Avatar: Fire and Ash follows the escalating conflict on Pandora as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) process their son Neteyam’s death and encounter a new violent, fire-worshiping tribe led by fresh antagonist, Varang (Oona Chaplin). Varang makes quick friends with Jake’s recurring enemey, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and aids him in kidnapping his estranged son, Spider (Jack Champion), and capturing Jake for betraying the RDA (the human organization intent on exploiting Pandora for its plethora of valuable resources).

That’s a lot of moving pieces, and you can certainly tell that Avatar: Fire and Ash struggles to put them all into place. Similar to Avatar: The Way of Water, this latest film is noticeably choppy before it settles in for its major action set pieces. While James Cameron certainly delivers on the spectacle and action you would expect in an Avatar climax as he gets to smash all his toys together, the editing you have to endure to get to that point can be rather disorienting. Avatar: Fire and Ash is constantly jumping from topic to topic and scene to scene. The film will often quickly mention or show something, and then almost immediately reintroduce it as a core plot point or motivator. With so much to touch on and so many pieces to move, there’s simply not enough time to let everything breathe, even with a 3hr 17min runtime.

The constant focus shifts might be more forgivable with a more compelling script, but Avatar: Fire and Ash stumbles there as well. Lines are often… uninspired, to say the least. Prepare yourself to hear “bro” at least 1000 times and an out of place “no shit” when you least expect it. The line delivery also doesn’t help. Jack Champion is noticeably bad as Spider throughout, and is not improving as much as everyone had hoped between films. Having to listen to him flatly deliver his lines is incredibly grating. His character is essentially an excuse for the VFX artists to show off their CGI work with a human actor in frame. Honestly, it’s so impressive that it almost makes his character bearable. Almost.

On the bright side, the new villain, Varang, is the clear standout of the film. She injects the most new life into Avatar: Fire and Ash and easily steals the spotlight in any scene she’s in. Her ruthlessly violent personality and obsession with fire lets the film cleanly pair her up with Colonel Miles Quaritch (the big bad from the first movie, if you don’t remember). Varang’s legitimately fun and engaging character brings out the most from the Colonel, and let’s him shine as a much more compelling character than in Avatar: The Way of Water.

Even with all the above negativity, Avatar: Fire and Ash still manages to deliver some absolutely jaw dropping scenes. The stunning visuals, moving score, and triumphant battles all manage to pick up a bit of the slack from the remainder of the film’s parts. The climax is what Avatar: The Way of Water’s should have been, and feels as though it has finally closed the door on this latest arc. However, it also comes across as somewhat of retread of the prior film. For all the advertising focus on “fire”, Avatar: Fire and Ash largely sections itself off in the previously introduced water biomes. While the second film treats the audience to a fresh new corner of Pandora, this one struggles to establish its own identity.

While I will continue to defend the first Avatar and James Cameron’s obsession with this fascinating world, if the scripts are going to be this stilted with stuck in the mud narratives, then this franchise may be starting to overstay its welcome. At some point the visuals, score, and expansive lore of Pandora will start to buckle under the weight of all the mediocre baggage stacked on top. As of now this is still an experience worth seeing on the big screen, but noticeable cracks are starting to show. If this series is going to continue, hopefully Avatar: Fire and Ash represents James Cameron getting his toys in order, ready to move onto tighter, more focused entries.

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The Suicide Squad (2021) primarily follows six of DC’s… lesser known villains, brought together by the government’s formidable Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Their mission, with no option to reject it, is to journey to the inhospitable island of Corto Maltese and sabotage the secretive scientific experiments taking place there. Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (voiced by Steve Agee), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), and Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) find themselves kept (sort of) in line by Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). While the marketing material may showcase a slew of other fun and quirky characters, the film’s title should give you a hint of how that goes.

For the most part everyone fills their designated ensemble role quite well. Idris Elba serves as the stable patriarch figure of the group. John Cena delights as the deranged protector of peace, willing to kill as many women and children as it takes to uphold it. Margot Robbie slides right back into her fantastic portrayal of Harley Quinn, only faltering when the script lets her down (more on that later). Rounding out the baddies, Daniela Melchior provides a serviceable emotional through line for the team and David Dastmalchian is the celebrated new addition. Polka-Dot Man’s depressed sense of humor and unexpected running gag make him the easy standout. The only character that falls apart is Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. Just like in the last iteration, she comes off as a frustrating bureaucrat instead of a towering threat. This time the film itself even undercuts her presence when the plot demands it.

