McFly_2015 Reviews

Suicide Squad (2016)

not what was expected but not a bad film

[7/10 · 10 August 2016]

My review (minor spoilers)

Overall the expectations I went in with were probably higher than they should have been. The narrative and overall plot were very difficult to follow. Like Batman v Superman, it wasn't a bad film in its own right but there were many plot points which could have been elaborated on. I figured there would be more humour but there isn't.

Harley Quinn deserved more of a backstory. It was faithful to the comics but they rushed her transition from lonely psychiatrist to anarchist. It's a very compelling story of the psychiatrist attempting to turn the inmate sane but the inmate turning the tables and turning the psychiatrist insane. So much so I think there was enough material to make a Joker/Harley film on its own (though I guess a prequel could be still in the cards). Still for what we got, Harley Quinn was very well played and she definitely resembled her comic counterpart.

Will Smith ends up stealing the show from Harley. He's more intimidating and frankly more dangerous given his combat skills. The only part of the character I didn't like was having the hardened criminal with the daughter he aims to please is getting rather cliché. Still Smith himself nails his role. Harley is separated from the Joker for most of the film and so Deadshot ends up her grounding rod for most of the film. The brief scene with Batman and Deadshot did have surprisingly good chemistry.

Affleck got four scenes. Three as Batman, one as Bruce Wayne. He didn't have a lot to work with but did a good job with what he had. I feel it's premature and unfair to compare Leto to the other Jokers. The Joker doesn't have a lot of screen time and most of it is in flashbacks or dream sequences so there wasn't much room for character development.

Viola Davis may have ended up as the unsung hero with honourable mention to Joel Kinnaman. I was heavily reminded of the Nick Fury/Phil Coulson relationship from the Avengers. Without spoiling any plot points, the two use similar plot points to motivate the team.

Overall it was a very enjoyable film. The stakes are always high when you have super criminals on the loose. I am hoping for more films with these characters, particularly Deadshot and Harley. I think the reason people feel underwhelmed is that it may not have met their expectations. Expecting a humour packed film of bad guys doing bad things for an entire film was unrealistic. The first act was the strongest with the characters being introduced, the second act definitely stalls and suffers as if the film wanders aimlessly wondering what to do next but the third act redeems the film.It ends in a way in which there aren't necessarily unresolved cliffhangers but it does open up for a world of more films and excitement on what happens next. Final grade 7.5/10

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

terrible marketing, decent film

[7/10 · 21 July 2016]

The 4 female leads were fairly good especially Kate McKinnon. Some people expected them all to be individual female clones of the male ghostbusters but they weren't, they were their own individual characters. Chris Hemsworth comes across as a pleasant surprise in the secretary role. It's hard to look at the film as its own entity without comparing it to what came before as the overall plot is similar and it does add many references. It is at least respectful to the source material and doesn't attempt to lampoon the former films. It definitely had its laughs but the humour seemed more forced.

Now the big elephant in the room was how were gender roles addressed? You can easily tell the target audience was females (both adults and children) which I didn't have a problem with. I half expected it to be extremely feminist and demeaning towards men with a bunch of misogynistic male characters acting demeaning to women but they didn't do that. There's antagonistic male and female characters so they didn't make gender much of an issue. They also didn't turn it into a chick flick which was good, Hemsworth's character is clearly portrayed as a dumb sex object but it's at least done in a humorous way. Females will probably like it more than males which is fine, I still enjoyed it for the most part and of course the original two films still exist. I'm sure in school yards boys and girls will argue which version is better so at the end of the day both sides have their own.

Where it definitely lacked was the main villain and his motives. Gozer, Zuul, and Vigo were all terrifying villains with clear aspirations. This time around it felt like more of a cheap rehash of the first film. The plot in general is the weakest of the three ghostbuster films. I liked how the first films incorporated paranormal psychology (aka parapsychology) as opposed to simply having a bunch of ghosts out there for the heroes to catch, this one didn't divulge much into paranormal psychology, possibly because the bad guy pulling all the strings is human for most of the film and using the paranormal as a means to power. Also the new title track from Fall Out Boy is awful but luckily we do get one short rendition of the Ray Parker classic.

