The thing about war is… it only works if both sides believe they’re the good guys
The Defenders is the highly anticipated own superhero team up, featuring The Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
The Good
There are plenty to like about The Defenders, from the fight choreography to the cinematography this show offers plenty of action packed sequences that without a doubt entertain you.
One cool thing that’s very noticeable is how each character have their own hue in their scenes. With Daredevil having a red, Jessica Jones with purple/blue, Iron Fist with green and Luke Cage with yellow/orange. It’s a nice little touch that stood out and gave the characters a unique vibe.
Another impressive aspect of the show are some of the villains, Madam Gao, Murakami, Sowande and to some extent Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra. The characters themselves are interesting, and though not very threatening to our heroes they have a certain charisma to them that helps the flow of the story.
The Bad
Unfortunately the show can’t be saved by flashy fight scenes alone as the story itself isn’t as great. The dialogue isn’t impressive either and at times it can be downright corny. You can tell the show doesn’t have a big budget and unfortunately it lowers the show’s overall quality.
Another issue are the side characters, apart from Rosario Dawson’s character, the side characters from each show aren’t given a lot to do and it’s quite disappointing.
Rating
Overall The Defenders isn’t perfect it’s not as great as some of the stand alone series but it does deliver in the team up side of things. The fight choreography is great and the cinematography compliments this very well. The interactions between our heroes are fun to watch and though it’s not the same as when we saw the Avengers for the first time, but to see them interact with each other is entertaining.
The Villain, The Hand, isn’t very threatening but it did give us cool characters to look out for. Overall The Defenders delivers an entertaining show, filled with flaws but also filled with great superhero action.
Be their hero, Clark. Be their angel, be their monument, be anything they need you to be… or be none of it. You don’t owe this world a thing. You never did.
One of the most highly anticipated films of 2016 finally hits the screen with Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. A battle fans have been itching to see on the big screen. With visual director Zack Snyder, once again taking the helm of this production, was he able to quench the thirst of fans and casual movie goers alike, in this blockbuster movie?
Batman V Superman follows right after the events of Man of Steel. Metropolis was the battleground in a fight between General Zod and Superman and unfortunately for the city, there were hundreds of casualties. Meanwhile billionaire Bruce Wayne got the front row seat to seeing one his buildings crumble while employees are still inside it. In return, made him furious and relentless in his pursuit to bring Superman into justice.
The Good
The prologue of this movie started off strong, we are taken back to the climax of Man of Steel, but this time we see things from Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) point of view. Though there’s still some questionable scenes, the whole sequence was exhilarating. It also gives us the reason as to why Bruce Wayne despises the Kryptonians. From here onward we are on Batman’s side.
Ben Affleck’s fresh take on Batman is easily the best thing going on in this movie. We are given a quick backstory of his past but more importantly we are given his motivations for his actions. Acting wise, Ben Affleck is great. His take on Batman is vicious, brutal and incredibly intimidating. His character stood out through the whole movie. Though not as much screen time as Batman, Jeremy Irons also nailed his role as Alfred. It was fun to see him on screen and his witty remarks about Bruce Wayne are great. And no matter what movie, animated movie or TV show, to see Batman verbally shutdown by Alfred is always a treat.
Another awesome part of the movie are the fight scenes. The battle between Batman and Superman, no matter how shallow it was, was fun to watch and it keeps the audience guessing on who’s going to win. Speaking of which, Batman’s fight scenes were better choreographed this time around. For those familiar with the Arkham games by Rocksteady, can easily see the resemblance and it makes for great action sequences. The final battle at the end was explosive and depending on how you like it, it goes on full comic book territory. It was a visual experience like no other.
The Bad
As mentioned above, the movie’s prologue started off strong. Unfortunately the momentum wasn’t carried on to the first and second act. In return, delivers some of the most boring scenes in the movie. The movie itself was badly edited, where a scene would jump to the next without having real connection. Granted it doesn’t have to have connection but most of the time it does feel random and completely takes out any story progression. There were a lot of scenes which felt unnecessary and misplaced. This overall, resulted in a movie being too long in which it lacked real substance.
Another complaint is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I’m not all too familiar with the character myself but his take on the character was too much. Most of the time he’s overacting. Delivering lines with a cadence which if done in the real world, will deem you unstable. His lines were unbearable and he truly lacked the mixture of menace and sophistication that Lex Luthor should’ve had. He really is one of the worst things going on in this movie and unfortunately a lot of the story revolves around him.
The story itself wasn’t good nor bad, however it was uninteresting. Majority of the dull parts were in the first and second act of the movie. With addition to the badly edited sequences and unnecessary scenes makes it difficult to care about the story as a whole.
