First the good, then the bad. The action is a lot of fun, the overall color palate and many of the costumes and gadgets are spot on. The fight scenes are creative again, and one in particular is particularly stunning. Unfortunately, this movie is clumsily trying to say about 6 different things and not saying any of them well. The feminists got to the script, apparently, so the most consistent message is that women are good at everything and men have a hard enough time doing relatively simple asks. Even that message is muddled, though not enough to subvert it, and it ends up not really saying anything, though it's clearly trying to. The visuals are mostly good, but the costumes on the other superheroes are bizarre and many are downright ugly. I wanted this to be better, at least a 4/5, but it's not quite there.
Pacific Rim: Uprising - 3/5
It's the big, dumb, kinda fun little brother of the first one. The talky bits are too long, the characters are shallow, the acting is passable, the writing is poor. But you get to see giant robots punch giant monsters (and sometimes other robots). Honestly this movie barely clears the 3/5 threshold for me. If you go in with low expectations you can have a lot of fun. But it's not a good movie.
War for the Planet of the Apes - 3/5
It's about as good as the second one. High points are a few beautiful visuals and enjoyable character moments. Low points are grueling, bleak prison sections and immersion-breaking plot holes. There were many missed opportunities as well, where a sceneaccomplished very little and I started to get bored, but it could very easily have been dynamic, interesting, and powerful. Great CG on the apes, as always, and a standout performace from Steve Zahn.
John Wick: Chapter 2 - 3/5
They lost their way with the second one. It still has beautiful cinematography, some fun fight scenes, and memorable side characters. But the lack of specific motivation or creativity in resolving fairly straightforward conflicts makes it a definite drop in quality from the first one. I found the suit gimmicky and by the end they had really gotten John Wick's character wrong.
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.