spidermonkeycoleman Reviews

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Good, but it lost me in the 3rd act

[7/10 · 27 January 2023]

Note: Spoilers are in the 2nd to last paragraph

I don't have many complaints for the first 75% of the movie.

The acting is decent, the story is intriguing, and I loved the suspenseful vibes that were occasionally thrown out. Suprisingly emotional too which I wasn't expecting.

The characters were a mixed bag. Most of then were good, but some of them lacked detail. They tease a lot with Lucky, but they never go anywhere with it. She has a boyfriend that she mentions, but we never see him. Her and Finn Wolfhard's character are love interests but their relationship doesn't move past friendship by the end of the movie. Phoebe has a friend who's name is literally Podcast... they couldn't make a better name? Apart from that though he didn't have a lot of depth or range and he has some of the most screentime in the movie. But ultimately the issues with the characters are minor issues that don't impact the film as a whole.

As mentioned in my title, the final act is where I had my problems.

The final fight was cool but also felt anticlimactic too. I wish they would have done more to make it dramatic than the villain just standing in a field shooting lazers out of her hands for 7 minutes.

The ending is my main complaint because wow it was terrible. It's like they accidentally cut out the last 10 minutes the day before the movie's release and instead of putting it back they were like, "Nah it's fine." They stop the villian and it ends literally right after that. They don't resolve any lose threads. Are they going to stay in the town or go back to city they came from? Did Trevor and Lucky stay friends or finally move past that? They don't resolve any of the movie's arcs except for the main one and it leaves you unsatisfied.

For the most part, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a satisfying continuation of the original Ghostbusters films, however its final minutes struggle to give the overall film a satisfying conclusion.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Disappointing End to The Trilogy

[4/10 · 15 January 2023]

Note: Very minor spoilers throughout, most of which is stuff seen in the trailers, nothing major like deaths, plot twists, etc.

The story was so bland it hurt. Fallen Kingdom's ending sets up for a global movie where dinosaurs are all over the planet, but this movie has over half of it take place at a location secluded from the rest of the world. What was the point of FK's ending then?

Not to mention the final scene in this movie contradicts the final scene of Fallen Kingdom. In FK, the final scene shows that dinosaurs will take over the world, we can't coexist with them and there's a montage of them wreaking havoc. But in the final scene of Dominion, it tells us that we can coexist and live together over a montage of dinosaurs coexisting with animals. So which is it? We can or we can't? Most of Dominion focuses on Dinosaurs not being able to coexist with us so it seems even they have no clue.

The final fight is so disappointing. In Jurassic World's final fight, the T-Rex and the Indominous are the main focus. It focuses on them fighting and occasionally adds the humans in to put them in danger and it works. There's tension and a solid score as well as solid build up to this scene of them fighting.

In JW: Dominion, the T-Rex randomly appears at the end to fight the Giga and the main focus is on the humans cowering trying to not get crushed. We hardly even see the dinosaurs fight. This is the final fight of your entire franchise (as of now at least) and you choose to not even focus on the fight. And then the T-Rex gets her butt kicked and needs to be saved by the Edward Scissorhands Dinosaur who we only saw for 2 minutes in a scene that was 45 minutes ago.

Another problem is the ending. This is the final film in the franchise (again, for now at least) and the ending doesn't make anything feel fulfilled. The relationship between Claire, Masie, and Owen didn't get a satisfying resolution which is absurd considering it was the central arc of the movie, need I say more?

Why did they make Blue's baby be the one captured instead of Blue? The past 2 JW movies focused heavily on the relationship between Owen and Blue, yet they throw that away in this one to focus on her kid. Sure, Dr. Wu needs the baby to stop the cicadas (or were they locusts...) but it isn't hard to make him need Blue instead of the baby. After all, she was the one that was capable of giving birth when it should've been impossible. Owen and Blue's relationship was more the heart of the trilogy than Owen and Claire but they fail this aspect completely.

The movie is too long. So much of it could've been cut but instead they have all this extra stuff which just drags the quality down.

The characters feel out of character. Owen and Claire don't feel the same as who they were in the first 2 films, and Maisie is stuck in a cliche adopted daughter arc. The returning actors are wasted and their performances feel stale simply because of how badly the writing fails them.

At the end of the day, Jurassic World: Dominion isn't worth it. Decent CGI isn't enough to save it from... everything else.

Side note: If you want to see an actually decent Jurassic World entry, check out Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix. It takes a few episodes to get started but it's worth it.

True Story (III) (2021)

Did we watch the same thing?

[5/10 · 12 January 2023]

I didnt check the reviews before I watched this, so I was suprised to see it has a 7 on here. Every user review I see gives it between a 7-9 and to that I say, "????"

The acting is okay but nothing special, though I did enjoy seeing Kevin Hart in a serious role, hopefully we'll get more of that in the future.

