June 29, 2023-

So, first off, I enjoyed the movie a lot. It’s been a while since I rewatched any of the other movies, I probably should have done so just to catch any references to the past, but that’s fine. Some people have said that it felt as long as it was, and for me, I didn’t really feel the length of time. But I attribute that to it being so long since I’ve been in this world again. Whenever there are long gaps between movies within a franchise, I always love just diving into the world again. I missed the characters and the music and the adventure.

Everyone did a fantastic job acting. Harrison Ford was as wonderful as ever. I certainly feel like he enjoyed being Indy. Phoebe Waller-bridge was enjoyable also. Though I would have liked a little bit more character development for her character. But I did enjoy her scenes. She’s a very expressive actor, and that is certainly helpful when there’s a lot going on in scenes. And the actor who played her sidekick, Teddy, was also fun to watch. Congrats to Ethann Isidore. Mads Mikkelsen was a great villain. He’s good at these kinds of roles. He was always in command of his scenes.

The story was pretty much what most Indy stories are, get the thing that the antagonists want to use for nefarious purposes before they do. There were also multiple locations across the world which was fun. Returning characters were enjoyable. The third act was very well-done, I thought. Everything was brought together and there were certainly some unexpected little twists.

I had fun watching this movie and I think it was a nice send-off for Harrison in the role. I am excited to see what else he decides to act in in the future. I know the next movie I expect to see him in is the next Captain America movie replacing William Hurt.

Mid-credit scene: Nope.

End-credit scene: Nope.

June 12, 2023- Early screening

Holy crap. That was insane.

Okay, first off, I love this movie. There was a lot that was expected, and a lot that was unexpected. The cast did a fantastic job. The humor, the intense emotional scenes, the action, etc. was all done brilliantly. Also, it was a small cast, which helped I think.

The story was as expected essentially with a few twists here and there. And the time travel theory was different than most, so that brought new ideas to mind. Things pretty much follow what you’d think they would if your know the general plot of the Flashpoint event. But then things get even more out there. The out there stuff? Woah.

Of course the action was amazing for all the characters. The fights and the running were so well done. The fighting of each character was so specific and well shot. With so many speedsters in various comic movies and shows, it would be challenging to make things look different. And I think they did well with that. This probably would look pretty great in IMAX 3D.

The cameos? Spectacular. Some expected, others, not in a millions years did I think we’d see some of these. When the Arrowverse did their version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, I was extremely impressed with the level of and number of cameos they put in there. That still is one of my favorite realizations of a multiverse. But how they did things here was in such a creative way. I certainly hoped we’d see more, and I know that specifically, Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen was initially going to have a cameo, but that idea was dropped or cut. It’s unfortunate, but it happens.

This was just such a fun movie. The first half has hits a lot of humor, and the second half is quite intense and dramatic, but I think it worked well. Are there a couple small plot threads that have yet to be touched upon? Yes. And that excites me! There are a couple elements of Barry’s story that weren’t included in this, or at least, not yet, so, we’ll see what the future holds.

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Mid-credit scene: No, but the animated credits are technically part of the movie, you’ll see. It’s fun.

End-credit scene: Yes. Also a fun scene. Points to something else going on. I hope we get to that at some point.

June 7, 2023 – Advance Screening

This was definitely a fun movie. I will say I still hold Bumblebee at the top of my Transformers movie list, but this one was enjoyable.

I loved seeing the Maximals. The designs looked great both in beast form and in maximized form. The Autobots looked as good as they always do. And the Terracons looks menacing and sleek. I did want more time with the Maximals though. I think one of them maybe spoke once? But eh, it’s not a big detractor.

The human characters were likable. I do wish there was a little bit more time with a couple of them. But I got what I needed from them character-building-wise.

The story was relatively simple. Get this, prevent this. I do wish there was a bit more fleshing out of story. And maybe a bit more threat level from the Terracons. Though if these are still canon with the first movies, then I guess they can’t get too big since most human interactions with the Transformers was around the 2000’s.

The fight scenes were of course very well done. This certainly would have looked good in 3D. And the human within the fight scenes were good too. They always do the fighting between the combatants brilliantly.

All the locations were great. The filming locations in Peru was beautiful. It was very nice to see the culture factoring into things at times.

Surprisingly, I feel like it went by too fast! I wanted more time with some of the characters. But maybe that’s just because I would have enjoyed a movie with only the Maximals in it or something with fewer characters to focus on certain ones.

I always feel like it’s difficult to do ensemble movies when you have human and non-human characters. For example, Godzilla. The balance between monster fights and human plot is delicate. Bumblebee maybe was as good as it was because it was mainly two characters, and the plot was focused on them. Maybe Transformer movies should focus on one or two bots with some kind of plot. That way we don’t have to be introduced to characters each movie that we barely know about. I’m not sure really. But I certainly don’t say that meaning that this wasn’t an enjoyable film, it was.

