Gemini Man

RATING: C+

CGI has come a long way since the usage of it in movies became more mainstream. We're to the point now where we can use CGI to de-age actors or even create a human model from mostly scratch. Let's not forget, there was a time when if they wanted to do a scene with a younger (or older) version of a character, they either had to use elaborate makeup or a wig, or hire another actor altogether even. Now? Just slap some CGI on it. Gemini Man is what happens when you base the entire concept of your film around this technological achievement. 

The idea for this actually existed as early as the late 90's, but at the time the technology didn't exist for what they wanted to do. So it stayed in development hell for 20 years, until doing something like de-aging was not only possible, but relatively more commonplace (at least among big-budget movies, anyway). 

Here, Will Smith plays an aging assassin (Henry Brogan) who's decided it's time to retire. His retirement is unfortunately short-lived when he ends up being targeted by another assassin. The problem? It's himself... literally. Or rather, a younger version of him. And that's where the "basing your plot on a technological achievement" comes into play, as Will Smith has to fight a de-aged version of himself... on the same screen. 

Now, what they're trying to do here is certainly impressive--and it mostly works. The younger Will Smith (known as "Junior") looks quite good, for the most part--and the fact that they were able to put both the real and the younger versions on the screen at the same time is pretty astounding. It is worth noting that the CGI for Junior does become a bit more obvious during a couple of outside daytime scenes, but when there's less reliance on lighting, they pull it off very well. And Will Smith does do a good job of playing both versions of himself. 

Where the problems start with this movie is the script. Apparently, despite the fact that they had 20 years to make this thing, they didn't do much re-working of the dialogue, which is borderline goofy at times and definitely clashes with the tone. The other problem here at times is the pacing--it takes a surprising amount of time to get from Henry retiring to his doppelganger showing up. There's also a bit of a lull at times going from their first confrontation to their next one. 

While the plot itself is fine, it's also rather predictable. Interestingly enough, the trailers for this revealed quite a bit--though they didn't really need to, seeing as a good amount of viewers would be able to figure out the "twists" anyway. Regardless, there's also a couple things here and there regarding how Junior got to where he is now that don't make a lot of sense.

But besides the Young Will Smith CGI, there's also some good action to be found here--such as a motorcycle chase that ends with one of the bikes being used as a projectile (it has to be seen to be believed), as well as a fistfight between the two Smiths. The final act is fairly entertaining as well. 

The movie ultimately is far from bad--what they manage to do here with the power of CGI is a little too impressive to altogether dismiss, and the film itself is generally entertaining. The issue is that the film trips itself up a bit along the way at times, and besides the motorcycle trick, doesn't really do enough to stand out from the action-film crowd besides the visual effects. For something that took so long to make *only* because they were waiting for the technology to catch up, it's rather crazy that they didn't take the time to better iron out other certain facets of this. But it's still worth a watch anyway--for the CGI achievements, if nothing else, but it's hardly a dud otherwise either.

Tenet

RATING: B

It's been a while since we got a normal showing from Christopher Nolan. His last flick in 2017 was Dunkirk, a nonfiction war movie--which, while it was definitely a good movie, did lack the usual Nolan flairs like mind-screwing and plot twists, due to it being nonfiction. So the last "Nolan-esque" film we got was Interstellar, way back in 2014. All things considered (and Dunkirk aside), it feels like Nolan has been trying to test his audience's limits to see how much mind-screwing they can take before they finally decide he's gone too far. And his newest offering, Tenet, is probably the closest he's gotten so far.

Tenet is marketed as a spy movie, although I wouldn't put it with the likes of James Bond or most other actual spy stuff. Regardless, this is mixed with time travel--or rather, time *inversion.* Here, our protagonist (whose name is literally never given) is recruited by a mysterious shadow agency trying to prevent an armageddon plot--which would be induced by way of screwing with the time stream too much, and which an insane Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh) is at the forefront of. 

The result is another ambitious Nolan movie which has more bumps to the finish line than you'd expect from a Nolan movie--but the finish line is indeed a satisfying one. While the plot and setting can be difficult to follow (more on that later), if you're able to keep up and be patient, you are rewarded as the film goes on--and we do get some pretty good twists in the final minutes.  

Some of the action sequences are also top-tier for Nolan; there's the airplane scene that was alluded to in the marketing (which involves zero CGI!), as well as a highway chase that makes great use of the time inversion technique for a thoroughly exciting scene. The fight scenes also benefit from this unique plot device. 

Now, as said earlier, this one's a little more bumpy than usual. As said earlier, the plot and setting can be difficult to follow. If you had significant trouble understanding Inception or Interstellar, you're going to have a bad time with Tenet. They don't do quite as good of a job of providing exposition--or they just expect you to sit tight and wait until it's explained later, which can be frustrating in a longer movie like this. And it's just complex concepts that they give us here.

But Nolan challenging our minds isn't out of the ordinary. So that could be potentially overlooked, especially assuming that, like with other movies of his, re-watching it is rewarding. But there are a couple unexpected issues that haven't really cropped up in Nolan movies before. 

