Fish and Cherries Productions

Insidious: Chapter 2 managed to be scary on many levels as opposed to simply relying on jump scares and gore. I will admit that I haven’t seen the first Insidious, which is probably why I felt the characters felt flat, but I am now curious to see it. The film held up incredibly well under its internal logic and managed to throw a few twists and clever bits of foreshadowing. More importantly, the characters were all incredibly consistent, even the villains/monsters who managed to have clear motivations and characters without being overly sympathetic. That said, it will probably leave you terrified, so if you’re not a fan of being scared, you might want to skip this one. But for me, it was a great way to celebrate Friday the 13th.

The LEGO Movie took me completely by surprise and blew my socks off. By all rights, it had no right to be good, as it seemed like a complete complete cosh cow movie. But somehow, it turned out to be the one of the most imaginative and fun movies for the whole family that takes a twist into straight up meta commentary by the end. The big thing that makes the movie run so well, apart from the really fast comedy coming at you most of the time, comes from the fact that it is, in fact, a LEGO movie, thus everything is based around LEGO physics, motion, and logic. This leads to a lot of jokes and clever use of the set pieces, which I mean quite literally. Honestly, I don’t think the movie would have worked if it took itself completely seriously, but since the plot runs on complete irony, that’s not a problem. Oh, and the acting is superb too, including Charlie Day, who I never would have recognized were it not for the credits. I’m not sure if anyone who hasn’t played with LEGOs or had a kid who did so would enjoy this movie as much apart from the subtle adult jokes that would slip past the kids, but maybe they could. It’s one of the most upbeat, charming, grin-inducing movies that I’ve seen in a while and I think it deserves a watch. Go out and feel like a kid again.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a superb movie with some very serious drawbacks. As I was watching, I realized that the biggest strength of the Middle-Earth movies is the set design, as all of the scenery looks absolutely immaculate. Other great elements are the characters, their interactions, the river scene, and especially Smaug himself, who Benedict Cumberbatch gives a wonderful voice to. The biggest drawback is the ending, or lack thereof. The climax inside the dwarf halls feels like a massive build-up to the conflict at Rivertown that anyone who read the book knows is going to happen, but right as Smaug is flying towards the town, the movie just abruptly ends. Sadly, this makes the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy feel very much like it was just setting up set pieces for the final installment. However, the acting is still great, the casting is wonderful, the excessive build-up is still good build-up, and it is a huge improvement over the previous installment. I would tell you to see it, but let’s face it: it’s a Middle-Earth movie directed by Peter Jackson, so you already have.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was a huge disappointment, at least until the third act where it became halfway decent. The first two acts were a constant parade of exposition and action scenes with almost no time for character development. On top of that, the pacing, acting (save for the main actress), and script are fairly poor. Plot threads are set up and left dangling, possibly for the sequel or possibly because of the cut source material. Some reviews label it as the next Twilight, but to me it feels like the next Eragon. Twilight at least set time aside for characterization, though admittedly the romantic chemistry is just as bad. There are some redeeming moments, but those can’t be discussed for spoiler reasons and they raise even more questions. The least that can be said about it is that it’s entertaining, but the truth is that you’ve seen this movie before and better under many different titles. No need to waste your money on this one.

Still better than Man of Steel, though.

Captain Phillips is a true nail-biter which also happens to be intelligently written. It is hard to believe that anyone could go through what the good captain went through and keep it together so well, but if anyone can make such an outlandish true story seem believable, it’s Tom Hanks. Special mention go to Barkhad Abdi, who plays the front man of the Somalian pirates, for playing a truly engrossing and nuanced villain. But the biggest accomplishment of the film is that it goes to show that everything can go absolutely according to plan and something could still go wrong, as showcased in the pirate’s invasion of the ship. I really don’t know what else to say about it. It’s just really good.