The Gray Man (Movie Review)

Netflix has been in the news a lot lately, as the company continues to struggle amidst an evolving streaming landscape. It hasn't all been bad news or lost subscribers though, with the streamer managing to score some major viewership wins through the most recent season of Stranger Things. And now it is once again making a play for theater quality thrills with its latest spy thriller, The Gray Man. But considering a price tag that ranks the film as one of its most expensive, the question becomes whether or not this new blockbuster even manages to justify its existence.

The film stars Ryan Gosling as Sierra Six, a black ops mercenary working for the CIA. He soon finds himself becoming the agency's latest target after he comes into possession of some incriminating evidence. In a bid to stop him, the agency resorts to enlisting the services of a former agent named Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans). But Lloyd proves to be a little more than they can handle, after he shows his willingness to go to any lengths to bring down his target, with no regard for collateral damage.

If it sounds like you've heard that synopsis before then it's probably because you have. Because for all its blockbuster ambitions, The Gray Man is yet another cookie-cutter spy thriller about the shady dealings of intelligence agencies. That is not to say that its derivativeness is an immediate death sentence to the film's prospects, but it surely won't be scoring any points for originality. Where it does attempt to set itself apart from those that came before it though is in its scope and execution.

Much like the novel it is based upon, the movie finds our lead embroiled in an adventure of international espionage. And Ryan Gosling slips into the role of Sierra Six like a glove, with a performance that strikes the right balance between stoic and self-aware. Ana De Armas is likewise very badass as his partner, Dani, although her turn in this film was nowhere as scene-stealing as the one she'd given in No Time to Die. But the biggest standout was of course Chris Evans, who fully embodies the unhinged nature of the film's main antagonist with a performance that could be considered mustache-twirling but comically so.

The movie also looks good for the most part, although I suspect that might depend on your tolerance for its overreliance on drone shots and shaky cam footage. It is also well-paced, never seeming to lose any steam during its two-hour runtime. The Russo brothers clearly know how to keep viewers engaged as they've proven time and time again in their MCU offerings, and they know just when to drop the big setpiece moments that have since grown to define their work.

Some of the action sequences in their latest film are genuinely thrilling to watch, especially if you like over-the-top stunts of the Michael Bay variety. There was one particular chase scene involving a train that is guaranteed to have action junkies at the edge of their seats, showcasing where most of the $200 million production budget went. But anyone expecting thrills of a more cerebral kind would be best off tempering those expectations beforehand.

The Gray Man is ultimately let down by an all-too-familiar story that is just serviceable enough to see it through to the finish line. Its three main stars help to pick up some of the slack, while its action scenes at least give viewers something bright and shiny to ogle at. But none of that is enough to save what essentially feels like another soulless action film being churned out by Netflix in a bid to pad out their growing library of on-demand movies.

Thor: Love and Thunder (Movie Review)

The fourth film to center upon the misadventures of the MCU's resident god of thunder has arrived. And its arrival marks the return of Taika Waititi who once again takes his place in the director's chair, looking to replicate some of the magic he had infused into Thor: Ragnarok. But does his latest film manage to surpass the lofty heights of the previous one or is this just another case of more of the same?

The story picks up right where Avengers: Endgame left off, with Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) now a proud member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Meanwhile, a new villain named Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) lives up to his name by wreaking havoc across several planets as he goes around slaying their gods. This would force Thor to set off on a quest to stop him before he rids the entire galaxy of all the gods. But Thor would need all the help he can get, even if it means looking for it in the most unexpected places.

The Thor movies haven't always been in the topmost tier of the MCU. All that had changed with Thor: Ragnarok of course, a movie that many considered a pleasant surprise with how well it balanced some of its heavier subject matters with moments of levity. But with that sense of surprise now gone, Thor: Love and Thunder can't help but feel like another attempt to capture lightning in a bottle. 

