movietalkwithmuhammed Reviews

Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)

Terrible horror movie

[2/10 · 12 November 2023]

This is my movie review for Five Nights at Freddy's. I watched it. Let's talk about it and rate it 1 through 10.

This is your spoiler warning before I continue.

Five Nights at Freddy's opens with a security guard attempting to escape through the vents of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He makes it to the other side. But he is quickly caught by one of the restaurant's animatronic mascots Foxy. You only get to see a shadow of Foxy in the opening scene. The security guard is now strapped down to an operating chair. He is looking at his death. A mechanized mask with saws was creeping closer to his face. Sadly, he did not make it.

The opening scene of Five Nights at Freddy's really set a high bar for the movie's tone. But the rest of the movie fell short. Here's why.

For being a horror movie, this movie really lacked that horror qualities. The first four nights of this movie were just regular nights. There was nothing scary happening.

• Night 1 was the introduction.

• Night 2 you meet Vanessa.

• Night 3 Abby gets a play date.

• Night 4 Abby gets a play date part two.

There was no suspense. If anything, I just wanted the movie to be over because it was not going anywhere. The first four nights were stagnant.

Then night five did not live up to the hype. The opening scene of this movie was the scariest part. But then night five copies that scene with Mike so it took away from that scary element. This movie had a run time of 1 hour 50 minutes, but it felt like an eternity because it was not going anywhere.

I rate Five Nights at Freddy's 2.1 out of 10. If the game is anything like this movie, you can be certain I will not be playing it.

The Marvels (2023)

Better than expected

[8/10 · 11 November 2023]

This is my movie review for The Marvels. I watched it. Let's talk about it and rate it 1 through 10.

This is your spoiler warning before I continue.

This movie begins with Dar-Benn finding one of the two bangles. You learn that the bangles are a quantum band used to create jump points. Dar-Benn wanted both bangles to destroy everything Captain Marvel loves while restoring the Kree home planet Hala to its former glory.

Captain Marvel destroyed Supreme Intelligence. Consequently, it caused the destruction of Hala and set Dar-Benn on a dark path. Captain Marvel was now known as The Annihilator by all the Kree. The flashback where she destroys Supreme Intelligence was the only time Captain Marvel was wearing her cosmic mask. I think that was intentional to differentiate between The Annihilator and Captain Marvel.

After Dar-Benn activates her bangle, Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel became cosmically entangled. All three-share light-based powers. The first few entanglements they experienced were a bit much for me. But they quickly picked up the pieces and learned how to continue fighting with this new challenge. Once that happened, it was pretty cool.

I felt bad for the Skrulls in this movie. Their colony of Tarnax was destroyed after Dar-Benn tore a jump point in the sky that would take its air to Hala. The Skrulls just want a home.

Mid movie The Marvels were set to go to the world of Aladna to protect its people. The people of Aladna communicate through singing. Thankfully that scene was not too long. According to Captain Marvel, Aladna is a planet that is 99.63% water. Dar-Benn was planning to tear a jump point in the sky that would siphon Aladna's water supply. Brutal.

The movie ends with a 3 on 1 fight, The Marvels vs Dar-Benn. Dar-Benn still only had one bangle but also her Universal Weapon. If you do not know, the Universal Weapon is what is used by the Public Accusers to enforce Kree Law. You first saw it wielded by Ronan the Accuser in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but at that point it was called the Cosmic Rod. Let me just say, Captain Marvel wielding the Universal Weapon was incredible.

Going into this movie, I did not watch the Ms. Marvel tv show and I attempted to watch Wanda Vision but fell asleep for half the episodes. With that being said, at no point did I feel lost regarding Monica Rambeau's and Ms. Marvels' characters. Monica Rambeau's character was great. I loved her quick scientific and mathematical mental calculations. It was impressive. I liked Ms. Marvel but not Kamala Khan. It is like the Avenger's Initiative approving Iron Man but not Tony Stark back at the end of Iron Man 2. Monica Rambeau and Ms. Marvel both had about a minute long scene which summed up how each received her perspective powers. So if you have not watched the shows, that is okay.

This movie was shockingly short with a run time of 1 hour 45 minutes. The movie was well paced and engaging. I rate The Marvels 8.2 out of 10.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

It was just okay for me.

[4/10 · 17 February 2023]

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was overly advertised as the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Phase Five. It also set to have Kang the Conqueror who was depicted to make Thanos look like a walk in the park. Marvel really puffed up what this movie was going to be, and it did not deliver.

Before reading any further, if you are a die hard MCU fan, then you will most likely disagree with my rating and review of this movie. That is okay.

About 90% of the movie takes place in the Quantum Realm, but it did not introduce anything new about it. It lacked any depth into strengthening its value and place in the MCU. It just seemed like if Ant Man and the rest of the main cast were fighting on one of the distant planets in Star Wars; it was just there with no build to the greater hierarchy.

The dynamic between Cassie Lang and her father, Scott Lang/Ant Man, was absolute garbage. If you rewind the clock, Ant Man was stuck in the Quantum Realm back when Thanos snapped his finger. He was gone for five years before luckily escaping, and that was lost time he could have had with his daughter. When they reunited, it was heart felt and full of emotion. That was the last of seeing their relationship. Then now Cassie had so much resentment towards her father, and it went unexplained. What happened from then to now?

