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Shingeki no Kyojin (2013)
A great anime ruined by a meh finale
Even though Attack on Titan didn't stick the landing, the series still holds a special place in my heart. I first got into the anime in my freshman year of high school. Attack on Titan wasn't the first anime I've seen, but it was the one that finally got me into the medium. Attack on Titan was also the first manga I've read. After Season 3 Part 2 ended in 2019, I couldn't wait and began following the manga from where the anime left off. When the manga finished in 2021, I was disappointed by the ending and hoped this adaptation would change the ending, but unfortunately, everything was kept in.
For me, the main reason why I didn't like the ending was because of how Ymir Fritz and Eren were handled. With Ymir Fritz, making her obey King Fritz and create Titans for centuries all because she was still in love with him was a baffling story decision. I also wasn't a fan of her connection with Mikasa. Making Mikasa so important to Ymir felt so sudden and not explaining Ymir's motives for choosing Mikasa made it even worse.
As for Eren, I was disappointed by his final conversation with Armin. While the anime added some new dialogue, like Eren's "I'm an idiot" line and Armin's line about Hell, 99% of the scene remains the same. The new dialogue didn't help much and I still wasn't a fan of their conversation. For me, Eren's shift from a hero to a villain was the most interesting aspect of the post-time skip. His final conversation with Armin undoes all of those recent developments and makes the post-time skip retroactively less enjoyable for me now.
Besides the ending, there were other issues I had with the series as a whole. Before the timeskip, the only arc I didn't love was the Royal Government arc (Season 3 Part 1). While that arc had some cool moments, like Levi's fight with Kenny Squad, I just wasn't as invested as I was with the other arcs. Even though Historia and Ymir (the other one) weren't my favorite characters, I didn't like how they were handled. They were important characters in Season 2 and Season 3 Part 1, but in the post-time skip, Historia was completely sidelined, while Ymir was killed offscreen. Speaking of the post-time skip, I thought some of the new characters, like Pieck and Porco, were undeveloped and uninteresting.
This is a nitpick but in the Declaration of War episode, which was adapting one of my most anticipated moments from the manga, I wasn't a fan of the music choice when Eren kills Wily Tybur. Another nitpick I have is the final season subtitle. MAPPA shouldn't have used it in the first place. Attack on Titan's "final season" lasted for 3 years.
Despite my criticisms, I still think Attack on Titan is a good anime. This goes without saying, but the animation here is some of the best I've seen. Despite the studio change from Wit to MAPPA, the show still looked great. Now that everything has been adapted, I still think Season 3 Part 2 (the Return to Shiganshina arc) is the peak of the series and a great sendoff from Wit. The music in Attack on Titan is also great. Over the years, my favorite OP has always been OP2 "Jiyuu no Tsubasa", which I think is the most underrated one. For the characters, I liked most of the main cast. My favorites would be Reiner and Zeke, since the post-time skip did a really good job developing them.
Overall, Attack on Titan is yet another show that doesn't stick the landing. It falls into the same category of shows like Game of Thrones and Dexter. Attack on Titan would've been a 10/10, but the ending brings it down to an 8/10.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
The 3rd best Mission Impossible movie
I always liked the Mission Impossible movies, but it wasn't until my recent marathon of the series this year when I finally started to love them. Starting with Ghost Protocol, each Mission Impossible movie got better and better. I knew Dead Reckoning Part One would be good, but it still had a lot to live up to. While Fallout and Rogue Nation are still my favorite Mission Impossible movies, I'd say Dead Reckoning Part One is my third favorite installment.
Just as the previous installments, this movie has great action. Something I liked about the Rome sequence is that it wasn't just a standard car chase. Tom Cruise and Haley Atwell's characters being handcuffed to each other was an interesting obstacle, which made the Rome sequence feel more unique compared to other car chases. My favorite action scene in the movie is when Ethan Hunt and Grace are trying to escape the falling train cars. That entire sequence was nerve-racking.
For this movie's new additions to the series, I enjoyed Haley Atwell's character, Grace. I thought she had great chemistry with Tom Cruise and I'm looking forward to seeing her in Part Two. As much as I liked Grace, this leads me to my biggest issue with the movie: the way Ilsa Faust was handled.
Since Mission Impossible 7 focuses on Grace, Ilsa was sidelined for most of the movie. I was disappointed by her limited screen time because Ilsa Faust was my favorite female character in the Mission Impossible movies. I enjoyed her character in Rogue Nation and I was glad that Fallout carried her over. When I saw Ilsa and Ethan having a happy moment together in the trailer, I had a feeling that this movie would kill her off, which ended up happening. Because Ilsa was sidelined, her "death" wasn't as impactful. I put quotes around death because I feel like her character is coming back and no one's ever really gone nowadays.
Speaking of dead characters, I thought it was strange that Ethan's first lover, Marie, wasn't fleshed out in this movie, since Gabriel killing her was the reason why Ethan joined IMF. I'm hoping Part Two will have more flashbacks to develop Ethan's past with Marie.
When it comes to villains, this movie has three: Gabriel, Paris, and the Entity. Gabriel wasn't as memorable as Jon Voight, Phillip Symour Hoffman, or Henry Cavill's characters. To me, he was in the same category as Solomon Lane and the villain from Ghost Protocol, who are bland and forgettable antagonists. With Paris, I thought she was a cool secondary villain and it was neat seeing Pom Klementieff doing a villainous role. For the Entity, I thought it was a unique threat since the previous movies never dealt with artificial intelligence before. I'm actually more interested to see how Part Two will handle the Entity than Gabriel.
Overall, Dead Reckoning Part One is another good installment in the Mission Impossible franchise. Even though Part One wasn't as good as Fallout and Rogue Nation, I still have faith in Part Two and will be watching that movie opening weekend. I give Dead Reckoning Part One a 7/10.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Worse than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The first three Indiana Jones movies are some of my favorite films of all time. Even though I didn't grow up in the 80s, I think the original Indiana Jones trilogy still holds up. With Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I didn't hate it as much as a lot of people do, but at the same time, it wasn't as good as the original trilogy. The first half of the movie is solid, while the second half suffers from bad CGI and poor story decisions. I'd say Kingdom of the Crystal Skull starts to fall apart when Indy and Mutt reunite with Marion and Oxley. After watching Dial of Destiny, I have a new appreciation for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Compared to the previous movies, the action scenes in Dial of Destiny weren't as memorable or exciting. Even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had more memorable action, like the warehouse chase, the nuke scene (I know a lot of people hate that part but it never bothered me), the motorcycle chase, and the ant fight. My biggest complaint with the Dial of Destiny's action is the CGI. While there are plenty of examples, the one that sticks out is the opening flashback, where Indy fights the Nazi colonel on top of the moving train. That entire sequence looked awful.
I think a major factor why I often found myself spacing out in the action scenes is because of Indy's new companions. Since I wasn't invested in those characters, it was hard for me to care about the action. In this movie, Indy is accompanied by Helena and Teddy. They were serviceable, but they felt like lesser versions of other Indiana Jones characters. Helena was a duller version of Mutt Williams, while Teddy was a duller version of Short Round.
Speaking of Mutt Williams, I was bummed out that he was killed offscreen since his scenes with Indy were the best part of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was also a little hard for me to take his death in the Vietnam War seriously since I thought about that one scene in the previous movie where he swung around in the jungle with those CGI monkeys.
For positives, my favorite part of Dial of Destiny was the opening flashback. Despite the bad CGI at times, I thought that entire sequence was fun. For Harrison Ford's deaging, there were a couple of times where his mouth looked weird when he talked, but besides that, I thought it was mostly good.
As much as I praised Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in this review and still believe that it is the overall superior movie, there are a couple of things that Dial of Destiny does better. First off, this movie had a better villain. Even though Dial of Destiny uses Nazis again, Mads Mikkelson's character was still more interesting than Cate Blanchett's. I also thought this movie had a better climax. In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, everything in Akator felt rushed and poorly written. In Dial of Destiny, I thought the entire time travel sequence was more satisfying. I'm not sure what the general consensus is for Indy briefly wanting to stay in the past instead of returning to his own time, but that moment didn't bother me. At least the Dial of Destiny's climax had some sort of emotion.
Overall, Dial of Destiny was the worst Indiana Jones movie. Even though Dial of Destiny had a better villain and climax than the previous film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as the original trilogy, are overall more enjoyable movies. I give Dial of Destiny a 5/10.
The Flash (2023)
A disappointing end to the DCEU
When I heard The Flash would reset the DCEU and lead into James Gunn's universe, I was interested. While I liked some of the DCEU's movies, the whole franchise was poorly managed and planned out. As a conclusion to the decade long cinematic universe, I thought The Flash was disappointing.
Having General Zod and Faora was a nice way to tie back to the DCEU's first movie, Man of Steel, but I was disappointed with how those characters were handled. If The Flash was going to reuse those characters, why did the script make them so bland and forgettable? Since Zod and Faora barely had any dialogue, I was completely uninterested in the final battle. I know those characters were already developed in a previous movie, but it's still possible to make them interesting. Just look at how No Way Home handled its villains. We already saw Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Electro in the previous Spider-Man movies, but No Way Home still managed to make those characters feel relevant to the plot.
Besides General Zod and Faora, I was also disappointed with the way Michael Keaton's Batman was handled. Even though I don't have any nostalgia for the character, I think his reveal would've been better if the marketing kept his appearance a secret, just like Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in No Way Home. I'm also disappointed that Keaton didn't have more dialogue with Barry. When the characters leave the Batcave, the next scene transitions to their arrival in Russia. I was let down by that since the movie missed out on a chance for more character development. There could've been an extra scene during the journey where Keaton and Barry bond more or have Keaton give more insight on his life after Batman Returns.
Speaking of Batman, I'm curious how the character will be handled in James Gunn's universe. The Brave and the Bold movie was announced earlier this year, but at the end of The Flash, Ben Affleck's character is replaced with the George Clooney version. Is George Clooney going to be the Batman in James Gunn's universe or is he going to be replaced with another actor?
For Supergirl, I thought she changes motives too quickly. At Wayne Manor, she leaves Barry and Keaton since she doesn't care about humanity, but in her next scene, when she sees Zod and his followers attack the military, she changes her mind immediately.
Normally, I don't criticize the special effects in movies, but some parts of The Flash had terrible CGI. One scene that bothered me was when Barry was going through his past memories. We see his mom, but her face has that uncanny effect. Another scene that bothered me was the cameos for Christoper Reeves and Helen Slater. I know they were only in the movie for a couple of seconds, but their cameos were so distracting. Their scene legitimately looked like a video game cutscene.
Despite my criticisms, I still enjoyed some aspects of this movie. Putting aside all of the things Ezra Miller did in real life, they did a great job as Barry Allen. Some of the dialogue between Barry and his alternate self is cringy, but for the most part, I enjoyed their scenes together. In fact, I thought the movie was at its strongest when it was just the two Barrys working together. The story took a nosedive as soon as Keaton and Supergirl were introduced. I also thought Barry's scenes with his parents were effective. I didn't tear up, but those scenes did a good job at making me care for Barry.
Overall, The Flash is a disappointing end to the DCEU. Although the movie has a great performance from Ezra Miller and a couple of good scenes, it suffers from underdeveloped characters and bad CGI. I give The Flash a 4/10.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
My new favorite Spider-Man movie
For the past two years, No Way Home was my favorite Spider-Man movie. Now, that title belongs to Across the Spider-Verse. Besides being a great Spider-Man movie, I'd consider this a great movie in general. I just saw Across the Spider-Verse, but I already feel comfortable placing this movie in the same category of sequels like The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, Terminator 2, and The Dark Knight, which surpass every aspect of their predecessors.
I love Into the Spider-Verse as much as everyone else, but I believe Across the Spider-Verse improves everything from the first movie. The one part of Into the Spider-Verse that always held it back from a 10/10 to me is the villains. Kingpin and the Prowler are serviceable, but I always thought they were uninteresting. With Across the Spider-Verse, the villain is a major improvement. Miguel O'Hara had a compelling motivation, while also being a genuinely threatening antagonist.
I already thought Into the Spider-Verse's animation was breathtaking, but Across the Spider-Verse somehow surpasses it. The entire movie looks like a work of art, but the highlight for me would be every scene in Gwen's universe. The backgrounds and colors in those scenes are gorgeous. Just like the first movie, the fights here are fast-paced and fun. There are plenty of memorable action scenes here, but I particularly loved the first fight between Miles Morales and the Spot.
This is sort of out of topic, but I also think Across the Spider-Verse was a better multiverse movie than Multiverse of Madness. Not only was the concept of other dimensions better utilized in Across the Spider-Verse, they were also more visually distinct here. Maybe it's because of the fact that this movie is animated, but each dimension in Across the Spider-Verse was able to have their own style and color to them, unlike the ones featured in Multiverse of Madness.
Overall, Across the Spider-Verse is yet another masterpiece in the Spider-Verse series. It's both my favorite Spider-Man movie and my favorite movie of 2023. I know this year isn't over yet, but it's going to be tough to top this movie. I give Across the Spider-Verse a 10/10.
Fast X (2023)
The best post-Furious 7 movie
Like many people, I believe the Fast & Furious franchise should've ended with the seventh movie. It was silly, but I thought it wrapped up the series in a satisfying way. Out of the 3 mainline movies that released after Paul Walker's death, Fast X is the best one, which isn't saying much.
A big reason why I prefer Fast X over Fate of the Furious and F9 was its antagonist. I thought Jason Momoa was an entertaining villain. He's a silly character, but I thought he was more memorable than Cipher and Jakob. Speaking of John Cena's character, I enjoyed him more as a hero than a villain. While I would've liked more scenes with Jakob and Dom's crew, I didn't mind his side plot with Little B.
Besides Jason Momoa's character, I also liked the action in this movie. Out of all of the set pieces here, my favorite was the one in Rome, where Dom and the crew try to stop the giant ball bomb.
Just like the previous movies, Fast X continues the trend of redeeming villains and reviving dead characters. Letty's side plot seems to be setting up that Cipher will become good, while Gal Gadot's character has a cameo at the end. If Cipher becomes good in the next movie, I would be a little annoyed since they already turned the villains from 6, 7, and 9 into good guys.
With Gal Gadot's return, I had a feeling Gisele would be revived ever since Han did. I was a little annoyed by Gisele coming back, but it didn't bother me as much as Han since his return ruined Tokyo Drift and Furious 7. I also have a strong feeling John Cena will return in the next movie. Even though his character "dies" at the end, we all know no one's ever really gone in this franchise.
One thing that has me concerned is when Vin Diesel hinted the franchise's ending could potentially be extended from two to three movies. I could see this storyline working as a two-parter, but I don't think it would work as a trilogy.
Overall, Fast X was the best post-Furious 7 movie. For my mainline ranking, it would be 5, 7, Tokyo Drift, 6, 2, 1, X, 9, Fate, 4. I give Fast X a 5/10.
Scream VI (2023)
A decent sequel that should be the last Scream movie
Scream VI was a decent installment in the franchise, but I think the series should end here. When I reviewed Scream 5 last year, I said that the movie served as a good send-off for the franchise and was concerned that ending would be ruined if the series kept going. With Scream VI, I was sort of proven right. As much as I enjoyed Scream VI, I can feel the series running out of steam.
The biggest example of the franchise getting stale is when the killers are revealed. Scream VI recycled Scream 2's twist where the killers are family members of the last movie's villains. With Scream 2, one of the killers is Billy Loomis' mother. In this movie, it's Richie's father, brother, and sister. Another aspect this movie repeated was Chad having a fake-out death. While I liked his character in this movie, I thought it was silly that he survived another stabbing. What makes his survival even sillier is that he got stabbed 10+ times by two people. With the last movie, it was okay since he only got stabbed by one person, but this time, I think they went too far.
Despite Scream VI feeling stale at times, I still enjoyed other aspects of this movie. I liked the four survivors from the last movie: Sam, Tara, Mindy, and Chad. I enjoyed all of their scenes together. My favorite scene in the entire movie was when they were just chilling at the apartment before the killers attacked. I thought it was a nice scene and I totally bought them as friends.
For the returning characters, I was happy to see Kirby back, but I thought it was a little silly that she was in the FBI. For Gale, I thought it was weird that they didn't include another scene with her after her attack. There could've been a scene at the end of the movie where she's watching the news from her hospital bed.
Even though the bodega scene was shown a lot in the trailers, I thought the actual scene in the movie was one of the highlights. I know Sam and Tara weren't going to get killed off, but that scene still had me on the edge of my seat.
Overall, VI was a decent Scream movie. For the series ranking, it would go 1, 5, 4, 6, 2, 3. As much as I'd like the series to end here while it's still good, there's most likely going to be a Scream 7. If that's the case, hopefully they make a more refreshing movie. Appropriately, I give Scream VI a 6/10.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
A long-awaited sequel that mostly delivers
After 13 years, Avatar finally received a sequel. Just like Aliens and Terminator 2, The Way of Water is another James Cameron sequel better than the first movie.
Visually, The Way of Water is better than its predecessor. I already thought the visuals in the re-release of Avatar still held up, but the sequel surpassed it. The CGI in this movie looks absolutely beautiful. I can imagine The Way of Water will still look great years later.
Another improvement over the first movie is the characters. For the old cast, I thought Jake Sully, Neytiri, and Quaritch were more interesting here. I liked the new family dynamic Jake and Neytiri have with their children. While Neytiri got sidelined for most of the movie, the death of her oldest son making her more brutal was a compelling direction for her character that hopefully gets explored more in future sequels. For Quaritch, I liked that he was more involved in the story this time.
Besides the old characters getting improved, I liked most of the new cast as well. I liked Lo'ak's relationship with the whale, though I thought his crush with the water village girl could've been more developed. For Kiri, even though Sigourney Weaver was playing a teenage girl, I didn't find it distracting at all. Jake and Neytiri's youngest daughter, Tuk, could've easily been annoying, but surprisingly, I wasn't bothered by her character. With Spider, I liked him until he made a choice towards the end of the movie I'll discuss later.
For issues, my biggest complaint is the Way of Water's pacing. This is the only aspect the first movie is better at. Even though Avatar is a long movie, I never felt it was too long. With this movie, I can feel its runtime, particularly in the middle, where Jake Sully's family is adjusting to their new life in the water village, and the final battle.
Besides the final battle going on a little too long, I also have issues with other moments in the third act. I already mentioned Jake and Neytiri's oldest son dying, but that scene would've been more impactful if he had more to do in the movie. While Lo'ak and Kiri had plenty of development, the oldest son got sidelined. Another issue I have is Spider rescuing Quaritch. I know Quaritch is his father, but he just killed Jake's oldest son, someone that Spider grew up with. While Spider's decision bothered me, I have a feeling this might be setting up a redemption arc for Quaritch in future movies.
A small nitpick I have is with the high frame rate. I only noticed this during a couple of action scenes, but when I did, it distracted me. It felt like those scenes were being fast-forwarded.
Overall, The Way of Water is a long-awaited sequel that mostly delivers. While I have issues with the pacing and some of the moments in the third act, I liked the characters and the visuals. I give The Way of Water an 8/10.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
A disappointing end to a disappointing trilogy
The Star Wars sequel trilogy is a series that got progressively worse. The Force Awakens was a fun return to the franchise that laid out a promising foundation for the rest of the movies. The Last Jedi had the peaks of the trilogy, but it also had the worst moments as well. With The Rise of Skywalker, its lows aren't as bad as its predecessor, but it remains consistently mediocre throughout its entire runtime.
Compared to The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, there aren't as many redeeming qualities in The Rise of Skywalker. I'll list what I liked about the movie before I get into the bad, but it'll be very brief. I liked that we finally got to see Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron share scenes together. I thought the three leads had great chemistry with each other, and it's a shame they didn't have more scenes together in the previous movies. Besides the three leads finally being together, I also liked a couple of other individual scenes in the movie. I loved the scene with Kylo Ren and Han Solo and the scene with Rey and Luke's Force ghost. I thought those moments were genuinely touching.
So yeah, that's about it for stuff I liked. Now it's time to talk about the stuff I disliked in the movie. This is going to be a lot. Right off the bat, I have issues with the movie's title. I thought Episode 9 would get its title from Episode 8's opening crawl, just how The Last Jedi's title can be found in The Force Awaken's crawl. In The Last Jedi's crawl, there's the line "a spark of hope", which I thought would've been a nice title. But instead, we got The Rise of Skywalker, which I think is the worst name for a Star Wars movie.