While the story has some good twists and turns, the rest of it is filled with practically nothing. Stuff happens yet it feels like nothing is happening at the same time. For most of the show I was so bored, but thankfully these episodes were only 30 minutes so the pacing wasn't terrible.

It also leans way too hard on the celebrity world aspect. Having Kid as a big celebrity is fine, I like the idea, but the way that the show forces all of these cameos and name drops and movies makes it feel corny. Throughout the entire series we hear about this movie Kid is in that's about to make a billion dollars at the box office. Then they show you a clip of this movie and it looks like it would barely make 100 million, if that. Not to mention the clip involves a celebrity cameo which makes it feel less serious than it should.

The characters, for the most part, are paper thin. Kid and Carlton are okay but the rest of Kid's team are all weakly built on. Theres one character who has a decent sized role in the show (I think her name is Billie?) And she randomly stops appearing in the show for the last 3 episodes, but they include her in the final scene for 5 seconds and she doesnt even talk in the scene. Kid's bodyguard is just that. He shows up in most scenes yet all he does is either stand in the background or talk to Kid about how he is supposed to be his protector and needs to be with him at all times. They expect us to care about these characters and their relationships when we are given no real reason to. The only exception is Kid and Carlton.

Theres really not much else notable to say about this show. It's not terrible but not good. I'll probably forget I watched this within the month.

The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022)

A superb show with dense characters, great visuals, and an entertaining and original story.

[2/10 · 4 January 2023]

...Is what I desperately wish I could've said about this show. Unfortunately, it's the opposite. Everything about this show is miles beneath the greatness of The Witcher.

The story... it's so bad. This series was originally supposed to be about 6 episodes long but for some reason it was cut to 4 and you can really feel the impact that has. Everything feels so choppy, so fast paced even though hardly anything is actually happening. They cut out entire storylines that are pivotal to the show and then later on in the series they mention these cut storylines that leave you clueless.

For example, Fjall apparently has a sister, who is killed by Merwyn, but all of her scenes get cut. However, they mention several times in the series his sister and show Fjall's reaction to hearing of her death, but the audience has no clue that she even exists!

Another character, who is a mage, is shown in episode 1 locked in a prison cell that prevents him from using his magic, but in episode 2 he is suddenly far far away from Xin'trea, out of his cell. He explains that he escaped, but regardless they should've shown this but didn't. How did he even escape in the first place? This only scratches the surface of the issue of plot holes

The plot is so predictable. Merwyn is revealed as the main villian through what is supposed to be a big twist, yet I knew it was coming long before it actually happened. Characters actions are predictable at every point so theres no unpredictability.

The whole premise of the show is "showing the Conjuction of the Spheres and the arrival of the first humans on the Continent." You want to know how long they actually spend showing the Conjunction and the arrival of humans? ONE MINUTE. The show's entire point is only shown for 1 minute at the very end of the show. And it's barely even shown, we see the main character's reactions more than the event itself and its shown under a voice over that distracts from the scene. What an anticlimactic disappointment.

Speaking of anticlimactic, there are some massive reveals at the end of this show impacting The Witcher, including an origin for presumably one of the show's main villains, whenever they get around to showing him at least. However, everything before the reveal has been so lackluster that it has no impact. I literally felt nothing watching the scene and I love The Witcher series, yet the twist had no affect on me because theres no build up to it and the character involved in the scene really isn't even a huge character in the show.

The acting isn't the worst I've seen, but it is not good. To be fair, I thought Fjall and Merwyn's actors did decent jobs but everyone else came across as weak. Part of this is due to the writing, which was also very flawed. One thing that really annoyed me in this was how often they mention, "putting him to clay" throughout the 4 episodes. Like the amount of times they say something along the lines of this is insane for only 4 episodes.

The writing also harms the characters. They are so dull it's insane. The main two characters hate each other in the first episode, are okay with each other in the second episode, and then having sex in the third. Huh? There was nothing even alluding to them having feelings for each other until the third episode. Plus they ruin this part of the story by showing them kissing in the trailer so good job to Netflix's marketing team on that.

There's also a mid credits scene that made no sense to me, in fact it almost felt like a retcon in a way.

The visuals are a big letdown compared to The Witcher. Nothing looks visually pleasing and the CGI is noticeable in every scene it's used in.

When you read reviews for this show, you should know many reviews aren't even from people who have watched the show, but from Witcher fans complaining about the diversity in it or just boycotting the show because it isn't what they want it to be.

With that being said, this show isn't worth it.

I'm a big fan of The Witcher series and even I regret watching this. It had no impact on me and has no redeeming qualities to it. When I finished watching the show I was thinking maybe a 3 but after writing my review I'm lowering it to a 2. The only reason it's not at a 1 is because I was slightly entertained in some spots.

