Movie Review: Beasts of No Nation

As you can see from the trailer above, Beasts of No Nation seeks to be a film that takes a hard look at child soldiers in Africa. Directed by Cary Fukunaga and produced by Netflix, my expectations were high considering their recent string of hits (Fukunaga directed True Detective season one and Netflix is behind Daredevil and Orange is the New Black).

The film centers on a boy orphaned by war and chronicles his transformation into a child soldier.

It’s a sobering tale. What’s also interesting is what this film attempts to achieve. On the one hand, it is a war movie in the vein of Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, but to a far lesser extant (no one’s charging Normandy beach here). It seeks to take a look at the horror and intensity of war in this part of Africa. Where it differs is that the protagonist soldier who fights this war is a child. And that is very jarring when compared to the old soldiers of World War II.

The actors are all fairly good. Sometimes during the film I felt like the portrayals were fake and superficial, full of overacted bravado. But after further thought, this may be exactly how the participants in this war act. I’ve met criminals in real life, and they weren’t criminal masterminds or heroes doing that last job before they quit their life of crime. They were just people doing things. Those things don’t need to make sense to everyone. The characters fighting in this film often times do horrendous things for seemingly no reason. Beasts of No Nation then, as a film that is based on real events, helps to show that real life is often stranger than fiction (even though this film is fictitious, it still helps show the pointlessness of real life events).

Also worth mentioning are the performances from the children, especially the protagonist played by Abraham Attah. Directing children to put out a performance like this is impressive in any kind of theatrical context and the children here, with this kind of subject matter, were amazing.

Score: 8.0/10 A cold, hard look at a shitty situation. Worth watching. It’s horrific that this happens in the real world and that it is probably more violent and grotesque than what was portrayed in this film.

Movie Review: Inside Out

Inside Out is Disney Pixar’s latest film and seemingly an attempt to create a new property that returns to the studio’s former glory. You know, before the Cars movies, back when they released Toy Story, Ratatouille, Up, etc.

And it is a good movie. It’s just not a classic. It kind of just goes along the Pixar formula, if there is such a thing. They wrote a story centering on the formative years of a child and tried to rope in feelings of nostalgia, which works, but just feels rehashed sometimes. Pixar’s done this before and I’m ready for Pixar’s next, great, original property. Not more of the same.

The story centers on the anthropomorphic emotions of a little girl. They get lost in the inner workings of the girl’s mind and hilarity and adventure ensue. Meanwhile, the girl goes through things in real life and is reflected in the inner workings.

There are definitely moments that moved me, but it’s that same nostalgic twinge I’m used. Don Draper would be proud. Pixar’s golden years seem to be over as they continually return back to the nostalgia well.

A friend told me that this movie was great for explaining to children their feelings and helping children express them. That’s great and all, but I’m not a child and when I watch a movie, I want an engaging story. Up was so successful because it not only had colorful, talking animals, it also addressed the issues of aging and love which applied to the adult members of the audience.

Score: 7.5/10 Good movie. Not a classic. Good for kids, but kids will watch anything with Amy Poehler’s inflection and colors.

Movie Review: Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland attempts to be a lot of things. It tries to be a children’s movie, an adventure movie, and an action movie. Ultimately, it mainly succeeds in one regard: it is merely a piece of advertising for the Tomorrowland attraction at Disney World.

And it tries very hard not to be. The action scenes are very well choreographed. The special effects are very convincing. Act 1 does a great job at introducing the world, the mystery, and the tone of a fun adventure movie. And that cast… I loved that cast.

There were a lot of familiar faces for me. Most recognizable would be George Clooney (Ocean’s… everything) and Hugh Laurie (House). Britt Robertson isn’t a household name, but I do remember seeing her in The First Time and thinking how charming this girl is. Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele) makes a funny/scary appearance. Most noteworthy is Raffey Cassidy. I’m always amazed by these child actors who can portray a character that seems much older than they actually are (Chloe Moretz comes to mind). Make no mistake, Cassidy still has moments where her performance is interrupted by her youth, but it is a still a great convincing performance. She also has some action scenes, but I’m not sure if they were performed by her or a stunt double.

Where the movie really falls apart is in Act 3 with the big reveal of what the central conflict was. It was so underwhelming and really showed how paper thin this script was. So much was spent on the art direction and special effects that this unconvincing big bad conflict just disappoints. In some ways, it felt like so much was spent on Act 1 and building that mystery that they forgot to spend just as much time creating a satisfactory revelation for that build up.

Score: 6.6/10 In the end, the film was still entertaining and definitely worth it for children to watch. Unfortunately, as in the film, all that time spent trying to go somewhere yielded a destination that was underwhelming. However, it was still fun getting there.

