Movie Review: The Creator

Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube

A visually stunning and occasionally moving film that comes close to rising up to be something great, but usually falls short. The plot is derivative of quite a few other sci-fi concepts, albeit with its own twists. Although many critics are talking about the timeliness of the subject matter on AI, this is more of a traditional story in that genre and not based on modern-day headlines. There are some key moments about the rise of this AI, but they’re glossed over to the point that the synthetic characters lose some of the empathy the audience should feel about them. The plot flirts with the concept of what makes something alive, but really doesn’t dig that deep into the idea. While most of the acting is fine, John David Washington is the clear standout, particularly with his fairly grounded, and often humorous character. The movie sets up for some impactful emotional moments, but the story beats don’t quite properly set up the payoffs. However, the film’s greatest strength is its visuals. Besides some cool futuristic tech, there’s some amazing shots, many involving a mammoth spaceship that plays a key role in the plot.

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

Movie Review: Expend4bles

Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube

The fourth outing of this mostly forgettable franchise attempts to make itself standout from the other films by turning into a Jason Statham solo film while making the rest of the team feel expendable. The plot is pretty standard as far as this film series goes: Big action sequence early, something goes wrong, a double cross or two, and then the big action finale. This time around, they make a pretty bold decision that puts Statham’s character in the lead for the bulk of the movie. This is a mixed bag, as while he’s fine leading an action film, losing Stallone’s star power really changes the vibe and makes everything feel less special. Not only that, but the rest of the Expendables team really feel like they don’t get a lot to do. There are quite a few newcomers, and most of them don’t get a chance to shine. The weakest link is Megan Fox, who is brought in like she’s an established character that we should know, and never feels like she fits in with a gang of action stars. (Not to mention her few action scenes are edited in a way that in looks like it’s almost all done by a stunt double…and her hair and makeup are always pristine no matter what her character has been through.) The action has very few standout moments, and much of it is ruined by blatant CG-blood and gore filmed presumably in front of a green screen. So basically, a film expected to deliver, big bloody action sequences performed by Stallone and a handful of past and present action stars fails to deliver any of that satisfactorily.

*1/2 out of *****