Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Did you know that the human body is home to a whole environment of bacteria and other organisms as a matter of its regular bio processes? I note this here to assure you, reader, that I enter into this review without any particular biases against symbiotic organisms that would affect my judgment of this film and its characters. So, there’s that in its favor. Also in the movie’s favor is a mildly funny script that keeps things moving while delivering just enough solid wisecracks—mostly in the voice of Venom the symbiotic alien—to push the proceedings up just high enough to merit a recommendation, if not a particular rave. Tom Hardy is fine as the much put-upon Eddie, Woody Harrelson performs solid if not spectacular work as the antagonist, while the women and minor supporting cast provide adequate effort in filling out the scenes. Mostly, this flick is about the gooey guys underneath, and the CGI star mostly makes the movie an entertaining experience, if a bit light on any feeling of real consequences. You do get the sense, though, that this story, even with its already jokey and unserious attitude, still missed a lot of opportunities to score some major points with even more outrageous humor and/or visuals. Still, it’s better than it might have been, especially as a sequel to a movie about a relatively minor character in the overarching universe. This one’s hardly a classic, but if you’re in the mood for a decent film with a relatively brief running time—at an hour and a half, it gets in and gets out before it ever has a chance to get tedious—this flick checks the boxes.

The Batman

It is a tribute to the quality of a creative work—or perhaps better to say, one seminal creative source—that it can continue to generate consistently solid material despite the vein having been mined so many times before. So with this movie. Here comes yet another new take on the most resilient of the comic book stories, a newly born avatar that comes across as fresh and, if not original, then at least as singular in its own take on the familiar tropes. Once again, DC's greatest intellectual property demonstrates how well the Dark Knight plays in an all-too-realistic setting--unlike the toys being sold by the guys on the other side of the book rack. This outing is gritty, dark, rough and honest in its contextualization of the guy in the cape as a symptom of a greater madness, a societal rot that can birth a hell on earth—one from which no hero, caped or otherwise, may be able to save us. The only flaws here are a slightly too-long running time, and a denouement that delivers a little less punch than expected (presumably, the one problem produces the other). Overall, though, this is an impressive entry in this venerable, seemingly ever(dark)green enterprise.

Black Panther

I detect a metaphor, one that relates to a similar metaphor that first showed itself in...Casablanca? For sure, this is a radically different movie from that earlier production, but there is at least one element that unites the two stories: the question of whether isolationism is or is not a practical policy in today's world. I can't say this film answers that question definitively; all I can say is it gives you something to think about. Indeed, the thinking parts of this movie are its strengths; the contemplative stuff works, and makes a lot of the nonsense a little more human. The action stuff is the usual hodgepodge, and at this point has grown unimpressive. This film certainly gets credit for being visually stylistic and impressive; there's good world-building here, in fine detail all over the screen. And overall, it remains entertaining and holds the interest throughout. But then again, I walked away from the movie appreciating it, but also feeling thankful that I didn't pay to watch it. So good, sure, but nothing close to the masterpiece it was made out to be.

War for the Planet of the Apes

There's never a moment when the humans are seen as the good guys here, and that's probably as much as anything else an emblem of the quality of this work. This franchise really is on a winning streak; it may be the best reboot out there, and here it delivers yet another entry that's not just an action extravaganza loaded with special effects, but also a drama that is at times as thoughtful as any Oscar-bait costume piece. And then again, the film is also admirably devoted to injecting a certain amount of comic relief throughout, too. And on top of that, there's the hoot of watching Woody Harrelson channeling Brando in a big way. (This movie wears its antecedents on its sleeve--not just the series' previous entries, but inspirations such as Apocalypse Now and even the Bible.) Plus the direction, art direction, and overarching imagination are terrific. Add to all that the continuing wonder that is Andy Serkis as a motion-capture actor, and you wind up with an excellent movie-watching experience. It's 'see good, hear good, speak good' with these monkeys.

