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 

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   

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

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Wrong Turn 2: Dead End is a stand-alone direct-to-DVD sequel released in 2007. The movie follows a team of people trying to produce a reality tv show in the backwoods of West Virginia, but ultimately come across those mutant cannibals, who start picking them off. Like most slashers, this is a pretty simple plot. In this movie's case, I don't mind it. This movie was enjoyable enough. The characters aren't super deep, but they have just enough layers to them that I was kept invested. It's especially helpful when the first twenty minutes or so really had me worried. As the layers are actually pulled back a little bit, I actually started finding myself invested in several of them. The kills are a ton of fun. Because this movie was a direct-to-video release, it allowed them to go a little more all out with the gore. The acting isn't anything special, but the actors generally service the movie well enough. This movie doesn't really have a lot to it, and the final result for me is that I think that was all this movie really needed. I think I might prefer the first movie just a touch more, but I still thought this first sequel was a fun enough ride, and I do have to recommend the movie to slasher fans.

6 / 10  

You Should Have Left

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This movie is a whole lot of "what the fuck-ery." It centers on a man played by Kevin Bacon, his much younger wife played by Amanda Seyfried, and their daughter. The three of them move into a house together, and weird things start happening. I really don't know what to make of this movie. The scares feel very hit and miss. Sometimes, you get a lame fake-out jump scare. Sometimes you get something that's built on atmosphere. The three main actors actually work well in their respective roles, especially Kevin Bacon. The movie has a plot twist that simultaneously feels like it's unpredictable and obvious at the same time. It's a situation where I knew there was going to be a twist, and I had two guesses as to what it would be, if that makes sense. I think the first two thirds could have been handled quite a bit better. It feels like the filmmakers wanted the movie to have a sort of slow burn effect. Instead, a lot of it feels like it just kind of meanders and then the really crazy shit happens. This is the most effective part of the movie. That third act is where a lot of the "what the fuck-ery" I mentioned really comes into play. The first two thirds kind of offer glimpses into it. While I did enjoy that last half hour, it's not amazing. It doesn't really make up for the first two thirds of the movie. The first two thirds also don't quite feel like they mesh with that last half hour. While I didn't really hate the movie, I don't know that I particularly liked it either. This is a movie with good enough parts that doesn't quite measure up to a very effective whole.

5 / 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 

Apt Pupil

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Todd Bowden (played by Brad Renfro) discovers that his neighbor, Arthur Denker (played by Ian McKellen) is a Nazi war criminal. Todd has an obsession with the awful things the Nazis did during World War II. Todd blackmails Denker into telling him all of these horrible stories. So, Apt Pupil is a movie I had been interested in for a while. Now that I have finally seen it, I will say this. I absolutely loved this movie. It's based off a story by Stephen King, and I suppose I should start there. I have not read the story this movie is based off of. That said, this is a type of horror that I don't really see Stephen King explore all that often, meaning real world horror. The acting is excellent all-around, especially from the film's two leads. A lot of the tension comes from the cat and mouse game between these two. It also helps that you're never fully sure who is who in this scenario. Yes, Denker is a former Nazi war criminal who had been suppressing a lot of his more sadistic urges. However, Todd shows a lot of his own sadistic tendencies throughout the movie, and you feel each of them trying to attain a sense of control. In my opinion, this was a great little movie, even if critics and audiences didn't really respond to it.

9 / 10