I know some of you may have followed me on Few Burned Kurnels for years, but after all that, I am officially announcing that I will be moving the whole reviewing concept from Word Press to YouTube. You see, i was struggling with finding the right structure to write about and I believe I would do better at speaking than at writing.
If you are the follower of my blog subscribe to my YouTube channel that is titled…what else…’Few Burned Kurnels’
Rating: Overflowing
Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy, Family
Studios: Paramount Pictures/Hasbro Entertainment/New Republic Pictures/Bayhem Films/Di Bonaventura Pictures
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm
Director: Josh Cooley
Writers: Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari and Eric Pearson
Based on: the toys by Hasbro
Producers: Michael Bay, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Aaron Dem, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy and Mark Vahradian
Music by: Brian Tyler
Rated: PG for sci-fi violence and animated action throughout and language
Release Date: 09/20/24
Tagline: Witness the Origin
Favorite Character: Orion Pax/Optimus Prime
Quote: “Hi there. I’m B-127. I’m actually working on some really cool nicknames and the one I’m floating with right now is Badass-A-Tron, which is actually pronounced…BADASS-A-TRON.”- B-127/Bumblebee
Fun Fact: The trailer was first released in the spacecraft in outer space.
The Review: You may remember Optimus Prime of the Transformers toy line when it was flying off the shelves during 1984 when the toyline and the classic cartoon was first introduced. That toy craze didn’t happen again until 2007 when Michael Bay’s live action film franchise begin with a bang but slide down as more movies came along.
Taking this prequel is animated director Josh Cooley (who won an Oscar for the very much unneeded Toy Story 4) driving us into the planet Cybertron where two working class miners Optimus and Megatron are a couple of BFFs trying to show the transforming bots that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to their life.
Yes. You heard me. Optimus and Megatron used to be best friends right before they became well known rivals, except during their time in the film, their names are Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry).
The adventure doesn’t really start until there was an incident involving at the race got these two banished to the trash incineration in the unknown bottom floor with nobody but comic relief Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key) or as he likes to call himself ‘Badass-A-Tron’
The adventure starting in the trash place doesn’t sound that much. It starts when they find a hologram that is actually a map to the ancient place on the surface, where most of the Primes once stood but died out leaving only Sentinal Prime (Jon Hamm) still standing. And tagging along with these three guys, a pushy Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson)
When the trailer first came out, I don’t know what to think much about that movie other than the point that the new animated reboot looks almost completely like a comedy rather than the action genre that the franchise was best known for which I find a little weird.
But as I saw the movie, it completely blew my expeditions away.
For those who grew up with the 80’s cartoon (Which you can check out on Tubi) will find the character designs very nostalgic, taking back to the old days where they sit in front of the TV with a bowl of sugary cereal sitting in their lap.
Except, the movie ditches the 2d animation with a promised metallic animation being inserted with the beautiful environments (especially the surface).
Don’t get me wrong, Peter Cullen will always be THE Optimus Prime voice. But if the film is gonna take us back to the beginning, we might as well have someone younger like Chris Hemsworth take Optimus’ voice box and deliver us a silly personality (that works).
So in end result, we got another winning animated film in the 2024 calender.
Rating: Empty
Genre: Sci-Fi, YA Adaptation, Drama
Studios: Netflix
Cast: Joey King, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Brianne Tju, Jan Luis Castellanos, Charmie Lee and Laverne Cox
Director: McG
Writers: Whit Anderson, Jacob Forman and Vanessa Taylor
Based on: the novel by Scott Westerfeld
Producers: John Davis, Jordan Davis, Robyn Meisinger, Dan Spilo, McG and Mary Viola
Music by: Edward Shearmur
Rated: PG-13 for some violence and action, and brief strong language
Release Date: 09/13/24
Runtime: 1h 40m
Tagline: Perfection is an illusion
Favorite Character: Shay
Quote: “All my life. I wanted to be pretty. I thought it would change everything.”- Tally Youngblood
Fun Fact: The sets used also appeared in another YA adaptation Allegiant.
The Review: Scott Westerfeld had sold 6 million copies of his sci-fi novel Uglies in 2005. It wasn’t just popular series but it may have been the one who that started the Teen Dystopian novel genre such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. So why did the 2024 Netflix movie feel like it’s a complete ripoff of those adaptions?
