This film is incredibly awful. Just 2 or three shots of the teaser trailer are in the movie. They basically shot a trailer. The young actor that played Artemis Fowl II (Ferdia Shaw), this is his first ever credit on IMDb. I feel so bad for this kid. This is a terrible performance. It feels amateur in every way. It feels like whenever he gets one of his lines out his face locks up. It's downright cringey and embarrassing. The worst part of this movie is that it feels like it has no story. The core story of this movie is that Artemis Fowl sr. (Colin Farrel) is kidnapped. Whoever kidnapped him wants this thing that would give him infinite story. It's a giant MacGuffin that everyone wants. So Artemis Fowl II has to find this thing so he can get his dad back. That's what the film is about summarized on paper, but that's not what the movie's about. The movie has no idea what it is about. Josh Gad narrates almost the entire movie. The first six minutes is nothing but exposition and it continues so heavy-handed throughout the entire film because they don't know how to condense this story into 94 minutes (super short). Our main character is supposed to be liked by everyone, but he is super annoying and not interesting. Because of that you don't really care about what he's doing. This is easily in the top 10 worst live action Disney movies ever made. This is barely a movie. It's barely a story. If you're a fan of these novels, you're probably going to hate this. This is more of a spy kids movie than an Artemis Fowl movie. Keep in mind that this movie cost $125 million, directed by someone who has directed good films in the past and has talented people in it. For some reason it feels like a stack of scenes strung together to last 94 minutes. It doesn't feel like it has story, charcters, or any compelling elements. It just feels like a property that has been given a feature film treatment. It's so bad and very dissapointing.
Reviews
21 Reviews
Scoob!
(2020)
A generic 21st century kids movie disguised as a Scooby Doo movie.
16 May 2020
I was never really the biggest fan of Scooby Doo. I watched some epispodes, but I never really gravitated to that show and characters. But even with watching so little episodes, you can tell it is very different from the cartoon. It doesn't feel like Scooby Doo. There aren't any mysteries of haunted houses. This is a superhero movie wth Scooby Doo characters.
The villian is actually pretty good. He has a clear motivation and you understand what's he doing and why he's doing it. He can also be funny which is perfect for a kids movie like this.
The voice actors did a good job. The stand-outs for me are Mark Whalberg, Jason Isaacs and Frank Welker.
The movie is really funny and a lot of the jokes land well. Especially with the character of Fred. Whenever he's on screen he gives that funny vibe and you can't help it but to laugh whenever he tells a joke.
The biggest problem for me is that this is just a generic kids movie. It follows the same formula as all kids movies. Set-up a relationship with two characters, seperate them and make them reconcile, earn the power of friendship and save the day. On top of that, add a bunch of pop songs. The movie is afraid to take risks and shake things up. Because that, it doesn't add anything new to the genre, it doesn't add anything new to the Scooby Doo characters and it's just forgetable. If i'm in a mood for Scooby Doo, I won't watch this. I will watch the original cartoon. If I'm in a mood for a 21st century kids movie, I won't watch this. I will just go watch the Lego Movie. My point is that this movie doesn't stand out in any way.
I conslusion, I don't think that a generic kids movie is worth 20 dollars.
4/10 you can skip it, you're not missing much.
The villian is actually pretty good. He has a clear motivation and you understand what's he doing and why he's doing it. He can also be funny which is perfect for a kids movie like this.
The voice actors did a good job. The stand-outs for me are Mark Whalberg, Jason Isaacs and Frank Welker.
The movie is really funny and a lot of the jokes land well. Especially with the character of Fred. Whenever he's on screen he gives that funny vibe and you can't help it but to laugh whenever he tells a joke.
The biggest problem for me is that this is just a generic kids movie. It follows the same formula as all kids movies. Set-up a relationship with two characters, seperate them and make them reconcile, earn the power of friendship and save the day. On top of that, add a bunch of pop songs. The movie is afraid to take risks and shake things up. Because that, it doesn't add anything new to the genre, it doesn't add anything new to the Scooby Doo characters and it's just forgetable. If i'm in a mood for Scooby Doo, I won't watch this. I will watch the original cartoon. If I'm in a mood for a 21st century kids movie, I won't watch this. I will just go watch the Lego Movie. My point is that this movie doesn't stand out in any way.
I conslusion, I don't think that a generic kids movie is worth 20 dollars.
4/10 you can skip it, you're not missing much.
Extraction
(2020)
A must watch for action fans
24 April 2020
First, you have to talk about the action. It's just fantastic. I've seen comparisons to John Wick because both movies were directed by former stunt coordinators and have a distinct style. John Wick is a little bit smoother, polished and stylized. This one is more brutal and visceral. Both are shot excellently and choreographed wonderfully. This one has more brutal intensity with the way it plays out. There's also a lot of variety in the action. There are close corridor shootouts, big open city setting shootouts, car chases, hand-to-hand fights, knife fights, sniping type action, RPG's, one take shot action... Because of the way that it's filmed with the long takes, there's an about 30 minutes long section that basiclly plays in real time. You just feel you are right there in the movie.
