Mickey089 Reviews

Black Widow (2021)

the worst marvel so far....

[3/10 · 9 November 2021]

Reasons: -storyline well below mediocre

• visuals, a few good ones, mostly mediocre

-Scarlett is really done with the role and acted accordingly -other actors just bland or uninteresting -another potentially great villain changed and destroyed -mostly Russian accent, often sounds just fake, made it difficult to listen (maybe better if you are a native speaker)

Overall, for me the worst one in the MCU so far.

Eternals (2021)

50%, 30% rather good, 20% building up future movies.

[6/10 · 9 November 2021]

First half was just boring stuff, then a nice twist with a good showdown, then the rest of the movie back to boring and predictable build up the next movies.

Visually a very good one from Marvel. Some nicely different powers from the Eternals, exept Ikarus. Laser eyes, really? How original. LOL.

Acting wise, marvel managed it again to get accomplished actors playing like being absent. Richard Madden stood out, best performance, most others were just bland. Compere Selma Hayek with "Killer's bodyguard" in terms of not the characters but expression, intensity, etc.

Overall, much better than black widow, but below Shang Li. Too many characters that leaves you indifferent. One can, but not must see movie. I recommend home cinema with a couple of cocktails or beers ;-)

You Should Meet My Son! (2010)

Hilarious comedy and feelgood movie

[9/10 · 17 May 2020]

Easy one of the best gay comedy's ever made. Good acting, Mum in particular, great story line that plays a bit with stereotypes and cliches, but never cross the line between laughing with the characters instead of laughing at them.

Minor criticism is the character of the son. A bit over the top towards the end, but playing a gay man wanting to have family and kids is not easy in a comedy with limited screen time. However, the drag queens and oher side characters are really well written with a great sense of humor.

Overall, the movie worked for me really well and love watching it. Enjoy. :-)

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

as expected, not a worthy conclusion for the saga...

[6/10 · 22 December 2019]

As expected Star Wars went down the same road like marvel. nice movies, nothing wrong, but just superficial, too many characters and hardly any developement (except Kylo Ren), some great ideas barely developed and most of all too many questions open. Also, why does Disney not taking more risks by killing of major characters or making some tragedy, like C3PO. After all, it is Star Wars and not Dallas o the latest telenovela. ;-)

Examples: Creating a great character like Maz Kanata. Interesting and funny, hint of a kick-ass lady, backgound a mystery. Barely used in VIII and useless in IX. Adding lots of new characters, but wasting this one. Palpatine is back.... great, loved it.... but how????? No clue.

Overall, no harm watching it as popcorn movie with nice CGI, but not as the saga's end. Pity, it could have been epic.

Joker (I) (2019)

Terrific Joaquin, just not the Joker

[7/10 · 15 October 2019]

Overall, the acting is the best part of the movie. Most of all Joaquin, but also Di Niro and the wonderful Frances Conroy (big fan). However, several skills of the Joker were left out, f. e. top strategist or excellent chemist. What was left is a so-and-so comedian bordering on looser turning into a psychopath. And please, the cliche of bad childhood and the mother did him wrong, etc.... Worth a big Joker laugh. I also missed the grand finale, maybe Arthur is using the raids to increase them, creating chaos, etc. In the end it is a good movie about the Character development from looser to psycho. Not new, but well done and acted. For me it is just not the title character.

I will be happy if Joaquin might get an Oscar or Frances as supporting actress, but can't see the movie deserving more awards.

About the often in the media mentioned brutality... Well brutal behavior in a movie about a psychopath.... Wow... I am shocked... Who would have thought... *end sarcasm* 😂

The Lion King (2019)

Superb....

[10/10 · 23 July 2019]

First of all, I am not a fan of the original and never seen the musical on stage but this movie is an easy 10/10 within his genre.

Overall, fantastic CGI, some terrific voice over like Seth Rogen (should take a few more singing lessons), Billy Eichner, the kids for the young Simba and Nala and most others. But most of all James Earl Jones and even more so Chiwetel Ejiofor was spot on as the baddie. Scar is easily one of the greatest written villian of all time and boy did he bring him to life. I agree there certainly would have been better choices as beyonce.

I will not spoil the additions the movie included to the original and musical, but all were extremely funny or enjoyable.