Rating
Overall Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice did not live up to the hype. The face off between the two iconic heroes, no matter how cool it was, felt shallow. There’s no real motivation behind it except for Batman’s side and truthfully, whatever issues they were fighting for could have been resolved with a simple conversation.
Henry Cavill himself was dreadful and one-dimensional though Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was a treat. Most of the time she’s just there to be pretty and be an eye candy. However, her fight scene as Wonder Woman was exciting to watch, not to mention she’s got a pretty kickass theme song. The addition of Doomsday was exactly as how it was shown on the trailer and after seeing it there, there’s nothing left to be excited about. In the end, Batman V Superman may not be a strong movie on its own but it does lay the foundations for DC’s Cinematic Universe, which is still something to look forward to.
2016 will be an exciting time for movie goers as this time we have 6-7 comic book movies coming out, also a sequel to the oscar winning animated movie, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory. A movie set in the same universe as the Harry Potter series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them and we have 2 high budget video game movies with, Assassin’s Creed and Warcraft. Overall 2016 will be a great year for movies but for now let’s countdown my 10 most anticipated movies of 2016.
Note: This is only my personal opinion and it is not an official list of anything.
10. The Girl on The Train
Starting my list is one of the most popular novels of 2015, the movie adaptation of The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins. I’ve read this book and to be honest I didn’t like it very much. You can read my review here. Though I had complaints about the book, I felt that the story would be better in live-action.
Emily Blunt will be playing the main lead, and she has been impressive, lately she was great in Sicario and I’m hoping she’ll be great in the upcoming Huntsman movie sequel. However I am looking forward to her role as Rachel in this film. This will be directed by Tate Taylor, who is not new with adapting books into film as he also helmed the movie, The Help, which garnered a few Oscar Nominations and won Viola Davis an Oscar for supporting role. Overall, The Girl on The Train should be a suspenseful experience in the cinemas and I for one am looking forward to it.
Stars:
Emily Blunt (Sicario)
Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation)
Luke Evans (The Hobbit)
Edgar Ramirez (Point Break (2015))
Directed By: Tate Taylor
Release Date: 7 Oct 2016 (UK/US)
Number 9 is a comic book movie, it’s Suicide Squad. Frankly speaking I don’t know much about Suicide Squad, I’ve seen adaptations of the said group in the CW Tv show Arrow, but beyond that I don’t know much about them. What peaked my interest however, is the ensemble cast. Will Smith will be playing the main protagonist as Deadshot alongside Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as The Joker and also an appearance by Batman played by Ben Affleck as well as many others.
This will be directed by David Ayer, who also did Fury and seeing as this is his first comic-book movie, I’m curious to see what his take on the property. If you’re familiar with his films, they are mostly gritty and violent and it makes me wonder if he’s going to be doing the same with Suicide Squad.
Stars:
Will Smith (Focus)
Margot Robbie (Focus)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Viola Davis (Ender’s Game)
Directed by: David Ayer
Release Date: 5 August 2016 (Worldwide)
Number 8 is the live action adaptation of The Jungle Book. I was really impressed when I saw this film’s trailer. It looked exciting, the CG looked impressive and it simply looked like it’ll be an amazing movie to see in the big screen. I liked the animated Jungle Book movies by Disney and I have high hopes for this film.
This will be directed by Jon Favreau who did, Iron Man and Chef, who I’m sure will do an amazing job bringing these characters to life. I personally can’t wait to see this film and I guarantee this will be a great cinematic experience.
Stars:
Bill Murray (A Very Murray Christmas)
Ben Kingsley (The Walk)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Release Date: 15 April 2016 (Worldwide)
First off, no it’s not number 7 because of the title, that’s purely coincidence. Secondly what a cast this movie will have. I am sold with just Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. But you add in names like Vincent D’Onofrio and Chris Pratt. Then I’m pumped.
A remake of the 1960s Western Classic of the same title, which is a remake of the 1954 Japanese Film Seven Samurai. The Magnificent Seven is about Seven Gunslingers who protect a small town from invading bandits. I’m not a fan of western but I am really excited to see this film, and just looking at the cast. I can tell this is going to be great. I just hope it won’t follow the previous films beat by beat but have some original content but either way, it’s still one of my most anticipated films of the year.
Stars:
Denzel Washington (The Equalizer)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Vincent D’Onofrio (Netflix’s Daredevil)
Chris Pratt (Jurassic World)
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Release Date: 23 September 2016 (UK/US)
6. Inferno
Say what you will about Dan Brown books turned movies, but the truth is I enjoy watching Tom Hanks play the charismatic Codebuster, which is Robert Langdon. It’s been 7 years since he portrayed the character on the big screen and with Ron Howard directing once more I’m sure fans of the books and films, if they even exists, won’t be disappointed.
