Movie Film Reviews

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

Despite intriguing foundations, Iron Lung is underdeveloped. It introduces a high concept rooted in existential themes. However, little is fleshed out, so it resembles an extended rough draft. A vague backstory plus broad motivations are provided to the protagonist, yet his lacking internal conflict suppresses any sense of growth in his choices. Exacerbating this superficiality, the plot goes in circles. Together, these components create a repetitive thinness. Although the a

Send Help legitimizes camp. Though stale, its catchy premise is optimized. The sympathetic protagonist plus despicable antagonist develop contrasting layers (propelled by earned scenes of intimacy). This invites themes of classism, abuse, self-reliance, and power. After stagnating slightly, the plot twists in the final act. Centered around a dynamic relationship, it builds internal conflicts to pronounced arcs in its wicked conclusion. There's setup/payoff as well as dark hu

No Other Choice is razor-sharp. It satirizes social issues (such as unemployment, self-worth, and overindustrialization) while sustaining vivid character drama. This fusion of dark humor with sincere vulnerability is especially striking because those polarizing moods accentuate each other, amplifying emotion in both directions. Ranging between comedic timing, intensity, and intimacy, its performances anchor the experience. Though the plot can be somewhat convoluted, it's cen

Mercy is tactless. In isolation, it possesses a catchy premise plus a competent mystery. However, it makes excuses for excessive AI to the point of authoritarian surveillance. If that wasn't enough, the actual storytelling seems rather clumsy. With broad motivations, dismissed flaws, and unearned arcs, its drama feels minimal as well as cliche. There are also no internal conflicts, so the writing lacks vulnerability to invest in. Furthermore, exposition dumps, hollow dialogu

Though fragmented, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is thoughtful. Rather than an independent story, it's a middle episode in a series. Multiple threads converge in the climax, but the journey there can seem disjointed. Setup/payoff feels incomplete, arcs are sporadic, and the plot meanders. However, the narrative finds substance to revolve around. An examination of primal humanity, it contemplates themes of faith, connection, and power. What drama is developed brings these i