Posts Tagged ‘2016 movies’

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A Bigger Splash (2016)

December 27, 2016

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts
Director: Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love)

Bottom Line: This movie probably isn’t on most people’s radar, but I decided to check out A Bigger Splash after seeing it on someone’s (I can’t remember whose) Best Films of 2016 list. Tilda Swinton plays a world renowned rock star that goes on vacation with her recovering boyfriend (Schoenaerts) to a remote island in Italy after losing her voice, but their tranquil plans are turned upside down when her former lover (Fiennes) and his daughter (Johnson) show up unexpectedly, stirring up a bevy of mixed emotions and attractions.

I was actually quite entertained by this movie even though it has a rather slow pace and focuses almost entirely on human interaction. There was enough tension and mystique to keep me enthralled. Plus, it was fun to see Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes play against type. Swinton is almost always subdued and mysterious in the roles I’ve seen her in and even though she is speaking in a whisper throughout most of this film, I saw more personality from her than I think I’ve ever seen before. Fiennes is best known for playing Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series and is usually cast in more serious roles, but he really gets to chew some scenery here with a very loose, bawdy, and somewhat comedic character. I read that he snap-accepted the part after reading just a few pages of the script and seeing that he was going to have an extensive dance scene. Dakota Johnson plays Fiennes’ daughter and doesn’t drift too far from her 50 Shades role of Anastasia Steele, as she spends most of her screen time looking sultry and tempting the men around her, including her father, whom she has been estranged from her whole life until recently.

A Bigger Splash is a fun, but intimate film that explores fame, human relationships, jealousy and temptation. The small cast all give pretty fun performances and the story is interesting enough that you will want to see what happens to these people. This one is obviously not for the action junkies.

Grade: 6/10 (recommended)

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X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

December 23, 2016

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult
Director: Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Superman Returns, X-Men 2)

Bottom Line: Judging from the trailers, this movie looked every bit as messy as Batman Vs Superman so I skipped it in theaters and now having watched it at home, I can see my fears were completely justified. It’s terrible. When an X-Men movie starts off in ancient Egypt and looks more like a sequel to The Mummy you know things are not looking up. Oscar Isaac seems like a highly capable actor, especially in last year’s Ex Machina, but his portrayal of Apocalypse will probably go down as one of the worst roles of his career. The rest of the new cast adds little to the overall story. The new Cyclops is kind of cool, but Sophie Turner is horribly miscast as Jean Grey, feeling nothing like a young version of Famke Janssen’s take on the character. I was excited to see Jubilee in action for the first time, but she is merely a background character.

I wasn’t looking forward to director Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise – especially after Matthew Vaughan did such a good job with X-Men: First Class – but he managed to bring his original trilogy and the reboot together seamlessly in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, making a solid movie out of a concept that could have been executed so poorly. Well, he couldn’t save the mess of a script he’s dealt here and history repeats itself, as the X-Men franchise once again delivers two good movies and a third one so bad it’s likely going to need another reboot.

This movie is all action spectacle and little else. You’ll likely be looking at your phone after 15 minutes.

Replay Value: Another X-Men movie that doesn’t exist to me.
Sequel Potential: I think the franchise dies again with this film, but Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has another adventure due out next year with Logan.
Oscar Potential: How about Razzie potential?

Grade: 2.5/10 (horrible/skip it)

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

December 22, 2016

Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn
Director: Gareth Edwards (Godzilla (2014), Monsters)

Bottom Line: Rogue One is definitely going to be one of the more overrated films of 2016 – partly because the critic reviews are mostly positive, resulting in an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, but mostly because it is a generally pleasing film with a strong final act. Fans of the Star Wars brand are going to find very little to complain about.

But it’s not spectacular or without weaknesses. The story is inspired by the crawl for Star Wars: A New Hope, in which The Rebel Alliance obtain plans for the Death Star that reveal how it can be destroyed. This film tells the story of why those plans exist and how they were stolen from the Empire and delivered to the Alliance. It’s actually a pretty neat set up for the original story and sits better with me in the prequel canon than Episodes I through III – but the characters here are kind of weak. It’s the who of the story where things fall apart.

