Movie Review - A Minecraft Movie

Director: Jared Hess
Genre: Adventure/ Action/ Comedy/ Family/ Fantasy
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge,
 
Description: Four misfits are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home they'll have to master this world while embarking on a quest with an unexpected expert crafter
 
Review: Popular video games and its film adaptations. Most of the time, they don’t work, with of course a few exceptions. The wildly popular Minecraft games, in which players can do whatever they want in an open world, is up next. I’m definitely not the target audience. But it’s also not a very good movie.

We meet Steve, played by Jack Black, who discovers and orb (which is a cube, but okay) that leads him to the Overworld. With a quick introduction, we see how he enters it and starts building things. Everything is cube shaped and Steve loves how he can use his creativity to build whatever he wants. But there is also danger hidden within this world. And that’s why Steve decides to hide the orb, so no one else can ever enter it. Of course, in the real world this orb is found. By struggling entrepreneur and former gaming champion Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison.

The visuals are good, I bet fans really love this. Jack Black is fun, but his character is very generic and he really draws all the attention to him. Black has always an actor you either love or hate. I happen to love him. Jason Momoa is funny, loved him together with Jack Black. They make for a very good duo. The rest of the characters are pretty forgettable. There is this side-plot of a character from the Overworld entering the real world, meeting Jennifer Coolidge’s characters. Which was absolutely ridiculous. Even for a family film. But other than Momoa and Black, I cannot find anything I liked about it. The world didn’t interest me, I never really understood the hype of this game anyway, so that didn’t help.

I cannot judge if Minecraft fans love this film or not, like I stated before, I’m not the target audience. I do know that I didn’t like this film.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Review - Fast X

Director: Louis Letterier
Genre: Action/ Crime/ Adventure
Runtime: 141 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Vin Diesel, Jason Momoa, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Natalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Scott Eastwood, Brie Larson
 
Description: Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family are targeted by the vengeful son (Jason Momoa) of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes.

Review: Let’s just start by saying that I’ve never been a fan of the “Fast & Furious” series. Cars are not something I’m particularly interested in, the characters I don’t care about and the action gets more and more ridiculous. Can “Fast X” change my mind? NOPE!

Movies that rely on elaborate special effects or 3D experiences are best viewed in a movie theater. The same goes for this film, because visually this movie is stunning. And lots of non-stop action. But that’s as far as I can go with the positives. I truly hated this movie.

In this already tenth installment of the series, Dante Reyes wants revenge on Dom Toretto and his family, for killing his father. He sets up a trap to get them all together and tries to kill them. But Dom fights back.  
The first film was okay, I don’t dislike that, it was about street racing. A cop versus a street racer and they became friends. But as this series has continued, the street races turned into stunt shows, with one car stunt even more ridiculous and over-the-top as the next. It’s like they are trying to make each movie even more implausible than the previous one.

This film series has almost every modern-day action star in it, from Vin Diesel to now Jason Momoa. Call me old school, but I do prefer the Schwarzeneggers and Stallones of this world when it comes to mindless, fun action flicks. An although Vin Diesel is the heart and soul of this franchise, and it’s very clear he puts everything in his role, the rest of the cast I couldn’t care less about (I barely remember the names of these characters, that’s how invested I am).

Jason Momoa is the newest addition to this series, as the villain Dante Reyes. He was the only reason I was a tiny bit excited to see “Fast X”. But even that was ruined. Momoa’s take on his villain role is pretty silly. He feels like a Joker-like villain, a cheerful psychopath. But he made it cartoonish. It kind of felt like a Roadrunner versus Wil E. Coyote cartoon, the way he was going after Dom and his family.
I also got a little tired of those let’s-bring-back-every-character-that-was-ever-in-this-franchise reveals, as some clever surprise that nobody would ever expect.  

I know these movies aren’t supposed to be taken too seriously, they are self-aware and that I can at least appreciate. But overall, “Fast X” is just not a good movie. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s crap, but I honestly can’t take another ‘Fast & Furious” movie. There will be more, for sure. Maybe next they will go to space!

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Review - Slumberland

Director: Francis Lawrence
Genre: Family/ Adventure
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Marlow Barkley, Jason Momoa, Chris O’Dowd, Kyle Chandler, Weruche Opia, India de Beaufort
 
Description: A young girl (Marlow Barkley) discovers a secret map to the dreamworld Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw (Jason Momoa), she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father (Kyle Chandler) again.
 
