The Matrix Resurrections (2021) review

Calling The Matrix a staple of the sci-fi genre would be the very definition of an understatement. Upon its release in the spring of 1999, this highly ambitious sci-fi action flick directed by sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski immediately became one of the most iconic films of its time. Not only was it a massive critical and commercial success, earning over $466 million worldwide, much critical acclaim, and four Oscars, but it also inspired numerous films that would come after it with its groundbreaking visual effects and extensive use of wire-fu stunt choreography. It would then pave the way for a wide array of media in 2003 to turn it into a full-blown franchise, including two theatrically released sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. And while neither film was as necessarily well-received as the original, they did their job in helping to maintain the franchise’s strong position within the pop cultural zeitgeist in the early 2000s. However, following their release, that was mostly it for the franchise as far as theatrical releases were concerned. Lana and Lilly promptly moved on to other projects and repeatedly rejected ideas for follow-ups to the point where Warner Bros. brought in screenwriter Zak Penn to develop a potential prequel or sequel without them. Ultimately, though, Lana Wachowski returned to the franchise in 2019 as the prospect of bringing back main protagonists Neo and Trinity, who had both died in Revolutions, allowed her a chance to cope with the recent loss of her and Lilly’s parents and a close friend. And while the loss of their parents was the reason Lilly Wachowski didn’t return, instead opting to take a hiatus from the film industry, Lana’s return to the franchise that made her and her sister some of the most famous filmmakers around provides us with an emotionally poignant, visually stunning, and very much self-aware sequel.

Despite all the success that he’s achieved thanks to his greatest creation, a trilogy of games known as The Matrix, video game designer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) has recently been struggling to cope with the dreams that he’s been having that suggest that his reality isn’t what it seems. And while his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) attempts to help him by prescribing him blue pills, the situation only proceeds to get more complicated with each passing day, especially whenever Thomas crosses paths with a married woman named Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss), whom he seems to have some sort of unclear history with. It is only through interactions with a woman named Bugs (Jessica Henwick) and her AI acquaintance Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) that Thomas takes the figurative and literal red pill and finally remembers who he truly is; the mythical heroic figure known as Neo AKA ‘The One’. It has been more than 60 years since Neo was able to successfully save humanity from the machines that had turned the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland by harvesting humans for energy while keeping them locked within a virtual world known as the Matrix. And while said victory had originally thought to have come at the cost of Neo’s life, it is revealed that the machines have resurrected not only him but also the love of his life Trinity… who now lives within the Matrix as Tiffany. Thus, when Neo learns that he and Trinity were vital to the Matrix’s current operation and that his awakening has now put her in danger of being killed by a system reboot, Neo joins forces with Bugs and the crew of her ship, the Mnemosyne, to rescue Trinity before that can happen.

With The Matrix Resurrections, Lana Wachowski and co-writers David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hermon craft a story that’s very much self-aware of its status as not only the fourth installment of a well-established franchise but also as a follow-up released several years after what was initially perceived to be the franchise’s finale. As such, this film is full of meta-commentary on sequels and the process of rehashing old franchises, and while said commentary may get a bit over-the-top at times in the ways that have made some Wachowski films rather infamous, the writers do an excellent job when it comes to ‘how’ they go about continuing the franchise’s plot. In other words, instead of just making your standard ‘legacy sequel’ that sets up a new ‘human vs. machine’ conflict with new characters mixed in with the older characters, The Matrix Resurrections is, simply put, a story about Neo and Trinity, the franchise’s definitive couple, reuniting with each other. As I alluded to earlier, this was the exact reason why Lana Wachowski ended up returning to the franchise after all this time, and because of this act of unabashed wish fulfillment, The Matrix Resurrections has what is easily the best emotional hook out of any installment of the franchise. And overall, I’d say that this helps the film overcome the fact that, admittedly, it doesn’t boast the same kind of brilliantly choreographed action sequences that the original trilogy had, especially since this is more of a story-driven plot than an action-driven one.

As it has often been with the Matrix films, The Matrix Resurrections largely revolves around the lead duo of Neo and Trinity, and Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss slip back into their iconic roles with ease. Admittedly, Trinity’s role in the film isn’t as big as Neo’s since the whole plot revolves around the process of rescuing her from the Matrix, but without spoiling anything, the route that they take with her character at the end of it all is one that I personally think longtime fans of the franchise will probably find incredibly satisfying. As for the other major characters in this film, they very much fall in line with what I noted earlier about ‘legacy’ sequels that combine new characters with the returning ones. Series regulars such as Jada Pinkett Smith’s no-nonsense captain turned resistance leader Niobe and Lambert Wilson’s infamously snooty Merovingian are largely relegated to supporting/cameo roles while more time is spent with newer characters such as Bugs and the crew of her ship, the Mnemosyne. Sure, most of the ship’s crew members don’t get a lot to work with but Jessica Henwick does headline this new group of characters quite nicely as she adopts the kind of ‘audience surrogate’ role that Neo had in the first film. Apart from all that, arguably the most notable development with this cast was the recasting of two significant roles; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as an A.I. version of Morpheus (who’s established to have died prior to the events of this film) and Jonathan Groff as the reincarnation of Neo’s arch-nemesis, Smith. Neither of these two admittedly factor into the film’s proceedings as much as you’d think, but at the very least, they both do a solid job following in the footsteps of their respective predecessors, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving.

As was the case with The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, it’s clear that The Matrix Resurrections has been an incredibly polarizing release in the eyes of both critics and audiences. In fact, one could say that, in this instance, it’s a lot like a certain installment of another big sci-fi franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, since, from what I can gather, there’s been a lot of discussion about this not being the kind of film that Matrix fans were expecting. Instead of being an action-packed sci-fi extravaganza like the previous three films were, Resurrections is a more introspective and personal story driven almost entirely by the enduring romance between its two main protagonists… and yet, that’s why it works so well. It may not possess the exact level of visual finesse as its predecessors, but it more than makes up for that with its solidly engaging premise and strong emotional poignancy. And because of how effective it is as a source of meta-commentary on narrative sequels, it’s clear that Lana Wachowski went above and beyond to make a Matrix film that was more than just your standard cinematic sequel. That level of ambition has obviously defined much of the Wachowskis’ filmography, and while not every project of theirs has been as successful as The Matrix (longtime visitors of this site may recall that I wasn’t too big on Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending), you can never fault them for trying.

Rating: 5/5!

The Matrix - Series Retrospective

Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’ll be tackling a series that I’ve been meaning to cover for quite some time now. Two years ago, I was planning on doing this retrospective in honor of the first film’s 20^th anniversary, which also happened to coincide with the reveal that the series’ long-rumored fourth installment was finally going to get made. Ultimately, though, 2019 came and went and I didn’t end up doing it at that time; instead, I figured that I’d simply wait for the fourth film’s release… and yes, that’s even after it had to endure a COVID-19 forced delay just like all the other big blockbusters at that time. But now the time has finally come to tackle a franchise whose impact on pop culture practically speaks for itself, The Matrix. What started with the second directorial outing from sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski after their highly acclaimed directorial debut Bound in 1996 quickly became a pop-cultural phenomenon that would go on to influence the film industry in numerous ways. It inspired many subsequent action films to utilize a greater implementation of wire-fu techniques that had been made famous by Hong Kong action cinema for their fight choreography (which, in turn, helped to introduce films from that subgenre to a wider audience). And, of course, there’s also the franchise’s famous slow-motion visual effect known as ‘bullet time’, which became such a popular fad in the industry that it was not only featured in hit video games such as the Max Payne series but was also parodied in numerous films such as Shrek, Scary Movie, and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.

Thanks to the success of the original Matrix, the Wachowskis would then go on to turn it into a full-blown franchise with a pair of sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both being released in 2003. And while neither sequel was able to attract the same level of critical acclaim as the original did, they were still major box-office hits while spin-offs such as an animated anthology film and a bunch of video games helped the franchise maintain its cultural relevancy. When it comes to the films, however, they were only intended to be a trilogy, with the Wachowskis repeatedly rejecting any plans for a follow-up. But now, nearly two decades after the original trilogy’s conclusion, Lana Wachowski brings us back into the war between humanity and the machines with The Matrix Resurrections, and today, in honor of its release, I’ll be looking at both the original Matrix trilogy and the previously mentioned animated anthology spin-off. And so, with that in mind, allow me to present you all with the following choice. If you decide to take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. But if you decide to take the red pill, then prepare to stay in Wonderland as I show you just how deep this rabbit hole goes as we tackle The Matrix.

