Captain America: Civil War Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on May 6th, 2016

At this point it's a pretty obvious fact that Marvel tends to deliver the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to things like action, superheroes, and everything in between. But every so often, they deliver something truly remarkable, a film which grounds itself to realism to the point of it being compared to the greats of all time, rather than just a comic book movie. Captain America: Civil War fits that description the fullest extent.


At this point, the team-up film is Marvel Studios’ bread and butter. They set the world on fire back in 2012 with Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, and in the years since then have repeatedly orchestrated creative groupings and pairings that continue to demonstrate the tremendous fun and inventiveness that comes from bringing engaging, interesting characters together. They repeatedly set a high bar in this area, and are not only constantly reaching for it with each new project, but basically have the entire industry doing it, too. Now, however, we have Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War, which succeeds in raising the bar higher than you’d think it could go, in almost every area you could think of, keep that "almost" in mind for a little later.

Functioning as both a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Solider and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film is the most comprehensive Marvel Cinematic Universe chapter to date, and while that put a great deal on the plate of writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie soars because the challenge is accepted and responded to in brilliant and entertaining fashion. Bringing together tremendous character dynamics; bold structure; an emotional narrative earned after years of story work; and spell-binding, fun action sequences, it’s everything a blockbuster should be.

Loosely based on the 2006-2007 Marvel Comics event series with which it partially shares a title, Captain America: Civil War picks up with its titular character (Chris Evans) working with his Avengers teammates – Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) – to stop terror around the globe. After a mission in Africa winds up causing a tremendous deal of collateral damage, however, the team suddenly finds itself under scrutiny and the subject of controversy.

In order to put the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in check, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) presents the team – as well as former members Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – the opportunity to sign the Sokovia Accords: a document named after the destroyed city from The Avengers: Age of Ultron that would force The Avengers to work under a United Nations panel that would determine exactly when and where the team would go into action. This idea is supported by some, including Tony, Vision, Black Widow and War Machine, but Captain America, Falcon and Scarlet Witch are not shy about their resentfulness of the idea.

The Sokovia Accords are the powder keg, and it winds up being Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider (Sebastian Stan) who lights the fuse. A terrorist attack is pinned on Captain America’s best-friend-turned-assassin, and while Cap is instructed to leave the situation alone, it’s an order that he rebels against – turning him into a fugitive. All the while, a mysterious man named Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) operates in the shadows, searching for key information tied to Bucky’s past.

Captain America: Civil War features what is unquestionably the largest ensemble we’ve seen yet in a Marvel Studios movie, and while the narrative isn’t quite as strong as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where the film makes up for it is in its tremendous character work – both in its understanding of who these pop culture figures are at their core, and having them play off of each other.

There’s no better example of the former in the film than Chadwick Boseman as the newly introduced T’challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, who is every bit as regal, intelligent, bold and passionate as the hero is on the page. And that's the thing with the characters in the movie. Although it's the largest ensemble of heroes we've seen on screen, no one really feels forced when they're on screen. Characters like Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye/Clint Barton, and Paul Rudd Ant-Man/Scott Lang don't necessarily have the same screentime as the heavy hitters like Cap or Tony, but the scenes they're in create audience hype regardless. On that note, Rudd's role in this movie was surprisingly one of my favourite parts of the movie itself. Granted he doesn't necessarily have a full character story of his own, but the charisma and humour he brings to the screen is delightful nonetheless, showing that not every character has to have their own solo movie to please audience desire.

Speaking of the hidden card in the movie, Tom Holland's Spider-Man/Peter Parker was truly incredible, much better than I expected. His whole story and key moments will be left out of this review, to truly keep it spoiler-free, but it should be noted that although he has minimal screentime, his first impression clearly outranks that of Tobey Macguire and Andrew Garfield, exciting me even more for Spider-Man: Homecoming come time for 2017.

This film isn’t just about singular impressive performances, however: it’s an opportunity to see how these heroes both relate to each other and act when they are at odds, and the work done by the Russo brothers and Markus and McFeely is stunning. The headliner, of course, is the key conflict between Captain America and Iron Man - whose emotional battle will tear at the heartstrings of every fan like they’re watching their own parents go through a messy divorce – but the truth is that this is a feature where you can throw a rock and hit amazing character dynamics. As best friends of Cap, teammates, and former opponents, Falcon and Bucky have one of the most complex relationships in the movie, and it actually translates into a ton of laughs whenever they’re paired up. On the more serious side of the story, Wanda and Vision are wonderfully brought together, not only because of their relationship in the comics but also because there is a bond between them as “newborns” in the superhero realm. Somehow, everybody gets a moment with everybody, and yet Civil War has zero fat and never swings too far away from the central plot.

But once again, this is a Marvel movie, and as such, the villain is yet again lacklustre to the core. It's not that Daniel Bruhl as Zemo (I refuse to call him Baron Zemo, given the fact that no single person refers to him as that), but he just felt forced in up until the very end, where his true motives were revealed. And even then it just felt uncomfortable, since the main conflict, that being the Civil War itself, was over. However, I'd be willing to overlook that given the scale and scope of the movie itself.

It’s easy to respect Captain America: Civil War because of the emotional and thoughtful approach it takes towards its characters instead of just having them punching and kicking each other – but the punching and kicking happens to be pretty phenomenal as well. In terms of action sequences, Marvel features have come a long way since the mediocre final battle in the original Iron Man, and while Joe and Anthony Russo blew us away with battles and set pieces in Captain America: The Winter Solider, their sequel ups the ante in every away. From the Avengers’ explosive mission at the start of the film to Cap and Winter Soldier’s attempt to escape from a building teeming with cops, it’s all intricately crafted and incredibly memorable. It should be noted, however, that every scene in the movie pales in comparison to the airport-set hero vs. hero battle in the second act – which I do not hesitate to call the greatest scene in the history of the comic book movie genre. Oh boy does that scene pack a punch, literally speaking. Seeing that ensemble of heroes fighting on the screen seemed like a fantasy up until a couple years ago, so to see that come to fruition was too good to describe in words here. Each character and their abilities gets to shine throughout, although it wouldn't have hurt to showcase Vision's abilities a little more. All that aside, it truly does set itself up to be the greatest action sequence, and sequence in general, in the comic book genre.

Overall, Captain America: Civil War yet again shows that when Marvel hires the right minds to both direct and write, what comes out of that pairing is pure gold and nothing else. With a couple nitpicks here and there in the forms of Daniel Bruhl's Zemo, this is easily Marvel's most mature and intuitive movie to date, setting up our heroes on a tricky path for what's yet to come in the next two Avengers sequels.


KhanFlix Rating: 9/10


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Krampus Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on December 11, 2015

When you think of holiday movies, the first things that come to mind are warm and fuzzy stories where, no matter the trials and tribulations, everyone hugs at the end and walks away feeling good, right? But for every Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life, there is a horror movie that takes a darker side of Christmas, like Silent Night, Deadly Night, Rare Exports, or Christmas Evil. This season, director Michael Dougherty is looking to get in on the act and do for Jesus’ birthday what he did for Halloween with Trick ‘R Treat, with his new horror comedy Krampus. The results are mixed at best, and something of a tonal mismatch.


Krampus putters along for a while with the story of a dysfunctional, mismatched family begrudgingly gathering together for an attempt at holiday cheer. There’s dad, Tom (Adam Scott), mom, Sarah (Toni Collette), daughter, Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), and the son, Max (Emjay Anthony), who, though he knows Santa is total BS, still believes and clings to the true Christmas spirit. Then there’s the stereotypically shitty redneck in-laws: Howard (David Koechner), Linda (Allison Tomlin), and their kids that don’t really matter because they only exist to be terrible.

They also live with Tom’s German mom, Omi (Krista Stadler), who, when things start going south, knows what’s really going on, but only chooses to share when it’s too late to do anything proactive. Though when she does reveal what she knows, she does it in a Coraline-esque animated flashback scene, so there’s that.

Getting the whole family together is little more than a set up to let you know that Tom and Sarah have issues and for the ultra-manly, Hummer-driving, shotgun-toting Howard to question Tom’s manhood. You’ve been through all of this many times before, and the cast is far too good to be wasted on this bland, tedious set up. It’s not the worst thing you’ve ever seen, but full of obvious, too-easy jokes, neither is it interesting in any way, and the script from Dougherty, Todd Casey, and Zach Shields gives them nothing memorable to do.

