'Power Rangers' is a rejuvenated and enjoyable rebirth

Like most people my age, I spent many after-school afternoons watching five teenagers with attitude save the world from the forces of evil in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. From their entrance onto the small screen in 1993, this spawned a franchise that consisting of 24 television seasons, two feature films, and an assortment of merchandise that continues to sell and gain new fans along the way.

I'll admit that I wasn't the biggest supporter about this movie. If someone had told me 15 years ago that there would be another Power Rangers movie, I honestly would have laughed in their face, but here we are.

Zordon (Bryan Cranston) recruits five high school students to form an unlikely team that must stop the alien threat of witch Rita Replusa (Elizabeth Banks). It's how the series first started so why mess with the formula if it still works? That's one of the things that I liked about this film is sticking to the main story. To me, where this film succeeded is the complete makeover that extends beyond the story. I'm not just talking about the suits (which still took me a little while to get used to).

In the beginning, we actually get a fleshed-out team-assembles origin story that brings five high school students together in the one place they would ever interact: detention. There is Darce Montgomery's Jason (Red Ranger), the school's quarterback with authority issues; Naomi Scott's Kimberly (Pink Ranger), a former mean girl ex-cheerleader; RJ Cyler's Billy (Blue Ranger), a picked-on genius who is on the autism spectrum; Ludi Lin's Zack (Black Ranger), a daredevil with a soft core and caring for a dying mother; and Becky G's Trini (Yellow Ranger), the new girl in school loner. Looking at this line-up, these five seem like The Breakfast Club of 2017 except these teens have powers once they blow the power coins out of a mine.

This Rangers movie updates the heroes to the 21st century and I feel that was the strong point by making the characters relatable to current times, getting the Y.A. character stuff right for the most part. The smashing action and destruction would figure itself out like always. However, it does take some time to get to know these kids and connect with them. Once they receive their power stones that gives them superhuman powers, and come face-to-face with Zordon, a digitized head on the wall. This 65-million-year-old alien hands the teens their fate-of-the-universe mission that he was unable to complete (Zordon and Rita's past is also discussed, another strong point). The sassy robot assistant Alpha 5 was played in hilarious fashion by Bill Hader. Bank's evil Rita Replusa was enjoyable, showing the audience how much fun Banks had playing the character. 

Once we get into the action, it looks to be inspired by Michael Bay's Transformers movies with the destruction and devastation to the town of Angel Grove. The megazords looked great, but "Goldar" looks like a CGI mess with wings and I didn't care too much for him. Overall, this movie was more than I expected it to be. It's best to keep in mind what you signed up for once you walk into the theater, especially if you are a Power Rangers fan. This is not an excellent, deeply thought out movie, but an entertaining two hour popcorn flick that will have kids jumping and kicking after leaving.

Holland swings, Keaton shines in new 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' trailer

The first Homecoming trailer gave us a glimpse into Peter Parker's high school life after his role in the airport battle during Captain America: Civil War. We did get a bit of action, but that trailer was more of a set-up for what to expect. Today, Marvel and Sony dropped the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer and it was well worth the wait.

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker (Tom Holland), with the help of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr), tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student and fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture (Michael Keaton), emerges.

Looking at this preview, Peter is enjoying the new suit that was gifted to him from Stark. We also get a better idea behind Keaton's Adrian Toomes. From what I've read, Toomes works as a "clean-up guy" after the Avengers' battles in New York City and only wants what's best for his family. Will news like this convince us to sympathize with the villain. What I find amazing is that with this movie, Toomes is just a regular guy who becomes a supervillain, much like Peter is a regular guy who becomes a superhero.

We also see more interaction between Peter and Tony beyond the limo conversation that we saw in the last trailer and this one as well. After some heroics to save a ferry, Tony is cold to his protégé by telling him, "I want you to be better" and even requesting the suit back. While I was growing attached to the suit, it looks like this setback doesn't deter Peter as he swings back to fight the Vulture in his self-made suit. 

