Day: May 10, 2019

Director: Rob Letterman

Writer: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly (Screenplay) Satoshi Tajiri, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perlman, Ken Sugimori, Junuchi Masuda, Atsuko Nishida, Tomokazu Ohara, Haruka Utsui (Original Content)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Suki Waterhouse, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe, Karan Soni, Rob Delaney, Kathryn Newton

 

Plot: In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective.

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Cuteness Can Only Get You So Far

 

Story: Detective Pikachu starts when Tim Goodman (Smith) a young man living in a small town where he is content with his job not wanting to leave like most of his friends, until he gets news of his father’s death in the big city. Once in the big city Tim meets a talking Pikachu that was his father’s partner and the two go in search for answers to what happened to his father and why Pikachu can’t remember a thing.

 

Thoughts on Detective Pikachu

 

Characters – Tim Goodman is the young man that once dreamed of being a Pokémon trainer, he has settled with the idea of insurance for his job, his mother died when he was young and his father has become distant. When his father is killed in an accident, Tim travels to the big city in search for answers and closure only to find himself involved in the big mystery with a new Pikachu partner. Tim feels like a character that is trying to connect to the audience of the people that once loved Pokémon that got hit by life as they grew up. Pikachu is the partner of Tim’s father, only for an unknown reason he can talk to Tim, he is snappy his lines which sees him trying to remain confident as he wants to learn what he happened to his partner and his memory. Lucy is an intern that dreams of being a reporter, she gets the heads up on the story and starts diving into trying to solve the story with Tim. Howard Clifford has built the city where Pokémon and humans can work together and is involved in a power struggle with his son for his company.

Performances – Justice Smith is the stronger performer in this film, he does show the held in grief his character is feeling, while showing his character is on the verge of coming out of his shell. Ryan Reynolds lends his voice to Pikachu which does work for the most part, he gets the jokes, while handling the serious moments too. Kathryn Newton is strong, though it would have been nice to see more from her character. Bill Nighy is one that brings the calming presence to everything being the typical brains for change into the world.

Story – The story here follows a young man that teams up with a talking Pikachu, to figure out what happened to his father only to learn about a bigger conspiracy that is going on in the world. The story does easily take a back burner for large amounts of time because we want to focus on the cuteness of the Pokémon. We do get a standard investigation story, which is meant to have twists and turns along the way like all mystery films. We do cut over smaller stories around the supporting characters which disappoints in Lucy’s mostly. We do get a few moments that just don’t make sense though because they go against other rules created in the film.

Action/Comedy/Mystery/Sci-Fi – The action sequences are fun to watch which are mostly Pokémon battles which look brilliant, the comedy is fun enough, though we did get most of the best moments in the trailer. The mystery is everything you would expect without being anything new or need to be. The sci-fi world created shows us just how the human and Pokémon can live together in one world.

Settings – The film creates a wonderful location for the big city which looks nature throughout the scenes there, outside the big city we get to see how the Pokémon would live in our own world.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are truly amazing, to create the world which sees Pokémon living next to humans, everything looks nature when they appear on screen.

Scene of the Movie – The Pokémon in life.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The story is pretty basic.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun easy to watch film about Pokémon, it gets everything it needs to right without trying to test the audience with the lengths of the story.

 

Overall: Fun and Over Cute.

Rating

 

 

Director: Guy Ritchie

Writer: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram (Screenplay) Guy Ritchie, Jeff Kleeman, David C Wilson, Lionel Wigram (Story) Sam Rolfe (Original TV Show)

Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris

 

Plot: In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.

Tagline –  Two sworn enemies. One common mission.

Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Average Action

 

Story: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. starts as we follow American CIA Agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and Russian KGB Agent Illya Kuryakin (Hammer) must put their difference aside to stop a threat during the cold war to stop nuclear weapon being built which could cause massive casualties. The only connection is the daughter of the scientist Gaby (Vikander) as they search for the Vinciguerra’s with Victoria (Debicki) running the crime operation.

As the two start to put their differences aside they learn skills to make them better agents and learn to work as a team for the first time in their careers.

 

Thoughts on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

 

Characters – Napoleon Solo is the American CIA Agent, he works for them to clean his robbery charges because he is a brilliant thief, being able to swipe anything with the blink of an eye, he uses his charm to stay ahead of the game. Illya Kuryakin is the Russian KGB agent, he is short tempered and can handle himself in the fight, but sadly he comes off looking like the weaker of the two. Gaby is the daughter of the prime suspect, she works with the agents to locate him in the hands of the villainous Victoria. Victoria has taken over the family business which involves building her own nuclear weapon. Alexander Waverly is a man of mystery who keeps appearing in the lives of the agents but who does he work for.

Performances – Henry Cavill is an actor I have always questioned and here he does show emotion, charm that is required for the character of Napoleon. Armie Hammer does have a lot of fun in his role which he is good in and anything Alicia Vikander stars in gets extra class and beauty.  Elizabeth Debicki is good in her limited scenes but doesn’t give us anything new for a villain, Hugh Grant gets the few laughs in the film too.

Story – The story follows two unlikely agents needing to work together to save the world, it sounds simple and is from a television show, so we know where it will go. If you have seen the formula before you will have better options out there but for a simple story that you can see the twists coming and can just enjoy it unfold.

Action/Adventure/Comedy – The action is by the book for the most part having nothing overly memorable while the comedy works at times but isn’t a laugh out loud movie.

Settings – The film takes us around Europe which is fine for the film.

Special Effects – The effects are used in film for moments of action but I do feel like it could miss on most part.

Scene of the Movie – For a special agent, you’re not having a special day.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It did feel long.

Final Thoughts – This is a solid by the book action adventure movie, it doesn’t offer too much new but isn’t the worst, just sadly average.

 

Overall: Average action movie at best.

Rating

 

 

 

Director: Marc Meyers

Writer: Marc Meyers (Screenplay) John Backderf (Book)

Starring: Ross Lynch, Vincent Kartheiser, Anne Heche, Alex Wolff, Dallas Roberts

 

Plot: A young Jeffrey Dahmer struggles to belong in high school.

Tagline – Based on the Acclaimed Graphic Novel

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Unsettlingly, but Not Disturbing

 

Story: Mr Friend Dahmer starts as outside Jeff Dahmer (Lynch) is getting through high school by avoiding people while performing experiments in his house. When he starts hanging out with John ‘Derf’ Backderf (Wolff) he brings in a routine to pretend to be special around the school making him more confident.

With his own problems at home with his mother Joyce’s (Heche) mental health getting worse and his father Lionel (Roberts) moving out, it is up to Jeff to keep himself busy, which see him become more attracted to killing and dead bodies.

 

Thoughts on My Friend Dahmer

 

Characters – Jeff Dahmer is the awkward teenager at high school, an outside who enjoys studying bodies of animals, he doesn’t get bullied, but soon starts getting used by a group of high schoolers that see his ability to act out enjoyable for them. He plays along believing he has been accepted, only to see his own desires to see about biology become a more focal point in his life. Derf is one of the high school kids that befriends Jeff, he ends up using his ability to act mentally handicapped as some form of enjoyment pushing him to become more forward with what he is doing. Joyce and Lionel are the parents of Jeff’s they are going through a difficult time which makes Jeff’s life even harder.

Performances – Ross Lynch is easily the star of this film, we are left feeling uneasy with his performance at times, while other times we can see him looking like a normal teenager, he makes us worried about what his characters actions will be. Alex Wolff, Anne Heche and Dallas Roberts gives us great supporting performances with each one doing everything that will leave to the problems Jeffrey ends up doing.

Story – This is a story about the high school time for serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, we see how he never truly fitted in and even when he was accepted he is only ever used for a performance to entertain. This does tease that he could just be awkward, but also clearly shows how he is going down the darker path with his obsession with killing animals. Now from a show of decline in nature, this is good, but for the fact this is real you can’t help but to question this idea for a story because of what he went on to do, like always, we focus on the killer not he victims.

Biopic/Horror – This does show the early years of Jeffrey Dahmer, how he was an outsider at school, how his desires for blood went unnoticed and how he become the killer we sadly all know today.

Settings – The film is set in the same town in which Jeffrey grew up, giving the film an authentic look at his early years.

Scene of the Movie – The ending.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The animal scenes are not easy to watch

Final Thoughts –This is an interesting look at one of the most famous of all the modern day serial killers youth in America, it shows how he started off uneasy and only became more disturbing as he grew older.

 

Overall: Unsettling throughout.

Rating