Skyscraper, movie review

This is pretty much a movie like most that the Dwayne Johnson is in these days. Action movie focused around family. The trailer pretty much shows you what you are getting. Dwayne Johnson‘s character is hired to give a security check on a super tall Skyscraper that is both mall, zoo, and apartments. Various betrayals occur, that the writers must have known were predictable because they didn’t keep them secret for very long. It all leads to the Skyscraper being on fire and Johnson’s character, apparently the only person capable of saving the day, using duct tape as his primary tool.

The movie gets a happy ending, go figure, all players or rather “good guys” get a role of empowerment, even the kids, showing that anyone can be a hero and there’s the usual, tons of action and special effects.

Its an okay movie to see, but there’s nothing special about it. If you watch the trailer and think it looks good, then go see it. But don’t expect more than what you see in the trailer.

The First Purge , movie review

The Purge movies have always been so-so. With the first very focused on one family and the rest spreading out to show the bigger picture. This movie went full scale and shows the origins of the purge. Oddly, its taken a very political angle now, focused on a group of upper class white folks opting to use the purge to kill off as many impoverished folks as possible, to ease the amount of government money they cost, or something like that.

So we see that in general people don’t want to murder each other, but then actual assassins are sent in to kill the poor. Its then left up to the gangs in the community to take on the assassins. Sadly, it turns into an unfair game, and the entire gang is slaughtered, so its a bit of a wash. It was a cool moment though, when the gang tried to stand up for their town, because if there’s one thing gangs are known for, its being protective of their turf and neighborhoods. I would have enjoyed going down this line of thinking a bit more, maybe even having rival gangs join together to protect innocent civilians, but no… the movie opted to keep up with the unfair horror slaughter rather than an attempt to have meaning.

Overall, it was just okay. Lots of horror, but more creepy and weird than anything.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, movie review

The Hotel Transylvania movies get credit for making each movie unique, it isn’t just a rehash of the same plot. That being said, this plot did edge a bit on the predictable side, but as a third installment, that’s almost expected and I personally don’t judge third installments as harshly as I do the previous in the series.

There are some great one liners and some originality, for sure. Parents and children should be entertained, and overall if you enjoyed the first two movies, I’d suggest seeing the new one.

Incredibles 2, movie review

So after a fourteen year wait, which the makers of this movie felt we needed to be reminded off (there’s a blurb before the movie starts) we have a sequel to the Incredibals movie. We are told, directly by the actors, that it was worth the wait.

I beg to differ. Some movies and stories are best left as stand alone films, despite their popularity.

The movie basically has two plots. The mom going back to work and the dad trying to contend with the kids. The positive thing I will say is that the dad story line is highly entertaining and something many will relate to as parents. They were able to do some very original story lines with the multi-skilled baby. The mom’s story tho… very predictable. And sadly, hers contains the main plot, the new villain and need for the superheroes to emerge from the shadows.

If you have kids, sure, take them, they’ll love it just because it has their favorite characters again. As an adult with no kids, I felt I wasted my time.