Category Archives: Doc’s Movie Reviews

Late Night with the Devil

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I remember hearing about this film last year from Kevin Smith on his Fatman Beyond podcast. Smith raved about this from his friend David Dastmalchian. So I was excited to see this when I saw it coming out at Cinemark.

I can honestly say that I have not been as shaken or unsettled as much from a horror movie is quite some time. The creativity and originality of this film is off the charts and it strung me along in a beautiful manner.

The film starts off in a style of a documentary where the topic was a late night talk show in 1977 that wound up going off the charts. The main part of the film featured the Halloween episode of the Night Owls late night talk show and footage from behind the scenes recorded that night, which presented a picture of a tense and nerve-wrecking situation.

David Dastmalchian played Jack Delroy, the late night talk show host who was struggling to try and become the leader in ratings for late night shows, but who was always coming up short to Johnny Carson. The first fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie set up the background, much like a documentary might, including giving us details on Jack’s wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig), who had died about a year before.

Jack and the producers of his sinking show were looking for a way to recover from the dwindling ratings since the tragic death, and they were looking for this Halloween episode to really pull in the viewers. They stacked it up with some amazing people.

First, was the psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), who was clearly pulling the old tricks of a fraudulent psychic, saying names and looking for people who might fit into the category. However, there were a couple of things that happen that make us wonder exactly what was going on.

Then, he brought out Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a skeptic who would punch holes in the seemingly paranormal moments. Carmichael was a real jerk about it too, being very condescending and arrogant.

Things really picked up when Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and the young girl Lily (Ingrid Torelli) took the stage to talk about Lily’s demon residing inside of her.

From this point on, this film just took off, as you were never sure what was going on, what was real or what was about to happen. The ending sequence, which I will not spoil, was totally off the charts and absolutely stunning. I was completely floored by the third act of this movie, both in the story telling aspect and the way it made me unnerved.

David Dastmalchian is perfect in the role of Jack. You can suspect that there is more to Jack than what you see, but he is so likable that you really want to believe in him and root for him to make it back to the top. Ingrid Torelli is utterly creepy as Lily. Her looks, her voice, everything about Lily was distressing.

Jack’s sidekick (much like Jimmy Kimmel’s Guillermo or Carson’s Ed McMahon) was named Gus (Rhys Auteri) and you could tell that he was just not sure that they should be doing what they were doing. Gus spoke to Jack as the audience spoke, and he was rebuked over and again.

This movie has a definite retro feel to it, and you believe everything that happens. I really loved this movie. It built amazingly from the beginning until the ending sequence. I can see the end being something that some people will not like, but I was utterly engaged and shaken by it.

This is streaming on Shudder in April, and I would recommend everyone to search it out. It takes the old sub-genres of found footage and demonic possession and brings a new life to them. It is a really great film, one of the best of the year.

4.85 stars

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

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I love the Ghostbusters movie from 1984, and no Ghostbusters movie since has come anywhere close. That does not mean that every film since has been garbage. I had heard that the new film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was not very good. It lowered my expectations for the movie. I think that helped.

According to IMBD, “The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”

I did think the story was decent. I liked the idea of the villain and the powers made it very cinematic. There are some great moments with the cast, in particular McKenna Grace, who once again had the biggest arc among the new characters. Paul Rudd was playing Gary in the best Paul Rudd manner. Carrie Coon did not have much to do. Finn Wolfhard was a nice addition for comedic purposes.

However, there was way too many in the cast. There are too many characters who were just here because they were in the last movie, and they added several new characters who are performed by great actors. I do not think that any of the new characters were needed additions. I love both Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt, but they felt forced into the story.

And I hate to say it, but of the original Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz was the most important. Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson were there for no major reason and Annie Potts was just collecting a paycheck. It is nothing against any of these actors, because they are all great, but there was just not enough in the script for this many people to do.

Making William Atherton’s Peck the new Mayor of New York though is a stroke of genius. He is a perfect antagonist for the Ghostbusters and it makes sense why he hates them.

The special effects are great. They use them in the proper times and it does not seem to be overused.

