Movie Film Reviews

Mortal Kombat II is a mess. Despite a simple premise, pointless characters and lore convolute its plot. Cliche contrivances litter the story. Dialogue is either obvious exposition or broad humor. It has desensitized stakes as well as constant predictability. Attempts at drama are forced, clashing with the cartoonish camp around them. Weak motivations lead to arbitrary arcs, apathetic tragedies, and dull relationships. There are no themes because this is pure commercialism. Th

Hokum has layers. Driven by mystery, its plot distills into a concise conflict. The drama revolves around a traumatic backstory that informs the protagonist's flawed cynicism. This leads to themes of isolation, self-hatred, processing the past, and surrendering to the unknown. While it doesn't perfectly weave into its external narrative, the internal arc is earned. Its supernatural elements serve as allegories. There's minimal dialogue (showing, not telling), fitting humor, s

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is forgettable fan service. Its convoluted plot has tacked-on emotions and themes. Ideas of integrity, modern media, workplace toxicity, and wealth inequality are superficially acknowledged. Conflicts are overcome without challenge, feeling unearned. The drama is an afterthought (its generic romance in particular), including an internal struggle that's scarcely motivated and disconnected from the main narrative. There's heavy exposition, broad (though

Mother Mary's poetry borders on pretension. Its dialogue is dense and the narrative turns metaphorical. Yet, while its themes become heavy-handed, the story feels genuine. Personal topics like connection, legacy, abandonment, expression, and fulfillment are explored honestly. Naturally layered, the drama reveals tangled flaws as well as conflicted motivations. Viewers may dislike the thin plot, but at least its external obstacle unites with the internal resolution. Arcs plus

While it outlines his relationship with his abusive father, Michael is primarily a sanitized summary of well-known events. This sidesteps examining Michael as a person. It alludes to his loneliness, lost innocence, body image, and dysfunctional family (culminating in an arc), but these layers aren't unpacked. He's depicted with such hero worship that he has no flaws. Characters and conflicts are oversimplified. There's no resolution; it just stops. Despite this sterile materi

Lee Cronin's The Mummy is a concept without a story. Its plot slowly reveals the premise viewers already know. Worse, there’s no drama because characters are hollow devices. This is a missed opportunity since its inciting incident should naturally generate interpersonal conflicts. Thus, the script is a conveyor belt of horror cliches strung together by an obvious mystery. Meanwhile, there's mediocre humor, blunt dialogue, excessive exposition, contrivances, and absent resolu

They Will Kill You is almost there. It establishes relatable motivations. The high-concept plot invites satire. This leads to broader themes of dehumanization plus more personal ideas of abandonment. However, it lacks sufficient payoff. The story becomes repetitive and needs an arc (though at least there's external resolution). This is because its protagonist acknowledges her flaw immediately, so there's no internal conflict to overcome. There's decent setup/payoff, clear st

Shutter Island is a thoughtful thriller. Despite plot holes, it builds compelling intrigue, drama, and themes. Beneath the crime story, it studies its flawed protagonist. This creates a narrative tightrope, dissecting his internal conflicts while maintaining mystery. Ideas of mental health, brutality, perception, identity, and redemption are explored. The sharp dialogue advances all this while weaving motifs and remaining digestible. There's potent foreshadowing, surprises

The Drama is everything a rom-com can be. Relationships face nuanced yet extreme challenges, yielding moral dilemmas. Its dark humor deconstructs social norms. Themes of rehabilitation, denial, community, judgment, and true love are conversation-starters for viewers. As severe internal conflicts test motivations, its story becomes an incisive character study. While driving the script, its dialogue remains organic. Its climax plus the resolution pay off detailed setup. The

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie lacks a story. Essential concepts like plot and drama are only gestured towards, barely disguising the film as anything more than a commercial. Most of its empty script prioritizes fan service, inane humor, or mindless action. The actual narrative is an afterthought, yielding no emotional investment. Characters are paper-thin vessels without consistent motivations or personalities. There are hollow stakes, unearned beats, abundant cliches, and bl

