Alien: Covenant: There were too many sequels this year that didn’t bring anything new to the table. Michael Fassbender’s performance was oddly boring to me. One of my favorite actors, Jussie Smollett, was in it, but that’s all I can say for his character. I rolled my eyes whenever Danny McBride was on screen, as I kind of can’t stand him. I tried, though, because he was part of the “heart” of the story. It could have been about any other actor and I would have been more invested. Katherine Waterston is always good, though I hate to admit that I was distracted by her hair cut. I’m sorry, but for me the Alien movies are played out, and it barely held my attention.
Blade Runner 2049: Harrison Ford is in it, but not enough. The premise is great, but it took way too much time getting there. It was weird to see Sean Young, and Robin Wright, and Jared Leto, of all people, in a weird role. I’m not in love with Ryan Gosling like everyone else. I find him weirdly expressionless as an actor. The atmosphere felt like a retread of the original, but the casinoish place in the wasteland was cool. I’m pretty ambivalent. Half of the movie could have been cut and it would have been more cohesive. Here’s my ultimate take: it could have been structured like an extended episode of CSI. The medical mystery was the heart, which leans itself to a fascinating, entertaining, and fantastic movie. They added a bunch of crap to be “atmospheric” and it unnecessarily pushed up the run time and tested my patience.
Life: Alien knock-off. The scene where the alien first escapes was great, though. And the ending could be setting us up for a potentially awesome sequel.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi: “Why? I’ve seen your daily routine – you are not busy.” My heart broke a little when Billie Lourd was in the opening scene. This was right after I got my usual chill hearing John Williams’ iconic score and seeing the classic STAR WARS opener. My, how I have been trained to derive pleasure from that from an early age. I still don’t like Adam Driver (who mumbled all the way through), and not only because he did you know what. Then Princess Leia…the first 20 minutes of the film had my emotions swinging all over the place. And then I was laughing again at Chewbacca and those little creatures. Then Luke and R2…are they trying to make me cry? I still like Daisy Ridley (who still reminds me of Keira Knightley), but Rey essentially destroys this little island and doesn’t apologize to the little nun-like creatures. That seems weirdly out of character. And Luke Skywalker was too melodramatic until the end, where he mellowed back out. Is it just me, or do Luke and Leia look a lot alike now? Like, believably twins now? Anyway. Well, it was the Resistance versus the Empire…First Order, whatever…again. For some reason that never gets old.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: Bad acting. A male lead that didn’t have enough swagger, even though I like Dane DeHaan in other things. Cartoonish special effects. Half-baked romance. Cara Delevingne’s dead eyes. Nonsensical plot. I wanted so badly to like this. I liked Rihanna, that’s about it.
War for the Planet of the Apes: These movies are also getting old. I don’t like war movies in general. Historical ones like to get too graphic, and ones like this no longer feel fresh. At this point it’s mostly just war, even though I know we’re meant to be trying to bridge the “humanity” gap in ourselves. They just don’t make me care, which is what you need to be a successful series.
So… Which is Best?: I’m not happy with my choices. But I’ll grudgingly go Star Wars. It had spots of humor, good vs. evil, characters that feel like family members, and it was entertaining without trying to be a horror movie.
image credit: movieweb.com
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