Basically, this was a fun movie with some heart and lots of action. I do hope that this leads to something more in the future. It certainly seems to suggest something more.

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Mid-credit scene: Yes. This is the aforementioned suggesting of something more. Also quite an unexpected something. Strap in, y’all! *There is one other scene that I was reminded of, but I can’t remember if it was another mid-credit scene or an end-credit one. It’s just a fun one.

End-credit scene: Nope*. Though, if anyone stays during a normal showing, as this was an advanced screening, and there was something added, let me know!

June 1, 2023

Holy crap. I’m till reacting to it. I’m literally typing while sitting in the theater. That was amazing.

So much happened. It started off similarly but differently. Things went fast after the main characters got reintroduced.

I’ve missed these worlds so much! Miles and Gwen are as wonderful as ever. A little time has passed for them. The voice cast in general was amazing, I certainly can’t wait to scroll through the entire cast and see how mm voices I missed. And of course, the same goes for when I will be able to pause the movie and look at EVERY SINGLE spider-person in this movie, because, wow. I did my best to recognize many of them, but it was quite a lot. Some are definitely ones I was happy to see.

The story has a lot of heart as we would expect from a sequel to the first movie. Family and life and love and just all of the important things are a web throughout this movie for all the characters.

There is happiness and darkness and laughs and just so much of everything you would want in the movie. The first movie was just the first step into a larger world. This one was the next few steps. I can’t wait for Beyond the Spider-verse comes at us next year. But until then, this movie will certainly last for multiple viewings.

Glorious. And of course I have to mention the art and how it blew me away. Everywhere we went and everything we saw and hear was just visualized beautifully. You must see this in a theater.

I loved this movie. And it didn’t feel long, in fact, when it ended, I was like noooo! Haha. Speaking of the ending, it was a bit of a surprise.

Mid-credit scene: Of sorts.

End-credit scene: Nope, didn’t really need it.

May 25, 2023-

So, it was a great movie. Since it’s been a long long time since I’d watched the original, I had to remember the plot points as the movie went on. Some I remembered some I saw as new and others I re-remembered.

The visuals were amazing as you’d expect. The underwater sequences were very well done. The music was fantastic of course. And there were a couple beats that were defo Lin-Manuel Miranda’s. I saw someone say online that they thought his additions to lyrics were distracting and I know I thought that about the songs that were changed in the Aladdin live-action movie. But here, I didn’t hear the additions as much so I didn’t mind it at all.

The actors all did wonderful jobs in their roles. Halle Bailey was brilliant as expected. Jonah Hauer-King, the actor who played Eric was great too.

The plot was pretty much as you’d expect with a couple little tweaks here and there. All-in-all, I had fun watching this iteration of this story.

Mid-credits scene: Nope

End-credit scene: Nope

May 3/4, 2023

First of all, it was great to see all the movies back-to-back. Love marathons! Though I wouldn’t have minded the Christmas special too. What a fun 8 hours XD

Wow. That was a fantastic movie. So much happens. You feel the 2.5 hours but in a good way.

As he promised, this focused on one while also on everyone else. And for good reason. As with the other Guardians movies, this had all the heart you want with all the action and laughs you crave.

As usual, all the cast did amazing jobs. And it balanced all the characters well I thought. I will miss seeing some of these characters in the future. The chemistry is just perfect. The new characters were great and the returning ones were wonderful.

The story dives straight in and keeps on going throughout the movie threading through everything. Some parts move fast so you have to keep up and others give you time to breathe. Both are balanced throughout the movie.

The movie kept me guessing with the fate of people. Till the end I was wondering things. There were easter eggs and references and cameos from the other two movies and technically from the Christmas special too. It was all such fun.

I really enjoyed Volume 3. I can’t wait to see it again!

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Mid-credit scene: Yes. Regarding what’s to come in the future. So excited! I didn’t expect that character to be THAT character. Looks like fun, can’t wait for more of them.

End-credit scene: Yes. A bit more heart with a reference to one of the other movies. And then, we’ll see. Then just a message.

April 5, 2023

Ok. So. What I know about Mario and co has been from playing Super Smash Bros, and seeing various things in games and media for decades. But this was an utter joy to watch!

I got a lot of the references even without knowing all the context to them. This was a super fun movie. Very funny. The story was pretty much as expected and that just made things better.

All the actors played their roles brilliantly. Everyone was amazing! The music was perfect. The sound bites were also perfect. There were references to all kinds of things. I certainly hope we get more from this world.

This is short and sweet because it was just absurdly fun and you should just go watch it! haha.

Mid-credit scene: Yes. A fun one.

End-credit scene: Yes. Not a big thing, but totally worth it if you’re a fan!

March 31, 2023

So, first thing’s first, I don’t know a lot about D&D, so most references were missed on me. But a couple things I knew about and noticed.

It was quite a fun movie! A lot more comedy than I anticipated, which was great. The story was good, not too complicated, there’s a goal to complete and the party has to get things done to get to the next part of the plan(s).

All the characters were enjoyable! I would have liked a little more backstory or character development on a couple of them, but I had fun with each of them. There was heart in the main characters and in the reasoning of their goal.

I also would have liked a bit more with the antagonist, I mean things were explained, but just a little more from their perspective would have been good. But the effects of their powers were great and they were scary indeed. Maybe they intend to make sequels which will dove more into a greater threat, we’ll see I guess.

I don’t have too much more to say since I don’t have a vast knowledge of D&D, but it was a good adventure movie and I’m glad I saw it!

Mid-credit scene: Yes, a fun call-back.

End-credit scene: Nope.

March 16, 2023

Well, I enjoyed that, I don’t know why some people seem to be on the fence about this. It was fun!

Seeing all the characters again was great. Everyone did brilliantly in their roles. With such a large group of characters, it can be tough to focus on each, and I think this mainly focused on two of the shazamily more than the others, but I think the first one was kind of even, so I suppose that’s ok. Though I would have liked the have the character development spread out more between the kids. But, of course there’s only so much time and the movie had a lot to do.

This was fun and emotional and had its moments of darkness. It doesn’t feel like this is taking place so long after the first movie as they’re all still figuring things out, but they’ve still be hero-ing for a while. In that way it feels a little like it took two movies for Billy to really come into his own as a hero, but that’s what’s always there about Shazam, he’s touching upon both worlds and has to navigate both.

The villains were as they seem in the trailers, not too much more, but there were some interesting aspects to them that surprised me. It would have been nice for some character development for them a bit too, like they just interacting with each other and being fleshed out more. But I still enjoyed them as the threat.

Watch out for the king of the beasts XD

I enjoyed the movie, and for its length, it went by faster than I thought it would. I still wonder how things will fit in going forward, but so far, I’m ready for it all!

Mid-credit scene: Yes. This is the one that connects to other things. Probably the most important one. I feel like many of the future DC projects may have something like this going forward. And I’m here for it.

End-credit scene: Yes. This hints at more in a different way. A little surprised that they did this, but eh, that’s ok. We’ll see where that comes in again I suppose.

February 16, 2023

This certainly was a whole lot of movie. Things happened fast and with great frequency. I enjoyed the movie a lot! I know some have had mixed reviews but I have to listen to what they have to say to see what things they didn’t like, because I didn’t see much that wouldn’t be fun.

The trailers show essentially how things begin, and then it’s off to the races. Everything happens in a flash and the story gets rolled out as we get further into the movie. People who know comics or at least understand what the plans are for Kang in the MCU will kind of see where things go. But for those who don’t, there should be some great surprises.

The story wasn’t too complicated. Things are fine, things change, stories are told, missions are given, there is conflict and there is a resolution of sorts.

It was great to see most of the characters from the Ant-man movies again. It was nice to learn more about what Janet went through in the Quantum realm. I would have liked to have had a little more time topside, to learn more about Cassie’s changes, but eh, we’ll get more of her for years to come. Though I thought there’d be a little nod to the change in actress from her actress from Endgame, but either there wasn’t one or I missed it. I read somewhere that there would be something but who knows. I still think they should have kept Emma Fuhrmann as Cassie, that scene in Endgame was such a powerful scene because of who they chose to play Cassie and I think it was selfish to not give her a chance to grow in the role. And I do enjoy Kathryn Newton, she’s been great in things she’s been in, but I don’t think Marvel Studios should have recast the role.

All the actors did a fantastic job. There was such emotion for each main character to show in various scenes. I honestly wasn’t sure about the fates of everyone throughout the whole movie. They kept me guessing till the end. so many amazing scenes with this cast, I can’t wait to see them again whenever that happens.

Speaking of the cast. Jonathan Majors. I was t quite sure what I felt about the introduction at first, but I think he did an amazing job. I did kind of wish we’d seen more of him on his own, but again, we have more years with Kang to come. I can’t wait to see what else he can bring to the role(s).

And of course, seeing it in IMAX 3D was great, the small fight scenes, big fight scenes and landscapes looked gorgeous! I’m happy I went for this format first. I can’t wait to see it again in normal IMAX.

This certainly took the MCU a bit closer to what is to come. and I’m totally ready for the chaos.

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Mid-credit scene: Yes. Quite a lot of yes. The future is here.

End-credit scene: Yes. We’ll get more of that soon.