Tag: Movie Characters

Movie Review: Ghostbusters Afterlife

Ghostbusters Afterlife Official Movie Poster. Five characters standing around the Ecto-1 car as a greenish "ghost" storm forms in the sky above them.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Afterlife

I’ve been purchasing quite a few movies lately. Most of them have been copies for my film class, for the ones that I did not already own, but many of them have been science fiction and fantasy movies that I’ve not yet had a chance to see. I’ve not really watched them because of the pressure of the semester, but I decided last night that the pressure was really getting to me (this post was almost a “Bear Eats You” type of post and I really didn’t want to go there), so even though it was later than I liked, I went ahead and watched Ghostbusters Afterlife. I have to say that I really enjoyed the film and that there was a lot to like about the movie.

The Good

I thought there was quite a bit of excellent work in terms of both writing and characterization inside the movie. The script, while not always working, was charming and endearing. Mostly, the movie was smart enough to do what most movies won’t do when they are trying to “revive” a mostly dormant franchise: it appealed to nostalgia in a way that wasn’t disrespectful of the old movies, but changed the premise just enough that one could see a “new” group of heroes take on the role/mantle of the older generation. This movie isn’t revelatory, but it doesn’t have to be: the only thing you want is to not “tick off” the fans of the original/older generation, while at the same time have the new generation not think it is “old” and “not relevant” anymore. I think GB Afterlife accomplishes this mission. It includes more than enough nods to the original in tone, structure, plotting and cameos to satisfy those of us who were around when the original GB was a thing, but also enough new characters (with their motivations and goals) and a plot that recalls some of the greatest ideas from the movie without being a straight one-to-one “copy” (beat for beat) of the original. This, I think, is what the Disney Star Wars sequels were going for, but didn’t manage to do, at least not for me. There was a “heart” to this movie that was missing in the Star Wars sequels. I think that if you are a fan of the originals or if you’re a Millennial wondering what all the fuss was over GB, then I think this movie is a good one to check out.

The Bad

Okay, for me, not much outside of the fact that you essentially have six characters that pair off for approximately 3 separate storylines. The main storyline gets enough time, but the two “B” and “C” stories (with the brother and mother) don’t really feel as fleshed out as they could be. Yes, I’m glad they didn’t do the whole teenage “angst” thing with brother disbelieving sister or mother who thinks her kids are in her way type of thing with this movie (and I appreciate it), but the character arcs for those to characters feel slightly stunted when compared with the arc of the main character (who, in this movie, is the sister as we follow her POV for most of the movie).

The Nostalgia

So, I won’t go too far with this one, but nostalgia is really at the heart of this particular movie. It gives closure to the movie in a way that none of the other GB movies or the GB game in the PS3 does. The game is considered canon and is considered the “unofficial” 3rd movie in the GB franchise. I may be mistaken, but I believe the game was done before Harold Ramis passed away and everyone reprised their roles, but the movie was definitely done after Harold’s death and there is very much an “In Memory of” quality about the movie. It also earns brownie points for the way in which it treats the cameos of the original cast of the film. I always like when movies treat the originals with respect and this movie does so. While The Incredible Hulk and Race to Witch Mountain aren’t remembered fondly, I have a soft spot in my heart for the way they included the original cast members from the original television show/films for both projects. Knowing that “Lou Ferrigno” (the actor who originally was “the Incredible Hulk” from my childhood) played a security guard in the Marvel movie always bumps up my internal score for it (even if it isn’t as good as later Marvel movies).

Overall Score: A (95)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As you can tell, I liked this movie quite a bit! I thought that the characters were great, the story was good, the appeal to nostalgia was great, and the special effects were great. While I would have liked more time on the secondary stories, it would have probably been a bad idea to focus too much on the mother/brother storylines, but I did notice that they seems a little “stunted.” Still, for me, there’s not too much to complain about for this one. I really liked pretty much everything they did with one. My only hope is that they keep this set of characters together if they do a sequel and not just choose to “cherrypick” and keep the brother and sister characters and then go with other “GB” companions (which is typical of many Hollywood) sequels/follow-ups. I think this group of “six” (sister/friend, brother/friend, mother/teacher) is a great set of characters–I might just like them to even out the storylines just a little bit more than they did for this movie. Otherwise, stellar movie!

Sidney

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Movie Review: Mortal Engines

Image of a red masked teen girl with a man, a teen boy, and a mysterious freedom fighter in the background with at massive city on wheels at the bottom with the words "Mortal Engines" in gold lettering at the bottom.
Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Engines_(film)

Sorry that I’ve been away from the blog for a while. I have a new job that I’ll hopefully talk about soon. However, between the commute (which is sizable) and the developing of the courses, along with teaching, and I’ve unfortunately not had a lot of time for much of anything. However, I’m trying to get back into a more normal swing of things and part of this was watching a movie that I bought on sale. The movie Mortal Engines and it is one of several movies that I’ve wanted to see for a while. I thought I’d get back into blogging with a simple review of the movie

Mortal Engines Movie Trailer on YouTube

Not That Bad, Actually . . .

So, I’ve had the chance to see it once or twice before (thanks to a sale), but I didn’t pull the trigger to the low Rotten Tomatoes scores. However, I feel that people have been overly harsh on the movie as I don’t think it is as bad as the RT scores indicate. I think this is a feature of the “crash” of Young Adult (YA) movies that occurred after the success of Twilight and Hunger Games. I really don’t feel like this movie is all that bad.

The Good

I like the characterization of most of the main characters. While I would have liked more, I thought the motivations and the actions were consistent with the world. I also liked the plot (less so) and the special effects (more so). While the plot was a bit derivative in terms of YA movies/stories, the setting and the special effects were highly imaginative and I felt like the world was at least a plausible one and a fairly exciting one to inhabit.

The Bad

In this case, the bad was the fact that there were too many characters. Characters that were introduced early didn’t always stick around through the entire movie (or were characters just there to move the plot forward like the guy who only existed to see the hero’s “weapon/artifact” stash so as to give the information to the villain). Tied to this fact was the introduction of major characters–the robot and the freedom fighter, for instance–well into the 2nd act of the movie. Those characters should have been established earlier and yes, I remember that the freedom fighter had a “wanted” poster early in the movie, but after that, the character is not referenced again until the heroes need a “savior.”

The Ugly

[Spoiler Warning: skip this paragraph if you want to go into the movie blind]

For me, what kept this just average is the fact that there are simply too many YA tropes that are happening in the story. From the “romance” subplot, to the contrivances needed to save the heroes, there are just too many things that I’ve seen before in a YA story. For instance, when the freedom fighter mentioned that she wanted her ashes spread on the wind, I knew that she was going to die. There was no subtly to the line, to the foreshadowing, or to the execution. It really followed right along with what the audience expected, and the entire movie felt like that for me.

I feel like I’ve seen this movie in Seventh Son, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and the Percy Jackson movies. There are also other movies like Clash of the Titans (2010), Jack and the Giant Slayer, and The Last Witch Hunter, which aren’t YA movies, that seem to have the same type of structure. There are others, but for the interests of time, I’m going to stop with these examples. I think that the book might have had something to do with this, but I’m not sure as I’ve not yet read the YA series on which it is based. Still, I think that if the writers (who worked on the excellent Tolkien movies) had maybe have focused on one theme and followed it all the way through the movie: “love conquers all,” “the power of friendship,” “gender doesn’t define one’s capabilities,” or even “ultimate power corrupts,” among all the various threads in the movie, I feel that the movie could have been a much stronger one, maybe even a genre defining one like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter.

Overall Rating: B-

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This one should probably get a C, but I personally liked it and thought that it did just enough to rise above the mediocrity that many reviews positioned it to be. Yes, it was a little generic, but its heart was in the right place and the special effects were good, so I give it a slight “bump” in my rating. Still, I would have liked a little more distinctiveness and originality to the movie for it to have moved beyond other movies in the same type and for it to have really become one of my favorites. This one is a good movie that is held back because it is just too similar to many others that have come before, in my opinion.

Sidney

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Movie Review: Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla and King Kong do battle on the deck of a giant aircraft carrier at sea against a cloudy sky with explosions all around.
Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5034838/

Over the Labor Day Holiday Weekend, my family and I watched a movie: Godzilla vs. Kong. We’ve seen all the other Godzilla movies and this is the only one left on the list. While we wanted to watch Black Widow, it was still on “Premiere Access” (along with Premiere Access prices on the Apple Store), so we decided to save it until Thanksgiving. While I thought it was pretty good, I don’t think that it was the best movie in the series. I think that the idea of pitting these two monsters against one another got the executives excited, and I’m not sure they thought about it except for the awesome fight scenes that could be shown on the screen. The script really was a tale of “two scripts”–one fairly good one and one really bad one.

The Good

I feel that this is a pretty good movie–it’s just that it could be much better. I liked the “A” plot story with the young girl, her guardian and Kong and the way they use the girl character to communicate with Kong. I thought that was a pretty good story and felt that’s probably what the movie should have been–getting Kong to see that fighting didn’t have to be the only way of existing. Conflict can be expressed in many different ways and based on Kong Skull Island we see that Kong is the “alpha” of his island–but why not express “alpha” traits differently than fighting?

Also, the visual effects were also good, although I didn’t think they were as amazing as the were in Godzilla King of Monsters. I still liked them, however, and the “hovercar” sequence was still pretty amazing. It ultimately wasn’t as relevant to the plot as the sequences were for GKoM, but they were still fairly inventive.

I also liked some of the humor–and I do say some. I don’t think I’m becoming an “old fogey,” but some of the humor seemed appropriate and some seemed like humor just for humor’s sake (this is a movie and we need people to laugh so what jokes can we add in). I guess I didn’t see the humor as organic in this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odM92ap8_c0

The Bad

There’s quite a bit–again, not to beat a dead horse, but some of the humor didn’t work for me. I found that I was rolling my eyes at some of the jokes/setups in the movie.

Also, the “B” and “C” plot lines (Godzilla as “bad guy”) and father-daughter “tension” brought back from GKoM didn’t really work for me. First off, having watched all the Godzilla movies (some old ones and all the newer ones), I know that Godzilla’s not a “bad guy” monster and, as such, one or two throwaway lines trying to address how Godzilla has “gone rogue” and is now a threat to humanity doesn’t really address/rationalize Godzilla’s new “evil” status. Screenplays always want to seem to throwaway entire movies worth of characterization with a few lines of dialogue and/or a couple of weak set-ups because they want to throwaway the old and try something new, and then writers/producers/directors seem to get upset when audiences don’t support their movies. In my mind, GKoM did the “little things” right where this movie, Kong vs Godzilla doesn’t.

