Aidan The Aspie Critic: Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice

Welcome to the fight of the century! Day vs Night! God vs Man! Light vs Darkness! Son of Krypton vs Bat of Gotham! The red capes are coming! The red capes are coming! This is Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice!

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is the second instalment in the DC Cinematic Universe, the first instalment being 2013's Man Of Steel. The third instalment will be this summer's Suicide Squad. Taking place right after Man Of Steel, or rather, DURING the climax of Man Of Steel, Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy businessman, learns of Superman, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman kills General Zod and saves Metropolis, or, rather, destroyed half the city in the process of saving the day. Is Superman really a good thing for the people of earth? Batman doesn't think so, and the 2 end up in a head-to-head battle to the death. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor Jr of Lexcorp, son of Lex Luthor Sr, has created a monster to destroy Superman once and for all, Doomsday. Who will win? Batman or Superman (or Wonder Woman)? Will Superman defeat Doomsday? Watch Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice to find out!

This movie......this movie.......this movie. I don't know what the heck I watched. I liked it, I guess, but this movie is not good! It's a complete mess! However, I'll start with the positives first. Ben Afleck is a great Batman! Definitely up there with Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy as one of the great Batmen! Gal Gadot was also an awesome Wonder Woman! Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor I didn't like at first, but the character grew on me. He really gives it his all with his performance, even though he seems to be more of a Riddler type character rather than Lex Luthor. I also liked Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Jeremy Irons as Alfred was also very good. The special effects were also great, and this movie is beautifully shot. I could watch Bruce Wayne's parents getting murdered forever, as messed up as that sounds! However, that's pretty much all the good I can say about it. Henry Cavill as Superman is BORING and EMO! He's freaking Superman! Would it kill him to crack a smile now and then? The story makes no sense and is all over the place, and a bunch of things weren't explained well or at all! Doomsday is also portrayed really poorly. This is just as bad as what they did to Bane in Batman And Robin, Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, or The Mandarin in Iron Man 3! I, personally, don't know much about Doomsday as a character, but I KNOW he isn't anything like he is portrayed in this movie! His characterization and backstory I know is all wrong! Anyway, this is also a very boring movie. There's a lot of talking and not a whole lot of action. I'm sorry, but when I come to see a superhero movie, I actually want to see superhero action! There's barely any in this movie! I know The Dark Knight movies didn't have a TON of action in them either, but they had good story and characters to keep us invested. This movie doesn't. The musical score was, for the most part, a very generic modern Hans Zimmer score with nothing standing out, except for maybe Junkie XL's awesome theme music for Wonder Woman. It was really cool to see all these DC characters appearing or hinted at appearing sometime in the future, some examples are Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, The Joker, Red Hood, The Riddler, Solomon Grundy, Darkseid, and, of course, Wonder Woman! Most of these characters just appear as Easter eggs, but other characters such as Wonder Woman, Cyborg, The Flash, and Aquaman I didn't feel like they were necessary inclusions. They're kinda just there for the sake of being there and don't serve much purpose, aside from showing Lex Luthor's interest in superheroes. Well, that and Wonder Woman helps out during the climax. I think that they should've maybe mentioned or hinted at these characters, but not straight up shown them. Showing takes away a lot of the mystery and excitement for me, but most people seem to disagree with me, so maybe I'm missing something. Overall, this is not a good movie, but it has good elements in it. Do I reccomend seeing it? Only if you are really into superhero movies and don't want to miss a single one. If you are a casual moviegoer, skip this one and wait for Civil War, Suicide Squad, X-Men Apolcalypse, or Doctor Strange for your comic movie fix. Or go see Deadpool again. Heck, even the new Ninja Turtles is probably more entertaining than this. There are much better Batman and Superman movies out there to spend your time on as well. If you still want to see Batman and Superman fight, though, I'd reccomend the animated The Dark Knight Returns movie. It's a much more faithful adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns comic, which is what BvS is loosely based on. Much like BvS, Batman and Superman barely fight in it, but it's an overall better put together film. Overall, I give this movie a score of 2 out of 5 stars. There are good things here, but overall, this movie does not give DC or its fans justice. Pun intended.

Have you seen Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments!

