Category Reviews

Nov 22 2024

William Shatner Reunites With Leonard Nimoy For One Last Time In 765874: Unification

There have been numerous fan-made and unofficial Star Trek shorts and films made throughout the years that celebrated the legacy of Star Trek. Some of the more memorable efforts featured the actual actors from the Star Trek TV shows who reprised their famous roles. The latest effort, 765874: Unification, stands out from the rest not just for its production values or topnotch CGI special effects, but because it stars William Shatner in what will most likely be his final performance as Captain James T. Kirk as he reunites with the late Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

Directed by Carlos Baena, 765874: Unification is produced by the VFX studio OTOY in conjunction with the Roddenberry Archive and was released on the heels of the 30th anniversary of the film Star Trek Generations. It serves as a bookend or an epilogue or a post-credits scene to that film as it finally shows us Kirk and his best friend Spock reuniting after their deaths. It is also a sequel of sorts to OTOY’s previous short film, 765874: Regeneration, which featured Leonard Nimoy as Spock reacting to the death of Captain Kirk.

Taking place in the afterlife, moments after Kirk died in Star Trek Generations, the film stars Shatner and Sam Witwer as Kirk, who is jaw-droppingly rendered with CGI and live-action performances. Basically, Kirk wanders through a heavenly afterlife that is similar to what he experienced in the Nexus from Star Trek Generations. During his journey, he comes across many people from his life including Saavik (reprised by Robin Curtis who was digitally aged into an old woman). The film also features numerous Star Trek Easter eggs and characters such as Gary Mitchell (reprised by Gary Lockwood in a performance that was obviously rendered through CG), who plays a role in guiding Kirk during his first moments after his death.

Eventually, Kirk encounters the alien Starfleet officer Yor, who was briefly featured in the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Terra Firma”. For anyone who hasn’t seen that episode, it was revealed that Yor was originally from the Kelvin Universe (the alternate reality where the J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films take place in) and was stranded in the Star Trek Prime Universe until his death.

As Trek fans know, Spock (as portrayed by Leonard Nimoy) was stranded in the Kelvin Universe and remained there until his death of old age (as noted in Star Trek: Beyond).

Yor serves as a conduit for Kirk to enable him to crossover into the Kelvin Universe. In the final moments of 765874: Unification, Kirk appears at the deathbed of Spock as the two old friends silently watch the sun set with the promise of a new adventure awaiting the both of them in the afterlife.

Aside from the nearly perfect special effects, what made the film stand out was its lack of dialogue, aside from a brief voiceover by Kirk taken from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But words were not necessary, Shatner and Witwer were able to convey genuine emotions as Kirk explores the afterlife filled with wonder and surprise.

Still, the special effects are just amazing and feature the best use ever of de-aging and CGI to render Kirk as we last saw him in Star Trek Generations and as the more youthful version of the starship captain seen in the original series. The only times the effects falter are in two shots where Kirk walks awkwardly in profile. But other than that bravo to OTOY for their work!

Yes, the use of CGI to bring Spock back to life (through CG and a live-action performance by Lawrence Selleck) and de-aging Shatner and others is controversial for some. But for others, this film is a fitting tribute to the brotherly bond between Kirk and Spock that spans time, space and life itself. Afterall, death cannot destroy relationships or bonds.

More importantly, the short film is a love letter to Star Trek fans, especially those who still appreciate the older more iconic iteration of the sci-fi franchise and have fond memories of those early films and TV shows. After so many years, it feels great to see these two Star Trek legends together for one last time.

Needless to say, whether or not it’s official or canon, 765874: Unification finally gives us the opportunity to say farewell to these two characters as we see the Shatner and Nimoy versions of Kirk and Spock have a final performance together. Using the afterlife as the vessel for their unification is an appropriate and dare say, logical, way to close this chapter of their existence and the landscape for their next great adventure.

