MOVIE REVIEW: DETECTIVE PIKACHU (2019)

Detective Pikachu is a live action Pokemon movie that is based on a spin-off Pokemon game from a few years ago. Starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu, the movie is set in a world where Pokemon exist and occupy the world alongside human protagonists. 

The movie follows Tim, an insurance broker. He gets a call telling him that his father is dead. Travelling to Ryme City, he meets Lucy (a reporter) and a Pikachu (who he can understand) who has amnesia and used to be Harry's partner. They then try to unravel the mystery surrounding what happened with Harry.

For the most part, this movie works. It is a joy to watch the Pokemon walking around and interacting with the world. The plot-device that is Ryme City (where there are no battles or pokeballs) means that there is a reason for the Pokemon not to be constantly in battles or pokeballs and lets them interact with the characters allot more.

The downsides are few, but significant. The first is that this is a children's movie (or for those familiar with Pokemon), which means that those who are not familiar (i.e. parents) will find limited enjoyment. Also as a product of this is the plot is fairly predictable, with twists that can be seen coming a mile away.

Perhaps more significant is that the main characters don't really work. Tim and Lucy often feel like they are under-acting allot of scenes that should be emotional. They just don't feel like they really quite have the range to jump between all the tones the movie tries to touch on and make it feel natural.

But more significant is Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds). They simply made the character too snarky. The character is too much like Deadpool, making meta jokes when the situation is trying to be dramatic. Cracking jokes about climate change while they are struggling for their lives completely breaks the mood. It feels like most of these were studio-mandated jokes because, hey Deadpool made money.

So that is it overall. A nice movie but it keeps being brought short by the characters and plot. But if you like Pokemon, you will enjoy seeing them in live action.

2 out of 5 detective waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: CREED 2

Creed 2 is the follow-up to Creed. This in itself was a sort-of sequel to the Rocky series, where Rocky comes back in the role of a trainer rather than a fighter. The main character, Adonis Creed, is now the heavyweight champion. However, the past is going to try catching up to him.

The main rival here is Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago. After being shamed in his country for losing to Rocky, Ivan has decided to try and regain the glory that was taken from him by putting Viktor against Adonis.

Creed 2 feels at once both familiar and also fresh. Adonis has to contend with issues both inside and outside the ring as he aims to overcome the challenge to his title. It follows several of the familiar Rocky beats (including the training montage), and how it plays out isn't really exceptionally surprising.

However, not every movie needs to be filled with twists and turns. There are a few surprises on how things play out, but what this movie does, it does well. The story gets you emotionally invested and the characters are well realised. In particular, both sides are given plenty of motivations that are believable.

The only downside is that perhaps it is time for Rocky to step out of the series. He does serve as the known emotional bedrock of the series with history, but I would be interested in perhaps a new or different character moving into that role. This would probably be the final step to prove that Creed can truly stand on its own as a series. 

5 out of 5 boxing waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL (2018)

Once Upon a Deadpool is a non-R rated remake of Deadpool 2. It effectively just dials back the blood and gore and swearing and instead changes its premise a bit. Instead of just a straight up movie, it is instead set akin to the Princess Bride, with Deadpool telling it to Fred Savage.

Deadpool 2 is the story of Cable, coming back through time. He wants to kill a kid (Russell) who will grow up to kill his family. Along the way, he runs into Deadpool who wants to protect the kid. Despite Deadpool treating allot of things like a joke, he never comes across as a joke. In addition, they are able to play with the new storytelling device to insert extra humour in areas.

Once Upon a Deadpool is as entertaining to watch as Deadpool 2. The acting and the jokes are great, the reveals are good, and it is a good superhero story. That being said, if you have watched Deadpool 2 then it doesn't add enough new things to make it worthwhile to watch again (unless you want to see Deadpool 2 again, in which case having things slightly different makes it feel a bit fresher).

That is probably the biggest criticism of Once Upon a Deadpool. Its reasons for existing are questionable. If people weren't going to watch it because of the tone and vulgarity, it doesn't remove enough of that to make it worthwhile. Otherwise you have already seen it. However, taken in  vacuum, it is still a very good movie.

