capaldimark Reviews

Halloween (I) (2018)

Michael Myers is back

[8/10 · 27 October 2018]

In 1978, John Carpenter forever changed the horror movie genre with Halloween, a movie that soon became a classic and sparked many sequels and even a remake, most of them being rather mediocre. Fast forward 40 years, and now we have David Gordon Green's Halloween, which is a direct sequel to the original Halloween with this one taking place 40 years later and ignoring all of the sequels, including Halloween 2. Although this movie doesn't quite reach the heights of the original, it is probably the best Halloween movie since Halloween 2.

As noted above, Halloween picks up 40 years after the events of the 1978 murders, with serial killer Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) imprisoned ever since. Michael is soon transferred to another prison, but the bus he is on crashes and Michael escapes, which prompts him to return to Haddonfield to hunt down Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the survivor of Michael's rampage 40 years earlier. We find out that Laurie has been living with post-traumatic stress disorder ever since her encounter with Michael, and has gone to extreme lengths to protect herself and her family from his inevitable return, much to the dismay of her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), who find Laurie to be too controlling and crazy. Michael soon goes on a killing spree, setting up a final showdown between him and Laurie which has been building up for years. There are some twists and turns along the way, including one that was downright odd and a bit silly, but overall it is a pretty straightforward movie that is easy to follow and includes certain nods and references to previous Halloween movies that many fans of the franchise will enjoy and appreciate. While it was certainly cool to see that, there were times when those references seemed a little forced and out of place, almost like the writers just included them to please diehard fans without really thinking too much about how they fit into the scene.

What made the original Halloween such a classic is how it delivered its thrills. Instead of predictable jump scares and excessive gore, Carpenter used suspense and atmosphere to get under your skin. Director David Gordon Green goes back to the basics and does the similar thing here, creating horror through atmosphere and building suspense through it, and he mostly succeeds. Although the movie wasn't quite as scary as I hoped it would be, there were a few parts that were undeniably intense and creepy. And this wouldn't be possible without good performances from the cast, with a particularly strong performance from Jamie Lee Curtis portraying a traumatized Laurie Strode.

All in all, David Gordon Green and his team go back to the basics and lay the foundation on how to craft a good, modern slasher horror film. It's not perfect and wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, but it does have its moments and is good enough to rank as one of the year's best horror movies. It's good to know that the Halloween franchise is finally in good hands again.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Fun summer blockbuster

[8/10 · 12 July 2018]

Director Peyton Reed's follow up to 2015's "Ant-Man", titled "Ant-Man and the Wasp", is just what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) needed to lighten the mood after the dark "Avengers: Infinity War". While mostly disposable entertainment, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a fun, light-hearted sequel that is more in line with what we have come to expect from a summer blockbuster superhero movie.

Picking up roughly two years after the events of "Ant-Man", Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest after helping Captain America during the events of Civil War, thus violating the Sokovia Accords. One night Scott has a dream of a woman who he believes to be Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the long lost mother of Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and wife of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Soon after, he calls Hank, who is in hiding with Hope, and eventually meets up with them. Their mission is to go into the quantum realm via a quantum tunnel and bring back Janet, who has been trapped in the quantum realm since 1987.

Ant-Man and the Wasp ultimately shines because of Peyton Reed's surefire direction and its superb cast. Ant-Man and the Wasp knows what it is and executes it very well. It's not a movie that takes itself seriously like Infinity War. Instead, it goes the more comedic, conventional summer movie route, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as it's fun, which it is. In fact, it's probably the most fun I've had at the theaters this year, and it earns major props for that. This experience wouldn't be the same without a super solid cast that consists of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Peña. While watching the movie, I was reminded that this is easily one of the best casts we've had for a standalone MCU movie.

Going into the movie, many will probably wonder how the story ties into the events of Infinity War, or if it has anything to do with Infinity War at all. These questions aren't exactly answered or made clear until after the movie is over, in which we see a shocking post-credit scene that ties directly into Infinity War and leaves us with a lot of anticipation for what's to come in the subsequent MCU movies.

All in all, Ant-Man and the Wasp accomplishes what it set out to do, and that was to provide popcorn entertainment to its audience and be a nice change of pace from Infinity War. Sure, it's mostly disposable, but it sticks to its vision and for a summer blockbuster superhero movie, what more could you ask for?

Incredibles 2 (2018)

A funny and charming superhero sequel that doesn't quite reach the level of the original

[8/10 · 18 June 2018]

Back in 2004, Disney Pixar released "The Incredibles", an animated movie about a family of superheroes. It was something we've never seen before, and it felt fresh, and as a result, the movie became a huge hit both critically and financially. Fast forward 14 years, and we have the sequel, titled "Incredibles 2", with Brad Bird returning to direct and write. The end result here is a fun-filled sequel that doesn't quite reach the level of its predecessor, but is good enough to rank as one of Pixar's better movies of recent years.

