Mufasa: The Lion King is a prequel about the origins of Mufasa and how he became king. The film stars Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman, Blue Ivy Carter, John Kani, Mads Mikkelson, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Donald Glover, and Beyonce Knowles Carter.

I thought Mufasa: The Lion King was alright. I did not dislike it, but I did not love it either. I thought it was kind of boring. I always try to keep an open mind when seeing movies but apart of me did think the film was a little unnecessary. It had some good ideas that were not executed that well.

The main thing for me was that the movie seemed to lack heart or an emotional core. I did not feel anything toward the characters or the situations. It all kind of fell a little flat for me.

The music did not stand out either. The musical score was good. It was the songs that did not stand out. I do not remember a single song from the movie.

Mufasa: The Lion King is a decent movie that has some promising ideas that do not get executed well. Things did not click as well as they could have. I would be interested to see if Disney will want to try a sequel or if this is the end for the live Lion King movies.

Mickey 17 is about Mickey Barnes who signs up to be an expendable on a new planet. The movie stars Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Anamaria Vartolomei, Daaniel Henshall, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.

I thought Mickey 17 was an interesting movie. It’s a sci-fi movie and a comedy. It is a major studio but it has Indie vibes. It is more intimate, and it played on IMAX. I saw the film on IMAX. I will say the IMAX showing did not really enhance the experience the way it does for other films. That is neither here nor there. That did not affect my opinion of the movie.

The cast does a really good job. Robert Pattinson stands out as both characters. I think the movie really showcased Robert Pattinson’s ability as an actor. He is a lot more than his most iconic role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise. Most of his work that showcases his abilities are usually from indie movies. In more recent years Robert Pattinson has been in more mainstream projects as well with roles in Tenet and The Batman. Naomie Ackie also stands out. She did a great job.

The movie has an interesting plot and concept. Everything really fits well in the film tonally. The characters stood out and that helped elevate the movie.

Mickey 17 is an interesting movie with a great cast. It blends sci-fi, comedy, and indie vibes well. It also has a nice balance of social and political commentary without being too in your face about it.

Birds of Prey was released in February 2020, about a month before Covid-19 hit. The movie did not do well becoming the lowest grossing DCEU movie at the time. This all happened before movie theaters shut down. The plot sees Harley Quinn starting a new life after she breaks up with the Joker. The movie stars Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollet, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Chris Messina, and Ewan McGregor.

I thought Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harly Quinn was an interesting movie. It was very unique. I did not get to see it in theaters, so I finally got around to watching it now. I did not necessarily love the movie, but I did not hate it either. I am a little confused why it is R rated. It did not seem that gratuitous for an R rating. The only thing is probably the profanity and some of the violence. There are a lot of PG-13 movies that are violent and have tons of language. If the movie was toned down slightly, maybe it would have gotten a PG-13 rating instead. That could have factored in why the movie did not do that well when it initially was released. That does not mean anything given Joker was a huge hit the year before and the Deadpool movies have made a ton of money.

The cast does a good job. The movie really is Harley Quinn’s movie. The rest of the characters are just background. Margot Robbie does a good job as Harley Quinn. The tone of the movie seemed to fit Harley Quinn. There were interesting choices made with regards to the characters particularly Roman Sionis played by Ewan McGregor and Victor Zsasz. I am curious what the characters will be like if and when they are brought into the DCU.

I am confused about the title change. The movie was originally called Birds of Prey. The only thing I can think of is that the concept of the Birds of Prey was not the main focus of the movie. I do think the title is a little too long.

The music fit the movie well. The movie is also very colorful. It has a brighter color palette than other DCEU movies. This is not really a spoiler but Jared Leto who played the Joker in Suicide Squad is not in the movie. The Joker is heavily referenced in the beginning but he does not appear at all. There was a time when there was supposed to be a Joker vs. Harley Quinn movie and a Gotham City Sirens movie which would have had the Joker.

There is a post-credit scene but it is audio without visuals.

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is an alright movie that is a bit weird tonally. It will be interesting to see if Margot Robbie will be the DCU’s Harley Quinn or if the role will be recast.

Sam Wilson continues to adjust to being Captain America while getting a surprising offer from President Ross and having to deal with someone who is manipulating things from behind the scenes. The film stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Harrison Ford, Carl Lumbly, Shira Haas, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Liv Tyler, and Tim Blake Nelson.

I enjoyed Captain America: Brave New World. I thought it was a solid movie. There was great action and a good story. Anthony Mackie really shines as Captain America. The whole cast does a good job. Danny Ramirez really gets to shine as Joaquin Torres and as the new Falcon. A strong point of the movie is the dynamic between Sam Wilson and Joaquin Torres.

Harrison Ford does a good job as President Thaddeus Ross. William Hurt played the role originally. His last appearance was in Black Widow. He passed away a few years ago. Harrison Ford did enough to make the role his own while respecting what came before.

Captain America: Brave New World deals with a lot of dangling threads from prior projects. It also does enough to push the story forward and build toward the future. Starting up the Avengers team again is brought several times throughout the film.

