X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Next time I go to the barber, I'll ask for The Rogue Cut.  I'll laugh and laugh and the barber will kick me out because I'm an idiot.

X-Men:  Days of Future Past ? The Rogue Cut ? 5 out of 5

I know, I know, loyal reader.  I already reviewed X-Men:  Days of Future Past when I saw it in the theater in the summer of 2014 and I sang its praises about how awesome it was and how cool it was to have Bryan Singer once again at the helm of an X-film.  However, recently I purchased The Rogue Cut on Blu-Ray and decided to watch it back-to-back with the Theatrical Cut of the film.  I wanted to see what was different and whether or not this is a more definitive version of the story?and then I decided to would review it because that?s just what I do.

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It's on my bucket list to hug Ian McKellen.  Get ready, Ian, because it's going
to happen and it's going to be awesome!

                                                                                        20th Century Fox
Hey look!  It's Rogue!

In the future, mutant kind is at risk of extinction after deadly robot Sentinels run wild and hunt all mutants.  In a last ditch effort to save their kind, Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) use the powers of Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) to send the consciousness of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) into his younger body in the 70s.  In that time, he will seek out a younger Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) and get them to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the man who creates the Sentinels; Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).  However, along the way Kitty is hurt and doesn?t have the strength to keep Wolverine in the past and the team must rescue the power-stealing mutant Rogue (Anna Paquin) to help finish the job before the Sentinels descend on them and kill them, preserving a world where mutants are hunted like animals.

                                                                                                                     20th Century Fox
Michael Fassbender contains a of level of cool that is impossible for a mortal like
me to ever achieve.

In this cut of the film, everything that makes Days of Future Past so awesome that I completely forget that Brett Ratner nearly killed this franchise with X-Men:  The Last Stand (although, I will always say how awesome Kelsey Grammar was as Beast) is still here.  It's all still here in this awesome adaptation of the classic comic book storyline:  The great acting, the killer special effects and, of course, Evan Peters stealing the film as Quicksilver and that endlessly amusing and fantastic scene in the Pentagon kitchen set to ?Time in a Bottle.?  However, this cut of the film isn?t just a mad-dash for extra cash and something to convince fans to buy another copy of the film by adding a quick one-minute scene of Rogue?No, this is much more and it might actually be a better version of an already awesome film!

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Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite moments in all of comic book movie history.

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Blink must be really good at Portal.

Most notable about The Rogue Cut is how it changes the third act of the film with the inclusion of Rogue.  This results in a new and very exciting action sequence where they rescue Rogue from Charles Xavier?s school (which is now occupied by the Anti-Mutant agenda).  This scene is edited together with the scene from the Theatrical Cut of Magneto going to reclaim his helmet and it makes for a nice parallel to the rescue and makes the already cool scene of Erik getting his gear that much cooler.  This new cut may change when a certain character in the future dies but it also allows characters like Warpath (Booboo Stewart), Blink (Bingbing Fan), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Sunspot (Adan Canto) and Bishop (Omar Sy) get a few more lines of dialogue when they are coming up with the plan to send Wolvie back in time and that results in making the whole journey and adventure have a greater sense of weight to it and how truly important it is that they succeed?and also how deep the risks truly are.

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I'm not going to make a joke here but rather talk about how cool Sunspot looks in the film.

The Rogue Cut also offers up some new gags?including a fun mid-credit sequence with Peter Dinklage? and some fun fan service by offering up a hint that Quicksilver?s sister; Scarlet Witch, was around the whole time but off-screen in her room upstairs in the Maximoff household.   Occasionally, these new or alternate scenes can slow the film down?like an additional scene where Mystique shows up at the X-mansion?but, even then, the slowdown isn?t that bad or distracting enough to harm the film.  There?s also times when edits in the Theatrical Cut can come off awkward but this is only noticeable if you watch The Rogue Cut first and know that the scene was originally meant to go longer.  This is ultimately balanced though because there are scenes that just feel stronger in TRC than in the original edit.

                                                                                         20th Century Fox
The movie did a great job of showing the unbridled passion that pretty much defined
the character of Beast in the comics.

Overall, The Rogue Cut of X-Men:  Days of Future Past is pretty freakin? rad?yes, I just said ?rad.?  The original film is already amazing as it not only helped bring back the X-films as a legitimate superhero franchise (something that was started by X-Men:  First Class?look, X3 did a lot of damage) but it also did something cool by combining the old films' cast with the prequel cast in a marriage of amazing (and plot holes and continuity errors?as good as this franchise is, there?s a lot of plot holes in it).  Is The Rogue Cut better?  That?s hard to say because that sort of thing is really just personal preference.  The Theatrical Cut is already amazing beyond amazing but, from a personal standpoint, The Rogue Cut is my preferred version of the film.

