Godzilla vs. Kong

Plot Synopsis: 

When Godzilla begins acting irrationally, a team of businesspeople and scientists try to find a key to potentially defeat him, believing Kong can lead them to it. Along the way, the two giant monsters begin engaging in battle. Meanwhile, Madison (Mille Bobby Brown reprising her role from Godzilla: King of the Monsters) is trying to find out exactly why Godzilla's behavior has changed.

Positives: 

So, the first thing I really liked about this movie is the action. That is kind of the main reason people are here for this movie, so it's important to get that aspect down, which I think this movie does. The special effects are pretty good too. There aren't really any moments I can point to that look particularly off to me. I also think that, for the most part, the human characters are handled much better in this movie than they have been in previous movies in this MonsterVerse. They aren't deep or anything. But, they are played by good actors, which really helps. The new characters that are tied to Kong's story are the characters I think work the best. I also like that there's a backstory for the rivalry between Godzilla and Kong. It generally works for me. 

Mixed Aspects:

I kind of have mixed feelings about the humor used in the movie. Some of it worked and actually felt pretty natural for me. But, some of the humor also felt really forced, and I just kind of had to shrug it off. While I really liked the action in the movie, there were points where I was worried I wasn't going to get enough of it. Thankfully, the climax kind of rectifies that for me. 

Negatives: 

When I was watching this movie, I kind of wondered if this would have benefitted from an extra movie in this universe. It kind of felt like we skipped a lot involving Kong. I don't know. Maybe we should have had one more Kong movie before this one. It's not a huge negative on my part. It also doesn't help that all of our new characters are pretty much given an exposition dump to introduce them.

Final Thoughts:

This is definitely a movie where the things I like really shine through, and flaws aren't huge. The most important takeaway I had from this movie was that it was fun. It's currently on HBO Max, so I do recommend it. 

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Basic Introduction: 

I want to take a different approach to reviewing this movie, and it's something I want to apply to the reviews I write going forward. There will be a lot of comparison to the theatrical cut of Justice League from 2017. It's just kind of hard to avoid.  

What I Liked: 

First off, Zack Snyder's Justice League feels so much more fleshed out than the theatrical cut. The core cast gets a lot more to do. Looking back at the theatrical cut of the movie from 2017, I have to wonder why they cut all but the bare bones of Cyborg's backstory. Here, he doesn't feel like an afterthought. He feels like a character. The same can also be said of the movie's main villain, Steppenwolf. In the theatrical cut, he was just a generic villain who just wanted to rule the world. In this version, he has a clear master in Darkseid, and is working to get himself back in Darkseid's good graces. Already, the movie's main heavy has a backstory. He has a motivation. While he won't go down as one of my all time favorite villains, this movie offers him a much needed redemption. This movie's also pretty well paced. It was four hours long, and I was glued to all four hours of it. It moved at a pretty solid pace. There were plenty of moments I remembered liking from the theatrical cut, that just feel like they are improved upon here. I should also say that a lot of the fan service worked for me as well. It didn't reach a point for me where it felt too distracting, especially when it easily could have. Finally, the Snyder cut had something I feel was sorely missing from the 2017 version, a soul. This felt like a director's creative vision and a story he wanted to tell from the beginning, especially when compared to the theatrical cut (which I think can best be described as the cliff notes version of this movie). 

What I Didn't Like: 

So, my complaints are pretty minor, all things considered. But, I do still have some issues with this version of the movie. First off, there were a couple of lines here and there that I would have bet money Joss Whedon wrote when trying to give the film more humor, but they exist Zack Snyder's version, namely the line: "I am a black hole of snacks. I am a snack hole." Some of the CGI can look a little janky, though I can't harp on that too much because I think it's kind of amazing we even got this director's cut at all. Finally, let's address the elephant in the room: Amber Heard. Yes, I have my thoughts on her whole situation, and I am not a fan of who she is as a person. That is not why I'm talking about her in this section. I am talking about her in this section of my review because she was just bad in the movie. Fortunately, she's not in it very much. 

Final Thoughts: 

So yeah, I really liked Zack Snyder's Justice League. It got a much more emotional response out of me than the theatrical cut did. This version is on HBO Max, and is broken up into parts. If you have HBO Max, and you haven't already watched this, then just know I do have to recommend it.   

My Rating: 

Awesome

Jiu Jitsu

 Jiu Jitsu is about a group of fighters chosen to do battle by an alien from another world. So, I saw the trailer for this movie about a month ago, and thought it looked like it could be some dumb, trashy fun. Yeah, that's pretty much what I got out of this movie. The character development is pretty thin. Most of these characters don't have much to them beyond the most basic aspects you can give them. What helps these characters out is that I actually like a lot of the actors, even if some of them felt a bit underused (looking at you Nicolas Cage). There are some characters here and there that, at least to me, didn't end up feeling like they had a point being in the movie. The special effects are mostly pretty bad. However, the action is probably this movie's saving grace. The action is genuinely well shot and entertaining enough. In many ways, you could call this a rip-off of Predator. The DNA is definitely there. Overall, this is a movie that's decent enough for killing an hour and forty minutes. You can just watch it, and not think too hard. This movie isn't anything special, but I don't think it necessarily needed to be either.

