Sequel Month - Mini Review - Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Well, sequel month is drawing to a close

And since we started with Tom Cruise, let’s finish with him too, this is Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Released in the summer season of 2016, this movie made a modest $160m on its 60m budget but has not been critically favoured, with only a 37% rating on rotten tomatoes and a 6.7 on IMDb. Here are my thoughts

Guilty Pleasures #38 - Sequel Month - Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me was my first Guilty Pleasures review and of course in June of last year a sequel came out. Do I like it as much as I did the first one, in many ways, actually kinda more but I will explain that later.

Now You See Me was a dumb movie, dumb but extremely fun to watch because of character dynamics and spectacle. Now You See Me 2 was not as successful either critically or commercially as the original. So, what does the sequel have in store? Let’s take a look

Sequel Month - Editorial - What makes a good sequel?

Yeah, I know this was supposed to be a Doctor Who review but I was kinda busy so I'm just chucking something together to get something out in the morning

It's sequel month

And whilst the Nostalgia Critic asked why sequels are bad, I'm going to go against type and ask a different question, what makes a sequel good? Because this is rushed, I'm going to talk mostly about this in general rather than referring to lots of examples.

Sequel Month - Mini Review - Captain America: Civil War

It's sequel month

Captain America: Civil War came out in May 2016 and did what Batman v Superman didn’t do, get critical acclaim whilst making over $1bn in the box office. So, here to analyse why, is me, about a year after everyone else.

I know I haven’t reviewed Winter Soldier but this is essentially an Avengers movie with Cap in a more leading role, so I’m counting it as a sequel to Age of Ultron which I reviewed last year.

This might be a little different to my other reviews in that contains no plot summary of such, it will bring up certain plot details so spoilers will still follow. 

Sequel Month - Ratchetrospective - Ratchet and Clank (2016)

I know this isn’t really a sequel but a reboot/movie tie-in game but it’s the next entry in the Ratchet and Clank series, and that’s enough for it to count for sequel month

Ratchet and Clank came out in April 2016 to positive reviews and decent sales, a polar opposite story to the movie it was tying into. Insomniac games are pros at this point but they were really up against the wall on this one, 8 months is the time they had to develop the core game, bearing in mind the Ratchet and Clank Movie debuted at a film festival in May 2015 and it could’ve gone to cinema at any point. The extra time had only a skeleton crew and was used to polish things up. The result is we have a budget title that, whilst more expensive than Insomniac’s previous budget titles, does feel more like a full game.

But, how does Ratchet and Clank hold up as a game? Well, let’s give it the Ratchetrospective treatment

#47 - Sequel Month - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Please Note: This review was written before the announcement of Zack and Deborah Snyder stepping away from Justice League to cope with the loss of their daughter. I wish them all the best, however, I'm commenting on a product, and this product sucks!

It’s Sequel Month!

And enough of the mediocrity, let’s get into the pure sh*t. This is Batman v Superman – Dawn of Depression.

Released in March last year, this movie fell short of expectations for a movie that combines DC’s 2 most popular characters, arguably the two most popular characters in comics overall. If Iron Man 3 could reach a billion dollars in the box office, what stopped this? That’s not to say it did poorly exactly, it made over $800m but the scathing reviews, but holding only a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the fact a lot was spent on marketing this movie to the point where this movie only barely made a profit, and considering the enormous $250m spent on the movie anyway.

Zack Snyder original tease for this movie had me exceptionally worried. The Dark Knight Returns is a good story, from a time when Frank Miller could actually write coherent stories. But to take inspiration from this for Batman and Superman’s first meeting struck me as odd, especially given the themes of that book.

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I’ll be going over the Ultimate edition of the movie, which is around 3 hours long. This is purportedly the one with the most complete story but I will say now, 3 hours is too long for a movie, whether it be Titanic, Avatar or Batman v. Superman; apparently, it got an R Rating in the US too, even though in the UK, it sits still at the equivalent of PG-13.

Lets dive in

Sequel Month - Mini Review - Spectre

It’s Sequel Month

Ah James Bond, it’s been around for so long that it’s a part of British Culture but I have a dark secret. Skyfall was my first Bond and even now, over 2 years after my review of Skyfall, I’ve only watched the Craig movies in full. I’ve caught snippets of the other movies whilst on television but I’m usually not hovering around long enough to see it entirely.

But yes, I’ve seen Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace now, if you want my thoughts, they’re on my Facebook page. But it’s interesting leading into Spectre, the one that tries to connect them all.

Made on a spectacularly high $250m budget, the movie made over $800m, the second highest bond gross but for the movie immediately after Skyfall’s $1bn performance. Whilst it was at least successful commercially, critics were not as kind to this one, with a 64% Rotten Tomatoes rating compared to Skyfall’s 93%. Is that fair? Well here are my thoughts