Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

Spyro Rating: 3,0 /10 as "foul" 

Director: Malcolm D. Lee

Stars: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Sonequa Martin-Green, Cedric Joe

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) claims to be inspired by the Space Jam (1996). The new film still mixes basketball with toons and instead of Michael Jordan we got LeBron James. However the 2021 production has nothing to do with the 1996 classic which they failed to understand.

The plot is still similar to the 1996 film. Our basketball superstar has to form a team with toons and they need to win a match in order to save humanity. Difference is this time LeBron was digitized inside a computer server where the match takes place. Also, basketball rules are different, they include "style points" and other video game things.

Usually bad movies don't inspire you to discuss. I decided to proceed with this review because it is a recent film and sometimes we need to show the "bad" so we can understand what make others "good". LeBron deserves to be in a better movie. 

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) trailer #1

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) trailer #2

The Suicide Squad (2021)

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Spyro Rating: 6,8 /10 as "better -the-" 

Director: James Gunn

Stars: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Daniela Melchior, Viola Davis

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Many missed 'The Suicide Squad (2021)' because it was confused with 'Suicide Squad (2016)'. To clarify: they are different. Simple solution would be to add a "2" at the end,  instead production chose to add a "the" at the front. The "not 2" reasoning might be to avoid labeling the 2021 film as a "sequel" to the mediocre one of 2016. !Let's escape this mess and call the 2021 film a "soft reboot" since the director and most cast have changed. 

Margot Robbie is still here and the concept is still the same. A ruthless government organization is recruiting/blackmailing imprisoned supervillains to join a black-ops team. If they survive and follow instructions to the letter, then their sentences will be reduced. If they do somethin wrong, then a bomb implanted inside their body will detonate.

Having a a better writer/director -James Gunn- does make a better movie. However this film still has the misfortune of being part of DCEU. Marketing can only make the "DC" logo as small as they are allowed to have it but they cannot give us the green light to watch this film by labeling it as "standalone". Fortunately for us, it is standalone.

The Suicide Squad (2021) “Rain” trailer

The Suicide Squad (2021) “Rebellion” trailer

Free Guy (2021)

Free Guy (2021)

Spyro Rating: 8,3 /10 as "updated" 

Director: Shawn Levy

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Taika Waititi

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Free Guy (2021) is a science-fiction comedy about a Non-Player Character (NPC) who is part of a violent video game. NPCs have the sole purpose of being background/not-real characters and exist just to be victimized by human players.

Ryan Reynolds, the "Guy" turns out to be a different NPC. Something triggered him to develop a personality on his own. He starts to act like a human player and chooses to level up by the unorthodox way of being the good guy.

This is as good as a comedy gets. Understanding the many references to different film/videogame franchises is bonus! Big thumbs up to the bad guy (developer) for making an excellent summary of today's marketing.

Free Guy (2021) trailer

Cruella (2021)

Cruella (2021)

Spyro Rating: 6,0 /10 as "too mainstream" 

Director: Craig Gillespie

Stars: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Cruella (2021) is a prequel to the 101 Dalmatians franchise. This film is set to tell the famous villain's origin story. It is 100% about Cruella de Vil.  

Everything starts with a brilliant child who has a dual personality. Her "good" side goes by her birth name: Estella. Her "evil" one is referred as Cruella. Things turn wrong and in result she grows up like an orphan street thief. Years later, she decides to live a life that would make her mother proud. That would be chasing her own dream to become a fashion designer.

 By all means Cruella is a good standalone film. However it is not what it should have been and does not fit in the franchise's direction. Not because we did not see the puppies. Bu because we did not see the villain as we knew her. Production decided to make Cruella somehow likeable and looks more like an "anti-hero" and less like the "villain" that I expected.

Cruella (2021) official trailer #1

Cruella (2021) official trailer #2

Beetlejuice (1988)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Spyro Rating: 7,5 /10 as "bio-exorcist"

Director: Tim Burton 

Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Beetlejuice (1988) is another horror-comedy film by Tim Burton. Was a big hit back in the day and still holds up like a classic.

