Right off, we're starting with some more movie reviews for the year. There was a lot that came out over the past few months, not only catching up on some big names at the end of last year, but also snagging some of the newer ones from my Anticipated Films list. It's a bit of a weird mix, but most of them were pretty good.
The first of the catch-up films is the latest MCU installment for the theaters, which ended up being pretty entertaining. It certainly has fun with its universe-hopping concept, and it almost feels like it's going to far, but it reigns things in well and doesn't really lose its focus on the characters amidst all the wackiness.
Starting off from where Far From Home ended, with Peter Parker being outed as Spider-Man by J. Jonah Jameson, the story goes on a bit of a whirlwind on how that messes with his life, as well as those of his friends, so he seeks out Dr. Strange to see if his magic can be used to revert the mess. Unfortunately, Peter's addendums to Dr. Strange's spell cause reality to break a little, and suddenly, he's having to face villains from other universes, making his life an even bigger mess. So a pretty standard Peter Parker kind of day.
Fortunately, it does more with these cameos than simply show off how much money Disney has. Peter feels compelled to do more than just send these villains back, but to give them the help they need to overcome their faults. And when that goes sideways in the worst way possible, he gets help from some kindred spirits who knows what he's going through, ensuring that the multiverse shenanigans don't overwhelm the emotional core of the movie, which ends up holding together pretty well, in the end.
Honestly, this is the best MCU Spider-Man film, and it's not even close. While the story may feel very gimmicky, they lean into the gimmick just enough to have it all hang together pretty well, making for a very satisfying watch. And now that the multiverse has been cracked open, it not only offers some pretty wild potential for the upcoming Dr. Strange movie, but also for other crossover madness that could be quite exciting. Very recommendable, as long as you don't think too hard about any implications these things could allow.
So this is a bit of a weird one. The first Matrix is a modern classic, but the rest of the trilogy left a lot of fans and viewers underwhelmed (though I enjoy the second one more than most). Still, it was a nice little trilogy that really didn't seem to need a continuation, and yet, at the order of Warner Bros., this one was made. This time, we only have one of the Wachowskis directing, but it's an interesting film that retains some of what made the original films so fun, while at the same time, tries in a few ways to break out of their shadow.
And the shadow looms large, as the film starts with Thomas Anderson back in the normal world again, this time as the renowned video game designer of the Matrix trilogy of video games. However, his bosses want him to go back and make a new installment, and he works with a group of developers and designers to "recapture the magic" of the original games. Yes, the meta-narrative is really that on-the-nose, and you can tell they're having a bit of a laugh at themselves, but I suppose going out of one's way to defang any condescending criticisms of "fidelity" or lack thereof by telling the jokes first is one way to acknowledge just how much of a monumental task this is. In any case, the Matrix turns out to be real, again, but instead of trying to save humanity from an apocalyptic fate (at least for now), the stakes shift to a more personal tone as it deals with Anderson/Neo's reconnection to everything and deciding what it is that's important to him. For the sake of the film, this ends up being a good turn, I think, as it prevents things from getting to heady or convoluted.
That being said, the movie does struggle at times. The action scenes are a mixed bag, and definitely lack the polish and over-the-top charm of the ones from the original trilogy, though there is one chase sequence at the end that really ups the ante for insane action visuals, and you'll know it when you see it. Also, it can be hard to know what level of irony we're working at here with all the meta stuff going on, and what it even means to have the Matrix anymore, both within the universe, and as a franchise in general. Still, I think the movie could have been much worse, and while it may not have been necessary, I didn't feel like my time was wasted.
Roland Emmerich certainly has an eye for spectacle, so when I saw he was doing another big sci-fi disaster epic, I was pretty excited. However, despite some promising trailers, it really is quite a drop to finally see the movie and get a big mess of Independence Day nostalgia that doesn't really work.
Starting from the titular premise of something causing the moon to fall from its orbit towards earth, it largely meanders about for a while, introducing a bunch of characters in order to set up the stakes for a daring mission with the three people left around to go to the moon and figure it all out. By giving time to several side characters who seem to have their own subplots rather than directly interacting with the main plot, the movie has a bad habit of jumping from thing to thing to thing, making for an excessively fast pace without really feeling like there's much story being told. This, in turn, forces the plot to feel very thin, as characters make spontaneous decisions without a lot of reason other than the movie needs them to. Overall, it's just not very satisfying storytelling, as if the movie is just coming up with what happens next off the top of its head, and this carries through to the sci-fi-tastic ending that doesn't really make the landing. Some flat acting certainly doesn't help, either.
For what it's worth, the special effects are pretty good, so if you just want to see the moon cause a bunch of destruction, I suppose you'll get your money's worth. However, during the slower moments with the characters, the movie just kinda drags. While it can possibly find worth as a subject to an MST3K ribbing, on it's own, you might as well skip this and just rewatch ID4.
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Going from the overwhelming visuals of a sci-fi disaster film to the slow, mentally engaging mystery might feel like whiplash, but they released these one week apart, and I was definitely looking forward to this one. It's a sequel to the Murder on the Orient Express that Kenneth Branagh provided five years ago, and when I finally caught up with it, I really enjoyed it. So it was with high expectations that I went into this one, and they were mostly met.
Once again, I went in completely blind, not knowing a single detail about this, and it was great trying to piece it all together as twist after twist fell into Hercule Poirot's lap. Instead of a train, we obviously have a boat for our claustrophobic murder box, but much of the same is here: folks with different agendas suddenly brought together by a web of lies for our detective to sort through, one interview at a time.
This time around, though, I did feel the movie was a little less focused. There's a very long introduction sequence before we even get our first dead body that drags a little, there were some strangely raunchy moments that really didn't seem to belong to the film, and when the game's afoot, it lurches from beat to beat a little too quickly. However, this is by no means a slapdash, rapidly edited film. We get plenty of wonderful panoramic shots and a number of opportunities for our actors to ham up their roles. The cast is fun, though, and Branagh continues his scene-stealing interpretation of the iconic character. While the conclusion did feel maybe a little lackluster compared to Orient Express (though, in all fairness, it would be difficult to top that ending!), I did really enjoy this trip down the river. Highly recommend for those who miss the times when cinema was meant to evoke a sense of wonder and melodrama.