Men In Black : What Went Wrong?

In a world where reboots, remakes and original concepts are the prime of Hollywood, sequels don't quite hold the same levity as they did once up a time. Here we look at one such example of a franchise that ultimately suffered because of that very change of pace. Men In Black.

When Men In Black made debuted in 1997, it was a fantastic take on all things science fiction whilst also blending in an element of comedy. On a budget of $97 million, it made over $500 million at the worldwide box office and part of that was bound to be because of the casting of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, both being popular names throughout the 90's, having had a lot of success in both TV and film productions throughout the decade as well as Will's music career being the height of 90's entertainment. 

The commercial success of Men In Black in 1997 meant a sequel was greenlit that would bring back Will and Tommy Lee as agents J and K respectively. However the sequel wouldn't arrive until five entire years after the first movie opened and at that time, five years was a hell of a long time to wait for a sequel and the interest would've been lost a long time before Men In Black II opened in July 2002. The sequel was made on a budget of $140 million, up $50 million on the original and ultimately also made less at the worldwide box office, reaching a total of $441 million. Still it was good enough to grant a third entry into the series and this, unfortunately, is where it all started to go wrong.

Men In Black 3. The sequel which in retrospect, probably shouldn't have happened at all. The third and final film in the original Men In Black series took an entire decade to reach cinemas after the original sequel and opened in May 2012. Years of script re-writes, tensions behind the scenes between director Barry Sonnenfield and producer Walter Parkes and production delays meant the movie took double the length of time that had passed between Men In Black and Men In Black II. As you can imagine, this had a profoundly negative impact on audience interest. The final budget came in at $215 million meaning that MIB3 was the most expensive movie yet and despite the decade gap, it made a respectable $624 million at the worldwide box office meaning it was actually more financially and commercially successful than the previous entry into the series. Unfortunately however, it was still the last film for Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

Per Sony's 2014 leaked emails, it was revealed that Sony planned to potentially soft reboot the MIB franchise by crossing it over with their Jump Street franchise that starred Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. In fact at one point, it was almost a certainty as a logo was unveiled at their CinemaCon trade convention presentation as well as the appointment of director James Bobin. However MIB 23 hasn't happened and according to Walter Parkes, it now won't be happening at all. So we can officially deem MIB 23 as dead.

Jump ahead to 2018 and Sony greenlit a Men In Black spinoff that would introduce two brand new agents as well as taking the MIB brand....well, international. Chris Hemsworth signed on to play the lead character agent H in February 2018 with his 'Thor : Ragnarok' co-star, Tessa Thompson joining the following month. Liam Neeson later joined and Emma Thompson reprised her role as O following her first appearance in Men In Black 3 where she took over as the director of MIB's New York headquarters. The partnership of Chris and Tessa seemed to be a guarantee of success for MIB International but unfortunately, more was going on behind the scenes that ultimately caused the MIB spinoff to flop at the box office.

Tensions were once again growing between producer Walter Parkes and the MIB International director F. Gary Gray who persistently ordered script rewrites and eventually took over directorial duties, possibly violating rules of the Directors Guild Of America. In the end, the studio tested two different cuts of the movie, one by its actual director F. Gary Gray and the other by Walter Parkes and unfortunately for both the audience and Gray, Parkes' cut ended up being the one chosen to be released in theatres. On a final budget of $110 million, the film scraped a measly $253 million at the worldwide box office meaning it is the lowest grossing film in the franchise and least profitable overall. It may have done better had we seen the directors original vision but we'll never know. Perhaps the interest just isn't there for Men In Black. Long gaps between films, the market for science fiction cinema becoming saturated as it is and the brand not being especially popular are likely to contribute to the overall failure of the Men In Black franchise. Dare i jest, #ReleaseTheGaryGrayCut?

Maybe one day we'll see some kind of continuation or full reboot of Men In Black. 

For now though, just look right here.

Star Wars : The Mandalorian Review - Chapter 4

Advanced note : This whole thing of being a day late really is becoming a running joke. I'm trying guys but it's becoming increasingly difficult finding time to write up a review on the same day as viewing. I'll continue aiming for Friday reviews but don't be surprised if they don't appear until Saturday.

The Review

The Mandalorian really is that gift that keeps on giving as we hit the halfway mark of the debut season. After the incredible third episode directed by Deborah Chow, this week's episode's directorial reigns are taken up by Bryce Dallas Howard, actress and director in her own right and daughter of veteran filmmaker Ron Howard who himself directed the 2018 Star Wars spinoff 'Solo'. 

