gijoe-48397 Reviews

No Time to Die (2021)

No Reason To Watch

[5/10 · 11 May 2024]

The movie opens up with a young Madeleine being attacked in her childhood home to 'establish' (and I use that term to its bare minimum) the villain. We skip to the present where Bond and Madeleine are in Italy, enjoying retirement. The moment I knew there was gonna be issues is when I heard the Italians saying something to the effect of destroying the past to usher in the new... last time I heard that, Star Wars never recovered. What follows is a patchwork film that has its goods and it's very, very, bads. It centers around a mysterious bioweapon being stolen from a lab. If you take just this aspect, it's actually pretty plausible, cool, and even has a decent twist to it. Unfortunately, everything else is a mess. Legacy characters are killed off for no other reason than to pave the way for the new. Spectre - this omnipresent super organization and its leader are written out of existence with a whimper. The villain is entirely an empty suit with no real goal or purpose clearly communicated. No character really acts like they have in previous movies, with M behaving like a villain and Bond with a domestic husband vibe. The 'new' characters are really nothing more than checkboxes added in late stage of movie production and boy does it show. Not only that, but it also pulls a Dial of Destiny and just flat out brings Bond back just to rob him of the happy ending from the previous movie. And on the subject, you can absolutely tell when and where Phoebe Waller Bridge inserts her awkward contributions to this script because they absolutely do not fit. That being said, all the action is on point and even improved in places, so at least you won't be lacking there.

I wouldn't say acting is bad, but the material the actors have been giving doesn't really lend itself to enthralling performances. That, coupled with nonsensical dialogue often, just takes away from the experience as a whole. I will say Daniel Craig actually puts forth some effort since Casino Royale, the problem is he's not even Bond. They may as well have just done an original work rather than rewriting the character this much.

Special effects are one of the strong points of the film with practical ruling the screen most of the time. I especially love the 'one take' shootout sequence towards the climax. Everything seems to be on point from car chases, to gun battles, to fist fights otherwise.

At nearly three hours, the movie is too long, and its directionless script showcases it. You the viewer will also feel it pretty quickly. I have a feeling if Phoebe Waller Bridge's writing was cut out, you'd have something more realistic for a run time and nothing of value would be lost. Since it's release, I've maybe seen this movie three times and one was purely for reviewing. So, there is no real reason to rewatch this one.

After his work on bringing Top Gun Maverick's soundtrack to life, I can confidently say Hans Zimmer nails the Bond soundtrack for this one, being loyal to previous entries, but bringing a new energy to it as well. Billy Eilish, however, was a very poor choice for the credits theme song. It sounds nothing like a Bond song, not to mention, whispering over music is not 'singing'. Sound design itself is explosive and vibrant as it should be.

I really can't recommend No Time To Die for anyone and the ending stating that "James Bond Will Return" just had me saying "Please, no". Just stick with Spectre for Bond's sendoff and let this entry fade into obscurity. Heck, I'll even tell you to watch Die Another Day over this. At least Die Another Day tried to have some fun instead being nihilistic, dour, and depressing; destroying one of our favorite secret agents.

Spectre (I) (2015)

An ok send off, but nothing more

[6/10 · 12 April 2024]

Spectre isn't flat out bad, but it's not a strong entry either. It follows the reveal of Spectre from older Bond films, playing off nostalgia too strongly and too often. While the narrative threads of 'the enemy taking over within' and 'a global elite manipulating world events to gain power' are fine, believably grounded plots on their own, Spectre tries to juggle too much of it, resulting in convolution of the plot and a rather abrupt ending. As if that weren't bad enough, it copies its own parody - Austin Powers - and makes the villain Bond's legal brother, who was behind everything all along since the events of Casino Royale; like Agatha Harkness or something. I never had issue with the loose continuity of the Craig era films, but this attempt at making a Bond-verse MCU style, is just eye rolling. But when the plot is working, the potential can be seen. All that said, the action is solid most of the time (barring a slightly anemic car chase), Madeleine Swann is a very solid Bond girl and a decent blueprint of an actual strong female character. She's trained in combat somewhat, but carries her own baggage that makes her vulnerable and supports a believable romance. The ending is also a decent way to retire this iteration of Bond, even if it seems slightly out of character.

The acting has degraded significantly, partly due to the established characters of Skyfall not acting in consistency of how they were in that movie. Daniel Craig is looking aged and uninterested in what he's doing and that's reflected in his acting. Léa Seydoux is a highlight, really leaning into the material she's been given. Christoph Waltz is a good actor, but I'm not sure what he was going for in this role. Eccentric, I guess. Ben Whishaw loses any progress he made developing Q in Skyfall and more or less becomes just a generic guy in a chair with no wit and no spine. Naomie Harris is a little more consistent from Skyfall as Moneypenny and likable. Ralph Fiennes as the new M really seems weak willed and by the books compared to the rule breaker, win-by-playing-dirty, Mallory in Skyfall. It should be a crime to underuse Jesper Christensen as he steals the screen for the little time he gets of it. Finally, Dave Bautista is given nothing to work with as a Jaws clone. He gets no personality, no special trait, and no unique weapons. He's just 'a burly dude' meant to play on the audience's nostalgia.

Special effects are mostly practical with a few CGI moments for things they couldn't do without it. And if memory serves, this has a record-breaking explosion in it. I especially enjoy the car chase Bond conducts from a plane, but the actual car chase earlier on is anemic at best. Fight choreography follows the standard fair gritty-environmental assisted beatings, and nobody appears to slow down or wait to be hit. In a word, serviceable, but probably nothing not already seen elsewhere.

At two hours and twenty-eight minutes, the movie is long and because of how much plot it's trying to cram in, the movie doesn't really drag until very close to the end. That being said, if they had stuck with a focused narrative plot instead of the mess they juggled, this movie could've been cut down to something shorter and more streamlined. There's nothing super rewatchable about this one either, but it's something that may be reached for once in awhile as opposed to not at all for other entries.

The soundtrack is more or less recycled from Skyfall, which is not a bad thing. Sam Smith's credit's theme is rather mid, even on its best day, which isn't surprising given how this guy relies on being a circus sideshow to stay relevant rather than anything resembling merit. Sound design itself is explosive and awesome as these Craig Bond films tend to reliably be. With a proper home sound system, it may even significantly standout.

Cinematography is beautiful, especially scenes in Austria looking almost ethereal. Can't help but feel that this padded out the already extreme run-time though and these scenes might have been better used for more cleanly fleshing out the story.

Spectre isn't as mediocre as Quantum of Solace, but it never reaches the heights of this Bond era like Casino Royale and Skyfall did. There're more than a few workable plots in here, had there been some narrative focus; and it could've been backed up by decent characters had they been utilized correctly. If nothing else, it would've been a more appropriate ending for Craig's Bond than say Die Another Day was for Pierce, but unfortunately... No Time To Die was green-lit to exist.

Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall stumbles... but never falls

[7/10 · 2 March 2024]

Skyfall is the twenty-third entry into the Bond franchise. While it is a significant step up from the rather mundane previous entry - Quantum of Solace - it still fails to reach the heights of Casino Royale. The film opens seemingly semi-disconnected from the previous films and stays that way. Bond and an unnamed agent are in pursuit of a mercenary with a stolen hard drive. The action sequences that follow are quite awesome and an upgrade from some of the poorly shot ones from Quantum. It all culminates in an order from M to the unnamed agent to take a risky shot that ultimately hits Bond and allows the merc to escape. Issue being, why didn't the agent take another shot? Poorly communicated as to why she couldn't. We are treated to a rather great opening credits song from Adele and a more memorable animation. We pick up three months later and M is in hot water with the British government over the stolen hard drive containing the names of deep cover agents. She is soon taunted via computer hack and MI6 is blown up. The big plus is this brings Bond back to a more grounded level again like Casino, dealing with the believable terrorism threat. Bond is revealed to be alive after his wound and more or less moping around in secret retirement. Learning of the attack, he returns to M's apartment. Why didn't he come back sooner? More or less because this 'tough' agent was upset over M's call - a bit of a weak reason and it gets worse the more you think about it. Regardless, with Bond publicly declared dead, he is the best choice to find the one doing this. He is put through a series of tests to see if he's fit for duty (the scenes showing us he really isn't) with another appearance by our still unnamed agent. M tells us he passed, and we jump to him getting armed by our new Q and a few gadgets that are universal use over the bad writing of 'a super specific gadget for a super specific need that couldn't possibly be predicted by anyone'. We jump again to Shanghai where Bond finds the merc from the opening and kills him, but is able to follow another lead from his equipment. Again, the unnamed agent comes to help. Bond turns in a chip at a casino and that garners some attention from a rather interesting character - Sévérine - she is in league with our mysterious villain, but wants freedom from him. A fight reminiscent of older Bond films involving Komodo dragons ensues and where the smart gun gadget comes into play. Bond meets Sévérine on a boat and they arrive on a desolate island and our villain is finally revealed and back-and-forth proceeds, revealing Bond to have failed his tests, and a bit of overblown 'catering' dialogue included. Later, a challenge is presented that results in Sévérine's death. MI6 comes to the rescue as Bond's 'radio' gadget is used. Back at MI6, we are given some more exposition on Silva which is more or less another attempt at Alec Trevelyan from Goldeneye, albeit a much weaker rendition. Q meanwhile begins hacking into Silva's computer. This is where the plot becomes a bit weak because Silva's master escape plan relies on far too much convenience and contrivance. First of all, why does Q plug a boobytrapped computer into their system? Not even the worst IT departments would do something this dumb. Surely between his smarts and MI6 protocols, there would be protections to prevent things like this. The rest sorta relies on too perfect of timing for Silva to escape, but the sequence has wiggle room to play out differently without a stretch of imagination. Silva attempts to kill M, but Bond arrives to thwart it and they abscond. A plan is formed to get Silva on their terms and Bond switches to the classic Aston Martin, clearly decked out with older gadgets from previous Sean Connery films. Why? Memberberries. The finale is where Skyfall really shines. We learn some history about Bond's childhood and exactly what Skyfall is. Bond, M, and the gamekeeper Kincade boobytrap the house in a scene reminiscent of Home Alone. The action for the final act is some of the best and at the end, it is revealed who the Bond girl for this movie really was in a poignant scene. In the aftermath, our unnamed agent is revealed to be Moneypenny, Mallory is the new M, and our Bond adventures are likely to continue.

Acting ranges from good to great as long as your name isn't Daniel Craig. Naomie Harris as Moneypenny was a great surprise. Ben Whishaw as Q turns in a decent performance harkening back to Desmond Llewelyn's take, but still trying to make it his own. Ralph Fiennes as Mallory kept me guessing to his intentions and role in the film. Javier Bardem makes for an ok Bond villain, but overdoes it at times, trying a bit too hard to be Heath Ledger's Joker. Judy Dench turns in her finale as M and it doesn't disappoint, with a significant arc she goes through. Daniel Craig is the weak link here, with every entry, he seems more and more checked out of the Bond character.

Special effects are great! There were only a few times I could truly see CGI being used. The rest all seem to be practical, most highlights you'll see at the beginning and end. The weak parts are the Komodo dragons, though I understand why they opted for CGI with these animals in particular. Most of the plot doesn't call for hyper over-the-top sequences.

At a hundred and forty-three minutes, the movie is long, but it shouldn't be overly noticeable between a decent plot and cool action mix with good pacing. It's re-watchable enough too, but not the most re-watchable movie ever either.

The soundtrack is excellent. Thomas Newman really brought it and the music was good enough to carry over into subsequent films in this Bond timeline. Sound design itself is rich without being too ridiculous or overpowering, but doubtful anyone without a keen ear will take any special notice.

Cinematography, while often times pointless and usually cuts into the story, is used well here, especially towards the end for some truly beautiful shots that seem almost from a fantasy world than a Bond film.

Skyfall is definitely a step forward, mixing the old and the new with the Bond franchise while taking major influence from The Dark Knight. It stumbles, but never falls to the mediocre status of its predecessor and giving an excellent send-off to Judy Dench's M. There's enough here for fans new and old to enjoy, if for nothing else, a stellar final act. Give it a go with that understanding.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Restore your faith

[9/10 · 6 January 2024]

When I heard Godzilla Minus One had an excellent plot and some of the best character work in the last decade, I would've asked the person stating that what paint stripper they were drinking. But here we are, and I couldn't be more pleased about being wrong. I won't spoil the plot, but the whole story follows a failed kamikaze pilot and his search for redemption through family and community. Godzilla himself is treated as a force of nature and a metaphor for PTSD/growing guilt as well as the original trope of nuclear United States. There's so much nuance and detail to be aware of (one of my favorites is the German writing on the plane's seat towards the end) and it shows how everyone behind this film really considered the plot and the time period. I could gush, but it really is worth going in blind for this one.

Character work is exceptional and pretty much should've humbled Hollywood. It may be a bit overacted by the actors, but it was honestly refreshing when compared to the absolute talentless planks of wood we've gotten here in the west (aka, Brie Larson, Amber Midthunder, Daisy Ridley, I could go on). Not only that, but we also get male and female characters that are in their appropriate roles without reducing or degrading them or each other. I gotta praise the fact that everyone is likable. Everyone is relatable. And I don't look a thing like them, nor do I have their backgrounds, but I can identify with them. Take note writers.

For a film that was made with less than 15 million dollars, I can't believe how good the special effects are. Yeah, they're far from perfect, but they certainly aren't the CGI messes you'll see in the average western film. It's clear they mixed practical and VFX, but knew their budget was limited, so they didn't shoot it on the fly as it were. The story and the required reading of subtitles should be more than enough to gloss over any shortcomings as well.

Cinematography isn't something I usually include in review as it's usually taking time away from the movie that could be better used. But there are definitely some shots that deserve praise and make it worth the mention.

At a little over 2 hours, the movie never really overstays its welcome. Yeah, they could've tightened up the 'stop Godzilla' planning sequence, but I was still invested and interested all the way through that and to the end. And on the subject, I definitely recommend multiple viewings as the movie is subtitled. A few just to acquaint yourself with dialogue/plot and a few where you don't have to focus on that as much. I'm sure coercion to watch it more than once won't be needed, however.

The soundtrack is mostly a modernization of the classic Godzilla music and it's used intelligently throughout. Not only that, but it was also good enough for me to want to buy a physical copy for myself. On the subject of sound, the sound design is phenomenal. If I were to nitpick, I'd say some of the firearm sounds are weak and cheesy, but 99% of it is perfection. But what's truly jaw-dropping is when they don't use sound. The unsettling silence is powerful, something Hollywood refuses to understand because they have to hear themselves constantly.

Godzilla Minus One shows Hollywood how to do it. It's the Top Gun Maverick of 2023 and easily the best movie of the year with nothing even coming close. I am not a fan of the Godzilla universe, but this certainly renews my faith in good storytelling with its characters and universal messaging anyone can relate to. Don't miss out on this one. It will make you believe again.

Uncharted (2022)

Not blazing Uncharted trails

[4/10 · 16 December 2023]

For that brief moment in the opening, I had hope we might get even just a passable Uncharted film adaption. Turns out, we have a film barely passing a mediocre rating, kissing the edge of flat out bad. The story follows an origin of Drake and Sully's meeting (completely ignoring the game continuity) but it quickly becomes a story about Chloe more despite the plot not really knowing what to do with her. The objective is finding the Magellan expedition with untold riches. Why they thought to loosely base this after Neil Druckmann's terrible 'A Thief's End' is beyond me as that game's plot was utter garbage. There is a flashblack showing Nate and Sam as kids and this was the only point that felt like Uncharted. The rest is a generic and low octane action movie. It skips around different exotic locations and Drake's team constantly stabbing each other in the back to the point of tedium. And there was always a questionable element of the supernatural (like Indiana Jones) with Uncharted, but this plot has no twist or surprise to it like the first three games. Instead, we are treated to cheap 'memberberry' moments rather than a plot that felt like it slotted intelligently into the lore or even creating a movie timeline that feels like a fit. The villain played by Antonio Banderas had the most potential, but is quickly offed to make way for a poor clone of a terrible character from the games - that is to say, Jo is a bad clone of Nadine, a terrible game character. There are next to no gunfights, which feels odd for something in the Uncharted universe and the fight scenes are a joke. Tom Holland taking down a huge thug is just as unbelievable as an 80 lbs girl taking one down. Chase scenes are without urgency or speed. Bad guys teleport in where they need to be more or less. Dialogue is clunky and doesn't feel like the natural flow of the Uncharted games and I don't know how you don't make Mark Walburg funny. Toward the end, there's a major oversight to the map where they use tools to pinpoint the treasure location, problem is, there are two points where the tools meet. The ending is the worst plot where they find 500-year-old ships and just lift them out with a helicopter. No helicopter is rated to lift that much weight alone, but how does the ship not disintegrate? Not only that, but the ships also collide in the air and still stay together. I could go on and on with the plot issues and the Uncharted games were never super tight, dealing in the fantastical. The difference here is that plot does not draw you in.

Acting is pretty terrible across the board, likely due to historically bad casting and a clunky script in terms of dialogue. While I understand trying to make a series and using young actors/actresses that grow into the roles with each movie entry, I have to ask: why did they cast children? Nobody is selling me on these characters being adults with the few obvious exceptions. This is made worse when Nolan North - AKA, Drake himself, makes a cameo and he's put next to Tom Holland for comparison. Don't misunderstand, Tom, Mark, and Antonio can act, these roles were just not for them and the script was trash.

The music was flat out inappropriate at points, generic for the rest. The only redeeming point was the Uncharted theme playing at points. The sound design itself was utterly uninspired.

Special effects are mostly a CGI mess and bad CGI at that. I have to ask if one long video game cutscene made out of stylized CGI wouldn't have been a better alternative. There is some choreography and practical effects, but they are rendered pointless when you can see the background is nothing more than a green screen.

Cinematography is present, pointless, and not even pretty. This is the first thing that should be cut when your movie has this many problems.

Run time is 116 minutes and I really started to feel it quickly. Shave off a half hour and it would still feel long with the boring plot. The rewatch is nonexistent, go play one of the games instead. Seriously.

The final verdict is, don't bother. While far worst things released in 2022, that doesn't make Uncharted worthwhile. It's a lame attempt to cash in on a popular IP with a generic and mostly inoffensive adaption (IE, no activist messaging and no complete ruination of the lore). Go play one of the first three games if you need a cinematic Uncharted experience.

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Not a full house

[6/10 · 13 October 2023]

Quantum of Solace is more than likely a victim of the first writer's strike, being defocused and even incomplete. It opens strong with a fantastic car chase and falls apart from there. For better or worse, it's a direct continuation of Casino Royale, a first in Bond history. Bond is tasked with discovering more about the organization that funded terrorism and killed Vesper in Casino. When Bond goes to Haiti for a lead, he meets up with the plank of wood that is Camille. There, he is able to learn about Dominic Greene, though it requires a keen eye as it's a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment. Somehow, Bond is able to learn Greene is working with exiled Bolivian General Medrano, though how, I don't know. There's nothing to suggest Bond can hear the conversation or look up a profile on this general from MI6, he merely observes Greene and Medrano from a distance. Bond rescues Camille from Medrano in a boat chase, but there's a distinct issue at the end involving flipping an enemy boat with a hook that makes no sense, even in a frame-by-frame breakdown. CIA agent Felix Leiter from Casino makes a comeback as an unwilling underling to a sleazy CIA boss who is trying to broker a deal with Greene for oil in Bolivia. Bond skips to the next location, an opera to listen in on Quantum's meeting, which is filled with government individuals from all nations. James is blamed for a British government advisor's death and M more or less labels him rogue. Yet another location skip and Bond meets up with Mathis from Casino. Again, they skip over to Bolivia by... private jet? Public jet? Unclear and unexplained as he can't fly without being detained. They land and meet Strawberry Fields... no, I'm not kidding. Bond promptly seduces her and I can only assume it's to not be brought back to MI6. It's wildly out of place and out of character for this Bond who just lost Vesper, the love of his life. They go to a party Greene is hosting where he talks about how he's an environmentalist to the elite only to be refuted by Camille that he's a horrible polluter. The rich and elite aren't environmentalists? Color me shocked. Bond and Camille escape while Ms Fields does the only other thing in this movie by tripping a thug. The police pull Bond and Camille over and a dying Mathis is found in the back of the car. After dispatching them, Mathis and Bond share a final poignant scene - a highlight of the movie. The next day, Bond and Camille fly over the land Greene is trying to buy and get into an air fight, resulting in them conveniently parachuting into a crevasse where they also conveniently find evidence of water being dammed up by Greene to create a monopoly and conveniently, they are able to escape this chasm... (see the issue here?) When Bond returns to the hotel, he finds M waiting and Fields dead by oil forced in her lungs and covering her body, clear key jangling to remind you of Goldfinger. Bond escapes and Felix gives him his next location. The final confrontation is decent enough and this is the only part where Camille gets any character. The big problem is Greene. We often complain about ridiculous fights with 90lbs girls beating men. This is nearly as bad since Greene clearly doesn't have the physical prowess or skill of Bond and is completely outmatched but still holds Bond off. Greene is left in the desert with a can of oil by Bond, which is somewhat of a satisfying end to a very weak villain. Bond then confronts Vesper's former lover, who is in league with the Quantum organization all along and fooled her. It ends with M asking Bond back and him saying he never left. Finishing semi strong.