Another thing that irked me was the unnecessary integration of songs into the storyline. I’ve seen two movies now, this one (GvK) and Army of the Dead that had songs peppered throughout the narrative that didn’t need them to be there. These movies aren’t Guardians of the Galaxy and they don’t need the songs to tell their stories–these just seem like songs that the director liked and put them in without any regards to the story, characters, or situation. Music is subjective, but for me, there were one or two songs that actually worked against the narrative and pulled me out of the story, whereas in a movie like, Transformers, the music choice when Bumblebee has to escape from the police interceptor is perfect because it heightens the emotion and tension of the scene. I’ll be glad when this particular fad has run its course.

Music choice starts at 2:21 in video

The Ugly

Finally, GvK commits two sins: 1) it has its protagonists mixed up. The movie is even entitled Godzilla versus Kong, but Kong is clearly the protagonist of the movie. We’ve seen one Kong movie from the studio and several Godzilla movies–you would have thought that Godzilla would be the protagonist, but that’s not the case. While I don’t mind it, it would have been nice to have presented a “balance” of the two perspectives. An increased focus on Godzilla–something is driving him crazy (along with Kong) and both sets of “humans” (each who like their respective monster) have to figure out what is going on and how to prevent the “alphas” from destroying each other. That would have made a far more compelling plot in the movie than what is actually presented.

2) The second sin that it makes is that the first 30-45 mins is a lot of that “character building” that modern movies seem to do now (again, Army of Darkness also falls into this category), where they try to establish character and make you identify with the characters before getting into the action/story proper. While this is a way of doing things, it’s not the only way–a Raiders of the Lost Ark where you have both Godzilla and Kong tearing things up and acting wildly out of character might have been a stronger start to the movie and then (again) you could introduce each of the groups of human characters as they try to figure out what’s wrong with their respective monster.

Overall Rating: B-

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This one had so much potential, but the script and some of the choices really let it down in my opinion. There were so many ways in which this one could have been a stand-out movie, but because of the script and the choices that were made for this movie, I felt that, while good, it was definitely a step down from Godzilla King of the Monsters, which is currently my “high water mark” for the series of movies (and surprisingly, Kong Skull Island) would be second on that list, so this really should have been topnotch for me.

I can’t give half stars on here, so since a B = 4 stars that’s what it gets, but it really is only 3.5 star movie as the special effects and some of the plot and characterization push it out of the average category and into the (just barely) good category.

I really think that the producers should have thought more about the set-up and what the humans were going to be doing in the movie and not just about the awesome fights that they could have with characters like Godzilla and Kong. Those fights, while epic, are only the cherries on top of a cake that is, unfortunately, fairly bland and a little soggy overall.

Sidney

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Movie Review: Real Steel

Father and son working on robot (Atom) in the ring in between rounds during the boxing match in the movie.
Image Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/real-steel-2011

Over the weekend, I found a new channel that covers what new programs/movies enter the various streaming services and more importantly, what’s leaving the services. I want to maximize my viewing experience by making sure that I find ways to catch shows and movies before they leave the services and I want to prioritize those shows/movies over all the others, this channel has really come to be pretty helpful (if I know movies are leaving, then those stick in my mind more and I have a better chance of seeing it before it goes away–the “limited time” phenomenon that retailers often use.

One of the movies that is leaving Netflix this month is the movie Real Steel, something that I’ve been meaning to watch every since it joined the service a while back, but never got around to actually watching it. However, I just watched it this past Saturday and here’s my review.

Real Steel Trailer

The Good

I have to say, I put this movie off over and over again, but I now wished I hadn’t–I enjoyed this movie quite a bit! At first, I didn’t think that I was going to like this movie as it really leaned hard into the “unlikeable dad” archetype that many movies seem to use to try to show a character arc, but I think what helped me to connect to the character was Hugh Jackman’s performance along with the character’s backstory. I also think that Evangeline Lily’s character and performance was also crucial to me not hating the “unlikable dad” character

While this is a “father/son” movie, it is also a “boxing” movie. It has a lot of heart (much like Rocky) and while I don’t always love sports movies, this one (with its sci-fi elements) is one that I felt that the special effects were also very well done and made me really see a connection with boxing and wresting–boxing as a sport and wrestling as the entertainment aspect of the business.

The Bad

There’s not much that I thought was bad. Again, I’m not a fan of the “unlikeable dad” archetype that was in the movie. However, I thought that it was done well enough along with the bonding scenes that I really didn’t mind it once the movie turned its attention/focus on to the “boxing” element of the movie. I thought maybe the script forced Hugh Jackman to have to oversell his role and really be unlikable during the first minutes of the movie. There are times when the character has to act in a way in which he can’t see his problem/problems at the very beginning to sell that “unlikable dad” archetype that doesn’t make the character seem competent or smart. The character displaces and puts the fault on others rather than himself, even when the dialogue out the character’s mouth clearly indicates that the problem is with the character and not the robots, not anyone else. The fact that the character can’t recognize the problem is a problem in the screenplay to me, but one that I chose to ignore so as to keep the willing suspension of disbelief.