My biggest issue with The Rise of Skywalker is how it undoes everything from its predecessor. Not only does Episode 9 make Episode 8 seem pointless, its "improvements" actually makes things worse. Kylo Ren's mask and Luke's lightsaber being repaired annoyed me, but out of all the things The Rise of Skywalker undid, those were the changes that bugged me the least.
With the way Rose's character was handled, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I didn't care about Rose in The Last Jedi, but on the other hand, I think it's weird that the second movie introduced her as a major character, only for the third movie to completely sideline her. While the task is difficult, The Rise of Skywalker could've made me like Rose, but instead the movie didn't even try.
Out of all the things The Rise of Skywalker undid from The Last Jedi, Rey's parentage was the worst change. Bringing back Palpatine and making Rey his granddaughter was such a terrible idea. I didn't like Rey's parents being nobodies, but I'd rather have that than whatever The Rise of Skywalker gave us. For the final threat of the trilogy, Episode 9 should've had Kylo be the only villain or brought back Snoke. Over the years, I accepted a lot of the sequel trilogy's controversial choices. I didn't mind Han and Leia splitting up. I didn't mind the way Luke was handled. However, bringing back Palpatine is the one controversial choice I won't stand for. His survival undoes Return of the Jedi's ending and makes Vader's sacrifice meaningless.
Besides all of the "course corrections", I also hated the actual plot of the movie. Most of the movie is essentially a series of boring fetch quests. The characters have to go to a place to look for a McGuffin then go to another place to find another McGuffin. It doesn't help that the movie's pacing is so disorienting. The movie is filled with so many events and locations that go by in quick succession. It's overwhelming.
For Leia, I didn't like how her character was handled. I know the filmmakers faced a difficult situation after Carrie Fisher's passing. If it were up to me, I would've had Leia die offscreen and have the characters deal with their loss throughout the movie. In the version we got, the filmmakers tried their best to implement Leia into the plot and give her character closure, but it just didn't work for me. Her scenes felt a bit awkward, and they didn't have much impact on the story.
One last thing that bugged me is that we didn't get Ben Solo's Force ghost at the end. His body disappeared just like Obi-Wan, Yoda, Luke, and Leia, so why didn't he show up at Tatooine? It would've been a great shot too, showing Ben's Force ghost smiling beside his mother and uncle.
Overall, The Rise of Skywalker is a disappointing end to a disappointing trilogy. Although there are a handful of nice scenes, the movie suffers from bad pacing and writing. I give The Rise of Skywalker a 4/10.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
A frustrating middle chapter to a disappointing trilogy
Out of all the movies in the sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi is the most frustrating. I say this because I can see glimpses of a great movie buried in the version we got. The Last Jedi simultaneously has the best and worst moments in the sequel trilogy.
Visually, The Last Jedi is tied with Rogue One as the best looking Star Wars movie. Say what you like about The Last Jedi, you can't deny how beautiful the movie is at times. The Last Jedi has some of the best cinematography in the entire Skywalker saga, with the highlights being the lightspeed ram and all the scenes on Crait.
Out of the three storylines in the movie, Rey's is easily the best one. I loved everything involved with Rey, Kylo Ren, and Luke. If the rest of the movie was as good as their scenes, The Last Jedi would've easily been one of my favorite Star Wars movies. With Rey and Kylo Ren, I liked their relationship here. I thought their rivalry slowly growing into potential romance was interesting and believable.
When it comes to Luke, my cinematic hot take is that I actually liked what Rian Johnson did with his character. Yes, he is very different compared to the original trilogy, but I think Luke goes through a compelling character arc here. Easily all of the best scenes in the movie involve Luke (his reunion with R2-D2, his scene with Yoda, his reunion with Leia, and his confrontation with Kylo Ren). Just like Han dying in the last movie, I didn't mind Luke's death scene here either.
Now, it's time for the bad. I love Rey's storyline, but it wasn't perfect. Near the end of Rey's storyline, two unpopular events happen: the death of Snoke and the reveal that Rey's parents were nobodies. I didn't like both decisions at the time and even now I feel the same. With Snoke's death, The Force Awakens built him up as the main threat and I was disappointed that they unceremoniously killed him off like that. With the reveal of Rey's parents, I was hoping Luke would've been her father, even though everyone would've seen it coming a mile away.
Another aspect I didn't like was the storylines for Poe and Finn . Those subplots wouldn't even happen if Admiral Holdo just told Poe about her plan. Ever since The Last Jedi released to home media, I would usually fast-forward Finn's storyline whenever those scenes came up, but for this latest rewatch, I decided to power through them. Now that I finally revisited those scenes after a while, I still believe those are my least favorite scenes in the entire Skywalker saga. I didn't care for Rose and DJ at all, and the scene where Rose stops Finn from sacrificing himself was the worst scene in the entire movie.
Besides Poe's and Finn's storylines, I also had issues with the space chase. I didn't mind that it was a siege story, but I feel like it could've been rewritten in a better way. I know Hux says the Resistance ships are smaller and faster than his, but couldn't he just call in more ships to go in front of the Resistance fleet? The opening crawl said the First Order was taking over the galaxy, so surely they had the resources to do so.
Overall, The Last Jedi is a frustrating movie. There are parts of the movie that I absolutely love, but at the same time, there are other parts that I absolutely hate. I give The Last Jedi a 7/10.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
A good start to a disappointing trilogy
It's been 3 years since the sequel trilogy ended. Now that we have the whole story, I thought it would be interesting to revisit the movies. Despite how The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker turned out, I still believe The Force Awakens is a good movie.
The best part of The Force Awakens is the new characters. Out of the three movies in the sequel trilogy, I liked Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron the most in The Force Awakens. Rey and Finn had good chemistry with each other, and their characters had a lot of potential that the other movies didn't deliver. Although Poe Dameron didn't have much screen time here, I liked his interactions with Finn. With Kylo Ren, I thought he was a great villain. I liked how he wasn't on the same level as Vader or Palpatine yet. His outbursts and inner struggles made him a compelling character to me. Then there's BB-8, who is easily the cutest droid in Star Wars.
For the old characters, I was mostly satisfied with how The Force Awakens handled them. While I didn't like how R2-D2 was sidelined, I liked all the scenes with Han Solo and Leia. I didn't mind that they split up in between trilogies or the fact that Han died here. I thought The Force Awakens was a nice sendoff for his character. However, I do think it's a shame that Han, Leia, and Luke never got a scene together.
Another aspect I liked about The Force Awakens is its action scenes. Say what you like about JJ Abrams, the man can direct exciting action scenes. My personal favorite here is when the Millennium Falcon escapes from Jakku. For the lightsaber fights here, I didn't mind that they were less choreographed than the prequels. I have a bigger issue with the outcome with one of the fights, but I'll get into that later.
For issues, my biggest problem with The Force Awakens is how the Resistance wasn't properly explained. I understand at the time a lot of people hated the politics of the prequels and that JJ Abrams wanted to provide a movie that was similar to the originals, but I feel like there could've been a line or a scene that explained how the New Republic demilitarized. It's a shame people have to seek out supplementary material to understand the movie more.