THE MATRIX (1999)

The original Matrix is very much one of those films that’s genuinely hard to provide any new insight on at this point because its legacy and impact on both film and pop culture speaks for itself. And since I’m not even close to being an expert on philosophy, religion, and the like, this also isn’t going to be any sort of discussion on The Matrix’s deepest cinematic themes. Instead, I’ll be tackling the question of whether this film still holds up after all these years and considering all the franchise’s further developments… to make a long story short, it does. Say what you will about the following two films and where this story ended up, but as for this first film, it still stands as an impeccably directed, written, and produced sci-fi action blockbuster. The Wachowskis’ knack for visual storytelling and their passion for martial arts films and anime is fully apparent throughout the film’s top-notch action sequences, whether it’s Neo and Trinity’s rescue of Morpheus or the climactic fight between Neo and Agent Smith. It also helps that all its main leads are perfectly cast; Keanu Reeves as the reluctant audience surrogate Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as his badass confidant/love interest Trinity, Laurence Fishburne as the poised resistance leader Morpheus, and Hugo Weaving as the cold and emotionless antagonist Agent Smith. And so, with all that in mind, it’s easy to see why The Matrix is still seen as a landmark entry in the sci-fi genre. Not only is it a, for lack of a better term, ‘cool’ film from a visual standpoint, but the Wachowskis managed to find that perfect balance when it comes to presenting a story that’s undoubtedly smarter than a lot of its genre’s peers but done in a way where it rarely becomes too complicated to the point where it would confuse audiences.

Rating: 5/5!

THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003)

With a game-changing sci-fi action epic under their belts, the Wachowskis soon began the process of turning The Matrix into a full-blown franchise, and to put it quite simply, calling their plans to do just that ‘ambitious’ would be a massive understatement. Not only were they developing a pair of sequels, which would end up being filmed back-to-back, but they also had plans for multiple spin-offs across various mediums. They recruited a bunch of anime filmmakers (since anime was a major source of inspiration for them when they were developing the original film) to make an anthology film set within the franchise’s universe, The Animatrix, and they wrote and directed a video game tie-in, Enter the Matrix, which featured over an hour of exclusive live-action footage featuring much of the franchise’s cast of characters. Simply put, the immense hype that was generated by the first film’s success was very much in full effect once the second film, The Matrix Reloaded, hit theaters in the summer of 2003. Upon its release, the film grossed over $741 million worldwide, which made it the highest-grossing R-rated film up to that point, besting the record that had been held for more than a decade by Terminator 2: Judgment Day and holding that spot until 2016 when it was dethroned by the first Deadpool. And while its overall critical reception wasn’t necessarily as strong when compared to the first film, Reloaded did do solidly enough with critics; however, the far more negative reception towards its immediate follow-up, Revolutions, clearly had some sort of impact on how it would be seen by many in the years to come. In other words, while Reloaded wasn’t even remotely close to being a critical dud, the first two Matrix sequels are often paired together by those who feel that the franchise lost its way when trying to follow up on the original.

And yet… I find myself amongst the crowd who feels that this film isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests. Still, it does have its shortcomings, and I think it’s safe to say that part of this is due to the more visual-heavy approach that it takes when compared to the original. Unlike the original Matrix, Reloaded and Revolutions feature a lot more CGI effects which, in their defense, was largely so that the Wachowskis could utilize the original’s iconic ‘bullet time’ effects for the incredibly ambitious action sequences that they came up with. This does, however, result in a film that feels a lot like the later installments of another trilogy that was being made around this time, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, by relying on CGI more than it probably should’ve, especially since not all these effects have necessarily aged well. And while there are still plenty of top-notch action sequences such as the widely praised highway chase scene or the early parts of the big brawl between Neo, Agent Smith, and the latter’s vast army of clones, other action sequences can get rather ridiculous whenever they become overtly CGI-based. All that said, though, the film still manages to be a solidly engaging follow-up to the original Matrix with decent bits of world-building even if there are a few times where its philosophical themes can get a bit heavy-handed to the point of dragging down certain expositional sequences. And so, with all that in mind, while you can see some of the narrative and technical cracks that were starting to form as a result of the Wachowskis’ highly ambitious sequel plans, The Matrix Reloaded is ultimately a largely entertaining follow-up to its iconic predecessor. Granted, I can’t quite say that it’s ‘as good’ as the original, but it’s certainly not the ‘disaster’ that it’s been made out to be.

Rating: 4/5

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003)

As we get into the final installment of the original Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, I just want to start by noting that, even to this day, I’m still genuinely fascinated by the fact that Revolutions managed to hit theaters the exact same year as The Matrix Reloaded, coming out just six months later in the fall of 2003. Now, granted, like I noted earlier, these two sequels were filmed back-to-back so it’s easy to see how they could both come out in such a relatively short timeframe; still, there aren’t many examples of a film franchise that has managed to get two whole installments that are directly tied to each other released in the same year. The only other instance where a situation like this has ever occurred (at least, given what I could find, anyway…) was with the original King Kong in 1933, which was then quickly followed by Son of Kong the very same year. And no, the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t count in this instance because while multiple MCU films are released in a single year, it’s not like we get two Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy films a year. Regardless, The Matrix Revolutions was set to serve as the grand finale to the story of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the people of Zion’s war against the machines… but things didn’t exactly go as smoothly as before once the film was released. Whereas the equally polarizing Reloaded still managed to garner enough positive reviews from critics to earn the ‘Certified Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Revolutions ended up being a major critical dud as many ultimately found it to be a lackluster conclusion to the trilogy.

Once again, though, I don’t think that this film is as bad as a good chunk of the internet regards it as. I can totally see where some people are coming from when they say that certain routes that the story takes are disappointing or that some of the trilogy’s most notable themes and storylines aren’t explored as much as they should’ve been, but overall, Revolutions manages to be a relatively engaging and appropriately grand-scaled finale for the trilogy. Obviously, like Reloaded, Revolutions’ overt use of CGI can be an issue at times, but in this instance, it’s for an entirely different reason when compared to its immediate predecessor. Whereas Reloaded had a few too many action sequences where the characters were replaced with blatantly obvious digital doubles, Revolutions thankfully doesn’t use that visual effects method as much (or, in other words, if it did, then it hides it a lot better…). No, in this instance, the problem comes from the moments where there are so many CGI visuals on-screen that it’s sometimes hard to tell exactly what’s going on during some of the more frenetic action sequences, especially given this series’ penchant for boasting a darker color palette. Despite this, however, the trilogy’s success in endearing you to the main trio of Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus helps to keep you invested in their endeavors, which all culminates in an epic final battle between Neo and Agent Smith. And so, with all that in mind, I will admit that I do find myself amongst those who find The Matrix Revolutions to be a legitimately underrated film. Sure, you can argue over the quality of this film’s narrative and philosophical beats until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, I strongly disagree with the long-standing consensus that it’s an utterly worthless sequel.

Rating: 4/5

THE ANIMATRIX (2003)

And finally, we conclude with the project that I’ve repeatedly teased throughout this entire retrospective, The Animatrix, a collection of nine anime short films set within the world of The Matrix. A collaboration between the Wachowskis and some of the most famous anime filmmakers at the time such as Shinichirō Watanabe and Mahiro Maeda, this anthology feature properly expands upon the franchise’s lore in various ways. Some of the shorts, like Kid’s Story (in which the titular Kid, a side character from Reloaded and Revolutions who idolizes Neo, manages to escape from the Matrix on his own accord) and The Final Flight of the Osiris (in which the rebel ship Osiris learns that the Machines are tunneling towards Zion), directly address plot-points that were otherwise unseen in the films. Others are simply unique little glimpses into the universe, like Matriculated, which examines the idea of humanity attempting to convert machines to their side. It all comes together in a wholly engrossing anthology feature in which each one of the nine shorts are beautifully animated. Personal favorites of mine as far as their unique animation styles are concerned include the previously mentioned Kid’s Story, which features some particularly striking stylized visuals, and A Detective Story, with its gorgeous black-and-white noir-inspired visuals that perfectly coincide with its, you guessed it, noir plot.

Overall, The Animatrix is an incredibly well-made collection of anime shorts that is the clear result of the Wachowskis paying it forward to the medium that played such a significant role in The Matrix’s creation. And sure enough, when you combine an iconic medium with what was easily one of the newest and exciting sci-fi action franchises at the time, you get a film that successfully manages to appeal to both those who are well-versed in the world of anime… and folks like me who have little to no experience with it. However, at the risk of making an incredibly controversial statement in the eyes of this film’s fans, I don’t think that this film is ‘100% essential’ when it comes to experiencing this franchise. Now, to be clear, that doesn’t mean that I don’t highly recommend this film because that couldn’t be farther from the truth. What I mean by all this is that, ultimately, The Animatrix is primarily intended to be a source of additional context to the main films without resulting in a situation where you would end up missing out on any pivotal plot points if you end up skipping this. Anything significant to the main series that is featured here are minor beats at best such as the connection between Neo and Kid or the inciting incident with the Osiris that kick-started the events of The Matrix Reloaded and, in turn, The Matrix Revolutions. But again, I want to make it clear that, despite everything that I just said, I DO NOT recommend that you skip this because it’s one of the most unique and rewarding experiences that you could have from a spin-off of a hugely successful film franchise.

Rating: 4.5/5

And that concludes our retrospective on the original Matrix trilogy and The Animatrix. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal experiences with this franchise, especially if you were a part of its target demographic when it first came out. And yes, I do plan to follow this up with a full review of The Matrix Resurrections. You can expect that post sometime soon.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2021 (Paramount+)) review

 

At this point, there’s really no need to explain SpongeBob SquarePants. It is the undisputed flagship franchise of Nickelodeon, easily holding the record as the network’s longest-running series to date with 265 episodes produced since the show’s debut in 1999. Simply put, it’s easy to see how the show, inspired by creator Stephen Hillenburg’s love of the ocean, has become an indelible staple of the pop-cultural zeitgeist as its impact can be seen across many mediums including, of course, film. In 2004, Hillenburg directed the franchise’s first feature film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and while it may not have been the official series finale that he wanted it to be, it was a solid hit with critics and audiences and is very much fondly remembered by those who grew up with it. Hillenburg would end up stepping down as SpongeBob’s showrunner shortly after the film’s release but would eventually return to work on the series in 2014 and helped develop its second feature film, 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which was another critical and commercial hit. And while he tragically passed away on November 26^th, 2018 due to complications of ALS, his legacy continues to live on through the show, which is still going strong today and has now given us its third feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which went through quite a bit in terms of its release.

As you might have guessed, Sponge on the Run ended up being one of the many films that was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced it to abandon its originally intended theatrical release date of May 22^nd, 2020. However, unlike other films that got impacted by COVID-19, the method in which this film’s release was reworked was, admittedly, an odd one. In other words, instead of just being released via a streaming service or by taking the chance and releasing it in theaters anyway despite the obviously smaller crowds, this film’s release was spread out over the course of this past year and varied depending on the region. While it did end up seeing a theatrical release this past August… said release only occurred in Canada. International audiences (apart from China) would then proceed to get it in November… via Netflix. But as for the U.S., we didn’t officially get it until recently when it debuted on ViacomCBS’ newly reworked streaming service, Paramount+ (formerly CBS All-Access), on March 4^th. So, yeah, this was a rather strange development to behold since no other film that was supposed to come out in 2020 but had to get pushed back to a later date has been released in a way that was as thoroughly complicated as Sponge on the Run’s release was. Nevertheless, the third cinematic outing of the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea is now available to domestic audiences, and as someone who very much grew up with this show (but not to the point where I’m an obnoxious gatekeeper about it… I’ll elaborate on what I mean by that later…), I’d say that this is another solidly entertaining adventure with these beloved characters.

In the peaceful town of Bikini Bottom, life couldn’t be any more perfect for SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny). He’s got a great job as the fry cook of the Krusty Krab and is always surrounded by his best friends like Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke). However, it could be argued that the greatest relationship that SpongeBob has with anyone in Bikini Bottom is none other than the one that he has with his pet snail Gary as it’s a friendship that has stood strong ever since the two first met when SpongeBob was just a young lad at the Kamp Koral summer camp. On one fateful day, however, SpongeBob is distraught to discover that Gary has gone missing. Along with Patrick, he soon learns that Gary has been taken (unbeknownst to them by SpongeBob’s boss Mr. Krabs’ (voiced by Clancy Brown) long-time nemesis Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) as part of his latest plan to steal the Krabby Patty formula) to King Poseidon (voiced by Matt Berry), ruler of the Lost City of Atlantic City. Specifically, King Poseidon desires snail slime so that he can maintain his youthful complexion, and unfortunately for him, his snail resources have been completely dried up at this point. And so, driven by his devotion to his beloved pet, SpongeBob and Patrick head off on the perilous journey to Atlantic City, which sees them encountering both new friends and new enemies along the way as they realize that they’ll need the help of their friends to rescue Gary.     

The first thing to note about this film is how it adopts a radically different animation style when compared to what fans of the show are familiar with. Ever since its 1999 debut, SpongeBob SquarePants has been produced in the classic 2-D animation style, which naturally carried over into the first two films. But as for Sponge on the Run, it fully opts for the 3-D animated route that was utilized for the climax of Sponge Out of Water when the gang ended up in the real world. Still, for what it’s worth, this film’s visuals are well-handled as they don’t betray any of the franchise’s iconic designs and even manage to maintain something of a two-dimensional vibe a la films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This faithfulness to the source material also applies to the film’s story, which dutifully maintains the show’s knack for mixing its traditionally light-hearted atmosphere with its frequent journeys into some utterly surreal territory. I mean, where else are you going to see Keanu Reeves cameoing as an all-knowing tumbleweed named Sage or Snoop Dogg leading a bunch of zombie pirates in a full-blown musical number? That said, though, if you’re a long-time fan of this show, you might find this film’s plot to be a bit bare-bones and routine since it does rehash a few of the series’ old plotlines (e.g. anyone who’s watched the show through at least Season 4 will know that this isn’t the first time that it’s done a ‘Gary goes missing’ plot). And yet, with some solid emotional beats that are excellently performed by the franchise’s well-established voice cast, I’d argue that this is what gives the film a slight edge over its predecessor, Sponge Out of Water, which was, admittedly, hindered a bit by the off-putting mean streak that the series started to adopt after the first film.

As I’ve noted in the past, I’m very much a part of the generation that grew up with SpongeBob SquarePants. Sure, it’s been quite some time since I’ve watched the show regularly, but I can’t even begin to describe the impact that it’s had on me, and in a way, this also applies to my work on this site. Back in 2015, I did a pair of SpongeBob posts in honor of the then-impending release of Sponge Out of Water, which consisted of a personal Top 25 Favorite Episodes list and a review of the first film. To this day, those two posts still stand as some of the most popular pieces that I’ve ever published for this site, with the Favorite Episodes post topping them all with a view count that ranges somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 views. However, these posts are also a clear-cut example of how I was in a much different mindset at the time when it comes to my views on the show. Back then, I’ll fully admit that I was simply among the many who spent way too much time lamenting about the show’s abrupt decline in quality in the wake of the first film’s release. Nowadays, though, I find myself looking at the franchise’s fandom with a wearier eye since we’re at a point now where SpongeBob is arguably known more for its memes rather than anything from the show itself, especially since, from what I’ve heard, it did manage to genuinely overcome the rough patch that it went through in the late 2000s. And on that note, it’s time to address the source of the franchise’s biggest controversies… its own fandom…

Yes, as crazy as it may seem, the SpongeBob fandom has somehow become another dominant player in our current landscape of increasingly toxic internet fandom, mostly due to their intense devotion to Stephen Hillenburg’s legacy and equally intense hatred of anything that they deem ‘offensive’ to said legacy. Their outrage has affected a whole bunch of things in recent years such as the franchise’s Broadway musical when a live recording of it was aired on Nick and the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, which made headlines thanks to a petition from fans to include the song ‘Sweet Victory’ from the classic episode ‘Band Geeks’ as a tribute to Hillenburg… which didn’t end up happening. But as I’m sure many of you are aware, the biggest victim of their hostility has been the series’ first official spin-off, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, a prequel series that debuted on Paramount+ alongside Sponge on the Run, which directly ties into the new series thanks to its various flashbacks. It’s also worth noting that the idea of following the younger versions of SpongeBob and the gang at a summer camp was originally meant to be the main premise of this film back when it was subtitled It’s a Wonderful Sponge and, as that title suggests, would’ve included an homage to the 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life. However, as you might have guessed, a lot of SpongeBob fans didn’t take too kindly to Kamp Koral to the point where they’ve claimed that Stephen Hillenburg would’ve never approved of it (even though, spoilers, he was 100% aware of it and, according to the franchise’s long-time writer/showrunner Vincent Waller, probably would’ve loved it…).  