4 out of 5 bloody waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: AVENGERS END GAME (2019)

Avengers: End Game had big shoes to fill. Following up from Infinity War (which I regarded as the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie at the time), End Game had the task of wrapping up Phase 3 of the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, rather than continuing Infinity War and taking any risks, End Game feels like a corporate paint-by-numbers movie.

End Game starts a little after the end of Infinity War. The trailers built up several mysteries (such as how Tony Stark is saved), but these are quickly resolved. The Avengers than go about the task of trying to undo the damage caused by Thanos and his snap. What follows next is an underwhelming, self-indulgent movie that the 'nothing matters' superhero movie criticisms can be applied to.

The main problems I have with it isn't that it is mediocre (which it definitely is). It is (like Captain Marvel before it) how it retroactively makes some of the best lines and scenes of the previous movies worse. Thor getting Stormbreaker and his nobility are thrown away into making him the comic relief. Hulk becomes Hulk again with just a quick handwave. The Soul Stone no longer requires sacrificing that which you love the most. They give an out for Loki to reappear. And the list goes on as they want to have their cake and eat it for future merchandising.

It all ends in a largely inconsequential fight at the end. You know the ending. The ending has been rumored since before Infinity War. It is very predictable. All you need to do is look at the upcoming movie releases and the most popular movies to know how it is going to resolve itself. No risks were taken and some of the big risks of previous movies were undone. However, the worst is done to Thanos and his fearsome and formidable Black Order, who are reduced to a generic villain and cannon fodder.

Infinity War took allot of risks for a superhero movie and is one of my favorite movies of all time. It also ended perfectly and would've have been a suitably epic end for the Marvel movies. Unfortunately, End Game fails and instead gets stuck in corporate mediocrity. I wonder when the dust settles on the hype if this movie will be fondly remembered. For me, I always prefer the twisted father-figure that was Infinity War Thanos and suspect that, like Transformers, it won't be remembered too fondly in the future.

2 out of 5 ending stars.

MOVIE REVIEW: BAYWATCH (2017)

Baywatch is a 2017 movie that is based on the famous earlier television show (called Baywatch). The original Baywatch was known for its eye candy (with David Hasslehoff and Pamela Anderson). This movie is a comedy that casts Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the lead lifeguard and Zac Effron as a troubled gold-medallist.

The main plot revolves around the lifeguards getting involved in a criminal enterprise occuring on their beach. As part of this, Zac Effron also goes through his redemption arc as he proves himself to his mentor, chases the girl, and rises to the occasion. However, this movie isn't here for its originality but for its comedy.

For the most part, the comedy is okay. It definitely suffers in that the funniest parts have been shown in the trailers. The remains of the comedy isn't really anything that gets more than the occasional chuckle. The actors are charismatic enough, but the script and interactions really let them down.

But who is let down the most in this movie are the female characters. Every female character that has more than a passing mention only really exists to be a goal for the male characters. They don't really have any other moments of awesome, character development, or any resistance to the main characters charisma once they have saved the day.

So all up middling comedy and grating representations of characters means that this is more a miss than a hit. If you really want the best funny parts, just go and watch the trailers.

2 out of 5 watching waffles.

ANIMATED MOVIE REVIEW: SAHARA (2017)

Sahara is an animated movie that follows the adventures of some snakes in a desert. It constantly seems to jump back and forth, picking up and dropping plot points just to keep the story moving forward. I guess the spoiler here is that I found the movie very inconsistent. 

The story of the movie follows two snakes (a boy and girl) from opposite sides of a divide. When they each want to sneak to the other side, they meet each other. When the border patrol birds guarding the divide find them, they escape together. So it has the whole social commentary part going. 

It then promptly drops all these plot points when the girl snake is caught by a snake charmer. It isn't clear whether he can understand the animals, but his mind control dancing makes him the bad guy. I'm not 100% sure why as most the dancers seem quite happy dancing. But that sets up the climax of the movie without bothering about any of the earlier plot points.

This movies storyline is a mess. As indicated originally, it is inconsistent and constantly picks up and drops points along the way. The animation and voice acting are okay, but that isn't enough to save it when the foundations are quite poor. 

1.5 out of 5 venomous waffles.  

MOVIE REVIEW: BIRDBOX (2018)

Birdbox is a psychological thriller along the same lines as movies such as Blindness. In this movie, the premise is that there is something causing everyone to go mad and commit suicide. However, you avoid this by not seeing them. 

