Wingzzz Reviews

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Hail the King!

[10/10 · 9 December 2023]

Holy S**T! This movie has been getting so much love and hype lately and deservedly so. Director Takashi Yamazaki and company tell an epic, emotional and deeply human story within this modern-day monster blockbuster.

I'm not the biggest fan of Kaiju films because they typically lack a gripping narrative and really only offer thrills via the occasional monster scene. This film, however, has a fantastic human story that is relatively simple but gripping and moving nonetheless. I don't share these people's culture, language or post-WW2 trauma but I resonated with them far more than Millie Bobby Brown.

This film nails its interpretation of Godzilla, going back to the more fearsome foe rather than an anti-hero. Honestly Godzilla was terrifying in this film and was just pure evil incarnate. This is an impressive film on a technical level with inspired camera work, impressive visuals and a FANTASTIC score and sound design. I'm so impressed that this film was made on a modest $15 million budget and I can't recommend it enough.

Also I can't remember the last time a movie brought a tear to my eye not because of an emotional beat but because I was so awe-inspired by what I was seeing on the screen. 🦎

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023 Video Game)

Almost a 10

[9/10 · 27 May 2023]

This game is fantastic. It takes the foundation of the first game and really builds upon it. Improving on gameplay variety, customization, side content, etc. I also found the overall story in this game to be much better and more gripping then it's predecessor. The story is emotional, awe-inspiring, darker and overall just really strong. From a 'video-game' standpoint there's so much to love with overall fun, exhilarating and challenging gameplay with plenty to do. From a 'Star Wars' perspective this is a welcome addition that has awesome lore, immersive worlds and super memorable cameos from iconic characters.

I could easily see myself giving this a 10/10 but the game just unfortunately struggles performance wise. The frame drops on performance mode on my ps5 were jarring and not on par with other next-gen games that run dang near flawlessly like God of War: Ragnarok, for example. Also, there is an entire bounty hunter mechanic that gives you access to 18 additional boss fights and my game is bugged out resulting in me not even being able to partake in that entire part of the game.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

The Best One Yet?

[9/10 · 8 April 2023]

I want to start by saying that if you have seen any of the John Wick films and DIDN'T like them then odds are you're not going to like this one either. I only say that because this movie is even longer and has even more action than it's predecessors, and I'm sure that doesn't appeal to some. However if you dig these films, oh boy you're in for a treat.

I will say that in the story/plot department, this movie is certainly a bit thin and the narrative comes through in slightly inconsistent waves, but don't get me wrong there is some really good 'stuff' here in the story. Admittedly, I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to writing/ story in media, but when it comes to John Wick 4 I just don't even care. The magic that Chad Stahelski, Keanu Reeves, etc., were able to create is more than enough to satisfy

In this film the ante has been upped. The fights are even bigger and better, full of moments that had me awe-inspired. The cinematography is exquisite, creative and engaging. The costume design/set design was beautiful. The sound design/audio is great. The powerful ensemble cast is amazing. There are a ton of newcomers in this movie and they all have their time to shine but oh man did Donnie Yen steal the show for me. I love his character 'Caine' and would love to see more of him in some capacity in the future. As always Hollywood's humble hero, Mr. Reeves, does outstanding and should inspire us all to be healthy and get in the gym!

The people behind this franchise deserve so much credit and admiration in my opinion. They have revolutionized the action genre in western media, bringing incredibly refined fight choreography/cinematography that will hopefully challenge other filmmakers to answer the call and meet the John Wick standard. Hopefully the days of over edited, nausea inducing shaky cam are far behind us.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 20: The Foundling (2023) Season 3, Episode 4

Hear Me Out

[6/10 · 24 March 2023]

After a long post-season 2 hiatus I was really excited for this show to be back, after all I hold the first two seasons as some of the best Star Wars material we've ever gotten.

