This Rotten Week: Predicting Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, And Tolkien Reviews

This Rotten Week: Predicting Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, And Tolkien Reviews

We’ve got four movies coming out this week with themes that are all over the map. A cartoon character solves crimes, two ladies work a con game, some senior citizens go rah-rah, and there’s a famous author’s biopic. Get ready for Pokemon Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, and Tolkien.

Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at This Rotten Week has to offer.

A live-action Pokemon movie based around the video game/cartoon of the same name really seems like it should be a massive failure - something meant for only the superfans of the franchise or perhaps mindless youths. But they might have actually pulled something off with Detective Pikachu. It’s a buddy cop film, pairing a rather unsuspecting kid sleuth with an adorable Pikachu as they work to solve a mystery.

Director and screenwriter Rob Letterman seems to be taking Pikachu into a more funny direction with this film, and it seemingly makes for a movie that looks like it actually works. Letterman has a couple of wins with Goosebumps (77%) and Monsters vs. Aliens (73%), but also a bit miss in Gulliver’s Travels (20%). Critics are mostly positive about his latest, with the Tomatometer sitting at 70% with 37 reviews posted. Maybe it ticks down a little, but this already seems like a critical surprise.

If there's a lesson I learned from the trailer for The Hustle, it's that if you want to take power from someone, you should just run a couple of cons on them and bilk them out of all their cash. Apparently that's how you beat the bad dudes - by hitting them where it hurts the most.

It’s hard to know where critics are going to land on this movie. On the one hand, we have two great actresses in Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson carrying the comedic load and that could be enough to get the job done. On the other hand, this is a movie about two (probably) unsympathetic con-artists whose freedom comes from scamming rich dudes out of their fortunes. Ultimately comedies like this really don't seem to fall in the critics' favor, and I suspect that this remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels ends up on the rotten side.

Movies like Poms are generally made to appeal to a specific demographic: namely older women who don't typically get to see themselves properly represented on the big screen all that often. That being said, it's not exactly a demographic that dominates the world of film criticism, so I don't suspect that a ton of them will be going gaga over this one

Poms centers on a group of women at a retirement community who form a cheerleading squad, and watching the trailer I was initially concerned that the whole thing would feel too hokey. And then it took a turn for the sentimental and empowering, and I think it might have actually sold me. I'm not sure an overwhelming majority of critics will feel the same way, but a song by Pink playing in the background and a story of strength in spite of age has me more bullish on the film than I might have otherwise been.

At this point, most know the story of Blibo and Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gangee, Gandalf, and the rest of the folks in Middle-earth. Those dudes have had their stories told to the tune of billions of book and movie dollars. Tolkien, however, works to tell the story of the storyteller. The movie centers on J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult), and informs audiences about his fellowship of friends, how he found the love of his life, and the war that haunted him to the point that he was inspired to write both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As compelling as this story seems, critics are really mixed on the output so far. Tolkien is sitting at 53% currently, with more than 30 reviews posted. The opinions about the title are definitely wide-ranging, from “loved it” to “hated it.” This really appears to be polarizing among the critical crowd. Some loved the artistic look at Tolkien’s early life, while others don't appreciate the tone and lead performance. It really is all over the map, making me think the score winds up in the middle when it’s all said and done.

I went four for four last week, which was definitely an awesome showing for This Rotten Week. Long Shot (Predicted: 85% Actual: 83%) was almost dead on, and with a couple of more positive reviews we might find this one right on the nose. Though this movie finished very high on the Tomatometer, many of the reviews were mildly apologetic and focused a bit more on the performances than on the actual script. That being said, this is still a huge win for a comedy to finish this high.

Meanwhile Uglydolls (Predicted: 42% Actual: 35%) finished a little lower than predicted, but still within range. Animated flicks can crush it with critics when the story is tight and there are enough laughs for the adults. This movie apparently had neither. It was fairly clear from the trailer that they were working on a thin, commercial premise that focused mostly on the songs.

El Chicano (Predicted: 48% Actual: 40%) almost fell out of range, but this vigilante movie about a cop taking on a mythic persona and laying waste to the Latin gang world was just good enough to be considered a Rotten Week win. This seems like one of those films destined to be a fun watch on basic cable in about two years. There are worse fates for poorly-reviewed action movies.

