0
Posted November 8, 2017 by Scott Davis in Features
 
 

The Preview Reel: The Daddy’s Are Home Again to Take a Ride on the Orient Express

Welcome to this week’s “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide-release movies. Unsurprisingly, Thor: Ragnarok dominated the box office last weekend with a debut of $122.7 million, which was good for the fourth-highest opening of the year. The well-received Marvel film will likely repeat this weekend as Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery Murder on the Orient Express and the comedy sequel Daddy’s Home 2 battle for second place.

 

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient ExpressWhat we are excited about: Easily the most exciting aspect of this movie is the all-star cast that includes: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, and Daisy Ridley to name just a few headlining this impressive collection of talent. If they are all able to bring their A-games and the mystery is intriguing enough, this could be an early holiday season treat.

What we are worried about: Kenneth Branagh stars and directs in the movie, and his directing efforts have been average to say the least. His last three movies—Thor (2011), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), and Cinderella (2015)—haven’t been terrible, but none of them are too terrible memorable either. He’s good at delivering fine films that don’t upset many people, but usually lack a “wow” factor. It seems like the cast is the “wow” factor for Murder on the Orient Express, we hope he has more tricks up his sleeve.

The Buzz: Most of the buzz in the movie industry right now is focused on Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League, but there is a good amount of excitement for Murder on the Orient Express. The film is getting good to mediocre reviews as it sits at 64% on RottenTomatoes and 56 on MetaCritic. Look for an opening around $24 million.

Final Thoughts: Hopefully Kenneth Branagh takes advantage of his amazing cast and delivers a fun mystery flick.

 

Daddy’s Home 2

Daddy’s Home 2What we are excited about: Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg can make us laugh, no matter how bad of a movie they are in. They are good for at least a couple of laughs, add in a fun Mel Gibson and a lovable John Lithgow, and this should at the very least provide a good chuckle or two.

What we are worried about: The first Daddy’s Home (2015) has its fans, but I’m not one of them. That movie felt like a lazy excuse to get Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg back on screen again and it was only mildly humorous. The trailers for the sequel has the same feel as the first installment, which makes sense because the first was a huge hit, but it likely won’t win over any new fans.

The Buzz: Daddy’s Home was a surprise hit as it played as counter-programming to Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. The sequel comes out less than two years after the original and looks to play counter-programming to Thor and Justice League. With no reviews as of this writing, we don’t expect this movie to be a critical darling, but it should still finish with a nice opening of $22 million.

Final Thoughts: We’d rather watch the better Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg comedy, The Other Guys.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.