28 Years Later Review

 

28 years after the zombie apocalypse, a family from a small island town deals with the British wasteland for survival…

This is one of those movies that the less you know going in, the better. I will say the trailers are a little misleading on what the exact plot is. What it is is still good, but I could see some people going in expecting one thing and then surprised that they got something else, so be prepared.

I had a lot of fun with Danny Boyle’s directing; it’s fast-paced, plus he gets so wild with all the different types of shots and lenses, and the movie can feel a bit abstract and grounded at the same time—it’s really impressive.

Beautiful cinematography; the colors really pop throughout the film, and they really take advantage of the lush green countryside. I’ve never seen an apocalypse so pretty before lol.

I liked the zombies in this; they had an unsettling way of moving and were very dirty-looking, plus there were different types of zombies, which I appreciate for the good variety and creativity. I think any fan of zombies will be satisfied with how they’re handled.

There wasn’t a lot of gore in the first half, but when it kicks into the second, it feels like I’ve entered Resident Evil meets Mortal Kombat. It’s no George A. Romero level, but it has some good moments for you fans out there… You weirdos, lol.

I also was impressed with how good they got me with some of those jump scares. No seat jumpers, but there were a few moments when I was like, Oh dang, you got me lol.

The movie is much more psychedelic in its design and editing than you would expect, but it never feels out of place; it actually helps give the film a unique and interesting feel.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes are all very good actors who give solid performances, but I am quite impressed with Alfie Williams in this… For a 15-year-old, this kid is quite talented and has a surprising amount of range. I mean, he’s no Marlon Brando, but as far as 15-year-old actors go, he did quite a good job.

The only thing I spoil, and it’s not really a spoiler because it’s on every poster and trailer, is that tower of skulls and that whole set were very well done and looked great in the film.

The sound mixing deserves a shout-out; with all the different crunching, gushing, and splat sound effects throughout this, you’ll definitely be squirming in your seats in a couple of parts.

My major complaint… I wish the third act had a stronger resolution, the final showdown against the “big bad”‘of the movie felt a bit underwhelming; without going into details, it does end on an odd note. Personally didn’t mind it, but I could see it being jarring for other view.

Now they’ve said this is going to be a trilogy, and they announced the second one’s coming out in January of next year, so there is more story to tell, but it doesn’t feel like I saw a complete story; it felt more like the filmmaker went, “Well, we’re going to stop here for now, and you’re going to have to come back later to see what happens next,” which I’ve never been a fan of. Like, don’t tease me, bro. So I could see some people feeling like they were left hanging too.

It was a real blast seeing it with my friends, they really enjoyed it and it was fun talking about the movie with them so that’s great. 

Overall, this movie was enjoyable; it didn’t live up to its full potential and was a little scattered, but the performances, filmmaking, zombies, and overall aesthetic made it a fun watch. Now my opinion may or may not change depending on the sequels, but for right now I’ll give it between a high three stars and a low four stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

The Life of Chuck Review

 

The Life of Chuck tells… The Life of Chuck: no matter what you feel about this movie, you can’t say the title doesn’t deliver. The movie unfolds in three parts… but not like you think.

Part One follows this strained couple in a nebulous future where things keep getting worse and worse and people think it might be the end of the world. It’s a bit of a bummer, but the way things get worse seems very “realistic,” and in this scene and throughout the movie, we get a ton of cameos of characters, and they give actors a great chance to shine. There is also an interesting mystery going on with people seeing retirement signs for this guy Chuck (who no one knows).

The second part follows Chuck and a lady he meets dancing… It’s simple, sweet, and well made, and Tom Hiddleston has some great dance moves. My quote, my friend Kat: “It would be interesting to see him do a Broadway show twice a day for six days a week,” and I liked the actress who played the dancer; she seems like a nice up-and-comer.

Part Three follows young Chuck growing up. First of all, give Mia Sara and Mark Hamill all the awards; they’re the best part of the film. Their heart and emotional nuances in their performances were incredible and expertly well done. Also, big ups to Jacob Tremblay; for a young guy, he is a fantastic actor who feels wiser than his age… Great job, dude.

Without spoiling anything, the third story introduces this interesting element that I thought was very well incorporated and added a fun bit of spookiness to the story while still retaining heart, which the movie seemed to be getting at and really excelled at.

The movie is littered with great actors giving equally great performances. I think my favorite was Samantha Sloyaan; she was funny and spunky, but everyone did extremely well… literally everyone, even the random extras in the back, I was like… That guy is trying to stand there. He is doing a really good job.”

