2018 movies

Film Review: AQUAMAN (USA 2018) ***

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Aquaman Poster
Trailer

Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world.

Director:

James Wan

Writers:

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (screenplay by), Will Beall (screenplay by) |5 more credits »

Stars:

Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe

As much as I have complaints about the new Superhero DC comic AQUAMAN film adaptation, I have the highest regards for the film’s director James Wan.  Born In East Malaysia, (a neighbour of Singapore where I was born), Wan is the only Hollywood successful director from that region.  Wan was a skinny teen like myself, and his early photos reminds me of myself.  He has gained fame and fortune through his talent and horror films like he SAW franchise, INSIDIOUS and the CONJURING films.  He also brings on board Patrick Wilson from the latter two movies to play the villain in AQUAMAN.

Wan is known for his excesses.  Excesses abound in the 2 and a half hour action blockbuster aquarian fantasy AQUAMAN, played with aplomb by Jason Momoa.  There are plenty of images and CGI effects to gawk at.  The film looks amazing.  See it in IMAX and one will feel that one is in a gigantic fish tank as in one of those big aquariums found in big cities.  As far as super-action hero movies go, there is plenty to satisfy the fan base.   Superhero action fans will no doubt leave the theatre cheering, as in the case  of the promo screening I attended.   Surprise guest Patrick Wilson was present .  Who can ask for anything more? 

But one can.  The film lacks any good plot development, character intelligence and spicy dialogue.  When Aquaman is told that he has to save the underwater and land worlds by claiming the throne, all he can say is  ‘duh!’.  The script does not offer him any good one-liners either.  Lazy writing leaves a lot of unexplained and choppy facts in the story.  The effect of the evil that the villains do is brought down several notches by making them misunderstood beings.  One scene shows AQUAMAN as a boy at a city aquarium bullied by other kids, when a shark in the tank comes to the rescue.  Where did the boy, who is supposedly born and bred by the lighthouse keeper father find residence in the city and who where his foster parents?  That one scene appears from nowhere and conveniently disappears.  The key that only unlocks the trident with droplets of water is far-fetched bulls**t.   The climatic fight underwater by the edge of the cliffs makes no sense.  No one can fall off a cliff underwater.

The story begins in the year 1985, though Aquaman existed in comics way before then.   In Maine, lighthouse keeper Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison ) rescues Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the princess of the underwater nation of Atlantis, during a storm.  They eventually fall in love and have a son, Arthur, who is born with the power to communicate with marine lifeforms.  Atlanna is forced to abandon her family and return to Atlantis, entrusting to her loyal advisor Nuidis Vulko  (Willem Dafoe) the mission of training Arthur.  Under Vulko’s guidance, Arthur becomes a skilled warrior but is rejected by the Atlanteans for being a half-breed and ultimately leaves Atlantis behind.

There is a subplot that really looks out of place with an invasion in which Arthur confronts a group of pirates attempting to hijack a nuclear submarine.  Their leader, Jesse Kane, dies during the confrontation while his son, David (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), vows revenge against Arthur.   David later targets Atlantis at the behest of Orm (Patrick Wilson), Arthur’s younger half-brother and Atlantis’ king who uses the attack as a pretext to declare war on the surface.  All thistles to Aquaman having to retrieve a trident (like the Sword in the Stone) and battle Orm to ave the world.  Yes, all action here films involve saving the world.  The inter-racial subplot looks too obvious a political correct move.  We have seen all this before time and again.

Still, as far as Warner Bros. DC super hero film adaptations go, (example the awful BATMAN v. SUPERMAN, SUICIDE SQUAD), AQUAMAN, as in WONDER WOMAN is one of the better films.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDkg3h8PCVU

Film Review: VICE (USA 2018) ****

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Vice Poster
Trailer

The story of Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.

Director:

Adam McKay

Writer:

Adam McKay

Stars:

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell

Expect the unexpected from Writer/director Adam McKay.  VICE could stand for the evil that men do or the word before President, the office which Dick Cheney attained.  He was Vice-President of the U.S., and arguably the most powerful one in history while having quite a few vices in his character like drinking uncontrollably.