The other thing the movie does really well is handeling it's story.The basic plot is very straight-forward. A mercenary is trying to get a boy out of the town alive. His objective is very clear from beginning to end. However, it adds complexity, nuance and intrigue with the different characters involved and their relationships with each other.
The movie does have sraight-forward and uninteresting villians that are just evil, but it also has characters that are allies to the main the mercenary, but antagonistic to the boy and allies to the boy, but antagonistic to the mercenary. There are a lot of interesting character dynamics that add tension to the action sequences. The plot is straight-forward, but it's executed with intrigue because of the characters and their dynamics.
The movie has more emotion than you would expect from a fim like this. There are not any big character arcs, but you learn enough about each of the characters to care about them and their relationships. We also dive a little bit more into the side characters than you'd expect. Even some of the henchmen and assassins are given more depht. There are scenarios of why they are doing what they are doing so you care when you see them in action. Some of them you don't want to die and some of them you do.
Chris Hemsworth was great in this movie. We know that he can handle action and be a leading man. This movie ups the stakes of being the here because he's doing real stuntwork. There's no green screen. You see him actually doing fight coreography. When it pauses for the character moments, he gets to really act as this broken man on a mission that's starting to see the humanity in the events. He doesn't rely on his humour or his bag of tricks to make him likeabe. It's al just about the performance and I really think he was the right man for this film.
This is not a movie for everyone. This is a hard R action movie. There is violence against children that can be pretty gut-wrenching if that's not your thing. If you're looking for a deep character study or a plot driven movie this isn't that. It's an action movie for people that love that visceral expirience of watching an R-rated action movie. I love that this film got brutal and heart-wrenching. It feels like a gut-punch. Some people won't like it.
The thing that holds the movie back the most is the bond that forms between Chris Hemsworth and the boy. It feels sudden. It feels ike from one converstaion to the next there's a big gap that isn't fully earned to hep us understand that transition. It needed a bit more dialogue to build that bridge from one place to the next.
This is exactly the kind of movie I want Netflix to make more of. There is talent in front of and behind the camera and they took a risk on a new first time featured director. Since we're in lockdown, I think people a re going to very much enjoy this movie.
9/10
The other thing the movie does really well is handeling it's story.The basic plot is very straight-forward. A mercenary is trying to get a boy out of the town alive. His objective is very clear from beginning to end. However, it adds complexity, nuance and intrigue with the different characters involved and their relationships with each other.
The movie does have sraight-forward and uninteresting villians that are just evil, but it also has characters that are allies to the main the mercenary, but antagonistic to the boy and allies to the boy, but antagonistic to the mercenary. There are a lot of interesting character dynamics that add tension to the action sequences. The plot is straight-forward, but it's executed with intrigue because of the characters and their dynamics.
The movie has more emotion than you would expect from a fim like this. There are not any big character arcs, but you learn enough about each of the characters to care about them and their relationships. We also dive a little bit more into the side characters than you'd expect. Even some of the henchmen and assassins are given more depht. There are scenarios of why they are doing what they are doing so you care when you see them in action. Some of them you don't want to die and some of them you do.
Chris Hemsworth was great in this movie. We know that he can handle action and be a leading man. This movie ups the stakes of being the here because he's doing real stuntwork. There's no green screen. You see him actually doing fight coreography. When it pauses for the character moments, he gets to really act as this broken man on a mission that's starting to see the humanity in the events. He doesn't rely on his humour or his bag of tricks to make him likeabe. It's al just about the performance and I really think he was the right man for this film.
This is not a movie for everyone. This is a hard R action movie. There is violence against children that can be pretty gut-wrenching if that's not your thing. If you're looking for a deep character study or a plot driven movie this isn't that. It's an action movie for people that love that visceral expirience of watching an R-rated action movie. I love that this film got brutal and heart-wrenching. It feels like a gut-punch. Some people won't like it.
The thing that holds the movie back the most is the bond that forms between Chris Hemsworth and the boy. It feels sudden. It feels ike from one converstaion to the next there's a big gap that isn't fully earned to hep us understand that transition. It needed a bit more dialogue to build that bridge from one place to the next.
This is exactly the kind of movie I want Netflix to make more of. There is talent in front of and behind the camera and they took a risk on a new first time featured director. Since we're in lockdown, I think people a re going to very much enjoy this movie.
9/10
Star Trek: Picard
(2020–2023)
Season1 review - pretty disapointing
31 March 2020
This was my most anticipated series of 2020. I enjoyed seeing Patrick Stewart in this role again and I felt all the nostalgia I was supposed to feel. Unfortunately, the end result is pretty disapointing. While I was never bored watching it, it felt to me like they took way too long in the middle to tell way too little story. Because of that, last two episodes felt rushed. They used technology to try and solve the problems with how they'd written the story. Also the final reveals with what they did to Picard didn't work at all for me. I really did enjoy going back to this world and spending time with Jean-Luc Picard and seeing where the Federation was at. But the specific story they chose felt very flat and a lot of writing was lazy. It breaks my heart to say this, but I can't recommend it.
Superman: Red Son
(2020 Video)
Good, enjoyable but not rewatchable
25 March 2020
As a what if experiment, I actually did have a good enough time with it. It's a pretty audacious concept for a film that ties into a bunch of real life events. But, like many of these DC Original Animated films, I was frustrated by the limitations of the timeframe of it. Everything felt pretty rushed. Also, since Superman is a Soviet dictator, Lex Luthor is his old self and Batman is a terrorist, there's not really anyone to root for in the film. You don't really want anyone to win. I enjoyed it enough as asingle watch but I will probably never rewatch it
Spenser Confidential
(2020)
For genre fans only
10 March 2020
Spenser Confidential is the latest team up from Mark Whalberg and director Peter Berg. Easiliy the best thing here is the cast itself. They are a lot of fun and they clearly had a lot of fun making this movie. As a fan of buddy action comedies from the 80s and 90s, it's nice to see another movie like this made. It's also very Boston-centric and I love when movies like this feel like they take place in an actual community. The bad thing here is the tone. It's just all over the place. There's no shortage of conviniences and contrivances that tried to make the pieces of the plot fit together. Also, it doesn't really add anything new to the genre. If you didn't like the trailer, the movie is not going to win you over. But if you're a fan of the genre, this is a fun enough way to kill 2 hours on Netflix.
Onward
(I) (2020)
A nice little film but not a Pixar classic
8 March 2020
Onward is a fun road trip movie with little dashes of Indiana Jones, plenty of fantasy creatures, charming leads and some nice worldbuilding. What holds this one back is the actual plotting of their quest. It felt pretty sloppy to me. It feels like they didn't put enough tought into it. But, like most Pixar films, it has some real emotional depth, especially for people who lost a parent when they were young. It explores the feelings and the regret that you experience because of that.
Overall, while this is an absolutely enjoyable and emotional film, the spimplicity of the plot and the issues with the plotting stopped it from being another Pixar classic.
7/10 go check it out but don't expect a classic like Finding Nemo or Toy Story.
Overall, while this is an absolutely enjoyable and emotional film, the spimplicity of the plot and the issues with the plotting stopped it from being another Pixar classic.
7/10 go check it out but don't expect a classic like Finding Nemo or Toy Story.
The Invisible Man
(I) (2020)
I want more horror movies like this
1 March 2020
With The Invisible Man¸Leigh Wannel continues his hot streak. This movie blends the fantastical elements and real world horror so well. The actual journey that the main character's on is the same journey so many women escaping abusive relationships face. It's just taken to a much more extreme level and more literal sense with some of the things that she's facing. In part of the struggles of modern day of people getting others to believe their stories, trauma and not to think that they're going crazy. The story of The Invisible Man provides a way to do that. They're having all the thrills and fantastical elements while at the same time it's terrifying and feels real. It doesn't have to do big things in the moments to be terrifying. It slowly builds the tension as this woman tries to continue on with her life, but clearly someone is doing something around her to try and drive her crazy and people don't belive her which ties so much into real world situations. Instead of starting with jumpscares and all typicall horror tactics, it instead looks at what actualy scares people in real life.
The movie also relies really well on practical effects rather than CGI. While at the center of it you do of course have visual effects on to make a man invisible, the way this plays out in the scenes is they're using actual real world trickery with things actually moving, rather than CGI objects. So when someone gets hit, you feel it. When someone slams into something, you know that it's real and it just ads this visceral element to this movie that's filled with all kinds of things that we know aren't real, but they feel real.
This is a type of movie which doesn't work if you don't buy into the performances. Thankfully, Elizabeth Moss gives a great performance and she feels like a real person, rather than a movie charecter. She's not too charismatic, cool, funny etc. She feels like a real person you would really know and that would do things like this. As you start moving into the part where everyone thinks she's going crazy, you buy into the performance even more because you bought into her as a real person.
If you dont know, this movie was made for under $10 million, but it just looks great. The shots are framed so well. Because you're looking for the things moving and what's not supposed to happen, you're paying so much attentiont to the shots which are framed so well and they are gorgeous the way that they're shot. Some of it just looks so clean. I'm seriously wondering how did they make such a cheap movie look so beautiful
Finally, the movie just provides the expirience that you want from a horror thriller. Very early on you buy into the character's struggle and you're constantly on the edge of your seat waiting for something bad to happen. Tension is always buliding little bit at a time, it's escolating more and more, and its moving faster and faster. You're getting more and more invested as you watch it and that's what movies should do. You should be getting more into it as the movie goes along.