Also, Heather Langenkamp has a small role, and it’s always great to see her pop up. She was really fun and funny, so that was a big highlight for me. a

Mike Flanagan did a great job writing and directing; he added a lot of style and interesting tones for each part of the story, plus there were some cool lines that I think people will really enjoy throughout.

The soundtrack was sweet and wholesome.

Life of Chuck is interesting, a bit different, but well made with a lot of heart given by everyone involved in the project… I give it a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

The Phoenician Scheme Review

 

After surviving a number of assassination attempts and a plane crash, industrialist Zsa-Zsa Korda tries to reconnect with his estranged nun daughter while also trying to collect enough money to finish his dream projects he’s been working on for 30 years and avoid several more assassination attempts from his competitors.

My favorite thing about this movie is Benicio Del Toro’s character and performance. Now I do think people might have a hard time connecting with his character, mostly because his character is reserved, ruthless, and manipulative he can be, but he’s also like darkly funny because he’s very serious about everything he says, even if a lot of it is ridiculous, so it comes off as absurdly funny, which I quite enjoyed. But I recognize it’s a “your mileage may vary” situation. He kind of felt like Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane meets Scrooge McDuck having a near-death experience in a midlife crisis.

I think most people will like Michael Cera the most; he rides the line of absurd and sincere quite impressively and is a very sweet and likable character.

Mia Threapleton did an excellent job playing Korda’s estranged nun daughter, and while her character may be a bit too cold and artificial for my taste, her deadpan delivery was used to great comedic effect that I liked.

This film has a big and impressive cast, who all do a good and entertaining job, but I think my favorites were Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston, just for the oddball buddy relationship they had with themselves and the other characters.

The tone is definitely unique. Like most Wes Anderson movies, everyone is extremely deadpan & flat with overall worded dialogue, but there is a good amount of heart that comes through, not as much as his other films, but enough that I was engrossed throughout.

There was a big streak of dark humor and over-the-top slapstick in most scenes that I really enjoyed; I’m always a sucker for that kind of humor. Also, I saw the action movie Ballerina the same weekend, so it was interesting seeing two very different films in both style and tone sharing send-ups to slapstick, and in particular, the Three Stooges… What a nice coincidence!

The plot is a little convoluted; there are a lot of business deals and percentages and business espionage going on that, while I understood what was going on in the broad strokes, if you asked me to explain it, I couldn’t.

This will surprise no one, but his camera work and set decoration are spectacular as always; his symmetrical dollhouse framing is in top form, and he gets plenty of interesting, almost cartoonish shots.

I liked all the different locations they went to; this film is very colorful and bright, even when they’re in the desert or even in black-and-white.

There was a storyline that involved the nun daughter's mom that I thought had an interesting setup but not much of a payoff, which was disappointing because it was actually quite interesting and could’ve given some real insight into the characters.

I liked Bill Murray’s cameo; it was cute.

The resolution to the plot, I thought, was a little too simple and kind of robbed the rest of the movie of stakes, but it led to an epilogue I thought was interesting.

The credits were cool and something I hadn’t seen before, so big props, Wes.

So while I overall enjoyed the film for the creativity and performances, I think a general audience and even Wes Anderson fans might find it hard to connect to this movie due to its rigid characters and complicated plot, but the heart of the characters and its scenes of humor will make most people happy to invest if they're interested. I give it a high three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Ballerina Review

 

To avenge the murder of her father, a young girl becomes a ballerina assassin and kicks a whole lot of ass… And that’s pretty much the whole movie.

Ana de Armas is quite enjoyable and impressive as the lead; she does a lot of physical acrobatics and fight moves, and while not having a whole lot of dialogue, she is still able to emote a good amount of emotions with the micro-expressions she has to convey.

Gabriel Bryne is a good villain; there isn’t much to him besides being a creepy German guy, but as far as creepy Germans go, he knows how to be charismatically squirmy.

Angelica Houston plays the ballerina’s Russian boss, and while her accent does feel a little “moose and squirrel” at times, I thought she and the ballerina had an interesting chemistry and worked off each other well.

Ian McShane, Norman Reedus, and Lance Reddick are all solid, and it’s always nice to see them. Although, quit nitpicking… Norman Reedus’s accent shouldn’t make sense because of his character; if you see the movie, you know what I mean, but it’s nothing that takes away from the story.

John Wick does pop up in this, and for the most part, I think he was well utilized; he gets some good moments but doesn’t steal the show.

The main selling point of the John Wick films is the action, and Ballerina is no exception. For a slightly two-hour film, I would say there’s at least a good hour and a half of pure action, and they do manage to mix it up so it doesn’t get repetitive. There are a few comedic elements to some of the action, which I rather enjoyed, kind of like an ode to the Three Stooges and slapstick. Plus, without spoiling anything… There’s something really dope that happens with flamethrowers; that was probably my favorite part.

