Ariana DeBose

Kraven the Hunter

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Kraven the Hunter
  • IMDb: link

Following the lackluster Morbius and the disastrous Madame Web, and limping into theaters as the news breaks that Sony is abandoning it’s wider Spider-Man Universe comes Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as super-villain Sergei Kravinoff reimagined here as something closer to the Punisher targeting, hunting down, and murdering criminals like his father (Russell Crowe). If there’s praise to be levelled at Kraven, it’s that the film is better than either Morbius or Web. However, that’s a dubious distinction.

…

Kraven the HunterRead More »

Kraven the Hunter Read More »

Argylle

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Argylle
  • IMDb: link

Argylle

Argylle is bonkers. The latest from director Matthew Vaughn, in his collaboration with screenwriter Jason Fuchs, contains more than a little Kingsman DNA in an over-the-top tale of a best-selling author who discovers the characters and stories she has been writing about are real. As a one-time experience, Argylle may be worth a viewing. As a film, the over-the-top tone is inconsistent for both the serious and comedic sequences it is constantly applied to. When the film leans into its inherent goofiness ratcheting up to levels that make Kingsman: The Secret Service look like a spy documentary, Argylle can be fun, but when it attempts to be serious about a story we simply can not take seriously the entire movie grinds to a screeching halt.

…

ArgylleRead More »

Argylle Read More »

Wish

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Wish
  • IMDb: link

Wish

With nods to several Disney films, some more subtle than others, Wish is a blending of the look of Disney’s historical cel animation with that of CGI, and features many of the classic tropes of its fairy tales including opening and closing sequences involving the story springing from the pages of a book. Along the way we’ll also get talking animals, big musical numbers (which sport an obvious Broadway feel towards them making me suspect that show can’t be too far off), and themes of dreams, magic, wonder, and wishing upon a star.

…

WishRead More »

Wish Read More »

West Side Story

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: West Side Story (2021)
  • IMDb: link

It’s been 60 years since Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise gave us their award-winning adaptation of Robbins’ stage musical West Side Story. That’s a long time to wait for a remake. Enter Steven Spielberg to create a new version which may last for the next 60 years in a throwback musical that should delight both old and new fans.

Choosing to keep to the play’s original timeline, the opening feels a bit dated, but that is quickly excused for the vibrant spectacle Spielberg offers complete with large-scale song and dance numbers. The director also gives us a talented cast that avoids the whitewashing of Maria from 60s film by casting Rachel Zegler in the role who, along with Ariana DeBose as Anita, are the movie’s real stand-outs. The only casting I question is Ansel Elgort in the role of Tony who looks like a lumbering catalog model completely out of place compared to the rougher characters making up the competing gangs of the Sharks and the Jets.

…

West Side StoryRead More »

West Side Story Read More »