The story follows the Parr family shortly after defeating the villain "Syndrome" in the first movie. After their unsuccessful attempt to stop a bank robbery and causing extreme damage throughout the city, the government decides to outlaw superheroes, which forces the Parr family to go into hiding until they, along with Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), are confronted by Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk), the head of DEVTECH, and his sister, Evelyn (Catherine Keener), who plan to use Helen Parr (Holly Hunter), under her old identity as Elastigirl, to fight crime and re-gain public support of superheroes. All this results in Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) becoming a stay at home dad, taking care of Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner), and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile). It's a more complex plot than the first movie, but the problem is that it ends up being a bit too familiar. I commend Bird for trying to make the story more complex, but the narrative of whether superheroes should be legal or not is something that has been done many times before in the superhero genre and at this point it's starting to feel a bit redundant. Because of the various things going on in the story, the movie tends to drag, especially during the second act when we spend a lot of time watching Mr. Incredible struggle with the responsibilities of being a dad. It's certainly nice to get a change of pace from the action scenes, but there was too much of it and not enough of those spectacular animated action scenes that made the first Incredibles so enjoyable.

The Incredibles 2 ultimately shines when it comes to its characters, humor and animation. Most of the cast from the first Incredibles were able to reprise their roles, except for the voice of Dash, whose voiced changed in between these 14 years. Huck Milner replaces him just fine and performs well. Each character gets their time to shine throughout the movie, whether it's through cool action scenes or witty dialogue, reminding us why we got so attached to these characters 14 years ago. Pixar's signature beautiful animation enhances this. The animation looks almost identical to the first Incredibles, and it looks great. Typically companies try to change the animation to create a more modern, stylized look, but Pixar smartly stuck to what worked 14 years ago.

Bird's reason for taking so long to make this sequel was because he wanted to craft his own original superhero story while avoiding the typical superhero tropes that are present in TV shows and movies nowadays. While I commend him for his effort, his vision never fully comes together like I hoped it would. Nevertheless, Incredibles 2 is a funny, charming adventure that gets enough right to make this yet another Pixar success.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

A mostly enjoyable Star Wars adventure

[7/10 · 27 May 2018]

Five months after the release of the polarizing "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", we have a new Star Wars adventure in the form of a spin-off movie based on the popular character "Han Solo", titled "Solo: A Star Wars Story", directed by Ron Howard. While it may not add anything important to the Star Wars universe, "Solo" ends up being a mostly enjoyable adventure that will surely please Star Wars fans.

Solo takes place between the events of episodes 3 and 4, where the Empire controls most of the galaxy. Resources are scarce, and many crime bosses are fighting over valuable resources such as hyper fuel, known as Coaxium. In this, we follow a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich), who longs to get away from the planet of Corellia with his girlfriend Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) so that he can become a pilot and live a free life. It provides what we call an "origin story" for Han, but the main issue here is that it doesn't really add anything important to the Star Wars universe. Sure, it gives Han a backstory, but it doesn't really add anything fresh or new to the Star Wars lore. The story just doesn't have that much substance to it, and ultimately it feels like a movie that probably didn't have to be made. That's not to say that it's a bad story, however, because it does give a lot of insight into Han's backstory and history, and fans of the character will certainly love and appreciate it. An issue with origin stories is that they can sometimes drag, and Solo is no exception. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, the story does drag sometimes, especially during towards the end where it goes on far too long.

Ultimately, the movie succeeds because of its likeable characters, and it's helped by a great cast that truly embodies their characters. Ehrenreich's performance as a young Han is very convincing and spot on, from the way he delivers his lines to his different facial expressions. He really reminded me of what a young Han Solo would actually be like. Ever wondered what a young Lando Calrissian would be like? Well look no further than Donald Glover's performance here. He has the charm and wit that you would expect a young Lando to have, and he and Ehrenreich have good chemistry together in their scenes. Some other characters include Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra, who is Han's love interest, Paul Bettany as crime lord Dryden Vos, and Woody Harrelson as the criminal Tobias Beckett, who sort of serves as a mentor to Han. Chewbacca also appears in the film, and he plays a big part in it, as this is technically his origin story as well. The film has plenty of action scenes, many of which are exhilarating, but its emphasis on its characters and the interaction between them is what makes this one enjoyable.

It will be interesting to see how Solo does at the box office. It certainly won't make as much as a main installment in the Star Wars saga, but will it underachieve? If it does, could it be because of the holiday weekend or the possibility of franchise fatigue? It's likely to be a combination of both, but franchise fatigue should not be ignored. Only five months ago we had The Last Jedi, so Disney better be careful with how they plan to release Star Wars movies so that they don't tire the fans out.

