All of The Fun Found In Shazam! Comes From Total Creative Commitment

Considering that the modern conception of the superhero movie has been running since the 1998 release of Blade, you'd think this subgenre would be running on fumes by now. Perhaps it is to some, but from my vantage point, the superhero movie subgenre seems to be flourishing in recent years simply because producers, perhaps in an attempt to prevent the superhero movie from getting long in the tooth, seem to be willing to let filmmakers take both new and old characters into fresh new directions. Just look at what Taika Waititi did with the Thor mythos or the work done by the cast & crew of the first solo Black Panther movie or anything related to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Stardust Is A Good Old Fashioned Fantasy Romp And A Highly Entertaining One At That!

Among his numerous hallmarks as a director, Matthew Vaughn loves to play fast and loose with the comic books and graphic novels he adapts into movies. More often than not, Vaughn will basically just run with the core concept of what he's adapting into a film to better suit his own interests and desires most notably in turning Mark Millar's grim Kingsman graphic novel into a breezy Bond homage. Even X-Men: First Class, his feature most faithful to its source material, took liberties with what it was adapting and this tendency of Vaughn's is on full display in his first ever directorial effort, Stardust, an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman graphic novel that's far more family-friendly than its source material.

I Spy A Disappointing Sequel Called Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The newest Kingsman adventure follows the typical trajectory of many sequels in that it decides to blow up the scale of its predecessor to massive proportions. "Go Big Or Go Home" as they say and Kingsman: The Golden Circle does go big but it wasn't long into this films running time that I was wondering when I'd be able to go home. Turns out Kingsman: The Golden Circle has also followed the trajectory of many underwhelming sequels in that it's traded in fun and wit for simply a larger scale for its narrative. At least it's able to contribute to 2017's lovely trend of John Denver songs popping up across various pieces of cinema (Logan Lucky, Okja and Free Fire are among the other 2017 titles to make use of this man's music).

Miss Sloane Is All About Immoral Means For Moral Ends

The world of politics is a slimy place, as this most recent presidential election has most certainly shown. It's a realm that earns scorn and disgust from many and it's a place where Miss Sloane decides to tell its story to quite entertaining results. This John Madden film does not sugar-coat ts depiction of the turncoat nature of this aspect of American society, instead plopping viewers right into the middle of morally dubious politicians and even have our protagonist be a human being whose got no qualms with doing things that redefine unethical in order to score another victory. That human being in question is the titular Miss Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain).

The Brothers Grimsby Review

In the decade since the massive box office and critical success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen has struggled to replicate the affluence of that 2006 feature. He attempted to bring the mockumentary format back for Bruno in 2009 to far smaller success while his 2012 effort The Dictator went for a conventional narrative structure to no better results. His newest feature film, The Brothers Grimsby, is the first movie for Cohen to incorporate action and to not be directed by Larry Charles, instead going for Transporter 2 and Clash Of The Titans helmer Louie Leterrier. Unfortunately, Grimsby has also been a box office dud and, in my book at least, also fails to restore any luster to Cohen's lackluster post-Borat projects.