Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the latest entry into a franchise that is below average at best and lacks the, pardon the pun, magic of the Harry Potter films both in terms of story and characters.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a fun sequel and watching them in succession, kind of enjoyed this one a bit better as it does include a great villain in Moriarty played by Jared Harris, and his ability to go up against Robert Downey Jr.’s Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes is a fun take on the classic character and while the pacing is a bit off and even after all these years not sure about RDJ’s portrayal, the actor does have charisma in spades helping to keep this as an entertaining mystery-thriller.
The Rhythm Section is a failed attempt at the female-assassin subgenre despite having a fine actress in Blake Lively at the center, supported by Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown.
Captain Marvel has a flawed even messy plot yet I did find some entertainment value, mostly with Samuel L. Jackson, the de-aging effects and the visual effects as a whole, and while Brie Larson doesn’t quite shine my hope is she gets something to work with on the eventual sequel.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is another lackluster movie of this new franchise that, especially when we go to Hogwarts for a short time, made me wish I was watching the Harry Potter franchise instead of this one.
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.
Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil is a nice inclusion in Warner’s Archive Collection and while I didn’t particularly think very much of the movie, there’s at least some good elements headlined by another masterful performance from Kevin Spacey and even John Cusack contributes well.
oddly paced and ones patience could be tested, Genius is a movie that excels more on the cast than the actual story. Jude Law is fine as Wolfe though the highlight is Colin Firth.
The Talented Mr. Ripley isn’t the perfect suspense-drama and could have been so much better with a cast consisting of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett and with Anthony Minghella at the helm, but it still has some superb moments.
Anna Karenina is yet another film with plenty of potential but failed thanks to a lifeless script and oft stilted acting from what is normally a respectable cast. This is the epitome of style over substance as Wright attempts to give his portrayal a different flavor than those that have come before.
Masters of the Universe is a silly movie that seems to be better regarded today than it was back in 1987. The visual effects at times is lame, the acting fairly substandard save for Frank Langella and the story is fairly thin, though given the source material (a toy line and cartoon series), one has to give credit to the writer for doing his best.
The Avengers is one of the funnier movies of 2012. It perfectly brings together these heroes into a story that, albeit, is fairly mundane but with action and adventure which is both fun and thrilling under the tutelage of Joss Whedon..
Snow White and the Huntsman had great potential between the cast (Charlize Theron especially), adequate direction from Rupert Sanders, and some truly impressive art and production design. However, for all the good the film has going for it, everything else is kind of bland. The opening of the movie is fine but the middle portion meanders and Kristen Stewart has limited emotions making it difficult to really care about what happens to her.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a satisfying sequel but at nearly 130-minutes, it does get a bit long in the tooth by the two-hour mark. Even so, the continuing chemistry between Downey and Law is fantastic and the new additions of Jared Harris and Noomi Rapace makes this at least a worthwhile rental.