The Marvel Cinematic Universe gets Mystical with 'Doctor Strange' Teaser Trailer.

Good evening, everyone! I'm sorry that I've been away so long but just going through some life things; we all know how that can be. But we have do have a lot to cover that I haven't posted or covered so let's get it going.

As everyone knows, I'm a superhero fan. I love the way it has broken into the main stream and become a bigger part of pop culture now. Leading the charge is Marvel Studios and its Marvel Cinematic Universe. While DC works to establish their universe in the next few years with their slate of films, Marvel continues to dig deep into its superhero roster, bringing forth one of the more iconic and underrated heroes in Marvel Comics' history.

Doctor Strange is the origin story of Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a world famous neurosurgeon, who is badly injured in a car accident that ruins his career. With nowhere to turn, Strange sets out on a journey of healing, where he encounters the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). She takes on the role of mentor to Strange in the mystic arts, opening a door for the good Doctor to enter a world of magic.

Not a lot is known about Doctor Strange (which I'm going to research through any comic books and graphic novels) by the general public but I'm sure that will change between now and November. From the trailer, we see Strange before and after his accident, traveling the world in the aftermath, and encountering the Ancient One. From there, his soul is pushed out of his body and we are taken on a quick journey from the world Strange will encounter. From New York to Nepal, this movie seems more world-traveling, incorporating some special effects from Christopher Nolan's Inception. Overall, this film will open another door for the Marvel Universe that has only been knocked on a few times as far as different worlds beyond our own.

It might be another risk for Marvel Studios but at this point, they can afford to take the risk because of the trust fans have in them. Along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton, this film also stars Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mads Mikkelsen as the main antagonist of the film.

Open your mind when Doctor Strange arrives on November 4, 2016.

The Star Wars Universe grows with 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'

Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe was birthed with the first Iron Man film in 2008, it has been the blueprint standard as far as establishing a solid universe of interconnecting films and television shows to fill in the blanks between the silver screen blockbusters. But the Star Wars saga started it with the original trilogy, books, and prequel trilogy. Now with the sequel trilogy beginning with last year's mega-hit, The Force Awakens, Disney and Lucasfilm will release a new solo film: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The official premise of the film reveals that it'll focus on a rogue band of rebellion fighters who unite for a daring but dangerous mission to steal the Death Star plans and bringing them to the Rebel Alliance in their fight against the Galactic Empire.

This is the first of the standalone films in the Star Wars Anthology, a series of stand-alone films, acting as origin stories. President of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, has stated before that these films will not crossover with the films of the sequel trilogy. These stories exist in the vast universe that George Lucas created many years ago. This film takes place in the time before Episode IV: A New Hope so it provides the back story for the Rebel Alliance before we meet Han, Luke, and Leia. From this short teaser, Rogue One looks to be an epic introduction into some new characters and a story that fans want to see in connection with the main tales that we love.

For a teaser, it does a good job of introducing the main heroine, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), along with the rest of the team that accompany her on the mission, including Forest Whitaker. The shadow of the Galactic Empire is heavy and established in the universe; the Death Star almost near complete in its construction. As far as any familiar characters, the only I can see and might expect to see is Darth Vader but we shall see if the Sith Lord will show up against this Rebel group

As a Star Wars fan, I am very excited about this film. Maybe the next trailer will show more but time will tell.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story flies into theaters on December 16, 2016.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Movie Review

Well, you all know what the #1 movie in the world is. I was going to write this review a day or two ago but I had to do two things first: 1) let my initial reaction settle and 2) see the movie again. I have done both and sadly, my opinion has wavered very little. So let's get this started.

Let me get this out of the way first: I didn't hate the movie; but I didn't love or completely like it. Batman V Superman opens up with the Battle of Metropolis with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) witnessing the destruction caused by Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod during Man of Steel. Two years later, Superman is praised as a hero but seen as a figure of controversy due to his God-like powers and answering for the devastation he caused. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne has taken up the mantle of Batman once again, his sights set on the Man of Steel because he blames him for what happened in Metropolis. On the other side, Superman's alter-ego, Clark Kent, sees Batman as dangerous, seeking to expose him. 

