afatedcircle Reviews

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

I wanted to love this movie

[4/10 · 22 March 2024]

Afterlife was extremely refreshing after the disaster that was the ghostbusters reboot in 2016. I left that movie feeling thoroughly satisfied but I left Frozen Empire feeling like I just watched a trainwreck.

So we.have Phoebe who was made out to be an awkward autistic child genius from the first movie just be an awkward girl falling for a ghost girl in this one which seems to throw away the whole connection between her and Podcast. Then on top of that this genius just releases the big bad after removing her soul from her own body so she can say "boo" and try to kiss the ghost? It seems entirely out of character for her to make such a mistake.

The pacing for this movie also seems off and there's no real action until the end of the movie and that only lasts a few moments...when the big bad releases all the ghosts for an army....kind of like the first one and almost exactly like the reboot from 2016. In fact, the ghosts swarming out looked like it was cut from that movie.

Also how the heck did the lion statue get repaired so quickly when it was destroyed and blown into dozens of pieces?

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

None of this makes any sense

[1/10 · 24 December 2023]

So, you take seven samurai/magnificent seven and put it in space. Then you steal elements from Dune, Warhammer 40k, Harry Potter and Star Wars and mix them up in one big incoherent pile of dung. On top of all that throw in some slow motion scenes that are annoying as can be when you just want a good battle scene, characters that don't actually say more than 3 sentences and a backstory that isn't ever really explained. Last, make it PG-13 and tell everyone there's a directors cut that's better. What do you get? This boring 2 hour long mess called Rebel Moon. This movie is bad. It was so hard to even get through this movie. They should have went ahead and released part two because there's no way I'm going to want to watch it months from now.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

Not horrible but also not memorable

[6/10 · 9 June 2023]

The Transformers movies have always been more popcorn flick than anything. Huge Michael Bay explosions, some one liners and eye candy for the human actors/actresses. That being said, the last few movies haven't really had many memorable moments. Rise of the Beasts is no exception to that.

The soundtrack is straight 90s rap which makes complete sense seeing as the movie is set in 1994. The tracks work well with the segments of the movie they're featured in, especially one particular moment of LL Cool J's "knock you out"

The cgi was pretty decent. I didn't really notice any flaws like I have with more recent movies like Fast 10 but that's to be expected with a highly CGI dependent movie.

The acting left a lot to be desired from the human characters. The eye candy didn't exist this time around but I imagine that was done for a reason. The problem is I didn't care for either of the human protagonists. I felt more connection to the younger brother of the male lead than I did the lead.

The Transformers are as entertaining as always and that should be the main draw of the movie. Bumblebee being sidelined for 90% of the film left room for Mirage to take the stage. There were a few good one liners from him but then they take him away at the climax to put on their own Ironman suit which quite honestly took away from the movie a bit.

Unicorn was supposed to be the big threat here but never felt threatening at all. Instead you get the 3 henchmen who were dominating the autobots early on yet in the main fight are easily disposed of.

Overall it was a good watch yet nothing memorable. A few good laughs in a mostly empty theater.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Perfect popcorn action flick

[8/10 · 28 March 2023]

We get much of the same intense action in this installment of the John Wick franchise as we did from the first 3 movies. Near 3 hours of nonstop stunts and gunplay that will have you groaning in pain with the characters, laughing at some and on the edge of your seat at other times. However, one of the noticeable issues this time around is bad cgi at several points of the movie. This is especially noticeable in car chase scenes or when the assassins on John's trail are being hit by vehicles.

The music was as fast paced as the action, no complaints there.

However, can we all just agree that a fight in a club with multiple people dying isn't going to have people continue to dance around you?

Prey (I) (2022)

Not a horrible movie but basically the same plot as the first.

[6/10 · 9 August 2022]

While the movie itself wasn't bad it suffers from following basically the same plot as the first movie. Lower the body heat, beat the Predator. Weird also how throughout this movie she was constantly needing men to save her but then at the end can go toe to toe with the Predator without much of a struggle. Heck, the thing could knock a bear out cold but she's relatively unscathed when it's chokeslamming her?

Bear put up the best fight tbh.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

You CAN try to make a movie too funny.

[3/10 · 8 July 2022]

First off let's start by asking what gods Gorr the GOD BUTCHER actually butchered? Some off screen, one he killed that was far from butchering at the beginning of the movie, apparently cut off Sif's arm but at no point did he seem like this absolutely terrifying villain he should have been. Thor, Valkyrie and Jane never seemed afraid of him in the least. In fact, in the times they were captured they were never hurt, Thor just kept making wise cracks and in the battles Gorr never seemed to have an upper hand other than wounding Valkyrie who was apparently never even close to death. Christian Bale played the character wonderfully but the script was just bad.

Now for the humor. There's so much of it that it isn't even humorous anymore. In fact, after the 4th joke in 60 seconds I found myself just going "can we get on with the movie?". Many of the jokes fell flat to the point I only heard a handful of people laughing now and then in the movie theater. The "serious" moments are interrupted by more joking. Jane telling Thor she has cancer has to be a serious moment right? Cut to Valkyrie and Korg making jokes and singing in the other room. Jane receiving chemo? Nope, "funny" moment of her tearing apart her own book to explain wormholes to another guy in the office. The screaming goats were funny the first time they screamed then it just got annoying.

Why were the Guardians of the Galaxy in this movie? Starlord looked like a hobo and everyone else was just screaming to the point that it gave me a headache and then of course they brought the goats in.

Nobody dies or comes close to dying to a villain in this movie and perhaps that's one of many reasons it wasn't enjoyable. None of the villains have seemed like villains in phase 4. Gorr was redeemed at the end after being beaten. Jane dies of cancer which was expected but then goes to Valhalla in the end credit scene so nothing seems "final".

Thor steals Zeus' thunderbolt and ends up giving the power of Thor to kids in the movie temporarily...but he whispers it to the Thunderbolt so shouldn't it have been the power of Zeus? This was just one of so many plotholes in this movie. Eternity can grant any wish but uh....why didn't they use that to bring back those erased in the snap or Natasha.

The best part of this movie was Thor arguing with Stormbreaker because of him being jealous of Mjolnir. They finally make up after Thor "gives him a beer" but then at the end of the movie he gives it to Gorr's resurrected daughter. It's just a small little arc there that went nowhere.

Overall this movie was horrible. They tried to take Ragnarok's mix of humor and serious moments but ramped the humor up to 11 and it failed. The end says Thor will return and I hope he does, just with a different script writer and director.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Guess we just got a film about visiting old characters

[6/10 · 9 June 2022]

There wasn't much to this film. We see the 3 main characters from the original film return as well as the other raptor handler(whose fate we don't know as he just kinda gets left behind mid movie) and that's the most interesting parts of this movie. Rexy saves the day in pretty much the exact same fashion as the first Jurassic World movie. Blue is barely in the movie. There's a few nods to the original Jurassic Park film. Why does it sound like I'm not talking much about the story? Well because there wasn't one. In fact, there weren't even that many good dinosaur scenes in this movie with most of them being shown in the trailers. Why did we have to wait so long for this to be so bad?

Uncharted (2022)

Another mediocre video game adaptation

[6/10 · 19 February 2022]

When you kill off the main villain halfway through the movie and it looks like someone took a red sharpie to their neck it says a whole lot about the movie as a whole.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Not really an improvement from the first but still enjoyable.

[6/10 · 1 October 2021]

There was an attempt at the same comedic banter between Brock and Venom that people liked in the first but at moments it fell flat. Carnage....well I think in all honesty this movie would have done so much better with an R rating and the real violence that could have came with it.