Aside from the heroine Jyn (Jones) and Alan Tudyk’s droid K-2SO with his often hilarious deadpan dialog, I’d wager that most filmgoers won’t remember the names of the rest of the heroes. I couldn’t. There’s a male protagonist played by Diego Luna and a pilot played, questionably, by Riz Ahmed. There’s a blind guy and his friend – and they have some cool moments, but… who are they again? One of Star Wars greatest appeals is creating memorable and lasting characters, which I felt The Force Awakens did a good job of, but Rogue One fails in this regard. Even the character of Jyn is forgettable and I thought Felicity Jones had moments where she just seemed to be going through the motions, delivering her dialog like she was reading it straight off the script. This is an actress that was Oscar nominated as recently as 2014 for The Theory Of Everything. You can’t really blame Disney for trying to capitalize on the Star Wars brand by churning out these side films, but the characters in Rogue One feel hollow and it really takes away from one’s emotional involvement in the story, especially in the last act.

But that last act is actually quite strong. It’s a high octane finale full of “surprises” that seems to be the biggest reason people are walking out of this movie with a smile on their face and forgetting how mediocre the rest of the movie was. It’s no secret that Darth Vader is in this film, unless you haven’t seen any trailers, and he will not disappoint. Though his screen time is rather limited, he’s easily the highlight of the movie when he’s featured. There’s a lot of nostalgia hearing the classic breathing apparatus and James Earl Jones voicing the character again. Plus, we get to see Darth Vader be a ruthless bad ass, which somewhat helps ease the memory of watching Hayden Christensen do his best to ruin the character as Anakin Skywalker in the prequels. It would have been nice to see more Vader in this movie, but I can understand the filmmakers wanting to make a film that can stand apart from the main series – they just forgot to flesh out the new characters.

I actually like the concept of Rogue One and the idea of stand alone side films in the Star Wars canon, I just think the execution here was lacking a bit. There’s a chance it could grow on me more with multiple viewings and maybe the characters will stick with me more, but Rogue One is enjoyable at best, and seems like it is getting a lot of favorable reviews because the ending is good and the visual effects are pleasing. It’s not a great film, but as I said before, Star Wars fans are unlikely to be disappointed.

Edit: I forgot to comment on how pointless it was to pay double to see this movie in 3D. It basically never comes into play or add to the experience. It might be a fun movie to see in IMAX, but do not pay to see this in normal 3D! Save the money.

Replay Value: Worth watching again.
Sequel Potential: This film is an immediate prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. There are more stand alone Star Wars stories on the way though.
Oscar Potential: Star Wars movies are always a contender for any of the sound or visual effects categories.

Grade: 6/10 (recommended)

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

December 19, 2016

Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight)

Bottom Line: It’s taken me nearly four years to come to terms with this film. Back in 2012, leading up to The Dark Knight Rises‘ release, my expectations were through the roof and unrealistic – and yet they weren’t. I had similar feelings about The Dark Knight and somehow Christopher Nolan managed to exceed my impossible expectations by making what is still what I consider to be the best superhero film ever – a film so good it changed how The Oscars approached the Best Picture category, increasing the number of films that could be nominated in the future.

But when I walked out of The Dark Knight Rises all I felt was a tremendous amount of disappointment. I was thrown by the fact the film took place eight years after The Dark Knight. It seemed like Batman was barely in the movie, which was fine in Batman Begins when Bruce Wayne is discovering his calling, but I wanted more Dark Knight in this. I suspected that Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were secretly cast as Talia Al’Ghul and Robin, respectively, long before the film’s release, so even though the Nolans do a good job of misdirecting, I wasn’t surprised in the least when the true identities were revealed. Finally, I hated the fact that Bruce Wayne becomes a shut in because his friend/love interest Rachel died. Let me get this straight: the man that pushes himself to the brink of human capabilities to protect his city from the kind of people that murdered his parents is going to disappear from society and whittle away in his mansion because his girlfriend died? For eight years?! During his peak crime-fighting years?! Uh, no. That’s not Batman. It’s such a departure from the character of Bruce Wayne that it’s difficult to shake.

