Joy Ride (2023)

Joy Ride (2023)

 

7/10

 

Starring

Ashley Park

Sherry Cola

Stephanie Hsu

Sabrina Wu

 

Directed by Adele Lim

 

Coming from a guy, I liked the way this film handled women and sexuality. I loved the way it handled the character development of each of the four ladies and the way it always finds a way to pull a rabbit out of a hat, occasionally when you think you have guessed how things were going to turn out.

This is a good film, and it deserves more publicity for the way it was written and the way it was directed by directorial debut Adele Lim.

It is easy to step into a cinema and expect to see b-film level acting and writing when you go see a movie about women going on a trip. It is a regular serving from Hollywood, so you can practically guess some of the things that will happen in the film. These things are regular with trip films and happened in this one too.

There is always the overly serious, who along with their friends go on a trip. Ours in this movie is Aubery (an Asian adopted by white parents as a child) who needs to visit China on a business trip but does not speak any Chinese. Aubery childhood friend Lolo grew up with her Chinese family and speaks Chinese, so she will tag along with Aubery to translate for her. Aubery has a friend from Uni who stays in China and works as an actress her name is Kat, they were going to meet up when she lands in China. The last but not the least, is Deadeye, Lolo’s cousin.

As you would expect, according to the road trip formula something went wrong, and they lost their passports because of it. Then they get some luck, and this is where the film took a strong sexual detour. Which also adds to their mess and after some more bad luck, their friendship gets caught in the mix.

The movie stayed through to the formula so no surprises there when these things happen, but the path it took to getting from point A of the start of the trip to their bad luck at Point B, and all the other points before we get to the ending with the apology was funny and occasionally surprising.

Good film and one that will not waste your time. The ladies did a great job in their roles, and even though the movie was not a run away box-office hit, if any movie deserves going for another run at a trip, this one does more than the rest we have seen attempt it.

Hidden Strike (2023)

Hidden Strike (2023)

 

3/10

Starring

Jackie Chan

John Cena

 

Directed by Scott Waugh

 

An action movie with John Cena and Jackie Chan, and I found myself bored.

You can tell when a production started as a pipe dream with a single idea, getting John Cena and Jackie Chan together for an action film with comedic elements. Then, one day someone agreed to sponsor this pipe dream, and now the producers had to scramble up an idea, called it a script and just ran with it. This film’s biggest mistake is that it felt could be Rush Hour. Then the director added elements of Mad Max: Fury Road to the mix, which made this film just feel like a fish out of water when you consider that it is supposed to be an action/thriller with elements of comedy.

When a film introduces one of its leads in a more common-sense setup, Jackie’s character (Luo) along with his team are hired to extract someone, and they must cross the highway of death to achieve this. Then the other lead, John Cena (playing Chris) was introduced in a cartoonish way in a make-believe desert background. In this film Chris is an anti-hero discussing with his mercenary buddies about a completed job, and he was told of a new job where they must go after Luo’s extraction team and capture the person Luo is tasked to extract. Chris turns the job down because he does not want to have anything to do with the highway of Death.

Let me continue to paint the silly way Chris is introduced to us, he is in this make-believe desert hitting golf balls, when the team drives in their jeeps like rats being chased by a cat. Then we see him next playing ball with a boy in the town he has chosen to live in. We the dumb folks watching this, are supposed to see this ball playing as a depiction of Chris being a good guy in bad situations. How is playing ball the only thing these writers think is needed to establish a character as a good guy.

The town does not have water, so he speaks with one of his contacts (another fellow mercenary) who tells him that to get the water turned back on he will need to pay $100,000. So, you can guess where the film is going from here, Chris agreed to do the job so he can get the money he needs so that the town will not die of thirst. Another idea the writers think will establish the good guy persona, forgetting that he also lives there, so lack of water also affects him, even if we are to believe he can decided to move away.

Well, things do not go according to plan as you would have expected, and we are bathed in a Mad Max: Fury Road chase, that led to Chris walking away from his group and running into Luo and both knew each other from their special force days. They fight and later team up.

