Monster Hunter

 

8/10

Based on the video game series of the same name, Monster Hunter is about a group of soldiers lead by Lt. Artemis (played by the Resident Evil films' Milla Jovovich) who end happen onto a transdimensional portal, as these things happen, and travel to the world of the Monster Hunter franchise. (I looked it up, and no, this place doesn't seem to have a proper name.) In order to survive the various deadly creatures that populate this place, Artemis teams up with a local hunter (Tony Jaa), aptly called Hunter in the credits.   

MH is a popcorn movie in the purest sense of the term. This is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the one responsible for the Resident Evil films, the first Mortal Kombat film, and Alien vs. Predator. The guy's no Shakespeare, but he knows how to deliver competently deliver mindless action accompanied by the occasional clever idea. 

The monsters in this are truly formidable and memorable. They're designed pretty well. I'm digging the fantasy look here. It has an old school 70's-90's feel to it. Though, I haven't played the MH games, I'm pretty sure that the aesthetics hewed close to them as the monsters, clothing, etc. maintain a Japanese design-style to it. Ron Pearlman gets a fantastic mane of hair in this.

Course, Anderson is known for the occasionally frustrating choices. (Don't get me started on the last RE movie.) The final act wasn't satisfyingly conclusive. Like with the RE movies, Anderson sets up bait for the sequel, but he really cranks it up to eleven in comparison to them. It's like the end of the Bourne Legacy. You're like "Wait that's it? I think I'm missing something!" The editing can also be rushed and choppy.

Jovovich again does a fine job as the bada*** fighter. However,when acting as a commanding officer and or interacting with her more lively fellow soldiers, she feels awkward. Jaa does a very good job, especially considering you don't know what he's saying. Artemis and the Hunter don't speak the same language, and it's interesting seeing them trying to communicate. 

I recommend this. I mean if you aren't a fan of previous Anderson films, this won't change your opinion. But if you want to watch people fight monsters for an hour and forty minutes, this'll do.  

Kevin Hart: Zero F**ks Given

 

8/10

In this special on Netflix, Kevin Hart bucks the usual stand-up comedy routine by performing in a large room in his own home. (And it's a REALLY nice room. You would've thought it was a set if you weren't told. The rich sleep well, indeed.)   

I'll make this review a quickie. I thought this was generally funny. None of the jokes stuck with me, but I was amused at the time. 

A lot of people online didn't like this much, complaining that Hart lost the magic. This was my first time seeing his stand-up, so I've got nothing to compare it to. As it is, I had no complaints. I say it's worth a shot.

Locked Down

 

8/10

In Locked Down, Paxton (12 Years a Slave's Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Linda (Anne Hathaway) are a couple in England who've just broken up. However, the COVID quarantine has them stuck in the same house together for a couple weeks. Soon a series of events will occur that will surprisingly lead to them planning a heist. This was an interesting work.

If you've seen the commercials, this may seem mostly about the heist. However, a lot of the movie is the build-up to planning it. This is primarily a character-based comedy, and it works pretty well. Ejiofor provides great delivery with the erudite Paxton and Hathaway brings an energy to the stressed Linda. The movie mostly follows the leads, but you get a good cast of supporting faces, including several well known ones.

The movie has a slice-of-life feel as it jumps from one event to another. I think this is the first film attempt to showcase the struggles of living during the COVID crisis, and it does a decent job of looking at the toll of it.

The dialogue may not work for everyone. It has a sort of stage play feel: a lot of exposition needs to be delivered and can't be done visually due to limited scenery. So, the writer does his or her best to make it all sound natural and doesn't do a half bad, job but can't 100% nail that realism. It took me fifteen minutes or so to get accustomed to the dialogue, especially the cultured Paxton. 

I liked the camerawork and editing in this, everything runs smoothly and there is a slightly more grounded feel than most comedies.

I recommend this. It's a unique. I can't say it's to everyone's tastes, but it's worth giving a chance.

Marvel 616- Season 1

7/10 

Marvel 616 on Disney+ is a collection of eight documentaries covering a wide range of subjects based around Marvel. This was an interesting show.

