Tag Archives: Belt Review System

Mission: Impossible-Fallout Review

Tags : Belt Review System Movie Review

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

Okay, let’s be honest, that pretty much describes every Mission Impossible movie ever…

Why did I come to this movie again?

I’ve enjoyed most of the MI movies over the years, with Ghost Protcol and the original being my favorites. I was hoping for some great action held together with a bit of plucky humor and some semblance of a plot

5 of 5

Characters

The characters in this franchise haven’t changed much over the years. Hunt is a do or die guy who will do anything to accomplished the mission. Except lose a member of his team, which we’re reminded of in the opening of the film.

His team is great. I love Luther and Benji! As the vague description above tells us, there are quite a few characters from films of MI past that return.

My biggest disappointment was the bad guy. I knew who the bad guy was the first time they spoke. At least try to make it interesting…

3 of 5

Did I care what happened?

This is where this movie did surprise me.

Most stories use conflict in two ways: Go wide or go deep. Wide conflict is what MI is all about: the entire world is in danger and we must save it!

Where MI doesn’t always shine is taking the conflicts deep. Sure, in every movie they disavow the agents and they’re on their own and bad stuff happens. When they do make it personal, it doesn’t resonate with us real people.

This movie, however, did a better job than I expected at deepening conflicts. The writers draw the net around Hunt so tight that I was actually shifting uncomfortably in my seat in the theater. While it’s far from perfect, I do have to give kudos for this aspect of the movie.

5 of 5

Plot Holes

Uh, this is a Mission: Impossible movie. Of course there are plot holes large enough to drive a cruise ship through. For instance, in what world do four experienced agents (one of them very motivated to keep the “package” safe) open a garage door that leads onto a street just anyone can be walking down before putting the guy with the hood on his head in the car? Not to mention stow the guns.

So I rolled my eyes a few times.

3 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

No yawning. I did get action fatigue during the truck/car/boat/motorcycle chase through Paris.

P.S. I’ve been to Paris, and I never saw the roads that empty…

4 of 5

Cool Factor

I had to suspend my disbelief a few too many times to give this a 5, but there was some fun action. And that fight scene in the bathroom—I kind of loved that.

4 of 5

The End

There was actually one moment in the end that I was not expecting. So good job there. Everything else was totally predictable, but because the writers had given me cause to care about the characters, I didn’t mind as much as I might have.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Fun movie. Great action. More plot than I was expecting. Frankly, I liked it. My expectations were pretty low, so that might have helped.

5 of 5

 

Total: 33

That’s a Brown Belt!

 

 

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

Tags : Belt Review System Movie Review

During and adventure into the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.

Why did I come to this movie again?

Uh, Han Solo? Star Wars? I didn’t need more than that to motivate me to see this movie. And the trailers made it look mostly good.

5 of 5

Characters

I was honestly expecting more out of the characters. I’ve always been a fan of Han Solo (rogue gone good guy…love it) so I was expecting a little more rogue and less comic relief from Mr. Ehrenreich. Granted, that could have been the director’s doing. Or just the script. Either way, I honestly felt like he smiled like an idiot too much. Show me some change!

Chewie was great. I can always use more Chewie.

The previews really amped up Lando, and the film didn’t give him the chance to shine that he deserved. Although what he did at the end cracked me up.

So while I did like the movie, the weakest link was that I felt like either the director, the script or both held back on the characters. We saw the surface, but didn’t really get inside. Which is what I was hoping for.

3 of 5

Did I care what happened?

Even though I felt the story only skimmed the surface of the characters, and it moved a little too fast, I did care what happened.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

There were a few plot holes, but nothing (in my opinion) like The Last Jedi. I didn’t come away ranting at my poor husband about things that didn’t make sense.

Granted, I went into the story knowing it was a heist in the Star Wars universe. Which means I was prepared for The Transporter staring Han Solo. So when things got ridiculous, I was on board.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

No yawning. There were a few eye rolls. (I mean really, how did he get his name again? Not as bad as Martha, but still…)

4 of 5

Cool Factor

I loved the cool factor in this film. It had a great classic Star Wars vibe and showed us brave new worlds while giving us some background on familiar characters.

5 of 5

The End

I predicted every aspect of the end. Which is fine. I still liked it, and we did get to see Han Solo finally make a clever decision, which made me happy.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I went into this expecting a popcorn movie, and that’s exactly what I got. Despite my disappointment with the character development, I still had a great time watching it! If you’re expecting more than a romp, you will likely be put out.

5 of 5

Score = 34

That’s a Brown Belt!

I Can Only Imagine Review

Tags : Belt Review System Movie Review

The inspiring and unknown true story behind MercyMe’s beloved, chart topping song that brings ultimate hope to so many is a gripping reminder of the power of true forgiveness.

