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Thursday, Aug. 15 2013, 02:35 PM
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Tuesday, Aug. 13 2013, 01:50 PM
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Tuesday, Jul. 23 2013, 04:34 PM
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It seemed like all 91,585 of the project's Kickstarter donors were in attendance Friday for the Veronica Mars movie panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Hall H was filled with wall-to-wall screams when -- even before the cast appeared -- the first footage premiered. And then creator Rob Thomas appeared on stage, accompanied by stars Kristen Bell, Francis Capra, Enrico Colantoni, Percy Daggs III, Jason Dohring, Ryan Hansen, Chris Lowell and Tina Majorino, all greeted with roaring applause.
Tuesday, Jul. 23 2013, 06:08 PM
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Tuesday, Jul. 23 2013, 05:44 PM
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20th Century Fox's Comic-Con International in San Diego presentation offered plenty of surprises and some stunning first-look footage as the creators behind Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past played to a full house in the convention's largest venue, Hall H. Hugh Jackman, starring in two of the three films under discussion, presided over much of the panel in his familiarly boisterous, charismatic fashion, displaying a true fan's enthusiasm for the material, endearing him to the audience -- as if playing the most famous and popular X-Man would not have been enough.
Tuesday, Jul. 23 2013, 05:17 PM
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Monday, Jul. 22 2013, 03:58 PM
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Monday, Jul. 22 2013, 03:59 PM
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Monday, Jul. 22 2013, 04:00 PM
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Monday, Jul. 22 2013, 04:22 PM
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On the heels of Thursday's viral video and character posters, fans packed Hall H at Comic-Con International in San Diego for the world-premiere of the trailer for the adaptation of author Orson Scott Card's sci-fi novel Ender's Game. Present for the screening and Q&A were director Gavin Hood, producer Roberto Orci and stars Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld.
Sunday, Jul. 21 2013, 04:04 PM
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Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures launched Saturday programming with a joint panel surveying their upcoming films, including Godzilla and Seventh Son from Legendary and 300: Rise of an Empire, Gravity and The LEGO Movie. The big news, though, is Warner's Superman/Batman, a live-action film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill and a Batman to be named later.
Sunday, Jul. 21 2013, 03:29 PM
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Marvel Studios entertained a packed room in Comic-Con International's Hall H with a panel of stars from its upcoming "Wave 2" films, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, along with Guardians of the Galaxy in a surprise twist.
Sunday, Jul. 21 2013, 03:10 PM
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At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Entertainment Weekly celebrated three filmmakers whose voices are always apparent in their work: Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Gravity) and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, The World's End). At a panel called "The Visionaries," these creators spoke about their perspectives and processes to the audience assembled in Hall H.
Saturday, Jul. 20 2013, 02:40 PM
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Fans slept in line overnight for the chance to see world premiere footage from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and -- judging by the cheers, screams and applause from the packed crowd in Hall H at Comic-Con International in San Diego -- their devoted efforts were well worth it. Introducing the footage was director Marc Webb, producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad, and actors Andrew Garfield and Dane DeHaan. Garfield opted to enter as his big-screen alter-ego, sauntering into the crowd in full Spidey gear after a video introduction and answering questions as Spider-Man for the first ten minutes.
Saturday, Jul. 20 2013, 01:44 PM
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In recent years, Comic-Con International has expanded beyond the borders of the San Diego Convention Center to off-site locations where exhibitors rent spaces to more properly showcase a single product, crafting an experience for fans. This year, Legendary Entertainment has crafted a full Godzilla experience that allows attendees not only to see some of the historical and cultural significance of the monster, but also get a taste of what it might be like to be under siege by the giant lizard.
Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 11:30 AM
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Thursday, Jul. 18 2013, 09:39 AM
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The San Diego Comic Con is a buffet of magic from the worlds of comic books, television, art, movies, and spandex costumes. Nearly the entire Rotten Tomatoes team will be in attendance, bringing you updates in every available form of media.
