The Wild Life

The Poor Man's Rio                                                            1/5





I've got nothing for this one guys. The Wild Life is that special type of bad movie that can make for a good time only because of how far from sanity it resides. The animation is actually ok unlike another feature I can think of this year) and the premise would work fine in a movie competently made. Please, unless you want to watch a tropical disaster movie, steer clear of this ship






Rotten Tomatoes 15%                                   Cinemascore: B-

Shorter Reviews

Expect shorter reviews for a majority of movies. Since school is picking up again I'm going to be busy but I'll try to comment on everything I see.

Sully

Sully Flies Low but Sticks the Landing                              2/5


Standout
     Tom Hanks as Sully, no surprise here folks.

True Story
     The Film recollects the events of the Hudson River landing in 2009, something I was actually alive for.

Crowd Pleaser
     An A on Cinemascore

Fresh
     Well Scored by Critics



Rotten Tomatoes 84%                                   Cinemascore: NA

Sully is a movie that even now I'm confused why I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Tom Hanks is a scene stealer as always and the story depicts not just the heroic actions of the pilot he's playing, but that of humanity as a whole. Overall, I think it just has to do with how the story is packaged. Many scenes felt repetitive, emotionless, or just plain insignificant sometimes. Sully as a character while strongly portrayed didn't really lend himself so much as a protagonist for me. Sully works in a practical since, yet as an original work or as a story it doesn't really offer much more then what you already know from the media.

Hell or High Water and Light Between Oceans

Sorry no review for these two movies, since school is starting up again Im going to have less and less time. Hell or High Water I give a 3/5 for solid filmmaking and solid story. Light Between Oceans I give a 1/5 for the opposite reasons. Expect a review for Sully up tomorrow.

Ben-Hur

Ben-"Hurt"                                                                               2/5

Epic
    When is the Sword and Sandals genre ever not?

Thematic
     A contradiction of vengeance and forgiveness is tied together at the end of the movie, poorly, but its there.

Standout
     That chariot race is worth your price of admission

Original Song
    Only Way Out by Andra Day. Forced like the ending, yes, but still a good song.


Rotten Tomatoes 27%                                   Cinemascore: A-

Ben-Hur is a competent retelling of one of Hollywood's most prolific epics. What works in Ben-Hur justifies why this movie was remade for a third time. The action can be brutal sometimes and the story is both overarching and personal. Unfortunately this movie is poisoned by flaws that weaken the script from beneath the surface. The inclusion of Ponches Pilot made sense and reinforces the stakes and scope of the narrative, the inclusion of Jesus Christ was the opposite.

Ben-Hur suffers the same weakness's that many faith based movies are victims of, it's story is a catalyst for the message not the other way around. If you have followed my blog since last November you'll remember me writing a post "Why I Hate Woodlawn," and many of those sentiments are translated over here. Instead of a story that reflects and shows the cause and effect of a characters actions, the plot gets pushed aside in favor of showing that faith in Jesus rewards its own miracles. I'm a born and raised catholic, but there is a reason why this type of storytelling is both dangerous and unsatisfying. It awards only the blind, and shovels the storyteller to the side.

Ben-Hur is an otherwise good movie that is distorted by the effect of this cardinal sin. Scenes are interrupted by the inclusion of the messiah who flows in and out of the spotlight so that characters can acknowledge his existence. All this for a payoff in the last 10 minutes that muddles the message of the movie. Ben-Hur tries to redeem its themes of violence and vengeance with christ's ideals of mercy and forgiveness in the last scenes of the movie, and the result is clumsy and, honestly, dramatically insulting.

My rant aside there was too much good in Ben-Hur for me to hate, or outright dislike this movie. Both Huston and Kebbell fill their roles nicely, the movie is shot well and at times really great to look at, and two set pieces in particular stand out among the rest from the summer fair. As a remake I can't say this film failed because it makes me want to revisit the classic and that has to count for something. Ben-Hur makes several changes in this 2016 update, some clearly for the better and some else absolutely for the worst.