 I don't tend to consider myself that hardcore of a 'Godzilla' fan, but I've always appreciated the ideas and material that he has brought to the table. Without Godzilla, the giant nuclear monster who attacks a city for no good reason other than to be a jerk, may very well not have become a thing. It led to movies like 'Cloverfield,' which is still one of the best found-footage movies out there, in my opinion. Sure, it could be argued that Kong did it first, but remember that he was just a little giant monster before Godzilla fought him.
Anyway, 'Godzilla Minus One' covers almost everything you could want from a 'Godzilla' movie and more, including a heavy but well-done human element. I have to appreciate a movie that illustrates how certain things were left after World War II for people who weren't on the winning side. Japan's stories are among the most tragic and include things like 'Grave of the Fireflies,' almost guaranteed to bring on tears. This movie is similar in showing the devastation left behind in parts of Japan and how civilians dealt with these times. It's a little surprising how much drama came from this when I've only seen these as cheesy fun until now. Nearing the end of WWII, a Japanese airbase located on Odo Island is visited by kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) coming in to repair some technical issues with his plane. Upon studying the plane, it's soon found out that Kōichi is a disgraced pilot, fleeing from his mission. This was all very interesting to me, and it's a solid way to pull you into the film. It's seeing things from the other side, and while most of the pilots and mechanics there claim him to be a coward and a disgrace for not committing suicide and taking people with him, a select few are humane enough to understand why he fled. Then, thank the Gods because out of nowhere, Godzilla shows up on this island and shows us right away that he is not the tamed Americanized version of Godzilla we've been seeing over the past few years. This guy is back to being a total monster and back to being what he always should have been (another part of the checklist), a monster meant to be a cautionary tale of the dangers of nuclear radiation. The scene is awesome and tells us what we're in for with this version. No outstretched hands to try to pet the misunderstood monster in this one! Upon returning home to a now devastated Tokyo (due to America's air raids), he finds everyone he loves and more missing. He befriends a woman named Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who lost her parents, and a girl she rescued named Akiko (Sae Nagatani). As a result of his guilt, he soon takes up a minesweeper job to support them. As they begin to rebuild, Godzilla gets mutated and powers up because of the Americans testing nukes nearby, and several American ships are destroyed as a result. Soon enough, the news gets back to Kōichi, who assembles his minesweeping team, which includes the brilliant Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) and the lead mechanic meant to fix his plane, Sosaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) as well as several others. Eventually, they devise a plan that could work to destroy Godzilla (as these movies go), and I have to give them credit for how creative the idea was. With all this, Kōichi hopes to redeem himself for his guilt and embarrassment of fleeing his mission. If he can just beat this monster, he can continue rebuilding a happy life with Noriko and Akiko. I really didn't expect it to get there, but I have to say that this is a last-minute entry for my favourite movies of 2023. Aside from the fact that it's authentically Japanese and not Americanized, this movie has a great human element that we care about, especially in knowing that there's a reality behind it all. On top of that, it's just awesome to see Godzilla be a horror movie monster and not the Americanized misunderstood creature - something both the 98 and new versions have done (although I still enjoy the new stuff for what it is). If you're looking for a well-done Kaiju flick, look no further! 5/5
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 I have to admit, it has been quite some time since I've really thought about action superstar director John Woo. So, it was pretty refreshing to see trailers for this action movie with a Christmas theme. However, I did start to fret that perhaps the almost annual Christmas action movie was starting to become a fad between 2020's 'Fatman,' 2022's 'Violent Night' and now this. That's not to say that I have a problem with this concept, but if I'm honest, 'Violent Night' was the only one that has really stood out for me, including this title.
The film hits the ground running (literally) as we are introduced to our film's hero, Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman), and just to get this out of the way real quick, it is my opinion that if the MCU needs a new Wolverine, this guy's a pretty good place to look based on this overall performance. But I digress. He's running to catch up to gang members driving like maniacal cartoon characters, firing at each other from their respective vehicles. Because of this gang war shootout, Brian and his wife, Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno), end up losing their son, Taylor (Alex Briseño), in the crossfire. Once catching up to one of them, he finds himself at the business end of gangster Playa's (Harold Torres) bullet. He's shot in the throat and rushed to hospital, where he ultimately survives and has to learn how to do a lot of basic skills again as he recuperates. The gunshot wound leaves Brian mute and, therefore, distant as he mourns both the loss of his son and his voice, along with all of the frustration that comes with getting back on his feet. He also takes up drinking quite heavily and broods about as much as one would expect from such a series of events. But eventually, his mind focuses on one thing and one thing only: revenge for the careless and needless murder of his son. He then takes to training himself up over the next year to carry it all out, including bodybuilding, learning defensive techniques, learning how to fire a gun and a few other helpful things to aid him in his upcoming mission. The goal is to "Kill Them All" on Christmas Eve of that year. Throughout this process, he also does a bit of a "Batman" by gathering evidence on Playa's gang and delivering it to Detective Dennis Vassel (Kid Cudi), a detective who has offered to help with Brian's son's case. The action is slightly slow-moving at first despite a pretty grand opening. A solid chunk of this movie is just Brian recuperating and planning revenge. But it's important to realize that this guy is supposed to be an everyday guy. His actual job is that of an electrician. Taking its cues from 'Die Hard' (even though we now know Bruce Willis as an action hero, it wasn't so back then), it solidifies Brian's overall humanity just a little bit more and allows for more empathy. Although I've gotta say, the film does go out of its way to steer you in that direction. Sometimes, one "gets the point" long before a scene ends. What's unique about this movie is that it follows its namesake to a tee, as there is no dialogue throughout. I have to give some solid credit to any film that can use silence to its advantage and still tell a good story just by using things like body language. These films are few and far between, like 'The Artist' (which still uses title cards) or 'Shaun the Sheep' (which still has a touch of talking in the end), but I feel like this is the first time I've seen one with absolutely no talking at all of any sort. So, after all this praise, why doesn't it stick out for me among the new trend of Christmas action movies? I think for as fun as it is, that's essentially all there is to it. This is a neat project for John Woo, and it does a fine job for what it is, but it's a pretty simple story of revenge with titles like 'John Wick' to compete with. On top of that, the idea of Christmas being present is exceptionally vague, aside from Brian's sweater (a bit of ironic fun) and Christmas Eve being the night of his revenge. This is good if you want to sit down and watch a good revenge flick, but it's not something like 'Violent Night' or 'Die Hard,' which I will be eager to return to every holiday season. 3/5  I'll start this one off with the fact that history is far from my strong suit, and I know pretty much nothing about Napoleon Bonaparte and can, therefore, not point out any sort of accuracy or inaccuracy about the execution of this movie. What I can tell you, however, is that I have heard other reviewers mention how what's essentially covered here is "Napoleon's Greatest Hits," as far as battles go. It's not in a great or terrible spot on Rotten Tomatoes, with a current average of 58.5%, and in a word, the film could be described as "okay" at best.
