Here is a quick recap with my brief thoughts about a few movies I have seen throughout the past month or so! During the summer and holiday season it is hard to keep up with all the movies, and while I don’t think this summer has had the best selection, I still have found a few that I surprisingly enjoyed.
The Shallows
The Shallows was honestly just a fun, silly summer movie that was better than it really needed to be. Ever since the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies, I’ve had a fondness for Blake Lively. She proved to be as solid lead for this film, which was especially important since she is alone for the majority of the story. The film is a fun play on the original summer blockbuster, Jaws. While this certainly won’t become a classic like that film, nothing brings more summer intensity than being in the ocean with a giant shark. This film was chilling at times, and although the ending was a bit over-the-top unrealistic, I really enjoyed seeing how Blake Lively’s character navigated her way through the various obstacles she faced as the shark very patiently waited for its next meal. While I don’t really feel like I will ever need to see this again, I really enjoyed it for what it was and found it an intense escape for an afternoon.
Now You See Me 2
In the summer of 2013, I really enjoyed Now You See Me and would have said it was one of my favorite movie surprises that came out that year. I haven’t seen that movie since, but still felt interested in the sequel and hoped it would be just as fun as the first. I must say it was a big disappointment though, because it seemed more difficult to follow, unfocused, and unfortunately a bit dull. While the first film certainly had moments that required a big stretch of the imagination, this film just didn’t enchant me in any way, even with all the “magic” they used. The cast is great, with Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and this time around Lizzy Caplan (who acts as the lone female Horseman, replacing Isla Fisher’s role from the first film) and Daniel Radcliffe. I was especially excited to see Daniel Radcliffe in a more villainous role, but his part was pretty small and he honestly didn’t get to do too much in the limited time he had on screen. There are definitely some cool moments in the film, and a few goofy moments (particularly from Woody Harrelson), but the film just had such little payoff in the end, that I don’t feel interested to see these characters ever again.
The Secret Life of Pets
While I found the animation really beautiful, and the previews so promising, I was so disappointed in this film. None of the characters were very memorable, the storyline was predictable, and all the best parts were truly shown in the trailers. The voice cast boasts Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Dana Carvey, Jenny Slate, Albert Brooks, Bobby Moynihan, and Lake Bell, among others, who play various pets who live in an New York City apartment building. Kevin Hart seems to have the biggest part though, as a rabbit who leads a gang of animals who were forgotten and left behind. He was featured far too much, and I never felt like there was a true heart of the film. It would have been much more fun to actually stay in the apartment building, and see more of the pets’ daily lives. The new trend in animation seems to be talking animals (with Zootopia earlier this year, this, and Sing coming out in December) and I just felt like they had such a great concept, but failed to really bring it together in a unique way. I think that if the team behind Zootopia had been given this concept, they would have done a much better job bringing some soul to the story.
Ghostbusters
I’m not a die-hard Ghostbusters fan, but I found this film to be a lot of fun, particularly because of the four women leads, which include Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Director Paul Feig has proven with his previous films (which include Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy) that he knows how to get women to shine and show off just how funny they are, and he does it again here. The film is a re-boot, not a sequel, but Ghostbusters alumni make brief appearances throughout the film as the women join together and start their business. Chris Hemsworth also has a surprisingly large role as a secretary the women hire, who seemed quite comfortable showing off an especially goofy side. The story isn’t really unique or unexpected, and I don’t know if it will warrant a sequel, but it was enjoyable and entertaining summer flick.
The Legend of Tarzan
My mom was a big Tarzan fan as a kid, while I was a very fond of Disney’s animated telling of Tarzan. Directed by David Yates (who did the final four installments of the Harry Potter series, as well as the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) does a good job giving us this updated and unique telling of Tarzan. The movie started out a bit slow, and is told with plenty of flashbacks (something I wasn’t expecting), but once it kicked off, it was an exciting telling of the classic tale. Alexander Skarsgard and Margo Robbie play the famed couple Tarzan and Jane, who both suitably fulfill their roles. Christoph Waltz (who portrays a villain, again) and Samuel L. Jackson round out the actors and bring some additional spark to the story. The dark, jungle colors and style of the film fits the mood well. I really loved the moments with any of the animals, particularly a scene with lions and a scene with elephants. I wished we would have seen a bit more of Tarzan with the apes and living among them, but overall enjoyed the film for what it was.
Star Trek: Beyond
I have enjoyed the previous two Star Trek movies in this rebooted film series, and this was no different. I don’t fancy myself a big Star Trek fan, nor do I have any level of expertise on the matter, but I have found these films to be fun. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return as Captain Kirk and Spock, as well as returning castmates Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Simon Pegg (who co-wrote the film), and (the late) Anton Yelchin. While Benedict Cumberbatch played Kahn in the previous film (which was overall met with much criticism), the villain this time around is portrayed by Idris Elba. I did feel like he was a bit underdeveloped and I never quite understood what he was aiming to do and why, but the character’s physical transformation was an interesting part to the film. I did struggle with some of the action scenes, because the camera seemed to close and unfocused, where I found my eyes to be quite sore after some moments. The characters together are engaging, and often times humorous, which makes the overall journey though space quite amusing. I don’t know if this series will continue on, but I think overall the studio has made a successful trilogy.
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