Dunkirk

LOGAN ***1/2
Christopher Nolan returns for his latest outing which is probably his most ambitious movie yet.  "Dunkirk" is about the famous evacuation from Dunkirk in World War II, and I was absolutely enthralled by what I was watching.  From a technical standpoint, everything in this film creates this tension and realism that I've never experienced before.  Watching "Dunkirk" felt real.  The suspenseful music by Hans Zimmer, and the jaw-dropping cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema are big highlights of the film, and are a testament to how visually outstanding Nolan can be with his movies.  However, even though the technicality and tension are there, and I was invested in it, the writing is lackluster.  There was some dialogue between certain characters that, while well-acted, fell a little flat.  The movie is edited in a way that different timelines are happening simultaneously throughout the film, and it left me confused and not too invested with the personal side of the characters.  But if you know me, I am a geek for movies that are amazing from a technical standpoint, and this movie hits all of the right buttons.

CHASE ***
It’s not so much that the characters where lackluster, it’s more that there was no attempt to flesh any of them out.  Usually when I go into a war time movie like “Dunkirk”, I like to at least connect to one character that I want to root for and it doesn’t felt like they delivered on that.  Despite this major weakness however, almost everything else is really strong.  Throughout its entire runtime, there is a certain sense of unease in the story that is largely attributed to how the action scenes were directed as well as the unsettling music playing.  This helps create tension, but I think what would've made it even better is if there were at least a few characters that we wanted to pull for.  What potentially could’ve been a great movie is simply a really good movie.  It’s worth checking out, but I believe that there are better Nolan movies out there.

BRYCE ***
LANDON ***


BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

CHASE **1/2
Out of all the movies that have come out so far this year, "Captain Underpants" has got to be the most difficult to get a grasp on.  Growing up, I was a huge fan of the books that it was based off of and Dreamwork's adaptation is surprisingly faithful. The best way that I can describe this movie is to imagine that it was written by some elementary school kids, and I mean that in a surprisingly positive way.  There is a 10-year-old part of me that enjoys and laughs at this movie, but there's also an adult side of me that felt like I'm too old for this story.  This leads me to the middle ground that, for what it's worth, had me kind of enjoying it.  It helps that the animation style really fits the tone of the movie and while I wasn't the biggest fan of having adult actors playing the kid characters, I got used to it after a while.  Overall, "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie" is an odd one, but I do think it has some merit that makes it kind of good.  If you want to feel like a kid again, this is probably good one to check out.

LANDON **1/2
LOGAN **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Cars 3

LOGAN ***
After the box office flop (and critically panned) "Cars 2," many people were wondering why Pixar was making a third movie in this franchise.  I didn't know what to think either, but I hoped the company would set the "Cars" franchise back on track.  Did it succeed?  The answer is yes.  While not as good as the first movie, it is a return back to form after the second installment.  In fact, "Cars 3" never acknowledges the existence of the second movie!  What it does have are themes of retirement and losing touch with what you have passion for.  The movie does start off a little slow, but it quickly picks up as soon as McQueen starts to rebuild himself.  The animation is stunning (which is to be expected from Pixar), the new characters are fun and interesting, and the overall message, while a bit predictable, is a good message nonetheless.  Some of the humor does fall flat though, and like I said before, there are some slow parts, but Pixar clearly learned from the mistakes of "Cars 2" and churned out a decently good movie.  A welcome addition for the company.

LANDON **1/2
CHASE **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2