The tone of this movie, especially in the earlier goings, is surprisingly impersonal at times--and the characterization suffers as a result. Instead of having much of distinct personalities, it often feels like most of the characters are only there to serve a role. Robert Pattinson's character is pretty much just there to create awesome plans and be a partner to the protagonist (which isn't a slight on Pattinson; he does fine with what he's got). Bizarrely enough, the protagonist (John David Washington) seems to be written this way by design; after all, we aren't even given his name. And most of the other characters are just there to be of service to our main characters; their personality traits or *anything* important about them are apparently irrelevant. They're just there.

The only characters that really do stick out here are Kenneth Branagh's antagonist and his character's wife, Kat (Elizabeth Debicki). And it's for that reason as well as both Branagh and Debicki stand out the most in terms of acting, because they've been given the most to work with. The focus here seems to have been more on the idea/concept--and while that aspect does ultimately work, the bizarre lack of personality in the majority of the characters does stick out. And I can't believe I'm saying such things about a Christopher Nolan movie. Michael Caine is in this movie for about exactly two minutes and he's more enjoyable than almost any other character in this.

Side note, but people are not kidding about the sound mixing in this movie. For some reason, some of the noise effects and soundtrack clash badly with the dialogue here, resulting in it being hard to hear what everybody's saying at times. Hopefully that won't be a problem on home video/digital, but prepared to use subtitles if necessary. (Speaking of the soundtrack, Hans Zimmer's absence in a Nolan movie is definitely felt here--Ludwig Goransson really overdoes it on the electronics to the point of insanity.) 

Ultimately, Tenet is definitely another thinking man's action film; it's very inventive and cerebral. Nolan continues to deliver in that aspect, as well as giving us entertaining action scenes. Unfortunately, he did sacrifice some personality in the process of this one; and that combined with this movie being a little more difficult to follow may leave some underwhelmed. Still, if you're a fan of what Nolan's done so far or if you're just looking for a more unique/cerebral action movie, you'll absolutely want to check it out, whether that's in theaters or on your home screen later. This may be on the lower tier of Nolan movies, but even a lower-tier Nolan movie is still way above average. 

Bloodshot

RATING: C-

Bloodshot has the distinction of being the last movie released in theaters before... well... you know what. Released March 13, the day of the emergency declaration, put it in a quite unfortunate spot in terms of making money. Now, as of this writing, the movie theaters are open again (depending on where you live, anyway); but for a while it seemed within the realm of possibility that Bloodshot might be the last movie we saw in an indoor theater for a very long time. And that... would've definitely been a case of going out with something of a whimper rather than a bang. 

So what is Bloodshot, exactly? Well, it's a comic-book superhero movie--but it's not based off Marvel *or* DC. It's from another group called Valiant Comics, known for stuff like Bloodshot and the Harbingers. There's a fair chance that if you're not much of a comic reader, you've never heard of any this stuff. But they've made their way to the big screen, so here we are. 

Bloodshot (aka Ray Garrison, who is never actually called "Bloodshot" in this movie) is a character who gets killed and then resurrected by a private organization by way of infusing his body with ludicrous levels of nanotechnology, which basically make him nigh indestructible as long as the nanites are active, which quickly heal him. So... sort of like Wolverine, but with nanotechnology instead of a natural healing ability or metal skeleton, and without claws. Ray does have enhanced strength as a result, though. And of course, the shady organization in question has ulterior motives for "bringing him back"... which, it turns out, is more complicated than expected, and nothing is what it seems and stuff. 

Here's the thing about Bloodshot. It's not bad, necessarily. It just doesn't do enough to stand out in a crowded genre. There actually is a surprising twist of sorts regarding the shady organization and what they're doing to Ray, but the result makes the early movie's sequences feel like a waste of time -- even if what follows is a semi-unique plot, at least in the superhero world.

More problematically, there's very thin characterization here and basically zero development. Ray's character development basically begins and ends with Vin Diesel, who often feels about as robotic as the technology coursing through his character's veins. That, and swearing revenge on foes. The evil guy is evil, but we aren't given enough about his motivations. And there's also two forgettable side "antagonists" of sorts, one of whom is mostly just an annoying jerk for no tangible reason. 

Actually, that "robotic" word earlier probably sums fairly well how much of this feels. This movie isn't boring, and it's not like the plot in of itself is stupid. But there's just not much heart or soul here. The action scenes happen and some of them are fun, but it's hard to be that invested. The CGI being mostly rather "meh" at best doesn't help either. Lamorne Morris's character at least brings some comic relief to the fold. Guy Pearce and Eiza Gonzalez also at least seem like they're trying. 

As previously stated, the movie's not bad. It just feels too hollow and lacks too much heart to really make it be that worthwhile. If you're a mega-fan of the genre and want to see something new, I suppose it's worth a look, although there wasn't much of anything to make me interested in future installments. It's interesting to see a newcomer to the comic-book movie scene, but Valiant will have to do better in the future to stand out.

Spies in Disguise

RATING: C+

Before Illumination and their Despicable Me/Minions series showed up, Blue Sky Studios was pretty much the "other animation studio" not named Disney/Pixar or DreamWorks, responsible for the Ice Age and Rio series. While most of their material has generally been targeted towards a somewhat lower age demographic than the other animation studios, their latest (and maybe last? I have no idea how they're going to co-exist with Disney Animation now that Disney owns them and Fox) movie branches out a little, into a spy adventure comedy. 

