Action Movie Mini-Reviews: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Misson Impossible: Fallout (2018)

* Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Claire Dearing and Owen Grady are back to save dinosaurs threatened by the erupting volcano on the former theme park. Benjamin Lockwood, Hammond's old partner, agrees to fund the endeavor, so they go back to the island along with a paloveterinarian, a former park technician, and a para-military force. Tracking down important dinosaurs trying to be the volcano is hard enough, let alone when that para-military force turns against them and leaves them for dead.

Jurassic World is better and worse than its predecessor. It's better in portraying women, the basic plot, and the aesthetics. Claire ran around the first movie in a skirt and heels, not letting go of her proper ways. This movie portrays her much more realstically and as a more even character instead of a caricature. Zia as the paleoveterinarian is also a breath of fresh air with her sardonic humor and genuine care for dinosaurs.Owen is pretty much the same with his smarmy face and constant jokes even in the face of certain death. The plot is much more dynamic, involving a greedy man selling dinosaurs to the highest bidder. The aesthetics are much better, especially in the second half. A newly made dinosaur stalks a girl in her room and the cinematography makes it look like a dark fairy tale or gothic story.

The story has its flaws with so many plot holes, it's best not to think about them. For instance, no one seems to notice the heroes drive a jeep by dramatically clearing a large gap as the boat leaves from the dock. It's loud and unmistakable, but no one comes to investigate. Most characters don' have much development and prove to be quite one dimensional, especially the villain. With these flaws, the film is enjoyable but nothing very special. Although it doesn't surpass Jurassic Park, it is the best of the sequels in my opinion.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

* Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

Ethan Hunt refuses to sacrifice his friends (as an agent is supposed to) and as a result, the bad guys get three spheres of plutonium. He is forced to pose as the enemy, find the plutonium, and obtain it by any means possible before the Apostles use it to bomb major cities.

I had no idea this was the sixth Mission Impossible film. I was surprised at the Rotten Tomatoes score and I went in with tepid expectations which were not met. Ethan Hunt seems genuinely inept at his job. He was supposed to protect his country by getting the plutonium away from the bad guys, but he's unable to allow his team to die. While this is understandable and we're supposed to feel for him, I agree with Erica Sloane (played by Angela Bassett) when she says "That's the job." This whole film's plot could have been avoided if Ethan would just do his job, but he's continually praised for being inept.

This film is enjoyable if all you want is Tom Cruise running, jumping, climbing helicopters, and beating up guys while he's up there. The stunts are well done, but a movie is more than stunts. The twists and turns are so steeped in tropes and done by this series before that nothing is much of a surprise. This series wants you to think it's sophisticated and well plotted, but it's the action equivalent of the Saw franchise. The trailers even broadcasted a character as villain, so it was no surprise when that character revealed his plot and then did a horrible job trying to lie his way out of it. I don't recommend this movie, but many seem to enjoy it.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

The Meg (2018)

Jonas Taylor, rescue diver, had a traumatic experience with something unknown crushing a nuclear submarine and forcing him to leave his best friends behind in order to save others. Five years later, the underwater research facility Mana One discovers an even deeper section of the Mariana Trench. The crew of the small craft is attacked and stranded due to the damage. Drunken Jonas is pulled from his island retreat to save them only to face the gigantic creature of his nightmares.

The Meg is yet another killer shark film except this particular shark is a Megalodon, a giant species from millions of years ago. The stakes are higher because of the extend of the devastation it could cause. Like most of these types of movies, the shark seems to actively go after individual people it has a grudge against and after large groups of people to eat. The shark looks awesome. Its ability to jump in the air and move at breakneck speed makes it daunting as hell. The size of it is crazy, but it isn't really believable that the people had any chance at all to beat it.

Most of the human characters have a sense of community and meaningful relationships to each other. Even the very first character to die (who had very little screen time) made me a little emotional. The research team felt like a family who truly cared for each other. Suyin and Jonas had an adorable romance where Jonas didn't just go around saving her. Suyin's daughter Meiying is the cutest kid. The writing for her is a little too precocious for a kid her age, but it didn't annoy me. Her interaction with Jonas gave him a little softness to his stereotypically gruff action hero facade. Jack, the billionaire funding the program, had no consistency to his character at all. First he was comic relief, then he was the greedy boss, and finally settled on the villainous big game hunter.

