Short Reviews #3

I have seen four different movies in the past two weeks, and I know I won't get time to do full reviews of them. So here are some mini reviews of movies that I have seen in these past few weeks!

Rogue One
Rating: 4/5 Stars

This new Star Wars movie proved to be a load of fun, but not without its flaws. There were a lot of great things about this movie. One of them is several great characters. I absolutely loved Donnie Yen as Chirrut (who had a cool line in "I am one with the Force, the Force is one with me"), Wen Jiang as the awesome Baze and Alan Tudyk as the hilarious droid K-2SO. All these characters were great contributions to the movie. Though we didn't know much about them, they were very interesting to watch. Another great character is of course Darth Vader. He was in the movie for a sadly short time, but the scenes he was in were absolutely perfect (including one particular scene which I consider to be one of the best Star Wars moments ever). Another positive of this movie was how much weight the movie had. You felt that the mission that was being taken had serious weight to it; it was a story that needed to be told. There was definitely a darker tone to this movie in comparison to most other Star Wars movies, and it worked well. There were some other things about this movie that didn't work as well for me. Jyn Erso and Cassian are not particularly interesting main characters. I didn't really see why Forest Whitaker's character was needed, either. The beginning of the meanders a bit. The beginning also suffers from a very awkwardly done title screen and the abruptness of no opening crawl. Still, "Rogue One" is a worthy movie into the Star Wars universe, being more like what people were wanting the prequels to be.

Nocturnal Animals
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

This is one of the most interesting movies I've seen all year. I liked how there was one main story and then there was a story within a story. The themes of the story are also pretty intriguing in discussing revenge and love. There is also some pretty great criticism of modern art that I absolutely loved watching. The acting in this movie is top-notch. Amy Adams does great as Susan Morrow, a woman who covers up her sadness by being rich and surrounding herself with higher up people. You do feel for her, despite her not being a particularly good person. But the real standout performance (as usual) is Jake Gyllenhaal as Susan's ex-husband Edward Sheffield (he also plays Tony Hastings in the frame narrative). Michael Shannon also deserves a mention by putting his all into the no-holds barred cop Bobby Andes. I could tell he was having a lot of fun in playing that role, and I felt the character's power and menace in every moment he was screen. Another thing that works about the movie is its thriller/suspense elements. While Susan was reading this horrific story her husband had written, you could feel the tension and fear she was feeling inside. The story comes off as threatening in a way, and every time it cut back to Susan, you got the impression that maybe someone was watching her. There were some parts of this movie that didn't work. The beginning shot of the movie was just bizarre, and, while I get what it was trying to do, the weirdness still got the movie off to an odd start. Also, some of what the movie is saying about modern art comes off as a bit pretentious, because this movie, much like modern art, requires some interpreting. At the end of the day, you don't really know too much about either main character, as well. Still, this movie is one of the most unique watches I've had all year,and I never once lost interest, so that at least deserves a lot of merit.

 Moana
 Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

 Disney has released another classic movie that I think fits right in with the likes of "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". So many things stand out about this movie. One of them is the wonderful, Pixar-level animation (John Lassetter helped produce this movie, so that explains a lot). The landscapes are absolutely gorgeous, and the water especially looks realistic and lifelike. The first 20 minutes of the movie have some of the best animation I've seen in a Disney movie. Another positive of the movie are the characters/voice actors. Moana is a refreshing main character who is instantaneously likeable. Her independence is inspiring, and she is very dynamic. She's probably one of my top 3 favorite princesses of all the Disney movie. It also helps that she's voice-acted by an actual Hawaiian, Auli'i Cravalho. Her voice work is great, and she also has a wonderful singing voice. Dwayne Johnson is awesome as Maui. Even though we've seen a character like this before in Disney movies, Johnson puts a refreshing spin on his character type. I couldn't picture anyone else voicing this character. The songs in this movie (written in part by Lin-Manuel Miranda) deserve mention as well. Almost all of them are pretty freaking awesome (with the exception of the out-of-place "Shiny"), especially "How Far I'll Go" and the extremely catchy "We Know the Way". There isn't a whole lot to complain about in this movie. I suppose that it's easy to see that Disney has a checklist of all the typical things that are supposed to be in a Disney princess movie (catchy songs, a funny animal sidekick, a likable but flawed character). Also, Tamatoa felt like an unneeded character. I didn't really get his presence; it felt totally out of left field. Otherwise, this is a superb Disney entry, and one that I'll be watching repeatedly for sure!

La La Land
Rating: 5/5 Stars

I'd heard great things about this movie, and it DID NOT disappoint. As someone who loves theatre and musicals, this movie is like a dream come true. This is one of the best musicals I've ever seen, and it deserves every award it's getting. Let's talk about our two leads, both of whom are equally awesome in their respective roles. Ryan Gosling as Sebastian makes for an excellent lead. He's hilarious and charming, and you really feel for him in his pursuit of following his dream. He also has a great singing voice, sounding particularly good in "City of Stars". The best performance of the movie is undoubtedly Emma Stone as Mia. Her character really feels like the one we're supposed to follow, as we see all the struggles she is going through. We feel frustrated and sad along with her when she doesn't get the roles she wants, and then we cheer for her when she makes progress. Stone's singing is excellent and emotional in all the right ways. This role may be Stone's best performance, and she has a lot of good work under her belt. There's also some fun moments from J.K. Simmons that are comedic gold. Gosling and Stone work perfectly off each other; I could feel their chemistry throughout the whole movie. It was easy to root for these two characters to be together, because whenever they were with each other, they were at their happiest. Another positive of this movie is just how beautiful it looks. Los Angeles has never looked more gorgeous with the way its cityscapes and landscapes are shot. The colors of the city and land also give the movie a dream-like feel, which works perfectly for the movies thematic arc of following your dreams. The way the lighting and camera work was done in the movie made it often feel like you were watching a theatrical performance, which put a huge smile on my face. Director Damien Chazelle clearly knows how to do musicals, because this movie was expertly directed, from the way the music numbers were shot (with appropriate amounts of camera cuts and long shots) to the pitch-perfect pacing of the movie, slowing down and speeding up when it needed to. I also loved how the movie was basically an ode to those who follow their dreams. It's a beautiful message that needs to be heard more often: follow your dreams no matter what the odds are. If you can't tell, I love this movie and everything about it. Please go see this movie; it's one that shouldn't be missed.