In Theaters: February 22, 2019

There are two releases to talk about.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

It's being advertised as the epic conclusion to the trilogy.

I don't remember much about the second one.  But in this one they discover some kind of . . . well . . . hidden world!  And it's got dragons in it!  And some bad guy comes around and wants to do bad things.  It looks pretty dramatic.  This series has a good track record.  It's very well-respected.  I think audiences are in safe hands here.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is rated PG for adventure and action and some mild rude humor.

Run the Race

Like many in its genre, Run the Race has tonal issues in the trailer.  If you can't get a consistent tone in the trailer, what can we expect from the movie?

So it's about two brothers.  One or both of them play high school football.  One gets noticed by a scout, but he busts up his knee in a fight.  He still wants to get out of town, so he takes up running, to see if he can get a scholarship with that.  There's a deadbeat dad somewhere in there.  And a football injury.  And a love story.  It's a bit overstuffed.

Run the Race is rated PG for thematic content and some teen partying.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 15, 2019

You didn't really expect me to post on Valentine's Day, did you?

This week we have three releases to talk about.

Alita: Battle Angel

Uncanny Valley: The Movie

Alita's eyes are too big and it's creepy.  It's gonna weird people out.  It already weirded out everyone who saw the trailers.

I'm not sure what, exactly, Alita: Battle Angel is.  I think it started as an anime or a manga.  Something from the east for sure.  She's like a robot, but a super advanced robot, and she fights other robots and maybe people too.  And there's something about her that is supposed to change the world or whatever, you know how it is.

My opinion?  Meh.  Maybe some good action scenes.

Alita: Battle Angel is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.

Happy Death Day 2U

Happy Death Day was a surprisingly successful horror movie.  What happens to ALL surprisingly successful horror movies?  Sequel.

The girl from the first one was stuck in a horror groundhog's day.  She gets killed and the day resets.  Now she's back in a similar loop, but her friends are being murdered too, so successful navigation is a more delicate process this time.  Make sense?  Good enough.

Happy Death Day 2U is rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual material and thematic elements.

Isn't It Romantic?

Rebel Wilson (who is very funny) gets in a small accident and ends up stuck in a romantic comedy.  This just might work.

Isn't It Romantic? is rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material, and a brief drug reference.

Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: February 8, 2019

This week there is only one movie to talk about.  Last week there was some movie called Miss Bala.  We don't care, it didn't strike us as being very important or culturally significant.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

I don't quite get it.  I don't know.

The LEGO Movie from five years ago (yes, that was already FIVE years ago) was obviously a huge hit.  And it has proven its cultural staying power.  A sequel is a sequel is a sequel.  I believed in the first one when nobody else did (before it came out).  Then after it came out I didn't really like it as much as everyone else did.  I thought it was good, but a little overstuffed, and really too wacky for its own good.  However, I thought it deserved all the praise it got.

The sequel was not directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.  This is significant, because I'm pretty sure they were the key ingredients in the first film's success.

This one was directed by Mike Mitchell, whose filmography has a lot of cringe in it, like Trolls (2016) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.  The one bright spot is Sky High, and to be fair that is a pretty big bright spot.  That movie was funny.

I suspect this will be like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, John Wick: Chapter 2, or Deadpool 2.  All of these movies were sequels to surprise hits, and did well anyway, despite the original directors departing.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is rated PG for mild action and rude humor.

Big Shot Critic