X-Men: Apocalypse

First Hit:  Much better than the other Marvel (Comic) film “Captain America…” but it felt worn and reaching.

The beginning is a set up based on some past historical idea about a demonic force called En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) wanting to finish his evolvement which will give him total world domination. But to complete this task he has to usurp the powers owned and inherent in Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), the leader of the X-Men (and women). By obtaining this power he can rule the world.

The film fails to make this important task engaging enough thereby making the film uninteresting, let alone believable by any stretch of the imagination. The other story is that Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) has distanced himself from the other X-Men(women) and Professor Xavier.

In this distancing, Magneto has joined with Apocalypse and will execute his commands to rearrange the planet by removing the metal structures of the earth thereby making earth’s inhabitants helpless. The interplay between the X-Men is good and does make this film interesting in ways that has some depth.

The most fun part of the film has to do with Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters) because his scenes are lighthearted, well-conceived, and simply fun to watch. He brings a humorous element to the whole film and when he’s on the screen, I was engaged.

What seemed pressed were scenes with Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) as it seemed she really didn’t want to be in this role and is done with the X-Men series of films. I’d be surprised to see her in another, unless she needs the money.

Isaac created a good enough demonic Apocalypse character, and the makeup helped a lot. Fassbender was OK as the aloof, isolated Magneto. McAvoy was strong as Professor Xavier. Peters was fantastic and the best part of the film. His tongue-in-cheek and cavalier representation of the character was appropriately in-line with my view of what Marvel Comics were originally about. The rest of it has become too serious and seems only there to extract more money out of the public. Lawrence seemed done with the whole thing and her performance and character lacked inspiration. Simon Kinberg wrote the sometimes witty and sometimes labored screen play. Bryan Singer brought some interesting visual scenes to the screen but the attempt to make this story real falls on deaf eyes (yes I mean deaf eyes).

Overall:  Although fun enough, this franchise has to make more and more unrealistic set-ups to attempt to make the stories continue to work into the future.

The Nice Guys

First Hit:  A dark comedy with some very funny bits and a fair amount of violence.

There are definitely some laugh-out-loud moments in this film. The juxtaposition between the personalities of the main characters made it work.

Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) a guy who uses his fists to set things right. He's hired by all sorts of people who want someone to leave them alone. He’s ruff, gruff and no-nonsense in his approach. He hits people and asks questions later.

On the other side of the coin we have Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a former police officer and currently a private detective who tries to take the easy way out most of the time. He gets is PI fees up-front and is not always fair to, or honest with, his clients.

He feels guilty because he lost his wife and house to a fire that he might have prevented had he been able to smell. March has taken to drinking most of the time and, although he has a great relationship with his young daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), he's not being a great example as a father.

Holly has become the strength of their home and most of the time she’s really taking care of him. Some of the funny bits are slapstick falls that March takes along with the physical and conversational interaction between Healy and March.

There are also fond remembrances of comics past, including Gosling’s version of Lou Costello’s attempts at calling for help with nothing coming out of his mouth because he’s in state of paralysis/shock because he finds himself lying next to a dead man. There are laugh out loud scenes (many at the big party) as well as a convoluted crime story they are attempting to resolve.

Crowe is perfect as the no-nonsense physical enforcer of right and wrong, according to him. Gosling was very strong as the confused, in mourning, and trying to find how to get of of his funk father. His ability to be both smart and not-smart in this character and make it work is wonderful. Rice was the star of the film. Her maturity while being able to be a young teenager with a conscious was stunning. We will see much more of her as she develops as an actress. There a number of other character actors in this film that were very strong including: Margaret Qualley (as Amelia), Beau Knapp (as Blueface) and Lance Valentine Butler (as Kid on Bike). Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi wrote an dynamically funny and engaging script. While Black’s direction was strong in bringing out the dynamics of the main three’s relationship.

Overall:  I enjoyed the story and the dark humor.

The Huntsman: Winter's War

First Hit:  A misguided film with a weak story and little relevancy.

As actors go, I like Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain. I’m not a huge fan of Chris Hemsworth as he’s shown little range in his acting.

Here, Theron (as Ravenna) plays the ruler of a huge kingdom that gets bigger all the time. She has a powerful magic mirror that tells her that she’s the fairest of them all, although Snow White in another kingdom ranks right up there - really?

Ravenna’s sister Queen Freya (Blunt) is subservient to her sister but when she falls in love and gets pregnant, the mirror tells Ravenna that the baby, when born, will be the fairest in the land. Ravenna is not going to let this happen and sets up so that the baby is killed.

