Tag: Science Fiction

REVIEW: ‘Strange World’ is Disney’s weakest effort in recent memory

I’m not going to lie. When this film reached the halfway point and a character said he saw something cute that could be a merchandising opportunity, I considered walking out.

“Strange World” centers on a community surrounded by seemingly impassable mountains. That doesn’t deter fearless explorer Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), though, who gets lost in the mountains trying to find a way out. His son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) never shared his father’s quest for exploration, and instead became a farmer of a valuable natural resource.

However, when that resource becomes threatened, he joins an expedition underneath the mountains to a strange subterranean area with his own son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). As it turns out, it’s where Jaeger has been the whole time.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Strange World’ is Disney’s weakest effort in recent memory”

Advertisement

REVIEW: Yearning for more from ‘Lightyear’

“Lightyear” may feature rocket ships that can reach incredible heights, but the movie itself can’t manage to get a high rating.

As the film points out at the very start, “Lightyear” is a movie released in the “Toy Story” universe that Andy watched before getting his Buzz Lightyear action figure. The film tells the story of how Lightyear is a space ranger who was part of a mission that went wrong.

The botched mission caused him and several others aboard a massive ship to become stranded on an alien world. To leave the planet, Buzz (Chris Evans) begins testing hyperspace fuel cells in single-man ships to try and find a way to leave the planet, but doing so causes him to go years into the future.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Yearning for more from ‘Lightyear’”

Ranking the ‘Jurassic’ Movies

The latest entry in the “Jurassic” series is out, meaning another trilogy in the franchise is complete.

All of the films have been commercially successful, raking in cash at theaters. However, when it comes to quality, it varies.

Having watched the sixth installment, it’s a good time to rank all six films, from worst to best.

Continue reading “Ranking the ‘Jurassic’ Movies”

REVIEW: Third ‘Jurassic World’ is mostly a waste of time

Mr. Trevorrow, after careful consideration I’ve decided not to endorse your trilogy.

Colin Trevorrow is back in the directing chair for “Dominion,” after writing the second “Jurassic World” film and helming the first. This movie picks up several months after the conclusion of “Fallen Kingdom,” with dinosaurs now living among humanity, for better and for worse.

Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), who worked at the Jurassic World theme park are now looking after Maisie (Isabella Sermon), who was orphaned in the previous installment. Drs. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) meanwhile, reunite to investigate a large locust species that are destroying crops, which are linked to the company Biosyn, which has its own dinosaur research.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Third ‘Jurassic World’ is mostly a waste of time”

REVIEW: ‘Crimes of the Future’ is a fascinating sci-fi creation

In the “Crimes of the Future” world, there are two separate, yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime, and an organ registry office to track human evolution.

These are their stories.

In the future portrayed in this film, humanity has evolved to the point where people no longer experience pain and are immune to infectious diseases. Evolution hasn’t stopped there, though, with some humans having bodies that create additional organs with no function, and others having a digestive system that can dissolve plastic.

Both evolutionary traits have gotten the attention of government agencies. Thanks to a man named Saul (Viggo Mortenson), the former trait has also gotten attention in cultural circles. He has made the removal of these organs into a show, as he allows an audience to watch these surgeries, which are conducted by an artist named Caprice (Lea Seydoux).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Crimes of the Future’ is a fascinating sci-fi creation”

REVIEW: Alex Garland’s “Men” is ambitious but frustrating

I have a feeling this film will have some guys shouting “not all men!”

This film from director Alex Garland from the company A24 stars Jessie Buckley as Harper, a woman who’s gone to stay at a cottage in the country after a personal tragedy. The rental is in a nice enough small town and all seems well, but issues with her past continue to trouble her.

It’s made only worse as she has to deal with some rather bothersome figures in town, from a prying priest to a creepy schoolboy. These men only make her mental state worse.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Alex Garland’s “Men” is ambitious but frustrating”

REVIEW: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is excellent

After this movie, you’ll never look at googly eyes the same way again.

This film stars Michelle Yeoh as a woman, Evelyn, who owns and operates a laundromat with her husband, Waymond (Jonathan Ke Quan). Their marriage has become strained, though, and she doesn’t have the best relationship with her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu), either. On top of her family matters, Evelyn also has to deal with an audit into the laundromat by the IRS.

At a meeting with an IRS employee, Evelyn is contacted by different version of her husband from another universe who informs her that she may be the only being in the multi-verse who can prevent a calamity. To do so, Evelyn will have to tap into abilities from other versions of herself from alternate universes.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is excellent”

REVIEW: Despite making a mockery of science, ‘Moonfall’ entertains

There’s a cat in this movie named “Fuzz Aldrin.” I’m not saying that alone made the movie good, but it didn’t hurt.

Patrick Wilson plays Brian Harper in “Moonfall.” Once a decorated astronaut, the film picks up with Harper falling from grace as he appears to be responsible for a disaster in space. Harper attributes the calamity to a mysterious swarm of particles, but the heads of NASA don’t believe his story. That begins to change, though, when the Earth’s Moon moves off its course and on a crash trajectory with the planet, seemingly caused by the same swarm.

A man who predicted this would develop is KC Houseman (John Bradley), an unofficial scientist who’s been theorizing about the Moon for quite some time. Houseman and Harper eventually get into contact and decide that they need to take action, and they move forward in doing so with the help of Harper’s old colleague Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), who’s now a higher-up at NASA.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Despite making a mockery of science, ‘Moonfall’ entertains”

REVIEW: Meta-filled ‘Matrix’ sequel stumbles despite good ideas

Birth, life and death was the course of the original “Matrix” trilogy, so a “Resurrection” nearly 20 years later is a logical step.

Familiar faces return in the latest “Matrix” feature, including the series hero Neo (Keanu Reeves), although now he appears to be living a normal life as Thomas Anderson in a regular office job. The audience soon learns, through a few new characters, that Neo is actually back in a version of the Matrix.

It turns out some events happened in the real world since the end of the third film, “Matrix Revolutions,” which resulted in the Matrix system continuing on in a new capacity. The film follows how the new characters interact with Neo and begin showing him his past, which results in him wanting a different future.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Meta-filled ‘Matrix’ sequel stumbles despite good ideas”

REVIEW: Quality is clear in ‘Titane’ but enjoyment can be modest

“Titane” is the French term for “titanium,” one of the strongest metals on Earth.

With that in consideration, the title “Titane” makes sense, as metal and strength are often tied to masculinity, which plays a major role in this feature.

The main character of the movie is Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a young woman who works as an exotic dancer at a car show. Alexia seems mostly closed off, and has been so since she was a young girl, when a serious car accident resulted in her needing metal plates inserted.

As the first act reveals, though, Alexia has a dark hobby outside of her main dancing, job. This aspect of her life, as well as a sexual encounter she has one night after work, forces her to make a major change in her life, to the point where she has to assume a different identity. However, this action only leads to more complications.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Quality is clear in ‘Titane’ but enjoyment can be modest”