Acting is bad all around. I wanted the cold-blooded killer of Casino, maybe revenge fueled mixed in, not this mopey Bond Craig gives us. Olga Kurylenko as Camille is surprisingly weak given her backstory. She's boring up until a final confrontation and there are hints of acting, but that's about it. Mathieu Amalric was a poor choice of villain. He has no gravitas or presence, mostly coming off as a whiny activist.

Special effects are solid for the most part, at least, when they make sense. There's definitely more CGI used than Casino, which is disappointing, but it's not horribly intrusive.

There is definitely some decent cinematography, but with how weak the plot is, I have to ask if the time couldn't be put to better use. The constant shakey cam is also pretty terrible, making it hard to interpret what you've even seen.

At an hour and forty-six minutes, the film doesn't drag too much, but only because it's fueled by constant action and general franticness - likely to prevent you from thinking too hard about what you've just watched because it wouldn't make sense if you did. An unfortunate staple of modern cinema going forward. I would not count this as super rewatchable either, I've only picked it up a handful of times.

If you liked the music of Casino Royale, Quantum leaves it largely unchanged. Sound design itself is fine. Nothing memorable, nothing offensive.

Had it not been for the grounded plot, Quantum of Solace would've been ranked lower, but as it stands, it's just a largely forgettable follow up to a phenomenal movie. You wouldn't be left wanting in the action department, but the weak characters and issue filled plot prevent this from being anything more than a generic action movie.

Casino Royale (2006)

Aces!

[8/10 · 22 September 2023]

The movie opens with Bond killing a traitor within MI6 and receiving his 00 status via a fantastic credit sequence with Chris Cornell's theme of the movie. Through various plot points, we find out MI6 is trying to figure out how terror cells are being funded. A...surprisingly believable and simple plot as that is what the real MI6 agents would be doing. We get Bond investigating more than having shootouts or chases, following clues and even acquiring his signature Aston Martin. The real meat of the plot starts when he is tasked with entering a high stakes poker game to wipe out a 'private banker to terror'. Le Chiffre. Vesper Lynd enters the scene. For those that know Fleming's books, Vesper Lynd is a significant character. She is not 'a' Bond girl, she is 'the' Bond girl. She and Bond play off each other quite well and the plot wisely focuses on these two. The director, who also did Goldeneye, one of my favorite Bond movies, is keenly aware that many watching might not know the game of poker well. He never extends scenes of play too long and has many visual and audio cues as to what happens during the game, so nobody watching should be lost. What's also interesting is we see the aftermath of the main plot, something I've only seen in maybe a handful of movies like LOTR. The final battle is also less about spectacle and more about the emotion in it, much like Luke and Vader in Return of the Jedi and also partially answers the question as to why Bond doesn't stick with one woman. It's surprisingly reserved, poignant, and emotional without tearing the fabric of what makes a Bond film, a Bond film, apart. And this might be partially due in part to its competition, the Bourne series, nipping at its heels during this time.

Acting is good across the board. Daniel Craig surprised us all with his take on the character and it's unfortunate in subsequent movies, he tried less and less because his ability to go from desperation, to anger, to despair, all in a few frames is remarkable. Eva Green also nails Vesper as likable, quick witted, and emotional. Even at the climax, you still sympathize with her. Judi Dench nails M as always, but this time around, she's dealing with a less experienced agent, and it's reflected in the performance. She's often short with Bond and annoyed just by his very presence. Jeffery Wright plays a revived character of old, Felix Leiter, as a sort of side companion to Bond you can't help but like. Mads Mikkelsen isn't given much to work with, but he plays an interesting villain that relies on statistics to reach his goals and only becomes brutal after having nothing left to lose.

Special effects aren't often used as this is a different kind of Bond film, but when it is, it's glorious as they use practical first and CGI second, though it can't be understated how cool the opening credit sequence is with its use of a stylized art CGI.

Normally, I don't put much stock into cinematography as it often takes away from plot, but there are some very beautiful shots of pretty exotic locations and I never felt it cut into the plot. Maybe the run time, but not overly so, showing a fairly good balance in use.

At nearly 2 and a half hours, the film is long and there are some pacing issues as well as an aftermath of the main plot I personally enjoy, but others might see as a bit too drawn out. That being said, you won't be looking at your phone and groaning the film needs to wrap up. It gets you invested in the fate of these characters and the pacing issues are more a stumble than a fall.

The soundtrack was phenomenal enough to warrant a purchase for my personal use and I will never get tired of Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" theme used in the credits that he describes as 'unapologetically masculine' and created specifically for this movie rather than an existing song reworked to fit into it. The instrumentals got more bass and modern sound recording and the final product shows. Sound design itself is great when used, but since this movie is more reserved, there aren't constant moments to appreciate it.

I can't count how many times I've rewatched this one and doing so also smooths out the pacing issues a bit. The future also tells me I'll be seeing it more times too.

Casino Royale is a rework of Bond and the formula that comes with it without totally deconstructing the franchise or its heritage. It tries a more grounded story, some emotional beats, and focus on characters over spectacle we've come to know from the series. It's the best all around Bond we got and no fan nor average viewer should pass on this one.

Die Another Day (2002)

Eh, watch another day

[5/10 · 8 September 2023]

Die Another Day opens with MI6 agents... surfing into North Korea. Yes, you read that right. It gets back on track when Bond and some other generic agents intercept and hijack an unidentified opposing force and their helicopter. Bond finds they are trading diamonds for munitions from one Colonel Moon. His right-hand man Zao identifies Bond, and the mission goes south. There's a fairly destructive escape sequence on hovercraft with the baddies suffering from the condition known as stormtrooper aim. Ultimately, he kills Colonel Moon, but is captured by Moon's father, General Moon. We are treated to a darker credits and music roll that actually ties into the story quite well! Bond is later released in a trade for Zao. M revokes Bond's 00 status under the suspicion of leaking information to the North Koreans. Bond escapes (rather creatively) and goes to Hong Kong where he enlists the help of a Chinese agent that sends him to Cuba (still with me?). In Havana, Bond meets with an ex-sleeper agent that puts him on a path to a mysterious gene therapy clinic. We are also introduced to Jinx, an innocuous enough woman. On the island, Bond find Zao undergoing surgery to change his identity and it's revealed Jinx isn't who she appears to be either. The only clue Bond has is the diamonds on Zao which have an insignia of one Gustav Graves, a wealthy British man who discovered a diamond mine in Iceland only a year prior. Bond goes to a fencing club and stakes a wager to Graves. This turns into a blade escalation that's both dumb and fun with choreography still better than most... 'modern content". Graves invites Bond to a demonstration in Iceland. MI6 reenlists Bond as he's the only one to have made any progress on Graves. There is a VR training sequence that at a glance, feels unnecessary, but is perhaps a nod to the successful games that came before. Gadgets are introduced, specifically a ring that breaks bulletproof glass and a car that turns invisible (yes, this is worse than the indestructible car of Tomorrow Never Dies). Frost is revealed to be an agent and is setup as being too obviously suspect. In Iceland, Bond investigates Graves further and Jinx shows up as well. There is a demo of Icarus, a giant mirror in space more or less and Bond spends the night with Frost, the suspicious agent. The plot pretty much falls apart here. This jumps to a rather pitiful reference to Goldfinger with lasers before an on the nose named henchman - Mr Kill - is... well, killed. Bond finds out Jinx is NSA, which is odd since she's well outside jurisdiction and I feel it was a missed opportunity to bring Jack Wade back. Bond discovers Graves is Colonel Moon, which is a decent twist to be sure and Frost betrays him (Ray Charles saw that one coming). Weirdly, the biggest sin is Bond not knowing in this crucial moment that his gun was unloaded. As an active agent, he would absolutely know the weight difference of a loaded and unloaded gun. The movie honestly ended here. But in the interest of the review, we will continue. Bond is chased by Icarus in a rocket car, then surfs the Icelandic waters, and yes, it's dumb and made even worse with bad CGI. This is followed by a decent car battle between him and Zao, if you excuse the invisibility gimmick. He saves Jinx, though there is a massive oversight by the writers. Dunking a hypothermic person into warm water will more than likely put them in shock, and Bond should also know this. MI6 and US forces team up to stop Moon, and Jinx with Bond confront him on an airborne plane. A little reference to Icarus flying too close to the sun is made and a few less than tense battles between Bond/Moon and Jinx/Frost is done before they escape.

The acting is acceptable for the most part. More consistent than the World is not Enough, but I can't help feeling it was a bit less enthusiastic, maybe due to the script. Frost's double cross comes as no surprise and off the heels of TWINE, it feels redundant.

