Movie Review - Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

Director: Adam Wingard
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Rachel House, Alex Ferns
 
Description: Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull island’s mysteries.

Review: The world has now learned of the existence of a second world far beneeath our earth, and the Monarch orgination knows that Gozilla is there to protect humanity from oher monsters (Titans). Kong now lives in that Hollow Earth and searched daily in vain for conspecifics. But then suddenly a signal turns up.

“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” is a lot, but not boring. Godzilla himself doesn’t get particularly much attention, but the build-up toward a spectacular fight is exciting. The human characters have a fun adventure and Kong’s journey also captivates because the emotions are aptly portrayed. You easily empathize with Kong, more then with the humans. Because their characters are a bit flat. But these kinds of movies you don’t go and see for them.

Dan Stevens introduces a new character, whom I really liked. And I liked his dynamic with Brian Tyree Henry’s character.

The universe has expanded a bit again. Kong remains a hero. “Godzilla X Kong: The new Empire” is a successful new installement, a simple but entertaining movie. Exactly what you expect from a monster movie like this.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Director: Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Genre: Adventure/ Action/ Animation
Runtime: 140 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Laura Velez, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Mahershala Ali, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Andy Samberg, Rachel Dratch, Jack Quaid, Jharrel Jerome
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 39: A ANIMATED MOVIE THAT IS NOT DISNEY
 
Description: Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounter a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

Review: It’s hard to top predecessor “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, but the sequel is another innovative experience that I loved just a much.

I guess people are still not sick of Spider-Man stories. And I’m so glad they aren’t, because then this amazing animation would maybe not even exist. Every superhero movie is directly or remotely based on a comic book. The makers of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” don’t just sprinkle in source references, they go further. The film’s eclectic look is a downright homage to Marvel Comics’ comic book artists, each of whom have their own style, with their own choice of mediums to work with. Some work with old-fashioned pencils or pen, others create airbrush art or use digital programs. And this is exactly what makes this film so unique and fresh. The clever thins is that the film brings all these styles together into a whole, completely original yet recognizable. And following such a great first film with an equally amazing sequel is very rare.

I loved everything about “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”: its unique mix of styles, the voice acting, the soundtrack, the whole experience was fantastic!

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Review - Bullet Train

Director: David Leitch
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Thriller
Runtime: 126 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, Logan Lerman, Zazie Beetz
 
Description: Five assassins aboard a swiftly-moving bullet train find out that their missions have something in common.

Review: After a small role in “The Lost City”, Brad Pitt is back in a lead role. In a so-called bullet train flying through Japan at high speeds, much more is going on than meets the eye.

Assassin Ladybug is given a seemingly simply assignment: steal a suitcase on a Japanese bullet train and get off with it at the next stop. Everything seems to be going smoothly, until Ladybug finds out that he is not the only hitman sent aboard the train with an assignment.  

“Bullet Train” is a highly entertainment film with not a dull moment in it. Besides the amazing action scenes it contains, in colorful neon lights of modern Japan, the actors get every chance to shine in a film that actually takes place almost entirely in one location. And aside from all the spectacle, the actors especially shine in the conversations their characters have with each other. Brad Pitt infuses his character with a genuine amazement at everything, while as a reborn person he clearly forgets what industry he works in. Tangerine and Lemon make a delightful duo, while Prince makes everything to her liking.

The action and humor that alternate at a high pace make the film a cinematic ride to be fully enjoyed. Towards the end, it doesn’t quite manage to maintain that perfect pace, but that’s forgivable.

“Bullet Train” is a ride you won’t soon forget. The combination of humor and action works perfectly. The great action scenes and delightful conversations follow each other at a good pace. And the cast manages to hold your attention. With Brad Pitt as the stand-out. A movie I didn’t expect to love as much as I did.

Rating: 4,5/ 5 

20s Movie Review - Eternals

Director: Chloé Zhao
Genre: Adventure/ Action/ Science Fiction/ Fantasy
Runtime: 156 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Gemma Chen, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Ma Dong-Seok, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Bill Skarsgård

Description: The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.

Review: In the massive, ethnically diverse “Eternals, no less than ten new superheroes are introduces to viewers at once. An extremely ambitious project, bit is this really the promised gamechanger for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Ajak, Thena, Ikaris, Kingo, Sersi and the others fight against so-called Devians who have long been a threat to humanity and the Eternals themselves. Not that you’ll notice much of that, as the monsters are defeated without much of a fight by a team of heroes with fairly generic superpowers: one shoots lasers out of his eyes, the other rays of light out of fingertips.
But above all, don’t leave too early. “Eternals” takes a little time to get up to speed, because the pace is a little different than you’re used to from Marvel. The film covers a period of around seven thousand years and happily hops back and forth between different time periods and different locations.
The film opens (like “Star Wars”) with a piece of text that rolls across the screen and so we learn that the Eternals have indeed been roaming the universe since the creation of heaven and earth. Of course, this immediately raises an essential question, for why didn’t these primal superheroes help when Thanos decided to eliminate half the world’s population? The answer is really simple: the Eternals were not allowed to get involved.
Although at first this seems to dismiss the matter a little too easily, along the way “Eternals” unrolls a theological head-scratcher that ties in quite nicely with all that has happened before. Arishem, an entity with a body of cosmic proportions, has his own plan for the universe, but it would be a shame to reveal how the Eternals fit into that picture.
Biblival, Babylonian and Greek myths are mixed up and turned into this entertaining Marvel flick. A lot was changed, there are many differences between the comics and the movie ( I looked it up, didn’t know anything about “Eternals”).
It’s almost a surprise that Chloé Zhao directed it. The woman behind “The Rider”(2017) and “Nomadland” (2020), where she used documentary-like style to highlight marginalized groups in society: men who do not conform to the macho ideal, for example, or poor people who are forced to roam their own country as nomads. Her idiosyncratic way of filming is nowhere to be found this time.
“Eternals” is not a failure, but certainly hasn’t become the gamechanger we were promised. The film has a lot going on, many characters, but only a few get enough attention to understand their motivations or sympathize with them. Many characters you just want to get to know better and with the long runtime you expect there is enough time to do so. But sadly, a lot of the characters are still  underdeveloped.  