Another issue I had is the third act. First off, Starkiller Base was a terrible idea. The original trilogy already had two Death Stars. If the sequel trilogy wanted to have a big threat, at least do something new with it. Instead of another planet-destroying machine, Starkiller Base could've been a giant weapons factory, sort of like the Star Forge from Knights of the Old Republic. If they went with this route, they should've also kept Starkiller Base until the final movie of the trilogy to keep the persistent threat. Besides another planet-destroying machine, I also have issues with Rey winning against Kylo Ren in their final duel. The fact that she already beat him in the first movie makes him a less intimidating villain. Rey should've lost the final duel and gotten injured like Finn. That way, it would be more exciting to see her win in the future.
A small nitpick I have is the line Han says about Luke's disappearance "People who knew him best think he went looking for the Jedi temple". When I first watched the movie, I didn't care about the line, but on future rewatches, that piece of dialogue started to bug me. Han Solo is Luke's best friend and brother-in-law. Who would be closer to Luke than Han?
Overall, The Force Awakens was a good start to the sequel trilogy. Although the movie didn't properly explain the Resistance and had a disappointing third act, The Force Awakens introduced an interesting cast of new characters to the Star Wars universe. I give The Force Awakens an 8/10.
Avatar (2009)
The movie still holds up
Before this year's re-release of Avatar, I had never experienced the movie in theaters. I was in elementary school when Avatar released, but for some reason, my family and I never went to see it. Even though I only watched Avatar at home, I still enjoyed the movie. I know it's popular on the Internet to hate on Avatar, but I never felt that way. Over the years, I always heard how great Avatar was in the theaters, so when I found out the movie was going to be re-released this year, I knew I had to take the opportunity.
Obviously, the best part about Avatar is its visuals. While a lot of movies from my childhood have CGI that aged terribly, this is not the case for Avatar. Thirteen years later, the CGI for the aliens and the world still looks beautiful. Visually, the stand out moments for me were the bioluminescent night scenes and the entire sequence where the Na'vi climb up the Hallelujah Mountains and Jake Sully flies the banshee for the first time.
An aspect of the movie I think is underappreciated is its music. While I often hear people praise Avatar for its special effects, I think the soundtrack is worth praising as well. Maybe I'm biased because I watched the movie a lot over the years, but I always thought the music in Avatar was memorable. James Horner, who also scored Aliens and Titanic, did the music for the movie. Horner's music fits the grand feeling of Avatar. My two favorite tracks are "Becoming One of the People, Becoming One with Neytiri" and "The Destruction of Hometree".
The parts of Avatar that didn't hold up as well were the dialogue and the side characters. During this latest rewatch, I noticed some of the dialogue felt too on the nose. One scene that bothered me was when Parker is talking about unobtanium to Grace. I get that the scene is exposition for the audience, but I thought that scene could've been rewritten in a more natural way.
For the characters, I'm fine with the two leads and the human cast, but I thought the Na'vi side characters felt underdeveloped. To me, Neytiri's parents and Tsu'tey were always the most uninteresting characters in the movie, but it was more noticeable this time. Keep it mind that I'm strictly talking about the theatrical cut since that is the only version of Avatar I experienced. I never seen the extended edition of Avatar, so I wouldn't know if the Na'vi side characters got more development there.
Overall, I'm glad I finally got to watch Avatar in the theaters. Now that I got that experience, I admit it'll be difficult to watch it at home again. Avatar may not have the most original story and characters, but I still think it is a worthwhile experience elevated by its visuals and music. I give Avatar an 8/10.
Better Call Saul (2015)
On par with Breaking Bad
After seven years, Better Call Saul is finally over. Now that I've seen the full story, I can proudly say that this show is as great as Breaking Bad. Like many fans of Breaking Bad, I didn't love Better Call Saul at first. I started the show in 2019 the year before the fifth season was released. While I was able to finish the first four seasons, I wasn't as engaged as I was with Breaking Bad. Then season five was released and I absolutely loved it. For years, I thought the first four seasons were okay, while season 5 was the only good one. It wasn't until my 2nd viewing of the show this year when I started to appreciate the earlier seasons. Some people might've loved Better Call Saul from the very beginning, but to me, this is a show that deserves multiple viewings to fully appreciate it.
Something I appreciate about the show now is how much it made me care about Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill. When I first watched Breaking Bad, I didn't really have strong thoughts on the character. He was just the funny lawyer guy. Now, Saul Goodman is one of my favorite characters in the Breaking Bad universe. The main reason why I like his character now is because of his relationships with Kim Wexler and Chuck McGill. With Jimmy and Kim, they are my favorite couple in television. Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn have great chemistry together. Their romance feels so believable. As for Jimmy and Chuck, I thought their rivalry was both engaging and tragic. I'm so glad the show decided to make Chuck a villain. The twist and their ensuing feud were the most interesting parts of the first three seasons.
Besides Kim and Chuck, I also liked the new character, Lalo Salamanca. He is my favorite villain in the Breaking Bad universe. Yup, I liked him more than Gus Fring. Don't get me wrong, I still think Gus is an interesting villain, I just thought Lalo was more fun to watch. Lalo was the perfect combination of being intimidating and being charismatic.
For favorite episodes, my top three are Bagman, Bad Choice Road, and Saul Gone. Bagman was a great action-oriented episode that helped flesh out Jimmy and Mike's relationship. Besides the final confrontation with Lalo, which still remains one of the most intense scenes in television, Bad Choice Road was filled with so many great scenes like the opening montage, Jimmy bailing out Lalo, and Jimmy's heart-to-heart conversation with Mike. Even though Saul Gone didn't have any action, I thought the finale was riveting from beginning to end.
Despite my praises, I still have some issues with the show. On my 2nd viewing, I still thought Mike's storyline wasn't as engaging as Jimmy's storyline, even with the addition of Gus and Lalo. I also thought Nacho Varga wasn't that interesting. However, I do think his final episode was a great sendoff for his character.
Overall, Better Call Saul is another great addition to the Breaking Bad universe. Unlike Dexter, which had two terrible endings, the Breaking Bad universe stuck the landing twice. Now that Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are finally done, I can officially say they are my two favorite shows. I give Better Call Saul a 10/10.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
The 2nd best Thor movie
Love and Thunder wasn't as good as Ragnarok but it was better than Thor 1 and The Dark World.
My favorite aspect of the movie was Thor and Jane's relationship. Compared to the first two movies, Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman had better chemistry this time around. Since this movie brought back Jane, I was surprised when they killed her off here. Now that I had more time to process the movie, I thought this was a nice sendoff to her character, but I'm worried that the MCU will find a way to bring her back to life in the future.
Another aspect I liked was Gorr. I thought he was one of the better MCU villains. Just like Thanos and Scarlet Witch, my two favorite MCU villains, Gorr was both intimidating and sympathetic. While I liked Gorr's character, this leads to my biggest problem with the movie: we didn't get enough scenes of Gorr killing gods.
