The Martian

I was a bit skeptical with this movie going in, because of how everyone was raving about it. "You gotta see The Martian. You gotta see The Martian." Usually when people tell me over and over how great a film is, my expectations get a bit too high and I end up thinking the film is just OK. (This happened with "Avatar" and "Gravity.") I'm happy to say that this was one of the few times where I actually agree. This movie was amazing. The problem with "Gravity" and "Avatar" for me was they weren't really that engaging. This film was. I was excited to see what what happened next. There was even a point where I paused for a lunch break, and tried to make it as quick as possible so I could see what happened next. Matt Damon is great in this. He makes you feel such levels of emotion. This definitely deserves every Oscar it gets. I'm rooting for this to bring home the gold this coming Sunday. Everything from the acting, to the cinematography, to the script is brilliant. There were one or two scenes that made me a bit squeamish, so if those scenes weren't in there this would be an A+, but they were, so as you can see, I gave this an A-.  But considering how much everyone raved about this, I'm glad I didn't end up thinking this was overrated.

Grade: A-, 9/10  4/5 stars

Kung Fu Panda 3

It's official. "Madagascar" is the only perfect Dreamworks trilogy. How this got an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes is beyond me. It's not completely horrible, but it's not amazing either. It's just ok. It just exists. It's "meh." The plot is pretty much "Madagascar 2" all over again. In fact, it's pretty much every Dreamworks sequel with a "2" in the title all over again. Main character meets long lost parents. Whoop de doo. Dreamworks has only done this in "Shrek 2," "Madagascar 2", and "How to Train Your Dragon 2." Think of a better plot for sequels, Dreamworks. There's not much originality here. There's even a scene after Po first meets his dad where they fanboy over all the ancient Kung fu artifacts (you know, like how Po did in the first one.) Even some of the dialogue is rehashed word for word in this scene. Also, some scenes from earlier in the film are later reused again, literally exactly the same. Lazy!!! The ending also feels ripped from the last Harry Potter. The villain steals the souls of the other Kung fu masters in order to become immortal . (Horcruxes.) There's more similarities but spoilers so...but trust me, if you've seen Harry Potter 7, you've seen this. There are some positives with the animation though. It's incredibly detailed. Close ups of the pandas' arms deserve to be freeze-framed so you can appreciate every individual arm hair. But plot wise, and even humor wise, this plot had nothing new to offer. Stay home and watch the first movie, and every Dreamworks sequel with a "2" in it. You'll pretty much be getting this anyway.

Grade: C+. 6/10.  2.5/5 stars