The Meg is a ridiculous movie, but it was fun and over the top just like I wanted. The emotional stakes with the well built relationships and warm fuzzies with Jonas, Suyin, and Meiying are unexpected and very welcome in this type of movie. The big flaws for me are the inconsistency in Rainn Wilson's character and the entirely too long run time of the movie. It should have been at least a half hour shorter to keep up the momentum. The Meg isn't Jaws, but it's not trying to be. Don't go in expecting logic or realism and you'll be fine.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

The First Purge (2018)

The New Founding Fathers have been approved to attempt an experiment on Staten Island. They, and the architect of the plan Dr. Updale, hypothesize that giving people 12 hours of consequence free crime will alleviate crime during the rest of the year. The residents of the island are questioned and paid for either staying for or participating in the experiment. Nya organizes a protest against the Purge and plans to stay in a church to help her community stay safe. Dmitri plans to do the same except with his own gang to protect their drug cache. Nya's little brother was attacked by a deranged drug addict known as Skeletor and plans to use the Purge to get revenge. Who will survive this experiment and how will others use their Purge Night?

The First Purge takes a different tactic than the others in the franchise. It takes more time with the setup and doesn't have the same sinister characters in the background. The first scene of the film has New Founding Fathers employees asking Skeletor questions about his rage, his need for violence, and his plans for the Purge. They interviewed many people and offer payment for their presence and participation. Many of the poor and disadvantaged people choose to at least stay for the money because they are desperate. Others want to kill, create mayhem, or just party. When the Purge starts, the NFFA is disappointed that most just want to party or steal. Their true aim is to have people killing each other and effectively getting rid of the people of color, the poor, and who they consider drains on society.

The two main characters are Nya and Dmitri who have chosen different paths in life. Nya is an outspoken activist and believes she can change things by this route. Dmitri is an extremely wealthy drug lord. They also used to date. Dmitri is eventually painted as the savior and hero of this film while Nya fails pretty much all across the board. I don't like this because he is shown to have no qualms over murder, recruits local teens as small time drug dealers, and sells drugs all over the island. He's hurting his own community and then turns around to save it when outsiders come in to kill (and prove the NFFA right). I guess the message is that he's better than the NFFA, an organization uncomfortably close to Trump and his current regime, but that doesn't mean he's good. The ending of the film turns into an action film where Dmitri, stripped of his crew in a horribly plotted way, goes floor by floor through the building where Nya lives, killing intruders.

The First Purge doesn't feel much like a horror film to me. It's more of a dark action movie with heavy political messages. The NFFA and their tactics are pretty accurate to what's happening today and it has put off a lot of people because it feels too real. I enjoyed the film, but, like all the Purge films, there are a lot of things were introduced and didn't really pay off (like the glowing contact lenses and the 3 Kings) and many performances were subpar. I found this to be the weakest of the Purge films except for the very first.

My rating: 2.5/5 fishmuffins

Dracula vs. Hitler by Patrick Sheane Duncan

After the events covered in the novel Dracula, Professor Van Helsing chooses to bury Dracula rather than kill him. Years later during World War II, the Nazis are committing atrocities in Romania and running rampant where Van Helsing and his daughter fight for the resistance. He chooses to resurrect Dracula to fight the Nazis when conventional attempts to beat them have failed.

I didn't finish Dracula vs. Hitler. I didn't even make it to Dracula's resurrection. I had so many problems with the first 60 pages of this massive book. My main problems are with the uneven tone, the poor logic, the bad fan fiction elements. This book isn't as fun as it sounds. It focuses heavily on war tactics and action scenes. Horror and vampire fans will go away disappointed. However, even with this more serious tone, one particular death was so over the top it could have come out of a Saw film.

There are so many things that don't make sense. Why would Van Helsing spare Dracula? He claims it's because the vampire is a unique creature, but his whole team almost died just putting him in the ground. Apparently, Van Helsing was in his 30s during the novel to make this weird thing work which doesn't really work, especially bringing in other Dracula characters in. Jonathan Harker conveniently shows up later as an English spy and doesn't remember Van Helsing at all. I would think that whole experience would be pretty memorable and I don't get why he wouldn't remember the man who saved his wife (who is apparently not appearing in this book or he's just a huge scumbag).

