Tag Archives: Movie reviews

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

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By Karissa Meno

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues the story of Peter Quill, Groot, Rocket, Drax, and the rest of the Guardians as they go on one final mission to protect the galaxy. The film was released on May 5th.

This Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios production is directed by James Gunn. With the amazing cast of Chris Pratt (Peter Quill), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Vin Diesel (Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Dave Bautista (Drax), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), and Will Poulter (Adam Warlock).

The movie begins with the story of Rocket, where he came from and how he got to where he is now. We also see some struggle from Quill as he tries to get over Gamora and her absence. We see the group and how they are expanding and adjusting to their new life on the ship. We also see throughout the movie that the group still has a hard time expressing their love for one another, as well as their communication skills. The group still keeps their silly dynamic with one another and more family moments between the characters. The group must go through all these challenges to save one of their own as another member comes back into the family.

This movie has a beautiful way of showing that even though everyone in the group is  different and has a different way of acting towards everyone, they all still somehow click together to make the perfect team. The movie introduces a few new characters that are powerful and lovable that also click into the dynamic of the Guardians and their purpose to protect space. It still has a way of making the audience laugh even though they haven’t taken away from the parts that are meant to be serious.

Now if you’re an animal lover like me, this movie may be a little hard to get through, not that anything particularly gruesome happens to these animals but if you have a soft spot for animals your heart just might break for them. On the more visual side of the movie, they always seem to be improving when it comes to the action and fighting scenes.

The action and fighting sequences only get better from the past two movies. They always find a way to put more detail and effort into their scenes and create aesthetically pleasing and effortless fighting scenes. It may feel like a lot is going on during the fights but I felt that’s what kept me watching it and kept me in the loop of all the events going on in the movie.

Speaking of the events going on in the movie, there is a lot more going on in this final part of the Guardians movies. Not so much to the point where you can’t seem to keep up, but the pacing of the movies were not too slow but almost too fast. Since they introduced so many new characters and creatures it’s hard to keep up with which stories are going on at that moment.

The moments in this movie are truly heartfelt and can get you thinking about the perspective of the people or events around you. You can see how much the cast and characters have grown throughout these movies and it was difficult to say goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy, at least most of them.

Film Review: Halloween Ends

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By Karissa Meno

If people ask me if I would recommend Halloween Ends I would just tell you, “Only if you want to see if Michael Myers is really put to an end.”

•Halloween Ends was released October 14, 2022 almost a year after Halloween Kills (2021). It was directed by David Gordon Green, edited by Tim Alverson, with music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Danial Davies.
•The cast included Jamie Lee Curtis (Laura Strode), James Jude Courtney (Michael Myers), Andi Matichak (Allyson Nelson), Rohan Campbell (Corey Cunningham), Kyle Richards (Lindsey Wallace), and Will Patton (Frank Hawkins).

Halloween Ends needed a more consistent and overall better storyline, and here’s why.

Official film poster

Summary:

Halloween Ends takes place four years after Halloween Kills, but they first introduce a new story and character jumping back to Halloween night in 2019.

The movie introduces Corey Cunningham, a babysitter for the neighborhood. While the parents are away, the kid and Corey are left all alone in the house with the terrifying thought that Michael may have come for them. After a terrible accident, Corey is now back in society facing the aftermath of Michael Myers.

Meanwhile, Laurie and Alison have made a new life for themselves with a new house and Alison has become a nurse. With Corey back in town he is introduced to Laurie and Alison and instantly falls for Alison. Later that Halloween, Corey discovers a shocking new friend hidden away. Over the course of a few days Laurie and Alison now have to live with the consequence of bringing Corey into their lives.

Opinion:

When the movie first started I noticed that Halloween Ends teamed up with Blumhouse Productions and I was a little terrified knowing Blumhouse’s reputation. It was a good idea to bring them in, due to their improvement in jumpscares, or maybe it was just the loud sound system. Overall the jumpscares were much improved and it felt a little more like a scary movie.

As me and my friends described during the movie, it felt like they needed to waste time in the beginning and middle of the movie in order to actually get to the most important part, the end (no pun intended). Everything felt so out of place and nothing really seemed to fit together.

My friends and I would even catch ourselves asking, “What is happening?” It felt more like a drama heading towards the middle of the story rather than a slasher film. In my opinion, the only enjoyable part was the ending; it gave action and suspense. The end had me and my friends cheering for Jamie Lee Curtis.

