House Party

Party necessities: hype music, chill people, legendary stories told over regret-filled morning afters.
Party movie necessities: Banger soundtrack, eccentric ensemble cast, overall fun time.
Both House Party, the movie, and the house party thrown within the movie failed to meet these criteria.

House Party (2023) is the story of two best friends who seem to really only know how to do one thing: throw a great party. Played by Tosin Cole and Jacob Latimore respectively, Damon and Kevin find themselves cleaning the mansion of Lebron James, who produces and stars in the movie.

The boys host a party while Lebron is on vacation, which entails inviting Lebron’s A-list contacts as well as their own friends, in a house that they aren’t legally allowed to be in. The plot sounds exciting, yet the movie completely lacks luster.

Primarily, the characters are completely unlikeable. The protagonists have no clear motives for anything they do and don’t garner any empathy from the viewers. They are annoying, one-dimensional, predictable characters.

The rest of the cast is boring. No one stands out, and while there may be a few funny moments here and there, the lack of interesting characters drags the movie down.

A movie that promises a huge house party in Hollywood at a basketball star’s mansion should at least have good cameos, right? House Party does not. The cameos are overall too obscure and bland to carry any excitement into the movie.

On top of that, the movie’s plot and tone feel directionless. The lead-up to the party is far too long and uneventful, and the payoff of the actual party is so not worth it. Plus, the party honestly looked kind of lame.

Later in the movie, there are moments of absurdity that are truly the high points of the film, such as a drugged up koala and a one on one game between Lebron James and the dorky party host. Such scenes convey what greatness the party could have been, but it unfortunately did not live up to its potential.

Honestly, viewers could watch the trailer and probably get the same amount of enjoyment that the nearly two-hour runtime provides, but without the boredom and exacerbation. The movie is predictable, mundane, and overall pretty bland. It does have some good moments, which are all pretty much entirely saved for the last twenty minutes of the movie, but not worth the price of a ticket. It is trying so hard to be a specific kind of movie that’ll be fun and bring people to the theater, but just like a party that is trying too hard, you shouldn’t pull up.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Over a decade after the first movie came out, the infamous cat is back and better than ever. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is nothing short of phenomenal.

The story follows the titular character, Puss, who lives in infamy as the legendary feline renegade that audiences know and love. He begins the movie serenading the audience with his castagnette, scrapping and feeling invincible until a formidable foe makes him realize his own mortality.

The movie revolves around Puss searching for a magic star that can grant him his wish to have all nine of his lives back. This journey is full of old friends and new, as well as an all-star lineup of fairy tale inspired villains to get in Puss’ way.

There is a seemingly unanimous decision that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is amazing. For starters, the animation is phenomenal. It is clear the artists in charge weren’t interested in creating a film that looked like the first Puss in Boots. The animators seem to play around with frame rates which make each character stand out, action scenes way more exciting and overall encapsulating visuals in each shot.

The characters are wildly entertaining. The entourage of villains is both terrifying and funny and provides so much depth to the movie. It is impossible not to cheer for the protagonists, especially Puss, whose character and journey are remarkably touching.

Overall, of course, the movie is a good children’s movie. It is entertaining and fun for the family. However, this movie should not be relegated as just a kids’ movie, as it is emotionally poignant, aesthetically beautiful and genuinely hilarious. The message and themes are mature enough to really sit and think about.

There are few good movies in theaters that are worth seeing; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is worth every cent.