Glass (2019)- Heroes

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Finally, Shyamalan's hero trilogy comes to a conclusion.  It started way back in 2000 with the focus on the Unbreakable David Dunn (Bruce Willus), branded the Overseer.  Then, revived it with Split (2016), introducing his villain the Horde, Kevin W. Crumb (James McAvoy).  It's back with Glass to reveal the evil mastermind's, Elijah Price AKA Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), worst act of infamy.
Shyamalan is a rare breed allowing the passage of time to temper his pedigree in an age weaned of creativity by relying on retro and pop culture flicks.  It's the best portrayal of a realistic superhero movie that insists on being taken as seriously as the protagonists themselves.  Glass is full of entertainment as a comic book movie should be, instead of relying on industry cliches.  Shyamalan continues his own cameo roles, returning as Jai, also from Split.  We get to see a fuller look at the Horde's shifting 23 personalities.  The super trio is tracked and studied by the psychologist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson).  She guides us through a deeper study of their "hero disorders," which she tries to convince them of.  Dr. Ellie's role is unique to this hero genre. 
Comic book lore merges as a reality show.  Dr. Ellie discovers their kryptonitic weaknesses.  There is a grand finale battle in an empty parking lot.  All orchestrated of course, by Glass, attempting a mass disaster event in Philadelphia after he enlists the Horde as his sidekick.  The Overseer takes on a new twist as he is misunderstood by society as a vigilante and sacrifices all to save the city.
The box office agrees, with record profits in the first year, compared to the modest production budget.  The end was a shocking tragedy but marked its own path unlike any comic book ending I have perused as a former comic collector myself.  Poignant couples' themes added more substance like the unconditional love of Elijah's mom, the support of Dunn's son--working alongside him like Batman's Robin--, and even the Horde's impossible romance.
Shyamalan's signature cinematography and plot twists were limited to seclusion in a 'fishbowl' setting.  You can't get so technical while sacrificing dramatic effect, since comic books seek the widest lens for its heroes.  From there, everything waxed anticlimactic.  Still, Shyamalan's script parallels with Marvel and DC Comics' vision of mostly normal people living like gods.  I dare bring it up to 10th & Goal.       

* PHOTO CREDITS
Universal Pictures.  "Glass Movie."  tumblr, lafilmschool, 2019, https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/glass-movie

Dark Phoenix (2019)- X Lives

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The latest addition to the X-Men franchise continues the Phoenix narrative; also as a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse.  We witness the origins of debatably the most powerful Mutant, Jean Grey, the young Phoenix (Sophie Turner).  

True to its trademark of the sexiest and most diverse superheroes out there, Dark Phoenix doesn't disappoint, but also adds to its chronological complications.  Maybe Simon Kinberg took on more than he could chew as a new director and co-producer for avid X-Men followers.  Yet, for me, a newcomer, it catalyzed me into its fandom.  So after about 10 X-Men movies, and some alternate timelines, why bother, but this one was actually easy to follow.  You wouldn't know that it took place about in the middle of the whole series.**  Many of the same actors are present from the first movies Professor X (J. McAvoy), Magneto (M. Fassbender), Mystique (J. Lawrence), Beast (N. Hoult), and Cyclops (T. Sheridan).  S. Turner, dazzled as GOT princess, was a mesmerizing younger Phoenix.  The Hans Zimmer score draws you in, despite box office returns barely surpassing overhead.  This continuity and a full protagonist bio left me with renewed interest.  It was an engaging look at Jean Grey, one of the most complicated members, which the previous Phoenix film didn't do it justice.

For the purists, there was probably too much redundancy from ongoing themes since the first films: Mutants are divided into two camps, Magneto playing both sides, government tries to control Mutants, Professor X doing his best to reel in his own Mutants, and Mutants taking matters into their own hands by the end.  To tackle more renditions, X-Men will have to be more innovative, and I hope for it.  I still feel Dark Phoenix added to the X-Men universe by filling in some holes, developing some 'darker' sides of Professor X--as he always foresaw the government persecution completed Logan--, including a tragic death, and the last addition of the late comic book creator Stan Lee in the credits as co-producer.  With that, I leave it at the Winning 25 yd. Line.  

* 20th Century Fox.  "Jean Grey."  Pinterest, Gif-Tumblr, Patrick Coote,                 2019, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/745697650771762912/  

** denofgeek.com  

The Martian (2015)- From Earth

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Matt Damon, takes us on another Mars venture, but never with such solo passion as left-for-dead astronaut Marc Watney, The Martian.  This movie preempted President Trump's 2017 mandate for NASA to land a human on Mars by 2033.
Ridley Scott adds another notch to his sci-fi pedigree as director and co-producer, creating a movie of likely space travel in our time.  His efforts were awarded with two major Golden Globes: one for Matt and the other for Best Movie - Comedy or Musical (really?...it was much more); yet, Scott deserved the Oscar.  The Martian dramatically recounts how botanist Watney was left stranded and wounded on Mars after his fellow astronauts were forced to evacuate at the onset of a windstorm.  Of course, movie drama has to interfere and it's improbable that a Mars sandstorm could topple a vessel as massive as the MAV lander.  We witness step-by-step how astronaut Marc succeeds through a series of convincing problem-solving situations to feed himself, troubleshoot, and contact Earth.  He creates a potato patch using human feces in a hydrogen moisture lab.  Then we follow him as he treks across Mars by resting to recharge solar panels and using radioactive jetsam to keep warm. He digs out old Pathfinder to communicate with Earth.  An international effort mounts as the Chinese CNSA's Chief Scientist (Eddy Ko) helps resupply the Ares III's return to Mars.
The crew is mostly Caucasian with one Latino, Major Martinez (Michael Pena); although, the cast was multicultural, receiving multiple accolades.  Cal Tech's JPL is finally on the map as the prime think tank led by Director Ng (Benedict Wong).
The ending borrows from other films like the 'slingshot' maneuver seen often on Star Trek episodes and Watney's "Iron Man" leap across space.  By this time we're believers, though, caught up in the international frenzy.  Scott epitomized everything a sci-fi hit should be by injecting comedy, Martian Mcgyverism, techy drama, real-world obstacles, interactive logs/chats, suspenseful space scenes and even a celebrity surprise role by Childish Gambino as Rich Purnell, the JPL astrophysicist who fills a missing link and actually adds to the quality acting.  For that reason, I lay it on 10th & Goal.

 *  20th Century Fox.  The Martian, Matt Damon, sits on a sand dune of Mars.  Esquire, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/.

Noah (2014): Humanity

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Wow, Noah deserves credit for attempting to bring back the religious movie epic!  It's an all star cast with sensational story lines and scenes.
Noah goes beyond the Bible Flood narrative as it tries to answer the age old question of what it means to be human.  Director, co writer, and producer Darren Aronofsky created quite an original approach to biblical films.  Along with the notable A actors you see above, there were also excellent performances by King Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) and even iconic voices like Samyaza the Watcher's (Nick Nolte).  Noah is played perfectly by Russel Crowe.  Emma Watson as Ila, shows she has life after Harry Potter.  Anthony Hopkins, as grandfather Methuselah, adds a new element to a Noah flick, and does superbly as a Gandalf-like figure passing the 'prophetic' torch!  The Watchers are a new CGI, representing the fallen angels, whom repent and ally with Noah.  Heretical stuff to most Christians I know; I kind of liked it!  It allowed Noah to reveal that he came from an already sprawling civilization that had caused God, according to the Book of Genesis, to destroy the world because cities had corrupted it.  King Tubal-Cain's kingdom presumably imprisoned the Watchers to use their supernatural knowledge to accelerate urban technology.      
Indeed, this movie is best seen for its soul searching in this new millennium. Aronofsky both scores and casts down biblical truths.  The world itself was also being depleted, which other Noah films had not included.  Humanity was on a destructive path, because war was the final answer to problems.  Life started in the oceans.  The movie goes far south when it dares to depict vegetarian Noah as a baby killer, blindly obeying God's commands.  One of the Watchers commits suicide and goes to heaven, really?!?  Noah's sons, Shem and Ham rebel against their perception of a fanatical father.
Yet, I still find it quite rewatchable.  The Flood was impressively reworked with scenes developing the gradual deterioration of humanity and the build up to a war for the Ark.
Unfortunately, the ending also continues to degrade into a dysfunctional family, literally, opaquing the first rainbow.  Noah was portrayed as way too human and insecure, misinterpreting God as wanting to create a world without men.  I still found it originally creative for a familiar bittersweet tale of human beginnings.  I will lay it on the Winning 35 yd. Line.  

*Paramount Pictures.  "Noah 2014."  Movie Review, Torrent, Lori Polin, December 11, 2013, http://www.loripolin.com/