However, after awkwardly bumbling around for a while, trying to increase the tension by introducing the idea of Krampus, a kind of horned, cloven-hooved anti-Santa Claus who shows up when all hope and Christmas cheer is lost, things take a wingnut turn and go completely off the deep end, in the best possible way.

Once Krampus moves beyond the tedious, predictable set up, shit gets all kinds of crazy. On his own, the titular monster is a dark, sinister figure feeding on misery, and there’s definite promise in the legend. But he is also far from alone in his quest, and his henchmen are gleefully demented, or as Howard says, “Twisted, fairytale horseshit.” We’re talking a kid-eating Jack-in-the-Box, demonic gingerbread men wielding a nails gun, and a teddy bear with far more teeth than you expect. Then there’s his cadre of dark elves, which, more than creatures, resemble little dudes in creepy masks, lending a sinister air to the manic insanity. In all honesty, his underlings do most of the dirty work, including chimney fishing for a fat kid (it makes sense when you see it), while the big guy, in true supervisor fashion, just kind of hangs back orchestrating it all and looking scary.

All of this mayhem isn’t enough to entirely save Krampus, which ends with a whimper, wrapping up in appropriately bland fashion. Though there’s nothing particularly scary, especially for even a moderately seasoned horror fan, there are a handful of eerie practical special effects, and while you’re in the middle, it’s goddamned fun.

There are enough fantastic, frantic, entertaining-as-hell elements in Krampus—once it hits its stride, it’s not afraid to feed small children to flesh-hungry monsters— that, as great as they can be in the moment, primarily serve to show you what could have been. There’s basically an act’s worth a madness and frenetic disorder, propped up by two of dreary tedium.

This could have been a new, left-of-center holiday classic in the vein of Gremlins—the potential is there—but with the pat, we-need-to-remember-how-much-we-really-love-each-other platitudes, the tacked on postscript ending, and insipid set up, there’s little more to cling to than a few brilliantly insane moments. That’s not enough to make it a new classic or a must-watch, but for some of you this will be a welcome treat sitting underneath your cinematic Christmas tree this holiday season.

KhanFlix Rating: 6.5/10


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Creed Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on December 11, 2015

It all seems vaguely improbable, but maybe only as improbable as a small-time boxer being given a shot at the title. Somehow, almost 40 years after the first film, Sylvester Stallone is back as the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa. Even more improbable is that the newest installment in the Rocky franchise, Creed, is really quite good.

Opening in 1998, Creed introduces us to a young Adonis Johnson. Adonis has bounced around from foster home to juvenile detention never having known his father and with his mother having passed away. In one facility he is tracked down by Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), Apollo Creed's widow, who takes him home and raises him as her own. Johnson isn't her son, his mother had an affair with Apollo Creed, but that seems not to matter to her.

The film cuts to the present day and a grown up Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) wanting to be a fighter and realizing that he wants his father's old enemy turned best friend, Rocky Balboa, to train him. Hesitant at first, Rocky agrees.


The scenes between Rocky and Adonis are one of the highlights of the movie. Watching the two men size each other up, figuring out what the other is made of could not be more enjoyable. Along the way, Adonis finds love with a singer, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), and she too becomes a part of Rocky's life and struggles (yes, Rocky has problems all his own despite this movie being about Adonis).

Perhaps the Ryan Coogler film is best understood in the same light as its main character, Adonis Johnson, himself. Creed could easily be called Rocky VII: Creed, but the movie, like Johnson, is reluctant to take the name. Like Johnson, it wants to earn its right to be here, to be a boxing film about more than just boxing, it doesn't want to simply trade on its lineage.

Also like Adonis, in the end, the movie does just that – it trades on that lineage. What's more, Creed proves worthy.

In order to get his shot at the title against "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Anthony Bellew), Adonis has to take the name Creed – there's no money in the fight if it isn't a Creed fight and so Conlan's manager, Tommy Holiday (Graham McTavish), insists on Adonis taking the name. After thinking about it, Adonis agrees to do that which he hasn't done to this point, to fight as Creed.

As a film, despite not having the name, Creed entirely trades on its parentage. It is full of clips of past Rocky movies, it is full of discussions about those movies and the dangers of boxing. It is full of music from the old movies, it has training montages, and it has the same underdog-tries-to-make-the-most-of-his-shot enthusiasm.

Of course, there's a reason why there have been six previous installments in the Rocky franchise – it's a tried and true formula. Everyone loves a sports story where they get to root for the underdog; and it doesn't hurt if the action in the ring is great as well.

In the end, like any Rocky movie, Creed has to deliver great boxing, and it does that in spades. Adonis' first fight with Rocky as his trainer is filmed in what is made to seem like a single shot, the camera dancing around the ring almost as a third opponent. It is incredible to watch unfold. The second fight, the climax of the film, isn't quite as wonderfully orchestrated, but it still manages to get those in the theater cheering for Adonis to flatten Conlan.

While no one would blame Stallone for not wanting to appear in this Rocky movie that's not all that much about Rocky, Stallone gives it his all. This isn't the same young boxer who was in the first movie, but he does seem like the absolutely logical progression of the character we have seen through the years; he's the same sort of lovable lug now that he was then.

As for Jordan, he's outstanding. The movie does try a little too hard to tell us just how much Adonis is like Apollo – he doesn't have to be all that much like a man he never met – but he's more than believable as a young man struggling to figure out who he is and where he belongs. Jordan is charismatic and memorable, and makes Adonis a fully-realized character.

Anyone who goes to Creed looking for the movie to deliver something new and different from what they have seen before is going to be sorely disappointed. Creed is a mirror of Rocky's story and we have all been watching that unfold on the big screen for decades. Coogler's film does nothing to break the mold. Rather, it shows that the mold exists for a reason. Jordan delivers a knockout performance, and Stallone does as well. In the end, we can all only hope that we'll get to see Adonis on screen for just as long as we've seen Rocky.


KhanFlix Rating: 8.5/10


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In The Heart of the Sea review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on December 11, 2015

Ask anyone what they think of when you mention the title Moby Dick, and they'll probably tell you a tale of revenge, obsession, and hatred. While Herman Melville's novel indeed covers all of that ground, and then some, it's only part of what In The Heart Of The Sea manages to cover. Rather, the story that inspired Melville, and his journey to capture it, are the focus of Ron Howard's latest directorial effort, and the result is a triumphant sea epic the likes of which we haven't seen in some time.


After a promise to command his own vessel is deferred, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is ordered to serve as First Mate to the inexperienced, yet well connected George Pollard Jr. (Benjamin Walker.) Their vessel was the Whaleship Essex, their journey was deemed implausibly scuttled, yet after years of silence and secrecy, the true story of a crew of sailors versus a seemingly demonic white whale will be revealed by one of the surviving crew members (Brendan Gleeson) to the man who would make it famous (Ben Whishaw).

In The Heart Of The Sea would make for a great double feature with 2003's Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, though it's probably best to watch the more recent film first. While it's got its fair share of action, the latest film in the Ron Howard filmography is definitely more of a bleak affair than its more adventurous number. That's not to say that this film is inferior, rather that the nature of its material is of a nature that is more gravely series – especially considering this film is based on a true story.

The most impressive aspect about In The Heart Of The Sea is the ensemble cast that the film has assembled to tell its tale. With Chris Hemsworth making his second appearance in a Ron Howard film, the deck was always stacked for greatness. However, special attention should also be paid to Benjamin Walker and Tom Holland, as the two actors match Hemsworth pound for pound in dramatic gravitas. In particular, Holland has shown just why his star has been rising so quickly as of late, with younger version of Brendan Gleeson's Thomas Nickerson showing a good deal of chemistry with that of the Australian actor.

If there's any downside to In The Heart Of The Sea, it's the fact that you really need to be in the mood to watch it. For all intents and purposes, it is a film that is excellent in caliber, and manages to keep the audience entertained with its tale of survival on the high seas. However, despite the way the commercials have been selling the film, Ron Howard's whaling epic is more of a classical slow burn than a thrill-packed action bonanza. This film was made for patient, discerning audiences who want to hear a story, while being entertained in the process.

