Double Movie Review: The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Hello All,

    Hooray I’m finally caught up, and with time to spare for once. Before I get into the reviews, I want to say that sometime within the next few reviews, I’m going to be adding on an additional element to these reviews. I’m working on an audio review format as a companion piece to go along with the written reviews. That way if you don’t have time to read these, you can have an audio version to listen to on the move. So keep an eye out for that, plus I might try doing some variety with the written portions as well. So, without further delay, let’s review these films shall we?

The Lego Ninjago Movie Review

Plot Summary - Lloyd Garmadon (Dave Franco) is the leader of the secret ninja force, who is in constant battle with his father Lord Garmadon. When a bigger threat terrorizes the land, the two must team up and find the ultimate, ultimate secret weapon.

Pros - For me, the most interesting part of any lego movie is how creative they can get with the animations and Lego Ninjago keeps that up in spades here, managing to be creative with the designs while keeping the animation itself seamless. The film also manages to bring in some of the lego movies strangely self aware sense of humour also. It’s also nice to see Jackie Chan in a film again, even if it’s mostly just his voice.

Cons - Brace yourself because this is going to be a long one. There’s a live action scene at the start of the film that’s just awful. Chan is in it, and by god he’s doing his best, but the child actor in it is awful. His first three lines of dialogue are so mumbled I’m amazed they didn’t get him to re record them in post. The rest of the voice cast minus Chan is also just….not awful, but you can tell that they’re just not really selling the characters. Dave Franco sounds like Dave Franco, and I know that Kumail Nanjiani is in the film because he sticks out like a sore thumb. The plot is forgettable and kind of dumb if you try and think about it, with a fair amount of half assed sentiment sprinkled throughout. The whole film ends up ringing kind of hollow because of it. It doesn’t feel like it was made with other two films in mind.

Final Score - 3/10

While not torturously bad, it still can’t help but feel like the awkward misfit of the lego movies. If you do still see it though, I have a game for you to play. I want you to count how many times they say the phrase master builder in the movie. Feel free to let me know your answers.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Plot Summary - When the Kingsman find themselves attacked out of the blue, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) must seek the help of their American cousins The Statesmen to find their attackers and save the world once again.

Pros - They bring most of the cast back and it’s clear they’re eager to be there because they knock it out of the park again. The new faces add a great share as well, and balance out the cast nicely. The film still manages to retain a fair amount of what made the first one great, while bringing in some fun and interesting changes as well. They also make some callbacks to the original, but they change some of them up for the better in this one and I can appreciate that. They manage to do a good job of throwing all this at you while also keeping the film well paced and logical within it’s own world.

Cons - While the changes are welcome, they can’t help but to underline some the flaws that stuck on from the first one. While the film is well paced, there is still a lot going on which might be too much for some. While I didn’t make note of it in the first one, the music in this one for the most part didn’t quite work (except for Saturday Night by Elton John but it’s a damn good song.)

Final Score - 7/10

Not quite as good as the first one, it’s still a pretty good movie that I easily recommend.

Next: American Made or Battle of the Sexes - Depends on my mood really.

Links:

Want to read more? Click Below for my last review. What is it of? Something almost worth forgetting.

Follow me on Social Media

Want something reviewed? Click Below to leave a suggestion.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: American Assassin (2017)

Hello All,

    I know I’m still covering last weeks movies but a long string of events has basically prevented me from moving forward, the biggest one right now being that I’m feeling very ill. So because of that I’m just going to skip straight to the review.

Plot Summary - When his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack, Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) finds the man responsible for it, but the target is killed before he can do it, and Mitch is taken in by the CIA.

Pros - The cast is fine and the action scenes for the most part do their job well.

Cons - I’m not going to lie, I’m sitting here struggling to remember anything that happened in this movie. It was really mediocre until the ending, and then I remember the ending being really dumb, and a lot of bad cgi and that’s about it.

Final Score - 3/10

The film didn’t make me angry, and I liked the cast a lot. I just wish that it was interesting enough to be worth remembering.

Next: The Lego Ninjago Movie - Because I promised to see Kingsman 2 with someone and I don’t know when that will be yet.

Links:

Want to read more? Click Below for my last review. What is it of? Probably one of the most controversial movies so far this year.

