Change Your Image
ICMooVees
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Blue Beetle (2023)
Impossible Suspended Belief
Pros: The family focus is good, always a pleasure to see that. Enjoyed that there was no LGBTQ agenda forced into the viewers eyes unlike other schlock movies. Decent effects.
Cons: Suspended belief can't work all the time. How can a family know how to work complex controls, weapons and computers like experts having NEVER seen them before and take on legions of highly trained mercenaries successfully battling their way through the film?!
Cliches and tropes permeate the film constantly. Boy gets powered suit, can't control it, but it does battle on his behalf regardless. Power mad relative (main villain - ha ha) wants to control business built by another relative-thought-dead and bullies a benevolent relative who teams against her with the protagonist. Main villain's prime henchman experiences moral change and drags villain into seemingly suicide/death redemption. And actually, there is no "big-bad" villain at all. Just a kid coping with a powered suit that sometimes listens to his commands. Luckily, I saw this for free, not even worth a dime.
The Marvels (2023)
As Un-Marvelous as can be
Listen, many of us have watched the MCU films and have learned that there needs to be a cohesiveness and strong villain that drives the movie. Following that thought, every good superhero movie is really more about the villain and the follow-on hero growth/action arcs that result from confronting and besting said villain. Zoom out on the early Avengers movies and you can see all that displayed because of Thanos. Some MCU movies do that better than others, and even a few DC movies nick it as well. Others fail miserably such as Ant Man Quantum thing, Shazam 1& 2 (crap big time), and WW 2 But this, this hunk of junk excuse for a movie, OMG! There were sooo many cringy scenes, biggest was the singing/dancing people! I think that was jammed in to give this schlock movie some sort of Indian/Bollwood flavor/nod because of that cringy Kamala Khan and family. UGG! This movie truly lacks any appeal. No one could even care about the villain or the vastly over used cats-eating-people to save them during a space station evac that didn't even need to be evacuated. That effect was cute and kinda jump-scary in the first move but should've stayed there. If you want a 3-second overview: It's a movie about people switching places, cats that eat people, and a lady that steals air, water, and sun. Trust me. You will regret paying to watch this. That's the whole story. No twist endings. It adds nothing to the MCU timeline and could be/should be the death-knell for Capt Marvel. It's worthless and completely forgettable. For a spot-on review, go watch the Critical Drinkers YT review. MCU needs to come up with something much, much better to save itself. I can only think that something along the lines of a Fantastic Four reboot with a Silver Surfer and a PROPER Galactus representation and arc could put the MCU back at the top. This Marvels dreck needs to be sunk into the Sun, never to return. Go away now.
Halloween Kills (2021)
Halloween kills us all
This was (another) totally trope-ridden useless entry in the Halloween slasher series that does nothing to enhance the characters or move the Halloween Universe in any tangible direction. The whole movie came off as a stuck-in-the-mud/spin-the-wheels seen-it-once seen-it-a-thousand times regurge of every other Halloween movie. The bloody knives, MM jump scare, MM invulnerability to knives/bullets/beatings/etc. Really not sure where else they can take this property to as it all has been done over and over and over and over. I gave it 2 stars for some semi-imaginative killings. But the nigh-invulnerable, silent, knife wielding killer is soooo out of gas. So what can Halloween Ends do? Low expectations but hopefully it ends, and not soon enough.
Santa's Slay (2005)
Dreck the Halls
Not sure how this was actually made into a film. An inane script was written and presented to a committee and somehow got greenlighted, cast members gathered, FX teams assembled, and what was born is a mess of nonsense that must make place this at the top of junk films lists far and wide. It's hard to believe that money, energy and efforts were exerted to produce such awful junk, yet here we are. It is so bad that you might catch a brief laugh at one or two of the antics, but then hate yourself (like I did) for actually watching this to the end, if only to see just how bad the totality of it could be. I totally get it that not every movie needs some redeeming value, but this dreck managed to beat Catwoman to the bottom-of-the-barrel. Ugh...