Free Guy (2021)

Best movie since the beginning of the pandemic

[10/10 · 13 August 2021]

I went in to this movie thinking it'd just be a decent popcorn flick, I was wrong. This one had me laughing from the very beginning, in fact, the entire theater was laughing...like hardcore belly laughing. The gaming references and even a couple of movie references were beyond great, as well as some cameo appearances. This one is a must watch.

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Solid movie, not amazing but not bad by a long shot.

[7/10 · 4 July 2021]

I find it crazy how some of the better movies recently have been put out by companies like Netflix, Amazon, etc. This one was just interesting from the beginning to the end and kept a good pace so the semi-long run time didn't have you bored and wanting it to end. Definitely worth a watch.

F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

Every single thing about this movie was bad.

[1/10 · 25 June 2021]

Bad CGI, bad acting, bad plotline, bad everything.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)

A sequel that doesn't suck

[9/10 · 16 June 2021]

The first movie was great, I think we can all agree on that. This one, while not having quite as good of a plot was even funnier than the first with more action and quite a bit of gore. Definitely worth a watch and the first movie released this year I actually thoroughly enjoyed.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

It was...okay.

[7/10 · 26 April 2021]

I went into this with high hopes based on the trailers which mostly showed an epic fight between Scorpion and Sub Zero, man was I left a bit disappointed.

First, let's discuss Goro. They put him in the film for all of 10 minutes and get him killed by the new guy....and can we all just admit his face was a near copy of Hulk's from endgame? Goro was a fan favorite, not sure what the point of killing him off was.

Hiroyuki Sanada was perfect casting for Scorpion, but he's good in pretty much every movie he's ever seen in. The opening fight between he and Joe Taslim as Bi-Han was great, but that was pretty much the high point of the movie. Also, you have Scorpion only knowing and understanding Japanese but says "come over here" in English. I get that it's the most iconic line from the games but it didn't make a whole lot of sense with him only knowing Japanese.

Joe Taslim was great as Bi-Han/Subzero. His presence throughout the movie was suspenseful and gave people a sense of dread.

Josh Lawson as Kano was perfect casting and his snarky/sarcastic humor throughout made the movie enjoyable enough to not be a snoozefest. Hoping he's back for a sequel because they're going to need all the help they can get.

Ultimately, everyone else was forgettable. Especially the Cole Young character. I feel as if there was no need for him to be there and having him included in the final fight between Subzero and Scorpion was a let down, like Scorpion couldn't defeat Subzero without him. It was actually something people seemed mad about in the theaters.

Some of the outfit designs were nice but Shang Tsung looked like a drag queen and was completely laughable.

From what I gather from the movie, it's an origin story to introduce a few characters and try to give us an idea of what's happening. It fails at this because it doesn't really go into detail on any characters other than Scorpion and Subzero, but also doesn't explain how Subzero, a human, can live for hundreds of years. Introduces some fan favorites but quickly kills them off, for instance Kabal, whom by the way would never have sided with Kano.

If they want to continue this series, they'll have to release a sequel within the next year to keep people interested.

The New Mutants (2020)

Fails even as a horror flick

[3/10 · 21 November 2020]

I don't know what exactly they were going for with The New Mutants. Was it meant to be a horror? Was it meant to be a generic superhero movie? The characters aren't likable or even interesting. The only one I found remotely likable was Charlie Heaton's Cannonball. The lighting made it near impossible to see things at times and the CGI was mediocre at best. Overall just a bad movie.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

The Mandalorian is the only thing saving Disney's Star Wars at the moment

[3/10 · 20 December 2019]

I really wanted to sit here and break down this movie piece by piece but it seems every other reviewer has done it already. I'll not say its 1 star because there were 1 or 2 good moments in the movie, but overall it was crap, crap on a stick.

The Lion King (2019)

"Live action" isn't always better.

[5/10 · 21 July 2019]

I had really high hopes going to see this as the Lion King is one of my favorite Disney movies but right off the bat I noticed none of the animals, especially the lions show any emotion so it just seems like a Discovery channel documentary with a bad voiceover the majority of the time. Disney's decision to have all black cast for the lions was definitely not their best decision. During "can you feel the love tonight" Beyonce drowned out Donald Glover. The addition of an original Beyonce song when Simba is running back home actually made people in the theater go "what?" as they were expecting the music from the cartoon which really makes you feel the emotion. Scar didn't seem like anything other than an angry lion. Pumba was great but something seemed off about Timon and I noticed Hakuna Matata just seemed "quiet".

I get trying to go for a "realistic" approach with the cgi but this movie is all about emotion, it's what made us love the characters. Without that, it's a one time watch.

Glass (2019)

Left feeling like I could have just waited for a rental

[6/10 · 19 January 2019]

First off let me say McAvoy performed brilliantly just like he did in Split. He should win awards for his performance. However, that didn't save the movie for me.

Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis didn't put on performances like they did in Unbreakable nor other movies they've been in. Honestly, while they were supposed to be just as crucial to the story as McAvoy they fell flat.

The movie seemed way too slow paced at times and extremely talky which had me admittedly looking at my cell phone a couple times(I was then only one in the theater so not ashamed of that).

When you finally get to the showdown between "the overseer" and "the beast" it was extremely underwhelming. I expected more and admittedly that could be because "the beast" was made out to be so powerful in Split.

The ending, while I understood the concept, just had me going well....that was it? A secret organization with no explanation whatsoever, the fact Mr. Glass apparently knew what was going on the entire time, etc? It would be fine if there were more movies planned but this has been said to be the last one. We didn't really get a conclusion, just a "origin story" for something that isn't going to continue.

Aquaman (2018)

Honestly the best DCU movie yet

[10/10 · 21 December 2018]

Great from the beginning til the after credits scene. Not sure why it's getting mediocre reviews as it honestly keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Not horrible but not great

[7/10 · 9 August 2018]

It was simply an enjoyable movie with all the comedic elements you expect from Ant Man. Better than Black Panther imo.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Honest review

[7/10 · 22 June 2018]

SPOILER:

That's what the trailers should have said. The director claimed that not much of the movie was spoiled in the trailers, the director lied. Nearly every key point in the movie was shown in one or more of the trailers.

Now let me just say, it wasn't horrible. It was a bit better than Jurassic Park 3 but yet not as good as Jurassic World.

The first problem you notice is it's been over 20 years since Jurassic Park released and the dinosaurs still look more realistic in it than Fallen Kingdom. It's 2018, how is CGI not looking ultra realistic already?

The movie spends the first half or so on the island. This is where it's a good movie and I wish the whole thing had been spent there. You'll notice a lot of Easter eggs as throwbacks to the first including the overturned tour car from Jurassic Park and the Indoraptor clicking its claw on the floor as a throwback to the Raptors from the first film. Sure, we all know theres no way Owen could outrun the pyroclastic flow but hey, you can suspend belief there. That being said you notice the baryonyx and rexy being flown off to the container ship but wait, rexy was just running from the lava flow/pyroclastic flow 10 seconds ago and the other one was stuck in the bunker surrounded by lava? Guess we can look past that too.

So then we get taken to Lockwood Manor. Cool I guess, the dinosaurs are being sold off. Seen that coming...but then we get a look at the Indoraptor. Right off the bat you notice how unrealistic it looks. In the trailers people compared it to the xenomorph from the alien franchise and I can see the resemblance. A complete idiot opens its cage(of course) and it goes about slaughtering everyone for what, 15 minutes? It felt short as can be if it was longer than that. Blue saves the day....again and look now all the dinos are set loose in California because yeah that will surely save them...not like they won't be killed immediately with Blue overlooking a town or Rexy tearing up a zoo to roar at nothing for the third time in the film.

Now, if you ignore all the things that make you go "what" in the movie you'll leave with no real connection to anyone but your two lead characters. Lockwood's cloned granddaughter didn't really make me want to care about her. The antagonist didn't do enough to make me particularly care or cheer when he was killed(unlike in Jurassic World). You don't really see the two supporting characters of the "dino protection group" enough to care about them.

I suppose there's only so much you can do with a dino movie. This one was supposed to have more of a horror theme to it but it didn't really come off that way. The "scariest" moment was ruined when you realize the indoraptor is somehow hanging upside down off a roof spiderman style to open a door. If a sequel is indeed made can we keep hybrids out of it? Do something with the dinos that do not get enough screen time. Heck, the mososaurus from Jurassic World was teased but you see everything that goes on there in the trailers, under a minute of screen time.

Decent watch, good popcorn flick but the plot falls flat and you don't really care about the characters. 6.5/10

Yellowstone (2018– )

Hooked right off the bat.

[10/10 · 21 June 2018]

Easily the best show on television this summer after that two hour premiere.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

Care more about merchandise sales than a good storyline

[3/10 · 15 December 2017]

Visually the movie was great. At the beginning the 3D seemed a little fuzzy and faces in the background were blurry but it seemed to clear as the movie went on. There were a few scenes that were too dark as well. Other than that it's what we've come to expect from a Star Wars movie especially the scene when the rebel cruiser collides with Snoke's ship. The musical score was on point as well. These are the parts of the movie I can't complain about.

The story was the part lacking and I have to believe that's all on Disney. It seemed like they threw in more comedy(something I've noticed in a lot of Disney movies lately) and did things simply for merchandise sales. Those little bird things that I don't care to learn the name of? What did they do for the story exactly? After the 3rd time they were shown I was tired of them especially in the scene where one is in the cockpit with Chewbacca.

Leia can apparently survive in space through the force? That's uh, odd and seems a lot like another Disney movie...oh yeah, guardians of the galaxy.

Snoke apparently is quite the force user, being able to connect Kylo and Rey galaxies away from one another but is taken down like it's nothing. No real fight put up. Honestly one of the most anticlimactic endings to a villain I've ever seen. The ensuing battle between what I'm guessing were the handful of other Jedi Luke mentioned fleeing with Kylo was the best part of the entire scene. Especially the different weapons using the same technology as lightsabers.

Why exactly do we need a new love triangle between Finn, Rey and the new character whose name I simply cannot remember at the moment?

Last but not least Disney seemingly killed any hope that Rey was also a Skywalker in this movie, instead she's a "nobody" as Kylo put it. So, a nobody has as much power as the grandson of the "chosen one"? Did all those movies leading up to this mean absolutely nothing?

Are we going to see a time skip between this and the next movie? Was that the point of showing the child at the end? The rebellion will be getting new members but they're kids now so not like they can help much.

Ultimately the movie was decent visually but the story just left so much to be desired in my opinion. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just saw it in 2D for cheaper like the majority of others did in my theater complex(8 people got the 8:15 3D). By the time the second hour bad rolled around i was ready to go home.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Can we get a non-mediocre SERIOUS Thor?

[7/10 · 2 November 2017]

Went into this movie thinking it would be better than the first two, it wasn't. I'm glad I spent $6.95 for the 2D instead of going for the more expensive 3D as this movie was just good enough to warrant that $6.95. You've seen the trailers? Cool, you've seen the action and fights in the movie. You want comedy? Hey you'll get some of that but it'll quickly not be as funny when you realize that's all they're going for and you're constantly barraged with one liners. Oh and for the love of Odin what was the point of Thor losing an eye?

Only the Brave (2017)

A must see...

[10/10 · 19 October 2017]

Personally I found nothing wrong with this movie which is something I rarely say when I go to the theaters now days. The cast was great and really got you interested in the characters. It stayed mostly true to the actual story of these brave men whilst throwing in a little bit more drama and action to "Hollywood" it. The ending will have you shedding a tear even though we all knew what happens going into it. Was well worth the money spent and deserves a higher rating than critics have given it.