Ferdinand (2017) Movie Review

January 18, 2018 Steve Baqqi

Ferdinand had the misfortune of having a premiere date sandwiched right between two House of Mouse Behemoths, Coco, and The Last Jedi. It is, however, the former film that Ferdinand will probably be compared to, given that Coco was a brilliant re-imagination of Mexican culture with nuisance, humor, sadness, and depth. Comparing Ferdinand to Coco is almost unfair, as Ferdinand is almost everything that Coco is not. Ferdinand doesn’t even attempt to explore Spanish culture or bullfighting, other than some face value for humor or to service the plot. Ferdinand is a simplistic, but well-crafted animated film about a bull who doesn't want to fight.

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Pete's Dragon (2016) Movie Review

January 16, 2018 Steve Baqqi

Pete’s Dragon (2016) is a remake of a 1977 film of the same name. The film updates the story, having it take place in the Pacific Northwest instead of in New England like the original, while also moving the date from the turn of the 20th century to 1977. For full disclosure, I’ve never seen the original so I can’t comment on the differences between the two films. Pete (Oakes Fegley), the titular boy, survives a car crash deep in the forest and lives with a dragon for six years before he’s discovered by Park Ranger Grace Meachum (Bryce Dallas Howard). Pete’s Dragon is a safe, rather uninteresting movie about a lost boy and the dragon who finds and befriends him as well as the people who try, and ultimately succeed, in separating them.

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Logan (2017) Movie Review

December 16, 2017 Steve Baqqi

After the success of Deadpool, Fox Studios suddenly got the nerve to allow the superheroes in its stable to be placed in R-rated films. Wolverine was the next logical choice. Despite some hit or miss sequels and reboots, terrible prequels, and one decent stand-alone film, the X-Men film franchise, and Wolverine, in particular, have always been bankable. Always repressing unfathomable rage, a living weapon with unbreakable razor claws protruding from his fists, Wolverine is tailor-made for a violent R-rated action romp. James Mangold directed the last successful standalone Wolverine film, aptly titled The Wolverine, and was given the creative reins for what could be Hugh Jackman’s final portrayal. Hugh Jackman has been faithfully reprising his role as Wolverine for seventeen years now and was ready to call it quits. Fan favorite, Patrick Stewart, was also brought back to play Professor X and the film is all the better for it. The result? A somber, neo-noir western that works as a perfect sendoff for both Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and their respective characters. Logan skillfully integrates visceral action with gut-wrenching emotionality and bleak fatalism.

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Coco (2017) Movie Review

December 9, 2017 Steve Baqqi

Since Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, Pixar films have played it safe by focusing on sequels rather than creating original stories. Remember, the films Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up were in development before Pixar’s acquisition. This is not to say that there haven’t been excellent, original Pixar stories like Inside Out, but otherwise, Pixar’s filmography has been filled with sequels and average original stories like The Good Dinosaur. Famed animator and one of Pixar’s decorated leaders, John Lasseter, took a recent six-month leave of absence due to sexual assault accusations. Some Mexican people were upset that Disney had tried to trademark their revered cultural holiday Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), in order to sell merchandise and others still were upset that the film seemed to rip off The Book of Life. The stage was set for Coco to fail spectacularly, but the film succeeds with its vibrant visuals, strong emotional core, and fantastical adventure to the Land of the Dead.

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Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Movie Review

December 7, 2017 Steve Baqqi

The original Thor was a decent movie that was personally annoying to me for its overuse of dutch angles. Its sequel, Thor: The Dark World, was legitimately terrible; an idiotic movie with a boring villain that is better off left to the dustbin. Thus, the timing was perfect for a different take on the Thor series, and Marvel hit this one out of the park. Thor: Ragnarok is an irreverent superhero adventure comedy that manages to tell a cohesive story despite a never-ending cavalcade of jokes.

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The Secret Life of Pets (2016) Movie Review

July 17, 2016 Steve Baqqi

The Secret Life of Pets has a simple but rather interesting premise, “What do your pets do when you’re not around?”. The film, made by Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Minions), features an all-star cast led by Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart. Despite the potential to be great, The Secret Life of Pets is exactly as it’s billed, a wild adventure through New York City featuring talking animals that’s entertaining but has little else to offer.

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The BFG (2016) Movie Review

July 9, 2016 Steve Baqqi

Finding Dory continues to rake in cash for the House of Mouse and it’s possible that Disney could have the top four highest grossing films in 2016 before the dust settles. Unfortunately for Disney, The BFG is going to end its extraordinary run of financial success. The BFG only made $18.77 million in its opening weekend, against a budget of $140 million, and will be lucky to earn half of that back. It’s actually quite puzzling as to why the film did so poorly. It has all the pedigree of a blockbuster: The film is co-produced by two of the biggest names in the business, Spielberg and Disney, it’s based on the Roald Dahl classic of the same name which has sold over 37 million copies, and it's a fun, family friendly, and visually stunning film.

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The Jungle Book (2016) Movie Review

June 30, 2016 Steve Baqqi

I’ve been a fan of The House Of Mouse most of my entire life. Disney consistently produces fantastic films of wide varieties, from their world class animation to their Marvel Studios Division. Having said that, I am still not on board with these live action reboots of their classic animated films. Maleficent was so close to being great but was ultimately ruined by its internal problems: a terrible and boring second act and no one else being able to hold a candle to Angelina Jolie’s ferocious presence. And in comparison, Cinderella (2015) was dull and just god awful. The Jungle Book (2016) is the next of these live action remakes, but almost certainly not the last. Despite being the third highest grossing movie of 2016, The Jungle Book is, unfortunately, another misstep in the Disney Animated Remake Live Action Canon (that’s a mouthful).

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Zootopia (2016) Movie Review

March 26, 2016 Steve Baqqi

I’m an ardent fan of both Disney and Pixar’s animated films. The original “Disney Renaissance” coincided with my childhood; as did Pixar’s meteoric rise to rival Disney before the former’s acquisition by the latter. So it’s no surprise to me that Zootopia is easily the best film I’ve seen so far this year. Perhaps that’s because it's one of two new films I’ve seen thus far...but still! Disney has made another fantastic film that will only continue to bolster the “Second Disney Renaissance”. Zootopia is a fast paced, exciting, and funny animated film with a surprising amount of depth.

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