Guns Akimbo (2019)
Guns Akimbo and a Bimbo
With some wild gun fights, gore, bullet tracing, heavy profanities and a female lead that apes the insanity of Harley Quinn, this was mildly entertaining.
Kind of fun if you don't expect more from it than a bratty, gore-soaked sci-fi/action black comedy about a shy gamer who learns to stop worrying and accept that he's part of an online community full of desensitized players and bloodthirsty trolls. Immediately forgettable if not to remember that Harry Potter was the lead.
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Hope this is the Last Level
J:WTTJ had good magic to it and presented a solid continuation off of the original -Fresh idea to be pulled into the game instead of "our" world, multiple characters and use of avatars (just like those good ol' games), nice twist of putting players into those avatars making for some good comedy, good character impetus development which the adventure makes use of to help them work out their hang-ups and resolve, some nice homage paid to Alan Parrish, and a good wrap up/closure ending. This mess is a trope-ridden casserole struggling to have all of those ingredients tossed in, shaken, and splashed into a pan hoping that something edible would come out. They reheated everything they could - the hippo, jack blacks quasi-homo deliveries, the now-useless Seaplane character, need-a-clue-get-the-clue-go-quest-for-the-villain-beat-up-baddies-get-the-gem-go-home, and added worse ingredients like the repetitive and irrelevant switching of bodies, animal communication(!!??), along with the whole milo/eddie thing dragged on though out. And I think worse of all was using the same core characters again (Spencer, etc) when their story was already told and came to a nice closure last time. I think a better direction would have been using a new team having new/different life challenges to be fleshed out and resolved by going into Jumanji. That would've been a good concept/meaning to have sequels based on. Obviously this was fast-tracked because of the enormous bank the previous one did and out came this mess.
Dracula (2020)
Blah Blah Blah
Loved the first episode. Excellent deep dive into Drac's castle, Harker's's story and experience meeting the Count. Love the way Drac was old and became younger as Harker aged. Excellent flashback story telling with the nuns. And really liked the final encounter with Drac at the nunnery. Will watch episode 2 and update. Hopefully the subsequent episodes won't be as as bad as what the other reviewers say.
Doom: Annihilation (2019)
Doomed
Not much else to say other than what the other reviewers have posted in truth. This is a clinic on what a movie should not be. As a matter of fact, one would be hard pressed to find a more worthless movie than this drivel. No wonder Netflix scooped this up so quickly. Even worse than some of those 1950's sci-fi dumpster flicks.You have been warned...
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
The next major MCU hero
After the Infinity War/Endgame events which contained the passing and dispersing of the heroes, after watching this there can be no doubt that Spider-man is going to be the next major MCU hero to carry the torch forward for the franchise. This was such a good movie with so much great content to unpack. And I would have to agree with another IMDB reviewer who cited his favorite scene as follows: "When Peter is behaving very Stark-like in his manipulation of the suit-designing tech (in the jet) and Happy lingers for a moment as he notices the similarity."
The challenge of making comic books come to life on the big screen takes a significant amount of insight and depth, mainly due to the nature of what a comic book is. A comic book is made up of panels (visuals and dialog) and it is up to the readers interpretation and imagination to "fill in the blanks" to kind of make a movie within their own minds. I believe that is the beauty and draw (no pun intended) of comic books. And it is with that challenge that makes for well-received and therefore successful super hero movies. And it is probably why some just bomb. Poor DC just can't cut it. While a few gems shine (WW and Aquaman for example), the rest seem to sputter and fail, which is somewhat surprising and sad since there is also a great wealth of DC material to draw upon that also have legendary characters. How could a JLA, Batman or Superman movie fail?
The MCU team continues to make great movies that have deep content, great writing, striking visuals, and casting actors who capture and convey the essence of what Marvel comic book reader/geeks expect. While not every MCU movie is a total home run they are still enjoyable and integral to the MCU and make for some great movie experiences. My kids love them.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Monster smashing - people hashing
There is a great challenge to get the size, proportion and perspective of humans, buildings, etc. to fit well within a screen at the same time as giant creatures or robots (Pacific Rim). And I think it is capturing that perspective and realism on the screen that makes such movies a good draw and success. G:KoM does accomplish that very well. And with the latest in CGI it gets better each time. Just like PR, there is so much eye-candy to be enjoyed such as the surface detail of the titans and the related choreography of the combatants. I've watched, I believe, nearly every giant monster movie. And given the budgets, era's of production with the available special FX of the times, quite a few are very enjoyable while some are just laughable junk. While this was a great movie, it did suffer a bit from the human drama distractions and plot lines. Otherwise if your are a fan like me, this is a must-see on the big screen!
