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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nBallerina<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My loyal followers, it is so disappointing when a film series surrenders the very thing we love about it.\u00a0 Some might think it is cruel to call out Ballerina<\/em> in this way.\u00a0 Doomsayer, you cry, surely you don\u2019t want Keanu Reeves playing John Wick until the ripe old age of ninety years old.\u00a0 You misunderstand me, my followers.\u00a0 Yes, John Wick<\/em> was in no doubt successful because of Keanu Reeves, but it is not the only reason.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t a shred of doubt in my mind, John Wick<\/em> was successful because they gave John a simple motive.\u00a0 Arrogant crime boss kid kills John\u2019s dog, and now everyone must die.\u00a0 Simple.\u00a0 Elegant.\u00a0 Ballerina, <\/em>on the other hand, does away with this simple motive in exchange for diving deeper into the frankly, dreary background lore of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ballerina<\/em> starts Eva, played by Ana de Armas, a girl whose family is killed by a mysterious gang and is adopted by the Ruska Roma organization.\u00a0 They train her in the art of assassination and after a few missions, she goes after the gang that killed her family despite the Ruska Roma telling her not to.\u00a0 The movie then plunges into the lore of the rivalry between the Ruska Roma and this mysterious gang to the point where it becomes tedious and tiresome.\u00a0 Part of the success of the John Wick series, came from allowing the lore behind all these crime families to hang in the background.\u00a0 Ballerina<\/em> makes the mistake of putting it front and center to the point I rather be watching any of the four original John Wick<\/em> films.\u00a0 The action is adequate, but doesn\u2019t make up for scenes with long-winded dialogue that doesn\u2019t fit in a John Wick<\/em> film. \u00a0 The film can\u2019t even escape Wick\u2019s shadow, as it forces Reeves to appear in some scenes at the end.\u00a0 I already felt the need to get off the John Wick <\/em>train after John Wick 4, <\/em>and this just solidifies that feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n M3GAN 2.0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dare I say, is this a moment where the trailer was actually helpful?\u00a0 From witnessing the trailers, I went into M3GAN 2.0 <\/em>knowing it had shed its creepy doll horror aesthetic in exchange for a sci-fi action comedy.\u00a0 With a copycat android running around, Gemma and Cady must team up with M3gan to take down this new threat.\u00a0 The film completely jumps the shark, feeling more aligned with Mission Impossible<\/em> than Annabelle<\/em>.\u00a0 Frankly, I enjoyed this hard pivot of a genre shift.\u00a0 M3GAN 2.0<\/em> knows that it is silly and over the top, but makes it work with M3gan\u2019s sassy, sarcastic nature.\u00a0 It certainly felt like the team behind M3GAN 2.0<\/em> understood the assignment a hell of a lot more than the team behind Ballerina<\/em>.\u00a0 Do not write this one off, my loyal followers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n Superman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll confess to you, my loyalest of followers, I don\u2019t think I am experiencing superhero fatigue\u2026 I am experiencing mediocre film fatigue.\u00a0 So many films, I know exactly where the movie is going after twenty odd minutes.\u00a0 I long for something new and fresh, and I don\u2019t think I am alone here.\u00a0 I think many of us in the audience want to be blown away by a new experience.\u00a0 The film industry has played it too safe, especially when it comes to superhero films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So does James Gunn\u2019s new Superman<\/em> buck this trend?\u00a0 Sort of.\u00a0 I did really enjoy the return to the hopeful version of Superman, the one diving across the screen just to save a squirrel.\u00a0 The version that will loudly exclaim being kind to each other is the new punk rock.\u00a0 Leave the evil Superman to Invincible<\/em> and The Boys<\/em>.\u00a0 I also can\u2019t help crack a smirk at certain foreign nations losing their cool at this film.\u00a0 The foundation in James Gunn\u2019s MCU is solid, but I can\u2019t help feel like this film puts the cart before the horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of the last few years, my favorite DC films have been Suicide Squad (2021) and The Batman (2022).\u00a0 Along with great writing, acting and directing, I believe these films are not bogged down by the weight of a cinematic universe.\u00a0 Their stories are contained and focused.\u00a0 Whereas, Superman<\/em> feels like it\u2019s juggling so many plates.