With so much cinematic junk food out in the world at any given moment, films like In The Heart Of The Sea are important, as they present living history in such a way that it makes them seem more like cinematic experiences and less like mere adaptations. Howard's directorial hand is as strong as ever, with Hemsworth more than holding up his end of the bargain on the acting side. Here's hoping that this film not only performs well at the box office, but also that it ensures the continued pairing of these two expert entertainers.


KhanFlix Rating: 8/10


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Concussion Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on December 11, 2015

When watching football, fans love to celebrate the big hits. After all, players hitting each other is a key part of the sport, and huge sacks and tackles can perfectly illustrate one team’s dominance over another. They’re replayed constantly during the game, often in slow motion, and there are shows that dedicate blocks of time to ranking the roughest takedowns of the week. This probably won’t change after the release of writer/director Peter Landesman’s Concussion, but what may is the way we think about it. More than just muscle and plastic armor brutally clashing together, it’s brains being throttled around an individual’s skull. It’s an impressive thing for any film to change a perspective like that, and while the movie does suffer from narrative flaws that are organic to the true story being told, it still comes together as a compelling drama anchored by a great lead performance.


The story centers around Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), a Nigeria-born forensic pathologist who is working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he stumbles upon something absolutely massive. Following the death of Mike Webster (David Morse) - a Hall of Fame former center for the Pittsburgh Steelers who spent his retirement years experiencing dementia and living in his pickup truck – Omalu is assigned the autopsy, and discovers something very strange. Despite the fact that Webster had been self-mutilating, reported hearing voices, and experienced double vision and dizziness, his brain seems to be entirely fine, and CT scans are perfectly normal. Unwilling to let it go, and using his own money to pay for the tests, Omalu investigates deeper and winds up discovering the neurodegenerative disease that he dubs chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

While Omalu initially believes that his work will be celebrated by the National Football League, he is disturbed to learn that they have the exact opposite reaction, attempting to denounce both him and his work. Unwilling to back down in the face of one of the biggest corporate entities in the country – not to mention death threats from football fans – Omalu continues his research alongside forensic consultant Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) and former Steelers team doctor Dr. Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin), and pushes for fundamental changes to be made to protect those who play the game now, and those who will play in the future.

Portrayals of players like Mike Webster, Justin Strzelczyk (Matthew Willig), and Andre Waters (Richard T. Jones) really drive home the devastating effects of CTE in emotional fashion, and the film pulls no punches in its portrayal of the NFL – which truly looks terrible in its complete ignorance and dismissals of calls for help. Both of these elements reinforce the import of Concussion, and give it significant weight, though the movie is somewhat undercut by the restrictions that come with telling a true story. For example, there’s absolutely no denying Omalu’s importance in the discovery of CTE and exposing serious problems within the NFL, but at the same time, it’s ultimately not his direct action that winds up getting the issue acknowledged within the league – and is at times specifically left out of the picture. This, in combination with the fact that head injuries are still very much an issue in the sport of football, give the feature a few hurdles that it can’t quite leap over by the time it arrives at the finish line.

Landesman works to offset these narrative troubles by making Concussion more about Dr. Bennet Omalu’s story and his American dream. This doesn’t entirely work, however, as the controversy is simply more interesting than the doctor’s personal life (which involves his growing relationship with his would-be wife Prema Mutiso, played by an unfortunately underutilized Gugu Mbatha-Raw). This focus also really prevents any kind of significant look behind the scenes of the National Football League and their actions in response to Omalu’s findings. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell – what you think might be a significant part - is played by Luke Wilson in the film, but if you blink a few too many times you may actually miss him. Really the biggest representatives for the organization are Hill Harper as “Christopher Jones,” a guy who really just walks around and looks sinister; and Arliss Howard as a doctor working with the NFL who is around for all of one scene.

s Still, the movie does present Will Smith the opportunity to dig into a strong character, and his performance deserves acclaim. Dr. Bennet Omalu is a man who is intensely passionate about both his work and being an American, and Smith keys into those elements to drive a really wonderful turn. Though he has been known to occasionally wear “Movie Star” on his sleeve, the actor puts in a thoroughly authentic performance as Omalu, accent and all. It’s far from the typical turn that we expect from him – as he turns down the charisma a few notches and flips off the joke switch – but he maintains his commanding presence and is as easy to root for as ever.

Concussion is driven forward by a legitimately eye-opening investigation into some disturbing territory, and that element alone makes it worth seeing and notable – despite the flaws featured in the classic David vs. Goliath story at its center. It’s affecting and effective material, and it may very well change the way audiences watch their favorite sport.

KhanFlix Rating: 7.5/10


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Straight Outta Compton Review

Written by John Smith on August 12, 2012.

When it first came out back in the summer of 1988, N.W.A’s debut album Straight Outta Compton sounded like a harrowing distress call from the streets of South Central Los Angeles. It was urgent, angry, and alive in a way that West Coast hip-hop hadn’t yet dared to be. In the album’s rat-a-tat opening lines, Ice Cube delivers a blistering salvo of pent-up frustration from the “gang called Niggaz With Attitude.” The rapper’s choice of words wasn’t arbitrary. NWA was a gang. Maybe not in the traditional sense, but they were a tight-knit brotherhood forged through their collective experiences with poverty, prejudice, and police harassment. Even when you left, you were never really out.




What would happen to N.W.A over the next decade (the bitter infighting, solo careers, rivalries, riches, and the death of Eric “Eazy-E” Wright from AIDS in 1995) is enough to fuel a dozen Behind the Music episodes. And, at times, F. Gary Gray’s fast, furious, and funny N.W.A biopic feels exactly like that, fast-forwarding through the group’s highlights and lowlights without getting too deep beneath the surface. But what a surface it is. There are moments in Straight Outta Compton when the music is so thrilling and fierce, it’s enough to give you goose bumps – like a scene near the mid-way point of the film when O’Shea Jackson Jr. (playing his real-life father Ice Cube) scowls and spits the retaliation rap “No Vaseline” after being called out as a Benedict Arnold for leaving N.W.A. Gray’s film has just enough moments like that one that, if you’re like me, you’ll forgive its more melodramatic clichés and just surrender to its raw, brass-knuckle force.

Straight Outta Compton opens in 1986. For those too young to recall that era, Gray uses archival footage and news reports to sketch out that this is the height of the crack epidemic and L.A.’s Bloods-and-Crips turf wars. Eric “Eazy-E” Wright (played by Jason Mitchell), the “hardest” of the teens who will become N.W.A, is swept up in that lethal lifestyle. When we first meet him, he narrowly escapes being killed in a guns-drawn dispute at a dope house that’s raided by the LAPD – maybe the only time in his short, tragic life that a brush with the cops will bounce in his favor. Meanwhile, Andre “Dr. Dre” Young (Corey Hawkins) is hustling to get his DJ career off of the ground while his pal Ice Cube is busy observing the brutal world around him, a rapper/reporter penning rhymes in a journal. Soon, along with DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), they will come together in the studio and channel their surroundings into a Molotov cocktail captured on vinyl.

The first – and best – third of the film is essentially N.W.A’s origin story: their aspirations, assembly, and earliest recordings that lead them to put their faith in a seemingly paternal manager (Paul Giamatti, with a shock of grey hair and a series of velour track suits) who ultimately chisels everyone but Eazy-E out of their share of money and credit (eventually, he’ll cheat him too). As NWA goes on tour to promote Straight Outta Compton playing to packed houses, partying with a parade of naked groupies, and becoming the outlaw provocateurs of Gangsta Rap, Gray’s film gathers force, hinting at the beefs and betrayals to come. First, there’s the looming, hulking presence of Suge Knight (R. Marcus Taylor), an ex-con ex-bodyguard who whispers arsenic into Dre’s ear. Then, there’s Eazy-E’s power-hungry paranoia and health problems, which Gray telegraphs with jackhammer-subtle coughing fits – the kind of narrative laziness that ultimately prevents Compton from being great.