Pinocchio (I) (2022)

Easily one of the weakest remakes Disney has done

[2/10 · 20 December 2022]

Where do I begin?

The weirdest part of the movie for me is how it just feels so soulless. Like this is a movie about a character with a wholesome soul yet you never get that feeling. The performances, the visuals, the music, it all comes across as flat and dull. The only thing I enjoyed in this movie was Joseph Gorden-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket.

The plot is so boring which is suprising considering how it's literally a remake of another movie that's not boring, yet somehow Disney does it. Even with the films ending with the big whale it just felt lackluster. Especially when you compare the original and this version's finale, the remake loses all the tension and drama that makes the original good.

The soundtrack was terrible. So bad that I dont even remember a single note that was played, not to mention you hardly notice the music in the movie.

The changes they make in the movie don't work. First, they add a puppeteer girl that's part of the circus as a... love interest. Apart from that sounding as dumb as it is, it adds no value to the story, especially considering they don't give her character an actual ending or fullfilling arc. She just dips out of the movie and pops back up for 2 minutes at the end to tell you what shes doing.

The next change was the fairy. They reduce her role tremendously and what's even funnier to me is that this is the only role in the whole movie that is raceswapped. The only character they change from white to black is the character that has her role reduced to a 4 minute scene at the beginning. It's like Disney did it just so they can claim they care about diversity. I'm not even one to normally notice these things but it's so obvious in this.

The CGI was weak as well. On top of that they choose to make the dumbest things CGI. Even Geppetto's cat is CGI! If they couldn't get a real cat for the movie, then at least leave the cat at Geppetto's house and don't include him in the entire movie. Adding to the bad CGI, Pinocchio looks too smooth. He has no good detail done to him so it doesn't look real. I feel bad to trash the visual effects artist's hard work because it's common knowledge how poorly they're treated, but I had to say this.

Disney had a lot of potential remaking this but instead it has become one of, if not the worst, live action remake they've done so far. If you're looking for a movie to watch, this isn't it.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Not as good as it's made out to be

[6/10 · 9 December 2022]

Note: Spoilers start in the 5 paragraph

Don't get me wrong, this definitely isn't a bad film, but by the end instead of feeling satisfied I was left with a feeling of, "Wait, that's it?"

This should come as no suprise, but the acting is great. The cast plays off each other well and even when the the film gets slower, the performances kept me watching.

Along with the acting, the visuals are stunning. There are some beautiful shots in this movie as well as disturbing, but it all blends together nicely and fits with the feel of the movie.

The soundtrack was also decent, though not as good as it coudl've been. There were a few scenes where they don't play any music when it would've helped the scene, but overall I never felt like the score hurt the movie in any way. Though at the same time, I'm not sure how much it helped it either.

Now onto my main issues with the movie...

The characters are a mixed bag of quality. While some are dense and investing, others are deliberately not built on much. At first it doesn't make sense but then the characters start dying and guess which ones die first? The characters who weren't given much story.

It's a lazy way of filmmaking in my opinion, to not give depth to your main characters because they're going to die first. Like the first of "Da 5 Bloods" to die (the one that dies from the landmine) was in the movie so little that I hardly remembered he was a character until his death scene. And then the guy who was having sex with the french girl, he gets blown up too and he probably only has 7 or 8 lines in the whole movie. These characters, main characters, are so weak that I don't even remember their names!

On the topic of deaths, none of them were done well. When the first of the Bloods gets blown up, it's sad and starts to get emotional but they ruin the scene by hardly acting like it happened. Like the guy dies and then literally 5 seconds after, we move on to a tense scene where another character steps on a landmine. He was one of the main 5 characters and they don't give you any time to feel emotion.

Then there's another one of the Bloods who jumps on a grenade for no reason and the rest of the characters don't even acknowledge he's dead! Hell, they hardly tell the audience that he died because once again, as soon as he dies the movie jumps into another scene and doesnt give you any time to process the death. And why'd he jump on the grenade anyways? Nobody was close enough to be hit by it, not even him. He jumps over to it. Again, its lazy filmmaking and killing characters for no reason.

They also kill characters off just for the sake of it. I never felt like any of the main character's deaths had any impact on the movie because of the way the movie treats the deaths and the characters. It's a slap in the face to the audience who has to sit through 2 AND A HALF HOURS for there to be no respect given to the characters and their stories.

The ending was anticlimactic as well. You'd think after making a movie so long they'd give a proper ending but nah, they kill the bad guy, we see Jonathon Majors read a note over a montage, and it ends. No satisfaction or impactful moment, it just ends right after the final fight, which was lackluster as well.

Da 5 Bloods isn't a terrible movie. I admittedly enjoyed it a little, but it is frustrating more often than it is enjoyable. The characters aren't well balanced and the deaths are mostly pointless. The runtime isn't justified, though the acting and visuals are solid and the story is entertaining enough... mostly.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Definitely weaker than the first Dr. Strange

[6/10 · 18 November 2022]

Is it bad? No. However, it's not far from it.

