Black Adam

Oh, I saw Black Adam, on opening night I think.

Spoilers ahead.

Jumanji: The Next Level

Tonight I saw a movie I have a lot to say about, but it’s late, so instead I’m going to blurt out some quick comments about a different movie I saw a couple of days ago–Jumanji: The Next Level.

Movies on a Plane: Towering Inferno / Die Hard mash-up, funny spies, derivative dystopia, video game adaptation reboot prequel & some serious drama thrown in to boot

As promised last time, there was a flight back from New York to Perth, and thanks again to Qatar Airways top-notch in-flight entertainment system, I watched a whole lot of stuff.

My usual go-to viewing in situations like this is cheap entertaining fluff films that are engaging enough to hold my interest but not so taxing as to require any real focus.  As we’ll see, I stayed true to form for much of this trip, but not all of it…

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (…at last)

G.I. Joe Retaliation is exactly the sort of movie I look for when I’m tired on a plane:  something that has enough action and humor to be entertaining, but which requires very little intellectual or emotional investment.  And so I’ve been looking for an opportunity to catch this flight on every flight I’ve taken since it came out in 2013, but I’ve never had any luck.  Then, suddenly, it was added to Netflix’s list of offerings, and it became an opportunity too good to pass up.

Furious 7–great and terrible, all at once

I’ve never been a big fan of The Fast and the Furious franchise.  In fact, up until recently, I’d only seen the first one, and that was on TV some quiet evening.  I don’t remember it very well but for me it’s been my go-to example for movies should, at the very least, be able to achieve in terms of quality.  It usually goes something like this:  “That movie was terrible–it didn’t even reach The Fast and the Furious‘ level of storytelling and characterization.”