Movie reviews of Alex Brannan

Two to three set pieces use the eponymous building to good effect. Otherwise, it is an empty action experience without character, wit, or intelligence. Review

Light-hearted and well-intentioned, a wholesome family film with an animation guru pulling the strings. Review

The action serves its necessary function. The comedy is more effective than your average action venture. Review

Gives us characters worth rooting for in an environment that is actively trying to suppress them, both textually and subtextually. Review

A chuckle here and there. But ultimately it is boilerplate plotting, derivative comedy, and airless depictions of basketball. Review

Narratively divorced, Soldado remains a tough sell. It is hard on the soul, bleak for the sake of bleak, its only justification appearing to be that the world really is that bleak anyway. Review

The only genuine aspect is the action set pieces. They are flashy and loud and violent and, occasionally, quite effective. Everything else feels phoned in. Review

The documentary may read at large stretches like a greatest hits reel of Rogers’ program, but in a sense that is enough to make the point. Review

A really good Pixar movie. It is a fairly good superhero movie. As a long-awaited follow up to The Incredibles, it doesn’t stack up as strongly. Review

A light, high concept comedy with a loose script and charismatic actors who are playfully working to hide the looseness. Review

The numerous issues with Superfly, surprisingly, do not take away from what makes the film compelling. Review

Undoubtedly a film whose intensity and psychological weight are palpable, unshakable entities. Review

The strong acting, the lavish costume design, the snappy editing. It all adds up. But it isn’t the well-oiled machine that it thinks it is. Review

We get a great cast wielding an offbeat, close-quarters action story. Review

Does a lot of stuff brilliantly. Review

It isn’t style over substance, nor is it narrative over form. It is a seamless integration of great style and great narrative. Review

The jokes run thin early. The plot is uninspired and fails hard when it decides to play the heartstrings. Review

As much as the tone struggles to mesh, the core of Upgrade is jam-packed with entertainment value. Review

A fine little survival picture retelling the story of an undoubtedly resourceful and determined person. Review

It has the sense of being a dispassionate and inessential part of this ongoing Star Wars machine. Review

Strains to tap into contemporary technophobia, but it never grounds that in the source material that it borrows from. Review

Unless you’re a critic who dislikes partisanship even when it lines up with his political views, you will likely either love it or hate it. Review

Overall the comedy here is fairly tight. In a cinematic landscape that is bombarded with superhero movies of various quality, Deadpool is the IP we need right now. Review

Seeds are sown for characters to have genuine relationships with each other. These are largely abandoned, replaced with lackluster punchlines. Review