Mike Goes To Movies

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker If you didn't have enough of my initial rambling review of The Rise of Skywalker, here is my second half, spoiler-filled (likely too-long) breakdown of the film. Here we go... SPOILERS AHEAD: The Good: Reylo! As with the previous two films, the tense and mysterious connection between Rey and Kylo Ren (now known to be a Force dyad!...) continues to be the highlight of this trilogy. And it all comes to a breathtaking and heartrending end here. Now, for most of us, it was no surprise that Kylo would turn to the light in the end. This whole saga is built around the redemption arc (specifically when it comes to the Skywalker fam). And, as he set out to do in TFW, Kylo does ultimately follow in his Skywalker grandfather's footsteps and returns to the side of the Jedi when it is most needed in order to destroy Palpatine. Like the spectacular team-up fight in TLJ, the rousing visual of Rey and Kylo side-by-side wie...

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Disclaimer: Though there are no explicit spoilers here, there is general discussion of the film that may warrant SW aficionados wait until they have seen the film before reading (though I'm sure they have all seen it by now anyways...) Let's all just be honest for a moment, it was self-fulfilling that this film would not please everyone. Star Wars is one of the most beloved franchises in the history of pop culture and The Rise of Skywalker was to be the final instalment of the original 42 year and nine-film long saga. If that wasn't daunting enough, what is, is the fact that Lucasfilm dug themselves into quite the hole with not plotting out this final trilogy ahead of time. The damage of this studio decision is awkwardly apparent throughout ROS. Following this trilogy's pattern of fan-service and retreads (TFW), to breaking molds and moving in surprising new directions (TLJ), and now back again to fan-service (ROS), this new ...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) Yes, this might get a lot of flack from the masses who either love or hate this movie, but I figured I would give my two cents anyways, because I wasn't yet reviewing at the time of its release. To quickly put it out there, no I did not love The Last Jedi, but I did like much of it, and, in fact, I think the film has a couple of the best moments in all of Star Wars.  Let's get the negative stuff out of the way first. Similar to most, I am not a fan of the Canto Bight sequence. I felt that it is overly long, detracts from the film's main narrative and momentum and ultimately has no pay off as the whole plan fails. I get that this ending is Rian Johnson imparting the real-world spin into Star Wars, that things don't always go as planned, and sometimes fail, even for the heroes. However, I don't think such a large amount of time needed to be given for this message, as well, that the inclusion of Benicio Del Toro and his characte...

6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2002) and Avengers (2012) Okay, so this one really isn't fair at all... But, what the hell, top 10's are tough so I'm just going to go ahead and cram a whole load into this one. To the fanboy in me all three of these franchises have been infinitely important and influential. I was a huge fan of LOTR and all things Marvel prior to the movies coming out and, as most will attest, it is incredible how well they have both translated on-screen. While Star Wars originated in film, it has since evolved into every other available medium, similar to the other two, and clearly become its own mammoth nerdustry. I am going to keep these blurbs briefer today as multiple films fall under the blanket of each of these titles as well the impacts for myself of each franchise, or the films within, could take up more time from your day than I deserve to steal away from you. However, I have chosen o...