Hello everyone! Today I'm doing something a little different. So there are many movies I saw so far this year and I haven't reviewed every single one. Well here's where I do, they won't be in the same format I usually do, they'll be shorter reviews just going over what I generally thought about them. Hope you enjoy!
A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
A Quiet Place Part II was a movie I was dying to see since it was announced, since I LOVED the first film. The film is once again directed by John Krasinski and basically continues the story from right where the first film left off. This was one of the best sequels I have seen in quite some time! This movie was in my eyes, perfect! I don't have a single issue with it. Just like the first film, the tension is relentless, you always feel like these characters could die at any moment. All of the scares work beautifully! The opening scene is riveting, the white knuckled tension provided from the chaos taking place blew me away. The film is marvelously acted, Emily Blunt gives one of her absolute best performances in her career. Both of the child actors are great in the film, and Cillian Murphy also gives the best performance he has given in years! The musical score and sound design are flawless! If the film is still playing in a theater near you, check it out while you still can! I can't wait for the Blu-ray to come out because I am buying that on day one!
GRADE: A+
FILM INFO:
MPA rating: PG-13 (for terror, violence and bloody/disturbing images)
Run time: 97 min
Release date: May 28th, 2021
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Godzilla vs. Kong is the 4th installment in the Monsterverse franchise and is directed by Adam Wingard. It tells the story of Kong as people attempt to move Kong off of Skull Island to find a different habitat for him, meanwhile Godzilla suddenly attacks a facility unprovoked as a company named APEX is up to something. This film was a great time! This film is fun, action packed, fast paced, of course I have a couple of issues with it, but overall I quite loved this film. The action sequences are incredible, the fights between Godzilla and Kong are exhilarating! The visuals are beautiful, there's a lot of reds and blues, that color scheme was quite gorgeous to look at. I was actually interested in the story, which was something that was lacking in the last Godzilla film. I enjoyed the last Godzilla film just fine but that movie did lack interesting characters and story. This film's story was interesting enough and most of the human characters were actually quite interesting. This movie doesn't focus on humans quite as much as the previous films but the ones that were here were mostly interesting. My issues with the movie were that the main guy who hatches up the plan to re-locate Kong was just very bland, I didn't give a shit about him. The villain was also really bad, he provided nothing for the film other than to introduce Mechagodzilla, thankfully he doesn't have a lot of screen time. Overall, Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely a movie I highly recommend if you're just looking for a fun action film to watch on a Friday night.
GRADE: A-
FILM INFO
MPA rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of creature violence/destruction, and brief language)
Run time: 113 min
Release date: March 31st, 2021
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is the sequel to the 2017 film, The Hitman's Bodyguard. It's once again directed by Patrick Hughes and stars Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Selma Hayek, Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas. There's really nothing to the plot other than Ryan Reynolds has to protect the hitman's wife this time instead of the hitman. I'm just gonna get this out of the way, this movie was fucking awful, just complete shit! Everything about this film was a major downgrade from the first film, and the first film was just a movie I thought was okay. The action sequences weren't exciting at all, there's a huge abundance of shitty CGI blood. The comedy was horrible, I never laughed once here! I knew that I would be in for dogshit when one of the first jokes was a title card when the movie was taking place in Capri, Italy and they had to specify not the pants. The jokes didn't get any better from there. It looks incredibly cheap too, from the awful CGI blood, to the very obvious green screen. There are YouTube videos that look better than this! This movie also loves to use the record scratching sound effect whenever there's a sentimental moment going on and a character happens to ruin the moment, it happens like 5 times in this movie and it got on my fucking nerves! Speaking of shit that got on my nerves, Selma Hayek surprisingly! She really reminded me of Josh Gad from Pixels where most of her dialogue was her yelling everything! Don't waste your time on this piece of shit, it's absolutely one of the worst movies of the year.
GRADE: F
FILM INFO
MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexual content)
Run time: 99 min
Release date: June 18th, 2021
Studio: Lionsgate
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Raya and the Last Dragon is the latest in Disney's animated film library. It's not a musical this time, it's just a regular film. It's about a girl named Raya, who must find pieces of an orb made by these dragons after an entire nation gets divided and turns against each other so she can reverse this curse that turns everyone into stone. This film was very, very good! It's one of the best films Disney put out in like 5 years. After the mediocre films that were Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen II, I was expecting this film to turn out the same way, thankfully it took me by surprise! This film had very likable characters, I cared about every one of them, even the villain. The action sequences were very well done and exciting, and the animation was BEAUTIFUL! The story was simple, but it was always engaging. My only real issue was that the comedy didn't always land. There's a lot of comedic moments in this movie, nothing really made me laugh out loud but a lot of it did work, there were moments however where it didn't work at all. It's a great film for families and it's by far the best family film of the year so far.