So what's going on with this season? Even if you like it you simply can't deny it's much lesser than the first 2. We're halfway through and it feels entirely aimless. It's as if the momentum of the show has been suspended in carbonite. The writing is lackluster and barebones this season, and it's really feeling like a Saturday morning cartoon for 5 year olds. This episode is a prime example of that. We have a very short episode here that doesn't really give us much outside of the very predictable, illogical plot and some admittedly awesome backstory for Grogu. I hate the lack of natural, informed dialogue in this show. Why isn't Din asking Bo why she's had a major change of heart in joining the Covert, for example. That could be brought up in conversation to help cue us in on the state of the characters. The fact that the War Party is making a camp is incredibly dumb considering how much they were stressing time being of the essence, but if they're gonna do that can't they at least have them have all sit around the fire & have an interesting conversation? Also, the Mandalorians are being depicted as lackluster warriors the way they show so much ineptitude against the grisly foes that continue to attack them. The second half of this season is gonna have to be STRONG, that's all I'll say.

Glass Onion (2022)

Onions have layers, this doesn't

[5/10 · 30 December 2022]

This movie feels like it was generated with an AI. It's like the director entered "murder mystery, covid-19, Elon musk, 2020 politics" and this is what the AI churned out. I feel that this movie pales in comparison to Knives Out in every way. Knives Out had a good set up and some interesting twists and turns that helped make some of the genre tropes feel a little less present. Glass Onion is a ugly 'Netflix aesthetic' movie with little to no artistic eye. The script itself tries to be very meta, witty and funny but to me just came off as a unfunny, surface level attempt at showing the unscrupulous behavior of the 1%. The characters themselves are all fairly overacted and feel more like caricatures(I'm guessing intended) resulting in none of them really being memorable for me. The mystery itself is very thin and isn't introduced until half way into the movie. That's what we came for, we didn't tune in to see Rian Johnson sniffing his own farts. The conclusion is nonsensical and poorly handled. I enjoy satire and meta commentary on our whacky society but 'Glass Onion' in my opinion overindulges in that at times and forgets to tell a gripping story.

Violent Night (2022)

Santa's got a brand new bag

[8/10 · 6 December 2022]

This was such a fun movie, point blank period. It's not some magnum opus that deserves to be harshly critiqued. I wanted some solid action and a wild ride and on that this movie delivered. David Harbour was great as this disgruntled, slightly pessimistic version of Santa that ultimately turns into a bad*ss! The supporting cast was all good as well and John Leguizamo was a good antagonist! The action was great in my opinion and had some really creative, memorable kills. It's certainly violent and I would say delivers on what it set out to do. This movie had some wholesomeness, comedy and heart that I wasn't necessarily expecting but was certainly an added bonus. If you're looking for some Christmas spirit, some epic bloody violence, and even some Santa driven sentiment...go see Violent Night!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Kinda long...like this review

[7/10 · 1 December 2022]

I felt that the passing of both Chadwick and T'Challa loomed LARGE over this movie. It's just not the same without him and I understand it's a huge challenge to accommodate the tragic loss so I will give Coogler and co. Credit for that.

One issue was I felt a lack of character development or nuance. I understand there's themes of grief and loss, but I felt they weren't fully explored here. The last minute set up of choosing vengeance vs justice basically just wasn't quite enough for me to feel like Shuri 'earned it'. I will say that Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett and everyone for that matter turned in very powerful performances! Another thing that really bothered me was the lack of screen time for some of the key players in Wakanda. Okoye is my favorite and she just disappears from the movie eventually. Mbaku has nothing to do and is very wasted. In my opinion there were two characters that felt interjected and unnecessary. I don't mind Agent Ross but his role in this movie felt forced in just because he was in the first movie. The other was RiRi and I just did not enjoy this character, I'm sorry. Similar to America Chavez in Dr. Strange her role comes down to essentially a needless plot device that felt interjected into a big movie because they're lesser known characters. They're not endearing and they detract from the people we care about seeing. I do think that in general this movie feels long winded and starts to wear thin in certain places. Maybe I've just become numb to the MCU but some of the story just didnt impact like I believe it was intended too(the Chadwick memorial definitely did...RIP).

I really liked Namor and his people. They were kind of creepy with their siren like singing and I really dug that. I like the change in lore to root his origins in ancient Aztec culture. I think it makes perfect sense. Namor had a presence and a gravitas that I really liked. I'm honestly relieved and surprised they didn't kill him off because Marvel stays killing off their better villains! The music was very good throughout. Some of the action was pretty solid and enjoyable, although I felt the final battle was a bit rushed. The costume/wardrobe and hair and makeup was all fantastic and beautiful. The visuals were mostly good. The movie was coherent enough and didn't have an over abundance of corny jokes. There's certainly a lot to like.

