I have complicated feelings about this series, maybe more complicated than the series can actually support. I love the first two films because I loved them when I was younger and less aware of their issues. A third film, divorced from the misogyny, racism, and oo-rah militarism Michael Bay injects into most of his films, had a lot of potential.
In some ways, that potential pays off, giving us an entry in the series without some of Bay's more gratuitous…
I keep seeing El Camino described as inessential, but I don't know, I thought it was neat. I'm no Breaking Bad superfan and I haven't revisited it since it ended, but I remember thinking Jesse/Aaron Paul was underserved by the final season. This gives him a better send off - even if it feels more like an alternate, extended season finale than a standalone film.
By reputation I expected something much worse, but Brawl is weirder, funnier, and better than I anticipated. It's Jackie Chan at his most Buster Keaton-like, with his big American lead debut not quite showcasing his abilities to the fullest but still letting him clown and kick through ’30s mafia goons, a bizarre roller derby race, and an assortment of zany fighters. It's in the latter, at the titular Battle Creek Brawl, that the film loses a lot of momentum (and…
