Chris Pratt

The Terminal List (Amazon Prime) - 4/5

This show is excellent over all, but the wrap-up was only decently executed and went by too quickly. Antoine Fuqua brings his strengths to the plot, keeping the audience guessing about the true nature of everything and who the true reliable narrator of events is. It paints a vivid picture of the complicated nature of geopolitical conflicts while keeping the story relatively small and grounded. This has many of the hallmarks of a ‘90s action thriller, but the uncertain nature of the narrative and some questionable revenge behavior from the protagonist make it a much more modern story. Being mostly known for his manchild comedy antics, this is a drastic change of pace for him and a standout performance in his career.

Content warning: language, one scene of gore

Closest comparison: It’s like a Tom Clancy book by way of Training Day.

Setting: Military
Plot: Revenge
Tone: Espionage

The Kid (2019) - 3/5

This is a solid modern western that has a lot going for it. In some ways it’s a mashup of other westerns, but with its own fresh shootouts and getaways. Chris Pratt has an excellent turn as a bone-chilling villain, and Dane DeHaan is clearly having a lot of fun as Billy the Kid. The plot rambles a bit too much and at least one key moment is unearned, with muddled motivation. Sill, this film is definitely worth a watch for fans of Westerns, but it’s not going to bring anyone to the genre.

Content warning: rape

Closet comparison: It’s like The Night of the Hunter by way of 3:10 to Yuma.

Setting: Western
Plot: On the Run
Tone: Thriller

The Tomorrow War - 2/5

This movie’s visuals are as amazing as the plot is baffling. The monsters look great and the action is well choreographed for the most part, but the film undercuts the tension by setting up rules about the monsters and then completely ignoring them. There’s no angle from which you can think about the time travel that makes sense, but if you can turn your brain off completely and manage to not think about how or why anything is happening this could be a pretty fun movie.

Closest comparison: It’s like reverse Terminator with monster vibes from Pitch Black.

Setting: Sci-Fi
Plot: Action
Tone: Action

Onward - 2/5

Now don’t get me wrong, this film is half Pixar and there’s a signature gut-punch at the end that works very well; it’s just everything else that mostly falls flat. The world is more or less generic fantasy with a few D&D-specific references, but the characters work well within it. There’s the kernel for a good story in there and sometimes it works. But there’s an awful lot of bad behavior justified as a necessary part of a juvenile upbringing, and those parts aren’t funny for the adult crowd and are just bad role models for kids.

Closest comparison: It’s like Rango by way of The Goonies.

Setting: Fantasy
Plot: Coming of Age
Tone: Road Trip

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - 2/5

Parts of this movie are a lot of fun, but it destroys everything it built when it enters the final 30 minutes. Sure, the movie is colorful and funny, with catchy songs and memorable characters for the most part, but it throws out the story and consistent characters in favor of its preachy morality. Not only is it a dubious lesson in practice for children in the audience, but it doesn’t even make sense within the context of the film. Some clever and fun moments are not enough to save a bad overall idea.

Closest Comparison: It’s like The Lego Movie but with virtue signaling in place of meaningful story.

Setting: Fantasy
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Comedy

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 3/5

This movie is a lot of fun, but also has a lot of flaws. Most of the scenarios don't make sense, but they provide the great action sequences we've come to expect from a movie like this. The dinosaurs are as fast, strong, and clever as the scene requires them to be to ensure that the heroes survive and the villains do not. But you still get to see lots of fun dinosaurs causing havoc, which is all the movie ever really promised. The whole thing ends up being a parody of itself, and I laughed as much in this movie as I did in Deadpool, but here I don't think some of it was intended.

Avengers: Infinity War - 5/5

This film has all the great cross-over action scenes we've been waiting for. Each character gets a time to shine and dialogue that fits them well. If you haven't seen all of the other movies leading up to this I think most of it will still make perfect sense, but you'll miss some quips and inside jokes. Also, be aware that while this film is mostly fun there are some much darker moments, including a torture scene. All in all, though, the film is certainly worth the hype.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 - 3/5

First off, the good: lots of beautiful visuals and some great character moments with tertiary characters. The opening sequence is fantastic, and if the whole movie was like that it might have been a 5. Unfortunately, most of the humor in the film is mean-spirited, which for me is intolerable. And for a movie that is relying largely on the humor it's just painful.