Andor (2022– )

Disney learned?

[9/10 · 4 November 2022]

I'm just gonna keep it short and sweet. This is the most nuanced, "adult" show I would say Disney+ has put out. This is a show that doesn't feel like it was made by brain dead people for brain dead people and frankly that makes it an outlier on the Disney+ platform. I know that sounds negative but Disney has continued to desecrate a franchise I hold very near and dear to my heart. I didn't give this show a chance after the terrible Book of Boba Fett & the underwhelming, amateur Kenobi series. I'm glad I came around and checked it out because it's awesome! It has nuanced characters and dialogue. It has flawed heroes. It has intriguing villains. This is a show where the world isn't as black and white/good and evil as we see from other Disney projects. It's just, frankly, a breath of fresh air!

Black Adam (2022)

Hierarchy of Power in DC Universe Changed?

[5/10 · 29 October 2022]

I went into this movie with somewhat low expectations. I mostly just hoped it would have good action and fight scenes, as well as great spectacle but I was not expecting anything to blow me away in the story department. I love to be wrong when it comes to things like that but unfortunately the writing is this movies 'kryptonite'.

I'll start with my negatives. The story/script for this movie just didn't work for me. It was a very generic, convoluted story with some ridiculous plot points. I won't get too specific to avoid spoilers but the villain(s) is/are extremely generic and have little to no motivation. Some of the side characters are very poorly written and have very little to add to the movie. There's too many characters in this movie & I'd rather the writers had written a different story that doesn't include a couple of them at all. *cough cough* I'm talking about you skateboard boy!

I can happily say that this movie does have some really cool action, a few highlight moments that stuck with me, a strong musical score, and it was fairly well shot. I enjoyed the Rock as Black Adam. He is a giant, hulking specimen that truly looks like a traditional super hero. He played the character pretty well, but man I could not get over the fact a 5,000 year old ancient Egyptian had an American accent while no one else from Kahndaq did. Dr. Fate and HawkMan were both stand outs for me, though I would have liked just a bit more of them, going back to my issue with them balancing certain character's roles.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Natalie Portman's Biceps

[6/10 · 14 July 2022]

This movie is a mixed bag.

I wanna start with some pros. This movie has some really great atmospheric visuals. I enjoyed the black and white shadow realm where only their cosmic weapons were sources of color and light. I thought it was well shot for the most part. The action segments were pretty consistently good with a couple scenes standing out. Christian Bale turned in a really interesting, exciting performance as Gorr the God Butcher. I wasn't sure about the Mighty Thor storyline going into the movie but I really liked her. Natalie Portman drank some protein shakes and hit the bench press getting ready for this one. She brought a certain gravitas to the character. Chris Hemsworth IS Thor and is great but I do wish maybe he would have had a few more shining moments in this one.

My first gripe with the movie is that I think they put their focus into the wrong places. I think there was an unnecessary amount of emphasis on the comedy. Some jokes hit, most didn't, at least for me. There were certain gags that didn't work for me or most people in the theater and they just kept going. I enjoy Taika's sense of humor but I feel like it went too far and felt too forced, becoming detrimental to the story. Some of the story felt a little flat or surface level for me as well.

My BIGGEST issue with this movie is the lack of Gorr and Jane Foster. Gorr had sooo much potential to be a legendary villain. I just feel that Bale deserved to have more of his scenes make it to the final cut. Bale might only want to do one of these things but I'm just tired of them killing off villains. I don't know why Marvel Studios won't keep around some of their non-Avengers franchise villains to make the solo films more compelling. It's okay if the villain loses or just gets away but doesn't die. I think Gorr's trajectory and ultimate demise would have been more compelling if you had it expanded over TWO movies. I also think we just needed more Jane to really make her Mighty Thor arc a bit more memorable.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part III (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

That's it?

[6/10 · 2 June 2022]

Really? This is what we were so excited to see and this is what we get? How do you have Obi-Wan and Vader share the screen and manage to make it so dull and unexciting? I felt no emotion in the moments after they "reconnected". Why are they acting so nonchalant like this is something they do every week? Why is Vader not going in on Obi-Wan for the kill shot? "Oh fighting Obi-Wan my old master, just another Monday!" This was not good. Every aspect of this episode was average or below. Music, acting, cinematography, effects, writing. I mean this is laughable, like seriously I was laughing at the fire scene, between Obi-Wan's weird grimacing noises and the contradicting force powers. The fight between them was worse than the one in 'A New Hope'!! How does the Mandalorian, for example, look/sound/feel so crisp and clean in its first season when it was somewhat of a calculated risk at the time, but a show starring two of the most iconic characters of all time looks/sounds/feels so cheap and lifeless? Most of these Disney shows have no soul. They just barely meet their quota for a passable series and stop there rather than trying to innovate and push the boundaries.

I'm genuinely curious how anyone can defend this? I mean seriously, I know not everything has to be a masterpiece, but just within the wheelhouse of Star Wars this is a weak attempt. Yes it's true that "no one hates on Star Wars more than Star Wars fans", but it's because we know what the franchise is capable of, and have seen it's shortcomings as well. Why be complacent with something that bares resemblance to the flaws of the franchise but has none of the positives? Are you just going to accept mediocrity?

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II (2022) Season 1, Episode 2

I have a bad feeling about this...

[7/10 · 30 May 2022]

The cracks are starting to show.... Reva the new character is kind of terrible and maybe that's the point but I prefer my villains to be compelling/nuanced. This episode is too short and frankly I didn't think the focus was in the right places. I don't really want to be pessimistic but dang Disney pick it up. You have so many amazing properties at your finger tips, allow truly talented writers to create with them. I'm tired of this brain dead Disney-fied writing seeping into everything I love.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part I (2022) Season 1, Episode 1

Decent start

[8/10 · 27 May 2022]

The episode opens up with a fairly strong Order 66 scene to put us right into it. The intro to the inquisitors was decent. I don't really mind the Grand Inquisitor's design, I thought he was imposing, cold and calculating. Unfortunately the moment that the hidden Jedi uses the force and escapes the inquisitors was so bad. The way it was shot and edited felt so tacky and cheap. How did he just skip away from 3 of them? I like where Obi-Wan is at in his journey, living in obscurity, working a mundane job to survive and remain hidden. He's haunted by his past & I really hope the show goes deeper on that & offers a character study of Obi-Wan. I was not expecting Leia at all & initially I was loving it until I realized the plot was going to be centered around rescuing her. The reason I say that is Obi-Wan rescuing child Leia is a HUGE retcon that could lead to some big continuity issues. Also, once again the chase scene with her was terrible. What's up with Disney making their chase scenes the most unserious, laughable moments ever? I'm going to have to see more of Reva before I decide how I feel about her. All in all I thought it was decent. I think the writing is hit or miss, specifically with the dialogue and some of the overtly convenient plot points.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Multiverse of Messiness

[6/10 · 8 May 2022]

This movie was just an absolute mess. Not in a necessarily good way either.

The writing is definitely the biggest weakness. The script is lazy, a bit convoluted, and overall just overstuffed. In my opinion the writing was very surface level & at times illogical. It doesn't tell a tight, concise story with indelible moments. It very much so feels like a roller coaster, where you're just plopped into the middle of this crazy, muddled story & it goes maximum speed the whole way through. However it's not an awesome high speed rollercoaster, it's more like one of those ones at a state fair that's haphazardly put up by carnies, & it might go off the rails or topple over at any moment.

I hate to say that for this being a DR. STRANGE movie I was very disappointed with his role in the film. He feels like a side character more than the protagonist & there's really no character arc that he faces. Any character arcs, motifs, themes, etc., that you could pull from this movie are so incredibly paper thin and surface level. America Chavez is also poorly integrated. She feels like little more than a plot convenience.

To be honest I enjoyed Wanda. I liked seeing the unhinged, Darkhold controlled, Scarlet Witch absolutely run through the competition. She was terrifying and a good villain. I'm just a little annoyed that they didn't properly resolve her "arc". There's no way she's dead but....?

Overall I think this movie did have some striking visuals, decent fights, and great music thanks to Danny Elfman. The film is dark and took some risks with light horror elements and dark deaths that I appreciated seeing as most fights in the MCU are bloodless and not that gritty. There were select scenes that were great and really engaging that I would enjoy seeing on the big screen again. I enjoyed Raimi's directing of this film but I just wish he had a better script to work with. Also I couldn't help but feel like we would get a little bit of "Raimi-ness" & then we'd get a very formulaic mcu scene. It was kind of a tonal clash throughout the movie for me.

This is one of those movies that feels disjointed and directionless more often than it doesn't. Truly I'd say it's like a 6.5/10.

Moon Knight: The Tomb (2022) Season 1, Episode 4

Thank Khonshu

[9/10 · 20 April 2022]

I was not very impressed by last weeks episode...at all. I rated it a 5/10 because I just thought it was extremely average.

This episode is far better in every single way in my opinion. Better writing, better camera work, more engaging story, etc. The pacing is a bit slower and allows the story to breathe and let's you settle in. This episode features zero khonshu or moon knight and it didn't bother me at all, instead we really get to focus on Mark/Steven and Layla. It builds on the dynamic between the multiple personalities as well as both of their dynamics with Layla. That was a highlight for me. I think overall Layla really shined in this episode.

Going into this show we were basically told we were getting a darker, mind bending story & this episode finally delivered on that where in my opinion the prior episodes fully haven't. It was dark and creepy, and towards the end definitely mind bending. I loved the final part of this episode & admittedly I know very little about Moon Knight so I have no idea where this whole psych ward purgatory aspect is going but I'm very intrigued. It's weird, zany & uncommon amongst formulaic superhero stuff and therefore I think it's a calculated risk that so far is working.

Moon Knight: The Friendly Type (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

Why oh why

[5/10 · 16 April 2022]

I've started to notice a trend with the 6 episode MCU series. In my opinion the first 2 episodes of all of them have been pretty solid, laying a interesting foundation for what is to come. Then the 3rd episode comes along and stinks it all up. I thought the first episode of Moon Knight was great, I'd give it a 9/10 for being a really engaging, mysterious series premiere that won me over & invested me. The 2nd episode was a bit under it for me but still really interesting & gave further insight into all the main characters. This 3rd episode has me scratching my head.

This is of course my opinion, so if you don't agree with me and loved this that's great & I wish I was as easy to please but I guess I'm not. Firstly the editing/camera work on this episode was jarring. There is so much shaky cam, rapid unnecessary editing, and claustrophobic zoomed in shots. This episode was ugly with the exception of a few moments which makes the bad stuff look even more bad. I'll give you one example: when the thug at the beginning of the episode puts his knife on the ground and scrapes the ground with it there are multiple cuts just within that one motion, why not just have one steady shot of him doing that? You might think that's a nitpick but I care about movie/tv making & stuff like this is just so visually ugly and unnecessary. The cgi is once again fugly and I'm convinced we still haven't seen a practical moon knight suit yet. I believe Mr. Knight has been practical but not MK. I think one of the biggest reasons for this is the terrible, over saturated lighting that just really accentuates the CGI in all the worst ways.

This is one of those MCU show episodes where a lot happens without anything of great substance happening. The acting was stale from all of the secondary characters, especially the avatars of the egyptian gods. Speaking of that scene, the writing was laughably bad. What kind of a trial was that? "Hey this guy is doing evil stuff and trying to revive a wreckless god that wants to kill countless people", "ok well the evil guy just said you're crazy and full of it & we believe him so the trial is over sorry"....that's basically how it went....you're telling me realistically the avatars wouldn't go out & search for evidence or the dig site? Also why is Arthur Harrow given such leeway to be in this ancient chamber with gods? Ik he was an avatar himself but not anymore.

The action is bland and stale. I was hoping for Daredevil-esque action segments with visceral choreography that doesn't constantly use cuts and editing to cover things up but that's what we're getting. I don't think that Marvel Studios knows how to make engaging television, they should stick to movies because these shows are essentially long movies with the substance of a movie length stretttched out to fit a roughly 5 hour window.

