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Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
The return of Sub-Zero
Though trailers heavily implied that the main protagonist would be the blind swordsman, it turns out that they were quite misleading. Same can be said of the chief villain. If you were expecting to see the grand finale between Kenshi and Shang Tsung, you're in for the U-turn, as this is much more of a Sub-Zero's redemption arc than anything else.
Set in the dystopian future, after the Battle of the Realms, Snow Blind tells the story of an unlikely alliance between young and arrogant fighting prodigy named Kenshi and seasoned warrior Kuai Liang, the former leader of the deadly Lin Kuei clan, who is haunted by his past and withholds the power that could shape the future. After the former is deprived of his eyesight, courtesy of Shang Tsung, Kuai Liang reluctantly accepts to train him in the new ways. The ways which would, via the use of the magical sword, allow the young man's other senses to develop to the point of replacing his sight and further improving his fighting abilities. After Kenshi is captured by the King Kano's gang, a pack of bloodthirsty wasteland pirates gathered around the cyborg, Kuai Liang is left with no choice but to forsake his self-imposed pacifist lifestyle in an attempt to free his protegee. With the aid of Scorpion, an immortal demonic entity, he once again assumes the identity of fearsome Sub-Zero and takes on the pirates utilizing his godlike freezing powers to their max. The gruesome final conflict takes place in the Kronika's sanctuary, now occupied by King Kano. It is revealed that Kano was manipulating time and the events in order to establish himself as the ruler supreme in the present. Sub-Zero is forced to push himself to the very brink to stop Kano's temporal menace once and for all.
Though story lacks the scale of the previous entry, it is probably for the best. In this MK meets Mad Max sequel, we get a decent blend of old and new characters, but, since MKL continuity is not canon, there's a nice twist to them. If you are an MK fan, you may find this movie enjoyable. Otherwise, there's not much to write home about. Unnecessary blood and gore galore. Scorpion has to make a completely needless appearance, of course, otherwise Ed Boon would probably suffer a convulsive fit. Still, it manages to be the most original and somehow the overall best entry in the MK Legends series so far. Which, unfortunately, says a lot about the overall quality of this show.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Far better than theatrical release
...but still nothing to write home about. It beats all of the Marvel movies I ever watched, but that doesn't say much since I'm not a fan of superhero genre in a first place. Most of the time I find these flicks being far too infantile and I absolutely despise identity politics they force on everyone. This one is not sparred of aforementioned pc moments, but it's bearable.
With that out of the way, let's dig into the story... Which is on the surface pretty much the same as in the theatrical cut, but with significantly more build up, (and therefore) character development and a lot less plot holes. Villain is more menacing, Gal Gadot's acting is passable this time around (though the horrible "Kal-El, no!" line is still in), all of the characters are essential to the story and, like I said, the plot is pretty much coherent.
Cyborg and the Flash got plenty of screen time and depth to them.
Batman is, once again, the badass as we all know & love from BvS. Though still guilt ridden, he is nowhere near the wimp that was Joss Whedon's take on the character.
But... the baddest of the badass award goes to - Superman, hands down! After the (fully explained and dramatic) resurrection, the fight between him and the rest of the league goes pretty much the same as it did in theatrical release only this time, due to the extra footage, he puts even more hurt on them and genuinely attempts to outright murder the Flash and Batman. And this time around, the Dark Knight has no backup plan up his sleeve. Dumb lines such as "do you bleed" are gone. Superman is silent, deadly and unstoppable. His presence far more intimidating than the Steppenwolf's.
Talking about the latter, the epilogue of the battle between him and the Man of Steel in the movie finale remains the same as in the 2017 version. The difference is that this time, Supes beats him to a pulp. All of the reviewers seem to refer to Wonder Woman cutting Steppenwolf's head while the fact is that she and the Aquaman just brutally finished off a helpless opponent, courtesy of Superman going apeshit on the guy.
With all this said, the criticism is pointed towards the length of the movie. Pacing is super-slow during the first few chapters and somewhat inconsistent throughout. Too many slow motion scenes and a several needless ones that would probably be better off left on a cutting room floor. The ending with the Martian Manhunter showing up in Batmans lake house sucked hard. As well as the inclusion of the scene where MM takes the shape of Martha Kent and goes to comfort grieving Lois. The scene would work a lot better if it were just Martha and Lois talking. The Knightmare sequences are pointless since there obviously won't be a sequel, but, since this film is a fan service, there it is, for the sake of why not. Also, it is unclear why in the end Darkseid didn't just step through the portal to take on the League. Apart from the fact that the sequel would need to happen and current movie finally come to a closure.
