Disney+'s Luca + Raya and the Last Dragon

 

Luca

Gillipedia Official Rating: Low-tier Pixar is still better than average fare

          I was surprised to see Disney not change its distribution strategy as people are finally starting to show that they’ll go to the theaters for the right movie. Luca is the latest entry for Pixar after Soul, and just like its predecessor, the film released exclusively on Disney’s streaming service that continues to rocket up in viewership and has reached about half of Netflix’s subscribers. Whereas Soul’s Christmas 2020 timeframe made sense to not release in theaters, I thought Luca would either pull the premium access route or go the HBO Max route where you can stream it for free briefly within a month of release or go see it in theaters. And then I saw the film and the marketing made more sense. I shall explain.

          I believe pre-pandemic that if Luca had arrived in theaters, it would’ve ended up as one of the worst performing Pixar films. Having it only release on the streaming platform makes it feel like a smaller-scale film, and that fits it perfectly. Because that’s what it is. Luca is a low-key film for Pixar standards. There’s not too many locations, the cast of characters is relatively small, and the conflict remains confined to the city of Portorosso where the story takes place in 1950s-60s era on the Italian Riviera. 

          But that’s not to say the film is bad by any means. Rising star Jacob Tremblay stars as the titular Luca, and the best moments are from his evolving friendship with Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer from It and Shazam!), the orphan sea monster who pretends to know all there is about the world. Luca is the sea monster strictly prohibited from leaving the depths of the ocean by his parents played by Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan, and the first 20 minutes of the film set Luca and Alberto up into the real plot as they eventually do reach land and dream of owning their own Vespa Italian scooter to travel the world on.

          On shore they run into the bully Ercole Visconti—who I thought was a young adult at first but I guess is only a little older than the other kids and runs around with his obeying henchman and penciled in mustache—where their identities are almost revealed when he tries dunking Luca’s head into the fountain (the water triggers the transformation from sea monster to human), but they’re saved by adventure is out there girl Giulia Marcovaldo. She too is an outcast in her own right, and she’s happy to take them in with her sea monster hunting father who looks identical to the dad from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs minus an arm.

          So there’s a couple different conflicts and subplots that intertwine. The main event is preparing for the local triathlon where Giulia will swim a leg, Alberto will eat the famous spaghetti, and Luca will bike the final leg, and Giulia will finally beat Ercole, and the boys will have enough prize money to buy a cheap Vespa. Meanwhile, the action takes breaks while Luca’s parents eventually come to shore and humorously splash the local children with water in hopes of finding their son—the sequence with soccer is particularly good. So you have the race, you have Ercole, you have the protective parents, you have the constant threat of being discovered as a hideous, dangerous sea monster, and you even have one other conflict where Luca and Giulia bond over learning about the world and Alberto starts feeling replaced and expendable. With all the threads, it makes sense to keep things primarily to the one city, but I will say that none of the resolutions end up hitting home as strong as other Pixar films. There’s decent tension as two characters have an argument in one later scene, and Giulia’s dad is a joy, but otherwise, I hate to say it’s a bit paint-by-numbers.

          The climax is the triathlon event, and it really could’ve been punched up more with some dramatic music or more obstacles thrown in the heroes’ way. Even the previously mentioned Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs set up its climax with “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project. Like the big reveal is nice, but it falls short to what Cars and Cars 3 did with their races. There’s also even a twist thrown it at the end too, and it makes perfect sense, but it’s also out of left field and should’ve had more foreshadowing previously with the characters involved for its impact to work better. Instead, you’re left feeling just a bit shocked and confused instead for a brief moment.

          Ultimately, Luca takes from some previous Pixar works for not quite as satisfying results. Like I made brief mention to it earlier, but Giulia is essentially the late wife in Up, and it feels like there’s borrowed elements from the Cars franchise. And you could tell the filmmakers struggled to hit 90 minutes. There’s 3 separate dream sequences. Granted, none are particularly long, and the moon fish one is pretty cool, but all are unnecessary and absolutely just filler. The bully Ercole is one of Pixar’s flattest characters ever, and there are hardly any risks taken. The messaging of the film is inclusive and sweet and has undeniable Pixar charm, but I also didn’t laugh as much as I’d like in a Pixar film. There’s a couple of scenes with Sacha Baron Cohen as Luca’s uncle, and I can admit I was dying laughing in those. The potential for a sequel is out there and could be interesting, but I’m slightly doubtful considering the end credits already take care of it a bit.

          Luca works on the smaller streaming service of Disney+, but I think I would’ve come away disappointed had I paid to see this in theaters. This isn’t even mid-tier Pixar, this is low-tier. But that still makes it better than the average animated film.

 

 

Raya and the Last Dragon

Gillipedia Official Rating: Please tell me you didn’t pay $30 for premium access

          This wasn’t a film that was on my radar much and only caught my attention when it continued Disney’s cash-grabbing policy of hiding the film behind a pay wall for a service you already have to pay a monthly subscription for. Now there’s aspects it should be lauded for like how it employed so many artists having to work from home during the pandemic and how the film still came together. Now that the premium access has been removed, I decided to go ahead and check it out.

          Raya and the Last Dragon compellingly uses southeastern Asia culture and utilizes messages of trust and warns against borders I guess. In the opening narration, part of Raya’s explanation as to how the world fell apart is “people being people.” It’s kinda cynical and isn’t the best start. It also doesn’t help that the opening of the film is Raya rolling around on the amazing Tuk Tuk voiced by Alan Tudyk in a desolate land—immediately followed by Raya narrating how she’s riding around in a desolate land. And then she explains what happened 500 years ago when there used to be dragons, and then she explains that to understand present-day, we have to go back to when she was a kid to fully know what’s happened. It’s not like she’s in grave peril and her past will explain how she will get out of her current predicament. Basically, there’s no reason to start the film in present times to have to flashback. Just start in the past and then you can flash forward to the present—there’s no value added to the way the finished film is. In fact, it’s now all too easy to predict what happens while Raya is a child because we already know how the world ends up.