CGI is atrocious and overused, it felt like this movie was shot for the 3D gimmick of that era, though I find no evidence of this either. The practical, when used, is still on point, such as the hovercraft fight, the sword dual, and the car showdown.

Music and sound are on point and seems to improve with each Brosnan entry overall. Getting less cheesy with each movie. I had to warm to Madonna's intro song to be sure, but I've come around. Music overall is good too, but nothing particularly standout.

The movie paces well, never feeling like it drags. The rewatchability factor is low. I don't often reach for this one and I don't imagine most Bond fans do either.

In summary, Die Another Day is a movie, with things that happen in it. It's blandly inoffensive and tries too hard to harken back to older Bond films when Goldeneye did perfectly fine changing up the formula to its own identity. It's not the send off I'd like to see for Pierce Brosnan's Bond, but it's not the assassination we commonly see today either. Give it a watch if you are curious or a fan of the franchise, but don't expect too much.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Almost enough

[6/10 · 1 September 2023]

I have a lot of nostalgia for The World is not Enough probably more due to its N64 game adaptation than the movie itself. Needless to say, the movie hasn't aged as well but still wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It picks up with a rather subdued opening where Bond is retrieving money for a British oil tycoon. I do like the flashbang gun gadget as this is a more universal use gadget than the ultra-specific use item for one plot point. There's also a weird inconsistency where it seems Bond kills two henchmen and they are suddenly perfectly ok. It's possible there were more henchmen offscreen, but it's poorly depicted if so.

Flash forward to Bond bringing the money to MI6 headquarters and some exposition given by M - played excellently as always by Judi Dench. When Bond accepts a drink during this discussion, he notices it start to fizz and he deduces it's a chemical reaction from the money, which is rigged with explosives. A nice touch if I do say so. The explosives blow, killing Sir Robert King. When Bond arrives to investigate, an assassin on the Thames attempts to kill him. Bond hijacks a small watercraft from Q-Labs and we get an almost good boat chase, somewhat ruined by a ridiculous sequence of said boat somehow navigating pavement streets like a car. This could've been more acceptable, as the boat is jet powered, if it was a straightway road. But the boat is making turns like a regular car when it has no way to steer out of water. Ideally, I'd see this part cut. Bond catches up to the would-be assassin and shoots her with torpedos from the boat. Logically, this makes no sense if he needs to interrogate her, and he couldn't possibly anticipate if she would even see these in the water, let alone escape somehow. The assassin tries to escape via hot air balloon and somehow can't aim well enough to hit Bond, despite being depicted as a marksman earlier (stormtrooper aim, a very sad condition). Not seeing a way out, she blows the balloon up and Bond falls to a dome below. Cue the opening credits and decent theme song of this movie.

After credits, we jump forward to Sir Robert's funeral where Bond's arm is now in a cast from his fall. This is also a short introduction of Elektra King, Robert's daughter. There's some explanation of how the money was rigged and Bond being seemingly sidelined due to his injury. Next, we go to Q-Labs which is oddly devoid of gadget introductions other than the car and a rapid deploying sphere from a jacket which is an utter insult to viewer intelligence. In a rare scene, Bond does some more realistic spy craft, going through records and finding out the money he recovered is the same amount as the ransom money Sir Robert paid to get his daughter back. We are also shown some interview videos of Elektra after she escaped ransom. Why was she held ransom? Don't know. There are many directions to go with this as King was rich and prominent, but the plot basically tells us 'because'. Regardless, he takes the information to M, telling her someone was sending a message. We are introduced to Renard and given very little background. He's an anarchist that causes chaos. Again, you'd have to dig for more information on the character to get any exposition beyond that, which is disappointing as he has a decent background per a perusal of a wiki. We are still somewhat in the dark on the kidnapping motivation as well since "anarchist" is quite broad.

Bond is sent to be discreet protection for King's daughter. And she is given some genuine moments of humanity before she and Bond are skiing around to check on her father's oil pipeline. Why couldn't this be done in a more efficient way? Don't know. But Bond is soon attacked by skidoo snowmobiles with large props and parachutes making them fly. Ok, plausible. The chase sequence is action packed with henchmen suffering from stormtrooper aim yet again, but I will acknowledge that the filmmakers tried to sell the audience on rough terrain and tree cover for the bad aim. This ends in Bond cutting the chute on one of these machines, causing it to crash into another... way too lucky. And the stupid coat protection ball comes into play. Shocker.

From here, Bond travels to a casino, seeking further information. A pair of x-ray glasses are used, but sort of in a lazy way and are never seen again for some odd reason. The casino is run by none other than returning Goldeneye character Valentin Zukovsky. To make a long story short, Elektra appears, loses a million dollars, and she with Bond go back to her villa. We cut to a sequence where Renard comes out of nowhere and tells Elektra's head of security, he needs to do a secret mission. Bond sneaks out of Elektra's villa to look for more leads, conveniently starting with Elektra's head of security. The leap of logic that there may be an insider working against Elektra isn't hard to believe, but Bond doesn't have any reason to work out this information. Davidov sorta just pulls up with a body in his car. Bond had no prior guess up to this point and more or less stumbled into it.

He kills Davidov with an unsuppressed pistol for some reason and proceeds to take his place. They travel to Kazakhstan, to a Soviet nuclear weapons facility being decommissioned by the UN, though you wouldn't know that without additional research, which is critical information, again overlooked and not really communicated. We are also introduced to Dr Christmas Jones, a nuclear physicist. In a rare instance, Bond blows his cover as he is meant to be an expert on nuclear weapons and slips up to Christmas several times, alerting her he isn't who he seems.

Bond confronts Renard with some pretty deep dialogue-sparing that seems more in line with a Christopher Nolan movie than a Bond one. His execution attempt is cut short by Dr Jones, but he does get a few clues that perhaps Elektra isn't who she seems. A pretty good shootout occurs and a somewhat ridiculous escape from the exploding base. There is setup to a locator card that acts as GPS tracking for nuclear weapons. Bond returns and accuses Elektra of Stockholm syndrome and being an accessory to Renard. This is cut short when a crisis at her father's pipeline comes in. Bond and Christmas go inside the pipeline on an odd vehicle to disable the nuclear bomb within. Bond let's the bomb go off to fake his death and Elektra is revealed to be in league with Renard. Taking M with her. We pick up with Bond and Dr Jones leaving the destroyed pipeline and for once, Bond doesn't know something. He also asks the background of Dr Jones, and she basically says no. So, Dr Jones is unfortunately regulated to more of a plot device than character.

We then go back to Valentin Zukovsky as Bond tries to interrogate him about the million dollars Elektra King dropped in his casino before it's cut short by a second and really, the last major gun battle, this time, accompanied with buzzsaw helicopters that were teased earlier in the film. Valentin agrees to help Bond and they go to a KGB safehouse in Istanbul. M is meanwhile able to activate the locator card Bond gave her back at the pipeline in a somewhat clever way. The safehouse is able to track it and Valentin's gold-obsessed employee double-crosses and seemingly kills his boss. Bond and Jones are captured and brought to Elektra where a torture scene plays out until Valentin arrives. He is ultimately killed which is unfortunate for a solid character, but not before freeing Bond. So, he at least gets a good send off. Bond frees M and confronts Elektra before killing her in cold blood, much like the Bond of the books.

Bond boards the sub before it submerges and for some reason, he makes the mistake of crashing the sub into the sea floor and destroying the controls. It's an odd mistake for a spy who was previously in the navy. A better way for this scene to play out was to have a henchman force the sub down and then destroy it. Being that Renard has locked himself in the reactor room, Bond is forced to get to it by swimming externally to the other end of the sub. I remember this scene being fairly tense the first time I saw it, but I have to question now two things. One, how is Bond able to navigate to the correct location, water vision is blurry at best. Two, would he really have the air capacity to swim that far with that much exertion and not drown? Not impossible, but somewhat questionable. Bond is able to kill Renard in creative fashion and the movie wraps up with him and Jones sharing a romantic evening... with fireworks going off inexplicably.

The plot is grounded but has its issues in exposition and knowledge gaps. The other major issue is Elektra not being likable enough for one to really care that she was the main villain all along. It's a good twist to be sure, where Bond is seduced and betrayed, but either the delivery of the actress or the execution of the director, or both, hamper this from being more outstanding. The tonal inconsistencies really add to the problems as well. The movie switches from dead serious to Austin Powers levels of goofy and it breaks the immersion. Gadgets are great and more universal than one use items for a specific part of the plot barring the coat sphere. I just wish we got the classic Q setup for them...

All in all, The World is not Enough is best summarized as a good idea, but poor execution. With some work, this film could've been more standout. It's still worth the watch for Bond fans and I doubt most will be bored with at least one watch through, especially as it's Desmond Llewelyn's last go at the iconic Q role before his death one month after the film's release. But I recommend it's N64 game adaption more, even if it's not on par with Goldeneye 64.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

No Goldeneye, but solid still

[7/10 · 22 July 2023]

Tomorrow Never Dies opens explosively, with Bond stealing a jet with nuclear armaments from a terrorist gathering, while also conveniently setting up a plot device used later. From there, we jump to a British ship in a standoff with Chinese fighters. A third shadowy group comes into play, sinking the ship and shooting down the fighters before gunning down the survivors on camera, and this all plays like a horror scene more than a Bond movie. We find out that it was staged to make the Chinese appear like the aggressors. Bond is recalled to investigate Elliot Carver, a media mogul under suspicion due to a signal coming from his satellite and articles coming from his media empire entirely too fast. The gadgets are introduced with varying quality. Bond films work better when the gadgets don't exist solely for one convenient plot use. While the cellphone taser and car controls make sense, the fingerprint scanner ends up being too specific. What if it had been a combination lock? Or a key code? And why is Bond able to pick up the skill to remote-drive the car so easily when it's creator has trouble? While magic materialized skill isn't done in a malicious way, it could have been handled better, such as the controls being very user friendly. The addition of an old flame of Bond's adds a bit of character depth as he clearly doesn't want to involve her, especially when her husband is his mark. The next point of contention is Wai Lin's ability to appear in the exact same place and time as Bond. While we do find out she is Chinese intelligence and it makes sense for her to check the same points of interest as Bond, it's just odd how they always manage to meet up together at exactly the same time. Before long, we get a signature car chase. While I can't complain too much, there are some points of contention. Firstly, the car is indestructible until it suddenly isn't and why doesn't this super armor carry over into other movies? And the buzz saw is set to the perfect height needed to cut a tow cable. Mythbusters also taught that the metal spikes meant to deflate tires don't quite work as depicted, but are still plausible overall. Finally in the third act, we come to Bond and Wai Lin being captured, forced to make a daring escape on a motorcycle while handcuffed (Yes, it's as cool as it sounds). While this sequence is awesome, the big issue is the helicopter trying to use its blades as a buzzsaw. This would absolutely break the blades and crash the chopper. Bond and Lin team up and track down a stealth boat where our villain has been hiding to try and facilitate a war. This plays well other than the big burly henchman not being smart enough to check if he really killed Bond when he has otherwise proved competent. In a rare continuity in weapon functionality, Wai Lin is down to two bullets and has to use them in creative fashion that I can't help but feel this sequence was inspired from Die Hard.

