The Transformers and G.I. Joe Crossover Movie Is Officially Cancelled, But G.I. Joe Reboot is a Go

Photo via The Straits Times

The big-screen team-up fans have dreamed about for more than a decade is officially off the table. Paramount has killed its plans for a live-action Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover movie, closing the book on years of anticipation that kicked off with a post-credits tease.

What Happened to the Crossover Movie?

The news broke in an October 2026 report that Bradley Cooper has been cast as Duke in a new standalone G.I. Joe film directed by Danny McBride. Per the report, McBride's movie has been "uncoupled" from the Transformers franchise, with the previously planned crossover no longer moving forward at Paramount.

How the Crossover Was Set Up

The idea of a crossover was first hinted at in 2023's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. In its final scene, Anthony Ramos' Noah Diaz shows up for what looks like a government security interview — but ends up being recruited into the G.I. Joe organization by Michael Kelly's Agent Burke.

The studio then made it official at CinemaCon in April 2024. Derek Connolly — who wrote Jurassic World and Kong: Skull Island — was hired to write the script, while Chris Hemsworth was reportedly being eyed to star. Hemsworth was no stranger to the franchise, having voiced a young Optimus Prime in 2024's animated Transformers One.

In spite of all that momentum, the movie never got in front of cameras.

What G.I. Joe Looks Like Now

Rather than a crossover, G.I. Joe is being rebooted from scratch. Danny McBride, the creative force behind The Righteous Gemstones, is directing and co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri. Bradley Cooper takes on Conrad "Duke" Hauser — a character previously portrayed by Channing Tatum in 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The project is described as a franchise reimagining, and filming is reportedly expected to begin next year.

How Bradley Cooper Landed the Role of Duke in G.I. Joe Reboot

Photo via Nicki Swift

According to Deadline, Bradley Cooper closed his deal to play Duke in early October after several weeks of negotiations — and it was the script that sealed it. Cooper, 51, had real scheduling concerns: he's currently directing and starring in Warner Bros.' Ocean's Eleven prequel alongside Margot Robbie, with filming underway in Europe. But after meeting with Danny McBride and reading the screenplay McBride co-wrote with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri, Cooper signed on.

McBride reportedly always had Cooper in mind for Duke — First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser, the field leader of the Joe team — after winning a competitive pitch process to write and direct the film for Paramount. The casting also reunites the two: Cooper guest-starred in a 2025 episode of McBride's HBO comedy The Righteous Gemstones, and the pair previously co-starred in the 2015 film Aloha. Channing Tatum played Duke in 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, while Henry Golding headlined the 2021 prequel Snake Eyes.

What's Next for Transformers

This marks yet another setback for Transformers at the box office. After Michael Bay's fifth installment, Transformers: The Last Knight, disappointed at the box office, the follow-ups — Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts, and Transformers One — never got back to the billion-dollar hauls the series used to deliver. A new Transformers film from writer Jason Fuchs is reportedly in the works, picking up Noah Diaz's story from Rise of the Beasts — just without the Joes alongside him.

So the post-credits scene meant to kick off a shared Hasbro universe now sits alongside all those other franchise teases that never went anywhere. Duke gets his reboot, the Autobots carry on solo, and fans can only keep dreaming about that team-up.

Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Theory Explained: Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man vs. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine

Credit: Marvel

SPOILER WARNING & DISCLAIMER: This post discusses a fan theory and pure speculation about Avengers: Doomsday based on rumored leaks covered in a YouTube video. This is NOT fact — Marvel has not officially confirmed any of these plot details. If you want to avoid potential spoilers, stop reading now.

Fresh leaks and D23 buzz have Marvel fans talking about what could be the opening scene of Avengers Doomsday — and if the latest YouTube breakdown is right, the Russo brothers are planning one of the boldest openings in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. The theory comes from the movie theories channel Film Royalty, and it paints a picture of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man going head-to-head with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine while the X-Men try to blow up an entire planet. Here is the theory, what it would mean for the movie, and the full transcript of the video below.

The Theory: Spider-Man vs. the X-Men During an Incursion

According to the Film Royalty breakdown, Avengers Doomsday opens with Professor X and the X-Men watching an incursion unfold on another version of Earth — the sky turns red, the planet explodes, and Professor X watches in horror. The theory goes further: the X-Men have figured out a way to stop incursions — detonating a massive bomb on the other world to destroy it and save their own.

The twist? The other world is Tobey Maguire's Earth, where Spider-Man is the only hero left. So Spider-Man is forced to fight the X-Men — including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, with Deadpool lurking in the background — to save his world from destruction. The fight reportedly ends with Spider-Man and Wolverine falling into the exploding world, making it look like both heroes die in the first ten minutes.

Why This Opening Would Work

The incursion crash course. The video argues this scene exists so casual fans who skipped Phase 4 and Phase 5 can learn how incursions work — by watching one unfold rather than sitting through exposition.

A classic Russo misdirection. Just like Loki's death opened Avengers: Infinity War and set the stakes, seemingly killing two icons in the opening would raise the stakes immediately — and the video's creator does not believe either hero stays dead.

Dr. Doom pulling the strings. The theory speculates Doom may have planted the idea of destroying other worlds with the X-Men — tying into the trailer line "We face an unthinkable decision."

The 2002 cameo, finally paid off. Back when Tobey Maguire's 2002 Spider-Man was being made, Hugh Jackman was reportedly set to cameo as Wolverine before the plan fell apart. This opening would pay off that decades-old what-if.

Watch the Full Video: Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown

The full breakdown comes from Film Royalty's "Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown" on YouTube (8:07).

Credit: Marvel studios

Full Transcript of the Video

Transcript of Film Royalty's video (auto-generated captions), provided for reference:

[0:06] There's been a ton of info coming out of D23 about Avengers Doomsday, and some of the stuff that's leaked is absolutely wild. We finally got a better look at what's happening in that opening scene, and it sounds like the Russo brothers are pulling out all the stops. They've done this before with Infinity War and Endgame, so they know exactly how to hook an audience from the very first second. So, what we've heard is that we start off with Professor X and the X-Men watching as an incursion unfolds in another version of Earth. The sky turns red, the planet explodes, and Professor X looks genuinely devastated watching it all happen. But we've since learned that it's actually the very opening scene of the movie, and it involves some major players. We're talking Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, and the rest of the Fox X-Men. And apparently this is all part of a much bigger plan that sets up everything that follows. Now, here's where it gets really interesting. There have been a bunch of leaks suggesting that in this scene, Spider-Man is fighting Hugh Jackman's Wolverine with Deadpool lurking in the background. And the reason he's fighting them is that he's the only hero left on his Earth. So, he's basically forced to fight the X-Men to save his own world from being destroyed by an incursion. That is one of the coolest concepts I've heard in a long time. It's like something straight out of the comics and it creates this perfect emotional conflict that the Russo brothers excel at. But let's back up a bit and talk about how we even know about this. Walker Scobell, yeah, the kid from Percy Jackson, was at D23 for his own thing, and he just started talking about this epic Doomsday scene in detail. He used to be best friends with Ryan Reynolds and he even filmed a movie with Hugh Jackman, so he went on and on about Tobey Maguire fighting the X-Men, and it was hilarious because you could tell he was just sharing stuff from Ryan. And it wouldn't be surprising if Marvel snipers gave him a call after that to tell him to keep quiet. But apparently this scene is set up to give casual fans a crash course in how incursions work because Marvel knows that not everyone watched every single Phase 4 and Phase 5 movie. They're basically banking on the fact that a bunch of people skipped straight from Endgame to Doomsday. So, they need to explain the multiverse rules without being too heavy-handed. The incursion concept was introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by Reed Richards. But a lot of people probably didn't catch that or don't remember it. So using this X-Men scene to show, not tell, how incursions work and how devastating they can be. Now, the big twist here is that the X-Men have actually figured out a way to stop incursions from destroying their world. They've learned that when two planets are about to collide, detonating a massive bomb on the other world will destroy it and save their own. So, in this opening scene, the X-Men are trying to plant that bomb on Tobey Maguire's Earth to destroy it and save their own. It's pretty brutal. But Spider-Man being the hero he is, isn't about to let that happen. So, he fights them, trying to save his world, and the first person he runs into is Wolverine he's fighting. The rest of the X-Men are also there trying to get the job done. But it sounds like the fight ends with both of them falling into the exploding world, which makes it look like they both die in the opening scene. That's a classic Russo brothers move. By the way, remember how they killed Loki at the beginning of Infinity War? That immediately established the stakes. They're doing something similar here, making us think that two of the biggest comic book icons, Spider-Man and Wolverine, are gone in the first 10 minutes. I don't buy it for a second. These guys are way too valuable, and I'm pretty sure they'll be back for Avengers: Secret Wars. It's a classic fake out, and I'm sure they'll be brought back. Maybe Dr. Doom pulls them into Battle World after he creates it at the end of Doomsday. Or maybe they escape through some kind of portal.

Speaking of Dr. Doom, there's a lot of speculation that he's secretly pulling the strings behind all of this. It sounds like he might have given the X-Men the idea to destroy other worlds in the first place because that's exactly the kind of morally questionable manipulation Doom would engage in. He's always been a master of gaslighting and using people to execute his will. So, it makes perfect sense that he'd be nudging events in a certain direction. And there's that line from the trailers where he says, "We face an unthinkable decision." That's almost certainly about the choice to destroy another Earth to save your own. It's such a Doom thing to say and it sets up the central moral dilemma of the movie. Now, let's talk about why Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is wearing a motion capture suit in those leaked images instead of his classic cloth suit. The rumor is that he's getting a new, more comic accurate Iron Spider suit, similar to what Tom Holland wore in Infinity War and Endgame, but designed to look even cooler and more faithful to the comics. That would explain why he needs all that motion capture technology. The suit is going to be heavily enhanced with visual effects, and that's a really exciting prospect. Tom Holland actually mentioned recently that he tried on Tobey's and Andrew Garfield's suits for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and he said they felt so much better than his own suit that they inspired the design for his new one. So, there's a lot of thought going into making these suits feel practical and authentic, even when they're enhanced with CGI. The other big reason the Russo brothers want to include this opening scene is to pay off a decades old deep cut. Back when the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie was being made in 2002, there was actually a plan to have Hugh Jackman's Wolverine cameo in it. Fox and Sony worked out a deal and Wolverine was going to appear in his black suit. But on the day of filming, the suit didn't work out, so they scrapped the cameo. And then as both franchises got bigger, the lawyers could never come to an agreement to make it happen. So now, all these years later, the Russo brothers are finally delivering on that long-lost idea. It's such a cool piece of Marvel history coming full circle, and it shows how much thought and care is going into this movie. The opening scene also serves to establish how smart the X-Men are. Professor X and his team have already figured out the mechanics of incursions, and they're acting decisively to save their world. But there's a moral weight to their actions that can't be ignored. Destroying another Earth, even to save your own, is a horrific choice. And that's exactly the kind of dilemma that makes for great drama. In Jonathan Hickman's Time Runs Out comic, the Illuminati faced the same exact decision, and it tore them apart. Some of them were totally on board, while others couldn't stomach it. I wouldn't be surprised if we see similar conflicts within the X-Men in this movie. And let's not forget the potential for some fourth wall breaking humor from Deadpool. In those leaked scenes, he's there in the background. And you know, Ryan Reynolds is going to have a field day with the absurdity of it all. He could easily make a joke about how audiences are getting tired of the same multiverse plots being recycled, which would be a hilarious way to acknowledge the elephant in the room. But even with the humor, the stakes are incredibly high, and the Russo brothers are masters at balancing tone. So, as it stands, the opening of Avengers Doomsday sounds like an absolute roller coaster. We've got Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man fighting Wolverine, the X-Men trying to blow up an entire planet.

End of transcript. Video: Film Royalty, "Avengers Doomsday Opening Scene Breakdown," 8:07 — watch on YouTube.

Deadpool and Wolverine in Theaters July 26, 2024

In the upcoming Marvel movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, "stuff" is about to go down in theaters on July 26, 2024.

Deadpool & Wolverine movie poster

Deadpool & Wolverine Movie in July 

Sharp, pointy things are about to be poked into Deadpool, and while it's going to be painful for him, it will be hilarious for movie-goers to watch as Deadpool meets a Wolverine variant named James "Logan" Howlett who isn't playing around with Wade Wilson's antics.

The plot is supposed to involve the Time Variance Authority (TVA) taking Deadpool from his life in his timeline and giving him a mission with Wolverine that may alter other timelines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) taking the duo to a place in the Void with a Giant Ant-Man helmet.

A giant Ant-Man helmet is seen in The Void. This giant Ant-Man variant was killed by the Red Skull during an event in comics known as the "Superhero Holocaust."

It remains to be seen how this movie will affect the future of the MCU and the X-men going forward.

Images of Deadpool and Wolverine

Wolverine Van Gogh

Deadpool Van Gogh

Squid Game: The Challenge Synopsis, Insider Details, and Episode Release Dates

In Squid Game: The Challenge, 456 real contestants compete in a challenge based on the Netflix series, Squid Game, to try to win the $4.56 million grand prize in a reality competition. One player that was in the series even shares the wild details of how players tried to lubricate their chapped lips with the free condoms provided on the show. Then they eventually were given real lip balm.

Squid Game: The Challenge

Netflix’s new reality show, Squid Game: The Challenge, is a thrilling and brutal adaptation of the hit South Korean series and will likely have a sequel due to its popularity.