Despite a few flaws, Solo: A Star Wars Story is a solid effort from the folks over at Lucasfilm. It's mostly disposable and not a completely necessary movie, but its creators do the best job they could have possibly done to make this Star Wars adventure fly higher than the past couple installments in the series.

Deadpool 2 (2018)

A rare case of a sequel being better than the original

[8/10 · 15 May 2018]

It's no secret that the first Deadpool movie was a huge hit, mainly because of its unique approach to a comic book movie, emphasizing comedy through its parody of various pop-culture references. Two years later, we now have the sequel, "Deadpool 2", directed by David Leitch, which is the eleventh film in Fox's X-Men film franchise. Deadpool 2 manages to be a slight improvement over its predecessor with plenty of the usual laughs you'd expect, despite having a plot that seems a little too familiar.

Deadpool 2 is seemingly set shortly after the events of the first movie, with Ryan Reynolds returning as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. In this, Deadpool is up to his usual antics: fighting crime, making jokes, and embarrassing criminals. However, things soon take a turn for the worse when he comes across a young mutant named Russell (Julian Dennison), who's currently being hunted by a cybernetic soldier from the future named Cable (Josh Brolin). To stop Cable, Deadpool forms a group with other mutants and calls the group "X-Force". It's an interesting story, but the problem here is that some of the aspects of the plot feel a bit too familiar. It's basic plot is very similar to "The Terminator", a robotic guy hunting down a young boy because the boy is important in the future in some way, shape or form. Of course, it's not exactly the same, as Deadpool 2 obviously has its own narrative elements that separates it from The Terminator, but the basic plot outline is a bit too similar. Nevertheless, the story does manage to be an improvement over its predecessor, as that movie had a very formulaic and predictable plot that bogged down the overall experience. Deadpool 2's plot, while familiar in a way, is much more coherent, unpredictable, and overall more engaging and satisfying.

What I really like and respect about the Deadpool series is that they don't follow the traditional comic book movie guidelines. Instead, it tries to be its own unique entity with its crude jokes and parody. Like the first film, it often breaks the "fourth wall" by making jokes about various other pop-culture fads and even other movies. It's a comic book movie but also a parody of everything that's popular in today's culture. It's certainly not "kid friendly" like Marvel's MCU movies, which is why it has an "R" rating. Although some may not like that, it's a refreshing and unique take on the superhero genre that helps keep it from getting stale. The movie has its fair share of jokes, but where it improves upon its predecessor is the quality of the jokes. I found myself laughing more often while watching this one compared to the first one where it only had a few decent laughs. Even though Deadpool 2 lacks the surprise element when it comes to the comedy because we knew what to expect coming into it, it still manages to be funnier than the first one, which speaks to the quality of the writing by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Reynolds. Speaking of Reynolds, he is just as good here as he was in the first movie. Many actors and actresses fit their superhero roles well, and Reynolds as Deadpool is no exception.

All in all, Deadpool 2 delivers exactly what you would expect: comedy, action, and an overall good time. It ends up achieving the rare feat of improving upon the original, even if it's only a slight improvement. In the summer of big blockbusters, Deadpool 2 makes it two for two so far.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

A breath of fresh air for the MCU

[9/10 · 29 April 2018]

Over the last 10 years, Marvel Studios has built their own cinematic universe through various movies, each one getting bigger and bigger and leading up to this very movie, "Avengers: Infinity War". It's a movie that was essentially 10 years in the making, and with all the buildup and hype through the years, the question remains: Does it live up to the hype and meet expectations? Not only does Infinity War do both, it also manages to be a breath of fresh air into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What Marvel has done with their cinematic universe over the past decade is nothing short of astounding. To be able to produce as many movies as they have and still keep the attention of the fans is a true example of good storytelling. The culmination of this good storytelling comes in the form of Infinity War, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, which takes place after the events of 2016's "Captain America: Civil War", also directed by the Russo's. After their big fight with each other in that movie, the Avengers became a fractured, divided group. Some have even gone into hiding. However, they must put their differences aside for the sake of the universe when they learn of Thanos (Josh Brolin), who is seeking to collect the six infinity stones to have the power to wipe out half the universe, which he claims will bring balance to the universe. On the surface it seems like the typical Marvel superhero story, but there's something different here. This is darker and more bleak than pretty much any other Marvel movie. It goes places you wouldn't expect a Marvel movie to go to, and by doing so it feels unlike any other Marvel story before it. It also does a good job with keeping the viewer guessing what's coming next, and there are some twists and turns that leave the viewer always anticipating the next turn of events. In short, it's unpredictable, even all the way to its shocking ending. It's certainly a breath of fresh air when compared to the more traditional and predictable stories they have done recently. Kudos to Marvel for pulling all of this off.

