OJ's Movie Review - Incredibles 2

So after a long hiatus, Brad Bird has finally brought his popular Pixar family back to the big screen and we get to party like it's 2004.

   The first Incredibles film is known for being a real gem of animation. Not only is it a cleverly written script with some deep themes for a family film but it's also helped with the realistic portrayals and dialogue of the characters. I'm happy to say that for the most part Incredibles 2 continues that.

   The characters are just as realistic and cleverly written as previous. Especially the actual family themselves, the Parrs are such a wonderful family to be around and listen to, that that in itself is a joy, but perhaps that's my nostalgia talking. This film did bring us some new characters as well but not many, at least not many main ones. They were interesting enough but I think perhaps their character arcs were a little unoriginal.

   And I think that's one of my gripes with the film; while there was still a lot of realism in the script and interesting characters, I felt the overall plot involving Elastagirl was a little familiar, something we've seen before. Not to say that is was done particularly badly, but I guess there were some narrative beats concerning the villain that was predictable. And while I'm on the subject of story I have to say that for me the whole thing seemed a little less grounded than the first, especially the third act. I know it's a superhero film but I just felt this one went a little more "out there" than the first movie, certainly when other particular characters started to show up, the Parr family seemed to almost stand out because how normal they looked.

  Plots aside though, you can't deny that Pixar is using some of the best animation in the business. The amount of detail they put in is astounding. From the fibers on a shirt to the iconic visual of a fire-wielding baby, I have to say it's some of the best-looking animation I've seen on film. The highlight for me being a particular scene involving Elastagirl and the Screenslaver, you'll know the one I'm talking about if you see it.

As a conclusion, I'd say I enjoyed Incredibles 2 a lot. It was fun, it was funny, it looked great. Perhaps a few narrative problems for me personally and I still think it's predecessor was better but in the end, I give it a...

7.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

"Taking dinosaurs off this island is the worst idea in the long, sad history of bad ideas." Was Jeff Goldblum right? Let's see...

   So Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the follow-up to Jurassic World of 2015 and the fifth film in the Jurassic franchise as a whole. It's a franchise that brings me much nostalgia as I grew up watching the first three over and over again. 

   Here we've got Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard back as the main leads from the previous film and to be honest, they do just as fine of a job as they did before. I don't think I'm particularly invested in the characters, but that's the writing rather than the acting. I still can't decide whether Pratt suits a more serious role but I like Howard in a lot of things so I enjoyed her performance here. Other cast members include Ted Levine who I enjoyed quite a lot as Mr military man; I was a big fan of Monk back in the day and hadn't realized he was in this film so he was a highlight for me. As far as antagonists go, however, he was the only one that was interesting. Rafe Spall's character was pretty generic and B.D. Wong had so little screentime it seemed almost unnecessary. Talking of short screentime though, Jeff Goldblum returns to the franchise after last appearing in 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and even what little we had of him I really felt like I was watching Dr. Ian Malcom again and that was just great.

   Moving into the plot, I'd say it was quite a different sort of Jurassic film this year. As all the promotional material has informed us, the park is gone and so the majority of the film is set in mainland America. The parts set on the island are entertaining enough but I can understand why they would move on as the abandoned, overgrown facility aspect was explored extensively in the second and third films. Once we're off the island we're really only in one particular location which still gives the isolated feel and we've come to know. The story in itself had some interesting parts for sure; I enjoyed the concept of auctioning off the dinosaurs and some other ideas I had not expected in a Jurassic film, but whether it was because of unoriginal writing or too-revealing trailers I have to say a lot of this film was very predictable.

   One thing I do want to mention is the tone J.A. Bayona has given this film. He's done a few horror-type films in the past and he's brought some of that here which I think worked. But what I was really impressed with was how much it felt like a Jurassic film, in terms of sound design and set design; especially the opening scene, which is my favorite sequence of the entire movie, it really felt like something out of the 1993 original.

   Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is quite different and experimental for the franchise but in the context of films as a whole, it's rather unoriginal and predictable. In the end, I'd say perhaps my own expectations and connection to the franchise were too high but I am looking forward to where the next one goes. 

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Solo: A Star Wars Story

The second Star Wars anthology film has arrived after a very rocky production period. But did it survive?

   From the beginning, I don't think fans were particularly looking forward to this movie. Then Phil Lord and Chris Miller were attached and we had hope, and then they were infamously unattached and it was at that moment we knew this wasn't going to go well. But seasoned director Ron Howard does, however, manage to deliver a cohesive and quite entertaining film despite the problems. It certainly wasn't like 2015's Fant4stic where it was incredibly obvious that the studio had chopped and refilmed 50% of the movie which ended up a complete disastrous mess. Here, Solo keeps continuity and kept me entertained, at least on a first watch anyway.

   The story was as you would expect a Han Solo origin movie to be; we have our main man played surprisingly well by Alden Ehrenreich, he starts a smuggler's life, meets Chewie and has a bit of an adventure in a fresh Millenium Falcon. There aren't any real problems in the plot really; it's just a paint-by-numbers Star Wars movie. So I think watching it for the first time you can enjoy it on the very base fact you're in this universe again which is fun and we do get an interesting look at the underbelly of society a bit more than we're used to. I've not rewatched it yet but to be honest, I don't feel the need to for a while; it was a checklist of various Han Solo attributes and how he aquired them and now I know, I don't feel any different about the character really. So plot-wise I'd say they played it safe which doesn't surprise me after the controversial Last Jedi, but there are a few narrative points they could've have fleshed out a bit more and I personally wasn't a big fan of the ending.

   The cast I actually enjoyed quite a lot. As I mentioned Ehrenreich plays Solo pretty well, I mean he's no carbon copy but he didn't have to be. He still has the odd familiar mannerism and way he says certain things which I liked but he still had his own sort of personality in there too. We have Paul Bettany in there as our villain and I actually liked him a lot; he was a sort of gangster boss who was serious but also a little unhinged which made me chuckle a few times so that was entertaining. And then we have Woody Harrelson's character who was okay but could really have been played by anyone. Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Social Justice Warrior of a droid was played well I thought but I wasn't a huge fan of the way they went with it - there seems to be a lot of sassy droids in this universe. A great character was Lando Calrissian played by Donald Glover; he was great, and really felt like a young Billy Dee Williams but really didn't have as much screentime as I would've thought.

