Tag Archives: Keegan-Michael Key

The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While frustrating in more places than it should be, it shines when it lands on the fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and end-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a screening of this film

Bowser arrives.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review –

When this film was first announced, you could feel a general odd bemusement permeate through the internet, with relocations back to the last time they tried this in live action [a film that I have fond remembrances of, but that might be just the distance of time and youth as I have not seen it in decades]. That amusement was only highlighted when the lead cast was announced. A feeling that was only slightly abated when the first trailers landed. However, 2023 has been the year for good video game adaptations, so maybe this could work … maybe.

So to set the scene, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two brothers that have just started their own plumbing company in Brooklyn and Queens. They are trying to make a name for themselves when a water main bursts, and only they can fix it. But as they go underground to find the source, they stumble across a giant green pipe lying open. What harm could that do? Was the thought right before both brothers were sucked into a new world, one full of mushrooms and the other dark and foreboding.

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Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While the ideas behind this film are solid, I found myself just not connecting to it at all, even though I am probably its target audience.    

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ streaming service that viewed this film

Chip and Dale in disguse

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers Review –

Today we have an odd duck to crack. From all accounts, Chip’ n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a film designed specifically for me. It is hitting nostalgia that I grew up with, with actors I enjoy, with a narrative device that usually hits the mark for me. However, at no point during the film’s runtime did I engage with it, and I am not 100% sure why.

So to set the scene, since they were kids, Chip (John Mulaney) and Dale (Andy Samberg) have been best friends who, of course, took the same bus to Hollywood to become stars. It was a hard slog, but finally, they landed their first big break with Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. However, as Season Three came along and Dale decided to branch out and star in Double-O-Dale and the two part ways. Thirty years later, Monterey Jack (Eric Bana) calls the two as he is in trouble with the criminal Valley Gang and is afraid of becoming a bootleg, which is what everyone fears when Monty goes missing, and Chip and Dale must team up again after so long apart.

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The Bubble – Movie Review

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TL;DR –  While the central conceit  is good, and the cast is there for it, unfortunately, the concept runs out of steam about halfway through

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Bubble. Image Credit: Netflix.

The Bubble Review –

I don’t think it is a surprise that the pandemic has sucked, impacting every industry, including motion pictures. We have seen films like Spider-Man, where it is clearly filmed in social distancing but were still written beforehand. However, now we are starting to see films that were both written and produced during COVID, and it is going to be interesting to see how it all pans out.

 So to set the scene, in the era of big-budget franchises, one of the somewhat more successful runs was that of Cliff Beasts staring Sean Knox (Keegan-Michael Key), Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan), Lauren Van Chance (Leslie Mann), Dustin Mulray (David Duchovny), and Howie Frangopolous (Guz Khan). Having several successful sequels like Cliff Beasts Re-Extinction, Cliff Beasts Oceana, Cliff Beasts Beijing Beast, and Cliff Beasts Space Fury, the team have come back together to film Cliff Beasts 6. Unfortunately, this occurred during the COVID pandemic, which this documentary explores. How does a film get made in the age of a bubble?       

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Movie Review – The Predator (2018)

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TL;DR – There is a lot of great production here, and strong acting, but it has clearly been hacked apart in the edit leaving a disjointed mess.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

The Predator. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Review –

The first Predator film was maybe the pinnacle of the 1980s macho-action film genre, I can remember watching it for the first time, probably far younger than I should. It was Arnie at his best hunting down an alien hunting people for sport and while there were sequels nothing ever captured the intensity of the first film. When I heard they were bring it back and giving it to Shane Black I had high hopes that at the very least it would be an interesting film … and then the last week happened and I can’t believe how disappointed I could be at such a promising director. Now the film is here and well, you can see the vision, but you can also see where the studio has taken a hatchet to it.

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