heard first in BvS is truly earned in this film and when it arrives, it really does deliver. Wonder Woman in full costume, in all her glory, taking out bad guys is a moment to be experienced on the big screen, it gave me goosebumps and I have read barely any Wonder Woman comics.

No matter how much I’ve raved about this film, it’s not perfect. It’s a tad too long for a start and the CGI does not always hold up, which is shame considering previous DC films have been pretty good with this element to date. And as I’ve stated before, it’s a bit generic, it doesn’t take many risks or feel much different from previous superhero films, but also as I’ve mentioned, because it works the tropes so well and has a message worth spreading, it is still able to stand above many that have come before it. Talking of other DC films, if you liked the grim tone and serious nature of this films predecessors then you may not like where they take this one, this one has jokes, is uplifting and is a film where the hero is heroic.  

Patty Jenkins, the director, should be applauded for bringing Wonder Woman to the big screen in such glorious fashion, a job I’m sure brought a lot of pressure on getting it right. Finally, we have a female led superhero film that is great and will hopefully usher in a new era of equality within the genre. This truly is a film and a hero the world needs right now, not flawless but still great, a solid 4/5. Go see Wonder Woman now!

I'm actually a little excited for Justice League now, even if it is just to see Wonder Woman again!

What did you think of Wonder Woman? Have the DCEU taken a step forward or backwards, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Suicide Squad

So you've probably heard by now that Suicide Squad hasn't been going down that well critically and a lot of audiences, including myself, went into the film knowing this and were interested in seeing why so many had disliked it. Now Suicide Squad is by no means a perfect movie but it isn't an awful one either. I came out of the cinema not hating it but realising that it had many a flaw and for the most part was quite disjointed. As an overall experience its a fun film with a dumb plot, it's not until you look a bit closer, a bit like The Amazing Spider-Man 2, that you realise that it just doesn't make that much sense.

Suicide Squad follows a team of super villains who are assembled by the government to clean up a supernatural disaster of their own making. The film boasts an impressive cast with the stand outs being Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis and Jared Leto.

Now I went into this film most looking forward to seeing Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn, a crazy character affiliated with The Joker. For the most part I was not disappointed, Robbie looked the part and sounded the part, bringing the crazy fun character to life on the big screen for the first time. She is easily the stand out of the film and one of the more interesting performances to watch. I'm not fully happy with how she was represented, I still had my problems, they're mainly linked to the way she is over sexualised in the film (even more so I believe than the Arkham games), not every character mentioned how hot Will Smith was! She has a lot more involved relationship with The Joker that didn't always feel right at times, though mainly from his side not hers but we'll get on to him later. There's a few dodgy dialogue moments in the third act but to be fair the third act ain't that great anyway. Margot Robbie does a great job and hopefully will be given a chance to add more depth to her character in another film.

Will Smith as Deadshot was a nice surprise. I've always liked Will Smith so it wasn't his acting ability I was surprised by but it was that his character was pretty much the heart of the film. He's given the more caring backstory and the film leans very heavily on him and Margot Robbie as the main characters, which works because they're the best actors but it's also a shame because it never really represented the ensemble cast like it should have done.

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller is perfect casting however, if you look into the nitty grity of the film then you realise that her ideas are very stupid and don't make much sense. I look forward to seeing her play a more well written version of the character in the future. A lot of the characters are similar in this way, nothing bad with the performances, it's just that they aren't fleshed out enough or add to the story. There were times when Killer Croc and Katana turned up and I had completely forgotten they were in the film. And poor Cara Delevingne who plays The Enchantress, has still yet to have been given a role to show off any acting chops. On the plus side Jai Courtney is fine as Captain Boomerang.

Now onto the character that most people wanted to see, The Joker. What you've heard is true, he isn't in it a whole bunch (remember it's not his film), but the biggest shame is that he doesn't add a lot, if anything, either. Now Jared Leto's performance is cool and different but it never felt like 'my' Joker. He never fully resembled my interpretation of the character. His take is interesting enough to make me want to see more but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed if this is the Joker we're getting for the DC universe. He's very touchy-feely as well, very different to anything we've seen before and his character definitely seems to have fallen for Harley Quinn rather than just using her like in the comics. I can't help but feel that we should have met a Harley Quinn who was over The Joker and his abusive ways and more of her own independent character.

There's still fun to be had though, although a bit disjointed, the montage at the start showcasing the characters is cool and fun. There's some great action set pieces up until the video game feel of the third act. There are some jokes which is a relief and the small scenes with Batman showcase his badass-ness whilst leaving his murderous streak from Batman V Superman behind.

There's glimmers of a good film here and for the most part it's good fun, which should hopefully be enough to satisfy a summer audience, those of us hoping for more from our beloved comic book characters will probably be a bit disappointed but will also be thankful that it's not the complete train wreck that Batman V Superman was. I'm giving Suicide Squad a rating of 2.5/5.

I think this film just wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be, or maybe it did at one point but the higher ups then got involved. It's a weird time for Warner Bros and DC as their recent films haven't gone down as well as they were hoping for and I for one won't be rushing out to see Justice League when it releases next year. They still have a chance with Wonder Woman, I'm excited for that, I really hope they don't mess it up, the trailer looked great and there's some definite talent involved in front of and behind the camera.

What were your thoughts on the film? Was it as bad as you'd been hearing or a everything you had been hoping for? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!