First look at Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler

Pretty much what everyone expected it to be.

X-Men: Apocalypse is set to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.

Kodi Smit-McPhee joins X-Men: Apocalypse

Fox is underway casting younger versions of the X-Men heroes and we have our fourth official casting announcement. Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee joins the young cast already consisting of Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), and Alexandra Shipp (Storm) and he will be playing the character of Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse. 

Smit-McPhee came onto the radar fairly young and was fantastic in Let Me In, the American version of Let the Right One In. He most recently reunited with Let Me In director, Matt Reeves, in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Nightcrawler was previously portrayed in the X-Men movies by Alan Cumming. Director Bryan Singer previously stated that he wanted to include Nightcrawler and Gambit in Apocalypse and he's already halfway there. Channing Tatum has been cast as Gambit for a solo film, but there is no confirmation (or denial) that Gambit will appear in Apocalypse.

Gary Oldman to star in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The cast for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes continues to grow. In the past week or so we learned that Jason Clarke and Kodi Smit-McPhee had joined the cast and now we have confirmation that Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, just about everything) has also been cast. It's been suggested that Oldman is going to play Dreyfus, the leader of the human resistance against the apes.

This cast is starting to get pretty exciting.

Kodi Smit-McPhee cast in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

After the addition of Jason Clarke last week the cast seems to be gaining some more momentum with the announcement of another lead role. Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, ParaNorman) has been cast in another unspecified lead role. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place 15 years after the events of the first film and focuses on the human survivors struggling to survive in San Francisco. The thing that confuses me a bit about McPhee's casting is he is still a teenager which means he would have been a baby/toddler when the monkey virus outbreak happens at the end of the first one, but they might make his character a little older than he is. Either that or maybe he's playing Clarke's son or something.
This marks the second Matt Reeves film that McPhee will appear in. McPhee had a lead role in Let Me In back in 2010. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sixth film added to McPhee's busy schedule. His upcoming projects also include A Birder's Guide to Everything, The Congress, Romeo and Juliet, The Wilderness of James, and The Young Ones.


I'm excited for this because I actually like Kodi Smit-McPhee for what it's worth. I loved him in Let Me In and I think as far as voice work went he did a great job in ParaNorman. Then again, I liked ParaNorman in general. I'm curious to see exactly what role he will have.

ParaNorman - Review

ParaNorman tells the tale of a young boy who has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. After a series of scary confrontations with his spirit friends, Norman must later use his gift to try and lift the curse of a witch placed on the citizens of his small town over 300 years ago.



I have wanted to see ParaNorman since I first saw a trailer a couple months ago for a couple reasons. The first reason being, I love horror movies and/or horror-themed movies even if they are kids movies. The second reason is the simple fact that I thought the animation looked fantastic. I chose not to read or listen to reviews before seeing it for myself so I could fully judge it for myself because kids movies always seem to be such a toss up. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed.
The plot was fairly simple but you have to remember that it is a movie for children. I'm not saying all kids are stupid, but they tend to enjoy things that have a simple plot line with a conflict and a villain. This movie had both conflict and a villain so it fit the general criteria. I thought the plot was carried out nicely despite a few minor bumps and minor rushes. The script had a few adult parts to it that I didn't think kids would quite get but most kids movies have that to keep the parents entertained. It's just how it is. With that said, I do think it could have received a PG-13 rating over the PG but let's face it... PG isn't what it was when I was a kid. PG-13 is what R-ratings used to be.
The animation was truly fantastic. I am a big fan of stop-motion and I thought this had real smooth transitions and effects. The characters were very animated and their movement was extremely easy on the eyes. The voice matching to the animation was also very well done. I also thought the general tone of the movie was very classic horror. There were zombies but it gave a feel of an old drive-in type horror aura instead of a bloody slasher type. They utilized scenery nicely and had a lot of set dressings that helped develop the creepy feel of things. Norman's bedroom was fantastically decorated and accessorized.

I won't talk much about spoilers because I feel it is a little pointless and I covered most of why I personally wanted to see the movie, but I did like it overall. If you have a kid that likes things a little more on the Haunted Mansion side of things, or even if you are an adult like me who does, I think ParaNorman would be a fun movie to see. I enjoyed it a lot.

*I also can't review the 3D aspect because I chose not to see it in 3D. Sorry.