Admittedly, I ended up seeing this for two major reasons: Ridley Scott and his fantastic job on previous films like 'Gladiator,' and Joaquin Phoenix, who I thought might have been able to pull Napoleon off, but after watching, I can't help but feel like he didn't quite nail it. But again, I'm no good with history, especially regarding things like this. I'm not sure we learned anything about the man in school. If we ever did, it didn't stand out, and my biggest impression of who Napoleon was is best portrayed in Looney Tunes. So, I am not the right guy to review this for accuracy. But even with that, I still have my own takeaways. The film opens with an almost glorified execution of Marie Antoinette (Catherine Walker) as Napoleon Bonaparte (Phoenix) watches the guillotine do its thing from the sidelines. I suppose this scene was mostly to tie another big name of the era into things to kick it off because things pick up later that year when Napoleon is approached by Paul Barras (Tahar Rahim), a Revolutionary leader who asks Napoleon to manage the Siege of Toulon. And this is when the viewer quickly realizes that animal lovers need not attend this movie - especially regarding horses because things get graphic! And while things get very gory here, and I hate seeing animals get it (even if they weren't harmed), I still have to give Scott credit for not holding back on some of the bloodier realism of these battle scenes. They keep you on the edge of your seat, you feel their brutality, and they serve as not-so-friendly reminders that war is an ugly thing. But with that said, that's the only real reason to check this movie out, in my opinion. It almost feels like a new setting of the bar for war violence to me, making the opening of 'Saving Private Ryan' look tame. The other side of the story concerns his "romantic" life with aristocratic widow Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby). This is mostly centred on their sex life and, despite it being quite vigorous, the inability to bear children and, therefore, give Napoleon an heir. Of course, it also covers Napoleon's abusive tendencies and temper here, which can get uncomfortable. But it can get funny when taking his temper to his military tactics. At one point, he even acts like a kid, telling a British diplomat, "You think you're so great because you've got boats!" But while there are a couple of solid laughs through this, intentional or not, and the bloody war action is top-notch (if that's what you're here for, but keep in mind the horses), I'm not entirely sure I got what I wanted from it, especially from Phoenix's acting. The man is great, don't get me wrong, but I think this role was one of his weaker performances, and I'm not alone on this based on word of mouth and various other articles on the subject. I had to browse because I wondered if it was just me. Ultimately, he just felt miscast. I was ultimately looking forward to this potentially reaching the top of my list of movies this year based on certain things, mostly on seeing Ridley Scott return to this type of historical stuff. And while I thought many aspects of the film were good, some others just dragged, and it ends with what might as well be a random fade to black. So don't be on the lookout for an epic, unforgettable end to this. At the end of the day, my opinion on this as a whole is pretty much where everyone else is. It's good some of the time, lame some of the time, and averages out to be "decent," but it's nothing compared to Scott's earlier work on 'Gladiator.' 3/5  In yet another title that has me searching for the answer as to whether I liked it, 'Freelance' struck me as a moderately enjoyable action/adventure flick that is probably more suited to being a streaming original than getting a big-screen release. It didn't do so hot at the box office, debuting way down the list at #8, and there is definitely some sort of "standard" feeling to it all that suggests why. The best way for me to describe it is that it's just "fine." Nothing in particular stands out as anything special, but nothing really makes it "suck" either.
Mason Pettits (John Cena) introduces himself with a voice-over describing his life as a would-be lawyer and family man and ditching that life for a life of action in the U.S. Army Special Forces. On one particular mission, he and his team are sent to the fictional country of Paldonia to assassinate a dictator named Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba). The mission goes awry, however, and as a result, Mason is injured and medically discharged, made to pursue his lawyer life once again, and seemingly getting the short end of the stick when it comes to clients. One day, a former Special Forces team member, Sebastian Earle (Christian Slater), offers him a chance to get back out there with a high-paying security job, protecting journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Brie) as she heads to Paldonia to interview the very man Mason was after when he was injured in the line of duty. He reluctantly accepts the job, as it pays very well, and he has a family to support, including his wife (who very much disapproves of the danger element involved), Jenny (Alice Eve), and his daughter (the reason Jenny's so disapproving), Casey (Molly McCann). Upon their arrival in Paldonia, Mason and Claire meet Venegas and are shortly thereafter put under fire by a group attempting to assassinate Venegas, who is convinced they are being led by his nephew Jorge (Sebastian Eslava), who has hired a professional by the name of Colonel Jan Koehorst (Marton Csokas) to kill him. Soon, Mason finds himself protecting the same person he was meant to kill in the first place several years before. So, I've used this term a lot in recent reviews, but it's another "escort mission" type of movie. I will credit the film for a few things, such as allowing Mason to maintain his loyalty to his wife during the mission. With anything like this, there tends to be sexual tension between the two characters, and it tends to be kinda old-fashioned. But Claire can certainly hold her own and is closer to Elena Fisher ('Uncharted') than Willie Scott ('Temple of Doom'), but I still wouldn't say she's necessarily a badass through this. She is often very irritating when acting smug and filming things with her phone non-stop. But again, with some credit to the movie, Mason often plays the audience in these situations, which, in my opinion, gives it more leverage. The dialogue regarding Claire's often stupid decisions gets a little humorous. But another thing about this movie is that the laughs that I feel ought to be here with a John Cena/Allison Brie team-up weren't altogether there. Nothing here ends up being very laugh-out-loud funny, and it just brings me back to the film being a mild venture at best. Ultimately, this one's okay if you're looking for something to watch with some action on a pleasant Sunday afternoon on your big-screen TV in the comfort of your living room. Nothing stands out as very good or bad about this to me either way, and it's possibly the most lukewarm I've felt towards a movie all year. So, in the end, it all boils down to a big "shrug" on my part because this is definitely one of those titles I can't recommend one way or the other. If you have time, check it out if you're curious. But I think this floated under the radar, even as a wide release, for a reason. 3/5  While perhaps not entirely original, as it remains the classic cautionary tale of what happens once AI gets too big for its britches, it is nice to see a movie take a somewhat different spin. It does so by making the movie a conglomeration of a few different concepts and blending them together, complete with the aforementioned AI, a look at mankind being the potential real monster, loss and learning to trust/love again and, as one can easily pick up from the trailers, this one consists of another "escort mission" of sorts.
The film opens with an old-time-style (even though this is the future) ad about the advancements of Artificial Intelligence and, ultimately, how we've gotten them to the stage of being almost indecipherable from humans. We get the AI out of hand instantly when they detonate a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, CA, in the year 2055. This ultimately leads Americans (referring to humans of the Western world) to struggle and fight for survival. Still, the AI also has friends with "New Asia" (Japan, Taiwan, Bhutan, Nepal, Southeast Asia and some of India) who continue to see them as something of an equal. Now that the environment is set, we turn our attention to undercover operative Joshua Taylor (John David Washington), who has unwittingly married his target, Maya Fey (Gemma Chan), whom the American government believes to be the daughter of their ultimate target known as "Nirmata," who is supposed to be the "Creator," responsible for the AI advancements that have seemingly taken things over. Long story short, Josh and Maya get themselves separated under devastating circumstances, but throughout the film, Josh continues his search for her under the belief that she is still alive. Five years later, Josh is approached by General Andrews and Colonel Howell to seek out and destroy a sort of ultimate weapon, supposedly capable of taking out their ultimate defence system - a giant ship known as NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense). He reluctantly agrees when he realizes this mission could lead to reuniting with Maya, but then ends up over his head when he realizes that the "weapon" known as "Alpha-O" is just a kid he nicknames "Alphie" (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) who, despite her great abilities to manipulate machinery, just wants robots to be able to live in peace, thus giving Josh his internal struggle unable to complete his mission, but for all the right moral reasons. This one comes to us from writer/director Gareth Edwards, who feels about as upper-middle ground as possible in directing fantasy/sci-fi movies. He was also responsible for 2014's 'Godzilla' (a breath of fresh air after 1998's version) and 'Star Wars: Rogue One' (probably the ultimate stand-out movie of anything that came out after the prequel trilogy). But as much as I enjoyed those movies for myself, they certainly were not without their share of critics, and though they may never be solid gold, they're generally pretty damn good and never actually what I'd call "bad." This is no exception, and it is well worth the price of admission. Strangely, this movie didn't perform better for an audience who constantly gets sick and tired of the same old superhero blockbusters. This may not have stuck out as ultimately brilliant, in as much as it takes from other concepts. But it was nonetheless entertaining with likeable characters, a flare for the dramatic (even with robots), and visuals that remind us that the sci-fi genre isn't entirely tapped out yet. If I were to ultimately compare it to anything in the way it feels, I'd probably go with 'District 9' in that the film drops us into this world of the future that seems like it could be real one day, based on the ignorance of us asshole humans. Unlike 'District 9', however, I don't entirely see this one being up for a whole lot of Oscars (other than maybe some technical ones), even though I do enjoy the idea here. This isn't one of those big-time go-to sci-fi classics we'll be returning to, but I recommend checking it out to see what it's all about. If nothing else, it provides a relatively intense sci-fi adventure for those seeking something like that, though I may not label it as "fun" like I usually would. This is one to throw on when you've got two hours of nothing to do and just wanna relax with a decent story. There may not be much of a "Wow" factor here, but it's still pretty good. 3/5  I can still remember a time when the idea of gathering a dream team of action heroes from films from my generation's childhood and our parent's adulthood was an amazing concept. And I have to say, the first couple of them back in 2010 and 2012, respectively, are still a hell of a lot of fun. By the third, I wondered if perhaps it was getting out of hand, but in fairness, it was the third of a box office money-making franchise of epic proportions, and it was still released in 2014. At that point, things really should have probably just stopped.