José Soto

Nov 13 2024

The Penguin Revels As One Of The Best Comic-Book-Based TV Shows

When the Max limited series The Penguin was first announced, many dismissed it as an unnecessary venture and a half-hearted attempt to expand the crime-infested world of Gotham City as seen in the 2022 film, The Batman. In other words, a production more akin to Gotham or the worst of the defunct Arrowverse TV shows than a cinema-quality presentation. Well, as we now know, The Penguin pleasantly surprised everyone and turned out to be one of the best current TV shows and one of the best comic-book-based TV shows ever.

Colin Farrell reprises the role he originated in The Batman as Oswald “Oz Cobb, a two-bit mobster with lofty ambitions to become a major player in the criminal underworld of Gotham. In the film and the start of the TV show, Cobb is a low-level member of the Falcone crime family, which was left ruined by Batman at the end of the film. During the premiere episode of The Penguin, Cobb (who is derisively nicknamed the Penguin by other mobsters because of his disfigured face and limp) impulsively seizes on an opportunity to rise in the ranks of the crime family. However, because he is derided by the Falcones, Cobb sets out on his own with the help of his young partner Victor Aguilar (Rheny Feliz) to violently create his own criminal empire in the neglected slums of Gotham City.

Cobb’s main antagonist in the series is Sofia Falcone (Christin Milloti), the misfit daughter of the head of the Falcone family. She was recently released from Arkham Asylum and seeks to find her place in her family’s criminal organization. But, like Cobb, she is dismissed by the organization and then takes measures to seize control of the organization while plotting revenge against Cobb. In the past, Cobb was her driver and confidante, but he betrayed her to her father to rise in the ranks of the organization after she told Cobb of her suspicions about her father murdering prostitutes. Her father framed her for the murders he committed and has her sent to Arkham for inhumane treatment.

As the two central figures in the TV show rise to power, it is not long before their mutual antagonism towards each other erupts into a deadly gang war for control over Gotham’s criminal underworld.

There are so many reasons why The Penguin is so great. Let’s start with the smart writing that takes great pains to develop and humanize the characters with compelling back stories. This doesn’t mean that we root for the Penguin or Sofia. They are bad people with twisted outlooks in life and who commit heinous acts. For example, in one episode Sofia callously murders most members of her own family while flashbacks revealed her torturous ordeal in Arkham, which made her sympathetic until she acted on her worst impulses. With Oz, we see his troubled past and his supposedly loving relationship with his mother, Francis (Deidre O’Connell). At first it seems to be a tender relationship which conveyed a more vulnerable side to Cobb. But by the end of the series, we come to see how twisted he was even as a child and how his blackened and greedy heart gave him a perverse view of life and his relationship with his mother that borders on the oedipal.

The production is also above par for a TV show and is seamless with The Batman as it evokes the grimy and gritty look of the film. As with the film, Gotham is a seedy, decaying urban hellhole which clearly divides the affluent from the downtrodden. In the mean streets of Crown Point, Cobb’s old neighborhood, the mobster begins his rise to the top of the affluent criminal underworld as he revels in his lower class roots in order to attract economically and socially oppressed allies like Victor. It is not necessary to have watched the film, though some events from it are referenced, most notably the flooding of Gotham that took place at the end of The Batman, which had a severe impact on the life of Victor.

While Cobb and Sofia are the main characters with complex backgrounds, the show also gives Victor well deserved time with his own back story. But in his case, the young criminal is much more sympathetic and vulnerable to the point that he became the heart of the show. Feliz’s acting was as brilliant as Farrell’s and Milloti’s. We find ourselves rooting for Victor and fearing for his safety as his innocence slowly ebbs away as he is exposed to the criminal world of Oz Cobb. It becomes troubling to watch Victor descent as he becomes more and more entrenched since we want him to come out of this partnership with Cobb in one piece.

Still, the stars of the show are Farrell and Milloti. The characters they play share many similarities as disregarded misfits forced to fight their way to the top. As evil as they are, we can’t help but be riveted by their stories. The two actors are certain to at least get Emmy nominations for their work. At the very least, the makeup in this TV show will win awards as it uncannily transformed Farrell into a heavyset, disfigured creature that is unrecognizable.

