MovieRankingReviews

  Certainly not what I was expecting. This film is more about a terrible person conning his way through life, similar to the director’s previous work, Uncut Gems. Ping-pong is very secondary and barely featured in the film. It’s hard to root for Marty, as he isn’t a great person, but Timothée Chalamet brings enough charm to make the character at least bearable. It’s a two-hour, anxiety-inducing ride as we watch every bad decision unfold. However, in the last 20 minutes, it suddenly decides it wants to be a sports film, delivering a “Rocky” style final act. The tonal shift feels a bit strange, but it makes for an exciting conclusion. If you’re looking for an entertaining sports film, this isn’t it. If you want a stressful, high-kinetic rollercoaster ride, though, it’s definitely worth a watch.

  Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa are an incredibly fun duo in this film. It also has some enjoyable and fight choreography However, this film ends up feeling like the most by the numbers, straight to streaming film. The plot is bland, the writing is bland, the characters are bland, the shoot-outs are bland, the music score is bland and the visuals are bland. The film is also too long at 2 hours with too many moments of slow pacing. It does its job of being a serviceable popcorn flick but it does feel like a waste of Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa.

  The Rip has a solid first two acts. The way the tension and suspense build is incredibly gripping. Who’s lying? Who’s trying to get the money? Who’s the traitor? Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are one of the best duos in movies, and they’re an absolute joy to watch here as well. Unfortunately, what brings the movie down are the underwhelming action set pieces and the disappointing final act. The action scenes are hard to follow due to lame shaky cam and overly dark visuals. The final act also devolves into generic Netflix action slop. Overall, it’s an enjoyable time, and I was at least never bored.

  Many people are always quick to question why Marvel makes shows about heroes that “no one cares about.” Yes, there can be misses like Eternals or Echo, but there can also be huge wins like Guardians of the Galaxy, and now, Wonder Man. This show is amazing. It’s an incredibly unique and well-written series about a man who just wants to land his dream acting role while secretly hiding his superpowers. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an absolute Wonder in the lead role and has excellent chemistry with Ben Kingsley, who reprises his MCU role as Trevor Slattery. It was great to see Trevor explored more deeply as a character and his relationship with the lead, Simon. The story is packed with engaging drama, strong writing, and a lot of heart. This is exactly the kind of creative risk I want to see Marvel take more often.

  With the previous film ending with Elphaba finally becoming the Wicked Witch, it felt like Part 2 was going to kick into high gear! It doesn’t For some reason, this film is incredibly slow but also rushed at the same time. The plot is paper thin and the only real conflict is the bland love triangle. When the plot starts to connects with The Wizard of Oz, the film just rushes straight to the end with no proper development of certain characters. Doesn’t help that the songs in this film are less memorable than the first part as well. It ain’t Wicked For Good, it’s more like Wicked but Dull.

  The premise of a Battle Royale but with Samurais is an incredibly fun idea! The fight scenes are incredibly well-choreographed, bloody and a visual treat to watch! There is also some wonderful cinematography and it genuinely feels like they brought the Meiji era to life! The music score is also excellent. I found that all the actors did a terrific job and special praise has to go to Junichi Okada as the main character Shujiro Saga. He does a great job in bringing depth to the character and also performing the fight choreography. While the story sounds generic on paper, I do love how they explore conflict between the old Samurai era and the new one while also handling some of the politics in a digestible way. It does have a lot of generic tropes including the old broken down man, the young naive girl who can be quite annoying and overly silly bad guy. However, I enjoyed a lot of this show and it is a great start for Season 1. I am most definitely looking forward to w...