rampage

It's going to be really easy to call this a dumb and pointless movie, and I can understand why some will say that. Let's think about this for a minute... If you were told to make a movie out of a simple video game, that's about a giant gorilla, a giant werewolf, and a giant lizard, rampaging around a city, causing a lot of destruction, how would you do it? Well I will say that the film-making talent behind this movie figured it out, and managed to make it as entertaining as they possibly could. I say that's a win for video game movies. 

The dumb point of all this, is to show the giant animals rampaging, and there is that whole section at the second half of this movie where we do see the giant animals causing all the chaos, wreckage, and death. All that is admittedly fun to just watch happen on screen. Oh wait, did I say "death?" That's right, give props for this movie in not shying away from showing people actually get eaten whole or violently thrown around like rag dolls, by the big animals. 

Besides the sheer guilty pleasure of watching the mayhem on screen, another reason to give this movie some attention is Dwayne Johnson's connection with George the Gorilla. I didn't really care much about the Doctor character, any of the supporting cast, or the typical villain roles, but I did find Dwayne's relationship with George to be very charming. George himself is a fun character with personality, when he isn't just mindlessly being so aggressive that is. I should also at least give a shout out to Jeffrey Dean Morgan for properly chewing the scenery whenever he is on screen. 

So all you have to do to enjoy "Rampage," is to simply ignore the plot conveniences, the logical flaws, the familiar story beats, and the character inconsistencies. Also ignore this exposition heavy dramatic scene around the middle of the story that just frustratingly stops this movie dead in it's track. Ignore all that, and you will come away from watching it and go "hey, while it's far from being great, that actually wasn't a bad video game movie." 

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blockers

To be honest, the trailers made this movie look pretty stupid. With that said, while it was stupid in many cases, it was also silly fun as well. As with most comedies, it's subjective, and the jokes are hit or miss depending on the person. Comedies lately tend to go for outrageousness to provide the humor, and this film is no exception. In some cases it worked well, and in some it was just embarrassing. Now to explain my experience and enjoyment of the movie, I would have to divide it into two camps; the teenagers, and the adults. 

The teenagers I thought had a pretty typical story for a comedy, about being teens out to lose their virginity. Usual it's from a teenage boy's perspective, so I actually appreciate this progressive take on the subject matter. The comedy angle that came from these teens though seemed to be more miss than hit for me. I thought they had some strong funny moments, but I thought they weren't enough of them from that part of the movie. Also plot conveniences kinda creeps in for some unearned moments. 

As for the adults, I thought their comedy was mostly hits than misses. The tropes they used for the parents being overly protective, or one trying to be super cool, aren't exactly original or unique, however I thought they made it worked decently well. I felt like I was having more fun following what the adults were going through, in reaction to what the teens were doing. The biggest laughs I had with the movie involved the adults, and one particular scene in a house was a huge stand-out for me. As it goes, some plot conveniences kinda creeps in for some unearned moments as well. 

As a comedy, "Blockers" is funny enough and has a great cast to be worth checking out, although it isn't a laugh-riot like it probably hopes it is. Part of the reason is that the movie can't get out of it's own way by planting way too many sentimental emotional moments that grinds the comedy to a halt. The momentum just stops multiple times, usually to expand on the thematic plot elements of the whole story. I like what this film has to say, but it needs a better balance between all that and the funny. 

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isle of dogs

If you say out loud the movie title "Isle Of Dogs," you may have noticed that it sounds like saying "I Love Dogs." It's like a nice small easter egg for the movie, but it also makes me wonder if that was the sole reason why this film was made in the first place. Either way, just from that alone, it should easily be surmised that if you love dogs, then you may as well see this movie. If you are more of a cat lover, well... maybe you might not have to? 

