Us

The Wilson family travels to their summer home, excited for the beach and ready to get their relaxing on. Little do they know, their summer isn't going to end as planned. When their doppelgangers show up late one night, their vacation turns from happy and fun, to a fight for survival.

Us is written and directed by Jordan Peele, who is the same person that wrote and directed Get Out. If you saw Get Out, you went into this movie ready for some serious mind-games. I have to say, I was extremely unprepared. I thought this movie was going to be a simple psychological thriller where the Wilson family has to fight their strange twins that show up out of nowhere, but that is only the beginning. I don't want to give the story away, but I will just say that the mind-games were crazy from start to finish.

You know a movie is good when you walk out and are unsure of what you just saw, but I can't decide whether I really enjoyed it or if I'm just questioning all of it still. I may need to see this one again to make sure I didn't miss anything. There's a lot that goes on and it's not a short movie. At some points I was questioning how this was going to end and when it was going to end. Regardless of that, Lupita Nyong'o gives a wonderful performance, and the kids do a great job as well. Shahadi Wright Joseph, who plays the daughter, has some crazy eyes when she's paying the doppleganger Umbrae. She runs a little strangely, but who am I to judge...I don't run. Ha!

If you're a scary movie fan, go see this one at least once. You'll probably leave feeling like you need to see it again as well. As for me, I'm thinking I'll wait for it to be on Netflix before I see it again, but you never know. Sometimes I just need a good movie to go see, and there's not been a lot of those so far this year.

IMDb:  7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes:  69%
Hayley: hmmmm...6.5/10

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel probably doesn't need much of an introduction. We've been wondering who this superhero really is ever since the last Avengers movie was released. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is one of the most powerful superheroes we've ever seen, and this solo film is our introduction to her story. She is Earth's only hope for survival when a galactic war breaks out between two alien races.

Before I get into the review, I feel I should apologize. I saw this movie the day it came out and I've been slacking on the reviews. I've been busy! I actually forgot to write a review for this movie, but I blame that on the lack of excitement after seeing it. That's not to say that this was a bad movie. I liked it, but I wasn't in love with it. It was just OK, and I think that is in part to blame because no one really cares about Captain Marvel. We all are waiting for the next Avengers. We want that crazy, explosive movie that will clear up all our questions! Instead, Marvel decided to make us wait with a less than explosive background film.

I enjoyed learning about Captain Marvel's story and seeing how she fits into the Marvel world. We see how she initially came to meet Fury (Samuel Jackson) and how he knew to call her when the world needs her. We learn about her past and how she could really be the answer the Avengers were looking for. My only complaint about the movie is that it has a lot of talking, and not a lot of action. This two hour long movie probably only has 30 - 45 minutes of action. I was hoping for a lot more.

That's about all I have to say about this one...IMDb critics give this a 7.2/10 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 62%. I'm actually surprised that IMDb has such a high score because when you read the reviews the majority of them are very negative. My main question, and this is for Marvel in general, is why did all the original Avengers survive the last movie, and how did Captain Marvel survive when she isn't an original? If it was supposed to be a 50/50 split of the universe, how then did every single original Avenger survive, while the new additions didn't? Is Captain Marvel supposed to be an original even though we never saw her before? I guess, in terms of timeline, she was there before the newer additions? All questions to be answered with the next Marvel film...

Bumblebee

Bumblebee is a prequel to Michael Bay's Transformers series. Set in 1987, Cybertron is under attack and Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to Earth to find a safe place for the Autobot faction to recoup. When Bee arrives on Earth, however, he is attacked by humans and Decepticons, leaving him in dire need of recovery. It is then that Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) finds this beat up VW Bug in a junkyard, and takes it home to return it to its original glory. What she finds instead is unlike anything she ever could have imagined.

Critics and moviegoers alike are raving that this is the best Transformers to date. They are thanking Travis Knight (the director) for returning Transformers to its original glory. Micheal Bay is out, Travis Knight is in...or is he? My opinion? It was good, but just good. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the best one ever. I'm also not a Transformers franchise person. I've seen all the movies, but that is as far as my Transformers knowledge goes, and I did enjoy this movie. I just didn't love it.

