Movie Reviews

After the mediocre Man of Steel (2013) and the abysmal double-feature of Batman v. Superman (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016), we finally have our first successful film in the DCEU with Wonder Woman.  This movie is triumph.  A game-changer that features spectacular visuals, exhilarating action, deep themes, top-notch direction, and a star-making performance, resulting in the best comic book movie since The Avengers (2012). Wonder Woman tells the story of Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons, who is being trained to be an unconquerable…

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales marks the fifth, that’s right, FIFTH, film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.  To be honest, I am not a fan of this franchise.  I loved the original 2003 film, which was an exciting, original adventure and one of Johnny Depp’s best performances as the now legendary Captain Jack Sparrow.  However, the proceeding films all failed to muster up any of the magic from the original, causing three…

Following in the footsteps of other raunchy T.V. adaptations, like 21 Jump Street (2012) and CHiPS (2017), we get Baywatch, a funny, sexy, action-packed, at times low-brow film that is perfect for the summer. Baywatch centers around devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchanan (Dwayne Johnson) as he butts heads with brash new recruit Matt Brody (Zac Efron).  The two begin to uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay and must put aside their differences, rally the team, and…

During most movies that I see, I take notes.  I do this to remember key scenes, performances, quotes, etc.  While watching Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, there was a moment where I stopped taking notes.  Not because the movie was bad or because I got everything that I needed, but because I was so invested in the movie.  I didn’t want to miss a single moment of what was going on.  My eyes were glued to the screen…

I went into Snatched with mixed expectations.  Part of me thought the movie looked unfunny and lame.  Another part of me looked at the credentials of the film, Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Wanda Sykes, and director Jonathon Levine, and thought that the movie had too much talent to be bad. Much to my pleasure, it is the latter.  Snatched is a blast that perfectly balances raunchy humor with sweet mother-daughter family bonding. Schumer plays Emily, a social…

The Wall is a very simple, yet effective movie.  It revolves around two American solders (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena) in Iraq who, while scouting out the scene of a violent incident, become the target of an expert Iraqi sniper.  With both men wounded and with limited resources, they must outsmart the sniper while trying not to get killed in the process. Majority of the movie is Taylor-Johnson’s character Isaac conversing with the sniper over…

The legend of King Arthur gets the Guy Ritchie treatment in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, a boring, dumb, CGI heavy bomb that tells us nothing about new about Arthur and Excalibur. In this re-invention of the classic tale, Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city, living in a brothel and learning how to fight and survive on his own.  When his uncle Vortigern (Jude Law) summons…

The Circle is the best movie of 2012.  What do I mean by that?  It’s a movie that has come out five years to late.  Director James Ponsoldt has created a technological thriller that was tailor made for the pre-Snowden era.  The film features some great performances and an interesting overall premise, but loses it towards the end due to it’s overall message missing completely. When Mae (Emma Watson) lands a dream job at a powerful tech…

Our favorite group of a-holes are back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which marks the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This sequel to the surprise 2014 smash is sure to be another hit for Marvel as Vol. 2 is once again a funny, exciting, eye-popping crowd pleaser. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 brings the whole gang of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and…

Director Marc Webb bursted onto the cinematic scene in 2009 with (500) Days of Summer, which, for my money, is one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen.  With great indie success comes blockbuster opportunities and Webb was given the reigns as the director of the new Spider-Man franchise starring Andrew Garfield.  Even though I am a fan of those films, audiences and other critics weren’t too kind to them, giving the film poor reviews and…