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Reviews
The Room (2003)
A Masterpiece made of Broken Pieces.
What makes The Room a complete and out-and-out classic, is that this movie cannot be replicated. The Room is a near perfect combination of a variety of badly executed elements coming together and forming a type of masterpiece, albeit accidentally, but still making this movie a spectacular gem nonetheless.
The Room oddly and unintentionally maintains a sweet spot of terribleness with such consistency, poise, and authenticity, from the acting, the script, the directing, the wardrobe, the setting, and even the music, that it makes what is truly a dreadful and stupid movie, dreadful and stupid still, yet also remarkable and stupendous.
The entire cast, with Tommy Wiseau being an absolute standout amongst a cast of standouts on their own, is a definite joy to watch, from beginning to end. The music, though bad, was more technically bad than actually bad, and the story is an age-old, that in any other movie would have felt cliché, but in this movie, it felt perfect.
Undoubtedly, The Room is a badly made movie, with some scenes and shots that are repeated, sequence of events that are muddled at points, atrocious acting, abandoned sub-plots, and character developments that don't make much sense, but, even with all of its many and complete shortcomings and failures, The Room is fun, funny, and enjoyable throughout, and worth taking seriously to a fair degree, with Tommy Wiseau's very apparent fervor for his pet project, at the heart of this movie, grounding it in memory as a kind of broken masterpiece.
8.7/10.
P. S. Tom Ford, Dolce, Armani, Gucci, or any other top fashion designer and fashion house, have nothing on Johnny's suit and shoes. Nothing!
Free Guy (2021)
Computer Engineering Used to Develop Social Engineering.
The extreme and impossible to ignore level of ideology, both covertly and overtly, that is rampant and coded into this movie is, accompanied with the inevitability of raw and unadulterated hypocrisy, an insurmountable obstacle created by the movie itself, that takes on an entire life of its own throughout the film like artificial intelligence, and thus bit by bit and play by play, completely destroys the creativity and potential on which this movie was built.
Free Guy, where Ryan Reynolds is once again playing Deadpool for the majority of the movie, from the narrating, the wit, the voice, the idiosyncrasies, the acting, and the humor, is a movie that could have been something truly amazing, but sadly it was spawned in a period where just simple art, entertainment, and uncontaminated creativity, is merely an after-thought to the real objective. This is why movies like The Truman Show will forever remain classics, while Free Guy will only be relevant until it is time to reboot, switch off the monitor, upgrade, or simply leave to take a leak after some lengthy time of gameplay and lose interest in the interim.
I sincerely wanted to like, and even love this movie, but I absolutely did not expect it to be so fueled with ideology, propaganda, and sheer and abundant political overtones. This review will probably be received harshly by the few who see it, because of the love this movie seems to have, as well as Ryan Reynolds, but Free Guy, although it is a movie that categorically had all it needed to be spectacular, where as a finished product it was well constructed, edited, directed, and even acted for the vast majority of it, though the story became a sprawling and senseless mess as it progressed, particularly in its third act, the movie ultimately and unfortunately, was inevitably and regrettably turned rotten in its unending, insufferable, and hypocritical attempt, whether successful or not, to force feed agenda.
4/10.
Don't Breathe 2 (2021)
A Sequel a Little Short of Breath.
Unfortunately, Don't Breathe 2 is not as well contained, or thrilling, nor does it succeed in delivering a sequence of knock-on events quite as freshly as its predecessor. This movie feels too convenient and is quite strenuous on the application of suspension of disbelief, which was a problem a movie from a franchise such as this was essentially always going to experience, if the approach was to continue focusing on the same lead.
What this movie managed to do rather well however, was to maintain the franchise's depiction of the main character not being all good, and all bad, with Stephen Lang's The Blind Man again being written as a sympathetic, if you so choose, anti-villain. The villains on the other hand weren't written as well as the first installment, as they were missing the polarity that helps make the characters of this franchise extra compelling, and the story, for the majority, lost that 'afraid to breathe' component, that added to the thrill and suspense.
But, though the villains weren't as well rounded as those of the first film, the degree of attention that was put into writing them was pretty evident, which helped make them intriguing still, while Stephen Lang was once again interesting, fun, and easy to watch throughout the entire movie. The story's attempted twist wasn't amazing, but it also wasn't absurd, while the "don't breathe" component was present through Phoenix, though just not as much or as exciting, and the directing was adequate enough to be good.
6/10.
A Simple Favor (2018)
BF is More than a "Best Friend".
A Simple Favor is an enjoyable watch, but not quite engrossing. It is an interesting movie, but not quite immersive. This movie is one with great promise, but falters in trying to keep it, while it flirts with a fresh take, yet ends up being a bit cliché once all was said and done.
In attempting to be novel with its mystery, the film started to lose some traction, as somewhere towards the end of the second act, and almost all of the third act, it began to feel convoluted, instead of brilliant, which led to the cliché that intrinsically carried with it a sense of predictability.