This one centers around a secret agent named Lance Sterling (Will Smith), who ends up crossing paths with an ambitious late-teens inventor named Walter (Tom Holland), who--unlike the rest of the people at the fictional agency--is more interested in creating less destructive and deadly gadgets to vanquish bad guys. When Sterling is on the run after being framed, he ends up getting accidentally transformed into a pigeon by Walter. Now they have to stop a cybernetic terrorist with... drones? We really like using drone armies in our action/adventure movies now, don't we?

There actually are some interesting concepts in this movie; they do some interesting things with the idea of "secret agent pigeon." And the film's more pacifistic angle is treated mostly well, with both sides of the argument getting a fair day, and it not feeling overly preachy (even though some of Walter's "gadgets" in that pursuit do feel rather silly--like kitty glitter bombs). 

I also like how most of the main characters in this movie are animated to be vague-but-somewhat-similar representations of their voice actors--and their most popular types of roles. Will Smith voices a cocky, swaggering agent. Tom Holland voices an awkward genius. Ben Mendelsohn voices a very-not-nice guy.

Where a lot of the problems come in here is in some of the choices at humor. There are some actually funny moments in this movie. But there's also some more juvenile and bizarre moments that are supposed to be funny, as well as some moments that just leave one going "What were they thinking?!" Case in point: when we learn way more about a pigeon's anatomy than necessary. Not to mention a couple cheap shout-outs to not-cool pop culture gimmicks, like Will Smith's character saying "now *that's* hot!" as if we needed a YouTube Rewind reference. 

There's a couple of other annoyances along the way--some of Walter's ideas are genuinely clever, but others are a bit over-the-top (as mentioned earlier). There's also an action scene or two that is rather difficult to follow, due to it being hard to tell who's firing what and what rays of something are actually dangerous. 

This is not a bad movie by any means, but it does hold itself back a bit much with some of its ill-advised humor and thus wastes some of its more interesting ideas. While Blue Sky's made a couple of hits, they've never been top-tier quality-wise in the animation department, and despite some of its better efforts, this one doesn't really change that status either.

Sonic the Hedgehog

RATING: C+

Here's the latest attempt to make a successful video-game movie... the vast majority of attempts which have failed. However, in the last few years we have seen attempts that at least were seen as okay and not dumpster fires (Pokemon Detective Pikachu, Alicia Vikander's Tomb Raider, and Rampage of all things). So here comes the newest one of those "not bad but not that great either" video game movies--Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the more prolific and long-running franchises that's not an FPS or Nintendo-related.

This film puts Sonic the super-fast blue Hedgehog on an otherwise-normal plant Earth with a somewhat more cinematic (and thus cliched) backstory, and he's been in hiding for many years. However, when he accidentally activates some powers that I don't think he had in the games (I could be wrong though; I've only played a relatively small number of the large catalogue of Sonic games), he ends up revealing his presence. Cue the mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) coming to find him, and intending to experiment on him. Sonic teams up with a local sheriff (James Marsden) to help him escape the planet by retrieving his lost rings, which here serve as... portals to other worlds? Sure, let's go with that. To be fair, going with the normal trope of Sonic rings being magical items that let you survive anything as long as you have some wouldn't have translated that well to a live-action feature.

This definitely qualifies as a quite mixed bag. On one hand, despite some aspects of this franchise being difficult to translate to a live-action movie, it's actually decently faithful. We do get a nice high-speed chase towards the end, which truly does feel like a Sonic level (albeit not in the usual settings). Plus, the very final battle between Sonic and Robotnik definitely does not feel unlike a normal Sonic boss battle. While the writing is a bit goofy, there are some genuinely funny moments to be found here. And there are a few quite nice nods to the Sonic canon and fandom (there's even a "gotta go fast!" moment of sorts).

And the CGI creation of Sonic actually looks fairly good, especially when you consider the abomination that they originally had (seen in the infamous first trailer). It's been said many times by many others, but credit should absolutely be given to the animators for completely re-working Sonic's design for the entire movie in just three months, and to the studio for actually listening to the fans' complaints.

The problems mostly come down to the writing and the often rather cliched plot. There's a fair amount of lame dialogue here. And the character of Sonic is actually a bit annoying at times--this is basically an adolescent version of the character whose mouth is as fast as his feet, and it shows. This doesn't ruin the movie, but it does make the goings a little tedious at times.

What absolutely helps knock this movie up a notch is the performance of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. Carrey is clearly having a lot of fun in this role, and hams it up to the extreme--which is absolutely to this movie's benefit, and actually does kind of fit the character. It may be hard to believe we're saying this about a Jim Carrey movie at this point, but he alone makes it worth watching. Even some of the less good lines he has, he makes them work by being deliciously over-the-top.

This Sonic video game movie, like its competitors, doesn't break the mold due to its average story and below-average script. But it does get by with some charm and some of its more faithful-to-the-source-material moments, plus a deliciously fun villain (seriously, name the last time a video game movie villain was memorable at all). Definitely above-average for a video game movie adaptation--which isn't saying much, but between this and some of the other above-average attempts recently, these types of movies may finally be on the right track... sort of. Sonic fans will want to give it a shot, and for more casual fans or even non-fans... you could do much worse, especially given the lack of new movies in the last few months since this movie's release.