Here we are, almost ten years after 'Expendables 3' for a fourth chapter that, as far as I can tell, not many people were asking for. Now, I'll be the first guy to admit that I enjoy a fun action romp of epic proportions, even if a lot of it is "bad" in its own way. This could have fallen into that category if only I didn't have that very concept and drive it into the ground when it already worked fine for the first three films. When it's all said and done, this is a simple revenge movie with a twist ending that will make you want to rage-throw your popcorn at the screen. No spoilers, just a fair warning. The Expendables team is sent to Libya to intercept a nuclear weapons thief named Suarto Rahmat (Iko Uwais), who is stealing some warheads for a terrorist known only as Ocelot - a name any 'Metal Gear: Solid' fan might cringe at as it feels so very stolen. The mission brings back old favourites Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). It also introduces us to the noobies Easy Day (50 Cent) and Galan (Jacob Scipio). So, thank God, at least a few of them have made a return. Everything's business as usual, but in the firefight, Rahmat shoots down the Expendables' plane, only to leave one of the team members dead (without throwing too many early spoilers at you). The CIA reveals that the Expendables will go after Rahmat to finish what they started and get revenge without Christmas, as he apparently jeopardized the mission. Insult to injury is added when Christmas is replaced by Gina (Megan Fox), his former lover, who, herself, brings in Lash (Levy Tran), another talented female operative. As the Expendables tackle the mission, Christmas tracks them, knowing he'll be needed more than they think. I really wanted to have more fun than I did with this. It carries a feeling of "too little, too late" with it (especially with the first three being a solid 2 years apart from each other), and the casting kind of throws away what made these movies so good to begin with and I'm afraid this is where I have to get into a bit of controversial territory. But the fact of the matter is, the original 'Expendables' concept was that it was a testosterone-loaded action flick that starred all of our favourite action heroes, and its main target was definitely dudes. This is absolutely not to say that women can't or shouldn't enjoy these or be a part of them. But when Megan Fox takes the lead AND brings on another woman, which feels a bit forced, things get a little too "woke" when they don't need to be for a film that was always initially catered towards men. I'm all for an all-female action movie with a stellar cast that shows the strength of women without forcing things to be perfectly clear. It just felt very out of place here, especially with someone like Megan Fox, who I've never considered an action star. Even if I were to accept all of that and take it with a grain of salt, it wouldn't change the overall poor execution of things. At best, I can say that if you just feel like some high-octane action, it still delivers on that level fairly well. But the writing and dialogue are pretty rough, and, again, it ends on such a "middle finger" note that leaves you sitting there wondering, "Wait, that's it?" For my money, the first two of these are still a great time, and the third is okay, just for fun. But this felt altogether completely unnecessary. 2/5  I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I predict the Video Game genre to be the next big thing after the Superhero genre starts to fizzle out. And here, again, we have further evidence of such a concept. This time, the filmmakers decided to look at an intriguing story surrounding video games instead of just trying to adapt a game to the big screen. In this case, the story surrounds (arguably) the most popular racing simulator of all time - 'Gran Turismo'. All in all, a game I tried once, sucked at, and never really picked up again.
Having admitted to that, the game aside, this is an intriguing true story altogether, and I'm curious to know how it went over my head. But, as usual, it's still important to note that when a film says "Based on a True Story", that usually means the movie has some loose odds and ends for dramatic effect, and it's a term to be taken very lightly. 'Gran Turismo' is no exception to this rule, though, and I'd encourage people to look at the real true stories behind Jann Mardenborough and the GT Academy, which are perhaps less dramatic, but are still interesting! Anyway, that's what this movie is all about, starting right from the beginning with the game's development, created by Kazunori Yamauchi (Takehiro Hira), who wanted to make a racing game that could efficiently mimic real racing. We take this concept and fast-forward to (presumably) 2006, where marketing executive Darren Cox (or here, Danny Moore - Orlando Bloom) pitches a contest for the best 'Gran Turismo' racers in the world to compete for a chance to race on a real race track. Training them all in the ways of real racing is one Jack Salter (David Harbour) who, I believe, is pretty much the only fictional character here. Meanwhile, we are introduced to 'Gran Turismo' mega fan Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) and his family, father, Steve (Djimon Hounsou), mother, Leslie (Geri Horner, formerly known as Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls) and brother, Coby (Daniel Puig). Jann lives his life playing 'GT' while his parents, namely his father, wish for him to think about college or university and establish some sort of life path - which 'GT' will not help with. That is, of course, until he notices that he qualifies for the aforementioned contest with his excellent racing skills and high score. The rest of the movie follows the "Cinderella Story" formula of an underdog of sorts, proving himself on the track and climbing through the ranks to become one of the greats. Of course, it doesn't come without a detail or two that causes us to question the "true story" portion of it all. But I had a lot of fun with this movie! If you can go in with the understanding that some dramatic effect is added to the plot, it's really a good time, and I have to admit that I was impressed and happy to see that the video game genre is continuing to improve, slowly but surely. Opinions will certainly differ, but I'm sticking to my guns. One might wonder where the actual video game aspect comes into things, if at all. Well, I'm happy to say it's there and used just enough to remind us of the game - excuse me - racing simulator this is all about. And I'm further happy to say that the CG used in this movie is exactly where it needs to be - used for sponsorship tags, recreating famous tracks, and, coolest of all, often making things look like the game only by tagging the racer's rank in the race or showing us some kind of "achievement." The racing and the cars being used further bring the realism that 'Gran Turismo' was all about to the big screen. Although I must admit that the story comes with predictability and some dramatic effect added to the true story, I don't have a hard time forgiving that. This is something that managed to bridge the gap between being a video game movie and being a dramatic racing story that just so happens to involve 'Gran Turismo'. Director Neil Blomkamp does a great job with this (along with everyone involved, including the real Jann Mardenborough doing his own stunt driving) and I feel like this movie should be the beginning of a whole new concept involving things like the video game contest... perhaps 'Swordquest'? 5/5  There's something I love about going to a movie, not knowing a damn thing about its original source material. This makes way for me to enjoy what the movie has to offer without my brain analyzing it for what they did "wrong" or what they've "changed". It payed off with Marvel for 'Guardians' and 'Ant-Man' (primarily the first one), and DC managed it with 'Shazam!' (again, primarily the first one). 'Blue Beetle' serves as further evidence that sometimes it's the unknowns that make us fall in love with the superhero genre all over again.
For those who were like me going into this, completely clueless, 'Blue Beetle' seems to manage to take everything so stereotypical of superhero movies and manage to twist it in a way that reflects the best of everything. Take Spider-Man's personality and quips, then put a Symbiote on him that comes equipped with Stark-Tech... then make it a DC property, and give it the multiculturalism of giving us, not only a Mexican superhero, but make much of the story surround his family, giving the hero something to fight for, and us something to route for and ultimately care about. It all begins when Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and other members of Kord Industries find an alien artifact known as The Scarab in remote Antarctica. Her intentions, much to her niece, Jenny's (Bruna Marquezine) dismay, is to ultimately use the Scarab's symbiotic alien tech as a weapon, creating an army. So like, the premise of 'Ant-Man', but using Symbiotes. While attempting to stealthily steal the Scarab and sneak it out of the wrong hands, Jenny hands it off to the unassuming Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) for safe keeping while she hides in plain sight. Jaime just got back to his loving family from graduating from Gotham Law University; among them, father, Alberto (Damián Alcázar), mother, Rocio (Elpidia Carrillo) sister, Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), uncle Rudy (George Lopez), and Nana (Adriana Barraza). Before the aforementioned hand-off happens, Jamie is offered a potential job from Jenny upon meeting her, which is how he was in the right place at the right time when the hand-off occurred; there initially for a job interview. Anyway, the family pressures Jamie to open the secret box he was given despite strict instructions not to, one thing leads to another, and the Scarab chooses Jaime to bond with, thus making him the new Blue Beetle. The family seeks help from Jenny, who supposedly knows what this thing is and how it works, and therefore presumably knows how to get rid of it. This leads the family to work together with Jenny in order to find these answers, but in the meantime, Jaime has some bigger fish to fry with Victoria trying to reclaim the Scarab which is now part of Jaime, no matter what the cost. Tagging along with her is her brute guinea pig, Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) who has a few tricks up his own sleeve, as he's an in-development "weapon". When I first saw ads for this, it really did strike me as more of the same, and I suppose in many ways, it really is. But even for as much as I've mentioned things we've seen before and ideas that have been executed before - hell, the guy even looks like a Stark Tech suit, there was something about this one that managed to rope me in. I think it was the family dynamic within. We're so used to seeing superheroes work outside of their family. In this, it's almost more like 'The Incredibles' in which the family's involvement is half the charm. We want to see the Reyes family succeed in everything they do. They're super charming and lovable, especially Nana! This is one of the better superhero films I've seen in a long time. Although it clearly takes from a lot of different things, somehow it blends it into something unique, allowing the superhero genre to keep hanging on by that thread it's slowly slipping down. In my pinion, this is what the genre needs to keep doing. Deliver us unfamiliarity instead of rehashing the same heroes over and over again. Box office success is one thing, but a good movie that floats under the radar is another. Not everything has to end up like 'The Eternals', or countless other failed names in the 90s. Honestly, give this one a shot if you're looking for some superhero rejuvenation. 5/5  I'm not entirely sure where it all started, but when it comes to the whole "bad shark movie" trend (shark-related movies that are made purposefully to be "so bad they're good"), I never really fell into it, with a couple of exceptions here and there. We all have some trend, or several, that we don't fall into along with everyone else. Sharks have always been one of those that applied to me. So when a movie comes along like this, it can be a challenge to review, as it's OK for those who are into it. But for me, it's mildly fun at best.
To briefly recap the first film, we first met Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), a pro rescue diver who is hired by Zhang (Winston Chao) and Mac (Cliff Curtis), a couple of oceanographers, studying the deeper levels of the Marianas Trench, to perform a rescue mission for a submersible that was attacked by a Megalodon (a giant shark), and the only part anyone cares about is the fun concept of Jason Statham fighting a massive shark, despite a surprising lack of shark imagery within the film. It was okay, at best, and spoiler alert, this isn't better. Jonas is now helping the underwater research facility "Mana One," exploring the Mariana Trench further and providing the muscle behind fighting various environmental crimes. He also takes on the responsibility of looking after Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai), the daughter of one of the previous film's casualties. Meanwhile, Meiying's uncle, Jiuming Zhang (Jing Wu), who has since acquired his father's company, studies a female Meg named Haiqi, whom he found and trained as a pup, and this is where we get the idea that maybe it's "misunderstood." There's a sort of "Free Willy"-like connection there. Jonas feels pretty iffy about this supposed "connection," unable to trust the Megoladon for obvious reasons, especially when she starts acting erratically. Jonas and Jiuming take a submersible (with Meiying stowing away) into the trench to see what may be bothering Haiqi. As it turns out, Haigi's bothered by an illegal underwater mining operation being led by one of Jonas' old perpetrators (who he imprisoned earlier), a mercenary named Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), who is there to mine rare underwater minerals to make a fortune. His mining, however, allows Haigi to escape. Plot-wise, this turns into a man vs man story as opposed to the man vs nature story we probably expected, and for me, that was a bummer since my biggest complaint about the last film was the lack of sharks. There's still some material here that will fulfill the needs of those looking for a cheesy, corny adventure under the sea, but it's not the simple "Statham vs Shark" film I hoped for. But we get some never-before-seen critters known as "Snappers" and, eventually, a giant octopus, which is hilariously fun once it shows up; the kind of fun that is trying to look very serious, but one can't possibly take it seriously. For those wondering about who else may have returned from the previous film, there's an essential tag team here made up of survivors Mac and DJ (Page Kennedy), who's meant to be the comedy relief but just about all of his lines feel awkward or forced. He's a touch more annoying than funny. But God bless him. He had what he had to work with, so full blame goes on the writers for trying to make a fast-talking, shall we say, stereotype. That could be an overthought, but that's how I took it. If you're looking for an awful movie that you can still enjoy somewhat ironically, 'Meg 2' isn't a bad place to look. I fully understand that this is made for people looking for that cheese factor in their lives, and I can't discredit it for delivering that on some level. It is mildly entertaining in all the wrong ways, especially regarding the creatures. But as I said at the top of this review, the shark thing was never my bag. So, while it has a fun factor to it that I can understand for others, this one wasn't necessarily for me, just like its predecessor. 2/5 NOTE: The following review will eventually be moved to a special 'Mission: Impossible' page.  Here we have the seventh instalment of the long-running 'Mission: Impossible' series, but the first film that ends up being a two-parter. It's unclear at the time of this review whether or not the next chapter will, in fact, be the final chapter of this series that has been running reasonably solidly since 1996. However, it would appear that overall box office performance for this and a dwindling sense of interest from fans make me wonder if maybe it is time for the now 61-year-old stunt fanatic of an adrenaline junkie, Tom Cruise, to hang it up? At least for this series.
