A Look at New Movies for 2016

So I finally went to see Star Wars. What did I think? After all the hype and all the buildup, it was…ok. Yeah the action scenes were cool and it felt like a Star Wars movie for a change. And yes it was cool and nostalgic to see the old characters again. But I have to agree with Doug Walker, not only was it “A New Hope” 2.0 but it lacked all the suspense of that film. That final Death Star scene was nerve wracking, I still watch the clip and get chills. And even in Jedi they drew it out enough for us to be invested. Here..not so much. We just didn’t care the same, especially for that pilot whatever his name was. And it was done a bit to fast. The new characters just didn’t have that depth to them (except for Rey, I absolutely loved her!). And the big death in the movie was no shock if you know anything about the franchise. Though it was handled well overall. I liked it but, as has already been said by others, it’s no masterpiece


However since pretty much everyone in the world has already discussed, analyzed, and/or dissected this movie I’ve decided to focus on something else. Star Wars was the first movie I have seen in theaters in quite some time. Nothing last year grabbed me (except Avengers which I did see On Demand). But from the looks of it, 2016 may be different. And I saw a few interesting trailers before the movie (though I swear I heard the same music sting in all of them. Man I miss that “In a World…” voice over guy. There are  a lot of interesting movies coming out, and we already have trailers for most of them.


So let’s run done some of these trailers and I’ll share my thoughts on whether they look awesome….or really stupid.


Warcraft

Based on the World of Warcraft video games and book, this trailer looks pretty intense. I don’t think there was ever a video game I played that I didn’t think would be cool as a movie, so why not this one? Since I have no exposure to the games or the books I really have nothing to say here. Looks kind of cool.






Deadpool
I don’t know much about Deadpool, at all. And I promise this is the last entry I will say that. But the movie looks pretty good. It seems to keep in mind that Deadpool is not meant to be taken entirely seriously. It’s always nice when adaptation doesn’t forget the part that makes the hero charming (talking to you Man of Steel!!). Of course the reason for that could be that the character appeared in X-Men Origins and fans probably didn’t like him there.  Not for me but should make the fans happy.




Independane Day:Resurgence
Independence Day is one of those real guilty pleasures for me. I know it’s not good, but I have seen it a million times and love it. I love that it seems to know it’s an absurd movie so it just goes with it and has fun. Since then, the creators of the movie have made other movies which tried to be more serious..taking the fun out of them. And I’m sorry to say that’s the impression I get from the trailer. I am happy to see they are continuing the story and dealing with the ramifications of the first film (rather than just pretending the first one never happened and doing it all over again). But the tone feels to somber and dark.




X-men:Apocalypse
It’s no secret I am no X-Men fan and have only seem bits and pieces of the movies. Sorry to say the trailer for this doesn’t change my mind. The plot essentially is Apocalypse wants to destroy the Earth so he can rebuild it. Yeah, haven’t I seen that a million times already? Including Avengers:Age of Ultron? Pass.




Jungle Book
I did not like the Disney cartoon, it was way to boring, but when I saw this trailer it looks pretty cool. Nice effects and seems to be staying truer to the original book, while not forgetting the cartoon version entirely. The thing that made me laugh is that the trailer announces “From the studio that brought you Pirates of Caribbean”. Um, what about Maleficent? Or Alice in Wonderland? Or Cinderella? We had to go all the way back to Pirates to give an example of a good movie to compare it to? Ah Disney, you make me laugh.




Suicide Squad
Ah, the Suicide Squad. I was a huge comic fan when this team came back around in the late 80’s… and I didn’t really read it much. Not that it was bad, just not for me. So I wasn’t that excited to hear about this one. What do I think after seeing the trailer? It’s dark but that fits this team. Aside from that, I’m not sure really. I guess I’ll have to wait till it comes out, but I can tell there is a lot of work in this film. As for Jared Leto as The Joker…not sure what The Joker is doing in this but it looks like a decent spin on the character. I would say you can’t have the Joker without Batman….but Batman seems to be in it so, cool. Why did they change it to Arkham when in the comics it was Belle Reeve Prison in Louisiana? Guess for name recognition. That doesn’t mean it hurts the movie…I hope. They’ve kept this one under wraps and even though it’s been in production forever we still have to wait till August.





Legend of Tarzan
Why is it so hard to come up with a good movie version of this character? We had Greystoke:The Legend of Tarzan in 1984 which I did see and was bored by (fish out of water story? yawn). Then we had the Disney version in the 90’s which I seem to be the only one who liked (No Phil Collins DID NOT ruin it for me). Of course that’s to examples out of, what, 200? So what about the new movie? I watched the trailer and..it did nothing for me. Jungle movies are a dime a dozen and I didn’t see anything special here. Maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see.




Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
I didn’t see the first movie but based on the Nostalgia Critic review I could see I didn’t miss anything. It does look like the new movie ramped up the fun a bit, and that’s good. You can make Batman Dark. Heck you can even make Superman dark. But TMNT is supposed to light and it looks like this movie remembers that. And RockSteady and BeeBop look cool (sory if I messed up the names).




Captain America:Civil War
Not gonna lie, this looks awesome! Though why is it called “Captain America” when it looks like another Avengers movie? I am not usually a fan of villains fighting each other (more on that in a bit) but here it works because Captain America and Iron Man were always a bit at odds, and the reason they are to odds here is explained (I hope) plus we’ve had enough adventures with these two already that it shouldn’t feel forced. Besides the story is based on the comic book anyway. In fact this story is a  perfect example of why I hate Marvel comics, but that’s a discussion for another time. And I wouldn’t hold that against the movie if it’s a good movie. So yeah this trailer looked awesome and I may just have to go out and see this one.




Star Trek:Beyond
Just in time for Star Trek’s 50th anniversary! Ok, so I went to Star Trek Into Darkness even though the trailer didn’t do much for me. And I liked it, except the ending but whatever. So what about the trailer for the new movie? It looks so stupid! I’m sorry but the story just looks lame and there is nothing in this that makes me want to go see it. Yes this is a trailer so maybe the next trailer will get me to change my mind. For now, this looks really lame. I am tired of these movies forgetting what Star Trek is supposed to be about. And I am getting sick of the heave rock music with these movies, this is not Star Wars!!

Ok, to be fair this is just one trailer and a teaser at that. But I am very worried about this one!





Batman V Superman:Dawn of Justice
You knew this one was coming my friends. The Man of Steel trailer scared me away from the movie, I never even saw it in theaters. By the time I did watch it…well, I covered that a few years ago in a different article. This trailer? I can’t lie..it looks awesome! Yeah I mentioned I hate when superheroes fight each other but even the trailer basically says that Superman and Batman end up teaming up. And the reason for Batman’s hate makes sense, and thank the lord for following up on the first one. I am so sick of the anti-alien thing in superhero movies and TV shows these days, but whatever. Affleck looks like he makes a decent Batman, and the Doomsday they show is…….we’ll see. But c’mon the final shot of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman together is pure epicness. Seriously I want that poster! So you may be wondering if anything bothers me here? Yes, one thing. What in hell is Jesse Eisenberg doing here????? I mean if you’re going to play Lex Luthor there are some things you have to abide by. Ok ok it isn’t Eisenberg’s fault entirely but why are they turning him into The Joker?? It looks stupid and idiotic, and may ruin this movie for me no matter how cool the superhero stuff is. Only time will tell I guess my friends. But yes, I was real hard on Man of Steel after I saw that trailer but this one I am more hopeful of. Yes I know the trailer kind of gives away a bit to much, but I want a Justice League of America movie dammit!!! If Marvel can have it’s own universe why can’t DC? Though they may be better off sticking to the small screen.






Hmmm…I can’t help but notice that almost everyone of these is either a sequel, remake, or reboot. Seriously??? Doesn’t appear to be a Ghostbusters trailer yet, so I will just say that I am concerned about that one.