Tag Archives: movie review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review

Alright team, it is movie review time as I saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 yesterday. Now, I know it is important when providing feedback on things to start by pointing out the positives. But I can’t. At least I am struggling to think of anything good in this 2.5 hour train-wreck of film. Well, I enjoyed the popcorn, so there is that.

What was wrong with Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 – everything. From the lack of plot to the terrible acting to the extraordinary length, this film was a slog.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 movie poster; image from the internet.

Let’s start with the story, which is really what the developers should have done. Ostensibly, this is the backstory of Rocket. Normally I like first movies because they cover this information. I quite like a good backstory. Unfortunately this movie did not add any additional information that we hadn’t already learned from meeting Rocket in other movies. We always knew he was a racoon that had been cruelly experimented on. We already knew he was smart. We already knew he had trust issues, but was still capable of forming friendship bonds – he was tightly tied to Groot. Sure this story added some more experimented animals to befriend Rocket when he was young, then killed them tragically. But this did not expand on our understanding of Rocket’s character.

As many people have pointed out, a good superhero movie is defined and supported by its villain. There is nothing like a really good villain to unite the audience into rooting for the good guys. Unfortunately, this was not a good villain. In fact, I can’t remember their name and I refuse to bother searching it up. The villain was a mess. Their goal was to create the perfect Utopian society. But why? The villain’s motivations were not explained. He was just some random bio-engineer designed to make us afraid of genetic manipulations? Despite being a dictator-like leader, he still had a plethora of followers. I suppose most of them had been the results of previous, undefined experiments.

So, with no interesting plot and a forgettable villain I might have passed this movie with ambivalence and boredom. But then they had a scene that had the villain doing evil science by rapidly “evolving” Earth animals into “higher” life forms. I am puzzled and frustrated that the evolved forms were always humanoid in appearance. This is a self-indulgent, arrogant and completely erroneous way to look at or discuss evolution. It annoyed me. And if this was done to save on budget, then I am still annoyed at the creatively lazy approach to story development.

The characters seemed flat compared to the last time I saw them in their own movie. Their dialogue was filled with what should have been playful banter and amusing quips. I confess I do like a good amount of banter and one-line quips. This dialogue was just irritating. It was like listening to a class of grade 8 students – the epitome of annoying. They were not funny. They were not informative. They did not evolve as characters.

Also, this movie threw in characters that I don’t remember seeing before with nearly zero introduction. Honestly, who was the talking, telekinetic dog? Which brings me to the other frustration I had with the storytelling – constant references (without explanation) to past events. I have seen all three Guardian movies, but there were things mentioned that I didn’t know what they were talking about. I also saw all the Avenger movies and I was still baffled. Half explanations and “hey do you remember when” moments did not alleviate my sense of confusion. Yes, these movies are connected in a series and a larger world, but they need to work harder to make new viewers (or forgetful old ones) feel welcomed into the story. This movie failed and mostly made me feel like I was missing a lot of story.

Picture from the Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 movie – image from the internet.

Bloated with bum-numbingly long fight scenes, music I could not connect with and really obvious stupid moments, I actively did not like this movie. The plot should have been scrapped from the beginning – there was nothing fun or adventuresome about the checklist of scenes weakly tied together. I mean the characters had to regularly remind themselves of their own mission goals – which accounted for 70% of the dialogue. In conclusion, I would give this film 0 (zero) stars out of 5. It annoyed me and was not worth the 2.5 hours of my life when I could have been doing anything else, like cleaning the house.

The Glass Onion

Leave a reply

I confess, I am late in writing my review of the Glass Onion. See, I saw the movie (in theaters) in November, but that was also the month I participated in Nanowrimo and I got sick. It was a busy month, so here I am quite late but still wanting to share my opinion of the movie: It was Great!

This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Edward Norton, Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, and Daniel Craig in a scene from “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” (Netflix via AP)

I really enjoyed Knives Out. It wasn’t perfect – but nothing ever is. There were some distinct flaws to Knives Out, but I liked that old-time murder mystery feel to it. It was like an Agatha Christie mystery, but new and modern. One of my biggest complaints about Knives Out was that it had an amazing caste of characters, but ditched them about half way through the film. This is one area I think the sequel did better.

