Lee Cronin’s The Mummy Review

 

After going missing in Cairo eight years ago, Charlie & Larissa Cannon’s daughter Katie is found alive but was discovered partially mummified in a sarcophagus, and the family quickly starts to realize that something supernatural might be at play and involved with their daughter and her disappearance.

Not to spoil anything, but as you would expect in a mummy movie, there is a tomb, and I really enjoyed not only the design of it, but also the use of shadows and darkness, which was very effective and a cool visual; it’s definitely one of the creepiest-looking mummy movies. I’ve ever seen

For the most part, I enjoyed the family in this. The director is really good at getting natural and funny performances out of his actors, and he is especially good with children. He knows how to make them funny and cute but not to the point where it seems like they’re trying too hard; it comes out very genuine.

I also enjoyed how the story built the mystery of who and why Katie went missing, like the kidnapper seemed like they didn't want to do this, but something was compelling them to, and that certainly hooked me to want to know what was going on.

Just to warn people ahead of time, but this movie gets nasty. Cronin took a lot from his last Evil Dead film and applied it here. The direction and style feel very Sam Raimi-inspired (which I like that style also; I was cool with it), with a lot of wild camera movements and extreme close-ups, not to mention a lot of contouring body parts, squishy guts, and crispy skin, not to mention a good amount of blood and projectile bile. Big props to the Foley artist for going above and beyond on this one lol.

I would have to say my favorite character is Dalia Zaki, a detective (played by May Calamawy) who is investigating Katie’s reappearance, and she was very straightforward, down-to-earth, sympathetic, and smart. Plus, it was just kind of fun watching her unravel the mystery of what’s going on.

So in the first third, I liked how we were developing this family and their unique dynamic, and then in the second half, while still interesting, I do feel like the story started to hit a lot of the clichés of “possession movies"; you’ll have the possessed person say something creepy in a very low demonic tone, creepy things start happening around the house, people float, and jump scares are aplenty. And like I said, Cronin has enough unique camera shots and gross-out moments to keep it interesting and engaging.

But it does lean more on the familiar.

Another standout for me was Verónica Falcón as Katie‘s grandma; she brought a lot of humor and sass to the role. It was a very sympathetic and grounding character amongst all this supernatural craziness.

Like I mentioned, all the special effects and gore were very well done, so big props to the special effects department; you guys killed it… Literally in some cases lol.

I can see some people getting frustrated with the parents in the second half, and I understand that after so long, finally getting their daughter back, they become very protective of her, but they also ignore some pretty red flags the size of a barn in the process, so I can see some people feeling disconnected with that, but it doesn’t get too bad, I will say.

There are some interesting set pieces. I will say there is one with a nail clipper that had me squirming and another one that takes place in these little tunnels in between the walls that was pretty neat.

There’s a creepy VHS video that’s brought into the story, and I always enjoy when that story element is brought to a movie; something about VHS in the grains just adds to the unsettling factor that I enjoy.

The movie also could’ve been a little bit shorter, not too much, but it does run a little long, and with maybe a tighter edit the film could’ve popped a little more, but what we got for the most part did have pretty good pacing, and I was engaged throughout, so it’s always nice lol.

The third act is a little predictable and definitely leans more towards the demonic possession cliché than mummy clichés, but I did kind of enjoy the final part in a sort of Twisted Tales from the Crypt (no pun intended, lol) twist ending kind of way… If you think about it too hard, there are a few plot holes, but for the most part you can go for it, and it is a very cathartic moment, which is nice.

This film has definitely been getting mixed reviews from critics and audiences, and for me personally, I enjoyed the film. I can understand people‘s criticisms of it feeling more like an exorcist movie than a mummy movie, especially with that last exorcist movie, “Exorcist: Believer," and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice a few shared plot points between the two, but being mummies and demons are very similar supernatural creatures, so I’m having some gimmick was never too distracting to me. Plus, the story was done better than Believer, so the movie definitely gets extra points for enjoyment value. But the story isn’t anything mind-blowing either, so I guess it depends on what you want out of this movie. I wanted just a well-told creepy mummy movie, which I got, so I’m satisfied. I give the film somewhere between 3 1/2 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 and four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. What can I say? I was really… Wrapped up in the story lol

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review

 The Mario Brothers and friends are back, this time going on a cosmic adventure to save Princess Rosalinda and stop Bowser Junior from rescuing his father and taking over the galaxy.

