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Film reviews

Lilo & Stitch Review

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Aloha times five! Lilo & Stitch is a joyful ride that provides fun for the whole family. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, I felt so much nostalgia from the animated version of this movie. The adventures of friendship and positivity to be found in moments of suspense make Lilo & Stitch feel special. To go right into the plot, the film focuses on Experiment 626 aka Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders). Stitch is a little blue alien that has run away from Pleakley (played by Billy Magnusson) and Jumba (played byZach Galifianakis). Stitch has landed on Earth and be-friends Lilo (played by Maia Kealoha). Lilo is a young girl living alone with her sister Nani (played by Sydney Agudong). Their sibling relationship is filled with love and some complexities. Stitch and Lilo are inseparable, but can they deal with the crazy dangers that Stitch has brought to the planet?

The film is boisterous with Stitch pretending to be a dog. His infectious energy causes both kids and adults to laugh. I love this real-person adaptation because it is so authentic and true to the animated version from 2002. There are so many smiles, happy places, lots of sun, and plenty of waves. The Hawaiian setting perfectly highlights the adventures of this family. Because the detectives assume Stitch is a threat, hiding the obvious becomes more challenging. It also fuels the motives for sticking together as a family. The one spy that creates a dark brand of humor is Cobra Bubbles (played by Courtney B. Vance). Given his detective instincts, he knows there are fishy aspects going on with Stitch, Lilo, and Nani. The many ways to hide lead to lots of suspenseful moments and a sore belly from all the laughs. Lilo & Stitch is simply wonderful. 

With all the highs for Lilo connected to friendship, and Nani trying to adapt to Stitch, the theme of “Ohana” hit hard and touched me. The saying goes, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” That term frequently comes to my mind thanks to Lilo & Stitch. It reminds me to remember to think about others and makes me think about my own family. For example, even though Stitch drives Nani crazy, she tolerates him because he is part of their “family.” Watching the film again filled me with memories of my younger sister who learned to surf during a beach vacation in Hawaii. While I am not a surfer, we loved watching the animated version of Lilo & Stitch when we were kids. I was reminded of her fascination with surfing and other special childhood memories while watching this new version.

I loved everything about Lilo & Stitch from the many ways it promotes happiness to the theme of doing what is right. It is an extremely well-done movie with an engaging vibe. It is an enjoyable ride of family and connection that will make hearts explode with empathy. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for Lilo & Stitch.

Film reviews

Hurry Up Tomorrow Review

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An idea that can have moments to shine and dazzle, but falls flat easily, Hurry Up Tomorrow presents a world of an artist falling into a place of darkness out of disconnect. There are a lot of lighting and cinematic moments in this film that push the limits of tolerance. The lights thriving back and forth are irresistible, although, this also makes the film seem out of place. The artist The Weeknd is the main character, and sadly, this is another mediocre project for him. After his series The Idol, the approaches of Hurry Up Tomorrow still do not do much justice to his talent.

 The Weeknd is on the road doing all kinds of tours in different cities and countries. His attitude is all over the place. It shifts a ton though when the attention of a girl comes to his mind. She is Anima (played by Jenna Ortega). The Weeknd finds himself distracted on his tour and his assistant Lee (played by Barry Keoghan) tries to encourage him to keep on going. With all the stress and turmoil boiling to a burning point, Hurry Up Tomorrow chooses to go in the direction of a strange angle.

 Hurry Up Tomorrow presents itself in a pattern where The Weeknd is the main character and story. His mind is in a boggle. The structure though is presented in a form that only finds itself to feel irritatingly over compelling. It tries to hard to grow its psychological side by repeated moments of strobe lights. That tactic is one that had my head spinning, but also my mind asking myself, how much do I have to endure? 

 It is a ride where building resilience is important. It is also one where there is no clear point. However, the connection of The Weeknd and Anima is the strong bond of Hurry Up Tomorrow.The dynamic between The Weeknd and Lee also holds things together well. The Weeknd is trying to navigate what his heart wants among all the mental clashing of his own world. Overall, though, the story just continues in the direction of boredom. As far as the visual film goes though, the cinematics are amazing. It is just the use of looping in a storyline to grasp the amazing moments that do not work.

 If I could explain this film any better, I would say that its choice to look at the stress of fame does not sell me. It fuels itself to try and have that God moment through the focus of the characterizations in The Weeknd.  It tries to be a separate idea or conjunction to feel like something that the world has not seen before, when overall, it struggles to maintain itself resulting in a weird blur.

Hurry Up Tomorrow is one of the least compelling stories I have seen. I was sold on the insomniac world it created, but on the usage of the foundation I was not. Overall, the structure quality it tries to achieve just does not fit. This is one I had to suffer through. One-and-a-half out of four stars.

Film reviews

Final Destination: Bloodlines Review

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The plot of cheating death with a background full of layers of investigation spirals ferociously in Final Destination: Bloodlines. This film is one of the most adventurous, yet predictable thrillers in this franchise. Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein who have mastered the craft of looping in family ties. I enjoyed Final Destination: Bloodlines more than I did the previous films. This time around, the focus on the objectives of XYZ adds an intriguing presence. Final Destination: Bloodlines succeeds in testing fate. 

With this being the sixth film in the franchise, I reflected on which other ones had me the most sold. The determined that I liked Final Destination, Final Destination 2, and Final Destination 5 best, because those films had tension that made audiences feel the terror at new levels. In Final Destination 3and 4, I felt there was too much redundancy due to writing which covered the other films and caused those films to feel less eerie. In Final Destination 5, however, I felt the terrors and scares went up a level again. In my book, Final Destination: Bloodlines is on the same level as and up to par with Final Destination 5.

The plot of the film begins with an individual’s nightmare. Her name is Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger). Iris survived a horrific incident many ages before in a glass sky tower. Years later, her grand daughter, Stefanie Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) is having nightmares about her grandma’s horrific nightmare. The cycle in Stefanie’s head swirls. The moving parts make sense in her head, but it is just a matter of time before fatalities start happening out of the blue. Actions as simple as the press of a button, an item falling, or overheating temperatures are a significant reason this franchise continues to be horrifically invigorating.

My fascination is Final Destination: Bloodlines is its contextual pattern which is like karma toppling karma. When one death happens it spirals in sync with others who are close or related. This is why Stefanie is the character of importance. She is the one with visions and is trying to understand the truth behind why certain events happened. The limiting factor is the timeline to prevent tragedies. Final Destination: Bloodlines boils the pot of suspense. 

The movie is invigorating yet still a bit redundant with too much repetition and correlation with the previous films. Stefanie’s dreams have depth and purpose but are not enough to stop all of what comes falling. There is a saying in the film that goes, “Cheated death and survived.” The presence of tragedy awaiting a fatality lingers perilously in Final Destination: Bloodlines. It is one of the most built-up, psychological and spellbinding films in the franchise. Hiding behind doors or the truth is not the answer and only leads to avoidance not piecing together the puzzle. It is too late to stop what has already begun. Be ready for a ride of terror that begins thousands of stories high and then swirls in all sorts of dangerous directions. Three out of four stars for Final Destination: Bloodlines.