The Legend of Hercules gets to have the distinct pleasure of being the first flop of 2014 at the box office and with critics and audiences alike and for good reason. There’s nothing here save maybe for Gaia Weiss who, albeit in a limited role, was decent (and easy on the eyes).
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial isn’t just a 1980s classic but a classic period and influential to many generations due to a tightly written script, characters we can actually care about and just an adorable little alien who evokes emotions from laughter to sadness. It may not be Spielberg’s masterpiece, but it is timeless.
I didn’t feel The Mummy was a bad movie but worse yet, a completely forgettable one. Tom Cruise never really felt at home, Annabelle Wallis was rather bland in the female lead, Russell Crowe unremarkable in a forced appearance as Jekyll/Hyde and Sofia Boutella makes for a hot mummy, but not very threatening.
The Cabin in the Woods is a well made and darkly humorous horror film that takes on the tropes of the genre quite well and has a pretty good bloody creature clash in the end which was wonderful before an ending that wasn’t nearly that satisfying.
RED 2 isn’t as strong as its predecessor, but still incredibly entertaining thanks to is charming and likeable cast that work well together, even if the plot is a bit forced but that’s a sequel for you.
RED is an incredibly fun action-comedy that excels more on its likeable cast than the actual plot which isn’t that great, but a serviceable vehicle for the aging cast, headlined by Bruce Willis whose more at home in this role than his last couple outings of Die Hard.
Batman and Harley Quinn is a movie that in theory should’ve been great with Bruce Timm as a writer, but what we get instead is a weak story, and what amounted to an average episode of The New Adventures of Batman, where the jokes don’t always land and even relegated to potty humor.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is one of the best science-fiction movies ever made and still holds today as it did when I (finally) first saw it several years ago. And now it is the latest to get the 4K treatment and it is by far the best presentation in the format I’ve seen yet, putting others to shame.
Baywatch actually was a bit better than I expected as I did manage to chuckle throughout and the film does a good job honoring yet also making fun of the old series (a la 21 Jump Street). This is a worthy rental.
The Lincoln Lawyer isn’t breaking any new ground in the legal thriller genre. The plot itself is less mystery and more character so those expecting some twist might be disappointed. That being said, as somebody who has never been enamored with Matthew McConaughey, here he’s near pitch perfect for the part.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 is a good step down from the first movie but still enjoyable enough even if the jokes at times feel forced and the story not quite as strong, and a villain’s motivations a bit of a letdown. That said, the performances were mostly good especially Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword actually isn’t a terrible movie and yet, a couple problems: 1. There really is a need for yet another adaptation, even one that incorporates more mystical elements, 2. Guy Ritchie’s style doesn’t quite gel with the material and 3. Charlie Hunnam doesn’t nearly have enough charisma to carry this movie.
I can’t stress at how much I loathed Song to Song. I’ve seen plenty of bad movies, but none of them have had me in so much pain to sit through since, well, Malick’s To the Wonder, with only a few very minor redeeming values with the performances by a talented cast.
I’d say Ghost in the Shell was one of the bigger disappointments of 2017 but considering what I had been seeing before its release, including the director, expectations were vastly lowered and it was pretty much matched. No, it’s not horrible but in trying to satisfy fans and the general audience, the studio failed at both.
Kong: Skull Island isn’t perfect but still fun and entertaining enough with director Vogt-Roberts intermixing monster movie with a Vietnam-era war picture and even the human characters weren’t bad, if not thinly written at times while Kong himself does show a bit of personality and his CGI was pretty good.