Movie reviews of The Massie Twins

Red Notice” proceeds to follow a pattern like an absurd The Defiant Ones merged with a slapstick Indiana Jones knock-off and the very worst parts of Sherlock Holmes, embellished with nonsensically convenient solutions to ridiculously laborious tasks. Review

It’s an epic picture, predating the action-packed likes of Ben-Hur and Spartacus, though its centered around drama more than excitement, most apparent at the climax. But the love story is what is most absorbing, similarly amplified by heroic sacrifices of individual happiness for the greater good. Review

The picture is smartly paced, well constructed, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. In its study of writing, communication, and understanding the filmmakers have transformed a small collection of actors and locations into something notably grand. Review

To go with the continually engaging look of the film is a spectacularly creative script, brimming with humor and a buoyant lunacy. Review

The film is also exceptionally funny, buoyed by keen scripting, light slapstick, and joyous performances. Review

The way this story is shaped and designed leaves plenty to be desired; most of the characters are extremely generic, while the plot is terribly straightforward. Review

The end result is simple yet cinematic, unrealistic yet effectively fanciful, combining eventide action, a genuinely suspenseful rescue and showdown, and a charming finale. Review

By the end of it all (which takes a long time to reach, considering the colossal length), the unexplained powers and the utter lack of definitions surrounding the stars and their opponents lends to the feeling that solutions and resolutions are made up on the spot. Review

The film isn’t dull; there’s something absorbing about the most basic notion of warring factions vying for superiority over resources and civilians. Review

The French Dispatch is a terribly funny, intermittently tender, tremendously pleasant work. Review

It’s difficult to fully appreciate (and judge) a piece of a story as anything other than the fragment that it is, even if Villeneuve’s acumen for visual imaginativeness is extraordinarily spellbinding. Review

Conspiracies complicate the plot, but it’s not long before the premise crawls yet again. Too many of the groups are watery and tedious. Review

When Last Night in Soho attempts straightforward horror, it likewise fails miserably, embracing every trope imaginable, while inundating viewers with so many mirror-based boo moments that no sequence with a reflection maintains any sort of surprise. Review

It’s the creative violence and the set and character designs that prove to be most fascinating (as well as the unexpectedly action-packed yet geographically nonsensical climax). Review

Cheesy screen wipes, impromptu rap verses, extreme overacting, and bad dialogue further disrupt the flow of action and comedy. Review

Despite returning once again to the titular, powerhouse showdown, the bulk of the picture is an emotional, riveting drama of distorted facts, twisted justifications, and weighty outcomes, hinging on a societal bravery that matches up to the intensity of the battlefield. Review

Fortunately, every time the central romance falters, eccentric subplots crop up – the best of which is the impressionable Warfield. Review

The film uses the half-mockumentary, half-absurdist-comedy format to design a series of continuous one-liners and gags that never let up. Most of the jokes work, though they’re all relatively small. Review

Though the script is chirpy and intermittently clever, layered with chases and action and violence, the lead character is a major weak spot. Review

By the end of it all – and what a rough, inconsequential ending it is – it’s evident that the filmmakers have no idea what to do with these characters and their super-antihero capabilities. Review

Younger generations will surely enjoy the stabs at updated political and social correctness, while longtime fans will pick up on the various nods, connections, and revelations that tie into the larger Bond universe, but there are simply too many needless subplots, characters, and simultaneous missions going on, diluting any sense of excitement. Review

An assassin with a moral code and an uncommon sense of compassion aren’t new, particularly when combined with modern gangsters and the authorities closing in – authorities led by a rather sporting cop. But Woo’s attention to graphic details, his insistence on excessiveness, and his skill with action sequences make this adventure an uncommonly severe and tense ordeal. Review

But the film refuses to be so simple as to merely have Daniel guide Lucy in the right direction; his sacrifice leads to a potent revelation – one tragically mature and unexpected for this otherwise mirthful fantasy. Review

With a spectacular sense of adventure, plenty of romantic complications, and a classic beauty-and-the-beast scenario, this particular adaptation of Victor Hugo’s immortal tale is one of the best. Review