Although at its core I don’t think Avengers Endgame was as strong compared to Infinity War, the emotional aspects however more than made up for it, and the biggest impact was Robert Downey Jr.’s fantastic performance.
Bad Times at the El Royale is hardly a perfect movie and it does seem like writer-director Drew Goddard channeling his inner Quentin Tarantino, yet I found this drama-thriller thoroughly entertaining ensemble, headlined with fine performances by Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth and newcomer Cynthia Erivo.
Avengers: Infinity War was an amazing feat for comic book movies and although I don’t believe it’s the greatest one, it’s still a great accomplishment from all involved.
12 Strong is a well done action-war-drama that tells an unknown story since the mission was previously classified. The performances from the core cast is well done with Chris Hemsworth showing off the grit and charm for the role and Michael Shannon always does.
Thor: Ragnarok was a refreshingly great, even semi-retooling, of the franchise with more aims at comedy than the outlandish plot which bogged down the previous entries, the second especially. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would gladly re-watch in the future.
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.
Ghostbusters (2016) isn’t the hot mess the trailers showed it could’ve been (this year’s Alice Through the Looking Glass was far worse) and yet for all of the potential with a talented cast, the screenplay which was co-scripted by Paul Feig, was pretty bad, with the jokes falling utterly flat.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War isn’t terrible yet clearly a movie that should never have been greenlit (at best might’ve served well as a TV series with an unknown cast). Even so, there’s some moments that worked, the visual effects were OK and I did enjoy the ensemble cast, mainly Hemsworth and Chastain.
Star Trek (2009) is an incredibly fun and innovative way to reboot the long-running franchise. The story is interesting enough but what makes the movie excel is with the ensemble Abrams and company put together from Pine to Quinto to Urban, who often steals the show.
Vacation might turn some off and the certainly the humor is off-color but for myself, it managed to surpass my exceptionally low expectations where I did manage to laugh more than a few times and tolerated characters who might annoy others. That said, this isn’t a good movie per se but a passable one that I probably would put on the same level as European Vacation and Vegas Vacation.
Red Dawn wasn’t an awful movie and even though the cast, Hemsworth especially, to their best with what they were given, it’s one of those movies that you will forget a day after seeing it. It’s not so bad it’s good and it’s not so good that you’ll want to boast about it to friends or family.