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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Rae Carson | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Novelisation of the final entry in 'The Skywalker Saga', that seeks to add context and rationale behind some of the decisions made in that movie.

And, for the most part, it works.

It's just a pity that the film needed this added to it …

It's here we learn that Palpatine (in the movie) is a failing clone body inhabited by the spirit of the 'original' Palpatine, and that Lando's daughter was kidnapped and raised by The First Order (giving greater context to his decision at the end of the movie to go off with Jannah). We also get a bit more insight into Rey (and her 'Dark Rey' vision) although, bafflingly, there's still no explanation of how she can be so powerful in the Force.

The biggest problem, to me, with the sequel trilogy is that it is clear there was no guiding hand, making The Rise of Skywalker feel like a massive retcon after Rian Johnson through out all of the good work in The Force Awakens with his The Last Jedi - even a hint that Palpatine had been pulling the strings the entire time in either of those two earlier movies would have helped somewhat! It's here that Rae Carson attempts to tie the narrative into a coherent whole, with mixed results.
  
Rise of the Superheroes (2018)
Rise of the Superheroes (2018)
2018 | Documentary, Fantasy
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Rise of the Superheroes is a "good enough" look into the history of comic book movies if you have a couple of hours to kill.

It covers a lot of ground from the 40s Batman serial series, all the way up to 2018s Black Panther, and has some notable comic book alumni amongst the interviewers, including the likes of Chris Claremont, Chuck Dixon, Scott Beauty, and Neal Adams.

The problem is however, a genre as big as comic book movies needs a big budget documentary to go with it. It would be nice to see some of the actors involved in the interviews, it would benefit from flashier graphics, it would benefit from a longer run time or even a series to properly explore the ever growing number of properties making the jump from page to screen.
The boom of comic movies from X-Men (2000) onwards is all crammed into the last 30 minutes as the feature rushes to wrap up, and as a result, Rise of the Superheroes doesn't feel that comprehensive, and offers nothing new to an audience who will likely already know what is talked about here.

It's an easy and casual watch if you have an interest in the subject, but nothing more.
  
Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993)
1993 | Adventure, Sci-Fi
I've just realised (at the time of writing) that this movie is nearly 30 years old.

Man, I feel old.

Taking some liberties with Michael Crichtons's source material (Hammond dies and was not a very nice man; Grant likes kids), this is a disaster movie with stunning effects (that still hold up pretty well today) for the time, even if our understanding of the 'headline' dinosaurs has changed somewhat in the intervening years since its release (Raptors were the size of chickens, had feathers, and were NOT pack hunters. or so we now think).

Set on a tropical island hit by a storm just as the owner is given a pre-release tour to special invited guests to show off his scientific breakthrough - cloned Dinosaurs, because that's ALWAYS a good idea … - a series of events leads to the power going down, and the 'exhibits' breaking free to wreak havoc amongst those guests. And, lets not kid around the bush here, despite having the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Richard Attenborough, Sam Neil, Laura Dern and - uh- Jeff Goldblum ("life, uh, finds a way") amongst the cast - the real stars are those dinosaurs.

All the sequels (4 so far, with a 5th ion the way in Jurassic World: Dominion) pale in comparison.
  
Den Of Thieves (2018)
Den Of Thieves (2018)
2018 | Action, Crime, Drama
I really enjoyed this film. It reminds me of 'Now You See Me' but grungier. I'm really hoping everyone returns for the second one because I think it'll be great. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is no doubt the standout in this film and once you watch you'll definitely be able to see why. I didn't really like Gerard Butler's character's storyline. It felt unnecessary and just like a filler. It didn't really have any place in the film and didn't really give him any depth. I also don't know that I like a grungier Gerard Butler. I think what he does well is when he's polished and on point and Nick just doesn't give that off, obviously. So at times, it felt like he was trying too hard. But I also think that's why Nick's team works the way it does so I suppose you win some, you lose some. There are, like Gerard's storyline, some unnecessary scenes that seem to want to make the characters feel more real to you, but I don't find that they do that. I find that they are just dead space on the screen and distract from the actual plot going on.

Overall, I really liked this film. I'm eager for the second one, and it's definitely a good watch.