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Review - Woman in the Window

Director: Joe Wright
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianna Moore, Wyatt Russel, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anthony Mackie, Brian Tyree Henry, Tracy Letts

Description: An agoraphobic woman (Amy Adams) living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.

Review: Anna no longer takes a step outside her apartment. She suffers from severe agoraphobia and takes heavy medication to get through thee day, supplemented by a good sip of wine. She kills time by spying on her neighbors, and at the beginning of the film, the Russel family across the street is just moving in. Anna meets their son Ethan, a sensitive boy with a nervous streak, and moments later his mother as well. But then nefarious things happen. Our heroine sees a murder taking place on the other side. Main suspect: Mr. Russell.  
The plot of the film is very similar to “Rear Window” and director Joe Wright agrees, he even adds another adds another shot from the classic, on the of the many film cassics that Anna turns on the TV while peering into the neighborhood. And Wright has also borrowed some voyeuristic shots from the old master Hitchcock. He mixes this with a touch of films like “Shutter Island” and “The Wolf Hour” (a fairly unknown film with Naomi Watts, but also has a lot of similarities with this film).  
In the lead role we see Amy Adams. Her character comes off as a bit of a caricature at some points. In a better films that wouldn’t have been the case. Because Adams is still one of the strongest actresses of her generation. Julianne Moore technically has only one scene. Gary Oldman, as Mr. Russell, is a bit too much. And Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn’t really have anything to do. I like basically every single actor cast for this film, just not in this movie.
If there is anything positive to be said, it is that Joe Wright shows some promise here as a thriller maker. Overall, “The Woman in the Window” is just a copy of some other good movies mixed together, but not very well-executed. I was so looking forward to this film, but sadly enough it’s not that great.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

10s Movie Review - Widows

Director: Steve McQueen
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Drama
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Jon Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Coburn Ross, Michelle Rodriguez, Alejandro Verdin, Baily Rhyse Walters, Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Jacki Weaver, Molly Kunz, James Vincent Meredith, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo

Description: Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities, take fate into their own hands, and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

Review: The plot sounds a bit like “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. But it’s a heist movie, with a twist. After a group of robbers were killed, their wives team up to steal millions of dollars.
With director Steve McQueen being involved, you already know it’s not going to be a light film. He also directed heavy themed films like “Hunger”, “Shame” and “12 Years a Slave”.
Where in most heist film the testosterone is fed by greed, “Widows” changes it up a bit. Here the women have a necessity, they need to do it for their own safety. The three women don’t want to step in their husband’s footsteps, they simply have no other choice. One of the men left a ‘script’ which they women use to plan the job.
Steve McQueen is known for his fantastic camerawork and he uses it here too. But it doesn’t always work. In the opening scene, the traditional getaway is shot completely from the getaway van. This is original, minimalistic and works great. But a scene where we see the outside of a driving car, while the frustrated politician inside is arguing with his assistant, doesn’t work as well. I fit was a disposable scene, it didn’t bother me. But it’s an important scene with great acting, which you don’t see. It doesn’t make as much of an impact this way.
Viola Davis is the star of the film. Her icy focus is amazing to watch. Sadly, her character is the most developed and the other women don’t get as much attention.
The interaction between the women is strong, but there is also a lot of attention for the political games played in the city of Chicago.
“Widows” is a good crime thriller, but it has more potential.

Rating: 3 / 5

Movie Reviews - Hotel Artemis

Director: Drew Pearce
Genre: Action/ Crime
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day, Dave Bautista, Jenny Slate, Brian Tyree Henry

Description: Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, 'Hotel Artemis' follows the Nurse (Jodie Foster), who runs a secret, members-only emergency room for criminals.

Review: In future Los Angeles, a civil war is happening. Water is a luxury and when the watersupplies are shut off, riots start. People fighting in the streets, helicopters crashing into buildings and police shooting everything that seems suspicious. For The Nurse, owner of Hotel Artemis, it’s the most normal thing in the world. It’s a place for wounded criminals and according to her the world is in constant war. A place you will never be safe. For her, Hotel Artemis is the only place.
Jodie Foster plays The Nurse, a grumpy and stubborn woman that works with strict rules. Clients get codenames, weapons are forbidden and the most important rule: don’t kill other patients. Off course, all kinds of characters enter her hotel: hitmen, asshole criminals, wounded robbers and frantic sons of mob bosses. Charlie Day plays a fun role and Dave Baustista adds some humor to the film. Foster really does a good job as the charismatic and bossy nurse.
All the flamboyant characters make sure that the well organized life of The Nurse fall apart, bit by bit. And she gets closer to the outside world. The film has a good storyline and manages to add some depth too.
“Hotel Artemis” has a strong cast and it’s a pretty good film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5