Ground Rules
Must See............llll It’s Worth A Look.....lll See At Your Own Risk.ll Don’t Bother.....................l
Editor’s note: Samantha Ofole-Prince is an award-winning writer and contributor to many national publications and is Blackflix.com’s Senior Critic-at-Large. Khaleel Herbert is a journalism student at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Laurence Washington is the creator of BlackFlix.com. Like Blackflix.com on Facebook, follow Blackflix.com on Twitter
Justice League
ll1/2 By Laurence Washington
REEL ACTION - WWW.BLACKFLIX.COM
enemy of my enemy is my friend, so Steppenwolf’s actions bring the team together. Justice League feels too familiar down to the two after credit scenes, which are entertaining by the way, and sets up the next film. But then again, we’ve seen it all before, and the characters don’t jell as well the Marvel characters do. That’s not to say Justice League is not an enjoyable movie, you can see where they spent a lot of money on the special effects, and comic book fans will probably have a good time, but it doesn’t break any new ground. Sorry Super Friends, Marvel was there first.
Justice League
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hankfully, the long awaited Justice League has arrived, and it’s better than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (’16). But it’s not as good as this year’s Wonder Woman, even though Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) has a starring role in the film. Following a familiar storyline that echoes Marvel’s The Age of Ultron (’15) and The Avengers (’12), Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman scour the globe in search of other Super Friends to fight super-baddie Steppenwolf who commands an army of flying bug-like minions trying to take over the world. And like the Tesseract, the ancient Asgardian artifact in the Avengers movies, there are three cosmic cubes that Steppenwolf has to obtain, and merge together to gain absolute power to destroy the Earth and the rein of the Super Friends. The action takes place in a world without Superman (Henry Cavill), who was killed in Batman v Superman nod, nod, wink, wink. So Batman and Wonder Woman go forth recruiting The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to form the Justice League. And like the Avengers, there is some assembly required, as there is infighting within the group. However, the
Thor: Ragnarok
lll By Laurence Washington
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Thor: Ragnarok
here’s a new Thor movie in town, and thankfully it’s far better than the first two. In fact, this new installment Thor: Ragnarok, isn’t really your run-of-the-mill Marvel fare. Admittedly, it has more CGI special effects than the law allows, however, Ragarok offers a sense of humor, and doesn’t wait for another franchise to parody it. There’s plenty of self-deprecating humor, which makes it fun to watch for two and a half hours. From the beginning of the film, Thor, (Chris Hemsworth) is a wise-
cracking superhero. Not on the level as Deadpool or Tony Stark, but enjoyable nonetheless. Maybe that’s what is fresh about Ragnarok, plus the action takes place on a parallel world and not on Earth. So there is something new there. The film’s premise finds Thor banished to an intergalactic trash dump planet by his sister Hela (Kate Blanchett), the goddess of death, who destroys Thor’s hammer and wreaks havoc on Asgard. Actually, Hela, who was banished herself by Oden, has daddy issues and is looking for a little payback. Since Oden isn’t available, Thor will have to do. Thor is caught by a bounty hunter (Tessa Thompson) in the trash dump, and is forced to compete in gladiator battles against intergalactic beings by the planet’s emperor Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum). Also, it bares mentioning that Jeff Goldblum basically plays a quirky character modeled after himself. He’s wonderful, and he moves the film along. I’m not giving away any spoilers when I say that Thor’s first opponent is The Incredible Hulk. Every trailer produced about this film reveals that fact. The film would have been better if it were a surprise. Not sure how the Hulk arrived on the trash planet, I was probably reaching over for some popcorn and missed the explanation. The fact is, the Hulk is there, and he doesn’t remember Thor from the good ole days with the Avengers. Maybe Thor’s new haircut has something to do with it. Hard to say. That being said, Thor and the Hulk renew their battle from their first meeting in The Avengers (’12). The pair eventually team up to take on Hela, who’s sporting a gawd-awful antlerhat. Oden should have banished her for wearing that hat alone. Ragarok also has cameos by Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and clothes from Tony Stark’s wardrobe. Idris Elba returns as Heimdall, the all-hearing guardian sentry of Asgard. Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki, Thor’s
Denver Urban Spectrum — www.denverurbanspectrum.com – December 2017
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Last Flag Flying
mischievous adopted brother, who still cannot be trusted. And as expected, there are two after credit scenes; one of which sets up the next Avengers movie - why I say with every Marvel film review: “Remain seated until the houselights come on and you’re asked to exit the theatre.”
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Last Flag Flying
lll1/2 By Samantha Ofole-Prince
ar is dirty and destructive. That’s the clear and concise message in Richard Linklater’s war drama Last Flag, which follows three Vietnam War vets who reunite after 30 years to bury a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Based on a novel by Darry Ponicsan and set in 2003, Last Flag begins with Steve Carell’s character Doc, an introverted ex-soldier who needs to collect his only son’s body for burial at the military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Without much support (his wife recently died of cancer), Doc looks up two of his old buddies he hasn’t seen since they served in the Vietnam War three decades ago. Sal (Bryan Cranston) is now a cynical, alcoholic who owns a dive bar in Norfolk, Virgina and the other, Rev. Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne), is a happily married family man and a charismatic pastor of a small, predominantly African-American church. After convincing the reluctant duo to join him on a mission to collect the coffin at the Dover Air Force Base, they set off on a road trip, but things take a drastic turn when Doc discovers the real circumstances behind his son’s death and dismisses the military’s plans to bury his son, opting for a civilian burial in his hometown of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This change of plans finds the trio, along with a young marine Washington (J. Quinton Johnson) who served with the dead soldier, hauling the casket up north on a train with stopovers in New York and Boston. Cicely Tyson (The Help) also has a small role as the