A strong introduction for a powerful hero

Warning: This review contains spoilers!

I recently watched Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, and I’m happy to say it’s a solid entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

One of the things I like most about this film is its portrayal of Carol Danvers as a character. She is fierce and determined, fights for what she believes in, and isn’t afraid to stand her ground- marks of a true hero. But she isn’t perfect, either. The film shows that Carol has her flaws and makes mistakes, and she’s able to learn from those mistakes and grow as a person, which is an often overlooked, yet equally important part of being an admirable hero.

I’m also especially fond of Talos, the Skrull character who is the film’s main villain. Or more accurately, the character who was advertised to be the main villain. As it turns out, Carol’s view of the war between the Kree and the Skrulls was twisted by lies told to her by the Kree. In reality, the Skrulls were just refugees looking to escape the tyranny of the violently imperialist Kree. This is a fantastic twist that I never saw coming, as even in the comics the Skrulls have almost always been portrayed as villains. I love this part of the story, though, as it serves as a reminder that things aren’t always as they seem.

On top of this, Talos himself is a very likable character. He’s a lovable father who had many great lines, to the point where he truly stole the show with every line. He may seem intimidating at first, but he really is a good guy just looking to protect his family and his people, yet he remains a complex and interesting character.

The only criticism I might have is that if you go in expecting an action-packed film, the pacing will feel a bit slow in the first half of the film as most of the story focuses on Carol searching for the secrets of her past, but at the same time I found this to be an engaging story line, and it makes the incredible payoff in the third act all the more exciting.

I think this film deserves an 8.5/10. It’s one of the better MCU origin stories that will leave you wanting to see more of Carol Danvers.

Watch the trailer for Captain Marvel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LHxvxdRnYc

Full of spectacle, but otherwise weak

As a long time Star Wars fan, I was very much looking forward to this film, so I’m sad to say that it did not live up to my expectations. While it may look great, the film has many unfortunate flaws.

My single biggest gripe with this movie is that its overarching story seems almost irrelevant when considering the big picture. The first film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, had an unoriginal but still solid plot that was clearly important to the story of these three movies.

Without getting into spoilers, the plot of this film was quite different. In fact, I would venture to say that very little changes from the beginning to the end of the film, which is a huge disappointment because Star Wars movies tend to be action packed adventures with exciting endings.

I also believe that many of the choices made were simply an attempt to subvert fans expectations- expectations for characters, plot lines, and more that had been built up by the previous film. Instead of continuing to build on these established story and character threads, The Last Jedi chose to throw most of them away in favor of surprising audiences. There are times when subverting expectations can be a good thing, but I believe this film did it excessively and at the expense of quality.

I also believe there are also many wasted character opportunities. Rose Tico, a new character with a lot of potential, was not given a good story or character arc. Her most defining personality trait is that she’s in love with Finn- a romance that seems shoehorned into the movie with little substance- and beyond this she has minimal characterization.

I was also very disappointed with the way this film handled the character of Snoke, who had been established as a mysterious and important figure that we expected to learn more about. This film chose to take the easy way out and avoided giving the character any further character development or even a backstory.

For all its flaws, I must admit that the movie does look gorgeous. The combination of visual effects and sound effects in several scenes is absolutely breathtaking, and I recall several times where the audience in my theater started clapping at especially beautiful moments. Still, this is not enough to make up for the many areas where the movie fails.

Ultimately I would rate this film 6/10. It isn’t terrible, but for a Star Wars movie I found it very disappointing.

Watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY

A more than welcome reinvention of the character

While the overly serious, long-haired Thor who spoke like Shakespeare may have been true to the comics, I didn’t find him to be an especially interesting character. In Thor: Ragnarok, however, director Taika Waititi takes the character (and the franchise) in a whole new direction, and it’s nothing but positive.

Most notably, this film has a completely different tone than the first two Thor films, which is a bit ironic considering that Ragnarok itself is a rather dark topic: The prophetic destruction of Asgard, Thor’s home world. Where before Thor movies were quite serious with several emotional moments, this film gave new life to the Thor franchise by taking it the opposite direction, and introducing us to a more comedic take on Thor.

Yes, while Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are known for their quips, this film may have more jokes packed into it than any of them. Still, these jokes never feel excessive or forced, as the vast majority of them are well timed and feel nearly seamless. On top of this the film still knows how and when to take scenes seriously, including one of my favorite scenes in the film where Thor has a heart to heart conversation with his father about the source of his strength.

Chris Hemsworth has always been great at portraying Thor, but his acting felt better than ever in this film. Hemsworth is a naturally funny person, and allowing him more liberty to work aspects of his own personality into the character improved the performance immensely, making Thor seem like a much more natural and relatable character.

The film isn’t just a comedy, though. It’s also a grand superhero film with an very enjoyable story featuring- in my opinion- one of the best song choices in the entirety of the MCU. Does it get any better than Led Zeppelin mixed with Thor?

All things considered, I’ll have to give this movie a 10/10. It’s one of my favorite superhero films to date, it addressed all of my qualms with the Thor franchise, and it’s just plain fun

Watch the teaser trailer for this film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODqPGttjjOY

A funny superhero film that’s full of charm

After the spectacle that was Avengers: Infinity War, I’d say this film was exactly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe needed.

Going into the first Ant-Man film, I was skeptical to say the least. I wasn’t familiar with the character and shrinking to the size of an ant seemed like a very strange superpower. After seeing the movie, though, I was sold, and I’m glad to say that much of the humor and charm of the first film has carried over into this one

While the stakes aren’t nearly as high as in most Marvel Studios films I think this kind of lighthearted, self-contained story was the perfect choice to follow up the emotionally charged, apocalyptic plot of Infinity War. After all, if the fate of the world is at stake in every movie, we’re eventually going to get tired of seeing the heroes save it yet again. For this reason, I was very happy with the direction taken in this film.

It’s also worth noting that Paul Rudd does an incredible job playing the character. My favorite thing about Ant-Man is not that he’s a superhero, but that he’s first and foremost a great father, which Rudd is excellent at portraying. The most touching and memorable moments from this film are the genuine moments Scott Lang spends with his daughter, and these moments are especially welcome as a break from the fast-paced action.

This film also exceeded in portraying a strong villain. One small gripe I have with superhero films is when the villain is simply an “evil version” of the hero, but this is certainly not the case in this film. While she isn’t the only villain in the movie, Ghost is a very well written character with reasonable motivations and whose power set is completely different from the heroes’, making her a very interesting character in my opinion.

With those things in mind, I’d give this one an 8/10. It’s an above average superhero film that’s fun, has lovable characters, and will probably make you laugh.

Watch the exciting trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_rTIAOohas

An entertaining kids’ film with a satisfying ending

While it may be for kids, this film is still decently entertaining and provided a nice conclusion to its trilogy.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is most likely the final entry in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, which began back in 2010. The film follows Hiccup and his dragon Toothless in their efforts to find- you guessed it- the Hidden World, where they’ll be able to live in peace. Of course there are many detours and a villain along the way, and it all makes for an enjoyable story.

And as it turns out, storytelling is exactly where this film excels. While the movie largely focuses on the dragon, Toothless, it is still very much as story about the final chapter of Hiccup becoming an adult, which has been a central theme throughout the series. He must learn how to deal with loss, and how to keep moving forward after it and understand when personal feelings need to be set aside for the greater good. He is determined as a character, and this is of course an admirable trait, but throughout the film he comes to realize that sometimes you need to readjust your goals.

Beyond this, I think it’s fair to say that DreamWorks did a great job with the animation of this film. The animation style has been particularly strong, with lots of character and charming qualities compared to many other forms of animation. The textures are very well done, leading to an overall appearance that makes the world the film is set in quite believable and pleasant to look at.