10/10 within the blockbuster genre does not mean it is perfect, but it is fantastic in my mind.

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

as expected.....

[6/10 · 20 July 2019]

Not wrong to watch, but don't expect a masterpiece.

To start with the second best thing: the villain. Though a bit diverted from the comics, they did a terrific job by creating mysterio, storywise, technicallywise and from the effects and carried by Jake Gyllenhall's on the point acting.

Samuel's Nick Fury as always great, but he doesn't have to put effort in it after all this time.

Zendeya was definitaly the best acting for the youngsters and brought a lot to the scenes where she was in.

All other youngsters including Tom were mediocre at best. Sorry, but just looking cute and show some decent acting isn't enough to carry a whole movie for me. However, many of his lines were rather poor, which he tried to myke the best out of it. In the next sequel I surely hope they stop with showing him as an teenager who alternates between being overclumsy or a brilliant scientist (too much cliche).

Story: all of the villain stuff is brilliant, the lovesotries were at times funny (good) or overly cliche with "i am too shy to ask her" all the movie long.

THe BEST thing: the mid credit scene!!!!! A cameo performance of someone every fan was more or less dying to see coming back, and it was brilliant. No surprice by this actor. I m not spoiling this if you haven't seen it yet.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

not as bad as some reviews, but not great either

[7/10 · 7 June 2019]

Partly pleasently surprised with the story. Some parts were actually pretty good. And like in other franchises a global threat is build up, which could endanger the entire planet, but in the end too few heros die or were not even seriously injured. The end is pretty predictable.

Overall the movie lacks inspired acting. Some of the established actors seems to be tired to play the characters. Jessica Chastain does a pretty good job, still below her abilities. I liked Nicholas Hoult and Kodi Smit-Mcphee this time more than usual. Also Tye Sheridan stood out a bit. But most of all Sophie Turner is simply not good enough to carry a full movie as the lead. Her acting is rather bland and unconvicing. As side character like in Apokalypse it was okay, but as lead... sorry no.

Watch it with little expectations and you might be a bit surprised. Otherwise most likely you be dissapointed.

Captain Marvel (2019)

mainly boring.....

[5/10 · 11 March 2019]

Story: bland; Characters: mostly bland and undeveloped; thrill: very little; CGI: okay; action: not bad; cat: super; Ben / Lashana / Akira: all good; that's basically it.

And again: Villians are boring. Marvel does not learn that the thrill dies with a boring baddie.

Hard to understand, why Brie Larson with her talents was casted, when she can't show it. Same goes for Annette Bening, Samuel or Clark Gregg.

Nothing wrong to watch it if you are a big marvel fan, but you won't miss anthing if you skip this one. Far away from Black Panther or even Invinity War.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

practically perfect , well almost. Easily the best movie of the year, but....

[9/10 · 24 December 2018]

Hi everyone.

Mary Poppins always was one of my top three movies of all time, hence I was sceptical about a sequel.

When I started to watch it yesterday I intended not mto compare it with the original to be objective. However, I quickly realize that is wrong. To fully appreciate the movie you need to compare it to the original and most of all you need to be a fan of Mary Poppins.

To cover the flaws first. Yes, the timelines of both movies they are almost identical and the story rather similar. Big fan of Ben Whisham, but thogh he had some great moments overall I expected more intense acting as I know he can. The score is terrific and foot-tapping, but none of the songs is standing out with maybe the accapella song of Ben.

Having said that, why I thik Rob gave us a masterpiece is simple. He took the original movie and twisted or even reversed the highlights, but keeping it extremely close to the look of the original. Brilliant. One example: Original: Characterts flying up laughing in the room. MP returns: Room is turned upside down, giving a complete new set of effects.

Emily Blunt did a great job and put a bit more cheekiness into MP's character, and she was a perfect choice for the role. But naturally it does not equal Julie Andrews performance with a bit more style and mystery. However, I was pleasantly surpriced of her singing skills. Super.

to summarize: Anything that might be seen as flaws are easily equalled by this brilliant movie. Those who are fans of the original are up your a ride. Those who enjoy a musical that sends you back 50 yrs. willhighly enjoy it as might anyone who is open for something that hasn't been seen for ages. Those never seen the original and not into animated musicals better save the time.

A clear 9.9 ...

