[Morgoth]

Average. Sometimes fun, sometimes downright stupid and not in a good way. Afleck was a good batman though.

[QuickTidal]

I didn't LOVE it, but I liked it a lot and aside from some minor issues....quite entertaining. It's dark and bleak...an anti-marvel flick really.

[Morgoth]

QuickTidal, on 30 March 2016 - 11:20 PM, said:

I didn't LOVE it, but I liked it a lot and aside from some minor issues....quite entertaining. It's dark and bleak...an anti-marvel flick really.

BvS and QT sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

[Aptorian]

Watched Bat vs Supes yesterday. It was okay. Not terrible. Not great. Not better than Nolan's Batman but better than Schumacher's. Not better than Man of Steel but better than Superman Returns.

Which is fine really because the film is supposed to be about the clash, not the stories of the individual heroes. However, the actual story feels like an excuse for a fight, rather than an organic progression. I think Superman, Batman and 3rd hero worked great but Lex Luthor was terrible. Just awful. Why they went with that casting, that performance I will never understand.

And I stand by my anger during the release of Star Wars. The trailers for this film completely spoil everything about the story. The best parts of this film can be watched in a trailer for 0 dollars.

About the ending:

Spoiler

I do think that using Doomsday in this film and killing Superman was a terrible story choice. There hasn't been enough build up of Superman as the worlds hero for his death to matter. Equally wasted was the use of Doomsday for a fight against 3 heroes. Doomsday should have been a 2,5 hour long world tour of destruction in a third Justice League film. Not this.

Also Superman and Batman sure do kill a lot of people in this film in a casual sort of way. No way Batman didn't kill about a dozen characters or more and Superman put a guy through a concrete wall.

This post has been edited by Apt: 31 March 2016 - 11:27 AM

[Tsundoku]

Apt, on 31 March 2016 - 11:16 AM, said:

About the ending:

Spoiler

Also Superman and Batman sure do kill a lot of people in this film in a casual sort of way. Not way Batman didn't kill about a dozen characters or more and Superman a guy through a concrete wall.

Wait, you're expecting logic and consistency in a superhero flick? I think that would be the greatest trick of all to pull off.

[Aptorian]

No I actually think that is very logical. The whole "I don't kill people" is cute in a comic book. But these DC films have been a lot more grounded and dark. I have no problems accepting the idea that Batman and Superman occasionally crush the life out of somebody. It's just a big departure from established lore.

[Tsundoku]

Meh, I just ask for logic and consistency within it's own established milieu. It's once they start diverging wildly from that is when I get the shits.

Looking at you here, George Lucas.

[QuickTidal]

Apt, on 31 March 2016 - 11:16 AM, said:

Watched Bat vs Supes yesterday. It was okay. Not terrible. Not great. Not better than Nolan's Batman but better than Schumacher's. Not better than Man of Steel but better than Superman Returns.

Which is fine really because the film is supposed to be about the clash, not the stories of the individual heroes. However, the actual story feels like an excuse for a fight, rather than an organic progression. I think Superman, Batman and 3rd hero worked great but Lex Luthor was terrible. Just awful. Why they went with that casting, that performance I will never understand.

And I stand by my anger during the release of Star Wars. The trailers for this film completely spoil everything about the story. The best parts of this film can be watched in a trailer for 0 dollars.

About the ending:

Spoiler

I do think that using Doomsday in this film and killing Superman was a terrible story choice. There hasn't been enough build up of Superman as the worlds hero for his death to matter. Equally wasted was the use of Doomsday for a fight against 3 heroes. Doomsday should have been a 2,5 hour long world tour of destruction in a third Justice League film. Not this.

Also Superman and Batman sure do kill a lot of people in this film in a casual sort of way. No way Batman didn't kill about a dozen characters or more and Superman put a guy through a concrete wall.

A few counters.

1. There wasn't an organic progression to the fight because it was orchestrated from day one by Lex (recall he's basically been keeping tabs on all the metahumans he can get his claws on). Bruce and Clark had issues with each others alter egos...but it doesn't come to blows till Lex sets that in motion. It's supposed to feel pushed/fake I think.

2. I think they went for that casting because they wanted Lex Luthor by way of Mark Zuckerberg. Someone who seems very dot-com-y and fresh and has a company with brightly coloured letters like Google...only to show that simmering under the surface is a rage-hole. I think the idea is that cold, calculating Lex is coated in this glossy, veneer of bubblegummy jolly rancher-y rich media kid. If I'm honest I think they pulled it off, but I was glad they didn't go for the old school atypical Lex. This felt like more fun...but overall the sadistic, cold Lex from the second half of the flick is VERY much in line with his comics incarnation...especially in the New52.