Kang's character was a joke. He was not the threat marketing/advertising made him to be. He lacked conviction, and he lacked that villain presence that fuels fear. Even at the end of the movie, Ant Man himself was reflecting on their battle, and he literally brushed it off his shoulder like one would after tripping and falling then just simply picking yourself back up.

If anything, the end credit scene is what really setup for the future of the MCU. Honestly, it felt like what Dwayne Johnson did with Black Adam's end credit scene where he had Henry Cavill return for a Superman cameo. What is the point of that? Overall, save your money and wait for this to stream on Disney.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

mixed feelings...

[4/10 · 11 November 2022]

This movie left me with mixed feelings. It served proper dedication to Chadwick Boseman's death, but the story of the Black Panther moving forward lacked continuity.

I believe Wakanda Forever did an exceptional job commemorating Chadwick Boseman especially at the beginning and the end of the movie. Then throughout the middle of the movie there were sprinkles of his mention.

Moving forward, the mantle of the Black Panther had to be carried. I think Marvel really struggled with this because of how the movie played out. The Black Panther did not appear until two hours into this movie. But things did not pick up after that. If the total screen time of the Black Panther was added together, I would be shocked if it exceeded five minutes.

The story was dry for me because of all the unnecessary turns it took. It did things that I believe will get people talking more about that specific scene rather than what it contributed to the movie. Like after Shuri ingested the synthetic glowing heart-shaped herb, she found herself in a more corrupt throne in the ancestral plane. A black panther can be heard behind the throne, and Michael B. Jordan's Killmunger appeared. I felt this was a slap in the face to Shuri's character. Killmunger was trying to corrupt her as she gained the powers of the Black Panther.

Marvel could have done better with this.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

wait until this makes its way to the $5 Walmart movie bin

[2/10 · 8 June 2022]

The Jurassic franchise has produced fantastic movies with stories that involved depth and character, until Dominion. This movie was terrible and disappointing.

The first 45 minutes of the movie was slow and dry. All that time to find out that the premise of the movie was not about the dinosaurs. The movie was about the genetically engineered locus bugs which looked like a giant grasshopper the size of two footballs lengthwise. It was really annoying that this movie took such a terrible turn.

Then Blue's baby Beta (the velociraptor) was taken by contract poachers. Okay things temporarily became interesting. But then Blue had zero screen time in the actions taken to retrieve Beta. Nothing was done with Beta so adding that to the movie's story had no value.

The movie kept on introducing new dinosaurs that we have not seen on screen before, and that was as far as it went. Honestly, I would not consider Dominion as a Jurassic movie. It was more like a terrible science movie that happed to have a dinosaur here or there in the background.

The Batman (2022)

comic book/anime people will love this movie, maybe not everyone else

[8/10 · 4 March 2022]

There was so much noise and distraction about this movie leading up to its release in theaters. At the top of that list was the criticism DC Comics and Warner Bros. For casting Robert Patterson as Batman/Bruce Wayne. But like I said, that is noise and distraction.

One crucial expectation to make clear about this movie is to differentiate between those viewers who love the comic books and the anime versus everyone else. This expectation was made clear to me after watching the movie opening day. The movie involves depth about both the heroes and villains. It is dark, calculated, and is a true Dark Knight. On the other hand, there is everyone else who is used to the Marvel/Disney mold for movies; it is all the same story but with different characters. The movies are bright, gloomy, and they all give you the same feeling walking out of the theater (except for Avengers: Infinity War when they finally took a risk but then quickly snapped it out of existence with Endgame a year later). This crowd will probably not enjoy The Batman.

This movie involved an incredible amount of depth in each of its characters. What I most enjoyed was the history of Thomas and Martha Wayne to the Arkhams and Carmine Falcone. Another aspect of the movie that I really liked was its offering of Gotham. Here it showed more of the city itself and how the corruption vined its way through the city.

Batman/Bruce Wayne: This Batman was intense. He was truly the Dark Knight. I was shocked at the minimal screen time that Bruce Wayne had. It was about 75% Batman and 25% Bruce Wayne. But I will say one characteristic he lacked was his ninja/shadow ability. There were many points throughout where crime was in progress and you could hear his slow, methodical footsteps nearing you. I understand it was there to add weight to the fear of Batman that the criminals had; however, I believe it takes away from Batman's skillset. I also was not a fan of the collar leading from his cape to his mask; it was just strange and did not blend well with his suit.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman: When comparing to previous actresses who played Catwoman, Zoë Kravitz's blows the rest out of the water. She was Catwoman at her truest form. She was nimble unlike any of the others. I enjoyed the Selina Kyle's origin here and how she fit into the bigger picture of the puzzle.

Riddler: This Riddler was more of Hush (from the 2019 Batman Hush movie). He was much more cynical, had nothing to lose, and had Batman right where he wanted him. Traditionally speaking, Riddler will be a step ahead of Batman, then Batman will quickly catch on and stop Riddler. Hush would take things a step further and even threw Batman off when it was revealed who he truly was. That is how Paul Dano's Riddler felt to me. When he was suited up, I saw him more as Hush than Riddler. But then when he was out of the "Riddler suit", I saw him more as the Riddler.