Like the original series, The Challenge began with a round of “Red Light, Green Light,” in which every contestant tried to make it across a finish line without being “killed.” Meaning: players wore ink packs that exploded if they failed to complete the mission. The Challenge also includes a round of Dalgona, along with new challenges that force contestants to rely on their intellect and physical abilities for survival.

So far, only the first five episodes of The Challenge have been released. The next batch of episodes will premiere on November 29, followed by a two-part finale on December 6. As the series comes to an end, fans are wondering if Squid Game: The Challenge will return for another round. 

How is Squid Game: The Challenge Different from the Original?

The Challenge makes players play in huge versions of childhood games, similar to Squid Game itself. If you saw the original Squid Game, don’t think that you know all of the game show’s surprises, because it has some hidden tricks. We won’t reveal too much for you, but even in the dorm, contestants deal with a lot of mental pressure. Add small amounts of daily food and shifting alliances, Squid Game: The Challenge has achieved the balance between fun television and emotional drama.

After reducing the competition from 456 contestants to just below 70 hopeful players after the Squid Game: The Challenge’s first five episodes, the latest three-episode release makes another big cut. By the end of Episode Nine, we have a very small number of contestants left. When the finale comes out next week on Thursday, December 6, we’ll finally see a winner.

Squid Game: The Challenge, credit: Netflix

Details on Why Players Rubbed Condoms on Their Chapped Lips

Another unusual thing happened during the filming of Squid Game: The Challenge.

Trey ("Player #301") standing next to his mother in Squid Game: The Challenge, credit: Netflix

"Trey" (Player #301) told Entertainment Weekly that players were desperate to find lip balm, which many commonly refer to as "chapstick." They were so desperate that players used all of the condoms out in the communal area on set. The players allegedly tried to use the lubrication found in the condoms to relieve their chapped lips. It really didn't help them.

Trey said:

"Do you think I did that? Do I seem like a person that did that? No, hell no. That's so stupid."

Trey even remembered that some people still had chapped lips after rubbing the condoms on their mouths. This was after players tried to use the lotion and the conditioner to relieve their chapped lips.

He noticed that all of the condoms were gone within a day and a half.

He said:

"When people tried it and they kept trying it and it didn't work, and I was like, 'Obviously!'" he adds. "So yeah, that's 100 percent true."

After that he noted that show producers gave players individual tins of lip balm with their numbers on them. Trey wished he had kept his, as it was one of the few items he could have taken home with him.

Trey said:

"I gave my chapstick to someone last minute because I accidentally kept it in my pocket during Glass Bridge," Trey says. "And I was like, 'Can you please give this back to me? It has my number on it.' And they were like, 'I will not see you again if you don't make it over that bridge.' I was like, 'Great. Killer. Awesome encouragement.'"

(Source: Entertainment Weekly)

Are you looking for the episode release schedule for Squid Game: The Challenge?

Episode Release Schedule for Squid Game: The Challenge on Netflix

The following is an episode release schedule in 2023 for Squid Game: The Challenge:

Episode 1: “Red Light, Green Light” — November 22

Episode 2: “The Man with the Umbrella”— November 22

Episode 3: “War”— November 22

Episode 4: “Nowhere to Hide”— November 22

Episode 5: “Trick or Treat”— November 22

Episode 6: “Goodbye”— November 29

Episode 7: “Friend or Foe”— November 29

Episode 8: “One Step Closer”— November 29

Episode 9: “Circle of Trust”— November 29

Episode 10: “One Lucky Day” — December 6

James Bond: No Time to Die Synopsis with Questions Answered

 

James Bond: No Time to Die Movie

James Bond: No Time to Die Post Introduction

Daniel Craig has one last crack at it, that is one last outing as James Bond in the movie, No Time to Die. There is an expression: "If you are going to go out, go out with a bang," and Daniel Craig certainly did that in his final movie as James Bond. In the US Opening weekend in October 2021, No Time to Die debuted at $56 million in ticket sales. Source: Variety

Box Office Statistic: As of 17 November 2021, No Time to Die also broke a box office record for being a top grossing movie worldwide, with also the lowest grossing domestically. It  earned over $700 million ticket sales worldwide, with only $150 million in domestic ticket sales. Source: Forbes

This post will explain in detail how it ends Daniel Craig's version of James Bond. Lea Seydoux returns as Madeleine Swann from the previous Bond movie, Spectre, as James Bond's love interest.

The following blog post contains movie spoilers that will reveal the secret mysteries contained within the movie No Time to Die. Stop reading now if you do not want the movie to be spoiled.

James Bond: No Time to Die Synopsis

Norway: The film begins in Norway, where Madeleine is a child at her family home. Her mother is an alcoholic, and Madeleine is her servant at home to refill her mother's wine. Madeleine's father is away. A mysterious figure in a porcelain mask steps out from the woods and begins walking toward their home in the snow. Madeleine and her mother are unaware of this figure looming closer to their home, until he is peering into their family room. Madeleine screams and runs to a room that appears to be a safe room. She inputs a code over and over but it doesn't work. The shadowy figure in a white mask is now entering their home. Madeleine goes to hide, but her mother is unprotected on the couch and the man shoots her with his automatic weapon, after revealing that "He [her husband a.k.a. Mr. White from Spectre] killed his whole family (and we assume that this is his revenge). He then looks for Madeleine. He goes up to her loft, where her bedroom is. He doesn't see her. As he turns to climb down the ladder, her phone beeps on the bed, and Madeleine is hiding under the bed. When he turns to come toward the bed, Madeleine shoots him with a pistol. He falls down to the main floor of the home. Madeleine runs to him and drags his body outside into the snow. The masked man's mask is now broken and a piece from the bottom has shattered to where you can see his scarred face underneath. He gets up like a zombie rising from the dead, and Madeleine runs out to the ice. The man gets up and pursues her onto the ice. The ice begins to crack and weaken. Madeleine falls into the ice and is below a sheet of it. The man walks up to her and points his automatic gun in her direction and begins firing. Instead of killing her, he pulls her out of the freezing water, and the scene ends. This introduction shows the audience the connection and history between Lyutsifer Safin and Madeleine Swann.

