gwyckoff Reviews

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Really sorry but I did NOT enjoy this!

[5/10 · 3 January 2022]

A plot based upon the main character's stupidity is not entertaining no matter how good the fight sequences or how beautifully it ties up loose ends.

The ending was admittedly strong but getting there was a huge slog. The movie has two huge flaws: First, there is way too much extraneous material crammed in which adds nothing to the plot. (Would someone please explain to me what the whole police interrogation sequence has to do with anything?) Second, the main factor driving the story forward is Peter Parker screwing things up. If he had acted with a little common sense the whole movie would have wrapped up in 30 minutes. (At one point, Dr. Strange even points this out to him.)

Black Widow (2021)

Three great actresses!

[9/10 · 10 July 2021]

This movie is slow to start but is great once it gets going. Maybe some of the most complex storytelling of any MCU movie.

Rick and Morty: A Rickconvenient Mort (2021) Season 5, Episode 3

A masterpiece ruined by an unearned character transformation.

[6/10 · 8 July 2021]

OK, so, its important to remember that a '6' rating for a 'Rick and Morty' is like a '9' rating for any other show. That being said, this episode has a really bad flaw: the Planetina character goes through a significant personality transformation at end which is completely unexplained and unearned.

Yes, there IS a one minute montage which tries to shows the change. But it is so brief and the transformation is so big that you practically have to watch it in slow motion to understand what just happened. Its as though the whole "Vat of Acid" Morty-love-story montage were stuffed into a one minute segment. The result is a confusing and unsatisfying ending.

What's really tragic is that the ending was a great idea and would've worked beautifully if they had taken the time to do it right. Even worse, there is plenty in the B plot they could have been cut to make room.

Rick and Morty: Mort Dinner Rick Andre (2021) Season 5, Episode 1

Is Comedy Central giving them TOO MUCH time between seasons?

[6/10 · 23 June 2021]

This episode had 2 "A" plots and 2 1/2 "B" plots. Each one was individually great but together they just got in each other's way. Maybe a little more time pressure would force the creative team to focus rather than throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the episode.

Each season there are a few episodes which I've re-watched half a dozen times, and then several that I've come back to at least once or twice. This is not one I think I'll watch again given that I could barely make it through the first time.

The Boys: The Bloody Doors Off (2020) Season 2, Episode 6

Love the characters and the story, hate the editting!

[6/10 · 29 September 2020]

I continue to be really annoyed by the choppy storytelling in this second season. Its fine to have have six or seven storylines given that many are interconnected, but there is no need to intercut them so closely that we only get a few minutes of each at a time. I watched this episode a second and then a third time hoping that the choppiness would be less annoying if I already knew the story. It didn't help; I still had to fight not to switch it off in annoyance after each cut.

Suppose, for example, they told the whole Frenchie flashback at the very beginning, thus giving a clear basis for the encounter later in the episode. Instead the flashback is intercut with the real-time events, draining the momentum from both

Tenet (2020)

If Kenneth Branagh doesn't get an Oscar for this, something is wrong.

[6/10 · 21 September 2020]

The whole movie hangs on convincing the audience that the character played by Kenneth Branagh would actually do the things he does. Branagh totally sells it. This is one of the best performances I've ever seen in a major blockbuster. John Washington is the other half of this and does almost as well as 'The Protagonist'.

As to the rest of the movie? Well, pretty good. The story and the premise are very complex. It works because we care about the characters and they seem to understand it, even if we don't. Its a movie clearly intended to be watched multiple times and will hopefully get better after each viewing.

The effects are really breathtaking and well worth seeing in a theatre. Although, Nolan seems to have fallen too much in love with his trick photography; I got a little board towards the end. It was like "OK, it's another incredible effects sequence, nice, now lets get back to the story".

The Boys: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men (2020) Season 2, Episode 3

OK, I slogged through the first 3, so now maybe the episodes will get good again.

[6/10 · 10 September 2020]

The first three episodes are a slow grind. There are so many storylines to service that cutting between them is distracting. Just as you start to get interested in one, they cut to another. I really enjoyed the first season even though I thought it started slowly as well. Hopefully, they've tied up all the loose plot threads and can now get down to business.