But that’s about as much as I’ll say when it comes to this, to be perfectly frank, frustratingly overblown scandal. Instead, I’ll just conclude today’s review by stating that The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is yet another solid cinematic outing for one of the most iconic animated franchises in the history of pop-culture. While it may not exactly be the SpongeBob that most fans are familiar with from a visual perspective, it certainly captures SpongeBob’s most endearing traits such as its quirky humor and its heartfelt themes. In fact, I’d argue that the latter aspect is what ultimately helps this film gain a slight leg up over its immediate predecessor, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. While that film did, at least, have Stephen Hillenburg involved in a much greater capacity when compared to what was going on with the show itself, it still suffered quite a bit from several of the issues that had been plaguing the show at that time. And while Sponge on the Run is far from perfect, namely due to its largely predictable plot, it still manages to feel more in line with the charm of the original series’ first few seasons. I can’t say that it’s ‘better’ than the first SpongeBob film, but at the same time, I’ll admit that this is mainly just because of how many times I’ve seen that one. Sadly, this new film might end up getting somewhat overlooked due in large part to the frankly undeserved negative reputation that both it and Kamp Koral have been garnering from the fandom, but if you’re not following that mindset and are, at the very least, willing to give this new film a chance, it’s a solid little flick.

Rating: 4/5

IN MEMORY OF STEPHEN HILLENBURG (1961-2018)

Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) review

It was in 1989 that audiences were first introduced to the duo of Bill S. Preston, Esquire, and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan AKA the Wyld Stallyns (*Air Guitars*) in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Inspired by a stand-up routine that writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson (the latter being the son of legendary sci-fi writer Richard Matheson) had developed in college, this comedic romp about two music-loving high-schoolers who are given a phone booth shaped time machine to ace a crucial history report quickly became one of the most iconic films of the 80’s. Bolstered by the outstanding camaraderie between its two stars, Alex Winter as Bill and Keanu Reeves as Ted (not to mention a scene-stealing turn from George Carlin as Rufus, their friendly guide from the future), it soon paved the way for a 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. After that, the franchise saw its fair share of spin-offs, including an animated series that notably saw Winter, Reeves, and Carlin reprise their respective roles for its first season before they were replaced by the actors who would end up playing the characters in a short-lived live-action series. But as for a potential third film, that ended up taking a while for various reasons ranging from Reeves, Winter, Solomon, and Matheson all moving on to other projects to a general reluctance from most studios to try and revive a ‘cult’ franchise without it being a reboot. Eventually, though, a deal was finally made (which, reportedly, was largely thanks to the career resurgence that Reeves experienced in 2014 with John Wick) for one of the most iconic duos in cinematic history to make their triumphant return to the big-screen. Thus, 29 years after the release of Bogus Journey, we now have Bill & Ted Face the Music, directed by Dean Parisot, the same director behind another sci-fi cult classic, 1999’s Galaxy Quest. And for a film that’s been several years in the making, I’m pleased to report that fans will not be disappointed by this long-awaited threequel.

It has been more than three decades since Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan (Keanu Reeves) were first told that, in the future, they would create the kind of music that would unite the world and form a utopian society. By the year 2020, however, they’ve been unable to come up with that world-changing music, thus resulting in their band, the Wyld Stallyns, falling into complete irrelevancy. And yet, at the point where Bill & Ted speculate that the time has finally come for them to move on to other things, the two are approached by Kelly (Kristen Schaal), the daughter of their old friend Rufus, who brings them into the future to address a major problem. There, they are informed by the Great Leader (Holland Taylor), who also happens to be Kelly’s mother, that they must perform that pivotal song at 7:17 PM that night. If they fail to perform it, reality as they know it will fall apart, which is something that has already begun to take place all over the world as historical figures are randomly transported to other points in time. Realizing the daunting task at hand, Bill & Ted decide that the best route for them to write the most important song of their lives is to travel into the future to a point where they have written it. And so, with the help of their old phone booth time machine, the Wyld Stallyns head out on a new adventure to finally fulfill their destinies. Meanwhile, Bill & Ted’s daughters, Theodora ‘Thea’ Preston (Samara Weaving) and Wilhelmina ‘Billie’ Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine), attempt to help their dads by embarking on their own time-travel adventure to recruit some of the most legendary musicians of all-time.

One of the best things about the Bill & Ted films is how they’ve never tried to take themselves too seriously. In other words, this is a franchise that is fully aware of how utterly goofy it can be and how it’s far from being an accurate interpretation of both history and the concept of time-travel. And yet, it goes without saying that this is one of the biggest reasons why these films have always been so entertaining, with Bill & Ted Face the Music dutifully continuing that trend. When comparing this film to its predecessors, Face the Music does a great job of incorporating the best elements of both Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, two films that, plot-wise, newcomers to the franchise may be surprised to find are quite different from each other. Overall, Face the Music is arguably more in line with the former since it sees the titular duo heavily utilize their iconic phone booth time machine, which wasn’t featured as prominently in the surreal road-trip-esque adventure that was Bogus Journey. And yet, the film still manages to feature many of the great things that Bogus Journey brought to the franchise, such as, of course, Death himself (William Sadler), who’s revealed to be on rocky terms with Bill & Ted after they had sued him for trying to hog their spotlight. It’s also worth noting that, ironically, Face the Music is the first installment in a series centered on characters who are musicians for a living that is largely based around music. And despite everything that I just said about how this film generally mirrors the plot of Excellent Adventure and is full of nostalgic throwbacks, both this and some solid moments of emotional poignancy that do address how much time has passed since the release of Bogus Journey helps Face the Music stand out amongst its predecessors.

Ultimately, though, the best thing that this film manages to accomplish is that it’s an absolute comedic riot, and of course, this is largely thanks to one of the best comedic duos in cinematic history, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as Bill & Ted. Even after all these years, Winter and Reeves slip back into their iconic roles with ease and their camaraderie is just as terrific as it was back in the 80’s (and early 90’s since Bogus Journey came out in 1991). Face the Music also notably sees a few key figures from the franchise make a return as well, such as Hal Landon Jr. as Ted’s consistently disapproving father Capt. John Logan and Amy Stoch as Bill (and later Ted’s) ever-flirtatious step-mother Missy. But when it comes to classic characters from this franchise (apart from Rufus due to George Carlin’s passing in 2008, although the film does feature some nice tributes to him), none are arguably more iconic than William Sadler as the personification of Death himself, the Grim Reaper. Admittedly, Death doesn’t factor into the film too much as he doesn’t really show up until the final third, but even with his brief screen-time, Sadler is once again one of the top comedic standouts as this franchise’s delightfully dorky interpretation of the Grim Reaper. As for newcomers, Face the Music sees its fair share of great additions to the cast such as Kristen Schaal as Rufus’ daughter Kelly, who gets into a lot of hilarious arguments with her mother, and Anthony Carrigan as an anxiety-prone robot named Dennis that the Great Leader sends out to kill Bill & Ted when it seems like they won’t be able to fulfill their prophecy. But, of course, the biggest new additions to the cast are Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine as Bill & Ted’s daughters Thea and Billie. And while their roles in the film primarily consist of them embarking on the same kind of time-travel/unexpected excursion to hell adventures that their dads went on, Weaving and Lundy-Paine prove to have the exact same kind of outstanding camaraderie that Winter and Reeves have always had. It also helps that the two of them just feel like the natural offspring of their respective parents.

As I noted in the intro, Bill & Ted Face the Music is one of the prime examples of a film that was several years in the making. I still remember when this film was initially rumored to be happening all the way back in 2009/2010, which was right around the time when I was first introduced to this franchise. And because of all the times where it seemed like little to no progress was being made in its development, I will openly admit that there were a few points where, presumably like many others, I started to wonder if the film was ever going to see the light of day. But now, that time has finally come, and to be perfectly blunt, it couldn’t have come at a better time. At the risk of making an incredibly obvious pun, Bill & Ted Face the Music is a most triumphant return for one of the most iconic comedic duos in cinematic history. For a film that could’ve easily ended up as being nothing more than a stale and outdated rehash of its predecessors, it instead serves as a reminder of why this franchise has thoroughly maintained its status as an enduring cult classic. As always, much of this is due to the perfect combination of Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves’ excellent (*air guitars*) performances in the title roles and Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson’s sharp script that, in this instance, does a great job of bringing the best elements of the previous two films together in ways that will surely satisfy longtime fans. At the same time, though, the film also manages to be much more than just a rehash of what came before and, with some surprisingly well-handled emotional moments, proves that even dim-witted characters like Bill & Ted can show some genuine signs of maturity. Because of all this, Face the Music is the very definition of a feel-good film, which means that I’m more than willing to echo the sentiments of many of my peers by stating that this will surely be a delightful bit of escapism for anyone who’s been thoroughly overwhelmed by everything that is 2020.

Rating: 4.5/5

Bill & Ted's Excellent Retrospective

 

DUDES! Welcome to Rhode Island Movie Corner, where today, we’re celebrating the most excellent of franchises. It is the franchise that has given us one of the most iconic and awesome duos in the history of film who are making the most triumphant return in cinematic history with their long-awaited third feature film. I’m, of course, referring to the most legendary heroes of time, Bill S. Preston (Esquire!) and Ted “Theodore” Logan, and together, they’re… WYLD STALLYNS! (*Air Guitars*) Hehe, okay, I’m not going to talk like that for the entire post, but yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we’re finally tackling a franchise that I’ve been dying to cover for the past few years now. I’m, of course, referring to the adventures of the dynamic duo known as Bill & Ted. The original Bill & Ted film is one of the prime examples of a bona fide cult classic that slowly but surely evolved into one of the most iconic and highly quotable films of its time. It would go on to spawn a sequel in 1991, two short-lived TV series (one animated and one live-action), and other various media spin-offs such as a long-running stage show at Universal Studios, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure, that occurred during the park’s annual Halloween Horror Nights event until 2013 in Hollywood and 2017 in Florida. But now, after nearly three whole decades, the Wyld Stallyns have made their grand return to the big-screen in Bill & Ted Face the Music. As fans of the franchise are well-aware, this film has been in the works for quite some time, but after several years stuck in development hell, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are finally back in the roles that very much launched their careers. And so, in honor of this most excellent release, today we’re delving into the history (pun TOTALLY intended!) of these perpetually enduring fan favorites. So, with that said, grab your phone booth time machines and prepare for the possibility that you’ll have to give Death himself a Melvin as we look at the first two films in the Bill & Ted franchise. EXCELLENT!! (*Air Guitars*) 

BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989)

As I just alluded to in the intro, 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is one of the most noteworthy success stories of the 80’s. Written by two then-newcomers to the film industry (Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, the latter being the son of legendary sci-fi writer Richard Matheson), this sci-fi adventure about two rock-loving slackers who are granted a phone booth time machine to help them ace their history report was notably shelved for about a year after it was filmed. This was mainly due to its original distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, filing for bankruptcy in 1988. Thankfully, though, the film managed to gain a new distributor in Orion Pictures and was finally released in 1989 to become the cult classic that it still is today. It’s a film that fully embraces its goofy premise (in which the titular duo learn that their music is the key to a future in which society has evolved into a perfect utopia) and blatantly farcical takes on history to be a delightfully wacky comedy that’s chock-full of iconic lines. Whether it’s one of Bill and Ted’s classmates proudly proclaiming that “SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!” or Bill and Ted being told by their future selves that the number that they’re currently thinking of is “69, dudes!!!”, this is easily one of the most quotable films of all-time. And, of course, much of this is thanks to the film’s most excellent titular duo (*Air Guitars*). Not only do Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves have phenomenal camaraderie, but they fully succeed in making Bill and Ted a thoroughly likable duo (barring one incredibly dated homophobic slur that they proclaim after hugging each other). Another key player in this film’s enduring legacy is the late George Carlin as Bill and Ted’s friendly ally from the future, Rufus. Admittedly, Rufus doesn’t factor into the film as much as newcomers to the franchise may think, but it goes without saying that Carlin steals the show in every scene that he’s in as the awesomely chill dude who gets Bill and Ted started on their journey. In short, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a highly entertaining and all-around easygoing comedic romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously (especially given that it’s based around the always complicated premise of time-travel), thus resulting in a film that truly is… EXCELLENT! (*Air Guitars*)

Rating: 4.5/5

BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY (1991)

Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson managed to shake things up quite a bit when it came to the first sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Instead of doing another time-travel plot, Bogus Journey is more like a surreal road trip adventure as it sees the titular duo having to deal with a radical zealot from the future named De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) who seeks to bring an end to the utopian society that they will bring about. To do so, De Nomolos creates evil robot versions of Bill and Ted who successfully kill them, resulting in them getting into all sorts of hi-jinx from traveling to both heaven and hell (the original title for the film was, in fact, Bill & Ted Go to Hell), and challenging Death himself to everything from Battleship to Twister. Suffice it to say, Bogus Journey is full of crazy moments, and I can see why this might have thrown some people off when this film first came out because of how radically different it is when compared to its predecessor. And yet… that’s what makes Bogus Journey just as much of a classic as Excellent Adventure. Like its predecessor, Bogus Journey fully commits to the utterly absurd nature of its plot, and whereas Excellent Adventure was more of an ensemble piece headlined by both Bill and Ted and the various ‘historical dudes’ that they meet, Bogus Journey lets the Wyld Stallyns (*Air Guitars*) be the true stars of the show this time around. Obviously, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are phenomenal once again as Bill and Ted, but this film also gives them a great new co-star in the Grim Reaper himself, Death, excellently played by William Sadler. Sadler is a natural addition to the franchise as a Grim Reaper who, despite his status as the personification of death, ends up being one of the biggest punching bags in cinematic history given all the hilarious things that he’s subjected to (e.g. Bill and Ted giving him a Melvin). Because of all this, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is very much a worthy sequel to Excellent Adventure that made the wise decision to not just be a straight-forward redo of its predecessor like some sequels admittedly tend to do.

Rating: 4.5/5

And that concludes this retrospective on a franchise that is most triumphant! (*Air Guitars*) Thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout for a review of Bill & Ted Face the Music sometime soon. Until then, to quote the Great Ones themselves, “Be Excellent to Each Other!”, and…

Toy Story 4 (2019) review

In 1979, George Lucas’ production company Lucasfilm launched a new division that specialized in computer graphics known as The Graphics Group. This division would go on to be responsible for developing some of the groundbreaking visual effects work for films like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Young Sherlock Holmes, though it was ultimately spun out into its own separate corporation in 1986. Now named after its revolutionary computer system known as the Pixar Image Computer, Pixar would begin to create a bunch of computer-animated short films that earned them much critical acclaim. This included the likes of Luxo Jr. and Tin Toy, and in 1995, what was originally conceived as a made-for-TV special/sequel for the latter ended up becoming Pixar’s first-ever feature-length film, Toy Story, and it goes without saying that the film was a massive hit upon its release. Critics loved it, audiences loved it, and it effectively jumpstarted Pixar’s legacy as one of the top animation studios in the industry. This tale of toys who come to life when their owners aren’t around would end up getting two follow-ups; Toy Story 2 in 1999 and Toy Story 3 in 2010. And against all odds, both sequels ended up attracting just as much critical acclaim as the original, with the latter providing fans of the franchise an emotionally cathartic finale to the adventures of their favorite toys. It also grossed over $1 billion worldwide and became the third animated film in history to earn a Best Picture nomination at that year’s Oscars. As it turns out, however, this wouldn’t be the end of the adventures of Sheriff Woody, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear, and their friends. In 2014, Pixar announced that a fourth film was in development and despite much skepticism from fans of the original trilogy, this new film ends up being yet another masterpiece full of emotional poignancy and lovable characters.

It has been two years since Andy Davis gave away his beloved toys to a young girl named Bonnie Anderson (voiced by Madeleine McGraw), and ever since, the toys have happily readjusted to their new lives. When Bonnie begins Kindergarten, Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) sneaks into her backpack to try and help her deal with the overwhelming stress of the situation, which eventually results in her crafting a handmade toy during arts and crafts that she names ‘Forky’. But to Woody’s surprise, Forky (voiced by Tony Hale) ends up coming to life and immediately starts attempting to get thrown away since he believes that he’s only trash. Thus, when Bonnie and her family end up going on a road trip, Woody now finds himself tasked with ensuring that nothing bad happens to Forky since he’s quickly become Bonnie’s new favorite toy. Eventually, though, Forky manages to jump out of the family’s RV, resulting in Woody having to leap out as well to get him back. And when the two find themselves in an antique store, they are confronted by Gabby Gabby (voiced by Christina Hendricks), a 1950s pull-string doll (like Woody) who looks to obtain Woody’s voice box since hers broke several years ago, thus preventing her from getting a new owner. She and her ventriloquist dummy allies then proceed to take Forky captive, effectively putting Woody and Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) in a race against time to get him back before Bonnie’s family leaves without them. In the process, the two even reunite with their old friend Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts), who had left the gang several years prior when the Davis family gave her away. And thanks to Bo’s newfound outlook on life, Woody soon finds himself re-evaluating the idea of what it truly means to be a toy.

Every Toy Story film has had a well-layered plot with strong themes, from the jealousy that Woody experiences when Buzz starts to steal his thunder in the first film to the simple fact that nothing lasts forever as exemplified in the second and third films (especially the latter given its rather infamous near-ending in an incinerator). The same can be said for Toy Story 4, which mainly grapples with the concept of finding one’s purpose in life. Whether it’s Forky trying to understand why he’s even alive in the first place or Bo Peep’s new characterization where she’s much more open to the ‘lost toy’ lifestyle, the film effectively continues the franchise’s brilliant knack of deftly finding the humanity within its various toy characters. And, of course, as one would normally expect from a Pixar film, Toy Story 4 more than delivers when it comes to its emotional gravitas. It’s quite arguably up there with Toy Story 3 when it comes to being one of the most emotional installments of the franchise, right down to an ending that shook both Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to the core. And yet, as is always the case with these films, all these great emotional moments are primarily meant to bolster what is already a delightfully charming animated adventure complete with Pixar’s always excellent animation. In fact, given that Toy Story is the franchise that made Pixar what it is today, these films serve as perfect benchmarks that truly highlight how much their animation style has evolved since 1995.

Now if there’s one aspect of this film that may disappoint fans of the franchise, it’s that most of the Toy Story gang ends up getting limited to minor supporting roles. Simply put, this film primarily focuses on Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, and Forky, meaning that the rest of Andy/Bonnie’s toys spend most of their time with Bonnie and her family in their RV. They’re not outright ignored, for the record, but because of their limited screen-time, that means that you don’t get a lot of Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack), Hamm (voiced by Pixar’s lucky charm John Ratzenberger), Mr. Potato Head (voiced by the late Don Rickles via archival recordings), etc. For what it’s worth, though, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are just as fantastic as they’ve always been in these films and their wonderful camaraderie continues to make Woody and Buzz one of the best lead duos in recent film history. The two also get some great new material to work with in this one, with Woody having to overcome his frustrations of being neglected by Bonnie to ensure that nothing happens to Forky and Buzz trying (and somewhat struggling) to understand what it means to ‘listen to his inner voice’. Annie Potts, meanwhile, makes a very welcome return to the franchise as Bo Peep, who hasn’t played a major role in these films since Toy Story 2 two decades ago. And while Bo’s great new characterization does allow her to play a more proactive role in the plot this time, she still maintains the same sweet persona (not to mention her great chemistry with Woody) that made her such a lovable member of the gang in the previous films.

As has always been the case with these films, Toy Story 4 also introduces plenty of great new characters, many of whom help make this one of the funniest installments of the series. I mean, to be fair, would you expect anything less when you have two characters voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in their first big collaboration together in at least three years? They play Ducky and Bunny, respectively, a pair of plush toys who get into a minor scuffle with Buzz when he inadvertently takes their spot as the top prize of a carnival game. Other major standouts include Ally Maki as Bo’s chipper new sidekick Giggle McDimples and the one and only Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom, “Canada’s greatest stuntman” and a pitch-perfect personification of everything that has made Reeves the breathtaking figure that he is today. But at the end of the day, it’s ultimately Tony Hale who ends up stealing the whole show as Forky since the surreal existential crisis that this new toy goes through provides the film with plenty of its best humorous moments. At the same time, though, Hale also succeeds immensely in making Forky an instantly lovable character due in large part to his endearingly innocent nature. And lastly, the film also boasts an excellent foil to the main protagonists in its main antagonist, Christina Hendricks’ Gabby Gabby. Without giving anything away when it comes to how her role in the story pans out, she ends up being the most sympathetic of the franchise’s villains to the point where she even becomes involved in some of the film’s biggest emotional moments.

When this film was first announced, it goes without saying that the internet didn’t exactly react too positively towards it. Simply put, many felt that this was an outright terrible idea as Toy Story 3 provided a satisfying conclusion to the original trilogy, and if my past reviews of Pixar films weren’t enough of an indication, Pixar fans can be very strict when it comes to the idea of the studio doing sequels to their previous films. But lo and behold, Pixar ultimately manages to deliver yet another masterpiece that continues to emphasize why Toy Story is undoubtedly their definitive franchise. Just like the three films that came before it, Toy Story 4 boasts a phenomenal script that provides great new material for its wide array of characters, from those who we’ve followed for years to those who haven’t been seen for a while to the new characters that quickly become excellent additions to this legendary franchise. And through it all, the film maintains the same great sense of emotional poignancy that the franchise has always had, resulting in yet another animated adventure that’s 100% guaranteed to hit you with the feels. Case in point, this film’s ending does imply that it will truly be the final installment of the series (at least in terms of films, as a few spin-offs are in the works for Disney+). While it may have seemed like this was set to be the start of a new bunch of Toy Story films, its ending suggests otherwise, and all in all, it’s genuinely a wonderful place to end things. Whereas Toy Story 3’s ending concluded the story of the toys’ relationship with their original owner Andy, Toy Story 4 is ultimately the last hurrah for these characters that we’ve known and loved since 1995. And thanks to the four amazing films that they’ve appeared in, there’s no denying that the Toy Story films will forever stand the test of time or, to quote the franchise itself, ‘to infinity and beyond’.

Rating: 5/5!

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) review

In 2014, Keanu Reeves experienced a major career resurgence when he starred in John Wick, an action-thriller that was co-directed by former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (even though Stahelski was the only one credited by the Directors Guild of America), whom he had previously worked with on the Matrix films. In the film, Reeves played the titular John Wick, a retired hitman with a considerable legacy amongst his peers who ends up returning to his old profession when a group of Russian thugs kill the puppy that had been given to him by his wife as one last gift before her tragic death. Upon its release, the film was a big hit with critics and audiences, gaining considerable praise for its phenomenal action sequences that avoided several of the filmmaking techniques that, in the minds of many, have negatively affected many recent action films (e.g. rapid editing, shaky cam, etc.). Thus, a sequel was soon set into motion and released in 2017, with Stahelski taking sole directorial duties this time around due to Leitch working on other projects. Just like the first film, John Wick: Chapter 2 was a critical and financial success. It nearly doubled its predecessor’s run at the box-office and is generally considered to be a rare case of an arguably superior sequel. And because of the shocking incident that occurs during its finale, we now move onto the third entry of the series, John Wick: Chapter 3, which is the first of the series to have a subtitle via the Latin phrase for ‘Prepare for War’, Parabellum. It’s a film that sees its titular hero dealing with some of the toughest opponents that he’s ever faced in this series, and just like the previous two films, this all results in yet another epic action extravaganza with the legendary hitman who is known to many as ‘Baba Yaga’.

At the end of John Wick: Chapter 2, revered hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) ended up breaking the cardinal rule of the hitman community by killing his target, crime boss Santino D’Antonio, within the confines of the hitman safe-haven that is the Continental Hotel. Thus, without hesitation, the crime boss hierarchy known as the High Table quickly declare him as ‘excommunicado’ and place a $14 million bounty on him that is eventually raised to $15 million. Because of this, John now finds himself in a situation where he can’t rely on his usual resources while also being hunted by every single assassin that he comes across. And if that wasn’t enough, an adjudicator for the High Table (Asia Kate Dillon) takes several of his allies, including New York Continental owner Winston (Ian McShane) and local crime lord The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), to task for aiding him in his recent endeavors. With very few options left at his disposal, John travels to the city of Casablanca, Morocco, where he reunites with Sofia (Halle Berry), the current owner of the local Continental. Just like his situation with D’Antonio in the previous film, John convinces her to honor the unbreakable bond between them via the assassin marker that they’d set up after he had helped her in the past. Thus, Sofia reluctantly joins forces with him on his perilous journey to try and find a way to get out of his current predicament with the High Table. But as John soon discovers, he may end up having to take some truly drastic measures if he wants to get that $15 million target off his back.

