Movie Reviews

Saturday, October 30, 2021

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


Friday, October 8, 2021

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