The movie isn't set in a linear time narrative. Instead, it tends to jump back and forth between the time periods. I am not sure what they meant to achieve by this, but it clearly doesn't work. You know how things are roughly going to end up and who needs to die to achieve this, so it tends to undercut allot of the tension it attempts to build up.

It is a shame because the rest of the movie is quite good. The premise is sufficiently mysterious and terrifying, seeing people around you go insane. The force causing this is treated more like a force of nature rather than an explainable phenomenon. And the acting and character progression tends to be very good.

The overall story is definitely where this shines. There are quite a few idiotic choices by the main cast just to keep the story going, but the pace of the movie (with a couple of exceptions) tends to make these not too noticeable. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and forgive some (but not all) of the short-cuts that are taken. 

So overall the movie is okay. The premise is good but the main detraction is how they decided to direct it jumping back and forward in time. It doesn't work for what should be a slow-burn thriller.

2.5 out of 5 blind waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: SPIDERMAN INTO THE SPIDERVERSE (2018)

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is a Spiderman movie that seems to be set outside the main Marvel cinematic universe. It is an animated movie that follows a new Spiderman, one Miles Morales, as he gets bitten by a special spider.

The movie is very good. The animation is slick and the storyline is great. It has a couple of twists and turns, particularly towards the beginning, that shake up the normal superhero movie formula. It also has allot of quips and banter during fighting.

Despite the quips and twists, it doesn't actually lose sight of what it is setting out to do. Despite how fast paced the action and plot beats feel, it isn't afraid to slow down or have quieter moments. And despite how predictable some things feel, the excellent build up work means that when the big heroic moments happen, it still makes you feel like cheering.

It goes without saying that the sound and visuals are also very slick. The match and reinforce the story that they are trying to tell. The whole package just comes together very smoothly. Overall, this is one of the best superhero movies that has come out, and is heartily recommended.

5 out of 5 universal waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017)

Ghost in the Shell (2017) is a live-action adaption of an anime starring Scarlett Johansson. Based in the future, Killian (played by Johansson) is a cyborg that is part of an anti-terrorism squad. However, things aren't quite what they seem.

As a visual adaption of the anime, the movie is a resounding success. The visuals are great, with everything feeling familiar and yet having a futuristic twist. Holographic billboards and robot assistants mix with super-high-density buildings and slum-like areas. It is great to see the visuals represent the anime so well.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't make the transition nearly as smoothly. While it attempts to tell a story of twists and turns, most the story is quite predictable and generic. It also unfortunately seems to force its story into a weird juxtaposition between trying to ask existential questions and action cliches.

Neither of these really work smoothly. The big existential questions grind the pace of the movie, and are often presented as exposition (in a classic tell don't show way). And the action scenes often don't take advantage of the unique visuals and opportunities of the premise, instead having Killian and Co. as gun-slinging superheroes rather than something similar to Dredd or Raid.

In the end, it is a shame. The visuals are great and things look great, but the story and skeleton holding everything together is quite flimsy. It unfortunately makes it hard to recommend Ghost in the Shell, although there is still some enjoyment to be had from it.

2 out of 5 ghostly waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: MISS PEREGINE’S SCHOOL FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (2016)

2016 really outdid itself with bad movies. But while Suicide Squad and Batman V Superman were bad, somehow this movie (while slightly more competently put together) feels worse. Tim Burton’s latest offering to the world of cinema feels like a pandering mess.

The movie follows a boy (probably 17 years old or something) who is the grandson of someone else. The grandfather tells the son stories of kids with powers who he knows.  As the boy believes these to be true when he is too old to believe in this, thus leading to social isolation and bullying. He is also a social outcast with no friends.

However, this all changes when he goes into a time loop, meets these people with powers, and has to save the day. Because, shock of shocks, he has the most special ability of all: the ability to see invisible monsters who hunt these people. This makes him one of the most special of special people, just like his grandfather.

Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain leading the monsters. Eva Green plays the headmistress. And the movie degenerates into a pandering mess. I can’t be bothered to finish explaining the plot because it is dumb. The social outcast find his place, falls in love with a hot girl his age just waiting around for him, and generally being the most awesome person in the world. And all this is generally a kids movie.