Aidan The Aspie Critic: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Hello and welcome to a classic story from a galaxy far far away! In honour of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens coming out, I will be reviewing all 7 (Yes, there are 7.) theatrical, canonical Star Wars movies without any nostalgia goggles, eventually. Unfortunately, this will mean that I will have to review the Special Editions of the original trilogy, but I will try not to let all the stupid changes and bad CG change my opinion on the movie as a whole. I will also be reviewing the movies in order of theatrical release. So, without further ado, let's take a look at Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, or it's original title, just Star Wars, was a science fiction action film released in 1977 by George Lucas. It is regarded as one of the greatest, most iconic, and influential movies in the history of cinema. How does it hold up? I'll get to that later. Let's start out with the story, but let's face it, you all already know this story! It is a time of civil war in the galaxy! The galactic rebellion is rising up against the evil galactic empire. However, the rebels aren't doing so well. They have managed to capture the plans for an ultimate terror weapon, called the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station with the power to destroy an entire planet. However, nobody knows where these plans are, and rebel leader Princess Leia Organa was captured by Darth Vader, dark lord of the empire. 2 robots escape their spaceship being captured by the empire and land on the desert planet Tatooine, where they meet farm boy Luke Skywalker, smuggling dynamic duo Han Solo and Chewbacca, and wise old Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi. Can the rebels save the princess and destroy the Death Star? I'd tell you to watch Star Wars to find out, but let's face it, you already have.

This movie is absolutely fantastic! However, it does have it's problems. The special effects hold up perfectly, for the most part. There are some lazily costumed creatures, some of the flying scenes aren't perfect, and the CG in the Special Edition, of course, is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The direction and acting can also be pretty weird. The dialogue isn't great, and neither are some of the performances. Alec Guiness, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, and Harrison Ford are all great, but Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.... not so much. Carrie has this weird fake slightly-British accent and Mark..... well, let's just say that I have no idea why people hate Hayden Christianson as Anakin so much when Mark Hamill wasn't much better as Luke. I don't necessarily blame the actors for this, it was just poor direction. There are also some parts of the story that don't make sense, but other than that, this is a nearly perfect movie! How could it be anything other than that? Yeah, it has problems, but if you don't like this movie, it kinda makes you a bad person. Not liking this movie is like not liking The Wizard Of Oz. The 2 movies are very similar, actually. Sure, they have some problems with the story, characters, and acting and special effects at times, but how can you not like something so simple, so innocent, and so iconic and influential and groundbreaking? So, yes. I love this movie, and everyone else does too! I give this movie a 5 out of 5 stars! Possibly the greatest movie ever made.

Have you seen Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments! 

Next up, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back! See you next time!

Aidan The Aspie Critic: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Welcome back to a galaxy far far away after over 30 years! Is this just another Phantom Menace or has balance finally returned to The Force? Jump to lightspeed, Chewie! Let's find out!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the long-awaited sequel to the 1983 classic, Star Wars: Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. Well, technically we've gotten several sequels to Return Of The Jedi in the form of video games, novels, and comics, but that's all non-canon now, so we can finally see what REALLY happened after the destruction of the Death Star II and the Ewok party on Endor! A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, the galaxy is yet again in a time of war (What a shock.). Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi, has disappeared! The New Republic's military, the Resitance, has found a piece of a star map that may lead to Luke's location. General Leia Organa has sent her best pilot, Poe Dameron, to retrieve the star map piece, but he runs into the First Order (the remnant of the Galactic Empire) on the way and has to send the star map with his droid, BB8, into the war-torn desert wasteland of the planet Jakku. On the way, BB8 meets a scavenger named Rey, a reformed Stormtrooper named Finn, and an old smuggler with a mysterious past named Han Solo. However, little do our heroes know, the First Order, under the watchful eyes of Supreme Leader Snoke, has created an ultimate terror weapon, Starkiller Base, a planet-sized battle station with enough power to destroy several planets at once! Will the Resistance defeat The First Order? Will our heroes find Luke? And will they escape the evil wrath of Kylo Ren? Watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens to find out!

This movie is amazing! It's everything that fans like me have always wanted in a Star Wars movie! This is most DEFINITELY better than the prequel trilogy! No Jar Jar Binks, no Midi-Chlorians, no emotionless love banter, no CG (No, I'm serious. There is barely any CG in this movie!), and no disappointment....mostly. The reason I say mostly is because...well..do you remember my summary of the story? Does any of it sound familiar? It should, because this movie is almost a COMPLETE carbon(ite) copy of Episode IV: A New Hope! Have you seen A New Hope? Then you've seen this movie and you didn't even know it! You can predict how the story is going to go from beginning to end, which I thought was pretty disappointing, but this movie adds just enough new things and old nostalgic fan service to keep things interesting! I still enjoyed this movie from beginning to end! I'd much rather have something familiar than something new, but boring (I'm looking at you "taxation of the trade routes" and "I don't like sand.."!). The characters are all very likeable and memorable, and the performances from the actors were great! I think I have a crush on Daisy Ridley (She plays Rey. She's brilliant!)! John Boyega is really good as Finn, Oscar Isaac is great as Poe, Adam Driver I thought was fantastic as Kylo Ren, Andy Serkis is his great animated (literally) self as always as Supreme Leader Snoke, and, of course, returning cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill steal the show as Han, Leia, and Luke, respectively! The special effects are wonderful in this movie! Like I said, the movie barely uses any CG. They only CG that I could see were the space scenes, the flying scenes, Supreme Leader Snoke, Maz Kanata (The little old lady who owns the cantina.), the Rathtars, and maybe a few other things that I missed. That's it. The rest is all done with physical sets, costumes, puppets, animatronics, and makeup. I loved seeing this. As impressive as the CG in the prequels, admittedly, is, it NEVER looked real. It always just looked like people standing in front of a green screen with animated stuff bouncing around them. This movie definitely looks real! There are also some great plot twists in the story and still lots of mystery and truly powerful and moving scenes. The musical score to this movie is great! It was composed by people like John Williams and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the guy who wrote the music for the new Broadway musical, Hamilton. I don't think any of these songs are Star Wars classics or anything, nothing can beat songs like The Imperial March or Duel Of The Fates, but the score stands on its own very well, bringing us new songs and old favourites. In conclusion, this is not a perfect movie. The story may be predictable and it may have other problems, but this movie is still a blast! I definitely recommend it! I even recommend it to people who aren't Star Wars fans or have never even seen Star Wars! This movie stands on its own very well! I'm impressed with what JJ Abrams and Disney have done with this series, and I can't wait to see what awaits us in Rogue One, Episode VIII, and beyond! I give this movie 4.3 stars out of 5! Truly there has been an awakening, and I have felt it. We all have. Balance has returned to The Force.

Have you seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments!

Aidan the Aspie Critic: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Welcome to another movie review! This movie takes us back to the very beginning of a classic sci-fi story! Sing it with me now! Oh my god, I was wrong! It was earth all along! This is Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes!

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is a prequel to the classic sci-fi film, Planet Of The Apes. This movie is also a retcon of the already existing Planet Of The Apes prequel, Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes. Since this movie retcons Conquest, most people consider this movie to be a reboot of the entire Planet Of The Apes series. It's definitely a better reboot than Tim Burton's 2001 Planet Of The Apes reboot! Let's just forget that movie ever existed. This movie is the story of a man and his monkey. Well, actually a Chimpanzee, but whatever. The man work at Gen Sys labs, a scientific research facility. Gen Sys has created a drug that patches up disconnected parts of the brain, or in other words, the cure to Alzheimer's. The new drug is being tested on apes and they have significantly grown in intelligence. However, when one of the chimps, Bright Eyes, breaks out of her cage and is then killed, the scientists wonder if there are side effects to the drug. However, it turns out Bright Eyes was only trying to protect her baby, Caesar. The man brings Caesar home and raises him like a son. He is extremely intelligent too, but he was never given the drug! The effects are genetic! The man is convinced that there are no side effects, so he smuggles some of the drug home to give to his father, who is suffering from Alzheimer's. However, the drug's effects on humans eventually ware off, and the man's father steals a car! Caesar comes to the rescue, and bites the finger of the man bullying the father about stealing his car, but Caesar gets taken away by the authorities! The monkey jail is horrible! Caesar and the other apes are bullied every day by the evil owners! Will Caesar and the other apes escape? And does the drug have any other harmful side effects on humans...? Watch Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes to find out!

This movie is awesome! It is intense, emotional, and very interesting! The characters are likeable, the story is engaging, and it can get pretty sad at times! I really liked all the little references and homages to the original Planet Of The Apes, further cementing this movie as a prequel. They are much more clever than in Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes reboot! I'm sorry, I promise this is going to be the last time I mention that hunk of monkey poo movie. The only thing I can say was not so great is the special effects at times. Much like Jurassic World, the monkeys can look pretty fake sometimes, but the rest of the time the effects are pretty impressive! Andy Serkis, the motion-capture special effects genius actor that brought us Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit movies played Caeser in this movie, and you really do feel like the monkeys are actually there. Even if the effects don't LOOK convincing at times, they definitely do FEEL convincing, if that makes any sense. The performances are also very good, special shout out to the guy who plays the man's father! So, yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say. If you are a sci-fi nerd or a fan of the other Planet Of The Apes movies (except for the Tim Burton one! Oh, right. I wasn't supposed to mention it again. Sorry!) then you will like this movie! Even if you aren't a fan or a nerd you should still like this movie! Is give it 4 stars out of 5! You've finally made a monkey out of me!

Have you seen Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments! 

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes review coming soon!

I Was On The News!

Hi everybody! I hope everyone's having a good summer! I've been really busy for the past week because I was in a play for the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival! For those who don't know, the Fringe Festival is a national theatre festival all over North America. People from all over the world submit plays for the festival. The plays submitted are chosen at random and even if you don't get picked, you can still be in the festival if you set up and pay for your own theatre venue. There are some good plays, and some bad ones, but overall, the Fringe is my favourite part of the summer! I have been a theatre kid for pretty much all my life, I LOVE watching and performing shows, but this is my first time in a Fringe show and it went great! The show we did was called All I Really Need To Know I Learned By Being In a Bad Play, and I played the lead role, The Narrator. The show is all about the life lessons that can be learned from being in a terrible play. I relate to this show a lot because I have learned and experienced many things that I otherwise would never have learned or experienced if I never got into theatre. The best part of theatre is being an important part of a larger community. As an Aspie, I have a hard time fitting in at school. Unless someone knows me really well, they just think I'm weird. However, in the theatre community, everyone is quirky and they don't care if you're weird because, well, everyone is! The theatre make you feel like you belong. If you are a person who has a hard time fitting in, get into theatre! You will discover your people!

Here is the article and the video: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-teen-with-asperger-s-syndrome-shines-in-fringe-play-1.3158325

Special thanks to my directors; Theresa, Emily, and Augusta the Stage Manager! Thanks so much for this awesome experience! Thanks so much for your support and I hope to continue working with you for as long as I can! :)

Aidan the Aspie Critic: Inside Out

Welcome to another review that brings you to a place that we all know but never have explored! This is Inside Out!

Inside Out is PIXAR's first offering for 2015. They are releasing another movie later this year to compensate for not releasing a movie last year. The movie is about a little girl named Riley and her emotions, Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness. Riley's emotions help her through her life from the control centre in her brain, Headquarters. The emotions record all of Riley's memories and keep them safe. Riley's Core Memories, which shape her personality, are protected specially in Headquarters to power the 4 islands of Riley's personality. Riley is a very happy child and she has a nearly perfect and problem-free life. That is, until she and her family move from Minnesota to San Francisco, leaving behind her entire life. A new Core Memory is created, coloured blue, a sad memory. Joy attempts to get rid of it so Riley can stay happy, but Sadness insists it be added to the Core Memory bank. Joy and Sadness, as well as all of the Core Memories both end up getting sucked through the Memory Tube out of headquarters. Without Joy and Sadness, Riley can't feel sad OR happy. Without the Core Memories, Riley is losing what makes her herself. Can Joy and Sadness get back to Headquarters and set everything right? Or will Riley be doomed to a lifetime of depression? Watch Inside Out to find out!

Wow! This movie is FANTASTIC! This is PIXAR's greatest and most emotional movie since Toy Story 3, and that was 5 years ago! While Monsters University and Brave were good, they weren't quite up to the bar that Toy Story 3 set. Inside Out has set that bar even higher! The concept is incredibly original and creative, the characters are all likeable, the animation is fantastic, and the story is really freaking depressing! The performances given by the cast are excellent and the comedy is spot on! The world of Riley's brain is a very well developed world. The movie shows that there are other characters who work in Riley's brain like Riley's imaginary friend, Bing Bong, and other various workers. I do wish the movie showed more of other people's brains. We only get to see Riley's parent's brains and a random pre-teen boy's brain, and those scenes are hilarious, but really brief. You do get to see other various character's brains during the credits, which are also hilarious, but I think more situations like that needed to be added to the main movie. Also, there are a couple are unanswered questions, like "Why are Riley's Anger and Fear male when Riley is a girl? All the other female or male characters have all female or male emotions, so, why doesn't Riley? Subtle gender identity commentary, or just laziness so the movie can be more marketable?" or "Why do Riley's emotions all look nothing like her when all the other character's emotions look like the character?" or "Does Dream Production get material from The Subconscious, Abstract Thought, Long Term Memory, and Imagination Land as well as Riley's day?" etc etc etc. These unanswered questions are a lot less distracting than in Frozen and they don't take away from the overall quality of the movie, they are only nitpicks, so I guess they aren't too much of a problem. This movie isn't also as kid-friendly as PIXAR's other movies. Sure, kids can watch it, but I don't think they will really understand, and the themes of depression might be a bit much for them. This is more of an adult movie, but the kids should still see it. Overall, this is must-see movie this summer! It's fantastic! It is up there with Toy Story 3, Up, and Cars 2 as one of the greatest and most depressing PIXAR movies! Man, Cars 2 was depressing. It was PIXAR's greatest failure and it was depressing that they sunk to that level.... But it's good to know that they've recovered from the Cars 2 incident! I'd give this movie a 4.9 stars out of 5! It's a great feeling to know that PIXAR can still make a movie this good!

Have you seen Inside Out? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments!

Aidan the Aspie Critic: Jurassic World

Welcome to another review 65 million years in the making! Because that's how long it takes for me to put out one of these reviews... This is Jurassic World!

Jurassic World is the 4th instalment to the Jurassic Park series and is the true sequel to the original 1993 classic, Jurassic Park. Yeah yeah, I know we also have The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, but those movies are awful and, aside from starring some of the same characters, in no way continue the story from the first movie! Jurassic World finally gives the series the true sequel it deserves! Set 20 years after the events of the first Jurassic Park, the movie is about 2 kids who go on vacation to Jurassic World, a Universal Studios/Disney World style theme park featuring living dinosaurs, to see their Aunt who is one of the directors of the park. At first, things are going great! Sure, the kids' parents are getting divorced and their Aunt is too busy to spend any time with them, but who cares?! There's DINOSAURS!!!!!!! However, it turns out that people are tired of seeing live dinosaurs after the park has been open for 10 years. They want something more! The Jurassic World scientists have created that something. A brand new hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex! But, big surprise, the Indominus Rex breaks out and goes on a rampage throughout the island! Can the kids, their Aunt, a Veloceraptor trainer, and the Jurassic World Veloceraptor security system stop the Indominus Rex's rampage? Watch Jurassic World to find out!

This movie was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This movie is so fun! There are lots of intense, awesome, and very well done dinosaur chases and fights, the story is simple and engaging, and the characters are likeable! What this movie did great was creating the atmosphere of Jurassic World itself. It actually feels like a place that you can actually visit, and it makes you want to go there, even if you do get eaten by a dinosaur! The acting is good, and there are a lot less scenes that go nowhere than in the first movie. There are still things that weren't explained, but it was more subtle and you forget about it. There is also some good comedy, too! The characters seem more genuine, relatable, and likeable than in the first movie, for the most part. There are no stuttering Jeff Goldblums or jerk lawyers or Al from Toy Story 2 in this movie! There were lots of little references and homages to the original Jurassic Park that are really clever, and I won't DARE spoil them here for you, the reveals are too mind blowing! If there is something bad about this movie, it would be that the special effects aren't very convincing. Like, at all. I never actually felt like the dinosaurs were actually there, I never felt like you could reach out and touch them. Maybe I was half convinced they were real at a couple points, but overall, the dinosaurs look really fake. In the original Jurassic Park, the special effects were a mix of puppets, CGI, costumes, and animatronics. In Jurassic World, it seems they only used CGI. Now, that wouldn't be so bad, but here's the thing. At times, the CGI in this movie looks worse than in the original Jurassic Park! In some scenes, I didn't feel like the dinosaurs were as finely polished or as finely integrated into the scene than in the first movie. This is extremely disappointing, but it's all a matter of how much you care about the special effects. They aren't bad in this movie, some dinosaurs, like the Indominus Rex for example, look great, but there is also lots of slightly sub-par special effects in this movie as well. If you are a special effects enthusiast, this movie leaves a little bit to be desired, but if you care about the story and characters more than the special effects, then I think you'll like this movie a lot better. Overall this is a really fun movie to go see this summer! It's not fantastic, none of the Jurassic Park movies are, even the first one, but it is just awesome! I'd give this movie a 3.9 stars out of 5! Clever girl!

Have you seen Jurassic World? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments!