flicklover

This film was the summer blockbuster I was the most excited fir this year. The hype started last year with the teaser trailer. I am not a diehard comic book fan but Superman has always been my favorite superhero. The 1978 film is still my favorite and in my opinion Christopher Reeves will always be the best representation of the character. But, I haven't liked a Superman film in a long time. I was not a fan of the Snyder version. I liked Superman Returns but there has been a really good Superman film in a very long time. My expectations fir this new film were very high.

What I can say is that I am fan fan of James Gunn but I was worried that his peculiar sense of humor would make it too much like Guardians of the Galaxy or Suicide Squad. That he would lean in too much to comedy. And there is some comedy, alot of it misses but there are some good laughs in the film but James Gunn doesn't go overboard. His humor does kind of undermine some of the more rousing moments and I could have done without it. Also, even though I appreciated that we didn't get an origin story we get thrust into this film without a chance to get used to David Corenswet as Superman. I would have appreciated a little time to get a little time with him as the character. Corenswet is really good as both Clark and Superman. He is definitely given more to do than just fly around which is good. Another problem I have is that it feels to much like a setup film for the new DCU. There are the addition of the Metahumans, the Justice Gang. Guy Gardner / Green Lantern, Mister Terrific and Hawkgirl. They are mostly there for comedic relief and something that I didn't like is that Superman gets his butt kicked more in this film that any other of the other films. His yellow heros actually succeed more than he does. Because there are so many characters in the film you don't get to know any of them. Rachel Brosnahan is good as Lois Lane and she has good chemistry with Corenswet but there is nothing we learn about her. Also, the film dorsnt know what to do with Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. He's good in the film but he goes from being over the top funny ti sounding like an evil.petulabt child. The performance is all over the place. Even though the film is over 2 hours I feel it needed 15 to 20 minutes more to flesh some of the characters a little bit.

Ultimately, I had a good time. But did it meet or exceed my expectations? No. I really wanted to love this film. But I just liked it. I will most likely see it again to see if my initial reaction sticks. I really like it but would have preferred the film to focus more on Superman/Clark Kent than to be a kickoff to the new DCU.

But it's the best Superman film since Superman 2.

Grade: B.

The Mission Impossible franchise is one that defied the odds in the sense that it got better as each sequel came. At least since Mission Impossible 3. There are some spectacular films in this franchise that rank among the best action films of all time.

Even though I think Fallout is the best film in this series I really liked Dead Reckoning. It was a very tight, fun film with really good character moments from the supporting cast. It was like Final Reckoning, it's almost 3 hours long but it was beautifully paced andbhad some great action.

When it comes to Final Reckoning. It is about 5 minutes longer than Dead Reckoning but this film feels longer. I think that this new film falls into the pitfalls of so many final chapters that it needs to be di.big, so memorable that it almost collapses under its own weight. It is of course supposed to be Dead Reckoning Part 2 but it was decided to call it The Final Reckoning. The story is the resolution of what was started in the previous film but as that film set up the stakes this film spends almost an reminding the views of the last film as if the writers couldn't assume you've seen it. It never boring but that first hour spends si much time rehashing stakes thatalit of the scenes seem repetitive. Some of the great dialogue and banter between Tom Cruise and his co stars is reduced to exposition so the dialogue is not as interesting this time. There are some emotional beats that do land but so e scenes feel unnecessary. There also some retvons that were obviously put there to rule the whole series together that work.but are also unnecessary.

But then there is the action. It has become of course part of this series to expect spectacular action with Tom Cruise risking his life with doing his own spectacular stunts. In this the film does not disappoint. There are two action scenes in this film that are jaw dropping. Tim Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie have come up with sequences that put most CGI heavy action films these days to shame.

Is this film the best in series? No. But it is a very solid entry. Supposedly the lady? We'll see but even though it's not the best and it could have used a shorter runtime which would have helped with pace. But it does deliver a great time in a movie theater.

Grade:B.

I went into The Woman in the Yard completely blind. I had never seen a trailer. Didn't notice any buzz at all but I knew it was the latest from the Blumhouse horror factory. From the start I felt that this film would be a good looking, compently made film. One of things that didn't like us that it was PG-13. Nothing against the rating but it's a killer in horror. But I tried to give it a chance. It's a simple story that deals with grief and be sure it falls under horror it has a slow burn, 3rd act revelation structure but it did not wprkjnat all for me. It's about a mother who has lost her husband and is left to raise her 2 kids alone. The film deals with her trying to cope with a physical injury but most of all with her grief in losing her husband. The film qualifies as horror but it really fails in being scary, disturbing or even involving. The story is supposed to deal with loss and pain but I never felt fir the characters enough to truly be involved in the story. This is the type of film that you have to care about what happens to the family. I really didn't. The actors are fine but the script is too superficial to really flesh out any of the characters.

The Woman in the Yard has no real tension. No sense of dread. No real scares.

Bad horror film.

Grade: D.