Top Ten #7 - Worldwide Box Office Totals 2018

Top Ten #7 - Worldwide Box Office Totals 2018

As 2017 warps up, we look ahead to 2018. 2018 is the year for sequels as we have Avengers 3, Jurassic World 2, Incredibles 2, and Deadpool 2 hitting cinemas. But which of these films, regardless of critical acclaim, will rule the box office? Here are my predictions. 

10. Mission Impossible 6 - 660 Million - The newest installment in the Tom Cruise led franchise is still moving full steam ahead. With most of the cast from Rogue Nation returning, and with new addition Henry Cavill as the mustachioed villain (to DC's lament), I think this has a reasonable shot to make a good bit of money worldwide. The popularity is there, it's how good the film will end up being. 

9. Ant-Man and the Wasp - 670 Million - At this point, I'd be remiss if I didn't include an MCU film as almost all of them end up making the top 10 every year anyways. Even a film with Ant-Man as its lead. To everyone's utter surprise, the first film went on to make a healthy 513 million at the worldwide box office. I think given the talent involved, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Lawrence Fishburne as well as Randall Park, this film can easily add another 150 million to the total that it made last time. 

8. Bumblebee - 700 Million - I really wish I didn't have to put this movie on the list, but the facts don't lie. The international market loves these movies, although less and less and less. The reason this is so low on the list is because it doesn't have the name "Transformers" slapped in front of it. But I think that a majority of audience members will see the Autobot Bumblebee and will go out to see it, unfortunately. This film also is not going to be directed by Michael Bay, which is working in its favor. It's going to make money - just not as much as the others. 

7. Aquaman - 700 Million - Let's face it; DC is going nowhere at the moment. They're basically tanking. HOWEVER - this film has a lot going for it that the others did not. This film will be directed by horror icon James Wan. This film will also be primarily isolated from the other movies. Remind you of anything? How about Wonder Woman? Which grossed over 200 million dollars more than Justice League did. I think that this film has potential to be a good movie, and especially coming out in an empty market such as December where Star Wars is not, I think that this is going to make more than Justice League. 

6. Black Panther - 790 Million - Again, another MCU. And for what it's worth, if any of these movies is going to have the highest Rotten Tomatoes score this year, I believe it will be this one. I think this film is being portrayed as a wealth of diversity with political undertones. Plus, it has all the makings of a good comic book movies; fun acting, good jokes, and great action. This movie's going to do well at the box office, and I think it can do even better given a high critic approval. 

5. Deadpool 2 - 820 Million - When Deadpool first came out, did anyone really think that it was going to make as much money as it did? Yet here we are. Deadpool was beloved by fans and critics and was hailed as one of the funniest movies of that year. With Ryan Reynolds back again as the  titular character, this has all the makings to be as good, if not better than the original. And you know what that means; more money. 

4. Solo: A Star Wars Story - 850 Million - A Star Wars film at number 4? If you had asked me where I think this would've landed about a year go, I would've told you about 2 maybe 3 at worst. Yet, with all the controversy surrounding this film, I don't think that it's going to land that high. It also has a few other things working against it - for one, the recasting of Han Solo in Alden Ehrenreich. Another is that there hasn't been a trailer or so much of any promotional material for this movie yet. We'll have to wait and see until the first trailer releases, but this film has a tough climb ahead of it. 

3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 1 Billion - While the film was beloved by fans and tolerated by critics at the time, the hype around the film has slowly died down since its release in 2015. I had previously thought that this film would do much better as well, but I realize that after seeing the trailer that this film probably won't be near as good as the original or any of the Jurassic Park films. Again, we said that about the first film, and it made so much more money than we had thought - but I do see a decline for this film. 

2. The Incredibles 2 - 1.05 Billion - Yes the first one didn't make a ton of money (a ton....as if it didn't make 600 million dollars). So why do I think it can climb to a billion? Simple: nostalgia factor. This film has received a massive fan following after the first film. Many people have grown up seeing the first film over and over and over again, and all signs are pointing to this being a good film. I believe that the nostalgia and the quality of the film will push it up there and it will be able to crack the billion dollar club.

