Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Director:

David Leitch

Starring:

Charlize Theron

James McAvoy

John Goodman

Plot:

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Review:

Charlize Theron is gorgeous and this movie showed that off even as it beat the crap out of her. The movie was a spy thriller with more than your usual action moments for that genre, which I appreciated. Theron took on the KGB, MI6, random Germans, pretty much anyone you can think of she beat the crap out of them. I really liked that even with all that going on it showed her getting tired and slowing down. She wasn’t just a machine that kept going.

I also really liked that while she used her sexuality she didn’t rely on it and it wasn’t the main weapon in her arsenal. She was smart and methodical and she trusted no one.

I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed it. A few people have said they thought it cheapened the deeper lesson that the movie was trying to teach, but if there was a deeper lesson it was lost on me so I didn’t feel that way.

I liked the movie a lot and I hope that we get to continue to see Charlize Theron in action type roles.

4/5

Year One By: Nora Roberts

Year One (Chronicles of the One #1) By: Nora Roberts

Plot:

It began on New Year’s Eve.

The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed—and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.

Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magic rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river—or in the ones you know and love the most.

As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.

In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.

The end has come. The beginning comes next.

Review:

I know what the blurb sounds like, post-apocalyptic paranormal horror, I realize that but—but—it’s Nora Roberts. She writes romance. She gives me happy endings. There has to be some of that in the story despite what the blurb sounds like, right?!?

Actually, nope, there doesn’t have to be. In fact there is almost no happiness in this entire book and it definitely does not end on a happy ending or even set up a happy ending. It is nothing like I hoped and everything that the blurb advertised. Is it fair for me to be disappointed? I don’t know.

The story starts out following several different people, you see the Doom and the decimation of the human population from their different views and eventually they all meet up together, only to have the ending abandon all but one person. I found that frustrating because the person that we wound up with was one of the most boring, even though she was a witch. We don’t even know who all is alive because of how they separated or even if we’ll see them all again. It felt like my time was wasted following those people only to have them abandoned.

The world was awful, there was no point of hope that wasn’t tainted by the awful either. It was depressing and what you would expect from the genre, but because of the author I kept hoping for more, for some bright spot.

Everyone was from New York City, which is annoying. They would vaguely mention the government and that people were being rounded up, but you never saw any of that. You saw the Raiders and the religious nut job group, but never the military. Only good people seem to die and stay dead, while the evil came back. Apart from the magic everything was just too realistic human wise, which I disliked because of the addition of the magic. Why does that always have to be the most real? Why can’t people be good? Or not horrible and evil?

Oh well. The book was mostly well written, I thought some sections could have been edited out, but then since I don’t know what’s coming out next they might actually matter latter. We’ll see, I’ll probably read the next book, but I definitely won’t be buying it in hardback. Probably.

3/5

Bright (2017)

Bright (2017)

Netflix Original

Director:

David Ayer

Starring:

Will Smith

Joel Edgerton

Noomi Rapace

Plot:

Set in a world where mystical creatures live side by side with humans. A human cop is forced to work with an Orc to find a weapon everyone is prepared to kill for.

Review:

I have been waiting to watch this for half the year. As anyone who’s read my book reviews know I am a fan of Urban Fantasy so I was very excited to see a movie coming out in that genre, especially one with a fair amount of money behind it. I was a bit concerned by the choice of writer and director, but since I’ve already got a subscription to Netflix it wasn’t a hassle to sit down and watch.

Daryl Ward, Will Smith, is a veteran cop that no one wants to work with, I assume it’s because of his personality though it’s never really expounded on and honestly he didn’t seem worse than the other cops. He’s paired up with rookie and first time orc cop Nick Jakoby, Joel Edgerton, who puts up with a ton of shit but since he’s still got the new cop shine he’s optimistic. It was actually super cute to see this cop that everyone hates either because he’s a cop, or because he’s an orc, or because he’s a unblooded orc somehow keep up his high spirits. He was young and hopeful and it was so sweet.

The world, at least LA, is not a nice place. The elves are rich, everyone else is poor, various gangs seem to rule. It reminded me of 80s LA or NY. Magic is there in the background, and there are magical beings like fairies and dragons, but it doesn’t really seem to be in the day to day.

I liked that a magic wand was equated as being like a nuclear bomb. I liked that there was a whole federal agency dedicated to magical stuff. I wanted more, though. There wasn’t enough world building or explanations. It was more of a cop drama with sprinklings of magic thrown in.

I liked the concept, liked most of the story, I just wish there was more magic. I’m glad they’re making another movie and I hope that it’s able to build on the world.

4/5

Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Director:

Rian Johnson

Starring:

Daisy Ridley

John Boyega

Mark Hamill

Adam Driver

Oscar Isaac

Carrie Fisher

Domhnall Gleeson

Gwendoline Christie

Kelly Marie Tran

Laura Dern

Benicio Del Toro

Plot:

Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares for battle with the First Order.

