Have you ever wanted to watch a movie and wondered, ‘What is there to watch?’ Fear not, below are some movies that you might enjoy.
We Can Be Heroes
Released: December 25, 2020
Rated: PG
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
We Can Be Heroes is a good movie for children to watch, not so much those of the older crowd.
This is yet another film to be considered a success in the long line of movies created and directed by Robert Rodriguez. A sort-of sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, the movie follows young children who must save their superhero parents, referred to as the Heroics, who have been taken hostage by aliens in an attempt to take over the Earth. Filled with loads of action, this movie is great for the family to sit down and enjoy together.
This isn’t the first time Robert Rodriguez has both written and directed family-based action films in some part. His other movies include those of the Spy Kids franchise and, as stated earlier, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Interestingly enough, his son Racer, who was seven at the time, came up with the story idea of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Even now, when creating We Can Be Heroes, Rodriguez received the help of his children. His daughter, Rhiannon, helped come up with some of the superpowers of the kids and drew the drawings used by one of the kids whose abilities involved sketches. His son, Racer, was a producer of the movie; his son, Rebel, created the movie score; his son, Rogue, created the designs for the alien ships. Nothing better than to work on something collaboratively with one’s family.
I think that if this movie came out when I was younger, I’d enjoy it more. The movie has many colors and is filled with tons of action left and right that would capture a child’s attention. I feel that because now I am older and my mind has developed more, it was easy to pick out the one or two plot inconsistencies. As for the superpowers of the children, I feel like they could have been developed more. One of them being that the aspects as to what one of the kids could do with their powers went against what had been established earlier. Another of the kids was considered to be going so fast that he was stuck in a time warp and appeared to be running in slow motion to anyone that saw him. On top of that, there were other things that just didn’t make any sense. Before going to rescue their parents, these children, who don’t have any experience in the field might I add, train for about half an hour to an hour at most and are able to master their powers. In relation to other factors, I ended up disliking the film very much.
Watching the movie brought a sense of familiarity, as one of the scenes takes place at the same school used in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl as well as the same building used for the headquarters in the Spy Kids movies. The CGI effects used, the alien spaceships, in particular, reminded me of similar effects used in the Spy Kids films. I won’t lie and say they were the best, considering they looked like they belonged to a movie made in the early 2000s rather than now. Despite everything, I think that as long as one just sits down and tries to watch the movie without overanalyzing everything, they could go on to like it, at least a little bit.
Overall, it was hard to watch, and as a result, I wouldn’t recommend that anyone watches it.
Love and Monsters
Released: October 16, 2020
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Michael Matthews
There are no words to describe what I felt. Just watch it yourself.
Seven years prior, an asteroid threatened to hit the Earth, and as a result, the nations teamed up and shot rockets at it to prevent the world from being destroyed and succeeded. However, what they didn’t know was what would happen after. Chemicals from the rockets rained back down on the Earth and caused cold-blooded animals to mutate and develop monsteristic features. With ninety-five percent of the population wiped out, humans were forced into hiding wherever they could. Love and Monsters follows Joel Dawson as he leaves the safety of his underground bunker and tries to keep alive as he journeys across the surface to meet up with his highschool girlfriend, Aimee, whom he hasn’t seen since the day the incident occurred.
This stand-alone post-apocalyptic film was directed by Michael Matthews. Matthews has also directed the movie Five Fingers for Marseilles (which has won several awards) as well as the short films Apocalypse Now Now and Sweetheart. With a budget of just thirty million dollars, Love and Monsters has touched the hearts of critics and features Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, and others.
Where do I begin? With the movie being labeled as a post-apocalyptic romance, I kind of assumed that at least a good portion of it would be all lovey-dovey or maybe even a romance cliche where they just fall in love. To my surprise, the movie had just the right amount of romance and adventure. I honestly like how when the romance part did come along, it was realistic, and I think the actors did a good job portraying that.
As the viewer watches Joel navigate the world above, it is exhilarating to see what monster might pop around the corner next and how he might deal with them. Contrary to what one might think at first, Joel isn’t the sort of character that knows what to do right off the bat, but by using what he does know and what he learns from some friends he makes along the way, he survives. That’s something I really liked about his character. He’s a human being with real emotions, and the way viewers are able to see that on the screen is pretty satisfying.
Needless to say, you should watch it.
The War With Grandpa
Released: October 9, 2020
Rated: PG
Directed by: Tim Hill
This family comedy might be for you if you want a few laughs, just be sure not to expect too much.
The movie follows Peter and his call for “war” in an attempt to get his grandfather, Ed, to give him his room back. Of course, neither of them does so without the assistance of their best friends. And what is a war without innocent civilians getting caught in the crossfire?
Tim Hill has directed many familiar films such as Hop, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. The War With Grandpa is simply a movie adaptation of the book by the same name written by Robert Kimmel Smith. With a production budget of thirty-eight million dollars, Hill worked with actors Robert De Niro, Oakes Fegley, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walker, and others to bring the adaptation to life.
Personally, the movie was alright. I was a bit interested to watch it at first, but if you ask me now, it isn’t something I would be excited to watch again. The way the acting was portrayed felt a bit bland at times to me, the dodgeball game in particular, although some might disagree. The pranks in themselves were somewhat simple and clever. Plot aside, I was able to get in a couple of laughs, but not as much as you’d expect from a comedy.
All in all, the movie wasn’t the best, but it definitely wasn’t the worst.
The High Note
Released: May 29, 2020
Rated: PG-13
Directed by: Nisha Ganatra
The High Note is the type of movie that you are content watching but aren’t deeply into.
The High Note follows Maggie (Dakota Johnson), the assistant of talented superstar Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), who spends her time running errands but still holds on to her childhood dream of becoming a music producer. While at the grocery store, Maggie is hit on by David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who she later learns is an aspiring singer-songwriter. With the chance to make her dream come true presented before her, she takes it. Soon, Maggie finds herself having to balance her jobs as well as the developing relationship she has with David, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Grace.
The High Note was directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Flora Greeson. Some other films directed by Ganatra are Late Night, Pete’s Christmas, Cake, and others. With a budget of around twenty million dollars, the film has accumulated $2,212,766 in revenue.
The movie was enjoyable to watch. I liked the plot, especially how not everything is sunshine and rainbows in the music industry for artists who have made it and others who might desire another position in the industry. An example of this is when Grace mentions she wants to release a new album, but those around her think it is better for her to sign a contract for a Vegas residency where she’d do the same routine and still make money, possibly because (1) she’s over the age of forty and (2) according to the film, “Only five women over 40 have a number one hit, only one was black..”. Throughout the film, Grace even struggles with herself as to whether or not it’s better to play it safe or try something new. With Maggie, the struggle is that most around her think she should be happy with the job she has, being Grace’s personal-assistant, the one she’s had for three years. Despite this, the film shows Maggie doing whatever she has to do in order to achieve that dream, even taking the advice of Grace’s manager, Jack (Ice Cube), to find her own clients, all while juggling her job. As to the relationship between Maggie and Grace, I kind of wish that there was a bit more to it than the assistant-boss relationship they had going on.
Although I found the movie interesting, when I finished it, there was no lingering effect. It felt like it was just going through the motions. The film’s soundtrack has a good selection of songs, but while listening, I don’t know if it’s just me, I felt like it was limited, like I was listening to some of the songs on repeat. That aside, would I recommend the movie to someone else? Sure, after all, everyone has different tastes and opinions. It’s up to them as to whether or not they choose to watch or even like it.
Give these movies a chance, you might like them.