To start, the main issue in this movie is the CGI. I know COVID effected the film hard, having been filmed at the height of the pandemic, but wow it doesn't look great. You can tell every time they use a green screen and for some reason they don't have many practical sets here which really hurts it more. It's disappointing too, seeing how the Illuminati HQ looked was such a shame. It could've been a great visual scene but instead it just wasn't.

As for the writing....

I'll say this, in the Assembled episode for MoM, Michael Waldron said he had about a month or so to rewrite the entire script. The ENTIRE movie in less than a month. That's almost impossible to do well, and that really shows in the movie. He also says in the episode that the Illuminati stuff only happened because he didn't know what to do with the middle portion of the film, which explains a lot.

The plot itself is a mess. It's too rushed, too unfocused, the tone is all over the place and none of it blends together well.

I've seen a lot of people complain about America Chavez being a plot device but to be honest she's a plot device in the comics too so I don't see it as much of an issue.

It also doesn't really live up to its name. It's subtitle is, "Multiverse of Madness", yet we don't see any of the madness. Sure, we see a world destroyed from an Incursion and whatever the place is called that has the Book of Vishanti, but the movie never dives into the multiverse in the epic ways we know Marvel is capable of. I would even go as far as saying that Spider-Man: No Way Home managed the multiverse better.

The soundtrack was pretty good though, I did enjoy it a bit.

The acting isn't bad but it's a step down from the first Dr. Strange.

Overall the movie has some pros and some cons but regardless it's still entertaining and I can still have fun watching it.

Oxygen (2021)

A solid movie with a nice twist

[9/10 · 16 November 2022]

To be honest, I really don't have many criticisms for this.

Even though the movie has just 1 actress, the acting is solid.

The visuals were great. They did a good job at making you feel the claustrophobia and on top of that, there are other visuals in this movie I can't explain without spoiling so I won't, but they look beautiful.

I really loved the score as well. I can't think of many movies where I notice the music almost every time it's playing.

What I was impressed the most by was the story. They take the time to go into depth on so much and it really helps the story become as interesting as it is. Again, I can't elaborate on this without spoiling it, so I won't. There's also a pretty good twist in here as well. I don't think many people will predict it and the detail they go into with the plot twist is great.

However, it does drag for a bit in the beginning, so it's a little slow for a while, but once you make it to the twist it is worth the build up.

Oxygen is a mostly great movie with a slightly slow beginning, but if you make it through to the plot twist you'll be so happy that you did.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

A sequel that holds up against its predecessor, although it doesn't surpass it

[8/10 · 13 November 2022]

Wakanda Forever was almost impossible to make right. Everything was perfect after the first Black Panther and then the movie lost its main star. How do you continue a franchise after that? Somehow, Ryan Coogler manages to do it.

While its main plot is good, the story in the movie is one of the weaker aspects, particularly the first hour. It covers a lot of ground very fast and doesn't always do the best job of explaining how they got from one scene to the next.

For example, in one scene Riri is arguing with Shuri and Okoye about going with them to Wakanda and the next second the three of them are at Riri's workshop so she can grab some things before she leaves with them. How did we get to that point? When did she agree? There's a couple spots like that in the first hour that jump around and it makes the movie a little harder to follow. However as I mentioned, after probably the first hour (whenever the car chase happens) I would say that issue went away.

Other than this, the story was great. I love how it takes it's time to show both sides of the dilemma, showing both the views of Wakanda and Talocan so you can understand both the hero and the villian, if Namor can even be called that.

Without spoiling it, they do one thing with Okoye's character in this movie that I wasn't fond of, but maybe I'll get wanted up to it in her future MCU projects.

The characters are easily the strongest aspect here. Every main character has a story and a reason for being in the movie. Namor gets so much detail that I was honestly suprised by it. Shuri grows as a character more in 1 movie than we see a lot of MCU characters grow in 3. She's no longer stuck in the "smart black girl" trope (even though they kind of threw Riri into it) and becomes her own. Nakia and M'Baku don't have much growth in this movie, but you can still feel the impact their presence has in it.

The CGI was a mixed bag of good and bad. Visually everything looked good, Talocan was stunning and Wakanda remains beautiful. However, Ironheart's 2nd armor never looked good and the green screen during Talocan's attack on Wakanda was very noticeable. Some of the new Black Panther's CGI was off as well, but I think that was mainly due to the actions she has to pull off are unrealistic to begin with. Regardless of this, more often than not the CGI looked good, and even when it didn't hold up the visuals still pulled it through.

The music was fantastic. I usually hate movies using songs with actual lyrics as their soundtrack because 90% of the time it doesnt fit the scene it's in and drags the emotions down. However, I felt the songs used in Wakanda Forever actually lifted the scenes up. The score by Ludwig was perfection, implementing Mayan and African vibes in such a melodic way.

