Reviews

The movie about the band queen. Or should I say a queen concert with commercials in between. Following the crazy life of Freddie Mercury they should it in a way that was stereotypical and the norm. Not quite committing to the documentary or the theatrical side. They improvised and had to fill in gaps that just left the movie bland. Choosing strange areas to focus on and weird aspects to highlight. In 2018, they highlighted the 2018 things. These days its all about the same-sex relationships and long emotional scenes. But not all movies have to have those to be good. Or the people to make them successful. Rami Malek being the 5th choice to play Mercury did a good job but didn't kill it. You still never believed that it was him or who he really was. He acted in a weird middle-ground. The music is the driving force in the movie. If the band wasn't as famous as Queen was, this movie falls flat on its face. However, because it was queen and queen music we all reminisced and enjoy the tunes. Everything else just got in the way. So in the end queen helped to sell more concert tickets for their forever continuing tours, but the movie won't lend to award success.

A long film about not that much. Bad Time at the El Royale takes the viewer on a journey of misfits who have a hazy past. Bank robbers, murderers, cops, or priests. Whoever they appear to be, they have secrets to hide. In this case, maybe just a little too many secrets. Bad Times starts with a bang when a man robbing a bank is shot hiding the money. But after that they film slows very much down to almost a crawl at points. Whether it was points that needed to be made, most of the movie is watched just urging the movie to hurry up and make its point. As characters are introduced they try to build long looping backstories, but when you have so many characters and famous actors you got to pick and choose. This movie they didn't, and you felt it. Besides the dreadful pacing, the acting was fine, they were the characters but not all of the characters seem to complicated or deep. They tried to act the act, but in the end, they were simply just acting and not real producers.

Ryan Gosling is back! Fresh off of his great success last year with La La Land. Gosling came back with the same partnership in Damien Chazelle and delivered once again. Showing just how a great actor and director can produce many different kinds of movies if made correctly. Now was it perfect? Not at all, but it was one of the best performances, so far this year. Showing a true story of a man that many knew at one time, but by now most have forgotten. Gosling embodied the weird, nerdy, and sometimes day-dreaming Armstrong with great success. He showed off on the screen infront of us. He can do it all. Serious. Sad. Passionate. Action. Now this movie was more than just Gosling. It featured other heavy hitters in Claire Foy and Jason Clarke as well as Kyle Chandler. They helped to round out the acting performances into a stellar movie. The writing was able to navigate through a somewhat cluttered film, but had impactful moments and a strong finish. Which sometimes can make a film feel better than it was the rest of the time.

Keira Knightley continues her push to become someone other than Elizabeth Swan. She has the talent and the following to make it happen, but she has yet to find anything can be as successful as the high grossing films she has been known for her whole career. This time taking on Colette in her journey of becoming famous in her own right, and not just her husbands. Colette follows the journey of many movies before. The story of women who put in the work for other men to succeed instead. This time in the form of a writer whose credit is all given to the husband. Trying to bring this story arc into something new in 2018 they added the additional element of highlighting a sexual relationship with another woman. Not saying it wasn't happening back then, but every movie feels like it makes the movie "better" or more "Oscar worthy" if they include a up to date reference and topic. This movie gave the audience everything they wanted, there wasn't many secrets to be discovered or a plot to want more answers to. It simply gave a story of a hard-working, sly woman who fought her way to the top. In the end, she is where we all expected with the misfit partners that joined ever so slowly. This won't be Keira's non-pirates' breakthrough

A star-studded group of lead actors can bring a film past mediocre, but can't bring it entirely into great film status. Great actors can take bad lines and say them in a way that makes them gold, but overtime they can't carry the team. "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far" has less going on than the mouthful of a title. Focusing on the life of a reckless man, now wheelchair bound, the movie follows a mixture of his past choices paired with his current ones. Mixing back and forth cuts of the two timelines, the movie flows slowly. A slow build to an uncertain climax. The plot seems more like presenting events on the news, and less of a dramatic storyline. Oh have I not mentioned, Joaquin Phoenix was the star? Paired with his alcoholic sponsor Jonah Hill. This is a duo that can make the boring seem exciting. But unfortunately, they were held in check with a search for an "Oscar" movie. Becoming two characters and embodying them to perfect accuracy. But just unexciting characters. This is a film that started with a strong premise and idea, but one that Jonah and Joaquin will probably look back on and wish it did more.

