Movie review of Dolittle

Dolittle - 3.5/10
Directed by Stephen Gaghan

Robert Downey Jr's first movie after Ironman. It really has been a while since we saw RDJ doing other movies. His last movie outside Ironman was The Judge which was a feel good family movie. I enjoyed watching that. Dolittle however, I did not. Even though, it is a kids/family movie, it was badly done.

At first Dolittle was supposed to be released around the same time as Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker, however fearing competition, the studio decided to release at a later date. Then it was released in January. Whenever studios release a movie in January, it sometimes mean they know the movie is shit and doomed to fail. Now Dolittle going through expensive reshoots and rewrites due to poor test screenings does not help the film one bit. Sadly it was quite evident as well.

Casting was good. There was an array of top notch actors and actresses doing VOs for the animals. I don't doubt RDJ's acting but his accent is fucking annoying. This was worse than his Sherlock Holmes accent. He sounds like he has asthma and doesn't know when to breath. Despite so many good actors as VOs, the script was just simply too dull. I won't be surprised if kids find this movie boring af.

As I painfully continue to listen to RDJ's asthmatic English accent, the plot for Dolittle just went downhill. Towards the end scene, where he has to "help" a dragon by pulling out a bagpipe out of its arse, was pretty much the lowest point of the movie and quite possibly RDJ's acting career.

All in all, Dolittle might have started like The Golden Compass in the beginning and ended like an unfunny slapstick movie. Don't bother watching this even with kids. Go watch the original Dr Dolittle or even Eddie Murphy's Dr Dolittle. At least they were funny.

Movie review of Knives Out

Knives Out - 6.5/10

After his much maligned direction of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson is back with a new movie and it is also written by him. Knives Out has a strong cast and if you like classic whodunits? like the old school TV series, Murder she wrote, Poirot, Sherlock Holmes( not the Guy Ritchie one) or even enjoy playing the classic board game, Cluedo. You have to give this movie a try.

Like I mentioned earlier, the cast is strong. You have the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Chris Evans and Daniel Craig in a movie and everyone had enough screen time to show what they have got. I liked the pace of the movie and the script was well written. I couldn't stop laughing when Frank Oz appears as a cameo. Christopher Plummer looked great and in shape.In fact the actress who is playing his mother is younger than him. You might remember him as Von Trapp in Sound of Music. Something a little unusual but Daniel Craig's accent in this movie is hilarious. I do hope to see another Daniel Craig's character, Benoit Blanc in yet another whodunit cos he was entertaining to watch.

Not much for anything but you have to focus on the lines and acting for Knives Out. I have to give credit to Rian Johnson for this. It is also best to watch the movie with subtitles so you can pay close attention.

All in all, Knives out movie was fun to watch and I think as long as Rian Johnson continue to do movies that are not Star Wars related, he would do just fine.

Movie review of The Two Popes

The Two Popes - 5/10

I've always looked forward to Fernando Meirelles' movies. His direction of movies like City of God, Blindness and the Constant Gardner were brilliant. So when I found out Two Popes was directed by him, I had to watch it even though I'm not at all into the content of the movie. But it is a movie after all and watching two very good established actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce was great.

The rest of the casting were good but the movie is pretty much focused on Hopkins and Pryce. And it was really nice to see them going back and forth at each other through acting. If you have no knowledge of Catholicism, you might find it a little hard to understand what is going on so best to read up a bit if you wish to watch it.

Editing was not too bad. I did like some of the transitional shots of the movie. Sadly the cinematography was really inconsistent and leaning towards bad quite a bit. The close ups were horrible. Shaky and out of focus. Some shots it felt really too close. I could see Jonathan Pryce's nose hair, that's how close it was. For all those bad close ups, there was a really good shot, when Pryce's character walks into a room and the shot just shone out beautifully.

All in all, Two Popes is decent to watch, only if you have nothing else to watch. Just bear with the horrible close ups. Watch it for the acting.

Movie review of Gemini Man

Gemini Man - 3.5/10

Ang Lee should really stop doing action movies. Every time he ventures into an action movie, it usually is shit. Hulk, nuff said. Just stick to movies, you are good at.

For an action movie, the action sequences were boring and ridiculous at times. The CGI was below par as well which makes the action sequences a little silly. I've always enjoyed watching Will Smith's movies. He always had a pretty good mix. An aging Will Smith doing action is not too bad. Though he ain't no Tom Cruise but still fun to watch. However, adding a younger version of Will Smith that looks like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air with weird lips (Think Henry Cavhil in Justice League) is just a plain no.
I love sci fi movies but sometimes you have to be a little, just a little realistic. Don't push it too far or it will just become ridiculous. Gemini Man is a fine example. The movie was going ok right until mid way it starts getting ridiculous and then towards the end, the plot twist was just rubbish. And then there was Clive Owen. I really did not understand what Ang Lee was trying to do with his character? Cos it was confusing and Clive Owen's acting did not help one bit as well.

Don't bother watching Gemini Man at the cinema. It's boring and a waster of ticket money. Wait for it to show on cable or Netflix.

Movie review of Zombieland: Double Tap

Zombieland: Double Tap - 5.5/10

I enjoyed the first one and I was pleasantly surprised they decided to do a sequel ten years later. Double Tap was still fun and had some pretty funny lines and scenes.

The cast is still the same and they added a few more to the mix. Zoey Deutch is one of the new addition and she pretty much steals the show every time she appears. It was pretty obvious that the rest of the cast could barely keep themselves from laughing. Abigail Breslin( Little Rock) used to be cute in the first movie. She did not age well. She looks very different now. Beside Zoey stealing the show, Woody Harrelson still maintains his comedic scenes to a tee. It was like Tallahassee hasn't changed one single bit. The cameoswhich have appeared for Double Tap had their moments as well. However I wished Columbus had "murrayed" another celebrity instead and it would have been hilarious if it was Dan Akroyd.
Do wait a while for the end credits where you will see a pretty funny clip.

Zombieland: Double Tap is a fun movie to watch. If you like zombie movies or have watched the first one then you will enjoy Double Tap. I enjoyed the names they came up with for the zombies as well. Hilarious.