   I would like to mention that the musical score I really enjoyed, especially whenever the Marauder characters appeared, I really liked what John Powel composed for those scenes. And also the practical effects were really impressive. They didn't look fake but they also had the same sort of feel and vibe as the original trilogy so those two aspects really added to my personal enjoyment.

In the end, I'd say I genuinely enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story but really I don't think was necessary at all and probably one to skip for the layman. I hope LucasFilm don't continue to do origins for well-known characters and rather expand on lesser-known stories like Rogue One or how about completely new ones? That's an idea.

7/0

OJ's Movie Review - Avengers: Infinity War

Well here it is, finally. 10 years and 18 films; and Thanos demands our silence.

So Avengers: Infinity War, as you probably know, is the third Avengers film and 19th overall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We finally see the big villain come to fruition, that was teased oh so long ago in 2012. So what did I like?

   Quite a lot actually. I mean I knew I would; just the mere visual of all these characters coming together from all these different films I knew would be exciting. And it was. Seeing the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy together at the same time, seeing Bruce Banner meet T'Challa, seeing Loki interact with Thanos - it was all as great as I imagined. It really is quite the unprecedented spectacle that Kevin Feige and all those at Marvel Studios have put together. All the actors were on top-form of course and some of the new additions were instantly iconic and interesting.

Plot-wise, I'd say this film is very fast-paced and non-stop. If you think of something like Nolan's Dunkirk, it just starts, straight into events and things happen and they don't stop until credits roll. This is similar. There isn't much of a build up, no time for exposition on ten-years worth of movies. If you are going to see Avengers: Infinity War then you need to have watched all, or at least the majority of the previous films. This movie is for the fans and it knows it. There is time for exposition on Thanos, however. A lot of this is very much a Thanos movie. He is definitely one of the best Marvel villains and you really feel a sense of anxiety and uncomfortableness whenever he is onscreen, and a lot of that is down to Josh Brolin's amazing motion-capture performance. His motives are clear, and you may even feel sympathetic for him at points. So this movie has an intense narrative for sure and some very dark moments and also very emotional ones, but it still has that brilliant Marvel humor we love; it has some of the best lines of the franchise that made me laugh out loud.

If I had to pick some faults with the film then I would have to say that some characters had less screen time than I was expecting. And to be honest, it's almost unavoidable with essentially 30-odd people who's back-story we've seen and enjoyed. I'd say mostly Captain America and Black Panther and some who were with them got the short straw this time but we did have Civil War so I'm not complaining too much.

Another negative for me is that come of the CGI was a little off. All the characters look great, especially Thanos, but at times there were some real cringy shots, one particular of the Hulkbuster near the end. One or two other points I can't mention because of spoilers I wasn't such a fan of but they really are only minor things and personal preferences.

In the end, I'd say Avengers: Infinity War lived up to the hype for me; it had some incredible surprises, and iconic moments, including post-credits. I can't wait to see what's next.

8.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Black Panther

You think you know the superhero genre; it's tropes, it's format, it's message. And we can enjoy that. It's what we go and see them for. But then directors like the Russo brothers, Taika Watiti, and now Ryan Coogler come along and say "Hey, let me have a go." 

  What did I like about Black Panther? I liked the fact that Coogler wanted to bring his own team on board, his writers, his editors, his sound mixers, his crew that he'd worked with on his other films because that really shows. You could tell they put effort into getting the African setting just right. The Wakandan culture they developed felt engaging and real by their use of music, costuming, and aesthetic inspired by real African tribes. So on a directing front, I really cannot fault this film for standing out.

  

   Story-wise, we're given a royal family drama that somehow takes us into a James Bond feel at times and then leaves us with interesting political commentary all inside a Marvel movie with special herbs and robot arms. All of this surprisingly works well together and it really didn't feel like a two-hour film. I was invested from beginning to end and that was certainly helped by the amazing cast.

   Chadwick Boseman stars as the main character T'Challa and his stoic portrayal of this intelligent new king really makes for a different sort of superhero. He was one of my highlights in Captain America: Civil War and to see him here continues that enjoyment and proves to be one of my new favorite heroes. I wish I could mention all the cast because each one really did great. Letitia Wright as his sister Shuri was really entertaining, Danai Gurira was both intimidating, powerful and also funny. Andy Serkis looked like he was having a blast returning as Klaue and is just a joy to watch. Even Sterling K. Brown from American Crime Story only had a small role but was really worth it.

Now, this film is getting a lot of praise, and deservedly so, but I will point out that it's not without problems for me personally. First I'd say that the villain, Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, while good and had a really strong argument for his motivations, I felt needed a little more fleshing out. He only really starts doing things half-way through the movie. We are told things about his life but never really shown. Don't get me wrong, he's one of the better Marvel villains and a lot of what he says becomes the commentary that you're left thinking about but he does join the list of Marvel villains who end up fighting in the same suit with the same skill-set as the hero. And then a final issue was that some of the CGI wasn't as good as it perhaps could've been, especially towards the end.

But as a conclusion. I think Black Panther is one of the best Marvel films to date. It means different things to different people, and Ryan Coogler and his team really put their own stamp on it. I look forward to seeing these characters again in the future and will be following whatever the only 32-year-old director will do next.

9/10

OJ's Movie Review - The Cloverfield Paradox

Time for J.J. Abram's unorthodox franchise to return for another curious outing.

So The Cloverfield Paradox is the third film in the anthological series, following 2008's Cloverfield, and 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane. I have to say I've been keeping my eye on this film for a while and I knew that marketing would be unusual like the others but to release a 30-second teaser at the Superbowl and then drop the film on Netflix a few hours later was not quite what I expected.

