Avengers: Endgame

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In many ways, Endgame is sort of the end of an era. It is a cliche at this point, as everyone has said this, but this is the culmination of 22 Marvel films over the last 11 years. The Avengers must reassemble to find a way to reverse what Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) has done. For the record, there is a lot more to the plot, but going any further would force me to go into spoilers. One of the most daunting tasks a film can take is that of taking a film that is three hours long, and making it engaging. For me, this film is never boring. I feel as though negatives for me are really just minor nitpicks that I can easily forgive. Even then, I can’t really go into the small issues I have because, even then, those tie into spoilers that have a greater impact. I have to appreciate the marketing of this film as well. The trailers have shown some things, but nothing that reveals major plot points. Because of this, I felt that this movie offered genuine surprises. This is the last movie for some of the people who have been key players over the last decade. The sendoffs these characters are given carry an emotional weight in the best possible way. I really think major props should go to Robert Downey, Jr. (as usual) and Jeremy Renner. Hawkeye in this film feels like a different animal. Here, he’s a man whose experiences have changed him greatly, and he gets some fantastic moments where he shines. I don’t think it’s a secret that I’ve never exactly been the biggest fan of Hawkeye. So, I loved seeing him in such a different light. The man is given an emotional arc that really serves the film well. The third act is an incredible battle that seems to help bring everything up to this point to a fitting close. At the same time, Endgame still shows signs of a potential future for things that are yet to come. 

10 / 10 

The Descent

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The Descent follows a group of women on a cave dive, when they are trapped and begin falling prey to the vicious creatures that dwell there. Director Neill Marshall really should be commended for this film. The performances felt real. It helps that none of the actors are big stars (otherwise it probably would have been distracting). It really felt like every choice that these characters made had some sort of consequence. The violence was brutal, and it works in the film. The cave gives you a sense of claustrophobia. I actually think the fact that the pacing is something of a slow burn works in this movie's favor. It makes things more and more tense as the troubles seem to escalate. I actually kind of appreciate that there isn't a huge amount of character development. Don't get me wrong, it is there. I honestly feel like it was just enough for you to care for these women. Arguably, the one with the most development is Sarah (played by Shauna MacDonald). She had lost her husband and daughter in a car crash a year previously to the film's main events. You actually see how the trauma affects her. Something I honestly kind of like is the attention to detail in terms of the film's colors. I can't exactly say that it was completely necessary, but I actually liked the look of it all. The best were the moments where the film was completely colored red. I can't exactly say why, but I honestly found myself drawn into this particular imagery. The one thing I can say I didn't particularly care for was some of the moments where the women tried fighting off the creatures attacking them. It honestly looked shaky, and could be hard to follow. I don't if this was the purpose, but it wasn't something that worked for me. However, The Descent is still a strong addition to the horror genre, and is mostly effective in what it sets out to try and accomplish, a violent, grisly, tense creature feature This is a genuine must for all horror fans.

9 / 10 

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five

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Justice League vs. the Fatal Five has the superhero team fighting a team of villains from the future alongside a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Starboy. I feel it would be important for me to start with what I liked about the movie. The animation is really good, reminding me of the animation from the animated Justice League television show from the early 2000s. On top of that, the voice cast is really good. Many of the actors voicing the Justice League members played these parts in previous DC Animated movies and shows. The cast in this movie includes Kevin Conroy as Batman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, and George Newburn as Superman. The story is something I have mixed feelings about. It certainly isn’t a bad story. The problem I have with it is that it can honestly get a touch needlessly complicated. It isn’t always easy to follow. Part of the reason for this could be the movie’s 80 minute running time. As usual, I would like to compliment the action. The fight scenes are probably some of the most well-crafted, and awesomely animated moments in the movie. Overall, there really isn’t much more for me to say about Justice League vs. the Fatal Five. The film has strong animation, voice work, and characters. The story is decent enough, even though I do think it gets muddled from time to time. It’s a good animated movie that’s worth watching if you’re a fan of DC’s animated films. 

7 / 10 

Prom Night (2008)

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I kind of feel like this is a review that has been a long time coming for me. While I don't necessarily consider the original Prom Night among my all-time favorite slashers, I still think it's a good flick that's worth a watch for slasher fans. This version of Prom Night is one of the absolute worst horror movies I have ever seen. This is a movie that actually has a good cast-including Brittany Snow, Jonathan Schaech, Linden Ashby (Johnny Cage from Mortal Kombat), and Idris Elba. The problem with this is the script for this thing is so poor that these actors are wasted. I think the waste of Idris Elba is the wasted actor that makes me the most upset, as he is one of my all-time favorite actors. He is so much better than the material that he has been given, but even he doesn't seem fully invested, almost as though he really doesn't want to be here. But, I know what you're thinking. This is a remake of a cult classic slasher film. So, it has to have some creative kills. NO! This remake has a PG-13 rating. I've seen ways that this can be done right. For example, the Happy Death Day movies are PG-13, but I actually think the filmmakers were actually invested in those films. In the case of the Prom Night remake, I see it more as a cash grab. All the producers wanted was to make a profit, essentially robbing this film of a soul. The cult classics of the 1980s were all R-rated, and for very good reason. The characters in this film are awful. I know that slasher movies don't necessarily have the greatest characters. However, if I told you to name characters from some of the classics of the slasher genre, you easily could. I don't remember the name of a single character in this movie, not that I would really want to. I am somebody who tries to look for positives, and this is one of those movies where it is honestly, really difficult for me to do so. Is this the worst slasher movie I have ever seen? No, but it is a close second. I say this as somebody who has seen and reviewed I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. But, you should still know that I do still think this may be one my most hated films of all time. The remake of Prom Night is nothing more than a soulless cash grab that has no right or purpose to even remotely exist.

0 / 10 

The Silence

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The Silence follows a family as they try and survive an attack from prehistoric creatures that hunt by sound. If you couldn’t tell already, this film has some striking similarities to the movie A Quiet Place, right down to one of the family members being deaf. I have to admit that I didn’t exactly go into this with particularly high expectations. Sure, the cast is pretty good (perhaps the best element of the film as a whole). But, the film was directed by John R. Leonetti. The man’s directing credits include Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Annabelle, and Wolves at the Door. He truly has yet to make a film that legitimately impresses me. Sadly, this film is no exception. The acting from the main family is the only thing I can say truly works. A lot of the other actors don’t work well in this film at all. The creatures really don’t look good. Much of the film’s special effects make you fully aware that you are watching movie. More than that, you can always tell that they are bad CGI effects. A couple of the jump scares work—which is something impressive considering my opinions on jump scares. The characters in this film really don’t feel like they have much in the way of development. The most developed character is probably the character Ally played by Kiernan Shipka. She is a teenager who was involved in a car accident that killed her grandparents, and left her deaf. In many respects, the film is hard to talk about. I officially watched this film a couple of days ago on Netflix. I have a feeling that I will find this again in a few weeks and say to myself: “Oh yeah, I did watch that.” Is The Silence one of the worst films I have ever seen? No. I found to be just sort of mediocre, and I’ll probably forget about it completely before too long. 

4 / 10 

The Haunting of Sharon Tate

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The Haunting of Sharon Tate stars Hilary Duff as the murdered actress. The movie is about the nightmares she had in regards to her untimely death. I can see why this film was released direct to on-demand. From the very first shot, the film just had this cheap look to it. The film’s poor acting certainly didn’t help matters either. To be fair to the actors in this film, most of the blame need placed on writer-director Daniel Farrands. The dialogue in this film is so atrocious that any actors would struggle to make it work or sound natural. “In movie speak…” This is how an actual line in the film starts. It’s honestly so bad, I think I legitimately blocked the rest of it from my memory. The writing in this film is so bad, it makes George Lucas look like Quentin Tarantino by comparison. Think about that. Aside from that, the movie throws in themes of fate and destiny. Because this film is horribly written, it comes off as incredibly forced. Going even further into the sins of the film’s writing, the screenplay feels largely padded. The film is 90 minutes long, and nothing of note really happens until the half-hour mark. of course, when it actually looks like something is going to happen, the film falls back on the lazy, forced, tired dream sequence cliche. I almost wish that I had more to say about this movie simply because I hated it that much. The problem is that when a film that is bad meanders this much doesn’t really leave me with that much to say. The last thing I really think I can say about this piece of shit is that it is the worst movie I have seen so far this year. It is a film with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and I feel bad just for potentially drawing attention to it. 

0 / 10 

Pet Sematary

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Louis Creed (played by Jason Clarke) and his family move to Ludlow, Maine in order to get a fresh start. Before long, tragedy strikes the family and terror is unleashed that the Creed family now has to deal with. As a fan of Stephen King’s work, I was really interested to see how this remake was going to turn out. The first thing I will say is that if you are a book purist, you should know that this film takes a lot of liberties. I am not going to judge the film based off of that, at least not entirely. The biggest positive I can give the film is the acting. All of the performers are well-chosen for their respective parts. I also have to commend the filmmakers for doing something different when they easily could have followed the original beat for beat. The twist they incorporate into the film has the same effect (even though it was sadly spoiled in the trailer) as the original. Unfortunately, these positives don’t necessarily make this a good movie. A lot of the pacing just doesn’t really work for the movie. There are elements in the film that are thrown out at a break-neck speed in this version, while the original kind of let then play out as needed. The film also used jump scares. They weren’t awful by means, but they could have been done far better, and it didn’t feel as though they were really needed, or that they did much of anything to serve the story. Around the third act, there was some solid tension and suspense in the film, but it wasn’t enough to save the film for me. To be fair, this is a remake that really could have worked well. The original is good, but it could easily be improved. Sadly, I can’t give this remake anything beyond and honest-to-God eh. I didn’t really have any impact on me one way or the other. 

5 / 10

Shazam!

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Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel) has spent most of his young life in the foster care system. One day, he defends his new foster brother, Freddy (played by Jack Dylan Grazer) from a couple of bullies. A wizard played by Djimon Honsou summons Billy to his realm and gives him powers that turn him into the adult superhero called Shazam (played by Zachary Levi). I can’t say how glad I am that DC is really starting to find their footing. Shazam! is another good movie in their universe. For starters, Zachary Levi is perfect as Shazam. The man really brings a youthful energy to the movie, and actually manages to convince you that he is a kid trapped in a man’s body. The action is pretty fun, even if I can’t really say it is the greatest action I have ever seen in a movie. However, it’s good enough to really serve the film well. Perhaps, the best thingI can say about Shazam! is that it feels like a great homage to some of the family films 80s and 90s. Much of the film’s tone is fairly light-hearted, but that doesn’t mean director David F. Sandberg isn’t afraid to throw some dark moments into the film if needed, helped by the man’s background with the horror genre. The film also has references to some of the films that arguably influenced it. These include Gremlins and Big, among other films. What I honestly appreciate about these moments is that they don’t feel like they are forced into the movie (which they easily could have). I should also note that the comedy in the film really works. Shazam! is a legitimately funny movie. The last thing I really feel the need to discuss in terms of the film’s positives is the emotional moments. The film isn’t afraid to show them, and they are genuinely effective. I think the film’s biggest flaw is its villain. Mark Strong does a really good job with what he’s given. I actually liked Sivana as a character. My problem with Sivana is that there just wasn’t enough of him to really make a strong impact. Overall, Shazam! was a solid superhero movie that I highly recommend. The flaws are there, but they are few and minor. If you get the chance, know that I recommend seeing Shazam! 

9 / 10