Of course, as flawless as the makeup is, it would not mean anything without Farrell’s captivating performance that echoes Tony Soprano, Vito Corleone and Robert De Niro’s gangster roles. Like those famous celluloid gangsters, the Penguin is a gruff, brutal thug but displays surprising moments of humanity. What was tragic for Cobb is his realization towards the end of the series that his emotional attachment to others is a vulnerability to him. His reaction at the end of the final episode to this realization cements the Penguin as a truly evil man and elevates him to one of Batman’s greatest villains. In fact, the way the Penguin is shown in this series gives argument for him being an even greater villain than the Joker thanks to his fleshed out and involving back story.

At the time of this writing, The Penguin is supposed to be a limited series that sets up the upcoming sequel to The Batman. Does this mean that the mobster will be the main villain of that film? Who knows, but the Penguin deserves to be the main foe and it would be a mistake to relegate Cobb to a minor presence in the film. Regardless of that, a second season is very warranted since Cobb is such a fascinating character and worth exploring some more. If not, then there are plenty of other members of Batman’s rogue’s gallery that could receive similar treatment, although the current rumor is that a TV show featuring the Joker is being considered. That would be a mistake because we have had two solo films about the Clown Prince of Crime and Batman has a rich roster of foes that deserve their moment in the harsh spotlight as the Penguin has received.   

José Soto

Oct 4 2024

The Wild Robot’s Emotional Story Almost Overwhelmed My CPU

It’s no hot take that DreamWorks Animation (DreamWorks) always knocks it out of the park when it comes to adapting beloved books into unforgettable movies, and The Wild Robot is no exception. Every single decision that led to the finished product was nearly perfect and it really feels like the people behind this movie’s creation, such as director Chris Sanders (who directed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon), poured their whole hearts and souls into developing this film, which makes sense since this is sadly the last in-house animated film for DreamWorks. I highly recommend The Wild Robot to everyone who reads this review to go out there and see it in theaters because it deserves the love and the theater experience for this one was definitely unique. This review will be split into 4 parts.

STORY

The story follows a lost robot named ROZZUM Unit 7134 (“Roz”, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) as she finds her way around an island entirely inhabited by wild animals. She is programmed to be an aide and seeks to offer her services to the animals as part of her pre-programmed goals before she can activate a beacon to be picked up by her manufacturers. As Roz explores the island, it becomes clear that she is unable to communicate with the animals, so she spends months listening in on their conversations and is eventually able to hear and speak in their tongue.

Along the way, she unofficially adopts a baby gosling named Brightbill (Kit Connor) after she accidently kills his family. Having a new purpose, Roz must help raise the gosling to be prepared for the upcoming winter season when the geese migrate off the island. During their time together, Brightbill sees Roz has his mother while Roz begins to develop genuine emotions and is conflicted with her protocol to leave the island after her task of raising Brightbill is completed.

This movie’s story is genuinely amazing and almost made me tear up 3 separate times in only the first two acts. DreamWorks did such a phenomenal job at delivering a heartfelt story that is so emotionally rich that you feel somewhat of a bond with the characters in this film. My only issue, if I absolutely had to have one, was that the pacing was very quick, like whiplash quick. But surprisingly, unlike many other films with fast pacing, this film somehow made it work and it didn’t feel too off-putting. Every plotline progressed off the previous one and every scene felt more action packed and engaging than the last.

CHARACTERS

The characters are well written in The Wild Robot. To start, Roz is a complex character and is able to feel emotions that robots shouldn’t; she is instantly one of my favorite DreamWorks protagonists. She has a heart of steel that comes from her programming where she is unable to harm other living things despite what they think of her. She is unyielding in whatever task has been assigned to her and refuses to give up even in the most impossible scenarios.

