Thelma (2024) Film Review!

Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.

Thelma is directed by Josh Margolin which is his directorial debut.

Thelma just might be one of the sweetest and endearing films of 2024, what seems like a silly revenge story on the surface actually ends up being a film that actually has a few themes here that work incredibly well.

Before we get to that let’s talk about the performances all of which are fantastic but the one who makes the film is June Squibb. Her performance as Thelma is so endearing, easily connects with the viewer and honestly an excellent portrayal of a grandmother. The chemistry she has with the cast feels incredibly natural and really does give off this cozy feel almost like you are listening to someone’s grandmother speak. It’s impossible to walk out of this film without a smile on your face and that’s mainly due to Squibb’s performance. Fred Hechinger’s performance as Daniel who plays Thelma’s grandson is also really excellent. A lot of the film’s best moments is with Thelma and Daniel just speaking to one another, catching up on each other or Daniel making sure Thelma is okay. It all feels very natural. Richard Roundtree is also quite great here, he has excellent chemistry with June Squibb that are easily some of the films best moments.

Which also lead into the film’s main theme…getting old. Hearing Thelma talk about being old with most of her friends who are either dead or have moved on with their lives is honestly some soul crushing stuff. I mean sure getting old is a part of life it’s going to happen to everyone, but when you hear this come from Thelma a character who is shown to be kind, doing anything she can to protect her family and tries to remain positive throughout the film. It really starts to get to you as a viewer, perhaps it’s because of the very well written script from Josh Margolin but this is actually very beautifully executed.

The humor combined with the film’s revenge story (which starts due to a scam) is quite excellent, I do love that the film makes sure to balance humor and the many touching moments. It helps the film be more natural in its execution and just results in a blast of fun. There’s a little bit here for everyone which is the best move this film could have possibly done.

Overall Thelma is excellent, it takes a regular revenge story and flips it on its head by including so many touching moments that really dive into getting old. Very endearing film be sure to give this one a watch!

Thelma is available on all VOD Platforms.

8/10 B+

My Spy: The Eternal City (2024) Film Review.

JJ, a veteran CIA agent, reunites with his protégé Sophie, in order to prevent a catastrophic nuclear scheme aimed at the Vatican, which disrupts a high school choir trip to Italy.

My Spy: The Eternal City is directed by Peter Seagal director of Anger Management (2003), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), 50 First Dates (2004), My Spy (2020), Grudge Match (2013) and a few others.

Out of any movie to get a sequel I’m willing to put good money down that My Spy wasn’t one that people were demanding. The first My Spy was a fun little action comedy that went to VOD platforms during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a fine enough movie that while forgettable got the job done. So it’s very interesting to me that Peter Seagal who directed the previous movie returns and does a worse job than before.

Dave Bautista is once again pretty okay here, he’s by far the best part of the movie much like he was in the previous movie. The rest of the cast are fine enough they just don’t bring anything exciting to the table, the jokes this time around are slightly worse than the last movie. Very forgettable and at most result in a chuckle, granted none of the jokes are painful just very cobbled together.

Speaking of cobbled together what really kills this movie is the plot and the many plot lines that follow, for some reason they decided to take a simple bonding story from the first movie and turn it into a whole plot heavy movie with an espionage action plot that oddly gets very convoluted. It’s the type of movie where you really scratch your head and say “who was this for?” It wants to go for the same family type feel the first movie did. But every now and then you get jokes here that aren’t exactly family friendly. It’s a very confused mess that never really figures itself out.

Finally the characters especially the new ones don’t really add much, Craig Robinson and Anna Faris are trying their best but with such a limited script that gives very little to work with they sort of have no choice but to be sitting ducks.

Overall My Spy: The Eternal City is very typical streaming movie shovelware, it exists solely on the chance that some people who liked My Spy (2020) may watch it, definitely not one of the worst movies of the year but it’s one you are going to forget almost immediately after watching.

My Spy: The Eternal City is available on Amazon Prime Video.

3/10 D-

Furiosa (2024) Film Review

Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.

Furiosa is directed by George Miller director of Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2 (1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Babe: Pig In the City (1998), Happy Feet (2006), Mad Max Fury Road (2015), Three Thousand Years Of Longing (2022) and a few others. Furiosa is the fifth installment in the Mad Max series and serves as spin-off prequel to Mad Max Fury Road telling the origin story of Furiosa.

