Peace & Love Everyone!
As we come to the end of the summer I thought I would give a review of the movies I have seen this season.
I like the next person love a good movie. However, I don’t watch a lot of movies in the theatre. I don’t have a problem waiting for them to come out on Redbox or even Netflix. To me some movies aren’t worth the $12- $20 we pay to see them. Although, there are some movies I must see on the big screen. This summer’s movie list was Ocean’s 8, Mission Impossible Fallout, Crazy Rich Asians and The Equalizer 2.
Ocean’s 8 was cute, but to be honest I expected more. I’ve seen all of the Oceans and loved everyone of them. So when I saw the commercials for 8, it was a must see. I love the dresses and the hacking but something was definitely missing from this installment. What to be exact? Well at first I had no clue. It just felt like the movie was incomplete. But the more I thought about it it seemed as though there was little suspense in the movie. There definitely wasn’t any action or romance. And the thrill left half way through, I’m not sure it was even there.
MI Fallout was awesome. I love the action! Tom Cruise was great. I even heard he performed a lot of the stunts himself. Kudos to you Mr. Cruise and your crew. I must say though, I could tell that the role Henry Cavil played was up to no good. I could see it coming. Maybe it’s because he seemed to be out to get Ethan and his team from the get go that he appeared to be the bad guy. We just didn’t know how bad. Still, he did play a good part. So far I’ve seen every MI that Cruise has done and I will continue to do so.
The last two movies I saw on the same day. Equalizer 2 was great. There hasn’t been a part written Denzel Washington can’t play well. Now, I know he’s getting older, but I was looking forward to more hand to hand. The way he took down the guys who raped the intern was great. Because of that scene I was hoping at the end when he takes out his former colleagues and partner there would have been more close quarters hand to hand. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few scenes where McCall takes out murders in impossible situations. The car scene was wicked. Either way the movie left me saying, ‘wow’. I also do love how he helped the people that were part of that small section in his life before he moves on. Will there be a 3? If there is, I’ll be there.
Crazy Rich Asians was the movie I had been looking forward to for some time. I was really entertained by it. I got caught up in the love story between Nick and Rachel. I have loved Michelle Yeoh from her first movie and I’ve seen almost every movie she is in. Her part was well played, of course. It was great to see a large scale American made movie with an almost all Asian cast. I looked forward to Crazy Rich Asians almost as much as I looked forward to the Black Panther. As an African American I connected with the opening scene. I loved the outcome. I would have fired both of those men. I enjoyed the tale so much I will definitely read the books.
That being said, as the film continued several questions came to mind. Maybe it’s just me as an African America born and raised in America, it’s a world I’m looking in on from the outside. Was enough of the culture included in the movie? For a movie about Chinese and Chinese Americans there seem to be very little Chinese culture represented in the movie. Of course, does it really have to contain Asian culture? After all when writing a book about your own culture for your own culture there is really nothing to explain. But for audiences that are not Asian, should there have been little tidbits and backgrounds that we could have learned from?
On the other hand, what was with the scene where they are just sitting around reading the Bible? It seemed so odd. Besides the fact that Christianity was brought to Asia by colonists and not a traditional Chinese or Asian religion. There was no discussion really as to what any of them thought the passages meant or how it really applies to their lives. They just read passage after passage. Why? Other then showing that Chinese are Christians too, what was the purpose? I do see the irony in that the women then started gossiping about who Nick was bringing to the wedding. Was that the only way to stick that part in? It’s a bit far to go. Maybe, I’m trying to find meaning that doesn’t exist. Can’t wait to see how it’s handled in the book.
I know movies in many cases bare little resemblance to the books they represent. I am so hoping this is the case. It’s sad to believe the human condition is that no matter where you are in the world you can find wealthy families surrounded by petty, asinine and absurd behavior. Where people with money look down on anyone who doesn’t have money. Okay, title explains ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. So they could have substituted any other nationality and gotten the same basic movie? That doesn’t feel good to me. It’s suppose to be specifically about ‘Rich Asians’.
The movie also seem to show how much of an influence colonialism had on China as well as the rest of the world of color. The clothing, music and religion were all of Western culture. The only thing Chinese in the movie beside the people was the language, food and mahjong. That was disconcerting. Was that enough? Was Chinese culture kept out on purpose? Why? Is that all there is to Chinese culture? That really can’t be. Maybe it was suppose to just be a silly, giddy romance with little to no sustenance. Maybe just having a movie made with an almost all Asian cast in America is a large enough feat in itself. For now.
I’ll just chalk it up to people of color in a fun movie and ignore the rest. What do you think?
Usually Christmas time is my next movie binge. We’ll see if there is another movie before then that will constitute more than a paragraph for me to blog about.
Make sure to check back next week for the next chapter in ‘The World of Dreams’.
LeticiaEdghill 