May to June 2016 Tomatometer Predictions

Tomatometer Guess: 91%. Marvel Studios begins the third phase of their Cinematic Universe with what could be their best film yet (Judging by early reviews).

Actual Score: 90%. A rare perfect guess! Captain America: Civil War is everything you've heard and more. Great action, perfect use of characters, and the motivations actually make sense and are understandable. Marvel couldn't have picked a better movie to start Phase 3 with.

Tomatometer Guess: 35%.

Actual Score: 0%.

Tomatometer Guess: 55%. While the premise does sound a tad bit cliche, hopefully, director Jodie Foster will surprise us with this thriller.

Actual Score: 56%. Though Money Monster features strong performances from its cast and timely ideas, it's let down by its heavy-handed messages.

Tomatometer Guess: 85%. With a very creative premise and stellar cast, High-Rise has all the potential in the world to be a hit.

Actual Score: 66%.

Tomatometer Guess: 81%. Shane Black (Kiss-Kiss,Bang-Bang) directs this Action Comedy starring Ryan Gosling as a weasely cop who teams up with a surly enforcer (Russel Crowe) to investigate the disappearance of a Porn Star.

Actual Score: 91%. The Nice Guys may be the best movie I've seen so far this year. The jokes are clever, the writing is brilliant, Writer/Director Shane Black captures the look of the 70's perfectly, and the action scenes are exciting.

However, the main reason this movie works so well is the chemistry of the leads. Ryan Gosling, (Who usually plays straight men) is wonderfully cartoony as Holland March, while Russell Crowe is great at playing the crude Jackson Healy. Special mention should go to Angourie Rice, who plays March's daughter and has several great moments.

I can't recommend this movie enough. Go see it, you won't regret it.

Tomatometer Guess: 75%. Although one could argue that this is five years too late, I'd by lying if I said I wasn't curious to see this.

Actual Score: 45%. While the animation is gorgeous and there are some genuinely funny jokes, The Angry Birds Movie is an overbearing and average animated film that struggles to stretch out the smart phone app into a 90 minute feature.

Tomatometer Guess: 66%. Can this sequel to the 2014 sleeper hit Neighbors reach the same success as the original, or will it be yet another shameless retread?

Actual Score: 67%. It may be uneven and overly crude at times, but Neighbors 2 is still a solid, funny, and at times heartfelt time. If you liked the first film, you'll enjoy this as well.

Tomatometer Guess: 89%. After restoring faith in the X-Men franchise with Days Of Future Past, Director Bryan Singer directs the third and final installment of the First Class trilogy.

Actual Score: 48%. X-Men: Apocalypse starts strong with at the beginning with great action scenes, a fun cast of new characters, and strong acting performances (Particularly from Michael Fassbender as Magneto).

Unfortunately, the film has choppy pacing (Including an action scene in the middle that feels like fan-service), several characters are underused, and a sloppy third act that undoes a lot of the goodwill from the first two acts. Jennifer Lawrence also seems to be phoning it in as Mystique this time around.

Overall, while it's a step down from Days Of Future Past and First Class, X-Men: Apocalypse is entertaining and sets up a promising new series in the franchise.

Tomatometer Guess: 51%. Despite being met with less than stellar reviews, Tim Burton's live-action remake of Alice In Wonderland was still a huge hit at the Box Office, so inevitably, a sequel was announced.

Will Tim Burton being relegated to a producer help the film's quality? Who knows at this point.

Actual Score: 29%. Alice Through The Looking Glass is just as visually stunning as the first film and has an interesting villain in Sacha Baron Cohen, however, it's nowhere near enough to compensate for the movie's incoherent script which has too many subplots going on at once.

Tomatometer Guess: 48%. Despite the less than stellar reception for the Michael Bay produces TMNT film, the sequel looks like a step in the right direction.

The redesigns for the turtles and shredder are easy on the eyes, It's nice to see Casey Jones, and it looks like the Turtles are the main characters of the film, instead of secondary ones like in the first film.

While I'm not expecting it to be the best film of the year, but it at least looks fun.

