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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | Average Guy Movie Review

After encountering America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a young woman with the ability to travel between dimensions, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is blasted on a journey across the multiverse. But with an unseen foe interested in America's power, can he protect her? Including from himself. Sam Raimi returns to both the director's chair and the comic-book movie genre to deliver the MCU's first horror styled movie. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness  is exactly the kind of bonkers you'd expect from The Evil Dead  director, and is still in keeping with the MCU. Stephen Strange is the perfect character for a fringe story like this because his work with the mystic arts puts him way out on the edge of everything, and Multiverse of Madness  takes us deeper into that world. Only this time we're able to explore what happens when his genius - and the arrogance that comes with it - gets the better of this supremo sorcerer. Something which raises a few trust issues

Jurassic World: Dominion | Average Guy Movie Review

It has been four years since dinosaurs were released into the wild, and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) are still fighting to protect them. But when their adopted daughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon) is kidnapped, along with Blue's infant, they find themselves embroiled in a corporate conspiracy. All the while, three survivors of the original park are investigating a global food crisis, one with links to the technology that built Jurassic World. The poster for Jurassic World: Dominion  promises "the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era". Unfortunately - but not unsurprisingly - it is a promise that the movie does not keep. That's not to say that it's all bad, because there are some fun and thrilling moments (occasionally involving an actual dinosaur or two), but it never really comes close to "epic". How could it when the very thing that Jurassic World  has been building towards (a world in which humans and dinosaurs must co

A Chris Prime/Amazon Pine Double Bill

  With the recent appearance of two brand new Chris Pine movies on Amazon Prime Video , I figured there was no better time for a double feature - not to mention a half-decent excuse to hit two movies with one review. The only question was which one to watch first; the action movie or the spy thriller? I went with the action movie. The Contractor  follows James Harper (Pine), a soldier who is unceremoniously discharged from the military after being wounded. Facing money troubles and still wanting to serve, Harper enlists with a private military contractor. His first assignment sends him to Europe to surveil a scientist with possible terrorist ties. But when things go wrong he finds himself caught in a game of cat and mouse as he attempts to get home to his family. Tarik Saleh may be going for a Bourne -esque action thriller with The Contractor , but it starts out as something very different. Our introduction to James Harper feels more like a commentary on the plight of wounded military

Top Gun: Maverick | Average Guy Movie Review

  It has been more than 30 years since Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) graduated from Top Gun, and he's still pushing the envelope - and his luck. But when the Navy is tasked with a highly dangerous mission inside enemy territory, Mav will face one of his toughest challenges yet; training a new generation of Top Gun graduates to push themselves and their planes to the absolute limit, so they can get the job done. On the face of it Top Gun: Maverick  is your typical sequel. It takes a lot of what we love about its predecessor and rehashes it. And lets face it, that title isn't exactly imaginative. There are even times when it feels like we're working our way through a checklist: flight jacket - check, motorcycle - check, riding motorcycle next to runway as jet takes off - check. They even managed to rehash the awkward meeting on the flight deck of rivals-become-friends. Needless to say, Cruise and his team bet heavily on nostalgia with this one. But i

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | Average Guy Movie Review

A down on his luck Nick Cage (Nicolas Cage as a parody version of himself) is offered $1 million to attend the birthday party of one of his super fans, Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). But is Javi all that he seems? Is he simply a successful businessman, who also happens to be a Nick Cage super fan, or is he the head of an international crime syndicate responsible for the kidnap of a local politician's daughter? That's what CIA agents Vivian (Tiffany Haddish) and Martin (Ike Barinholtz) want Nick to find out... hopefully before he gets himself and his family killed. Did you ever wonder what was Nicolas Cage's craziest role? Could it be the guy who escaped from hell in a muscle car, or the FBI agent wearing someone else's face? Maybe it's the construction worker who travelled to Pakistan on a supposedly divine mission to find Osama bin Laden, or the magician with the ability to see into the future (I never said it had to be a role in a good movie). No matter what, I

Operation Mincemeat | Average Guy Movie Review

With the end of the North Africa campaign in sight, Allied commanders turn their attention to Europe. They plan to invade the island of Sicily, as a stepping stone to mainland Italy - something the Germans will anticipate. In order to convince the Nazi high command that the target is actually Greece, British intelligence launch one of the most audacious deception plans in history. One that involved floating a dead body in military uniform, and with a briefcase full of fake documents, off the coast of Spain and into the hands of the enemy. To hear that a dead man was used during World War 2 to deceive the Germans in a massive deception plan borders on ludicrous. It quite literally sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie, which of course it now is. But the more you think about it, the more ingenious it sounds. That's what comes across in John Madden's take on these incredible events, itself based on the gripping book by historian Ben Macintyre, and all cleverly narrated by

The Batman | Average Guy Movie Review

Only in his second year, a young Batman faces one of his first big challenges when a psychopath with a penchant for riddles begins targeting Gotham City's most powerful, leaving messages for the Batman at every crime scene. Through the course of his investigation, the caped crusader will wade through the city's underworld, teaming up with a cop and a cat burglar along the way. When a character is re-imagined as frequently as Batman there's a danger that things might start to get a little repetitive. As filmmakers run out of places to go, these different iterations inevitably begin to blur. Thankfully however, that is not a fate that has befallen Matt Reeves' The Batman . The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes  director has taken a young caped crusader and inserted him into a gripping mystery thriller, set against the backdrop of a grim and desolate Gotham City. There is something very Se7en -esque to this, as the titular vigilante and his cop best friend try to make a diffe