Life of the Party (2018)

Life of the Party (2018)

4/10

Starring

Melissa McCarthy

Gillian Jacobs

Maya Rudolph

Julie Bowen

Directed by Ben Falcone

Life of the Party isn’t that great of a movie, to the point where it’s hard to recommend you go see it—unless you’re a Melissa McCarthy fan. Even if you are, this movie didn’t hit the mark for me on the funny meter until about seventy-five minutes in.

The movie is directed by Ben Falcone and written by Falcone and Melissa McCarthy. It’s also the third movie they’ve worked on together, including Tammy (2014) and The Boss (2016). The acting in this movie might have been good, but the story was nowhere near focused on entertaining the audience.

Packaged very much like a B-movie with a misinformed idea of what people find funny nowadays, Life of the Party lacked life in itself.

The movie follows a mother and wife, Deanna Miles (Melissa McCarthy), who finds out her husband has been having an affair and is leaving her for his new catch. This happens early in the movie, as I guess the writing pair wanted to focus more on Deanna’s life back at university rather than her and her husband falling out of love.

The idea of focusing on her life at university seemed like a great idea at first—until she re-enrolled in her daughter’s university, and what seemed like a great idea became oddly weird way too fast. Deanna had dropped out because she and her husband decided it would be best financially if he completed his degree, and she would go back to finish hers later. Now that he’s leaving her, she decides to get her degree and have something for herself.

At the university, Deanna makes friends with her daughter’s friends, and, as expected, it wasn’t difficult for her to be welcomed into the group—because who’s going to be mean to their friend’s mom? I liked the chemistry between mother and daughter in the movie, as the writing pair tried to make it as realistic as they could.

Deanna gets involved with a guy at the university (whose real-life backstory was the only thrilling shocker this movie delivered), does well in her studies, and is welcomed as an official member of her group.

The movie’s antics and parties are the parts that’ll make you wish they’d done better in portraying all of this. For me, the one thing that stood out as funny was Deanna’s friend Christine (Maya Rudolph).

The movie did well at the box office, which might be another reason the two could be making another movie together. For me, like The Boss (2016), this isn’t a good comedy, but it’s far easier to digest than The Boss was.

Incredibles 2 (2018)

Incredibles 2 (2018)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Craig T. Nelson

Holly Hunter

Sarah Vowell

Huck Milner

Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Brad Bird

It’s been fourteen years since we last saw the Parr family suit up to save the world and their family life. Back in 2004, they showed us how strong they are together when up against any menacing force.

Now, after the last incident in The Incredibles (2004), which left us wondering what The Underminer was all about, this sequel picks up right from that point.

Brad Bird delivers a stunner of a sequel, even though it’s not as superb as the first The Incredibles (2004). He pulls off a deep family comedy with enough action to keep you entertained. He also goes one step further in developing each member of the Parr family (except Dash). The script works, as it keeps you entertained when Bob takes on the family side of things and Helen is out there being the hero the world needs.

Incredibles 2 is Disney/Pixar’s twentieth feature animated movie, and it’s quite long compared to other Pixar movies. As mentioned, the movie follows up on the events from the last film, with the Parr family now going up against The Underminer. In doing so, they cause a lot of havoc.

This brings back the voices of those calling for supers to be barred from using their powers. After mishandling the aftermath of the situation, the Parrs have to get their acts together, as the government will no longer be taking care of their relocation.

Forced to accept that they’ll have to get jobs and sort things out, Frozone shows up telling them he was approached by a man who wants to change things. This new ally wants Elastigirl to be the new face of the superhero world, as he aims to rebrand them. Bob, not so cool with the idea, now has to stay home with the kids while Helen is out there saving the world (I’m sure you saw all this in the trailer).

Her world-saving and job give the family enough money to get on with their lives, although her heroics aren’t as interesting as watching Bob being at home.

We see Jack-Jack show off his Swiss Army knife of powers. He can change form, turn into a monster, set his whole body ablaze, travel through dimensions, hear from another dimension, multiply, shoot beams from his eyes, and much more. The movie’s villain, however, is a bit of a letdown—Screenslaver. I preferred the villain from the last movie.

The movie’s animation is just as amazing as I expected, and I felt some great nostalgia hearing some of the voices I knew. The movie may not be on par with The Incredibles (2004), as that film had more focus on the thrill than the comedy. Here, the movie leans more on comedy than thrill.

Dash felt more like just a hang-around character Bird didn’t know what to do with. Unlike the others, he had less to say and very little screen time. His character, at one point, felt like a hindrance to the fun, in my view. Even with that, the movie is a great follow-up, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how the Parr family squares up against their next foe—now that they can.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

6/10

Starring

Chris Pratt

Bryce Dallas Howard

Rafe Spall

Justice Smith

Directed by J. A. Bayona

The new Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom reminds me a lot of every other Jurassic Park movie created after the first one (Jurassic Park in 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg). Each of those movies was good, but not great like the original Jurassic Park.

In the first two sequels (The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III), things were coasting, and the movies felt more like a collection of ideas the producers wished they could have included in the first Jurassic Park.

In this continuation series, my biggest issues are the additional long conversations and build-ups to what we’re all waiting for: the dinosaurs getting totally out of control. Instead of adding a new spin to the plot, the last two movies have been the same old tale with a different cast.

In Fallen Kingdom—again, though I was hoping it wouldn’t be—the “villains” are planning to create a new dinosaur by merging the DNA of the Indominus Rex from Jurassic World (2015) with that of the last living Velociraptor. Yes, the movie is dealing with the same further mutation of mutated dinosaurs that all the movies have been about. There’s nothing new to add, just a lengthy buildup, as I said, and some video clips from the past showing how raptors can be controlled. The movie also tries to keep you on edge by dropping clues and using unnecessary tactics to warn you of the danger ahead, which ends up being too boring to applaud.

So, the dead Indominus Rex’s DNA is harvested, and by fooling Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the first movie, our new idiot financier wants to weaponize these creatures with his new hybrid. He plans to sell them to the highest bidder and eliminate anyone in his path toward this financial breakthrough he envisions. The island where the dinosaurs were located is about to be destroyed by a volcano, and our cruel financier—and all-around bad guy—tricks the beloved duo into helping him capture some of the dinosaurs with the lie of relocating them to another island.

Before you get to the part with the thrill and excitement, you’ll have to wait over eighty minutes for the dinosaurs to break loose.

The movie seems to be on a path toward financial profit for Universal, and I’m sure a third installment is already in the works. Universal went all-in when it came to the marketing and production of this movie, pumping over $350 million into it—way more than the first movie. If things go the way of the first movie, it’ll be another big payday. Sadly, though, the movie is just there, and I hope the third part will have more to add to this already exhausting plotline.