Webslinger

I do wish Mission: Impossible was making more, but "mid opening followed by long legs" has been the franchise's M.O. since Ghost Protocol. Oppenheimer and Sound of Freedom throw a bit of a wrench into this situation, but I still think it's going to be more of a long play than your typical mega-budget blockbuster.

Well, I actually saw Joy Ride and quite enjoyed it. It’s pretty hilarious, and the four leads have stellar chemistry. There are also some heartfelt parts that really got to me. I really don’t know what the answer is on getting the masses back to seeing comedies theatrically, but I don’t think it’s just the quality of the product. There are plenty of really funny movies out there every year - some star-driven, some decidedly not - but it seems like they’ve just ceased to have event status in the wake of so much emphasis on spectacle and IP. And it’s a real shame when there’s no shortage of comedies that would be fun to see with a big, energized crowd.

I've made it through Ghost Protocol on my rewatches. I still really dig how - at least up until the McQuarrie installments, where continuity matters more and the same director actually sticks around - each film has its own unique feel and qualities. I won't be able to check the new one out until later next weekend, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I love that a film franchise that has been running for 27 years now still feels so fresh and exciting. I show the first M:I to a film class almost every year, and watching them watch the Langley sequence is always a blast. It always kinda feels like watching it for the first time all over again.

Agreed. The market was wide open for a family film to blow up on its planned release date. I felt the same way about Luca, whose Disney+ date landed on the weekend where The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (*involuntary shudder*) landed at a weak #1.

Having seen both films and their box office performances, I'm really left scratching my head at just what Disney was thinking screening Elemental and Indy at Cannes. It's very apparent that both are missing the oomph of the past successes they appeared to be chasing, and I feel like the decision to roll them out at Cannes raised their profiles to a level that neither film was ever going to deliver on critically. (Like, I enjoyed Elemental, but it's pretty clear from early on that Pixar did not have another Inside Out on its hands.) And it felt like the mixed reviews that came out of Cannes marked the point where the air started to go out of both films' hype. Now, Elemental has recovered somewhat with stellar holds, but I don't think Indy is going to fare very well with Mission: Impossible and Oppenheimer also targeting similar demos in the coming weeks. We'll see, I guess.

I'm generally really positive on Mangold. I'm really big on Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Logan, and Ford v. Ferrari, and I also have a big soft spot for Identity and Girl, Interrupted. That said, having now seen Dial of Destiny, the panache that Spielberg brought to the preceding films is noticeably absent. It's not that Mangold's direction is bad - in fact, he actually feels really well suited to the film's more emotionally-driven moments and handles the action sequences adequately - but the film definitely feels like it's missing the inventiveness, whimsy, and "oomph" that the others ones had whenever it turns its attention toward action. I feel like this film would have benefitted from a more action-oriented director, especially since the script is so surface-level with the character-driven dynamics that are the bread-and-butter of Mangold's more successful efforts.

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash 06/26 No Hard Feelings 06/27 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2) 06/30 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

A Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Air Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Asteroid City John Wick: Chapter 4 B+ Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 M3GAN Scream VI Sisu B Beau Is Afraid Elemental The Flash Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing No Hard Feelings Renfield B- Cocaine Bear Fast X Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Magic Mike's Last Dance C+ The Super Mario Bros Movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods

"Official" review first, spoilery stray thoughts after. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a serviceable legacyquel, but given the potential it demonstrates and the franchise space it occupies, it feels like a letdown. There are numerous elements that work well over the course of the film’s two-and-a-half-hour running time, and it concludes on a fairly high note. The action sequences are sufficiently involving, the witty humor hits more often than not, and the script – despite its problems – does its best to at least simulate the spirit of its predecessors. There are also a few callbacks to the previous films and effective moments where director James Mangold taps into the pathos that has carried over from previous franchise in their 40-plus year run, making some heartstring-tugging moments feel earned rather than forced. However, despite its successes in spots, in falls short of its predecessors in numerous areas. Not the least of these areas is the absence of Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair; though Mangold is plenty competent, his approach lacks Spielberg’s verve and creativity. The massive running time is also an issue, as the narrative feels like it spins its wheels and accomplishes less in far more time than the previous films. The script is also a messy affair that feels like it is on the cusp of interesting ideas about aging, legacy, and moving past obsessions with the past, but it never really engages with these ideas on more than a surface level. Reprising the title role for the last (I assume?) time, Harrison Ford definitely feels older and wearier, but the moments where he allows his charm and confidence to seep through are fun; as good as he was in engaging with past roles in a more grizzled and experienced fashion in The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049, Ford’s seriousness feels a little out of place for Indiana Jones, but the moments where he leans into the iconography work. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is fun as Indy’s goddaughter and new companion, making up for the script’s shortcomings in her characterization with enough heart and humor to make the part work. Mads Mikkelsen is a little bit of a letdown as the villain, though that’s less to do with Mikkelsen’s performance – which has the menacing presence down pat – than with a script that is more interested in just making him a stock villain. As someone who enjoyed all the previous entries in this franchise thoroughly – even the much (and I’d say unfairly) maligned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – I went into Dial of Destiny wanting to enjoy another Indiana Jones adventure, and while I had a good enough time with it to give it a light pass, I do wish it could have met its much vaster potential more fully. B- And now, the spoilery stray thoughts! - It was kinda weird seeing an Indy movie without opening credits. I honestly half-expected a No Time to Die style opening credits sequence after the 20-odd minute prologue. - Not gonna lie: I really wish the filmmakers had taken a page from Last Crusade and cast a younger actor as Indy for the prologue. The de-aging CGI on Ford is fine, but he still sounds and moves like an 80+-year-old man. That didn't bother me when it was done on Robert De Niro in The Irishman, but in an action sequence that is meant to be kinetic, Ford's difficulty in getting around while playing a man clearly intended to be several decades younger sticks out like a sore thumb. - Unfortunately, I watched this in earshot of the worst in-theater movie talkers I've encountered in years. I saw this at a limited capacity pub cinema with my dad, and the layout basically has two pairs of seats together with aisles on either side, so you end up unavoidably within earshot of the people in the pair of seats next to you. So, we ended up sitting next to this hetero couple where the guy guffawed loudly at every even vaguely amusing moment and made the most inane comments. Like, we're talking "Oh, that's trouble!" when seeing anything that could put Indy/Helena/et al in danger. The most ironic piece is that both of them drank nothing but Pepsis all night, so they didn't even have the excuse of being drunk (as is usually the case when any patrons act up at this theater). But the best part, hands down, was hearing his bewilderment and "Wait... what... I don't know what's happening... What is this?" on the reveal that the plane had ventured back into ancient Syracuse. After spending the entire running time annoying us with the most basic comments imaginable, this guy legit could not wrap his head around the film doing something he did not expect. This is definitely a moment where my inner mean girl came out in full force, but I couldn't help but laugh that this only minorly clever twist left this surface-level vocal guy speechless.

No Hard Feelings is a successful throwback to the era where raunchy R-rated comedies dotted the cinematic landscape about a decade-and-a-half ago, filtered through today’s sensibilities. It’s a little too long and sometimes struggles to find just the right balance between its out-and-out comedic elements and its more poignant moments (though it does both well in isolation), but it hits as breezy fun much more often than it misses. The concept is admittedly eyebrow-raising, but the filmmakers do a good job of milking the provocative elements for laughs while refraining from taking things into overly icky territory. It helps that the performances from the leads both click. Jennifer Lawrence appears to be having the most fun in any of her screen roles in years, hitting all her comic beats just right while somehow also finding a way to shape well-meaning screw-up Maddie as a three-dimensional character. Lawrence is funny to watch in Maddie’s over-the-top comedic moments (especially that beach fight scene, where she truly goes for broke and scores the biggest laughs in the film) and puts in more than enough legwork to make her character arc feel more affecting than it probably should in an R-rated raunchy comedy. Co-lead Andrew Barth Feldman is also winning in his performance as shy, introverted Percy; Feldman succeeds in capturing Percy’s naivete in hilarious ways, but – like Lawrence – also comes across poignantly when he needs to. Lawrence and Feldman succeed in crafting a bond between their characters that becomes surprisingly endearing as the narrative progresses. It hasn’t resurrected the raunch-com to its glory days, but No Hard Feelings is a solid little comedy, and hopefully the beginning of studios committing more to getting enjoyable comedies off of streaming and back in front of audiences where they belong. B

I haven't seen this installment yet, but I had a similar thought while rewatching the previous four this week. Ford as Indy is obviously iconic, but so much of what makes the franchise work comes down to Spielberg's instincts behind the camera. I'll reserve judgment on Mangold until I see the movie, but it's hard to imagine a tried-and-true journeyman - even one with as many solid films as Mangold - matching up with the dynamism of Steven freaking Spielberg.

