I’d be lying if I told you I ever played “The Last of Us.” I only know of it through various online game reviewers and understand the general gist of it. Going in blindly, I was able to completely separate myself from the source material and completely engulf myself in to this world. And I’m glad that I did because “The Last Of Us” thankfully works for gamers and the broader audience. “The Last Of Us” has a lot of information to dump on the audience to establish where it lies and what we’re playing with.
Tag Archives: Adaptation
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
One of the things I loved about “Love and Thunder” is that Taika Waititi holds true to the message that Stan Lee held for his heroes. Anyone can be Spider-Man. Anyone can be an X-Men, and in “Love and Thunder” anyone can be a mythic hero. While it does in a sense take away value from the concept of Mjölnir, the concept behind “Love and Thunder” is a wholesome one, one that celebrates its audience of children and inspires heroism in the vein of virtue and morality and less on revenge or malice.
A Man Called Otto (2023)
It seems like these days actors nearing their seventies have to make a drama comedy about nearing the end of their lives. Hell, Jack Nicholson gave us “About Schmidt” and “The Bucket List,” and Robert DeNiro had “The Intern.” With Tom Hanks we have “A Man Call Otto” which is basically his “About Schmidt.” He lends his talents to a sad tale of a widow trying to find a way to move on from the love of his life. It’s shockingly a pet project for the Hanks fam that is just fine when all is said and done. It’s not Tom Hanks’ masterpiece, but just a fine outing for the man who can do roles like this in his sleep.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Ryan Coogler’s “Wakanda Forever” is not the sequel we expected, it’s not the sequel anyone expected, especially with the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman. His loss left a gaping hole in film, and left sadly a budding franchise without its lead. “Wakanda Forever” takes the chance to not only act as a sequel to “Black Panther” but also act as a meditation on the ideas of grief, mourning, and the cost of losing those that we dearly loved in our lives who were important to many.
Five Great Films I Saw in 2022
Normally, this would be a top ten of 2022 after going through a wide variety of movies from the year. But in 2022, I spent five months in the hospital due to awful health complications that left me incapable of doing anything but lying in bed and hoping that I’d recover to full health. While on recovery I did my best to check out some anticipated movies, sadly with little success.
I was able to squeeze in viewings of a lot of movies upon my return home, though. While I wasn’t able to see much of anything in 2022, I was thankfully able to compile a reasonable top five list of great films I managed to find time for during the holidays. The list is subject to change upon viewing more 2022 films, but for now, I’m happy with this top five.
Pinocchio (2022)
Disney continues their latest studio motto of remaking and sequelizing everything that they’ve ever produced. The last being the horrendous “Lion King” CGI remake. Of course the Devil’s Advocate will explain that “Pinocchio” is more of another adaptation (one of three in 2022!) of the 1883 tale, but it’s a remake of the 1940 animated movie. Every character look like their animated counterparts, right down to Tom Hanks as Geppetto. God love Tom Hanks, he certainly tries his best here, and even does his best with the musical number he’s given. But it’s all an uphill battle for a lot of what is established here.
Black Adam (2022)
Black Adam was created was created in 1945 by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics’ The Marvel Family comic book. When he was bought by DC Comics, he remained mostly a third tier super villain, appearing every now and then as an adversary to “Shazam!.” Because, that was what was supposed to be his purpose; He was supposed to be the anti-Shazam, the villainous magic wielder that constantly did battle with Billy Batson.