Reviews

Went into watching this after hearing other friends werent huge fans of it. My expectations were low, but I definitely enjoyed it more than I thought. I still think some of the young X men really are fantastic and it is entertaining to watch them grow. The internal struggle Magneto fights is further developed and really creates a unique relationship he shares with Charles.

The plot, for how large of a problem the heroes are facing, just never seems to feel as serious as it should . Provided the villain is supposed to be the strongest mutant ever with a mix of Thanos like power to essentially cause apocalypses at will, I expected to feel more threatened by him. For stranger things fans he also seems to have a bit of a Vecna like feel to him . Anyways, unlike Days of Future Past, this movie needed an amazing villain to succeed , and to be honest he just felt like every other stock ancient Egypt evil mommy figure.

Again , it was all still very viewable, and I enjoyed it for the most part.

Overall the scenery and cinematography is beautiful. Everything else is nothing more than a mini scenes which could serve as pilot episodes for Netflix shows. While some scenes within them are ok and can hold your interest they aren't tied to any plot build. If you re sitting in a theatre for over 3 hours they should be able to connect scenes to a story. They're clearly aware that they aren't achieving this as they are always waving the pamphlet advertisement of the settlement "horizon" almost to acknowledge that they do in fact tend to put this story together, just wait a bit longer / comes see the next movie.

On top of all of this the film ends with somewhat of a scenes from next week, or so we think. Hopefully it wasn't just skimming through things quickly to get all the different plot lines to the Horizon settlement.

The fact that Costner set this up into a two part in theatre series with this being the lead off is quite presumptuous. Just read after that its going to actually have 4 movies total. I can't see a universe where this and all the rest they continue to put out aren't major flops.

It's really too bad because even if he had of just picked one story to build and not wasted so much time on useless scenes and characters there was actually some potential here. But nevertheless , decisions were made.

Not sure if I will be attending part 2 in August.

There are so many moving parts to the movie that it could have been an absolute train wreck. However, they have done such a wonderful job of casting of the younger versions of the X-men themselves that it absolutely makes the process smoother. What also makes this unique is that while the villain of the past raises a very dystopian potential for the future the movie isn't itself carried by this. It is extremely rare that a high quality villain isn't absolutely critical to the enjoyment of a superhero film. While Dinklage plays his part well, he does not need to overplay his role as the story of the heroes is the primary focus and each of their trajectories interesting. The story really manages to develop a lot of the characters, adjust the historical timeline, and tell a story a new story all in one. No easy feat. So many areas this could have gone wrong , but despite some spots with a lack of clarity regarding the timeline (potentially on purpose), it is an all round big hit.

In many ways this film should be looked at as a model to saving the flailing MCU as it currently is.

The issue with this movie is that there wasn't one aspect or even scene really that was original. Every scene I can recall another movie where the exact same thing happened. Ryan Reynolds plays a similar role to the one that he always plays. Some of his jokes hit and others can get annoying. As for cast selection I suppose they did a decent job of finding a kid that one could imagine Ryan Reynolds character to be like when he was younger. The worst part of the movie was some of the sets, the backgrounds look so fake in many parts it looks like old movies where the backgrounds were painted.

Time travel movies now are such a common setting and there are so many other movies that have done it better. The movie may provide some laughs throughout , but doing this review even a couple days after viewing it , it is already hard to think of any part that will be memorable a week from now.

This is a movie where you will either accept a lot of the silliness and weak script and get some enjoyment out of the horror setting and twists or you will just find it outlandish and despise it. For me, I enjoyed most of it and had fun with it. Still there are obvious issues with it that I saw. First, the attempted build up was weak and didn't really develop the main character at all. Even her background story throughout really does not serve much purpose to the plot . This time could have been spent elsewhere. While I didn't hate the twist at the end it took about 20 minutes to set it up which was a let down from the climax of the film where the movie could have ended.

Instead of the twists I would have liked to see more time put into each of the characters backgrounds and how they got there. This could have had the audience a little more invested.

Still, for me personally I found the forest setting compelling compared to other recent horror films. I thought Fanning also did a good job in the lead role as far as horror movies go.

My moviegoing colleague on the other hand detested the movie, and while I enjoyed it, I can see why he felt the way he did.

The first seasons of Suits feel fresh and exciting. The show not only starts off about the personalities and characters but still has plots where the characters function as somewhat believable corporate lawyers. As the series goes on there are times where the personal is so heavily focused on you can forget that they are even lawyers. Still despite some episodes starting to feel repetitive , the show managed to keep me hooked until Mike is off the show. It's not that Mike was the only reason I liked the show, but how the showed tried to fill in his screen time after wasn't impressive. The firm simply began to fill in slots with new lawyers that the writers hoped people would like. There seemed to lose even more connection to being a show based on practicing lawyers.

The character of Louis and his storyline worked quite well at times as a supporting role, but when his character almost dominates screen time in later seasons he becomes nearly unbearable and it's difficult to watch his and Sheila's relationship quirks non stop.

The closing season is a mix of the good and bad. In some ways it seems odd how they are still building character arcs for Samantha and her trying to close the series at the same time. The closing case attempts to combine all the characters for one last hurrah , but its conclusion is underwhelming. Perhaps if they'd allotted more time for one big final case they could have had something like all of them go against some team of Hardman, Stemple, and Tanner.

Nevertheless , the closing episode does an excellent job in sending off the characters by tapping into memories and gave me a nostalgic feeling.

Overall the show is very disturbing. Went in thinking that it would just be a show about a very aggressive stalker , but it certainly goes down much darker paths. The story pegs itself as a true story while it seems a bit unclear about whether that means every event happened or happened in the order it was shown and to what extent. Sometimes it is even difficult to see the parts that were supposed to be real versus fantasy.

Either way, the show points a picture of the depths a person can find themselves in while suffering with inner mental struggles and certainly highlights the need for quality professional help.

It was pretty naïve of me to enter the movie expecting just a standard sports movie. In actuality this movie has very little to do with Tennis itself and is all about the characters. There are several scenes that are disturbing , not visually, but in terms of the behaviour of the characters. Left the theatre feeling like they were all villains and nobody showed any sort of character growth. However, upon thinking about it more , I suppose this was sort of the point. In some ways it was nice having a sports movie go off the normal path and make all the characters flawed in their own way.

The audio also adds to the chaotic nature of the story, although I think I could have gone without them making the viewer essentially become the tennis ball getting returned back and forth. A little excessive for me no doubt.

Overall, it was different but that's sometimes ok.

Before watching I expected to be watching a prequel with inexperienced , cheesy acting filled with cliches and lines that tried to connect to the original films but didn't work. While some of this was present, for the most part I think Vaughan did a pretty decent job creating a prequel for the original movies. It provided enough backstory to the characters that it added to the originals instead of hurting them, which unfortunately is what many prequels end up doing.

Still I think a bit too much time was wasted on the skills and attributes/ mutations than on the characters themselves. They tried to build a backstory with Professor X and Mystique, but it didn't have enough to feel genuine. In general, I felt they left a lot on the table with Mystique. It would have been interesting to see more of the internal struggle she was experiencing. Further, in developing Magneto, it would have been neat to see more flashbacks of his time with Shaw.

With regards to Shaw, he is potentially the worst developed character. We have no idea how he obtained his powers and have no idea where his motivations arise from. This is hugely problematic for a lead villain in any film.

Overall, the movie helps the series, but it had the potential to be much more.

Decided to watch due to the initial hype. Probably not as good as I was expecting considering all the amazing things I heard about it, and nor was I let down because the books were better ( I did not read the books). The first two episodes outside of the Maoist China scenes were pretty dry. However as the season went on I certainly started to enjoy the characters more outside of Auggie. The casting is really quite good. Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, and Jess Hong are all fantastic.

I like how they presented the moral debates because they weren't overly preachy and somewhat indirectly implied the consequences of each decision.

Overall, the show is nothing to jump up and down about but also not a waste of time. I'll be tuning in for season 2 whenever that is.

With what has become of horror films , I don't go in with much expectation anymore. This movie was actually quite unique. It never feels like the movie is trying to straight up terrify you and instead succeeds in making a decent vampire comedy. Some of the one liner jokes combined with really spot on casting is what really elevated the in theatre experience. I'm surprised Giancarlo Esposito volunteered himself for this kind of movie, but always happy to have him.

For a horror movie it does offer a decent enough plot. However , there were two related majors issues I had with the film. The worst of that being the ending. To avoid spoiling it I will just state that the last 15 minutes or so seem to just take the movie way off course from where it had been going. None of it is used to create a surprise or twist ending, it simply feels like they just put random stuff in at the end that was inconsistent with the rest of the film in order to get the films runtime up a little longer.

Lastly, there's times when it tries to send real life messages and it just flat out fails. For me if you are going to try and just make it a farce like they did at the end, stick with that and focus on the comedic aspect. Dont try to then end with some statement about quality parenting.

Overall though, despite some blips , well worth the watch.

This movie took a lot of effort to stick with. For starters, if I were to watch again I would absolutely have subtitles on as the accents can be difficult to understand in many parts. Obviously at the theatre this option wasn't available. As for the film itself, most of it you are left trying to figure out what Bobby's motivation is for his actions. Your best hints are some small flashbacks and your prior suspicion that it is some type of similar John Wick-esque revenge type film. It wasn't until very late in the film where you see what actually motivated Bobby to seek revenge. The way they do introduce it to you is also rather sloppy.

Despite Bobby clearly having hostilities before landing with the religious group providing him shelter, he apparently only learned his purpose for fighting by taking some herbal root spice that simply only provided us the viewer with the backstory. All the sudden after this experience he wakes up and then realizes what he's fighting for and dedicates himself more ? Overall I would describe the plot as just very clunky.

The one thing the film does have going for it is that it is quite visually impressive and the action sequences are decent. It's just too bad they weren't backed with a more engaging plot.

Only recently was motivated to watch this with the new film coming out. I had not viewed any Planet of the Apes films prior. I'll admit that going into it I'm not usually a fan of movies with talking animals. In general they just feel like something that should be restricted to children's or animated movies. However, this movie was a hugely pleasant surprise. The characters in the film are developed extremely well and Charlton Heston is absolutely incredible starring in the role of Taylor. I'm surprised this movie doesn't get more attention as a classic because it so cleverly carries with it so many interesting underlying messages while not spoiling the story in the process. By simply reversing the roles of humans and apes it really makes you realize how poorly humans in the real world treat animals simply because of the belief that they are a superior species, and much of this based simply on the ability to speak.

The trial scene is also one that I'm surprised more high school teachers don't have their students writing essays on. The concept of the right to a fair trial based on race or species and the concept of some being more equal than others is very prominent. This 10-20 minute scene is just filled with so much to unpack.

Lastly the ending is very bold by todays standards and for me was just perfect. Highly recommend.

I went into this not having viewed the original, but since it was free on Amazon I decided to give it a whirl. This version was what the kids these days would call mid at best. Many of the jurors just wanted to get it over with and in some ways I was checking the time bar at the bottom myself hoping they would indeed wrap it up. The acting is fine, but I'm just not seeing what's so fascinating about this. One juror has doubts while eleven others are sure the accused is guilty. The one juror pokes holes in each of the prosecutions pieces of evidence hoping to slowly convince the other jurors of his views. It felt very much like when I was in university prepping for mock trial with friends and we would explore various ways to weaken or strengthen arguments for both sides. Perhaps this is why it wasn't all that amusing to me or why it didn't feel that special.

I'd have liked to see flashbacks to parts of the trial or something to make my own opinion, otherwise it's just listening to jurors opinions of arguments I never got to read or view presented myself.

It's clear the movie was made for IMAX. For the first hour or so it is very noticeable that they are trying to flex with the impressive camera shots and scenery of the jungle. In this regard there's no denying it is quite pretty, however there are moments that it seems like they are forgetting that they actually need to build a plot. Some of the dialogue from the Apes at times is also a little unclear. They are clearly trying to stress that these apes are less evolved than the Apes during Caesar's time. Unfortunately that comes at the cost of not being able to understand some of the words they're saying.

Overall the plot is quite patchy. Due to many long overly drawn out scenes , it then rushes through scenes and settings that need a little more depth.

The end battle leaves something to be desired for sure.

The one thing it has going for it ,aside from its visuals, is the very ending scenes really set up nicely for future films. You get a good picture of where things are headed but they withhold just enough details to keep you interested.

Lastly there are some decent easter eggs to previous films .

Overall, I found it to be satisfactory. It could age well if the next movies take a nice leap off the stepping stones it has set out.

This film seems to have really flown under the radar. In some ways it might not have a wide appeal but that is not because of its content and likely due to its marketing. I suspect the marketing budget is small for a Canadian made film. Horror seeking teens may find the trailer too slow and dry whereas some of the shall I say more "mature"/ sophisticated audiences seem to avoid anything that could be labelled horror.

The concept is quite clever. A small community that has lived on an island for quite some time is struggling until a young girl is delivered to them as a baby in a divine way. Isla, is able to essentially solve all of their ailments in one way or another. The start is a bit of a slow burn , but in this time the characters are developed and you become more invested. There are some really nice shots of Canada's East Coast as well.

Once the plot hits its climax it had my full undivided attention. Moral decisions are made and the consequences of actions have you on the edge of your seat.

Nothing in the film is frightening in a horror movie kind of way , however there is some intense violence in brief periods.

Overall, despite its simplicity it's one of my favourite movies of 2024.

Overall my expectations for this film was much higher than what was delivered. Ghostbusters: Afterlife had managed to connect the original characters with the new ones in a very cohesive manner. After it was completed it felt like there were so many more stories that could be told with the new characters that were introduced. That was what I was expecting this film to do. Instead of exploring these characters in further detail and their relationships the writers decided simply to introduce more characters , many of whom were not particularly necessary to advancing the story.

While the movie isn't horrendous it is simply not memorable at all. If you watch this movie and ask yourself the details of it and which function each character played a week later I wouldn't be surprised if the details are bit blurry.

Overall , for me, this movie was a missed opportunity. It had some decent effects, but this was not nearly enough to make up for its severe shortcomings.

The movie is presented in an old school 1980s-early 90s style. This in itself is a welcome relief from what can sometimes feel like the seemingly endless number of movies made in recent years that are nearly entirely reliant on visual effects to succeed.

Beyond its presentation this movie achieves another thing that I've been missing from so many movies made these days. Through the outstanding acting of its leads you really connect with the characters. If you really break the story down there isn't much to it. In fact all that really occurs is a miserable teacher that nobody particularly likes is tasked with essentially babysitting students who couldn't or weren't wanted at home over Christmas break.

However through their time together we learn how these characters became the way they are and can feel their struggles. If you've had some major hardship in your life you likely will connect with some of these characters.

In many ways I likened this movie to almost a Christmas version of The Breakfast Club. Hopefully other directors take note from this film and realize that developing strong characters has more value to many in the audience than simply a barrage of visual effects and CGI.

Anytime a movie tries to rejuvenate a franchise considered a classic the bar is set high and reasonably so. With what was generally considered a major flop with the 2016 reboot this movie had even more pressure to get it right. Not only did it hit the right notes for me in its own right, it actually made me reevaluate my dislike for the original film. In my view, the movies greatest success is how it delicately sprinkles in throwbacks to the original and lures its audience into feeling nostalgic. At the same time it also takes the risk of extending from the the original story in a modern family friendly way and delivers a respectable plot. It even manages to say farewell to Harold Ramis in the process. The casting overall is quite good with all characters having a purpose.

Certainly exceeded expectations.

First of all there's no doubt the viewer was sold an entirely different film than what the trailer offered up. I had no issue with it not being cholk full of action scenes, but nowhere did the trailer suggest it was going to be a deep dive into the psychology of war journalism/ photography.

Secondly, it's clear that the intention was to avoid getting into the details of the war, but by not giving any sort of background it didn't get me invested. Further, the the characters get almost no development other than they've managed to block off their emotions and do their job. Even when the lead character is straight up asked about her background she didn't explain anything.

Most of the movie is spent watching them sitting and driving around smoking with small meaningless dialogue. The one saving grace in this film is the scene with Jesse Plemmons. The scene is very startling and raises the stakes of everything. The actor plays his role brilliantly as he often does as a callous murderous villain.

Finally to give credit where it is due there is some excellent shots and visual effects. The final battle scene in DC is filmed quite skillfully. The ending is somewhat expected for a movie that didn't really have too much to say for the 2 hours it had already had you there for.

For me this film had some similarities to Nightcrawler, but was certainly worse. Overall, despite some good aspects there's really no other way to describe it than simply too boring than to garner any more praise than a barely passable score of 5/10.

After only just watching the original and really wondering how this franchise generated so much hype I decided to give this one a shot. In general I'd heard nothing but bad things about this movie prior. After viewing I can see why loyalists to the original would be annoyed by it, but for me who didn't enjoy the original it was somewhat of a comical viewing experience. It certainly trolls the first in many ways , although it probably wasn't meaning to. While some of the jokes grow old and are a bit tacky in general it at least got me to laugh a couple times which I can say the original did not achieve. I'm surprised Chris Hemsworth would take on the role he did. I thought the women had pretty good chemistry and particularly enjoyed Leslie Jones character. The final battle so to speak was fairly entertaining and completed the movie adequately.

By no means was this a good movie , but not nearly as awful as I expected based on others input.

Overall I hold Pixar to quite a high standard and this movie simply does not come close to that standard in any criteria. One of the magic traits of Pixar has traditionally been for the creators to get you to really feel for the animated characters that it develops. In this movie the characters are quite simply flat. All we really get to know about Ember the entire movie is that she has a bad temper and isn't particularly enthused to continue running her father's business. We also gather very little about her friend Wade , who I suppose is the lead supporting character. He seems like a relatively friendly guy who works for the bureaucracy and develops a strong crush for Ember. That's all we get from him and it gives you really little reason to root for him. Even worse, and a very bad message to send to viewers, he's extremely pushy and borderline stalker like showing up uninvited to Ember's family celebration to profess his love for her. The idea that you can just throw yourself upon someone and expect to earn their love just isn't a reality in the real world. In almost no scenario in reality would Ember change her mind after this stunt.

Further the movie is clearly trying to make connections to the struggles of immigrants in the real world. Specifically, it focuses on issues of how the races/elements can clash. In my view, the parallels they are trying to draw are simply poor ones . For instance, people are people regardless of race and therefore should be able to prosper in harmony, while elements (fire /water/ etc on the other hand have very real reasons for why they can't mix. For example, when Ember's family is trying to get housing they show them go to a wood tree building. Clearly fire and wood can't go together or the place would burn down. So there is a very practical reason for why they couldn't live there. On the other hand, there is no practical justification for discrimination in the real world. Overall, the movies attempts to draw connections to the real world just aren't solid enough.

Lastly, the plot is very predictable and just never captured my interest. A direct contrast to this movie for me would be the Pixar movie 'Soul' where you are actively rooting for the main character, feel a connection to their story, and the plot that keeps you engaged.