There are a couple of good options this week. I pretty much have to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle because the first one was such a hoot. And I am a big fan of the franchise, so I will probably also check out The LEGO Ninjago Movie, having laughed my way through their Batman endeavor. But there is a wonderful animation I absolutely have to mention: Loving Vincent. This may be the first animated feature film about an artist done in that artists own painting style, and it looks amazing.
The best movie from the DC Cinematic Universe to date, Wonder Woman is riveting, and it looks like they filled the disc version with a TON of features. Up until this movie I have much preferred their television presentations, and we get one of them as well in the form of Arrow: The Complete Fifth Season. Less exciting is the movie The Bad Batch, but it does have some excellent actors so might be better than it appears. Then there is Starship Troopers: Traitors of Mars which was on the big screen for a single day and is machinema, a cinema presentation recorded from a game platform. Anime brings us Matoi the Sacred Slayer, about a Shrine Maiden who becomes a powerful god who can slay demons through no fault of her own. Finally we get One Piece – Collection 20, a series that has been airing forever now.
We have two titles from the DC Universe this week, with Gotham: The Complete Third Season and the animated DCU: Batman and Harley Quinn both hitting the shelves. I find the live action TV show addictive, at least the first two season, so I look forward to binging my way through it. The fantasy comedy Killing Hasselhoff will also be out this week, so I suppose I should mention the associated non-genre comedy Baywatch will also be out come Tuesday. Finally, Anime has Ushio & Tora: Complete TV Series, a tale of yokai vs. human vs. yokai.
The genre entry is Dave Made a Maze, and indie fantasy which has been quietly winning awards at film festivals for a while now. I suspect it won’t be getting a lot of screens across the country, so you may have to hunt for it if you want to see it. The Hitman’s Bodyguard isn’t genre (beyond the fact that it looks like it is straight out of a comic book), but it does look like it will be silly fun. Decisions, decisions…
It didn’t come anywhere near me in its limited theatrical run, so Colossal has to be at the top of my personal list this week. It looks amazing in the trailer, and the premise is not one I have ever heard of, so I have to see it. Also this week The Circle is technology twisted to destroy privacy and bring Big Brother to life in ways that would have scared Orwell back to his farm. Even though it isn’t genre, I also have to mention Going In Style because it is too funny for words. I am not sure how it happened, but if there was any Anime being released this week it slipped right past me.
We get nothing this week that is definitively genre, but we do get animated silliness in the form of The Emoji Movie, and a kick-ass spy flic with Atomic Blonde. We also get Wolf Warrior 2 bringing the rest of the high-adrenaline level excitement for the week, and Mubarakan has the corner on romantic comedy fun.