mattwillandis Reviews

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

Why so much hate?

[7/10 · 22 July 2021]

When a person thinks of the looney tunes now, they unknowingly make it a synonymous grouping of all of the tunes. But it wasn't always like that, and anyone that knows the original looney tunes cartoons knows that. A cartoon may contain three, heck, maybe even four looney tunes all together, but never the entire cast! Thus when space jam arrived, collecting all of everyone's favorite loons together in one movie, the praise and excitement was ecstatic. This was the brilliance of space jam, and is one of the reasons why many still love the film. But this left space jam: a new legacy at a disadvantage. People have already seen all the toons together,(twice!) so now what? Well, how about instead of just all the looney tunes getting together, what if ALL Warner brothers properties got together?! Let's be honest, that sounds pretty cool. When you start to think about it a little more though, many problems arise. "How do you account for clashing art styles?" "How do you combine all worlds together while maintaining focus?" And ofcourse "who will replace his airness, Michael Jordan?" The answers: a simple versatile new cartoon style, a complex high tech computer, and the new basketball king, LeBron James. After saying all this, I understand why people feel this isn't space jam. It feels something sort of like space jam, but it's not. It's more like a ready player one spinoff movie than a looney tunes film! And you're right, 100%. I can not argue with you and ignore that and if that's how you feel I 100% understand your resentment towards this film. Personally I found a great deal of enjoyment in this movie, not just from its interesting concept and beautiful(I mean gorgeous) visuals, but from its new lead and story. Unlike many other people, I personally quite liked LeBron in this film, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think his acting beats Michaels by a long shot. I understand people thinking he's annoying and a bad father, but to be fair many of his faults are pointed out directly in the film, and he changes for the better by the end of the movie. As for the super computer aspect, I thought it was an interesting, though still kinda dumb idea, and honestly pesters me with more questions of "how???" The more I think about it. The final aspect, it's versatile new cartoon style, is another aspect I expect caused much irritation with the fans. "Why change the art style?" Like I said before, when trying to combine so many art styles, changing some may benefit the overall flow of the film, making it look more... "normal" I suppose. That being said, the looney tunes old design is sorely missed, and I felt that they're redesigns we're honestly unnecessary, and obviously I'm not the only person holding this opinion based on others ratings. And so all the main aspects of the film can either be positives or negatives, based on your expectations from the movie. Personally, I enjoyed it. Are there plot holes? Yes... and the first space jam held none??? In all honesty I wouldn't go into this film with the expectations of seeing a looney tunes film. I'd go into it with the expectation of seeing an epic warner-brothers basketball game, starring the tune squad and LeBron. Simple tweaks in expectations may make it a far more enjoyable experience to some, and I recommend a rewatch with that mindset if you felt unsatisfied with your first viewing.

The Animal (2001)

Uh... well... hm.

[6/10 · 21 July 2021]

This is an extremely difficult review to write. On the one hand, the film has enjoyable and funny characters thrown into zaney and interesting situations. On the other hand, it's incredible how many uncomfortable, and I mean genuinely uncomfortable scenes are crammed into this picture. This mostly stems from our main characters' struggle to contain animal parts of his body, which he inherits from a partially mad scientist after an accident, making him do things he doesn't want to do (and we don't really want to see). On the other hand the film deserves some credit, as we'd only feel so embarrassed for our main character because we actually care for him. And we do care for him, quite a lot actually. He's a timid person that simply wants to help people, and throughout the film people keep messing up that simple goal for him. He's rather pitiful in most aspects, atleast that is until he becomes part... well... every animal in existence apparently! With his new found capabilities he's able to help people more, and people actually want him to now! The downside is his added animal instincts, which cause scenarios ranging from mildly humorous to rather uncomfortable. And this portion, this middle section of the film, is where the majority of problems I have with the film lie. The beginning of the film is rather funny, and the end bizarre and sweet, but the middle section manages to be all of these things while still finding the ability to make 50% of it incredibly uncomfortable. Is the film cute and charming, or awkward and disgusting? The answer? Yes! The movie somehow manages to cram all of these aspects together, leaving us with "the animal." In honesty I'd say the film is more good than bad, but somehow I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone, based solely on how much discomfort it's runtime produces. But if you have a strong will to see this film, there are certainly many things to appreciate about it, and it is genuinely hilarious at some points. You could certainly do worse(and better) than the animal.

