Tag: movie review

The ‘Jurassic World’ Franchise Needs to End

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★★☆☆☆

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Review

We once again find ourselves in the world of Jurassic Park, or rather, Jurassic World. We have all likely lost track of how many Jurassic Park and World movies there have been at this point. And to be honest, I have absolutely no idea where in the Jurassic franchise timeline this movie took place before I entered the theater.

I went in with neutral expectations. I was there to see some dinosaurs, some action, and let’s be honest, to see Johnathan Bailey in those little wire-rimmed glasses. Although, I was not shocked that I left the theater feeling disappointed.

To put it simply, the movie was lackluster. The plot was almost entirely predictable, we’ve already seen this movie before. I hoping this newest installment would bring some more zest, but it felt flat. The side characters were so bland, the movie threw them to the wayside at the earliest possible moment.

Johnathan Bailey did bring an excellent performance as a Dinosaur paleontologist, entirely charming with his own little quirks. I loved what he brought to the character, he felt real, dynamic, interesting. Something almost every other character in this film lacked. There was also an interesting side plot featuring a family that fell upon some bad luck and got dragged into the Jurassic drama.

Scarlet Johansson was there, and that’s about all that she brought to her character and the film as a whole.

Let’s just be grateful they didn’t try to force a romance between our two main characters, because the was absolutely no chemistry there. They did, however, force us into a poignant ending featuring a piano-cover of the Jurassic theme that felt entirely misplaced.

In the end, it was simply a regurgitation trying to emanate the excitement and grandeur of every other movie in the franchise, yet lacking the originality to make it truly charming and interesting.

Lilo & Stitch (2025) Movie Review

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Comparing the original Lilo & Stitch (2002) to the 2025 live-action remake.

First, a few thoughts on live-action remakes of classics:

  • Animation and live-action are two different art forms and should be treated as such. Some things can be achieved in animation that don’t translate into live-action and vice-versa.
  • A different art form necessitates changes.
  • Any remakes shouldn’t be carbon copies of the original but bring something new, the director’s own take while keeping the integrity and heart of the story alive.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

★★★★

  • Growing up on Maui and being a local makes this movie incredibly important to me. It’s more than a part of my childhood. It’s a rare glimpse at local life on the islands. We have very few movies/tv that accurate represents the islands, without being about tourists vacationing.
  • There aren’t many big films that showcase Hawaiian Pidgin, it’s so comforting to hear the local dialect. “Kapu” meaning sacred, forbidden, or taboo written on a note against Lilo’s door.
  • This is one of Disney’s unique and original films, showcasing what they can achieve when they aren’t reusing the same old storyline but creating something wholly new.
  • Children from the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus sung for the Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride song.
  • Stitch driving all over Kauai and hitting water on every side of the island is the most relatable island experience.
  • Overall: It’s a fun and heartfelt film.

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

★★★

  • Pleakley looks like he’s gunk that came out of my nose. You can make live action without making them look hyper realistic and ugly…
  • UH Manoa has the best marine biology program, not San Diego…
  • I appreciate the inclusion of kama’aina in this and the conscious efforts to make this film a reflection of the islands.
  • They built off the original plot to tell a more dynamic story, but now it feels disjointed. The story no longer fits with the alien/Stitch parts. If they had not felt so tied to the original story, and they just told a story about two sisters who were learning how to continue after losing their parents, I think it would work better. There are some things that just doesn’t translate well from animation to live action, and a cuddly alien with groovy Elvis moves seems to be it. We can love stitch in animation.
  • Pleakley and Jumba attempt to bring some comedic relief, but only while in faux human form. Pleakley is no longer our dress-wearing gay icon. And Jumba has now become a villain.
  • The actors all did a great job, especially Maia Kealoha as Lily, Sydney Agudong as Nana, Amy Hill as their tutu, and Kaipo Dudoit as David. They all had a great dynamic on screen, loved the use of Pidgin in this like in the original animated feature. I wish there was more Pidgin throughout, but I’ll take what they give me.

‘Oppenheimer’ Review: An Explosive Experience

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★★★★★

This movie was absolutely phenomenal. Not many films can keep up the pacing and keep an audience entranced for 3 hours but Christopher Nolan did just that. The interwoven timelines seamlessly brought the story from Oppenheimer’s time as a student through to receiving the Enrico Fermi award. So many fascinating tidbits about Oppenheimer’s time as a student made it into the film, and there were nods to many well-known moments in his life.

I don’t think this film could have been anything less than 3 hours, Nolan brought in elements that made the story more enticing while grappling with the scientific genius and the immoral destroyer of a man. It was a tough line to toe but Cillian Murphy was up to the task and played the role brilliantly. The cast was star studded but not without reason, every face played their time with the camera even with some major actors have little to no lines or screen time.

The soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson is what truly made the movie shine, this film could not have been the directorial masterpiece that it is without that musical genius. The times when Nolan made the directorial choice for silence vs explosion were well-thought out and so appreciated. It’s all in the details.

However, Nolan missed the mark in two areas. The Hispanic community in New Mexico, specifically in and around Los Alamos, was not mentioned. When in truth families and the entire community was ran out of town when the military and Oppenheimer’s scientists came in to build the laboratory in the “desolate desert of New Mexico.” There were people whose lives were uprooted and who suffered from the nuclear weapons tests, and they should have been acknowledged in the film. 

Also, the film, while honing in on the scientific mastery of Oppenheimer and the following investigation into his background, shows Oppenheimer grappling with the idea of blood on his hands but doesn’t show the audience. There are moments when the audience feels the horrors and understands the horrifying reality that has just occurred. But that’s assuming the audience has known, background, and understanding of nuclear weapons. Which, as an international affairs scholar, I cannot assume every other viewer has the same background as I do. The film shows an artistic rendering of these horrors, makes mentions of radiation and body counts, but fails to show the audience a glimpse at the true horrors that atomic bombs leave behind. There is a worried that such an epic film showing the ashonishing feat of science won’t leave the viewer with the necessary feeling of deterance, especially in the current nuclear age. We are now closest to midnight on the doomsday clock (courtesy of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, depicting how close we are to total nuclear annihilation) than ever before, 90 seconds to midnight. Midnight being nuclear annihilation.

Overall, the film astounded me and I am thrilled so many folks are out to see it this weekend and this month. This type of film wouldn’t typically bring a large crowd as it’s more niche, but the fortuitous release alongside Barbie has brought many more folks to the cinema. 

Humanity’s Downfall: A ‘Don’t Look Up’ Review

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★ ★ ★ ★

Don’t Look Up is an apocalypse comedy, set in the modern era that puts the viewer face-to-face with some of today’s toughest realities. I began watching this film the week it came out, a depressing evening in December 2021. However, after about an hour of the film, I had a feeling I knew its end and during the midst of my own personal anxieties, that wasn’t an ending I felt emotionally available to watch.

Flash forward to June of 2023, the day after I finished my last assignment for my Masters program I decided I was ready to finish watching it. It was emotional, it was honest, it stared the viewer in the face.

I enjoyed the playful mix of characters, some caricatures of reality, and how they each brought a different element to the screen. They each decided to face this new reality in a different way, through a different coping mechanism (sexual advances, screaming at the world, peace with one’s maker, denial, overcompensation, etc). The ties to our current reality are obvious, at times on the nose. Many viewers commented on the “Look Up” vs. “Don’t Look Up” war as a metaphor for vaccines and anti-vaxers, in a post-COVID era. I felt the most on the nose comparison was climate change, the approaching comet being of course the changing climate and escalation of climate disasters.

I really didn’t understand Ariana Grande’s cameo in the story. It felt out of context and while it was parody on life itself and stardom, it didn’t feel like it fit so much as the rest of the story. But then again, I’ve never been much of a fan of hers, so that could be my own bias clouding my judgement.

Overall, the film wasn’t exactly thought provoking as it was enticingly depressing and evocative.

Knives Out 2: Glass Onion, Falls Flat on Arrival

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★ ★ ★

I hate to say it, but I was bored. There was so much build up of the storyline that it left hardly any time for the actual mystery to unfold. Most of the reveals didn’t feel exciting or surprising, some characters were just too over-the-top and a bit much.
I wanted to love this movie and I’ll definitely be seeing any future Knives Out movies but this one just fell flat.

There wasn’t much mystery to the murder, just complicated storylines that too far too much runtime. Such a disappointment after the success and masterpiece of the first Knives Out. Hopefully audiences won’t be so far deterred from this limp film that they will end the series. Benoit Blanc makes a fascinating character and this murder mystery format lends itself well to developing further mysteries, but perhaps with a little more thought to the script next time.