One of the large improvements previously referenced is that this version of The Squad dives right into the action. It quickly moves past all of the stage setting the 2016 version has to deal with. With no time wasted, our characters are on a beach ready to kill in the most gruesome and entertaining of ways. However, this insistence on jumping right into things is a double-edged sword. By spending so little time on setting up the cast before throwing them into the fray, the film lacks emotional and dramatic weight. At times it is as if a child has grabbed all of his or her action figures and smashed them together, declaring it a battle of epic proportions. The results are undoubtedly entertaining, but hallow nonetheless. The Suicide Squad (2021) tries its best to feed the audience reasons to care about a number of its characters as it goes on, but these sequences are too little, too late.

The next and most important improvement (that guess what, is another double-edged sword), is Gunn’s sense of humor. Whether it’s hitting or missing Gunn swings for the fences every time. An impressive kill-off between Bloodsport and Peacemaker left my theater in stitches. Harley Quinn also delivers some terrific laughs when the film embraces her psychosis and has her fall in love with Corto Maltese’s Presidente General, Silvio Luna (Juan Diego Botto… noted Nick Wright look-alike). She also serves the biggest groans, with poop and 69 jokes headlining. Additionally, some squad members with less spotlight, like King Shark, quickly have their tropes worn out. Although the R-rating lets the film flex with entertaining physical and violence-based comedy, it is hard to walk away from The Suicide Squad (2021) not thinking that PG-13 ratings have previously forced Gunn to be more creative with his writing.

Focusing in on the filmmaking itself, the island setting proves a bit dull. Moving from generic location to generic location results in a visually bland affair. The film does give Harley one colorfully stylized battle (highlighted in the trailers), and it’s probably the most impressive of the bunch. Another scene worth mentioning is a fight that starts off in the reflection of a certain polished helmet. I only wish the film had the confidence to let the shot linger a smidge longer. The soundtrack is also typical upbeat Gunn, but nothing as noteworthy as Guardians of the Galaxy’s.

The Suicide Squad (2021) accomplishes what it sets out to do. It hits the tone of the source material much more faithfully than the first adaptation (by actually providing a plausible reason for villains to make up the team, even though it still redeems our baddies a bit too much at the end) and it more than successfully revitalizes the brand for DC Films by injecting the lovably evil squad with James Gunn’s trademark energy and humor. Unfortunately, it injects so much of both that the film cannot always sustain itself.

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Usually, studios provide theaters with roughly 90 days of exclusivity before releasing films through other means. With Universal Pictures now defying that norm, this could potentially lead to long term issues for theaters. Will moviegoers want to give up the convenience of their own home? After all, home theater set-ups have improved substantially and it seems harder and harder to find a venue with patrons not on their phones or talking to one another.

After a few months of social distancing, new habits will form. Once loyal theatergoers may begin to shun going out for the latest films and embrace a simpler and more personal experience. Home set-ups may never truly match the screen and sound quality of a decent theater, but how good is good enough? Is the pure spectacle of it all still a strong draw? Or are Universal’s actions another nail in the traditional theater system’s coffin?

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The broad phrase: “human condition,” suits The Flying Fish precisely because of its extensive nature. Sayginer tackles concepts of corporations as new gods (with religious Mickey Mouse iconography to boot), Earth’s role in shaping man, militarism, and death. The imagery and symbolism accompanying these themes wildly vary in terms of quality. Some of the early shorts in particular have stunningly gorgeous animations and renders. However, as the film progresses more and more bargain bin material makes its way into the work. Passing references to the Illuminati and Stone Masons, a Matrix red and blue pill homage, and other tossed in “spooky symbols” serve to detract from the core message and beauty of The Flying Fish.

Low-quality character models also make an appearance in a few of the shorts. They may still function thematically but the film would greatly benefit from some added polish. A weird dynamic emerges when watching an extremely poignant scene about the nature of death and the visuals resemble a PlayStation 2 era loading screen.

While truly thought provoking and enchanting at times, The Flying Fish requires more polish and consistency. Low-quality character models stick out and Sayginer seems to use some symbols merely because of their notoriety. As it stands, The Flying Fish serves as a journey to experience, but just once.

