It is rare for a prequel to approach its subject without blatant reference to its predecessor. With Monsters University, I never got a sense that it was a forced story trying to expand or offer insights to moments that happened in Monsters Inc. Of course there were obvious things that had to be addressed in order to avoid plot holes.
There is no foreplay here. This thing unzips itself and goes in right dry. There is no stumbling, grumbling figure that appears as no threat. It begins with a bang.
The opening credits make it almost feel like you are about to watch a documentary. The let down happens after when it shows Brad Pitt and generic family unit.
His action sequences are faster than a speeding bullet. His use of incredible CGI more powerful than a locomotive. He is able to break box-office records in a single bound (that one I'm just speculating on).
When you think of the apocalypse -- filled with hell-bent creatures with a thirst for carnage, cannibals, and savages -- a Seth Rogen movie is the last thing you would conjure up in your mind. This is the End is to a Roland Emmerich movie what Shaun of the Dead is to a George A. Romero movie.
Many trilogies subscribe to a common tactic; let's refer to it as the Trilogy Prestige (imagine Michael Cain's voice from the film The Prestige: "Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back.
One sweaty afternoon whilst Huck Finn-ing it through the Arkansas woods, two teenage boys discover a boat, miraculously and surrealistically nestled atop a cluster of old oak trees. They claim the boat as their own but, soon find that they may not be the only ones who claim ownership.
This time last year Marvel Studios kicked off the summer movie season with the pinnacle superhero movie experience in Marvel's The Avengers.
Black Sabbath are famous for the song "Iron Man" which was used heavily in the campaign for the first film starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and his alter ego.
Michael Bay is notorious for his superficial approach to filmmaking -- it is all about looks. Give him a World War II epic, a catastrophic event, or a terrorist plot for destruction and he just skims the surface of the human condition. Give him jacked up, directionless, simple-minded body builders, and he gives you characters you can't help but be invested in.
Although not ground breaking, trail blazing, or genre building, Oblivion is still an original work. They say Hollywood is out of ideas, but Joseph Kosinski clearly begs to differ. Modern times, especially in the sci-fi genre, force feeds us sequal after prequel after adaptation after reboot. It is nice to see that there are those that want to tell new stories.
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