Besides the first god he killed during his flashback, the rest of Gorr's kills are done offscreen or talked about. A simple fix would be changing the opening. I would still keep Gorr's flashback with his daughter since it does a great job humanizing him, but I would move that scene towards the middle of the movie and replace the opening with a scene of Gorr fighting Sif and that giant god creature. That way, we get to see how dangerous Gorr is and have a more engaging hook for the audience.
Another fix I have in mind is changing Jane's introduction. I think it would've been more effective if her first scene in the movie was when Thor reunites with her at the battle. I know the trailers already spoiled that moment, but I think it would've been a more engaging introduction. Her opening scenes doing chemo and getting called by Mjolnir were okay, but I think they could've been handled either through flashbacks or exposition.
Besides changing Gorr and Jane's introductions, I also thought the humor didn't work all the time. While I laughed a couple of times in the movie (I thought all of Zeus' jokes were funny), most of the humor didn't work for me. A running joke I have in mind is the screaming goats. I'm pretty sure they're referencing that old internet video of a screaming goat. I felt the same way when Black Panther had that "What are those?!" joke.
Overall, Love and Thunder was the 2nd best Thor movie. The movie improved Thor and Jane's relationship and introduced a great villain. However, Gorr didn't have enough scenes, Jane could've had a better introduction, and a lot of the humor didn't work for me. I give Love and Thunder a 6/10.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
An okay follow-up to the prequels
Out of the three live-action Star Wars shows on Disney+, Obi-Wan Kenobi would fall in the middle. It's better than The Book of Boba Fett, but it's not as good as The Mandalorian.
The scenes with Obi-Wan and Darth Vader were the best part about the show. That's why the last two episodes were my favorite. They were the ones that focused the most on their relationship. My favorite scene with them is easily their fight in the finale. It's one of my favorite lightsaber duels now. While the scenes involving Obi-Wan and Vader were the best part of the show, not all of their scenes were perfect. I thought their fight in Episode 3 could've been choreographed better and Hayden Christensen's age was a bit distracting in the flashbacks.
My biggest issue with the show is young Leia. I feel bad for criticizing her since the actress is so young, but I would be lying if I said her character didn't bother me. The moment I realized she would be an integral part of the show, my enjoyment lessened. Now I don't blame the actress for this, I blame the script. The script should've aged up her character, so an older actress could've been hired instead.
Besides young Leia, I also found the new characters to be uninteresting. I didn't hate Reva as much as other people did, but at the same time, I didn't think her character was a compelling antagonist. The Second Sister from Jedi Fallen Order was a much more interesting version of Reva. There's also Tala, Wade, the comedic relief, and Ice Cube's son. I don't have much to say about them except that I thought it was funny when Tala slapped the stormtrooper and how they tried to make Wade's death a big deal even though he was only there for a couple seconds.
Another issue I had is with the music. The music in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have been great and memorable, so I was disappointed with the new music in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Compared to the other Disney+ shows, the new music here sounds so generic. I was also disappointed by how little the show used the old music. I would've forgiven the new music being unmemorable if they used music from the PT and OT, but the show hardly did.
Overall, Obi-Wan Kenobi was an okay bridge for the PT and OT. The scenes between Obi-Wan and Vader were interesting, but young Leia, the uninteresting new characters, and the unmemorable music brought down my enjoyment. I give Obi-Wan Kenobi a 6/10.
The Batman (2022)
Another good Batman movie
The Batman was my most anticipated movie for 2022. Even though this is yet another Batman movie, I was still looking forward to it. If I were to rank the live-action Batman movies after seeing this, it would be my fourth favorite (I still liked the Nolan trilogy more).
My favorite aspect of The Batman was the cast. I thought everyone here delivered great performances. My favorites were Robert Pattinson as Batman and Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle. With Robert Pattinson, I didn't mind that his Bruce Wayne wasn't the usual billionaire playboy. It was a good way to stand out from the other Batman performances. Out of all the Batman actors, I feel like Pattinson was the most intimidating. Easily my favorite scene in the movie was Pattinson's introduction. His voiceover and first fight scene sold him as Batman for me. With Zoe Kravitz, she's my favorite live-action Catwoman. Her backstory and her relationship with Annika made her the most fleshed out version of the character.
For villains, I thought The Batman had some of the better ones in the movies. I liked the darker take on the Riddler. His character reminded me a lot of Heath Ledger's Joker and Kevin Spacey in Se7en. I wished his character showed up more often. At times, it felt like the movie forgot he existed. I also really liked Colin Farrell as the Penguin. He was completely unrecognizable here.
Another aspect of the movie I liked was its tone. The Batman is easily the darkest Batman movie, even more than the Nolan trilogy. I already mentioned Se7en earlier, but that's what this movie's tone reminded me of.
For problems with the movie, my biggest issue is franchise fatigue. As much as I liked the movie, a small part of me felt a little burnt out by it. I have to admit, it was a little tiring to see another Batman universe only a few years after the DCEU and Joker. Speaking of the Joker, I didn't like his cameo at the end. Don't get me wrong, I like the character, but I don't feel like seeing another version of him yet.
I also had issues with the third act. I thought the final confrontation at the Iceberg Lounge was more interesting than the stadium battle. I think the reason why I wasn't as invested in the actual finale was because the Riddler cult felt underdeveloped. I know the movie is almost three hours long, but I think the movie should've had more scenes of people supporting the Riddler.
Another part of the movie that felt underdeveloped was the relationship between Bruce and his father. Since Bruce learns about his father's dark past, I think the revelation would've been more impactful if we saw happy memories of him and Thomas Wayne to contrast the ugly reality.
Overall, The Batman is another good live-action movie for the character. The movie felt tired and underdeveloped at times, but the cast and darker tone helped elevate it. I give The Batman a 8/10.
Scream (2022)
The 2nd best movie in the series
Scream is one of my favorite horror franchises. Although this is the first Scream movie to be made without Wes Craven, I was still looking forward to it. Fortunately, Scream 5 is yet another good addition to the franchise.
Out of all of the sequels, I think Scream 5 is the best one. Compared to the other movies in the franchise, Scream 5 takes itself more seriously. Despite its darker tone, Scream 5 still manages to be funny. My favorite scene in the movie is when the characters talk about the recent trend of soft reboots or as the characters in the movie describe it "requels".
Another aspect I liked was its cast. I enjoyed most of the new characters, with my favorites being Sam and Tara. I liked their relationship in the movie. They are easily the best new characters in the franchise. As for the original trio (Sidney, Gale, Dewey), I was satisfied with the way they got handled here. I didn't mind their reduced roles in the movie. I'm not sure what the general consensus on Dewey's death will be, but for me, I was fine with it. I thought he had a good death scene.
With the villains, I thought they were some of the lesser ones in the franchise. I know the movie is commenting on toxic fandoms, but for me personally, I thought their motives weren't as interesting as Roman and Jill's (my favorite Scream killers). I also thought it was funny that the actress for one of the killers, Mikey Madison, died the same way as her character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In both movies, she gets set on fire by the protagonists. I wonder if she'll continue this trend in her next movie.
