The Fate of the Furious

Another summer movie i had the chance to see, and yes, it has been out for weeks now. So what! I wasn't going to see it, but the people I was with, talked me into it... Did this movie blow it's engine of suck, or did i enjoy the furious ride? Lets find out:

The Fate of the Furious- Ah yes, the infamous franchise that keeps making billions of dollars world wide, which is the reason why this freaking thing is still going, and is rumored to continue to a tenth installment. It went from a street racers, using over the top methods to rob trucks to, where they are literally international spies... i shit you not!

Plot- Dominic Toretto (Disel) and Letty  (Rodriguez) are living their lives out in the streets of Cuba, where a mysterious woman (Charlize Theron) approaches Dominic, and she has something from his past and holds it over him. He is forced to work for her becoming an international terrorist, so its up to the crew to take him down.

Ok, so many things bugged the hell out of me...here are just a few of them:

First, all of these freaking people have become superheroes with powers, not yet revealed to the audience. I say this, because, how the hell do these people NEVER get hurt? Either jumping out of cars going 90 mph, punching AND DENTING steel, and the freaking Rock takes rubber bullets from a shotgun close range. I don't care what kind butterfly curls you're doing in the gym. No, it doesn't work that way....sigh.

Second, I've driven over black before, and nearly died. These freaking people are able to drive on top of an entire frozen lake or whatever, going fast enough to travel back in time, and they are good to go.

Third, Tyrese Gibson's only purpose in these films is to scream the narrative for the other characters. "There's a tank on my ass!" "It's cold as hell here!" "They SHOOTING rockets at us!"

Lastly, so Dominic goes rogue...they hire street racers, a cop, and an ex-terrorist to hunt him down??? Do we not have any trained agents in the government for this kind of shit?

Final Verdict- 5/10- They are getting worse and worse with this series.It is a guilty pleasure, but on cable or Netflix, not spending 13 dollars on a movie ticket.

More movies to see this summer, until then this is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Hey, its that time again! It's summer blockbuster season, and this season seems to have some whoppers coming for us! Well, I'm here to conqueror a sequel following a surprise Marvel hit. Did it remain as good as the first, or fall into that usual "meh" sequel? Let find out:

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2- Oh, man. i remember seeing the first movie, not knowing what to expect, and I couldn't stop laughing from the casts' chemistry and one liners. Plus, all the mind numbing action sequences being thrown at me. The first film appeared to have it all for everyone to enjoy. Now, Marvel seems to still be going strong with their movies as they enter what they refer to as "Phrase 3".

Plot- Well, the Guardians are doing their thing by taking jobs from other worlds to be paid for their services. One mission they finish, Rocket decides to steal from them, which leads to a chase through space, and takes them to meet Ego (Kurt Russel). Here Peter (Chris Pratt) finds out about his heritage, while the team shows they have grown closer together.

Honestly, I love this cast, their chemistry and humor works on every level, and the action sequences were top notch. The only thing really lacking in this movie was a strong main plot. It felt more like if this was a series on Netflix, and this was just a random episode. The villain is completely forgettable, and these types of movies ONLY strive when you have a great villain. NOT HERE! It was worth seeing in theaters, but it was lacking something from the original.

Final Verdict- 8.4/10, great cast and humor, but really needed something more for this film to stand on its own.

That's it for now, see you guys for more reviews. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Furious 7

Ok, the block buster season has returned, and so have I, to review those movies we all wanna see. This is one of those franchises, which is considered a guilty pleasure to most, including myself, and some of the things you choose to over look because you're enjoying the action. This franchise is known for ignoring the laws of physics with their impossible stunts, but this time they went way too far! Lets just get to the review:

Furious 7- Ok, 15 years later, this franchise has become the "Harry Potter" of race car movies. Each time a new sequel is created they go with some new stunt or gimmick more impossible than the last movie. Well, they finally have gone too far, where the audience was laughing out loud at most of the shenanigans being performed during this movie. There was one scene, where Dom (Vin Disel) plays chicken with the main villain Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), and both cars smash into each other. Both drivers get out, simply crack their necks and other joints, and get ready to get into a fist fight. No air bags deployed and these guys don't even have a scratch on them. WHAT? NO!

Plot- There are literally TWO PLOTS going on at the same time in this movie. One is Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is the older brother of the villain from the 6th movie, and he wants revenge for what happened to his younger brother. He is a special Ops, gone rogue, and he's targeting the main cast one by one. Then on top of that, a special agent played by Kurt Russel, approaches Dom (Vin Disel) to help recover a computer hacker by the name Ramsey. She has created the ultimate searching device, where you can find anyone anywhere from every device with a camera or video device. If Dom helps him, he will help Dom get Deckard. Huge plot hole is, Deckard is hunting them the whole movie, and every time they are doing something for Kurt Russel, Deckard is there to screw them up... so why not just get him? Why do you need to help Kurt Russel at all? FUCKING DUMB!

Now, i know action movies back then were ranging in different types of movies. This franchise would seem to apply to those movies to keep up with the mainstream. Nowadays, the only action movies are superhero movies, so I guess they figured all the characters, in this film, need to have super powers. A few examples, Dom's ability to have super human strength and impervious to any injuries, The Rock's super human strength and fast regeneration ability, and Michelle Rodriguez's ESP, and ability to resurrect a person by simply by telling a story how her memory had returned.

Final Verdict- 3.5/10, This film is laughable how serious they want you to take it, and they should've all died 5 times over from the impossible stunts they performed. The only saving grace was the nice send off to Paul Walker. This is an HBO movie at best! Save your money!


That's it for now, This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Guardians of the Galaxy

The summer block buster season is coming closer to an end. We are coming to the month, where the best of the best is thrown our way, and your favorite movie reviewer is there to get the info for you to save your money or not. Now this next movie, did i want to rejoice, or did I want to shoot a rocket into my eye? Lets find out as we dive into this review shall we:

Guardians of the Galaxy- To be honest, when i first heard about this movie I had mixed emotions, and I really leaned to not wanting to see it. Then I saw the trailers for it at the beginning of almost every movie this summer. I have to say I began to love the characters more and more. The trailer gave this very easy going, happy feeling with its perfect choice of a song, and the movie had that feeling literally the whole time.

The plot was simple yet engaging at the same time. It had the main character, Peter Quill aka Star Lord, stealing a mysterious floating orb from an old ruin. He is suddenly engaged by these men demanding he hands over the orb immediately. He is able to escape, but is now a wanted man! Then one by one enter all of the characters. Our heroes struggle to keep the orb, containing one of the infinity gems, away from a powerful villain named Ronan.

Each character had it own time to shine, and each had surprisingly enough time to show their personalities very well. Hell, in 2 hours and 2 minutes, there was a tremendous amount of character development. I mean, each of the five people you really kinda fell for them. Take the character, Rocket for example, you learn that he hates what he is, and hates the fact that he was even created. Don't you dare call him vermin or a pest! You really feel for him. The characters are, like I said, extremely likeable and charismatic. They all have their moments of comic relief and one liners. One of my many favorite lines in the movie was this:

Rocket: Don't bother explaining it to him. It will just go over his head.

Drax: It will never go over my head. I'm too fast! I will just catch it!

The line was delivered so well, with just a dry sense of humor that I just lost it when it was said. The movie overall was written well, and everything just flowed nicely. The action scenes were heart pounding with loads of eye candy, and then you mix that together with comic relief... BOOM, you got a hell of a combination there ladies and gentlemen for a summer block buster hit!






Final Verdict-10/10, It honestly has everything you want in a movie and more. Tons of action, great character development, and huge must see in theaters! Highly recommended for everyone!

That's it for now, loyal readers as I get ready to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this Friday... and I'll try to sneak that in before I go away to Europe for an entire month! This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!