Media Reviews (Movies, TV & Music) With C.J.

Bright (Netflix Movie Review

Lord of the Rings Meets Training Day?

Bright is the big Netflix release this month starring Will Smith and and Joel Edgerton as gritty cops in a world where fantasy creatures live alongside humans. This movie wants to be Training Day with elves, fairies and magic wands. A bold an interesting premise that it never quite nails.

Netflix put up that Will Smith money and he and co-star Edgerton put up solid performances. The shortcoming of this movie has more to do with it trying to be too many things at once. It tries to be a social commentary, gritty cop drama, and epic fantasy tale. It does a mediocre job of doing all three and the tones never quite mesh the way director David Ayer wants them to.

Bright is an OK movie. It has good parts, a strong premise and Will Smith being Will Smith. However, that’s not enough to save this movie that is 30 minutes too long. Netflix swung for the fences and ended up with a “double-play” at best.

Score: 72 C-

Logan: The Greatest Comic Book Movie Ever?

Full disclosure. I love comic book super hero movies. I grew up on the 90’s X-Men animated series and the X-Men films of the 2000s. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Logan aka The Wolverine for the final time and finally gets the “R” rated treatment the character deserves after more than 15 years.

The guy has razor claws coming out of his hands and goes into fits of berserk rage so having to be family friendly has limited the impact that violence would have on the character. This movie corrects all of that in about the first 5 minutes of screen time. It should be noted that this movie is extremely violent. Again, it will be clear after the first 5 minutes how violent of a ride it’s going to be.

This film is filled with heart and at its core, is a movie about family. It also serves as a modern day Western in the truest sense. It uses the classic Western “Shane” as a clear inspiration throughout and is filmed in a way that is simple yet efficient and effective.

This is a very dark story but has enough moments of levity sprinkled throughout to help balance the tone. Hugh Jackman gives one of the best performances of his career as Logan. Patrick Stewart gives an equally heartfelt swan song to the character of Professor Xavier. Dafne Keen also steals the show at many points throughout the movie as the young mutant Laura.

Logan has everything Wolverine fans have ever wanted in a movie and gives two of the “Original Gangster” (OG) actors of the X-men franchise a perfect ending. The plot is bold and the villains are effective, but not in the way you would expect from a super hero movie.

The protagonists can’t just punch away their problems. There is a social commentary in here about corporations that isn’t too heavy handed, but is effective in the dark, yet very realistic future they portray in the film. To me this movie rivals the Dark Knight Rises as the greatest superhero movie ever made.

This is my pick for best film of 2017.

Pros:

All the Main Performances
Action Sequences
Modern day Western
Family Dynamic (Logan/Charles, Charles/Laura, Logan/Laura)

Cons:

It took 17 years to get this movie.
Score: 98
Grade: A+

Posted December 19, 2017

Star Wars The Last Jedi – The Most Shocking Star Wars Film To Date (Spoiler Free)

Note: (The scoring system is going to be on a “100 point” scale will be graded as a teacher would grade a students assignment in school).

50 and Below is an F

60’s are D

70’s are C

80’s are B

90 to 100 is an A

Star Wars the Last Jedi is one of the years most anticipated movies and it didn’t disappoint. I consider myself a casual Star Wars fan. I’ve seen all the films but I am not familiar with the extended universe material. So first things first. If you haven’t seen any Star Wars films don’t start with this one as it picks up right where 2015’s A Force Awakens leaves off.

I’m just gonna get to the elephant in the room. This film is extremely divisive in the Star Wars fan community. It seems like people either love it and think it’s the best film of the saga or think it’s terrible. I personally think it is a great movie with some noticeable flaws. There are some terrific performances from Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and the late great Carrie Fisher as General Leia. The rest of the cast is also solid but don’t get as much to do.

This movie as some incredible twists and turns and the stakes for the characters feel dire. My main complaint has to do with the B plot in the movie being weak and lasting too long. Also there are some big characters that are criminally underutilized.

Pros:

Shocking Twists
Adam Driver/Mark Hamill
Beautiful cinematography
The best light-saber fight to date

Cons:

B story
Pacing was confusing at some points
Some narrative risks don’t quite payoff

Final Score

90 out of 100 = “A-“

About Christopher Johnson

I am the youngest columnist on this website. I provide the youth and Millennial perspective. I started in this business interviewing celebrities when I was 10-years old. I took a sabbatical to finish high school. After high school, I got back into the business and did some part-time work conducting celebrity interviews with my Dad and Harold Bell.

I also comment on sports, politics and current events. I’m also the co-host of “The Legends of Inside Sports,” (YouTube) with legendary DC radio sports broadcaster and TV host Harold Bell. In my spare time I am the Lead Guitarist for a band called The Courtland Experiment. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Left to Right: Photo #1 – C.J. with MLB Hall of Famer Dave Winfield at the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, Photo #2 – C.J. with NFL Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams