MOVIE REVIEW: Justice League

I saw Justice League yesterday. I’ll admit, I’ve been trepidatious towards this movie ever since it was announced. DC has had a history of putting out some less-than-stellar movies (*cough Batman v. Superman *cough* Suicide Squad *cough cough*). However, I never completely wrote it off even as the trailers came out. I withheld judgement until I saw it myself. Then, after Wonder Woman came out, my hope for the future of DC movies began to be rekindled. I thought her story, her character, and everything was handled well and I thought if DC continues down this road, perhaps they could recover from their unfortunate streak. 

They needed to stop trying so hard to be like Marvel and accept that they were different; embrace their own styles and characters. They could have their own cinematic universe if they wanted, but they had to stop trying to “catch up” and take it slow. I could see from their past movies that they were trying to stuff so much into their films in an effort to make them epic and awesome. The mistake that they were making is that a lot of “stuff” isn’t what makes a movie awesome; at the core of it all, it’s well written characters and a compelling story that’s easy to follow. Of course there’s other things too like good performances, interesting action, cinematography, etc, but usually everything falls apart without a good story and interesting characters that you care about.

This has been DC’s major problem lately. They’ve been focusing too much on cramming what they believe is “cool” and “interesting” into their movies in an effort to make it “epic” when in then end, it isn’t. It’s like looking at a super flashy show with fireworks, people swinging from the ceiling, dancers prancing and flipping around on the floor, a choir in the background singing their hearts out, and a lion tamer in the corner. It’s all very grand, but it’s very hard to focus on and in the end, you’re left confused and after the exhilaration of what you saw wears off, you sort of forget about it.

Wonder Woman was the first step to getting out of the rut DC had dug itself into. It had an interesting story that was easy to follow, an extremely interesting and awesome main character as well as likable supporting characters. We cared about what these characters were going through and actually wanted them to win not just because they were the main characters and we were forced to care because there was nothing else to care about, but because we genuinely felt their struggle. Finally, I had hope for DC.

Thus I come to my review of Justice League. Did it reach the bar that Wonder Woman had set?  Well... no. BUT, it was definitely one of the better DC movies put out in a long time. Certainly better than Batman v. Superman. 

I can tell that they’re starting to learn from their past mistakes. They’re still far from perfect, but they’re starting to make changes and learning how to balance things out. 

Let me be specific: In past movies with ensemble casts, DC has had an issue with balancing out screen time and giving focus on the right things. In this movie, each of the characters all got a pretty even amount of screen time with focus on their proper character traits, backstories, etc. Characters we were already introduced to were further developed while new characters were properly introduced without rushing their backstories and characters. There wasn’t a ton of clunky exposition (just a little) and hardly any boring dialogue.

The characters were by far the best part of the movie. They were actually very well written. It acknowledged a lot of the goofiness of some of the character traits while still making them cool. They all had pretty good chemistry with each other. It was a step away from the cliche of “not liking each other, but learning to work as a team.” They all just sort of clicked right away. So it immediately jumped right into the coolness without forcing its way through bullcrap when we know they'll get along eventually.

The story was shockingly simple and very easy to follow. A major contrast to other DC movies. While the villain was very cliched and forgettable, I have to acknowledge that the focus was more on the heroes and their banding together. I liked how the villain and his plan actually connected the heroes and their worlds all together actually forcing them to work together instead of them just being like “yeah, this looks bad. Guess we could team up.” 

There was quite a bit of comedy and quipping. A lot of it worked, but there were some forced/"trying too hard" moments. Like I said, they’re still learning. But I appreciated the effort. A lot of the other DC films I feel like took themselves too seriously. Something I do appreciate about DC is their darker tone, more-so than Marvel-- which is lighter and campier. But some lighthearted moments aren’t a crime because life is full of comedy and it shows that these characters are human (or close to it).

There were some pretty weak/awkward scenes in typical DC fashion though, so like I keep saying, they’re still learning. However, there were some pretty epic/awesome scenes as well. (I’m sorry if this is a SPOILER, but honestly, who didn’t see it coming? Look at the poster!) One of my favorite moments is when Superman returns. I won’t go into detail, but it is just so freakin’ amazing! There’s so many (excuse my French) badass moments, comedic moments, and is just all around awesome! Plus it was nice enough to throw in the original Superman theme which was great. 

I have to say though, Superman’s character has vastly improved. Like I said above, the characters in this film were very well written. In the past, Superman has been just kind of a mopey martyr figure. This time, he’s much more of a (excuse again) badass with a great sense of humor. 

Now, the CGI was... meh. Like everything else in this movie there were moments where it was really great and there there moments where it was just plain awful. I feel like the CGI wasn’t overused like it often is in DC, at least until the very end when pretty much everything was CGI. 

