brimatt2412 Reviews

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

It's like drinking dull dishwater

[1/10 · 17 April 2018]

I was 5 years old when I first saw the original Star Wars in the theaters in 1977 and have been a fan ever since. I loved the originals and the prequels. I thought Rogue One was great. I thought The Force Awakens had enough promise when I first saw it.

Then The Last Jedi came out. I never thought that I'd ever say this about a Star Wars movie, but wow, everything about this movie was dull, dull, dull! Usually, a second installment in a trilogy (such as Empire Strikes Back) gets me hyped to see the third installment. On the contrary, The Last Jedi has pretty much neutered my interest in Episode IX, and the further adventures of Rey, Finn, Kylo and company.

It took most of the interesting plot points played up in The Force Awakens (Rey's parentage, Snoke, etc.) and either ignored them or gave them the least interesting answer possible.

It rendered the villains into incompetent jokes, like they came right out of Spaceballs. Whereas the villains in the first two trilogies (Vader, Tarkin, Maul, Palpatine, Dooku) were fearsome, one doesn't get a sense of threat from the First Order gang. General Hux showed promise in TFA, but gets the rug thrown out from under him by the awful script that makes him the butt of many jokes. Captain Phasma shows up for only a few minutes (as in TFA) and gets quickly dispatched - yawn!! Kylo Ren's tantrums get old pretty fast.

The Leia flying through space scene - quite possibly one of the dumbest scenes I've ever seen in any movie.

Rose Tico - An annoying character. She is nothing but a constant nag to Finn, and then near the end prevents him from making a sacrifice that would have saved the Resistance. Shortly thereafter, she gives one of the most nonsensical quotes I have ever heard.

Holdo - Uh....lol, the less said the better.

Luke Skywalker - all of the scenes between him and Rey were just dreary and a chore to watch. The scene with the chorus line of Reys snapping their fingers was laughable. The reveal at the end where Luke was force projecting from another planet, felt like it came out of far left field (None of the previous SW movies ever established that a living (not a Force Ghost) Jedi could project themselves elsewhere, so the scene felt quite contrived. Note to Rian Johnson: if you're going to use a previously unknown/unintroduced power at a critical point in a story, you might want to consider introducing it at an earlier point in the story so it makes more sense when it appears in the climax.)

Good points of the movie: um.......uh.....well, the popcorn was very good!

Iron Man Three (2013)

Very nice action combined with good humor and story

[10/10 · 11 May 2013]

This has become my favorite of the Iron Man movies.

I liked it because: Good story about Tony Stark himself. I loved that they made the character human enough to encounter struggles such as the post-traumatic stress after the encounter with Loki and the aliens in The Avengers. It made for a far more compelling character then if he was simply able to shrug everything else off like Superman - he would have been far less relatable. His interactions with the kid are interesting, especially in light of the revelations about Tony's own strained relationship with his father in Iron Man 2. Some complain about Tony Stark dominating the screen over the Iron Man character - I actually liked that. I found the Stark part of the character more compelling. His relationship with Pepper was also continued with a satisfying story arc as well.

The twist. Many didn't like this, particular the hard core comic book fans (I'm not a hard core fan, more like very light to casual, and it will likely remain that way). I loved the twist. I liked the storyline with Killian and his scheme and found it more interesting than where they had seemed to be going with Ben Kingsley's Mandarin. That being said, I do think both Guy Pearce and Kingsley both did fantastic jobs in their roles.

The humor. Again, there were those who complained about it, but their tastes are very different from mine. Personally, I choose not to be uptight about movies, especially in a fantastical genre as the superhero movie. The humor not only makes the movie enjoyable (and I am not going to watch a superhero movie with the intention of seeing The Godfather or Citizen Kane - no, I go those types of movies to be entertained, as do many of the movie-going audience), but the humor also makes everything seem more human/real as well. The humorous moments were very welcome (and also adds to the likability of the Tony Stark character and the cast in general.)

The cast. In addition to Robert Downey, Pearce and Kingsley, the rest of the cast are great. Don Cheadle is a welcome presence as Rhodey, Gwyneth Paltrow's chemistry is good with Downey and James Badge Dale is a menacing presence as a henchman.

To sum up, the movie is great if you like action,humor, and story and aren't caught up too much into a perception of how certain characters should play out. That was the case with me and I enjoyed the movie immensely.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

The game is afoot!

[9/10 · 11 January 2010]

Sherlock Holmes is a fun movie that benefits from terrific casting and great chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. Their banter was a joy to watch and Downey and Law really seemed to have fun in their roles. Downey has really taken up his game the last couple of years and I can see an Oscar in his future. He portrays Holmes's quirks nicely and he is quite charismatic. I liked how they showed Holmes planning to incapacitate an opponent before he actually did it.