Taking on the task to bring comics into real life isn't always as easy as some companies make it seem. This time Oscar winning director, Anders Walter, took his shot in the genre and missed the mark just a bit. By all means this isn't a bad movie, but by the same terms it isn't anything special. In indie form with just a few actors and special effects. They put their best foot forward with what they had, but in the end the product left us a little underwhelmed. Relying heavily on actors carrying the plot whereas the other comic movies we see are all action based and actors aren't asked to do much. Definitely a unique and lower-budgeted take, but it doesn't live up to the others. Madison Wolfe was great in her role of a giant killer. Taking on a character front and center that is the outcast and passionate about her fantasies. She became the role and owned it. Other supporting actors helped out, but sometimes great acting can't save an unappealing storyline.

A movie that took some time to build up, but ended with a bang. Many times the movie tried to either jump right into the film or slowly try to build up background. But after about halfway the movie found its groove and ended with a great performance. First time director Bradley Cooper brought an elegant take to the film. With artistic angles, and some beautifully shot shots of camera blurs and drunken guitar rifts. He made the movie feel like it wasn't his first time. He was given a great script that has obviously worked well enough in the past to use once again. And he gathered talented actors around him to succeed. Not just choosing himself, but the super talented singer Lady Gaga who in herself is not having her acting debut. Multi-talented she brought a beauty of realism as not just a singer but a relatable character to an instance that not many can relate to personally. Cooper played strong as usual. Becoming a drunken, high, talent washing his life and career away, he was right in his groove. The two of them also had great chemistry between them, showing moments together that real couples would share. Overall, great detail was put into the film and into the final product. It is definitely not your average movie, but at the same time it wasn't the Oscar winner that it was close to being. It still was missing that extra something we were looking for. Whether it be the pacing at the front of the film, or some misplaced scenes or moments. It was good but not great.

The nonstop thriller to boost us into Oscar season. A Simple Favor takes the audience on a journey between the most improbable friendship between an upbeat, vlogging mother and an off-the-rails woman of mystery. The title may say simple, but this movie is nothing but. The plot and script were superbly put together placing breadcrumbs around to connect a ball of string. There were moments of shock and awe as well as genuine character development and acting between a star-studded cast. With three main characters they had the powerful trio of Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, and the new and immediately strong Henry Golding. Each play into the already strengths of the actors and didn't have to necessarily become someone new. This film is definitely not the best of the year or probably of the month, but due to its placement around some awful movies this month, it is sure to turn some heads.

One of the few indie films that translate so effortlessly to not just the big screen but to a widespread audience. Searching pits a well-groomed plot with a very poignant message and delivery that is able to connect with everyone. While watching the movie there are moments here and there that seemed a little unnecessary but once you get to the end, you can look back and realize those weren't random after all. This is one of those rare films that lends itself to not just a wanted re-watch, but a mandatory re-watch. Aneesh Chaganty is not a house-hold name, but he is definitely on the lookout from major studios now. After making a few short films and gaining steam, he took his opportunity to hit the ground hard and took full advantage. Breaking into not just the indie scene, but the national scene. All of this too through the most unique, creative, but powerful medium of screens and technology. Using the internet, Facebook, old desktops, the news, and all the media that everyone surrounds themselves with on a daily basis and shooting a movie through it. This not only was unique, but it is what we all use constantly. As the world changes into this new way of life, Aneesh was on the forefront to show us what we are really like. This is a smaller budget film, but it definitely has caught the eyes of the big budget studios. Even if the people aren't used for them, their ideas have already been taken in and will be shown through the future works for sure.

You can even lengthen it to add some motivations to Jennifer Garner, but at the end this movie should be title "Jennifer Garner kills people." That is really all that happens in the movie and if you are into that then you will have a good time. If not, this is not the movie for you. Garner's acting career can be summarized as the nice, perfect mom. I don't know if it was her idea or the director of the movie, but it was way out of character. And I think in the future she is going to stay in her bubble. Peppermint has as much depth as the title has relating to the movie. Being the only time peppermint is mentioned in the movie is its the ice cream flavor that her daughter got for the first time ever the day she was killed. Never mentioned again. This is how the plot also goes, they talk here and there but there is nothing that you could miss or hear that really means anything. All you need to know is Jennifer is going to kill people. To one degree you could say it was for revenge or justice, but when she kills her killers right off the back, you know she just wants to kill everyone. To the average eye this movie could be very entertaining. But look past the murderous façade and you will see that there is almost nothing. Garner needs to stay in her lane, and if she strays from it, at least get a good writer to make a movie she can actually thrive in. This movie would have been bad whoever was playing the main character.