1. Avengers: Infinity War - 1.85 Billion - Did anyone think this wouldn't be number one? The only question is how much will it make. I thought about putting it at two billion, but I don't think that this film is capable of making that much money. I think it can get very close, but I don't think it will join the 2 billion dollar club. Still, this film is going to make tons of cash for Disney and Marvel, and deservedly so. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Review (Non-Spoiler)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Review (Non-Spoiler)

Release date (US): December 15th, 2017

Directed By: Rian Johnson

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie-Tran, Andy Serkis, Laura Dern, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Benicio del Toro, Gwendoline Christie, Domnhall Gleeson

Expectations/Background: Let's not kid ourselves. This is Star Wars we're talking about. One of the biggest franchises in the entire world is releasing a sequel. How can you not be excited? Especially after the success that was Star Wars: The Force Awakens. For all the complaints and the comments of how the Force Awakens was a rehash of A New Hope, I enjoyed the film nonetheless. But I knew it was time - it was time for a new Star Wars movies. We had established the universe again with these new characters, and now it was time to branch out and gives a movie that was deserved of the phase "continuing the saga". And when I stopped to think about it, the idea that this saga was this rich and yet it was 8 films deep truly amazed me. When Rain Johnson was brought on to direct the film, he told us that he was not going to be making a remake of The Empire Strikes Back, which relieved me in so many different ways. He told us we would be seeing a new, fresh take on the Star Wars world. Accompanying that were Mark Hamill's comments of how he was so shocked after he read the script because the direction that they took Luke Skywalker was totally different than what he had imagined, and I began to become very excited. Would this be another prequel let down? Or was this worthy of the original trilogy? 

The Movie: While I understand exactly why some of you may think otherwise (more on that later), I enjoyed this film immensely. This film is so radically different yet so similar to other Star Wars saga films the tit's eerie. You have parallels being drawn to things that happened before, and yet Johnson takes these characters and spins them out in whole new directions that I loved for the most part. The fans will be divided and already are; but as for me - I can say I loved the film. 

Positives: This film is bold, both visually and narrative-wise. It takes so many different risks. The one word that describes exactly how I felt after the credits began to roll: exhaustion. When the end-credits music that we all know and love began to play, I could physically feel my body slump over and my heart beat beginning to pound faster and faster. This film takes you on a journey and wraps you up in this universe that you become so invested into what's going on. But you don't even realize it until the very end, at which point, you're just overwhelmed, in the best way possible. 

I'd like to start off with Rian Johnson. Some, perhaps many will disagree with me, but I think the script, which he wrote, the direction, and the storyline were all uniquely him while fitting into a larger context of the Star Wars universe. And I think he was the right choice to fill in the second part of the new trilogy. We needed someone who could say, "Let's take these characters and drive them forward" and he did exactly that.

Visually speaking this film is stunning. There is one shot in particular that everyone will know when they see it, but it takes your breath away in the audience, it really does. It will become one of the most iconic shots and scenes in the entirety of Star Wars, I guarantee it. And the visual lighting and camerawork he does on Ahch-To as well as other planets we visit is just gorgeous to look at.

Talking about actors and characters, not a sing one gave a bad performance. I have some disputes with certain storylines that certain actors and characters were given, but that's a separate issue. Each actor brought their A-game to the film. Starting off with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, they do such a great job at playing two sides of the same coin as the story progresses. The remaining of the Big 3, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (may she rest in peace) give the performances of their careers I believe, especially Mark Hamill who has gone on record to say that this is not the Luke Skywalker that he had envisioned. The rest of the supporting cast, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, John Boyega, and Kelly Marie-Tran deliver on such a profound level that they meld right into the Star Wars universe. 

And the humor in this movie - let's talk about it. There are some jokes that didn't quite hit home for me. There were song that I was wondering to myself, "Is this really Star Wars?" But as the film continued, I began to enjoy the humor more and more and when the film ended, I thought that the humor worked and fired on all cylinders. 

What Johnson is able to do with these characters though is spectacular - for the most part. What Rey, Luke, Leia, and Kylo in particular all go through in this movie feels like a natural progression of their characters, as well as an evolution - not just staying stagnant but moving forward and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

This film does explore some abstract ideas (though not as much as I had hoped) about what the Force is and what it really does mean to the a Jedi or a Dark Side user which is wonderful.