Gladiator (2000)

Incredible

[10/10 · 7 May 2021]

Praising this movie is sorta like feeding a fattened pig, but I want to show my appreciation for this movie too so I don't care. I genuinely came into this movie simply expecting some well executed action and some good performances, but now I realize just how much deeper this movie is. This film has drama, an easy to follow story, incredible performances, fantastic writing, and unmatched set design. In all honesty, I loved the performances and story so much in this film that the action might have been my least favorite part of it. Between Russel Crowe's simple but powerful performance to Joaquin Phoenix's literally unbeaten performance as an unstable psychopath filled with rage, there was always something interesting and nail biting going on. Some people may think this film is overhyped, and in certain respects I can understand that, but personally I believe this is a must see for anyone who likes movies.

Lucy (I) (2014)

A mixed bag... but entertaining for sure

[30 March 2021]

At face value this seems like a win win of a movie. A superhero movie with two very popular actors, one of which already has experience in the field, a short length and a R rating. It cost approximately 40 million dollars to make, which sounds like a lot but honestly isn't. Comparatively "The Avengers" cost 220 million. When you put all these variables together you get a movie with relatively little consequence for the studio to fund and with high potential for major gains in the box office. Even with all these positives though there ironically still seems to be something missing from it. The acting is good for the most part, and the special effects are awesome. The idea is also rather fresh, so what's the problem? Unfortunately, like so many movies with good ideas before it, the script, while far from awful, lacks heart and individuality. Morgan Freeman is hardly in the movie, and Scarlett Johansson isn't all that interesting in this film until the last 20 minutes or so. For these reasons, this movie will likely be forgotten in 20 years time, which is a shame. Honestly I liked this movie, it's just missing some heart.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Time to set the record straight

[8/10 · 18 November 2020]

Let's be honest, anybody who likes horror and didn't watch this film within its first two weeks in theaters likely has heard hype about this movie in some sense. I was no exception to this rule, and as I watched this film for the first time yesterday, and hadn't even existed when it was released, this film had twenty years of hype and expectations to meet for me. And while it is 100% true that hype will destroy a movie if too excessive, I must admit I can't say this film was hit by it too much. There are two problems that can befall upon older classic movies. One: either they become culturally irrelevant or made obsolete newer films (or to a lesser extent politically incorrect, like with "gone with the wind")(though I digress I still like that film), in story(for instance, a superhero movie from the forties will doubtfully get picked over a modern superhero film by someone) . Or two, the film becomes so old it is almost a foreign experience to watch (the technology, language, etc). To my knowledge, this film is very good at avoiding both problems. It is a very simple story, about kids lost in the woods, and possibly getting stalked by a witch, so it cleverly avoids problem one by by not having any added baggage to it's story and making what it DOES have in the story very good. And two, since the film is almost all in the woods, it's hard to find much technology to be confused by and the language is simple so it's not confusing either. Now admittedly it is "filmed" on old school cameras, which is admittedly a pretty big part of the movie, that being, the "found footage" aesthetic. But it would take two seconds to explain the cameras to someone else, so I don't find it a huge problem. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on to the actual movie. It's simplicity is it's biggest strength, and the camera grain adds another layer of fright to the movie. It has fantastic performances all around, and while a second viewing will not be nearly as frightening, it makes a very effective one-time horror film. One thing I must admit though, is that we never actually see the Blair witch. Now originally there was supposed to be a silhouette of her present in one of the scenes, but the camera angle didn't show her, and for reasons unknown to me, they never reshot the scene. While in some cases seeing the monster can be a downer or would lessen the film, with something like "the Blair witch project", I think it would've benefited from seeing her in some way. I don't mean like a full reveal, but a shadow, or a silhouette or a hand, just something to give the characters fears some legitimacy, would've been beneficial to the movie. Other than that, it's a good movie, and while not exactly enjoyable to watch because of how depressing and mean spirited it is, it's well made and was deserving of its praise. Give it a view :)

Daddy Day Care (2003)

Don't really understand the hate

[7/10 · 12 November 2020]

This is a simple little self contained Eddie Murphy comedy. Admittedly, this is not high class entertainment, but it's not bottom of the barrel either. When a joke falls flat, it doesn't overstay it's welcome, as a decent amount of stuff is packed into this quick little film. I honestly adored this film as a kid, though I must admit I didn't really understand what was happening then. But as a whole, this film has a lot more energy and heart than many other comedies, and it shows. The cast is good, with the main child actor being pretty weird in his performance, but hey, he's four, he would be a little weird in real life! The rest of the kids are good, and mrs Adams is a fine villain. She's nothing very different, but atleast she has character, and isn't just pure evil like so many other villains can be. And while it's message is a bit muddled, it's still understandable, and quite sweet. In my opinion the film is at its best when the kids come, as the none stop chaos is quite amusing and not all that unrealistic either. I give this a 7, it's not an all time great, but it's still a funny, good, entertaining Eddie Murphy film. I'd give it a chance, especially with kids.

