Avengers: Infinity War is Overhyped

I swear I’m not a cynic that wants to watch the world burn. I liked the movie; in fact, I might see it again, but is it deserving of the box-office Hulk smashing and saying it is the best Marvel film over the past decade? Well, I don’t think so. I’ve contemplated doing a ranking of the Marvel films, but we can save that for later. Also, with so much going on and so much safeguarding that has happened, I’ll do my initial review and then clearly mark a spoiler section afterward where we really discuss the juicy stuff if you’re one of the 12 people left that hasn’t seen this film. I saw it a week ago, and I still felt like I was late to it.

            So many characters. It hurts trying to think of everybody that appeared in this film. Some shined more than others. The directors did a wonderful job of making sure the tone of each franchise was appropriate. The improv heavy Thor: Ragnarok shown through with Thor and Hulk, the galaxy guards felt right, and Black Panther and Wakanda all made sense. So they got the vibe down. But not all individual characters were consistent. Let’s try to go down the list:

Iron Man: Tony is mostly a success in this film

Thor: I’d argue that Thor is the star and is given some of the greatest moments. I do have to say, however, that there is a fight scene where Thor flies up and the half second shot of him was the most egregious CGI in awhile.

Captain America: He does his part. Nothing else to note really

Bruce Banner: Really tried putting on the cheese, and I think of all the humor, his missed the most.

Doctor Strange: Plays a nice role, but Tony Stark honestly does overshadow him.

Spider-Man: More hit or miss than in Civil War, but I’m still a Spidey fan.

Black Widow: Would be totally forgettable except that it’s impossible to forget Scarlett Johansson. God bless.

The Guardians: We’ll discuss controversy with Star-Lord later, and despite some good moments, he also had his own missteps. Drax was the best part about Vol. 2, and he was the funniest thing about this movie as well—love the big dude, especially when he plays comedically off of Mantis (one of Drax’s funniest lines about Gamora was also improvised, just fyi). Groot and Rocket Rabbit Raccoon are great. I like Gamora, but I was hoping for more depth.

Vision: I’m a Paul Bettany fan, and he dominated the previous Avengers film, but he was trash in this film.

Scarlet Witch: She brings good contrast to Vision.

Black Panther: Not given enough screen time, but he’s a bright side.

            There are others like Nebula and Falcon, but I just can’t do anymore. Oh, but one more character of note is Peter Dinklage. That guy is great. Okay, enough about the heroes. I’m looking forward to seeing Cable in Deadpool 2, but Josh Brolin is fantastic as Thanos in this film. I do get a bit tired of his motion-capture face with all the other CGI that goes on during the impressive film, but he represents a real threat—and as a fully realized character. It’s truly a joy to watch, and you never know what to expect when he appears in a scene.

            Look, here’s what I’m most upset about the film. It didn’t quite bring the magic I wanted (not talking about Strange either). When The Avengers came out and we watched that cast save New York, that was a blast. There are glimpses during some of the fights of enjoying what can happen when all these heroes come and fight together, but it never fully engaged me. And the way the story plays out, there was never really a chance for it.

            I could tell there were some strange transitions due to trying to cut the film down, but I was mostly impressed by the editing. It’s a gargantuan film and not an easy task. Like refrain from the large soda because it is a long movie, but it works out decently well. I will discuss more in detail the spoiler section below, but I had problems with the opening, and the ending did not affect me all that much. It’s a long, CGI filled movie with so many stars that mostly are balanced out. It’s entertaining, and it really is fun to watch in theaters. But is it still overhyped? Yeah. Yeah, it kinda is.

--SPOILERS—

            I hate what happened in the opening scene. The idea behind it is obviously that hey, Thanos easily attacks the remains of the Asgardians, and it is supposed to set the tone for the rest of the film. RIP to Idris Elba, a great part about the Thor trilogy, but I’m not 100% yet that Loki is dead. He’s died before, and even Thor contemplates about it. But anyways, 2 big players die in the opening. That’s supposed to set the tone for the rest of the movie and wants to say to the audience, hey, this is the kind of Avengers film this is going to be. Get ready to say bye-bye to many of your heroes… But then, that didn’t really happen. Gamora had her green blood spilt, and Vision was destroyed, but that was really it. One of those was a latter half death and the other was in the climax. They almost killed Tony, but they chickened out of that death and made Doctor Strange give in (a nice emotional moment, but no deaths). If they don't clean up their act and actually kill big people off next year, I will be upset.