The Promise

Rather than the “ugly,” I decided that I would this “The Promise.” I feel like the promise of this movie is that it is a fun movie that has the potential to teach young screenwriters (like myself) what Hollywood is looking for in a screenplay (esp. a scifi/fantasy one). They want a hero/anti-hero who is clearly established in the 1st 3rd of the movie (30-35 minutes). They want a change in status for the character (son has to stay with father, but father doesn’t care about son). The next 30 minutes involves the father grudgingly seeing the son as more than “dollar signs” and seeing the son as real person. The next 30 minutes involve the son recognizing his own talents and growing into his own sense of self based on the interactions (positive and negative) with the father, and finally, realization on the part of the father as to what the son was ultimately looking for when the son is “torn from him” and either finally coming through for the son (heroic journey) or failing the son and seeing the ramifications of that failure (tragedy). To say I enjoyed the movie would be an understatement as I also learned from the movie.

I would also like to mention that promise is a “two-way street.” The initial movie begins with a statement that this story is based off a short story by a particular author. While I’ve not read the short-story, nor heard of the author, I can say that this is something Hollywood REALLY NEEDS TO DO MORE OF (in my opinion). Hollywood often thinks that it has a monopoly on good stories that can be told on the “big screen.” While there are scores of talented creatives in Hollywood (writers, directors, producers, etc.), I’ve said time and again that a “closed system” (their guild system) isn’t really conducive to new talent (and new ideas). Real Steel is a very good artistic endeavor that, no matter the economic result, has gained the creatives goodwill on my part and I (as an audience member) would definitely look favorably upon a sequel, or barring that since it doesn’t look like that’s ever going to happen, the next project for all those involved. Much like businesses, Hollywood gets too invested in short-term gains to see that art and artistic endeavors often mean playing the “long game” (producing good work after good work to garner a fan-base that sees all of your movies and then evangelizes them to others). Hollywood is, like every other American company these days, too caught up in immediate profits (aka quarterly profits) and this is why there are so many sub-standard and sub-par movies and scripts that end up with shoddy movies/products that fail to capture the success envisioned by many in the movie industry.

This movie represents the “promise” of what could happen if you actually started “opening up” the closed system of Hollywood. Afraid of lawsuits? Fine, then go out and hire a reader or two to cull strong stories from novels, short-stories, and other creative works outside of the Hollywood and you may find, like Real Steel itself, success in the most unlikeliest of places!

Overall Rating

Rating: 5 out of 5.

If you can’t tell, I really enjoyed this movie. The first 30 minutes was a little rough but that’s because they had to make the main character so unlikable that it made him seem almost, well stupid for lack of a better word. However, once the father and son began to bond over their respect for the robot and the father’s own love of boxing as a sport, the movie came into its own. While Rocky is still far and away a better movie in terms of script, directing, and pacing, I feel that, like the plucky little robot, Real Steel can hold its own in the ring with Stallone’s seminal juggernaut. Highly recommended for sci-fi fans!

Sidney

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Movie Review: The Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour Movie Poster = Woman "screaming" out at the viewer with hands outstretched. She is breaking up into particles as Moscow is being destroyed by orange white fire from the sky.
Image Source: https://chud.com/173929/doomsday-reels-the-darkest-hour/

I wanted to watch a movie on Netflix called Singularity as I had it on my list and it was scheduled to leave the service on May 31st. However, as I started the movie, I found that it was really low budget, the acting wasn’t very good, and, worse yet, the script was poor. I struggled to get through the first 10 minutes of the movie and when I looked at the running time (over 2 hrs), I decided to watch something else as I knew that I wasn’t going to enjoy the movie on any level (which is sad as one of the stars listed is John Cusack, whose work I normally enjoy–if you want to see a good John Cusack movie, please check out Numbers Station instead).

So, as I was scanning Netflix to see what else was available, I discovered a movie that I’d wanted to see for a while: The Darkest Hour. I’d come across a description of it a while back and I wanted to see it, but wasn’t willing to pay for the DVD/Blu-Ray for an untested movie, so I waited and when I saw it on Netflix, I chose to watch it this weekend instead.

The Good

The movie is basically a Russian version of the “alien invasion” movie. The special effects of this movie are really fairly well done. They don’t overuse the effect of how the aliens kill humans (although the actual design of the aliens once they are revealed in the last 3rd of the movie doesn’t look very well at all). I really enjoyed the way they show the aliens attacking and how the aliens interact with the world–which adds tension to the movie.

At the risk of giving away my review, this isn’t a great movie, but it is short. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It is a much better movie in the first 10 minutes than Singularity (in terms of craft and story), but I felt like it was something that wouldn’t be torture to sit through and watch, unlike Singularity, which promised to be a slog every minute of the way to the end. While watching The Darkest Hour, not only was I surprised at the hour mark that I had made it that far, I saw that I only had an half an hour to go and I powered through it instead of stopping and potentially not coming back to finish watching it. The short time frame is a real bonus here.

The Bad

The script. There are other issues, one of which I’ll talk about in the next section, but primarily the problem rests in the script. I called this a “Russian alien invasion movie,” but really, it is much closer to a “Russian version of Independence Day.” The characterization and plot elements are very reminiscent of that movie, while the actual style is much closer to the Russian movies such as Nightwatch and Daywatch. There’s a real horror vibe to the way the aliens kill humans that creates a fair amount of tension and is one of the best elements of the movie. However, the script undercuts these elements with dialogue that isn’t realistic, with poor characterizations, with predictable scenarios and with some really cheesy moments.

The Ugly

While I’m not usually critical of actors, I have to say that the lead protagonist seemed miscast in the role (or the acting choices that he made didn’t work for me). While he’s portrayed to look like the typical American, that’s not how it comes across to the audience (or to me, at least). He very much has a “Jack Black” look going on and while many of his lines are delivered earnestly, there’s a mischievous look/quality that undercuts most of what he says. In any other movie, he would have been the “troublemaker” character (that goes to someone else in this movie) and he would always be fighting for his own survival. I almost never bought the main character and this consistently took me out of the movie. There are other issues with character choices, but I chalk those up the script.

Also, whenever the aliens aren’t on screen, this movie is much worse. The first 15 minutes, before the aliens show up, are rough, but I could get through it, knowing that they were trying to set up the characters to make you care about them, so that you would feel concerned for what happened to them for the rest of the narrative. However, the last 10 minutes of the movie, the anti-climax of the movie, after the aliens are off the screen, are some of the cheesiest that I’ve ever seen. When you have a supporting character roll their eyes, that should give you pause as a director/screenwriter, to perhaps change/modify that section. The supporting character who rolls their eyes acts as a surrogate for the audience as the ending seems BEYOND forced, having not been earned throughout the narrative.

Grade: 72 (C-)

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This is a very specific grade for me. The movie is below average, no question. However, the first 40-50 minutes of the movie are average/above average due to the tension that the movie is able to create with the way in which the aliens kill. However, it falls down in so many other areas, that I felt that those areas really dragged this movie down. Add to that the questionable casting of the main protagonist and the cheesiness of the first 15 minutes/last 10 minutes of the movie and you have a movie that is definitely below the average movie. The fact that it is very short and that the middle moves at a good clip really redeems this story and lifts it up just enough to be enough of an enjoyable watch and not a waste of time (unlike Singularity promised to be).

What I learned from this movie: that you want to create characters that the reader/viewer/audience cares about before the “strange things” happen. World War Z does this much better and in much less time. That movie is able to humanize the main character in less than 5 minutes of movie time when the narrative “proper” kicks off. It does in 5 minutes, what this movie couldn’t do at all (for me), and now I have a good example and a bad example of how to humanize the main character so that the audience cares about the protagonist.

Sidney

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Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Movie Review

Movie Poster with "evil" Jim Carrey staring down at "blazing" Sonic through a gold ring.
Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3794354/

I know that I may be giving away my review in this first sentence, but I fount that this movie wasn’t actually all that bad and is one that I enjoyed. I know this may sound like it is faint praise, but considering the train wreck that I thought the movie was going to be originally based on the original CGI for Sonic in the trailers, I found that the extra work put in by the CGI artists really payed dividends and worked much better than the original concept that the filmmakers had originally opted for. As the movie Cats showed us, ultra-realism is NOT always the way to go.

Before I get into the review proper, I should probably not that I’m not as much of a die-hard fan of the character of Sonic as many might be. While I did have a Sega Genesis around the time Sonic was popular, my parents bought the system for me before Sonic was a pack-in game with every system, so Altered Beast (“Rise from your grave”) is what I grew up with rather than the “blinging” of Sonic rings. I saw the Sonic games around in gaming magazines and the like, but never really felt the need to ask for the games for Christmas or my birthday. In later years, I’ve played the newer Sonic games (3D) and wasn’t really impressed and I’ve played some of the older Sonic games on compilation disks put out by Sega, but again, the games never really appealed to me, so while I’m going in with some level of nostalgia for the movie, it isn’t something that was integral to my childhood.

The Good

Considering the low bar that most video game movies have to endure, I thought this started out from a fairly good place. The story is VERY familiar (more on this later), but in some ways, that helps this particular movie out. The backstory is plausible enough (considering the subject matter) and the protagonist’s inner conflict comes from this backstory (something that many licensed properties, video game movies or otherwise get wrong). The movie’s theme, finding friendship and commonality despite differences and how the concerned group is stronger than the brainy, but rude, individual also comes directly from the inner conflict that Sonic faces (the fear of being alone). While the humor isn’t the most original, I did enjoy it, especially the sister’s continual harping on the husband and the way that is played for laughs when the sister gets her “comeuppance.”

The revised CGI was also a highlight as there was no way that I could have enjoyed the original version of the movie (even if the plot and all other elements had been the same) because the Sonic would have been too different/too alien from what I know the character to be, even if that character isn’t one that I have strong feelings of attachment to from the games. There was something “off-putting” about the original design of Sonic, so much so, that it would have completely ruined the movie for me.

The Bad

Similar to above, the story is VERY familiar. After the first five minutes of the movie, you pretty much know where this movie is going in terms of conflict, resolution, and tone. This is a story that you’ve seen many, many times before–one obvious reference that jumps quickly to mind is the fairly recent movie version of The Power Rangers. It has very much that style and scope in terms of what it is going for, with Sonic standing in for the teenagers of that movie. There are elements of the “buddy cop” movie as well as the “road trip” movie (there is literally an extended sequence where they are on the road, fight with the bad guy, stop at a bar, get into shenanigans, start and win a bar fight, and then get back on the road again). Basically, the only tension in the movie is watching how the story elements fall in place and how they use the final scenes after the resolution to set-up for a sequel.

The Ugly

This one will be highly dependent on the viewer. For me, this movie did everything (outside of a ridiculously over-familiar story, which also helped it in some ways) moderately well. This is a movie that you don’t hate automatically because it is a “video game” movie. The producers/filmmakers didn’t try to go edgy, dark, ultra-realistic (after the backlash), or treat the property as some sort of . . . well, property. They took a proven formula and then applied it to a fairly well liked video game character and the results are . . . decent. Decent isn’t the best word, though as it is better than that because the filmmakers/producers actually seemed to care about the product they were putting on the screen (as evidenced by putting in the extra time/money to “fix” the CGI) and, to me, that attention shows through, and elevates it into something, that isn’t spectacular, is still good nonetheless.

Overall Rating: B (83-85)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I would give this either a 3.5 star or a 3.9 star rating if I could go that fine, but I can’t, so 4 star it is. I know this will be controversial, but I don’t care. I liked this movie better than the average C/3 star review that I’m sure others probably think it deserves. I can say this, even with the familiar story and knowing how it would resolve after the first five minutes, I STILL had a better time watching it than I did with The Dark Knight (wonderful performance by the late Heath Ledger aside). There is a sort of “childlike” wonder with the character that is missing with a lot of properties. To others, they are just “properties” to be exploited because of their name recognition–you loved X and you’ll love X even more when you see X in our new movie. Assassin’s Creed (2016) is a prime example of this phenomenon, but certainly not the only one as other video game publishers have fallen prey to this way of thinking as well. I would argue that one of the reasons Transformers died on the vine and is no longer a “thing” is that, after the first movie, they forgot what a movie was and began banking on a “franchise” and those are two very different things.

But that’s a blog for another time. Have a great day everyone!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (March 2021):

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Mini-Movie Review: The Grinch (2018)

A picture of the Grinch (with green fur) drinking coffee and looking annoyed.
Image Source: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/grinch-2-review/

I’d planned on watching the animated/anime version of Ghost in the Shell last night as I had recently seen the live-action version with Scarlet Johannson. However, Netflix is scheduled to lose The Grinch shortly, so I decided to prioritize that movie and see it first before it left streaming. I’m not so sure that was a good choice as I really didn’t enjoy the movie. I hate to say it, but I’m going to get all “grinchy” on the movie, so if this movie is your favorite, you may want to pass on this review–you have been warned.

The Good

There’s not much that I liked from this version of the movie, if I’m honest. I did like the quality of the animation and I thought that the animation was of high quality. However, even the animation couldn’t distract me from the myriad of problems that I felt that this movie had. I also liked some of the musical selections. Sometimes I thought they were inventive arrangements of the old songs; the new, more hip-hop version of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” was mostly effective and at least, different, but I didn’t like the addition of new lyrics. It was best when they kept the old lyrics, but rearranged them in a new and different way. Also, I liked the character of Max. I thought they kept most of what made Max such an endearing character in the movie as both accomplice and loyal friend to the Grinch, but hated how they made him a “willing accomplice,” unlike the original version where he was decidedly perplexed by the Grinch’s anti-Christmas antics.

The Bad

Where do I even begin? There’s so much wrong here that it would take nearly a lifetime to catalog it all. While I did like some of the music, some of it was awful. I don’t mind rap, per se, but some of the music wasn’t even good and only had a tangental Christmas time theme made by the lyrics reference Santa Claus or the like. The music seemed forced to try to appeal “hip” to today’s youth (like a bad Christmas play updated for modern times), and I, personally, just didn’t like some of it. The aging up of Cindy Lou Who, which I understand was also done in Jim Carrey’s version, still didn’t sit well with me. One of the best things about that character is that wild-eyed wonder that she exhibits coming down the stairs and seeing Santa with the tree and being mollified by the “Grinchy Claus” answer. Aging her up takes away the wonder and majesty of being a child and not having to worry about “grown-up” problems. Again, in trying to modernize the story and have Cindy Lou carrying for her younger brothers and trying to help out her single parent mom, the writers give her a rationale for meeting “Grinchy Claus” that undermines their very intention (see the scene where her “friends”–don’t even get me started on them–are called “home” by their respective parental units as to how aging her up defeats the purpose of her believing in Santa Claus as a child with her acumen would known, or have guessed, the “Grinchy Claus'” identity. I could go on and on, but I’ll move on to the movie’s biggest sins.

The Ugly

Giving the Grinch a “backstory” is an admirable, but ultimately, futile endeavor that misses the mark. Having the Grinch’s heart be “two sizes too small” is ALL that’s needed. He doesn’t “feel” the way the Whos feel. His heart can’t express or comprehend joy the way they do, so giving him an “orphan” backstory seems pointless–except that all “modern” heroes/villains now need a backstory. So we get this “lonely child” archetype in a story that already has a reason for why the Grinch is the way he is. [Spoilers] Worse, this movie robs the Grinch of any agency–having a reindeer, who he befriended earlier in the movie and set free to see his family, is the catalyst for saving the day rather than his triumphant epiphany and the revelation that his heart grew “three sizes that day.” It is as if the writers actively hate the idea that understanding gives you abilities beyond the norm. Have they never witnessed a mother/father perform superhuman feats in defense/protection of their child. They would rather have one of the worst plot devices (Deus ex Machina–“God from a Machine”) ruin their ending rather than allow superhuman strength gained through wisdom and clarity of the human condition to rule the day. Finally, the ending where he brought the toys back and apologized was both cringe-worthy and unbelievable, even for a movie about the inherent goodness of people. When Cindy Lou questions her mother about who would be “sick” enough to steal Christmas when everyone comes into the town square, both she and her mother (and Cindy Lou’s friends) all display an awareness of evil and badness in the world that they willfully ignore at the end of the movie in order to have the “happy ending” the movie desires. The writers can’t have it both ways–if you’re aware of the evil, then you must address the evil. Or you could do like the original animated TV special did–not have the Whos acknowledge the evil in the world and carryon as if no evil had been perpetrated.

And I think this is what bothers me the most. Without denigrating the writers, it feels like they denigrated the original. Based on my perception of the movie, it felt as if they found the original lacking and set out to flesh it out, but in doing so, to me, made the original stand out all the more because the choices that were made in this one seemed to lower, rather than raise, the storytelling bar and detracted greatly from the experience.

Overall Rating: D (65)

Rating: 2 out of 5.

To say that I didn’t like this one would be an understatement. Sure, there are some funny moments and the animation is excellent. However, the changes made the story worse, not better, and in focusing on the loneliness idea and that lonely people are sad and miserable, completely missed the mark as to what Dr. Seuss was trying to get across: that Christmas really isn’t about the presents and traditions, even though that’s what it looks like to outsiders. Christmas is about the innate goodness that is inside all of us and the realization that, for at least one time every year (Christmas time), we all have the potential to be better versions of ourselves, if we but have the courage to both listen and to try.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (11/2020):

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Mini-Review: The Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen pulling a bow with an arrow nocked and ready to fire in a lush, green forest.
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. Source: https://www.deseret.com/2019/10/4/20898787/title-cover-art-hunger-games-prequel-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-suzanne-collins

Currently, the free streaming service IMDB TV has The Hunger Games Trilogy (Quadrilogy as it four movies?) streaming for free. Having read The Hunger Games multiple times, but missing this movie in the theaters and not seeing it when it was on streaming on Amazon (?) a while back, I decided to go ahead and see it before it left the service. I’m glad I did–I actually liked it and felt that it was a good representation of the book.

The Good

There’s a lot to like about this adaptation, but probably the most important thing is that the movie is that it stays true to the spirit of the book. It is a fairly faithful adaptation of the story. Yes, there are some changes to the script–some fairly major, like the ending which doesn’t quite happen as described in the book, but the spirit and essence is still there (probably because Suzanne Collins, the book’s author, was listed as a writer on the movie).

Another thing that I think is really good is the fact that the actors don’t overshadow the characters. That was something that I feared knowing who the actors are in the movie. However, I can see the characters in the movie and not the actors playing a role. This is often a problem for me with movies staring huge actors like Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen–I was able to enjoy several of the X-Men movies with Jennifer Lawrence, but the last one she was in, I could only see her as the actor and not the character. This movie, happily, doesn’t have that issue. I see Katniss Everdeen in Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and I feel she does a great job!

The Bad

About the only thing that I can think of that’s bad for the movie is the compression that has to take place to fit the book into a two hour time frame. I like that the movie didn’t split itself into two parts for each movie (yes, I know Mockingjay does, but I’m assuming that’s because it is a longer, more mature book as it acts as a conclusion to the trilogy). However, some scenes are (necessarily) modified so that some of Katniss‘ inner dialogue has been given to other characters in order to get at her emotions and/or exposition.

The Beautiful

So, this is the first movie mini-review that I’m going to do that does not use “the ugly” paradigm, but rather the “beautiful” paradigm as the movie is gorgeously shot. The cinematography is excellent and the mise-en-scene for the various shots and locations is masterful. While I still think that The Lord of the Rings movies have the best book-to-movie adaptations in recent memory, I do feel The Hunger Games is close behind. I really like both the authenticity of the movie as compared to the book, and I love the choices made, from acting, to locations, to set and costume design, to story construction for the movie.

Overall Rating: A (95)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

In case you can’t tell, I really liked this movie. I thought that it portrayed the book accurately and fairly and didn’t make major alterations to the story–just smaller, minor ones. I wish that we could have gotten some of the exposition and character moments in that we either had to cut or give lines to other characters more closely adhering to the book, but again, time constraints would have made that almost impossible. An “extended edition” could have alleviated some of my concerns, but considering that the movie is as good as it is, I think the producers and directors went for a “well enough approach.” My late uncle’s advice is currently ringing in my ears: “perfect is the enemy of good,” so that’s something I need to remember–this is a good movie and trying to make it perfect might have caused something to have been lost. This is a very good movie and I really enjoyed it!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Mini-Review: The Last Witch-Hunter

Vin Diesel walking at night in dark clothes and long black trench coat on a wet city street full of puddles with a car behind him that has its headlights on full beam. He is walking in front of the car, towards the camera.
Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618442/

Sorry this blog post is a little late, but I didn’t really have time yesterday to work on it. It will be a little shorter than normal today as I have a couple of deadlines that are today (6/30) and one tomorrow that I need to be sure and meet. However, I did see a movie over the weekend–The Last Witch-Hunter–that I’ve been wanting to see for a while. It is currently streaming on Tubi–a free streaming site supported by ads that play during the movie (more on that later).