I Am Not Okay with This (2020)

Near perfect

[10/10 · 29 September 2020]

The show immediately gets you hooked with an opening scene that shows the lead covered in blood and running away from the police. Through following episodes we are shown more scenes showing more or less the same thing. But this first scene is immediately followed with our lead being completely fine, during the day (unlike the previous night scene), this very simply adds a layer of mystery to the show as well as getting you hooked to it. As the show progresses we get introduced to many colorful characters, as well as some more standard characters, but thankfully the show understands the rule of "go big or go home" and gives the characters screen time based on how interesting they are, which also proves to be a great choice. While the premise of the show is slightly less original than its characters would make you believe, it's still far from standard, and has many good twists and turns. The show will probably get a bit of tact for not being a conclusive story, but to that I say you'd be wrong in wronging it. Plenty of shows have cliffhangers that would completely destroy the show had they not gotten a second season, such as the first season of the x files, which is still beloved by many (including me) to this day. Every performance in this show is fantastic, and ever scene has a purpose to the story, even if it's simply to be a momentary montage before the main character loses her temper in the final act. While not perfect, as nothing humanly made can be, it's magnificent, and hopefully Netflix will realize this and undo their cancelation of the show.

Schlock (1973)

Pretty good Monty python style film

[7/10 · 20 June 2020]

This is a pretty simple review to write, if you like Monty python stuff, you'll like this movie. It's very surreal, but in the best way possible. I thought it was pretty funny, while not all of the jokes stuck, but you could easily say the same thing about Monty python. Give this gorilla film a chance if you like bizarre comedies!

Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

Not bad, but not the first.

[7/10 · 20 June 2020]

As I already stated in my waxwork review, this film wasn't bad by any means, but definitely seemed more gimmicky than the previous film. The story basically turns into a save the girl film, and while it's not a bad one, I would of preferred a more original idea. Another thing that harms this film, is the lack of Sarah's original actress. While her replacement is decent, her original actress had such a simple, quiet charm about her, that her replacement didn't pull off as well. She got the quiet part down, but I really didn't care much about her the whole film. One thing I loved though, was the entire Bruce Campbell scenes, those were excellent and hilarious. It wasn't perfect, but was still interesting enough, and if you liked the first one, you'll pry like this one too. Though I have to mention how bonkers this film is. If you thought the first one didn't make much sense, than this one is going to seem completely nonsensical to you, just a heads up.

Waxwork (1988)

Really entertaining!

[8/10 · 20 June 2020]

This film is really fun to watch. It has an interesting idea, and runs with it. While it's sequel seemed a bit more gimmicky, this one manages to balance awe-factor and story pretty well. This movie is just a delight to watch, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a wacky film. You don't even have to like horror to enjoy this film, as it's really more comedy than horror. It has good performances, good horror when present, good humor, and a really good all out insanity ending. If you like gremlins, as well as it's lead, you'll like this film too.

Poltergeist III (1988)

Underrated, but still not a perfect film

[7/10 · 19 June 2020]

Now before I say this film is amazing, I'm gonna say it's not. Heck it's not even great, it's only good. It's still the weakest of the poltergeist films and probably should never have been made in the first place. BUT WITH THAT SAID, this is probably as good as this movie could have possibly been. The writers knew the limitations and adjusted quite cleverly as such. Now this film was doomed to be hated from the start, with the missing parents of carol Anne, and different tone of the film compared to its predecessors. But once again, I honestly think this is about as good as this film could have possibly gotten, and I'm still impressed with it. The twist with Tom skerrits daughter and boyfriend character alone was incredible. Overall, I think the whole poltergeist trilogy is highly underrated, as all of them have there own merits. I know this review is all over the place, but what I'm saying is, if you thought that poltergeist 2 was good, give 3 a chance too, it's better than you might think.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

Once again pretty ok

[5/10 · 19 June 2020]

Let's start with the good stuff first, which there isn't too much of but still. First off, we get more characters that die then in the last film, so gore hounds will be happy about that. Also, we get the book thief herself, Sophie Nélisse, in this film, and she does a good job with what she's given from the script. But that's about it for the good, the movie makes a lot less sense than the first one, which already didn't make much sense. One thing, though, that I thought was very smart, was the ending. It was very clever to end the film like that and is the only reason this movie made it to a 5. It was genius to end the film with a scene like that because in the previous one the characters died, so we had no idea whether the characters would make it in this one, which makes the action all the more better. Very clever tie up ending writers, I give you my props. Now just make a better beginning and end and we'll have a solid shark flick! There's a lot of dumb stuff I could point out in this film, but frankly I don't care enough to do so. Once again, if you like dumb shark films and can turn off your brain for a film, you might be pleasantly surprised with how this one ends.

