Movie reviews of Alex Brannan

The bottom line with Dumbo is that it is a competent addition to the live action Disney universe. While none of these Disney reimaginations have been thoroughly compelling, a handful of them have sufficed. Review

There is fun to be had, a contact high during the journey, but the film sags under its own freewheeling carelessness. Review

Us is a wild ride bolstered by Peele’s vision and a crucial ensemble cast. Lupita Nyong’o, in particular, gives a flooring performance that provides both an emotional current and a ceaselessly unsettling atmosphere. Additional noteworthy nodes in this horror romp: cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and composer Michael Abels. Review

In the end, Captive State is not the bombastic-yet-heady science fiction spectacle Wyatt set out to make. But it is dense with plotting and incident and intrigue. A fan of the genre may find themselves immersed enough in the world to ignore its numerous shortcomings. Review

The end result can be fun and bombastic, but it also fails on its aspirations to live up to something bigger. Review

Captain Marvel does its job. It front-loads all of the information needed to understand the Kree and their place in the MCU. It ties up continuity threads that have been left dangling. It presents us another hero to add to the hefty Marvel Studios stable. And it has some fun along the way. Review

Alita: Battle Angel has its glossy surface. It has its tactical set pieces. But it is not a story told smoothly. The narrative is not compelling, because everything that needs to be set-up is done so inelegantly. Ultimately, this makes the film read bland, less exciting. Review

The film is dressed as a parody, yet its comedy comes predominantly from a recognition of its parodic premise, as opposed to parody proper. Review

It is incisive and sharp, and the dialogue cuts through to your attention span and takes control. Review

In the end, The LEGO Movie 2 is an upbeat yet relatively underwhelming sequel. It is fluffy and over-stuffed, and it is a machine of pop culture references and tongue-in-cheek gags. Review

A strange tonal experiment that plucks its frigid setting and its crime-comedy mashup straight out of Fargo but fails to thread the needle as effectively. Review

Ultimately, this genre exercise yields little in the way of fear, critical dissection, or mystique. Review

A glamorized Hollywood remake, a shoot-em-up thriller that makes a non-American locale seem exotic and dangerous to Americans and that dabbles in very serious subject matter without nuance. Review

The narrative is not particularly novel, but it has its charms. Review

A film that is too hand-holding, too overt in its genre deconstruction, too blunt in its story-telling. And this takes away from what could be enjoyable about the premise. Review

The film can recite familiar feelings, but it doesn’t produce much out of that. It is a film which is soured by its sweetness. Review

The conflict is ever-present and the persistence of its central figure is inspiring, but the film does not quite rise to the level of inspiration of its real-life subject. Review

There is a fun inventiveness to the staging of the escape rooms. It does not grow tiresome when the characters find themselves in the third or fourth room, as each room has an individual aesthetic. For what it is, it is a good time at the movies. Review

Brisk but not breezy. It is well-acted but its characters are not well-drawn. And, most importantly, It intends to indict without carrying out a sentence. Review

We watch Israel’s scheme go awry, and it is compelling irrespective of McCarthy’s wonderful performance. Review

It is a formulaic Civil Rights era period piece that wants to be charming as hell—it is, at times, but that mainly just makes it come across outdated and sanitized. Review

Brian Tyree Henry and Teyonah Parris fill the screen with nuance and personality. And Regina King maximizes each second of her screentime with a maternal portrayal that is, in the traditional sense of the word, awesome. Review

Sure, it is very artsy. The stillness of its protagonist. The occasionally obvious visual juxtapositions. The black-and-whiteness of it all. But Cleo’s story is heartbreaking, compassionate, intimate, and elegant. Review

It is such a black-and-white film about a man’s redemption by way of driving drugs across the country, so black-and-white that Eastwood’s rather charming performance almost isn’t enough to make it work. Review