Justice League Review

Justice League is an entertaining mess of a movie. This movie is about Batman and Wonder Woman who must assemble the Justice League in order to face a world-ending threat. It's a well-known fact that this movie went through trouble behind the scenes. Director Zack Snyder had to step away due to a tragedy and Joss Whedon came in to do massive reshoots. Due to these reshoots, the editing in this movie can be very choppy at times and the CGI is occasionally really bad. However, there are still a lot of positives to this movie. Ben Affleck remains a great Batman however his character isn't as strong here as it was in BVS. Gal Gadot is still the perfect choice to play Wonder Woman and she is easily one of best parts of the movie.  Newcomer Ray Fisher gave a good performance as Cyborg. However, his character underused.  Jason Momoa gave a great performance as Aquaman and had plenty of standout moments. However, my favorite part of this movie was Ezra Millers Flash. He stole the movie for me in every scene he was in.  The action sequences in this movie are fun but there's no sense of danger ever.  Overall, Justice League is a fun, but flawed mess of a movie that I still really enjoyed watching.

8/10

Coco Review

Coco is a good movie with a horrible message for kids. This movie is about a young boy, Miguel, who wants to be a musician against his parent's wishes. Through a series of events, he finds himself in the land of the dead and must find his way home. As usual for Pixar, everyone in the voice cast gave a great performance. Special mention goes to Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel. Especially for a child actor, he did a fantastic job. I really loved his relationship with a stray dog named Dante. The animation is top notch and stunning. However, I never found myself getting invested in this story as I wanted. This is mainly due to the movie’s awful message that I cannot say due to spoilers. However, especially for me, it really hurt my enjoyment. Also, this movie is shockingly light on humor. The jokes were few and far between. For an animated movie targeted at kids, I cannot recommend this to young kids due to the movie’s surprisingly dark tone and awful message. At 109 minutes there is also a surprising amount of pacing issues. Despite all of this, due to some standout sequences and beautiful animation, I still enjoyed Coco. Overall, I do recommend Coco with the warning that this is not an all-ages movie.

As for the Frozen short that played in front of the movie, other than a few decent jokes, it was really bad and way too long.

Frozen Short 4/10

Coco 7/10

The Star Review

The Star is a charming innocent Christmas movie that I really enjoyed. This movie is about a small, but brave donkey and his animal friends who must save the first Christmas. This movie has a huge voice cast who all did great jobs. Steven Yeun gave a great performance as Bo the Donkey. Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi were both really good as Mary and Joseph. However, the standout was easily Keegan-Michael Key as Dave the Dove. He was hilarious and had so many great moments. To my shock, there were some surprisingly emotional moments in this film. For a lower budgeted movie, the animation was still beautiful. At a short 86 minutes the movie moves at a decent pace, although it does slow down at parts.  Overall, The Star is great family Christmas movie, especially if you have young kids.

7/10

Murder on the Orient Express Review

Murder on the Orient Express was a fun, suspenseful murder mystery. However, it is not without its flaws. This movie is based on the Agatha Christie’s novel about strangers and a detective stranded on a train after a murder strikes. It is a race against time to catch the killer before he strikes again. Kenneth Branagh directs this movie excellently. He is also fantastic as the lead detective trying to solve the mystery. This is an incredibly stacked cast including people such as Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Judi Dench, and Johnny Depp. The entire cast does a great job although no one stands out. However, I felt that was intentional to make sure to hide the killer’s identity. This movie looks fantastic. All the sets, costumes and special effects are awards-worthy. At 114 minutes the movie moves at a decent pace. My main flaw with this movie is the second act. It starts to drag at parts and could've been shortened. As for the mystery itself, I never solved it before the movie wanted me to which kept me constantly interested in what was happening. Overall, Murder on the Orient Express is a great mystery thriller despite a slow second act.

8/10

Daddy's Home 2 Review

Daddy's Home 2 despite a weak start still manages to entertain throughout.  This movie is about two dads who must deal with their intrusive fathers during the holidays. If you enjoyed the first Daddy's Home movie, then you'll enjoy this sequel. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell gave good performances and their chemistry is fantastic. Linda Cardellini also gave a good performance as Ferrell's wife.  John Lithgow was hilarious as Ferrell's dad. He has several laugh out loud moments. However, Mel Gibson as Wahlberg's father stole the entire film. His character had me laughing non-stop. At 1 hour 40 minutes the movie begins slowly but picks up over time. Overall, Daddy's Home 2 is a fun albeit flawed film for fans of the original film or the cast.

7.5/10

P.S. There is a Post Credits Scene.

Thor Ragnarok Review

Thor Ragnarok is a blast from start to finish. However, it is not without its flaws. This movie is about the continuing adventures of Thor in the MCU as this time he must face Hella, the goddess of death. This movie is absolutely hysterical throughout.  Chris Hemsworth gives his best performance yet as Thor. Mark Ruffalo as always gives a fantastic performance as the Hulk. Jeff Goldblum is a blast to watch as the crazy Grandmaster. Tessa Thompson was a great addition to the cast and I cannot wait to see more of her character. As always, Tom Hiddleston's, Loki steals the entire movie from everyone. Cate Blanchett gave a serviceable performance as Hella. However, her character is severely underdeveloped and her scenes hurt the film’s fast pace. Director Taika Waititi whose character, Korg, is absolutely hilarious also did a fantastic job directing this movie. The action is well shot and entertaining to watch. At 2 hours 10 minutes this movie flies by rarely slowing down. Overall, Thor Ragnarok, despite having a weak villain, is a hilarious action-packed movie that I highly recommend.

9.5/10

P.S. There are TWO post-credit scenes. Make sure you stay for both.

A Bad Moms Christmas Review

A Bad Moms Christmas started off hilarious. However, while the laughs slowed down it remained a fun time overall. This movie is about overworked moms Amy, Kiki, and Carla who rebel against the challenges of Christmas. If creating the perfect holiday was not hard enough, they'll have to do it while hosting their own mothers. I enjoyed the first Bad Moms for what it was, but it was nothing great. Mila Kunis continues to impress me as an actress. Her performance as Amy was great. Kristen Bell can be very hit or miss for me, but I found her character, Kiki, very likable and funny. Kathryn Hahn as Carla annoyed me in the first movie, but this time her character was really funny.  The moms are played by Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines and Susan Sarandon. The standout is easily Susan Sarandon as Carla's mom. She stole many scenes in the movie. The first 40 mins of this movie had me crying with laughter. After that, the laughs slowed down, but there were still plenty of laughs to be had. At 104 minutes the movie moves at a decent pace, but lagged a little in the middle. Overall A Bad Moms Christmas was a fun Christmas comedy with likable characters and some hilarious moments.

7/10

Suburbicon Review

Suburbicon was a good movie that had potential to be great. I actually really enjoyed the first 25 minutes of this movie. Sadly after this point, all the movie’s surprises were shown in the trailer. Matt Damon, as always, gave a great performance even when he's playing a super unlikeable character. Julianne Moore, while she does a decent job, there was just something odd about her performance that kept taking me out of the movie. Oscar Isaac, is great but very underused in a small role. The best performance in this movie comes from newcomer Noah Jupe. Any scenes involving him are the highlights of the movie. The script written by the Coens’ has plenty of potential, but was tampered with by director George Clooney. As for the directing itself, it is serviceable but never anything special. As this movie went on, the story just got less and less interesting. At 1 hour and 44 minutes, this movie dragged a lot and felt way too long. Overall Suburbicon was a good movie that could have been great with some simple fixes.

6/10