Encanto

 

Encanto is the story of Mirabel, a young girl surrounded by a magical family. When the magic starts to fade she must try to find the key to unlock the door to their salvation.

The beautiful, bright cinematography and costume colors were a great compliment to the fun, festive soundtrack with catchy tunes.

I found the plot to be engaging and family friendly. It was a great coming of age story about discovery and growth. There were strong themes around embracing your gifts, not taking people for granted and appreciating them for all of their contributions, big or small. I also liked seeing the unbreakable bonds of family and how love can conquer all.

I enjoyed the diverse representation of Afro-Latinos. I also appreciated the intermixing of the Spanish language to make the film more realistic.

There was descent character development and I really felt like anyone watching this movie will be able to see themselves in someone.

I really enjoyed Encanto. It was a beautifully told, heartfelt, tearjerker that is a must watch for everyone.

Jurassic World: Dominion

 

Jurassic World: Dominion is the third film in the Jurassic World franchise and the sixth and final installment of the Jurassic Park series, starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill. It picks up after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) where humans now must live amongst the dinosaurs that were released four years prior, but not everyone wants to live in harmony. When Owen and Claire, reprised by Pratt and Dallas Howard, witness a kidnapping, they must embark on a rescue mission to save the ones they love.

The plot was full of nostalgic call backs to some of the scenes from the first Jurassic Park including touches of the original soundtrack and a reunion of the 1993 cast, but there were too many side stories and their attempt at brining everything together was messy. At a certain point the story got lazy and I felt like too much was borrowed from the original movies. Also, a good amount the dialogue was corny and not well written.

Regarding the casting, I liked that they were able to bring everyone back for the big finale. I also appreciated that there was an addition of a couple of more diverse characters. I liked how the cast was able to play off of one another, even though how some of them were introduced didn't make much sense. Also, the lack in character development, made the motives for some of these co-stars actions perplexing.

In the end, this one is for the fans. It wasn’t a great story or very realistic, it was more a hodgepodge of cool ideas that didn’t have a clear and concise direction but because I am a fan I still appreciated the nice full circle moment to close out the series.

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is an action comedy-drama starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan. Evelyn, a hard working but struggling owner of a laundromat, is living a rather mundane life with her husband and daughter, when she is unexpectedly recruited for a mindboggling undertaking of multiverse jumping that may give her the power to save the world.

The plot was extremely unconventional and quirky. It was definitely a movie that I struggled with comprehending at first. I had to understand that once you let go of what is real and what is not, you can start to appreciate the underlying values of the film. The themes around family acceptance, fighting with love and carving your own path to happiness were relatable. 

I thought that Asian cultural representation throughout was genuine and the intermingling of Mandarin and English was authentic. The costumes and cinematography were also quite eccentric which I think helped lead to unique and crisp fight sequences.

As for casting, you can never go wrong with Michelle Yeoh. She is a star and I am so glad she is getting opportunities to showcase her full range as an actor. I was engaged with her character's arch and evolution from a more reserved person to someone sure of themselves and confident in speaking their truth. She and Ke Huy Quan had great chemistry and worked well off of one another. I hadn’t seen Ke Huy Quan in a movie since The Goonies, and after hearing about his 20 year beak from acting, because of his desire to see more quality roles came out for Asians, I was impressed that he didn’t miss a beat. He brought a naivety and a kindness to his role. He also did his own stunts, which was one of the highlights of this film for me.

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is a wild ride with its new take on the idea of the multiverse and though not necessarily my style, I did think it was bold and unabashed in its delivery.