A Tale of Two Movies
Eccentric, fun, and beautifully realized in radiant pink, Barbie is a visual wonder. Plot wise, however, the movie is split into two, "not-equally-as-good" halvesโand, sadly, it's the titular character's part that is the least engaging one, relying all too heavily on its brand recognition and feminist message to engage with the audience. May end up buying Ken's Mojo Dojo Casa House set though.
The second coming of Christ (literally?)
Villeneuve made good on his promise. Dune: Part Two is probably one of the best looking and sounding films to ever grace theaters, while also presenting a decently profound story about the trappings of "destiny" and messiah-narrativesโalthough it would be fair to say that the movie is more about "looking the part" than being the real deal, it's hard to complain when you are this good-looking (and maybe that's the point).
Miyazaki at his absolute worst
The artwork and animation are, of course, top of the lineโas expected from a Studio Ghibli filmโ, but thematically the movie is all over the place, as if Miyazaki just put all of his thoughts into a blender and hoped for the best. Though, in the end, all we got was just a half-baked, tasteless mess of a movie, with no real character and close to zero emotional engagement.
