The New Mutants

After two years, The New Mutants has finally arrived. The movie follows a group of teenage mutants just discovering their abilities, and must come face to face with their worst fears while they are in a hospital setting. For the longest time, I was anticipating this movie. But, I did have some skepticism as well because of the delays. The cast does a solid job all-around. I actually think it might help in this movie's case that the cast is generally pretty small. The actors all have solid chemistry, and work off each other well enough. That said, this movie is far from perfect. The action isn't awful, but I do think it could have been much better. Some of it feels a bit too shaky for my taste. My other big issue with the movie is the exposition. There were some points where I genuinely felt as though the movie was using exposition as a crutch, as a way to carry character development. Overall, I think The New Mutants was good enough. It certainly isn't the best movie in the X-Men franchise. But, I can also say that it is far from the worst movie in the X-Men franchise. It works almost entirely because of the cast of characters. 

6 / 10  

The Invisible Man

 The Invisible Man is the latest remake of the original H.G. Wells story. This version follows Elizabeth Moss as a woman, Cecilia, who escapes from her abusive boyfriend, a scientist named Adrian Griffin. After Adrian apparently dies, Cecilia begins to think something suspicious is happening, and that Adrian is somehow behind it, even as those around Cecilia believe she may be going crazy. So, between this and Upgrade, I know that Leigh Whannell is someone to look out for as a filmmaker. There's a fantastic sense of tension. The acting is very good too, especially Elizabeth Moss in the lead role. She convincingly pulls off a performance that feels both sympathetic and unhinged. This also feels like a perfect off-set for a villain that is actually very cold and calculated. Some of the supporting characters could probably be a little bit deeper, but they still work pretty well for me. I kind of feel as though they serve their purposes within the context of the film. The pacing of the movie is suitably slow. It feels like it builds more and more as the film progresses. I also really have to compliment the film's visuals. The digital effects are actually pretty seamless. It feels like there is a pretty solid mix of both digital and practical, at least from what I was able to tell. Overall, I really liked The Invisible Man. This is a movie that makes me feel like there's an understanding of how to make a movie (and story) like this work in a modern setting.   

9 / 10