Also - and this may be one of the things I love the most - the film shows characters who are vulnerable. Characters who make mistakes. In fact, I would argue that the trie film exists because of a couple mistakes made by various characters which is great. Many will complain and say that they want their Star Wars movies to have the hero on Tatooine who can do no wrong, but even he made mistakes that led to Han being frozen in carbonite. This film explores how mistakes and failure are not downfalls, they are lessons. That was awesome. 

And on a couple final notes - porgs are adorable. They are used in just the right amount to where they're not annoying and they're just cute. C3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca are used very well - Chewbacca actually has one of the best scenes in the entire movie (he has two great scenes - I enjoyed the dramatic one over the comedic one). 

And yes - if you have no seen the film please stay away from spoilers. There are so many twists and turns in this film that you DO NOT want spoiled for you. They'll take your breath away when you watch  it in the theater.

Negatives: Now, I did say that I enjoyed everyone's performance in the film. That is not to say I enjoyed everyone's character in the movie. 

Let's talk about Finn, Rose, and Benicio del Toro's character. 

In true Star Wars fashion, the characters begin to split off around the end of the first act and are on their own separate missions. Finn and Rose end up needing to go to a casino like planet called Canto Byte. Now, the concept of the planet itself was a very cool on - the idea of a gambling, rich planet in Star Wars had never been done before. But when they first do the wide shot of the inside of one of the casinos, it looked exactly like Las Vegas. Almost to a tee, with a couple aliens here and there. 

The entire sequences just felt so contrived. And what frustrated me the most was that this entire sequence could have been taken out and explained away in a different fashion.  It felt so different and dare I say it, prequel-like, that I just found myself being rather bored throughout the entire sequence. 

The film was also a tad long - perhaps Johnson could have taken out a few scenes here or there, but other than that, the pacing was very good. 

Character Ranking
1. Kylo Ren
2. Luke Skywalker
3. Rey
4. General Leia
5. Snoke
6. Poe Dameron
7. Finn
8. Rose Tico
9. C3PO and R2D2
10. BB-8
11. Vice Admiral Amyln Holdo
12. Benicio del Toro's Character

The Villain(s):  First of all, right off the bat, sorry to you Captain Phasma fans because she is utterly wasted yet again. Johnson took a great character and pretty much wasted her. But then again, there just wasn't much time for her in this tory. Domnhall Gleeson's General Hux was a pleasant surprise for me. I did not expect him to be so likable and charismatic, but he was given some great dialogue and some interactions he had, especial with Kylo Ren, were great. Moving on to Snoke - I was genuinely surprised with the way he looked. When he first appeared, I was taken aback in a good way - I could barely tell if there was any CGI. Did the gold robes look a little goofy? Yes, maybe, but I thought that it fit his character. And the arc and character development he has in this movie, I think many will enjoy - it's different from what we thought; you'll just have to wait and see. 

And Kylo Ren. Adam Driver floored me. What an amazing, understated, subtle performance. I did not expect that at all - I walked into the film ready to see some great character development and acting form Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley, and I got that, but Kylo Ren and Adam Driver completely overshadowed them both. The way he plays such a conflicted villain throughout the film just makes for one of the best villains Star Wars could have had. Perhaps not the best (Darth Vader anyone?) but one of the most "human" and conflicted characters in the galaxy. 

The Music/Score: It's been awhile since I've heard a score by the legendary John Williams. It's been awhile since I've heard a truly memorable score for the matter. But by God, he did it again. This film's score is absolutely phenomenal. Now, I'd like to preface this by saying that it wasn't as if he introduced new themes that were instantly iconic - but what he did was incorporate old themes from all of the other saga films and weave them into the narrative. And when the film needed that "Oomph" he brought it with his music. Bravo. 

The Verdict: Again, I do understand why this film may be divine. But for what it's worth, those of you who don't like this film just because it's "different" need to rethink that. This film was bold and took risks. Did every single one pay off? No of course not, but the fact that it had the audacity to go out there and make bold moves floored me. This is not a perfect film, and perhaps not the best Star Wars film, but it is a worthy addition to the galaxy far, far away.  Letter Grade: A-. Number Score: 9.2/10

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.

A- to A+: Amazing

B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed

C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed

D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws

F: A Failure of a Film

9-10: Perfect, or Nearly Perfect
8-9: Very Good

7-8: Good

6-7: Okay

5-6: Average/Mediocre

4-5: Apparently Flawed

3-4: Heavily Flawed

2-3: A complete and utter mess

0-2: A Failure of a Film

Justice League - Review (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)

Justice League - Review (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)

Release date (US): November 17th, 2017

Directed By: Zack Snyder/Joss Whedon

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Ciaran Hinds, Robin Wright, Jeremy Irons

Blurb/Synopsis: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to ace an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes - Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), and the Flash (Ezra Miller) - it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions. 

Expectations/Background: All anyone needs is hope. The tiniest spark of hope can make the difference between being excited and completely disinterested, even apprehensive. And I had hope. I had been let down by Zack Snyder once, but I knew that he had learned from his mistakes after the disaster that was Batman v. Superman. He had to have - the fans responded and he should have known. Then, tragedy struck and Joss Whedon was inserted to finish the film. But again, I had hope. This was Justice League. Not some B-list character. Not even two A-list characters. SIX A-LIST CHARACTERS with great development, histories, backstories. And after seeing the promotional material, I thought it would be enough to have Ben Affleck (who I didn't mind as Batman) lead a league with Superman in it. This was going to be the film that brought the DCEU up to competitive level. This film would at least get a 70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and show the world that Warner Brothers knew how to make quality movies. This was going to be the one. I thought it would be enough.

The Movie: I was wrong. In a big way. This film was one of the biggest disappointments that I have ever seen. First of all, I do think that this film is better than Suicide Squad (by a fair margin) and better than Batman v. Superman. That being said, it's only slightly better than Batman v. Superman, and realistically, it's hard to be worse than that film. What astounded me was that Zack Snyder made some of the same choices he made with Batman v. Superman that I wish he would have learned from. 

Positives: Having read that, one may think that this film was a total disaster. And while disappointment was the word to use, disaster is not. This film does straddle the line, but there are many redeeming qualities to the film.

First, let's talk performances. Actually, on the whole, I thought almost ever single member of the League was very good on their own. The team dynamic really shined through and their chemistry really worked in many instances. There were times in the film where I began to feel a slight attachment to this band of heroes (slight). 

Ben Affleck as Batman was good (not great) and yes, half the time he did look bored out of his mind. But at the same time, he did give a good enough performance as did serve as the leader of the League. Gal GAdot again was great as Wonder Woman. Ray Fisher's PERFORMANCE was good as Cyborg (much better than I had anticipated) and Ezra Miller and Aquaman worked pretty well as well. 

And like I said, there were moments in the film where I really felt the connection between them. And those were the moments that I found myself having a good enough time with this movie. The moments where perhaps they were sanding around bantering among themselves (perhaps Whedon?) and the moments when they were fighting as a unit and using each other's skillset to help each other out. Those parts were great. 

And I will say there is one scene in particular with the entire League that is pretty awesome. If you watched that clip alone, you would think this movie was really great. 

That's about it. 

Negatives: There is quite a bit that went wrong with this movie. Quite a bit.

First of all, more on him later, but the villain was garbage. Both his performance, character, motivation, and the way he looked.

Secondly, let's talk briefly about Superman (if you consider this a spoiler, I'm not quite sure what to say. We all knew he was coming back). I won't go into detail until the spoiler section, but I will say the way he was brought into the movie felt so convenient. There was literally a scene where someone in the League says something to the effect of "I have an idea!" and it's as if a lightbulb actually floated above his head as he said that. The way they do this feels so forced and feels like "We need Henry Cavill alive again". 

Thirdly, and this is something I had hoped would work but it didn't; the humor. To put it into perspective, I could count the number of times I audibly laughed in the theater on one hand (and yes I have 5 fingers). Firstly, and perhaps this is not a discredit to the movie itself, but most of the major jokes were revealed in the marketing. But even so, there was only one joke that I felt I would've laughed at if the marketing had not shown it. Only one. The humor felt dull, it felt forced, and it felt like a cheap attempt to get back at Marvel. It was not original, and felt very contrived. 

