Wicked: For Good (2025) Film Review

Now demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba lives in exile in the Ozian forest, while Glinda resides at the palace in Emerald City, reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, she’ll need to reunite with Glinda to transform herself, and all of Oz, for good.

Wicked: For Good is directed by Jon M. Chu director of Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), Step Up 3D (2010), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), In The Heights (2021), Wicked (2024) and a few others. The film serves as a sequel to Wicked (2024) and adapts the second act of the 2003 stage musical.

If you ask almost anyone who has seen the stage musical of Wicked what they think of it, a very common criticism you will hear is that the second act is much weaker compared to the first. That very much shows with Wicked: For Good although I will say the film still for the most part lands, there are some very unfortunate downgrades. But the positives are enough to get the film to the finish line.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande continue to be the best parts, Erivo impresses with her cover of “No Good Deed” to the point where it can be argued that she tops the original. The power in her voice is striking and much of what was said about her performance as Elphaba from part one can be applied here, even with the songs that are not as great as the ones in the previous part she’s still able to leave an impact on the viewer with her powerhouse voice and performance. Ervio especially impresses during the film’s second half, the scene with “For Good” is powerful, emotional and absolutely beautiful. Her and Grande’s voice mesh incredibly well together and the viewer can just feel the chemistry through the screen. Erivo as Elphaba will be remembered for an incredibly long time and that’s all due to just how well Erivo portrayed this iconic character.

Similarly, Ariana Grande hits it out of the park. Her performance once again captures the spirit of Glinda and even adds her own flavor into the character, at this point she’s more than proved herself as a capable actress. Her singing is excellent and delivers such a beautiful performance with “For Good” and the original song “Girl In The Bubble”. Like I said about Erivo, even when some of the songs are on the weaker side. Grande is able to make them work and bring many beautiful moments just from her personality, acting and singing. Grande’s take on Glinda is beautifully done and again much like Erivo will be remembered for years to come.

The supporting cast is pretty solid here. Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater get a few strong moments, Bailey sings “As Long As You’re Mine” beautifully with Cynthia Erivo. Ethan Slater does a surprisingly and somewhat intimidatingly good job with “March Of The Witch Hunters” you can here the anger and striking nature in his voice, combine that with the citizens chanting as well as the atmosphere and you have quite honestly one of the stand out moments of the film.

The main thing holding Wicked: For Good back is the first half of the film, while it’s not exactly something I would call bad. The songs are mixed bag with every “No Place Like Home” that is quite great, you also get a “The Wicked Witch Of The East” which isn’t necessarily bad just not particularly memorable. The film also does take a bit to get going, it’s nice to see what all of the characters are up to since the last film. However this goes on for a bit too long, there is also some plot points that do feel a bit rushed and could have used more exploration.

With that being said, the film’s second half pushes the film forward and is able to stick the landing. That’s when you get to the real meat of the film, the emotional moments that strike the heart and some genuinely raw scenes. The second half does such a fantastic job of wrapping the story up in this powerhouse bow, Erivo and Grande really do strike the final moments with “For Good” masterfully. There are tons of tearjerking moments that really bring you along for the climax of the story.

Overall Wicked: For Good is definitely weaker than the previous film, but it’s not a bad film. It hits the right notes and brings this story into a satisfying conclusion that is genuinely beautiful.

Wicked: For Good is currently in theaters.

8/10 B+

Kiss Of The Spider Woman (2025) Film Review

A political prisoner named Valentín shares a cell with a man named Molina. They form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts a Hollywood musical plot.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman is directed by Bill Condon director of Dream Girls (2006), Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2 (2011 and 2012), Beauty And The Beast (2017), The Good Liar (2019) and a few others. The film is based on the stage musical and is the second film based on the 1976 novel, the first film being the 1985 film of the same name.

I liked Kiss Of The Spider Woman a bit more than expected, Bill Condon’s directing career has not exactly been great in the last several years. But luckily he brings the magic he did with Dream Girls (2006) back here. While not everything in Kiss Of The Spider Woman lands, there is so much to absolutely love here that it ends up being such an experience from beginning to end.

The performances are by far the film’s best assets, starting with Diego Luna who gives an incredibly solid commanding performance, his chemistry with Tonatiuh (who we will get to in just a second) is filled to the brim with charm, his performance during the later half of the film only gets stronger as there are moments where his performance ends up being genuinely devastating, it’s one of those performances where you may think it can’t get any better but in this case you would be wrong.