   I'll start with what I enjoyed. The Cloverfield Paradox boasts a pretty good cast, I genuinely enjoy seeing a lot of the people here. After seeing Captain America: Civil War, I was really impressed with Daniel Brühl's performance and here in this film, I once again enjoyed seeing his acting, this time as physicist Schmidt. David Oyelowo I think is a great actor and have followed his work since I really noticed him in Jack Reacher. Elizabeth Debicki and Chris O'Dowd, again, I thought did really great in their roles; O'Dowd is usually the funny man character so I was worried how he was going to fit in this sci-fi thriller but he really worked, still being used as the comic relief but in a genuinely entertaining way and fitting in with the context of the events. Our main hero is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and although I had to scan her filmography to realize I had seen some of her previous work, I really thought she did a good job here and enjoyed her performance.

  Now, it's fairly known that this film used to be a completely singular film called God Particle and that during production it was taken over and converted into a Cloverfield entry. Now I have problems with this concept in itself but as it seemed to work out for 10 Cloverfield Lane, I hoped the same would be true here. But no. What has ended up here is that a standard, but pretty good, sci-fi film has been injected with extremely forced Cloverfield connections. All the scenes and plot elements that occur on the space station I really enjoyed, there were genuine creepy moments, really tense action sequences and interesting concepts. But all throughout we kept cutting back to this guy on Earth whose whole role was to remind you that the movie was taking place at the same time as the 2008 film. These scenes and an exposition dump at the beginning just felt so forced that it really let it down. 

I really want to be onboard for the Cloverfield franchise and the first two films I thought were average and fantastic, respectively. And here I really liked everything to do with what remained of God Particle, but if Paramount keeps hijacking films during production and forcing them to be part of this, then it's just going to get even messier. In the end, I'll say I was ultimately disappointed but wasn't at all bored during the film and I was entertained for the most part so I'll give it...

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Episode VIII is upon us and it's time to find out if all our Snoke theories were right.

So Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a massive film back in 2015, became one of the highest grossing films of all time and was mainly well-received with the common criticism being that it was too similar to A New Hope. Here in The Last Jedi, that criticism is nowhere to be found. I admit, some moments were very similar to past films but as a whole this a very different sort of Star Wars.

Plot-wise, I can't say much because frankly I didn't know much going in and that's the best way to see it. It essentially takes place directly after the previous film so you know some of it will be set on that island with Rey and Luke. I have to say those scenes were some of my favorites in the entire film; I can't believe how perfectly Mark Hamill has become Luke Skywalker again, his acting was on top form and dare I say, this was one of his best performances. His arc was an interesting and controversial one but I enjoyed it a lot and am glad he returned to the franchise. Daisy Ridley's Rey was also a joy to watch again but despite being in a two-and-a-half hour film, I feel her character needs a little more development; I mean there is an arc for her in this and I was drawn in by it but I almost feel she was a little short-changed in the third act. Just some other comments on the cast, I'd say I thought Carrie Fisher did a much better job here than I felt she performed in The Force Awakens and was glad to see her do such a great performance in her last film. John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are back and although they did a fine job acting, I thought the Poe Dameron character became less likable to me for some reason. Laura Dern's Admiral Holdo was a surprisingly interesting character and lead to one of the most amazing scenes I've seen in a Star Wars film, no small part down to director Rian Johnson as well. And the final actor I will mention, and possibly becoming one of my favorite characters is Adam Driver as Kylo Ren; wow this guy can act. He stole some great scenes and I really want to look into more of his filmography.

As I said, Rian Johnson directed this film and you really can tell he's doing something different. Some of the camera work is beautiful and has reached a higher artistic level for the Star Wars franchise. He also wrote the film as well and I think that's where a lot of the fan divisiveness has come from. Rian makes some strong story decisions that affect some beloved characters as well as the greater Universe. I myself am onboard with most of his decisions but one or two did annoy me however I'll see if I feel the same way after Episode IX. The third act of the film though is by far the best part of the whole movie, I had no idea what to expect and it delivered some moments that are sure to become iconic.

I'll talk about some of the problems I had with the film now. One minor thing straight off the bat is that some of the humor was a little modern and not very Star Warsy; there is a joke almost right at the start and it did not work for me at all. Another problem I had was the Finn & Rose plot, not the plot itself, I enjoyed where they went and what they did, but the message and moral it tried to give, although good, was a little heavy-handed and not really what I expected in a Star Wars film. And finally, the main thing I did not enjoy was that some parts of the film were set on a particular ship with Poe, Leia, and Holdo and for me, those scenes really slowed down the movie and is a real drag on rewatch.

In the end, I'd say I enjoyed Star Wars: The Last Jedi a lot more than I was expecting but I completely understand those with a more negative opinion.

8/10 

OJ's Movie Review - Justice League

So Justice League, DC's big superhero team-up movie. The franchise has had major ups and downs in only four years so where does this one fit in?

  I'll start with the overall tone of the movie. After the depressing darkness of Batman V Superman, this film took some cues from Wonder Woman and had a lighter tone to it; now I'm not saying it's gone all light & happy and copying Marvel but I mean they literally added colors to the screen and moments that made you smile and feel like justice was prevailing. So with that, I'll move onto the characters. who certainly added to my personal enjoyment of the film.

   I really enjoyed the League themselves. Bruce Wayne/Batman has remained largely the same since BvS but seeing him here just felt different somehow, one of my favorite moments of the entire film is with him on a rooftop near the beginning; it felt really comic-booky and how I perceive Batman as a character so I really enjoyed that. Wonder Woman again is a joy to watch and continues to be a highlight of all of the films she's in; her wise and mother-like attitude is really nice to see in this threatening universe. The new members I really did enjoy too. The Flash, while not always funny, was entertaining quite a bit in both his powers and story-arc. Cyborg I thought was going to be really broody and boring the whole time, and while he is a serious character, his struggle with his situation and the power-set that he has was really engaging and unexpected. Aquaman was a really fun-loving brawler kind of guy and although I enjoyed his presence I hope more of his character is fleshed out in his upcoming solo film.