Penguin: I could not believe that was Colin Farrell as Penguin. He really changed his image to fit into this role. However, I do not think it was worth the cast. At least for me, I did not get that full Penguin vibe when comparing to the anime Penguin.

I highly recommend watching The Batman. It will please the comic book and anime lovers. For everyone else, try not to compare it to a Marvel movie and appreciate it for its true worth.

Scream (I) (2022)

predictable, overexplained, and lacks suspense

[2/10 · 16 January 2022]

The latest installment in the Scream franchise was way too predictable, the plot was overexplained, and it really did not have any horror suspense.

Within the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, Ghostface was quickly and easily identified. After that, it was just a matter of time for the "big reveal" at the end of the movie. It really took away from any interest in the movie because now as a fan, the ending is already laid out. Now it is just a matter of time to get there and see it happen.

The plot was too predictable to the point that it felt like this movie was made for an audience that cannot think for themselves. After the first murder victim, all the friends met at the house to talk about what was happening. Mindy Meeks-Martin;s character, played by Jasmin Savoy Brown literally laid out the entire plot in a monologue. It was like a spoiler was embedded in the movie's content as part of its early on scene. That is poor writing and directing. It bothered me that after that point, everything that was happening had to be thoroughly explained.

Scream really lacked any characteristics of a good horror, suspenseful, mystery, thriller movie. What took away from those aspects was the fact that the movie was predictable and overexplained. A viewer does not have to be a Scream movie series expert for this one to be predictable. One thing they kept on mentioning in the movie was this one is a "requel" (a reboot mixed with a sequel). It was made in a way where you did not have to watch any of the four previous installments because of all its predictability and overexplaining.

Overall, this movie is not theater worthy. It is more so of a let's scroll through Netflix and figure out what to watch.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

contrary to popular belief

[4/10 · 17 December 2021]

My review is contrary to popular belief. There were high expectations for this movie, and after careful thought, I am not satisfied with how it turned out.

As trailers were being released, I only watched the first one because I did not want to risk seeing too much considering the Sinister Six was hinted at (except for the mystery sixth member). But that was pivoted to essentially every villain for himself situation for majority of the movie and made for a loose story.

The story did not hit home for me. Spider-Man was essentially trying to save the villains from themselves by curing them. The cure essentially would take all their powers away and all that would be left is just a human. To me, this made Spider-Man the antagonist.

There was one part of the movie that I truly enjoyed and that was when Doc Ock first appeared on the bridge (also shown in the trailer). That entire sequence was edge of your seat worthy. But then as the movie progressed, it became too predictable which took away from the edge of your seat feel.

One thing that really bothers me about the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies is his web swinging in New York. We have yet to really see that happen despite this is his sixth appearance on the big screen. That is one of the most exciting parts of Spider-Man is seeing his web swinging throughout New York City, and the audience finally got it but only for approximately 15 seconds.

Sony and Marvel should have done a better job with producing a story which showed the Sinister Six instead of their tactic of bait and switch.

Snake Eyes (2021)

slow, no depth, no Snake Eyes

[2/10 · 23 July 2021]

How is it possible to take such an amazing character like Snake Eyes and make t terrible? Well, the short answer is this movie.

This movie had such a slow pace for an action film. Snake Eyes is one of those characters that brings you to the edge of your seat because of his unparalleled ninja abilities, infantry, and hand to hand combat. But this Snake Eyes lacked each of those. The movie spent too much time attempting to tell a dynamic story about him, but it was so slow that it barely gave any depth about him. He was not likeable. He kept on taking many blows in his fights and repeatedly needed assistance. He just was not Snake Eyes. He really was not. Even his notorious suit was not a thing until the end of the movie. Two hours and one minute of total run time for this movie, and the last minute is when producers/directors decide to finally show him like that. That is lazy writing and I feel robbed.

Overall, this movie was a sleeper.

Black Widow (2021)

finally

[8/10 · 9 July 2021]

Finally Black Widow headlines the theaters! I was so excited for this movie, and the wait is finally over!

One of my biggest questions I wanted answered going into this movie was where this falls in the MCU timeline. I was really hoping to see Budapest and its plot because it was referenced in previous MCU films (especially between Black Widow and Hawkeye), but it was never shown. I was really intrigued to see the beginning of their relationship. Sadly though, it was still only referenced. Instead, this primarily takes place directly after the events of Captain America: Civil War where Black Widow turned on Black Panther at the airport.

Taskmaster and Red Guardian were two new characters introduced to the audience; however, I really wish that Marvel had given both characters a stronger role and presence in the movie. Taskmaster had a few scenes where I reacted with a jaw dropping "what just happened"; Taskmaster knew how to make an entrance. Red Guardian spent too much time reminiscing about his time fighting Captain America in the 80s. But he was still on ice in that time so who was Red Guardian really talking about. When another inmate questioned Red Guardian's claims, he responded by breaking his arm! It made me think that what are the chances that Red Guardian was possibly from an alternate timeline; it is farfetched, but it is still possible.

One thing that I really enjoyed and appreciated about this movie was the plot. It did not have the traditional Marvel superhero movie plot. Black Widow was action packed, and I would even argue it was greater than previously produced movies. The only "dry" moment of the movie for me was about 10-15 minutes right in the middle. The pace of the plot had significantly decreased in comparison to the rest of the movie.

