Skaigear

Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight, is the sixth movie in the polarizing Transformers franchise. As a rare fan of the movies, I understand the trepidation people may have, but to me the first three films were great movies and still holds a special place in my heart (the last two however were completely horrendous and unnecessary). Needless to say, having the chance to see not just a new entry to the series, but one that is a throwback to better days earlier than anyone else made me super excited. The film takes the franchise back to the basics and feels very much like a remake of Transformers 1 but without the Michael Bay-ism that had the fan base much maligned. Gone are the lens flares, gratuitous female body shots and incomprehensible metal clanking action scenes. The new movie smartly knows the concept of addition via subtraction by streamlining everything; reducing the number of Transformers characters to four and focusing the heart of the story solely on Hailee Steinfeld and Bumblebee.

The Last Knight almost made me walked out because the movie's over the top action scenes just became a chore to watch after a while. I am proud to report this new movie does not have the same chaotic shaky cam or quick cuts explosions, instead Knight favors visibility of the combatants in shots and allowing the audience to see what is going on. Yes, you can actually tell who is who this time! By far the best and most memorable thing in Bumblebee is that opening scene in Cybertron. It was fantastic and spectacularly faithful! Everything from the look of the planet to the robot designs and the choreography of the battle perfectly captures the original animated Transformers movie. Elongate that scene into a feature length film and that might just be the Transformers movie fans have been clamoring for. I also applaud Travis Knight for finally be able to make the robots feel like living breathing creatures, unlike the previous movies where they were a penny short from being soulless CGI with spotty voiceover.

While there is a lot to like about the film, I cannot go on without mentioning some major flaws. My number one problem is this feels all way too familiar. The story is once again a kid needs a car, the kid finds the car who reveals itself to be Bumblebee and kid gets entangled with an ancient alien robot war. Transformers 1 with Shia LaBeouf is still very good movie that still holds up today, so I do not understand the need to retread the plot without a big shakeup. Hailee Steinfeld who plays Charlie is always a delight to watch as I loved her work since True Grit, but she has already played this role of the destructive, misunderstood, angsty teenager in The Edge of Seventeen before. Do we really need to see her repeat the performance again? Seeing Bumblebee as a talkative, sarcastic badass in the beginning and then seeing him cower in the corner like a child because the script demanded it was strange and jarring. I wish they had kept Bumblebee's voice as we the audience have already seen the cute and mute Bumblebee from the previous movies. This was a massive missed opportunity that could have separated itself from the first movie just a little bit more.

Thankfully no racial stereotype robots exist in the movie (still love Revenge of the Fallen), some parts of Bumblebee felt like they were lifted straight out of a Disney Channel Original Movie, in particular any scenes involving John Cena who chews the scenery while pretending he is auditioning for The Pacifier 2. The cinematography does not help the Disney Channel Original Movie argument because outside of action scenes and some gorgeous exterior shots of the San Francisco Bay, the move looked rather pedestrian and flat. The music also was not at all memorable and the iconic Transformers theme from the Bay movies is sorely noticed and missed.

Overall, Bumblebee is a step-up from Age of Extinction and The Last Knight with its simplification of plot, characters and action scenes, but its attempt of retreading Transformers 1 makes the film predictable and by-the-number. It is a still fun and enjoyable movie outside of problems I mentioned, so I would definitely recommend this to most people, even if it is just for the Cybertron scene alone.

Halloween is directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Danny McBride. It is the 11th movie of the significant horror franchise, which is by far my favorite of all the horror franchises. The first Halloween and each subsequent follow ups all hold a place, some more special than others, in my heart, yes, even Season of the Witch and the Rob Zombie movies. But this entry is something else entirely. Not only to me is it the best Halloween sequel, I also believe it is the best Halloween movie, the best slasher movie and one of the best horror movies of all time. Period.

The movie takes place 40 years after the original movie, ignoring all sequels in between. While this is not the first time they have done that, in fact this is the fourth alternate timeline in the series, this time however I believe they got it right. In a storyline reminiscent to Halloween H20, the main difference being instead of having Laurie Strode running away from her past, this time she is prepared for it, as the 40 years past has her spent honing her battle skills to ready herself for Michael's impending return.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode here gives a terrific performance that is rare among horror movies; more akin to a serious drama. Curtis is believable and nuanced, allowing the film to ground itself into a level of realism, divorcing itself from the goof and lunacy from earlier entries like The Curse of Michael Myers and Resurrection. Curtis is the backbone of the film and without her giving it 110 percent, the movie could have faltered and not worked at all.