Review:

First off ***SPOILERS*** I could try and write the review without them, but I don’t feel like being vague and want to explain why I liked and didn’t like some parts of The Last Jedi.

I’ve had the opportunity to see the film once as well as read most of the visual dictionary. Something that’s become increasingly more necessary with each Star Wars movie is reading those dictionaries. There is a lot glossed over in the films or not even addressed period. Like the New Republic, how did they go from being in control of the galaxy and then destroyed so easily? Well it’s briefly explained in the dictionary, it’s not a very satisfying explanation and really points out how deficient they were as a government, but at least there’s something there unlike in the movie where nothing is mentioned.

I was not a fan of The Last Jedi. I liked Rey’s story, I loved her fight with Kylo and the Praetorian Guards, her interactions with Luke were fine, but he was very much angry man shouts at cloud. I think I’m actually fine with Luke in this film and I certainly don’t mind the way he went out. It was actually pretty cool and it was at least foreshadowed at the beginning of the movie. I’m curious to see if he’ll return as a force ghost and I assume we’ll find out if force ghosts can bug non-lightside users of the force.

Poe was a massive disappointment. He started off kicking butt and then went too far. He was stupid, he deserved his demotion, and then he didn’t learn. He had to be taught the same damn lesson all over again. It was frustrating. Leia trusted Vice Admiral Holdo, he trusted Leia, he should have trusted her. He’s a nobody, demoted for being an idiot, why should she tell him what her plan was?

Then we’ve got Finn who’s story was a complete waste. Sure we got to see a new side of the galaxy which was nice, but it didn’t matter story wise. They went there, got caught, got sold out by Benicio Del Toro who’s character seemed like a throw away, and just ended up getting more people killed because the entire fucking plan was stupid. This is the future of the Rebellion. If they were up against Darth Vader and the Emperor they’d be screwed, thank goodness it’s Kylo Ren the dumbest dark side villain.

Kylo is again not fear inducing in the slightest. I was a bit surprised that he killed Snoke, but when I thought more about it, it made sense. Kylo is like a teenage boy, he thinks he knows everything, hates that people don’t respect him, and decides to prove that he can do better. He also just happens to be super powerful with the force which means he’s worse than your normal teenage boy.

My least favorite scene might have been the beginning where Poe is stringing Hux along to buy more time. It made Hux out to be so freaking stupid, made it so that I will never fear him ever, and was just too silly. There were so many silly elements in this movie, too many little one liners.

Favorite scene was easily when Rey and Kylo were working together to kill the Praetorian Guards. So awesome, loved their weapons, especially the whip. It was so cool to watch, it actually had me kind of hoping that they’d surprise me further and make Rey turn bad, but she didn’t, so oh well.

I wasn’t a fan of the Carrie Fisher superman scene, however, because of the actress and her death I’ve decided to give it a pass. We got to see her use the force, even though it kind of looked silly.

There were no more Finn and Poe love connection scenes which was a bummer and I really hated that Rose kissed Finn. Why couldn’t they have a friendship going? Why did she have to try and make it romantic? Doesn’t she realize Finn is already conflicted with Rey and Poe? I mean, clearly Poe is the superior match even with how stupid he acted in the movie.

My hope is that there is a significant time jump between Episode Eight and Nine. It will give this C tier Rebellion time to become A tier, though, there’s nothing that will make me fear Kylo so that’s just a lost cause. At least there’s no way Captain Phasma is dead, I refuse to believe she went out like that, she will be back.

3/5

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time – Christmas Special

Doctor Who Twice Upon a Time Christmas Special

Network:

BBC

Director:

Rachel Talalay

Starring:

Peter Capaldi

David Bradley

Pearl Mackie

Plot:

The Twelfth Doctor, still refusing to change, goes on a last adventure with the First Doctor.

Review:

The Doctor meets up with his original self in this Christmas special in a story that honestly didn’t need to be. The first Doctor, David Bradley, apparently didn’t want to change either, which goes against what we’ve always known, but whatever. The twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is thinking about refusing to regenerate because he’s old and tired and people aren’t watching him as much as when David Tennant was the Doctor. Instead they stumble across each other and fuck up some time shit and they decide they should move on with their lives and regenerate.

It was awkward seeing the first Doctor because he was very much a product of the times he was created in, which goes against what you think the Doctor should be. The Twelfth Doctor was embarrassed by him and his old school sensibilities, which could have been amusing, but since they were all gender stereotypes which the Doctor really never should have had, it was just awkward.

Bill, Pearl Mackie, and Clara, Jenna Coleman, showed up as well because the companions are always there at the end, but since I greatly dislike Clara and Bill never grew on me it didn’t really mean much.

I feel like Peter Capaldi never got to shine as the Doctor. He is a good actor, but the storylines were just never there. I am so happy that Moffat is no longer going to be the lead and I hope we can return to the stories that made the Tennant years so wonderful. Even the first Matt Smith year was good, but these last few years have almost turned me off Who completely.

3/5