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Perhaps the most comic-booky of comic book movies to hit the screen since Superman (1978), Aquaman is rough around the edges but nevertheless an enjoyably silly ride that unabashedly embraces the cheesiness and weirdness of its world and runs — er, swims — with it at full speed. It doesn’t hurt that charismatic Jason Momoa is … Continue reading
A mixed bag at best, Ave DuVernay’s (Selma) adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic young adult novel hammers home its (still) powerful message of individuality over conformity while combining it with a potent “girls rule” empowerment message. On the downside, it does so with blunt force under a crushing wave of eye-candy and mediocre technique. Considering … Continue reading
It’s a classic romantic premise: star-crossed lovers from different worlds meet cute, fall in love, and struggle to be together in a world intent on keeping them apart. Granted, the star-crossed lovers in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water are a mute cleaning woman and a fish-man, but whatever — it still works. Leave it … Continue reading
Let’s face it: the God of Thunder has arguably been an outlier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, struggling to mesh with its more rounded pegs. Fortunately, with Thor: Ragnarok, writer-director-actor Taika Waititi (What We Do In the Shadows) wisely mines humor from the character’s inherent silliness and wraps it around an dazzling, offbeat core of … Continue reading
The long-awaited adaption of Stephen King’s Dark Tower sci-fi/dark fantasy novels may well go down as the most disappointing movie of 2017. Fans have been clamoring for one since the ’90s, and versions have been on and off for a decade. Pity them, for the final product is cheap, shoddy, and bland to a confounding degree.ä … Continue reading
Warner Bros. and DC Comics score a much-needed win with Wonder Woman, a refreshingly sleek, adventurous, endearing, and even timely superhero flick that manages to be what the first entries in DC’s movie universe have not: fun. The character debuted in 1941 as part of a wave of patriotism-inspired comic books heroes who emerged in the … Continue reading
At this point, being five movies and 14 years into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is like being five hours into a Gilligan’s Island marathon: It’s gone on way too long, the novelty has worn off, and we’re starting to realize how lame the gags were to begin with. Is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead … Continue reading
Generic sword & sorcery fantasy wrapped in pseudo-Arthurian legend, Guy Ritchie’s ill-conceived, atonal King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a frustrating and incoherent mess with the occasional flash of brilliance. Granted, it couldn’t have been worse; if it had been, that would have made it more entertaining. This story is a drastic re-imagining of Arthur’s origins, … Continue reading
On the surface, it’s easy to dismiss Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as a cynical cash-grab squeezed from a lucrative franchise. It comes as a pleasant surprise that Fantastic Beasts not only proves there’s still new ground to trod in J.K. Rowling’s magical world — for now, at least. Written by Rowling and directed by … Continue reading
While it’s not the quantum step forward in terms of storytelling some have assumed it to be, Doctor Strange is still a much-needed variation Marvel’s movie formula, one that opens up the MCU to in terms of style and possibility. It’s also trippy as hell just plain fun — something that many of 2016’s superhero … Continue reading
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