The Batman: Another Impressive Movie About The Dark Knight

Release date: March 4, 2011

Starring: Robert Pattison, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffery Wright, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Collin Farrel, et al.

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The Batman is a wonderfully made and beautifully structured movie with a story so enthralling, it’s easy to forget what’s playing is a comicbook movie featuring the typically larger-than-live Batman.

Matt Reeves take on this character is nuanced and intentional. The movie is more thriller/mystery/detective than what’s typically obtainable from a comicbook movie in this day and age, easily comparable to the likes of Seven (1995), Zodiac (2007), and Prisoners (2012).

In Reeves’ The Batman, the titular character is still in the early stages of his vigilante career (year two) and has to contend with a very formidable and unhinged villain in The Riddler, impressively played by Paul Dano.

Official poster

As a reboot to a popular franchise, which will most likely be the start to many sequels, The Batman holds the unenviable position of having to hold viewers spellbound with very little room for mistakes. It did deliver, thanks to its story and the amazing cast of talented actors who, clearly, understood their assignments. Zoe Kravitz is a very seductive and enthralling Catwoman. I couldn’t get enough of Jeffery Wright’s Jim Gordon, so much that I found myself silently wishing the movie was titled something along the lines of ‘The Marvelous Misadventures of Batman and Gordon’. Collin Farrel’s facials is unrecognizable underneath the heavy makeup and prosthetics for his role as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, but his incredible talent is very visible. These ones are to mention but a few.

Although a very impressive movie, I still understand The Batman isn’t going to be for everyone, so ask yourself if a dark, broody superhero talking to himself and journalling is something you want to see before going to the cinema. The most recent movie I can think to compare it to is 2019’s Joker. If you liked the Joker movie, chances are you’ll also like this one, too.

Have you seen The Batman? Tell me how it was for you.

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Rinzy’s Rating: 4/5

Zack Snyder’s Justice League Is Finally Here, After 4 Years

Release date: March 18, 2021 (HBO Max)

Starring: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason mimosa, Ray Fisher, Ciaran Hinds et al.

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Is the 2021 Snyder Cut better than 2017’s Justice League?

Yes!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is far from perfect, but it’s a rare Hollywood experience I’m glad to see happen in my lifetime.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you why I think this unusually long 4 hours movie is a better one than the fit-for-cinema 2 hour sized cut we got in 2017.

IT’S THE STORY

One major problem I had with the Joss Whedon’s version of the Justice League movie was how so much was happening with so little making sense, and how characters like Cyborg and Lois Lane had very little screentime to breathe and make meaningful connections with us the audience. But this changed for the better with the Snyder cut. I thought Cyborg had one of the most engaging story arc of the entire movie and, in a sense, was “The heart of the movie” as Zack Snyder himself had teased a few months ago. Also, new scenes that got added, like parademons kidnapping those Atlantean guards for Steppenwolf to interrogate and Vulko giving Arthur a pep talk, helped foreshadow certain key events we’d already seen happen in 2017 with deeper understanding.

It’s the intention the Snyder cut affords these such storylines to exist anew with better meaning that makes the difference.

Official poster

The runtime gave the movie and its characters the much needed space they needed to thrive; but, at the same time, it is worth noting that this is a luxury that got afforded to Snyder by the way things turned out for the 2017 theatrical version. Whether you agree with or not, if Snyder had remained with the movie, there’s no way a 4-hour comicbook-based movie was going to make it to the cinemas in 2017.

With the availability of HBO Max, Zack Snyder (and the execs at Warner Bros/ DC) saw an opportunity to improve on the disaster many people now refer to Whedon’s version as and whatever Snyder’s original JL vision was, and they seized it. What we get is a 4-hour movie that tells an immersive, coherent story that leaves you wanting more from this universe.

The CGI may have been sloppy in some places (cue in the scenes we see of Desaad conversing with Steppenwolf, and that of Darkseid, before either of them make an actual physical appearance on Apokolips), but, surprisingly, that didn’t mar the viewing experience for me. It may have been because of the excitement I already felt clouding my judgement, it also could’ve been because Zack Snyder did his goddamn job and finally redeemed the Justice League, making them a team worth watching kickass in live-action.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

The possibilities are endless, literally. Snyder teased so much within the crux of the movie and in the epilogue. It remains to see how the powers that be at Warner Bros/ DC react to fans’ reactions on this one and, also, if Snyder and the actors who’ve already exited the DCEU (like Ben Affleck) would ever be willing to return for an extended period of shooting.

So, until we can confirm we’re truly going to see the Injustice League or Darkseid and his Armada wreak havoc on Batman and his knights of the round table, I’ll try not to keep my hopes up and go back to watching the movie again for the umpteenth time.

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Directed by: Zack Snyder

Rinzy’s Rating: 3.5/5

Batman: Soul of the Dragon – A Review

Release date: January 12, 2021

Starring: David Giuntoli, Michael Jai-White, Kelly Hu, et al.

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Batman: Soul of the Dragon.

If this animated movie didn’t carry the Batman tag, chances are I wouldn’t watch it, ever. Yet, seeing it now, I can’t help but wonder why it was tagged a Batman film when the Caped Crusader is nothing more than a glorified supporting character? Fame really is something.

Set in the ’70s, this alternate reality Batman is a disciple of a martial arts master at an iteration of Nanda Pabat that’s missing the iconic League of Assasins and Lazarus Pit. Interestingly, there’s enough new secret lying around its grounds to keep things heated up.

Bruce Wayne faces a deadly menace from the past, with the help of three former classmates: world-renowned martial artist, Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger.

The movie’s synopsis may have been exaggerated a little bit to place more focus on Bruce Wayne and his Dark Knight persona than there actually is –probably to heat up anticipation for the movie– but I can assure you, he’s not that important, not in the sense you may be expecting, and you won’t feel bad about it. This doesn’t in anyway count as a spoiler neither does it mar the fun that comes with watching this movie and its many enjoyable fight scenes. I may be wrong with my judgement here and after watching it, you may just find out that I’m simply jealous of Mr. Wayne. Who knows? 😄

Official poster

‘Soul of the Dragon’ tells a Batman story that’s different from the kind of brooding production we’ve come to expect from the DCAU at this point, but it’s also a daring snippet into what DC may be planning to do and the kind of story it hopes to tell with these characters following the closing events of ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips War’.
The animation quality looks good, very easy on the eye, and the voicing too sounded awesome. In my book, this is another win for the Animated Universe.

Depending on how you’re looking at it, ‘Batman: Soul of the Dragon’ passes some important messages that may have some real-life application. I loved the subtlety with which it addresses religious fanatics, poking fun at the silly ideology most people hold onto that a Messianic figure is someday going to appear and fix everything that’s wrong with humanity, when the real power to effect change is really in our hands. Again, I may be wrong; maybe I’m overthinking it, but that subtle message is my biggest take from the movie.

Would you be missing anything if you skip this one? Well… no. But I think it’ll be good if you see it. The least I can assure you is that it won’t upset you, unlike some other recent DC offering.

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Directed by: Sam Liu

Rinzy’s Rating: 3/5

‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Is A Fun Sequel With Plenty Of Promise – A Review

Release date: December 25, 2020 (HBO Max)

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Paschal, Kristen Wiig, et al.

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When Wonder Woman hit the big screen in 2017, it was the breath of fresh air DC desperately needed at that time. Critics loved it and the audience adored it. Everything was beautiful in La La Land, so it was only fitting that the first critically acclaimed movie for the DCEU received a sequel ASAP. Thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, we’ve had to wait even longer for the highly anticipated Patty Jenkin’s sequel to arrive. It finally did on Christmas Day, and thanks to Warner Bros. HBO Max deal, everyone has the opportunity to see it almost at the same time.

Why all this history? Wonder Woman 1984 took the long and tough road to get to us. Expectations were really high for it, made even worse by the heat of the Lockdown brought upon fans by the pandemic, which saw the movie’s release date changed multiple times. It’s unsurprising for a movie of this kind to receive polarizing opinions from fans upon its release, and that’s the current fate with WW84. The amazing reviews and ratings it received from Critics before its official release, particularly from Rotten Tomatoes the aggregate rating site, has dropped drastically the more people get to see it for themselves.

Having seen this movie for myself now, one thing is clear to me, no matter what kind of opinion people have about Wonder Woman 1984, it’s not much match for the first one.

Official poster

But is it a bad movie? Far from it.

“Amidst the magical lasso, flying superheroes, and invisible jets, at the core of ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ is a story that we can all relate to: the desire to have our greatest wishes come true.” Thanks to the Dreamstone, a magical object by a yet unseen god of Lies, the people of 1984 start to get their wishes come true. This Dreamstone is how the movie’s villains Maxwell Lord and Cheetah both get their powers.

Wonder Woman 1984 is kinda fun, promising and tonally DIFFERENT from the first one, which is really why I like it as much as I do. It doesn’t try hard to retrace the paths of what made the first one a success, but forge a new, decent story with appealing new characters.

Also, the performances by the actors were nothing short of awesome. Gal Gadot as Diana of Themiscyra is one of the best thing to happen to the DCEU and, once again, she shines brightly like the beautiful, talented diamond that she is. Chris Pines’ return as Steve Trevor made logical sense thanks to the Dreamstone, his return was one of my greatest fears going into the movie, and it gave us another opportunity to see one of Hollywood’s finest Chris’ in action. Kristen Wiig and Pedro Paschal as Barbara/Cheetah and Maxwell Lord were really great additions to the franchise.

Wonder Woman 1984 did have some very memorable scenes and some that are sure to raise the eyebrows of very passionate fans; scenes like the one with the invisible jet and flying Diana fit the bill for the latter nicely.

It’s cool movie and I enjoyed watching it.

PS: In some ways, in WW84, Diana as Wonder Woman felt like a parody of Spider-Man, Hawkgirl (and one other comic book character I can’t remember at this time) with the way her powers worked in some scenes. I thought it was hilarious.

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Directed by: Patty Jenkins

Rinzy’s Rating: 3/5

‘Superman: Red Son’: Once Again, America Is The Savior Of The World

Release Date: February 25

Starring: Jason Isaac’s, Amy Acker, Vanessa Marshall, et al.

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I hear from folks who’ve read the comics that ‘Superman: Red Son‘ is a strong adaptation. I can’t vouch for that, for obvious reasons, but I can tell you this – it’s a good story.

Imagine seeing a Russian Superman in live-action. A version of the Man of Steel that’s both villain and misguided hero, destined to be eternally confused. That’ll be the best gift we won’t be getting in a while, but we can take solace in the fact that this animated movie exists.

The Superman we get here has shed the many layers of his humanity (the Clark Kent part of him; arguably the best part) for the sake of duty.

To whom is this duty tasked, you may ask?

To his home country, the USSR, depicted to be in a constant flux of conflict with the USA.

At first, the latter is painted in a bad light, but like most outputs of Hollywood, this one, too, eventually pays its patriotism dues and, once again, crowns America the Savior.

I won’t say past that, to avoid revealing crucial spoilers. Go see this movie and come tell me what you think about it.

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Rinzy’s Rating: 3.5/5

Directed By: Sam Liu

Rinzy Reviews ‘Joker’ (2019)

Release Date: Oct. 4

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, et al.

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My fake father rejected me and my crazy mother lied to me, so I’ll go mad -while still keeping a happy face- and kill everyone who has ever wronged me. Yeah, that’s me. I’m the Joker. And fucking up modafuckers is what I do. Oops; Sorry, wrong movie.

Joker provides a thoughtful, refreshing spin on the origin story of a very popular DC villain, one that might leave a sour residue in your mouth. But that’s fine, too.

Joker isn’t your typical comic book movie. No, it’s not. It definitely doesn’t belong to the clique of rainbow movies with jaw-dropping CGI and grave action scenes. It doesn’t even pretend to be one. It is dark, gritty, exploitative, and fully embraces these themes it believes itself a proud ambassador. That’s one-part of what makes it special.

The other one is Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Arthur Fleck (aka The Joker); intense and truly captivating, he further draws you in every beating second he’s on screen. Arthur’s flawed personality borne out of a genuine lack of basic social skills makes him experience the world differently from the way most of us do and Joaquin Phoenix does his best to describe the pain and sufferings of his character to the layman watching.

“I’ve got a condition” the card Arthur offers to anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with his craziness reads; yet, even with the disclaimer, it’s almost humanly impossible for any sane person to ignore the extreme awkwardness of his actions, which often manifests with an incessant burst of laughter. Arthur was a sick man and he needed help. The best thing everyone in his life could’ve done was commit to providing that for him; but like all movies in search of strong motivation to get a character to switch to the dark side, these ones, too, failed him. Arthur’s response to this continuous stream of disappointment gave rise to the clown prince of Gotham, which was the endgame of this movie.

Is the hard-kindness of this world enough reason for anyone to go ballistic and start doing crazy stuff? That’s a question I wish I could ask Arthur Fleck myself.

One thing Joker does quite well is to demystify the notion that paints evil as simply black and white. Anyone can be evil and anyone can be good. As humans, we are mostly held ransom by our past and strong emotions to it, and sometimes have no say with how we respond to questions that arise from them, as we can see with Arthur.

Joker is one of the best offerings of movie 2019; it deserves all the glories its making at the box-office.

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Directed By: Todd Philips

Rinzy’s Rating: 3.5/5

Rinzy Reviews ‘Swamp Thing’ Season One (2019)

First episode aired: May 31

Network: DC Universe

Starring: Crystal Reed, Kevin Durand, Andy Bean, et al.

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I don’t think it’s farfetched to crown ‘Swamp Thing‘ the best original show on the DC Universe streaming service.

After ten well-paced episodes, the Swamp Thing‘s first (and only) season has come to an end.

We may never get to know the real reason behind the show’s shocking cancellation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still clamor for more. Hopefully, the powers that be at Warner Bros. hear our cries and do the needful.

If you’ve been searching for a reason to binge Swamp Thing, here are some pointers:

The show has boasts of a great cast. And there are some familiar faces too; Crystal Reed (Allison Argent in Teen Wolf), Kevin Durand (Vasiliy Det in The Strain), and Andy Bean (Greg Knox in Power), amongst others.

Intriguing characters. If it isn’t Dr. Abby trying to get to the root of the darkness besieging the swamp, then it’s Avery Sutherland constantly scheming to move his diabolical plans forward. Whatever the case, there’s no shortage of drama from the show’s addictive characters.

The visuals are really good for a TV budget. Don’t get it twisted, Swamp Thing is a horror show, and the cinematography does a good job at shrouding the whole town in darkness, vastly establishing the tone of the show.

I’ll advice you don’t get discouraged by the cancellation; the show’s good and I believe time spent binging it will be worth it. Also, the season/series finale does a good job tying off loose ends, while still leaving enough pieces should Warner Bros. renegade on its decision, so you’re assured of closure at the end.

Rinzy’s Rating: 4/5.

Rinzy Reviews ‘Batman: Hush’ (2019)

Release Date: July 20

Starring: Jason O’Mara, Jennifer Morrison, Geoffrey Arend, Maury Sterling, et al.

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‘Batman: Hush‘ introduces a villain that might not be well know to non-comic enthusiasts. One well-versed at manipulation, not just of the Dark Knight, but of some of his most infamous rogues as well.

If you’ve been following the DC animated movie universe for as long as I have no doubt you’d be pumped for this one too.

Lurking in the dark and pulling the strings of infamous DC villains like Bane, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Catwoman, Hush’s supremacy in villainy is quickly established when he causes Batman to fall hundreds of feet from the ground. And if there’s still any doubt about him, it’s cleared by the time he captures The Joker to ransom Harley Quinn into doing his bidding.