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From the first second of the traditional title scrawl, The Rise of Skywalker is in fast-forward mode. The big return of Emperor Palpatine? Done in the title scrawl. No setup or introduction. One or two words about cloning, technology, and the Sith being powerful, and voila. This rush to get through the worldbuilding remains consistent until the final confrontation. The material and story choices themselves are not necessarily bad, but they get moved through so quickly there is no time to emotionally process them.

The story clearly wants to get to the last third of the film and for good reason, it is easily the strongest part of the movie. Ignoring if you agree with all of the force power and story changes up until this point, J.J. Abrams puts on a show. A nostalgia powered space battle combined with the end of Rey and Kylo’s journey proves the franchise can still produce those epic moments. Unfortunately, this climax does not have the same level of emotional investment as other iconic scenes, due to the previously mentioned pacing issues.

Moreover, The Last Jedi is clearly already seen as the new black sheep of the franchise. If The Last Jedi properly set up The Rise of Skywalker, then the pacing of the story arc could have worked. Even if J.J.’s claim that Emperor Palpatine was always planned is true, Abrams obviously did not plan for director Rian Johnson to go as far off the rails as he did. The trilogy lacks a consistent vision and suffers for it.

Visually, The Rise of Skywalker produces some spectacular moments. A lightsaber battle over the water and a scene in the final battle stand out. John Williams’ composition remains a standout for the Star Wars franchise and hits all of the right nostalgic notes when J.J. Abrams demands it. Adam Driver even gives his best and most compelling performance as Kylo Ren this time around. However, all of this is in the background of the pacing issues. Without proper pacing, decisions do not have weight and characters do not resonate.

If you love Star Wars you already plan on watching The Rise of Skywalker. But the question is, how good of a film is it? In that regard, from a pure filmmaking perspective, not a very good one. For the most devout fans, it will give you one last rush of nostalgia before the saga finds itself on the shelf. For everyone else, it will rush through the majority of the actual movie while profusely apologizing for its predecessor (which sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes as of 12/28/2019). Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker tries to juggle too much and drops the ball. Watch for the closure, but do not expect any force miracles.

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Following David from the moment he checks into the hotel, we watch him struggle to find a companion. Under normal circumstances this would elicit minor sympathy, but here if he cannot find a suitable partner in time the hotel will turn him into the titular lobster. All loners in this dystopian future face transformation if caught by the guests of the hotel.

Unfortunately, this intriguing world-building does not go anywhere. Besides showing a few animals who supposedly had prior lives, The Lobster shoos away its own backdrop to instead focus on the social commentary presented throughout the film.

The Lobster’s hotel serves as a stand-in for society’s pressure to find a romantic partner no matter the cost or compromise. The Limping Man must self-harm in order to date the Nosebleed Woman, and David becomes someone he’s not to involve himself with the Heartless Woman. With everyone so indebted to their “defining traits”, at least one person in every relationship is sacrificing due to them feeling as if their time to find another is running out. Societal pressures do not truly care if two people are compatible, and if you succumb to the coercion you sacrifice your own identity.

These themes coupled with Lanthimos’ excellent shot composition and framing seem poised to create a compelling final product, one to rival The Favourite (a favorite), but they get lost somewhere in the middle. The Lobster repeats the same idea of forced compromise over and over without any alterations. When Lanthimos goes for his trademarked abrupt and ambiguous ending, it comes across as oddly subdued. In place of an, “Oh my gosh I can’t believe he ended it there…brilliant!” was a, “Yeah okay…I guess he can end it there…seems kind of obvious though.” While thought provoking and open to different interpretations (perhaps revealing something about you and your own partner), it fails to make a new statement. If you chop off the final scene, The Lobster does not lose any of its messages, and regrettably not because it had an abundance to begin with.

The Lobster’s appeal after the first half hour or so quickly dissipates once Lanthimos refuses to expand on his world or theme. An engrossing dystopian backdrop and camera skill can only take a film so far, and this attempt feels underdeveloped and incomplete. After the first act The Lobster has said all it wants to say, and then just hangs around for a while. As the credits roll you can’t help but feel like a guest at the hotel, weary and uninterested.