6 / 10  

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In the third movie in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indy goes on a quest to find both the holy grail and his missing father. First of all, I love the chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. Despite the two only having a twelve year age gap between them, they have a pretty believable father and son dynamic. It's honestly a big part as to why this is my favorite of the Indiana Jones movies. I also quite like the Elsa character. It's really the only time in this franchise where the love interest was also one of the villains. I also think it helped make her a little more memorable than the movie's primary villain. He's not bad. He just doesn't stand out to me as much some of the other antagonists in the franchise. As usual, the action set pieces are also a ton of fun. My personal favorite is the scene in Venice. Sure, this movie may be a bit more lighthearted than the second movie. However, I actually believe that is a point in this film's favor. Overall, I adore this film. The acting, the action, and the writing are all in top form. It really is the relationship between Indy and his father that serves as the heart of the movie for me. 

9 / 10 

Deep Blue Sea 3

 

Deep Blue Sea 3 follows a research team and a team of mercenaries as they each try to deal with the surviving sharks from Deep Blue Sea 2. The first thing I want to say is that this is a much better movie than Deep Blue Sea 2. While some of the acting in this still leaves a lot to be desired, it is a good deal better here. I also feel that the effects are noticeably better in this film as well. There are definitely some rough spots in terms of the effects, but the second movie also did them a lot worse too. I should also say I liked some of the characters in this one more than I liked the characters in the last movie too. None of that makes this a great movie by any means. There are some character and story beats that I did find pretty predictable. However, in this movie's defense, I don't really think it matters all that much. Quality-wise, I think I would put this about on par with the first movie. It's not something I would necessarily call good, but I did have fun with it. If you enjoyed the original movie,  I would say give this one a shot.

6 / 10   

Deep Rising

A cruise ship on its maiden voyage finds itself attacked by a creature lurking in the deep. A team of mercenaries along with a hired ship crew also make their way on to the ship for initially devious reasons. Soon, the mercenaries, the cruise ship's surviving crew members, and the sole surviving passenger must do their best to survive in their current predicament. The first thing I will say is that the CGI is pretty rough. I can't necessarily speak to how good it might have looked when this movie came out in 1998. But, looking at it in 2020, it is not good. The movie doesn't always flow together super well. The mercenaries are there because the man who designed the ship wanted to sink it on its maiden voyage to collect insurance money. It feels there might have been a script involving that, and ended up being meshed together with a script for a monster movie. The result may not have been good, per se. But it was fun. This movie's greatest strength is its cast. In particular, I actually really Famke Janssen in the movie. She plays a jewel thief. But, she really works off of every one else amazingly well. Again, Deep Rising was fun, but flawed. 

7 / 10  

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals follows a group of younger siblings of royals as they discover they have superpowers. I literally just watched this movie on Disney+ because it was there. The movie was alright. The acting was decent enough. Or, at least, it worked for this movie. This has something of a Disney Channel Original Movie feel. I should say that, in this case, it's not a terrible thing. I will also say that the characters worked well enough for me too. There actually was an attempt to give some of them genuine depth, especially the main protagonist, and her relationship with her older sister. Okay, it's not a ton of depth, but it's honestly more than I would have expected. The special effects in the movie are awful, worse than a movie like this probably should have. I was glad it was never too distracting, but they were bad enough that it was noticeable. Overall, I thought this movie was just okay. I watched it once out of pure curiosity, and don't really feel a need to ever watch it again. They do set up for a potential sequel, and the idea is interesting enough, I guess I'd be curious to see where it goes, and if it improves. But, yeah, this was a one-and-done movie for me.     

6 / 10   

The Old Guard

The Old Guard is a Netflix action movie starring Charlize Theron. The movie follows a group of immortals who find themselves exposed by a CIA agent and pharmaceutical CEO. Before I go any further, there are some minor spoilers. Read at your own risk. The action is fun enough. But, what makes this movie work for me is the character interactions. These characters feel pretty damn human to me. Even the movie's villain has a decently understandable motivation. He wants to test the immortals to figure out how to create a medication that will lead to longer life. That said, his methods are what make him a villain. However, the immortals are my favorite characters. I genuinely buy the history these characters have, and I honestly love that they have an "I don't give a shit" attitude. This is especially true of Charlize Theron as Andy. I should also say that I appreciate that this movie still has some stakes. I won't any further than that. Having a film where the main protagonists are immortal can sometimes be tricky. But, it really does work in this movie. Overall, I found The Old Guard to be a genuinely fun watch. It has some good action, entertaining characters, and interesting lore that I really think lends this movie to a potential sequel. It isn't anything groundbreaking, but I don't think it set to be, or needed to be. If it looks or sounds interesting, give the movie a watch. 

7 / 10   

Scoob!

