Daredevil: The Series

Netflix resurrected a very interesting character in Daredevil. The Afflack movie tanked as hard as any superhero movie and to top it off the guy is blind, so that would seem difficult to pull off. This is a rather gritty, dark drama. There are a lot of brutal fistfights done very well and it brings back Fulton Reed to boot! Charlie Cox does a great job in playing Matt Murdock, the blind attorney/vigilante. The stunts and fight scenes that I'm assuming he does himself are top-notch. Elden Henson, aka FULTON REED, is also good as Murdock's best friend and law partner Foggy Nelson. They retread Jessica from True Blood (Deborah Ann Woll) and throw in Vincent D'Onofrio as the ruthless, yet sophisticated Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. I'm only 2.5 episodes in, but I've been very impressed up to this point. I'm excited to see D'Onofrio's role increase and enjoy his performance more than his limited part in the first couple episodes. Rosario Dawson plays Claire, the friendly nurse who patches up Daredevil just to be nice. It's impressive like most Netflix sponsored shows that I've seen (House of Cards, Orange is the New Black). If you are an action/drama kind of person I recommend giving this one a roll of the dice. Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. It has a real "Seven" feel to it in tone, use of darkness, and grit that I enjoy.

The Judge

Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall headline this tale about redemption, forgiveness, family stuff, and lawyering. There was a ton of potential here as some moments with Duvall and RDJ were bliss, but this missed the mark on a lot and was too long at 2 hours 27 minutes. RDJ is a super lawyer and essentially Tony Stark (standard) only without the suits. Duvall plays his father, a proud, small town judge of 42 years. RDJ returns home for his mom's funeral, which is a big deal because he never goes home. He's proud to avoid his small Indiana hometown because he's a big-time lawyer in Chicago (I think). They smother you with small-town values and family stuff. RDJ is sometimes unbearable as his character is contradictory way too often. Duvall is excellent as a angry, proud old man refusing to give an inch on anything. There's some twists and turns as things from the past and present are revealed to you, but it all takes too long. They throw in a stupid love story that wastes time and you really never feel like you get anywhere in this one. It's worth watching for two excellent performances and some of the moments they spend on screen together, but I wasn't a fan of much else. Bottom Line: 6.3 out of 10. It's on HBO, so it's worth checking out if you have it.

Mad Max: Fury Road

I think my testicles grew by proximity just being near the screen on this film. It's just balls to the walls action that I sadly missed the very beginning of. You join Max in the dystopian future where he is a captive of "The Citadel" which is a city merely because it has water, which if you're playing the dystopian future game is rather important to survival. It's got a super-creepy overload (standard) and a bunch of psychotic "War Boys" who live to die doing his bidding. It's refreshing because George Miller wanted to make a kick-ass action movie and he certainly accomplished that. I'm not certain, but this baby might have destroyed more cars than Blues Brothers. Max and Charlize Theron lead a mini-convoy attempting to escape The Citadel with some of the leaders concubines (or more accurately ladies he forces into having sex with him to try to produce normal children, anyone know the term for that one?). There is just insane amounts of stunts, car crashes/explosions/craziness and awesomeness. This film is to be enjoyed on the big screen with bros and beer in a perfect world. Bottom Line: 8.8 out of 10. Just entertaining as fuck.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

I jumped on board the blockbuster bandwagon on Saturday and checked out some Avengers. I'm completely in love with the cast of this movie because adding the voice of James Spader and Paul Bettany can do nothing but make things better. I was actually interested in going deeper into the character of Hawkeye and making his humanity shine through. They spend some time with Bruce Banner and the Hulk, which is also nice. I was enthralled from the beginning because they wasted absolutely NO time in jumping into this thing full tilt. They give you some time to breathe, but only after 30 minutes of action and craziness. I really want this series to keep churning it out, but I feel like there's probably too much money getting demanded out of Downey Jr, etc. to keep the series coming back every other Summer. This was probably my favorite Marvel super hero movie with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the first Iron Man rounding out that group. Bottom Line: 9.2 out of 10. I like it exploring humanity, etc. I bought everything they were selling. Corporate pawn I guess.