Month in the Movies: June

The summer movie season has finally got underway and to say it's been a good start wouldn't be true. It's been a slow start this summer with not so many crackers hitting the big screen. Hopefully we're just getting the bad ones out of the way. However it would be unfair to say that there hasn't been some quality so far with a few films saving the season from being terrible.  If you aren't sure what this post is about, each month I look back at the movies I seen in that month and rank them based on a combination of how good the movie was and how much I enjoyed it. So lets get into the list!

10. The Boss

Simple as it is, 'The Boss' is the worst film I have seen so far in 2016. This was painfully unfunny to the point where I was so close to leaving the theatre. Peter Dinklage has the worst performance of the year within this film too which is painful to say but it is true. 'The Boss' is a disaster which for your sake, you shouldn't ever watch. Lets just hope McCarthy's next venture 'Ghostbusters' is much better than this turd. 

Final Verdict = F

Check out my review for 'The Boss' here

9. Gods of Egypt

For some people, this is their worst movie of the year and I can't blame them. A uninteresting story, bland characters, poor acting, mediocre CGI and terrible casting were only a number of things that went wrong in this 'epic'. 'Gods of Egypt' may become one of those "it's so bad, it's good" movies which isn't necessarily a good thing. 'Gods of Egypt' is truly awful but is lucky that there was a film I thought was even worse in the month of June.

Final verdict = F

Check out my review for 'Gods of Egypt' here

8. Independence Day: Resurgence

20 years after the original we got a sequel that people wanted back in the 90's. Unfortunately for us, the film came nowhere near the original in terms of quality. The film failed to replace Will Smith as the new characters were not interesting or charismatic enough. The heart of the original wasn't there either as 'Resurgence' became the 'Terminator: Genisys' of 2016.

Final Verdict = D

Check out my review for 'Independence Day: Resurgence' here

7. Mother's Day

A film about a holiday that here in the UK isn't celebrated to quite the same standard as shown in the film. There was potential for this comedy to succeed as it does have some characters whose stories would make for an interesting movie. However, it is filled with and focuses on some of the most terrible characters of the year who are the main focus which makes the film hard to watch at times. Like most comedies this year, it fails to create a funny movie which is unfortunate considering some of the cast members.

Final Verdict = C-

Check out my review for 'Mother's Day' here

6. The Angry Birds Movie

The movie based off of the hit mobile based game seems to have come a few years too late. The movie is clearly aimed for kids which may explain to why I didn't get that much enjoyment out of the film as it wasn't targeted to me. However there were a few decent jokes despite all the bird puns as well as some nice animation that the film deserves credit for.

Final Verdict = C-

Check out my review for 'The Angry Birds Movie' here

5. Mr Right

'Mr Right' is a really fun movie to watch with some good comedy and performances from the two leads. However the story isn't made that well with a lot of things happening only to allow the film to progress. It's a fun movie just to sit and switch your brain off with but no more than that unfortunately. I wanted more from this movie and although it is entertaining at times, there isn't a great deal of quality the whole way throughout the movie.

Final Verdict = C

Check out my review for 'Mr Right' here

4. The Secret Life of Pets

Much like 'The Angry Birds Movie', TSLOP is a film that is targeted for kids. This comes at no surprise as it comes from the creators of 'Despicable Me' and 'Minions'. However the difference between this film and TABM is that the comedy works a whole lot more in this movie. The jokes led by Louis C.K and Kevin Hart do land a lot more which does make this kids movie a lot more enjoyable to watch. It isn't one of the animated films that will blow audiences away but it is a fine movie to say the least.

Final Verdict = C+

Check out my review for 'The Secret Life of Pets' here

3. Me Before You

'Me Before You' is one of the biggest surprises I have had the cinema this year. I really didn't expect this movie to be good at all and was pleasantly surprised. The film is very charming and has some good comedy within it. The two leads do very well which creates an enjoyable viewing. The emotional parts could have been done a little better especially the finale which seemed to have been rushed. Regardless of that, 'Me Before You' was one of the better movies this month.

Final Verdict = B-

Check out my review for 'Me Before You' here

'Mother's Day' Review

From the creator of 'Pretty Woman' and 'Valentines Day' comes 'Mother's Day'. Maybe its just cause I'm in the UK but do many people do such extravagant things on this day?

Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) is a single mom whose troubles are made worse when she finds out that her ex-husband is marrying a hot twenty-something. Meanwhile her friend Jesse (Kate Hudson) continues to refuse to tell her family that she has a family with a man of South Asian descent as her sister also doesn't let it be known that she has a lesbian life partner. Bradley (Jason Sudekis) is a widower who now has to try and raise his two daughters on his own whilst dealing with the loss of his wife. Miranda (Julia Roberts) is a well known personality and author who chose a career over a family which led her to give up her daughter. Kristin (Britt Robertson), Miranda's daughter now has abandonment issues and won't allow the father of her child Zak (Jack Whitehall) to marry her until she deals with it.

As you can see from that synopsis, you can see that it is a pretty filled to the brim film. And this does really hurt the film as it tries to give each of the characters their fair share of screen time. The characters are thrown in and out of the film so much that you struggle to grow to care about any of them really as the disappear for large chunks of the film. A lot of the main focus seems to be on Jesse's (Hudson) family full of insecure adults who struggle to be able to come clean about their true and harmless lives. The family aren't the greatest people in the world which doesn't really want you to see as much of them.  Most of the jokes throughout the parts of the film with this family are borderline offensive especially with the only minority being the target of racial stereotypes to make the parents seem charming.

This also doesn't allow the likeable actors and actresses to shine like they should. I've enjoyed previous films with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudekis and this film really disappointed me with how it used them. It hinted in the trailer that they would come together but it just drops it entirely until the ending. I would have liked to have seen more focus on this story as they were easily likeable and much more entertaining to watch. They could've scrapped everything else and made this just as a romantic comedy with an interesting premise of the two coming together with their past experiences and both sets of children. However they decided to go with more stories which became overcrowded very easily.

The films main purpose looks to celebrate motherhood. However the mothers in this film are just complaining the whole time and we only see one time where a mother does something that is actually good. They don't do anything that is worth celebrating. One doesn't let their family know of their child. One abandons her child at birth. One wants to look better than her ex rather than just being a good mother. And the worst one is racist. So not exactly making these mothers worth celebrating to be perfectly honest.

When I was in the cinema seeing a pre screening of this movie, it was filled with casual viewers and has been one of the most packed of the Cineworld Unlimited screenings I've been to. And for the most part, the audience seemed to really love it. They were laughing out loud quite a lot. However this really wasn't the case for me. I seemed to be the only one not having a good time which seems to have been the case for most comedies this year. The jokes really aren't that great as they mainly try to shock you but they end up failing. This is mainly down to the writing with a lot of the characters having some terrible dialogue. I hope Jack Whitehall didn't write his own stand up routine in this film as it was way below his standard.

Final Verdict = 

'Mother's Day' really isn't that great of a film as it spends too much time focusing on some awful characters. Some terrible writing doesn't help this film at all either. However it has been proven to me that some may really enjoy this but unfortunately wasn't really the case for me.

So have you seen 'Mother's Day'? If so what did you think of it? I hope you enjoyed this review and if you go see this film, I hope you enjoy it more than I did! Once again thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor