BlacKkKlansman

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Colorado Springs detective Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington) sees an ad in the newspaper for the KKK. He calls the telephone number, and ends up infiltrating the infamous organization (even going so far as to become a member). Because Stallworth himself is black, a fellow police officer (played by Adam Driver) impersonates Stallworth in real life. The investigation is meant to expose the organization as they are currently (circa 1970s) trying to sanitize themselves and become more mainstream. This idea is something that is completely insane, and is completely true. Amid Stallworth's investigation he develops an over the phone relationship with the grand wizard of the Klan, David Duke (played by Topher Grace), as well as the man who runs the Colorado Springs branch of the Klan, named Walter (played by Ryan Eggold). Stallworth also develops a budding relationship with an outspoken activist (played Laura Harrier). The movie has very heavy political message. I don't know if I necessarily agreed with everything that was said, but I also understood where Lee (and the overall story) was coming from. That said, this is an incredible movie. Acting-wise, everyone brings their A-game. John David Washington shows a lot of his father's level of talent, and even channels his mannerisms at several points in the film. Topher Grace is excellent as the grand wizard of the Klan, expertly showing that the man is stout in his beliefs. There are a lot of humorous moments in this movie that is otherwise a drama, and they could have easily come off as tonally jumbled, but I think Lee handles them in just the right way. The very end of the film could be off-putting for some, but I do think it helps show that racism is still very much an issue, and probably won't go away anytime soon. This is a movie I recommend watching. It's a really good flick, even of some of the modern political references can be a little jarring, and not entirely needed.

9 / 10  

Ready Player One

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In the year 2045, humanity has reached a breaking point and spends most of its time in virtual reality as a way to escape the far more bleak real world. Gaming guru James Halliday (played excellently by Mark Rylance) created the virtual world known as the Oasis, and hid an easter egg within, prompting players and their avatars to search the world of the Oasis to find said easter egg. Director Steven Spielberg gives this movie his usual high standard visual flair. The effects in the movie are phenomenal. It takes something special for a movie to hook right from the opening second, but I was on board with the film as soon as Van Halen's "Jump" began playing (perfectly foreshadowing the movie's phenomenal soundtrack to come). Everyone performance in the movie works (even some of the film's smaller performances). You believe the friendship between protagonist Wade and his in-game best friend, Helen aka Aech. Ben Mendelsohn has become a go-to actor for villains in the past few years. He and Hannah John-Kamen both play excellent antagonists. The standout in this movie has got to be Olivia Cooke for me however. This woman has come a long way from her work in the movie Ouija. The easter eggs littered throughout this movie are amazing, and are actually woven into the story very well. They could have easily felt forced, but they didn't. As much as I loved this movie, there is a minor flaw I have that I would like to address. Occasionally, the movie does rush through some explanations, when going through them a little bit more could have made the writing a little tighter. Other than those few and far between dips in the storytelling, Ready Player One was absolutely one hell of a recommended ride.

9 / 10    

Skyscraper

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Will Sawyer (played by Dwayne Johnson) is a former FBI agent who now runs his own security agency. Renowned businessman Zhao Long Ji (played by Chin Han) hires Sawyer to overlook the security of a skyscraper, which will be the tallest building in the world. A group of terrorists led by Kores Botha (played by Roland Moller) infiltrate the building and threaten Sawyer's family, which forces Sawyer into action. I had fun with this movie. It's not particularly original, and is filled to the brim with action movie cliches. Story-wise, this is just another Die Hard knock-off. Some of the beats in this movie are fairly predictable. There are two characters in the movie that I knew were going to be villains as soon as I saw them. Some of the foreshadowing is fairly obvious too, without giving anything away. Outside of Sawyer himself, the character development is pretty thin. His family is kind of just there for him to save (even if their performances actually work for me). One of the things I love about this is movie is that Sawyer himself is disabled. He was injured while trying to defuse a hostage situation (in an admittedly dark scene that didn't feel like it entirely fit). They never really bring any forced attention to it, and it doesn't feel like a cheap crux to make him weaker. If anything, there are moments where his apparent disadvantage actually saves his life The direction is solid, and there are some legitimate moments of tension, even if you do know what the outcome is going to be. Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell have good chemistry and make a believable husband and wife. Skyscraper isn't a movie you need to rush out and see, but would make a pretty decent rental, especially if you want to watch a fun movie and kill an hour and a half.

6 / 10      

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

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Hotel Transylvania 3 follows Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) and his fellow monsters as they embark on a cruise, where Dracula falls for the energetic and mysterious Captain Ericka (voiced by Kathryn Hahn), which arouses the suspicions of Dracula's daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). Ericka meanwhile reveals herself to be the great granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan). She conspires to bring all of the monsters to their dooms. I'll admit that I haven't seen the second movie, but I have seen the first film. Hotel Transylvania 3 isn't as good as the first movie, but this movie still produced some pretty good laughs. The voice actors are still pretty on point, especially Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, and Jim Gaffigan. The animation is just as fast-paced and energized as ever. Sandler shares some solid dramatic moments with both Selena Gomez and Kathryn Hahn as well as the typical comedic moments that feel like they have been lost in most of his recent live action work. While all of the voice actors are good, some of them are pretty sidelined and underused. The biggest example is Andy Samberg as Johnny. Johnny was one of the main characters in the first movie, but he barely seems to appear in this movie. Not every joke lands, which is a common problem with comedies, but the jokes that do land outweigh the jokes that don't. In spite of this movie's flaws, I still enjoyed it as a decent family film that I do recommend.

6 / 10        

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom follows Owen and Claire (once again played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) as they are brought back to the island by John Hammond's former business partner Benjamin Lockwood (played by James Cromwell) in an effort to rescue the dinosaurs. One thing I have noticed about the Jurassic World era of this franchise is that it is turning the raptors into the heroes, especially considering Blue is one of the few characters I didn't want to see get hurt. It helps that this movie actually develops the relationship that Owen has with Blue, and does it in a way that I found genuinely believable. Jurassic World had it's dumb moments and its faults, for sure. However, that movie still had strong desire to show moments of wonder. Fallen Kingdom has those moments of wonder, albeit to a much lesser extent, and some of the shots in the film are excellent, especially in the island portion of the movie. There are some good moments of tension as well. While, I do believe Jurassic World had its flaws, I found the flaws in Fallen Kingdom much more noticeable. For starters, the acting is a lot more hit and miss. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard still give good performances, and still have solid chemistry. Jeff Goldblum returns as Dr. Ian Malcolm for a brief cameo, and it is fun to see him back. Ted Levine plays the same kind of military asshole he always seems to play, but he does a damn good job at it. The actress who plays the little in the movie felt a bit off. Sometimes she seemed like she had a vague British accent. Sometimes, she didn't have an accent. Sometimes she felt like an actual little girl. Sometimes, she felt still stiff and awkward. The same level of inconsistency goes for James Cromwell, an actor I usually love. Justice Smith is a good actor, but he did little more than annoy me in this movie. Without giving anything away, some of the character decisions are annoyingly dumb. In spite of having some pretty major problems, I still enjoyed the hell out of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, even if I personally don't know if I would say it was a good movie.

6 / 10  

Ant-Man and the Wasp

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In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd) is under house arrest following the events of Captain America: Civil War. He finds himself thrust back into the lives of his mentor, Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas) and love interest Hope van Dyne (played by Evangeline Lilly) after Scott unknowingly forms a connection with Hank's long lost wife, Janet (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). The three have to figure out how to find Janet and bring her back from the Quantum Realm, all while dealing with opposition from the mysterious Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen) and the smarmy Sonny Burch (played by Walton Goggins). Much like the first film, the action sequences are awesome, and this movie goes a little further into exploring how shrinking and growing things can actually make an inventive action scene. Another element that is similar to the first film is that there's something of an underlying theme of the relationships between fathers and daughters. They continue to explore Scott's relationship with Cassie, and there's still some good heart to it. The same can also be said of the relationship between Hank and Hope. There is a third relationship that fits just as well, but it's not something that easily be talked about without getting into spoilers. I personally love Ghost as a villain. She's not evil, per se. She's just frightened because she is going to die, and doesn't want to. Yes, she does some pretty bad things, but that's how far she's been pushed. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are the stars here, though. This movie's success relies on these two because if Ant-Man and the Wasp didn't work together, this movie wouldn't have worked. Fortunately, the two of them worked together really well, and their chemistry is pretty spot on. The movie's real main flaw is that sometimes, things can feel a little too bloated. It never really gets so far, that you lose track of what's going on, but it can happen just enough to the point where it is noticeable. All in all, I think I preferred this movie over the first just a tiny bit. The story may not feel as small scale, but it isn't too big. Everything else felt pushed a little further, and was really well handled.

8 / 10    

Frozen

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Frozen is kind of one those movies that is easy and "cool" to hate. I feel like I watched this movie with fresh eyes because I haven't seen it since it first came out in 2013. When you remove the hype, it's actually a good movie and still holds up. Let's start with the positives. As usual for a Disney prodution, the animation is phenomenal. The snow and ice actually looks realistic, almost as though the animators worked with real locations, and just added the animated characters in later. I love that the movie actually focuses on the relationship between two sisters because it isn't something Disney actually does very often. The voice cast is great. Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel really are the standouts. The two of them carry the heart of the movie perfectly. Bell does just as good with the emotional moments as she does with her comedic timing. For the most part, the music is good. One of things I love about this movie (and Disney movies of the 2010s in general) is the self-referential sense of humor. This movie takes shots at the cliche of love at first sight, something Disney made a name for themselves by making stories about for several years. Unfortunately, that leads into the flaws I have with this movie. The main flaw this movie suffers from is the villain reveal. The twist doesn't really have any clues to make it noticeable on a second viewing. It feels more like the character does a complete 180, and it's honestly kind of jarring. The biggest issues with the music in the movie are the first song, which is so forgettable, I can't even remember the song's name. Other than that, Let It Go is kind of annoyingly catchy, even if it's not necessarily a bad song. Overall, Frozen is a really good movie that harkens back to the feeling of many old school Disney flicks, even if I don't personally consider it one of my favorites.

8 / 10