   Story-wise, Justice League is not deep or complex, and not too surprising. I think after the tangled mess of BvS, they took a safe route and a bit of a breather with the simpleness of the plot. I didn't mind that at all and welcomed it but I know many will not enjoy the "nothingness" of the story. Part of that has to do with the villain and to be honest, he's not a deeply developed character; another big CGI guy with an army of faceless expendable drones makes for uninteresting stakes. One aspect of the film does involve Superman though, and that's not a spoiler as he's in the trailers and it's no secret. Now I thought his initial return in the film was quite unsatisfactory and it definitely felt like some things had been cut but as the film went on I started to really enjoy seeing him again, especially towards the end. I'd say as far as overall plot goes, it's fairly generic but Zack Snyder's directing does make some interesting visuals along the way.

Another negative I'll point out is the script. Now I know the unfortunate circumstances of why Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the movie and I'm glad he could, but some of the dialogue he injected just did not fit with the characters they were given to. Some of it worked, and I'm convinced Whedon did some good stuff in this but not all of it gelled for me.

In the end, I'd say I personally enjoyed Justice League a lot more than I was expecting but it is ultimately a fluff movie with not much depth and some terrible special effects during the reshoots.

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Thor: Ragnarok

The Thor films have been kind of average so far; can a quirky New Zealander change all that?

Thor: Ragnarok is the third film in its own series and Thor's fifth appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. This time it's directed by Taika Watiti and also features the Hulk as a main character. For starters I'd like to say I love Taikia's work; his film Hunt for the Wilderpeople is hilarious to me and any interview you watch of his is a joy to behold. He has a very unique style of film so I can see why Marvel chose him to inject some energy and humor into this series. And he does do that. Ragnarok is the most entertained I've been while watching a Thor movie but it's not without its problems.

  Story-wise, there is a very quick set-up. You can tell that Taika and producer Kevin Feige wanted to completely dismantle what had been built up in the previous Thor films. I can understand why they wanted to do that but just seeing mythology, characters, and arcs that have been established since 2011 be wiped away or brushed under the carpet was a little disheartening, and this was all during the first act. It was very quick and we were going from scene to scene and location to location very quickly mopping up old plot threads and setting up what this movie was going to be. Once that had happened, and Thor was on the planet Sakar, it became more enjoyable for me. The rest of the movie showcased Taika's style of humor perfectly and had me laughing out loud plenty of times. It did seem a bit like two films at times with one set on Sakar and the other on Asgard as the story kept flipping from one to the other but I was entertained enough with the characters.

  Chris Hemsworth has always played Thor brilliantly and we get to see a lot more of his comedic talent here. Mark Ruffalo is always a highlight of any film for me and seeing him here was great both as Banner and the Hulk experiencing this mad Universe. Tom Hiddleston's Loki, of course, appears again and although the character has perhaps lost some of his popularity since everybody loved him in The Avengers, I enjoyed seeing him because I like Tom Hiddleston as an actor. Two new characters I absolutely loved in this film though, were Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster who is hilarious; Goldblum barely has to act, his own wacky charisma comes through perfectly. And Korg, voiced by Taika Watiti himself had some of the best lines. I'd definitely say the characters were the best part of this film for me.

In the end, I'd say I really enjoyed Thor: Ragnarok. The story is pretty basic and some of the green-screen wasn't great during the re-shoots but I loved the aesthetic and the characters. I laughed a lot too even though I felt some of the emotional beats were lost due to quick jokes. I still look forward to following Taika's work and I'm looking forward to seeing where the character of Thor himself is taken too.

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Besson and the Cries of a Thousand Critics

So Valerian is the latest film from French director Luc Besson. It's set in one of those enormous science-fantasy worlds with many aliens, technology, and bright colors, similar to that of Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, or even Besson's 90s cult hit, The Fifth Element. We follow two government agents, Valerian and Laureline, as they try to solve a mystery in the heart of an intergalactic space station inhabited by hundreds of species and cultures.

   As you've probably heard already, Valerian looks great. I wouldn't say stunning, I never saw a shot and thought wow, I could frame that; Besson gives us a cool aesthetic but as directing angles and cinematography goes, nothing stood out for me. When I say it looks good, I mean the literal things on screen, the bright colors, the alien designs, the City of Alpha itself, all visually interesting. I could pause the film at any moment and look around to see interesting details that are there, just having a small snippet of extensively-thought out cultures and worlds.

   Another thing that was great to see was some original sci-fi concepts I had never seen before. I haven't read the comic so obviously, I don't know how much was taken but there were ideas brought out in Valerian that I thought were really cool and engaging. One particular one that comes to mind is in the first act where our characters must visit a market, and the way they go about this fascinated me and the sorts of things they were doing I really loved watching.

   Valerian is played by Dane DeHaan and Laureline is played by Cara Delevingene. I have to say that Cara's performance was the strongest out of the two, she seemed like a real person in this world and I enjoyed her onscreen. Now Dane Dehaan, who's acting I really like and have enjoyed his weird, villainess characters in both Chronicle and The Amazing Spider-Man 2; but here, he tries to be some sort of charismatic, best-agent-in-the-company, womanizer and it really doesn't work. It's like getting Michael Cera as James Bond; so as much as I love DeHaan, I feel he was incredibly miss-cast in this. He and Cara had pretty much no chemistry what-so-ever. The rest of the cast were fine and serviceable but nothing outstanding on an acting front. Rihanna was in it however and she did just fine, I've never had complaints about Rihanna's acting and her character itself was really interesting in terms of her abilities but the personality bordered on annoying sometimes for me.

   Now as for the story itself, unfortunately, Valerian's narrative is all over the place. I mean, there is a story, you can follow the basic plot I mentioned at the beginning but there are so many tangents and entire scenes and sequences where I'm just thinking, why is this here? Lines of dialogue that make no sense and in the end when you really think about the end result, it was hardly anything major for the Universe or the City of Alpha itself. The premise had us believe our two agents would stop a world-destroying threat and they would have to save the Galaxy but it turns out it was like watching an unused script for a Star Trek episode; you know, entertaining enough, but nothing consequential.

  In the end, for me, the high-concept visuals don't quite make up for the all-over-the-place narrative and uninspiring plot.

6/10

OJ's Movie Review - War For the Planet of the Apes

Apes together, strong.

Well, here we are, a conclusion of sorts. I absolutely loved Rise of the Planet of the Apes; it's a film unlike anything I had seen before.  Dawn was one of the most intense, edge-of-your-seat experiences I'd ever had in a cinema, and now is the third part of Ceaser's personal trilogy. How did it go?

  I'll start off by just saying how much the apes look like actual real animals. Seriously, the CGI improves with every film. There are moments where if you told me that was an advanced animatronic head on screen, I would believe you. There's one particular shot of Maurice the orangutan where I swear it was like watching a close-up in an Attenborough documentary, they are that real. So that in itself blows me away. Of course, along with the expert VFX team, you have Andy Serkis and others doing their performance-capture work as the apes; the emotion and acting they manage to portray is incredible and a thrill to watch.

   Moving onto the story now, I have to say, the plot is what lets it down for me. For a film that contains the phrase "War for the Planet", the story is a very contained and inconsequential narrative that has no real bearing on the world as a whole. Sure, it has major points in Ceaser's life and the life of his tribe and what they have to face, and as a story there, it was a suspenseful, brutal, incredibly well-scored and acted film. But in terms of what I feel I had been led to expect, it dropped the ball for me. If I accept what the film is about though, and look directly at the what the plot was, even then, although it's not a bad film, it's completely unoriginal. What transpires from the second act onwards is everything we've seen before in films where a group of characters must escape somewhere; it hits all the beats of that genre and the only change it offers is the fact that it's with apes; which, to be fair, is a fascinating visual and I will never grow tired of seeing how the apes are depicted in this franchise but because Rise and Dawn were so different from anything I'd seen before I was not expecting this film to be so familiar.

  I mean there are more aspects about this film I liked a lot, including Steve Zahn's character, some of the little easter-eggs and callbacks to the 1968 film and Michael Giacchino's score, which were all great, and I'm not saying this is a bad film, it's just very unoriginal and falls into some cliches every now and again.

   In the end, War For the Planet of the Apes is an incredible step-up in film-making itself with the directing, acting and what VFX is capable of but for me personally the story was a let-down and I very much hope there is a next entry after this as I feel there is more to tell.

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Spider-Man: Homecoming

A Spider-Man film produced by Marvel Studios; a homecoming of sorts.

So here we are, the third reboot of Spider-Man, the sixth modern Spider-Man film, the sixteenth entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What can I say? It's actually really great! I enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming a lot, right from the opening all the way to literally the end of the credits.

   We saw Tom Holland's Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War and there I wasn't too sure on him, he was very different from the film Spider-Men I was used to in Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield but here in Homecoming I really enjoyed him. And it's his difference which is what I now enjoy about him, he really felt like a kid in school and even though we don't see his origin, he's still really new to this. Although I like the previous two adaptations, to different levels, it seemed only after a brief montage did Spider-Man suddenly become very skilled and professional, but here in Homecoming, you can see he's an amateur through the whole film, he makes mistakes, he bumbles about and I really enjoyed seeing that; so for me, Tom Holland is great in the role. Another cast member who was absolutely fantastic was Michael Keaton; his portrayal as Adrian Toomes was so intimidating, never mind as the Vulture, that he is up there with the better Marvel villains, which of course is a common criticism of these films. He really had a lot of great scenes and some very suspenseful ones. The supporting cast was entertaining enough, Peters friends at school were some familiar archetypes but enjoyable ones and Zendaya delivered some lines that made me laugh. Robert Downey Jr. didn't appear as much as many feared and his number of appearances felt just right for a film about Spider-Man.

   Story-wise, I enjoyed a lot; the Vulture had really logical reasons for his actions and Peters arc was well-done with some quite dramatic and emotional scenes. The humor wasn't forced and I'd say the majority of the jokes landed for me. There were plenty of easter eggs and references and actually some of the nods to previous events really felt like you were part of large Universe and it was nice to see how the general public, as it were, viewed the Avengers, similar to how Ant-Man was a smaller-scale story and the villain wasn't looking to take over the world, it's the same here, a nice normalised perspective on an enormous Universe.

   If I had to pick faults with the movie, I'd say one or two bits of dialogue were very expositional in the way of not really needing to be said, and also Spider-Mans suit was a bit Iron Man-like which makes sense in the context of the film but I'd be happy if they did away with the JARVIS-type AI and the heads-up display.

  In the end, you probably can tell I really enjoyed Spider-Man: Homecoming and it's up there with the best of the MCU franchise.

8.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Transformers: The Last Knight

So apparently this is the last Transformers film directed by Michael Bay, but then again the boy did cry wolf.


   So this is the fifth, that's right, fifth, film in the Bayformers franchise; and this is supposed to be the beginning; they got a special writers room with all these screenwriters and story guys to build an enormous cinematic universe with an epic story arc. So let's see what they came up with...

   I'll start with things I like. This film had some interesting visuals for sure. The sight of Transformers in the world of the medieval knights was certainly something I'd never thought I'd see and I enjoyed the aesthetic if nothing else. In fact, the first act of this film I did sort of enjoy; but I'm afraid my enjoyment didn't last.

  This movie is so convoluted, stupid and non-sensical that I cannot believe how far it has come since 2007. Transformers: The Last Knight reaches a new low by having even more pointless characters that don't factor into the plot at all, introductions where the name of the Transformer appears on the screen in a freezeframe, Optimus Prime has at least 20 mins of screentime, and it ignores it's own continuity over and over again, even from things it set up in the previous film! The dialogue was either exposition or unfunny humor, and I use the term "humor" loosely as it seems getting sophisticated British actors Sir Anthony Hopkins and  Jim Carter to say modern slang and profanity counts as funny.

   Even if you enjoy the craziness of what this franchise has become, and you like the humor and aren't bothered with the plot, the actual filmmaking itself is terrible, from the constant change in aspect ratio to the very strange flashing end credits that appear while the film is still going!

   In the end, I did not enjoy Transformers: The Last Knight. It's still cool to see giant alien robots transform into vehicles, and it was cool to see Josh Duhamel return and be a connection to the first three films but there are so many factors that let it down for me that I have to give it...

