Category Archives: Movies

The Long Walk – Thoughts

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“Want to want with me for a while?”

I requested that we see The Long Walk this weekend and then had to explain to Courtney exactly what the movie might be about.

“It’s a post-apocalyptic world where there is basically a Long Walk that 50 young men volunteer for… and they walk until there is one person left who wins the prize. Oh, and Mark Hamill is a bad guy in it.”

Talk about pretty much going in blind.

While it is about that. I mean, that’s the plot of the movie… that’s also not what the movie is about. I had some questions of my own mostly centered on how the movie would actually be structured. I thought it could make a ton of use out of Flashbacks for either just the main character or perhaps a handful of the other characters. That would help break up what would likely be monotonous walking. They could show some montage that helped show exactly how America got into the state it currently was. Heck, there could be a lot of build up before they even began the walk.

Nope. We pretty much jump right into things from the beginning. And from there we walk.

The thing is it was never monotonous. It was never boring. There was never a point in the 108-minute movie where I wanted them to get to something more exciting.

It was riveting.

Because it was always about the characters. About the bonds these characters make during the course of this horrendous event they all are participating in. Ray and Pete and Art and Hank… our Four Musketeers… they are all real. Each of them trying to joke a bit at the beginning of the Walk to calm their own nerves. Each of them aware that the odds of any one of them actually winning the damn thing was nearly impossible.

“Want to want with me for a while?”

Each death is brutally shown. You might think that is because it is a horror movie and so they need to show the gore, but it is just another way to draw the viewer into the same moments as the characters. It reinforces the realization that there is only one winner.

Watching the movie, I’m rooting for multiple characters… hoping that someway, somehow that maybe they can pull a Hunger Games and two or more could potentially win the damn Walk. I’m rooting against the “bad guy” walkers while also not really wanting them to get their Ticket punched. I’m in agony over some of the characters we only get to meet once or twice before they die.

In fact, the only character I’m actively rooting against is the Major (Mark Hamill in a glorious scene chewing role).

“Want to walk with me for a while?”

The core of the movie is the friendship that develops between Ray and Pete. Two people who would have never met one another in any other circumstance find themselves competing against one another. Two people that should only look out for themselves. Two people who should hope that others around them make a mistake which get them killed.

They are better people than I would be.

Instead, we are moved by Pete’s speech talking about how they are friends even if they’ve only known each other for a couple of days. It’s a friendship that calls to mind tales of war. They are going through the shit together. And even if they both know that only one of them could ever possibly make it out of this Hell alive, they’re in the process of creating a bond very few people could ever understand.

Coming out of the theater, I was floored by what I’d just witnessed. I thought going into it would be a solid to good movie. What I realized instead that this might very well be one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. To have something hit as hard as The Long Walk does while making you feel the characters’ exhaustion. Courtney and I talked about it for the next hour at least, just in amazement at how they pulled it all off.

“Want to walk with me for a while?”

“Yeah… yeah, I do Pete.”

Fantastic Four: First Steps Thoughts

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I’m slightly late to the party as the movie is nearly one month old at the time of this post. Life has been a little hectic, but we finally managed to go and see the new Fantastic Four movie.

A couple of things about the Fantastic Four comic book… I own a metric ton of their comic books. In fact, the second comic book I ever bought was a Fantastic Four comic during one of our Elementary School Book Fairs. As you can see from the cover below, I’m not entirely sure who thought it was a good idea to even have this comic available for kids.

Still, for a long time I would have considered them my favorite superhero team. The Human Torch is one of my top five characters, and even though the focus of this movie was not Dr. Doom, he has remained my favorite villain in all comics.

When they first announced the movie, I had my concerns. While the early 2000s movies were fun in their own way, they never quite hit the right marks showing the team overall (though Ben and Johnny’s relationship was spot on in those). In addition, I know that everyone seems a little more down on, burned out, or just wants the whole Superhero movie genre to go away at this point. Marvel really did a great job in the Infinity Gems saga, but even I can admit there have been some stumbles along the way since End Game.

But… then the first trailer came out, and I saw they were really leaning into that 1960s look for the team. It was something I thought would have been a good choice for any of their movies.

This movie was pretty much pitch perfect. I nailed the look and feel of the group by really leaning into the one true thing which separates them from every other comic book team out there: they’re a family. Yes, they fight supervillains, and they have saved the world multiple times over, but the best stories show how the family interacts with one another. Those connections which exist directly because of those bonds.

I loved that we got to see Reed struggle with the idea that he didn’t always know the answer to the problem. I loved that we got to see Johnny as something more than just the dumbass lady’s man. I loved that Sue was the lynchpin of the movie, with everything revolving around her – our true guiding star. And I loved the portrayal of Ben… too many times the story only focuses on the fact that he is The Thing. In the Marvel Universe, The Thing is well loved by pretty much everyone. Excellent to see that in this film.

Galactus… how many times have I heard the same refrain about so many comic book things (whether it is their costumes or how the powers get shown or a hundred other things) … I’ve heard it so many times that I’ve begun to believe it as well. The decision to show him as a cloud is the only way this would possibly work.

Galactus looked amazing. He looked both amazingly powerful and something which is a force of nature. I’d like to think this is the way Jack and Stan saw him in their minds when they crafted those early stories.

A worthy threat for the Four.

Finally, the Silver Surfer. Another threat, to be sure, but also the sadness of a being who had lost more than anyone else could comprehend to save their people and their world from Galactus. In the comics, that sacrifice often helps illustrate that we’re not seeing someone who doesn’t know the damage or destruction Galactus can wreck upon sentient creatures, but the Surfer has firsthand knowledge of it from both viewpoints.

The one thing I’m a bit sad about is, based on the upcoming movies (Doomsday and Secret War), this may be the only time we get to see this world. Which will honestly be a shame. I feel like in a perfect world we would have gotten at least one more full movie in this 1960s style before bringing the family into the MCU proper.