Cinema Snapshots: June 2019
What I watched last month...
Welcome to this month’s Cinema Snapshots! At the beginning of each month, I reflect on what I watched the prior month and provide a quick “snapshot” of my thoughts on those films. So without further ado, here are my Cinema Snapshots for June 2019.
Dark Phoenix
The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey’s new abilities to rule the galaxy.
The X-Men franchise has always been a little cheesy, hard to take serious, and full of strange writing and acting choices. Dark Phoenix sticks with that trend and is a suiting end to a largely mediocre franchise.
Consistent with their other performances, Fassbender and McAvoy bring their A-game to Dark Phoenix. They’ve been the saving grace of the X-Men films, even when surrounded by subpar performances and scripts. Sophie Turner was serviceable as Jean Gray, but with a movie so centered on her character, I think she deserved a better script and/or take on the character.
Dark Phoenix at least works well from a technical standpoint. I found the cinematography to be unique, the lighting was interesting, and the effects were among the best in the franchise. Hans Zimmer also produced some of the best X-Men music to date, full of emotion and pulsing action. The music was often a difference maker in scenes, adding depth to an overall shallow film.
And shallow really is the best word to describe Dark Phoenix. There’s no big story question, not much of a character arc, and no moral of the story. Events just happen, and then they end. And that’s how the X-Men franchise goes away: just ending.
★★☆☆☆
Murder Mystery
On a long-awaited trip to Europe, a New York City cop and his hairdresser wife scramble to solve a baffling murder aboard a billionaire’s yacht.
Adam Sandler continues his partnership with Netflix in Murder Mystery, the latest in a line of mediocre Sandler movies that produce a few laughs but are ultimately forgettable.
The film starts out promising. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston rely on their usual quirks for laughs, and the “fish-out-of-water” premise works well in the first 30 minutes as the couple meets the bizarre lineup of characters on the yacht. Ultimately this movie falls apart in its second half, when everything in the film starts to feel tired and rundown, including its lead actors.
As a whole, the film just turns out to be boring. Watch it if you’ve got a slow day or uneventful weekend; otherwise, you shouldn’t feel bad about skipping this one. Misusing talented actors and a promising premise might be the real crime here.
★★☆☆☆
Men in Black: International
The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization.
Men in Black: International is a forgettable and unnecessary entry in the Men in Black series that only remains watchable due to the chemistry between its stars, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Hemsworth and Thompson truly save this film, drawing laughs purely from their facial expressions, quirky actions, and hilarious line deliveries. They have great chemistry together, just like in Thor: Ragnarok.
The rest of the cast does well given the lackluster material they’re working with. Liam Neeson does his typical thing, it’s nice to see Rebecca Ferguson play a small role, and Emma Thompson does her part serviceably well.
The film’s writing is incredibly cookie cutter. I sat in the theater filling in the lines of dialogue before they were spoken, and the plot twists are laughably predictable. In a summer where Avengers: Endgame set the bar for what a blockbuster can be (unfair, I know), MIB: International just doesn’t cut it.
★★☆☆☆
The Secret Life of Pets 2
Max the terrier must cope with some major life changes when his owner gets married and has a baby. When the family takes a trip to the countryside, nervous Max has numerous run-ins with canine-intolerant cows, hostile foxes and a scary turkey. Luckily for Max, he soon catches a break when he meets Rooster, a gruff farm dog who tries to cure the lovable pooch of his neuroses.
I wasn’t a fan of the first Secret Life of Pets movie. It was predictable, all the laughs were in the trailers, and the plot structure itself was a wannabe Toy Story. Unfortunately the sequel is more of the same. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t terrible movies. There are plenty of laughs and fun hijinks, but it all feels so empty and meaningless. That’s what separates most Illumination animated films from their Disney and Pixar counterparts.
Secret Life of Pets 2 is much less structured than its predecessor. So many storylines are juggled that you nearly forget one before you reach the next relevant scene. Several times in the course of watching it, I wondered how much more enjoyable this concept would be as a streaming TV show or miniseries. Low stakes, unrelated events, and a shorter runtime would do this franchise well. The full-bellied laughs that start out the film are half-hearted chuckles by the end.
The voice cast does well (though they aren’t nearly as impactful as other animated films), and the score by Alexandre Desplat is one of the highlights, fun and full of energy. Watch Secret Life of Pets 2 if you want some light-hearted fun or are looking for a clean family movie. But if you’re looking for a high-quality film with deep messages, you can look elsewhere. These dogs haven’t learned any new tricks.
★★☆☆☆