Monday, Jul. 15 2013, 03:05 PM
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Thursday, Jul. 11 2013, 03:38 PM
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Monday, Jul. 08 2013, 04:15 PM
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Tuesday, May. 01 2012, 04:20 PM
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Monday, Jul. 01 2013, 11:08 AM
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Is this our Ant-Man?
Tuesday, Jun. 25 2013, 11:04 AM
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He confirms that preliminary discussions have taken place.
Monday, Jun. 24 2013, 12:32 PM
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It's a pretty major one.
Monday, Jun. 24 2013, 12:28 PM
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Thursday, Jun. 13 2013, 12:04 PM
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It took a heck of a lot longer than a speeding bullet to get here, but when Man of Steel arrives in theaters this week, it'll herald the return of a beloved franchise that -- although not without its share of ups and downs -- has been thrilling fans for decades. In fact, this year marks the 62nd anniversary of the first Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men; sadly, we don't have any reviews on file for that one, but that didn't stop us from taking a look back at our hero's other big-screen adventures. From the moments that made us believe a man could fly to the ones that were critical Kryptonite, this week is all about Krypton's favorite son. Up, up, and away, it's time for Total Recall!
Thursday, Jun. 13 2013, 01:28 PM
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The summer blockbuster you've been waiting for is finally flying into theaters, to save your summer from its descent into heat and boredom. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder, and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, and Michael Shannon talk to Grae Drake about super powers, their parents, and how good it feels to actually be able to talk about this uber-secret project.
Thursday, Jun. 13 2013, 01:28 PM
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Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer are back on board.
Tuesday, Jun. 11 2013, 03:14 PM
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An 80-year-old letter from creator Jerry Siegel outlines a very different beginning for the Man of Steel.
Wednesday, Jun. 12 2013, 12:13 PM
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"I want to be the first black man with a comb-over."
Wednesday, Jun. 12 2013, 12:17 PM
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"If you have these big spectacles, but you can make them relatable to people and engage them emotionally, no matter how big the spectacle is, then it will work."
Wednesday, Jun. 12 2013, 12:18 PM
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It's "a multipicture deal (with options) for a character who will also be involved in future Marvel films."
Monday, Jun. 03 2013, 01:02 PM
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"It's a little puzzling for me because I thought my X-Men days were over."
Monday, Jun. 03 2013, 01:01 PM
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Makes the controversy surrounding Marlboro's $43,000 buy-in for "Superman II" look quaint.
Wednesday, Jun. 05 2013, 02:13 PM
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...And zombies are rumored to be involved.
Thursday, Jun. 06 2013, 03:52 PM
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Comic book movies are all the rage these days, and every year we see more of them hitting theaters than before. Whether you're into quirky indie comics (Ghost World, American Splendor), superhero action titles (The Dark Knight, The Avengers), graphic novels (300, Persepolis), or even manga (Oldboy), there's probably a big screen adaptation on this list for you. Click through to find out what's available to watch online right now.
Wednesday, May. 22 2013, 02:09 PM
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He's signed on to play "a lead with iconic stature."
Friday, May. 10 2013, 01:01 PM
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You'll have to wait until next March to see it.
Friday, May. 10 2013, 12:55 PM
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Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. And Senior Editor Grae Drake finds out that he loves Rotten Tomatoes, movies, and opening refrigerator doors. He also receives extra points for his West Coast Avengers tee shirt casually laid underneath his superstar cardigan.
Friday, May. 03 2013, 01:36 PM
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Once convinced he won't be accused of sexual harassment, Sir Ben Kingsley finally takes a peek at Grae Drake's arc reactor. Then he talks about what Ghandi, Shakespeare, and The Mandarin have in common. And what would he summon to him like Iron Man's armor? Bet you can't guess.
