Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

Season of the Witch Review

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Whenever you have a film taking place back in the olden days with witches, demons, werewolves and the like I have to assume that the film is not going to be very good. Sure that is a general plot and so you can definitely surpass that if need be but what are the odds realistically right? I doubt they are very good at least with the track record and this one is no exception. Sure there are some interesting moments and plot lines scattered around the place but ultimately the movie could not capitalize on any of them and so it failed in the end.

The film starts off by showing us how skilled Felson and Behmen are. They utterly decimate opposing armies in every fight that they are in. We see a montage of them in countless fights and it’s definitely impressive how ahead of the curve they are in the battles. Nobody can really touch them or even come close. Well one day Behmen ends up murdering an innocent civilian and he becomes disillusioned with the whole thing. He now realizes that he was merely a soldier of battle and quite the army. Felson follows him but unfortunately they are quickly captured by the same army again. Their mission is to bring a suspected witch back into custody with them to face justice at a “fair” trial. Behmen doesn’t much like this but orders are orders and trying to escape the whole army again would be tricky. The girl’s name is Anna and she seems incredibly suspicious and crafty but that doesn’t automatically make her a witch. Behmen will have to handle this carefully.

I did find part of the intro funny in how quickly the two leads were captured though. These were the kingdom’s best warriors and yet they could be brought back in so easily? Have to admit that they lost a lot of hype there. I give some credit for wanting to leave the army in the first place of course but I really didn’t think that they would be brought back so quickly. As for the mission itself, well in a way they know that this won’t be a fair trial but they aren’t the justice system so what can be done? I think just running off for a second time would have been just fine to be honest but it is what it is.

Anna is unashamedly suspicious the whole time to the point where it can definitely be real amusing. She keeps on using magic and messing with the heroes so it seems obvious that she is a witch but they can’t prove it yet. She even goes out of her way to save someone who nearly plummeted to his doom by using her super strength. Even the characters can be confused sometimes on if she is sympathetic or not. It’s just really hard to get a read on her and that’s definitely by design. For what it’s worth she was a good antagonist for this reason. She really kept the heroes sharp and always on edge. Her abilities were solid too and versatile. She had flight, mind manipulation, animal summoning/transformation, super strength, etc. Yeah that’s a lot for any human to deal with and by the end her scenes get even better in hindsight.

Unfortunately you can probably guess how the animal summoning ended up being a net negative here. We have to sit through an extended scene of the heroes destroying a bunch of dogs that she transformed into werewolves. Definitely a scene that didn’t need to be here and it really drags down the experience. At this point they should have taken her down since this also directly murdered some members of the team. You don’t exactly need a trial when the villain openly murders people in front of you right? Well, unfortunately Debelzaq the priest says you do need that so there isn’t much the heroes can do about this. Behmen ultimately stands down but the body count only continues to rise.

These are guys who don’t have a no killing code or anything like that so in light of this it just doesn’t make sense to spare her. Anna will only continue to cause more death and destruction in her wake the longer they keep her alive. It’s always hard to defeat the supernatural and this is just another example of that. Behmen and the others are completely outmatched and only plot armor is enough to help them win. It’s why I say films always need to be careful not to make their villains end up being too powerful or there’s just no way to buy into the hero ever winning. When you create an unwinnable situation that’s exactly what happens.

Ultimately I did like Behmen as a character though. He wanted to do the right thing and protect everyone. His motivations were always good and he let his actions do the talking for him like when he left the army early on. He won’t be a part of anything that is unjust and has the strongest moral center of the group. His partner Felson is solid as well but that guy’s more relaxed and will just do whatever he feels like doing. He follows Behmen since they’re friends but it’s less about the morality of it and more because that’s just what he wants to do.

The film actually has a fairly large cast of characters accompanying the main two on the trip but you will forget most of them immediately because they don’t do anything. You’ve got a guy with a tragic past, the priest who is always ready to exorcise, the comic relief maps guy, etc. They’re all just here for the body count and you know it. There is never even an attempt to start liking these guys or making them a part of the main cast. It’s just not happening and so the film treats their characters rather half heartedly.

You’ve got your share of jump scares here but the film is more action than horror. The film just likes using some strong imagery so that you can see how threatening the villains are. We get lots of zoom ins on rather deformed faces on the witch side and while the film isn’t super violent, it does have some moments here and there. The imagery can be more gross than violent at times although I suppose it depends on the scene.

I think this film could have really shined by focusing on the main two guys as they look for a battle that is worth fighting. They stop just blindly listening to orders and look for a chance to really make a difference. Having them work for the army again was a really odd move and not the one I would have chosen. From there they are back to following orders even when they have doubts and that’s what doesn’t work as well about this film. It sort of goes against their whole character choice in the beginning to do that.

Overall, I liked one of the twists at the end of the film but this one didn’t live up to its full potential. After a while it felt like this film was even trying to be the next Exorcist although it still beats those easily. Witches can make for decent villains when you focus more on their magic and the cool fantasy battles we can have but outside of that they aren’t super interesting. So when you just have Anna locked up in the cage for most of the film it takes some of the bite out of the experience. A sequel could maybe do better but lets shift the time-frame to modern day. Trust me that setting works way better.

Overall 2/10

The Gift Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version could be more negative

It’s time for one of those films about watching out for the next door neighbor. You never know who you’re going to be living next to when moving for the first time and so you always hope it’s a nice happy family. Sometimes that’s not the case though. Personally it’s rare that I really talk to or know my neighbors much at all but of course it’s a bit different in an apartment vs a house. The movie’s got an okay premise I suppose but ultimately this one’s definitely not much of a winner.

So the movie starts off with Simon and his wife Robyn getting a house and they’re looking forward to life going perfectly. Unfortunately that doesn’t quite happen as a man called Gordo appears and he claims to be Simon’s old classmate from school way back in the day. Simon doesn’t remember him at first but does afterwards and is puzzled because they weren’t friends. In the present Gordo keeps on bringing gifts and doing all kinds of favors for the main two but it quickly gets into weird territory. Simon quickly shuts this down as he’s as rude to Gordo as possible but now things have taken a turn from weird into dangerous when their pet dog goes missing. Is Gordo actually here to murder them?