I have read the book and I’m excited to watch this on screen. I’m hoping it to be as suspenseful if not even more suspenseful than the book and maybe even bring in some unexpected twists and turns.
Stars:
Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Omar Sy (Jurassic World)
Irrfan Khan (Jurassic World)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Release Date: 14 October 2016 (Worldwide)
Possibly the most baffling entry on this list, especially at number 5. But please hear me out, I have played the first Warcraft game on PC, also played the sequel repeatedly and I enjoyed the heck out of the story in Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos as well as the expansion game, The Frozen Throne. So I hope you can understand why this is number 5.
As a gamer myself I’m a rooting that this will be the first video game movie which is widely successful. I’m a big fan of fantasy and to see a Warcraft movie done well on the big screen, will give a great satisfaction. Fingers crossed this doesn’t bomb.
Stars:
Travis Fimmel (Vikings)
Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol)
Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim)
Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Directed By: Duncan Jones
Release Date: 10 June 2016 (USA)
Well this was bound to pop up somehow right?, entering at number 4 is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. I personally haven’t seen live action Batman and a live action Superman in a movie together but thank God I’m about to witness one.
Though the whole film looks like a set up for The Justice League, just the on screen presence of the two comic book icons should be strong enough to drive this movie. Zack Snyder who directed, Man of Steel, is also directing Batman V Superman so this should be a fun cinematic experience with a lot of jaw dropping special effects.
Stars:
Henry Cavill (Man from U.N.C.L.E)
Ben Affleck (Gone Girl)
Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious movies)
Jessie Eisenberg (American Ultra)
Directed By: Zack Snyder
Release Date: 25 March 2016 (Worldwide)
Coming in at number 3 is the Sorcerer Supreme himself, Doctor Strange. The second movie in Marvel’s Phase 3. I for one can’t wait for this movie, I have been wishing for a live-action adaptation of Doctor Strange and to see photos of Benedict Cumberbatch in costume. I think he looks amazing.
Being directed by Scott Derrickson, who’s filmography mostly consist of horror movies. It should be interesting to see how he adapts his style of film making on Doctor Strange.
Stars:
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Tilda Swinton (Trainwreck)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian)
Mads Mikkelsen(Hannibal)
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Release Date: 4 November 2016 (USA)
The comic-book movie hype train continues as Deadpool enters at number 2. Finally and I mean finally we’re going to have a Rated-R comic book movie which is a part of Marvel comics and even better this is probably the best way to portray this character on screen. I’ve read several Deadpool books and man they’re always fun to read. To finally see him in the big screen is definitely a dream come true to some people.
Ryan Reynolds is perfect as Deadpool, he has shown that he’s got the charisma and the mouth to make capture this character. Seriously hoping Fox doesn’t screw this up like they did with Fantastic Four but looking at the trailer you can tell, they already did a great job with the movie.
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds (Self/less)
Ed Skrein (Transporter Refueled)
Morena Baccarin (Gotham)
TJ Miller (Silicon Valley)
Directed by: Tim Miller
Release Date: 12 February 2016 (USA)
If you didn’t predict this from a mile away, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention. Of course this was going to be my number 1 most anticipated movie of 2016. I am a huge fan of the event of the comics. 2 superheroes, neither are bad but different ideologies cause them to clash to each other causing all sorts of chaos on their wake.
I for one can’t believe they’re making this film, I honestly couldn’t. Even after the second Avengers I had doubts but seeing the trailer, my excitement for the movie cannot be contained. Not only did Marvel have the guts to makethis movie but they also made agreements with Sony to bring Spider Man into this film. Which shows that despite the lack of superheroes compared to the comics, they want to make this right. They want to start Phase 3 with a bang and Captain America Civil War is the perfect movie to start phase 3.
This movie feels like an Avenger movie with most recurring characters appearing on the film. They even went all the way back to The Incredible Hulk movie to bring William Hurt to reprise his role as General Ross. And to put the icing on the cake, The Russo brothers are directing this, who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Which is one of the best Marvel Movie out there. I seriously can’t wait for this film, I’m sure it’ll be all sorts of amazing.
Stars:
Chris Evans (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up)
Anthony Mackie (The Night Before)
Sebastian Stan (The Martian)
Directed By: Joe and Anthony Russo
Release Date: 6 May 2016 (USA)
So there you go my top 10 most anticipated movies of 2016. Again this is just movies that I’m looking forward to. There are a lot of movies to look forward to in 2016, Finding Dory, X-Men Apocalypse, Zootopia, Hail, Ceasar!, Star Wars: Roue One, Moana, Gambit, Now You See Me 2, Bourne Film etc. But these 10 are the one I’m looking forward to the most. Feel free to comment what are yours on the comment section below. Have a Nice Day.
Ken's Reviews 
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