Right off the bat, I got to give big props to all the animators who worked on this film. One of the most enjoyable things about the Mario world is… the world lol. All the different areas you explore and characters you come across all have a unique and appealing design, and this movie really exemplifies that. My favorite was definitely “Wart’s Casino," where all the different villains from the games come and gamble, and it’s one big square room, but each side of the room has its own gravity, so basically you could walk on the wall of one and then walk down and then walk on the floor, etc., and the way the animators played with color and all the different cameos, not to mention this really cool and inventive fight scene that happens there, was a lot of fun in a unique battle set piece that I really enjoyed.

Speaking of, all the fight sequences I thought not only had really smooth animation but also really well thought-out choreography, and how they kept escalating within the fight was pretty engaging, not to mention some funny strikes that Super Mario fans will probably get a big kick out of.

Speaking of, I am no Mario expert. I’ve played some games here and there over the years, but my knowledge of the character and the world is very basic, and this film originally was released during Easter weekend, which makes a lot of sense because this movie has a ton of Mario Easter eggs throughout, like I kind of wish I went with a Mario expert so they could sporadically throughout the movie turn and go, “OK, that villain right there, that’s for the second game," or “Oh, that costume right there, that’s from this game." Now, it never got to a part where I couldn’t follow what was going on in the story, so I have to give it points for accessibility with people who are experts in the game, but if you are one, I definitely think you’ll get some fun surprises throughout the film.

Ironically, my favorite character in a Mario Brothers movie is the bad guy, Bowser. Jack Black, as per usual, gives a very funny and jovial performance as Bowser tries to get over his anger and “galaxy domination” issues, and not only do I think he has a pretty interesting arc, but I really like his relationship with his son Bowser Junior. Those scenes are pretty sweet and sincere and have some pretty fun, almost dark funny moments as both bond over their dream of conquering the galaxy lol.

Benny Safdie plays Bowser Junior, which is a little ironic, seeing the guy who directs such intense dramas like Uncut Gems and Good Times play this video game character, that would be like getting Werner Herzog to voice Snorlax in a Pokémon movie… Which would actually be pretty awesome lol. But again, I liked his relationship with his father, not to mention he had a cool weapon with this paintbrush that he could make anything with; I thought that was pretty creative and led to some cool action set pieces.

So remember, when I said I liked Bowser‘s arc in the film, well, one of the big standouts of it was that it is the only arc in the film that any character has. Other characters seemingly have arcs set up: Mario wants to ask the princess out on a date, and Peach is feeling lonely because she doesn’t know where she comes from and might have a connection with this other princess, Rosalinda, but neither is given hardly enough time to get any development. The characters are so focused on the plot, and the plot is so focused on getting the characters from one place to another that we don’t get any real time for character development or breathing time, really. I mean, you can sort of say they get resolution, but in the most basic ways that if you blink, you might miss it.

I enjoyed Charlie Day as Luigi; I wish he had more to do, but he had some funny moments.

So as teased in the post-credit scene of the last film, Yoshi is in this film, and you think, being such an iconic and beloved character, he’d have more to do, but he’s just kind of there in the background to look cute and eat stuff; that’s about it. Now in his introduction there is a cool little montage that I thought had a very interesting and distinct visual direction and was a fun little sequence, but that’s about as much Yoshi development you’re going to get; like I said, he’s there to be cute and for the character recognition. Also, Donald Glover voices Yoshi, and honestly, you could not tell; his voice is so high-pitched, and he just says his name over and over, so this must’ve been one easy paycheck for Glover lol.

