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The Good:
I think from the very beginning, it's apparent that you're going to be seeing a fresh and vibrant film with an 80's vibe to it. The look and feel of the movie tie-in perfectly given the time and setting that takes place.
Charlize Theron deserves a lot of credit in this action-packed role. One thing that I enjoyed about her character was that she was ruthless and efficient, but at the same time she showed signs of vulnerability. She wasn't some stone cold killer that was invincible.
Speaking of which, major props go to Charlize for obviously putting in a lot of time and dedication towards the training for this film. She was amazing in her fight scenes. You can definitely tell that it's Charlize throwing the punches and kicks in the film all thanks to how the director shot the scenes.
One of the most standout scenes in the film is a major fight and chase sequence towards the final act of the movie. Director David Leitch does an outstanding job of capturing this very long sequence of non-stop fighting and car chases. What made it so great was the fact that most, if not all, were captured in long continuous takes. That means there's little to no room for stunt doubles to come in or out. It's all the actors doing the crazy stunts. (At least that's how it appeared to be anyway.)
The Bad:
The only real issue I had with this film was the story wasn't very interesting. While this typically isn't always the case for most action films anyway, this movie didn't really feel like the usual action film either. It was a mix of espionage, mystery and intense action. However, the espionage aspect seemed to fall a bit short. (Maybe the time and setting of the Cold War didn't resonate with me due to my own ignorance of the time and events.)
There are some big twists that really don't feel that surprising; or better yet, they're kind of predictable. Then when you discover some of the other reveals later in the film, it almost felt a bit forced and underwhelming. I suppose it felt like they just did a "gotcha" type of reveal just for the sake of doing it. The mystery that is supposed to be unraveled in the film just feels like it takes a back seat to everything else happening.
The Reason:
Atomic Blonde was a decent film that is carried by an awesome 20 minute action packed sequence. Charlize Theron kicks butt in more ways than one, and proves that women certainly can carry these types of films with no problem. It's certainly worth the watch but I'd probably say more so as a matinee. If you waited to watch it at home, you may feel like you'd get a better payoff at the end of the day.
The Rating: 7/10 My [Loosely based] Ratings scale 10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best 6 = Watchable (If it's free) 5 - below = Avoid at all costs Don't want to miss future reviews and contests?
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The Good:
Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, and many times throughout, we get a ton of reminders that this Sony/Marvel partnership is the real deal. There are a lot of intentional and purposeful connections made to let us know that Spider-Man is definitely connected with the Avengers in more ways than one. There are a number of references to both the Avengers movies and to Civil War for you comic movie history buffs.
Since this was a Marvel production (as part of their deal with Sony) there's plenty of "Marvel fun" from beginning to end. There are a number of funny moments that certainly helps to keep the movie light-hearted and entertaining. A lot of the comedy comes from the supporting cast. Jacob Batalon (who plays Ned) has a lot a humorous scenes as he plays Peter Parker's best friend. Jon Favreau ("Happy") and also Zendaya ("Michelle") also have a few quick funny one off scenes as well. For the few scenes he was in, Hannibal Buress was comical too.
While the internet was making it a big deal, I actually liked what the film did with Marisa Tomei's version of "Aunt May". The movie didn't oversell her character to be the hot cougar everyone may have thought her to be. Once you see her caring and nurturing side with Peter, all those other ideas about her kind of go out the window.
Unlike some of the other past Spider-Man movies, I thought this one did a really good job in setting up potential side characters for future films. None of it felt rushed, and the characters (even if minor) feel like they have organic origins now. Speaking of which, there are many obvious Easter eggs throughout this movie. If you're a Spider-Man fan (of the comics or cartoon), you'll probably pick up at least 85% of the hints that are left. Certain characters are obvious clues to other characters' existence and so on.
As for Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland did a great job portraying the wall crawler. The concerns of Peter Parker being too young should be quelled. His youth actually serves a great purpose in showing his inexperience at being a superhero. That leaves a lot of room for us (the audience) to grow and relate to him. The film does an excellent job of putting Spidey in situations where he shows not only his inexperience, but his maturity as well over time. I was really happy to see him in situations where he couldn't rely on his web shooters, for example. I also really appreciated the fact that they showcased his intellect as a tech genius.
Contrary to the trailers, I'm also happy to let you know that Tony Stark/Iron Man does not over take this movie at all. He's probably in this movie for about 10-15%. This is totally a Spider-Man/Peter Parker story.
As for the villain, Michael Keaton was at his best in my opinion. I personally don't think that he suffered from the "MCU Villain problem" at all. While they didn't use the traditional Vulture from the comics, they gave him a much more grounded and realistic approach. I thought that he posed an excellent challenge to Spider-Man and that's really all you can ask for from any villain.
