Sterling K. Brown

Frozen II - 2/5

This movie is unable to escape from the shadow of its predecessor. For one thing, it is careful to ensure that all of the characters you might have liked from Frozen are back, regardless of whether they fit into the story this movie is telling. The songs are big, centerpiece moments but none of them are able to recapture the phenomenon that was ‘Let It Go’, despite their best efforts. The visuals are gorgeous again, and if your kids love the first one then it’s a pretty harmless way to pass 103 minutes; adults are likely to be much less impressed.

Closest comparison: It’s the best ‘2’ from Disney Animation Studios, for whatever that’s worth.

Setting: Fantasy
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Family

Hotel Artemis - 3/5

The look and feel of this movie are fantasic. It's a master class in old meets new with a realistic, grungy world that has high-tech elements woven seamlessly into it. The acting is also great and the actors all did some of their better work. The whole thing just needed to be 20 minutes longer. Most of the story lines don't get adequately resovled, and the audience has to infer the fate of several characters. I would really like to give this one a 4/5, and if they release an extended director's cut on DVD it may get there. But as it is, the last half is disappointingly short for all the cool things they set up and didn't pay off.