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An error has ocurred. Please try againTo be clear on my biases, I am much more of a fan of the portrayal of Godzilla as a metaphoric, antagonistic force of nature. Once we get outside of that I just look to have the most fun with the kaiju flick as possible. Bearable human characters, pacing, soundtrack, special effects, creature design, miniature destruction etc ... all contribute to this.
Once Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is released physically I'm going to do a re-watch of the franchise and do a complete re-write of these rankings!
Friday the 13th: Part 13 - Black Friday
You’re welcome!
Anyway, this most recent watch through was actually mostly pretty fun. To be clear on what I’m looking for in these movies: bearable human characters, Jason performance, creative kills, and good special effects.
I’ll be honest, none of these are that great and I don’t have a strong reverence for the series, but I’m pretty confident that the top 4 films are the strongest of the series while the rest will vary depending on what you want from a Friday movie.
Reviews
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
The Dazzling Spider-Man!
"True, a lot of animation is insipid, and insulting even to the children it is made for. But great animation can make the mind sing."
- Excerpt from Roger Ebert's review for Princess Mononoke (1998)
Such is true for, of all things, a silly Spider-man film.
The story follows a very relatable Miles Morales as our soon to be new Spider-Man and his struggles with school, family, and his own self-inadequacies. Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider from another universe caused by a science machine used by the villain Kingpin for his own personal reasons.
The use of the machine causes several different versions of Spider-Man/Woman/Pig to end up in the same universe. All the different Spider-people need to make it back to their respective universe while simultaneously stopping Kingpin from inadvertently destroying the multi-verse.
Pretty standard comic book stuff. However, the opportunity taken to present this basic premise with such flair helps it to easily rise above it's peers.
I felt true ecstasy while viewing this film. I saw a canvas that almost could not contain all the creativity that threatened to spill from the screen onto the audience.
The joy of taking every opportunity to build the film into an explosion of style, colour, and entertainment is felt throughout the entire runtime. I love that the silhouette rule was paid attention to. While there are 6 different versions of Spider-Man in the film, you could easily distinguish one from another if you only saw their silhouette.
Even all of the villains (outside of Kingpin) that appear in the film are different interpretations of those characters.
While the film shows love, or at least winks and nods to the various incarnations and interpretations of Spider-Man through the decades it's really not required knowledge for those who are less familiar with the character.
The themes are kept simple (rightfully so), but they feel genuine and are wonderfully woven and executed throughout the entire narrative rather than tagged on impotently at the end.
I cannot recommend this film enough, it's fresh and full of passion and joy. So much so that I felt something after watching it, and I hope you do too.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A quiet, but sometimes loud monster movie
A quiet place is a fairly well shot monster movie thriller. There's not much more to it.
I've been a critic of the over-reliance of "jumps scares" in the past which is unfortunate as "A Quiet Place" is tailor made for that type of "scare" through sheer virtue of the plot point that the monsters track their victims through sound.
I was reminded of a scene in "The Babadook" where, in silence, our main character glances up to see the Babadook where it was not before. In "The Babadook" the silence is continuous and the sudden appearance of the monster was not accompanied by loud strings from the film's soundtrack to remind you to be scared. Unfortunately "A Quiet Place" uses that soundtrack stings at almost every scare in the film.
Despite this "A Quiet Place" isn't overly reliant on jump scares and spends effort driving up the tension through body language instead and close-up shots of character facial expressions rather than spoken dialogue. My favourite scene of the movie is a mother in labour tries to make no noise as to avoid certain death from the monsters while struggling with contractions for example.
There is also some good cinematography in the film as well. Nothing to go nuts over, but the shot composition isn't bland and clearly has some thought put into it.
The weakest part of the film is it's themes. I just found that there was nothing to take away from the film. Is there a message about communication due to the nature of the monsters, and having a deaf character in the movie? What about the protecting your family angle? I'm not sure, the film briefly touches on this , but it doesn't go anywhere by the end of the film.
"A Quiet Place" is a really good movie if you want your date to cling to your arm in the theatre, otherwise it can be streamed on a rainy day sometime in the future.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
"Let the past die, kill it if you have to. That's the only way to become what you were meant to be"
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will certainly (and has proven to be before the opening weekend has even concluded) a polarizing entry in the franchise.
Rian Johnson had to have known that fans have been speculating answers to questions that are answered in this film since before "The Force Awakens" hit theatres.
Johnsons handling of these answers is sure to infuriate those who felt they figured out the answers by devoting untold hours of research into dissecting trailers, interviews, "The Force Awakens", and any other official cannon they could get their hands on.
Instead of further steeping Star Wars into established hierarchy, Johnson bravely decides to dash that and begins to create a new lore for the series.
No longer will the fate of the galaxy be resting on the shoulders of the same dozen or so characters. Johnson is thrusting Star Wars into new territory whether we like it or not. This isn't about the old characters anymore. The torch was passed last film and these new actors are running fiercely with it.
This isn't to say that the tone of Star Wars was lost. It's not, it's just being told through new perspectives. For example, the perpetual emphasis on the balance between good and evil is still addressed in the film, but not quite like it has before. In our modern world where the line between good and evil is an ever growing blur Johnson utilizes the yin-yang as symbolism throughout the film. Perhaps the light and dark side are not polar opposites, but forces that are interlinked together.
While that may be a change for the series, the absolutely wonderful and exciting Star Wars action set pieces are still top notch. Infact, one particular action set piece may be the best set piece since the original Death Star destruction sequence.
As with all Star Wars pictures, the set pieces are varied, from the dark void of space, to a space casino, to a dry white planet that hides crimson coloured salt just below it's top crust.
The film has it's flaws to be sure, there's logic gaps, information that's needlessly kept from characters, and humour that some may find out of place or goes too far.
However, none of these flaws are strong enough to have me not recommend the film.
Especially one that ends with a perfect encapsulation of how Star Wars makes us feel.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
This is why we watch movies
As the final scene of 'Bladerunner 2049' came to an end and the credits began to roll I found myself a bit shocked that nearly 3 hours had elapsed.
I had spent the entirety of the run-time completely entranced into the world Denis Villeneuve and his crew had masterfully constructed.
To be swept up in the imagination and realized vision of artists who take such care with every shot is a fine experience to have in the cinema. 'Bladerunner' 2049' seemingly transcends being a mere sequel and becomes a full fledged film in it's own right. A film that just happens to share a universe with another.
While the story and themes of 'Bladerunner 2049' are familiar they are done with such finesse that we can't help but feel empathy for the characters as they struggle to find their humanity, or simply try to make a connection.
There are small flaws in the film if you choose to go over it with a microscope, but the best way to watch 'Bladerunner 2049' is to let it wash over your senses and to just experience it.
This is why we watch movies.
It (2017)
"It" shows flare, but needs to have more confidence in it's ability to scare.
"It" is a mostly successful horror film that, unlike it's peers, manages to easily surpass the quality of it's predecessor (although it did have a slight luxury in being a remake of a TV film). Surprisingly enough, the film's biggest issue arises in the confidence of the film to allow itself to scare the audience.
Fortunately the film manages to stay standing in spite of itself. A large part of this is due to the casting of the child actors and the antagonist, Pennywise. For the most part these kids are believable in their roles even when they have to read through some clunky King dialogue. Only a few times do their performances feel hammy, the most notable being a painful but short exchange between Ben and Bev during the third act. The kids also play the comic relief of the film well in their dialogue. Although the film does push the comedic limit sometimes, especially a bit that referenced 'New Kids on the Block' that felt like it belonged in a tripe PG-13 comedy. Otherwise the only other shortcoming in the characters is the criminally underwritten role of Mike. I feel for Chosen Jacobs who did really well with what sparse material they gave that character.
I can't really add anything about Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, it's everything that it's been built up to be.
I also appreciated that the film had some cinematic shots as well. Too often directors in horror forget how crucial framing a shot can be. Fortunately "It" does not forget this and I actually remembered a few specific shots the day after watching the film. One particular shot I enjoyed was a dutch angle shot from the perspective of a painting, the character in the frame straightens the literal frame and by extension the actual shot as well.
While I praise the film for those shots, I have to acknowledge the gigantic pitfall of the film.
Obnoxiously loud stings during every single scare.
"It" is filled with many disturbing and scary visuals. However, the film insults your intelligence by fishing for a jump scares with abhorrent sound cues. So much more could've been accomplished with appropriate ambient music, or sounds to really let the fear and unease creep into the audience instead of essentially yelling "Boo!". This was very unfortunate as even in a theatre with a full audience, only once did a single person scream during the entire film.
Jump scares aren't uncommon in horror, but this film was strong enough to stand on it's own without resorting to such trite measures.
As a result the film finds itself being just good, instead of great.