For problems, my biggest issue with the movie is the title. I know Scream 5 was called Scream to make fun of how recent sequels have the same titles as the original like Halloween 2018, but I think this movie should've been called 5cream. What a missed opportunity.
Another thing that disappointed me was that Mindy wasn't the other killer. During her scene with Amber, I thought it would be revealed that they were both the murderers. For killer duos, the movies had two men (Scream) and a man and a woman (2 and 4). Since we haven't had two women be the killers before, I thought it would've been neat if this movie did that.
For the series ranking, it would go Scream, 5, 4, 2, 3. As much as I liked Scream 5, I really hope this is the last movie in the franchise. With Dewey's death and the climax taking place in the same house as the original, I think Scream 5 serves as a good send-off for the franchise. Please, don't ruin this ending and keep going.
Overall, Scream 5 is a good addition in the Scream franchise. While Scream 5 is the best sequel, it's still not as good as the original. I give Scream 5 a 7/10.
Dexter: New Blood (2021)
I enjoyed the show until the ending
New Blood was my most anticipated show for 2021. Like many people, I wasn't a fan of the last four seasons of Dexter and I was looking forward to a better conclusion. Now that New Blood is over, I'm sad to say that New Blood was a let down.
My biggest issue with the show was its ending. While I think it's a better ending than the lumberjack one, I was still disappointed by it. I didn't mind that Dexter died. It was the events that led up to his death that disappointed me. After Dexter was arrested, he somehow managed to overpower a cop and escape his jail cell. Throughout the finale, I was worried that was going to happen and it did. I feel like Dexter's death could've been written in a way without the jail escape.
Besides the ending, another aspect I didn't like about New Blood was its pacing. Having Dexter reveal everything to Harrison in the penultimate episode was a bad idea. Watching Episode 9 made me realize the show would've been much more interesting if Dexter told Harrison everything earlier. This could've given us more scenes of Dexter and Harrison working together
Some small nitpicks I have was how Hannah and Olsen were handled. With Hannah, I was bummed out that she died from cancer. Throughout the series, I was expecting Harrison to reveal that he killed her, either intentionally or by accident. As for Olsen, I was disappointed that he didn't play a bigger role in the plot. I thought he was going to be Kurt's accomplice.
Despite my criticisms, I still enjoyed 80% of the show. I liked most of the new cast. Out of the new characters, my favorites were Harrison and Kurt. I also thought Episode 9 was one of my favorite Dexter episodes. It had the perfect balance of humor, suspense, and horror. The reveal of Kurt's trophy room genuinely left me unsettled.
Overall, New Blood was a decent revival. I liked most of the new characters, but I had issues with the ending, its pacing, and the way some characters were handled. I give New Blood a 6/10.
Halo Infinite (2021)
A disappointing campaign
For this review, I'll only talk about the campaign. Even though I got into the Halo series in 2018, it has quickly become one of my favorite video game franchises. Like many Halo fans, I was bummed out when Halo Infinite got delayed by an entire year. Now that it's finally here, I'm sad to say that the game didn't live up to my expectations.
The best way to describe Halo Infinite's campaign is that it's a story that takes place after the interesting stuff happened. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending to Halo 5, but I was actually interested to see where the story could go. I'm probably one of the few people who didn't mind Cortana becoming a villain. Instead of focusing on Master Chief, the Arbiter, and Fireteam Osiris confronting Cortana, Infinite does a time skip. Because of this, all of the storylines and characters from Halo 5 are either ignored or shown in brief flashbacks.
With Cortana, she only shows up in flashbacks. The way Infinite wraps up her storyline is terrible. After becoming the galactic dictator, we get a brief cutscene of her feeling bad about her actions, then she dies off-screen. We get a message where she says goodbye to Master Chief, but it doesn't have the same emotional impact as Halo 4.
As for Fireteam Osiris, they don't show up in the campaign at all. I didn't like Fireteam Osiris, but it feels weird to introduce those characters in the previous game, then completely drop them in the next one. 343 could've fleshed them out here and made them more interesting. If 343 didn't plan on expanding Fireteam Osiris, I think it would've been better to make them the fallen Spartans that Master Chief encounters throughout the game.
Looking back at this new series, the storyline is a mess. The 343 games don't tell a cohesive story like the original Bungie trilogy. You can clearly tell this new storyline wasn't planned out at all. I mean, just look at how they handled Cortana. They kill her off in 4, then bring her back as a villain in 5, then only show her in flashbacks and kill her offscreen in Infinite.
For the actual story in Infinite, it's lackluster. Even though Infinite is an open world game, it's story feels like the smallest in the franchise. With Master Chief's new companions (The Weapon and Echo-216), I thought they were fine. Although, I did cringe at some of the Weapon's lines. Infinite also continues the 343 tradition of having boring villains. I thought the Banished and the Harbinger were uninteresting. I couldn't care less about the Endless plotline that Infinite seems to be setting up for future games.
Despite all of my criticisms, there are aspects that I enjoyed about Infinite's campaign. I liked the open world aspects of the game. For a franchise that's 20 years old, I think the open world genre was a good way to change things up. Another aspect of the gameplay I liked was the grapple hook. I had fun using the grapple hook to traverse the map and disarm enemies. It'll be hard to go back to the older games without it. While I previously criticized Master Chief's new companions for having some cringey lines, personality-wise, I liked them more than any of the characters from Halo 5.
Overall, Halo Infinite had a disappointing campaign with a few redeeming qualities. For my 343 campaign ranking, it would be 4, Infinite, and 5. I give Halo Infinite's campaign a 6/10.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
My favorite Spider-Man movie
No Way Home is my favorite Spider-Man movie and my second favorite MCU movie (I still like Infinity War a little more). I thought this was a good send-off for the first three Tom Holland movies and I'm looking forward to the future for his character.
Out of the three Tom Holland movies, No Way Home is easily the best one. I had a blast from beginning to end. No Way Home had some of the best action scenes in the entire MCU. The highlights were the Doctor Strange fight and the final battle. I also loved all of the interactions between Tobey, Andrew, and Tom as well as all of the callbacks to previous movies.
Besides being the most entertaining Spider-Man movie, No Way Home is also the most emotional. There were several scenes that made me emotional, like Tobey and Andrew's pep talk to Tom and when Andrew saved MJ. I give the movie props for not returning everything to the status quo at the end. I was worried that Aunt May would be revived and that everyone will be happy together, but that is not the case at all.
For issues with the movie, I only have one nitpick. When Norman Osborn betrayed Peter Parker at the apartment, I thought Electro and Sandman switching sides felt too convenient. It was funny how they changed their minds so quickly. Besides that, I had no other problems with the movie.
Overall, No Way Home is my favorite movie of the year. I don't care that I'm giving that spot to a superhero movie. This was easily the best movie experience I had all year. I give No Way Home a 10/10.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
A good sequel to the originals
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was not as good as the first Ghostbusters, but it was definitely better than Ghostbusters II. I never saw the remake and I don't plan to. As much as I enjoyed Afterlife, I really hope they don't make any more Ghostbusters movies after this. I thought Afterlife served as a good conclusion for the franchise.
My favorite aspect of Afterlife was the cast. I liked most of the new characters here. My favorites were Phoebe and the teacher. The only new character I didn't care about was Finn Wolfhard's love interest. I thought she didn't add much to the movie. Another aspect I liked was the ending. It was a touching tribute to Harold Ramis. I think the filmmakers made the right choice by not giving him any dialogue here.
My biggest issue with the movie is that none of the humor worked. The first Ghostbusters movie was a great comedy with a ton of memorable lines. Here, all of the "jokes" made me cringe. I was also a little bummed out that Phoebe's grandmother wasn't Janine.
Overall, Afterlife was a good follow-up to the originals. I liked most of the new characters and the ending, but none of the humor worked. I give Ghostbusters: Afterlife a 7/10.
Eternals (2021)
The flashbacks should've been the entire plot
Out of the three MCU movies that came out this year, Eternals is the first one I felt like reviewing. Black Widow and Shang Chi were fine, but honestly, there wasn't much to say about them. With Eternals, I have a lot to say.
As the title in my review states, Eternals would've been a lot better if the entire plot was like the flashbacks. Showing the Eternals living in different time periods seems like a unique concept that they could've done a lot with. With that format, I can see Eternals working as a good Disney+ show.
In terms of structure, you could have the characters arrive at Earth in the beginning of the show, then split off after their mission ends. Then, the rest of the series would follow their episodic adventures in the past with each episode following a different Eternal in a different time period. For instance, one episode could've followed Sersai in ancient Egypt, while another episode could've followed Ikaris in the Roman Empire. Then, the end of the show could take place in the present, with an event that reunites all of the Eternals and sets up a second season.
Another aspect of Eternals that could've been improved is the number of Eternals. Ten characters are way too much. Reduce the Eternals to five members, so each character gets more time to be developed. Personally, the characters I'd keep are Sersai, Ikaris, Sprite, Kingo, and Druig. I'd also get rid of that weird subplot where Sprite has a crush on Ikaris.
Overall, Eternals would've been more interesting if it was a Disney+ show that showed the Eternals living in different time periods. Instead of following the standard MCU formula, Eternals could've provided something unique to the superhero genre. I give Eternals a 5/10.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
The ending was a let down
I watched The Sopranos in high school back in 2017 and I enjoyed it. While I wouldn't consider The Sopranos to be one of my favorite shows, I was still looking forward to The Many Saints of Newark. Now that I watched it, I'd say it was a decent prequel to the TV show.
Right off the bat, the best aspect about The Many Saints of Newark was the relationship between Dickie Moltisanti and Tony Soprano. Their scenes together serve as the heart of the movie. I know some people may be bothered by the fact that the movie is more about Dickie than Tony, but I didn't mind that. I actually thought Dickie was an interesting protagonist. His actor, Aleesandro Nivola, delivered a great performance.
While I enjoyed The Many Saints of Newark, there were still some aspects I didn't like. The biggest issue I had was its ending. It felt like the entire movie was building up to a final confrontation between Dickie and Harold, but instead Dickie gets killed off by Junior. Well, technically he was killed off by one of Junior's goons. What was the point of having Harold in the movie if he wasn't going to be Dickie's killer? Was this to subvert expectations? I didn't really care about Harold, but at least his character would've had a purpose if he was the one who killed Dickie. Now Harold's scenes just feel like filler.
Overall, The Many Saints of Newark was a decent prequel to a good show. While the movie had good performances and an interesting story, the ending would've been a lot better if Harold was the one who killed Dickie. I give The Many Saints of Newark an 7/10.
No Time to Die (2021)
The 3rd best Daniel Craig movie
No Time to Die is not as good as Casino Royale and Skyfall, but it's definitely better than Quantum of Solace and Spectre. It's a decent conclusion to a decent run of Bond movies.
The best part of the movie for me was easily the Cuba scenes. It felt like a classic Bond adventure with exotic locations, likeable allies, and fun action scenes. Speaking of action, I thought the action here was well-done. Some of the highlights were the Italy attack, the Cuba shootout, the forest battle, and that one-shot staircase fight.
I also liked Daniel Craig's performance here. Throughout the series, he did a great job at making me care for James Bond. While I'm talking about Daniel Craig, it's time to address the elephant in the room: the death scene. What did I think about James Bond dying? Honestly, I didn't mind it. I thought it provided a great send-off for Daniel Craig. I just hope the studios don't change their mind and decide to bring him back. That would completely ruin No Time to Die's ending. Just hire a new Bond actor already.
Now that I got the positives out of the way, it's time to get into the negatives. My biggest issue with the Daniel Craig movies in general is that the overall storyline felt poorly planned out. I didn't mind that the Daniel Craig movies told a unified story rather than be episodic adventures. However, I feel like they should've had an outline for the series from the start.
Another aspect I didn't like were the characters of Madeleine and Safin. With Madeline, I found her boring in Spectre and I still find her boring in No Time to Die. One nitpick I had with her character is that at the end of the movie, she brings her daughter to Italy to talk about her father. Why would she bring her daughter to the place Bond broke up with her? That makes no sense.
As for Safin, I thought his backstory was underwhelming. I feel like Safin would've been more interesting if it was revealed that he used to be Madeleine's old lover. I know the Bond girl having a romance with the villain was done before in The World is Not Enough, but I'd rather have that than what we have here.
Overall, No Time to Die was a decent conclusion to the Daniel Craig series. While the movie had a great Bond performance and good action, the characters of Madeleine and Safin brought down my enjoyment. I give No Time to Die a 7/10.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
The best DCEU movie
Out of all the movies in the DCEU, The Suicide Squad is easily the best one. I'd even go as far to say that it's the first DCEU movie I'd call great. While Zack Synder's Justice League had its moments, I just had more fun watch watching The Suicide Squad.
The first thing I want to talk about is the characters. What a massive improvement over the first Suicide Squad. My biggest issue with the first movie was that the characters didn't feel like a team. In this movie, they actually do. The characters here have good chemistry with each other. Out of all the new additions, my favorite ones were Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man.
Another thing worth praising is the humor. This goes without saying that The Suicide Squad is the funniest DCEU movie. I'd say 90% of the jokes here worked. Sure, there were some duds here and there, but they were few and far between. The funniest scene for me was when the Suicide Squad infiltrates an "enemy" camp.
As for things I didn't like about the movie, there's not much. The biggest issue I had was Rick Flag's character. I did not care about him at all. When he died, I felt nothing. I feel like there should've been more scenes with him, so his death had more impact.
Another nitpick I had was when Amanda Waller's team betrayed her. I feel like it should've been the guy with the glasses who hit her in the head instead of that random woman. After all, he was the one who was questioning her actions throughout the story.
Overall, The Suicide Squad is an improvement on every aspect over the first movie. Not only that, it's also the best movie in the DCEU. I give The Suicide Squad a 9/10.