So we’re already in the middle of the year and I hope I’m not the only one who feels uneasy just thinking about that. This post is made up of my quick thoughts on films that came out in the last week.  These summaries are not as in-depth as my other reviews but regardless, I hope you have a good read.

I almost missed reviewing the new Pixar movie and we can’t have that! This one is called Luca, a movie that was strangely not released to cinemas, but at least you don’t have to pay an extra $30 to watch it right away on Disney+. After the ambitious masterpiece that was Soul, Pixar decided to take a more laid back approach with this one. It’s about an Italian fish boy who has an Ariel like character arc of wanting to leave the ocean so he can explore the human world. His goal changes a bit though when he meets another fish boy with a similar goal but who wants to explore the world on a moped. We spend a fair amount of time with these boys before they leave their secluded island to explore the Italian seaside town.  Once there, they desperately try to blend in and avoid getting wet.

Luca is a cute movie. There is an underwater world full of fish monsters, but that’s just set dressing for this character based coming of age, literal fish out of water type of story. The three main kids make this movie, as they’re very likable and are all well played by the young voice actors. There was also some creative comedy involving the fish boys having to avoid water at all costs, because if they do get wet then everyone will see they’re actually fish monsters. The only things I didn’t like about the movie is the main villain is one of the most annoying characters I think I ever seen and was basically an annoying rip-off of the bad guy in An Extremely Goofy Movie. Lastly, for a chill out plot, it was predictable and some of the drama felt a little forced for my liking.

Other than that this is the second best animated movie of the year thus far. (First place goes to The Mitchells vs The Machines.) Love the location, the animation, the music and so far this was the easiest movie to get into all year.

4 – Watch Whenever You Can

Alright, the first major musical of this year is here! With the popularity of Hamilton last year, it made sense to release another one of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s productions, In The Heights. It’s about some young Latino people wanting something more than what they already have in the New York district of Washington Heights. Sounds a bit similar to West Side Story, which is risky considering the remake is coming out later this year. The good news is this new musical is nothing like West Side Story with In The Heights lacking the gripping conflict to keep you invested in what’s happening.

Long story short, I found In The Heights quite a disappointment. It’s definitely entertaining with the catchy songs, the astounding singing and the energetic dance sequences, but 40 minutes into this almost 2 and a half hour movie I wanted more than that. I may get some flack for this, but this movie is similar to Grease, where the movie suggests they’re going to tackle some serious issues that will make the story interesting, but by the end it changes it’s mind and wants to stick to the big fairy tale ending. The ending to this film was annoying and that’s all I’ll say on that.

In The Heights is good, but also annoyingly frustrating, I suggest you wait until it’s on streaming.

3 – Hold off on it

I chose to invest my time into The Hitman’s Bodyguard movies instead of The Conjuring movies. (Great life choices.)

It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed a modern comedy because they rarely ever make me laugh and for the most part I can’t stand them. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is the very reason why I don’t like reviewing comedies. It’s loud and filled with predictable jokes and has a dumb plot. Whilst I didn’t really mind 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard, it’s not a good movie but I did like watching Samuel L Jackson bag Ryan Reynolds out for 2 hours. Now this one makes Salma Hayak a prominent character and she’s supposed to be louder and crazier than the two of them. This makes things more chaotic when all three of these actors are clawing for my attention and I can’t keep focused on one of them.

Also this new movie took a Fast and Furious approach where the next movie becomes cartoon like. Ryan Reynolds is literally invincible and the CIA or whatever are trusting some ex bodyguard and two criminals with a MacGuffin key to the same device that I think was used in the most recent F&F. Then there is the transition of villains between movies, where the first one had a Russian war criminal played by Gary Oldman, then this one has Antonio Banderas playing an eccentric James Bond villain wanting to wipe out all electricity in Europe. Antonio Banderas did play a more memorable villain, but I was already over this movie by the time he showed up.

Overall, for an action movie I guess it’s harmless fun, but I completely tuned out when it comes to the comedy.

2 – If Interested

That’s it, only three this time and I’ll see you all next time. Blog Complainer, out!