Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

I was largely unimpressed by the second installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The first one was novel, unexpected and knowingly poking fun at itself. The second one has some similar humor, but it doesn't land. It is more annoying and not as witty. We have Kingsman and Deadpool and the Lego Movie--the self-deprecating humor isn't new anymore. It does some things really well though. The music supervision is spot on. The special effects and production design is fantastic. I appreciated the movie's boldest statement, it's depiction of the video game-ification of drone warfare. I did not appreciate Mantis, a dangerous stereotype of a subservient and submissive Asian woman. Drax insults her throughout the film, insults her appearance and her personality. She seems relatively unimportant to the plot, only serving as the butt of a joke. 

The Hateful Eight (2015)

I think the perfect word to describe this movie is self-indulgent. For one, it is way too long, clocking around three hours. And when your movie is so long, it can't be so slow--I kind of fell asleep a little in the middle. The story is told in several distinct chapters, which enhances the epic grandeur that Tarantino tries to evoke. And I understand that the first few set up the story, but they are too long for just setup.  There is the usual gratuitous amount of hyperbolic graphic violence and lots of inappropriate language. I'm all for free speech, but Tarantino  is a little too comfortable using the N-word. The most problematic aspect of the movie: no likable characters.

That being said the movie does some things very well. The storytelling is strong. I am surprised that Tarantino wasn't nominated for his screenplay. The story is mostly told linearly, but there is one chapter of flashback to make a crucial revelation that totally turns the story on its head. The last half of the movie is significantly better than the first. Most of the movie takes place in a single room, and we change perspectives in this one room. Some chapters also use narration, which is out of place since it is only present in some chapters, but it somehow works. The cinematography is also pretty incredible. The white snow is expansive and there is a great shot that is half pure white and half pure blue sky. But the very best aspect of this movie is Ennio Morricone's score. It is quintessentially western. 

Furious 7 (2015)

The seventh (that's right, seventh!) installment of the Fast and Furious series takes place post-Tokyo Drift.  It has the same message about family, the glamorous high life, diversity (spoiler alert: they kill off the Asian) and fast cars.  The only difference is they aren't fugitives anymore.  And this one is probably the most ridiculous in its stunts. But perhaps what is so ridiculously insane is the stunts were real, with minimal CGI.  They actually threw these nice, expensive cars out of a plane.  That was a pretty incredible sequence that was exhilarating and well edited.  There are some terrific action scenes. They know what they do best: car sequences, though I could've done without the non-auto fighting scenes.  The Rock has a fighting scene early on, and then does not reappear until the end rather comically.

Of course, we know that this was Paul Walker's final film before his untimely death.  This fact looms over the entire film.  I kind of got the sense that the intention was for Walker's character Brian to die. Brian, himself, speaks a number of foreboding lines that seem to foreshadow his death, but I suppose it would have been a bit harsh and disrespectful to have his character die.  Especially towards the end, you can tell that the stand-in for Brian is not, in fact, Paul Walker, but one of his siblings, though they do look strikingly similar.  Walker does get a fitting send off at the end, with Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" over a montage of clips from the previous films in the series that remind you just how far this franchise has come.