First half of the fim is very slow and deliberately paced. There's not a bunch of jokes to fill in the entertainment nor is it bunch of jumpscares to keep you engaged. You have to buy into it's slow burn nature. I think that's very well done, but people expecting a fast-paced horror movie won't get what they were expecting.
The only baf thing about the movie is that in order for the movie to happen, there's a lot of plot conveniences, contrivances and a few gaps in the logic. That pulled me out of the movie at certain points in time.
Overall, besides a few plot conviniences here and there, The Invisible Man is a great horror thriller that has a well constructed story, great characters that you belive in and that relies on actual scares that are based of reality, rather than jumpscares.
8.6/10 go see it in the theatres.
The movie also relies really well on practical effects rather than CGI. While at the center of it you do of course have visual effects on to make a man invisible, the way this plays out in the scenes is they're using actual real world trickery with things actually moving, rather than CGI objects. So when someone gets hit, you feel it. When someone slams into something, you know that it's real and it just ads this visceral element to this movie that's filled with all kinds of things that we know aren't real, but they feel real.
This is a type of movie which doesn't work if you don't buy into the performances. Thankfully, Elizabeth Moss gives a great performance and she feels like a real person, rather than a movie charecter. She's not too charismatic, cool, funny etc. She feels like a real person you would really know and that would do things like this. As you start moving into the part where everyone thinks she's going crazy, you buy into the performance even more because you bought into her as a real person.
If you dont know, this movie was made for under $10 million, but it just looks great. The shots are framed so well. Because you're looking for the things moving and what's not supposed to happen, you're paying so much attentiont to the shots which are framed so well and they are gorgeous the way that they're shot. Some of it just looks so clean. I'm seriously wondering how did they make such a cheap movie look so beautiful
Finally, the movie just provides the expirience that you want from a horror thriller. Very early on you buy into the character's struggle and you're constantly on the edge of your seat waiting for something bad to happen. Tension is always buliding little bit at a time, it's escolating more and more, and its moving faster and faster. You're getting more and more invested as you watch it and that's what movies should do. You should be getting more into it as the movie goes along.
First half of the fim is very slow and deliberately paced. There's not a bunch of jokes to fill in the entertainment nor is it bunch of jumpscares to keep you engaged. You have to buy into it's slow burn nature. I think that's very well done, but people expecting a fast-paced horror movie won't get what they were expecting.
The only baf thing about the movie is that in order for the movie to happen, there's a lot of plot conveniences, contrivances and a few gaps in the logic. That pulled me out of the movie at certain points in time.
Overall, besides a few plot conviniences here and there, The Invisible Man is a great horror thriller that has a well constructed story, great characters that you belive in and that relies on actual scares that are based of reality, rather than jumpscares.
8.6/10 go see it in the theatres.
Fantasy Island
(2020)
Contender for the worst movie of 2020
16 February 2020
With the release of The Grudge, The Turning and now Fantasy Island, we have three contenders for the worst movie of the year. The movie starts off with an interesting enough premise about people going to an island where their fantasies turn into nightmares, but it sets all of this up with a set of characters that are all totally unlikable. The first half of the movie was bad, but once it moves into the third act and it starts giving answers, it is unbelievable how ridiculous this movie gets. It takes every rule that it establishes and throws it out just so they can have a big twist in the third act. I could forgive most of this if at least it was schlocky fun. They're dealing with sex, gore, murder, torture, revenge with a PG-13 rating. Every time something fun is about to happen, it cuts away. Not a good movie at all.
Sonic the Hedgehog
(2020)
Pleasant road trip movie with Jim Carrey
16 February 2020
Sonic the Hedgehog is a pleasant, unassuming road trip movie. It's consistently fun from beginning to end. It doesn't overstay it's welcome and it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's great to see Jim Carrey doing comedy again. He has not skipped a beat. His particular rubber faced set of skills fits perfectly with his character. At times it can be very funny and there's two mid-credit sequences which are worth watching. On the negative side, the movie takes place almost entirely on Earth. Loop-de-loop worlds and pinball worlds are traded for Montana which I think isn't an upgrade. Also a bunch of things that make Sonic the Hedgehog franchise unique are abandoned and replaced with road trip cliches. Still it's a fun road trip movie with likeable characters and a pleasant return to form from Jim Carrey.
Birds of Prey
(2020)
Exceeded my expectations by a mile
8 February 2020
This movie is an absolute blast from beginning to end. It's very similar to Deadpool. Both have non-linear storytelling, they're irreverent, hyperactive, the lead character narrating the film and they both have meta-humor. The comparisons are fair, but this is not a ripoff of Deadpool. It has that same energy, but it does something different with it. Deadpool is a straight-forward revenge story told in non-linear fashion. This a lot more in common with Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock, Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. It has intersecting narratives dealing with a criminal underground with a MacGuffin the characters are trying to get all told comletley out of order. It's all very interesting and it keeps your mind engaged. It just feels like a fresh and interesting way to tell a story.