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)
Worthless Movie
Can't say enough how truly banal and trope-ridden this movie was. Every silly cliche and kids-scary-movie ala scooby doo trope was included in a mashup of cheap CGI "monsters". "Haunted" house - check. Phony spider webs-covering-furnitures - check. Fog every where - check. "Possessed" and animated ventriloquist doll - check. Cheesy supporting cast of creature/monsters coming "alive" in a store- check. Use of "magic" - check. Shot on a residential block with goofy lighting and paint - check.
Just a real waste of time that would have caused you to scream if you would have paid to watch in a theater. I'm sure there's worse but this is about as bottom of the barrel as can be. Perhaps can hold the attention of an 8 year old for a little while. You should get a medal if you can make it to the end. I warned you...
Errementari (2017)
Rare Netflix Gem - watch it
This is a rare Netflix gem worth watching. In brief, excellent story line, characters, and special effects enough to make for an enjoyable movie with emotional connections and traditional elements.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Valerian was like valium
Wife and I had high expectations especially after seeing the previews played before a few movies we attended. Turned out to be the typical bait that is often used to lure people to a so-so movie by showing just the few cool bits in a quick montage. Fortunately we escaped the loss of paying to see this in the theater box and caught this on Amazon prime, and boy were we glad...
The movie's first 20 minutes or so were really cool..they showed a timeline of handshakes in space first between Americans and other earth nations on board early space stations in a spirit of unity and moves forward though a series of progressive handshakes among visiting peaceful aliens. This progressed over many years and evolved into a large space station that becomes a conglomerate of aliens, ships and technology, becoming so big that it needs to be pushed out into interstellar space. Within this very large conglomerate we learn that all of these participating aliens along with the humans pool their knowledge and resources together to peacefully coexist. The aliens and the conglomerate looked really cool and shows some great imagination, and the CGI needed to pull it off looked great as well. So far so good...
Next we are taken to a planet to see what looks to be a primitive race (similar to Avatar) of beach and surf loving aliens living an idyllic life until some damaged alien craft comes crashing down upon them ending their paradise...
Still kind of cool so far.
The scene cuts to the hero Valerian, who awakes from a dream state where it seems that the whole alien beach scene was a dream he had. We are also crudely introduced to his bikini clad partner, and the movie plummets. There's a whole virtual reality scene that plays out as a vehicle to jump start their mission of retrieving a box/cage that contains a "last one of its kind" creature. This is followed by some scenes that flip between VR and not, and then followed by an awkwardly constructed chase scene. There's some mumbo jumbo dialog between Valerian and his partner about love, and then between them and the F Troop-like space military about their mission. Then comes another dunce moment where we are fed an unbearably clunky stretch of the film involving Rihanna as a shapeshifting and bizarrely (not in the good way) wisecracking burlesque performer, who agrees to help Valerian infiltrate a cadre of alien goons who are holding his partner captive. This culminates when they escape down a garbage chute in a way that destroys any semblance to that famous star wars scene, and Rihanna escapes out of this clunker in a too-long death scene uttering some useless last breath dialog about love that Valerian and partner could obviously care less about. Yeeshhh....
Somehow the movie starts to wrap up by trying to connect the dots from Valerians vision of the primitive beach lovers who somehow!?! escaped their doomed planet, learned advanced technology, and managed to make their way onto the space station to recapture the lost/stolen/whatever "last of its kind" native creature. The last scenes contain some mishmosh between the space military, their of-little-use-though-ominous looking robot guards and the beach aliens as Valerian and his squeeze exchange some vapid love vows among the shooting. The military realizes that it was wrong to try to wipe out the beach loving aliens, the beach aliens head off into space perhaps to colonize a new planet, and the two lovebirds live happily ever after...or whatever...