This is my way of saying your enjoyment of the film could very well hinge on how much you enjoyed the last one. Because for better or worse, the new film doubles down on a lot of the humor and overall lightheartedness that has since come to define the series. Taika Waititi once again proves that he knows how to handle these characters, bringing out yet another round of standout performances from the cast. Christian Bale was formidable as Gorr, while Russell Crowe provided some of the movie's biggest laughs.

The whole thing did tend to border a little too close to the edge of slapstick this time around though, and while not every single one of its jokes might land, there is bound to be at least one or two that will get even the most jaded or cynical of moviegoers chuckling out loud. I particularly found the two goats to be comically obnoxious, and there was a line about Gorr's teeth that had me in stitches.

Aside from getting its audience to laugh, the movie still needs to provide some decent action to be considered a true product of the MCU. And it certainly delivers on those fronts as well, with some of the most gloriously over-the-top action and heavily stylized blood and gore I've seen in a PG-13 movie. There is one particular scene that was shot in stunning black and white, using splashes of color to depict the interplay between light and shadow. It is such moments that helped elevate the film beyond being just another formulaic entry in the Thor series and larger MCU.

Thor: Love and Thunder employs a lot of the same tricks that helped define Thor: Ragnarok, particularly its reliance on humor to tell an otherwise dark and heartfelt story. Taika Waititi has already proven through prior films like Jojo Rabbit that he knows how to tug on people's heartstrings when he needs to, and he does that so effortlessly in this one. The film might not quite manage to reach or exceed the sheer brilliance of Thor: Ragnarok, but it still offers enough entertainment value to be considered a good time at the movies.

Top Gun: Maverick (Movie Review)

Long before he became one of Hollywood's most recognizable leading men, Tom Cruise had starred in Top Gun, a film that would go on to become one of the biggest breakout movies of the 1980s. Not only would it gross several times its production budget during its original theatrical run, but it would also produce a successful soundtrack album that would earn it an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite all that success, it would take three and a half decades before we finally got a sequel in the form of Top Gun: Maverick. Now that the new film is out in theaters, I figured I would share my thoughts on whether or not it was worth the wait.

The film takes place 36 years after the original, with Captain Pete Mitchell, aka Maverick (Tom Cruise), still working as a naval pilot. Unlike most of his peers, he has refused to advance within the Navy's ranks, just so he can continue flying. But after a reckless maneuver during a test flight causes his superiors to ground him indefinitely, he is given a lifeline by an old friend (Val Kilmer). He is to return to TOPGUN, a school where the very best naval aviators get trained. But not as a student, but rather as an instructor for a new batch of hotshot pilots, as they prepare for the most dangerous mission of their collective careers.

On the surface, a movie like Top Gun: Maverick might look like yet another attempt by a Hollywood studio to revive an old intellectual property using nostalgia and star power. But to dismiss it as such would be doing a disservice to the amount of love and care that has gone into crafting the film. Director Joseph Kosinski has already shown that he has a keen eye for striking visuals through films like Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, and the same vision is on full display in his latest film. The whole thing was filmed in 6K IMAX with over 800 hours of aerial photography captured. The result is some of the most breathtaking visuals to be shown at the cinemas all year and a movie that simply begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

All those beautiful shots wouldn't mean anything if the film itself didn't have a decent enough story holding everything together, or if that story didn't center around a cast of relatable characters. Thankfully, the movie has both those areas covered with a solid script that hits all the required story beats as it builds up to an intense climax. Tom Cruise also gives one of his better performances while his co-stars all get to shine in their own ways. The fact that a lot of the film was filmed inside the cockpits of actual fighter jets thousands of feet in the air lends those performances a believability that can't be replicated on a green screen, and the film is better for it.

If there's one aspect of the movie that I could single out for criticism then that would have to be just how heavily it leans into the nostalgia factor. The film practically opens with a shot-for-shot reenactment of the first film's title sequence. It also has a number of callbacks sprinkled throughout its runtime. These include everything from Miles Teller's Rooster rocking the same mustache as Goose, as well as an overreliance on flashbacks to help fill in the gaps of its story. But it is hard to truly fault the movie for any of this, not when everything else is handled so well.

