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A weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves |
Let's be honest, prequels are the new Hollywood way to make more money off a worn-out franchise. This, however, doesn't necessarily mean these films have to be bad. In fact, there are plenty of good prequels and those are the ones I'm focusing on for this week's Thursday Movie Picks.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - Review
The prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark which I wasn't the biggest fan of, this second entry follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as he attempts to find a mystical stone and rescue children from a cult. This is a fun, entertaining and thrilling adventure film. Jones has more humanity this time around and actually has a reason to be in the film, and Short Round is such a lovable character.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) - Review
The prequel to A New Hope, it follows a Rebel Alliance group, led by Jun Erso (Felicity Jones), as they attempt to steal the design of the Death Star. We all knew how this was going to end, and yet that didn't prevent the film from being exciting and suspenseful.
X-Men: First Class (2011) - Review
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The first of the X-Men prequel trilogy, this is an entertaining and thrilling action flick with a compelling story, strong emotions and quite a wonderful cast.
Great choices! I really need to sit myself down and watch all the X-Men movies in order, I've seen some and missed others and I can't remember which!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! There are some really bad ones.
DeleteWhich are top which are bottom?
DeleteLogan, First Class and Days of Future Past are top; the third of both trilogies and one of the Wolverine movies (I don't remember if it was the first or the second) are bottom.
DeleteTemple of Doom is my favorite Indiana Jones movie because it's so ridiculous. I enjoyed Rogue One...First Class I didn't like. I remember thinking it was fine immediately after leaving the theater, then the more I thought about it the more I hated it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear First Class didn't work for you. The one I hated was Apocalypse. They ruined the trilogy with that trash.
DeleteGreat choices you made here. I was never an Indiana Jones fan. I am getting confused with all the Star Wars films now. I like the XMen and this is a fun film as per usual
ReplyDeleteYeah, there are too many of them and the more recent ones (Han Solo and the end of the new trilogy) are so bad.
DeleteI've only seen, and we match, on Temple of Doom. For me Temple was the weakest of the trilogy, part of that could be because I could not abide Kate Capshaw or her idiotic character.
ReplyDeleteI saw the original Star Wars trilogy and while they were fine I was never as bowled over by them as many so I've didn't feel any need to see the seemingly endless stream of sequels, prequels what have you.
Speaking of endless streams I loved the original X-Men and saw a few of the follow-up sequels but by the time of your choice I had had enough and stopped going or paying any attention to the glut of them being turned out.
Aside from our match I reached back for my first and chose another that I had looked forward to but that let me down.
Another Part of the Forest (1948)-This prequel to Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes exposes how the cancerous home life of Regina, Ben and Oscar Hubbard’s family in their youth full of physical and mental abuse as well as hints of incest formed them into the malignant vipers they were in the original film.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)-Prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark with Indy (Harrison Ford) fighting an evil cult, rescuing kids and generally saving the day. Plenty of adventure but the weakest of the trilogy. Karen Allen’s marvelous Marion is sorely missed.
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)-This many decades delayed prequel to the fantastic The Wizard of Oz explains how traveling huckster Oscar Diggs (James Franco) became the Wizard also what led sisters Glinda (Michelle Williams) and Theodora (Mila Kunis) to became arch rivals and respectively the Good Witch of the South and the Wicked Witch of the West. Colorful but empty with only Rachel Weisz as the Wicked Witch of the East standing out.
Capshaw's character was annoying but overall I enjoyed the film.
DeleteI agree that Rachel Weisz was the stand out in Oz the Great and Powerful. Franco was so creepy as Oz and Kunis was downright terrible.
OK, those are some damn good choices. Rogue One is awesome as is The Temple of Doom.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Temple of Doom was a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark! I really enjoyed X-Men First Class!
ReplyDeleteI forgot about it to be honest. I remembered it was a prequel while I was researching for the theme haha.
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