Spiders & Physics & Dolls, Oh My!
Photo: Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Pictures
In the summer of 2023, we got to see movie magic come to life once more. For months, we saw theaters everywhere closed, on the brink of shutting down, empty except for the occasional moviegoer. With superhero fatigue at an all-time high, blockbuster sequels barely breaking even, and Tom Cruise practically begging for people to watch movies in theaters, it looked like the light was fading out.
What happened next was a cultural phenomenon. Pink was advertised on every clothing website. “American Prometheus” climbed up the bestsellers list. Dominic Fike’s “Mona Lisa” was on the radio, and mini pizzas were snuck in under multicolored ninja masks.
It showed us that if anything, this is the beginning of a beautiful new age of cinema. You could walk into any movie theater and there would be something for everyone to enjoy. So much so, that we couldn’t keep our thoughts and experiences to ourselves for long. I mean, which such a roster, who could?
So without further ado, here are some of our takes on the biggest hits of the summer:
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Directed by Jeff Rowe
By Jose Vicente
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a 2023 animated film directed by Jeff Rowe and it is epic, funny, and just an overall great film.
This is one of those movies that just really got hated on when the first trailer came out. People all over the internet were going crazy saying “Oh, why do the turtles look like that?” or “The character designs look so ugly!” or “Where is Shredder?”
But I feel this movie was able to prove every single one of its haters wrong.
Firstly, we begin with the plot. The plot for the movie is solid and yes, Superfly was a fantastic villain for it. I know almost every Ninja Turtle movie up to date has always had Shredder as the main villain, but for the first film, Superfly worked out. I like the fact that the director is setting up Shredder as the “big bad” of the TMNT universe; a menacing villain who will face more mature turtles with more experience.
I liked the fact that Superfly had an actual motive for being evil and not just the “I'm bad. So what?” type of motive because at this point, it's just a cliché. All four of the turtles were voiced magnificently and if anything, they sounded like they had real chemistry. Almost like real brothers. I also love that Splinter was played by Jackie Chan, and –without getting into too much detail– had a fight scene that was very Jackie Chan-inspired that just brought a smile to my face watching it.
Another part I appreciate about this film is the soundtrack. If you ever told me that they would play “No Diggity” in a TMNT movie, I probably would've gone crazy. That scene was so good, every single turtle got their moment to shine. Superfly's entrance was probably the coldest way to introduce a villain and “Wake Up in the Sky” as his introduction song worked so well and did not feel forced at all. The fight scenes are probably some of the best– if not the best, in my opinion– animated fight scenes in animation this year. The scene where they try to catch Superfly is nice because they all get their time to flex and lead one of the battles/raids that show some of their capabilities.
The grand majority of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies have taken one piece of the name and have stuck to that. An example of this is the 1990 version of the Ninja Turtles movies; they took the “Turtle” part of the name and stuck to that. The Bayverse TMNT movies took the “Mutant” part of the name and worked with that. Mutant Mayhem, however, took the “Teenage” part of the name and just straight-up ran with it. The humor in this movie was so funny and never felt forced. I appreciate the fact that the turtles were shown as teenagers because I feel like all the movies have forgotten that they're really closer to kids than adults.
So if you are looking for a fun flick for the whole family, I would recommend giving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem a shot!
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
Barbie Directed by Greta Gerwig
By Joyce Vicente
Pink has never looked better!
The Barbie movie has been one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Leading up to its release date, it was all anyone could talk about! On many social media apps, anyone of all genders and ages would collaborate to make Barbie premiere the best and most fashionable premiere of the summer. Of course, the dress code of this premiere was chic, glitter, and pink!
However, on the same date as the release of Barbie, another movie was also being released, Oppenheimer. Many went online to create a feud between these two rivaling movies. Some would wear suits and dark colors for the premier of Oppenheimer while others would go in pink for the premiere of Barbie. It was a battle of the ages and many were waiting to see which one had the most people for its release date.
On the day of the release, my friend and I walked into our theater and were instantly flooded with a sea of people dressed from head to toe in pink. It felt nice to see our once-empty theater be filled with people coming together to make this an amazing experience for all.
As the movie played, it was a roller coaster of emotions. There were times filled with laughter, like when we could see Barbie’s first thoughts of death and her realizing her feet had actually turned flat! Other times were filled with reflection, as we saw the development of the mother-daughter relationship between a mother and a moody teen.