With that said, however, I will say that speaking personally, I still give Tom full credit for doing these stunts of his. It's all very entertaining. And believe me, I am into the idea of seeing him do these stunts until the day he dies. But it is getting to a point where I'm starting to wonder how much fuel he still has in his tank at 61. Despite all that, however, we also get the consistent returns of our favourite side characters, a good adventure punctuated with intrigue, bits of comedy scattered throughout, and an overall good big-screen experience just about every time. And this one is no exception. The film's namesake comes from a new, advanced AI whose navigation system uses "dead reckoning," which, according to Wiki, is "the process of calculating the current position of a moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and incorporating estimates of speed, heading (or direction or course), and elapsed time." A next-gen Russian sub employs this technology, and the AI manages to trick them into firing a torpedo which the AI then turns back on the sub, sinking it and killing all on board. We learn through a meeting of U.S. Intelligence Community leaders, including CIA Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) and the Director of National Intelligence Denlinger (Cary Elwes), that the AI has gone rogue and achieved sentience. As a result, primary defence, intelligence and financial networks worldwide have begun to be infiltrated. World powers soon seek to obtain both halves of a "cruciform key" to "control" the AI, which they have dubbed "The Entity," and protect their national security. This eventually leads IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) to accept his mission for this movie; intercept both halves of a "cruciform key." With the help of his teammates, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Isla Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), he can use the power of this cruciform key to destroy the entity, as it poses far too great of a threat to humanity. While obtaining the first half of the key is relatively easygoing, pursuing the second half makes the movie take off. This has Ethan meet the expert thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell), as they seem to unknowingly be after the same thing. The difference is that Grace is on the job, working for a mystery buyer, providing a true-neutral character to the movie. Much like with any movie like this, there is more to it, but I don't wanna just type out the story as plot points unfold. All you really need to take away from that is that Ethan needs to intercept an important key that world powers could use to control an AI to their advantage. The AI has run amock, making this a bit more of a sci-fi version of 'Mission: Impossible' than we're used to. However, fans, rest assured that everything we've come to expect from a 'Mission: Impossible' movie is here; running, stunt work, more running, espionage, and even a bit of running! I think this is just another film that runs with the rest of its predecessors, ie, if you enjoy 'Mission: Impossible' movies, there's really no reason you won't enjoy this one as well. Some people say it's the best they've done yet, but I don't know that I'd agree. It was really just "another 'Mission: Impossible' movie" for me, but I will say that that's not necessarily a bad thing either. These have gotten to a point of theatrical thrills I enjoy returning to time and time again just for fun, and although they aren't top of the list for me, they are always a good time one should check out on a big screen if given the chance. Again, this one's no exception. 4/5  Let me open this one with the fact that when it comes to DC Comics, I am generally clueless about things. I am, and always have been a Marvel guy, who enjoyed his Spider-Man and X-Men. The only real exception for DC I made was for Batman, who I've enjoyed since the Adam West show was on in syndication in the 80s. And as for the 1989 movie? Well, let's just say I remember the hype. I was there for it, and it was huge. Ever since then, Keaton always has been my favourite as far as someone who can fill both Batman and Bruce Wayne's shoes, equally.
Of course, "Who is the best Batman?" is an argument as old as the 80s themselves, and the correct answer is, of course, Kevin Conroy... But as far as the live-action movies go, let's face it, it's a very split audience. So, I should admit that I have a total bias toward Michael Keaton playing Bruce/Batman going into this, and may be guilty of eating up the fan service he delivered here. I wish the trailers didn't show so much of him, but how else were they gonna get butts in seats?... Which they still actually failed to do, probably thanks to Ezra Miller being kinda frowned upon these days. This actually makes this review a tad awkward, as I try to be one who separates the art from the artist. More on this in a bit. Getting to the plot of this whole thing, we hit the ground running with a quick action sequence involving several members of the now-established Justice League; namely, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck), Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), with assistance from Alfred (Jeremy Irons) back at Wayne Manor. IF I'm being honest, this has very little to do with anything else, but I can't deny that the sequence is pretty exhilarating. It's meant to show us that this is not just a 'Flash' movie, but indeed, a 'Justice League' movie. I might suggest it's DC's answer to 'Captain America: Civil War'. Anyway, in the aftermath, Barry revisits his childhood home, with memories of his parents and a happy life before his Mother, Norah (Maribel Verdú) passed away, and Father, Henry (Ron Livingston) got accused of murdering her. In his frustration, he goes full Sonic the Hedgehog and runs super fast. Unlike Sonic, however, he realizes that he can potentially time travel, and wants to use it as a reason to save his mother's life. Bruce is there to warn us all about what we already know - it's a terrible idea. But of course, we wouldn't have a movie if Barry didn't decide to do it anyway. He succeeds, but on his way back to what could be a happy present, he gets knocked out of the "Speed Force" by someone else with speed abilities. Landing in an alternate 2013, he finds his mother is alive, but he also runs into himself right before he obtained his powers. The pair work to recreate the accident to ensure Present-Barry will still have his powers, but during the process, Present-Barry has his powers zapped from him while Past-Barry gains them. Meanwhile, they happen to be in the time when General Zod (Michael Shannon) comes to invade Earth. The two Barry's then work on assembling the rest of the Justice League, first successfully starting with this universe's Batman (Michael Keaton) and this universe's Supergirl (Sasha Calle). The general story does turn into "Stop Zod" with a side of "Get My Powers Back", and I do have to admit that, as expected, Michael Keaton kind of stole the show. But that brings me back to what I mentioned before about Ezra Miller as well. The truth is, he's really good in this! There's a younger Barry who's the smart-ass, fun and careless one we sort of remember from 'Justice League', while the older Barry has been through some stuff, and realizes that there's a more serious side to this superhero business. I'm not big on Ezra Miller the person, but I can't deny that Ezra Miller the actor can hold his own, either. When it's all over, one does realize that the "Batman Returns Again" and "Zod Invading" plots take things over. However, speaking for myself, I was able to manage to push the importance of these more fan-driven plot points to the background. Batman was there for fan service, Supergirl was there to show more differences in universes. But the depth of the movie is in Barry's story (as it should be), and I'm not ashamed to say that by the end, it did manage to tug on my heartstrings quite a bit. If one can push one's feelings to the side, I might just say that this is one of the better DC movies of the DCEU. 4/5  Whether you like or dislike Sony's moves with the rest of their Spider-Verse, one thing remains certain - they nailed it when it came to Miles Morales. 'Into the Spider-Verse' was a damn-near-perfect animated comic book movie, complete with the look and style of an actual comic book. On top of that, we also had the urban feel of Mile's hometown of Brooklyn, NY, complete with graffiti and an excellent hip-hop soundtrack. It was yet another 'Spider-Man' film with a unique twist, making it a breath of fresh air for us Spider-Fans.