Blake Lively, as stunning as she is, I feel was also unable to give a convincing enough performance, as Emily's character features felt just a little out of her reach, or repertoire. Though she wasn't great, she was good enough however, for the viewer to be fine, or even happy, with her portrayal.
But, even with these flaws, the film was funny at several points, kind of dark and deranged at others, and held a competent enough degree of intrigue, while the two leads, Anna and Blake, together with the cinematography, created a visually appealing and pleasant experience, both technically and artistically.
6.5/10.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Barely Saves Face for an Unsavory Phase 4.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Wakanda Forever is that, the trailers succeeded in evoking emotion far more effectively than the film itself, as I found all the expressive beats of the movie, whether in tribute to Chadwick Boseman or otherwise, lacking the power to captivate for the most part, making the beats feel more like taps, or a snare.
On that train of thought, the score however, played a large role in amplifying the movie's deeper elements, and so assisted greatly towards the capturing of audiences' emotion, though sadly, unlike capturing lightening in a bottle, the score still couldn't assist in fully capturing some of the electrifying and shock factors Wakanda Forever attempted to deliver; factors which essentially felt unearned, and premature.
Apart from the score, one other element that really helped this movie, was Angela Bassett's performance, which I felt was really good, though not necessarily amazing, as it was essentially one scene that she really dialled her ability up to 10 within all the rest of her scenes where she was simply just good (which is good enough), and demonstrated her expertise with much appreciated excellent execution. Winston Duke also successfully delivered a few moments here and there.
Riri Williams, who was also badly cast to boot, on the other hand, and her suit that felt like it just walked out of the Spy Kids franchise, did more harm than good to the movie, while Namor was an uncompelling portrayal of the anti-villain, the new Black Panther is an unconvincing one, the finale sequence was reminiscent of Iron Man the movie and character in several ways, but not nearly as good or exciting, the story and action were unsatisfying, and, the twist was good, but at a practical level, rather than an impactful one.
Understandably, yes, the movie was presented with an uphill battle after the tragedy of Chad, but, with what Phase 4 has been, it is difficult to tell if this movie ended up being this that it was, due to circumstances, or Marvel Studios' new self-sabotage approach. Either way, Wakanda Forever didn't quite manage to achieve saving this phase, but it did help it perhaps, to save face, though barely, as the damage has already been done.
6.5/10.
Morbius (2022)
From the Studio Bringing Us: More BS.
Sony's Marvel Universe continues to be a disaster deepening towards a point of no return, as Morbius is another entry that confirms that Sony has absolutely no idea what they are doing. Three movies in and all three are awful, and as long as fans and audiences reward Sony's display of complete incompetence, the studio will never have any cause to change course.
To talk about this movie's action sequences would be a lie on my part, much like Sony's marketing of this movie, as it would suggest that I could make out all that messy and dark blur on the backdrop of blackness, while the casting - not the actors - of this movie is dreadful all around with some characters being quite the definition of pointless, and that could be in part or completely, due to a story so weightless that every character is even less than one dimensional, which can explain how every last one of them disintegrated from memory as soon as the credits started rolling.
However, though the directing, editing, scoring, photography, acting, writing, and marketing of this movie are all elements in contention of the worst Morbius had to offer in offering naught, I found myself not annoyed or disappointed by this movie, as I expected nothing, and it rose to the occasion by being nothing, which is the only form of consistency in this gag of a universe by Sony; all the movies in this universe are a whole lot of nothing. And, with it now basically being MCU canon - deceptively even revealed in the movie's trailer no less, I suppose it could also be a fitting addition in the MCU's mostly horrendous Phase 4, as just another entry worth no more than a single watch, and a permanent dump in the trash.
3.4/10.
Uncharted (2022)
Charts Mid as it Charts a Course.
Though Tom Holland at first felt a lot like Peter Parker, I did feel that resemblance fade away as the movie continued, which I appreciated, because there was a huge risk that Tom was simply going to play the same character in a different movie, like some recent stars who have reached A-list status are currently doing. Mark Wahlberg also gave a decent performance, while at points he was in fact, rather good, and the chemistry between Tom and Mark proved to be quite an entertaining concoction. The score ranged from okay to satisfactory, and managed to provide a noticeable contribution towards the enjoyment of the movie.
Unfortunately however, choppy editing, some generic action, cartoonishly outlandish sequences, and one too many instances of extreme coincidence, that make continual appearances throughout the movie hurt Uncharted enough to really affect its quality, which impacted the movie negatively the further along it went.
That said, all in all the movie is entertaining, and Tom does display some real charisma while flamboyantly flaunting his athleticism, but this film had the potential to be exciting and thrilling, and just couldn't quite manage to reach such heights, even with its heightened ships in a battle royale, though the creativity, and attempt thereof, is worth appreciating, making Uncharted a movie that is enjoyable, and one that may have laid some acceptable ground work and charted a course as it were, towards being a franchise with the potential to be, more... Though it likely won't.
6.4/10.
P. S. Even though I'm not an avid player of the game, I am still inclined however, to believe all those who say that the essence of the game, including its characters, was mutilated, because that is a Sony and Hollywood modus operandi , and thus sympathize and understand their dislike for this movie.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
She-Flunked: Franchise at War.
