The Olive Opinion

  Targeted as the first flop of the year, The 355 has more than meets the eye. As it grows to be an underrated gem written and directed by longtime X-Men contributor, Simon Kinberg, helms this in the style of a spy thriller. After collaborating with Jessica Chastain in his directorial debut, Dark Phoenix, the two developed and pitched this to Universal Studios as a female equivalent to male-dominated spy franchises. With an A-list that includes Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Lupita Nyongo, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, and Fan BingBing, this all-female iteration at a spy franchise is worth appreciating despite the predictable attributes.  The film centers around a device that hacks into anything, making it a weapon of mass destruction. Agencies all over the globe attempt to retrieve it to avoid it being in the wrong hands. Although it might feature an ensemble cast, it is clear that the main character is Chastain's Mace as she tries to get a British hacker, a German assassin, a psyc...

  Peacemaker returns this week with exceptionally less gore but giving us more revelations with the mysteries that reside within the narrative. As opposed to character development, we see a little dynamic improvement between our team members which ultimately makes this episode a lot more touching than most. However, instincts kick in when you wonder how everything goes right at one point, turns bad by the next.  Episode 5 sends our mini-Task Force X on a mission to check out a warehouse that has possible individuals infected by the alien Butterflies they've been investigating. All we got from that mission is that they're shipping the special liquid all around the world to continue invading and reproducing. With that mission, Peacemaker finally finds common ground and gains gratitude towards Economos, whom he constantly bullies throughout the last 4 episodes.  Harcourt, on the other hand, starts to appreciate the quirkiness of her team and accepts their oddball attributes....

Peacemaker continues to widen and strengthen deep undercuts within the slowly imploding DCEU as it introduces audiences to the all-new alien threat that deems extinction. As Project Butterfly surfaces for us to know more, we dig deeper within our ragtag team of characters. I think it is safe to say that Freddie Stroma's Adrian Chase is my favorite character. Yes, he may suffer from 'mental issues' but I actually think it's the opposite. His portrayal of the character resembles a boy who was lonely for so long that he lacked certain social skills and suffered in making friends, which is why he throws so much loyalty and expectation towards Peacemaker that its relatable and easy to feel sorry for him when he sarcastically points out his hurt feelings at the beginning and the end of the episode. Anyone who has been to school has gone through this but it's even more painful watching a grown adult go through this with colleagues just because he is quirky.   Apart from Ad...

Never would anyone be expecting, let alone wanting, a series centered around an unknown anti-hero from the DC comics brought to life by the enigmatic tet funny wrestler became actor, John Cena. It was hard to tell if he was just looking for roles that just made no sense, played no necessary contribution to a film until his portrayal of the Peacemaker in 2021's The Suicide Squad directed by James Gunn. Most of the characters there were kooky and had serious mental issues, but Peacemaker was, however, different despite his lack of social skills - he says the wrong things at the wrong time.  As Suicide Squad was premiering in theatres as well as it was streaming on HBO Max, Warner Bros was so sure and confident of Gunn's work that they allowed him to write, direct, and produce a streaming series around the aforementioned character. The first three episodes premiered on the 15th and as silly as the trailers may have looked featuring scenes that teased Freddie Stroma's weirder p...

Action director, Matthew Vaughn, returns to the helm the prequel The King's Man, a period piece foretelling the founding of the Kingsman spy organization apart of the franchise of the same name that made Taron Egerton a household name. Unlike the predecessors, this prequel takes place in the early 1900s, taking place during the First World War featuring characters audiences aren't familiar with. Luckily, the actors portraying this new ensemble are recognizable as well as trustworthy to get us invested with developments, whether it's through narrative or the characters themselves. Fans of  The Secret Service  and  The Golden Circle  will find this origin story entertaining but hard to say when it comes to newcomers especially since a considerable chunk of the opening 20 to 30 minutes spends most of its time setting up a lot, especially when it comes to characters and their motivations. After many delays caused by the pandemic, audiences might have lost interest in wai...