The movie which starts out as a tale of money for Hush is soon revealed to be all fun and mind-game for him. It’s all a means to an end, to prove that there’s evil in everyone. Hush’s able to do something even The Joker’s struggled with for a long time – breaking Batman.

Bruce Wayne’s (Batman) on-and-off relationship with Selina Kyle (Catwoman) takes center stage in Hush. Their love is the pedestal on which every part of this movie flows. It’s the real reason Batsie’s alter-ego is ousted to Hush, and why there’s death and carnage all over Gotham.

If you ask me, Hush turned out to be a worthy adversary. The face behind the mummy cloth wasn’t one I was expecting, and I thought the reveal was impressive.

At the end, it was sad to not see Bats and Cats relationship work out. It was expected, but that didn’t make it any less sadder.

Batman: Hush follows the long time tradition fans are now better accustomed to, of the DCAU having better story quality than their DCEU counterpart.

Directed by: Justin Copeland

Rinzy’s Rating: 3.5/5

Rinzy Reviews ‘Shazam!’ (2019)

Release Date: April 5

Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, et al.

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As more comic book characters find their way into live-action, Shazam! is the latest to make it to the big screen.

The greatest thing going for this movie is Zachary Levi as the titular character, and I don’t even mean all the tons of muscles he added to achieve his great physique. Levi’s a perfect fit for the role, and as many online reviews have already pointed out, he was born to play Shazam!

Where this impressiveness falters is in almost every scene we get to see Shazam revert back to his original self as 14-year-old Billy Batson. Actor/musician Asher Angel does his best in the role, but I can’t help but feel he got overwhelmed by the role, a dilemma the director should’ve taken note of during casting. As a standalone character, Angel does a great job bringing Billy to live but when you put him side-by-side Levi’s, the character starts to fall apart.

For most part of his scenes, you see him acting tougher and much older than his alter ego, making it seem like its two different characters when it really should be one character in two different bodies. To me, that’s a great miss.

Mark Strong is an incredible actor, but his work here as Dr. Sivani falls short of expectation especially when you compare it with his more recent roles, like in the Kingsman franchise. This is by no means the actors fault, he’s incredibly talented, but as a result of a script laddened with cranky dialogues, fewer action scenes, and an elongated runtime. I believe a shorter, more concise story would’ve worked more in its favor. Because of this major setback, we get a villain who’s more powerful than the protagonist, but we never get to feel the gravity of the movie’s stakes. This in turn translates to an easily forgettable villain. Good news is, if the mid-credit scene is anything to go by, Dr. Silvana might be returning in the sequel; this provides the opportunity to right the wrongs done with the character.

Shazam! is a family movie, and would’ve been perfect for a Christmas release. And as a family movie it takes it’s time to preach the gospel of why family doesn’t always have to do with blood. It speaks on acceptance, especially on self-acceptance, and is a good message for children still having difficulty being the best version of themselves. Billy’s relationship with Freddy and the rest of his foster siblings is the kind of thing you want you two children always at lodgerhead to see; that despite our seeming differences we can always be there for each other.

Jack Dylan Grazer does excellent work as Freddy/Shazam’ sidekick/ Shazam’s manager. He really holds his own throughout the movie beside Levi and Angel, and so do the rest of the supporting cast.

Lest I forget, I really liked the twist in the last act. Oh my gosh! I felt electricity course through my veins when the foster kids (yeah, I’m sticking with calling them that) put their hands on the staff and yelled Shazam. Being that I’ve never read a Shazam comic book before, I didn’t know what to expect, and liked that the movie didn’t toe the line of Dr. Silvana collecting Shazam’s powers only to have it returned later in the movie for the final battle.

Shazam! is a magical, really fun movie with good comedy. Since magic in movies is almost always fun, and, also, because we’re expecting a sequel, I hope the director gets a larger budget to work with, so that it’ll have a much grander feel, and the CGI of subsequent magical creatures can look better than the seven deadly sins did in this one.

Directed by: Adam F. Sandberg

Rinzy’s Rating: 3.5/5