What's interesting about Infinity War is that while it is the biggest Marvel movie ever in terms of the amount of characters and its sheer scale, its story is a more personal one that also has its fair share of emotional moments. Many of the more personal and emotional moments involve the villain, Thanos, which was a smart move because it gives the viewer insight on why he does what he does and the sacrifices he has to make to accomplish what he sets out to do. It establishes him as more of a complex, fleshed-out character instead of just some big, dumb bad guy that's in it to cause havoc. It's what makes Thanos easily the best MCU villain yet. The writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely deserve major props for this.

Although the story is dark, the movie has its fair share of humor that helps lighten the mood. While it's good to have humor, it can be a bad thing when there's too much of it at the wrong times, which tends to happen in Infinity War. There are a good amount of scenes, especially in the first half of the movie, where the humor would get in the way of the drama, which ended up getting a bit annoying because it would take away from the dramatic tension. The comedic scenes also tended to last a bit too long and drag on, especially during one scene involving the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor. It was an issue early on, but fortunately got better as the movie went on.

As usual, the cast is great, with basically everyone returning from the previous movies. Whether it's Evans, Downey, Johansson, Hemsworth, Ruffalo, etc., it's always a joy to see these actors having fun with one another, and it helps that they have great chemistry with each other. Josh Brolin is also very good as Thanos through motion capture and voice over, and he helps make Thanos not only an intimidating villain, but just an all around good villain.

In short, Avengers: Infinity War is a thrilling and unpredictable journey that not only adds to Marvel's continuing success at the movies, but also raises the bar for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If Infinity War is any sign of what's to come from Marvel in the future, then I can't wait to see what they have in store for us. Bring it on!

Ready Player One (2018)

A fun, exciting, and relentless thrill ride

[8/10 · 1 April 2018]

In a month full of disappointing movie releases that either didn't quite live up to expectations or were colossal failures, it's nice to see one that actually lives up to its high expectations. This comes in the form of "Ready Player One", a quintessential pop-culture movie based on the 2011 novel of the same name and directed by Steven Spielberg. The end product is an exciting, fun thrill ride that is easily the best movie this month.

"Ready Player One" is set in the year 2045 in a dystopian-like setting, where many major cities have become slums due to various issues, such as climate change and overpopulation. To escape from these issues, many people engage in the virtual reality world known as OASIS, which was developed by a man known as James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who passed away five years prior to the events of the film. Soon after his death, people discovered "Anorak's Quest", a game designed by Halliday in which a person must collect three keys to find an "Easter Egg", and the first person to obtain these three keys and find the hidden "Easter Egg" will be rewarded with fortune and other gifts. For the past five years, many people have tried to find the keys, but to no avail. So the story follows Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an 18 year old boy who is obsessed with trying to find the secret to obtaining these keys to find the Easter Egg. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to complete the first challenge to obtain the first key, Wade turns to the OASIS virtual library in an attempt to find hints and clues to help him obtain these three keys. In doing so, he must also face the threat of the Innovative Online Industries company, who are also searching for the three keys to claim the prize. It's a completely unique and interesting story that is interesting enough to keep you engaged throughout the film, in large part due to it's solid pacing. After some exposition early on, the film jumps right into the action and never looks back. As a result, this is a movie with not much down time in it, which is a good thing for a popcorn movie like this in which its main objective is to keep you entertained, and it does just that far more often than it does not. The movie, for the most part, is constant action, especially in the second half. It's important to note that the film has a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is on the longer side, and, because of its length, the constant action does get a bit tiring and monotonous after a while. It can be a bit too much at times.

Another flaw in the movie is its unfortunate lack of character depth. We're introduced to the characters briefly but there's no expansion on their backstory or anything like that. The only real exception to this is James Halliday, as we get an extensive backstory on him and his past. There's also not much character development, so it was hard to really get attached to these characters. The movie seems to be a lot more focused on action and keeping the plot moving, which is a shame because but it would have been even better if we had some more character depth. The human side of things that is usually present in Spielberg's films is mostly not here, unfortunately.

To compliment the action scenes, the visual effects and cinematography are outstanding. Every scene and animation in the OASIS looks beautiful to the point that it will often wow you. Any pop-culture geek will have a great time watching and taking note of the several different visual pop-culture references that are present in the OASIS. Even the scenes in the real world represent a realistic look of a futuristic and dystopian world. This is a movie that will surely be remembered come award season for any kind of visual effect and cinematography category.

All in all, despite a few flaws, Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" is a good adaptation of the 2011 novel that accomplishes what it set out to do, and that is to provide a fun thrill ride of epic scale. Spielberg adds yet another epic adventure to his resume, one that ranks as the best movie of March and one of the best of the year so far.

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

An idiotic horror sequel

[4/10 · 8 March 2018]

In 2008 a movie called "The Strangers" was released, which, in my opinion, is one of the best horror movies of recent times, mainly because of its simplicity and its eerie realism. So here we are, a decade later, with the release of its sequel, titled "The Strangers: Prey At Night", directed by Johannes Roberts. Given the success of the first installment, it's fair to assume that this sequel comes with a lot of hype even after all these years. Unfortunately, not only does "Prey At Night" not live up to the hype, it comes up far short of it.

Prey At Night's plot will be familiar to anyone that has seen the first movie. A family decides to go away for the weekend and stay at a trailer park where some family members live at. Soon after they arrive, they get a knock from a mysterious girl who is seemingly lost. After she leaves, the family begins noticing strange things and soon encounter three masked people trying to hunt down and kill them. Again, it's a story that will be familiar to anyone that has seen the original, but this time it's a family of four trying to survive in a trailer park seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Because it's set in the confines of a trailer park and not a house like in the original, there's a lot more room for the family to move around and escape from these masked killers. Ultimately, in this case, that ends up being a bad thing. What really made the original as eerie and intense as it was is how condensed the atmosphere was. It was two people essentially trapped in an isolated house with nothing else around them while being stalked and preyed upon by three unknown, masked people. It really added to the chill that you felt by watching it knowing that there is a bit of realism that is present in the situation. It was simple but very effective in how it delivered its scares. Here, it's different. It's a much more open and less suffocating atmosphere and as a result, you lose a lot of the tenseness and eeriness that existed in the original. What I'm trying to say here is that this movie is not very scary. It has its moments here and there, but the constant feeling of dread that was in the original is unfortunately absent here due to the structure of the environment.

Another element of the original that makes it better is the performances. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman really made you feel like they were in grave danger, which added to the overall feeling of dread. In this sequel, the acting isn't quite as good. It's still an "okay" cast made up of Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison (probably the standout here), and Lewis Pullman, but they're just not quite up to par with Tyler and Speedman, both being pretty good actors. To be fair, however, the characters and writing didn't necessarily do this new cast any justice. Multiple times throughout the movie these people would do idiotic things that would get them into trouble. If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to facepalm, I'd probably have enough to easily cover my ticket for the movie. And don't even get me started on the last 15 minutes. Most of the things that happen in the final 15 minutes is either so idiotic that I could barely watch, or not even humanly possible. It's all just a bunch of nonsense that tries to set up a sequel, but fails miserably.

The film's runtime is 85 minutes, which is pretty short for a mainstream movie these days. It ends up being a good thing though, as the movie doesn't waste much time getting straight to the action. Instead of a drawn out, overlong horror flick, it ends up being pretty well paced, which is one of the few things that it actually gets right.

Overall, what we have here is a horror sequel that pales in comparison in every way to the original. It tries to be as scary and thrilling as the original, but what the original had was simplicity and realism, which created a constant feeling of dread, something that this movie fails to deliver even in its best moments. Here's hoping that it takes them 10 years to deliver another sequel.

Death Wish (2018)

An entertaining ride despite an unoriginal story

[7/10 · 2 March 2018]

While most people are probably flocking to the theater this weekend to see "Red Sparrow", there is another movie released alongside it that has flown under the radar. It's called "Death Wish", which is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Directed by Eli Roth, this action-thriller is a solid take on the subject of vigilantism even though its material isn't all that original.

As stated above, "Death Wish" is a remake. The film stars Bruce Willis as Dr. Paul Kersey, who's life is going well until his wife and daughter are attacked in their own home one night by three masked men, resulting in his wife being killed and his daughter wounded. Filled with guilt and sorrow, Kersey blames himself for not being there and protecting his family, which is something he believes a man should do. Eventually, he takes matters into his own hands and hunts down the men responsible for the attack. It's your typical revenge story and it plays out exactly how you would expect it to. For the most part it's a pretty straightforward, conventional storyline that isn't necessarily original or special, but entertaining nonetheless.

The movie tackles the idea of vigilantism and whether or not a vigilante is good for the city and, while it is a relatively thoughtful idea, we've seen that narrative in movies before it. What comes to mind specifically is the Christopher Nolan Batman films and how the media and police weren't sure if a vigilante was good for the city. A similar situation is present here. What's interesting is that even though the material isn't particularly original, at least the movie is entertaining and keeps you interested in the next turn of events. Credit to Eli Roth's direction and Joe Carnahan's fluid script for accomplishing that. The writing isn't perfect though, as there are some plot holes, one that comes to mind in particular, towards the end of the movie. As a result, it's best not to take this movie too seriously, mainly because some of the things that happen are exaggerated and a bit over the top. The cast as a whole plays their roles well enough to make the story believable, but it would be wise to treat it as more of a popcorn flick going into it.