Review: In “Slumberland”, we follow hermit daughter Nemo, who after her father’s sudden death is sent to her uncle Philip in the city where she discovers that her father’s robber stories were not made up. Together with her father’s robber buddy Flip, Nemo travels through Slumberland to the Sea of Nightmares in search of a magical pearl.

Slumberland is the land you enter when you fall asleep and consists of a dream made especially for you. However, Nemo’s father and Flip have stolen a map that gives them access to not only their own dreams, but also the dreams of others. Agent Green has been chasing Flip for years because of the stolen map, and Nemo herself is found to have a deadly nightmare hunting her. These factors are gradually introduced in the first strange dreams in which Flip and Nemo find themselves.

Despite the excessive use of CGI in the dream world, the film remains entertaining because of the excellent characters. Each character has an entirely unique personality that, with the exception of Flip, are all highly entertaining. For example, Nemo is a wonderfully smart eleven-year-old and Philip is a delightfully awkward doorknob salesman. Flip is the character I liked the least, because although he is the good guy and played with charm by Jason Momoa, his physical humor is not nearly as entertaining as the film seems to think. Just too much time, especially in the first hour, is spent on Flip’s uninteresting rambling though the dream world.

Nemo and her little friend Pig are definitely the stars of the film, with Philip becoming a character you come to understand more once you get to know him better. And I love what they did with his character. He is a more important character then you might think.

“Slumberland” is a family fantasy film with extra layers, that can be enjoyed with the entire family.

Rating: 3, 5/ 5

Movie Review - Dune

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Genre: Drama/ Adventure/ Action
Runtime: 156 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling

Description: Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is the son of a noble family who is entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.

Review: It’s not often that a book retains the status of being unfilmable after it’s been filmed. Author Frank Herbert’s “Dune” did not exactly get the film adaptation this extremely popular and influential work deserved in 1984. In 2000 another attempt was made with a mini-series, which, with its longer running time, did more justice to the complex source material. It would probably have stopped there, were it not for the fact that in tha last two decades Hollywood has tackled many books that were considered unfilmable. Just look at “The Lord of the Rings”-trilogy. And it this complex story can be adapted into one of the most beloved and acclaimed film trilogies of all time, why shouldn’t  “Dune” work? And with the right filmmaker, lots is possible.
Enter Denis Villeneuve, who has been on an impressive winning streak for a good decade now. Villeneuve does not shy away from collaborating with big stars, but has always managed to avoid to easy Hollywood projects. Instead, he devotes himself to films that can easily categorize as ‘quality cinema’: suitable for a large audience but not pedantic and more confrontational than comfortable. “Blade Runner 2049” could be called his first blockbuster.
“Dune” is similar in scale and budget to Villeneuve’s previous film, but a lot more complex in terms of narrative. After all, Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel is full of characters and hard-to-explain science fiction concepts, which could potentially keep the average moviegoer away. in this, fortunately, Villeneuve’s aptitude for the subject matter is apparent, once again managing to strike a good balance between grand visual spectacle and concrete personal drama. As with “Blade Runner 2049”, he stays pretty faithful to the source material, but manages to bend it visually well to his will. By his own admission, he was only ready for this project after the experience of films like “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049”, and that doesn’t seem to be a meaningless statement, as “Dune” looks and feels like a logical continuation of Villeneuve’s previous films, but mostly one that benefits from the experience as a filmmaker.
Unlike the 1984 film, Villeneuve’s “Dune” does not open with a confusing dump of info, but simply begins with a clear narrative in which plot details pass by in fairly organic fashion. Of course it helps when you gradually learn about the feudal system of the distant future, the tension between various noble families, the importance of the raw material that can only be found on the desert planet Arrakis or the possible messianic status of the youthful main character Paul Atreides, but the central plot is still easy to follow when all these details get a bit too much for you. Thankfully, “Dune” never presents its plot information as homework, doesn’t blind itself to the details, and is smart enough to leave some characters in the wings until a future installment.
“Dune” is more than its plot. Villeneuve has a keen eye for the world in which the extensice story is set. And so, for example, there is a meaningful close-up when the young hero Paul takes his first steps on the desert sands of Arrakis. Whereas previous film adaptations showed this desert planet as a rather dark place, similar to how Mars is usually portrayed, Villeneuve makes full use of the Middle Eastern metaphor by showing this planet in bright light with harsh shadows. This makes the inhospitality of this world completely palpable even before the huge sandworms appear. It helps, of course, that it was really filmed in the desert, and with the beautiful rock formations, it's not hard to be visually impressive. Villeneuve also shows a good eye for scale with his wide panoramas in which there is always something going on in the background.
“Dune” opens with the indication that this is ‘part one’, but the arrival of a second is not guaranteed. This will leave you possibly somewhat unfulfilled, not knowing of this story will ever be concluded appropriately. It is to be hoped that there is enough enthusiasm for a continuation, because Villeneuve absolutely deserves it.

