V-log: Quick Update

Quick Movie Review

When the Bough Breaks (2016, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
Yay, another black thriller that barely adds anything new to the genre! I don't know. It's hard for me to be excited about these African-American centric suspense thrillers like The Perfect Guy, No Good Deed, and even Obsessed. I'm sure there are others out there that only played on TV. I don't know the title of it, but when they were advertising some behind the scene stuff during I think a BET movie, the plot was very similar. Despite all the cliches of black thrillers, I had a fun time with this one. There was good progression, some plot elements I wasn't expecting to exist that made it a little more entertaining, and for the most part the acting was good. This movie is definitely not a must-see, but it's pretty harmless as a thriller. The crazy are crazier than you expect and the good are sometimes blindly too good, people that is.



The Accountant (2016, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
As exciting as the trailer was for this movie, I still didn't feel pressured to see this on the big screen. I guess my need for action is quite neutral. Nonetheless, I was still excited to see if this movie lived up to the high energy from the trailer. The answer is yes, yes it did. Actually, some things I expected from this movie didn't happen, which in this case is a good thing. There was this good/bad sibling dynamic, a mental handicap, and a romance that wasn't forcefully thrusted in our face constantly. The story's pacing knew when to slow down for us to catch our breaths and when to hit us with the action...most of the time. Sometimes the intricacies of the plot seemed slightly unclear or had too many details, but for the most part I had fun with what was given and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.



Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016, USA) | Rating: 2.5/5
This was another movie I wanted to catch on the big screen, but wasn't able to for one reason or another. Once again, I wasn't particularly heartbroken about it, but I knew the book series had been very popular around my job. Leading up to opening day, I saw a few controversial articles criticizing the film for lack of diversity and casting the villain as a black man. I believe Tim Burton commented on the outrage, which changed the success of the movie completely. I couldn't help but keep that in mind as I watch, although I probably forgot about it as I was too busy trying to understand the mythos of characters and situations. For the most part, it felt very much like a young adult adaptation when it came to character design and plot. I thought the kids were interesting and the creatures were a bit scary, but the time manipulation was kinda puzzling for me. I mean it explained a lot why majority of the characters were in that era and our main character was able to interact with them, but I don't think I was completely convinced. With the gradual downfall of Burton's quality, I thought the movie was decent and had some interesting visuals, but I don't think the rest of the series will be adapted any time soon.



Morgan (2016, USA) | Rating: 2/5
This sci-fi thriller had potential to be action packed and...uh...thrilling by looking at the trailer. Once again, this was another movie I wanted to catch in the theaters, but didn't get a chance to, which also ended up being a good thing. The plot had a lot of potential to be something entertaining and exciting, but the execution was a bit poor in place. The dialogue didn't keep my attention most of the time, so I didn't completely understand what the experiment was and the action scenes didn't pack as much of a punch because I didn't care about the characters. It's quite unfortunate that this story didn't hook me in, because it had some good ideas with creating super humans and it all backfiring. Sure, that concept has been done before, but there's a small difference that made this somewhat unique. Obviously, this failed to meet my expectations, despite kinda liking the final reveal, but it tried.



Rogue One (2016, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
Much like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I heard nothing but good things about this movie and some emotional comments. I did properly see this in the movie theater and it's possible that I may have enjoyed this a little more than "The Force Awakens". Once again, we're introduced to a whole new set of characters as we anticipate the fall of the Empire through the Rebel Alliance and we have another strong female lead to follow. Honestly, I found the supporting cast more entertaining than Jyn and Cassian. While I did enjoy the chemistry, K-2SO's sarcastic humor and Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus's loyalty towards each other is what kept me hooked. Since this is a prequel, I had fun (with the rusty knowledge in my head) piecing together what was going to happen in episodes 4-6, while our heroes attempted to execute their plan as successfully as possible. Things that are good to also know going into this film, and you're familiar with the franchise, is a slight sense of nostalgia through some of the original cast members being featured in this film through technology! Since the reboot of the franchise, I can safely say that Star Wars is back and ready to take over the box office every year.