Finally, The Intruder (Predicted: 35% Actual: 27%) was predictably bad. The story of a deranged dude who doesn’t want to let go of his house even though the closing papers are fully signed just didn’t have the legs with critics. This was easy to see from a mile away.

Next time we’ve got John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, A Dog’s Journey, and The Sun Is Also A Star. It’s gonna be a Rotten Week!

Something Strange Happens During The Avengers: Endgame End Credits

Something Strange Happens During The Avengers: Endgame End Credits

The following will get into what could be considered a very minor spoiler for Avengers: Endgame, so stop reading now if you are waiting to see the movie this weekend.

By now, Marvel fans know the drill: Stay in your seats until the final credits has tolled, because you never know when an extra scene of tantalizing footage might screen. Usually, it’s a clue as to where the story is going – Captain Marvel had a scene that fed right into the narrative of Avengers: Endgame, as a recent example. And sometimes it’s a joke aimed at people who wait for end-credit scenes.

But at the very end of Avengers: Endgame, something entirely different happened – at least, at the world premiere in Los Angeles, and in press screenings across the country. And it appears to be happening in public screenings, now that the movie has started to screen worldwide.

There is a beautiful tribute to the main cast of the MCU. And by “main,” I mean virtually every name that appears in a Marvel movie of note. William Hurt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Douglas, Robert Redford… a laundry list of legends get proper shout outs in the credits. Then, the credits transition to the Avengers team, proper. The six cast members who make up the initial team get video tributes, with the actors providing their signatures. It’s touching and beautiful, and well-deserved.

This segment goes where the normal mid-credits scene goes. However, true fans know that you have to stay seated until the very end, where a second scene usually surfaces.

Only, nothing happens at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Actually, that’s not accurate. There’s no scene. But at the press screenings (including the one that I attended), and at public screenings that have begun already, there’s a sound that comes through the theater speakers as the Marvel Studios logo comes up.

Those of us in the theater thought that something was about to happen. But no new footage comes up. Only the sound. What kind of sound is it? It’s a distinct “ting,” that sounds very close to the noise Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) makes while working on his initial suit of armor in the cave in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man. Is this what we are hearing? Is it an audio tribute to Stark, because the MCU started with Iron Man, and should end with Iron Man?

Possibly. In fact, that makes more sense than anything else, because there’s really nothing for Avengers: Endgame to tease. The only movie on its way is Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, and there’s no scene in this movie that sets that up.

There was speculation in journalist groups that Marvel Studios possibly was saving a scene for the public screenings. That has happened before. Except, I polled people who have been to public screenings, and additional footage has not been attached to the very end of the end credits.

But that sound was there.

Did you stay until the very end of the Avengers: Endgame end credits? Did you hear this sound? What is your take on what it is? It’s definitely there, so it’s included for a reason. But what’s the reason? Head to the comments below and give us your best guesses.

Why Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse's Filmmakers Thought Doc Ock Was Going To Be A Problem

Why Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse's Filmmakers Thought Doc Ock Was Going To Be A Problem

Superheroes movies are frequently accused of having a villain problem when they try to cram too many popular bad guys into a single film. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse basically gave this entire concept the finger by filling it with numerous different baddies. The film handled them all with a very deft hand, but the filmmakers admit there was at least one they were a bit concerned about. Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey says that there was a concern during production that the film's version of Doctor Octopus might have a problem coming across as a substantial villain. According to Ramsey...

For the longest time one of our concerns about that character was, is she only going to be goofy and quirky, are we ever going to be able to make her a formidable enough presence in the movie to really seem like a bad guy that you were actually going to be concerned about.

When we first meet Olivia Ocatvius in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, quirky is a good word to describe her. She's a pretty stereotypical version of a scientist who works better with math than with people. She spouts a lot of jargon very quickly and when she first sees Spider-Man, she appears to come across more like a star struck fan than a super villain.

Of course, that's all something of an act, as it turns out Olivia Octavius is actually this dimension's version of the well known Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus. When we discover this, she undergoes something of a personality transformation from science geek to vicious killer.