Rating: 4,5 / 5

10s Movie Review - Justice League

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action.. Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Connie Nielsen, Diane Lane, Amber Heard, Robin Wright, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Billy Crudup

Description: Fuled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to face an even greater enemy.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 45: A DC COMICS MOVIE

Review: I don’t like saying this, but “Justice League” reminds me a lot of “The Avengers”. Not only the tone and the humor, but also the story structure is similar: short introductions of all the team members, the search of a bad guy Steppenwolf, and even the way the team fights against itself. Or take the entrance of Steppenwolf teleports to Earth thanks to a magical cube, and tries to get his hands on it while soldiers try to stop him. It’s not necessarily copied, the so-called Motherboxes do come from the original stories, but they are clearly playing it safe with the intention of “Justice League”. He therefore misses the impact, innovation and own identity that “The Avengers” had.
It turns out to be a successful formula, which proides a significant improvement over the overambitious “Batman V Superman”. Whereas the dark predecessor threw all kinds of subplots, themes and comic strips into a blender and hoped for a form of coherence, Zack Snyder had a clear them for the sequel. The film opens with the meaning of Superman’s emblem, the symbol for hope. This time it’s not a nice one-liner, but the core of the film. Truly every character ans subplot revolves around hope: Flash’s relationship with his father, Cyborg’s resurrection, Batman and Wonder Woman’s struggle with their past and Aquaman’s cantankerous and lonely quest for more. The tone is therefore more consistent than ever in the DCEU.  
Steppenwolf is allowed to join the lon line of uninteresting bad guys. His background as the seconds of Darkseid and his role as a military leader of the Planet Apokolips are hardly explained. Moreover, there is not glimmer of charisma or personality. “Justice League” has more lack of construction. Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman haven’t been able to benefit from a solo film yet, and have to try to develop their characters within some scenes.
The best thin about “Justice League” is, especially for the fans, that the fifth DCEU movie finally has a grip on the source material. The interaction between all the heroes is convincing and strong. And especially The Flash is a pleasant and enjoyable presence.
Compared to the other superhero movies that came out in 2017, “Justice League” is too safe to compete with. “Justice League” feels more like a rectification, mainly due to the optimistic and heroic tone in the last few shots.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Hottest Men on "Game of Thrones"

It was definitely worth hours of crafting to create this list of hottest men on "Game of Thrones". It was tough, so many men to choose from. But this is the ranking I made.

15. Loras Tyrell (portrayed by Finn Jones)
Whenever I see Loras Tyrell, I want to run my fingers through his curly blonde hair. He is every young woman’s dream. A handsome, brave knight, a real heartthrob. Just a shame that he’s not interested in women.

14. Tormund Giantsbane (portrayed by Kristofer Hivju)
Tormund is a scruffy, grizzled ginger who acts as a leader of sorts to the Wildlings and is obsessed with Brienne of Tarth. It’s that wonderful beard that does it.

13. Podrick Payne (portrayed by Daniel Portman)
Podrick was a squire for the Lannisters before he came into the service of Brienne of Tarth. Shy and hardworking, Podrick is one of the sweetest and most attractive men on “Game of Thrones”. And there is still one question we need answered: what did he do to those girls?

12. Ned Stark (portrayed by Sean Bean)
Being and honorable man, with a sense of justice, Ned Stark didn’t live long as the Hand of the King. His honor eventually cost him, but his love for his wife and children and his acts still lived on after his death. Ned always kept his cool and is a great keeper of secrets. Ned is one for the long hall. And he is handsome too (with a killer smile).