Onward

RATING: A

It's hard to believe that this is Pixar's first original film in three years. Even more so, that in the latter half of the 2010's, they only had one original feature at all--and that was Coco, which was indeed their best film in several years. During those past five years, we've gotten sequels of varying quality to The Incredibles (finally) and Finding Nemo, a third Cars movie, and a fourth Toy Story--the last of which is probably their most unnecessary sequel ever (which is saying something). Fortunately, things seem to balancing out at least to start the 2020's, as we've got Soul dropping later this year (well, hopefully) plus four more untitled features on the docket which are allegedly all originals.

Onward was an idea that had my interest from the start--or at least, the setting did. Director Dan Scanlon described it as a "suburban fantasy world"--which is pretty accurate. A world where anthropomorphized magical fantasy creatures populate the Earth instead of humans, and pretty much everything about Earth--including modern-day tech--is exactly the same otherwise (well, except for the pets/wild animals--those are also fantasy creatures). A very interesting and original concept, and a lot of potential there.

In this suburban fantasy universe, magic actually did use to exist--but it faded out over time when the creatures started inventing technology that negated the need for a lot of the natural magical abilities or magical spells that could be performed. And yes, that means that the fantasy creatures got too lazy to do anything magical (almost like WALL-E, except not taken even close to the extremes of that movie). Which... oddly feels fitting and appropriate for our times, if you take the obvious fantasy out of the equation.

The plot itself revolves around two elf siblings--Ian and Barley--voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, respectively. Ian, the more quiet and nervous one; and Barley, the enthusiastic RPG/quest-obsessed one. They're given the opportunity to meet their long-deceased dad through way of a temporary resurrection spell... but after it backfires halfway through, they're left with only the bottom half of their father. Cue a quest to go and find a magical MacGuffin to bring the rest of him back before time runs out and he's gone for good.

Overall, this is up there right alongside Coco among the best that Pixar has offered in almost the entire past decade. There's a great blend of comedy, action (some of which is also comedic), and the heart we've come to expect from Pixar--all put to the backdrop of one of their more inventive settings in a long time. (Yes, I know Inside Out exists, and that certainly was very inventive. But I wasn't as crazy about that movie as... well, almost everyone else.) And there's hardly any missed beats or missteps along the way. Some of the best parts include Barley getting accidentally shrunken and the hilarity from that, and a "battle" that ensues not too long after with some biker punk pixies. No, seriously. It has to be seen to be believed.

Beyond all that, despite the quest to get dad back, the heart of the movie rests heavily upon the relationship between the two brothers--which really works well. They're quite distinctive, but they play off each other quite well--which can probably be attributed in part to Holland and Pratt, the latter of whom is clearly having a lot of fun lending his voice here. But all of that builds up to a very strong ending, which--given the storyline of "will they get their dad back briefly or not"--could've easily missed the intended impact. But it sticks the landing near-perfectly. I don't think they could've done it any different and still had the heart-filled/emotional impact necessary for the intended resolution/takeaway. Knowing that a lot of the basic story background came from director Scanlon's own life, it's clear that a lot of this is close to home for him--and that perhaps makes it all the better, regardless of whether the viewer can relate or not.

Onward may still live somewhat in the shadow of some of Pixar's highest-acclaimed works, but this one shouldn't be overlooked. Even if it relies on a handful of story cliches, it uses a very unique setting and has some quite strong character moments and development. And it has plenty of laughs to go around, too. In other words, it actually is more or less what we've come to expect from Pixar. And once again, they're giving us another periodic reminder that they do still have some of their old selves left in the tank.

Dolittle

RATING: C-

NOTE: Well, obviously it has been quite a while since anything was posted here. Three guesses as to why! Yeah, literally nothing has been in theaters recently... and for a while, my free movie rental service by which I usually watch newly released movies on DVD (aka my local library) was closed thanks to you-know-what. But it's back, and therefore I'm back... at least for now.

Here is the third iteration/adaptation of the Dr. Dolittle series. Even if you weren't familiar with the books, you've probably at least heard of the more recent adaptations featuring Eddie Murphy, which were (allegedly) more loose adaptations. Even though the results and reception have been mixed across the various iterations, I guess the concept of an animal doctor that can talk to animals is appealing enough that they keep trying.

This version stars Robert Downey Jr in the lead role, in his first big post-Avengers role. And in this version, Dolittle's become a recluse after his wife died out at sea. But he is forcibly called back into action when Queen Victoria takes ill and he has to set out on a voyage to find the cure... at an island that has yet to be discovered. Oh, and he'll have a young apprentice along with him.

Normally, I wouldn't have an issue with RDJ playing this role; if one is wanting to emphasize the more peculiar traits of the character, it's quite a good casting. The problem is the bizarre accent he employs here. It works for the more comedic/outlandish moments, but not so much when he's trying to be serious--which is especially bizarre, since the original draft of this *was* apparently more serious before Universal interfered and forced them to throw in more humor to make it more kid-oriented.