Written by Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman, Compton is the kind of movie that can sweep you up in its thrall one moment and then leave you scratching your head the next. It’s hugely entertaining and occasionally maddening. In a scene that manages to be one of the film’s most powerful and phoniest, the group is shown hanging out in front of the studio taking a break from recording their first album when a squad car pulls up and proceeds to humiliate and harass them because they look like gangbangers. The sequence has an eerie and revolting timeliness as specific to 2015 as it is to 1988. But before it’s allowed to sink in and resonate, Gray cuts to Ice Cube behind the mic rapping his response to the incident, “F— Tha Police.” Surely, the cause-and-effect couldn’t have happened that quickly. It’s a cheat. But Gray has a lot of story to pack into two hours and change and the clock is ticking …

When Cube eventually leaves the group feeling shortchanged and disrespected, the actors (who are uniformly excellent) make you feel the pain of the divorce. They give you the sense of how fast their world is moving and how hard it is to get off the ride. Soon, Dre jumps too, fatefully hitching his wagon for a time with Knight, who’s painted as a sort of Thug-life Caligula with his penchant for terrorizing rivals with his Dobermans when he’s not using the blunt, business end of the gun stuffed in his sizable waistband. For him, violence isn’t just something in N.W.A’s lyrics, it’s a way of life. Not for nothing did he name his and Dre’s company “Death Row.”

In its final stretch, Compton skitters from one momentous milestone in the history of hip-hop to the next: Here’s Dre writing The Chronic with his laid-back new protege Snoop Dogg; here’s Cube writing the script for Friday; here’s Eazy-E smoking too much weed while his crooked manager scams him; here they all are watching the riots after the Rodney King verdict. Gray does his best to keep the momentum going while jumping back and forth between storylines, but with so much ground to cover, he lets certain threads slip from his grasp. At one point, Dre leads the police on a high-speed car chase, gets arrested, and it’s never mentioned again. It’s a tribute to how compelling N.W.A’s story is that you almost don’t care about narrative lapses like that. Straight Outta Compton is a hugely entertaining film that works best if you don’t look at it too closely and just listen.


KhanFlix Rating: 7/10


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Fantastic Four Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on August 6, 2015.

Before this review gets started, let's just recap on the "publicity" of this flick. We went from having incredible hype in production, to atrocious BTS drama with the director involving heavy reshoots, then came onto decent trailers, followed by a REVIEW EMBARGO until 2 days of release, so I mean, it should come as no shock why Fox wanted to keep Fantastic 4 a secret from the human eyes.




Fantastic 4 is directed by Josh Trank, who previously directed the surprise-hit Chronicle, and stars Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell as the titular group of four, who obtain mysterious powers after a freak accident in space goes awry. Anyways, now that the obligatory mentioning is out of the way, let's get this "obligatory" review over with.

Looking at comic book movies today, you'd think that we have escaped the reaches of those god awful attempts we know from the past. Movies like Batman & Robin, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Ghost Rider, and even the original Fantastic Four movies, all remind us how lucky we are to finally have movies that do us some justice. With the now ever-popular tones of dark, gritty, grounded concepts and CGI advancements, you'd think that making a movie as bad as the aformentioned titles would be impossible correct? Wrong. Fantastic Four has easily got to be one of, and it honestly hurts me to say this, the worst comic book movies ever to hit the big screen. Let me explain.

Simply put, this entire movie feels like exposition leading up to a movie that never happens. It tries so hard to spend time on building up this supposed world that would pave the way for sequels and crossovers and such, that it forgets to make the original movie interesting in itself. Mentioning the "world" aspect, Marvel Studios seems to have made that a comic book must-have at this point, with the incredible success of the Avengers movies and spinoffs showing great return, but mainly due to how stellar the writing and quality was of the individual movies. With Fantastic Four, they try to sell the audience on an idea of a world unexplored, that it makes the one you're forced to watch incredibly dull and bland.

And while a movie is more than its setting, Fantastic Four fails to captivate the viewer on even the most basic of necessities; character development. In this movie, each character exhibits incredible new abilities that seem great at first, but the tone used to display how the four dealt with said abilities was nowhere near dark or grounded; it was basically horror. Now I'm not saying that introducing a new take on an origin story is bad. It should be welcomed with open arms, but only if the welcome leads to a decent goodbye. The pacing of these developments is so uneven that the entire "exposition" feel that should've granted these characters and their abilities a decent payoff, makes for the weakest of battles, in a climax that drew no intensity or suspense as far as I could tell. And that's another thing.

The villain in this movie. It's not like Victor Von Doom, or "Dr. Doom" as his comic counterpart exists, is a hard villain to do. In the right hands, he would be sensational, arguably one of the best the comic-book genre would have to offer. But the poor handling of his character, abilities, and even aura was almost laughable. He would be much more in place within a comedy and that's not something you want in an almost horror movie at this point.

Now I know that I've roasted quite a bit on the overall integrity this movie presented, but in no way should it be blamed on the actors themselves, for the most part. This movie had some world-class talent in its young actors, and that's the ultimate disappointment in itself. If you're a studio who's just managed to secure Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell in the same movie after a year of their most incredible performances to date, and waste it on this, I don't even know what to say. The relationships between these characters are beyond forced, showing no chemistry whatsoever, and even the "comedic" jokes are ones that will fly by you no matter the age. And it's a shame, because by the looks of the cast, it's a major letdown.

Fantastic Four

boasts a team that should be an incredible opportunity for a studio, seeing as their smaller size compared to the X-Men franchise, and family element as compared to the Avengers franchise, should boast for incredible story and real connection between audience and screen, but yet again fails to deliver even that on a primitive level.

Simply put, Fantastic Four is an appetizer, teasing a meal that doesn’t actually come. It is a true origin story which simply does not originate to anything other than a mediocre universe set-up which I personally doubt many will want to see should it come time for the sequel to hit theaters in two years.


KhanFlix Rating: 2/10


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Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 28, 2015.

The most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, pulse-racing action set piece in Christopher McQuarrie’s frantically enjoyable Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation finds franchise centerpiece and all-around indestructible action icon Tom Cruise submerged in water where he’s forced to hold his breath and battle extreme obstacles to reach an unobtainable goal. No, strike that, the scene we’ll all be talking about afterwards has to be the Morocco car pursuit – which morphs into a high-speed motorcycle chase – that McQuarrie puts right after the thrilling underwater dive sequence. Alright, fine, if we’re being honest, the benchmark scene in Rogue Nation arguably is the trailer-ready shot of Cruise’s super agent Ethan Hunt clinging to the side of a massive A-400 airplane as he waits for Benji (Simon Pegg), his tech-savvy sidekick, to open a portal.



I guess my point is that rival action thrillers would kill to have one of the intricate, physically demanding and just plain damn cool set pieces that I’ve briefly described above. Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation has a half-dozen, at least, and they’re all connected by a taut, menacing spy plot conceived and executed by the intelligent action director Christopher McQuarrie. (He did Jack Reacher with Tom Cruise, and if you haven’t seen that yet, you are honestly missing out.)

Rogue Nation is a ride. It accepts the gauntlet thrown down by Brad Bird’s Ghost Protocol, staging hugely impressive set pieces while furthering a stronger story that makes better use of Ethan Hunt’s entire MIF team (meaning Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames and Pegg aren’t sidelines there). It introduces stunning new characters in the mysterious Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson, essentially the female Hunt) and the sinister Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). And it’s incredibly fun. It annoys me that I have to phrase it this way, but the fact that the Mission sequels continue to improve film after film – from M:I 3 to Ghost Protocol to this – is impossible. And yet, it’s happening, so why not enjoy the experience?

By the time Rogue Nation begins, the actions of the IMF – the Impossible Mission Force – in previous films have them on the shit list of the U.S. government. Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin, playing the perfect shade of frustrated in his too-brief role) lobbies to disband the team of covert agents, and absorb its best assets into the CIA. That can’t happen, however, because Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is dangerously close to finally learning the true identities and motives of The Syndicate, an anti-IMF led by the mousy but malicious Lane (Harris), the latest “feline” in Hunt’s new cat-and-mouse game. Hunt and his frequent cohort, Benji (Simon Pegg), must globetrot from Vienna and Morocco to London in pursuit of a cyber MacGuffin. Really, they’re just staying two steps ahead of both the CIA and the Syndicate, or Lane’s plans of eliminating a string of world leaders might come to pass.

A substantial story is appreciated, but you come to Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation seeking thrills, and this movie delivers. The fifth Mission film grabs you by the throat immediately, and rarely releases its relentlessly tight grip for a full two hours. That spectacular airplane stunt you no doubt already witnessed opens the film in a splashy Bond-esque fashion, yet even as McQuarrie and Cruise settle in to the current mission, the movie hardly ever takes its foot off the gas. Whenever Rogue Nation does slow down, it’s to enhance the characters, most of which we have grown to trust and care for over the years. The 007 comparisons don’t stop there, though, as McQuarrie places a handful of colorful adversaries in Ethan’s way, from the notorious “Bone Doctor” (a whiz with surgical knives) to a hulking henchman Hunt must dispense of in a riveting fight scene set in the Vienna Opera House. It’s in these moments that Rogue Nation is at its funniest, allowing Cruise’s tireless agent to show signs of fatigue, yet only pausing briefly before catching his breath – literally, and figuratively – and completing the mission. The Mission films actually set themselves apart from Bond (or, the current state of Bond) by happily embracing the elements that make the blockbuster fun. In my favorite gesture, Cruise, this time out, has a habit of shrugging at the camera and raising one eyebrow during the craziest scenes, as if to say, “Yeah, I’m a little shocked we’re attempting this, but you’re here. I’m here. Let’s give it a whirl and see how it goes!”

To his credit, and to the credit of everyone around him, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation goes extremely well, maintaining the levels of thrills, suspense, espionage and impossible stunt work that were established by previous directors Brian De Palma, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird. (The John Woo one really didn’t happen right? We can all agree on that?) But on its own, it mixes the glamour and prestige of its international settings with the IMF agents doing what they need to do to get their hands dirty and complete the assigned mission. If action’s your game, I can’t imagine overlooking this riveting, breathlessly-paced sprint through some inspired set pieces. Oh, and Cruise runs. A lot. Seriously, Rogue Nation solidifies the fact that Tom Cruise is the quintessential action star, carrying the quintessential action franchise. With all due respect to 007, at the moment, nobody does it better.


KhanFlix Rating: 9.5/10


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Paper Towns Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 23, 2015.

Paper Towns concerns a cool girl who makes herself the high school gone girl. She intricately plots an escape-from-Orlando plan—and leaves clues of whereabouts in parental palaces, places of squalor, and the pages of Wikipedia—after committing a series of suburban breaking-and-entering crimes.



What’s cool about Paper Towns is that even though she’s seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, it does allow the cool girl, the manic pixie dream girl, the Suburban Pennsatucky, Margo (Cara Delevingne), to make choices for herself. But what’s coolest is the friendship between three high school boys: Quentin (Nat Wolff), Ben (Austin Abrams), and Radar (Justice Smith).

This trio of band kids embark on a road trip to find Margo after she’s run away, and it’s a road trip worth taking. Their prom dates (Halston Sage and Jaz Sinclair) are in tow, but Paper Towns is mostly about boys chasing paper-thin constructs of girls and discovering more texture. It’s the sweet-natured, non-jaded, middle class version of The Virgin Suicides, with the same lesson: you can’t ever know a girl if you’ve already constructed everything about them in your mind. And you can’t get upset when they don’t fulfill your own cool girl construct. Through Radar, it also acknowledges that these expectations unfairly creep into friendships, too. The larger lesson of Paper Towns is that you should allow people you love to be the people you love.

Why is Margo so sought after? She’s adventurous. As a child she discovered a dead man, and then researched his identity and invited the younger Quentin (through his bedroom window) to go spy on the man’s widow. Quentin turned her down, and thus two roads diverged. Margo grew up and spent her teen years on the road with rock and roll bands and a group of cool kids, Quentin did his homework and planned his happiness to start exactly 12 years after high school. When Margo discovers that her boyfriend (Griffin Freeman) is cheating on her, she invites Quentin (through his bedroom window) to assist her in getting revenge. It’ll be the most he’s strayed from his perfect path, but his construct of a perfect girl is Margo, so he goes along with it, and after a night of hijinks she disappears.

This is Delevingne’s first large role and the model (and Suicide Squad member) plays Margo as if she were Orange Is the New Black’s Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) but given ten suburban-steps ahead in life; that is to say, as an actress, Delevingne mostly communicates with eyebrows, hair pushes, and a knowing overbite. As a character she communicates with riddles, and elaborate mystical clues that, thankfully, don’t get too twee. Not to discredit Delevingne — who is fine — but Paper Towns works best in her absence.

Her absence forces Quentin, Ben, and Radar to have an adventure, but more importantly for actors Abrams (The Kings of Summer) and Smith (Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Netflix hip hop series, The Get Down) to riff. On Pokemon, black Santas, and the Confederate flag.

The road trip that the boys (and girls) embark on indulges in some mild body humor, tender sexuality, and features a crowd-pleasing cameo. It perfectly charts the map of what Paper Towns is: a megaplex film with indie sensibilities that wears its heart on its sleeve. It mostly succeeds. It’s as funny as it is vanilla, and it’s a lot of both; it’s a pleasant mix.

Paper Towns is the most enjoyable high school movie of 2015. Unlike say, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, you can’t feel the movie trying hard to make you like it. Paper Towns loves the characters created by author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars) and each step of the way feels natural (if not entirely believable) because director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber (The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars) allow them to be who they love. And I loved these guys together.


KhanFlix Rating: 7/10


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Jurassic World Sequel In The Works

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 23, 2015.

Now that it’s officially the third highest grossing movie of all time, having passed The Avengers, the fact that Jurassic World will be getting sequels is not a surprise. Hell, everyone assumed as much going in, and that was before it made more than $1.5 billion. But now we’re starting to get some details, including when we’ll see Jurassic World 2/Jurassic Park 5 and who is coming back for a few more rounds with the dinosaurs.



The Wrap reports that both of the two primary stars of Jurassic World, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, will reunite for the sequel, which is now scheduled to be released on June 22, 2018. Steven Spielberg, who, of course, fathered the franchise back in 1993, will return in his new role as producer, as will Frank Marshall. However, there is no news on whether Jimmy Buffett will have another cameo this time around. We’ll have to wait and see on that front.

To be fair, none of this should be a huge surprise. Not to ruin anything for the five of you who haven’t seen it, but they both survive until the end. Not to mention that after two-plus hours of sexually charged banter and almost being devoured by rampaging dinos, they finally form a love connection of their very own. Even before the movie was released, Pratt was talking about how he had already signed on for more movies—this was, after all, designed to relaunch the franchise, not just as a one off.

And with the massive success, which exceeded even the loftiest expectations, the prime summer release spot is also what we anticipated. Now, however, we get to watch the mad scramble as studios rearrange their release slate so their movies are nowhere near this one. That’s always fun.

There’s no word on a director at this point, though we do know it won’t be Colin Trevorrow. He has said that now that he has this blockbuster under his belt, he wants to make more original movies. And why not? Right now he has the clout to get any dream project he wants off the ground, and if there is any credence to those Star Wars: Episode IX rumors, he may very well be busy in a galaxy far, far away.

At this juncture we don’t know anything about plot of Jurassic World 2. The park is likely done, you don’t come back from a disaster like this, but there is the military angle to contend with. BD Wong’s character, Dr. Henry Wu, is also out and about, which is something that will need to be dealt with. Once upon a time before the release, there were rumors that Omar Sy’s character, Barry, who works with Chris Pratt’s Owen training Velociraptors, may have a more prominent role in the sequels, so that is also an element that could factor in.

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X-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover Plans Confirmed

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 23, 2015.

With Marvel and DC all heading up their popularized "connected universes", with Captain America: Civil War and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice bringing together the best of these franchises in epic and climactic situations. But, it looks like Fox may be getting in on the action with their own properties, sans Deadpool.



Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four hasn’t even hit theaters yet, but X-Men director Bryan Singer already wants the rebooted First Family in his mutant sandbox.

In a recent interview, Singer — who’s busy filming next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse — revealed that there’s been initial talks of a live-action X-Men and Fantastic Four crossover.

“Those ideas are in play,” he says. “That would be a natural match-up because they’re both ensemble films and there is a natural mechanism by which to do it.”

And what might that “natural mechanism” (using the term “natural liberally, given that it’s a comic boo universe) be? Why, time travel, of course!

"It deals with time,” Singer revealed in an interview with Yahoo Movies. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Obviously, it wouldn't be Singer's first rodeo with time-travel. He first played hop-scotch with the time stream in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, bending all sorts of continuity rules along the way. So, there's no reason why he coulndn't do the same to get the current X-Men cast--who are currently in the eighties--in sync with Trank's modern-day Fantastic Four. While Singer digressed that Fox will wait to see how August’s Fantastic Four, and it’s already-slated sequel, will perform before greenlighting such a crossover, it’s clear that Fox is getting its (superpowered) ducks in a row should the box office numbers go their way.