Wednesday, May. 01 2013, 01:00 PM
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Wednesday, May. 01 2013, 02:48 PM
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In the third installment of our special five-part series, Gwyneth Paltrow ruminates on Pepper Potts' many virtues, how her co-stars might need to train with her physical fitness guru Tracy Anderson, and how avoiding gluten might have changed the entire outcome of this trilogy.
Wednesday, May. 01 2013, 02:36 PM
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In the second installment of our special five part series celebrating the release of Iron Man 3, Senior Editor Grae Drake talks to Don Cheadle. In a bid to blackmail Robert Downey Jr. into continuing to play the role of Tony Stark, Cheadle reveals all of RDJ's secrets. And they talk about how Grae is short one arc reactor.
Wednesday, May. 01 2013, 02:35 PM
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Grae Drake powers up her own personal arc reactor to speak to the cast of Iron Man 3. In the first installment of our special five part series, Guy Pearce discusses what he does in his front yard that perplexes the neighbors, and Rebecca Hall shares what she thinks the inside of her brain looks like.
Wednesday, May. 01 2013, 02:35 PM
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Word is he'll be playing the villain...whoever that might be.
Wednesday, Apr. 24 2013, 07:35 AM
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Rumor has it he'll be offered the gig if "Man of Steel" is a hit.
Friday, Apr. 26 2013, 10:23 AM
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It's only been a year since The Avengers assembled and saved the world, but Robert Downey Jr. is itching to put on his Mark III britches. With premieres already in the UK and New Zealand, Iron Man 3 continues its global rollout, premiering in several more European contries tomorrow, and all leading up to the May 3 release date in Tony Stark's own United States.
Thursday, Apr. 25 2013, 03:12 PM
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Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 03:16 PM
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Enter Marvel Movie Madness, wherein Rotten Tomatoes watches all of the significant Marvel movies ever made. Full Marvel Movie Madness list here. Tune in! We give you our thoughts, and you give us yours.
Tuesday, Apr. 16 2013, 04:05 PM
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None of that nasty green Kryptonite this time around.
Thursday, Apr. 11 2013, 03:16 AM
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Bryan Singer tweets a picture of Patrick Stewart on set.
Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 01:58 PM
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Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 05:00 PM
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Then step right up for Marvel Movie Madness! Beginning Monday, Rotten Tomatoes is watching (or re-watching) every significant film from the Marvel filmography, coinciding with this summer season's unprecedented onslaught of Thor, X-Men First Class, and Captain America: The First Avenger. We'll deliver our thoughts on each film, and regale you with witty tales of us sitting, eating, and watching comic book movies.
Wednesday, Apr. 17 2013, 12:00 PM
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Let's stop here, this is Bat Movies: a five part article series exploring the films and cultural impact of Bruce Wayne and his night moves as justice-dispensing vigilante. In this fourth installment: The Dark Knight Trilogy
Monday, Jul. 23 2012, 02:15 PM
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Let's stop here, this is Bat Movies: a five part article series exploring the films and cultural impact of Bruce Wayne and his night moves as justice-dispensing vigilante. In this third installment: Batman: The Movie and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Thursday, Jul. 19 2012, 05:27 PM
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Let's stop here, this is Bat Movies: a five part article series exploring the films and cultural impact of Bruce Wayne and his night moves as justice-dispensing vigilante. In this second installment: Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
Wednesday, Jul. 18 2012, 03:26 PM
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Let's stop here, this is Bat Movies: a five part article series exploring the films and cultural impact of Bruce Wayne and his night moves as justice-dispensing vigilante. In this first installment: Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns.
Tuesday, Jul. 17 2012, 03:26 PM
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Enter Marvel Movie Madness, wherein Rotten Tomatoes watches all of the significant Marvel movies ever made. Full Marvel Movie Madness list here. Tune in! We give you our thoughts, and you give us yours.
Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 04:08 PM
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As we learned earlier in this series, it isn't exactly easy to bring Captain America to the big screen. He's unquestionably a comics icon, but for decades, Cap's combination of bland upstanding citizenship, dorky costume, and fairly boring superpowers have been a challenge for the guys who write the books, so it isn't hard to see why Hollywood has struggled with him.
Monday, Jul. 25 2011, 06:55 PM
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Tim: Once in a while, in spite of itself, Captain America hints at being something more. There are a couple goofy scenes in which Steve Rogers is baffled by the norms of the 1990s, and the movie's most poignant scene -- when Steve returns to the home of his teenage sweetheart, now elderly, but still in love with him -- is so fleeting as to blunt any intriguing possibilities. If some recent superhero movies have overdosed on self-seriousness, well, that's a preferable approach to the cheapness on display here.
Friday, Jul. 22 2011, 03:05 PM
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Alex: Captain America: Perhaps Republic's most popular serial ever! 15 chapters, a massive budget, and only Republic's finest seven serial screenwriters worked on it! ...Which means absolutely zero to anyone watching Captain America in close approximation to the year 2011. Captain America is a 243-minute collection of 15 serial episodes produced in 1944. Overall, yes, the serial sent the Rotten Tomatoes office into bouts of laughter, but if you ever found yourself exiled by Red Skull into some infinite nebulous void between time and space, and have four hours to kill, here you go.
Thursday, Jul. 21 2011, 09:10 AM
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Luke: Has everyone forgotten about this movie already? It seems like it. Despite good reviews and strong box office, it feels like Iron Man 2 is generally dismissed as a weak sequel. It's definitely inferior to its predecessor, but I do remember enjoying it enough at the time -- even though I could scarcely remember a single thing about it a few days later. For me, the first Iron Man was an average superhero film elevated by a charismatic performance, but this time around that element of pleasant surprise is gone; Robert Downey, Jr.'s off-the-chain appeal is still there, but it's a given, so the weakness of the narrative feels more apparent.
Tuesday, Jul. 19 2011, 04:49 PM
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Tim: Hands down, Iron Man is my favorite Marvel movie. For me, Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as Tony Stark -- a cross between Steve Jobs and James Bond -- is pitch-perfect. He's a charming rogue with a conscience, someone who you can relate to and dream of being. (And unlike most wiseacre heroes, Tony Stark's witty bon mots seem to come more from the mouth of someone who's supremely self-confident -- not a screenwriter.) Downey's performance is the highlight, but Iron Man gets just about everything else right as well. Too many blockbusters feel the need to throw everything at the screen in clumps, but Iron Man is remarkably well-paced; it gives the story and its characters room to breathe, and its (admittedly awesome) special effects never overwhelm the narrative. The action sequences are stupendous, but never arbitrary -- this is a movie that trusts the audience will stay entertained without resorting to explosions every five minutes.
Friday, Jul. 15 2011, 12:41 PM
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Ryan: I don't believe Elektra deserves its current 10% Tomatometer score at all. Elektra was only marginally worse than Daredevil, and in fact, it held my attention for a much longer time than Daredevil did before it took a turn for the worse (relatively speaking). Despite all of its other flaws, if Elektra had had some quality enemies to battle, I really think this movie could have been better than Daredevil. As it stands, it's just a humdrum chase movie with flaccid action and some puzzling directorial choices.
Wednesday, Jul. 13 2011, 07:41 AM
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Tim: Why on earth does this movie have such a lousy reputation? The mind boggles. Daredevil is a second-tier movie about a second-tier Marvel character, and so it follows that it lacks the operatic grandeur, emotional complexity, and mind-bending special effects of the Spider-Man and X-Men movies. Therefore, taken on its own modest merits, Daredevil delivers.
Tuesday, Jul. 12 2011, 12:41 PM
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Luke: Like "Who Let the Dogs Out?", the word "bangin'" and Lara Flynn Boyle -- apparent cultural touchstones of turn-of-the-century America -- I forgot this belated sequel even existed. Which is understandable, because Men in Black II is a pretty lazy follow-up to a reasonably funny hit; the kind of movie where everything that felt fresh about the first instalment is milked charmlessly -- and in which a talking pug gives a more enthusiastic performance than the paycheck-cashing leads. As is the way of many inferior sequels, MiBII is content to recycle the basic plot -- again, the agency must stop an intergalactic menace ("psycho hose beast" herself Lara Flynn Boyle as tentacled alien Surleena) while regurgitating gags and set pieces from the original.
Friday, Jul. 08 2011, 11:39 AM
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Ryan: For me, Will Smith is most tolerable in small doses, which is unfortunate, because he's usually one of the biggest stars - if not the biggest star - of any movie he's in. In Men in Black, he gets to share the spotlight with Tommy Lee Jones, and much to my delight, their great chemistry really works wonders for Smith's likability. Since that was probably the biggest hurdle I faced going into this movie, everything after that was gravy.
Wednesday, Jul. 06 2011, 12:37 PM
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Alex: The question: Could America handle an ultra violent movie that glorified, and even slightly sexualized the actions of a 12-year-old femme fatale? Probably, but Matthew Vaughn never even gives us the chance. An R-rated comic book movie needs to hit and it needs to hit hard. Vaughn instead tries to soften the blow every chance he gets, overstylizing and resorting to tricks like plopping obvious pop songs over action scenes. Here's a Joan Jett song just in case you wanted to be sick of it again! The movie can be appealingly bratty but that's hardly a counter to Kick-Ass' lack of discipline: too many characters, too many meandering subplots, too many too-clever ideas it struggles to be in your face about.
Friday, Jul. 01 2011, 04:30 PM
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Enter Marvel Movie Madness, wherein Rotten Tomatoes watches all of the significant Marvel movies ever made. Full Marvel Movie Madness list here. Tune in! We give you our thoughts, and you give us yours.
Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 04:20 PM
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Ryan: It has to be said: This is the most problematic of the three Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. There are too many characters, too many simultaneous subplots, too many villains, too many meandering lulls in between the big action sequences. With two-plus years to work on the third installment, and with two solid films behind them, Raimi and Co. were perfectly poised to hit another one out of the park. Unfortunately, the director's ambition seems to have gotten the better of him on this go-round.
Friday, Jul. 01 2011, 01:29 PM
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Alex: Spider-Man 2 shows Sam Raimi at peak form -- a mischievous filmmaker with a big budget and the studio trust to do whatever the hell he pleases with the expectation that a great huge blockbuster will come out of it. It dutifully treks the path laid out at the end of Spider-Man: Peter Parker is in the city as a struggling college student, Mary Jane is making strides in her acting career, and Harry Osborne picks up the Oscorp pieces in the wake of his father's death. Spider-Man 2 has the same semi-serious bubblegum tone as the first, but with the distinct advantage of having a much juicier villain: Dr. Otto Octavius, whose arc from romantic scientist to Dr. Octopus to repentant villain is simple but always compelling.
Thursday, Jun. 30 2011, 04:11 PM
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Luke: You know a comic book movie's big when it transcends genre and becomes part of the mainstream pop consciousness. Like Richard Donner's Superman, Burton's Batman and, later, Nolan's The Dark Knight, Spider-Man felt like an event; and it was: domestically it was the highest-grossing film of 2002 -- beating Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter -- and helped crown Marvel's movie renaissance begun with Blade and X-Men.
Monday, Jun. 27 2011, 02:22 PM
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Luke: Well, I guess everyone's going to violently disagree here, so I'll come right out with it. This is the kind of movie that reminds me why I never trust critics' opinions on anything. If you think Howard the Duck is one of the worst things ever made, then frankly you either haven't seen enough movies or have no sense of humor. I mean, sure, the script grimly bastardizes Steve Gerber's comic character in favor of a silly sci-fi adventure -- an ideal Howard adaptation probably should have been animated and directed by, I don't know, Ralph Bakshi or Terry Zwigoff, to capture the character's caustic existentialism. But whatever; how many big-budget PG blockbusters marketed under the marquee of George Lucas have been this f***ing weird?
