Janice Kuan

3.5 Stars It’s a good movie and yes it’s up there with Thunderbolts and other good Marvel movies. However I didn’t enjoy it as much and I’ll explain why. I love those Marvel movies that kept certain aspects of its storyline hidden and I found myself somehow astonished when it’s revealed during my first watch. I didn’t find it in Marvel’s Fantastic Four simply because all of these were revealed on their trailers. We all see Sue Storm’s pregnancy. We all see baby Franklin on the trailers. We even see Galactus and his desire for baby Franklin. Basically the storyline was revealed throughout all their trailers the past month. The only thing that we weren’t fully shown were the actions sequences. Funnily enough the final action was mostly revealed on the trailers too. So that’s left with only the middle action escape sequences that was both breathtaking and intense (one of the best Marvel action). Oh yea it does have a brief backstory for the Silver Surfer. Otherwise the movie basically just shown us everything the trailers had minus the whole action sequences. This left the movie to be somewhat predictable and not as enjoyable as it’ll be. I get it that Marvel is nervous and really wanted this Fantastic Four movie to be a success. I think it’s probably going to be because what we have is an entertaining and fun movie with great but short action sequences (only 2 to be honest). It’ll be nice to see more of Mr. Fantastic and Ben’s powers. Probably the budget constraints that limitations.

3.75 Stars This is a James Gunn superheroes movie and you can see his traits everywhere. He did include certain Superman signatures scenes to make Superman stands out, but make no mistake it’s a “Guardians of the Earth” movie. It’s not a bad thing, as James Gunn movies have strong actions sequences and great emotional moments, however it’s clear that he’s great at making a band of superheroes movies such as The Suicide Squads, Guardian movies. But it’s supposedly to be the Superman 2025 reboot movie and that’s where our expectations were let down a little. Right from the get go, a brief description of the synopsis brought us to the world of meta humans that Superman happened to belong to. We were introduced with a bunch of people that undermines and threatened Superman. It’s not how we expect the great Superman is. James Gunn focused on how magnificent Superman is as a human and not as a “super”man. This is where Gunn brought in his golden touches to make us love Superman with his righteousness and desire to help and protect. With so many superheroes and villains introduced here, Gunn struggles a little to allocate screen time for each of them. These are in the expenses of Superman screen time which is what the title is supposed to be. It’s an ambitious movie with these new superheroes introduced at the same time. It worked on Guardians and Suicide which are groups of superheroes but missed a little on a single superhero movie titled Superman. With that said, I can’t wait for his interpretation of a Justice League movie. Or maybe…just maybe…there’s a director’s cut version that showed more Superman?

If you have watched any of the previous Mission Impossible movies, you owed it to yourself to watch this Final Chapter of Tom Cruise’s MI franchise. It tied up many of the previous MI movies to a gripping ends story wise. The action sequences are extremely hardcore and impossibly to grasp of. Initially I was wondering why they chose that picture with the airplane as it’s main poster but after watching the movie, I have to agree it’s one of the most hardcore action sequences in the entire franchises up there with the Burj Khalifa action sequences. But wait…there’s more here, it’s underwater submarine sequences is full of suspenses too. With these, Final Reckoning could easily be the best Mission Impossible movie and yet…I still think it’s not my favourite. But close. There’s a few twist plots that ties previous characters to a somewhat satisfying closure. But if you are interested in Ethan’s own closure, it’ll leave you wondering. Nonetheless it’s a good movie with great action sequences that showcased Tom Cruise’s commitment to this franchise. Watch it as it’s likely going to be the last time we see this level of deliverance from the actor.

I always thought that Florence Pugh’s performance in Black Widow Movie is the highlight and it carries on in Thunderbolts* Movie. I won’t spoil what the * means, you’ll just have to watch the movie. This movie basically continues each characters’ progression and introduces a new character Bob which is going to be someone special in the MCU. The movie focuses heavily on Florence Pugh and Bob that at times it left out the other characters especially Ghost. I don’t mind though as there are many funny lines and scenes with her and Red Guardian. Shame that certain characters were completely shut out (won’t mention who to prevent spoilers). Finally we were able to delve deeper into Valentina’s persona which was so perfect in Julia’s acting. Action sequences is there in line with what the Russo brothers did with Captain America Winter Solder Movie. It’s not heavy in special effects but keeps you entertained nonetheless. I enjoyed this much more than Captain America 4 Brave New World. There wasn’t any boring moments as the movie keeps you entertained and before I knew it, it’s over. There’s 2 post credits scenes with the first one goofy funny and the second one is the one everyone is waiting four.

I wouldn’t say this is a Captain America movie as the main storyline evolves around Ross and how he became Red Hulk. Harrison Ford basically stole the show with his excellent portrayal of Ross and he’s the main attraction of this movie that made it worth watching. Anthony Mackie hasn’t been able to take the Captain America banner since previous movies and his poor acting here hasn’t help either. Most of the other actors have outshine him even with their minor characters including Esposito great portrayal of Seth. Actions sequences were averagely done but with the budgets for this movie, I expected more. It’s an entertaining movie regardless. Watch it for Harrison Ford’s turning into Red Hulk and I won’t say Marvel has a winner here.

Dune Part 1 was my best film for 2021 (5 star perfect) and I am eagerly anticipating this sequel. I was expecting the same quality and exposure to the book. What made the first movie so damn perfect is also the pacing of storytelling. I didn’t find that here in Part 2. It started slow and dragged for the first third of the movie with far in between actions. There were glimpses of that cinematographies which made the first movie Oscar perfections. It focused on Paul’s adjustment to being Fremen; his relationships to Chani and Paul’s mom journeys. Certain scenes were a little confusing with gaps on storytelling which is understandable with the time restraints but the editing could’ve been better. The movie slowly builds up to the second half. I would’ve preferred to see more of the Emperor’s “greatness” and why so many houses are so loyal to him. It’s a disappointment to simply assume he’s a great and fearsome Emperor and throughout the movie we only saw a frail and worried Emperor. We did however find a worthy villain portrayed by Austin Butler. What made this movie a 4 star was the final battle scenes that made me fall in love with Denis’ visions since “The Arrival”. Although I did find them to be slightly rushed. It felt a tad underwhelming as all the major characters congregated together to speak their lines (much like watching a Broadway Shakespearean plays). I was disappointed when the twist of the plot lines were briefly mentioned as if it’s an afterthoughts. The ending definitely left many to wonder what’s going to happen to our beloved main characters and will probably push for a third Dune which the director specifically hope to conclude with the Messiah storyline. I hope it’ll happen.

3.5 Star I watched this movie in anticipation with the introduction of Kang the Conqueror character. It doesn’t disappoint! The movie slowly builds up Kang and focuses the second half of the movie with his arrival and battle against Ant Man. Jonathan Majors definitely stole the limelight and it’s a shame that it’s too brief with the final battle scenes greatly edited. I would have been fine with extended final battle. Story wise is where this is lacking. It briefly summarized Janet and Kang’s history together but doesn’t elaborate. It basically put Hope in the sideline and focused more on Casey and even Mordok. I would like it to have a bit more substance on such a fascinating story. The mid post credit scene is where it truly revealed what we wanted to know of Phase 5. Very very interesting indeed!

Having grew up watching Stephen Chow’s movies, I fit right into Taiki’s Thor Love and Thunder humours and flashy effects with a touch of tear-jerking moment. I love the chemistry between Thor and Jane much to Chris and Natalie on screen performances. Christian Bale nearly stole the limelight as Gorr the main villain. I applaud Taiki for not revealing too much on the trailers as this resulted more enjoyable experiences as opposed to Doctor Strange Multiverse movie. That goats humour is hilarious. The editing of the movie isn’t well implemented as certain scenes were seemingly jumped to the next abruptly affecting the flow of the plots. Otherwise it’s an over-the-top slick and an entertaining marvel movie which I thoroughly enjoyed a bit more than Dr Strange Multiverse.

I was really looking forward to seeing this conclusion to the 2 trilogy of the Jurassic Franchise. Trailers looked amazing. However the reviews weren’t that good so I went in preparing to disappoint. It’s definitely for someone that has seen the previous Jurassic movies as it basically continues the storyline. Pacing was an issue as it’s trying to update both main characters from the original trilogy together with the World trilogy. This is done with the expenses of new characters that felt mundane. The actions were great but it feels more like a Bond/Mission Impossible movies until the final act. The concept of co-existing is excellent but I felt that the movie didn’t really capture that and it’s trying to encompass that complex direction in 2.5 hours. Many questions were left to viewers imagination as to the future of this which ironically didn’t conclude anything in either trilogy.

Score 7.5 out of 10 It’s just slightly under 4 stars This is a Sam Raimi movie with Marvel super heroes. Expect horror scenes and jump out of your seat moments. And it actually works!!! I love how Marvel took a huge risk in introducing the Horror genres into Mystic Arts and brought about a fresh new look to the MCU. The pacing could’ve been improved and it’s actually a very simple straightforward storyline on a complex multi universe concepts. Elizabeth Olsen really stole the limelight as The Scarlet Witch with great acting. She’ll be nominated for awards that’s for sure even if it’s those social media awards. The trailers does spoils some of the unexpected moments away and I understand why Kevin Feige isn’t happy with too much revealing on those. Because honestly there’s little else new or unexpected. I would love to have more screen time for the Illuminati characters and showcase more on their powers. They look really really weak and most of the actions were already on those trailers. Overall I did enjoyed the movie and am excited to see where this Phase 4 leads us to.