Rachel McAdams is alluring and charming as Irene Adler, the only woman who has ever bested Holmes- she worked very well with Downey. My only complaint with the movie was that her role was underwritten. Hopefully, if there is a follow up (a good bet) and she is brought back, her role can be expanded. Mark Strong (who reminds me of Andy Garcia) makes a good villain as Lord Blackwood.

Sherlock Holmes is a fun movie that offers mystery, action, humor and enjoyable characters. I highly recommend it.

Avatar (2009)

Effects are like Transformers. Godzilla, etc - Story and characters are also just as shallow

[4/10 · 11 January 2010]

To me, the only difference between this movie and the likes of Transformers, Godzilla, Independence Day, etc. is that for some reason critics are heaping a lot of praise on it.

Best movie of the decade?! Ha! For all the hype and praise that Avatar got, I was expecting a deeper story and complex characters. Nope. Instead I got a special effect fest with very little story and little character depth. In other words, a movie cut from the very same cloth as the movies mentioned above, movies that were panned by many of the same critics who now are hailing Avatar as the best movie of the year/decade, etc.

Again, looking beyond the special effects, Avatar's story and character are no deeper than Godzilla's, Transformer's, etc. You could see the whole storyline based on the trailers. There were no surprises, no twists, no shades of gray in any of the characters. There was no compelling, thought provoking dialogue between any of the characters - and given the premise, that the humans were trying to get the natives to movie to get this mineral that was needed, there was potential to have a lot of intelligent dialogue between characters to explore the ethics/morality, etc. of the situation. But there was none. The good guys were good, the bad guys were Snidely Whiplash and it all played out like a 1980s cartoon, with no elements one would usually associate with a movie given as much praise as Avatar has received.

There was no fleshing out of the premise. The reason why the humans needed the mineral so bad isn't really explored. Again, the movie's story is as complex as an '80s cartoon.

The effects were good. Stephen Lang chewed the scenery as the villain. But this movie suffers from its own unjustifiable hype. I found another way to spell overrated recently and its A-V-A-T-A-R

Adventureland (2009)

Not a laugh out loud comedy as advertised, just dull characters and story

[1/10 · 5 April 2009]

The previews for this movie heavily implied a laugh out loud comedy in the style of Superbad. If you're looking for a movie with lots of laughs, do not buy into the trailer, which turns out to have been severely guilty of misleading advertising.

This is, simply put, a dull movie with dull characters. The main characters make Al Gore look extremely charismatic by comparison. There are very few laughs in the movie. Instead there is plenty of angst ridden teenagers whose collective goal seems to be to bore the audience to death with their monotone whining.

If you're looking for that laugh out loud comedy, find something else. This isn't it.

Burn After Reading (2008)

Not for one seeking an enjoyable or coherent movie.

[1/10 · 14 September 2008]

I saw Disaster Movie a couple of weeks ago. I saw Burn after Reading today. Sure, Burn after Reading has many notable stars, Clooney, Swinton, Pitt, Malkovich, etc, while Disaster Movie had many D list or below actors featured. But the end results of both movies were pretty much the same - BRUTAL!!!! If you're going out for an enjoyable, coherent movie, do yourself a favor and find something else other than Burn After Reading.

What you will get with Burn after Reading is a very slow plot (if you can even call it that) with unlikable characters. The story doesn't launch at all and all the audience is stuck watching Clooney and gang walking around with all the purpose of a chicken with its head cut off. Clooney and company - you guys all need to be ashamed of yourselves- you are all better than this drivel.

What it boils down to is that if you're not a fan of slow moving movies with no real goal or purpose, by 20 minutes into the movie you'll either be constantly checking your watch or even talking with your friends about outright walking out of the movie.

Save your time and money. See something else.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Wow, Wow, Wow!!

[10/10 · 24 July 2008]

When Heath Ledger was first cast as the Joker, I, like many others, had raised my eyebrows to say the least, as he was on very few of the multitudes of lists of actors that people were saying who should play the Joker.

I'm happy to say that I didn't bash the choice, like many others did. Having been a huge fan of Batman Begins, I had faith in Christopher Nolan and the vision he had for The Dark Knight. I was quite curious to see how Ledger would do. I wasn't surprised he did well. I was surprised at how he hit a grand slam with this performance. Wow! I did not see Ledger at all in this movie - I only saw the Joker. I doubt I will be able to ever watch the 89 Batman with Jack Nicholson again. Ledger's Joker puts all the rest of the Joker incarnations to shame. He hits all the right notes of the character - his insanity, his twisted view on life, his doing things for no real reason, but just to do it. His relationship with Batman is extremely true to the comics thanks to the brilliance of the screenplay and Ledger. The interrogation scene in the police station and the dialogue between Batman and the Joker near the end are highlights. This was a very well defined rendition of the Joker that will be extremely difficult to top. Ledger's performance alone will make this movie extremely rewatchable.

