The Blog
This blog will be all about film reviews. I'm going to be watching a lot of movies, writing reviews, and hopefully not spoiling any movies you plan to watch.
Director: Ron Howard
Verdict: Thumbs Up Solo: A Star Wars Story is the second out of time Star Wars movie produced by Disney which follows Han Solo as he grows and becomes the famed pilot he is. Though there were some moments that I did not totally agree with and I could never quite get over the difference in voices between Harrison Ford and Aiden Ehrenreich, the movie was the first Star Wars film that felt like one since the end of the first trilogy that feels like it was from that time. The story is centered around Han Solo as he comes of age. He is aiming for two goals, to find and rescue his childhood love and to have his own ship, as he believes he is the best pilot in the galaxy. In an attempt to escape with his love, Qi'ra, Han manages to sneak through a transport depot but Qi'ra is caught. In anger, Solo enlists in the Imperial Navy in hopes of becoming a pilot. Three years on and he is in the infantry, having failed flight school for being to free thinking. He catches a group of soldiers planning on deserting but they rat him out and he is nearly killed by a Wookie, Chewbacca. He befriends Chewbacca and the two manage to get on board with the deserts, led by Tobias Beckett. After a failed attempt to steal expensive coaxium, a hyperspace fuel, the group is brought aboard a Red Dawn ship. Red Dawn had contracted Beckett to steal the coaxium. Aboard the ship, Han reunites with Qi'ra, who is now a high up official in Red Dawn. They agree to find another supply of coaxium and all set out to Kessel. Along the way, they stop and gamble with Lando to get his ship but Lando cheats, defeating Han. Lando owns the Millennium Falcon and agrees to go for a cut of the profit. In Kessel, they obtain unrefined coaxium which has to be kept cold or it will explode. Flying as fast as possible, the group manages to make it to a remote refinery where the coaxium is refined. As they prepare to deliver it to Red Dawn, a terrorist group, the Cloud Riders intercepts them and pleads that they don't help Red Dawn, who terrorize worlds. The Red Dawn ship arrives and Han, Chewy, and Qi'ra attempt to trick the captain but Beckett gives them away. In the ensuing fight, Beckett escapes with the coaxium, Han goes after him, and Qi'ra kills the captain and becomes the new leader of Red Dawn. She reports to Darth Maul what has accorded and she leaves Han. Han confronts and kills Beckett, who admires him in his final moments and tells him to go to Tatooine. Han and Chewy find Lando and defeat him at cards, winning the Millennium Falcon. The story of the infamous Kessel Run is one of Star Wars lore. It was the obvious choice. The plot was intriguing and kept you guessing as to what was coming next. By having only three characters that we knew had to survive, it allowed for some controlled peril. However, I have one pet peeve that I will never be able to get over. When movies openly show that there is going to be a sequel or a franchise, it annoys me to NO end. This happened in Blade Runner 2049 and it completely killed the mode for me. Star Wars: A New Hope was done very well and allowed the movie to end and have no sequels or to have sequels. Rogue One could have been a great stand alone movie. Just like A New Hope, it leaves open the possibility for sequels without openly saying there will be. But the addition of Darth Maul and the dialogue around his short appearance made it so painfully obvious that there would be more movies. I have no problem with more movies, but I wish that directors and writers could find more nuanced ways of doing this. However, apart from this, I was all in on the plot. It was intriguing and fast paced and never once made me check what time it was. It had me all in. The casting was...interesting. The characters all seemed very well suited to the actors, as though the actors had been pre-chosen and the characters molded around them. Han was obviously the most prominent character and, with this being the first time someone else played Han, he was always going to be under a microscope. It was always going to be weird trying to match Han's looks, voice, and attitude. Aiden got the attitude almost perfectly. He was a little bit less cocky than Ford. I felt like Aiden's cockiness was too tinted with humor. His voice was also a bit weird adjusting to. While Ford has a nice, deep, soothing voice, Ehrenreich's is higher. However, by the end of the movie, I was sold on him as Solo. He isn't perfect but he is still a great fit and has the confidence to play the part well. However, I have to give top marks to Lando above all else. Donald Grover IS Lando Calrissian. I even knew there was going to be a Solo movie, I thought they should do a movie about a young Lando and I thought Grover should play him. Like how Ryan Reynolds IS Deadpool, Grover IS Calrissian. This movie was so nearly perfect for me. It had so many things right and only a few things wrong. I loved it.
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Director(s): The Russo Brothers
Verdict: Thumbs Up Finally, a movie that so nearly did what I wish happened more often. Infinity War focuses on the struggle between the Avengers and Thanos, who is trying to commit mass genocide (yaaaayyyyyy). Infinity War starts out with a shock as Thanos, having obtained two of the six Infinity Stones, kills Loki in the midst of his attempt to kill Thanos. From here, Infinity War jumps around between various groups of Avengers and Thanos as they fight each other over the fate of the Universe. Towards the end of the movie, the Avengers seem to have defeated Thanos. They had destroyed his army attack Wakanda and Vision, who had the last remaining Infinity Stone, had survived numerous attempts on his life. However, with victory looking assured, Thanos arrives having defeated Spiderman, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Peter Quill. He makes light work of the remaining Averngers and approaches Vision who has convinced Scarlet Witch to destroy the Infinity Stone, and in doing so, killing him. She succeeds just as Thanos seems poised to take it. Thanos, not accepting the feat, merely uses the Time stone to reverse time, and take the stone. In one last dash attempt, Thor throws his new ax, which lodges in Thanos' chest. As Thor gloats over his victory, Thanos laughes and snaps his fingers. People being to fade into nothing and many Avengers die. The movie ends with Thanos, looking as though he is in retirement, living with peace in his conscience. OKAY so I have a small problem with movies. SOOOOOO many times, the good guys win and the bad guys lose. And like, it makes sense but I wish there was more variety. So recently the only film that comes to mind that does this was the Amazon film The Wall. This war film was very different and ended with the good guys losing and the bad guy winning and I remember it left me with a very weird feeling. Infinity War so nearly does this. With many Avengers dying (along with half the universe), and Thanos looking to have won, it should have given me a similar feeling. However, I guess that knowing there would be other movies with these same characters and another Avengers movie and a seemingly obvious solution to the genocide, I didn't quite get the same feeling. Had the Avengers movies been a straight trilogy and the ending modified a bit, I think it would've satisfied that itch but this is the wrong movie movie series for that. The movie itself was pretty good. I didn't really enjoy how much it jumped around, but that is my only main complaint. It was just a good, entertaining movie and not a lot stood out to me. The music was nothing special, so nothing special I can't even remember what it was. The cinematography was very good and I am a sucker for good, bright colors. Overall, pretty good. Thumbs up. |
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June 2018
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