The timing of this movie might be considered by many to be untimely, given what happened with the school shooting a few weeks ago. However, I'd argue that it's more timely than untimely. The gun violence depicted in the movie is graphic but also a realistic portrait of what happens when guns fall into the wrong hands. It's tough to argue whether or not the makers of the movie are sending a pro-gun or anti-gun message here, but the movie will certainly get mainstream attention for it, for better or worse.

All in all, what we have here in "Death Wish" is a solid, entertaining, but mostly unoriginal action thriller. It has its flaws and you shouldn't take it too seriously, but at the end of the day it is entertaining and if you treat it solely as entertainment going into it, you'll have a good time at the movies.

Black Panther (2018)

A fun, interesting journey despite a predictable storyline

[8/10 · 16 February 2018]

Finally the first the major release of 2018 is here in the form of Marvel Studios' Black Panther, which is the first comic-book movie based on a colored superhero. Co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler, this is a bold and mostly fresh take on the superhero genre. With all the hype being built around the movie, you may be asking, does it live up to it? The answer is, mostly.

The events of Black Panther take place shortly after "Captain America: Civil War", where T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to Wakanda to become the new king after the unfortunate death of his father. But the problem is that T'Challa doesn't believe that he is ready to follow in his father's footsteps and be as great of a leader as him, which creates some conflict within himself. This conflict and self-doubt however, must be put aside when a mercenary named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) threatens to sell Wakanda's secret resource, vibranium, on the black market. T'Challa also has to deal with someone by the name of Erik Stevens aka Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who has a surprising backstory that gives some depth to the character, which actually makes him a decent villain overall. Unlike most comic-book movies with multiple villains, this one handles them really well and never lets them make the story too convoluted, which can be credited to the writing by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole.

This is by far one of the most mature Marvel movies ever made and part of that is because of the performances by a talented cast that has a mix of veterans and newcomers. Boseman holds his own as T'Challa, Michael B. Jordan is solid as the main villain, and even Forest Whitaker brings something to the table as Zuri, one of the elders of Wakanda. The scene stealer here however is Letitia Wright, who plays T'Challa's sister, Shuri, who is basically the brains behind all of the advanced medical and warfare equipment that Wakanda has. It helps that she and Boseman have good chemistry with one another, making the brother and sister relationship that they have in the movie believable. What also makes this movie more mature than other Marvel films is the themes that it touches on. Some of the themes include racial, moral, and political issues that really make this movie seem a bit less like a typical action-packed superhero movie. The action scenes that are present in the movie are fine and exactly what you would expect, but the emphasis here is on the characters and themes.

Even though it is a more mature piece of work when compared to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it still has that same formulaic and predictable plot that plagues almost every superhero movie these days, especially the Marvel ones. It even got to the point where towards the final act of the movie, I predicted exactly how everything was going to play out and sure enough, I was right. It's just your typical rise, fall, and rise again storyline that features a hero of some sort. But perhaps this is the problem with solo superhero movies that are set in cinematic universes, you already know which characters can and can't die, and this leads to the movies having the same predictable plot line that we've seen over and over again, and Black Panther is no exception. It's the only real major weakness of the film, but it's a big one.

All in all, Black Panther delivers an origin story that is more grounded in its characters and themes compared to most other comic-book movies, which was definitely something refreshing to experience. It's not this masterpiece that many claim it to be, but if you can get past its formulaic and predictable plot, you may find yourself smiling throughout this journey all the way up until Infinity War in May.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

An underwhelming Star Wars adventure

[6/10 · 16 December 2017]

Here we go. Another year, another release of a highly anticipated Star Wars film. After last years solid, yet unspectacular "Rogue One", which was more of a spinoff prequel than anything else, many fans were anxiously awaiting the next main installment of the new trilogy. This second installment of the new trilogy, titled "The Last Jedi", directed by series newcomer Rian Johnson, comes with a ton of hype. As usual with highly anticipated releases, all the hype comes with the potential of disappointment, and unfortunately, The Last Jedi is a bit of a disappointment.

