October 2018 Movie Reviews
A Star is Born
Venom
Once again, Sony attempts to launch another Spider-Man based franchise by having a movie centering around Eddie Brock and how he became Venom without Peter Parker involved. For most people, this movie could go either two ways: fail or EPIC fail. And for critics, it's the latter, but for general audiences...it's a different story. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) makes a living as a reporter. He even has his own web series. Okay, I'll bite. He investigates some inhumane experimentation involving alien symbiotes from a meteor. Eddie gets one of the symbiotes absorbed in him and his life gets turned upside down. He starts hearing a voice in his head and gets these super abilities which have its ups and downs. He can defend himself from any threat but the symbiote makes him such a savage beast that he isn't so keen about this change.
As skeptical as people have been initially, a good number of them thought it wasn't as bad as critics say. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't get any entertainment value out of it. I enjoy this movie but for all the wrong reasons. I'll give a legit pro: I thought Tom Hardy was good. Even though he becomes one of Spidey's biggest enemies, Hardy does well, playing someone we care about. The best part of the whole movie is his relationship with Venom which is quite something, though it goes back and forth. At first, Venom wants to control Eddie against his will, but then later he decides he wants to help him in an odd twist. The reason? Get this: he says he's kind of a loser where he comes from. This was another shortcoming from Sony in attempting to creating the Venom that people know and love from the comics, though it's a step up from Topher Grace. So yes, the movie was inconsistent with its tone and narrative, but I can't really fault it in favor of Tom Hardy's performance and some amusing scenes with him and Venom. The action highlight was a cool chase with Eddie on his motorcycle and V protecting him and keeping him in his seat. The downside in the other action scenes was there was some shaky cam and in one scene, the action is obscured by too much smoke. On another note, the antagonist is another dud, being this nonchalant madman. He belongs in the league of third-rate Marvel/DC villains.
Overall, even with all the idiosyncrasies, Venom was a guilty pleasure for me and for certainly a lot of people. But I'm curious if these people who loved it are the same ones who thought Black Panther was overrated. Still, I was entertained by Venom. It had a slow start but once it got going, it peaked my interest. This won't be remembered as the definitive Venom movie, but I think it'll be remembered as an unusual oddity that shouldn't work but worked for some in its own weird way.
RATING: MODEST APPROVAL (B+)
First Man
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Following his success with La La Land and becoming the youngest person to win the Best Director Oscar, Damien Chazelle's next movie focuses on the life of Neil Armstrong and everything that led to him becoming the first man on the moon. As this is a well known historical event, it takes a personal look at Armstrong's life and all the risks involved with this mission. Ryan Gosling plays Armstrong as a very humble and stoic man, as it sounded like he was like that in real life. I felt it was a good fit since Gosling has those qualities. There's also Claire Foy as his wife and she does a great job, having an agency of her own. The part where she confronts Neil about his hesitation to the mission and not wanting to talk to his sons I feel will be the scene that would be shown if Foy gets an Oscar nod. There was another effective scene between Foy and Gosling where they meet and don't say anything to each other, yet you can see and feel the tenderness between them.
The space scenes were so intense and so well done. I should tell you, readers, that there's a lot of shaky cam involved, so just a warning if you can't take that. I thought I couldn't take all the shaking but I adapted to it and often times it does slow down to show some beautiful visuals with composer Justin Hurwitz providing music to show the dangers and beauty of space travel respectively. And when we get to the Apollo 11 part, it got me exhilarated from the start, and the transition when it went into IMAX was amazing. All of you should know how it all goes but I won't go into detail about the whole moon sequence but it's beautifully done. But there's just one thing about the scene I like to say. You know how a lot of people are mad at this movie because they think it leaves out the part where they plant the American flag on the moon? Well, having seen the movie, I can say for the record that the flag is truly there. Granted, we don't get to see it being planted, but it's there. The whole point of this sequence is it's seen through Armstrong's eyes and how he sees this mission as "one giant leap for mankind." I felt this was a good and different pace for Chazelle. My only issue was it was a little too long. But other than that, I loved the whole approach to showing Armstrong's life and a different take on the Space Race.
RATING: VERY STRONG APPROVAL (A)
Venom
Once again, Sony attempts to launch another Spider-Man based franchise by having a movie centering around Eddie Brock and how he became Venom without Peter Parker involved. For most people, this movie could go either two ways: fail or EPIC fail. And for critics, it's the latter, but for general audiences...it's a different story. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) makes a living as a reporter. He even has his own web series. Okay, I'll bite. He investigates some inhumane experimentation involving alien symbiotes from a meteor. Eddie gets one of the symbiotes absorbed in him and his life gets turned upside down. He starts hearing a voice in his head and gets these super abilities which have its ups and downs. He can defend himself from any threat but the symbiote makes him such a savage beast that he isn't so keen about this change.
As skeptical as people have been initially, a good number of them thought it wasn't as bad as critics say. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't get any entertainment value out of it. I enjoy this movie but for all the wrong reasons. I'll give a legit pro: I thought Tom Hardy was good. Even though he becomes one of Spidey's biggest enemies, Hardy does well, playing someone we care about. The best part of the whole movie is his relationship with Venom which is quite something, though it goes back and forth. At first, Venom wants to control Eddie against his will, but then later he decides he wants to help him in an odd twist. The reason? Get this: he says he's kind of a loser where he comes from. This was another shortcoming from Sony in attempting to creating the Venom that people know and love from the comics, though it's a step up from Topher Grace. So yes, the movie was inconsistent with its tone and narrative, but I can't really fault it in favor of Tom Hardy's performance and some amusing scenes with him and Venom. The action highlight was a cool chase with Eddie on his motorcycle and V protecting him and keeping him in his seat. The downside in the other action scenes was there was some shaky cam and in one scene, the action is obscured by too much smoke. On another note, the antagonist is another dud, being this nonchalant madman. He belongs in the league of third-rate Marvel/DC villains.
Overall, even with all the idiosyncrasies, Venom was a guilty pleasure for me and for certainly a lot of people. But I'm curious if these people who loved it are the same ones who thought Black Panther was overrated. Still, I was entertained by Venom. It had a slow start but once it got going, it peaked my interest. This won't be remembered as the definitive Venom movie, but I think it'll be remembered as an unusual oddity that shouldn't work but worked for some in its own weird way.
RATING: MODEST APPROVAL (B+)
First Man
Following his success with La La Land and becoming the youngest person to win the Best Director Oscar, Damien Chazelle's next movie focuses on the life of Neil Armstrong and everything that led to him becoming the first man on the moon. As this is a well known historical event, it takes a personal look at Armstrong's life and all the risks involved with this mission. Ryan Gosling plays Armstrong as a very humble and stoic man, as it sounded like he was like that in real life. I felt it was a good fit since Gosling has those qualities. There's also Claire Foy as his wife and she does a great job, having an agency of her own. The part where she confronts Neil about his hesitation to the mission and not wanting to talk to his sons I feel will be the scene that would be shown if Foy gets an Oscar nod. There was another effective scene between Foy and Gosling where they meet and don't say anything to each other, yet you can see and feel the tenderness between them.
The space scenes were so intense and so well done. I should tell you, readers, that there's a lot of shaky cam involved, so just a warning if you can't take that. I thought I couldn't take all the shaking but I adapted to it and often times it does slow down to show some beautiful visuals with composer Justin Hurwitz providing music to show the dangers and beauty of space travel respectively. And when we get to the Apollo 11 part, it got me exhilarated from the start, and the transition when it went into IMAX was amazing. All of you should know how it all goes but I won't go into detail about the whole moon sequence but it's beautifully done. But there's just one thing about the scene I like to say. You know how a lot of people are mad at this movie because they think it leaves out the part where they plant the American flag on the moon? Well, having seen the movie, I can say for the record that the flag is truly there. Granted, we don't get to see it being planted, but it's there. The whole point of this sequence is it's seen through Armstrong's eyes and how he sees this mission as "one giant leap for mankind." I felt this was a good and different pace for Chazelle. My only issue was it was a little too long. But other than that, I loved the whole approach to showing Armstrong's life and a different take on the Space Race.
RATING: VERY STRONG APPROVAL (A)
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