One weakness I noticed while watching is that the movie is rather slow at some points. There were multiple stretches of its run time where I found myself becoming bored, but when the plot was actually progressing it was very enjoyable

I rate this film a 7/10. The pace may lag at times and it isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it looks good, it works well for what it is, and it closes out the series effectively.

Read more reviews on this film: https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/22/18236052/how-to-train-your-dragon-3-hidden-world-review-jay-baruchel-pixar-dreamwork

A visually striking film with well-developed characters

Alita: Battle Angel was a surprisingly good film whose greatest strengths are its visual effects and characters

First and foremost, this film had extremely well-done visuals. Alita herself- a cyborg whose body was mostly made of metal- looked believably real, which is a feat in and of itself.

Beyond this, the film contained many fast-paced fight scenes with lots of visual effects and characters whose bodies were also largely CGI, and I can honestly say that there was nothing in the entire film with noticeably poor CGI. This is considerable because almost every single scene contained computer generated elements in some capacity, and they were blended almost seamlessly with the practical effects.

Additionally, most of the characters in the film were extremely well developed. Despite not actually being human, Alita was a very relatable character with very human interests and motivations that encourage you to root for her more with every scene. She develops complex relationships with other characters including the scientist who put her back together, who loves her but is also hesitant to help her achieve some of her goals because he’s afraid of what she might become

She develops complex relationships with other characters including the scientist who put her back together, who loves her but is also hesitant to help her achieve some of her goals because he’s afraid of what she might become

All in all, I would rate this movie 8/10. It was a very strong film with great strengths and few weaknesses, and I eagerly look forward to a sequel.

Here is some more information on the incredible CGI used in the film: https://www.inverse.com/article/53199-alita-battle-angel-motorball-scenes-explained-robert-rodriguez-rosa-salazar-interview

Marvel Studios’ best work yet

As the most highly anticipated film of 2018, Avengers: Infinity War had very high expectations to live up to, and in my opinion it managed to meet those expectations and so much more.

As a long-time fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I don’t I’ve ever been more excited to see a movie than Infinity War. As the beginning of the end for the Avengers’ story, balancing almost 30 main heroes and a total cast of about 76, the movie had a lot on its plate. Fortunately those heroes were handled very well.

Though at the beginning of the film there were several groups in very different locations, the heroes’ stories gradually became interwoven throughout the film until it all culminated in two large battles. This was all handled extremely elegantly, and despite the gargantuan roster the storytelling managed to be natural and exciting.

Speaking of storytelling, perhaps the most incredible part of this film is its villain. Thanos’ screen presence is extremely powerful from the first moment we see him. He exudes a certain terrifying energy reminiscent of that of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Beyond this, he is one of, if not the most intriguing villain in an MCU movie to date, with motivations that at first seem frighteningly reasonable. The film goes above and beyond in portraying him as a nuanced character first, and a villain second. Rather than simply being evil, his defining characteristics include his unbreakable will and his love for his daughter- Things we would usually associate for a hero.

Finally, the film is simply one of the most enjoyable I have ever experienced. It’s a thrilling, intense and emotinal journey from beginning to end, and every minute of the 2 hour and 40 minute run time is well spent, to the point that I couldn’t believe how quickly it all seemed to go by. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie

With that said, I rate this film a 10/10. The pacing, story, and character development were incredible, and to this day it remains my favorite movie theater experience.

Read up on what you should know before watching Infinity War: https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/everything-you-need-to-know-for-avengers-infinity-war-628595/

A fun, yet uninspired adaptation

This movie delivers on spectacle, but is sorely lacking in most other areas.

I’ll be the first to admit that I did not go into this film with high expectations. The trailers were not particularly exciting to me, and I hadn’t heard many good things about it. On top of this, Venom is usually a villain or supporting character in a Spider-Man film, so making a film about him without Spider-Man did not seem like a good foundation for a movie.

