Rogue One: A Few Things to Know

When I was talking with a friend the other day, I realized that there are still people who do not understand what Rogue One is and in what time period it is set. When going to see Rogue One in December there are a few things you need to understand.

1. Rogue One is the first stand alone movie in the new Star Wars cinematic galaxy. It will have familiar elements such as Stormtroopers, AT-AT, and ships. This movie will not have Luke, Leia, and Han. Also, it will also not have the new characters like Rey, Finn, and Poe. It will have a cast unique to the story they are telling here.

2. Rogue One is set in a time before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The story is taken directly from the first few lines of the opening crawl. ("It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.
During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.) We are getting a peak into the battle and how much it cost the rebellion to get those plans.

3. Rogue One is going have some other very familiar things. We will get to see the rebels and The Empire. We will see some characters like Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and even Darth Vader. There will be TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers, and a newly built Death Star.

4. Rogue One is not set on a familiar planet. It is being promoted as a war film. This film is supposed to be the grittiest of the Star Wars films thus far.

5. Rogue One will have a conclusion. The is a self-contained movie. There are not plans (of course you never know with Disney) to use these characters again. Do not expect Rogue Two to be announced in January of 2017.

If you still were not clear on what Rogue One was and how it fits into the Star Wars Galaxy, I hope this helps. Please feel free to share this blog with your friends who may still have questions on what the new Star Wars movie is all about. In 2017, we can talk about Episode VIII.

Who won the superhero showdown?

Before Suicide Squad gets released in August, I thought it would be fun to compare the 3 superhero films of 2016. I am comparing Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse. I will leave Deadpool and Dr. Strange for another post.

First... the good. BvS did a good job of making up for lost time and, to the surprise of many, Ben Afleck crushed it as Batman. It created a universe in a matter of a single film. CACW had amazing action and storylines. The airport scene is probably one of my favorite scenes in any movie, not just superhero movies. X-Men told an epic tale and reintroduced characters in a fresh, new way.

Second... the okay. BvS attempted to redeem Man of Steel by making Superman a little less dark. Civil War had a rather large cast to give screen time, but they were able to do a pretty good job with it. X-Men's treatment of one of their biggest villains wasn't quite strong enough.

Lastly.... the bad. BvS's story jumped around and seemed to be forced at times. Marvel is still struggling to have a truly engaging villain (except Loki) to balance against the team. CACW is no exception with two different villains who are both weak. X-men struggles with keeping an interesting story moving.

I really did like all three of these films. My favorite, by far, was Captain America: Civil War. I believe that Batman v Superman has set up a bright future and I am looking forward to the rest of Ben Afleck's interpretation of this iconic hero. X-Men came in very strong.

First Glimpse of Doctor Stange

Marvel gave us our first look at the Sorcerer Supreme. Doctor Strange is a very different type of comic movie. This teaser gets me excited to see more of this world. If you are unfamiliar with him, you might want check out his page on Marvel.com.

Dr. Strange is set to hit theaters on November 4. 2016.

Are you Excited for the Jungle Book?

Do you want to revisit the world of Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, and Shere Khan? Are you interested in Christopher Walken's interpretation of King Louie?

The critics have had a chance to see the movie and they are very excited. I am sure this will not last, but as of today (April 5, 2016) Jon Favreau's adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book has a Rotten Tomatoes scores of 100%. This movie is set to hit theaters on tax day, April 15, 2016.

Are you planning on seeing the movie? Does hearing that the movie has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes make you more likely to see it in theaters?

The X-Men join the MCU in 2022!

After much negotiation, Fox and Marvel have final reached an agreement to bring all of the X-men characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the rest of the phases of movies. I hope you enjoy these movies. I cannot wait to see all of these characters together in one place. The first movie is slated to release on April 1, 2022. That is going to be huge. You could almost say an undertaking like this would be foolish. Wow... I can't wait for that foolish undertaking in April.

Yes... this was an April Fool's Joke

Batman v Superman? Dawn of Justice?

Now that many have had a chance to watch the movie, I believe there are a few questions that we really need to ask. Did Batman v Superman live up to the hype? Did the Dawn of Justice part work? Did it accomplish launching a new cinematic universe?

Did Batman v Superman live up to the hype? The answer to this question is somewhat yes and no. I loved the actual throw down between these two icons (albeit too brief) and felt that it did the two heroes justice for their strengths and weaknesses. I believe the build up was fair, but when the actually fight came about, the motivation was weak.

Did the Dawn of Justice part work? By itself, I believe this part of the movie was effective. DC is playing catch-up, and because of this, they were forced to build their world quickly. If BvS had been one movie and Dawn of Justice another, this very well might have worked wonderfully. They could have filmed the movies at the same time and released them within the same year. I do not feel that it would have been a cash grab, but instead a wise use of screen time.

Did it accomplish launching a cinematic universe? I believe that the answer here is yes, but we will have to wait and see just how well. Most people agree that Affleck works as a good Batman. Even Henry Cavill's Superman is quite agreeable overall. What little time we saw Wonder Woman got me excited to see her stand alone film. The other cameos did not impress me, but I did not hate them either. I guess I am trying to say "it is what it is" and we will have to wait to see what it becomes.

Overall, I did not hate BvS, but I felt it got a little crowded towards the end. I liked humanity verses an alien, even a good alien, as motivation and wish they had just stayed with that story. I will have to admit that I was disappointed, but not turn off. I am very excited for Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman.  What did you think? Are you still excited for the DC cinematic universe?

5 Movies Launching new Adventures for 2016

2016 just happens to be the year in Hollywood where the stars align to bring us 5 movies designed to launch us into new phases of movie franchises or relaunch a genre. Let's take a look at these movies.

1. Deadpool - The studios have tried rated "R" superhero films before but not like Deadpool. The "merc with a mouth" has always been over the top and so, to do it right, the film makers are going over the top with his movie. The question is..."Will Deadpool be the exception or the rule?" Only time will tell on this one.

2.  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the newest journey into the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The movie will be set before Harry, Hermione, and Ron and will focus on new adventures. There is a lot riding on this movie to prove that worldwide audiences still want to escape into this world, even if our old, familiar friends are not there to greet us.

3. Warcraft and Assassin's Creed are both set to hit the big screen this year. Most attempts at bringing a video game franchise into the Hollywood fold has failed to deliver. Can these two massive video game franchises usher in a new era of cross-medium productions? Will audiences enjoy a two hour version of there favorite games?

4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - This is the first anthology film released in the Star Wars film galaxy. The release of  The Force Awakens clearly proved the audiences want to see more episodic adventures. Will a single story about a particular event be received well? Rogue One has the task of proving that movie goers do not just want episodes, but they also care about smaller tales.

5. Batman v Superman - The movie that has the most riding on its success is Dawn of Justice. This movie is set to establish a whole DC movie universe. If it is good, or even just okay, then the universe can be built upon it and Man of Steel. But if it flops, then there are some rough days ahead for DC. This single movie is probably the most highly anticipated film of 2016.

There are plenty of other great movies coming out in 2016. I wrote a blog with some of the movies that I am looking forward to this year. Check it out here: Movies for 2016. One thing is for sure... this is going to be a good year for movies!