SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO, ANT-MAN & THE WASP, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU and FIREWORKS musings
SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO
In 2015, SICARIO simultaneously surprised and scared the hell out of me and jumped its way into my #1 movie of that year. It was one of the most uncomfortable tension-filled movie experiences I ever had, and I loved every minute of it. Its follow-up, DAY OF THE SOLDADO (which I wish they had just kept the title as SOLDADO…), doesn’t deliver on the tension nor fulfilling/morally compromising/twisted story that the first one had in spades. Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are still stellar in their roles, though.
My problems with the movie lie with the third act, as it all hinges on a single happening somewhere in the second act. All movies have plot holes or unbelievable events, but my enjoyment of it depends on if that hangs over the rest of the movie. I can look over certain plot devices and developments if there’s another thing I find interesting about the movie as a whole, but once I can’t stop thinking about how I don’t like a choice the filmmakers or characters on screen make, it paints over my view of the whole movie. There’s nothing else interesting I found about SOLDADO that let me forgive that single manufactured happening, which is a huge bummer. I wanted to love this but was ultimately disappointed by it not reaching its potential, and that fact is a huge reason why I’m ranking this the lowest I can.
RATING: I HATE MY LIFE
(Refer to my rating system HERE!)
ANT-MAN & THE WASP
In my full review, written right after I saw it in a press screening, I was feeling pretty good about it. (See original, full review here: www.alexmarzona.com/movies/ant-man-and-the-wasp.) Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me as much the second time around, and I’ve got to knock it down a rung.
RATING: DIDN’T WASTE MY TIME
(Refer to my rating system HERE!)
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Unlike ANT-MAN, this one worked just as well as the first time I saw it. (See original, full review here: www.alexmarzona.com/movies/sorry-to-bother-you.)
RATING: BEST OF THE BEST
(Refer to my rating system HERE!)
FIREWORKS
FIREWORKS (made by the same studio who did one of my favorite movies of last year, YOUR NAME) is also in the running for one of the worst movies of the year, for me. It’s a Japanese anime-style movie that received an extremely limited release during the first week of July 2018 in the US. YOUR NAME had a special twist that made that movie resonate so much louder, so going into FIREWORKS, I was hoping for something enlightening to attach myself to, but was extremely let down by it. The main question the group of boys asks themselves doesn’t pay off at all, and the main story of the boy going after a girl is painted in a very misogynistic way that I couldn’t get behind, even though the jokes were told by immature high school boys. Thank goodness the movie was only 85 or so minutes.
RATING: I HATE MY LIFE
(Refer to my rating system HERE!)
