Every 2017 Movie That I've seen so far. (A-Z order)

(Updated on February 20, 2018) *FINAL UPDATE*

A Cure for Wellness: It contains a wealth of really good elements, but none of them come together to make a satisfying whole. Solid acting all-around. Plenty of visual flair and interesting shots. Impressive set design. 6/10

Atomic Blonde: Great action and plenty of visual flair make this film immensely enjoyable, though it's hard to look past the  needlessly confusing plot, which is chock full of double crosses, triple crosses, and false identities. 7/10

Baby Driver: Thrilling, perfectly paced, and backed by a killer soundtrack that's woven smartly into each scene. Edgar Wright continues to prove that he's one of the best directors in the industry. 9/10

Beauty and the Beast (2017): Enjoyable enough, but changes very little from the original and so feels unnecessary at best, redundant at worst. New songs and plot elements add nothing to the film. Poor audio mixing, especially in the musical numbers. 7/10

The Big Sick: Funny, real, and heartfelt every step of the way. A wonderful rom-com with great directing and performances. Themes of culture and ideals clash. Favorite film of 2017. 9.5/10

Blade Runner 2049: Slow, methodical pace may not be for everyone, but it's worth it to experience an engrossing narrative that builds upon the themes of the previous film. Great acting from all involved. Gorgeous visual effects made even better with Roger Deakins's masterful cinematography. Intense musical score. 9/10

The Book of Henry: Tonally confused, 90's-esque family movie with boring characters and an even more worthless story you'll likely forget soon after watching. Passable performances from Naomi Watts and Jacob Tremblay. Writing can sometimes be unintentionally silly. 5/10

The Bye Bye Man: Fails to be scary at any point, and is instead quite stupid, though far from the worst horror film. Perhaps the worst title for any horror film. First scene is laughably bad. 5/10

Call Me By Your Name: A solid love story with beautiful scenery and great performances, most especially from Timothee Chalamet, who is a revelation in his first leading role. Admittedly kind of awkward to watch at points, though that's just me. 7.5/10

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie: Nails the style of the books while successfully appealing to all audiences with both juvenile toilet humor and clever meta humor. Great animation. Ed Helms is great as the title character. 8/10

Coco: A beautifully animated adventure with plenty of great visual designs. Solid story about the importance of family and following your heart with some good performances. Came really close to crying. Remember Me is a great song, both in thematic context and just in general. 9/10

The Disaster Artist: A funny, fascinating profile of one of the strangest bad filmmakers of our time, and doubles as a treat for fans of The Room. James Franco is fantastic as Tommy Wiseau. Everybody else does a solid job. 8.5/10

Dunkirk: Outstanding in all areas of its production, direction, and score. Couldn't get attached to the characters, though. Plot structure seems confusing at first glance, though is actually quite simple. 9/10

The Emoji Movie: A soulless product that can't decide if it wants to be a total sellout or be cynical about smartphone culture. Virtually no laughs and is cliched as all get out, without an original bit of code in it's body. 4/10

Fifty Shades Darker: Doubles down on every problem with the first film, including being even more boring, has worse performances, and a worse soundtrack. Now comes with pointless subplots that are ended just as quickly as they are introduced. 4/10

Flatliners (2017): Plays like the most bog standard horror film you've ever seen. Like The Lazarus Effect, except with all the interesting ideas and decent chemistry sucked out of it. Forgettable characters and performances. 4/10

The Founder: Michael Keaton is good as Ray Kroc in this biopic about how he swindled the founders of McDonald's. Solid directing and dialogue. 7/10

Geostorm: An idiotic and boring disaster movie whose only purpose is to demonstrate why we stopped making disaster movies in the first place. Still not as bad as Roland Emmerich's 2012, at least. 4.5/10

Get Out: An unsettling Stepford Wives-esque horror film with solid racial and social commentary. Some decent black comedy. Great performances all around. Expertly paced. Score is used well. 8.5/10

Good Time: Feels like a long, strange night, one that's worth experiencing all over again. Interesting directing and great use of visuals. Robert Pattinson's best performance. 9/10

The Greatest Showman: Serviceable songs accompany a story fails to engage or interest on an emotional level. Solid performances all around. Music sounds too modern for the time period, but that's a personal gripe. 6/10

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2: Even if it can't live up to the first movie, it still manages to have plenty of blockbuster fun and action. Family dynamic between Peter Quill and Ego is engaging. 8/10

The Hero: A familiar story elevated by solid directing and Sam Elliott's great performance. Themes of age and past glories. Slow pace may not be for everyone. 8/10

IT (2017): Incredibly underwhelming, without a single decent scare. Performances were solid, except Skarsgard as Pennywise, who ends up being unintentionally funny more often than not. Earns the Conjuring 2 award for film loved by audiences and critics that I didn't like. 5.5/10

It Comes at Night: Tense, dark, and filled with paranoia, dread, and great performamces. Solid summer horror with an apocalyptic tone. 8/10

John Wick Chapter 2: A sequel that builds upon the great action of the original with some excellent scene choreography and direction. Knows how to pace itself well. Plenty of bloody fun. 9/10

Justice League: Mildly enjoyable, if disposable, superhero team-up film that lacks a consistent tone. Spends more time introducing the new characters than developing them in an interesting manner. Solid performances. Better than Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad. Steppenwulf is a completely lackluster villain. 6/10

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: An uninteresting and uninspired plot, one of the worst editing efforts in any film from 2017, and the most poorly made action scenes of the year make this one of the worst films of the year. 4.5/10

