The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

10/10

In Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, Sam Wilson/the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) go up against the terrorist organization the Flagsmashers. Out of the first three Marvel shows with trailers, the other two being WandaVision and Loki, this couldn't stand out as much compared to the more creative and unexpected paths the other two were taking. It seemed to be the most traditional of the Marvel shows. Well, the show's come out now, and it's definitely proved itself.

This may not be as original as Wandavision, but I think FatWS was the better scripted show. It really manages to keep the spyesque, political intrigue-light feel of the last two Captain America films. The show manages to incorporate heavy themes that include racism, PSTD, and sociological/political elements smoothly into the superhero world of Marvel.  

The six-episode run times gives the characters more room to breathe than in the films resulting in a character piece with a nuanced, three-dimensional cast. None of the villains are straight up evil-for-the-sake-of-evil and you get where they're coming from.    

You just get a great bunch of faces in this. Sam Wilson really is the successor to Steve Rogers/Captain America as the hero who's trying to do good for the sake of good. He realizes more than Steve that the world isn't perfect and has some compelling struggles. Still, he is the voice of reason and legitimately tries to talk things over with his opponents. Stan also does a great job as a brooding Bucky trying to recover from his horrible past.     

This show brings the first live action appearance of John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who for a short period of time during the 80's was the bad boy/antihero Captain America. Walker's the competition to Sam and Bucky in taking down the threat, and he's one of the more intriguing parts of the show. He's a very complex fellow and a wild card.  

Flagsmasher was the Captain America villain I've wanted to see adapted the most. Having the villains' motivation be pro-globalism, anti-nationalism, is a unique motive. Their leader Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) works, oozing self-righteousness.  

The aforementioned characters are all good, but it's Daniel Bruhl as Zemo who steals the show. I feel that he was one of the best villains in the Marvel movies, but didn't get as much credit as he deserved, probably due to his plan in Winter Soldier being too complex and the large cast relegating him mostly to just enacting his plan. But, I'm glad to see that this show has gotten him quite a bit of buzz online. We're given more time to know Zemo, and he proves himself to be quite charming and a conversationalist. He remains the smartest guy in the room, you're left anticipating what his next move will be.

The one thing I don't love is that this is Sharon Carter's third appearance, and she still hasn't been given enough time to reach her full potential. Her actress Emily VanCamp was also filming her show The Resident at the same time as this, so it's understandable that they couldn't use her as much, and we're lucky they were filming in the same area and the two shows were able to work things out at all. I just find the character's MCU adaptation disappointing. In the comics, she's Captain America's main love interest and one of the more prominent characters. However, the films were too busy to squeeze her in more (early attempts were made to include her in Infinity War, but she got cut) and Peggy Carter resonated more as a love interest with the fans. She does get more to do here, but I guess it's just not what I wanted. 

The show looks great. Like Wandavision, it is almost film quality. There are some impressive and at times creative fight scenes. Costume design works, too. They finally adapt Zemo's classic purple comics mask, and it works pretty well.

I highly recommend Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It's just really good.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

 

7/10

In this new attempt at adapting the popular video game franchise, new character Cole Young (played by Lewis Tan) finds himself chosen to be one of the warriors of Earth destined to fight in order to protect the planet from the forces of Outworld.   

The fighting in this is definitely better than the '95 version. The R rating and modern special effects manage to achieve the more over-top and gory violence that made the game famous. Doesn't hurt that the brawls are well choreographed and shot. Surprisingly, the movie paces the more hardcore violent moments. I felt this pays off, the more mouth-dropping moments have more impact to them. If you like violent movies, this has a couple of the more creative kills in some time.

The movie looks good (with the exception being the design of a pair of mechanical arms that didn't quite work for me). Director Simon Mcquoid brings a distinctive visual style. Nice work on the costumes, too. Kung Lao's razor-rimmed hat is finally realized, and it's everything you'd want. Computer graphics allow more creative looking opponents from the games to pop up and they're fun. 

Introducing the new character Cole does feel extraneous when the games already have a ton of characters to work with. The director has said that it was too provide a fresh prospective as an audience surrogate in order to explore the world. However, any of the characters could've been written as a newbie. That having been said, I didn't dislike the guy. He had a decent, albeit simplistic backstory, and some impressive fighting skills. Also, I can see how it's easier to write a character free of any pre-established lore restrictions.

Unfortunately, the story and characters aren't as strong as the nineties' version. The story is at it's peak during the action. It lags during the middle, which is a lot of setup. It doesn't help that there are couple of plot points that don't make a lot of sense, (and bear in mind that I wasn't walking in this looking for a lot of logic.)

There are some good lines, but a lot more stale ones. A lot of dialogue is just spurting out exposition without any nuance. The movie tries to squeeze in too many characters, and most of them are kinda flat or one-note. The main villain Shang Tsung (Chin Han) is a particularly dull character and a major step down from his nineties' counterpart. There are a few bright spots. Kano (Josh Lawson) is fun as the comic relief/in-it-for-himself member of the group. Though he doesn't get the best material every time, Joe Taslim as the villain Sub-Zero has some pretty standout moments.

Despite the film's problems, the weakest moments are simply that: weak. I wouldn't say they're a turnoff or intolerable. This definitely delivers in the action department and does deliver the basic essence of the Mortal Kombat games. I recommend this if you like this kind of thing. You just don't need to watch this at full movie ticket price. 

Nobody

9/10

In Nobody, family man Hutch Mansell (Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk) is hitting a rut in his marriage, his job, and in general. His home is invaded and this leads to a series of events that awaken something dormant in Hutch, something from a secret and violent past.

This was written by Derek Kolstad who wrote the John Wick movies. This is Wick if he had a family and the story took itself a little less seriously and had a little more fun. Really, the basic plot point has several points of similarity to the first Wick film. However, the movie is entertaining enough that I really didn't mind.

Nobody is just well done. The editing and pacing are smooth. The story offers a fun cast of characters, dialogue, and events. Course, this is an action film above all else and it really delivers here. (Though if you like fighting, but if you aren't a fan of excessive gore, there is one bloody scene that might be a bit much.)

It's Odenkirk's performance that helps make the film. It's weird the trajectory his career has taken. For decades he was known as a comedian, then Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul came and now he's an action star, and he completely manages to pull it off despite being in his late fifties.

The villain, Russian gangster Yulian Kuznetsov, may not be the most distinct villain, but he is fleshed out and pretty entertaining at times. Christopher Lloyd plays Hutch's father and it's just nice to see the guy in anything these days, he so rarely pops up.  

If there are any criticisms, the family themselves could've had more development. They're mostly just serve as the impetus for Mansell's actions. But, that's a quibble.

Overall, this was a blast. If you enjoyed the John Wick films, you'll like this.

Search Party- Season 4

 

5/10

NOTE: This review doesn't contain spoilers, but it could spoil the end of season 3 if you haven't seen it yet.

Dory (Alia Shawkat) is kidnapped by a psycho named Chip (Cole Escola). Meanwhile, the the rest of the gang try to move in on from the events of last season.

I really liked the last three seasons, but this was a huge let down. This show has always been a dark comedy, but this one went toooo dark. In the previous seasons, the reeeaaaalllyy dark moments were few and far between padded by the wackier comedy elements. This is episode after episode of a woman trying to escape or at the mercy of a very sick person. Sure, Dory has done some pretty awful stuff and you could say she's deserving of a punishment, but this shouldn't have been it. The situation is too much and uncomfortable and not in a fun way. Rather, it feels actual drama dark and not over-the-top comedy dark. Also, it's kind of boring. Dory's story is really stretched out. 

It doesn't help that there are a lot of leaps in real world logic in order to help Chip keep doing what he's doing. I know the comedy in this can be a bit exaggerated in it's humor, but this season in general really felt like it's pushing things.

Chip feels like a mistake. Escola does a good job and he is a fully realized character, but he isn't deserving of so much screentime. There isn't enough about him to be entertaining. He has specific issues and personal demons and they're repeated one too many times. Besides, it isn't very entertaining watching a character who's legit the-writers-don't-pull-their-punches sick.

This is too bad, the rest of the main cast's storylines are funny and provide new material for them, plus there there is a hell of a final episode.

In Elliott's storyline, SNL's Chloe Fineman continues to do a great job as shameless conservative TV host Charlie Reeney. Unfortunately, she isn't in this too much. I won't spoil who she is or what she's doing since they keep her out of any of the advertising, but Rebecca Robles also has a very fun recurring part.

Yeah, I can't recommend this season. Some may argue that I'm silly for complaining about a dark comedy being dark. But everything has it's limitations and this show just flew too close to the sun. 