Chapter 4 took a very somber tone compared to the previous chapters as Mando found a peaceful settlement to hide out with "Baby Yoda" and we got some additional character exposition with Mando, which seems to be slowly teasing a proper identity reveal as at this time, we still know very little about him. That being said, the best parts of this episode came towards the end with the reveal of raiders having control of a fully functioning AT-ST and seeing it wreak havoc on the settlement at night with its glowing red eye panels was truly something special and acted as a delightful throwback to the original trilogy.

I never expected to see a live action AT-ST on TV

As well as the advancement on plot and fan service with the AT-ST, the episode was also the longest of the season yet, clocking in at 41 minutes and also finally introduced another major character with 'Cara Dune' played by Gina Carano finally making her first appearance and she'll be appearing in at least two more episodes before the season ends which given the major hint at the arc for the remainder of this season that came in the final quarter of the episode, isn't all that surprising. We'll likely be seeing an appearance from Giancarlo Esposito's character 'Moff Gideon' in the next few episodes too.

Overall

Yeah what can i say other than The Mandalorian continues to go from strength to strength and is showing no signs of letting up the hype. Every chapter is delivering something original whilst also being very true to the entire Star Wars mythos and isn't afraid of dropping nods to the universe in other mediums. Much like with Deborah Chow, i hope Bryce is given the chance to direct another episode in the future, possibly even in the second season which is currently filming. Ludwig Goransson continues to provide exceptional music for each chapter that is always a joy to listen back to with the fact that they always hit his spotify on the same day. A good 60% of my playlist is now comprised of his score. All in all, another fantastic chapter and as usual, i can't wait to see what's next.

Chapter 5 review expected Friday!

Justice League : Zack Snyder Cut - Cinematic Examination

In the modern age of cinema, it's hardly unheard of for selected movies to receive some kind of "Director's Cut" with additional footage that didn't make it into the theatrically released version and by extension, the physical home release. Sometimes however, movie productions can make dramatic changes before they even get close to gracing the big screen. That can be just as common with test screenings being effective indicators of if something works in a film or needs to be rewritten or reshot, or both. With 2017's 'Justice League' however, things took a rather unfortunate turn. 

To understand the situation that presented itself with 'Justice League', we must take a trip back in time to the production of Superman II. After Christopher Reeves debut as the Kryptonian superhero became a commercial success, Superman II was well into filming but things had started to go a bit wrong as tensions developed between Donner who wanted basically full control of the production and the producers & crew. About 75% of the sequel had been finished by Donner when he was removed from the production in March 1979 and replaced by Richard Lester. Lester then went on to complete the movie but also rewrote and reshot a substantial amount of Donner's work in order to receive the directorial credit. 

In 2006 however, Richard Donner was finally able to show the world his version of Superman II with the release of the 'Richard Donner Cut' which featured a heap of lost footage that had been shot by him, including footage of Marlon Brando and the original opening and ending. This lead to the film being dramatically different to Lester's version, though it still used a degree of Lester's footage but still meant that Donner finally received his directors credit and his vision was finally completed for all to see.

Which brings us to 'Justice League'.

By this point, 'Batman v Superman : Dawn Of Justice' had received a directors cut in the release of the Ultimate Edition which added an extra half an hour to the movie, allowing for cohesive additions to certain scenes and amped up the rating to R. Yet this is trivial compared to what comes next. In October 2016, production came to an end with Zack Snyder having to step away from the movie after the sad passing of his daughter. Warner Bros drafted in 'Avengers' director Joss Whedon to oversee the post production process. His hiring was the catalyst for the chain of events that followed and resulted in Justice League ultimately bombing.

Lets start with one major fact. By the time Zack stepped away from the project, he had completed his version of the film, having shot everything that he'd wanted in his cut, pending completion of the post production process and this has been confirmed by storyboard artist Jay Olivia and Cyborg actor, Ray Fisher. Warner Bros and Whedon found that Snyder's work on Justice League was too dark and recoloured & regraded a lot of his footage to invoke a brighter & more positive feel. Then Joss Whedon went and rewrote and reshot at least 80 pages of the script, equating to about 80 minutes of the theatrical movie not being Zack Snyder's work at all, bearing in mind that the theatrical cut is 119 minutes long against the apparent 214 minute runtime of Zack Snyder's cut. 

Then, the chop.

The then CEO of Warner Bros pictures, Kevin Tsujihara mandated that the theatrical cut be under two hours, which it just about squeezed into its final runtime (by less than a minute including credits). This meant an entire 95 minutes of Snyder's footage was completely chopped to fit Kevin's demands resulting in the theatrical cut being a very wobbly film with little in the way of cohesive storytelling and essentially meaning that the final movie was not at all the same as the one that Zack had shot. Hell, they even got Danny Elfman in to do a new score even though Junkie XL had already completed the mixing on his. 

 Pivotal scenes where removed including a Darkseid v Ares flashback sequence, Cyborg's origins and his development of his powers, Barry saving Iris from a car accident, additional backstory elements for Arthur Curry that involved Mera, a possible cameo from Martian Manhunter and Alfred meeting Superman. On top of this, pretty much every bit of footage with Henry Cavill was reshot while he had a moustache for his work on Mission Impossible resulting in it having to be removed digitally and we all know how that looked.

Thanks to Zack's continous teasing on his Vero with screengrabs and stills from his cut, we have some assurity that these scenes are still waiting to be seen and appear to have a large degree of completed CGI and VFX. In recent weeks and months, he seems to have amped up the teasing to a new level and more and more of the cast and crew have come out in support of the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement, campaigning for Warner Bros to release Zack's version of the movie. Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ben Affleck, Ciaran Hinds, Ray Porter, Jay Olivia and even Zack himself are just a handful of those who support the movement with many personalities in the industry also tweeting the hashtag in support and joining the campaign. In fact, at this stage, only Henry Cavill has yet to make any kind of contribution to the #ReleaseTheSynderCut movement but its unlikely that he will as his agent is very careful about his publicity and especially around his commitment to the Superman role.

A recent development has seen Warner Bros and Warner Bros pictures follow Zack on Twitter and the official HBO max social media accounts have liked tweets and instagram posts pertaining to the Snyder Cut campaign but that still doesn't mean much at this stage but Zack continues to encourage us not to give up hope for a release and as long as there's hope, there's the possibility that the Snyder Cut could be on the horizon and the seven truly could be united. We'll see.

It took Richard Donner almost thirty years, there's plenty of time yet, right? 

#ReleaseTheSnyderCut

Star Wars : Jedi Fallen Order - Honest Review

After years of Star Wars games ranging from decent to mediocre and on the rare occasion, outright bad, 2019 gave us a Star Wars game that really changed the status quo...almost. 

Star Wars : Jedi Fallen Order is by far the most superior of Star Wars games across the board and especially under the EA banner and thats ultimately down to the fact that this game isn't developed by EA but instead, is the first Star Wars game created by Respawn Entertainment who were behind the ever popular Titanfall games and Apex Legends. That however, doesn't mean its a perfect Star Wars game and in my opinion, it still leaves a lot to be desired. 

Months of secrecy shrouded the game at first other than the fact that it would be entirely story based & would be developed by Respawn with EA simply distributing the game. This was enough to generate a lot of excitement and that was only heightened when the game was revealed in full and marketing and promotion begun. Playing as a Jedi who looks and sounds like 'Gotham' alum Cameron Monaghan in a story set only five years after the events of Revenge Of The Sith was an instant selling point for many of us, myself included and in that respect, it certainly lives up to the hype. Between the array of easter eggs and direct connections to my favourite of the prequels, i had a lot of fun. 

Yet, it still falls short.

I wish i could say that Jedi Fallen Order's shortcomings are merely trivial but unfortunately, that wouldn't be close to the truth. This game has a lot of shortcomings and they're deeply rooted. First off, the actual story. 

The story is far too short in my opinion with only about 15 hours worth of gameplay in it across less than a half a dozen planets. Considering the time spent in development, i expected a big, bulked out game with at least 20-30 hours of gameplay as that is pretty much the standard for major titles in this day and age so i was surprised how quickly i was able to complete it and if that wasn't enough, the story came to such an abrupt and unnatural ending, leaving no real sense of achievement or fulfilment. Both these issues could of course be rendered null with any kind of future DLC addition. Anything is possible.

Secondly, boss fights. This might be my biggest gripe with Jedi Fallen Order. There are several 'bosses' in the game but unfortunately, there's only two real opportunities for a full and honest fight where you defeat the opponent and walk away with that sense of accomplishment. Every other boss fight in the game absolutely robs you of that which i'd say is a rather negative aspect. Even the final surprise boss, Darth Vader only gives you the opportunity to get in a single lightsaber strike before you're forced to retreat and escape from the scenario. There are several other mini bosses in the game such as taking down AT-ST's as well as various creatures, droids and bounty hunters, all of which you have to defeat in their entirety which makes up for the bigger boss fights. Still, it would've been good to properly throw down with Vader, even though by canon it wouldn't have been possible to defeat him fully. 

