Movie Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

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An overly long film that lacks direction for a good chunk of time but is saved by a great score, innovative action sequences and some over-the-top performances. The weakest part about this film is the basic plot, which is essentially just setting up Furiosa’s appearance in the previous “Mad Max” film. The problem here is that we have a vague idea of what she is trying to do, but if you saw the other film, you know her story is just beginning, and the payoff here will be limited. There’s also a lack of characters worth getting invested in. Chris Hemsworth does a great job as the film’s villain, but he vanishes for a large portion of the film. The Jack character added about mid-way through just comes across flat and didn’t have much chemistry with Furiosa. As for the star, I was shocked at how well they were able to switch from the younger actress playing the lead to the older version played by Anya Taylor-Joy. (Apparently there was some CG-magic to make the child actress’ features look more like Taylor-Joy’s.) While both actresses make Furiosa’s story watchable, the lack of urgency and drawn-out plot make it hard to stay invested for the two-and-half hour runtime. There film looks great, and the action is solid, especially the War Rig chase sequence. (There’s a setup for what should be a big third act battle, but that ends up being glossed over.) All of the action is enhanced by a great score by Tom Holkenborg, which injects it all with adrenaline.

**1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

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A great looking film that, while it doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from its predecessors or lay down strong enough foundations for potential sequels, still ends up being an entertaining ride. The plot is fairly straight forward, without any of the twists adding much to it. The apes are engaging enough, but we spend most our time with the lead character Noa, so most of the film is squarely on him. Also heavily featured is the human character, who never quite clicks due to her mysterious nature. The villainous Proximus Caesar works for the story they’re telling, and while there are some nuances to his character, they’re not fleshed-out enough to allow him to be more than just the big-bad.

**1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: The Fall Guy

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After taking too long to get to its point while trying too hard to be interesting by being overly quirky, “The Fall Guy” mostly gels into something worth watching for the final act. This film was advertised as an action-comedy with a mystery and a love story. In reality, it’s mostly a rom-com about a stuntman, with some action and occasionally bits of a mystery. There’s a lot of stylistic choices, some of them self-aware, that take away any seriousness to what’s going on in the film. The leads are good in their roles, but often feel more like caricatures than real people. They tend to lean into a certain silliness, but it’s overdone to the point that the comedy tends to fall flat. There are a few cool action sequences, but because the movie is focused on a stuntman making a movie, you may find yourself feeling bad giving the actor that’s playing a stuntman credit for stuff that a real stuntman did. It’s only in the third act that all the elements finally come together, and the move becomes what I expected it to be. (Even though the plot gets overly convoluted.) There is a nice montage through the credits that does highlight the stunt work on the film, and then there’s a brief mid-credits scene that pays some homage to the original “The Fall Guy” television series.

** out of *****