Special: Batman: Soul Of The Dragon, Palmer, Downfalls High Mini-Reviews

Batman: Soul Of The Dragon:

Synopsis: Set in the midst of the swinging 1970s, this Elseworlds adventure finds Bruce Wayne training under a master sensei. It is here that Bruce, along with other elite students, is forged in the fire of the martial arts discipline. The lifelong bonds they form will be put to the test when a deadly menace arises from their past. It will take the combined efforts of Batman and world-renowned martial artists Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva to battle the monsters of this world and beyond!

My thoughts: The story was interesting enough and I'm glad they made certain elements non canonical, like Richard Dragon being Asian since that makes a lot of sense. But they went a little too far with the 70's vibes since the score made it seem like this was a Blaxploitation film in some instances before flipping to bad pornography. The visuals were top notch which we've mostly become accustomed to with the DC Animated Universe films. The voice acting was strong and I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel seeing where this movie ended however I fully expect this to be a one and done project. 

Final verdict: 3.5 magic swords out of 5.

Palmer:

Synopsis: Former high school football star Eddie Palmer went from hometown hero to convicted felon, earning himself 12 years in a state penitentiary. He returns home to Louisiana, where he moves back in with Vivian, the grandmother who raised him. While trying to keep his head down and rebuild a quiet life for himself, Palmer is haunted by memories of his glory days and the suspicious eyes of his small town community. Things become more complicated when Vivian’s hard-living neighbor Shelly disappears on a prolonged bender, leaving her precocious and unique 7-year-old son Sam, often the target of bullying, in Palmer’s reluctant care. In time, Palmer is drawn into a more hopeful world as he forges a connection with Sam through their shared experience of being made to feel different by those around them. Life improves for Palmer, and a romance develops between him and Sam’s teacher Maggie. An inspiring and unexpected journey unfolds for the three of them, but soon Palmer’s past threatens to tear apart this new life.

My thoughts: Palmer has strong acting across the board even if the story was a little too cookie cutter for my tastes it was an enjoyable emotional ride as Justin Timberlake returns to acting for the first time in a long time and he enjoyed chewing the scenery of this flick from start to end.

Final verdict: 3.5 flying fairies out of 5.

Downfalls High:

Synopsis: When reserved and lonely teenager Fenix (Chase Hudson) meets popular high school girl Scarlett (Sydney Sweeney), the two form a bond that shapes the rest of his life. A musical drama featuring the music of Machine Gun Kelly.

My thoughts: If you've seen my top albums of 2020 list you'll see that I really enjoyed Machine Gun Kelly's album Tickets To My Downfall quite a bit and although the whole album gets a playthrough in this movie I feel it would've been better served if they changed the songs order to fit the narrative. There we're also some point where MGK just didn't need to be front and center and he was. I did enjoy some of the new arrangements for the songs which made this a little better than just listening to the album playlist on YouTube. That being said the acting was stale as lots of the performers inexperience showed.

Final verdict: 3 bloody valentines out of 5.

Special: Trolls: World Tour, Spenser Confidential, The Hunt Mini-Reviews

Trolls: World Tour:

Synopsis: In an adventure that will take them well beyond what they've known before, Poppy (Kendrick) and Branch (Timberlake) discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder. A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), aided by her father King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne), wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who's looking to upstage them all.

My thoughts: This was certainly a step back from the original which I did not see coming given the addition of rock music. It was not a bad movie by any stretch it just was a disappointment given the opportunity it had to improve on the originals 3.5 rating.

Final verdict: 3 musical strings out of 5.

Spenser Confidential:

Synopsis: Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) -- an ex-cop better known for making trouble than solving it -- just got out of prison and is leaving Boston for good. But first he gets roped into helping his old boxing coach and mentor, Henry (Alan Arkin), with a promising amateur. That's Hawk (Winston Duke), a brash, no-nonsense MMA fighter convinced he'll be a tougher opponent than Spenser ever was. When two of Spenser's former colleagues turn up murdered, he recruits Hawk and his foul-mouthed ex-girlfriend, Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger), to help him investigate and bring the culprits to justice.

My thoughts: This is the 5th straight movie in which director Peter Berg has made starring Mark Wahlberg. I haven't gotten around to most of those since Battleship soured me on him but Winston Duke was enough to get me interested and it was... Fine. Nothing spectacular but it's the best thing Netflix has done since Point Blank.

Final verdict: 3.5 Post Malone acting credits out of 5.

The Hunt:

Synopsis: Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are, or how they got there. They don't know they've been chosen... for a very specific purpose... The Hunt. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of globalist elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt humans for sport. But the elites' master plan is about to be derailed because one of the hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin), knows The Hunters' game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman at the center of it all.

My thoughts: Half action, half thriller. The Hunt was entertaining enough although it could've still been improved. It didn't seem to know what it wanted to say, was it anti-rich? anti-south? Hollywood-adjacent? I think clarifying the tone would go a big way towards pushing this rating up but hey, bonus points for making Trump hate it.

Final verdict: 3.5 dressed pigs out of 5.