Jennifer Lopez might not have the most screen time, however she makes the most of it and what follows is a genuinely well done performance. Her dancing is hypnotizing and oozes with style, Lopez captures the Old Hollywood feel incredibly well and captures the style and atmosphere the film requires effortlessly. Although I’m not exactly huge on the songs (they aren’t bad at all) she does a really beautiful job with her singing, even if you are not huge on the songs like I was. There is absolutely no denying that Lopez does a great job of capturing the feel of the songs and giving them their own story. Her characters also support the story very well and even help move the film at a bigger pace.

Finally there’s Tonatiuh who for me is the standout, everyone is going to walk away from this film having a different take on who was the standout and for me that’s Tonatiuh. As I said before the chemistry between Diego Luna and Tonatiuh is fascinating, the fun banter they both have during the film’s beginning is filled with charm. On his own much like Jennifer Lopez he perfectly captures the Old Hollywood style, he’s having the time of his life as well as this understanding of his characters. It’s such a beautiful element to see from an actor and it ends up working so incredibly well to his benefit, the obvious passion and one particular moment with Jennifer Lopez (which he has fantastic chemistry with) all lead this to be one of my favorite performances of the year. It may take time for some to warm up to his performance, but that’s mainly due to Tonatiuh saving the power of his performance for the later half, which ends up being worth the well done wait.

As I said before I’m not huge on the songs, however that does not make them bad (far from it) the song sequences are incredibly well done and mix especially well with the film’s cinematography. Cinematographer Tobias A. Schliessler does a fascinating job of capturing the energetic choreography from the dance and music sequences, it’s filled with detail and color both of which help the film pop out a lot more. Due to this, even if the songs aren’t exactly the strongest, all of the technical aspects are able to push these sequences to the finish line and still be quite fantastic.

Lastly the film’s Old Hollywood feel is absolutely exciting, between each of our three main characters capturing the feel perfectly and combined with the technical aspects of the film there’s so much passionate style that director Bill Condon quite clearly poured into this film. I also do think the side to side transitions from the prison and the Hollywood musical are genuinely well done and heartbreaking in some cases.

Overall Kiss Of The Spider Woman is a strong film that is filled with fantastic performances that you will leave the theater loving! It’s a well directed and engaging film that Bill Condon and the rest of the cast and crew did such a passionate job with!

Kiss Of The Spider Woman releases tomorrow in theaters.

8/10 B+

Snow White (2025)

Fleeing from the Evil Queen, Snow White finds refuge with Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Doc and Sleepy. When the palace guards embark on a mission to bring her back, a commoner and his group of woodland bandits band together to protect her.

Snow White is directed by Marc Webb director of (500) Days Of Summer (2009), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Gifted (2017) and The Only Living Boy in New York (2017). Snow White is a live action remake of the 1937 animated film of the same name.

For a movie that has had so many “controversies” this felt like a huge nothing burger, it’s no secret that most of the live action Disney movies are terrible and Snow White is no exception. Everything terrible that a lot of these live action remakes are guilty of Snow White multiples that by ten.

The one thing I can give this movie is Rachel Zegler, she’s undeniably a great singer and she really works with what she can here. Due to the script she’s unfortunately not able to utilize her full talent, but there are a few moments during the songs where I was actually impressed. She’s the only one here that walks out of it who leaves a great impression, everyone else is either forgettable or flat out terrible. Zegler absolutely deserved a far better script and movie in general.

Gal Gadot is terrible there’s just no other way to describe her performance, look the Evil Queen was not exactly a deep character but Gadot is still horribly miscast, her singing pales in comparison to Zegler’s and she does not add anything to the character. There’s even times where it almost feels like she’s acting like she’s in a completely different movie, it’s a completely bizarre performance that truly feels empty.

The movie itself is just not appealing to look at either, between the bland CGI and the horrifying CG dwarfs that are nightmare fuel (not in a good or fun way) it’s an absolute pain to watch due to how lifeless it all looks. The sense of wonder and magic of the original film is not present here at all, it’s replaced with a bland and terrible style that completely defeats the purpose of the whimsical feel of the story.

The writing is terrible, the dwarfs who in the original film were charming and fun crack unfunny jokes here and have very little going for them. Andrew Burnap who plays a new character named Jonathan (partially based on the Prince in the original film) is about as bland as you can get when it comes to love interests, he doesn’t give a terrible performance but it’s most certainly one that does not leave a lasting impression. Even Snow White as a character really does not get a whole lot of interesting developments, as I said earlier Rachel Zegler tries her hardest to make it work but in the end very little comes together.

