Category: Review

Tenet

Tenet

Posted January 8, 2022

My brother says that all time travel movies have problems. And he’s right. Time travel creates paradoxes in the story that can’t be worked around no matter how creative you get. Tenet is no exception and through the middle I had moments of, ‘wait, what?’ but by the time I got to the end, I didn’t care. Because when Christopher Nolan is at the top of his game, he plays the audience so well that it feels like the end is only the beginning and you want to see what comes next. Or came before. Or something. Still, it’s fairly […]

Spider-Man No Way Home

Spider-Man No Way Home

Posted December 17, 2021

I really disliked Spider-Man Far From Home. The whole thing with him inheriting Stark tech was too much. And where was Pepper in this? She was in control of the company but not the tech? Mysterio was not a mystery at all, no matter how hard they tried. The acts are a mess because you know after the big confrontation that it’s only act 2 so nothing is really solved or real. Peter makes a really stupid choice and then it ended horribly. So No Way Home could only do better than that. The nice thing is it not only […]

Black Widow

Black Widow

Posted November 26, 2021

I went into Black Widow with few expectations, except that it would be mediocre. The trailer didn’t evoke a lot of excitement. There didn’t seem to be a story that needed attention or was anything more than a footnote. I think in large part because the film was released after the end of the Infinity Saga. If it had been released five years ago, sometime before Infinity War and the culmination of all these films, if there were questions about where it would lead and how it played into the larger narrative, then the story would have seemed more interesting. […]

Dune (2021)

Dune (2021)

Posted October 23, 2021

I am not a huge Dune fan, let’s start there. Not like some people are fans. I was first introduced to the sci-fi saga through the Syfy mini-series (way back when it was still the Sci-Fi Channel). Immediately, I enjoyed the story and the characters and wanted to know more… but not enough to read the books. Not when I had a shortcut in a friend who told me it wasn’t worth it because the series was long and went a little sideways. Then Syfy (still Sci-Fi) came out with the Children of Dune mini-series and I loved that even […]

X-Men Dark Phoenix

X-Men Dark Phoenix

Posted June 17, 2019

I went into Dark Phoenix with fairly low expectations. Other than James McAvoy I wasn’t in love with the cast. And it’s a story Fox has tried to do before. With one of my favorite characters. And, despite box office success, few of the X-Men movies have really been spectacular (Days of Future Past is pretty much the exception). Also while I love Jean Grey, I’m only familiar with the Dark Phoenix saga through wikipedia (and honestly I read through the Endsong rather than Dark Phoenix years ago because it’s gorgeous. Which means Dark Phoenix was either going to be […]

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel

Posted March 9, 2019

I’m a bit disappointed because I wanted to like Captain Marvel more, despite my reservations. The trailers weren’t great. Very little story and even less personality. But I still hoped the movie would deliver. I should have known better. It’s not a bad movie. It’s just…bland. It’s not exciting. It’s not fun or funny. The movie has as little personality as the trailers. It looks cool in parts – when she’s all on fire (but without the lame helmet) and the way her memories flicker through the scenes. It’s quippy (but not in a way that made me laugh). It’s […]

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War

Posted April 28, 2018

When Marvel filmed Avengers: Infinity War, they had no way of knowing how successful Black Panther would be. They probably guessed it would be successful enough. Because all of the Marvel movies have been. But 3rd highest domestic gross and and 5th biggest opening weekend. Beyond the money, it was a cultural phenomena that made so many different people feel their voice heard in new and undeniable ways. It also inspired Disney to share a little bit of the wealth to support youth STEM programs. Which means they will unequivocally make a sequel. They did know, when filming Infinity War, […]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Posted December 23, 2017

I sort of wish I’d rewatched The Force Awakens before going to see The Last Jedi. In part because it would have been fun. But also because I kept getting Rey’s childhood mixed up with Jyn’s from Rogue One. Every time they said she didn’t know who her parents were I thought, “Yes, she does they made her run away when she was little but she knew who they were.” About half way through the movie, I remembered that was Jyn and not Rey. In the end, though, I really liked what they did with her parents. Someone like Rose. […]

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok

Posted November 5, 2017

Ragnarok is a moderately decent Marvel movie. But it isn’t a good Thor movie. The standalone movies each have distinctive styles. An Iron Man film is contemporary and flashy with trusty sidekicks Pepper and Happy and Rhoddy and quippy one-liners. Captain America lost both his sidekicks (the Roaring Commandos) and his wonderful love interest (the incredible Peggy Carter) when he jumped forward in time. Since then his movies haven’t really been his – they’ve served as vehicles for the MCU with Cap as the centerpiece. And Thor… well a Thor movie has a bit of epic grandiosity and beauty. There’s […]

Passengers

Passengers

Posted December 26, 2016

I’ve been interested in seeing Passengers since I first saw the trailer. Shiny sci-fi with a bit of romance, a bit of fun and a bit of danger. Even a mystery to unravel. Plus a chance for two endearing actors to prove themselves in a starring vehicle. Then after hearing whispers that critics weren’t kind, I wasn’t sure. I refuse to read any reviews or judge a film on anything but the trailer until I’ve seen it myself… so I went to see it for myself with a bit of trepidation. It was pretty much exactly what I thought it’d […]