Off the Cuff Reviews Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

In my Guardians of the Galaxy review, I mentioned that audience expectations can be very powerful. While in Guardians, the bar was set low that anything that turned out better than was expected would be received as the best thing ever, I feel the reverse was true for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). The first film was so well received and the trailers  were so good that the bar was set pretty high, and the fact that this film just barely didn't live up to the hype meant that the film received some unnecessary criticism, at least in my eyes. I really like this movie, and I know it has flaws and I know it's not as good as the first one, but that doesn't mean it's outright bad. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Don Cheadle as James 'Rhodey' Rhodes / War Machine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. / Vision, Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig, James Spader as Ultron and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Weirdly, I'm going to start this review by discussing the villain. Not the norm for me, but it makes the most sense in this context. Ultron was a really compelling villain for this story. I like how, unlike other A.I. villains we get in other movies, Ultron is not a creature of logic. He has emotions and he has flaws, just like a regular character, and that's always going to be more interesting than other 'emotionless A.I. takes control' stories that we've gotten in the past. James Spader was the only choice for this role. He absolutely nails this performance. He has the soft, robotic fluency in his natural voice, but he can also deliver the more comedic, threatening and even sombre moments completely naturally as well. It's the perfect balance, and his connection to the Maximoff twins is really nice; I love how Ultron almost requires an audience, and it makes sense considering who his creator is. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are given great introductions in this movie, and their arc throughout is great to watch, as well. I like how, even after they turn against Ultron, they're still not 100% on board with the Avengers, nor should they be given what's been established about them. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen give great performances throughout, and the chemistry they have with each other is spot on. I also love their powers as we see them in this movie. It affords them to do different things with the action scenes than we've gotten in that past, and that kind of variety is helpful for a franchise this many movies in.

James Spader as Ultron

Speaking of which, the action scenes are really great to watch in general. The opening fight scene with the Avengers on a routine mission is an excellent way to set the tone, the first fight with Ultron and the Maximoffs is a fantastic showcase of how perfectly matched the two sides are, the Hulk vs Hulkbuster fight is just iconic, the chase in Seoul does slow down a bit, but is still entertaining enough, and the final fight against the Ultrons in Sokovia is excellent. It's got a unique setting, it gives each Avenger their moment to shine, the stakes are real, and even though it essentially amounts to the same 'Avengers fight a horde in a city' climax that we got in the last Avengers movie, there's enough here to make it feel fresh. Also, and this would become commonplace in the MCU, but I love how each Avenger's personality comes through while the fights are going down. It would be so easy to get the actors into their costumes and just have them fight, but the dialogue throughout is nice in not only adding in each character's personality into the scene, but also to add the occasional moment of levity. The comedy in this movie is really great in general. The odd joke falls flat, but the majority of them are excellent. There are a lot of highlights, of course. The gout, 'Boom, you looking for this?', anything surrounding Mjolnir, 'Nobody would know', 'Language', I could be here all day doing this.

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff

What I'm loving more and more about these movies as they continue is that, and this comes back to the dialogue in the fight scenes, they're getting more and more character driven as time goes on. In the first Avengers movie, the plot basically happens and the Avengers get driven by the story. Here, the characters drive the story. Tony creating Ultron isn't just a catalyst to get the plot moving, but is also something that affects each character differently, and will have an effect on each of them moving forward. I'll touch on this more in a couple of movies from now, but in general, character-driven stories are always more interesting than plot-driven ones. Through this, we get a big focus on Hawkeye in this story, which was desperately needed. This movie does Hawkeye justice in a big way. We learn so much more about him, and maybe the fact that he's here for a longer time than the previous movie helps with that as well, but he has so many great moments in this that it strangely feels a lot like his movie. Talking of the characters, I do need to touch on the romance between Bruce and Natasha. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I like it. It's weird, but I almost feel like Hulk and Natasha are closer than Bruce and Natasha are, which would make sense. They would need to find a way to calm Hulk down on the battlefield, Nat is the first Avenger both Bruce and the Hulk came into contact with, and through their supposed training to revert Hulk back to Bruce, they would had to have spent a lot of time together for a connection to be formed, and it comes through for the most part here. It does get a little forced at times, and those are the moments I take objection to. Can we please just kill the joke where a man falls face first into a woman's chest? It will never be funny.