While several other classic Spider-man villains make appearances throughout Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Olivia Octavius is one of the bigger ones, so making her believable as a formidable opponent for not just one, but several Spider-Men, was important to the film. Peter Ramsey credits voice actress Katherine Hahn in one of the extras attached to the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Blu-ray, saying she made all fears that the character would not work disappear...

When Katherine Hahn got on the mic man, all that stuff instantly went away.

It's understandable how making the balance work with Olivia Octavius is a potential problem. On the one hand, you want her to look like she's just a normal scientist; it's what makes the reveal that she's actually one of the villains work. At the same time, if you make her look too campy, then the audience won't buy her as a menacing threat later.

As with pretty much every element of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it works. The film was one of the best of the year because every single element, from character to set design works together flawlessly. The character's quirkiness doesn't go away when Doc Ock comes out, rather, we see that it was just part of a larger personality.

With sequels and spinoffs to Into the Spider-Verse planned, we certainly have to wonder if we'll see Olivia Octavius again. She's certainly a powerful enough villain to anchor a movie rather than simply play henchman to Kingpin.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is available now in Digital HD and on Blu-ray.

Taika Waititi Wins For Best Reaction To James Gunn's Guardians 3 Return

Taika Waititi Wins For Best Reaction To James Gunn's Guardians 3 Return

When news broke yesterday that James Gunn had been reinstated to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after his firing last summer, there were wide-ranging emotions and reactions to the news. People were elated, surprised, and quite frankly astonished at this reversal of fortunes, while James Gunn himself expressed humility and gratitude. The best reaction to the news, though, came from Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi. Take a look:

Leave it to Taika Waititi to deliver the funniest response to the James Gunn news. While everyone else was celebrating James Gunn’s return, Taika Waititi acted shocked and appalled in his tweet that he didn’t get the job and will not be directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, losing out to a guy that he didn’t even think was in the running.

To appreciate Taika Waititi’s joke, you have to have followed the James Gunn/Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 saga to know why Taika would even pretend he was going to direct the film. After James Gunn’s firing, there were a lot of questions about if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 even would or should happen, and if it did, who would and could direct it.

The name that came up most in those conversations was Taika Waititi. The Kiwi director, who so endeared himself to Marvel fans with Thor: Ragnarok, seemed to be the only obvious choice to replace Gunn. Taika Waititi has an irreverent comedic style that, although not the same as Gunn’s, seemed to be the closest approximation fans could hope for.

There were even reports that Taika Waititi had met with Marvel, leading to speculation that it was about Guardians 3. His name also seemed to be the only one other than James Gunn’s that fans would accept. If you hear something enough you start to believe it, and with all that talk about him directing Guardians, Taika Waititi could almost have believed it himself -- even though he said that he had no interest and believed that Guardians belonged to James Gunn.

We now know that Marvel never even met with or considered other filmmakers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Sorry Taika, not only did you not get the job, you weren’t even in the running. It appears that James Gunn was always going to be the once and future director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

So now James Gunn is directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Suicide Squad, showing that one doesn’t need to swear allegiance to one comic book company. As for Taika Waititi, he may not have got the Guardians gig, but he still has plenty on his plate. He followed up Ragnarok with his new Nazi satire movie Jojo Rabbit, which has not yet set a release date, and he recently directed an episode of the new Star Wars Disney+ series The Mandalorian.

Check out our 2019 release schedule to see all the biggest movies heading to theaters this year and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest movie news.

One Marvel Hero Had To Be Added To Endgame's Women-Of-Marvel Sequence Via Digital Effects

One Marvel Hero Had To Be Added To Endgame's Women-Of-Marvel Sequence Via Digital Effects

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

It’s safe to say that the final battle in Avengers: Endgame, where 2014 Thanos and his forces clashed with all the MCU heroes and their accompanying allies, is the biggest action packed sequence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. Among the notable moments was when all the Marvel heroines (except for Black Widow, who died earlier) came together to ensure that the Infinity Gauntlet reached the quantum tunnel inside Scott Lang’s van.

