Warcraft

Listen, this isn't going to be "Lord of the Rings." It does have some similarities, but overall, it feels like its own thing. Keep in mind that prior to viewing this movie, I knew absolutely nothing about the World of Warcraft, so I can't say how true it is to the source material. But judging it on its own merit, I found it surprisingly entertaining. The battle sequences are huge (although one problem is they do tend to drag on a bit too long), the plot was surprisingly thought-provoking, and the scenery and the CGI are just so beautifully done. The Orcs have so much detail put into them, that for the most part the line between real and CGI is blurred. (However, this is just when the Orcs are in scenes by themselves. When they're with human characters, the CGI tends to look a bit faker.) There are some elements that are very obviously "borrowed" from Tolkien's work, but overall I thought it was a fun movie. It does have some of the cliches that are in every fantasy movie, but they're few. The battle sequences are just brutal! The death toll and the emotion in the battles really make you feel for the characters, whether they be human or Orc. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict. and it doesn't matter which side you root for, because without giving anything away, I will say the film doesn't really have a resolution to the conflict, which left me feeling empty. I know they did this because they think it's going to be a trilogy (or more), but sadly I doubt this will get one. That's something I thought I'd never say. I want this story to continue. I want to see more of these characters and world. I won't play any of the games because on the 0.000001% chance this does end up getting a series of films, I want to judge them on their own merit, just as I did this one. It's only fair.
Grade: B. 8/10 4/5 stars

Split

I've had skepticism with M. Night Shamalayan lately. His films have been kind of hit-and-miss these past few years. I think if he does more of what he did with this movie, he can be back on top in a few years. This movie is crazy intense! It was actually a lot darker than I thought it would be. There are some extremely mature and dark themes and subject matter and it almost goes into rated R territory at points. However, it is these themes and subject matter that make these characters who they are, and explains why they act the way they do. James McAvoy's performance is particularly impressive. This film proves that he can play anyone a director needs him to play. There's moments where he's funny there's moments where he's chilling, and there's moments where his performance makes you hold your breath worried he'll harm you. The three young actresses in the film provide stellar performances as well. There's such range of emotion with them. You sympathize with them, you fear for them, you feel what they feel. Genuine, tearful performances, that actually look tearful and not like acting are hard to come by, and they pulled it off very well. Like I said, this film is very heavy. It's a hard PG-13. I don't want to advocate for this film due to the dark, heavy themes and subject matter so I don't want to say that it was a good movie. At times, it is very hard to watch. But judging it purely from a filmmaking standpoint of "Was it well made? Was it well written? Was it well acted? Was it well directed?" etc. the answer is yes. If you're a fan of M Night's earlier work, this hearkens back to that. It's still too early at this point to say if he's redeemed himself from the garbage that was "The Last Airbender" and "After Earth", but if he can keep doing what he did with this film, he just might.
Grade: B   8/10    4/5

A quick update

I know I said in my Rogue One review that it would be my last review for 2.5 years. However, I have changed my mind. There will still be reviews, however...they will be few and far between. There are only certain studios whose movies I am going to see. Disney, Fox, and WB are no nos, because they're trying to get VidAngel shut down and for the moment have succeeded. (For full details about why I think VidAngel is in the right, go to the Movie Madness Facebook page.) This also includes anything owned by those companies so no Marvel or Lucasfilm. (Although those will be coming out on my mission so I wouldn't be seeing them anyway). Universal, Lionsgate, Paramount and Sony have all privately expressed their full support of VidAngel. (too bad most of Sony's movies are terrible anyway. *cough* The Emoji Movie) If I review films, it will be from those companies. (Good thing too. I still have not seen Masterminds. It goes to Bluray in a few weeks). When I for sure leave I will post it. Until then enjoy my reviews, as few and far between as they may be.

Top 10 movies of 2016

This was probably the toughest list I've had to make. There were so many great films this year, but in the end there can only be 10. Which are the best of the best?

10. Jungle Book: A lot of you are probably surprised it's on this list. I put it on here because the CGI was super realistic, the voice acting was stellar, there wasn't really anything bad about the movie. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and was pleasantly surprised by how great it was.

9. The Little Prince: The animation alone is enough to warrant a spot on this list. You could put the movie on mute and still enjoy it just by the visuals. That plus a stellar plot and a great message that's reminiscent of Pixar's early days, it definitely deserves a spot.

8: Secret Life of Pets: Having pets myself, I enjoyed this movie a lot. I related to it, because I saw my own pets. Kevin Hart as the bunny had me laughing. It was a charming movie.

