Let them fight?

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

Absurdly good monsters keep getting interfered with by mostly-mediocre humans, but damned if "absurdly good monsters" ain't good enough.

2019

Directed by Michael Dougherty

Written by Zach Shields and Michael Dougherty

Spoiler alert: not that this movie can in any way be meaningfully spoiled, but "moderate," for the sticklers

Under the Table and dreaming

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3—PARABELLUM

Show of hands, who loves the John Wick movies for their conversations?  Oh, really?  Way more than I would've thought.

2019

Directed by Chad Stahleski

Written by Derek Holstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Mark Abrams

Spoiler alert: mild

Predator Week, part IV: The day the Earth stood up, walked out of the theater, and asked for its money back

THE PREDATOR

So now I can see why I might have dragged my feet on finishing this particular retrospective—it must have been a premonition of utter shit.  Not only the worst film in its series, The Predator is quite probably the worst film of its whole year, and damned if I didn't expect much, much better from this franchise and from these creators than that.

2018

Directed by Shane Black

Written by Fred Dekker and Shane Black

Spoiler alert: high

Avengers forever

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

The best of the MCU's crossovers without even thinking about it too hard, Avengers: Endgame is even better than that fairly-faint praise implies, and it earns its place in cinema history (and our hearts) for at last giving some its various childlike empresses their names, and bringing some of their neverending stories to a highly satisfying close.

2019

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo

Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Spoiler alert: severe

Please Mr. Kennedy, don't shoot me into outer space

HIGH LIFE

Man, fuck this shit.

2019

Directed by Claire Denis

Written by Jean-Pol Fargeau and Claire Denis

Spoiler alert: moderate

The big red cheese

SHAZAM!

Better than most movies about kids meeting wizards, and one reasonably terrific addition to the DCEU's growing stable of very good superhero movies.

2019

Directed by David Sandberg

Written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke

Spoiler alert: moderate

We have met the enemy, and he is...

US

While both atmospheric and willing to go for broke, neither craft nor courage quite manage to win the day against the plodding unscariness and poorly-used metaphors of Us.  (Also, I apologize for the hiatus.  I was busy.)

2019

Written and directed by Jordan Peele

Spoiler alert: moderate