I think that’s pretty much everything I wanted to address in this film. It was good enough that I have hopes for the future of DC. I hope they continue to improve and learn. I’ll give this movie a 6/10.

TRAILER

MOVIE REVIEW: Murder On the Orient Express

I am finally getting around to writing my review of the movie I saw on Saturday: Murder on the Orient Express. 

Before I went and saw the film, I read the book in anticipation of it. I thought it was a rare thing that I actually had very little idea of what it was about for such a famous story. I took advantage of that and decided to find out “whodunit” through Agatha Christie’s writing since 99.99% of the time, the book is better than the movie. 

I have to say, my assertion was correct in this case, the book was better than the movie since I really enjoyed reading about all the meticulous and seemingly insignificant details and connections that lead to the discovery of the murderer. There was a lot left out in the movie, but I think that it did a very decent job of including as much as possible. Also, the struggle with cinema is that it is difficult to convey inner thoughts without a narrator or having the characters actually speak them out loud. 

With that said, however, I still think that the movie did the story justice. It changed a few things up, I couldn’t really say if those changes were for the worse or the better. For example, Hercule Poirot, the detective. Hs personality and persona were altered, which may have upset the purist fans of Christie’s books. He was not the “odd little man” described in the books, but more of a daring, almost dashing gentleman. He was a little strange and had his quirks, but he was definitely altered. (He had the outrageous mustache that he prides himself on thoug, so people could not complain about that.) One could argue that he sort of fit the tone of the movie which was more dramatic than the original novel.

I did notice that a couple things they added sometimes made some of the suspects seem either more guilty or less guilty which took away from the point of the book; because what was frustrating to the investigators was that everybody seemed equally not guilty. I guess having suspicion on one or people is more dramatic in the eyes of some people, but to m., I thought that it was very frustrating to not be able to point a finger at anybody.

On the subject of the overall tone, it was very dramatic. Not that the novel wasn’t dramatic, but I mean to say that certain things were added, characters were altered, situations were changed up in order to change the tension. There were even some action scenes (nothing outrageous or over the top, but still). I believe all these things are to appeal to modern audiences. While I personally am enthralled with simple mystery stories with a lot of thinking and dialogue, some people grow bored with people sitting around and talking about what they saw and heard, no matter how interesting their characters are. 

Thus, I am lead into the characters. I was a little disappointed in that department. In the book, the characters all have very distinct personalities with memorable traits, quirks, features, etc. Poirot latches onto each of them and questions them according to their personalities. Their “psychology” is very important to him. In this film however, they’re all sort of bland. Even Mrs. Hubbard who was such a funny and interesting character in the book was toned down. It’s such a shame because they all play such an important role in figuring out who did it. It wasn’t that they weren’t well acted, it’s just that they weren’t as well written as they could’ve been. I was impressed with the star-studded cast though.

I’d say that only Poirot himself was the most interesting. Kenneth Branagh did an excellent job at his interpretation of the observant, ponderous little detective.

The sets, atmosphere, costumes, cinematography, etc. were stunning! One of the prettiest films I’ve seen this year I’d say. The train as it traveled through the mountains was a sight to behold. It really made you want to go for a ride on a train... until someone is murdered that is. 

Overall, even though I knew who did it, I still really enjoyed watching it all play out. It was even more fun sitting around people who had no idea what would happen and seeing the shock on their faces and hearing the gasps. Agatha Christie is a master! I highly recommend her books!

I’ll give the movie an 8/10.

TRAILER

MOVIE REVIEWS- It (2017), Thor: Ragnarok, and Happy Death Day

Alright, so I went and saw a few different movies over these past months, but I never got around to reviewing them, so I’m just going to smush them all into one post here. Back in September I saw It, last Saturday I saw Thor: Ragnarok, and on Monday I saw Happy Death Day. 

To start off... It (2017)

PLOT: After a young boy disappears, seven outcast kids band together to discover the cause: a shape-shifting monster that lives in the sewers feeding off people's fears and preying on children.

People can get all judge-y as much as they want that I went and saw an uncensored rated R film, but I’m not going to defend myself against the haters. I have a deep fascination with film art and that’s what I went to go see this film for, not to get my jollies on being rebellious and watching “evil” things.

Anyways, to be honest, I’m pretty sure the movie was rated R for language and not for violence/gore/scary imagery. Those characters were major potty mouths, but TBH, I’ve heard worse things just on YouTube videos. The violence/gore/scary imagery was more of a PG-13 level, so if it had cut down on the language, I think it would’ve been PG-13. So, if language offends you, I wouldn’t recommend this movie to you. If not, I’d say it’s worth a watch.

I’m not typically into scary movies, mostly because the majority of them are “slashers” where the point of the film is to be graphic and gory and the main focus isn’t on the story and characters; the point is to be gross and scary. Sometimes even the lame horror films aren’t even scary, they rely on jump scares and are just gross. There’s actually a lot that goes into being truly scary. 