Furiosa is yet another homerun for George Miller the man who has been directing these films ever since the franchise started back in 1979, the Mad Max series is one of those rare series of films that I don’t think there’s a bad movie. Thunderdome is definitely the weakest but even that one has a ton of positives, when Fury Road came out in 2015 it admittedly placed itself among some of the best action blockbusters of the 2010s and depending who you ask of all time. It’s among one of my favorite films that I rewatch every now and then. Luckily Furiosa keeps a lot of what made Fury Road work incredibly well and adds a bit more to it.

First off the performances all around are incredible, one thing that George Miller absolutely excels at is directing his cast and that’s shown right from the start with Charlee Fraser who although is only here at the beginning gives such a fascinating performance that is a ton of fun. These beginning scenes already set the tone of the film, with a very suspenseful atmosphere as well as a bizarre one that matches the film’s villain Dementus played by Chris Hemsworth. Who so far this year gives one of the best performances as a villain, this is arguably Hemsworth’s best performance as it’s a performance that’s very different from what he usually plays and every single scene he’s in he’s terrifying. You never know when this bizarre man is going to snap and when does it’s quite brutal.

Of course we have Furiosa played by Anya Taylor-Joy which is definitely a career best worthy performance, some people’s fear was that she could not play the character as well as Charlize Theron did in Fury Road. Luckily Anya Taylor-Joy nails down the performance and brings her own touch to the character, throughout most of the film Furiosa is silent. Only listening to the other characters talk, it really matches the tone of the atmosphere which of course is apocalyptic but this film really touches on that incredibly well. Anya Taylor-Joy’s facial expressions and body movements do all the talking here and it’s just so investing to see her do all of this effortlessly, she delivers so many beautiful interactions without even speaking with the other characters it’s truly beautiful in it’s own way.

Tom Bruke is quite fantastic here, his interactions with Anya Taylor-Joy have such an excellent feel to them and the two have great chemistry. He serves as this slight mentor figure, but is written in a very raw way that gives the character more connection to the viewer. Lastly there’s Lachy Hulme who plays Immortan Joe the main villain from Fury Road we get a handful with scenes of him here, much like the rest of the world and it’s crazy characters he’s very well written and adds to Furiosa’s story.

The action scenes much like in Fury Road are incredibly well done and among some of the best I’ve seen so far this year, heck I would say some of the best of the 2020s so far. The amount of attention to detail, and the filming of these scenes really are put into high focus. There’s one scene in particular that definitely standouts among them that I definitely think is the best and that’s saying something considering how many beautiful action scenes there are here.

The worldbuilding is truly beautiful here, even moments we do not get a whole lot of dialogue the setting itself really tells the story as well as the many crazy looking characters. There’s so much to look at and so much to explore in each scene, one main difference from Furiosaand Fury Road is Furiosa is much more narratively driven. Fury Road had a simple get to point A to point B sort of situation which is not a bad thing and in context makes sense for the film. Furiosa goes for a much bigger story that explores around especially since it is quite huge when it comes to scale. Furiosa accomplishes this incredibly well by exploring it’s characters, themes and atmosphere that really kick it into high gear.

Overall Furiosa is one of the best films so far this year, it’s an incredibly well directed film that makes the Mad Max series all the more interesting!

Furiosa is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Twisters (2024) Film Review

Haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado, Kate Cooper gets lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi, to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. She soon crosses paths with Tyler Owens, a charming but reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures. As storm season intensifies, Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves in a fight for their lives as multiple systems converge over central Oklahoma.

Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung who previously directed Munyurangabo (2007), Lucky Life (2010), Abigail Harm (2012) and Minari (2020). Twisters serves as a standalone sequel to Twister (1996).

Of all films to get a sequel many years later Twister (1996) was not one I expected, sure there’s been talks about it every now and then but nothing really concrete up until it was announced that Lee Isaac Chung after his success with Minari (2020) would be in the director’s chair and that’s what got me immediately interested. I’m not huge on Twister (1996) as some other people are but I like it for what it is and I’m happy to say that I quite like Twisters.