Italy: The actress Lea Seydoux returns as adult Madeleine from the previous Bond movie, Spectre, as James Bond's current love interest in present day Italy. She is seen as the movie opens up to Bond and Madeleine on a romantic vacation driving the curvy roads in a classic Aston Martin DB5 in Italy. The next morning, Bond wakes up with one mission on his mind: To visit the grave of Vesper Lynd, the woman he first met and fell in love with in the movie, Casino Royale. But when he visits her tomb, it explodes, leaving Bond on the ground in shell-shock from the explosion. Bad men then begin to pursue him with automatic guns, one in a tinted car, and the other on a motorcycle. Bond evades them by jumping off the side of a stone bridge only holding a rope. Bond evades the bad guys, as always, and returns quickly to his room. He is angry at Madeleine, because he thinks she has given the bad guys his location, and they quickly get into their Aston Martin DB5 and take off. They find themselves surrounded by bad guys in cars. The all fire upon Bond and Madeleine in the Aston Martin. The car is bulletproof, withstanding all of their bullets. Madeleine yells for Bond to do something. He flicks the switches inside the weapons panel and fires mini Gatling guns from inside the cars headlights, and then sprays a smoke cloud and takes off down a side street. They speed off to a train station, where Bond is still upset, so he puts Madeleine on a train and she asks, "When will I see you again?" He replies: "You won't."

5 Years Later...

London: The film then moves 5 years into the future, and dark agents infiltrate a secret MI6 laboratory, and steal an MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev that is very familiar with "Project Heracles" - which uses nanobots to target specific DNA in individuals. First they must be touched with someone that has nanobots inside them, and then the 2nd part is that a specific reactive agent, such as a perfume or gas triggers the nanobots to kill the person. The dark agents leave the MI6 facility with the scientist Valdo, and leaving no witnesses. M finds out about this breech of their top secret facility and quickly wants to label the incursion as a gas leak to cover it up.

Meanwhile, James Bond is living inconspicuously off the grid in Jamaica. His friend from the CIA, Felix Leiter shows up in town with another new agent Logan Ash to recruit Bond for a mission in Cuba. But first, Bond meets a new 00 agent in Jamaica, named Nomi, and she informs him that she is now 007. 

Cuba: The next day, Bond agrees to help the CIA, and Felix has Bond meet up in Santiago, Cuba with a relatively new field recruit, Paloma, played by actress Anna de Armas. Bond suits up in his classic tuxedo and they go to a Black tie event, looking for a missing Russian scientist. What they find out that this party is the members of the organization Spectre, along with saboteurs that have scientist Valdo preparing a gaseous chemical into the ventilation system. As the lead badguy holds up a bionic eye, the ringleader of Spectre organization, Blofield watches on from his cell in Belmarsh. As the eye pans around the room, Blofield identifies James Bond, and the members of Spectre organization circle around Bond. They release the gas into the room, directly above James Bond, and everyone thinks it will only kill James Bond. But scientist Valdo reverse engineered the gas to only identify and kill the Spectre organization, who are now all dead. A gunfight begins, and Nomi grabs Valdo from the party and leaves through a grappling gun in the rooftop window. Bond and Paloma have a quick drink after Paloma takes out many bad guys, and they get into a car. They spot Valdo, and grab him from Nomi, and get away, leaving Nomi alone in a standoff with police. She also gets away. 

Bond boards an pontoon airplane with scientist Valdo at the dock and flies to a special ship positioned out at sea. Felix and Logan are on board the ship waiting for the drop off. Bond brings Valdo and begins to question him in front of Felix and Logan. Logan begins to interfere with the interrogation, because he doesn't want Valdo to give away details about their boss, Lyutsifer Safin, and his plans. Logan Ash gets squirrelly and starts fighting with Bond, and it ends with Felix being mortally shot in the stomach. Logan Ash sets explosives on the ship, and flies off with scientist Valdo to their real employer, Safin, blowing the explosives with Bond and Felix inside. Felix does not survive this scene. Bond finds a life boat, and is rescued by MI6.

London: Bond is back in London, at the MI6 headquarters, to speak to M. M informs Bond that he has been missing for 5 years, so they assumed he was dead, so they gave his 00 title to Nomi as his replacement. Bond leaves MI6 Headquarters dejected by M, but Moneypenny wants him to take his flash drive taken from Valdo to Q after hours to see what is on it. The data turns out was stolen by Valdo the night the secret laboratory was broken into, and it contains the DNA codes for thousands or more individuals, and has ramifications that Safin's group is created a biological weapon of mass destruction with Project Heracles.

M tasks the new 007 with confronting Blofield in his cell in Belmarsh. It is said that Blofield will only speak to his psychiatrist, which is Madeleine Swann. So this is all setting up for James Bond to reunite with his love interest from 5 years prior. Before going to see Blofield, Safin makes a request to Madeleine that she must return the favor to him, by killing Blofield in Belmarsh by wearing a DNA targeting perfume. She reluctantly agrees.

Next we see Bond, Nomi meeting with Madeleine at Belmarsh. They are unaware that Madeleine is tasked with killing Blofield. She doesn't want to go in there. She is so nervous she is shaking, and Bond notices this. Inside, she wants to back out and leave. Bond grabs her arm in the process and gets the lethal perfume on his hand. Madeleine leaves, and Bond begins to talk to Blofield. Blofield informs Bond that he has been shortsighted, and Madeleine still loves him. Blofield doesn't want to give up more information. Bond begins to choke him with the hand with the lethal perfume, and Blofield dies shortly after. 

After talking to Q about what happened, Bond goes to Norway to Madeleine's home to look for her. He finds her, and is surprised to meet her little girl. Madeleine claims she is not Bond's daughter, but she is. Bond finds out that Logan Ash is nearby, so they get into the SUV and start to head toward a NATO base to rendezvous with MI6. On the way there, Safin's henchmen in Land Rover's chase Bond with his family in the SUV. They end up in a wooded area. Bond exacts his revenge on Logan Ash for the death of Felix Leiter. Safin finds Madeleine and her daughter, and he takes her away to his private island in his helicopter. Bond and Nomi prepare for their mission to infiltrate Safin's island to rescue Madeleine and her daughter, and destroy the dangerous chemical weapons on the island. Q gives bond his Omega EMP watch and injects them both with a technology to watch their vitals. Q gives Nomi a cylindrical device called the Q-dar to map out Safin's base.

Safin's Island: Bond and Nomi get into a drone-like plane and Nomi is piloting, but admits she has never flown one before. They shoot out of the British plane and the wings spread open. They glide for a bit, and then they take a dive into the ocean, and the plane turns into a submersible, like a torpedo. They enter Safin's base in an old submarine bay. They get out and enter the base, using Bomd's EMP watch to short the electronic keypad. The guards think it is a malfunctioning system. Nomi uses the Q-dar to map the base for Q so he can guide them with his communication.