Another aspect of the movie I really enjoyed was Florence Pugh's performance as Yelena Belova. Her character was built in a way that can carry on the Black Widow name in the future, hopefully.

Black Widow is a movie that is long overdue. She carried the MCU since her debut in Iron Man 2. As Thor said in Ragnarok, "respectful appreciation, I think it's great that there is an elite force of women warriors". When thinking of that, Black Widow is at the top of the list.

F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

please stop

[2/10 · 25 June 2021]

The Fast and Furious franchise has become something terrible. Its foundation was amazing with their first two movies. The movies were all about the cars and family. But sadly, it has turned into some of the most unrealistic storylines imaginable. Honestly, I do not consider F9 to be a Fast and Furious movie.

Really the only things I enjoyed about this movie were the story behind Toretto's father being brought to life and John Cena's performance as Jacob Toretto. Although it is eight movies late, Toretto's father's story was finally brought to life on screen; previously in the first movie, it was only briefly talked about between Dominic and Brian. Cena's performance as Toretto was greater than I expected. I was worried that he would turn "WWE" in the movie, and I did not want to see that although I am a fan of WWE. It happened in Fast Five with Dwayne Johnson where his turning point was when he told Toretto that he would ride with him; at that point, his character went from being Hobbs to being The Rock, and I did not like that.

It is so disappointing to see such a great movie franchise steer so far away from its roots. It is no longer about the cars. Is it too much to ask for a car being built on screen as the Supra was in the first one? That aspect is so important because a lot was learned about the characters involved. Now building cars is not even a thought. The movie just went from country to country with new cars with crazy tech in each cut. The movie took place in what seemed to be two days. Where are you getting all these new cars from and how are you replacing them so quickly? Come on.

The action sequences were so out of this world that it was not believable. You mean to tell me a country's military is shooting at you point blank and they all miss. But then you can turn around with a pistol and randomly take down half their squad? Get out of here. Another one that got me was let us be shot at by missiles from a military aircraft and then jump out of the truck with not a single scratch. Get out of here.

Han's return was so ridiculous. The trailers should not have shown that; in fact, the trailers revealed way too much for this movie. There were a few people in the theater that briefly clapped when Han returned, but it really was so poorly presented in the movie that it felt like "oh, I guess he is back... cool".

Universal had a whole extra year to work with this movie because of the pandemic, and it still produced crap. They need to stop with this "agents saving the world" and go back to their roots. Make things about the cars again. Let's see a good race like the opening scene to 2 Fast 2 Furious. Make things about family and the relationships they build together. With the way this franchise is turning, I do not know if I will watch any future installments they produce.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

short movie, lack of character build

[6/10 · 24 April 2021]

Among all the movies that release each year, there are always 3-5 movies that I most look forward to. For 2021, Mortal Kombat is one of those movies. I mostly anticipated how Warner Bros. Was going to bring this universe of characters back to life.

This movie was short considering that it is under two hours in length. I believe that it was done to play it safe and jump right to what probably most audiences want to see, the fights. Do not get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate an action-packed sci-fi movie. But I also do desire strong character build. The issue with this movie's length is that it can only allow so much development and growth in the characters. Both sides had at least 6-7 characters to be familiar with, and that is too many characters to connect with in under two hours. Among all the villains in the movie, only two had any type of character development. Sub-Zero had the most development, and he was followed by Kano. From all the champions or defenders of Earth, Cole Young was the only character with focused development.

Scorpion too had some character build, but I felt he really deserved a much bigger presence. The movie gave the impression that his character was going to have a similar story presence to the 2020 animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.

It is time to move on to the fighting. Each fight was shorter than what I would like to watch, but each fight was mind-blowing in its own way. One thing that Warner Bros. Really nailed right was the character cast and their acting/fighting abilities on the big screen which mirrored the characters in the video games. The one character that most impressed me was Max Huang's Kung Lao. Kung Lao's introduction brought me to the edge of my seat because it was so unexpected. The one fight that I most enjoyed was Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero; I like both characters, but I have always been a fan of Scorpion and his Shirai Ryu ninja clan. The movie was inevitably leading to these two fighting to the death, both fights between the two met all my expectations.

If Warner Bros. Continues this story in the future, I hope that it provides more appropriate connection between the characters and the audience. Each current cast member depicted his or her perspective charter exceptionally well, and I would hope to see each return. Moreover, if they do continue this series and introduce Johnny Cage, can you please cast Chris Evans to play him?

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Poor story, great Godzilla/Kong fighting

[6/10 · 31 March 2021]

I enjoy both Godzilla and King Kong; however, I am #TeamKong because Kong's character has more depth to him. Going into this movie, the trailers kept reiterating that there can only be one alpha and one will fall. My hopes included King Kong winning. My prediction included King Kong losing.

The movie's plot was terrible. It felt very rushed, and it lacked creativity in comparison to previous installments.

• The movie begins with Kong in containment on Skull Island; however, when Kong was last seen in Kong: Skull Island, her was free. Humans struggled to capture him in the movie's entirety but now at the beginning of this one he is in captivity and we are not shown how?