The Glass Onion has an amazing caste of characters and actors to portray them. And this time, all the key characters get lots of screen time. This made the Glass Onion so much better than Knives Out. By far the best of them is Janelle Monae – she gives the most amazing performance. And since I really don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of the film, I wont say anymore – but gosh she was brilliant!

Really, Knives Out was the better movie title. The Glass Onion sounds silly to me.

While it is true that Danial Craig’s southern accent for Benoit Blanc wavers in and out, he still plays the detective quite well. Benoit has all the self-confidence of a classic, world-famous detective. He can even back up some of his boasting with the ability to notice details.

It was also really interesting watching a movie that so clearly referenced the pandemic and some of the impacts it had on society. In fact there are a number of modern issues that run though this movie placing it nicely in current times, while still having a classical flare to the filming and script. It was really well done and easily deserves 4.5 stars out of 5 (because I am feeling slightly too stingy to give out perfect scores!).

Oh, so what is the plot of the Glass Onion? Well, I don’t really want to give too much away. But it follows a group of old friends, from different walks of life, getting together for a weekend on a private island. It is a murder mystery – so death is involved. Really, for more information, you should watch the movie. I know I am definitely going to see it again!

Top Gun: Maverick – Movie Review

Leave a reply

It has been months since I have been to a movie – in the cinema. But the other day I went to see Top Gun Maverick. If you like the original Top Gun movie, then I think you will love this sequel. It is everything that you think of when you hear the words Top Gun – military uniforms, cocky pilots, fast motorcycles and even faster airplanes.

Overall, I would say that Top Gun Maverick was better than I expected. But not as good as I would hope.

Top Gun Maverick – image from the internet.

I liked the secondary focus on the relationships between Pete (Tom Cruise) and the other characters (fast planes will always be the primary focus). In many ways I liked that the ‘villain’ was a nondescript insulation in a nearly impossible to reach location that needed to be exploded with a high degree of precision. There was an elegance to the simplicity of the objective.

But as a selfish viewer, I really wanted more.

Tom Cruise was either smiling or emotional – where emotion equates to quick bursts of anger or sadness. These were really his only two modes of existence and fortunately for movie goers, smiling was the more prevalent of his expressions. He was a man in motion, running, motorcycle riding or flying. Which means there was little time left for deeper character exploration.

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

And that is what I would like to have seen. Development of the other characters. There were a lot of them. And the important ones are all recognized by single attributes:

the girl pilot,
the nerdy navigator,
the black American pilot,
the Asian navigator,
the cocky-arrogant young pilot (to differentiate from the old Top Gun crew),
the black supporting guy – who must have been a personal aid to Tom Cruise cause he showed up everywhere,
the angry old admiral,
the angry younger admiral,
and the love interest woman.

I know speeding fighter planes are going to feature dominantly in the movie, but they could have cut back on some of the cockpit moments of heavy breathing to build some characterization through conversation between the other pilots. I am pretty confident it would have improved the film. I certainly would have enjoyed a slightly more complex plot.

Top Gun Maverick movie poster – image from the internet.

Maverick does a great job of feeling nostalgic. The opening immediately harkens back to the classic scenes and images from the first Top Gun. Even the music is a link back to Top Gun. The new generation of pilots feel like modern analogues to the original cast – though this is more supposition than fact since I don’t really remember the original movie very well. The motorcycle is still there, the sunset shots of airplane landings and takeoffs still look good on the big screen. And some of the original cast have cameos in this sequel.

Like I said at the start, if you are a fan of Top Gun, then I think you are going to love Maverick. It delivers on its promise of fast planes, Tom Cruises’ smile and a hurrah ending.

Free Guy – Movie Review

Leave a reply

In celebration of a loosening of the COVID restrictions, I have been to the movies. The most recent movie I saw was Free Guy. This is the movie with Ryan Reynolds, Jody Comer, Lil Rel Howery and Joe Keery. There were also a number of cameos by other actors, like Alex Trebek, Chris Evans, Channing Tatum and others – some of which I missed.

My spoiler free summary of the movie: I expected it to be either terribly bad or terribly stupid, but was surprised when it was actually a fun and funny movie. I liked it! I think it is my favourite movie this summer!

The following is a slightly more complete reflection, with some spoilers…

Guy and Buddy, best friends and NPCs walking down the street of Free City and enjoying their coffee. A wildly dangerous place to live. (Image from the internet)

Ryan Reynolds plays the titular character Guy. Guy is a NPC (non-playable character) in a video game called Free City. Essentially, Guy is a background character on a fixed loop of actions. He wakes up, talks to his goldfish, gets his coffee and goes to his job as a teller at the bank.

In this open-world video game, players are generally the villains – or heroes in their own minds. They rob banks and stores on a regular basis. They steal cars, knock out people and blow up buildings. They are your typical player in a game where there are zero real world consequences for their in game behaviour.

Of course, things are a bit different from the perspective of the NPCs. They are caught in their usual loops of actions. For example, during a bank robbery, all the NPCs capitulate without question. Buddy, Guy’s best friend and Bank security guard, never fights back. He drops his gun at the first sign of trouble and joins Guy on the floor. This cycle continues for Guy until one day he meets the player Molotov Girl (aka Millie). Seeing her triggers something, a change in his programming that causes Guy to veer off script.

Millie (aka Molotov Girl – in game) and Keys, living in the ‘real world’ and working as computer programmers. (Image from the internet)

But the story is not limited to the actions within the video game. We are introduced to some of the players and the media world they occupy too. I was impressed with the switch between “in game” and “real world” story telling. There was a lot of different aspects of modern life brought into the storytelling of this movie. The visual shift between the two worlds was nicely done. And the connections with the story were well organized. The plot about a corrupt owner of a popular (but bland) video game company wove in well with the idea of successful AI and stolen code. The plot used just enough jargon to sound vaguely real, but explained enough that someone with no gaming background could follow along. And the AI wasn’t evil and out to destroy all humanity. The AI was nice and just wanted to do its own thing – so relatable to our everyday life.

I loved Guy. Really Reynolds did an excellent job making the character so likeable. It was wonderful to see that Guy’s method for leveling up was generally non-violent. He was just trying to do good. And he approached this goal with the idea of minimal violence and nothing permanently damaging (or tried to). It was a nice change from the pirate blimps machine gunning the streets in the background.

Speaking of background. I totally want to watch this movie again just to pay more attention to the crazy work going on in the background. There is always something insane happening – usually because of the game players. Cars are exploding, fighter jets are zooming through the skies, it is an endless flow of weird and generally violent actions that I sometimes failed to notice because I was focused on the primary plot. They did an awesome job making the background and characters interesting!

Movie Poster for Free Guy – image from the internet.

Really, Free Guy was just a great, straightforward, fun story. The actors sold the characters really well. It looked like it would have been a blast of a movie to work on. And it was not part of a franchise, not a sequel and not a remake. All of this has pushed Free Guy to the top of my summer movie list – full five stars (out of five)!

Captain Marvel – Movie Review

Leave a reply

I really wanted to like this movie. Despite my best efforts to temper my expectations, I was still hopeful – unreasonably so. I will not go so far to say that Captain Marvel was a bad movie, but it was lackluster. It was missing the punchy colour and world building that went into Black Panther and sadly, unlike Wonder Woman, I found Captain Marvel largely lacking the ability to engage the audience.

Charismatic Wonder woman on the left and flat Captain Marvel on the right. Both of their superhero names are kind of dumb (personal opinion only). Image from the internet.

I wanted to say how I thought that Captain Marvel was missing a personality and any decent characterization. I still think this is true, but I have been reminded by friends that most superheroes are pretty flat. They have a good point. Thor and Captain America – particularly in their first movies – were rather drab as characters. They did not emote a great day, being all bushed with warrior stoicism that we attribute to epic heroes. So, really it comes back to my foolish hope for something more. Because I certainly don’t think it would have take much to make some huge improvements to the movie.

For a better Captain Marvel, I would only tweak the script enough to give more dialogue and character development to the principal leads and supporting cast. Something I strongly feel should have been done as there really is a rather small cast on this film and small cast means we should know them better.

I love the fists of flames. And the blowing hair. Image from the internet.