7: Suicide Squad: This movie was absolutely fun. The acting was great, as was the plot. I could tell DC listened to our complaints about Batman v. Superman,

6: Kubo and the Two Strings: This is one of the only movies on this list not based on previous source material. The stop-motion is extremely impressive, the comic relief characters are witty, and the plot was complex and intriguing. 

5: Doctor Strange: Benedict Cumberbatch's performance was fantastic. The humor was great, and I enjoyed seeing something different from the MCU. Marvel took a risk by making a movie out of a more obscure characters and it worked.

4. Moana: The adventure plot was exciting, the songs were catchy, the jokes were sharp. It needs an Oscar nomination

3: Captain America: Civil War: I wish I could take my 12-year-old self to this movie. He'd lose his mind! We finally got Spider-Man, and the battle sequences were some of the best, if not THE best in any Marvel movie. This will be hard to top, but I have faith Marvel can do it.

2. Rogue One: This was a VERY close number 1. I actually had to flip a coin between this and the movie in the number one spot, and it just barely missed it. My review is literally one post down, so I don't really feel the need to explain why it's on this list.

 

And the number one movie of 2016 is:

Zootopia:

The plot was clever, the metaphors for minorities and racism were well done and done in a way the target audience could understand, and the jokes were great. It's one of Disney's best, and it well deserved the number one spot. 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Holy Kenobi, this was awesome!!!!! I do acknowledge that "Force Awakens" was a remake of "A New Hope." No worries here. This is a story we haven't heard before. The characters are awesome (and without giving anything away, let's just say it pays off if you watched the Clone Wars tv series), the action sequences are amazing, and it feels like classic Star Wars while at the same time providing something new. The comic relief character is extremely well written with how a bit too honest he is. This has some new genres being explored in the Star Wars universe, which was something I liked about the Clone Wars tv show. My only complaint is that at times the CGI used to make some of the cameos of characters from the Original Trilogy look young looks a bit fake, like you could tell it was CGI. It's not as bad as young Jeff Bridges in "Tron: Legacy", but it looks a bit too shiny and at times like it's from a video game cutscene.

Grade: A-  9/10 4/5 stars

Well, it's been fun, but it's time to take a leave from this blog. I'm going to post my top 10 movies from 2016, and then I'm not going to post again for about 2.5 years. Why am I not reviewing "Assassin's Creed" and "Passengers?" I read yesterday that "Passengers" has a few scenes I would need to filter with VidAngel, and "Assassin's Creed" is from Fox which is one of the companies suing them, and I'm going to boycott the studios suing until to show Hollywood they're not as powerful as they think they are. (No Disney, Warner Bros. or Fox)

Moana

I liked this much better than "Frozen." Much much better. "Frozen" felt like a typical nothing special movie that had already been done before in several Disney movies. This was very different. They even made fun of the typical Disney princess cliches. This was essentially the antithesis to the Disney Princess movies. The songs in "Frozen" were a bit too Broadway for my taste, but the songs here were fun island tropical songs that were fun to dance to. And some of the lyrics are very clever. (Thanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda). There were also some likes of dialogue where I was laughing so hard I was crying. That hasn't happened in a long time. This was more of an adventure epic instead of a princess movie. "Frozen" was clearly aimed at little girls, but everyone can enjoy "Moana." There is a short before the film that while it was clever, all I could think during it was "Disney copied their own thing. This is Inside Out with internal organs instead of the mind." One of the villains in the movie who was voiced by Jemaine Clement was fun, but I wish he had tried to change his voice a bit, because all I could think was "This is the bird from "Rio"". It was kind of distracting. This was a fun adventure movie that I give my highest regards. 

Grade: A+    10/10.  5/5 stars

Regarding future reviews

This post is for those of you who do not follow me on Facebook. So, there's a service called VidAngel and it allows you to filter out objectionable content. However, Hollywood sued them and they will more than likely  be shut down. Because of this I have decided that after Rogue One, I will not support any movies made by the studios suing them (Disney , Fox, and Warner Bros.) until they end up on VidAngel after the DVD release date. So this means pretty much every movie. I will not be seeing them in theaters. However, this is also a blessing in disguise. I'm addicted to movies, and knew it would be very hard for me to go 2 years without them when I leave for my mission in a few months. I have stated this from the very beginning that I am a Mormon. (Heck, it's even in the URL). I will be leaving sometime this summer and during that time I will not be allowed to see movies. So not seeing any in theaters starting in 2017 is my way of weening myself off of them so it won't be as hard. (Sorry, Lego Batman. As much as I love you, I love my religion more. God comes first.) So if I go for a few months without any activity, this is why. I'm not dead, I haven't quit, I'm just simply shifting my priorities over to other things for a while. So let's bring on the big one before my 2 and a half year hiatus: Rogue One! Hopefully it's a great one!