I would have loved to see a Gore Verbinski Indy. Well, really, I would have loved to see a Spielberg Indy, but if Spielberg had to be replaced, Verbinski would have been an intriguing choice. Say what you will about some of the scripts he has worked with, but his eye for elaborate, bonkers action sequences could have been an interesting fit for this material.

It's kinda wild to think that this weekend a decade ago, we had Monsters University in first with over $80 million, World War Z in second with over $60 million (not far off from topping The Day After Tomorrow as the biggest second place opener ever at the time), and Man of Steel in third with over $40 million, and this weekend we will have... nothing over $20 million. That said, without applying the full benefits of hindsight and its context, it feels like this was unavoidable from a scheduling standpoint. I know The Flash and Elemental ended up being... well... The Flash and Elemental, and we're also potentially looking at another underwhelming performance from Indy next weekend, but think about it from a distance: On the third weekend in June, you have a massively budgeted multiverse superhero film and an original Pixar film, and on the fifth weekend in June, you have a sequel in a beloved, long-running franchise coming just one year after Top Gun: Maverick rode long-standing nostalgia to unbelievable heights. For that, I kinda don't blame studios for avoiding this weekend... save for counterprogramming in the form of a raunchy R-rated comedy, which is exactly the kind of thing that would have opened in between big blockbusters in the late '00s/early '10s.

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash

A Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Air Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Asteroid City John Wick: Chapter 4 B+ Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 M3GAN Scream VI Sisu B Beau Is Afraid Elemental The Flash Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing Renfield B- Cocaine Bear Fast X Magic Mike's Last Dance C+ The Super Mario Bros Movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods

There is so much baggage attached to The Flash that the movie itself almost feels like an afterthought, but judging purely by what director Andy Muschietti puts onscreen, I had a pretty good time with it. The film occupies a weird place in the already snarled DC cinematic continuity, as it clearly counts on viewers having seen Man of Steel and the Snyder Cut of Justice League while also feeling like an unambiguous move to reset the continuity for future films. Despite having such contrasting aims to meet, Muschietti succeeds in crafting a fun popcorn flick that has effective humor and clever nods to the various cinematic DC properties (though the best of these is a “what-could-have-been” moment that will have those in the know laughing out loud while confusing the hell out of those who are not), earned emotional moments, and steady pacing that keeps the proceedings engaging throughout the 144-minute running time. The narrative does suffer somewhat from feeling like a sequel to something that doesn’t completely exist (as we got bits and pieces of Flash and his origin in both Justice League cuts, but not a standalone film) and from a final act that feels a little underwhelming after all that came before, but the elements that work are more than enough to carry it through. Though their offscreen actions are messy to say the least, Ezra Miller makes the charm and humor of multiple versions of Barry Allen feel effortless; as in some of the highlights of their other work, Miller possesses the skill and charisma of a true star and puts those qualities to effective use here. It’s also lots of fun to see Michael Keaton reprise the Batman role after a 31-year absence, and the small roles and cameos that follow elicited smiles from me. With the shift to James Gunn’ s vision and this film’s headline-grabbing under-performance at the box office, I have no idea what kind of place The Flash will ultimately have in its brand’s erratic big screen era, but I had plenty of fun with it for what it was. B And now, the spoilery stray thoughts (it's been a while since I did these, but it feels appropriate here): - As alluded to above, I definitely laughed out loud at Nicolas Cage's cameo as Superman-Fighting-a-Giant-Fuckin'-Spider. I went with my dad, who knows absolutely nothing about Kevin Smith's filmography or speaking engagements, so that moment and my laughter at it required quite the explanation while we waited for the post-credits scene. I love that we finally got Nicolas Cage as a Superman who fights a giant spider. - Thanks to scanning the cast list on IMDB, I was spoiled on all the cameos going in, but was still highly amused with the contexts for most of them. Even though I knew full well that the Bruce Wayne at the end was going to be George Clooney, I still laughed at the interactions between him and Miller. - I enjoyed this, but man, releasing mere weeks after Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended up being just about the worst timing imaginable. Even as a part one, Across the Spider-Verse feels like it tells a more complete and effective story than what we get here, and it tackles themes of free will and (supposed) inevitability more poignantly. (Also, that film's "Protect Trans Kids" flag is more prominently visible in Gwen's room than the poster of the progress flag is in 2013 Barry's. Just sayin'.) - I love how the date given for Barry's accident matches up with the actual 2013 calendar (Sunday, September 29). That said, it did make me think "But that happened in June..." when we saw Zod calling for the Kryptonian on TV. - Please tell me I wasn't the only one thrown for a loop when Ron Livingston showed up as Barry's dad - a role previously played by Billy Crudup. Given the multiversal nature of this film, I was definitely half-expecting Crudup to show up at some point.

Asteroid City marks perhaps Wes Anderson’s densest and most thematically ambitious film to date, and it proves both intellectually satisfying and as delightful as one would expect from Anderson. By setting the main storyline as a play within the film’s universe and frequently acknowledging it as such, Anderson leans heavily on the fourth wall (and breaks it on numerous occasions). In the process, he crafts a film whose main storyline is plenty enjoyable in its own right, then enhances it with explorations of meaning, purpose, and existentialism during the breaks into the film’s real world. The film’s structure makes for a heady undertaking, but the way Anderson pays it off in the third act makes for a powerful reflection on how in art and life, we are constantly trying to understand the seemingly incomprehensible. And of course, it’s all executed in Anderson’s customary stylistic flair, complete with creative production and costume design, meticulously crafted mise-en-scene, well-pitched humor, and a cast loaded with performers at or near the top of their comedic game. Visually and thematically, there is so much to unpack in Asteroid City that it practically demands multiple viewings, and I look forward to revisiting it to further explore the many delights Wes Anderson puts onscreen. A-

Yeah, I'll concur with the take that the preview numbers are solid for No Hard Feelings and Asteroid City. The former looked like a wild card between Jennifer Lawrence's long break from theatrical releases and the dire financial state of big screen comedies, and the latter is running almost entirely on niche appeal.

Despite its obvious shortcomings and the fact that this long-running series’ best days are in the rearview mirror, Fast X is a guilty pleasure for me. It is glaringly obvious that the convoluted story this film cooks up is just the setup for something bigger in the next installment(s?), and that approach sucks a good deal of tension out of the climax and renders many character journeys incomplete. That said, I was never bored and followed along with the numerous new developments and retcons with as much interest as I could for a franchise that is now ten films deep. The vehicular mayhem feels more generic under the direction of franchise newbie Louis Leterrier, but it’s still reasonably fun to watch despite some dodgy CGI. Ironically, though, for a franchise that purports to be all about booming action, it works best when it remembers - *ahem* - that the most important thing is the onscreen family it has assembled. There are actually some nice character moments between the big, dumb action sequences, which continue this franchise’s surprising trend toward leaning into sentiment where other big franchises might just skip to the next scene. The returning players are mostly still having fun with their roles and playing off qualities that have worked in the past films, while many of the newcomers – particularly Brie Larson, Daniela Melchior, and a brief cameo from Rita Moreno – gel well because they have a clear awareness of the kind of movie they’re in and pitch their work just right. The standout, however, is Jason Momoa, who leaves no scenery unchewed in a truly bonkers performance that makes his villain far more memorable than he should be as what could very easily have just been a stock heavy. Unlike the recent Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which felt like it told a mostly complete story with lots of open ends and hints of where the action would go next, Fast X feels like an entire movie of setup for what will hopefully be a stronger finale, but it works as decent escapist entertainment. B- Also: If we do make it to a Fast 12, I'll be disappointed if we don't see a complete heel-face-turn from Momoa, complete with him knocking back Coronas with Dom and exclaiming "My man!" Also also: LOL at that last scene. Retconning Gisele's death is such a beautifully, transcendently stupid moment that I couldn't help but smile at it. Much like Tej and Roman going to space in F9, it reads like the writers seeing internet posters cook up some crazy shark-jumping twist and saying to themselves, "You know what? Let's try it!" Honestly, "death" means so little in this universe that I'm gonna go ahead and call my shot now: we're seeing Elena return from the dead in the next one to help save Dom and Little Brian.