Character development and dialogue are spot on for the most part. I've also maintained Pierce is the best overall Bond, mixing all elements of the character well and the inclusion of Paris touches on the aspect of not being a total cold blooded killer. Paris plays well for a short introduction she's given. Wai Lin I've always maintained is an awesome and underrated action heroine. She's an agent herself and realistically skilled while still being able to be overpowered. Her best scenes come when she's dueling submachine guns like Clint Eastwood. Johnathan Pryce plays an arrogant media mogul almost too realistically. And Götz Otto does a good henchman, though I can't help but feel he was having a little too much fun channeling Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The soundtrack is a little less iconic than its predecessor, Goldeneye, but it's more than just serviceable. Sheryl Crow's opening theme is very haunting and seductive all at once, proving her skill. The sound itself is popping, with explosion and gunfire adequately mixed, punches are still a little corny sounding, the same issue I had in Goldeneye.

At 2 hours, the film moves swiftly and is paced well. I never felt anything needed to be shortened or removed with maybe an exception or two

Unlike Goldeneye, CGI is used more prominently in this film, though it can be forgiven for some of the stunts used. Other than a few niggling spots where it's obvious, it seems it was used as a last resort over the first solution. The practical effects are still amazing. I am particularly partial to the motorcycle chase scenes.

The rewatchability is fairly high. I've seen it more than a few times and intend to watch it until I pass. But I will say it's not as rewatchable as Goldeneye.

While not as much of a cultural phenomenon as Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies is a solid follow up both story and character wise. While there are obvious issues to it, none of these should detract from this enjoyable Bond entry.

GoldenEye (1995)

A cultural significant piece

[8/10 · 23 June 2023]

Goldeneye's story has to be one of the strongest in the franchise. When a mission during the Cold War goes awry, resulting in the loss of a fellow agent and friend, Bond is forced to confront that past with the help of a computer programmer, Natalya. This investigation leads him from Russia all the way to Cuba. Even though the film has been out for 28 years as of this writing, if you haven't seen it, it's best not to spoil it. I do appreciate that there seems to be some thought and research put into the film. While most of it is likely unrealistic, which is par for Bond, the team clearly put some effort into making it all plausible. I also appreciate the setup and payoff for this film's gadgets. What's presented isn't used like Batman's shark repellent. The grapple in his belt or the pen grenade are less niche than gadgets of past and more universal. Their use is appropriate and creative, not feeling obvious and cheap (I still can't keep track of the tense scene where the pen grenade is used). This all culminates in one fantastic final fight.

Characters and acting for the most part, are solid. Bond has always flirted with the line of being too good at everything, but I never got the impression this was done in malice, more like setting a bar for men to strive to. This is also balanced out with weaknesses and an emotional connection to his lost agent and friend. Pierce himself nails the Bond roll and to me is the quintessential take of the character. Natalya is an underrated Bond girl, having witnessed a horrible event to be sympathetic to, but still stepping up as more than just eye candy as a capable computer programmer and even getting her hands dirty towards the climax. Sean Bean is always a treat, so his roll playing Alec Trevelyan was as I hoped. Even minor role characters like Valentin Zukovsky, Judi Dench as M, and Jack Wade, even for their short screen time, are established and likable pretty quickly. Unfortunately, there is a caveat. Xenia Onatopp as a fem fatale Russian assassin isn't anything new to the franchise, there have always been villainous Bond girls. But the role is written and performed so ridiculously and this coming from a franchise that practically invented the caricature. Her screen time is minimal, but is immersion breaking nonetheless.

The special effects are a big highlight. Anyone who is a long time fan will know of 'Bond Moments' and this film has them. From jumping off a dam, to high octane impromptu races, to tank chases, and explosions galore all with practical effects, this movie has more than enough to look at and remember as a scene from Goldeneye. And let's not discount the decent onset shooting rather than a dull green screen.

The run time is over 2 hours, but the movie never drags. It knows it's audience and how to pace it without feeling inorganic, like, there was an obligation to do a certain scene.

The soundtrack is controversial for many and it's time, but it does distinguish itself with Tina Turner doing the opening credits song and iconic Bond songs with the classic orchestra feel as well as a few synth songs that one can't help but remember from Goldeneye specifically. Sound design itself comes out swinging with guns and explosions having a reverberating effect. There are a few cheesy sounds when fist fights occur, but it shouldn't be enough to detract from the overall experience. And I cannot un-hear the door sound from the 1986 film Aliens being used once in this movie.

Is it rewatchable? For this fan, yes. I lost count long ago how many times I've seen it and it's something that I'd never pass on if I was flipping through channels or if it popped up on a streaming service. Just looking at reviews online, I'd say I'm in the majority.

I also can't overstate how much this Bond film in particular had an impact on our culture as a whole. It spawned a highly acclaimed video game that ensured a future of the FPS genre on console. It's been referenced in the Archie Comics: Sonic The Hedgehog and the Super Mario Bros TV show. The plot was rehashed in Captain America: Winter Soldier. And that's just scratching the surface.

All in all, Goldeneye is one of the best Bond films ever made and is worth seeing for the cultural heritage it spawned alone. The plot and characters are all solid, the sound and music will rock your world, and the best part is, it can be watched detached from the series. Afterward, grab your N64 and friends to play some Goldeneye split screen. Slappers only, no Oddjob.

Red Eye (2005)

Compact Suspense

[8/10 · 10 June 2023]

Red Eye opens with a hotel manager Lisa Reisert, played by Rachel McAdams, working her way home from her Grandmother's funeral. During the boarding process, she meets Jackson Rippner, played (excellently) by Cillian Murphy who ends up not being as he seems. Lisa is more or less held hostage on a crowded airplane. How? Creatively and intelligently. I cannot stress enough how the writers clearly thought of possible alternatives to scenes, minimizing and maybe even eliminating plot-holes. As it proceeds, we find Lisa has a troubled past and is, in a sense, facing the same situation she did then. It all culminates in a tense cat-and-mouse game with an ending that I will just say, wouldn't be permissible in modern writing. The setup/payoff is exemplary and frequent. It doesn't feel cheap or unearned. The suspension of disbelief is excellent with believability at the very least, being sold well. And there are so many notes of symbolism the crew included in this film, such as Jackson sitting on the outer seat, effectively caging Lisa in like prey. Or how the roles of 'emotional' and 'logical' are flipped between characters at the end.

Needless to say, characters are a strong point in this film. Even the ones with limited screen time feel like they are a part of the world. But my hat tip has to go to Cillian Murphy for such a creepy performance. From the moment Lisa meets him, he feels... off and then turns downright predatory, further selling Lisa's backstory.

At an hour and twenty-five minutes, the movie is compact, but not rushed. It's amazing how much they are able to cram in, in terms of story and character development, without any plot point overstaying it's welcome.

The soundtrack is appropriately tense and atmospheric. Sound design felt a little weaker than it could be, but it also doesn't overshadow scenes.

There isn't a lot of diversity when it comes to shot composition, it's mostly claustrophobic, selling the prison-like feel Lisa has for her situation. Occasionally, you'll get a shots around the Florida hotel, but I wouldn't hardly call them 'beauty' shots.

There is a lot of reason to rewatch the film to pick up the little nuisances, but it's just a good thriller film that doesn't rely on 'one use' tricks to enjoy.

If I had to sum it up, I'd say it's exceptional in all aspects but a few. Red Eye is worth your time because it doesn't take much of your time. While aspects of the story may not reflect 'certain' sensibilities in instances, it cannot be denied that it makes everything and everyone more compelling. The characters are good and performed by excellent acting. If you need a tense adrenaline dump, this is for you.

Flightplan (2005)

Solid thriller

[7/10 · 12 May 2023]

The movie's story centers around Kyle Pratt played by Jodie Foster, though how you would know her name since it's never spoken aloud is beyond me. In the early parts, the plot wisely focuses on setups for future payoffs... or red herrings. Kyle is a bit of an unreliable narrator within this story, which should keep even astute viewers engaged and guessing until it all comes together. I won't spoil the plot here as it ruins the whole point of the movie, but to keep a short summary, it's fairly tight for the most part and it's only major plot hole can be played out differently without mental gymnastics. The tense atmosphere itself sold me so much, I generally found myself too invested to nitpick anyway.

Acting is solid across the board. While I am not a Jodie Foster fan, I will acknowledge the skill she has in this role and how she clearly gives it her all. Once again, going too far into reviewing the characters defeats the reason to see the movie, but rest assured everyone puts in a good performance.

Pacing is excellent with all the setup and character development that's crammed in at just over ninety minutes. While it could be perceived as 'dragging' in the middle as it sometimes seems the protagonist isn't making progress, I wouldn't call any shot wasted film.

Camera work is worth noting here as it is tight and claustrophobic within the plane, but it's interesting how many far shots are pulled off in such a confined setting. I also like how the structural environment is used to transition scenes.

