4 movies I saw recently
I’ve been to the movies more than usual lately. The concessions may be way too expensive for me, but I still think the theater is absolutely the best place to watch movies. Partially because my lousy attention span is going to lead to me getting distracted at home anyway.
Anyway, just for fun, I’m gonna give some quick reviews of the four movies I saw.
That Dungeons and Dragons thing
I’ve never really played Dungeons and Dragons, unless you count that one time, which… eh, never mind, let’s just say I’ve never played it. When I saw the trailer for Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I wasn’t expecting it to be worth the watch. But thanks to some good YouTube advertising that showed a funny scene from the movie, and the general positive reviews, I decided to go see it.
I think it’s been over a month since I saw it, so I’m gonna be brief here—because my memory isn’t that spectacular and I wasn’t taking notes.
But basically, it’s a fun, action-packed fantasy adventure, and the type of movie I feel like hasn’t been in theaters in a while.
The action is impressively good. Really surprising stuff that felt intense and looked good.
The style of dialogue in this movie is similar to Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s certainly not a fantasy movie that takes itself super seriously. Rather, there’s a level of goofiness that feels appropriate for something based on a game that has so much potential for both wild creativity and goofing around with your friends.
Not only is the movie funny, though, I also found the character writing to be better than expected. Everyone gets their own little arc, and the cast plays well off each other.
All in all, I wasn’t expecting much, but I came away quite pleased. I straight up had a very good time at the movies.
Mario. The Illumination one I mean
As a Mario fan, of course I was paying attention to the Mario movie. The lead-up to it was a bit of a rollercoaster.
When I first heard it was Illumination making it, my expectations were low. Their movies aren’t bad necessarily. They make movies for kids, obviously, and I’m sure they do a fine job in that regard, but as far as I know, they haven’t made anything that’s gotten even adults talking, like Disney, Dreamworks, and even Sony have done at times. So yeah, knowing the Mario movie was in Illumination’s hands didn’t fill me with confidence.
Then, when I saw Miyamoto appear on a Nintendo Direct in 2021 to announce the cast, and he named a bunch of popular Hollywood actors, my expectations got even lower. Does Mario really need these big names to get people in seats? It felt so soulless.
However, once we actually saw footage for the movie, my hype rose. Visually, it was gorgeous. The clip at the Game Awards was chock-full of references to the Mario franchise’s long history. So suddenly, I’m actually excited to watch the movie.
Then reviews come out and I have to remember, oh right, the story and stuff! Those parts probably aren’t that good!
But I go see the movie regardless. And I had a good time.
Genuinely my biggest complaint with the movie is its use of some of the most overused licensed songs. Please delete “Holding Out For a Hero” from all future movies. Thank you.
The story is of course very simple. Luigi got separated from Mario, but Bowser’s doing bad stuff, so Mario has to find Luigi and defeat Bowser. Also Peach says that if we go to Donkey Kong’s place, they’ll help us defeat Bowser. Also, at the start of the story, Mario isn’t respected, but at the end, people do respect him! Alright, pretty standard generic stuff, whatever, but it works fine.
I think a lot of people’s biggest worry about this movie was that the humor would be awful, but actually, it was pretty restrained. The most annoying thing the movie did in this regard was try to drag a joke on long past the point where it was interesting—I’m talking about the depressing Luma, of course.
Everyone was hating on Chris Pratt’s casting, but the funny thing is, when I was watching the movie, the fact he was playing Mario disappeared from my mind, and Mario was just Mario—which tells me he did a great job. Can’t say the same about Jack Black’s Bowser, but he was definitely entertaining. The Toad voice was funny but I didn’t care for the character much, while I almost feel the inverse about Peach: dull performance, but not a bad character. Oh and Donkey Kong was dumb and funny.
I am glad I saw the movie in the theater, because the visuals were fantastic. The colors are so vivid. And the character designs, while a bit different from the games, feel just right.