Follow me on Social Media

Want something reviewed? Click Below to leave a suggestion.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: mother! (2017)

Hello All,

    I am so sorry for the lateness of this. The past few weeks have been nothing short of a terrible nightmare in terms of me getting anything done. I’m behind on the newest movies, I’m behind in requests and I have a stack of dvds in front of me for a new project after I’m done the Gamera films, and I still have to finish the Gamera films. Oh my god I just got depressed reading that back. I’m just going to do the review now.

Plot Summary - When half of a married couple invites a stranger into their house, a bizarre series of events propels them into a deeper mystery. (Best I can describe without getting spoilery. Mad props to the trailers for not telling us shit.)

Pros - Visually, this might be one of the most fascinating films I’ve seen so far this year. The way they manage to get so much varied usage out of one house is mindblowing. The casting is surprisingly diverse but each casting is done very well. The story moves along fairly well yet keeping its own pace in way that makes the story more impactful when it needs to be.

Cons - The story of the film itself is abstract as hell. Like I’m amazed this got the wide release it did because this is pure arthouse at it’s finest and if you’re not into that, stay far away from this one.

Final Score - 8/10

Plenty of great stuff here for arthouse fans, but still a tense thriller for anyone else looking to see it.

Next: No idea. I’m not even joking, just stay tuned.

Links:

Want to read more? Click Below for my last review. What is it of? A strange combination of films.

Follow me on Social Media

Want something reviewed? Click Below to leave a suggestion.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Double Movie Review: It (2017) & Tatara Samurai (2017)

Hello All,

    It’s been a long weekend for me. So long in fact I got delayed from reviewing It long enough to see a whole other movie. So let’s not drag this out shall we?

It Review

Plot Summary - When kids in the town of Derry begin to disappear, seven young outcasts begin to be haunted by the source of the disappearances: A terrifying supernatural clown only known as It.

Pros - Yeah, the answer you all want to know is that the film is indeed fucking terrifying. The scares are well placed, and filled with tension that plays upon rational fears. The mostly child cast are great, and their characters are well written to boot. Bill Skarsgard as It is menacing even when he just talks to people. The story moves along at a terrific pace, and manages to keep itself interesting.

Cons - There are a few cliche moments here and there, and admittedly the catalyst for the third act was a bit bumpy.

Final Score - 10/10

No seriously, it’s great. Go see it if you haven’t.

Tatara Samurai Review

Plot Summary - A young man in 16th century Japan must decide between following in his blacksmith’s families footsteps, or chasing his dreams of becoming a samurai.

Pros - It’s well acted, and it keeps a lot in line with the history of the era. It’s also a lot more dramatic than the average samurai film.

Cons - The story falls apart about halfway through. It tries to also talk about the rise of guns around the time as well and that just ends up complicating the plot in a way that just leaves you uninvested.

Final Score - 4/10

Maybe something got lost in translation here but I can only really recommend this for asian film or history buffs.

Next: mother! - I’m not sure admittedly. I have no real need to see Home Again, and I’m not sure if I have time for anything else before it so yeah.

Links:

Want to read more? Click Below for my last review. What is it of? A real good time.

Follow me on Social Media

Want something reviewed? Click Below to leave a suggestion.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.

Movie Review: Good Time (2017)

Hello All,

    My god it continues to be just the slowest era in movie theatre history right now. Theatre stock is falling, we’ve hit an all new box office low point and the only things out right now are either anniversary releases or 3D re-releases. Luckily for me I’ve found one of the few new limited releases kicking around. So how good is Good Time? Let’s find out together shall we?

Plot Summary - Constantine “Connie” Nikas (Robert Pattinson) and his mentally handicapped brother Nick (Ben Safdie) attempt to rob a bank, but when they’re forced to flee and Nick gets arrested, Connie must try and find $10,000 dollars in order to free him.

Pros - This is by far the best performance I’ve ever seen Pattinson give. The film also manages to give him plenty to do as the film is just moving non stop, while also keeping it plenty interesting. The film is a visual treat, and the soundtrack is intense and haunting to match.

Cons - If you don’t like intense films, then this won’t do it for you.

Final Score - 10/10

It’s probably one of the most beautifully, strange films I’ve seen all year. I’d say see it when you can.

Next: Gamera VS Zigra - Yeah I got to try and fill some time this week so I’m doing this.

Links:

Want to read more? Click Below for my last review. What is it of? Two other limited release films.

Follow me on Social Media

Want something reviewed? Click Below to leave a suggestion.

Until next time, I’ll see you folks at the movies.