However, the finale of the film was a touch underwhelming for me because of which characters were central in the battle, and I saw it coming a mile away.

I enjoyed the film for the most part, but it did feel as if there were just too much stuffed into the two hour run time, making the movie feel cramped. Very few of the new characters are developed. There were a couple that I did not even mention. Still, as a fan of Ghostbusters, this was a good time at the movies. It could have been considerably better.

3.25 stars

Road House (1989)

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As I was going to Amazon Prime yesterday, I saw that the new Road House movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal was now available for streaming. With the schedule, I plan on watching that later this afternoon or evening, but I thought I should watch the original 1989 movie starring Patrick Swayze first. I have never seen Road House even though it has a large cult following. I have heard a wide variety of opinions on the film. Everything from it is a favorite movie of all time to it is one of the worst. I found it on Hulu/Max so I watched it this morning.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton (Patrick Swayze) has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he’s more than capable — busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot-spot. But Dalton’s romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay (Kelly Lynch) puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara).”

Starting off, this is a silly, mostly stupid, film with poor dialogue and simplistic characters. It is not a very good film.

However, it is entertaining. It is one of those film that you need to approach knowing what kind of film it is and not to expect a lot. There is fun to be had in the mindless violence and one-note characters.

This is basically a 1980s-style Western, with two main characters, Dalton and Mason (Sam Elliott), who are the silent, gunslingers, who coming into the town to clean it up. They are Clint Eastwood-like characters coming face-to-face with the mustache-twirling villains. The story fits right into the genre of the Western, right down to the shootout in the finale.

I will say that the longer the film went, the more ridiculous it became. There is no attempt at realism and it felt much more a cartoon than anything else.

It was awesome to see the late Terry Funk in this film. Sure, he was not much of an actor, but he wasn’t supposed to be. As brutal henchman, he was right in his element.

The more I reflect back on this movie, I can see why people enjoy it, but it really is not a movie that I would recommend unless you are bored on a Saturday afternoon and looking for a really dumb film to pass the time.

Arthur the King

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This was the second film I saw today that I disagreed with the Rotten Tomatoes score. Arthur the King, the new dog movie starring Mark Wahlberg, had a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I did not find it as enjoyable as that.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. Based on an incredible true story, ARTHUR THE KING follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman) for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.“

I really felt as if this film was pushing the boundaries of emotion manipulation with the times it put the dog in jeopardy, and the fact that this dog somehow followed this group of people across some brutal environments because Michael gave him some meatballs was just too much to believe. Yes, it is a true story, but I find it difficult to swallow.

There were some dramatic moments in the film, including one stunt with bicycles and a wire that was harrowing. The landscape was beautiful and was shot very well.

I never doubted what was going to happen in the movie. It was very predictable, which is not always a bad thing. Here, it just felt so manipulative that I rolled my eyes more than I should have.

I do love Simu Liu, but his character was really inconsistent throughout the film and it does not do an adequate job of explaining why he is as he is. Some of his scenes are in direct opposition to moments earlier in the film and even Simu’s great charisma could not help these moments.

A major problem I had was not necessarily the direct problem of the movie, but they showed WAY too much in the trailers, including several scenes from the very end of the movie. Any real tension there may have been in the scene was robbed because I knew there were scenes we saw in the trailer that had not yet happened in the movie. Scenes including the end of the race and subsequent after effects. Some films are hurt by their trailers, and, in my opinion, this is one of them.

I think a lot of people will love this movie, but I am not one of them. It was a basic story that we have seen dozens of times with a dog and a manipulative story. Still, it was not an offensive film and families should like it.

2.75 stars

The American Society of Magical Negroes

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After I watched The American Society of Magical Negroes, I looked at the Rotten Tomatoes score. It was hovering around 31%, and I was surprised, because I thought it was much better than that.

According to IMDB, “A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier.“

Justice Smith played Aren and he is really great. The charisma from Smith really carried a lot of this movie. I also enjoyed the performance of David Alan Grier, who played Roger, a member of the Society who recruited Aren. Grier and Smith worked very well together.