The biggest problem I had with the novel was the bad fan fiction elements. Van Helsing has a daughter (of course), who just so happens to be incredibly beautiful and a fierce freedom fighter (even though she's shown to make numerous mistakes to expose them to the enemy). She is so emotionally strong that she won't even shed a tear for the boyfriend murdered brutally right in front of her. When Jonathan Harker sees her, he falls madly in love with her right away. This was the point I wanted to throw the book across the room and stopped reading. I can't invest time into a book with the flattest characters who are so awesome at what they do despite all evidence to the contrary. With Dracula vs. Hitler, I really wanted to a bloody, fun, over the top story which was not delivered.

My rating: 1/5 fishmuffins

Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik are back with new seemingly insurmountable problems including fitting thousands of people into one way over capacity ship, the Mao, with few resources. They plan to return to Kerenza, but who knows what's happening there after the Beitech invasion seven months ago. Their friends and family may not even be alive anymore. The reality isn't that bad, but the remaining civilians are either enslaved to mine fuel for Beitech or imprisoned and threatened to help the miners work faster. Kady's cousin Asha survived and joined the resistance because she sees that they will all die when the mining is done. Unfortunately, her ex-boyfriend Rhys is working for Beitech and threatens her work unless she can manipulate or convince him to help her save lives. All of them have mounting problems and a corrupt, genocidal corporation to face.

Obsidio has a lot of expectations because of how good the first two books were and fulfills them all. All three books are very different, but each has relatable characters, crazy plot twists, and awesome action sequences. Obsidio has the largest cast of them all and the plot follows each of them fairly evenly, making sure we know what's going on with old favorites and meeting and getting to know the new ones. Nik, Ezra, Kady, and Hanna are all trying to process what has happened to them and how to fix these new problems. All have loved ones die and get small moments to mourn them in the middle of all of this. These moments are so realistic when wanting to see or talk to them, feeling the loss, and recognizing the new normal. In such an action packed series, these moments bring in emotions and human experience on a smaller scale. With the new characters, Asha has made a lot of mistakes and tries as hard as she can to atone. She doesn't have any crazy abilities, but she tries her best to do what's right even with such harsh opposition. Rhys goes through a huge transformation when he finally see what Asha is truly fighting against. I grew to like these characters just as much as all the others.

The minor characters also play an important role in this book. People are fighting for control on the Mao for the greater good. When crisis after crisis happens and people die under the current rule, others see weakness in the young people who have gotten them as far as they have and opportunity to overthrow to make everything better. In reality, it only serves to divide what should be unified and causes even more deaths in the long run. Their hearts are in the right place, but their actions are terrible. On the enemy side, those like Rhys are seen, people that have no love for Beitech but joined the military, those with larger dreams, and those that are following orders to survive and justifying the atrocities they commit to cope. Hard deaths are felt on all sides and even when the good guys win, good people still die because the enemy isn't monolithicly evil. On the other hand, the chain of command in Beitech is filled with corruption. Complaints about sexual assaults or unlawful deaths are thrown out and never seen by anyone higher than the planetside commanding officer and only lead to the whistleblower being punished.

Obsidio is such a good book. I read it in two days, which is saying a lot with my current schedule. It has many hard hitting moments that made me cry, exciting moments that had me on the edge of my chair, and humorous scenes to give some relief from the emotion and tension. The book is so expertly crafted with transcriptions of video, maps, digital messages, and numerous other media. I have no real criticism of this book because even with so many plot lines and characters, everything is clear and well plotted to cover each setting and character. I love how even minor characters are made important in a book where it would be easy to fade minor characters into the background. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are working on a new series in the same universe that I can't wait to read. I will read anything this duo comes out with.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Movie Mini-Reviews: Attack of the Killer Donuts (2016) and Death Wish (2018)

* Attack of the Killer Donuts (2016)

A town is under attack by donuts turned sentient by a chemical accident. I wasn't expecting good cinema with this movie, but I was expecting a fun, good time which I didn't get. The characters are all awful from spineless Johnny and his obviously cheating on him girlfriend to his mother who is oddly having an affair with her son's friend to his weird uncle only in the film long enough to infect donuts and mess things up. The only decent character by any stretch of the imagination is Michelle, the only one who see through the bullshit and is the only pro-active or competent one. Johnny steals the show as the hero later even though it makes no sense. I wanted way less human drama and way more donuts attacking people.