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens..with renewed vigour

As you sit in the hall watching the beloved spectacle unfold on the screen, you are more and more convinced that this revival was the right thing to do. This franchise has captured the imagination of millions in its glory days and if you can do justice to it ? then moving the franchise forward is simply the right thing to do. The great news is that with JJ Abrams at the helm ? the early indications sure do look promising.

Taking the storyline itself into the future after Return of the Jedi was a bold and very risky move. There is a lot of nostalgia attached with the old characters and this would?ve been a sensitive one to negotiate. However, I think Abrams has done an admirable job of meshing the old and the new. It tugs at the heartstrings for just a bit but keeps the focus firmly on the action. So much so that this movie simply seems a continuation of the franchise. It is refreshing to see that Abrams is not trying to change much which seems to be the trend with all the reboots and story advances the other franchises are having these days.

The art direction and cinematography is excellent. You quickly get immersed in this distinctly different world and with the technological advances over the years, the action looks simply spectacular. Screen transitions are very much like the earlier movies as well. While the 3D is hardly there, you should catch this one in IMAX if you can, simply because the giant screen would make the action much more immersive. I wish though, that the sequels that follow are even shot in an Avatar-esque 3D camera ? that would really be something.

The story has new characters albeit in familiar plotlines. There are references to what has already happened but not to such an extent that you can?t follow the plot without watching or more likely, still remembering the original storyline. There are some pretty large plot gaps and convenient twists that make this new story pretty average. The climax disappoints in terms of content but the visuals look even more spectacular. One does get the distinct feeling however that this movie is packaged to be an opener to a new chapter of the franchise with more explosive and story laden sequels to follow.

The focus of this movie is largely on the action and the visuals so there isn?t much acting to do per se. However, everybody including the newcomers to the franchise, do a decent job. BB8 is probably going to become the next beloved mascot of this new generation of the series.


I think this is a promising start to a new chapter of the franchise. By staying true to its roots, paying homage to its original story and characters, rather than trying to replace them, Abrams has made quite the fanboy movie and given the series the respect it deserves. May the Force be with him as he now takes on the even trickier job of building a complex plotline in the sequels that are bound to follow.

Terminator Genisys

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  So, he really wasn't lying when he said he'd be back.

Terminator Genisys ? 3 out of 5

In a world where knee-jerk reactions of hatred and outrage are things that are considered normal behavior (but only for things like movies, reboots and casting non-white actors to play comic book characters that are usually depicted as Hitler?s wet dream?if you dare get pissed about things like sexism, racism or rape culture, you?re then assaulted by the people bitching about female Ghostbusters and guys who really hate women having opinions on video games and are told that you are just whiners and offended by everything), anyway, everyone was quick to start throwing hate at the new installment to the Terminator franchise when it was announced it was going to happen..  Meanwhile, I watched the trailer and said, ?Sure, I?ll watch it.?  I keep forgetting that I?m supposed to just instantly hate everything.  I?ll guess I?ll never truly belong on the internet because I tend to reserve extreme opinions until I actually witness the product.  Anyway, after days of judgment, machines doing their rising thing and some salvation given to us by Batman?s gravel voice, Arnie is back in Terminator Sega Genisys.

So...the machines just couldn't invent a self-driving truck?  Google did it.

The endless time loop war!

In 2029, the savior of the human race John ?When will this fucking machine war end? Connor (Jason Clarke) launches his major assault in the attempt to stop Skynet from ruling the planet.  Like we?ve seen, the machines sent back a T-800 series model to kill Sarah Conner in the past in order to stop the Resistance from being created since Sarah is John?s mother.  In an effort to protect both his mommy and his creation, John sends his father; Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time with the mission to stop the T-800 and to protect Sarah?and also to protect his privates because they have to do baby-making things.  However, things take quite a turn compared to the last time we saw Kyle?s journey through time and he witnesses a new machine attack John.  Now, somehow, the timeline has changed and Kyle?s mission isn?t what it was going to be.  He arrives and finds Sarah (Emilia Clarke) is already a badass and trying to stop Skynet from going live and nuking the world.  Now, together, Sarah and Kyle?alongside a T-800 that was send back to protect her when she was a child and she now lovingly refers to as Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger)?use a cobbled together time machine to transport themselves to 2017 in order to stop Skynet?which is disguising itself as a worldwide operating system called ?Genisys.?  The mission seems straightforward enough until they run into John and learn he is no longer the hero he once was destined to be.

Holy shit!  That is cool.

I won?t say I walked into this one with high hopes.  The first film is awesome and created something completely unheard of in the world of sci-fi when it came out and the sequel was one of those few films that was, in my opinion, actually better than its predecessor and instantly became a classic action film that still holds up today.  The third film wasn?t the best thing I?ve seen, in my opinion, but there were some cool parts to it and, despite my really hoping for something dark, gritty and exciting with Salvation, I found the fourth one to be ?ber-disappointing.  So, naturally, I wasn?t foaming at the mouth for Genisys?buuuut, I will honestly say that seeing the first trailer had me interested at the idea of a new alternate timeline, some sweet looking action, a return of Arnold in his prime form and a plot twist that realistically shouldn?t have been in the trailer but really showed how this film can be different from the others and a possible game-changer.

The shot so cool, they have to put it in every freaking movie!

There?s a lot of flaws holding this addition to the franchise down and keeping it from being on the same level and becoming an instant classic like the first two films but the film does have enough working for it that it?s fairly decent.  The film?s opening feels like it is right out of the 2^nd film and manages to craft the same tone?something completely unseen in Salvation?a film that felt like all the Terminator elements were added on later in order to shoe-horn it into the franchise.  The computer effects are fantastically good and absolutely breathtaking at points.  The action has some really cool fight scenes between the machines and some killer big action pieces that are amazingly exciting and unique.  And, finally, the new time travel components may work against the film by making the timelines in this franchise very convoluted but it also sets this film apart from the rest of the films and doesn?t feel like just another ?let?s send another, different robot back in time to kill John? story.  

Way, way, way better than CG Auhnold in Salvation.

Seriously, great CG but they can't get decent makeup
effects?  That looks like it was done from an off-the-shelf
makeup set from a Halloween Express.

Additionally, many members of the film?s cast really helped this film flow and be more entertaining than I thought it was going to end up.  Jason Clarke is pretty cool as John Connor?even though this is once again a new actor playing John and they are once again playing the character completely different than everyone else did (also, those facial scars they added to him looked super fake and were very distracting).  J.K. Simmons is here and playing a very fun character who recognizes Sarah and Kyle in 2017 from when he was a young officer being saved by Kyle when he traveled back to the 80s.  Emilia Clarke does a great job of filling Linda Hamilton?s boots as Sarah Connor and Arnold, as usual in this franchise, steals the show as the now older T-800 model Pops.

J.K. Simmons is awesome in everything he does.  Please, please, please, PLEASE have
him come back as J. Jonah in the MCU.

She does kinda look like Hamilton, I'll say that.

However, for all the good the film has, it still has a lot of flaws that hurt it and really stopped it from feeling like an adequate addition and something that belongs in the same league as the first and T2.  For example, the movie overdoes the nods and winks to the previous films and it quickly stops feeling like homages to what came before it and fun bits of nostalgia and quickly just feels like this franchise is just endlessly repeating itself and actively going against trying to pave new ground.  Some of the action scenes that are more bullets flying-based feel mediocre and pretty standard action movie stuff that doesn?t really stand out.  There?s some truly awful jokes?like one involving the Cops theme (but that one was at least saved by Arnie) and there is absolutely no chemistry between Jai Courtney and Emilia Clarke.  This part really hurts the film because the relationship that develops between Kyle and Sarah in the first film felt so natural and in this, due to the absence of chemistry and some bad writing (and a really bad performance), the relationship feels wholly unnatural and extremely forced.

Arnie just makes this stupid shit work.

Seriously, Smith brought nothing to this role that any
hungry actor with no career couldn't have done.

Finally, one of the worst parts about this film is the performance of Jai Courtney.  There were other members of the cast that had some issues like having an actor like Matt Smith, who just came off a very iconic role, play a character that, realistically, could have been played by anyone because Smith really didn?t bring anything of note to the part.  Additionally, Emilia Clarke?s delivery of lines occasionally is super cheesy and she never truly feels like the Sarah Connor we know (but a different timeline kinda explains that one away).  However, at the core, she still has a gooey, caramel center that is the Connor we?ve see.  Courtney, on the other hand, lacks this and never once feels like he is Kyle Reese.  It?s bad enough that his performance is very bland and flat but the fact he never, ever comes close to being the character that Michael Biehn made famous in the first film feels very tragic and a wasted opportunity from the production.  This very boring and uninteresting performance from Courtney only made the piss-poor developed and lazily forced relationship between Kyle and Sarah only look worse by the time the film was over.

I'd hate to post blame on a film on one person but, seriously, Courtney was just
that bland in this film.

I won?t go as far as to say that Terminator Genisys is bad or a waste of time.  It?s definitely more entertaining than Salvation but I think I would say it?s about equal to the third film?it?s not great but it has its moments (amusingly enough that this film actually retcons the existence of those two films).  The film definitely had some potential it was striving for and, even though it suffers from a moment or two of really lazy writing, the film was pretty ambitious.  Heck, even James Cameron gave the film his approval and has labeled it his ?official? third film in the franchise?he basically told Rise of the Machines and Salvation to go fuck themselves.  Genisys is, without a doubt, serviceable in its entertainment and Arnold is all kinds of fun in his role but, at the end of it all, it?s still another just functioning sequel added to this franchise?s already growing list of only functioning sequels.

Fun Fact:  That's the original T-1000 Robert Patrick on the left there making a quick
cameo.

 

Air

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  If this film didn't go with the tagline "It'll take your breath away" then I have lost all hope for the world.

Air ? 2 out of 5

When I first read about this film, I was pretty excited to see it.  Its story sounded like a prime breeding ground for some cool and dark sci-fi, the cast is composed of two actors I really enjoy, it?s produced by Robert Kirkman?the man who gave us The Walking Dead?and it was directed and co-written by the guy who wrote one of my all-time favorite video games; Red Dead Redemption.  How could Air go wrong?  Well, it can in just enough ways...

On the plus side, Col. Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica was the president
in this film's reality.

In the near future, chemical warfare has destroyed most of the world?s population and left the air un-breathable.  The government quickly built an underground bunker where the world?s leading scientists, thinkers and, most likely, best bakers of sweet pastries and snacks were collected and put into cryo-sleep.  Each of these facilities has two maintenance men who wake up every six months to do routine inspections and make sure the future of the world is sleeping well.  One day, two workers; Cartwright (Djimon Hounsou) and Bauer (Norman Reedus), get up to do their jobs but an accident causes one of their sleep terminals to be destroyed.  Now they are faced with a choice:  One of them has to die or they try to figure out another way.  As hopeless as it feels, things only get worse when they learn a startling truth about their job and the facility they operate in?

"Who?"

Remember:  Keep your Reedus stored airtight because
if air gets to it, it will die.  And if it dies, people will riot.

Some of the things that work really well with Air is its cast and its concept.  The story is a simple sci-fi feature that is built on a solid foundation of isolated and claustrophobic tension.  This future that's presented is a realistic way and I really dug how the equipment that Cartwright and Bauer are surrounded by looked antiquated in some areas and modern in others.  It really helped show that these facilities were quickly thrown together in order to preserve the human race.  Additionally, both Hounsou and Reedus are doing excellent job and really carrying the film?and that means a lot since they, realistically, are the only ones to the cast.  Granted, Reedus isn?t really pushing his boundaries and playing something we haven?t seen before.  For all intents and purposes, he?s just playing a slight variation of Daryl Dixon but he?s still entertaining in his role.

"Here ya go, Rick--I mean, Cartwright."

The problems I had with Air start with the fact that the story doesn?t dive deep enough into a lot of points of tension or conflict.  After the sleep terminal is destroyed, Bauer and Cartwright are left with a really difficult decision:  Do they try to repair the unit or do they sacrifice one of the chosen few so that the other maintenance man doesn?t have to complete their work alone?  Sacrificing an innocent to save the life of another innocent is a hardcore moral decision and one that should have been a big point of conflict and suspense in the film but, ultimately, it?s a short scene that is fixed way too quickly.  Instead, the film then just decides to have the conflict for survival be between Bauer and Cartwright and the film spins into a generic battle between the two.  This could have worked but the characters are introduced so fast and their point of conflict brought about so quickly after the more interesting sequence involving a moral choice is swept under the rug that it was hard to invest emotionally in their disagreement and war for survival.

The twist at the end is that the bad air was all a big prank from some super-
intelligent apes.

Another element I didn?t enjoy about the film and really stole all suspense and interest was the inclusion of a deus ex machina from the writers.  Cartwright has visions of his wife when he?s awake and even goes as far as talk to her while he?s doing his work.  This is fine and it goes a long way to show the heartbreak he is going through.  However, this quickly becomes a weak point of the film when it is used to solve any problem or minor hardship that he is facing.  There are points in the story where he and Bauer have obstacles and barriers in their way and rather than have them figure it out (they are in charge of keeping and maintaining the facility, so they should have it covered), the mirage of Cartwright?s wife shows up and shows him what to do to get them out of their mess.  Sure, his wife is a figment of his imagination so his subconscious is really telling him how to fix the situation but this presentation just feels lazy and like a plot device to just keep a story that is already moving very slowly on its rails and moving forward without any form of complication.

The scene where she explains to him where to find the toilet paper after the roll
runs out was a little weird, too.

It?s possible that my expectations for Air were too high but the final product was fairly disappointing.  I did enjoy the concept and the performances from Reedus and Hounsou but the story is pretty bland and it?s conflict seems to be actively avoiding going the deeper route and, instead, settles for something far more generic?and that extends all the way to the very, very predictable twist in the story.  Air looks decent and definitely had a lot of potential to be a science fiction film with depth and substance but, in the end, just felt more like a better SyFy original from days gone by.  A time before all their movies involved weird monsters and tornados with sharks in them.