            People are speculating all over the ending, but I’m honestly just a bit meh over it. Firstly, after thinking it over, I don’t blame Star-Lord for going berserk on Titan and ruining the plan. Like the love of his life was murdered, so I don’t blame his reaction. Side note—the biggest glimmer I talked about earlier with the fight scenes was the fight with Thanos on Titan. Like Spidey jumping through Strange’s portals and delivering blows with one-liners is fun. And earlier seeing him use Stark gadgets to aid him in the fight is cool too. But alas. The biggest reason I’m not concerned over what the ending really means or what will happen is that Black Panther is one of the ones that dissolved. We all know for a fact that Black Panther isn’t actually dead, and that alone is enough to convince me not to worry about half the population being disintegrated. And since I wasn’t all that worried, it didn’t really hit the emotional level it wanted me too; however, of all the characters, Tom Holland’s disappearance was really well done. Also, when Doctor Strange was looking at all those futures, he mentions that of the millions of possibilities, they only won once. And right before he disappears, he tells Tony that this was the only way. So again, I have no idea how the Avengers manages to fix this, but I know it will happen somehow, and as the end credits tell, we’re not done with Thanos yet—even if he is currently watching his sunset on his summer break.

            Predictions for Avengers 4: I honestly have done very little thinking on this, but here goes. Unlike popular belief, Captain America won’t die; he will probably hang up his shield though. Since they scared us once in this film, Iron Man won’t die either. Maybe someone like Bucky, er Winter Soldier, er White Wolf will sacrifice himself. Uh, Black Widow still hasn’t gotten a solo film, and I think the origin films are getting a little old, so maybe she won’t die. I think Marky Mark Ruffalo will get some moments as the big green guy, but he ultimately dies. I’m not sure how stuff gets reversed, but it could have something to do with the Time Stone. What I’m really trying to say is that I have no idea what will happen. I’m not losing any sleep over it, but I will be sure to check it out next year.

The Shape of Water

It doesn’t hold as much weight now that the Golden Globes have already happened, but I predicted Guillermo del Toro would win best director at the Golden Globes. I think he’s still likely to win that award at the Oscars, but it’s a tougher road there. At the end I’ll talk more Oscars, but right now is for The Shape of Water.

            This is very much an arthouse film. For you young guns out there, all I mean by that is that this movie will be appreciated more by cinephiles. It has enough plot structure to be enjoyed above the surface, but it’s really looking for the focused to dive into the deep end to find the subtleties and metaphors about. I don’t find this to be a masterpiece of storytelling, but let’s simply look at its elements by themselves.

            The story builds up Sally Hawkins’ deaf character’s mundane routine as a janitor at a research facility for about the first 20 minutes. Although del Toro’s directing is at its most prominent, it also could’ve been shortened down a bit—especially when you consider the story that still has to be told. Also, to backtrack a bit, the very opening sequence is absolutely phenomenal—but anyways. Soon, a mysterious creature led by the always-evil Michael Shannon is transported to the facility for some testing. While everyone views it as a monster that has to be taken care of in some way or another, Hawkins starts to see the other side to the amphibious creature. I don’t think they ever specify what it is, but for all intents and purposes, let’s call it a merman. To avoid spoilers the plot follows this thread for a little over halfway, then it switches over to a different type of plot to finish the film out. Basically, it switches the main objectives of what needs to be done, and with the time it takes to properly develop each of these story elements, some of the added stuff I feel should’ve been cut down more: namely, the opening montage and actually getting to the reveal of the creature, and eating some lovely nasty pie at the shop (but I’m sure Richard Jenkins needed the boosted screen time to put him contention for a best supporting actor nod).

            Speaking of Jenkins, the characters are mostly good. Jenkins fills his role admirably, Hawkins is obviously amazing, Shannon is just playing the role he always plays, and Octavia Spencer turns in a great supporting role as Hawkins’ janitor friend. But with the exception of Hawkins, everyone is still second fiddle so that the merman can shine. The characters are all interesting and all developed, but they fill the necessary gap and not too much more. And in the hands of Pan’s Labyrinth (and Pacific Rim, but that doesn’t help the guy here) del Toro (who also wrote), the fantastical mythicalness of the merman shines through. It’s really quite a spectacle that fits perfectly within his realm of adult fairy tales.

            I think the other praise that has to be mentioned is the production design. If you actually take a look at everything like the apartment, the detail and thought put in in impeccable. It has the uphill task against the gorgeous Blade Runner: 2049, but I’d give production design to The Shape of Water. To wrap it up a bit, make sure to pay attention to every form of water throughout the film because, well, there’s a lot of it. It’s a solid film with a true marvel in the merman creature, but it’s not necessarily the best film out there. Now, whether related to or not (but with 13 nominations, it’s in most of the categories anyways), let’s get some Oscars predictions in. Keep in mind that I’m watching Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri tonight, so I can only use intuition right now when judging that film.

