So, there were three new movies that came out recently that I want to review but don’t have much time to review it. I plan on discussing it a bit more once I do my yearly update post once New Years rolls around but I took a little break from doing reviews on movies. That was either because of the discourse surrounding those movies that was near impossible to avoid or ones that I forgot so quickly that I couldn’t write a review of it because of how little I remember about it. I might discuss the ones I missed out on once they make their way to digital streaming but for now, to close out 2023, I will give you my brief thoughts on Wonka, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Rebel Moon- Part One: A Child of Fire.
I won’t go too in-depth with them but just give you enough detail to illustrate my thoughts on each one of these movies in mini-review fashion. It will be as much detail as say when I talk about a certain movie during a ranking. Now that we are clear on that, let’s start off with talking about Wonka.
If you want to talk about a perfect holiday film to take the whole family too, that would be Wonka. Acting as an origin story for the iconic Willy Wonka, director Paul King is able to add his sweet touch that he gave to the Paddington movies to make an enjoyable musical about the early days of the great chocolatier himself.
Timothee Chalamet makes for a charming Willy Wonka, the entire supporting cast are able to back up our lead as well as they can, the colors are so bright, and even for someone that’s not too crazy for musicals, there were some nice tunes that I found myself nodding my head to. Heck, it even manages to avoid the trappings of my origin stories by having the key defining traits of the iconic character introduces in a way that isn’t treated as big deal or forced in the slightest. If that’s not a sign that a prequel as done it’s job well, then I don’t know what is.
Even if the plot itself is very paper thin and I don’t know this will appeal to those who aren’t fans of musicals, but for what it’s worth, Wonka was a nice movie to come around for Christmas time. Is it on the same level as King’s two Paddington movies? Not quite, but that shouldn’t devalue his work here in any way. I’m not fully over the moon for this one like most people are and I don’t know if it’s something I will go out of my way to rewatch every Christmas but even so, Wonka is about as good of a origin story as it can get and how good a family Christmas movie can get.
After ten years and 16 films deep, the DC Extended Universe comes to an end with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to DC highest grossing film of all time (Yes, really!). While I’m sure no one on the team picture that this would be the last installment in this ill-fated cinematic universe when they first signed on for Part Two, you would at least assume they would give their absolute best effort to end this 10-year DC run on a high note and get audiences excited for the rebooted universe coming in the near future. While I’m sure there was version of that movie that was presented during the production, it is anything but that when it comes to the finished product.
For as much you can pick apart about the original Aquaman, it at least had some form of energy, passion, and even heart from behind the camera which help make it an entertaining ride. The Lost Kingdom, on the other hand, is basically the exact opposite, with the whole thing feeling like it’s on autopilot while hitting many of the same beats as the first movie but with no energy, passion, or heart to be found here. Also, it’s embarrassing how the film was trying to do everything in it’s power to NOT have Amber Heard’s Mera on camera, only showing up when the plot absolutely demands her to show up.
Aside from some fun buddy cop-like moments between Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Patrick Wilson’s Orm along with some neat visuals, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is superhero cinematic burnout as it’s finest. You can tell this was a movie that Warner Bros was just desperate to get out of the way so they can finally move on to their upcoming DC universe. While not the worst DC Extended Universe movie ever, this is probably far in a way, the most forgettable and disposable one by a wide margin, even more so than JOSStice League. Such a shame that a once promising cinematic universe had to go out with such a damn whimper, with not a single care from anyone else on the planet. Let’s hope James Gunn and Peter Safran is up to the task in the future because man, does DC (and superhero movies in general) not look good right now!
To tell you the truth, I almost didn’t want to review this one but I honestly don’t think I’ve seen the actual complete movie. Not just because this is a part one of a two-part story but because it’s been confirmed that this is NOT the official full director’s cut of the movie. However, because movies are becoming the equivalent of video games (something which I will write about sometime in the future), we have to wait for the full DLC to come at a later date. Although, if you watch any Zack Snyder movie since he started making films, you would know that’s nothing out of the ordinary. For whatever reason, the man can’t just make a film that works at a reasonable pace and runtime that doesn’t result in a director’s cut.
But anyways, Rebel Moon was a film that started off as a Star Wars pitch to Lucasfilm shortly after Disney bought them in 2012. It was a pitched as an R-rated Star Wars film made strictly for adults and would take itself more “seriously” than any other Star Wars film. What should be a shocker to absolutely NO ONE but Snyder himself, that pitch got denied and many years later, has now been made into it’s own “original” film. I put original in quotation marks because the only way this even qualifies as original is the fact that it’s not entirely based on any property or IP. However, it is definitely inspires by it, in more ways than one.
There is plenty of interesting concepts and exciting moments throughout Rebel Moon. The visuals are as good as they can be for a Snyder film, the worldbuilding while familiar is intriguing, the action is pretty damn solid throughout, and Sofia Boutella is awesome as Kora, the most compelling character in the whole film. It’s just a shame that it can’t escape the trappings of most theater cuts from Zack Snyder where a good chunk of it is left on the cutting room floor. Because of that, you got side characters that are painfully undeveloped, an internal conflict that’s not as clear or fleshed out as it should be, and references to other sci-fi pictures such as Star Wars, Dune, and Battlefield Earth that is as obvious as clear daylight. Also, what is it with Zack Snyder feeling the need to add a rape scene in his movies? I don’t care if it serves a purpose or is meant to empower the female characters later on down the road. It’s very uncomfortable and not necessary.
Even so, I still couldn’t help but be intrigued by Rebel Moon- Part One: A Child of Fire despite it’s major flaws. Maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker of the sci-fi genre and I’ll always just take whatever I can get with them but I can definitely see this gaining a cult following outside of the obnoxious Zack Snyder fanboys (who is likely harassing critics who gave this movie bad reviews as we speak). It lives rent free in it’s own sandbox and throws so many different ideas on the screen that it’s near impossible to be bored by it. That being said, Snyder seriously needs to learn how to make proper cuts of his movie that are able to work for mainstream audiences and not just for himself and his hardcore fanbase. Only then will he finally himself in the same reign of the likes of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan that he so desperately wants to be. I would say give it a watch but you’re better off waiting until the actual DLC comes out first before viewing this movie as a complete package.
This really goes to show how one day we are gonna look back at the Snyder cut of Justice League as a big mistake! That’s if we have not done that already!
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