Overall there really is not a whole lot to Snow White it’s a terrible version of the 1937 original, it’s truly one of the laziest of the live action Disney films. It fails to do anything interesting with the story and instead focuses on terrible decisions that ultimately cost the movie.

Snow White is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Juliet & Romeo (2025) Film Review

Based on the real story that inspired William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, follows the greatest love story of all time, set as an original pop musical

Juliet & Romeo is directed by Timothy Scott Bogart director of Touched (2005) and Spinning Gold (2023)

Romeo & Juliet a story that everyone has heard at least once and here we have another adaption. What does Juliet & Romeo do differently than the rest? Well two things, for one Bogart tells us the “true story” that inspired the play and second he makes it a pop musical…which goes about as well as you would expect. It would be one thing if at the very least the performances were well acted and the songs were memorable which is sadly not the case here.

To start with the leads Clara Rugaard (who plays Juliet) and Jamie Ward (who plays Romeo) are the weakest of the cast. This is one of those movies where the supporting cast are actually far more interesting than the leads, which in some cases it could be debated that’s a good thing. However it’s most definitely not in this case, Rugaard and Ward don’t do a terrible job as the pair, they really try their hardest with what they have but the script is just not giving them an opportunity to make these characters exciting. Rupert Everett, Jason Isaacs and Derek Jacobi have some great moments but unfortunately don’t have a whole lot to do.

Then we have the songs which are hard to sit through, the best way to describe these songs is thinking of the most cliche portrayal of pop music you can think of. Whatever you just imagined is not far off from what’s in this movie, there’s some occasional neat set pieces and the movie itself is colorful which helps pop out at times. But these are small bits that do not overall really help this movie standout all that much. The music itself is also auto-tuned and a lot of the time feels very out of place, there’s times where you can really tell they tried to go for the feel of Jesus Christ Superstar but without any of the energy the play had.

I’m not entirely sure what the goal was here with Juliet & Romeo if it was to make the most dull adaption to the play then I guess it succeeded. Because with a runtime of 122 minutes this is an absolute chore to sit through and there’s very little to entertain the viewer with or bring interest.

Juliet & Romeo releases tomorrow in theaters and in UK Cinemas for one night only on June 11th!

3/10 D-

O’Dessa (2025) Film Review

A farm girl embarks on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom in the post-apocalyptic future. Her journey soon leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love. However, in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and music to the ultimate test.

O’Dessa is directed by Geremy Jasper director of Patti Cake$ (2017).

O’Dessa is one of those films where you want to love badly but it’s next to impossible to ignore when it comes to the film’s major flaws, having that said I do think for the most part the film gets a lot right and is generally a solid time.

Sadie Sink is the major part of why the film works, she has a beautiful singing voice and her acting goes above and beyond. Her interactions with the rest of the cast is filled with passion, the scenes she shares with Kelvin Harrison Jr. are admittedly very cute and the chemistry between the two is charming enough. Sink sings a majority of the film’s songs and they are so well done and fit the mood of the scene they are in, the film’s main theme is probably my favorite of the songs she sung. It’s a nice blend of rock and opera (something the film really seems to not really go far enough on halfway through the film.)

Regina Hall is not given a whole lot to do here but she makes what she can of it and does a solid job, Kelvin Harrison Jr. works well with Sink as I said before but is also great on his own (he has a few solid songs here) and Murray Bartlett is just having a ball. Bartlett in particular has one song here called Onederworld that he sings with Emily Forsythe which is definitely the most unique of the songs and perhaps my favorite simply due to how bizarre and sudden it appears. Bartlett seems like he’s having the time of his life with this song, between his singing and dancing it’s a whole light show and an incredibly fun sequence that is easily one of the film’s highlights.

The music is overall quite great although I will say if you go into this movie expecting it to go all out with the rock opera premise you are going to be left disappointed. As fun as the songs are (some of them being even great), I don’t think a lot of these songs would be the first thing someone thinks of when they think “rock opera” there’s a touch of it in some songs but not enough to really say the film went for it. Despite that however I still do think the songs are fun, creative and have strong sequences attached to them plus they highlight the talent of the actors which is always a plus.

As far as atmosphere goes the film feels like a cross between Mad Max and The Hunger Games but with music sequences, at times it’s pretty creative especially when we get to see more of this film’s world, the visual style is genuinely exciting. With colors that match the apocalyptic punk feel the film is going for, plus the use of colors with the song sequences are fun to look at. The camerawork is focused and brings in some extra detail as well, for what the movie was going for with its punk rock opera theme I would say the film does a solid job look wise.

Storytelling wise there’s definitely some bumps in the road that do stop this one from being great mainly the romance, while Sink and Harrison Jr. do have cute moments and both act well together on screen. The romance plot is just not well developed and it takes a lot away from this movie, this is mainly during the middle portion meaning when the third act comes around the movie gets back up on its feet and delivers. But sitting through the second act with an incredibly generic romance plot is very frustrating because this could have easily been trimmed and just stops the movie dead in its tracks pacing wise.

Overall O’Dessa is still a fun ride and I do like the swings that were attempted here. It’s a film that could have done far more with its premise, but from what was presented here I say it’s a decent little movie with great performances and some truly exciting music!

O’Dessa releases tomorrow on Hulu

6/10 C+

Wicked (2024) Film Review!

Misunderstood because of her green skin, a young woman named Elphaba forges an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take very different paths.

Wicked is directed by Jon M. Chu director of Crazy Rich Asians (2018), In The Heights (2021), Now You See Me 2 (2016), Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), Step Up 3D (2010), G.I. Joe Retaliation (2013) and Jem and the Holograms (2015). Wicked is the first installment of a two part film adaption based on the musical of the same name and serves as a prequel to The Wizard Of Oz.

It was inevitable that a film adaption of one of the biggest broadway shows in recent memory Wicked was going to be made, the questions were when was it going to be made? Who would make it? Plus would it actually happen? The answers to these questions are luckily very satisfying, which in turn led to one of the best films of the year and the very definition of a fantastic crowd pleaser.

Right from the beginning we are thrown into the land of Oz, the production design all the way through the film is quite excellent. A lot of attention to detail with the many colors that pop out, especially during the musical numbers where the film gets more creative. There’s many of these instances where the townspeople, students and get to participate and show off their choreography which truly is fantastic and really gives the film this lightning sort of energy it needed as well as a beautiful personality that really makes you feel your right there.

The performances are all fantastic, everyone here really gives it their all which leads into some of the best moments from a film this year. Cynthia Erivo was just a natural choice for Elphaba, Erivo’s singing voice is known to be big and powerful plus she her acting ability has always been top notch and here is no exception. She absolutely nails it down with “Defying Gravity” it’s a legendary song at this point and is a song that is incredibly challenging to sing, Erivo does such a masterful job with the song and really goes beyond expectations. It’s almost like you can see Erivo challenging herself to go even further which is something that is always fascinating to see from actors and actresses. We also quickly get to see how incredible Erivo’s voice really is with “The Wizard and I” a solo performance that quickly establishes that Erivo truly captures Elphaba as a character and goes even further in the film.

Ariana Grande as Galinda is just as fantastic, before this film Grande had not been in a lead or even a supporting role for years. There were cameos like Don’t Look Up (2021). But her last relatively main role was Hairspray Live (2016) but even then she wasn’t really front and center if you want go even further back it would be Victorious and Sam & Cat. To say Ariana Grande proved herself to be a fantastic actress here that could even go further in her acting career would be the understatement of the year. Right from the beginning Ariana Grande hits it out of the park with her powerful singing voice the notes she hits during “No One Mourns The Wicked” is absolutely striking and oozes with power, any doubt of Grande’s ability as an actress gets thrown out the window right at the moment. Throughout the film Grande really goes above and beyond to capture the spirit of Galinda and does such a masterful job at it, “Popular” is another grand moment for Grande the film does such a good job of comparing the personalities of Elphaba and Galinda throughout the film but this musical number and the Ozbust scene (more on that in a second) really shines. Grande brings this energizing spark to the film that really captures the land of Oz perfectly.

Together Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande bring this power that was absolutely needed to make the film work as well as it does, they go beyond expectations and even throw in their own style into the mix. One such example is during the Ozbust Elphaba and Galinda share an unforgettable beautiful moment that I believe to be the film’s heart. Before this we saw the two’s personalities challenge each other but here it’s when they collide and become friends…in a very beautiful way. The way the scene is done is just gorgeous, no dialogue besides the whispers of the crowd watching the two, they both move slowly and perform personal and beautiful movements that ultimately speak to one another. It’s a scene that admittedly made me tear up due to just how up close the camera is, the film is telling the viewer that this is a personal moment and wants you to experience it. The acting from Erivo and Grande gives us moments like this, “One Short Day” which is just oozing with energy and of course “Defying Gravity”.

