The Artist (2011) - 3/5

This movie’s main faults are being sappy and pretentious, but on the whole it works out pretty well. While the ‘silent treatment’ is a gimmick the film understands how to convey its story through the restricted medium and carries a sufficiently compelling narrative. The scant times it breaks convention it does so to great effect, not distracting from the story but propelling it forward.

Closest comparison: It’s like Stan & Ollie by way of Silent Movie.

Setting: Navel-gazing
Plot: Changing Times
Tone: Dramedy

Big Hero 6 - 4/5

This is more than a good family super hero movie. It stands on its own with a good story, excellent pacing, and a lot of heart. It’s earnestly funny and doesn’t subvert its established rules for the sake of a quick joke, a mistake common to far too many of its peers. The superpowers are interesting and creatively implemented, the villain is unique, memorable, and flushed out. Sure, it’s childish in a few places and whenever someone says, “Woman up,” it’s cringe-inducing, but those nitpicks aren’t enough to bring the rest of the movie down with them.

Closest comparison: It’s like Iron Man by way of Frozen.

Setting: Super Hero
Plot: Super Hero
Tone: Family Adventure

Murder by Death - 3/5

This is a dumb screwball comedy that works pretty well, all things considered. The mystery is nonexistant, but constantly changes its own rules and is very much not the point of the story. Instead, the draw of the film is the sheer audacity of the premise and jokes, hoping to keep a quick enough pace that its audience won’t raise an incredulous eyebrow at its nonsense. Its satire of the (relatively) famous detectives is less scathing commentary than it is silly caricature and as such it is an enjoyable, if forgettable, romp.

Closest comparison: It’s like Spaceballs by way of Clue: The Movie.

Setting: Mystery
Plot: Screwball Comedy
Tone: Dry 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.