The only thing She-Hulk managed to smash, besides a bunch of random guys, is the unmeasurable love this franchise once inspired out of fans. Now, you'd be remiss not to see that all it's doing is arrogantly daring its fans to walk away from it, with this show taking that dare up a notch. She-Hulk is truly shallow, thin, directionless, boring, and hypocritical.
This show is a vast, deep, and compounding pile of complete uselessness, and this entire nine-episode long throwaway can be summarized in a single sentence:
"Jennifer Walters gets into an accident and becomes a Hulk by accident... and cameos."
That is all this monumental waste of time of a show, with a persistent undertone of misandry and a bunch of meaningless episodes, is.
Many, and even most of these MCU D+ series have been underwhelming, while also illustrating the ineffectiveness of the series format in this universe, but She-Hulk is decisively and decidedly, the absolute worst thing to come out of them.
There is little to nothing good or outstanding about this show, from the performances, to the "story", the action, and the characters. It is all very bland, and blends into a singular and laborious type of segment. Phase 4 has been a terrible outing from the MCU, and not just because of the obvious decline in quality, which sadly is the bigger and core problem.
For the second time in the MCU, and from the same phase, atop various other installments in this phase that are far from top tier, though not all are necessarily bad, this franchise with show particularly, has churned out (to even use the term 'churn out' is a sad reality in itself) another undeniable chunk of green goo, as I continue to heed the call from the MCU, for me to just simply walk away.
3/10.
Greenland (2020)
Fragments, but Still Hits Home like a Comet.
Greenland is surprisingly good. The approach it takes within the context of an apocalyptic event accomplishes the tension, action, suspense, and anticipation factors that many films in this genre fail to achieve, very well for the large part of the movie.
The movie does have some points that are slightly infuriating, and not in a good way, which affects and interrupts the momentum of intense grip and attention the movie maintains rather well throughout, but it makes up for this with more moments that really manage to tug at the heartstrings, and pull you back into the movie's atmosphere, stalked by red skies, fire balls, and turmoil.
The performances are great all around, the directing is solid, the music, though at times can come across as a little bit bombastic, it does however enhance the visuals, scenes, and certain moments in the film quite effectively, and the story presented quite the moral dilemma that was handled with respectable realism all things considered, which added to the movie's quality rather significantly. I did not expect this movie to as good as it was, and I truly appreciate how well it surpassed my expectations.
Though I'll have to round it off to an 8, gladly so as I believe it was a well put together movie in the end, Greenland is a hard-fought 7.6.
7.6/10.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
Two Boys, Eight Years, Equals Eight Stars, Two Lost.
While it is indeed difficult to argue against the fact that this movie is quite, and even possibly deeply flawed, it is also rather difficult to deny that it is a movie that will leave you floored. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas delivers a punch that can knock the stripes off a zebra and leave it pale white, like the pale white shock it administers with some measure of unobtrusive prowess.
This movie is one of those where the less one knows about it going in, the harder they will be hit by it going out, making this movie a knockout worth braving, at least within the confines of such a context.
The score at various points is a reminder of what a great loss James Horner is to the world of composition, as it truly adds to the atmosphere of the movie quite fittingly, while the performances of the entire cast are very good, though not necessarily spectacular.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not perfect, and can even be justifiably perceived as implausible, but, be that as it may, the movie still manages to present quite a grounded, engaging, and effective piece of art. So, with the movie not being flawless, though still impactful, its two stars away from perfection, therefore two lost, for an 8/10; the pun you'll get later.
8/10.
Game Night (2018)
The Game is Afoot.
Without giving anything important away, the directions Game Night takes, while at some point they do cause quite the confusion, the thrill combined with a relatively fresh approach to the whole "mischief because of misunderstanding" motif, really helps the movie get to the finish with enough fuel still left for it to keep going, which is excellent because, the movie ends leaving the viewer wanting more - though that's not to say that there should be more.
However, as thrilling, and adventurous as this movie was, what really got Game Night firing on all cylinders for the vast majority, was the whole cast, particularly Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Jesse Plemons. They were simply amazing from start to finish, and Kyle Chandler also added wonderfully, while Michael C. Hall was a definite pleasure to see, as well as Jeffrey Wright. The rest of the cast also contributed awesomely, and rounded off the overall ensemble smoothly.
Game Night did run into a little bit of a dip somewhere towards the end of the second act, and the beginning of the third, but the rest of it is pretty exciting, really entertaining, and at quite a few points, extremely funny, allowing the movie to fully engage once all was said, done, and played. No lies, and no games, Game Night is a solid 8.
8/10.
The Glass Castle (2017)
The Glass Half Empty Castle.
Though I absolutely had no problem with Brie Larson's performance, I do feel that she was a bit of a miscast. She didn't quite fit the role, but her talent was enough in attempting to make the role fit her. Max Greenfield on the other hand was a definite wrong choice, which was exacerbated by the lack of chemistry between him and Brie, as well as his character, or performance, essentially being a rehash of Schmidt on New Girl. Woody Harrelson was a standout, bringing to the screen the nuances of Rex with quite the impact, while Naomi Watts and Ella Anderson were also quite excellent in their performances.