However, the bad guys also graphically eat body parts and the invisible monsters are body horror. This is a painful juxtaposition. At least movies like Eragon didn’t have horror in amongst them as it went about its wish fulfilment. Here, we have some adult themes (i.e. isolationism) with very adult horror in a movie to appeal to kids.

This doesn’t even mention things like the horrors (capable of killing whole schools) being killed by one crossbow bolt. Or how all the love developments just happen without any sort of character development. Or how the hero suddenly becomes a confident tactician and warrior despite being useless and with no training. At least Green Lantern had that short training montage.

So definitely a movie to miss. I can’t believe I am doing this, but I would recommend Batman V Superman over this. At least it doesn’t try to pander to the stereotypical outcast nerd who is suddenly awesome as it goes about being awful.

0 out of 5 peculiar waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: ASSASIN'S CREED (2016)

Do you remember the most interesting parts of the Assasin's Creed games? You know, the parts where you are scouting targets and moving around the ancient world (choose which one depending on the game), climbing up things that shouldn't be climbable and experimenting with abilities? 

Well, at least you know the interesting parts, unlike whoever decided to make this movie. This movie has most of its plotting firmly centered on the near future, where the main character Cal is going into the Animus (a device to make him live his ancestors memories). Which is weird, as he goes back to play another character. So effectively, the most interesting part of the movie is divorced from the part given the most story and character developments.

The story and character progression is set in the most boring part of the games. Which is a shame, as this feels like 2 different movies not really given enough time to merge or work well together. While movies like Avengers take a bunch of different narratives and make them work well together, this just ends up a mess. You have the most interesting action and set pieces with no emotional investment, and the investment in the present is about a bland dystopian future

This film really suffers for this blandness. The entire story isn't even anything to be proud of anyway, with some half-cooked revenge plot and allot of things trying to set-up sequels, especially the inconclusive ending. This feels like a case that the writers should've known what to cut out, focusing the action on the past only and perhaps putting in a post-credits stinger about how he was in the Animus all along. Instead, they have made a movie that will go down as just another bad video game adaption.

1.5 out of 5 Waffles of the Creed.

ANIMATED MOVIE REVIEW: BATMAN NINJA (2018)

Batman: Ninja is an animated movie set in the Batman universe. In the movie, Batman and a host of his allies and enemies are sent back through time to feudal Japan in the era of ninjas and samurai. Here, he has to conquer his villains in order to get back to his own time.

The premise alone is very interesting. Unfortunately, the movie only follows through about halfway. This was a chance to see Batman function without gadgets or against some new enemies with new abilities. Instead, about halfway through the movie, most of this has been undone with it just turning into another animated Batman movie.

The main areas this stumbles is their choice of main villain. That is, of course, The Joker. The movie had a chance to make something new or perhaps elevate a lesser known villain. Instead, it just keeps coming back to Joker being the ultimate evil for Batman. 

There are other faults where it feels like the creators wanted to go further, but then got cold feet. One thing that can't be faulted is the animation and visuals, however. The feudal Japan style applied to everything and the voice acting are top notch, and make the movie visually interesting even if the story falters.

At the end of the day, an interesting premise may be enough for some people to cover the story. However, I felt that the story, while serviceable, really ended up letting the movie down.

3 out of 5 ninja'd waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: PARASYTE (2014)

Parasyte is a two-part Japanese science-fiction/body-horror movie. The movie comes in 2 parts and is about parasites, who have come to earth and are taking over members of the population. Their main source of nutrition is, of course, eating people.

Parasyte is kind-of a horror movie. However, it is done in a very campy manner. The aliens aren't aiming to be gruesome, horror-inducing aliens. However, the aliens still manage to bring some elements of body horror more for their psychology and what they are able to accomplish. There are also a few gruesome dismemberment scenes.

Overall, both parts of this movie are good to watch. I can't really say much more without spoiling the movie, but it manages to mostly hit the right notes in terms of timing its comedy against its more darker aspects. The actors are also very good and accomplish their roles. The CGI is also serviceable, despite the green screen being very visible with how they implements things.

Overall, this is a movie I would definitely recommend checking out. Its flaws are minor but annoying, but are overshadowed by their positives. Fans of science-fiction horror will enjoy this movie.

