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

Artemis Fowl

 

"I'm Artemis Fowl, and I'm a criminal mastermind." I wanted to highlight this line from near the end of this movie. I want to highlight it because none of Artemis Fowl's actions really make this line feel earned. There were a lot of other things in this movie, very few of them being good. For example, the special effects are shoddy, at best. I have no idea what kind of performances Josh Gad and Judi Dench were giving. The action felt small scale. There were only a couple of locations in this movie, mainly Artemis's house. The villain has no dimension to her. She feels like a complete afterthought (probably because Artemis Fowl himself is the main antagonist of the book). The one character I actually did enjoy was the Holly Short character. She had a backstory that actually helped you to understand her drive, her motivations. The pacing is quite poor too. I feel like a lot of the film's plot beats are rushed, just so this movie can fit into an hour and a half time frame. Overall, there was very little about Artemis Fowl that worked for me, and I could honestly see why Disney dumped this onto their streaming service rather than delay its theatrical release. If you do happen to come across this movie on Disney+, just go ahead and skip it. 

2 / 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 

The Mummy (1932)

 

The high priest Imhoetep intends to bring his long lost love back from the dead. Boris Karloff is easily the best part of this movie. I kind of love the sense that he has this hypnosis over this woman he's trying to use to resurrect his love. I should also say that I quite enjoy her as well. She's not necessarily a damsel who does nothing but scream. I actually feel like she has some form of personality to her. That said, she is still sort of just a prize. I can be a little forgiving of that because this was from the 1930s. This movie is short, and is pretty well-paced. However, I can't say it's my favorite of the classic Universal monster movies. Other than Karloff and Zita Johann as the female lead, Helen, the rest of the cast was just alright to me. The actors were fine, but I didn't really get much out of their characters. The effects also look pretty good for the time as well. Overall, The Mummy was a fine enough movie. I'm glad I finally got the chance to see it this year. Is it going to be a yearly watch for me? Probably not, but I still do recommend watching it at least once. 

6 / 10 

Hocus Pocus

Three witches (played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker) find themselves resurrected three hundred years after their deaths, and they begin to wreak havoc on modern (circa 1993) Salem, Massachusetts. A couple of kids are the only ones who can stop them. This movie is just some good, dumb fun. It's probably better if this is a movie you have some form of nostalgia for. To give an example, I can easily recognize that some of the fish out of water humor with the witches can be inconsistent. Yet, this is something that has never really bothered me too much. The absolute best thing about the movie is the acting from Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. These women are clearly having a ball. That's not to say the rest of the cast is bad. For example, I actually do enjoy Thora Birch as the little sister of the main protagonist. She does a pretty damn good job as the annoying, bratty little sister. It helps that she's just sympathetic enough that she can still be likable. In short, she actually feels like a kid to me. Some of the visual effects haven't entirely held up, but they don't look awful either. In short, this movie is just a fun little watch around Halloween, especially if you're looking for something to show to kids. 

6 / 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 

Bloodshot

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Bloodshot follows a soldier named Ray Garrison played by Vin Diesel. Throughout the course of the movie, he learns that he was killed by a team of mercenaries along with his wife. He is resurrected through the use of nanites that have essentially been fused to his bloodstream. It doesn't take long before he begins to seek revenge. I feel like I can describe this movie in one word: Alright. There isn't anything in it that I found outright terrible. But, there wasn't much in it that I found amazing either. The acting ranges. Nobody's godawful, but there's really only a couple of genuine highlights for me. Guy Pearce, Eiza Gonzalez, and Lamorne Morris are probably the people I was the most invested in, both from a performance standpoint and a character standpoint. While I think Vin Diesel is fine in the lead role, he doesn't really do anything to stand out either. The action was fine as well. There were times where I do think the action leans into using CGI a little too heavily, but it was never anything that really bothered me either. I would say if it sounds like it might be your thing, give it a watch. I don't know that I can promise anything, but you never know. If this does not sound like it would be your thing, then go ahead and skip this altogether. This is a movie that I didn't hate watching. I was just invested enough. But, I don't see it being a movie with a ton of replay value for me either. 

6 / 10