Speaking of, I don’t know if I want to spoil this, but heck, the marketing already spoiled this (which I don’t know why they did). It would’ve been much cooler and more surprising if they had saved it for the movie; it would’ve been like an "Oh my God, I did not see that coming” moment, but whatever. Fox McCloud from the Star Fox games is in this, and Glenn Powell does a good job voicing him, and I like the character, but this film has way too many characters as is, and while I did enjoy his inclusion and I hope this leads to a spinoff movie, I do think the film would’ve benefited from focusing on only a handful of these characters and really giving them more development instead of cramming them all in because the fans will enjoy seeing them all.

Princess Rosalinda, voiced by Brie Larson, is another example; she feels more like a MacGuffin than an actual character. She lives on a spaceship where she is a mother to a bunch of stars, who are all voiced by kids, and she's pretty cute and funny, but they feel more developed, and they’re more like comedic relief and actual characters, and Rosalinda actually has a pretty significant connection to Princess Peach that could’ve been interesting to explore, but she spends most of the movie locked up, and the film could’ve had more emotional weight if they had done more with her character… Which again is a recurring theme with most of the characters and storylines.

Overall, the movie is fine; it’s enjoyable enough with stunning visuals, fun action, set pieces, and some good jokes here and there, but it’s very much so on a basic level. The film could use a lot more character development and not have so many different characters competing for screen time. Sure, Mario fans will enjoy all the different cameos and references, but the movie itself won’t have as much staying power or substance as it could’ve had. I give the film 2 1/2 stars ⭐️⭐️💫; like, kids and families will enjoy the film, but for something with this much potential and fandom, you wish they had done a little bit more with it to really make it something special.

The Drama Review

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya play Charlie and Emma, a happily engaged couple who, before a wedding, learn a secret from Emma’s past that throws their whole relationship into a tailspin.

I was very impressed with the tone of this movie because it starts out feeling like a classic Woody Allen-Nora Ephron type romantic comedy, very laid-back and sweet, then the secret comes out, and then it feels like you're in a psychological 70s movie like Taxi Driver or an awkward comedy like Being John Malkovich. Now these tones are very different and should not really work together, but I have to give props to the director Kristoffer Borgli for finding that perfect balance.

Zendaya is very good as Emma; she brings a confident charm and fun demeanor to the romantic scenes, but I was pleasantly surprised how well she was at playing nervous and introverted for the more dramatic scenes. That's something I haven’t really seen from her before, and she did an excellent job.

Robert Pattinson also did a good job playing the two different tones; the first part is very reminiscent of Hugh Grant in 90s movies, very charmingly befuddled. But once things get more tense, Pattinson doesn't do an effective job at leaning into the more awkward comedy bits and making the audience feel uncomfortable with his character but not lose empathy for him.

Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie play Charlene, Emma‘s best friend/best man and maid of honor, and they both give strong, supportive performances. Haim’s character also fluctuates a little between being sympathetic and being likable, but not in a way you don’t understand.

The film's topic is rather heavy and serious, but the film manages to explore this theme in a very empathetic and rather nuanced take that I haven’t seen much of, so I appreciate all the effort and mixing of tones. The filmmakers did; it was quite effective.

I quite enjoyed the directing throughout the film. Borgli injects a lot of creative montages in dream sequences to convey the story throughout, which I found very effective, not to mention a surprising amount of cameras throughout, which effectively conveyed the characters' rising insecurities and intentions in a very subtle, but effective way

The cinematography was very gorgeous, a lot of natural lighting and soft color palette, which fit the wedding aesthetic, but was also a nice position with the more serious elements of the film

A nice pleasant surprise was Hailey Gates as Charlie’s coworker, I feel like that role could’ve been a very straightforward and underwritten character, but Gates brought a lot of nuance and “character” to the part that was refreshing, felt like a real person‘s reactions, and a nice bit of subtle humor

I will say some of the awkward humor can get very “squirm in your seat” for certain viewers so be aware going in, but I think it’s nothing too outrageous that it will take away from the story

The film was well paced and had some interesting editing choices, very artsy and creative

The music/soundtrack was quite effective and was very diverse in it’s tracks and tone.

I would say the movie’s main theme is “Would you judge someone for the worst thing they ever did?" And as previously stated, not only do I think it was explored in a very nuanced and mostly believable way, but a story like this can really depend on the ending, and personally I think the story had a very satisfying ending that also fit with the characters and the overall story.

The drama is an interesting work about a couple's relationship and is good at presenting a dilemma to the audience and prompting them to explore their own thoughts and feelings on the subject in a very nuanced and almost darkly silly kind of way. This is helped with a great cast, wall, strong performances, creative film techniques, and a surprising amount of heart and understanding. I give the film four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, although I definitely don’t recommend this movie as a first date flick, not unless you want a slightly awkward car ride afterwards 😂.

They Will Kill You Review

 

Zazie Beetz plays Asia Reaves, an ex-convict who is searching for her younger sister, which leads her to a mysterious New York apartment building filled with satanic residents that she must fight not only to save her sister but also to survive.

I was quite impressed with the action throughout the film; the fight was very frenetic and well choreographed, not to mention the filmmakers get very creative with all the different camera movements and styles. Like certain scenes are perfectly symmetrical and have this quirky aesthetic that it feels straight out of a Wes Anderson movie, but you’ll have masked bad guys getting chopped up, so it feels like The Grand Budapest Hotel meets The Raid, which doesn’t sound like it should work as well as it does, but the filmmakers managed to pull it off. So good for them.

Zazie Beetz does a very good job; her character is pretty straightforward and focused on her mission, but there are a few scenes that she’s able to give her a more comedic or dramatic performance. Not to mention she’s very impressive with all the action scenes; I could tell The Bride from Kill Bill was a big influence on this character.

There was a very interesting chase scene in some tunnels that was pretty creative, and the way it was shot almost felt like stop motion, like it felt like I was watching Fantastic Mr. Fox for a few seconds, but the way they were moving

Tom Felton and Heather Graham play satanic henchmen, and they both do a good job and get some good comic moments, although I wish their characters were a little more fleshed out and had more to do, but for what they were given, both actors are enjoyable. Again, props to them for all the fight choreography.

I really enjoyed this one fight scene in a ballroom that involved fire; the weight was shot, and the choreography mixed with cinematography was very impressive and cool, definitely a standout scene for me. 

Patricia Arquette plays the manager of the hotel and has quite an impressive Irish accent; she’s very good at seeming intimidating, but they also give her character an interesting moral complexity that I do wish had been explored a little bit more, but what we got was interesting at fleshing her character out.

This movie is much gorier than I was expecting, like it’s nothing too brutal or skeezy, but they were definitely scenes that I was not expecting to go as hard as they did and leave off practical effects, especially with one little creature that was pretty impressive and a little bit cute in one instance.

Myha'la plays the sister, and I found her relationship with her sister interesting. Some parts were a little cliché and heavy on drama, but some of the twists and turns with her character were actually pretty interesting and added to the tension of the story of how these two girls were going to get out of all this.

I do think the world of this hotel has been streamlined a little better; it’s not bad, but there were a lot of different ideas that were thrown at you when explaining it at once, and there are one or two times. I felt like I should’ve had a note so I could double-check to make sure I knew what was going on, but it’s not overly complicated enough that you don’t get it, but certain things will take you a second to connect certain dots together.

I was pleasantly surprised with Paterson Joseph's character of Ray (who is Patricia Arquette‘s husband in the movie); his character had some interesting moral complexity to him and turned out to be the heart of the film.

This movie is more heavy on action than it is plot or character moments, so be aware of that going in, but like I’ve said, the action is both very well executed and creative, not to mention ratchets up perfectly so audiences will still be pretty engrossed.

I did not expect the climax to go the way it did. I can see some people thinking it is a little over the top, but I thought it was pretty fun and kind of original.

I do find it a little odd that they released this movie one week after Ready or Not 2, another movie involving sisters with a strained relationship on the run from Satanists, like they were certain points. I’m like, "Were they writing these scripts next to each other at the same time, and did the writers copy off one another lol?" Like, each film has enough unique qualities to differentiate them from each other, but there were definitely certain parts. I’m like, “I just saw this last week"; definitely an odd coincidence.

