Review RewindRachel's Reviews

Today I am continuing in my monthly series of Review Rewinds! This is a new series where I look at old reviews that I am either higher or lower on with the rewatch. My initial reviews are still valid as my initial response but I think it is perfectly fine to grow and change in opinions over time. Here goes:

Minions– Original Score C-. Rewind Score D

I wasn’t very high on Minions when I saw it. In the review I said “it was cute but I didn’t laugh.” My main excuse for the film was that it was ‘made for little kids’ but then I admit “but it has those adult moments which are unfortunate”.

On the rewatch I couldn’t even give it the kid credit because of the lewd humor and the boring story. It just did nothing for me and by the end of the year it ended up on my worst of the year list. The worst thing about it is it just isn’t funny at all and the story is all over the place. I’ve really grown to dislike the picture.

Independence Day Resurgence– Original Score C. Rewind Score D

The most likely candidate for a rewind review is movies I come out feeling meh on. In my original review of Independence Day: Resurgence I said “it all felt a little forgettable and silly but not necessarily in a good way. It just was ok. The acting was ok. The special effects are ok. The story is ok.”

On retrospect that’s just not good enough. I still don’t think ID2 is one of the worst films of last year but it is very boring. It really feels like nobody even tried to make a good movie here and in that regard they deserved all the disdain they got- especially because the original is so beloved to many.

I was pretty critical of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Rogue One but those films are leagues better than Independence Day Resurgence. This deserves a D.

Age of Adaline– Original Score C- Rewind Score B+

I must own I am not finding many reviews I think I was too tough on for this Rewind project. However, one that I think qualifies is Age of Adaline. In the original review I said “it’s fine. I’m glad I saw it but it’s a definite mixed bag.”

I loved Blake Lively as the lead and Michiel Huisman as her hunky love interest. I also praise Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker as “very good” in their roles. My main issues with the movie are the narration, which I still think is horrible as it attempts to “take out the magic and make it about science”. Also I criticize the “dopey dialogue” and that “it would have been nice to see more of her in the different ages”

It’s fair criticisms but I found on the rewatch they didn’t matter as much. I thought Lively was strong enough in the role and the chemistry between all was so good I enjoyed it. Plus, I think there is something interesting about a woman from the 30s confronting modern life- not in a time machine way but in a ‘I’ve lived through it all and seen how we got here’ way.

I think Age of Adaline is worth a watch.

So there are my Review Rewinds for this month. What do you think of these 3 films? Please put in the comments section.

Hello friends! I have a new monthly series I am finally going to announce to you. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Today I bring to you Review Rewinds. This is where I take a look at previous reviews and how my opinions have changed on the rewatch both for good or bad.

What? I can hear you say. How can we trust you if your reviews change? Well, I’m a human being and my experience at a film can be impacted by a variety of factors. I could be tired, annoyed, sick of a particular actor or director. There could be a number of similar films coming out at the same time which might make me more critical and on the rewatch when I’m separated from that experience I appreciate it more.

The other factor is I often struggle to come up with a grade that adequately expresses my feelings. This is why I am very happy about my new smile and frown worthy approach. I don’t think very many movies go from being smile to frown worthy on the rewatch. They just might drop from an A to a B or a B to a C+.

Anyway, I thought this would be fun and show my history with a film not just an initial viewing.

Avengers: Age of Ultron- Original score A-. Rewind score- B-

From my original review “Got to see Avengers Age of Ultron and loved it!! It’s a great movie and right up there with the original”. That was how I felt at the time so it was an honest response. I still love the first Avengers movie and I admire the sequel but the two movies aren’t close on the rewatch. The original film has Loki as the ideal villain and the death of Agent Coulson to gather the gang together. In Avengers: Age of Ultron you have Ultron who is fine but fairly basic. I still like James Spader as the voice of Ultron, but there’s not much to him.

But the biggest difference is they try to create emotion with Hawkeye and his family and it doesn’t work nearly as well as Coulson who we’d gotten to know in all of these other Marvel movies. I love the party scene in Ultron and the banter between the characters. That still holds up but certain scenes are bit boring like the Hulkbuster scene. Speaking of the Hulk, Bruce should put way more of a fight up against Tony’s insane ideas but he doesn’t. Especially with all Bruce has been through with the gamma radiation he should be very hesitant to do all these experiments.

Oh well. I still enjoy Age of Ultron but not as much as I did when I first saw it. Review Rewind!

Rio- Original Score C+. Rewind score- B

From my original review “They are entertaining to watch, pleasant to look at, but in the end kind of forgettable.” To my surprise I gave Rio 2 a C despite admitting it is “weaker than the original”, so that must have been some kind of mistake. I watched Rio for family movie night last summer and I found it quite charming. It’s not the greatest movie I’ve seen in my life but I enjoyed it and felt I was too hard in my original review.

One of my main problems with the film was the voice acting. I said “Of all the voices the only one I liked was Jermaine Clement as the bad Cockatoo named Nigel.” On the rewatch I didn’t have a problem with the voice acting. Sure Anne Hathaway doesn’t sound like someone from Brazil but I guess I’ve been worn down so I didn’t care. You don’t need the celebrity voices but they do fine. None of them are annoying like Kevin Heart in Secret Life of Pets.

I say the “extended musical numbers that don’t do anything for the story and are just kind of average.” Again on rewatch I like musical sequences. I think they have color and life and are a lot of fun to watch. It’s so weird because I’m usually won over by musical sequences!

I certainly think Rio is much better than Rio 2, which has a main appeal of the insane frog in love with the bird. I think if Rio came out now I would probably treat it a lot like Smurfs: the Lost Village and be dazzled by the pretty animation. I’m such a softee…

Edge of 17– Original Score B+, Rewind Score- C-

This was a mini review and I admitted ” it is expertly crafted but I found it kind of unpleasant to watch”. Sometimes this happens with a film. I will walk away saying ‘boy they did a good job…and I never want to see that film again”. I can honestly say the makers of Edge of 17 did a great job doing what they were trying to do. However, I can also say it left me depressed for the rest of the day and I never want to see it again.

It goes back to the lead character Nadine who is the quintessential surly teenager. It’s very well done. The problem is I have no desire to spend 2 hours with a surly miserable 17 year old. It reminded me of my surly days and honestly I called my Mother and apologized after, so I guess it was positive on that level. The performances are all good but it left me feeling cold and sour.

In the review I said “Everyone is comparing this to John Hughes and I guess it is like 16 Candles the most but I prefer this”. I’m not sure what I was thinking there because at least 16 Candles has some joy and goofiness in it. This is just so caustic and I found it even more so on the rewatch.