Movie reviews - March 2018

Here’s the next chunk from my IMDB ratings. It’s been over a year since my last set of reviews, so none of these are particularly new, but here goes anyway.

Warning - lots of stinkers in this bunch. 😱

• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 3/10 - I’m not a fan of most of the new DC movies or heroes (Wonder Woman being a notable exception), and I definitely don’t like Batfleck or Cavill as Superman. Really, aside from some cool visuals the only good part of this movie was Wonder Woman. I had to watch it, because comics, but I sure don’t have to again.
• Mad Max: Fury Road 4/10 - I understand why a lot of people liked the movie, but it seemed fairly ridiculous to me. The original Mad Max movies had an edge of reality, even when being silly, that this one blows too far past with over-the-top goofiness. The guitar guy is the epitome of this - just dumb. Gets points for good cinematography and Charlize Theron being a badass.
• Gods of Egypt 2/10 - Seems like an interesting premise. Is really not. Also bad acting and over-reliance on visual effects that were heavily stylized, over the top, and really just distracting.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens 6/10 - I’d say I’m a Star Wars fan, and I generally enjoyed this one, particularly Daisy Ridley’s Rey. But I’m very much not a fan of J J Abrams directing or writing style - the man does not understand the concept of subtlety at all, and there’s a lot of subtlety in doing Star Wars properly. He also tends to waaay overdo fanservice when picking up a popular franchise, as also seen here.
• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 4/10 - I didn’t have high hopes, my expectation was met. Evidence of this is I barely remember what this was about.
• The Prestige 5/10 - I perhaps made the mistake of reading this book (ok, listening to the audio book) before watching the movie. The book was interesting and weird and creepy and had a good twist. The movie was not a great translation of the story, and much of what I liked on the book did not make it into the plot of the movie. Entertaining, but could have been a lot better.
• Terminator Salvation 3/10 - I know I really didn’t like this movie, but the reasons didn’t stick with me. Probably mostly that it wasn’t really a Terminator movie per se (no robots traveled through time to destroy the past), just all set in the post-apocalyptic future. Also, I seem to remember the plot was real bad.
• Dracula Untold 6/10 - A fun alternative Dracula story, definitely had some issues with plot holes and not always great acting, but the vision was consistent and I enjoyed the story arc. Worth a watch if you like vampire stories.
• Warcraft 6/10 - My expectations were low, but it was actually not bad for a video game movie. The plot was nothing complicated and the ending telegraphed , but there were enjoyable characters and the visual effects were seamless.
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice 7/10 - Again, low expectations, well exceeded. I’m not always a fan of Nicolas Cage, and several of Jay Baruchel’s past roles have annoyed me. In this one they worked, and I really enjoyed the world and magic system. The plot is pretty predictable in many places and has a few holes, but generally I enjoyed this movie.

That’s it for now, I will try to do a post a month on movies until I get caught up…