‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’, ‘Heads of State’, and ‘Sinners’ reviews

The hype was matched on each movie front, but which of the three is best?

Keeping your readers and content consumers guessing isn’t easy when you’ve been writing for 15 years. They begin to detect a pattern in your openers, phrase-building, and cumulative writing technique. Every soul who put words on a page or screen for the masses to take in understands this landmine.

I feel like movie studios have a similar job in the production and distribution choices: Keep your fans guessing and also coming back for a similar feeling. Make some money, leave a dent, and see what happens with more output. Jurassic World: Rebirth swapped Chris Pratt for Scarlett Johansson, and still came away with a smashing box office opening weekend.

Sinners, the lovechild of a highly talented filmmaker in Ryan Coogler, blew open the doors at the box office and critically speaking when it opened months ago. It just became available to stream on Max, and I finally took it in after more than five people told me to watch it. I don’t know if it’s a stubborn perseverance to the art of holding out on a delicious cinema treat, or just flat out stubbornness.

Heads of State takes two charismatic leading men, and adds a light sprinkle of worldwide diplomacy into a thriller mix. Idris Elba and John Cena are engaging and chirpy as a Prime Minister and U.S. President whose plane is shot down in enemy territory.

Instead of a boring standard review, let’s dish out my favorite thing and least favorite thing about each movie, starting with the Coogler passion project.

My favorite thing about Sinners: The soundtrack. Coogler continues to write career-best work for Michael B. Jordan and Wunmi Mosaku shreds her scenes, but the music gets you moving and instantly immerses you in this gothic blend of supernatural doom.

Don’t miss this one. It’s exactly what the hype tells you it is: Something special from a gifted filmmaker.

Least Favorite Thing? That it ended.

My favorite thing about Heads of State: The humor actually hits and it’s a breezy distraction from hot summer temperatures. If you sweat for a living like I do half of the year, the mind doesn’t demand much from a streaming only release. This one is also exactly what Prime Video thinks it is, and that’s a release worth streaming that would have felt a little less with movie theater prices.

My least favorite thing? The slapstick aesthetic wearing out its welcome in the second half. Some of the action becomes repetitive, and the laughs do lessen as the running time climbs. Once again, a harmless streamer.

My favorite thing about Jurassic World: Rebirth was Mahershala Ali. There’s something organically engaging about him in any role that helps an otherwise ho-hum addition to the dinosaur franchise stand taller in certain moments.

My least favorite thing was the lack of surprises in the movie. Everything went how one could draw it up, and that’s not an awful thing if the marketing is considered. It’s a Gareth Edwards large-scale thriller that hits enough notes to be watchable.

Seriously, though, watch Sinners simply for the nice epilogue when the credits begin. It gives the whole film another layer of grace to go with its power.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice night.