Movie

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

Director:

Matthew Vaughn

Starring:

Taron Egerton

Colin Firth

Mark Strong

Julianne Moore

Plot:

When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman’s journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.

Review:

Now this was an excellent, in your face over the top action movie. I loved it! The world that is created is rich and amusing, the characters are fleshed out and enjoyable to watch, and the way it’s shot highlights all the right things. Honestly, I’m so glad that the first one did so well that we got a sequel and I can only hope that we have more to come.

I will say there was one scene that bothered me. It wasn’t the brief moment of canabilism or the head shots or even Elton John kicking butt, it was the scene were Taron Egerton’s character had to finger a mark. My issue wasn’t so much as that he had to do it, but was in the way it was shot. Did we really need to see his hand skim across her abdomen and disappear into her panties? Really? I could have done without that, but since the nature of the movie is to push further and further across the line I guess I understand, even if I didn’t like it.

All in all, I loved the movie and can’t wait to be able to buy it and watch it again.

4.5/5 

Side Note:

OMG the president in this is spot on, love him!

Baby Driver (2017)

Baby Driver (2017)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Starring:

Ansel Elgort

Jon Bernthal

Jon Hamm

Kevin Spacey

Lily James

Plot:

After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

Review:

The first seven or so minutes of this movie is awesome. It’s one of the best car chases I’ve ever seen. It’s then followed by another really awesome car chase.  So my hype for the car chase at the climactic conclusion was pretty high.

The first half of the movie was excellent, great car chases, interesting characters, good music. I couldn’t ask for more. Sadly, after the first half things took a turn, it went from focusing on the driving to emotional character stuff. It was still alright, just not exactly what I wanted to watch.

The ending, though, was a giant disappointment. The trailers and the first half of this movie sold it as an action movie focusing on car chases. They showed us two new muscle cars and then nothing. There was no climactic ending. It was a massive let down and had my husband cursing furiously at the TV.

The movie is worth watching just for the beginning, but I had really hoped for more from this after all the hype I’d read.

3/5

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Director:

Bill Condon

Starring:

Emma Watson

Dan Stevens

Luke Evans

Plot:

An adaptation of the fairy tale about a monstrous-looking prince and a young woman who fall in love.

Review:

This movie, honestly, never stood a chance with me. The original is my favorite Disney animated movie. Belle is my favorite princess. And the Beast…has the best library ever.

The songs didn’t sound as good, though, I did really like the emo Beast song that was new.

Gaston didn’t seem as evil as he does in the cartoon.

The CGI characters lacked personality.

All in all I wasn’t a fan.

2/5

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Director:

Patty Jenkins

Starring:

Gal Gadot

Chris Pine

Robin Wright

Plot:

When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny.

Review:

So here’s the thing, I’m a fan of Wonder Woman. I’m not an uber fan, but I still love her. I have no faith in DC Movies, when I saw the first few trailers for this movie I was not impressed. They looked like the movie was going to be just like Man of Steel and not care about the character at all. When the last trailer came out, though, I got excited. It was bright and colorful and Gal Gadot kicked ass. Then when everyone started raving about how amazing it was I got even more excited. Maybe that just built up my expectations, I don’t know, but I ended up being disappointed by the film.

My main complaint was the CGI, there was too much of it and it was bad. Not quite SyFy movie bad, but close. It took me out of the movie every time it appeared, which was during all of the fight scenes. There’s a moment when WW is coming out of the trenches and you’re supposed to be excited because she’s about to show everyone just how amazing she is, but all of a sudden she’s on a green screen, her make up is heavier, her hair is blown out, and it just ruined the entire moment for me. I don’t understand why they had to do that, Gal Gadot should be able to do the action scenes, they shouldn’t have to resort to computers. It was sad.

Robin Wright was amazing, I wish there’d been more of her.

Chris Pine was fine, I’m glad his character died though. I also felt like their “love” just sort of came out of the blue. I could have done without them having sex, but whatever, I kind of got the vibe that she was just using him to test it out and I was fine with that. But then he’s heading off to do his thing and telling her about his feelings and then at the end of the movie she’s all moony about him and it annoyed me. They literally made her fall in love with the first man she’d ever seen. It was frustrating.

I wasn’t even going to mention her theme music, but I kind of feel like I have too. Her theme is fine, I don’t have a problem with it. What I do have a problem with is that it comes out of nowhere in the movie. The entire thing you’ve had boring unremarkable background music and then all of a sudden you’ve got electric guitars, or whatever that was, playing. It was jarring and took me out of the moment. The music should have boosted the emotional response I was feeling at the time, it shouldn’t have made me stop thinking about the movie and think about the music.

Wonder Woman was easily the best DC movie, but the bar was not high. Maybe if I’d gone in with my original expectations it would have been fine and I would have enjoyed it more, but after all the buildup I expected more. Renting these movies at Red Box and not buying them is going to be my continued stance.

2/5

Side Note: After reading my review I feel kind of bummed and want to end it on a high note. Gal Gadot was perfect as Wonder Woman. This was the first DC movie where I felt like they actually understood the character, Wonder Woman felt properly represented. However, my issue and the reason for the rating, is because of everything else. I hope these things are fixed in the sequel, but I’m not going to hold my breath because I have no confidence in DC.

Hitch (2005)

Hitch (2005)

Director:

Andy Tennant

Starring:

Will Smith

Eva Mendes

Kevin James

Plot:

While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional “date doctor” finds that his game doesn’t quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he’s smitten.

Review:

I like this type of romantic comedy. It doesn’t require any kind of thought, it’s funny and silly, and never gets too deep. It’s nice to chill out too while you’re doing something else.

Will Smith’s character, ‘Hitch,’ is a sort of pickup artist, only he’s not a douchebag out for one thing, he’s trying to help other guys get noticed by their crushes. It’s something that could very easily go down a dark path, but I don’t feel like it ever does. He doesn’t force these women into dating the guys, he just gets the women to notice them, and then coaches the men on how to not let themselves get in the way. He tells them to listen and basically teaches them not to be that guy that can’t move past the fact that they’re finally out on a date with the person they’ve been mooning over. He gives good advice and it’s up to them to follow it and since the guys have paid a decent amount of money and actually love the girl they follow it.

The movie is about what happens when this smooth man that can hook other guys up can’t get anything to work right with the woman he likes but it works anyway. It’s silly and predictable but fun and I like it.

3.5/5