I wanted to do a big thing about “Captain America: Civil War,” but I didn’t have a ton to say, so I rolled it over into a compilation post. This will be a quick one.
“Captain America: Civil War”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a remarkable ongoing achievement. Beginning with 2008’s “Iron Man,” the series has released 13 superhero films that all exist in one connected narrative, and none of them are total duds. There are certainly some bland entries – “Thor: The Dark World” is one such example – but even those are enjoyable flicks.
The pacing is wonky, and the ultimate climax is somewhat of a letdown, but “Civil War” is a resounding success as both a film and a feature-length commercial. When the upcoming Spider-Man, Black Panther and Ant-Man films hit theaters, there is going to be much more excitement. Call it cynical, but that’s Hollywood in 2016: it’s always about the next movie.
In a year where superhero movies are refraining from massive destruction and instead choosing to examine its consequences, the X-Men franchise released a sequel called “Apocalypse.” Its eponymous purple villain, played by Oscar Isaac, wants to bring an end to the world by hitting its cities with flowery streams of CGI.
As tired as that premise may sound, and as tired as 20th Century Fox’s X-Men series appears to be, this is still an enjoyable watch. Much of the credit belongs to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, who continue to bring weary professionalism to their roles as Professor X and Magneto, respectively. As for the newer mutants, Evan Peters shines again as Quicksilver, and Sophie Turner seems to be overwhelmed by the role of Jean Grey.
The final battle is a messy disappointment, but there are terrific scenes scattered throughout the movie. I liked it.
The 2014 Ninja Turtles reboot was savaged by critics to the tune of a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I actually liked it quite a bit. As a huge fan of Michael Bay’s Transformers series, this reboot hit a lot of the same high notes. I was also completely unfamiliar with the Ninja Turtles source material, so I couldn’t complain about the film’s deviations.
The Internet tells me that “Out of the Shadows” adds many of the original comic’s beloved characters, such as Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang and Casey Jones, but it doesn’t make for a better movie. This sequel lacks the No. 1 thing I went to the theater for: enjoyable fight scenes. There are quite a few action set pieces, but only one is imaginatively filmed.
Somehow, the acting has become even worse, with returning star Megan Fox not even really trying at all. Arrow star Stephen Amell also gives one of the worst blockbuster performances I’ve ever seen as Casey Jones. The narrative is completely threadbare, and made even worse by the early exposition dumps.
I’d only recommend this to huge Ninja Turtles fans.
By no means am I a horror fan, but I have seen quite a few mainstream horror films, and no one makes those better than director James Wan. Wan, who helmed the first installments in both the Saw and Insidious series, has yet another hit on his hands with “The Conjuring 2.” He remains devilishly good at building tension with ingenious camera work, and the characters of this story function as more than vessels to deliver jump scares.
And let’s be honest, people go to see these movies in theaters for the jump scares. “The Conjuring 2” wins here too. There is one sequence in particular, involving a painting, so brilliantly planned and shot that it could go down in the genre’s history books. Wan’s done this before: who could forget the “Insidious” scene with the dancing boy?
So many lazy horror films are made for pennies these days and dumped into theaters to soak up the summer money (and Blumhouse Productions is the worst offender), so it’s nice to see this sequel assembled with such care.