Incredibles 2 (2018)
Not so Incredible pt 2
There are those that think that some movies should be "stand-alone" and not to be anchored with a sequel. It's a tough concept to subscribe to when, after all, a movie does some serious bank because of it's contributing factors such as originality, story, character development, special FX, etc., etc. I am not a gigantic movie buff, but if I reflected enough, I'm sure I can come with several as such. On the other hand, there are many sequels that equal or surpass the first, perhaps due to superior factors, and/or the the timing was just right to reach the right audiences and it became a "perfect storm" sequel that added up to a great sequel(s). This thinking is not just for animation either. I believe that one can reflect upon a sequel of movies (ie Rocky, Star Wars, Jaws, Pacific Rim, Nightmare Elm Street, for example) and come to the conclusion that the first was the primo. That's not to say that the sequels were all that helpless/hopeless, and may have in fact added to the future character arcs. But it would seem that once a Mona Lisa is painted, there is not a need for a Mona Lisa 2. Case in point would be Ratatouille. This was an excellent piece of animated cinema that contained a completely unique and innovative story, great characters and development, beautiful animation, and resolved excellently to it's conclusion. Could movie-land juice up a sequel? Of course. But would it be necessary? Another example is the Croods. And for me, the Incredibles falls into that category of "no sequel required". Was I2 a good movie? Yes. Was it a great sequel? Not really. Certainly the expectation was there when it was announced that after so many years a sequel was in the works. But I believe the challenge lies with "ok, we made a masterpiece, what can we do to move it forward?" Understanding that in some 14 years the industry has made exceptional technical advances, and I2 is brimming with awesome animation and visuals, the real work has to be in the story evolution, not relying on the previous movie's tropes. Now with that, the I2 team probably thought it may be better to revisit all of the original's plot devices so as not to loose anybody because of the 14 years gap? I don't know, I'm just guessing. But I2 really seemed like too much of a first movie rehash. All of the I1 plot vehicles were there with a lack of any character development or direction. Yes it was good to see Jack Jack use a bunch of powers, but the rest of the family seemed superfluous to the plot. It wasn't like we were able to see any different sides to the family so their entire time on the screen was uneventful. I1 had all of this cool inter-family dynamics going on, along with Bob's work struggles and his relationship with Lucius, the gov't crackdown on heros, and a great James Bond-like villain who kills all of the other supers...and all the other supers were done very well with cool names and nifty/goofy powers but it all worked. Yes, in I2 it was good to see Edna bond with the baby, but her short scene was also cookie-cutter from the first. And the villain was lame compared to Syndrome. The theater I was in along with my family was sold out. And I can count about 3 times when I heard any laughter or scene reaction. It was like everyone was waiting for something to happen and nothing did for long periods. I think many people may feel compelled to like the movie because of the great first movie and the 14 years gap. But it really felt like a letdown. And I can't stand that vocal lisp of Holly Hunter. Was it worth $12 to see it in the big theater? Kinda. Go, you will enjoy it. But let it not be over hyped, there was one Mona Lisa and Incredibles 1 was it. I give it a 5
Fantastic Four (2015)
This says it all
I know I'm real late on this one. Anyways, my wife and I couldn't believe how bad this was and sat through it to see if it would get better...never did.
One doesn't have to go further thank this trivia comment to understand how/why this film was so bad..."Kate Mara had initially wanted to read Fantastic Four comic books to prepare for her role as Susan Storm, but the filmmakers explained to the cast that it was unnecessary as the film was an original story not based directly on the comics."