Well for one thing, it is mainly when the movie was released. If the movie was made shortly after the book came out, it may seek a potential movie franchise right before the Twilight franchise made fangirls go crazy for Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
But Hollywood, of course, decided that now is the good time to bring it to life…after the YA adaptation craze had died out completely.
And to be honest, even though the books was well received back then, the fictional world does sound awfully like it was created by an 8 year old girl who dreams of being pretty 24/7 when she grows up. And since I never read the books, seeing the story as original just wasn’t possible for me.
Like other teen dystopian stories the world was in a huge natural crisis. And the war broke out. So in order to cease the chaos scientists had created a special flower that became a new source of energy. And for the big bonus, it allows everyone to look so perfect like Barbie and Ken.
They call the the pretty ones, well, ‘Pretties’ But those who aren’t really lucky are consider outsiders of society and are called the ‘Uglies’ Alright. Where you end up isn’t because you’re lucky. It’s due to how old are you. Every Uglies are all minors 15 years and under living in the academy like place.
Which means that once they have hit their 16th birthday, they are required by law to undergo a cosmetic surgery to make them look like a person filled with perfection, granting them admission to the Pretties side of the city where every night is a party and there are no responsibilities.
Getting to the main character focused plotline, the 25 year old Joey King plays a 15 year old girl that is about 3 months away from getting her surgery. She was so excited for it that she couldn’t wait longer to sneak into the Pretties territory just to see her best friend Peris (Chase Strokes) who had his surgery 3 months before Tally’s due date.
She does indeed find him, only, his personality has changed and doesn’t really care for her as much, almost like he doesn’t remember her that well, signaling that this whole pretties thing was all just diabolical scheme controlled by Dr Cable (Lavernne Cox) a bland Teen Dystopian mastermind that we barely noticed.
So basically, that is what this film is. A bland story with ugly CGI work and unchecked plot holes that was flying all over the plot with too many cliches from the YA novels and a same old message about being yourself and that you are pretty on the inside.
Here’s the real message. If the producers are gonna do a movie based on the novel, one of the lessons is the longer they have an ideal story based on the book put on hold, the more duller the final result would actually get by the time it was released.
Seriously, it seems like McG was fast fowarding much of the city plot just so he can get to the smoke scenes which just happens to be less stellar and very similar to the arena part of the Hunger Games. All so he could cram it all in a hour and a half movie. In that case, he didn’t do a good job. Hey, it could always get more ugly.
Rating: Full
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Horror
Studios: Warner Bros
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe
Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Alfred Gough, Seth Grahame-Smith and Miles Miller
Producers: Tim Burton, Dede Garrdner, Tommy Harper, Jeremy Kleiner, Brad Pitt and Marc Toberoff
Music by: Danny Elfman
Rated: PG-13 for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use
Release Date: 09/06/24
Runtime: 1h 45m
Tagline: The Ghost with the Most is back
Favorite Character: Beetlejuice
Quote: “The juice is loose”- Beetlejuice
Fun Fact: The Maitland’s from the first film was meant to have a cameo, but Burton felt that there isn’t any de aging technology that could match Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis age from 1988
The Review: Classic films just keeps coming back, whatever you like it or not, all because Hollywood just wanted to make an extra buck. Some should really be left alone. While others just aren’t too bad as long as they keep the original director and cast in the film, like Tim Burton’s sequel to the 1988 hit.
There are so many theories about the afterlife, I mean like so many. Tim Burton’ s own version of the afterlife in Beetlejuice was one of those settings that was definition of a good time. For those giving a deep thought about after death, I should let you know that this was meant for comedic purposes and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Whatever it’s true or not.
Winona Ryder returns as a still-a-goth adult Lydia now hosting her own paranormal show with her manager (Justin Theroux). She also has a daughter (Scream queen Jenna Ortega) in boarding school who acts just like a normal teenager and isn’t very ‘strange and unusual’ It does sound like she’s having a normal life so far.
But that normal life get interrupted when she was called by her artistic stepmother (Catherine O’Hara) to come to her own museum just so she could tell Lydia that Charles Deetz has died. Meaning the three generations of the Deetz ladies must return to the Maitland house in Connecticut for the funeral.
Meanwhile, our big star Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) also has a career of his own with most of his workers being a bunch of people with shrunken heads. That doesn’t stop him from haunting Lydia in her dreams, since 36 years ago when he ALMOST married her. Yet, he is still not giving up his dream of making Lydia his beloved bride
Although he should be more worried about his other romance problem. His soul sucking ex-wife (Monica Belluci) had escaped from the boxes and attacked Danny Devito like she was a horror movie serial killer. Oh wait… this IS kinda a horror movie…actually, here is more horror into this sequel than the original.
It is a horror adjacent movie that is themed to grief but unlike Ari Aster’s Hereditary, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that kind of film with so much high energy and wacky hijinks added on to it. And to me Charles Deetz death shown in stop motion is the most memorable of them all.
Songs are pretty important when it comes to making movies, but the song selection for the film ended up being a letdown. There is not one song that would exceed Harry Belafonte’s songs that made the original so charming (remember that dinner party scene?) And no, having a choir singing ‘Day-O’ at Charles’ funeral just wasn’t enough.
Despite that and the new characters having less spirit this time around, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was so far the most time I had laughed or chuckled in the cinema auditorium this year revealing that Tim Burton did not lose his mojo after all these years. I believe you will also get a kick out of this juice.
Imagine you are staying at the Maitland house and are board. Say Beetlejuice’s name three time. Go on. Get the party started. (WARNING: the therapy scene may contain some gross out moments, so maybe cease the popcorn eating just for that scene).
Rating: Full
Genre: Comedy, Action
Studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/RK Films/F. Co Entertainment
Cast: Awkwafina, John Cena, Ayden Mayeri, Donald Elise Watkins, Sam Asghari and Simu Liu
Director: Paul Feig
Writers: Rob Yescombe
Producers: Paul Fieg, Laura Fischer, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth
Music by: Theodore Shapiro
Rated: R for pervasive language, violence and sexual references
Release Date: 08/15/24
Tagline: Take the money and run
Favorite Character: Katie Kim
Quote: “After this, there’s an oboe going right up your ass.”- Noel
Fun Fact: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures in one scene aren’t props, they really belong to John Cena.
The Review: Earlier this year, John Cena made a huge appearance in an Amazon Prime R-rated comedy ‘Ricky Stanicky’ He plays a character that outcasts all the other characters (even Zac Efron’s leading role) as we watch him transform from an X-Rated version of Weird Al to the real life imaginary friend.
Now he is back in another of 2024’s Amazon Prime’s R rated comedies, this one being directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids), this retired wrestler portrays a TMNT obsessed freelancer protector of the lottery winners. But Cena wasn’t not protecting the winners because of the fact that people would want to befriend the lucky winner, actually these people are trying to KILL the winner.
Yes, you heard me, they are trying to kill the jackpot winner. Jackpot sets in 2030 during the second Great Depression with a crisis so bad, the desperate government of California had to create a Lottery system. It is like regular Lottery, but with a deadly twist!
Whoever is the lucky (or should I say, unlucky) Jackpot (what they call winners) has until sundown to stay alive and avoid the killer crowds before keeping his/her prize.
Everyone else who didn’t win has a opportunity to claim the winner’s jackpot by legally murdering him/her. The only rule is they are not allowed to use shooting guns, so they would just have to be creative and use whatever they can get their hands on as a weapon.
Not everyone wants to kill the winner though, there are groups of people rooting on the Jackpot. a company determine to try and protect the winners (I said TRY) For John Cena, his new client is a former child star Katie Kim (Awkwafina) who just moved looking for a hopeful start as an actress after losing her mother in Michigan.
She wasn’t aware of the whole Lottery purge and only won because she had accidently entered the lottery with a high tech card, which is a record breaking $3.6 billion. She may have not gotten the role she was auditioning for that time. But she is about to find out that she IS the role of this story, if she is still alive at the end that is.
So, was the result of Paul Feig’s new R rated flick?
On one hand, the action part of this action comedy works with all the amount of knife throwing and the chorography that may have been inspired by a Jackie Chan movie. On the other hand, the comedy felt flat with so many jokes feeling so clutzy throughout almost 2 hours of the film.
But it doesn’t matter if the movie was more action packed than funny, because I believe Jackpot! did good in keeping up with the promising premise that was seen in the trailer that many other films failed to do.
And did I mention Awkwafina is terrific at bringing chemistry with other actors. Look at her and Sandra Oh in last years ‘Quiz Lady’ and her and Simu Liu (which he stars as a head of the Jackpot protection company) for a little Shang-Chi reunion. So it shouldn’t come a shock that her and John Cena’s time together on the screen didn’t tremble down like the stock market. Plus, we get a cameo from Machine Gun Kelly.
As Jackpot! may not not be a lucky winner, it is not close to a losing ticket either, so no way am I saying that this isn’t a fun time nor that this is not crazy ridiculous.
Rating: Empty
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studios: Netflix/Columbus 81 Productions
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Hugh Grant and Amy Schumer
Director: Jerry Seinfeld
Writers: Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, Andy Robin and Jerry Seinfeld
Producers: Beau Bauman, Spike Feresten and Jerry Seinfeld
Music by: Christophe Beck
Rated: PG-13 for some suggestive references and language
Release Date: 05/03/24
Runtime: 1h 33m
Tagline: A Pop-Tart will rise
Favorite Character: Bob Cabana
Quote: N/A
Fun Fact: It wasn’t confirmed in the credits but doesn’t take a genius to figure that Jon Hamm and John Slattery probably reprise their ‘Mad Men’ roles in one scene
The Review: I don’t know if you know this before, but people everywhere had considered Pop Tarts one of the most unhealthiest breakfast items for your body as it is very processed and has no actual nutrients. Unfortunally, that is also what iconic comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s first directorial film is.
Sure, he has landed in his high point in the 90s with his TV show and while his animated ‘Bee Movie’ may have received mediocre reviews, it did gain a cult following. And although I have never seen any his works, one thing for sure, his so called ‘Biopic’ here just happened to be his low point.
It was a good idea for Seinfeld to get put into the director’s chair. It’s also acceptable to make a biopic on how Pop Tarts are made. But as I found out, putting those two together is a lot like pouring orange juice instead of milk in your cereal.
In the 1960’s America, Bob Cabana (Seinfeld) was telling the runaway boy in a diner about how he had invented America’s favorite pastry with his twisted version of a ‘true story’ From the way it’s going, the comic the boy read on the back of the box earlier sounds like it would be way more accurate than what we’re about to see.
Landing in the flashback all the way until the end is the good ol days of 1960’s America in Battle Creek, Michigan home of the famous battle of the cereals between Kellogg’s and Post. Seinfeld at first acts like any father from a black and white TV show, kissing his wife goodbye and drove off to work (which is at Kellogg’s in case you didn’t know). by that time, the nostalgia was cut down by half.
Bob and his boss Edsel Kellogg III (Jim Gaffigan) are very upset that the CEO of their rival company (real life person played by Amy Schumer) stole their latest product idea. That very idea that was made by their former worker Donna Stancowski (Melissa McCarthy) who couldn’t help that much because she now working for NASA. That is until Bob comes in to hire her back.
Now as you know, I am not gonna yell at Netflix for adding fictional characters to the true story. I really think it is a great idea to create a realistic fictional characters just so they can match the actor’s likeness rather than try to get a certain British actor (ahem, Hugh Grant) to insult the great gruff-voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft.
It was actually so disappointing in how the trailer gave us a false advertising, claiming it’s going to be this year’s own Flamin Hot. Instead what we have is Seinfeld botching the feel of the biopic by making everything up along the whole film. In fact, I just happened to read that Seinfeld claimed that he didn’t get permission from Kellogg’s to use their products and characters, making it way more obvious that he made the movie as a joke.
Once the movie is finished, I lost my trust in Seinfeld doing anymore biopics because he has just proved that he cannot try to be serious without rushing everything with endless breakfast jokes and adding a few disgusting pitches (like creamed Corn Pops). I do have to admit, it is still a little entertaining with the breakfast jokes if you want to laugh at how terrible the movie is.
Rating: Full
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Suspense, Thriller
Studios: 20th Century Studios/Scott Free Productions
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Johnson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu
Director: Fede Alvarez
Writers: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues
Based on: the characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Producers: Walter Hill, Michael Pruss and Ridley Scott
Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch
Rated: R for bloody violent content and language
Release Date: 08/16/24
Runtime: 1h 59m
Tagline: N/A
Favorite Character: Andy
Quote: “The solution for a claustrophobic astronaut is to give him more space.”- Andy
Fun Fact: It was supposed to be a Hulu movie, but it wisely went to theaters.
The Review: Ridley Scott’s last two Alien films of the franchise didn’t seem to pleasing enough to the fans of the Alien films. That was the sign that it was time for Scott to retire from the franchise and pass the space torch to ‘Don’t Breathe’ Fede Alvarez. His first order of business, swapping out the adult astronauts with some youngsters to make it really look like a average horror flick.
Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is stuck on the mining planet that doesn’t get any sunlight at all. Being trapped in the capitalism for the franchise’s famous Weyland-Yutani Corp was as expected gloomy. At least she wasn’t suffering alone, she has an android brother named Andy (David Johnson) that you may think that is her human friend at first until Rain installs a chip in him.
Life was not so pleasant for those two but the fact that Weyland-Yutani extending Rain’s time in the workforce to infinity was really the last straw for her. Luckily for her and Andy, there may be a ticket out of this slavery. There is a abandoned spaceship nearby the planet and if they can get it working again, they can make a great escape back to earth. That would actually have been a great plan, and probably would work so well have they not been part of the Alien franchise.
There are one of the rules of surviving in the Alien film that everyone wasn’t aware of; Never go inside the abandoned ships without any knowledge and preparation for what’s to come, because chances are, it probably has been abandoned for a reason. These kiddos didn’t even know what they are in for until it’s was too late.
After the few scenes, the cooling system was mistakenly deactivated and it had unfroze all of the iconic spider like creatures that Ridley Scott calls ‘Facehuggers’. You should know by now that when the Facehugger gets attached to you. You are pretty much finished. Why? Because their nature behavior was to plant the baby alien in your body then it quickly grows out of your chest. That is what poor Navarro (Aileen Wi) learned in an ugly way.
Throughout most the scenes that sets in the space station has a 1979 feeling floating gravityless in the air. It almost feel like the 1979 film except the film’s cinematographer Galos Olivares adds some red light (that symbolizes the horror genre big time) to the cinematography like Aaron Morton did in Alvsrez’s Evil Dead remake back in 2013.
As you know, Androids are pretty important characters for the franchise. Take a look at Ian Holm from the original and Michael Fassbender from the two previous entrees. but regardless of that, Johnson’s Andy completely dominates the best Humanoid Robot of the franchise competition, beating those two. Mostly because part of his character having every effort to make smart decisions that the humans couldn’t in frustrating situations (whatever it actually works or not)
The VFX of the movie is also the standout star of the film. The CGI Facehuggers was fine and the Saturn rings was legit, but watching the old school Xenomorph puppets and miniature effects returning to the screen was more rewarding than expected! I shall warn you though, you are going to want to hang on to your hat for the new experimental Xenomorph design taking place in the climax. I will not say what it is but it is interesting. Very interesting
I have only seen the 1979 film and the 2012’s Prometheus, so I might not have that much knowledge of the franchise or would be able to point out all of the callbacks that the fans would catch throughout the film. Still, seeing this film on the IMAX screen was a real treat for me. It was so amusing to reach my hand out whenever the Saturn like rings come on the screen.
Ripley is always going to be a true heroine of the Alien films. No one can replace her. Not even close, but man did Spaeney’s Rain try that, which was good as it came out with a badass outcome.
Rating: Few Burned Kurnels
Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy, Adventure
Studios: Netflix/Nickelodeon Movies
Cast: Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass, Ilia Isorelys Paulino, Matty Cardarople and Wanda Sykes
Director: Liza Johnson
Writers: Kaz and Tom Stern
Based on: Spongebob Squarepants created by Stephen Hillenburg
Producer: Robert Engleman
Music by: Moniker
Rated: NR
Release Date: 08/02/24
Runtime: 1h 26m
Tagline: Bring a Friend
Favorite Character: Sandy Cheeks
Quote: “Bikini Bottom, and everyone I ever loved, is gone…and all my streaming videos on demand! I can’t demand them anymore!”- Spongebob Squarepants
Fun Fact: Johnny Knoxville (who voices Sandy’s brother Randy) appeared in Spongebob before, in the episode ‘Extreme Spots’
The Review: Who lives in the Treedome at the bottom of the sea? SANDY CHEEKS! Who loves science and is a big thinker? SANDY CHEEKS! Who has her own movie which ended up being a Netflix stinker? SAND…wait what?
Like many of the Millennials, I was so obsessed with the iconic yellow sponge as a kid and was fortunate to see the first movie that came out 20 years ago. It was no Incredibles but it had immediately became a favorite for the Spongebob fans (most of them probably have just graduated from college)
As the huge Nickelodeon series celebrates 25 years of its broadcast, Netflix decides to execute the celebration of that milestone by releasing a spinoff about a Squirrel from Texas (Carolyn Lawrence) finds Bikini Bottom scooped up by a giant crane, leaving only her, Spongebob and her useless robo horse Sparky standing in front of the ditch that was once their beloved town.
But then the ditch spewed a powerful geyser that takes Sandy and Spongebob out of the ocean and to the Texas as they set off to rescue their town from the B.O.O.T.S. lab (which we learned was Sandy’s home before living underwater) in Galveston. But this isn’t an immediate transportation from point A to point B. Like the adventures in some of other children movies (Like 2017’s My Little Pony), they encounter new characters, both good and bad.
In case you were hibernating through January, someone had just got ahold of the entire movie around that time and leaked it online. Maybe it’s a good thing it happened. Because those who did successfully watch it before Paramount took it down probably did so to warn us with their review videos about this trainwreck that was releasing in August.
Back in B.O.O.T.S. lab we get introduced to the series lowest villians. Wanda Sykes (without her signature voice) playing a main anthologist with a name that clearly felt like writers Kaz and Stern has just taken the name from the Spongebob joke book. Her bozo sidekicks (Ilia Isorelys Paulino and Matty Cardarople) wasn’t any better nor they did they sound like they were even trying.
Animation was below mediocre. Live action was on sight terrible. But the most ‘What in tarnation is that?’ would be the flashback of Sue Nammie which is just a little girl with Wanda Sykes head clumsily cut and paste on the girl’s body.
It is such shameful that Sandy’s character development and the introduction to her family (Craig Robinson, Johnny Knoxville and Grey DeLisle) would have made this movie full of soul. Instead, it was all wasted on what is a animated film that has nothing but endless plot holes, forgettable musical numbers and recycled jokes. Now if only it was a TV special, it could be better…right? Right?
Rating: Half-Full
Genre: Thriller
Studios: Warner Bros/Blinding Edge Pictures
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Alison Pill
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Producers: Marc Bienstock, M. Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan
Music by: Herdis Stefansdottir
Rated: PG-13 for some violent content and brief strong language
Release Date: 07/24/24
Runtime: 1h 45m
Tagline: 30000 fans. 300 cops. 1 serial killer. No escape.
Favorite Character: Lady Raven
Quote: “This whole concert? It’s a trap. They’re watching all the exits, checking everyone that leaves. There’s no way to get out of here. It’s kinda dope right?”- Vendor
Fun Fact: Many of Lady Raven songs have titles that match the theme to the film (Save Me, Release, Hiding, etc).
The Review: What if ‘Silence of the Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert? That is the question M. Night Shyamalan asked when pitching for his next film. Sounds like a great concept. But there is one problem. Shyamalan being in charge of the film.
Yes, he is the guy who created the Oscar nominated ‘Sixth Sense’ but don’t forget, he is also the same guy who made the Razzie winning The Last Airbender (has he even seen the show?) So every time Shyamalan release a new film, it is either going to be a hit or a miss, so I did not have high hopes that this would be the next Sixth Sense or Split.
And turns out I was correct.
In Trap, a fun goofy father (strong performance by Josh Hartnett) rewards his daughter (Alice Donoghue) for getting a good report card by taking her to the concert. That star of the show was none other than Lady Raven (played by Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka) who was Taylor Swift in Shyamalan’s world. It actually comes to no surprise that Saleka actually wrote the songs for the film which may have hit the charts in that world but not in real life.
If you did manage to avoid the trailers, a fun goofy father had a double life as a notorious serial killer known as ‘The Butcher’ and when you are a killer at a concert, you will feel alarmed with the police guarding the exits and learning from the merchandise seller (Jonathan Langdon) that the whole concert was set up as a trap. You realize you may be busted, and that is exactly what Cooper feels like.
According to the first trailer, it was deemed as a new M. Night Shyamalan experience. That wasn’t a lie. It was a little over mediocre experience. The whole concert scenes contains a Hitchcock atmosphere and keeping us on our toes. Sounds like a unique experience. It makes you feels like you ARE at the concert. But the fun kinda slows down when the concert ends, which is only before we are at a halfway point of the movie.