47 Meters Down (2017)

It's alright.

[6/10 · 19 June 2020]

This isn't high class entertainment, but I think it was adequately put together, with an interesting twist leaving you to think which ending actually is real. The acting was fine, some shots were pretty good, it's just a very ok film to me. If you hate it, I get that, if you like it, I also get that. I give it a five, which means it's not good, but not bad either to me. That's about all I have to say. If you like shark films, give it a view, there are far worse ones out there.

Vivarium (2019)

Hard to say who this is for...

[7/10 · 19 June 2020]

I personally liked this film, quite a lot actually. But then again I'm a bit hard to disappoint in a film, as long as it's not really bad. With that being said though, this film is extremely hard to pinpoint for a specific audience. You could say it's for those that like the twilight zone, but fans of that show have already pointed out how needlessly long this film is, so that's a no. Could also say it has a lot of subtext in it, but people have already pointed out how obvious and in your face it is, so people looking for deeper meaning in their films don't like it much either. And then we get to the question: is it good? Which is also very difficult to answer because there's only 2 kind of people who watch this film: those that HATE it and those that love it. And the people that hate this film just really hate it, just look at the other reviews here, they are merciless. So, who is this film for? Well, for one, not casual audiences. The film is just too strange and bizarre for the casual viewer, so if you are one of them, maybe give this one a skip. If you are a more in depth viewer, and more specifically like thrillers and strange movies that don't answer all the questions like Donnie darko and the lighthouse, you might like this film. And the final person who might like this film are those just looking for an experiment piece. I'm sure a film student would love this film to death. Now with all of that out of the way, why did I like it? Well, the visuals were beautiful, the acting incredible, as well as the story being so bizarre that it's right up my alley. If your intrigued by it, go ahead and give it a watch, I'm sure there's at least something you'll like.

Mikey (1992)

That headline sets the tone really well, like man does that suck you in.

[6/10 · 29 April 2020]

The film is worth a watch (if you like slasher flicks or creepy kid films that is), but is far from perfect. Some things don't add up, like a ten year old kid bashing an adults skull in with a metal bat, or when Mikey throws a hair dryer at his adopted moms' full bath tub, she catches it, and it somehow still manages to electrocute her. Like I get that her hands were wet but come on. Not to mention that many of the characters were killed primarily by their own stupidity in the third act. I mean this is a 10 year old boy mom, stop screaming and start beating him up! I have noticed that out of all genres, horror is by far the biggest mixed bag. It has absolute schlock as well as masterpieces, along with dozens of sub-genres. And for this film being in the slasher sub-genre, with their being 2 bad films for every good one in it, I say this is a good slasher movie but mainstream audiences pry wouldn't watch it more than once, if that. Final verdict: if you like slashers, watch it. If you like thrillers, watch it. Other wise, don't.

The Forest (I) (2016)

Unsatisfying

[4/10 · 18 April 2020]

I personally believe this to be the first bad movie I've ever seen(I take that back, transformers 5 was shameless and probably far worse than this film). Now don't get me wrong it's perfectly watchable and with its hour and a half run time it certainly doesn't overstay its welcome, but this does not make it a good film. Now before I get into the bad stuff I do like to mention the good first, so let's do that. First of all I found all of the leads interesting enough and have got to give props to the main actress for playing two people. I must also say that I thought it was a very interesting idea, and daresay it could have been a decent film in the right hands. But that's about where the good ends, now we gotta talk about the bad. For being a horror film it isn't really scary at any point that much. Whenever the movie tries to scare you it cheats and jump scares you instead of actually frightening you. And I have to talk about these jump scares because they are some of the cheapest I've ever seen. Basically, it'll start with the main character noticing something odd, preceding to investigate, we see a shot of their face, then BAM jump scare. The problem is the movie is trying to be subtle and complex and just keeps messing it up. And another thing to mention is the end, which up until this point the film had at least been able to seem serious, but then we are met with this seriously dumb ending where the main character dies, come back as a ghost, and in the last shot of the film, is chasing the other lead character. It's not like a scene like this couldn't possibly work, but the way it's executed is just jarring and very un-serious compared to the rest of the film. I can't really recommend this film unless you wanna learn about some Japanese lore, but even then just read about it, this just isn't worth it.