That's perfect. Why make a comic book superhero movie not based on the comics it came from? Result = crapola
Gong fu yu jia (2017)
Kung Fu Yoga review
First, I must say that I have been a big fan of JC for many many years, from his early films to the current. For his sake I give this 2 stars. Otherwise this film is really a low point for him. Its great to see him still involved with cinema while we understand that he is getting up there as his best trademark stunts and martial arts years are behind him. However...whew..this one really blows chunks. From other reviews I've read there seems to have been a reason fro him to engage in a Chinese-Indian collaborative effort, but the result was lame and laughable at best. Could this mess truly have costed $65 mil?? Lets begin: The story arc of having to piece together historic clues to search for long lost artifacts that proceeds to become a treasure hunt running around to various locations that leads to another "final" treasure is soooo cliche, Indian Jones formulaic and just poorly done. Especially with "actors" that obviously have no chemistry between them or just seem so out of place within the whole scope of the film. It starts with a low-qual CG cartoon and ends in cartoon-ish style with the "villain" seemingly filled with a spiritual revival joining the the cast in one of those horrendous and awkward Bollywood synchronized gang dances as they all bow down and worship a statue in true pagan style. Wedged in between all of the noodnickery is an exotic car chase (with the only brief laugh of a CG lion stuck in the back seat of JC's vehicle), and some of JC's kung fu antics sprinkled about to seemingly remind us of his legendary prowess. The whole movie has lacks originality as well as even the minutest amount of quality acting. It's as if a chef with no culinary knowledge just tosses a bunch of disparate ingredients into a large pot and then serves it up hoping that he actually made something edible. Another solid entry into the Netflix menu of unpalatable, torrid-tasting indigestible sea-chum that has no redeeming value or reason to be remembered. Compliments to the chef.
Bad Milo! (2013)
How can this have been made
It's hard to believe that a writer presented a script for this to a Hollywood movie team and received a green light to move forward with casting and shooting. And yet, here it is, in all of it's glory, a big pile of crapola. It was so bad that i just had to watch it to it's end to take in the full load of it's unbelievably asinine (no pun intended)story then sit back and wonder how junk like this actually got funded and scripted. Well, maybe they will approve and shoot a sequel because there has been worse, no too much worse, but there is some to be found..Catwoman maybe? I dunno but this is junk..
Gantz: O (2016)
Worth watching
Cruising through Netflix I mostly see B grade movies and came across this title. I've seen some older anime and would usually rather watch a real life movie rather than an animation but the choices on Netflix have dried up quickly and I finally decided to try this. And it was a great choice I must say. Right from the start the action kicks in and as the other reviewers pointed out, the CG/animation looks absolutely awesome. It actually took a few moments of looking closely at the humans to tell if they were real or not. The details of shadows, reflections, glints, motion, fire, everything seems to push the envelope of computer power to render this smooth detail. Just incredible. The creatures were highly imaginative and some made me laugh. The battles were slick and sick. Having no knowledge of Gantz backstory (if one exists), leaves many gaps in understanding what/why is all going on. The main character himself is not given enough/any information as to what the heck is going on so the viewer (me) has no clue as to what/why is going on. For example:Why are there all these creatures, what is their purpose, who created the Gantz-ball-thing, why are humans randomly (?) chosen, if other teams have killed the monsters why do more appear, is this phenomenon only in Japan or is it world wide, etc. If this movie considers that the viewer has pre-knowledge of Gantz then there is no problem. However, I was totally lost without those answers, yet the movie was a total spectacle and impressive nonetheless. I gave it a 9 based on the sheer scope of anime work and imagination. It must be a giant in it's genre. Worth watching for sure, better than most real live movies I've seen on Netflix.
Rogue One (2016)
Rogue One review
Went with the family to watch after Christmas. We all found the movie to be a great tie into New Hope by defining the lines spoken by Leia that the deathstar plans "came at a great price or great cost". Now we know what that great cost was. When you step back and take a macro view of Rogue One you can see how it provides a great backstory that leads into NH. Looking closer at RO, you can see the various characters and elements that contributed to the great sacrifice made by everyone, the power struggle and interactions between the Empire leaders of the deathstar, and even feel the pressure from Vader, who BTW we were treated to watching him let loose on the rebels even for just a couple minutes, really showed some of his skills. The destructive power of the deathstar was demonstrated quite nicely and it's final blast "cleaned up" the remaining characters. Yes it was a little sad to see all of them die, but gave closure to all of them since none appeared in NH. The fight scenes were awesome and the strategy used by fish-guy to ram a ship into a star destroyer and push that ship into another star destroyer to crash down onto the planet gate was AWESOME to see.