For starters the film has Glen Powell who continues to be very charismatic in his performances, I said this yesterday when I reviewed Hit Man but Glen Powell is so likable and is incredibly fun to watch on the big screen. The moment he enters the film he oozes with charm and delivers some quite humorous lines as well. Daisy Edgar-Jones is also quite great here, she has excellent chemistry with Glen Powell and the two’s personalities really work well together. Daisy Edgar-Jones actually has a decent amount of beautiful moments thrown in here that at times I completely forgot I was watching a film about chasing tornadoes. Anthony Ramos is definitely the weakest here, while not terrible he just sort of feels just there and doesn’t really have any good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Plus his character isn’t all that interesting, his character development is very much on the predictable side of things that anyone can see coming from a mile away.

The rest of the characters although have limited screen time are a ton of fun mostly thanks to the performances. Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, Harry Hadden-Paton, Tunde Adebimpe and Katy O’Brian in particular are a ton of fun, they get some little moments that do show their characters are actually decently likable and a joy to watch to the point where you want these characters to survive and start to care about their team. Even little moments of them bonding do quite a lot to get the viewer to actually like them.

The visuals are pretty neat especially when combined with the booming sound that’s very fitting especially when it’s a film about tornados, the suspense is there with a giant scale of the tornados in this classic blockbuster feel that is both memorable and grand. Going inside the tornado feels like going inside the belly of the beast it’s very suspenseful, one wrong move could be the end for our main characters. It’s the classic blockbuster thrill ride that knows not to over do it with the tornados but uses them just enough to keep the viewer on board with the film.

Twisters is another example of a film released this year with such an excellent score, a mix of country songs and the traditional type of film score is such a nice blend that actually makes the film quite beautiful at times. There’s a nice balance during the character moments and the more action filled moments that really adds to the film’s charm. Which is probably why Twisters works so well as a film, it knows it’s a summer blockbuster that has a simple goal…entertain the audience but also go a bit beyond that and throw in some character moments into the mix, some dramatic moments that are set to some actually beautiful country songs (this is coming from someone who isn’t a fan of country).

Overall Twisters is a blast of fun, it’s a charming and quite likable ride that I am really glad exists. It’s definitely predictable at times but ultimately the film accomplishes what it’s sent out to do!

Twisters is playing in theaters.

8/10 B+

Hit Man (2024) Film Review

Professional killer Gary Johnson breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an abusive husband and finds himself falling for her.

Hit Man is directed by Richard Linklater director of Dazed and Confused (1993), The “Before Trilogy (Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight), Boyhood (2014), Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022) and many other films.

As of right now Hit Man is by far the best Netflix “original” film of 2024 and it’s not even really close. I use original loosely since this film was more so bought by Netflix. But that’s beside the point, what we have here is the very definition of an incredibly fun comedy that I really wish I got to experience with a crowd (especially from seeing the reactions of it on Twitter).

For starters believe it or not the film is actually based on a true story (well loosely some sections of the film are entirely made up), about a college professor who worked for the Houston police in the late 1980s and 1990s as a fake hitman. The true story is decently interesting but I would argue the film itself is definitely a much more interesting way of telling it.

The cast is quite great, Glen Powell is incredibly charismatic here and delivers such a fun and charming performance that will win the viewer over at any point during the film, his outrageous mannerisms combined with the film’s fun and snappy nature also really helps as well. Although the film can feel a bit dragged out at certain points there’s this electrifying energy that makes the film’s 115 minute runtime go by incredibly quickly.

Similarly Adria Arjona is quite excellent here and has great chemistry with Glen Powell, together the two have plenty of scenes where they can bounce off of each other really well. Whether it be from comedic moments that are genuinely funny, to some of the more dramatic ones that actually have a decent amount of character work to them.

The writing I really have to say might be one of my favorite parts about the film, it’s very sincere and there isn’t anything flashy going on here. Despite the film being quite bizarre towards the end there’s this sense of wanting to keep this story as grounded as it possibly can and Richard Linklater and Glen Powell (the screenplay is by them) accomplish this quite well.

Overall Hit Man is a film that has a little bit for everyone, it has comedy, it has some action and it has some romance. It all blends together to create an interesting genre blending film that I do recommend giving a look.

Hit Man is available on Netflix.