Yes, with the level of studio interference at play here, this film was likely at least somewhat doomed from the start. But this isn't as awful as most of the reviews would lead one to believe. It actually is genuinely funny at times, and it does have a pretty good cast. RDJ does better here during the more comedic bits; besides RDJ, we have Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen (who is sadly rather wasted here), and Jim Broadbent in live roles, with the voices of Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, and a lot more. And the first two-thirds or so are generally just harmless--if forgettable--fun.

The problem is, the film's not particularly great either. Besides the issue of Downey's accent, we also have the issue of a weakly put together plot, as well as a villain with ridiculously petty motivations and an overuse of CGI. And the more lowbrow parts of the humor do fall rather flat--perhaps most egregiously a very forced joke about "Dolittle going doo-doo" (which he didn't, making it even more stupid). There's also a couple of unfortunately underused characters.

It's all capped off with a ridiculous final act where the final obstacle turns out to require Dolittle's doctor abilities... which would actually work and make sense in context, if what actually happened wasn't so gross (people who already viewed this know exactly what I'm talking about). By the way, they never really properly explain the MacGuffin they get afterwards that is the healing... uh... elixir?

Dolittle is ultimately another case of death by studio interference, as ironically the very things that they tried to add to "fix" it were the most criticized part of the whole thing. Would the original cut have been any better? Maybe not dramatically, but at least the final act wouldn't have happened the way it did, and then this thing might've been a lot more salvageable. What we got might be a little over-hated, but it's still a bit of a mess and a wasted opportunity.

Knives Out

RATING: B

The first thing that some of you may have learned about this movie was that it was directed by Rian Johnson. Your next reaction might have depended upon how much you loved or hated that one Star Wars movie--or not, if you also happen to be a fan of Looper. Regardless, that was probably this movie's biggest draw upon first glance--aside from the fact that it was a mystery "whodunit" *without any source material.* That's actually pretty impressive, since most murder mystery movies these days (which are a dying breed to begin with) draw from some kind of source material--most recently Agatha Christie in Kenneth Brannagh's rendition of Murder on the Orient Express.

This one also has a somewhat deliberately more comedic take on the genre, though the film doesn't tend to lose its seriousness along the way. And it firmly entrenches itself in the modern day in more ways than one--besides modern technology playing a role, phrases like "weaksauce" and "Instagram influencer" are thrown in for comedy, as well as occasionally a few random political buzzwords (also sometimes for comedy--or at least, attempting it).

The sleuth detective here is Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), whose defining characteristic is his bizarre and rather goofy accent that sounds like it's trying to mimic a Southern drawl--and not entirely succeeding. Actually, it's been argued that the main character here isn't the detective but instead Marta, Ana de Armas's character, who is stuck square in the middle of this mess.

Here, the "whodunit" centers around Christopher Plummer's character, who's found dead within the first two minutes (don't worry, we still get to see plenty of Plummer's acting via flashbacks). It's set to be ruled a suicide, but Blanc suspects foul play--and getting to the heart of the mystery will involve dealing with a rather stuck-up family that is left behind.

All in all, it's a pretty fun mystery with a side of comedy to it. It probably wouldn't be overly remarkable without the unique touches Rian Johnson adds to it, despite the decent twist ending. But once you get used to some of Blanc's odd behavior, he's pretty fun to watch. It helps a lot that the cast is strong, which includes Craig, Armas, Plummer, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, and Frank Oz. Besides Craig, Evans and Shannon are clearly enjoying themselves, and it definitely does help vault the film a bit. And as previously stated, the sometimes more light-hearted feel to it also helps.

The downsides to this movie mostly have to do with the family of the deceased. Really, aside from Blanc, Marta, and one fanboy detective who's clearly enjoying every minute of this, most of the characters are inherently unlikable. Actually, some of them aren't even really characters, but rather cliched caricatures--a few of them of a political nature. Of course, all of this is in part by design which helps excuse it a little. But there's a couple of scenes in particular that are a little annoying to sit through. For somewhat similar reasons, the final shots of the movie--which are supposed to come off as a silent statement--come across as a bit corny. On an entirely different note, the film is a little slow-paced at times during the early goings before the mystery really gets properly going.

Regardless, Knives Out is very much one of those small handful of non-indie movies of 2019 that is likely to be a brief of fresh air for the franchise/sequel-weary movie viewers. It's very much worth watching, especially if you're a fan of the genre. And if nothing else, the acting and humorous parts of the script ought to keep one from being bored.

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum

RATING: B

I've never been able to fully appreciate the first two John Wick movies as much as the average viewer. The first one felt too much like just a revenge shoot-em-up flick, albeit with some humorous twists and a dead dog instead of a dead wife/family. But that kind of thing just doesn't really interest me. The second one tried to expand on its predecessor, but aside from some admittedly pretty awesome hand-to-hand fights, it felt too much like more of the same--plus a couple of bizarre plot contrivances. And the series has never been nearly interested enough in the morality or soul of its protagonist--it's occasionally there, and perhaps more so than other films in this genre. But they're generally more interested in seeing how high of a body count Wick can rack up.

Still, the series has not been without its appeal. Chad Stahleski is superb at directing action scenes--the filming and editing is about as good as you'll ever see in the genre. And there's often a fair amount of humor from Wick's enemies discussing just how good of an assassin he is, and just how screwed they are as a result. So they've certainly been watchable, just nothing overall outstanding to me besides the fight choreography.

Anyway, when we last left super-assassin John Wick, he'd put himself into the unfortunate position of being excommunicated from the shadowy assassin underworld -- and thus had a *huge* price on his head, one that literally everyone else in this underworld was willing to take advantage of. Thus ensues two hours of killing.

But you know what? I enjoyed myself a lot more with this installment than I did the prior two. For one thing, this isn't a kill-em-all revenge flick, nor is it a convoluted follow-up which doesn't break enough new territory for our protagonist. Here, Wick is just trying to survive in a world where--at the moment--basically everyone wants to kill him. Of course, this is due to his actions at the end of Part 2, but unlike that chapter, this one emphasizes a bit more the whole "actions have consequences" thing. And a big part of this is the questions of "what is he living for," and "what sort of man does he want to die as?"

Granted, this stuff may not be at the forefront of the picture, but just bringing in more of this kind of substance really does make a lot of difference. Chapter 2 missed a lot of good opportunities for that, but in hindsight, I feel like they were just trying to set up this movie. And the result is... surprisingly good.

Somehow I haven't even really talked about the action yet. They hardly waste any time jumping into matters. In this movie, we see John Wick fight somebody with a book, engage ninjas with excessive use of throwing knives, and take on motorcycle drivers with knives while riding a horse. And that's just in the first 30 minutes!

But really, so much of the action in this thing is actually quite fun to watch. For one thing, instead of just a ton of headshots with the occasional knife/hand-to-hand combat, the combat in this movie is a lot more diversified. They give us a lot more various types of fights, and with one exception, none of them feel like they drag on.

What also helps is the atmosphere created by the movie--whether it's the wonderfully foreboding soundtrack, or the lighting of New York at night, or the screensaver-color-heavy lounge used as a battle ground near the end, the setting for so much of this is so well done. Chad Stahleski has always directed these movies well, but this is definitely his best job yet.

The final act is also easily the best in this series yet as well. Here, we get to watch John Wick fight two ninjas and then their master afterwards--for *20-25 straight minutes in total.* You'd think it would drag going on for that long, but it really doesn't. It's so frenetically paced and well choreographed it's difficult to not enjoy. This is probably the highlight fight and set piece of the movie.

After all these ways in which this movie improves over its predecessors, one might wonder what is actually wrong with it. Well, not really a grand deal. A few times the violence gets a bit gratuitous even by this franchise's standards. Oddly, Halle Berry's character is billed in marketing and in the cast as a major character, but she disappears midway through and is never seen again--kind of a waste. And a couple of the detours that are taken along the journey are a bit uninteresting. And in some ways, this movie still does kind of sit in the shadow of its predecessors--which, as I've demonstrated, aren't as appealing to me as to the average viewer. But hey, at least they improved on this one.

So ultimately, this is definitely the best film in the series thus far. In some ways, it may still be just a bit of a killing gallery movie, but with the setting behind it being different this time and there actually being a bit more substance to it this time, it's much closer to being the movie this series should have given us all along. Fans of this type of movie will have an absolute field day. Whether they can keep up this momentum and style for Chapter 4 remains to be seen.

Men in Black: International

RATING: C+

Here's another 2019 movie franchise follow-up that didn't necessarily need to happen: a Men in Black "spin-off," of sorts. While I wouldn't necessarily have been completely opposed to another MIB movie with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, apparently they're too expensive now (or Smith is, at least--he sat out Independence Day 2 for the same reason). So instead we end up taking the focus to the British branch of MIB, where this time our leads are... Thor and Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnarok.

Despite the fact that this is still kind of an attempted cash grab (which failed), it's not a concept without promise. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson leading the way, who already have good chemistry with each other, at the London division of MIB, with Liam Neeson added in? Surely they couldn't screw that up, right?

Well, they don't necessarily screw it up--but it still does fall short of its potential. Much of the problems revolve around some of the same issues from prior movies. Here's the thing about MIB movies: you probably barely remember the actual plots or bad guys from any of them. The central conflict has never been something that stood out about these movies (except *maybe* the third one). It was always the setting and the two juggernaut leads riffing off each other that worked, as well as some of the humor (though that could be hit-or-miss too at times).

That's all more or less par for the course here. This time, we're dealing with a new alien species called the Hive that could destroy the world. Agent H (Hemsworth) and High T (Neeson) stopped them years ago, but they may be coming back--if the appearance of two powerful energy beings with Hive mutations is any indication. And guess what? There's another ultimate weapon in the equation. Oh yeah, and there may be a mole in the MIB organization as well--that's something new, I guess.

The final result is one that isn't always comprehensible but is still entertaining at times. There's a couple good action scenes--the highlight is probably the extended sequence on Rebecca Ferguson's arms dealer island. There's some funny moments here and there as well. And Hemsworth and Thompson do play well off each other, even if they could've been given better material to work with. Liam Neeson's presence is always welcome as well.

Aside from the occasionally head-scratching plot, there's nothing inherently bad about this--certainly nothing as bad as Men in Black 2's lowest points (even with a few eye-rolling lines in the script). The issue is that there's not much to write home about either. The movie tries to stand out in its franchise, but at its core it's still generally the same old Men in Black with different leads. And all things considered... that's not a bad thing, but that's not good enough to make it stand out either.

Still, it's a generally harmless pastime of a movie that one might be okay with if they've liked the previous movies as a whole. It's not going to blow anyone away and many will probably be wishing that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were still here. And they do have a point. This isn't really a movie that needed to exist. But it's not the worst the franchise has to offer either.

Ad Astra

RATING: B+

There's always a few unexpected hits in the movie world per year (or maybe less, depending on the year). The "unexpected" factor is especially true in a world of sequels, reboots and spin-offs where most of the originality comes from already-made source material rather than 100% original ideas. Ad Astra is kind of one of those--at least in that it came out of nowhere after multiple release delays and was met with heavy critical acclaim. The audience response--and box office turnout--wasn't so enthusiastic, so at this point it's been probably already almost forgotten by the average person.

Taking place an unclear amount of time in the future, this is a more cerebral sci-fi movie--but still with some degree of adventure to it. While it could be compared to Interstellar, it does seem a little more like a couple of those "action scenes" were tacked on mostly so people wouldn't fall asleep. It does help with that, but the movie doesn't really feel that boring even though it does take on a naturally slow pace.

Anyway, in this more cerebral sci-fi movie, Earth is being threatened by a catastrophe--from millions of miles away in outer space out at Neptune from a space-exploration project gone awry. So Brad Pitt's character, Roy (the heavy focus here), sets out/is sent out into outer space to find the person responsible manning the project--his long-lost father.

There's a couple different major aspects to this movie. First, there's the space travel journey in of itself. This is all done very well, as we are given a mostly-realistic depiction of things out there. And the visuals for much of what we see there are generally excellent. There's an extended sequence on the Moon that has some excellent background shots, and a lot of the exterior scenes at Neptune look terrific as well.

Then there's the character aspect--because besides the sci-fi aspect, this is more of a character study. To a degree, perhaps too much so, because sometimes the narrative itself gets a little lost in the shuffle. Still, it does prove intriguing, as we see Brad Pitt portray what is essentially a cold emotionless robot of a human being (as is pretty much required in space, apparently). We also get a lot of narration/inner dialogue from Roy, and it's here where Pitt seems to shine best in his line readings. He captures quite well the cold and melancholy side of the character.

Actually, melancholy and introspective-ness is something this film captures quite well. The soundtrack helps a lot with that. There's one extended sequence in particular which stands out as the highlight of the movie when Roy has to make the final leg of his journey to Neptune--a 79-day one, completely alone (due to various circumstances). The movie superbly captures the feeling of solitude amidst the vastness of space with the visuals as well as Pitt's performance and dialogue.

Still, amidst the movie's ambition, it does miss the mark in a few regards. As previously stated, it sometimes gets so engrossed in its character study and vision that the narrative itself gets a little lost in the shuffle. Besides Roy and his father, other characters whom are played by some respected actors/actresses (namely Donald Sutherland) are all too one-note and cast aside too quickly.

There's also a couple of wasted opportunities in the narrative that result from tunnel vision on Roy's character. There's his father Clifford, played by Tommy Lee Jones. Despite the presence he has throughout the movie, we hardly see him until the very end. And while he (narrowly) escapes being an afterthought, his character in particular deserved more focus. He plays a big role in the background, but there's not nearly enough light shed on him or what made him the way he is by the film's end. Elsewhere, we get shown a fully established Moon base--which unfortunately has brought the ills of humanity along with it. This should've had some a little more focus as well.

While Ad Astra is ultimately a quite well done thinking man's science fiction movie, it doesn't quite reach the heights of its ambition. That's perhaps in part because it gets a little too narrowly focused at times. Nevertheless, it's still a well made movie and one that's certainly worth the watching. It should particularly appeal to those who appreciate genres like sci-fi or adventure but are franchise-weary. It's not masterpiece-level, but it's probably one of the better original works you'll watch all year.

Abominable

RATING: B+

Dreamworks Animation has seriously fallen apart in recent years. Bizarrely enough, some of their sequels have been their best features, while the original films have been alarmingly below average -- both for them and for the computer-animated genre in general. Whilst getting good installments in the Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon series, we've also been given fodder such as Home, Trolls, and the dumpster fire that was The Boss Baby. This is their first original feature since the latter (also Captain Underpants--yeah, that was a thing).

This one takes place out in China, where a girl named Yi (Chloe Bennet from Agents of SHIELD) discovers a yeti out on her apartment roof. As it turns out, this yeti has escaped from a businessman's compound--and the guy (Eddie Izzard) wants him back. Thus begins a story of what starts out initially as How to Train Your Yeti, but then turns into a plot similar to Home as Yi and her two friends help get the yeti back to his home.

Despite the comparison to Home, this movie is way better. In fact, this is the best Dreamworks Animation non-sequel/spin-off in a long time (since Rise of the Guardians and Megamind). It's far more accessible than the likes of Home or Boss Baby, which felt way too kid-oriented. Yeah, this one's kid-oriented too--but it doesn't feel dumbed down, or feel only accessible to five-year-olds. This one actually has some proper heart to it, and the humor is actually funny and not cringe-worthy (unless you hate slapstick). Not to mention that a lot of the animation is gorgeous.

The characters in this are actually generally likable, and the yeti in question does endear himself fairly quick. And while the plot doesn't really break much new ground, they do pull a little bit of an "unexpected villain" twist on us. Even the soundtrack is fairly good--and that includes the occasional pop numbers they throw in, normally one of the cringe-worthy aspects of modern movies that is actually used decently here (not to mention Coldplay's "Fix You" being thrown in a good spot). So many of the problems that have plagued other Dreamworks movies in recent years or even just other computer-animated films in general are virtually nonexistent here.

Probably the biggest issue here is the yeti's magical powers that he turns out to have -- and the lack of explanation regarding them. Maybe there's some mythology regarding yetis that I'm missing out on, but it wouldn't have hurt them to explain it anyway. The problem is the insane variance these powers have. He can control the weather, but can also create a leaf whirlwind or make a dandelion turn into a makeshift hang glider... or make blueberries spontaneously grow from nothing to dangerous sizes. As you can see, sometimes some of these powers showcased are absurd. And the fact that they don't bother to explain any of it can be frustrating.

What's also notable is how sentient the non-speaking yeti quickly becomes--at first, when he sees humans, he's of course like "What is this?" and doesn't understand them. But by the halfway point of the movie, he seems to understand much of what his new human friends say. Without much explanation as to how he picked up on their language so quickly.

Aside from the occasionally frustrating plot conveniences of the yeti, there's not much to dislike here. Some might wish the plot was more original, but the movie plays the formula just fine. And even if this movie doesn't reach the category of outstanding, it doesn't give you much reason to not like it either. Abominable is an unexpected return to form for Dreamworks. Unfortunately, with sequels on the way like Trolls World Tour and Boss Baby 2, it's unlikely to last.

Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw

RATING: C

Remember when this series was about car racing? I'm not even sure Universal does anymore. We've seen this series evolve from street racing to the most ridiculous, over-the-top action franchise in existence that's been finding crazy ways to use cars or other automobiles in normal action scenes, even when it's totally impractical, as well as utilizing impossible stunts. They've gotten by due to some star power that's only increased over time, and the bits of the action that actually are entertaining. And now... we get the first spin-off in the series. Because Universal is desperate to hop on the "cinematic universe" train, and the "Dark Universe" failed after just one movie.

The concept of this movie isn't inherently bad. It wants to take the best thing of the last F&F movie--the frenemy-ship between The Rock and Jason Statham's characters--and make a buddy cop movie out of it. Not the worst idea, because they're both good action stars (who are unfortunately usually stuck in below-average movies) and they have good chemistry.

The problem is, it takes the high-tech espionage of the last 2-3 movies and ramps it up to eleven, taking the franchise straight into sci-fi territory of all things. Maybe they decided to embrace the fact that these movies are scarcely grounded in reality?

Well anyway, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw are called in to help stop Idris Elba, who's playing a bio-warfare terrorist--who is also a human-machine hybrid. Yes, seriously. He's bulletproof, and he has some kind of computer network in his brain that allows him to anticipate fight moves before they arrive. He even calls himself "black Superman." So now, despite being completely outmatched, Hobbs and Shaw must somehow defeat this guy with the help of Deckard's sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby)--who we've never met or heard of before because... reasons.

This movie rides a fine line between being silly popcorn action and being all too over-the-top to enjoy. There's definitely some fun action here--a car/motorcycle chase midway through is a standout. And a lot of the fisticuffs scenes are enjoyable as well. The partial problem is the sci-fi plot that doesn't feel like it belongs in this kind of movie. It doesn't help that there's vague allusions to a prior series villain being involved behind the scenes here, which only serves to make the franchise further convoluted.

But the bigger problem is a lot of the ridiculous writing and dialogue. Because that's often just as over-the-top, if not more. There are a lot of forced attempts at humor that fall flat on their faces. There are some funny moments, but several of them aren't directly from the dialogue (a hilarious retinal scan scene comes to mind). There's also the inclusion of Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart; the former's presence here is just annoying, and it feels like David Leitch is trying too hard to cash in on Deadpool there. Hart is okay, but it doesn't really feel like he needs to be here--essentially a pointless cameo.

Besides the occasionally good action and the isolated humorous moments, what does work is the acting--even if a lot of the lines they're saying are ridiculous. Surprisingly, The Rock doesn't seem as invested as usual this time. But Statham is definitely enjoying himself, as is Idris Elba. Vanessa Kirby--who you might recognize from Mission: Impossible 6--is also a great female lead, continuing to show her ability with facial expressions. Eiza Gonzalez also makes the most of her limited screentime. Some will enjoy Helen Mirren in her few minutes of time as well, although it feels like she's mostly there for the paycheck.

Hobbs and Shaw does unfortunately fall short of its potential. Granted, that ceiling wasn't high to begin with, but with a leading duo like this with decent chemistry, it certainly could've been better. But it's brought down by ridiculous writing. And not to mention the direction of the plot, which I imagine isn't a good sign for the franchise. Guess the Fast & Furious franchise going to space is inevitable at this point. Anyway, if you want your fix of The Rock and Statham together, you should probably just stick with Fate of the Furious--that movie's more enjoyable anyway (as far as that goes for a F&F movie, that is).