This summer has been a constant ebb and flow of big blockbusters and smaller movies, and following Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's big debut last week, this time around we are looking more at the latter category. In other words, we don't have any big action or spectacle, but we do have the thriller Sicario: Day of the Soldado and the new comedy Uncle Drew.
Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at This Rotten Week has to offer.
If there was a metric that tracked how often people watched a single sequence, I'd be the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to the boarder crossing scene from Sicario (93%). The whole movie was a butt-clenching, and a how-to in suspense and layered story, and now we have a sequel that's going to try and live up to it. Taylor Sheridan has written the screenplay for Sicario: Day of The Soldado, but director Stefano Sollima has taken the reins from Denis Villeneuve, telling a new story that follows follow Matt (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) in their quest to continue keeping the drug cartels off balance and disrupted.
It was always going to be tough for Sicario: Day of the Soldado to match up with the original, and early reviews are trending lower. It's currently at 68 percent with 19 reviews posted, and I suspect it continues to drop over the course of the week. It's a bit of an odd story to follow up on, especially because the main characters worked well as side notes to Emily Blunt in Sicario, but it does still look like it could end up with a "Fresh" rating.
I'm not sure how much shrift I can give to a movie starring a current NBA superstar based on a Pepsi Max commercial that aired years ago. But here we are with Uncle Drew, starring Kyrie Irving and a bunch of former NBA stars all wearing old people makeup and schooling younger players. It's essentially the elderly And1 tour, except the guys are all former NBA dudes. The commercials were mildly entertaining and reached viral status, but a whole 103 minutes of this? Oof.
Director Charles Stone has some solid work on his resume, including Drumline (82%), but he followed that up with Mr. 3000 (54%), and really not much since. Simply put, I'd be completely floored if Uncle Drew was anything but a critical bomb. It's just too tough a shot to be a slam dunk. It may be fun for some folks, but I expect unwatchable for most.
There was only one movie on the docket last week, and my prediction came in within range - though I definitely had a very big head start with the movie lifting its review embargo early. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Predicted: 59% Actual: 50%) definitely split critics, though it wasn't enough to earn a "Fresh" rating. It's not exactly a great look for the legendary franchise, but negative reviews aren't exactly going to stop it in its tracks. The film is already one of the biggest releases of the year, and it surely won't be long until the third movie is announced.
Next time around the Marvel Cinematic Universe returns with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp. It's gonna be a Rotten Week!