616's best strength is it's versatility. If there's an episode that doesn't interest you then there'll probably be another you would like. (I found the ones on the Japanese Spider-Man show and female comics creators to be particularly interesting.) 

All the documentaries are well handled. Credit should be particularly given to the episode on weird and forgotten Marvel characters featuring and starring Paul Scheer for trying a different approach than the others. 

The episode on foreign comics illustrators though having a decent topic did feel slow-paced and not as dynamic as the others. Whereas they felt pretty dynamic with several interviews, this had very few to go back and forth through. 

If you're interested in Marvel in general, I recommend this. You'll find out a lot of things you didn't know before.

Burrow

 

9/10

Burrow is a Pixar short currently out on Disney+. It' about a rabbit trying to build a burrow, but the creature, preferring to be left alone, keeps running into neighbors. This was a really sweet piece.

Although from Pixar, this is in 2D animation and not 3D. You know those types of children's picture books  that feature underground anthropomorphic animals' houses from the side view? That is this short in a nutshell, perfectly mimicking the timeless quality of this format. Everything has a hand-drawn feel.

As for the story, it's cute. There's no dialogue and it does a great job of non-verbal humor. Plus, it's got a nice ending.

So if you've got Disney+, I say give this a shot. It's only six minutes long. 

Carmen Sandiego- Season 4 (Final)

NOTE: There are no spoilers for this season, but there is one comment that could possibly give something away if you hadn't seen the end of the last season.

8/10 

Season 4 ends the show with Carmen's final battles against the criminal organization V.I.L.E. 

This is another fun season. Not much to say about the core of the show that hadn't been previously said: it's a fun, action kids show with fun characters. One specific highlight to this season is that Inspector Devineaux (voiced by Rafael Petardi), who in the past has been convinced that Carmen (Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez) is a villain, has finally realized that isn't the case. I actually found the character a lot more fun to watch now that his job isn't just to be stubborn and fall prey to forced television misconceptions. The character gets a chance to demonstrate that he is a competent detective. Also, this has one of the show's best fight scenes.

A lot of fans online have complained that they found the finale wasn't as strong as they wanted or was lacking an expected, big action-packed finale. Personally, I disagree. I liked the finale; it paid proper closure to all the characters. In general, I felt people wanted too much out of the show. I think they wanted this to be like a lot of kids television programs that have more adult crossover appeal and get away with more than kids programs back in the day did. CS has never tried to be that. It has usually gone with a softer, more child-friendly touch, such as the villains wiping the memories of captured agents instead of eliminating them, and there's nothing wrong with that. 

That having been said, there were parts where the writing could've been stronger. This show suffers from something that I've seen a few kids shows over the years suffer from: being more focused on stand-alone episodes than the overreaching plot, which results in a final season that definitely didn't feel fully planned out ahead of time. The pacing could've been better. The show has a lot of villains, and the writers obviously didn't have the time to give them all a final send-off. Surprisingly, Paperstar (Kimiko Glenn), one of the most regular and dangerous foes in this, gets short shrift. And those two new V.I.L.E. cadets from last season, who were implied to be prominent threats, don't appear at all. Also, Carmen's hacker friend Player (Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard) has go to attend regular school for the first time. This is a subplot that goes nowhere, adds nothing, and eats up precious final season time.

Overall, if you or kids like this show so far, you should still have a good time with this. 

Yearly Departed

7/10

In this comedy special, a group of female comedians, including Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, and Rachel Brosnahan, attend a funeral for the year 2020 as they each do a eulogy tackling something that people lost during that year. 

Yearly Departed is alright. There's some good jokes and material here. However, I found nothing to be laugh-out-loud funny. I also didn't like the gimmick of the other comedians reacting to whoever's doing the stand-up. These reactions often feel forced and took me out of it. (Not to be surprised things didn't feel natural since due to COVID, a lot of the reactions were filmed without anyone up on stage.)  

I really can't strongly recommend or not recommend this. If you're a big fan of one the comedians in this, this would probably be worth a watch if you like them in most things.