FILM INFO
MPA rating: PG (for some violence, action and thematic elements)
Run time: 107 min
Release date: March 5th, 2021
Studio: Disney
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Spiral: From the Book of Saw is the latest film in the Saw franchise, it's directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (who directed Saw II, III and IV) and stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, and tells the story of Chris Rock, a detective who uncovers a Jigsaw killer copycat and his plot to kill all of the corrupt cops in his precinct. As a fan of the franchise, I must say that this was the best film in the franchise since the original! This movie goes back to the roots of the franchise where there's a lot more psychological horror. You definitely get the gory, gruesome traps that you expect from Saw, but there is also a bigger reliance on psychological horror. This film was extremely well made, the cinematography was shockingly good, and despite the fast editing coming back after Jigsaw ditched that style of editing, the movie doesn't use it very often and everything for the most part is very smooth. Chris Rock was also surprisingly good here, he does comedy extremely well as you would expect, he gets a hilarious monologue early on in the movie about Forrest Gump. He also nails the serious moments extremely well! Samuel L. Jackson was awesome as always, he doesn't get nearly as much screen time as you might think, he's definitely a supporting role here. He's actually a huge part of the movie's plot, but he's not in the film that much. He does make the absolute most of the scenes that he's in though. The traps are all great here, I loved each one of them, they are quite brutal, and when it comes to the psychological aspect, the traps actually contribute to that. They are gruesome like we expect them to be, and they keep them simple too, which was definitely a surprise. The story is nothing new for Saw, but they do a good job at keeping things interesting. As for issues, not all of the acting is all that great, which I do expect in a Saw film, the leads are great, but the rest of the acting is pretty rough. I was also mixed about the ending, I liked how bleak the ending was and it did leave me wanting to see what comes next after this, but the movie does end fairly abruptly. Overall, Spiral was a damn good Saw film, it pleased both the gore hound and the psychological horror lover in me. I loved Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, and while nothing new plot wise, they did still manage to keep me interested. If you like Saw, you should check it out if you haven't already.
GRADE: A-
FILM INFO
MPA rating: R (for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, pervasive language, some sexual references and brief drug use)
Run time: 93 min
Release date: May 14th, 2021
Studio: Lionsgate
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
GRADE: A+
FILM INFO
MPA rating: R (for violence and pervasive language)
Run time: 126 min
Release date: February 12th, 2021
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Coming 2 America (2021)
Coming 2 America is the sequel to the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy film, Coming to America. It's directed by Craig Brewer and once again stars Eddie Murphy. It also stars Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan and even James Earl Jones reprising his role from the first film. I loved the first film, it's a hilarious, charming and surprisingly sweet. This film is the complete opposite of that, this movie was fucking atrocious! Have people forgotten how to make comedy movies? This was one of the most unfunny comedies I have seen in quite some time! I got zero laughs out of this, there was no charm, there was nothing sweet about it. This movie had nothing to offer whatsoever. Also what's with the PG-13 rating? The first film was rated R, and it had that vulgarity that I like in comedy. The comedy was so tame here, it had no fucking edge to it, it's mostly cringe dad jokes! The story was so fucking boring! The movie also felt like it was shot like a sitcom, not an actual movie, a lot of the production values were not impressive at all. The only possible positive I have for this movie is that Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones were trying. If you have Amazon Prime Video, don't bother with this movie, it's not worth your time.
GRADE: F
FILM INFO
MPA rating: PG-13 (for crude and sexual content, language and drug content)
Run time: 110 min
Release date: March 5th, 2021
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Infinite (2021)
Infinite is a new science-fiction action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Mark Wahlberg and is about a man who discovers that these hallucinations he gets are actually visions from past lives. I was looking forward to this movie, because I love Antoine Fuqua as a director, his past movies I really enjoyed, such as Training Day, Shooter, Southpaw and the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven to name a few. I was also hoping that Mark Wahlberg would finally be in a good movie again because he hasn't been in any good movies since Patriots Day. I'm sad to say that this movie is absolutely terrible. This is by far Antoine Fuqua's worst film in his career. This movie is very poorly acted, it's not thrilling or exciting, and WOW is it messy! I know some people didn't like Christopher Nolan's Tenet (which I very much recommend by the way, it's excellent) because people found it very hard to follow. Tenet is MUCH easier to follow than this shit is! This movie left me confused and annoyed, because this movie jumbles together all these plots together to the point where it doesn't make any god damn sense and they don't even answer every question leaves. Don't worry, this is spoiler free in case anybody wants to check this out. The action sequences are technically fine, but they aren't exciting or thrilling, they leave zero impact on the film. The acting is also REALLY bad! This was Mark Wahlberg's performance since The Happening, his performance was very phoned in and uninspired. The only thing I liked here was the concept. There was so much potential for greatness in this film. I was shocked by how poorly executed this movie was. I was hoping Antoine Fuqua would make a great sci-fi thriller, but wow he dropped the ball. All I can say is, there's always next time.
