The Outsider

“The Outsider” is a 2018 Netflix original crime drama/ thriller starring Jared Leto (Morbius), Tadanobu Asano (Battleship), Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2), and Min Tanaka (47 Ronin).

An American soldier is in a Japanese prison following WWII. He saves a fellow inmates life, and in return the inmate helps him get out of prison and welcomes him into his gang, the Yakuza.

The Yakuza are a Japanese gang who are ruthless and blood thirsty. This movie does a good job portraying that. I’m typically not a big fan of Jared Leto, I find him weird, and bad at portraying emotion. Most of his movies fall flat because of it. However, his character is trying to survive as an outsider in the Yakuza. So, he needs to be cold hearted, his non emotional self, works out for this role. It’s perfect for him. The movie is dark, gritty and full of drama. If you like gangster style movies, it’s definitely worth checking out. I give it an 8/10.

Morbius

“Morbius” is a 2022 Superhero movie, it’s Marvel’s newest movie, and it follows “Venoms” footsteps as the next anti-hero movie. It stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho), Adria Arjona (Emerald City), Tyrese Gibson (Baby Boy), and Al Madrigal (The Way Back).

Dr. Michael Morbius is one of the world’s leading doctors and scientists, he has won a Noble Peace Prize for saving countless lives with his invention of synthetic blood. However, his lifelong goal is to cure his rare blood disease, and his pursuits are funded by his lifelong friend who also suffers from the same rare disease. He finally discovers a cure, but at what cost?

If you look at my other Marvel movie reviews, I talk about how there isn’t a bad Marvel movie, and I think that still holds true with “Morbius”, so the real question is how does it stack up against other Marvel Movies? Marvel is the cream of the crop when it comes to superhero movies. Well, It’s the bottom of the barrel with “Morbius” when it comes to Marvel Movies, which doesn’t mean it’s bad. It has some pacing issues, it’s a lot slower than other Marvel films. It has some scenes here and there where it picks up pace but then it slows down again. Jared Leto who plays the lead role isn’t even the best actor in this, Matt Smith is the saving grace of the film. He plays the “bad” vampire, and honestly, he looks cooler and play a better vampire than Leto. Leto’s character is just flat. There are a few plot holes that bug me too, like after Leto secretly cures himself, and he’s no longer frail and on crutches, he can now walk and he’s buff, but no one questions it. Also, when he’s highly wanted but he’s eating in a restaurant midday in no disguise. Overall, it’s a good movie and worth watching, but stacked up to its fellow Marvel movies it’s towards the bottom. I give it a 7/10.

The Little Things

I’m excited to be doing my first review of a 2021 movie, and what better one than ‘The Little Things’. This is the biggest movie so far of 2021, which really isn’t saying much considering there isn’t a whole lot being released right now. They bring a heavy hitting cast staring Denzel Washington (Training Day), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Jared Leto (Suicide Squad),and Natalie Morales (Santa Clarita Diet). A burnt out, one time hot shot cop (Washington), returns to his old stomping grounds in L.A. and teams up with new hot shot detective (Malek) to track down a serial killer (Leto).

I’m fortunate enough to be in an area still showing movies in theaters, but if you’re not HBO Max is showing it as well. Washington, Malek, and Leto all play great roles, but the problem doesn’t lie in their acting, but in the story itself. The story really drags for what it is, it feels its full two hour and seven minute run time. Again the acting is great just not the story, I’m a huge fan of Malek, and if you need a weird role, Leto will nail it. My wife described this movie as seriously boring, and two others I talked to about it, one liked and it and one described it as “ok”. I would still recommend seeing it, but don’t be surprised if you find it as just okay. Unfortunately, it’s not the slam dunk we were all hoping for, and falls into mediocracy. I give it a 6.5/10.