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Justice League (2017)
DC keeps improving, this one is way better than the previous ones
No, it's not a masterpiece like The Dark Knight or Logan, but it's one of the best DC has come up with in a long while. I don't count Wonder Woman in this list because it took place in a completely different setting, an entire century ago. It was more of a period piece comic than any of the other failures. And it used the period piece attitude to its advantage.
This was the very first DC comics production set in our times that used humor properly, it might have something to do with Joss Whedon's role in the production, but it's not important "who's to blame", the fact that the jokes work is what matters. Bigger than life characters can either be able to laugh at themselves or they come out pompous. A pompous super hero is unattractive, and very hard to take in a film that goes for about two hours.
Another big point in favour of this movie, is the acting. This one is an ensemble piece in the best way. Each part of the cast gives its share to the final outcome. Even Ben Afleck's stone face are made to work, when Batman is written to suit his limitations. Ezra Miller is wonderful as the Flash, showing the promise we all felt when we saw him in Fantastic Beasts is coming to fruition. Gal Gadot is improving as I predicted she would. She simply makes the role her own, and is much better than she was in Wonder Woman, where she was all right, and did show signs of the talent she has. Thing is, every one is giving his/hers share. Even the small roles are well written.
There's is only one major fault I find with this movie - its villain. Steppenwolf, is one of the most one dimensional villains you could come up with. He'll do all right in a group of super villains. He can't carry the whole antagonist part of the movie by himself. Yes he does look strong and even scary, but that's not enough. There's nothing more there, and the potential did exist. He did fail to conquer earth once before, it's hardly mentioned. the special hatred that should be felt is neglected by the script. Steppenwolf simply hates everything, and shows very little emotion at all. I believe that with more attention to his character the movie would've been a better one.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
The right kind of silly
The 1st film in this new reboot was one of the worst train wreck of a movie I've seen in a long time. I ranked it 6 but it was bordering on 5, and all of these were mostly for the technical aspects of the movie. The plot didn't deserve more than 2. So sometimes script writers can learn from their own mistakes. The same couple responsible for the previous train wreck got promoted into writers/executive producers, and showed they can do it better. They took out the horrible pompousness, they went back to the source material and made this version way funnier, with the same anarchistic humor that was there all through the cartoon series. They even got a decent couple to play Bebop and Rocksteady Stephen Farrelly and Gary Anthony Williams, and they also brought in Stephen Amell, who does a decent rendition of Casey Jones, with more character depth than Casey ever had before.
Don't take it the wrong way, it's still a silly story, but this one is the right kind of silly. It's funny, it's professionally done, and even the few pseudo serious moments about the difficulties of the turtles to perform as a team, are too few to damage the overall effect. This one is a 7 but it's a borderline 8, and the improvement is a real surprise that deserves credit for its own sake.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Nothing could compare with the original, but this is a decent attempt
Blade Runner is my favorite film ever, and as close to perfection as any movie has come. I deliberately didn't say the best film ever. "the best film ever" is an over used phrase that means nothing. I can think of at least 10 other movies which are as good as Blade Runner, even though I personally like Blade Runner more. No wonder Ridley Scott didn't dare touching his greatest masterpiece again as a director and limited himself to the role of producer this time.
So I must admit, there was very little chance that the sequel will come close to the perfection of the previous film, and I think I can state this almost objectively. This blend of a brilliant original idea (Philip K. Dick is really without an equal on this department), a perfect script, great visuals, wonderful acting and just the right amount of Christian and Celtic symbolism to give the entire thing some extra depth. The choice of the very same script writer - Hampton Fancher, is certainly a must, and it does look and even feels like a straight forward next episode in the story we started following on 1982. Which is a big plus to begin with. And the story does make sense, it's definitely taking place in the same universe of its predecessor. The acting is still great, and the very same basic questions are still echoing all over the movie: What is it that makes us human? Will it make our creation human too? and what does it mean morally to create other humans, even if only manufactured ones?
For me, all of the above are a very worthy list, which makes Blade Runner 2049 a great movie, even if it doesn't soar as high as the original.
One last point has to do with the use of 3D. It's being used for one purpose, to make the world we see more real. Not for cinematic fireworks or any other form of directorial showing off, and I for one, liked it.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Once again it's self aware cinema, not as brilliant as the first but...
This is still a very professional self aware cinema. As some reviewers here have already mentioned not all the characters are evenly written and some of the Statesmen agents are nothing more than time fillers, which is both a shame and a waste of talent. I don't think it has to do with the nationality of the characters as both the American president and Poppy are wonderful cartoons brilliantly performed by Bruce Greenwood and Julianne Moore, I think they simply had too many cartoons to present on screen, and some simply didn't get enough screen time to develop. But for me, this the only real fault of a real fun movie, spoofing cinematic genre as well as social attitudes with a very self assured hand. If they do want to keep it going they will have to further develop these underdeveloped roles, and I'm sure they can do it if they apply themselves.
Max Steel (2016)
Cute coming of age sci-fi comics, with some action to boot
I just saw Max Steel. It's not a masterpiece. It's very predictable, very CGI driven, and not always thought out all the way through. And still, it's a very charming coming of age story with the sci-fi comics element serving as an enhancement of teen age issues. So the coming of age problems of finding who you really are, who are your parents and who are your friends, all get extra dimensions.
The moment you see this movie, and the comics it's based on under this light, you'll enjoy it much more. The action scenes arriving mostly toward the end of the movie are more of a plot device accelerating the pace of the story while still making sense - inside the world constructed in the movie. This way we get to the very predictable conclusion in a reasonable time and without wasting long minutes on some more identity crisis and teen age angst.
Technically it's all very professional, the actors do their share, most of them don't shine too brightly but they all get the job done. If you don't expect something else, you'll get some cute fun.
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
A Hollywood sort of a hit-man
I liked this movie a lot. As far as 8/10 goes, this one tops most of my lists. But I'll start with the reasons for the two missing marks. It's such a Hollywood concoction the end and even the post end mini joke are way too obvious. I'm not against the making of Hollywood style action comedies, but even though this one was honest about it, it did push its limits way too far for me. This romantic Hollywood version of a hit-man with a moral code, is just too much. And it also influences the credibility of all those mass shooting scenes when none gets hurt by getting caught in the crossfire.
So as I said this one is not a perfect ten, but as far as 8/10 goes, I'll repeat myself - it couldn't be any better. It's really done to the highest standards. the action, the acting - Samuel L. Jackson, is simply superb, Ryan Reynolds, and Gary Oldman don't fall far behind, and everybody else on screen is right on target.
I also liked the fact that the movie is very self conscience about being a movie. The Japanese guy, is Kurosawa, the dissident professor is Professor Asimov. Look these names out if you don't know who they are. In short the movie repeatedly tells us it's only a movie. And if we didn't get it we have the scene after the credits proving it's a movie and nothing more.
One last point I must mention is, that on top of the first class action and humor, the movie also has some extra depth asking us some moral questions about the nature of good and evil and about being responsible for your own actions. And in a non American way it doesn't answer these questions at least not in a blatant manner.
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Charlize Theron gets her own super action flick
Charlize Theron has already proved she can be an action heroine, but after Angelina Jolie got to star in Salt and Scarlet Johnson made Lucy she had to get an entire movie revolving around her skills as an action heroine. And in fact it did borrow heavily from Salt and it's ambiguity between good and bad/ In fact I would even say that it borrows a bit from The Long Kiss Goodnight with it's indestructible super-spy. Both characters get their ass kicked all across the screen, and still get up and continue fighting.
As a story, the only rule you follow is trust none, and you soon learn that each and every character cheats everybody else. Even the director does his bits of cheating, revealing parts of the story when it suits him best, and not when they really happened if we were to follow the narrative in a straight forward manner. So the main plot twist of the movie is clear about twenty minutes before we see it on screen plain and simple, maybe even more than twenty, I wasn't looking at my watch at the exact minute. And that's the main plus of the movie, it might not be surprising but it's still suspenseful. The superb cast has a lot to do with it, namely it's Charlize Theron and James McAvoy carrying this load on their very capable shoulders, but the supporting cast is doing a very fine job when they get the opportunity to do it.
Altogether, it's a very professional film with two superb actors, both worth seeing. Just don't expect too much originality or any real surprise, it's not part of the bargain in this movie.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
The best I've seen from Luc Besson
It's the first time I've seen Besson amazing visual ability matched up with a decent story. It's the first time the story had real sense of humor, not just a few lame jokes here and there. And to top it all his pseudo philosophical babbling, was almost kept in check. So we got his signature strong woman character, with a nice male partner. We got a very convincing villain, played superbly by Clive Owen. And some very decent performances from the supporting cast. I really couldn't ask for more.
And to tell you the truth I was expecting only the visuals, and almost waiting for the story to stop making sense. It does call for some literary suspension of judgment - but all true science fiction and comics do. The plot line is a bit convoluted but nothing you couldn't follow if you pay attention. And for Luc Besson who usually regards the story as an unnecessary burden, this is a real achievement. The only one that came close to this one in his past was Leon.
I'm always happy for this sort of a surprise, may this be the sign of things to come.
Paris pieds nus (2016)
Not just funny, charming and clever too
I didn't see any of the earlier films of Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel, and the two cooperate well over 20 years.Though the two moved into directing their movies more recently. So All I can say about this film will be based on what I saw in it, as is. It's obviously very funny, you won't find many that will disagree with it being charming too. It's sense of humor is goofy and very physical, and the two work very well together, just watch their dance scene and you can see how well they move with one another. No wonder that dancing seems to be an integral part of many of their movies. What I wish to point here is that this hilarious physical humor is clever too. Not only because making it all work demands very careful and clever writing. This sort of physical humor has to be very precise, and it must also seem to flow naturally, which calls for the highest level of coordination. But this movie also communicates with the past of its own stars. Just like the dance of Fiona and Dom refers too their previous movies, so for instance is Pierre Richard, as Norman during his own dance routine with the superb Emmanuelle Riva, loses one black shoe - the reference to his biggest role doesn't need any more details.
On top of all that, it's also important to mention that this is an ensemble of actors all working together in perfect coordination, and this is too something to behold.
L'ombre des femmes (2015)
In the shadow of Clotilde Courau
There's one reason to see this film - an amazing performance of Clotilde Courau. The rest of the film is paled in comparison. The story itself has nothing special to offer. Philippe Garrel's direction is very professional but offers very little character. His special requirement of single take for every scene seems to have inspired the extraordinary performance of Clotilde Courau, so he does deserve credit for it, but nothing else stands out here. And I did find his use of narration, point less and annoying. All other aspects of the film are professional too but falling out flat.
On the other hand, it's worth seeing if only for the superlative performance of Clotilde Courau, which I already mentioned.
One last point, has to do with the name of the movie. In French it's called L'ombre des Femmes, which translates simply as The Shadow of Women. It's a very small difference from In the Shadow of Women, but it's an unnacessary difference that shouldn't have been there.