Friday, Jun. 24 2011, 12:20 PM
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Luke: It's telling when Arnold Schwarzenegger describes this film as one of his worst -- he once said that he used it as a threat to his kids: "I tell them, if they get on my bad side, they'll be forced to watch Red Sonja 10 times in a row." So what do they and Maria make him watch? Jingle All the Way? I beg to differ with Arnold's appraisal of his canon. Not that Red Sonja is good. It's terrible -- but in a pleasurable way.
Thursday, Jun. 23 2011, 06:31 AM
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Matt: This week of the Marvel Movie Madness contains the movies we're calling "the weird crap" - Man-Thing, Red Sonja, and Howard the Duck. We've seen some good and bad films get made out of Marvel properties, but I think we can all agree that the movies this week are based on some of the lesser-known titles, and all three of them are pretty ugly. Today, we're focusing on Man-Thing. Based on a long-running, semi regular title, Man-Thing is a shambling swamp monster that's basically Marvel's version of Swamp Thing (the creators of both characters came up with them around the same time). Man-Thing had a brief monthly run, but was then cut to a quarterly or semi-annual run as double-sized issues. And to the delight of everyone's inner 12-year-old, they were called "Giant-Size Man-Thing."
Tuesday, Jun. 21 2011, 04:23 AM
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Alex: Another stab at a Punisher movie, another failure. Ray Stevenson mostly looks grumpy, not quite insane enough. The rest of the cast seemed to have been given no direction to rein in their characters, especially Dominic West as villain Jigsaw and Julie Benz as the widow of an undercover FBI agent slain by the Punisher. The basic plot revolves around the Punisher somehow discovering that, among the hundreds of thugs he guns down, one happened to be an FBI agent. Suddenly, he has a conscience. Why does he even care?
Friday, Jun. 17 2011, 02:25 PM
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Tim: Look, I know the Punisher is a vigilante driven to vengeance after the brutal slaying of his wife, child, parents, and extended family. I get it. But this is a seriously unpleasant movie. There are a few inherent problems with this material when you're putting it on the screen, namely that the over-the-top brutality that makes the comics queasily compelling just seems cruel here. The extended sequence in which evil plutocrat Frank Saint's thugs kill every member of Castle's family, then chase his wife and child to a pier and drive over them, then brutally beat Castle, shoot him several times, and dump gasoline everywhere to finish the job, is so vicious and sadistic -- and fetishized -- that it ceases to be entertainment and starts to be simply gratuitous.
Thursday, Jun. 16 2011, 09:44 AM
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Alex: To say that this 1989 outing is the best Punisher is less a reflection that the other two are not good and more that this is actually a decent flick. That said, I'm not exactly calling for a Dolph critical re-appreciation; this movie, just like all of the Punishers, has its small cabal of supporters and that seems perfectly reasonable.
Tuesday, Jun. 14 2011, 08:37 AM
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Enter Marvel Movie Madness, wherein Rotten Tomatoes watches all of the significant Marvel movies ever made. Full Marvel Movie Madness list here. Tune in! We give you our thoughts, and you give us yours.
Monday, Apr. 15 2013, 04:04 PM
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Ryan: Over my lifetime, my feelings on Nic Cage have gone from apathy to distaste to befuddlement to acceptance and, finally, amusement. Nowadays, I tend to enjoy the way he throws himself into every role, primarily because I get a kick out of his wild antics and hilarious facial expressions. With that in mind, I was actually prepared to give Ghost Rider the benefit of the doubt; I kind of wanted to like it, and was half expecting that I would. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of Nic Cage freakouts, some surprisingly effective (at times) CGI, and the unexpected presence of Sam Elliott, the film is simply plagued by too many little issues to earn even a begrudging seal of approval from me.
