Jenna Ortega, Christina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán are the stars of the newThe Addams Familyspin-off series, Wednesday.
Focused on Wednesday Addams, we get to watch the mischievous Addams daughter as a high school student. She’ll be getting up to her usual fun to watch shenanigans, as well as attempting to master her emerging psychic ability and solve the mystery that’s embroiled her parents.
I must admit that this delightful little trailer has made me so very happy indeed. And what a wonderful young talent Ortega is.
The fact that Wednesday is a series and has input from Tim Burton is the reason this looks like so much fun.
Bring on all that promising humour, beautiful set and costume design. I’m ready!
Emma Myers, Jamie McShane, Joy Sunday, Riki Lindhome, Thora Birch and Hunter Doohan also star.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra; Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Shahi , Noah Centineo and Pierce Brosnan are the stars of new action/fantasy/sci-fi, Black Adam. A character for whom unleashing his unique form of justice on the modern world is a key goal.
And who can blame him, really, when nearly 5000 years ago, he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods-and imprisoned just as quickly.
I Can’t wait to see what Johnson brings to this. Even as fatigued as I am with the superhero genre, the hope and possible promise of some difference always has a way of making me sit up and pay attention.
Also, surely it’s a positive sign when something that happens in a movie trailer results in at least one loud ‘WOOOOOO….’ from me. Let’s hope!
Uli Latukefu, Aldis Hodge, Marwan Kenzari, Joseph Gatt, Quintessa Swindell, Chaim Jeraffi and Jalon Christian are among the cast.
As far as movie disappointments go, Suicide Squad (2016)is up there for me. And since I’m one of those ‘once bitten, twice shy’ people, I took my sweet time to watch The suicide Squad (2021); DC’s James Gunn directed attempt to redeem themselves.
My main hope with Gunn’s movie was for the story to be great. And for the finished film to be worthy of Margot Robbie’s super captivating take on Harley Quinn. If you’ve seen the Suicide Squad Comic-Con trailers, then you understand.
I can say without hesitation that The Suicide Squad is unequivocally better than Suicide Squad (2016). But, did I love it? Well, my favourite characters are played by Robbie and Idris Elba; no surprises there. Robbie’s Harley Quinn isn’t even featured particularly heavily. But, thankfully, when she was on screen, missing her a little in other scenes proved just about worth it.
Story-wise, I had more fun with this second movie, thanks in part to one or two surprise twists and turns. There’s also the moments of excellent camerawork, stunt work, special effects and a particularly well-executed last quarter.
The Suicide Squad (2021), Idris Elba, Warner Bros. Pictures
The parts that made my experience less than desired include the rather annoying characters who worked closely with Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller. There’s also a specific emotional scene between Elba and Cleo Cazo’s Ratcatcher that felt forced and not entirely earned. Lastly, I don’t love rats, AT ALL. But that weasel!
Perhaps I should just be grateful that this movie did a better job of weaving a story around many hardly known characters than the 2016 film. By ‘hardly known’, I mainly mean hardly known by non-readers of comic books, such as myself, of course. I’m certainly glad that Gunn’s movie is an improvement on the Suicide Squad story. Even if the film still has a somewhat empty/surface-level quality to it.
Besides The Suicide Squad being quite fun, particularly towards the end, both films are fixed in my mind as reminders of just how difficult it must be to deliver a truly great story, one that features many comic book characters.
Watch it if you’re curious because there’s definitely some fun to be had.
I haven’t watched many video game movies. That’s largely because, upon release of the video game films of the past, even though the trailer may have had me super excited, soon after release, I hear nothing but bad things.
Mortal Kombat, a hugely successful video game I’ve played in the past, and the story of the search for Earth’s greatest champions to fight in a high stakes battle for the universe is a fun movie. One with great special effects and an engaging story.
Mortal Kombat isn’t perfect, but it is the best movie based on a video game that I’ve ever seen. Starring Jessica McNamee, Joe Taslim, Josh Lawson, and Hiroyuki Sanada, and more; I had so much fun that I thought about how proud I hope everyone who made it is. Because more than twice, the words ‘This is so fun/cool’ escaped my lips as I beamed. The fight choreography and special effects are my favourite thing. Then comes the characters and all else.
If you’re familiar with the game, then you know that this is a violent film. However, it still didn’t feel as gruesome as some Tarantino movies I’ve seen.
There’s one moment in director Simon McQuoid’s film where a key moment involving Cole Young could have been executed slightly differently because it deserved more to be made of it. Yet, a few seconds later, that minor disappointment was behind me, and I was back to hoping that everyone involved is super proud of what they’d achieved. The action was just relentless, engaging and fun enough that I barely thought about, let alone cared about, the areas the movie could improve. But what can I say? I wanted fun action and great special effects, which I got.
Even if you’ve never played the game, watch Mortal Kombat. And if you’ve seen other fighter/action/adventure video game movies, by the end of this one, you may just have a new favourite.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Awkwafina, Marvel Entertainment
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the latest offering from Marvel Entertainment isn’t something I was expecting. But I sure am glad it’s here.
Starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung; director Destin Daniel Cretton’s action/adventure/fantasy movie is based on a Marvel comic book, of course, and it focuses on a character named Shang-Chi who’s forced to deal with his past and the mysterious Ten Rings organisation.
So many reasons to be excited about this one. Firstly, I used to watch comedy series Kim’s Convenience. And it’s so great to see one of its stars (Liu) as the lead in a Marvel movie.
Second, I personally had zero prior knowledge of this story. befor ethis trailer. I therefore can’t wait to find out and enjoy all the ways Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is both similar to, and different from other Marvel movies.
Lastly, who could possibly resist the combination of a troubled father/son relationship, exciting fight choreography and all the usual ‘Marvel cool,’ and more? Not me!
Florian Munteanu, Ronny Chieng, Fala Chen, Dallas Liu, Meng’er Zhang and Kelli Bailey also star.
