Rocky

Welcome back to FlashBack Friday! It's been a little while since I've done one of these, and while I was hesitant to commit to the Rocky series with another installment of the Star Wars franchise so near in the future, I figured there was room to do both! For the next six weeks, I'll be covering another Rocky movie until the release of the upcoming Creed on November 25th. My childhood was riddled with movie franchises, from Indiana Jones to Jurassic Park (both of which I've covered on previous FlashBack Fridays), but Rocky was just as influential to me as either of those. Surprisingly enough, most of my childhood memories are from the third and fourth installments in the series. Though I definitely remember seeing the first Rocky on multiple occasions, I think it was just a little too talky for me at the time to really get into. This suited me perfectly, however, as I came into this movie as an older person with a built-in love for the character and a taste in movies that has matured exponentially over the years. While it wasn't the most exciting of the series, my older self was able to more fully appreciate this low budget character drama in a completely different way. As usual in these FlashBack Friday reviews, a SPOILER ALERT is in full effect from here on out!

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Having never heard of the property, I wasn't expecting much when I first clicked the trailer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. All I had heard about the project was the casting, which at least had me intrigued. Henry Cavill was great in Man of Steel, and Armie Hammer has been terrific in films like The Social Network. The trailer seemed to promise a fun and exciting throwback to early spy films. Combine that with the director of the underrated Sherlock Holmes, and I had a feeling this was going to be a pretty good time at the theatres. It was only after I was already looking forward to seeing the movie that I found out from my parents that it was based on a popular TV series that they loved as kids. I still don't know a whole lot about that original show, but from what they've told me about it, director Guy Ritchie seems to be honoring the spirit and tone of that 1960's series.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

This movie snuck up on us! (That's kind of weird to say, considering it's been four years since its last installment.) Initially scheduled for a December 2015 release, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation did an almost unprecedented move up five months ahead of its original release date. After the surprising treat that Ghost Protocol was in 2011, I knew it was only a matter of time until a fifth installment in the M:I franchise was released. Of course, I thought it would get here a lot sooner than now, and I assumed it would star Jeremy Renner. However, after a couple of sci-fi hits (to use the term loosely, given the meager box office returns of Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow), it seemed more and more like Cruise was staying with this franchise for the long haul. Indeed, this movie puts Cruise front and center, which would be mind-boggling for anybody who hasn't kept up with him since his couch-jumping antics in 2005. We suddenly love Tom Cruise again! For me, who wasn't crazy big on the megastar in past performances (see my review of Oblivion for more on that), I am grateful to see his evolution as a movie star. After seeing the first trailer for Rogue Nation, I instantly regretted not putting it on my list of most anticipated films for this year. But how well does the movie follow its marketing promise?

Ant-Man

I always seem to start these reviews with a brief history of my expectations for the film in question. I'm not going to break from tradition here, and yes, this was another movie on my most anticipated list for 2015. Admittedly, I was more excited for Ant-Man when it was an Edgar Wright project (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), particularly given the lack of recognition I had for the main character. However, given Marvel's golden reputation lately, I had a feeling this would still end up being a really fun movie. The casting sure didn't let me down, with names like Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd in the starring roles, even if the director that was eventually signed didn't excite me all that much. Regardless of the production woes this film seemed to have, I still hoped that Ant-Man could pull off something unique and entertaining that would be a much-needed change of pace after the massive throw-down that was Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Terminator: Genisys

It's been a few years since we've had a Terminator movie, and a heck of a lot of years since we've had a good Terminator movie. I contemplated doing a FlashBack Friday series in anticipation of Terminator: Genisys (given that it was on my list of most anticipated films for this year), but with a busy 4th of July week and a slew of theatrical releases I wanted to cover during that time, I knew I wasn't going to be able to pull it off. After seeing this movie, however, I kind of wish I had. It's very self-referential and plays on story beats from the previous films (at least the first two) in a way that will surely work best for those familiar with those movies. With pretty poor word-of-mouth, and some incredibly questionable marketing choices, I went into my showing of Terminator: Genisys with a healthy dose of skepticism.