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Murder Mystery 2 (2023)
A good start but an ultimately unoriginal sequel
Murder Mystery 2 can best be summed up as unoriginal. It repeats a lot of the gimmicks and plot points that the first one does and that deters it from being truly good. Personally, I thought the first half (about 45 - 50 minutes) was absolutely hilarious and I loved it. I was laughing constantly, and Sandler was superb, however the second half was a major disappointment. As I said, in the second half, a lot of plot twists and points are just taken straight from the first and really there is little reason to do this. Another issue I had is the runtime. Yes it's a 90-minute film and personally I think more 90min films are good overall for cinema, barely anyone besides Sandler and Aniston has more than 5 minutes of screen time which is just ridiculous with some bigger name costars. Overall, it's a decent film, that's not a great sequel, but if it had retained its first half humor and originality, it would have been really good.
65 (2023)
A brand new, but underwhelming, take on a dinosaur movie.
I think one of the biggest issues with 65 is that it's a completely different experience and style of movie than Jurassic Park, which is for many people the extent of dinosaur movies they've seen. In the Jurassic Park series the Dinos are a real and present/ constant danger that more or less us humans can't/don't fight back against.
65 is more of an action movie, where we are almost taking the fight to the dinos at times. However, the threat of danger never feels real besides a few spare moments. Adam Driver's character Mills never feels as if he is truly at risk of dying or sustaining serious injury, except maybe towards the end. I think Mills is insinuated to have possibly died about 3 times and this film but none feel as if he's truly dead. Because of this the dinosaurs never feel really scary and it ruins the tension/suspense aspect.
Also, I expected more fights. There truly wasn't that much of Driver tearing into these Dinos with his futuristic gun and running and actually just fighting with the dinosaurs. The few fights there are again aren't that great and don't present a real threat. Specifically, I was slightly annoyed with the final fight because it came off as this, there's always a bigger Dino so keep fighting.
Another thing is the story is honestly not that good. I didn't expect Tarantino or anything but I expected something more passable than what we got. There are a variety of attempts at emotional moments in the film and absolutely 0 of them hit. I don't understand how they couldn't achieve some emotionality but it was very bland in that regard.
Continuing on about the story is that essentially Mills and Coa are trying to get to an escape pod located 15km away from where they crashed. So they must cross these dangerous dino lands on this trek to try and get off the planet and escape with their lives before the big meteor hits and destroys Earth. This journey should have been slower much more in-depth and really make up most of the film as they hide/run/fight dinos along the way. Rather we get a 90 minute movie where they almost rush through the entire journey that these two go on.
Overall 65 feels underwhelming, and while one can see the appeal, and see what they were trying to do, nothing is done that well, and all the emotion and danger is nonexistent.
Chevalier (2022)
Short of greatness
Chevalier for me is a film that could have been so much better, and had all the right tools, but falls short of it's true potential. I'm landing with a 7/10 here, and while I think that's slightly on the higher end, it also reflects not only a somewhat objective view, but fits my personal feelings towards it very well. I was kind of expecting the film to be this massive powerhouse of music, tension, drama, and all building and building up unto this final moment where there's this big powerful ending and it leaves the viewer stunned. All in all, that's kind of what it is just never quite as good as it could be. The story itself is decent. It can feel drawn out at times for sure, and overall the pacing of the film is definitely a little strange occasionally. There is, unexpectedly I should say, a fair amount of humor in the film and at times it can take away from the tension and emotions that are being built. Chevalier does build and build, but it feels like it should have been so much more. The score is phenomenal, the acting is superb, the hair, makeup, and set design are beautiful, and the story should be intriguing and have this edge of your seat tension while building these themes surrounding Chevalier. It has all the right tools, yet Chevalier just doesn't quite hit.
1917 (2019)
Technical perfection, with a powerful story to back it up.
1917 is a great film both technically, and artistically.