Now this film is one of those titles where most of the characters are super unlikable. The only decent one here is Robyn and she’s going through a tough time with this since Simon keeps blowing up at her about Gordo now. He seems to be getting jealous quickly of the guy and is also hiding some secrets from his past. Robyn really wants him to be straight with her but when that’s not a possibility she can no longer trust him. Then Gordo can’t be trusted either because the guy is overstepping his bounds like breaking into the house while the main characters are away. No excuse is good enough for that to be warranted.

While Robyn means well I do think that she’s rather oblivious at times though. For example letting Gordo into the house while Simon isn’t there was not a great idea. Particularly since she barely knew him at all. I know you can’t be too paranoid when living out in the country since at that point you couldn’t even open up the door but she really seemed to be defenseless the whole time. At least have a can of pepper spray in your pocket. Even going for those long daily runs in the middle of nowhere every morning seemed a bit iffy. That said, at least she was polite the whole time.

Then you have Simon who immediately starts badmouthing Gordo behind his back and calling the guy names. This is before Gordo even started going too far. It’s like Simon was just being mean from the jump. Now this makes sense the more the film goes on as we see that he’s just not a good guy but it’s a good way not to root for him right away. Simon’s verbal attacks are never justified and even to the end you never feel like he has really changed as a person. He puts himself first above all else and really doesn’t give Robyn any thoughts during the climax. It’s all about him and well the guy is just a bully. There’s not much more that needs to be said than that and the guy is basically an antagonist by the end of the film.

Of course with all this said….Gordo is still a big villain here. No matter how mean to him Simon was, the guy is still terrorizing Robyn as well and kidnapping the dog was uncalled for. Fortunately nothing happened to the dog since that would have really torn the film apart but this guy loses his sympathy points real quick. I also get the feeling that he would have been messing with the main characters even if Simon did treat him well from the start. The guy was just acting very odd in a very intentional way. I believe he would have forced the confrontation at some point or another. At most Simon just sped it up but this guy was certainly looney.

We eventually learn why Gordo has this grudge against Simon and it definitely makes Simon and another character look really awful. You would just expect better and the film certainly wanted to go all out with having the gritty backstory. Fortunately there is a twist on the twist which is still awful but at least not as grim. The whole movie is really a race to the bottom between characters.

Now there is something that happens at the very end of the film which had the potential to drop this film down to a 0. Fortunately I don’t believe the “event” actually happened. To get into it too much would delve into spoilers but there are two main arguments I would say are on my side as to why this didn’t happen. The first is that this is a narrative callback to what happened in Gordo’s past. Just as something didn’t actually happen in his backstory, I would say that it didn’t in the present. It just serves as the ultimate revenge to have Simon think that this happened.

The other data point that supports me here is his last line to Robyn about how good things happen to good people. To me the only way he would use this line is to let her and the viewer know that this didn’t happen. At the end of the day his grudge was with Simon not her. He also got to hear her defending him from when he bugged the room. During the film at most he would just use her as ammo against Simon and this would be a fairly big jump from that. It’s still annoying that they didn’t definitively confirm my theory to be correct since it doesn’t take anything away from the revenge and if anything helps the movie. Keeping it even slightly ambiguous was just annoying.

Even with that the film wasn’t going to be very good though. The characters are just so unlikable between Simon and Gordo that it hurts a whole lot. Their dialogue is always pretty bad and in general the writing wasn’t very good here. At least the ending offers a tiny glimmer of hope for Robyn but even then it’s not the super happy ending you were waiting for. We got a few jump scares here and there but it’s not like this film is particularly scary either. The cops excuse for not going after Gordo felt rather weak though since it seems like it was really easy to find the guy.

Overall, The Gift just isn’t a very pleasant movie at the end of the day. Bad things keep happening to the characters and while Simon deserves it, you just feel bad for Robyn. At least she did take a stand by the end and I appreciate that. I also appreciate that the film didn’t do anything bad to the dog since that would have really been awful. You’re still just not going to have a very good time with this film. It delivers on having a ton of twists but for the evil neighbor angle it’s probably more effective to actually have the main characters be likable rather than doubling down and having both sides be antagonistic.

Overall 3/10

Young Sherlock Holmes Review

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This film was interesting because I just don’t remember ever hearing about it, but clearly it must have been a fairly big deal back in the day. It’s Sherlock Holmes after all! If that isn’t enough to make this a really big household name then I don’t know what would be. The movie is part mystery to an extent but to be honest it’s more of a thriller all the way. It works out well though and while I could see some Holmes fans being a little disappointed, this was before he was a true detective so I’d say it works out fine. He gets to have one explosive adventure before things turn realistic again.

The movie introduces us to a younger Sherlock Holmes who is already widely known for his genius level intellect. The guy isn’t afraid to show it off either and is 100% confident in his abilities. Holmes has no need to be humble when he’s the best although he does tend to lose in fencing to professor Rathe. It’s the only thing in which he isn’t the best. Well, the quiet days are over when a mysterious group begins murdering people using powerful hallucinations. It’s as if the Scarecrow is around. Basically this dart that they hit people with makes them see their worst fears before dying. The body count is slowly starting to rise and when one of Holmes’ favorite teachers is bumped off it is time for him to act. Unfortunately he will have to do it while on the run since he has been kicked out of school. Can he pull this off or is it game over?

One thing you’ll notice right away is that the film is having a blast showing off all of its special effects. You have CGI dragons running around and lots of moving objects as part of the hallucinations. There is even a giant throne room like something out of Harry Potter for the villains’ hideout. It’s all very fantastical and so again it doesn’t feel like Sherlock Holmes but the visuals are still really fun to look at. I do feel like some of the deaths from the hallucinations were a bit convenient though like one guy stabbing himself and another jumping out the window. To an extent you have to know that the hallucinations aren’t real so you want to break through them but you have to know that certain actions will still hurt you in the real world.

