Tag Archives: Movie Review

Death on the Nile Review

Tags : Movie Review

While on vacation on the Nile, Hercule Poirot must investigate the murder of a young heiress.

Why did I come to this movie again?

I’m not an avid fan of Agatha Christie, but I do know that this is one of her most popular books. The film looked beautiful, and I love Kenneth Branagh.

5 of 5

Characters

I have read enough Agatha Christie—although not this book—to know not to expect a huge amount of depth with her characters. She often relies on stereotypes and cliches to get the reader through her stories. That being said, I liked the ensemble for this film. Each character had enough depth that they gave me plenty of reason to suspect them.

The actors and actresses did a wonderful job, and this was Gal Gadot’s best performance outside of the first Wonder Woman movie, in my opinion.

4 of 5

Did I care what happened?

The murder takes forever to actually happen, but I knew it was coming so I was on the edge of my seat. I have no idea if the prologue scene with Poirot is cannon, but it did give the audience a reason to cheer for him a little more than usual. In general Poirot is egotistical and disagreeable, a fact which he’s more than willing to share himself, so the added insight to his past worked for me. Like I said, I haven’t read the book, so it may be enraging to die-hard fans.

The high body count surprised me.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

Christie’s mysteries are pretty tight. All of the clues were there, and I actually figured out who did it a while before the reveal. That’s always fun.

There were a few little things that threw me out of the story. Like why were there a bunch of women carrying the bodies around? It’s like they just appeared for those scenes and then disappeared.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

The pacing in this film looked slow from the preview, so I wasn’t surprised when it took a while to get going. Even after the initial murder the director never rushed. There were a few times I got bored of close-ups of the characters, but other than that I settled in with my popcorn and soda and had a lovely time.

4 of 5

Cool Factor

Stunning is the word that comes to mind when I think about this movie. It felt like each shot was carefully considered. (I’m sure that’s normal for a film, but this one made me feel it.) It made me want to go back in time and go to Egypt before Cairo had grown around it and it was flooded with tourists. That shot of Abu Simbel when they come around the bend of the Nile took my breath away. I have a thing for traveling and unique places, so I loved that aspect of this movie.

5 of 5

The End

As I stated above, I figured out who did it, but then doubted myself for a bit until the big reveal. The added almost romance for Poirot added just a bit of conflict that I think added to the ending of the film.

5 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I liked it! I have no idea how well this story followed the book, but I enjoyed it.

4 of 5

Total: 35

That’s a Brown Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40

American Underdog Review

Tags : Movie Review

The story of NFL MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who went from stocking shelves at a supermarket to becoming an American Football star.

Why did I come to this movie again?

I love a good underdog story. I love American football. I heard this was good and thought I’d go see it.

5 of 5

Characters

I didn’t actually know anything about Kurt Warner except he was an NFL quarterback, so this movie was a delightful surprise. I thought Zachary Levi did a sensational job with his character. Anna Paquin was also wonderful. The characters felt real—like they could be your neighbors. I loved the guys who played Kurt’s buddies, the kid in the grocery store, and pretty much everyone.

5 of 5

Did I care what happened?

It’s an underdog show, of course I cared what happened. I have no idea how many of the little conflicts really happened, but the writers did a good job keeping the pressure on the characters. Enough that I only felt the movie slow down a couple of times.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

Can you have plot holes in a show based off a true story? If anything I’d say his tryout with the Packers was fake, but knowing my luck that’s probably exactly what happened.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Like I said, the momentum slowed down a bit too much once or twice, but nothing to get too upset about.

4 of 5

Cool Factor

This isn’t a flashy movie, like the superhero films, but I did like all of the football stuff. Watching this determined man try again and again to live his dream was inspiring, and that’s where the cool factor came into the story. Also, Anna Paquin killed looking like the real Kurt Warner’s wife.

4 of 5

The End

I cried. Twice.

5 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I would see this film again. It joins the ranks of Rudy, Cool Runnings, and the Blind Side in the underdog section of my movie collection.

5 of 5

Total: 36

That’s a Black Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40

Ron’s Gone Wrong Review

Tags : Movie Review

The story of Barney, an awkward middle-schooler and Ron, his new walking, talking, digitally-connected device. Ron’s malfunctions set against the backdrop of the social media age launch them on a journey to learn about true friendship.

Why did I come to this movie again?

It looked fun and was on Disney +.  I honestly hadn’t heard much about it and felt like it was in and out of the theaters in like a month.

4 of 5

Characters

Barney, the main character, and his family just seem…pathetic and sad. I grew up not having everything the other kids did, and I never felt this out of place. Maybe because I had a group of good friends. I understand that the film has to go to extremes in order to provoke the audience to the correct emotions. Everyone has felt like an outsider, even when they never looked like it.

I didn’t love his dad. I did love his grandma. The other kids were shallow until they weren’t, which worked considering they’re middle-school aged.

All in all I liked the characters, but I was only in love with Ron. Yes, the robot. He was adorable and fun.

4 of 5

Did I care what happened?

Nothing about the plot of this show surprised me.  Nothing about the movie Coco surprised me either—I literally predicted the end in my head as we were watching it—but where Coco packed a huge emotional punch, Ron’s Gone Wrong fell short. If Coco was a ten, then Ron’s Gone Wrong was a six. Not bad, but nothing that I was dying to tell my friends about.

I did like the message about the pitfalls of social media and the fact that everyone is lonely sometimes. I also enjoyed the how to be a friend board.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

I did roll my eyes quite a few times at the plot holes. The simple fact that only one kid in the entire school, Barney, doesn’t have a robot friend is ridiculous. Even now there has to be more than one kid in a Junior High that doesn’t have a cell phone.

Several other plot points made me twitch. However, this is a show aimed at middle schoolers, and I don’t think they would care about most of them.

3 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

The pacing felt pretty good. I only picked up my phone to look at it a couple of times because I got bored. (We watched at home.)

4 of 5

Cool Factor

I’m going to call this the cute factor. In a nutshell I’d call this film charming and fun.

4 of 5

The End

The moral of the story was a bit heavy handed, but besides being predictable, I didn’t have a problem with the end.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

The hubby and I laughed quite a bit as we watched. The film is fun and younger kids should both enjoy it and get something out of it.

4 of 5

Total: 30

That’s a Green Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40

Encanto: Review

Tags : Movie Review

A young Colombian girl has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers.

Why did I come to this movie again?

It looked cute, and was finally on Disney +. I hadn’t heard much about it, so my expectations were low.

4 of 5

Characters

The characters were probably the biggest strength of this show. While at first each character felt two-dimensional, the film did a good job bringing each one to life. We’ve all felt like Mirabel—the outsider. The brilliant thing about the movie is that they allowed us to connect with almost all of the characters. Who hasn’t felt like they always have to be the strong one no matter what? Or the perfect one? Or the one protecting everyone from the shadows and getting no credit?

5 of 5

Did I care what happened?

The film is a spectacle—singing, dancing, and awesome animation—and at times I got distracted by that and lost sight of where the story was taking me.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

There were a couple of things that threw me out of the story. I’ll keep them brief in case someone reading this hasn’t seen the movie. 1-Bruno. 2-Mirabel’s “powers.” 3-Keeping Mirabel in the nursey for how many years? The magic wasn’t really explained, and for some reason that bugged me.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

The film is fast-paced. While I did get distracted from the plot a few times, there was always something going on.

4 of 5

Cool Factor

As I mentioned, this film is beautiful. People are raving about the music—I liked it. We don’t have kids, so I’ve only seen the movie once, and frankly the only song that stuck with me was Luisa’s. And that’s more the message than the actual tune.

4 of 5

The End

The end wasn’t explained. Maybe I missed it, but I sat there trying to figure out how we’d gotten to where we ended up. The villagers coming together was nice, and grandma’s character arc pulled a few sniffs from me, but the magic…I’m still confused.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

My expectations weren’t high with this show, but I did enjoy it. I might watch it again at some point. I liked it better than I liked Frozen. In a word the film is fun. I know it’s hitting a lot of notes with people from societies similar to the one portrayed in the movie, so that’s cool.

I loved how they showed each character’s strengths and weaknesses. Getting to know her family a little better was awesome.

4 of 5

Total: 33

That’s a Brown Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40