The story is pretty basic, and the film did intend to be a commentary on the race relations of the nation. It does have its moments, but it feels too surface for a really difficult issue. It had a lot of potential to really be a satire of the racial division of the country, but the film did not take advantage of its premise. However, Justice Smith did have a monologue in the third act that was probably the best part of the movie and did contain more than the rest of the film.

Overall, I found this to be quite funny at times and I did like Justice Smith very much. It was a creative idea that could have really done more. I did find more enjoyment in the film than parts I felt were lacking, so this is a borderline recommendation.

3.3 stars

Damsel

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Millie Bobby Brown has had success with her movie role choices since her breakout performance on Stranger Things. This weekend saw her brand new film, a fantasy film, debut on Netflix.

According to IMDB, “A  young woman who thinks she is being married to a perfect prince is thrown into a pit where she discovers she’s not going to be a princess after all, but a sacrifice to appease a bloodthirsty dragon. Trying to survive long enough until someone can save her — she soon realizes that no one is coming and this “damsel” must save herself.“

Led by Brown, the cast of this film was solid. Robin Wright, Angel Bassett, Ray Winstone, Nick Robinson, Brooke Carter, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Milo Twomey. However, Millie Bobby Brown spent a lot of time on screen and the other powerful actors were supporting for sure. This is definitely Millie Bobby Brown’s movie.

The special effects/CGI of the movie were pretty good, specifically the look of the dragon, which was on screen a lot.

The story was fairly simple. It was a survival tale, bit it took the concept of a “damsel in distress” from fantasy movies and flipped it on its head. She did not need anyone to come rescue her.

I did enjoy the voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the dragon. Aghdashloo, who I remember from 24, has a very distinctive voice and it gave that dragon a strong presence.

There is a lot of fun in this movie. Brown is very charismatic and easy to root for. It may be a simple film, but that does not mean it is a bad one.

3.4 stars

Imaginary

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2024 must be the year of imaginary friends. The film IF with Ryan Reynolds is out later this year, and this weekend dropped the latest horror movie featuring the idea of the imaginary friend.

According to IMDB, “a woman returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.”

Here is the thing with Imaginary. I was fully engaged in the first 2/3rds if this movie. I was invested, surprisingly so. Then, in the third act of Imaginary, everything absolutely fell off the cliff. The last third of this movie absolutely crushed the enjoyment from the first part of the film and brought this rating way down.

So what went wrong in that third act? Without talking in spoilers, the problems are varied. The movie suddenly falls into exposition. It starts to explain things and doesn’t seem to stop. SO MUCH EXPLAINING!!!! And it was multiple scenes.

Not only are they over explaining things, they are explaining things that we just saw happen, as if we were not smart enough to understand what had just happened. There was one scene in particular where once the action ended, the characters told us what we had just seen. I do not like to think the movie thinks I am too dumb to understand what I am watching. This sure as hell is not Dune 2.

The third act became ridiculous. The story was convoluted and then everything had to be explained. Things happened that did not make sense. The special effects were okay, except for the look of the bear. The monstrous bear known as Chauncey looked like a fraud Bigfoot on a poor video recording.

The acting was, at best, passable, but the writing was extremely weak and the dialogue felt wooden in a lot of times.

They used a bunch of jump scares in the film because they could not really create the type of horror that built on it normally.

I was enjoying the first two acts, despite the fact that it was a little slower. But that third act just drove the film into the ground. I went from being invested to laughing at the scenes. It has been a long time since a movie took this hard of a turn into badness for me.

1.5 stars

Kung Fu Panda 4

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All across the realm of social media the last few weeks, the clip of Jack Black with Tenacious D, doing a cover of the Britney Spears hit, Baby, One More Time, thrived. It was everywhere, and it was the song to play over the end credit scenes of the fourth installment of the animated film from the DreamWorks franchise, Kung Fu Panda.

That was my favorite part of the film.

Kung Fu Panda 4 was okay, but it definitely felt like the franchise had stretched farther than it should have.

Jack Black, however, is a treasure as always. He completely embodies Po, the Dragon Warrior and commands the screen with his voice in every scene that he is in. Awkwafina voiced the character of Zhen, a fox who was a thief looking for a specific score. Awkwafina was just okay in this film. Dustin Hoffman resumed his role as Shifu and Po’s two fathers, voiced by James Hong and Bryan Cranston, were back as well.

However, there was no sign of the Furious Five, as the characters were off on their own adventures.

Our new villain, voiced by Viola Davis, was The Chameleon, and was quite a letdown. The character had some great design and looked awesome in the animation, but there was just not enough done with her, leaving a lot of potential untapped.

The story was just so obvious that it was quite the drawback. It was pretty clear what was going to happen and it felt as if it was something that I did not want to see.

The animation, though, was beautiful as always for this franchise. Po looked great and all of the characters were designed wonderfully. There were some very creative animated spots throughout the film and the film looked excellent. Plus, the animation of the action scenes were really well done.

The involvement of Po’s two fathers, Mr. Ping the goose and Li the panda was one of my least favorite parts of the story. It made little sense and they felt as if they were shoehorned into the story so they could have Bryan Cranston in the movie more.

I found this to be okay. I expect that the kids of the world will enjoy the film way more than I did.

However, I did love that Baby One More Time cover.

3 stars

Spaceman

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So this must be the weekend for science fiction.

I watched Spaceman, the third sci-fi movie of the day for me. It is also the one that I am the most conflicted about.

It is very well known that I am not a fan of Adam Sandler. However, he has had some more recent, serious movie roles that I have enjoyed, so seeing this still left me with some hope. After watching it, I am just unsure what exactly I watched.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Six months into a solitary research mission to the edge of the solar system, an astronaut, Jakub (Adam Sandler), realizes that the marriage he left behind might not be waiting for him when he returns to Earth. Desperate to fix things with his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), he is helped by a mysterious creature from the beginning of time he finds hiding in the bowels of his ship. Hanuš (voiced by Paul Dano) works with Jakub to make sense of what went wrong before it is too late.”

This is most definitely a slow burn sci-fi movie, which I do not mind. I have always enjoyed a good slow burn character piece, and this is definitely a film that embraces the pace.

Adam Sandler does a decent job in this performance, but it does feel strange at times. I have to say, I did not realize that he was supposed to be an astronaut from the Czech Republic until midway into the film. There was not much about Adam Sandler or his performance that screamed Czech.

Then, things go really weird when the creature voiced by Paul Dano arrives and begins a deep, psychological and internal discussion about just about everything in Jakub’s life. I don’t want to spoil the creature, but your acceptance of this creature will depend if you think the film is a decent sci-fi film or a silly facade.

There are things about Paul Dano’s character that I would like to discuss, but I can not go into it without spoiling some specifics so I will not do so. Let me just state that one of the big themes of the film deals with the loneliness and isolation of Jakob and how that might affect his mental state, and I’ll leave it at that.

I went back and forth with Dano’s character, so it is the reason why I am unsure how exactly I feel about Spaceman. This is the central relationship that we focus on and I am mixed on it. I found it more interesting overall than silly, so there is that.

There was an interesting use of flashbacks to tell the story of Jakob and his life. I did enjoy the manner in which the movie displayed the flashbacks and how the story on earth maintained a different visual style than the scenes in the spaceship or from the flashbacks. I thought the direction of these scenes especially, from director Johan Renck, was solid. I am not sure that I got enough out of the scenes to understand some of the decisions made by Jakob, especially in the area of Lenka. Carey Mulligan has some good moments, but not enough of them to really matter.

I do think the film missed some opportunities to really take this into a strong character piece and deal with some heavy ideas and themes. What they did was okay, but I think there is an outline of something that could be truly good.

You should check it out on Netflix. This is one that I think you could hate, but I found enough here to be engaged by it.

3.3 stars

Code 8: Part II

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It was quite a weekend for sci-fi part two films. The biggest, of course, was Dune: Part Two in theaters, but the other is a film that arrived on Netflix called Code 8: Part II.

This was a film that I had no idea even had a Part I. Apparently, this is a sequel to a sci-fi film that came out in 2019 and on Netflix in 2020 featuring Robbie and Stephen Amell.