I will say the main character has a little bit too much plot armor, like I know these John Wick movies play fast & loose with physics, but even by their standards, there are some hits she gets where it’s like, “OK, you should be taking more damage than you are.”

Also, there is a character that, without spoiling anything, was supposed to have a bigger emotional impact and unfortunately felt kind of underutilized. I think more should’ve been done with them.

Plus, in the climax, they do the old trope I never really like of “even though there’s like 30 of us, we’ll attack the hero basically one at a time; I’m sure they won’t be able to kill us that way… Whoops, now we’re dead…” When will these henchmen learn?

The cinematography is gorgeous, with so much bright white, blue, and pinkish-purple lighting. There’s one nightclub in this that literally looked like Gotham repurposed Mr. Freeze’s lair from Batman and Robin and turned it into a nightclub… That was funny to me.

The script is fine, a tad bit long, and there are a couple of overly convenient plot contrivances, and they try really hard to push the message of “Fate vs. Choice,” both to mixed results, but the performances, action, cinematography, and Len Wiseman’s direction really bump this up to the next level.

Overall, there was a lot of thought and creativity that went into this film, and even if you have a mild interest in action, I think you’ll get a real… kick out of this film lol. I give it four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It’s a good time at the movies.

The Amatuer Review

 

After his wife is killed in a terrorist attack, a CIA analyst uses his brains and hacking skills to get revenge on the people responsible…

The best thing about this movie is the cast and the acting. Rami Malek is very likable and fantastic as this meek but wicked smart “everyman” who has to harden himself to get revenge… Rachel Brosnahan isn’t in the movie a whole lot, but she makes good use of what screen time she has. Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, and Michael Stuhlbarg are all great actors, and spoilers… They’re great in this movie, and they’ll have fantastic chemistry. I was really impressed with Caitríona Balfe. I had never heard of this actress before, but she really gave a nuanced performance with an interesting character.

The spy stuff feels very stripped down and realistic but still has its thrilling moments, like the early Bourne films, where there’s a lot of tracking people and finding information and ways to get people while evading others… That’s sort of like cat-and-mouse spy games while reflecting on what cost the spy life takes on a person is very interesting and (no pun intended) well executed by the filmmakers. Now there are action scenes, but not enough to necessarily make this an action movie; it’s more of a thriller with spy elements, but I enjoyed the more character-centric stuff they went with.

Great use of location; we go all over the world and see all these beautiful and stunning locations.

I like the pacing; everything feels very natural and realistic… There are a couple of, like, quick saves and lucky breaks the characters get through a situation, but nothing too bad that won’t take you out of the movie.

The cinematography and color of the film do have a nice pop to them, while keeping the naturalistic look.

There were plenty of twists and turns, and while it might take a minute to connect everything, I think most audiences will be able to follow it without major issues.

Very interesting use of technology in this film; it’s both interesting and kind of terrifying to think what we’re capable of nowadays.

Some people might be a little split on the resolution, at least one aspect of it that, honestly, I was a little torn myself about, but overall it’s fine, and I think people walk away from this movie feeling like they got a good story out of it .

I give it three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️️. Not bad for an amateur, lol.

Bring Her Back Review

 

Are you tired of being happy? Do you want to feel sad and depressed? Well, then, do I have the feel-bad movie of the year for you?

Bring Her Back tells the story of brother and sister Andy and Piper, who, after losing their dad, move in with a foster mom who had a dark secret and plan for the two siblings….

Right off the bat, you feel for these kids. The actors do a great job at making these characters likable and feel like real people; plus, not only do they lose their parents, but the sister is mostly blind, and the brother is doing everything he can to look after her. He technically didn’t have to move in with the foster mom, but since he won’t be 18 for another three months, he can’t look after her on his own and doesn’t want them to be separated. And while it is a harsh situation the two are in, there is a sibling levity between the two that you root for.

There is another kid in this, Oliver, and he deserves major props. He pretty much feels like a lobotomized serial killer, which can be a tough acting challenge for adults, but he’s only ten years old, so his acting ability at a young age is impressive.

But the best performance comes from the foster mom, played by Sally Hawkins, who is usually great in everything she’s in, but this is definitely a standout for her in her career. Her character is very complex; at some point you’re weirded out by her, other times you hate her, and then sometimes you feel bad for her. There are even a couple of points you think she might have a turnaround, and then it starts all over again. It’s a lot of plates she has to balance and convey in her acting, and she really does a fantastic job.

