Reviews
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Thor: Thighs of Thunder
The title says it all. Don't expect much from this movie which focuses on propaganda rather than story (the former being used as the primary driver at each point of the story). This doesn't come off as much of a surprise with Disney ramming their "not-so-secret agenda".
The Hyperions (2022)
A good casual movie
This movie was well put together. Had a clean story and well developed main characters. The only character that was a bit odd was Apollo who had 2 or 3 short scenes in the movie - I'm not sure if he added any depth outside of 'new recruit'.
Everything felt very natural - from the characters to the themes. A bit of a dysfunctional adoptive superhero family that bind together at the end.
This movie was set up to be more of a superhero movie and had aspects similar to Netflix's "umbrella academy". Although I feel like this movie flowed smoother and was more enjoyable. This is a family dramedy set in the 1970's (which seems to be a popular era of late). The story connected from beginning to end and was left with a very satisfying conclusion.
It also leans a tad more on the comedic side rather than the dark side. It's also a very clean movie (not rated R, but PG-13). Language was minimal to none. There was mostly passive comic violence and blood (definitely not gruesome). Very few real action scenes.
Overall I would say this was a movie of a family coming to terms and binding together. Leans toward comedy, drama, and light action. Very entertaining and would watch again.
Gekijô-ban poketto monsutâ: Myûtsû no gyakushû Evolution (2019)
Interesting to see in 3D, but pales to the original "Director's Cut" Japanese version
The first pokemon movie can be broken up into three different versions. The original japanese (known as "director's cut" in the U.S.), the 2D US version, and now this new 3D "Evolution" version.
The original japanese version has the most developed story and mature moral. It includes a 10 minute prologue to develop Mewtwo's character and motivation. Through this Mewtwo's ending monologue about the 'circumstances of one's birth' has a much more profound meaning.
The ported 2D U.S. version cut out the 10 minute prologue and tweaked the storyline to give it a paradoxical moral conclusion that 'fighting is bad'. Its one redeeming quality is that it added foreshadowing by including a legend of pokemon tears to make sense of the climactic finale.
This latest 3D "Evolution" version plays off the 2D U.S. version and further degrades the story. The most jarring story change from the 2D U.S. version was the removal of the pokemon tears explanation. This version also adds 20 minutes to the runtime without adding any depth. The extra dialogue mainly comes from stating the obvious which the audience could already deduce and the other scenes added were just panning shots. It was interesting to see the movie in 3D, but it was also a bit odd as at times it felt like a claymation. The worst, though, was that a lot of the emotion and visual intensity that was put into the 2D version was lost in the 3D version. For example, when Ash was being hit by Mewtwo's pokeballs in defense of pikachu, I felt like I was watching rocks being thrown at a limp sandbag; dull and lifeless.
In conclusion stick to the original japanese version or "director's cut". It has the most fulfilling story and feels the most heartfelt.
Aquaman (2018)
Slightly better than MCU but still cliche
The new aquaman comics have been fantastic and this movie plays off of the new line of comics. That is also the downside to this movie - it feels like a string of comics smashed together; it was missing a solid overarching thread to keep everything pieced together. It also felt like they missed out on some scenes that really would have added some depth if they lingered on them a bit more, but instead they raced to the next action scene. I think they wanted to keep things moving, but they missed out on some major scenes to connect with the characters. There was a heavy use of CGI in this movie (as is common with DC movies...), but it was definitely blended better and not as much was used as has been the case in previous DC movies. It was better put together than many recent marvel movies which are beginning to just feel like cliche michael bay films (I'd rate all recent marvel movies between 4-7 out of 10 stars for perspective).
Bumblebee (2018)
Best transformers movie; best "superhero" movie out
This has been the best transformers movie by far and the best movie currently out in theaters. It has a solid story, good comedy, and does not overuse CGI. There's a few scenes on cybertron which heavily use CGI. Luckily, when it gets to earth it blends a lot better and there's also a good mixture with models. This has been a relief as many movies in recent years just feel like you are watching a video game...
Honestly, this movie has the most solid story line of all the movies currently out. It's more of a coming of age story with transformers thrown into the mix. Also, you could follow the story throughout and did not feel like they were making it up as they went along. There were also some really fantastic scenes of watching the transformers turn into their various forms.
In conclusion, fantastic movie that breathed new life into the transformer franchise. Definitely better than any movies put out by DC or MCU (which, if it wasn't for fandom, would be equivalent to Michael Bay rag tag films).