          There’s 5 kingdoms, and after the dragons used the last of their abilities to form a dragon stone and repel an evil form known as the Druun, Raya and her father lead one of the tribes that now protects the stones. The other clans believe that the stone is the secret to prosperity, and eventually, everything falls into turmoil and the stone splits with each clan ending up with a piece. There isn’t a great explanation as to how Raya knew what to do, but she awakens the legendary dragon Sisu, but Sisu wasn’t the mythical, all-powerful dragon she was made out to be, and she requires the other pieces of the dragon stones to gain the powers her dragon siblings held so that the Druun can be defeated.

          Kelly Marie Tran, the annoying Rose from the recent Star Wars films, voices the titular Raya. And Awkwafina voices the titular last dragon. It takes a little getting used to Awkwafina’s unique voice as a dragon, but she’s playful and naturally funny, and she’s easily the standout performance here. As a quick aside, if you have Amazon Prime, her film The Farewell is a must-watch. The cast here is rounded out by other big names like Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, and Sandra Oh.

          The film is outlined surprisingly similar to a videogame. Raya and Sisu must travel to a place and gather a magic stone, they meet a new character that joins their misfit group, and they repeat this 3 more times. The Druun shares the Signs aliens’ weakness of water, so Raya employs a kid named Boun to act as ship captain as well as chef always looking to drum up customers. Then there’s a con baby and her monkey friends, and finally Wong’s Tong—one of the clan leaders whose entire tribe turned to stone by the Druun. The story works best when Raya, betrayed by a friend as a kid, keeps wanting to work alone, and all of the companions fight for their places on her crew and remind her that she’s not the only one who has lost loved ones to the Druun.

          The one that betrayed Raya is Namaari, and they have a couple fights throughout the film. I thought they could’ve pushed things even more or extended the fights, but these fights are some of the best in an animated film. A huge part of that is the culturally appropriate fighting styles and the use of real stuntpeople to help with the choreography.

          Namaari starts to see the value in what Raya and Sisu are trying to do, but her mother continues to remind her that they are only doing what’s best for their clan. And this is a bit of a spoiler here, but once things get resolved, all the tribes come together. Like welcoming Namaari is one thing, but they totally gloss over the fact that her mom really never repented and they just welcome her back with open arms after she literally was part of the reason the world was crumbling apart.

          There’s a shocking moment pretty close to the climax. And it’s the type of thing that feels like one of those alternate dream sequences, and for a solid 2 minutes, I really thought that’s what it would be because of the extremity of the characters’ actions and the resulting effect. But nope, the characters just have to deal with the consequences. And they get over themselves pretty easily and it’s the way tension is built up for the climax as well as setting up the big fight. Points to not expecting them to go through with it, but it did feel like a dream sequence for a bit because things start happening really quickly afterward and there’s no pause in the action to reflect on what just happened. So it’s also a little jarring.

          Tuk Tuk, Awkwafina, and the fight choreography are the highlights here. But the story is pretty predictable throughout, the messaging isn’t anything special, and like with Luca, it’s not as funny as other entries from the studio. Also like with Luca, it’s an entertaining watch on the service (after how many months it was initially released) but I would’ve been livid to pay the premium access for this. With that said, the premium access for this film is way more worth it than freaking Mulan. As long as you didn’t pay for Mulan, you’re good. I think the takeaway here is that despite my critiques, you’ll enjoy yourself if you watch Raya and the Last Dragon.

 

In Brief:

• I have another doubleheader review in the works, so stay tuned. I know you guys can’t hardly wait. Which is why I’m offering a $49 premium access to the review before anyone else. It’s good for 48 hours, and you can even setup the projector in the backyard next to the firepit and the barbeque as the whole family gathers to read the review. An extra 5 bucks even gets you a t-shirt.
• If you’re a fan of Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi’s style, he has an extremely quirky New Zealand film called Hunt for the Wilderpeople starring Sam Neill from Jurassic Park and the fat kid from Deadpool 2. It’s very Waititi, and it holds plenty of charm and heart.
• I finally got around to Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. It’s a really enjoyable film through and through, and it’s a cool true story. But what blows my mind and cracks me up is how this was from a newcomer director in Tom Hooper. He found success after this with Les Miserables, but we all know about what happened when Cats released. That’s right. The King’s Speech and Cats is the same director. Let that one sink in.

A Quiet Place Part 2

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: The sequel: bigger, badder, quieter than ever

          This will be a bit of a common theme this year, but I was more than excited for this sequel when it was supposed to come out last year. And while some films that came out in the beginning of March 2020 suffered by a shortened life in theaters, A Quiet Place Part 2 was delayed roughly one week before its scheduled release. The original was a massive hit; Stephen King went so far as to call it a masterpiece, and I can’t find myself disagreeing. It was a close to perfect horror film. And while it lent room for a sequel, I still had some hesitation because I didn’t want the original to be tarnished if the sequel bombed. But with John Krasinski returning to write and direct and Emily Blunt leading, I was very optimistic. People are finally starting to head back to the theaters. Is this one worth getting up off the couch to go see?

          One-hundred percent. Go watch this movie. I was concerned over the fate of this film when I ended up getting my own private screening, but this film is actually performing well. And I’d like to see it stay that way. There’s a certain amount of novelty that simply can’t be replicated from the original, but the sequel does just about everything right to succeed on its own.

          This film takes place essentially right after the original ended, so make sure you have seen the first one. But the film actually starts off with a flashback to the first day when the creatures first appeared. This scene strongly evokes Children of Men, and that is both a tremendous compliment and a truly justified comparison. It allows us to still be treated to some Krasinski, and it also sets up the biggest new addition in Cillian Murphy. Again, if you haven’t watched the original, stop reading this review and go watch it. Like now… I’ll wait.

          …

          That’s enough waiting. So Krasinski? Yeah, he died at the end of the first film, as all of us continuing to read this are well aware of. Anyways, in his absence, Cillian Murphy takes over as a protective figure. It’s a smart addition, and there’s also nuance to his character to still make him quite different from what Krasinski was. Also, if you’re not familiar with Cillian and his ocean blue eyes, please go watch any of his roles from Christopher Nolan films, 28 Days Later, and Sunshine.

          Where the first film remained confined to the valley, the remaining members of the family take the new baby and seek a new haven while spreading the word about the creatures’ weakness to the high-pitched sound from the hearing aid. After meeting up with Murphy, the group splits off each with separate goals in mind. The daughter believes she can reach a radio station that has been playing a single song over and over, Emily Blunt has to find supplies like oxygen tanks to safely support the baby, and the son watches over the baby. Let’s recap on this sequel. We end up learning more about the creatures, there’s bigger scope in the direction of the narrative, and we are introduced to new and interesting characters. That hits all the notes of what a sequel needs to do to stand on its own merit instead of remaining in the shadow of the original.

          The other big star added is Djimon Hounsou, and I’ve mentioned him enough in past reviews for his name and face to finally be familiar. But just in case, I’ll say it one last time: Hounsou is an underrated actor and always deserves recognition. Cillian gets plenty of screen-time here, but Hounsou receives a shockingly small amount. I wouldn’t be too surprised if there was an extra scene or two filmed with him that ended up being cut. But I digress. Krasinski does a tremendous job staging the scenes and creating tension with his direction. The kids continue to shine, and Blunt and Cillian provide a level of talent that is taken for granted in a genre that isn’t always known for its acting. Although I occasionally faintly heard the action film happening in the theater next to me, this film continues in its clever use of sound design as well as in its score as well. I just used this praise in my last review for Tayler Sheridan, but it applies here as well; this film has smart characters that make smart decisions. Films with dumb characters are frustrating, but films with smart characters are cool to look at and make the audience feel rewarded for watching their actions.

          Believe it or not, but there is a climax. On one hand it doesn’t have a huge scale with lots of explosions that you might expect from a sequel with a larger budget, but it does come together in a special way that makes this a fun continuation of the original. I will also say that when it does end, it almost feels like you were expecting 20 more minutes. You do become invested in the situations and the film does breeze by, but perhaps it could’ve stopped to smell a couple more roses or tacked on more to the climax. That would be my biggest complaint. I am truly pleased to see the box office results coming out for it so far, but that only makes me double down in my message to you to go watch it. If you haven’t figured it out from this review or even just by the title, this franchise simply can’t end after this film. Now that they’ve continued the story and done so very well, now Part 3 has become a necessity. But no matter how many hashtags may be out there, the easiest way to ensure a trilogy is by making this film a box office success. Don’t go spitting into people’s extra jumbo cherry coke, but you can go view this film safely, and the large screen, sound system, and comfy chairs are easily worth the price of admission.

 

In Brief:

• I watched Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. I think the concept of a zombie heist movie set in Vegas ended up being a bit cooler than the final result. Snyder obviously takes genuine joy in setting up cool shots, and there’s some fun campiness, but some stuff like song choices feel too on-the-nose. It’s fun and worth the watch, but I wouldn’t call this a homerun.
• If you watch The King of Staten Island, don’t go in expecting a light-hearted comedy from Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson. The film is semi-autobiographical and does a come with some moments that made me laugh pretty hard. It drags in the middle, but then the last hour is surprisingly poignant and touching. I’m not much of a Davidson fan, and he also isn’t always likable in the film—but that’s the point. All the characters are flawed, and it has a great cast including Marisa Tomei and a grounded Bill Burr.
• There’s a film with Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage called I Care a Lot. It takes an interesting left turn, but it doesn’t know what to do afterward and the whole final third is a mess.

The New Movie From One Of My Favorite Writer/Directors

 

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Gillipedia Official Rating: We didn’t start the fire

          If you haven’t heard of the name Taylor Sheridan before, I can’t blame you. He’s relatively new to the scene, and despite having some acting credits, his most significant contributions have been from behind the camera. Most notably, he wrote the Denis Villeneuve directed film Sicario. He followed that up with the critically acclaimed Hell or High Water (he also very recently co-wrote the Prime film Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse starring Michael B. Jordan). After that, he took over directing duties himself and made Wind River. There’s definitely a signature look with all of these films. Usually pretty intense, these films to varying degrees have solid action mixed with interesting landscapes and locales. The same goes for his newest film.

          Another trait among Sheridan’s films (particularly Hell or High Water) is the opposite of what you see in horror films—smart characters make smart decisions. Sometimes these are bigger pieces of the plot, but most of the time, they are heat of the moment types of actions that simply make sense. Relatively early on in Those Who Wish Me Dead is a car crash with a dad and his son. The dad is fatally injured and wants to ensure there’s no trace of his son. He opens the passenger door, the kid gets out, and the dad closes the door shut again. I swear to you if the same scenario happened in a basic slasher film, that passenger side door would be wide open and tip off the villain that there was another passenger. One more example: the villains of the film take a hostage as they search for some characters. They reach an abandoned firetower where the only way up is to climb up a ladder. They send the hostage up the tower, and if he finds anyone up there, he needs to bring them down. If there’s no one in there, he needs to set a fire in the middle of the room and burn the place down to prove there’s no one in there. It’s a scenario that is well-planned from the villains and provides true intrigue and worry over what the hostage will do if he finds anybody in the tower.

          As for the story to the kind of vague title of this movie, it’s like a mix of Only the Brave with Wind River. Our main star is the ageless Angelina Jolie who works with the parks department as a firefighter and gets assigned a firetower to keep watch over. At the same time, there’s a father who uncovers some information that he shouldn’t have, and people want him dead for it. The father escapes with his son, and they head to the only people they can trust—friends of Jolie. As the bad guys close in and all paths intertwine, a fire in the forest will act as the catalyst to everything.

          Let’s talk about the cast because for a film that I feel like has had little promotion, there’s some big names here. The two main bad guys are English actors playing Americans—you have Lord Baelish from Game of Thrones, and you have the blueist-eyed actor in Nicholas Hoult. Jolie’s friends are The Punisher actor Jon Bernthal playing a cop, and his wife, someone I haven’t heard of but she gets a couple really cool moments to shine. I should also mention that the kid here isn’t a terrific actor, but he’s good enough. Oh and Tyler Perry makes an appearance for approximately one scene. To his credit it’s a good performance, but it’s so brief that he isn’t even credited with top billing.

          Prominently featured in the trailer is a big forest fire that starts about halfway through and obviously makes its way to the climax of the film. It’s well utilized, but if the shot lingers on it for a little too long, you start to recognize the same animation and the color palette is too similar and that’s when you can tell that it’s CGI. That’s right, bet you people didn’t know I was an expert when it comes to visual effects too.

          The final fight is a little disappointing. The villains start feeling more desperate and don’t make as smart of choices as the beginning of the film. And it all ends up with mostly a fistfight. Yes, the fire does get used, but I think they could’ve used more of the cat-and-mouse tactics from earlier in the film and ramped it up with the fire for a still exciting conclusion that wasn’t a basic close combat fight.

          Sheridan does a fine job directing, but I’d take all of his works previously mentioned over this film. I’d describe this as fine entertainment, but you don’t need to bother going too far out of your way to see it.

 

In Brief:

• It’s finally happening. A Quiet Place Part 2 comes out at the end of the month. The first one was an amazing experience in theaters, and I’m incredibly excited for this film as well.
• Mortal Kombat has some cringey moments and bad acting, but all in all, it was entertaining. Solid visuals, nice callbacks to the games (like the way the fights are framed), and some actual solid martial arts.
• I watched the Marvel movie nobody knows about. The New Mutants is like 10 Cloverfield Lane and Glass. Teenage mutants in a psych ward they can’t leave. Pretty lowkey with some interesting characters and ideas, but it should’ve embraced horror more. Plus, the twist of the film is obvious after the first 20 minutes. It’s PG-13, and I definitely believe that was a mistake. Considering its poor performance, this appears to be a one and done. I’m happy for the experiment, but the results left me with something to be desired.
• Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji star Karen Gillan stars in Oculus, and her ability to do an American accent is so good that I had no idea it was her the entire film. It also stars the guy who plays Robin in the weird new Titans show. Anyways, I was enjoying the film all the way up until the ending. Hated that ending. Not satisfying. But, it’s still a better than average horror film.

Best Picture Nominees Nomadland and Minari + Undisputed Oscar Picks 2021

 

Nomadland

Gillipedia Official Rating: Oh so bad, man

          This film is very simplistic in many ways. It’s almost even a documentary where there’s really only a couple of actual actors and then the rest of the cast are just real life people who live the nomadic lifestyle whether that be in their RV or van. Nomadland follows Frances McDormand around after her husband has died and the factory in her small town is shut down. Ove the course of the film, McDormand works about 10 odd-end jobs and travels around the Midwest. And personally, I was bored out of my mind watching this film. Let’s see why.

          So here’s why. There is little to sink your teeth into. We follow McDormand around as she struggles through this latter stage in her life, and with the exception of her encounters with The Bourne Ultimatum actor David Straithairn, there’s no growth along the journey to really speak of. Every interaction reinforces the hard times she’s dealing with. What you see in the first 30 minutes equates roughly to what you see in the last 30 minutes. So then why is this film nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture and is the frontrunner for Best Director? I believe it’s because of the overall message that is trying to be portrayed. And I get that—for anyone who enjoyed this film, I get it. The point I took away is that McDormand’s character is well-educated, kind-hearted, and hard-working, and despite all of it—including her desire to make it on her own and not accept help—she still struggles in the time of her life where it’s expected for her to sit back and relax and tell her grandkids about her memories growing up. This film does get all of that across in a natural way. But it’s not entertaining in the slightest.

          We watch different movies for different reasons. I didn’t come into this film expecting the same visceral reaction I have from watching Godzilla vs Kong or John Wick. But if my mind is wandering after 30 minutes, then from an artistic perspective of choosing film as the medium to portray your message, this fails to that degree. One of the Oscar nominations is for Best Adapted Screenplay, and that’s the most curious one for me. There’s not much dialogue here. It’s a bunch of McDormand wandering around and occasionally listening to these wanderers tell some stories that, to be honest, aren’t very engaging. If you’re looking to watch an aging woman slowly walk against the backdrop of a sunset for a solid 10 minutes of the runtime, this is the film for you. Early on there’s a single shot like this that was quite impressive for about 20 seconds. After that, however, it was still just McDormand roaming around one of the camps and another 45 seconds go by without anything of value happening. That’s not interesting to me. But let me leave it at this. Within the first 20 minutes, we witness McDormand take a piss, blow her nose, gurgle some mouth wash, and have the wettest #2 put out on screen since, like, I don’t know, Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura. Does it go along with showing what her lifestyle now is? Sure. But does that make me want to see it? No. God no. And instead of describing a shot that happens about halfway through the film and really only lasts a couple of seconds, I’ll let this clip do the describing for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqDGK_UjfFI

            As for the cast and crew, I think the Best Actress nominee for McDormand is certainly deserved. She’s committed to the film, and it’s what I would describe as an understated performance. I don’t believe it’s enough to win the award, but the nominee is deserved. And with director Chloe Zhao, she is likely to win Best Director, but I don’t think she should. And although I most likely don’t have to state this, I will anyway. My thoughts on her directing has nothing to do with her gender, race, age, or any other factor, it is strictly on the result. I don’t really have issues with the way she directed; in fact, for the tone she was trying to achieve, I think she gets it quite well. But even in a pretty lackluster year, I have a different pick that I think deserves the award more, and I’ll reveal that later.

          As far as slightly more technical aspects, there’s an overwhelming amount of scenes that are simply McDormand and 1 other person talking. It’s pretty standard to have 3 different views for static conversations like this: a shot over each of the characters’ shoulders, and a further away shot from between the two to act as the wide shot. With this film you frequently only get those first 2 shots and not the wide shot. My belief is that this again contributes to that documentary feel where the audience feels like it’s following McDormand around and has us simply listening and observing her interactions. Many of the scenes also appear to only be naturally lit. And not in the beautiful way like The Revenant, more like hardly being able to see inside the van when McDormand is in there at night. Again, it’s a style that of course isn’t trying to mimic The Revenant or whoever, but from an entertainment perspective, it doesn’t quite click for me.

          Oh, but I haven’t said my biggest critique yet. There’s a distinct scene I remember where McDormand visits a friend’s house. She rings the doorbell, waits 5 seconds, and after no response, proceeds to ring it 5 more times in quick succession. That is criminal.

          As the credits roll and the cast members’ names match up to their respective character (even Frances McDormand’s character is Fern and she checks into a hotel early on in the film where she says they will find her name under MCD), there’s some good moments to remember like the very occasional score that is piano-heavy, McDormand’s performance, and the rare beauty shot of nature. There aren’t huge revelations, and there simply isn’t enough of a plot to propel the messaging that this film brings across with its simplistic journey. I struggled mightily to keep paying attention. If this film wins Best Picture, it must be the most boring winner since The English Patient (a film I admittedly haven’t watched). Watch it if you so desire. I won’t stop you by any means. But it just wasn’t a film that entertained me.

