Tag Archives: 2019

Movies or shows released in 2019.

TV Show Reviews

The Mandalorian Review – Season 1 – This is (definitely) the way

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This review is based on the first season of The Mandalorian, some spoilers might be involved.

Something almost unthinkable happened – we’ve finally gotten a live (read, not animated) Star Wars TV show! And it only took (checks watches for some reason) 42 years! Was it worth the wait…?

Yes. I mean, I am not in the business of writing click-baits. It was.

The Mandalorian made some pretty bold choices right from the start – taking place after the original trilogy, but way before the new sequel trilogy, so we shouldn’t be seeing any familiar faces any time soon, they made the main character a guy who (almost) never takes off his helmet, and throughout the 8 episodes, plenty of things are hinted at (the way things are after the fall of the Empire, how the Guild works, what/who exactly “The Child” is) but so far, almost no explanations. But you know what? I’m fine with that.

Let’s leave the creators to build the world for now, as after the entire first season, I trust them. Don’t expect every episode to action packed, as there are some, but not all. This is more like your typical spaghetti western – slow(ish) build up, with hell of payoff. Mainly the last two episodes were not only action packed, but really well done, introducing (hopefully) a crucial villain (all hail Giancarlo Esposito, the king of bad guys, I was so happy seeing him here) for the series, showing some really cool action scenes, surprisingly funny moments… there’s plenty to like.

I need to talk about “The Child” – no, you know what, let’s call him by his real, internet name, Baby Yoda. That was not only brilliant strategy not to involve him in any marketing for this show, but make an actual puppet instead of CGI. It really works well and adds an extra layer of not only realness, but also cuteness. Yes, I openly admit that Baby Yoda is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time and I’m not even ashamed.

Who really surprised me in this was Gina Carano. I’ve seen her in couple of movies, and thought she was decent, but she’s definitely improved as an actress. I thought she’s definitely done a great job and I really hope to see her in future seasons.

The main reason I appreciate The Mandalorian as much, is this could’ve easily been turned into something else, something the fans were more aware of, with some familiar looking faces, or about familiar looking places/events in the Star Wars universe. And as of yet, they didn’t really do the “fan service” thing, where you feel something is on the screen just because the creators KNEW it will please the audience, get an applause, or something like that. Everything felt natural, in their place and story flew smoothly, without any major “distractions” or hiccups.

So why am I not going the full 5* you might ask, but “only” 4.5*? I’m leaving that for the following seasons (we are getting AT LEAST 2 more) as this was a great introduction to a world we’ve not been to yet, it worked and fulfilled its purpose. Now comes the harder part – delivering on the standard, expanding on the world, establishing all the rules within that universe, explaining a thing or two… but I have faith in Jon Favreau the modern day George Lucas (I might write an article about him, as I don’t think people realise how much he’s shaped the culture we live in over the past 20 years or so) so I’m almost certain after the second season, it will be the highest rating.

I have spoken.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

And that’s all for The Mandalorian! Did you see it? How did you like it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Aladdin (2019) Review – Genie Actually

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In order for you to understand what I mean by the “Genie Actually” comment, let me talk about the original Aladdin (1992) movie first.

We all know today, that the original is a decent movie, that’s made “above-its-pay-grade” amazing by Robin Williams and him only. His stand-up comedy persona was perfect fit for the role of Genie, and he managed “to steal” this movie without going overboard and even though he’s the best thing about the movie, you still remember Aladdin, princess Jasmine, Jafar and others, because it’s not just about the Genie. And that is the most fascinating thing about the original film, even though we all love Genie, he’s not there THAT much, so we can focus on the main story with Aladdin and also see both of them bond and develop friendship throughout, where we can see Genie actually caring about Aladdin, whether he lives or dies, whether he gets Jasmine or not.

While watching this movie, I was entertained enough, Will Smith actually did a good job, but there was something I couldn’t get over, something I couldn’t put my finger on. And then it happened – the party scene, where Genie talks to Aladdin and says:

Oh, well, you gonna need to go back to the room, then. You’re not messing up my night.

That was the moment, where a tiny light bulb appeared above my head, turned itself on with a pretty cool sound effect and it all clicked (does this happen to anybody else btw, or should I see a doctor about that…?) – this isn’t Aladdin movie. Sure, it’s named Aladdin, and it pretends to be about him, but the main star is Will Smith. Ever since he appears on the screen, he doesn’t seem to go away, and makes himself focus of most of the scenes. And when your movie shifts focus like that, you kind of notice, as it halts everything else. Suddenly, I’ve noticed how because of the movie focusing more on him trying to steal the movie, we don’t really have the bonding experience like in the original movie, so when the “drowning” scene comes along, it almost feels unearned for Genie to save Aladdin.