One of the first things I noticed is the sound. The sound mixing is perfect, with ominous "depth tones" to gunshots, to silence, the sound is one of 1917's many perfections. I'm constantly amazed at how they shot the film itself to make it appear so seamless. Truly one of the best visual feasts in recent memory.
Getting past the technical side, the story continues to hold up. The suspense and tension is there and truly the story itself is quite good. I really liked how it built the tension, and while we (almost) never see the enemy, it always feels as if they are right there just past the corner or beyond the ridge. It really is a great war movie, and great film just in general. There's little to nothing to complain about, the cast is good, the story is as well, all the technical aspects are superb, and it all comes together to make the awesome film that is 1917.
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Could be better, but does a fine job
I choose to watch this because the cast is stacked! Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Djimon Hounsou, and a small part for Jim Broadbent make up a well rounded and talented cast. Unfortunately, some of their characters stories seem a little underdeveloped, specifically Djimon Hounsou's character. He could have been a really interesting villain along with Waltz but all in all his character probably has maybe 5 to 10 minutes of screen time and feels like they almost just cut him out. As far as the rest of the film goes I found it to be pretty good. While I do not know a ton about the Tarzan story in general, the story seems original and is like a sequel to the Disney Tarzan that I grew up with. The story has it's ups and downs but it's never bad though at times it seems too fast paced and will skip through moments when I wished they had paused for a little longer or got developed a little more. The CGI is fantastic and looks surprisingly good in essentially every scene. To make a comparison it almost have a similar feel/vibe to RRR though it's not that close to as good as RRR is. Good film, I enjoyed it's special effects and brilliant cast.
Amsterdam (2022)
Simply put: A Mess
Amsterdam can be best described as a mess. A quite good looking decently well-acted mess. That's more or less the only reason it gets a middle grade. The plot is absolutely ridiculous. It makes very little sense and is quite hard to follow. The script does not help. It's hard to understand what is going on at any given moment, and the ending tops it all off by being a jumble of odd scenes told from Burt's perspective while he says what could to be taken as a little bit of nonsense. The trailers gave off the vibe that these three lifelong friends went on an adventure together trying to clear their names, however, half the time we are watching flashbacks or scenes that aren't actually happening rather just being imagined. The friendship while a decent idea comes off as quite odd and Burt is almost more of a tag along than friend. As far as redeeming factors go the cast is great and it's fun to watch them, especially Rami Malek is quite good. However, Amsterdam loses its viewers with a messy story and relationships that feel confusing and jumbled.
Glass Onion (2022)
A solid Murder Mystery, but not as great as Knives Out
Glass Onion is a solid Murder Mystery, that doesn't quite live up to Knives Out's greatness.
The key to any mystery starts with the detective and in this case it's Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc. Benoit Blanc is one of the best original characters created in years. He's intriguing, smart, and funny in a way that makes him so unique. However as we go along in the movie what appears to start as another Blanc mystery to solve is revealed to actually be all about the other cast of characters themselves and their past.
The cast is great and the suspect never seems too obvious. However, one of the reasons this story fell apart for me was I spotted the killer too early. There is a pivotal scene where watchful eyes may catch what appears to be foul play however the movie later says that what actually happened is something else which makes the viewer doubt what they saw, and in the tone of the movie is a brilliant idea. However, this new set of facts is a lie and while it immediately throws doubt back into the viewers mind, we still know what we saw and what happened.
The main other problem with the movie is that Knives Out was a true murder mystery. The murder occurs, the whole ensemble of characters is suspect and at the end we find out the truth. In Glass Onion the murder doesn't occur until about halfway thru and even then that is not the actual murder that the mystery revolves around. The movie can also come off as a bit satirical like Don't Look Up, however with no marketing to be a satire this seems to just be a interpretation and ultimately doesn't subtract from the overall movie.
Glass Onion is a decent sequel with a great cast for characters, especially Benoit Blanc, however it differs a lot from it's predecessor and the stakes never feel as high.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
The Better 2022 Netflix Murder Mystery
This could be described as the second Netflix film of 2022 (though released on Netflix in 2023) to feature a man with a southern accent solving a murder. Glass Onion And The Pale Blue Eye could not have a more different feel to them, yet deal with the same thing: A murder mystery.