My third and final issue with the game is more of a trivial and material problem. There's a lot of freezing and texture warping in certain parts of the game as well as drops in the frame rate which can be frustrating and occasionally causes you to fall through the map rather unexpectedly, leading to a requirement for respawning unnecessarily and can give bosses an advantage if you can't move for several seconds and given the Dark Souls level mechanics and difficulty, thats definitely a less than helpful feature. Once again, these issues could easily be fixed by the developers in any future updates (which considering how new the game still is, will likely be a thing of the past for new players).

Overall

Despite my own reservations on the game, i can still recognise that it is the strongest and most enjoyable Star Wars game in recent years and has a lot of potential for expansion in the future. It perhaps could've used more time in the development process to iron out any performance issues but i've seen much worse in games that were in development for a lot longer.  Its great fun to explore new planets, collecting various rewards and upgrades and there's some amazing visuals throughout and thats before you even start slicing up stormtroopers and imperial astromech droids with a double sided custom lightsaber. I'd absolutely recommend it to any Star Wars fan, whether you're an original trilogy, prequel or sequel fan. Star Wars : Jedi Fallen Order gets a 7/10.

Doctor Who - Series 12 Trailer Breakdown

Months of speculation, rumours, false 'leaks' and overabundance of secrets. We finally have the first trailer for Doctor Who Series 12. Lets break it down!

"The name's Doctor, The Doctor"

The first shots of the Series 12 trailer feature the TARDIS herself as well as the team dressed rather sparingly in tuxedos, we don't know much about these scenes yet but its possible they're from the premiere episode. A 50's style filter seems to have been applied to the shot of the team but whether this is actually an editing mistake or purpose done feature is yet to be answered.

A Soyuz Capsule?!

We know literally nothing about this.

The Doctor and her trusty sonic!

Again, we know literally nothing about what's going on here.

A big space laser.

Because it wouldn't be Doctor Who without a big space laser threatening to destroy the planet. We don't have anything to go on about this but instinct says this is from the premiere episode.

That is....an monster.

Is that a hoix?! Hide your doner sticks. (Torchwood fans will get that)

Last time she wore these goggles, she built her sonic.

There's no context here really but Jodie looks good in those goggles, lets not pretend otherwise.

I'm guessing he isn't playing the Minster Of Chance.

Finally, something we have details on. Stephen Fry's character will appear in the series premiere. We don't know who he's playing. His casting press release revealed that he'll be a big part of the first episode where he'll star alongside Lenny Henry. 

The Doctor and Noor Inayat Khan

We don't know anything about this episode other than it is the second of the series and stars Aurora Marion as Noor Inayat Khan and takes place in Paris, 1943 during the french resistance. Its speculated that this episode will be pivotal for Yaz.

Spaceship.

What more do you want, its a spaceship?

Team TARDIS minus Yaz.

There's no real context to go on here but i think its very likely that this is from the Judoon episode.

Bo Sko No Fo Jo To No Mo

One rhino boi. Could just be a normal Judoon but i'm thinking this might be the Judoon commander (the one with the cool arse Mohawk).

Graham and Yaz running enthusiastically. 

There's absolutely nothing to really garner from this. The only thing i've picked up is Graham is wearing the same clothes from 'Resolution'. 

Anjli Mohindra as the Skithra Queen

Anjli Mohindra will return to the whoniverse in Series 12 but this time she'll portray the Queen of the Skithra, a scorpion like species and i can tell you, their resemblance to the Racnoss is no coincidence. This explains the rumours that she'd be in heavy prosthetics earlier this year.

What is The Doctor running from?

Again, there's nothing really to extract from this shot. Could be anything, anywhere. She's running from something though.

Goran Višnjić is another big guest star this series.

The second episode of Series 12 will feature 'ER' and  'Timeless' alum Goran Višnjić as accomplished inventor Nikola Tesla. He'll have a substantial part in this episode and given that the episode itself takes place in 1943, it might be worth keeping your tissues at hand.

LAMP

This shot seems to also be from the second episode. The Doctor is probably talking to Tesla.

That's a dome.

I mean....it's a dome.  A building of significance, another spaceship?

She probably just told him about Elon Musk turning the Tesla name into a car company.

In all seriousness, we don't really know what's going on here. Tesla doesn't seem happy about something though.

Yaz running from a one of the Skithra.