Another great thing is the cast. The entire cast is a ton of fun. Two obvious standouts are Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor. Robbie gets to go full Harley Quinn. Of course you get the zany antics, her weird mind and how weridly she interprets the world around her. She gets in on the action and it makes for a ton of great action sequences. She also gets to amoat a lot more. You see the character there and not just the cartoon character. That was a really nice touch that they really made acharacter out of her. McGregor is just so flamboyantly fun yet terrifying at the same time. His character has quirks about how he wants the world to be around him which is so fun to watch while st the same time adds tension into all the scenes.
This might have the best action of the entire DCEU. All of the actions sequences are both beautifully coreographed and shot. It can also be quite brutal. There's a lot of broken legs inside of the film. Harley Quinn is just destroying these guys by going for there knees and it's all very fun to watch. It can also be graphiccally violent. I'm so glad they went for an R rating.
It's also really funny from beginning to end. It's being narrated by Harley Quinn so we're seeing all of this interpreted from her weird perspective. It just finds every single opportunity for a joke.
The bad thing about the movie is that at times it can be a little confusing. With all of the time-jumping and non-linear storytelling I was way more confused than I should have been. This isn't really a big deal, but there are elements of that in the film.
Second bad thing is that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ella Jay Basco felt like the weak links in the cast. Almost everyone else is really good and for different reasons each of their performances felt a bit off. Basco felt like a younger actress. She's next to some people that are in the Oscar category and she just felt not quite in their league so her delivery wasn't as sharp. Winstead 's character is written to be a bit awkward inside of the story which is a bit of an excuse for this, but her acting for me just felt flat. There was a clever idea that they were doing with her that I just didn't find as convincing as I found everyone else.
But those are very minor issues, but overall, this is a movie that I found incredibly enjoyable and absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.
9/10 you should definetley go see this film.
Another great thing is the cast. The entire cast is a ton of fun. Two obvious standouts are Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor. Robbie gets to go full Harley Quinn. Of course you get the zany antics, her weird mind and how weridly she interprets the world around her. She gets in on the action and it makes for a ton of great action sequences. She also gets to amoat a lot more. You see the character there and not just the cartoon character. That was a really nice touch that they really made acharacter out of her. McGregor is just so flamboyantly fun yet terrifying at the same time. His character has quirks about how he wants the world to be around him which is so fun to watch while st the same time adds tension into all the scenes.
This might have the best action of the entire DCEU. All of the actions sequences are both beautifully coreographed and shot. It can also be quite brutal. There's a lot of broken legs inside of the film. Harley Quinn is just destroying these guys by going for there knees and it's all very fun to watch. It can also be graphiccally violent. I'm so glad they went for an R rating.
It's also really funny from beginning to end. It's being narrated by Harley Quinn so we're seeing all of this interpreted from her weird perspective. It just finds every single opportunity for a joke.
The bad thing about the movie is that at times it can be a little confusing. With all of the time-jumping and non-linear storytelling I was way more confused than I should have been. This isn't really a big deal, but there are elements of that in the film.
Second bad thing is that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ella Jay Basco felt like the weak links in the cast. Almost everyone else is really good and for different reasons each of their performances felt a bit off. Basco felt like a younger actress. She's next to some people that are in the Oscar category and she just felt not quite in their league so her delivery wasn't as sharp. Winstead 's character is written to be a bit awkward inside of the story which is a bit of an excuse for this, but her acting for me just felt flat. There was a clever idea that they were doing with her that I just didn't find as convincing as I found everyone else.
But those are very minor issues, but overall, this is a movie that I found incredibly enjoyable and absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.
9/10 you should definetley go see this film.
The Gentlemen
(2019)
Best Guy Ritchie fim in the last 20 years
28 January 2020
This is a true return to form. The thing that made Ritchie famous was making highly stylized underground crime thrillers that are really funny with quirky characters. He is not copying his movies from 20 years ago, but he does what he did before with more mature version of it. It has all the visual style, the quick cuts, all of that fun stuff that we liked before but it's not the same version of it. He has updated his bag of tricks. The nature of the storytelling is differtent. Even the age of the lead character is a man that's about Ritchie's age right now. That makes for a nice refreshing return to the thing that he did before without feeling like he's trying to force all of it.
The cast here is amazing. With each of these actors Ritchie gives them a fun and odd role that just makes for an ensemble characters that you like watching. It just makes for a lot of quotable lines and great memorable scenes. The standouts her would be (though it was very hard to choose) Hugh Grant. Here we get him doing something pretty different from his usual thing, but it still has all that charm and charisma. Another standout is Charlie Hunman. I haven't seen a ton of his stuff, but this is my personal favorite of his roles so far.
The movie builds momentum as it goes along. As you discover how the pieces are fitting together and what's actually happening, you get more and more investested in wanting to see how it's all going to pay off. All the stuff that it sets up absolutely leads to big moments of payoff.