Best Picture: There’s only 4 nominees I haven’t seen yet—including Three Billboards—but I don’t see any of the other films taking down Three Billboards. I’d personally consider something like Dunkirk, but the next best shot is probably in fact The Shape of Water.

Leading Actor: I think the obvious choice is Gary Oldman, and as good as his performance was, I’m gonna go with Daniel Day-Lewis just because you don’t vote against that guy. I will say I’m really happy with the Daniel Kaluuya nomination—the film was good enough, but he really did give a great performance.

Leading Actress: Again, haven’t seen it yet, but it would be tough to vote against Frances McDormand. Hawkins is right up there. I’ll let my dark horse be the lovely Saoirse Ronan (who I have to look up every time to make sure I’m spelling the first name right).

Supporting Actor: I’d be really happy to see Sam Rockwell win. Christopher Plummer gets the dark horse vote just because of the story behind it all.

Supporting Actress: From the looks of it, Allison Janney is a runaway for it.

Animated: Coco is going to win, but Loving Vincent will at least make it interesting. Still upset that Ferdinand and especially Boss Baby are in instead of the likes of The Lego Batman Movie and the underrated Cars 3.

Cinematography: Has to go to Blade Runner: 2049. I will say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the cinematography in Darkest Hour.

Costume Design: Heck, actually haven’t seen it, but let’s go with Beauty and the Beast.

Director: As happy as it would truly make me to see Christopher Nolan finally win an Oscar for himself, I think del Toro has him beat.

Editing: Dunkirk has the best chance at winning an Oscar in this category. Also feel a bit bad admitting this, but still haven’t seen Baby Driver, but that could be dark horse.

Makeup and Hair: Haven’t seen it, but let’s say Wonder.

Original Score: I feel that he wasn’t really deserving of it for The Force Awakens, but I loved what John Williams did for The Last Jedi. Considering it’s mostly just that super intense pocket watch ticking, I don’t see Hans Zimmer winning.

Original Song: Lots of my friends will probably be rooting for “This is Me,” but I’ll stick with Coco with “Remember Me.”

Animated Short: Lou was really good, but here’s to hoping Kobe wins an Oscar.

Sound Editing and Sound Mixing: I always mess up which one is which, and I’m too lazy to look up the difference again right now, so let’s just give one to Dunkirk and one to Blade Runner.

Visual Effects: Really enjoyed the whole trilogy, and I honestly kinda wish Andy Serkis got like an acting nod, but Blade Runner has to run away with this. The effects are bounds ahead of everyone else, and they were truly stunning to see on the big screen.

Adapted Screenplay: I’m only giving my dark horse which is Molly’s Game because that’s the amazing Aaron Sorkin.

Original Screenplay: Pick ‘em.

            If you can’t believe one of my choices or are just curious, leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to explain more as to some of my Oscar choices. Got more reviews I should have coming. Like I watched Black Panther yesterday, so I’m sure that would make for an interesting review. Will consider Three Billboards as well after I watch it tonight. Got other surprises on the way because who doesn’t love a good M. Night Shyamalan like plot twists?

"Lady Bird"

No, this movie is not about Lady Bird Johnson as my parents both assumed. I could say that it’s about a high school senior named Christine who insists on being called Lady Bird as she navigates life and her identity in Sacramento, but there’s a lot more to it than that and plenty to discuss. Even though her parents can barely afford to, they keep Christine out of the public school where there was a stabbing so she can attend a private Catholic school. And there are so many interesting dynamics at play: the primary having to be the tough love approach from the mom that works double shifts as a nurse. The whole family is interesting, however, with the softie good guy father, and the care-free kinda goth older brother that maybe isn’t living up to full potential. And as with any good coming-of-age film, Lady Bird meets and interacts with many characters, each providing a new spin to the midst. Basically, what I’ll probably be repeating constantly will be about the fully realized, pretty authentic characters throughout.

            Let’s start with some positives. Lady Bird’s adorable best friend Julie is a joy. Yes, I know, she fills the comic relief side character, but she’s someone that rewards an audience for sticking with her for the whole journey. And really, unlike a typical journey filled with plenty of pit stops, the characters here—including Julie—may drop out of the picture temporarily, but they remain relevant all the way through. Another example is Lucas Hedges who plays the first love interest of Lady Bird. This may be a cast of young actors, but having been in films like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, and recently Manchester by the Sea, Hedges is picking unbelievable scripts to work in and holding his own. And as much as I want to include a minor spoiler, all I’ll say is that one reason the characters in Lady Bird feel developed and real is the ability from writer/director Greta Gerwig to understand that characters can be conflicted internally and externally without having to be marked as good or bad, protagonist or antagonist.

            This is certainly a charming film, and that’s proven by the almost historic score it received from Rotten Tomatoes. The thing is that every film there is either fresh or rotten, so critics can enjoy a film and call it fresh without loving it. I feel like that applies to Lady Bird. From the opening with Christine and her mom talking in the car, to the moments in drama class rehearsing the play, to countless hangouts with differing friend groups, the dialogue feels real. The cast is sharp and confident, and the story never lulls. But after that, you can probably start nitpicking. Both the score and soundtrack are unremarkable—with the soundtrack even borderline basic—and the cinematography starts off strong in an almost Wes Anderson inspired way, but that reasonably drops off in the middle when the characters truly start taking over. I was surprised by the opening and one moment with Hedges, but the story is slightly predictable beyond that.

            What this all amounts to is nitpicks. You won’t exit the theater with any glaring mistake in mind. What should stick out are the stronger moments. The mother-daughter relationship is exceptional. Lady Bird is whining one moment, then defending her mom to a friend the next. The mom is spending valuable time with Christine in one scene, then (and more typically) she’s nagging about Christine’s laziness immediately afterward. Although hardly expressed verbally, the love is constantly apparent. And the subtleness of all the emotions in the film is really one of the best parts. Instead of Lady Bird proclaiming to Julie, “Wow, Julie, I really can’t stand that Kyle guy!” they may make a snarky joke to each other and laugh over cheese plates. Even the most exaggerated characters like Kyle brings the right amount of comedic tone during some more serious scenes. After all, Kyle will forever be “hella tight” guy to me.

            When I think of coming-of-age films, I immediately think of American Graffiti and Boyhood. I can’t necessarily say that Lady Bird will come to mind. I absolutely enjoyed watching the film, but it doesn’t have any element I would describe as spectacular enough for me think that I’ll remember this film down the road. Again, if given time, I’m sure I’d recommend this film to someone, but there isn’t really anything in there to jog my memory in an instant. But if you’re looking for strong acting, authentic and relatable stories, and strong themes that are never presented in an in-your-face manner, then this is a solid film to see. And besides, how can you not enjoy Saoirse Ronan?

Initial Reaction to The Last Jedi

I watched The Last Jedi on Tuesday, and since then I’ve been looking closely at what the fans have been saying about this film. I’m surprised to hear about all the criticism this film is taking. It only seems fair then to start this review off by looking at what the general criticisms have been and my take on them, and then we’ll move on to the rest of the review. And for anyone who hasn’t seen the film, most of what I’ll talk about can be gathered from the trailers, and I’ll save any spoilers for the end and mark them off clearly, so you can read on without a nervous eye. With that said, although the trailers don’t ruin the film, I was glad I avoided them before watching the film (and the first thing I did after watching was go back and watch the trailers to see if I did in fact make the right decision).

Fan Criticisms:

·         Rian Johnson ruined the character of Luke Skywalker!!!

What’s been getting publicized is Mark Hamill’s comments about his character, the director’s vision, and the film itself. And it’s interesting because his comments actually kind of relate to how I felt while watching the movie. Hamill reportedly told Johnson (the writer and director) that he fundamentally disagreed with him on his character, but he would go along with his vision to the best of his abilities because that’s his job. Under speculation is how a jedi master from The Return of the Jedi became a cynical hermit that was on the breach of murder. Now then, everything from that previous statement is blown out of proportion and not well thought out. After 2 years of waiting what Luke will do when Rey extends her arm out to offer his lightsaber, his reply I find to be both awesome for the film, and a great way to almost undermine J. J. Abrams. Before anyone gets too upset, I’ll be coming back to the transition of Jonhson from Abrams’ The Force Awakens. But after this quick exchange, Luke exclaims that the jedi must end. If you leave it at that, well, that does sound kinda cynical and cranky; and at that point, all we still know is that Ben Solo turned evil sometime while training under Luke. I feel like fans became toddlers once their beacon of light hero suddenly has a conflicting outlook, and the toddlers tuned out the rest of the movie afterward. If you actually watch the film, I think the character motivations are explained and work well, and it presents interesting themes that result in new territory for this historic saga.

Mark Hamill later regretted his public disagreements because his goal was to make a great movie, and he believes Johnson achieved that and more. And I think he might have said that he was wrong. I was hesitant at the beginning of the movie, but this new Luke Skywalker is a deep, unique character that is played wonderfully by Hamill’s talents. We could have taken The Force Awakens approach and just ripped off like Ben Kenobi from A New Hope and have Luke be that, but this film shows that even he in his wiser years still has stuff to learn. I mean, Luke is the best part about this film. He’s awesome, Hamill’s awesome, and I’m about to start fanboying so let’s move on.

·         We still didn’t get the background stories we wanted from the big characters.

Most of the question marks apply to Supreme Leader Snoke. Who the old bloke is, where he was during the first 6 movies, the scar on his forehead, how he turned and trained Solo into Kylo Ren, yada yada. Everyone knows The Force Awakens is a copy of A New Hope, so it seemed reasonable enough to receive an Empire Strikes Back treatment from The Last Jedi. To me what we receive instead is a combination of elements from episodes 5 and 6, and even parts from the prequels, and it’s blended together and poured over a new dish entirely. This film does a great job of limiting the times it hearkens back to the previous films, and it builds on what exists so nicely. Snoke was such a boring character in 7, and with the help of the magical Andy Serkis, I think the character is worked into the story in a surprising way. It won’t answer fans’ questions about him, but who cares because I think it worked well from a narrative standpoint.

Other questions are how Maz got Luke’s lightsaber in the first place and who Rey’s parents are. For the former Maz only has a limited role in this film, and I find that to be the better. She doesn’t fit into the story all that much, so I’m fine with it. Plus, there’s like a visual novelization that explains how she got the lightsaber. Remember, The Last Jedi is 2 and a half hours long. I’m fine if we don’t get scenes of pure exposition regarding the new characters brought in from 7. Staying true to my word, all I’ll say is I’m happy with Rey’s background. I don’t want to say I knew it, but I think my primary guess is what she ends up figuring out, and it again unveils strong themes for the characters to work with.

·         Not enough Captain Phasma again!

Phasma has little more to do than have a short but relatively cool fight with Finn. It gives both of them something cool to do, but that’s basically it. I do understand how after the promise to give her a larger role went sorta unfulfilled, but I’m under more of the impression of eh, who cares. My issue with Phasma is how she managed to escape a planet that was about to explode when she was thrown into a trash compactor. She had a cool costume, but what else in the film would you want from her?

·         The humor just didn’t feel right.

I wasn’t bawling out from cracking up during this film, but there were some good jokes. Maybe it was a different kind of humor, almost to a lesser degree the kind found in the later Harry Potter films, but I wouldn’t call it an issue. Not all jokes hit their mark, and I can agree that some were placed in a couple strange moments, but I feel the ones that did work stand out more than the ones that didn’t.

And now that we’ve addressed most of what is already being talked about, time for more of my own take. I wrote my final persuasive essay for my ENGL 336 class on some themes and and issues I had with The Force Awakens, and I received an A on the paper. Just like his Star Trek films, The Force Awakens looks nice from the onset, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. And Abrams loves those light flares on the camera too much. That boy really does love his flares… Anyways, there are 2 points to this. One that people will probably like, and one that they won’t. I felt that Rian Johnson took all the right measures in disregarding some of the ideas Abrams presented in the new trilogy. From the opening with Luke to the character arcs to the story progression in general, it’s a much different take. Johnson took the existing world and expanded both in scope and in technology in a great way in my view. And the second point is that since The Last Jedi is the first sequel to take place immediately after the events of its predecessor, I still would recommend watching The Force Awakens before seeing The Last Jedi in theaters (where it’s meant to be watched).

With the possible exception of Finn, I enjoy the direction all the characters took. I can’t praise Luke enough because he’s awesome in this film, and Kylo Ren exemplifies the ways Johnson takes this universe to surprising grounds, and I think it works. For as long as the film is, we don’t get that many scenes of Rey training and honing her abilities. It’s one of my criticisms, but she’s still an enjoyable character besides that. I think they went too much of a “princess power” image for Leia (I’m talking about the scene near the beginning that just looks weird), but it’s still nice to see Carrie Fisher’s final role. And to my knowledge she is getting the Heath Ledger treatment for episode 9; her family gave the studio the rights to use her likeness, but I think they’ll just avoid it altogether.

As for the new characters, they come with some of the highs and lows. I enjoyed the porgs, and those that didn’t are just part of the toddler group of fans. I loved Benicio del Toro, and he’s a godsend for this franchise. But my least favorite part of the entire film is Rose. She’s annoying, boring, and I was hoping for her death in the climax.

Unlike Maz’s cantina hideout temple whatever, the casino in this film is awesome. It highlights the great ways the universe expanded, John Williams has fun with it, and I believe Mark Hamill even does some CGI work for one of the creatures in it. I was hoping for some pod-racing, and even if those fathier horse creature things look pretty fake, they’re still fun. And the casino works well for both the cinematography that is some of the best, and the costumes that are also some of the best. Like what stuck out in my mind were the updated palace guards that surround Snoke. Those guys are cool. And I haven’t talked about Luke enough, so I need to mention that his costumes are awesome as well. The subtle switches made to Rey work well too.