Vin Diesel “Vehicle”

This movie is primarily geared around Vin Diesel as the star of the movie. It focuses and spends quite a bit of time with Vin’s character. In many ways this is a good thing, as Vin is always likable in this role. However, the focus on his character means that we see little-to no character development or motivation for the other characters. The “twist” is poorly set up, coming through expositional dialogue rather than being organically revealed via the plot and the villains have almost no motivation, especially the Witch Queen who serves as the movie’s “Big Bad.”

While there are other named actors in this movie, such as Michael Caine and Elijah Wood, they aren’t really used to great effect in the roles they play and their screen-time is greatly diminished do to the almost relentless focus on Kaulder, Vin Diesel’s character. For me, the highlight of the movie was actually the performance of the female lead, Rose Leslie, who played Chloe. I enjoyed the “pluckiness” of the character and thought that it turned something that was fairly familiar into something that was enjoyable.

Highlander By Way of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

When I say familiar, I mean it. Essentially, this movie is a compilation of many of the scenes/ideas from both Highlander and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. There are even flashback scenes evoking the lost “love” of Kaulder’s life during his “sword and sorcery” days just like in Highlander. The modern day elements play out more along the lines of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but there still shades of Highlander even there.

While I’m sure the movie nodes to other modern day “undying heroes” movies and tropes, these are the two in which I kept seeing the most references for as I watched the movie. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you happen to like those two movies. If you’re unsure at all, then watch how the history of the hero unfolds and keep track of how the character is introduced and interacts with the love interest, and in both instances, you’ll see similarities within what I’m going to refer to as the “Undying Hero” genre.

Commercial Breaks Really Hurt

This is the second movie that I’ve watched on Tubi, and I have to say that while they have movies that none of the other streaming services have (especially ones that I’m interested in watching for the most part), their model while free, really hurts them in terms of me watching them on a long-term basis. While I don’t agree that every network needs a streaming service–CBS AllAcess, why do you even exist, except for corporate greed as your star show, Star Trek Picard is available on Netflix everywhere else in the world–I would be willing to pay a small fee for Tubi (no more than $2 a month), or have them added on to Netflix, again for a nominal fee. I stopped watching movies on commercial TV a while back because commercial breaks began to become onerous and the networks would edit content. While not quite as egregious as normal network TV (and certainly no editing of content), the ad break would happen in places that broke the tension. I don’t recall an ad break happening in the last half hour of the movie, but I think there were a total of 7 or 8 breaks over the run-time of the movie.

Overall Rating (B- 80-82)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

So, “Your Mileage May Vary” definitely applies here. Your enjoyment of the movie will probably hinge on two very important factors: 1) do you like Vin Diesel and his acting style and 2) do you like the “Undying Hero” genre, or in other words, do you like Highlander and/or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? If the answer is yes to both of those (like me), then this is going to be a fairly enjoyable watch, if your answer is yes to one of the two questions, then you’ll probably find it bog-standard average–nothing special, but totally watchable, but if your answer is no to both of these things, then you’ll probably want to watch something else as there’s no escaping either of these two factors.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

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Mini-Movie Review: The King’s Speech

A scene from the movie where the King, his wife, and Logue stand and yell out in a large brown room.
Image Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Kings-Speech

A couple of weeks ago, I watched The King’s Speech before it left Netflix. Again, like The Dark Knight, this movie is considered an “essential” watch for those who are interested in film. As I’d not yet seen it, but heard that it was good enough that several schools have shown it, I thought that I should make sure to watch it before it left.

A Period Piece Par Excellence

While some may not like period pieces and dramas, as a History Minor, I don’t mind them. Like any work, I don’t think that the genre is inherently boring (as I heard it explained), but rather it is up to the skill of the individual creators as to how the work holds my interest. I have to say that the King’s Speech was masterful. I enjoyed all of the actors in it, especially the principals. I could easily understand the pain of the main character. As an introvert, public speaking is probably one of my least favorite activities (yes, I’m aware of the irony–a scholar who/teacher who doesn’t like public speaking). However, the protagonist’s condition goes far worse than mine and I could empathize. The acting was amazing, the sets and locations were effective, evoking Britain on the cusp of World War 2, and the story was very engaging.

This is How You Do a Modern “Classic”

Unlike The Dark Knight, I was engaged with the is story the entire way through–although the very first scene was very painful (but that’s the point–to show the character in crisis while we watch him solve his problem all through the movie). However, even though much of the solution to the problem comes from the character of Dr. Logue, the king has to take an active role in solving his own problem. There are places in the movie where part of the problem comes from the king’s refusal to engage with Logue’s methods–again, this is what I like in a movie rather than the “antagonist” being presented as the heroic figure — as in The Dark Knight or Pitch Black.

I can see why this is shown in schools–although I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable showing it at the Middle School level, but definitely at the High School level as it not just shows the time period, but also the concept of grit.

Overall Rating (A 95-100)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This is the type of movie that I like–a strong protagonist, with problems that they have to actively overcome. The time period was unique (as was the problem), and the acting and movie was stellar. At the time of its release, I wondered if it was really worth all the hype. I can say, without a doubt, it was, and is! I loved it!

Have a great day!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (6/2020):

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    Editing: Revision 1
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    Drafting: First Draft
  • Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel 
    Finished: Script, Issue #1
    Next: Script, Issue #2
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