Last year, 2015, I went and saw 21 first-run theatrical movies. With only 2 of those I down-graded in my reviews, Either movie studios made better movies or I idd better picked out the ones that I would like. Probably more the latter.
For a break down of my grading process, you may refer to my
2013 roundup.
MOST UP-GRADED:
The Peanuts Movie – (up 3 levels) My positive review was probably heavily weighted by nostalgia and it was a good looking
Peanuts movie as opposed to a CGI
Peanuts-inspired movie.
Creed – (up 3 levels) If first you are a fan of the first
Rocky movie and second generally respectful of the
Rocky franchise, then this hits all the best things of what a
Rocky movie is.
MOST DOWN-GRADED:
The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies – (down 1 level) Both the
Hobbit trilogy and the film itself are too long.
Home – (down 1 level) At best it’s nice. At it’s worst, it’s inconsequential.
BEST GRADED:
Creed – (A) I liked it.
GRADED TOO WELL (possibly):
Furious 7 – (A-) It gives you what you want from a Fast and Furious movie, but that’s not a high bar.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – (A-) It’s an uncomplicated “good guys beat the bad guy” story.
GRADED TOO POORLY (possibly):
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – (C) It’s pretty, well shot, and the good guys mostly win by the end, as a movie in itself. As part of a huge franchise, it’s better than the entries of the much maligned prequel trilogy and harkens back to (borrows from) the beloved original trilogy, but leaves too many unanswered questions to make it more than the pilot episode for a new trilogy.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for watching.