Throughout the film, Roz is accompanied by a mischievous and unpopular local fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) who is sly and has no problem with lying but is also willing to help others who are mentally and physically vulnerable. He is also a really funny supporting character and has great chemistry with both Roz and Brightbill. As the adopted child of Roz, Brightbill is an adorable and inspiring goose that overcomes all odds against him. We get to see him grow from baby to young adult in mere moments, but it feels as if we were with the family every step of the way.

Brightbill’s journey was more difficult than it was for those around him because he is a runt and had an unusual upbringing, but he proved everyone who doubted, and even bullied him, wrong. There are many other supporting characters that played

into their roles really well, such as the stoic and tough owl, Thunderbolt (Ving Rhames), who helps teach Brightbill how to fly, the gentle and wise Longneck (Bill Nighy), the leader of the island geese who welcomes Brightbill into his flock, and a crusty but helpful beaver named Paddler (Matt Berry). These and other minor characters get their moments to shine throughout the film and add to the rich tapestry of characters throughout the film.

SOUND DESIGN

The sound design in The Wild Robot is stellar and every voice actor knocked it out of the park. To start with the soundtrack, it included very strong and epic music that complimented certain key scenes very well, adding onto the layers of immersion this film has. The two original songs featured in this film are amazing and I recommend listening to both of them (“Kiss the Sky” and “Even When I’m Not” by Marren Morris). The voice acting is phenomenal and every character’s actors were chosen perfectly.

My personal favorites were Lupita Nyong’o as Roz, Kit Connor as Brightbill, Pedro Pascal as Fink, and Bill Nighy as Longneck. The original score only amplifies the experience of watching this movie, as it makes every scene either emotional, casual, or heart-pounding.

ART AND ANIMATION

The only word to describe the art style of this movie is gorgeous; this is without a doubt one of the best-looking animated movies ever made. The art style is a mixture of natural landscapes, watercolor strokes, and the wonderous joy of storybook pages. Every character looks so high quality that I wanted to personally thank every person in charge of developing this fantastic identity. The animation is astonishingly brilliant and it’s so good that every frame of animation could by captured as a photo and used for marketing material. The people who worked so hard to animate Roz’s fluidic, yet robotic movements deserve so much praise. The backgrounds and landscaping are also beautiful; there is this one shot that involves Roz being in front of a giant moon in the background that I cannot stop thinking about because it was such an amazing shot. I am probably rambling on about the art and probably sound like a broken record, but that’s how much I genuinely love the work put into making this movie shine so visually.

CONCLUSION

The Wild Robot is an unforgettable and story-rich adventure that no one will want to miss. Its story is unique, the characters are lovable, the sound design is elite, and the animation is easily one of the best of this decade so far. This DreamWorks movie is one of its best and it is a shame that this marks the end of in-house animated movies for the company. I am usually not one to advocate for sequels, especially in an age where they get more and more mediocre, but I really would not be opposed to seeing another two movies based on the other books in the Wild Robot trilogy by author Peter Brown. Be sure to watch The Wild Robot, out now in theaters!

Angelo Soto

Aug 18 2024

Alien: Romulus Brings The Alien Franchise Back To Basics

The Alien films have had its share of stumbles with the last few films in the franchise. Director Ridley Scott’s recent attempts at expanding the lore of the franchise had mixed results with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. After Alien: Covenant did little to reinvigorate the franchise, it seemed as if the franchise would go dormant. Thankfully, this is not the case with this weekend’s release of Alien: Romulus and the upcoming TV show, Alien: Earth.

Alien: Romulus succeeds where most of the films in the franchise have failed with its back-to-basics approach that emphasizes horror and favors the use of practical special effects. Even though, there is CG used in the film, it’s usage is restrained and blends nearly flawlessly with practical effects. However, what makes the film stand out is the tight, claustrophobic atmosphere created by director Fede Alvarez, which harkens back to the original Alien.

The film opens with a spaceship probe finding the floating wreckage of the Nostromo from the first Alien film. Among the wreckage the ship recovers the fossilized body of the alien xenomorph that was ejected into space at the end of Alien.

