MrHlad

I wasn't entirely happy with the second film, but the third one made up for it. John Wick is moving forward, not in the sense that he's killing more people (although he might be doing that too), but director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have figured out an awful lot of unorthodox ways to do the killing on screen. Whereas last time it was mostly shoot-outs, this time around it relies more on contact fights, sharp weapons, and what I'd call a "four-legged arsenal." And it's great! Each action scene is different than the last. There's a shootout, then there's a motorcycle chase, a big vs. small or small vs. much smaller fight, and they manage to squeeze the absolute most out of all the action moments. Within the first half hour, the John Wick 3 does so many things that would last most action movie directors their entire careers. A big plus this time around is the presence of really strong supporting characters, whether they're on Wick's side or at his throat. While Stahelski continues to expand the world and mythology and I continue to feel that it's not entirely necessary, at the same time, it doesn't feel as forced as last time and given the qualitative and indeed quantitative shift in the action, I'm happy to forgive him for that. I'm glad that the people responsible for this franchise clearly haven't run out of ideas yet.

On the one hand, I'm glad the Russos broke the sequel rule of "cram more in than last time" and went a different route. But the truth is that this path is going more towards comic book fans than people who have no idea what Ant-Man's real name is... but they're not going to the cinema anyway, so what? Endgame manages to shock a few times in the first ten minutes, only to evolve in a direction that the trailers practically didn't even hint at. The directing duo conceived the whole thing in a much more intimate fashion this time around, relying heavily on fan service and clearly wanting to give each of the superhero veterans plenty of space. The humour is not absent this time either, but it's nice that the heroes are still aware that they screwed up last time and everyone has to deal with it in their own way. This more intimate mode suits the Avengers and makes things happen that even the most optimistic fans probably didn't hope for. Ironically, though, it's also the biggest problem, because it doesn't really start to get spectacular until the end. In sheer magnificence, Infinity War probably trumps Endgame, but I still felt like the whole thing could have come a little sooner. I enjoyed it a little more last time, but I can't imagine putting Infinity War on in a few years and saying I don't give a shit about Endgame. All in all, it works practically perfectly. And as a farewell to an era of cinema, more than worthy as well.

The new Hellboy goes uncompromisingly its own way, and the question is, will you like it? Fans of the comics will find a lot of familiar things and maybe they will be willing to forgive Hellboy for moving forward at too high a speed, for the way it neglects character work and for taking a step backwards in terms of filmmaking compared to what Ron Perlman and Guillermo del Toro did years ago. But if you haven’t read Mike Mignola's comics, you're probably better off waiting for Avengers. This Hellboy doesn't have much to offer.

WIll Ferrell and John C. Reilly wanted to make fun of two famous detectives, and it ended up being a downright embarrassing piece about two ageing actors trying to revive their faded glory, but their efforts are sad rather than funny. Holmes & Watson is a woefully awkward and poorly directed thing, and watching it will make you feel terribly sorry for anyone who gave it even a minute of their time and the tiniest ounce of talent.

Dumbo, the giant-eared elephant, was born in a failing circus. At first he is thought to be a monster, but when it turns out that he can fly thanks, everything changes. When Dumbo and the circus are bought by a cynical businessman, everyone thinks they are in for a golden time. But the opposite is true. Tim Burton's new live-action Disney film is a surprisingly disjointed film that I'm not sure who it was intended for. The humour is lacking, Dumbo himself is cute, but unfortunately much of the plot revolves around the human characters, whose stories are not very funny or interesting, and are also quite serious for a fairy tale. The elephant hero is fine, but overall this remake is awfully mediocre, with no ideas and no energy. And I'm afraid it will bore both children and adults.

Two cops are suspended for six weeks. They need money and are angry, so they decide to rob a gang that is planning a big heist, but things go a bit wrong. S. Craig Zahler is still as uncompromising, surprising and unpleasant with his third film. And even though we already know what to expect from his stories, this time he manages to shock and unsettle and is as cruel to his audience as he is to his heroes. Fans of the director will not be disappointed by his new film, because this is exactly what we wanted to see from him.

Five ex-soldiers venture into the South American jungle to steal tens of millions of dollars from a drug kingpin. But getting the money to safety will be much harder than they thought. Triple Frontier may look like an action movie, but while there is action (and good action), it relies much more on atmosphere, appealing characters and a more realistic approach. Instead of a film full of shootouts and chases, what we end up with is a slowly told gritty drama, but one that manages to get under the skin and is perhaps more interesting in the end than if it had a gunfight every ten minutes.

Carol Danvers may have lost her memory years ago, but the alien Kree race has made her the ultimate warrior, and now she's back on Earth, where her past is being recalled. And she must figure out where her home is and what she's willing to risk for it. Captain Marvel is a classic Marvel original with lots of action, a bit of humour, and a fine heroine in the lead role. Don't expect much new from this comic book adaptation, but if you want to enjoy spectacular space battles and classic Marvel stuff, you won't go wrong.

Tree is in a time loop again and someone is after her. When she dies, she wakes up again and gets a second chance, but this time it's more complicated, because she's in a world where the rules are a little different. Happy Death Day 2U deserves praise for not just being a classic sequel, but for trying to inject more sci-fi or dramatic elements into the story. Sadly, the problem is the execution. Christopher Landon may have had enough ideas, but as a director he doesn't have the chops to mix them into an entertaining film.

A worthy ending to a trilogy that suggests it could easily have gone on for a while. There is too much going on in How to Train Your Dragon 3, and they don't have enough time to devote to all of it properly, and splitting it into two films would certainly have come in handy. At the same time, it's still a proper animated adventure with great action, fine characters, excellent music and a few scenes that leave you breathless.