THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Review

Kevin Feige and Co. Begin a New Phase of The Marvel Cinematic Universe with Their First Family in One of the Better Origin Stories the Studio has Produced.

SUPERMAN Review

James Gunn Begins his DC Universe by Reminding Audiences Why the *Character* of Superman Matters as Much as the Superman character in Today’s Divided Climate.

JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH Review

Director Gareth Edwards and Screenwriter David Koepp know Story, Scale, and Monsters Enough to Deliver all the Dumb Fun Fans of this Franchise Expect in a Reboot.

F1: THE MOVIE Review

Formulaic Story and Characters Done in Thrilling Fashion Deliver a Familiar yet Satisfying Experience that will Inevitably Serve as Comfort Down the Road.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING Review

Director Christopher McQuarrie Completes Tom Cruise's Career-Defining Franchise with a Victory Lap of a Movie more Symbolically Satisfying than Conqueringly Definitive.

852/

TROLLS WORLD TOUR Review

The Trolls franchise has had a somewhat varied journey in my collective memory as things began with hesitation at the concept alone though interest was piqued after Justin Timberlake released the ultimate feel-good summertime jam in that final, peaceful summer of 2016 with "Can't Stop the Feeling". Maybe this would be some kind of cool, animated riff on a musical with remixes of modern and classic songs as overseen by JT; something that was for the children, but made by one of the biggest pop stars of their parents childhood. Then came that November when all I remember about trying to cobble together a review was the fact I was writing about Trolls as I watched the Presidential election descend into madness. I gave the original film a straight-up-the-middle two and a half stars and thought of it essentially as colorful, but slight. It was fate that would have my wife and (three year-old at the time) daughter discover the movie some months later and as young children do my daughter latched onto Trolls just as I had Robin Hood some twenty-plus years prior and naturally decided to watch it on repeat until there was no other choice but for the characters to become endearing, the versions of the songs they sang to become the new normal and the weirdness of the world in which it existed to no longer feel strange or far-fetched, but more like home. We bought the soundtrack, we watched the Netflix animated series, and we anxiously awaited the sequel.