You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. That’s the sad fate for Sheriff Brody who, years after the events of “Jaws,” is now seen as the crackpot of Amity Island. Despite the fact that the mayor admitted defeat in the end of “Jaws,” and in spite of academic backing, and a very experienced shark hunter dying at the teeth of the beast, Amity Island has a streak of memory loss prompting a lot of people to forget what Sheriff Brody accomplished at the end of the original movie.
Tag Archives: Sequel
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Now Exclusively in Theaters.
2015’s “Inside Out” felt like such a genuine and sincere attempt to figure out not just emotions but the importance that both negative and positive emotions can have. It simplified itself through normal subconscious cues like colors and characters, but through it all “Inside Out” was touching and a complex look at dealing with our feelings and learning to accept them. “Inside Out 2” is a perfectly okay follow up that has a lot to live up to. Its predecessor set the bar high and the sequel never quite hits that bar. “Inside Out 2” is stuck in the middle of trying to figure out what it’s trying to say and hitting that bottom line of introducing new characters for the sake of merchandise sales.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) [Blu-Ray/Digital HD]
Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.
After two whole months “Godzilla x Kong” is now available on physical media. Two whole months. Sixty days. 1,460 hours. I’m old enough to remember when it usually took eleven months for movies to be put on home video, but I digress. If you missed “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” after its theatrical run, it’s still a humdinger of a monster movie that is sadly Adam Wingard’s last outing in this monsterverse. It’s a fun note to exit on as I’m sure Warner and co. are planning to take the inevitable next chapter and use it as a chance for a soft reboot with Godzilla or Kong finding new challenges. Until then, there’s “The New Empire.”
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
Now Exclusively in Theaters.
I’ve had my problems with the “Bad Boys” series in the past, but unlike the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, it’s been one of the most consistent series of action films ever released. The vision for “Bad Boys” has remained very precise and direct without adding too much or taking too much away. The stakes get higher with every film, and through it all we’ve stayed with Marcus and Mike only without adding on so much excess characters like “Lethal Weapon” fell victim to. “Bad Boys” has mainly been a vehicle for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, sure, but at least it knows what it is and tries to deliver on more complex ideas and bigger stakes.
Dune: Part Two (2024) [4K UHD/Digital]
Now Available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
“Dune Part Two” is an infinitely superior film to the 2021 installment of “Dune” which, when all was said and done, felt more like a prologue than an actual narrative. While “Dune” was good, the second chapter to Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation feels so much more cohesive. Not to mention a lot of the concepts and ideas and so much less abstract and much easier to comprehend. There’s just so much more focus and laser beam direction this time out. While, again, “Dune” was good in its own right, I just had a much better time in how Villeneuve adopts the whole concept of “Dune” in the vein of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Available on Physical Media and For Streaming.
I highly doubt this was ever planned to be the end (as nothing really ends in Hollywood), but if anything “War for the Planet of the Apes” is a stellar end to the Caesar saga. This new series’ timeline of the “Planet of the Apes” saga has proven to be filled with surprises and epic drama that once was anchored by the humans. Thanks to the amazing motion capture and excellent performance by Andy Serkis, it’s refreshing to see the series pivot finally over to the apes’ point of view. “War for the Planet of the Apes” is a downright fantastic epilogue to the journey of Caesar who went from animal victim to messiah of the new dominating race of apes.
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
Now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
After being thrown a bone by Warner being able to bring his version of “Justice League,” he’s announced that these versions of his alleged “Star Wars Killers” known as “Rebel Moon” as more or less unofficial. They’re still movies in a sense, but not in his mind. He’s allegedly planning to release Director’s Cuts for both films, which includes potentially longer scenes and alternate takes on various scenes. So what is even the point of this whole shebang? Snyder is less an auteur and feels so much more like a brand manager trying to figure out an algorithm for a great movie–and he can’t quite synthesize the formula. He seems to base so much of his films around focus groups and buzz rather than instinct which make him such a terrible filmmaker through and through.