Kingsman: The Golden Circle: Though the first is better, this is still a fun movie, with better action than some films nowadays. Poppy is a much worse villain than Valentine from the first film. 7.5/10

Kong: Skull Island: A lot like an old-school creature feature with solid CGI. John C. Reilly is fun. Entertaining climax. 7/10

Lady Bird: An outstanding coming-of-age movie with plenty of great performances, especially Laurie Metcalf and a career-best Saoirse Ronan. Fantastic directing debut for Greta Gerwig. Realistic portrayal of adolescence. 9.5/10

The LEGO Batman Movie: A really funny and entertaining family film with great animation and action. Not quite as clever as The LEGO Movie. Great voicework all around. Batman's character arc is solid enough. 8.5/10

Logan: A great final film for the Wolverine character, with Hugh Jackman giving his best performance as the character. Great action. Girl who plays Laura is awesome. Strong themes of growing old and sick, and the passing of the torch. 9/10

The Lost City of Z: An intriguing historical character study that doubles as a solid old-school adventure film. Lots of beautiful cinematography. Charlie Hunnam is great in the lead. 8/10

mother!: A deliberately paced, well-acted treatise on the nature of man and his relationship with religion and nature. Insanely tense climax. Aronofsky builds on themes he explored in Noah. 9/10

The Mummy (2017): Completely forgettable action-adventure movie whose awful effects are matched only by the forced attempts to create a cinematic universe. Tom Cruise is hideously miscast and gives the worst performance in the film, though everyone else is also bad. 5/10

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017): Plenty enjoyable with great animation, a decent plot, and fine songs. Performances were great. Tempest Shadow is a throughly underwhelming villain. 7.5/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: A standard blockbuster movie that is only mildly enjoyable, though it is far too derivative of the other Pirates films. Salazar is a weak villain. 6.5/10

Saban's Power Rangers: A dumb and silly popcorn thriller that's pretty harmless all things considered but it suffers from an inconsistent tone. Lackluster special effects. 6/10

The Shack: Yet another awful Christian film, with some of the worst apologetics in the whole genre, most especially concerning the Problem of Evil. Passable performances and some solid cinematography. Worst film of 2017. 4/10

The Shape of Water: A stunning-looking film with great performances, especially a mute Sally Hawkins, giving a career best performance. A great musical score accompanies this love story. Weird and fantastical aesthetic. 9/10

The Snowman: A hideously edited, meaningless narrative, and uninteresting characters, make this a worthless film to sit through. Doesn't help that 15% of the screenplay wasn't filmed, which causes plot points to either be dropped or come from nowhere. 5/10

Spider-Man Homecoming: Exciting, entertaining, and Tom Holland is great in the role of Spider-Man. Michael Keaton as The Vulture is also great and is one of the only good villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 8.5/10

Split: A well-paced horror thriller that sees writer-director M. Night Shyamalan finally making a good movie again. James McAvoy is fantastically versatile at playing multiple personalities. Anya Taylor-Joy makes for a solid lead. Flashbacks to main character's childhood don't seem to have much purpose. 8/10

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Builds on what made Force Awakens work and throws in plenty of surprises to keep you on your toes. Great action and a solid, if repetitive, plot. Interesting themes of passing the torch and past sins. 9/10

Thor Ragnarok: Far better than the other two Thor movies and manages to be just as fun and enjoyable as some of the other Marvel movie, even if it's not as funny as some have said. The interaction between Thor and Hulk was solid. 7.5/10

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: A darkly comic examination of what justice should or should not be. Great performances, especially from Frances McDormand. Solid directing from Martin McDonagh. 9/10

Transformers: The Last Knight: Perhaps the worst of the Transformers films with some of the most amateurish filmmaking from a big-budget movie, right down to never having a consistent aspect ratio and the worst editing of the year. Awful performances everywhere. Action scenes are just plain awful. At least I didn't give Bay my money this time. 4/10

War for the Planet of the Apes: Expert pacing, storytelling, and a great performance from Serkis make this an outstanding conclusion to the trilogy. Further builds on the themes of the past films. Only major complaint is with Steve Zahn as Bad Ape, who feels like forced comic relief. 9.5/10

Wonder Woman: A decent plot, plenty of enjoyable action, and Gal Gadot being great as Wonder Woman make this not only a solid origin film, but also the best film in the DCEU so far, even though it is throughly formulaic. 7.5/10

Every 2016 Movie I've seen (Listed in A to Z order)

(Updated as of February 4, 2017) *LAST UPDATE*

The 5th Wave: A mediocre story with dull characters and below-average special effects. Very derivative of other films and novels. Maika Monroe is the only actor who has any fun. 5/10

10 Cloverfield Lane: One hell of a tense movie, with great performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and especially John Goodman, who is terrifying. Has a great ending twist. Greatly conveys a sense of isolation and a fear of the unknown. Little connection to Cloverfield. 9/10

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: A mediocre war movie from the mind of Michael Bay. Characters are pitifully one-dimensional and there is lack of any real excitement or tension, thus you don't care about their ultimate fates. A bit more mature Bay production. Historical accuracy possibly questionable. 5/10

A Monster Calls: At once a darkly whimsical and upliftingly sad film about how imagination is important but that we do have to grow up at some point. Plenty of great performances, especially from the child actor and Liam Neeson. Stories told by the monster have great animation. Like a darker BFG. Made me cry at the end. 9.5/10