The action scenes were somewhat disappointing. They were very choppy so you couldn't easily keep track of what you were seeing. I dont think they even give you 1 good look at Riri's 1st Ironheart armor.

I especially loved the ending scene. It does something I wish more MCU films would do which is ending the movie with raw emotion. As the stylized credits were rolling I was feeling my sadness and it was great.

Overall, Wakanda Forever isn't better than the first Black Panther, but it does more than enough to live up to its legacy, even if there are a few flaws along the way.

Beckett (2021)

Trailers made this look so much better

[3/10 · 13 November 2022]

Where do I begin.....

The movie's biggest issue is its plot. It's filled with a lot yet it feels like nothing is happening at the same time. The action sequences lack tension and intensity not to mention they are over just as quick as the start. There's a chase sequence near the end that is one of the slowest chases I've seen in a movie.

Beckett's character is good, but his durability makes no sense. For most the movie, he is getting his ass kicked. He gets beaten, stabbed, shot, hell his car even dives off of a mountain, rolls, and then flips and crashes into a cement building! Yet, he somehow manages to survive every time. We do see him get help for his wounds a few times, but even still the things he manages to do before he gets help is crazy. He literally jumps off a 3 story parking garage and lands on a car going at least 20 miles an hour after he had just been shot in the stomach! Not even James Bond pulls all of this off.

The final fight has no tension like the other action sequences and it was so choppy I had a hard time keeping track of what was happening.

The ending is anticlimactic and slightly rushed which is funny considering they had an hour and a half to get there. The ending should've been way better as well. It feels like they didn't actually know what to do next so they just said, "screw it let's end it here."

Most characters are introduced and then gone in the same 5 minutes. It gives you no time to care about them and when some of them are in danger you feel nothing. They showed the main female antagonist so rarely that I didn't even recognize her a couple times.

The political aspect, which is the core part of this story, wasn't explained good... at all. I can't talk about this in detail without spoilers so I'll skip it, but basically they treat the politics like we already know about them when we don't, so you barely understand why major things happen in the movie.

I've been bashing this a lot so I will say that the visuals weren't terrible and I did like that they take the time to show the effect the film's events was having on Beckett. Also John David Washington did an okay job with what he was given.

There's a lot more I can say about this movie, but this review is already quite lengthy, so I'll end it here.

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Could've been a lot better

[6/10 · 11 November 2022]

I see what they were trying to do and I like the way that they go about it, but ultimately it still falls flat.

The main issue is that it's boring. The last half hour is wild and the beginning is good but the middle of this movie has nothing of importance. I could watch the first 30 minutes and the last 30 minutes and not feel like I missed anything at all. It also runs on for way too long. It's an hour and 50 minutes but it easily could've been an hour and a half at least.

The acting was okay but knowing how good these actors are, I was disappointed to not really see most of them do much.

Now, I will say this: This movie is one of the most original concepts I've seen for a movie in a while. So much so that I never knew where this movie was gonna go.

As I mentioned earlier, the last 30 minutes are insane. Could've gone without the horse cocks burned into my mind but points for originality. And the horses look surprisingly good, considering this movie had a smaller budget and I'm watching it 4 years after it originally came out

The comedy is easily one of the best parts of the movie. Even when it wasn't particularly interesting, it was still held up by the comedy. It kept me at least chuckling throughout the entire film which almost never happens to me.

Overall this movie isn't for everyone. The middle of the film is a drag but its ending makes it (mostly) worth it.

The Gentlemen (2019)

To be honest, I was hoping for more

[7/10 · 11 November 2022]

To be honest I was hoping for more

The main issue in the movie is its story. It has a fun concept and it does draw you in quickly, but the way the storytelling works hurts itself. Basically the movie is a journalist explaining everything he knows about a Marijuana dealer to the dealer's right hand man, so it's essentially 2 stories in 1 (The journalist explaining and the main story).

Like I said, its a fun concept, but the problem is that they never balance the two storylines well. You get invested in the main storyline and are eager to see what's next and then it suddenly cuts and now we're watching the journalist talking to the right hand man, which ruins the flow and takes you out of the moment entirely.

I will say though that it is well paced and to be honest, it was surprisingly unpredictable.

It doesn't help either that the characters are dull. Most of them don't have any density that makes me actually care enough about them. There's a scene towards the end where Michael's wife is in danger and I felt no tension because they just don't give the characters enough to make you care. But the main 3 characters are structured nicely, and they matter most.

Even though I had a few issues with the story, The Gentlemen is still a very enjoyable movie that has that special charm that most Guy Ritchie films have to keep you watching.

The Patient (2022)

A strong start, but ultimately ruined by an unjustified length and bad ending

[5/10 · 25 October 2022]

Note: Spoilers start in paragraph 6 and last until the end of my review

My title tells you everything you need to know.

I will say the acting is good, and it's easily one of Steve Carell's best performances. Domnhall Gleeson (is that how you spell it?) Was really great as well. No matter how boring or repetitive the show became, they still held it up.

The show's first few episodes are great too. It does a good job setting up its story and making it intriguing. However, after episode 5 this goes away and loses its momentum and intrigue almost entirely.

The issue is that the show is just too long. This never needed to be 10 episodes, it easily could've been 8. Back to episode 5, once that episode ends theres really not much else they can do in the show other than end it, but instead they stretch the story to its breaking point, filling in the blanks of episodes 6-9 with essentially nothing. Hell every episode has a 10-40 second scene where we are just watching Strauss sit on the bed while Sam is peeing in another room.

6-9 are basically all the same. Dr. Strauss contemplates issues in his life that we've already been through countless times, Sam tries to control his urge to kill again, and that's it. They try to do a little more in these episodes with the story, but it still has no impact on the story overall so it ends up being meaningless. These extra episodes just drag on and on to the point where I almost stopped caring about the show.

The worst part of this show is that the ending makes Dr. Strauss' arc through the entire series meaningless. We are shown all this depth in his character and his relationship with his family, his determination to make things better, just for him to be killed at the end??? So all we have been watching the show build up suddenly crumbles to the ground.

The way dies is out of character as well. Throughout the series, we see Strauss think through several ways he can escape and every time he comes to the same conclusion, he is too old and weak to fight Sam and win, so he can only escape by being smart or by "curing" Sam. However, his solution to escaping in the final episode is threatening to kill Sam's mother, which he knew wouldn't work and would cause him to die. In episode 9, Strauss almost tried the exact same thing but didnt because he knew it would get him killed! Obviously he was desperate to escape but it still doesn't justify randomly switching up his character and the story. It's like the writers forgot what they were doing. Either that or they couldn't think of any other way to end it, which wouldnt suprise me.

Killing Dr. Strauss isn't even the main issue here, it's that the death came from nowhere and happened because Strauss acted completely out of character from what we've seen. It's so frustrating that it brings the shows quality down with it

Overall, this show starts great but gets worse with each episode to the point where at the end you'll probably be upset you wasted all this time on it. It has strong acting but it's not enough to justify anything else. It's too long for it's own good and ruins itself with its ending.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

2 hours and 22 minutes that I could've spent with a better movie

[4/10 · 18 August 2022]

It's better than Crimes of Grindlewald at least.

To start, the characters are bland as ever. They just exist and don't have any depth to them except for Newt, Dumbledore, and Grindlewald. The Hogwarts professor that joins the team (can't remember her name) comes from nowhere and we never even learn much about her. They treat her like shes been in the past 2 movies when she hasn't. Credence has almost no role in this film after being teased for a more important role at the end of CoG. Nothing he does feels important even though it is and what happens with his character at the end makes no sense. They do nothing with Queenie other than have close up shots of her being emotional to show that she's rethinking following Grindlewald but never dive deep enough into it.

This movie drops plots left and right. Like I mentioned, they do nothing with Credence or Queenie in this movie when they shouldve gotten way more focus so nothing that happens with them feels right, the beginning of the movie makes you feel like you missed the first 10 minutes, Kama's plot is never truly explained either, the way the blood pact storyline is ended was way too easy considering the entire movie was centered around finding a way around it, I can go on and on.

There is literally almost an entire hour in the middle of the film where nothing happens. If you cut that hour from the film it won't hurt it in any way.

The visuals weren't bad but the CGI is noticeable, the music was decent, the acting was mediocre.

The fights are almost nonexistent. Usually I wouldnt have an issue with this, I would praise the movie for focusing more on the plot and less on the action but the problem is that the plot is almost nonexistent as well! Hell the ending was so anticlimactic that it didn't feel worth the 2 hours it took to get there.

Also the title makes no sense. It's called "Secrets of Dumbledore" but there are no secrets revealed so I'm not sure where the title came from.

Overall this is the type of movie I use as an example of how a franchise turns sour yet continues to go on because the studio wants the profits that come with it. It's a step up from Crimes of Grindlewald but it's still very far from the Harry Potter films.

Warrior (2011)

Definition of a perfect film

[10/10 · 8 August 2022]

Literally nothing negative to say about this movie. Great acting, cinematography, choreography, story, score, etc.

I was impressed by how the entire last hour of this movie was fighting and you never get tired of it. They manage to make each fight unique and even though you already are aware that the brothers end up fighting each other you still feel like they will win their individual matches at some points. Well... not Tom Hardy's character but my point remains.

My recommendatio? Don't die before watching this movie.

Lightyear (2022)

A misunderstood film

[8/10 · 8 August 2022]

What do I mean by misunderstood? Its simple.