It is B-film action sequence 101, no attempt to take this big budget film up a notch and make it even better than other B-films in the same category which it has decided to stay in.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Oppenheimer (2023)

 3/10

Starring

Cillian Murphy

Emily Blunt

Matt Damon

Robert Downey Jr.

Florence Pugh

 

Directed by Christopher Nolan

 

The film felt like Christopher Nolan wanted to boast to the world that he can make a film three hours long and be about a subject he likes and yet it will be a blockbuster, and everyone will want to see it.

Because other than the titular character, everyone else is not given any form of character depth. The film is so disjointed and lacking good cohesion that there is no point wanting to know who anyone is. Just know that Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer, and that is all that matters. Because trying to string a deep link between the characters is not going to be easy. Just know their names and places and that is all that matters. Cinematography is world class as you would expect from Nolan, but that’s it.

The story telling is poor, the non-linear way the scenes are shown makes it hard to put things together, at first. When you finally understand the flow, you are still left wondering if it was worth the time you have invested into seeing this movie.

Christopher Nolan is a great filmmaker, but the pride that drove him to make this film shows that it was done for him and not for the viewer to love.

The film’s plot is about the titular character, Oppenheimer, who was part of a team of physicists, who are called to develop the atomic bomb, during World War II. We go through the morals, questioning and drama as we are taken through this historical piece through cut scenes and non-linear flow of great cinematography but boring story. I the end I felt like, “why should I not have just read the book?”

I think their times reviewers and award shows have a meeting and agree beforehand the films they are going to be behind no matter what. We see this many times when films that you know you have seen better independent films get so much attention and ratings, yet they are poor either in production or plot. But their marketing power and backing makes them shine better than other films released during their period at the box-office. The marketing power of the words written and directed by Christopher Nolan has made this a must see, and it seems every popular reviewer just wants to say it is great even though it is not.

I compare this with Barbie, the movie that came out in the same window as this. The marketing for the film and the message it carries will make it hard for some men to come out and say, this was crap. Because the truth can have you labelled.

There is no point running to the IMAX to see this film it was not worth any of the time and money spent seeing it.

Barbie (2023)

Barbie (2023)

2/10

Starring

Margot Robbie

Ryan Gosling

America Ferrera

 

Directed by Greta Gerwig

 

There comes a time when you just know that everyone is pulling a fast one on you. You are the bottom of the joke. This time, it is probably all the people that rated this film high, this film sucks and it is a bad film.

I saw this film and I kept waiting to see all the things people are saying. Yes! The acting was good, but other than that, the characters were stuck in their own identity, which made this film so stiff and the story… OMG this film should have been called Barbie’s Feminist Movement Parade.

I love Margot Robbie, even this film cannot undo her influence or work she has done in the industry, but for what point was this film made?

Every female TikToker or wannabe influencer is out there shouting the same thing this film is screaming from the top of its loins, is just this film could have done better.

What made Lego films cool, is that there is a break from the identity of the box these characters came from. Here, Barbie is stuck in that box of wanting to be perfect and wanting things to go back to the same way it was, where she was in control. When things changed, she did not change it back to a more balanced society in Barbieland, she changed it back to women rule everything and the Kens are just there for decoration.

This film was offensive to my brain, and I believe I lost IQ points seeing it.

Now the plot. Barbie goes about her perfect day in Barbieland with her other Barbies. Every day is the same and things do not change, until one day she wakes up with the thought of mortality and sadness. She tells the other Barbies who send her to meet Weird Barbie, who happens to understand what was happening. The person playing with her, has transferred her fears and thoughts into her, causing a crack between the worlds and allowing these feelings to break into Barbieland. So, she needs to go into the real world, find this person and fix the problem. She goes along with Ken, and they discover that things in the real world are not a reflection of what is in Barbieland.

While Barbie struggles to get a grip of the real world, Ken learns about the patriarchy system and thinks it is the best for Barbieland.