Alien: Romulus shifts ahead to a mining colony on the planet, Jackson’s Star, and Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), a young miner who is desperate to leave the colony along with her adoptive brother Andy (David Jonnson), an artificial being who is an older model of the artificial beings featured in other Alien films. After her attempts to legally leave the planet fail, she is approached by her friend Tyler (Archi Renaux) to help him and his crew of his ship, the Corbelan, to raid a derelict space station that entered the planet’s orbit, but will soon crash. The crew of the Corbelan consists of Tyler’s sister, Kay (Isabela Merced), his abrasive cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and the ship’s pilot, Navarro (Aileen Wu). Like Rain, Tyler and his crew hope to leave the planet but need cryopods to make the long journey to the next world. Tyler plans to raid the station in order to salvage unused cryopods for themselves.

Once the group boards the station, they discover that the crew aboard the station are dead because the xenomorph they recovered from the Nostromo revived, massacred the crew and irreparably damaged the station. Onboard the station are dormant alien facehuggers, which are a crab-like form of xenomorph that forcibly impregnates victims in order to hatch infant versions of the skeletal xenomorphs. It turns out that the station is owned by the company, Weyland-Yutani, which as seen in the other films is dedicated to capturing xenomorphs at the expense of anyone else in order to carry out scientific experiments on the alien creatures.

During their efforts to retrieve the cryopods, Tyler and Bjorn accidently revive the facehuggers, which soon imperils the crew of the Corbelan, as well as Rain. Andy, meanwhile receives a software upgrade in order to find out how to deal with the facehuggers and adult xenomorphs that are nestled within the dark corridors of the station. However this upgrade overwrites his benevolent personality and his motives become more nebulous as Rain and the others try to escape the station.

While Alien: Romulus has a fairly simple storyline, it delivers with well-earned jump scares and a pervading sense of dread and intense suspense throughout the film. It also has a few homages and call backs to the other films, which are sometimes a bit too-on-the-nose. But overall, these references pan out and the film manages to add new wrinkles to the Alien lore as the motivations behind Weyland-Yutani are fleshed out, which leads to some truly horrifying moments in the final act.

Fede Alvarez deserves much of the credit for how well Alien: Romulus turned out. He injects the film with a back-to-basics approach that focused on horror, which is what made the first film so memorable. Alvarez knows how to keep audiences in suspense with his use of shadows and sounds, which made the station feel like a haunted house in space as the deadly xenomorphs stealthily stalked their victims. He wisely keeps the creatures in the shadows, which adds to the feeling of primordial terror we and the characters feel while confronting the deadly and opaque unknown.

The actors turn in solid performances with Jonnson being the best standout thanks to his portrayal of Andy. At first, Andy, being an obsolete model, comes off as a sympathetic character from the way he is mistreated by humans. We can see that although Andy is synthetic, he has emotions and only wants to protect Rain and the others. But once, he receives his upgrade he transforms into a cold and unfeeling being who is compromised by the goals of the Weyland-Yutani company to the point that the characters cannot be certain that he has their best interests in his artificial heart.

By going back to basics, Alien: Romulus reinvigorates the Alien franchise by focusing on what made the first two films work so well. That is the sense of cosmic terror one may encounter out there in the unknown regions of space.

José Soto

Jul 26 2024

Deadpool & Wolverine Save The MCU

The only film from Marvel Studios this year, Deadpool & Wolverine, introduces the film characters based on Marvel Comics before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was created and the Fox X-Men films into the vast MCU with a gory and wild flourish.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman return to the superhero roles that made them famous, and even though it’s been several years since they donned their costumes, they fit easily into the roles as if they last played the roles yesterday. Frankly, it was great seeing the two actors interacting with one another as they had instant chemistry in what amounts to a reluctant buddy film. The last time they appeared in film together was with the abominable X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was a low point for the Fox X-Men films. Now, the two actors reunite to salvage the MCU, which is currently undergoing its own rough patch. Some spoilers will follow.

