IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!
Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me copies of some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 discussed Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong. Part 5 was all about Wrath of Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Space Jam. Part 6 had discussed Mortal Kombat and Those Who Wish Me Dead. Part 7 discussed In the Heights, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 20 Years of Movie Magic edition. Part 8 discussed A Clockwork Orange, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Shawshank Redemption. Part 9 talked about The Suicide Squad and Reminiscence. Part 10 discussed The Outsiders, Cry Macho, Malignant, the Many Saints of Newark and the Mad Max film collection. Part 11 talked about Dune, Matrix: Resurrections, The Batman, Dog and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Part 12 discussed Elvis, DC League of Super Pets, The Lost Boys and Poltergeist. Part 13 shared some classics with 8-Bit Christmas, Casablanca, A Christmas Story, Three Thousand Years of Longing, The Polar Express, Elf and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Part 14 had Don’t Worry Darling and Part 15 was discussing Black Adam. Part 16 had Bones and All, House Party plus the 4k release of Training Day. Part 17 returned for the 4k release of Rocky the Knockout Collection and Magic Mike’s Last Dance. We are back for Part 18 and the Superman 5 Film Collection, Creed III and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Superman 5 Film Collection
Not only is this collection the original Superman films from the late 70s and early 80s in 4k but it includes the director’s cut of Superman II! This is the version Richard Donner had envisioned from the start. It includes a new opening and end to the film along with scenes focusing on expanding on established lore between Clark and his father. This is how the film SHOULD have always been. Of these five films the original was always my favorite but this cut makes my second choice the new number one!
Creed III
Some have said that this is by far the best Creed film in the franchise but the fight with the Russian is still my favorite. Visually the director handled the final fight differently than many others had over the years by having the crowd fading away to images of both fighter’s pasts. This deviation from the formula was a much needed change to keep it from getting as stale. I know we talked about the problems with Majors with his role in the latest Ant-Man but I don’t see that having the same level of impact here. Overall I enjoyed the film which still feels weird considering I am not a fan of boxing or other professional fighting sports. The cast proves to be far superior to the original Rocky films and if they continue like this I won’t mind watching future sequels.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
It was difficult to get excited about this film knowing that this is likely the end of the franchise and as far as I’m aware the upcoming Flash movie will be the end of this cinematic universe. The film chronologically follows after Black Adam and features some cameos that would have been exciting had it not been for the pending end to the universe. The film is a fitting sequel to the first Shazam film but with one glaring mistake, the transformation of Shazam himself leaving him dumber than his human counterpart Billy. Other than that mistake with what I assume is the writing and directing, the film was still a good amount of fun and without the creepy monsters is also a better film to watch with younger family members.