I will not be surprised if this film becomes a box-office hit, everyone is just going to say it is great for the fear of being different and say the truth, this film sucks.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

 

2/10

Starring

Lana Condor

Toni Collette

Annie Murphy

Colman Domingo

Jane Fonda

 

Directed by Kirk DeMicco

 

Sometimes when a film sucks, we can wonder why? This is an animation with a very odd name and the story will be unique, and the production cost seems high enough for a good CGI, so why would it suck?

Then you start watching and five minutes into the film, you see why it sucked and why it was a box office flop. I happen to have moved around children of today and heard them talk, this is something I think the writers lack the awareness of (even if they have children). Children of today are a lot smarter than we were when we were their age. Their eyes have seen animated things like Spiderverse and Disney stuff, to think this bad CGI and weak boring Krakens will make them want a re-watch, is crazy.

This film is so silly, that it is amazing it even got green lit. I do not get it. The plot is about a family of Krakens who left the sea to live with humans and fooled the whole humans in the town they live in that they are humans too, but from Canada.

Now you will think, Kraken’s look like humans for this to be possible, but no!

Krakens are blue and shaped differently and can move their bodies about like eels. So, you will think again, these blue creatures will at least wear some makeup and move around like humans. But they do not even attempt to do any of those things. They go about blue and move freely. Anytime you see them act odd, they use I am from Canada to explain away the weirdness, and the people buy it.

You will think, I am overthinking this animation, but there is nothing to think not to mention overthinking. I kept wondering why, why not make it so that when they are on land, their body turns human. Will that not have been easy, and when they get to sea they turn back.

The Teenager in our Kraken family, Ruby, wants to go to prom. Her mother does not want her to, because the venue is on a boat which will be in the water. Ruby’s mom does not want Ruby near water at all. But as teenagers go, the more she is denied this, the more she wants it. She and her three friends want to show up to the Prom with their dream dates, and Ruby is no exception.

How she managed to get herself on the boat, and then the repercussion of going on this trip is all this film has to offer, predictable and just downright boring and a proper waste of your precious time.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

 

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

 

8/10

Starring

Tom Cruise

Ving Rhames

Simon Pegg

Hayley Atwell

 

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

 

Leave it to Mission Impossible to start with an opening that has you spoked and locked in for what else the film has to offer. Right from the start we know this is a two-parter, and that is one thing about films I dislike, why make it so long that I must wait to see how it ends. Well, Hunt and his team feel they have what it takes to make me crave another part (and I must add, this has a nice end leading to the second part). The second part is planned to be released in less than 365 days from now, if the Writers and SAG strike does not drag longer than the studios expect.

Ethan Hunt is back with his team on another mission set as impossible. It is the seventh film in the series and, as all the films in the series go, this is a sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018). And like all the films in the series the stunts are magnificent, and the scenes are fine cut to perfection. The cinematography is something worth seeing to admire, and the film makes use of different locations, as the series has a knack for never staying put in one location to finish the plot.

Our team is up against a rouge AI called The Entity. We see first-hand from the film start, what the AI is capable of and now our team, led by Hunt are on the impossible task to stop this AI.

The mission is this, Ethan and his team are to acquire a key, a key which we see in the beginning of the film is in two parts. One of the halves is with Ethan’s friend Ilsa Faust, so he is sent to retrieve one part of the key from her (and she has a bounty on her head) and, with his team, secure the other part and return it to the IMF.

If you have been watching all the movies, Ilsa has been working with the Ethan and his team since Rouge Nation (MI5) and she was in Fallout (MI6). Retrieving the key from Ilsa was not going to be easy, not because she is not willing to play ball, the bounty hunters after her are brutal. Before setting off on the mission, Ethan infiltrates an intelligence meeting and learns what the key was to be used for. The AI, which was created to sabotage systems, went sentient, and has hacked into all the major defence systems in the world. Every major power player is aware of this rouge AI and seek to control it, hence the key. It is believed it will give some sort of control over the AI, but no-one knows exactly what the key does and how it ties to the AI.

