What have I seen!?!

It’s been a looooong time since I’ve done one of these, but I’ve watched so many great movies and shows lately, that I just had to write up something. Needless to say, I spoil everything so be warned.

Kong: Skull Island

Yes! They didn’t screw it up! This was such a great big monster movie, and I could not have asked for anything more. The movie was smartly set up as a Apocalypse Now meets King Kong, which played in perfectly with the jungle setting — I half expected an appearance by Col. Kurtz, but we got John C. Reilly instead — a casting choice of sheer genius. I loved that they showed the big ape soon after the opening credits, and didn’t make us sit through half the film in anticipation — remember the last Godzilla movie? This film may not have had the emotional impact of some of its predecessors, but it made up for it in sheer popcorn action sequences. The level of CGI-wizardry that was on display was mesmerizing — not one scene had me question the authenticity of what my eyes were seeing.

John Wick 2

True confession: the original John Wick movie is in my top ten movies of all time — it’s  movie that I can just watch over and over again and (scarily) always puts me in a good mood. There’s nothing like a good revenge flick to get you going, and the John Wick sequel definitely got my motors running. I was a little worried at the start when it seemed like they were rehashing the first movie’s plot a little too much, but once the Russian storyline wrapped up, things really got nuts. So. Many. Headshots. John Wick is the best non-super hero super hero out there, and with the crazy underground world they revealed and expanded upon in this movie, I’m all in for another ten sequels.

Logan

Okay, don’t hate me for not loving this one, but I have my reasons. The Uncanny X-Men was MY comic as a kid. I devoured every comic and X-Men spinoff that Marvel released. Wolverine was, of course, my favorite, and it has been a drag that his character hasn’t been as amazing on-screen as he was in the comics. Logan was the best Wolverine movie so far, but it’s my opinion that super heroes shouldn’t get old and die. They are immortal. Yeah, I know, we can just retcon the whole thing, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

I’m still waiting for MY Wolverine to show up. Take the John Wick movie, insert Wolverine and have it set in Japan, and then you’ll have MY Wolverine movie. The film should be dark, fast, brutal, and hyper-violent. Logan may have gone the R-rated route, but only for a few scenes that didn’t really need it. We got a drunk, slow, limping old guy in a wife beater, and the greatest mind in mutant history reduced by dementia. The fight scenes with X-23 were great, but killing an innocent family in a cornfield was not. This movie was definitely worth watching, and I can see why most people loved it, but it just wasn’t the Old Man Logan movie I wanted to see.

Jason Bourne

I regret having skipped seeing this movie in the theaters. After the ho-hum reviews it received, I feared for the worst, but after watching it, I don’t know what all the negativity was about. This movie was a great Bourne movie, and Matt Damon hasn’t missed a beat. The car chase on the Las Vegas strip is incredible, especially if you watch the behind the scenes “making of” bit on the DVD.

The Legend of Tarzan

Yawn. How do you make a Tarzan movie boring? We got Samuel L. Jackson playing Samuel L. Jackson, Cristoph Waltz playing Cristoph Waltz, and nowhere near enough Margot Robie. If you’ve ever read the Tarzan novels, you’ll know that Lord Greystoke was a loud, fun-loving, boisterous man, but this movie gave us a near mute, brooding Alexander Skarsgård.

Sense 8

This Netflix series was in my queue for a long time before I finally got around to it, and I almost stopped watching it halfway through the first episode but I gutted it out and WOW, am I glad I did! Here’s my disclaimer: there’s a LOT of, let’s say, “alternative” lifestyles in this series, but as long as I had the fast forward button in hand, I was good to go. This is one of those series that gets you truly interested in the characters and their lives, and the further you go, the better the payoff. It is an amazing premise that I won’t even bother to explain because I would just make it sound stupid, but if you like supernatural stories, where the supernatural elements take a backseat to the characters, you should definitely check this out. The show takes you from gut-wrenching tragedy to fist-pumping cheers — I want Hot Wheels to immediately get into production a Jean Claude Van Damme van. Watch this series, and you’ll want one too.

---

And now a few quick takes…

Luke Cage

Meh. Kinda dull for a superhero show.

Penny Dreadful

Awesome premise, but boring drawn out story that never gives the payoff you are waiting for.

Glitch

This one was pretty entertaining for a short series.

OA

Such a great show with such a horrible ending. This could have been sooo good, but after that finale, I felt robbed of the hours I put into it.

---

A few other series I started to watch but bailed out of after an episode or two: Crazyhead, Dope, Frontier, Travellers, and the Last Kingdom.

That’s a lot of TV, but to be fair, this list goes back a ways (but of course it isn’t comprehensive either!). I need to get out more. What have you seen lately that knocked your socks off? What hidden gem do I need to add to my Netflix/Amazon Queue next?