Brian Lee

Netflix released their big movie today from Zack Snyder (Justice League, Man of Steel, 300, Watchman, and a ton of other stuff). This movie swings for the fences and it nearly gets there. The movie is about a zombie filled Las Vegas is about to get destroyed by a nuclear bomb. A group of thieves goes into to a casino to steal $200 million. This movie is the beginning of a series of related projects from Netflix including a set of prequel movies and a possible sequel. What Works? This is a Zack Snyder movie so you know that it will incredible action. It delivers. Snyder made a movie with zombies that did fairly well, Dawn of the Dead, and this one is just about the same. The cast is pretty good. Let's just say this: This is Zack Snyder's version of "The Suicide Squad". It has a big cast and you know that big casts means alot of deaths. The movie does alot of storybuilding or what some call worldbuilding. This means that it sets up a big story and I think it did that well. The music was pretty good and it definitely leaves alot of story left to be told. Also, Valentine. You'll see what I mean. Lastly, like the beginning of Watchmen, he tells a very compelling story What Didn't Work? The character Kate Ward. The zombies are not the villain. She is. By the time you see this film, you may agree that Kate is the villain of this movie. Snyder is known for his slooooooo mooooootion allll theeee tiiiime in his movies. He doesn't do that in this movie. Instead, he makes it very blurry on purpose. I'm not sure why. The movie is long. I'm not talking that it is very lengthy in a good way. There alot of character development and we don't really need it all. Verdict Well, I think this a good start. I was entertained and I think that's the point. There are so many questions about this world and thanks to Netflix/Snyder's connection, I think we will get more. Grade B

I saw the movie this afternoon and I enjoyed it. It featured a black lead (a 1st for Pixar movies) and was centered around music and jazz. It had some very clever lines and a pretty good message overall. I read some of the reviews that gave it less stars. I wanted to see what people didn't like. One of the main complaints was that it deals with death. I think people forget that Pixar films are not light hearted romps in adventure. They deal with alot of real life concerns. Up's opening montage covered a couple growing older together and ended with a death of a character. Coco deals with death as well. Wall-E is about climate and greed. Finding Nemo has a death early in the movie. I could go on. But this film, like the ones I mention doesn't end with death. It deals with bigger themes and how we overcome it in different ways. Another complaint was geared towards religion. This movie is not a documentary. It's a story, an animated story. I don't think religion is discussed in this movie and it shouldn't be. That's not the theme of the movie. Last critique was that it's too difficult for kids to understand. I question that as well. But I can't say that I am an authority in that area. I found the movie a great escape and I'm so happy Disney+ released this without a "Premiere Access" cost to subscribers. I would invite you to give it a try and judge for yourself. I still give it five stars as it matches the quality of Pixar movies that I've seen before.

Quick Review. This movie really is play by the numbers. It is long and while there are humorous parts, it is uneven. I don't know if I would pay for it now. I would probably watch this film if it was on Amazon Prime or Netflix as a movie that is free with the others.

This is the last of the 42 year long series. This is a movie that does it job. End the series. However, it is a repeat of Return of the Jedi in so many ways. You'll count at last 35 things that it copied. That's what drops this down to a B/B- rating for me. It is not a bad movie. It just could have been better.

Everything is perfect about the story, but the decision to flash back a billion times killed this version of the show. I had a great sense of every character in the 1994 version of The Stand. This version has no character development. You don't know who Mother Abigail really is. Flagg is a just a boogeyman with the emotional appeal of Jason Voorhees. I hate that they didn't take the time to make this version better. Very disappointing.