Friday the 13th - Movie Franchise Review

I have recently watched through all of these movies. I even watched the reboot for good measure. How do these hold up today? How do the movies stack up with one another? Let's find out!

Top and Bottom Movies of 2016

*Disclaimer-This only accounts for movies I have seen/experienced for the first time in 2016. Many of these are new movies but they are not necessarily. Also, I did not write about literally everything I watched. And, for a while there was a bit of a lull where I did not write about anything(been busy and lazy). Regardless, here's a useless list of garbage. The further down the list it is the more I enjoyed it; or, in the case of the latter category, loathed it.

Manchurian Candidate (2004) - Movie Review

Duration: 2h 9m
Watched: TV(Unedited)

The Manchurian Candidate follows up with a couple of soldiers after a traumatic incident in the Gulf War. The unit was taken by surprise by the enemy and suffered a couple of casualties. Despite the chaos Sergeant Raymond Shaw took over command from his CO, who was rendered unconscious, and led his unit to safety. Or so everyone is led to believe. Even though everyone of the survivors knows this story to be true, they still have their doubts; seeing the same bizarre dreams repeatedly with astounding accuracy. Surely it could just be PTSD?

House of the Dead - Movie Review

Duration: Too Long
Watched: Bootleg(It happens when you can't find a legit copy.)

The party of the century is happening on a remote island, for some reason. A bunch of early-twenties aged people missed the boat so they have to enlist the aid of a random sailor of some sort. Initially they refuse to help until the price is right. Avoiding the cops, they depart and eventually make contact with the island. However, not all is well here as people are missing and there seems to be no trace of them.

Star Trek: Beyond - Movie Review

Duration: ~2hrs
Watched: Theater

We pretty much jump right into this story with Kirk and crew a little over halfway into their 5yr Mission. Fortunately, they are up for a break on the brand new Yorktown Station. Shortly after arrival, an out of control pod of some description is picked up by the station with some awful news regarding a lost ship and crew in an uncharted nebula. The Enterprise is dispatched to figure out exactly what happened. What awaits beyond the cloud?

Fantastic 4 - Movie Review

Duration: 1h 47m
Supplied: Redbox

The Short
Do not bother. It is bad. As bad as you may have heard.

The Long
Regardless of whether or not you know anything about the Fantastic 4 is irrelevant going into this movie. This story takes a young Reed Richards and has him building a teleporter. He takes it to the Science Fair a little while later and proves it works with a live demonstration. Unfortunately, he gets disqualified but is noticed by Franklin Storm who is at a random school Science Fair for some reason. A full scholarship later and we have the start of our movie.

Flightplan - Movie Review

Duration: 1h 38m
Watched: Trapped in a moving coffin!

Kyle Pratt is flying home to bury the body of her husband. Accompanying her on the trip is her 6yr old daughter Julia. Shortly after the flight starts, Kyle awakes to find that her daughter Julia is missing and no one seems to know anything about it. In fact, No one remembers seeing her at all. What is going on?

Ant Man - Movie Review

Duration: 117m
Supplied: DVD produced via RedBox

Join newly reformed criminal Scott Lang as he falls ass-first into a crazy plot to save the world. Scott accidentally gets involved in a scheme to do some corporate sabotage after he comes into contact with the Ant Man suit. Interestingly enough, it turns out his particular skill set will be useful after all. Being able to shrink down to the size of an ant, and control literal ants themselves, it can only be the start of a wacky adventure!

The Witch - Movie Review

The Witch - Movie Review

Duration: 93m
Watched: Theater

I am not really sure what exactly to say about this movie. I, and two of my friends, went to see this on the recommendation of another friend. The story revolves around an early American settler family in New England and their plight to survive in the frontier. The title is The Witch. How bad could it be?

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Movie Review

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Movie Review

Duration: 2hrs
Watched: TV

I recorded this a while ago on my DVR but never got around to watching it until now. However, had I known what I was about to watch, I would not have bothered.

This opens up with our "protagonist" Albert Stark, who is a sheep farmer(yes really) out in the old western town of Old Stump. It seems harmless enough at first but it quickly degenerates into nothing substantive.

Divergent: Insurgent - Movie Review

Divergent: Insurgent - Movie Review

Title: Divergent: Insurgent
Watched: Television(uncut)
Duration: A bit over 2hrs

This movie picks up shortly after the end of the first movie with Tris, Four, and company, on the run.  They were allowed sanctuary with the Amity faction provided that they do not disturb the peace.  Dauntless uncovers a secret artifact that was being kept hidden in Abnegation.

Surprisingly, most of the major(and minor) players from the original film are present as well as being played by the original actors.  This definitely helps with continuity between the two films.  There is a much bigger emphasis on plot this time since most of the heavy lifting on character development was already done with the first movie.  There are not really many new characters that are introduced save one that's notable.  Even they are not granted an abundance of character development.

The contrasting setting between advanced technology and run-down city is still an interesting one to me.  It is sort of serene in a way to see nature reclaiming so much of what mankind has built and abandoned.  This is an interesting take on the dystopian aesthetic.  I suppose it is similar to the Hunger Games in that regard.  Outside of this, very little is interesting.  The music I barely noticed and have now forgotten.  The effects were all right but nothing that is truly amazing.  About the most noticeable change in the movie was Shailene Woodley cutting her hair(and it looked pretty good).

Overall, I did not hate this movie.  It was entertaining enough, even if the plot could be seen cresting the horizon thousands of miles away.  I have literally no exposure to the book series so I have no idea how they compare in that regard, but I will definitely wait and watch the third movie when it is released.  I only just have to hope that it will not be released in two parts like everything else seems to be lately.

*Recommended if you liked the first one.*

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review

Title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Watched: Theater

Duration: A bit over 2 hours

Years after the close of Episode 6 we come to another galactic conflict due to the instability of the remnants of the now-defunct Galactic Empire.  The Empire is now replaced with The First Order, an entity every bit as evil as its predecessor.  Possibly even more-so.  The Rebellion opposes The First Order and seeks to undo its evil.  This is where we are at when our story starts.

The cast of this movie was truly spot-on.  I think they did a tremendous job on picking the actors to fill in the new slots.  From new to old, everyone seems to pull their own weight and they all seem utterly believable in their respective roles.  Not everyone gets equal screen time to really shine, however, but there are 2 more movies(at least) in the works to help out with this.  Most viewers really do not need a ton more back story on the older cast from the original trilogy.  They are as familiar as ever and we feel like we picked up right after the last adventure.

As for some miscellaneous notes: The grand orchestral score of this movie feels right at home and is instantly familiar.  The sound effects on everything are perfect and have amazing impact.  The sound on some of the heavy blasters is particularly satisfying.  I did not have any issues with the lighting anywhere and was able to easily identify everything.  They also had a great attention to detail.  They even included heat waves from the jet engines of the TIE fighters!  The CGI was blended virtually seamlessly.  They spared no expense to quote John Hammond from Jurassic Park.

There is plenty of excitement at just the right times to keep people engaged and invested in the characters and their story.  Nothing felt boring at all or felt like it went on way too long.  It is very consistent and in the right amounts.  The touches of humor were pleasant and not done in excess like "wink wink remember this thing?". 

In conclusion, this movie was phenomenal.  This is coming from someone who had the entire movie spoiled for them ahead of time.  It was very engaging and well paced from the outset.  The entire universe felt totally organic and believable.  My only real grievance would be a couple of points with some amazing plot convenience.  I want to give a special shout-out to the melee combat sequences.  They felt fairly realistic and had some serious weight to them, making them all-the-more tense.  They did not overdo the light sabers either!  It plays it safe but that is not always a bad thing.  This genuinely felt like a Star Wars movie and J. J. Abrams should very much be commended for this.

*Highly Recommended*