The Glass Castle is not a perfect movie by any means, and at times I felt that it was either missing, skipping, or ignoring some moments that could have really brought the story together far more fluently and effectively, however, the movie had some elements of reality that were poignant enough to truly create a consistent layer of resonating depth throughout its entire duration, allowing the movie to provide strong engagement with some ease.
The movie also managed rather well to construct instances of incongruity, where the viewer is not quite sure if they should laugh, or somewhat lament, which is worth mentioning as when the movie continues, you realize that this balance of imbalance is rather important if one is to connect to the movie a little more.
Though I would love to give this movie a solid 8, as mentioned however, the film does have its issues, that include the casting choices, while giving it a 7 simply feels too low, as the movie accomplished to deliver some real warmth, and therefore, it is a 7.5/10, that I will round off to an 8.
8/10.
P. S. I do however understand the sentiments of those who read the memoir, in their ultimate dislike for this particular finished product. A Hollywood spin can leave a bad taste in the mouth.
The Poker House (2008)
Played a Good Enough Hand, but wasn't a Full House.
This movie suffers from a feeling of scatteredness and a sense of unrelatedness in terms of the events of the day, their sequence, and concurrence, while certain moments in the movie occur in an almost after-thought kind of way, with them evoking some emotion yes, but simultaneously inspiring a feeling of indifference and dubiousness, though not necessarily because of the events themselves, but rather how they were depicted or came across.
The Poker House however is not a bad movie, and the performances were quite good all around, with Sophia Bairley, Selma Blair and Tyla Abercrumbie being the standouts, and the style of comedy it included was a good idea and angle, though it mostly fell flat, but not disastrously so. As this movie is based on a true story, the events warrant being appreciated of course, however, the final product didn't quite come together firmly, and at times the movie felt like a house of cards, but managed to play the hand it was dealt competently enough to pass as a satisfactory film.
5.5/10.
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Wish I Could Give Kubo Kudos.
The animation and stop motion are certainly stunning, and the voice acting overall is very well delivered. The story however is a disappointing mess that fractures an otherwise expertly composed production in almost every aspect. Praising the entire movie purely on its technical achievements is a negligent appropriation of appreciation I feel, because the story truly fell apart, which is especially frustrating given how instantly captivating this movie was from the very first shot.
The moment the narration started I was certain I was about to be handed the privilege of tagging along into what was going to be a ride of sheer emotion, humor, adventure, and artistic spectacle, and Kubo's mother was a sense of confirmation that Kubo and the Two Strings was going to be a visual and anecdotal symphony. Unfortunately, as the story continued, particularly from the point of the festival and beyond, until the end, the movie started spiraling into a stagnant, predictable, uncompelling, disappointing, and incoherent mess.
Kubo and the Two Strings undoubtedly could have been so much more than all it ended up being, which was simply an outing of graphical prowess, and this sadly made it ultimately become a picture that ended up being so much less than what it was. Don't get me wrong, I'll reiterate that the animation and stop motion was excellent, and the scoring was quite enjoyable I suppose, but the story fell apart so badly, that it eclipsed much of what was good about this movie.
Its not even a matter of unfulfilled expectations, as I sincerely had none coming into the movie. Its rather a matter of, this movie had everything going for it, and even set an expectation really from the first second, and only excelled at one aspect, was really good with others, and was undeniably dismal and disappointing with perhaps the most key aspect, with a poor and consequently quite none cathartic ending to boot, which made the movie fall far short of the expectation and bar it set itself.
I wish I could have loved this movie, but it really just got lost in itself, or neglected itself.
5/10.
The Endless (2017)
Endlessly Happy it Ended.
I'm rather perplexed, without judgement of any kind however, at the glowing reviews this movie has received, which without question made me wonder if there is something I missed. Consequently I went back for an attempt at a second watch, and I sincerely realized that I didn't miss anything at all, especially considering what painful a watch the first and attempted repeat was, much like a loop needing to be escaped.
The Endless is a very good idea, however executed in one of the poorest ways I've ever seen sad to say. The motivations relative to the repercussions make absolutely no sense and are just downright idiotic, the two lead actors are indefensibly horrible, the script is weak, the pacing is awful, the story unravels slovenly, and the premise is inconsistent while the writers were clearly unbothered in trying to streamline and tighten it.
This movie is so bad, that without knowing at all who directed it, exacerbated by the fact that I wasn't even familiar with any of the cast and crew in this movie or their works while watching it, I was able to immediately recognize and wager that the two leads were also the writers and directors of this movie, precisely because The Endless gave off an amateur feel, instead of a "on a budget" feel. Their acting was so uninspired and unchallenged, and the script was so desperately trying to be more than what it was, that it was obvious from the word go that this film was either in the hands of people spreading themselves too thin, or are just not great at what they do, and therefore this was not going to be one of those classics on a low budget type of flicks.
Though, upon subsequent checking, it is clear that many consider this movie as some sort of "cult classic", and that the directors have gone on to direct and produce projects worth acclaim supposedly, I simply cannot see the quality that earned The Endless such praise from critics and apparent appreciation from audiences. This movie is just meagre and wobbly, and unfortunately, I was simply just glad when it finally ended, again.
3.4/10.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Seven Stars out of Ten.
One thing Shang-Chi achieved with wonderful precision is the aesthetic and imagery. The colors, visuals, and even the VFX melded so beautifully that that aspect of the movie really took on a life of its own, and added a layer of essence that pleasantly reinforced the ethos and pathos centric to this picture.
The VFX were also rather excellent all on their own, and the score stood out in a good way for the most part. However, though the visuals, VFX, and score were at varying levels of superb, this movie suffers from a persistent undertone that affects the ability for character connection or concern, with a clandestine narrative continually gnawing away at the brain. That in combination with the murky understanding surrounding the Ten Rings' functionality, cripples the story's solidity.
Shang-Chi had all the potential to be not only one of the best MCU movies, but also possibly one of the best superhero movies ever made, but it sacrificed that attainment for the MCU's new endgame.
This movie is plagued with self-inflicted sabotage, where every time it presents a stretch of engrossing entertainment, it follows or concludes it with a counteractive measure, and though that is irritating in isolation, it is increasingly annoying and frustrating in this particular movie, because of the sheer potential it had.
On the cast or character front, the only character I really cared about was Tony Leung Chiu-wai's character, "The Warrior King / The Most Dangerous Man on Earth", aka, The Mandarin. I really enjoyed Tony's performance, while Fala Chen was also rather memorable. Not getting the title character to be worth caring about to at least a reasonable degree is one of this movie's major faults, as Shang-Chi with his completely unimpressive suit feels somewhat expendable.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gets a very soft 7 from me, because admittedly, with satisfactory success, I had to apply much internal reasoning in support of the movie for that rating, owing to the fact that 6 truly just felt too low, while again, the overall sensuality of this entry is quite mesmerizing. But, what is vexatious about this movie, is that it could have easily, been a 9, and that just makes the final product as it is, leave a bad taste in the mouth unfortunately; therefore fittingly counteracting the sensuality as it were, like it constantly counteracted its own engrossment.
7/10.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Venom: Let There Be Nothing of Value.
I'm starting to get convinced that directors, actors, producers, and writers are beginning to care less and less about making quality movies, at least within the superhero genre, specifically because maybe they've wised up to the unfortunate fact that, audiences will eat up whatever chicken brained garbage that's thrown at them, like Venom; pun intended.
This movie has no idea what it's doing and how to do what it is it has no clue on doing, nor does it feel like it cares that it doesn't know. It merely understands that a movie requires a beginning, middle, and end, and simply employs the inevitability of time passing to accomplish these film checkpoints.
How does Shriek have her abilities? This question is quite important in the context of a developing universe, even one as underdeveloped as this one. With some extreme abundance of laziness and inexplicableness, it looks as if she's a MUTANT, albeit through inference, and this is somehow not a big deal in a universe that shouldn't have, nor has introduced mutants. How does Shriek know how to drive since she was locked up long before she could've learnt or cared to know how to? A nitpick maybe, but that is the consequence of a film with little substance. Why is Venom specifically afraid of a red symbiote? Why is this red symbiote so much more powerful? These are just some of the very, very many issues this movie has and figured don't matter because the movie will make money either way, and it did.
Venom: Let There Be Garbage has no plot, no story, and no point, except to bring Carnage to the big screen, and only serves to be a terrible sequel to what was also a terrible first outing.
This Venom franchise just really sheds more clarity on how Sam Raimi's iteration was overly and unfairly criticized, because compared to this nonsense Tom Hardy is hurling at us, Spider-Man 3 is the one step forward to the two steps back that both the Venom movies are. The first Venom movie we had a Venom that was a clown, and now in this movie, we have a Carnage without a purpose, aimlessly attending a wedding.
With a bunch of things happening for little to no reason, and other things happening because something has to happen, and the rest of the other things happening because well, "movie", Venom: Let There Be Carnage ends up "letting" nothing happen, and I for one, am not surprised luckily.
4/10.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
A Well Shot Friendly Fire Oxymoron.
The one thing this movie got right from a thematic perspective, is the suicide component of the Suicide Squad, and that is a cinematic and story execution that really succeeds in setting The Suicide Squad apart for the most part. James Gunn attempted to find a satisfying balance between "suicide" and "mission" in the act of a "Suicide Mission" by a "Suicide Squad", with enough realized "suicide" in the achieved "mission".
Another element that James Gunn managed to address rather well, or at least better, is the fact that these are villains who happen to be saving the world, but are still villains, though in the case of Bloodsport, he felt less like a villain, and more like an A-hole, while Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man felt like victims, though they were very well illustrated and fleshed out nonetheless, especially Polka-Dot Man, whose inhibition is a particular level of inventive.
The characters were well distinguished from one another, and overall, very likeable, though Bloodsport was essentially a rewrite of Deadshot, and King Shark felt a lot like Groot, and the action set-pieces were somehow really good in an unspectacular way, which is an oxymoron, making it befitting to this picture, though there is a sequence in the movie involving once again, one Harley Quinn showcasing the exact same feat as she did in Birds of Prey, and the only good thing about it, is at least the nonsensical consistency of it all; one clearly insisted upon evidently.
The humor, which is also accompanied with a side of twisted and disturbing, manages to stick the landing more often than not, and in this current era of humor in superhero movies we find ourselves in, this accomplishment is an overwhelming sigh of relief.
The Suicide Squad feels a lot like one of those movies that a person will either love or hate, with rare instances of those in between, which is where I feel I mostly find myself. The Suicide Squad as a finished product is one that could've easily ended up being a 6, but James Gunn did well enough for an 8, however, with some flat jokes here and there, a few somewhat unmemorable action scenes a points, a story with a setting that feels unrefined, and some character iterations that feel familiar, the film is enjoyable and likeable, and perhaps not loveable, while definitely not worth hating.
7/10.
P. S. Weasel and Sabastian are oddly awesome in their own unsettling ways.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
Birds of Prey: Flipping Men the Bird.
And the actual sequence of events went as follows: Harley Quinn entered an entire police station and completely pummeled every trained police officer, Gotham's finest, with about as much ease as taking a script to manufacture such boldness. This complete show of destruction is then immediately followed by Harley Quinn entering an entire holding cell filled with Gotham's not so finest, the criminals of this dark city, where she once again beat all of them to a pulp and made their backs flip worse than a gymnastics Olympics gold medalist. After all that demolition by one Harley Quinn, she promptly went on to face an assembly of gangs immediately thereafter, in the same vicinity, and with the same dexterity, handed each gang member of all the different gangs, a beating they won't soon forget.
What the entire police station, holding cells, and an assortment of gangs all had in common was that, they were literally all men, and therefore, were all missing the one and all important ingredient that can put Harley Quinn out of commission; Woman! You see, as it turns out, being multiple groups of men several times bigger, trained, and dangerous is not enough to put a dent in Harley, but being a singular drunk woman, slightly smaller in stature than Harley and moving slower, is exactly what will stop Harley dead in her tracks.
Along with that absolutely well written script that has absolutely no agenda and requires absolutely no suspension of disbelief, one of the characters had their job stolen by a man, the other had her family killed by men, and the other was objectified by a man. Meanwhile, the only male character in the movie, that was actually a good guy - or so we thought in complete disbelief, later turned out to be a feeble backstabbing coward that had, in great course correction towards the movie's theme throughout, the last, and top, BOP member, Harley Quinn, be betrayed by a man, after her emancipation from another man, that treated her like a thing owned.
Anyway, I digress. The villain was a man.
Too on the nose? Review imitating movie I suppose.
4/10.
Loki (2021)
Slow-ki, but Low-key Okey-dokey.
Suffering from a tire spinning in the mud middle act, Loki is another MCU D+ series that has a middle that feels like its only buying time and stalling, so to reach the 6 episode mandate, with the pace of the show slowing down noticeably across roughly three to four episodes, especially during episodes 3 and 4.
The action sequences, choreography, and direction fell flat, to an extent where they felt almost irrelevant. They are ultimately very forgettable really. Also, something didn't feel quite as complete as it should regarding the production design and/or set. It somehow felt lacking, but it wasn't to a great or distracting degree. The performances weren't all that amazing sadly, though not bad at all, but, Tara Strong as Miss Minutes was a rather incredible standout; her voice acting was stunning.
The first and last episodes I feel are where the series really picked up, and though I was expecting for the ending to feel rushed due to what felt like a wasted few episodes prior, it didn't, and it actually sparked a level of interest from me that has become increasingly difficult for me to afford to the MCU as of late, and I appreciated the series for that capability.
Loki is not perfect at all, not the best series in the MCU slate, and not out of this world either, but even with its drowsy middle, highly second-rate action, somewhat deficient production set/design, and performances that couldn't keep up with a show stealing animated clock, its story when focused on was interesting and material enough to satisfy.
6.4/10.
WandaVision (2021)
Creates Deep Wonder, with a Magical Vision.
Unlike all the MCU Disney+ entries, as in every single one, suffering from a buckling middle and a rushed end, this series in particular managed to carry the weight and load of gripping quality throughout, while also being an amazing piece of visual, story, and performance art, that exercises various dynamic techniques which eventually add levels of deeper, entertaining, visionary, and innovative dimensions to the overall production.
The MCU is often, albeit recently, criticized for being a superficial-like form of entertainment, meant to be consumed and discarded, and though some, and possibly even most, of the franchise's installments have been indicative of that perspective lately, I do not believe that WandaVision should fall in that category. The main cast's acting ranges were tested so magnificently in this series, that that alone qualifies WandaVision as a wonderful piece of vision, while their ability to be up to the task just reinforces the show's excellence. Paul Bettany was incredible, and Elizabeth Olsen quite possibly stole the show along with all the minds of the Westview residents, while Kathryn Hahn's performance ultimately, was so captivating that it was reminiscent of Tom Hiddleston's first outing as Loki in Thor, back in 2011, and stole the show back from Elizabeth Olsen.
Though WandaVision was not all that big, and perhaps even spectacular, on the action front, its ability of creating pulpable mystery, that engages and salivates the fandom's apatite, while wonderfully tying itself into the MCU's story arc with Wanda's arc, makes WandaVision an absolute pleasure to watch, and a definite top tier addition to the MCU.
The series was certainly not perfect, with its moments of the MCU's New World Order here and there, while how things ended for Wanda could be viewed as questionable, though truthfully an argument can be made for either of the opposing views, but Bettany, Olsen, and Hahn's A Game, together with Kat Dennings and Randall Park's additions, and a solid display of writing for the most part, makes WandaVision a glamorous illusion.
8/10.
Ms. Marvel (2022)
From the MCU, to the M(CW).
Ms. Marvel is just another entry into what's going to be a long list of MCU content that we are not allowed to dislike, otherwise that means that there is something wrong with those who do - that we're somehow villainous, as Marvel and Disney continue to hide their various ideological priorities behind the guise of "story-telling", and not even all that well for those who can see past the transparent veil; pretentiously trying to fix every single culture, except their own.
In any case, Ms. Marvel is authentically boring, and inspires absolutely no excitement. This show is bland, and ironically, though very colorful, boasts an extreme sense of dullness. I know a "brown girl" being a superhero should be enough to have me doing cartwheels, similarly to why we are expected, bullishly so, to love CW's Supergirl and Batwoman, because I mean, why else would this show explicitly, with a chunky dose of cunning casualness, mention how Kamala is a brown girl right, but sadly, as it turns out (Sarcasm), there is a slight possibility that I prefer "Almond brown girls" (More Sarcasm). So get it right next time Marvel and Disney (Even More Sarcasm).
Ms. Marvel is another flat addition to the MCU's series installments, with mediocre action at best - actually, the action in this series is all the way uneventful and lifeless, a lackluster lead - though I have no problem with Iman Vellani, it's just that her portrayal of Ms. Marvel is as generic as they come, an uninteresting and uncompelling hero, plot twists that twist about as much as a block of wood and are just as intriguing, and, I don't know, I'm just trying to have aspects about this show to draw from, but it really didn't leave much, if any impression on me. Ms. Marvel, though it has no excitement, stakes, tension, or high level of engagement, and is to some extent, an arduous watch, is not bad I suppose (or maybe I genuinely feel like I'm not allowed to dislike this show), but it's not good either. It is simply representative representation represented in a representational representation.
5/10.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Thor: Nepotism and Narcissism. The Family Vanity Venture.
Every million Thor: Love and Thunder makes, is a million Marvel Studios and Disney has stolen, in the true meaning of the word, from fans. And believe me when I say that this farce of a movie is so vacant, that there really is nothing to spoil.
"Gorr - The God Butcher", yet not once did we see him butcher anyone, let alone a god, apart from a lousy stab. In any other franchise, such a gross disservice would have sparked outrage or contempt, but because it is the MCU, anything goes. That together with an endless barrage of bad and recycled jokes and plot issues the director couldn't have been bothered with, Thor: Love and Thunder, which is essentially named after Chris and his daughter, is a box of candy only good for causing a visual sugar high, only without the high or the sweetness. The MCU is no longer a loved franchise, it has become a worshiped one, which is why it can get away with producing thoughtless and empty products, and yet still be praised and consumed with gratitude.
This movie only served to stroke Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi's egos, while being a platform to showcase their children. And please don't interpret this as me "bashing" their children, they are completely innocent in this; it's their parents' egomania at fault. Thor: Love and Thunder has no substance, direction, or purpose, and is just a project of pure nepotism and ego.
This movie is half-baked, senseless, and intentionally ridiculous, which emphasizes just what a vanity venture it is.
I read somewhere someone say:
Avengers: Endgame: "Whatever it Takes".
Thor: Love and Thunder: "Whatever".
This is perhaps the most apt description of this thing that is a movie only by name.
In the sentiments of Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi, they suggest that this is a movie a 7-year-old would've made, and that the focus was 6-year-olds, showing how Marvel is now even flaunting its arrogance and disregard without shame.
Thor: Love and Thunder is not a movie, nor is it a movie for Marvel/MCU fans, it is a scam, a con, and footage of the Waititi and Hemsworth's family get-togethers, for them to enjoy during the holidays, but not us, together as families, and Taika and Chris are the con artists, which is about as much art as they display.
I'm not mad, disappointed, or surprised by this wreck of a movie, I'm merely aware of what the MCU is, or has become, and as an MCU fan, I'm just accepting of how the mighty have indeed fallen, at least from a quality point of view.
If you had asked me years ago if I thought I'd ever give an MCU movie such a low rating, I probably would've laughed in your face, and yet, here we are:
3/10.
Arrow (2012)
The Green Vomit: "People of This City" Edition.
Fighting the impulse to tear this entire trash universe to bits like the recyclable garbage it is, is a superhuman feat that is tested with every episode of every carbon copy dump show within this trash fest, with the same characters, same asinine science, same endless flow of moronic convenience, same hypocritical and self-righteous hogwash, same atrocious "action", same crackbrained level inconsistent malarkey, same terrible story-telling, same horrible acting, same braindead speeches, same inferior iterations of plot points stolen from superior illustrations in other comic book movies and series, same implausible scenarios, same below par actors, and the same overall meaningless, stakeless, and stench soaked repetition... Over hundreds of episodes.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, The Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman... The whole imbecilic Arrowverse is horrendous, with almost no redeeming qualities, and I mean infinitesimal and absolutely coincidental, and just when you think one show is the worst, the next one, with some unimaginable idiocy, reaches an impossible new low. Yes, I just essentially repeated myself about just how insufferable, and disgustingly dreadful The Arrowverse is; seems this plague ridden drivel has polluted me.
Since all this garbage is the same carbon copy goop with different names, this review will fittingly, be copied as is, for every one of them, except Constantine, because it was the only competent component in this sickening slimey gunk of a universe; though it too would have unequivocally turned into the same dumpster slime that is this trashverse with enough time.
Excluding the actual professionals who earned their pay, as in the auxiliary crew, like the various artists in production, and design, or the various sound engineers and so on, notwithstanding this trash being trash, what's truly heart breaking is that, certain other people got paid to churn this garbage out... Hundreds upon hundreds, and tens upon tens of godawful episodes and seasons of filth! Literally, piles upon piles, and heaps upon heaps of ingested, digested and expelled human waste.
It is impossible to exaggerate just how truly terrible, and absolutely detestable this universe is, unquestionably; garbage I would not have subjected myself to had it not been based on DC characters. Sadly, it was written and portrayed by personifications of VAPID!
Unreservedly, disgustingly, and positively monotonous, incompetent, maggot infested, and loathsome; truly!
The Batman (2022)
A Competent Gotham and Nolan Knockoff.
Ironically, in the aim of trying to keep this short, The Batman is quite a good movie, with genuinely funny moments, riddles, and one-liners - especially in the first act - in all that "grittiness", under lit spectacle, and persistent darkness, however, this movie, hate it or love it, is an undeniable replica and rehash of what Christopher Nolan has already given us, with splashes of Gotham. Yes, The Batman centers its Batman theme primarily around him being a "detective", but, Nolan already gave us Batman being a detective, and truthfully, he did it better, even though he didn't center his theme around that characteristic.
Just simply even looking at a Batman Begins vs The Batman head-to-head comparison, Batman Begins easily wins:
The Better Batman: Christian Bale (Batman Begins).
The Better Bruce Wayne: Christian Bale (Batman Begins).
The Better Alfred: Michael Caine (Batman Begins).
The Better Gordon: Gary Oldman (Batman Begins).
The Better Story: Batman Begins.
The Better Batmobile: Batman Begins.
The Better length and pace: Batman Begins.
And The Dark Knight Rises vs The Batman as far as Selina Kyle goes: Zoe Kravitz was good, but Anne Hathaway stole the show.
Yes, The Batman is set in the early stages of Batman's mantle, but in the context of artistry, that unfortunately, is no excuse, as this is a chosen vision by Matt Reeves, not one forced on him.
When it comes to Gotham, The Batman's set design felt almost exactly like that of Gotham's, and though it was really good, I suspect Gotham's set design was still better. As for The Riddler and Penguin's Gotham and The Batman comparison, this is the only aspect I believe The Batman may have done better (and that's only may have), which says a whole lot, because The Riddler and Penguin on Gotham are amazing, but Paul Dano and Colin Farrell truly played their parts with some spectacular poise.
From there, The Batman replicates the relationship between Batman and Catwoman so closely that towards the end, their interaction and even script looks and almost sounds exactly the same.
The ending of The Batman essentially replicates the ending of Batman Begins, with the same villain.
The score of The Batman is extremely reminiscent of Batman Begins, that even certain triads sound almost the same, and then switch to different notes and melodies.
The flood in The Batman mirrors the water vaporization in Batman Begins.
And, the hostility Bruce tends to show Alfred, was done pretty much the same way in The Batman, as was in Batman Begins, but as the pattern of this review reveals, the latter did that better too.
Again, The Batman is a good movie, but honestly, it is simply just an enjoyable and competent knockoff of Christopher Nolan's iteration. Christopher Nolan did it right, and it sadly somehow makes this movie feel, somewhat unneeded, though it was fun to have gotten it.
And though I realize that most people will definitely disagree clearly, I personally feel that Matt Reeves failed in delivering anything different, or different enough to warrant a new and fresh perspective, and essentially doubled down on an approach we've already seen before, and seen better, pun intended. But, I'll repeat, The Batman is a good movie nonetheless.
7.2/10.