But it’s been four years since The Dark Knight Rises came out and I’ve seen it a few times since then, including as recently as a week ago and well, it’s not so bad. In fact, it’s quite good. I mean there are some flaws – as previously noted – plus some intense magical rope healing (huh?), but I actually really enjoyed this last viewing of it. It  wraps up Christopher Nolan’s trilogy in great fashion, bringing the League Of Shadows back into the mix and allowing Bruce to move on with his life, while allowing The Batman to remain a symbol of hope in Gotham. I can live with the lack of Batman on screen in the film now too. It fits the story. Christopher Nolan has been more interested in making great films than in making a good superhero movie and he continues to approach his Dark Knight series in that fashion with this movie. It’s an incredibly bleak film, but the big theme is hope – first crushing it and then rising up from the abyss to overcome. Batman doesn’t need to be on screen because he’s retired when the film starts and then he’s beaten to a pulp in the middle of it – and that makes his ultimate return that much more powerful.

I absolutely loved Tom Hardy’s Bane. Heath Ledger’s Joker was always going to be impossible to match, but Bane is a GREAT villain in this film. There are some corny moments, like making Talia Al’Ghul a love interest, but Bane is mostly just awesome. I love the mask. I love the physique.  I love the way Hardy delivers his dialogue – and there’s plenty of great Bane quotes in the movie: “Peace time has cost you your strength. Victory has defeated you!” – “Do you feel in charge?” – “Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it.” And many more! He’s smart. He’s ruthless. He’s a physical beast. You believe an out of shape Batman would stand no chance and you wonder how Batman can match him, even when he’s back in peak form. I would have loved to see what Nolan did with The Riddler or even Hugo Strange, but I’m totally satisfied with how he handled Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.

Okay, so it wasn’t surprising that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is revealed to be “Robin,” plus the character isn’t Dick Grayson or any other familiar name that takes up the Robin mantle, but Gordon-Levitt’s Detective John Blake was a great addition to this story. When everyone else has given up on Batman, this orphan turned police officer knows his true identity and pushes Bruce back into action. Plus he gets to say some great lines like “We know what’s down there, sir: the police commissioner.” He may not be Dick Grayson and his parents weren’t murdered at the circus, but it’s clear that the Nolans understand the essence of the character.

I listened to Hans Zimmer’s score many times before I saw the movie, which is pretty weird actually. You can sort of paint a picture of how things are going to unfold by listening to the score in sequential order. I mean that’s how obsessed with this movie I was. I just couldn’t resist the temptation. So when I heard the music that was playing during the scene where Batman was flying the bomb out over the bay, you get the feeling that someone important is going to die. It was just a bizarre feeling watching the movie having heard all the music already and having an idea what was going to happen. I won’t ever do it again. With that said, I love the score. Zimmer does a fantastic job of adding adrenaline to the film, especially during Bane’s reign of terror.

A few weeks ago, The Dark Knight Rises was omitted from my top 10 of 2012 list, while films like 21 Jump Street and Skyfall were still ahead of it. Having revisited the movie and deciding I’m actually quite happy with it, it now ranks in my top six of the year. The film has solid acting from its ensemble cast (Bale’s Bat-voice excluded), a great villain, a top notch score, a bunch of dialogue I love, and it looks fantastic – plus it’s a very fitting end to the vision Nolan had for his Bat-franchise. It’s one of the best trilogies of all-time, right up there with The Lord Of The Rings and the original Star Wars movies. When you talk about the best superhero movies ever, Nolan’s Batman movies will always be some of the first ones mentioned, but really, this series has produced multiple great films – not just great for a superhero movie – but some of the best films ever made.

Replay Value: It has grown on me a ton and I can always watch Batman movies.
Sequel Potential: They wrapped this trilogy up just fine, but the Batman character has been revived for DC’s new cinematic universe.
Oscar Potential: The film was totally blanked for both Oscar and Golden Globe noms, which seems a bit unfair as some of the technical aspects and the score are deserving of consideration.