Thunder Force

7/10

Thunder Force on Netflix takes place in a world where cosmic rays have given people superpowers, but only those with sociopathic tendencies, resulting in a world of supervillains known as Miscreants. Through a series of events, regular gal Lydia Berman (played by Melissa McCarthy) ends up being accidentally injected with a superhero strength formula created by her genius former high school friend Emily Stanton (Octavia Spencer). The two become superheroes in order to thwart the Miscreant menace. On the whole, I enjoyed myself, but the film isn't perfect.

On the plus side, the world and basic plot work well enough. There are some pretty good jokes in this, including a few laugh out loud ones.

As is often the case, the villains are more fun than the leads. Hands down, the best character in this is Jason Bateman's The Crab, the charismatic, level-headed one. He steals every scene he's in and the actor, who usually plays the straight man, seems to be down for anything and having the time of his life. Guardians of the Galaxy's Pom Klementieff is also good as the psychotic Laser.

On the negative side, for there are also a lot of lousy jokes in this. This is directed and written by McCarthy's husband Ben Falcone. As I've noticed in the unfunny opening of their The Boss and which has been the general criticism of their other films, the couple working with each other results in the inability to make the tough calls and a lack of restraint. A lot of the bad jokes suffer from no editing and being stretched too long. Some of them may've been funny if they'd been one and done. Luckily, the worse stuff happens during Lydia's training/exposition period. It's choppy waters for a while, but the sailing is pretty clear once it's over. 

This film can be frustrating at points, but I felt the good parts out-weighted the bad. It's worth taking a chance on.

Godzilla vs. Kong

 

8/10

I mean the title basically explains the concept but here's the synopsis anyway: Godzilla inexplicably attacks on the land, which raises the question as to why considering that he doesn't just attack for funsies. Meanwhile, Skull Island can no longer contain Kong, meaning that he has to be moved elsewhere. Soon the behemoths' paths shall intertwine and... the movie title... blah, blah, blah... Yeah, this was fun. 

First off, I owe an apology to director Adam Wingard (who previously helmed the recent Blair Witch, You're Next, and segments in the first two VHS films.) I had some reservations about him since he's my most "mixed feelings" director. Didn't quite love or hate his previous works. However, I'm pleased to say he proved me wrong and delivered a good film.  

GvK is an unapologetic, brainless giant monster film. Kong and Godzilla's brawls don't disappoint. The monster fights aren't as epic-looking, battle-of-the-gods style as those in Godzilla: King of the Monsters were, but they are far clearer and easier to follow. Seriously, they're well choreographed and are some of the best in the Monsterverse films. It really feels like a big match. Though Godzilla has fought other monsters in these films, Kong brings something new to the table what with his having hands. He's able to make greater use of his environment, grabbing onto things or using them as weapons.   

Visually, I think Kong's CGI looked better in Kong: Skull Island. However, I thought the film did a great job with his facial expressions. In an interview, Wingard stated that Toho, Godzilla's original studio and copyrights holder, wouldn't let the creature emote. However, even working within the limitations of that rule, there are a couple moments where Wingard manages to give Godzilla a couple bits of personality. 

I kinda liked the human storylines. Yeah, they don't have the charisma of the cast of Skull Island or are even as strong as those in the first Godzilla, but they are generally likable and serve their purpose. (Besides, for an action blockbuster, there are plenty of examples out there where the story turned out a whole lot weaker. This isn't doing too shabby considering that it's the fourth entry in the series.) Interestingly, there are two human subplots, one with a Godzilla team and the other with King Kong and almost never the twane shall meet. 

The Kong crew definitely has the stronger storyline and characterization. Though Rebecca Hall and Alexander Skarsgard aren't given the loftiest of material to work with, they get the job done. Credit should especially be given to Hall, who puts more effort into facial expressions than anyone else. Really, she didn't need to put in that much effort for a Godzilla/kong film.

The Godzilla crew have the less substantive storyline (a lot of exposition), but they're also the funnier ones. Stranger Things' Millie Bobbie Brown returns as Madison Russell from Godzilla: King of the Monsters and even though she has less screen time, I thought she was more entertaining. She's the straight man and does a good job reacting to stuff. Hunt for the Wilderpeople's Julian Dennison, who seems to have been typecast in his last couple of films as delinquent-style kids with bad attitudes, gets to play against type as the meeker member of the group. Bryan Tyree Henry as a conspiracy theorist delivers the funniest lines in the film.

There is one thing about Godzilla vs. Kong that bugs me. There'ss one major plot hole if you saw the after credits scene in the last film.

I'd rank this above KotM and below the first Godzilla and SI, which I felt had better stories. Don't let this being third on my list deter you. This knows exactly how to deliver if you like mindless action.