People have to learn that animated films, especially Pixar films, are 1) Not aimed at adults for the most part and 2) Are not the dense films that live action films are. This is a kids movie, they can't make the sci-fi or the twists too confusing because they'll lose their target audience. Obviously that causes issues with adult viewers but again, understand that this movie can't go through all the dense storytelling and thought making ideas that live action can. That's where most of the hate for this film comes from and its completely unfair. Now aside from that, I do have some gripes.

Main thing is that the middle of the story is a little too straight forward for me. It just boils down to the team going to a place, getting something, then leaving. Again though this isn't necessarily aimed torwards me so I'll be forgiving with it.

Other than that I felt some of the voice actors didn't feel right but Chris Evan's and Keke Palmer are good in their roles.

Overall this film isn't terrible like people make it out to be. Learn to separate animation and live action and who the movie is aimed torwards. Not a perfect film but still pretty decent.

The Adam Project (2022)

An enjoyable adventure

[8/10 · 8 June 2022]

The Adam Project suprised me. Decent acting and a decent story and not as much action as you would expect which was nice. Some characters feel underused but they make an impression while they're there.

I was suprised by the CGI as well. Theres obviously a good bit of CGI in it but it isn't too noticeable. Don't get me wrong, you notice it at some points but it's worth mentioning this movie has better CGI with a 116 million budget than Red Notice did with a 200 million budget.

To summarize, it's a movie worth checking out. Fun and enjoyable.

Also a reminder: Not every movie has to be Tarantino/Fincher/Villenuve/Scorsese level of good for it to be a good movie.

Ozark (2017–2022)

Undoubtedly one of the greatest shows of all time... with a slightly flawed ending

[10/10 · 14 May 2022]

Anything I can say has already been said: the show has great characters, a tense story, great cinematography, etc. One thing I love about the show is that literally no character in this show is safe. You think major characters will make it to the end of the show and then they die. It makes it to where you never know what will happen to any of the characters, even the Byrde family. On top of that, every death is so unexpected and sudden you will be shocked for days which is impressive considering most shows aren't capable of making you feel that way.

Going into the final episode my heart was pounding the entire hour in anticipation of whatever was going to happen. Who was going to live? Who would die? And at the end I was satisfied with what I had seen... except for the final scene.

The action one character takes didn't fit his story arc for the past season which made me a little annoyed. However, other than that it was a perfect ending so I can't complain that much.

One thing I think a lot of people don't understand is that this show isn't supposed to have charm to it or slight ease, it's supposed to be a tense, dark, and gritty show where death and chaos goes everywhere the main characters go. You have to accept that to watch this show and if you do, you will love what you watch.

Stowaway (I) (2021)

A strong movie with a not strong ending

[8/10 · 12 April 2022]

Note: Spoilers are only in paragraph 3

I think a lot of people aren't understanding the movie. It isn't supposed to be a dramatic sci-fi movie, it's a slow burn movie that's supposed to make you think about morality and life. There isn't supposed to be any big action scenes its focusing more on the characters instead.

To start, almost everything about the movie is great. Good acting, great visuals, a good soundtrack (though sometimes it tends to be a little overdramatic during scenes), and, this next part seems to be an unpopular opinion, decent pacing. There is only one big issue: the ending.

Ending the movie immediately after Zoe's death ruined the movie for me. There needed to be a scene afterwards, whether it be a timejump showing the remaining group getting near Mars or a scene where Micheal and Zoe have a heartfelt discussion right before she dies, there needed to be something. Instead, there's nothing. It ruins the emotion from her death and makes you mad at the movie instead of enjoying it.

Overall, this movie is solid. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did but I had a really good time with it. The only thing that drags this movie down is its ending.

All Is Lost (2013)

A visually stunning and well made film

[10/10 · 20 February 2022]

There isn't much to say about this movie seeing as its plot is so simple: a man lost at sea. What is there to say? Well, it's a great movie.

Robert Redford gives a strong performance made even stronger by the fact that there are only about 51 lines of dialogue in the entire movie with 85% of that dialogue in the beginning. You care for the character even though you know nothing about him and you are rooting for him to survive.

I imagine this movie is better if you have some knowledge of the things he tries to do. I did and so I enjoy watching it happen, though I can imagine some viewers may not like not knowing what things are/what he's trying to do.

Visually this movie is beautiful. Almost every shot I was in love with the way it looked. The soundtrack matches the visuals perfectly and has a very serene sound to it.

Overall this movie is amazing. Some people may be bored but not many. Good acting, great visuals and soundtrack, etc.

The Endless (I) (2017)

A satisfying follow-up to Resolution, but it does need a little work

[6/10 · 1 November 2021]

I'll be brief as I can with this but this is a type of movie that isn't for everyone.

The biggest flaw I can think of is the plot. The plot is good, but it takes a bit longer to get somewhere than it should've. The 2nd half of the movie is great, but in order for the audience to see that, you need the viewer to be able to make it through the first half as well which not everyone will want to do. Not much happens in the 1st half and that might draw some viewers away. Like I said though, great 2nd half.

The acting wasn't awful but it wasn't good either. Some of it was stale while some of it worked well. However, the acting was good when it needed to be and that's what matters most.

It also doesn't explain what's going on very well which causes a bit of confusion. You get some answers but also get more questions. But maybe that's what Justin and Aaron were going for with this, maybe there will be another film to further explain this story, but who knows?

Not a bad movie but not one of Justin and Aaron's best. Average acting with an interesting, but confusing, story and a plot that drags before it begins to pick itself up.

Prospect (2018)

Not a movie for everyone

[8/10 · 11 October 2021]

This is one of those movies where you either hate it or like it. Personally, I liked it.

To brief, the acting was good, especially for Sophie Thatcher considering that this is her first movie. Pedro Pascal is great (as always). Visually the movie is great as well, it is very serene and you really feel the environment they are in.

The plot can be slightly predictable. I won't go into depth on this to avoid spoilers, but there will be times where you know what is going to happen before it actually happens. The pacing isn't bad either, but it does take a bit of time to get to the point. However, you are still going to be intrigued as it is getting to that point.

The biggest flaw with this movie is its lore. It spends a ton of time mentioning all of this terms and things that happen in this film's universe, but they never really explain what they are actually talking about. As a result, you are stuck being confused because you have no clue what they are having a conversation about.

Overall, good acting, subpar pacing, nice visuals, etc. Like I said, this is the type of movie that you either hate or love. It isn't the best movie I've ever seen, but I still may rewatch it one day.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Funnier, but not quite better than the first

[8/10 · 6 September 2021]

Zombieland will arguably go down as a classic from the early 2000s, and this movie tries to live up to that. They almost achieve that, but still miss the mark.

As mentioned, I found this to be funnier than the first film. Maybe that's just me, but I loved the comedy in this one. However, this movie isn't as emotional or character driven as the first Zombieland, and thats mostly what brings the movie down for me.

While the first Zombieland focuses on all 4 characters, this movie mostly focuses on Columbus and Witchita (is that how you spell it?) and their relationship. While that's not bad, they spend little time adding to Tallahassee and Little Rock's characters. They get their own story arcs but they don't really go anywhere.

Zoey Deutch is the scene stealer in this movie. She is way too good at playing an idiot and most of her scenes are elevated by her. The rest of the cast has solid acting as well. It wasn't Oscar worthy or anything, but were good.

To wrap it up, it's funny and has a good cast. Good pacing and fun action sequences. Biggest flaws would be less character driven and less emotional than Zombieland 1. I can watch this and enjoy myself anytime.

What If...? (2021– )

People need to review the entire show instead of only 1 episode

[8/10 · 27 August 2021]

IMDB really needs to work on their audience review system. All the bad reviews are only for 1 episode and not the entire series. You can't judge an entire show on its first epiosde.

While Ep 1 wasn't great, the rest are a huge improvement. Intriguing stories and, surprisingly, the humor lands more than you'd think. Decent voice acting and it really helps that most of characters are voiced by their live-action actors.

Overall, don't trust 90% of the bad reviews because they are only rating the first or second episode. Instead, trust the reviews judging the entire series.

The series as a whole isn't terrible. I was hoping for better but ultimately I'm okay with what we got. The epsidoes range from really good to pretty bad but they're enjoyable regardless.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

A decent movie but only if you've read the book

[3/10 · 23 August 2021]

I watched this movie without reading the book and with 2 of my friends who have read the book. The entire time, I wanted to stop watching.

It's interesting in the beginning and definitely gets you interested quickly. After the first 20-30 minutes however, that quickly faded for me. So much in this movie makes no sense to the point that I had zero interest in the movie by the end of it. Everything with Renfield could be left out of the movie because his storyline literally does nothing for the story. Everything that happens with Lucy could've been left out because once again, it does nothing for the plot except leading the main cast to break some boxes.

The acting wasn't bad but isn't great, and the accents are... okay I guess (with Keanu being the exception).

My biggest issue with the movie was that so much happens that doesn't make any sense at all. While watching the movie, my friends kept explaining how the movie differed from the book and explained how much better things are explained in the book. If the movie explained even half of what the book explains it would be good. Instead, I was wondering how Dracula was suddenly in Mina's town, why he was raping Lucy while in the form of a bat (or was it a wolf?), how Jonathon manages to escape Dracula's castle and the women draining his blood, and many more things. Not just this, but in the book Renfield, Lucy, Mina, and almost every character has a better and more developed storyline than in this movie.

I will say the special effects weren't bad and the practical effects were really good. Overall though, I won't care to watch this movie again.