According to IMDB, “After witnessing the murder of her brother and subsequent cover up, a teenage girl with abnormal abilities seeks the help of an ex-con (Robbie Amell) and his former partner-in-crime (Stephen Amell). Together, they face a unit of corrupt police officers who deploy advanced robotic technology to prevent themselves from being exposed.”

The mix of super powered individuals and the science fiction robotics is very intriguing with this movie and leads to some interesting scenes with the different characters. I did like the young girl, Pavani, played by Sirena Gulamgaus. I thought she pulled off her character with some gusto.

The relationship between the characters played by the Amell brothers were shaky at times. It was unclear the relationship between them and it was inconsistent. Perhaps this is a drawback to not seeing the first Code 8 movie.

The story is okay. I wouldn’t rave about it, but it does have a good flow and the idea of technology being corrupted by human is definitely a regular one in sci-fi.

I liked this film. I have seen reviews stating that this was a step down from the original, but as that is not an issue for me, I would say I liked watching this. It may not be the best Part II of the weekend, nor the best sci-fi film of the weekend, but it was a worthy watch despite that.

3.5 stars

Dune: Part Two

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I have heard so many glowing reviews about Dune Part Two that I went into this movie with high expectations. I re-watched the first Dune last weekend to review what happened. I still found it to be fine. I did not love the first one.

I did not find the second Dune to be as brilliant as it seems everyone else did, but I did like it more than the first one. It is clearly a beautiful, epic science fiction film with several amazing performances. I would not be honest if I said that I wasn’t confused about some of the things that were happening here.

Denis Villeneuve completed his second film, and the second film feels like a more complete story. One of the criticisms of the first film was that it ended suddenly and did not feel like a complete end. The second film had more completion to it.

The special effects are absolutely astounding and the shots of this world were breath-taking. It is one of the most visually impressive films I have seen in years.

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya are wonderful together, with amazing chemistry and a powerful connection. This relationship is at the center of the movie and makes the ending of the film even more difficult.

The cast is excellent. Everybody bring their A-game to this film, including Dave Bautista, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Stellan Skarsgård. Special shout out to Austin Butler, who played the David Bowie role from the first film. Butler was sinister as Feyd-Rautha and he created an absolutely brilliant antagonist to Chalamet.

The fight choreography of this film was exciting and wonderful. Some of the one on one fights of this movie were dramatic and so beautifully put together. The battle scenes of the war are great and make the energy of the film elevated.

I have never really understood the world of Dune and that has been my biggest struggle of viewing the film. I wonder how much more confused I may have been had I not done the re-watch last weekend?

There are a ton of things about this movie that make it an amazing cinematic exercise, and my issues are not enough to derail this amazing piece of work.

4.5 stars

Drive-Away Dolls

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I did not plan on going to this movie. It came out last week and it was not a draw for me to go to the theater. However, it fit nicely into the schedule this week before Dune Part II and there was only one showing, so I decided to give Drive-Away Dolls a chance.

Sadly, I did not enjoy it very much.

According to IMDB, “Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.”

Written in part and directed by Ethan Coen, this is a raunchy comedy that, unfortunately, I did not find very funny.

I did find our two main leads, Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, to be fairly charismatic. I thought both of them did a decent job, but I just did not find much of what they did as funny, and for a comedy, that was a big drawback.

The storyline was weird and so very Coen-like.

And I felt bad for poor Pedro Pascal.

There was a lot of sex and nudity and that is fine. There was just so much lacking in-between the sex scenes. There were so many stupid things that the characters did and it annoyed me badly.

I did not find this the worst thing I have seen, but there were too many things that bothered me compare to the positives.

2.6 stars

Madame Web

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Oof.

When the trailer for Sony’s Madame Web first came out, it looked like all kinds of hot garbage. Then, there was a lot of negative reviews for the flick. I saw it today and it was absolutely one of the worst movies of this year.

Sony keeps making these Spider-Man adjacent movies and none of them seem to be good. Let’s not forget Morbius from a few years ago. Of course, Morbius is a much better movie than Madame Web.