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man feels simultaneously meandering and belabored. Although prominent, its drama is one-note. While themes of grief, family, and guilt are relatable, the script more wallows than dissects. This stagnation is exacerbated by a thin plot. Perhaps it would've worked better as an episode rather than being drawn out to feature length. At least it attempts substance, peaking with a bittersweet conclusion. Meanwhile, these emotions are actualized by the

Ready or Not 2 is adequate. Exposition muddles its otherwise concise premise. Instead of cat-and-mouse tactics, the plot juggles excessive characters. While the drama develops motivations, they can seem shoehorned. Its classism satire and themes around abandonment make for arbitrary companions. Through a few pivotal choices, the protagonist undergoes a vaguely defined arc. None of this comes together as a cohesive whole, but at least its individual pieces are competent. Ther

Project Hail Mary has wide appeal. Despite heavy exposition, its premise is catchy. The protagonist's arc is muddled by nonlinear storytelling, yet its drama is carried by an endearing friendship. Its themes are optimistic (though slightly schmaltzy). Flirting with convolution and oversimplification, the science finds a passable center. Its humor can undermine tension but offers a personal touch. The script contains formulas, contrivances, and convincing plot points. There a

Undertone 's stripped-down plot brews nuanced drama and themes. Ruminating on ideas of belief, guilt, and isolation, it examines the value of surrendering skepticism. Stemming from legitimate internal conflicts, the protagonist earns motivation plus an arc. Its exposition is naturally sparing. There's a catchy framing device, mystery, folklore, and appropriate levity. Some might consider its messages muddled or the story too thin, but this script aims for ambitious simplicity

Introducing several honorable ideas, The Bride! is unfortunately muddled. Themes of the patriarchy, rebellion, and otherism just aren't fully realized. This disrupts relatability as it's difficult to identify a core goal. Combining sci-fi with a noir template, its plot seems incidental because its protagonist lacks agency. Despite complex characters, viewers only get to know the heroine's true self as the story concludes. These issues aren't inherent flaws but combine into a

Though slightly messy by the end, Hoppers tells a proper story. It heightens clear goals with a catchy premise before adding superfluous plot elements. The drama is driven by a motivated protagonist whose earned relationships lead to a satisfactory arc. Its themes of environmentalism, oneness, advocacy, and nonviolence are honorable. Arguably, those concepts aren't explored enough, the resolution comes too easily, and its climax muddles messaging, but the script's virtues ou

Becoming everything the series originally subverted, Scream 7 is a perfunctory product. Focused entirely on plot, it only occasionally stops to shoehorn in artificial emotions or bland observations. The script's sole contribution is its whodunit mystery, which devolves into a nonsensical mess. The final reveal is a convoluted contrivance because it's straining so hard to be surprising. Meanwhile, plot holes, blunt dialogue, pointless characters, and cliches abound. Although

Despite a meandering plot (with contrivances), Crime 101 remains above-average. This is because its drama (albeit repetitive) explores relatable topics. Themes of classism, humanity, isolation, and identity are contemplated. Since resolution comes too easily while arcs have weak payoff (as internal conflicts are seldom challenged), its climax is disappointing. There are superfluous threads plus spotty dialogue. However, these shortcomings come in forgivable doses. Though the

How to Make a Killing struggles to synergize. Establishing clear external motivations, it builds off a catchy premise. Relevant themes surrounding money's dehumanizing nature are contemplated. Its dark, satirical (albeit muted) humor injects personality. After a sluggish beginning, the drama eventually yields internal conflicts as well as a thoughtful conclusion. Charisma plus moments of intensity are contributed through the acting performances. However, its story sputters (

Wuthering Heights is a bold swing. Although centered around a flat romance, it captures raw emotions. Exploring primal sexuality, idyllic expressions of desire and devotion evolve into darker themes like obsession, spite, and control. Despite becoming repetitive, the plot follows a timeless star-crossed lovers conflict. This keeps the drama external, making it intense yet one-note (even if arcs are earned). Still, the acting elevates this material with intensity, physicality