Top Gun: Maverick is another rare sequel that manages to improve upon its predecessor in every conceivable way. It joins the ranks of Blade Runner 2049 and Mad Max: Fury Road to serve as shining examples of how old franchises can be updated for a modern-day audience. While its success is only going to open the floodgates for even more 80s films to be revived or rebooted in the months and years to come, I am still glad that we got this one and that it turned out as well as it did.

Jurassic World Dominion (Movie Review)

The third movie in the Jurassic World trilogy has finally arrived following the surprising turn of events at the end of the last one. Billed as the final film in the larger Jurassic Park franchise, this entry serves as a union of old and new, bringing back beloved characters from the original movie. But does the new film give those characters a worthwhile adventure to embark on or is this merely another retread that relies too heavily on nostalgia?

Set four years after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the film takes place in a world where dinosaurs run rampant and mankind has quickly adapted to their presence. And by adapted, I am referring to the fact that the nefarious among us have found creative ways to exploit the situation, be it through black market auctions or what have you. The new balance would soon be upset though when the greed and ambitions of yet another bioengineering company threatens to bring both species to extinction.

The Jurassic Park movies haven't really had to do too much to justify their existence over the years. Ever since the brilliant original,  all subsequent entries have adhered to the same basic template, for better or worse. They've all had serviceable stories interspersed with some tense dinosaur encounters and setpiece moments. And going by those standards, Jurassic World Dominion is up to snuff.

That said, I must first start by acknowledging that its well-worn formula has started to show its age. There are only so many times a T. Rex can show up at the last minute to save the day after all, before the whole thing starts to feel stale. So the new film certainly won't be scoring any points for inventiveness. Also, the sequels have never quite been able to replicate the awe and wonder we all felt the first time we saw dinosaurs milling about in Jurassic Park, and the same holds true for this one. The film tries hard to replicate shots and key moments from the first film, none of which ever manage to reach the same heights or capture the same thrills.

But all that should go without saying at this point, and Jurassic World Dominion isn't without its own share of thrills. It does take a while before the movie really kicks into gear but once it does, you'll be pretending to fear for the safety of our protagonists along with everyone else. It was nice seeing all three actors from the first film together again, though to call their inclusion in this movie anything other than nostalgia bait would be disingenuous. 

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard likewise continue to prove themselves capable leads. But make no mistake, the dinosaurs are the true stars of the show, with old favorites like Blue the velociraptor and the T. Rex making a return, as well as a pair of new apex predators that look like the stuff of nightmares. The film has all the tense moments the franchise is known for, even if none of it looks quite as cutting edge as it once did.

My biggest issue with the movie, however, stems from how it manages to gloss over its intriguing premise. Given how the last film had ended, it is a bit disappointing to see how quickly the entire world has come to grips with dinosaurs walking among us. Granted, it's been four years since those dinosaurs broke out from their confines on Isla Nublar, but it would've still been nice if we had gotten to see at least some of that initial chaos hinted at in the prologue for the film that was released last year.

Jurassic World Dominion brings both the new trilogy and the overall franchise to a somewhat subdued close. It does more than enough to be considered an entertaining time at the movies, no doubt, but it does so without any of the flair and brilliance that started the whole thing in the first place. And even though the film has been heavily marketed as the final one in the series, we all know it is only a matter of time before we get another new entry or trilogy. Because much like those shady bioengineering companies, the one thing a Hollywood studio can't pass up on is an opportunity to make even more money.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Movie Review)

The concept of alternate realities is one that has been explored in countless works of fiction. There is something deeply fascinating behind the idea that somewhere out there exists other versions of ourselves. In the span of just a few short months, we've gotten movies like The Matrix Resurrections and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also taking a stab at this subject matter, both with varying levels of success. And now we have Everything Everywhere All at Once, a movie that is already poised to give all those other works a run for their money.

