My Spy with my little eye is a story comparable to Jackie Chan’s Spy Next Door. Both involve a CIA operative trying to maintain his cover while dealing with kids. In this latest take, there is only one tween and she’s one smart cookie. Sophie (Chloe Coleman) discovers J.J. (Dave Bautista) and Bobbie, his tech support (Kristen Schaal), are monitoring her family. She only has mom and has to be one tough cookie if they are to enjoy some kind of family life. It’s tough when she has made no genuine friends in school. The two moved back to America to begin anew after Dad died some time ago. Neither knew about his secret life, and nor did they know of what he hid in the “family” closet.
Master Z: IP Man Legacy is a fast-paced, hard-hitting spinoff from the films about the legendary Wing Chun master Yip Man. Instead of this master of martial arts, we have another sifu whose style (wushu) can rival that of the other; this time, it’s the life of Cheung Tin Chi (Max Zhang) that we follow. This rival from Ip Man 3 gets his own film. He is trying to escape his life as a trainer.
Despite having lost to Yip, Chi believes his time in the arena is over. He’d rather pursue a simpler life with his son in an unassuming part of late 50s Hong Kong. However, trouble always comes up, and he has to serve up vengeance, Batman-style.
If Daniel Craig’s entry into the James Bond universe is supposed to be a reboot of a series which started with Casino Royale back in 2006, then the biggest question I have is in why are there nods to the past films? All of that is unneeded. I noticed hints which include a meteorite crater lair ala You Only Live Twice, and a huge fist fight on a train in From Russia With Love. When the series is supposed to look at a grittier Bond and be contemporary — reflective of modern times — I thought giving fans newer dangers and worries would be first and forefront than paying fan service. That might have helped trim the run time of 148 minutes to a meaner 120.
Once when movie-goers start watching one movie set in the Marvel Comics Cinematic Universe, they will have to see the rest. There`s no denying that fact. In each film, there are little details being offered either before, during or after the credits roll to tease at what is to come. Sometimes a few details are unimportant, like Tony Stark getting psychoanalyzed by Bruce Banner or seeing the team eat shawarma, but only the astute will know that the bonus material that the early films offered were made to build up to The Avengers.
For another set of post-credits scenes, namely what’s seen in Thor: The First Avenger, Avengers, The Amazing Spider Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, the tease is made lead into the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. Guardians of the Galaxy further defines this grander story arc by being a milestone product. Although this tale stands alone very well, all things considered, as a singular product, not everyone is going to understand how important one of the characters, The Collector, is unless they have seen Thor: Dark World or read the original mini-series to which Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking from. But it should be noted that most of these films are based on the current run than the 80’s material. Even without this extra knowledge, Guardians is a fun film with lots of grandiose silliness to entrench it as part of this Marvel Comics brand. It’s comic book style kinetics and narrative compares favourably against the Avengers movie, and perhaps the two super-groups will meet after one team deals with Ultron next year.
While many Canadians were celebrating Victoria Day, a day named after one of the historical British monarchs, other nerdy type Canadians were instead hailing Facebook’s special Guardians of the Galaxy Q & A in the morning and Marvel’s newly released trailer by the afternoon.
In attendance for this event were Director James Gunn, actors Chris Pratt (Peter Quill / Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer) and Karen Gillan (Nebula).
Two surprises were revealed both hours away before the online session and 20 minutes after live. New guests; Marvel Studios President and Guardians Producer Kevin Feige and the voice of Groot, Vin Diesel, appeared in the session. Continue reading “A Summary of Guardians of the Galaxy Q & A”