The Suicide Squad

The first Suicide Squad was probably one of the most hated movies of 2016. The characters didn’t work, the story was a complete mess and it seemed like that group of villains would never team up again in the big screen.

It’s been five years since that film was released, and now it’s James Gunn’s turn to bring back the Suicide Squad. This time, a new team is assembled by the ruthless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to take down a scientific facility where something big and dangerous is hidden.

The Suicide Squad is definitely a better movie than the original. And yes, it is a sequel. Even though you don’t really need to know what happened in the first film or the Harley Quinn solo movie Birds of Prey, fans will recognize certain faces and Easter eggs.

This time around, the story is actually interesting and well-constructed. It has some great moments where the characters shine and the action is pretty solid. The worst part of this movie is, in my opinion, the first sequence. To be fair, this part of the film really shows how disposable the characters are to Waller, and it makes us understand why this Suicide Squad exists in the first place. However, the characters that we are introduced here are not that interesting and the whole scene is not funny or thrilling.

Once we get to the main team, the story takes off. The characters that we get to know throughout this sequel are actually interesting villains. Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2 and David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man have the best moments and story arcs in the film, and they deliver both the humor and the heart.

Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2 is without a doubt the best character DC has recently brought to the big screen. She also has the best scene in the entire movie, one that’s both emotional and grandiose. And she is the heart of the story, something I would have never said about someone who controls rats.

Now, The Suicide Squad is not perfect. The humor is one of the elements that don’t work, and that’s probably my biggest complain about this film. Most of the jokes are not funny and even Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn suffer from this. She has some good lines but overall, her jokes don’t land.

The action scenes are good, but I think they could have been better. The main issue with this aspect of the film is that the big bad, Starro, is way too overpowered for the squad. For instance, the final battle between the villains and Starro is pretty underwhelming, and it’s shocking that WB let Gunn made the same mistake again, having a third act encounter with a big CGI monster when the Squad’s power level is basically 0. However, I will say that the best part of the third act is definitely Ratcatcher 2’s saving the world moment.

The Suicide Squad is a solid movie. James Gunn has managed to fix some of the worst aspects that made the first film such a horrible DC story. However, I still think that there’s room for improvement here. If we get another Suicide Squad adventure, I think WB needs to choose a better antagonist, one that the Squad could realistically take down. Plus, the jokes must be funnier.

If you are a DC or even a superhero fan, you will enjoy this film. It’s a good one. Just forget about the first Suicide Squad and you’ll be fine.

A Quiet Place Part II

A Quiet Place was one of the best movies of 2018. John Krasinski surprised us with a powerful, thrilling and moving story about a family who survived the apocalypse by living their lives in complete silence. Now, after 2 years of waiting for this sequel, A Quiet Place Part II finally arrived in theaters all over the world.

If you forgot how living in the world that Krasinski created felt like, don’t worry. The movie’s first scene is indeed a flashback that kind of explain how everything began, but Krasinski quickly returns to the current time. The story starts right where the first one ended, with Emily Blunt’s character ready to leave the family house.

The deadly atmosphere that surrounds the world of A Quiet Place comes back stronger than ever and the stakes are much higher this time. Yes, the family has an advantage against the monster (that very clever hearing aid), but the monsters are extremely dangerous, and the film makes you aware of that. Every single sound becomes a death sentence in this world, and Krasinski makes us, the audience, participate in this twisted game. Try eating your popcorns without feeling anxious.

Now, while the first film was smaller in scope than this sequel, it had an emotional side to it that I really liked. The cast succeeded in created a bond between us and these characters, and that made the ending of Part I a rollercoaster of emotions.

Part II is a more traditional apocalypse if you ask me. An amazing one, no doubt, but traditional. You have new survivors, more action and more worldbuilding. And I can confidently say that John Krasinski nails every single aspect. The ending definitely sets up a third part, but it also manages to open a world of possibilities in terms of possible spin offs.

The cast does an amazing job, just like they did last time, and the new additions are great even though they don’t have a lot of screen time. And yes, this family, especially the kids, keep making a lot of stupid decisions, but without them we wouldn’t have a story, so we should thank them I guess.

Horror fans must watch this movie, but I’m sure that anyone can enjoy it. Even if you didn’t love the first film, give this sequel a chance. And let’s hope Paramount doesn’t take years to make a third one.

Love and Monsters

I know what you’re thinking. You saw this poster and said: “oh, another post-apocalyptic story”. Well, technically, it’s true. Love and Monsters is set in an apocalyptic world where humans are on the brink of extinction. But there’s more to it. This is actually a very solid coming-of-age story about Joel (Dylan O’Brien), a simple guy who decides to make a dangerous journey on the world’s surface in order to reunite with his girlfriend, Aimee, who lives just 80 miles away from him.

Overall, the movie is great. It has a very charismatic main character, a simple but solid story and particularly good action sequences. Plus, the film has a lot of heart, which makes separate it from other apocalyptic stories easier.

Dylan O’Brien is great as always. He is a very strong lead, and he practically carries the entire movie by himself, with the help of his adorable dog Boy. O’Brien’s Joel is very much a regular guy. He’s not very strong or skilled (something his friends remind him constantly). However, he doesn’t give up easily, which makes him someone we can root for.

