Category: Fantasy

Robin Hood - Review

11/20/2018

Release Date: November 23, 2018

Another Tale as Old as Time

The influx in modern tellings of fairy tales doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. While the financially successful ones come from Disney, they all suffer from not being very good. Robin Hood joins the club and never thinks about straying from the pack. It attempts to retell the story of a thief giving back to the poor, only this time he doesn't really care about the poor people. This reincarnation of the classic story contorts itself, becoming unrecognizable when looking at other movies like it.

Robin Hood tries to keep most of its action in camera, which is nice. It is not devoid of CG, but most of the big action sets seem to be done practically. This aspect really helped the movie when it came to chase scenes or on location shooting. It created a sense of realism that went a long way into making me believe what I was seeing. When there was CG, it wasn't obtrusive or attention-grabbing.

There were many things in Robin Hood that I was not expecting, but the most surprising aspect of the movie was theft. I could not believe how many ideas this movie stole from other films. It blows my mind how

anyone thought it would be okay to rip off plot points, scenes, action set pieces, and editing styles wholesale. When the movie wasn't ripping off Skyfall, it was trying to be The Dark Knight; while it was focused on being a worse Guy Ritchie movie, it made all of its characters one dimensional. There is no shortage of tropes or cliches that this movie uses to achieve mediocrity.

This is a point of contention for me with this movie. There is a scene really early on that depicts one of the Crusades. It has a small team of archers trying to infiltrate a city and they eventually fall into an ambush. It’s directed like a modern day military movie; complete with being pinned down by enemy fire, moving through hallways, and general modern military tactics. That is not how wars were fought in the 11th century. They didn't have small archer squads go into a city that could call for catapult support and rain rocks from the sky. The addition of a fancy party at a casino didn't rub me the right way either. There were too many modern tropes that didn't belong in a medieval time period.

This is not a movie you should see, full stop. It honestly offers nothing new or fun to the audience. You would have a much better time seeing the movie it takes all of its style queues from, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. But just like that movie, it tries to set up a franchise that will never see the light of day. Like I said before, none of the modern fairy tale movies are that good; though Robin Hood is in a league of its own at the very bottom of the list.

4/10
"I’ve been robbed of my time and money" - Anonymous

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The House with a Clock in Its Walls - Review

9/21/2018

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Release Date: September 21, 2018

You Could Fall Asleep

I was excited when I heard who was going to be in this movie. Jack Black along with Cate Blanchett, how could that not be fun? How about, get a director that seems to have never made a good movie in his career. I'm talking movies that receive no praise, no recognition, or afterthoughts. But I held out hope, the trailers weren't great but they didn't seem to be all bad. I knew that Black and Blanchett could hold their own and deliver something watchable but the kid actor seemed to be the weakest link.

Turns out I was right but also didn't realize how much damage the director would do. The trailer tries to sell you on the movie based on the crazy stuff you will see in the magic house. But the movie spends so much time focusing on the kid and his activities at school. The worst part is, not all of the magic stuff is fun or interesting. The director actually made the best parts of the movie less impactful.

It didn't help that the story was also kneecapped by boring and cliche circumstances that felt lazy. The movie tricks you as you watch it. I thought, "Oh this is nice so far" but quickly realized that the movie got worse as it went on. The weird scene with Jack Black at the end, the bad CGI, weak character motivation, this movie had it all.

I know Black and Blanchett can deliver performances that are fun to watch, so when the movie had bad scenes with them I knew it wasn't their fault.

I also need to point out that the music choices constantly puzzled me. They always suffered from a multitude of problems. Whether it was too loud, not the right tone, or just the wrong song. I can't believe something was so noticeably wrong in the first 10 minutes.

If you have a child around 10 or younger, they might like the movie. Other than that, there is basically no reason to see this movie. One of the most egregious things about this movie is that it is boring. There were many moments where my mind started to wonder because the movie had lost my attention. It's not a super bad movie, but it is not good.

3/10
Tic toc, times running out to find something better to watch

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Bright - Review

12/22/2017

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Release Date: December 22, 2017

Netflix's First Blockbuster

I was excited about this movie, to say the least. I really liked the idea and the trailers really hooked me into what would be happening in the movie. Then I started listening to the movie soundtrack, which is great on its own. I really wanted to like this movie and I did like some of it.

The first third of the movie is the weakest part. This is due to some weird editing choices and music selection. Some scenes just don't cut together in tone and pacing. This followed up with the weird music choice throws the movie off balance. Other than that, the rest of the movie is fine. It plays out like a lower budget movie with some cool magic spice added in.

All of the gunfire scenes are nothing special. They feel low stakes and inconsequential with no real weight to them. The scenes with physical combat are not much better due to close-ups of people's faces obfuscating the action. The only scenes that are visually stimulating are ones that include magic.

Character and plot-wise, the movie did a serviceable job. I came to really like Nick the Orc played by Joel Edgerton. It almost feels like that character was designed to be the most relatable to an audience member. And though Nick was a standout, the movie overall made me care about the characters in some capacity. It was enough care for the ending to work well enough that I was satisfied by the end.

There were some story points that didn't really make sense to me. Like why it was important for Nick to let that one Orc go since it doesn't really change how the movie progressed in any way. But I would say it was a net positive experience.

It helps that you don't have to pay an admission fee to see the movie because that would make it a hard to recommend. I would say if you have Netflix, give it a shot. There are some scenes, that are very spoiler heavy, that are cool standout moments that could be worth watching the movie alone for. I do have a problem with the trailers showing so much of the ending and almost all the action. Why did you have to do that Netflix?

7/10
So did Ward's wife leave the city and just come back?

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Movies In RevIew

Robin Hood - Review

The House with a Clock in Its Walls - Review

Bright - Review

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