The Mario movie is a pretty good kids’ movie. But it’s not something I would feel a need to watch more than once.
Oh and fans getting bothered by the Rotten Tomatoes critic score is pretty embarrassing. Who cares, guys? Why do you crave validation?
But yeah, anyway, the movie was a good time, as a Nintendo fan.
Suzume
I’m a big fan of Makoto Shinkai’s movie Your Name. The emotions it conveys through visuals, story and RADWIMPS’ music left a big impression on me. It’s no wonder the movie was such a massive hit.
I was less enthusiastic about his followup, Weathering With You. Again, beautiful visuals and music. But the story left me feeling conflicted. Was that truly a happy ending? I thought the questions it provoked in me were interesting. But the movie didn’t resonate in a way that made me want to return to it.
The trailers for Shinkai’s latest movie had me rather skeptical. This dude turns into a chair? Goofy. And we also see shots of a teen girl running (like in Your Name). It felt like an attempt to make another Your Name but with a somewhat more weird premise.
But after seeing the movie, I will say, I was wrong. And also, this movie…is really good.
More than really good, actually. To me, it was transformative.
For a while, Shinkai has been making movies related to disaster. Earthquakes are common in Japan, but you’ve probably heard that the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami there were especially catastrophic. Shinkai’s movies have confronted some of the feelings this disaster brought through fictional disasters—the comet in Your Name, for example. But in Suzume, he confronts the disaster directly.
I have never seen any attempt to memorialize the victims of a tragedy in such a poignant way as what Suzume does. I’ve never seen anything so beautifully convey the feeling of thousands of individual lives, who worked and went to school and came home every day just like you—who are now gone.
Don’t get me wrong though: this movie is a fun time. It’s a road trip across Japan, and Suzume’s companion is a guy who got turned into a chair.
But abandoned spaces—partially the result of Japan’s declined birth rate—is a motif throughout this film, and alongside Suzume’s efforts to stop a humongous scary earthquake-causing worm from escaping a portal, there are these chances to reflect on the past.
In some ways I do think the story is a bit messy. But the way Shinkai expresses emotion in this film is so good it would be hard for anything to ruin it.
I highly recommend it.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Wow, 2014 feels like such a long time ago all of a sudden. But here we are. We have a trilogy. Well, it’s a trilogy where you kind of have to watch Infinity War and Endgame in order to not be lost in the third one…but other than that, yeah, a trilogy.
Alright let me cut to the chase: Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 blows almost every other Marvel movie out of the water. It feels like it’s been so long since I walked away from a Marvel movie feeling anything beyond entertained. I mean, a lot of them do cool stuff. But this one got me on such an emotional rollercoaster.
As with the first two movies, there are lots of laugh-out-loud moments here. But there are many dark and disturbing elements in this story too. The villain is incredibly evil and I hate him so much—which is sort of refreshing, with how many grounded, relatable villains we get these days.
Every main character is given time to shine—even in volume 3, there is still more to explore with each one of them. The bickering sibling energy the characters have with each other is also incredibly pronounced at times, which is really funny.
Oh, and there’s an incredibly cool, stylish action scene in this, too, and I say that as someone who’s gotten bored during a lot of Marvel climactic action scenes.
Like the first two movies, you get a lot of songs playing throughout, only this time the selections can go beyond the 70s (since Peter received a Zune with music on it). Some really good picks and pleasant surprises with those here.
Also, apparently on another planet, they listen to Hatsune Miku. Did not see that coming.
The ending of this movie is so cathartic and wraps up the trilogy perfectly. Really can’t ask for more… though it seems some of these characters will appear in future Marvel productions in some capacity.
If you liked the previous Guardians movies, you won’t be let down by this one. In fact, I recommend you go rewatch Volume 2 before watching this one. That movie is still as good as ever. Also you might want to check out the Holiday Special on Disney+ too, but that doesn’t matter too much.