It's good for a movie to build momentum as it goeas along. It's good for a movie to end on a high note. But I felt like this one had such a build of momentum and intrigue that the beginning felt like it kind of meandered a little bit.
The first 30-40 minutes of the film drags a good bit and is by far the most confusing part of the film. It's told using this framing device involving the dialogue scenes between Grant and Hunnam. Because of this it's so disjointed in the way that it's told in trying to be stylized at times and you don't fully understand who the Hugh Grant character is and what their relationship is because the characters haven't fully been introduced yet. I wasn't quite aure exactly what was going on so it took some time for me to get fully invested in the film. Once it gotten to a certain where you understood the characters and what is going on I was invested. But it took longer than it should have to get to that point.
There's also a couple of reveals in the finale that I just thought were so obvious that I'm not even sure if they wew supposed to be presented as reveals.
Overall this was a solid return to form for Guy Ritchie showing that he can still write great characters and story.
8/10 If you're a Guy Ritchie fan go see this movie.
The cast here is amazing. With each of these actors Ritchie gives them a fun and odd role that just makes for an ensemble characters that you like watching. It just makes for a lot of quotable lines and great memorable scenes. The standouts her would be (though it was very hard to choose) Hugh Grant. Here we get him doing something pretty different from his usual thing, but it still has all that charm and charisma. Another standout is Charlie Hunman. I haven't seen a ton of his stuff, but this is my personal favorite of his roles so far.
The movie builds momentum as it goes along. As you discover how the pieces are fitting together and what's actually happening, you get more and more investested in wanting to see how it's all going to pay off. All the stuff that it sets up absolutely leads to big moments of payoff.
It's good for a movie to build momentum as it goeas along. It's good for a movie to end on a high note. But I felt like this one had such a build of momentum and intrigue that the beginning felt like it kind of meandered a little bit.
The first 30-40 minutes of the film drags a good bit and is by far the most confusing part of the film. It's told using this framing device involving the dialogue scenes between Grant and Hunnam. Because of this it's so disjointed in the way that it's told in trying to be stylized at times and you don't fully understand who the Hugh Grant character is and what their relationship is because the characters haven't fully been introduced yet. I wasn't quite aure exactly what was going on so it took some time for me to get fully invested in the film. Once it gotten to a certain where you understood the characters and what is going on I was invested. But it took longer than it should have to get to that point.
There's also a couple of reveals in the finale that I just thought were so obvious that I'm not even sure if they wew supposed to be presented as reveals.
Overall this was a solid return to form for Guy Ritchie showing that he can still write great characters and story.
8/10 If you're a Guy Ritchie fan go see this movie.
The Grudge
(2019)
Just another January horror film. Very bad.
4 January 2020
The only thing I liked in this movie is John Cho. He is so likeable and watchable. Everytime he shows up on screen, things get better and you immediately connect with him and whatever he's trying to do.
Other than that, this is a dull and unpleasent film. This franchise is known for in each movie having three different narratives all centered on the same house and at the end, all stories start to intervene together. That's what this movie does. When a movie does that right, we get a big twist reveal and payoff. But that's not the case in this movie. In the very beggining, we're told information about a couple of the different storylines and through the rest of the movie, it shows us how they play out. There's not a big twist reveal. It just shows us something that it has already told us. Because of that the movie has no tension. We just see the outcomes we already knew were going to happen.
Maybe that would've worked if the movie gave the characters compelling arcs. But instead, the movie gives the characters really depressing backstories, haunts them with ghosts and then brutally murders them. Now I understand that this is a horror movie. Obviously it's going to be very dark and it's going to have a lot of murder and death inside of it. But there's no character arcs here. There's not really any story here either. Stories have tension, back and forths, colflicts that have to be overcome and victories. Here everything starts bad and it gets worse as you go along in very unpleasent ways that are not remotely enjoyable at all.
I could forgive all of this if this worked as scary movie. But the movie doesn't work as a scary movie. The scares are just people walking down hallways, turning around and a face pops out on the screen. That's what this movie does. It's just a lot of jumpscares. It doesn't do anything new with the genre. It doesn't do anything new with the franchise. Even the kills themselves, half the time, it cuts away right as the kills are about to happen and when you do see the kills, it's just generic people getting scared and chrasing into something or they just jump of a building. Very simplistic, not interesting.
So you have a movie where you don't care about the characters, the stories they do tell are really unpleasent, there's no tension and payoff, the scares don't work and the deaths aren't cool. Put all that together and you have a dreadful movie with a very nice performance from John Cho.
3.3/10 you're not missing much and you can absolutely skip this one.