9/10 A

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Three (2024) Film Review

The Anti-Monitor attacks the remaining Earths and their inhabitants. Heroes and villains across time and space join the Justice League for a final stand against the epitome of evil.

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Three is directed by Jeff Wamester who previously directed Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One (2024), Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two (2024), Justice League Warworld (2023), Legion Of Super-Heroes (2023), Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022) and Justice Society: World War II (2021).

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Three serves as the third part of the eighth and final installment to the Tomorrowverse, well it sure is better than the last two parts that’s for certain…look I had very expectations going into this one. The last two parts especially part two were incredibly lacking mainly due to just how rushed the Tomorrowverse really was and a lot of the exact same problems apply with part three unfortunately.

I will say that at the very least this movie had some sort of emotional depth when it came to it’s characters, although these scenes are very far and few in between there was at least some level of attempt to get the viewer to actually care for these characters. The scene that people are rightfully talking about and will probably be the most memorable is Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker towards the end of the movie. It’s a very nice tribute to Kevin Conroy who sadly passed away in 2022, this movie is his last performance as Batman (despite what clickbaiters would tell you that Suicide Squad video game is NOT his last performance as Batman) and he does a really good job here. Although the script isn’t very strong he makes the most of it and actually really does land tons of great moments.

Everything else about the movie kind of reflects the exact problem with the trilogy, a great story taken from the comics but just adapted so lazily that it fails to make the viewer care what is exactly going on. The animation is again a hit or miss, sometimes it looks okay and other times it really makes you question why they went with this style. As far as an ending to a film series and universe goes it’s not exactly as grand as you would expect. Sure it does wrap up some plot points and the ending pretty much does confirm “yes this is the ending of the Tomorrowverse. But it really does seem tact on as an excuse to just end the series, which considering what has been going on with the DC division at Warner Bros lately I’m not exactly surprised.

Overall this part is far better than the last two but like I said shares a lot of the exact same problems. Definitely not as bad as you would expect, but definitely not a worthy finale.

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Three is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

The Fall Guy (2024) Film Review

After leaving the business one year earlier, battle-scarred stuntman Colt Seavers springs back into action when the star of a big studio movie suddenly disappears. As the mystery surrounding the missing actor deepens, Colt soon finds himself ensnared in a sinister plot that pushes him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt.

The Fall Guy is directed by David Leitch director of Atomic Blonde (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and Bullet Train (2022). The Fall Guy is loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name.

The Fall Guy is definitely one of the bigger surprises of the year so far, that’s mostly due to the trailer being incredibly underwhelming and Leitch’s last movie Bullet Train being a huge disappointment. The Fall Guy definitely has its flaws but I think a lot of what the movie is going for works pretty well.

The performances are a lot of fun, Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in particular. All give pretty charming and exciting performances that do lead to the movie being a pretty solid crowd pleaser, the characters are also quite entertaining especially when the film explores stuntmen and how pretty incredible they really are in film. Gosling really does a fantastic job in particular here and completely captures the actions and heart of a stuntman quite well.

Although the humor is on the weak side outside of a few chuckles, there’s this sense of a certain level of charm that works. David Leitch’s humor is often a very hit or miss with me but it for the most part works here, why that’s the case I’m not exactly sure maybe it’s due to the subject matter, the joy of seeing a bunch of characters create a film and celebrating stuntmen or Ryan Gosling’s charm whether the case may be it works well enough to leave you with a smile.

There’s a few stunts here that are quite incredible as well, I would even go as far as to say they are probably some of the best in any of David Leitch’s films. Mainly due to just how grand they are and the context of which they are used, a film about celebrating stuntmen and shows the passion of these stunts, how hard they are to execute and much more.

I don’t think The Fall Guy is one of the best films of the year, but it is a surprisingly fun one that I’m glad I watched. I can easily this film gathering a dedicated fanbase in the next couple years which is always a great thing.

The Fall Guy is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) Film Review

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a group of military officials hatch a daring plan to neutralize Hitler’s fleet of German U-boats during World War II. Made up of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, the top-secret combat unit uses unconventional techniques to battle the Nazis and change the course of the war.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is directed by Guy Richie who previously directed The Gentlemen (2019), Aladdin (2019), The Covenant (2023), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) and a few others.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare sure is Guy Richie movie, this time around Guy Richie attempts to go for an Inglorious Bastards (2009) type of style which I will admit makes for a decently fun movie. In a lot of ways someone can easily see this as diet Inglorious Bastards and you would be absolutely correct, the movie does have a lot of what made Inglorious Bastards so great such as the action. But doesn’t quite pull the same punch.

