'Escape Room' is a Slick New Game of Corporate Evil

A film about 'escape rooms' is a super sure-fire, that the moment it became a thing, we all knew it's a blockbuster film waiting to happen... or, moreover, a film franchise. Just like Game Night? or anything tech-related in Black Mirror. It's just a matter of which genre would work best for it and obviously, a thriller is the best option.

Columbia Pictures

Escape Room is basically Saw except it has less gore. But that's not a loss, because it's way more fun than the latter with its slick and all-out rooms and clever puzzles. It doesn't hurt that it is closer to reality. One way or another, we have played these games with our friends or colleagues whether in an office or school activity or in a real 'Breakout', 'Lock down', 'Horror House' ran by corporations. No windows, lots of clues, but there seems to be no way out.

Screenwriters Bragi Schut and Maria Melnik designed 'rooms' that are as difficult to decipher as their twists. For one, the way the game commenced threw both the characters, who are all strangers to each other, and the audience in a loop, and it continues throughout its 99-minute running time. Their story has a way of misleading one's instinct that just when it hints that it could be a Saw for good selfless people, it shifts to way darker route.

The backstories of the six contrasting albeit typical strangers are also puzzle pieces to the story-- comprised of a loner science student, a young man who lives a self-destructive life, an army infantry-woman, an overconfident finance executive, a blue-collar truck driver, and a self-proclaimed escape room enthusiast. All are facing a bad trauma, and it's handily implied how they are all linked to each other with it but it's always a mystery why they were chosen. Are they secretly bad people? Do they have to change? Is there a lesson to be learned?

Columbia Pictures

The cast aggressively plays their clichéd characters well despite hitting all the checkbox in Cabin in the Woods shade. Deborah Ann Woll as an army Survivor is particularly outstanding. She doesn't only exceeds expectation from the usual alpha blonde in a thriller, she also exudes redemptive qualities with her heroics. Sure, they could all be annoying at times but that's part of the thrill in a popcorn film.

It goes beyond 'popcorn' though, as it says a lot of evil things about corporations and rich people which is part of the twists they unfortunately over-explained in its climax. It says some points about corporations flourishing in people's love for watching people killing other people to survive. Funny how it also reflects the same thing in cinema.

The out-of-the-box depth is appreciated but Escape Room is way more fun and thrilling when it's about people actually trying to escape hyper hot and spine-chilling rooms while agitating each other with their aggravating personalities.

This is the most fun I've had in the theaters so far this year. I can't wait to watch more of its franchise until it gets tired.

'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' Ends on a Bittersweet Note

It's movies like How to Train Your Dragon that makes us wonder where time went. It's wild to think that it's been five years since the sequel. I remember looking forward to this since 2015 and now that it's here, I'm flabbergasted. What started as an out-of-the-ordinary friendship between a Night Fury dragon and an adolescent Viking has become a beloved duo I never thought I'd love, and eventually miss.

United International Pictures

Case in point: this is a tearjerker and I blame Hiccup and Toothless' unlikely friendship which is truly special and something we'll always remember as one of the most incredible pairs in cinema. It's one of this trilogy's gifts to its viewers. Making it as memorable as possible is one of this franchise's feat even if it's been done countless times by other films (ET, Pokémon, etc.).

We've witnessed them grow together, from Hiccup's awkward phase trying to prove his worth in the middle of a macho world, to ultimately succeeding his father as the chieftain of his clan which includes his childhood friends Snotlout, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Gobber and Eret, his budding wife Astrid, and his mother Valka. Throughout all of this, Toothless has always been his constant.

United International Pictures

The Hidden World further affirms their great partnership, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee that they will live together forever. Toothless has dragon needs and Hiccup is faced with chieftain responsibilities, and if these don't signal a bittersweet foreshadowing, Toothless encounters a majestic female Light Fury. He's smitten and Hiccup must give him freedom. It's like watching the finale of How I Met Your Mother where scene after scene, we knew we have to face the sad inevitable of them going separate lives.

