yellowmarlin

Sadly, this underwhelming popcorn flick is not the fresh start that the DCEU was hoping for. Some decent performances from Corenswet and Brosnahan are not enough to elevate this movie above mediocre, as they are buried under an avalanche of unlikeable characters, a dreadful storyline, a cartoonish tone and an over-reliance on computer generated imagery. Almost every single supporting character that Metropolis has ever seen is thrown at the screen here in the desperate hope that one or two might stick. An unexpected highlight is Edi Gathegi's Mr Terrific, portrayed with appropriate levels of arrogance. And Krypto, obviously.

One of the worst movies that I have sat through the entirety of in many years. Having never played the video game, I make no comment as to how well the movie adaptation translated the characters and story to the big screen. Certainly, it is no longer a given that video game adaptations will flop but this one does. The characters (with one shining exception) are two-dimensional and the talented cast are simply going through the motions, although it sounds like Jack Black might have had more fun making this movie than I had watching it. The single diamond in the rough is Ariana Greenblatt's character Tiny Tina. She is unhinged fun with a cute aesthetic.

I didn't enjoy Inside Out when it first came out and I still couldn't warm to it when I rewatched it yesterday. The sequel, however, is a considerable improvement, right from the start. The new emotions are all well conceived (Envy and Embarrassment are particularly good) and add a welcome layer of subtlety and complexity, although Anxiety does tend to dominate. Riley's brainscape is also better developed, with the addition of a belief system, while the story itself is much less of a mess than in the first one. It does a great job of exploring the chaotic soup of teenage emotions and hormonal angst that puberty is.