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No one expected Iron Man to experience the staggering success it did, much less the cinematic universe it would spawn. 21 films later Marvel has thoroughly proved the world wrong. Those first few films were a massive gamble for the financially struggling company, but boy did they pay off. Even though there were some duds along the way, Marvel kept on marching and improving.

No one remembers the mediocrity of Thor: The Dark World or The Incredible Hulk at this point. No, those disappointments have been washed away by the overwhelming sense of wonder comicbook fans have experienced since 2008. By now, you could even say they contribute to the charm of the first phase.

Doing something no one else has ever done represents true greatness. It does not matter that none of their films are Best Picture worthy. Rather, the sheer scale of their universe deserves an award of its own. In all these years, no copycat has reached near the same success. Marvel stands alone in its accomplishment, and now looks to see how far it can run up the score.

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly presents the new canonical version of Broly’s origin. No longer does he rage after Kakarot as revenge for having to listen to his cries as an infant. Now we watch as King Vegeta ships him off to an uninhabited planet; partially out of fear and partially out of jealousy. There, him and his father train and survive, biding their time until they have an opportunity to extract their revenge.

A long story short, Goku and Vegeta fight Broly for roughly 45 minutes. Perhaps not surprisingly the movie also yada yada’s over the foundational details of the story. It assumes you have at least a passing familiarity with characters and story arcs, with several opening moments (Bardok’s last stand for one) not making much sense otherwise. Even with all of these assumptions, what you really want to see does not start until over halfway through the movie. When the singular fight does finally makes its appearance, the film rushes through it. The second half of the movie feels as if someone pressed the fast forward button. If Nagamine had just fully committed to trimming the fat in the beginning, it could have given the showcase fight more room to breathe.

More room to breathe means more time for one of the flashiest fights in all of Super. For a series much maligned for its weightless and sanitized combat, Dragon Ball Super: Broly invokes the feeling of classic Z climaxes. With humor reminiscent of the original Dragon Ball, DBS: Broly touches all the right nostalgic notes. However, the incredibly generic side character designs will often remind you what series the film belongs to.

Watching Goku and Vegeta pull up in their streetwear inspired coats invokes a fan’s deepest childhood memories of the series. As the three warriors begin to trade blows a smile creeps onto the face. The grandiose soundtrack remix announces the fighters and genuine wonderment takes over. Then the CGI hits. Those ships in the opening scenes were not outliers. They were not done just to save money to do the real fight justice. No, rather the whole film abuses CGI animation. The stylish hand drawn frames randomly drop out in favor of abhorrent 3D models. The designs are not well done either. They look as if someone tried to sneak in a melted action figure and try their hand at stop motion. This drastic change in style occurs frequently throughout the second half and looks worse every time.

Trumping Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan should not have taken a herculean effort. Yet, Dragon Ball Super: Broly managed to fall short. Even with the best choreographed fight in all of Super done to electrifying remixes of classic songs, it could not stay away from the CGI temptation. Unfortunately, the CGI interruptions in the climatic fight are so dreadful that Dragon Ball Super: Broly cannot be taken seriously. Replacing the charm of the original with cheap and clunky effects erases any ground gained by reimagining the legendary Saiyan’s origin.

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UP next in Disney’s barrage of live-action remakes comes Mulan. At this point anyone wanting to claim fatigue will set in has to ignore reality. Disney will not stop until they have run out of animated films and then they will probably move onto Pixar. However, this particular trailer does not inspire the same doom and gloom as the rest. This new take on Mulan really does appear to be a re-imagining of the Disney adaptation. Without Mushu and the musical aspects shackling it to the past, hopefully this film will breathe fresh life into the IP.

As previously stated, this time around Mushu and the songs stay at home. Although reportedly, the musical numbers may make appearances as instrumental tracks. Somewhat understandably, die-hard fans of the original have not taken too kindly to this. Fantastic! If these changes have angered, depressed, or confused you, please just go watch the original. If Disney continues to insist on all of these remakes, they should at the very least shake them up a bit! One-to-one CGI recreations does not scream creativity. Hopefully general audiences give this adaptation a chance at the box office and Disney decides “riskier” ventures have a place in their lineup.

The trailer itself felt relatively safe. Some of the shots were gorgeous, the opening and rooftop running scenes specifically, but nothing not seen before. The dialogue also sounded hallow? It lacked a certain something to make it truly convincing. They went for a subdued voice-over to highlight Mulan’s compartmentalization, yet it did not have the quiet but striking tone to complete the effect. The zoomed in, “hazy” shots during the slow motion fight scenes also came across as unnecessarily uninspired. Dropping the effect altogether would produce a much cleaner and prettier sequence.

Another idea concerning the inner workings of The Mouse: could these remakes just be padding for Disney+’s arrival; both in terms of content and war chest? It’s an interesting thought and one that will stay unanswered for the foreseeable future. No matter, the latest Mulan trailer delivers hope for variety in Disney’s live-action remakes, and while not truly spectacular, should deliver enough to hold fans over.

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Far From Home opens with an awkward Peter Parker still trying to figure out his path after the tragic events of Avengers: Endgame. (SPOILER ALERT…but come on) With Tony Stark out of the picture the world needs a new Iron Man, and Peter finds that responsibility thrust upon him. Far From Home very much acts as another coming of age story for the young superhero, albeit from a different perspective.

After begrudgingly chatting with Nick Fury, Peter travels through Europe on his class field trip meeting Mysterio and the Elementals along the way. The rest of the movie involves Peter summoning his courage, protecting his friends, and defeating the Elementals. Hooray. Yup, nothing else. It ends right there. After defeating the villains with no build up in any of the trailers. The ones with no actors attached to them. The incredibly generic (in this movie at least) earth, fire, wind, and water monsters. Nothing else to see here folks. (SPOILER ALERT) If you do not want one of the most obvious twists in the history of superhero movies spoiled for you (one that happens pretty early on in the film), you should stop reading here.

Okay, so if you made it past the spoiler alert you were at least a little suspicious of a guy named Mysterio; good for you. Anyway, Jake Gyllenhaal puts on a wonderful performance as the main antagonist, excellently playing off of a vulnerable Peter Parker. The father-son dynamic between Tom Holland and Gyllenhaal comes through perfectly, and not much more could be asked of the duo.

The supporting cast including Peter’s classmates, MJ (played by Zendaya), and Nick Fury (more on him later) delivers competent to great performances throughout the movie. The soundtrack is the standard MCU fare, nothing too outstanding or noteworthy. There are some exciting shots, but again, nothing too out there. Camera framing plays it safe and sweet.

While you may shrug those technical aspects off as what you have come to expect from the MCU, the CGI disappoints. Barring the final two major set pieces of the movie, the CGI was surprisingly ineffective. Especially in the first half of the movie with the Elementals, it was not up to the standard Marvel’s universe has set. Several shots of Spider-Man swinging into frame looked flimsy and weightless, with other similar scenes receiving the same treatment. Far From Home manages to pull the effects together for the final act (and what an amazing, gorgeous, psychedelic finale it is), but the first half could have used more of the budget.

Continuing this first vs second half trend, the former also delivered most of the unfortunately poor jokes. Many MCU movies use quips as a crutch since they lack situational comedy, but Far From Home packs plenty of legitimately funny moments on its own. So it is surprising director Jon Watts felt the need to cram in as many quips as he did. The end result feels overbearing, with too many ineffective lines competing for your attention.

The final complaint comes down to Mysterio’s origin. It works in the thematic context of the film, but Marvel has gone to this well so many times before. Mixing it up would have cemented Mysterio as one of the MCU’s greatest one-off villains, instead of an only “very good” one.

Of course you will also want to stay for the two (one mid and one post) after credit scenes. Out of all of the MCU post credit scenes, these probably had the largest direct impact on the film they were attached to. The mid credits scene presents a hilarious cameo along with huge set up for the future of Spider-Man and Phase Four. The post credits scene delivers further Phase Four set up (and possibly some for a Captain Marvel sequel?), while also retroactively fixing some performances from earlier in the film. Whether it was entirely intentional or not, Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of Nick Fury becomes drastically better after watching the post credits scene.

Overall, Spider-Man: Far From Home delights. Minor technical and quipping issues do not hold back the shine of Marvel’s most popular comicbook hero. With excellent chemistry between the leads, legitimately well done situational comedy, breathtaking third act set pieces, and a bizarrely accurate portrayal of modern high-school students, you cannot help but smile through to the end. Far From Home is easy to recommenced to MCU die-hards and casual moviegoers alike (more so than most recent Marvel films).

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