Den of Thieves

⭐⭐

Directed by: Christian Gudegast

Written by:  Christian Gudegast Paul Scheuring

Gross Revenue : $34.4 mil

mis·lead·ing

giving the wrong idea or impression:

I WAS IN FACT  MISLEAD!! When I went into Den of Thieves I was expecting an action packed "cops and robbers"  type of situation. I mean, that is what the trailer LEAD me to believe as it did everyone, now I'm no stickler for action, its like my 6th favorite genre I think. However, when you show me something like this, which is what I have a soft spot for.....you know heist films. I expect just that! Not some half baked idea that sluggishly got off the ground. The trailer had me under the impression this would be a gun fighting non stop race against time type of movie and IT WAS NOT! One thing I hate most is when they edit trailers in a way  that totally contradicts the entire film.

Its starts with guns and ends with guns. But the middle is filled with lengthy character development and scenes that serve no purposes. Like the prom date, what exactly was that for? The divorce? It was personal but Gerard's character seemed unaffected by it, it didn't have any psychological ramifications. In my opinion, this film had no business being 2hr and 13 minutes. A good 3 scenes could have been easily thrown out. This entire story could have been done in 90 minutes. There was entirely too much of nothing going on for a good chunk of it. I enjoy the story, the premise is exactly the kind of thing I'd watch. However the execution was riddled with flaws and the directing even made the movie seem more boring then it could have been.

As far as performances go? Well Gerard Butler for me, was the only saving grace and he even seemed a bit off center in this role. Assuming you'd get a decent performance from  50 cent or  O'shea is like assuming you can squeeze water from a rock. I've seen 50 shine more in his show "Power" then in any movie he's ever done. As far as O'shea is concerned, well I'd rather watch his dad, Ice Cube in "Are We There Yet?" (which for me is the worst movie he's ever done) three times in a row rather then watch him ever. 

It was my fault for jumping to conclusions and thinking Den of Thieves was going to be the high grossing year opener. Word of mouth is powerful and chatter surrounding it was nothing short of disappointing, It dragged over the 7 day finish line with a $20 mil in the bank, which would surprise me if the month of January wasn't a nightmare for all releases. Let me just say that for fun, for entertainment and for a "okay" heist movie this would be a good choice, more so if you were really bored and stuck in the house with nothing else to watch yeah.

Justice League

🌟🌟

Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: Joss Whedon, Zack Snyder
Gross Revenue: $634 mil



    In a perfect world the DCEU would be everything I've ever wanted and more. The movies would be the stuff that hopes and dreams are made of. However, this isn't a perfect world, in fact the DCEU is what pure blood drenched nightmares are made of. It seemed to be a Batman vs Superman man lite in the opening. Then, it was followed up with an all too rushed character round up, only to sputter to a hault with the all too weak Villainous battle.

   

        Before I continue let me say I did not come at this with any expectations seeming as I'm not a true DC fan. However from a movie point of view I thought I was going to legitimately enjoy it. I didn't go into this with a biased attitude being I love marvel. I would really love to enjoy a DCEU movie, seriously I'd love for them to be on the same level as marvel. That just never seems to happen, I haven't been entertained by a DC film since the watchmen. Not saying they all don't have elements I enjoy.

      For instance the best part of the movie was Auquamans cornball lines and Barry's awkward humor. I'd love to see a Flash movie and I'm excited for Auquaman, he had a more commanding on screen presence. More so than Superman whom of which was as always, quite boring and well, batman is Ben Affleck....nuff said. The visuals were good, if you like made for TV effects. I've seen better CGI in a Netflix series.

    Like I've stated, in a perfect world I wouldn't have to say all this. However, for some reason they just can't seem to pull a good movie off in this day in age. WW aside because that is a whole different monster, I believe it was only successful due to where society is at  in terms of gender equality. Not, because it was a good film. Anyway, I may be making a mistake by having high hopes for Auquaman, but I can't help it. I like his delivery, as bad as his one liners were his presence is electric.  Maybe the next JL will be everything we wanted and then some, at least that's what I'm gonna pray for.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

 

⭐⭐⭐


Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman
Gross Revenue: $310 mil






     I'm so upset that I have to write this review, because I am a huge Kingsman fan and I still watch the first one at least twice a month. Sad, is the only word I can to describe how I'm feeling at this moment. Seriously, when I say I was excited for this movie I mean it. I had the Kingsman as my wallpaper for a good 2 months. I am not going to sugar coat it, I went in with extremely high expectations and that was my mistake. I wanted to fall in love with this as much as I did the first but oh man, that so didn't happen. Who knows w what happened with Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, they wrote such an amazing story the first time it was close to perfect. The dialogue was great and the story? Even better, the golden circle seems like it was written by someone else, it didn't have the same energetic feel the first had.

     For one, the promotion made it seem like the new cast was going to be incredible and that wasn't the case. Channing Tatum could have been a non mention cameo, hell Jeff Bridges  was seen all of maybe three times and Halle Barry? Well she sat the entire film. Not to mention, in my opinion eggsy got diluted, he wasn't as bad ass as he was in the first and harry? We all know how disappointing that was. The villain was horribly weak, and I love Julianne Moore, but that was not a good choice for an antagonist role. Elton John had more of a part than any of the newly promoted cast members!!! The one saving grace this movie had was the unbelievably  amazing fight scenes that you come to expect with a Kingsman movie.


     The last and final pet peeve I have with the movie is the ending, that was a hot dumpster fire and I absolutely loathed it....... A wedding??? Really Matthew Vaughn? And Merlin, was that necessary???!!! I know it seems I hated it judging by my complaints but I didn't hate it, I was.......amused by it. I really, really hope the next (if it happens) is better than this huge misstep.