• Here Skull Island was stablished as a copy of Hollow Earth. Hollow Earth was described as the center of our world, but it is where all these Titans originate from, their home world. Humans wanted Kong to lead them there and their only way in was through Antarctica. Kong is taken there, and it was said that Kong could not survive in those conditions if he did not go towards Hollow Earth. If Skull Island is a mirror of Hollow Earth, why was the entrance not on Skull Island?

• Mega Godzilla was awesome to have; but it lacked thought. It is like the producers/directors/writers wanted Mega Godzilla in the story but became lazy with it. The one that made zero sense was when Mega Godzilla was about to kill Kong. Do they really expect me to believe that pouring alcohol on the computer is what disables human interference in shutting down Mega Godzilla? This just felt very lazy because prior it showed the characters attempting to override the system with passwords, hacking in, etc.

• Mega Godzilla should not have lost ability after the alcohol to the computer incident. For one, it showed that any human interaction was security locked out. This happened because the systems became compromised after the Monster Zero's remaining skull/brain took control of the machine. Essentially an alien artificial intelligence system took over Mega Godzilla. A pint of alcohol stopped it?

I was really impressed with each of the Godzilla vs Kong fighting sequences. After all, that is one of the most anticipated parts I am excited for. It was jaw dropping to see Godzilla move with such surprising agility. Kong displayed a paramount of strength mixed with intellect; Kong is a resourceful fighter.

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

The #SnyderCut is like a real life Flashpoint Paradox

[8/10 · 18 March 2021]

The Justice League movie released in 2017 was rushed and had no character or depth to it; however, Zack Snyder's Justice League rights all of those wrongs.

Each hero had more depth added to his/her story, and it was needed and deserved. Among all the heroes, Cyborg/Victor Stone finally had his much awaited time to shine. I appreciated the empathy and emotion surrounding his cybernetic nature which emphasized his compassion for family and humanity.

Wonder Woman did not appear to have her fear of being the hero she was destined to be (as she did in all other movie appearances). In other movies, not just the Justice League released in 2017, I felt she was only the hero because she had to be. Then after defeating each villain, she hid and withdrew. I do not find that to be hero like at all. However, here she finally took charge and was the strong Amazon warrior she is meant to be. She appeared to be stronger, faster, more agile, and fearless.

Darkseid did not have as much screen time as I had anticipated based on the second trailer. That trailer made it appear that he would have a greater presence in fighting alongside Steppenwolf against a united Justice League. Another disappointing factor about Darkseid is that he was so easily defeated by Earth's defenders the first time he attempted invasion. It would have been more satisfying to see more depth and development to Darkseid as all the other heroes had received.

The taller visual ratio 1.43:1 versus the traditional cinematic widescreen ratios was definitely a new experience for me in terms of a major superhero movie. I was not to certain about how I would feel about it; honestly, I would have preferred the cinematic widescreen ratio.

The Snyder cut overall was satisfying, and I really hope it sets a better path for future movies in this story and timeline. No pun intended, but I see Zack Snyder's Justice League as a real life Flashpoint Paradox which makes it feel like the original theatrical cut never happened!

Bloodshot (2020)

Action packed, but a bit much CGI in the end

[6/10 · 13 March 2020]

I really enjoyed the concept of Bloodshot. He is a US soldier that was relentless and determined to complete his mission. He has some characteristics of a cross between Wolverine and The Punisher. Like Wolverine, Bloodshot is a soldier who went through genetic enhancement, and in Bloodshot's case, it is in the form of nano technology that gives him the ability to instantly heal and super strength. Like The Punisher, Bloodshot has the tactical training to take down an entire security team without breaking a sweat. But the name Bloodshot was not suitable for the character; I would have been more content with another name for him.

The story was fantastic, and it was not too much. The trailers made it seem like Bloodshot would have his memory erased more times than what actually happened. I liked this better because it essentially was not frequently resetting the story. The entire movie was action packed, and it was fulfilling to get more of that than anticipated.

RST, the company that developed Bloodshot, had an interesting take on who they had. Each member was scientifically modified and enhanced. My favorite was the character Jimmy Dalton. He an enhanced soldier with two prosthetic legs and has super speed. His chase against Bloodshot had me on the edge of my seat and it surpassed any of my expectations.

Dr. Emil Harting (played by Guy Pearce) was an almost exact replica of Pearce's role as Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3. I like Pearce as an actor, but I wish the producers, directors, and creators of Bloodshot had a better developed character for Dr. Harting. It just gave way too many Iron Man 3 vibes when he was on the screen.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Sonic was fantastic

[8/10 · 14 February 2020]

As a kid, I would always watch the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series. My first video game was Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis. Needless to say, I am a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog and I was really pumped and ready for this movie!

I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. I really enjoyed how Sonic was given a back story on his home planet. That was a different side of him that was really interesting to see. He was really talkative, but it was in an exciting, curious, and comedic way. The visual effects of how Sonic looked and moved were on point; I have no complaints there. On the other hand, I was not too happy with what was done with his notorious Spin Dash signature move. The Spin Dash looked amazing, but it sounded underplayed.

Dr. Robotnik was entertaining. I was hoping to see a little more of him on screen though. I am hoping if there is a sequel, there will be more of a clash between both Dr. Robotnik and Sonic.

The movie was humorous, but it was more kid humorous than it was adult humorous. Although Sonic the Hedgehog was more a part of the 90's culture, this movie was designed more so for today's kids.