Finding Dory (2016)
Finind a reason for Finding Dory
Took my two children ages 5 and 9 to watch. The opening Pixar Piper was awesome!They can really convey a story with no dialog and be totally entertaining. However, Dory with all the dialog just fell flat. I think many would agree that there are many movies that don't need a sequel, no matter how much money they made with the first.Some movies, like Nemo, already complete an original story and tie up the ends nicely. Pixar really hit the underwater CGI at 100% with Nemo. I believe that, combined with lovable characters, good main plot, and very cleaver idea interactions (sharks, crabs, gulls, dentist office and aquarium scenes, all the mini-struggles along the way, and the development of the character arcs like Marlin/Nemo, Marlin/Dory, etc) made Nemo an innovative cartoon movie for all ages, hence the immense success. Sure, writers can contrive any number of plot lines into a sequel, but form without substance renders a somewhat lackluster sequel=Dory. The movie is highly colorful and continues Pixars excellent water CGI but can't top what was already done to perfection in Nemo. The story re-acquaints the old characters with some as-expected new characters, with a brief turtle Crush cameo. The sea lions were cute, the octopus made for a few laughs, but the whole "I can't remember.." Dory character was so overused that it overshadowed the movie with a somber melodrama. I could hear many kids groaning in the theater as the movie dragged on, my two barely stayed awake. The Dory character in Nemo had a purpose, was used skillfully and moved the movie along with some slapstick lines by DeGeneres almost like Robin Williams' Aladdin. But to make that a core plot and centerpiece is not enough to carry a movie. I guess it makes sense to Hollywood to take a move like Nemo, that cost $94mil and grossed probably a billion with marketing and toys, is enough reason to stretch for a sequel. Did it work for Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, Chipmunks, Happy Feet, Shrek, Toy Story, Despicable Me, Madagascar, How to Train Dragon? Admittedly sometimes yes, but not this time.
Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
Penguins don't fly and neither did this movie
Just finished watching this with my family (wife, 2 boys 4 & 7, daughter 16). I must say, there was hardly any laughing or exuberance from any of us. Our expectations were up there being fans of the Madagascar films but this seemed to fall flat on its face. There's no doubt that its all very cute and has some good animation qualities to it but it just seemed that the Penguins team just doesn't stand up enough to merit a whole movie. As supporting characters in Madagascar they are perfect by adding additional humor and supporting the movement of the plot in various levels and moments. After all, they did have a run of short episodes already so making a movie now just didn't seem to fly...like them.
Bloodmonkey (2006)
Junk
Caught this on a snow day, thought the title would lead to something. Wrong...no value whatsoever. Lots of implied suspense in a deep jungle with blue lighting and fog trying to create a "we are the hunted" environment. Even trying to create a "Predator" thrill by showing "bloodmonkey" pursuit vision perspective. One good scene is when the professor gets impaled by a trap rigged by the thoughtful "bloodmonkey". It was good to see him exit the movie by having a few tree limbs impaled through his body as he gurgled his last while the two screamy girls watch in horror. No monkeys and sketchy acting. Total waste of time. Don't waste yours.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)
Nice trilogy finale
I know this is coming in late but my kids just got this as a gift and we've watched it a few times now. I think the whole movie summarizes nicely when the animals finally get their wish by returning to the NY zoo only to realize that its not what they really want, having experienced all that they have with their travels. Being zoo animals all along only hindered their growth and never would have given them the experiences they shared between each other and with the other characters. Each of the M-animals find "true" happiness and Dubois gets served justly. I think some of the "show stealing" moments are by Stefano's facial expressions (in particular when he is in the train car eagerly waiting for Alex's description of his American circus routine), Dubois crashing through the office building walls pursuing the animals, the way the bear drives the motorcycle flipping every where, and the scene where the French animal police are in a recovery room and bust their casts as Dubois sings. Yeah, it's only a cartoon but...just how does a large Siberian tiger fit through a tiny ring? Hilarious!