\u00a0 Not only are we dropping in on Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, but Gunn is trying to introduce the Justice Gang too.\u00a0 It just feels overcrowded, and frankly reminds me of picking a comic book that\u2019s a second or third issue of a series.\u00a0 I agree with Gunn, that we don\u2019t need to see Superman as a baby crash landing on the Kent farm, but there are other scenes that I would like to see.\u00a0 Lois and Clark are three weeks into their relationship.\u00a0 I enjoyed watching them have their first fight; would have been nice to see how Clark asks her out.\u00a0 The film opens with Superman losing his first fight, but ironically never shows it.\u00a0 WHO IS THE GUY THAT LEX LUTHOR KILLS IN THE POCKET DIMENSION, AND WHY SHOULD I CARE THAT HE\u2019S DEAD!?!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look, I know the Warner Brother executives are chomping at the bit to have their own Avengers: Endgame,<\/em> but I cannot summon the energy to care about another cinematic universe experience.\u00a0 I know we are eventually going to get a Justice League movie, and I wish Gunn all the luck with that project.\u00a0 The thought of watching another cinematic universe, barreling head first into the massive team up at mock speeds, has me sighing like a dog bored on the couch.\u00a0 Superman<\/em> was great when it was focused on being a Superman film, and not so great when it is a vehicle for the Gunn DC universe, or whatever we are calling this thing. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wake me when The Batman 2<\/em> and Clayface<\/em> comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off (1986)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re seriously asking if Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em> is good?\u00a0 It\u2019s great.\u00a0 Go watch it.\u00a0 Go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In all seriousness, Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off <\/em>is a masterclass in character design.\u00a0 The writing perfectly walks the tight-rope\u2019s edge of being charismatic yet sympathetic.\u00a0 Take the titular Ferris for example, he\u2019s a wise-cracking, smooth talking hero.\u00a0 It would have been so easy for him to come off smug and superior, but he never does.\u00a0 He\u2019s friendly and charming, and really only uses his Loki-like mischief when someone clearly wrongs him.\u00a0 Cameron\u2019s another great example.\u00a0 He\u2019s down in the dumps, depressed and the Eeyore to Ferris\u2019s Tigger.\u00a0 I have seen a million of these characters, and they always drag the mood down.\u00a0 Yet, Cameron, never falls into this pit trap.\u00a0 Most likely due to the fact he is able to smile when Ferris\u2019s schemes pay off.\u00a0 Making it that much sweeter when he\u2019s able to raise from the funk at the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life moves pretty fast.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t stop and take the time to watch a movie like this, you might just miss it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n Eddington<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 HEAR YE!!!\u00a0 To those proclaiming Eddington will one day be a cult classic, I hope you or I never see that day.\u00a0 If that day is to come, then allow the meteors to strike the Earth and end civilization.\u00a0 I am all for films aiming to make their audience uncomfortable.\u00a0 Disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed has been my new mantra regarding art.\u00a0 Yet this film, has no new ideas or clever insights.\u00a0 It is simply your uncle, who claims to be centrist even though he exclusively votes Republican, crying at Thanksgiving dinner about how both sides botched the pandemic, simply because he wasn’t allowed to go to Chili\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who made the wise choice to skip this film and see Superman<\/em> a second time, Eddington<\/em> is about a feud between the titular town sheriff, Joe Cross, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and the town mayor, Ted Garcia, played by Pedro Pascal.\u00a0 With the film gracefully taking place during the COVID pandemic, naturally Cross and Garcia are in constant disagreement about masks.\u00a0 Having enough of Garcia, Cross decides to run against him in the upcoming mayoral race, but between the newly formed George Floyd protest and trouble with his wife, Cross starts drowning in negative discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite having the most tired and tedious first act, the film evolves into a modern western in the second act.\u00a0 One of our characters, who I won\u2019t spoil despite my distaste for this film, commits a heinous crime and spends his days trying to be one step ahead of the law.\u00a0 I soon found myself humming Johnny Cash\u2019s God\u2019s Gonna Cut You Down,<\/em> as I was rooting for the long arm of the law to righteously dispense some justice.