One of the best lines from the trailer happened during Tony's conversation with Peter when Parker said that he's nothing without the suit. Tony responds and tells him: "If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it."

This brings a good question that some superheroes encounter: Does the suit make the man?

I guess we'll find out in theaters as Spider-Man: Homecoming arrives on July 7.

Heroes officially unite in first 'Justice League' trailer

As much of a Marvel fan that I am, my first experiences with superheroes came from the world of DC Comics. From Superman's All-American values watching the old cartoons to the detective skills of the Caped Crusader during Batman The Animated Series, DC is where I watched these comic book legends enter my life. I watched episodes of SuperFriends on Cartoon Network and then the amazing animated adventures in Justice League of America. Back then, I never thought that I would see a live action film with DC's mightiest heroes.

On Saturday, the time finally came where we got a glimpse of these heroes in action after months of press releases and set photos.

Set months after the events of Batman v Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck), inspired by Superman's (Henry Cavill) sacrifice for humanity, and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) assemble a team of metahumans consisting of The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) and the Parademons who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.

From this trailer, this movie was more about setting the tone and introducing the heroes as Bruce Wayne does a roll call of his recruits. These characters were mentioned in that forced scene during Dawn of Justice where Bruce looked over the files that he took for Lex Luthor. Seeing the Flash in action was definitely a thrill for me but I'm still not sold on Cyborg as of yet. One thing is for sure: no one will be poking fun at Jason Momoa's Aquaman.

The Zack Snyder-directed film looks promising, but I'm keeping my expectations level. Considering that the same director and writing team that wrote Batman v Superman is also behind Justice League, my faith is not entirely that strong. This trailer looks like this movie should be coming out during the summer rather than in November, but the DC Extended Universe already has the summer covered with Gal Gadot's solo adventure Wonder Woman. I suppose that all we can do is wait and see.

Heroes will unite in Justice League on November 17.

Action and Humor mark this update to 'Baywatch'

Hollywood loves to resurrect old television shows and give it a modern makeover on the silver screen. Not all of them have been a success (I'm looking at you, Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard!), but we can't blame them for trying. With the news of Baywatch being adapted for the big screen, who knew what to expect?

That's when you bring in "Hollywood Viagra"...or as I like to call him, Dwayne Johnson. Since the former wrestler joined the Fast and Furious franchise in Fast Five, each movie or franchise that he has joined has reached a new level of success. Not saying that it was all due to Johnson, but he helped. This new preview shows that with the right cast and story, Dwayne Johnson can start or save a franchise.

Baywatch is based on the TV series, which ran for 10 years from 1989-1999. It stars Dwayne Johnson as Mitch Buchannon, the role that previous belonged to David Hasselhoff, and Zac Efron as Matt Brody. These two lifeguards must put aside their differences in order to stop a criminal plot. ABC's Quantico star Priyanka Chopra plays villain Victoria Leeds, who we finally get a look at in this preview. Johnson and Efron are joined by Alexandra Daddario and supermodel Kelly Rohrbach to complete the Baywatch team.

The preview is definitely funny; showing the extreme training competitions that the team puts themselves through, Zac Efron going undercover in a dress, and we can't forget about Dwayne's front bump! Overall, this movie seems a lot more fun that I originally thought and I think it's worth giving a chance, especially coming out this early in the summer movie season.

Hit the beach on May 26th!

A tale as old as time is renewed in 'Beauty and the Beast'

When it comes to a list of classic animated Disney classics, 1991's Beauty and the Beast is certainly in the top five for the majority of fans. Belle is a classic heroine and one of the most iconic Disney princesses since the likes of Snow White and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty first enchanted us years ago. Unlike her predecessors, Belle was a part of a new wave of Disney princesses that showed they didn't need a prince to have a happy ending. These princesses were independent and no longer just a damsel in distress. Since 2010's live-action remake with Alice in Wonderland, Disney has had a run of success with their live-action remakes. This classic might be the best one yet from the vault of animated classics being remade for a new generation.

Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Mr. Holmes), Beauty and the Beast stays faithful to the animated original as we begin with the how the Prince (Dan Stevens) becomes the Beast came to be after a curse by an enchantress. Singing along in the story, we are introduced to Belle (Emma Watson), the bookish dreamer in a safe town full of small-minded people. After her father loses his way in a dark, snowy forest and comes across a forgotten castle that houses magical inhabitants that serve the monstrous Beast. Belle, after fighting off advances from the narcissistic hunter, Gaston (Luke Evans), goes and finds her father, trading her freedom for her father's release. As Belle becomes less of a prisoner and sees the humanity in the self-absorbed but desperate Beast, they work to undo the curse and free the castle from its spell.

If this sounds strangely familiar to the animated classic, that's because this remake doesn't deviate from its inspiring source material. It builds off of that foundation to take some risks to make the film feel fresh and new again. New songs were added and some storylines were expanded to make the audience care more about the characters; we learned more about Belle's parentage and the Prince's upbringing that made him the man before becoming the Beast. The A-list cast give it their all and stretch their vocal chords with beautifully crafted songs to propel this musical. Bill Condon and the crew put a lot of work into the detail on the set and the enchanted household items of the castle. You can tell that a lot of work went into the creation and detail of the Beast.

Songs like "Belle", "Be Our Guest", and the enduring "Beauty and the Beast", sung by Emma Thompson, had me wording out the lyrics in my seat as fond memories of my mother singing me the same songs when I was younger. Maybe it is the fresh memories of La La Land, but this movie reminds you about why you enjoyed Disney musicals to begin with. There won't be any surprises in this film or major deviation from the original so there won't be any major surprises for the audiences to anticipate. This movie relies on channeling the Disney magic of the original and shaping it into this amazing remake to please fans of the original and a new generation who didn't experience the wonder of the animated classic.

If you are a fan of Disney, this movie will not disappoint you.

Kong roars new life into monster movie genre in 'Skull Island'

The legacy of King Kong in Hollywood hasn't been too stellar since his 1933 coming-out party. There have been spin-offs and remakes; the last one being Peter Jackson's retelling in 2005 where we found Kong looking for love in Naomi Watts' damsel in distress. After, the big man has been hiding for years until the announcement of this year's reboot. It is probably best that one walked into theaters with high hopes but level expectations when buying a ticket for Kong: Skull Island; at least that's how I walked in and walked out being impressed.

Produced by the same team behind 2014's Godzilla reboot, we begin the story in 1944 during World War II, where an American pilot and a Japanese pilot crash on an island and hunt each other through a jungle until something something appears to make them realize that their one-on-one battle is so small compared to other things in the world. Moving forward to 1973 and the eventual end of the Vietnam War, America is licking its wounds as we pull out from the warzone.

William Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins), representing government organization Monarch, are seeking to recruit a team to guide an expedition to map out a mysterious island known as "Skull Island". He makes this case with knowledge that the U.S. government's 1950s A-bomb tests in the Pacific weren't tests at all, but a means to kill something. After they were given approval, the scientists hire former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and recruit the Sky Devils, a Vietnam War helicopter squadron led by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson). Joined by pacifist photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), the expedition makes it to the storm protected Skull Island.

Once they arrive, this pre-historic paradise looks untouched by man's modern-day creations. That's until the team starts dropping explosives to conduct their tests of the Earth. Once that happens, the man - or should I say, ape - of the island wakes up to show them not to mess with his land. Taking down the team's helicopters, the expedition team is separated onto different parts of the island and must work to regroup and escape. Unfortunately, not only do they have to contend with Kong but other razor-toothed lizards, beasts, and natives that roam the island.

Overall, Skull Island was an amazing, well-done monster movie. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Industrial Light and Magic's Kong is a CGI showstealer. A lot of the special effects went into the close to real life Eighth Wonder of the World and it wasn't at the sacrifice of a story. The story was held up by solid acting and you learned to care about the different groups when they are separated. Tom Hiddleston really shines in this movie as the tracker, flexing his action hero roles beyond the constrictions of Marvel's Loki while Samuel L. Jackson's Packard character barks his great vengeance and furious anger as he seeks to conquer the mighty beast. Surprisingly, the best character out of this film was the grown-up pilot played by John C. Reilly, whose comedic timing and levity to the action sequences were spot-on. While you might not care too much for those bodies that the island claims or Kong takes out, whether from the helicopters he swatted out of the sky or the poor souls that meet the bottom of his feet. This solid film acts out like it belongs in the summer rather than the winter going into the spring season.

I will say to stay in your seat for a post-credits scene that will continue to connect the dots for Legendary's MonsterVerse, the shared cinematic universe centering on the monster films. I won't spoil it for my readers, but we can expect a titanic showdown coming soon. I would definitely recommend this movie so go out and see it!

Until next time!

Edgar Wright's 'Baby Driver' looks to surprise everyone...and we've only seen a trailer

If you have seen films like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, or The World's End, you have seen the brilliance of writer-director Edgar Wright. After leaving Marvel Studios' Ant-Man, which he co-wrote and set to direct but left due to creative differences, fans have been waiting for his next project.

Well, wait no longer. The director's latest project, Baby Driver, made its world premiere on Saturday night during the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. While everyone wishes they were there, the rest of the world was treated to the official trailer.

This musically-charged action thriller stars Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars, The Divergent Saga) as Baby, a young getaway driver working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey). Baby listens to music almost constantly - a way to drown out the ringing in his ears - and makes him the best driver.

From looking at this preview, Baby looks ready to get out of the game, especially when he meets and falls in love with a diner waitress (Lily James). The rest of the cast his loaded with the acting talent of Jon Bernthal, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Eiza Gonzalez. Music looks to be a prime factor in the film as it plays during the action sequences. This film has remained fairly quiet since nothing has been heard from the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World director after leaving the Marvel Studios project, but he has stated that this is his passion project that was sprung from an idea more than two decades ago.

Not that I'm complaining, but it looks like August is becoming the month for sleeper hits as we wind down from the barrage of big-budget blockbusters during the Summer. This is one film that I'm looking forward to experiencing.

Baby Driver speeds into theaters on August 11.

Wonder Woman 'Origins' trailer provides the bright light of justice

I will admit to being a harsh judge of the DC Comics Extended Universe given the movies that we have been given so far. However, after the first preview of this summer's Wonder Woman, it's obvious that DC is going into a brighter direction. It's a direction that DC comics is more known for and something the film universe needs.

Saturday night, a new trailer was released for the Amazon princess and if you didn't believe in this movie before, you might now.

This origin story tells the tale of Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons and trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, she knows nothing of the outside world. When an American pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man, Diana discovers her full powers and her destiny.

From the trailer, you can tell the comparison between the worlds Diana enters; from her beautiful island paradise to the grey of the outside world. Diana tries to adjust to the world she has entered, playing on the fish-out-of-water storyline, but not losing herself. This superhero period piece looks to be the breath of life that the DC Extended Universe needs going forward. Not to mention that DC can one-up Marvel Studios by having a strong, female superhero lead a film while Marvel plans out Captain Marvel for 2019.

So what do you all think? Is Wonder Woman the saving grace and turning point for this superhero franchise? Will this put DC ahead of Marvel for a little while? Please leave comments to let me know what you all thought.

Wonder Woman enters theaters on June 2, 2017.

Hugh Jackman gives long-time X-fans a bloody and emotional farewell in 'Logan'

The X-Men were my first foray into the vast world of Marvel and superheroes in general; Wolverine was always my favorite hero out of that team. Seeing Hugh Jackman portray the honorable and aggressive anti-hero has been great since the first film in 2000 and his performances only got better through the years. The last time we saw Logan was 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, where we got a glance at the razor-clawed antihero's time traveling exploits during the 70's. His actions produced a pretty future for the X-men. This movie gives us a deeper glance into that future...and it's not pretty by any means.

The film opens in 2029, where Logan is not the man we once knew; hiding in plain sight as a grizzled, down-and-out limo driver to make a living. From ferrying drunk girls to bachelorette parties and frat boys around Vegas, it's clear this hero is no longer super. He carries around a pint of bottle of booze, drowning in liquor each day and looking purely exhausted. It's not the Logan we have known and loved for years. At least, until someone crosses him and the claws pop out. Logan takes more of a beating than he did before, but is lethal as ever by taking body parts and killing vagrants. It turns out that the future is a dark time for mutants, especially for those who are left. There aren't many left. And those who are still alive and kicking are barely surviving and in bad shape. Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier is frail and fights to make sense of the world around him because of some sort of degenerative brain disease. Logan looks after him while hiding out in the Mexican Desert.

But they can't stay hidden forever as Logan is tracked down by a woman, requesting the former X-Man to take her and her daughter (Dafne Keen) to a special location. We all know she doesn't make it, but the girl, a feral-looking mute girl, makes her way to the Desert. Evil follows her as group of bounty hunters under the payroll of an evil scientist named Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant). That's where we find that this girl has her own set of adamantium claws similar to Logan's and she is a part of a new line of mutants. Our heroes have to protect her from Rice's henchmen and deliver her to a mutant rendezvous near the Canadian border.

Essentially, Logan is a high-octane road movie, but it is a dark one. This makeshift family-on-the-lamb, with Xavier as the sickly, slightly senile grandfather; Logan as the reluctant hero; and Dafne Keen's Laura as the endangered child they must protect in order to give their lives meaning again and atone for their past sins. Xavier and Logan both have their sins to atone for; driving the emotional train for audiences, not knowing how far it will go. This movie was a deep cut into the father-son relationship between Xavier and Logan as Logan does his best not to care too much, Xavier tries to break through his shell to make him see what he's always missed out on. Director James Mangold shoots the film as a grundgy, gritty palette. There is not a lot of hope in this movie and, for once, the world is not on the line. This movie is about saving one special - and very, very violent child. With Laura having mutant physical gifts similar to Logan's, there is a melancholy to their relationship. She represents what Logan never slowed down to have and he struggles the whole movie to embrace her role in his life. The loner has to finally learn how to put someone before himself. As typical as that sounds, the emotional delivery is what works well enough to cause audiences to get choked up.

I'll admit that I did get choked up at how well executed this movie was. Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman showed that the strings were taken off for this film, displaying the fun they had playing off of each other, the comedic moments to balance out the seriousness, and the emotions they caused us to feel. This Rated-R installment into the X-men franchise is the Wolverine movie we, as fans, deserved. Hugh Jackman definitely saved their best for last. Thank you, Hugh and Patrick.

Marvel's Intergalactic family of Outlaws return in new 'Guardians' trailer

No one expected Guardians of the Galaxy to be the hit that it was in 2014 as Marvel banked on another relatively unknown property to sell to audiences. We all bought in and became Hooked on a Feeling with the surprise hit. This summer, the Guardians are back and from the new trailer, it looks like we're in for more characters, worlds, but the same that we came to love from the first film all to Fleetwood Mac's '70s hit "The Chain".

Set two-to-three months after the events of the first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy travel throughout the cosmos and struggle to keep their newfound family together, while helping Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) learn more about his true parentage.

From the line up, it looks like the family has gotten bigger beyond the key members with Ravagers leader, Yondu (Michael Rooker), Gamora's estranged sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), and newcomer, Mantis (Pom Klementieff). Drax (Dave Batista) looks to be flexing more of his comedic muscles along with Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). Let's not forget that adorable tree-like humanoid, Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). We don't know who the Guardians are fighting against but Marvel needs to leave some surprises for us. One thing they didn't keep hidden was Kurt Russell's role as Ego, Peter Quill's father!

Judging from the two songs that we have gotten in the previews, we should also prepare for another awesome soundtrack in this installment.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 flies into theaters on May 5, 2017.

Surprises abound and an epic mix-up highlight Oscars

Well, I'm sure everyone has heard about the major Oscars flub that made Steve Harvey's Miss Universe mistake look like a small error. But let's not try and let that overshadow the rest of the ceremony. Overall, I think the awards were decent this year; Jimmy Kimmel did a fair job but I don't expect him to return next year.

Now, I'm not going to cover all of the awards that were presented and awarded over the near four-hour show so I'll just be hitting the major awards. I was not surprised by most of the winners except for possibly one but I'll get to that later. Unfortunately, I was not able to review all of the movies that were nominated from my blog; however, I did see a fair amount of them (eight out of the nine Best Picture nominees)! So let's begin!

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

The first time I saw Mahershala Ali was during his time on the Netflix series, House of Cards. Even for the small time he was on there, I was impressed with the energy he brought to the political drama. Watching Moonlight, his character, Juan, was someone that a young man could look up to. Juan was very grounded and completely believable; a person that you could walk by every day and not notice them unless they were in your life. Ali showed a great understanding of his character, embodied him, and earned his award.










Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences

I've always been a fan of Viola Davis' work and her commitment to her characters. Sunday marked her third nomination for an Academy Award and she finally earned it. Davis' work as Rose Maxson was emotional and powerful, making you root for her character as the story unfolded. To me, Davis was one of the prime reasons Fences is recognized as one of the best films of 2016.





Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea

Out of all of the Best Picture nominees, Manchester By The Sea wasn't my absolute favorite, but I could see why it was nominated. Affleck played Lee Chandler, a sullen and quiet janitor, who is called back home after his brother's death. It's definitely one of those films that pulls at your heart strings and keeps pulling as the film progresses and the story unfolds. This has to be one of the best roles that I've seen from the younger Affleck and I hope to see more. Maybe that explains the beard...



Best Actress: Emma Stone,  La La Land

La La Land is one of my favorite movies of the last year and Miss Stone is one of the reasons why. As an actress herself, she was perfect for the role of Mia, an aspiring actress in the film. Emma Stone has a classic Hollywood aura to her in this 21st century world and it shined through in this award winning film. All of her acting muscles were flexed in this movie and it really shined: acting, dancing, singing. I'm expecting more great things from her in the coming years.








Best Director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Like the Best Picture award, this award gave me some trouble because of the nominations. I believed they all deserved it for the wonderful, creative movies they led. In the end, Damien Chazelle became the youngest person to win the Best Director award for his work on the love note to Hollywood, La La Land. I haven't had a chance to watch his previous directorial venture, Whiplash, but I'm already expecting great things from it. Chazelle's direction of Gosling and Stone and coursing through their love for each other and their dreams helped guide this movie to its success.



Best Picture: Moonlight

Now, this award was hard to determine for me. Out of all the nominations, each one had a case on why they deserved the award. La La Land was my favorite going in and when they were announced, I was happy but also not really impressed. Until the crew reached the podium to reveal that Moonlight, my second pick and the one film that I thought could topple La La Land was announced as the actual winner. A mix-up with the award cards caused the confusion but in the end, the award ended up in the deserving hands of the cast. If you haven't seen Moonlight, you have an opportunity as the film will be more widely released after their Best Picture win.

Moonlight also took home the awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. La La Land won other awards in Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song with "City of Stars". And the DCEU actually won an award in Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Suicide Squad. Seriously, Suicide Squad won an Academy Award! What a time to be a movie and superhero fan!

That's my recap of the Oscars. I wish I could get through all the awards but who knows how long that would take! If you want to leave any comments, please do! I would love to read them!

Until next time, guys!