Unlike Zombieland, which is a very similar film, Love and Monsters doesn’t have a very strong line up of secondary characters. Here we have Aimee (Jessica Henwick), Clyde (Michael Rooker), Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt), and a bunch of other characters without much screen time. Their roles aren’t bad or bland, they just don’t have much to do besides helping Joel achieve his goal. But all of them do a great job with what they have.

The monsters are also a huge part in this film, and even though this movie is not a big blockbuster like Avengers Endgame, the VFXs are very impressive. All the monsters that we see are unique and they all have different abilities. It’s very interesting and rewarding to see Joel facing different types of creatures and overcoming his fears.

Finally, I really think this new universe has a lot of potential (maybe we could see Love and Monsters Vol.2?) This world is huge, and I really want to know what happens with Joel and his friends after the events of this film. But even if we don’t get any kind of continuation, Love and Monsters is incredible. Sure, it’s not a masterpiece, but I don’t think it has to be one in order for us to enjoy it. It’s funny, entertaining and a bit emotional, so I’m confident a lot of people will love it. Plus, if you like Dylan O’Brien, this is a must see.

Tenet

Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time. Not time travel. Inversion.

They finally did it. After months of delays, Tenet is finally here. At least in those countries where cinemas are open. Christopher Nolan has been eager to share his latest movie with the world, and now that we can watch the film, it’s time to discuss the complexity of Nolan’s Tenet.

First of all, I’m not the greatest Christopher Nolan fan, and although I enjoy most of his films, I don’t consider any of them to be “masterpieces”. However, I thought that Tenet could change that trend and become my favorite Nolan film of all time, due to the fact that I loved the idea of inversion when I first saw the trailer. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. In general, I liked the movie, the characters, and the way Nolan directed it, but I had some problems with the script, which I think should have been the strongest element in Tenet.

My main complaint about Tenet’s script is that some of the key story elements are poorly explained or not explained at all. In fact, Clémence Poésy’s character says at the beginning of the movie: ‘Don’t try to understand it. Feel it.’ when she’s talking about how the inversion works, and I strongly believe that quote could sum up the entire film perfectly. If you try to understand every single little detail about Tenet‘s science and how everything we are presented in the story works, you won’t be able to enjoy the movie as much as you could. The ideas are really interesting and, visually, they work, but I felt some deeper explanations were needed.

But there are some really good elements in this movie, which makes it worth watching on the big screen. As I said before, Tenet’s visuals are spectacular. Nolan is a very good director, and he proves it once again. All the inversion sequences are absolutely stunning, especially during the third act, which is definitively the best moment of the movie. As I said, it’s not very well explained, but it looks amazing.

The acting is also extremely good. John David Washington does a very good job, and he is a very charismatic actor. However, I think it’s safe to say that Robert Pattinson and Kenneth Branagh have the strongest and most interesting roles in the story. Pattinson shows how good he really is as an actor, stealing every scene he is in, and Branagh does an amazing job portraying a very scary and realistic antagonist.

When I left the theater after watching the movie I knew a lot of people will love it. It’s a very good film, and I can’t deny that. However, I think Tenet must be experienced at least once. Even if you can’t understand everything, Nolan creates a really solid action film full of shocking mind-blowing twists, that every single cinephile will appreciate. It’s not the greatest movie of all times or the best Nolan story, but I think it’s worth seeing in theaters.

The Rise of Skywalker: What happened with Star Wars?

(This is a SPOILER review for “The Rise of Skywalker”)

I’m not a huge fan of Star Wars. I’ve watched all the movies and some episodes of the TV shows, but, in general, I don´t love Star Wars as much as other people do. I do like the Jedi and the Force as concepts, and I’ve always enjoyed a good lightsaber battle, but I do not have a huge bond with the main characters of the original trilogy or this new one, so for me, the ending of the Skywalker saga wasn´t going to be the greatest event of 2019.

I was actually curious about how they would end the trilogy, especially after watching “The Last Jedi”, a film that divided the whole fandom and became of the most discussed movies of 2017. I didn´t like it as much as other people did, but I didn´t hate it either. I understood some of the criticism the story received, and I agreed with some of them, which led me to believe that both Disney and Kathleen Kennedy needed to do some “damage control”, in order to reunite and “heal” the fandom. And yes, Disney did some damage control.

At first, with the return of J. J. Abrams to the director chair, I thought that he could be able to fix some of the problems “The Last Jedi” had, without undercutting Rian Johnson’s vision and script. But after watching this movie, “The Rise of Skywalker”, there’s only one thing I can say: he did NOT fix the problems and he definitively undercut Johnson’s story.

The good elements of “The Rise of Skywalker”

I am a huge fan of Abrams. I love what he did with “Star Trek” and “Super 8” is one of my favorite movies of all times. However, he is not a very creative person. This movie possesses the great elements every J. J. Abrams film has: it’s entertaining, it has some great action scenes and sequences, and the comedic element works most of the time.

Even when the action sequences were longer than they should have been, I found myself enjoying all of them. They are really well directed, the choreography is great, and you can see everything that’s happening during the scene.

The cast is also good, even if their characters are very bland in general. Both Daisy Ridley and Adam Drive do a good job portraying their characters, but they have no chemistry whatsoever, so Reylo doesn’t work.