The biggest theme of this movie is about loss and grief, which is tonally and visually conveyed throughout the film with rain and a water motif, which the filmmakers do a good job visualizing with interesting shots and camera movements, but it’s so depressing and gloomy looking that you could watch this movie in the middle of a desert under a sun lamp and you’d still feel like you need to dry yourself off afterwards.

There isn’t a whole lot of gore in this movie, but there are a couple of scenes that just go from 0 to 11 on the gross-out meter fast. Like, apparently appetites can go almost as fast as the speed of light because that’s how much I lost mine at a couple of parts, lol.

There is “something” going on, which isn’t hard to guess, and they don’t really go too much into the “how,” which I could see bugging some people, but honestly, it didn’t bother me too much just because… Well, without spoiling anything, the type of movie this turns into is a popular one, and there are enough hints and cool visuals that it was easy for me to ignore the nitpicks and just roll with it.

The story is a little loose, not in a boring sense, but there are just not a whole lot of plots/casts of characters; a lot of the film’s story is conveyed through vibes and somber music and sequences of characters being distraught. So while the visuals, music, and performances are top-notch, it will leave the viewer feeling very sorrowful and dejected, like movie theaters should hand out wide-eyed kittens for people to play with after just to lighten the mood lol.

Props to the camera operator; a lot of the movie is shot using handheld camera work, which gives the film a very low-key and “realistic” feel, but despite the craziness and looseness, I was impressed with how many bits of information and character progression are conveyed visually.

A nice surprise was at one part during the film, they play a song I’m a big fan Untouched by the Veronicas,” which is a sort of obscure song from about 15 years ago that isn’t mentioned a lot to my knowledge, so to hear it pop up randomly in the movie was a nice surprise, and the way it was used was a nice little subversion in the scene.

So coming out, I think people might be a bit mixed on this film, like they’ll be impressed by the filmmaking and the acting, and as a horror movie, it is very effective, but it is just so heavy and somber that I don’t know if people will be rushing out to see it again or recommending it to people unless you just really want to feel depressed. I give it a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I appreciate and commend the effort that was put in, but it’s a harsh bummer 😂 

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Review

A.I. is trying to take over the world, and it’s up to Ethan Hunt and his Mission Impossible team to save the day… one last time. 💥😎

Let me start with the best things: there are two action scenes, 1. an underwater submarine scuba heist, and 2. A World War One plane fight in the style of Top Gun Maverick meets Buster Keaton-esque air gymnastics that are super impressive and some of the best practical set pieces I’ve seen in a very long time, maybe ever. Tom Cruise is like the Christopher Nolan/Daniel Day-Lewis of action scenes; his commitment to realism and giving every action and acting scene his all, not to mention working in some good physical humor and gags into some of these deifying stunts, is SUPER impressive. You can tell he has a lot of love and respect for his character and this franchise.

Also, loved all the scenes with Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames. All three actors have great chemistry and banter, with each actor given a moment to shine, and honestly the real heart of this movie is the friendship between these characters, which I really enjoyed.

Unfortunately, this movie is about an hour and 10 to 20 minutes too long, and when it drags, it drags harder than RuPaul in a Pride Parade.

First off, this movie has WAY too many characters; like, almost every scene has 3 to 5 characters too many. And it’s kind of disappointing because Christopher McQuarrie hires recognizable actors for almost every minor role, and he knows how to get good performances out of them, but so many of them are perfunctory. Like there’s this whole sub plot with the president and her cabinet that I really enjoyed, but honestly it should’ve been cut or made into its own separate movie because it really messes with the pacing.

I did like Haley Atwell quite a bit; she brought a lot of fun and cheeky charisma to her character. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much for her to do, but the actress made the most of it, and that is commendable. The same goes for Pom Klementieff & Katy O'Brian; it was nice seeing them, but it would’ve been nicer if they had anything to do, and honestly could have been cut.

This being the “final film,” they try and tie previous films into this one to make it feel like a BIG finale, and you can clearly tell that they are stretching, like the new Reed Richards Fantastic Four movie he’s going to have to do some. John Wick-style stretching kung fu tops this movie's stretches.

For example, besides Angela Bassett, they bring back two characters, and without going into too much detail… The Henry Czerny (Ethan’s former boss) stuff was fine because I like that actor and his chemistry with Tom Cruise, and while I like seeing Rolf Saxon again, he was in the movie for way too long and would’ve worked better as a fun cameo (like Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick). And that stuff they tried to do with Shea Whigham—again, I love that actor—but it’s like putting on pants that are too small… It was too much of a stretch and REALLY did not need to be in the film because there’s too much going on, and I get them trying to connect everything and make this finale feel grand, but it’s like overeating on Thanksgiving; it’s starting to hurt the experience.

