2019 Film Ratings

Spoilers will be limited, numeric grades out of 10 will be given for each film. Full length reviews on select feature films will be linked.

Our recommendations with star reviews are as follows:
3-5 Stars -> Good - Great films; highly recommend
2.5 Stars -> Borderline film; cautiously recommend
1-2 Stars -> Not a good film; do not recommend

The Kid Who Would Be King – 7.3/10

Despite being targeted as a kids film, the story line and action are exciting enough to watch as an adult. The action scenes between the kids (now knights) and undead army is exciting (spoiler: no kids die in the film, despite Benson and I hoping at least one child got destroyed).

The Upside – 7.0/10

Both Kevin Hart (Dell) and Bryan Cranston (Phillip) play an incredible part in making this movie come alive. However, the film story (based on a true story) itself lacks substantial substance to give this movie a higher rating.

Glass – 6.8/10

Both films preceding glass were incredible films, and both would receive higher grades than Glass. However, the only true good part of the film was James McAvoy (Kevin Crumb or “The Beast”), both Samuel L. Jackson (Elijah) and Bruce Willis’ (David Dunn) characters were very underwhelming.

Bumble Bee – 7.8/10

A bit more of a family friendly version of a transformers film. The beginning and ending of the film were exciting, but lacked real substance in the middle.

Escape Room – 5.7/10

I love idea, but it feels as if I’ve seen this film before (Saw maybe?), nothing was really new, and the plot was incredibly predictable…although there were a few exciting parts.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – 7.5/10

Very interesting film, headlined by a strong performance by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. The acting carried this film for me as the plot was a bit bland.

Avengers End Game – 8.6/10

Marvel films are my favorite, and this does not disappoint. Not as great as Infinity War but a strong ending to a great saga.

Joker – 9.2/10

Arguably the film of the year for me. Joaquin Phoenix puts on a master class. Everything about this film is a masterpiece and will likely be nominated for many awards.

Knives Out – 8.5/10

Really interesting movie plot along with very exciting characters. Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, and Jamie Lee Curtis were all fantastic characters and added substantially to the great plot.

Spider-Man: Far From Home – 8.7/10

One of my favorite Spider-Man films to date. Tom Holland is becoming my favorite Spider-Man as he puts on another great performance. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) puts on a masterclass as Mysterio.

Alita: Battle Angel – 8.0/10

I enjoyed this movie far more than I thought I would. After getting past the slightly creepy animation on Alita, this becomes an enjoyable movie.

1917 – 8.4/10

One of my favorite war movies to date (based loosely on a true story). Even if you’re not into these types of movies I highly recommend going to see this. Exciting from start to finish.

Jumanji: The Next Level – 7.1/10

The Rock and Kevin Hart are a fantastic duo. I prefer the original Jumanji over these iterations, but they still provide enough entertainment and comedy to make it watchable.

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of the Skywalker – 8.3/10

I may be a bit higher on this movie than others, as I love Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. Driver puts on a stellar performance to help carry an overall decent film.

Doctor Sleep – 7.3/10

The concept is interesting and based on a novel (which I admittedly have not read), but the film lacks a ton of excitement. Not as great as the original shining movie, but is still creepy enough for horror film enthusiasts.

Ford v Ferrari – 7.7/10

Matt Damon and Christian Bale do a phenomenal job of portraying their characters. Overall an interesting story that I didn’t have much background knowledge about but enjoyed watching it play out.

Captain Marvel – 7.4/10

One of my least favorite Marvel movies to date. Captain Marvel is a slightly lackluster character in my opinion and doesn’t have that interesting of a back story.

IT Chapter Two – 8/10

Great second movie to the first IT movie – clown movies are extremely tough to do but IT does a great job of breaking the typically terrible mold of creepy clown movies.

Gemini Man – 6.7/10

Will Smith does a fine job, the plot and action scenes just don’t do it for me.

Terminator: Dark Fate – 6.9/10

Arnold still has some juice left in the tank, just not enough to make this a good film. I loved the early terminator movies but they’re trying too hard to force this one.

Us – 7.1/10

One of my most anticipated films of the year was disappointing. I love the idea and was hoping for a “Get Out” type vibe which I got, but it was overall significantly less exciting. Jordan Peele didn’t hit it off with this one, but still entertaining.

Shazam – 9/10

Shazam brought out a different side of DC we really haven’t seen before. A superhero with some comedy along with him…and I loved it. One of my favorite films this year.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw – 7/10

Why is fast and furious still a thing? This wasn’t too bad but how much more can they make of these movies?

Ready or Not – 8.4/10

Exciting from start to finish. Such an interesting and new plot that made this movie extremely suspenseful, so much better than I expected.

X-Men Dark Phoenix – 5.7/10

Truly a poor movie. X-Men needs to restart somewhere else, because this film disappointed.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – 7.5/10

Keanu Reaves puts on a good show (with hardly speaking, also). John Wick is all action all the time, and I like it.

Zombieland: Double Tap – 6.7/10

Not a bad movie if zombie movies are your thing, but it’s tough to make a good zombie movie. This one falls short of expectations.

Ad Astra – 5.7/10

The movie was quite lackluster in its characters and story. We follow Brad Pitt (Roy McBride) on a journey across the solar system to find out the cause of a mysterious, life threatening power surge. The story is slow and bland. Not much in terms of suspense.

Fighting with my Family – 7.7/10

Florence Pugh (Paige) does an overall outstanding performance depicting the struggles of rising to the WWE fame.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu – 8.7/10

The film is a love letter to the nostalgia that Pokémon have been wishing to see on the big screen. Entertaining characters, beautiful environments and great animation of the Pokémon depicted within the film. A must watch for Pokémon fans all around.