The supporting roles from Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode and Jonathan Bailey are all fantastic. Marissa Bode has a lot of cute moments that are bound to warm your heart and Jonathan Bailey is just a lot of fun “Dancing Through Life” shows he’s quite a solid singer as well and really captures his character quite well.

The rest of the film is just a blast and it remains that way throughout the film, the choreography is energetic and as I said before everyone gets the chance to participate plus insert their own style into the mix. The film really captures the land of Oz quite beautifully with its production design, music and atmosphere. The atmosphere has this perfect balance of light and dark, the film isn’t overly too happy and it isn’t overly too dark either. It’s the perfect balance that makes the film speak for itself, all the build up is worth it to the grand finale when “Defying Gravity” plays. Even if you haven’t seen Wicked you probably have at least heard of the song or someone mention it. As I said earlier it’s a huge song that really does sum up Wicked a big and powerful piece that is booming and at times intimidating. Luckily that feeling is captured here, between all the events of the film coming together to the voices of Erivo and Grande mixing flawlessly it’s a sight that really wows you.

Overall Wicked is the definition of a crowd pleaser and one that has so much heart, it’s one of my absolute favorite films of the year! If you haven’t seen it already please do so!

Wicked is currently in theaters!

10/10 A+

Spellbound (2024) Film Review

When a powerful spell turns her parents into giant monsters, a teenage princess must journey into the wild to reverse the curse before it’s too late.

Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson who co-directed Shrek (2001) and Shark Tale (2004) she directed Post Grad (2009) by herself.

I think if Spellbound came out 10-20 years ago it would be a lot more acceptable, but due to the bar being raised over the years with animated films this movie falls flat.

The positives mostly stem from the message being told and Rachel Zegler, the message of how adult problems or broken homes can affect kids is a beautiful one and for the most part it’s executed decently. Combine that with Zegler’s performance that is genuinely sweet and quite fun and you would think you would have solid movie.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie is just very standard kids movie elements blended into one, why this was musical I will never understand. The songs were not horrendous or anything they just had no real reason to be there, none of them are memorable at all either. They songs felt like they were there to draw out the running time, none of the characters outside of Zegler’s character Ellian aren’t particularly interesting and don’t quite get enough character moments they really need.

Finally there’s the animation which is just okay, there really isn’t anything groundbreaking going on here. But at the same time there isn’t anything particularly bad here either. It’s nice and colorful and does tell parts of the story well enough but that’s really about it.

There really isn’t much else more to say about Spellbound it’s fine distraction for children but for everyone else this is a bit of a snoozefest.

Spellbound is available on Netflix

4/10 D+

Emilia Perez (2024) Film Review!

A Mexican lawyer is offered an unusual job to help a notorious cartel boss retire and transition into living as a woman, fulfilling a long-held desire.

Emilia Perez is directed by Jacques Audiard director of A Self-Made Hero (1996), Read My Lips (2001), A Prophet (2009), Rust and Bone (2012), Dheepan (2015), The Sisters Brothers (2018) and Paris, 13th District (2021).

I’m not even sure where to exactly start with Emilia Perez, what mostly got me interested in the film was the cast and Jacques Audiard a director who’s work I usually really like, he’s done some incredibly strong work in the past….however Emilia Perez is hands down worst film by a large margin. This movie is one of those “what the hell happened?” moments that you ask yourself as you watch it.

There are positives but very few of them, Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascon both give strong performances. Gascon in particular has a nice singing voice and does bring some much needed emotion to some of the songs even if it’s not nearly enough for a lot of these songs to stick out. Saldaña carries a lot of scenes on her back without her the movie would collapse far faster than it did, the conversations between Gascon and Saldaña show that even with such a terrible script they really try to bring at least something out of it. I do think the two do give strong performances but unfortunately can’t exactly go all out due to the script.

The other positive is Paul Guilhaume’s cinematography which captures a lot of beautiful shots that are quite interesting to look at, there’s this certain spectacle it has that at the very least makes parts of the movie look grand. It’s sort of a whiplash to see such beautiful shots and then soon after be thrown terrible music numbers and terrible dialogue that is baffling.

Everything else about Emilia Perez is terrible and truly baffling, there’s one song number in particular that has song lyrics consisting of “Man to woman, or woman to man? From penis to vagina! Rhinoplasty!
Vaginoplasty!” It’s absolutely baffling and something that I genuinely couldn’t believe I was hearing, combine that with it being horribly sung and you got yourself a torturous moment. The rest of the song numbers while not nearly as baffling aren’t good, most of them are quite forgettable and don’t really leave an impression.

Selena Gomez is the weakest here which is a shame, I don’t even dislike Gomez as an actress I think she gave a very strong performance in Spring Breakers (2013) and Only Murders in The Building. But she leaves such little impression here that she might as well not be in the movie. There’s an attempt to try and make her character into something but it does not work due to just how piss poor the writing really is.

Speaking of which the writing is a complete and total mess. There’s themes about regret and wanting to do better which is all well and good but presenting tone deaf elements at the beginning and portraying Emilia Perez (played by Karla Sofia Gascon) herself as a cartel leader (also at the beginning) who’s responsible for so many deaths makes it so much harder to really feel any sort of sympathy towards Perez. The film doesn’t really bring anything striking as to why the viewer should feel bad for her, it just sort of expects you to feel sorry because it says so.

Overall Emilia Perez is a trainwreck, it’s not even a so bad it’s good type of movie. It’s a movie that really makes you question what exactly happened here?

Emilia Perez is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Your Monster (2024) Film Review!

Soft-spoken actress Laura Franco’s life crumbles. She regains her voice after encountering a terrifying but oddly charming Monster living in her closet.

Your Monster is directed by Caroline Lindy which is her directorial debut.

What happens when you blend Old Hollywood and Broadway elements together? You get Your Monster a film before going in I heard was really great but honestly i definitely think that’s a huge understatement, I think this is quite honestly one of the best films of the year for quite a number of reasons from the performances, to Caroline Lindy blending so many genres perfectly together it’s all there.

Starting with the performances Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey are some of the best of the year. Melissa Barrera as Laura Franco is her best performance of her career so far, I think this role gave Melissa exactly what she needed to really put it out there and say “hey I’m here to stay” her character is hilarious, actually quite relatable and actually quite raw. The scenes of her letting all her anger out are filled to the brim with passion, you can absolutely tell Barrera went all in and absolutely nailed it. Melissa Barrera’s singing voice continues to impress here, it was already impressive with In The Heights (2021) but I would argue it’s displayed so much better here. Her singing “My Stranger” alone is just beautiful and is such a beautiful way to close the film as well. Melissa Barrera is able to adapt to the change of tone when needed, whether it’s a humorous, dramatic or even a musical one she’s able to turn every single scene into a blast. Something that a talented performance is able to do!

What I said about Melissa Barrera can easily be applied to Tommy Dewey, his character simply known as Monster is a ton of fun. The chemistry between Barrera and Dewey is honestly heartfelt and actually quite beautiful, the little moments of the two looking at each other in the eyes is truly mesmerizing and makes the viewer all the more invested in both of them. On his on Dewey plays a lot like The Beast from Beauty and The Beast (1991) but at the same time is a very different character and his character development goes on a different path as well. We learn about Monster over the course of the film and what his goals are, he bonds with Laura Franco over music, general talk and so on. Dewey just gives a phenomenal performance all around while doing this.

As I said at the beginning Your Monster combines Old Hollywood elements with Broadway elements. The Broadway elements are given, the music moments really capture the Broadway feel especially when Melissa Barrera sings “My Stranger” she has this powerful and clear voice that switches different moods that screams Broadway. The character’s mannerisms especially Laura Franco and Monster really do have Old Hollywood touches to them, the romantic scenes especially you get a lot of the mannerisms, speech and even character moments. Cinematography Will Stone is able to capture all of this perfectly especially when combined with the investing atmosphere throughout the film.

Finally director Caroline Lindy does such a masterful job in the director’s chair. She has an eye for engaging shots that really tell the viewer a little more about each of the scenes, there’s one scene in particular that really stands out that has both Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey just go all out. They both have a range of emotions during this moment that Lindy captures so well and brings so much passion as well. Combining all of this makes for a fascinating picture that you never want to stop looking at.

