The Turning
Finn Wolfhard is tremendous in the fan-favorite, Stranger Things; however, even the talented actor couldn’t save this jumbled mess. The Turning follows Kate Mandell, a nanny for two young orphans at an isolated Gothic mansion. Deep into the tenure, Kate notices strange, supernatural events that haunt her and the siblings and she eventually realizes that the mansion has a dark history with a violent malevolent force. The Turning comes from Henry James’s novella, The Turn of the Screw, and despite a solid cast that also features Mackenzie Davis, the film fails to properly translate the popular source material in a meaningful way. The cast of characters are interesting, and the subject of mental illness is at play here, but the film relies on generic jump scares and doesn’t successfully tackle its message about mental illness. The effort from the actors is there, but the interweaving of stories never translates properly, and the ending will leave a sour taste in most people’s mouth.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Despite being notable for being the final film appearance of Donald Pleasence (may he rest in peace), the sixth entry of the Halloween franchise is a tiresome and often incompetent mess that tries to deepen its mythology but fails miserably. Myers returns once again, but this time he targets Tommy Doyle, a man who has a rich history with the Strode family. The Curse of Michael Myers picks up the cult storyline that was explored in the previous saga; however, it fails to add anything intriguing and ultimately clouds the overall series even further. Not surprisingly, Donald Pleasence is the main source that kept most of the sequels alive, though Rudd isn’t too bad in his film debut. It’s just a shame that these actors are stuck in a horror feature that’s neither scary or suspenseful.
Over Her Dead Body
This period of Paul Rudd’s comedies saw the veteran ventures into the world of romance follows his fiancée, Kate, who dies in an accident on their wedding day. However, when it appears that Henry is finally trying to move on with his life, the ghost of Kate does everything in her power to sabotage his new relationship. Over Her Dead Body is essentially Patrick Swayne’s Ghost; however, the end result sees the film being an unfunny and bland imitation. Over Her Dead Body could’ve been a fun dark comedy if the filmmakers didn’t saddle this movie into generic rom-com territory, but Over Her Dead Body ends up squandering its potential in a charmless entry in the crowded genre.
Aloha
The questionable casting of Emma Stone as Allison Ng aside, this star-studded mess centers on military contractor Brian Gilcrest, who reconnects with his ex-girlfriend Tracy Woodside. However, Brian slowly falls in love fighter pilot Allison Ng, while discovering a shocking revelation about his past with Tracy. The A-list cast helps bring charm and energy to the film, but the quirky feature never piles up to anything compelling thanks to a script that lacks focus. Plus, the casting of Emma Stone who plays someone of Chinese Hawaiian Swedish (who never hides this within the film) really makes the Golden Globe winner’s character unbelievable.
Dragonball: Evolution
A laughable mess of a film that tries to pay homage to the original source material without understanding the lore of Dragonball Z, the live-action film follows Goku as he receives a mystical Dragonball from his grandfather. When an evil force strikes, Goku and his companions must journey around the world to collect the mystic Dragonballs and save the Earth from destruction. The filmmakers failed to understand the world, characters, and mythology, and unfortunately, we’re left with a generic action/adventure film that features terrible acting, bland directing, and wonky CGI and fight scenes. James Marsters manages to squeeze some life in this feature, but even his backstory is damaged by the bad script. Easily one of the worst live-action video game adaptations to be released.Paul Rudd’s comedies
Follow Us