The Bad:
I'm going to start off with my biggest grievance just to get this off of my chest. I am really disappointed and almost frustrated with the way this film handled Spider-Man's powers. More specifically, they made his "Spidey Sense" practically non-existent. In my opinion, that's almost like de-powering Superman's strength or making him jump rather than fly. I just think that Spider-Man's Spidey sense is an attribute that makes him really special and unique. Unfortunately in this film, they've reduced him to simply having really quick reflexes.
While many of the supporting characters and scenes in this movie were indeed funny, I think we could've done without a lot of them. The movie's run time is about 2hrs 15mins, and it really felt like some of the funny scenes were just added fluff. For instance, if some of the scenes with Ned or "Happy" were removed, I don't think that the movie would've suffered at all. As a matter of fact, a lot of their scenes would've probably been better served as additional features on the Blu-Ray DVD instead.
Given the approach to making this a younger teen movie, I found it strange that this film included references to teen movies from the 80's. For example, there's a direct reference to Ferris Bueller's Day off which I'm not sure many people under the age of 21 have even seen. It's not that some of these reference are bad, I just don't think they'll really resonate because this movie comes off as though it's directed for people ages 13-25. (I'm not counting comic book movie fans only because we're already too heavily invested in these movies. They know we'll show up for this regardless.)
Last issue is that I really am not a fan of how careless this movie deals with Spider-Man's secret identity. While the writing does make sense in terms of how they handled it, I simply don't believe it was necessary to have certain individual(s) discover it. (You'll know what I mean when you see it.) The reveal does help add some level of intensity to the film, but I just think that they could've had the same effect without letting the cat out of the bag the way they did. The Reason:
Spider-Man Homecoming certainly has breathed new life into the Spider-Man movie franchise. Where does it compare you ask? Well I'd say that it's the 2nd best Spider-Man film to date. That's right. Spider-Man 2, still holds the lead in terms of being the best Spider-Man movie.
The film will probably be offered in some enhanced viewing formats like 3D and Dolby Atmos. I got to see it in Dolby Atmos, and while the sound technology is amazing, I just don't think that Spider-Man Homecoming is the right movie to see in that format. Nor is the movie necessary to see in 3D. I mean you can obviously choose to view it that way, but there just didn't seem to be anything memorable that the 3D or Dolby will leave you with. So you can save a little money there.
I left the theater liking Spider-Man Homecoming a lot, but not necessarily being Wow'd by it either. This felt more like the Disney XD version of Spider-Man. (Take that however you wish) The movie is really fun and entertaining, but it does have room for improvement. Either way, Spider-Man Homecoming is a definitely worth the watch in theaters. Be sure to stay until the very end. There are TWO end credit scenes.
The Rating: 8.5/10 My [Loosely based] Ratings scale 10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best 6 = Watchable (If it's free) 5 - below = Avoid at all costs
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The Good:
This movie starts off with one of the best introduction sequences I could recall. It doesn't take long at all to really set the high intensity, fun, and exhilarating tone that this film carries throughout. That leads me to really congratulating the real heroes of this movie: the stunt drivers.
The stunt doubles/drivers in Baby Driver are the real MVPs here. Seriously, the stunts that they pulled in many of these crazy chase scenes were nothing short of amazing. The car chases seemed very reminiscent of the type of driving someone could only pull off in a video game. (Especially if you had some cheat codes.)
Without question all of the driving in this movie becomes the best highlight. So much so that you even look forward to the moment characters use a car. Baby (played by Ansel Elgort) was really fun to watch as he basically used a car as his primary weapon. It almost felt strange to see him outside of a car. Whenever he was in danger, or if things got tense, an instant feeling of relief would arise when he got himself into a car. Overall, I think that Elgort was able to carry the film sufficiently with the aid of the exceptional supporting cast.
The supporting actors shared really good on screen chemistry. I really liked how none of the characters really over took the movie, but instead they each shined in their own way. Jamie Foxx definitely is more than entertaining in his role as "Bats". I'm always a fan of Kevin Spacey, and Jon Hamm certainly delivers as well. More importantly, many of the characters are not stagnant in their roles. This is primarily due to the great direction and writing of Edgar Wright.
Edgar Wright brought this movie to life from a very practical and organic place. The humor was well timed and the intensity was turned up at the right times. The writing and dialogue of the characters were a great fit to really help propel the story. I appreciated the fact that nothing was overly simplistic, nor was it completely predictable either. The Bad:
This may be hit or miss for some people, but the music/song selections didn't always resonate with me. I know music can be really subjective so this was a risky move either way. The timing of the songs, and how they were used throughout the film were good. However, unless you're familiar with the songs being played, you may miss out on the full impact that comes whenever you hear your favorite song come on. It's kind of like when you're at a club, and the DJ plays some random song you never heard of before. You understand how others may enjoy the music, but it just may not vibe with you per se.