Arrival: An uplifting sci-fi story about the power of language and how it brings us together. Great performances by everybody, especially Amy Adams. Fantastic musical score. Utilizes time travel in a way I've never seen. 9/10

Assassin's Creed: A convoluted plot and horrible direction make this the biggest insult to the franchise. Terrible action scenes. None of the characters have any personality, and all of the acting is mediocre. Attempts to be deep on the nature of man and violence, but it comes across as pretentious. 4/10

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice: An unfun monotonous experience. First scene is promising, but the rest of the first half is incompetently put together. Second half is better structured, but still dull. The fight between Batman and Superman is completely lame. Jesse Eisenberg is horrible as Lex Luthor. Ultimate Edition barely improves the film 4/10

Ben-Hur (2016): A remake totally devoid of everything that made the Charlton Heston version the cinematic classic that it is. Horribly directed. Made Jesus more prominent for no reason and adds nothing to the story. Chariot race scene is horribly staged and shot. 4.5/10

The BFG: Whimsical and fun in the best way and is quintessential Spielberg. Great visual effects and musical score. Mark Rylance is perfect as the BFG. 8.5/10

Blair Witch (2016): Looks like just another one of the imitators of the original, and is just as lackluster and unscary as any of them. Generally poor acting. Makes the stupid decision to show the witch, even if briefly. 5.5/10

The Boss: Melissa McCarthy does a great job as always, but the material she's given is lackluster. The supporting cast is incredibly weak and they do a poor job at being funny. 6/10

Captain America: Civil War: The best film in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Has the best action, effects and acting of the films. Does a good job of discussing freedom vs. control with regards to accountability of one's actions. 9.5/10

The Choice: Poorly paced and uninteresting in every sense of the word. Trite and cliched as hell, thus no originality. Male lead is somewhere between douchebag and creepy. Scene where he asks the girl to marry him caused me to hate him. 4.5/10

Collateral Beauty: A total failure of dramatic storytelling that completely wastes its great cast, who at least give solid peformances. Has zero understanding of how people interact with each other or how grief works. Trailer is grossly misleading. Main plot twist is terrible. 3/10

The Conjuring 2: Dull for its first two acts, then it gets silly in the third act. Blows its scare load in the first 5 minutes. Not really that scary and gets over the top. 5.5/10

The Darkness: One of the least scary horror films of the year and wastes a solid cast. Awful pacing and crappy acting. The beginning and the rest of the film are separated by a few months, which makes things utterly baffling. 4.5/10

Deadpool: Hilarious allthroughout, with a healthy dose of reference humor and fourth wall-breaking jokes. Plenty of solid action. The funniest Ryan Reynolds will ever be. Is everything you could want in a Deadpool movie. 9/10

Dirty Grandpa: Horrible, disgusting jokes allthroughout the movie and is hideously unfunny. Robert De Niro is at his absolute worst here. Lasts for far too long. Only decent joke is a fart joke (how sad). 3/10

The Divergent Series: Allegiant: What it lacks in plot (meaning very little actually happens), it more than makes up in absolute stupidity. None of the actors are actually trying. Jeff Daniel's main goal is confusing and completely nonsensical. Very little action. 4.5/10

Doctor Strange: Great special effects and Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as Doctor Stephen Strange make this one of the better films in the Marvel Cinematic canon. Strange has a great character arc. Mads Mikkelsen is solid as the villain. 8.5/10

Don't Breathe: A very frightening and tense horror movie in a year so devoid of them. excellent sound editing emphasizes the characters' breathing. Last scene is a somewhat clumsy attempt at commentary. 8.5/10

Elle: A slow, but very enjoyable film about how we deal with our personal tragedies. Isabelle Huppart holds the whole movie together. My first foreign language film that I've seen in theaters. 8.5/10

Eye in the Sky: The tensest film I've seen in years. It excellently debates the moral, political, and ethical aspects of performing a drone strike. Managed to give me the feels. Great cast that give great performances all around. 10/10

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Feels far too much like an introduction film and is lacking in intrigue. Has some solid visuals. Characters are serviceable. 6/10

Fences: A compelling adaptation of August Wilson's play that is rounded out by great performances. Doesn't transition that well from play to screen, so Washington could've done better in the directing. 8/10

Fifty Shades of Black: Completely and reprehensibly unfunny. Has zero understanding of how parody works. Zero consistency between characters and jokes. Stay away from it. 3/10

Finding Dory: A fun and entertaining family film, but is nowhere near as compelling as the first film. Plenty of beautiful animation. Marlin and Nemo didn't need to be in this one. 7.5/10

The Forest: A completely boring and generic horror film that doesn't even try to be scary. Doesn't make use of the history of the Aokigahara Forest to give it more of an identity. An absolute waste of time. 4/10

Free State of Jones: Matthew McConaughey is great as usual, but the story is only barely interesting enough to hold your attention. Has a pointless side story about the main character's descendant being in trouble because of his lineage. It doesn't need to be there. 6/10

Ghostbusters (2016): Can't live up to the original, but manages to be fun and entertaining enough to stand on its own merits. Weak villain. Special effects are passable. Kate McKinnon is the best part. 7.5/10

The Girl on the Train: Emily Blunt gives a great performance, but unfortunately she can't save a plot that struggles to have a decent focus. Has a solid musical score. 5.5/10

God's Not Dead 2: Manages to improve on the acting and the overall focus, the latter mainly by having fewer pointless characters and scenes, but everything else is worse. Contains the most cartoonish depiction of atheists ever in a film. Has no clue how the real world works with regards to schools or the constitution. 3/10

Hacksaw Ridge: An inspirational faith-based war movie made all the better by Mel Gibson's tense, assured direction and Andrew Garfield's great performance. First act is a little hokey, but picks up steam by the second. 9/10

Hail Caesar!: Is enjoyable, but seems more concerned with being a love letter to the Golden Age of film than having a substantial plot or focus. Great cast who are quite good. Has too many plots, and so has no time to properly develop them, especially the stuff with the Communists. One of the weaker Coen brothers films. 6/10

Hardcore Henry: Is balls to the wall crazy, and the first person gimmick sometimes works, but becomes disorienting for one scene where Henry fights many robots at once. Not sure how the first person gimmick actually adds to the film, could've been shot traditionally. 7/10

Hell or High Water: An intriguing, if somewhat unexciting examination of a grey moral compass. Chris Pine and Ben Foster work off of each other well. 7.5/10

Hidden Figures: A fun and compelling story about the 3 black women who were integral to getting John Glenn into space. All 3 leads are great and they play off of each other and the other actors superbly. Pharrell and Hans Zimmer provide an awesome musical score. 9/10

Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party: One of the most fear-mongering, intellectually dishonest "documentaries" ever brought to theaters. Renactments are poorly acted and Dinesh D'Souza is boring to listen to. Constantly lies by omission. 3/10

The Huntsman: Winter's War: A pointless prequel/sequel that has no reason to exist. Underwhelming in many ways, especially the action. You will forget what happened not long after seeing the film. 5/10

Jackie: Natalie Portman is completely excellent as Jacqueline Kennedy. It's a shame that the rest of the movie is completely subpar in comparison. The film's framing device of an interview with Ms. Kennedy adds nothing to the film. Seems to meander from scene to scene with not a whole lot of substance. 6.5/10

Jane Got a Gun: An absolute snoozefest, with a story and characters that are almost impossible to care about. Wastes a great cast. 4.5/10

The Jungle Book: Has a pitch-perfect tone thanks to Jon Favreau's fantastic direction. Has the right amount of seriousness and lightheartedness. Outstanding cast and CGI. Idris Elba is imposing as hell as Shere Khan. 9/10

Kubo & The Two Strings: Absolutely beautiful animation and a great story come together to make the best animated film of 2016. Great voice-work elevates some solid jokes. 9/10

La La Land: The most joyous experience I've had watching a movie in a very long time. Filled to burst with great songs and an even greater musical score. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling give great performances and have excellent chemistry together. Favorite film of the year. 10/10

Loving: A slow movie elevated by it's timeless message and Joel Edgarton and Ruth Negga giving understated, but great performances. Whole film is quite undramatic, as if to say that the couple in the film getting married shouldn't be a big deal. 8/10

The Magnificent Seven (2016): An otherwise average remake that is elevated by some solid performances and a solid climax. Good cast and set design. 6.5/10

Manchester by the Sea: A compelling drama about familial strife and grief that is wonderfully cast with great actors who all give great performances, with Casey Affleck giving an outstanding performance. 9/10

Moana: Another fun and enjoyable Disney musical with great songs and animation. Dwayne Johnson is a lot of fun as Maui. The story is told well, even if it's a bit standard. 8.5/10

Moonlight: Great performances are abound in this coming-of-age drama about sexual discovery, though as a straight middle-class white male, it's hard for me to relate. 8/10

Mrs Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: One of Tim Burton's least inspired and most convoluted films to date. So many elements of the story have been done to death before, and the movie adds nothing to them. Asa Butterfield is completely awful in the lead role. Climax gets ridiculous with literal skeleton warriors that look terrible. 5/10

The Nice Guys: A really funny and entertaining black comedy/buddy cop movie. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe have great comedic chemistry. Well-paced. 8.5/10

Nine Lives: An unfunny cat video that is unfortunately feature-length. Ironic, because the cat videos shown at the beginning are the highlight. Feels like a cheap production and scenes seem to have been cut. Lowest point in Spacey's career. 5/10

Norm of the North: Awfully unfunny, terrible animation and some of the worst pacing ever for an animated film. Has a completely generic plot that was done much better in Happy Feet and the like. Lemmings try and fail to be like the minions. 3.5/10

Only Yesterday: A slow, but enjoyable film about a woman discovering who she is,  both past and present. Great animation and voice acting. Could have been a little shorter. 7.5/10

The Other Side of the Door: Boring and predictable scares combined with a messy plot make this horror movie one to stay away from. Really silly on occasion. 4.5/10

Ouija: Origin of Evil: Some solid pacing and direction help this prequel greatly surpass its inept predecessor. Some good scares and the little girl manages to send a few chills down your spine. Ending is a bit silly. 8/10

Pete's Dragon (2016): A magical, well-told story that surpasses the original without even trying. Chemistry between the boy and dragon is great, and led to me having the feels at the end. Supporting cast aren't that interesting, though they give solid performances. Well-paced. Dragon looks fantastic. 8.5/10

Ratchet and Clank: Most of the jokes fall flat. Film is pretty harmless otherwise. Has a solid voice cast. TV-grade CG animation. Didn't really have to be in theaters. 6/10

Regression: A somewhat intriguing, but nevertheless a bit underwhelming film about the satanic ritual scares of the 80's. Has a good cast who give good performances. 6/10

Ride Along 2: Much like the first film, is an unoriginal buddy cop movie that plays itself to straight. Hart is just as teeth-grindingly irritating as he was in the first film. A bit funnier than the first film, but not by much. 5/10

Risen: Has solid acting all-around, but Joseph Fiennes is the best. Explores how religion can inspire. Solid production values. Avoids the preachiness and sentimentality that plagues most Christian films. 7/10

Rouge One: A Star Wars Story: An ok story and characters are complimented by some solid sci-fi action, but the film as a whole doesn't really have much reason to exist. 6.5/10

Sausage Party: Has solid laughs and performances that manage to elevate this existential Toy Story-but-with-food story. Has some decent animation. Satirizes religion to some degree of success. 7/10

The Secret Life of Pets: Is mildly entertaining, but not enough to warrant a second viewing. Has a solid voice cast and animation. Uses a familiar plot that it doesn't do much different with. 6/10

The Shallows: Blake Lively makes for a solid lead, but the premise is much too thin to substantiate a whole movie. Has very few genuine scares. 5.5/10

Silence: Martin Scorsese's passion project is an excellent film about the power of faith in the face of so much opposition and persecution. Great directing, beautiful, yet haunting cinematography, and a powerful score further elevate the movie. 9.5/10

Star Trek Beyond: Plenty of solid sci-fi action, but doesn't really have much of an identity asides from being a Star Trek movie. 7/10

Suicide Squad: A potentially fun movie that's brought down by a weak plot and uninteresting characters, few of whom get any backstory. Poor editing is obvious and sloppy. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is fun. Jared Leto's Joker is barely in it. 5.5/10

Sully: Tom Hanks's performance as Sully elevates an otherwise fairly standard biopic about the "Miracle on the Hudson". Crash and eventual rescue scene is well staged. 7/10

The Witch: Chilling, bleak, and a slow burn until the third act, then it gets brutal. The darkness of religion is heavily explored. Last 30 seconds could be the main character retreating into her imagination. Great camerawork and cinematography. 9/10

Toni Erdmann: A charming and sometimes funny examination of the bond between father and daughter. Leads are great together and Peter Simonischek is engaging to watch as both Winfried and Toni Erdmann. Could've been a little shorter. 9/10

Zoolander 2: Dumb, but not in anyway enjoyable and isn't the least bit self-aware, unlike the first film. Tries to overcomplicate itself with prophecy nonsense. 5.5/10

Zootopia: A really fun buddy cop movie that also doubles greatly as an exploration of racism and prejudice in our modern society. Teaches that we shouldn't judge people by who they are on the surface. Excellent animation and fun action. Jokes are hit and miss. 9/10

Better Assembly Required: An Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

So now the biggest film of the year has been released. That movie is of course "Avengers: Age of Ultron". With how well received the first "Avengers" film was, both critically and financially, everyone had hopes for the sequel. For a lot of people, it lived up to those expectations. I...am not one of those people.

       Now, let me just go ahead and say that I thought that this was a good movie. The cast does a great job as usual and the action is, as always, awesome. And yes, I thought the first "Avengers" was an awesome movie and I had high expectations for this film. However, it just fell short of those expectations.

       First, let's go ahead and get the action part of the movie out of the way. This is the one area I felt they did a better job with. Now the action itself was just as good as the first "Avengers" movie, but this time around, there is a much better balance of plot and action. By that, there are more action scenes, and they are spread nicely throughout the film. To put it another way, I could count the number of action scenes in the first film on one hand. For "Age of Ultron", the number of action scenes can be counted on two hands.

       It's a good thing that the action is as good as it is, since it saves the rest of the film from a plot that needed a lot more work and which clearly has sizable gaps. What do I mean by that? Well, the film takes on a more complex plot. It has more characters and a lot more plotlines to boot. Unfortunately, since there are so many of them, none of them are properly fleshed out and made compelling or interesting to care about any of them. Also, it seems like there are certain scenes and elements that seem to left on the cutting room. Because of that, elements of the film and certain scenes either show up with no explanation, or should've been prefaced by another scene. For an example of the former, I point to the actual Ultron program itself that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had been working on. Apparently, he and Tony had been working it for quite some time. It comes out of nowhere, because these Marvel films usually have a post-credits scene that foreshadow a later film, but to my knowledge no such scene exists that eludes to the Ultron program. As for an example of scenes that seem to be missing, there is the scene in the film where Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch first meet Ultron, and the scene plays out as if they had planned this meeting. Two problems, though, first, in the scene, Ultron has a brand new body, but the last time we saw him, his original body had been destroyed, though his programming had spread throughout the world by that point. How was he able to build himself a new body and was he able to get in contact with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to plan their meeting? I don't know, but I suspect that explanation ended up being scrapped.

       So for these reasons, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" ends up feeling like an incomplete film. An entertaining, incomplete film, but incomplete nonetheless. The first "Avengers" was definitely a complete film. It was simple and fun. This is fun as well, but is more complex, which I do appreciate, but the execution of that complexity leaves something to be desired. Overall, I enjoyed "Avengers: Age of Ultron", but I feel that it could've been much better. I give it a 7.5/10. It's a good movie.

Every 2015 Movie I've seen so far (A-Z Order)

(Final Update)

Amy: Excellent exploration on the life of Amy Winehouse, and the relationship between the public, the media, and the celebrity. Really feels like you get to know Amy as an actual person. Great use of her music, juxtaposing her songs to match her real life dilemmas. 9.5/10

Anomalisa: Intriguing examination of life and all of its mundanities and wonders, and the good and the bad. Tom Noonan and Jennifer Jason Leigh are great. Could've stood to be a bit longer, in order to further explore its characters and themes. 8/10

Ant-Man: Enjoyable, but not as much as many of the other Marvel films. Paul Rudd is enjoyable as the lead. Yellowjacket makes for one of the weakest villains in the Marvel filmography. Has a few creative setpieces. 7/10

Avengers: Age of Ultron: Has some great action, but unfortunately suffers from being overstuffed with plotlines and characters that needed more fleshing out. Ultron is somewhat interesting, but has a few lines of dialogue that make hard to take him seriously half the time. Feels like scenes were cut. 7.5/10

The Big Short: Solid performances and a decent screenplay make this pseudo-comedy about the 2008 financial collapse worth watching. The elements for a comedy are there, but the execution leaves something to be desired. The analogies with Anthony Bourdain and Selena Gomez help explain the more confusing aspects of the film. Good song choices. 7.5/10

Black Mass: A solid, if a bit unoriginal narrative, elevated by a great cast who give solid performances, especially from Johnny Depp as James "Whitey" Bulger, his best performance in a long time. 8/10

The Boy Next Door: Production levels equivalent to that of a crappy TV-movie. Bad acting all-around. Uses every stalker and psychopath cliche in the book. Boring. Climax is somewhat exciting. 3.5/10

Bridge of Spies: Is like classic Spielberg. Tom Hanks gives a really good performance. Plenty of great cinematography. Climatic scene on the bridge is tension-filled. Does a good job at capturing the period. Stakes in the first act don't resonate as very dire or important. 8/10

Brooklyn: A well-written love story between an Italian boy and an Irish immigrant girl, who is torn between her old home and her new home in Brooklyn. Saoirse Ronan gives a fantastic performance. Theme of unfamiliarity is very present. 9/10

Carol: Perhaps the best love story of the year, and lead by two incredible performances by Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, who give the best performances of the year. Great cinematography and an excellent score enchance the movie further. Themes of defying the standards of the time. 10/10

Chappie: Is an interesting mix of Robocop and Short Circuit that explores the theme of humanity (that is, what makes us human). Has a decent story and other characters serve it just fine. Chappie himself is obviously the best part of the movie, voiced wonderfully by Sharlto Copley. Religion is another concept that is explored to some degree. 7.5/10

Clouds of Sils Maria: Is driftless and aimless in terms of plot, but is anchored by three great performances from Kristen Stewart (yes, really), Chloe-Grace Moretz, and especially Juliette Binoche. Has some nice scenery. 7/10

Creed: Manages to capture the spirit of the original while telling it's own story that's just as good as the original. Michael B. Jordan proves that he can be a great actor. Both of the main boxing scenes have great direction and are exciting. 9/10

Danny Collins: Al Pacino elevates an otherwise barebones story with a stirring central performance. Has a solid cast and acting from all. Letter from John Lennon has little to do with the overall plot. 6.5/10

Dope: Intelligent discussion of drug, gang, internet, and pop culture. Benefits from a great cast, who all do a very good job with the material. Standout performance is Shameik Moore. Also has good humor. 8.5/10

Do You Believe?: On the whole, stupid, sappy, contrived, and preachy as all hell. In other words, a typical bad religious movie. Acting is a little better than God's Not Dead. Rips off Crash in the big climatic crash scene. Lawyer character is obvious strawman. 4/10

Entourage: Too long and overstuffed with plot. Characters are unlikeable. Too cameo-heavy. Unfunny. Has no reason to exist in terms of the show. 5/10

Ex Machina: Is a fascinating and intelligent examination of technology, the advance of such, and what it truly means to be human. Great performances by all, especially Alicia Vikander, who plays the android. 9/10

Fantastic Four (2015): Dull, poorly constructed and paced, and a complete slog throughout. Spends far too long on the origin. Has a solid cast, but wastes them. Unfun. Victor Von Doom is made too obviously evil. Trailer is misleading. Possibly changed greatly during production, if Josh Trank is to be believed. 3.5/10

Fifty Shades of Grey: Poor acting from both leads, and a plotless, lifeless screenplay bring this movie to its knees. Constantly tries to be sexy, yet fails every time. 4.5/10

Focus: Intriguing thriller about suggestions and trickery. Will Smith and Margot Robbie give solid performances and have great chemistry. Their chemistry elevates the film from decent to good. Gets a bit too twisty towards the end. 7.5/10

The Gallows: Not an original bone in its body. Absolutely predictable the whole way through. Ryan is the most unlikeable horror movie character in a long time, perhaps ever. Has one of the most baffling endings in recent memory. Has ever so slight of an atmosphere. 3/10.

The Gift: Is more clever, smarter and intriguing than expected. Great performances from all, especially Joel Edgarton, who also writes and directs. Does a great job playing a odd, yet pitiful character. 8.5/10

Good Kill: Is a welcome return to form for writer/director Andrew Niccol after In Time and The Host. Compelling themes of war and what we're willing to do in the name of safety. Ethan Hawke gives a great performance. 9/10

Hell & Back: Barely even justifies its own existence. Failed to make me laugh even once. Stop-motion animation was of mediocre quality. 5/10

Hot Tub Time Machine 2: Is a completely different beast to the first movie. Feels rehashed, tired, and VERY unfunny. Time travel stuff is more confusing than it should be for a comedy. Might be attempting to be a satire of pop-culture, but fails. 4/10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: A bit slow and grim around the middle, but is nonetheless a satisfying conclusion to The Hunger Games story. Great action set pieces. Jennifer Lawrence is great as usual. 8/10

Inside Out: Bursting with creativity, humor, heart, and character. Pixar's best film in a long time. Some of their best animation. Fantastic casting (especially Lewis Black). Got me to cry a few times towards the end. 10/10

