It’s been a long and dreary winter — and we’re just talking about the movie choices. But while the February’s icy grasp may still be lingering, when it comes to the box office, things are definitely heating up, and we couldn’t be happier. Along with what’s likely to be one of the worst-critiqued movies of the season, 50 shades of rinse and repeat, this week brings two very different (but equally awesome) choices to escape from the doldrums of reality: The Lego Batman Movie and John Wick: Chapter 2.
First up, we’ll be doing our own mini review of Lego Batman, which offers just the right dashes of silliness, hilarity, and damn fine animation to make it a stellar choice for your weekend escapism. It’s impressive how well Warner Bros.’ latest addition to its rapidly expanding Lego Cinematic Universe balances a heap of Batman properties, the comedic stylings of Will Arnett and Michael Cera, and the overall arc of the franchise’s “master builder” device for box office fun. As much as the original Lego Movie was a surprise hit, Lego Batman stacks up with its own unique flavors to make it a new look at the same old.
While manifested in a completely different way, a heap of reviewers are handing out the same compliments for John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves’ second stand as the reluctant shoot-’em-up protagonist with a soft spot for puppies. The beauty of this series was etched in stone with Reeves’ stoic, charismatic turn as the almost supernatural Wick, and spurred by absolutely gorgeous action choreography from directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, former-stuntmen-turned-action-directors-extraordinaire. Though Stahelski helmed this second take solo, word is that every ante has been raised, including bigger action, a broader universe, and way more bad guys getting what’s coming to them.
Either one of these films should make for a fantastic way to get away from reality this weekend. Or if you’d rather, you can see Fifty Shades Darker, regardless of its 8 percent Rotten Tomatoes score (ouch!).
There’s plenty of other news to discuss this week, including new plot details for the second season of everyone’s favorite nostalgia series, Stranger Things. We’ll be discussing the latest news on the series, which will premiere on Halloween, as well as showing off some of the newly released photos.
Elsewhere in Netflix-TV land, we also got the latest Iron Fist trailer this week, showing off some more action from the fourth (and final) Defender’s new series before he meets up with Daredevil, Jessica, and Luke. This latest trailer was certainly an interesting look at the series, which appears to have a Bruce Wayne vibe, mixed with some ’70s kung fu, and plenty of keystones from the rest of Netflix’s Marvel characters to finally link them all as one. The series comes out March 17, so we won’t have to wait nearly as long to find out what’s in store for the latest superhero. It’s a Netflix kind of day, as we’ll also be talking about Bill Nye’s new series, among other topics related to the streaming giant.
And that’s not all! We’ll also be discussing all the trailers dropped during Tom Brady’s latest football party — The Lost City of Z, the intriguing new tech-thriller The Circle, etc. — young Han Solo news, and much more. Follow along with us live at 2 p.m. PT, or take our podcast along with you via the links above!