Fourthly - the script. There were some lines that felt like they belonged in the 1960s, they were so campy and cheesy. There was one in particular that was such a blatant reference to the team name (which is never anywhere else referred to in the film) that I almost gagged. It felt like it belonged in one of the old Batman films with George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly (and unfortunately) - the story was a complete disaster. While this film itself wasn't a disaster (mainly because the cast was holding the film together) the storyline was. We jump from Earth to the home of the Amazons, to some weird red dystopian future looking place. The tone felt jumbled, it felt lost, and it felt misguided and directionless. It really did feel like the studio and the creative team were on completely separate pages - I imagine a board meeting where the studio sat down and said "We want this, this, this, and this in the movie" figure it out. And from there, the creative team tried to connect those points by some convoluted, boring, and stupid manner. 

And final side note - half the time the CGI looks good but the other half to he time the CGI was horrific. Utterly unacceptable for a film released in 2017 with a 250 million + budget. 

Character Ranking
1. Wonder Woman
2. Batman
3. Superman
4. Alfred*
5. Flash
6. Aquaman
7. Cyborg
8. Lois Lane
9. Steppenwolf

*isn't it sad when Alfred was better in this film than 3 members of the Justice League? I think so

The Villain(s): Steppenwolf is atrocious. You thought Doomsday was bad, at least he was only in the last twenty minutes of the movie. I don't understand in the slightest why Snyder went with this piece of garbage as his villain. He could've picked anyone else for the League to team up and fight - Darkseid even. But he picks who? Steppenwolf? This C-List side character that no one really cared about. And I speak as someone who had never read the comic books before, but I can tell you - he was awful in the film. He was like Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, except Ultron was at least charismatic and had a small backstory and motivation. Steppenwolf has no reason to be in the film except to have someone for the League to punch around. And the CGI looked horrific on him. 

The Music/Score: Danny Elfman went around talking about how his score was revolutionary and how he thought that he reused old film scores in a new way. And while I didn't hate his score, I barely noticed it. So I have no idea what he was talking about. It wasn't terrible, but it was completely forgettable. And maybe it's because I have no nostalgia for the older films, but I shouldn't need to in order to enjoy a film's score. 

**READER DISCRETION ADVISED - SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS SKIP TO "VERDICT"**

Spoilers: Going to Superman for a second, I enjoyed his character quite a bit. I really did. This was the Superman we should have had from the beginning - a light, hopeful, optimistic Superman. But the way they revived him, with Bruce Wayne literary saying something to the effect of "What if we could use the Motherbox to bring Superman back to life!" had be cringing and face palming in the theater. There are better ways to reintroduce the Man of Steel than having Flash run super fast at t box and having to touch it at exactly the right moment  - that felt very video game like to me.

And really there isn't much else to spoil in the film. It's almost all in the marketing and you can essentially guess the story from the beginning. I didn't like the part about Bruce Wayne saying at the end "We're going to turn the Wayne Manor into a hall of Justice". What? That makes absolutely no sense. 

The line I really did think was funny was when Superman was lying on the floor and said, "Nope, now I want to die." That was 100 percent Whedon and I ate that line up, because at that point I was so dehydrated form the lack of creativity this film ahd.

And when Superman said, "I like Justice." I cringed so much in the theater. That line belongs in the 60s. 

SPOILER ALERT OVER

The Verdict: For what it's worth, Justice League is a huge disappointment. The story was barely coherent and the villain was absolutely awful. But, what saves this film from going completely down the drain was the characters. They were likable for the most part, and they held the film together. On the whole though, DC needs to step up their game big time.  Letter Grade: C-. Number Score: 4.2/10

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.

A- to A+: Amazing

B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed

C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed

D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws

F: A Failure of a Film

9-10: Nearly Perfect to Perfect

8-9: Very Good

7-8: Good

6-7: Okay

5-6: Average/Mediocre

4-5: Apparently Flawed

3-4: Heavily Flawed

2-3: A complete and utter mess

0-2: A Failure of a Film

Ranking All Major Comic Book Movies (2017)

Ranking All Major Comic Book Movies (2017)

As 2017 winds down and comes to a close, the superhero film industry seems to be doing no such thing. With the release of six major comic book films this year, nearly all of them were huge critical and financial success. Today, I'm going to be ranking them in order of what I thought of them based on quality of film - let's begin. 

