Drop Down Menu

Drop Down MenusCSS Drop Down MenuPure CSS Dropdown Menu

My thoughts on The Meg (2018), Skyscraper (2018), Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) and Night School (2018).




Normally I would be writing full reviews of these films. However I don't think these films actually deserve that so that is the reason why I have put the titles together. It is possible that I may feel like writing full reviews of them in future. So keep an eye out. For now this will have to do.



The Meg (2018)



Jason Statham in a monster film. That alone sounded awesome to me. At least I thought so. 

Turns out that you do need more than Jason fighting a giant shark to make things entertaining. The Meg is not super bad. I actually thought it was competent for the most part. Problem is that it simply did not deliver on the terror and action as much as it could have. For some reason they opted for a PG-13 rating and had to dial down on the blood and gore. Very bad decision. This could have been remedied if they had not taken everything so seriously and went the Sharknado route. With that I mean to fully embrace the badness.



Edit 16-07-2023:
In preparation of the upcoming sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, I revisited The Meg to see how it holds up today. I have to say that I do feel that the film is far more competent than I have given it credit for. For the majority of the time, The Meg manages to be thrilling.


It's towards the ending where it loses steam. It's here where you expect the chaos and mayhem to be gigantic, only to realize the PG rating doesn't allow this. Apparently Meg 2 will be also. Let's hope they find ways to remedy the lack of blood and gore with something else.

The Meg also is a demonstration of how sometimes you should view certain films from a different perspective. Compared to a lot of blockbuster films made today, The Meg is quite decent.



Skyscraper (2018): The Towering Inferno meets Die Hard?



Dwayne Johnson "The Rock" can do no wrong. Who doesn't love him? Well, maybe Vin Diesel but apart from him everyone. And yet Dwayne has a real talent to pick out the worst films to star in. Sure on paper it sounds nice. The Towering Inferno meets Die Hard? I think it could have worked with a more experienced director in the genre. But Rawson Marshall Thurber? He is known for making mostly comedies (We're The Millers, Central Intelligence). And only a few of those were actually funny. You can tell that Thurber is out of his depth since he doesn't know how to build up tension nor make the action look exciting. It's because of The Rock that you root for his character and his family. Spectacle and thrills wise the film is disappointing. Too unrealistic and too much CGI. It also didn't help that every plot twist has been revealed in the trailer if you were so unfortunate to have seen it. But even if you haven't you can see all the twists and turns coming from a mile away. I mean were they even trying?


Also check:






Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)



The second sequel no one expected or wanted. It was ok. I laughed a couple of times since Rowan Atkinson still is very much a master of comedy. However most of the humour does feel outdated and irrelevant. And apparently they were very aware of this and tried to use that as a plot device. While at times it did seem to make me chuckle I couldn't help but feeling as they were parodying the old James Bond instead of the latest incarnation. One scene for example was very reminiscent of the chase sequence between Bond and Onatopp in Goldeneye. That is over 23 years ago. Granted Goldeneye is a classic and fans of Bond like me must have seen it a number of times. So we will recognize the scene in an instance. Younger people and non fans most likely will not. Point is that the reference is lost on most people. Bit of a shame since they could have done a lot better with current Bond or Mission Impossible.




Night School (2018)



My expectations on this film were very low. Surprisingly though I got the most out of this one from all the films I discussed here. Why? Simple. I laughed my ass off a decent number of times. I still am trying to figure out why people seem to think Kevin Hart is funny. But there were some scenes here that made me burst into laughter because of the ridiculous factor. And due to the supporting cast. Especially Mary Lynn Rajskub, Rob Riggle and Romany Malco. I like Tiffany Haddish but at this point she does come across as a one trick pony. She basically is playing the same character over and over again. That being said. She still is funny. The story was serviceable too. Perhaps a little too preachy. But maybe this way the message does get through a little better. Since it is one that needs to be spread especially in the US where idiocracy is rampant.










No comments:


Trailers

Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.



Contact

Reviews Netflix Originals

Archive


Popular Posts

FOLLOW US