Going in, I had seen a few negative, or at least middle ground reviews for the film so my hopes were not exceedingly high. The Pale Blue Eye well exceeded all my hopes. The acting, the story, the suspense, and the scenery was just great. It is a way better mystery that Glass Onion. There may be one thing I did not care for and that was how the murderers were a part of the occult. It felt cliche and a letdown. Also, the very end with Landor on the cliff was a little odd but I understood it. Overall, The Pale Blue Eye is a really good, tense, well-acted murder mystery that is wonderfully executed.
Babylon (2022)
A Masterpiece of Cinema
Babylon is a masterpiece of a movie and a wonderful ode to cinema and life.
I must preface this by saying it is possible that seeing this in theaters greatly impacted the emotion and beauty of the film, however, I think that is fair to say of most movies I see in theaters are better in theaters.
Babylon's first half is absolutely magic. The party is a crazy 30-minute thrill ride that never lets up. After that our story begins and it is a beauty. Babylon is magic put onto screen and it is fun, funny, beautiful, and engaging. The score is absolutely phenomenal and Hurwitz is an excellent composer. The writing is superb as well. Brad Pitt and Jean Smart deliver two very emotional monologues/speeches that not only get at the story, but also at who we are as people. Then the magic starts the fade as we start to reach all of our characters downfalls; Alas, nothing lasts forever. A sinister story starts to take place and the tone shifts for our characters. Then at the very end it ties all back up with a plethora of emotion. It was one of the most moving endings I have ever experienced.
Chazelle presents this theme of how movies are a way of escape, a way to be on that screen ourselves as a viewer, and, he accomplishes exactly what he wants. We are all transported to a world beyond our own. It's a tribute to old Hollywood and all cinema truly, but it's also more. It's a story of how 4 people rose to fame and sat at the highest table and held some sort of power, only the be replaced by a tremendous fall from grace. I have very, very, rarely cry during a movie and by the end of Babylon I felt tears in my eyes and a heavy sadness that it was over. It was my favorite movie of 2022 and Babylon and one of the best experiences I have had at a movie theater.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
A worthy sequel, that's not quite better than the original
Avatar: The Way of Water is a really amazing movie that has some really not amazing plot/story/writing parts. Overall, I think I liked the original Avatar better, especially in theaters as it evoked so much more emotion and feeling in me, however, the final/third act of Avatar: The Way of Water is some of the best I have seen in a while.
The cons in this movie are kind of obvious. There is a sort of hasty exposition in a way, but it instantly pulls us all back to Pandora. However much of the exposition, and some other events/things in the plot are unexplained and just happen. There are also a few things that happen that only occur to make something else occur down the road and then are never mentioned again. I wish they could have spent a little more time setting up the actual story/beginning, but overall it isn't too bad. There are also a few odd dialogue decisions specifically with Spider, whose dialogue is quite poor, and he isn't a great/interesting character as a whole. One last thing is that one of the 'good guys' dies, and it is the character they spent the least time developing overall, so the emotion and sadness you're supposed to feel isn't that strong.
What I really loved about Avatar 2 is I was always having fun, and I always enjoyed it. I felt invested into the story and I was amazed at the beauty and emotion on screen. Personally, I loved bringing back Sigourney Weaver as Kiri and she was probably my favorite character. I also enjoyed how time was spent developing almost every character we see onscreen and seeing them at their best and worst. I understand that we all expected a movie centered around Jake and Neytiri, and it is at times definitely their movie, but I think that it's more the kids, and at times the Colonel's movie and really about them as people.
Avatar: The Way of Water is an amazing, fun, and exciting movie with beautiful technical aspects, that at times struggles with poor writing and set-up. While it doesn't quite live up to the first, this is more than a worthy sequel that is truly enjoyable and has one of the best acts in years, while also setting up what should be a really good Avatar 3. Definitely necessitates a rewatch!