The comedy really worked in this film too. I thought Rian Johnson couldn´t handle comedy in “The Last Jedi”, which was one of the reasons that led me to criticize the movie, but Abrams knows how to do it. C3PO was, by far, the funniest character in the movie. He had the most memorable lines and his sarcasm worked really well with the other characters. There were some jokes that didn´t work, but the movie moved so fast that you just forgot about them by the end of the scene.

And yes, in terms of script, there are some good elements that the story could have explored but fails to do so spectacularly. And that is probably one of the greatest mistakes of this movie.

The trilogy that never was

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is not the kind of movie it was supposed to be. This final adventure was going to be the end of a saga that began in 1977, the “Endgame” for the “Star Wars” franchise. However, it is not. And the main problem is not that this movie doesn´t provide a satisfying ending (which it doesn´t), but that Disney never knew what this new trilogy was going to be from the very beginning.

They never planned the story. Kathleen Kennedy gave Abrams the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do with Episode VII but never asked for a coherent outline of what the new trilogy was going to be about. For that reason, when Rian Johnson was hired to handle Episode VIII, he did whatever he wanted. As Abram did before.

I’m sure that nobody knew what was going to happen, IN GENERAL, during the course of this trilogy. That was definitively the greatest mistake Disney made with Star Wars. If you take a look back at this new trilogy as a whole, you can tell that the story went back and forth. They presented some questions, they answered them and then they changed those answers again, destroying and undercutting one of the movies of the trilogy.

Now, the problem is not that these movies had different directors. The MCU has a lot of different directors handling the different films and characters, but when “Endgame” came out, everything fit perfectly. There was a coherent story that had been built since 2008.

Kathleen Kennedy was supposed to be overlooking these new movies, and I think she should have been there “forcing” Abrams to create, at least, a draft for what he wanted to do with the whole trilogy. And I’m sure she didn´t because otherwise, we would be having a different conversation about Star Wars.

Now we know that Disney decided to ignore George Lucas’s ideas for the new movies, and they were in their right to do so. However, if there’s something that no one can ever say about Lucas’s trilogies, it is that they had a story to tell, and from the very first movie to the last one, the story was clear and had a direction, even if the some of them weren´t as good as the others. I cannot say the same thing about this sequel trilogy. In fact, I would say that they created the story as they created and crafted the movies, which then led us to this situation. Outlines are the key to success, and that’s something Kevin Feige and the MCU have demonstrated over and over again.

The problem with damage control

One of the most annoying things about “The Rise of Skywalker” is that you can tell that many of the creative decisions were made not because they fit in the story, but because they wanted to please the fans that didn´t like “The Last Jedi” AND also course-correct the new trilogy.

I want to start with the most despicable and mean decision they made: Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) is NOT one of the main characters. In fact, she is barely in this movie. Now, I didn´t like Kelly’s character in “The Last Jedi” because I felt the movie introduced a lot of new characters without giving them time to develop any kind of personality. However, Kelly Marie Tran was bullied for a long time, because of her character. A lot of “fans” of the franchise said terrible things about her, her looks and her acting ability. What does Lucasfilm and J. J . Abrams decide to do? Hide her in the background. The worst thing about this situation is the fact that the cast and Abrams himself DEFENDED her, and said they were very happy to have her. However, that’s definitively not what they really meant. Otherwise, Rose Tico would have had a role in this movie, instead of being a secondary character with 5 lines of dialogue. And even though some people didn´t like Rose Tico, that’s not an excuse to get rid of her. Both Abrams and Chris Terrio, who co-wrote the script, should have kept the character and, maybe, get her better lines and better scenes in this new movie. Or maybe just a proper character arc.

The Emperor is in this movie as pure fan-service. They never explain why or how he’s alive, how he built the ships he gives to Kylo Ren or anything related to him. His presence is a response to those who criticized “The Last Jedi” for killing off Snoke. It’s like “Oh, yes, Snoke was bad, but it was Palpatine who controlled him. He was the real villain all along”. That character didn’t work at all, and it was just there so we could see a cool action scene at the end of the movie featuring Sith Force lightning.

Abrams and Terrio also changed Rey’s origins AGAIN, making her the granddaughter of Palpatine. This was an idea I really liked, but somehow, they destroyed it too. I loved that they were saying: “hey, even if you are part of an evil family and your grandfather is the incarnation of the Dark Side, there’s still hope for you. You can be good. You can save the galaxy”. What did they do with this idea? They threw it away like it was nothing. At the end of this movie, Rey decides to call herself Rey Skywalker, an act that totally erases the important message they tried to include in the story. She should have embraced the Palpatine name, proving to everyone that she was more than a name, more than her blood. As I said, there were some good ideas that they decided to not explore at all.

The other little problems

I really think that this is the weakest film in this trilogy. You can enjoy the movie, and I’m sure a lot of people will. But when you stop to think about the story and the script in general, you realize how flawed it is.

The Knights of Ren are back, but they do absolutely nothing. The new characters suffer from the same problem that most of the new characters for this trilogy have suffered: they don’t have any kind of development. And the final act has a lot of similarities with “Endgame”, which really bothered me because it’s Disney who has made both films, so they should have been able to fix this PRIOR to the release of this movie.

There are also a lot of missed opportunities with characters that could have appeared in the film via cameo and others that could have had more to do in general (Dark Rey who?). However, these are the kind of problems that one could ignore because they don’t hurt the film as much as the other aspects that I pointed out.

