SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE & POPSTAR: NEVER STOP STOPPING (2016)

Greetings, loyal fans. Sorry for taking so long with a review for a new movie, but I had some things to take care of. Also, recently, I saw another film for my blog, so I’m gonna do something a little different. For this review, I’m gonna give you guys a review in which I review two movies at once. Now, because of the fact that I’m reviewing two movies at the same time, the reviews will not go as in depth with introductions, context etc.; we will just jump right into the movies themselves, the pros and cons, and all the rest. With that said, let’s begin!

Review #1: X-Men: Apocalypse

Story: In ancient Egypt, a powerful ancient being named En Sabah Nur – the world’s very first mutant – is transferring his consciousness to another mutant (Oscar Isaac) so that he may live on. However, the transference process is interrupted by some traitorous followers, which results in the new Apocalypse getting buried and remaining so for thousands of years. We flash forward to 1983 and Apocalypse is revived. When he takes a look around at what the world has become, he decides that he must destroy it and start over. So, he gathers four mutants – Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy), and a vengeful Magneto (Michael Fassbender) – to capture Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) so Apocalypse can use his mind powers. It’s up to Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), mind-wiped Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), and newcomers Jean (Sophie Turner), Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan), Kurt Wagner (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters) to go save Xavier and stop Apocalypse from destroying the Earth.

Something that’s noteworthy about the X-Men film franchise is its inconsistency in quality. The franchise was on a rise with the first two films, took a dive with the release of The Last Stand, and then somehow managed to plunge even further with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fortunately, the series rose back up with the release of First Class and The Wolverine, and then hit its peak with X-Men: Days of Future Past and Deadpool. So, does Apocalypse manage to retain the newfound awesomeness of the past four X-Men films? Well, yes and no.

Let’s start off with the good qualities about this film. It is, above all else, a fun movie. It’s great to see all of these X-Men characters in action, using their powers, and just joking around with each other. The humor and comic timing is great, the action is a lot of fun (even though the effects didn’t always look convincing), and the movie gave me the sense that the X-Men franchise is expanding with characters that will be used in later films. The acting is also good across the board and every single actor brings their A-game, especially James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles and Magneto, respectively. My favorite performance, however, was Evan Peters as Quicksilver; his sense of fun and mischievousness really grew on me, and the scene where he saves all of the students in the X-Mansion from an explosion to the sound of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)” is probably the best scene in the entire film.

For me, this film trips up in two specific ways. The first is Apocalypse. This guy is supposed to be the End-All Be-All of mutants, basically a mutant deity. And yet, he is one of the most boring villains I have ever seen. He barely does anything and he speaks and acts in an exaggeratedly subdued manner. Seriously, I felt like this guy was half asleep throughout the course of the film. Now, I think the intent behind Oscar Isaac’s performance was to give us something other than just a stereotypical, over-the-top villain. And I am totally behind that, but I just don’t think it worked out this time. Kudos for trying, though. The second trip-up for me is that there are some scenes in the movie that I felt could have been either cut shorter or cut out entirely. For example, there is a scene where a young Colonel Stryker (Josh Helman) kidnaps MacTaggart, Beast, Raven, and Quicksilver and takes them to a military compound, leaving Kurt, Jean, and Scott to rescue them. Coincidentally, it turns out to be the same compound in which they are holding Logan AKA Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Now, the scene is fun and thrilling. But in retrospect, this scene did very little to serve the story at hand and was only in there to set up the upcoming third Wolverine film and get in the obligatory Hugh Jackman cameo. In fact, this scene probably could have been cut entirely from the film and nothing would have been lost. Also, the climax of the film goes on a little too long for me. At first, it was fun, but then it just kept going and going and going and… you get the idea.

So, bottom line: this movie is nowhere near as good as X-Men: First Class or X-Men: Apocalypse. But in my opinion, it has enough fun moments and interesting characters to compensate for that fact. If you’re expecting a movie that’s just as good as the last few X-Men films, you won’t find it here. But if you’re looking for a fun summer movie where you can turn your brain off and be entertained, there’s plenty of that and more. Fortunately for me, I belong in the second camp, so I have no problem recommending this film. Check it out!

Review #2: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Here is the plot to Popstar in a nutshell: a satirical take on the Justin Bieber documentaries Never Say Never and Believe as made by SNL’s The Lonely Island. That’s pretty much the entirety of the story. It’s not a super complicated premise, but that’s part of what makes it so good. It’s that old adage “keep it simple, stupid” coming into play. It’s minimal on plot, but they get so much comedic mileage out of it. But, nevertheless, I will do my best to give a more detailed summary of the story.

Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone star as three friends who come together to form a rap trio known as The Style Boyz. After a successful career, the trio goes their separate ways, with one of the members – Conner (Samberg) – becoming a huge popstar known as Conner4Real. The two other members are not so successful; Owen (Taccone) becomes his underappreciated DJ while Lawrence (Schaffer) fades into obscurity and moves to a farm. As is expected, the fame gets to Conner’s head. But, this doesn’t last long as his second album flops and everything else comes crashing down.

This is probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen all year. Which was a surprise, considering that a majority of SNL-related films that come out are usually not very well received by critics nor audiences. And while this film seems to be struggling financially, both critics and the general public seem to have a very positive opinion about it. And I can definitely see why.

The film’s biggest advantage is its knowledge of the popular trends and how to just totally mock them. For example, there’s a single that Conner releases where he’s singing with Pink about gay rights, but keeps on emphasizing the fact that he’s not gay, even to the point of showing scantily clad women to prove his heterosexuality. That was genius. Another trend they like to mock in the film is the unusual lifestyle of a lot of celebrities, especially in the music business. There’s a scene where Conner is proposing to his girlfriend and he’s surrounded by wolves (because they’re apparently her spirit animal or something) and Seal (making a cameo as…well, himself) performing a love song. But the performance drives the wolves crazy and causes them to attack everybody.

Not only are these jokes funny because of their satirical nature, but also because of the total absurdity and randomness of it all. I am a huge fan of totally random, out-there, absurd humor in films, and Popstar uses it to the utmost.

But on top of that, the story itself is very endearing. We see Conner go through a change as he experiences fame, but isn’t ready to deal with the consequences of failure. Of course, there’s also the classic “don’t forget where you came from” story mixed in as well, which is handled very well. At times, it can probably feel a little clichéd, but anybody who reads my reviews will know that clichés don’t really bother me that much. Plus, it’s a satire, and in a satire, you have to have clichés in order to make fun of them.

Honestly guys, that is the only problem I can think of with this movie. Popstar is a biting satire of the modern music industry which is also a funny comedy in its own right. I recommend it to both Lonely Island fans and comedy fans in general. You won’t be disappointed!

And that is my opinion on these two films! Stay tuned for my next Throwback Review!