The Bobbs Beat: Movies with Peter

August 2018  Movie Reviews Mission Impossible: Fallout 4 ½ stars It’s pretty remarkable that this 22-year running franchise is this strong. This film has everything a good spy film needs: gadgets, death-defying stunts, car chases, plot twists, betrayals, face masks, wacky side characters, and more. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t see or remember the other 5 Mission Impossibles, pretty much all these movies standalone. This one ties in with last one a little more than the past movies, but you can go in blind and have a great time. Henry Cavill is a welcome addition and all the action sequences are top notch. Skyscraper 3 stars It’s like Die Hard, but with the “Rock,” and he’s an amputee. Yeah, that pretty much nails it. But the action is solid, the “Rock” is likable and feels vulnerable unlike some of his other films. Overall a pretty fun time, with some ridiculous over-explaining and silly scenarios. 8 th Grade 3 ½ stars I felt anxious t...

Ant-man and the Wasp 3 ½ stars I enjoyed the first Ant-man a surprisingly amount. I thought the small-scale adventure was a perfect response to high-stakes, world-ending superhero movies. This movie works in a similar way, providing a lighter story after the harrowing epic that was Avengers: Infinity War. The stakes are still relatively low, Paul Rudd is charming, and the action scenes are quite inventive. However, it didn’t have the same wow factor as the first one. I thought the villains and side characters had potential but were mostly underused. I was interested in the ghost character and I liked the effect but ultimately she was not well fleshed out and a little underwhelming. The only villain with clear motivations was Walton Goggins as a black market arms/tech dealer. What I was most disappointed in the film was how long they dwelled on the Janet Van Dyne rescue mission. From the press material and the beginning of the film, we know that Michelle Pfeiffe...

--> Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 3 ½ stars The original Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite movies of all time, and the ultimate summer movie. The OG park was a frightening, heartfelt, intellectual, thrill ride that took movie going experience to a whole new level. That movie remained popular in theatres for months, and was a global sensation. All that said, that type of Jurassic Park movie experience can never be replicated and I thought the first Jurassic World took a pretty good stab getting close to what made the OG JP great. It lacked the intellect and layered characters of the original, but captured the wonder and awe of a world with dinosaurs and added something new with a real working theme park. Even though I highly enjoyed Jurassic World, my expectations were pretty low for Fallen Kingdom. The trailers didn’t grab me and the whole plot point of militarizing dinosaurs, first introduced in Jurassic World, is pretty dumb. However, I was pleasant...

Solo: A Star Wars Story 2 1/2 stars It’s pretty hard for me not to be excited about a Star Wars movie, but this movie was very, very average. I didn’t have super high hopes for this film after hearing about the troubles on set, but the preview made it look like a fun Ocean’s 11-style heist movie with some familiar characters. The problem is there isn’t enough heisting and it’s not that fun. The heists seemed a bit bland, no overly complex plans or decoy switcheroos. They seemed too easy. And the action sequences were pretty forgettable. Even if you didn’t like the Last Jedi, it had spectacular action beats. The millennium falcon chase through the crystal salt mines in TLJ in particular stood out to me. But in this, the chase scenes are almost uneventful and straightforward. All the actors are fine, Donald Glover is stand out for me, but I didn’t find any of them particularly funny or engaging. Overall the movie is fine, but pretty disappointing for a STAR WAR. Hopefully Episode ...

Avengers: Infinity War 4 ½ stars The sheer scale of this movie is mind-blowing. The fact that they were able to take so many characters, from totally different stories and worlds, and were able to interweave them into a one film and hit all the necessary plot points and action sequences, is amazing. If you’re Marvel movie fan, this movie really pays off with great depictions of all your favorite characters. Dr. Strange, Spiderman and the guardians were standouts for me. It’s clear the Russo brothers really understand the different characters and how to best use them. My only criticism is that the film doesn’t have the same emotional resolve as Captain America: Civil War. And I think Thanos wasn’t as frightening or evil as previous films and the previews had portrayed him. I didn’t mind the performance but it was different than what I was expecting. A lot of how this film will be perceived depends on how Avengers 4 wraps up; but it leaves me with even more anticipation for the ...

  Ready Player One: 3 ½ stars I didn’t love the book but I thought the premise and world made for a fun, easy read. For the most part, I thought the movie did a pretty good job with the changes to the story it made. I enjoyed the addition of TJ Miller’s character Irok (best designed avatar by far) and most of the challenges were more exciting and cinematic friendly. The easter egg clues and narrative was a little more concise, even if it doesn’t totally make sense at times. And I thought the CGI avatars were going to annoy me, but I got used to them for the most part. If anything, a lot of the real world parts seemed unrealistic and less developed. The future metropolis of Columbus, Ohio seems to be a bunch of empty streets and alleyways. And there were some plotholes involving the “sting” operation the characters concoct. All in all, I thought the movie was on par with the book, an entertaining and fast-moving story, but nothing groundbreaking and it’s better if you don’t ...