As for his signature twist…wait, I’m sorry, what twist? Oh it’s there all right, it was just hidden out of the my sight and not enough to say whoa. It’s like when Shyamalan is writing a story, he seems like focus more on the buildup than the major twist. If you managed to avoid the trailers and try not to think about what the twist could be, you might be lucky enough to get a little shook out of you.
But other than the unnoticeable twist, Trap wasn’t all a bust. Some people may complain about how the story was written but to me, the plot was pretty simple. but well handcrafted that has enough suspenseful moments to be a Hitchcock approved film. Plus, it does come with a chuckle worthy post credit scene.
Rating: Full
Genre: Superhero, Action, Comedy, Adventure
Studios: Marvel Studios
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggans, Aaron Stanford and Matthew Macfadyen
Director: Shawn Levy
Writers: Shawn Levy, Rhett Reese, Ryan Reynolds, Zeb Wells and Paul Wernick
Based on: Marvel Comics
Producers: Kevin Feige, Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner
Music by: Rob Simonsen
Rated: R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references
Release Date: 07/26/24
Runtime: 2h 8m
Tagline: Everyone deserves a happy ending
Favorite Character: Wade Wilson/Deadpool
Quote: “Welcome to the MCU. You’re joining at a bit of a low point.”- Wade Wilson/Deadpool
Fun Fact: I probably won’t say since it could potentially spoil the movie for ya.
The Review: After a load of the MCU projects failed hard last year, Kevin Feige decides to play it safe and only released one MCU movie for 2024. If you haven’t seen these recent films, not that I blame you, Marvel is still continuing in the Multiverse saga and that means anyone retired from playing a superhero/villain does not exactly stay retired, look at the Spider-men from No Way Home.
It has been 6 years since we last saw Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) gifting the Marvel fans with some wisecracking jokes and gore. He is at a medium point, not a high point but not a low point either. In other words, he moved on from being an anti-hero, wearing a toupee that he stapled to his head and is selling used cars for a living. Getting to the fact that he is no longer in a relationship with Venessa (Morena Baccarin) doesn’t sound like this is his medium point.
Before you can say ‘I wish something exciting would happen’ The TVA (from the Disney + show Loki) interrupts Wade’s birthday party right out of (literally) nowhere, ripped his toupee off for some reason and take him back to the headquarters. Ryan Reynolds is gonna have to put his signature mask back on.
It really makes a lot of sense for TVA to be the beacon to the threequel’s plot, especially in the Multiverse saga. Sad news for Owen Wilson fans, he is not in this one. We do however get to see Matthew Macfadyen playing a new TVA member with a very superhero-y name, Mr Paradox, I am not sure if that is even his real name.
In Marvel, every universe has a special anchor and without them, its very timeline is likely to disappear. Believe it or not, turns out Deadpool is sharing his world with 2017’s Logan. I’ll let you put two and two together. If not, the anchor in Wade’s universe is the same as the Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) that died seven years ago.
And if the deceased Logan won’t be able to save the world, Deadpool decides that there are plenty of different Wolverines that can. Universe jumping, Wolverine after Wolverine, he finally found what he believes to be a perfect one to save the world, only for Mr. Paradox to ruin Wade’s fun by announcing that the Wolverine he has is the worst one yet.
Next scene over, we are taken to the void where the 20th Century Fox logo stands abandoned (both fugitively and literally )and is home to the washed up Marvel characters goes when the studios who does Marvel movies in the past stopped caring for them, lead by the film’s villain, the unknown Professor X’s twin sister (Emma Corrin).
Reynolds and Jackman have an amazing chemistry. They go together like Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street despite Logan being a complete a complete opposite of the R rated Jokester. I don’t blame Wolverine for his grumpiness he lost everything in his world and now was taken against his will by Merc with the Mouth whose antics annoys the hell out of him.
The movie is also very gory, as the writers also has taken advantage of the fact neither Deadpool or Wolverine could die easily, so it sounds like an opportunity to give the fans a bloodbath that could go on till we get tired of it.
Levy pretty much gave us everything the fans have been craving. Cameo bombs, great soundtrack, laughable jokes about Disney owning Fox, etc. Which explains why D&W isn’t like the last two films. It is no Endgame, especially with the fact that the 2nd act didn’t feel like a Deadpool movie, but not that anybody is complaining, it is still a really R rated amusement park ride with tons of fans waiting in line to ride on.
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Few Burned Kurnels 