While no official release date set on this supposed crossover, X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters next year on May 27, 2016, while Fantastic Four hits theaters this summer on August 7, 2015, with a sequel slated for a June 9, 2017 release date.

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Pixels Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 23, 2015.

In 2010, French filmmaker Patrick Jean released an ingenious short film about classic video game characters attacking -- and pixelating -- New York City. Featuring gorgeous visuals and a winning premise, the short quickly went viral. Of course, Hollywood wasn't going to sit by and not cash in on a feature-length version, so Sony picked up the rights to Jean's creation, adapted it for the big screen and put a bunch of funny people in it -- namely Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Monaghan. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, Pixels makes a much better YouTube video than it does a full-length movie.



The original story (which sounds suspiciously like a ripoff of Futurama's "Anthology of Interest II") stars Sandler as Sam Brenner, who in the 1980s was king of the arcade, alongside his fellow gamers Cooper (James), Ludlow (Gad) and Eddie "The Fire Blaster" Plant (Dinklage). In the present, the guys maintain dead-end jobs and zero prospects -- save for James's character, whose turn as the U.S. President might actually be the most outlandish thing about this movie. But when intergalactic aliens misinterpret footage of 8-bit video games as a declaration of war, they attack Earth in the form of Galaga, Centipede, Donkey Kong and other various video game icons, and that means Brenner and his buddies quickly become humanity's last chance at survival.

But don't let the synopsis fool you; Pixels is a run-of-the-mill Happy Madison production wrapped in a high-stakes, technicolor wrapper. There's nothing genuine or clever about the story here, and director Chris Columbus and the cast seem to know it. Sandler in particular comes off downright bored playing Brenner, even during the film's action scenes. (That should tell you all you need to know about Pixels' lack of energy.)

In fact, pretty much all of the characters are underwhelming and portrayed as gimmicks. James's President Cooper is rendered as a bumbling, incompetent idiot who can't read out the word "catastrophe." Gad's character Ludlow gets pinged for his guy-on-guy affection and is frequently the butt of "lonely virgin" jokes. Meanwhile, Dinklage offers some semblance of entertainment as "The Fire Blaster," but the novelty of his character wears off after his first couple scenes.

The female characters have it even worse. 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski is drastically underutilized as the First Lady, popping up in all of two throwaway scenes, while Monaghan's Lt. Col. Violet van Patten is degraded with nicknames like "Sugar Bum" and "Snobby," the latter of which she earns for not wanting to kiss Brenner at the start of the film.

Ultimately, Violet's purpose is to "Basil Exposition" the film's tech and flirt with Brenner -- because, you know, he's the lead and stuff. Even Ludlow's childhood crush, the kick-ass Lady Lisa (played by Ashley Benson), only shows up in the last 20 minutes of the movie and is given to Ludlow as a literal "trophy" from the aliens.

All that to say, Pixels' sense of humor is about as dated and obsolete as the games it's referencing.

Alas, the one good thing about Pixels -- Jean's original concept -- is also the one thing that's not original to the movie. That said, Columbus and Co. do expand on some of the short's set pieces in fun and interesting ways. The midway Pac-Man scene, for example, finds Sandler, Gad and Dinklage, as well as Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani (played by Denis Akiyama), in souped-up MINI Coopers painted to look like Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. Another amusing battle occurs when Sandler and Gad let loose on giant Centipedes in London, while Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend" plays over the chaos. Even the underwhelming "boss" battle with Donkey Kong is elevated by a well-timed cue of "We Will Rock You."

Suffice to say, Pixels isn't worth the price of a 3D ticket, despite its handful of colorful action sequences. (The conversion is actually decent, though it is flat in spots.) While the basic premise of the movie is a good one, Sony and Happy Madison's take on the material is laughless and insufferably dull. In the end, you'd be better off spending your quarters at an actual retro arcade.

Pixels is the button-masher of movies: brainless, obvious and only fun in short, five-minute bursts. When it's not resorting to cheap, obvious jokes, this Happy Madison comedy coasts from set piece to set piece, hoping you don't notice its one-note characters and ridiculous plot points. But again, this is a world where Kevin James is the President of the United States, so... judge accordingly.


KhanFlix Rating: 4/10


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Southpaw Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 23, 2015.
A feature that is filled with boxing tropes and, more than anything, just feels entirely rehashed and somewhat dull.


It’s not incredibly hard to understand the allure that boxing has for many filmmakers. From a storytelling standpoint, the sport has a perfect built-in metaphor to be utilized, as protagonists get beat up by life as much as they do in the ring, but can ultimately find their own version of triumph in either arena. As solid as this is as a narrative base, however, there is an important requirement for any new take to include enough unique elements and interesting creativity to actually stand out and feel fresh, because we’ve seen this drama played out so many times before. It’s unfortunately the second half of this equation that is entirely missing from director Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw, and the result is a feature that is filled with tropes and, more than anything, just feels entirely dull.

Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before. The film follows the story of Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), a boxer who has managed to power through a rough upbringing in an orphanage to become one of the greatest fighters that the world has ever seen. He’s married to the love of his life (Rachel McAdams), has a lovely daughter (Oona Laurence), and has a giant house. But just when he’s on the verge of leaving the game for good, he instead finds himself struck with a devastating personal loss that leads to a tailspin involving a boxing suspension, the loss of his entire fortune, and eventually, the lost custody of his daughter. To get his life back on track, he has no choice but to get back in boxing shape so that he can start working again and try to defeat his in-ring rival, Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez).

If you think you have this movie 100 percent figured out by now, the reality is that you do. Thanks to the fact that the film has an exceptional cast, and that the talented Kurt Sutter penned the screenplay, one watches the film with expectations that a curveball will eventually be thrown into the mix that changes the angle on the story to make it something unpredictable, but that curveball is never thrown. Instead, Southpaw is nothing but telegraphed haymakers, content to dump out every boxing cliché available – from the older, cantankerous boxing vet who whips Billy into shape (played by Forest Whitaker), to the typical training montage. Really, the only atypical moment in the movie happens at the very end, and it’s unironically duller than what the standard trope would have provided.

The only thing that really keeps Southpaw afloat is Jake Gyllenhaal, who again proves himself as one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors and puts in another fully-committed, chameleon-like performance. This character doesn’t have the slickness of Lou Bloom from Nightcrawler, or the sharp mind of Detective Loki from Prisoners, but Gyllenhaal sells Billy Hope with passion and rage, and he keeps the audience engaged with his turn from the very first scene. He keeps the film modestly watchable; at least up until you realize where it’s all going.

It’s hard to necessarily call Southpaw a “bad” movie, as the performances are enjoyable, and Antoine Fuqua does inject moments of style when necessary (the fight scenes are effectively impactful). But it’s also neither a “great” movie, nor an entertaining one– and given the legacy of boxing films, it’s hard to compare or rank at this point.

KhanFlix Rating: 6/10

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Ant-Man Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 17, 2015.

Despite numerous fun connections and references to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man still stands on its own two exoskeleton feet as one of Marvel's most unique films to date.




Ant-Man is likely to be the most fun movie of the summer. In a genre which is becoming quite saturated, Ant-Man sets itself apart from any super hero film before it. While it packs the same comedy and with audiences love from Marvel Studios films, it creates a plot different from any other with elements unseen from any of its predecessors. That includes Iron Man, Thor, and even DC's The Dark Knight trilogy.

As an origin story, Ant-Man starts out understandably slow. The film is seeded in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's healthy and firm roots but must also establish its own roots and grow accordingly. In addition to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), we are introduced to a number of hearty characters, including Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), the villainous Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), and the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in less than a two hour-span.

Yes, I said original Ant-Man. All the true comic fans who want the characters to be portrayed with justice on the big screen will walk out of Ant-Man satisfied. It's tough to describe in spoiler-free waters, but Ant-Man establishes both Hank Pym and Scott Lang's characters in a manner which will justly serve both character's comic book runs as the size-altering hero. Make no mistake, we're on a Scott Lang adventure and Hank Pym is the mentor, but Pym's character is far from over-looked. The same can be said for most characters in the film. Rather than a single or pair of strong characters, Ant-Man contains a number of names which wonderfully enrich the experience.