Given that Yaz appears to be dressed in period clothing, it could indicate that the episode featuring the scorpion like Skithra is one of a historical setting. We know there's at least two episodes this series with a period setting. 

"Graham if you don't slow down, i'll pull you over for speeding"

This episode definitely takes place in present day and could well be the series premiere. 

Nicely lit TARDIS, much brighter than last series.

This could be from literally any episode.

That's the same tunnel used in 2009's Planet Of The Dead.

Same Ryan, same.

These two shots are definitely from the same scene and feature a car being driven in reverse towards oncoming traffic coming out of the tunnel. Almost definitely from the premiere again.

Is that...some kind of Dalek....thing?

Whatever that contraption Graham is wearing, it certainly seems to resemble the basic outline of a Dalek dome. The eye piece, the ear bolts. Could just be me though?

Lenny Henry's character certainly seems trigger happy....get it?

There's absolutely no doubting the fact that these shots are from the premiere and they seem to be in the exact same location as the first shots meaning ALL of them are definitely from the premiere. Tuxedo thirteen in episode one folks.

The Doctor meets Noor Inayat Khan

Episode two again. Not much more to say than that. 

"Something's coming for me, i can feel it..."

That something is The Master. Played by Sacha Dhawan. He'll be a big part of the whole 'timeless child' plot which is rumoured to be the central character arc for The Doctor in Series 12. That's all i can say for now. They'll likely keep him out of any of the promotion between now and whenever the series ends up premiering. 

The Cybermen are back.....and they're scarier than ever before.

We know a tiny, tiny bit about this episode. Its set in the Medieval period though the specific century remains a mystery. Anywhere between the 1400s and 1600s is most likely. Nothing is known about the new model of Cybermen but this is the very best look at them so far. It's fair to say though, this is the creepiest design we've ever had for the silver monsters. 

Yaz and Ryan in the present day. Will we finally see some character development?

There's nothing much known about the episodes set in present day Sheffield. What i can tell you is we'll see Shobna Gulati and Daniel Adeboyega again in these episodes.

The fam in the TARDIS...what does The Doctor look so traumatised about?

Given that these are TARDIS scenes, they could take place during any episode at any point in the series. Little point speculating.

Giant....bats?

Perhaps the most unknown and out of the blue thing to come from the trailer, an episode apparently featuring a swarm of giant bats of all things. There is a much clearer shot later on in the trailer.

The Gunpower Plotters

I have it on good authority that these mysterious figures are the six Gunpowder Plotters lead by Guy Fawkes himself. Quite where and when and more importantly, HOW they fit into Series 12 remains a mystery. I can only imagine there'll be part of the Skithra episode. 

Scronch.

No context here. No way of understanding what's going on or what episode this is.

Are you my mummy?

Gas masks and alien guns. Your guess is as good as mine. 

The TARDIS isn't safe anymore.....

The Doctor seems to be in shock as something is able to breach the TARDIS defenses and force its way into the console room. The trailer doesn't definitively show us what it is but the bit that we do see looks kind of like a Judoon helmet but it could just be a trick of the light.

Bats and a beach.

Last time Jodie was runing on a beach, there was a body there too. Yes, i hate myself too. These shots appear to connect back to the shot of a lab earlier in the trailer that was being overrun with giant bats. Lets hope that body that's washed up isn't one of our team.

Yaz is crying. Ryan is crying. Should we be worried?

With Bradley Walsh's schedule seemingly getting busier outside of Doctor Who, could Series 12 deal us a hell of a blow by killing off the legendary character that is Graham O'Brien? I certainly hope not but i honestly can't rule it out as a possibility. His death could be a huge opportunity for some real character centric development for both the younger companions and The Doctor herself.

Doctor Who has a bad history with planes is all i'm saying.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that this shot is from the premiere and will be a big part of that episode. Beyond that, my lips are sealed.

Yaz and Graham in danger?

I'm not entirely sure what's going on here but it looks like Yaz and Graham could get into some serious heat. I'm also not sure what episode its from but i'd guess present day. Episode one?

What has shocked The Doctor?

The final shot of the trailer shows a shocked Doctor looking up at something that clearly has her attention and fear. What it is and which episode its from is unknown.

New Years Day?

Strangely, the trailer didn't give a definitive air date which is why i personally don't hang too much on the tabloids reporting that Series 12 will be premiering on New Years Day. It could still be New Years Day or January in general but for now, we're still left with "Early 2020". 

With that, our Series 12 trailer breakdown is complete! 

If another trailer is released anytime soon, you can expect another full breakdown!