5.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I am Groot.


   Guardians of the Galaxy was a break-out hit for Marvel in 2014 and has since become quite a pop cultural icon. Well, three years later and we return to this crazy space extravaganza seeing the likes of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot and more once again. And it's these cast of characters that are one of the great things about these films.

  Chris Pratt always seems like such a nice guy and his Peter Quill character is thus an enjoyable one to watch again. I enjoy Zoe Saldana and even though a notable number of her recent roles have been in very similar settings I find Gamora to be the most interesting. But for me, the best Guardian in this film was Drax the Destroyer; he had the best lines and got the hardest laughs from me. The other returning cast did great as well, I can't pick a problem with any of Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan or Sean Gunn's work here; they did just as well as they did in the previous movies with perhaps one or two having to stretch their characters emotionally and succeeding. Newcomers included Kurt Russell which was great to see and he played Quill's father really well, I can believe that the two are related. Pom Klementieff was surprisingly entertaining portraying the childlike gullibility of Mantis and am looking forward to how she'll be used in the future.

  Story wise, Vol. 2 is very different from the first which was great as I don't like repetitive franchises but the plot wasn't as structured. It felt like half the story was focused on Peter and his dad and all that involved but then the writers had to come up with something for the other Guardians to do so paired them off with various characters and had them either sit around or have things happen to them for which they had to deal with. The final third was where it all came together though, as it would, and the climax was, although familiar in parts, visually unique and quite stunning thus making up for any narrative problems. And the Guardians films do have a lot of great visuals which is one of the reasons why I enjoy watching them.

   In the end Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 wasn't as good as the first but I'm definitely not saying it wasn't good. I laughed out loud, it was surprisingly emotional, and having five post-credit scenes isn't as bad as it sounds.

8/10

OJ's Movie Review - The Fate of the Furious

Ah, back here again. Back with la familia.


I do not enjoy films where over-the-top characters spout out cheesy lines after committing some physics-defying act for a generic plot. So why is it then, that every time I sit and watch a Fast & Furious movie, I come out with a great smile on my face from an utterly enjoyable time? The Fate of the Furious is no different and I never expected anything less. Vin Diesel returns as Dominic Toretto leading his team of multi-cultural criminals along with government guy Dwayne Johnson but this time Toretto has seemingly turned on his friends and is now working with a mysterious baddie.
  The cast, of course, is great. Diesel is on top form in his role as he has been for over a decade. Some of his other films don't do as well but this franchise makes up for it and it's a joy to revisit his unique delivery of lines. Johnson, again, is always a pleasure; he seems like a real nice guy in real life and his characters are always a bonus to a film, and in this case, Luke Hobbs, has some great one-liners which no doubt were the cause of some outtakes due to others cracking up. His verbal sparring partner here is Jason Statham returning from the previous film and he is the epitome of an over-the-top action star so putting him in this franchise was a genius move. The rest of the team were absolutely fine as well; Michelle Rodrigues and Ludacris are as good as they ever are; Tyrese Gibson is the same too, I don't particular find his humor funny but he is a staple of the franchise and so I'm glad he's in it despite his cringy jokes. Kurt Russell returns from Furious 7 and once again plays the shady government agent Mr. Nobody, and he does it pretty well. Nathalie Emmanuel also comes back but I really didn't see a need for her character; she seemed very pointless. The actress does great in the role but there isn't really a role other than someone the Tej character can relate to and then sit in the passenger seat during car chases.
    As far as cars go, The Fate of the Furious gives us some great car action, from the very first one in Cuba to the ludicrously horrifying chase in New York. I don't think the stunts were as impressive as the previous ones, such as jumping through buildings or dragging a safe through Brazil, but it has satisfactory action pieces, especially towards the end. As far as plot goes, it's fine for this sort of film; there was a twist of sorts which took me while to get used to and will have to see where it goes but ultimately the Charlize Theron story was engaging enough but not wildly original.
    The Fate of the Furious was another satisfactory entry into the Fast & Furious series and even though it had the absence of Paul Walker, due to terrible circumstances, I didn't feel the film suffered from it. I think I prefer Fast Five and Furious 7 over this, making it as good as Fast & Furious 6, in my opinion, but in the end, I'm always going to enjoy Vin Diesel using some special nitro to win a race to the soundtrack of the current popular electronic music.

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Kong: Skull Island

Time to fund another franchise I guess.

Kong: Skull Island is the second film in the "MonsterVerse" after Gareth Edward's 2014 film, Godzilla. It stars a lot of people, including, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly as a group of scientists and soldiers exploring a mysterious island. I've seen the main Kong films throughout the years and I have to say I do enjoy the concept of people finding an enormous gorilla on a primeval island; I always remember when I was younger being creeped out by Peter Jackson's 2005 King Kong and at one point was quite obsessed with it; since then I've enjoyed the 1933 original and even watched the not-so-good 1976 attempt. Now though we see a different take on the character, one set in the 70s, and of a larger world.
   I'll start with what I enjoyed, and first and foremost would be both the soundtrack and original score. Being set in the 70s, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts gives us some great pieces of music to accompany various scenes giving the film an upbeat, feel-good vibe, similar to that of Guardians of the Galaxy, or The Martian. And Henry Jackman delivers a well-composed dramatic score which includes some 70s vibes.
  Another thing to enjoy is that this film is full of really cool moments; scenes or shots that intend for you to be awed. Whether it be a silhouette of choppers flying towards Kong or just the animals and people of the island being framed through the Brie Larson character's 1970 era camera lens which makes for a really nice touch. Vogt-Roberts certainly has an eye for interesting and unique camera set ups and there were some great ones in here I really loved as well as some epic wide shots that you could just frame.
  Now unfortunately it's these amazing moments and "awe shots" that sort bring the movie down for me. While it's great to have those kind of scenes, you can't rely on them. Kong: Skull Island was visually stunning, almost to a surreal sense at times, adding to the island mystery, but as far as story and script goes, it was a bit underdeveloped. For the first two-thirds of the movie it felt like the story was just quickly written dialogue to get us from one cool shot to the next. The characters hardly had any development and surprisingly the most fleshed-out and interesting character was John C. Reilly's Hank Marlow. Although Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson are certainly great actors and look great, their characters were very one-dimensional. Hiddleston's was a generic former military hunter/tracker man with convenient skills and Larson's was a photographer, and that was pretty much it. Sam Jackson and John Goodman are also great actors and have delivered some incredibly iconic characters but here even they almost seemed expendable at points.
   So although the film is let down script-wise and is quite unevenly paced throughout most of it the final third is really good as it flows much better and the creature is design is amazing. Kong looks great, as well as some of the other fearsome creatures that inhabit the island but the stand-out for me were the disturbingly hideous Skull Crawlers whose mere existence you were thankful were only fictional.
  In the end Kong: Skull Island isn't quite what I expected it to be but it is a great-looking monster-movie and even has an after-credit scene for those who like to get excited for what's to come.

