MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

At 2 hours and 32 minutes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the longest film in the beloved series. Director Rian Johnson (Looper) has made a great entertaining movie from the first part till the last 30 minutes of it. The middle part dragged on a bit. The Last Jedi could have been 40 minutes shorter but it made up for some great visual effects that  is well worth your hard earned cash especially if you watch in premium format theaters such as IMAX. 

The internal conflict of the characters that was missing in the recent Star Wars releases including The Force Awakens is back. Once again, shades of the original trilogy made it presence felt by the leads: from the iconic ones Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher in her final film) to the new ones most especially Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren/ Ben Solo (Adam Driver). The characters arcs of the ones mentioned sets the stage for more engrossing films in the series. Hopefully, they should be helmed by a competent director. The Last Jedi is a good first step. 

Star Wars fans won't be disappointed in The Last Jedi. It elevates the groundwork that The Force Awakens started and it makes you look forward to the upcoming films in the series.

MOVIE REVIEW: Wonder

I read the bestselling book by R.J Palacio months ago and after watching the film, I can truly say that this one of the rare times in which the movie is better than the book. It has full emotion which the book lacked.

Wonder is about August "Auggie" Pullman played excellently by Jacob Trembley (Room), a boy born with a rare facial disfigurement, who has to enter a regular school for the very first time. He had been home-schooled by his Mom Isabel (Julia Roberts) all his life because of countless hospital confinement while his Dad Nate (Owen Wilson) goes to work. Auggie has an older sister named Via (Izabela Vidovic) who cares for him as well. He never runs out of love and affection in his home so a school is something new and alien to him. 

What is beautiful about the film is that it never strayed from its source material. There's a chapter devoted to the characters that will help you get the know them better. It is not only about Auggie and his family. It's also about Via's best friend Miranda (the beautiful Danielle Rose Russell) as well as Auggie's new found friend in school Jack Will (Noah Jupe). Credit is due mainly to writer/director Stephen Chbosky, in his second full length film after his directorial debut in the excellent The Perks of Being a Wallflower in 2012. He also wrote the book itself and the screenplay as well. He is now 2/2

in my book.

Wonder is a great feel good movie without bordering on sentimentality. It makes us realize that by accepting on our differences, we can live in harmony.