The 5th Wave

For most of the movie, I thought it was average, nothing special, typical. But then when the twist happened my whole perspective on this movie changed. I really enjoyed this movie. It had an intriguing plot, interesting characters, and a whole lot of action. There's some misdirection in this movie, which keeps the plot exciting, and kept my attention the whole film. Sadly, I don't think this film will do well enough to get a sequel, but even if it doesn't you can still watch it on its own and be satisfied. Some people will not give this film a chance because they think its too much like "The Hunger Games." It's completely different. "Hunger Games" was not about aliens. Ok, well "Ender's Game" was about teenagers fighting aliens. It's nothing like "Ender's Game", either. It's completely original. Most of the film did feel kind of "meh," but when the twist came, I forgave that, and was interested to know what would happen next. Considering this movie opened in January which is usually death month for movies that studios think are bad, I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be "meh" at best but it was a lot better than I expected. If there's no sequel, I won't care, but if there is, I'll definitely see it.
Grade: A-   9/10   4/5 stars

Goosebumps

This is a very special post. My 100th!!!!!

Going in to this movie, I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that it had all the monsters and villains from the "Goosebumps" books, and frankly, I was worried that too many characters would give it a case of "Spider-Man 3" syndrome. Luckily, I was wrong. The plot is easy to follow, and most of the monsters are just background characters. Slappy is the main villain and the rest are just his minions. Jack Black did a great job as R. L. Stine and Slappy, and you can tell he's having a lot of fun with the roles. There was a character named Champ (Ryan Lee) and he should have been written out of the script. He's supposed to be the comic relief sidekick, but every line he says is just cringeworthy and painfully unfunny. He's just annoying! The movie would have been improved by a lot without him. Everyone else, however, was good. Not great, but good. The plot isn't that original. It's basically "Jumanji" with "Goosebumps" characters, but it's still a lot of fun. If you grew up reading the books or watching the t.v. show, then this is the film for you. If you're not familiar with the "Goosebumps" stories, you will be confused.
Grade: B   8/10    3.5/5 stars

The Visit

This very much hearkens back to late '90's/early 2000's M. Night Shayamalan back when he still cared about his career.  

Does it make up for atrocities like "The Last Airbender" and "After Earth"? No, but let's be honest, we'll probably never be able to forgive him for those. But it feels in the style of his earlier films like "Sixth Sense" and "The Village." The plot is a bit slow in parts, but that's to build up to a great twist ending I didn't see coming, and made the last half hour of the movie absolutely terrifying. This film has it all: Mystery, suspense, even a little bit of comedy. I'm glad M. Night is trying to make great films again. How long will it last? Only time will tell. But for now, I think it's safe to say that M. Night is back on track. Even if you're not a found-footage fan, give this film a shot. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how well done this film is. The kid actors feel genuine. They talk how real kids talk, they act how real kids act. That's a rarity these days. Usually child actors overact, or don't feel genuine. I'm glad to see that's not the case here. Overall,  "The Visit" is a pleasant return to form for M. Night Shamalayan. 

Grade: B   8/10. 3.5/5 stars

Pan

I thought this movie was going to be pretty decent. I couldn't understand why all the critics "Pan"ned this movie. (Sorry). Now I know why. It's lazy. It takes place during World War II, yet during the first scene in Neverland the pirates are singing 1970's hits like "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not only that, but it took any magic the original had and gave an explanation for it. In this one, pixie dust is mined. That's basically the equivalent of "Phantom Menace" using midichlorians to explain the Force. The CGI on the various creatures in Neverland looks like it came from the early '90's and is overall just lazy. Also, Peter is half-human/half-fairy, which was just stupid and again, takes away the magic of the original. They also made Hook (who is not the villain in this by the way. It's Blackbeard, played brilliantly by Hugh Jackman, but I'll get to that later) into a wannabe Han Solo. And the overall plot is a blatant ripoff of Harry Potter: Chosen One who is an orphan is whisked away to another world where he learns his parents were killed by the villain. The villain's main goal is immortality. They even put in the "You have your mother's eyes" line from Harry Potter. If J.K. Rowling doesn't sue, I'll be very surprised. The only good part of this movie was Hugh Jackman as the villain Blackbeard. He pulls it off terrifically! He's terrifying. They should just make a Blackbeard movie with Hugh Jackman as the star. If you want to watch a Peter Pan movie, please stick with the Disney version. There's nothing magical about this one.

Grade: D+ 3/10 1/5 stars.