 

Minari

Gillipedia Official Rating: Way better. Like on a scale, at least 10x better

          Also nominated for 6 Oscars, Minari is a film about a Korean family who moves to Arkansas in the 1980s with little money but a large plot of land to start a farm. This film is about 90% in Korean, and I meticulously studied the language the last 2 years in order to understand the film. Don’t mind that there are subtitles, true professionals like me have no need for such things. Minari is interesting in that in won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, but since it takes place in America, it’s not eligible for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. This film will also be competing with Nomadland for Best Picture and Director. But like Nomadland, this film doesn’t have huge set pieces or big moments. And yet, the entertainment value was through the roof for me. Where’s the differences?

          I’m glad I asked. What this film boils down to is incredible storytelling. There’s the overarching plot of Yeun starting a farm to provide for his family, but each member has their own intricacies that hold so much weight on their own. Yeun’s character Jacob and his wife Monica both work at chicken farms staring up the chicks’ butts all day to separate the males and females, but Jacob wants to succeed with the farm to show his kids that he is something, and Monica wants to continue going to church and also focus on her work to ensure there will always be something to provide on the dinner table, notably lots of kimchi. The daughter Anne is still just a kid, but she is protective of her brother and shows maturity even when her parents are clearing struggling. And enormous credit must go to the son of the film David, played by Alan Kim. He has a heart condition that is a constant worry for his parents, and it doesn’t allow him to play around like a regular kid would be able to. This continues to play throughout the film, but once the grandma, Monica’s mother, arrives and stays with the family about 30 minutes in, her dynamic with David is incredible. It’s the first time they’ve met, and they have to share a room together. This bothers bed-wetting, shy David, and watching the two interact throughout is an absolute joy. It makes me incredibly happy that the grandma played by Yuh-Jung Youn is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I won’t give away anymore about her role and what happens, but she gives a terrific performance.

          Steven Yeun also turns in a great performance as Jacob and deserves his nomination. I’m not too familiar with the other nominees for Best Supporting Actress besides Amanda Seyfried in Mank, but I thought Yeri Han as Monica could’ve easily been nominated.

          So there are a couple big moments that do happen in the film, but they play in pretty small ways. And what I mean by that is you won’t really find dramatic music playing that much or a character speak exactly what they’re feeling. Instead, the characters’ quirks that have been building up may get a pay-off that only lasts a couple seconds and won’t even be highlighted. There’s potential to try to play to these moments more, but it actually feels even more rewarding for the investment you make over the 2 hours spent with this family to see what comes together. Even though the following quote could be applied to Nomadland, it fits Minari just that much more. “Success is never so interesting as struggle.” –Willa Cather

          Now despite my high praise, this film isn’t perfect. Although Will Patton is a very interesting character, I think he overplays things too much. But I hate to say the worst thing about the movie is in its ending. Without giving too much away, it follows a trend I’ve seen from modern films over the past couple of years. With Minari it actually works and is even what I would call a good ending that fits; however, there’s still a slight tinge of laziness in it as well. For as many small pay-offs as there are, the film doesn’t quite feel complete. It’s hard to call this movie my favorite to win Best Picture because of the ending and the fact that I haven’t watched all the nominees, but it’s a very, very good film. I had the pleasure of watching this film on the big screen, and I’d take it over Nomadland any day. Anybody looking for an intimate look at the struggles of an immigrant family struggling and also making the most of their lives will come away with such a rich experience for having watched Minari. I tip my hat and applaud the emotional journey it brought me on.

 

Oscars 2021 Predictions

          With so much being pushed back and so few people watching movies in an actual theater, the Oscars this year lacks a certain pizazz that it usually culminates. They’re also still scrambling to think of new ways to stay afloat with their dropping ratings year after year. Not having Jimmy Kimmel as a host is a start. He’s not good. I said it, and I won’t apologize for it.

          I’ve done my best to watch what I can, but I didn’t make it around to everything. But that doesn’t stop me from still providing my opinions that nobody asked for!

 

Best Picture:

What will win: Minari. There’s only 3 nominees I haven’t seen, but I don’t expect any of them to win anyway. I think Judas and the Black Messiah is a strong choice, but after watching both my pick and Nomadland, I have to make a terrible strategy and assume that the Academy will agree with me that Minari should win.

Gill’s Pick: Minari. With fellow Korean film Parasite winning last year, I feel that draws away slightly the accomplishment it would be for Minari to win, and that opens the door to a couple of other nominees. But make no mistake. Minari deserves it this year.

Best Actor:

Who will win: Chadwick Boseman. I haven’t seen his performance truth be told. Gary Oldman does a solid job in Mank, but it’s not quite what he did as Winston Churchill, and I can’t imagine Steven Yeun or Anthony Hopkins quite pulling the win out.

Gill’s pick: Chadwick Boseman. I’m very tempted to say Yeun here, but I’m trusting that Boseman’s performance is as good as it sounds. Would’ve liked to see Denzel nominated for The Little Things.

Best Actress:

Who will win: Andra Day. Using the Golden Globes as my guide here. Nomadland’s script doesn’t provide enough for McDormand to do to win. Carey Mulligan could be an upset.

Gill’s pick: Andra Day. McDormand is the only one I’ve seen. And she’s not winning it.

Best Supporting Actor:

Who will win: Daniel Kaluuya. His “I am a revolutionary” is a standout scene and I feel confident he will win.

Gill’s pick: LaKeith Stanfield. I’ve seen much of Stanfield’s work, and he is a tremendous actor. I think he actually brings more depth to a conflicted character in Judas and the Black Messiah and should win for it. Side note: disappointed to not see Jared Leto nominated for The Little Things. He was the most captivating performance and gives any of the other nominees a run for their money.

Best Supporting Actress:

Who will win: Olivia Colman. She feels like the kind of actress the Academy loves to love. I can’t take that educated of a guess here.

Gill’s pick: Yuh-Jung Youn. I love seeing her nominated here. She’s the best performance in Minari and I think she absolutely deserves the Oscar.

Best Director:

Who will win: Chloe Zhao. 10 years ago David Fincher may have been the winner for how he truly brought back the 30s and 40s Hollywood era in Mank, but that’s not to say he’s totally deserving of it either. Zhao does an impressive job, but I’m not convinced it should be enough to win.

Gill’s pick: Lee Isaac Chung. I have to keep giving the love to Minari. I’ve seen 3 of these 5 nominee’s films, and Minari is simply the best directed.

Best Original Screenplay:

Who will win: Aaron Sorkin. It’s not his best work, but it’s still Sorkin.

Gill’s pick: Will Berson and Shaka King. I can’t believe I’m going against Sorkin, but I think Judas and the Black Messiah has it this year.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

What will win: The Father. This is a wild guess here. With how little goes on, it better not be Nomadland.

Gill’s pick: Pick em.

Best Cinematography:

What will win: News of the World. I liked this movie, but I think critics enjoyed it more than I did. Would’ve liked to see Tenet and Minari on this list. In a reversal of previous opinions, Nomadland wouldn’t be a bad choice here.

Gill’s pick: Nomadland. Of the choices provided, yeah. Mank’s black and white cinematography and Citizen Kane feel is nothing to be slept on though.

Best Editing:

What will win: Nomadland. Editing didn’t stand out as anything special. Again, would’ve liked to see Tenet nominated here.

Gill’s pick: The Trial of the Chicago 7. Lots of moving parts and characters. It’s balanced well here.

Best Production Design:

What will win: Mank. It’s one of the highlights of the film. News of the World would be a solid choice as well. Surprised to not see the terrible Mulan recognized for one of the few things that film did right.

Gill’s pick: Tenet. Finally, I get to pick Tenet for something. From the opening action sequence to crashing an actual plane, c’mon, can’t beat that.

Best Costume Design:

What will win: Mulan. All these picks make sense. I did really like the costumes here though.

Gill’s pick: Mulan.

Best Sound:

What will win: Soul. They finally combined sound editing and mixing. Wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these films win.

Gill’s pick: Soul.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

What will win: Emma. Went off the posters for this one.

Gill’s pick: Emma. Finally a category that I know everything about.

Best Score:

What will win: Soul. The score here truly is good, but if I’m being honest, I thought the jazz from the beginning of Monsters, Inc. was better.

Gill’s pick: News of the World.

Best Original Song:

What will win: “Speak Now.” I think they show Leslie Odom Jr. and One Night in Miami a little love.

Gill’s pick: “Speak Now.” I think it’s between this and “Fight For You.”

Best Visual Effects:

What will win: Mulan. They’re pretty good. But through poor directing, editing, and the need to make this movie, I don’t think it’s deserving.

Gill’s pick: Tenet. I’m more impressed of course by what Nolan does practically, but I wouldn’t readily be able to identify what was visual effects in this film, and that’s why I think this should win. I’m also shocked that The Invisible Man isn’t on here.

Best Documentary:

What will win: Pick em. I’ll laugh if it’s the octopus one though.

Gill’s pick: Would choose HBO’s The Vow if it were eligible.

Best Short Documentary:

What will win: A Love Song for Latasha.

Gill’s pick: Yeah right, like I actually know.

Best Animated Film:

What will win: Soul. This is a no-doubter.

Gill’s pick: Onward. I hate to be that way, but although it’s not a top tier Pixar film, I think Onward actually had more of a lasting impression. There’s plenty to love from Soul, but I don’t think it truly reached its potential.

Best Animated Short:

What will win: Burrow. I’ve actually seen this, and it’s the most adorable 6 minutes you can spend. It’s on Disney+. Go watch it.

Gill’s pick: Burrow.

Best Live Action Short:

What will win: The Letter Room. It has Oscar Isaac.

Gill’s pick: The Letter Room.

Best International Film:

What will win: Another Round. It has Mads Mikkelsen.

Gill’s pick: Another Round. Haven’t seen any of these, but Another Round is also nominated for Best Director, so I feel like that’s a pretty good indicator.

 

          And there you have it! I can only go off educated guesses and the films I have seen. If there’s any I haven’t watched but you think I should, by all means let me know. And if there’s any hidden gems that should’ve been nominated for something but wasn’t, I’m especially interested in those. See you next year!.. Or uh, until the next review.

Godzilla vs Kong

Gillipedia Official Rating: It’s like a heartfelt familial drama mixed with a dysfunctional coming-of-age comedy…. Or it’s a giant monster fighting movie. Who’s to judge

          Every company has a Verse. There’s the MCU, DCEU, this is the MonsterVerse I guess, I’m not sure if Jurassic World is part of a bigger DinoVerse that’s still just speculation at this point, and heck, Tom Cruise was supposed to kickstart the Dark Universe for Universal. Anyways, leading up to this we had the flawed but still quite enjoyable Godzilla (not the underrated Matthew Broderick one), Kong: Skull Island which I admittedly haven’t seen yet, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. If you’d like to refer back to episode #22,714 of my podcast, I was not a fan of King of the Monsters. At all. And for full disclosure, I went back and looked at the review I did for King of the Monsters, and I completely stand behind it. If you want a halfway-decent review, that’s actually a pretty good one to look at.

          I want to start my review off with easily the biggest takeaway from this film. King of the Monsters made 4 huge mistakes:

1) It focused on the characters and not on the monsters.

2) It was so dark you couldn’t see any of the action.

3) Anytime any cool moment was about to happen from the Titans going at it with each other, they cut away to freaking reaction shots from the freaking characters that nobody freaking cared about.

*I stand by the idea that there were 4 huge mistakes, but for the life of me I can’t think of what the last one was. Use your imagination.

          Thankfully, G v K is the opposite of all of these points. The action scenes are all varied in location and are properly lit, so we see all of the glorious fighting. I almost recommend going and watching King of the Monsters beforehand just so everyone can appreciate how much better this film is. What this movie feels like is a sandbox where the monsters were dropped in, and the filmmakers just got to have fun playing around with what they wanted to do and where they wanted to put the camera. There’s a couple things I think they still could’ve done, but for being able to keep this film under 2 hours, they fit in quite a lot.

          As far as story and characters are concerned, there are a few returning members from King of the Monsters that will make things a little easier, but there isn’t anything really vital from the previous films to enjoy this one—and I think that was the right call. The focus is put more on King Kong and uplifting him as the main protagonist. The humans that accompany him are actress Rebecca Hall who you might know from The Town or Vicky Cristina Barcelona while I know her as the most underrated element from The Prestige, the Skarsgard brother that doesn’t play It, a deaf girl (vibes from A Quiet Place or Babel if you’re an egotistical cinephile) that is Kong’s bff and shares a guardian-like relationship with Hall, and a Mila Kunis lookalike who holds no real purpose except to be a minor inconvenience as an antagonist.

          Milly Bobbie Brown returns as the best part from King of the Monsters and teams up with a Ned rip-off from the Spider-Man films and Brian Tyree Henry. Henry plays the fanatic conspiracy theorist who runs a podcast convinced that the main corporation in the film is behind some dark secrets. While very cliched at first, Henry does exercise his comedic chops to better effect in the second half. And granted, Henry is correct in basically all the assumptions and claims that he makes, but it’s something that teenager Milly believes in and convinces her friend to illegally take a van to go meet up with Henry. If I were Kyle Chandler (Milly’s father), I would be quite concerned about my teenage daughter listening to the crazy podcast. But he’s pretty absent throughout the film, and this movie isn’t concerned about setting real world examples and morals and junk like that.

          This should be an early contender for best visual effects at the Oscars for the following year. There’s an occasional shot where humans are closer to the camera and Kong or a landscape is in the background and only really then does it slightly feel like they’re on a green screen partly because the lighting doesn’t quite capture what it needs to. But beyond that the visuals are solid and take some interesting directions later in the film. For instance there’s these flying ships that run on purple beam fuel looking like they’re straight outta Galaga. There’s some pretty stupid science that gets explained, but the movie isn’t worried about it, so neither am I.

          A couple quick points here. The music works, but it could have gone for a more operatic feel and really propelled the film this film into awesome territory. Going back to a previous point a bit, the action scenes here definitely take some Pacific Rim inspirations in how they’re shot (I assume from just the first film. I’m also assuming that like me the filmmakers haven’t even seen the sequel). What I mean by that is you can expect mainly 2 things from the action: wide shots that allow the audience to grasp all of the surroundings and the two titans, and shots from street level to provide that sense of scale as well as what a human perspective would look like if Godzilla was strolling down 2nd Ave. And last random point: Lance Reddick (most known recently for his cool character in the John Wick films) receives prominent billing, and I swear I can recall him having literally 1 line in the film, that’s it.

          Spoiler alert but there’s a climactic showdown between my boy Zil and the King of the Kong. It’s plenty of fun, but I did expect more buildup to an epic final kill shot or something—like how they did it in Godzilla. It felt like they could’ve added a couple extra minutes of fighting here. But all in all, the entertainment value is significantly higher than King of the Monsters, and it’s honestly the most fun film to come out in many, many months. I streamed it using HBO Max, but you will get your money’s worth by venturing to the theaters to watch it. Go in, have some fun, wear matching #TeamGodzilla or #TeamKong shirts/onesies, whatever you got. Oh, and to save you the trouble, there isn’t an end credits scene. I know, I was shocked by this as well.

 

In Brief:

• The Suicide Squad got a trailer and it looked good enough, didn’t blow me away.
• Voyagers is coming out soon and I’m a big fan of Tye Sheridan, but it seems to have a mix of premises that have been done already.
• My understanding is that Raya and the Last Dragon has not performed well in theaters, but I have no idea about its numbers from its premier access on Disney+. I do feel like the $30 price tag on top of the monthly subscription is overkill (I mean I just did a review on a film I streamed for free using my HBO Max subscription); however, I see the mindset where if you buy 3 tickets at the theaters, that’s going to already put you at $30 just about. And chances are that people aren’t buying the film for just themselves to watch. So I get it. I still don’t agree with the final tally, but I understand it. With that said if it’s like Mulan and streams for free after 3 months, why in the world are you paying that premier access to watch it now. If there’s any kind of premier access for Black Widow, I’ll for sure be showing up in the theaters to watch it that way instead.

I Watched That Movie

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Better than the other movie

          This movie just came out in the last couple of years, but it’s already a classic. It has all the elements we look for. It starts off with a classic story between a main character and their love interest, and their best friends. Taking notes from Homer’s tales, we’ve seen these archetypes before. But that’s not to say there isn’t a modern twist. Because there is. It’s set in present day.

          This is an original movie. And I mean that literally. You have movies based off books or previous works, and you have original screenplays. This movie doesn’t even have a script—it was simply filmed. And that’s the beauty of it really. Throw convention to the wind. That scores points in my book. And now we’re up to 3 points. Kevin, I hope you’re keeping score.

          I knew I had to see this film as soon as I heard there was a 20-minute one take shot. The movie was right at the 2 hour mark, but after the director watched Zack Snyder’s Justice League, he changed the entire sequence to slow motion. Does it add an extra 37 minutes? Sure. But it’s cinematic. And that’s a nice sounding adjective. 2 more points, Kevin.

          Streaming exclusively on Disney-, I remember watching this film in theaters. The Wi-Fi connection was spotty, but I think that was intentional. I also just about lost it when I saw a cameo appearance from that one guy who’s the real-life brother of the girl who almost landed the role of featured extra in Moulin Rouge! That scene ended up being cut from the final film, but I recognized the actor, and that’s really what matters here.

          PLOT TWIST. Keanu Reeves plays the villain. He wields two loaves of bread at all times and makes the “pew pew” sound as he uses them as shotguns. The visual effects aren’t perfect here, but I do appreciate the fact that they decided to go practical.

          -insert clever analysis here-

          Overall, this is a movie. I was hooked the whole time, and I only checked the status of my Amazon package twice. I was convinced there was an end credits scene and my patience appeared to finally payoff until I realized it was just the previews for the next screening starting to play. I recommend this film only to people suffering from high blood pressure.

 

In Brief:

• Boop.

Justice League Super Ultimate Gold Zack Snyder Edition

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Joss Whedon’s Knightmare

          I have to get this cleared up and out of the way. I knew about the hashtag, and I was a nonbeliever. Not only was I skeptical that this thing existed considering scenes had to be re-shot for the theatrical release, I also didn’t believe it would ever happen. Lo and behold, the internet stepped in. For those that aren’t unaware, Justice League had a tragic production both during and after. Zack Snyder’s daughter unfortunately committed suicide, and Zack very understandably so stepped away from production. Joss Whedon came in, shot some new stuff, pretty sure he made a comment that he was keeping the same tone but we all knew that was a lie, and infamously had to digitally shave Cavill’s lip raccoon. I didn’t watch that 2-hour Justice League in theaters. I watched it about a year later in the comfort of my home and was mildly entertained. It’s the type of film you pretty much immediately forget. This is Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And it’s 4 hours long. Hard to forget that. It’s the same movie, but it has been surprisingly revamped in many ways. Let’s get to it.

          I truthfully don’t remember too much about the original film, but one of my least favorite things about it was the villain Steppenwolf. He was this bland, cgi villain without much motivation and felt more like a simple vehicle with an army for our heroes to beat up on. Don’t expect him to be Thanos or anything this time around, but he is most definitely improved upon. He sports a new suit of armor, and this more imposing look combined with introduction of Darkseid as the final boss villain helps out. So Steppenwolf is still a bit like Thanos where he needs to get these three Mother Boxes to combine them into one MOAB (mother of all boxes), but Darkseid is the true Thanos.

          I should also note that I was under the impression that this was being released as a 4-part miniseries. That’s not the case. The film is separated into 6 chapters plus an epilogue, but all 4 hours are available straight away. And to be honest, I took a couple hour break (nap) after Part 2 and returned to finish it, and I felt that was a good balance.

          But anyways, yes, that opening with a kid filming Superman is gone, and Snyder has said that this film is Whedon-free. It’s also rated R this time. There’s a couple f-bombs and now a good bit of blood splatters, but I don’t think this version really took full advantage of the rating. There’s a cool disintegration and Wonder Woman has some good kills, but not much else that’s notable. But that does bring me to Wonder Woman’s first action scene early on with the terrorists. I’ve maintained that her theme song is one of the coolest of any superhero, and the way she beats up the baddies is exactly what I wanted to see. There were tiny glimpses of it in WW84 like in the White House, but it’s done better here.

          Out of the group of 6 superheroes, the Flash and Cyborg benefit most from the director's cut. Instead of scenes simply being extended or dialogue being altered, they are the ones who truly get more backstory that acts as a backbone for the whole film. So that itself is a joy to see. What’s not so nice is the grime behind the production. Ray Fisher has been the most outspoken about Whedon and the other executive at DC, and good for him. Sadly, as I understand it, Fisher’s Cyborg has been written out of the Flash movie that is still to come. I really hope this film bridges some gaps because that’s a movie I’d like to see.

          I believe I’ve heard Snyder attribute the length and vision of the film to The Lord of the Rings, and there is some of the adventuring qualities that reminisce it a little, but the closest comparison I can make to this film is Avengers Infinity War. Subtle changes to Affleck’s Batman instills a sense of hope throughout the film as he works with Diana Prince to assemble the league, and this film slowly grinds through that along with Steppenwolf’s quest for the 3 boxes.

          The length of this film plays into Snyder’s self-indulgent quality of slow motion and visuals. I believe without a doubt that this is an improvement from the rushed feel of the original, but it certainly is quite long. The cgi didn’t look great in the first place, and I know millions were poured into visuals for this film. What I hated most about the original was the overall green screen feel it had, and that couldn’t really be improved here, but the focus is more on building the story, so it’s not something you focus on as much here. I do believe you can shave a solid 20 minutes off of this film, but for me personally, the difference between the two films is stark enough to validate this film.

          The climactic battle is also very different. I remember 2 things from the original. First, it had that weird red atmosphere. And second, the Flash saved that Russian family and said, “Dostoevsky!” Neither of those things exist this go around, and the momentum leading up to the showdown feels soooooo much more natural. There was simply no time to build anything and properly explain exposition before.

          To go back to a previous point, Batman in this film really only uses his toys for fighting, and it makes me miss that scene in Batman v Superman where he beat everyone up like he does in the Arkham videogames—the closest we get here is that early scene with Wonder Woman. But this version also gives up Superman in his black suit. I know a little about the story with it and what it implies, but thematically and simply aesthetically, it works. People kind of look at Man of Steel and Zack Snyder and think of super dark and serious. Not only is this film dramatically more consistent in its tone, it’s not all bleak either. You still have the humor from the Flash, a more hopeful Batman, and a much more sentimental quality among Lois Lane, Superman, and Martha. I also know that Junkie XL overhauled the music, and the score fits the sweeping film.

          There’s still a couple scenes that act like cryptic premonitions of darker things to come. I think these are handled better than what Marvel has done because they’re both beefier while still being vague. The problem here is where the state of DC is now. I’m still excited for Robert Pattinson’s Batman, but Batfleck is out. Amber Heard is out of the Aquaman films (and to my current knowledge, thankfully so for that), no Cyborg in the Flash film, and essentially, everything you see means nothing because it won’t happen—at least not with this group. It both confuses and upsets me because I don’t know where everything stands in the DCEU, but it does succeed in reinvigorating my excitement associated with these characters and franchises.

          I still can’t believe this film actually exists. Since it’s still Justice League, I wasn’t expecting an entirely new story that changes the whole game. But what I did get was an overhaul that stands out way more than the 2017 mediocrity. It’s still not perfect, and in case you didn’t know, it’s 4 hours long. You heard it here first, folks. Despite flaws that would exist no matter what you did as well as the length and not-so-great occasional effects, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is way better than the studio mandated 2-hour junk we got a couple years back. I have no idea what Joss Whedon is doing nowadays, maybe a Buffy revival that he wants to botch. I don’t know. But if you have 4 hours of your life, you can spend it pretty well with this film. Possibly in 2 sittings.

 

In Brief:

• I watched the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes, and that’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I hated it. I hated the way it was shot, it takes like 50 minutes for anything to start happening, Ted Levine got dragged into a terrible cast, and there’s an unnecessary amount of blood and gore.
• After disappointing myself by not doing Golden Globes predictions, I plan to make sure I do for the Oscars. But I’ve also not seen many of the films, so I’ll be working on that more in this coming month. The one I’m most excited to watch is Minari.
• A couple years back Netflix produced a Michael Bay film 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds. It has many typical Bay tropes, but it’s also extremely entertaining to watch. I was thoroughly impressed with the way Bay shot all the action and extravagant set pieces.