Where it ended up better? The visuals are very impressive and the film used modern technology and 3D to its advantage. There were more ghosts and ghost bustings than the original film, the ghostbusters also had more tools than the standard proton packs and traps. I will say it has the best end credits of any film I'd ever seen, it actually gave a reason to watch the entire credits instead of just sticking around to see if anything else came.

Final thoughts? Definitely not as good as the first two. It's a great theatre experience in 3d and I'd definitely recommend it but once it goes to home video and television, it might not be that re-watchable. I don't plan on purchasing it when it comes out, maybe in a few years I'll watch it again. I'd rate it 6.5/10

The Incredible Hulk (2008 Video Game)

Hulk Smash!

[7/10 · 25 March 2010]

Levels are variable including on land and in the sea. Some levels are merely boss battles. Very fun simply going around smashing things and different skins are unlock-able. The game does include key scenes from the film and voice over work from Edward Norton and Tim Roth.

Different settings in the game include Antartica (the deleted opening from the film), South America and North America.

One pain in the game is that levels do not include save points. You could be 99% through a level and die and have to start the level over again. The hulk is a fantastic character and the game plays homage to his origins.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day (2009)

Loyal trailer park fans deserve better

[4/10 · 11 October 2009]

I agree with the posts so far in this thread.

One main problem was the character use; The main 5 in the film (the big 3, randy, and lahey) were overused. JROC and Tyrone were the only 2 in more than one scene and JROC (who was my favourite character on the show) has virtually no laughs. They used Randy quite a bit, they should have at least given him a few scenes with JROC as those 2 are usually hilarious together. The film did feature quite a few of the show's secondary characters including Cyrus, Dennis, Terry, Sam Losco, George Green, Ted, Phil, and Jacob but they were all in only one scene each and barely said a word.

Another major problem was the setting of the show; only a few scenes were actually in the trailer park. Having trailer park boys without the trailer park would be like setting a Corner Gas movie in Montreal.

This is supposed to be the ending of the show but the ending is only happy for JROC. The much maligned seasons 6 and 7 gave us happier endings. One good aspect of the film was giving Bubbles a romance but I felt this should have played out more; we've seen Ricky and Julian get the girl, poor Bubbles always has to keep his bird in! There certainly are laughs but they are few and far between. As much as it pains me to bash the trailer park boys so much, this film was terrible. Maybe it was due to lack of planning? The first film had plenty of hype and was anticipated for over a year. I am a huge fan of the show and didn't even know about this movie until the month it came out. If lack of development was the case, it certainly showed in the movie; a lot of scenes which looked like they'd be hilarious on the onset did not materialize. For an innovative show which redefined 'the envelope' I hope this is not it for the trailer park boys.

Vantage Point (2008)

6.7 = accurate grade

[7/10 · 12 March 2008]

People don't seem to understand what the writers and director were going for.

It doesn't seem like this film ever attempts to be a mystery or going for one of the most intelligent films of our time. It tells a short story from many different...vantage points and adds a piece of the plot at the end of each viewpoint. It's a suspense/action film with a relatively simple and realistic plot. There weren't really many twists per se, upon the first initial viewing, basically the closest thing to a suspect that we were given was the Spanish cop who was apprehended and common sense says he couldn't be the shooter since there's no way he could have been down from the window in time. It's not trying to be a murder mystery ala a a few suspects, 1 lying etc. unless you want to consider all thousands of people there suspects. I also don't believe the film was meant to tease us as the closest thing to a red herring was the curtains fluttering via a fan.

I think they accomplished their goal; to be a unique film with a timeline (about 30-40 minutes) shorter than the running time and tell an action packed story. You know this because it's not like anything happened in the final 10 minutes that totally shocks anyone. Probably the 2 most shocking things in the film (the rogue agent and the president double) are revealed in the middle third.

I also liked how they kept a good balance in terms of plot depth. It didn't have an overloaded plot that the average viewer could not possibly follow but it did have enough to keep the pace rolling.

So obviously this film doesn't do anything groundbreaking to merit top 250 consideration but it certainly provides for good entertainment while providing a plausible and engaging plot and was unique in its own way.