Nobody will ever recreate that magic from the original movie, not because it’s something that genius, or because Robin Williams is sadly not with us anymore, but because they didn’t plan to have Genie “steal” the movie the way he had! Even though they recognised what they had with Robin’s unique performance, they didn’t go overboard with it, so as amazing as his portrayal of Genie was, he was still the supporting character. This movie feels split, as ever since Will-Genie comes into it, he overtakes the entire movie. And it becomes quite tiring after a while, as Will Smith is funny, but not “balls-to-the-walls” funny. Also, just noticed something else supporting my theory about him being the main star – go and look at the movie’s posters with multiple characters – whose head is the biggest on all of them? Who stands out the most? I know he’s the most “profitable” star in this movie, but still…

Other than that the movie improved on nothing, they gave princess Jasmine one song about empowerment (which I actually quite liked) but her character is almost identical to the one from the original movie. Naomi Scott tried her best though and I’m hopeful and excited to see her in more movies going forward.

One last thing – all due respect to Marwan Kenzari, (the new Jafar) but he wasn’t menacing at all – don’t know whether it was his choice, or maybe Guy Ritchie (yes, it’s directed by Guy Ritchie, I mean, why? How? What?) told him to tone it down, but he definitely seemed to be a “downgrade” from the original, as his animated counterpart was much more menacing.

Overall, Aladdin is a slightly better than average movie, bringing (almost) nothing new to the story and making over 1 billion worldwide at the box office. Wonder how long will this work for Disney with these live action remakes…

Rating: 3 out of 5.

That’s all for this fancy-schmancy rendition of Aladdin! What did you think? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Dumbo (2019) Review – The blandest Burton, ever

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If I were to tell you, you are about to watch a movie starring Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Alan Arkin, and that movie is directed by no other than Tim Burton, you’d be pretty excited, right? Well, I was…

I wasn’t even expecting that much, to tell you the truth. I was hoping for a nice, simple story about a cute, tiny elephant, with big ears and the ability to fly. Sprinkle some Burton magic dust into it, make it more dream like, and surely you can’t miss, can you…?

Well, Dumbo felt like a… robot. It felts nicely polished, it felt modern, all the actors named above were fine (Michael Keaton might’ve been too cartoony towards the end, and I wasn’t convinced with Colin Farrell’s accent, as he sometimes sounded like a parody) and the CGI was alright, detailed… but so, so lifeless. And that “lifelessness” somehow pierced the entire movie, where there is almost never a dull moment, but it all just feels bland, with no stakes.

Just to prevent any confusion about me being biased, I didn’t grow up watching the original Dumbo (1941), I’ve only seen it this year (2020) for the very first time, so this isn’t me being “harsh” towards this movie because they’ve remade something I grew up with, not at all.

For the entirety of Dumbo, I was asking myself one question: Why would you hire somebody like Tim Burton, an artist who’s “handwriting” is usually all over his movies, where whether you like the films or not, they feel like Tim Burton made them, just not allow him to do it here? Because that is my main complain – this could’ve been directed by any Joe Smith and the movie would’ve looked exactly the same, nothing would’ve been lost. I can only question whether it was Disney who kept Burton on a leash, or whether it was Tim who didn’t want to go all in…? It makes no sense to me at all.

In unrelated news, Nico Parker (daughter of Thandie Newton) seems to have talent and charm after her mum, so I’ll be watching her with interest, hoping there is a new talent on the horizon.

Sorry, if this review feels bland, but I find it hard to write something not bland about this movie, where everything is alright, and nothing stands out. I’d rather have Burton who shoots for the moon and misses, than Burton who seems to have checked out before the digital camera had batteries in.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

That’s all for Dumbo! What did you think? Did you grow up with the original? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Review – The End of the (Skywalker) Saga

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It’s impossible for me to discuss this film without jumping into spoiler territory straightaway, so…

The following WILL contain spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker!

So, Palps is back. Cool. Except, what..? How…? And mainly… WHAT!?!??!

This is where the new trilogy stumbles for a bit for me. Don’t get me wrong, mainly the ending will probably hit you in the feels, but the two main plot twists of this movie feel rushed and really disjointed from the other two movies.

If this was truly studio’s and J.J.’s goal from the very beginning, why not give us some clues on the way? Why couldn’t we hear the message that was available through… I can’t believe what I’m about to write… Fortnite event (video below for the unaware) half way through the Episode VIII? Or maybe at the very end, just imagine this, before the end, where they have each other and hope, suddenly, we hear Palpatine with this message, credits start to roll. That’d at least establish him being back a bit more, it would give us, the fans, time to make peace with this fact and start talking how and why is he back and it wouldn’t feel as rushed!

