Me Before You Review

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Lewis

Me Before You is the breakout romance of the summer. It stars Emilia Clarke, who appears as Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen (Mother of Dragons) on Game of Thrones. You wouldn't believe how enormous her fanbase is. Then there's Sam Claflin, best known for playing Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games series. In Me Before You, Claflin plays a quadriplegic billionaire in a wheelchair, struggling after being struck by a motorbike years ago. Emilia Clarke plays his caregiver, and the two fall in love. That's the story Hollywood has sold you, and it's mostly true. But if you've seen the film, or done your research, you know the amount of controversy Me Before You has received. It portrays euthanasia (doctor-assisted suicide) in a very casual form. Basically the entire plot is Lou (Clarke) trying to persuade Will (Claflin) to not go through with a euthanasia appointment in six months, and the two fall in love while she's trying to show him the riches life has to offer. He truly is a different person after meeting her, and she brings out the best in him, and he finally gives her a purpose. Me Before You is a very well-made romance. As a male, I didn't feel sidelined and I never rolled my eyes. It truly services both male and female audiences, and it didn't really feel like a romance film. I highly recommend this, but be warned that you're probably going to feel very strong emotions (bring the tissues).

Me Before You is really a two-actor showcase. There are supporting actors in key roles, but it's truly Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin on display. Clarke is unrecognizable from her Game of Thrones role. That truly is a testament to her ability, because the silver-haired dragon queen is something etched into many minds. Yet I never once thought of Daenerys when watching her in this movie. I've seen interviews with Clarke, and this role is pretty close to who she actually is in real life. Very bubbly, very kooky, and very eccentric. She's like the new Jennifer Lawrence of interviews. You probably understand why I believe she's poised for incredible success. Her energy is contagious, and she is the emotional heart of the film. When she  rejoices, the audience is happy. Likewise, when she cries, the audience feels her pain. So what about Claflin? He does extraordinary as well. His role is much more sheltered, and much more stoic, but he holds his own. The chemistry between the leads is apparent from their first scene together. As an audience, you are invested in their relationship, which makes their struggles even more heartbreaking to watch. These two actors really become their characters and truly excel as a couple. In smaller roles, Janet McTeer (famous "I've seen her in something" actress) gives a solid performance as Will's distressed mother. She has the most to do of any supporting character, as the father (Charles Dance; Papa Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones) isn't really a driving force. I have to give a shout-out to Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey's Mr. Bates) as Lou's father, because he has one of the most touching scenes with his onscreen daughter. All the relationships in this film are so believable, even outside of Lou and Will. I 100% believed these people were the parents of the leads, signifying that the casting is extraordinary.

Before I give my criticism (and address the controversy), here are some other strong points. The music is incredible. Most movies like this (namely The Fault in Our Stars) have assembled great soundtracks. "Unsteady" by X Ambassadors is a highlight that perfectly complements the scene. The costumes of Lou are also outstanding and fit her character, and the cinematography paired with these factors is gorgeous. The movie is a very well-made romance, not just your usual chick-flick. However, I think Me Before You suffers from a pacing problem. It's about 2 hours long, yet it feels longer. It takes an awfully long time for anything to start, and I know from the trailers that a romance is happening. I appreciate that it's unconventional, but as a film it lags too much before it gets to the point. There are a few scenes between Lou and Will that are unneeded. Their chemistry is undeniable, and wasting time with extra scenes to "sell" their romance is not a necessity. I'm specifically referencing the shaving scene. As for the euthanasia controversy, I think people just need to take it as the movie presents it. The film does not want you to take a side, nor does it expect the characters to take a side on the hotly debated issue. You can agree with it, disagree with it, or fall somewhere in between. I don't believe this movie really makes an effort to try and take a stand.

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X-Men: Apocalypse Review

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till, Evan Peters, Hugh Jackman

X-Men: Apocalypse has a lot to live up to. The previous installment: X-Men: Days of Future Past is not only a great superhero action movie, it's one of the most poignant, well made, and entertaining blockbusters I have ever seen. It's a hard act to follow, and the trailers for Apocalypse were underwhelming. I don't really know what it was, but the movie just didn't seem exciting. I wasn't heavily anticipating a movie coming from one of my favorite brands. I've always preferred the X-Men to the Avengers because of their backstory. They don't want to be superheroes. They are cursed with their powers and live in a world where "mutants" are hated. That can be spun into a great story, and Days of Future Past used it so well, on the backdrop of the Vietnam War and following JFK's assassination by a mutant. It was history combined with comics, and very poignant. I'm happy to say that Apocalypse came through and did give a great story, though not nearly reached its predecessor's heights. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it, seeing as I hated the advertisements. This movie was sold very poorly. It's clear that the movie struggles in parts, mostly the same concerns I had while watching the trailers, and some scenes are quite bad. But at its heart, it is a very entertaining and well-made movie with good acting. It's not nearly as bad as its 48% RottenTomatoes score would suggest.