One of the most impressive aspects of this series is its seamless narrative, with each subsequent installment’s plot being directly set into motion by the events of its immediate predecessor. John Wick: Chapter 2’s plot was initiated by John’s return to the hitman lifestyle, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the result of Chapter 2’s finale, where he broke the golden rule of the Continental. And because of this, this film presents John at what is arguably the most vulnerable state that he’s ever been in apart from when his wife Helen died. Now obviously, as these films have very much proven, John Wick clearly isn’t someone who will go down that easy. Still, because this film puts him in a situation where almost everyone’s out to get him, it arguably makes Parabellum the most intense installment of the trilogy because of its non-stop pace. Of course, just like the previous two films, this film is full of amazing action sequences from beginning to end. As always, they’re well-shot, well-edited, and impressively choreographed. All this makes up for the fact that this film admittedly has one of the weaker plots of the series so far. To be clear, it’s still a very well-written action flick that continues the franchise’s excellent tradition of gradually expanding upon its lore and the assassin underworld that it has created. It’s also worth noting, however, that this is the longest entry of the series to date at 131 minutes long, and while there’s never a dull moment in this film, sometimes it does feel like the plot is being stretched a bit thin for a franchise that has never tried to present an overly complicated narrative.           

John Wick has easily become one of the most definitive roles of Keanu Reeves’ career, and just like in the previous two films, he continues to do a phenomenal job when it comes to his portrayal of the stoic assassin. The film even delves a bit into John’s backstory (namely, the events that led to him becoming an assassin in the first place) while also continuing to give Reeves more opportunities to establish himself as one of the best action stars in the industry, because just like Tom Cruise, Reeves isn’t afraid to do most of his own stunts. As usual, he’s joined by a solid ensemble cast headlined by series regulars like Ian McShane as John’s benevolent ally Winston, Lance Reddick as the Continental’s cordial concierge Winston (who even gets to partake in some of the action this time around to brilliant results), and Laurence Fishburne as the boisterous Bowery King. When it comes to newcomers to the franchise, it’s all headlined by Halle Berry as Sofia, John’s old ally from Morocco who’s always accompanied by a pair of vicious attack dogs. As far as the action is concerned, Berry more than holds her own against Reeves and their characters’ complicated relationship results in some solid banter between them, although it should be noted that she ultimately plays a minor role in the larger story. But then there’s the film’s main antagonists, and while the John Wick franchise has admittedly been hit-or-miss over the years with its villains, Parabellum’s key antagonists are some of the series’ best. First, there’s Asia Kate Dillon as the High Table’s Adjudicator, who is appropriately cold and calculating when it comes to managing the hunt for John Wick from behind the scenes. And then there’s Mark Dacascos as Zero, an assassin who is directly hired by the Adjudicator to eliminate John. Like many others in this world, Zero is a huge fan of the legendary ‘Baba Yaga’, which provides the film with some of its best humorous moments that mainly consist of Zero’s various attempts at striking up a friendly conversation with his target.

Thanks to Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the John Wick franchise has managed to pull off the often-daunting task of being a trilogy of films where each installment is genuinely outstanding. Sure, this film could still technically be regarded by some as the ‘weakest’ entry of the trilogy (which usually ends up being the case with threequels), but in this instance, that isn’t even remotely a bad thing. Just like its two predecessors, this film is full of amazing action sequences from beginning to end. And thanks to the continuously excellent direction from Chad Stahelski and another phenomenal performance by Keanu Reeves in the title role, Chapter 3 maintains the franchise’s great affinity for simple but highly effective action-thrillers, even if this one occasionally feels a bit too simplistic despite boasting the series’ longest run-time. But perhaps the most interesting part of this film… is the fact that it shows that this series is far from being over. Yes, while I’m sure that some might have expected this to be the finale to the story of John Wick, the film ends similarly to Chapter 2 by extensively setting up the next big conflict that John will be involved with, and sure enough, a Chapter 4 was recently confirmed for a 2021 release. Plus, there are also quite a few spin-offs in the works, including an upcoming TV series set at the Continental and a rumored crossover with Atomic Blonde, the 2017 action-thriller that was directed by the original John Wick’s co-director, David Leitch. And while some film franchises tend to fizzle out at this point and experience a noticeable decline in quality, it’s very much clear that the John Wick franchise is just as resilient as its titular badass.

Rating: 4.5/5

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) review

In 2014, former stuntmen Chad Stahelski and David Leitch teamed up to direct John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves as an ex-hitman who finds himself forced back into the business when a group of Russian mobsters attack him, steal his car, and kill his dog, the latter of which was a gift from his wife before she died to help him cope. The film was a solid commercial success upon release, grossing over four times its modest $20 million budget. It also did great with critics and fans of the action genre, who praised the film for its incredibly shot and choreographed action sequences in an age of rapid-edit, ‘PG-13-friendly’ action. And this year, the legendary ‘Baba Yaga’ is back for another round of vengeful, but also stylish, gunplay in John Wick: Chapter 2. Reeves, of course, returns in the title role as does director Chad Stahelski, though this time around, David Leitch is only serving as an executive producer. Then again, only Stahelski was credited as director for the first film by the Directors Guild of America, even though both directed it. Plus, Leitch went off to work on the upcoming spy thriller The Coldest City and is also being primed to helm the sequel to Deadpool, so I think it’s safe to say that he was just tied up with other projects. But, thankfully, this doesn’t affect John Wick: Chapter 2 too much because, oh boy, this film is one epic action sequel. And that’s because it does two great things at once. Not only does it maintain plenty of the same great elements of the first film, particularly in terms of its action sequences, but it also feels like a natural follow-up, upping the ante in all the right ways without losing the badass aura of the original.

At the end of John Wick, the titular ex-hitman (Keanu Reeves), known by many in the assassin community as ‘The Boogeyman’, successfully avenged the death of his dog Daisy at the hands of the Tarasov family. And after finally getting his vintage 1969 Mustang back as well, which he retrieves from the chop shop owned by Viggo Tarasov’s brother Abram (Peter Stormare) in this film’s opening sequence, John prepares to retire once again, having picked up a new dog (which isn’t given a name in the film) from an animal clinic at the end of the first film. However, he is soon approached by another old associate of his, Italian crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), who has come for payment over a blood oath that he and John made years ago, in which the former helped the latter retire from the business. John initially declines the offer, saying that he is ‘retired for good’, but when Santino destroys his home as payback, he quickly finds that he has no other choice. To fulfill his side of the bargain, John is directed to Rome, where he is tasked with taking down a high-value target so that Santino can take their place on the council of crime lords known as ‘the High Table’. But even after John pulls off this job, Santino then betrays him and places a $7 million bounty on his head. News of the bounty attracts the attention of every major assassin in New York, putting ol’ ‘Baba Yaga’ on the run as he goes on his own path of vengeance against Santino.

Just like the first film, John Wick: Chapter 2 features some incredible action sequences that highlight all the great camerawork, editing, and stunt choreography that went into making them. Heck, being that it’s basically set not too long after the events of the first film, this film comes right out the gate with an awesome sequence in which John fights through a bunch of goons to get his car back. There’s that, a big shootout within Roman catacombs, a fight in the New York City Subway, a fight within a hall of mirrors, etc. Bottom line, just like the first film, there’s plenty of standout fights in this film, so much so that it’s admittedly hard to pick just one as a favorite. And as for being a sequel, this basically does the best thing that any good sequel should do; it ups the ante of the story’s stakes without losing sight of what made the first film work so well. As I noted in my review of the first film, I really admired the simplicity of its plot execution. John’s motivations are clear throughout and the set-up of the assassin world is excellent without going into too much detail. From the ‘honor system’ that’s set up at the Continental Hotel, which caters to the criminal underworld but maintains the ground rule of not having one’s business occur on property, to the montage in which John meets with various people in Rome (e.g. a tailor, a ‘Sommelier’ (Peter Serafinowicz), etc.) to acquire his supplies before he goes on his latest mission, these films set up a cool world in which assassins go about their business in a graceful manner. All that, of course, was there in the first film and in this film, writer Derek Kolstad does just enough to further expand this universe without losing the narrative’s charming simplicity.