The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022)

Look how they massacred my boy

[5/10 · 20 March 2022]

This show is the epitome of average. This is a show that takes absolutely zero creative risks and is far more concerned with digging up nostalgia & selling toys, then it is with showing any semblance of an engaging story. I know that this is Star Wars and SW has always been entertainment that can be enjoyed by all ages and demos of people, but that doesn't mean it has to be brain dead slop. Boba is worthless in this show. The man was a bounty hunter that Darth Vader had to remind to not be too brutal with his victims, but now he's a soft, passive old man that never does anything until the final episode. Boba wants to be a CRIME lord but isn't willing to get his hands dirty. All he ever says is "My name is Boba Fett" or something about respect. This show is delving into organized crime in a SW setting but never deviates from the mouse's PG family rating mandate enough to properly explore any of it. The dialogue segments in this show are stagnant & feel so shallow and mundane. It feels like cheap dialogue you would hear in between missions of a cheap RPG. The action is mostly disappointing and lacks any true weight or nuance. This show just looks and feels so cheap.

Quite literally the best part of the show is essentially The Mandalorian season 2.5!!

They bring in a character like Cad Bane at the very end and do nothing with him!

Any arcs or motifs you could possibly pick from this show are extremely paper thin & unengaging.

There's never simple moments where Boba just sits down and talks to his crew, or gives further insight into his character. Fennec Shand has nothing to do except conveniently give Boba his next piece of advice because Sleepy Joe, I mean Boba, isn't capable of doing his crime lord duties.

This is once again another botched Disney show that really only feels like it exists to build hype, feed off of our nostalgia and set up the next piece of the puzzle. Boba could've just stayed dead & he would've had the same impact as he did in this show. Crazy how Disney shills will just eat this up, just gobble it up like a fat girl at Golden Corral.

The Batman (2022)

Read it & Weep

[9/10 · 10 March 2022]

This movie has its flaws and is by no means perfect but I find it hilarious reading some of the reviews on here. Haters are relentless!

This movie is visually stunning. The cinematography and atmosphere of this project are first class. Gotham City is a perfect mix of gothic & modern architecture, dazzling neon signs, drab alleyways, all of it really.

This neo-noir film tells a fairly compelling story that has a lot of subtleties. Some people might not like this story because some of the character development & story beats aren't explicitly laid out for them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not without its plot holes, & there of course are some things that require you to suspend your disbelief, but that's all comic book movies.

The cast are all very good and Pattinson was an awesome Batman. Fight scenes were well choreographed/filmed. The score was powerful. I thought there was some funny, dry humor throughout. The movie was fairly well paced and didn't feel like 3 hours to me.

People don't seem to grasp the point of this movie and what it's set out to accomplish. Also, I've noticed a lot of talk about hating Rob and Matt's interpretation of Bruce Wayne. He's not the playboy philanthropist that we're all used to, but this movies starting with a young Bruce that I personally found to be realistic. A man willing to sacrifice his body, mind, etc., for his cause to dress up as a BAT & fight crime, to avenge the brutal murder of his parents, has to have some issues. Reeves is starting us out with a Bruce that is in a dark, confused place mentally & emotionally & doesn't care about keeping up appearances and being a member of his community. He's all in on Batman because his true identity is Batman. Throughout the course of the movie he gains perspective, not only as Batman, but as Bruce. He learns that his warpath of vengeance and rage is only imposing fear on not only his enemies but also the good citizens of Gotham. He learns that he needs to be more for his city. I can almost guarantee we'll see a more true to form Bruce in the next one. If you can't analyze the film and see this, or be open to it, then you don't know Batman!

People are so hard to please & aren't willing to be open-minded & use critical thinking, it's unfortunate.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Meh

[5/10 · 2 October 2021]

Ok movie...I didn't love the first and enjoyed this one a little better..felt kind of short and had pacing issues where certain elements drug just a bit too long and others felt rushed. There's a new character that doesn't really have any time to shine and is kinda corny & all of her scenes were just hard for me to enjoy. In general I think the dialogue is kinda weak and corny in this movie. This movie just didn't have enough character or heart for me & tried way too hard to be funny. Literally the best part of the movie is the post credits scene. Comic book movies are coming out literally every month currently so it's time to show some tough love & start holding these to a higher standard, in hopes that filmmakers will continue to push for innovation!