Insidious: Chapter 3: Hardly scary, but has a decent sense of atmosphere. Solid performances by the whole cast. Decent exploration of theme of loss. Third act is kinda silly. Ever so slightly better than the first film. 6.5/10

Insurgent: Shailene Woodley gives it her all, but she is unable to save the poor story, which is worse than the first film. Acting by everyone else is still below par, especially Theo James, who seems incapable of showing any emotion. 5/10

It Follows: Manages to be haunting and creepy without resorting to jump scares. Sex is a very prominent theme in the film. Very reminiscent of Halloween in a good way. Maika Monroe gives a good performance. Fantastic score by Disasterpiece. 9/10

Jurassic World: Has decent action set-pieces, but feels lifeless and unspecial. Some bad dialogue and characters act stupid on occasion. Attempts to be like the original film, but does a bad job. 5.5/10

Jupiter Ascending: All-around ridiculous. Opening scenes are confusing as hell. Eddie Redmayne's Balem is hilariously over-the-top and bad. Wish he had more screen-time. Effects are nice. Some bits of dialogue are goofy. 4.5/10

Kingsman: The Secret Service: Is about 2 hours of bloody British fun. Has a lot of great action. Humor works very well. Favorite scene is the all-out brawl in the church. 8.5/10

The Lazarus Effect: Has a great concept, but is somewhat wasted. Barely goes into the moral, ethical, and philosophical implications of reviving the dead. Some stuff is unexplained. A bit jump scare happy. Olivia Wilde saves the movie by being suitably creepy. 6/10

Little Boy: Is fairly decent up until the 3rd act, whereupon the film becomes offensively stupid and insulting (and also plain offensive) and seems to last an eternity. Tries to have its cake and eat it too with regards to the ending. First two acts could've been a decent film on their own. 3.5/10

The Loft: The worst-structured film I've ever seen. Convoluted, confusing. Main characters are awful, reprehensible, and completely forgettable. Everyone is an uber-stereotype, especially the women, who all act like shrewds. Horrendous dialogue. 3/10

Mad Max: Fury Road: Is 100% completely badass. Has a surprisingly solid story. Action scenes play out differently each time, which keeps the action fresh, exciting, varied, and awesome. Is a master-class of an action movie. 10/10

The Martian: Matt Damon's best performance in any movie. Is funny, intense, and fascinating. Interesting to see Mark (Matt Damon) try to do whatever he can to survive. Great cinematography. 9/10

Me & Earl & the Dying Girl: Has a layered screenplay and a great cast who elevate the material with great performances. A good coming-of-age story. Superb soundtrack by Brian Eno. 8/10

Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation: Contains a lot of great action scenes, and Tom Cruise continues to prove that he is an action star without equal. Some funny moments too. 8.5/10

Mortdecai: Humor falls flat most of the time. Lacks energy. Tries to be "The Pink Panther", but doesn't understand why films like that work. Depp as Mortdecai is unlikable. Gets confusing towards the end. Very forgettable. 5.5/10

Old Fashioned: Stupid, slow, and boring. Is much less overtly religious than anticipated. Main leads are dull as hell, especially the main lead, who also comes across as somewhat creepy. Lots of awkward, crappy dialogue. 5/10

Paranormal Activity The Ghost Dimension: Completely lacking in genuine scares and the gimmick of being able to see the ghost kills all fear that the film could have had. Is confusing with its mythology. Ending is a joke. 4.5/10

Paul Blart Mall Cop 2: A complete retread of the original, and just as stupid and unfunny. Every single attempt at humor falls flat. Paul Blart acts like an asshole in the first act. 5.5/10

Pixels: Not quite Sandler-levels of bad, but isn't much fun either. Peter Dinklage is terrible. Has a lackluster script. Dull and somewhat cringeworthy first act. 5.5/10

Predestination: Mind-bending and intriguing. Has a unique premise that deserves to be explored more. Sarah Snook is great and worth keeping an eye on in future films. Final plot twist is absolutely brilliant. 9/10

Project Almanac: Has one of the worst uses of time travel in a movie. Dull characters and plot. Crap dialogue. Really confusing. 5/10

The Revenant: Leonardo gives one hell of an intense performance in this tale of revenge. Plenty of gorgeous scenery. Intensity can wear thin after a while. 8/10


Room: A compelling and unique take on Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which is elevated by two excellent performances by Brie Larson and Jacob Trembley. Explores themes of isolation and curiosity, which Trembley manages to convey expertly. 9/10

Run All Night: Painfully average, run-of-the-mill action thriller in all aspects. At least it's shot and edited better than Taken 3. 5.5/10

Self/less: Has an intriguing premise that deals with the theme of immortality, but doesn't explore it deeply enough and instead settles for being a half-decent action film. 5.5/10

Seventh Son: A dull fantasy adventure, with a decent cast that's wasted. Boring characters. Special effects look poor, despite the film being delayed by about a year, which makes it worse. 4.5/10

Shaun The Sheep Movie: Dialogue-free, but is nonetheless enjoyable and fun for all ages. Claymation is still wonderfully done. Some solid gags. 8/10

Sicario: A smart thriller that examines the cartel, its effects, and influences on the Mexican population (particularly demonstrated by the last few minutes). Great performances, especially from Benicio Del Toro. 9/10

Spectre: A solid entry into the James Bond franchise, with great stunts and action scenes alike. Relatively simple story. Skyfall is still a far superior film. Christoph Waltz makes for an intriguing villian. 8/0
 