7/10

OJ's Movie Review - Passengers

Get two of the most popular actors right now, put them on a spaceship together, and see what happens I guess.

 

Passengers stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence as two passengers who have woken up from hibernation on a ship traveling across space to a new planet, they are the only two who have woken up, however, with about nine decades to go before the ship reaches the destination. I've been looking forward to this for a while; I'd heard about the popularity of the unmade script and the synopsis got me interested, I resisted reading the script but as bits of news trickled in, I kept interested, especially when Pratt and Lawrence were attached as I enjoy their work. 

   I'll start, as always, with what I enjoy and number one for me with that is the visuals. The design of the ship, both exterior and interior are amazing. It's a place I would love to visit, from the information interfaces to the architecture, I really enjoyed seeing that. The CGI is top-notch, I don't remember seeing any iffy effects so on that front it's great; they blended it well with real things as well, especially in a sequence (which was in the trailer) concerning a swimming pool and gravity, I thought it was a tense and well-done sequence. So all together I'd say that Passengers was, in general, a good-looking film. 

  What adds to that, of course, are its main leads. Chris Pratt doesn't do dramatic often but here he had to pull off some emotional scenes and I can't say he managed all of them successfully but he gave them a good shot and delivered some quite unexpected compelling series of events in the first act of the movie. Jennifer Lawrence appears alongside and she does just as you'd expect, she's a great actor, looks great, she did just fine in her role. She and Pratt had good chemistry, I thought and enjoyed seeing them together. An extra cast member includes Michael Sheen as the android, Arthur, and he was one of the best parts of the film for me. He was the source of the majority of humor and his constant positive personality was very entertaining.

  Plot-wise, I felt there were three defined parts to it. The first act, was my favorite, it gave off a cast-away vibe and you could feel the isolation, perhaps if they'd have stuck with that a bit longer it would've been a bit more impactful but it was certainly the best part of the film for me. The second act slowed down a little, it was exactly what I expected from the film, going in; Pratt and Lawrence being a couple onscreen and all that entails from flirting to getting-to-know-each-other and all that. Some plot developments did occur, though, and it started to get going again and I was genuinely surprised at one point and enjoyed a certain aspect which I won't spoil here. The third act though happened so suddenly, it was actually quite jarring. There was nothing wrong with it itself, just quite quick and almost predictable. 

   And that's the thing with Passengers, it's not a bad movie by any stretch, but it isn't mind-blowing either. We've seen almost every element before. It felt clean, it felt safe. It was innocuous. There were some twists and turns but you realize the trailer spoils a lot when you're watching the film. All-in-all, Passengers was just OK, and that's it. 

6.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Rogue One

A Star Wars story like no other.

Rogue One is the first Star Wars Anthology film, it isn't an episode, it doesn't follow the lives of a Skywalker. In fact, as you probably know but I'll confirm here just in case: it takes place just before 1977's Episode IV: A New Hope. I've been looking forward to this film for a while because I'm a fan of director Gareth Edwards and this universe in general.
    I'll start by talking about the cast, the majority of which I didn't know. Felicity Jones leads with her character Jyn Erso and from the trailers I didn't particularly like what I saw; the character just didn't seem likable and to an extent that carried over into the film at the beginning, but then as time went on they laid out a plausible reason for her personality and I grew accustomed to it very quickly and it worked for the story; Felicity Jones does great in the role as I've enjoyed her performances before in films such as The Theory of Everything. Diego Luna's Cassian Andor was an interesting character to watch, his internal struggle with the moral gray area he operated in made for some compelling scenes and Diego's performance I thought was great as I've never seen his work before. Some other cast and character highlights were Alan Tudyk's hilarious droid K-2SO, he delivered some great lines, but they weren't cheap jokes or eye rolls, he's no Jar Jar Binks; even though he was the comedic relief he also served a purpose and could defend himself when needed. Donnie Yen's blind Chirrut Îmwue and his partner Baze were a very entertaining and sometimes quite touching duo who had some great action sequences between them.
     On a villain front, I have to say I really enjoyed Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic. He came across as a classic Star Wars baddie but brought something new in his disposition and line delivery. His own arc as well was a compelling one and in the end, after some thought, you start to feel sorry for this guy, especially in the context of the other films. Now of course Darth Vader turns up during the film and that's what a lot of people were excited about (including myself), and so I'll just say that he isn't in it much, which I'm fine with, but I know a lot of people wanted more of him....Although there a specific scene that he's in that people are going talk about for a long time. So in the end, I really enjoyed the cast, perhaps with the exception of Forest Whitaker, who did fine in his role, but his role wasn't really needed; it just felt like we'd missed something, like there was more of a story there but was cut.
  Now talking of story, Rogue One, is somewhat predictable in the main arc because you know what it's about, you've seen what takes place afterward, but finally knowing the specifics and details is a real treat, for the most part. The first third of the film is very choppy, we're suddenly moving from one location to another super quick setting up each character and situation and it's a bit messy. When the plot gets going, though, it really picks up and becomes an entertaining series of events following these characters, that lead to an epic climactic third act. A complaint the film has is that the majority of characters weren't fleshed out enough and so they didn't care about them but I didn't find that at all; sure we didn't really get to know their history and motivations but just with the time we did spend with them, I really felt for these people by the end, and the ending itself made me come away viewing these people in a different way.
   The final scenes of Rogue One is truly one of the most memorable moments I've had in a cinema. From the choices the film-writers make regarding the characters, to the final five minutes before credits roll, I have to say that Disney certainly is in a league of their own. Was the film perfect? No, not at all, there are things I haven't managed to touch on because of spoilers, but there are also amazing things I couldn't mention for the same reason. As a conclusion. I'll say that although it isn't as streamlined or grand as your main saga episodes, it brought something new to the table and it worked.

8/10

OJ's Movie Review - Arrival

I love science-fiction so when I see a trailer and there are huge ships, alien beings, Amy Adams & Jeremy Renner I'm in.

Now although I've just said there are ships and aliens coming to Earth this is in no way your alien invasion movie; if you're walking in expecting some Independence Day, Mars Attacks type scenario then you're going to be disappointed. Arrival stars Amy Adams as linguist Louise Banks who has been brought in by the government to help communicate with the extraterrestrials that have landed twelve ships around the globe; both she and Jeremy Renner's physicist, Ian Donelly must work out why they are here and what they want through their various visits inside a ship that has landed in Montana, USA.
   The story director Denis Villeneuve and writer Eric Heisserer gives us is unique to say the least. Villeneuve's use of close-ups makes it such a personal and intimate story. His wide shots, including an impressive continuous shot, make the locations a gorgeous visual masterpiece to enjoy. All of these are scored amazingly by Jóhann Jóhannsson who's use of vocals in the music gives both an earthly feel but also surrealness to it. Villeneuve's decision when and where to use this music also proves well making impactful scenes and emotional moments.
  Of course the directing can't always work on its own but Amy Adams gives one of the best performances I've seen her give. I really can't expand further on that without giving spoilers but things like her reactions to the extraterrestrials and moments towards the end certainly tell me that this was a good casting choice. The other two leads are Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker both of which do a fine job; if you've seen their other work then you know what to expect here, they are both brilliant actors and play their roles just right but Amy Adams certainly steals the show in acting terms.
  Now for the plot of the film, I don't really know what to say. It's best to go into Arrival as unaware as you can with just the basic plot details such as the ones I gave earlier. I will however say that Arrival is one of those films that leaves you thinking about it for a couple of days. When the credits roll you just need a moment to ponder over it and piece together some of the revelations you've just had. When a film can do that I respect it. It's concepts of time, language, narrative and humanity is a lot to take in and certainly food for thought.
    I will most certainly watch the film again and upon second viewing I will see it differently than before with the knowledge I have. Is it the best film ever made? No, I've seen films that I have enjoyed a lot more and serve my personal tastes better. Arrival will definitely lose some viewers with it's slow burn quality; some may feel it drags and if you're not interested in the art of cinematography and film-making then it will feel even slower to you. And as someone who calls themselves a cinephile, even I was surprised at the gentle pace some of the scenes were going.
   In the end Arrival is stunningly beautiful with incredible acting and surreal sounds. It's commentary on stories is one I will remember and if I had to liken it to other films then I'd say some of the vibes I took from it were ones similar to that of Contact, Signs, and Inception. It won't be everyone's cup of tea but an interesting cup of tea it is.

8.5/10

OJ's Movie Review - Star Trek Beyond

Space...the final frontier. This is the review of Star Trek Beyond. It's mission: to explore strange new characters, to seek out a well-written plot and hope for redemption after Into Darkness, to boldly go where the franchise sometimes has gone before...

In general, I like Star Trek. I haven't seen the majority of the various series but I've seen the films and I enjoy the concepts and franchise as a whole. I really enjoyed the 2009 reboot and even after seeing the sequel I came away having had a good time despite problems. So going into this film I was expecting to be entertained.
  And entertained I was. I really enjoyed Star Trek Beyond. Chris Pine again leads a spectacular cast who all do great jobs in their roles, making them their own while still channeling the portrayal of the original cast. Simon Pegg helped write the script for the film and for the most part I thought he did a great job. The dialogue was perfect for ones like Bones & Spock when they banter between one another, and although there were references and nods to the past it didn't feel forced and it wasn't overdone. Star Trek Beyond had a lot of moments where it felt like Star Trek, with just the landscapes, the technology, the story, I thought it captured the feel of the original series more than the previous two did.
  Two new cast members for the film included Sofia Boutella as Jaylah, who did absolutely fine in the role, the character could have done with a bit more fleshing out but acting-wise, Boutella played the action-ready alien girl well through all that make-up and was entertaining enough. Talking of acting through make-up though, Idris Elba is brilliant as the villainous Krall. I enjoy Elba in almost every role of his but a menacing alien baddie suits him perfectly with his voice adding an intimidating aspect to an already frightfully-looking character. Kralls motives and background I also found enjoyable and unexpected; they left a lot unexplained until the third act but I enjoyed his arc none-the-less.
  Just quickly I'll mention the visuals of the movie. The Enterprise looks amazing, as it should be, there are some shots at the start of the film I really liked, both inside and outside the ship. Justin Lin did an adequate enough job as director although I would like to see someone else take on the next installment.
  Talking about visuals allows me to move onto one or two negative things I felt the movie had; some of the CGI, where people were concerned, wasn't perfect. Space, and landscapes and spaceships look great but I did notice moments where people had to fall through the air or do something that needed to be computer-generated and it was obvious to me. Now another problem I had might just be my personal feelings but the very first scene of the film, I won't spoil, felt a bit off, like it didn't belong in a Star Trek movie, it's very short and I like what they were going for but the execution felt to me a bit silly. One last thing is that the overall plot is quite simplistic, probably not a problem for a lot of people, and it didn't bother me too much, but the whole story wasn't as complex as previous ones have been and if you thought about it then you could probably predict a lot of things that were going to happen.
   In the end though I thoroughly enjoyed Star Trek Beyond, it was funny, it was Trekkie, it was pure summer fun and I look forward to seeing where the franchise goes both through these films and next year's return to television with Star Trek: Discovery.

8.5/10