Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Last week my kids and I watched the first Maleficent movie since it was available on Netflix. The next day we decided to go to the theater to see the sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. I'm not a big fairy tale fan but I was really impressed with the vibrant colors, special effects, costumes, and cinematography,

This movie picks up several years after the first one as Prince Phillip proposes to Aurora who has been living in and reigning over the Moors. The potential joining of the two kingdoms is hard for Maleficent to support since she distrusts humans. She reluctantly accompanies her god daughter to visit the king and queen in their castle for dinner and it does not go well. The movie did a good job of pitting Angelina Jolie against Michelle Pfeiffer who was the real villain of the movie. Oops.

The plot features some additional side stories which made it a little more interesting. This sequel had some shortcomings but I liked it more than the original and really loved the rich colors, creativity, and costumes in the movie. Angelina Jolie was is perfect for the role of Maleficent. I enjoyed this sequel enough to give it 7.1 stars.

Movies from the plane ride

Last week I was travelling from the US to Ghana and had over 26 hours of flight time so I got caught up on some movies I had not seen. Here's a brief summary of how much I enjoyed each one.

Dark Phoenix- This was my least favorite of the four movies I saw and that is sad since I am a big super hero movie fan. I was mostly confused by this movie and could not figure out how it fit into the X-Men timeline. SPOILERS: I assumed it was supposed to be a prequel since it had many of the younger actors who were in the prequels as well as a younger version of Xavier and Magneto yet Mystique gets killed so that had me confused. If this was a sequel, why was everyone young? Anyway Dark Phoenix didn't have the magic of some of the earlier X-Men films. I give it only 6.0 stars.

The Hustle- I love Dirty Rotten Scoundrels so when I heard they were doing a remake featuring a mostly female cast I was looking forward to it. I didn't have huge expectations going in since the original is a masterpiece but I thought Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway were funny and brought a modern take to the story. Being familiar with the original I was looking forward to the details. It was not as good as the original but still had some funny moments. It seemed to end abruptly but it was better than I expected it would be. I give it 6.7 stars.

Alita: Battle Angel- I was not sure if this is based on a video game or comic book so I was clueless about the story. Even though I did not know anything about this movie, I really liked the special effects. It was one of those half real and half CGI movies but it didn't have that creepy and unnatural feel you get watching Polar Express. I was tired while watching this and honestly can't remember how it ended but it had enough entertaining aspects for me to give it 7.1 stars.

Stuber- I do not usually watch rated R movies, but the airplane version of Stuber was heavily edited. It was obvious since they dubbed over most of the swear words. This is a movie about a hardened cop who takes a ride with an innocent Uber driver since he just had an eye procedure and can't see well for 24 hours. He ends up kidnapping him and making him drive for him all day as he fights bad guys. I didn't care too much for Dave Bautista's tough cop portrayal but I thought Kumail Nanjiani was very funny. This movie is not the Godfather but it made me laugh and that's all I look for in a comedy. I know it got bad reviews but I laughed enough to give it 7.2 stars

Movies I've Seen Over the Last 2 Months

I've seen 6 movies since my last post and since I'm too lazy to do a real review for any particular movie, I will give a brief summary and ranking of each of the movies I've seen. I was surprised that they all were all pretty close to each other in the rankings I gave them. I guess I got a better batch than usual. Here they are starting with the lowest to highest ratings.

Hobbs and Shaw- I am not going to call this movie by it's official long name of Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw. What is that some kind of legal requirement they had to list because they lost a lawsuit? Anyway, this movie was entertaining and I was grateful for the comedy aspect of the film since it is helped me relax and not get upset about so many unrealistic aspects of the movie (especially physics.) I love the Rock "Thank you China" but I only give it 6.6 stars.

Aladdin- You've probably noticed the trend of Disney remaking their animated movies into live action versions. I liked Aladdin more than I thought I would. Will Smith did a good job as the Genie and I appreciate that he brought his own style to the character as opposed to trying to imitate Robin Williams. I thought it was a good remake. I give it 7.0 stars.

Spider Man: Far From Home- I have really enjoyed Tom Holland as Spider Man and the latest installment was pretty good but I had a hard time with Jake Gyllenhaall's character. I think he's an amazing actor but it seemed like he didn't really belong in a comic book movie. Despite my nitpicking, it was still pretty good. 7.1 stars.

Lion King- I really liked the Lion King. I felt it was pretty much remade frame for frame for the most part. The main omission was Scar's "Be prepared" song featuring goose stepping hyenas. I wondered how they were going to do bridge that from the animation so it made sense to leave it out. I was blown away with all the attention to detail and how realistic they made the animals look. I give it 7.2 stars.

Yesterday- This was a fun romantic comedy that also bordered on Science fiction. It didn't feature any big name actors but it was well done and quite pleasant. I enjoyed all the Nostalgia around the Beatles songs and it was a clever and enjoyable movie. I give it 7.3 stars.

Downton Abbey- This is not my cup of tea but I took my wife since I know she likes the BBC vibe and since I am such an awesome husband. The movie held my attention better than I thought it would. There were several subplots woven together throughout the movie and they were all resolved nicely by the end of the film. I'm sure fans of the TV series will love it. I give it 7.4 ironic stars since it was the movie I was least looking forward to but was probably done the best.

Another Month of Movie Reviews

Since I've been back to the states I've seen several movies on planes and then a few since I've been home. I've ranked them worst to best. Here is a brief summary of each:

MIB: International- I thought this movie would be unremarkable and the reviews I saw were brutal so I was not expecting much at all, especially with an all new cast with this sequel. I have to admit I was surprised that it was not nearly as bad as so many said. It was still fun and entertaining although not as good as the prior movies. I give it 6.6 stars. 

Old Man and The Gun- This movie stars Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, and Casey Affleck. It is the true story of a prolific elderly bank robber who had a reputation for being polite and keeping a low profile. The movie was entertaining and although it was made recently, it has an old 70's feel to it. The acting is good but it was a little slow. I give it 6.8 stars.

Fighting With My Family- This is a based on a true story of a brother and sister from England who have the dream of being professional wrestlers. When they get the chance of a lifetime of trying out for the WWE, surprisingly, only the sister ends up making the cut. It features the family challenges they go through as a result as well as her struggles to make the cut to become a headline wrestler. It has some nice moments and some scenes with The Rock. I give it 7.0 stars.

Murder Mystery- Is a movie that was released directly to Netflix. It stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston as an American couple who go on a trip to Europe and are invited on the yacht of an ultra- rich family. Multiple murders take place and they end up trying to solve the case while proving their innocence. I enjoyed this comedy because it had many funny scenes which made me laugh and was much better than most of the recent Sandler movies. I give it 7.1 stars.

Lincoln- This has been out for years but I finally got around to watching it on Netflix. Daniel Day Lewis does a great portrayal of Lincoln. There is less emphasis on the actual war but rather an emphasis on all the behind the scenes politics and work that was done in order to end the war and free the slaves. It was nice to see that messy politics, scheming, and negotiating have been around for a long time. I give it 7.2 stars. It is by far the best movie on this list, but I can't say I enjoyed it the most.

Arctic- This is pretty much a one man movie starring Mads Mikkelsen. He is a plane crash survivor somewhere in the arctic and this film features his struggles as he tries to survive in a freezing environment while his scarce resources are running out. A rescue helicopter goes down while looking for him and he ends up caring for a badly injured search and rescue survivor as well as himself as he leaves his camp and travels into the unknown looking for help. I was hungry, cold, and exhausted after watching this. It is a tough and gritty survival film.  I give it 7.3 stars. 

Avengers: Endgame and my ranking of the MCU movies

Endgame has only been in theaters for less than two weeks but at the time I am writing this, it is the #8 top money maker in the US and will surely be the biggest money making movie of all time in a very short time. I know there was a ton of hype and anticipation for this movie and that is the perfect storm for being let down, but I felt they delivered and it was well done.

I appreciate how Endgame brought closure to the series of movies yet allows many of the remaining characters to continue with their own sequels in the future. I feel Marvel has done a great job of bringing so many superheroes to the big screen over the last 11 years and making many of the characters household names whereas only comic book nerds might know who some of the lesser known characters were in the past.

I'm sure Endgame is still receiving over-excited positive reviews so I expect it's rating to slowly go down in the future on IMDB but I really liked it. I still can't decide if I liked it more than Infinity War but they are pretty much neck in neck. I give End Game 8.5 stars for wrapping things up so nicely and coming full circle while still remaining open ended for many of the characters.

As part of my service to humanity, I have decided to rank all 22 of the Marvel cinematic universe movies in order of how much I liked them. I'm sure some people may disagree with me but that is perfectly fine since everyone has the right to make mistakes (meaning those who don't agree with me.) Over the last decade some of the reviews I did on these movies may contradict the ranking I am giving them now, but after seeing all 22 movies, I'm going with my gut and ranking them from best to worst, or at least by how much I was entertained by them.

1. Avengers: Endgame
2. Avengers: Infinity War
3. Captain America: Winter Soldier
4. Iron Man
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Thor Ragnarok
7. Captain America: Civil War
8. Black Panther
9. The Avengers
10. Doctor Strange
11. Ant Man
12. Spider Man: Homecoming
13. Iron Man 3
14. Avengers: Age of Ultron
15. Captain America: First Avenger
16. Ant Man and the Wasp
17. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
18. Iron Man 2
19. Thor
20. Captain Marvel
21. The Incredible Hulk
22. Thor: The Dark World