The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)

The central friendship is passably engaging but doesn’t explode with chemistry and elsewhere, there’s just a dumb plot (MacGuffin-driven with a lazy climax–see the out-of-nowhere appearance of the cops to arrest the right bad guy), generic secondary characters (Russian villains, shoehorned-in love interests), bland character drama (neither character’s insecurity is that believable), and mostly forgettable comedy (passive-aggressive Tess and the thumb-stick are probably the best bits).

2

Your Highness (2011)

When Prince Fabious’s bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her… accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous. (IMDb)

I suppose there’s some humour to be found in throwing crude content and expletives into the typically haughty dialogue and setting of a medieval period piece, but it’s done to such a (literally) gross extent here it wears very thin very quickly, and when even the (bland and suspense-less) main plot is misogynist and centered on sex, the whole film just feels like the adventure fan-fiction of a snickering 15-year old who plays Age of Empires and has porn mags stashed under his mattress.

4/10 (Bad)

 

Megamind (2010)

The supervillain Megamind finally defeats his nemesis, the superhero Metro Man. But without a hero, he loses all purpose and must find new meaning to his life. (IMDb)

The script’s dialogue-based humour is inconsistent at best (the opening voiceover intro is kinda lame; Megamind and Metro Man’s cliche convo was funny: “Revenge is best served cold!” “But it can be easily reheated in the microwave of evil!”) but it’s helped by a great voice cast (Cross as earnest Minion tops the list), and the overarching premise offers both some quirky satire of the typical good guy vs. villain dynamic as well as, of course, a refreshingly nuanced look at the villain itself.

6.5/10 (Alright)

 

American Psycho (2000)

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies. (IMDb)

The odd opening few scenes (see the lead’s detailed account of his facial care regime) start things off shakily, but soon it all comes together, as the oddball men-in-suits culture satire (see the business card envy) meshes nicely with the sadistic exploits of the bonkers Bateman (see his pre-murder music reviews), whose unique descent into madness (played brilliantly by Bale; see especially his phone confession) unfortunately leads to an ambiguous ending dangerously close to being cliche.

8/10 (Great)