Star Wars IX Review

The end of an era… but did it go out with a bang?

It’s finally here, the conclusion of a story decades in the making. The Skywalker story line has reached its conclusion and in Star Wars fashion, everyone is conflicted on it. It seems like the fan base for this franchise is constantly arguing about whether its content is good or not, and this one is no different.

I will start off this review by warning everyone that I am a big advocate for The Last Jedi, so my opinion may differ from you, the readers. With that said, just take everything I say with a grain of salt and as always, I encourage watching for yourself and making your own opinion.

The story follows the Resistance as it concludes the journey of our heroic trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe. The band of fighters faces its greatest threat yet: a Sith lord that returns for his vengeance.

So I don’t want to say I was disappointed because I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as a whole. I mean come on, it’s the same Star Wars we all know and love. I did, however, feel that there was a lot of potential wasted. Let’s start from the beginning.

From the very first scene, the pacing of the movie is extremely fast. A big part of this is because JJ Abrams (the director of the film) wants to finish the story his own way, which is fair, but it makes it confusing and hard to follow at times. Star Wars super fans that nitpick everything will find countless plot holes I’m sure, but just know: the writing and story isn’t perfect and there’s a ridiculous amount of plot to sort through in the two and a half hours we’re given.

It all makes sense when you look back at the context of it all. I mean, who thought that bringing in multiple different writers and directors trying to keep one singular trilogy consistent was a good idea? The tone of the movie just felt conflicted because the story direction of Rian Johnson completely went against what Abrams was trying to do. The film felt like it was at war with itself, and that’s pretty much never a good sign for a solid and complete story.

I also feel like they played things extremely safe. Similar to The Force Awakens, it has a very formulaic style to it that relies on nostalgia and doesn’t want to take risks. Again, there’s a reason for this, that being that they didn’t want another The Last Jedi situation of an entire fan base going to war and creating controversy. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as I said earlier, it loses a lot of its potential for greatness. There’s so much that can be done here with a bit of artistic liberty, but alas, we get the same old same old. There were actually some decisions made that I vehemently disagree with but I see why they did them.

BUT in the end this is still a Star Wars film above all else. It has the magic that has been there from the beginning of the very first film. You still have all the light sabers and force powers and stupid jokes that brought us into this expansive universe and kept us there. The music from the legendary John Williams is ever-present and wonderful. There are still moments of awe and pure fun that define this franchise. You’re going to see a Star Wars film and that’s what you get, flaws and all.

I should probably say something about the actual ending but to be honest, it felt similar to the rest of the movie: rushed. It’s unoriginal and forgetful, but it wrapped things up at the very minimum level that it should have. It’s a low effort send off, but certainly not at a Game of Thrones level where it will ruin the image of the property for many people.

They could’ve done more to make this one a true conclusion to remember, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it. I can recommend this one to all Star Wars fans, picky or not, and say that I look forward to what comes next in this universe past the Skywalkers. It’ll be interesting to say the least. Hopefully the fans will calm down by then.

The Hall Score: 6/10

December 23, 2019 0

The Lion King Review

A beautiful but emotionless remake

The Lion King is one of the greatest animated movies of all time, no doubt about it, but how does that translate to “live action?” It’s more CGI than anything, and boy does it look good, but a lot of the magic that made the Lion King the classic that it is just feels gone from the new Disney rehash.

The story follows pretty much exactly how the original one went. Simba is to be king one day but his uncle Scar has other plans that involve a whole lot of betrayal. Simba then has to stand up to family to take the title that is rightfully his.

So as I said before, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. The animals looks smooth and natural, the environment is lush, and it’s realistic as technologically possible. The problem is, we’re here to see the Lion King, not Planet Earth.

With keeping the animals looking like they should, you lose a lot of what makes animated movies fun. You lose the colorful choreographed music sequences, you lose the larger than life action, and you lose some bits that are absolutely hilarious. That famous hula distraction scene? Gone.

You also lose a lot of the emotion that animation can express. It’s hard to make a lion look sad, or happy, or enraged. You can’t really tell what the characters are feeling beyond what the words are conveying and the tone of voice, and even those don’t do enough most of the time. The scene where Mufasa dies (Sorry if that’s a spoiler but the original has been out for 25 years so deal with it.) just doesn’t have anywhere near the same impact as it once did because as Simba is “crying,” he has the straight face of any normal lion.

The cast did redeem it quite a bit for me though. The musical performances were hit or miss depending on the vocalist singing them, but the new cast were all perfect for their roles. Donald Glover and Beyonce both did stellar jobs as the two lead lions, while Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner brought a new take on Timon and Pumba that was different, but resulted in laughs nonetheless. Even John Oliver made his role funnier than it once was.

Overall, this movie feels like something that didn’t need to happen. It did happen though and many people will enjoy it nonetheless. If you’re truly interested in seeing how they interpreted the Lion King 25 years later, go and give this one a watch. In the end, despite the new version’s flaws, it’s still the Lion King at heart, and it’s extremely difficult to not like a story as good as this one.

The Hall Score: 5/10

July 22, 2019 0

Toy Story 4 Review

A better ending than Toy Story 3?

In an age of reboots, remakes, and Disney driving things into the ground, my original thought when I saw Toy Story 4 was announced was that this is an unnecessary film to get more money out of nostalgia. While that thought isn’t technically wrong, I was still overjoyed with the result.

The newest adventure of Toy Story follows the gang going on a roadtrip with Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) and a newly created toy, Forky (Tony Hale). When Forky misunderstands his life as a toy, things quickly go awry. Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen), along with some old friends, must work together to help Forky and keep Bonnie happy.

The first thing I noticed was just how good the animation looks. It’s absolutely stunning the advances we’ve made in how detailed the visuals can be now. There are moments where I can’t help but just stare at the lighting, the movement, or in one scene, the cat.

That doesn’t mean the original magic of Toy Story is gone though. The cast is back and better than ever with laughs and smiles aplenty. The new addition of Forky provides some scenes that are absolutely hilarious while also bringing a nice little message to the movie that both kids and adults can take to heart.

The flip side to that brings the main flaw of the movie and that’s the supporting cast. While the main characters of Woody and Buzz and Forky shine, along with a few people who help along the way, the majority of the old friends from the originals have little to no real screen time. They’re almost entirely ignored and that’s a shame with how great some of them have been in the past.

The thing that truly surprised me was that I thought this iteration wrapped the franchise up even better than Toy Story 3 did. Of course we don’t know if there will be more, as we all thought the third would be the last and here we are, but I certainly won’t be complaining if they decide to end it here. It’s hard to explain without spoilers but it just brings a new sense of closure, especially with some of the toys you’ve grown to love.

Toy Story 4 is an emotional tale that focuses in with a more character-driven arc and makes you love these toys more than you already did. There’s multiple themes that the film portrays that can be understood by all ages, despite the film being primarily directed towards children. Expect that classic nostalgic magic from every Toy Story before it and don’t forget the tissues. Go watch this movie.

The Hall Score: 8/10

July 14, 2019 0

Aladdin Review

A fun remake that doesn’t quite capture the magic of the original

Aladdin is the most recent addition to Disney’s live-action remake initiative and it had quite the uphill battle to get here. Between controversy around the Will Smith being the genie to try to replace Robin Williams, to claims of whitewashing, Aladdin has been surrounded with a lot of uncertainty. Despite all of that, the new film has come out swinging in the box office, even with mixed reviews from critics and fans alike.

Directed by Guy Ritchie, the plot is almost exactly the same as the original with Aladdin (Mena Massoud) meeting Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) and attempting to woo her along with the assistance of a magical genie (Will Smith).

I will say, I didn’t have very high expectations for the film. The trailers were all over the place and how in the world would Will Smith capture the magic of Robin Williams? I came out pleasantly surprised. It was a fantastic film, but it did what it needed to do by introducing the classic story to a new generation (keep in mind the original came out 27 years ago) of Disney fans.

The look of the movie was absolutely beautiful. The sets were dazzling and the big musical sequences were phenomenally well made. The CGI struggled in a few places, but overlooking that, they really outdid themselves when it came to capturing the attention of the audience with color and choreography.

I also enjoyed some of the changes they made to the story. They made Jasmine a more impactful character instead of the damsel-in-distress that she was originally made to be. They also fleshed out Genie’s story a little bit which I certainly appreciated. I was a bit nervous when I saw this one would be 35 minutes longer than the original, but they filled the time well, even if a couple things here and there could have been cut to make everything a little more smooth.

Jafar definitely got the short end of the stick with the story changes though. He didn’t feel like that scary of a villain to me, and his powers were fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure they wanted to cut things down a little bit so the movie didn’t run too long, but they could have given Jafar a little more development and screentime so he could actually be a villain worth looking out for.

Now for the question everyone was wondering: How was Will Smith? The genie in this live-action remake is very different from the original but that’s a good thing. Smith knew that he couldn’t match Robin Williams so he put his own spin on the character and made it more like you would expect from Will Smith. He didn’t try to meet the expectations of replacing Williams, he forged his own path, and I appreciated the character all the much for it.

Despite all the positives, there was something missing. I’m not quite sure what it was, but I didn’t have that same feeling from watching this one that you get from the original. There wasn’t enough pizzazz to really make it memorable in the long-run. I’ll likely forget that I even watched it in due time, much like the other live-action projects that Disney is pumping out annually. I’m not sure if this is an Aladdin-specific problem or an overarching live-action Disney problem but it’s just not the same. It’s missing some magic that I’m not sure how to bring back.

Aladdin is a fun new Disney movie for fans of the original, but it doesn’t give you enough to justify its recreation. There are a lot of cool additions to the story and the musical sequences are a joy to watch, but if you’ve gotten a sour taste in your mouth from the other Disney live-action remakes, it might be best to just watch the 1992 version instead.

The Hall Score: 6/10

May 27, 2019 0