Shazam! (2019)

Great kids movie! Nice to see the DCU put the fun back in. Pretty slow for adults.

[5/10 · 6 April 2019]

Shazam is the DCU's answer to Marvel's GOTG; i.e. a fun comic book tale with lots of humor geared to younger viewers. Unfortunately, it has little of the GOTG wit and story telling; thus making it a slow watch for adults. Most of the movie is Billy exploring his new powers. Sure that's fun for a while, but it gets old pretty quickly; particularly since the best gags were given away in the trailers.

The third act is a mess with a lot of shifting venues and repetitive action. You get the impression of a bunch of FX people sitting around pitching ideas like "Heh, it would be really cool if they fought at a Carnival!", and everyone said "Yeah, great idea! Put that in".

Mark Strong is great in this film. One of the best comic book villains ever ... well maybe not as good as Loki from Thor I, but he's up there. Also the resolution to the main character's plot line is very touching. Its great how they tie everything together in the climax. I just wish they had made the journey to that point a little more entertaining.

Captain Marvel (2019)

7 as a 'Comic Book' movie, 9 as a 'Movie' movie.

[8/10 · 8 March 2019]

This was a very fun movie with probably one of the best stories of any from Marvel; at least comparable to 'Thor', 'Winter Solder', or 'Black Panther'. It was engaging, exciting and funny the whole way. As an origin story it was as good or better than Iron Man.

It was different in tone than most Comic Book films focusing more on the personal search of the protagonist rather than and an external villain. This may may explain why some fans didn't care for it.

Aquaman (2018)

Another lame DC superhero film

[4/10 · 21 December 2018]

Stilted dialog, boring exposition, superficial characters, transparent plot. When is DC going to learn that superhero movies are more than just special effects and cool fight scenes? They actually have to do some of the things any good movie normally does.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Absolutely *incredible* action sequences. Story makes no sense at all.

[6/10 · 29 July 2018]

"Action, Action, Action". Walking into an MI movie (since about #3) you have to accept the fact that there will only be just enough story to setup the incredible Tom Cruise action sequences. MI6 pushes this paradigm to the absolute limit. Some of the shots in this movie will leave you utterly speechless in their beauty and heart-stopping suspense.

"Story? We don't need no stinking story!". The story, however, is so full of holes and nonsensical events that it does not even merit analysis. It falls apart at the slightest touch. Fortunately this is not a problem; before we have the time to ask questions like "Why doesn't character X just do Y, it would be so easy?" we are swept up in another wonderful action sequence.

Definitely worth a matinee ticket. Definitely worth seeing in the theater if you love the action genre.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

An interesting but ultimately unsatisfying (or maybe astoundingly satisfying) spectacle

[6/10 · 16 March 2018]

"Almost makes sense". The movie has the almost-making-sense feel of Russian sci-fi movies like 'Stalker' and 'Solaris'. If you even remotely like this movie, you will truly love the 1979 Russian sci-fi movie 'Stalker' which attempts the same things as 'Annulation', but actually succeeds. "Soggy Middle". The first act is the best. Its intriguing and really gets you engaged with the story and the main character. The third act is mediocre (or maybe great), if somewhat ambiguous. Where this movie really drags is the second act. There are some really weird and beautiful effects; as well as many suspenseful horror-like sequences. However, this exploration of the mysterious Area X and the motivations of the characters is too slow and drawn out. I found I had way too much time to speculate about why the people in-charge of the Southern Reach were so incredibly inept at exploring this strange region. As the act was playing out, I came up with about two dozen strategies for accomplishing the same goals without sending people on a crazy suicide mission.

The most interesting part was the exploration of the main character's reasons for undertaking such a risky mission. As the act progresses, we gradually learn the truth and the secrets which underlie her part of the story. All of this is given far too little attention and is not properly woven into the 'exploration' theme of the rest of the movie.

"An ambiguous third act". The conclusion of the movie is either rather mundane and unsatisfying or truly great and interesting. It all depends upon what actually happens. This is the one part of the movie I would watch again if it didn't involve sitting through the middle. I won't spoil the ending by writing any more except to suggest you watch very very closely. Does what 'appears' to happen actually happen or does its opposite?