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water: Bizarre stuff happens, but is enjoyable, nonetheless. Could've used more focus or a more substantial plot. Entertaining climax. 7/10

Spotlight: Great direction, acting, and an excellent screenplay is contained in this film about The Boston Globe's investigation on pedophilic Catholic priests, and how suck information was covered up. Themes of conspiracy, secrecy, and relationship between believers and religious instituitions. Does not treat main characters like they are heroes. 9.5/10

Spy: The funniest film of the year. Never a dull moment. Outstanding cast does a great job with the material. Melissa McCarthy's best role. Solid action directing by Paul Feig. Jason Statham is surprisingly funny. 10/10

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Is somewhat derivative of the original films, but is nonetheless a fun and action-packed romp return to the Star Wars universe. Kylo Ren is kind of a weak villain. 8.5/10

Strange Magic: Almost completely unoriginal. Annoying characters and singing. Half the songs aren't even theirs. Didn't need to be a musical. Bad animation. Never seen the hero fall in love with the villain before in an animated movie. Absolutely horrible throughout. 3/10

Straight Outta Compton: Great performances in a well-written film about one of the most influential groups in rap history. Does a great job at capturing the black culture of late 80s and early 90s. 8.5/10

Taken 3: Cheap, horribly-edited, and dull all around. Villain's plan is stupidly convoluted. Action scenes have editing on the level of a Steven Seagal direct-to-video movie, i.e. terrible. Liam Neeson seems really out of it. 4/10

Tomorrowland: A colossal disappointment, the biggest I've ever seen. Unfun and more than a little depressing in its themes. Waste of a solid cast. Well shot and looks great, courtesy of Brad Bird. Screenplay is absolutely lackluster, with little to care about, courtesy of Damon Lindelof. Questionable story decisions. Trailer is a lie. 4/10

Trainwreck: Incredibly funny. Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer know how to make raunchy humor work. Great performances by the whole cast, especially Schumer. This is my introduction to her, and it's a great introduction. Favorite scene is the sex with John Cena. 9/10

Unfinished Business: Has really wonky pacing. Some scenes feel too short, yet others feel too long. Has some of the most witless jokes in some time. Family subplot feels forced and unecessary. Dave Franco is terribly unfunny. 4/10

Unfriended: A potentially decent premise goes to waste. Feels somewhat fake. Unlikeable characters. Lack of real scares and many feel very telegraphed. Extended periods where nothing happens kills the pacing. 4.5/10


The Visit: An odd, but somewhat enjoyable experience. A few genuinely creepy moments. Didn't see the point of the found-footage approach. Shyamalan doesn't suck for once. 6.5/10

War Room: The most heavy-handed religious film I've ever seen. Acting ranges from mediocre (most of the cast) to overdone and obvious (the old black lady). Offers horrible marriage advice (your marriage is failing? Pray to Jesus and wait!). 3/10

The Wedding Ringer: A dull sort of unfunny. Kevin Hart is better here than in Ride Along; he manages to restrain himself. Main character is a dolt. 5.5/10

What We Do In The Shadows: Funniest faux-documentary since This is Spinal Tap. Takes usual monster tropes and uses them to full comedic effect. Boasts a stellar cast and they all do a great job with the material. 9/10

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death: Slow, dull. Has a decent sense of atmosphere, but the story is below par and the characters are not interesting. Is inconsistent with the first film, especially in how the Woman in Black behaves. 5.5/10

They're getting too old for this: An Expendables 3 Review

           ****************************SOME SPOILERS**************************

           Of the two Expendables that have been released, I have only ever seen Expendables 2. It was a dumb, fun action movie that didn't take itself seriously, and that made it a joy to watch buff action heroes mow down bad guys with guns and fists alike. At the time I am typing this, Expendables 3 is not in theaters yet, but will be tomorrow. However, I've gotten the chance to watch it in its entirety early (I have my ways of doing so), and I will warn you now: It's not worth your 2 hours.

            Let's start with the fact that, yes, the movie is two hours, and only about a 1/3 of those is action, with the rest taken up by exposition and plot, which ends up making the movie slow and boring. Adding to this is that characters sometimes talk about death, growing old, and other grim subjects, which is really out of place in a movie that's supposed to be mindless action. For a good example of this, Antonio Banderas's character gives his backstory on how he and his old team were massacred, but he survived. This is really jarring to hear considering that Banderas is the only actor who seems to be having any fun.

            Speaking of which, all of the other actors, especially those returning from the previous film, act so apathetic throughout the film, like they're just doing this film so they can get a paycheck, which further sucks out the fun from the movie.

            As for the action scenes, they serve their purpose, but I wish there were more of them sprinkled throughout the movie. The only complaints I have regarding them are twofold:

1. The climax feels too long, and noting really outstanding happens in it
2. The special effects seem worse this time around. It might me, but that's what it seemed like

            The last thing I'll mention is Mel Gibson as the movie's villain. Originally, they were going to have Jean-Claude Van Damme play the twin of the villain from the previous movie, but they scrapped that idea. I wish they would've gone with that idea, because Mel comes off a less of a threat than Van Damme. He's less direct and is more willing to let others do the dirty work, which feels less intimidating. I also wish they would've exploited Mel's crazy side, that way we have a fun bad guy, and he'd probably come across as more dangerous.

           Overall, Expendables 3 lacks the fun of the previous film, and feels more grim than necessary. I give it a 5/10, which makes this a bad movie. Go ahead and skip it.