Overall, we got a decent film. Dark and gritty, but more mature than the Disney-like watered down approach to the genre which I came to loath over the years. The lesson in how superheroes should be transitioned to the big screen and probably one of the last genuine superhero films of the era.
Justice League (2017)
Another superhero cartoon, but here's the objective breakdown...
It is a common practice nowadays to make superhero movies into something that no longer deserves even a distinction of being called a flick. They became nothing more but a boring CGI cartoons so campy that they remind of 60s Batman show. And I'm not talking exclusively about DC projects. Hell, I consider Marvel to be way worse. Back to the topic: Justice League is far from being the worst of its genre. That title should be shared by Captain America: Civil War and X-Man: Apocalypse. Those were, without any doubt, one of the greatest abominations in history of cinema. Although I'll pick up negative votes for this observation (from both shills and infantile dumbass dorks) the history will, nonetheless, prove me right. But I digress. Again. The story of JL is as predictable as it gets. Aside with now omnipresent Hollywood liberal crap shoved down everybody's throat, the low point of this ignominy-transfer are overpredictable dialogues and sad excuse for some very juvenile humor. Besides this, history teaches us that the movie with multiple heroes is always a bad idea and this one is no exception. Acting is, due to pathetic writing, basically non-existent. However, Gal Gadot and Affleck are the ones that truly excel at playing cardboards. Wonder Woman's material actually doesn't look so bad, but the sad truth is that poor Gadot just couldn't act to save her ass. Affleck ruined the excellent Batman he portrayed in BvS, but I'll go easy on the guy 'cos he really had nothing to work with this time around. Villain is absolute cliché and I wouldn't waste a one more word on this lame sucker. The highlight of the borefest was the return of Superman. We finally get to see the real Superman, not some weenie that gets his ass kicked by absolutely everyone. Actually, it seems that this is done intentionally, in an attempt to repair Superman's reputation that was ruined over the last ten or so years. Cavill did the best with what little he was presented with, hands down. The Flash is degraded into retarded excuse for comic relief while Aquaman, contrary to the trailers, is nowhere near the macho man we were fooled to believe he'll be. In fact, I'm fairly positive he gets the most of the beating throughout the movie. Cyborg is just 'meh'. As for the rest, the plot is thin and full of holes, as usual. Recommendation: fast forward to Superman parts, skip the rest of infantile cash-grab garbage.
It (2017)
Waste of... everything.
It's a common knowledge that horrors are enjoyed only by kids and are made by directors with childish minds. With that said, this overlong piece of crap (what's with all the films now being over two hours long, anyway?) employs every horror cliché present since the beginning of cinematography. Boring, predictable, unoriginal, even pathetic when attempting to be humorous, with the cast consisted of politically correct crew, this latest cash-grabbing snore-fest from dried-out Stephen King solely consists of nostalgia that's supposed to bring back old fans while, at the same time, introduces itself to the new blood (as it is always the purpose and the pattern when it comes to remakes). Don't let them bait you. Let's have Hollywood work for their money for a change.
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Sad days for Hollywood, indeed.
So, here's the deal: some super-powered freak wants to destroy the world (what else?), some kids with a lot of adolescent issues and identity crisis confront him (oh, they also have super-powers, but that is, obviously, not as important as the aforementioned issues), they win, the end.
The story was most likely scrapped within a 15 seconds or so. I honestly don't believe that anyone would take longer to come up with such kindergarten plot. I rate it 1. I'd rate it minus three (-3) if it was possible since that would be much more appropriate.
Characters: pc crew lead by non-attractive feminazi-pleasing females. These are the heroes. The villains are, as always, lead by a white male. The good guys (or should I say girls?) apparently suffer from some horrendous late puberty and act accordingly for most of the time. Bad guy(s) is stereo-typically needlessly pompous and all his god-like powers aren't worth squat when he's faced with a girl since modern pc dictates that the girl just cannot get her ass kicked by a male in any of the mainstream media. So there you have it: tough break, Apocalypse.
