bastos

I don't even know where to start here, as I really didn't like almost anything about this version of The Little Mermaid and I don't even understand why Disney is doing this to their most beloved classics, besides the obvious money grab. I would blame Rob Marshall for this misfire, but having watched all his previous movies and other similar remakes I think the director has very little say in a project like this and both Jon Favreau and Bill Condon before him show that very talented and proven directors can allow this to happen and produce such horrible looking movies. The production design has been atrocious in the last couple of remakes and this is no exception. Again, proven Oscar winners like Colleen Atwood are responsible for some of the worst costumes on a big budget movie that I can remember, and whoever designed Sebastian and Flounder should be fired and never be allowed to work again. And the less we talk about the Scuttle rap the better... There's very little to praise here, I mean, at least the actors can sing, I guess? Melissa McCarthy seemed to be having fun, shrugs? Clearly not enough for me to recommend it.

I'm a big fan of the first Scream movie, but everything after that one is a bit silly and repetitive. Everyone lauded Scream V as a great return to form but I was extremely disappointed with it, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I watched part VI, Ghostface does Manhattan, or so I thought. It had a decent trailer with the subway scene and the change of scenery might be for the better, but, I'm afraid to say, I thought it was as good (or as bad) as the last entry. It has some of its qualities, with some nice and tense set pieces and some gruesome kills, and I really liked the traditional first kill, but it really doesn't add anything new to the franchise that's becoming more and more like a Scooby Doo parody than a respected Horror series. Like most entertainment these days it's becoming very forgettable and disposable, as you see this movie and go on to the next Conjuring or Saw, without thinking a lot about what you just saw. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh, and I think I actually enjoyed it a bit more than part V, but that's very little praise for such an iconic franchise. I also found it funny that, just like Jason previously, they take very little advantage from the NYC setting, with only the subway scene as a highlight (or trailer bait, I guess), while the rest of the movie is spent on apartments and abandoned theatres. At least it wasn't shot in Vancouver (I think).

I've talked about this before, how expectations can mold your appreciation of a movie, so let me tell you what my mindset was coming into this one. I liked the first Guardians, although not as much as everyone else as I think Ronan is such a forgettable villain. I really didn't like the second one and thought it was a huge step down from the first one, it felt rushed and had another very weak villain. Marvel was coming off of a terrible string of movies and I even didn't like the Guardians Christmas special. I was still a fan of James Gunn though, and loved his Suicide Squad so there was that to look forward to. So, to say I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did is the understatement of the year. Another thing I wanted to talk about after watching this movie, was the much talked about superhero fatigue. When people mention it I think they tend to dismiss or forget that two incredible superhero movies came out this year alone (the other one being the Spiderverse movie, of course), so it just proves that if well written and well executed a superhero movie can still be really good, what people are tired is the terrible writing and lack of originality that populates most superhero movies released nowadays. Anyway, with all that out of the way, let me tell you just how much I loved this movie. It is incredibly well written, interweaving character development, emotional set pieces, comedy and action like it's nothing, with the highlight for me being the characters which are the heart of this thing. I mean, Star-Lord, Rocket, Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Mantis, Groot, even all the supporting characters like Cosmo, Kraglin or Adam Warlock, they're all so likable that you can probably ask ten different persons which one is their favorite, and you might get ten different answers. That's a testament of how good they all are! Execution wise, this is a beautiful movie, very well directed and the VFX for a change are actually good and serve to enhance the story. My only nitpick might be the villain that, although good conceptually and probably the best of this trilogy, is not as memorable as everything else, something that seems to plague all Gunn movies. Anyway, I really, really liked this movie and it is easily in my top five MCU movies. Highly recommended.