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, though, the film swerves back into the incoherent ramblings from your Grandfather drunk off Fox News, as the third act consists of George Soros funded mercenaries invading the town.\u00a0 Eddington<\/em> had the potential to evolve the modern western, focused on a character trying to out run the law equipped with cellphones and social media.\u00a0 However, it is too bogged down in all the political rhetoric that ruined many of Thanksgivings dinners. I hope A24 thinks twice before allowing Ari Aster to have complete creative control and carte blanche.<\/p>\n\n\n Final Destination (2000)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Having come hot off the heels of Final Destination Bloodlines<\/em>, the opportunity arose to watch the original film that started it all: Final Destination.<\/em>\u00a0 The film revolves around Alex, played by Devon Sawa, who gets the ability to see the Rube Goldberg machine that Death puts into place to claim people\u2019s lives.\u00a0 Using this ability to save himself and a handful of his classmates from a tragic plane crash, Alex becomes haunted by the realization that he\u2019s cheated death, and death won\u2019t let him get away unscathed.\u00a0 Similar to Bloodlines<\/em>, our hero must learn that nobody can avoid the Grim Reaper when their number is called, and you can\u2019t let death control how you walk through life.\u00a0 The film, overall, feels like it\u2019s laying the groundwork for the later films.\u00a0 The deaths are serviceable, but I can picture future films pushing the envelope.\u00a0 I struggle to think of most of the kills in this original film, yet the MRI scene from Bloodlines<\/em> is still fresh in my mind.\u00a0 \u00a0 Still, the characters and story are solid enough for me to recommend if you are just getting into the series as I was.<\/p>\n\n\n Ghostbusters (1984)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n REJOICE, MY FOLLOWERS!!!\u00a0 I have found the secret to why modern day Ghostbusters<\/em> films are so atrociously bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s because they are simply not funny.\u00a0 I am sure the executive producers are ready to hurl tomatoes at my head crying out, we have humor in our movies.\u00a0 NAY, I would fire back!!!\u00a0 You have Marvel-style quips so you can tell investors that you are serving the comedy markets and leaving comedy fans to rot.\u00a0 Modern day Ghostbusters<\/em> want to be paranormal action films, while the original was a comedy about those taking the paranormal seriously.\u00a0 I say this with all the love in my heart for the original Ghostbusters, Stantz and Spengler were dweebs and Venkman is just a con artist.\u00a0 These characters were never meant to be lorded as action heroes.\u00a0 Everything in the 1984 Ghostbusters<\/em> is played for laughs, and the fact Ghostbusters<\/em> lore is taken so seriously, is the biggest joke of them all.\u00a0 The main villain turning into an overinflated marshmallow man IS A JOKE, NOT AN INDICATION OF THEIR POWER LEVEL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Sony seriously wants a return on their investment, then focus on making Ghostbusters<\/em> a comedy and not a Marvel movie.<\/p>\n\n\n The Fantastic Four: First Step<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My loyal followers, I feel as though I am losing my mind.\u00a0 Two superhero films in one month that are suffocating under the weight of their cinematic universes.\u00a0 Yes, The Fantastic Four: First Step <\/em>didn\u2019t try to pull in other Marvel heroes as Superman<\/em> did, but the idea that this film can simply exist in a vacuum is naive.\u00a0 With the exception of poor Ben, everyone was given character traits that a series could explore.\u00a0 I felt the film was teasing a reveal of The Maker with how much they leaned into Reed\u2019s ability to overthink things; I didn\u2019t even mind the Pedro Pascal Mr. Fantastic casting by the end.\u00a0 However, this might not ever happen because Disney and Marvel are too eager to get back to Endgame<\/em> money.\u00a0 There has yet to be a hero that\u2019s gotten a trilogy since Endgame.\u00a0 <\/em>Marvel is committing the same mistakes that Warner Brothers made in the 2010.\u00a0 Quite frankly, I am more interested in a Fantastic Four 2<\/em> than I am Avengers: Doomsday<\/em>, but at this rate, I am not sure Marvel is interested in giving us one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, Mr. Ebon Moss-Bachrach, I enjoyed your performance, but do you think you can use a little bit more of your chest when you give the Clobbering Time line?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is superhero fatigue real? 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