The Dark Knight Rises

After a 2 month hiatus, the monkeys are back! As you may have seen on Mad Mike's blog, he's spending the month of September reviewing threequels. So today, DonnyFTW has decided to join Mad Mike and talk about one of the most polarizing movies ever made, The Dark Knight Rises.

With Batman movies, opinions are generally universal: The Tim Burton movies are good, The animated movies are good, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are amazing, Batman Forever and the Adam West movie are meh, and Batman & Robin is terrible. But with Christopher Nolan's final installment of the Dark Knoght trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, opinions are split down the middle. This is a classic to some, and a piece of shit to others. The Dark Knight Rises is the most polarizing superhero movie ever made.

So why are opinions so divided? Are the people who like this movie wrong? Are they just "blind Nolanites" who would jump off a cliff if Nolan told them to? Do people hate this movie because it was legitimately bad? Or were they just expecting too much?

Well, either way, Donny FTW and Mad Mike of Metal are going to dive into this movie... You have our permission to read.

Synopsis: The movie opens in the seconds after the end of The Dark Knight... Then seconds later fast forwards 8 years in the future. Batman hasn't been seen or heard since Harvey Dent's death and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse. We learn about a fusion reactor project that has all but bankrupted Wayne Enterprises as Bruce refuses to let it see the light of day due to it's dangerous nuclear reactor. Big bad Bane then comes to town and stirs up his own brand of chaos and readers of Knightfall will see a familiar scene as Bruce is sent away while Bane takes over Gotham. Jim Gordon and new friends Selina Kyle, a hardened thief with something more to prove, Detective John Blake, former cop now Gordon's right hand man and Miranda Tate, co-financer of the nuclear reactor project and now CEO of Wayne Enterprises after Bruce's exhile, are left to pick up the pieces and formulate a plan before Gotham, shut out from the outside world over a nuclear bomb threat, goes boom. Meanwhile Bruce must learn to embrace his fears if he hopes to get back to Gotham and save his city.

So Donny, are you in the "love it" or "hate it" crowd for this one? Be thorough because I have to pee.

I do love it. I mean it unfairly gets comparisons to The Dark Knight, which was by all accounts a cinematic masterpiece, The Dark Knight Rises picks up with The Dark Knight leaves off and has it's own twists and turns around every corner that make it an equally exciting adventure to watch, although a much different one. Where as The Dark Knight we marvelled at Ledger's iconic portrayal of The Joker and his plan, which wasn't so much a "plan" as it was a series of random events. In The Dark Knight Rises we see the fruits and labour of a long thought out plan come to fruition with each and every step carefully planned for with all possible problems having a solution already in place. It was this meticulous planning that had me enthralled and anxious to see what the next part of Bane's plan would be.

Yeah, Bane is a schemer, that's what all the people who worked for him were, they were schemers. Trying to control their little worlds. Batman just tried to show Bane and his people just how... pathetic... their attempts to control things really are. I mean Bane was a schemer, he had plans... and look where that got him!
Umm... Why so serious? Okay Mike, what crowd are you in?

Now that I'm done trying to hopelessly shoe-in a Joker reference, I will say that I'm part of the love it crowd as well. It does have some flaws that you could point out here and there, but I didn't find any of them that bad. I mean, other big 2012 movies like The Avengers and Skyfall had even bigger flaws and that doesn't stop those movies from being fucking awesome, so why should the flaws in this movie ruin it? I like how much from the comics this movie drew from (apart from Bane's appearance), it kind of felt like a live-action adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns meets Knightfall. Batman takes time off and comes back all washed up, Bane breaks Batman's back, Batman fights his foe again after getting his ass kicked the first time and this time defeats him, etc etc. I also like how the ending (SPOILERS AHEAD) was just a big reference to the Adam West movie... Because some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!

So Donny, favourite parts? Are their any problems you have? Do you have any explanation for why this movie is so polarizing?
I mean other than the whole Dark Knight thing, I have no idea. This is far from a bad movie, and although some of the twists are obvious now after multiple viewings, I can honestly say watching it for the first time in theatres I did not see any of it coming, well maybe the Miranda Tate thing but that was just because it was all over the Internetz even before the movie came out so it was hard to get it out of your mind. But yeah, I think most people expected some grandiose finale with death and destruction lying in it's path, but no main characters really die for sure that we're aware of, sure there was a villain and a protagonist that we assume are dead but we see no proof of that. As far as favourite parts, visually it has to be the football stadium scene. Otherwise I'm a big fan of heist flicks, especially when you are seeing the plan unfold before your eyes so the ending with Batman going toe-to-toe with Bane, meanwhile Gordon tries to get to the bomb to jam it in a mad dash to get the payload secured before the detonator is well detonated gives me tingles just thinking about it...

Yeah... Just like seeing a girl for the first time and knowing that there isn't anything you wouldn't do to bone her...

That's a special feeling Lloyd

Oh and you just liked the football stadium scene because all of the Pittsburgh Steelers get killed. 

Anyways, the ending had to be my favourite part as well. It was an emotional roller coaster of a ride that ended (SPOILERS) with Batman supposedly getting blown to bits. The last shot of his face before the bomb went off was the most poignant for me. He has a look on his face as if he has come to acceptance that he's going to die (or so we thought), and that he's okay with it. I'm not going to lie, I remember tearing up a bit when it happened, and I remember tearing up even more when you saw My Cocaine balling his eyes out at Bruce's funeral. 

Now, let me explain the "flaws" that certain people have with this film... One of them is how Bruce miraculously gets back to Gotham even though the entire city is blocked off. Well, if you recall a previous scene in which some big shot special forces guys came to the city to try and stop Bane, they got into the city by smuggling themselves into a supply truck. My guess is that Bruce, with his oh so good ninja and detective skills, got back in town the same way.

"What about when Bruce, who originally wanted to do this Batman thing after the death of his parents, gives up for 8 years because his cock-teasing lady friend died?" 

Well, he didn't quit because of that, he quit because Batman wasn't needed anymore, organized crime had been wiped out of the city, and Gotham's last biggest threat, the Joker, was behind bars. Maybe he had enough of watching people so close to him die as well. Maybe he didn't want to put more loved ones in danger, who knows

"What about when you find out Bane was just Talia's bitch?"

They were partners, Bane was no bitch. I'm sure he was in it partly for himself as well.

"How about Talia's death scene, that was horrible acting."

Umm... yeah... I got nothing on that one.