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

As expected. A fun movie, but too much content

[7/10 · 4 November 2017]

Take Ragnarok from the ancient tales and some of its major threats, Planet Hulk, a major enemy from Thor, the side kick of another major villain, an ancient being, plus some nice jokes and shake it well to get a nice movie with little substance but high pace and enjoyment and little connection to the characters.

As expected from the trailers the movie was nice and enjoyable, but too much content of three major plot lines gave it a high pace bringing it down to the minimum needed to the the movie going. As said enjoyable but nowhere near for example the first Avenger movie.

But the most awful thing I found are again some character changes Marvel did. After the for me unforgivable reduction of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 from the major villain to a low life actor (still enjoyed Ben Kingsley's acting as always) now they changed the Grandmaster from an all-mighty being to a joking, sociopathic despot. It felt like to for the sake of jokes.

The second mistake is the quickly killing off of the warriors three. They would have deserved a better send off fight instead of simply being killed of two and little fight with the third one.

From the acting naturally Cate Blanchett did great, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie stood out as well as Idris Elba and the few scenes of Anthony Hopkins and Benedict Cumberbatch. Everyone else was more or less average. The Hulk as good, but again not on par with Avengers 1.

Overall a good 7, but this seems to be the future of the Marvel movies. Overloaded plots for the sake of certain characters, high pace, but little connection with the characters, meaningful dialogues or deep acting skills. But maybe that's what the majority is wanting.

The Flash: Duet (2017) Season 3, Episode 17

Fun story-line with great voices apart from ....

[8/10 · 10 September 2017]

Finally a musical episode in Flash we all been dying to see. Haha. Sorry, just kidding. The story line, though simply made to get everyone with singing skills from the CW world into it. Naturally, John Borrowman had to be, having been a leading man on the Westend for a long time and it is nice to hear him. His effortless (seemigly) acting and singing adds to the episode.

I was surprised about Jesse L. Martins skills, very good if you listen closely, probably the best of the bunch. Victor Garber as well with nice voice.

From the rest with musical background only Jeremy Jordon stood out. Would have been nice to hear a bit more from Carlos. Grant is good but a great tap dancer actually. Melissa simply is at best just mediocre at singing plus she shouldn't tap or dance for that matter. Moon River was definitely to big for her. This is not meant to be rude, but not in tune at times, issues to hold a tone, etc. And this is certainly the remastered version.

Overall, a great fun episode. Nicely done. With some good guys playing the baddies giving the actors a chance to show their skills.

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

Easily the best action movie since some time, and good comedy too

[9/10 · 7 September 2017]

Very enjoyable action comedy. Action scenes were all well done and thrilling, not as intense as recent Atômic Blonde, but still really good. Jokes are excellent. But the movie lives on the superb performance of Samuel, Selma and an especially evil Gary. Elodie and Ryan were both good but a bit overwhelmed by the others and Ryan's role didn't gave him much opportunity to shine. Story is certainly not entirely new, but hey it is a action piece.

I deducted one point, because I felt a few more jokes on Ryan's side would have given a better balance to the duo. Most of the laughs were from Samuel on Ryan's expense. Yes, I understood that he plays the boring type.

Selma as always makes her character very believable and had similar fun paying it as obviously had Samuel.

Splendid cameo from Richard E. Grant showing is comedic skills once again.

Enjoy!

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Entertaining, but predictable and stereotyped

[8/10 · 15 March 2017]

One big ape, a couple of villains monsters, a couple of other monsters on the way, some stereotype scientist and soldiers, some good, some a bit deranged, the usual body down count, some quite surprising, some predictable, and though the female/Kong relationship was indicated not another screaming blonde, thank god. The total 115min. are a bit short, some more minutes spend on character development would have been good.

All in all nothing new, but all really well made. Story line is rather fast, particular at the first half an hour. The acting as expected from the high level cast is very good, in particular from Sam Jackson and John C.Reily. Tom Hiddleston I found a bit bland, but might be according to the script, the rest of the "dino food" somewhere in between. The final showdown is pretty intense, naturally with the usual one or two exaggerations where people get somehow in the middle of the monster fights AND survive. Just grin and ignore it, doesn't spoil the fun. It is not Shakespere and doesn't want to be.