Star Wars: Episode VIII -- The Last Jedi

The previous installment was a very "green" movie: lots of recycling. This one's more along the "reuse" lines; elements we've seen before come back at us again, but with just enough turns to show different facets and seem like something (almost) new. The viewer can even believe that something truly surprising is about to happen at more than one point in the proceedings, though it never really works out that way. And if the twist of the climactic scene is telegraphed...well, it's still a good bit of work anyway. You can say that very thing about this whole film: it's very strong conceptually, the execution is nearly flawless, and--most importantly--it is immensely entertaining throughout. Forceful indeed.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The most ridiculous thing about this movie? The copious amounts of rain that are supposed to be falling on parts of California throughout. Talk about fiction, science or otherwise. The biggest takeaway here may be the fact that Andy Serkis is a marvel; how he is able to convey as much emotion as he does through the medium of motion capture, acting while wearing a "CGI mask" so to speak, is simply remarkable. And that talent serves this film well; though there is some absurdity to the plot, especially in the beginning (a weakness shared with its predecessor), this flick delivers an engaging, entertaining story that actually comes with some suspense in its denouement. If they can keep improving on their previous effort, another outing in the franchise might not be a bad idea.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The movie is much like the featured primates: it starts off quite stupid, then it gets a boost midway through and starts looking smarter. It's hard to resist rolling one's eyes at the early parts of the film, especially the very paint-by-numbers plot points about corporate greed being the root of the evil (not that it doesn't ring true; it's just not very well presented here). There's also some character inconsistency that comes across as false and jarring as the story progresses; ironically, it's mostly the apes who stay true to character. And then you get plenty of good monkey mayhem towards the end. Satisfying, but definitely in the "leaves room for improvement" category.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Boy is this thing bloated. As if there were any doubt, this shows that this is a story that could easily have been told in one movie; perhaps a long movie, to get every rich detail, but one movie nevertheless. Instead, out of obvious and pure greed, the producers decided to stretch the thing out into three movies, mostly by stuffing into the proceedings every drop of backstory and subtext that could be mined from Tolkien’s original tale. The burdens of that approach are apparent: a great deal of expansion on the tangential concern about the Necromancer (Sauron, for those who only saw the previous movies), none of which matches the tone of the actual, by-the-book story at all. The resulting film is discordant and needlessly uneven. But, then again, there are moments of brilliance here: the Riddles in the Dark episode is flawlessly presented, and the (first) rescue by the eagles is an amazing sequence. There’s no point in denying yourself, if you’re a fan; go ahead and watch this flick (and the upcoming two). Just don’t reward the greed by spending a dime on it; get the disc from the damn library.

The Prestige

Magic movies always have some appeal; there's built-in intrigue, you might say. Add to that a director as good as Christopher Nolan, and a fine cast led by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, and you've got a very likable movie, filled with strong performances, clever (but not too clever) twists, and just a dollop of humbug. It isn't quite as good as the contemporaneous, vaguely similar film The Illusionist, but it's worth it in its own right.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

They got it mostly right, veering off from the hard and true only in little, forgivable touches. Most impressive of all, the spectacle never really overwhelms the "human" story; the emotions are present and true. A bang up way to end a three-year-long, wild and exciting ride.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

That PURR is perilously close to a MEOW. The movie still rates as a positive viewing experience, with brilliant visualizations, impressive scenery and composition, eye-catching battle scenes, wonderfully strong characters--including the astounding presentation of Sméagol-Gollum--and some very nice allegorical touches (I particularly dig the "Nature fighting back" undercurrent of the Ent storyline). Despite all of those pluses, there are a number of divergences from the written story which are distracting and disappointing; unlike in TFOTR, where the differences are more "complimentary," filling in the gaps in the narrative, this movie's alterations fundamentally change several characters and their motivations, uniformly for the worse. It's still a good movie, but it comes alarmingly close to being less than its potential.