Bad Boys for Life (2020)

An emotional, edge of your seat movie with a dark twist

[7/10 · 17 January 2020]

My title is the best way I can describe this movie. From start to finish, it really was an emotionally connected movie, I was on the edge of my seat, and it had a dark twist to it. With the first two Bad Boys movies, the emotional connection was there for both Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith); however, it was not all throughout the entire movie. There was a significant turning point in both that did it for me, but in this one, it was right from the beginning of the movie. I was edge of my seat because of it. Usually I will kick back and recline my seat in the theater. But I did not for this one because of how invested I was in it.

I give this one a 7/10 because of the story and a specific scene. The story was good and kept me guessing, but it did not have that complete "Miami PD" feel to it all throughout. It felt more like Special Forces because of the action scenes that happened. The scene that was such a let down to me was one that was highly anticipated. In the first two, there was a 180 degree shot of both Marcus and Mike that took place after the climax and pivotal point of the movie. In part one, it happened after Julie was kidnapped. In part two, it happened after Syd was kidnapped. Marcus was the first to stand up followed by Mike as they found out the news. For this movie, I really was looking forward to seeing that happen again because it was a powerful scene of brotherhood in the hardest of times. Here it felt very rushed and it did not have the same feel to it. I also did not like how certain sayings felt overused and misused. The sayings I am referring to are "we ride together, we die together, bad boys for life" and the Bad Boys song.

I was really happy that Captain Howard was back at it again. There was a lot more of him on screen than I had expected, and I was completely okay with it. He still had his comedic sense.

Overall, I definitely would recommend watching this movie. Part II is still my favorite one of the three.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

Breathtaking action, but stretches far from Fast and Furious

[7/10 · 2 August 2019]

I kept on thinking to myself, how will this movie tie into the Fast and Furious movie franchise. I thought that it may include at least one of the other main characters that many of us have grown to love since the first movie in 2001 (The Fast and the Furious). But there was very little connection to it other than the two main characters (Hobbs and Shaw) and the strength of family.

The movie was full of action from start to finish. There was something different about these action scenes though. It felt too real. It sounded like it hurt. It was a different movie experience for me because it was too real, and I loved every bit of it! I especially enjoyed watching Idris Elba as Brixton Lore (or as he claimed, Black Superman). He really was like Black Superman. He was so precise with each and every blow that my body began to hurt!

There was one scene in this movie where I was like "okay, this needs to stop right now". Hobbs jumped out of a tall building just sliding down a rope with his bare hands like it was nothing, and then he jumped from man to man during the free fall to then Superman punch Black Superman to the ground. That was a bit much. How could Hobbs survive that?

I really enjoyed the Samoa culture that was depicted for the ending of the movie. This was the strongest connection it had to the Fast and Furious movie franchise. It was built on the foundation of family. Family is what kept them all together, and the family kept on growing and became stronger with every challenge it took on. Although it did not include other cast members from previous movies, the Samoa culture exceptionally portrayed family.

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

First half was rough, second half was much better

[7/10 · 3 July 2019]

I tried not to get myself excited for this movie as I waited for the release date. This was a result of Avengers: Endgame and its outcome. I did not want to get my hopes up for anything so I did not follow too much of the media coverage for this movie; it was the right choice.

The first half of the movie had a little good, and a lot of bad. I liked how they explained the outcome of all the snaps that took place between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. I did not like Peter Parker's actions though. He was being selfish and did not really want to be Spider-Man so he kept on failing. It reminded me to Tony Stark in Iron Man 3. I also did not like how they kept on going back to Iron Man now being dead; it was done way too much.

The second half was much better because of Mysterio. He was the right choice for the next villain to emerge after the plot of Avengers: Endgame. His illusions were so visually gratifying and catchy. The ending of the movie was really catchy. Mysterio made it seem like he purposely did what he did to catch Spider-Man and expose him. There were also many connections and throwbacks to previous movies like Iron Man and Captain America: Civil War. That is something that Marvel does really well; they perfected the skill of expanding the story and connecting the dots among multiple movies.

I would definitely see this movie again. I would just need to be able to appreciate the first half a bit more than what I already do.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

Every climax was ended short

[4/10 · 7 June 2019]

Overall I was disappointed with this movie. The X-Men series has done really well, but this is one of the first ones that I walked out of the theater missing that blown away feeling.

My biggest issue with this movie are two things. The first is that every time there was a fighting scene of some sort, each of them suddenly ended the exact same way at the point of the climax. Each time the movie got really good, it took a left turn and ended with Jean just flying away. That was really a buzz kill more than anything. My second issue is the trailer gave away way too much of the pinnacle points of the movie. The one that was most revealing was when Jean destroyed Magneto's helmet; it is well known that his helmet is immune to all of a telepath's powers no matter how strong he or she may be. But Jean was able to destroy it without hesitation?

Jean was made so incredibly powerful, and it did not make sense. She was literally indestructible. Nothing could kill her or even stood a chance against her. But if you rewind the clock to X-Men: The Last Stand, she was easily killed as the Dark Phoenix by Wolverine. It just makes no sense.

The villains in this movie were also poorly defined and they had a glimpse of a back story. The shapeshifters were just explained as they wanted Jean's power to destroy all of humanity and rebuild their race. That was really the end of it.

I will say that I was extremely pleased with the performance put on by both Beast and Nightcrawler in the train scene. They both had a dark side to them that was unexpected and it was displayed through their ruthless aggression when fighting the shapeshifters. Cyclops even had a brief moment with a comment he made to Magneto when trying to save Jean.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Whatever it takes

[10/10 · 26 April 2019]

This is a highly anticipated movie. Many have speculated about what is to come. But many were wrong. Many people had theories that this movie would include time travel or parallel universes, and they claimed it may be too confusing for viewers. I personally did not find the story line confusing. It was set at a good pace. If you watched all of the preceding movies leading up to Endgame, then any of the story line in this movie will not be confusing.

Avengers: Infinity War left me asking a lot of questions. I wanted to know more about Thanos. I wanted to know what truly happened to the heroes and people who were dusted. I wanted to know why Hulk was so afraid of Thanos instead of becoming angrier and stronger.

Avengers: Endgame was not the traditional Marvel movie where the plot line is so predictable. There was true emotional connection among me, the viewer, and the heroes who survived the snap. Each hero was suffering in his or her own way, and they were suffering collectively.

Thanos was more of a dynamic character ere. He did not have the power of any of the Infinity Stones so he had to use his brute strength in battle. He was ridiculous strong and shockingly a highly talented fighter. He was ruthless in his methods. On the contrary, the Black Order were irrelevant and pointless. All four of them were so weak and useless. I was disappointed that there was not any development for them.

I felt most bad for Thor. Let me just say he is one of my favorites in The Avengers. In Infinity War, he was the one who lost most directly from Thanos. Thor's brother and best friend (Loki and Heimdall) were both brutally murdered at the hands of Thanos while Thor was helpless. He went on his mission to forge Stormbreaker; this weapon was strong enough to defeat and kill Thanos even if he had all six Infinity Stones. Thor was incredibly strong with his new axe, and he was so close to defeating Thanos. But he "should have gone for the head". Snap! Thor was so depressed in Endgame. He felt most responsible for all of the people and living creatures that died from the snap. He was so depressed, that he became a drunk throughout the movie, and he was afraid to face Thanos again. This was hard to watch because Thor would never back down from a fight; he had no fears.

Captain America has always been my favorite in all of Marvel. He is always grounded and focused. He is always willing to do the right thing even when the price is high. He remained a good man. Watching him go head to head with Thanos was a treat! When it seemed like he was going to fail, the impossible happened. Captain America was worthy to possess the power of Thor! Yes, he was able to use Mjolnir! He was so powerful and awesome with it and his classic round shield. It made Thanos so mad that that was where he swore he would burn the entire planet down and summoned his entire army on Earth. Whatever it takes was the underlying theme of this movie. Each Avenger lost someone and something from Thanos' snap. Each now knew it whatever it takes is the only way to defeat Thanos for good. It was really sad to see some of the Avengers make that ultimate sacrifice; however, it was the best way for Marvel to end this story, and it was truly poetic justice.

Thank you to Marvel for putting together such a miraculous movie.

"Avengers, Assemble!"

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Not your typical happy Marvel movie

[7/10 · 27 April 2018]

Overall this was a good movie; however, there were some issues. It was rushed, and some of the heroes were extremely annoying. But there were still some really awesome aspects to this movie.

To start, this movie was extremely rushed. Thanos collected all of the infinity stones so quickly. It was cool to see how he was able to collect them all with the exception of one- the power stone. I thought this was really annoying because it took away from the origin story of Thanos.

There were some characters that were great in previous movies but were super annoying in this one. Star-Lord is number one on the list. He was selfish and he was compromised. He did not care about the team when they could have defeated Thanos. Vision is number two, and he is arguably the most useless character in all of the Avenger movies. He literally does nothing. He has an infinity stone, the mind stone, yet he is the most weak-minded Avenger. He offers zero significance to the story.

There was a fight between Hulk and Thanos, and it was awesome! Any screen time that Hulk gets is usually something worth watching. He was able to hold up his own, but I felt bad once Thanos started to use the power stone against him. I did not think that he could get hurt. It reminded me of the end of the fight scene between Batman and Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. This fight scene was probably the best part of the movie.

It was exciting to see Red Skull- finally! The last he was seen was at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. He was sucked up, into space, but we did not know by who.

There was also a lot of humor between Thor and Drax the Destoryer. They kept the movie funny in their own dry humorous ways. Speaking of Thor, he was incredibly awesome in this movie. He had lost so much throughout his time with the Avengers; he was driven by his vengeance and in a crazy way, it was well deserved to see him like that.

Many of the heroes will die in this movie. I will not say who, but some of the ones who die is such a disappointment and unexpected. It left a bitter taste at the end of the movie.

Once part four comes out, I believe this movie rating will be higher. But by itself, it is much lower. I do not like it when a movie leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. It will leave you with many unanswered questions.

Black Panther (2018)

One of Marvel's worst movies

[5/10 · 17 February 2018]

I was super excited for this movie. Considering it is the last movie before the Avengers: Infinity War movie, I had high expectations for it.

The story was all over the place. There was little presence of character development. The movie jumped into each of the characters as if we had already seen them all before in prequels.

