The Walk, technically speaking, is a well done biographical drama. However, I really didn’t find Petit’s past all that interesting in spite of a nice performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French accent and all. But as one would expect, the highlight of the film is the prep and actual walk across the Twin Towers.
Pan had some of the right ingredients between a good and capable director and respectable cast but between some odd choices with the soundtrack, mainly a rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, and an utterly joyless film which is surprising for a movie about Peter Pan, it makes for a soulless and forgettable flick.
Minions is a harmless but still average film that kids will certainly love. That said, this is something that probably would’ve worked better as a short for either a TV special or showing prior to the eventual Despicable Me 3 theatrical release.
Ant-Man may just be a middle-of-the-road flick compared with the other MCU films, but it’s still fairly enjoyable if not filled with plot holes and inconsistencies that I could easily overlook due to the entertainment factor and a well rounded cast headlined by Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends one of the more mundane trilogies and although certainly the passion was there, Peter Jackson and company turned what should have been a 5 hour two-parter into three movies with unnecessary filler to go along with characters, new ones specifically, that were utterly forgettable.
Inside Out might not be in the upper echelon of Pixar movies (top 5 for me are the Toy Story 1-3, Monsters Inc. and Up) but it’s another solid entry and winner for the studio. I really enjoyed the story but beyond that the voice casting was so well done. This 4-disc set release offers excellent video and audio and a fine selection of bonus material.
Terminator Genisys will (and has) no doubt pissed off plenty of fans but taking emotion out of it, I actually didn’t think it was awful. The action scenes, albeit generic at times, were at least well shot, and the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Guardian was welcome and helped overshadow some of the shortcomings. In spite of those, it’s at least a passable and entertaining flick, though don’t go in expecting much.
Jurassic World could’ve been special but instead we get thinly developed characters, a plot that’s a rehash of the original and a subplot that even Dr. Evil would think was ridiculous. But all of that could be overlooked if it were fun and entertaining; instead I found it to be on the dull side with little suspense to help mask the film’s imperfections.
I have a soft spot for disaster flicks so something like San Andreas, as goofy as it was featured solid visual effects and even with a thin plot the film still managed to entertain. The acting for what they were given wasn’t bad and once again Dwayne Johnson proves himself to be a great action hero.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a title that lives up to its name. The action is incredible and the characters outlandish yet awfully fun. It’s a great revival of the franchise from the creator himself and it features some of the most impressive stunt work captured to film with only moderate use of CGI to tie it all together rather than used as a crutch.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends one of the more mundane trilogies and although certainly the passion was there, Peter Jackson and company turned what should have been a 5 hour two-parter into three movies with unnecessary filler to go along with characters, new ones specifically, that were utterly forgettable.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an inoffensively bad movie made for an entirely different audience than those who grew up with the reptiles in the 1980s and 1990s. But taking that aside, it’s a thin story, poor writing and chaotic direction that makes it really hard to watch culminating with a lame and underwhelming finale.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For not only is a movie a few years too late, the narrative isn’t quite as strong as the first and the acting, save for a few of the key players, isn’t all that memorable, though Rourke, under seemingly heavier does of make-up, is the biggest highlight with Eva Green taking a close second for her performance and… ahem… assets.
It’s clear that Deepsea Challenge is a passion project for James Cameron and being one of the richest filmmakers, he can afford to, at least partially, finance an expedition of this magnitude, creating new devices to reach further depths than every explored before.
I acknowledge that Hercules is not a great movie but as summer blockbuster entertainment, it’s more than functional especially thanks to an ensemble cast led by Dwayne Johnson and some (purposefully) humorous moments that I enjoyed myself.