4 out of 5 parasitic waffles.

ANIMATED MOVIE REVIEW: BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN (2017)

The DC cinematic universe was known for being mostly a failure. However, there animated offerings tend to be quite good. I have watched a few of them and I'm not sure if I just got a bad lot, but the results for me have been mixed. This is definitely in the mixed bag.

This movie is about Batman teaming up with Nightwing and Harley Quinn. Their goal is to beat Poison Ivy and Floronic Man who want to turn all humans into plants. The majority of the voice work and animation is servicable to good. However, the problems all abound in the script.

The first thing is that it doesn't know if it wants to be an adult movie or a kids movie. This leads to weird mixes such as children's action scenes and a plot, but then you have them playing up Harley Quinn's sexuality with some BDSM or a particularly gory kill of a security guard. It can't decide whether to be serious or joking.

The characters don't even know. For example, with the whole world at risk and them being outgunned, they still refuse help from other heroes. That and the ending and how they win is the very definition of anti-climaxes. 

There are other problems as well, but that is the main one. One pet peeve I have is how they keep trying to make Harley not so bad to fill in as an antihero, instead of the mass murderer she is. But that is just a bit of background. At the end of the day, the inconsistent tone prevented any build-up of tension, which made this show feel like it just dragged on too long.

2 out of 5 swampy waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: JOURNEY 2- THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (2012)

Journey 2 is the sequel to Journey to the Centre of the Earth (I think, it is never really referenced in the movie). In this movie, Dwayne Johnson stars as a step dad to a teenager from the first movie. THe teenager is trying to decode his grandfathers message to find him on the Mysterious Island.

This is definitely a movie aimed at the younger audience. There is no real blood and gore. Similarly, there is no real scientific or long-winded explanation for allot of what happens in the movie (such as the big is small and small is big rule). It is intended as a fast-paced sequence moving through set-pieces. And in this, it mostly succeeds.

However, where the movie falls apart is that the characters themselves don't treat anything like any real danger. In one part of the movie, they are racing against time to get off the island. However, then the kid is upset when he isn't allowed to take a day-long detour to look at a unique mountain. The movie is filled with a bunch of little moments like this that try to feel like force drama.

This wouldn't be a problem if it didn't have moments where it is trying to make the audience take it seriously. A nice popcorn-flick where you can just relax throughout the movie is fine. However, you can't make a movie both ways. You can't have nothing feel like it has any consequence and also randonly have tension when you want to. There needs to be a consistent tone throughout the movie. At the end, this is just a forgettable movie.

2 out of 5 mysterious waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: TAU (2018)

What do you get when you start with a pretty interesting premise. Then, in small but painfully abrupt steps, it then proceeds to insert every stupid cliche until the story is mercifully put out of its misery. Well, I am starting the think the answer is pretty much Tau.

Tau is the story of a down-on-her luck girl who is making ends meet by stealing small things and pawning them off. She is then kidnapped and, along with a bunch of other un-missable people, she is subject to experimentation in order to get her brain patterns. Of course, she ends up being a genius.

At some stage in the movie, the actual plot kicks in with an AI being assigned to guard her. She quickly bonds with the AI using the usual cliche's. What is friendship? What is death? What is laughter? Etc. Eventually, due to increasing stupidity from the characters and plot contrivances, things eventually end.

This movie is pretty bad. Bad acting, bad story, bad effects, bad pacing. There is no reason to really watch this. This feels like someones first draft for a story that just got made without anyone considering if it actually makes sense or is even worthwhile watching.

1 out 5 artifical waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT (2002)

Life or Something Like It is a movie that feels like it is going for Oscar Bait. Instead, by the end of the movie, it manages to undermine its own message while playing into every bad romantic movie cliche that is know. Some spoilers ahead.

Angelina Jolie stars as a hotshot reported. She seems to have the perfect life- dating a famous baseball player and being successful in her own career. However, the plot kicks off with a fortune teller telling her she would die in a week and then predicting some other stuff correctly to make her believe him.

This leads her on a journey of self-discovery. She predictably goes through the motions of realising her relationship is shallow when her boyfriend tries to help her out. I'm still not sure why. She then gets together with a guy she had a one night stand with years ago. She then gets drunk and makes a fool of herself on television, which (of course) gets allot of exposure and a promotion for her.

At the end of the day, the movie just plods along with a generic plot. Even at the end, the whole message is undermined when she interviews a celebrity. Then, for some reason, the celebrity has a break down on air when she is reminded she isn't married. 

This undermines the message the film is trying and failing to send with being happy with yourself. The final message is that, if you aren't in a relationship, you can't be happy. Which makes her even more hypocritical as she is literally getting together with her two-night stand guy.

1 out of 5 waffles or something like them.

MOVIE REVIEW: RIDICULOUS 6

Ridiculous 6 is a spoof title, playing on Magnificent 7. In the story, a father of 6 different children (all to different mothers) is kidnapped. In order to rescue him, the sons band together (after finding out about eachother), with each bringing their unique skills and talents to the table.

And it is also an Adam Sandler movie. So you know what that means. It is a bunch of cameos, low brow humour, and no real consistent character motivations or story. I know that is what I should expect, but I also know that it should be funny. I expect better than the occasional chuckle.

So that is what you get. Adam Sandler is a white man raised as an Indian. One of his brothers can't talk but can mime things. One of the brothers is really dumb. Etc. Just think of all the stereotypes and think of how to make their interactions nearly devoid of humour or entertainment. 

And that is it at the end of the day. The Ridiculous 6 travel through America, meeting characters from history and trying to be funny for the lowest common demoninator. The story makes nearly no sense. The plot twists and reveals are pretty obvious. And the best it ever gets is the occasional chuckle.

For a comedy, that isn't good enough. And should never accept these type of movies as being "good for what they are" or with a "what did you expect" without calling them out for it.  

1 out of 5 ridiculous waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: GANTZ 0

Gantz 0 is a stand-alone movie based on an anime/manga series. The premise of the show is very interesting, but as a stand-alone movie it has allot of shortcomings. 

In Gantz 0, the premise is people that recently died are put back into an MMO type game. While in it, they have a certain goal (specifically, kill all the monsters in an area during the time limit). If they die, they die forever. To aid them in this, they are given super-suits to help protect them and enhance their combat abilities.

The twist is that the world they are playing on is actually earth. Rather than a fantasy world, they are tasked with stopping an incursion of monsters into an earth city. This makes the series immediately more interesting as it feels like there are some stakes. However, it does squander allot of them.

The main negative here is that it leaves too many questions. For example, what happens if they fail? We know the team dies, but do the monsters just rampage? Similarly, what are the monsters and why are they constantly attacking? Normally, some mystery is good. But failing to answer any questions is not so good.

Unfortunately, this isn't saved by the action or animation scenes. Action scenes are very static, with often no background movement. Often you will have characters not shoot their guns because it isn't part of the main fight. The animation is also subpar, particularly the lip-syncing. This is particularly bad for the "final boss", which suffers a Man of Steel problem by having the fight go on way too long.

This is a shame, because the monsters look cool and the premise is interesting. However, this really needed a bit more effort to made into a good stand-alone movie.

2 out of 5 virtual waffles. 

MOVIE REVIEW: YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

Don't Mess With The Zohan came out a few years ago. This is an Adam Sandler movie where he stars as an anti-terrorist who has dreams of leaving the wars in the middle east behind. It is also a comedy movie.

Adam Sandler is Zohan. Zohan is the best of the best, an Israeli super soldier. However, he has gotten sick of the fighting and has a dream involving becoming a hairdresser. Moving to the United States, he has to learn to fit in and become a hairdresser while making sure his past doesn't catch up with him.

This is a suprisingly funny movie. It never takes its premise too seriously, even if it eventually tries to get a message across. Zohan is a superhuman beast who is never in danger. The only downside is that his love interest plays the straight lady, and eventually becomes his sort-of prize.

Make no mistake, this isn't an upper class movie (although some of the jokes are suprisingly deep). It still relies of gross-out humour and repeating the same joke a few times. It is just that it has a much better sense of tone and doesn't overdo it like allot of the more recent Adam Sandler vehicles.

It also helps that he is a super-soldier as opposed to, say, Pixels, where he is a gamer who is somehow better than everyone. It makes it much more believeable (somehow) and feels less self-indulgent (somehow).

3  out of 5 military waffles.