Klaw, played by Andy Serkis, was back. He was briefly introduced to us in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Klaw was selling stolen vibranium to Ultron in the middle of the movie. It was established that he was the only survivor to ever break into Wakanda and steal their precious vibranium metal. Now the Black Panther movie started in 1992, where it showed the aftermath of someone who betrayed Wakanda by giving Klaw a way to get in to steal the vibranium. It was actually an extremely weak opening to the movie. Instead of showing Klaw breaking into Wakanda and stealing the vibranium, it only showed a 5-10 second video surveillance clip of the destruction. This opening scene set for a terrible movie. Marvel should have shown Klaw breaking into Wakanda to give us more development for his character.

The movie did not get interesting until towards the middle where the sale was going to be made for stolen vibranium. General Okoye, played by Danai Gurira, was absolutely awesome! She was by far the best character in the movie. Her dedication to the Wakanda throne was unparalleled. Okoye went crazy, in a good entertaining way, during the sale of the vibranium. I swear, I think she was fighting and beating up more people in this movie than Black Panther was!

Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman, was disappointing. I am not referring to his performance. I am speaking of his character development. We were first introduced to him in Captain America: Civil War. We received a glimpse of him as Black Panther and Prince T'Challa. In this movie, it continued directly after the Captain America: Civil War movie timeline. It did not show T'Challa as a child. It did not show him learning how to become the Black Panther. It did not show any of that. Come on Marvel, what were you thinking?

Black Panther's fighting scenes were annoying as well. The majority of his presence was at night. It made it difficult to see the detail of his ability and movement. There was really only one scene towards the end where his suit was not so blended in the dark, but it was quickly ended after the fight moved underground to the vibranium mining area.

Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, was a great villain. But once again, there was minimal character development. It showed him as a child for a few seconds, then it fast forwarded to the present day. All of the in-between were quickly talked about and forgotten.

Overall, I was not too pleased with this movie. Marvel could have done better with the opening scene and the character development. Now I am left questioning how good Avengers: Infinity War will be in May.

It (I) (2017)

Here, Take IT

[6/10 · 17 September 2017]

Going into this movie I was extremely terrified. I never did like IT. I had a horrific experience watching the 1990 original. I was about four years old. I was watching it around Halloween time. There was a brutal thunderstorm outside as the movie was playing. The movie was approaching a part where another child was about to get destroyed by IT, and I knew it was about to happen. But just before it happened, the thunderstorm caused us to lose power. I thought that it was IT coming after me. I flipped over my chair and ran screaming into a wall. Man did I hate IT.

One can imagine how scared I may be to see this one. But I did not find the movie to be all that scary. The opening scene was the scariest overall. It set for a scary roller coaster for the following two hours remaining in the movie. I thought I was screwed. But after that, the scare tactics were weak. The first half of the movie was setting up each child individually encountering IT. Scary? Somewhat. But not anything that made me jump. About halfway through the movie, the kids all came together and said that each of them had seen IT in some sort of way. The kids decide to stick together in what they called the "Loser Club". Now the movie is getting good, at least I thought it was. Now the movie should be absolutely terrifying. Once all the kids came together. The scare tactics in the movie became ridiculous. I truly think it became less and less scary.

Besides the scare tactics, the story had a great flow. There was a good sense of character build for each of the kids. There were hints at the adults knowing what was happening. This brings me to my theory. The bathroom scene with Beverly was crazy. Blood everywhere. But when her father came in the bathroom, he claimed that he could not see anything' however, the audience never got to see how the father saw the bathroom. The entire scene showed the bathroom was completely covered with blood. The father denied anything that just happened to his daughter and he walks away. I thought this was weird and I believe that all the people in the town know about IT. I believe they do not do anything about IT because IT does not go for adults. IT like the young prey: children and teens. This could be a way of the adults staying alive. If the adults do not mess with IT, then IT will not go out of his way to kill them and IT will instead go for his preferred younger prey. Just a theory.

If you come with me, you'll float too.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Great flow but a weak ending

[8/10 · 7 July 2017]

Going into this movie, it was difficult to set an expectation for what was about to come considering that this was now the third Spider-Man series that Marvel has released. In the previous series, Tobey Maguire was a great Peter Parker, but he was a terrible Spider-Man; on the contrary, Andrew Garfield was a terrible Peter Parker, but he was an awesome Spider-Man. Now Marvel has introduce us to Tom Holland. He seemed to be a good balance of the two- Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

The story was incredible. It had a smooth flow to it. It showed a great back story to Vulture, played by Michael Keaton. Although it was short, it took us back to the setting of the aftermath of the first Avengers movie battle in New York. It tied up loose ends quickly, and it brought us up to speed years later to the present day.

Vulture was a threatening predator. His suit was crazy, but it was a bit too big. It would have been nicer to see more of Vulture during the daylight. Most of his appearance was at night, so the details of his suit were not as glamorous as it could have been.

Shocker was subtle, but intense. He had a small role, but his presence was good to see.

I was disappointed that there was no back story to Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man. Yes his back story is known by many, but it is essential to set the tone of this new series of Spider-Man. I also did not care for the ending. It is mainly because of the fight between Spider-Man and Vulture. It was too short, and it could have been much better.

Overall, I enjoyed this installment of Spider-Man. It had a lot of humor all throughout the story. Tom Holland did an exceptional job as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.