Then there's Aaron Eckhart and the character of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, a character that had yet to be fully realized in a Batman movie (Batman Forever did not do the character justice, no pun intended, at all). Finally, we get a very well realized character arc, a tragic tale of the white knight, Harvey Dent, an honorable man destined for a tragic downfall. Thank you Christopher Nolan for finally delivering a worthy tale of the tragic character Dent. Aaron Eckhart was fabulous. I always liked him as an actor, but I think this has been his finest performance yet. He makes Dent a very likable person who you hate seeing go through what he goes through over the course of the movie. His transition into Two-Face is very well done, very believable. They establish many of the traits that would go into that personality very well at the beginning. The way they incorporate the coin was well executed.

Christian Bale is good once again as Batman. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are their usually reliable selves, bringing nice comic relief at points. A welcome cameo by Cillian Murphy adds a nice touch and I thought Eric Roberts actually did quite well as mob boss Sal Maroni, who deals with the Joker, but not completely happy about having to do so.

This was a two and a half hour movie, but it moves fast. The interweaving of the story lines, particularly with the Joker and Dent was impressively done. The strength of the movie is the strong story and memorable characters. I'd highly recommend it. One of the movies that actually lives up to the hype.

Serendipity (2001)

Unlikable main characters sink the movie

[1/10 · 25 June 2008]

I like romantic comedies, (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding, Pretty Woman are some favorites of mine), so I am not writing this out of any hate whatsoever for the idea of a romantic comedy.

Having said that, this movie ticked me off. The main characters, how do I say this in a family friendly forum, were jerks to put it mildly. The movie's obvious goal was to make me like them and root for them to wind up together. But by the end of the movie, I saw them as the villains with the way they treated their fiancées. But I've gotten ahead of myself here, my bad, my apologies.

The premise of the movie is that John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale meet at a store at the beginning of the movie and hit it off (both characters were stated as currently dating others at the time, establishing what would an annoying pattern of behavior throughout the film.) Beckinsale's flaky character suggests writing their numbers on a 5 dollar bill and a book and if they come across them, they were meant to be together.

Some time later, Cusack is engaged to Bridget Moynahan and Beckinsale is engaged to John Corbett's character. Both of the fiancé's are decent and don't deserve the treatment they get from our villai- I mean main characters, so sorry. Cusack spends the whole of his week before he is supposed to be married looking for that book with Beckinsale's number and Beckinsale isn't much better. Their callous disregard for their fiancé's caused me to lose any interest to care about them. I felt particularly bad for Bridget Moynahan's character, who proved to be a nice and lovely fiancé who really loved Cusack's character, yet was set up for heartbreak. The end of the movie evoked sympathy for the supporting character fiancé's and rage at the main characters, who I saw having no redeeming qualities.

As I said, I enjoy romantic comedies when they are well done. Part of well done means making the main characters likable to the point where you are rooting for them to get together and you cheer at the end when/if the happy ending comes.

Here, the main characters, I thought were self-absorbed inconsiderate people who I pretty much considered villains at the end. So to me, this particular romantic comedy failed on its goal.

I do not recommend this movie. (as if I had left any doubt to my feelings in my review)

Get Smart (2008)

A decent movie thanks to Johnson and Arkin

[7/10 · 25 June 2008]

I was a big fan of the Get Smart television series as a kid, so I was looking forward to this. But if you come in expecting the TV show, you'll be disappointed. As a stand alone movie, its a decent comedy. But give me Don Adams as Maxwell Smart and Barbara Feldon's 99 any day. Thats not saying Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway aren't watchable because they are. They just pale in comparison to their television show counterparts.

Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin were the highlights of the movie. Johnson, I was expecting. The role seemed tailor made for him and it was obvious from the previews that he was going to stand out. Arkin, I was surprised at. He was a lot funnier and livelier than I was expecting. The hot-headed aspect of the Chief added a new dimension which suited the movie well. Terence Stamp and Ken Davitian do a decent job as Siegfried and Shtarker respectively (but again, don't hold a candle to originals Bernie Kopell and King Moody), and the cameo by Kopell, was a nice touch, as well as the reference to the line "Shtarker, this is KAOS, we don't (insert various line/fake sound effect) here".

This movie was fun and decent, but the television show was definitely much better. Hopefully the interest in this movie, will get the uninitiated to check out the television show.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Blanchett and Ford make this a fun time at the movies.

[9/10 · 26 May 2008]

I came into this movie not expecting the second coming. With all the hype Indiana Jones 4 had received due to long running rumors about when the movie would finally be made, it was inevitable that the movie would create a division between people who enjoyed it and people who would be severely let down.

While I thought they could have tackled a better storyline than aliens and crystal skulls, nevertheless, I came in just hoping for a good time and didn't expect the aforementioned second coming. Lo and behold, the movie delivered on a good time thanks in large part to Cate Blanchett's and Harrison Ford's performances.