John Wick… is a badass; simple as that. And Keanu Reeves is badass in the role. From doing his own stunts (while in his 50’s, no less!) to just maintaining a calm and collected persona throughout, a perfect representation of Wick’s highly-effective and tactical approach to everything he does, this may arguably be Reeves’ greatest role to date when it comes to his forays into the action genre. In other words, he was just a perfect fit for this role. And of course, like the first film, he’s got a nice cast of highly memorable supporting characters to back him up. There are some of the returning characters from the first film, like Ian McShane as the diplomatic owner of the Continental Hotel in New York and John Leguizamo as Wick’s friend and chop shop owner Aurelio. And then there’s also some of the new additions to the cast, like Common as Cassian, the bodyguard of John’s high-value target who becomes more of a ‘rival’ to him once John takes out the target, and Ruby Rose as Santino’s mute henchwoman Ares, who John crosses paths with numerous times over the course of the film. Plus, fans of The Matrix will no doubt get a kick out of the scene where Reeves is reunited with Morpheus himself, Laurence Fishburne, who plays a New York crime boss known as the ‘Bowery King’. But, once again, I find that the main villain, Santino, is the weakest link of the film. Again, like Viggo and Iosef from the first film, he’s not a ‘bad’ villain’, per se; he’s got nice set-up in terms of his relationship with John and all. But, also like Viggo and Iosef, he tends to get overshadowed by all the supporting characters.

John Wick: Chapter 2 is one of the best action film sequels of all-time. Of course, that’s also benefitted from the fact that it’s a sequel to one of the best action films of the past decade, the original John Wick. Like its predecessor, Chapter 2 features excellent action sequences that are well-shot, finely-edited, and wonderfully choreographed. But then, of course, the film must deal with the fact that it’s a sequel, and overall, it handles that aspect brilliantly by feeling like a natural follow-up to the first film. The ways in which the story and action are built up from the first film are incredibly well-handled. In other words, the film still manages to maintain the simplistic charm of the first film while also upping the ante in terms of the action sequences as well as raising the stakes for John. On that note, without giving anything away, the way in which this film closes provides us with an awesome set-up for the third film. It ends on such a bold note that I think it’s safe to say that fans of this series will be eagerly awaiting John’s next adventure, whenever it comes out, to see how it all ends. But now, the big question is this; did this film also manage to outdo its predecessor? Well, while I do think that both films are great in terms of how they film their action and for the nice, simple execution of their stories, I think I do have to say that John Wick: Chapter 2 is a superior sequel to what was already a great action film.   

Rating: 4.5/5

John Wick (2014) Review

This past weekend saw the release of the highly-anticipated action sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, the follow-up to 2014’s critically acclaimed action thriller, John Wick. When the first film was released in late October of that year, it was a solid commercial success, grossing a little over four times its lean $20 million budget. In terms of its critical reception, many critics agreed that it served as an excellent bit of revitalization for the career of its star, Keanu Reeves. Reeves, of course, is well-known for his roles in beloved action films like Point Break, Speed, and the groundbreaking sci-fi action flick, The Matrix. However, at the same time, this also meant that Reeves ended up getting affected by the dreaded curse that is ‘typecasting’, which one could say negatively affected his career from time to time. But, thanks to this film, which was brought to us by the directing duo of former stuntmen Chad Stahelski (who stepped in as a double for Brandon Lee following his tragic death during the production of 1994’s The Crow) and David Leitch (who is set to direct the follow-up to last year’s smash hit, Deadpool), Reeves’ career saw a nice resurgence, reaffirming his status as one of the film industry’s premier action stars. And by the looks of it, that hot streak is continuing with the sequel, with its excellent 89% score on RT (by comparison, the first film isn’t too far off from that mark with an equally impressive 85% score) and a ‘defying expectations’ opening weekend gross of $30.4 million, nearly as much as what the first film made in its entire domestic run. And while watching this film, it’s easy to see why this series has become so popular. In an era where a lot of modern action films tend to limit their action sequences through editing and camerawork, John Wick is an unabashed ‘old-school’ action flick that is sure to satisfy longtime fans of the genre.  

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is an ex-hitman who has moved on from the life of a hired gun, settling down with his wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan). However, Helen sadly passes away due to illness, which leaves John devastated. John then ends up receiving one final gift from her; a puppy named Daisy that is meant to help him cope with her loss. Sure enough, John immediately starts to bond with the dog but soon afterward, he is attacked by members of the Russian mob, namely an arrogant, hot-headed young man named Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), after refusing to sell his vintage 1969 Mustang to them. Iosef and his crew then proceed to steal the car and, even worse, kill Daisy. But while Iosef initially assumes that the man that he and his boys attacked was a ‘f***ing nobody’, he soon learns from his father, crime boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), that John Wick isn’t a ‘f***ing nobody’. In fact, he happens to be an old associate of Viggo’s who was well-known by many in the hitman community as ‘Baba Yaga’ AKA ‘The Boogeyman’. John used to be Viggo’s top killer before leaving the business entirely to settle down with Helen. And, sure enough, as soon as he recovers from the attack by Iosef and his goons, John embarks on a personal vendetta against them. Thus, the ex-hitman finds himself getting back into the business, and things get a little more interesting once he starts to reacquaint himself with some of his former associates.

As many have noted since its release, one of the best elements of the film is its action sequences. A lot of this comes from how they were done when compared to some of the more recent action films that have come out over the years. Fans of the genre have been highly critical of recent action films like the Taken series for their tendency to utilize rapid-editing during action sequences, which A.) runs the risk of having the audience be unable to tell what’s going on and B.) is a blatant attempt of either hiding obvious stunt doubles or trying to maintain a PG-13 rating for a wider audience. That is not the case with John Wick. The action in this film is incredible; it’s fantastically-choreographed, fine-tuned and coherent in terms of how it's edited, and excellently shot. It’s quite hard to list just one standout action sequence in this film because it’s full of them, from the first fight within Wick’s home to the big firefight in the Red Circle nightclub. As for the story, I really admire its simplicity. Now, granted, I’m aware that saying this may make me come off as being a bit hypocritical seeing how, in the past, I’ve critiqued action films like Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool for having simplified plots. But, at the risk of sounding even more hypocritical, in this case, I found that it worked because the simplicity of it all was consistent throughout. John’s motivations in this film are clear; his dog was his only source of coping with his wife’s death, hence why its death is so personal to him. In other words, the plot doesn’t really go to any ridiculous lengths (e.g. no crazy reveals or outlandish plotlines) and it does a nice job of setting up its universe.

As stated before, Keanu Reeves’ career has sometimes fallen victim to ‘typecasting’; either that or some people usually find his acting to be rather wooden. That’s not the case here as Reeves is excellent in the role of ‘Baba Yaga’ himself, John Wick. He exudes the perfect badass, but also calm and methodical, persona that, in the context of the film, perfectly exemplifies Wick’s status amongst the other members of the hitman community. And of course, Reeves is well-known for frequently doing his own stunts, which helps make the action sequences even more memorable than they already are. As for the film’s supporting cast, Reeves is backed by an excellent group of entertaining side characters. This includes Willem Dafoe as Marcus, an ‘old guard’ assassin who is John’s good friend and mentor, John Leguizamo as Aurelio, a chop shop owner who John goes to see first after he is attacked, and Ian McShane as Winston, the owner of a hotel, the Continental, that caters to the criminal underworld and who also has a courteous relationship with John. The villains are solid too. Alfie Allen (AKA Game of Thrones’ Theon Greyjoy) brings the right amount of sleaze to the role of Iosef while Michael Nyqvist brings much depth to the role of Viggo, who’s given a lot of great set-up in terms of his relationship with John. Admittedly, though, there are times where these two are overshadowed by some of the side characters. That’s not to say that they’re ‘bad’ villains, per se, but they’re still sort of the weakest links of the film.

Now, I know that I’m obviously quite late to the party on this one as I only watched it for the first time this week. But, now that I have watched it, I find that I do concur with the common sentiment amongst critics and audiences about it. John Wick is one of the best action films of this decade. Just like Mad Max: Fury Road, which came out the following year, this film is a kinetically-charged action flick with some of the most exceptional action sequences in recent years. And while the main plot is simple, the execution of it is what makes it work so well. In other words, it doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. It’s just a fine-tuned action extravaganza complete with a great lead performance by Keanu Reeves in the title role. Say what you will about his acting in other films but he’s an undeniable badass when it comes to his roles in action films and, thus, this may arguably be his best performance/character to date in regards to that genre. So, with that in mind, did this film do its job at revitalizing Keanu Reeves’ career? Well, to answer that question, I’m going to directly reference one of this film’s iconic lines, spoken by John himself during a discussion with Viggo. “People keep asking me if I’m back and I haven’t really had an answer. But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back!”

Rating: 4.5/5

(P.S Stay tuned for my review of John Wick 2 sometime this weekend)