Although, I did love Benoit Blanc’s bathing costume.

We Can’t Fault a Viking Film for What it is: “The Northman” Review

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★ ★ ★

Honestly, it was a Viking film. It portrayed rather accurate depiction of a time when it Vikings ruled the Nordic region, therefore however grotesque the violence was, I would say it is accurate to the time.

Of course I will watch anything with Anya Taylor-Joy, and any of the Skarsgård family. This was definitely an all star cast with a lot of fun surprise appearances and there was strong characterization throughout. 
I do believe that about 30 minutes of the movie could have been cut and it definitely could’ve benefited from a little bit faster pace.

Overall, I would say I was entertained, even though I did end up checking my watch a few times to see how much longer I would have to endure.

The Downfall of “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness” (no spoilers)

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★ ★ ★

This movie clearly had good bones and a fascinating plot. However the poor choice in its direction — by notable horror film director Sam Raimi — is what derailed this film for so many viewers and Marvel fans. What would have been a strong and fascinating look into the multiverse felt both too much while also being lackluster. The moments that intertwined the multiverse alternatives of characters we may know and love felt unimportant with the disregard of those characters within the storyline.

Also the blatant villainization of Wanda as a mother felt callous and unnecessarily evil. While I think showcasing her motherly instincts would’ve been a strong move on the part of the plot, where it fell through is in the direction of the movie. By having a horror movie director there were grotesque horrific scenes that did not lend themselves to the Marvel cinematic universe, there were moments that felt disjointed with the rest of the universe.

Some of these elements could have been interesting and possibly even well done if the director had more knowledge of the fan base and knew what people were looking for in a movie. This movie left a lot of questions for the audience, which could be interesting to explore in a follow up movie or within one of the other upcoming Marvel movies. But a lot of the final choices were entirely unnecessary and were clearly seeking shock factor and to service the fans, in all the wrong ways.

Bo Burnham’s “Inside” Comedy Special

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I’m not a typical viewer of Bo Burnham, nor do I partake in Comedy Specials. But one late afternoon, while scrolling on Netflix — this is by no means a unique experience — I came across the new “Inside” Comedy Special by Bo Burnham and without my consent it start to play the trailer. I decided to indulge and watch the trailer. And damn, if that wasn’t the most well-crafted trailer for visual media I have seen in a long while. I sat back for the evening, cheese puffs, seaweed snacks, and See’s chocolates at the ready and decided to watch the full special.

As I mentioned, I’m not a typical viewer of Comedy Specials, so I was a little surprised how entertained I was the whole way through. A few days later I went back to previous Comedy Specials of Bo’s and found that I enjoyed his most recent work the best. I know many people have joked that the forced isolation of quarantine brought forth a type of creative energy, or maybe the lack of socialization made us all reach a special kind of madness where creativity flourishes.

I now regularly hum my favorite songs from the special under my breath at work. I listen to them every day.

What made this special so… “special”? Talent, time, and a pinch of, perhaps, madness. Of course anything based off the past year and a half (2020-2021) will be relatable for a majority of the population. At least when we’re assuming the viewership are from a certain sample size.

But look I made you some content

Daddy made you your favorite, open wide

Here comes the content

It’s a beautiful day to stay inside

— Bo Burnham

My personal favorites are “Bezos I” and “Bezos II,” “FaceTime with my Mom (Tonight),” and “Problematic.” But, before you listen on Spotify, I do recommend experiencing their performance in the special first. It adds a whole extra layer to the songs, experiencing in their full chaos and art.

Perhaps the most striking was the mixture of media, while there were aesthetic film shots throughout, incorporating a vivid array of colorful lights and projections, there were also moments behind the creative process, showing mistakes and moments of silence. Whether those “behind-the-scene” moments were carefully crafted to elicit a specific response, or if they were natural goofs during the filming process, is unclear. However, for me it doesn’t matter, it’s the idea of perfection and chaos that makes the special stand-out.

To those who have yet to view the Comedy Special, I’d say I highly recommend it. Even if just to watch the opening 3 minutes, which are what drew me in. Even if comedy, stand-out, or Bo Burnham aren’t your usual “cup of tea,” this one feels a bit different and I think it’s a worth — in the least — those 3 minutes of your time.