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Scoob! is an animated reboot of the theatrical Scooby-Doo franchise. Scooby and Shaggy must team up with the Blue Falcon and Dyno-Mutt when Scooby finds himself in the crosshairs of the villainous Dick Dastardly. Let's start with the negatives. First, the mystery aspect of the movie is inconsequential. It isn't the main focus of the movie, which is a bit odd because this is a Scooby-Doo movie. Second, I didn't love Will Forte as Shaggy. He's not bad. It just feels odd to me when Matthew Lillard has been the official of the character since 2009. Third, I don't necessarily think the movie always knew what to do with Fred, Daphne, and Velma beyond having them in the movie. I wanted to get those out of the way because I legitimately really liked this movie. Now that I've seen it a couple of times, there are things I didn't notice on my first viewing. For the most part, I really loved the voice cast. My personal favorites were Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly and Mark Wahlberg as the Blue Falcon. I genuinely loved a lot of the film's writing as well. There are some great jokes that poke fun at the Scooby-Doo lore. The movie does serve as something of a set up for a larger Hanna-Barbera universe. This is something that isn't going to work for everybody. Personally, I kind of like the idea, and I have seen attempts at doing this that are much worse by comparison. So, yeah. I really did enjoy this movie quite a bit. It's not going to go down as one of my favorites of the year. But, I don't think it needs to. The movie does its job. That's about all I can say on the matter.

7 / 10 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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It amazes me to watch this movie nearly 20 years later, and see just how well it holds up. I should start with my negatives with the movie because they are really just minor nitpicks. Some of the action felt a little bit choppy to me, and wasn't always the easiest for me to make out. Some of the choppy slow motion was also a little bit odd to me. Yep, that's about it for negatives for me. Everything just worked for me. The actors all felt perfectly suited to their respective roles. After nearly 20 years, the visuals are still incredible. In fact, I think a lot of the special effects look better than some movies that have only come out in the past couple of years. For the most part, I do think this movie stands on its own, which is not always the case. This movie does a great job building the world its characters inhabit. I also love the little teases to the greater lore of Middle-Earth that I really understand better as I have grown older. The characters feel so rich, even some of the smaller characters where I may not know a lot about them, but would love to know and learn more. Overall, there were a couple of editing and filmmaking choices that did feel a touch dated to me. However, everything else about the film still holds up from the perspective of 2020. I have always been a fan of these movies, and have never really gotten much of a chance to talk about them. 

9 / 10 

The Hunt

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The Hunt is sort of a modern retelling of The Most Dangerous Game. This movie was originally meant to come out last year, but was pushed back because of the perceived political bent. Yes, some of that is there. It didn't really bother me because I feel that this movie was genuinely critical of both sides. This movie is actually kind of hard for me talk about. Some of the best parts of this movie came because they were surprises. It wouldn't feel right for me to give them away in a review. The one real flaw I have with this movie is the fact that the characters aren't very deep. The cast all works pretty well for the roles they have. Plot-wise, this movie is pretty simple. It's people hunting other people. I should say that the villains' motivation is pettiness, and I kind of love that.  As for the exact reason why the villains are being so petty, I don't want to give that away. Overall, The Hunt isn't particularly deep or complex. However, it is fun enough for a one-time watch. I wish I had more to say about this movie, but the movie's simple. Therefore, my review is simple.

6 / 10 

Sonic the Hedgehog

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Let me start this by saying this: Thank God they fixed the design. My reason for saying this is because now that I've seen Sonic the Hedgehog, I can safely say that I genuinely enjoyed it. I will say that I don't necessarily think this is a great movie. That mostly comes down to plot. It's not terrible, but it's nothing spectacular either. You have seen this kind of plot before. There's also some moments that kind of date this movie because these jokes so rooted in the now. For example, Sonic does a Fortnite dance. Okay, the characters, performances, and action are really why I enjoy this movie. Ben Schwartz does a solid job voicing the titular Sonic. So, I touched on the redesign a little bit already. The redesign they did for this movie is so much better. He looks like Sonic. Jim Carrey is awesome in this movie as the villainous Doctor Robotnik. He plays this character who is super intelligent, and is incredibly arrogant because of it. Thus, he treats everyone around him as lesser. The action is a lot of fun. Okay, it's not like this is on the level of something like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But, it works well enough. I feel like I don't really have much more to say. This is just kind of a fun hour and 40 minutes to pass the time. This will entertain kids easily. I should also say that adults won't hate themselves, and will probably get something out of this movie too.

7 / 10

Jumanji: The Next Level

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Jumanji: The Next Level is one of those movies that came out last year that I missed. Well, I rented it on demand a couple days ago, and got a chance to watch it. After the events of the previous movie, Spencer (played again by Alex Wolff) has recovered the game, and has been attempting to repair it. His friends find out, and enter the game themselves. However, the game is still broken and pulls Spencer's grandpa Eddie (played by Danny Devito) and Eddie's former friend and business partner Milo (played by Danny Glover) into the game as well. One of my favorite aspects of this film is seeing the actors who played avatars in the previous film show off different personality traits. The action is still pretty fun, and the cast's chemistry is still really strong. The movie also has a similar flaw to the previous film in its antagonist. The villain this time around is still pretty weak. I like Rory McCann as an actor, but he feels underutilized. I would have to say that I think Jumanji: The Next Level is about on par with the previous film. It's a fun time that's worth a watch. It's not amazing, but it's some solid popcorn fun.

7 / 10