Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

 In every "Jurassic" movie there are 2 certainties. The T-Rex is always built up until at least the second half, and the T-Rex will show up at the very end, usually saving the main human characters in what I've dubbed "Deus Rex Machina". This "Jurassic" installment breaks the mold by having neither. (Good. These films were starting to get a bit predictable.) Parts of it still feel a bit too familiar, mostly because the first half of the film is essentially a remake of "The Lost World" Jurassic Park movie, and some of the "twists" are really, really stupid, even for this franchise. And yes, there are a lot of really dumb decisions made by the characters. The action sequences are edge-of-your seat, the danger and stakes have been upped significantly, and the second half turns this from action movie into horror movie, and it is intense! The CGI really needs to stop though. The first "Jurassic Park" looks better than this, and that came out in 1993. After watching "Park" and then this, the CGI really stands out in a bad way. They really need to go back to using practical effects. This is still a very fun movie, despite being more of the same, and I'd say it's at least worth a rent.

Grade: B. 8/10  3.5/5 stars

Incredibles 2

Although the plot is not as good as the first one, it is still worth the 14 year wait. The first half could have been improved immensely though, because  for the first hour or so it feels like a gender-swapped rehash of the first one, and plays more like a direct-to-video sequel like the ones Disney used to put out. The first half still has its moments though, particularity the ones with Jack-Jack and the trouble he gets into. A lot of the humor in the first half does come from those scenes, and is more visual based. After the first hour, the plot definitely picks up and reaches a satisfying conclusion. There is still plenty of great action, and the villain, while not as good as Syndrome from the first movie, does deliver a pretty great monologue that makes you think for a moment that their goal isn't so bad, but simply the methods they are using to reach that goal. When it finally is revealed who the villain is though, it does feel stolen from a certain Marvel movie that shall remain unnamed so as to avoid spoilers. The animation is still gorgeous, (though the character of a newscaster does look like an animated caricature like the ones you would get drawn of yourself at a carnival and he just looks creepy), and some of the best voice acting is from Bob Odenkirk. He is one of the best characters in the film. It is disappointing that the film, in terms of plot and character development, had to take a bit of a step backward. What made the first film so unique was seeing the family dynamic and the family using their powers to help each other out. Here, we get very little of that. It has the typical "The dad is stupid and hapless and needs the mom to fix all his mistakes, har dee har" stuff that's done to death in just about every sitcom on tv, and that's disappointing, especially from a so-called "family" company like Disney. Haven't we as a society moved past this? In a world where everyone is crying for "equal rights and representation", shouldn't we get true equality? Equality does not mean superiority at the so-called "privileged" individual or party's expense,and that's disappointing to see here. It also had some unnecessary (albeit mild) profanity, which was also disappointing. (Again, "family" company) Overall, it is worth seeing. Just don't expect it to be as thrilling as the first one.

Grade: B     8/10     3.5/5 stars

Ocean's 8

After 'Ocean's 12' and '13' left something to be desired, I went in with my expectations fairly low. I'm happy to say, this is the worthy successor to "Ocean's 11" that we've been waiting 17 years for. It has all the fun and thrill of 11 and is just as smartly written. The cast, for the most part work very well off each other, and there's lots of great twists. Unlike the recent "Ghostbusters'' remake this isn't a gender swapped cash grab just for the sake of doing it. It has connections to the original, and while you don't need to have seen the original to understand it, it definitely helps. (Keep an eye out for cameos from some of the original cast). The premise is pretty much the same as 11 except instead of a bank the crew is robbing a necklace off of a high profile individual at the Met Gala and will divide it among the 8 of them. The "Ocean" in this one is the sister of Danny Ocean and she's putting her own crew together to continue his legacy. Even though Steven Soderbergh is not directing this time around (he retired after directing "Logan Lucky") he is an executive producer and you can tell his influence is all over it. It's a fun romp that was better than I expected.

Grade: B     8/10      4/5 stars

Ocean's 13 (2007)

After the slog that was Ocean's 12, I'm glad to see this one learned from the mistakes of its predecessor and got back to the roots of what made Ocean's 11 so fun. Don Cheadle finally gave up on his terrible Cockney accent, and 3 out of every 4 of his lines are said in an American accent. A lot of the heist moments were really smart, and it was a just an all around good "Robin Hood" type story. The villain was a real scumbag, and that made it easy to root for the main characters even though they aren't the best people either. This film was missing a lot of the heart that "Eleven" had and that was disappointing. I feel there should have been more drama between the characters and story. This was an improvement over "Twelve" but not as good as "Eleven".

Grade: B     8/10     3.5/5 stars

Ocean's 12 (2004)

People are going to hate me for saying this, but I didn't think it was bad. It wasn't as good as the first one, but I still enjoyed it. There are some awkward moments of stilted dialogue and awkward pauses, and at times the plot can be hard to understand,  and there is way too much dialogue that really just builds up to nothing. But there were still some moments I found fun. The moments of metahumor and self awareness towards the second half of the film made me laugh, there were still some good action moments. It just wasn't as investing as the first one. It wasn't awful,  but it wasn't great.
Grade: C    7/10    3/5 stars

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Finally got around to watching this, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It took a while to get going, but when it did , I was hooked. I enjoyed the film's many twists and smart writing. I had forgotten about things that were set up early on that ended up paying off later. There were several moments where I found myself going "Oh no. How are they going to get out of this one?" Much like the vault the main characters try to rob in the film, it had many twists and turns. It was just an all-around good old fashioned heist movie though a bit dated. You can definitely tell by the pop culture references, lighting, fashion/hairstyles, and cinematography that this was made in 2001. But maybe it was cool at the time. I don't know. The banter between the main characters is witty. I'm excited to see what happens in the sequels and the reboot/sequel opening this week.
Grade: A-   9/10    4/5 stars

Eagle Eye

What a fantastic thriller this was! It was an edge-of-your-seat film that was exciting from beginning to end. Some elements were a little far fetched, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I loved the build up of the first half that was paid off by an even better second half. It really was food for thought about government surveillance and technology. I was not bored once! This is probably one of the best thrillers I have ever seen. I know the film is 10 years old, but no matter how old a film is, spoilers are still spoilers. That's why I'm being vague. I'm trying not to give too much away, because this is a film you want to go into knowing as little as possible. This was Mission: Impossible mixed with Minority Report. (which makes me wonder why Tom Cruise wasn't cast in this one as well.) Not that I didn't enjoy Shia LeBouf, but it seemed like he was channeling Cruise from those films. Despite its problems, of which there are few, I highly recommend it!
Grade: A-   9/10    4/5 stars