After the surprise success of “Sonic the Hedgehog” it’s fun to see our blue hero get his due after so many years. While the series isn’t quite perfect, once it hits its highs, it’s fun, funny, and filled with some well directed action. For the follow up the natural progression is the introduction of Sonic’s famed video game sidekick Tails, along with their classic video game nemesis Knuckles. While “Sonic 2” is a great follow up, it has a severe problem with its human characters.
“Morbius, The Living Vampire” is one of those third tier Spider-Man villains who were never quite iconic, but also never someone you could write off as a lightweight. While he originated with Spider-Man he fit more in to the horror corner of the Marvel universe, and much like Marvel, his feature film debut doesn’t really know what to do with him, exactly. The movie audiences never seem to lose their appetites for stylish vampire movies, and “Morbius” had franchise written all over him to where could have served as an unofficial companion to the “Blade” movie series. It’s hard to believe that Sony could get “Morbius, the Living Vampire” so wrong from the gate.
“The Batman” is a sure bet for Warner Bros. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good movie, but with their development department scrambling on one single vision for their DCEU, rebooting Batman yet again, just makes sense. It rebuilds confidence (borrowed time) in their brand, and it guarantees moolah in the box office. It’s cynical but now we have three cinematic jokers, two live action Batmans, and a new movie fans are going to spend the next year wondering where it fits in to the timeline.
It’s surprising that in a film climate where extended universes fail from the starting gate, that the Kong/Godzilla modern film universe has been a quiet success. The crown jewel so far is “Godzilla vs. Kong,” a pretty great monster clash that pits monkey against lizard, and delivers some great rumbles between the pair. Director Adam Wingard is more than up to the challenge of giving fans the long awaited movie clash, and as expected, “Godzilla vs. Kong” met every expectation that I had.
I saw Osamu Tezuka’s “Metropolis” back in 2002, and I vividly remember not being a fan at all. Maybe it was because I was more ignorant toward anime, then, but either way disliked it and openly avoided it for years. It was until recently I had to sit down to re-watch it. I don’t know what I was expecting then, but today I can safely describe it as merely an okay anime film.
It’s disappointing that this is where we’ve arrived with the DC Warner animated movies. We went from stellar to “Its fine, I guess.” That’s exactly what “Apokolips War,” the sequel (?) to “Justice League Dark” is. It’s fine. It’s okay. It has all the ingredients to be a damn good epic, but instead chooses gruesome pointless violence, over heart and substance. I’m not one to complain about violence in more mature aimed films, but “Apokolips War” often watches like it’s compensating for the lack of any real substance or entertainment value by splashing the screen with ridiculous violence and gore.
As a bit of warning, I never played the “Injustice” video game series, nor have I ever read any of the comic books or spin offs. I’m vaguely aware of what the general premise is of “Injustice,” but that’s as far as it goes for me. Considering I was excited about it being adapted in to an animated movie, when the dust settled, I’m very disappointed by what we’re ultimately offered. What is it about DC and Warner unwilling to make a movie that’s longer than eighty minutes? It can’t possibly be for the child audience, as “Injustice” is as gory an Elseworlds tale that I’ve ever seen.