The Batman is a good film. Not great. I did like that Matt Reeves had a different and unique take on the character who has seen the big screen a handful of times dating back to 1989 and while there is room for improvement.
No Time to Die is a fitting finale to the Daniel Craig era as James Bond and while I personally still love Pierce Brosnan mainly because I grew up during his reign, Craig brought his own style to the longtime character and for the most part delivered a high-quality selection of movies.
The Goldfinch is a well shot film with a great cast that includes Ansel Elgort, Sarah Paulson, Jeffrey Wright and Nicole Kidman, sadly the story wasn’t very interesting, was a tad too long.
Despite only having a relatively short 94-minute running time, Source Code is a far more impactful film than others that are a good 40-50 minutes longer, the reason in part is the efficiency of director Duncan Jones.
Westworld: Season One: The Maze isn’t perfect with some stretches meandering at times, but more than making up for it are some excellent performances from the likes of Hopkins, Harris, Newton and others.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is a letdown mostly because it shows why the final chapter didn’t need to be split into two with extraneous scenes that weren’t necessary in telling the story. On the plus side, the performances for the most part were strong especially from Jennifer Lawrence and the production design, as it was with Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1, was impressive.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 had a lot of potential especially comig after the well received, and all around well made, Catching Fire. What we got instead is what felt like the middle installment of a trilogy that had a thin story and characters who really didn’t develop that much.
Overall, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is heads and shoulders above the first movie which in itself was entertaining. This is a strong and tighter film in terms of story. The UHD release by Lionsgate is more or less the same as its predecessor: a nice 4K video transfer but not quite amazing or worthy of an upgrade.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is a letdown mostly because it shows why the final chapter didn’t need to be split into two with extraneous scenes that weren’t necessary in telling the story.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 had a lot of potential especially comig after the well received, and all around well made, Catching Fire. What we got instead is what felt like the middle installment of a trilogy that had a thin story and characters who really didn’t develop that much (though at least Lawrence’s Katniss does make a bit of progress) and is merely there to bridge one movie to another. This is a case where splitting two movies was a mistake and I think it would’ve made for a solid final entry.
Broken City had so much potential with a stellar cast and an interesting foxhe, unfortunately it never really came together. The plot itself was convoluted and the performances kind of bland although slightly entertaining, leading to an all around forgettable flick. I’m not sure what happened, if it was with the script or while filming, but this should’ve been so much better.
Despite only having a relatively short 97-minute running time, Source Code is a far more impactful film than others that are a good 40-50 minutes longer. The reason in part to this is the efficiency of director Duncan Jones who jumps in to the mainstream after the success of indie hit Moon and makes a splash.