Deadpool & Wolverine begins with everyone’s favorite mercenary, who has the power to instantly heal, exhuming the remains of Wolverine/Logan who died at the end of Logan. His mission ends when he finds out the hard way that this version of Wolverine is not coming back from the dead and he is forced to find another version of Wolverine to save his world.

An extended flashback reveals that Deadpool aka Wade Wilson is now retired from being a mercenary and living a meaningless and lonely life as a used-car salesman. He is soon captured by agents from the interdimensional Time Variance Authority (the TVA featured in the series Loki). At the TVA headquarters, Deadpool meets Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who informs him that his timeline is dying because Wolverine is an anchor being in his timeline who kept the timeline intact. But because he died in Logan, the timeline is becoming unstable and will cease to exist. In order to move up the corporate TVA ladder, Mr. Paradox plans to destroy Deadpool’s timeline with the Time Ripper, a machine that can quickly destroy timelines as a form of “mercy”. He offers Deadpool the opportunity to live in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline and actually lead a meaningful life, but the retired mercenary steals a time traveling device and explores various universes to find a Wolverine variant to fill in the role of his timeline’s anchor being.

Deadpool eventually encounters a surly and bitter version of Wolverine that is considered the worst Wolverine and Deadpool manages to subdue him. However, once back at the TVA with the Wolverine variant, Mr. Paradox banishes Deadpool and Wolverine into the Void, a realm outside of time. Amidst their bickering, the duo come across many variants of characters we last saw in the Fox X-Men films and Marvel films before the MCU was created, implying that their timelines were destroyed. One of these characters is Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrinn), an evil twin sister of the powerful mutant telepath, Charles Xavier, and the ruler of the Void. Nova plans to take control of the Time Ripper and intends to use it to destroy all timelines. Now Deadpool not only has to save his own timeline but every other as well, and he has to find a way to convince the gruff Wolverine to help him.   

Deadpool and Wolverine serves as another raucous return to form for Deadpool that revels in over-the-top profanity and violence. It is definitely the most violent Deadpool film, but the violence is so cartoony and sick that one can’t help but laugh at the outlandish nature of the violence. This film certainly earns its R rating from its sexual innuendo to its graphic violence and exaggerated profanity.  Of course, parents SHOULD NOT allow young children to see the film, but everyone else will have a blast watching Deadpool and Wolverine savagely ripping through their enemies while swearing up a storm, and laughing at all the meta jokes.

The film has its flaws, namely with its pacing at times and the script needed more polishing. This is most likely due to last year’s writers’ strike that prevented any revisions of the script, which is regrettable because there are a few plot holes and threads that are not resolved. As for its dark humor, while the film is quite hilarious at times, not every joke lands and some of it may become dated with its topical references. Let’s be honest, Disney, Marvel Studios and the MCU needed to be roasted for their missteps and familiar tropes, and the film doesn’t hold back on riffing on Marvel and the MCU. Seriously, it’s amazing that the film was allowed to go above and beyond with its humor which was very raunchy and with MCU (and Disney) often being the butt of the jokes.

But Deadpool & Wolverine more than makes up for its faults with witty energy and great banter between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. It goes without saying that it was a joy not just seeing Jackman playing the wild mutant again but in wearing for the first time a comic book-accurate costume. Plus, the action scenes are very inventive and are some of the best featured in the MCU, especially one bloody and claustrophobic fight that takes place inside a minivan. Then there are the numerous cameos, some of which will make jaws drop since they were unexpected. Not every character or actor or reference that can be imagined shows up. But nearly every character introduction steals the scenes and are welcome not just for returning characters but those we never got to see before.

Saying that Deadpool & Wolverine saves the MCU is not a small exaggeration. At this point in time and given its recent missteps, the MCU needed a win which is provided by this hysterically gory and fun romp that should be seen multiple times to take in all of its jokes and references.

José Soto