The music is very appropriate and minimal, though don't expect to be humming one of the tunes like you would the theme of "Back to the Future" either. The sounds design itself is very intense with its delivery, likely to make viewers jump out of their skin.

Rating the rewatch value of this film is a difficult task. After the initial watch, it is worth rewatching soon after to pick up all the missed clues that a viewer will now have context to. It is also a movie better watched with others than alone, even if one viewer has seen it already. That being said, it's not a movie I'd reach for with regularity.

The final synopsis to me is that Flightplan is a tense thriller worth at least one viewing for people who want a scare without a gore fest. It's pacing is perfect, the story is interesting, and the characters well developed. Dare I say, it may even be smart writing. I fully recommend this one, flaws notwithstanding.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Loyalty to a brand

[8/10 · 22 April 2023]

The story opens with Mario and Luigi with their struggles of becoming a start up business. It quickly evolves into a sort of Wizard of Oz plot when the two of them are unintentionally transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. The movie from there is best experienced in person. Rather than try to explain this fantasy land's lore, it wisely moves on, leaving it ambiguous. Much of the setup and payoff may seem nonexistent, but the film wisely assumes its audience has played the games where most of the setup is. And that's the point, the movie is fan-service rather than pitiful nostalgia-bait most movies tend to fall back on. They are even so loyal as to leave Bowser's motivation of kidnapping and forcibly marrying Peach in place. That's not to say the movie's plot isn't without flaws, even from a fan perspective. It could stand a little more depth like we see in movies such as Up or Toy Story, not to mention explaining a few loose ends. It's unfortunate too, because the skill is clearly there. They even have a carefully crafted explanation as to why Mario doesn't have an Italian accent. But at the end of the day, it's serviceable as well as inoffensive and maybe that's all the studio was comfortable with on their first outing.

The messages are positive and on point, focusing on determination, courage, and even family. This has been sorely missed from kid's movies and it was refreshing to see once more.

Characters are good for the most part. Chris Pratt was a better choice than I would've guessed for Mario. Charlie Day does an excellent Luigi, I just wish he got more screen time considering it's called The Super Mario Bros. I'm not really a Keegan-Michael Key fan, but I was swayed to his take on Toad. But my gold medal has to go to Jack Black as Bowser. He steals every scene he's in and I didn't even realize he was in the movie until the credits rolled, the performance is that good. Donkey Kong as a character is a little more open to interpretation as to how it should be played and Seth Rogen's is... ok. But having seen other movies of his, it was obvious that this was a phoned-in role, which he admitted to himself. Peach is a bit of contention as I don't think the voice chosen was a great fit. The character herself is too flawless at points, but thankfully doesn't drag others down to bring herself up. And not once can she be saved by Mario despite saving him and herself plenty, one of the few disloyalties to the lore. Again, thankfully, this is tempered by having Mario and Luigi ultimately the focus. Much of her could've been fixed with simply cutting the 'obvious' point of dialogue.

The animation itself is incredible, with a bright, pleasing color palette that doesn't overwhelm the senses like some CGI messes. It's obvious that a lot of work went into making it look like a video game as well, and it's much appreciated.

At an hour and a half, the movie absolutely does not drag nor does it use its time unwisely. If you're a fan, you'll probably be looking for Easter eggs in every frame anyway.

This neatly brings me to the rewatch value and it's high for several reasons. You can rewatch for all those references or just because you want to watch a good story play out. Since it's short, an easy watch, appropriate for everyone, and iconic material, I foresee myself watching it many times again well into the future.

It was nice to see Brian Tyler heading up the soundtrack as I've always appreciated the work he did on the middle few Fast and Furious movies as well as Alien Vs Predator Requiem soundtracks. This soundtrack shouldn't disappoint fans either, mixing original tracks with the iconic video game tunes of the Mario movies, something it's competitor, Sonic, didn't do as well. I did find a few of the licensed tracks a bit odd, but not jarring enough to pull me out of the experience. The original track 'Peaches' is rumored to be up for an Oscar and I can totally see why. This will be remembered for a long time.

The end summary is The Super Mario Bros movie is solid. I won't say there's something for everyone because this movie was clearly made with fans in mind, as it should be. While it has its issues and could benefit from some polish and depth, I still look forward to future entries and any other game franchises Nintendo outputs with open arms as they've proven, like so few others, video games can be adapted into film.

Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Easy watch

[8/10 · 7 April 2023]

The story follows Chris as her date for the night has to cancel to take care of a sick sister. She is then enlisted by a family to babysit for the night instead. From there, it takes a turn when her friend runs away from home to downtown Chicago with instant regrets. Chris is coerced into taking the very kids she's babysitting along. While driving into the city, her mother's car blows a tire, starting the 'series of unfortunate events'. The plot falls somewhere in the middle of believable and unbelievably with no one event being impossible on its own, but the stacking of the events being unlikely. Since it's all played for laughs and the stakes are not 'universe ending' high, most of the typical plot criticisms can be overlooked and enjoyed for what they are: comedy. For me, the biggest criticisms come from the college student Dan who is introduced late in the film and who Chris has a romantic relationship with by the end. There is absolutely not enough justification for this development at this speed. The setting is handled interestingly as a sort of journey into a fantasy world, with a mystic air of danger and intrigue to idealistic kids who have never traveled outside the suburbs.

Characters are fairly solid in the context of the story. They are simple suburban kids with just enough motivation and development to get invested in. Simply put, they aren't deep because they don't need to be, though I do appreciate that there isn't a reliance on tropes, keeping everyone fresh. This is all backed by fairly good acting across the board by everyone, even the minor characters I found myself having investment in. I'm always impressed by how much character development 80s movies can cram into a compressed run time.

Speaking of, the movie runs an hour and forty two minutes, but it all feels smooth, with very little time wasted and the plot is moved along quickly, never at a pace that felt rushed either.

Special effects are kept to a bare minimum since the movie relies on realistic settings. There are a couple of shots that are clearly on a set with a CGI building in the background, but for the most part, you won't be jarred out of the experience.

Soundtrack is mostly composed of licensed tracks which offsets otherwise forgettable movie music. I did enjoy the music also being weaved into the plot in an iconic way. Sound design itself is very 80s with over-exaggerated noises that we all know and love.

Without question, there is rewatch value to be had in this movie. I've seen it dozens of times and I'll see it dozens more times in the future.

Overall, Adventures in Babysitting is a classic that's sits with titans like 'The Goonies' and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. It's a fun comedy adventure, made for everyone to enjoy. It's not deep nor does it have messaging because it doesn't need to. It's meant to bring everyone together to laugh and feel good, an objective it certainly completes.

Incredibles 2 (2018)

Incredible Mid

[6/10 · 10 March 2023]

The plot picks up for the most part where the original ends. The Parr family of superheroes is going after the Underminer, and Violet's secret identity is exposed to her crush. The sequence continues as the baby is handed off between characters who want to contribute to the fight and it's meant to be played for laughs, but I honestly could not see everyone in this family being that dense and such glory seekers as to pass this baby off during a battle and it ruined the immersion and believability given how intelligent the decisions made in the original generally were. During the battle, a mysterious man witnesses it and gets excited about supers returning. When it ends, the Parr family is arrested before ultimately being released and Rick Dicker wipes the mind of Violet's crush. Displaced from their house with no money despite Bob clearly acquiring hefty amounts of it from Syndrome jobs in the first movie, they plan to live out of a hotel until Frozone shows up about an opportunity. They decide to meet this mysterious man from the opening who explains he wants to get supers legalized again using Helen as the poster child, totally passing over Frozone for some unfathomable reason. Seriously, in every clip, Frozone seems less destructive than either Bob or Helen and he is just completely ignored. The plot then switches between every day life as a super for Bob and Helen's vigilantism in the city and it is tedious. The original Incredibles was slicker with this balance and moved on from it after the first act. And yes, it was humorous in a way, but also emotionally melancholy as well as relatable. This just seems to play simply to degrade Mr Incredible as an incompetent stay-at-home dad and head of the household. Then we come to Jack-Jack... I don't understand how nobody in the family could deduce in the original movie that he had powers between the odd babysitter phone call and their vision angle of Syndrome's jet when he turned into fire. It's simply bad writing so the rest of the plot can happen. And Jack-Jack is clearly pushed to the front simply as a merchandising product than an actual character. His powers are whatever the plot needs or whatever will elicits cheap laughs for shenanigans. Helen meanwhile is on the trail of a villain who hypnotizes others by using video screens and while parts of that feel like a more traditional superhero film, they are few and far between, with her time mostly spent talking to Evelyn about how awesome they are. After the Screenslaver villain is 'allegedly' caught, Helen deduces that he really wasn't who he seemed and that it was Evelyn all along. Seriously, one would have to be a character in this film to not have seen that coming the moment she was introduced, intended or not. This is where the plot begins to drag with Bob, Helen, and a conglomerate of other supers being hypnotized into Evelyn's minions so she can ruin the future of super's forever. It shifts over to Dash and Violet infiltrating the yacht where the super legalization is taking place on a global scale using a super cheap setup and payoff sequence. During this Yacht part, Violet and Dash have to fight other supers and in one particularly sinful instance, there is absolutely no excuse for them not to remove the hypno-googles from supers, freeing them of the thrall. It all culminates in a final confrontation where Helen beats Evelyn by a conveniently placed flare gun.

The characters more or less follow a circle than an arc, rehashing their original stories. Bob for some reason, is more selfish in this pursuit of being a legal superhero again, which wasn't a trait of his in the original. He loved his family more and just wanted a taste of the glory days, but always put them first. Violet becomes an insufferable and disrespectful know-it-all who gets mad about her crush losing his memory of her when she should really be grateful that her secret identity is so easily kept in tact, which was her own fault in the first place as well. Dash and Frozone aren't utilized much, but the biggest sin has to go to Jack-Jack. He is a walking plot device with no rules to his powers, as they simply do whatever the plot needs. Moreover, his presence in the film has all the earmarks of being a merchandise grab, as his value in the actual story could have been mitigated to a much higher degree with little loss. Still, the voice acting is on point at the end of the day, which helps to save face.

