Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines is a really creative post apocalyptic film. The special effects and sheer imagination of  was great here.  The producer (Peter Jackson) and New Zealand team that made The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit films are responsible for bringing this novel by Philip Reeve to life.  There's nothing really overly standoutish about the film.  There are certainly elements of Star Wars and The Matrix that are easily observable, as well as relevant political and social cautionary notes integral to the story.  On that note and to it's credit, the cast is pretty good and diverse.  I especially enjoyed Korean singer Jihae's cool character. 

Widows

Steve McQueen's Widows  has a stellar lead and supporting cast for sure in Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, and Colin Farrel.  This female heist template has been done before in 1996's  Set It Off or even the recent Oceans 8, but Widows feels more substantive, realistic,and character driven than either other film.  As a bonus, it takes on so many issues of the day beyond even the obvious gender. Race, class, loyalty, betrayal, greed, inequality, and others are all throughout.  All the while, we are treated to a good caper, thriller, and action film that's really engaging.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody tracks the origins and rise of Freddie Mercury and  Queen.  As with most film biographies, it doesn't go over many aspects of his life and arguably glosses over many of the tragedies.  It's a good biopic that opens with a prelude to the infamous Live Aid performance and then backtracks.  But the best aspect of the film is a great performance by Raimi Malek.  His embodiment and performance as the late Mercury were just incredible to behold, as his well deserved Oscar nomination and win speak to.

Overlord

Nowadays comic books and even video games are turned into film, so I had to be reminded that Overlord was a video game from 2007.  Well, irregardless of the source, the film Overlord is just good, pure, and fresh entertainment.  Part war drama and part horror, it is an interesting take on the World War 2 drama as predominantly told from a young Black man's perspective.  There are certainly shades of Inglorious Bastards, Cloverfield, and World War Z here. This film is very engaging employing judicious use of suspense, action, cinematography, and special effects.  The relatively unknown cast here also helps in the performances of Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, and Bokeem Woodbine.  I'd certainly root for a sequel to this.

Hunter Killer

I was bracing myself for this being bad, really bad.  At the same time, I wanted to see it as it's been a long time since I've seen a good naval warfare movie.  We ain't talking Battleship here either.  I hearken back to Das Boot or The Hunt For Red October.   Why bad you ask, beyond a peek at rotten tomatoes?  Gerard Butler hasn't exactly been making the best choices in recent years.  Hunter Killer, however, went beyond my expectations.  It's a tense thriller on top of a war movie and done rather well.  To anchor all that (pun intended) in, there's Gary Oldman and Toby Stephens (Black Sails) performances, as limited as they could be for a story that had to fit into this packaged time frame.  Gerard Butler was just playing, well Gerard Butler.   The story is arguably too convoluted to play out in the given time, irregardless of the relevant geo-political climate.  No, it's not the best movie, but it's certainly damn entertaining and borrows enough material from The Hunt For Red October and say a Behind Enemy Lines to keep it afloat.