Latest

Superhero

Reviews

Villains Inc.

After watching kids have a ball with subversive superhero fodder like Megamind, The Bad Guys, and the Despicable Me franchise, older audiences finally get to have their fun with Villains Inc.  But instead of assuming that adults want another frenetic flick with balls-to-the-wall violence and a four-to-twelve-letter colourful dialect (ala Kick-Ass and its sequel), Villains Inc. works within a more patient element with organic wit while outrageous characters build charismatic rhythms.

Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2019: ‘Enhanced’, ‘Werewolf’ and ‘The Wretched’

Enhanced (DIR. James Mark) The idea of a low budget superhero film is an undeniably commendable one.  Superheroes are incredibly generic, and there is nothing that necessitates the bloated budgets that they tend to cost, so the idea of telling those stories with less waste should be celebrated.  Unfortunately, the films that come out of this practice tend to be underwhelming.  Case in point: James Mark’s Enhanced.

Reviews

Glass

Curiosity is a quality that keeps on giving.  M. Night Shyamalan, for instance, is a filmmaker who is eager to explore his own craft.  And while his back catalogue has included projects that have snowballed out of his own range, he’s at least owning his ambition and finding original stories to tell audiences.  His latest collaborations with indie empire Blumhouse Productions have been great vehicles to anchor his passion projects and visual filmmaking.  Such is…

Reviews

Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 plays within the same flashback narrative and irreverent sense of humour that made its R-rated predecessor a hit.  The new changes are behind the camera, with director David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) picking up where Tim Miller left off.

Reviews

iBoy

I know dark and serious superhero movies have been “in” since Christopher Nolan perfected the genre with The Dark Knight and Deadpool proved heroes can be a lil’ naughty, but Adam Randall’s Netflix joint iBoy should be the last one of these clones for a while.

Reviews

American Hero

Faux-doc American Hero takes place in New Orleans, a city still overcoming its devastation post-Katrina.  It’s in this state of recovery where a local named Melvin and his telekinetic powers find a meaning.  He’s a persuasive street magician to those who need something to believe in and a wild partier to his compadres, but a disappointment to the ones he loves.

Reviews

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

By: Addison Wylie Anyone can review The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  It’s a popular property that accumulates truckloads of moolah, merchandise, and movie goers.  It’s an easy film to seek out and watch, and afterwards, the consensus is measured on whether that audience was thrilled enough.  Marc Webb’s sequel is popcorn entertainment that either comes through or doesn’t.  There’s no middle ground. Instead of using this space to write about how much I was thrilled during…

Reviews

Guardians of the Galaxy

By: Addison Wylie Guardians of the Galaxy plays as a gnarlier, more rugged version of The Avengers.  But, only will that thought hit you after the credits have rolled. You won’t be put off by it though; Guardians of the Galaxy is a boatload of fun nonetheless.  It’s only worth bringing up because when a generic formula is paired with this much originality, the combination can’t help but flare.  Then again, I sort of expected this…

Reviews

The Dark Knight Rises

By: Addison Wylie I had to pinch myself a few times during Christopher Nolan’s “epic” finale to his Batman saga entitled The Dark Knight Rises. I had to convince myself that not only was this well-crafted series coming to a close, but I also had to remind myself that I was sitting in a theatre watching one of the most disappointing and frustrating third chapters since The Matrix Revolutions. I’m going there, people. Strap in….

Reviews

The Avengers

By: Addison Wylie After much anticipation, The Avengers, a big budget superhero collaboration project featuring a versatile and talented cast, has come to fruition. Marvel has been taking their time for a little over half a decade to build towards this grand display of the supernatural and superhuman and the company both in front and behind the camera have done a fantastic job doing so. Mind you, some credit goes to the minds who helped build…