If the movie ends the way it appears at first glance, then the result is rather unsatisfying. If the opposite happened, then the ending has a whole different interpretation which completely changes who can be considered 'the winners' and 'the losers' in this exchange. Maybe a detailed dissection will reveal the answer once the movie comes out on digital. It would have been better, though, had the filmmaker made things clear on the first viewing. Ideally you want to get the central meaning on the first go and additional layers from subsequent passes.

Black Panther (2018)

As a cultural moment - 10; As a superhero movie - 6.5

[7/10 · 23 February 2018]

You have to be suspicious of any movie that sets out to deliberately break new ground. "Wonder Woman," for example, was a pretty good movie but had some flaws. It got a pass from critics because it was the first woman superhero movie. Had it stared Chris Hemsworth or Tom Cruise, it would have been treated much more harshly.

"Black Panther" does a fabulous job of building a super advanced civilization in the heart of Africa. The depth, complexity and thought that went into all of this was truly delightful. Too bad it could not have been explored in a "Game of Thrones" style long-format story ark. As it was, we spend almost half the movie world-building for a disappointingly small payoff in terms of story. The middle drags while so much track is being laid.

The story is OK. "Iron Man", by way of comparison, was a great movie because of the main character's growth ark. We saw an immature and deeply flawed Tony Stark come into true adulthood. He emerges from the shadow of his father and faces the truth about the deadly weapons he creates. In "Black Panther" we see T'Challa also emerge into true adulthood. He starts as an admirable and nearly perfect Prince and develops into an admirable and slightly more perfect King. The growth ark is interesting but underwhelming.

The truly fascinating character is Killmonger (Michael Jordan) and his sidekick Claw (Andy Serkis). We end up wishing more of the movie had been about them rather than T'Challa's angst over whether to be just noble or really really noble.

Still, definitely worth seeing. The creative detail and near total immersion into alternative African culture makes up for the lackluster character development and predictable story.

The Mummy (2017)

Much better than the reviews. Not your usual stale monster film

[7/10 · 29 June 2017]

This movie is quite enjoyable. I'm not sure why it's getting so many bad reviews. The action is fast paced and the acting pretty good, plus it avoids most of the major structural pitfalls that plague the monster movie genre. There were some flaws, which I will mention later, but first the strong points:

"The Monster Always Dies". One big structural problem with monster movies is the lack of suspense. In the end, the monster is always vanquished. Any suspense revolves around the hero discovering the monster's 'fatal weakness' just in time to save the heroine. In some cases, as with the 1999 Mummy remake, the resolution is telegraphed so early and so strongly that you grow board waiting for Brendon Frasier to wade through all the special-effect laden cliff hangers to finally win the day.

This remake handles the problem in a very creative and unexpected way by first making the monster venerable almost from the start and then secondly by introducing another antagonist who turns out to be equally threatening to the hero. This builds suspense as the protagonist is threatened from multiple sides.

Ultimately all this climaxes in a completely unexpected ending that I honestly did not see coming; something really unique for a monster film. It may, in fact, be this ending that contributes to the negative reviews since strictly speaking it violates the hallowed monster flick formula most people have come to expect.

"Damsel in Distress". Another tiring issue with monster films is the obligation to service the inevitable damsel-in-distress theme. Again, Mummy 2017 takes a unique approach by making Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis effectively co-equals protagonists. Sometimes she saves him, sometimes he saves her, often with a good deal of humor in the role reversal.

All-in-all a movie worth seeing, but of course there were some flaws. Character development is kept to a minimum; only enough to service the plot line. This contrasts with the 1999 Mummy which excelled in wonderfully interesting characters who, unfortunately, were deployed in the service of a mundane and predictable plot. Other flaws include under use of Jake Johnston as the comic relief and a serviceable but uninspiring performance by the heroine Wallis. Had she matched the charisma brought by Cruise's performance it would have added a whole new dimension to the movie. In general, though, I liked it and am interested to see more of the 'Dark Universe'.