The film stars Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang, an ordinary woman whose barely-together life is shaken even further after she starts receiving instructions from an alternate universe. Her reality is just one of several that make up the multiverse, all of which are now being threatened by a mysterious enemy seeking to destroy it all. And out of the multitude of Evelyns that exist in the multiverse, hers is the only one capable of unlocking the unique set of skills needed to prevent this from happening. 

If it sounds like you've heard that plot summary before, that's because you probably have. For all intents and purposes, this is the same basic premise from the 2001 sci-fi movie, The One. Except instead of Jet Li turning two motorcycles into lethal weapons, we have a just as capable Michelle Yeoh, and the craziness surrounding its high-concept premise has been dialed all the way up to 11. 

 

But to say that Everything Everywhere All at Once is nothing more than a rehash of older films would be very reductive and also not true at all. It is, simply put, a transcendent work that manages to outdo everything that came before it at every turn. The film itself almost defies classification, taking all its familiar concepts and using them as a springboard to craft something truly profound. 

 

Its narrative touches upon everything from existential crisis to the meaning of life itself, and it does so with a surprising level of heart you wouldn't expect from what is essentially a comedy with plenty of visual gags and some gross-out humor. But it is the way in which all its disparate genres have been stitched together that lends the film its uniqueness, resulting in one of the wildest cinematic rides that I've been on since Mad Max: Fury Road.

At the core of that experience is a career-best performance from Michelle Yeoh. She channels the full gamut of her skill set in order to bring Evelyn to life, from her nuanced dramatic acting and comedic timing to some of the most creative uses of martial arts seen outside of a Jackie Chan movie. Her role was actually originally intended for the seasoned actor and it is easy to see how the current iteration of the character pays homage to his earlier work.

Everything Everywhere All at Once lives up to its promise of a wild and wacky adventure that is unlike anything you've seen before. Its high-concept premise wouldn't feel out of place in a Rick and Morty episode and I mean that in the best way possible. Some aspects of its narrative might not appeal to everyone's tastes, but there is indeed something here for every type of movie fan. This is the true Multiverse of Madness and the fact that it is able to tell a compelling story while passing a heartfelt message is reason enough for why it is worthy of your time.

The Northman (Movie Review)

After making a stunning directorial debut with The Witch in 2015, Robert Eggers returns to helm The Northman, his most ambitious project yet. The historical epic is said to have cost somewhere north of $70 million to make, a huge jump from the shoestring budgets behind his two previous films. But does all that additional money translate into a better movie, or does his latest film get bogged down by the conventions of blockbuster filmmaking?

The film is loosely based upon the legend of Amleth, a Viking prince on a quest for vengeance. Having witnessed his father die at the hands of his uncle, he vows to save his mother from his evil clutches and to bring bloody retribution to the usurper. But it would appear that the gods have greater things in store for Amleth, and he'll be forced to choose between fulfilling that destiny or carrying out his revenge on those who have wronged him and anyone standing in his way. 

From the moment I first caught wind of The Northman, it looked like a film with heaps of potential. Not only was it being helmed by one of the freshest visionaries working in Hollywood today, but it also had him stepping outside of his comfort zone to tackle something that looked very grand in its ambitions. But don't let its big-budget aspirations fool you; The Northman is still an arthouse film at its core. This is not a knock on the film or its marketing by the way, just my way of attempting to help set realistic expectations. 

 

Its classic revenge tale is interspersed with plenty of surrealist imagery, and the action takes a back seat in favor of beautiful shot compositions. All these things work together to lend the film a visual identity that has Robert Eggers' fingerprints all over it. Even the dialogue and the actors' deliveries bring to mind his prior work on both The Witch and The Lighthouse. And much like those films, this latest one has a supernatural element that has you questioning what is real or make believe.

Speaking of actors, the film has a stellar ensemble that features past collaborators like Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe, as well as Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke. Each one goes above and beyond with their performances, helping elevate the material past the appeal of a typical revenge flick.

Gore hounds would also be pleased to know that the film wears its R-rating like a badge of honor. This is a movie about Vikings after all, doing Viking stuff and generally being loud and aggressive. There are more than a few decapitations and disembowelments sprinkled throughout the film but it never becomes needlessly excessive.

The Northman marks yet another win for Robert Eggers, proving that he can just as easily excel at big-budget productions. It is easy to see where all the money went with its high production values and mesmerizing visuals. Its violence and artful approach might not be to everyone's taste, but its brisk pacing and easy-to-follow story should ensure that it stays captivating enough for everyone else.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Movie Review)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues its expansion into realms unknown in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Billed as the MCU's first true stab at horror, they'd picked what many felt was the perfect director to bring this darker side of the universe to the big screen. But does Sam Raimi manage to do justice to the material, or is this perhaps another misstep in the highly-beloved franchise.

The film picks up after the former Sorcerer Supreme's shenanigans in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But in terms of overall continuity, the movie has closer ties with the first Doctor Strange film and his involvement in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, as well as WandaVision and certain story beats from Marvel's What If...? Because of this, the aforementioned stories seem like required viewing in order to fully grasp what is going on here.

In terms of the film's actual plot though, it is hard to discuss any of it without immediately falling into spoiler territory. I'm still shocked by how much of it was already revealed in the trailers. But believe me when I say that none of that is enough to prepare you for the true scope of the film, which goes beyond anything you could've imagined. There are plenty of twists along the way and the fact that they were able to condense all that storytelling into two hours is a feat in itself.

So I'll just jump right into my thoughts about the film, which I thought was amazing. Or to put it in another way, the film was every bit as wild and bonkers as its trailers promised, and then some. It delves into areas of Marvel lore that have seldom been explored outside of the comic books, showing once again that Kevin Feige and his writers still have a vast sea of material to craft stories from.

It also paints a bright picture for the future of the MCU, with crowd-pleasing cameos that hint at great things to come down the road ahead. And speaking of paint and pictures, Multiverse of Madness is easily the most visually-striking film in the MCU, managing to outdo the already mind-bending first Doctor Strange movie at every turn. 

Sam Raimi really goes all in with the otherworldly depictions of the various beings and creatures that call the darkest recesses of the multiverse home, lending the film his signature touch and never shying away from becoming too scary or graphic with its violence. It might not be a straight-up horror film but this is as close to horror as the MCU has ever managed to get, and I am here for it.

I do indeed need to also touch upon the stars of the whole thing. It is, after all, still a Doctor Strange movie. Both Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch give what is perhaps their best performances as their respective characters since they'd set foot in the MCU, while Xochitl Gomez makes a memorable debut as America Chavez. It was also nice seeing both Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor reprise their roles from the first film, and Benedict Wong gets to shine like never before.

It is almost tempting for me to end the review here and declare that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a perfect film. But if I'm to point out any perceived flaws in its storytelling, then it's the fact that the film often felt too overstuffed for its two-hour runtime. It is also worth mentioning that the horror elements might not be to everyone's taste, especially families with younger children who'd grown to love these characters over the course of the previous films. But if you're a fan of Sam Raimi and his work on past films like Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell, then there's plenty to love about this one.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a treat for the eyes and senses. But even more than that, it is one of those rare sequels that manages to upstage its original. I haven't been this thoroughly entertained by a Sam Raimi film since Spider-Man 2. The director once again proves why his unique sensibilities work so well in the context of a comic book movie, and it is that vision that carries his latest film through in the end.

365 Days: This Day (Movie Review)

Netflix just keeps delivering the goods, beefing up its catalog of quality at-home entertainment with banger after banger. All jokes and puns aside though, the streaming giant has been in the news recently for losing subscribers despite the immense success of shows like Squid Game. But with movies like 365 Days on the opposite end of the spectrum, it is easy to imagine why. We are not here to discuss the company's financial woes alas, but rather their sequel to one of 2020's most notorious movies.