Need to see it to believe it…

Because that’s how The Rise of Skywalker feels like – after the massive divide the previous movie managed to do, it feels like something like this happened at Disney’s headquarters:

Disney’s BigHead: (Sitting angrily behind his desk, with a suspicious white powder mountain in front of him) “Fuck, people are pissed! Quick, who can we bring back to be main villain, especially now since we’ve killed Snoke?“

Young, unpaid intern: (Speaks really sheepishly, almost can’t be heard): “Maybe Palpatine?“

Disney’s BigHead: (Yells, half confused, half excited starts snorting the suspicious white powder mountain:) “WHAT?!“

Young, unpaid intern: (Speaks not as sheepishly anymore): “You know, Palpatine? People seem to like him and last time I’ve checked, Ian McDiarmid is still around.”

Disney’s BigHead: (Continues yelling, while the suspicious white powder mountain in front of him slowly starts disappearing:) “Didn’t we kill him back in 1983? I swear to God, fuck off before I-“

Young, unpaid intern: (Interrupts bravely, voice slightly quivering): “He was the ultimate evil, you know. We can explain it like that. Or that he was a clone, or maybe-“

Disney’s BigHead: (Interrupts intern’s interruption, yelling, the suspicious white powder mountain has completely gone:) “Fuck it, that will have to do, we have a date we need to stick to no matter what! Give me J.J.!“

Just for legality sake, I DO NOT CLAIM THIS HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED. (One can never be too careful these days).

That’s how the Palpatine revelation felt like to me – and this is why when I re-watched all the Star Wars movie, it struck me that even the prequels, no matter their weaknesses, knew where they are going. This trilogy seems like there was a battle between J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson and I just wish no matter who’d win, they’d given them the complete control of the entire trilogy.

I’d rather have a trilogy that where:

  • Rian is doing brand new things, he would do something completely different for all 3 movies. He’d subvert all the expectations, we would have a trilogy that’s really unique and feels fresh. I’m not saying that would make it great, but at least it’d be consistent throughout.
  • Is J.J. doing what I call “solid, but I’ve seen this before” things. Again, I’m not saying it would fix everything or all 3 movies would be great, but they’d be consistent tone wise, and presumable most people would be satisfied.

It also would be great if somebody had actually spent some time on planning and planting clues about potential big bad coming back and also, the fact the main heroine is… his granddaughter.

Yes, let’s talk about Rey being Palpatine’s family. If you make peace with Palps being back, it does make sense, in a really twisted way and also doesn’t undermine any characters from previous 2 movies (like when Kylo Ren told Rey in The Last Jedi her parents were nobody, he was technically right). But again, how cool would it be if we had some breadcrumbs throughout the last two movies, that could’ve led us to this, even without Palpatine being there? How cool would it be if we could re-watch the entire new trilogy now, and pick up on tiny details where we could say “Oh yeah, they WERE setting it up from the very beginning!”

Sometimes it feels like people in charge of big Hollywood studios should only stay in charge for maximum of 5 years, as there seems to be a disconnect between the studios and moviegoers about what constitutes “a great movie”, let alone “a great movie trilogy”. It’s almost like there is a confusion about what people actually enjoy, what people want from movies, and what do the studios think we want/enjoy. We don’t need twists (especially if they don’t make sense, or you need to read a comic book or watch a YouTube video for a video game to understand why is something happening), we don’t need characters, who’ve been dead for almost 40 years in a movie franchise, to come back for one last hurrah! Just hire creative, young(ish) people who haven’t been part of the same company for as long as others, so they can still see things as fans, from fresh perspective and deliver us a great story with beginning, middle and end.

I apologise if this review doesn’t really give you a much about The Rise of Skywalker, but it’s hard for me to talk about why this movie doesn’t connect with me fully, without mentioning its place in this trilogy. Because on its own, I still liked it, very much. It’s still Star Wars, so I do have a soft spot for it, the ending where we see all the ships coming against the First Order gave me chills, Rey fighting Palpatine alone and alongside “turned” Kylo was also great, her hearing all the Jedi’s who now live through her… The pieces are great! The movie as a whole doesn’t work as well I am afraid.

Is this movie bad? I would say no, it’s still worth seeing. Does this movie completes the sequel trilogy? Barely, because it has to. As many people (rightly) pointed out, the first 40 minutes or so feel like a game speed run, where we NEED to get places fast, to propel the plot where we need it, ASAP! But dammit, it still has some great scenes.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

That’s all for the last of the “Skywalker Saga”? What did you think? Did you like the way the sage ended? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) Review – I choose you, Ryan Reynolds!