The theater experience was also uplifting, not only did we laugh together we were able to make jokes together. All I can say is it is always a good time watching scary movies with friends.

Spider-Man No Way Home: Movie Review

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By: Karissa Meno

Spider-Man No Way Home was the most spectacular Marvel movie that “phase four” has produced. We expected so much of the film and it very well delivered that expectation. 

WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS!
With many speculations and accusations going around about the movie, it was hard to tell exactly what would happen even though the cast and crew tried their hardest to keep Spider-Man No Way Home the most secretive movie to appear in Marvel. This web-slinging adventure hit theaters December 17, 2021 and was the greatest end to this year of Marvel movies. Directed by Jon Watts, produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, and with music by Micheal Giacchino, this $200-million-budget movie along with it’s amazing graphics and visuals comes with an amazing cast.

Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Zendaya (MJ or Michelle Jones), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), Alfred Molina (Dr. Otto Octavius), Willem Dafoe (Norman Osborn), Jon Favreau (Happy), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), Jamie Foxx (Electro), and with the incredible Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), and Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil).

This incredible cast made an unforgettable and even incredible movie. 

Spider-Man No Way Home picks up where Spider-man Far From Home left off with Peter and MJ swinging through the city together and is stopped by a news report with incriminating evidence of Spider-Man and the reveal of Spider-Man’s identity with a video left by Mysterio. After this, Peter Parker’s life is turned upside down when he is made “public enemy #1” all around the world. With the support of MJ, Aunt May, Ned, and Happy they help to try and clear Peter’s name. All Peter needed was “a really good lawyer.”

Along with fighting the public opinion, Peter, MJ, and Ned send in college applications hoping to get into their dream school, MIT. After a devastating rejection from MIT, Peter hopes to change things to help MJ and Ned get into MIT. He asks for help from Dr. Strange to cast a spell that can make the world forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man. With an intense spell contained from getting out into the world, Peter hopes to talk to the MIT Chancellor on her way to the airport. The freeway is crowded as Peter starts to sense a strange presence. The appearance of Spider-Man’s villains begin to appear due to the fact the villains know who Spider-Man is. 

Instead of sending the villains home, which was Dr. Strange’s intention, Peter wants to help them become better people in an attempt to change their fate. Peter begins to help each of the villains to either help contain or control their powers in good ways. With Peter’s spider senses it unleashes multiple conflicts with all villians causing Peter to have a period of contemplation with himself. Wanting to put an end to the multiverse conflicts, MJ and Ned are met with two very important people to help Peter on his adventure. With the help of Peter’s metaphorical “brothers” he plans to do what he intended and help the villains. With the final battle in place everyone is back in a good place, but Peter is faced with another huge conflict when he decides to make everyone forget who Peter Parker is, including sending all of the” intruders” home. Peter starts a new chapter and begins to live life on his own with his name cleared and his identity secret again. 

Spider-Man No Way Home was possibly one of the most illuminating and has many people wondering what this “multiverse” will do for the MCU. Even though I felt the movie was moving fast they were still able to fit in all the important and creative scenes. The fight scenes were incredibly set up; even though some parts felt awkward, the fight scenes kept me interested. Peter shows a clear reflection of being a kid and being ready to take on the responsibility it takes to be a hero. The story felt off at certain points and felt almost random but it made sense to the movie’s importance. The movie had me mostly excited and amazed as I was watching. The movie gave me so many emotions at once: excited, amazed, and as they say, “on the edge of my seat.” 

Audiences are very excited to see what the adventures for Spider-Man are after this. Of course if you stayed for the end-credit scene you would have seen the special sneak peek at Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness.
Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness shows a glimpse of what releasing the multiverse has done for Dr. Strange. We also see a very special appearance from Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch/ Wanda Maxinoff) and Xochitl Gomez (America Chavez) who are very important characters to be seen alongside Dr. Strange. Even though the trailer shows a lot, it’s hard to tell exactly what this movie will have in store for us. Dr. Strange could be on an adventure to fix what the multiverse’s effects have on the world around them. After seeing Spider-Man No Way Home and seeing the trailer for Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness, everyone is very excited to see exactly what the multiverse is going to do for future Marvel movies.