Eternals (2021)

Eternals (2021)

 

5/10

Starring:

Gemma Chan

Richard Madden

Kumail Nanjiani

Lia McHugh

Brian Tyree Henry

 

Directed by Chloé Zhao

 

I may have taken longer than other to finally see this movie, but in the end, I am glad I did. The movie is as bad as many make it out to be. Although I enjoyed having new characters in the MCU to deal with. Now dimension to stories and welcome the dynamic of characters Marvel have woven for themselves, but this movie felt lifeless and easily forgettable.

The cast in this Eternal movie are a strong one and the merging of their talents is what really keeps the movie going. I loved the cinematography and the lightning effects of this movie, there are to admire and probably for many other movies to emulate and the fight scenes were cool.

The sad thing is the story. Although the movie is not a total train wreck, I cannot with a good conscience say it is as great as the other movies before it. It is not my least favourite MCU movie, that battle for me is between Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Thor: The Dark World (2013), but it is up there as one of those movies I will not want to see again. That said, the story in my view over complicated itself with betrayals and killing some characters which I felt didn’t need to happen.

Eternals is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Chloé Zhao who also worked on the screenplay.

The movie has a lot of flash backs, and it shows us the place of the Eternals in the cosmic look of things. What their role is in the shaping of worlds and how come we do not see them often moving about. After watching the earth grow for centuries, an old threat seems to have returned stronger and more devious. The Eternals must come out from hiding to defeat this threat. The challenge for them is their leader who has been killed. The new nominated Eternal set to lead, does not know how to manage the situation. She is cut between doing what she was created to do and saving humanity.

While this is going on there is betrayal in their ranks and that took a new turn as they have already lost some Eternals to this battle. How they will handle the traitor and top the coming end of the world while going against their purpose is waiting for you to see when you see this movie.

The movie then ends with two post credit scenes. One hinting on the possible future if Disney/Marvel want to make another Eternals movie, which based on this I think, maybe not. The second opening the door to a new character in the MCU.

Eternals has its place in the MCU list of movies, but I believe there was a drop in class and story, something that has been prevalent in this set of Marvel movies in this Phase four, with only Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) breaking the bond.

Clean (2022)

Clean (2022)

 3/10

Starring

Adrien Brody

 

Directed by Paul Solet

 

This Adrien Brody film ran for just 90 minutes, but still felt like I was watching a 2hrs 30min movie. The movie took its time to get going and dragged on for what seemed like ages to get us into the flow of the mind of the man we are meant to fear his wrath.

It felt like a B-movie knock-off of John Wick, except Wick has some slow buzz going on. I found the setup dull, the movie had a lot of time wasted trying to make us develop a flow to what was about to happen, and when it did everything went down very fast. It does not give room to appreciate his work and just fades into the future of life after his cleanup.

The emotional depth the movie had, is not often used to this extent in comparison to movies of this caliber, but even that was overplayed with his good deeds to the world and the bore of hearing his thoughts.

You can see that Brody wanted this movie to be very memorable, but in the end the amount of love and devotion that went into making this film, did not make up for the lack of originality.

We see Clean doing some cleaning of the neighborhood he lives in. He is a garbage man who not only clears garbage but does some volunteer wok in cleaning the neighborhood he lives. He is tortured by his past, which has a lot to do with the loss of his family. We can sense the darkness which looms in this man, and we can see the cover used to keep it down loosening. He goes for a meeting to help cope and uses the charity work as a release mechanism.

He adopts caring for his neighbor and her grand-daughter and this care made him (even thought at a distant) a part of their lives. One day he rescues her from a group of guys trying to take advantage of her and he did so by unleashing a wrench on all the people involved. One of those men was the son of a notorious drug ring. So, he wants revenge and Clean seems ready to take the world on as this seems like the best way to let off some steam.

In the end I felt much like they could have done better making this a short film. All the extended work did not add much to the movie, and you can still understand the movie if you saw five minutes of him and the neighbor. Then the rest of the movie from him rescuing her down.

The 355 (2022)

The 355 (2022)

3/10

Starring

Jessica Chastain

Penélope Cruz

Fan Bingbing

Diane Kruger

Lupita Nyong'o

 

Directed by Simon Kinberg

 

I get the idea of wanting to do a spies turn villain female flick, where the ladies are the heroes. There will be shooting and near misses, jumping of cranes, hanging on balconies and a scene where a lot goes down in a dark train tunnel. I get it, but can we do this with a story that makes sense, or at least worth the time and effort I put into seeing this.

We have seen many male centered movies play that same plot repeatedly, it was getting annoying then with this repetitive flare. We seeing ladies do that same thing does not make it less boring. The plot in this story is forgettable and it just throws everything in the air and the directing was poor. He did not tell this story well at all, in fact he failed in making me feel like the women were doing a good job, even though they saved the world.