6. Justice League - I had so many expectations for this film. This was supposed to be the one that DC learned from their mistakes and made a film that was worthy of the cast of characters. A film with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman should not have been this subpar. And yet, here we are, in 2017 with DC still struggling to produce quality content. While it did have many redeeming elements, such as performances by indidvual cast and some good action set pieces, the storyline dragged the film down, both in the theater and to the bottom of this list. 

5. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume II - Much like Justice League, though to a lesser extent, this film was somewhat of a disappointment. That is not to say that this is a bad film by any stretch of the imagination - however, after the monumental success of James Gunn's original, this film had a lot to live up to. And while the film was hilarious about 80 percent of the time, the jokes felt rushed and forced often and the storyline felt slightly convoluted. Yet, what held this film together and still made it as entertaining as it was was the cast and characters; their chemistry together is what made us love the first film and what excites us so much about seeing them in next year's Infinity War. 

4. Wonder woman - These films from here on out are almost on the same level - all excellent, quality films. It was very hard to make this ranking because of how good each one of these next four films are in their own right. Wonder Woman was a huge leap forward for the DCEU until Justice League took two steps backwards. The fresh, bright and simple take on a wonderful character (Diana Prince) was such a great thing to see. Chris Pine's Steve Trevor stole the movie. The only reason that this film was ranked below the next three was because of the third act; the third act felt so anti-climactic after having seen such a great film. But on the whole - this is EASILY the best DC has had to offer since Christopher Nolan and I cannot wait to see Wonder Woman in other properties.

3. Thor: Ragnarok - Ragnarok signaled the end times for the characters in the film, but for us movie fans, we saw the rebirth of an Avenger that had previously been sidelined by mediocrity and lack of depth. Thor came to the forefront in a huge way with this film as Taika Waititi delivered on a film that was chalk full of comedy and a warmth that is not seen much today. This film brought such fun to the comic book genre and proves why this genre is not stale in the slightest. While it may not be the most substantial film in the world, with a slight lack of depth and heart, this film fires on all other cylinders. 

2. Spider-Man: Homecoming - When people heard that Spider-Man was again being rebooted for the third time the last fifteen years, people were skeptical. Yet, after seeing Tom Holland's brilliant performance in Captain America: Civil War, we began to think " Maybe we do have the right Spider-Man." And after seeing Spider-Man: Homecoming, I can gladly see that our faith in the wall-crawler has been restored. This film was so youthful and energetic as it follows a high school Peter Parker struggling to balance his life with what he really wants to: become an Avenger. And perhaps what elevates this movie above the other ones - the excellent villain. Vulture, played by the great Michael Keaton brought a gravitas and a real set of stakes to the film not seen in a long time in the MCU. 

1. Logan - What can we say about this film that hasn't been said before - Logan, in my opinion, i s modern masterpiece and completely subverted the entire genre. Instead of big blockbuster action with the world at stake, this film deliberately decided to focus on the idea of growing old and having to give up your dreams. This film brought Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart to the top as they gave their performances of their lifetimes as these two characters. The real emotion and heart felt throughout the film, as well as the real desperation that we saw through the characters is undeniably what makes this film so amazing. This film will be remembered for a long time to come. 

Avengers: Infinity War - Official Teaser Trailer Review

Avengers: Infinity War - Official Teaser Trailer Review

The first teaser trailer for Avenges: Infinity War, the culmination of the MCU as we know it, has arrived. Does it deliver? 

Thoughts: This is how you make a trailer for a movie that is going to blow people's minds and make over two billion dollars. This is exactly how you do it. This trailer had almost everything that a fan would want.

Of course, we always ask ourselves - what is the purpose of a trailer? It's to get us excited for what's to come in the movie. And the sheer amount of shots that made me practically giddy was insane. From shots with human Vision, to Hulkbuster, to Wakanda - so many amazing shots. 

Thanks himself looked pretty incredibly (especially considering the terrible CGI for Steppenwolf) and overall, this trailer did everything it needed to - as a fan, I can say that this trailer is near perfect.

The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because it may have revealed a little too much? Then again we won't know until May rolls around. 

Did it Raise Excitement? ABSOLUTELY. To say I was excited for this trailer was the understatement of the century. And then, to have it EXCEED my expectations? Needless to say - I AM PUMPED. 

Trailer Rating: 9.9/10

Thor: Ragnaork - Review (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)

Thor: Ragnarok - Review (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)

Release date (US): November 3rd, 2017

Directed By: Taika Waititi

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba

Blurb/Synopsis:  Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor's quest for survival leads him in a race abasing time to prevent the all-powerful Helga (Cate Blanchett) from destroying his homeward and the Asgardian civilization.

Expectations/Background: Firstly, and perhaps foremost, one thing to keep in mind - I in no way shape or form liked Thor. In fact, I hated it. As for Thor: The Dark World, I enjoyed it at the time, and there is still fun to be had, but being completely honest with myself, that film isn't that great as well. And so, during the Marvel Phase 3 announcement panel, Thor: Ragnarok (I was even skeptical of the title at first) was the film I was least excited about (yes, I was looking forward to Inhumans more). Of course, this was before I knew next to nothing about this movie. To be quite honest, although Chris Hemsworth was one of the best casting decisions ever made as the God of Thunder, he just never seemed to fit, even in is own films. But more details began to arise. Mark Ruffalo would return as the Incredible Hulk. That grabbed my attention immediately. After seeing Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch was confirmed to be in the film in some minor role as Doctor Stephen Strange. And the casting of Cate Blanchett as Hell as well as the hiring of Take Waitit certainly made for an intriguing combination. After seeing the trailers, my excitement level began to ramp up exponentially. And slowly, I began to realize something; Marvel may have a gem on their hands. By completely abandoning the tone of the other Thor movies and going in a whole new direction, they were making a genius move. By the time Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume II hit theaters, this was my most anticipated Marvel Phase 3 movie. No pressure, right? 

The Movie: This movie was a joyride. That's the only way I can describe it. From beginning to end, this movie doesn't stop at all and it doesn't miss a beat - this movie is a pure joyride. From start to finish, Taika Waititi puts his firm stamp upon every aspect of the film, from jokes to characters to story arcs. 

Positives: So much to discuss here. Without going into spoilers, Chris Hemsworth's Thor goes through a wonderful arc throughout the movie. He begins the story in one place, ands in a place that is very unexpected, yet satisfying. His performance (more on that later) was also something completely fresh and necessary for the character. It was as if once he had his hair cut, he transformed into a new, brighter, and more jovial Thor, which I loved immensely. Briefly touching on some other cast and characters, Loki as usual was wonderful as he had some great scenes. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk again brings a certain level of sympathy as a poor hulking beast or a confused, bewildered scientist - there's just a certain level of endearment about him. 

Speaking of standout characters, have to give a massive shoutout to Taika Waititi, who did the motion capture and the voice for the character Korg. What a surprisingly funny and warm character that I did not see coming at all. And Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie was outstanding as well - the right counter balance to Chris Hemsworth's jovial personality, Thompson brought a comedic levity that allowed the two to bounce off of each other very well. 

One thing that truly amazed me about this film was how quickly it flew by - it's a rather long film at around two hours, but the pacing and the editing made for such a joyous experience in the theater. Another great thing about this film (after having seen it multiple times) is that it is extremely rewatch able. The jokes don't feel stale after the first or second time and the storylines are so much fun to watch again.

And thus we arrive at the crux of this film: the humor. This film was banking on the audience's laughter so that they could become invested in these wonderful characters, both returning and new. Did the jokes land? 99 percent of the time, yes they did. And that is what makes this film great - it knows exactly what it is. It is a Taika Waitii comedy/space-adventure. The humor is the glue that holds the film together. And although the majority of the movie was apparently ad-libbed, the storyline feels so coherent and tonally sound that it makes for an excellent adventure. 

Another thing of note: visuals. This film has some wonky visuals taken directly out of the pages of Jack Kirby's comic books that will make many people question what the filmmakers were thinking. But really, taking a step back, all the neon colors that pop out at you make for a complete package on top of the hilarity that ensues.

Negatives: Structurally and tonally, within themselves, there is not much at all that is wrong with this film. What does come to me as a negative is lack of depth.

There is a scene in particular where the film attempts to slow down for an instant and make the audience feel some kind of emotion other than laughter, and while the scene on its own works very well, in the larger context of the movie, it felt jarring and completely out of place.

Making a movie such as this, with such a comedic tone to begin with through and through, adding a scene like this was a dangerous thing because it felt as if the stakes were undermined throughout the rest of the film.

This film lacks an emotional depth that I think even Spider-Man: Homecoming, or to a larger extent, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War have. 

And the villains will be listed here (discussed later) for now. Not quite a negative, but not quite a positive, so they will remain under here for now. 

Character Ranking
1. Thor
2. Loki
3. Valkyre 
4. Grandmaser
5. Korg
6. Doctor Strange
7. Hela
8. Skurge
9.  Heimdall

The Villain(s): When you cast an actress the likes of Cate Blanchett, you expect a villain of massive proportions. And yet, while the film does linger on her more than say a Malektih, she felt thoroughly underused. Her performance was magnificent, no doubt about it. Absolutely brilliant; she ate up every single scene that she was in. But the way her character felt shoehorned into the film just to have a climactic battle at the end, it felt like such a waste. Karl Urban as Skurge did surprise me though; he brought a little levity and heart to the film that it was sorely lacking from the other characters, which I really appreciated. But in the end, his character was wasted along with Cate Blanchett's. 

The Music/Score: Eh. Mark Mothersbaugh, a relatively new composer, tried to bring back the late 20th century with his musical choices, and while they meshed with the film ver nicely, on its own, the soundtrack is nothing more than bunch of synth notes attempting to bring back that retro feel. I didn't dislike the soundtrack but I did not quite like it either (save for one song that he didn't even compose. You'll know it). 

**READER DISCRETION ADVISED - SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS SKIP TO "VERDICT"**

Spoilers: I enjoyed the risks this film took at the end. This film was never about preventing Ragnarok, it was about bringing it on. And the idea that Asgard wasn't a place, it was a people, that really resonated. And yet, like I mentioned before, this film felt a little too shallow that when the thematics attempted to hit home, they registered in my brain and I understood completely, but not quite in my heart, where the next step lay. 

In terms of Hela, again, I thought her performance was great - when she absolutely obliterates the Asgardian army, it was nice to see her display of power. But the filmmakers did not use her enough throughout the movie. 

Thor losing an eye - I'm not quite sure if I buy it. I do believe that it will last for awhile, and I think it was a good addition (mirroring what happened to Anthony Hopkin's Odin), but again, I'm not sure how long it will last as well.

Doctor Strange was wonderful - cannot wait to see him Infinity War.

And finally, Odin's death scene. This was the scene I was talking about. The film attempts just for a brief moment to slow down. Even the musically suddenly shifts from comedic to sorrowful in an instant. But because the scene was inserted among the beautiful chaos of this film, it felt so out of place for me. I did enjoy later in the film when Thor was close to dying and he saw visions of his father, and I loved the line, "Are you Thor? God of hammers?" Yet the death scene itself did not work for me in the slightest. 

SPOILER ALERT OVER

The Verdict: For what it's worth Taika Waititi brought a freshness I didn't even know was possible to a Marvel Cinematic Universe that is 17 movies in and charging full steam ahead to a date with destiny (Thanos). Despite all the talk of Infinity stones and setting up the future, this film was so refreshing to see. Were there some tonal inconsistencies, yes. Do I wish the villains could have been used more? Absolutely. But on the whole there is one one word to describe the movie - a joyride form start to finish.  Letter Grade: A-. Number Score: 9.1/10

**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.

A- to A+: Amazing

B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed

C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed

D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws

F: A Failure of a Film

9-10: Nearly Perfect to Perfect

8-9: Very Good

7-8: Good

6-7: Okay

5-6: Average/Mediocre

4-5: Apparently Flawed

3-4: Heavily Flawed

2-3: A complete and utter mess

0-2: A Failure of a Film