The good part is it's still as magical as its predecessors. Apart from friendship, this franchise thrives because of its impeccable animation, always going to the extreme of what it's already achieved. The 'Hidden World' alone, which turns out to be a dragons den, is Avataresque level of astonishing and it's glorious to watch Hiccup and his partner Astrid fly along its bright, colorful and glowing world of dragons that both look realistic and out-of-this world.

It also uses similar components as the first like when Toothless attempts to court Light Fury while Hiccup wingmans him behind the bushes. It leads back to when Hiccup first encountered Toothless, and he tried to tame him via sticks and stones with the wonderful Forbidden Friendship by John Powell in the background. Moments like these are cute and it adds to the film's sentimental vibe by using the old formula.

It always finds its way to the original and to the familiar, and with John Powell's epic tunes piquing nostalgia, it emphasizes the journey of the trilogy. His score awakens memories of Toothless and Hiccup's friendship, of Berk, and of their whole odyssey, and I'm glad they put them to great use in this movie--from Test Drive to Romantic Flight.

United International Pictures

The dynamics with Astrid's and Hiccup's friends are also fun to watch and served great segue to Toothless and Hiccup's arc. Kristen Wiig's Ruffnut is a comedic highlight, and America Ferrera's Astrid has never been vital to the film. I wish I could say the same to the film's villain Grimmel, who threatens to destroy everything the people of Berk and their dragons have ever cared about deeply but he's the least memorable thing about the whole saga, save for his humongous evil dragons.

It's difficult not to be emotional by its last few scenes especially with the moments leading to the bittersweet finale. There is sincerity in their friendship, and we are all witnesses of that until the end. The last act is all kinds of epic that even if it ends happily, there's still a bit of an emotional sting.

'The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part' Breaks its Original Brick-Walled Rules

The Lego Movie 2 is so good that it's even better than the groundbreaking original. It's still as ambitious and colorful, funnier with its bold pop culture references, louder and bigger especially with the addition of new characters (and Tiffany Haddish), and surprising in its twists and special appearances. It's also still as cheesy, but like the first one, it works well with the plot.

Warner Bros. Pictures

What makes it excellent though is it goes beyond the rules of the first by expanding it into a more complex inclusion of real life interacting with LEGO. It's a bit reminiscent of Toy Story, and the plot somewhat borrows the third installment's concept. Initially, it seems like a copycat until it turns 180 in the second half when twists, cameos, and the unthinkable happened with the characters especially with the family, and the toys Emmet and Lucy.

Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends are still around, picking up where the first left off. Dad (Will Ferrell) and son Finn are still playing them LEGOs together, and with Brooklynn Prince's addition as Finn's little sister, Bianca, their usual masculine LEGO world is now mixed with candy colored pieces of LEGO.

Warner Bros. Pictures

It plays perfectly well in the animated world, just as much as the 'real life' side of the film. Bianca's toys become a new LEGO universe for the main characters. The once 'Everything is Awesome' world turns into a 'Everything is SUPER HAPPY AND AWESOME' galaxy filled with fantastic planets, strange characters and hella catchy new songs that will basically get stuck in your head. It plays a bit like Stepford in The Stepford Wives where everyone is brainwashed into something happy and perfect that eventually becomes depressing. It's going to wreak havoc, or is it really?

There's a lot of layers in this concept. For one, it makes this sequel a lot more different than the first in terms of adventure, characters, world and color. On the other hand, it subtly conveys a message of how toxic masculinity can be and how it affects a family, or human interaction altogether. The writing and directing team of Mike Mitchell and Phil Lord perfectly blends these parts to elevate this sequel, and they did it entertainingly.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The first half is not as technicolored as the first, even though the animation is still as amazing. They constructed Bianca's toys as a ploy to destruct Bricksburg turning it into a deserted landscape ala Mad Max. Not until Emmet, Lucy and friends fly to different dimensions where the world becomes colorful once again with new over-the-top characters joining the fun. The songs are also admittedly fun and catchy especially 'Catchy Song' which is an actual gamechanger to the plot, and not just there as a background.

Much like the original, LEGO Movie 2 returns to how our toys promotes family bonding and connection. It's a delightful experience for all ages that's not devoid of significance. It could be cheesy for some, but the cheesiness is disguised as actual moral lessons.