I remember this often being claimed as the best-animated film ever made. It's a lot to claim such a thing, but I will say this—it makes for an easy consideration for that title. This film takes everything we love about Into the Spider-Verse and cranks it to eleven with several different animation styles, this time getting some very real glimpses of other universes where the new members of the "Spider-Society" come into play. But more on them later. We open things up here in Gwen Stacy's (Hailee Steinfeld) universe on Earth-65. We get a little more into Gwen's background involving her Peter Parker, her father, and her rocky relationship with law enforcement - her father being a police captain, unaware of her identity under the "Spider-Woman" mask (fans will know the costume better as "Ghost-Spider" or "Spider-Gwen"). One day, she gets caught up in a fight at the Guggenheim Museum with a Renaissance-themed vulture, whose animation is done with pencil sketches on what looks like old parchment - so cool! This is the moment we get a taste of what we're in for. Gwen meets Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), and Jessica Drew, another Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), who have arrived using portal-generating tech. Eventually, she's granted membership into the "Spider-Society" - a massive team of Spider-Men (and women) from different dimensions who work together, monitoring the multiverse for anomalies and making sure "canon events" aren't disrupted. A "canon event" remains the same while the universes play out differently. Here, the most prominent specific is the death of a police captain close to the respective Spider-Man. Meanwhile, on Earth 1610, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is living his hero life and, one day, meets "The Spot" (Jason Schwartzman), who claims that he's Mile's arch-nemesis without Miles understanding who he is. After the confrontation, Gwen opens a portal to reunite with Miles while secretly tracking The Spot, who, himself, is an anomaly, as he can travel to other dimensions, which brings Miles and Gwen to "Mumbattan" where we meet a couple of more Spider-People for this chapter - Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India (Karan Soni) and Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya). During that whole bit, we get Miles disrupting a canon event, which leads him to realize this same canon event is supposed to happen in his universe. Still, the other Spider-People need him not to disrupt the timeline of what's supposed to happen, making for one hell of a personal inner struggle for Miles. And dear God, there's so much more to it, but I will be unfolding the whole movie if I keep going. It's hard to keep everything short about this one, plot-wise, but rating-wise, it is another story. If you enjoyed the first one, you're going to enjoy this one. The variety in animation styles here are something to be admired, and they cover the spectrum. Beyond that, just like the first, there's also a killer soundtrack, and I enjoyed the introduction of some new Spider-People instead of just bringing back the old crew for familiarity. This movie takes a few risks, but those risks paid off, and it was so good to see the movie go for it with everything it did. I can't praise this movie enough as a near-perfect mishmash of a work of art, an interesting concept for a Spider-Man story, and a touch of every emotion coming through. It's just as good, if not better than the first. 5/5 NOTE: The following review will eventually be moved to a special 'Fast Franchise' page.  Y'know, these movies have been going on now for a solid 20+ years with their shares of ups, downs and altogether WTFs. The 'Fast' franchise has gone through and provided us with what is, in my humble opinion, the mindless action series Hollywood has needed for a long time. I like to think of these movies in a light that shines almost as bright as the Schwarzenegger films of the 80s. NOT everyone is gonna agree with that idea, but I do think people should at least consider it instead of just being harsh with criticisms about how "stupid" it all is.
Back in the day, yes, we had our fair share of critics like Siskel and Ebert who would turn their noses up at certain things. But for the most part, going to the movies was about escapism and having fun. So if we got an action-packed Schwarzenegger movie, we all knew we weren't going to those for good plots (excluding some titles of course). We wanted to see witty one-liners, balls-to-the-wall action, and of course, the defiance of physics itself. The 'Fast' franchise offers up all of this, and has reached the point of complete self-awareness, as clearly shown in 'F9'. But really... when do things start to wear thin? In case you couldn't tell, speaking for myself, I'm typically entertained by these movies, but I definitely see some titles as "lesser" than others. This is unfortunately one of those, but I might put it at the higher end of things for reasons I'll get to shortly. To open things up in the meantime, however, the film starts with a flashback to the events of 'Fast 5' in which 'Furious' leads Dom Torretto Vin Diesel and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) hijack a safe from the corrupt politician and drug lord, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). Spoiler alert; Reyes is KIA, and happens to be the father of a ruthless man of vengeance named Dante (Jason Momoa) who is out for blood. Meanwhile, we are reintroduced to Dom and his "Family" in the present day, living a happy life of peace with their family still growing. However, Dom, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and their son, Brian "Little B" (Leo Abelo Perry) have a literal rude awakening one night from their arch nemesis, a seemingly fatally wounded Cipher (Charlize Theron) who warns them that the "Devil" is on his way and that they share a common enemy in this Dante guy. The rest of the team, including Han (Sung Kang), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges) Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), meanwhile, has been sent on a mission to Rome. To no one's real surprise, the mission turns out to be a setup, so Dom and Letty leave to intercept, leaving "Little B" with Mia (Jordana Brewster). In Rome, the basic plot grows to be Dante attempting to make Dom suffer as much as possible by carelessly tearing apart everything around him - both mentally and physically. To that end, I will give the movie credit for keeping things intense, despite the fact that we all know how well these guys can all defy physics. So much of what helped with that, at least from my perspective, was the way Momoa played this role - one might say "Joker"-like, perhaps bordering on a ripoff, BUT, he still stole the show, in my opinion. Maybe that's just my bias toward chaotic characters though. But while Momoa's addition added a little spice to things, I have to admit that some other characters started to get stale. Speifically, I'm starting to get a bit annoyed with the dynamic of Roman and Tej. They've essentially become a bickering married couple at this point, and it's just not that funny anymore. Our lead, Dom, seems to sort of balance things out here though, if only because he's become his own stereotype. I mean if you think of Dom from the 'Fast' franchise, just about anything he's known to do, from mentioning the importance of family to making constipated-looking mean faces (as seen above), it's all there, and nowadays, that's just a part of the fun of it all. Along the way, we see some old faces and new faces alike, as though the film is a sort of "Greatest Hits" as far as the cast goes, so there's a good amount of fan service going on here - including a dangerous street race, which is the whole reason we started loving these movies in the first place. Altogether, this was still a fun movie, but this brings me back to its self-awareness, and how much is too much? It took all the charm out of how 'F9' did it, and just straight up tells the audience from Brie Larson's (one of the additions) mouth how these movies tend to work. This might be a problem if it weren't for one thing the edning of the film left me with - this is just the beginning of the end! (By the way, if you hate cliffhangers... maybe skip this one, because... damn!) 3/5  It could be said that director Robert Rodriguez is a bit on an acquired taste. Having said that, I think the first thing I should lay out about this movie is that one probably shouldn't be on the lookout for a solid Ben Affleck movie so much as a decent Rodriguez movie. If you want a good Affleck movie, hit rewind just a little bit and check out this year's 'Air' (now streaming on Prime). Otherwise, even as a Rodriguez film, we don't entirely get the epic, Grindhouse-like fun here we do with most of his films either.
