by: keaton marcus

The Glimpses of Greatness Mired in Mediocrity

Bumblebee Fights Nemesis Prime in “Transformers: The Last Knight”

Remember the latest installment to Michael Bay’s gargantuan sci-fi franchise, The Last Knight, remember it was considered one of the worst films of 2017? Well, while the fifth Transformers picture scored just 27% “D-sour” on the Lemonradar, and was the lowest-grossing film in the franchise—there were a few flashes of greatness amidst the utter trash that was the movie. An example of this was when Bumblebee fought Nemesis Prime—not only was the scene visually dazzling, it was beautifully filmed, and filled with tension. While it couldn’t save the entire film, it sure helped it considerably.

The Hanging/Opening Scene in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”

The first installment to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was a solid, but unspectacular popcorn flick with a heck of a performance from Johnny Depp, and cutting edge visuals—scoring 75% “sweet”. The sequel, Dead Men’s Chest was a massive hit in the box office, grossing over 1 billion dollars globally—however, critics were much more skeptical, and the 220M production scored 55% “sour” on the Lemonradar. The visuals were fantastic, but the story, and the screenplay spelled problems. Here we come to the third film, At World’s End which managed to gross over 900M worldwide—but again, the quality continues on a downward spiral, scoring 47% “sour” on the Lemonradar. However, the opening scene is incredible—beginning with a hanging of convicted pirates, the camera generally centers on a boy who rings up a toon for the rest of the convicts. It’s emotional, dramatic, and stunningly filmed—too bad the rest of the film relied too much on spectacular visuals.

first attack sequence in “the great wall”

The Great Wall was one of the most anticipated films of 2017, starring Matt Damon, and directed by Yimou Zhang. However, the fantasy picture was a disappointment in the box office, and with critics—the film scored only 45% “sour” on the Lemonradar—we praised the visuals, but panned the script, and the storytelling. While the film itself was overstuffed, and chaotic—the first attack sequence was brilliant. With spectacular usage of cinematography, and CGI, along with compelling music, and sheer scope. Also the “crane corps” bit is just incredible, where five or so women would flip of the wall with spears, attacking the creatures—the scene is wild, if only the film were like that.

bedroom attack scene in “jurassic world: fallen kingdom”

When the original Jurassic Park picture came out in the year 1993, the world was terrified—Steven Spielberg has done it again with master suspense, and dazzling practical effects—it scored 85% “sweet” on the Lemonradar. Because of the terrific box office numbers, two sequels were sprouted, The Lost World (60% “sweet/sour”), and Jurassic Park III (40% “sour”). The franchise was always strong in money-making, but the quality gave us the idea that the trilogy has run it’s course. However, it was rebooted to Jurassic World in 2015; which made massive cash, and was a decent picture to the critics, scoring a solid 65% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar, reviving the franchise. Obviously, a sequel was made last year, dubbed Fallen Kingdom which was another hit in the box office, grossing over 1.3B worldwide—however, the increasing lack of scares smashed the second installment with critique. The film managed a 50% “sour” on the Lemonradar. However, there were a few times that we got a good old-fashioned jolt, including the slow-building suspense scene in where the “Indorapter” starts to sneak into a terrified little girl’s room. Finally, the audiences were impressed with an otherwise meh installment.

opening scene in “batman v superman: dawn of justice”

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was just what you expected it to be, an over-hyped mess that featured clumsily terrible battle scenes—and cheap performances. The film did manage to gross over 873M worldwide, making it another hit for the DC Extended Universe—however, it scored a horrible 30% “sour” on the Lemonradar. There was, however, an incredible sequence amidst the atrocity that was the film—the opening scene. The sequence was a tear-jerking, and beautifully composed five minutes—and depicted Bruce’s parents’ death scene, along with a beautifully filmed sequence of young Bruce running through the woods, then, well the rest of the film just plain sucked.