Looking Back at the Films of 2023 Part Two - Sharper

 

Alright, we're back with the films of 2023. Let's get to it.

Why Didn't I See Sharper?

I wanted to see this but, when I was making all the arrangements, I found out I got the dates mixed up. I thought Feb 10th was it's release date on Apple TV+, turns out that was it's select theaters date. Then I thought the Feb 17th date would work, but nope. I decided to review Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and just had no choice but to cancel a review for this.

What is Sharper?

Sharper is a crime thriller movie. It was produced by Apple Studios, Picturestart, FortySixty, and G&T Productions and distributed by A24 and Apple TV+. Sharper was written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka and directed by Benjamin Caron.

The story is, a con artist plans to take on Manhattan's billionaires. This decision will soon lead to motivations becoming questionable and expectations turning into chaos.

My Thoughts

The Good: One thing I liked was how the movie looked. I'll admit that I'm fully unaware of Benjamin Caron's work, but from what I've seen from this movie, he's pretty good. Nice cinematography, good camera work, etc. Then there's the performances. You'll read soon enough how I felt about the characters, but anyways, even if the cast didn't have good characters, I can say I hated their performances, sure Justice Smith can be a little dull at times, but hey A for effort on his part.

The Bad: If there was one thing that didn't work it was the characters. They're really shallow. They just don't have anything that makes you care about them throughout the movie.

The Okay: The mix bag was the story. Now, it gives you plenty of twist and turns. So I think there'll be some fun to have as you guess what'll happen next. So there is something interesting. However, I never got the feeling of true danger or grit. Sure things might escalate here and there, but not to the point where you'll feel true fear.

Final Verdict: Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Mar 2nd for my review of Dune: Part Two. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Drive-Away Dolls Review

 

Drive-Away Dolls is a comedy road movie, that's produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Focus Features. Drive-Away Dolls is written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke and directed by Ethan Coen.

The story is, two friends want a fresh start and go on an impromptu road trip. Things seem normal at first, but then the trip go awry when they unintentionally cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

Initial Reaction

The reason why I wanted to see this was because of Ethan Coen. He's done amazing films with his brother Joel, and Joel did great with his solo film. So I was wondering what Ethan was gonna bring.

Cons

My only true issue with the movie was it felt like it was playing everything too safe. Maybe it's just from my point of view, so you'll rightfully not agree, but it seems like the writers wanted to make an outrageous comedy, put they did pull back some punches. Cause it was pretty tame for a rated R movie. Yeah sure we still got graphic sex and a little bit of violence, but dialogue wise, nothing really all that shocking.

Middle Ground

There's three gray areas when it comes to Drive-Away Dolls, one of those was editing. Now don't get it twisted, this is still a well crafted edited movie. But there was some odd things, mainly the 70's psychedelic transitions. Those didn't have any context until the end of the movie, so for the most part you're just confused as to why they're here. Then there's the humor. I did have quite a few good laughs, mainly when two henchmen were arguing, but sometimes the humor didn't work. Which brings me to the characters. While entertaining and have they're own stories, I'll admit I'm probably not gonna remember them. Okay, maybe the faces, but for the names themselves, no.

Pros

There are two good things. One being the pacing. The movie is a perfect quick breeze to get through and doesn't waste one single minute. Then there's Ethan's directing. Even if the story wasn't up to par, at least his style was also something to enjoy.

While I wasn't completely disappointed with Drive-Away Dolls, I'll admit I don't see myself watching this again in the near future.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Feb 26th, for part two of Looking Back at the Films of 2023. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

 

Since we're getting a brand new Planet of the Apes in the reboot series, naturally I would make a Road to series. Let's begin.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a sci-fi action film, and a reboot to the film series. Making this the seventh installment. It was produced by Chernin Entertainment and Dune Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver and directed by Rupert Wyatt.

The story is, scientist Will Rodman was trying to a cure for his father's Alzheimer, but his work is deemed a failure and later becomes the guardian to an ape named Caesar, an ape which shows an unusual level of intelligence. Will sees this as something amazing, but little does he and Caesar know, this will lead to more a threat than a miracle.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Nothing here either, just keep scrolling.

• Positives

One positive is the CGI. While I do admit there are some moments where the apes look a bit iffy, nine times out of ten, the CGI looks incredible. It's almost hard to believe that it's been over ten years since this movie was first released. Cause a lot of the effects haven't aged that much.

The other praise goes to Rupert Wyatt's directing. He crafted a great looking movie. That finally shot with the apes looking outward towards the city, is incredible. He's directing give us the best of both worlds with this, and that's a good portion of style and a good portion of substance.

Then we have the performances. Mainly from James Franco and Andy Serkis. We all know James Franco is a very talented actor, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's great in this. But if you watch the movie (or in this case rewatched), then I think we can agree that Andy Serkis is the show stealer. Whenever Caesar is showing fear, confusion, happiness, calmness, anger, etc. that's not the CGI, that's Andy Serkis through motion capture. Andy Serkis has been making motion capture an art form since he started doing motion capture since The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

The last thing I'll praise is the story of Caesar. We see an entire character arc with him. At first during his baby and toddler years, he has an innocence to him. Then as the years go by he makes mistakes that lead to him being sent to an awful zoo. During that time we see him go from simply being frustrated with captivity, being frustrated with what he believes are false hopes, to rising up to be the leader of a revolution. It's a tremendous character arc and I was hooked throughout.

Guys, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was shockingly huge hit back in 2011, and I'm still surprised how it's still great to this day.

My final rating is, A Must Watch!

That's all for today. Come back on Saturday, Feb 24th, for my review of Ethan Coen's newest film, Drive-Away Dolls. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Season 2

 

With the third and final season on the way, it's time to look and see how season two holds up.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an animated sci-fi series, and the spin-off/sequel to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It's produced by Lucasfilm and Lucasfilm Animation and distributed by Disney Platform Distribution. Just like season one, this season also consist of 16 episodes. The show is created by Dave Filoni.

The story is, it's been months since the events of the last season and The Bad Batch continue to navigate through a new world. While they continue to take jobs to get through another day, what they don't know is the Galactic Empire is aware they're not dead, and are coming after them.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Much like the first season, the gray area stems from the storytelling. Let's start off with the good, one of those being themes such as replacement. Good portions of the series shows us how the clones feel about being replaced by people who aren't as effective soldiers as they are, and how they feel as though they're being cast aside despite everything they've done. But we also see that replacement theme over on the Empire side. Two characters named Edmon Rampart and Nolan have different personalities but share the trait that they think they're irreplaceable only for that be shown how that's not the case. But even if you didn't catch those themes then you can simply enjoy some greatly written episodes, mainly the Crosshair episodes those being "The Solitary Clone" and "The Outpost". I'm not over exaggerating when I say those are amazing episodes, I especially loved "The Outpost". Now for the negative side, that being the filler episodes, or as I like to call them "the adventure of the week" episodes. These are the episodes that you can just skip. One of them being being "Faster". The only thing we got out of that was Cid (The Bad Batch's boss) is sketchy. We already knew that because 1) She's a smuggler and Star Wars has shown a lot of those people aren't exactly good and 2) I do believe there's been numerous times when the show brought up that's she's shady. So "Faster" wasn't exactly telling us anything new.

• Positives

Alright now to tell you the 100% truly good things about this season, one being the voice acting. Yeah I know, now I'm not telling you anything new, but I can't help it. The cast just continues to do a great job. They're truly talented and that talent should be praised time and time again.

Then there's the action. I think I actually enjoyed even more so here than the first season, probably because of the slightly improved writing but I digress. I think it was at its best with the last two episodes because the Bad Batch was in such a such a tight spot, which kinda brought a tiny bit more suspense than what we already had.

The last thing I'll touch on is the animation. Another unsurprising thing but still should be praised. It's once again just great. I think the best showcase came from the "Pabu" episode. The island setting was just beautiful, especially during the sunset scenes.

While there is some slight improvements, the show overall is still just at a good level as supposed to great. Hopefully the third/final season will be the best because the writers will stop with the filler episodes. Hopefully they'll stop with the filler episodes.

My final rating is, Good.

All done everybody. Come back on Thursday, Feb 22nd, where I'll begin the Road to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, with my review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Madame Web Review

 

Madame Web is a comic book movie based on the Marvel Comics' character of the same name. The movie serves as the fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. It's produced by Columbia Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, and Marvel Entertainment and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Madame Web is written by S.J. Clarkson, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker and directed by S.J. Clarkson.

The story is EMT Cassandra Web is suddenly getting visions that can predict future events. When she gets a vision that three girls will be killed by a crazed madman, she now has to do everything she can to protect them.

Initial Reaction

Now this movie was by no means my most anticipated. If anything I just wanted to how in the world can you possibly make a Madame Web movie?

Cons

Oh boy, this movie has quite a few problems. One of those being our villain, Ezekiel Sims. Now him trying to prevent his future demise is a great gimmick to give a villain, sadly he's not a great villain. He's boring and I predict that when this movie is done being mocked and memed, nobody's gonna remember him. Then there's character, or lack thereof. First we have Cassandra. She's not really all that pleasant to be around. After her first rescue of Julia, Anya, and Mattie, her first action isn't to continue to be on the move, it's basically "Okay, I rescued you. Now go to the police". It almost came off like she didn't even care. Then by the middle of the movie we're lead to believe she's changed, and then by the end she's become their mother figure/mentor. But it didn't feel that way. It felt like at first she's begrudgingly protecting them, and then one snap of a finger later, she now cares for them. Which brings me to the Spider-Girls. Basically Julia's the dorky/shy one, Mattie's the rebellious troublemaker, and Anya...well I'm not quite sure what her character was. And much like Cassandra, by the end of the movie, we're supposed to believe they've changed but no, they really didn't. For the most part all three of them remained the same. Really the only development those three had was they now know how to do CPR. Like I said before, the movie wants us to believe Cassandra and co. changed, became better people, and will go on to become these great superheroes, but only the bare minimum of character development happened. Just because Julia, Anya, and Mattie danced together at a diner and Cassandra taught them CPR, doesn't mean a development happened. Then there's the CGI and ADR. Sometimes the CGI's fine, but man, those moments when it isn't...yikes. It almost looked cartoonist. And with the ADR it can be so obvious. I swear there are numerous moments where Ezekiel is speaking, but his mouth doesn't match up with what he's saying. Then there's the dialogue. One piece of it is just plain corny (which I didn't mind, cause sometimes corny dialogue can be fun), another piece of it is just info dump, even though a scene previously already showed us this info. Or it's a wink and a nod to Spider-Man. With lines just as "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come". Or because Ben's an uncle he'll have "All the fun and none of the responsibility". I want everybody to apologize to Morbius. I know you all eye rolled at the mid-credit scene, but that was just ONE Spidey wink. Madame Web does it far too much. Sony, we have the internet, we know you're cinematic universe is Spider-Man connected. You don't need to slap us in the face with this stuff.

Middle Ground

I've got nothing.

Pros

The only two things the movie has going for it is the cinematography and the performances. The movie does has a good look to it, and even though the writing isn't good, our cast found someway to pull through and act well. Nothing award winning by any means, but still something that let's you know that still cared enough not to half-ass anything.

Before I get to my final though and rating. I do want to bring this up.

Hope you weren't too hyped for this, cause it doesn't really happen. We do see the Spider-Girls in their suits, but it's three minutes and it's just some future vision stuff. And we see Dakota Johnson in the Madame Web suit, but it's also future vision and it's even less than the Spider-Girls. I think we see her in the suit for like a minute, maybe even less. Don't you just love false advertising?

While I do have some harsh things to say about Madame Web, I can't really say it's the worst comic book movie I've seen of recent years. I mean come on people, three months ago we got The Marvels and that was far worse than this, but I digress. This is one comic book movie you can definitely skip.

My final rating is, Bad, But Harmless.

Okay, that's going to do it for now. Come back on Monday, Feb 16th, for my review of season two of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Kung Fu Panda 4 - Kung Fu Panda 2 Review

 

Kung Fu Panda 2 is an animated marital arts comedy movie, as well as the sequel to Kung Fu Panda. Making it the second installment of the franchise. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Kung Fu Panda 2 was written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

The story is, Po feels like he's living the life. He's now known as The Dragon Warrior and is enjoying stopping bad guys with his allies/friends The Furious Five. This peaceful live takes a turn when a new dangerous villian arrives and plans to conquer China. In order to defeat him, Po must recall his past.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Nope, still nothing.

• Positives

Alright, first thing to praise but I'll keep short is the animation. This among many other things is what both the first and second film have in common, quality animation. Swift and smooth movements, beautiful looking colors, etc.

Then we have the action. Once again, we're given plenty of fun and exciting action. But not only was it entertaining in the aspect of people (or in this case animals) punching each other, but just like the first, there's bits of comedy.

Speaking of the comedy, there are yet again some very funny moments. Whether it'd be dialogue or slapstick, there's a lot of humorous moments. I think my favorite might have been when Shifu recounts when Po was chosen as the Dragon Warrior, and he almost seems like he's having his own Vietnam-esque flashback.

Now to write about something I've truly been waiting to write down for this review, and that being the main villain, Shen. I'll be honest, back in 2011 I didn't really think all that highly of him. A matter of fact, I actually thought he was a downgrade from Tai Lung. Cause my train of thought at the time was we went from a badass snow leopard who's an excellent martial artist, to a peacock that fires canons. But now that I'm older, I definitely see him in a very different light. Basically he after a combination of being rejected by his family and desperately trying to fight destiny, he wants control, he needs control. He doesn't care how he gets control, whether it's hurting or killing his own minions, or committing genocide, he just wants control over everything. All in an effort not to be hurt like he was in the past. But other than being a murderous control freak, he's actually very cunning. Sure, he'll go hand-to-hand, but for the most part he mainly relies on his advanced weaponry and his mind.

Now with Shen out of the way, how's Po doing this time around? Well he once again gets a great story that helps with his character. Where in the first he has to overcome an imposter syndrome, here he needs to find inner peace. And by that he needs to remember his past. But by having to remember the past, he winds up being trapped in for a good portion of the movie. So we get this very emotional journey where he must learn to let the past be, and live in the present. It's actually quite the contrast to Shen's story. Because with Shen and his story of the past, he's hurting and isn't using that pain to learn and become better, where as Po is using the past for the exact opposite.

Folks, much like the first movie, I liked it but now, I love it. This is a spectacular sequel.

My final rating is, A Must Watch!

That's all for now, come back on Friday, Feb 16th, my review of the newest Sony/Marvel flick, Madame Web. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Orion and the Dark Review

 

Orion and the Dark is an animated fantasy adventure comedy movie, based on the children's book of the same name. It's produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Netflix. Orion and the Dark is written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Sean Charmatz.

The story is, Orion fears many things, but if there's one thing that he fears the most it's the dark. Then to his shock the living embodiment of his worst fear pays him a visit, and wants to show him there's no reason to be afraid of the dark, or in this case him.

Initial Reaction

Very simple reason for seeing this. Going off of the trailer, it looked very charming. So I thought I'd give it a watch.

Cons

Nothing here. Scroll down to the next part.

Middle Ground

If there's one gray area it's the story. Now don't get it twisted, it's still pretty good. There's many aspects to it that makes it entertaining. Such as Dark and Orion bonding, seeing how Dark and the other night entities work, and etc. Where it fumbles a bit is it does put too much into it. Now in a way it does make sense for the setting. Someone is telling a very silly story to someone else, and then they just wind up making it goofier because it's just some people having fun. But the thing is the story works best when it was keeping simple, but really the story of Orion overcoming his fear is a simple story itself.

Pros

One thing that was really good is the animation. Yeah that shouldn't come as a surprise because DreamWorks Animation has been doing great animation when it was doing both 2D and 3D animation, before doing just 3D. But it's always important to praise that aspect. What I especially liked was when both Dark and Light were going around changing things from night to day. It's very simple but it looked great. I also liked the humor in this. I laughed many times, but I think my favorite was seeing how the entity Sleep puts people to sleep. I was quite shocked how darkly comedic that was. The last thing I'll touch on is the voice cast. While everyone did good, I especially want to praise Paul Walter Hauser and Jacob Tremblay. They were definitely the best part of the whole movie, and they had some pretty good chemistry.

While I don't see Orion and the Dark setting the world on fire, I think I can see this as a movie the whole family can enjoy.

My final rating is, Good.

Alright, that's all for today. Come back on Thursday, Feb 8th, for part two of the Road to Kung Fu Panda 4, with my review of Kung Fu Panda 2. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Argylle Review

 

Argylle is a spy action comedy movie, that's produced by Apple Studios, Marv Studios, and Cloudy Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures and Apple Original Films. Argylle is written by Jason Fuchs and directed by Matthew Vaughn.

The story is, Elly Conway is a spy novelist known for her Argylle series. She soon finds herself in a real life espionage when the plots to her books happen to match to the activates of a sinister organization. Now, with the help of an undercover spy, she along with her beloved cat must a find a way to survive this crazy experience.

Initial Reaction

The reason for wanting to see this was quite simple. Judging from the trailers, it seemed like it was going to be a very fun movie.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

There are many gray areas with Argylle, one of those being the runtime. The movie didn't feel like it had to be 2hrs and 19m. If anything it really should've been just two hours. With that runtime we essentially would've gotten the same movie. Then there's the CGI. I want be to harsh on the CGI artist, cause I'd imagine the artist probably had a ridiculous deadline to work that was mandated by the studios. Wouldn't be shocked if that was the case, cause there are times when the special effects are pretty good, other times not so much. Which brings me to my next point, that being the humor. I'll admit I did laugh at some bits. But you do have those moments where the jokes are just okay or just didn't work. The last thing I'll touch and it's the biggest mix bag of them all, and it's the story. Now, at first, it's actually a lot of fun. What with Elly understandably being terrified of the spy things going on, and putting her creative author mind to this mission. Where it loses steam is when it tries with all of the twist and turns. One wasn't bad, but then next thing you know we got like I think two or three others. One of them was a character wasn't actually dead. That one felt like it didn't need to be there at all.

Pros

Now there are three good things about the movie. The action is fun, and Matthew Vaughn's directing does give the movie a nice sense of style. And despite the weak script, people like Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell provide some very entertaining performances.

Overall, I don't hate Argylle, but this isn't really a movie I'll be checking out again anytime soon, or anywhere in the near future. And if you have plans to see it, more power to ya, but this isn't really a must see, day one, or anything else. You can just wait a bit to see this.

My final rating is, Okay.

So, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Feb 5th, for my review of Netflix's newest movie, Orion and the Dark. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.