The most tragic part of the film is definitely that the heroes are rather late to make a difference. For example, the villains have this whole human sacrifice thing going on and so they’ve been murdering people for a while. The heroes make it in time to see a woman get burned alive and they don’t end up saving her which was unfortunate. They only manage to save the main heroine and it’s just a rough way to go. It makes the police detective Lestrade look even worse because Holmes keeps trying to get the guy to help but he couldn’t care less. Usually he isn’t very helpful in these things but he may as well have been a complete villain in this case. He actively did his best to prevent Holmes and the others from helping out. If he wasn’t an established character in the mythos I would have assumed he was in on the take the whole time. That’s how absolutely corrupt the guy was.

At least you can always count on Holmes to be a really solid character. He did well analytically and this was also before he would get more emotionless so you actually get to see him get mad and put up a real fight. This version of Sherlock Holmes may lag behind the experienced one but the film does a good job of making him stand out and showing how he has changed over the years. Watson also gets to help out a bit here. Ultimately not a ton but his contributions are never forgotten and so he’s always an easy character to root for.

I wasn’t as impressed with the quirky Rupert. I felt like he was only here to help out with one particular invention for near the end but otherwise he just felt a bit out of place. At least professor Rathe was an expert fighter and had a lot of lore behind him. I rather enjoyed Rathe, now here was a character who contributed a lot to the plot and was also very interesting. He could actually hold his own against Holmes which is something that almost no other character could pull off.

Then there is Elizabeth who gets a decent sized role as the main heroine. She helps Holmes out when he’s in a pinch and can always be counted on to support him. Ultimately she does about as much as she possibly can during the course of the film. Holmes had a lot of enemies here so it was always good to have some allies. Watson was helpful too in his own way. Just like in the other films he always comes through when it counts even if he can’t follow Holmes on an intellectual level. He can pull off the physical feats that help make a big difference here.

I enjoyed the action a lot here and so this worked well as a prequel. In a lot of ways this felt like a Harry Potter film too but going at a lightning fast pace. I would have enjoyed staying at the school a little longer and you could have turned this into a whole movie series. The instant Holmes left the school though, it felt like the only logical step would be to pick up with him being an experienced expert. After all, that would be his big reunion with Watson and that would tie into the main novels. Feels like they left a lot of potential stories on the chopping block here by switching things up like that.

Overall, Young Sherlock Holmes is a pretty good movie. It’s an action film which pretty much plays things by the book so I wouldn’t expect anything crazy to happen here. The special effects go all in though and your attention will be captured the whole way through. There is a mystery here but for the most part that never really seems to be the focus. The answers just sort of appear as Holmes is fighting his way through all of the villains and that works out well enough as this is more of a thriller but it’s why I’d say you shouldn’t go into this one expecting a full blown mystery. It’s just not that kind of film so enjoy the action scenes and quality dialogue instead.

Overall 7/10

Paparazzi Review

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The Paparazzi is always a team you hear about a lot on the news for usually controversial reasons. They have to get the news and will use any means to do it. So why not make a thriller film about them right? Well this one plays out in a fairly interesting way and makes them as unlikable as possible. So when the main character decides to become a vigilante you have to decide what team you’re on. Is it time to put these guys away or should the main character flee the city?

The movie starts off with Bo finally becoming an A list celebrity so of course he’s exciting. His movies are doing well and now his family can really enjoy a pleasant life. Unfortunately the Paparazzi decide to get involved. Led by Rex they start invading Bo’s personal life and intentionally try to push him over the edge by taking pictures of his young son. Bo takes a swing at the guy but it’s recorded so the whole thing becomes a big incident. Rex decides to keep on going and next he rams into Bo’s car and sends both his wife and kid into the hospital. Maybe it’s time for Bo to start his counter attack.

Now I would say that Bo was holding back for quite a long while here. It’s not like he just jumped into the action right away. He did his best to stop this through legal means and then with threats but ultimately Rex just kept on escalating more and more. After his family was injured (Bo’s son even falling into a coma) Bo went to the cops but they said there was nothing they could do without evidence. Detective Burton was looking into this but no results were coming. Then Rex and friends broke into his home and attacked Bo’s wife which was really the last straw.

By this point Rex and friends were just going to keep on causing more damage so Bo had to add a personal touch. Now even then the first time it wasn’t anything premeditated. One of Rex’s buddies was messing with him but then later on drives too quickly and nearly falls off the mountain. So the villain is hanging on for dear life and Bo goes over to help him out. Just as Bo is about to push him back up to safety, the guy explains that he’s really going to start going after Bo even more intensely now and will sue him/wreck his life. So…Bo decides not to help him out and the guy falls. This villain was really not smart. Why would you antagonize the only guy who can possibly save you at this point? At least start messing with him afterwards instead.

Regardless this was where Bo really stepped into vigilante mode as he took the guy out. The villains are so comically evil though that you really don’t feel bad for them. Put it this way, Bo tried every possible method of de-escalation first and only when that didn’t work did he take the next steps. Being a vigilante always needs to be the last straw only to be used in a situation where there are no legal means left available to help you. Bo was completely out of those and since these guys were not about to stop, it was time to put them in their place.

So the whole climax ends up being very satisfying here and Bo is a fun character to root for. He is the definition of a nice guy who can only be pushed so far before he ends up having to react. The film also manages a bit of a Death Note kind of vibe here with him and Burton having a lot of veiled conversations. Burton seems to suspect a lot about Bo’s involvement here but has no proof while Bo is new to the game and plays dumb, but sometimes a little too dumb. They both basically end up at an impasse for a while there but it was very engaging to watch.

Burton isn’t a great detective though. Near the end of the film he finally realizes that he should check the security cameras around the crash to find evidence. Shouldn’t that have been the very first thing that he tried? Yeah this guy wasn’t very helpful and without Bo doing his thing I feel like Rex and the gang would have outsmarted him easily. Maybe they would have just dug up some blackmail or something. Meanwhile Rex is barely a character as he’s just a super antagonist here to make Bo’s life miserable. He takes the whole situation extremely personal so he just won’t back off. His crew is also thrilled to be doing this so there wasn’t any sympathetic moments to be had here.

What makes this film succeed is that it feels like a Batman movie but if an ordinary joe had to try and solve the case. Bo has no fancy gadgets or anything like that and he doesn’t have any connections. He has to pull this off on his own while not letting anyone get suspicious. It’s not easy in any setting but he pulls this off anyway and it makes for a fun ride. The first half can drag a bit as you wait for him to start making his move but once he does then everything really turns up.

Additionally I really liked the ending of the film. It’s one of those endings that you can take in a very light hearted way or a threatening way. It’s clear that nobody will be messing with Bo anymore if they know what is good for them but was he actively making a threat at the end or was he just having a little fun? It’s likely a mix but I would say the implied threat is absolutely there. He’ll take everything in stride as he always does but if anyone makes a wrong move then that is curtains.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. You could easily figure this to be a comic book origin movie with how it plays out. The movie has a lot of tense scenes, light hearted moments, and most importantly a good script. The verbal battles between the characters are solid and the final plan is executed very well. There are a lot of clues to pick up on and nothing feels like it was thrown in at the last moment. I’d definitely be up for a sequel to this movie someday and in the meantime I’d recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

M3gan Review

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This is a film that got a whole lot of hype before it came out. The marketing for this film was impressive because it was on the map instantly and the film did have an interesting premise so you figured it could probably do well. Ultimately the film does fumble a bit which keeps it from being a solid movie in the end but I still think the premise is good and I’d be interested in seeing what a sequel does. There is definitely a lot of room for more adventures with the evil doll.

The movie starts off Cady’s parents both being taken down for the count in a car crash so she is sent to live with her aunt Gemma. Gemma is a genius inventor trying to build the world’s first life sized robotic doll and has no time for helping a kid grow up. So she retools the robot: M3gan to be Cady’s friend and it goes so well that she convinces her boss to let her go live with it. They will have a big presentation and everything to make them the number 1 rated toy company of all time. Is this toy actually a good thing though or has Gemma just built something that could threaten all life on the planet?

This is the kind of movie where you always wonder if M3gan will just be evil from the jump or if she’ll meet enough bullies to put her on the dark side. Well, ultimately I would say this is one of those cases where she was just twisted from the start. Now I think if Gemma had been nicer to M3gan and treated her like a real person then this could have been avoided but that’s a lot of “could have” “would have” etc and at the end of the day we can only blame M3gan’s actions on M3gan herself. She could have taken the high road and the instant she cracked that was on her.

Basically her main directive is to protect Cady at all times and she does well in this function. Any threats are promptly eliminated and without mercy. The problem is that she doesn’t care because from her programming she just needs Cady to be safe. Everything else plays second fiddle to that goal and so she is following the programming, it just really wasn’t well thought through. That’s the main problem here. Gemma rushed this too much and ends up paying the price for it. You need safety measures in anything like this and it’s also why this project will never work for kids. Having full sized robots/dolls will never be feasible for a lot of obvious reasons. There is no way to guarantee that the robot will remain safe and wholesome.

M3gan does have super strength as a result of being robotic though and it’s nice to see her flexing on the cast. She gets a decent body count by the end. It’s not big like a slasher film or anything but you can generally tell when she is about to bump someone off. One character I actually felt bad for here was Gemma’s boss. Yes, the film portrays him as an antagonist but I didn’t agree with that. He has a ton of very legitimate reasons to be upset with her. First off, she is using company funds to build M3gan against his explicit orders. So it’s not like she didn’t know. He told her to stop wasting money on this project and she disobeyed his direct orders.

Furthermore, she ended up locking him out of her lab. She had no real respect for the boss and kept on ruining his day. So when M3gan corners the guy you feel bad for him because he really tried his best to stop the robot apocalypse from happening. He even had the right reaction which was to start running as soon as he saw her. Unfortunately it was just too late for him. There’s also another guy who wants to steal the designs for M3gan but that plot never really goes anywhere. He was taken out pretty quickly anyway and at first I thought that was going to be how the sequel happens because he rebuilds her but based on how the film ends this isn’t how things are going to play out.

There is a bit of a cliffhanger here. It’s not trying all that hard as far as horror endings go but it’s fun enough. Again, I do think there is a lot of potential with a sequel. You could maybe even switch up the characters a bit but either way works. Right now Cady wasn’t a great character but with a time skip she will be old enough to really contribute to the plot so that could help. She does have a good idea at the end of the film and does some damage though so I’ll give her some credit there. Additionally she is depressed for a while in the film because of her parents dying so you have to cut her some slack there.

I didn’t particularly like Gemma though. I know part of that is from her character arc of realizing that she wasn’t being a good guardian and stepping up but it takes a while to get to that point and in the meantime you’re shaking your head. She didn’t handle any of the situations with the boss very well and additionally I would say that she didn’t handle the M3gan situation well either. Shutting her off mid dialogue was a really bad move because it further reinforces that M3gan isn’t a part of the family. Likewise with shutting her off randomly. All of these things only serve to speed up M3gan’s corruption and demise. It probably would have happened at some point anyway but Gemma really could have done better all throughout.

The visuals for the movie are definitely impressive. M3gan looks very lifelike and seeing her pull off complicated dance moves while murdering everyone is great. She really stands out as a new horror icon that should withstand the test of time. In general we also don’t get a ton of horror films taking place around a high tech building and everything so it was cool to see her there in the real world and not just in abandoned forests and such.

The film isn’t even all that violent for a horror film. You get the occasional violent moment like the boss’s death but for the most part it’s fairly restrained. The only thing that really hurts the film is that it decided to get the dog involved. The instant the mean neighbor showed up with her dog I knew it was over. Both the dog and the neighbor would likely die in gruesome ways and that would be it. At least the dog is off screen but the film still included the death and doing that in general was a really bad idea. This is definitely not the way to increase the stakes and really shot the film in the foot. It’s still better than most horror films but this could have been a good movie and they blew it in the end.