The pacing and run time on this film is all over the place. The original slickly showed you the daily life of a super integrated into society for a short time before getting into the exciting meat. This film focuses on it so much to the point of painful. And at 2 hours, it starts to wear on you quickly.

There was a fourteen year gap in the development between the Incredibles movies and it's surprising to see not much has changed on the VFX side of things. I see improvements, but nothing that screamed 'revolutionary'. What you see is serviceable and not bad on the eyes. Everyone and everything is recognizable, to which I am grateful. But it is not anything your eyes will pop out at.

The soundtrack is a slightly less memorable take of the original. You will still hear beats from that first movie that were so iconic, but then there are tracks that are just white noise by comparison. Sound design itself is still solid... when it's used. Rarely do you get the audio cocktail the original had.

The rewatchability is much lower on this film and I can almost guarantee most, if presented with the option of watching this or the original, will 99 out of 100 times pick the original.

Overall, The Incredibles 2 feels more of a chore to get through than the original. The plot isn't as airtight and humor often falls flat or even resorts to immaturity. The characters regress in likability across the board. The graphics and sound are mostly serviceable. And the desire to rewatch is much lower than the previous. While it definitely never ventures into the territory of unwatchable or even bad, I really cannot call it 'good' either. It's an ok-at-best flick that's probably worthy of the 2 hour investment, if only for a solo watch.

Moneyball (2011)

For those who have a love of the game

[8/10 · 18 February 2023]

Moneyball covers the real life story of Oakland A's manager Billy Beane and his implementation of the then controversial sabermetrics to the game of baseball during the 2002 MLB season to stay competitive after losing key players and being given no budget to court new ones. Like all dramatized adaptions of real life stories, there are inaccuracies, but for the most part, they don't detract from the story. The dialogue and acting are phenomenal with humor that often lands. The minimal soundtrack is memorable and the sound design itself is strong. It's not without flaws, mainly the story jump cutting a little too much and flash back sequences to Billy's time as a player not greatly implemented. Still, these flaws are for the most part, minor and should not steer one away from what is a solid sports history movie.

The plot of Moneyball opens with the Oakland A's 2001 loss and general manager as well as former ball player Billy Beane left to pick up the pieces. With no budget and the star players being bought out, Billy begins the arduous process of trying to replace them. When coming to discuss trades with another team, he happens upon Peter Brand who is standing in for the real life counterpart Paul DePodesta. Peter introduces Billy to the sabermetrics approach to scouting and the film follows these two as they work against public opinion, coaches, scouts, and pretty much everyone to build a World Series team all while Billy balances a relationship with his daughter as she grows more concerned for his job.

The casting, acting, and dialogue are the strong points of the film, which is good because that's where it focuses generally. Most of the dialogue sounds almost improvised which carries a realism to it. Not only that, it often had me laughing. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill play near polar opposites and bounce off each other well. Scenes breath and sometimes, they have no dialogue at all, allowing the viewer to reflect. The plot is tight, though this is expected given that it's built off real events. Some may take issue with the inaccuracies to real life, but they didn't bother me personally. The real issues with it come in the form of it jumping rather than transitioning smoothly between scenes. Billy's flash backs to playing in the majors aren't always immediately clear either because of the jump cuts. Still, these gripes aren't enough to dampen my enjoyment.

Sound is excellent. The music is memorable without ever being explosively bombastic. I especially love the closing scene choice of 'the show' and how it's used. The sound design itself is more than satisfying. I think I could listen to baseballs cracking off bats all day in this movie.

My end conclusion is Moneyball is a solid entry into the long standing history of Hollywood baseball movies. It's historically fascinating and you don't have to be an aficionado to understand what is going on. While it does have trouble with transitions and jump cuts, this should not be enough to detract from a great movie, especially those who have a love of the game.

Bumblebee (I) (2018)

Flawed but fun

[6/10 · 11 February 2023]

Bumblebee can best be summarized as two steps forward, two steps back. It's story is much more polished and highbrow compared to the Michael Bay Transformers films, cutting out unnecessary crass humor and poor arc development, but still falls victim to extremely insufferable and often pointless human characters as well as relying on bad decisions to forward the plot. CGI is a bit more cartoony compared to previous films and may be deliberately so, which could be good or bad depending on the viewer's point of view, but still looks fantastic. Soundtrack and sound design is serviceable, but nothing as iconic as Steve Jablonsky's first Transformers soundtrack or as good as Bay's sound editing either. Overall, it falls on the better end of the Transformers film spectrum, but that's a pretty low bar to clear.

Bumblebee is about... you guessed it, the autobot Bumblebee. The film has a spectacular opening scene, showing us the war on Cybertron and how the Autobots scattered to the cosmos, with Bumblebee landing on Earth. Through a series of events, he comes into the possession of Charlie, having been wounded and suffering amnesia. This is where the plot suffers problems. I'm all for calm character building, but much of the middle half is fluff with no real point. And while there isn't the crass humor of the Michael Bay films, the plot does use cringy awkwardness and humor that just doesn't land. Characters are often incredibly dumb and even acknowledge the dumbness just to move the plot forward. There's also the problem of extreme plot armor and some serious convenience to make sure certain plot points happen. It does end with a decent fight sequence and leads into the original 2007 film. There is setup and payoff, but it often feels unrewarding and cheap at times. As it stands, it both improves the Bayformers writing but creates its own new problems. At least it's more loyal to the lore than other films in the franchise.

Characters were to me, the weakest point. Charlie has a very sympathetic arc, but is often simply too shrill, whiny, and disrespectful to be likable. Memo is completely underutilized and barely has anything resembling an arc, character, or even contribution to the plot, often just following Charlie around. Charlie's family seem very nice, but are depicted as dumb and out of touch and her interactions with them are often disrespectful. And most of these characters just do not have any screen charisma with each other. John Cena as Agent Burns is a big saving grace. You can tell he was having a lot of fun with this role and often steals the scenes he's in. Bumblebee himself, despite being CGI, really makes up for the shortcomings of others. His character was nailed which it should be a given since it's his movie.

Special effects have always been solid on Transformers movies and Bumblebee is no different. The robots definitely saw a more cartoony take this time around and I feel it was both deliberate and a welcome change of pace, though I understand the argument of them not blending into the world as well too.

The soundtrack isn't as good as Steve Jablonsky's, but it does the job, focusing on 80's music and how Bumblebee comes to communicate through it. The sound design compared to Bayformers is definitely a step back from being as throaty and explosive to a more muted and less bombastic tone.

Overall, Bumblebee is a more solid entry into the Transformers universe, but that's not to say it's free of problems. As long as you are willing to overlook its shortcomings, Bumblebee is worth its two hour run time, which is more than I can say for some of the other entries.

Hours (2013)

No other movie like it!

[8/10 · 3 February 2023]

Short review: Hours is a surprising sleeper movie that kept me engaged throughout. The emotional, personal, and simple story that gets more and more desperate as it progresses had me at the edge of my seat. For being such a short run time, every second is used intelligently minus a few flashback scenes that felt slightly mishandled. Characters are instantly engaging, especially the morally upstanding ones early on, which perfectly balances the less desirables introduced post-hurricane. Often, you are left with the external monologue of the protagonist. If I had to level a complaint, it would be in acting. Paul Walker is certainly giving it his all, but I just feel like he wasn't the right fit. Thankfully, he grows as the movie progresses. The soundtrack is powerfully emotional at all the proper times. Special effects are used sparingly and generally don't have many problems. I will say the baby looks like the obvious puppet it is on close-in shots, but this will not break immersion. I cannot recommend this movie enough and I can't think of anything quite like it.

The story of Hours revolves around a husband's wife dying during childbirth while Hurricane Katrina rages around them and the aftermath of surviving with the baby, but being unable to leave for more than a few minutes. It's deeply personal, covering heavy subjects of grieving, desperation, and moving on. The scenes with emotion are given the space to breath, letting you really take them in and it's both surprising as well as appreciated how much of a priority is put on this with such a short run time. With generally only the protagonist on screen, the empty building he resides in is often moody to the point of being a suspense horror setting and I loved it. The characters mercifully make logical decisions generally, not relying on bad choices to forward the plot, which is good because the situation deteriorates constantly, though I never felt exhausted by that either. I also appreciate a timeline of events to follow and wish more movies would utilize this simple text for audiences (when appropriate anyway). The story uses a lot of showing and telling, though it was perhaps a bit too timid in its allowance for the audience to connect the dots. Setup and payoff is used sparingly, but intelligently. The only real downside is the poorly depicted flashback scenes. Altogether, the plot is best seen unspoiled.

Characters are the strong point of this film as the story is character-centric more than the average movie. In the first seven minutes, I instantly loved much of the hospital staff while receiving very little exposition on them. This is realistic from the protagonist's point of view as he wouldn't know these people either. This is a good early offset to the antagonists that come in after the hurricane, so the film never gets too depressing or nihilistic. The acting ranges from good to great. While Paul Walker is clearly putting his all into the film, I do not feel this role played to his strengths, but thankfully, the setting and plot is so strong, you barely even notice. This is further helped by a natural growth into the role as it progresses.

Special effects are minimally used and when they are, they look fairly good. I will say the close-in shots of the baby are very obviously a puppet, but I never felt it was completely immersion breaking.

The soundtrack is very barebones in the best way, offering emotional keys at appropriate moments, but never overpowering the scene either. Sound design is also very moody, making you sometimes jump at a noise, wondering what will come of it? Something bad? Something good?

Scenes are tight-in shots, making you feel as claustrophobic as the characters on screen. But on the occasion when a character ventured outside, it does offer something beyond that.

Hours is hard to review because it's tough to know what to say without ruining the film. I certainly want to say more than I did. I just cannot recommend this film enough and there really isn't a comparable movie to it. The best thing to do is go watch it without any foreknowledge. The few issues with it are not enough to diminish what is a well developed and unique plot with engaging characters. It will keep you in a grip of tension, wondering what will happen next and off your phone in boredom.

The Lost City (2022)

Safe, reliable, fun!

