Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

In the Heights:
The movie adaptation of this musical is pleasant, harmless fun. The music is Lin-Manuel Miranda's signature style of "safe" hip-hop that sounds a little too similar to what he's written elsewhere. The inclusion of a main character, Benny, who seems identical to the Benny in RENT seems like an odd creative choice.

Final Grade: B-

Death to 2021:
The sequel to Death to 2020 is just as enjoyable as the first, and is a great way to reminisce about this crazy year now that we aren't living it anymore. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B+

Hitman:
This was a fun one-off movie about a philosophy professor mistaken for a hit man, after which "hilarity ensues". It's better than the title card suggests, and thankfully doesn't fall into the trap of making things too serious in the climax. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F:
The new Beverly Hills Cop sequel feels really obligatory. Eddie Murphy phones in his entire performance (his work in Dolemite is My Name was way better). There are a lot of talky scenes which make it seem like the director was hoping for some great ad-libbed banter but none of the actors have enough chemistry to say anything memorable. I laughed maybe twice during the whole movie. On Netflix.

Final Grade: C-