Overall Your Monster is one of the best films of the year. It’s hilarious, heartfelt and a ton of fun, Caroline Lindy is definitely a director to keep an eye on because this was incredible. If you haven’t checked this one out please do so.

Your Monster is in theaters and will be on VOD platforms tomorrow!

10/10 A+

Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) Film Review!

Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital.

Joker: Folie á Deux or Joker 2 is directed by Todd Phillips director of The Hangover trilogy, Due Date (2010), War Dogs (2016), Old School (2003), Joker (2019) and a few others. This film serves as a sequel to Joker (2019).

Joker (2019) was a mega hit when it released, despite being a very divisive film it made a billion dollars at the box office making it the very first R-rated film to do so. Whether that success is deserved depends on who you really ask, I personally still really like it. It was incredibly strong when it comes to character study and Joaquin Phoenix really did a fantastic job and brought something new to the character. The build up to the finale was excellent and it was just an overall fantastic film.

When a sequel was announced I was a bit confused mainly because of really how you go from the ending of the first movie, but there was some promise with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The musical aspect was questionable but maybe they found some creative ways to put it into the story….unfortunately this turned out to be a gigantic mess.

To start with the positives, I do think the performances are overall quite great. While Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as The Joker isn’t as good as it was in the first film, he still does a solid job in a lot of scenes, there’s a few moments in particular that standout quite well. Lady Gaga is solid but unfortunately very underutilized, despite what the trailers might have you believe she really does not appear very often in the movie. While her performance is great, she is not Harley Quinn. Despite her character being called Harley, it’s very much Lady Gaga playing herself the only thing that’s shared is the name Harley, I get the movie changed the character to fit with the world of Joker (2019). But a lot of the changes are lazy, uninspired and completely defeats the purpose of the character. What your left with is a very dull character who we the viewers never end up learning much about at all.

Leigh Gill gives a quick but very strong performance, it’s only for a couple of minutes but this is one of the glimpses of what could have been with this movie. Unfortunately this moment comes way too late had the movie done a lot more moments like this one where it feels raw, powerful and fits with the atmosphere the first film established, we might be having a very different conversation about this movie.

The cinematography is undeniably beautiful, cinematographer Lawrence Sher manages to capture the look of the first film while adding in his own spin on it, there’s a handful of shots here that are very compelling to look at it’s just a shame what these shots are attached to is a huge mess.

The rest of the movie results in a complete and total mess that really seems like Todd Phillips did not care at all, first off the musical numbers which could have been creative and integrated into the story in a meaningful way are very uninspired. There’s the occasional visual that looks pretty neat, but the songs do very little to standout and all just blend into each other very poorly. It doesn’t help that Phoenix’s singing voice was not good here at all, it doesn’t mix well with Lady Gaga’s and when he’s doing solos it’s incredible noticeable how bland his voice is. Lady Gaga is a fantastic singer but the lyrics really hold her back from performing anything memorable, which is a bit baffling to me. If you are going to have Lady Gaga in your film why on earth would you give her lyrics that are so forgettable that the viewer will immediately forget about them as soon as the movie is over?

There’s one scene in particular that really seems like it was put there for shock value, it’s a scene that has no build up, nothing to suggest that this would happen and completely botches Arthur Fleck as a character. It’s horrid, disgusting and piss poor writing. Let me make it clear that obviously I’m not saying a scene like this cannot be in a movie, but it needs to have some sort of build up you can’t just throw a scene like that into a movie and expect the viewer to be okay with it. This scene question is made worse when it suggests this was some sort of character moment due to what happens the next day in the movie.

Lastly there’s the movie’s ending which is one of the most “I don’t give a crap endings” I’ve seen in a movie this year, not only does it make absolutely no sense narratively especially when you factor in the first movie (honestly that’s the whole movie) and even what happens previously in this movie. But it makes the entire first film seem completely pointless, I’m all for films like this to take big swings but this is to the point where Phillips is trying to come off as this genius who thinks he pulled off this fantastic ending. When in reality its not smart, its not creative and its most certainly not well written. You took the first film and basically said “oh that’s just meaningless oh by the way I’m moving on from Joker so here’s a terrible ending” and you know what? An ending like this could have MAYBE worked if it was actually well written, had much more build up.

Overall Joker: Folie á Deux has great ideas but incredibly awful execution, while I don’t think it’s the worst movie of the year as there are positives. It’s most certainly one of the most disappointing and one that just leaves you frustrated.

Joker: Folie á Deux is currently in theaters.

4/10 D+