309: Blue Beetle + Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

[00:00:00] Hello everybody, welcome back to the Film Buds Podcast. This is episode number 290 and my name is Henry. Just me this time around. Hope that's okay but still will be a great show. Thanks always

[00:00:27] for joining us. If you have not hit that subscribe button yet please do right now. Give us a rating, give us a review, and thank you to all those who have recently. We really do appreciate it.

[00:00:38] This time around I'm gonna be tackling the final two films in the DC extended universe. We have done parts 1, technically parts 1 and 2 on bonus shows which you can check out at filmbuds.bandcamp.com

[00:00:52] and some reviews on the regular show but we have done the entire DCEU up until this point on the show so you can please check out those episodes if you haven't yet. First we're gonna be doing Blue

[00:01:05] Beetle and then ending off with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which usually I start with the newer film on regular shows like this but because we've done the full DC universe in linear fashion in that

[00:01:21] timeline I'm starting off with Blue Beetle and then we'll be finishing off with the last one in that universe which is Aquaman. So other than that if you have not checked out our mini marathon

[00:01:33] series which is something I've just started over the last couple of weeks please do so it's on the regular feed. It's basically going to be five mini episodes released all at once doing all different

[00:01:44] kinds of movies so I figured if you just want short sweet in-and-out reviews no trailers, no music, no nothing you can check that out and just blow through them real quick and so far they've been

[00:01:55] pretty popular so I appreciate everybody listening. Besides that Elle will be back next week and she'll update you on all the stuff that's been going on with her and so I don't want to go into any of

[00:02:06] that just yet because it's more pertinent to her. Back to work these days for me not a whole lot else to say sadly I'm a little boring but oh and as always if you have not checked out our bonus

[00:02:19] show page go to filmbuds.bandcamp.com and we have about 70 plus bonus shows there so please subscribe there, donate all that good stuff there's a lot of great content there. Well let's go ahead

[00:02:35] and get into DC I want to talk some DC movies so let's get into Blue Beetle and we do have a clip so take a listen. What is he talking about? He's talking about this. Oh I forgot how bad it looks.

[00:02:49] I've seen worse. Where? You don't want to know. Okay what the hell is this thing? It's called the Scarab it was given to my dad when I was a kid it's some kind of a world-destroying weapon.

[00:03:01] Okay so Blue Beetle is directed by Angel Manuel Soto, stars Zolo Maraduena, Bruna Marchesini, Becky G, George Lopez, Damian Alcazar, Susan Sarandon and the synopsis is an alien Scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host bestowing the recent college graduate with a

[00:03:32] suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary powers forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle. So when this one came out I think it took a lot of people by

[00:03:44] surprise in terms of the actual DC universe itself it doesn't make a whole lot of sense why it's there I know that because of the dwindling success and the changing of hands

[00:03:56] and all that they did end off with the Lost Kingdom whereas maybe if it had continued they would have done sequels to this or incorporated it with other characters or something like that

[00:04:07] I don't know but this would mean the second-to-last movie in the universe is a bit odd not to say it has any say on the quality of the movie but the placement is a bit weird I think and also as I'm

[00:04:21] sure it was with many I had never heard of this character before I didn't know it was even a DC property until I think after it had come out and finally got around to watching it just a couple

[00:04:34] of days ago along with Aquaman overall I think it's watchable I thought it was fun it was fairly quick and breezy in terms of pacing I think the origin story as it is with a lot of characters

[00:04:48] like this the origin story in the movie is the best part of the film to me like it's very spider-man in a way like Tobey Maguire and also Tom Holland I think especially in terms of the personality the

[00:05:01] testing out and usage of their powers and the suits and all that it felt very spider-man in that way and in a good way not really in a derivative way just very much reminded me of

[00:05:12] that world and I really like the main guy I don't think I've seen him in anything else George Lopez is amazing in the movie I think that's something that I see all the reviews mentioned but he is

[00:05:24] great he is so enjoyable and charming and funny and he's been hit and miss over the last couple years but I think he is excellent in this but I think this director he is fairly new to the

[00:05:38] blockbuster world and he definitely has a good grip on the world itself on that origin story and the creation and that development however I did find that once it got to be about halfway in

[00:05:53] where he was really established as that character the plot really became quite generic and a little distant a little uninteresting and so I found that the first half was much better than the second for

[00:06:06] the most part let's say the second half was bad but I did find myself sort of drifting off in terms of interest and focus when the plot was really front and center because once that was

[00:06:18] happening maybe it's because he's new to the blockbuster world but whether it's the writing or his direction where he just doesn't have the finesse to handle all that plot in a really

[00:06:29] creative way I think there are moments for sure like I said but he handled that a little blandly in my opinion it's serviceable but not much more than that the suit itself like the blue beetle

[00:06:44] is really interesting and I like the injection or the cameo of Kronos the Guillermo del Toro movie and sort of the callbacks to that in terms of the character creation I thought that was really

[00:06:57] well done also it is nice to see a hero in this world in this culture and that director definitely has a clearly a firsthand experience and a love of that culture and of that world so I really like

[00:07:10] that sort of hero in a blockbuster film like this that's nice to see and we don't get that very often also one character that I won't spoil the twists really but the Nana character the

[00:07:23] grandmother is awesome she is so enjoyable so funny and the twist with her are ridiculous but completely work for the context of the movie and I really really like that character one moment

[00:07:36] that I found that really affected me and I wrote about it on my letterboxd review there's a point not to spoil it in the middle part of the movie where one family member is endangered and they're

[00:07:50] like taken away and the family is like grieving there because they're at a loss of what to do and they're scared of what's happened to this person and the grandmother is like self-pity

[00:08:01] is not important right now we don't have time for it don't feel sorry for the situation nothing like that stop crying we need to finish the job at hand and then we can grieve later and

[00:08:14] then about another hour goes by and they accomplish what they want to do and at the end of the movie they come together again and she says now we can cry and there's this very authentic grieving

[00:08:27] moment for that character and when it comes to superhero films comic book films it's pretty rare you get any sort of real weight in terms of emotional resonance not say it's few and far

[00:08:41] between but I think getting a line like that where it hits so well and to me it really is a great message for audiences because it's showing all right if you're in the middle of a crisis something

[00:08:55] happens to someone or to something don't just stop what you're doing you know don't say oh well this is messed up we have to stop and cry and we have to we're not gonna be able to move forward

[00:09:07] blah blah blah instead there's that courageous inspirational message of finish what you started no matter what happens you'll always have time to grieve and to process your emotions later in

[00:09:21] a healthy in a calm and a safe space do that then but for right now focus and so I think that line really hit me well and that was a perfectly executed moment in that movie in terms of the

[00:09:33] initial setup and the follow-up at the end I thought that was one of my favorite parts of the whole movie doesn't make the movie a masterpiece I still think it's middle of the road when it comes to recent superhero films or DC movies but still enjoyable refreshing

[00:09:50] not too complicated an interesting world an interesting design good score good soundtrack the locations are very good and as I'm sure it is with most you could go into this movie not knowing anything about that character and I'm sure that we won't be getting a sequel to this

[00:10:08] movie considering that DC is now being run by James Gunn but for what it is it does the job for sure and you could do a whole heck of a lot worse when it comes to superhero films and we'll

[00:10:19] get to that spoiler in just a few minutes so check it out for sure that is a three out of five all right well let's get to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and we do have a clip as well take a listen

[00:10:37] four years ago I was basically unemployed a wanderer with no home but now I'm a husband and a father and I wouldn't have it any other way my job was a little less stressful than yours all right so like Blue Beetle Aquaman and the

[00:11:01] Lost Kingdom is now on max to stream directed by James Wan who also did the first one stars Jason Momoa Patrick Wilson Yahya Abdul Mateen II Amber Heard Nicole Kidman Randall Park Dolph Lundgren Martin Short few others and the synopsis is Black Mantis seeks revenge on Aquaman

[00:11:24] for his father's death wielding the black tridents power he becomes a formidable foe to defend Atlantis Aquaman forges an alliance with his imprisoned brother they must protect the kingdom well I as I'm sure many did who follow the superhero world I had heard a lot of rumors

[00:11:44] of production problems reshoots re-edits that sort of thing where the production was just plagued with problems and I feel like this kind of movie where the entire thing is CG and you're having to do

[00:11:57] something that is quote unquote underwater in terms of the effects I'm sure it's never gonna go smoothly so I don't necessarily blame them for that but I don't know the exact issues with

[00:12:06] the movie itself in terms of that but I liked the first Aquaman initially I didn't but on rewatches I think it's alright I don't think it's amazing but I did enjoy it and even though Jason Momoa

[00:12:19] is not an amazing actor I still like him I think he has a good presence he has some good charisma charm just physical presence as well and when it comes to superhero films anything that is sort

[00:12:32] of weird and bizarre and in a weird corner of the world like Blue Beetle as well I'm interested and Aquaman definitely fits that bill however with that being said I thought to be blunt this

[00:12:46] movie was terrible like it I wanted to like it a lot and I was actually liking it for the first maybe 15-20 minutes James Wan he to me is better suited for horror he's done the first Aquaman

[00:13:01] this one and then also Furious 7 and I think he just has a better knack for horror his visual style can work like he has a good eye for weird creature designs and some good horror elements

[00:13:12] but when it comes to really tight storytelling when it comes to this sort of fantasy world and action I just don't think he really has it in him for the most part there are sequences that

[00:13:24] work but I don't think he was really the right choice to do this and maybe when it comes to making a movie like this there's no right choice considering how you have to go about producing

[00:13:35] it but still and going back to Jason Momoa I don't necessarily blame him totally because some of it comes down to direction and how you shoot actors but and also goes back with James Wan too

[00:13:49] I felt like the direction in this was so awkward like how people are shot these weird broad wide angles where they're having to say really cheesy lines and like it really came across as too goofy

[00:14:03] and lazy not well set up not well put together and I felt like Jason Momoa whether it was truly his fault or if it was just how James Wan directed it I thought he was horrible in it really everybody

[00:14:18] is like embarrassing in this actually like Amber Heard in this role and as Mira and of while of course there's everything with her and Johnny Depp I still like her in general as an actor I don't

[00:14:29] think she's amazing but I like her in this and everybody else Patrick Wilson I mean he's I like him a lot in general but he's not very good Nicole Kidman it feels very very phoned-in autopilot

[00:14:40] sort of movie the plot once the plot kicks in it goes nowhere it's so surface level pun intended they're like it's uninteresting it's poorly written there's no emotional weight to anything

[00:14:55] I didn't care about what's going on like when they go on land and it almost becomes like a Peter Jackson King Kong sequence that's lame the final fight I don't mind yeah yeah Abdul Mateen

[00:15:08] I think he's a good actor but the writing for him is terrible I don't care about his motivation where Aquaman caused his father to die and then he's like I'm gonna avenge my father and kill Aquaman

[00:15:21] I don't care about that sorry like sorry your dad died but same time that's just not an interesting motivation we didn't know your dad you're not really a good guy so that whole part of the

[00:15:33] movie did not work for me and I love anyone who listens to the show frequently knows when it comes to DC one of my favorite parts of that world are the villains I love a good villain in DC and

[00:15:45] usually when the villain sucks the other parts of the movie are going to suffer too so did not like that part of the film the rest of the cast like they're writing it's okay it's

[00:15:55] serviceable but there's just not enough weight to anything the action is I felt like the first part the first half or so where they're in Atlantis and you see the Atlantean shark fighter mobile things I thought that was pretty creative the squid creature submersible vehicles

[00:16:17] I thought that was very well done so James Wan again he has a good eye for that stuff but everything else not so much and visually like effects wise it's pretty good there are a few

[00:16:28] moments that looked a little weak in terms of the quality but I liked how James Wan shot Atlantis like everything from the lighting to the overall fleshing out of the world itself I thought that

[00:16:41] was well done and I was actually interested in exploring that world but then it really just veers away from all that gets into a really uninteresting plot and I was waiting for this

[00:16:52] one to be over and it's only two hours which I was excited about but it feels like three I feel like the first one which was close to two and a half felt shorter than this one and the relationship

[00:17:03] between Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson I don't mind that sort of dynamic but in terms of the redemption I guess of those characters in that relationship not well done not interesting at

[00:17:15] least to me it wasn't I know some people say that's like a saving grace of the movie I don't really think so I was pretty uninterested in all that so a very disappointing end to the DC

[00:17:26] extended universe for sure ended on a bad note still I love DC movies there's plenty of ones that I love way more than Marvel but at the same time they do have a fair share of duds such as this

[00:17:39] one that are to excuse all the problems but there are plenty that I would happily take over the best of Marvel so hot take maybe I don't know but I really really love DC and I'll always love DC

[00:17:51] despite their low lows so if you have seen all the other movies check it out if you like Aquaman yeah I guess you got to watch it to a certain extent but it is definitely one of the worst

[00:18:04] ones I've seen in a while one of the worst DC movies that I've seen in a while and I think last year was pretty horrendous for DC unfortunately both critically and financially

[00:18:15] I actually liked the flash which I reviewed on the part two of the DC bonus show I actually thought that one was pretty solid despite some issues with it Shazam I did not like

[00:18:28] Blue Beetle as I just said I thought it was all right and then I guess Black Adam was the year before which I actually liked Black Adam more than I thought it would so I am a defender of

[00:18:37] DC for sure always will be but this one hate to say it was not good maybe it'll grow on me someday but I really really doubt it oh uh Randall Park love him he's excellent and I will say that he

[00:18:51] was very enjoyable but everybody else yeah not so much so that one is a two out of five and again if you haven't checked out our full coverage of all the DC movies up until this point

[00:19:05] please check out those two parts of the bonus show series on all the other movies all right well with the reviews done I guess we can end off with picks of the week so I re-watched

[00:19:20] Bad Reputation which is the Joan Jett documentary which for anyone who doesn't know she was really the first big female punk rock star she started off in The Runaways and then started later on

[00:19:32] Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and I love Joan Jett I think she's amazing I saw her in concert a few years back which was incredible she's very inspirational she's so grounded and down to earth

[00:19:44] and clearly has a love of music and what she was able to push through in terms of all the sexism in the industry and still get to where she is is amazing so it's a really well done documentary

[00:19:55] only about 90 minutes has a lot of good cameos and interviews with other rock stars like Billie Joe Armstrong my hero he's in there Iggy Pop and many others so there's a lot of good interviews

[00:20:08] a lot of good footage and plenty of good interviews with Joan Jett herself so very well done documentary if you like rock music if you like music documentaries entertainment documentaries check it out for sure it's definitely solid and then I also re-watched I showed a co-worker

[00:20:26] Lady Bird which to me is one of the most easily re-watchable digestible coming of age movies that I've ever seen I love Lady Bird I've seen it countless times at this point and really gets

[00:20:37] better every time I watch it it's really funny it's really grounded there's good drama and emotion there it feels very real in terms of problematic families and growing up and trying to figure

[00:20:48] yourself out like I think all that stuff really works even not being a woman I think it still feels very true to form so definitely check it out if you haven't seen it yet Greta Gerwig's I guess

[00:21:01] big break before Barbie so she definitely has a very good track record so far and then lastly I watched a movie for the first time called May from 2002 which is a cannibal film sort of a niche

[00:21:19] genre there and it's about a woman who is one of the most like awkward socially awkward people I've ever encountered in movies and I'm sure some of that comes from performance which it's a great

[00:21:30] performance in that way but she works at an animal hospital and she meets this guy who she's sort of infatuated with and it's kind of hard to explain without spoiling it or talking for hours about it

[00:21:44] but it's very weird it's dark and strange and overall I did like it I did find that the pacing and flow of the story is a bit stagnant like you can't really tell where it's leading to how long

[00:21:57] you have left like it's a bit inert in that way in terms of the direction and the flow but still a very unique movie in a lot of ways oh and it also has Anna Faris strangely in an early role for

[00:22:08] her the ending 10-15 minutes are pretty crazy I don't want to go into any of it and it's partly in the posters I think they tease it but it has to do with dismemberment and like trying to create

[00:22:22] her own person and because I think that's in the synopsis so I don't that's not really a big spoiler but a very odd movie not for everybody if you like weird dark horror films check it out it's

[00:22:33] an interesting character piece and someone who's sort of descending into insanity and doing anything that she can to make herself comfortable and to make herself a friend and feel accepted so

[00:22:47] a really bizarre watch but still refreshing in a lot of ways all right well I think that is about it for the show Elle will be back next week so sorry for the delays when that happens that's

[00:23:01] just it's gonna happen sometimes so we're doing our best there but hopefully just being with me is all right sometimes also coming this Friday will be a teaser of the Halloween final trilogy the like reboot trilogy the Halloween 2018 film Halloween kills and Halloween ends plus Rob

[00:23:22] zombies to Halloween films that is now up in full on film buds.bandcamp.com our bonus show page but I will be releasing a free teaser this Friday so keep an eye out for that and please do check out

[00:23:34] the full show besides that follow us on social media rate review subscribe as always please do if you have not yet we really do appreciate that it helps us out and thank you to all those who have

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[00:24:07] an eye out for that that is our end of year goal or to have it done by the end of the year and up and running so just takes time takes money but we do want to get there because we want to keep

[00:24:18] branching out and growing our audience as we have and we've had a lot of good listenership as of late and so we want to just keep moving up and up and up as we have okay well as always hope you

[00:24:30] enjoyed it even half as much as I did and I'll see you next time y'all