Categories: Movie and Series Reviews, 3.5/5

Alien Romulus (2024) 3.5/5

Alien Romulus is ahead of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth films purely by not being upsetting. There is probably reason to be upset for some, in fact I am sure of it, but not for me.

The cast are doing well with what they are given, even if some side characters feel purely like stand-ins setup to die and little else. Everyone has the benefit though of not being asked to say or do stupid things compared to prior films in the series.

There is a scene I would strongly like to change. I’ll stay vague, but it uses a piece of dialogue that is famous from the third film and it should have just stuck to using half of the line to feel more honest to the new character. As well, there are two instances of face-to-face with an alien that lasts some seconds too long. The film could do with some more immediacy to the dangers within it.

My final hope is that the Weyland Corporation is shown a little differently next time. Aliens (Alien 2) showed the Corporation as unpleasant as ever, but I did not have the sense that they could casually double workloads. The mustache twirling takes away from the tangible evil of the corporation, done better even in the franchises lesser films.

All that having been said, I like Rain and Andy. I actually am open to seeing more of these two if that is the direction it goes. Andy is inherently interesting and Rain is flawed and could become more compelling. More importantly, both actors were enjoyable to watch. I may even be tempted to get the Rain skin in Dead by Daylight at some point, if only though because Ripley does not look like Ripley.

Overall, I feel this is the most honest Alien sequel since the first two. Is it perfect? Definitely not. Is it even amazing? Not really. However, it didn’t offend me in any glaring ways and that is the most that I can say about an Alien movie in a long time.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) 3.5/5

Dream Warriors is not perfect. If I spoke to any diehard fan of the series, I bet they would give me grief for liking this more than the first. Yes the first flick has a darker tone and Fred feels scarier, but it is also wildly inconsistent in quality. As this is my first time running through all of the movies, I have only seen 1, 2, and 3 so far, but I recall the first had some of the very best scenes and also things like oatmeal stairs, prop dummy mom, and a lot of awkward running.

Three is an imperfect movie that is consistently imperfect. It only goes a bit far with the expansion of the origin, but it was not so bad as to feel ruinous like a lot of the second movie was.

Oh and “dream deprivation” is a phrase nobody should ever say. The extra camp though? If we can forgive the silly budget stuff in the first movie then a Jason and the Argonauts style fight at the junkyard is hardly something to fuss about. Plus I like the idea more than what we got in two, it felt as if he wasn’t strong enough to fully materialize but could basically mess with the environment some. Oh and the wizard stuff? It made sense for that character, as they were giving all of the kids some sort of identity and he was a fellow dork.

I am going to be in a small crowd, but I kind of like Dream Warriors the most so far.

Deadpool 2 (2018) 3.5/5

Deadpool 2 executes better than its predecessor, but it doesn’t really go far enough. The bond style intro with the Celine Dion original is fantastic and having a bit more of story this time went a long way. The gags are all a bit better and it feels more like a superhero movie with some teeth than the first flick did.

On its own it works well, but is also referential in mostly non-obstructive ways to the first flick.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) 3.5/5

I’m actually excited about this movie, even though I only initially tuned in as a way to waste some time. I heard the reviews, and I was ready for something bad. This isn’t that though. I thought the characters were great and the setting was fun. It is not a perfect movie but I hope there is a world where Jack Kesy gets to be Hellboy again.

Speak No Evil (2024) 3.5/5

The theme of masculinity runs through the film, and I can see a lot of people misplacing frustration at certain characters actions and missing the point. It is definitely more of a slow moving train, but its actors all do a job of carrying that pace.