The Reason:
Baby Driver is really a fun movie to watch. The movie puts an original twist on traditional heist movies. If there was an additional song or two, this could've almost passed for a musical. It's full of exciting chase scenes that make you feel like you're in the driver's seat. May even have you thinking that with a little practice you could pull off similar stunts. (Please don't.) The movie looked like a real life video game (a la Grand Theft Auto).
If you're a fan of Edgar Wrights movies ( Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World) then you'll definitely enjoy this film as well. This may go down as the director's best movie. With a 2017 summer that's had a few letdowns, this should serve as an unexpected pick-me-up. Feel free to plan your weekend to check this out.
The Rating: 9/10 My [Loosely based] Ratings scale 10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best 6 = Watchable (If it's free) 5 - below = Avoid at all costs
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The Good:
As with any Michael Bay film we know that this movie would be nothing short of a lot of action and explosions. There were a number of chase scenes that included some great special effects, and to top it off the 3D visuals were really nice too. Throughout the film you'll notice some great scenes that literally pop out at you.
Probably the best part of this film will be the last 20 mins or so, when the Transformers are actually fighting one another. This time around we get to see some cool new weapons and some new transformers as well. My personal favorite was probably Anthony Hopkin's butler transformer. He had a number of humorous moments in the film.
Oh and while Megan Fox wasn't in this film, shout out to Director Michael Bay for having Laura Haddock look like her long lost twin. The Bad:
*Sigh*
I'm not really sure where to being. Oh I know. How about the fact that this Transformers movie, yet again, wasn't even about the Transformers. Instead this was a Mark Wahlberg movie. Optimus Prime shows up early in the beginning, and we don't see him again until maybe the last 35 mins of the film. I should also mention that this movie is about 2.5 hours long (and you will feel every pain staking minute of it.) The Transformers in this film were basically reduced to being supporting characters in their own movie. While they would have some lines here or there, they were pretty much background characters until the very end of the movie where the battle ensues.
Propelling Mark Walberg and the plight of the human race was probably one of the weakest story lines this movie could take on. Even some of the most fearsome Transformers were turned into mere pets. The story just comes off to be so unrealistic that it just stops being a "fun movie" anymore.
As a matter of fact, this movie was constantly trying to be funny. It was like watching a bad comedian on stage bomb joke, after joke, after 2.5 hour long bad joke. (This movie was so long.) -_-
Almost every character goes out of their way to say or do something ridiculously cheesy and corny that it's not even funny to laugh at how corny and cheesy they're being. The sadder part is that they actually got a comedian in Jerrod Carmichael to star in the movie, and even he wasn't remotely funny.
The story itself was a complete mess. While the premise of the movie was pretty simple (Bad Transformers want to destroy our world), the various subplots felt erratic and jumbled. The film keeps jumping from one scene to another, trying to tell one subplot only to jump to another. At some point you simply just stop caring.
At no point did I really care about the new villain. At no point was Optimus Prime's reprogramming even believable. And for those of you who hated that Martha moment in Batman v Superman, get ready for an equally bad moment like that in this film.
The saddest part about this movie is that we still really don't learn that much about the Transformers or their home world. This was a perfect opportunity for us to focus on more of the Transformers lore, but instead it was squandered for whatever the hell we saw in this film.
The Reason:
You know, I don't know why I do this sometimes. Maybe I'm a sucker for punishment. I thought I would've learned my lesson with the last Transformers movies. The writing was TERRIBLE. The Story was overly simplistic, uninteresting and all over the place. The characters SUCKED.
I can't recall ever seeing a movie that was so action packed that it also bored me at the same time. I want my money back. (I don't care if I saw it for free) The sad reality is that some people are still going to watch this and actually think this movie was good. In my opinion, the only way to really enjoy this film is to turn your brain completely off. Don't try to make sense of things. Just sit back and watch the shiny things explode and flick on the screen.
If you think you really have to watch this movie because you've been so invested in the previous four movies, don't feel pressured to see this. You can wait it out. Honestly, you'd probably be better off watching this when it comes on cable, or just reading the wiki for this movie instead. If you want to still go watch it that's fine. Everyone has a different tolerance level for certain films. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and mine is that they simply need to stop making these films.
The Rating: 5/10
My [Loosely based] Ratings scale 10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best 6 = Watchable (If it's free) 5 - below = Avoid at all costs
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