Starting at the begging, please give Vers more of hook than occasionally emotional. Also, if she is going to be the joker on the team, the reactions of the others should reflect this role. Not only do they fail to make interesting the alien homeworld where we first meet Vers, the also fail to explain who the Kree are. Now, I am not an expert in superheros. I have never read a Captain Marvel story and I come to this movie largely ignorant. So, please, take a few minutes to lay the framework for the plot. Who is this collection of various aliens, spread across the galaxy with incredible tech and an AI overlord/god? What is interesting, unique or quirky about them? What do they stand for? Are they a melting pot of alien cultures? Doe something with these first few minutes beyond a generic hand-to-hand training room and public transit railcar.

[Note: I have since learned the Kree are not a melting pot of different alien races, rather they show some variation in their appearance. I wish this had been noted in the movie.]

Team shot! But who are these colleagues? I couldn’t name one of them. Not good since they were both friends and enemies of Vers. Image from the internet.

When Vers goes to join her team for that first mission, I cannot tell if this is her first mission ever or if she has worked with these people on many prior occasions. I almost wonder if the writers know this information, because the reactions of the rest of her team should be either to welcome/tease the newbie or role their eyes at her regular antics. There should be either feel that Vers is just joining a group of strangers, or that they have a longer (6 year even) history of working together. If the latter is more true, then some of these teammates should demonstrate this history through their comments and actions. There should be passing references to previous missions, or inside jokes that develop between friends. Some of the team can hate or dislike Vers, but some should be friendly. Also, their names should be far clearer. Coming out of the film, I couldn’t name anyone of Vers’ Kree team that I think she worked with for at least part of her 6 years with them. This would certainly make the twist at the end more impactful.

She was the mother of Captain Marvel, in a sense. Mar-Vell helped to shape Carrol Danvers into the superhero she became. Image from the internet.

I really liked the pre-2000 time setting. I thought the jokes about slow and simple tech cute. While I would like to have seen more for this time, though I am not actually certain what they could have done differently. I thought they did a great job with Nick Fury – one of the highlights of the movie. I also thought that the impeding of Vers’ powers until the end was notably well done. I understand that Captain Marvel can easily be overly powerful, so their use of her fire-blasting hands and military training to kick butt and still be at risk was a good balance.

While I will always argue that more time should be spent on dialogue and character development and far less time should be spent on fight scenes, there were some moments of visual interest. One that stood out was the early fight with the old lady on the train. I liked that the bystanders worked to stop Vers – I would have loved to see them have an even faster, stronger reaction, but the scene ended in a pretty good manner. I guess, that is something I would have liked to explore, the cultural differences between life on the Kree homeworld and Vers’ return to earth. After all, she is missing her memories, so she wouldn’t know or understand things. They had a moment or two of this, but there could have been greater humour derived from these social misunderstandings.

There were good points in the Captain Marvel film. Not knowing anything about the comics, I would not change the arc of the plot. But certainly, this film needed stronger characterization of not just Captain Marvel, but also her friends/enemies too. With the notable exception of Fury, everyone else needed some character work. Oh, and I don’t like the explanation of the eye. That was better left to the imagination as mystery is more powerful than explanation. In the end the movie was fine, feeling more like a middle chapter in a longer narrative and over missing the engaging hook to make it stand out from the rest of the Superhero Movies.

Some of the key players from Captain Marvel. Image from the internet.

Movie Review – Ocean’s 8

Leave a reply

Yes, I realize I am very late coming to this party, but ages after the film released to video I have finally gotten around to watching it. There was a combination of factors that resulted in me seeing Ocean’s 8 some eight months after its launch. On one hand life got in the way. But also, the first reviews I heard were pretty lackluster. And I can see why.

*Note: This review is filled with spoilers.

First, let me say I am a huge fan of the 2001 version of Ocean’s 11. I love nearly everything about the movie that I had no expectations for. I loved the heist. I loved the acting and in particular the way it was filmed. There was a great cohesion of costume choices, music, props and stage layout that really worked seamlessly together to create a great environment for the story. Everything worked together, so it felt unified and purposeful in design.

