The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Movie Review

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

There's nothing quite like a good sequel. From heartfelt love stories to high speed action romps, the second chapter in a film series can either make or break the franchise all together. Household blockbusters like Terminator and Aliens both made their names with sequels that not only matched the original, but surpassed them in terms of quality. Unfortunately however some sequels are often left in the shadow of their predecessor and are soon forgotten about. And while I would love to say the 5-year wait for the Lego Movie's highly anticipated sequel was worth it, all it did in the end was leave me wanting more and a little short changed. 

It seems that life has imitated art as five years after Emmott Brickowski was declared "special" and saves everyone from the end of the LEGO-verse, a new threat quickly arises in the form of invaders from outer space, leaving wreckage and devastation in their path. As they continue to battle over countless days and months, the invaders kidnap Emmott's friends, forcing him to venture to new planets and rescue his friends from imprisonment. One aspect a sequel should always nail is the story of our main protagonist and continue building the character in new and creative ways. While The LEGO Movie 2 does have a new adventure for Emmott to go on, his story arc more or less remains the same as the first film where he was trying to be the hero he wasn't perceived to be. Here he once again is portrayed as the underdog despite the fact he has proven himself to be the "special" in the previous movie. And yes in the end of the first movie, it was revealed that everyone can be "specials" but it's rarely shown only until the very end of the film as a convenient plot device. 

While it seems like the movie is offering nothing but nonsense, there is plenty of humour to be found in The Lego Movie 2. Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks reprise their roles as Emmott and Wyldstyle respectively and both do great jobs throughout. Pratt perfectly plays up his naive but loveable personality while Banks gives emotion and character depth to Wyldstyle who as stated is given a much deeper character arc with much of the movie focusing on her. All the side characters including Batman, Benny and UniKitty to name a few all return and are all given prominent roles during the film with most of the laughs being the result of their dialogue and interactions being the best thing about this movie. Most of the jokes throughout the movie manage to hit but unfortunately have been downgraded in terms of "cleverness". Although there are plenty of niche references for hardcore movie and pop culture fans, alot of the musical numbers and jokes have been simplified and while it was intentional, the songs quickly became annoying and not fun to listen to. 

I may be being a bit too harsh on a movie like this. The Lego Movie 2 is a movie made for a younger demographic and I'm clearly not the target audience. But that's ultimately what frustrated me about this sequel. It's not a bad movie, not even close. But the sheer enjoyment I had from the first movie was something that's not easily replicated in cinema today. It was a movie that could be enjoyed by all ages and although this movie to an extent is much of the same, the recycled character arcs and repetitive messages throughout made me realise this movie really didn't need to be made. Once again, I did enjoy this movie and thought it was fine but after waiting 5 years for it, it definitely wasn't what I expected and sadly, even wanted. 

OVERALL

6 / 10

What Men Want (2019) Movie Review

WHAT MEN WANT (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Gender-swapping in films is something that is far from a new idea in hollywood however in these current times, it seems that every new movie must give in to double standards and the idea of gender-swapping roles for the sake of 'newer audiences'. Director Adam Shankman's latest comedic endeavour What Men Want is the latest to follow in this repetitive trend though does put a clever spin on the idea in terms of the position the protagonist is put into but unfortunately is executed poorly.

When female sports agent Ali Davis is continually upstaged by her ego-driven co-workers and their 'boy's club', she falls into a miniature state of depression though is soon re-motivated after a physic accidentally imbues her with the power to read male's minds. Despite putting a unique spin on 2000 Mel Gibson film What Women Want, many plot holes and lazy story elements makes the movie a struggle to sit through and doesn't provide any reason to care for the characters and their problems as the movie slowly progresses and comes to it's all too predictable conclusion. 

While the story may be the movie's biggest let down, the comedy does provide a few decent chuckles here and there. However one or two decent jokes doesn't excuse the rest of the movie's humour seemingly relying solely on what one gender is thinking of ramped up to 11. That's not to say that the actors and actresses do a terrible job. Taraji Henson is the star of the movie in more ways than one as not only displays strong attributes as a business women but mixes it with phenomenal reactions and actually displays emotion towards the film's conclusion. Everyone else does fine for the most part and do their jobs averagely with no one besides the previously mentioned Henson. 

Believe me I wish there was more to say about What Men Want but ultimately it's not a movie that requires much thought process going into which is a real shame. With double standards becoming a key factor in what films get remade and reintroduced to younger audiences, it would have been nice to see a movie that subtilely addresses this long standing catalyst of controversy. Alas, we are given a movie that doesn't focuses too much on easy and cringe worth sexual jokes and not enough on standards in workplaces primarily surrounded by opposite genders. It could have been a new look into a problem that has been prevalent for a number of decades but ends up being just another comedy void of little to no effort. 

OVERALL

4 / 10

  

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Movie Review

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Ever since his debut comic in 1962, Spider-Man has continued to resinate with audiences of any age and remain a mainstream superhero for decades. Whether it be the message of never giving up or his quick-witted humour, these attributes and more have played a key factor in why Spider-Man is one of the most recognisable and beloved superheroes of all time. One constant has always been attributed to Spider-Man, the man behind the mask Peter Parker. Parker's human side and at times nerdish nature has made anyone relate to him. However this animated feature delves deeper into other characters behind the mask and shows that no one man, child or even swine can be a symbol of perseverance. 

After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Miles Morales, a teen struggling to adjust to his new school, must take up the mantle of Spider-Man. After coming across Peter Parker, Miles soon learns he is one of many Spider-Men that must save his dimension from a crisis that threatens the entire multiverse. One of the great things about this film is that while it introduces all these other Spider-Men, it never loses track on our main character in Miles Morales. Following him through his highest of highs and lowest of lows, Shameik Moore, the voice behind Miles, does a great job in expressing every kind of emotion a young superhero would be going through just through his voice. This is gradually shown throughout the movie as the film is perfectly passed never felt like dragging, and the visuals used are a key component behind this. 

Animated movies, for the most part, all seem to have a similar presentation in terms of the animation implemented. Spider-Verse on the other hand takes this concept and throws it to the side. Using it's visuals to not only engage the audience in even the most sombre moments but also manages to further the plot through these artistic scenes and use the idea of an animated, multiverse superhero film to it's full potential and shatters the glass ceiling placed by bland box office successes like Boss Baby wide open. Not only does the feature look beautiful but depending on whom you ask, the soundtrack does the exact same thing as the visuals did. And believe me, this is far from a bad thing. Using the urban surroundings of Brooklyn and combining that with artists like Post Malone, DJ Khalil and Swae Lee, it perfectly conveys to the audience what Miles is going through as his gradual growth from everyday school kid to his cities savour is one that is beautifully directed and produced. 

Overall, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a masterpiece. It's been years since a movie, let alone an animated one, has grabbed me as well as this did. Despite my knowledge of Spider-Man lore being basic at best, I like many others was able to enjoy this humorous and heart-felt masterpiece. Enough screen-time was given to each of the Spider-Men and each resinated with me, showing that no matter who is portraying the persona, anyone can be a hero. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favour and do so. Without question one of my favourite animated movies ever made. 

OVERALL

9 / 10

Captain Marvel (2019) Movie Review

CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

You know what they say, captain makes the controversy. Well..that's what people were saying prior to Captain Marvel's cinematic debut. Political and gender related strifes caused the latest addition to the Marvel cinematic universe to stir up countless amounts of disputes among fans. As a result, fans began to worry that the precursor to arguably the most anticipated movie in recent years would fall flat and leave little impact on the overbearing story as Captain Marvel is being built up to be a key player in the Avengers: Endgame. Now she's here. The latest heroine to brace the big screen and how does she do? Fine. Just fine. 

Taking place in the year 1995, our story begins with Vers as she is continually urged by her mentor and commander Yon-Rogg to keep her emotions and powers in check in order to prevail in battle against their planets long-standing rivals, the Skrulls. Following a rescue mission, Vers is soon abducted though manages to fight her way free from Skrull capture where she soon finds herself stranded on Earth where she unintentionally brings the war between these two alien races and begins learning more about her secretive past. As I said before, before arriving on Earth, the movie is extremely boring and written horribly. We are given little reason to care about either race in this supposed intergalactic war (at this point in the film) and even less of a reason to care about our main heroine Carol Danvers and her team of lazily built strike team members. That's not to say that the movie doesn't have glimmers of light in terms of story as mid way through the second act is when the movie starts to flow well. Relationships start being built, emotions are being portrayed and good plot points are being created. This is particularly done by the third act as there is a genuinely good swerve in the film which creates the potential for impeccable story-telling which is capitalised on safely and exceptionally. 

When more and more footage started being shown prior to the movie's release, many people were sceptical on Brie Larson's performance as Carol Danvers, which is where the seeds of criticism were planted. And unfortunately, the judgement was fair. Brie Larson as Captain Marvel for majority of the movie showed little emotion and I don't think this was Larson's fault. Some of the dialogue at the beginning and even towards the end of the film was just horrific and lacked little humour and human emotion to be the main character for a movie as important as Captain Marvel. And yes I do know she is a dead serious character in the comics but that shouldn't matter. Movies I have no quarrel with being different to the original source material but if you want to change the character in the way that won't upset fans, commit. Here Carol was shown to be almost bipolar as in one scene she is stoic and doesn't take humour lightly and in literally the following she is spouting jokes like an intoxicated college kid. Balance is a very important thing to keep in mind when making superhero movies, thats why films like Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy succeeded because their directors and writers knew how to blend drama with comedy well. But I've got to say that I would have hated this movie if it wasn't for the second and third acts, Captain Marvel would have been in shambles. With competent writing and focusing on the side characters more, these acts show why this movie both succeeded and failed at it's goal. Much of the screen time is given to side characters and all the best lines seem to go to characters who aren't our leads, particularly Maria who delivers a scene-stealing monologue.

Like I said before, Captain Marvel was never going to succeed in the same ways Iron Man or Batman did (and no, it's not because of their genders), it's because Carol Danvers simply isn't all that relatable. The movie goes for this mix of comedy and drama but ultimately gets pulled down with sub-par writing and acting which is either hit or miss depending on the dialogue Brie is given. Overall, I enjoyed Captain Marvel but I doubt I'll be revisiting it anytime soon. Also the 90's references, yeah they were pretty obnoxious.  

OVERALL

6 / 10

Green Book (2019) Movie Review

GREEN BOOK (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Before 2019, there were 91 films who earned the prestigious honour of being named the best. Now Peter Farrelly's cultural dramadey Green Book has been given the title of the 92nd Best Picture winner according to the academy. Since the Academy Awards inception back in 1929, it's fair to say that there have been a few controversial winners throughout the years. Whether it be 2006's Crash or even a film like 1994's Forrest Gump, the Academy has been criticised for picking some "interesting" winners with Green Book being the latest to join these apparently underserving films. 

Green Book follows the relationship between Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip as he takes a driver job tasked in transporting renowned African-American pianist Dr. Don Shirley through the American South during the 1960's. Alot of similarities between this film and a previous Best Picture have been pointed by many critics and regular movie-goers and while the initial plot does resemble that of Driving Miss Daisy, the overall story-arc as the film progresses strays further and further away from that of 1989 classic. The most notable difference being that the race roles are reversed with the African-American man being the one that needs chauffeuring which in tern creates a new dynamic as the number of people that confront Tony asking why the white man is driving around the coloured is quite confronting though for time these type of questions were in some way reasonable. 

  

It wouldn't be a fair review if I didn't bring up the controversy surrounding the film. For those unaware, Green Book has been chastised following it's Best Picture win as multiple sources who knew our two protagonists stated that the film doesn't depict key moments correctly as well as being ethnically incorrect in it's depiction of discrimination as many of their problems are easily solved, and caused, by the working-class New York based bouncer. Now that's not to say the movie is bad, far from it. Green Book may actually be one of my favourite films I've seen in quite some time as the movie is driven by our two leads Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali both of which were nominated for their phenomenal performances. From start to finish, the relationship built between the two is what kept me invested as while at the start Tony is just in this for the money and is shown to favour his culture, he gradually learns to care and become good friends with Dr. Shirley till they both succumb to fate months between each other. This of course is aided by the performances given, particularly Ali who is easily the stand out in the movie. Winning Best Supporting Actor for his role, Ali's range shown is something that can't be replicated. From picky to pleasant, his gradual journey is shown through his emotional state of being as he starts of solitary but soon shows emotions towards Tony and opens up about being African-American in a time like the 1960's. While done plenty of times before, the way this is portrayed in Green Book is one of the best depictions of discrimination seen in quite some time. 

While the film may divide many due to it being too safe and playing right into the Academy's hands, theres no denying the reason why Green Book was nominated in the first place. Because it's a great film. With superb acting from both leads and a pace that mixes drama and comedy swimmingly, Peter Farrelly appears to be back in his prime after many lows like Dumb and Dumber To and The Three Stooges. And if that's the case, thank you for making this. Sincerely, everyone.   

OVERALL

8 / 10