I couldn't get past the fact that the Transformers looked really...sorry to say it...fake. When the movie starts, we are on Cybertron watching the battle take place. I felt like I was watching a cartoon. From there forward I couldn't stop seeing the unrealistic nature of all the Transformers. One thing Michael Bay did right was make the characters feel real. They weren't a cartoon character stuck into our world next to Hailee Steinfeld. When Optimus Prime picked up Shia Labeouf, he looked like he was picking up Shia Labeouf. He was real and he was there. Bumblebee was so opposite of that that it brought my whole experience down a couple notches.

 

Other than that, the movie was simply OK. I don't have any other major complaints. The story was good, and I was glad to learn about Bee's past. You see how he lost his voice and how he learned to live without it, and you see two beings learn how to be happy when they feel like all is lost. It is a beautiful story, I just don't see it continuing from there. Unless they remake the whole series, this one ends where the first one begins. I don't see Travis Knight making a sequel unless it has to do with other prequels. I guess, we will see?

IMDb rating:  7.3/10
RottenTomatoes:  79%
Hayley:  6-6.5/10, cute doesn't cut it for me these days, especially when I prefer Shia over Hailee...

Aquaman

The newest DC character to hit the screens: Aquaman. Arthur Curry (Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa) learns at a young age that he has a special connection to sea creatures. He soon comes to learn that he is the long-lost heir to the throne of Atlantis, and with an impending war between land and sea, his people need his help.

It's about time DC Comics figured out how to make a good movie! While this one isn't quite up to Marvel's levels of film-making, it is definitely an improvement. Character development for one is much better. We get to see Aquaman in the current time, but also how he came to learn about his family history through various flashbacks. I especially enjoyed the flashbacks because of the backstory they granted. I didn't know a lot about Aquaman, and when this movie started I was a little worried. It jumps right into the action and my immediate thought was, "Great, I'm going to be lost." This wasn't the case at all.

Aquaman is getting great ratings. IMDb has it at a 7.6/10, and Rotten Tomatoes is at an 80% audience rating. This movie has grossed over $222 million domestically thus far and over $846 million worldwide. That is a huge amount considering they only spent around $160 million to make the film. While it is receiving a lot of buzz right now, I have to wonder if it's really that good. I, of course, have some critiques.

First, some of the graphics really aren't that great. Obviously, people can't talk under water, but when they are swimming around a very obvious green screen, it's a little distracting. They move in a way that just feels wrong to me. Maybe I'm being picky with that, but they also used a green screen for the desert scenes. With a budget of $160 million I would hope you could at least find a real sand dune. If not, maybe add another couple thousand dollars to the budget. It's not like DC can't afford it.

My second minor complaint is the cheesy one-liners. Some of them are good, but some of them are just unnecessary and distracting. Aquaman doesn't have to be funny. There's nothing in the comics that says we need to lighten the mood with a cheesy joke right here. They were sometimes very strange and good for a small giggle, but each one just got more cringe-worthy. Jason Momoa makes for a fantastic Aquaman, but there's no reason to make him a comedian. Let's be honest here...this movie is making so much money because all the guys are like, "I'm going to see the movie," and their girlfriends' are like "Oh bring me!" The girls are only going to see a shirtless Momoa. They don't care if he's funny...they may not even be able to tear their eyes off his abs to care about what he's saying...(see pic below).

Finally, my last problem was with Kekoa Kekumano's performance. He plays the sixteen year-old Arthur in one of the flashbacks. I found his entire scene to be exceptionally cringe-worthy and I was hoping for it to end sooner than it did. The acting was not good at all. I've never seen him in any other roles, but I genuinely hope it was better than this performance. Sorry, Kekumano!

You should definitely see this one if you are a comic fan, but I wouldn't say it is the best of the best. Definitely the best of DC movies, and I hope this marks a future of improvements for DC Comic films. I'd rate this at a 7/10 probably, but you are welcome to make your own judgments! Let me know if you agree, and enjoy the beautiful picture of Jason (above) for as long as you need! 😉