Cherry (2021)

Cherry (2021)

 

4/10

Starring

Tom Holland

Ciara Bravo

Jack Reynor

 

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

 

This movie has one great thing going for it: it’s easily forgettable, so I know the dread of seeing it won’t last long.

Like the movie’s portrayal of Tom Holland’s character, Cherry, a drug addict—I think many people have a high for Tom Holland. I’m seeing this film based on the numerous good reviews, but after watching it myself, I wonder, what was it about this film that people liked?

It’s not believable. If it were that easy to rob banks, everyone would be doing it. He literally just walks in, and no guard tries to stop him. Then his relationship with his wife and their whole drug addiction arc is just silly. The movie sticks to a formula we’ve seen play out numerous times. Add to that, this movie is way too long and not a single moment captures your attention enough to make you go, “Hmm.”

Even though the movie does carry a lot of visuals, this first take of the Russo brothers after Avengers: Endgame (2019) is a complete dud. I don’t get why the movie is over two hours long, telling us a story we’ve seen play out so many times, and what’s with the whole fourth-wall breaking thing? That didn’t last.

The plot starts with us seeing Cherry holding a bank cashier at gunpoint. Then, we get to see what led him to that situation. We start with his life as a young man, falling in love, and when she broke his heart, the moron enrolled himself in the army. The movie then drags us through a wasted endeavor to sow the seed of trauma. We’re supposed to feel sorry for Cherry after seeing all he went through when he enlisted. Then, he gets out of the army and becomes a drug addict. He’s married to the woman who jilted him, they got back together, and he drags her into his drug habit.

Soon, every penny they had goes into drugs, and one day, while high, they freak out, get rid of some expensive drugs, and end up owing a lot of money. Cherry then resorts to bank robbery to clear their debt and further drown himself and his wife in drugs. How their story goes from bad, to worse, to good again is what this movie tries to make you think is entertainment.

One thing I give Holland credit for is wanting to diversify his acting career, taking on different roles that put him in a different spotlight from his MCU role and his solo Spider-Man movies in 2017 and 2019.

That said, I wouldn’t advise anyone to waste their time watching this film.

The Pianist (2002)

The Pianist (2002)

8/10

Starring

Adrien Brody

Thomas Kretschmann

Frank Finlay

Maureen Lipman

Emilia Fox

 

Directed by Roman Polanski

 

The Pianist is one of the best films you will ever see. It is highly regarded as one of the best works of Roman Polanski and one of the best war movies you should watch, and I totally agree. The movie is a true work of art, a masterpiece drawn from the autobiographical book The Pianist (1946). The book is a Holocaust memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman. Szpilman survived the Holocaust.

The art of directing reached its peak in this movie, and I believe Polanski deserved every award and praise for his work here. The way the movie takes you through the challenges of one man who just wanted to survive is incredible. All his hope of survival is tied to a series of good luck from non-Jews who could have turned their backs on him at any time but instead helped him through his trials.

What I totally admired about this film is the depiction of the character (Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody). He was no hero (in the sense of leading an armed revolt) or carrying a gun to shoot anyone. He lost everything and everyone he loved, had it all taken from him, and spent years moving from place to place hiding and just trying to survive.

The movie starts with Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, playing the piano at a local Polish radio station when the station is attacked during the German invasion of September 1939.
We see him head home to his family as they all gather and rejoice to hear that England and France have declared war on Germany for their invasion of Poland. Their hope is soon dashed when they realize that help is not coming and that Germany has taken over Poland and is hell-bent on wiping out the Jews.

The family sticks together and does the best they can to survive when they are about to be transported to the Treblinka extermination camp as part of Operation Reinhard. A friend sees Szpilman and separates him from his family. If you’ve read about the Holocaust, you’ll come across Operation Reinhard and know how lucky Szpilman was to be separated from his family.

Things did not go great for him from then on. Numerous incidents had him escape death by just a hair.

One thing is certain: war is not something anyone wants to live through. In 2021, during the raging COVID-19 pandemic, there are still war-torn regions. When I read about war-devastated zones like Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq, I just wonder how the people are surviving and why such things are happening. I am fortunate and grateful that I am not witnessing or have ever witnessed a war. I do hope that, in the future, I never will.

The Pianist premiered and won the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The world also saw the fantastic work of Ronald Harwood’s screenplay, and the movie was both a critical and commercial success.

At the Academy Awards, the film won for Best Director (Polanski), Best Adapted Screenplay (Harwood), and Best Actor (Brody). At the BAFTAs, it won Best Film and Best Direction.

If, like me, you delayed seeing this movie, I advise you to squash that delay and watch it now.

Monster Hunter (2020)

Monster Hunter (2020)

 3/10

Starring

Milla Jovovich

Tony Jaa

Tip "T. I." Harris

Meagan Good

 

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

 

The movie has nice fight scenes whenever the humans take on the monsters. The CGI is cool, considering the $60 million budget they had to work with. That’s all the movie has to offer—other than the fights and CGI, the whole thing was a bore. The story is very glitchy, and the movie itself feels like you're supposed to have known something about what’s going on.

To make it worse, the dialogues are dreadful. Where the dialogues are supposed to fill in the blanks, they instead create more questions. This movie is written, produced, and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, and I believe he got carried away by his fascination with the game he is adapting. Because, me and, I’m sure, other people who have never played or heard of the game are unaware of the origin story of what’s happening.

If you are unaware of the origin story in detail, this movie becomes incoherent. That thing you are supposed to know is the "why" and "how." There’s a new world—how come? Monsters are present there, especially at the gate from that world to ours—where do these monsters come from? Were these monsters created by the first civilization, or were they there from the get-go? Who are these first civilizations?

The plot starts with a group of men in the New World where humans co-exist with large and savage monsters. A hunter gets separated from his team when their ship is attacked by a horned monster.

Later on, in the real world, a group of army soldiers led by Artemis (Milla Jovovich) go in search of some soldiers in the desert when they get sucked into the new world. There, they have to face a monster, which leads to a string of events and the death of all of Artemis’s men.

Artemis meets the hunter while she and her crew are trying to survive. Artemis and the hunter become a pair, as both do not understand each other’s language, and they continue their survival together until they run into another group of people. They join this group to try and stop the portal from opening and allowing people/monsters to move from one world to another.

I know this plot sounds like something’s missing, but I tell you, this is the plot of the movie as it is, so I beg your pardon.

The release of this movie back in 2020 faced a lot of back and forth because of the pandemic. There have been both digital and home video releases, which I would recommend you miss.

Dragon Rider (2020)

Dragon Rider (2020)

3/10

Starring the voices of

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Felicity Jones

Freddie Highmore

Patrick Stewart

 

Directed by Tomer Eshed

 

This movie is absolutely missing the point when it comes to entertainment. It dots all the “I”s and curves all the “C”s when it comes to being a cliché. From the moment the movie starts, you get the feeling of how low the bar is for this movie’s aspirations. Then, when the plot is laid before you, all you can see is that the ending is so clear after 15 minutes. Do not seek depth when it comes to why the silver dragon was so paramount in taking down the bad guy. The movie's writer, producer, and director don’t think you’ll be smart enough to notice that little gap, but we noticed.

This German animation does not come close to being on the level of Disney/Pixar. The animation itself was basic, the voice casting wasn’t superb, and the whole story is just a long, boring ride.

Where was this ride heading, you may ask? Well, it’s to a place called the “Rim of Heaven,” which is supposed to be like a dragon utopia.

The reason we are searching for this place is simple: Humans and dragons had a little problem with cohabitation many, many years ago. So, the humans created a gold metallic monster called Nettlebrand, which eats dragons. Nettlebrand got out of hand and became uncontrollable. The dragons fled the lands where humans dwelled to hide away from them, where they couldn’t be seen. We also discover many other mythical creatures who have left the land of humans to stay close to the dragons. In this fantasy world, some of these creatures, including the dragons, can speak fluent English.

The humans' constant need for deforestation led to the dragons preparing to flee again, to hide from humans. One of the dragons, a silver dragon named Firedrake, has heard of the myth—the Rim of Heaven—and believes it exists. He now needs to go find it. He’s on this search with his best friend Sorrell (she’s like a chipmunk). She informs him that there’s an oracle who knows everything, called the internet, which lives in the human world. So, they need to go find it, as it can tell them where the Rim of Heaven is.

On their journey to the human world, they meet Ben, a thief whose selfish ways center around stealing from others and trying to get one over on them. They meet Ben, who, at the time, is on the run and lies to Firedrake, claiming he’s a dragon rider who can tame dragons and is best suited to help them find the place they seek. Firedrake buys into the lies and takes Ben with them on their adventure to find the Rim of Heaven. Someone sees the trio and reports it to Nettlebrand, who, for many years, has not seen a dragon to eat. So, he begins his chase of the trio, while they face numerous battles and adventures along the way.

This movie is a waste of time—please save your children and yourself the heartache of seeing it.