Much of the tension of the film is supposed to be created by the necessity of Poe, Finn, and Rose to work out their own plan without Laura Dern and her purple hair finding out, and they must accomplish it under I believe 16 hours. I actually liked Laura’s character, but she did make things unnecessarily difficult. And people give Finn and Rose’s mission flak, but I think it serves well in both expansion and in tying in with the central themes. I must say, however, that I find the 16 hours pretty arbitrary with how long I feel the mission would actually take. I guess a time under a day creates more tension, but with many of the personal complaints I have, it’s whatever and not all that big a deal.

I had some small editing qualms with the opening sequence, and the film also suffered slightly with tonal issues in the first third of the film, but all things considered, I personally only have small gripes with the film. It’s 150 minutes long, and it will have you engaged the entire time. The climax is just awesome, and that’s where John Williams shines the most. Finn didn’t really have too much a place in this film, but I liked all the existing characters more this time around; they finally felt like their own characters with their own motivations instead of just copies of characters from A New Hope. This might be best seen by the new force connection stuff with Ren and Rey. I’m really shocked with all the backlash the film is dealing with, but I highly recommend anyone that hasn’t seen it to go watch in theaters. I’m saying it’s worth it, so obviously that’s all that matters. May the Force be with you and all that jazz, and to close out, here’s a great spoiler free clip of Kylo Ren: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyzUG2nyf5k

And now I have thoughts on super major spoilers! Please don’t read on if you haven’t seen it and plan to, but if you have, feel free to comment if you have a different take on something or flat out disagree with me

To get it off my chest, I wish so badly that Rose had died when she “saved” Finn. I was first fine with Finn sacrificing himself, and then I was even fine with Rose stopping him because it meant her death; alas, we come to realize that she only majorly injured herself. Which, if you’re a major character not named Snoke (who got Darth Mauled—although Darth Maul technically lived but anyways), then you’ll probably have a death scare, but don’t fret! We know there’s an episode 9 and we’re still marketing to kids, so no major characters are allowed to die. Leia almost died at the beginning, but then she Supermanned her way to safety. Finn and Rose were about to be executed before BB-8 even stepped in. It was a nice save, I guess, but there something justttt a bit off seeing BB-8 drive that. Heck, for a brief moment, we think Luke is going to go full-out Obi-Wan in the climax only to have great illusion reveal only to actually die like peacefully at the end. But his whole Matrix dodges were cool, and you gotta love Hamill when he shrugs off the AT-AT blasts. Still not sure how I feel about Luke becoming one with the Force at the end, but as long as he comes back as a ghost in 9, I guess it’s fine.

The first shot of Yoda looked really ugly, but I’m not sure if it was just the angle or what, but he looked fine afterward. And boy was it great to see him. One of my favorite things that really convinced me about Johnson writing the right Luke was showing that he still had stuff he could learn from Master Yoda. The whole build something new mentality—which flows nicely through Ren as well—was a cool idea to see especially when Yoda brings the lightning down on the temple. But I did in fact notice when Finn grabs a blanket for Rose that it appears the ancient texts made their way onto the Falcon.

The 16-hour conflict deadline didn’t help Rey’s character in seeing her training pay off. That’s just not enough time from her on Jakku to save the resistance by lifting the rocks out of the way. Remember, 8 takes place immediately after 7, so she literally didn’t have any time in between movies to train. But I guess she can be the most powerful jedi we’ve ever seen or something.

If Abrams remains on as director for 9, I’m betting he brings Captain Phasma back. I’m really happy with where Johnson took all of the characters initially handed to Abrams, so hopefully they’ll remain more in the vision that Johnson took them when Abrams does 9. But at least for now Johnson still gets his own trilogy to handle. All this stupid fan backlash worries that future for me, but we’ll see. I didn’t want to say in the review above, but I felt it was so perfect the way Johnson told audiences that this would be a different Star Wars from Abrams when Luke tosses the lightsaber behind him at the beginning. I guess fans did not appreciate that “cynical” move, but I loved it.

I don’t want to say I predicted it, but I had a feeling Rey wasn’t related to any previous character. And the whole comes from nothing background works well too. So I’m happy with the parents reveal; I guess it is worth mentioning that Ren could be lying, but he seemed pretty believable to me. And Rey traveling down into the cave was a nice throwback to 5 when Luke strikes down Vader to reveal Luke underneath the mask.