Ethan, upon being told of the mission from the start, was warned not to go rogue as he always does, but Ethan has his own thoughts on who should have the key that could give them the ultimate power.

In the end, amazing plot, nice twists, and turn with great stunts, what an enjoyable ride.

Also, Hunt's team is bigger, and the mission is not over. I do look forward to seeing the second parter which will be the eight film in the series and I like the fact that even in this time when films are not doing so well in the boxoffice, Mission: Impossible films are always performing well.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

5/10

Starring

Anthony Ramos

Dominique Fishback

Luna Lauren Vélez

 

Directed by Steven Caple Jr.

 

I must be honest with you, I have no idea how many of these films there are or how many I have actually seen, because they just cannot stop making them. What I do recall is how much I enjoyed seeing Bumblebee which was done five years ago, so I stepped into seeing this film with my mind open to either enjoying myself, or signing off the franchise.

Right off the bat, I can tell you, it has as much CGI and special effects as you would imagine. Action fights of metal on metal and for many like me who grew up on this cartoon, it was just OK, but the plot's cringy and cheezy lines and scenes all over the place made it lose marks. I felt Bumblebee was a lot better, though, I think a more scaled down version with less metal on metal fight sequences will be best. It will make the film focus more on its plot and the drama between the character, instead of filling them with low class drama that just made me want to skip forward. It will be best for the film over all than just loud clangs and transformations. That is what made Bumblebee fantastic, and a wonderful prequel to the franchise.

In case you did not know, this film takes place before the first Transformer film back in 2007, and it is a sequel to Bumblebee, but Hailee Steinfeld is not in this film.

I never get why films make the bad guys so impossible to kill, then somehow out of nowhere find a way to stop something that is bigger and stronger than they are. Some form of wisdom that only good guys get to have a glimpse into.

The film’s plot is about a key called the Transwarp key, which allows the holder to transport themselves through space and time. The key is in the care of the Maximals, and their world was attacked by the world devouring Unicron. Unicron sends his Terrorcons led by Scourge to the Maximals world to capture the key, so he can travel far and feast on more plants. They failed, and the remaining Maximals took the key away from their home world, leaving Unicron trapped in their galaxy as he devours their world. Unicron sends his Terrorcons and Scourge to search the universe for this key.

So happens the key is on earth and was discovered by museum intern Elena. Upon discovering it, she set off its beacon which can only be seen by the bots. Scourge and his Terrorcons go to the museum and a battle for the key happens between the Autobots and the Terrorcons, with Scourge being the decider, bringing down the Autobots with ease. Aiding the Autobots is Noah, who happens to be trying to steal a car (which was Mirage) when Optimus called the Autobots together upon discovering the key signal. Noah was taken along to the gathering of the Autobots and joined them in their quest to get the key.

Scourge was able to get the key and would have killed all the Autobots, if not for a Maximal coming to save them. Scourge and the Terrorcons leave with the key to inform Unicron of their triumph. Only to discover that the Maximals split the key into two and what they had was just half a key.

The Maximal also informed the Autobots of this, and they along with Elena and Noah are going after the other half before Scourge and the Terrorcons get it.

I know that there will be future films, because going by the way things are concerning this franchise, and the money it keeps making, I do not think they plan to stop anytime soon.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

6/10

Starring

Harrison Ford

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Antonio Banderas

John Rhys-Davies

 

Directed by James Mangold

 

This is the fifth (supposedly) and final instalment in the Indiana Jones film series. It follows Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). The way it starts, with the magnificent CGI used to do the de-ageing of Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), is mind-blowing. A lot of people did not like, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but I did, and I was really looking forward to seeing this. The massive expense that went to locations, costumes and special effects is so glaring when you see this film. I just wondered why they did not think to dial it down a bit. It is the first in the series to not have either Steven Spielberg or George Lucas directing or working on the plot. Maybe this is why it is not the best of the five.

The film dragged more than it should, wasting so much time in mystery and running around than it really mattered, but I am not mad about it. The director wanted to make this film grand and a last hurrah to Indiana Jones’s adventure. What I felt the film did not need, was the whole CGI of Jones jumping about in the beginning.

As you would expect, Harrison Ford is back with his hat and whip as Indiana Jones, and he is wrapped up in another world changing adventure. He is paired with Phoebe Waller Bridge, who plays Helena, Jones God-daughter. She is also an archaeologist, and she came for the dial that was in Jones custody. The film starts with Jones getting possession of the dial and giving it to Helena’s father who, who almost lost his mind trying to understand it, before giving up and gave the dial to Jones to destroy it. In the way future, Helena comes for the dial, she is not as straightforward as Jones would have hoped. Her complicated past and greed led to the dial falling into the wrong hands.

What is an Indiana Jones story without the bad guys, the Germans (or in this case a particular German, Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen)) who is also interested in the dial. He wants to reassemble the dial so that he can change history. Our duo and their sidekicks and aids are all out in this chase film to stop Voller from changing the world history as we know it.

Unlike what many have said, I was not particularly won over by the Helena character, I have no issue with the performance, just the character itself.

It is not new that this film will be a box office flop, I think the whole Indiana Jones character has had its run and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have been the last. The problem is older viewers who loved the first three Indiana Jones movies, were not too keen on the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and if any has Disney+ will probably choose to wait for it to drop there and see it, than go to the cinema.

Also, studios keep packing too many blockbusters into the same window that there was no chance of this film ever making a huge splash. Disney will easily add it to their Disney+ library soon, but would have loved for this film to have been a hit both at the cinemas and on their streaming platform.

Daughter of the Bride (2023)

Daughter of the Bride (2023)

 2/10

Starring

Marcia Gay Harden

Halston Sage

Andrew Richardson

Cara Santana

 

Directed by Annette Haywood-Carter

 

The concept of this film lost me from the start, it took me a while to finally grasp the idea of the Daughter of the Bride.

I saw this film because any time I see anything of the bride, I want to watch it because Father of the Bride (1991) was a huge part of my happiness growing up. One thing this film lacked was proper directing. The scenes seemed forced, and you can tell that right from the start. Also, there was a lack of a proper fit between these young actors, and everything going around them or when they were conversing. The characters’ acting are of less quality than what you would expect in even a B-movie like this. The older actors were able to do their work as you would expect seasoned actors to. But I really could not get over how horrible Halston Sage was as an actor. She was so, so bad. I do not know this lady, but she was acting like those characters in those Nickelodeon children shows, that you know never to take seriously. All she had to do was to stop trying to force acting and just act. It is bad when you are watching a film, and you feel you can do better than the person paid to act.

The plot is about this mother and daughter union that has them being there for themselves from when she was a child until adulthood. Now, their bond was not annoying or irritating, everything else was. The daughter Kate (Sage), saw an older man help a younger man her age, start a car, and liked the way he carried himself. She walked up to him, gave him her mother’s phone number, and thought nothing of it. Six weeks later they are engaged, and Kate is losing it, because she did not expect this thing to go so fast or even to ever reach this point. So, the Father of the Bride (1991) situation happens, where she is the one freaking out about her mother getting married to a man, she barely just knows.

Because this film lacked any form of substance or enough material to run on, they had to introduce another love story for Kate, which runs alongside the marriage plans of her mother. Her love story is even more pathetic than her acting.

The reason why I am critical is that one of my favourite movies of the 90s was Father of the Bride. I was young, did not know it was a remake of one done in the 50 by Spencer Tracy, all I knew was how much I loved it. I grew up on the Banks and the moment I saw the second part, it was like a dream blend. Father of the Bride (1991) and II (1995) were my happy places, as a child. So, when they made that disaster of a remake in 2022 with a bunch of annoying characters, I was offended.