It was great seeing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones again. It was a long time coming and he didn't disappoint. It was like being reunited with an old friend. They worked the age factor very well into the film, and Ford was his usual stellar self.

Cate Blanchett, simply put, stole the show. It was quite clear she was having a blast playing the villain Irina Spalko and it reflected in her enthusiastic performance which gave a whole lot of life to the film. The charismatic Spalko is a more than worthy addition to the pantheon of Indy villains.

Shia LeBeouf, who I doubted when he was first casted, does a good job as Mutt Williams. Karen Allen's return as Marion Ravenwood was a delight and her chemistry with Harrison Ford was fun to watch. And its always good to see Ray Winstone, who is becoming one of my favorite character actors.

The movie has its flaws - I wasn't too crazy about the alien storyline, and some of the moments, such as the Tarzan moment in the jungle go a bit too over the top. But overall, its a fun ride and a worthy addition to the Indiana Jones series.

Batman Begins (2005)

Blows the other excuses for Batman movies out of the water

[10/10 · 28 November 2006]

I was very lukewarm about seeing Batman Begins when it came out. The Tim Burton movies were okay, if a little cheesy. Batman Forever was fun to watch, but it had no story and butchered the character of Two-Face. Batman and Robin was a flat-out abomination.

I was shocked at how good Batman Begins was. I'd go as far as to say Begins has become one of my all-time favorite movies. It was the complete package- good story, complex characters brought to life by the stellar acting, and the action scenes were very well executed.

The decision to reboot the story saved the Batman franchise. And Christian Bale, who I hadn't been familiar with before seeing the movie, did a great job of making Bruce Wayne a complex character and showing his struggles of balancing his desire for revenge with true justice.

Michael Caine makes a terrific Alfred, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman also give their usual good performances. But to me, the two standouts were Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard and Cillian Murphy as Jonathon Crane/Scarecrow. Neeson uses his mentor image to good effect with a nice twist involved and he plays off very well against Bale. And Murphy steals every scene he is as the creepy psychologist Crane who is up to no good.

Fantastic movie in every aspect. Christopher Nolan has gained so much confidence from me from this movie, that I trust him with the selection of Heath Ledger as the Joker for the sequel, a bit of casting that I would usually take with some skepticism. But after Begins, I give Nolan the benefit of the doubt with little hesitation.

The other excuses for Batman movies are a joke compared to this. This is what a Batman movie should be. 10/10.

Licence to Kill (1989)

Under-appreciated Bond flick.

[10/10 · 28 November 2006]

I loved this movie back when it first came out in 1989, and it still holds up well today. Timothy Dalton is absolutely terrific in his second outing as Bond, and I really wish we could have been treated to more Dalton outings as 007. He brought a level of humanity to Bond that really works in a story such as this one in which revenge is a central theme. One of the things I liked about Dalton's Bond was that he got enraged when a friend or ally was killed, whereas in some of the other Bond movies, Bond seemed more indifferent. I can't speak highly enough of what Dalton did with the role.

Robert Davi makes an equally memorable villain as the drug lord Sanchez. The scene where he has Felix Leiter maimed by the shark is chilling. While Sanchez has a sadistic side to him, Davi also conveys a very interesting code of honor in the character as well, making Sanchez much more than a one-dimensional cookie cutter villain. I put in my top 5 of best Bond villains.

The rest of the cast is excellent. Carey Lowell is a refreshingly capable Bond girl. Anthony Zerbe does well as the sub-villain, Krest. And a very young Benicio del Toro is a standout with his menacing presence as Dario, Sanchez's chief assassin.

The action scenes are thrilling, especially with the gasoline trucks at the end. And Gladys Knight does a good job with the theme song.

I highly recommend Licence to Kill. 10/10.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Good casting choices

[10/10 · 5 July 2003]

Terminator 3 was a very enjoyable movie due to both a good story and good casting choices to surround Arnold. Kristanna Lokan is the standout of the movie as the ultra-sexy and menacing Terminatrix (TX). She has terrific screen presence and makes for a cold and relentless villain, on par with Robert Patrick's terrific turn as the T-1000 in T2. Here's hoping Lokan gets more good roles in the future. Nick Stahl and Claire Danes both do well in the pivotal parts of John Conner and Katie Brewster. The relationship between these two characters is central to the film and Danes and Stahl showed good chemistry together.

The story I thought was very good with an interesting blend of humor with a grim storyline. It worked, though. The movie manages to tell a good story without being too pretentious or taking itself too seriously. The ending was certainly an eyebrow raiser and certainly distinguishes it from the other two Terminator films.

One complaint I have was the lack of the Terminator theme music in the movie(until the end credits, anyway). But other than that, I thought the movie did what it set out to do- tell an interesting story while entertaining the audience. 10/10