First I'll talk about the good acting. I actually think everyone does a nice job. There are no overwhelmingly bad performances. James McAvoy is excellent as Professor Xavier. Every movie he steps up his acting, and his performance as the telepath is greater every time. He really is the heart of this movie, even if the ads don't suggest it. A few of his scenes are super hokey, like when he sits awkwardly by Jean Grey's bedside, or when he cries at "how much power he feels", but overall he does a great job. Magneto is the opposite. He's great, but Michael Fassbender is giving the same performance. It's a great job, but Magneto doesn't really grow. He's just angry and hateful the whole time. Fassbender is good, but he doesn't have the enigmatic ability Ian McKellen had with the character. I think Sophie Turner is great as Jean Grey. She has to navigate the movie's biggest twist, and she does it so well. Many know Turner as Sansa Stark from HBO's Game of Thrones, and Apocalypse finally made me see how good of an actress she is, as Sansa can be a little whiny. Then recently on Game of Thrones, Sansa kicked it into high gear. It's clear Turner is a great young actress with a good path ahead of her. I also enjoyed Cyclops and his backstory. They really ditched him in the film's final act, which was disappointing. The same treatment befell Nightcrawler, who is my favorite mutant on the X-Men. Well, he was until Quicksilver came onscreen. Evan Peters sold probably the best scene in the whole film, and possibly one of the best comic book movie scenes ever. Quicksilver is such a hilarious and emotionally sensitive character, it's hard not to love him. I hope we see more of him.

Now onto what was bad. Apocalypse. I don't think that Oscar Isaac did a poor job playing the supervillain (who is practically the X-Men's BIG antagonist in the comics), it's just that the villain wasn't given the justice he should have received. Apocalypse is such a menacing character, and he seemed pretty weak in the film. His power was clear, but it really didn't seem like he thought anything through. His ending was pretty ridiculous, as he should have seen it coming. The suit Isaac wears is just so campy and huge, you cannot even tell who is acting. His Horsemen of Apocalypse were interesting, and I think that's a great storyline, but it was weird because of the actors. Olivia Munn as Psylocke just had a resting angry look on her face, and she carried around a metal sword even though her powers gave her unlimited energy swords. It didn't make sense and took me out of the movie. Storm was especially poor. The actress was okay, but the character was confusing and not realistic. She was a big antagonist, but suddenly turned on Apocalypse at the climax with no real warning. Then she's just accepted into the X-Men school. I find that hard to believe. The third horsemen (Magneto is the fourth), Archangel is basically nonexistent. He does nothing, and is a waste of a great plotline. Now onto Mystique. Jennifer Lawrence almost ruins the movie. Mystique is an amazingly twisted, morally complex shape-shifter. Lawrence almost barely shape-shifts, and she has zero action scenes. However, she does talk the audience's ear off. I'm disappointed they've sacrificed such a great character just to allow Jennifer Lawrence to take center stage. The movie also suffered from trying to sell a love story between Xavier and Moira McTaggert, who followed around the X-Men, wore a suit, flew the jet, and did literally nothing. She has no powers, so why are we focusing on her so much? Her discovery of Apocalypse was relatively important, but they'd eventually find him by themselves when he started destroying the world.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It clearly has some huge flaws, but that lies in the writing for specific characters. If we're going to move forward and not end here, Mystique needs to either be recast (J-Law just isn't working) or she needs to have action scenes. We don't want Mystique just give halfhearted speeches. However, I do need to address Hugh Jackman (without spoiling). The Weapon X/Wolverine scene was amazing. Again, this movie has amazing scenes that really shine in my memory. Jackman's physical acting and his animalistic nature was just what the film needed to pick up. Another huge issue with the X-Men is that these last few films have been split by decades. First Class was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Days of Future Past during Vietnam, and now we had X-Men in the 80's (not really doing anything relevant except seeing Return of the Jedi). The actors don't look like they're twenty years older, because they're not. It doesn't make sense to time jump that much and then not utilize it.

Well, there's my review. I'm trying out a new star review, basing it off of 10 stars rather than 5. I find that I can fine tune my final review better this way.

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