Movie Review: Terminator Genisys

I think most people would agree that Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the best Terminator movie of the whole franchise. And since that movie came out, every Terminator movie has tried — and mostly failed — to capture the tension and suspense of that movie. Further, no movie has managed to capture the serious tone of that movie and most have relied more on comedy than horror in the subsequent movies.

Terminator Genisys is no exception. While this film is entertaining, it is often cheesy and lacks the tension of Terminator 2. Regardless, it is a fun, entertaining movie that’s worth a watch.

The cast is decent, but they aren’t very good. Schwarzenegger is showing his age and — even though they try to incorporate that into the story — it seeps through into his performance. None of his line are particularly convincing and he’s really there for comedic effect and to help the viewer remember and reminisce about the Terminator franchise.

The action is good with a lot of set pieces to gawk at.

The strongest part of this film is the surprises in the plot. The makers of this film know the audience is familiar with the Terminator timeline and deliberately starts throwing in plot twists that mess with the events of the prior movies. You’re always trying to guess what happens next as the writers take the foundations of the franchise and turn them on their head.

Score: 6.8/10 Fun film. Don’t expect too much from it and you will have a good time.

Movie Review: Jurrasic World (2015)

Details: About two hours long. Stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

What the hell did I just watch? Once again, Rotten Tomatoes has deceived me on how entertaining a movie is.

This movie is ridiculous. In the films defense, I generally hate these kind of scare movies because of how stupid the characters act. In my real life, I often have to deal with people who do things completely devoid of all caution or rational thought so when I see that kind of behavior on screen, it instantly sucks me out of the experience and reminds me I’m watching a badly written story. Even so, the characters in this film make stupid decisions and pay for it.

It’s hard to watch this film and not compare it to the first Jurassic Park, what I consider the gold standard of dinosaur movies. The build up of tension, the constant terror, and a rewarding climax at the end with meaningful themes strewn throughout. This film is not like that. This is your standard popcorn chewing action movie with no real explanation and some memorable set pieces thrown in. It checks off all the boxes for a B movie and that’s okay in a way. It is entertaining in its own right, if you don’t take it seriously. However, I just found it to be a half-assed rehash of the first Jurassic Park. There were also tons of product placement.

Worth mentioning is Chris Pratt. Pratt shows again that he can act with charisma no matter how thin the plot is. Applause.

Score: 4/10 I’m rating harshly because I expected more when I shouldn’t have. Jurassic World can be an entertaining movie. Just prepare yourself for some cheap thrills and turn off your brain before viewing.

Movie Review: Whiplash (2014)

Details: Less than two hours long. Stars Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, and Melissa Benoist.

One of the best parts of being an adult is that I don’t have to take shit from anyone if I don’t have to. At least not to the degree that I did when I was a kid or a student. Watching this movie gave me post-traumatic stress related to the control and oppression I received from the various authorities a child has to obey in this world.

One of those authorities is that of my parents. While there is certainly oppression in the form of discipline or reprimand, there is oppression in a child’s desire to impress or prove themselves to their parents. It is a form of oppression and control which in many ways comes from within the child, rather than from the parent. The protagonist here —  Andrew — attends the best music school in the country. He wants to make his father proud. He loves his father very much.

Another form oppression is an external one that comes from authority figures outside the family, like a teacher. In this film, this form of oppression is manifested by the amazing J.K. Simmons who plays Fletcher. Fletcher is an insane professor who heads the best jazz group in the school. He is quick to anger and physical violence, all in the name of pushing the students to their utmost limits musically. Fletcher creates the majority of the conflict and drama in this movie and Simmons’ performance is impressive. He doesn’t take on another persona, but I was truly afraid at times and had flashbacks of moments I felt fear from my teachers. Thankfully, I never feared to such an extreme degree as Andrew feared Fletcher.

Lastly, yet another form of oppression is the internal form which comes from a desire to prove oneself to oneself. Here, Andrew desires to be one of the greatest drummers in history. This is the core of Andrew’s identity and he is willing to sacrifice all — all his health and all his relationships — in order to achieve it.

The story is predictable at first, but somewhere halfway the progression becomes extreme and you learn just how far Andrew is willing to go to prove himself to his father, to Fletcher, and most of all himself. The amount of blood you expect to see in this movie is likely going to be substantially greater than what you think you’re going to see.

The ending was lovely and culminated in exactly the kind of climax I wanted to see. This is where indie films excel. All plot points need not be neatly tied together with a bow; it is the theme/statement and the expression of that primary theme/statement which is most important. Here, that message was the music and its performance. Jazz reigns supreme.

Noteworthy is Melissa Benoist. This is not because she has a very big role in this movie, rather it is because of how easy it is to fall in love with this girl. She is positive, charismatic and hard to resist in her roles be they on Glee or the upcoming Supergirl show. I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Score: 7.6 This movie was about drumming and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved the movie, but was stressed, exhausted, and satisfied by the end of it. The actors did a great job.

Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Details: A little under two and a half hours long. Stars way too many people.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is not a bad movie. Unfortunately, it isn’t a great movie.

Age of Ultron brings nothing new to the superhero movie genre. It is the same thing all over again from the first Avengers movie. Where the first Avengers movie was the first time you got to see a superhero team movie, this movie does not bring anything new. It brings the old rehashed themes and action from the other movie.

That’s not to say the action isn’t fun or great. It is fun. It is great. But it’s more of the same.

Actually, there are too many jokes in this movie. I read a lot about how Marvel is never going to be as dark as Nolan’s Batman, but it would be nice to have a little bit of that in the film. For instance, Daredevil was pretty dark and I think it’s the greatest thing out of Marvel in the last few years.

Score: 6.2/10 Bored of this film. Captain America: Civil War should have replaced Avengers: Age of Ultron. This film also suffers from being released right in the shadow of the juggernaut that is Mad Max. Can’t wait to watch that film. I’m sure this movie will make a fortune in the box office and merchandising, but I had a horrible feeling of deja vu akin to watching the Star Wars prequels. This movie was probably targeting children under the age of thirteen.

Additionally, in defense of Joss Whedon, I’m sure he had plenty of awesome ideas he wanted to implement. Unfortunately, for a big hundred million dollar movie like this, I’m sure the Disney/Marvel corporate overlords had a lot of overbearing creative input on what this movie should be and what boxes need to be checked for merchandising, franchise-building, Hollywood politics, etc. I hope Ant Man doesn’t suffer because of the interference of the corporate overlords.

Movie Review: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Details: Run time is over two hours. Comedic, action adventure movie starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Kingsman is a fun movie with a lot of action. Even with all that action, the only things that deserve the R rating it received was the constant use of profanity and one incredible action scene involving a church. Kingsman is largely a PG-13 movie.

Loved the large and recognizable cast, including one Mark Hamill. Samuel L. Jackson plays a weaker character this time. Michael Caine… plays Michael Caine.

Score: 7/10 Lots of humor and action. You probably shouldn’t bring young children with you. Otherwise, it is a great movie that pays homage and in some cases improves on the classic spy films that came before. Go watch it. It’s a good time.

Movie Review: The Lego Movie (2014)

Details: Animated adventure film starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, and Will Ferrell among others. Run time is one hour and forty seconds.

Since this is my first movie review,  I should state how these reviews will go. I am only going to discuss the aspects of whatever I’m reviewing that were interesting to me. I am unlikely to cover every character and element of the plot in the film. Now let’s get to it.

Originally, I had very low expectations for the movie. It was difficult to imagine a Lego movie that portrayed any kind of meaningful story and was not just one big advertisement for Lego, similarly to how Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was a big advertisement for those little burgers/digestive-tract-self-destruct devices.

However, a friend raved about the film. Of note is that this friend hypes everything he remotely likes like Macho Man Randy Savage selling a Slim Jim. However, I figured if the movie was not completely terrible, it may be worth a watch.

So, me and two friends went to the movie. There was a Toys R Us on the other side of said theater in case the movie was so great we needed to buy some Legos afterwards.

Overall, the movie wasn’t bad. Frankly, it was exactly what I expected. It was as if someone with an Adderall addiction went off their medication and wrote the screenplay for this film. In other words, it was written to imitate a child’s perspective and it does this well.

There were many funny moments. Morgan Freeman’s performance was noteworthy. Although, I feel like I will love just about anything where I get to hear Morgan Freeman’s voice, i.e. the voice of God.

The funniest moments easily belong to Batman (played by Will Arnett). One scene that stays with me (*SPOILERS*) was when they flew Batman’s Batplane into the sunset, and someone comments that they are going to crash, to which Batman retorts, “Yeah, but it’ll look really cool.” They then fly through the sun leaving a bat shaped hole in the sun (*END SPOILERS*).

Ultimately, should you watch this movie? If you’ve ever owned Legos or if you have children, then yes. I watched the movie in the afternoon with an audience filled with kids.

Speaking of children, sometimes you forget how different adults are from children. In this case, the kids ignored all the parts I found funny and instead laughed at all the places I didn’t. They still seemed to enjoy themselves though.

Score: 7/10