Friday, Jun. 10 2011, 10:49 AM
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Alex:Hey, brainy directors making comic book movies: Learn the lesson of Gavin Hood and don't approach the genre like you're doing fanboys a favor. You're actually just doing yourself a disservice. Hood, an obviously smart guy with movies like Rendition and Tsotsi, ditches his strengths, takes every opportunity to try to be awesome and instead comes off as pandering and desperate. Obviously excited by the idea of having a special effects budget to tell a bigger story yet having no idea how to put it effectively on screen, Hood gives us stuff that looks OK if ridiculous (twirling mutant laser beam destroys a cooling tower), really bad (bullets hit the ground, obviously digitized dirt burst up), and downright horrible (Wolverine's adamantium claws). Seriously, what was up with the claws? Lawnmower Man quality.
Wednesday, Jun. 08 2011, 10:47 AM
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Matt: After a disappointing descent into mediocrity (X-Men: The Last Stand, and Wolverine), Marvel's mutant heroes make a triumphant return to the big screen with a prequel that tells the story of how the band got together back in the day. Now, if you're like me and grew up reading The Uncanny X-Men, you won't like the liberties taken here with which mutants were actually in this "First Class." But I'm willing to let that pass because this movie is mostly pretty fun. The action is thrilling, the cast is (mostly) great, and the story works pretty well.
Monday, Jun. 06 2011, 04:34 PM
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Luke: The Last Stand feels like a kit car: from a distance it appears to be the real thing, but get up close and lift the shell and you discover it's running on an inferior engine. Like most I wish Bryan Singer hadn't jumped ship for that confusing Superman movie, but I also think Brett Ratner takes too much of the bad rap for X3's shortcomings. Ratner's douchey reputation tends to precede his competency as a director -- sure, his images lack the grace and personality of Singer's, but in his defense he at least tries to be reverent.
Friday, Jun. 03 2011, 12:43 PM
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Alex: X2 comes out and makes $30 million more opening weekend than X-Men. Suddenly, everybody realizes the box office potential of the superhero. X2's story picks up directly after the original: Wolverine returns to the mutant campus after a fruitless Weapon X origin search, just as Magneto gets involved with a plan to neutralize all non-mutants on Earth.
Wednesday, Jun. 01 2011, 03:42 PM
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Alex: I see now X-Men isn't about superheroes. It's about mutants. About the fear, the isolation, the terror of inhabiting a world that seeks only to shun or bury you. This movie has a hard edge, likely because in 2000 it represented some risky filmmaking. An ensemble comic book movie? The furthest thing from a sure bet. So then kudos to Bryan Singer for knowing what he had in Hugh Jackman and sticking with him. If you're watching X-Men again with us, I hope you took note how much Singer challenged Jackman and what a fantastic performance he gives back.
Tuesday, May. 31 2011, 01:56 PM
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Jeff: Well, that was disappointing. But hey, when a movie includes a voiceover sequence and one character warning another with the hoary phrase "you're gettin' reckless" within the first 10 minutes, you kind of have to be grateful that it's at least telling you upfront that it isn't going to be any good. Even for the third installment in an action thriller vampire trilogy, Blade: Trinity is packed with "wait, what?" moments, from its cast full of talented character actors who had mortgage payments (including Eric Bogosian, Patton Oswalt, and Parker Posey, who clearly studied for her role by watching Sandra Bernhard in Hudson Hawk) to its laughably senseless plot (Dracula can shape-shift because he has very tiny bones?).
Friday, May. 27 2011, 03:40 PM
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Alex: 2003: The year the comic book movie boom really got started. Spider-Man web-slung into theaters to declare superheroes the new king of summer, and Blade II marked the first time Marvel had produced a movie deserving of a sequel. In this outing, Blade relocates to Russia searching for his left for dead mentor, Whistler. At the same time, a mutant breed of vampires rises, forcing Blade to make uneasy alliances with enemies and new sidekicks.