Stop what you are doing, right now! Leave this movie alone and go watch Argo, because I can tell you that is what they did. Operation Finale reeks of the Oscar winning film Argo. There are multiple scenes that almost mimic the film, from fleeing the country in an airport to the local police and government searching for a group of people in a safe house. Which I understand, the best way to be a great movie is to take elements from great movies and put them in your own. However, they had an A-list cast with Ben Affleck at the helm. Operation Finale's big star was an aging Ben Kingsley and then a huge drop off to Nick Kroll. It could never live up to the name. Taking a few steps back, Operation Finale follows a team of Jewish agents who are trying to capture and return a Nazi officer back to Israel to stand trial. The movie doesn't do itself any favors, when they start the movie in the second act. As if the movie was too long, or they didn't want another "Holocaust" movie, they decided to cut out all introduction, all character basis, and no foundation to be seen. However, they left in the deep emotional scenes with characters relating to their torn past that the audience has no idea about. Many times we are sitting watching characters in pain, or crying, or yelling and just wondering what is going on? The director Chris Weitz gave the audience what they needed and what they wanted. No ins and outs or misdirection, the camera was focused on what you needed to see that would move the plot along. The writer Matthew Orton did the exact same as well. Every word was used to advance the plot from point A to point B. No development or originality just bland on to the next lines. Many scenes could be cut and paste from other movies into this weird collage with no originality or backing. All of the pieces were hand-me-downs that were just kind of scattered on a canvas and not even in a creative way, just left there to kind of bend your neck or squint your eyes and try to find the purpose of the film.

Taking a unique style on a timely subject, BlacKkKlansman is a film that shoots right for your face and doesn't let you beat around the bush. The film intros with Alec Baldwin creating a promotional video for the KKK. Whilst standing in front of a projector displaying videos across his body, it quickly cuts between many different takes with misspoken racist words Immediately establishing the parody that the movie was based upon. The film follows an African-American police officer Ron Stallworth, played by John David Washington, who successfully infiltrates the KKK. With a very obvious problem of him not being KKK material, he enlisted the help of fellow white officer Flip Zimmerman, played by Adam Driver, who must act as him when meeting with the "organization's" members. Director Spike Lee took a very in your face approach to the film, not cutting anything out, going into great detail, and at some points pushing the envelope as far as he could. With many scenes filled with racist rants from KKK members, there is no way this film could be watchable by non-racist people without a superb director at the helm. Lee was able to give you a great balance that brought you to the edge of your seat without you falling out. He breaks up these hard to watch scenes with well-timed humor, and an overarching aura of ridiculousness and unbelievability. Many times throughout the film, your caught thinking to yourself that there is no way they can be serious, that no sane person could actually think these things. But the more unbelievable fact is that people did and some still do. John David Washington is a perfect fit for the role, he plays the very clever but quirky black cop in a white world to a tee. Giving a performance that is believable without hesitation. Paired with the up and down Adam Driver, playing a similar style character as from "Logan Lucky", always seems to find his way into these bizarre roles. He has a knack for embodying a slightly redneck character who doesn't give off a complete feeling of confidence. And it works. Each character is able to bounce off the next and not necessarily put in performances to remember, but performances that don't get in the way of the voice and message of the movie. BlacKkKlansman does an incredible job of showing both sides of not just the KKK but also the Black Panthers. Maybe leaning towards one and not the other, but it gives a window into how these groups were organized and what they stood for. Juxtapositioning "White Power" with "Black Power," the movie leaves the audience with evaluating not just their own beliefs but where the state of the country is. Moreover, the entire movie you are thinking how ridiculous these people's thoughts are and how could anyone really believe this. Then the film ends showing footage from Charlottesville and reminding us that those people aren't gone. There are still many people today who think this is how it really should be. This day and age, movies are coming out about black people, women, gay people, and the underclass that are beginning to show to the country that there is whole other sides of life that we aren't used to seeing in popular culture. Spike Lee definitely joined in to that message now, and it's a push that will begin to hopefully educated the masses on what this country truly looks like. Especially if movies are going to be this well made, there is not an end on the horizon.

A unique rom-com but not the best rom-com. This movie did something that Hollywood really doesn't do, and that is go overseas to Asia. Then past that it was a well-made romantic comedy. They followed the best-selling novel and took the audience to an unseen side of the world in Singapore. Because of this, there movie just had to be good for it to come off as super creative, unique, and a blockbuster; it did just that. Crazy Rich Asians follows an Asian-American Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, who flies to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family. Much to her surprise, his family is one of the richest families in Singapore. The film then broadcasts the luxurious lifestyle and beautiful architecture that is prominent in Singapore and just like Rachel Chu we are experiencing this for the first time. Due to the rarity of any movie of my knowledge showing the luxurious areas of Singapore, they capitalized on this void in American culture and half of the movies success came from scenes similar to a documentary of Singapore. Now this was a film so they didn't go into that much detail, but they showed this unknown and beautiful culture off very well. The movie is quite long for a romantic comedy, especially one that follows in step with the typical plot line of these films. They could have done without a few of the scenes just to keep the pacing up and build more into the main characters relationship. Where this film took steps backwards was in these main characters. Whether it was the writers or the actors Rachel and Nick just didn't seem to be the main focus of the film, and they just played your typical cheesy couple. There wasn't beautiful chemistry or unique characteristics of either of them. More of just your rich boy and average girl scenario. Now where the movie excelled was with the supporting characters. They built a cast around them that brought all of the life and believability to the film. Whether it was the comedy of Awkwafina, playing Rachels friend from college Peik Lin Goh, or Nick's mother Eleanor Young, played by Michelle Yeoh, who brought the serious and emotional scenes. They each added all of the parts that the main characters just couldn't bring. Constance definitely had her scenes near the end of her game theory and independent American side was put into focus, but overall, she was lacking. The success of the film means we will hopefully get more looks into the Asian continent, maybe more competent Asian actors in films and not just playing stereotypical Asian roles. Crazy Rich Asians has opened up this opportunity for others where we won't look back at this movie and say it is the best of the genre, but this is another stepping stone that will allow other greater movies to be pushed through Hollywood and hit the mainstream audiences.

Charlize Theron takes on the role of playing a mother of three in need of a revival. She shines in the role as she always does of riding the emotional rollercoaster in being a mother. With highs few and far between, writer Diablo Cody really took a deep dive into motherhood, not fully capturing what it's like to be a mother, but more of a take on how hard it can really be. How tired moms get, and how many responsibilities that they have to keep up with. This is shown off with her take on the idea of a night nanny, a young woman who comes in and helps out where she needs help. Which really is just showing the problems of being maybe not an absent father, but definitely not a very helpful father. With this new night nanny Marlo, played by Theron, hopes to have her life's stress to go away and for peace to fall upon her. From al of the biopics that comes out these days, there was so many indicators that this would be a biopic of a mother, one that has surprisingly not been done very well in the past. However, Cody decides to go down a more theatrical and dramatic take. With the addition of Tully in her life, the story takes many different turns and travels further past bio-pic and more into a dramatic almost thriller.

The Rider takes on the lives of a young boy and the life of a cowboy and his family. Drawing most of the film from a handful of actors that the story is based on, lined up the film to fall on pretty flimsy shoulders. Good thing for the Rider and for Chloe Zhao, they brought their A-game and not only that, they provided authenticity and understanding to everything they were acting, because it was all real to them. In many scenes you follow the main character Brady through him accomplishing cowboy tasks, where in all actuality he is just doing what he has done his whole life. Where the film excels in the scenes where he is having to bring emotion and storytelling to the film. In these scenes, which are most of the film, he provides a wonderful performance that is hard to match from a first-time actor. From long takes, and truly emotional scenes and relationships, Brady Jandreau may find himself asked for more roles. Further down the line from the great acting performances, the story is captivating, especially to someone who is unaware of the life of a modern-day cowboy and rodeo rider. Now it won't be a movie that knocks your boots off, it is definitely one that will bring a fresh perspective on the world.

A great British take on a great Russian tragedy. Death of Stalin brings the humor into Moscow where it is not normally found. A surprising film that was surprisingly well made. Not that the ingredients weren't there to make a great product, but it wasn't very well advertised, or really intended for a mainstream American audience. The film hinges one hundred percent on the enjoyment of British-styled humor. From very blunt dry humor to long specific jokes that are very well explained, it is definitely not the typical American comedy. For those who can keep up, it is a real treat, for those that don't enjoy the humor, or can't understand the style, this film turns into a very hard film to watch.

The summer shark movie that fell into the gap between Sharknado and jaws. Trying to be each of them at certain points led to the movies downfall. They didn't really know what lane they were trying to go down. It is almost like they wanted to make a serious action movie, but after filming they didn't like what they saw, so they added Rainn Wilson to bring the comedy. The biggest downfall of the film that no director or actors could possibly try to overcome is having Jon and Erich Hoeber as writers. Two of my least favorite writers in Hollywood, who brought to us another eerily similar movie, Battleship. From start to finish the lines were as cheesy as you can get, the plot was as predictable as ever, and it almost just went for a rip-off of jaws. The rest of the team tried their best to pull it back together, but just couldn't do it. This was a movie written for a Chinese audience. Lots of CG action scenes, explosions, Chinese actors, and still somehow an Asian setting for a movie that takes place in the ocean. This movie could have been a lot better had they established a single solid mood. The director was a plus to the film at points as well, with a lot of creative shots and well paced scenes. His downfall was his ability to create tension and to throw in an abnormally large number of jump scenes into a fun movie. So much of the movie was uncomfortable, between cheesy lines, and jump scenes left and right, you couldn't relax and enjoy almost any of the movie.

Fallout once again brought us everything that we love in the Mission Impossible franchise. They got us fast-paced, real stunts curtesy of the dare-devil Cruise, a plot that is full of twists and turns, and a team of characters that are fun and exciting to watch. The direction was beautiful. Christopher McQuarrie has built a very good relationship with Cruise over the many films they have collaborated on together. He is able to capture intense action scenes in a way that is very clear but one that takes a fresh style on the approach. We have seen fistfights, jumping out of a plane, and motorcycle chases countless times before, so instead of sticking to what we know and giving the audience what they are expecting, McQuarrie brought a new fresh take on how to make these scenes stick out from the rest in a beautiful way. He relies heavily on the rule of thirds which almost immediately in my opinion makes scenes more captivating and allows them to breath and not be bogged down in the center. I could talk about his brilliant decisions all day, but he wasn't the only one who exceled in the movie. The cast was fantastic as well, bring an ensemble look to the series that hasn't fully been there at times. The series has really progressed from a Tom Cruise centric film to one that now is just an action thriller that will use every character almost equally to achieve the goal. Yes, at times the plot doesn't quite live up the thriller category but it is consistently close enough.

A movie that follow a daughter and a father that live in the woods. Sounds just as thrilling as could be. Slowly the film builds as you get to know and try to understand the mindset of the father, and slowly you begin to learn about the daughter as well. However, this is the whole movie, very slow. Living between scenes of living off the land and day-to-day life there isn't much push forward in the plot. Where the movie hits the mark is in acting, with the main actors Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster driving almost everything, this film relies solely on their shoulders to not fall apart. They were able to keep control of the reigns all the way to the end. It definitely is more of a small sample size of many topics of culture, post military life, and family dynamics. However, in the end it falls short of a great story

A fantastic interpretation of the life of a middle schooler. From beginning to end this film captures a feeling not normally associated with the cinema; awkwardness. This is not your typical comedy, not your typical drama, it almost lives in its own world of heart wrenching awkwardness that is griping. Bolstered by one of the most impressive performances I have seen this year in Elsie Fisher, which acting only a few years younger than her age may not be too impressive to people. However, to capture awkwardness in a way that isn't cheesy or cringy is hard to pull off. Secondly, a huge opening to Bo Burnham career. A man high up in the comedian's world, took a gamble in the movie industry; which proves over and over again that it is not as easy as it looks, even the tried and true professionals screw up. But Burnham came into the scene with a poorly timed band concert and won over our hearts. He definitely will be getting phone calls to run it back for whatever his next venture may be. Even if the follow up isn't very good, you can't just hit it and quit it on a movie this well made. Overall Eight Grade may connect with only a somewhat small sample-size of 20-30-year old's who lived through the awkward middle school years in some part of the internet era. At the end of the day this is Burnham's take on not necessarily his childhood, but one he can understand well. This is a highly recommended film from myself, even if it isn't your cup of tea, it is definitely a movie to watch and to feel awkwardness to your core for even the first time.

Maybe not the best time to hit the big screen, or maybe just not quite ready to take on an action film; especially one that plays off of a famous action franchise in James Bond. Right from the beginning the scenes are jarring and hard to follow and lent more to thoughts of alright let's get this over with instead of enjoying what was happening. There is no action film that can possibly thrive with bad action scenes. Luckily for this film it had each foot in different barrels. Which really isn't a good thing, but oh well. "The Spy Who Dumped Me" played off of James Bond in a parody way that almost turned into a comedy version, but it really wasn't that funny which brought us right back to the bad action scenes. Smartly, they got Kate McKinnon involved with the film who whether the lines were scripted or not, I am positive that McKinnon provided another level of comedy that was otherwise not written or just no provided by the other actors. Mila Kunis tried her best, really taking on the more confident character, but even when she tried to be funny it fell far from what McKinnon was bringing. In and out of the film, if you are a fan of McKinnon then you probably enjoyed her humor and off-the-wall self, however if you were looking for almost anything else you left disappointed. A star power duo cast with lots of potential, but a bad script and director and it fell on its face.

A children's movie targeting the inner child of non-children. Christopher Robin is based in the world of Winnie-the-Pooh which sounds like a perfect film for kids and a great idea for a film. Until you realize that no kids probably even know what Winnie-the-Pooh even is, unless they have parents who loved it. This led to a very strange mood of the film. Not quite sure if they were making a children's movie or one for adults and how serious it should really be. At the end of the day, they never decided on what they wanted to be. Landing in la la land, there are moments that bring you back to the old stories and then there are moments that remind you of a movie set in a dark DC universe movie with teddy bears. The best moments of the film are when Pooh, Eeyore, or any of the other animals give classic lines and you get to see them in action. The downfall of the plot of the film is that they really stayed away from the characters we love. Titled "Christopher Robin", the movie was just what it announced, all about the man of Christopher Robin, not really about Winnie-the-Pooh. But even in the classic stories, it was never about Christopher Robin, we don't care about him or his story. We just want to see Tigger bounce around like a goofball, Eeyore to act like the sky is caving in, and the other animals to embody their strong emotions. But instead they took it towards the real world and real-world problems and a family that in all honestly wasn't very exciting. There was little character development in the family, they weren't really involved even though they were on screen just as much as the animals. A great idea, maybe not the best time, and not made very well to achieve a convincing final product

Enter into another sequal and another movie that couldn't quite capitalize off of the first's success. Equalizer 2 picks up where the first left off, with Robert McCall, Denzel Washington, rebuilding a new life of secrecy now that the old one was compromised. This is their first mistake in my mind. Yes, this is probably the character would have done, but you already set the scenes, his home environments, relationships, then in the sequel they just through that all out the window. If you were wanting another shoot 'em up, killer movie, all yours. Equalizer has proven once again that it can provide Denzel with ample scenes to deal damage on bad people. However, in the first film which set it apart from other shooter movies, was the in-betweens. The lulls and character development between the murder was what really brought together the whole movie and what set it apart from others. What the film did do well was bringing up the commonly found concept of who is good and who is bad. The driving force of the film, one which as you move further and further into the film you realize just how brutal Robert McCall is. He isn't Batman and tieing people up for the police. McCall is more like the Grim Reaper telling people when their time has come. Minus the opening scene, he immediately throws out the whole concept of you have a choice to make it right. You know the one thing that made it original. Which lead it down a new road which wasn't original or really wanted. Another film series that showed some promise, but inevitably turned down the mainstream road to be forgotten.

Hotel Transylvania is back, and just like the last, they are out of the hotel. This time taking a summer vacation on a cruise, with the whole gang. Coming off of two other movies, everyone by this point knows what to expect, knows what they like and dislike about the franchise. And if they are in the movie theatre, have decided they wanted to see another installation of the same thing. Hotel Transylvania and Sony Animation took this fact, and decided they needed to switch things up a bit. They needed to be able to transform this third movie to open up the area for 6 more like other animated films like ice age, Madagascar, and the never ending shrek. However, this time they moved too far into a new area. From a franchise built on cheap laughs and family fun, they moved into a new arena of killing and searching for lost artifacts. Not that the killing was ever anything out there, very basic and children friendly tactics, but that isn't why we came to the movie, we came for the fun and joy of fathers and daughters and babies. Anything else was really just icing on the cake, buke instead they went for lemon bars, which some may like, but to the general public really miss the mark.