Bond and Nomi observe the chemical pools in the lower chamber. Workers are wearing special suits to work in the chemical pools to make the poison. Bond and Nomi make their way to the scientist area, and find Valdo and he constantly reminds them that their efforts are in vain, until Nomi breaks his nose with the butt of her automatic gun. Nomi takes Valdo, while Bond goes to find Madeleine and daughter. Bond goes to the upper main chamber where Safin is waiting for him with armed guards and Madeleine's daughter. Bond sees that he is outnumbered, so he lays down his automatic rifle and pistol and sits across from Safin at his request. Safin begins negotiations. He tells Bond that Bond can take Madeleine's daughter and leave the island safely, but Bond must leave Madeleine. Bond pretends that he will agree to that as he lays low. He is secretly managing to access a gun he has hidden within a pocket on his chest. He shots all 4 guards but Safin uses a trap door in the floor to get away with Madeleine's daughter. Madeleine's finally makes her way into the room, and Bond tells her what happened. Meanwhile, Madeleine's daughter is not going with Safrin peacefully. So he puts her down to wander the lair on her own, while Safrin appears to be leaving.

Bond and Madeleine find their daughter, and she is fine. Nomi killed Valdo after he threatens to wipe out her race. She pushes him off a foot bridge into the toxic chemical pool. Nomi, Bond, Madeleine, and their daughter get aboard a small boat. Bond then says he has to finish the mission and open the blast doors. Madeleine tries to stop him. Bond assures that to get to safety and he will be right behind them. They leave in the boat and Bond makes his way up the stairs to the control room to release the blast doors. He encounters henchmen along the way and gets another grenade blast, causing disorientation. He faces off and kills Safin's top hench man with the electronic eye. He gets the blast doors to open then tells Q and those listening to go ahead and launch the missiles from the British fleet. They launch the missiles and Bond heads down quickly. As he is going down, he hears the blast doors closing again. As he is making his way up again, he meets Safin in the poison garden, and Safin shoots him at least 4 times. They fight in the fountain, and Safin breaks open his vial of Madeleine's DNA and touches Bond with it. He tells Bond that he can never touch Madeleine or her daughter again, or they will die. Bond kills Safin in the fountain, and makes his way up and opens the blast doors again. He then asks to speak to Madeleine on the radio. She Guesses that he is mortally wounded and will not make it out, and that he has been poisoned. They have their goodbyes as he admits his love for them, and missiles rain down on James Bond. He looks on as he is blown up in the destruction of Safin's island base.

For Bond fans out there, don't lose hope. In the post-credits, it says, "James Bond will return."

Deaths in No Time to Die

How does James Bond die in No Time to Die?

The biggest question most people want to know: How does James Bond die in No Time to Die?

How does James Bond Die?

James Bond is killed by the surface to land missiles launched by the British ship.

How does Lyutsifer Safin die in No Time to Die?

Lyutsifer Safin is shot to death by James Bond.

How does Felix Leiter die in No Time to Die?

Logan Ash shoots Felix in the stomach, mortally wounding him, and James Bond tries to save Felix in the drowning ship, but can't.

How does Logan Ash die in No Time to Die?

James Bond pushes a Land Rover onto Logan Ash, crushing him.

How does Valdo Obruchev die in No Time to Die?

After Valdo hints that her entire race could be killed off with a chemical weapon,  Nomi hits Valdo Obruchev backwards from a foot bridge into the toxic chemicals below.

Popular questions people want to know:

• Did James Bond die?  Yes, this version of James Bond dies in No Time to Die
• Is this the last James Bond movie? For Daniel Craig, this is his last movie as James Bond.
• Will there be more James Bond movies? Yes
• Is James Bond replaced by a woman? In this movie, the title "007" is given to Nomi in James Bond's absence. She gives the title back to him in the final mission of the movie.

 

Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Poster

The following post is my review of Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) movie. This post contains spoilers and will discuss elements from the movie. Please do not read this review if you are trying to avoid movie spoilers.

Wonder Woman 1984 Review

Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Details

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) is the sequel to the Wonder Woman (2017) movie and stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, also known as Wonder Woman. Chris Pine returns as her love interest, Steve Trevor. The antagonists in this movie are Barbara Minerva and The Cheetah (played by Kristen Wiig), and Maxwell "Max" Lord (played by Pedro Pascal). The movie was written and directed by Patty Jenkins, with screenplay credit to Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callaham. Full credit for cast and crew can be viewed here. This film was released in the United States in both theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously on December 25, 2020. The film began opening in some international markets without HBO Max on December 16, 2020. 

Note: As of December 27, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 had made $85M USD worldwide and $16.7M domestically, and was given a greenlight to make a third movie, with Patty Jenkins in charge to create.

Wonder Woman 1984 Review: Themes, Story, and Plot

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) is a movie about many things, the biggest themes are about love and greed, and attaining power that one does not deserve at the expense of others. 

The movie opens during athletic games in a large colosseum in her native Themyscira, where we see a young Diana Prince competing against Amazonian women in their 20's, and doing well ahead of everyone. But she encounters a setback while on horseback, and young Diana attempts to get back into the race by taking a shortcut. When taking the shortcut, she misses her blue checkpoint, and her Aunt Antiope stops her at the end from throwing her javelin through the last hoop. Her Aunt is teaching young Diana a life lesson and tells her that she can't take shortcuts and win fairly.

The film then fast forwards 66 years to 1984 for the rest of the movie.

Diana Prince is working as an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. when not fighting crime in secret as Wonder Woman. There she meets Barbara Minerva, a woman that is clumsy, insecure, and lonely. At first, Diana doesn't care much to hang out with Barbara, but after Diana learns more about the "Dreamstone" being researched by Barbara, Diana takes up Barbara on going out for dinner and gets to know her. After Diana reads the Latin inscription on the relic, she reads out loud how it grants wishes, and she wishes in her mind to have her former lover Steve Trevor back.

The wind blows when the Dreamstone is granting a wish, and shortly after, Steve Trevor shows up in the movie, after embodying some random man in the movie. How Steve does this is not explained sufficiently. Then we see many scenes of Steve trying to acclimate to life in 1984. Meanwhile, Barbara Minerva first wishes she was like Diana and gains agility and strength, like Wonder Woman. An unsuccessful businessman, Max Lord, then discovers the Dreamstone in Barbara's possession, and recognizes it very well, as if he was very familiar with it. He then seduces Barbara and convinces her to let him look at it for further examination. His wish upon the stone is to become the Dreamstone. He then begins granting wishes to everyone, in exchange for whatever he wants. As he grants more and more wishes, it takes a toll on his body, He knows this and says that he can always take health from someone later on after he gains great power in the process.

As Diana and Steve are trying to locate Max Lord, she starts to realize that she is weaker, and her powers are suffering because of her wish to have Steve. They together learn that to stop the chaos taking place on the Earth, everyone that wished upon the Dreamstone must renounce their wish, in order for everything to be restored on the Earth. Diana has a touching final goodbye with Steve because she realizes that she cannot keep him forever, and she needs her powers to face Max Lord, and The Cheetah. 

Diana then puts on her ultimate winged suit of armor and flies to the location where a technologically advanced studio is located. She first faced off with The Cheetah, after Barbara gets additional powers from Max Lord on the jet on the way over. Diana and The Cheetah fight and Wonder Woman subdues The Cheetah with electricity and moves into the studio to confront Max Lord, who is granting everyone wishes in exchange for power.

Diana's ultimate scene with Max Lord is in a 360-degree studio that allows him to "touch" everyone in the world while granting their wishes. This plot point of how it works exactly (the movie science behind it) is not sufficient. Diana manages to get close enough to Max Lord with the Lasso of Truth so that she can speak truth to the world while he is roped, and the world starts to renounce their selfish wishes. The world starts to do this leading up unto Max Lord himself renouncing his wish so that he can save his son that has wandered into a chaotic and dangerous world. He runs out and finds his son, and shortly after is seen embracing his son and telling his son the truth about his rise to power.

This movie may not win many awards, but I liked that greed was addressed. The story is similar to King Midas, who could turn anything he wanted into gold. The main point is that great power gained with unscrupulous means will end very badly. I also liked the theme of love. Diana had everything she wanted in life, except love. She missed Steve very badly. And for Barbara Minerva, she wanted to be popular and liked but lost her kindness and compassion along the way.

The Sequel Seat is perfect for Movie Theaters to Prevent Coronavirus

 

A company by the name of Layer has designed a movie theater seat for a Coronavirus world, where health and safety is the number one priority. The invention is called the Sequel Seat, and it is a modular chair that can be adaptable to various row widths.

The Sequel Seat has integrated speakers inside the headrests for improved sound during the moviegoing experience. There is a side table on each seat for eating food and drinks during the movie experience.

How does the Sequel Seat prevent Coronavirus?

The Sequel Seat uses a technique that is a woven fabric of copper threads, created with 3D printing. The resulting fabric is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. The design prevents dirt traps from forming. In addition to this fabric, there is a protective screen between each seat. A built-in UV light in the storage compartment of the seat armrest, which sterilizes the moviegoers possessions while they watch a movie. The UV light uses Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVG) to kill harmful microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria. The UV lights also are on the backs of the seats to sterilize in between each row of Sequel Seats.

The Founder of Sequel Seat says this about it: "Sequel Seat is a tool that delivers the enhanced comfort and essential safety features that will help cinemas define themselves as a safe place where moviegoers can be transported to another world."

Ridley Scott Making Gladiator Sequel

One of my favorite movies of all time has to be Gladiator (2000) featuring Russell Crowe, and directed by Ridley Scott.

Gladiator the movie was about a Roman general that was stripped of his rank and position due to corrupt politics, and sought out revenge from the emperor responsible for the death of his wife and child.

Moviefone and other news sources reported on Nov. 1, 2018 that a Gladiator sequel movie is in development. This project is being financed by Paramount studios, with a possible funding partnership with Universal studios. According to the article, Ridley Scott has wanted to do a sequel to Gladiator for years.

The sequel would now follow Lucius, the son of Lucius Verus in the original movie.

Editor's note: I assume that Lucius grows up to become a gladiator, inspired by Maximus, played by Russell Crowe in the original Gladiator. Ridley Scott did an amazing job with the first movie, and I can only hope the sequel is as good as the first. It is unlikely that Russell Crowe would actually be in new footage for this sequel, but they may do some flashbacks using cut scenes from the original Gladiator movie from Lucius' memories as a young boy.

Watch the IGN News video clip about Gladiator 2 below:

Movie Review: Downsizing (2017) is Dull and Bores with Global Warming

Downsizing

Downsizing: Don't Think that it is a Fun Movie

A friend and I went to see the movie Downsizing (2017). It was between this movie and All the Money in the World (2017). My friend decided that the Downsizing movie would be less of a downer (less depressing) and that it would be a fun and lighthearted movie. Boy, was he wrong. It is not a comedy. It is a dull and depressing movie about how the Earth will end at the hands of methane gas due to Global Warming.

This movie was dull and depressing and boring. The movie was disappointing and I will tell you why.

The following contains spoilers.

The Downsizing Trailer is Misleading

First of all, if you get the impression that the movie Downsizing is a fun and lighthearted movie from the trailer, then you are sadly mistaken.

I thought the movie was going to be similar to Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989), in that they would exploring the nuances of being shrunk and small in comparison to the rest of the world. Downsizing is not like this at all. There are only a few moments in the movie where this happens.

First, Matt Damon plays lead character Paul Safranek. He is an occupational therapist that is a middle class guy working in Omaha Steaks in the Midwest. So he and his wife agree to be shrunk so they can multiply their wealth (the small lifestyle requires less money to life and the money goes farther).

So we get to see the process of Paul Safranek getting shrunk. They have to remove all of his hair from his body, and all of the fillings from his mouth. This is because any non-living tissue would stay the real size, and kill the person during the shrinking process.

Downsizing: Only a Few References to Being Small

Here are the following references in the movie to being small:

The opening speaker: Dr. Jorgen Asbjørnsen 

In the movie, it starts with the guy that invents the shrinking process. Dr. Jorgen

He speaks to a group of people, and they are impressed with the small footprint that a tiny person creates.

The high school  reunion: This the second encounter when a couple from high school is carried into the reunion in a glass box.

After Paul Safranek is shrunk, and handed over from the normal size nurse to the minature nurses, the normal nurse is chatting with the minature nurses. This is one example of the cross reference between large and small. The next example is when Paul Safranek wakes up, the nurse shows him a pack of large Saltine crackers, and mentions how cute that is. After this, the only other reference to them being small is when they travel on a bus, because normal size people and miniatures can travel on the same bus.

Aside from the examples given above, the movie imagery veers heavily from the whole premise of being small. After about the halfway mark of the movie, they do not show any more size comparisons or normal to miniature comparisons.

Downsizing Stays Depressing Throughout the Movie

The overarching them throughout the movie Downsizing is Global Warming. This is no secret. From the start of the movie, Dr. Jorgen and his colleagues present their process at a conference in Turkey.

Then we go into the future. This happens quite a bit throughout the movie. Five Years Later. One Year Later. Five Years Later. etc. This is just one sign that the movie can't tell a continuous story about anything interesting.

Overall, the movie is quite depressing. Paul Safranek is taking care of his sick mother. Paul Safranek is not able to buy the house his wife really wants. Paul Safranek's wife divorces him because she gets cold feet when about to be shrunk. Lastly, Dr. Jorgen says that methane has been released at the Antarctic and the Earth will no longer sustain life.

In terms of a positive uptick in the movie, the only positive is that Paul Safranek falls in love with a Vietnamese refugee, and this takes up the majority of the second half of the movie. He says that he finally understands his purpose in life, and wants to go with the original small community underground for thousands of years. However, he changes his mind at the last minute, because he is in love with the Vietnamese refugee woman.

I found myself wondering: "How much longer will this movie last?" many times, and the movie seemed to drag on. It failed to deliver.

To sum it all up, this movie is not a lighthearted comedy movie about being shrunk. It is a heavily political movie focused on the effects of Global Warming hysteria.

Regardless of your stance on Global Warming, this movie felt incomplete and disjointed at best. I left the movie feeling unsatisfied. I would not willingly want to watch this movie ever again. That would be torture. It's that bad.

Blade Runner 2049 Movie Review: Was it a Flop?

Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is a long movie. 163 minutes, to be exact. This is my critique of the movie. I would not rank the movie as a flop movie - in my own opinion - however in terms of opening weekend sales, the movie grossed $32.8 million the first weekend, and cost an estimated $150 million, according to this Variety article. If you measure by how much it made versus how much it cost to make, then it would be considered a "flop".

The following review contains spoilers.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is rated R, and is not appropriate for children.

What is a Blade Runner and what are Replicants?

The movie follows a LAPD Blade Runner named "K" (played by Ryan Gosling) - K being the first letter of his serial number, because K is a replicant, and most replicants are not given human names. It isn't explained the reason the significance of the title "Blade Runner" but we know one thing, Blade Runner's seek out replicants and kill them. Replicants are bioengineered/synthetic humans that are superior to humans in physcal strength.

Visually, replicants in this movie, looked just like humans. Even when replicants are hurt, they bleed like humans, but they do not feel pain in the same manner as humans.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - The Movie Summarized

On screen, we learn that the Tyrell Corporation was in business to create replicants, mostly to farm and do labor. This company has gone bankrupt.The current replicant manufacturer is now a company ran by Niander Wallace (played by Jared Leto). The name of Wallace's head replicant is Luv, and carries out of all the orders given by Wallace. In the 2017 Blade Runner, the older model replicants are considered rogue, and must be destroyed by the LAPD Blade Runner.

LAPD Blade Runner K seeks out a replicant at his farm home to kill him. The man is a brute size (played by former wrestler Dave Bautista), and K must fight him in his home. The replicant says that K hasn't seen miracles. K kills him and takes his eyeball as proof of his kill. As he is leaving, he notices a real flower that has been plucked out of the ground, lying at the base of a dead tree.

This prompts K to have his police drone to scan the ground and a depth scan down into the ground. He discovers a buried crate. The crate contains bones of a replicant, and the police Medical Examiner finds evidence that this female replicant had a baby.

Police Lieutenant Joshi - K's boss - directs K to investigate and find the child of this replicant, because the public must not ever find out that replicant's can bear children.

As K digs deeper and deeper into the investigation, he recalls a memory that was implanted into his mind. That memory was inside what looks to be an industrial-type factory. Children are chasing what we think is small boy K, trying to steal his wooden horse. He hides the horse in a pile of ashes, and the children beat him mercilessly (the memory ends).

K recalls this memory for Lieutenant Joshi at her order to tell her a memory. Later in the movie, he must go to a children's orphanage, where he stands at the setting of this memory. He goes and finds the wooden horse, which then makes him believe that he was the one born to the replicant woman, and that the memory was a real one.

K seeks out a woman that is known for creating fake memories for replicants. The idea is that replicants with memories have more human-like emotions to make them more real. She is about his age, and lives in a bubble due to an autoimmune sickness.

K shares his memory with her, and she confirms it is a real memory. She tears up and says that the memory really happened. K leaves her angry. Why did the woman tear up, and how does she know this is a real memory. The only plausible explanation is that this was her memory. Because she was dressed up as a little boy at the orphanage to hide her identity. It is also a crime to implant real memories into replicants. The only explanation that he shares this memory, is that K is really her brother.

K goes back home and tells his holographic lover about the whole thing (minus the theory that the woman is his sister), and she insists that since he is human, then he should have a human name of "Joe". She also invites a replicant prostitute to the apartment, so that she can sync with her and make love to K. The prostitute puts a tracking bug in K's jacket.

He goes back to Lieutenant Joshi. She tells him that someone has come in and killed the medical examiner and stolen the bones of the replicant woman. He then tells her that he found out the truth. She takes his gun and badge and tells him he has a limited window before they come looking for him.

K returns home to his holographic girlfriend and packs to leave. He deletes his girlfriend from the apartment console so they cannot get any information from her. She then exists entirely on a data stick.

K then drives to the site of Las Vegas, now just ruins and empty buildings. He does a scan and finds a sign of life - bees. He then walks into a building and starts to look around, where he meets Matt Deckard (played by Harrison Ford). They fight at first, but then Deckard let's him go back to his home, where they eventually talk about Deckard's wife, Rachel. Rachel gave birth to a human/replicant baby. Wallace is set on finding out the secrets of how Tyrell Corporation created replicants that could conceive babies.

Luv and her entourage then crash the party, ambushing K and Deckard. Luv steps on K's data stick and kills his holographic love, then takes Deckard away to find out more information. Wallace attempts to interrogate Deckard, but to no avail. Wallace then decides to take Deckard off world, to torture him and get the information. As Luv and her entourage are heading off world, K finds them in his flying vehicle and force them to land in a watery location, like under a bridge.

A fight ensues. K wins. Luv is suffocated underwater. K and Deckard fly to where the daughter is - to the memory maker that lives in a bubble. Deckard goes in, while K dies on the steps of the entrance.

Critiques of the Movie

1. The movie is too long. At 2 hours, 43 minutes, it has some trouble keeping interest due to some slower and unnecessary scenes
2. The movie has this pulsating futuristic sound effect that is overplayed
3. Niander Wallace get too much screen time. Jared Leto has some crazy lenses over his eyes, and does have a creator type of feel to him, but his character is not pivotal. Let me explain: His character was not the one to die, it was Luv. He had a scene where a new version of a replace is "birthed" and he goes to "examine" her in a room. He takes a scalpel and slices her stomach open because he is angry that he cannot figure out how to make replicants that can birth children. His other scene is where he attempts to get Deckard to talk by bringing out a copy of Rachel, but he gets the eye color wrong. The way Jared Leto enunciates the words as Niander is very presidential, but does not seem to fit the character (in my opinion)
4. The love scene with a prostitute syncing with his girlfriend hologram was gratuitous and not needed to progress the story along.
5. K knows that he is a replicant and that his only memory has been implanted, but then thinks at one point that he was born. I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't know if you have lived as a child (by the memories you would have).

Some Things I Liked

1. The movie touches on the emptiness of life without a spiritual existence (i.e. miracles, a soul, love)

2. The futurist LAPD Peugot flying car and the drone that was in the roof of it

3. During a flyover of Los Angeles, the plots of land appeared to be very futuristic and all covered by buildings that may be covered with solar panels - it was very thought provoking
4. There is beautiful visual cinematography that really captures a dystopian world - particularly the west coast US of Los Angeles and Las Vegas

Why was Blade Runner 2049 a Flop?

According to this Forbes article, Blade Runner 2049 was a flop because it would only appeal to nerds that had some knowledge of the original movie. In my case, I saw it because I thought it looked worth seeing from the trailer, and I have not seen the original movie.

Therefore, I cannot answer the question: "Was Blade Runner 2049 better than the original movie?"


The imdb.com official page of Blade Runner 2049 can be viewed here

Steven Spielberg doesn't Kill Original Indy in Indiana Jones 5

Steven Spielberg during the filming of Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones 5 Spoiler

Steven Spielberg said in an interview that he is not killing off Harrison Ford in the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 movie, which was a direct jab at the J.J. Abrams produced Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, where Han Solo dies.

This is both a spoiler and a confirmation that Indiana Jones 5 movie does have a green light. The movie database, IMDB.com shows that Indiana Jones 5 is slated to be released on July 19, 2019. The IMDB page for Indiana Jones 5 (seen here) is obviously in early form, with only one star currently attached to it (Harrison Ford).

Will Shia LeBeouf be in the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 movie with Harrison Ford?

That is unknown at this point. However, judging based on the storyline of the last movie, they may leave Shia LeBeouf out of this one altogether or they are in talks to get him involved in this project.

Read about the stolen storyline and how Shia LeBeouf was disappointed with his own performance in Indiana Jones 4 here.

The Karate Kid (1984) Action Figures have been Revived by Funko and a New Karate Kid Movie Will Be Released in 2024

Daniel Larusso action figure by Funko

The Karate Kid (1984) lives on in 2015!

This toy brings back 1984 as it has been spotted at Target and on Amazon.com by the brand Funko.

The Karate Kid Action Figures are being sold on Amazon.com

The Karate Kid action figures are being sold on Amazon.com by Funko, and there are 3 different ones available.

A simple search on Amazon.com shows that FunKo is selling Daniel Larusso in a white gui with accessory karate tropy (see picture above) for $8.96 plus free shipping. It is being sold at Target for $9.99.

Daniel Larusso in a baseball shirt with a paint brush in his hand and accessory paint can is being sold for $9.84 plus free shipping (see picture below).

Daniel Larusso in street clothes with paint brush and can

Mr. Miyagi is sold on Amazon.com for $10.42 plus free shipping, and comes with an accessory bonzai tree (see below).

Mr. Miyagi action figure with bonzai tree

The Karate Kid Daniel Larusso Action Figure was spotted at Target

The picture (below) was taken at #Target on October 10, 2015 - a Daniel Larusso Funko action figure sans knee and elbow joints. The picture was taken at the Super Target on University Drive in Huntsville, AL.  The Karate Kid plastic action figure look like toys from the 1980s, and now it appears to have been revived by company Funko, which holds licenses in more than 150 brands of film, television shows, and other pop culture.

The Karate Kid action figure spotted at Target on Oct. 10, 2015

Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio Will Star in a New Karate Kid Movie in 2024

Variety reported that both Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio will star in a new Karate Kid movie together.

Ralph Macchio will reprise his role as Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan will reprise his role as Mr. Han, the king fu master, very similar to Mr. Miyagi from the original Karate Kid movies.

Ralph Macchio has found incredible success after returning to the role in the hit Netflix show, Cobra Kai, which takes place decades after the original movies.

Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio were in a YouTube video as they look for the next Karate Kid. Audition tapes can be sent to KarateKidCasting.com.

The Karate Kid casting call YouTube video can be seen below.

This new Karate Kid movie is set to be released in theaters on Dec. 13, 2024.

Mr. Holmes Movie Review

The movie, "Mr. Holmes" starring Ian McKellen, was a movie that I was not expecting, to be honest. Prior to seeing this movie, I had not seen a trailer for Mr. Holmes, nor did I even know of its existence. This movie took me by surprise, and I only went to see it on a friend's suggestion. My first thought was that this was the highly anticipated "one off" Sherlock Holmes movie featuring Benedict Cumberbatch released in between seasons 3 and 4 of the BBC show, but I remember that this movie is not supposed to come out until around Christmastime, and then it would only be  in limited theaters. After a little more research, I found out that this was not the Benedict Cumberbatch movie that I was highly anticipating. Perhaps I should point out that this "research" was limited to scanning the movie posters in front of the movie theater. Nevertheless, I paid the price of admission, and gave this film a chance.

If you don't like spoilers, then do not continue reading this review.

"Mr. Holmes" with Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

I will start out by saying that I was not disappointed by the movie, Mr. Holmes. I kind of guessed seeing Ian McKellen on the movie poster, that he would be playing an aged Sherlock Holmes. This much was correct.

But in the opening scenes of the movie, I could not stop thinking about how old he is, and how could this man play the character of Magneto in the X-Men franchise.

After I overcame the age of Ian McKellen, I then took on the challenge of accepting Sherlock Holmes as an elderly, dying man. In the movie, Mr. Holmes, Sherlock Holmes says that he is 94 years old at one point, and he looks as if he is at the end of his life in the movie.

A Sherlock Holmes without John Watson

In the present time in the movie, John Watson is dead. Sherlock Holmes mentions that John Watson died 3 years earlier, and they were estranged friends at that.

John Watson had moved in temporarily with Sherlock Holmes for a month to help him overcome the failure of Sherlock Holmes' last case, which left Sherlock in a state of depression.

Ian McKellen Presented a very Human Sherlock Holmes

In other takes and renditions of Sherlock Holmes (i.e. Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Downey Jr.), Sherlock is always perfect and almost untouchable. In the BBC television version, Benedict Cumberbatch rarely makes a mistake, and if he did, he wouldn't admit it.

However, in Mr. Holmes, Ian McKellen's Sherlock realizes that he did make a grave mistake. This mistake left his career as detective in a state of failure. He solved the case, and deduced that the woman wanted to take her own life to be with her two dead children. Once confronted, she poured out the poison on the ground, but wanted to be consoled by someone else that had experienced loneliness such as she has experienced. That someone was Sherlock Holmes. But he tells her to go home to her husband, who loves her. Instead she walks the train tracks and kills herself anyways. Sherlock Holmes carries this grief of failure with him into retirement, living in a cottage in England, left to tend to his bees.

A house cleaner and her son come to live with Sherlock, and Sherlock befriends the young boy, Roger, played by Milo Parker. Sherlock acts much like a grandfather to the boy, who takes interest in hearing more and more about Sherlock's stories.

The boy takes a big interest in the well-being of Sherlock's bees, and this leads to a life-threatening attack on his life when he attempted to help the bees from their attacker.

The movie did provide a satisfying mystery to be solved, as all Sherlock Holmes mediums should provide, and he solves the mystery in a very genius manner.

Overall, I liked this movie, and found it to be entertaining, even though I found it a very different take on Sherlock being so old and in his final days on the Earth.

Z. Love's Entertainment Blog approves the movie, Mr. Holmes