The End

If someone had said to me, 4 years ago, that the Star Wars franchise would end up like this, I would have not believed it. The fandom is divided, the story they loved concludes poorly and the future of the franchise is not very clear (at least, in the movie area).

I do think that if you really like Star Wars, you can enjoy this film. There are enough good elements to do so, and I’m sure that if you have invested a lot of time with the characters and the universe, you will feel great after watching the movie. But as the chapter that was supposed to close one of the most important franchises of all time, I have to say: I expected more.

Spider-Man: Lejos de casa

Peter Parker, nuestro amigo y vecino superhéroe, decide unirse a sus mejores amigos Ned, MJ, y el resto del grupo a unas vacaciones europeas. Aunque el plan de Peter sea dejar sus heroicidades atrás durante unas pocas semanas, pronto desecha esas ideas para ayudar a regañadientes a Nick Furia a desentrañar el misterio de los ataques de varias criaturas elementales que están creando el caos en el mundo. 

Tras los acontecimientos de “Vengadores: Endgame”, muchos estábamos impacientes por ver un mundo en el que la mitad del planeta debía acostumbrarse a la nueva vida a la que regresaban después de cinco años. Y que mejor manera de acabar esta Saga del Infinito que con Spider-Man, en una aventura veraniega que nos lleva a recorrer Europa y a salvar el mundo nuevamente.

“Spider-Man: Lejos de casa” es, en resumen, la perfecta aventura que necesitábamos después de Endgame. Llena de humor y acción a partes iguales, esta nueva cinta del trepamuros pasará a ser una de las mejores películas de Spider-Man hasta la fecha.

“Lejos de casa” tiene un solo inconveniente: el principal giro argumental no será una sorpresa para los fans del personaje. Durante la primera mitad de esta cinta vemos como Spider-Man interacciona con Mysterio, un “héroe interdimensional”, de igual a igual, mientras luchan con los elementales. Sin embargo, aquellos que conozcan un poco al personaje, o hayan visto otras versiones del trepamuros, sabrán perfectamente que Mysterio no es precisamente un “héroe”. A pesar de esto, el origen de Mysterio como villano no solo está perfectamente actualizado, acorde con el universo en el que Spider-Man se desenvuelve (o desenvolvía), sino que además mantiene la esencia del origen que dicho personaje tiene en los cómics.

Jake Gyllenhaal hace un increíble trabajo interpretando a Quentin Beck, y no es exagerado decir que su Mysterio se ha convertido, casi al instante, en uno de los mejores villanos del Universo Cinematográfico de Marvel. Gyllenhaal consigue hacer que Mysterio, un villano relativamente desconocido, se convierta en una de las mayores amenazas que el héroe arácnido a tenido que enfrentar en mucho tiempo (sin contar a Thanos y su enorme ejército espacial).

Tom Holland sigue demostrando que es el mejor Peter Parker / Spider-Man que ha existido, gracias, principalmente, al increíble carisma que desprende en pantalla. Debido a los acontecimientos que tuvieron lugar en Endgame, Holland también tiene la oportunidad de explorar el lado más dramático del personaje, y consigue hacerlo sin problemas.

El resto de personajes también destaca más en esta cinta con respecto a la anterior, en especial la MJ de Zendaya y Betty, interpretada porAngourie Rice. Sus personajes cobran más importancia en esta secuela, y ambas actrices hacen un gran trabajo.

Otro de los aspectos en los que podemos decir que “Lejos de casa” supera a “Homecoming” es en la acción. En esta segunda entrega, el director Jon Watts desata todo el potencial del superhéroe, y, en especial, de su villano. Las escenas de Mysterio, y en concreto una que tiene lugar al final del segundo acto, son uno de los grandes momentos de esta cinta. Visualmente, Mysterio es un personaje que podía dar mucho de sí, y Watts consigue que sus escenas sean realmente memorables. Por otro lado, Spider-Man no se queda atrás, y, además de verlo jugar con varios gadgets nuevos, también se explota al máximo sus habilidades arácnidas (incluido el famoso sentido arácnido, o, como deciden nombrarlo, cosquilleo de Peter).

En conclusión, “Spider-Man: Lejos de casa” es una gran secuela, y una increíble aventura del superhéroe. Es una pena que, quizás, sea la última en la cual veamos al personaje dentro del Universo que Marvel Studios ha creado, pero tendremos que esperar para saber más. A pesar de todo, el futuro del personaje es prometedor, en especial si tenemos en cuenta la increíble escena post-créditos que nos presentan en esta película.

Hellboy

En esta nueva versión de Hellboy, la AIDP (Agencia para la Investigación y Defensa Paranormal) se enfrentará a una de las más poderosas y peligrosas brujas que la humanidad a conocido: Nimue (Milla Jovovich), también conocida como la Reina de la Sangre. Hellboy (David Harbour) tendrá que emplearse a fondo para detener los planes de la bruja y evitar la aniquilación de la raza humana. 

Hay mucho que se podría criticar en esta nueva “Hellboy”, empezando por el anticlimático final de la historia. Sin embargo, creo que es también importante hablar sobre los aspectos positivos de este reboot, que, sorprendentemente, son bastantes.

Ahora bien, hay que dejar claro algo antes de comenzar: esta nueva cinta del carismático personaje de Mike Mignola, no es una maravilla. De hecho, muchos la considerarán algo mediocre e incluso un desastre. En mi opinión, creo que hay ciertos elementos que funcionan bien y que, por desgracia, dudo que veamos en una casi imposible secuela.

Para empezar, el reparto es bastante bueno. David Harbour, Sasha Lane y Daniel Dae Kim hacen un buen trabajo con sus personajes, en especial Lane, cuya Alice es uno de los puntos fuertes de la segunda mitad de la cinta. Sin embargo, quien realmente brilla por encima de todos es Milla Jovovich, cuya Reina de la Sangre es todo lo que podríamos haber pedido. Jovovich no sale tanto en pantalla como hubiera deseado, pero cuando aparece, la película remonta.

El principal problema de esta “Hellboy” es el guion. La película es más una mezcla apresurada y sin sentido de varias historias totalmente diferentes, cuyo único hilo conductor es Nimue, la villana principal. Hay demasiados personajes, demasiadas ideas lanzadas al espectador sin motivo y demasiadas subtramas que no acaban de encajar con la historia central. Además, como dije antes, el tercer acto es muy básico, simple y poco creativo. Sé que hablamos de una película de bajo presupuesto, pero estoy seguro de que podrían haber recortado un par de escenas totalmente innecesarias y habernos dado una batalla final más entretenida.

En general, creo que “Hellboy” podría haber sido una cinta mucho más interesante si se hubieran centrado en Nimue y Hellboy, en lugar de intentar crear un universo gigantesco de la nada. Como digo, dudo que haya una secuela, pero si la hubiera, me gustaría verla. Tanto el personaje como el universo que han creado tiene mucho potencial, pero necesitan centrarse y escribir un guion decente, que haga justicia a estas historias.

Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.

One could criticize this new “Hellboy” movie because of many things, especially because of his anticlimactic ending. However, this reboot has some good elements that I think should be appreciated. The problem is that “Hellboy” is not a great movie. In fact, I really think it’s a mediocre one. That’s the reason why I think we’ll never get a sequel, which is a shame, because those good elements I talked about are really good, and I would like to see more of them.

The cast is one of those good elements. David Harbour, Sasha Lane, and Daniel Dae Kim do a great job with their part, even though their characters are a little bit stereotypical. Sasha’s Alice is actually one of the strongest elements of the second half of the movie, and her character is not only funny and charismatic, but also competent and useful. However, the real MVP of this movie is the fabulous Milla Jovovich, who portrays the evil Nimue, the Blood Queen. She is amazing as the villain of this movie, and even though she doesn’t have much screen time, she nailed every single scene she had.

The main problem with this new “Hellboy” adaptation, is the script. They try very hard to adapt Hellboy’s world in just one movie, and that’s impossible. There are too many characters and too many plots, and they don´t fit at all. Nimue’s character is the only thing that ties everything together, but at the end of the day, it’s not enough. In addition to that, the final battle and the third act in general, are very, very simple. They could have done a lot of things with Nimue’s powers and Hellboy’s inner demons, but they didn’t.

In general, I think “Hellboy” could have been better, if they had focused on Nimue and Hellboy, instead of trying to create a whole new universe in just one film. I would like to see a sequel, but I don´t think that’s going to happen. If they ever do it, I hope they find a better screenwriter.

Vengadores: Endgame / Avengers: Endgame

 

Una parte del viaje es el final. Quizás la frase que defina a este increíble viaje que hemos tenido el privilegio de realizar con todos estos personajes. Quién hubiera dicho, hace más de diez años, que lo que comenzó con aquella película llamada “Iron Man”, culminaría, años después, en una épica cinta de proporciones cósmicas.

Marvel Studios ha tenido sus altibajos. Nada es perfecto desde luego. Pero si hay algo que no se puede negar es que ha revolucionado la industria del cine y el género superheróico. Aquellos que llevamos años viendo a estos personajes luchar, ganar y perder, estamos ante el acontecimiento de nuestras vidas. Decir que “Vengadores: Endgame” es la mejor película de superhéroes jamás hecha es quedarse cortos. Los hermanos Russon han creado una fascinante y épica cinta que pone punto y final a una generación, y que da paso a otra, respetando el pasado y abrazando el futuro.

Hablar sobre esta cinta sin entrar en territorio de spoilers es difícil, y creo que todo el mundo debería tener la oportunidad de ver por primera vez esta cinta sin saber nada. Si algo puedo afirmar es que esta película será algo especial para todos aquellos fans de Marvel que llevan esperando este momento tantos años.

Ver “Vengadores: Endgame” es como leer un cómic. Durante las casi tres horas que dura la cinta puedes sentir como cada escena parece sacada de las páginas de uno de esos grandes acontecimientos que suceden de vez en cuando en el mundo del cómic. Los Vengadores han perdido, y es doloroso ver un mundo tan desolado tras el chasquido de Thanos. Pero cuándo descubren que puede haber una posibilidad de salvar, o más bien, vengar a los caídos, ninguno de los Vengadores duda, ni por un instante, que deben intentarlo.

Las dos primeras horas de esta cinta es un regalo para los fans de la ciencia ficción y para los fans de Marvel en general. Guiños, referencias y muchos pequeños y emotivos momentos que hacen que te des cuenta de lo mucho que te importa esta saga y estos personajes. Y cada uno de los seis Vengadores originales tiene su pequeño momento, en el que también te das cuenta de lo lejos que han llegado.