Ironically, it turns out that the one male hero who was around for this sequence, Spider-Man, was digitally inserted into this Women-Of-Marvel sequence after the main shoot. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Weta Digital visual effects supervisor Matt Aiken, and here’s what he had to say about Tom Holland’s absence:

The only person who wasn’t able to be there on that day was Tom Holland, and Spidey has to hand the Gauntlet off to Captain Marvel at the start of that shot, so we had a stand-in for Spidey and we ended up filming him with a kind of faux-motion control rig a couple of weeks later when Tom Holland became available, and we tracked him into that shot and popped him in.

It’s a wonder that so much of Avengers: Endgame’s climactic conflict managed to have all the actors together on stage, but this is one instance where schedules weren’t 100% able to mesh together. Peter Parker was shown interacting with Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and watching as all these heroines teamed up on the battlefield, but in reality, Tom Holland had to participate in this sequence on his own. At least Matt Aiken and his VFX team at WETA made Holland inclusion as seamless as possible.

Like everyone else who was dusted at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man didn’t show up until after the battle over the destroyed Avengers base had already unfolded. Despite his limited screen time, he managed to stand out not just as the catalyst for the Women-Of-Marvel sequence, but also through the touching reunion with his mentor and father figure, Tony Stark, although their time together was tragically short as Tony would later sacrifice his life to stop Thanos’ forces.

While ultimately the Marvel heroines’ efforts in this portion of Avengers: Endgame were for naught since Thanos destroyed the van containing the Quantum Realm technology, the Women-Of-Marvel sequence as a whole was still exciting to watch. In the last couple years, various MCU actresses have talked about wanting the franchise to deliver a movie starring a female-led team, and this Endgame sequence provided a good case for such a project.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Avengers: Endgame and stay tuned for more coverage about the latest Marvel movie. If you’re already looking to the future of the MCU, Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2, and you can look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what’s coming after that.

New Men In Black International Clip Pokes Fun At Game Of Thrones’ Coffee Cup Debacle

New Men In Black International Clip Pokes Fun At Game Of Thrones’ Coffee Cup Debacle

The summer season, so far, has been all about the Avengers, but there are plenty more franchise looking to make a splash as the temperatures rise outside. Spider-Man will swing through his own sequel. The Toys are back in town for Toy Story 4, and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) will absorb the power of the Phoenix in Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix.

And then there are the Men In Black, who will add a fresh-faced new female recruit to their ranks when Tessa Thompson teams with Chris Hemsworth for Men In Black International. The promotional campaign is stepping up, as of late, including this clever and very timely use of the neuralyzer, which Game of Thrones fans probably want to use on its millions of viewers:

And no, this isn’t a dig at Dany laying waste to King’s Landing with her one remaining dragon (though seriously, a lot of Game of Thrones fans likely want their own neuralyzer to block out the bulk of season eight). This is a clever dig laid by Men In Black International about the coffee cup left on the Thrones set during a post-battle celebration. Happier times! Remember those?

With the help of a trusty neuralyzer, all one has to do is stare into the light, and the memory that you want gone is wiped. It was a funny bit every time Will Smith of Tommy Lee Jones did it in the original Men In Black films. We can’t wait to see how Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson use it in the new film.

When CinemaBlend visited the set of Men In Black International, we learned that the neuralyzer actually will play a bigger role in the story of this new team, with Chris Hemsworth’s character – Agent H – potentially suffering from a memory wipe after an early confrontation. Beyond that tease, details were kept under wraps, but we’ll know the full story once the movie comes out.

F. Gary Gray directs Men In Black International, recruiting Tessa Thompson out of the bureau’s New York office and then sending her to London where she’ll team with Chris Hemsworth and Liam Neeson on a globe-trotting adventure. The movie opens everywhere on June 14. For more from our visit to the London set of the movie, click here.

Does The Latest Avengers: Endgame Trailer Reveal When The Thanos Rematch Will Happen?

Does The Latest Avengers: Endgame Trailer Reveal When The Thanos Rematch Will Happen?

Yet another trailer has arrived for Avengers: Endgame, and among all the things Marvel is choosing to keep fans in the dark on, it appears there's a pretty big tease for one much-anticipated scene. The rematch with Thanos has been the moment fans have been waiting for ever since the Mad Titan destroyed half of all life in the universe, and there's some breadcrumbs leading me to believe they won't be waiting long to see it.