There is a post-credit scene after the run of the full credits. It is one of the few Marvel films to not have a mid-credit scene.

Captain America: Brave New World is a solid movie with a strong cast and good action scenes. Anthony Mackie does a great job headlining his first Marvel movie. It will be interesting to see where the characters and story go next.

Companion is about a guy who has a robot as a companion and things go off the rails when she reaches one hundred percent intelligence. The film stars Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillen, and Rupert Friend.

I thought Companion was an interesting movie. It is considered a horror movie, a horror psychological thriller to be more accurate. While watching it, the film did not feel very horror esq. It seemed more like a demented romance thriller comedy. As that, I thought Companion did its job. The marketing was very elusive for the film especially when it came to the tone and genre which I think probably worked in its favor. One twist of the film is the fact that Iris, played by Sophie Thatcher, is a robot. That is not a spoiler because that was in the marketing. I do wish that part was kept a surprise. In the movie, it was not revealed until a little later.

The cast does a solid job. Sophie Thatcher really stands out as Iris and Jack Quad does an equally good job as Josh. The relationship between the two is interesting and both actors do a good job at portraying the complexity of that relationship. The movie has some good twists throughout.

The movie does a good job going between genres. One moment it plays as a romance and the next it is a psychological thriller. It does a good job with the comedy as well. The change in music is a key component to the comedy of the movie. It is also on the shorter end clocking in a little under one hundred minutes whereas most movies nowadays clock in at two hours on average which works in its favor as well.

The premise itself is interesting, especially as there have been advancements in technology and artificial intelligence. Even though the movie is fiction, some aspects do not feel that implausible. That could be where the horror is supposed to stem from.

One other thing that is interesting is the fact that Companion is considered a Valentine’s Day movie albeit a very twisted one and that it is not set on Valentine’s Day. The film was released a week before the other two Valentine movies; horror slasher film Heart Eyes and assassin verse brother film Love Hurts. All three have love as a central theme and are all fairly bloody. Guess Hollywood wanted to switch it up for Valentine’s Day this year. In fact, there has not been a romantic comedy released at all recently in theaters. The fourth Bridget Jones will be released on Peacock and the Hallmark channel has their usual romantic movies.

Companion is a solid and unique movie that blurs the line between genres. It has a stellar cast enhanced by the leads and has several cool twists.

Love Hurts is about a former assassin turned realtor whose past comes back to haunt him and disrupts the life he worked hard to build. The film stars Ke Hu Quan, Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir,  Lio Tipton, Daniel Wu, Cam Gigandet, Marshawn Lynch, Andre Eriksen, Rhys Darby, and Sean Astin.

I thought Love Hurts was a fun movie. It did not reinvent the wheel, but it was nice and easy breezy. It has some similarities to Heart Eyes in the sense that both films are set during Valentine’s Day and both films are bloody. Love Hurts is not a horror comedy; however, it is an action comedy. Key Hu Quan does a great job as Marv Gable who was an assassin who then left that life behind and became a realtor. The movie is fairly by the book for the genre. Key Hu Quan has good chemistry with Ariana DeBose who plays Rose Carlisle. The action scenes are fun and the final showdown between Marv and Marve’s brother, Knuckles played by Daniel Wu is solid.

One thing that surprised me was that the movie’s setting was on Valentine’s Day. From the marketing I did not get the vibe that it was actually set during the holiday. I thought the holiday was being used to promote the film given the title is Love Hurts.

Love Hurts is a fun action comedy and is a good alternative for Valentine’s Day for those who want something different than the usual romantic comedies for the holiday.

The film is about a killer who goes after couples on Valentine’s Day. The movie stars Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, Yoson An, and Jordana Brewster.

I enjoyed Heart Eyes.  It’s a good and fun slasher movie. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it is fun. It’s a basic premise that mainly centers on Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding who play Ally and Jay respectively. The film is fast paced and doesn’t go on for too long. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding have good chemistry and really make the movie work. I think if they didn’t do that good of a job or if their characters were unbearable, it would have made the film harder to sit through.

Heart Eyes is a slasher movie but is also considered a horror comedy. There are similarities to Scream which was influential in turning the slasher genre on its head blending both horror and comedy. Mason Gooding has also been apart of the Scream franchise starring in Scream 5 and 6 and will return for Scream 7. The Heart Eyes Killer is a little similar to Ghostface from Scream as well as a dozen other killers in these types of movies.

The movie moves fast and that’s a good thing. It sets up the premise from the opening scene and it doesn’t take too long until the killer sets their sights on the main characters. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding stand out together and on their own. Mason Gooding really shines. He is very good at being charming and likeable and could wind up becoming the next Ryan Gosling down the line.

There is a good balance between the horror and comedy aspects. Not every horror movie blends that balance well or as well as Scream. There is a twist ending so to speak when it comes to the reveal of the killer. It is a nice little twist and fits the movie.

There is also a mid-credit scene as well.

Heart Eyes is a fun slasher movie that does its job. It isn’t anything unique or widely different, but it is one of the better horror comedies around and is a solid Valentine’s Day horror movie. The movie wouldn’t have been as fun if it weren’t for the strong chemistry between Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding, who do a great job carrying the film.

Jonah Hex was released in 2010 and is known for bombing at the box office. The movie is based on the DC Comics character of the same and sees Jonah Hex on a mission to get revenge on the man who everything from him. The film stars Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, John Gallagher Jr., Tom Wopat, and Michael Shannon.

I thought Jonah Hex was alright. I didn’t think it was as bad as it had been made out to be, but I also did not think it was amazing either. To be honest, I thought it was stupid and mindless entertainment. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Sometimes you just want to watch something that is mindless entertainment.

I think it was good that the movie only clocked in at around eighty-two minutes. If the movie was slightly longer it would have started to drag. The movie is very surface. There is no depth at all. Even films that don’t have a lot of depth have a little in sparing moments. There was no depth at all and zero-character development. Not every film has character development but there is at least minimal character development. That was not the case here. Jonah Hex has a tragic backstory similar to a lot of other comic book characters especially in DC Comics. Even those brief moments lacked depth or any type of emotion.

The cast is fine for what they are. I thought Josh Brolin did a good job in the role for what it was. I am aware that Josh Brolin is not a fan of this movie. Also, given he did not change his voice for the role I could not help but think of Thanos a lot. For anyone wondering, yes I do think the Jonah Hex on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was done a little better.

The movie had a simplistic plot which I also could not really follow. I didn’t know who most of the characters were. I also got confused a little bit about what was going on. It was good that the movie was relatively short.

There were some fun moments, and the movie is very silly. A lot of things did not necessarily make sense even in a comic book movie. I do understand why the movie bombed. This also came out after Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2. The MCU was at the beginning of its cinematic universe. This also came out in the midst of Christopher Nolans’ brilliant Dark Knight trilogy and way after Spider-Man and X-Men. The earlier films were and are still considered some of the best in the genre before later installments in those respective franchises.

All and all Jonah Hex is not terrible, but it isn’t great either. It is stupid mindless entertainment and sometimes that is all that is needed. If you want to turn your brain off for eighty plus minutes, this would be worth a look. I do think the setting in the old west is a cool concept and I would be very interested to see what James Gunn would do with this character and setting in the DCU.

Sing 2 was released in 2021 and did very well considering movie theaters were still dealing with COVID-19. Sing 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home were the only movies that did well over that holiday season. Sing 2 sees Buster Moon and his group of artists launch a new show and new a retired rock star to join them. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton, Nick Kroll, Garth Jennings, Jennifer Saunders, Chelsea Peretti, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Offerman, Adam Buxton, Eric Andre, Halsey, Letita Wright, Pharrell Williams, and Bono.

I enjoyed Sing 2 a lot. I thought it was a good movie. I was not the biggest fan of Sing. I saw it once years ago and I did not dislike the movie, but I did not love it either. It was in the middle for me. My opinion might be different now if I were to revisit it. Sing 2 had great songs. It had a good story. I thought everyone did a good job. One thing I really liked about the film is the subtlety that was used throughout. There were moments where characters had a brief scene to show their vulnerability. There was one scene when a character put on a front that they were okay and for a brief scene the character is shown crying in private. Not much time was spent on that in the movie, but it was just enough to show how they were really filling. That moment really stood out to me. I found it very relatable. I think at times a lot of people can put on a mask or a facade in public or around friends or family and then in private take a few minutes to express their true emotions.

The movie also was very uplifting. It has a really nice message of encouraging the audience to follow their dreams. All of the characters are relatable in their own way, and it was cool to see them on their journeys and their storylines in the film. Bono stood out as the retired rocker Clay Calloway. His story was really heartfelt and very relatable. I really connected with the characters in this movie which is rare for me especially for an animated film.

Sing 2 is a fun movie with a heartfelt message. It is inspiring and funny and has relatable characters and storylines. I am looking forward to seeing how Sing 3 will push the story and characters forward.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an anime movie set 200 years before Bilbo Baggins found the ring in the original films. A war breaks out after the death of Wulf’s father who wants revenge on King Helm and wants the thrown for himself. The film stars Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Miranda Otto, Luke Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Shaun Dooley, Benjamin Wainwright, Yazdan Qafouri, Laurence Ubong Williams, Michael Wildman, and Bilal Hasna.

I thought The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was alright. I love The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit trilogy was good, just not as good as the original trilogy. The War of the Rohirrim was boring. It is over two hours but substantially shorter than the original films. The War of the Rohirrim felt long. I was not that invested in the story. It had some nice references to the original trilogy, but the movie itself is a stand-alone tale set in Middle Earth. A lot of the locations that were in the prior films are in this. That was nice to revisit some iconic locations.

There were some nice moments throughout, but it did not grab my attention for the bulk of the film. Even the action pieces were a little ho hum for me. I was invested in the battles of the original trilogy. I did not feel that way this time around.

I did like that the movie kept the score used in the original films. All of the music fit the world very well.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was an alright film that tells a different story set in Middle Earth. It was nice to learn a little more about the world. It was also nice to get to return to Middle Earth. If anything, it has me excited for the Gollum movie which will be released in 2026.