Sorry this is so delayed, but I promise, I did watch some films this weekend! A blockbuster, a kids movie, and an indie film. Here we go…
Friday night was a double feature in the theater, and first up was X-Men: Dark Phoenix. I’ve been waiting for this film to come out since the middle of last year, but apparently a good amount of re-shoots had to be done because the ending was so similar to Captain Marvel. After seeing both, I can understand where there would have been a lot of similarities, but I won’t spoil that for you. A lot of reviews I read about this final X-Men installment were quite negative, but I really enjoyed it myself. Now I will say I never saw any of the original X-Men films, nor have I read any of the comics, so take this review with a grain of salt (and probably disappointment).
We pick up a decade after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse where everyone is still doing their thing at Professor X’s school. With the population giving a sliver of hope to the mutants, they get called on for risky missions, including the one that seemingly gets Jean killed…only she’s totally fine…just a lot of gold light coursing through her body and a crap-load of power when she gets mad. That unchecked power ends up getting someone on the squad killed (gasp!), and a creepy alien to manipulate Jean. After finding Mageto, the rest of the X-Men are split, with one half looking to kill Jean while the other half want to save her.
Honestly, the climax of the film wasn’t super intense, but I also realize that wasn’t necessarily the intention of this movie. I got the sense that it wanted to be a little more emotional and a little dark, but it didn’t really seem to scratch the surface. With all that, it’s almost impossible for me to dislike this film based solely on the cast alone. I’m a fan of all four films, and I’m a little sad to see what’s next and when it’s going to happen. Time will tell.
On the heels of X-Men: Dark Phoenix, my sister and I went and saw Secret Life of Pets 2. Other than lead dog, Max’s vocal change to Patton Oswald (uh-oh Louis C.K), the rest of the gang remained unchanged, and even added Tiffany Haddish as a little Shih Tzu. The first film saw almost the entire animal cast working together towards one goal in the first film, where its sequel saw them split up a little bit. My favorite parts included everything with Chloe the cat (voiced by Lake Bell), only because I can very much relate being a cat owner myself. Kevin Hart voicing Snowball is also funny at all times. I found that I enjoyed this film a lot more than its predecessor probably because I saw fewer previews for it, but still. Go watch this for some solid laughs (and if you have kids I suppose).
Last up, I rented a Canadian independent film called, Giant Little Ones. This film focused on a friendship essentially ruined by a sexual encounter between Franky and Ballas at a party. Not wanting to be outed, Ballas spreads the rumor that Franky initiated, leading to a slew of bullying. Throughout the film after the fallout from the party, Franky befriends a transgender student, Ballas’s sister Natasha, and eventually connects with his homosexual father. The ultimate outcome of Franky’s journey in the film is that he shouldn’t be pressured into a serious relationship of sex until he is ready. I’ve got to say that this kid handled a lot of crap really well considering how terrible high school is, but the film really did a nice job presenting some powerful messages. If indies are you’re thing, I’d say give this one a watch.