The first element which makes Ant-Man so unique is its plot style. It's no secret Ant-Man is a heist movie. To put the style into perspective, the storytelling is similar to that of the Ocean's movies or even The Town, if either of those were to be infused with a sarcastic super hero who can control insects. The plot is extremely refreshing. Rather than just going in, fighting the bad guy to stop him from destroying the world, and living happily ever after, Ant-Man engineers a new formula for super hero movies.

Sure, it's Ant-Man's movie, but Ant-Man doesn't work alone. Scott Lang would be nothing without his crew, comprised of Luis (Peña) Dave (T.I.), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian). It's not irrational to first wonder how T.I. came to be in a Marvel movie or whether or not this extra cast can hold their own on such a large scale. While Rudd proves his ability to work in thousands of special effects shots for the first time in his career, it's the supporting cast who actually steals the screen. Specifically: Michael Peña. Peña's performance is hilarious. In a somewhat self-aware film, the tone is for the most part light-hearted which is complimented by Peña's ability to apparently make just about anything funny. Anyone skeptic of T.I.'s ability to perform under the pressure cooker of the ever-critical geek community will also be delighted to see he and Dastmalchian pair up for some memorable and critical laughs.

The second element Ant-Man has to offer which other Marvel films do not is the strong sense of family. Sure, Thor has Odin, Frigga, and trust issues with his brother - but Scott Lang and Hank Pym are both fathers with unique familial battles they have to fight on their own. Hank's strained relationship with Hope subtly rings throughout the film while Scott's main motivation is his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). What other super hero film in recent years has such a grounded and relatable motivator at its forefront?

The only place Ant-Man hits a rut is while establishing its villain. Stoll's Darren Cross, who eventually becomes Yellowjacket, suffers from a hardcore Napoleon complex and daddy issues. Those problems, tossed in with super intelligence and lots of money, are enough to craft a good villain (which Ant-Man surely does) but in its first act, the obviously evil ambition of Cross bogs down the pacing while we really want to see more Pym, Lang, and Luis dealing with the new-found super power. That's not to say Yellowjacket is anything but a truly menacing and worthy villain for the big screen - he is - it's just the early steps on the film's path to his villainhood are crowded and slower than the rest of the journey.

Villains are arguably the most integral part of any film. A great protagonist can't shine without an equally formidable antagonist. Ant-Man's potential is reached courtesy of Yellowjacket's troubled and menacing role. In fact, he's stronger than most villains in Marvel films to date. No, he's not exactly Loki or the Winter Soldier, but considering the character had to be established while surrounded by such rich others who require even more spotlight, one could hardly find a reason to complain about Ant-Man's adversary.

The rut is quickly overlooked once Ant-Man's focus shrinks. The heist is presented, the plan is laid out, and execution is imminent. The film visits a location familiar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and from there - takes off. The slow pacing of the first act is quickly justified as Scott Lang's adventure becomes one of Marvel's best and most fun, ever.

To top things off, Ant-Man has a healthy handful of cameos from known and favored characters in the Marvel Universe. Concluded with two post-credits scenes with epic foreshadowing reminiscent of Marvel's early use of the bonus clips, there's really not much more an audience can for from a standalone film.

It's as if Ant-Man were created by its own characters - written by the mature intelligence of Hank Pym then directed by the unpolished genius but always fun, Scott Lang. However, those writing credits go to Adam McKay, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish and Paul Rudd. Also, the real director, Peyton Reed, deserves credit for his work which he ended up taking on late in the game after Marvel and Edgar Wright's parting. The comedy never misses, the action is on point, and the special effects are astonishing.

The seeds planted by Ant-Man are enough to establish a universe in itself. Doors are opened for prequels and sequels and audiences will find themselves running through either should they ever open. Thanks to this new addition, the Marvel Universe is enriched with strong new characters in a more grounded, but equally fun adventure as Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ant-Man wisely builds on the already firm roots of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while its own tree bursts out of the ground. The film quickly earns its position among the ranks of Marvel heavy hitters such as Iron Man, Thor, and Guardians. In fact, Ant-Man is the best super hero origin story since Iron Man and leaves the audience hungry for so much more. It's one both comic book fans and casual movie-goers will enjoy and find themselves rushing back to the theater to watch Ant-Man again and again.

Bottom line is, Ant-Man is a super hero heist movie with all sorts of emphasis on super. Rich characters, a formidable villain, and fun references to the wider Marvel Universe make Ant-Man one of Marvel's biggest spectacles to date.


KhanFlix Rating: 9/10


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Trainwreck Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 17, 2015.
Trainwreck succeeds for large chunks of time (mostly during its first hour), until it succumbs to the documented weaknesses of director Judd Apatow.


Every so often, a movie tailors itself around the particular strengths of a stand-up comedian. Top Five, for example, was a terrific recent example of a movie that only asked Chris Rock to be Chris Rock, and the rest of the movie slowly shimmied into place beyond him. Trainwreck tries to do the same with foul-mouthed comic Amy Schumer, and it succeeds for large chunks of time (mostly during its first hour), until it succumbs to the weaknesses of director Judd Apatow.

Apatow makes comedies that are sporadically hilariously yet notoriously overlong and bloated. Trainwreck is no different, and even though it clocks in at two hours, it feels longer. There’s an inexact science to how a comedy should feel, but when the steady laughter stops, and you start to single out scenes that added nothing, the “length,” more than the actual “run time,” becomes an issue. After a blistering first hour, one that shows incredible restraint, crisp editing and a brisk pace that breaks off joke after joke, Trainwreck throws itself into neutral and coasts. Worse, it stalls.
 
Truthfully, it damn near stops, then has to reestablish its momentum (which it does, thanks to an hilariously self-deprecating dance sequence that reminds you how funny Trainwreck was, before it let a crushing sense of melodrama suffocate all of its fun). The blame should shift to Schumer, who receives the movie’s only screenplay credit. Except, we have seen Apatow do this time and time again, so how could we not single out the repeat offender?

Amy Schumer plays Amy, a character comprised of the strongest bits from the comedian’s stand-up routines and sketch comedy. A loose, single gal from Manhattan, Amy was taught at a young age by her adulterous father (Colin Quinn, hilarious in his scenes) that monogamy isn’t realistic. The lesson stuck, meaning that Amy behaves like a stereotypical “dude,” blasting through sexual partners and avoiding commitment even though a string of sentimental guys try to button her down. Amy’s a shocking character, a blatant middle finger aimed at the idea of how women are “supposed” to act on screen. And it’s refreshing the way she plays against type, and embraces her sexual freedom. The credits actually list four “One-Night Stand Guys,” played by fellow comics like Jim Florentine and Bobby Kelly. Dan Soder plays “Dumpster Guy,” because that’s where he and Amy hook up. You get the idea.

Amy’s worldview starts to shift, however, when – on assignment for the magazine for which she writes – she meets and starts to fall for Aaron (Bill Hader), a straight-laced, borderline boring sports doctor. Amy and Aaron shouldn’t fit together. Actually, the longer Trainwreck extends, I found myself hoping that they wouldn’t get together, because he comes across like a nice guy, and she’s a monster. Alas, this is Hollywood, and even a movie that reverses gender stereotypes and attempts to push the envelope can’t avoid the most basic rom-com clichés in the end.

Before we get there, though, the team of Apatow and Schumer deliver some huge, filthy and fantastically offensive laughs. Schumer’s obviously a brilliant observer of the modern dating scene, and isn’t afraid to wholeheartedly wave her selfish flag when behaving like an egocentric lout. Essentially, she’s an asshole. During a painful breakup scene, Amy tells the heartbroken Steven (pro wrestler John Cena, surprisingly funny) that she can’t continue the conversation because she’s too high, and bored, and not into him anymore. It’s funny, and honest, and sad. That describes a lot of this movie. 

Halfway through, though -- after hysterical comics like Dave Atell, Pete Davidson and Keith Robinson get a chance to briefly steal the spotlight -- Trainwreck becomes less of an Amy Schumer movie, and more of a Judd Apatow movie. Remember when This is 40 focused heavily on Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann’s marriage problems, and the movie stopped being fun? That happens here. I don’t necessarily want to give away the issues that Amy runs into, but they drag the film down. At first, it’s intentional. But as Apatow gets more leeway, he includes too many scenes that don’t add to the story, and only disrupt the flow. One is a mock intervention. One’s a lengthy baby shower that only reiterates traits we’ve already been told about Amy a dozen times (she’s crude, she’s selfish, she’s unpredictable… we got it). One’s an uncomfortable encounter with an intern, played by Ezra Miller.

This is what Judd Apatow does, though, so you have to go into Trainwreck knowing that even though he’s working from someone else’s material for the first time, his approach to comedy – which leaves a lot of room for drama – is still filtering the results. If you like Apatow, and enjoy his balance of tragic and comic, you’ll enjoy this. If you prefer unfiltered Amy Schumer, you’ll find more of it on her weekly sketch program.

KhanFlix Rating: 7.5/10

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X-Men Apocalypse: First Look At Movie

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 17, 20115.
A new batch of official images from X-Men: Apocalypse have been released online. The images include a first look at franchise newcomer Alexandra Shipp as Storm, complete with ‘80s Mohawk. There’s also additional looks at fellow newcomers Olivia Munn as Psylocke and Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse, as well as returning cast members Evan Peters as Quicksilver, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and more. Check them all out below!







X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters next year on May 27th, 2016. Like what you see? Tell us that and more in our comment sections below, and be sure to hit us up on our Twitter page to keep up with all the latest news in the world of cinema and television, as well as keeping it locked right here at KhanFlix!



Fantastic Four Final Trailer Released Online

Written by Huzaifa Khan on June 15, 2015.
Hot off the heels of DC and Warner Bros. dominating with their anticipated trailers, 20th Century Fox has released the final trailer for their upcoming superhero flick Fantastic Four, which we've embedded below, so check it out!




Fantastic Four is a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. Starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell, Fantastic Four is scheduled to be released in movie theaters on August 7, 2015.

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Suicide Squad Gets First Trailer

Written by John Smith on August 12, 2012.
If the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer left you begging for more, we've got you covered. After a long gap between the footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con and now, Warner Bros. has officially released the first trailer for the upcoming villain-centric film Suicide Squad, and we've got the link down below, so check it out after the jump! And be sure to stick around for our analysis and review on what you might have missed in the trailer!




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Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Full Trailer Released

Written by Huzaifa Khan on June 14, 2015.

Fresh off the buzz of Comic-Con, I've finally stopped watching this trailer long enough to post it here on KhanFlix. Lucky for you, we won't be wasting any time with formalities and such, but stay tuned for our review as well as an in-depth analysis as to what you might have missed in your first watch. Take a viewing below!






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Steve Jobs Biopic Gets Full Trailer

Written by Huzaifa Khan on July 1, 2015.
The star-studded biopic on the late Steve Jobs, titled steve jobs has long been in production. With a release date for this fall, it's no surprise that we finally get to see a full trailer, giving us more of an insight to the world being created by the talents of Michael Fassbender in the titular role. Check out the new trailer below!




It's clear this movie's going to hold no punches back in showing the wide array of emotions the genius in question had. Each character and actor respectively looks to bring an impressive sense of charisma to the table with their performances and overall screen presence as well.
Along with Fassbender, steve jobs stars Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet, Sarah Snook, Katherine Waterson, Jeff Daniels, and more. It's set for an October 9th, 2015 release date, so be sure to catch it in theaters then!
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Minions Movie Review

Written by Huzaifa Khan on June 29, 2015.

I honestly love the minions. Can I just have one or is that too much to ask in a day and age where we have thinks like ninja robots and Donald Trump running for president? While I work on my "despicable" plan to get these goofballs, how's about we take a look at the upcoming Despicable Me spinoff film, self-titled Minions.




So Minions centers around the little yellow henchmen audiences grew a strong liking to from the original Despicable Me movies, specifically our titular three; Kevin, Stuart and Bob.




Just to get you caught up to speed on the plot, the movie essentially centers around the idea that these creatures we call Minions have been on this planet far longer than we have, desperately looking for the most despicable master to serve. In this quest, they've served some of history's baddest villains, from the infamous T-Rex to the notorious Dracula, as well as serving in some of civilization's key moments, from the Civil War to the creation of the Egyptian pyramids. But now that they've exhausted all their options, the Minions have ended up in Antarctica, with no master to serve. On the verge of extinction from no purpose in life, one brave minion (Kevin) will gather up two other "volunteers" (Stuart & Bob) and set out on a daring quest in order to find a new boss to serve under, which happens to be the world's first female supervillain, Scarlet Overkill.

Now it's hard to find, in modern cinema, an animated spinoff that does its characters justice without potentially screwing up the very reason audiences were on board in the first place. It's safe to say that Minions does our favourite little henchmen justice in that department...for about the first 40 minutes or so.

Starting with the first 40 minutes, this really highlighted what the audiences came for and wanted in a movie about Minions: the Minions. This part of the film was essentially what you'd expect from a movie about these guys, filled with crazy shenanigans, slapstick comedy, and just the overall Minion humour we've come to expect, and it was brilliant. I consider myself a grown man of sorts, and yet their childish acts and jokes were the very reason I decided to watch the movie, and I was not disappointed one bit. These 40 minutes or so were entertaining as ever and provided a stellar start to a much anticipated movie...until it didn't.

I mean, it's safe to assume that when you have a movie about the sidekicks of a franchise, you'll want to divert the attention so that the audience has something else to look forward to, but this just took it too far. Scarlet Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock, was an entertaining character on her own, but it was what we've seen over and over, and you'll get that feeling from the very first time you see her on screen. It was even worse of a fact that the movie somehow concluded that the Minions wouldn't be able to support their own movie, and shifted the focus on Scarlet Overkill for a good chunk, which not only provided dull story, but a dull, paint-by-the-numbers character that made the last acts of this movie a slight mission to bare. That's not to say that the Minions in any way were responsible, but it would have been nice to focus more on the Minions in a movie that goes by that very name.

The movie's set in 1963, which they never really explain, but it's a fun twist that allows for multiple references and jokes to the age and time, from the Beatles to the moon landing and everything in between. Things like that often set the movie aside from its stereotypical nature, and that's a good thing I really liked about this movie.

The voice talents in this movie were extremely well done also. With the likes of Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, and more amongst the ranks, it provided for some great charisma brought to the table in about every scene they were in. Now whether or not their lines stuck is another discussion. Pierre Coffin, the voice actor for all the Minions, did an even greater job, somehow bringing a different tone to the multiple characters he had to play, and that complimented this movie really well.

Overall, if you love, or even remotely like the Minions, then you're going to thoroughly enjoy this movie. Does it have some stale parts that made the theater not chuckle once? Definitely. But seeing these characters bring what we love to the screen once more provides some great taste to the overcrowded summer movie season. If you've got a kid, are a kid, or just love things for kids, then this is definitely a movie you'll want to check out. Even if you don't, you'll get a few chuckles out of it and a great time for the first half, the 2nd half is a completely different story, but one that still makes Minions worth checking out.


KhanFlix Rating: 7.5/10


Minions hits theaters everywhere on July 10, so be sure to check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below or on our social media pages!


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Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Gets An Official Title.

Written by Huzaifa Khan on June 29, 2015.

With the exception of the Iron Man movies, Marvel Studios has largely stayed away from putting numbers in their sequel titles, instead opting for more creative subheads like The Dark World, The Winter Soldier, and Age of Ultron. That won't be the case for the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy series, however, as its been officially confirmed that the second chapter of that story will be called Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2.




Writer/director James Gunn made the announcement on his personal Facebook account. He acknowledged that this news is breaking a bit earlier than he had expected, as the title accidentally slipped out during the press day for Ant-Man this past weekend, but also noted that he was excited that some fans were actually able to guess what the name of the movie would be before anything was actually said.

While this is a rather bland name - especially when there are so many other awesome possibilities from the comics that could have been used, it's also understandable how Marvel Studios and James Gunn ultimately decided that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for the title. It's clearly a reference to the mixtape that Chris Pratt's Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord carries around for the entire movie, which has the cute name "Awesome Mix Vol. 1", as well as the new mixtape that he unpackages at the end of the film.

With a release date on May 5, 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 is expected to go into production in the first half of next year. While it's been promised that the movie will include new characters that were not featured in the first movie, it's been promised that we will see the return of stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan and Sean Gunn. The next few months will surely be filled with tons of updates and news about the project, so be sure to stay tuned!

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