Overall, M3gan is a unique horror film and one that should stay well known but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. I’d say that the movie left a lot on the table of the possibilities of an evil guard doll. In a way they should have not had the main characters find out yet because that would have set the sequel up really well. Do a slow burn as she gets more and more demented to the point where she becomes a menace to be stopped. I think that would have been a good premise for a ton of stories but there is no way to go back after that. That’s why I think having her appear with a new family in the next film makes the most sense but of course everyone loves a good revenge story so that could work too. We’ll see how it goes.

Overall 4/10

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Review

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a movie that already sounds pretty promising from the jump but the execution is even better. It definitely surpassed my expectations and made for a great film all the way around. The cast is really solid and the film manages to tackle a whole lot about how everyone starts to go crazy without being too extreme about it. If you ask me the film absolutely nailed the tone and atmosphere that you would expect from this kind of title.

The movie starts off with Harriman showing around a congressman and Dr. Susan the submarine that he and his team work in. The congressman throws a lot of snide remarks the whole time but admiral Harriman parries and counters them all with ease. Eventually they get that guy to leave and continue with their mission. Unfortunately it has to be aborted when ice chunks start falling everywhere and the heroes return to the surface to find out that the sky is on fire. Harriman meets with the government and it seems that the world is about to end. There are only two plans to stop this. One is to travel over a week’s journey to a specific point on the planet where they can fire a missile off to release the heat and save the planet. The opposition believes this is what would doom the planet and instead we need to wait it out as this is just a temporary planet condition. The problem is that there is no way to test both theories. You either fire off the missile at the precise time where everything is aligned or you don’t. Many of the world’s foremost scientist recommend not firing the missile while Harriman’s friend the ultimate genius says to do it. Harriman trusts him and so they go forward with the mission. As the world melts around them, members of the crew wonder if they are on the right side.

One of the most impressive things about the movie is that it is able to balance both sides of the argument without making one side look crazy or suddenly turn comically evil. In a lesser move you can bet that Harriman would have been portrayed as being completely insane. They would not have been able to resist the temptation to do this, trust me on that one. Instead in this film he makes a lot of unpopular decisions and you have to wonder if he is going off the deep end but the film keeps it ambiguous. Much like the members of the crew on the ship you have to decide if you are on his side or not.

For the record I am definitely on his side to fire the rocket. Deciding to just sit back and wait for the inevitable is never a good idea. Why would this fire eclipse suddenly stop? Sure some experts say it would but I’d rather take my chances for better or worse than to just give up. As for Harriman’s controversial calls that the team took offense with, lets break them all down. The first was to dive while people were still on deck trying to get onto the ship. This one’s obvious, he had to dive because otherwise they would have been infiltrated and the mission would have been stopped right then and there.

Yes, it was a ruthless call but there are times where you have to stand in the driver’s seat and make that call or else all is lost. Then you have him turning off the comms so people on the ship couldn’t hear about what was going on around the world. This one’s definitely a bit trickier and I would say he should have kept it on. Sure the news was disheartening but shutting it off would just make people more paranoid. You shouldn’t try to control the news that the crew is hearing. Then later on he strikes a member of the crew and of course there is no defending that one. No matter how annoying the crew member was being you should never resort to violence like that.

So Harriman was right on some accounts and wrong on others. He certainly wasn’t perfect and the film wasn’t trying to portray him as such. So it works out well and considering the stress on everyone at the moment, it’s not as if he was immune to it. It makes sense that he would also be feeling its effects and having a rough time of it. Meanwhile Captain Lee was one of the main people opposing Harriman. I give him credit for doing it to Harriman’s face unlike other members who were always scheming in the background. They had a lot of differences of opinion but I have to say that I was rarely on Lee’s side at all here.

They have another debate over splitting the crew and considering what had been going on at the time with a sabotage attempt and a near murder it makes sense to try and filter those people out. It may be breaking standard procedure but there was nothing standard about this situation. That’s why for me it just made a lot of sense. Lee also got a little too emotional at times which is why I don’t think he’s quite ready for the admiral role yet. He needs to take more time to calm down and look at things logically.

Then there is Miguel who is one of those religious fanatics who seems more interested in talking a lot than actually trying to help out. He has his moments sure but his speech to the troops about just giving up wasn’t particularly inspiring. There’s a big difference between feeling safe in your faith since death isn’t the end and just letting it swallow you whole. He really was spreading a lot of defeatism within the camp so you can see why Lee was mad at the guy.

The longer the film went on, the more everyone started to crack but it never got to a Lord of the Flies level where everyone just turned into mass murderers. Everyone here mostly stayed within reason. You had some blows thrown, insults hurled, etc. At the end of the day these were all still grownups who could reason and think for themselves. That’s exactly what you wanted to see here. The writing is also excellent as I mentioned earlier. The script is on point with every character making well reasoned arguments too. The story keeps you engaged and they really packed a whole lot into the run time here. The movie felt long but in a good way as it kept adding in new elements and expanding the story so you felt like they got every drop out of this premise. Nothing was held back.

Overall, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a great movie. It’s really a timeless flick that has a lot of replay value. I would highly recommend checking it out. It’s a very mature movie with a lot of characters trying to handle their disagreements like civilized people while also keeping in a good amount of humor and fun as needed. There are more than a few moments that will make you smile here and they never break the tension of what’s going on above ground. We even get some action scenes here with a force that disagrees with the main characters. Yes this is a movie that really hit all the right buttons and there’s even a mystery plot that factors into the equation later on so that’s another fun plot to sink your teeth into.

Overall 8/10

Missing Review

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The first film in the kidnapping series was pretty good so the question was definitely if this sequel would also be solid or would it just sort of do the same things all over again? Well it should feel rather similar in a lot of ways but the actual mystery is very different. I also think the approach of only having the characters appear through phone cameras and computer cams is such a good idea that you could do a lot of these without it getting old.

