Tag Archives: Michael Pena

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Comedy, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Tom & Jerry (2021) Movie Review

February 28, 2021 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

It took no longer than one minute watching Tom & Jerry for me to realize that this animation-live action hybrid reboot of the classic cartoon wasn’t going to go well. Once I saw a trio of animated pigeons lip-syncing to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It” as they fly over the New York City skyline, I just knew. I could sense that the team behind this film—namely director Tim Story and screenwriter Kevin Costello—didn’t have a firm grasp on what would translate this older intellectual property into something entertaining to a new generation of youngsters.

The problem isn’t necessarily the hackneyed technique of adding a cool hip-hop soundtrack to a property not known for such sounds. It isn’t even really the conceit of bringing cartoon characters “into the big city,” a premise which has been used in such big screen duds as The Smurfs (2011). The real issue I have Continue reading Tom & Jerry (2021) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) Movie Review

July 6, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

San Francisco. It is a bleak, ash-covered world. Lost and devoid of hope, survivors futilely search for meaning after a battle at Wakanda changed the universe with a single snap.

Just kidding! Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to Peyton Reed’s 2015 film Ant-Man, is set weeks prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), aka Ant-Man, is at the tail-end of his house arrest, which he landed after helping out Captain America during the events of Captain America: Civil War.

The FBI are constantly looking over Lang’s shoulder while also looking for Lang’s co-conspirators Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Hope and Hank, meanwhile, are working to Continue reading Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

A Wrinkle in Time (2018) Movie Review

March 9, 2018 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay and based on the book by Madeleine L’Engle, follows young Meg (Storm Reid). Meg is an introverted and picked-on teen who still hasn’t come to terms with the disappearance of her father (Chris Pine), who left four years earlier in search of a grander meaning to the universe.

This pursuit is not a figurative one. Meg’s parents, once upon a time, were on the verge of using quantum entanglement to bend time and space and allow access to Continue reading A Wrinkle in Time (2018) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

12 Strong (2018) Movie Review

January 19, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

There is a lot on the surface of 12 Strong that has been done in war films before, again and again. Grunt soldier characters act like they do in every other movie. Fire-fight sequences involve everyone we don’t care about falling down dead, and everyone that has been established as a character surviving despite being amid insurmountable danger. Themes of camaraderie and learning to think differently about your fellow man abound. Etcetera. Etcetera.

With this, there is plenty of scenes that play out, down to the lines themselves, exactly as you would expect.

Our boys have to Continue reading 12 Strong (2018) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it

Chips (2017) Movie Review

March 25, 2017 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

CHiPs. California Highway Patrol. Also, an ’80s television show starring Erik Estrada that is no longer culturally relevant.

There is not much to say about CHiPs, so I will try and keep this short. For a silly reboot comedy, this film about two motorcycle police officers goes dark in weird atonal ways. Heroin, sex addiction, and suicide are all introduced as plot devices within the first 10 minutes of the film.

As a comedy, the film is, by and large, serviceable. Continue reading Chips (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Collateral Beauty (2016) Movie Review

December 7, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Love, time, and death. The three abstractions that connect every human being on Earth, according to ad exec Howard (Will Smith) in a rousing speech to his colleagues. Three years later, Howard returns to work after the death of his six year old daughter. Cue domino tower cascade.

Howard, in his grief, sends letters to ideas: love, time, and death. He has, for all intents and purposes, an eccentric depression. The type of depression that is Continue reading Collateral Beauty (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Martian (2015) Movie Review

October 6, 2015 Alex Brannan 2 Comments

In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is abandoned and left for dead after a storm hits the surface of Mars, forcing the manned mission he is a part of to be scrubbed. On the way to the rocket, Watney is struck by a satellite dish that was blown off of their equipment, knocking him unconscious. As the rocket fires up into space, dwindling shots linger over Watney’s empty seat as the rest of the crew braces against the force of the ascent.

Then, we get an extended, wordless scene of Watney waking and staggering back to the HAB, the only oxygenated facility on the planet. The scene is entirely carried by Damon’s non-verbal acting. He pulls shrapnel out of a wound in his side, whispering pleas under his breath, just hoping that Continue reading The Martian (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Ant-Man (2015) Movie Review

July 21, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

What do you get when you put a comedy A-lister in the middle of swarms of CG ants and a goatee-toting Michael Douglas? Marvel Studios’ most recent addition to their already overblown universe.

Ant-Man was at one time a project that appeared like it would never get off the ground. The film was originally headed by the talented Edgar Wright. He left the project after Continue reading Ant-Man (2015) Movie Review →