According to IMDB, “Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) is a New York metropolis paramedic who begins to demonstrate signs of clairvoyance. Forced to challenge revelations about her past, she needs to safeguard three young women from a deadly adversary who wants them destroyed.“

There are simply not much to say about this movie that is positive. I guess Adam Scott did the best he could with what he had. He played Ben Parker, who, I guess, was also a paramedic.

This movie has some of the worst, most wooden dialogue that I have ever heard in a big budget movie. In particular, the villain of this movie Ezekiel Sims, played by Tahar Rahim, had the absolute worst lines and delivery of the lines as I think I have ever seen. There was also a strange overdub of his dialogue in some scenes that did not synch up very well with his lips. Ezekiel Sims has to be considered near the top of the list for worst comic book villains of all time.

Dakota Johnson is a very great actor, but she does not look to give two craps about this. I do like the way the last scene with her in the movie (at least the way she looked).

There are so many things that are so stupid about this movie. Plot holes abound. Characters do things that do not make any sense.

So you know, there are no post credit scenes at all, so you can take off before the credits. I waited until the very end.

The three young actresses, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor, are implied in trailers to be spider-based super heroes and that is not true. We see them in costumes in a vision of the future, and that is all. The whole movie features these three girls as teenage girls without powers. It does feel like some false advertising.

This movie is very dull too. There is so much missing from this. All that this was for was to throw some poorly written Spider-Man Easter eggs and and a sad attempt to take advantage of the Spider-Man’s success. This is a terrible movie.

0.75 stars

Bob Marley: One Love

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I do not know much about Bob Marley’s music. There are a couple of them, of course, but for the most point, I am unfamiliar.

The music was the best part of Bob Marley: One Love.

This tells the story of Bob Marley’s life. However, I did not feel as if there was much cohesive story in the film. It felt very much like the typical music biopic that we always get. There was nothing much new or different about this Bob Marley film.

Kingsley Ben-Adir played Bob Marley and he does a very decent job. Lashana Lynch played Rita and she was excellent as well. The acting overall of the film was pretty decent.

The main problem of this movie was the story. It was slow and plodding and I was just bored through much of it. The music was great and helped keep things moving.

The trailers focused on the shooting of Bob Marley in Jamaica, and that piece was done in the first ten minutes. I thought this was going to be the key focus of the movie, but it was not. I wish they would have focused in on a smaller section of his life.

The movie was not terrible, but it was not good either. I did enjoy the music here. Did I mention that already?

2.6 stars

Lisa Frankenstein

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If I am being honest, I did doze off for a short time at the beginning of the new movie, Lisa Frankenstein. Sadly, I was awake for most of it.

According to IMDB, “After suffering an unspeakable tragedy, Lisa finds herself at a new school her senior year in 1989, struggling to fit in, despite her “sister” Taffy trying to get her to conform to her more typical cheerleader vibe. When a freak accident reanimates a corpse from the abandoned cemetery where she was spending time, she must keep his arrival a secret from her family and classmates, all while deciding how much she wants to help him, and at what cost.”

I really did not like Lisa Frankenstein. I found it unfunny, mean-spirited and filled with characters that I just did not like. Lisa, played very well by Kathryn Newton, was a protagonist that I found so unlikable that I did not know why I was supposed to be cheering for her. Maybe I wasn’t.

I will give the movie some credit in the fact that it did take some big swings and did not fall into the typical steps. I like the idea behind a lot of the film, but I just did not like the execution of these original ideas. I did enjoy the character of Taffy (Liza Soberano). She was a character that we have seen dozens of times and is always portrayed in a certain way, but this film took this character in a completely different direction. That was welcome and she was easily my favorite character in the movie.

Cole Sprouse was fine as the Creature. He did a solid job without any dialogue for most of the movie. 

I can say that I did not think that the actors were part of my problem with this movie. 

I found it to be cruel, filled with mean scenes toward the people of the film and I just did not appreciate it. I may have chuckled a few times during the movie, but, overall, the writing of it just did not inspire me in any manner.

This was another movie that I was disappointed by since I had been looking forward to seeing it since the trailers. I would say that as of February 10th, this is my least favorite movie of the year (although Madame Web is coming next week).

1.5 stars