Following the cliffhanger ending seen in the last film, the new one opens with a dreamlike sequence that wastes no time in showing viewers what type of movie it is: a glorified telenovela filmed like a string of music videos masking as an erotic thriller. But if you somehow manage to make it past that opening without clicking off Netflix, then you'll discover that the story begins one day before the wedding between our two protagonists, Massimo and Laura.

The movie wastes no time in brushing aside all the loose threads from the last one. Not only is Laura alive and well, but she is also no longer pregnant. I guess a baby bump or motherly duties would have gotten in the way of all the steamy sex scenes they had planned for the film. That one detail aside, we finally get to see our two lovers legitimize their romance through holy matrimony. 

But the honeymoon phase doesn't last very long and Laura is soon forced to grapple with what it truly means to be the wife of a mafioso. In the midst of all that grappling walks in Massimo 2.0, a hired hand named Nacho whose textbook advances slowly begin to win Laura's affections. Now Laura must also grapple with her loyalty to Massimo as the very foundation of their ill-conceived love gets tested.

Let me just start by saying that I realize there is a target audience for these types of low-brow erotic films, and that I am clearly well outside that demographic. That said, every movie is still made up of the same fundamental elements like plot and characterization, regardless of genre. And while individual films might be shaped by genre conventions, those basics still act like the glue holding the whole thing together. So I figured I'd assess this one on those very grounds.

In terms of plot, the story in 365 Days: This Day is pretty much the same generic "trouble in paradise" tale we've seen a million times in better films. But here it is cobbled together so sloppily that the mere act of sitting through it feels like a chore. The characters are likewise one-dimensional with often questionable motives, spouting meme-worthy lines of dialogue while failing to show any meaningful growth or development. But I bet no one was heading into this film expecting any different.

In fact, I'm pretty certain the only reason this film was green-lit was to tap into the demand for female-skewing erotic entertainment ala 50 Shades of Grey, and on those grounds, its existence seems almost justified. Noticed I'd said almost because the sex scenes themselves are so heavily scripted and overproduced that they can't help but come across as stiff and comically so. But I suppose if that's what you're here for then at least there's enough of it to make enduring all the bad dialogue and sloppy writing seem worthwhile.

In case I haven't made it clear enough at this point, 365 Days: This Day is as bottom-of-the-barrel as it gets. It caters to the lowest common denominator in a way that even defenders of the original film (all two or three of them) are bound to feel insulted. There are, quite frankly, far better erotic films out there for those that care enough to seek them out, making it very hard to recommend this one to anyone but the laziest of Netflix subscribers.

Morbius (Movie Review)

Coming fresh off of the success it had gotten with Spider-Man: No Way Home last Christmas, all eyes are on Sony and the third film in their villain-centric Spider-Man Universe, Morbius. This is after several delays that saw the film get moved out of its original 2020 release date, all the way to April 1st, 2022. And as trailers continued to sell us on the film's connections to Spider-Man and the other villains in his rogue's gallery, so also did our interest continue to grow. But like a cruel April Fool joke that nobody saw coming, the movie finally arrives to show us that things are not quite what they seem.

The film stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a doctor who was born with a rare blood disorder. In his quest to find a cure for his illness, he begins to conduct experiments with a peculiar breed of bats he believes have the enzyme needed to reverse his condition. But the experiment ends up also giving him some of their other vampire-like qualities, including their insatiable thirst for human blood. Now Morbius must wrestle against becoming the monster people already see him as, before he ends up hurting those who are dearest to him.

On the surface, Morbius looks like a film with lots of potential. We have a fairly popular antihero from the Spider-Man comic books being played by a more-than-capable Jared Leto. We also have the promise of connections to the larger Sony Spider-Man Universe. Most importantly though, we have an origin story that looked like it would deliver both the heart and thrills we've all come to expect from these comic book movies.

And sure enough, the movie starts off with all of the aforementioned promises intact. But it doesn't take very long before the whole thing quickly loses its way with an incoherence that needs to be seen to be believed. Everything from the dialogue, to the one-dimensional characters reeks of a script that needed more than a few more passes in the writing room.

