Seventh Son (2015)

Saw this one Saturday night and I wasn’t disappointed. The story revolves around a Spook (basically a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son that fights evil) who takes on a new apprentice named Tom. Together they must take down Mother Malkin  (played to perfection by Julianne Moore). They do a really good job of giving us a enough of her and her sister to make us care the fate of Alice (played by Alicia Vikander). The special effects in this thing are just freakin over the top awesome. I found myself regretting I didn’t see it in 3D. The secondary characters and cinematography are superb, but Jeff Bridges as the Spook nails it in his role. If you know how much I can’t stand Jeff Bridges, then you know that it takes a lot for me to say something like that. For fantasy fans this movie is a bit of a dream come true, with strong female characters and fantastic looking creatures. For me this is what CONAN a few years ago should have been.

On the downside, I will say they didn’t give any time for the love story to develop and because of that I was actually more intrigued by the Spook’s back story. I also could have used another few hours of this, like I really wish they would have done this over a 3 movie spread.  Unless you are really into this genre, this movie may not be for you. I will say sadly I see this suffering the same fate as other cool stories that failed to hit the “epic” button. The audience I saw it with all seemed pleasantly surprised and there are just enough humorous moments to keep the pacing just about perfect because they were getting so much in to just an hour and 40 minutes. Having said that I will be buying this, it is a movie I’d watch over and over.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF LEGENDARY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #5-1

Drumroll for the Top Five Comics of 2014.....

The Maze Runner (2014)

A new kid gets served up to another group of kids trapped basically in a giant field surrounded by a moving maze. When I first saw the trailer for this with the cool looking maze, great looking creatures chasing these kids and a pretty cool idea, I wanted to see this pretty bad. Unfortunately there is very little about the actual movie that intrigued me at all. I don’t want to give too much away but I have zero plans to see any future installments in this series (I do reserve the right to change my mind). I will say the effects are decent and the acting especially from Will Poulter is pretty solid. 

It’s pretty rare that I walk into something with so much anticipation and wind up bummed out that I even got it from RED BOX, but here you have it. Kaya Scodelario was another bright spot. Her fans will be happy to hear that she is in the next PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN movie. If it is anything like ON STRANGER TIDES it should be freakin epic. I thought ON STRANGER TIDES was the best installment in the series. Anyway…wait…oh yeah, I was doing a review I guess. So yeah, good acting, terrible story.

There is just not much going on here that I found matched up to what I expected. If you have to see this thing, wait for the NETFLIX stream or just head over to RED BOX. I wouldn’t bother buying it unless you read the book and just really love it for some reason that I didn’t.  I give this movie a 3 out of 7.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #10-6

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #15-11

Automata (2014)

This is a film by Gabe Ibanez starring Antonio Banderas in what might be his best role since OUTRAGE. We also get a bit of Melanie Griffith and Dylan McDermott for good measure. There is also a really solid performance by Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Bandera’s wife Rachel. The storyline revolves around a slowly burning world where robots called Automata’s are created to fight “the desert”. The plan is a failure and the Automata’s are basically discarded as outcasts of society. Much like most future robots they are given directives. One of the directives is they can’t harm man (ie I ROBOT), and that they cannot alter themselves. An insurance agent that works for the company that makes them (Banderas) stumbles upon an incident where one of the Automata’s has been shot after being seen repairing itself. Of course his wife is about to have a baby and now everything is going to be all jacked up. The budget here isn’t over the top but the direction is solid and some gripping and sometimes compelling dialog propels this into the sci-fi “umm, you had better check this thing out” zone.

Good news for Banderas fans, it looks like he’s already got some 2015 stuff in the works and you can catch Birgitte Hjort Sorensen in PITCH PERFECT 2. Like with a lot of these types of films there are some wonky ideas introduced but ultimately this is an interesting take on the “robots are going to take over the future” sci –fi awesomeness. Kinda wish the premise was a bit more original here, but it’s worth a 5 out of 7.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF GREEN MOON AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #20-16

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #25-21

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #30-26

Top 100 Comics of 2014 - #35-31