I think they mistook Tom Hardy's Bane for the Bane in that other Batman movie we won't speak of. As far as Talia's death, Marion Cotillard has more Oscars then the whole cast combined not named Michael Caine or Morgan Freeman so yeah... Pretty much any actor over the age of 100 in this movie has more bragging rights but other than that she can pretty much do what she pleases... Anyways I suppose we should get to final thoughts...

Although I find it's the weakest of The Dark Knight trilogy in my view, yes Batman Begins has the awfullness that was Katie Holmes, but it also had Cillian Murphy in a leading role and Liam Neeson kicking all kinds of Ninja ass... But that's not to say it's a bad movie, quite the contrary. It's like hooking up with the ugliest model at a Victoria's Secret show... Sure there's better ones you can spend your time with but you aren't certainly going to complain about what you get. 5 cowls out of 5 for me.

What if that model is Rosie O'Donnell, dude?

Final thoughts? What is this, Jerry Springer?

All that shit aside, I though the direction the movie went in was good, all the actors nailed their parts as usual, and my jab at Talia's death was just a minor nitpick at best. I will agree with Donny that this is the weakest of the trilogy, but at least it didn't completely shit all over everything you loved about the first two movies... UNLIKE OTHER THREEQUELS I CAN TALK ABOUT!

This pic is totally NOT a hint at my next review, not at all...

The story, while complex, was great! The action was awesome, the Batwing design was cool, blah blah blah, you get it, I love this movie. While not the best Nolan-helmed Batman movie, it's still fantastic, and a terrifically satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time. 98 broken backs out of 100 for moi.

Well that concludes our review of The Dark Knight Rises. Join us again next time as we'll be doing a list sometime in the near future. Feel free to check out our other blogs as well. 

Mike's Personal Blog

Donny's Personal Blog

Bye Bye now!

Top 10 Sequels

Welcome to our first edition of "Top Whatevers." Since we’ve had approximately 26378 sequels come out in the last few months, with the 26379^th sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opening in theatres this past weekend, we figured it would be a good time to make a top 10 list of our favourite sequels!

In order for a movie to qualify for this list, it has to be the second installment of a franchise. A sequel to a reboot can count (ex: The Amazing Spider Man 2) and a sequel to a prequel can make the list as well (ex: Attack of the Clones). It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s the second installment to whatever. I know that third installments and so on are technically sequels, but that’s going to be a list we'll be doing for another time… Anyways, on with the list!

Number 10:

Well, I guess I'll start since I always come first... at number 10 on my list...

X-Men: Days of Future Past

This countdown begins with a film that came out only a month and a half ago. I'll admit that it's ballsy to put DOFP on here so soon, but I truly think it's deserves to be here. After being away from any X-Men director's chair for a decade, Bryan Singer was back at the helm for this sequel to the X-Men prequel First Class, and holy fuck did he ever deliver! The stakes in this movie are higher than ever, the old cast from the original trilogy are all back, as well as most of the cast from First Class, and it all came together so seamlessly. The franchise was a mess before 2011, and Singer (along with the help of Matthew Vaughn) cleaned it up and brought it back to life. You may think it's too soon, and you may even argue that it technically doesn't qualify, but who cares? It's on my list, and if you have a problem with that...

Actually it's our blog...

SHUT UP! 

Anyways... So... Donny, what's your number 10?

For my number 10 sequel I'm also sticking with a comic book adaptation, but we're going to go back a few decades...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret Of The Ooze

The biggest thing that holds the TMNT back on this list, isn't the fact that the second helping wasn't good enough, au contraire, it was really quite enjoyable. No what holds this sequel back is the fact that our heroes in a half shell took a step back with this rushed sequel. The first movie was much darker and more thematic, what The Secret Of The Ooze did was make the turtles more kid friendly and traded in some of that darkness for over the top silly antics, not that it didn't work, cause I mean it still made the list, it just could've had a better fate had it of stayed the course, plus we might have avoided the mess that was the third instalment, but I'm no fortune teller... So let's just move on shall we?

It's better than the one coming out next month, that's for sure... How do I know? Megan Fox, that's how...

She'll still get an Oscar before Leo.

Anyways... number 9....

For A Few Dollars More

Not much needs to be said about this one. The Dollars Trilogy is one of the most iconic trilogies of all time, and this is a terrific follow up to the first installment A Fistful of Dollars. The stakes are higher, the characters are more fleshed out, and the addition of Lee Van Cleef to the cast doesn't hurt either. Clint Eastwood gives another stellar performance as The Man With No Name, in what is considered to be the darkest of this Sergio Leone-helmed trilogy. This movie tends to fall below the radar as it's follow up is one of the best movies ever made. But it's still a classic western and more than worthy of being on this list.

Wait so he has no name? But it's the Sergio Leone triliogy? I'm confused. Clint is now named Sergio in everything I ever see him in, including movies he's already made... Gran Sergio anyone? (Pause for laughter)

Riiigggghhhhttt.... Umm....

Aaaaaannnnnnd Donny's up!

Speaking of comedies I'm going back to the early 90's again on my list for number 9

Major League 2

(Pause for laughter) okay now that you got that out of your system, really if you don't take into account that this is a sequel and not a stand alone film you'd enjoy it better, but alas it's Major League 2, which draws comparisons to Rick Vaughan, Willie Mays Hayes and Jake Taylor's first turn as misfit Cleveland Indians ballplayers. Sure they made the sequel more kid friendly, but I was a kid when this came out and I watched it DAILY... Yes, every day, I could recite Bob Uecker's opening radio monlogue off by heart. So maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's Kamikaze Tanaka, maybe I just don't wanna piss off Jobu... Either way Major League 2 is my number 9 film.

Well... just... yeah... I'll just do this again...

Onto my number 8 selection!

Toy Story 2

Another no-brainer... This is hands down the best Disney Animated Sequel ever made (although that's not saying much). This follow up to the CG animated masterpiece Toy Story is also a CG animated masterpiece. This one is a lot more character driven as you get to know the origins of Woody and more of the background of Buzz. It also brings some new toys into the mix with Jessie, Bullseye, and the Prospector (Stinky Pete), who are all part of Woody's Roundup, an old tv show. This also has another great antagonist in Al, the toy shop owner who's trying to sell Woody and the rest of his roundup to a museum. A terrific sequel to a terrific movie, that's all I gotta say...

Donny... what's your numero ocho?

I was waiting for the animated movies to start coming through... It's a much safer platform for sequels than live action I think, just don't tell those awful direct to DVD Disney prequels/sequels they started churning out after Aladdin exploded.