 Why did I come to this movie again?

The synopsis above was exactly what I knew about this movie going into it. I jumped on Rotten Tomatoes and looked at a couple of reviews. I was surprised that most of the one and two star reviews indicated that if you weren’t Christian that you’d hate this movie because it’s sappy and about God and forgiveness.

Well, I happen to be a Christian who believes in forgiveness. And that is the entirety of the expectations I had for this movie.

4 of 5

Characters

I thought the actors did a great job with the characters. I’ve never been abused, physically or otherwise (yes, I count myself very, very lucky) but I still felt for Bart. I understood enough of his anger, his helplessness and all of the emotions that he held inside for all those years to be drawn into his plight. Plus, he was super adorable.

Dennis Quaid was AMAZING as Bart’s dad. A horrible person who decides to change. And while I didn’t want to feel for him—because I wanted to punch him in the face for the first half of the movie—by the end I did.

5 of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes. There was plenty of conflict and questions. Characters made stupid decisions but I still liked them/believed in them enough to hope that they would fix it.

5 of 5

Plot Holes

Nothing huge. A few parts of the story are a bit clunky, but if you’re not a writer you might not notice.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Like I said, the story slowed down in a couple of places, but all in all, no big yawns.

4 of 5

Cool Factor

While this movie wasn’t in a fantastical world filled with people who have superhuman powers, the cool factor in this film was still pretty great.

The glimpse it gave me into the music world was interesting. I’m an author, and there are a lot of parallels between the music and the publishing world, so I understand how difficult it can be to break into an industry.

Also, as I said above, I am Christian, and to have a story focused on forgiveness was amazing. Not only forgiving one another, but believing that God can forgive you of what you’ve done wrong no matter how bad it is. I mean, these are the things I believe, so seeing them played out so well on the big screen was awesome.

Now, if you’re not into these sorts of beliefs,  you may hate the movie. And that’s totally okay. To each their own, right?

5 of 5

The End

While the end is bitter sweet, and then completely awesome, nothing came as a big surprise. And I was okay with that.

And yes, I cried when he sang at the end. I’m a big baby.

5 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this film.

I remember as a young teenager, my group of friends consisted of religious and non-religious people. All shapes, colors and belief systems. We rarely all loved the same movie. When Field of Dreams came out (yes, I’m getting old), one of the girls I knew who usually raved about the dark, gritty films, could not stop talking about how good Field of Dreams was. And she couldn’t figure out why.

That’s how I hope people will feel about this film. I loved it. It’s not in my top ten or anything, but it was certainly nice to come out of a movie with that uplifted feeling that stayed with me for a few days.

4 of 5

Score = 36

That’s a Black Belt!

A Quiet Place Review

Tags : Belt Review System Movie Review

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

Why did I come to this movie again?

The above sentence is all I knew about this movie going in. Several friends, of varying movie tastes, had raved about it. So I expected it to be scary and quiet and interesting and good. Which is exactly what I got.

5 out of 5

Characters

I really liked the characters. The plight of trying to keep your children safe from monsters is an age-old fear. The adults do a great job trying to be strong while at the same time knowing that they are basically in an impossible situation. The kids showed fear but also basic kid behavior. And 90% of this was done in silence. Which is pretty amazing.

5 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes. As the story progressed all I could think was that these people were going to die no matter what. How could they live? But I kept watching and cheering for them.

5 out of 5

Plot Holes

There were a few plot holes. Every end of the world movie has them. This film didn’t go into much, except that there are now some crazy ugly monsters that will come running if they hear anything out of the ordinary. Even a poor raccoon gets it at one point, and he’s just chittering as he walks.

Anyway, I don’t want to give anything away, but there are a few moments where my suspended disbelief got pushed a little too far.

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Not once.

5 out of 5

Cool Factor

Again, this film is silent like 90% of the time. Which was very interesting and very cool. The actors had to rely on acting without dialogue, which was probably pretty challenging. I really liked that.

And the monsters were proper creepy.

And the family had really thought through their situation. Smart people in the apocalypse?? What?

5 out of 5

The End

The end of this movie, while it is satisfying and cool, was rushed. A little too rushed for my taste.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I really enjoyed this film. It took something as big and scary as the apocalypse and paired it down into one family and their struggle to survive in a broken world. A blend of horror and suspense that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Not too gory, which was nice.

5 out of 5

Score=38 out of 40

That’s a Black Belt!

Funny story: People warned us not to get treats, because the theater is so quiet that people can hear you eat. Well, the hubby got a box of Buncha Crunch. He decided it would be fun to start eating it about twenty minutes into the movie. One at a time. As he fished them out of the box.

So. Loud.

So I took them away until there was a not as quiet moment. I think he still might be upset.