We follow Austin PD detective, Danny Rourke (Affleck), who we learn from the get-go has a missing daughter, Minnie (Ionie Olivia Nieves) 7 years old at the time of her abduction. This leads to his marriage eventually falling apart; thus, we have our fairly typical brooding movie cop. He's picked up from his therapist by his partner, Nicks (JD Pardo), who has received an anonymous tip about a bank robbery, which leads them to seeing a mysterious man (William Fichtner) seemingly giving random people odd orders, and these random people carry out said orders. Danny eventually connects this with the possibility that it could have something to do with his missing daughter, so investigates further. His investigation soon leads him to fortuneteller Diana Cruz (Alice Braga), whom the mysterious man seems to have been a client of. She reveals that his name is Lev Dellrayne and that he and Cruz are actually powerful hypnotics who have managed to escape a government division specializing in mind control. This is obviously something we've seen a bunch of times before in some way shape or form - the escaped "superpower" people. Perhaps the most recent and best example is Eleven from 'Stranger Things', but odds are, my readers have seen something along these lines before. Anyway, it's not long before all the puzzle pieces start falling into place, and to some degree, the whole thing becomes fairly predictable. Although I will say that it takes a couple of interesting turns here and there, in the end, nothing really catches you off-guard or surprises you as things go. The film even brings the superhero (or at least superpower) element into it all, adding once again to a piling list of things to add to people's exhaustion. Granted, I'm generally not one of these people. But I can't say it's not blatantly obvious that the superhero thing has sincerely taken things over, and even I'm getting a tiny bit tired, especially when it comes from examples like this. Not only does this play with that superpower element, but it also feels like it takes from many different things. I've already mentioned 'Stranger Things', as far as the corporation trying to create super-humans goes. But then the movie also plays with the idea of the lead having memory problems, the mistaken identity, etc... you know, that whole 'Bourne Identity' concept, at least to some degree. It's another one of these dark mysteries that has a better version of it, or at least, something like it, to watch somewhere else. Having said that, I didn't hate the movie. I just think it would have done better to come straight to streaming because it's nothing special. So, just in case you're sitting there reading this, asking yourself "What even is this movie?" this is thanks to a complete and total lack of advertising for it. I was only really interested because of Rodriguez's name being attached to it, and I wondered how he'd handle something like this. Not something I was psyched for, but mildly curious for. Also, it opened alongside 'Book Club 2', and that one's just not in my wheelhouse. But if you can believe it, this was actually the worst opening weekend of both Rodriquez and Affleck's careers, being a fairly considerable bomb, coming in at #6, opening weekend. So, if you're still curious about it, it'll likely be streaming soon enough, somewhere. I'm gonna go ahead and say that this is the first mildly bad movie I've seen this year if only because so much of it was me going "Oh, we're doing this again?" Even still, I'm not gonna sit here hating on it. It was just too familiar to me is all. If you're into this kind of thing, it might be fun to check out on a lazy Sunday afternoon on some free (or perhaps not-so-free) streaming platform. But I would say that Rodriguez fans might come out of it more disappointed than some. Again, this is a completely different style for the guy. But as far as Affleck goes, 'Air' is still the title to watch this year. (so far... expect a review sooner or later!) 2/5  I think it's probably safe to say that my friends who I have played 'D&D' with would classify me as a sort of "perpetual noob" to the whole game. I enjoy playing it when I do, but often need to be taken by the hand and guided with a lot of it. Therefore, I do kind of feel like I'm the perfect audience for a movie like this. I'm a bit of a newcomer to it all, but have enough of a familiarity with it to recognize a thing or two throughout the film.
However, I do have to admit to one thing right off the bat... I'm not entirely sure why it's so highly acclaimed, and despite really enjoying it, I don't know that it deserves both of its "Tomatometer" ratings in the 90s. Of course, the "Tomatomer" is not the end-all be-all of whether or not you "should" enjoy something. I'm just saying, I'm rather surprised. 'D&D' was always one of those things I thought shouldn't be attempted for a movie because everything is just too broad. You could make almost any movie with a medieval theme and decide to call it 'Dungeons & Dragons' because it will put butts in seats for you. Hell, they DID that back in 2000, and guess what one of the overall "bad" movies was that year. Over the last few years, 'D&D' has actually been making a bit of a comeback with shows like 'Stranger Things', basing the majority of its creatures from the 'D&D' universe, and even covering the "Satanic Panic" aspect of the game in Season 4. Beyond that, we also currently have 'The Legend of Vox Machina', which, I'm just gonna say now, IS the better source of 'D&D' entertainment over this movie. That's just my opinion, but if you have Crave, tune in and check it out. Hell, try it out even if you aren't into 'D&D'. My glowing opinion of that show may be why I didn't think this was all that special. But again, still quite enjoyable. We are first introduced to bard, Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and barbarian, Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez); two friends who have been imprisoned for attempting to steal a "Tablet of Reawakening", which Edgin would use to resurrect his now deceased wife (killed by a Red Wizard), and make his family whole again, along with his daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman). The friends are aided by a rogue named Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), his mysterious friend, Sofina (Daisy Head), and amateur sorcerer, Simon Aumar (Justice Smith). With the two of them facing an extention on their sentence, they manage to make their escape after two years of imprisonment, and head back to Neverwinter. There, they find their old acquaintance, Forge, has become Lord, and Sofina is still loyal by his side. During the theft of the "Tablet of Reawakening", there was a bit of a kerfuffle involving a time stopping spell gone wrong. Edgin, unable to avoid it, passes the tablet to Forge, and entrusts him to take care of his Kira while he's gone, knowing his capture is imminent. Now here to get the tablet and his daughter back, Edgin (and Holga for that matter) are double-crossed, and learn that Forge has been feeding his daughter lies about him this whole time. Then, after another narrow escape, Edgin and Holga devise plans to rob Forge's vault, and retrieve not only the "Tablet of Reawakening", but more importantly, his daughter. Needing help for this mission, Edgin and Holga seek out their old friend Simon, and are introduced to a tiefling druid named Doric (Sophia Lillis), whose forest home is getting destroyed by overlogging, so of course, she's down for a bit of revenge too. Together, they use their abilities of cunning, strength, magic and even shape-shifting to set everything right. I had to appreciate that even though they decided to do another thief story (like the last one), they did a good job of putting some variety into the character classes this time. That said, I have to say that it didn't do what it could have to show what a bard could actually do. I mean, we just get a dude playing a loot here. Anyway, despite a few little nitpicks here and there, I still got quite a few genuine laughs, and found some of the action sequences to be great (there's a really cool shape-shifting chase I liked a lot). It was nice to see them use creatures and races from the game, and I feel like if you don't know anything about 'D&D', it can still be a fun watch. I think for my own taste, I'd still highly recommend 'Vox Machina' over this, BUT, there's certainly nothing wrong with this either. If nothing else, this is a fun time that'll have you sharing your favourite characters and why by the end. Nothing perfect, a cool nod to 80s fantasy, but I think I may be still to much of a perpetual 'D&D' noob to really see what everyone else seems to be seeing. 3/5 NOTE: The following review will eventually be moved to "Gearing Up" for 'Ballerina' (2025).  I think I'll start this one off by saying that eventually, I'm probably gonna do project on 'John Wick', as it does currently stand as one of my all-time favourite action series. But for now, I'll do a bit of a recap leading up to this. The original 'John Wick' starts us off with our retired titular assassin, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) recently losing his wife. While in mourning, mobster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Alan) and several of his thugs steal his prized 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 and, more importantly, kill his puppy, which was John's wife's last gift to him.