Despicable Me 2

You can make an argument that Despicable Me 2 was the breakout hit of 2013... Okay it wasn't even the breakout animated hit (thanks a lot Frozen...) But no one can deny that Gru and his girls were on top of their game for this sequel. After adopting the girls in the first one as part of a villainous plot, Gru becomes attached to them and decides to clean up his act and become a good(ish) guy while raising 3 little girls on his own. Enter the sequel when Gru is approached to join a CIA type agency to bring down another's evil plot. Despicable Me 2 did what all good sequels do, it built up the characters and checked in on their feelings since the first film, it also introduced us to new characters while keeping the spirit of the original and even improving on it, that means more laughs, more heart and a lot more sheep butt jokes.

Well... It's better than Sheep-on-a-roof jokes... guuhhhuhuhuhuh *cringes*... Fuck Seth MacFarlane!

NUMMMMBBEERRRR SEVEN!!!

Star Trek Into Darkness

Ok, now you can get pissed! This one is sure to get Donny's panties up in a bunch, and is sure to get the comments section raging with keyboard fury. But hey, I love this movie and I'll defend it to my grave.


I absolutely loved JJ Abrams's 2009 reboot of Star Trek, it's one of my all time favourites and I just couldn't wait for a sequel to be made. When I saw this last year, I was blown away from the get go. The action is great, the characters are awesome, Benedict Cumberbatch did an amazing job in portraying Khan, Star Trek's most iconic villain. I know the "throwback" scenes caused a lot of controversy among Trek purists, but to me, I thought it was a great shout out to the Star Trek of old. It breaks new ground for the franchise and still takes its time to pay homage to its roots, and I applaud the movie for that. I know a lot of trekkies hate the Abrams movies and this one especially, but I guess I'm in the minority by saying that this is an amazing sequel and more than worthy of putting on this list...

I thought we were doing top 10 sequels not top 10 gayest movie scenes in history... Put yo hand on da glasssssss!

That's actually one of the throwback scenes...

You told me that before, still queer.

Anyways at number 7 I have a far superior movie, mostly because you can't get much worse than that (see above)

X2

That's right kids, I'm also jumping into the X-verse on my list, but I'm going original trilogy. X-Men was the first movie to break comic book barriers... Okay well there was Blade... Okay so the first movie since the early 90's to break the barriers of the Superhero genre. It was the first domino to fall that allowed us to have the Marvel-verse we have today as well as the Nolan Bat-trilogy. X-Men took source material generally aimed at kids and young adults and made a dark grounded film that can be enjoyed by all ages, sexes, races and even sexual orientation, so yes Spock and Kirk you can enjoy this film too. What X2 did was took everything great about X-Men and made it 3 times bigger, in X-Men you were sitting around waiting for the badass fight scenes you knew were coming. In X2 after the opening credits there is so much adrenaline that the movie is often compared to being kicked in the balls repeatedly until you vomit on them/end credits what ever happens first. Sure Pyro and Iceman were under utilized and Deathstrike had no character to her at all but you can ask my testicles when I say this was a balls to the wall, thrill a minute for 135 minutes of serene awesomeness.

Wow, homophobic much? Sheesh...

Well, since someone here hates Star Trek (nobody's perfect) I might as well throw another one in here...

At number 6...

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Trekkies can relax now... Did you really think I would do a list of top 10 sequels without including this gem? In terms of how better a sequel is than the first installment, The Wrath of Khan ranks highest in that category. After the colossal failure that was Star Trek The Motion Picture (which is the worst ST movie in my opinion, seriously, did anything even happen in that movie?), director Nicholas Meyer took over the reigns of the franchise and gave it one of its finest, if not the finest film with the name "Star Trek" attached to it. The acting is phenomenal, Ricardo Montalban puts on the performance of his life as Khan Noonien Singh, one of the most memorable movie villains of all time. The chemistry between Shatner and Nimoy has never been better, and Kirstie Alley does great in her first ever role. The story is amazing and inspiring, with a villain whose over-confidence and need for revenge is his downfall, in an almost Ahab-like fashion... Not to mention an ending that can make any grown man ball his eyes out... Seriously, this film is awesome! Absolute slam dunk on this list.


And... well... sorry, I just have to...

Call Star Trek gay again, Donny! I dare you! I double dare you, motherfucker! Call Star Trek gay one more god damn time!

Oh my khaaaan, no more trekkie talk you Kirk loving Spock sucker. Well at least it didn't crack the top 5...

My number 6:

Clerks II

Clerks fans rejoice, 12 years later and Dante and Randal's adventures have grown... These are not the same young listless punks we saw in '94... No siree... Now they are 30-something listless punks. To call Clerks II anything short of a masterpiece... of shit, in the best way, would not be doing it justice. I have never laughed and cried at the exact same moment before but those are the kind of emotions you get when a skinhead biker dude fucks a donkey right before your eyes... And that my friends is a special feeling. The cast is perfectly in sync with each other and the jokes are golden. It really takes you back to those moments in your life where you realize that you really need to grow up... But then you decide to talk about Pillowpants the Pussy Troll instead.

There you go sucking Kevin Smith's dick again... You probably liked to Cop Out too...

.... Annnd my top 5 begins with...mov

The Godfather Part II

WHAT??? GODFATHER PART II IS ONLY NUMBER 5? SEE YOU AT
THE TOLL BOTH YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!


I know I know, I may have put this one a little too low on this list, but it doesn't mean I don't absolutely love this movie! A masterful companion piece to The Godfather, this movie is part sequel and part prequel, as it tells the story of Michael's reign as the head of the Corleone family, all while telling the tale of young Vito Corleone's rise to power in the early 1920s. The themes of love, family, power, betrayal and vengeance are brilliantly presented and prominent throughout the film. The tone is great, the acting is great, the story is great, okay you get it, it's awesome! Moving on...

I've actually never seen this movie... But I can only assume it's less gay than Star Trek, like Brokeback Mountain.

Starting off my top 5 is yet another comic book movie... But which is it? Batman Returns? Superman II? Spider-Man 2? It is a much less heralded movie than those... But one that is much better.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

At this point no one can deny that Del Toro is a master visionary at the top of the game among all his contemporaries. Hellboy II is a big step up in all departments than his predecessor. Del Toro's scripting is better as his his directing. The casts chemistry is stronger given there past together but what really steps up and makes the original Hellboy look like garbage in comparison, is the world that Del Toro built. The cinematography and the make-up was spectacular. It could have been a piece of shit script but still be beautiful to watch. Luckily it was pleasing to both the eyes and the ears, and anytime a movie can kick off with a drunken sing along with a giant red-skinned demon from hell you know you're in for a treat.

I didn;t know Benicio Del Toro directed! Man, I gotta check his flicks out!

Anyways... Numero Quatre:

Aliens

Those who know me know that they'd be seeing a James Cameron movie on this list at some point. I'm a Cameron fanboy and this is one of his finest works. How many times has a sequel that's as good if not better than its predecessor, been made with a new director at the helm (and the old director having nothing to do with it)? This is probably the only time that has happened (correct me if I'm wrong, internet). Ridley Scott's Alien is a Sci-fi/Horror masterpiece, hauntingly suspenseful, and still to this day is scary as hell. While James Cameron's Aliens stays true to Ridley Scott's vision, it adds tons of action to the mix, and it fits in wonderfully with all of the other elements. Quotable, suspenseful, action packed, and downright terrifying... This is one of the most well crafted sequels ever made.

Let me guess Donny... James Cameron also directed Titanic, which makes this movie gay, right?

I really need to watch this movie... But yes.

Speaking of blood thirsty monsters let's look at my number 4 along the same vein (you'll get that joke in 3-2-1...)

Underworld: Evolution

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the Underworld franchise is the pinnacle of movie making... It's not. I'm not going to tell you that it's a critics dream movie... Cause it's not. What it is is 100 minutes of unadulterated fun for it's target audience, target audience being anyone that wants to see Kate Beckinsale in a tight leather outfit kicking ass and asking questions later. Do you like the first Underworld movie? Then you'll love Evolution. You thought nothing about it? Then maybe skip one. But for you horror action fans out there, we all know that Underworld is a better Resident Evil, by better I mean less bad acting from wannabe rappers.

So Kate Beckinsale makes it good? Sheesh, there's no difference between that and those who like Transformers 2 because of Megan Fox!

YEAH I WENT THERE!

Number 3:

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

What can I say about this one that hasn't already been said? Nothing really, but I'll ramble on anyways...


After the massive success of Star Wars in 1977, a sequel was a no doubter, and as you could imagine, expectations were high as hippies. In my opinion, TESB didn't meet expectations... it blew them out of the water! This is without a doubt the darkest Star Wars movie, and the best written in my opinion... Oh heck it's the best Star Wars movie of all as far as I'm concerned. The asteroid chase scene is awesome, Darth Vader is as evil as ever, Yoda is cool, Lando is cool, Boba Fett is cool, and the climax is one for ages. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and it only gets better with age.

Note: If this was a Top 11 this would've been on my list, I favour the first Star Wars however so yeah... Number 3.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

OEMGEEZ Donny WTF? Dis movie is lyke so new... I know, but the reason it gets such high praise is not because it's my flavour of the month, no, in a list crowded with comic based movies, The Winter Soldier did something new and innovative for the genre, instead of being all about action and adventure this movie played out like a political thriller, and being a political guy I could not have loved it any more. The choreographing of the fight scenes was among the best I've seen in recent memory and the chemistry between our 4 leads was reminiscent of the Oceans movies as very rarely you have such a large cast interacting together so well. If this is the direction the Marvel-verse is headed into then count me in, I can also now officially say that Iron Man has some real competition among Marvel-verse films.

Well, if I did a top 11 that would've been on my list. Unfortunately, too much shaky-cam makes my eyes go owie...

Anyways... sticking with comic book movies... the number 2 entry on my list is considered by many to be the greatest superhero movie ever made... 

And... here... we... go!

The Dark Knight

Holy fuck this movie is fucking awesome!!!


Batman Begins is absolutely amazing movie, and to me is a blueprint of how reboots should be done. When this sequel came around... Well, I'll never forget how blown away I was when I saw The Dark Knight in theatres for the first time (and second time for that matter). To paraphrase the Lego Movie: Everything was awesome! The action is pulse pounding, the car/truck chase scene has got to be one of the greatest chases in movies. The suspense is edge of your seat, especially during the attempted rescue of Rachel and Harvey Dent. The acting in this movie is top-notch, I happen to be in the minority when I say I love Christian Bale's performance as Batman, raspy voice and all. Heath Ledger as The Joker... Well, that speaks for itself at this point. Aaron Eckhart was amazing as Harvey Dent, Michael Caine nailed it as Alfred again, and Gary Oldman was perfect for Gordon! The story is just as chaotic as the film's main villain, the cinematography is crisp and breathtaking... Just... Wow! This is an amazing sequel, and it lands at number 2 on this list! Thank you, Nolan!

Are you gonna call this one gay too, Donny?

Well Heath "Brokeback Mountain" Ledger was in it...

My number 2 may shock well pretty much everyone...

How To Train Your Dragon 2

I know, this is unheard of doing a Top 10 about the best sequels to ever grace our local multiplex's and I have not only 1 but 2 movies in the top 3 that was released into theatres within the last few months. However anyone that has seen How To Train Your Dragon 2 knows that this movie was well worth the price of admission, although the first one had better reviews for it's character building. How To Train Your Dragon 2 took all other aspects to a whole new level. I can't actually remember the last time I felt like I could actually cry watching a movie, let alone an animated one (Toy Story 3 was sad... But not cryworthy) but there I was sitting in the theatre feeling sadness rush over me, I'm pretty sure the only reason I resisted was because I was able to make fun of my friends next to me for actually tearing up. In the end only time will tell if I end up sticking with The Winter Soldier and How To train Your Dragon 2 this high up on my list, but at this point in time I can't think of any sequels to share the top 3 with my favourite sequel of all time.

I really have to see that movie... but I haven't seen the first one yet... unfortunately. You see, from '02- '03 up until last year I avoided animated movies like a plague because I felt they were for little boys and I had to be more manly... But in all actuality, I was just compensating for my small penis... Since then, I've rediscovered my love for animated films... hence why Toy Story 2 is on here. Did you know I didn't even see Finding Nemo up until a few weeks ago? I got some catching up to do...

Anyways... Let's get to my number 1, shall we?

Drum roll please...

My absolute creme de la creme favourite sequel of all time IS....

(emphasis on cream)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

The word "masterpiece" gets thrown around a lot these days, but there's no real other word to describe this movie! 1984's The Terminator has gone down as one of the greatest and most original Sci-fi movies ever made, and expectations with T2 were higher than ever. The result was in my opinion the greatest sequel ever made! Everything about this movie is top notch. The story is fantastic, with the stakes being much higher than they were in the first movie, young John Connor must survive the wrath of the T-1000 and with the help of his mother and the T-800 model 101. The characters have now reached legendary status, the T-800 is one of the most iconic characters in movie history, Sarah Connor might be the most badass chick in a movie not named Ellen Ripley, and the T-1000 is the deadliest villain ever created in the history of film!

Aww man that shot is so cool!

The acting is fantastic as everyone plays their roles perfectly, especially Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton... And Arnie and Robert Patrick. The special effects still hold up to this day, the cinematography is absolutely perfect. The action is relentless, yet the movie still manages to slow down at the right times to give us depth and allow the audience to become connected to these characters. It combines action, human drama, Sci-fi, and horror. I've never seen a movie before or since that has combined all of those elements so seamlessly! Seriously, there's nothing in this movie that takes a back seat, nothing! This is James Cameron's finest piece of work, and in my opinion, the number 1 sequel of all time! It's cinematic perfection!


PS, this is my all time favourite movie, in case you didn't notice.

Well... there's my number 1! Let's get to Donny's number 1!

Well no surprise here for me...

The Dark Knight

What more could I say about this movie that Mike has not? It's my favourite movie of all time. It's amazeballs and everyone on this planet should have "Watch The Dark Knight Twice" on their bucket list. Why twice? Because the more you watch the film the better it gets and by the time you give it a second viewing you will see that it warrants a third, and then a fourth, and so on. Which is why Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is my number 1 for now and likely for the foreseeable future.


Well, as much as I love T2 and as much as I try to shove it down your throat, I can see why this is your number 1. I sometimes fight with myself to put it number 1 on my list, but I grew up with the Terminator movies and T2 will always have a special place in my heart. It was an awesome movie when I was a kid, and now as an adult I can still watch it and be completely blown away by it. I can't really say that about any other movie with the exception of T1, and maybe the original Star Wars movies. I will say that Ledger's Joker is the better villain though... he may not be the personification of Death like the T-1000, but he's much more compelling and the fact that he's human instead of a cyborg just makes him that much scarier.

Well that's it for us today kids. Remember to keep up with us on our other networks (see below) and remember to keep loving sequels, sure they are generally inferior but for every T(ransformers) 2 there is a T(erminator) 2.

Mike's Personal Blog

Donny's Personal Blog

Donny's Posts Over At Big B Comics

22 Jump Street

And we're back at it again  today me (DonnyFTW) and Mad Mike will be reviewing Sony Pictures' 22 Jump Street directed by the duo of Chris Miller and Phil Lord.

2 years after graduating (heh) from the 21 Jump Street program, officers Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are still chasing down drug dealers but this time they're doing it on the street. After a failed drug bust they are sent back to the program that made their names, now located across the street at number 22, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) welcomes them back to Jump Street... Well sorta... Anyways... As teased at the end of 21 Jump Street, Jenko and Schmidt head to College to find the drug supplier of a new on campus drug WHYPHY (Work Hard? Yes. Play Hard? Yes) a new synthetic drug that makes students incredibly focused for about 3 hours before tripping major balls for the next several hours. As expected, a student dies from the drug after being photographed purchasing it from a masked man. Simple enough right? Find the dealer, then find the supplier... Wait minus the College and the name of the drug isn't this the exact plot of the first film? We're going to discuss why this is but at the same time is not a bad thing.

I'll kick this off with stating that I loved the first movie, I generally judge comedies extremely hard as I feel the need to be able to enjoy a movie even after several viewings, this is especially hard to do as you can imagine since jokes generally get stale after you heard them a couple times, 21 Jump Street always had me laughing, it's one of the rare movies that can hold that claim, which just goes to show you how much I appreciated the original... Bad news for 22 Jump Street however as it set the bar extremely high for future sequels. An expectation it couldn't possibly meet... Or could it? Mike?

Before I get started, I would just like to thank you Donny for coming to watch this movie with me... Dick!

It'a not my fault my girlfriend took me on date night... Plus ever since the failed stretch and yawn you pulled during X-Men, going to the movies with you has become uncomfortable.

Well, like the person who stood me up for this movie... I'm also a huge fan of the original, made all the way back in 2012. I had really high hopes when I heard that a sequel was coming out this year.  What are my initial thoughts? Well, it's essentially the same movie... It's pretty much the same setting, just replace high school with college... It's also the same movie because it's still funny as hell!

I agree, I did find it funny but I felt they went back to the well a few too many times, by that I mean they used a lot of the jokes that were good in the first one again, it reminded me of that Dumb and Dumber prequel that everyone pretends doesn't exist anymore. That doesn't mean there aren't good jokes here, as there absolutely are but with the good come the bad and I do find it disappointing that on more than one occasion I was watching the movie and thought to myself "Really? They actually think I'm going to laugh at that?" So essentially in one hand it's trying really hard not be creative with the recycled gags, all the while the characters make fun of the exact same lack of creativity which leaves us laughing it's the perfect balance in a generally inperfect system but I'm happy that 22 Jump Street summoned it's inner Scream (Except number 3... Like Dumb and Dumberer, that one doesn't exist) in order to make fun the film's very apparent flaws.

Honestly, what really made me laugh the most was the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. They work together so well and have everything timed down so perfectly that even the non-funny jokes got a chuckle out of me. Stellar performances can make even the shittiest of scripts look like they were written by fucking Shakespeare. I'm not saying this movie was poorly written, I'm just saying that Hill and Tatum do such an amazing job that it made some of the weaker parts look better... Know what I'm saying?

I do. Two movies in and you really believe that the leads grew up together as brothers. The emotions of love and loss between the two feel real to even the most casual movie watcher. Apart from the leads Ice cube continues to entertain as every minute he's on screen is a minute of awesomeness in this film. Though besides those 3, the rest of the characters aren't really given anything to do... You got your misunderstood jock and your love interest, these characters were so flat that casting the corpses of Gene Kelley and Judy Garland would've given a similar performance. Those two are dead right?

Anyways this doesn't really hinder anything since we don't give two shits about these characters. It's their opposite actors (Tatum and Hill) that we care about. 

Yeah, especially Channing Tatum... Like... I'm not gay or anything... But I'd totally s*ck his d*ck...

Riiiiight.... So this is very much a bromance in every sense of the word and the new hot shot directors, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, very easily are able to convey this feeling while moving the plot along at a solid pace with much better cohesiveness than we saw in 21 Jump Street, the only real flaw I saw in the original. 

How good is this dynamic duo? Well you've heard me and my counterpart talk about how good 22 Jump Street has been thus far and one can argue it is the WORST movie in their filmography which includes 21 Jump Street, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and the surprise hit of the year The LEGO Movie.

Well I've never seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but that's a pretty damn good resume! To have two hit movies (both commercially and critically) in the same year is unheard of so hats of to them... Although I do see that they're signed on to do an Alvin & The Chipmunks movie so that fire might burn out really fast... Guhhhh I just wish those chipmunks would die!!!

They do a solid directing job here though. There's not much shaky cam goin on here, which is great because that craze needs to go away and never come back. There were a few instances where you KNEW the scene was green screened, like when Tatum and Hill were hanging from a helicopter... Other than that, there's not much else I can say about their directing job than it was solid... And it's easily their second best directing job

Of the year!

So yeah, the highlights for me was the chemistry between the two leads... And a certain cameo at the end, I won't give it away, but anyone who's aware Hollywood inside jokes will laugh hysterically at the cameo!

So I guess final thoughts? I'll start. I found 22 Jump Street to be a step below 21 Jump Street, though it wasn't much of a fall. They relied too much on stale jokes, but they had enough to keep you laughing as the plot moved itself along but even then it really didn't do anything to distance itself from other summer comedies Neighbours and A Million Ways To Die In The West to my surprise. I give it 4 out of a 5... I dunno... Something Cool's.

Don't even get me started on A Million Ways to Die in the West dude! Just... Guhhhh Fuck Seth MacFarlane! That movie was on par with anything Happy Madison has done in the last 10 years.... It couldn't lace Blazing Saddles' jockstrap!!!!

Anyways, I thought 22 was on par with 21, the jokes were great, the chemistry between Hill and Tatum are great, Ice Cube is cool, the cameos are cool, and I really liked how the movie played on the fact that it was a complete rehash. All in all, this movie is a lot of fun and a lot of laughs! 

I'm giving it 8.9 Shots in Channing Tatums Shoulder out of 10!

Well there you have it our review of 22 Jump Street. Remember to check us out at our other blogs for more fun film reviews as well as some other goodies.

Mike's Personal Blog

Donny's Personal Blog

Donny's Posts Over At Big B Comics

Who's Worse? Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich?

      OR








Welcome to the Flying Monkey's first edition of the "Who's Worse?" series! In this series, we will pin two movie entities against each other to find out who's the cream of the crap. It can be directors, actors, movies, porno's, hell, pretty much anything. And, since the lackluster blockbuster franchise that is Transformers has a new installment coming out in a week, we (Donny and Mike) figured that we would have our first contest between the two biggest box office money whores of the last 20 years. So with that, we ask, Who's Worse? Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich?

We figured this would be the best choice, as these two directors have had very similar career paths: They both make movies th, at shatter not only the box office, but shatter the will to live of critics. So which pile of Hollywood horse manure stinks more? 

M. Night Shyamalan's

Well, I'm inclined to agree, he is the worst thing to happen to movies since... like... Ever. Seriously, The Happening, Signs, The Last Airbennn.... Oh FUCK YOU M NIGHT!!!

Ok, I've cooled off... sooo... Where should we start? Why don't we talk about these two directors, shall we? 

Michael Bay first... Donny, Go!

Well first off we must disclaim that we are only talking about films these two directed, so any cameo roles, producer or writing credits will not be considered. Anywhooser Michael Bay's career started in the mid 90's with a pair of mildly successful action films in Bad Boys and The Rock. Then came his first true blockbuster with the snoozer that was Armageddon. Then came the start of critical backlash as by the time 2001's Pearl Harbour came around critics were tired of his special effects antics, and likely his obsession with Ben Affleck. After restoring some (very little really) goodwill with Bad Boys 2 he went on to make his biggest box office disappointment with The under 40 million grossing The Island... But don't worry then came the very profitable yet seldomly liked Transformers triliogy which is returning for a 4th installment this summer, but was seperated by 2013 pile-o'-crap Pain & Gain starring Transformers 4 actor Marky Mark.

Ok, Mike, Roland Emmerich, go!

Well, Roland Emmerich has the reputation of being the poor man's Michael Bay, and what a legacy to have! He started in the early 90's with two moderately successful films, Universal Soldier and Stargate. His first smash hit came in 1996 with one of the greatest popcorn movies of all time, Independence Day. Unfortunately, he couldn't recreate that magic two years later when he raped the Godzilla franchise, which had a great box-office run, but was otherwise the Godzilla equivalent of Batman & Robin. He managed to regain some credibility with The Patriot in 2000, starring Mel Gibson,  back when he was hiding his craziness. He then came back in 2004 with Independence Day 2... err... I mean The Day After Tomorrow, which was another soulless cash grab. Audiences wised up next time around with release of 10 000 BC,  which was both a critical and commercial flop, deservingly so. He then regained some of his box office mojo with 2012, another disaster snoozefest. And just last year he released his biggest pile of "meh" ever: White House Down, starring no one cares. 

So, Donny, what is your favourite and least favourite movie of these two guys?

Well the best movie from Emmerich's library, and I think we agree on this one, is Independence Day. The movie has it's flaws but overall it's a really fun ride and Will Smith was just hitting his stride and this was step one to becoming the major box office draw he is... Err... Was... M. Night has since had his way with him. As far as his worst movie, I'd probably say 10,000 B.C. had I of actually seen that heaping pile of cow dung, or so I hear. Since I can only pick from what I've seen I'm going with Universal Soldier, unlike Independence Day it was an action movie that tried to take itself seriously and failed miserably at it. Had they of embraced it's inherent cheese it might not be such a shit storm.

Looking at Bay's filmography, the one that jumps out as the best is yet another Will Smith film with Bad Boys II. I know it wasn't a critical darling, in fact most critics disliked it but as a film fan. It's nice to just watch an action packed buddy cop movie with just the right amount of humour in the perfect places, I call this shades of Beverly Hills Cop... Relax I said "shades". As for the worst... No surprise here as I despise Armegeddon with all my being... Despite being lukewarm on Affleck and Willis at the time this movie bored the crap out of me and if I have to hear that god awful Aerosmith song one more time I'm going to blow my brains out... Plus why did we have to hear Affleck and Tyler serenading each other with Leaving On A Jet Plane? If I had to do that I'd kick my own ass.

Well, I know I'm going to lose some credibility for saying this, but I like Armageddon and it's my favourite Bay film. Yeah. the plot of oil drillers saving our asses is stupid, and the science is all horribly wrong, but the cast is great (aside from Ben Affleck), it's well acted (aside from Ben Affleck), the meteor shower scene in New York is awesome, and it has some truly heartfelt moments. And lets face it, who doesn't enjoy watching Ben Affleck get shot in the leg? As for his biggest piece of shit, I'll have to go with Pearl Harbor, he may have made some movies that I guess would we worse, but Pearl Harbor takes the cake as he spat in the face of history and was an insult to everyone who died on that fateful December morning, and Ben Affleck didn't help much either (this was before he was a director so I can insult him all I want).

On the Roland Emmerich side of things, my favourite of his is Independence Day. It has plenty of flaws, and it's basically a modern day War of the Worlds ripoff, but it just has that awesome factor that you can't ignore, plus Will Smith is cool. As for worst, it's the movie he made right after that, Godzilla. the effects were lame even for '98, it was horribly acted, horribly written, and just horrible... Seriously, the movie tries to make Godzilla out as the bad guy, yet the army destroys more of New York than the monster ever possibly could. Not to mention that Emmerich spat in the face of what Godzilla is all about... He's an indestructible force of nature, not some T-Rex lookalike who gets killed by missiles... Fuck that movie! Fuck it! Fuck it! Fuck it!

There you go sucking Godzilla's dick again...

Godzilla doesn'r have a dick! That's another thing, why the fuck did they make him an asexual being who can lay eggs? Oh, right, so Emmerich can then rip off the Velociraptors by making mini-zillas! 

Alright I get it! Godzilla '98 = Jurassic Park. Can we move on now?

And don't even get me started on the cast. You get Ferris Bueller, Matt from Melrose Place, half of the cast of the Simpsons, and you expect us to take this movie seriously? Fucking terrible cast!

Ok, you can stop now...

NO! HE TURNED THE GREATEST MOVIE MONSTER OF ALL TIME INTO A LITTLE BITCH!!! WHAT THE FUCK???!!! FUCK YOU!!!

Alright, well, while Mike is running around the neighbourhood ripping his own pubes out. I'm just gonna make my decision on who is the shittiest director between these two... I've gone back and forth on this but in the end, perhaps a little bit unfairly, I have to call Michael Bay the worst. If I have to pick a worst movie out of the 2, it would be Armageddon, and Pearl Harbour would be a close enough second. So on that alone I have to call Bay the worst, but truth be told I've seen more Bay movies then Emmerich's and as I previously noted, I'm sure 10,000 BC is awful beyond belief which is why I can't bring myself to watch it. I think the Transformers movies gave Bay a bad rap for making this possibly amazing trilogy into an effect driven, no story, easy target for hate film franchise. But hey, lots of people must love it to rake in the money it does, I know the first three instalments got my money at the box office, although I really hated myself after watching the third. So if for no other reason than the Ben Affleck double punch I'm crowning Michael Bay worst director. You okay muffin?

Well, I won't need to manscaping anytime soon... where were we? Ok, well, I'm gonna agree with Donny on this one. I do think Emmerich made the biggest hunk of trash out of the 2 with Zilla, but after that, Pearl Harbor comes in right behind it, followed by the Transformers movies, followed by the Island, followed by Bad Boys 2 which I didn't like. Although I did like Armageddon in spite of it's flaws, I do think that Independence Day is the best of the bunch and to me is one of the greatest pure popcorn movies ever made. So yeah, Michael Bay,  you suck... but at least you're not M Night Shyamalan... or Uwe Boll for that matter!

So we have both concluded that, although both of these directors have shitty resumes overall, Roland Emmerich's pile of turd at least has some sprinkles on it.

What do you think, do you agree? Disagree? Does Mike need anger management? Tell us below in the comments.

And that concludes our first edition of "Who's Worse?" stay tuned for our next one at some point, whatever that may be. If you want to see more from us, please check us out in the links below.

Donny's Personal Blog

Mike's Personal Blog

Donny's Blog over at Big B Comics


We are working hard to constantly make posts and we recently have reviews of Mean Girls, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla (2014), Commando, The Amazing Spider Man 2, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Lego Movie.

Flying Monkeys Jacking Out!

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Today we (Mad Mike and DonnyFTW) will be talking about X-Men: Days of Future Past from 20th Century FOX, Directed by Bryan Singer.

We begin our adventure in the future, I guess (I'd imagine that it would be around 2014). Sentinels created years ago have essentially taken over the world and are picking off mutants one at a time. Professor Xavier Picard tells us this was all the cause of a midget doctor named Trask. He began developing the sentinel program in the early 70s, but wasn't getting much support for it... Until he was murdered by Mystique, which led to the US government to go ahead with further developing this program. Mystique was then captured and her morphing power was used to make the sentinels complete. Years later, sentinels completely fucked shit up, and now the remaining mutants can only do one thing: rip off Terminator...err... I mean... Go back in time and stop Mystique from killing Trask.

How is this done, you ask? Well, by Kitty Pryde getting into Wolverine's mind and putting him back in 1973, of course! He is then put on a mission where he has to bring a now smack-addicted Xavier back together with his old pal Eric, aka Magneto, in order to stop mystique from killing Trask, thus preventing the sentinel program from getting green-lit.

So Donny, please enlighten me as to what you thought about this film?

I thought it was a great way to merge the original trilogy cast with the cast of First Class. Singer helmed the first two (superior) X-Men films, that essentially began the comic-book movie craze that we see at our local multiplexes today. Because of his previous involvement with the franchise, he doesn't need to develop his version of the X-Men, he's simply afforded the ability to take risks with his characters and plot lines. Thus allowing him to make a movie about time traveling mutants without it coming off as cheesy.

How about you, Mike? What did you think?

Well first of all, the chick who sold me the popcorn for this movie was a total d-bag. She looked so snotty and didn't even give me my proper change back! So I just want start by saying fuck her and fuck her stupid face! 

That was really uncalled for, but a lot of fun to watch!

Anyways, I know I poked fun at the movie a few times in the intro, but honestly, I loved this movie. I thought the story was great, it managed to walk the fine line between simple and complex, without teetering off to either side. The character development was fantastic, as was the action sequences. I don't want to give anything away, but there is an action sequence involving Quicksilver that will blow your mind!

Yeah, that Quicksilver scene was my highlight of the movie. It only takes up about 1.5 seconds of real time, but it was the best part!

Yeah, Donny agrees that it was awesome!

However, all action sequences aside, I really liked how character driven the movie was. To me, that's the only way an X-Men movie should be. X-Men is filled to the brim with unique and amazing characters to begin with, and since Days of Future Past deals with 2 time periods, I feel like the only direction to take is to focus on strong character development and strong emotional connections with the audience instead of going for pure action and destruction. I know that a character driven story isn't what the casual moviegoer wants nowadays, but have no fear, Transformers 4 is coming out in a month.

So, do you want to talk acting now?

Uhhh... Sure! You start

Okay, well my favourite part of First Class (non-Fassbender related) was Nicholas Hoult, he's the poster boy for Doctor Hank McCoy (ha! That rhymes! Also, Fuck you Frasier!). Although he isn't given a ton to do here, which is expected given the vast cast (I did it again, lol!) he still manages to impress. The same can be said for Evan Peters's turn as Quicksilver (Your move, Aaron Taylor-Johnson). But the heart of this character driven story comes from James McAvoy as Charles Xavier. We see him struggle with difficult decisions throughout the film, and as a viewer, you sympathize with the fact that he must choose his worst enemy to try to save his oldest friend. And ohmygod Fassbender rauufrrhghghrrrgghhhhh (inaudible)

Okay, I'm going to turn away from Donny because he's drooling uncontrollably and masturbating furiously... Uhh... Where are we? Acting? Ok.

Well, Donny has already said what a fine job McAvoy did, as with Michael Fassbender

*fap fap fap fap fap fap fap*

GOD DAMMIT DONNY STOP IT!

Personally, it was nice to see Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan reprise their roles as Xavier and Magneto of the present. They give a commanding presence to the cast, and to me, it was as if they never left the franchise. The following part goes without saying, but Hugh Jackman was amazing as Wolverine, he nailed it as he usually does and he once again made it feel like he was born for the role. It was also cool to see Peter Dinklage play Trask, I'm just getting into Game of Thrones and he's slowly becoming a favourite of mine.

Last but not least, Jennifer Lawrence put on a terrific portrayal of Mystique, she completely owned the role of a very conflicted and complex character, toeing the line between anti-hero and villain. Unfortunately for Lawrence, the Academy does not live on planet Earth, so a 2nd Oscar for her won't be coming for this movie.

Donny, are you cooled off yet?

Yes... sooo.....

I'm going to get you some towels, so talk about your favouritie parts.

Blue boobs are nice... But seriously, I enjoyed the inclusion of the new mutants in the post-apocalyptic future. Specifically, I loved seeing Bishop, and I loved the re-imagining of Blink that Singer gave her. I also thought it was brilliant to construct the story around Team Wolverine vs Team Mystique, which gave FOX the opportunity to market the two biggest stars in a no holds barred, future-at-stake battle. The sentinels were also really badass. 

The scripting of the movie was excellent, as it gave us shades of complex storytelling during the time travel portions while simultaneously not being too complex so that a layman watching the movie can choose to set it aside to enjoy a character driven action movie that the X-Men franchise is known for (Origins notwithstanding)

Mike?

Yeah, I as well loved how greatly the movie deals with time travel. Yes, the initial premise of Kitty Pryde putting Wolverine's mind back in the past may be a little out there, but the time travel overall is done very simply and the movie doesn't make it fuck with your head. A lot of time travel movies make that mistake, even the great ones like Looper and Back to the Future. Not since Terminator 2 have I seen a movie that dealt with time travel so simply and beautifully. Props to the movie for not making my head explode with confusion

Yeah, Time Travel = Good

I thought the RFK stadium sequence was breathtaking, Magneto decided to be just as ambitious as Bryan Singer, and he lifts an entire stadium off the ground and moves it to the White House, completely enclosing it in the process. This set-up the movie's amazing climax. And I'm not talking about Donny's amazing climax to Michael Fassbender. 

Stop saying his name!

However, my absolute favourite part of the whole damn thing was the meeting between Past Xavier and Present Xavier. The way it was done was one brilliant mindfuck, and it was without a doubt the emotional pinnacle of the movie. It's a moment that anyone in the audience can relate to. Why? Well, how many times have we all wished that we could talk to our younger, dumber selves? To tell them how they're future would be if they continued the path they were on? To try to get their heads out of their asses before it's too late?


Or how about the flip side of that? How many times have we wished that our older selves would come and talk to us? To tell us how our future will be? Or to give us a wake up call and tell us to change our ways? That's definitely something that pretty much everyone watching the movie will relate to... And, I'll be honest, I was choking up a bit during the scene, I absolutely loved it!

You're such a girl!

Whatever! Seriously, if you feel no emotion in that scene, well... you will make a great serial killer one day! So good for you!

Anyways, since we know how much you love Fassbender, why don't you tell us what you didn't like, Donny?

Well without spoiling the ending, I found it to be a coppout. Not that I don't understand their reasons for doing it that way, I just wasn't a fan. Also, I would've liked to have seen more badass sentinel fight scenes. But other than that, I can't really complain about much. 

You?

Well, this is a movie that deals with time travel, and even though I've already stated that it's simplified here, it can still lend itself to some plot holes and some mindfucks. But to be honest, I can let those issues slide because this is a movie who's main characters include a telekinetic mind reader and a morphing smurfette.

All in all, X-Men: Days of Future Past seamlessly blends amazing action, terrific character development, and tons of gripping emotional depth. It also literally wipes The Last Stand from existence! I won't exactly spoil how that happens, but Singer gives a huge middle finger to Brett Ratner, and that was so satisfying to watch.

To be fair, Singer still produced it, and Kinberg wrote it... So yeah...

WHATEVER! No one asked you!

I give this movie a full 5 X's out of 5. Awesome movie! It might go down as one of my favourites.

Now give us your final thoughts, smartass!

Although only time will tell if Days of Future Past holds up as well as the original films, its central message of hope is well received not only by the characters in the film, but by the viewing audience as a whole. I hope that future X-Men films will follow the Days of Future Past blueprint, putting visually pleasing action sequences across the backdrop of a character driven story that intrigues and excites without getting lost in the sometimes complex X-Men universe. 

I give it a perfect 5 Adamantium claws out of 5.

I agree with that rating... I'm out...

Well there you have it. Thank you for joining us again on Flying Monkey Reviews and we hope that you read up on us in the future! If you want to check out more from us check the links below.

Mike's Personal Blog

Donny's Personal Blog

Donny's Posts Over At Big B Comics

We're working hard to constantly add posts to these and if you're looking for more movie reviews these are where to find them as we recently got reviews of Godzilla, Commando, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Solider, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The LEGO Movie.