Sin embargo, es la última hora de película lo que realmente hará que cualquiera que se considere fan de los superhéroes grite, aplauda y se emocione hasta límites insospechados. Nada de lo que hayamos podido pensar que pasaría en esta cinta se acerca lo más mínimo a lo que finalmente sucede.

Por último, y aunque esta no sea una crítica al uso, creo que es necesario hablar sobre nuestros queridos Vengadores. Todos los supervivientes tienen su momento. Ant-Man, Nébula y Rocket brillan, y da gusto verlos interactuar con el resto de personajes. Sin embargo, esta cinta está dedicada a los seis Vengadores originales. A esos seis personajes que vimos juntos por primera vez en 2012, y a los que hemos seguido desde entonces. Sus historias han sido el eje central del Universo Cinematográfico de Marvel durante estos diez años, y con Endgame los Russo han firmado una carta de amor a cada uno de ellos, que nosotros como espectadores, recibimos este fin de semana. Como digo no puedo hablar sobre ellos o sobre el argumento y desarrollo de la cinta sin hacer spoiler, así que solo diré lo siguiente: Gracias, gracias Marvel por todo.

Gracias Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo y Chris Hemsworth. Gracias Scarlett Johansson y  Chris Evans. Y sobre todo, gracias Robert Downey Jr. Gracias por hacer que todo esto haya sido posible.

Part of the journey is the end. And what a journey. We’ve had the privilege to go through this amazing journey with these characters, and now, it comes to an end. I don´t think any of us could have imagined, more than ten years ago, that what “Iron Man” started would end up like this.

Of course, nothing last forever. And we knew this would end up happening someday. Marvel Studios, despite everything, has changed the industry and the superhero genre during the last years. Today, we are going to witness the end of an era, one of the most amazing events of this decade. Saying that “Avengers: Endgame” is the best superhero movie of all times is the only thing I can say about this film. The Russo brothers have created a fascinating and epic conclusion to a saga that has been part of our lives for the last ten years, respecting the past and embracing the future.

I cannot talk about this movie much without spoiling it so this won´t be a standard review. Everyone should go and watch the movie as soon as possible, to experience the film on their own, without knowing anything. And believe me, Marvel fans will love this movie, from the beginning to the very end.

Watching “Avengers: Endgame” is like reading a comic book. Every shot and scene feels like it was brought to life from the pages of one of those comic books we all enjoy reading. The Avengers lost, and the world is desolated. But there is a chance to save and avenge everyone, so the Avengers must assemble one last time.

The first two hours of this movie are a gift from science-fiction and Marvel fans in general. There are a lot of references and easter eggs, and some emotional moments with our beloved characters. And the original six, the Avengers, they all have their moment to shine, and in those moments you realize how far they’ve come.

However, the last hour, the final act of this film, is the best thing a superhero fan will ever see on the big screen. You will cheer, laugh and cry at each moment and character, and nothing you could have imagined comes close to the epicness of that final act.

Now, I would like to talk about the Avengers. All of them. Ant-Man, Rocket and Nebula shine in this movie, and it is wonderful to see them interact with the other survivors. But this movie is dedicated to our original Avengers. The original six. The ones we saw together for the first time back in 2012. They have been the center, the heart and soul, of the MCU for the last ten years, and in this movie, the Russo brothers decided to show how important and beloved they are. “Avengers: Endgame” is a love letter to us, the fans, and to them, the Avengers. As I said, I cannot say much about them without ruining the story so I will say just one last thing: Thank you, Marvel, for everything.

Thank you, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Chris Hemsworth. Thank you, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans. And thank you, Robert Downey Jr. Thank you for everything you’ve done.

The Avengers.

Capitana Marvel / Captain Marvel

“Capitana Marvel” sigue a Carol Danvers en un viaje en el que descubrirá los secretos sobre su pasado. Ambientada en la década de los 90, la historia comienza cuando Carol llega a la Tierra en busca de los Skrull, unos peligrosos enemigos con la capacidad de transformarse en cualquier ser vivo. Carol no solo intentará acabar con la guerra entre los Skrull y los Kree, sino que además deberá descubrir su verdadera naturaleza.

Muchos esperábamos con ansias conocer a Carol Danvers. Desde que se anunciara la película que introduciría a la heroína, hemos deseado ver cómo Marvel nos presentaría a uno de los personajes más poderosos del universo. ¿Cumple las expectativas, o se queda corta? Eso es lo que discutiremos ahora.

La respuesta corta es sí. “Capitana Marvel” es la cinta que nos prometieron: la historia de origen de la superheroína más poderosa del Universo Cinematográfico de Marvel. No es una cinta perfecta, pero si un buen comienzo para Carol como personaje dentro de este universo que llevamos explorando más de diez años.

Uno de los mejores elementos de esta cinta es Brie Larson. La actriz es Carol Danvers, del mismo modo que Chris Evans es el Capitán América. Además, Larson consigue crear un personaje realmente carismático, con una personalidad que nos recuerda a veces al Tony Stark de Robert Downey Jr. Carol es divertida y sarcástica, pero sabe cuál es su trabajo y lo cumple a la perfección. En ese sentido, da gusto a ver a un personaje que sabe lo que debe hacer, y lo hace sin vacilar un instante.

