Kidnap Wants To Be The Next Taken But It's More Like The Next Taken 2

Like a lot of women in Hollywood, I feel like Halle Berry hasn't gotten the roles she deserves in Hollywood. When you put her in the right movie like Cloud Atlas, she's great, but for far too much of her career, she's been stuck in either underdeveloped supporting roles (like her time as Storm in the X-Men movies or her love interest part in Robots or her appearance in a segment with Stephen Merchant in Movie 43) or terribly written leading roles (Catwoman, 'nuff said!). Halle Berry tries her best once again with Kidnap, a new thriller that, alas, turns out to be yet another example of Berry not getting the sort of high-quality or even just entertaining films she deserves to headline.

Catwoman Review (Classic Write-Up)

In many superhero origin movies, there's that moment where our protagonist decides to finally fight crime and fulfill their potential as a superhero. Remember when Peter Parker realized he could have stopped the mugger that murdered his Uncle? Or when Tony Stark realized the consequences of his actions of selling weapons? Or when Scott Lang was offered the chance to become a better man by the kindly Hank Pym? All emotionally resonant sequences that emphasize who our lead is and why they're going down the path of superheroics. Catwoman also has a scene like this. After giving herself a major makeover, our hero, Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), hops onto a motorcycle, speeds around her city and then stops at a jewelry store to gaze at a necklace that has caught her fancy.

Gotham (S1E2) Review: The Cat Is Out Of The Bag

Well, with it's Pilot episode out of the way, it's time for Gotham to prove that it has more than just wink-wink references to future Batman villains up its sleeves. This episode actually doesn't do a great job proving that there's a ton more to this show than that, actually being a bit of a step back in terms of quality, though it did manage to incorporate a younger version of Catwoman into the proceedings in a satisfactory fashion.

Good News! A Female Superhero Movie Is Coming! Bad News! That Female Superhero Movie Is Coming From The Studio That Ruined Spider-Man

You cannot imagine my excitement when I began to read the headline that proclaimed a female superhero movie was on the way. FINALLY I thought. Bizarre prejudices can be put aside and we can finally get quality movies starring well developed female characters. Then I read further and realized...crap. It's from Avi Arad and Sony. Y'know, the guys who made The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the movie that makes Spider-Man 3 (a deeply flawed, but actually kind of underrated film) look like a masterpiece.

Franchise Frenzy: The Dark Knight Trilogy

Welcome to Franchise Frenzy! Every other week I post a column analyzing the quality and pop culture impact of a certain Hollywood franchise. This week, I swear to Christopher Nolan and cover The Dark Knight trilogy.

Three movies have really impact blockbuster cinema in the 21st Century: Spider-Man, Batman Begins and The Avengers (Inception as well, but mainly because every trailer now needs a BWAAAAMMMM) Spider-Man opened the floodgates for comic book movies, while The Avengers told everyone that more complex blockbuster storytelling was possible. And every single reboot for a while there cited Batman Begins expert mix of darkness and fun as the ultimate way to pull off a blockbuster film.