The CGI is mostly above par though Kong's silhouette looks a bit too much like a man. I prefer the Peter Jackson version of Kong. Jackson/Serkis also gave their Kong a bit more character making him more believable.

However, I'd prefer this movie slightly over the three hour ice-skating King Kong version. Enjoy.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Almost brilliant....

[9/10 · 21 November 2016]

To summarize that is how I would have loved the last few Potter movies in many ways. For me the best part was the brilliant attention to magical details, like households doing themselves, moving picture, etc. which I loved in first few Potter movies and was lost towards the end.

The creatures were created very interesting, different and given character, foremost Ron Perlman as Gnarlak and little Picket. From the actors/actresses I felt four did standing out. Eddie Redmayne and Dan Fogler, Samantha Morton (sadistic, fanatic Mary Lou), as well as Alison Sudol (Tina's sister) did all a great job. However, the one who stood out the most for me was Ezra Miller as Credence, a trouble young man. Unfortunately some we do not see again. Though, it's a magical world, so..... The above were all greatly portrayed and developed characters. The slight sad part was that most other characters were rather flat and missed the same attention to detail as shown for the rest of the movie. Jon Voight as Media mogul is just one example. Hope they use this fine actor better in the next installments. I also hope they develop the character of Tina, Newt's ally, as I found her very uninteresting, but it might have been just the flat acting.

One great part must be mentioned, which is the music. James Newton Howard did a great job hopefully securing his ninth Oscar nomination and maybe the little stature itself. It wouldn't surprise me.

So far I can't warm up to Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, though he is a good actor, as I would have expected some younger actor for role. However, as always with JD, it can be a great portrayal or too comical. Let's see how sinister he can be.

To summarize, highly enjoyable movie from the magical world of J.K Rowling, made me hungry for more. Worth seeing it a second time.

Doctor Strange (2016)

Visually the best, acting by a mile the best in a marvel movie

[9/10 · 5 November 2016]

Visually wise easily the best marvel movie so far. Breathtaking effects. Actually one might wonder what they were smoking to come up with such weird fab pictures ;-) Loved it. From action point-of-view,well that is what you get with such great actors. Cumberbatch, Swinton, Ejiofor and Wong were all fantastic and believable. Haven't seen much from Rachel Adams before, but she did a great job. Mads Mikkelsen as always superb to get the villain both ruthless but misguided across within his limits. Story: here we have to deduct 0.5 as it could have been a bit more unique, instead of the more or less usual origin story with slight twists. Still interesting enough to suit the movie. Another 0.5 I deduct for something the marvel mostly got wrong. The villain. A backstory that is hardly touched and too few scenes to shine, particular with Mads as the actor it could have been awesome. Unfortunately Mavel seems to forget the saying "the hero is only as good as the baddie". Overall, a superb movie with great acting and stunning visuals. You only need to look aside with a few flaws and forgive some changes to the original comics the you are up for a ride.

Inferno (I) (2016)

Agree with ... "wasted opportunity"... still watchable for non-book readers

[4/10 · 17 October 2016]

Having not read the book beforehand I found the movie sort of okay with some fantastic views of the locations as expected, but somewhat lacking mystery (too many things were rather obvious) and not very detailed when it comes to history. The "twists" came over as a bit wooden. From an acting point of view, Omar Sy, Felicity Jones, Ana Ulara were all really good and Irrfan Khan, though again typecast, was above par with some excellent scenes. Also some of the side cast did a great job. Tom Hanks, once an excellent actor, showed again a bland performance, his screen presence aside.

Spoilers:

What didn't work was the sort of "we had a history" / "what could happen if we give in" love story between Langdon and WHO Sinskey. No chemistry between the actors and it felt out of place.

If the book would have been according to the movie a six or seven rating would have been OK.

Having now read the book, I can only agree with most reviewers before. Taking some of the parts out, changing or combining characters is one thing, changing good people into baddies and a brilliant ending into a typical, bland, predictable Hollywood happy ending is simply crap, hence a wasted opportunity to make some standout movie instead something one forgets after ten minutes (if you are lucky ;-). Reading Dan Brown amongst the executive producers is an enigma too me. He either had no influence with the script or doesn't care.

No recommendation to anyone who liked the book and let's hope the next Dan Brown movie, presuming "Origin", will do the book more justice.