Samuel L. Jackson tampoco se queda atrás. Aunque llevamos muchos años viéndolo interpretar a Furia, creo que es la primera vez, desde “Capitán América: El Soldado de Invierno”, que su personaje no parece solo una herramienta del guion, colocada para favorecer ciertos sucesos. La relación de amistad y compañerismo entre Carol y Furia es realmente uno de los elementos mejor desarrollados en la cinta, y la química entre ambos actores se nota en todo momento.

El resto del reparto también hace un buen trabajo, aunque sus papeles son menores. Ben Mendelsohn como el villano Talos y Lashana Lynch como Maria Rambeau son quizás los otros dos personajes que más destacan en esta cinta. Talos es un personaje bien construido y lleno de sorpresas, y Rambeau es un gran apoyo para Carol, y es Lynch quien, con su actuación, consigue hacernos creer de verdad lo buenas amigas que son.

Como historia de origen, “Capitana Marvel” no sigue el esquema convencional que las caracteriza. Carol sufre de amnesia, y no recuerda exactamente qué fue lo que le ocurrió ni cuál era su vida antes de llegar al planeta Hala. Esto coloca al personaje principal y a nosotros como espectadores en el mismo lugar. No sabemos exactamente lo que sucedió, y poco a poco, a lo largo de la cinta, iremos descubriendo la verdad.

La cinta no está llena de sorpresas, pero sí que hay un par de revelaciones que seguramente pillarán a muchos desprevenidos. Estos cambios son bastante interesantes, y aunque no parece que vayan a explorar alguno de ellos mucho más en un futuro, estoy convencido de que otros, sin embargo, serán desarrollados en profundidad en futuras películas de Marvel.

Además de la intriga que caracteriza al guion, el humor y la acción también están presentes en “Capitana Marvel”. No son una parte tan importante como en otras cintas del estudio, pero sí suficientes para hacer de esta cinta una película de superhéroes bastante entretenida. Desde luego “Capitana Marvel” no es tan divertida como “Thor Ragnarok” por ejemplo, ni tiene las increíbles escenas de acción de “Capitán América: Civil War”. En ambos aspectos estamos ante una película bastante estándar, lo cual no es algo negativo, sino más bien un detalle que la diferencia del resto de cintas de Marvel.

En general, “Capitana Marvel” es una buena película, entretenida, divertida e importante. Un capítulo bastante relevante en la historia del Universo Cinematográfico de Marvel, y que nos da alguna que otra pista sobre el próximo gran evento superheroico: “Vengadores: Endgame”. Carol viene pisando fuerte, y aunque no estamos ante una obra maestra cinematográfica, sí que puedo afirmar que “Capitana Marvel” es lo que muchos hemos soñado que sería.

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

We have been waiting quite a long time to meet Carol Danvers, one of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Does her movie fulfill our expectations? Short answer: Yes, it does. “Captain Marvel” is the movie we had been promised: the origin story of the hero that can destroy Thanos (at least, we hope she can). It´s not a perfect movie, but it is a great introduction to Carol and her abilities.

Brie Larson is, probably, one of the best elements of this movie. She is Carol Danvers, just like Chris Evans is Captain America. Her character is very charismatic and has a very strong personality. She is funny and sarcastic, but she knows what she must do, and she does it without hesitation.

Samuel L. Jackson is amazing, as usual, portraying Fury. However, it is nice to see his character as the lead, instead of a secondary scrip tool. His relationship with Carol is also a very good element in this movie. Both Larson and Jackson have very good chemistry, and they carry most of the movie.

Ben Mendelsohn as Talos and Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau are very interesting additions to the MCU, and they have done an amazing job portraying their characters and making them special. Talos is a very enigmatic villain, full of surprises, and Lynch’s Rambeau is a great support to Larson´s Carol Danvers. Both women have a very emotional scene towards the end of the movie which I think represents perfectly how women´s friendships should be handled more often.

As we knew, “Captain Marvel” is an origin story. However, the script doesn´t follow the conventional models that characterize this kind of films. In fact, the story is not presented in a traditional way, where the character gets the powers, learns how to control them and then he or she faces the villain. The third act is actually where we learn how she got her powers. Along the movie, Carol investigates her past, and she learns more about her and her life, and we, as the audience, follow her path.

The movie doesn´t have many surprises, but there are some changes to the source material and some revelations that we didn´t see coming, and they ended up being very fascinating elements to be explored. However, most of these changes don´t seem to have any future at all. They happen in this movie, and I think they will stay there. But there are other elements they have introduced that I think will play a very interesting part in the future of the MCU. We just have to wait a little bit more.

“Captain Marvel” has also some good actions sequences and humor. The humor is not at the level of “Thor Ragnarok”, and the action scenes are not as good as the ones from “Captain America: Civil War”. However, the movie is very well balanced, and we are going to see more of Carol in “Avengers: Endgame”, so we shouldn´t worry about not seeing much of her powers and abilities.

In general, I would say that “Captain Marvel” is what most of us wanted. The story fits perfectly within the MCU, and there are some very cool easter eggs to discover. Maybe it is not a masterpiece, but I don´t think it needs to be one. This is a very good way to introduce Carol Danvers, and I can´t wait to see more of her in the next big event: “Avengers: Endgame”.

Feliz Día de tu Muerte 2 / Happy Death Day 2U

Después de descubrir qué causó el bucle temporal que la mantuvo atrapada durante el mismo día hasta descubrir quién trataba de matarla, Tree Gelbman vuelve a dicho bucle de nuevo. Sin embargo, las cosas son distintas esta vez, y Tree debe averiguar qué ha cambiado para dejar de vivir el mismo día una y otra vez. 

“Feliz día de tu muerte” mezclaba dos elementos que a simple vista parecen no tener relación alguna: el género slasher y los bucles temporales. Una versión moderna y sangrienta del clásico “Atrapado en el tiempo” podría decirse.

Con esta segunda parte, Christopher Landon, director y guionista, nos lleva de vuelta al mundo de Tree, la joven que tuvo que revivir el mismo día varias veces hasta encontrar a su asesino. Sin embargo, esta secuela deja un poco de lado el misterio y la sangre para centrarse mucho más en las maravillas de la ciencia ficción.

Si con la primera entrega explorábamos los bucles temporales, “Feliz día de tu muerte 2” juguetea con las dimensiones alternativas y el multiverso. Y digo juguetea porque si hay algo que caracteriza a ambas entregas es el hecho de que ninguna explora a fondo los conceptos que presenta. Esto no es algo negativo, sino más bien una aclaración para aquellos que esperen ver un desarrollo total y riguroso de la teoría del multiverso.

El hecho de que la protagonista, Tree (Jessica Rothe) acabe en una dimensión alternativa, en la que ciertos personajes son completamente diferentes y algunos eventos sucedieron de forma distinta, fomenta uno de los elementos que ya estaba presente en la primera entrega: el humor.

“Feliz día de tu muerte 2” es tremendamente divertida, mucho más que su predecesora. Esto puede sonar raro, puesto que estamos ante lo que parece una cinta de terror. Sin embargo, y como dije antes, esta película pertenece mucho más al género de la ciencia ficción que al de terror. Dependiendo de lo que busques, este cambio te resultará más o menos negativo. En lo personal, creo que es una grata sorpresa que ayuda a mantener el interés por la historia, que funciona perfectamente y que justifica el hecho de que haya una secuela.

Jessica Rothe y Rachel Matthews (Danielle) son las estrellas de esta cinta, y sin duda alguna protagonizan los mejores momentos de la misma. De hecho, Rothe nos sorprende con una interpretación realmente buena, que se aleja de la típica protagonista de las películas de terror. Incluso cuenta con una interesante y emotiva trama secundaria que ayuda a darle mucho más realismo y profundidad a su personaje.

En lo que respecta al guion, no hay mucho que decir. La historia es bastante similar a la primera cinta, cambiando algunos elementos para no hacerla igual. Sin embargo, el misterio sobre quién es el asesino queda completamente relegado a un segundo plano hacia la mitad de la película. La historia se centra en Tree como personaje, y deja a un lado dos de los puntos más importantes de una cinta slasher: las muertes violentas y el asesino. Siendo justos, hay varias muertes a lo largo de esta segunda entrega, pero también hay que decir que la mayoría son suicidios de Tree. La gran revelación final no parece importante, puesto que el guion no hace el esfuerzo de desarrollar a este nuevo asesino en ningún punto.

En resumen, “Feliz día de tu muerte 2” mantiene la esencia de la primera, e implementa nuevos elementos para hacerla fresca. Sin embargo, pierde uno de los aspectos más importantes y característicos de este tipo de películas: el terror. Aun así, es una cinta entretenida y divertida, con una trama secundaria bastante interesante y una protagonista perfecta.

After the events of the first movie, Tree is living a peaceful life. However, something goes wrong, and she ends up trapped in a new time loop. But this time, some things are different, and she is going to need some help to find out what happened and who is the new killer.

“Happy Death Day” was a nice surprise. A movie that mixed the slasher genre with time loops was something really interesting. A modern and bloody version of Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day”.

Christopher Landon takes us back to the world of Tree, the young woman who died several times until she found out who was trying to kill her. However, even though there is a new killer in this sequel, Landon focuses more on the science fiction aspect of the story than the mystery itself.

The first movie explored time loops. Now, with “Happy Death Day 2U”, we are going to explore parallel universes. However, just like in the first one, we are just going to scratch the surface of this concept. Landon keeps the story simple, which is good, because he wants as many people as possible to understand the plot of this movie. By doing so, he isn´t able to explore the infinite possibilities of the multiverse.

The fact that Tree is trapped in a parallel universe where some of her friends are completely different persons and some events didn´t happen creates very comedic and also emotional situations.

“Happy Death Day 2U” is very funny. This may sound weird because we are talking about a horror movie. However, as I said before, this sequel abandons most of the slasher aspects of the first film, and as a result, it becomes a science fiction movie, more than a horror one. I personally think this was a very interesting and refreshing change that justifies the existence of this sequel and makes it even funnier.

Jessica Rothe and Rachel Matthews are the two standouts of this movie. Both actresses are very funny, and they have the best scenes in the film. In fact, Rothe really surprised me as an actress. She has a very interesting and emotional subplot, which is related to his mother and makes her a more real and deeper character.

There isn’t much to say about the script, mainly because it’s very similar to the first film’s script. The mystery is not as relevant as it was in the first movie, and the story focuses more on Tree’s personal journey than on the person who is trying to kill her. There is nothing wrong with that, but most people were expecting a horror movie, and maybe they won´t be very happy with how this sequel turned out to be.