Let's go through what I found great about this film. First, Ben Affleck's performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Warner Bros did a superb job tagging Affleck as the older, more world-weary Bruce Wayne. He did a great job, channeling Wayne's detective skills and charisma. Jeremy Irons portrayed a great version of Alfred, who was more of a mechanic this time around but still the voice of reason for Master Wayne. The visuals were spectacular as always for a Zach Snyder film; the action scenes well choreographed, especially with the ultimate battle between the two iconic heroes. I will admit that I was hesitant and skeptical about Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman but her performance was another standout in this dark superhero epic (more on that later). Her past experience in Israeli military assisted her in the performance as the Amazon Warrior, who we do see in action. The first live screen shot of the DC Trilogy was amazing to just sit and watch. It was a moment nearly 75 years in the making. 

Now, among these islands of potential and greatness, there are oceans of mistakes and missed opportunities. First of all, the Man of Steel himself. I think this was the first time that I was annoyed with Superman; or more of how he was portrayed this time. Superman seemed to be in conflict majority of the film, trying to appease to the world and still doing what he must to protect the world. What really hurt the film was the overall plot. It was so disjointed and felt rushed with Snyder and his writing team missed out on a huge opportunity to tell a great story, losing the chance to create a beating heart to this epic. This film felt like Snyder just did this to appeal to the fans. The lack of humor, even dry humor, was weird. It was though nothing could lighten the mood in this world. 

Next, Jesse Eisenberg as a young Lex Luthor. I didn't like this version of the evil, millennial, super-villain and Eisenberg performance was very weak, making Luthor more of a mad scientist type, not the super genius villain that fans are used to. Speaking of other characters, fans knew that with Wonder Woman arriving, the rest of the Justice League should not be far behind. We do see the other founding members of the League with the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg making cameo appearances; very unnecessary cameo appearances but the served the purpose of setting up the future films of the DC Cinematic Universe. 

Overall, I will not discourage anyone from seeing this film but it would be best to keep your expectations level. This film is decent and had an opportunity to be great. In my opinion, DC tried too hard to catch up to Marvel's already established universe. Now, DC's universe is set up and Snyder along with the rest of the Warner Bros team needs to focus on the upcoming 2-part Justice League film because DC still has a lot of ground to make up to improve on this dark superhero film, which was smothered by its special effects and weak plot.

Only The Strong Will Survive in new X-Men: Apocalypse trailer

It seems to be the time for new trailers for the upcoming Summer slate of movies. After the great reaction of Captain America: Civil War, 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise released the new trailer for the third film in the X-Men prequel trilogy. It just goes to show that Bryan Singer is still happy to be at the helm of the live-action films of Marvel's Mutant team. 

The official premise: Since the dawn of civilization, he has been worshipped as a god. Apocalypse (Oscar Issac), the first and most powerful from Marvel's X-Men Universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction. 

I loved the opening is a throwback to the original X-Men film and the conversation between the original Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian Mckellan) at the end of the film.

From the trailer, we see more of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen; along with Magneto, we see Psylocke (Olivia Munn), a little more of Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and Archangel (Ben Hardy) in action. The main villain isn't the only one with backup as we see the younger versions of Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee). We also see Quicksilver (Evan Peters) along with returning members Havok (Lucas Till) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult). 

Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique seems to be taking a more leadership role in her final outing as the shapeshifter, showing growth from where we left her at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past. While speaking about Mystique, it looks like her ultimate ending is teased so we might lose her or another X-men. A battle like this will not be without casualties. While it doesn't have the same blockbuster or in-depth feel as the Marvel Studios films, Bryan Singer's trailers have their own feel. At this point, it's worth the risk to see this film. 

X-Men: Apocalypse arrives on May 27.

Marvel's Finest go to war in the latest 'Captain America: Civil War' Trailer

Well, movie fans, it's getting into the Spring season. Winter's bitter cold is fading away for rainy days and flowers blooming in warmer weather. We are also looking to the spring slate of movies that's headlined by one of two superhero showdowns this year, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The second will come this May as the thirteenth movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has Earth's Mightest Heroes divided and fighting one another. After new promotional posters for Team Captain America and Team Iron Man being released online, a new full trailer was released today and it didn't disappoint.

One year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America (Chris Evans) leads the new team of Avengers but when another international incident occurs, resulting in collateral damage, this prompts politicians to form a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to call in the team. When Steve Rogers attempts to protect his friend, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) from this act, he is brought into conflict with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). This results in the fracturing of the Avengers into two opposing factions - one led by Rogers, who wishes to operate without regulation, and the other by Stark, who supports government oversight-while the world is threatened by a new enemy. 

This film has all the makings of another Avengers movie with actors reprising their roles from previous Marvel films, building this film into a star-studded event. Team Captain America, led by the First Avenger, consists of Bucky Barnes, The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). 

Their opposing team led by Stark's Iron Man consists of War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Bettany) and the debuting Prince of Wakanda, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). 

From this trailer, all hell is ready to break loose as the heroes battle over what is right and wrong as far as how they are to be regulated and held responsible for their actions. This shows more of the Black Panther in action with Barnes being his main target. Captain America and Iron Man come down to a fist fight and the heroes charging into battle against each other near the end. But that's not the only surprise as a new hero swings in and Tom Holland officially joins the MCU as a certain Web Slinger.

I hope you all enjoy the preview and if you want to leave any comments, please do! Captain America: Civil War comes out on May 6, 2016.

'Ghostbusters' reboot is ready for the call this summer

When I read the news about the Ghostbusters reboot, I was skeptical because...Come on, it's the Ghostbusters! A third film had been talked about for years since the 1990's, with the original cast getting on and off the project, debates if a new crew will take over, and the script still being worked by Dan Aykroyd until he became unsure if the third film would ever be made. Let's just say a third film went from being a sure thing to becoming its own ghost story in Hollywood.

In August 2014, Paul Feig (Director, Bridesmaids) was in talks to direct a reboot of the franchise, featuring women in the lead roles. Dan Aykroyd wanted to do a shared universe like Marvel but Feig decided it would not follow the last two films and is a total reboot of the franchise with all female leads. How this would react to fans of the original films was the big question. Now, we might have an answer  after the first official trailer.

Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) are a pair of authors who write about the existence of the paranormal, which is not taken seriously. When ghosts invade Manhattan, Gilbert and Yates team up with a nuclear engineer, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and a subway worker, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), to save the world from a mysterious evil and a powerful demon known as Rowan (Neil Casey) who can exercise control over human forms.

Like I said before, I was skeptical but now that I've seen footage, I have confidence in this reboot. It'll definitely look better in 3D, especially with the CGI ghosts and the jokes so far seem to be funny. The slime is back and it looks as though Slimer has returned as well. I am impressed but we'll see with the next trailer releases.

Who You Gonna Call on July 15, 2016.

'Deadpool' turns the superhero genre upside down

Hello, everyone! I'm sorry that I've been away for so long but you know how life goes. I haven't had time to go to the theaters either but when I finally returned, I went to see this new superhero film. I could tell by the poster that this wouldn't be like all the others. If you have seen the posters in the front lobby of the theaters and the promo commercials featuring a man in red spandex.

Ryan Reynolds returned to the X-Men film series in the role that he first starred in the much maligned superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. After years of development with New Line Cinema and putting the film in a turnaround before 20th Century Fox picked up the anti-hero flick, bringing it back to the X-men Universe. Wade Wilson (Reynolds) is a former special forces operative who works as a mercenary in New York City, jokingly taking jobs when he is hired. When he is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he is recruited by a secret program that offers an experimental cure for his cancer. Deciding to leave his girlfriend, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Wilson joins the experiment, meeting Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano), instantly disliking them. A long range of torturing experiments caused Wilson to trigger his regenerative mutation, but with physically disfiguring  him in the process. After escaping the facility, Wilson plans his revenge on those who wronged him.

Now, Wilson does talk to the audience throughout the film, hilariously narrating the road that led him to his current situation, wearing a tight red spandex suit and leaving a path of carnage on a busy city bridge. Breaking of the fourth wall made it even more funny, poking fun at other superhero films, especially previous X-Men films. Bascially, Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool. The actor has now been fully identified and attached with the Merc with a Mouth. His performance and humor was definitely worth high praise.  The violence is also worth praise because it reminded me of a better version of Kick-Ass. While previous superhero movies now have greatly choreographed fight scenes with a PG-13 rating, Deadpool honors the violence of his comics and origin story.

The only problem that I had with this film was the formulaic plot. First of all, yes, this anti-hero film is a love story. Wilson's girlfriend is taken by Ajax (you'll learn his real name during the film), giving Wilson more motivation to take him and Angel Dust out. Beyond that, this film is a great installment in the X-Men film series. Speaking of the mutant team, it wouldn't be an installment without a role from two members of the team: Colossus and newcomer Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Before, it was reported that this film fits into the overall plan of the X-Men universe. How it will ultimately fit in the universe, especially being so different from the previous films, First Class and Days of Future Past, remains to be seen.

Overall, a fun time seeing a dude in red spandex cause some mayhem for about an hour and a half.