The movie uses the oldest trick in the movie world, if you do not see them dying or see their body, they ain’t dead. Add to that you know that stupid thing that lovers do in movies? When they get betrayed and there is a chance to get their pound of flesh back and they chicken out. I can expect that from like 10% of society the other 90% will shoot your ass. Our lead here, Mace (Jessica Chastain) is fronted as a bad ass, she did that one foolish chicken crap thing and it resulted in the death of the friends and loved ones of her new formed female click.

Here is the plot without giving much away. A planned supposed drug deal went burst as we discover it was not actually a drug deal but a weapons deal. The officers watching the house to burst in when they feel the time was right were shocked by the messages they were hearing. Turns out the item on sale was a drive which can allow you hack into anything and use it. The officers burst in when a double cross didn’t work and almost everyone died. One of the officers stole the drive and wanted to sell it to any government agency (CIA in our case concerning Mace). The CIA had brokered a deal and Mace was sent with Nick (her partner and longtime lover) to go get the drive.

Things did not go as planed and Mace is now being looked at as a suspect. She contacts a British agent friend of hers Khadijah to help her in retrieving the drive. While having run-ins with a female German operative who is also after the drive.

I am sick and tired of lazy writing with characters flying from one end of the world to the other chasing bad guys. Bad guys who decide that the best way to move things about is to create a complicated web of transactions that basically complicates things for them. Meanwhile, making it easier for the good guys to infiltrate and make their planed supposedly easy meal, complex.

The action in the movie did not make up for the poor writing and directing.

Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformation (2022)

Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformation (2022)

 

3/10

 

Starring the voices of:

Andy Samberg

Selena Gomez

Kathryn Hahn  

Directed by Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska

 

This animation is so nonsense that Sony rather sold it off to Amazon than risk spending more money promoting and distributing it in the cinemas. This was a poor attempt to entertain, and I am sad that Genndy Tartaovsky failed in this present attempt on this franchise. Genndy did not direct this like the others but wrote the story and worked on the screenplay. Adam Sandler did not return to reprise his role as the voice of Drac, it was taken up by Brian Hull.

The third movie in this Sony animated franchise was a burst for me, even the now popular dancing in the end did not make up for the crap that the movie had to deliver. Like the third movie the animation art was poor, and the movie felt like a money grabbing attempt without a story worth seeing.

We start off on the 125^th anniversary of the hotel. Johnny was being annoying as usual and Drac was losing it. He had planned to retire and leave the hotel to Mavis and Johnny but was so not ready to have Johnny take charge of anything. The news leaked and the couple knows, then Drac changed his mind and lied to Johnny that it was because he was human. Johnny went to meet Van Helsing to help turn him into a monster so he can meet up with Drac’s needs.

When Drac found out he tried to turn him back but made things worse in one of the least entertaining chase and worthless animated movements you can see anywhere. After many uses of the monster turning equipment, it is now worn out. Helsing tells them that the two have to travel to South America to get a new crystal to turn things back to normal before Mavis finds out. Then we are placed on trip to South America which takes place in another long boring, predictable and annoying take on this two bonding.

The first movie in the franchise lacked suspense and was not as cool as expected. The second movie was a huge step up. It had the introduction of the child of Johnny and Mavis, Dennis and his love for the little werewolf girl turned on his vampire genes. More fun was added into this second take on the Hotel Transylvania franchise with the introduction of the Mel Brooks voiced character, Vlad.

The third movie felt like there were too many characters to manage, now this movie did all they could to reduce the focus width and zooming on Drac and Johnny, with the rest of the characters from the first movie. But like the first movie the story was poor and the whole screenplay failed to deliver any form of entertainment

Sing 2 (2021)

Sing 2 (2021)

6/10

Starring

Matthew McConaughey

Reese Witherspoon

Scarlett Johansson

Taron Egerton

 

Directed by Garth Jennings

 

The movie is the same feel as the first Sing movie. The assurance that if you liked the first movie, you would like this one, is sure. Sing is a CGI animation from the stables of Illumination. I expected to see Minions 2 before this movie, but I guess Universal has other plans, with Minions delayed to later in this 2022.

There was no need for a Sing 2 to be honest, the way Sing (2016) ended everything worked out well, but it was a financial success so Universal wanted to milk this franchise. This new movie is just the same notes on a different instrument. This time our group has nailed it locally and the new Moon theatre is selling out. They want to expand to the big leagues and play in bigger and more popular theatres. There was a scout sent to watch their local show, but she does not gel with it and does not believe their production is suited for bigger theatres.

As you can guess, Moon after some inspiration decided to not take the criticism and sneaks himself and his group to audition for the entertainment mogul Jimmy Crystal.

As you can see, if you compare this setup with that of the first movie it is just too similar, there is no step up or a change in the challenges for our characters. Again, Moon is up against the odds and he has found a way to smuggle himself and his group to the front of the line, convincing Crystal they are more than they seem.

The movie from the start does not shy away from giving us some popular songs from the oldies that will have chill and listen. The more recognising change in Sing 2 also comes from the inclusion of more popular current songs that will have you nodding along.

The writing of this movie decides to up the challenge for Moon, not only has he found his way to Crystal and has promised to deliver a killer show on the whim. He also promised to deliver a popular singer called Calloway. A musician no one has seen in more than fifteen years. The movie at this point does not hold any suspense that I can tell you. Because here is a character no one has seen for years, yet Moon and his assistant were able to find him in like minutes.

That’s the setup for the movie, we have Moon trying to wing it and convince Crystal that he can deliver, while also scared to bits to confront Crystal to add an extra challenge. Finding Calloway is one thing, Moon still needs convince him to join the show.

Sing 2 like I said was not needed, but it is a good family movie. It will not make a splash in the box office, but I hope there will not be a Sing 3.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

 

3/10

Starring

Kaya Scodelario

Hannah John-Kamen

Robbie Amell

Tom Hopper

 

Directed by Johannes Roberts

 

The movie has this taste of a low-budget horror movie which I feel it is not supposed to be. This reboot of the Resident Evil franchise spends more than thirty minutes of its time talking, with characters just juggling about and leaves you waiting for things to happen.

I recall the first Resident Evil video game where you can choose to either play as Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, each character had its own props. This movie tries to give you the first game feel and As it is an adaptation of the first two resident evil games.

Here in this movie, we see the two (Chris and Jill) as partners as in the game, but their story is tied in a lackluster story to the Umbrella Co-operation saga. Jill had little to do with the plot and had less screen time than the main characters.

The biggest let down of this movie is the underdeveloped characters. Chris and Clare orphanage life was a glimpse in this movie. Before we see Clare hitchhiking back to the town she left. She breaks into her brothers (Chris) house to show him a video of a friend reaching out to her for help, Clare we come to know is a somewhat news investigator.

As the story develops, we come to understand that Umbrella through one of their agents in the city have planned to destroy the city to contain the virus. The past of Chris and Clare which we were getting glimpse off, did not brighten. All we get to know is that the orphanage was like a rat cage for Umbrella, as they were using the children there as test subjects for their virus.

This movie plot fails to even meet up to the low bar set by the previous set of films starring Milla Jovovich. How this movie with all the tools it had failed to even be good enough to ask someone to see it goes over my head. Here we see a new take on the main characters, giving Clare (who joined the games series in Resident Evil 2) a lead role as she is the one who gets the gist and tries to get her brother involved.

The movie’s b-movie feel starts with Clare getting to Raccoon City and survive some very near-death experiences before her brother and the other officers were called on the case.

What I liked in the first six Resident Evil movies is the introduction of a new character (Alice – Milla Jovovich) whose life runs parallel to the main game characters. There are some meets here and there, but a new character made it a lot easier to invent stories around her.

Finally seeing this movie and wishing that I did not bother.

Last Looks (2021)

 

Last Looks (2021)

 

3/10

Starring

Charlie Hunnam

Mel Gibson

 

Directed by Tim Kirkby

This movie is really nonsense because the director failed to make the actors matter when it comes to the scene or the things that concerned them. The plot unravels like the characters already know the end from the beginning and so when you expect them to be worried or act in a different way they don't. The movie is based off a book called Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould who also wrote this screenplay.

Last Looks is anything but a movie you should imagine is worth your time. Here is a movie about a retired police officer who was once one of the most decorated young officers in his district. His retirement for like a quarter of the movie is a mystery that I felt they wasted time trying to make a big deal out of, he put the wrong guy in jail and ruined his own life in the process.

He is asked to get involved in case concerning an actor Alastair (Mel Gibson), who is being investigated for the murder of his wife. Problem is that Alastair is finding it hard to put two and two together because he is a drunk.

He claims he is not taking the case, then the case which he was not on, then later was on – turned into another mystery. The friend/lover who had initialling asked him to come join her in the investigation goes missing after their visit. He learns of this when he is visited by some supposed to be intimidators which brings to his notice that the studio to which his supposed client works did a press release saying his has taken up the investigation.

The missing friend was the driving force that makes him take the case, but the director of the film didn’t want to make that a very compelling reason. Why he decided to make the lead Charlie (Charlie Hunnam) be complacent about his missing friend while jumping around on a case he said he does not want to have anything to do with, goes over my head. I kept wondering, when is he going to jump on the case of his missing friend.

The director had other plans, it turns out the friends was in it big in some investigation on some next level gangster named Don Q and he (Don Q) was the reason she has gone missing. The moment this hits we are halfway into the movie. So you will think, the director will now make the lead focus on that now. No, he still dives into the Alastair case and the movie then makes the whole missing friend debacle disappear with what they will call a movie twist. I for one call that a let down on movie writing, because now he can focus on the Alastair case and in the end whole thing ends up to be all about money.

My God, there are better things in life I should have done instead of watching this movie.