GregHowley.com

Sequels and reboots seem to be the majority of films these days. And when it comes to franchises like what Marvel's been putting out, I'm all for them. That may be just because they all tie together so well into a larger story, giving the characters more time to develop over multiple movies. Any way you slice it, Marvel's doing it right. But what about those other reboots?

Mad Max: Fury Road I hear the film is fantastic. It's gotten both praise and criticism for being a feminist movie. I can't offer praise or criticism of any kind, having not seen it, but I'm very much looking forward to getting a Blu-Ray from Netflix once it's out.

Terminator: Genisys Everything I've heard about this movie sounds horrible. Apparently, it's a total RetCon. And while I give more leniency to a time travel film than to others where retconning is concerned, it doesn't sound like it was done well. It's such a huge shame that after such a good first film and amazing second film, the Terminator franchise should go downhill so much. I'll see Genisys once it's available on DVD, but my expectations are in the sub-basement.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens I am cautiously optimistic. It will be nice to see the old cast again - if anything, Mark Hamill has gotten better as an actor since the original trilogy. He was amazing in The Flash TV show. And my sentiments about John Boyega as a stormtrooper mirror Adam Warrock's opinions on the matter, which is to say why does this bother anyone? Nobody seems to know anything about the film's plot. It would be cool to learn more about The Force, so long as nobody says Midichlorians.

Ghostbusters Lest you've forgotten, the original Ghostbusters film was really that good. That being said, the reboot has a lot to live up to. Once again, I'm cautiously optimistic. As I'm writing this, I'm reading a bit more about the movie and learning that it appears to be less a reboot and more a remake. I'd hoped that the original Ghostbusters crew had retired after ghosts stopped appearing and that now the girls of the new crew would consult them and then step up to confront a new threat. But it appears that there will be no ghost-busting continuity here. Oh well. In any event, it would be tough for any movie to live up the the greatness that was the original Ghostbusters film, but I sincerely hope that this movie does.

Independence Day Resurgence (ID5) Apparently they're planning an Independence Day sequel. Resurgence. The premise? We got ahold of advanced alien technology back in the 1990s when Wil Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved us. Now, it's two decades later and the aliens show up again. But because wormhole travel is kooky, it's only been a few weeks for the aliens. This means that we've had a couple decades to rebuild and learn the advanced tech, and they've had no time at all. Maybe we'll stand a fighting chance.

I really really wasn't sure about the movie. Know what changed my mind? They got Brent Spiner. He was such a great mad scientist. Seems like they have Jeff Goldblum too, but not Will Smith, probably because he costs too much. And ex-president Bill Pullman! I'm excited about the cast at least.

The Fantastic Four - I've seen the new Fantastic Four. And I am disappointed. Reed Richards, who should be about 50 years old, looks about 19. And Michael Chiklis is The Thing. They'll have a hard time convincing me that anyone else fits the role. I've got the sneaking suspicion that they're going to turn The Invisible Woman into a sex object, just like they did with Jessica Alba, and Johnny Storm is no longer Susan Storm's biological brother. Methinks somebody made some poor decisions.

Anything by DC DC Comics has done exactly three things right in the past twenty years. Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and the Flash television show. (I'm not counting animated shows and video games) But DC has done so much garbage. The new Superman movie was just horrible. I can't imagine that any of their upcoming movies will be any good. It's a sad shame.