"Is he slow?" "I just want to go home ..." "Is that a yes?"

Baby Driver/Dunkirk/Valerian

Mini Reviews

[July 20th, 2017]

 I just had my first triple feature this year or ever and I honestly enjoyed each movie in their own ways. My friend brought up a legit concern of the movies overlapping each other and it appeared to be more apparent as I had to delay my departure until two in the afternoon since I had to help my father painting some wooden panels for a custom cabinet he is building. Nevertheless, I persisted and somehow I managed to line up the movies one after another but I have to recommend going as soon as possible for future double (or tripe feature for that matter) because you might be leaving late and as I experienced that day, when the sleepiness kicked in I just couldn't stand it and it's a miracle I arrived home safely.

Anyway, let's turn our attention to the real reason you're here: mini-reviews as a placeholder for (hopefully) future full review of each of them. I concluded before the trip that Baby Driver would be the one I like the most among the three and I definitely started with a bang while the other two couldn't match the level of excitement I felt when watching this Edgar Wright's latest film. It's full of catchy soundtracks and engaging storyline of the main protagonist, Baby, that tied the music with his journey wonderfully (the best use of soundtrack yet!) while the role of the medium touches on each character differently and it is actually plays major part in how the movie is told. The director's deft hands in editing have a perfect marriage with the high octane car chases sequences and it is the best representation of the practical effects of the cars (frankly it looks better than other overly CGI, over-the top franchises out there). All in all, I am happy for the cult director to finally get a commercially successful film under the belt and I couldn't be happier that it falls on such an excellent movie.

Moving on to the second feature, Christopher Nolan returns after the success of the Dark Knight trilogy with his own grand interpretation of the constantly trodden materials of World War 2 while using the large IMAX format to its fullest potential by effectively portraying the vast emptiness of war and the actions sequences as the pounding scores complementing the pulse-pounding aerial dogfights between the two opposing sides. The director bravely, smartly and knowingly strays away from the usual story conventions by focusing on how the war itself affect the stranded soldiers and not the other way around as some moviegoers wouldn't know who to root for since no background stories are provided for each of main characters. Treated mainly as a silent movie, the least dialogues are used as the visuals and sound effects would do the talking instead and the way the movie was cut and edited could add or detract from their experience.Watch it in native IMAX if you can, you will not regret it! 

Last but not least, after the grounded action of Baby Driver and the bleak reality of Dunkirk, I ended the night with full on entertaining journey through the world of Valerian created by the mind of Luc Besson who faithfully recreated his childhood(?) French graphic novels of the same name by splurging on the budget to create a fully realised and believable CGI world. Whether or not his expensive gamble would pay off in the end would still be up in the air but the two leads certainly have great chemistry with each other with entertaining banters and playful interactions while leading the movie well in this expansive universe. The intricate and vast premise could end up adding to the movie's detriments instead of adding to the storytelling since the concepts of some of the aliens and technologies could go well over the heads of viewers if they didn't pay attention. Nevertheless, they would certainly have a good time with it as much as the audiences I went into with despite the least polished storyline presented among the three. Well, that was it! I hope I at least help some of you to decide on what movie to watch this week or this month for that matter and remember: movie is subjective and that some of you could have different opinions on the movies compared to mine, and that's just fine. Let me know how your movie-going experience go for you guys and girls!

That's is for now ... please tune in for my full review in the future. Until next time!