Other than that, this is a dull and unpleasent film. This franchise is known for in each movie having three different narratives all centered on the same house and at the end, all stories start to intervene together. That's what this movie does. When a movie does that right, we get a big twist reveal and payoff. But that's not the case in this movie. In the very beggining, we're told information about a couple of the different storylines and through the rest of the movie, it shows us how they play out. There's not a big twist reveal. It just shows us something that it has already told us. Because of that the movie has no tension. We just see the outcomes we already knew were going to happen.
Maybe that would've worked if the movie gave the characters compelling arcs. But instead, the movie gives the characters really depressing backstories, haunts them with ghosts and then brutally murders them. Now I understand that this is a horror movie. Obviously it's going to be very dark and it's going to have a lot of murder and death inside of it. But there's no character arcs here. There's not really any story here either. Stories have tension, back and forths, colflicts that have to be overcome and victories. Here everything starts bad and it gets worse as you go along in very unpleasent ways that are not remotely enjoyable at all.
I could forgive all of this if this worked as scary movie. But the movie doesn't work as a scary movie. The scares are just people walking down hallways, turning around and a face pops out on the screen. That's what this movie does. It's just a lot of jumpscares. It doesn't do anything new with the genre. It doesn't do anything new with the franchise. Even the kills themselves, half the time, it cuts away right as the kills are about to happen and when you do see the kills, it's just generic people getting scared and chrasing into something or they just jump of a building. Very simplistic, not interesting.
So you have a movie where you don't care about the characters, the stories they do tell are really unpleasent, there's no tension and payoff, the scares don't work and the deaths aren't cool. Put all that together and you have a dreadful movie with a very nice performance from John Cho.
3.3/10 you're not missing much and you can absolutely skip this one.
Spider-Man: Far from Home
(2019)
Another solid, entertaining, funny film from the MCU
5 July 2019
I've heard a lot of people praising this film as the best spider-man movie. I'm not quite there. I think it's a very entertaining film, but not quite top tier spider-man. This is a movie that does a great job of bridging the gap between endgame and this film. They found some really clever ways to inform us of what's been going on in ways that are funny, but also make it really clear the dynamics of the world that we're in in the type of scernarios that would have unfolded. This is also a very funny film. One of the funniest films in the MCU. Likewise each of the action sequences in this film have something distinct and unique about it that makes them interesting and memorable, especially the one that happens at the SHIELD base. That is a very cool sequence and unlike anything we've seen inside a spider-man film or a comic book movie in general. Where this one started to lose me a little bit was somewhat in the villain situation. In general there's great things that happen with the villain in this film, but at the same time I think there's a motivation problem. There's a gap inside of the motivation that held him back a good bit for me. Likewise a certain plot device inside of the film stretched a little bit too much credibility. Also this feels a bit more like an MCU comedy with spider-man in it than an actual spider-man movie. With all that said this is a very entertaining film with some great moments wit the characters, standout action sequences with just some plot issues in there.
Annabelle Comes Home
(2019)
Nice, somewhat lighter addition to the franchise that was hurt a good bit by one character
30 June 2019
There's a pretty big quality jump from The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona to this film and I enjoyed this one a good bit. A big part of that is that it's very Warren centric. What this film did really well is kind of showing us their home life and in particular how what they do would affect their daughter which kind of grounds things a little bit. This film also has a nice set of side characters that seem above avrage for this genere. For example there's a pizza guy who got like a minute of screentime but was actually a scene stealer. Also Bob's got balls is another side character that add some levity into the mix, but feels like an awkward teenager that you would actually know. When it comes to the scares, since it kind of went from a more contained vibe it felt like they were a little bit more earned. It did some creepy things where it built tention, it maked you think a jumpscare was coming and then it came from somewhere else. They're still jumpscares but they felt a little bit more warrented inside of the film. What kind of knocked it back a little bit was the babysitter's friend character that almost was a good character, but they overplayed her character as the dumb teenager. They tried to balance it by giving her a a backstory that explained her actions and I didn't buy into the the mix of the backstory with the dumb teenager behavior, it was pretty frustrating. If they tightened up that character a little bit this movie would for sure get a 10/10
Child's Play
(2019)
Fun and creepy slasher film
23 June 2019
I think this movie works best if you go into it watching it on it's own terms, as it's own thing and not thinking of it as a Child's play remake because if you're a Chucky purist you probably will hate this movie because it takes so much of what you love about the Child's play movies and totally tosses it out and replaces it with something totally different. But for me, I could watch it on it's own terms and I enyojed what this movie had to give by making Chucky AI that actually does want to be Andy's friend but it is deeply broken on the inside. It's able to explore some very different things like friendship, jealousy and it takes things in a very different direction. For me it's not as good as the original, but I can still have a lot of fun with it.
