Looking Back at the Films of 2024 Part Four - The 4:30 Movie, Wolfs, & Saturday Night

 

And we're back with a brand new edition of Looking Back at the Films of 2024. Let's get down to business.

Why I Didn't I See The 4:30 Movie?

It's a tale as old as time. There was no showing at my local theater, so I saved a review for later.

What is The 4:30 Movie?

The 4:30 Movie is a semi-autographical coming-of-age comedy movie, with production being done by Destro Films and SMODCO and distribution done by Saban Films. Kevin Smith both directed and wrote the story.

The story is, Brian David has worked up the courage to ask his crush Melody Barnegat out on a date to the movies along with his friends Belly and Burny. Before Melody joins them for a movie that starts at 4:30, the trio plan on hopping all day. But things might not good as plan when they have to deal with other theater goers, a egotistical manager, and many other problems.

My Thoughts

The Good: Let's start off with my favorite aspect, that being it's actually very heartfelt. Because Kevin Smith was an 80's kid, you can feel the love from that era. Hanging outside with your, sneaking into R rated movies, all of the stuff I imagine your parents would brag about, or at least mine do 😆. What I also loved was this also felt like a love letter to cinema. We do get the typical film fandom stuff like debating future blockbusters, but there was one scene that stuck with me and I really loved. When Brian's at a low point he has a conversation with the Hot Usher (that's what the actress is credited as it's not my label) and they talk about their love for films and how she plans to be a director, and says Brian has that same dream. Brian rejects that saying he just loves movies, but the Hot Usher says that's the first step to becoming a filmmaker. I'm only telling an abridged version but the actual scene is much better. The point is, this love for cinema shines bright and it's one of two of the movie's biggest strengths.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: One mix bag is the characters. Now I didn't mind Brian. I don't think by any means he's gonna be a breakout or cult character, but I thought he was already. Even if he's not the most deepest character I think people can relate to him in that shy geeky level. As for the other characters some of them are alright. Burny does have a predictable story arc but it was handled good enough. As for everyone else, well they don't developed but at least they got decent writing. Lastly there's the humor. I do admit there are quite a few good moments. Other times the jokes are predictable or feels like Kevin Smith wants to be as edgy as he was back in his Clerks/Mallrats days, but it's either he doesn't have it in him anymore or he's playing it safe with the edgier stuff.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Why Didn't I See Wolfs?

Simply put I had other plans. For starters I was just starting work for part eight Looking Back at the Films of 2023. So first I had to starting writing stuff, getting posters for an image, watch those movies for that segment and then before I knew it Transformers One was around the corner along side Wolfs. So then I had a decision to make. Transformers One or Wolfs? I went with the Autobots & Decepticons. Because of this already busy schedule I needed to save a review for Wolfs later down the road.

What is Wolfs?

Wolfs is a action comedy movie that was produced by Apple Studios, Freshman Year, Smokehouse Pictures, and Plan B Entertainment with Apple TV+ distributing. Jon Watts directed as well as wrote the story.

The story is, two fixers, one hired by District Attorney Margaret and the other hired by the hired by the hotel owner Pam to dispose of the dead body of a young man and clean up any other messes. But things take a turn when the fixers not only find drugs in the hotel room but also discover the young man isn't actually dead. Now the two fixers must begrudgingly work together and found out how the drugs and the young man are connected.

My Thoughts

The Good: Firstly there's the humor. I had a lot of good laughs with this. The best parts come from the dialogue. One of the good lines is "My car. My guy. Fuck you." Then there's Jon Watts' directing. Where was this kind of directing with his Spider-Man films? Watts shot a gorgeous looking New York. Great looking sleek cityscapes, moody lighting, giving the film a very noir inspired style. So ask again, Disney and Marvel, why did you have Jon Watts tone it down for his Spidey flicks? Then there's the chemistry between George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we've seen these two share since Burn After Reading. But despite that long time away from each other their chemistry is fantastic. Their razor sharp banter and back and forth was fun throughout the whole movie.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: Now I'll fully admit it, there's quite a few times when you can predict where the story is going. But I felt like I could forgive the movie for that simply because I had a really fun time with this.

Final Verdict: Good.

Why Didn't I See Saturday Night

Now I did want to see this movie because I really liked the premise, but much like The 4:30 Movie, there was no showing. Which made sense because around Sept 27th it only had a limited theatrical release. So finding a showing in Ohio was gonna be difficult to not find anything. Then when Oct 11th came around for the movie to have a wider release, I was more focused on the horror movie Mr. Crocket.

What is Saturday Night?

Saturday Night is a biographical comedy movie based the events of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, more specifically about the behind the scenes. Production was done by Columbia Pictures and Reitman/Kenan Productions with Sony Pictures Releasing doing distribution. Jason Reitman directed and wrote the screenplay alongside Gil Kenan.

The story is, it's October 11th, 1975 and novice producer Lorne Michaels arrives at NBC Studios in New York to prepare to air the first episode of his comedy sketch show Saturday Night (now known as Saturday Night Live). But this isn't gonna be a peaceful first airing like everybody hoped it would. There's problems with the set, the sound system is messed up, the cast alternates between hostile and rebellious, and the crew is open to revolt. If Lorne doesn't solve all of these problems soon NBC will pull the plug.

My Thoughts

The Good: Firstly I'll give credit to the pacing. This is a breeze of a movie to get through. I didn't feel like a single minute was wasted. Then we have Jason Reitman's directing. He's got a good handle on controlled anarchy. With his whip pans and roving camera, you truly feel like you're in a chaotic environment. And I loved every moment. Now I want to praise Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels. He's clearly just trying to achieve his dream of making a show that nobody's seen before, and Gabriel captures that with his voice, you can hear the passion and drive. But I think his best moment came when he wasn't talking but walking away to just briefly take a break from all of the chaos. You can see in LaBelle's body language that he almost feels defeated and might be on the verge of giving up. It's a really great performance.

The Bad: I've yet again got nothing for this section.

The Okay: The only mix feelings I had was with the comedy. It a little ironic that a movie about a revolutionary comedy show has quite a bit of hit or miss jokes. I did laugh quite a bit, especially with a few bits of dialogue and heavy implications of poor Jim Henson's puppets being put in compromising positions as it was put in the movie. But you don't have moments that just didn't work. Maybe they'd be more funny if I had more knowledge of SNL back in the 70's?

Final Verdict: Good.

Okay that's a wrap. Come back on Thursday, Oct 2nd, for my review of the newest Amazon Prime movie, Play Dirty. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

One Battle After Another Review

 

One Battle After Another is an epic action thriller loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland. Production was handled by Ghoulardi Film Company with Warner Bros. Pictures doing distributing. Paul Thomas Anderson both wrote and directed.

The story is, former revolutionary "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun is washed up paranoid drug addict but still tries to be the best father he can be to his daughter. Things take a dark turn when an old enemy comes back and kidnaps Pat's daughter. Now Pat needs to quickly get it together and rescue his kid.

Initial Reaction

Honestly the only reason I went to see this was because I heard lots of positive reviews. So I was curious about all of the hype.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

Oh boy, there's quite a bit. Let's start off with the pacing. At first it starts off pretty well. But soon it is a bit on the slow side, nothing too dramatic but you can feel things have slowed down. Where it truly drags is during the final act. For me it really felt like PTA really wanted to milk all he could with the emotional reunion and ending. Then there's the tone. It bounces back from gritty action to screwball comedy. This made the movie have a whiplash effect. One moment I'm suppose to feel intense then next thing I know we're being funny. The last thing I'll touch on for this section of the review is the characters. First there's Pat and his revolutionary buddies. It's really hard to root for them as the good guys when they commit crimes that no normal person would defend. I'm serious one of their crimes is a bombing. I get Anderson was more than likely going for flawed anti-heroes, which if any of you have followed me since the beginning you'd know I like that stuff, but here I just don't think Anderson nailed it. But I guess it wasn't all bad since PTA did show some humanity with Pat (aka Bob) and his bond with his daughter Willa. And then there's the villain, Lockjaw. Honestly he's not a good villain. Primarily because he's get this, a racist white guy. How many times have we gotten this villain archetype? How many years have we gotten this type of villain or variant? Going on ten years or close to? Seriously I've read comments from people from all walks of life you have grown tired of this trope.

Pros

Now there are quite a few good aspects of One Battle After Another. One being the action. The action in this very realistic and raw. You get intense shootouts and thrilling high-speeed car chase. Now there is a use of shaky cam, but it's more used to the chaos of these scenes then a cheap gimmick or poorly done filmmaking. Then there's the performances. Leonardo DiCaprio is unsurprisingly hits it out of the park, bringing some great comedic moments. Probably a good contender with his other comedic roles like in The Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Now despite issues with his character being the newest cliché, I do admit Sean Penn delivered a great performance. He brings out Lockjaw's menace and his absurd bluster. Then there's Chase Infiniti. Now despite being a newcomer she surprisingly does a fantastic job. She brought a lot of heart in otherwise chaotic story. The last thing I'll credit is the cinematography. Michael Bauman did an incredible job, it's amazing how beautiful this movie looks. His lighting choices enhances the more gritty side of the movie. The naturalistic light has a great harsh sunlight and the more urban settings have some good neon flickering lights. Bauman's cinematography elevated Paul Thomas Anderson's directing. So two thumbs up to you Mr. Bauman 👍🏻👍🏻.

So yeah, despite some good stuff I found this movie not to be bad, but it is massively overhyped. So overhyped I'm already seeing articles calling this a "cultural phenomenon". I thought a movie need a year or two or more to achieve that status but apparently it only takes two or three days.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Sept 29th, for part four of Looking Back at the Films of 2024. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Marvel Zombies Review

 

Ya know, I'm happy this still got released instead of cancelled like many other MCU projects, but man do I wish Disney kept the original October 3rd release date. It would've been a fun way to start off the Halloween season. Oh well, let's just hope it's good.

Marvel Zombies is an adult animated tv series that not only acts as the 16th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but as a spin-off to Marvel's previous series What If...? more specially the first season's fifth episode, What If...Zombies?! Production was done by Marvel Studios Animation and the show is distributed by Disney+. Bryan Andrews created the show and wrote the series along with Zeb Wells.

The story is, it's been five years since the zombie plague spread across the world and turned people into the living dead. But there may be hope when a group of survivors found a key that might be able to put an end to all this. They travel across the dystopian roads and risk their lives in this mission, but the biggest threat isn't just the undead themselves, it's the Queen of the Dead herself, Scarlet Witch.

Why Am I Review This Show?

Now If any of you have been with me and followed my blog, then you'd know my history with Marvel TV shows isn't that big, meaning I've only ever reviewed Daredevil. Not because I hate them it's just whenever they come out I got something else planned, but I wanted to explain my history with the Marvel Zombies series. First, let's flashback. Let's go back all the way to 2005. I was there when the very first Marvel Zombies comic book series was released. It was a day after my birthday Dec 7th, so I would've been nine years old at this time. I was just scrolling through Marvel's official website seeing what was being released during that month, and that's when I saw this cover.

My little kid brain was blown away. I was thinking, "Holy shit! Are we gonna see Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the other Marvel heroes fight freakin' zombies!". So I quickly read the first issue (and I definitely read it on a totally 100% legal site), and while it wasn't exactly like what I imagined it to be I was still blown away. Although while still doing research on this I did soon find out this series idea spun off from a story arc in Ultimate Fantastic Four. So it wasn't a new idea made by Robert Kirkman (the creator behind The Walking Dead & Invincible) like I initially thought, but it was still pretty cool.

Since that day I was looking at the action figures that were gonna come out, seeing some fan art, and like three years later seeing that one fan film along with fan made trailers where at the time the only footage that could be used was from Marvel films years prior to the MCU. I also read some of the sequels and that crossover with The Army of Darkness, and I did enjoy some of those, but man, nothing compared to that first series.

So yeah, I have a long history with this side of the Marvel universe. And while I was bummed out this show isn't gonna be like Robert Kirkman's miniseries, Hell we're probably not gonna get something like that until I'm a very old man, I was still interested in seeing this. Especially since this show would have a TV-MA rating.

• Negatives

It's the humor. The show tries really hard to have comedic moments to lighten things up, but other than two lines I barely laughed.

• Mix

The biggest mix bag for the series is the writing. Now I could make a cheap shot about Zeb Wells and his terrible Amazing Spider-Man run, but this was more of mix. The good stuff includes for instance Kamala Kahn and her struggle to find hope in a world where that's either limited or nonexistent. Her story brings heart to any otherwise dark tale. So I actually got invested in that. Pretty good redemption for a character who had to appear in The Marvels. But then you get characters you really don't care for. I get a lot of the fan favorites are either dead or got turned into zombies, but who's gonna be invested in Death Dealer or whoever Awkwafina is playing? Yes I know her character was in Shang-Chi but I completely forgot who she is. The only other characters I cared for who weren't Kamala were Spider-Man (because duh it's Spidey) and Blade Knight. By the way, Blade Knight is pretty awesome.

But it's not just characters that are also the problem. It's also the overall story itself. At first it's a pretty simple survival story. Alright that's all good and fine. But at the same time Zombie Scarlet Witch has her own agenda, that's fine too. Especially since that was a plot point from the beginning and had a good build up to the fourth and final episode. So where's the problem? Well it comes in the form of the ending to the final episode. Without giving too much away, Queen of the Dead Scarlet Witch defeats a character (I won't give away who it is) who is powered by Infinity Stones energy. Yes, somehow Scarlet Witch beat someone powered with the Infinity Stones. How? They've got the energy of the Infinity Stones! That should be the most overpowered man walking the universe. But then we get the real ending which just sequel baits you. You'd think with so many projects that Marvel Studios either had to change or cancel they'd be more careful with the sequel baiting. Cause unlike the earlier years of the MCU, there's no undoubtedly, sure-fire guarantees anymore.

Then lastly there's the animation. Now whether it's What If...? or this miniseries I could never get behind it. It's not bad, it's just somethings do look good, but 99.99% of the time everyone and everything looks too smooth.

• Positives

So, where there any truly good highlights? Yes, yes there were. For starters good voice acting. Iman Vellani gave a very strong performance. Her acting captured Kamala's optimism, but shows the cracks when she's at her most vulnerable. Then there's Todd Williams as Blade Knight. It's no surprise his character became a fan favorite. Not only is his design cool, but Williams' brings a very gritty and commanding voice whenever the character speaks. Lastly Elizabeth Olsen returns as Scarlet Witch. Despite a limited amount of appearances, Olsen still gives a very chilling and menacing performance.

But what about the thing we all came for? What about the bloody, gut ripping gore? Well, it's safe to say that TV-MA rating didn't go to waste. Unlike the What If...Zombies?! episode, this show holds nothing back. People get ripped apart, zombies get their heads ripped off courtesy of Spider-Man, it's a brutal spectacle. It's by far the show's greatest strength.

While this wasn't a total letdown, I was still hoping for something more. Especially when it came to the ending.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Sept 27th, for my review of the newest Leonardo DiCaprio movie, One Battle After Another. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to Tron: Ares - Tron: Legacy Review

 

We're back on the Road to Tron: Ares! Now the first movie was actually really good, it's time to see if the sequel is also good or a terrible follow up.

Tron: Legacy is a sci-fi action film and the sequel to Tron, thus making this the second installment to the franchise. While Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed, it was Walt Disney Pictures and Sean Bailey Productions that produced. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz wrote the screenplay, while Joseph Kosinski directed.

The story is, Sam is the son of famous video game developer Kevin Flynn and he's been haunted by his disappearance for a long time. Then one day a strange signal calls to Sam and it brings him to Flynn's Arcade. Soon, Sam is transported to a different world. And while he's found his father, Sam realizes this world is without a doubt far more advanced, but it's also far more dangerous.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

One thing that was okay was the pacing. At first it's really good, but after Sam is saved by Quorra, the pacing switches between fast and slow. One moment things are moving smoothly then it's slow. So this flip flopping is a bit of downer. Didn't fully ruin the movie, it was just so something noticeable.

Then there's the villain, Clu. He wasn't bad by any stretch, he was just a very standard villain. And while Jeff Bridges gives a good vocal performance and John Reardon does a good job with the physical work, I am with everyone else when it comes to the digital de-aged Jeff Bridges face. It's very distracting and very uncanny valley.

• Positives

One praise goes to the music. Now I've never listened to Daft Punk until watching this movie, but if there music is anything like what was in this film, I might check them out more. Their electronic score was a perfect fit for the world of Torn. It sounded futuristic and had a raw energy to it. It's no wonder it was so praised back when it was released and even celebrated now. So Nine Inch Nails has some big shoes to fill come Tron: Ares.

Then there's the action. First we get our typical light cycle battle. They're sleek but have great intensity to them. Then we got disc battles that are just as thrilling. Whenever characters are fighting with them they felt like extensions of the characters. And for added variety we even get a pretty awesome aerial dogfight. Combine those ideas with some nice visuals and fluid editing, and the action gets a 10/10.

Now let me get into the visuals because they are pure eye candy. The look of Tron: Legacy has beautifully stunning and dark cyberpunk aesthetic. I really couldn't look away from it. The use of deep blacks, glowing neon, and reflective surfaces not only looked futuristic, but almost noir like too. So props to Claudio Miranda 👏🏻.

The last thing I'll praise is the world-building. The filmmakers do a brilliant job expanding the world of The Grid. We get to see this world's rules, society, hierarchies, and culture. While also diving into new digital life forms, which is also diving into something akin to a digital evolution. We're given a beautiful rich and lived in world, and I'm hoping it's expanded more in Ares.

So while there's some issues I do finally understand why this is considered to be an underrated film.

My final rating is, Good.

Alright that's a wrap for this road, sure it was short put that's to be expected with a series with only two movies. But regardless, come back on Thursday, Sept 25th, for my review on the newest Marvel miniseries, Marvel Zombies. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Long Walk Review

 

Alright, reviewing another recently released movie. And one based on a Stephen King book, hopefully it'll be just as good as the last two adaptions I reviewed.

The Long Walk is a dystopian horror thriller movie based on the 1979 Stephen King novel of the same name. Vertigo Entertainment and About: Blank did production while Lionsgate distributed. JT Mollner wrote the screenplay, while Francis Lawrence directed.

The story is, in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian regime there's an annual event called "The Long Walk". Fifty boys are chosen at random and are given food and rations and must walk without stopping, to make matters more challenge they'll be a squad of soldiers to escort them. If any walker who falls below 3 miles per hour and takes three warnings he will be shot and killed. The walk ends with one survivor who will be grand a cash prize and have one wish fulfilled. So the question is, who will be the victor?

Initial Reaction

Now I was fully excited to see this movie but then I thought of backing out given Stephen King's dishonest claim regrading Charlie Kirk especially since he made that post when it was announced that Charlie recently died after being assassinated. And I don't believe for one moment he actually wanted to delete the original X post nor do I believe he's being honest with his apologies. BUT! In my review of Spinal Tap II, I pretty much promised I'd review this movie. So I instead viewed this as supporting hard working filmmakers and actors and not a book writer who from what I've heard but can't confirm for myself, hasn't written a good book in 20 years.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

One gray area is the characters. Now Ray and Pete have a really dynamic. At first they're just strangers to any another, but as they continue with The Walk they slowly become friends and after that brothers. But we also have other pretty good characters like Olsen, Arthur, Barkovitch, and Stebbins. Even though they don't have the strongest character it's helped by their personalities. Olsen is very scrappy and confident in his abilities. Arthur is a religious teen with a folksy warmth to him. Barkovitch is a character you'll love to hate. He's obnoxious, brash, and goats others to break under the pressure. Now at first Stebbins doesn't do much but he's reasons for being part of The Walk does turn into a slow burn mystery until later. But then you got characters who's fates are pretty obvious. Like one character wants to write a book about The Walk from a contestant's p.o.v. but then he fades away and you quickly don't have a good feeling about him. And it's not just the walkers with some lackluster writing. The Major, the villain of the movie, whose just evil, and that's it. He's either evil or cartoonish evil.

Pros

Now let's get into praising the movie. Let's start off with the visuals. Both Francis Lawrence and cinematographer Jo Willems do a tremendous job with the bleak imagery. Willems' use of showcasing desolate highways along with hazy horizons, dusty browns, faded greens, and overcast skies make the landscape of The Walk feel completely empty. These visuals make every step feel like hell. Then we have Francis' directing. With his nicely done close-ups and tracking shots do a fantastic job mirroring the walkers psychologically and physically toll. We especially see that toll with Francis' handheld shots showing trudging feet, sweat soaked faces, trembling lips, and tired glares. Now I want to give credit for the use of tension. Once The Walk starts the threat of the warnings looms in every scene. Hell, a single stumble or slight moment of weakness actually got me very nervous. But what really made the tension work is we can both see and feel the boys' decay. Again to the credit of Lawrence's showing characters and things like trembling limbs. But also because of the mental factor. Some get shot because they wanted to rebel, some get shot because they mentally broke and tried to run off the path, or the most sad of them all their bodies are breaking down and they know it show they just accept their fate. And this sense of dread is even felt through quieter moments like sharing a canteen of water. The last thing I'll praise is the performances of Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. Like I said previously, they're growing brotherhood. But they're performances are also very soulful and help anchor the film in some humanity. Their chemistry made every moment hit, they're work together was something uplifting despite the film's dark world.

While some characters didn't get the strongest of writing, The Long Walk is actually a pretty good flick.

My final rating is, Good.

Now even though I did give this a positive review, I can understand why some plan not to see this given Stephen King's disgusting behavior. At the end it's your money and you can go see whatever movie you want to see, or use for something else.

Anyhow, sorry if I bummed some of you out with my Stephen King bashing. I know I've complained many times before about woke guys like King, censorship, or entire industries before. But at the end of the day I still want this blog to be a pretty chilled place to visit.

With all that being said, due come back on Monday, Sept 22nd, for the next part of my Road to Tron: Ares with my review of Tron: Legacy. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Review

 

Alright, two days ago I reviewed the original 1984 classic. Now it's time to review the sequel where hopefully it's just as good as the first.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a mockumentary comedy film and the sequel to This is Spinal Tap. Production this time around was done by Castle Rock Entertainment and distribution wasn't done by Embassy Pictures, but by Bleecker Street. Rob Reiner not only returned to direct and write the story, but also returning to write was Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer.

The story is, it's been around forty years since the first documentary. Martin Di Bergi sets out to film the band Spinal Tap for their reunion and final show. But Spinal Tap is not only struggling with finding a drummer, but also with their checkered past. But they still hope to put on a show and solidify their place among the other pantheons of rock 'n' roll.

Initial Reaction

Even though I only became a fan of the original like three days ago, I was still interested to see the sequel. When watching the trailer it looked like it was gonna be funny. So hopefully it is.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The only mix feeling I had was with the humor. Now the sequel does poke fun at reunion tours. Being light-hearted jabs about how they often come off as desperate, but also making fun of more modern rock tropes like bad record deals. But there are times when they are recycling jokes from the 1984 classic. Even going far as to have a prop mishap. It didn't bother me too much, especially since I did chuckle. But it did leave me wanting something more.

Pros

First thing I'll credit is the tight pacing. The movie clocks in at 90 minutes and by no means overstays its welcome. It's a quick and easy movie to through just like the first was. Then there's Reiner's directing. He once again does a tremendous job at making this feel like a documentary, only more polished than the original's grain style considering documentaries have evolved. And what also helped with this realistic style was Rob's own experience actually directing a documentary not too long ago, that being Albert Brooks: Defending My Life for anybody that was curious. The last thing I'll praise is the trio of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. The three slipped into their iconic roles effortlessly. They perfectly nailed Nigel, David, and Derek's bickering and obliviousness making me love these characters all over again.

While nothing went up to eleven (bet nobody's made that joke before), the sequel does a very serviceable job. Would've I wanted something more innovative? Yes. But thankfully it didn't suck.

My final rating is, Okay.

Sorry if this review felt shorter than most. I'm currently pup/house sitting for my sister while her and her boyfriend are off to see some football game in Pittsburgh. So I had to focus a lot of time making sure the pups eat, went to the bathroom OUTSIDE, and also don't get sprayed by a skunk. Yes, that last one actually happened to the pups prior to me doing this favor.

Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Sept 15th, for my review of The Long Walk. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.