Shaft (2019)

Rated: R - Runtime: 111 min
tesg's Rating: Three stars (out of four)

The movie opens with a backstory that has more Shaft to it than Samuel L Jackson's entire first Shaft movie.  We lead into Shaft's estranged son enlisting his father to help him figure out what happened to his friend.  That leads to a loose plot wrapped around outdated jokes when the modern man and a blaxploitation legend's worlds collide.  You'll either roll your eyes or you'll laugh a lot.

I laughed.  A lot.

Expecting something deeper?  Remember this going in...IT'S A FREAKING SHAFT MOVIE.

Rocketman (2019)

Rated: R - Runtime: 121 min
tesg's Rating: Two and one half stars (out of four)

Elton's story is (verrry loosely) told through a script full of snippets of his lyrics and half-ass musical numbers.  It feels a lot more special early on than it does by the end.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Rated: PG-13 - Runtime: 132 min
tesg's Rating: Two stars (out of four)

There’s a whole lot of WTF going on here (even one of the characters points this out) until the movie takes a breather about 30 minutes in to explain itself. After that, at least we understand what’s going on, but it doesn't make it any more fun to watch. The monster battles are vague at best and the battle footage keeps getting interrupted by cutting to human melodrama happening in the background as if they were undercut on the special effects budget and they had to fake it.

Mothra makes an appearance. Poor Mothra deserved better than this.