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Captain Marvel (2019)
Deeply Disappointed
Poor movie by MCU's standards...felt half-hearted throughout. As far as female-led movies go, Wonder Woman was far better, and Hidden Figures far more empowering. I know it's taboo to mention things like SJW and politically correct, but directors with these agendas need to master the art of subtlety. Such preachy messaging shatters the illusion/escapism that most of us seek in a movie.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
One of Marvel's Best
I don't know who is making the final script decisions at Marvel these days, but I'm found the last two films (Captain America: Winter Soldier, and now Guardians of the Galaxy) to be exceptionally entertaining.
To be honest, after the disappointment of the most recent Iron Man and Thor films, I was beginning to feel as if the Marvel superhero flicks may have run their course, i.e. that they were beginning to fall into that lacklustre phase where the creative team is just going through the motions to collect on an easy payday.
I also hate when movies rely far too much on special effects and big budgets, instead of those increasingly rare qualities of good characters, solid plots, and great writing.
That's where Guardians of the Galaxy really shines. Yes, I like the big screen sci-fi settings and slick gadgets or impressive superpowers just as much as the next guy. But I'll take emotional engagement over that any day of the week. Make me care enough about the characters to tense up in my seat when they're in danger, to genuinely like them for their unique characteristics, to want to be there in that theatre with them and feeling a bit of a letdown when the movie ends - that's what I love about great movies. Anything short of that, no matter how glitzy, just isn't worth it.
I also love good humour in between all that tense action, and this is an area where I think Marvel really shines. I laughed as much as I tensed throughout this movie. To be honest, that's what made me like the main characters as a team so much - their banter was hilarious.
True, the plot of this movie is not particularly unique. At its core, its a good guys vs bad guys superhero flick. It's hard to find a truly new story in that dynamic. But as with Jame Cameron films like Avatar, what I like is when the plot is solid enough - when it has no glaring holes - that it doesn't distract you from all the good stuff.
All in all, I have to say this: if you're average movie-goer like myself, go see this film. It's one of those rare times you'll feel like you actually got your money's worth.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
What a snoozer...
This has to be one of the big disappointments of the year - a 2.5 hour conveyor belt ride to Snoozeville. It had none of the high-energy excitement and pizazz of the Avengers, and none of the depth of this year's Spidey film. Instead, it just hovered somewhere in the middle, kind of like a flatline on a heart monitor. When are some Hollywood bigwigs going to the get the fact that packaging together the top 20 macho clichés from the past 50 years does not make for a compelling story? When are they going to realize that it's disappointing to go to a big budget film in 2012 and find out the whole thing is essentially a remake of Rocky III (the Clubber Lang one). Honestly, I half expected the villain Bane to turn to the camera and say, "I pity the fool!" Only, in this case, the fool was me.
The Hunger Games (2012)
Slightly disappointed
I can't say I had super high expectations for this film, as I'd never read the books. But I was hopeful that it would deliver on thrills/suspense, and in this regard, I was slightly disappointed. The idea of teenagers in a contest to the death, though repugnant, is ripe with suspense - a potential mix between Lord of the Flies and The Most Dangerous Game (the original versions). The fact that many of them possessed special skills (spear throwing, knife throwing, archery) and such diverse views of the contest (some predatory, others almost pacifist) should have resulted in many hair-raising life-and-death moments. But, instead, the film seemed to defuse many of these moments with a choppy, almost disjointed approach in places.
Add to this the over-the-top ruling society in which this takes place, thus straining the story's credibility, and I found myself having to suspend belief a few times too many, which is never good when the goal is to draw the audience in and bring them to the edge of their seats.
On the other hand, the two main teen characters - played by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson - were a lot stronger than suspected, which at least gave me an emotional stake in the story, which frankly saved the film from being a much bigger disappointment.
All in all, I'd say that if you rent this to watch at home, you'll probably be satisfied, but if you like to save your movie theatre dollars for only top films, you're better off to wait for the DVD.
The Lorax (2012)
Not Great, But Good Fun For the Kids
This film didn't possess the storytelling acumen of an animation like Tangled, or the adult wit/subtlety of a film like Megamind. Nor did it do justice to Dr. Seuss and, yes, it was a bit to preachy in places. But let's remember, these films are made for children, and watching/listening to the children in the theatre yesterday, I'd say most of them were pretty happy.
And why wouldn't they be? The singing fish were hilarious. The bear cubs were adorable. And some of the slapstick physical humour - which most young children love - was exceptionally well done. All in all, it delivered what it should for young children - a lot of fun.
That's probably the distinction I'd make about this film. I, personally, love animations that entertain children and adults equally (like Shark Tale, Shrek, Tangled, Megamind, etc.). This isn't one of those. But if you have a bored six-year-old on your hands and want to entertain him/her for a few hours, I wouldn't shy away from this film at all.
The Grey (2011)
This is the dumbest wildlife movie ever
As I guy who has spent a lot of time in Canada's wilderness these past 40 years, most of it in wolf country, the wolf behaviour depicted in this movie is ridiculous.
It begins with a scene in which a lone timber wolf charges three grown men standing near a truck. No wolf would ever behave like this. Despite all the time I've spent in areas with large wolf populations (with lots of tracks around), I've only ever caught fleeting glimpses of three or four of them,and that's when I was by myself, unarmed and completely vulnerable.
The idea that a pack of wolves would attempt to prey on a group of men is also ridiculous. There has been only one documented predatory wolf attack in North America in the past 200 years, and that involved a large pack and a solitary hiker in Saskatchewan a few years ago.
As any wolf biologist would tell you, you can walk up to a pack of wolves feeding on a fresh kill, completely unarmed, and the wolves will scatter. They'd stay and fight a grizzly, but one whiff/sight of human and they'd quickly turn and run.
The size of the wolves in this movie is another misrepresentation. The biggest timber wolf on record, when they emptied 20 pounds of meat from his stomach, was a male weighing 120 pounds. The average male is around 90 pounds. A lone wolf would be a very poor match for a 200 pound man armed with a knife.
The plot revolved around the wolf's protection of their den. Stupid. Wolves only den when the alpha female gives birth in the spring. And they sure wouldn't be driving the men toward the den in that situation - quite the opposite. Nor do they scatter the bones of all their kills around the den - that would only draw other predators, like grizzlies. Instead, the adults eat at site of the kill and regurgitate the meat for the pups when they get back to the den.
Finally, our so-called wolf expert devised all sorts of idiotic defences against the wolves, but ignored the one thing any group of true woodsmen would do in a similar situation (i.e. facing wolves on crack). That's use their knives to make spears. A group of men with spears would be impregnable to a pack of wolves, no matter how large, as no predator likes to risk injury.
Dumb, dumb, dumb. If you're going to spend millions on a movie, wouldn't it make sense to spend $10 on a good wolf book first?