They Will Kill You may not be the most original movie; you can see a ton of influences from Wes Anderson, The Raid, Kill Bill, Ready or Not, and a little Rosemary's Baby, but the filmmakers were able to take all these elements and blend them in a way that you get a fun, thrilling action story with likable characters and creative and unique story elements. I give the film three and a half stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫. 

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Reviewed

Picking up right where the first one left off, we follow Grace after she escaped being hunted by her new husband‘s family on their wedding night… to now being hunted by five different families in order for them to gain some ultimate satanic power and rule the world. And to make matters worse, they kidnap Grace’s strained sister, Faith, forcing the sisters to work together to try and survive.

To me, the best thing about this movie is the cast; there are a lot of recognizable faces, and everyone gives a great performance, all balancing the tone of horror and comedy well.

Samar weaving takes the lead, and this is a great showcase for her talents. She gives a very realistic and scared performance (as anyone would be in this situation), but she also has a strong dry sense of humor, which she was able to infuse into the performance, and she gives really good facial reactions during the action parts.

Kathryn Newton was also great as the sister Faith; her more bubbly and naïve personality worked well off of Grace's more weary and panicking performance. Not to mention both actresses have really good chemistry and do feel like sisters with a lot of baggage to them.

I also liked the sisters' dynamic together; it felt very realistic and went in some surprising directions. Some of it did feel a little bit contrived and overdramatic, but it was never far-fetched and does fit given the characters' history together.

Sarah Michelle Gellar & Shawn Hatosy play the lead villains/twins; both are good at being intimidating and are a little more sympathetic than you would expect at the beginning, although Gellar's character towards the end does go in some directions that felt a little out of character, like it didn’t feel properly set up, but it wasn’t that distracting or took away from the film in any big way.

David Cronenberg also appears as the twins' father; it's always good to see him pop up in films, and he gives a very solid and foreboding performance.

A fun surprise was Maia Jae as one of the extended family members, who has an interesting tie to the first film. She and Weaving have a fun, almost Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck type rivalry, and they probably have my favorite sequence in the whole film, which was very creative and a good balance of action and comedy.

Another standout from a relative newcomer was Varun Saranga; his character was so ridiculous and in over his head, not to mention the actor gave some great facial reactions. I could see him getting some of the biggest laughs from audiences.

Elijah Wood, Nestor Carbonell, and Kevin Durand always give good solid performances, and this film is no different. I especially like how Wood was so calm yet creepy and funny at the same time.

Not really a complaint, but something I noticed is the way the game is set up. You have a lot of the comedic characters in one location and the more serious characters in another location, and your cut back-and-forth between something serious happening and then we get the reaction from the more comedic characters for the punchline, and I just wish they had incorporated the community elements between the two groups a little more, some other characters, and a couple of comedic moments, but that’s more nitpick than anything, and I don’t think we’ll bother most people in their enjoyment.

The special effects were quite well done in the film, and for such a gory and bloody movie, it never felt too over-the-top or took away from the funny elements of the film.

The film also has a good pacing, starting off strong and getting to the action quite fast, which I appreciate. Towards the third act, it does slow down a little bit, but it does lead to a nice twist, and the final part is a good payoff.

The color greeting was also very well done, and I liked some of the lighting choices.

The director‘s next film is the new Brendan Fraser movie. In certain parts you can definitely feel like they’re doing test footage with certain sets to train capture the right feel of a creepy mummy movie, but it never feels out of place in this film, and they did a good job at it, so it does make me a little more excited for the new Mummy film.

Also, big props to the fight choreographers; they had a lot of fun, and creative action ended with a good balance between harsh fight moves and almost Three Stooges antics.

Ready or Not 2 is a very solid sequel. Personally, I prefer the first because I liked the dynamic of the evil family, but I liked how they fleshed out Grace’s character with her relationship to Faith. A lot of the comedic characters got good laughs out of me; the action set pieces were very creative and exciting to watch, not to mention cool set design, and I’m always a sucker for seeing Sarah Michelle Geller kick ass in something funny and supernatural. I give the film a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; it’s definitely a fun time at the movies.