Casting & acting: God awful and god forbid. This hastily assembled group of pc adequate kids aided by untalented actress who lands her role in this one solely due to the popularity of a certain TV show can't lift a finger to the original cast. James McAvoy < Patrick Stewart; Alexandra Shitt (no mistake) < Halle Barry; Jennifer Lawrence < Rebecca Romijn; Ridiculous random guy (Cyclops) <<< James Marsden; as for the rest of the cast, did I already mention that it mostly consists of non- attractive feminazi-pleasing females? Storm, Jean, Psylocke... Average looking at best with a talents to match. Truly good actors such as Fassbender and Isaac are wasted on this one.
Anyway, to cut the long story short (since I've already given this cinematic disgrace a lot more attention than it deserves), do yourself a favor and avoid this trash. Despite the data that ticket sales are sky-high (a questionable data, I might add), Hollywood has reached an all time low regarding the quality of its production and recent superhero flicks (this one is a prime example) lead the way into the abyss.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Cliché after cliché overloading with PC
First off I don't get what's with all the hatred towards Snyder. I, for one, think this movie sucks, but I realize it's least the director's fault. The man just tried to make the best of the s**t that the studio executives handed him. Let's go through the issues:
1) The script: Rehashing of some really old and stale ideas. Death of Superman? 20 years old! Take on Frank Miller's 'Dark Knight Returns'? 30 years old! Everybody knows these story lines, even those who don't read comics. And the rest of the concept is so cliché. I mean: two superheroes don't like each other, evil guy manipulates them to kill one another, they throw few blows, come to conclusion that they're better off working together, join forces. Sounds familiar? Not yet? How 'bout now? The evil scientist creates a super-powered mindless grunting monster! Wow, huh? I bet you didn't see that one coming! *sigh* The idea of killing Superman was abandoned back in the mid 90s 'cos it was deemed too stupid. And good call it was, I might add. However, I guess nothing's too stupid for today's studio standards. :( Just wrap that messy turd into a shiny CGI paper and voilà! Then add an overwhelming dose of PC bull***t into the mix and what is left for a poor director to do?
Regarding PC, white men are once again villains/losers (notice the shooting in Africa and underground fight to which Bruce Wayne attends) and idiotic sub-plots are made up just so that the girls could have more screen time (see Lois Lane tapping affair and the entire role of Wonder Woman). And, of course, girls always beat up everyone. I'll brush up on that matter right away.
2) Wonder Woman: Based on one of the most ridiculous and, in recent times, most over imposed DC characters, she comes as a needless irritating ever frowning BITCH played by a talentless anonymous. Thrown in to appease feminazis and annoy everyone else. Of course, no one is allowed to land a blow on her. While Superman is tossed around like a rag doll by Doomsday, Wonder Feminazi kicks the living s**t out of the monster the entire time. She gets hit precisely ONCE and, of course, immediately gives back with an interest. Honestly, makes you wonder why Superman ever needed to sacrifice himself. Modern PC Hollywood basically dictates that he could have just let the bitch beat the thing 'till Kingdome Come. :(
3) Acting and miscasting: While Affleck and Cavill are doing well with what little they are presented with, Gal Gadot is just horrible. I'd say it's because of an underdeveloped character and go on to blame the script again, but it's not just that. The few lines that she has are delivered unconvincingly and with stiffness. Just makes you hate or simply not care for her character, but then again, what else could be expected from a role thrown in for a sole purpose of satisfying PC fascists?
Jesse Eisenberg is just so NOT for the role of Luthor that nothing in the world can change that! He's constantly hunched, he's overacting all the time... At first he's ridiculous, then he gets obnoxious and in the end just lame. Overall, a waste of a good role on a wrong actor.
There's also a matter of Perry White being played by a black actor (although Laurence Fishburn did a decent job) and Jimmy Olsen being turned into a girl - Jenny Olsen. These aren't biggies though, if I dare say so, since aforementioned chars were introduced back in 'Man of Steele', but still... See under 'PC' above. :/
4) Some very bad CGI. It was like watching a goddamn cartoon, especially the third act. Probably the only thing that could be labeled as entirely Snyder's fault.
5) Overall, film suffers from bad pacing. Again, I wouldn't blame it on the director as the studio executives undoubtedly insisted on advertising thus all the needless references on the rest of the DC universe. The 'Injustice' scene, dream of the Flash, going through the metahumans data as well as the entire character of Wonder Woman should have been left on the cutting floor.