#Randomness 2015 – series #1

A lot has been going on in the world of geekery, as always, so I thought I’d jot down some thoughts on some random subjects for you, beginning with Tom Hardy leaving Suicide Squad.

Apparently, the scheduling met with some conflict, leading Hardy to drop out, while other sources say that he dropped out because of the script. Whatever the case, I think it’s sad that he’s out, he would’ve made one hell of a Rick Flag! It’s also been reported that they’re eyeing Jake Gyllenhaal as a replacement and, well…. it could work. He has some pretty decent performances on his resumé, but can he do a good Rick Flag? We’ll just have to wait and see… but my guess is, he’ll do at the very least an okay Flag. Not as memorable as Ledger’s Joker or Keaton’s Batman but it’ll still be better than his own Prince of Persia.

Secondly, with The Hobbit-trilogy being concluded, Peter Jackson has spoken out about him wanting to do some smaller projects. Sure, he’s done some major budget-Mastodons over the last decade and one can’t blame him for wanting to go back to his roots. However, should he be given the chance, he admits he’ll be likely tempted to take it. Which could mean, Chris’ willing, that he’d actually be taking on The Silmarillion sometime in the future, and what Tolkien-fan wouldn’t want that? I know I’ll be lining up for tickets! What do you think? If given the chance, do you think Jackson should adapt The Silmarillion? Let me know down below…

Thirdly, I just wanted to drop some thoughts on that whole Sony/Marvel-debacle that’s been going on for some time now. Personally I think that, whoever holds the rights now, every single Marvel-character out there is going to end up in Marvel’s corner sooner or later, that’s just a given. With the incredible success Marvel has had with their shared universe, I think it obvious that they will do whatever they can to assemble all their characters under one roof, whether it’s Spider-man coming home from Sony or the X-Men and Fantastic Four coming home from Fox, they will all be together at some point and we will all be able to see them together in the MCU, if not this one, then the rebooted one in 20-30 years, and I’m willing to bet money on that. Sadly, however, Spider-Man won’t be joining up with the Avengers until Avengers: Infinity Wars at the earliest, but hey… at least we get Civil War, right? Yeah!

What do you readers make of all this? Do you agree with me on Marvel getting back their characters? Do you want to see Jackson adapt The Silmarillion? Or do you perhaps have someone other than Gyllenhaal in mind to replace Hardy in Suicide Squad? Let me know down below. And as always, more goodies coming soon, but until then….

#IntoTheStorm – A disaster movie review

So I finally had a chance to see Into The Storm, last year’s attempt to take the now watered down “found footage” idea into the disaster genre, and here’s what I thought about it…

I wanna start this review by saying one thing. One simple thing that sums up what I thought about the film as a whole, and that thing is; I’d rather go watch Twister again, and I saw that movie last summer. Now for some thoughts on Into The Storm.

The “found footage” angle on this film is that the film is a collaborated documentary between a group of storm trackers, thrill seekers and a High School time capsule project. It feels forced, generic and at times even dumb and I didn’t care for it at all. It brings nothing new to the table what so ever. Sure, there was some pretty astonishing effects, but that’s only supposed to awe the audience, not carry the entire film so it falls short on basically every level.

The cast is as generic as they come, with Sarah Wayne Callies and Matt Walsh being the only two people I even recognized from earlier work. But… in the midst of all this negativity, I heard a voice that felt oddly familiar. The man with this voice wasn’t familiar to me at all, so I checked on IMDB afterward, and lo and behold, it was none other than Richard Armitage, or, Thorin Oakenshield as it were. So my question is this; What the hell does a man like Richard Armitage, a man with immense talent and charisma, do in a film like this? I don’t know the answer to that, but I certainly hope that he’ll be more selective of his work from now on.

The director of the film, Steven Quale, who also directed the fifth and final (I hope) installation of the Final Destination-franchise, did what he could with what he had I suppose. But again, whatever his best was didn’t cut it so this one gets the ‘Tango’s Stamp of No!’ as I will not be eager to watch this movie again any time soon.

Have you seen it? What did you think about it? Let me now down below, and be sure to check in again soon as I’ll be doing more of these reviews all year long. But until then…

#TheBattleOfTheFiveArmies – A Hobbit review

After a 13 years and some change, Peter Jackson’s  multi-billion dollar franchise has come to a an end. What began with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 met its conclusion with The Battle of the Five Armies and wow, what an end it was. Even if I did skip the 3D High frame rate version, I did see the film so here it is, my thoughts (some of them) on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

First off, I just want to say that it’s been oh so many years since I read the book, so if something was missing or has been added, I’m not one to say, more than what I’ve heard other people say.
Secondly, I thought I’d talk a little bit about the actors. Throughout this prequel-trilogy, we’ve come to know actors such as Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Richard Armitage (Thorin), Aidan Turner (Kili) and Graham McTavish (Dwalin) among others and I have to say, that every actor behind every dwarf has done a tremendous job. From Thorin’s driven ambition to Kili’s infatuation with Tauriel, they all did what they were supposed to and more, at times. Even the addition of Luke Evans’ Bard was brilliant. And of course the ones we already know, like Ian McKellen’s and Orlando Bloom’s Gandalf and Legolas. Just brilliance all the way through.

But what about the movie itself? Yeah, it was indeed a great film. As I’ve mentioned a few times here and there, I think that this prequel-trilogy is overall better than the Ring-trilogy but this third (sixth) and final film was just not as good as the first two Hobbits. As I’ve heard other critics and reviewers mention since the films release, these films each feel like a separate act of the same film, with this one being the third conclusive act with all the action and all the payoff. That doesn’t mean that the other two lacked action and/or payoff, it just means that this one feels forced somewhat out of place. It’s a great film, certainly, but it could have been more. The beginning of this film feels like the end of the last one and the severe lack of climax at the end, with the war just ending, it’s unsatisfying to say the least. But, it did tie in magnificently to The Fellowship of The Ring and alongside the magnificent cast and the overwhelming scenery we’ve all come to know and love in Jackson’s interpretation of these books, it was an overall good movie experience. Tango’s ‘Stamp of Approval’ received!

That’s it for now, I’m gonna go watch The Two Towers now. Why? Because I can, that’s why. But hey, don’t worry. I’ll be back again soon with something a little more nerdy and geek-worthy, but until then…
Here’s  The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd. Enjoy!