Thursday, May. 26 2011, 04:06 PM
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Matt: In 1998, Blade hacked and slashed his way onto the big screen in one of the bloodiest comic book adaptations we'd ever see (at least until Blade II). Wesley Snipes, mostly at the top of his stardom, played the vicious vampire killer, and the movie was directed by a relative newcomer named Stephen Norrington. I remember liking this movie, but I was surprised at how bleak it was when I rewatched it. There's a washed out feeling to the cinematography that's somewhat alienating, and I think it really helps set the tone here. As I watched it though, I felt like there was a conflict between the laconic intensity of the Blade character and Wesley Snipes' natural exuberance. Blade is very dour character here (more than he is in the comics), but sometimes Snipes just can't help mugging, or making a wisecrack.
Tuesday, May. 24 2011, 02:11 PM
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Ryan: If you thought 2005's Fantastic Four was bad, then you probably won't be too surprised by anything in Rise of the Silver Surfer. But if you, like me, thought FF '05 was OK despite its flaws, then RotSS will irritate you. It will probably make you regret giving the first one a fair shake.
Friday, May. 20 2011, 06:52 AM
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Jeff: The 1994 edition of Fantastic Four was reportedly filmed with a $1.5 million budget. The 2005 version cost $100 million to make. Here's how that extra $98.5 million paid off for audiences: Loads of awesome special effects, a couple of solid performances struggling to get out from under a cast loaded with dead weight, and a script that might actually be worse than the original.
Thursday, May. 19 2011, 05:11 AM
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Matt: Imagine hiring a director and cast to make a movie that you never intended to release. That's exactly what happened in 1994, when Constantin Film partnered with Roger Corman to make this low-budget version of The Fantastic Four. The film was made only so that Constantin could maintain the film rights to the franchise. There's no getting around it - this movie is pretty bad, as expected from something that was never meant to see the light of day. And the standard Roger Corman elements are there - stock footage, cheap effects, etc (one of my favorites was the use of asbestos fire suits to stand in for space suits). But to be honest, it's no worse than you'd expect out of something shown on TV in 1994.
Tuesday, May. 17 2011, 05:53 PM
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Jeff: I had high hopes for The Incredible Hulk. An outstanding cast, an action-savvy director, the introduction of the Hulk's most powerful enemy, and five years of special effects improvements could only help, right? Well...yeah...mostly. All in all, I enjoyed this a lot more than the first Hulk -- it boasts a terrific first act that tells you everything you need to know in ten minutes, returns Bruce Banner to his fugitive roots, and ratchets up the tension by doling out brief glimpses of our wrathful green antihero. It also benefits from flashes of humor and an obvious respect for the character's history.
Friday, May. 13 2011, 12:08 PM
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Jeff: Marvel books have been the inspiration for plenty of disappointing movies, but I'm not sure any of them stung as badly as Hulk. Of all the characters who seemingly stood to benefit from modern special effects and a smart director, this guy had to top the list -- but while we were watching a paint-covered Lou Ferrigno and thinking about how much cooler a comic-sized Hulk would be, we never stopped to consider how much harder it'd be to build a real human drama around him -- or, just as importantly, meaningful fight scenes. Two words: gamma dogs.
Wednesday, May. 11 2011, 04:55 PM
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Jeff: Okay, so it isn't a perfect movie. In fact, it's kind of messy. But here's what I really dug about Thor: I loved the feeling of watching something that was at least trying to be a piece of epic escapist entertainment -- and succeeding more than it really had any right to. It's funny, it has plenty of action, it's impeccably cast, and it even boasts a touch of the old Branagh gravitas. For all its flaws, it looks like a movie, and that's something you can't say as often as you used to.
Monday, May. 09 2011, 04:29 PM