Speaking of donuts, I was even disappointed with the donuts. They are largely portrayed with digital effects and it looks terrible. A few scenes have puppets when they are stationary that looked adorable with creepy teeth. If these had been used more often, it would have made the film so much more fun to watch. The CGI looked cartoonish and made the film seem much more childish and poorly made than it was. These donuts fly through the air, spew green goo, and bite people in larger and larger numbers once they figure out how to make more of themselves. This could have been a fun movie, but the writing spent too much time on barely watchable relationships and gags over their adorable title characters.

My rating: 1/5 fishmuffins

* Death Wish (2018)

Dr. Paul Kersey decides to get his own revenge when the police have no leads on the criminals who murdered his wife and brutally attacked his daughter. Death Wish is a fun action movie that had me laughing throughout. Bruce Willis is phoning it in a bit and isn't spectacular in his role. He also isn't quite believable as a heart surgeon, which contributes to the comedy. We follow him from his pacifist beginning and through his bumbling first attempts into his rise to skilled vigilante. His progression is fun to watch and makes him seem like a real person who has learn the basics. Paul targets thieves, drug dealers, and especially people who make the community live in fear. His motivation has some real emotion with the tragic death of his wife and his daughter in a coma she may not wake up from.

Two elements surprised me and made the film infinitely more enjoyable: the puns Paul spouts when he kills bad guys and the ensuing gore. The puns are such dad jokes and are delivered with such deadpan that I rolled with laughter with each one. It's an unexpected touch in an otherwise pretty serious action film. The gore is well done and much more extreme than usual in action. Eli Roth directed this and brought some tricks over from his usual horror films. The best kill is when Paul kicks away a jack (with the cheesiest pun imaginable) and crushes a bad guy with a car. The ending sequence is exciting and had me at the edge of my seat. For a genre that I'm not a huge fan of, Death Wish is funny, emotional, and exciting all at the same time.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

Bite

Kid has been wandering around by herself for a while now. She is about to die in the wastelands when she happens upon a group of sharks, cannibals that indiscriminately kill and create trouble. It's either die or join them, so she joins them. The cannibalism and violence take some getting used to especially since she isn't the strongest person or any good at all with weapons. Despite all this, eventually Kid feels like she finally belongs somewhere. Their entire way of life is threatened when the Saint starts enforcing law and creating order. Kid and her group of misfits decides to attempt to destroy this Saint or die trying.

I happened upon this book at a bookstore because of it's kickass cover and the subject matter of cannibals. Cannibal stories are few and far between, but many are pretty awesome. Historically, cannibals have been painted as villains in most stories like The Walking Dead comic and TV show, Ravenous, The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and many others. In Bite, this group of sharks comprised of Dolly, Wolf, Tank, and Pretty Boy are not necessarily good or bad guys, but somewhere in the shades of grey in the middle. They are the protagonists of the story and arguably on the correct side at least some of the time. Their own survival is the most important thing, so they fight as hard as they can using unconventional or just plain stupid methods to defeat enemies and gather supplies.

The evolution of the group is what I like best about the book. Before Kid got there, it seemed that they simply coexisted together with desire for survival being the only thing they shared. Once Kid came along, she brought a sense of community and family with her that bonded them all together more than just surviving. Her influence made Pretty Boy a marginally better person, brought out Dolly's softer side, made Tank protective, and made Wolf trust in his group. They all definitely still have flaws, but the group becomes home for them wherever they are. Despite all the blood, mean eating, and violence, the story was quite heartwarming. You would think that ravaging cannibals would be hard to sympathize with, but they definitely grow on you after a while.

The world is a wasteland because of nuclear war in the past. Radiation is a part of everyday life. Few children survive to adulthood due to the radiation, but also because of starvation, murder, thirst, and tons of other things. Other dangers include crazies (people intend on cannibalism with no reason left in them), bandits (who steal from anyone they come across), and sharks (cannibals and murderers). Life is hard and people survive in small towns, usually unfriendly to strangers unless they have goods to trade. Each town rules in their own way. The largest is ruled by the Queen, who strives to be surrounded by luxury, but in reality, has a pathetic imitation of it. I loved that the situations they stumbled into were different than the usual post-apocalyptic fare.

Bite is a feast of new ideas that turn genre tropes around into something new. A book hasn't grabbed me like this in a while and made want to sit and read it all hours of the day and night. The characters have dimensions and are frankly pretty awesome. My favorite is Dolly, showing the strong silent type can be a woman as well. Wolf makes me laugh with all his crazy ideas and love for chaos and explosives. I love this weird found family that grew to love and trust each other.. The next book will probably come out next summer and I can't wait for it.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Hardcore Henry

Henry was killed and then revived by his brilliant wife Estelle, but he has no memory of his life and can't speak. Just as she and her team are about to install his voice, Akan, a telekinetic psychopath, attacks and claims Estelle's research as their own. They make a daring escape, but she is kidnapped after a fiery crash landing. Henry vows to rescue her from Akan's disgusting clutches with the help of Jimmy, another enemy of Akan's with many copies of himself.

I wasn't expecting a lot from Hardcore Henry. The first person point of view looked interesting, but I fully expected a fairly mindless action film. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this film is well constructed and has everything I enjoy. It had me at the beginning credits where slow motion attacks are shown super close with a variety of weapons and their bloody aftermath. There's no preamble or explanation to the situation or world in the film. We know just as much as Henry knows which isn't much. Although he doesn't remember anything from before he woke up, he makes split second moral decisions, choosing to only attack those attacking him and trying his best to minimize civilian injuries and casualties. The villains are countless, led by Akan, a very easy to hate, disgusting, evil villain. The film goes breakneck speed with tons of violence, blood, gore, explosions, and tons of guns. The first person view can be disorienting, but it puts the audience right in the middle of the action.

Many of my favorite parts of the film are thanks to Jimmy, a paraplegic genius. He made numerous robot copies of himself that he controls, but he imbues with different personalities: nonviolent hippie Jimmy, punk rocker Jimmy, homeless drunk Jimmy, secret agent Jimmy, guerrilla warfare Jimmy, proper English World War II colonel Jimmy, coke and women enthusiast Jimmy, computer nerd Jimmy, and Frank Sinatra-esque Jimmy. He gives us a strong character to follow and a lot of the humor that Henry can't give us because we can't see him and he can't speak. In the middle of this tense situation with countless goons and violence, he breaks out into song and dance with his various avatars. He made me laugh a lot even before that, which breaks up the gloom and doom of the main plot.

I saw Hardcore Henry two times, one day apart in the theater because it was the most fun I had in the theater all year. All of my questions and concerns about the plot are addressed in the film except for one: how Akan got his power. This is covered in a graphic novel prequel. I can't stress enough how well made this is. The action flows seamlessly and the film is fast paced. You will never be bored and the ending is incredibly satisfying. This film didn't do well in the box office, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a cult following in the future and maybe a sequel (although I think it's a good stand alone).

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Random Movie Mini-Reviews!

I've been watching a lot of movies lately, especially recent releases. Here goes!

1) San Andreas

The Rock abandons his post as a firefighter and goes on a quest to save his family. First of all, this is supremely horrible, What kind of firefighter just leaves his post when people obviously need him? Plus he committed a whole bunch of crimes on his "noble" quest to save his family. Typical disaster movie stuff happens that would never happen in real life: LA is destroyed, buildings collapse, and a giant tidal wave comes in. It cracks me up that when I went to Wondercon last year, the director bragged about having a seismologist on staff. Apparently they ignored every single thing they said because it wouldn't look cool in a movie. Someone almost dies. Tearjerky stuff happens. Impossible and improbable maneuvers actually work. Even the seismologists assistants are improbably attractive. It's a solid disaster movie that's about as badly written as all other disaster movies. It's entertaining if you don't think too much about it. The only thing that really bothered me was how they went out of their way to make the childless stepdad look like the hugest douche in the world.

My rating: 6/10 fishmuffins

2) Annabelle

Idyllic couple buys creepy doll then get attacked by creepy, suicidal cult member who dies. Then her creepy spirit possessed said creepy doll and terrorizes them. I really hated The Conjuring, but I thought maybe Annabelle would be better. It is slightly better, but considering how low of an opinion I have of the first film, that's not saying very much. Annabelle is mostly boring. It relies way too much on jump scares to fuel the suspense and it's not very effective. The only really cool part is completely ruined because the filmmakers weren't ballsy enough to actually have the woman's baby be harmed. Like The Conjuring, there is really no reason for this film to be rated R. Not a lot of violence, a little bit of blood, no adult language. At this point, I guess it's just a ploy for people to think this movie is scary when it really isn't. The creepiest thing is the appearance of the doll. I will not be subjecting myself to any more Conjuring films.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

3) Jurassic World

It's just like Jurassic Park, but with an engineered dinosaur wreaking havoc. Jurassic World is an enjoyable action movie with lots of dinosaurs, exciting chases, and Chris Pratt. The visual effects are pretty good, but the original film used more practical effects that still looked a little better than the majority of the new dinosaurs. The film is funny, suspenseful, and just plain summer fun. The only annoying part is the treatment of Claire, the busy, childless park director. She runs around the whole film in high heels and is the poster girl for the uptight business woman trope. Considering how the female characters have been treated in the past, this is disappointing. Her assistant also experiences the most horrific death in the film for pretty much no reason. Other than that, I got to watch hunky Chris Pratt whisper to raptors and fight a cool, brand new dinosaur. The ending is a little too deus ex machina, but still enjoyable. Another fun film that doesn't require too much brain power.

My rating: 8/10 fishmuffins

Mad Max: Fury Road

* spoilers *

A nuclear war has made the world into a desert wasteland and society has collapsed. Immortan Joe rules from his Citadel, keeping the water from the common people and giving it out just enough to keep them complacent. He has an army of War Boys who never reach adulthood and gladly give their lives to fight for him. Max, a crazed man tortured by his past, is captured and used as a blood bag for an injured War Boy named Nux. Imperator Furiosa is supposed to be going to collect gas for Immorten Joe, but instead she takes his five wives and makes a break for the legendary Green Place. Determined to achieve glory, Nux straps Max to the front of his car and tears off after Furiosa, but things don't go as planned. Max and Furiosa reluctantly team up to defeat Immortan Joe, save the wives, and escape to the legendary Green Place.

Going in, I assumed Mad Max: Fury Road would be a typical testosterone fueled, misogynistic action movie. I had heard nothing but good things about it from everyone, so I decided to give it a chance and it didn't disappoint. The world building and aesthetics are amazing. The world is a barren desert due to nuclear war and aging Immorten Joe holds on to his power with an iron fist. He takes all the natural resources and commodities from random the public to hold over them and divvy out as he wants. This keeps the people poor and prevents them from overthrowing him. The most fascinating part of this bizarre world is the War Boys. They are strong and healthy young boys taken from the public and raised to be brainwashed, blindly faithful followers of Joe. As they get older, these strong and healthy boys become sickly and lose all sense of individuality. They gladly give their lives for their beloved leader and believe his promises of Valhalla after their death. None of them see maturity since they die from cancer or in the battles they fight. This whole regime is sick and unnatural because ancient Immortan Joe sacrifices the youth of his society in order to destroy the natural order of youth eventually taking power over the old. The young men are completely disposable and accept this state while the women are reduced to breeders and breastmilk machines. The film employs a style similar to steampunk, but more updated and mixed with a primitive, tribal vibe. Nothing in the film is new, but is instead repurposed from trash and stolen goods. Metal and technology in the film represent decay, stagnation, and enslavement rather than advancement or progress.

My favorite part of the film was the use of gender equality throughout from the portrayal of the female characters to how other characters treated them. Furiosa is the only woman with any sort of power in this world. Her crew defers to her even if they don't understand what she does. She has proven herself to them and they (mistakenly) trust her completely. While Max is the title character, he stumbles upon the main events by accident and isn't really the main focus of the film. Furiosa is the driving force behind it and I related more to her. Once they join forces, Max treats Furiosa as an equal. He accepts that she is better at him at some things, like driving the massive rig, shooting a giant gun he repeatedly missed with, and continually following her lead. They help each other and recognize each others' strengths and weaknesses. Their relationship is a partnership and a friendship. Furiosa is a nuanced character who is tough as nails and extremely capable, but still has emotions. She seeks to improve her life, exact revenge, and save others. Charlize Theron captures both sides of the character and just blew me away. The emotions in the film run strong despite all the explosions and violence, resulting in some beautiful, quiet scenes between characters. In the end, it's Furiosa who kills Immortan Joe, overthrowing his regime, and takes the responsibility of rebuilding that society while Max continues on his own journey.