Phew, well, this is easily the longest review I’ve done, but I felt there was just so much too talk about. I still have plenty more reviews coming, so here’s to hoping that returning to school soon won’t slow me down.

Wind River Indian Reservation

“We have to drive 50 miles to go 5. Welcome to Wyoming.”

            Not only is this a cool line of dialogue, but I believe it perfectly captures how much the land and the environment affect the story, pacing, and tone of Wind River. The movie starts with a girl running panicked through the wintery woods before collapsing in the night. She is then discovered frozen by Jeremy Renner, a trained tracker who knows his ways around these parts and with these people—even if he is a white outsider. It’s obvious he has some sort of troubled past that hunches on his back despite his efforts to push forward. This mysterious past motivates him to help the young FBI agent Elizabeth Olsen with the case; and coming straight from Las Vegas, it’s obvious that she needs the help of a local.

            The movie has ominous undertones of the dark side of humanity sprinkled within the glistening snow of the beautiful landscape. The serious, almost straight-forward approach to the simplistic story kept reminding me of Sicario, and I didn’t realize until afterward that it’s the same writer. This writer Taylor Sheridan, who previously was lauded for both Sicario and Hell or High Water, both writes and directs for this film. He’s definitely imitating aspects from Denis Villeneuve, and if there’s a director to imitate, he’s one of the best choices. With that said, I think the production, editing, score, and cinematography are all ultimately better than the decent directing.

            On the surface the film is about a murder investigation on an Indian reservation with an FBI agent receiving help from a skilled tracker/hunter. And except a nice turn from Jon Bernthal, there’s nothing really surprising here. Some shocking moments, but nothing surprising. But that’s rightfully not the focus of the film. And neither are the decently developed characters. Wyoming takes the starring role here. There’s enough snow in sight to freeze a polar bear, and despite how little that analogy may make sense, it’s true. And it’s used to full effect with blistering wide shots mixed with shivering closeups of the characters. The setting is an obstacle, a visual splendor, a kickstarter for the right moments in the plot, and an underlying motivation. Without Wyoming, this movie is nowhere near the same.

            As much as I praise the setting for this film, you do still have to knock the film a bit for the story. The unflinching storytelling—almost reminiscent of Prisoners—will work for some, and may be a slight turnoff for others looking for a more upbeat movie. That’s not really the issue. Olsen and Renner run into new characters, potential suspects even, and it’s pretty easy to tell from the get-go how all these encounters are going to go. To keep with the Prisoners comparison, there’s no Jake Gyllenhaal to do detective work here. And to Taylor Sheridan’s credit, he plays up the mood, setting, and characters to focus on them because he can’t rely on a plot twist filled story to keep the audience engaged.

            This film really does try to replicate a lot of the successful tension built in Sicario. It works to some degree, and the filmmakers do an admirable job trying to coverup any other shortcomings this film has. It’s not the best film, and it certainly isn’t a joyous film, but if you’re trying to think of something to watch, this is a better choice than plenty of other movies. Heck, it definitely won’t put you in a merry spirit, but it’s got plenty of snow to be a movie to watch over the break. And I’ve been watching movies left and right lately, so keep expecting reviews to come in. And as soon as I see The Last Jedi in just a couple days, I’ll be sure to put my thoughts down immediately. Until next time, yippee-kai-yay, motherf**kers.

A Colossal Disappointment

Okay, Colossal starring Anne Hathaway isn’t all that bad, but besides making a good movie review title, it was also certainly underwhelming. Written and directed by some guy named Nacho, this indie flick knows it’s a weird one. But that’s not the issue.

            Starring Anne Hathaway as the lazy, drunk Gloria, she quickly gets kicked out by her boyfriend in order to change her lifestyle around. So, she returns to her small hometown that she left all those years ago. Needing any kind of job, she ends up going to work for her old childhood friend Jason Sudeikis at his bar. The movie starts embracing its weirdness once Gloria figures out that at a certain time at a certain place at a park, she controls the movements of a giant monster thing that suddenly appears in Seoul, South Korea. As a quick side note, the homage to Godzilla of shots of little Asian kids screaming at the monster is probably my favorite thing about the movie.

            Again, when the film is full out strange with Gloria and the monster simultaneously dancing, everybody’s having a grand ol’ time. But the downfall comes with Nacho. The dialogue is nothing to write home to your sweetheart about, and the directing hinders the actors’ abilities instead of letting them go to work. But Mr. Nacho’s worst crime is the story itself. Strange, promising premise, sure, but once you realize that’s all it is, it starts to unravel.

            Gloria is a flawed character to start out with, but she basically redeems herself within the first 30 minutes. So at this point it’s like well shoot, we need some kind of conflict! And lo and behold a manufactured conflict is created. It’s not even worthy of being called a plot twist. The conflict is so forced and deprived of any motivation or intensity that you wish it went back to Gloria and the monster doing their stuff. Alas, the audience has to sit through an hour of the conflict just to wait to see how it’s resolved.

            Quite honestly, this film could have been a made as a long short film and been much better. Nacho came up with an interesting idea, but he didn’t know what to do with it. The actors are enjoyable, but even they feel lazy when they have Nacho directing them. Seeing Colossal wouldn’t be any huge mistake or anything, but just don’t expect it to have all the charms and quirks that one would to get out of an indie flick like this. All in all, this film is more like a colossal meh.

Arrival

I went and saw Blade Runner: 2049 in theaters a couple weeks back, and I’ve seen director Denis Villeneuve’s intense Sicario, strange metaphorical Enemy, and one of my personal favorites in Prisoners; however, none of these are what I decided to focus on. Although it would have easily been better to see in theaters, I just now watched last year’s alien invasion thinker Arrival.

I mention Villeneuve’s previous (and what he did right after Arrival which was Blade Runner) works because there’s something about these foreign directors and their almost technically perfect filmmaking style. I would honestly compare Villeneuve’s visceral punching, yet subtle vision-driven storytelling to that of Alejandro Inarritu (The Revenant, Babel, Birdman). If you want simply solid films built with tension and sometimes delivering thought-provoking plots, Villeneuve is a good choice.

So what is Arrival? 12 alien spacecraft vessels with strange, black, oval-like shapes touch down (well, they hover above the ground) around the globe. And one of my favorite things about the film is that it knows people don’t want 30 minutes of exposition explaining the backgrounds of the charcaters and why they’ve been chosen; Amy Adams is a skilled linguist professor, and she’s headed toward the spacecraft in under 20 minutes with an established background already setup. She is taken there by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) and accompanied by theoretical something physicist with toned muscles Jeremy Renner.

One of the strongest aspects of this film—just like the visually stunning 2049—is the logical flow of events in the film. It makes sense why Adams and Renner are needed for communication, and the way they go about everything is just smart and practical. I’d prefer not describing how they interact with the aliens—even if that comprises a large bulk of the movie—but just know that the plot structure is much more sophisticated than a typical Hollywood summer flick.

For a film centering around alien contact, it is incredible to see how rooted in humanity the story is. Much of the conflict arises from trust issues from around the globe and especially China’s thinning belief that the aliens are here for peaceful reasons. Their turn towards more aggressive tactics and other countries following suit is where the pickup in pacing comes from. And it’s also where the film deviates even more from the norm. If you’re watching this film in a personalized setting like on your laptop, put some headphones in and crank that volume up. There’s a big reason why this film won an Oscar in sound editing; the effects have to be so precise when so much of the plot relies on a linguist trying to figure out how to properly communicate with mysterious aliens that are humorously named Abbott and Costello (Who’s on First reference) by Renner. And instead of having a huge, Hans Zimmer score punctuating the action, there’s a much more surreal feel from the lack of Johann Johannsson’s score (who works with Villeneuve on practically everything). For example, Adams needs to take a breath of fresh air from the stressful work environment, and as she is outside in the beautiful Montana landscape and she reflects on past exposition regarding her family, the touching flashback only has the sound of wind blowing on the tall grass that Adams is sitting in. The minimalist approach brings the audience in closer to this intimate scene, and we hang on every frame.

So this is like a masterpiece? Well, not exactly. Again, technically speaking, it’s near perfect like how Inarritu is. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to simple entertainment value on screen. These are wonderful kinds of films that can be discussed for hours, but that’s not the point of this review. To keep it relatively simple, Arrival is a good film that will keep you intrigued for its duration. But you won’t really walk out after the credits and be like, “Wow, that was great!” Actually, the effect it will have is probably closer to a desire to go get a mocha, sit by a rainy window of a wooden table with comfy, contemporary furniture at that hip coffeeshop that will have a name like The West Side Coffeeshop or Hot Coffee with Cool Friends, and you’ll just want to think about life. I will say with about 20 minutes left, the movie had me worried about what strange, complicated direction it was going to take, but then it fooled me and went somewhere else. It’s a clever, cool looking film that is logical at every turn (unlike all teenagers in horror movies)—but I’m not sure it’s enough to be classified as “one of the greats.”

And if you’d like a review on any of his other films like Blade Runner: 2049 which I think is still in theaters, I’m always open for suggestions. Just don’t tell me to watch The Human Centipede because, even if I hit rock bottom in life, I don’t think I’ll ever have an urge to watch that film. Stay thirsty, my friends, and keep on keeping on.