Mission Impossible: Fallout

Plot:

When a mission goes wrong, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team are in a race against time to save the world. 

Pros:

•Each member of the team is given their moment to shine. It’s not just all about Tom Cruise which I thought was nice. 

•Amazing fight and action scenes that are fun and keep you on the edge of your seat. 

•Normally with these types of movies you tend not too worry too much because you realize at the end of the day, all the main characters will be fine. Here there were several moments where I found myself thinking, “How the hell are they ever going to get out of this?!?!”  

•I love how they used a lot of practical effects. Makes it more believable. As great as CGI can be, I’ll take practical effects any day. 

•This definitely should be seen on the big screen. I wish I had been able to watch this in IMAX but unfortunately the showtimes didn’t work out. Still it looks great on a regular screen. 

•Memorable score by Lorne Balfe. 

Cons:

•I don’t have too many and certainly nothing that should stop you from seeing the movie. There’s a twist though that I thought was a little too predictable. 

•As good of a job as Christopher McQuarrie did at directing, I see that he went to the JJ Abrams school of lense flares. Not that it was done throughout the whole film but just enough to be annoying. 

My Rating: 8/10

The Equalizer 2

Plot:

Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is back and once again kicking ass and serving justice. 

Pros:

•Denzel Washington is once again a bad ass. What more can you want? He’s one of my all time favorite actors. When will people learn... you don’t fuck with him! 

•Great direction by Antoine Fuqua. 

•Well choreographed and brutal fight scenes. Definitely not for the squeamish. 

•My favorite part of the movie wasn’t the main story but when Denzel was a Lyft driver helping people he met along the way. Or when he was helping his neighbors. I could watch an entire movie just about that. 

•If you liked the first movie I’m sure you’ll like this too. 

Cons:

•The twist is so predictable. You can see it coming from a mile away. 

•Falls apart a bit in the last act. Gets down right dumb at times even. 

•Like the first movie, drags a bit towards the end. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

The First Purge

This won’t be one of my usual reviews. I thought about it at first but having seen all the other movies I kind of feel like I would be repeating myself. So I just have a few quick thoughts. 

Look, this is a Purge movie. It’s an interesting concept. It’s also dumb as fuck. That being said, I had a blast watching this. It started out a little slow at first but once the actual purging began it became fun. 

 

If you didn’t like the other movies you’re probably not going to like this one either. But if you’re like me and enjoy them, I’d definitely say check this out. If I had to rank them all (from best to worst) it would be-

1. Anarchy 

2. Election Year

3. The First Purge

4. The Purge

I’m very interested to see what they do with the tv show. 

My Rating: 7/10

First Reformed

Plot:

A priest (Ethan Hawke) at a small church in Upstate New York deals with his tormented past. 

Pros:

•Just to warn you, this is not a face paced movie. At all. A majority of it is people sitting around and talking. This might bother some but I didn’t mind it at all. Infact I thought this was a great movie. Very well made and thought provoking. One of the best I’ve seen this year so far. 

•Excellent direction by Paul Schrader. 

•Ethan Hawke, whom I’ve always been a fan of, gives one of the best performances I’ve seen this year. I’m not sure how the rest of the year will play out but I’d love to see him get nominated for an Oscar. 

•Strong supporting cast as well including Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer. 

•Beautiful locations. I believe it was filmed in the area so that’s always cool to see. 

•Normally I’m not a big fan of narration but I felt like it made sense here. 

•Strong dialog. 

•The ending. Not everyone is going to like it I’m sure but I give the director credit for not going the predictable route. 

Cons:

•While overall it’s a well directed there are a few moments where I felt like he lingered on a shot just a little too long. 

•There’s a scene towards the end and while I wouldn’t call it bad it just felt out of place. It took me out of the movie for a split second. 

My Rating: 9/10

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Plot:

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is trying to balance his life as a father and as Ant-Man. Suddenly, he gets an urgent mission in which he teams up with the Wasp (Evangeline Lily). 

Pros:

•I wasn’t really looking forward to this movie at first. After the greatness that is Infinity War there’s no way you could top that. Now having seen Ant-Man and the Wasp I can tell you that this was exactly what we needed after Infinity War- something lighthearted and fun. Marvel you really do know what you’re doing. 

•Paul Rudd was perfect casting. He really nails down this character. I also thought he had decent chemistry with Evangeline Lily. 

•The villain actually wasn’t as bad as I thought she might be. Not the best certainly but once you learned more about her you totally understand why she’s doing what she’s doing. 

•Great supporting cast including Michael Douglas and Michael Peña. 

•I got several genuine laughs out of this. 

•Amazing post credit scene. Technically there’s two but thanks to my friends at Double Toasted I found out the second one is nothing really and there’s no need to see it. But definitely stick around for the first one. 

Cons:

•There’s nothing really bad about it. I had a good time. However, when you compare it to the other Marvel movies, it’s not something I would watch again. The story itself wasn’t all that remarkable. Still, I’d say check it out. 

My Rating: 7.5/10