Greta Gerwig’s directing was truly phenomenal and was able to combine such realistic topics and fantasy in one movie. She was able to show the hardships and sexism that women face every day (America Ferrera’s monologue) but also make sure that there were exciting “movie magic” scenes for people to laugh at (I’m Just Ken dance sequence)!
Overall, this movie was a great experience for anyone who was willing to watch. It brought together women of all ages and reinforced them with the message that Barbie has always taught: You can be anything!
Photo: Universal Pictures
Oppenheimer Directed by Christopher Nolan
By Romsev Charles
How do you critique a movie that you honestly didn’t care about?
Christopher Nolan’s strongest suit will always be his attention to detail; and if you know your history trivia, there are many details that will reward your knowledge.
Nolan knows how to tell a story. It takes real talent to take a Wikipedia article of a man and turn it into a gripping corporate spy mystery. My eyes were never bored, and of course, every action ties deeper into a story element that you never expected to be as compelling as it actually was. What did Strauss do to make Einstein that mad?
Now, this is the part where I’m expected to tell you about the bad parts of Oppenheimer –the parts that really dragged the movie down.
I thought and paced around my room for a bit. And I could not come up with an answer. I don’t know. Then, I asked myself, “Why? Why don’t I know?”
That answer was simple: I didn’t care.
When my friends and I sat down in the IMAX showing of Oppenheimer, I prepared myself to drudge through the notoriously hard-to-understand Nolan dialogue, with a thought-provoking plot as my only incentive to keep watching. I even asked theater employees for closed-captioning as I was determined to not miss a possibly important line that could come into play later.
I didn’t. I heard and understood everything, but I just didn’t. care. Art that doesn’t excite you is just a technical feat.
I believe this was Nolan’s first film that doesn’t explore an interesting concept. Tenet captivated me, as did Inception and Interstellar because Nolan introduced an interesting concept and gave us a story on how he believes that concept would materialize if given the chance. But Oppenheimer doesn’t explore a concept; it tells me about someone and his interpersonal struggles. A direct contrast to Nolan’s last written film where our main character was just referred to as “The Protagonist.” I suppose this stands as a good testament to Nolan’s flexibility, if any.
Oppenheimer was a good movie. You may like it, you may not. I love documentaries and it didn’t speak to me enough, but maybe soon I’ll let it grow on me. I recognize Nolan as a great filmmaker, and I recognize Oppenheimer as a beautifully well-made movie.
Photo: Sony Pictures
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers
By Genesis Vicente
Taking the leap of faith off Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, its long-awaited sequel has got us caught up in its web and ready to show what's new in store for Miles Morales.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits many points while also missing out on a few, but there's no doubt that this was definitely a film to have experienced in theaters.
The animation is 10s across every board, my eyes felt like they were trapped in a comic book kaleidoscope the whole time. I loved how every universe had a specific color palette and features set for it, as seen through examples of Gwen Stacy’s watercolor brush strokes and Pavitr Prabhakar’s thicker pen lines.
The opening sequence meshed together the strongest parts of the film; the animation and soundtrack. It is arguably the strongest scene the film has– with its other competition being the Spider chase, of course. It gave us a tease at what was yet to come– beautifully animated action sequences backed by an amazing score and soundtrack kudos to Daniel Pemberton and Metro Boomin.
Notable standouts in the soundtrack included “Am I Dreaming” with A$AP Rocky and Roisee, “Annihilate” with Swae Lee, Lil Wayne and Offset, and my personal favorite, “Mona Lisa” by Dominic Fike. It was a solid soundtrack overall, but I preferred the Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack in terms of sound and individual songs. Sorry, Metro Boomin.
But what I found was missing the most was substance. Not that it didn’t have any– it did– but the way it expanded– or tried to– fell short with me. I didn’t find myself as invested in Gwen’s story as much as I thought I would have, considering she was my favorite character in the previous film. I would have rather seen more about Miles or even Miguel. The multiverse plot was generic, which in an era with films like Everything Everywhere All At Once doesn’t impress. I understand that this is supposed to set up the third film, but it just felt like a massive filler at some points. It also suffered from the same problem that plagued Spider-Man: No Way Home: Too many characters that took away from the story.
Despite that though, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse did bring back a fervent joy to the hearts of Spider-Man fans everywhere and made for one of the most entertaining films of the year. Nothing revolutionary, but definitely nothing to roll your eyes at either. Hopefully, we’ll see you– and the entire Spider-Verse– in theaters for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse sooner, rather than later.