This is another attempt by Director Wes Anderson to do a puppet movie. If you are already familiar with his films, then there shouldn't be a lot of surprises with how this movie goes. Whimsical premise. Quirky situations. Symmetrical cinematography. Deadpan humor. Idealized settings. Eccentric story telling. Even with the fact that the main characters of this movie are dogs, all that still applies... except now from the perspective of man's best friend. 

One of the first things that I noticed when I first started watching this movie is that wow there's a lot of stereotypical depictions of Japan and it's culture, but I'm once again reminded that this is an idealized version of the country. There are roughly three main human characters that get some attention, with two of them being tolerable, and one of them being kinda annoying. You'll know what I mean when you see the movie.

While we're on the subject of the human characters, I did like the idea that we're suppose to understand what the dogs are saying; in English, but from their perspective they don't understand what humans actually say; in Japanese (unless you're a Japanese speaker already). I'd like to think that they should re-dub all the voices of the dogs in other parts of the world to fit the regional language, to keep with this theme. 

As for the dogs themselves, I couldn't help but automatically be fans for those characters. Their mannerisms, what I assume would be how they talk to each other, how they see the world, the alpha, the pack, and the whole thing about strays vs house pets, are all just fantastic. The best parts of this movie are essentially the majority of the scenes involving the dogs, and all the little commentaries, reactions, and interactions. At times I appreciated that there was a somewhat grounded natural feel to how the dogs act, but it isn't above focusing heavily on the more fantastical take of what these dogs can do either. 

If I was to have any complaints about "Isle Of Dogs;" besides the Japanese stereotypes and the whole "white savior" thing, it would be some of the plot conveniences, and logical flaws, that this movie uses to move the story along. Your suspension of disbelief will be tested at one point or another. Also considering that this was set in Japan, I would have liked to have seen more Japanese dogs though; like the Akita Inu or the Kai Ken. So beyond those issues, as someone who loves Dogs, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the heck out of this movie! 

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a quiet place

I'm going to start off by saying three negative things about the movie. There actually isn't a lot of scary scenes, it relies on jump scares with loud sounds to frighten you, and it uses too many stupid coincidental misfortunes to drive up the scare factor. This movie sounds like your typical disposable horror movie of the week right? It's not. Besides how I opened this review, I'm saying that "A Quiet Place" is definitely worth checking out. 

The gimmick of this movie is that there is a huge lack of spoken lines here, and predominantly uses visual cues, sign language, plus subtitles to show us how the characters communicate with each other. There are still ambient noises and a musical score to accompany everything that happens, but for the most part the movie lives up to it's title. However, some might find themselves restless with the lack of dialogue, as it might feel like an odd experience watching a movie without much of that. 

That gimmick is what makes this movie stand out on it's own among the rest, as there isn't many horror films like this. Like the silent films of the past, this movie relies predominantly on the visuals to move things along, and it does so wonderfully. There's also an increase level of tension to the tone of the movie, as there is this constant anticipation of wondering when a sound is going to draw in the monsters. That constant threat of death is just a sound away, and that can be terrifying. While the scares can be questionably scary, don't be surprised if you're on the edge of your seat the whole time you're seeing this. 

Although there are some elements of world building and character development that I can appreciate, the movie simply hinges on us caring that this family survives the experience. I have my own little gripes about certain characters in the family, and some of the questionable plot developments involving them, but I did feel invested enough in wanting to see them make it through the day. With such minimalist methods of exposition, kudos to this movie for still being able to convey a lot of story and character details worth paying attention to.  

With a confident direction by John Krasinski, strong performance by the cast, and a cool idea of a horror movie, this is surely an experience worth taking. I got to say though, watching "A Quiet Place" in a crowded movie theater is fascinating as well, as it almost seemed like the audience were even more silent than they normally would be, just in case the monster gets them. 

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ready player one

There's an action sequence early in this movie, where I believe I literally had my jaw drop, thinking "wow, this is the most amazing thing ever." Not spoiling that sequence, but it was just visually so incredible to watch, that I had the urge to give the movie a standing ovation for what I just saw. As far as action sequences go though, that was the high point for the whole thing. I'm kidding. There are other high points in the movie as well, but as far as action sequences go though... 

I found a lot about this movie to be very enjoyable. The whole idea about "the Oasis" is still a dream for many gamers today, but we get a fantastic visual to what it might look like here. The general adventure story for this quest in a virtual world; and the sequences that goes along with that, is like a very fun premise made just for me. Then there's all the pop culture references, which lie somewhere between embarrassing audience pandering, and a nostalgia trip that's hitting all the correct buttons to make me very happy. 

As I unfortunately already hinted at, this movie has several flaws. The plot at times just becomes nonsense and illogical, seemingly just to move the story in the direction it needs to go. I've had to suspend my disbelief multiple times, while shaking my head, wondering why the hell is this happening on screen? Oh, and convenient coincidences occur quite often, plus the familiar plot tropes, all just to allow the story to keep moving. Some cases it's for moments of levity, which is appreciated. The world building is also kinda wonky, or brilliant, depending on the situation. 

The cast is great in this at least, seemingly aware that they are suppose to have some fun with their roles, and not to take it too seriously. Kudos to the good work by Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, TJ Miller, and Simon Pegg, for the roles they played here. Tye Sheridan may be the lead of the movie, but he's honestly just playing the role of the archetype hero that simply acts as the audience surrogate. Not his fault? At least Mark Rylance gets to once again show us why he is one of the best actors in movies today, and is definitely one of the main highlights to watch in this. 

Look past all the negatives I mentioned, focus on the positives, and you've got a movie with a lot of heart, good thematic messages (some bad ones too), an energetic story that keeps your attention throughout, and an awesome tribute to gaming and pop culture. For movies like this, all I ask is that it reminds me of what it's like being a young boy who loves to play video games, and "Ready Player One" succeeds at that. The spirit of gaming, being a gamer, playing games with friends, is what it's really all about, and this movie doesn't fail me there. 

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unsane

This movie is suppose to be about whether the lead character is sane or insane, with the presumption that the reveal will be a big deal. Nope, not really. One thing is for certain though, the situation that she gets herself into is pretty insane. The fact that the premise is something that seems plausible, gives the film a certain level of terrifying horror and suspense because you can believe that this is actually happening to people in the world today. It's believable enough to accept, except for those glaring moments when it's not. 

Some major plot holes occurs in this story that I feel essentially breaks the believability of this movie. I suppose I could excuse the lack of logic to be a commentary on society and the morality of this world, but I don't want to. They just bugged me, because if those plot holes were addressed, the whole story would have gone in a different direction. For convenience sake in service of the plot progression though, I guess those flaws had to happen. 

An interesting fact about this movie is that it was shot using iPhones as the primary camera. It shows. There's a whole low budget feel to this movie, that is suppose to make things feel more real, and uncomfortably personal. In many ways, this method is a success, but in other ways it feels like I shouldn't be watching this on a big screen. 

Claire Foy is good in "Unsane," if it wasn't for the fact she is playing a rather unlikable character. She's sympathetic though. Very sympathetic for sure, as I was definitely invested to see how she was going to get out of this mess that she found herself in. While this movie has it's flaws, you can definitely watch it for Claire Foy though. Even though you are experiencing what is most definitely a horrible time for her character. 

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pacific rim uprising

As a fan of the first "Pacific Rim" movie from 2013, this "Uprising" sequel has a lot to live up to. With different writers and director, it's easy to have lowered expectations going into this film. From the get-go it immediately feels like it's not going to have as much of an impact to me as the previous one did, and that's a little disappointing. However, I still had fun watching it, and that's what matters the most in the end right? 

The overall tone and style of this installment is simply not the same from Guillermo Del Toro's take. It moves at a faster pace, to an almost manic level. Things keep moving, and doesn't take that extra time to fully make the characters as well developed. In terms of story themes, this one doesn't have as much dramatic weight, and part of that is because it doesn't have the gravitas that Idris Elba brought into it. 

World building. Character backgrounds. New plot developments. All of that are in this movie and do add to the story, but it seems that we're all just suppose to accept that this is just a typical live-action anime. Depending on how you take that description, that's either a compliment or a warning as to what you're getting here. While there are a few new twists, the premise is generally derivative, and relies too much on familiar plot tropes. 

With all the negative things I've been saying about it, why again did I have fun watching "Pacific Rim Uprising?" Oh right, the action sequences. They aren't mind blowing or anything like that, but giant robots fighting giant monsters is my jam! Unlike the 2013 film, this one actually has the fighting take place under the bright sun, which makes it easier to watch the action. Admittedly, that increased lighting made things look more convincingly CG and fake, compared to the night-time fueled action from the first movie. Either way, if you're a fan of this type of genre film, I recommend you give it a chance. 

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7 days in entebbe

POSITIVES  
- the characters that Daniel Bruhl and Rosamund Pike play are arguably the most interesting thing about this movie
- the cultural and geo politics are addressed well enough I suppose
- "inspired by true events" gives it a little more weight to the drama

NEGATIVES  
- 2012's "Argo" this is not
- kinda boring and uninteresting in many aspects
- besides the characters played by Bruhl, Pike, and probably Marsan, the rest of the cast were just not that interesting
- not for impatient movie goers
- I wasn't in the mood for the interpretive artistic dance sequences

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tomb raider

When you think about video game movies, you normally associate them with horrible experiences. In very few cases, you get the mediocre ones, or the somewhat welcome "so bad it's good" category. For this Tomb Raider video game based movie; which is a reboot of the previous two Angelina Jolie led installments, I have to honestly say that it wasn't bad. It wasn't great, or amazing, but the big compliment I can give this video game movie is that it wasn't bad. 

The other big compliment I can give here is that Alicia Vikander is a good Lara Croft. She essentially makes the movie, and is the primary reason to see it. Vikander has a good mix of looking fit enough to do the physical work, capable to hold her own in fights, and is still able to show that she isn't flawlessly unstoppable. "Less cartoony and more human" seems to be what they were going for, and it worked. I thought Walton Goggins as the antagonist wasn't bad either, but I would have to get into spoilers as to why I liked his villainous role. 

Directed by Roar Uthaug, this adaptation was smart enough to lean more towards the action adventure aspects of the character. Action set piece, after action set piece, after action set piece, after action set piece, seems to be the mantra for this movie. There were some exposition scenes, but they were usually immediately followed by another action set piece. Several of those action set pieces like a bike sequence, a chase sequence on boats, to a stealth sequence, and several others, were actually all rather entertaining to watch. 

What I wished they would have given us more of though, were the puzzles. Yes, raiding a tomb is involved in this film, but the puzzles that goes with all that simply weren't that compelling. That's what I would call the most disappointing part of this movie, because Indiana Jones proved that with films like this, you want to give a movie audience some memorable puzzles. 

So despite the initial feeling that "Tomb Raider" would be just another bad video game movie, I'm happy to say that I could recommend this to people. Not everybody mind you, but there are many who would be entertained by this. 

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gringo

POSITIVES 
- David Oyelowo continues to prove how good of an actor he is, and now he can showcase that he can do comedy too. 
- Seeing Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton essentially hamming it up for the camera can be pretty fun. 
- Sharlto Copley adds an interesting addition to the overall story. 

NEGATIVES 
- The multiple plot lines and huge cast of characters is admirable to tackle, but unfortunately this movie doesn't completely succeed. 
- All those different stories this film shows us are generally hit or miss, with Amanda Seyfried and Harry Treadaway plot being a miss. 
- It wasn't really that funny. 
- It wasn't really that interesting. 
- It was kinda boring. 

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