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye

I will say that the film does jump around a lot, and it does affect the pacing a little. I almost feel like the movie could have been a little shorter, but I also don't really know what you could cut to achieve that. The first instinct would be to lose the 'Wanda gives the Avengers scary visions' scene, but not only does that give us insight into the characters, but without Thor specifically being spooked by what he saw, he wouldn't have gone off to the wade pool with Selvig (another scene that dragged a little) and he wouldn't have decided to create Vision. So, without any of those scenes we don't get Vision. And, I haven't mentioned him yet, so I'll say it here: the way they introduce Vision in this movie is perfect and Paul Bettany does an excellent job throughout. Helen Cho feels a little rushed as a character, and you really could have had her role filled by Maria Hill and not much would have changed. There was a point where someone brought her up and it was supposed to be a moment of 'oh, no', but instead I thought 'Who? Oh right, that person, yeah...'. I suppose you could remove the scene with Klaue, but not only would we then miss out on Andy Serkis' amazing performance, but we wouldn't learn how Ultron was able to obtain the necessary vibranium to make his plan work. So, I don't know. It does feel a little clunky in moments, but every scene has a purpose and serves it well. I think it's just a case of recognising what's actually 'bad' and what's just 'not that good'. And, as a sequel, yeah, it's not as good as the first, but it doesn't just tell the same story again, it shakes up the foundations of the team, and the characters are not in the same place by the end as they are in the beginning. Yeah... I like this movie.

Paul Bettany as Vision

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) is a great movie, and it's worth another watch if you haven't seen it in a while. If you hate this movie with a passion, there's not much I can do to change your mind, but I know what I like. And I like this. 8/10.

Next, it's Ant-Man.

Off the Cuff Reviews Jaws (1975)

I'm always a little nervous going into these classic movies that everybody loves. What if I'm the one person who doesn't like it, or isn't nostalgic for it? What will people think of me? Will my reputation as a critic be shot to hell? These questions turned out to be entirely irrelevant, as Jaws (1975) was just as good as everybody says it is. It didn't get this reputation for nothing, and it's one of the most engrossing films I've ever watched. Starring Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody, Robert Shaw as Quint, Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper, Lorraine Grey as Ellen Brody and Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn.

Jaws (1975)

One of the great things about this movie is how minimalist it is. I was expecting a scene on the beach with all the tourists out in the water and for lots of them to just get ripped apart one by one. That really doesn't happen, though I imagine it might have if it was made today. The shark is a huge presence in this movie, but it isn't on screen for maybe 95% of the movie. The way they build it up is honestly really gripping. Right after the first shark attack, seeing anyone in the water had me nervous. The film does a great job of putting you in Brody's shoes in that regard. Having a lot of the townspeople relay their petty problems to him at the beginning is great since he, and you, are not listening to them, with only the shark at the front of your mind. In that sense, it does a great job of getting you on board with Brody's phobia. I'm not a huge swimmer myself, and rarely go to the beach, but if I had seen this as a kid, I'd have been straight up terrified of going anywhere near the water. Kudos, movie. Kudos, and f*** you.

The shark

The shark itself also looks great. I understand it happened by circumstance, but I love how little we actually see of the shark until the final encounter. Fear of the unknown is always more interesting than fear of the known, and even though we know it's a shark, the fact that we don't get a good look at it until so much later in the movie is a genius tactic. It honestly put me on edge, to the point where during these tense scenes in the water, the thing that scared me the most, and actually made me jump in my seat, was something that wasn't even the shark itself. Just the general atmosphere surrounding the creature is honestly the best thing about this movie. Not only does the shark itself look great, but so do all the blood effects and the attacks themselves. It's weird to harp on about this, but this was revolutionary in 1975. This shark was impressive, and the fact that it still holds up today is even moreso.

Roy Scheider as Brody

I also really love how straight-forward the story itself is. There's no real bigger plot beyond 'a shark's killing people'. I was honestly expecting some kind of property tycoon scheming to keep the beaches open so the shark attacks will drive up house values inland, but I'm certainly happy they didn't go down that path. The mayor strays into that territory a little, but even he's not a schemer; he just wants what's best for his town, and that ambition was a little misplaced at times. I also really like how the movie is essentially split into two halves. The first half is building up the shark and having it attack tourists, while people are scrambling to figure out what to do about it. This perfectly builds up the second half, when 3 people go out into open waters to hunt it. The first half establishes the shark as something bigger than you'd think, but still 'just' a shark. The second half of the movie throws all that out of the window, and proves this shark to be the king of all sharks, bigger and stronger than any other. The struggle to bring it down is long, hard and arduous, but it doesn't drag out for so long as to become boring or repetitive. Half of the movie is just set on the open ocean, and it didn't bore me. That's an impressive feat.

Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper

And the characters are great as well. Scheider does a fantastic job as Brody, and he plays the character so relatable and down-to-earth. He's just so likeable, and, like I said earlier, his fear of the water really helps with that, since you're afraid of what's in the water after the opening scene as well. Dreyfuss is amazing as Hooper, and he might just be my favourite character in the movie. He's the voice of authority in the first act, and Dreyfuss really conveys that learned aspect of the character really well, but he also does a great job in the more humourous moments, which are sparse, but certainly welcome when they come up. Robert Shaw plays Quint really well, too. He's delightfully crazy, and just what you want in a sea captain like this. When it gets to the more sympathetic moments, and everything calms down a little, he also does a great job of drawing you in. Hell, that scene with the three of them on the boat discussing their past injuries is probably my favourite scene in the entire movie. It's just so real, all of them palling around with each other, telling old stories and singing shanties. It really helped to build the comradery between them so when things go south later, and they're at each others throats again, it's all the more bitter.

Robert Shaw as Quint

Guys, honestly, what's not to like about Jaws (1975)? Great characters, great pacing, great atmosphere, great 'villain', great build-up, it's just great all-round. The only bad part is that now my OCD will compel me to eventually watch the sequels, and I know I won't have a good time with them. Still, that doesn't hold this movie back. 10/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Audience expectations can be a powerful thing. I'll touch on this more in my next MCU review, but the lead up to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was an interesting one. No one had much faith in it. No one knew the characters. No one was overly hyped to see it. And once it came out, people were proclaiming it to be one of the best superhero movies ever made. I like the movie, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'd go all that far. I see it as the bar being set somewhat low that exceeding those expectations seemed like the biggest success that ever was. I do think it's probably the most unique movie in the entire MCU, and that kind of change of pace also explains why it's held in such high regard. Anyway, let's just get into it. Starring Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey, Glenn Close as Irani Rael and Benicio del Toro as Taneleer Tivan / The Collector.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Like I said earlier, this really feels like the most unique MCU movie up to this point. The fact that it's almost entirely set off Earth not only helps the movie strike a unique visual style, but it also helps to flesh out the world of the MCU a lot more. We know aliens exist now. We've seen the Thors and the Avengers, but this is the first film that really explores what life off Earth is like, and I really like seeing it. Granted, you only really see it as it pertains to our main characters, but what we see is really fun to watch. I've heard this movie described as 'Star Wars meets Star Trek', and based on my limited knowledge of either series, I can't say that's inaccurate. The film doesn't jump around so much that the movie feels cluttered or unbalanced in any way, but it's enough that we get to see a lot of the galaxy and how it essentially operates. The film also just looks amazing in general. Gamora and Drax look great, Groot and Rocket feel real in pretty much every scene, and space looks absolutely gorgeous. This is certainly the best looking MCU film so far, though that's probably just for its variety. You also can't talk about this movie without mentioning its soundtrack. I've mentioned in the past that I'm not the biggest music guy, but a lot of these tracks really won me over. They picked the right song for every spot they used it in the movie, and Hooked On a Feelin' is basically the anthem of the Guardians. The original score is also great, and I love how the main Guardians' theme is almost purposefully Avengers-lite, as this really is the Avengers of Space. Whenever that theme kicks in, a big smile stretches across my face. It's just great.

Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill

The humour in this film is really great. Rarely does a joke not land, and when a joke lands, it really lands. The film somehow manages to find a good balance between general MCU humour and its own unique style, which would help later when combining the world of Guardians with the rest of the MCU. Rocket and Drax are comedic highlights for me, but all of the Guardians have ample time to make me laugh. The 'standing in a circle' scene is pretty consistent in that pretty much every joke in that scene hits bullseyes, but they also do a good job of balancing the comedy with the action. When the action scenes hit, they're really engaging and exciting, which is especially impressive considering the majority of the characters in this really have no 'superpowers' in the traditional sense. Groot is always great to watch in action, and just giving a raccoon a big-ass gun was always going to win me over, but much like the comedy, every Guardian gets a lot of time to prove why they belong on this team. I wish we got more Nebula in this movie, though, as, even outside of what we know they'd do with her character in future movies, I always wanted to see more of what she could do. What I saw of Nebula really intrigued me, and I wanted to see her in action a lot more than we did. Maybe it's just because I'm a Doctor Who fan and I love seen Karen Gillan get work after she stopped being Amy Pond.

Karen Gillan as Nebula

Speaking of the cast, an ensemble movie like this had better find the perfect actors to bounce off each other, and this cast is outstanding. All the chemistry between all the members of the team is perfect, and they all do a great job on their own as well. Remember back in the dark ages of merely five years ago when no one was sure if Chris Pratt could carry a movie? Boy, does that seem like an eternity ago. Pratt was the only ever pick for Peter Quill, and he nails the humourous moments, but what really impressed me about him was when the emotional moments kicked in, since he nailed those too. Zoe Saldana was impressive as Gamora, and I love how they handle her character in the first half of the movie. All the hate she's getting because she used to work for Thanos, I always wanted that idea expanded on in the second half of the film. We eventually get it in Infinity War, and a little in Guardians 2, and I feel it would have made the back half of this movie feel a bit too cluttered, so I'm not upset it's dropped for other things, but still. Dave Bautista is also perfectly cast for Drax. I honestly feel like no one else could have brought Drax to life how Bautista did. He crushed it in the more serious moments, when the character had to be darker and more brooding, but he also delivered the comedic moments flawlessly as well. Rocket is one of the best characters in the entire MCU. Like I said, simply making a raccoon this much of a trash talker basically sells itself, but throw in Bradley Cooper and you have perfection right there. I also love the hints we get at Rocket's tortured past, and what little we get of it here is really enough to keep Rocket interesting and likeable during his more d***-ish moments. Also, I just love that we got to a point in the MCU where they could cast someone like Vin Diesel only to have him say 3 words. It works, though. Groot is awesome.

Bradley Cooper as Rocket and Vin Diesel as Groot

As much as I've gushed about how all these characters were practically perfect in every way, the one thing that really lets this movie down is its villain. Ronan was honestly really boring here. I get that he's not the focus, and I'd rather the focus be given to the Guardians to flesh them out, but I honestly think Ronan is the weakest MCU villain we've ever had. His motivations are just so one-note, and when you boil down to it, his character is basically just a Xandar-racist. That kind of character can be interesting, but we learn next to nothing about him in the entire movie. Even now, I've seen it 2 or 3 times, and I can't remember a single line of dialogue he has. Whenever he's on screen, the pace comes to a grinding halt, and it is a problem since the rest of the movie is so quick. His powers and attributes are also poorly defined, so I don't really know what he can do that made him the high-ranking character that he is in this movie. The other thing I'll say about this movie is that it is somewhat predictable. That's not to say that every other MCU film kept you guessing, but here you essentially know what's going to happen: the Guardians will meet up, they'll be at odds, but they'll come together to defeat the evil guy. I think a part of that is that Ronan is so generic that he doesn't do anything to twist the plot in any big direction, like a lot of the other MCU villains do. I don't need every movie to surprise me with the direction it's heading, and I was sufficiently entertained throughout, so it's not that big a deal, but it is worth mentioning.

Lee Pace as Ronan

So, is Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) the best MCU film? No, but it's certainly up there, and I can definitely see how this gained its status it achieved at the time. There were better things that came before it, and even better things to come, but this remains a fantastic introduction to Marvel's biggest underdogs. 9/10.

Next, it's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Off the Cuff Reviews A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012)

I feel like some people take too much stock in Rotten Tomatoes ratings sometimes. They can be infuriatingly misleading. A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012), for example, currently holds a 33% rating, which isn't to say its average score from critics is 33%. It just means that 1 in 3 critics rated it 60% or above. Basically, you can use that Tomato-Meter to come to the conclusion that 1 in 3 people will like this movie. I guess I'm the one of the 3. Starring Simon Pegg as Jack, Clare Higgins as Clair, Amara Karan as Sangeet, Paul Freeman as Dr. Friedkin and Alan Drake as Perkins.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012)

I think it's probably worth saying that of all the movies I've reviewed, this is the one you should take with a grain of salt the most. In my brief search at looking up reviews for this movie and general opinions, I've come across a lot of differing standpoints. I mentioned the 33% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and the average viewer rating is around 4.2, but it has an average iMDB rating of 5.9, and I read one review on the same website that gave it an 8 out of 10. One thing I will say about the movie is that it knows what it wants to be and just does it, and if you're not a fan of what that thing is, you won't enjoy it as much. Me, I liked it fine, but there is a lot of stuff in here I thought could have been done better. I've done this in the past, but I feel like I need to take this movie act by act. I'll be bringing up spoilers throughout, especially in the third act, but I'll still be trying to keep things as vague as I can. Do with that information what you will.

Simon Pegg as Jack

So, the movie opens with Simon Pegg as a children's book writer attempting to make a change and do a series of scripts on serial killers, with his extensive research basically driving him paranoid that everything is out to kill him. I really like this premise. Paranoia is a fascinating subject matter, and it's something I feel isn't explored nearly enough. Simon Pegg also does a fantastic job throughout the entire movie, and he nails every scene and what he needs to do in it. Not an awful lot happens in the first act, it's basically just Simon Pegg being paranoid, and while it is interesting to watch, I feel like we missed a bit. The film essentially skips Jack's slow descent into full-blown paranoia, and I feel like we really needed to see that. We basically don't get enough of who Jack was before he drove himself crazy, and we kind of need that comparison for when he's insane later. The fact that we miss that feels like a huge chunk of the story is gone. Also, and this is a small issue, but it did bug me: the first act uses a lot of narration to explain a lot of the backstory (which, again, I'd rather have seen), but when Jack's up in his own head and being paranoid, he mostly voices his concerns and fears out loud to himself. This is where I feel the narration could have been better utilised. I've been paranoid in the past (I used to be a f***ing wimp), and I can tell you that the minute you start voicing your paranoid fears out loud, you notice pretty quickly what an idiot you're being. Keeping those fear internalised in Jack's head through the narration not only would have been more realistic, but also just more interesting. I'll mention this here as well, since I don't know where to mention it later, but the film occasionally experiments with different mediums. The opening credits are animated, there's a small animated section towards the end of the first act, a stop-motion sequence, stuff like that. Those are all beautiful to watch, and for where they're placed, they fit in well enough.

Simon Pegg as Jack and Clare Higgins as Clair

In the second act, Jack calls his psychiatrist, and we learn about Jack's true trauma. He's basically afraid of laundromats. Saying that sounds hilarious, but it's treated more serious than that, which honestly works for the story they tell with it. That said, I feel like the movie could have been funnier overall. There are some good laughs here and there, but I feel like the bulk of the comedy comes from bad things happening to Jack in the second act. The problem is that, for the most part, a lot of what happens to him is really unjustified. Like, he gets a s*** on for the bulk of the second act, but his actions never really warranted it. I wasn't laughing, I just felt sorry for him. It's the 'Funniest Home Videos' problem. When they bring it on themselves by being stupid or mean, it's funny. When it's unwarranted, it's not. The movie also has a few occasions of using music that doesn't fit the current mood, at least on the surface. On some occasions, this really works. Other times, it's really out of place. If we can just remove Simon Pegg rapping from my brain, that would be swell. I can forgive the movie for that, though, as we also get Amara Karan in the film. I really like her in this movie. I've been a fan of her as an actress since she was the best part of a mediocre episode of Doctor Who, and I really want her to be in more stuff. She's really relatable, funny when she needs to be, and she plays off Simon Pegg really well.

Amara Karan as Sangeet

The final act of the movie is basically a complete departure from what came before it, or at least, it does something completely different than what you think it's going to. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't super on board with this twist. When you're telling a story about paranoia, you want the character to get over their fears, not have them all confirmed for him. It's not that I hated the final act by the end, since what they ended up doing with it was really good. It was tense, heartfelt, probably the funniest part of the movie for me, and it surprisingly tied up a lot of the loose ends from earlier in the movie. I say 'surprisingly', since I do think this final act belongs in a different movie. It focuses a lot more on Jack's laundromat fear, which isn't really all that connected to the paranoia stuff. The problem is that I found the paranoia stuff far more interesting, and wanted to see that resolved. The result of that is the paranoia story is left open by the end, but not in a super satisfying way. I don't know, I just feel like there were two different stories being told: the paranoia story and the laundromat story. The laundromat story was nice and heartfelt and whatever, but I connected more with the paranoia stuff, and seeing the movie basically drop it altogether around halfway through was a little disappointing. But, like I said, what they do with the laundromat is nice, so I can't really hate it all that much. Actually, you know what, that's a good way to sum up my feelings towards this movie: it's messy and flawed, but I can't hate it all that much.

Paul Freeman as Dr. Friedman

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012) is one of those movies where you love it or you hate it, and I can see both sides of the coin. I guess I land somewhere in the middle. I like it fine, and now that I know what kind of movie it is, I probably would see it again. Objectively speaking, however, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. 6.5/10.

Off the Cuff Reviews The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Well, I wasn't on 100 for very long. And, yeah, you've seen right through me: this is the reason I made The Lego Movie my 100th review. I don't know how often I've stated that making a sequel to a beloved classic is something I don't envy anyone for doing, as it can be one of the hardest things to do right. Thankfully, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) is about as good as it could have been. Is it as good as the first? No, but I'll get to that later. Starring Chris Pratt as Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Will Arnett as Batman, Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, Stephanie Beatriz as General Mayhem, Charlie Day as Benny, Alison Brie as Ultrakitty and Nick Offerman as Metalbeard.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Starting off, the visuals are just as impressive as they've ever been. I just love the Lego stop-motion style animation of these films; it just makes them stand out from basically any other animated or stop-motion movie. I've always professed it's about the little things, and with this being the first Lego Movie I've seen in cinemas, I just noticed even more. I mentioned the scratches in the plastic in the last review, but this time I could see fingerprints from where the Lego figures had been held or picked up, and I could swear they appeared in different positions on the same character throughout the movie. Those animators have a dedication to their craft that I just cannot relate to. The movie also visits a few less worlds than the previous movie, but what's great about that is how varied the movie still ends up being. I'd even say that this movie flows just that little bit better than the first, as it doesn't feel so segmented. You'll recall I mentioned that wasn't a huge problem for me before, but it is worth addressing here, since I'm soon to get into why this wasn't as good as the first, so it's nice to mention something this film had over the first.

Chris Pratt as Emmet

The comedy is just as good as it's ever been. Lord and Miller remain my favourite comedy writers, and I think it's fair to say they've shaped my sense of humour as I've grown up. What's great about the Lord & Miller 'style' is how you can't really put it in a box. It's so varied with its jokes that you really can't predict it, which is great since it really is all about subversion with comedy. If you can see the joke coming, it's typically not as funny. I could predict maybe one or two jokes told in this movie, and most of them hit bullseyes. We had a relatively empty cinema, and we were laughing as much as an almost packed-house would have. I know from experience that's a rare feat. The movie also has its moments of heart and emotion, and I'll touch on those more later, but I feel like these moments weren't quite so strong. They were effective, and worked for what they wanted to do, but I was never hit in the gut with the feels like I was in the first one. It also felt a little forced at times, but I think that's just a by-product of this being a kids' film at the end of the day. I don't know, it's not as big a deal as I'm making it out to be, as it did work by the end, but it wasn't quite as seamless as it was the first time round.

Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle

The characters are still as great as they've ever been. Chris Pratt is on top-form here, not only as Emmet, but as the new Rex Dangervest, who is a hilarious send-up to all of Chris Pratt's major roles. The two Chris Pratts have excellent chemistry with each other, and it's great fun watching them bounce off each other for the majority of the movie. Wyldstyle is fantastic in this story. I mention in the last review that I wished they'd done a little more with her character, and this gave me exactly that. Not just comedically, but we learn more about the character in general, and it's all great stuff. If I'm being honest, I wish the supporting cast from the first movie had a little more to do. Not Batman, he still gets a sufficient focus and he's as good as he's ever been, but Benny, Unikitty and MetalBeard really don't do much all things considered. They were so unique in the first movie, here they basically just get lumped together for the entire thing. For the story they're telling, it's not that big a deal, and the focus is definitely where it needs to be, but it did bug me that they didn't have much to do even towards the end. The new characters are great, but I can't really talk for too long about them without getting into spoilers, but suffice it to say, Tiffany Haddish and Stephanie Beatriz do great jobs as expected.

Chris Pratt as Rex Dangervest

Okay, getting back to my question from the start: is it as good as the first? The answer is still no, but I'd argue it wasn't trying to be. The reason The Lego Movie was so good is because it was unexpected. We thought it was going to be a soulless cash-grab and it turned out to be really entertaining. Then we thought it was just going to be really entertaining, and then it whammied us straight in the gut with emotion. There really isn't a way to replicate that in this franchise anymore, since now everyone's expecting good things from this franchise. Thankfully, the movie knows this and doesn't try to replicate the exact same formula. It moves forward. It tells a new story that builds off of what the first movie did and does it extremely well. What's amazing about this, though, is that the film still found ways to surprise me. I expected story elements from the end of the first movie to be recurrent throughout this movie, and I got that, but what it does with it still really shocked me. Not hugely, but enough. These movies are all about family, and coming from a big family myself, I can say they nailed this story. It doesn't change the fact that the original story hit a lot harder. I can't say I teared up to this movie like I did to the first, but I can say it's still got enough heart in it that I appreciated what they were doing and really related to it enough to say it was great.

Stephanie Beatriz as General Mayhem

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) is an excellent movie whether you compare it to its superior predecessor or not. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one, and I really hope these movies continue in the future, as they've been fairly consistent and original enough that I could watch them for decades to come. 9/10.

100 Movies...

What a milestone. 100 movies watched and reviewed... in 16 months. and 63 of those movies were watched over a span of 2 months. Look, I never claimed to be efficient, or the best at managing my own time, or the best at... anything, really. Nevertheless, thank you for reading my reviews. It means a lot to me that I've been able to do this since having this bats*** crazy idea to watch 31 movies in 31 days and it's just continued to this point.

And to celebrate, I wanted to do something special. I will be giving you my Top 10 and Bottom 10 movies that I've reviewed.

For clarifications sake, these aren't the movies that I rated the highest and lowest overall. There may have been a movie that, objectively, wasn't a perfect 10, but just spoke to me on a personal level. I've had my chance to be objective. Now it's time to be subjective.

Also, I'll be invoking a franchise rule where I can, meaning that no list can have more than one movie from the same series. I'll be making allowances wherever I deem necessary, but for the most part, I'll be adhering to that rule for the sake of variety. Formalities out of the way, here we go.

Top 10

I'm not going to lie, picking these 10 was hard. I had to pick between roughly 15 excellent movies that all deserved to make this list, and then rank the remaining 10 after that? I feel like I've betrayed some of those movies that I genuinely adore. In any case, I've made my decisions. These are my 10 favourite movies I've ever reviewed.

#10- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This one showed up late in my schedule, and I always knew I'd like it, but I didn't know how much. A great premise, great acting, and excellent cinematography. Something I didn't touch on in my review was how, with a few tweaks, this would make an excellent pure sci-fi film. I'm almost surprised they haven't done that yet. If they have, do let me know. If they haven't, let me know that as well, as I have an idea for a screenplay. But, yeah. Eternal Sunshine. It's pretty great.

#9- Logan (2017)

I'm not sure if this is here purely because it was such a big change of pace at the end of Super-Cember, but I'd like to think I'm not that fickle. Logan was such a unique superhero movie, and movie in general, really, that it would be a shame not to include it. A love letter to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine that really did the character justice after 9 movies to get to know him, Logan is gritty, intense and just badass, much like the character himself.

#8- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

I know some people are going to be upset that a Lord of the Rings movie isn't higher up this list, and others will be annoyed that it's not a different Lord of the Rings film, but I'm a sucker for an ending that pays off after hours upon hours of build-up, and this was just that. Throw in some exciting battles, a true struggle for Frodo and the G.O.A.T. Samwise, and some of the greatest visuals and score you'll find in a movie ever? Yeah, yeah, I like this movie.

#7- Groundhog Day (1993)

A movie that feels like it was written specifically to satisfy my needs and desires, Groundhog Day was a treat to watch. Bill Murray absolutely crushes it in this role, and the balance of comedy to heart has really never been stronger. This movie almost single-handedly inspired an entire genre of other films to come after it. That's a legacy right there.

#6- Sing Street (2016)

This is the one that surprised me more than probably any other movie I've done. As someone who is really only mildly interested in music at best, the fact that this story gripped me as hard as it did is astounding enough, but the music itself is really catchy and memorable, the characters are relatable, the story will speak to basically anyone, and it's funny to boot? Sing Street... what a great movie.

#5- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Guys... I can't help it. I'm a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I think I've made that clear by now, and the fact that a movie as ambitious as this actually worked and was satisfying as hell? I can't not love it. Thanos is one of the best movie villains of our time and will go down in history with the greats like Darth Vader and Voldemort. Not to mention the ending and how it successfully pulled the rug out from over $2 billion of paying viewers. And I was alive to see it happen in 2018. It's gotta make the list.

#4- The Lego Movie (2014)

This is another one that really spoke to me when I first saw it. As someone with little to no nostalgia for Lego, the fact that this movie hit me as hard as it did has to mean something. The visuals are unique, the comedy is unique, the storytelling is unique, it's just such a unique movie, and for one that everyone went into expecting it to be a 2 hour commercial is especially well done. Suffice it to say, I can't wait for the sequel. It has a huge bar to pass.

#3- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

I cannot stress enough how much I loved this movie. The How to Train Your Dragon series is one of the best cinematic trilogies of all time and no one will ever be able to change my mind on that. And the fact that this final chapter managed to function well enough as an individual story but also as a satisfying ending? This movie made me cry in the cinema. Like a little baby. I can't emphasise enough how good this movie is. I'm even tearing up just thinking about it right now. Not even joking.

#2- Aliens (1986)

I tend to measure a movie's success by how much I'm thinking about it when I'm not watching it. In the case of Aliens, not only could I not stop thinking about it for about an hour after it finished, but I was repeating to myself over and over again something to the effect of 'That was so good, holy s***, that was such a great movie'. Talk about raising the stakes from the original. This was a personal story for Ripley who remains one of the greatest protagonists in cinema history, and the Xenomorphs are at their most terrifying. It was so good. Holy s***, it was such a great movie.

#1- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

It may not have made me cry, but of all the movies on this list, I think this one is possibly the most movie. It's got heart-pumping action, superb comedy, relatable characters, a gorgeous and unique visual style that's great to watch, and it has so much heart. This is a labour of love to not just Spider-Man fans, but movie fans in general. It knew exactly what it wanted to do and it, just, it just did it. If ever a movie ticked literally every single one of my boxes, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was that movie.


Okay, so there's my Top 10 movies I've reviewed so far. Now, it's time for the fun list.


Bottom 10

This one wasn't nearly as hard to decide. I've reviewed far more perfect movies than I have atrocious ones. And here they are:

#10- Batman & Robin (1997)

Everybody knows how much of a joke this movie has become. You can't establish a gritty, dark, somewhat grounded world like the one in Tim Burton's Batman, then have this movie take place in the same canon. George Clooney tries his best, but it's just not enough. The only thing that saves this movie is how funny it accidentally is at times. I would watch this movie again if I was with a bunch of friends and we wanted to put something on to laugh at and make fun of. Under no other circumstances, though.

#9- Hulk (2003)

I would consider this to be the worst properly bad movie I reviewed. One cool action scene at the end of the second act is just not enough to save you, I'm afraid. A movie that can't even keep it's third act twist a secret beyond the opening montage is just not a well-structured movie. And, boy, is it painful. In that it actually physically hurt my eyes at times. The editing tried to be a send up to the comics, but just ended up being distracting and, again, literally painful. Yeah, this... this sucks.

#8- Jurassic Park III (2001)

As a huge fan of dinosaurs and prehistory in general, this one just upset me. How boring does a movie have to be when a 90 minute movie feels like more of a slog to get through than an almost 3-hour one? Annoying characters, inconsistent physics and rushed character arcs is one thing, but when you actively work against the stories you've set up in your past movies? Oh, boy. This was one of the only movies that my stupid, stupid, child self walked out of halfway through and never touched again. And he was right to do so.

#7- Suicide Squad (2016)

Oh, DCEU, you steaming pile of garbage. Your first true ensemble movie, and it featured characters we didn't have time to get to know, and were just bad characters in general. Will Smith and Margot Robbie are trying their best, but it's just not enough. Jared Leto is pure, unadulterated scum, and no one will be able to change my mind on that. At least Marvel waited 10 films to do their 'ragtag bunch of misfits that no one's heard of coming together' movie. This was their 3rd. Except people actually did know these characters, and they got them all wrong. Terrible movie.

#6- Terminator: Salvation (2009)

The only movie I've ever reviewed that I had to pause, refresh myself and come back to half an hour later. Talk about boring, this was a trial to get through. This movie completely ignores what made the Terminator films unique, turning into a generic action movie with people fighting robots. Incompetent ones. When I say 'incompetent', am I referring to the humans or the robots? Trick question. It's actually both. This film turns Skynet, the computer program that nuked the planet, into a f***ing moron. How bad do you have to be?

#5- Green Lantern (2012)

Oh, my God, Green Lantern. This is the cliched abomination that arthouse movie-goers assume all superhero movies are like. I don't use the term 'cliched' likely, since generally speaking, I like the cliches. But only when they're done right. Unlike in Green Lantern. And this is supposed to be 2012. Computer generated graphics shouldn't be this bad in 2012. I can honestly say that some PlayStation 1 games had better graphics than this movie. That's just sad. And so is this movie.

#4- Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Good God, every time I think about this movie, I wince a little. Talk about your unnecessary sequels. Alien: Resurrection brings back Ripley for her to be absolutely nothing like Ripley, and almost ruin her entire character. The Xenomorphs aren't scary whatsoever. The movie's own internal logic goes against not only what these movies have established is possible, but also physics in general. And I'm not a scientist by any means, but I know enough to know that this movie is f***ing stupid and illogical on almost every level. What the hell happened to this franchise?

#3- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

The first movie I ever gave a hot 0 to, BvS actually made me mad. It shouldn't have been this hard to put Batman and Superman in the same movie. What this movie decides to do is play catchup with the MCU in, effectively, the one movie. The problem is, while the MCU took its time to establish itself and its characters before jumping into the really serious stuff, this film... doesn't. The worst Lex Luthor, an overrated Batman as far as I'm concerned, hypocritical heroes and a titular fight that does not feel justified or satisfied on any level... yeah, I really f***ing hated this piece of s***.

#2- Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Come on. You all knew this was going to be here. Unlike BvS, nothing here made me that angry, but it came bloody close. Our leads have absolutely no chemistry with each other, the romance is as manufactured as it gets, and the story is... non-existent. The story is the romance. Nothing else happens in this entire movie. Even the S&M stuff isn't interesting, since the movie desperately wants that theatrical release and has to keep it tame. You just have to ask yourself why this movie even exists in the first place. The fact that I actively chose to watch this means that I hate myself more than any masochistic love interest ever could.

#1- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)

And here we are. The worst movie I've ever reviewed seen in my life. A movie that really didn't need to exist. When your story can be told within half an hour but decides to drag itself out to 2 hours, that's one thing, but to completely butcher an interesting premise on boring characters, phoned-in acting and an untalented writer is another thing. It's completely apparent that the only reason this movie exists is to make money. And it worked. As someone who writes stories and creates worlds and brings characters to life hopefully for a living one day, this movie was a slap in the face with $700 million that I'll never see in my lifetime, and it was one of the biggest insults I've ever been subjected to. And people who defend this movie are not only defending lazy, soulless cash-grabs, but also justifying a movie in which a grown man wants to f*** a baby. I really can't stress this enough. This movie is just abhorrent.


And there it is. Maybe in another 100 movies time, I may revisit this list and update it for the new movies I'll have seen since then. I very much doubt these lists will remain constant in my entire critical career, so we'll see. For now, thanks for tuning in, and here's to many more to come.