The movie starts with showing us June’s past and how her father died a while back. Grace has done her best to raise June but is now looking to rebound with another guy named Kevin and so the two of them are going on a trip for a while. June will stay at home with the neighbor as a caretaker. June figures she’ll just throw a huge party in protest but when she gets to the airport to await her mom’s return, Grace never appears. June starts to dig deeper into this and it would appear that her mother may have been kidnapped. The problem is that this took place in a different country and June can’t speak Spanish. Additionally her funds are low and it’s hard to dig up any leads. How can she find her mom?

As this is a mystery film the plot will continue to adapt and evolve as June finds out more pieces to the puzzle. The less you know about the actual story, the more you will enjoy the experience. In that way mystery films do tend to have less replay value than other genres since the main hook is finding out what’s going on. In a rewatch you will of course know all of this right from the jump. The execution is good enough where it’ll be a pretty good watch either way though. The movie does a good job of slowly increasing the tension with each scene and the more June finds out, the deeper the mystery goes. There are a lot of red herrings and misdirects along the way but none that leave you shaking your head. Everything here makes sense.

Sure you can probably find some little things that you can drill into or nitpicks here and there but on the whole it all makes sense. The only scene that did stretch things a bit involved opening the door in a very shady circumstance. So to keep this very vague, if someone knocks on the door and asks you to let him in….the first thing you should do is not let him in and then call the cops. If you want to play it safe you can say that you’re coming to the door or something to stall for time and make it sound like you will open while you call the cops. All very valid strategies here but under no circumstances do you open the door. Yes, that includes if it’s a friend you recognize or a distant family member.

With very few exceptions should you open that door and considering all of the circumstances here I thought it was crazy that the door was opened. It’s the only part where it felt like the film got a little sloppy and should have come up with another scenario. It does lead us to a rather intense climax though. In the climax my only note is what I say for all action films. If you finally get the upper hand on your attacker and knock him down, you really got to finish him off. Yeah you may have some mixed feelings about this but keep in mind that if you’re in a life or death situation, turning your back to an opponent who is only stunned will lead to disaster every time. I’m not saying you have to go lethal here but at least put the opponent in a position where he can’t get up. Break a leg or something but a quick extra blow to the head is probably easier and quicker since you’re not going to be in the best state to calculate your next move. Every time a hero knocks the villain down and turns to run instead I just have to shake my head.

Meanwhile June is a solid main character here. She definitely doesn’t start off as being particularly likable so her character arc is about being more grateful and voicing her concerns instead of bottling everything up. As a result she is good by the end but for the first chunk of the film you just feel bad for Grace the whole time. Well you still feel bad for her by the end too but you aren’t blaming it on June by then. Grace is a good character as well but she definitely kept too many things to herself. Depending on what she had told June earlier she could have avoided large parts of the film.

We could have the whole rebound conversation here as well but I’m going to go for a different tact here instead. Now, I still say the rebound’s not a good idea and going off on a trip and leaving your daughter behind is even more sketchy. No, what I’m going to focus on here is online dating. Yeahhhhhhhh that’s never a good idea. I’m just going to come out strong here and say that you should never even try online dating. It may be a bit jaded of me but as it is you can barely really know someone in real life. Trying to know someone online just adds a whole other layer to it. You have absolutely no idea what the person on the other side is even like.

There’s also already the idea that if someone has resorted to online dating then dating in person hasn’t been working out so well so you’re probably dealing with some issues here. You just can’t believe anything you hear over the computer and when she vanishes Kevin would be my first suspect too. Sure he has an emotional sob story he explains over the computer and he’s been through a tough time but what would make me believe any of it? I’m telling you I’m just too jaded for online dating and a film like this one sort of just underscores the point even more. Whether he ends up being the villain or not, you just think about what could have been.

Actually that does remind me of one more scene that was a bit plot convenient. It involves a shootout that seems to escalate a little too quickly. Especially with the stakes involves you figure that this just wouldn’t happen. It still can and does happen at times in real life so it’s not a big thing, just a small thought. It felt a little convenient and I would have bought into the person tripping a little more readily.

The film is fairly serious the whole time so the brief bouts of humor from Javier and Veena are nice little icebreakers here. Javier is someone June hires to help her find some clues and he really does a good job. The guy is trying really hard and you like his determination because he clearly doesn’t have a ton of money and is trying to earn a little extra on the side. He’s got an old fashioned bike while everyone has a moped so he’s definitely at a disadvantage but doesn’t give up. Then you have June’s friend Veena who is good for moral support. She can maybe be a bit oblivious to context clues like treating the case as if it was a TV episode though.

Overall, Missing is a very solid movie. The mystery will definitely have you engaged and invested from start to finish. There are a lot of twists and turns here and I can safely say that I didn’t guess the whole mystery. It’s a fairly small cast so statistically you have a decent chance of picking out who the villain is but picking it out through logic as opposed to by chance will likely be difficult. The film does give you a fair amount of clues though so the whole thing feels fair. My main gripe with mystery films can be when they just make it up and so this film dodges that completely. You’ll end up being satisfied with the reveal as well as the conclusion. Missing is really a complete package all the way around. I’ll definitely be up for more films in this style. I feel like the next logical step is to have the main character be kidnapped this time but she has her phone or laptop with her and so she can communicate but her gps has been deactivated somehow. So she has to try and find someone to help her but of course it’s tough when you don’t know where you are. Who knows, maybe the studio will consider this idea!

Overall 7/10

The Luck of the Irish Review

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It’s time for a fairly unique movie. See, I wouldn’t call this a comedy film but I wouldn’t call it particularly dramatic. Slice of life doesn’t really feel quite right here either. Apparently this should be called a comedy film but it’s not that funny…which sounds like a big shot against the film. Still, the writing was good and the pacing is on point, it just felt like the movie needed something to give it an extra boost. Some kind of plot element or big event that would push things forward a little more so in the end there aren’t really any ways in which the movie stands out so it won’t survive the test of time.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Stephen who is a reporter. The guy is pretty good at what he does but at the same time he doesn’t feel too fulfilled. His fiancé is rich and her father owns the company so he has a stable environment but in a way it’s like he hasn’t earned the job. Additionally there is a bit of a power dynamic here that he can’t ignore. One day he heads to Ireland on a business trip and meets a nice lady named Nora. He also wrestles a leprechaun to the ground. His life is a little more exciting now and once he goes home, both of them mysteriously appear there. The tricky thing is that he already has a fiancé so can he really get together with Nora?

The weakest part of the film in many respects is the main character. Stephen spends way too long being rather indecisive and not choosing whether he wants to be with Nora or Frances. He lets this decision hang in the air for a very long time and so he comes across as decisive. I also thought he could be rather rude at times like when he attacked Horace the leprechaun. Seriously he does this twice and you’d think that he would be nicer about the whole thing. Stephen comes across as greedy and not all that heroic. So you’re not really rooting for him and it feels like his problems are only rather big because of the mistakes he made. If he could just handle things a little better then he wouldn’t be in this predicament.

Meanwhile Nora is nice enough even if she should probably also be putting some distance from Stephen. She did sort of get the best of him by forcing him to eat a ton of food while she just watched though. Now that is what I’d call a true power play! The food looked okay although with stews I find them risky because of course it all depends on what is in them. Mix in the wrong vegetables or other items and we’re going to have a problem. Nora is kind throughout the movie though so you’re hoping that things go well for her.

Meanwhile Horace is a good character but at times he can be a bit oblivious. He also tends to get in trouble like drinking too much and not really knowing how to be a proper assistant. Sometimes he becomes a bother on purpose to mess with the fiancé Frances though. At the end of the day it’s always good to have a magical being on your side and he helps Stephen out quite a bit even if the lead doesn’t know it. You feel like the whole thing is rather unfair to Frances though. Of course she is portrayed as more of an antagonist here but the whole thing really isn’t even her fault. We never see her be all that rude or mean at all.

In fact she is trying to help Stephen’s career every step of the way and he doesn’t seem all that grateful. If he didn’t want to work for her father then he could have just chosen another career or handled things differently. So again I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for the guy. Also her father David seemed fairly decent. I mean he was a bit on the corrupt side and the kind of guy who would ask you to write any kind of paper for him but again Stephen could just leave. David never used his position as leverage against him.

Where the film succeeds is in being a very peaceful film with good vibes. It’s the kind of title you can absolutely have a good time with as you just watch the characters walk around. The scenery in Iceland is fun and I do appreciate the accents. While there is always something going on, since there aren’t too many big dramatic events happening, it still keeps that calm atmosphere. It doesn’t feel dragged out at any point either so even if it seems like the plot is very light, it’s not played out.

Again I would say that it could have used a little extra something to push it over the top but I would still call it a good film either way. It’s definitely not a bad film either way and I would actually recommend it if you are looking for something fun. Sometimes you just want a calming experience and if the main character was better then I would have given it another star too. It works in spite of him and not because of him.

Overall, The Luck of the Irish is a film you can have a good time with. Nothing much happens but I dare say that’s the intent as this is a very laidback film and thrives in that kind of atmosphere. Stephen is lucky that this isn’t one of those Leprechauns who is out for blood though. Attacking one of them in the way that the lead did would usually get you into trouble, especially when you are after his gold. Hopefully Stephen has mellowed out and won’t be trying any more stunts like this going forward. You like to think that he will be doing things the right way going forward.

Overall 6/10

The Mark of Zorro Review

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Zorro is one of those characters who was really huge back in the day. His popularity has waned since then but it’s fair to say that most people probably still know who he is. The reputation of this masked vigilante still precedes itself after all. This is probably the best cinematic portrayal of the character because it really nails the dual identity of the hero. It has a lot of action and a good amount of fun with it as well. It’s a well balanced movie that I could recommend to anyone at any time which is definitely the sign of being a quality picture.

The movie starts off with Diego wowing the world again with his impressive fencing abilities. The guy is second to none but one day he is called home only to find out that his father is no longer the ruler of the country. Instead a guy named Luis has taken control and the place has fallen into ruins. His family’s name has also been tarnished. Diego decides to don a mask and call himself “Zorro” as he goes through the city helping the impoverished. It’s not an easy task but somebody has to do it! To keep anyone from guessing his true identity Diego acts incredibly incompetent in battle and as someone with a very pure soul who doesn’t know much about fighting. Still, Esteban the top commander of Luis’ forces is determined to take down Zorro so Diego has to keep his wits about him. Can he pull off this ultimate deception?

It’s very much a Clark Kent/Superman kind of dynamic here. I like how over the top Diego is in not being able to do much of anything. The guy has a great time acting super spoiled and I’d say he does a great job of it. You can’t help but be impressed at how he handles his appearance and mannerisms. It’s a lot of little tings that all combine to make the ultimate disguise. Diego is certainly not someone to be trifled with when he can become a different person so easily.

At first I did think he was a bit quick to anger when he first arrived though. Everyone was terrified of even hearing his father’s name so then Diego starts threatening them and you figure he is sort of proving their point there. Maybe they were right to be afraid of the family right? Diego changes once he sees the true culprit here so perhaps he just thought these guys were being rude but I was a little surprised at his first impression. From this point on there are no setbacks though and he goes on to become the legendary hero everyone loves.

He’s very much like Batman here with how he strikes fear into all of the villains and leaves behind marks of his trademark Z so that people know he was around. He’s also quite the excellent fighter which makes him a true threat. I did appreciate that the villain Esteban was an actual fighter as well though. It made for a really good back and forth fight which was exactly what I was looking for here. Not for Zorro to just steamroll everyone but for him to get a legitimate battle where he would have to pull out all the stops in order to win. The climax is fairly long with both fighters giving it their all.

Esteban in general was a great villain because he was crafty aside from being skilled. It was no fluke that the guy made it as far up the ranks as he did. His dedication and greed got him far and that’s exactly what you would expect from such a guy. He helps to be a good foil for Luis who is the comic relief kind of villain who can’t really fight or hold his own at all. That guy lags behind and has to be protected at all times. Any true villain would just roll their eyes at such a figure but of course that also means he is very easy to manipulate. So that’s basically his role there.

Meanwhile you did have the romance here with both Lolita and her aunt both liking Diego. Diego likes Lolita but as part of his plan pretends to like the aunt to sow more discord. That was probably hitting a little below the belt to be honest. You don’t feel all that bad for her since trying to start an affair while already married is already a huge taboo but Diego encouraging it isn’t great either. Definitely made for a rather odd romance and it’s good Lolita was quick to overlook this and realize it was fake by the end because otherwise that romance definitely wouldn’t have worked very well. Honestly I’d say that romance is still rather rushed either way. I think they could have bypassed that and since it wouldn’t really change the film at all, it’s best left on the shelf.

I don’t really have any issues with the film which is always a good sign. It’s just a great experience and has the right amount of tension, action, and solid characters. Each character feels well developed here which enhances the overall adventure. For example the local father/bishop was a nice supporting character who was really helpful and was quick on the uptake. Now I would have liked some kind of a big cliffhanger as the film ended in order to get the sequel lined up but it’s not like you need that one. In a way the only missed opportunity was in not having Zorro keep his secret identity from everyone but that’s probably something you’d only do if you were intending on making this a big franchise with lots of sequels. Since that wasn’t the goal here then there wasn’t really a reason to do that.

Overall, The Mark of Zorro is a really fun film. At its core it feels like a classic superhero movie and that’s a large part of why it’s so good. It really executes on each of the genres as well as the tone and feel of what this adventure should be like. It’s a very self contained story as well so you can jump in and just watch this as a oneshot while fully understanding the world around Zorro. They cover a lot of ground here and the pacing is good at each turn. The writing is on point and it’s all very believable. Yes this is definitely a title that you don’t want to miss out on.

Overall 8/10

Sicario: Day of the Soldado Review

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This is a review of the TV-14 version of this film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version could be more negative

It’s time for the big Sicario sequel. I actually thought this one was quite a bit better as it plays out more like a classic action thriller. It definitely has a very different feel from the first but I’d also say it works well as more of a classic adventure for the crew without worrying about anyone new on the team. So in that way it makes sense that the film can just get down to business. Additionally it felt a lot les gritty than the last adventure.

The film starts off with Isis sending in a bunch of suicide bombers to a supermarket in Texas where they cause a lot of damage and a ton of people die. The government has decided to take down the Mexican Cartels once and for all. This time they are serious for real! So they call in Alejandro one more time. He’s told that this time he will be able to do whatever he wants because the idea is to make as much noise as possible. Basically they are going to frame each cartel so that they are all fighting each other and that will keep the U.S. free in the background. Well Alejandro is certainly happy to do this and he goes around blowing everything up but eventually the government gets cold feet and tells him to stop. Thing is, they want him to murder a little girl named Isabel too so now he has to find a way to keep her alive while dodging the Cartels and the government. Won’t be an easy job.

It was definitely predictable that the government would suddenly turn back but it was definitely annoying. When you leave a job half done that is just a recipe for disaster and that’s basically what happens here. It’s hard to just stop an operation midway like this and especially due to an event happening that was super predictable and everyone saw it coming. It just seemed a little bit crazy right out of the gate. The people in charge there were all super annoying and of course saying that they wanted to destroy the little girl was just so randomly out of left field. I knew the government was going to be shady but did they have to be this shady? It just seemed like a bit much if you ask me.

Alejandro does well as the lead though. He doesn’t compromise on his goal of saving Isabel here. He will defy any and everyone in order to make this happen and he’s someone that she can count on which is important since just about everyone she met has been rather two faced up to this point. It’s certainly not an easy adventure for her either since the whole chase and being kidnapped parts were definitely real stressful. She takes the experience as well as she can though and is good at catching up to speed right away. Alejandro’s gun skills are still at a really high level here as well.

Like in the last film Matt tends to play more of a shadow role compared to Alejandro. We know that Matt is generally very skilled as well and he gives orders but it’s just easy to forget that he is around at times since Alejandro takes center stage. Matt also has to follow the rules a lot more at least verbally so he isn’t able to help Alejandro much. By the end he helps in making the right call at least so I’ll give him some credit there.

The film definitely still has its share of violence as everyone is getting shot up throughout but the film is less about how violent and desolate everything is and more about the mission. This is really a frame up movie for the first half and then a rescue/extraction for the second half. The story is fairly tight and moves quickly with the action. It just felt more like what you’d see in James Bond or Jason Bourne compared to the first which was just aiming to be hyper realistic the whole time.

You do still feel the whole time like the government could have been backing up Alejandro a bit more though. Always having to do things in secret and then pretend they weren’t helping does get old after a while. It’s why you definitely wouldn’t want to work for the CIA since they can turn on you in the blink of an eye. The instant you are seen as no longer useful or expendable is the instant this all becomes a game over moment for you.

Overall, The second Sicario film continues to show how difficult it is to fight a cartel. It’s not quite like fighting a villain organization where you can go in and destroy everybody. These guys are all very scattered and blend in with other lives around them. They don’t all wear the same uniform or stay at a central base either. In a way putting the cartels against each other is the easiest way because you let them figure that all out but at the same time you are also resigning a lot of civilians to death since the cartels are going to try going for quick results rather than doing things very safely. It’s always a big risk to consider and it’s why this was a fairly shady move on all sides. Still, it makes for a fairly engaging film and there is a lot of tension throughout. Without Kate here it almost feels like there is no true main character. Of course Alejandro is the lead but you’re used to him as more of the side character role so it’s just a bit different. This feels like you’re thrown in the middle of a bigger operation and the film ends before it’s all totally over. It leads in well to a sequel and works well enough for the adventure even if I think we need more of a story and more standout characters before I would really call this film very solid.

Overall 5/10