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental

As the newest entrant in Pixar’s “what if ‘blank’ had feelings” subgenre, Elemental comes up short of the task with matching up with its predecessors in the studio’s stable, but the components that work more than outweigh the shortcomings. In its best moments, Elemental works as a sweet romance that also capably uses its backdrop to explore interracial relationships and immigration. The relationship between protagonist Ember and her unlikely love interest Wade is endearing from their first meeting on, and I found myself invested in their attempts to navigate the obstacles the narrative throws their way. They have some adorable moments together – particularly the date in which Ember discovers her talent in making glass art and a crying game Wade’s family plays – that have the resonance I’ve come to expect from Pixar. There are also some nice emotional moments in Ember’s relationship with her parents, with a particularly touching emotional payoff near the end. And as always with Pixar, the animation is stunning – and it’s especially nice to see said animation back on a big screen after so many of their recent efforts were sent straight to Disney+. If there’s a major area where Elemental falters, though, it’s in not taking as much care in crafting and developing its story and characters as deeply as other, better Pixar – and even mainline Disney – outings before it. When seeing the explanations of how the universe works early in the run time, it’s hard not to think of how this film does not distill its characters’ existences and stakes as cleverly and poignantly as, say, Inside Out, nor explore the nuances of the coexistence of so many opposing forces as thoughtfully as Zootopia in the Disney canon. The water pipe subplot, while important in getting the narrative going, also feels less important than the filmmakers might have intended, and the complications it causes toward the end feel like forced conflict that isn’t needed at a point where it feels like the film has become more interested in the characters’ emotional lives. It’s that weight of expectations and sense that it could have been more that make Elemental feel a little underwhelming, but when compared with much of the faster and flimsier material we often see in family-friendly animation, it’s a solid effort whose strengths carry it through. B

The Super Mario Bros Movie is plenty colorful and amusing, but also so lazy and unambitious in its storytelling that it doesn’t leave much of an impression after the credits begin to roll. The animation from Illumination Studios is hands down the most gorgeous, eye-catching work they have ever done, with the world Mario falls into boasting an abundance of visually appealing touches and so many easter eggs that it will surely have home viewers pressing the pause button frequently to take everything in. There are also numerous moments in which the filmmakers engage with beloved elements of the games that are sure to draw smiles with viewers who have nostalgia for this IP. Unfortunately, as has been true of too many Illumination films, it is so concerned with packing gags, references, and needle drops into a chaotic, fast-moving plot that it never really bothers to develop themes or character arcs beyond the most perfunctory shades. While I’m sure some viewers will argue that they don’t come to an animated Super Mario Brothers adventure for themes or character development, it’s ultimately the film’s refusal to explore any ideas that deviate from its very basic plot that hold it far back from the ranks of far better family-friendly films that actually did the intellectual and emotional legwork to succeed as more than an appealing but ephemeral piece of entertainment. C+ That said, what was even more entertaining than anything happening onscreen was a trio of teenagers at my screening who were clearly baked and giggled uncontrollably at every line out of Bowser's mouth.

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

A Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Air John Wick: Chapter 4 B+ Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 M3GAN Scream VI Sisu B Beau Is Afraid Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing Renfield B- Cocaine Bear Magic Mike's Last Dance C+ Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts occupies strange, paradoxical territory for me: while it is too flawed to merit a legitimate recommendation, it also is not as enjoyably unhinged nor worthy of ironic hate watches as any of the Michael Bay-helmed sequels. Under the direction of Creed II helmer Steven Caple, Jr., Rise of the Beasts is a competent if uninspired blockbuster whose early light touch and nice character moments give way to an uninvolving, generic second half. Though it is a reasonably well-assembled film, it isn’t as fun to unpack as the much bigger, messier, and – admittedly – more daring Bay affairs. Looking outside of the ironic viewing lens, it also does not match the 2007 original for effective character development and world building, nor the 2018 Bumblebee for its heart and solid use of its period setting – in fact, after the first hour, when the CGI mayhem takes over completely, it’s all too easy to forget that the film is supposed to take place in 1994. The “chase the MacGuffin to do the thing” plot is too generic to really work, and the stakes for the humans and robots alike don’t feel all that high. That said, the choreography and CGI effects in the action sequences work well, and there are some emotional moments that hint at the stronger film Caple, Jr. could have made if not hemmed in by the need to make a two-hour action film that hits all the expected beats in paint-by-numbers fashion. After their terrific work in In the Heights and Judas and the Black Messiah, respectively, it’s a little disappointing to see Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback stuck playing characters whose interesting qualities are limited by the needs of the script, but they both do appealing work that elevates their characters past what’s present on the page. The voice work is also decent, though the robots are sketched with such thin personalities that they never feel all that interesting. Though Rise of the Beasts may technically be better than most of the films in its franchise, it’s too forgettable to earn a legitimate recommendation, and too bland to earn the fun, ironic hate watch value of its fellow sequels. C+