The switch goes off in Wick, and he begins what would soon become a four-film revenge killing spree. The first film puts a bounty on Wick's head, as well, trying to stop him at all costs, and as these films go on, that bounty keeps increasing, along with the balls-to-the-wall action that is this collection of films. I'm not gonna go into every detail through all of the movies, because we'll be here all day. But eventually, Wick finds his life as an assassin unavoidable, things go from revenge to survival for him, and every movie kicks the volume up a notch just a little bit with its now famous "Gun-Fu" action. Now, through the series, Wick exacts revenge on the "High Table"; a council of twelve crime lords who have many important people in their pockets. This particular chapter begins with a huge spoiler, but said huge spoiler leads to High Table member, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) sending a barrage of unlimited resources after Wick. Namely, a blind, retired High Table assassin, Caine (Donnie Yen), fueled by de Gramont's threat to kill his daughter if he doesn't follow through. And may I say, it has been a while since I've seen Yen do his thing, but the guy is pretty damn amazing at what he does! Also introduced to us here was possibly my new favourite overall character of the series, a bounty hunter who calls himself "Nobody" (Shamier Anderson) and his awesome German Shepherd companion. He's awaiting an increase in John Wick's bounty before following through with his attempt, but it's entirely possible that a private deal with de Gramont could nudge him forward. The interesting thing about both Caine and Nobody is that, even though they are after a bounty for very different reasons, they both seem to be true neutral characters, each with their own reasons to be so. So, I must apologize outright to my readers if any of my plot description got confusing, seeing as even I can see there's probably a detail or two I've omitted that I maybe shouldn't have. But truth be told, seeing this was a little bit last-minute and I didn't have the appropriate amount of time to play catch-up before going in. So even I was a little lost in the beginning, plot-wise, trying to remember what was what. Again, one day I'll turn this into a better review that ties in with the previous three, regarding plot, characters, etc. But for now, I'll focus on how I liked it as a stand-alone. I'm just speaking for myself here, and perhaps this is a bit unfair to the film itself, but I really don't come to these films to take away and remember the storyline and the more important stuff within. I'm here to see John Wick kick ass with his gun-fu, high octane action and line delivery, which is nothing short of "... woah!" Don't get me wrong, I love Keanu Reeves, he's an awesome dude. But I did laugh almost every time he opened his mouth to deliver a line. That's not even a criticism though. For me, it completely adds to what makes this so much fun. Remember back in the day when action heroes were known for corny one-liners and we loved it? Well, with that in mind, I really can't complain. What can I really say? It's a 'John Wick' movie, and I feel like by "Chapter 4", its fan-base will be pretty well-established, and I can therefore say with relative ease that if you liked the other three, you'll like this one too. This is a great action series for this generation, and it all starts with an incident that would make any movie fan route for the hero. This is a series that's absolutely perfect for those really bad and frustrating days when you could just scream. On top of all the action, one can even get a good laugh from it, as a lot of the action is actually quite funny, and again, the one-liners. A super solid action series if there ever was one! 4/5  I tend to be a "Marvel over DC" guy with the superhero genre (except most 'Batman' films). But that does not mean DC hasn't given me anything I've enjoyed, either, and the original 'Shazam!' is one of those titles. For once, we finally had something in the DC universe that wasn't so dark, didn't feel rushed, and, above all else, knew how to have fun with what it had to work with. It was a pleasant surprise movie from DC for me. At the time, it was like the 'Ant-Man' of the DCEU, and I'm pretty sure it's my favourite film of its particular universe.
With that said, a movie like 'Shazam!' should be taken mainly with a grain of salt. Shazam is your fun superhero who relates to a kid's desire to become a superhero, and I went into this film carrying that expectation with me. However, instead of having as much fun as I had with the last one, I felt somewhat disappointed by this sequel as it's filled with superhero clichés. So, while it remains a fun title in some aspects, there's too much predictability here for those of us who have, perhaps, seen a few too many movies of the superhero genre. It will be challenging to get into this review without spoiling a thing or two from the first movie, so as with many of my sequel reviews, continue reading only if you either don't care or have seen the first movie already. 14-year-old Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) obtains superpowers from a wizard named Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) to put a stop to Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who uses the Seven Deadly Sins to his advantage for power and revenge against his family as well as the wizard, Shazam, who once denied his corrupt mind his powers. By the end of it all, Billy learns a thing or two about teamwork and family and shares his powers of transforming to his full potential (which is why he becomes an adult) with his foster family: Best friend Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody), eldest sibling and bookworm, Mary Bromfield (Grace Caroline Currey as both versions), the adorable Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good), techie, Eugene Choi (Ian Chen/Ross Butler), and the introverted but kindly Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona), all of whom form a secret superhero squad and now work together. In the meantime, two daughters of the Titan Atlas show up, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), breaking into the Acropolis Museum in Athens and stealing the Wizard's now broken staff (broken by Billy in the first film). They then take it to the now-imprisoned Wizard (A.K.A. OG Shazam, who once killed their father) and force him to repair it. The sisters then plot revenge by finding a golden apple, the seed of the Tree of Life. Hespera wants to plant it in the God Realm so it can flourish and bring life back to their world. However, Kalypso would use it as all-out revenge on humankind by planting it on Earth. A third sister, Anthea (Rachel Zegler), becomes Freddy's love interest in this and is the best of the sisters. She's your typical would-be villain who sees the good in humankind and doesn't quite fit in with her other sisters. That's one of a few clichés here, but I'd say the worst part was how it predictably ended, which I won't spoil here, but you'll see it coming from miles away. Let's say not much will come as a surprise here. But, even if this is jumbled with clichés, I'd still probably be able to recommend this on the almost guilty pleasure level. It still has its moments, and many of them are pretty funny. Much like with the first 'Shazam!', this wasn't something to be taken seriously for the most part. Although, at times, it does have a few genuinely emotional moments. But it was hard for me to empathize with the film's overall predictability. And I don't tend to be that guy who "knew it all along," either. But to be perfectly fair, I won't say it's "bad." If you can take it for the fun time it provides and laugh with it, it's a decent flick. But all in all, its predecessor is still something much better. 3/5  Throughout film history, there have been numerous "waiting periods" for things we knew were bound to eventually happen. 'Freddy vs Jason' was a huge kerfuffle in the making, 'Ghostbusters 3' took forever to get going. Of course, 'Avatar' was planning a slew of sequels to its original story. I won't go into boring details about what happened, but as we all know, the wait has been since the original 'Avatar,' 2009. Much of this had to do with the technology, which I'll get to later, but the big question is, was it worth the wait?
My first admittance is that the film does a decent recap from the 2009 film, but one might want to watch it first to connect it and get more out of it. Like marathoning all of the 'Spider-Man films before 'No Way Home,' or the way one will listen to a band's albums just before seeing them in concert, it just amps you up more for what you're about to see. Of course, there were probably a few details here and there that I didn't remember that lent themselves to this. But I digress. Taking place fourteen years after the original film, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has since become chief of the Omaticaya Clan and has a family with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), our love interest from the last film. Among them, sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) and adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who was born from Grace Augustine's (also Weaver) immobile Avatar. Together, they live as one big happy family until the humans drive them out of their home once again (quicker than three hours, this time). The children also hang out with a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion), who happens to be the Pandora-born son of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Spoiler Alert! The film works around his death through Na'vi Avatars, which contain the memories of deceased human soldiers, allowing them to live on as Avatars. Quaritch leads the rest of the RDA back to Pandora to begin colonization and once again becomes the film's big baddie - but with a bit of an upgrade. And with the tech given in the 'Avatar' movies, it all feels pretty plausible if you can buy into the fantasy world in these movies. LONG story short, Jake and his family head for safety, retreating to the Metkayina - a race not unlike themselves, but have adapted to the water. Here, the family must learn the "Way of Water" to live among their people. In the meantime, Lo'ak develops a quick love interest in Tsireya (Bailey Bass), the daughter of Chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and his wife, Ronal (Kate Winslet). But more importantly, we see Kiri (remembering she has human DNA) mastering everything she's taught. In contrast, everyone else has trouble. A lot is happening here, but Quaritch eventually begins the hunt for Jake Sully and goes to some extremes to find him. The first 'Avatar' was a good film when it came out, but even I couldn't deny that story-wise, that film had been done many times before. It was much more about the experience at the time. And I have to give this sequel some kudos for new tech that hasn't been used until now - blending actual underwater filming with performance capture. To the film's credit, the underwater scenes DO look rather impressive. I also enjoyed the overall story here more than last time. This felt a little less familiar. But Cameron pulls from his previous works like 'Titanic' and 'The Abyss.' It's hard to criticize it being "late," as I understand that Cameron wanted the right technology for filming it. And, visually speaking, the film was probably worth the wait. But there's that part of me that, even without this fancy new tech, thinks there would have been a much more positive response if Cameron had given us something else sooner. At the same time, though, I can't deny that that's what's so good about Cameron - he's like a king of using new filming technology, and it's worked out for him so far. It's a well-filmed movie, and I really enjoyed it despite the wait, which ultimately happened with the first 'Avatar' as well. 4/5 |
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