The Last Jedi's story takes place right after the events of 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". At the end of that movie, we see Rey (Daisy Ridley) finding legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who is in exile on the planet of Ahch-To, and The Last Jedi picks up right from there. Rey's hope is to be trained in the ways of a jedi, but Luke is initially hesitant because of his previous experience of training a young Ben Solo, who became corrupted by the dark side and is now the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). So, predictably, Luke is reluctant at the idea of training Rey, because of his distrust of her and people in general. Eventually, however, Luke decides to train Rey, knowing that Rey is perhaps the only hope the jedi have left in restoring peace to the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Resistance is in trouble. A First Order fleet led by General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) has prompted the evacuation of their main base and Resistance fighters, led by pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and commanded by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) fight back to keep the Resistance alive. There is a lot going on in the movie, and it often switches back and forth between these two settings with other minor sub-plots getting some screen time as well. However, because there is so much going on, certain characters that we have come to care about are put on the back burner. For example, Finn was a major character in the first movie that had a good amount of character development, but here he's more of a secondary character mixed in a sub-plot with other minor, underdeveloped characters. That's one of the frustrations of The Last Jedi. Certain characters you feel like should have played a bigger part don't, and characters you don't really care about or that should have been side characters are now integral and main parts of the story. On top of that, certain characters that had the potential to be much more are either killed off or misused. There's one glaring example of this that I can't quite say as it would be a major spoiler. I can't help but think that Johnson decided to make these bold decisions just for the sake of doing something bold with Star Wars in an attempt to keep the series fresh. While it may have sounded like a good idea, all it really did was create loose ends that have no opportunity to be knotted up or answered in Episode 9.

The Last Jedi establishes its overall pace right from the start. The opening space battle between the Resistance and the First Order is fast paced and action-packed, giving the audience a taste of what's to come in the rest of the movie. The action scenes are impressive and the visuals are beautiful, which makes this arguably the best looking Star Wars movie to date. While the action is impressive and for the most part engaging, there's almost too much of it and not enough of a break from it to give some time for character interaction and development. Aside from the parts with Luke and Rey, the movie is almost non-stop action and at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it gets a bit exhausting after a while. That's not to say that the film is too long, because it does justify its runtime, but the constant action for the most part gets tiring, especially during the last act. And although the film does chug along, there are certain points where it drags, especially during the casino scene in the middle act. Quite frankly, the pacing is a bit uneven.

The Last Jedi does succeed in that it gives useful backstory and insight into certain events and ideas. One example is that it expands on our knowledge of the force and what exactly it is, which is was definitely a welcome addition. It also gives us some backstory of Ben Solo and how he eventually became corrupted by the dark side and became Kylo Ren. And throughout The Last Jedi, you get the sense that things aren't always what they seem to be, and this is only heightened by the several surprising twists and turns in the movie. No other Star Wars movie since "The Empire Strikes Back" has been able to pull that off, and The Last Jedi deserves credit for that.

As expected, the acting in the movie is superb. Mark Hamill really stands out as an old and haunted Luke Skywalker, and he gives the performance of his career. Carrie Fisher is as good as ever as Leia Organa in her last role before her unfortunate passing. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are solid in their roles as Rey and Finn, respectively. Adam Driver returns as the evil Kylo Ren, reminding everyone why he can hold his own as the main bad guy. And of course there's the ever so great score by the legendary John Williams, who mixes in some of the classic score with some new material.

All in all, what we have here is a decent, but underwhelming Star Wars film. It has its moments and it's obviously a must see if you're a Star Wars fan, but don't be surprised if you walk out of the theater feeling a bit disappointed, especially when it comes to the narrative department. Johnson obviously tried to do something bold with the Star Wars franchise, and I commend him for that, but the result is a movie that will probably divide the fan base even more over the direction of the series. Here's hoping JJ Abrams can help turn the tide around for the better in the next film.

Justice League (2017)

A fun, thrilling adventure with some flaws

[7/10 · 15 November 2017]

Can DC Comics keep the momentum going after the massive critical and box office success of "Wonder Woman"? That is a question that many would like to know the answer to, and I'm happy to say that the answer is yes.

Justice League is the fifth movie in the DC Extended Universe and the third directed by Zack Snyder, with some reshoots done by previous Marvel movie director, Joss Whedon. The story takes place right after the events of "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" where Batman, aka Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), inspired by Superman's selfless sacrifice to save the world (spoilers to those who have not seen BvS), runs into trouble with an unknown enemy and decides to form a group of people with superpowers to save the world from evil forces. Already having Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) on his side due to already fighting alongside her before, they must confront Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller), Arthur Curry/Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to convince them to fight alongside them. But they soon learn that this is not such an easy task. They don't know these people, and these people don't know them. So, predictably, there's problems and tension at first, except with Barry Allen who instantly decides to join because he claims he needs "friends". But they all eventually come to their senses and unite to form the Justice League, aiming to stop the evil Steppenwolf from destroying the world.

What's great about Justice League is its heroes. They are all great and likable, and it helps that they are brilliantly casted and have great chemistry with one another. Affleck and Gadot reprise their roles as Batman and Wonder Woman, respectively, and they're both very good. But it's the newcomers who are the most interesting, and they don't disappoint. Momoa is a natural fit for this Aquaman, Fisher brings heart to the role of Cyborg, but the true standout here is Ezra Miller as The Flash. He is what you call a "scene stealer". Miller has a knack for cracking jokes and his comedic timing is dead on in every scene he's in. Good times indeed.

The film's runtime is 2 hours, which is surprisingly short for a superhero movie these days. As a result, the movie's plot is constantly moving and there's not much down time, which keeps things entertaining. There's never really a dull moment. When there's not much action, there's interesting interaction between the heroes, and when there's no interaction, there's action. And the action scenes are well done, with each one showing what each hero's powers can do while at the same time being engaging and exciting. Not to mention the action scenes are visually thrilling, particularly the final battle.

Although Justice League gets a lot right, it does have its flaws. The movie has a good amount of jokes, and even though they are mostly funny, they get in the way of the movie's dramatic moments far too often. And this is the movie's main problem, it's unsure of itself. DC clearly tried to take a page from Marvel's book in terms of adding comedy to the movie, but there's such a thing as too much. There's just too many jokes that interrupt the dramatic moments in the film, and as a result these dramatic moments feel cheap. The movie doesn't really know what it wants to be, a comedic superhero movie or a more serious one. DC is known for its darker, more serious tone, and they mistakenly strayed away from that here.

Even though its 2 hour runtime is a good thing in some aspects, it is also a bad thing. The movie's plot constantly moves, but it almost moves a little too fast. Proper introductions to the Flash, Aquaman,and Cyborg are seemingly skipped over or are rushed and the movie as a whole feels rushed. It feels like the movie should have been a half hour longer to fully flesh out these characters. Granted there will be solo films about these heroes, but still.

I haven't really talked about the movie's villain much, and that's because there's not much to say about him. His name is Steppenwolf and he wants to obtain the three "motherboxes" so he can ultimately destroy the world. Boring.

All in all, Justice League is a fun, yet flawed superhero team-up movie. It gets a lot right, its heroes most importantly, but its flaws keep it from achieving greatness. And even though it's not quite as good as "Wonder Woman", it gets enough right to surely thrill DC diehards and casual fans alike. Booyah!

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

A blast from start to finish

[9/10 · 5 November 2017]

Fun! That is one of the many ways to describe Thor: Ragnarok, the third installment of the Thor series and the first one directed by Taika Waititi. Coincidentally, it just so happens to be not only the funniest, but one of the very best Marvel movies to date.

Ragnarok is a simple, yet interesting story. It begins with Thor imprisoned by the fire demon Surtur. Surtur informs Thor that his father, Odin, is no longer on Asgard and that Asgard will soon be destroyed by the Ragnarok catastrophe. Thor quickly escapes and defeats Surtur, believing that he has stopped Ragnarok. However, this is not the case, as the Goddess of Death, Hela, arrives on Asgard to fulfill the Ragnarok prophecy. Outmatched, Thor must now create a team to stop Hela from destroying his beloved homeland. It's a pretty straightforward plot, and even though it doesn't take itself too seriously, there's just the right amount of darkness to make it believable.

What makes Ragnarok work so well as a movie is its vision and approach. It knows what it is and what it wants to do. It's essentially a comedy and an action movie, and as both, it succeeds. The jokes are funny, clever, and never forced, unlike Marvel's "Spider-Man: Homecoming", which I felt had too many forced jokes that a lot of the times were not very funny and didn't fit. While "Spider-Man: Homecoming" seemed unsure of itself and what it wanted to be, Ragnarok knows exactly what it wants to be, a comedy with some great action, and it succeeds as just that. The movie never bores you. When there's no comedy, there's action and when there's no action, there's comedy. As a result, I found myself consistently entertained throughout the whole movie.

As for the cast, everyone is solid, and, seemingly much more relaxed in their roles. Hemsworth in particular seems much more relaxed and comfortable playing the God of Thunder. Hiddleston and Ruffalo as Loki and Hulk/Bruce Banner, respectively, are solid yet again in their roles. Newcomer Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie adds a nice spark to the group. But perhaps the most interesting performance in the film is Cate Blanchett as the villain Hela. It's not often we see female villains in comic-book movies and Blanchett has just the right amount of feistiness to make Hela an intimidating villain.

All in all, "Thor: Ragnarok", is an entertaining thrill ride of a movie. It combines action and comedy to create a movie that is not only consistently entertaining, but that's also a breath of fresh air for a Thor series that desperately needed it. A lot of credit for that can go to director Taika Waititi's clear-cut vision for the film. Sure, the movie may be a bit too long and as a whole its very formulaic, but those are relatively minor complaints. No matter how you slice it, Thor: Ragnarok is simply a blast.