The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - Movie Review

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is the second film of the now trilogy, all the voice actors for the main characters from the show and the first movie reprise their roles plus we get Antonio Banderas as the villain, Burger Beard. The film is about SpongeBob and Plankton teaming up to find the krabby patty secret formula after it magically disappears, and once they discover where it is, the whole gang team up on land to get it back and get Bikini Bottom back to normal. The film was released on February 6th, 2015 (5 and a half years ago, that's fucking crazy!), and received positive reviews from critics and mixed reviews from audiences. The film was a box office success, earning $325 million on a $74 million budget.

THE GOOD

I highly enjoy this film! It's got very good fast paced humor, the 2D and 3D animation is extremely good, and I loved the story. SpongeBob and Plankton carry the first two acts splendidly! They have terrific comedic chemistry, I genuinely wanted to see them succeed at their mission! The thing about this film is that it keeps the characters as likable and funny as you remember them. The story was tons of fun, very creative and never dull! This movie offers everything, it's a fantasy movie, a superhero movie, a dystopian apocalypse movie, a time travel movie, you name it! There are times where this movie kinda felt like a stoner movie too. During the time travel part of the movie, there are these trippy as fuck transitions between times they travel to. The thing I appreciated the most about this movie is that most of the movie is 2D animation! Technically it's false advertisement judging by the trailers but I was happy that this movie didn't go all CGI happy! The final act, where the CGI aspect really comes into play was pretty exciting, granted in a SpongeBob fashion, it's not large scale like Avengers or anything. I really enjoyed seeing the characters use their powers given to them in a creative way.

THE BAD

I really didn't like Burger Beard as a character. Whenever they cut to him I was always like "Can we get back to SpongeBob please?" It was the same feeling I always had watching a SpongeBob episode featuring Patchy the Pirate. There's also a couple of pretty lazy jokes.

CONCLUSION

Is Sponge Out of Water perfect? No, but if you like SpongeBob, it's definitely worth a watch! It has a fun story, it embraces 2D animation, the characters are as great as ever, for the most part the comedy is great! 

8.2/10 - GREAT

Pros:

- Great animation

- Fun story

- Characters are still funny and likable

- Humor is mostly great

Cons:

- Burger Beard as a character

- A couple of lazy jokes

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  PG (for mild action and rude humor)

Run time:  92 min

Release date:  February 6th, 2015

Studio:  Paramount Pictures 

Kalifornia - Movie Review

Kalifornia (1993)

Kalifornia is a thriller film that was released in 1993, directed by Dominic Sena and stars Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, and is about a couple of journalists who go on a cross country trip to research serial killers, but little do they know that they are travelling with a psychopath. The film received mixed reviews at the time of release and was a box office bomb, earning $2.4 million on a budget of $8.5 million.

THE GOOD

Kalifornia is many things, exciting, suspenseful, violent, all that good stuff. The cinematography is fantastic, the film really lets you see that American landscape, and it's breathtaking! I also love how grainy this movie is, it really helps elevate the grittiness and dirtiness of this movie. The performances are fucking phenomenal! By far the best performance here is Brad Pitt! The guy plays a damn good psychopath! His character is a real piece of shit, and seeing Brad Pitt acting like a complete lunatic was so much fun to watch! I also loved Juliette Lewis as Brad Pitt's simple minded, kind hearted girlfriend. Throughout the movie you really develop a lot of sympathy for her, her backstory is really tragic and the way you hear about how Brad Pitt's character treats and eventually how you see him treat her really makes you despise Brad Pitt's character even more. It felt like there was a neverending sense of dread throughout the movie, it always felt like something awful could happen at any given moment. The final act of the movie is very intense and exciting, it has all the excitement, tension and violence you could want from a movie like this. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it doesn't force the violence either, it makes it count when it happens, you really have to be patient instead of opting to be trashy entertainment. I love me some trashy entertainment, but it's a breath of fresh air to see a movie like this actually trying to be a film.

THE BAD

This is sort of a nitpick, but I do think the violence could have been more graphic, not to be trashy or anything, just to increase the intensity a bit. Green Room is a perfect example of a movie that has extremely graphic violence and manages to not have it be for the sake of having gore.

CONCLUSION

Kalifornia is a wonderful thriller. It has the right tone, the right amount of violence, it has fantastic performances, the cinematography is gorgeous and it's intense as shit!

9.5/10  -  AMAZING

Pros:

- Great tone

- Perfect cinematography 

- Performances (Brad Pitt in particular)

- Goes for genuine quality rather than trashy entertainment

Cons:

- Violence could've been more graphic to increase intensity (nitpick)

FILM DETAILS:

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence, and for sexuality and language)

Release date:  September 3rd, 1993

Run time:  117 min

Studio:  Polygram Filmed Entertainment 

Cold Pursuit - Movie Review

Cold Pursuit (2019)

Cold Pursuit is a black comedy/crime thriller starring Liam Neeson. It tells the story of a snowplow driver who goes on a revenge quest after some drug dealers who killed his son. Released on February 8th, 2019, the film made just a little more than its budget back, grossing $76 million on a $60 million budget. The film received positive reviews as well.

THE GOOD

Cold Pursuit was a movie that I didn't see when it first came out. After Taken 3, I never bothered seeing very many Liam Neeson action movies because I thought they would be as terrible as that. I regret that completely after watching this movie! I saw this in my local theater a couple of days ago and it was really, really good! It seemed to look like your typical Liam Neeson revenge thriller in its marketing but it absolutely is not! This is a clever, weird and surprisingly hilarious dark comedy with elements of crime thriller and action. Liam Neeson is great here, he isn't your typical Neeson revenge thriller guy here, he feels more human. When he kills the first drug dealer on his revenge quest, you can see the nervousness in him and it's obvious that he does not want to do what he is doing. He even contemplates suicide early on in the movie after finding out his son is dead. The standout here is Tom Bateman as the villain, Viking. He was so gloriously over the top, so much fun, he steals every fucking scene he's in! There is also this kid, Nicholas Holmes, who plays the villain's son, he gives a fantastic performance here too! He also gives one of the best lines in the entire movie. The humor is great too, it's very subtle, but also very dark. There's a scene where Liam Neeson is riding in a cab with a hitman and Barbie Girl by Aqua plays. I thought it was pretty random, but it did get a giggle out of me. The last scene in the movie got a huge laugh out of me, I didn't see it coming at all, and it was hilarious! There are moments of great action here too, I wouldn't necessarily call this an action movie, but when it happens, it's violent, bloody and brutal. Whenever Liam Neeson punches somebody in the face, blood just starts gushing out of their mouth and nose and you hear the impact of those punches, it's solid stuff! There is also a terrific shootout in the final act, its filmed and edited wonderfully, you can actually tell what's going on and it's not migrane inducing like Taken 2 and 3. 

THE BAD

If you are not the kind of person who likes to be patient while watching a movie, don't watch this movie. It will be very offputting for people who are completely used to the typical pace and structure of your average Liam Neeson revenge thriller. It's not an issue for me at all but I just had to put it out there for people who will see that as a negative. My actual issues with the movie is that some characters are underutilized, like Laura Dern, who plays Liam Neeson's wife, she leaves no impact on the plot whatsoever, she is just there to slowly get upset at Liam Neeson overtime in the first half and then eventually leave and never see her again. I also wish they could've done so much more with the brother of Liam Neeson's character. *Spoiler Alert* At one point in the movie you find out that Liam Neeson's character's brother was at one point involved with the drug cartel that Liam Neeson is hunting down, which was an interesting subplot, but they don't really do much with it.

CONCLUSION

Cold Pursuit is a very good movie! It wasn't at all what I was anticipating, but in the best possible way. It does have a flaw or two but I still highly enjoy it! It was funny, exciting, the acting was great, the writing is great, and it was just a great time!

8.9/10  -  GREAT

Pros:

- Great moments of action

- Very funny

- Wonderful performances

- Liam Neeson feels more humanized than usual

Cons:

- Underutilized characters and plotline

- Can be offputting to many.

FILM INFORMATION:

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence, drug content, and some language including sexual references)

Release date:  February 8th, 2019

Run time:  119 min

Studio:  Lionsgate