Actual Score: 36%. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out Of The Shadows is not a perfect movie. Some of the special effects look cartoonish, Megan Fox is still completely flat as April O'Neil, Stephen Amell is wasted as Casey Jones, and the story is all over the place.

However, the turtles' redesigns are a vast improvement, they're actually the main focus of the story this time, and the action scenes are genuinely entertaining, making it a passable time at the movies.

Tomatometer Guess: 60%.

Actual Score: 54%. The actors have good chemistry, and the script's portrayal of disability isn't as egregious as in the novel but is still clumsily handled nonetheless.

Tomatometer Guess: 70%.

Actual Score: 79%. This movie has a great cast, clever satire of pop star culture and great comedic timing. That being said, it's sluggish pacing towards the end prevents from being perfect.

Still, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh.

Tomatometer Guess: 65%. Will this Duncan Jones directed film pave the way for good Video Game movies? Only time will tell.

Actual Score: 27%. Warcraft is not a terrible film per say. Most of the special effects are amazing (The motion capture on the orcs, in particular, is impressive), the action scenes are entertaining, and there's plenty of fanservice for those who have played the game.

However, most of the human characters are boring (Both in terms of acting and character), the tone is a bit too serious for its own good (To the point where some of the dialogue becomes unintentionally funny), the story will make little sense to non-fans, and the pacing is all over the place.

Overall, this is a movie that will be most appreciated by hardcore fans. Whether or not you fall into that camp is up to you. Me personally, I found it to be forgettable, but not painful.

Tomatometer Guess: 37%.

Actual Score: 34%. Now You See Me 2 features new characters and more twists and turns than the original. However at some point, the script become too preposterous and the movie ends up a cluttered mess.

Tomatometer Guess: 80%. While Horror sequels are often subpar, James Wan (Director of the original Conjuring) has a proven track record to prove otherwise.

Actual Score: 75%. The Conjuring 2 may suffer from horror conventions that the first film avoided, but it still features grounded performances from its cast and still just as legitimately frightening as the original.

Tomatometer Guess: 97%. This long-awaited sequel to the beloved Pixar film, Finding Nemo sees Ellen Degeneres reprising her role as the forgetful fish, Dory.

Though it may seem like a cash grab, I am fully confident in the folks at Pixar to deliver a worthy follow-up to the original.

Actual Score: 95%. Pixar yet again delivers with Finding Dory, a beautifully animated, heartfelt, and hilarious adventure that serves as a perfect companion piece to Finding Nemo.

The most surprising aspect of Finding Dory is how Director Andrew Stanton provides Dory with a backstory that adds a layer of tragedy and depth an already memorable character.

Overall, this is one animated film that not likely to be forgotten soon.

Tomatometer Guess: 67%. Kevin Hart teams up with Dwayne Johnson in this action comedy.

Actual Score: 60%. Central Intelligence is far from a perfect, or well-written film, but Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart's chemistry is entertaining enough to make the film worthwhile.

Tomatometer Guess: 58%. 20 Years after Independence Day set the box office on fire, Roland Emmerich returns to direct the sequel. The only question is whether the wait will be worth it, or if it will it go down in flames

Actual Score: 34%. Like most of Roland Emmerich's films, It's passable as dumb fun popcorn entertainment. However, Will Smith's absence leaves the film without the charm or charisma of the original. While Jeff Goldblum and Brent Spiner are fun to watch, the newer characters (Of which there are WAY too many) are not very memorable, nor particularly well acted.

Tomatometer Guess: 75%.

Actual Score: 41%. The Free State Of Jones plays out less like a movie and more like a boring drawn-out documentary on The History Channel. Matthew McConaghey's performance is brilliant, but is rendered void by the movie's sluggish pacing and uninteresting story.

Tomatometer Guess: 46%. Blake Lively stars in this Horror film sure to scare moviegoers from going into the water.

Actual Score: 75%. While far from perfect, The Shallows is an entertaining and suspenseful film with a compelling performance from Blake Lively.

Tomatometer Guess: 65%.

Actual Score: 63%. It may be a bit too outlandish for some, but for everyone else, Swiss Army Man is an irreverent, quirky, well-acted adventure.