The worst is this character played by Greg Tarzan Davis. All this character has to do is stand in the background and say a couple of lines every once in a while, but he’s like in so many scenes, and I just kept thinking… There is no reason for you to be here. Like, the actor is good, and he’s trying his best, but it’s like using your fist to make a rock into a diamond, like… He got nothing and really shouldn’t be there at all.

I will say I did quite enjoy the sub-plot with the president and her cabinet, all that felt like a well-made sendup/remake of the 60s film Crossfire, but it mostly felt like a completely separate movie half the time and should’ve been made its own film and cut from this one.

Also, and this is a light spoiler, but it’s more spoiling something that doesn’t happen… Rebecca Ferguson doesn’t come back. I really thought they had faked her character’s death, and unfortunately, she’s really dead, which I’m not the biggest fan of that choice because I liked her character and what she brought to the series, and you could kind of feel something missing in this movie because of it.

The villains are pretty bad… First of all, A.I. has all the subtlety and creativity of Cobra Commander meets a lame Yu-Gi-Oh!/Terminator rip-off you’d see in a Sci-Fi Channel original movie. And Esai Morales gives the part his all, and while I liked the actor, so much of his dialogue and plot was convoluted and ridiculous, not to mention all he does is just stand around, sneer, drop exposition, and do over-the-top villain monologues until the very fight, and in his last scene he becomes an over-the-top villain like Snively Whiplash. How have I seen more nuance to villains in a random Futurama episode than in this $300-$400 million movie?

Also, there’s this whole subplot about people starting to worship the A.I. as, like, a messianic figure and wanting to serve it that you set up but really has no impact on the overall story, like at all, so it’s like, why was that included?

Oh my God, there were so many flashbacks, like 20 minutes of flashbacks, and not just from the previous films but also from the things you saw like 10 minutes ago. Like, I hadn’t forgotten that yet. Why are you showing me this? Not to mention this other plot about other governments trying to steal the AI to control it, and it’s like, guys, I’m sorry, but this is TOO much. Like, you’re making me mentally constipated with all these plots.

Also, 65% of the dialogue in this film feels like exposition dumps, and you have so many shots of people just standing around on what look like green screens while they just keep between all these different characters, talking and reacting and it gets so boring and repetitive so quickly, like for a three hour action movie there is a surprisingly little amount of action, and while they make it count when it shows up, it’s not enough to justify this runtime like honestly the best way to watch this movie is to go, sleep through a lot of the talkie bits and then just have someone wake you up when action starts, like I know that doesn’t sound good at all but so much of this script feels like a bad sci-fi channel original movie knock off.

There is also something they do that I really did not care for, but it’s a big spoiler, so if you want to know what I’m talking about and you’ve seen the movie already… Jump to the ending after the rating to see what I’m talking about.

Now I will say this movie has some of the most stunning and creative shots of the whole franchise, which is frustrating because it also has some of the weakest and most boring shots in the franchise, so it’s a very mixed bag experience as far as the filmmaking, but when the director is on, he is super on, so glad he got to make some cool shots.

Now, all that being said, you can really tell that Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise have a real love and dedication to spectacle.

blockbuster filmmaking, and what they were able to accomplish in that area of this film was quite commendable, so I give props to them there. 👏👏👏👏

And finally, this movie has not only one of the funniest character-in-pain screams. I’ve heard in a superduper long time, but also one of the funniest deaths for a character, like I know I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did both times, so that was unintentionally hilarious.

So to summarize, this movie is very much a mixed bag, and unfortunately more nays than yays. It’s a case of too many ideas and plots put into one film that feel they were Frankensteined together in editing to make a very uneven but enjoyable in parts (depending on your fandom of this series) type experience. And while I did really enjoy the two big action set pieces, some character moments, and the sendoff to Tom Cruise and this version of the Mission Impossible franchise, I don’t know if regular audiences who aren’t in on all the different references won’t get frustrated at the movie’s runtime. So

Unfortunately, I give the film two stars⭐️⭐️. It for sure had its moments that I want to praise and had a good time with, but too much baggage to go with it.

💥💥💥!!!SPOILER TIME!!!💥💥💥

Man, I am so bummed they killed off Luther. I love his character in these movies and his trio friendship with Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise. His character got a really sweet sendoff, and Ving Rhames does an amazing and heartfelt acting performance. In a way, he’s kind of the heart of this film, but I wish he hadn’t died just because I like his character so much.

This review will self-destruct in five seconds… 📞💥😎