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Baby Driver - Review

6/30/2017

Release Date: June 30, 2017

Mozart in a Go Kart

Baby Driver is a shining example of some of the best filmmaking ever made. In a time where editing to a movie's soundtrack has become more widespread, Edgar Wright has centered himself as one of the best directors working today. It is not only for his impeccable song choices that blow James Gunn out of the water, or that amazing editing, but Wrights ability to be apart of every level of production. The attention to detail is on a whole other level that it can actually surprise you if you are not paying attention.

When the movie first starts, you are taken on a ride that just won't stop. You don't want it to stop either, enjoying and wanting more of it. From the very first scene, I was hooked. The music that fuels the movie is integral. In some instances, the movie could even be miscategorized as a musical and it works. The story is pretty simple, but the way that it all unravels is a spectacle. The driving, the action, the more serious moments, it all pulls you in deeper. The cherry on top for the whole movie is the little details you might not even notice. From graffiti on the walls to framing of shots, everything about the movie is meticulously crafted to create a great experience.

If there were any flaws in the movie, it would be when the romance is officially started. This happens in the second act and slows the movie down a little bit. The romance is cute and I like it, but the suddenness of it halts the believability of the movie for just a split second. This problem is remedied pretty quickly though with the third act, getting back to what made the movie great. From the amazing camera work to Wright's signature transitions, the movie is amazing. The exemplary acting in the movie is also a great element. With all the big actors doing a lot of heavy lifting to make it so you can't look away.

One of the most important and impressive parts about the movie is how it flows. This is always is important for a movie, but Edgar Wright proves he's the best at it. Not only is the legendary soundtrack a way to keep the movie flowing, but every sound made in the movie contributes to that flow as well. A standout moment of this in action is at the beginning of the movie as the main character walks down the street. He passes a man playing the trumpet, but if you pay close attention, the music and trumpet combine to add to the song playing in the background. Other examples of this are found in the gun shots, the closing and opening of doors, everything was filmed to the music. That is right, filmed not edited. Which means the actions had to be precise to fit the music, not the other way around.

Baby Driver is a masterpiece with a couple of flaws that don't really matter in its entirety. Do yourself a favor and see the movie, preferably on a big screen somewhere.

9.5/10
The line "Mozart in a Go Kart" wasn't actually in the movie but its still a great line

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Despicable me 3 - Review

6/30/2017

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Release Date: June 30, 2017

A Perfect End to the Despicable Me Trilogy?

Yup. Despicable Me is, obviously, the third movie in the Despicable Me series. The first movie was pretty amazing and put Illumination Entertainment on the map. They followed up that up with a sequel with enormous success, even getting to create a spinoff from their now world famous franchise. Despicable Me 3 is a continuation of those great movies but still isn't to the quality of that first movie, which is ok.

Cynicism aside, I had a great time watching the movie. My time with it was pretty similar to watching Captain Underpants, which is funny because DreamWorks and Illumination are sister companies now. The main difference was that I laughed way more with this movie. The creativity that Illumination Entertainment has seems to be boundless (I am going to forget that Secret Life of Pets happened with this statement). The creativity on display is pretty amazing. Nothing truly original is put on display here, but the construction and execution of the final product had me smiling the whole movie. It was fun to watch and I had a fun time, isn't that all that matters?

Writing movie reviews tells me, I do have to point out the flaws of the movie. The story is not as strong as it could have been. While the movie is definitely enjoyable to watch, it tries to tell too many stories at once. The subplot of family, which is the hallmark of the Despicable Me series, is not that well executed here. Another problem is that I seemed to be the only one having a lot of fun while watching the movie. There were a couple of chuckles from the rest of the audience, but for the most part, I seemed alone. Most of the jokes and references skewed older in my opinion but overall seemed like a movie for everyone.

If I had to condense Despicable Me 3 down, it would be better than the second movie but not better than the first. It is probably the best-animated movie out in theaters right now.

7/10
Minions 2 is coming out in 2020...

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Captain Underpants - Review

6/3/2017

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Release Date: June 2, 2017

Did You Even Know That This Came Out?

Let's be honest, you probably didn’t know that this movie was coming out. There was like one trailer and that was it. Not much to be excited by or to expect. But who could have guessed that this was my favorite movie for the weekend.

Captain Underpants was hilarious first off. Sure a good chunk of the jokes is “low brow potty humor” with the movie even saying that upfront, but there is more comedy that isn’t the stuff you see all the time. It was genuinely funny, even getting an adult sitting next to me to laugh at almost every joke in the movie. This movie was way more funny than it let on to be.

The animation quality was also surprisingly really good. They style choice the animators at DreamWorks went with was a fantastic fit with the material. The different animation styles used was also really cool too, with three different types of animation throughout the movie.

Sure it is a kid’s movie and that might be enough for you to dismiss it, but trust me it was a blast. It was a funny animated movie with some good voice acting. Kevin Hart and the other two leads did a great job engrossing me in the movie. The script does take some liberties with the source material, but it all first nicely and still respects the books that the movie is based on.

You are not going to believe the score for the movie, but it really was that good.

7.25/10
It was so good, who would have guessed

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Wonder Woman - Review

6/2/2017

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Release Date: June 2, 2017

The Movie I Deserved But Didn't Need

This was Wonder Woman's first time being in a movie about herself. How was her first solo film outing? Pretty shaky I’m afraid. I really wanted to like this movie. Wonder Woman was probably my most anticipated movie for 2017 just because of the potential it had. Hearing how the director spoke about her history with wanting to direct a superhero movie, and Gal Gadot just being a perfect fit with the character, it seemed like the stars were aligned for this movie to be great. As I watched the movie, my high expectations were not met and I had one constant thought throughout the movie, “I’m bored”.

There is a lot to like in Wonder Woman. The movie lightly touches on things like PTSD and politics but it never goes deeper than a surface level acknowledgement. This in itself is fine but just acts as an example of the movie overall. I think the easiest movie that you can try to compare it with is Captain America: The First Avenger. Both movies revolve around a major war with the hero making a difference in both instances. Where the movies start to differ is overall structure and how they convey information to the audience. In Wonder Woman, the movie starts you off with exposition as it should. Giving you backstory to the character and the word that she knows. The only problem with this is that it is boring. You have characters verbally tell you things instead of showing like movies should. Plus, that world she knows and you are introduced to is irrelevant 15 minutes later. You don’t form the emotional bonds it wants you to and it feels a little rushed and empty. The first Captain America movie shows Steve Roger having to get help with a fight, trying to enlist but failing. It shows you the struggle, it doesn’t tell you about it. That struggle persists and is a key factor of the movie for the first quarter of the movie. Wonder Woman’s view of man’s world is also consistent but is to generic to be considered influential to the story.

Wonder Woman also has the added problem of having way too much slow motion. Worse than having too much slow motion is also the problem of having slow motion for things that don’t even need it. For example, there are slow motion shots of people just jumping in the air. That does nothing for an audience member. The character jumped in the air, not to dodge something, they are not being hit or hitting anything, just jumping in the air. Sometimes the audience just needs to see the action played out on real time to get the sense of how quick an action was or just to take in the combat. If you slow down all of the combat, then it just feels slow. Captain America: The First Avenger has less combat in its movie but feels more action packed. Wonder Woman also has the added problem of the Taken effect or the Jason Bourne effect. The practice of having the combat be really up close and shaky so you can't really see what is happening. The main problem with this is that the effect only happens when the combat is not in slow motion.

From a structure standpoint Wonder Woman is very different than most other comic book movies as well, but to its detriment. In other movies you get to see the villain and build them up to have more weight for when they confront the hero, but Wonder Woman doesn’t do that. You know from the start who the villain is but since you don’t actually meet him until the end, it kinda just feels boring. Even the fight with the final villain was boring and wasn’t fun to watch.

There can be an argument made about how the movie is more of a personal story. The commentary about that new world discovery for a person. But that has been done before, and other movies have done it better.

Overall Wonder Woman was not the movie I was hoping it to be, but was probably the movie I deserved. My faith in The DCEU has been completely shattered and there is probably nothing that can fix it. All my hopes lie with the animation division of DC and recently that hasn’t been going well either. Chris Pine was funny, just a side note.

7/10
The Theme Song Is So Good Though

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Baywatch - Review

6/2/2017

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Release Date: May 25, 2017

Back to the Bay

I don't want to hide my opinions of Dwayne Johnson so I am going to put them on the table right now. I don’t really like the guy. His movies are average and his true personality is a little “trying to hard”. When he said that “critics don’t get it [Baywatch]” and “it’s a movie for the fans”, that was a ton of garbage. Baywatch is a really bad movie, but it made me laugh so hard.

Don’t get me wrong, try to avoid paying a good chunk of change for this movie. Try to rent if for a couple of bucks, but don’t pay full price to see this thing. The complaints about the CGI is warranted because it really is terrible. Simple things like background replacement should be really easy but Baywatch struggles with even this. The acting is appropriate for this kind of movie and actually serves it quite well.

The movie is actually so crazy and dumb, in the bad way, that it is funny to laugh at the movie. There are some legitimately funny parts to the movie, but that doesn’t forgive the rest of the entire thing. As Johnson’s producer debut, I would be worried about his future produced movies.

Some pros to sprinkle on top of this silly sunday is that even though the entire movie was just too crazy, the script actually held a concept throughout the movie. It was a small thing, but it made sense and followed through. It’s not a huge achievement, but when big movies have so many script problems it is kind of nice to see a little thing make it through.

All in all Baywatch is as bad as everyone said it was and you should not pay much to see it. Rent it for less money or just skip it in general.

6/10
Just Laugh At It

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Movies In RevIew

Baby Driver - Review

Despicable me 3 - Review

Captain Underpants - Review

Wonder Woman - Review

Baywatch - Review

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