Grade: 7.5/10 (highly enjoyable/must see)

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The Edge Of Seventeen (2016)

December 17, 2016

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Woody Harrelson,
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

Bottom Line: The Edge Of Seventeen is one of the better coming-of-age films I’ve seen in years. Hailee Steinfeld plays Nadine, a high school junior that feels like the whole world is against her, particularly after one of the few people that can relate to her, her father, passes away. Things are really turned upside down when her only friend begins dating her brother. While I can’t particularly relate to Nadine’s story, I do feel like the script paints an accurate picture of what it’s like to be a teenager – from feeling like your parents don’t understand you at all, to thinking of your sibling as your enemy, to making consistently poor decisions… basically, thinking of nobody but yourself. The Edge Of Seventeen features some amazing acting from the whole cast, but it’s no surprise that Hailee Steinfeld gives another performance worth of Oscar consideration. Having just turned 20, with multiple great performances under her belt already, Steinfeld has established herself as the number one actress 20 or younger. I found a lot of the situations in The Edge Of Seventeen to be quite authentic, like how Nadine swoons over the one dimensional guy she doesn’t know because she finds him attractive while putting the nerdy guy she actually relates to on the back burner. Even though I liked Woody Harrelson in his role as Nadine’s teacher, their relationship felt like a bit of a stretch. Do teenage girls ever share their pornographic text messages with their teachers and ask for advice? Especially when said teacher is a man? I’m thinking no.

There was very little not to like about The Edge Of Seventeen. It was interesting, frequently hilarious, and tells a complete story. Plus it features a ton of amazing acting. It’s not quite a must see film, but I found it very enjoyable.

Replay Value: I will enjoy watching it a second time.
Sequel Potential: I think that would be weird.
Oscar Potential: Steinfeld got a Golden Globe nom, but the Oscar buzz has been quieter. I think she’s deserving, but I haven’t seen all the best performances. A SAG snub is a bad sign.

Grade: 7/10 (Highly Enjoyable)

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Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016)

November 28, 2016

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell
Director: David Yates (Harry Potter 5-8, Legend Of Tarzan)

Bottom Line: I thought this Harry Potter spin off film from author J.K. Rowling was… okay. This story takes place seventy years before Harry Potter’s and finds noted wizard author Newt Scamander (Redmayne) and his suitcase of mysterious creatures setting foot on American soil for the first time. There was a huge difference between this story and the one we all know and love – and perhaps this will change as they unveil sequel after sequel – but the characters in Fantastic Beasts aren’t half as memorable as the ones in Harry Potter. Newt is charming and whimsical and the NoMaj/Muggle he befriends, Jacob Kowalski (Fogler), is the heart and soul of the entire film. There’s also Alison Sudo’s Queenie, who seems like she could be Luna Lovegood’s grandmother. The rest of the characters are totally forgettable. There’s no Voldemort here. Not even a Professor Quirrell. I’m not even sure I really understood what the big threat was.

You’d think the American version of the wizarding world might offer up some interesting comparing and contrasting, but the big difference pretty much comes down to calling nonmagical people “NoMaj” instead of “Muggles.” That’s about it. Also, I found it interesting how racially diverse the magical community is in 1920s America. Apparently the wizarding world is about 160 years ahead of its NoMaj contemporaries – not only are minorities integrated, they can be President. I would have liked to see how a witch of such prominence interacted with NoMaj under the guise of her perceived social standing: a segregated black woman. Alas, we don’t get such a sequence despite the fact that prejudice (think “mudbloods”) plays such a huge role in Voldemort’s rise to prominence decades later.

I don’t want to give off the perception that I thought Fantastic Beasts was all bad; in fact, I found it enjoyable. You just can’t help but compare it to the quality of the franchise that spawned it. The creatures in the film are great and unique. It seems as though Rowling spent all her time thinking up fantastic beasts instead of developing interesting characters! The best parts of the film all feature Newt interacting or chasing the creatures in his suitcase.

I think fans of the Harry Potter series mostly won’t be disappointed with Fantastic Beasts, but I felt like it paled in comparison. It’s definitely not as kid friendly as its predecessor – if I was wondering what the heck was going on with the bad guys, there’s no way young kids are going to be able to follow it. Fantastic Beasts was enjoyable, but far from great. There could be hope on the horizon as the first Harry Potter was the worst one in the series, in my opinion. Still, I’d rather see the filmmakers adapt Harry Potter & The Cursed Child than make four more Fantastic Beasts movies.

Replay Value: Not itching to see it again.
Sequel Potential: Four sequels are announced, first one is in development already.
Oscar Potential: The last three Harry Potter movies were nominated for six Oscars total – mostly for Visual Effects, which would be this film’s most likely nomination.

