Movies
A basic action vehicle build around Jennifer Lopez, who's trying to prove she's still a bad bitch. There's also an attempt at an emotional layer, but that part falls completely flat. Cutting it out would've also saved on the runtime, then again, with a title like The Mother it seems they were fully invested. The action scenes are decent, the icy setting is fun and Lopez isn't too bad. The kid is annoying though and the bad guys are crummy, which is quite fatal for a film like this. It's not the worst of its kind, but I wouldn't have minded a shorter and more edgy version, just to make it stand out more from similar films.Read all
Disney's live-action version of Mulan. I wouldn't really call it a remake of their animated film, since they've dropped the musical bits and comedy, going for a more straight-forward telling of Mulan's story. Oddly enough, that puts the film closer to the Chinese live-action films, giving them some tough competition. There is some prime fighting talent present (Jet Li and Donnie Yen), but Caro is obviously clueless on how to use them well. The cinematography lacks the grandeur of its Chinese competitors, the soundtrack doesn't sit well, and the English dialogue isn't doing the actors any favors. It's certainly better than Disney's animated film, but there's no real reason to watch this when there are better versions out there already.Read all