A happily married couple go on vacations, have a car accident and they die. Death for them means they wake up in their house. However the house is sold to new (living) owners who disturb them. Not knowing how to properly scare them away, they hire a professional bio-exorcist "Betelgeuse".

One sequel to this film was a 4 seasons animates series (1989 - 1991) with 94 episodes total. However we still haven't get a live-action film sequel. It has been over 30 years and fans are still asking as they hope all those rumors will come true one day.

Beetlejuice (1988) trailer

Black Widow (2021)

Black Widow (2021)

Spyro Rating: 8,4 /10 as "super" 

Director: Cate Shortland 

Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

It is always better to be late than to never be. A solo Scarlett Johansson film was long delayed for Marvel Cinematic Universe and we finally got it.

Plot is set between Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Avengers are disbanded and Natasha Romanoff is an international fugitive. Running is not the point, she just needs to keep herself busy by fighting enemies from her past. 

This film was another pleasant surprise from Disney. Expectations were to just watch the typical superhero - comedy but this is more than that. The plot keeps all your focus there till the finale. In addition, all secondary characters perfectly fit and through the movie you will concern about the fate of each one.

Black Widow (2021) trailer

Wicker Man: The Final Cut (1973, 2013)

The Wicker Man: The Final Cut (1973, 2013)

Spyro Rating: 8,5 /10 as "classic" 

Director: Robin Hardy 

Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Do not confuse this with the 2006 garbage remake. The Wicker Man (1973) is a classic horror film, one of those that you remember for life.

A police sergeant arrives on a island to investigate a missing child case. A challenging task since all locals are weird pagans and not interested to help him find their own child. He quickly suspects that the child was sacrificed and needs to find proof of what happened. 

The initial 1973 release was not complete as part of the original material was lost after a series of events. Those events include a change in film ownership, some censorship and bad archiving. Time helped in recovering some parts and as of today "The Final Cut" of 2013 is close enough to what was originally intended by Robin Hardy.

The Wicker Man: The Final Cut (1973, 2013) trailer

Lost in Translation (2003)

Lost in Translation (2003)

Spyro Rating: 3,5 /10 as "boring" 

Director: Sofia Coppola 

Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Lost in Translation (2003) is a film that offers great performance from two actors but nothing more.

An old movie star (Bill Murray) is past his greatest days. Arrives in Tokyo to grab some cash doing commercials. He meets a young woman (Scarlett Johansson) and they get along. They are both as miserable as if they just watched this film. 

This film does not have a story to tell. It is just a romance between a married man and a younger woman who is not fond of her own boyfriend. Not a movie for male viewers and almost fails Scarlett Johansson fans.

Lost in Translation (2003) trailer

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Spyro Rating: 5,0 /10 as "pointless sequel" 

Director: Roland Emmerich

Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) is a 20 year belated sequel to the masterpiece Independence Day (1996). We didn't get back Will Smith, but the production still managed to reunite many original-film cast members.

During the events of the first film, humanity won a war against alien invaders. Those aliens could travel through space but were taken down by a computer virus placed inside an 1,44 MB floppy disk. Now, twenty years later, those aliens are better prepared.

The existence of this sequel does not do justice to the 1996 masterpiece. It completely fails to understand why the first movie worked so well. Unless watching the credits, no one can believe that both films were produced by the same director. Good news, there won't be a third film.

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) trailer

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Spyro Rating: 6,2 /10 as "chewbacca" 

Director: Bill Condon 

Stars: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad

More details on IMDB and Wikipedia 

Beauty and the Beast (2017) is the live-action adaptation to the 1991 Disney animated movie. As a kid I skip the original film because I thought it was "girlish". After watching the adaptation, I can confirm it is indeed very "girlish" and also very "musical".

Emma Watson lives in medieval France as the only educated villager. After a series of events, she finds herself trapped in haunted castle. The castle lord has been cursed to live as a beast. The castle servants are cursed to live as homeware. Only way for the curse to be lifted is if the beast ever gets loved.

Singing goes over 40 minutes. If you are happy with that, or are able to tolerate it, then you got a very pleasant film to watch. Expect a great looking scenery and a calm storytelling, same as most other Disney films.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) trailer