Freya doesn't know her sister killed her baby and is so hurt she finds her inner anger and power (turning things into ice) and heads off to find her own kingdom where love is not allowed. She is so cold she steals children from families that her army’s defeat while turning those orphaned children into more soldiers to conquer more lands.

Two of her earliest child recruits Sara (Chastain) and Erin/Huntsman (Hemsworth) turn into her premier soldiers who continue to bring back new children soldier recruits along with new conquered lands. However they find love and .... the story becomes muddled mess while Sara and Eric end up with midgets as their supporters and the scenes fill with fairies and other odd beings become part of the storyline. Somehow they all want the missing and ever powerful mirror. The best thing about the film was some of the background scenery but little else.

Theron was appropriately evil as the person who needed to be driven by her beauty and ego. Likewise, Blunt was appropriately cold as the Ice Queen but the story let her down as well. Chastain had the most interesting role as a warrior who also wanted love. Hemsworth was his typical warrior self with tongue-in-cheek comments there to make him interesting. Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin wrote this script trying to find a story. It was almost as if there were great actors wanting to fulfill their commitments, so a script was thrown together for them to fulfill their contracts. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan directed this aimless script. He attempted to make a film of it by putting the scenes in order with some nice pictures. In the end the story and film didn't work.

Overall:  This was a waste of time and the story doesn’t deserve the actors in the film.

Captain America: Civil War

First Hit:  I was shocked that people applauded at the end of this film because the story was too fabricated and forced to make it interesting.

I like a good superhero film every once in a while. However, because they make money for the studios, storylines are created to put more of the heroes together.

It isn’t enough to have a group of Avengers focus on a single enemy, here the script writers and producers decided to have them pitted against one another. This, of course, will boost viewership, however I do not think it helps the brand in the long run. This action mirrors short term profits are more important than long term gain and integrity.

The best acting done in this film is by Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Iron Man. The rest of the superheroes have their moments and it is obvious that the film is set up this way. Each of them gets to display their “super powers”.

The one exception to all of this is the introduction of Spiderman/Peter Parker (Tom Holland). His character is funny due to his newness to his spidey powers and his youthful attitude. The film does try to explore the importance of friendship through the relationship and actions of Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and the Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Their lifelong friendship is tested here.

Also friendship is overtly tested between Iron Man and Captain America. Then there is the issue of government control of The Avengers and their response to issues in the world. This is brought up  because innocent people have been killed through their heroic involvement. Both of these subjects are feebly addressed by the story.

Downey Jr. was the best of the group of actors mostly because he had a fair amount of introspective and intelligent dialogue. Evans is only OK, but I cannot tell if it is only because of the role, script, or Evans own acting abilities. Holland is fun and is the most amusing character. Stan is good as the stoic semi-enemy of The Avengers and the general public. Daniel Bruhl (as the real enemy Zemo) is good enough to pull off being the real antagonist. Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, and Frank Grillo are only OK as the superheroes that are pitted against each other because their roles are minimized. Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely wrote this, let’s make money, script that doesn’t fully address the friendship and government control questions and minimizes the skills of this extensive cast. Anthony and Joe Russo’s co-direction is evident because of the scattered way this film interprets the screenplay and use of this fine cast.

Overall:  This was a film I didn’t need to see.

Hardcore Henry

First Hit:  Gave me the sense of either being in a video game or playing a video game.

Being my age, I was around when the first widely available user games (Pong and Space Invaders) were created.

I’ve watched others, including my grandson, play games for short periods of time and I can see why people get engaged. It’s a fast responsive experience and there are many levels to each game. The player has to remember where they are and where they are going, what weapons they have available and what will kill them.

From my uneducated and inexperienced view, most of today’s games are mostly involve killing an enemy regardless if they are human, alien, or monsters of some sort. Additionally, they have a full array of weapons. However, what is missing when I watch the players and their avatars, are consequences, consequences for their actions.

In the non-reality of a video game, consequences, such as death are not felt or experienced by the players. Just game over only to begin again. It is not real. This film, shot in the first person, we are the players avatar. From the get go the audience goes for a wild ride.

As first person, we get to do surgery on our self to change power-packs, kill nearly a hundred people, and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Along the way, we get to grab new weapons, have brief exchanges with others but move on with our task.

This character, Henry, was full of action, kill mindlessly, and do all sorts of engaging superhuman things; all without a concrete purpose that can be felt.

Although there are actors, it was difficult for me to identify individual performances because each segment or scene with the actors is too brief and very chaotic. Ilya Naishuller and Will Stewart wrote this intense, all action, script. Naishuller also directed his script and, in the end, I’m not sure it was something I’d want to experience again.

Overall:  This film was intense and full throttle “in your face” action with no real point.