Michael's Movie Grade: B+
Another smart and engaging addition to this franchise.
I was hesitant coming into this film. The previews did not look that appealing to me and the change of director made me think that this would be a major downgrade from the last few films. Luckily director Wes Ball (director of the Maze Runner movies) does a wonderful job picking up where Matt Reeves left off. This movie has all the intelligent writing (thanks in part to a great script from Josh Friedman) and incredible visuals that we got from Matt Reeves' films. What really makes this stand out from many other big budget franchise movies is the moral complexity of the main characters. Though we root for and like our main protagonists, we cannot view their actions as purely right or purely wrong. There are many times in which their actions will leave us wondering if what they are doing is the moral course of action. Yet despite this moral ambiguity we never have a doubt that they view what they are doing as the moral course of action. This creates more complex and intriguing characters without ever sacrificing their likability. The moral complexities are helped by very intelligent and well written dialogue that leaves you with food for thought as you leave the theater. Despite this being more complex than the average blockbuster, this does not come at the expense of movie's entertainment value. The action set pieces here are fantastic and incredibly exciting. Many of them will leave you on the edge of your seat. The climatic action scene is a sure fire crowd pleaser. The visuals truly transport you into a different world. They not only serve as a feast for the eyes, but they also make this world feel all the more real to us. There are even some good comedy moments here.
This film does have its flaws though. The movie takes a while to get going. The first act goes on a bit too long and tends to drag at times. Also, while the main characters are fascinating, the supporting characters are quite bland, and we never get to truly know them.
This is a very intelligent film that also works as mainstream entertainment.
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