Beetlejuice – Review

So much like the Mission Impossible films this is a film I mostly chose to watch due to its addition into LEGO Dimensions at some point next year. It’s really been useful at helping me figure out what classic films I should watch. Also if you’re wondering why the featured image for this is from the animated series (unless you’re on a phone in which case you’ve probably never seen the featured images for some reason) it’s because most results were either the name on its own or for a sequel that doesn’t exist, this just seemed like the most fitting choice.

It’s a funny film set in a typical Tim Burton world. This is one of the films I see people bring up when talking about the classic Tim Burton style. The effects while dated and blatantly fake are really creative and well made, they also fit the tone of the film really well.

Michael Keaton does an entertaining job as the film’s title character whose name is surprisingly not spelt the way it is in the title (probably so characters would say it wrong at first). He’s an amusing character who reminds me a bit of The Mask and it’s clear Keaton is having fun with the role.

Another main character in the film is Winona Ryder of Stranger Things fame. Before Alien: Resurrection I hadn’t seen any other films she’d been in so it was interesting getting to see one of her more famous roles.

There’s not much else to say about the film. It was fun to watch, a good film choice for Halloween (though not really a scary one) and I’m looking forward to the LEGO Dimensions content but mostly that’s it. But I can say that starting tomorrow I’m doing my second Star Trek movie marathon with the Next Gen movies.

Doctor Strange – Review

So I saw this on the release day but this review is a bit late, mostly because that same day I also purchased Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and have been spending a lot of time playing it. So before I return to the game it’s time to write my review for the latest Marvel movie.

It’s really good. Marvel just keep making great film after great film. It’s also good to see that we’re in phase 3 and still have plenty of world building. Also as someone who doesn’t really care for the whole “science vs magic” cliche in media it’s refreshing to see a film about magic where the lead character is a man of science who actually combines his knowledge of both together.

On the subject of that main character Benedict Cumberbatch was perfectly cast as Dr. Strange himself. He’s up there with Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark as one of those actors who when you see them in costume just look like the character from the comic. The moment he starts wearing his cloak it’s like Earth-616’s Dr. Strange was on the screen. And of course Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor so not only did he look the part, he also gave what I consider one of his best performances.

Of course the film isn’t without its flaws and it’s hard to talk about this film and its cast without bringing up the controversy concerning the casting of The Ancient One. I’ve heard both sides of this discussion and while I do understand why they did this and that Earth-199999’s Ancient One isn’t supposed to be the same character as Earth-616’s Ancient One and think Tilda Swinton gave a decent performance I still have to consider this a flaw. Hollywood whitewashing continues to be a problem and even if I understand the excuses they’re still excuses. Does it ruin the movie for me? No but I wouldn’t feel comfortable praising the film as much as I am without acknowledging that this is a problem with it.

Overall despite my problems with The Ancient One I still really liked this movie. For Marvel regulars there’s the usually two credits scenes which I obviously won’t spoil but did get me excited about the things that are set up.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – Review

The last film of the original series and this marathon. Now that I’ve seen all of them I have to say I’ve enjoyed all of them. This has been one of the most satisfying marathons I’ve done so far.

This is one of the best films in the series. It sets up the state of the universe in The Next Generation and is the perfect book end for the original crew.

It’s especially nice to see Sulu has become a captain of his own ship. It’s a sign of things changing before the story even starts and he deserves it. It’s also a neat note that he had an interest in the same ship earlier in the series.

The film also centers around the mystery surrounding who is sabotaging the peace negotiations between the Federation and the Klingons. The attempts to solve this mystery are some of the most interesting parts of the film for me.

So now that I’ve seen all the original series movies its time to rank them.

The Voyage Home > The Undiscovered Country > The Wrath of Khan > The Search for Spock > The Final Frontier > The Motion Picture

I will have a more complete ranking which also includes the new films after I see the Next Gen movies. I plan on watching them during the first week on November.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – Review

So far these odd numbered films haven’t lived up to their reputation of being “the bad ones”. Yes the even numbered films have been better but other than the pacing issues in The Motion Picture I’ve been enjoying the entire series so far.

This film was better than I expected. It’s silly sure but it’s not without it’s charm. The jokes are funny and story works. It’s a decent movie.

It doesn’t really progress the story like the last three did though were each film ended in a way that effected the next film. Unless Kirk, Spock and McCoy start singing Row row row your boat in the next film I can’t really see anything from this film effecting the next part of the series.

The antagonist was alright. I do wish they’d done more with the fact he’s an emotional Vulcan and Spock’s brother but that’s really the case for most faults with this film, things it could have been rather than problems with what it is.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – Review

This is the film in this marathon I was looking forward to seeing the most. So now that I’ve seen it does it live up to the hype?

Yes, it’s one of my favourite Star Trek films so far. It’s certainly the funniest film in the series. It has some of the most memorable quotes in the series and even a few scenes I’d seen referenced before in other media.

Seeing the crew of the Enterprise (or in this case the crew of the Bounty) in the 80s is especially entertaining. Back when this was new this was the present day so there was humour in the characters reaction to how outdated the present day technology was, but now there’s humour in agreeing with the crew on the old technology.

This is the one with the whales and as silly is that sounds it works pretty well. The environmental message is an important one and makes sense for a Star Trek movie. It’s also still just as silly as it sounds with a scene of Spock mind melding with a whale.

Only two more films of this marathon to go. I’ve liked how these last two transitioned into each other with the crew still having a Bird of Prey instead of a Federation ship. I expect the next film will have a “another adventure” start to it though.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – Review

So having already seen Wrath of Khan that means I’m seeing two odd numbered Star Trek movies back to back which according to a fair amount of the fandom are the bad ones, or at least not the good ones. So now it’s time to see if I agree with that mindset or not.

I liked this film. Is it as good as Wrath of Khan? No but it’s still a decent film with some entertaining performances. It’s also a Star Trek film with Klingons as the central antagonists rather than a cameo role like they’ve had in the films I’ve seen so far.

On the subject of the Klingons and entertaining performances we have Christopher Lloyd as the main villain. He makes a good Klingon and is one of the better Star Trek movie villains I’ve seen so far counting the new films.

It’s a good film. Not great but still good. Now if I’m not mistaken I think the next film is the one with the whales which gets almost as much praise as Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Review

It was my birthday yesterday and one of my presents was a DVD set of the Star Trek movies. So of course it’s time for another movie marathon. But first some important details. First I’ve already seen Wrath of Khan (good movie) so after writing this review the next film I’m watching will be Search for Spock. Second I’m going to save the Next Generation movies for another marathon in November because otherwise this will be too long. With that said time to boldly go where plenty of people have gone before.

The film is alright. Its biggest problem is pacing. Seriously there are several transition scenes that go on way longer than they need to be and I expect if you cut them down to a reasonable length you’d have a regular episode length with an average story.

You can tell these scenes mean well as they’re intended to show off the special effects but it just ruins the pacing. There’s a scene early in the film where we get a long shot of the Enterprise as Kirk is slowly moving towards it which has a good dramatic effect at first and then it keeps going and going and going and going.

It’s nice seeing the reunion of the original crew though many get overshadowed by the mediocre new characters. The new uniforms are pretty bland and you can see why they switched to the red jackets in Wrath of Khan. Also Kirk’s v-neck looks silly.

Is there some truth to the odd numbered films being the bad ones? Hard to say at this point but I wouldn’t call this film bad, I just wouldn’t call it good either. I suppose the best thing to say about this film would be…

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree – Review

So far the Equestria Girls films have been surprising me with how good they’ve been. A big part of that has been Sunset Shimmer’s character arc and seeing what each film brings to her story.

Sadly this is probably the weakest film in the series. I still enjoyed it not as much as the other films in the series. I was also disappointed with the limited number of songs this time around, the songs themselves are decent but not nearly as good as the ones from the other three films.

One of my biggest concerns about this film after seeing the trailer and preview footage was that Twilight Sparkle would overshadow Sunset Shimmer. While Sunset isn’t completely sidelined her role is mostly a supporting role in Twilight’s story.

There are still some advancements in the overall story that prevent this from feeling like filler but I’m not as excited about next year’s Equestria Girls movie as I was about this year’s after watching Friendship Games. However I am excited about the movie of the main series that comes out in cinemas next year.