11. Jaqen H’ghar (portrayed by Tom Wlaschiha)
Jaqen H’ghar can change his appearance whenever he wants. It’s not shocking that he leans toward this menacing yet dangerously attractive look.

10. Grey Worm (portrayed by Jacob Anderson)
A commander of the Unsullied warriors and another loyal follower of Daenerys. This serious and fierce warrior captured the hearts of many viewers, especially when his hard shell cracks and we start seeing the real man beneath the brutal Unsullied training.

9. Bronn (portrayed by Jerome Flynn)
This cheeky northerner is nothing short of charming. His and Tyrion’s banter is great and his sarcasm brings fun to every scene. I just love a man with sarcasm. He’s definitely one of the most endearing characters, with a rugged appearance and superb fighting skills.

8. Oberyn Martell (portrayed by Pedro Pascal)
Oberyn’s fighting skills, slightly cocky attitude, and passionate temper turned the heads of many viewers. Partner that with a sexy Dornish accent and you’ve got yourself one charismatic and attractive character.

7. Jaime Lannister (portrayed by Nicolaj Coster-Waldau)
Jaime Lannister is a complicated character, who we see do acts of both good and great evil. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying the Kingslayer is another gorgeous character. I prefer his bearded look over his ‘prince charming’ look though. The dirtier her gets, the better looking he becomes.

6. Robb Stark (portrayed by Richard Madden)
There is something distinctly regal about Robb Stark. And watching him follow his heart over his head is very charming. Even if it cost him his life eventually.

5. Gendry (portrayed by Joe Dempsie)
Well hello there, Gendry! He mainly caught my attention in season 2, where he showed of his very muscular body. He is ripped! And how he eventually shows Arya he loves her. How Gendry wanted to marry her and for her to be his lady. We all know Arya is not very ladylike, but kudos for trying.

4. Jorah Mormont (portrayed by Iain Glenn)
If you want a loyal man, who would do anything to keep you safe, Jorah is the man you need. I always found Jorah a very tragic character. Showing his love for Daenerys over and over again, but she never returned it. Although she knew Jorah would do anything for her. His manly, rugged and handsome looks, combined with that loyalty and him willing to die for the woman he loves. That’s the kind of man any good woman deserves.

3. Khal Drogo (portrayed by Jason Momoa)
Khal Drogo was married to Daenerys and they instantly became the hottest couple in television. Muscular, tough, handsome, tall, a great warrior. Perfection I tell you.

2. Daario Naharis (portrayed by Michiel Huisman)
Daario Naharis is a lieutenant of the Second Sons mercenary company before pledging his allegiance to Daenerys. Proud to say that he is Dutch like me, he is one of the finest looking men on the show. We sure understand why Daenerys liked him so much.

1. Jon Snow (portrayed by Kit Harington)
Jon Snow is one of many people’s favorite character in “Game of Thrones”. A brave swordsman and one of the main protagonists. I’ve loved swooning over this handsome bastard since day one. He is handsome, kind, loyal, strong, willing to do anything for the people he loves and he is just.

It's clear that I have the same taste as Daenerys!!!!

Movie Reviews - Aquaman

Director:  James Wan
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 144 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Randall Park, Michael Beach

Description: A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.

Review: It appears that the underdogs in the superhero world, get the most colorful films with a lot of creativity and freedom. “Aquaman” is a spectacular and very overwhelming film.
“Aquaman” is hard to analyse, because James Wan makes the same mistakes as many other directors: the film is long, the narrative is a bit unclear and some characters are very one-dimensional. But somehow you walk out of the cinema with a big smile.
Because “Aquaman” has tons of charm. And not in the sense of “ultimate popcorn entertainment’, because these movies are easy on the eyes but very forgettable. “Aquaman” is also pure eye candy, but there is one big difference: the movie is never boring, never too serious and embraces absurdity. The film is visually stunning, wonderful filmed and a treat for the senses.
There are several films that you can see influenced Wan in making “Aquaman”. “Indiana Jones”, “True Lies”, “Avatar”. It’s two hours of mind blowing action and visual effects.
Jason Momoa is a great choice for the title role. After seeing him as Aquaman, it’s hard to think about someone else in the role. And that means he did a good job!
DC still doesn’t win it from Marvel, but James Wan did a solid job. It’s a hell of a thrill ride and extremely entertaining!

Rating: 3,5 / 5