One of the reasons I thought I would hate this movie was the portrayal of Immortan Joe's wives. I saw an early preview of the first scene with Max and Furiosa. The wives wear diaphanous, sexy silks which are incredibly impractical for the desert setting. I figured they would be repeatedly raped on screen, nude at inappropriate moments, and generally useless to the story. I am so glad to be wrong. The misogynistic treatment of women in the film stems from Immortan Joe's regime. He reduces women to unwilling breeders and milk providers while Furiosa and Max eventually free all these women in their upheaval. So many people mistake the inclusion of misogyny in a film as an affirmation of it, but they need to look at its context within the film instead of jumping to conclusions. The wives' dresses are meant to titillate and look pretty, but they've chosen to free themselves from this view. Their past sexual abuse is never shown in the film because it doesn't have to be. They don't have to prove to the audience that they were indeed essentially sex slaves in a guilded cage for a megalomaniac. Some of the wives want to go back to their guilded cage because of a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and that their cage and its trappings are familiar in contrast to their uncertain fate in the desert. The wives, while not physically tough, did all they could to help Furiosa and Max through physically blocking them with pregnant bellies, deceiving the enemy, reloading guns, etc.

I enjoyed Mad Max: Fury Road. The characters are complex; the visuals are brutal and beautiful; the story is surprising; the themes are relevant; and the inclusion of music in a dystopian society is spot on. Why would future societies reject art? The guy with the flamethrower guitar was my favorite minor character. The movie is just a breath of fresh air all around. I highly recommend it.

My rating: 10/10 fishmuffins

Women in Horror: Bloodshot

Raylene Pendle is a flapper turned accomplished vampire thief who is tired of being hired to steal pornography. Thankfully, an interesting case falls into her lab involving the government experimenting on vampires and leaving her client, Ian Stott, blind for the rest of eternity. After overcoming her shock at knowing that a vampire could be mutilated like that, she takes the case and agrees to steal files detailing what happened to her client in hopes of finding a cure. Not long after that, she is chased by black suited government agents and her secret cache of expensive stolen valuables stashed away in a seemingly abandoned building is raided. Everywhere she goes, she is followed and chased. It eventually gets to be less about the money and more about not allowing such atrocities to happen to other vampires. Can she follow the paper trail fast enough to find what her client needs or will she suffer the same fate as Ian and become a government guinea pig?

This is Cherie Priest's first book in the urban fantasy genre and I enjoyed it very much. I know that the market is overflooded with vampire novels, but this one isn't cliche and tired like so many others. There is no romance to speak of, which is a refreshing change. The only thing that remotely resembles it is Raylene's attraction to two male characters, one human and one vampire, which could have been a super cheesy, typical love triangle. Thankfully, Priest decided to go a different way with the story. Raylene is pretty happy about her existence as a vampire, unlike those Angels and Edwards out there, so angst is in short supply here. The vampires in the novel aren't totally evil baby-eaters, but aren't super annoying goody two shoes either. This one-dimensional view of either side is getting really dull. They are normal people who drink blood and need to stay out of the sun in Cherie Priest's world. These vampires are multifaceted, complex characters.

I like that vampires aren't almost godlike with their powers in this novel. Raylene is stronger and faster than humans, but she does have her limitations. For example, she can take a few bullets, but the pain and blood loss will eventually weaken her severely. Her senses are superior to a human's, but within a logical realm. The ridiculous rules such as crosses or wooden stakes or garlic being fatal have thankfully been dispensed with. She has a little bit of psychic ability, but just a smidge really. It's just enough to feel out someone's intentions and general mood and not much more than that. The vampire powers and rules seem much more logical here, making it much easier to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the novel.

The biggest strength of the book is its colorful cast of characters. Raylene's narrative drew me in immediately. Her inner monologue is full of paranoia, neurosis, and OCD-ness despite the hard-as-nails persona she exudes. She also cares for people much more than she wants to admit to herself. This is best seen with the two kids that live in her abandoned warehouse full of stolen swag. At first, she was annoyed with them and tried to drive them out, but their relationship evolved over time. They have a mutual trust and Raylene feels an obligation to protect them from danger. She even gave them a phone so they can call her in an emergency like a concerned mother. These aspects made her much more human to me. Plus, she infuses her own brand of humor in much of the novel, making her voice memorable and fun to read.

I really liked Bloodshot. It really renewed my interest in vampire novels because it proved to be much different than many of the others out there. This book combined mystery, horror, and action into a compelling, fun story. It's a lot different from Boneshaker, her previous steampunk zombie novel, but Cherie Priest has proven that she can write in different genres really well. I loved the ending and, of course, it's left open for a sequel that will be released in August called Hellbent. I highly recommend this to urban fantasy and vampire readers.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins