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It's been a long, long wait. Back in the summer 2017 we were delighted by Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. It had thrills, laughs, emotions and most of all - so much heart. Now Jenkins returns with a highly ambitious sequel, which is very, very different from the original film. The saddening and dark setting of the World War I has been replaced with vibrant colors of the 80's, the serious background is now a fantastical tale and Williams' gentle, lovely score made way for Zimmer's music which sounds as if he did few lines of coke on a rolllercoaster. But it still feels like a familiar Wonder Woman story because Gal Gadot's Diana is back. And she is the same as we remember her - both an inspiring goddess and a highly relatable person with hopes, fears and desires. We know her, we like her, we admire her. We want to follow her on her journey. And the heroes we see ourselves in are those who end up inspiring us the most.
Gareth Edwards' 2014's Godzilla was one of the most forgettable big budget movies I've seen. Nothing memorable came out of it, other than hilarious Honest Trailer highlighting Ken Watanabe's stares and the meme of Bryan Cranston saying "Godzilla, we need to cook" and shot of Godzilla going "bitch". Somehow it got good reviews and made enough money to jump start the Monsterverse.
Back in the early 2000's we didn't really have many good CBMs. We had stuff like Daredevil and Fantastic Four, and we never dreamed that the genre will be truly successful one day. But there were also the X-Men movies, the first two parts of which, along with Sam Raimi's Spiderman, proved that CBMs can be genuinely thrilling action adventure flicks. The franchise then evolved, delivering few stinkers in the process and changing its cast. Then in 2017, triumphantly, came the best entry in the X-Men franchise and entire comic book movie genre - the masterful Logan. They should have just quit while they were ahead. But as always is the case with 20th Century Fox, they didn't.
5 years ago we were introduced to the deadliest Avenger of them all. John Wick, a man who has lost his wife and received a farewell gift from her - a puppy. But when that puppy is killed, in what is the most awful scene I've seen in my entire life, and John's car is stolen (let's face it - that car doesn't really matter, though) by some very bad people, John Wick will embark on the most entertaining, justified and hottest killing spree in cinematic history.
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75 years. That's how long Wonder Woman had to wait for her own movie. 14 years. That's how long the director Patty Jenkins had to wait to do her next film. But now it's finally their time. And with that all the women should cheer - we finally have a CBM movie where it's a woman who is leading, not following.
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Marvel's reign over what seems to be the entire world - they have been getting our attention and our money for years now - has recently started to become a bit shaky. Age of Ultron, sequel to their most profitable movie yet, Avengers was disappointing. Not financially, of course, but the reception was underwhelming. And who can blame the people who were let down - Ultron repeated the sin of formulaic storyline, bland villain and frankly it was just bizarre. I mean what the hell was up with the"hey kids, gather around and we will tell you about that time Black Widow's ovaries got removed!" thing?
I love Melissa McCarthy. There are plenty of people who find her
crude, annoying and unfunny but I'm not one of those people. I am still
baffled that there are those out there who actually hated The Heat,
which I think is one of the funniest comedies in recent years. And
McCarthy's nomination for her wonderful work in Bridesmaids is one of
my all time favorite Oscar nominations. To top these two movies would be tough, but
that is exactly what Spy managed to do.
It's really hard to describe Mad Max: Fury Road. It is first and foremost a film you need to experience. No amount of words and descriptions can really help you understand or prepare you for the film's hellish pace, spellbinding visuals and intensity.
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Let me say this upfront - I don't mind silly movies. Just few days ago I had a great time watching Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat. It was dumb, but at least it wasn't boring. This is pretty much the minimum I ask of summer film - to entertain. So when I was checking my text messages during Pacific Rim, I knew that it failed for me.
In the immortal words of legendary Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshal - "Awful bloody movie". I was left with a number of reflections other than this one as soon as the end credits of the new Superman movie Man of Steel came up on screen - how the hell can a movie with Henry Cavill 1. shirtless 2. in a tight suit be so dull? How in the world Adams and Cavill had zero chemistry? Why did they make Diane Lane look like a homeless person? But among those questions there was also one request - don't ever let Zack Snyder direct a movie again.
Iron Man 3 was supposed to be the end of the trilogy ."Supposed to be" because now I hear they are planning on doing more movies. Whether it's true or not, the third part focusing on the adventures of Tony Stark is an entertaining summer blockbuster, but for me it was the weakest part of the trilogy. There was just a little too much silliness here and the villain weren't as menacing as he should be to provide the strong sense of danger.