The one area where the film could have scored any kind of redemption points is in its action scenes and even those are marred with a CGI-heavy style that seems ripped straight out of the mid-2000s. It is difficult to tell what is happening at any given moment and most times you just want the whole thing to stop before you develop a headache trying to decipher any of it.

But the movie's biggest offense in my opinion is its utter failure to live up to expectations. The film was heavily marketed as a part of the larger Sony Spider-Man Universe. But any connection it has with the recent Spider-Man films is tenuous at best. In fact, many of the scenes and connections shown in the trailers are nowhere to be seen in the actual movie, in what is probably the most egregious case of false advertising I have seen in recent memory.

It is not all doom and gloom though, as the film did have one or two areas that managed to shine through the murk. First there is Jared Leto as Morbius, whose performance was heartfelt and restrained. Then there was the opening bit like I said, which looked like it should've led into a far better movie than the one we got. Except none of that is enough to save what is essentially another movie more concerned with building an interconnected universe than actually telling a coherent story.

To say that Morbius is a barely comprehensible mess would be putting it lightly. It is, quite simply, one of the worst comic book movies to grace cinema screens since Vin Diesel's Bloodshot. Anyone planning to catch the film on the big screen is advised to do so with heaps of garlic and holy water in tow. And even then, you'll be hard pressed to glean any kind of enjoyment out of its 1 hour and 44 minutes, other than perhaps chuckling at just how bad the whole thing ends up becoming.

Turning Red (Movie Review)

Pixar Animation Studio continues to deliver the goods with Turning Red, their latest coming-of-age adventure film. The movie is helmed by Domee Shi in her feature film directorial debut, whose work on the 2018 short film, Bao, had earned her an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. So anticipation for her latest project was always going to be high, which has only been further heightened by its intriguing premise and good-looking trailers. But does the film itself live up to those expectations, or does it manage to exceed them?

In Turning Red, 13-year-old Mei Lee seems to have everything figured out. She's a straight-As scoring student that balances her free time between helping out her mum at their family-run Temple and hanging out with her close-knit friends, Miriam, Abby, and Priya (not to mention the bond they've forged over their shared obsession with the terribly misnamed boy band, 4*Town).

But beneath her cool exterior lies a girl still struggling to accept the changes that come with adolescence, least of which includes her sudden attraction to members of the opposite sex. And things become even more complicated when she also starts transforming into a giant red panda whenever she experiences an emotional outburst. Now she must learn to keep things under control or risk having her once-straightforward life come crashing down around her.

When it was first announced that Turning Red was going to be skipping theaters in favor of a Disney+ debut, I'd initially felt a jolt of disappointment. This was after all one of the films I was looking forward to the most in 2022, and the third straight Pixar film being sent to the streaming service following both Soul and Luca. But much like those other films had done in 2020 and 2021 respectively, this one also manages to shine despite being relegated to the small screen in key territories.

This has a lot to do with the movie's overall charm and its strong message about the value of friendship. Even though that message would appear geared towards teenage girls, much of what is depicted should be instantly recognizable for anyone who grow up in the late 90s or early 2000s, especially during the height of boy band mania. And while Mei Lee's hijinx are often played for laughs, watching her and her friends navigate adolescence and its inherent messiness is something we can all relate to on some level.

On the production front, Turning Red is completely gorgeous to look at. But I'm pretty sure you already knew that, given Pixar's past work and their tendency for producing top-of-the-line animation. A talented voice cast helps to bring that animation to life, including Sandra Oh as Mei Lee's mother, Ming. Brother and sister duo Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell also populate its soundtrack with some period-accurate pop songs, while Ludwig Goransson rounds out the score.

Turning Red captures enough of the old Pixar magic to make it a worthwhile watch for the entire family. It serves as a great metaphor for the various changes that accompany a young girl's transition to womanhood, while still resonating with young and older audiences alike with some of the funniest gags to make it into an animated film under the Disney umbrella. Above all, it is a film about accepting one's self, even if that might not fit into the broader expectations of others or the ones we care about the most.