Today I will be reviewing a few different movies. I will be reviewing "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Justice League." I also managed to get into an advanced screening of Pixar's latest movie "Coco" so I will be reviewing that as well. Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03E6K3QHRMp7Vs0S6wHm6Q
Lets get started with "Murder on the Orient Express." Here is the trailer:
- The cast is absolutely fantastic. Everyone seems to really be getting into their characters and enjoying themselves. Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Leslie Odom Jr, and Daisy Ridley really stand out here.
- This movie is incredibly stylish. Everything from the costumes to the set design manage to really leap out of the screen and are a pleasure to look at.
- There are some great moments of comic relief.
- The third act is awesome and the payoff for everything that comes before it is very satisfying.
- Considering the subject matter of the plot, I felt that tonally it probably should have been a little bit darker.
- The movie's biggest issue is the pacing. The first half of it is pretty slow. Once you get through that, the payoff is worth it but you may find yourself drifting a bit at first.
"Murder on the Orient Express" is a flawed but fun movie. There is a lot to love between the style and the cast. If you don't mind a slow beginning, I would say this is worth watching.
It is time to move on to "Coco." Here is the trailer:
- As is usual with Pixar movies, the visual effects are spectacular. This one in particular is quite vibrant and amazing to look at.
- The voice actors/actresses are all great.
- The music is incredible. Not just the score but there are some really great original songs throughout the movie.
- There is some really great comedic relief throughout the movie.
- Pixar tends to do really emotional moments very well and this movie is no exception. There are a few really effective tugs right at the heartstrings.
- Finally, the last half of this movie is incredible and the payoff from the first half is super satisfying.
- The first half of the movie feels somewhat generic. That will change later and I can't go into detail without spoiling anything so I won't.
"Coco" is what happens when Pixar does what they do best. They make you laugh, they make you feel things and they manage to teach some good life lessons along the way. There is something for everybody with this movie and I absolutely recommend seeing it when it officially hits theaters on November 22nd.
Finally, it is time to talk about "Justice League." Here is the trailer:
- I have to give a lot of credit to both Gal Gadot and Ezra Miller for really doing the best that they could considering what they were given to work with. Both felt natural and charismatic throughout.
- Tonally, this movie is all over the place. It often goes back and forth between weird brooding to trying to fire off a bunch of jokes that don't work and it just ends up feeling really weird. It almost feels like watching two very different (but still terrible) movies throughout.
- While the editing is certainly less choppy than "Batman V Superman" and "Suicide Squad" it is still quite choppy.
- There are some really odd soundtrack choices that feel like they are there to simply try and be edgy.
- Ben Affleck as "Batman" is one of the (very few) things I praised about "Batman V Superman" and I stand by that. In this movie, however, Ben Affleck's performance feels really phoned in and I really get the sense that he doesn't actually want to be there.
- Visually, this movie is really ugly. The colors and backgrounds all just look kind of hideous.
- Speaking of visuals, the special effects and CGI look really cheap and fake.
- The villain of this movie may be the single worst villain in any superhero movie ever (and that is REALLY saying something)
- Finally, the biggest problem with this movie is the writing. There are plot holes and continuity issues all over the place and the way that the movie gets resolved feels really rushed with no thought put into it whatsoever. On top of that, there are so many pieces of dialogue where the main reaction from me was shock and awe that somebody wrote those words down and thought they sounded good.
After the release of "Wonder Woman" it seemed that the DC superhero movies may be going in the right direction. Unfortunately, "Justice League" brings us back to the quality levels of "Batman V Superman" and "Suicide Squad." This movie is sloppy in just about every way and has very little in the way of redeeming qualities. My recommendation is to skip this one and save yourself 2 hours that you will never get back..
Thanks for reading everyone! As usual, feel free to leave a comment but please be advised that if you read any potential comments that spoilers may be present.