Grade: 5.5/10 (Watchable/Recommended)

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Doctor Strange (2016)

November 9, 2016

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Benedict Wong
Director: Scott Derrickson (Sinister)

Bottom Line: Marvel continues its trend of pumping out solid origin stories for its vast stable of superheroes with Doctor Strange, the first film in the MCU to deal with the more mystical side of things. The film is basically your typical Marvel origin movie meets Christopher Nolan’s Inception, both in concept and visually. After getting in a terrible car accident that renders his hands unusable, Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) desperately seeks any way possible to regain his functionality and winds up in the Himalayan Mountains where he meets The Ancient One (Swinton) and learns about things like the multiverse, metaphysical abilities and a bunch of other things that will make your head hurt if you try to understand it all. Just sit back and enjoy the ride – it’s a fun one. The film is as visually dazzling as anything we’ve seen since Inception or Gravity and the script is sprinkled with all the light humor we’ve come to expect from Marvel movies.

From the moment it was announced, you just knew Benedict Cumberbatch was perfect casting as Doctor Strange and it’s no surprise that he absolutely crushes the role. What is somewhat surprising is how good the supporting cast is, but then again, maybe it shouldn’t be – four members of the main cast are former Oscar nominees. Though Marvel has done extremely well at casting all it’s properties, I have to say Doctor Strange is the best ensemble performance in the MCU I’ve seen to date. For a comic book film, it’s top shelf stuff. Also, Strange’s cape is the most entertaining piece of fabric since Aladdin’s magic carpet.

Marvel still has it. I see some critics are getting tired of the superhero genre, but the reality is, Marvel continues to put out quality and inventive properties. Doctor Strange adds a whole new dimension to the MCU – literally – and I’m looking forward to seeing Stephen Strange interact with The Avengers. Doctor Strange is a must see superhero film due to its strong performances and great visual effects and an all around fun time at the movies.

Replay Value: The Marvel films tend to be really good the first time you see them but dip a bit in enjoyment the second time through.
Sequel Potential: I’m sure we will be seeing Doctor Strange in upcoming Marvel films and he’ll probably get a sequel somewhere down the line.
Oscar Potential: Visual Effects will be a strong contender. The acting is great here, but nothing revolutionary and superhero movies tend to be overlooked anyway.

Grade: 7/10 (Highly Enjoyable)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (2016)

November 8, 2016

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Tyler Perry, Stephen Amell
Director: Dave Green (Earth To Echo

Bottom Line: To be clear, I hated the 2014 Ninja Turtles, but Out Of The Shadows looked promising if for only one reason: for the first time in 26 years of making TMNT movies, Bebop and Rocksteady were making an appearance. Outside of Shredder, these guys are easily the turtles most popular villains and somehow we’ve gone five movies without them. Granted, the turtle costumes looked pretty hokey in 1990, so you can only imagine how bad Bebop and Rocksteady would have looked. But it’s 2016 now and we have CG and motion capture performances, so they look pretty damn good here. Plus the writers managed to nail their personas pretty well – physically imposing, mentally challenged. Better late than never, these guys are a fun addition to the franchise.

Out Of Shadows also introduces Dimension X foe Krang into the mix for the first time as Shredder and noted scientist Baxter Stockman (Perry) work together to open a portal that will allow a war machine called the Technodrome access to earth. If nothing else, Out Of Shadows works because it finally gives TMNT fans what they’ve been waiting for: all their favorite things about the cartoon series.

The film itself is merely enjoyable. It seems like the conflict is always the same: Leonardo and Raphael clash as the turtles try to learn how to operate as a team while preventing Shredder from doing whatever scheme he’s up to. There’s nothing new in TMNT storytelling here. The casting of the human characters continues to be questionable. Megan Fox as April O’Neil is just weird – she’s one of those actors that can’t really shed her own identity during a performance. She’s not April O’Neil, she’s Megan Fox in a Ninja Turtles movie. The additions of Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones don’t really help either. You’d think the guy that plays Oliver Queen would be a good choice for the hockey-themed vigilante, but he gives a pretty cheesy performance.

Out Of Shadows is a fun movie that should instill some nostalgia in fans of the old cartoon series and even though it suffers from some mediocre acting and a cliche story, it’s a drastic improvement over the 2014 version.

Replay Value: I think kids will love it, but once was enough for me.
Sequel Potential: Keep ’em coming.
Oscar Potential: None.

Grade: 5/10 (watchable)

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10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

October 14, 2016

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher
Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Bottom Line: 10 Cloverfield Lane was a solid and fun suspense mystery featuring good performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman in the lead roles. Winstead’s character has a bad car accident and wakes up to find herself captive in the survival shelter of a man (Goodman) that claims a chemical attack has made the above ground world unlivable. The big mysteries of the film are whether or not Goodman’s character is telling the truth – and there are plenty pf reasons to question his intentions – and what, if anything, this film has to do with J.J. Abram’s 2008 monster film Cloverfield (Spoiler alert: he’s a not-so-secret producer on the film).

10 Cloverfield Lane is a tense, claustrophobic film with some good scares, a solid cast, and a mystery that will have you guessing until the very end.

Replay Value: I’d watch it again.
Sequel Potential: It’s hard to comment on this because you are wondering the whole film if it’s a sequel or not.
Oscar Potential: John Goodman gives a great supporting performance but it will probably be forgotten and overlooked come award season.

Grade: 6.5/10 (recommended/must see)

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Don’t Breathe (2016)

October 12, 2016

Starring: Jane Levy, Stephen Lang, Dylan Minnette
Director: Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead [remake])

Bottom Line: Somehow, years after Eminem shared his vivid and sometimes scary tales of life in the slums of Detroit, horror filmmakers had the brilliant idea that these lonely projects are the perfect backdrop for a scary movie. Much like last year’s amazing and unique It Follows, Don’t Breathe once again takes us into the depths of Detroit, where a young girl named Rocky (Jane Levy) and her friends hatch the perfect plan to rob an old, blind war veteran that lives alone in an abandoned neighborhood. This plan is able to come to fruition mostly because Rocky’s friend Alex (Minnette) has a father that works for a security company and they are able to use that connection to gain access to people’s homes. Obviously, things don’t go as planned and the old man is far more capable than they ever could have imagined.

Detroit is such a good city for horror movies. It’s hard to imagine many settings where a film like Don’t Breathe could work, but an abandoned neighborhood in the Motor City, where there is absolutely no human traffic, is the perfect place. And it’s easy to believe this is a man that wants to be secluded. What’s not as believable is that this is a man that would have a security system in the first place. He had a daughter that was killed by a motorist (possibly drunk, I can’t remember) and you get the idea that her death was the end of any connection he had to society. So why does he have this system? I guess living in an abandoned area would raise anyone’s paranoia, but he’s well prepared for intruders and has Cujo for a guard dog. I’m not really buying it and you kind of realize the security system only exists for plot purposes and that it doesn’t really make sense for the character. Of course, pointing out plot holes in scary movies is a silly practice…

…but Don’t Breathe is a good scary movie. Once you can get past some of the silliness (like the team finishing off a joint just before breaking into the house – nothing like a good high when performing an occupied home invasion!) Don’t Breathe is a solid thriller – it’s crazy tense with lots of good scares. And the poor, victimized blind man is even scarier than you can imagine. I’m yet to see the remake of Evil Dead but the team of director Fede Alvarez and Jane Levy as the star are a good match here and that project is now on my must see list.

Don’t Breathe is currently the best horror film of 2016 and one of the best films in the genre of the last several years. It’s a must see for fans of scary films and an all around good time at the movies.

Replay Value: Not as good as It Follows, but definitely worth seeing again.
Oscar Potential: Can’t imagine any.

Grade: 6.5/10 (Recommended/Must See)

SPOILER ALERT: Okay, so the big surprise of the movie is that the blind man has the woman that accidentally killed his daughter locked up in his basement. She was found not guilty of vehicular manslaughter and was able to go free. And now she’s in his basement. Think about this for a second. How difficult would it be for a blind man to not only find out where and when to find this girl, capture her by surprise, and do so while making sure there are no witnesses.

Really?

Sequel Potential: Spoiler alert! Maybe. The blind man lives.

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