After a week that saw Captain Marvel take over all of the movie headlines, we get three flicks with decidedly different themes. It’s a post-alien invasion world, sick teens, and an imaginary amusement park. Get ready for Captive State, Five Feet Apart, and Wonder Park.
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.
We’ve seen a ton of alien invasion movies over the years. That genre isn’t wanting for coverage at all. But rarely do we see a movie that deals with the aftermath of an invasion - what the world (assuming it isn’t destroyed) looks like years after aliens colonize rather than annihilate. Such is the case with Captive State, a flick set a decade after an extraterrestrial takeover, with some characters complying, and other resisting.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt, who helmed The Gambler (44%), The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (82%) and The Escapist (66%), Captive State looks interesting, if a bit too spread out. From the trailer it seems to focus on a small patch of resistance fighters in Chicago while also trying to give us the full scope of a new alien-run world. It may have spread itself too thin. It looks intriguing and thought-provoking, but I suspect some of the machinations sour critics a little.
Hollywood just loves a story about a terminally sick kid falling in love. There’ve been a bunch of these over the years. Sometimes they stink like Midnight Sun (21%). But other times they are borderline great and the tears are preloaded, as in The Fault In Our Stars (80%), or Me, Earl And The Dying Girl (81%). Unfortunately, I think this latest, Justin Baldoni's Five Feet Apart, looks like it will fit in more with the first group.
Five Feet Apart centers on two teens with cystic fibrosis who fall in love despite having to spend their lives a certain distance (can you guess how far?) from others so as not to come in contact with any germs. I’m not dogging the central idea, but rather worry the execution doesn’t get all the way there. It looks very paint-by-numbers in its approach, and likely only appeals to a teen crowd. I don't expect the critics at-large to get on board.
Wonder Park is about a girl who, after a foray in the woods, enters the amusement park she'd imagined as a child. But the place has fallen into a state of disrepair and turmoil as her imagination dissolves with age. The story and premise look cute enough, but I can't help but feel like this flick is a poor man's Inside Out. It's not a 1-to-1 comparison, but I did feel like there are a lot of similarities in the premise - at least based on what the trailers show us.
Paramount Animation’s track record is less than stellar with three movies under their belt. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (80%), surprisingly, finished pretty high. But the other two, Monster Trucks (30%) and Sherlock Gnomes (27%), didn't fare so well with critics. Wonder Park looks cute enough, a play on the inner imagination come to life theme, but I suspect a re-used plot line plus some confusing elements in terms of the antagonists lead to a lower score.
We only had one movie come out last week, but it was a huge one, and I nailed the prediction for Captain Marvel (Predicted: 80% Actual: 79%). Give it a few more reviews trickling in over the course of the next week or so and this may end up being a direct hit. While some critics found some flaws, overall this was a critical and box office hit. Through 21 films, the average score in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is 84% and the median is 85%. That leaves this one, I suppose, below average when compared against its direct peers, but that’s splitting hairs really. The franchise continues to crush in every relevant category, and Captain Marvel just leaves us even more pumped for Avengers: Endgame.
Next time around we’ve got Us. It’s gonna be a Rotten Week!
