It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.
Hopefully the recent Shaun the Sheep and Mission Impossible releases impressed with their excellence, and have left everyone satisfied for the time being. If, however, you’re looking to get back in the theatre this weekend, then I’d honestly recommend looking to see what else is playing that you might have missed, because that’s probably worth seeing more than what’s opening this week.

Yes, here it is, the almost universally-panned Fantastic 4 reboot is opening in Korea. See it if you want (I haven’t), but don’t expect to blown away.

To find another English-language film, we have to fast-forward to next week, when American Ultra opens.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.


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Fantastic 4 (2015, Josh Trank)
The origin story of Marvel’s longest-running superhero team.

The premise for Fantastic 4 is great, and even the previous film adaptations from a few years ago were somewhat successful.

This latest reboot is a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, and centres on four young outsiders. They teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical forms in shocking ways. With their lives now irreparably changed, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

Sounds alright enough, but reviewers, and the box office, have spoken. Dull, downbeat, and woefully misguided, this adaptation somehow leaves out all the humour, fun, and thrills which made the comics so great.

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American Ultra (2015, Nima Nourizadeh)
A stoner, really a secret agent, is marked to be exterminated.

Opening on August 27th, American Ultra stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.

It is being billed as a fast-paced action comedy about a seemingly hapless and unmotivated stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend, Phoebe, is suddenly turned upside down. Unbeknownst to him, Mike, the main character, is actually a highly trained, lethal sleeper agent. In the blink of an eye, as his secret past comes back to haunt him, Mike is thrust into the middle of a deadly government operation and is forced to summon his inner action-hero in order to survive.

I’ll admit that this one looks pretty fun. I’ll probably go see it just because there seems to be a lot of action and the premise, good enough to grab my attention. I’m not expecting miracles story-wise, but this should be a good way to unwind heading into the weekend.