Avengers: Endgame

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, & Brie Larson

Director: Anthony & Joe Russo - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 4 1/2 Stars

Avengers: Endgame is now officially the highest grossing movie of all-time, but does it live up to they hype? The film does have everything you'd expect from a Marvel film, including a great cast, amazing special effects, shocking moments, incredible action, and of course humor. To the lay person, I supposed it could be considered a perfect film, but to me, a person who has dedicated themselves to Science Fiction, I saw some pretty big plots holes, (I won't discuss them here as I don't give spoilers in my reviews, but we can talk about them at length in the comments section). In order to counteract the actions of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the previous film, the remaining Avengers need to try all kinds of things, and they try a literal smorgasbord of Science Fiction classics from time travel to alternate universes. While these make for great story telling, there is a format to them and universal rules but this film ignores all of those. I wouldn't say that takes much away from a truly fantastic story, but it's something that bothered me. What I have always loved about the Avengers is the ability to take all these huge stars and larger than live characters and put them into one film, without overdoing it. Everyone has their place and it's always a perfect fit. No one is the star of the film, but no one is ignored either, it's just something that is so rarely done and almost never works out quite this well. As for the nearly three hour running time, the film is so well paced that you don't even notice it. The Bottom Line is that a lot of series try to overdo it for the big finally and end up falling flat (shout out to Game of Thrones). This is not the case with the Avengers as they really did save the best for last. 

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Zoo

Starring: Billy Burke, James Wolk, Kristen Connolly, Nonso Anozie, & Nora Arnezeder

Seasons: 3 (2015-2017) - Network: CBS - Score: 3 1/2 Stars

Imagine a virus that effects the entire animal kingdom. One that makes all the animals, from the biggest mammal to the smallest insect self aware, so aware in fact that they realize that we are in fact the enemy. This was the premise behind the show Zoo, based on the novel by James Patterson. Zoo focuses on a secret team of animal experts, lead by Jackson Oz (James Wolk), assigned to research and discover the cause of the illness and try to find a way to cure it, but of course they face obstacles along the way, the least of which is the animals themselves. 

Mad Men's James Wolk stars, along side veteran TV actor Billy Burke and together they had terrific chemistry. Paired with a diverse cast, who at first were just trying to survive, made for an amazing first season. The side stories, character development, and special effects were all there at first. This was largely based on the fact that the show followed the book and any time you have something based on novel by an award winning writer, it's the way to go. After that, they strayed in their own direction and Zoo go heavily science based, something which tends to turn general audiences away, leading to it barely making it to a third season, one which was an epic disaster.

Zoo had two strikes against it from the beginning, one being that it was very expensive to produce, and when a show costs a lot, it better be in the top ten in ratings or it doesn't stand a chance. Second it was a summer pick up and those shows just don't get the ratings that networks are looking for. The first season was terrific, it was something new, different, and people loved it. After that, the show spiraled into all these strange tangents, the action declined, the government was more involved, and it just wasn't the same show anymore.

Audiences crave something different and if the show were going into season four or five, why not try something different? When a show is new however, why try to fix something that isn't broken? People loved the first season, it was highly acclaimed, and the ratings were terrific for a summer show, and being that it was a summer show, there were eight months in between seasons. No one was tired of Zoo and there wasn't a rating issue, there was no reason to change it so drastically. They tried tinkering too much and ultimately it lead to the shows demise. As the old saying goes, too many chefs ruin the pie.

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Aquaman (2018)

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, & Patrick Wilson

Director: James Wan - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 4 Stars

In a shocking turn of events, DC Comics made a great movie that isn't about Batman! Finally, with Aquaman, fans get the type of movie they've always wanted from DC, and I see big things for the future of this franchise. Arthur (Jason Momoa) is the son of the Queen of Atlantis and a mortal man. He was born with extraordinary abilities, but not with the motivation to use them. After his mother was exiled and presumably killed by Atlantis, Arthur wants nothing to do with his people, until a world wide threat forces him to take action. The story here is the same as your basic comic themed film, saving the world while trying to get the girl, but what makes Aquaman really stand out is it's incredible special effects. Seeing as many films as I do, it's difficult to impress me with a little bit of CGI, but this film had some of the best effects I have ever seen! Even if this was a silent film the sheer beauty and magic of this underwater world would still be breath-taking. Jason Momoa stars in his biggest role to date and this guy absolutely killed it. My biggest fear going into this film was that it would be too cartoonish and led by a newcomer, not a great combination, but Momoa is terrific both his personality and in his ability to put on one hell of a fight scene. As for the cartoonish part, there is a little bit of that and it was a turn off, but you do need to pander to the young crowd a film like this is likely to draw. For my money, this is the best DC Comics film since the Dark Knight. I'm not the biggest Superhero fan and I absolutely loved this movie from beginning to end. The two and half hours literally flew by and in the end I was still craving more. I can't wait to see what's next for Aquaman.

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Downsizing (2017)

Starring: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, & Hong Chau

Director: Alexander Payne - Rating: R - Score: 3 Stars

Billed as a comedy, Downsizing didn't last long in theaters, but looking at it from the perspective of Science Fiction and taking into account it's message about environmental protection, this film ends up having a lot more depth than the lame duck comedy it was advertised as. In the near future, a scientist comes up with a way to stop the problem of overpopulation by shrinking people to five inches tall. At first the world is shocked, but when the financial benefits come to light, ordinary people are rushing to have a life of luxury. One such person is Paul Safranek (Matt Damon), who is at risk of losing his home and marriage. He and his wife decide to undergo the procedure, but when Paul awakens, he learns that his wife couldn't go through with it, and he's left to navigate this brave new world on his own. The logistic and social changes brought upon by this simple transition are amazing! I really got into the whole thing from the process to the luxury world they live in, and to the discovery that poverty can still exist even in paradise. I really don't know why the studio would bill and advertise this film as a comedy, because really it's more sad than it is funny. In fact, aside from a few lines here and there, nothing about this film or the situation Paul gets into are really funny. Matt Damon stars and as has become common place with him lately, he seems to just be going through the motions. His lack of emotion made his a hard character to like. Thankfully he is paired with newcomer Hong Chau who really steals the show. Downsizing is a film with a terrific idea, with every last detail executed to perfection, however once characters get involved, the story becomes much less interesting. Once you put aside the setting, this film can be broken down to a simple love story, which doesn't do the rest of the film justice. 

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Seven In Heaven

Starring: Travis Tope, Haley Ramm, Gary Cole, & Dylan Everett

Director: Chris Eigeman - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 2 1/2 Stars

Trippy mind-bending movies are among my favorite types of film, but sometimes a good idea can be pushed too far and just become madness. Jude (Travis Tope) is a bullied kid, who makes the mistake of going to a house party at his friends house. Forced to play a game he doesn't want to, he loses and has to spend seven minutes locked in a closet with his bullies girlfriend. When the door opens, Jude and June (Haley Ramm) find themselves in another place, one that is very much like the one they just came from, but inherently different. Based on the butterfly theory, that for every action, somewhere there is an opposite and equal reaction, this closet leads these teens into alternate realities. At first the film is wildly original and seems to be going some place magical, however, with each jump things just get stranger and not for the better. When they finally ended up on the game show from hell, I'd pretty much had enough. Believe it or not, this film was billed as a horror movie, but there aren't any elements of that, and the film should have focused more on the scientific angle and the aspects of these alternate dimensions. Newcomer Travis Tope stars and does an adequate job, although I question his casting. Filmmakers cast Dylan Everett and Gage Munroe in backing roles, but then have the stars, their classmates, played by actors who are considerably older? Gage Munroe is a terrific actor, fits the age of the lead, and in my opinion would have made the film a lot more fun. The wildly different age differences didn't make much sense to me, neither did the ending. The whole film seemed to be building up to some angle centered around Jude's mother and teacher, but in the end, it is simply overlooked. This was a major theme of the film and one of the answers I was looking forward to. Having it white-washed just left a bad taste in my mouth. As a whole, Seven In Heaven was a good idea and has some elements of science fiction that I can't get enough of, but the lazy casting and systematic breakdown of the story just ruined the whole experience for me.

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