Squid Game (2021– )

Big Surprise hit of 2021

[8/10 · 1 October 2021]

I saw this while scrolling on Netflix and noticed it was trending on Twitter & such so I checked it out not fully knowing what to expect. This show is crazy....in a good way! Although some of the concepts and choices here have somewhat been done before it doesn't matter because I've never had an experience before, like I did with this show. Anytime a show/ movie can offer that experience it deserves recognition. Still not sure how to feel about the ending but this is definitely an awesome series. Also I would recommend watching this with the Korean dialogue and English subtitles, it feels more natural and you can hear the real actors performance this way.

Black Widow (2021)

Black Widow deserved better

[6/10 · 10 July 2021]

I love marvel and was really excited for this one. I thought it had a pretty strong intro but fell apart after that. The whole plot of the movie is kinda paced weird and feels like a bunch of incoherent, random scenes loosely strung together. A crazy incident will occur and then the next scene everything will be fine and there will be no commentary on said crazy incident. In my theater pretty much all the comedy was a miss, it felt like they were going for a darker tone in this movie, which I was down for, but they constantly cut it down with humor that just wasn't hitting. The action was jittery and janky, I expect better from a huge company like Marvel at this point. For example the fight between Red Guardian and Taskmaster in the trailer looked awesome, but in the movie they constantly cut to other characters and you never got to see just pure uninterrupted action. Actually you did but it was Fast and Furious 9 levels of ridiculousness. The villains are TERRIBLE. Taskmaster fans are going to hate the character in this movie, they seriously butchered that aspect. Florence Pugh and David Harbour are two of the newcomers and I would say the two brightest spots of the movie & of course it's awesome to see ScarJo taking on the Black Widow mantle one last time. This movie should have been made years ago and it should have been made by passionate people with a genuinely great story to tell, instead it feels like they're telling a generic story here because they HAD to. ScarJo deserved better..period.

Loki: The Nexus Event (2021) Season 1, Episode 4

MEH

[6/10 · 1 July 2021]

I was really excited to watch this episode as it was really hyped up and getting lots of praise. I just did not like it, I thought the first 2 episodes were great, third was decent, but this one is pretty meh. It felt like nothing happened until the end and I was shocked when the credits rolled because it did not feel like 43 minutes of substance. Yes the twist of mobius and Loki getting pruned was shocking, but it's the same issue I had with Last Jedi, where they are using cheap tricks like that for pure shock factor & that isn't good, instead they should build suspense. The timekeepers twist is interesting though. I'm not gonna lie I love marvel but I worry for it's future, I don't think that they're bringing in particularly great writers currently. Also that action scene in the time keepers chamber was laughably bad.

The Gentlemen (2019)

Pretty great film

[8/10 · 5 February 2020]

I went into this movie knowing relatively nothing, other than that this was a drug/gang-related movie & it had a great ensemble cast. I really enjoyed this movie, it was a fun ride with strong dialogue, great characters and memorable moments. It was my first Guy Ritchie film but I could certainly sense a unique style. This film doesn't "reinvent the wheel" or do anything revolutionary when it comes to crime films but it is a solid film and fun ride nonetheless.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Has its moment but ends up falling flat

[5/10 · 27 December 2019]

I want to start this off by saying I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and while I do feel these most recent Star Wars films aren't the best & could be vastly improved I'm also not going to be super toxic. I won't give it a 1/10 because there are maybe only a couple films that truly deserve a 1/10.

Anyways, on the surface this film is a large-scale blockbuster with lots of beautiful shots, great visuals, decent action and some alright humor throughout. It's when you go below the surface, however, that the cracks start to show. There are so many plot holes, 'McGuffins', new characters that do nothing, and a ton of exposition that all requires the film to move at break-neck speed and really doesn't allow you to settle in.

Once you think about the logic of certain choices in the film they make absolutely no sense. There are certain moments in this movie that seem to completely ignore the lore of the previous films. One of the biggest crimes with this new trilogy was that it wasn't completely thought out and made by the same group of writers and directors prior to Episode 7. Instead we had a train wreck of a trilogy that literally feels detached from one movie to the next.