Thanks to the grounded performances and direction, Michael Myers this time around feels much more menacing. Since the victims he kills feel way less like cannon fodders like in typical slasher movies, the overall tone of the character is darker and more mean-spirited. While still having some slasher tropes, the characters in the film feel more real than ever, so when scary moments hit, I genuinely wanted them to survive, but only for my heart to sink, when they bite the dust in the bloodiest, most disgusting, brutal way.

Michael Myers is a horror icon, but he has not been frightening since the original. As the series went on, he became a generic masked killer at best and laughable at worst. The reason for that is because the sequels simply do not know how to frame him. Ask yourself what makes someone scary? Absolutely not when you explain away his curse with Thorn and turn him into a hitman for a cult, or recount his white trash family backstory. None of that. Here he is just a highly resilient, deranged man, who lacks morals and empathy, and preys on one of mans' primal fears - at any moment someone can break into your house and murder you for no reason and with no remorse.

The best scene of the movie is a tracking shot where we follow Michael through the neighborhood, breaking into people's houses and murdering them in the grisliest way. The camera, the tension, the lighting, the kills all make it one of the best horror scenes of recent memory. And the final showdown between Laurie and Michael was cathartic and satisfying, having been built up throughout the entire film.

As for negatives, I kind of wished they show more of the holiday of Halloween. Yes, we get a Halloween dance and background scenes of children trick or treating, but something the past movies did absolutely right was capturing the spirit of the holiday that I felt this movie kind of just skimmed through. I wanted more walks through the autumn foliage and perhaps even a scene at a costume shop would have been appreciated.

With Laurie and Michael both working as characters for their different respective reasons, the rest of the technical aspect of the film is equally brilliant. The writing, directing and music (of which John Carpenter returned for) are all top-notch. Halloween 2018 is the best movie of the series for me, topping even the original because of the much more menacing nature of Michael Myers. The movie is a slash far above the rest of horror movies of the same vein. Halloween will satisfy those who are looking for a fun, jump scare-filled movie, as well as those who are looking for intense, arthouse horror.

Happy Death Day is a horror slasher movie directed by Christopher B. Landon. What if you have multiple lives and the chance to solve your own murder mystery? College sorority girl, Tree wakes up in a stranger's bed after a night of hard partying. She has a headache, does not know where she is, leaves dorm room, goes about her day encountering numerous people whom she interacts with, and then at night she is murdered by a masked killer. But there is no light at the end of the tunnel however, instead the very next moment Tree wakes up in the same stranger's bed to relive the same day over again. This concept has been done before, the last notable one being Edge of Tomorrow, but this time instead of aliens, we get a slasher. I find the movie in general to be very enjoyable. It was surprisingly fun and effective, with the right balance of humor, scares and character development.

The best thing about the movie besides the awesome concept is definitely how funny and light-hearted it was. Most of the humor stems from Tree knowing exactly what is going to happen each cycle, much to bewilderment of her surrounding characters. The concept, even though it is not new, is refreshing to see it being applied to a teen horror film. It is fascinating to witness Tree experiencing the same thing over and over again but with all previous knowledge intact and seeing how she learns and grows as a person. In the beginning she is mean and terrible and just the biggest jerk to everyone, but by the end of the film, she more than softens up. Jessica Rothe as Tree was multi- faceted; she was sassy, funny, courageous and sympathetic in her portrayal.

The mystery of the killer's identity is another part of the fun. The film introduces a bunch of characters in the first loop, many whom are red herrings for the audience to suspect. In the end I failed to guess who the killer was since the film deployed multiple misdirection to make sure the secret is preserved. All the characters are very entertaining and it felt like I was an active participant in the uncovering of the mystery. One character I particularly liked was Carter, the schoolmate of whose room Tree wakes up in. Their romance was something I could easily cling on thus by default, the heart of the film.

While the killer reveal was surprising, the more I thought about it the more it does not really make sense. The killer would have had ample chances to kill Tree thus his/her master plan just seemed very unnecessary by the end. The PG-13 rating also did the movie no justice as it felt like a handcuff of what they could have displayed. Horror films, especially slashers should be given the liberty of showing maximum violence, and in that respect Happy Death was a little bit on the dry side. Although the buildups were suspenseful and the jump scares effective, with one catching me pretty good, the movie was not terribly scary.

Overall Happy Death Day is a pretty enjoyable horror flick with an interesting concept and a very good performance from the lead actress. I was not bored for even a second because of how fun it was. Yes, it is absolutely implausible, bonkers and silly, but if you are looking for some cheap thrills and a reason to crack a smile, Happy Death Day does its job pretty darn well.