GRADE: F
FILM INFO
MPA rating: PG-13 (for sequences of strong violence, some bloody images, strong language and brief drug use)
Run time: 106 min
Release date: June 10th, 2021
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
Those Who Wish Me Dead comes to us from Taylor Sheridan, who wrote Sicario, which is a wonderful piece of cinema. It stars Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal, Nicholas Hoult and tells the story of a survival expert who must protect a teenage murder witness from twin assassins, there's also a forest fire going on. This film is a solid popcorn action flick. It's nothing groundbreaking but as far as popcorn movies go, this is a damn good one! This movie has some very good action sequences, it's very violent, lots of shootouts and very convincing hand to hand combat. The forest fire also adds a great sense of danger and urgency to the action sequences, making them more exciting. The acting overall is very good, Angelina Jolie actually gives a very solid performance, she's very good with the action, it's her best action performance since Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The cinematography is beautiful, she shots of the forest were amazing, the action sequences are all shot flawlessly. I don't think there's really any real flaws with the film other than it's just not the kind of movie that really stands out among a lot of other action thrillers. It's just a highly enjoyable action movie where you just kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.
GRADE: B+
FILM INFO
MPA rating: R (for strong violence and language throughout)
Run time: 100 min
Release date: May 14th, 2021
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Willy's Wonderland (2021)
Willy's Wonderland is an indie horror movie starring Nicolas Cage as he stars as a strange, nameless drifter who gets stuck in a small town and is hired to clean a shut down Chuck E Cheese like place to pay off his car repairs, little does he know that the animatronics are cursed and bloodthirsty. Yes this is probably the closest thing to a Five Nights at Freddy's movie we're probably going to get. This movie is extremely straight forward and simple, which I very much appreciated. This movie isn't the best movie in the world but it's a very fun, cheesy, campy horror film. If you want to see 88 minutes of Nicolas Cage brutally killing killer animatronics and also a slasher movie going on at the same time, this is a wonderful choice! This movie is quite gory, and all of the gore is practical too, and it's glorious! Nicolas Cage is highly entertaining as he always is, he actually has no dialogue at all in this movie, but he still brings his signature charm from his overacting, just by seeing him kicking ass! As with a lot of slasher movies, this movie does carry some of the tropes, including having very disposable characters who are just there to die. My biggest issue is the subplot involving these teenagers who want to burn down the place Nicolas Cage is in, it's by far the least interesting thing about this film, and it does take up quite a bit of this movie. It's an indie film so I'm not going to be so hard on it, and I enjoyed this film a lot too! It's no masterpiece or anything but I don't think the director was in any way trying to make one, he just made a very fun, campy movie with gore, violence and Nicolas Cage being awesome.
GRADE: B
FILM INFO
MPA rating: Not Rated
Release date: February 12th, 2021
Run time: 88 min
Studio: JD Entertainment
Wrath of Man (2021)
Wrath of Man is an action heist thriller directed by Guy Ritchie and stars Jason Statham as a cold, mysterious man who works at a cash truck driver in Los Angeles as he thwarts a robbery as he begins to have his mysterious past questioned. This was another movie I was excited for because Guy Ritchie is one of my favorite directors and Jason Statham is one of my favorite action stars, plus Jason Statham has worked with Guy Ritchie a few times before so I was excited for a new movie with that combination. This film was a blast! It's got everything I expect from a Guy Ritchie movie, it's got style, wit and energy! Jason Statham is doing here what he does best, he kicks a lot of ass, and he's fucking cold in this movie too! Think of his character from Crank but a lot more serious, he'll fucking murder your ass in this film. What actually came as a surprise in this movie was how dark it was! Guy Ritchie usually puts a lot of humor in his movies, and while the dialogue is still very witty and sharp, it's not as comedic as a lot of his other movies, it was a surprising turn that I was not expecting. The action sequences are intense, stylish and very violent! Plus you get to see Post Malone get shot in the face, just a standout moment this movie had. This movie's storytelling is very interesting, but very good. It's told in the way a lot of Quentin Tarantino movies are told, in chapters and in a non-linear fashion. My only issue with this film is that the first act is a little slow, it's not a major issue but it's something I had to point out. Wrath of Man is a kickass action movie with a great performance by Jason Statham, awesome action and fantastic direction by Guy Ritchie!
GRADE: A
FILM INFO
MPA rating: R (for strong violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexual references)
Run time: 119 min
Release date: May 7th, 2021
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Miramax
So there we are, these are my reviews that I didn't put out throughout the past few months! Hope you enjoyed this post. I have a lot more reviews coming up soon, including more MCU reviews, F9, some classic reviews and my review of the DC cinematic universe coming soon too, which will only be the ones I haven't reviewed yet, and will be done in the same way as this entry was done.
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