The performances are pretty decent all around Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eiza González, heck even Hero Fiennes Tiffin manages to pull a solid performance. Nobody here gives a bad performance they do what they’re supposed to and it gets the job done well enough to keep the viewer engaged with what’s going on screen. What is great is that the cast does seem like they are having a blast on screen, which is always extra nice to see!

I definitely think the movie goes on for a bit too long being just 2 hours long and you can really feel that with the pacing during the first act of the movie. Which is painfully slow at times, but the movie does pick up the pace as it goes on. Plus the action scenes really do help the pacing in the long run, they have this special flare to them that makes them energetic which in turn gives it a bit of a way to standout.

Honestly the best way to describe this movie is it’s one of those first person shooter games that has shoot a ton of bad guys and that’s really about it, it is not trying to be anything more than that or say anything impactful it’s just there to be fun. Sometimes that’s just what you need and The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare does that incredibly well. It’s not one of my favorite movies by Guy Richie but it’s still quite a fun one and I appreciate him going for a different action style.

The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Film Review

After his daughter’s life is threatened, wisecracking Detective Axel Foley teams up with a new partner and some old pals to turn up the heat on a conspiracy

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is directed by Mark Molloy which is his directorial debut. The film is the fourth installment in the Beverly Hills Cop series and serves as a sequel to Beverly Hills Cop III (1994).

After the disaster that was Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) the series stayed dormant for 30 years and luckily Axel F is a far better film than it’s predecessor, it’s more in line with the first two films and does a pretty decent job of complimenting and celebrating said films.

Admittedly this is a nostalgia fueled legacy sequel but that really does not take away from it at all. First off the performances are quite great, seeing Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot again is just truly exciting and they all do excellent in their respective roles. Even if some are given more to do than others it’s still great to see them interact and only adds to this installment’s celebration of the series in general. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige and Kevin Bacon are great additions to the series and are able to easily blend in with the rest of the cast, together this cast is really strong and is just overall a lot of fun.

The humor, camerawork and soundtrack were all pretty strong as well, granted they weren’t anything groundbreaking but they all fit the nostalgia theme and celebration of the series the movie was going for. They even got Crazy Frog into the mix which usually would be a negative but in this case it’s used well and the movie puts its own twist on it.

The action scenes are quite great here as well, for a first time director Mark Molloy manages to really give some quite solid action scenes and keeps up with Axel’s rapid fire repartee it’s fantastic stuff and moments like those that really do make this installment special.

Overall there really isn’t much else to say about Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a very solid installment to the series, it might not be doing anything for the series or anything groundbreaking. But at the very least it’s fun, well acted and greatly crafted.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Ultraman Rising (2024) Film Review

When Tokyo is threatened by giant monsters, an all-star athlete reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman, and become a legendary hero.

Ultraman Rising is directed by Shannon Tindle which is his directorial debut.

I don’t know much about Ultraman I’ve seen maybe one or two of the films, so I went into this one blindly. Luckily it does seem like (from what I’ve read from people who are fans) is that this movie takes place in a new timeline.

What sticks out immediately is the animation which is quite beautiful and incredibly fun to look at, there’s a lot of attention to detail with the character designs that add to the film’s characters. Plus the world the film takes place in has a lot of style, which only adds to the film’s already high level of charm. So when it comes to style Ultraman Rising nails it completely but what about script and character wise?

Well the characters and script are quite fun as well, there’s this whole parental/child story that’s quite charming. Ken (voiced by Christopher Sean) is quite an interesting character he juggles around being a father, a baseball player and Ultraman during the course of the film. Which ultimately leads into some quite touching moments.

The film is much more about parents and children than it is about fighting monsters, which was actually surprised about but it’s a very welcoming choice that while not every single viewer will get behind if you dig these types of stories and are looking for more than just fighting giant monsters you get that here.

While I don’t think the film is doing anything brand new with the parent and children plot line, it’s charming enough to grab the viewer’s attention and really invest into these characters.

Ultraman Rising is available on Netflix.

7/10 B