“Upgrade” Review

There aren’t too many films nowadays that truly earn the “B-movie” title. Upgrade is a film that qualifies with flying colors, as it is stylish enough to keep you entertained, but also silly enough to keep you from taking it too seriously. This film kind of flew under the radar to many, but it’s a film worth enjoying in theaters while it’s still there.

The plot to Upgrade is your standard fare revenge flick. What’s refreshing is the setting and the world that it creates in the short 90 minute run time. While it starts off a little slow, you gradually get more and more invested into what happens next, and when the first fight happens, it’s a terrific payoff. I went back and watched the trailers after not seeing anything for this film (as usual) and I found that the trailer pretty much gives away the entire first fight. It’s sad to see that trailers have to give away so much to entice the audience to go see it, but I understand that it’s somewhat necessary for indie films such as this. However, if you’re willing to be adventurous and watch a movie (without seeing the trailers) that has a bit more mind than your typical mindless action thriller, then you will not be disappointed.

Logan Marshall Green (Tom Hardy’s long lost twin) stars in this film, and is often hit or miss with his performance. However, I think that might be due to the B-movie nature of it all. Sometimes he nails the conflicted hero role, and other times he has really really weird inflections in his speech, channeling his best Nic Cage. I’m sure some of it was intentional, so some of it deserves a pass.

While the story is mostly predictable, there are still some unexpected twists. Whether or not it all makes sense is really up to how much you’re willing to suspend your disbelief. Regardless, that’s not really the point of a B-movie. The point of a B-movie is to enjoy the action, and this movie does that in spades. It’s stylish, well-directed, with a bit of cool camera tricks. It’s done well enough that you’ll wish for more of it.

Independent movie studio Blumhouse Productions has had their fair share of hits such as Get Out and audience-favorite Purge series (how are there so many of these movies?). Blumhouse Productions finds itself another hit, as Upgrade is a film that gives itself a good name in the niche B-movie space.

Grade: B/78

“Batman Ninja” Review

Batman Ninja was a movie that I kind of forgot came out this year, and was something that I put on the backburner in my mind. However, after watching it with a friend, I was really glad that I didn’t completely forget about it, because this is my new favorite movie of the year.

This has been a very strange year for movies for me. Most of the movies I’ve enjoyed the most so far have been difficult to recommend to the average moviegoer, because they’re either too convoluted, too horrifying, or too stupid. Batman Ninja falls into the stupid category. I’m just gonna come out and say that this movie is downright absurd. I read some of the reviews for this film and it was trashed beyond belief. As much as I can say I understand, I can also politely disagree, because the interpretation of Batman and his world in feudal Japan is one of the most zaniest, wildly imaginative things that could be conceived.

I really have to give props to WB studios for allowing a full Japanese production team to helm this animated movie. This movie comes from the minds of notable anime series Afro Samurai and Gurrenn Lagann, and if there’s anything about Batman Ninja that stands out, it’s that it is ANIME AS HELL. The art is amazing, the action is ridiculously entertaining, and the voice acting is obviously top notch (I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles).

I haven’t really been into anime for many years now. I’d say it’s been a little over a decade since I was thoroughly invested into any sort of anime series. However, that doesn’t take away from my overall appreciation for some of the things that I’ve grown to love about Japanese culture and animation in general. Batman Ninja is the perfect example of being taken over the top to the nth degree. There are so many absurd things that happen, that you can’t help but throw your hands up in the air and just laugh at the nonsense that’s happening on the screen. Many, many viewers who even dare attempt to watch this movie would probably be put off by it. However, if you have an open mind and enjoy seeing the Batman universe being set in the hands of people who create insanely over the top anime, then this is definitely for you.

I will say that objectively, this film is incredibly stupid and has plenty of things that make no sense. But that is the beautiful nature of movies. Sometimes, nothing has to make sense. This movie has so much fan service thrown at you that it’s just hard to not be impressed. It was just so deeply enjoyable for me throughout its 90 minute run time, that I couldn’t deny how much of a good time I was having. This is definitely going down as one of my favorite guilty pleasures of all time, and once again I really appreciate WB studios for making this movie a reality. I hope that they can continue to experiment like this in the future and produce even more insane films like this one.

Grade: A-/89

“Hereditary” Review

I hate horror movies.

I feel like I have to emphasize that every time I review a horror movie. The horror genre is perhaps the genre I am most unfamiliar with, maybe apart from rom-coms or something, but I definitely have not seen many scary movies in my entire life. That is entirely due to the fact that my first horror film was The Exorcist, which I saw in seventh grade. After watching that film, I had almost no interest in ever seeing anything from that genre for years and years to come. It caused many sleepless nights, gave me more than enough nightmare fuel, and made me fear every dark corner for a number of months.

With the rise of film company A24 consistently producing amazing films year after year, I’ve become a bit more exposed to the genre and taking in a select few, testing the waters to see if I can handle it now. To my surprise, I found that many of the horror films I saw were quite excellent in their craft—no heavy reliance on jump scares, meaningful and artistic ways of building up tension and suspense, and characters that you actually felt for in their state of peril. In fact, some of the best cinematography I’ve seen have come from horror movies, as each frame has more at stake in generating the level of fear you feel in the film.

Last year, I saw It in theaters. It was a monumental moment for me because it was the first horror movie I ever saw in theaters. I was incredibly nervous, but it ended up being way less scary than I had thought. My second horror film in theaters was A Quiet Place, yet another film that was not scary (but insanely intense). I had begun to think to myself, “hey, my horror tolerance isn’t so bad! Maybe I can handle something a bit more now.” Enter A24’s newest film, Hereditary. When all the critics came out saying this was the scariest movies in years, I couldn’t help but be a little intimidated. I had a small glimmer of hope that I might walk out of the theater thinking to myself that once again, I had conquered my fear of horror movies and overcome the persistent dread that I once felt.

Not since The Exorcist have I felt this level of unease and fear after watching a film.

Yeaaaaaa, I did not sleep well at all last night. I can’t say I didn’t expect to walk away terribly frightened, but there was one thing I was incredibly surprised by, which I’ll get to in a bit. But first, I wanted to spend a bit of time quantifying my level of fear, for those of you who might be interested in seeing it. below is a scale from 1-10, 10 being the scariest film I’ve ever seen, and 1 not scary at all, but still being a horror movie. It’ll give you a better sense of what I found to be scary, and you can make your own judgment call should go see the film.

10 – The Exorcist
9 –
8 –
7 – The Conjuring
6 – The Witch
5 – It
4 – It Follows
3 – A Quiet Place
2 – Get Out
1 – Cabin in the Woods

The list isn’t filled out completely because The Exorcist was that terrifying to me, and I haven’t seen anything since then that had come close to it. If I were to put Hereditary on this scale of fear, I’d probably give it a solid 8.

Hereditary is a film about a woman named Annie who recently finds out that her estranged mother has suddenly passed away from unknown causes. Within her passing comes a bit of grief, but none are hit harder than Annie’s daughter Charlie. The events that unfold after the grandmother’s death cause turmoil in Annie’s family, and soon afterward a supernatural element introduced causes the family to be torn apart.

That’s pretty much all I’ll say about this film. Why is this film so scary? Well for one, director Ari Aster shows that he has complete mastery over how he generates fear and the buildup of suspense through long takes, knowing when to show you something and when to keep you waiting, and using jump scares effectively instead of throwing them out meaninglessly for the shock factor.

Getting back to what I mentioned earlier, there was one thing that really surprised me about this film, and that is the fact that I could only recall one or two jump scares throughout the movie. Aster’s approach to this film has really turned the horror genre upside down for me, as I’ve never felt so much fright and terror through what I was not seeing. It’s the wide shots of things being in the corner but never focused on, and the long silent tracking shots that made me more nauseous compared to hearing a loud noise and seeing a scary image pop out of nowhere like other horror films.

Of course, none of this would be possible or effective if we didn’t feel a connection to the characters, and that’s where Toni Collette comes in. Her performance as Annie is easily the best of the year so far. I got very similar vibes from her performance as I did from Shelly Duvall’s absolutely incredible work as Wendy Torrance in The Shining. There is a desperation and exhaustiveness in Collete’s performance that comes off so genuinely terrifying, and you really feel for what’s happening to her and her family. All the other actors in this film do a great job too, but Collete is the one who provides a tour de force performance.

At the end of the day, horror is subjective. Some might not be as scared by this film. In fact, the person I watched it with did not seem to be fazed during the movie. based on what RT is projecting, the fans feel the same way, as there is a bit of disparity in the ratings. Of course, there are some flaws I can find with this movie. Sometimes the ambiguity got in the way of my enjoyment, although most plot points are neatly tied up in a bow at the end of the film. There are still some parts that I felt didn’t make sense, and they never exactly explain what happens.

However, I found this film satisfyingly terrifying due to the terrific techniques that Aster applies in making you feel an almost visceral fear, but also its themes as well. This movie is about family. Family is a very important cornerstone in my life, as it is to many others. However in this film, family is the curse. It is the unwavering and unshakable pestilence that is arguably more devastating than the supernatural itself. Turning something so endearing into something so toxic really made the difference for me, and because of it, Hereditary will be a film that I will not forget for a long time.

Grade: B+/85

“Deadpool 2” Review

Marvel’s wildly vulgar meta-humor comic book movie returns even better than the first. There were times when the comedic beats in the first film felt like it was trying too hard, and I didn’t get that impression as much in the second film. While it is completely aware of the fact that it is an absurd movie, the core of this film has an unexpectedly serious tone. While that doesn’t necessarily flow well with the rest of the movie, it still makes for a very enjoyable watch.

Seeing as how Deadpool is very much disconnected from the already insane X-Men timeline, there’s more of an emphasis on Wade Wilson’s character this time around. The movie does a lot of flip flopping between reminding you that this is first and foremost a funny comic book movie and that Deadpool himself has a lot of depth to his character that gives reason for him to act the way that he is. Regardless, the plot takes some interesting turns with the arrival of Cable, played by Josh Brolin. I actually found Cable to be really awesome. I really hope that he appears in other X-Men movies, because otherwise it’d be a waste of a great actor/character. He has a surprising backstory that could allow him to play an important part in future movies.

This movie has hands down the best comic book cameos I’ve seen so far. If you haven’t seen it yet or haven’t gotten it spoiled for you, then I definitely suggest going in without knowing anything. Some are really quick, but they are hilarious and obviously quite meta. I love that it is not afraid to make fun of itself and for the most part, doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The action in this film is also pretty underrated. This movie had a smaller sized budget of $110,000.00, which is about a third of Justice League. However, the style and look of the action are very much like that of your typical high budget comic book film. There are some spectacular fight scenes that are equally impressive as they are hilarious.

If you didn’t like the first movie, I don’t think this one will change your mind. If you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into with this film, then I think it will be way more enjoyable. Ryan Reynolds has carved out an interesting space of the comic book hero genre that most wouldn’t dare approach, but it works out perfectly for him and the franchise as long as you check your expectations at the door.

Grade: B/79