Venom (2018): The third worst movie I've seen this year. It was utterly boring, and only Tom Hardy's interactions with Venom could make me stick with it till the end. Villain lacked depth and dimension, and his alter ego was such a blatant copycat with nothing to differentiate him. It very much felt like a superhero movie from a decade ago. ★☆☆☆☆
A Star Is Born (2018): Bradley Cooper completely transformed into Jack, and it was such a strong performance, and not only that, but he can sing. I felt like the movie peaked way too early, almost at the end of the first act, and that's probably the main issue I have with it. The story very much want to tell the story of Jack and his struggles, so much so that he steals moments from Ally. And while we do get to witness a shift in Ally's career, the main actress doesn't address this at any moment, and instead we're back to focusing on Jack up till the very end, while confrontations leading to the conclusion are rather swiftly swiped away. Which is unfortunate since Lady Gaga gives a convincing performance as this insecure bar singer who gets to sing some very powerful original songs. If anything, this is a strong contender for soundtrack of the year. ★★★☆☆
Buybust (2018): I wanted to write at length about this movie, but is keeping it short till our voting process next year. In the Philippines we rarely do big action spectacles because of budget, but with $1.6 million Erik Matti set out to build the most impressive set, that is a made up slum district with claustrophobic corridor-like ways, and filled it with about 300 stuntmen. While Indonesia got The Raid, Thailand got Ong Bak and Cambodia has Jailbreak, the Philippines has set out to make their own action movie. Do not go into it expecting the same fluidly choreographed fight scenes, as it's a completely different take on the genre. Instead, it's a fantastical setting set in a post-apocalyptic-like situation, where our anti-drug police squad is about to do a "buybust." Of course things goes south, and our team is caught in a Resident Evil-like situation, where the civilians is a metaphor for how tired the poorest of the poor are about president Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs." This is partly a social commentary on said war, who Erik Matti has been very vocal against, and it's set to start a debate locally, while putting a spotlight on it abroad. The story is simple but works, and there are nuanced layers to our main character, Nina Manigan, played by Anne Curtis who are usually either singing on stage or performing rom-coms. Her performance is solid, but unfortunately it shines through, that this is her first action gig, as her fight scenes can be slow and tedious, which especially comes across in the 3-minute longshot where she's climbing platforms to reach the roof. Brandon Vera, who is the sidekick and an American wrestler, is much more convincing and gets moments to shine. As this is moreso about survival, you'll be served lots of pushing and shoving people aside, to stabbing, biting and using items as throwable objects. Buybust is claustrophobic and tense set to noisy civilians knocking on pans, to heavy rain, mud and flooded pathways. I talk about normal everyday wives, husbands and children who fight for their own rights, while drug addicts fights to keep the drug lords in power. It's beautifully shot with neon lights, a dirty look and a bit too much cutting, while the soundtrack is played up with rock numbers to certain situations, and it works. The ending hits hard, as one spoken line and a news broadcast underlines what is actually going on in the Philippines these days. Buybust is a critique, not on the police or drug dealers/addicts, but on the system and the "war on drugs." ★★★☆☆
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): I've been waiting on this movie since the initial announcement on April 26 2015. I was excited about a theatrical animation about Miles Morales, and oh boy did it deliver in spades. While I can't say I'm up in arms after the storm has settled, I will say all of the techniques in animation and visual style were sublime, with character motivation that felt real, filled with humor and stylized action set pieces. Miles Morales is important for diversity, and thankfully his Afro-Latino background feels like it's a natural part of him and the movie, and not something that is forced through just for diversity sake. I loved Kingpin's goal as the villain, there were surprise appearances I hadn't seen coming, and while half the superhero cast didn't really come with much weight, they did raise the comedy factor, and had their own little moments throughout. This was very much a fast-paced film from start to finish, and at times exhausting. But it was definitely a thrill worth taking. ★★★★☆
Aquaman (2018): I'll say it straight away. This movie surpassed my expectations, and I ended up liking it much more than I had anticipated. It didn't feel like the traditional superhero blockbuster, but instead took me through a journey, that was much more like classic adventure romps. I found Arthur Curry to be the weakest part of Justice League, and I had absolute no interest in his character, but that completely changed with James Wan's rendition of the Seven Seas and its dynasty. To get it out of the way, Aquaman can seem a little disjointed with sequences taking us all over the world and sea, and the chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard isn't really there, while the cheesy banter between them mostly fell flat. With that said, Wan has filled the aquarium with impressive action, that sees Arthur use wrestling-like ability on a submarine, to Princess Mera using the ocean like a force to be reckoned with. Black Manta's arc made complete sense, King Orm was a very interesting character with his disdain towards the land and connection to Arthur himself. The movie kind of felt like parts Indiana Jones, to parts Black Panther to parts Lord of the Rings. Nicole Kidman got to shine as an action heroine, and her role cannot be understated. James Wan even gets to play to his strengths midway through, and the third act is layered with bombastic warring factions (seen in the trailer) to awesomely choreographed battles. It's a spectacle that reaches the finish line unlike so many other comic book movies. I already want to watch Aquaman again. ★★★★☆