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This movie could’ve been a disaster. Movies based on video games tend not to be great, and adaptations of different animes also don’t seem to win plenty of fans over. But somehow, Pokémon Detective Pikachu manages to not only be watchable, but also fun(ish)?

Let’s face it, it has something to do with Ryan Reynolds and his “performance” as Pikachu, where somehow it just works for him to be this big, yellow, ball of fluff and sarcasm.

This movie is not GREAT by any means, but I don’t think you will regret watching it either. It’s a good movie for the entire family, where if you grew up with the original Pokémon TV show, you might rate this slightly higher. Even now, while writing this review I’m not sure how I will rate this movie.

On one hand, it’s a nice, clean, family movie, with pleasant run time, good casting and pretty good mystery. I also liked what they’ve done with Mewtwo. On the other hand, the true Pokémon fans will probably be disappointed we didn’t get to see any proper battle, the obvious bad guy was fairly obvious from the very beginning and now, a mere day later, I can only recall one pretty good sequence that stood out (not going to spoil it, let’s just say really, really big Pokémons might have something to do with that).

It’s also a never good sign where you’re trying to write a review for a movie and struggling to come up with anything, as the movie isn’t great, but it also isn’t terrible, it just IS.

I feel like given everything I’ve said, I now know how I’m going to rate this film, but I need to stress out, I was surprised by this film, as I’ve expected this to be way, way worse than this. If you’re looking for something decent to watch, you might like Pokémon Detective Pikachu, just don’t expect anything more from it than a decent movie with really cute and fluffy Pikachu, voiced by the always reliable (at least over the past 5/6 years) Ryan Reynolds.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

That’s all for this one? What did you think? Do you think there will be a sequel? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

The World According to Jeff Goldblum (2019) – Review

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Rated and reviewed after watching the entirety of the first season.

Jeff Goldblum has had an interesting carrier – from being in one of the biggest/most influential movies of all time (not talking about Cats & Dogs, but yes, he’s there) – Jurassic Park – to being mostly supporting actor throughout the years and, speculatively, if it wasn’t for Thor: Ragnarok it might’ve stayed like that.

We are now living in the age of Jeff, THE JEFF and that’s just a fact. It seems that now, more and more people are discovering his weirdness and can actually relate to him, in some sort of fascinating way. Which to me is all kinds of strange, as he is by all accounts unconventional dude and pretty comfortable with that.

And Disney was really clever to notice that and take advantage of it. And it seems to have paid off. Or did it?

Look, I wasn’t part of the discussions, but I am pretty certain even the biggest optimist at Disney didn’t think “Let’s give the JEFF a TV show, that will definitely draw crowds of people!” But they did it anyway as they knew, that it will never be the main selling point of Disney+. Jeff Goldblum will always be a side dish, supporting actor. And for any other actors, that’d be an insult. But not for him. Because his entire life, he’s perfected his art of being the best supporting actor there could be, to maintain his status of “every movie I’m in, I’ll make sure I do my very best and support everybody around me to the best of my abilities”.

That is why The World According to Jeff Goldblum worked for me. It is a show where Jeff takes you throughout USA to learn about denim, coffee, BBQ, swimming pools, etc., but it never becomes boring or tedious, because of him and his enthusiasm for… everything. You can tell he’s one of those people who live by the saying “every day is a gift and you should enjoy it” and it never comes across as fake or scripted. And I believe that is why more and more people do relate to Jeff nowadays, because of his authenticity.

The fact each episode is roughly 30 minutes helps this show massively as it’s not dragging on, and on a occasion where the main topic of the episode might not be as interesting (Jewelry) you still end up watching it, because there is something about Jeff and his way of presenting a TV show that in almost any other “hands” would be mainly about THAT celebrity doing things. As much as it sounds weird, this doesn’t feel like that at all. Jeff is just so down to earth, with almost no ego, you soon forget he’s an actor and could be doing movies instead of this “tiny” show, but he doesn’t see it that way, and neither should you.

By asking “is THIS particular TV show worth paying for yet ANOTHER streaming service?”, you are doing a disservice to yourself. Because it’s a wrong question to ask. This is a superb side dish, something extra you didn’t expect, like when in a restaurant you get a complimentary fries – that’s awesome!

This is it for me – really solid, side dish, where I’m more than curious for its second season and where will Jeff Goldblum take us next.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

That’s it for this one, what did you think? Do you like the Goldblum-mania, or do you wish it would stop already? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke