Great style, but too gratuitous violence and nudity.
Content warning: female nudity, language
Closest comparison: It’s like Free Fire by way of 6 Underground.
Setting: Action
Plot: Action
Tone: Action
Free Guy - 2/5
This movie is hilarious, but the plot and world building are horrible. It takes a whole scene to set up a certain mechanic early on in the film, and the one time that mechanic comes back into play it completely breaks its own rules. If the story beats were even sort of passable this movie would be great because of how funny it is, but the movie goes out of its way to explain normal things that need no explanation in such a way as to make no sense at all.
Closest comparison: It’s like Ready Player One by way of Divergent.
Setting: Sci-Fi
Plot: Dystopia
Tone: Comedy
The Hitman's Bodyguard - 2/5
This movie is a stale action escort quest with nothing interesting to offer. Reynolds is the only one playing against type, this time taking the brunt of the jokes he’s usually dishing out. The humor is all acerbic, irreverent mocking which quickly becomes tiresome, though if that’s your brand of humor you will like this movie more than I did. The action is standard low-grade fare, offering fun at the expense of believability.
Closest comparison: It’s like A Good Day to Die Hard by way of Mission: Impossible II.
Setting: Action
Plot: Road Trip
Tone: Comedy
Red Notice (Netflix) - 4/5
This movie is a fun action romp, that nicely wraps up in the end the questions it raises along the way (with a few minor exceptions). It’s charmingly garish and seems to be having fun making standard action tropes look good. The three veteran action leads are effortlessly charismatic and play the whole film with a smirk and a wink.
Closest comparison: It’s like Mission: Impossible by way of Hobbs and Shaw.
Setting: Action
Plot: Espionage
Tone: Adventure
Blade: Trinity - 2/5
This movie starts out as a competent action movie but ends up turning in circles and losing its way. The Dracula thread is fumbled to the point of being boring, which is impressive in its own right but not in a good way. There are some good action scenes, but the second act turnaround feels abrupt and unearned. There’s a distinct Joss Whedon knock-off vibe in some of the quirky character concepts, but with no development it falls flat.
Closest comparison: It’s like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer by way of Iron Man 2.
Setting: Post-Noir Goth
Plot: Super Hero
Tone: Action
6 Underground (Netflix) - 3/5
This movie is Michael Bay rendition of the old Mission Impossible TV show, with all that that entails. It has huge setpieces and exciting action, an easy-to-follow plot and a camera that ogles the women in various states of undress. Car chases, parkour, explosions, one-liners; it’s 90’s action filmmaking turned up to 11. Everything’s very colorful, with lots of gorgeous shots despite a few shaky close-ups. It’s style over substance for better and worse.
Content warnings: sex, mild gore
Closest comparison: It’s like the Mission Impossible TV show (1966) as reimagined by Michael Bay.
Setting: Action
Plot: Action
Tone: Action
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - 4/5
Sure, this movie is dumb, but it’s so much fun I can’t give it just a 3/5. The action is big and cool, one setpiece after another with awesome fights and stunts and just enough plot to get you from one to the next. It seems intent on going bigger than everybody else, upping Marvel’s two mid- and post-credits scene ante with four of their own. There are lots of awesome slow-mo stunts that are impressive even in a world of CGI because of how gorgeous and colorful the whole movie is.
Closest comparison: It’s the Mission Impossible II of the Fast and Furious franchise, in all the best ways.
Setting: Action Adventure
Plot: Action Thriller
Tone: Action Comedy
Pokémon Detective Pikachu - 2/5
This movie is built for fans of the Pokémon franchise. Many of the wide city shots especially feature many background Pokémon for those in the know to appreciate, and that part of it was very good. Justice Smith also did a much better job than his previous work, with a few stand-out moments that worked particularly well. There’s CGI in every scene, and if you don’t like the 3D interpretation of the Pokémon then that will plague you for the duration. The ‘detective’ works just fine, and although adults will likely see the final reveal coming children may get much more mileage out of the solution.
Closest comparison: It’s like a live-action episode of a show that has been running for a little too long.
Setting: Sci-fi
Plot: Mystery
Tone: Family
Once Upon a Deadpool - 4/5
This PG-13 re-cut version of Deadpool 2 does a great job of removing (most of) the blood and language. Framing the story in a ‘Princess Bride’ storytelling setting works brilliantly, allowing them to cut around the R-rated bits and throw in new footage and jokes where needed. There are several new scenes that work well, including a Stan Lee post-credits tribute, though if you’re not familiar with The Princess Bride those jokes may be underwhelming. The original cut of Deadpool 2 was slightly better, just because the timing and filming of the scenes was designed for it, but this is a better introduction to the character if you shied away from the other films for content reasons. It’s still irreverent and crass, but toned down considerably.
Deadpool 2 - 4/5
The self-aware crassest superhero delivers again on everything we expect. If crass humor and ultraviolence don't bother you then you'll have a blast with this film. It's just about as good as the first one and in my opinion better in several regards, like better action scenes and more flushed out treatment of the villain(s). Surprisingly good performances where you least expect them with a few dashes of cameos for the fans. But you already knew whether you were going to see it before you read this.
Life - 3/5
This is a fascinating mix of interesting ideas and problematic elements. It's very well filmed and acted, and it's a great new(ish) concept they explore. All the deaths are very painful-looking and there's lots of suspense (and a surprising amount of blood). So if those elements aren't really your thing, then definitely skip this one. I was expecting it to feel like a cross between Alien and Sunshine, but it just ended up feeling like The Mist.