There are also some very classic scenes that stylistically are so interesting. For example, there is one scene with Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) sitting in a bar. Danny is talking about the numbers of his crew for the heist and whether they need one more person. Rusty is flopped over the counter of the bar, with a glass of alcohol in one hand. The only reaction from Rusty in the entire scene is when he blinks his eyes. The interaction of these two characters suggests a history that monologues of words couldn’t convey in the same elegant fashion. It is these moments of quiet, mixed in with moments of banter and action that really add to the pacing.

While, Ocean’s 12 was not as much a favourite for me, I have come to greatly appreciate the experimentation that it took. Unfortunately, Ocean’s 13 demonstrated the film-makers didn’t really know what had caused 11 to be so successful (strong plot and excellent filming!) and as a result we get something that is watered-down and mostly boring. This is one of the biggest failings of Ocean’s 8. It is a paler version of a great movie. Here the film-makers knew that having one great heist with a twist was central. But they missed all the other stuff that elevated Ocean’s 11 into greatness.

I like the all female cast. I even like the basic premise of the heist. And the costumes, particularly for the MET gala were pretty awesome too. Unfortunately, the plot was shallow, the characters were one dimensional and the twist at the end was not cleaver so much as a cheat. If I was to describe the film in one word, it would like be: Flat. Everything was pretty boring, which is a shame when you have such a talented caste. The actors did not shine in this film, where the most interesting character is the Fence/Stay-at-home Mom, Tammy (Sarah Paulson). Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) and Lou (Cate Blanchett) did not have great chemistry. They felt more like strangers than long time friends that understand how the other works. I know there is not enough time to develop every character in the crew, but surely they could have done more with Debbie and Lou.

The heist could have been interesting, but it wasn’t. There was never any real sense that things could go wrong. With a lack of stakes, it was difficult to become emotionally engaged. There was a lack of set up, which meant the big final twist was so unexpected I really felt cheated in the process. One of the great things about Ocean’s 11 is re-watching the movie knowing how the ending works. Doing this you can see all the little signs and clues of how things are really going to work. The first time you watch the heist, you are following the characters with great interest and anticipation. You think you know what is going on, you believe you are watching the heist play out. And when it looks like they are going to be caught – well, you are nervous as you should be. When the twist is revealed, you can look back over all those previous scenes and see how it fits together. This was cleaver filming and story telling. Unfortunately, Ocean’s 8 was not cleaver. It was bland. Roping in a character you never heard about in this film, to pull off a stunt that the characters expressly said they were not going to do – it was cheating, not smart story telling. Other’s may have thought it was cute to have the return of Yen (Shaobo Qin), but I thought it was disjointed. Two reasons, one Debbie makes a point of turning down men for this job. And two, it was like they were trying too hard to connect back with Ocean’s 11 instead of doing their own thing.

Also, the pacing felt off. Partly because you think you know when the ending is going to strike but then it keeps going. In concept, I don’t mind pushing the actual ending back further, but then de-escalate the importance of the heist. I also would have loved to see more of a set up with Claude Becker (Richard Armitage). This could have been way tenser if he seemed to be catching onto Debbie’s plan. Also, her revenge streak felt a little contrived. The writers needed to flesh out that plot line in more detail. They also should have show how much of a player/con Claude was throughout the film. Using him properly, they really could have upped the stakes during the heist.

I liked Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) being in on the plot. I even like the idea that most of the crew would have no idea she was part of it. But I would have had her in from the beginning – because I can see how this could played for a good laugh. I think the most frustrating aspect of Ocean’s 8 is how they squandered what could have been a really good movie. They had some descent ideas, a fantastic caste and some wonderful costumes. They lacked depth of character, a unified presentation (in visual and musical design) and an intelligently filmed heist. I wished it was better, I wanted it to better. In the end it is a fine movie to watch on a plane or an evening when there is nothing else to do.

Movie Review – Mary Poppins Returns

Leave a reply

I confess this is being written far later than I intended. I was able to watch Mary Poppins Returns over the holiday. I enjoyed the experience. It was a nice to sit numbly for the 2 hours that I was in the theatre. But alas, it does not come close to replacing the original Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews.

First, I think it is important to point out some of the good things about the film. The animation was very pretty. The choreography was well done to my untrained eye. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt were fun to watch. The guest appearances by Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury were cute. (I was not so sold on Meryl Streep’s character.) There were also several catchy songs – most notably the bathtub song: “Can you imagine that?”.

Now onto a few of my disappointments. This was not a proper sequel. Yes, it had the Banks children grown up, but it was trying to follow the same plot line as the original movie only less well done. It was so like the original in pacing, design, layout, song type … that it felt more like a remake than a sequel.

In fact, Mary Poppins Returns spent so much time referencing the original film, I am surprised anyone of a younger generation who didn’t grow up with Julie Andrews likes the movie at all. Nearly every scene, song, and design choice was a direct “hey-do-you-remember-this-from-Mary-Poppins”. It was very paint by numbers and because of that, it felt shallow, disconnected and ultimately unsatisfying.

If the writers were set on doing a sequel with the Banks children then they really needed to come up with a more original issue. Having Michael Banks, a creative artist with his head in the clouds, try to pull off being too serious like his father was utterly unconvincing. In fact, Michael Banks was the least successful character in the film.

The easiest fix, would have been to follow a different family. This way, the paint-by-numbers format, where every song and scene in MP Returns mirrored the original MP would have felt less creatively flat. As it stands I wonder at all the work that went into producing a film that was a paler reflection of the original source material.

You can see how much more frivolous Emily Blunt’s Mary Poppins is compared with the portrayal of Mary Poppins by Julie Andrews.

However, a different family, even if they still lived on the same street would have added just enough variation that the thin plot would have worked. To improve the movie and really appeal to the audience, I would have loved to see the writers go beyond a regurgitation of old material.

It would have been wonderful to have a fully realized and relatable problem facing this new family. MP Returns didn’t have a strong problem to solve, so all the characters, both the good and the bad felt weak and washed out. They could have then themed all the songs and scenes around this new and original issue. In stead have having a collection of disjointed musical numbers. Also, the writer should explore an issue other than the idea we should all have a little more fun in our lives and be more like children. It is an overdone concept and this film did not pull it off successfully. But they could have worked with kindness, honesty, truth, perspective, oh, any number of different themes.

Rather than trying to constrain Mary Poppins to a few familiar lines from the original movie, I would love to have seen greater development of her character. At least better dialogue. There were too many instances when what she said didn’t really make sense. I suppose she needed to be less focused on sounding like and enigma and more time sounding like a wise nanny – which in theory she is supposed to be.

In the end I would give the movie 2.5 stars, because Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda tried so very hard to do something special.

Tomb Raider, 2018

Leave a reply

Image from the internet.

A movie based on a video game. Well, it worked for Angelina Jolie when she started as Lara Croft in the first Tomb Raider adaptation.

While I have not played any of the games, I remember the adds for the recent-ish reboot of the video game series. I was almost intrigued enough to purchase the game, but became sidetracked with other things. Still I remembered the trailers. So when I saw the trailer for the new movie, I thought – hey, this looks like the video game. And yup it was.

Apparently the latest Tomb Raider movie was based on the latest Tomb Raider video game. There is lots of running. Lots of tossing Laura around in a manner that no real human could survive with actually breaking at least a couple of bones. There is lots of grunting. But when it comes to plot, character or even dialogue – well this version is lacking.

Theoretically, this is set before the first Tomb Raider movies and is supposed to give more of an explanation as to how Laura becomes a tomb raider. As someone who saw the other films this was an large example of failure. There is a huge disconnect between the character we are introduced to by Angelina Jolie and the more recent Lara Croft played by Alicia Vikander. First, Alicia’s Lara is far more passive and mostly lacks a personality. Unfortunately, I spent most of the movie thinking – this was not the explanation we had for her father’s disappearance. This is not the name of the evil secret organization. This is not… well interesting.

Image from the internet

Even the action scenes were largely bland. There were too many running scenes that looked like they were filmed using a green screen. I should not see so easily through your special effects. The settings were less entrancing than one would hold. And there was a distinct lack of puzzles. Okay, that may be a silly complaint as there probably weren’t many actual puzzles in the 2001 film, but at least that older film had some dialogue.

While I appreciated the attempt to move away from the obviously magical to having a more scientific explanation for the central mythology. It was poorly developed, under-played and sadly executed. Also, it was rather incongruous how much effort was spent dispelling the woman as being a god with magic powers, when you completely fail to give any logical explanation for the disappearing floor. Exactly how would that have worked?

So, yup, like nearly every review I have stumbled across since first watching this movie, I will agree: Tomb Raider 2018 is a dud. I wouldn’t bother with this one.

B2 – Beauty and the Beast Movie Review

Leave a reply

Image from the internet.

Confessions: this review is late in coming. True I did not watch the movie opening weekend. Also, true it was a couple of weeks ago that I saw the live-action remake.

To be clear I am old enough that the 1991 animated Disney version is the telling of Beauty and the Beast that I grew up with. It was a classic and grew to be one of my favourite Disney movies. Thus it was with mixed feelings that I saw the live-action 2017 release in theatres.

Unlike some of the other live-action remakes put out by Disney, this one was not bad. It had an excellent and slightly diverse caste. Gaston stood out as a perfect portrayal of his animated counterpart. It had all the classic songs that made the original Disney film a classic. The costumes and set pieces were pretty. So, overall a solid film.

Image from the internet.

That is not to say it didn’t have its faults. Some of them are with the original story – at least its interpretation. Some are because I am reluctant to change and a few were just poor decisions.

A couple of items that stood out for me as detractors to the film include: the ‘Be our guest’ dinner scene; Belle investigating the forbidden west wing; the underutilized, random inclusion of the sorceress and the connection of the castle to the town.

In the animated film, the lengthy but excellent song of the castle staff was used to tell some of their history over the past decade. The imagery devolves into a very cartoon interpretation of dancing plates and utensils. Which makes sense in the medium that it is portrayed. However, this is a live-action film. The design is to make it feel real. So, the change to pure CGI is discontinuous and disruptive to the flow. It makes the song feel unimportant, as nothing additional is being conveyed by the visuals and long, because there is nothing interesting or inventive in whirling platters. It was a clear disappointment, made slightly awkward by the fact that the all the food is passed tauntingly close to Belle, but extracted the instant she reaches to taste something.

Image from the internet.

After this epic fail in nutrition, Belle heads off to bed. Only, instead of going to her room she takes the opportunity to bolt at high speed through the halls of the forbidden west wing. What was supposed to be an act of curious exploration becomes this strangely placed invasion of his bedchamber. Really, the correction to this glaring offense is terribly simple – make it look like Belle is wandering the halls instead of running purposefully towards the magical rose. Which is really odd since she doesn’t know of its existence – in theory.

Like the original, the wrinkled old hag bangs on the door some dark and stormy night. The prince of the castle, visually depicted as a person close to 20 years old (at least 16), turns her away only to be cursed as a Beast. Well, in the live-action telling the sorceress remains in the little provincial village. Where she lives as an outcaste begging form the villagers who scorn her single and pathetic existence. Which makes you wonder why she will curse a selfish prince, but not lift a finger against Gaston – who is very much a selfish, controlling, and abusive brute. Her continued existence in the story raises more questions but seems to add nothing to the plot (which was extend to make it more convoluted).

Image from the internet.

Thus bringing me to my last point (though I could continue to point out the little irritations); the questionable relationship between castle and village. Yes, they start the explanation with a spell to cause people to forget the existence of the castle. But, at least 10 years have passed and I am pretty certain those who were transformed inside the castle (becoming utility items) did not age during that period of time. Otherwise, someone needs to explain to me how Mrs. Potts gives birth to an eight year old son. So, when the spell is lifted, the staff become humans and villagers suddenly recall their loved ones who lived at the castle. At a castle that should be a day’s drive away, unless you are marching against the beast at the end. Nope, there is no way I can look at this and not see some ill-conceived mess – unless the town was cursed too, but no one knew it. Also, what happened to all the guests who were dancing at the party when the curse was put down?

Image from the internet.

So, the final verdict: 2017 Beauty and the Beast live-action film gets a solid B+ rating. It is not the original animation, but it is not terrible either.

PS – did not love most of the ‘additional’ material.