Skyscraper

Will Sawyer is a former FBI agent and U.S. war veteran who now assesses security for skyscrapers. While he's on assignment in China, the world's tallest and safest building catches on fire -- and he gets framed for it. Now a wanted man and on the run, he must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family members when they become trapped inside the inferno.

Gotta say, I've been hoping for a long time that there would be a new generation of actors & actresses who would be full-blown action stars similar to how it was in the '80's and '90's with the likes of Wesley Snipes, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sigourney Weaver, etc. As it turns out, I'm beginning to think that time has come in the form of Dwayne Johnson. I've said this before, but he's come a heck of a long way since making his official film debut back in 2001 as the Scorpion King. I'd still need to see him in a more dramatic role before I can say for myself that he's a great actor, but it's difficult to deny that the man is certainly charismatic and gives his all in just about every role he's in (I also haven't seen Gridiron Gang yet, so my opinion might change once I do). So far my favorite role of his has been as Hobbes in the Fast and Furious franchise, but after seeing Skyscraper, his portrayal as Will Sawyer is a close second. There's not an intricate plot, or deep characters to speak of, but in this particular case, it's ok. Skyscraper plays out more like an homage to classic action flicks, rather than trying to take itself seriously. Specifically, Skyscraper is more of a homage to Die Hard, with a little bit of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol thrown in.

There's not much else to say, other than if you're a fan of the classic action flicks such as the ones mentioned above, well, then this movie's for you. I certainly (and surprisingly) enjoyed the heck out of it.

Equalizer 2

If you have a problem and there is nowhere else to turn, the mysterious and elusive Robert McCall will deliver the vigilante justice you seek. This time, however, McCall's past cuts especially close to home when hired thugs attack and kill Susan Plummer -- his best friend and former colleague. Now out for revenge, McCall must take on a crew of highly trained assassins who'll stop at nothing to destroy him.

Equalizer 2 is Denzel Washington's first sequel ever, and honestly, I feel like it could have been better. Just like he was in the first Equalizer Denzel is again excellent as Robert McCall, and it is still a lot of fun to see him act onscreen. The movie overall also had some pretty thrilling action sequence - especially the final fight between McCall and the main villain as a tropical storm rages around them. Unfortunately, what brought the movie down for me was the story. It was serviceable, but predictable. I guessed who the villain was a bit before the reveal. It also felt like just about every other revenge-flick out there. Was it fun? Sure. Was the action good? Definitely. But there wasn't much there that stood out to me to highlight the movie as great. In the first movie, I could feel the intensity of Denzel as McCall, but this time around there were several scenes where he just seemed...I don't know, bored.

There was one scene towards the end, that involves a subplot regarding an elderly gentleman who throughout the movie frequently hires McCall (as a Lyft driver in his spare time) to drive him around town so he can do research on an old, lost family heirloom. McCall (mild spoilers) helps the man in a way that is both heartbreaking and emotional.

I've never seen a performance from Denzel Washington - or movie as a whole - that I didn't like, and Equalizer 2 thankfully keeps that track record going. However, I unfortunately can't rank this very high among the list of my favorites.

Mission Impossible: Fallout

After a risky mission to recover three nuclear bombs goes awry, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team work together with CIA assassin August Walker in order to prevent the bombs getting into the hands of a group of terrorists known as the Apostles, led by arms dealer John Lark, who plan on using the bombs in a coordinated attack on the Vatican, Jerusalem, and Mecca.

Usually when a series reaches its fifth, or in this case sixth, installment, it's easy to tell when the creative juices are beginning to run out, and should probably call it quits. Thankfully that's not the case with the Mission Impossible series. In fact, it seems to do the opposite and get better with age. I think I'd go so far to even say that MI: Fallout is the best in the franchise, beating my previous personal favorite, Ghost Protocol, in terms of both thrilling action sequences and engaging (though somewhat predictable) story. As much as I love the Fast and the Furious franchise, it should take notes from Mission Impossible on how to ramp up the action without getting too outrageous every installment, while still having an engaging story and characters. It was great seeing Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and even Michelle Monaghan back in their respective roles. It's also still impressive to me that Tom Cruise still does his own stunts, and how much dedication he puts into his roles. He may not be the overall greatest actor ever, but it's hard to deny that he's one of the most fun to watch onscreen.

Really, the only downside I could see was that the story, while engaging and extremely fun, was kind of predictable in its plot twists. Granted, this series isn't known for Hitchcock-level twists, but it would have been nice to not see the big reveal coming halfway through the movie before it happened onscreen.

Still, I had a lot of fun with Fallout, and hope that the Mission Impossible franchise continues for at least one or two more movies if they can keep up the same level of greatness.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

In the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. Put under house arrest, Scott is just a few days away from freedom when Hope Van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym contact him again in order to get his help in contacting and rescuing Hank's wife Janet, who is caught in what is known as the Quantum Realm. Trying to rescue Janet and stay out of reach from the authorities gets even more complicated when a mysterious new player arrives on the scene named Ghost, who wants Pym's technology for an unknown purpose.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the first Ant-Man when it first came out back in 2015. As much as I love comics - both Marvel and DC - Ant-Man is one of those characters that never really seemed interesting to me. I can respect how, in the comics, he was a founder of the Avengers, but his powers never really made sense to me. Fast forward to the movie, while I still think overall Ant-Man is slightly overrated, I enjoyed it. I found the sequel even better than the first. It's funnier, more action-packed, and does well in developing most of the characters. I say most, because unfortunately it still fails to give a truly compelling villain. Thankfully it wasn't a repeat of the trope of copying the hero's powers, but Ghost ended up being just another villain-turned-misunderstood-character. The movie also wasted an opportunity to develop Walter Goggins' character Sonny Burch as a shady black market dealer who helps Hope and Dr. Pym acquire the technology needed for their rescue mission. His character ended up being there mainly for comic relief. The chemistry between Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne was great, as well as the interactions between Scott and Dr. Pym. There's one particular scene towards the end involving Scott, Hope and Dr. Pym that is equal parts hilarious, sentimental, and slightly creepy.

Overall, while certainly not the best of the Marvel franchise, Ant-Man and the Wasp is well worth seeing while in theaters.

The Broadway Melody

Hank and Queenie Mahoney, a vaudeville sister act trying to make a name for themselves, come to the aid of Hank's lover, Eddie, when he needs them to be a part of a Broadway act. As the sisters prepare to make the transition from small time shows to primetime, matters of the heart begin to get in the way as Eddie suddenly falls for Queenie instead of Hank. In order to remedy this and not complicate things, Queenie starts seeing a member of high society named Jock Warriner.

While technically The Jazz Singer is the first musical, The Broadway Melody is considered the grandaddy of all musicals due to how the format is used to create what audiences know today as the genre of musicals from that point forward. Released in 1929, just two years after the first 'talkie' The Jazz Singer, it's obvious that the studio (Warner Bros.) was still skeptical of the concept of 'talkies', and as such was not sure on how to transition from silent films to 'talkies'. There are a couple of times where, instead of what audiences would today consider normal transitions, silent film-style title cards are still used to show the change from one location to another. The acting throughout the musical is at times cringe-inducing (by today's standards at least).

Despite all that, I still have to give The Broadway Melody props for managing to be entertaining overall. The music throughout the film, though I'm more of a rock kind of guy myself, is really quite catchy and fun to listen to. It is also interesting knowing the historical significance of The Broadway Musical. I can forgive the limitations of the time period in which The Broadway Musical was released, because all in all it was a pretty decent movie. It's probably not something I would seek out again unless I was with other people who wanted to see it, but it was still an interesting thing to see.

The Jazz Singer

Young Jakie Rabinowitz loves jazz and ragtime, and wants to be a performer. But his father is a cantor, and he wants his son to carry on the family tradition. Jakie tries his hand anyway, only to be discovered by neighbor Moisha Yudelson and kicked out of the house. A decade later, an older Jakie has followed his dream, changed his name and found love with a performer named Mary, but he still wants to win his father over.

The Jazz Singer is one of my first experiences with silent films. I've seen bits and pieces of Charlie Chaplin silent films and others, but not all the way through. The only other (mostly) silent movie I've seen was 2012's The Artist. Watching The Jazz Singer was an interesting experience, to be sure. It's one of the first 'talkies', and widely recognized as one of the first films to fully realize and showcase the technological advancements movies had made in regards to the transition from silent films to sound. It's not, however, a complete 'talkie', there are certain places peppered throughout the movie where the audience does hear sound - mainly when Al Jolson, who plays Jakie Robinowitz (later known by his stage name Jack Robin), sings on stage to an audience.

I've seen several reviews mention how historically speaking, it's an important film, but as entertainment it's not very good. For me, I'm kind of stuck in the middle. It certainly is worth the watch due to its importance historically. Entertainment-wise, I actually enjoyed most of it. There were parts here and there where I was kind of bored, but I still appreciated the experience. I do think people should seek The Jazz Singer out, if only to get a glimpse of how far we've come in the world of film.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

The war on drugs has escalated beyond what anyone anticipated, as the cartels are now using human trafficking as a way to smuggle drugs and terrorists across the border. After a horrible suicide bombing at a convenience store, the U.S. government calls on federal agent Matt Graver again in order to combat the escalating situation. Matt re-teams up with mercenary Alejandro to execute a plan to cause the cartels to jump at each other's throats and start a war with each other. At the center of this plan is a little girl who just happens to be the daughter of one of the more notorious cartels in Mexico, and the man responsible for the deaths of Alejandro's family.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado doesn't quite live up to the hype of the original, but even then it's still a taut, intense thriller that still managed to keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The lack of the humanity of Emily Blunt's character, Kate Macer, is unfortunately noticeable throughout the movie. The characters of both Matt Graver and Alejandro both try to make up for her absence by developing a (still twisted) sense of morality, but considering how much each of their characters were willing to cross the line in the original Sicario, it's a somewhat ineffective way to incorporate the same sense of morality. I guess in some ways it makes sense, people can change and become less hardened to their surroundings and actually gain some of their humanity back. However, in the context of Sicario and Sicario: Day of the Sodado, there's no real payoff or even any real reason for the 180 turn of Matt's and Alejandro's characters - at least, not any that I noticed. Not to mention, but (NO SPOILERS) the ending of Day of the Soldado made it seem like the change was only temporary, and they're both back to the way they were before.

If there is a third Sicario, I sincerely hope that Emily Blunt returns, and that the tone, characters, and the story all return to the full form that was the original. While Day of the Soldado was not a bad movie (I loved it, and will see it again sometime), there was a noticeable difference between the two. Again, not bad, but it just didn't live up to the hype of the original.

Coco

Despite his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

I'm starting to think I should just go ahead and take the chance to see movies in the theater instead of waiting until they come to DVD or Netflix, especially if it doesn't really grab my attention at first, because the last maybe 3-5 movies I've seen where that's happened turned out to be really good. Coco continues that trend. From all of the reviews, I was expecting an emotional experience at least close to, if not exactly on the level of Up or Toy Story 3, but holy crap - I wasn't prepared for how it hit me. Coco is filled with wonderful performances - both musically and acting. I absolutely loved the messages of both the power of a family's love, and that of the power of music.

Speaking of the music, I'm not one to cry when it comes to emotional movies. At best, I get a little bit misty-eyed at certain things. I can only think of maybe 3-5 movies tops where I outright lost it. I managed to get through about 95% of Coco unscathed...until the final song. Once Miguel picked up that guitar one final time and started singing, I'm not ashamed to admit I lost it. I finally see why Coco won the Oscar for both Animated Film and Best Original Song. It definitely deserved it. I also loved the humor in the movie. Some of it was cheesy, obviously aimed towards younger kids, but it still made me bust out laughing.

If you haven't taken the chance to see it, it's currently on Netflix - though I'm not sure how long that will last considering Disney's about to start their own streaming service. I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Also, don't forget to have a box (or two) of tissues on hand as you watch it. Trust me, you're going to need it.