This film was pretty legit though, I was impressed. The characters were interesting and well written, and I was very involved with the plot. The child actors were all extremely talented (it has one of the kids from Stranger Things, if that tells you anything). It had an interesting monster and legitimately scary scenes that didn’t just rely on jump scares (though there were a couple). The script was actually very funny and clever and kept me entertained the whole way through. The effects and music only added to the experience. If you’re into 80’s nostalgia, this movie is full of it. Like a lot of movies, there were a couple of awkward moments, but not so much so to weaken the movie. 

In the end, I think I’d give this movie an 8/10.

Next... Thor: Ragnarok

PLOT: Thor finds himself imprisoned on the opposite side of the galaxy from his home of Asgard while his sister, Hela, the goddess of Death wrecks havoc. He must battle in a deadly gladiator-like contest against the Hulk in order to gain his freedom and return to Asgard before it is too late.

I’ve been looking forward to this film for ages. It did not disappoint. I was pretty surprised by how comedic it was. My brother and I were talking about how it was less of an action/fantasy/adventure and more of a comedy/fantasy/adventure. 

If I had to rank everything in the movie from the highest to the lowest it would be special effects, comedy, costumes/makeup, acting, and then action sequences. 

The visual effects were off the charts. It was a stunning film! Even just still scenes, the “filter” effects gave the screen such a nice glow. The costumes and the sets only added to the tone. I’ve decided while Thor’s long hair is iconic and I do like it, I can get along just fine with his short hair. (And I have to say that Stan Lee’s cameo in this movie is now one of my favorite cameos; definitely up there with the one in The Amazing Spiderman.)

I mentioned before that there was a lot of comedy. I can’t think of very many moments where I wasn’t at least chuckling. I think Marvel is taking advantage of how funny Chris Hemsworth is, that he’s more than just a piece of man-cake. Of course, there was a down-side, there weren’t as many (excuse my French) badass moments as I would’ve liked to see. There were one or two, but where there should’ve been more, they opted out for a joke instead. And while those jokes did make me laugh, I would have liked to see those characters be a total boss too because those moments just get you so pumped! I was getting a really strong Guardians of the Galaxy vibe throughout the film.

As for the action scenes... I wasn’t all that impressed. There was just a lot of smashing and punching and destruction, but not even in an interesting way. I mean, I was pretty bored during Thor’s fight with the Hulk in the arena. It had a lot of potential to be totally cool and fun, but instead it was just kind of meh. And I get it, with Hulk there is a lot of mindless smashing and punching, but it can still be interesting. Like in Avengers: Age of Ultron when Iron Man faces off with the Hulk in his Hulk-buster armor, that was an awesome scene! But alas, this movie had very little to offer in the action department which is why I’ve dubbed it a comedy/fantasy/adventure movie.

As is typical of Thor movies, there is a lot of fantasy, mystical mumbo-jumbo, but it’s not difficult to follow and it’s not that ridiculous. The main focus is on Thor and the Hulk really. 

To be honest, this is one of the weaker Marvel movies, but by no means bad. I’ll give it a 7/10.

Lastly... Happy Death Day

PLOT: A self-centered sorority girl, Tree, wakes up on her birthday in the dorm room of a fellow student, Carter. As she goes about her day, she is suddenly and brutally murdered by a mysterious killer in a mask. She wakes up in Carter's room again unharmed. Now, Tree must relive the same day over and over until she figures out who murdered her.

I am always intrigued by a good mystery story and this looked like this could be one. And... meh, it sort of was. I mean, I sort of figured out who her killer was, but then it threw me off. I felt like it was trying too hard to be original and then in the end it wasn’t all that special. It was like Groundhog Day with a murder mystery thrown in. 

There were a few problems I had with it: 1) When she first figured out who her killer was, I was actually impressed at how original it was because of how random it was and so few horror/mystery stories go that route, but then it was just a red herring and it went the traditional route. So... I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that. 2) Like in Groundhog Day, she decides to better her life in the process of her repeating day, but then (maybe spoilers), on the one good day, it repeats again and everything is forgotten. I was just really bummed out about that. But then it never let us know if she did everything again and fixed it once the time loop was eventually broken. WHAT HAPPENED!? 3) Pretty much all the scares were jump scares and I was ready for them.

It wasn’t completely awful though. The acting was pretty good. The killer was pretty terrifying. I liked that she died every day no matter what she did, no matter where she went, the killer always found her, it made it pretty scary. It was pretty good at building tension even if a lot of it was paid off with jump scares. There were two scenes in particular that stood out to me that I can’t really discuss without spoiling the movie, but one took place in the hospital towards the end and another took place in a parking garage. 

In the end, I think I’d give this movie a 6/10.