After seeing it, I can say that I was right not to get my hopes up. While I don’t think it’s especially bad, it isn’t very good, either. Some of the characters seemed promising- Eddie, for example, could have been a very well developed character, and that potential was used to some degree.

But other characters seemed entirely unbelievable to me. Dr. Carlton Drake, the film’s main villain, was portrayed as simply being comically evil in every scene he was in, with almost no defining traits other than cruelty and egotism.

On top of this, he, like Eddie, uses a symbiote to transform into a creature called Riot, perpetuating one of my least favorite tropes in superhero movies: A villain who is simply an evil version of the hero. This trope works sometimes, but at this point it has been used ad nauseam and I would prefer to see greater variation.

Without getting into spoilers, I also found the plot as a whole to be rather uninspired, as most of the film was fairly predictable and nothing caught my attention as being exceptionally exciting.

In my opinion this movie deserves a 6/10. It may be entertaining at times, but unfortunately I found it largely generic and mediocre.

Watch the trailer for Venom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLCn88bfW1o

A suitable sequel with a good message

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by The LEGO Movie 2.The film was decidedly fun and entertaining, and the songs will be stuck in my head for days to come.

This movie picks up right where its prequel left off, with the heroes being forced to defend their home from the childish new creations. The premise is cute and well executed in my opinion, and it manages to keep the niche of a movie about LEGO people fresh and reasonably exciting.

The movie seems to lag a bit at times, but overall the pacing is acceptable and the exciting plot developments are frequent enough to prevent the film from ever becoming stale or overstaying its welcome.

One of my favorite things about this movie was its theme, which expands on the incredibly catchy song from the first movie, “Everything is Awesome.” This movie throws the characters into a situation where they’re forced to realize that things will not always go their way. Toward the end of the film, the characters come to realize- in the form of song, of course- that everything can’t always be “awesome,” but you can push through and come out on top anyways. It may be a bit cliche, but it’s a heartfelt message and I think it was well expressed.

I would give this movie a 7.5/10. It may be a kids film, but I think just about anyone will be able to appreciate the charm and fun energy this song brings to the table.

Watch the trailer for The LEGO Movie 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cksYkEzUa7k

A surprisingly excellent highlight of 2018

I never would’ve expected it, but A Quiet Place has turned out to be one of my favorite films of 2018. I’m not typically a big fan of the horror genre, but watching this movie was an amazing experience. It makes excellent use of one of the best and most unique concepts I’ve seen in a movie, and the actors’ ability to convey powerful ideas and emotions with little to no dialogue was unlike anything I’ve seen before in a film.

The single most interesting thing about A Quiet Place is that- at least in my experience- the theater was truly silent. The terrifyingly quiet ambience of the film seeped into the audience as people struggled to munch their popcorn as quietly as possible. Not often have I seen a film command such a powerful mood from the very beginning.

And speaking of the very beginning, it was clear this film was going to be different from your average horror flick right off the bat from the shockingly unexpected outcome of one of the very first scenes that immediately establishes exactly why it is the characters in this world must always keep quiet. This took me completely by surprise, as most films like to save these intense moments for later on, often waiting even until the climax, whereas A Quiet Place wasted no time in showing how high the stakes were for our characters.

Another thing the movie got right was the pacing. Many films have a habit of overstaying their welcome, reaching 2 hours and beyond when much of that time is just wasted. At only 1 hour and 31 minutes, this was certainly not the case for A Quiet Place. While this is rather short, it truly felt like the perfect amount of real estate the film needed to tell its story.

All things considered, I would rate this film a 9.5/10. Going into this film, I certainly didn’t expect to be this impressed, but I can honestly say I have never had a more pleasant experience with a horror movie. The atmosphere, characters, and pacing were all excellent, and I very much hope we’ll get to see a sequel in the future.

Read critics’ reviews for A Quiet Place: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_quiet_place_2018