The Secret Life of Pets 2
(2019)
It delivered the expirience it was supposed to deliver
18 June 2019
This film really surprised me because I've never really enjoyed the first film so I had really low expectations going into this film. It actually really surprised me by being cute, sentimental and just being quick moving entertainmen. What the movie does really well is that it's just unassuming fun. It has no greater ambitions and it stays inside of it's length. It understands that we want to watch this movie to see pets doing kind of weird shenanigans. The movie is not really story driven. Each of our main characters have their own plotline and they all kind of merge together in the third act for the big action slam-band finale. At the end of the day I think the movie delivers the fun that it's supposed to, there's a bunch of memorable characters inside of it, in particulae the little bunny played by Kevin Hart as well as Harrison Ford's rooster. Overall this is a movie I enjoyed and I wouldn't mind rewatching it
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
(2019)
Skip it
18 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The second take on the phoenix saga correts a number of mistakes that the last stand made. It spends a lot more time on the phoenix plotline itself, but it also makes a whole new set of mistakes. The big problem here is that the bunch of our X-Men, specifically Charles Xavier and Beast, are acting totally out of character. Charles is written to be so egotistical inside of this film that he's insufferable. Another big part of the problem here is that, like last stand, there's simply too many plotlines. It does spend a lot of time developing the Jean Grey - Professor X backstory that ties into the phoenix saga, but everything else just feels rushed. And the alien villians in the film might be the most generic shape-shifting, planet invading aliens ever put into a film. With all of that said, there's some really cool action in this movie. The third act on a train actually works pretty well. Originally it was supposed to be in space, but they thought it was going to be tol much like Captain Marvel so they did reshoots to put it down on a train and it turns out that's one of the best sequences in the movie. All of our characters get a moment in the spotlight. The movie also has some powerful moments exploring Jean Grey's backstory, but it's just so drab and dark that it kind of chokes the fun out of the franchise and it doesn't pay off nearly as well as it should.
Absolutely delivers all the action and mayhem you want from the genre
2 June 2019
I think this movie probably delivers most and the best monster destruction. We get this whole gallery of monsters from the Godzilla universe rising from the ground and these titans battle it out starting early in the film and all the way to the end. It moves at a nice brisk pace because of that. It develops the sense of urgency early on in the film involving the human subplot and then in the first half of the film the monsters are unleashed and destruction begins. As it is a Godzilla movie Godzilla gets in the action at the beginning, middle, and a big fight at thre end of the film. We get to explore him a little bit more as a character. I also appriciated that this film dove into the deep end of mythology of this world with monsters being around for a while, ancient civilisations, MONARCH and all of the many different bases throughout the globe. There's a bunch of things about this film that I really enjoy. We spend a lot of time with our human characters, but they're all played by great actors that can deliver really ridiculus exposition and stupid lies in a way that it sounds kind of convincing, but that leads to our big problem here is that the scrips is not good. There's just so many holes inside of the logic. The characters are all basically a job and a single personality trait. That's all of them. They just got a great actor to try to perform that, but there's just no depth to anyone. Also the monster action, though there's plenty of it, is shot so often in close-up or from the perspective of humans that it doesn't have the right effect that it should. It's not as exciting as it should be even though there's a lot of it. So this is a movie that is very frustrating because of the mistakes it made were, even though it's got a great cast and plenty of monster action, which is what we go to the movies like this to see
Aladdin
(2019)
Definetly not a disaster that I worried it might be, but it's also not a whole new world
29 May 2019
Like Beauty and the Beast, this movie exists for novelty of seeing a Disney classic live action. But I think that this one distinguishes itsfelf a lot more for the simple fact that Will Smith is such a different genie from Robin Williams, but he's also a great genie. When they first announced this project I was just as skeptical as everyone else because I was like "Who can replace Robin Williams?" but then they announced Will Smith and I thought yes........ that's the best person for this role because he has all the energy and charisma of Robin Williams, but in a totally different way and that's what elevates this movie and makes it interesting. Some of the tweaks here and there I think we're actually improvements, especially involving the framing device for this new story. Now I don't want to go too much praising this film too much as at the end of the day, I'm probably just going to rewatch the animated film, but they really did the best that they could if you're going to do a project like this.
Avengers: Endgame
(2019)
The conclusion to the 11 years of movies can trully be called epic
28 April 2019
The action is massive, the cast huge, the scope in size is bigger than ever, but most importantly the emotions are deep and rich. Because of where Infinity war left, we get to see our characters in this world in a very different place and that provides all of our actors to emote in new and deep ways. Beyond that the Russos take certain characters in some bold and new directions and they're still taking risks this late into the game. Where Infinity war spread the spotlight throughout almost the entire MCU, Endgame trims down the cast to primarily just the original Avengers plus some additions, so everyone gets a full charater arc htroughout the entire film. Throughout the story they are able to squeeze in a bunch of plotlines that we've seen throughout the franchise thus far, and it all leads up to the slam-bang finale that somehow manages to top both the airport sequence as well as the battle of Wakanda. And as you move into the last 15 minutes of the film they manage to successfully close out this era of the MCU. In closing you feel satisfied and you think to yourself: This is a pretty MARVELous conclusion.
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