Movie Reviews

Are You Ready Player One for Pop Culture the Movie?

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  • Title: Ready Player One
  • IMDb: link

Ready Player One movie reviewReady Player One is cotton candy, but it’s really good cotton candy. Based on Ernest Cline‘s 2011 book of the same name, the latest film from director Steven Spielberg takes us to the near future where life in the real world pales in comparison to the virtual reality of the OASIS where some go to play, some go to hide, and nearly all go to in order to avoid real life. Think of the OASIS as a virtual smorgasbord mashup of MMOs like World of Warcraft on steroids, mixed with every nostalgic 80s icon which can fit on a screen (and the film could get the rights for).

Following the death of the OASIS’ creator, there has been competition to decipher the clues left behind which promise the winner full control over the world’s most profitable enterprise. Our protagonist is lovable outsider Wade (Tye Sheridan) who goes by the handle Parzival. Not part of any clan, Parzival works with his best-friend Aech (Lena Waithe) to solve the riddles before the IOI corporation, led by the evil Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), can gain control of the OASIS.

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Giant Robots vs. Giant Robots vs. Monsters on the Pacific Rim

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  • Title: Pacific Rim: Uprising
  • IMDb: link

Pacific Rim: Uprising movie reviewI enjoyed 2013’s Pacific Rim as a throwaway action flick with sci-fi influences featuring robots fighting monsters, but aside from the possibility of having the robots fighting big-name threats like King Kong and Godzilla I wasn’t much interested in a sequel. Without director Guillermo del Toro, who is replaced here by Steven S. DeKnight, and returning stars only in supporting roles, Pacific Rim: Uprising has all the flaws of a bloated, over-complicated sequel trying to out-do the original. It also doesn’t help that the number of robot vs. robot scenes remind the viewer (painfully) of Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise.

Set a decade after the original film, the sequel centers around the never-before-mentioned son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) who is forced to re-enlist after trouble with the law. John Boyega works fine as Jake Pentecost, even if the script can never quite decide how disinterested or invested he should be in the Jaeger program. The sequel also plays fast and loose with the core concept of paired drifting being as much art as science by throwing pairs randomly together once the action gets fast and furious. Cailee Spaeny co-stars as a troubled but talented teen who also joins Jake in the program as part of a plea deal.

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Tomb Raider

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  • Title: Tomb Raider (2018)
  • IMDb: link

Tomb Raider (2018)Lara Croft is back. After the pair of financially successful (if pretty dumb) films starring Angelina Jolie in the early 2000s, the most famous video game archaeologist (sorry Mr. Jones) returns to the big screen. Because origin stories are all the rage, the latest Tomb Raider (following in the footsteps of the character’s more recent comic adventures) takes Lara back to the beginning to showcase how she became the world’s best tomb raider.

Alicia Vikander is a solid choice for a younger version of the character showcasing skills she hasn’t yet completely mastered. More grounded, with less emphasis on staging sequences for the sole reason to make her look cool, it’s certainly a more dramatic role that Jolie was given. The storyline, while taking a bit long to get going, is also better than either of the previous two movies as this time around Lara goes all Oliver Queen on a lost island where evil mercenaries hope to uncover a dangerous tomb. As an action film based on a video game Tomb Raider is surprisingly successful, even if, at times, certain sequences feel based more on questionable video-game logic than solid writing.

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A Wrinkle in Time

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  • Title: A Wrinkle in Time
  • IMDb: link

A Wrinkle in Time movie reviewI don’t know if writing the original story required heavy doses of LSD, but I have a hard time believing that there wasn’t some serious drug use putting this film together. Based on Madeleine L’Engle‘s 1962 novel of the same name, A Wrinkle in Time stars Storm Reid as troubled teenager who, along with her younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), heads of on a fantastical adventure with three total strangers (Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling) who inform the children that their missing father (Chris Pine) is alive, trapped in a far off world, and needs their help. Oh, and Meg’s classmate (Levi Miller), who isn’t really even a friend, comes along as well. Because why not?

The film’s strengths lie in its overabundance of CGI and young stars. While somewhat emotionally empty, the settings which Meg finds herself in are visually appealing (even if it appears there’s little actual thought put in to how things work). While the various adult actors appear to be having fun making a kid’s film, all the emotional weight is left for Reid to shoulder. And McCabe succeeds in jumping from quirky to downright creepy when required.

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Red Sparrow

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  • Title: Red Sparrow
  • IMDb: link

Red Sparrow movie review

Adapted from Jason Matthews‘ 2013 novel of the same name (which apparently “borrowed” heavily from Black Widow‘s comic history), and starring Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, Red Sparrow is a disappointment in every since of the word. This movie is B-A-D. A slow burn spy thriller, with jolts of quick-cut stylized action, plot holes big enough to drive the Death Star through, and sex scenes so laughable only Showgirls fans can truly appreciate them, the film is a complete waste of time for everyone involved. For the audience, it’s an excruciating, although sometimes laughably bad, experience.

We open with a career-ending injury for Russian prima ballerina Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) leading her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts) to ship her off to become a spy trained trained not in espionage, weapons, or spycraft, but only seduction. After a relatively short stay, Dominika is thrown into the field to seduce an American agent (Joel Edgerton) in hopes that he might give up the name of a mole within the Russian government. Of course our girl, with no real training, will out-fox both American and Russian spies to further her own agenda.

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