Hey everybody and welcome back to Looking Back at the Films of 2019. Today's movies I'll be reviewing are Men in Black: International, The Dead Don't Die, Child's Play, and Annabelle Comes Home. Let's begin.
Why Didn't I See Men in Black: International?
The main reason why I didn't see Men in Black: International is because it just wouldn't have had the same feeling for me if I had being watching Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The trailers and TV spots seemed good but like I said before it just didn't feel the same without Will and Tommy.
What is Men in Black: International?
Men in Black: International is a science fiction action film and a spin-off of the Men in Black film series. The movie was produced by Columbia Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Parkes + Macdonald, Image Nation, and Tencent Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Men in Black: International was written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and directed by F. Gary Gray. The story is the secret organization called Men in Black have expanded to cover the globe. Now a new threat to the planet Earth has arrived and just to make it worse these aliens can shapeshift into anybody, so Agent H and the newest rookie Agent M must stop the newest bad guys, save the agency, and must importantly save the world.
My Thoughts
The Good: None!
The Bad: One thing I hated about the movie was how despite Men in Black is suppose to be a hidden organization this movie completely threw that out of the window. There were two instances where they blew their cover. One was when two agents went to Molly's (Agent M) house when she was a little girl and straight up told her parents that they have an alien going through their trash. Sure they wiped her parents memories afterwards but why would they say that out loud? The other example of this is when H and M are in the desert, have a super powerful weapon, shot it, and then make something that's essentially the Grand Canyon. Yeah, that's not gonna raise any questions?! Another awful aspect of Men in Black: International is our main characters Agent H and Agent M. H is such a buffoon it really makes you wonder how is he even apart of this agency? It especially makes your head tilt when almost every character says he's the best agent they have on the force. Then there's M. A buddy of mine (FilmJunkee) called her a Mary Sue....honestly looking back at it I understand why. There are so many things she was able to accomplish even though story wise she shouldn't have. Like climbing a mountain without any gear, hack into satellites with ease, and know how to fire/adjust the setting to a weapon despite the fact it's her first time using it. Seriously how does she know how to do this stuff? All she did for her entire life was read books about the universe. Don't think any of those came with directions to what I just described. Then we have the humor. All I want to say is none of it lands, it really doesn't. Now for my last grievance with Men in Black: International is even though the credits say it's a F. Gary Gray film, that's not the case. If you seen he's previous films such as Friday, The Italian Job, Straight Outta Compton, and The Fate of the Furious the guy clearly has his own style but with this movie not at all! This is so by the numbers that it makes me think that this movie got messed with during production.
UPDATE!: YUP. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH THE MOVIE GOT DICKED WITH. BECAUSE WHY SHOULD A DIRECTOR'S VISION BE SHOWN? 😒
The Meh: There were two things that were alright with the movie and those are Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson's chemistry and the action. Those parts of the film are fine but they're not enough to save this movie.
Final Verdict: Awful
Why Didn't I See The Dead Don't Die?
Now I love good zombie comedy film, I mean who doesn't love Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland? So when I heard about this movie I was excited but sadly my theater apparently thought nobody wanted to see this because there wasn't a single showing on their website.
What is The Dead Don't Die?
The Dead Don't Die is a horror comedy movie. It was produced by Kill the Head and distributed by Focus Features. The Dead Don't Die was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. The story is everything seems peaceful in the small rural town of Centerville, then out of nowhere a zombie outbreak starts to happen. Now the remaining citizens must fight their way out of the town and find a safe haven.
My Thoughts
The Good: The best thing about the movie was Bill Murray and Adam Driver. They have such great comedic chemistry and overall they just work off each other seamlessly. Another aspect of The Dead Don't Die that was good was the cinematography. It has this nice dull and bleak look to it, which is good thing since this is a zombie movie after all.
The Bad: The worse thing about the movie was it's script. There are so many things wrong it. Such as it's heavy handed environmental message. There was no subtly to it what so ever, because throughout the movie we're told about polar fracking and that somehow ties into the zombie apocalypse. Then we have subplots that went absolutely nowhere. Like we had this one subplot with kids from a juvenile detention center, and after awhile we never hear from them again. That entire story could have been cut from the entire flick and quite literally nothing would have changed. The other negative is wasted talent. I have no idea what that whole thing was with Tilda Swinton's character, Steve Buscemi & Danny Glover had some things to do but their roles were so small they might as well have not been there. And Selena Gomez really didn't get to do anything but say how she likes a song, talk here and there, and then watch TV.
The Meh: I enjoyed the humor for the most part. There were some jokes that didn't work but I liked most of them.
Final Verdict: Bad
Why Did I See Child's Play?
Same reason as The Dead Don't Die. Theater didn't have a showing. They more interested in showing Toy Story 4 than Child's Play. Which sucks because I would have loved to see two movies about toys put in a completely polar opposite way on the same exact day.
What is Child's Play?
Child's Play is a horror movie and remake of the 1988 film of the same name. The film also serves as a reboot to the Child's Play film series. The movie was produced by Orion Pictures, KatzSmith Productions, and Bron Studios and distributed by United Artist Releasing. Child's Play was written by David Katzenberg, Tyler Burton Smith, and Seth Grahame-Smith and directed by Lars Klevberg. The story is Andy's mom has given her son a gift, a Buddi doll named Chucky. The doll seems innocent enough until horrifying things start happening which are all connected to Chucky. Now Andy must put a stop to this sinster doll or the bloody rampage will continue.
My Thoughts
The Good: One good thing about this new version of Child's Play is the performances from Gabriel Bateman and Mark Hamill. Bateman was a good lead and his acting was well done, then you have Mark Hamill who just nails it as this incarnation of Chucky. He made the character sweet when he needed to be and of course made Chucky as creepy as he should be. What I also liked about it has a fun vibe to it instead of going dark and gritty. Now yes a dark and gritty mood can work for horror films such as Friday The 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I really can't imagine that tone for Child's Play. Because even the newer movies prior to this one (Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky) while they are just a tad bit dark still have a fun tone to them. The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is it's new direction with the whole A.I. thing actually works. The writers found a way to execute this idea for the remake and I wasn't disappointed with it.
The Bad: I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
The Meh: One mix bag is Chucky's design. It's fine but they really should have made the face look less weird. I mean if I was a kid and I saw that in stores I wouldn't be scared of it but I definitely wouldn't be begging my parents to buy me that. Another piece of the movie that could have used more work is the characterization. We get a good bit of development with Andy and his mom and him with Chucky, but everyone else is either just a click or fall to the wayside. Then we have an issue with the first half of the film. It drags for a bit but once things get into gear I think you'll forgive it for that first half.
Final Verdict: Good
Why Didn't I See Annabelle Comes Home?
The reason is the same as the last two, my theater didn't have a showing. Which was very confusing because they had a showing for The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun. So I thought it would make sense for them to have a showing for this movie but I guess not.
What is Annabelle Comes Home?
Annabelle Comes Home is a supernatural horror movie, a sequel to Annabelle: Creation, and the seventh installment in the Conjuring Universe. The movie was produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, and The Safran Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Annabelle Comes Home was written and directed by Gary Dauberman. The story is after Ed and Lorraine Warren have successfully taken care Annabelle and the evil contained within her, they think they have the situation under control. One year later the Warrens leave their daughter and their babysitter home alone hoping that nothing will happen and it'll just be an average day for them. However someone has opened the case that's containing Annabelle and the nightmare is about to begin.
My Thoughts
The Good: Now much like the previous films I reviewed where it was a first time director, this movie along with the previous ones really doesn't show it. Gary Dauberman did a good job directing this film despite it being his first time. Another great quality to Annabelle Comes Home is the performances mainly from McKenna Grace as Judy Warren. She was really good, I wasn't expecting a child actor like her do such a phenomenal job.
The Bad: The real issue I have with the movie is it's way longer than I should have been. It clocks in at an hour and forty-six mintues. When in reality it doesn't feel like it should be that long, if anything it could have worked as ninety mintue movie or something slightly in that ball park.
The Meh: For the most part the scares are fine, they're defintely not as good as Annabelle: Creation's scares but I thought some of it was okay. Another thing that could have used more work was our main characters. Much like the scares they're fine but it still feels like we could've gotten a lot more. Some backstory fleshes them out just a bit but still felt like there's something missing.
Final Verdict: Okay
Okay so I'm all done here. Come back on Thursday, July 2nd for my Cinematic Disasters review of Epic Movie. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.
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