 

The Out-Laws (2023)

 The Out-Laws (2023)

 

2/10

Starring

Adam DeVine

Nina Dobrev

Ellen Barkin

Pierce Brosnan

 

Directed by Tyler Spindel

 

I am envious of Adam Sandler and the deal he has with Netflix to make these movies for them. I guess when you have an empty library because other production companies remove their contents from your platform, you will allow any and everything in just to fill up the space.

This film was released on Netflix last week, and to be honest the only thing this film is good for is dummy space, there is nothing to see here. Because the moment the new in-laws (Billy and Lilly, played by Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin respectively) walked in, and our lead (Owen, played by Adam DeVine) met them, the whole film came unloose. It lost everything that had me interested and became a total mess of a production.

Here is the skinny on this plot. Owen and Parker are about to get married. We met Owen’s family, and they are, like in all movies, too goofy to be real. But Parker’s parents are not around and seems that they will miss the wedding. But a call came through that they are coming, and Owen is so excited, but Parker is reserved. Owen’s character started looking for things about Parker’s parents and did one thing no human will ever do, called a place he knew they had a connection with to ask if he could get photos of them, for whatever reason he thought was the right thing.

Turns out the place he called was not on the up and up, and Parker’s parents are being wanted by the “bad guys” who happen to be another goofy bunch. So, Owen’s call and leaving behind his details did more harm than good.

There is this disconnect between the actors that I could not even understand how the director, or the casting director let it slip. It was worse between Barkin and Dobrev.

Another horrible thing about this film was how Brosnan seems to be in another film on his own because he was just too much of a character and actor than everyone else around him, I cannot put my finger on it if this is a good thing or a bad thing for him as an actor, one thing is, it just did not fit the film context at all for me. This is a really horrible film to see at any moment in time. There has to be better things you can be doing with your time.

Why Netflix feels it is OK to allow movies like this to be produced is beyond me. They have great movies produced that are better to see twice over than this. Here the characters never seem real, and the plot felt like something a three-year-old, made up on the go when you ask them to tell you a story.

Extraction 2 (2023)

Extraction 2 (2023)

8/10

Starring

Chris Hemsworth

Golshifteh Farahani

 

Directed by Sam Hargrave

 

When action movie buffs tell you a movie is better than John Wick 4, you start to ask yourself what else could they have done?

I half expected Extraction 2 to be worse off than the first Extraction movie, but this is not just a step-up to the first movie, but it puts itself in another level. The movie is magnificent and one of the best I have seen this year. I like the way it starts with the hero recovering and going through the process before the introduction of a new character played by Idris Elba, who dragged him away from retirement to do, as they say, one job.

The movie plays like you will expect it, he says he is out, but then the game pulls him back in.

I like the way the movie made use of the different locations to play out its plot. The action scenes are just as you will expect it to be, and the whole Rambo feeling of one guy against a whole battalion of bad guys is not something this movie is shy of. At least our hero has a team with him, but as Rambo-like movies go… I will not drop so much to ruin the feeling when you finally go see the movie.

When the offer came for him to go to a prison to extract a woman and her two children, the money was good and the person who sent Elba to relay the request was someone Tyler (Chris Hemsworth) could not turn down.

The needed bribe was paid to get into the prison, but the extraction led to a prison riot. The woman and children they were to save, are in the prison because the woman’s husband (Davit) was imprisoned there. His own people on the outside, with the aid of some corrupt government officials, put his family into prison to be with him, so he would not be lonely, and it is a way of control. The problem is, he is a terrible father and husband, and the extraction was to save this woman and her children from a life not worth living.

During the riot, the wrong people died in the hands of Tyler and the whole army of men controlled by Davit and his brother Zurab came after Tyler and his team. The movie starts after a twenty-minute layout of what things will be, but from then on, the action sequence went on until the end.

This is far one of the best movies I have seen this year, and you can catch this movie on Netflix.

Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023)

 Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023)

 

3/10

 

Starring

Diane Keaton

Jane Fonda

Candice Bergen

Mary Steenburgen

 

Directed by Bill Holderman

 

You can tell that there was no useful reason for this movie to be done. The plot was a wasted attempt to make money from a first part that I liked. The all-female lead actors carried the first movie, whose script was not of the best quality. They did their best here, but the script here was of an even worse quality than the first movie. The first movie made almost ten times its production cost, so there is no studio who will not want to try again.

More than half of the movie felt like the characters were joyriding in Italy. Why will I be made to pay to sit down and watch what looked like a travel vlog sponsored by the Italian government?

The movie takes place after the ending of the first movie, since the first one was in 2018, 2019 covid hit. The friends kept in touch via the internet and making video calls. The covid period is over, and they can finally meet in person. They decided to do something that they planned years ago, go on a trip to Italy. Vivian (Jane Fonda) reveals to the others that she is engaged to be married, so the four decided to make the trip have an additional twist of a bachelorette party.

As you will expect in movies like this, they wasted too much time just moving about because the writers were too lazy to give these talented actors something to do.

Then as you would expect, someone got robbed, someone flirted, and they got into trouble that needed more talk and persuasion to get them to the desired end of a wedding. I wish I did not waste time watching this, this movie is so poor that it is best you just go look for the plot online and save yourself the time.

The movie made the characters feel old to watch, and it was so slow. Things happened and reactions to them were so slow that I wonder if the director was afraid to say, “CUT! More life people.”

In the end, it was an unrealistic ride of four older women who seem to say they still got it and the whole world bent about in all ways to prove their point. There is nothing wrong in having self believe, but this movie could have been about more than just that and an impromptu bachelorette party that just did not fit in to the story.

Nimona (2023)

Nimona (2023)

 

7/10

 

Starring the voices of

Chloe Grace Moretz

Riz Ahmed

 

Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane

 

I must be honest, the first few minutes of this animation had me thinking how I have wasted my time putting this on. I later summon the courage to fulfil my belief, “if the first twenty minutes does not give me a reason to continue, I will shut it off.” I was waiting for things to go wrong as you will expect in things like this, they gave a little too much away in the opening sequence for me to be expecting something to go wrong. And it did, but then the introduction of the Nimona character was nothing like I had expected.

This is an animation, for children, so do not think too much of the fact that a group of people surround their entire town with a wall to keep the monsters out. They have an institute, grooming and training monster fighters for centuries, but known has seen a monster. Only the ones alive when their leader Gloreth (who lived like a thousand years ago) saw a monster. Everyone after that time has never seen or heard of any monster beyond their walls. Yet they keep training knights to be prepared for when the monsters come and the whole civilization (which lives in a fantasy futuristic sci-fi world) leaves behind a wall away from everything.

The animation is based on a graphic novel of the same name by ND Stevenson, and it starts by introducing us to Ballister a commoner who has risen in the ranks and will be the first commoner not from the bloodline of Gloreth to become a knight. The day for him to get his knighthood, the queen was murdered, and he is the prime and only suspect. He is being haunted and lost his arm in the flight. He now lives alone, trying to find out who framed him. While roaming the streets and hiding from everyone, Nimona spots him and follows him to his hideout. She asks to be his sidekick in his villainous rampage against everyone. Turns out, Nimona (a little girl of about ten years old) seems to hate everyone and wants to just punch their faces in. So, she wants to work with Ballister thinking he was a villain. They somehow formed a partnership, and he explains to her that he is not guilty and tries to get away from her. In his quest to clear his name and his naivety, he gets arrested, and it was then he learns that Nimona was a shapeshifter. As she breaks him out of jail using her ability and causing a lot of chaos.

Now they are being hunted, and Nimona seems to be happy to be known as a bad guy.

The antihero Nimona and the Ballister combination is fun to see and enjoyable for children, and adults alike. The animation is not so grand, I did not enjoy it much, but as the story develops you seem to just get used to it and watch on. You can catch this animation on Netflix.