[7/10 · 27 January 2023]

Short review: The Lost City is safe, fun, reliable entertainment that even delivers some unexpected moments. The story can best be compared to Romancing The Stone, where a shut-in writer is suddenly thrust into an Indiana Jones style adventure. The ending came as a surprise with a rather moving and un-cynical take on love. The acting is well done from a cast of veterans who know what they are doing and have legitimate chemistry together. Special effects blend in well, never being hyper obvious. Soundtrack is reliable, if forgettable. Overall, I recommend it as a safe bet to watch.

Long review:

The story follows Loretta Sage, a reluctant romance novelist whose archeological husband passed before the events of the film. Through a series of events, she finds herself kidnapped and forced to find a lost city. Her book series cover model, Alan, who is out of his depth but secretly crushing on Loretta, launches a plan to rescue her that ultimately falls apart, forcing them to run through the jungle to escape. The story's biggest sin is how oddly it balances grounded believability only to go full-on absurd. It's not terrible since the movie doesn't take itself seriously and I was often having fun with it, but at points, it can be jarring. The next sin is some of the plot conveniences that couldn't possibly forward the story unless they happened exactly as depicted. The last sin has to be the weird meta and numerous pop culture references. Thankfully, all of it is few and far between. Setup and payoff is also underutilized and maybe slightly cheap when it is. An oddity for this genre of film. The ending is a rather unique treat, giving us a surprisingly un-cynical analysis of love, and why it's important, and why you shouldn't shut out the world.

The characters are a fairly strong point here. Loretta is clearly bitter and not over her husband's passing. She has a fair amount of archaeological smarts from her husband that feeds that bitterness as she clearly feels the knowledge wasted on fiction books. On the opposite end, Alan is a modeling himbo with no real skills, he is persistent, brave, and loyal but the script never has Loretta drag him down just to elevate herself. They are both flawed and play off each other well. Daniel Radcliffe does a good job playing a villain. I felt his character could've been better fleshed out, to the point of maybe being even sympathetic with the information we are given, but unfortunately, he's mostly surface level. For being in it so briefly, Brad Pitt steals every scene he's in. I can't help but feel the actors and actresses all had fun with this movie and that energy definitely bounces back to the viewer.

Special effects are used fairly sparingly for a 2022 movie and the CGI used isn't offensively obvious or focused on. In the behind the scenes special features, it looks like many of the actors were doing their own stunts at least some of the time, something I always appreciate.

The soundtrack and sound design are all serviceable, nothing extremely standout, good or bad.

Overall, I fully recommend The Lost City. In the 2022 drought of entertaining content, it's a surprisingly good movie that won't offend or leave you utterly dissatisfied. Telling a story reminiscent of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone that doesn't try anything particularly risky.

Stealth (2005)

Missed opportunities

[5/10 · 21 January 2023]

Short review: I can best describe Stealth as 'A lot of interesting plot ideas started and none of them ever finished or even fleshed out'. This is further exacerbated by flat acting with no charisma between actors, a forgettable soundtrack, inconsistent special effects, and the film being shot so poorly, specifically the never ending shaky cam effect. It's not completely unwatchable and there's clearly a workable as well as interesting concept underneath it all, it's just unfortunate the final product feels more like a first draft script than a completed one. Ultimately, it's factually a bad movie that I can't deny I derive some enjoyment from.

Long review: The plot has to be the biggest bone of contention here. It skips around aimlessly most of the time, missing opportunities for character development despite having several scenes of 'downtime' for the navy pilots. The dialogue is cringy and just not believable even as dumbed down military speak. There seems to be an implication the United States is embroiled in a global conflict, it's just not clear with 'who' that enemy is or even if there is more than one faction to it. The 'true' bad guy is revealed late in the film, but his motives are so ambiguous, you're left wondering why he became a bad guy. There is a serious problem of plot convenience a few times as well as the simple question of if the pilots could even function at the G-forces being depicted. The concept of artificial intelligence becoming more human because you can't put a limit on its learning capabilities is definitely a good arc, but it has trouble finding its footing and is often overshadowed by unnecessary filler. The romantic subplot also comes seemingly out of nowhere due to poor character development and it's hard to sympathize with the characters as a result. I will give credit for the movie killing off a main character, it's one of the more unexpected turns and one storytellers rarely utilize, I just wish I was more invested in that character, so the impact was more meaningful. The final act of the film was the highlight, but given what came before to get there, it doesn't have the strength to carry the story by itself.

The characters are just too flat and forgettable with only concepts of arcs implemented into them. I feel like there was serious miscasting too. Josh Lucas, who has decent abilities, will never not come off as a slimy used car salesman, so the role as a military leader feels inappropriate. Jamie Foxx always seems to be playing Jamie Foxx, whether here, as Electro, or the President of the United States. Sam Shepard is no stranger to playing military commanders, like in Black Hawk Down, but a commander turned villain just didn't seem like a good role to cast him in. EDI is the highlight of the story. The robotic plane that bears a resemblance to HAL 9000 undergoes several allegiance and personality changes as he comes into consciousness outside of programming and I found his demise more poignant than any human characters' death. The thing holding EDI back is plot itself. IRobot, which released a year earlier, covers a similar idea, but has a stronger plot to back it up.

Special effects are wildly inconsistent. Sometimes they look really good, other times, they look cheap and something you'd find on a TV show of the same year. I'd be more forgiving given that this is a 2005 film, but since the quality is so varied, I'm left wondering why it wasn't more consistently higher quality if they had a choice.

How scenes are shot is hard to stomach, especially where the aircraft are involved. The camera is rarely not shaking. By comparison, the two Top Gun movies or even Independence Day, wisely kept the camera planted for the most part in aircraft scenes, only shaking where it seemed appropriate and not for extended periods of time. On occasion when the camera holds still and no action is present, the film does have some good shots of scenery. It also does have something more to offer than close-in shots as well, something that is often overlooked as of late.

The soundtrack is extremely forgettable outside the early 2000s licensed rock music. I can't say it's inappropriate, just unremarkable background noise. Same can be said for sound design in general. Not bad, but not anything to write home about.

Overall, it's hard to recommend Stealth to even hardcore fans of the dogfighting genre. But it's hard to deny the fact I also took a certain enjoyment from it too. There is a good story somewhere in this script and with a few changes, I feel it could've come to fruition. As it stands, we have what we have and I can only judge it on that.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

A well-kept secret

[9/10 · 14 January 2023]

The short review: Atlantis: The Lost Empire can best be summed up as Stargate lite. A perfect action adventure film just mature enough to draw in adults, but still childish enough for young kids to sit through. The characters are easy enough to follow without being overly complicated for developing minds and the wide range of backgrounds they come from really helps you latch on. Story is a strong point with great setup and payoff. It only stumbles towards the end, mostly involving inconsistencies or plot holes around the giant crystal, most of which can be overlooked. I especially enjoy the tie-ins to real life history myself. The animation with blends of 3D models at certain points looks great. The colorful, yet muted color palette also brings a more gritty look to the classic Disney art style while still maintaining visual flare. The soundtrack is both appropriate and even has distinct tracks I couldn't help but remember as being tied to this film. At 96 minutes, the film never drags nor moves too fast, using every minute wisely for something. This is a good stepping stone for younger kids to take in more intense movies, and adults will certainly find entertainment value in it as well.

The long review is as follows:

From the moment of the unique Disney Logo opening, I knew I was in for something special and it only got better from there with a quote from Plato.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire covers the many legends surrounding the mythical city that was mysteriously lost. The movie kicks off showing us the city being drowned, explaining the event, but not the cause. This is a perfect opening, drawing me into this universe and leaving me with good, unanswered questions to follow up on.

The characters are from a variety of backgrounds, well fleshed out while not dawdling too much. Where the main protagonist is concerned, so much of his story is communicated through 'showing' not 'telling' in the early parts of the film, something sorely missed in most modern films.. I do also like how individual skills are established for each character and used more than once, meaning a team, not one person, helps carry the day.

At 96 minutes, story is well paced and never drags, only putting in the exact amount of characters, story, and exposition needed in a given scene. That's not to say scenes don't breath when they need to. When emotional scenes play out, they are given the ability to settle instead of going on to the next scene like nothing happened: another choice in aesthetic not seen commonly in recent years.

The plot is strong, and anchoring it to a historical or pseudo-historical setting was genius. It's elements are darker than a typical Disney kid's film without straying too far from kid friendly. This is an action/adventure film and it shows. So much of it reminds me of the original Stargate, while not directly plagiarizing it. The creators even went so far as to get visually correct outfits, vehicles, guns, etc for the time period. They may not be perfect, but they do sell it as believable. Setup and payoff is present and simplistic without feeling cheap. The only parts of the plot that are weak center around the final 'device' towards the end. I realize they were trying to keep it ambiguous and mysterious, but too much of it made little sense. However, this should be a relatively minor gripe overall. It also wraps up nicely as its own complete story, but still leaving the door open for a worthy sequel.

The soundtrack is decently done; that is to say, I found tunes within it I couldn't help but remember as being part of the Atlantis movie. Sound design itself is as intense as the movie is, with explosions, gunfire, and engines having a throaty feel to them.

Animation is excellent overall, and the color palette being more 'muted' or 'grey' tone communicates a more mature story. Certain elements are 3D animation blended into the hand drawn art, which is some of the best hybridization I've seen done onscreen. Only a few of the face animations were slightly odd at certain points, but probably wouldn't be noticed otherwise.

The voice acting is spot on. Michael J. Fox is always a treat to have working in a film, which showed through Milo's presentation. James Garner absolutely nails the character of Rourke through a slow reveal. Don Novello as Vinny did improv for all his voice acting, but you'd never be able to tell. And Phil Morris seemed to steal any scene Sweet had dialogue in.

Overall, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a fantastic hidden gem from the days of 'good' Disney.

It's especially good as a starting film for young kids before transitioning them to their adult counterparts, like Stargate or The Mummy, as there is onscreen death handled in a tasteful way. It also serves as an excellent example of a non-franchised film having a phenomenal story, good pacing, and topped off with an awesome cast.