In fact, it looks as though once the team has a chance to reconnect, get acquainted and collect their thoughts following this massive tragedy, they're going to track down Thanos in order to exact revenge. What makes me so sure? Read through this line delivered by Thanos in the latest look at the movie.

You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.

It's a curious line, and one that may be a reference to the Avengers' failure to stop Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. The villain seems to relish in the idea that the heroes have found their way back to him, hoping to right their wrongs in defeating him. Man, how can a villain be such a dick, but also so badass at the same time?

Now, if Thanos' snap has happened, that would imply that no time travel has happened at that point of the film. After all, what would be the point in going back in time if not to prevent the events of the present? It's possible this scene takes place before the team meets up with Scott Lang and learns of the Quantum Realm, and this is a mission half founded on stopping further destruction by Thanos, but mostly founded on revenge.

It's worth mentioning at this point that there's evidence to back some of this, and it comes in the form of a footage description (via Heroic Hollywood) of Avengers: Endgame footage that hasn't been released to the public. The footage, which aired for Disney shareholders a couple months ago, contained scenes in which Captain Marvel and the Avengers (plus Nebula, minus Tony) talk of a rematch with Thanos.

A rematch so soon sounds crazy, but it follows the logic of the heroes. After all, Thor was pretty close to killing Thanos on his own, so having everyone together would give them a solid chance even with the Infinity Stones at his disposal. It’s also worth mentioning that, provided Scott Lang and the Quantum Realm aren’t introduced into the story until later, this is really the only way for the Avengers to save the universe.

Going back to the footage description, Nebula reveals she may know where to find her father, and the crew (again, minus Tony) head off in a ship to face the Mad Titan. The description syncs up with a couple scenes shown in the latest trailer, including the one with the Avengers in the space ship with Captain Marvel and Rocket Raccoon at the wheel. According to the footage, this will be the team that heads off to face Thanos.

So if that’s the team that is supposed to go and fight Thanos, what the hell is that battle scene? After all, Tony is explicitly stated in the shareholder footage not to be a part of this action, but he’s seen marching up on Thanos alongside Thor and Captain America. Did Marvel pull the wool over the eyes of its own investors and show fake footage?

That doesn’t seem like a wise move to fool investors, so it’s more likely there’s something screwy with this scene shown to the public. Perhaps Tony isn’t really alongside Thor and Cap in this confrontation with Thanos, or there are three different heroes entirely? That doesn’t seem likely given Cap’s shield tightening scene seems to match up with the back drop of this battle, so the odds of this scene being completely fabricated are unlikely.

It’s a tough pill to swallow, especially considering what a great homage it is to see Cap, Iron Man, and Thor fight Thanos together. Who better to take on the villain than than these founding Avengers members? It’d be a cool moment to see on screen for sure, but we’re all well aware the Russos aren’t above creating epic footage strictly for trailers and nothing else.

It’s also possible that while Thanos’ speech about failure comes early in the movie, the actual fight footage comes from a showdown later on in the film. After all, Nebula referred to the place Thanos is at as “the garden.” We’ve seen the location in footage before, and it looks like a paradise and definitely not that smoldering pile of metal and ash he’s chilling out in when the heroes walk up on him.

Hey, maybe the garden has always looked like shit and he’s just using the Reality Stone to help him avoid the realization that his master plan didn’t ultimately save humanity? After all, it would suck to live a life that strictly revolved around mass genocide to save the planet only to learn in the end it wasn’t the answer after all. Yeesh, you’d almost have to feel bad for the guy for having to live with that.

So assuming we're right and the Avengers do take on Thanos fairly early on into the film, where do they go from there? Do they defeat the Mad Titan and it changes nothing? Do they fail and are forced to live with another failure? Tony's gray hair in some scenes is likely another sign we're going to see a time jump, so regardless of how things shake out with Thanos, it appears this is a problem that can't be solved through fists alone.

Avengers: Endgame is headed to theaters in late April, and tickets are already being sold at incredible rates. Fans may want to secure theirs before the grand opening, and continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all Marvel analysis and reactions leading up to the premiere and beyond. For example, read up on the various ways Marvel can wrap up Captain America's arc in the upcoming film.