3. I still don't think they gave everything away in the trailers. In fact the majority of the Bats/Supes brawl is not even IN the trailers...they were edited to make you think that parts of the 3rd act fight are the Supes/Bats fight, but they are not.

4.

Spoiler

Come on, Doomsday is a tier 2 villain AT best. Sure he's responsible for Superman's original death in the 1980's...but he's basically just a Kryptonian monster dog. Getting him out of the way now (and using him as a big bad to fight at the end of this prologue to the JL movies) is the perfect choice. Who else are you going to use? Aside from all else Darkseid is and always would have been the obvious choice for the JL movies villain. The only other option here would have been Braniac and Superman has shown time and time again that he can beat Braniac alone...no need for the Trinity to fight that. Doomsday works because he's powerful and it requires three heroes to take him down. Superman's sacrifice is a two-fold success. First it shows Batman that not only is Clark just a normal guy, but he's willing to put his literal life on the line to keep the people safe. That takes Bruce's initial turn (upon realizing Superman has a mother) and adds another layer to it. This abolishes the idea in Bruce's head that Superman can be a danger (in that he could turn and moment on everyone) completely. But it also shows that Superman (the guy who could not stop all the collateral damage in MoS), has grown enough to not only take the Doomsday fight away from the populace (there's even a line of dialogue about it) but to place himself in harms way and saving the entire city (well, both cities since Gotham is across the bay). His death matter because of both those things.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 31 March 2016 - 01:06 PM

[Primateus]

I'm sorry Quick, but in regards to

Spoiler

the death of Superman, you are just plain wrong. Superman dying was one of the all-time greatest iconic comic book moments in superhero comic history. And they did it in the second movie. Basically, they jumped the gun, they ejaculated prematurely, however you want to put, it was way too soon. Why, you ask? Because it'll basically make it impossible for them to have Superman come back and die again. Well, maybe not impossible, but certainly meaningless and without the emotion tied to it. People simply won't care a second time because we'll know that he'll just come back again. Did it work in context of this one movie? Sort of, not totally, but sort of. But we all know that this movie was a prelude to greater over-arching story, which is fine, but with this one movie they've pretty much taken out any chance of suspense about the life or death of Superman for future movies. It's bad story-telling, plain and simple.
Sorry, but about his death, you are simply wrong.

[QuickTidal]

Primateus, on 31 March 2016 - 01:15 PM, said:

I'm sorry Quick, but in regards to

Spoiler

the death of Superman, you are just plain wrong. Superman dying was one of the all-time greatest iconic comic book moments in superhero comic history. And they did it in the second movie. Basically, they jumped the gun, they ejaculated prematurely, however you want to put, it was way too soon. Why, you ask? Because it'll basically make it impossible for them to have Superman come back and die again. Well, maybe not impossible, but certainly meaningless and without the emotion tied to it. People simply won't care a second time because we'll know that he'll just come back again. Did it work in context of this one movie? Sort of, not totally, but sort of. But we all know that this movie was a prelude to greater over-arching story, which is fine, but with this one movie they've pretty much taken out any chance of suspense about the life or death of Superman for future movies. It's bad story-telling, plain and simple.
Sorry, but about his death, you are simply wrong.

Spoiler

Does Superman NEED to die again after he comes back? I don't think there is any reason to do that to him. And it's the hallmark of the New52 to put the younger heroes through their paces faster. Sure the Death of Superman WAS iconic...but his resurrection not so much, and his many identity crises over the 90's...even worse. So eventually they brought him back to the classic version. It was one of the first big shock comic moments, events if you will, to sell funny books. It's really not that big a deal to me in hindsight. I was far more affected by Robin's death as it stuck for longer, and didn't have the repercussions of "killing off your lead" that DC suffered afterwards. If you think that Superman is bound for another death in the DCMU, then I'll think you are mistaken. They are literally getting it out of the way so no one can expect it's on the horizon in any way. Superman's plot armor, if you will. Look back, on the comics after DEATH OF SUPERMAN....did he ever die again? No, I think you'll find he never did. So I see no reason why he couldn't/shouldn't have died here to get the resurrection out of the way.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I liked Chappie a lot, from beginning to end.

[QuickTidal]

Saw THE JUNGLE BOOK last night. Excellent film. They do a wonderful job of making a live action version of the story that has beats from both the animated Disney verison (including two songs) and the original Kipling book. The voice acting is ALL top notch, with Idris Elba, Lupita N'yongo, Ben Kingsley, and Bill Murray especially standing out as excellent. Walken is a bit lost as King Louis...but he was funny so that makes up for it. Yeah, if you like this story at all, you'll like Favreau's flick.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 April 2016 - 11:02 AM

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 16 April 2016 - 11:01 AM, said:

Saw THE JUNGLE BOOK last night. Excellent film. They do a wonderful job of making a live action version of the story that has beats from both the animated Disney verison (including two songs) and the original Kipling book. The voice acting is ALL top notch, with Idris Elba, Lupita N'yongo, Ben Kingsley, and Bill Murray especially standing out as excellent. Walken is a bit lost as King Louis...but he was funny so that makes up for it. Yeah, if you like this story at all, you'll like Favreau's flick.

I'll probably see this at some point, if not in the cinema, but I'm totes maaaaad that this forced Andy Serkis' version to be pushed back by two years.

[Aptorian]

I'm doing a Fast and Furious marathon.

Just about through the first film. It's hard for me to express just how much I hate car culture as it's presented in this film. Or perhaps more precisely street racing/sports car enthusiasts. I just hate everything about these assholes and their fucking attitude and their stupid bullshit cars. Betting money they don't have on races that make no sense.

I just can't separate the responsible part of my brain from the action on the screen. Instead of thinking "Man, that's a cool street race", the sensible part of my brain is thinking doing 200 km/h down a city street is ridiculously irresponsible. I hope they crash into a lamp post and donate their organs to a better person.

Still, there is something there. Something about the comradery. The way of life. Ride or die. Yadda, yadda. I've been listening to the Kinda Funny podcast going on about this series for years. Saying its all about family. I can see that. From what I recall the second and third films are sort of crap but I want to get to the later films to get in on the pop culture references.

This post has been edited by Apt: 17 April 2016 - 08:11 AM

[polishgenius]

Apt, on 17 April 2016 - 07:19 AM, said:

From what I recall the second and third films are sort of crap but I want to get to the later films to get in on the pop culture references.

Watch the Starsky and Hutch movie just before the second one. It somehow managed to be a spot-on parody of a film it was made at exactly the same time as. It'll make 2 more enjoyable.


3 is poor but has awesome race scenes and Han. 2 and 4 are the ones that commit the sin of the driving action being crap.

[worry]

I tried to watch it once. I got to the "What is this guy, sandwich crazy or something?" line and had to turn it off cuz i was laughing too hard. Doesn't help that Paul Walker (though he seemed like a genuinely very nice guy irl) is perhaps the single worst actor I've ever seen, and that's clear even in a movie where he acts alongside Vin Diesel.

[Aptorian]

On the fourth now. It's better than 2 and 3 but I suspect it also has twice the budget. It's certainly better written although terribly cliche.

2 and 3 weren't actually that bad... from a B movie perspective. The writing is atrocious, both in terms of plot and dialogue, but the action works and they follow tried and tested formulas. I've got to admit that the driving scene just seemed very cool and stylish in Tokyo Drift. Although it got really dumb when the Yakuza suddenly got involved.

[polishgenius]

The 3rd one is just Karate Kid with cars. I do enjoy it.

I hate 4, but as I said above that's mostly for the awful driving scenes.

Five is the bees bollocks though.

[Aptorian]

I've reached 6 now and I agree it is pretty amazing.

I think The Rock somehow put on even more mass between 5 and 6. He's gigantic!

I think the significant change that happens between 4 and 5 is that it stops being these crime centered racing films and instead juts becomes good movies. It's more buddy team goes on an adventure. More heist than chase and it makes the films more fun.

It of course also helps that the budgets are 10 times as large and the manuscript writers are allowed to have fun.

I still get angry every time I hear grown, serious men say "bro" though.

This post has been edited by Apt: 17 April 2016 - 06:10 PM

[polishgenius]

Apt, on 17 April 2016 - 06:01 PM, said:

I think the significant change that happens between 4 and 5 is that it stops being these crime centered racing films and instead juts becomes good movies. It's more buddy team goes on an adventure. More heist than chase and it makes the films more fun.

That's because 5 was based on the script for what was originally going to be the Brazilian Job, the sequel to the Italian Job remake.

Officially this is unconfirmed, but it's unbelievably obvious if you've seen said remake.



I think 5 is the best so far, but 5, 6 and 7 are all spectacular. Nonsense, but coherent and most importantly fun nonsense.