Special: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children/Jack Reacher: Never Go Back/Ouija: Origin Of Evil Mini-Reviews

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children:

Synopsis: From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers...and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special "peculiarity" can save his new friends.

My thoughts: Beautifully crafted and colourful, as you might expect, but the strong storytelling and striking characters are what you'll leave the theater thinking about. Sam Jackson feels slightly out of place here but I mean it doesn't hold the film back at all considering he needs to be in every film anyway...

Final verdict: 5 Peculiarities out of 5.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back:

Synopsis: Tom Cruise returns as Jack Reacher in this sequel based on Lee Child's bestselling novel Never Go Back, which finds the itinerant problem-solver accused of murder, and learning that he may have a child he has never met.

My thoughts: Not as exciting as the original, who really took me by surprise by the time I came around to watching it with how good it was. The non-Cruise actors were a step back from the original. The script also isn't as tight as the original, however the director does a good job of navigating that and keeping the pacing light and without noticeable holes. The action sequences were as impressive as the first even if the hand to hand combat wasn't nearly as impressive.

Final verdict: 4 Court marshals out of 5.

Ouija: Origin Of Evil:

Synopsis: In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a merciless spirit, the family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.

My thoughts: This was definitely an upgrade on the first, though that's not saying much seeing as it ranks #71 out of 89 films in the 2014. I kinda expected more given the positive reviews although it was still lackluster relying on a series of jump scares which by the time you get to the "fright filled" conclusion the jump scares lose their luster and are expected which kinda makes the ending fall flat, but hey they did try to curate this movie towards a larger audience then the 14 year olds targeted during the original.

Final verdict: 3 board game movies out of 5.

Special: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation/Justice League: Gods & Monsters/Sinister 2 Mini-Reviews

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation:

With the IMF disbanded, and Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hellbent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet.

My thoughts? Tom Cruise continues to prove that he is seemingly ageless as he continues to pull off all the stops and stunts needed to continue building M:I to the heights it has attained against seemingly impossible odds (heh). Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames continue to play off Cruise's Ethan Hunt character very well. An argument can be made that this is the finest M:I movie to date, the same argument can be made for finest movie of the year.

Final Verdict: 5 out of 5 action sequences.

Justice League: Gods & Monsters:

In an alternate universe, very different versions of DC's Trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman), who operate outside of the law, are framed for murders of prominent scientist and the government decides to take them out.

My thoughts? Although I give DC big points for originality, Batman being equal parts Kirk Langstrom and Vampire; Superman being the son of Zod who fled to Earth to be raised by immigrant mexicans; Wonder Woman errr Bekka is a New God and former Daughter-in-law to Darkseid. The fact remains that for most of the movie that story felt flat as it seemed the writers were trying to hard to add easter eggs as opposed to telling a coherant story. The voice-acting was excellent as was the dark and violent animation style that fits this movie more than any other DCAU movie but truth is this movie lacked. However the DCAU set to roll out 3 films of excellent quality next year this could be simply the calm before the storm of awesomeness.

Final verdict: 3 out of 5 otherworldy Justice Leaguers.

Sinister 2:

The sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit horror movie. In the aftermath of the shocking events in "Sinister," a protective mother (Shannyn Sossamon of "Wayward Pines") and her 9-year-old twin sons (real-life twins Robert and Dartanian Sloan) find themselves in a rural house marked for death.

My thoughts? Although the original left much to be desired it at least had some positives, this sequel however has it's fair share of problems. This movie keeps you feeling uncomfortable and has it's share of jump scares but the plot doesn't move very fast if at all and is mapped out poorly to start with, though this isn't exactly surprising given Blumhouse's history with low budget horror fare. The first film at least benefit from Ethan Hawke's acting and a story that kept you guessing but being a sequel we already know the formula they are going to use which makes the film predictable fare.

Final verdict: 3 out of 5 boogeymen