McKay wraps up plenty of surprises in his anything-may-happen bio on Dick Cheney.  Credits come on around the hour 15 minute mark.  The film has not ended then but if one leaves, then the story could have ended there.  But it goes on with full credits given at the end.  There is narration too, from Jesse Plemons, who speaks to the camera.  One wonders what he has todo with the story.  To tell you more would spoil the surprise, but he has quite a bit to do with Cheney’s life.

McKay’s cast is fantastic.  Christian Bale gained 40 pounds froth Cheney role and the make-up to allow him to age in an unhealthy manner is convincing.  A Best Actor Nomination is definitely in the works here.  Steve Carrell plays the unliked Donald Rumsfeld with all the sinister relish he was muster.   It is surprising to see Tyler Perry inhabit the role of conscience bearing Colin Powell who finally resigned from the Administration.  Oscar Winner Sam Rockwell (from THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIE EBBING MISSOURI) is almost unrecognizable as President George W. Bush, portraying him as a conniving no-good human being (which he is).

Everything unpleasant one has heard in the news on Dick Cheney is in the film – including the so-called hunting accident when he shot his hunting friend – from his university drunken days to the vice-presidency.  His university drop out is recorded and so is the impetus for his ambition in politics.  This is a very meticulously crafted scene, which the audience hopes actually took place.  His wife, Lynne (Amy Adams) gave him an ultimatum calling him a ‘fat drunk’ in the process.  Cheney succeeds in the change.  McKay also documents the couple’s loyalty to the Democratic Party, and for former President Richard Nixon.  For this unfamiliar or who dispel politics, there is still much to appreciate in McKay’s VICE,  For one McKay is a very resourceful and talented director and if not surprising the audience is updating the story to his skewed lenses.

The film includes a segment on the gay sexual orientation of Cheney’s younger daughter Mary (Alison Pill).  Cheney was shown willing to give up his career for her.  This segment gives me some respect for the man I never liked.  This is thus an important part in the life of the Cheney family which McKay is wise enough to include.

McKay is clearly against the evils executed by the Bush Administration primarily the War  on Iraq.  He inserts lots of images of innocent victims from Asia and Iraq.  He also mocks the Unitary Executive Power that the Administration had and used to approve any proposals.

VICE is the second film made on the Bush Administration after Oliver Stone’s W.  McKay has made a powerful bio on Dick Cheney but one not without his biting humour.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmeqkZUXBk

Film Review: BUMBLEBEE (USA 2018)

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Bumblebee Poster
On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

Director:

Travis Knight

Writers:

Christina Hodson (screenplay by), Christina Hodson(story by)

Stars:

Hailee Steinfeld, Dylan O’Brien, Megyn Price, John Cena

BUMBLE BEE is a transformer character, who is the main lead in the 6th instalment of the TRANSFORMERS film franchise.  The 6th film, entitled BUMBLEBEE is also saves as the prequel to the 2006 film THE TRANSFORMERS set in the 80’s.

The film begins in the world of Cybertron.  The audience is immediately immersed in a battle scene.  The heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Ciullen), are on the verge of losing their war with their enemies, the evil Decepticons, and make preparations to flee the planet.  The Decepticons ambush them during the evacuation, and Optimus sends young scout B-127 (voice of Dylan O’Brien) to Earth to set up a base of operations where the Autobots can regroup.  How does the audience know what is going on?  By one line of dialogue in Optimus Prime’s communication with B-127.

So, B-127 reaches Earth alone in 1987, crash-landing in California and disrupting a training exercise being conducted by Sector 7, a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth.  S7 lieutenant Jack Burns (John Cena) presumes him a hostile invader and attacks, driving B-127 into the forest, where he is then ambushed by the Decepticon Blitzwing.  When B-127 refuses to disclose Optimus’s whereabouts, Blitzwing spitefully tears out his vocal processors and damages his memory core. B-127 manages to destroy Blitzwing before collapsing from his wounds. Before entering stasis, B-127 scans and transforms into a nearby 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.

B-127 as the V. Beetle is discovered by a girl, Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld, best remembered as the teen in the Coen Brothers’ TRUE GRIT) who nurses him back to health, nicknaming him Bumblebee  The Deceptiocons trace Bumblebee resulting in a climatic battle at the end of the film.

For a TRANSFORMER instalment, the theory of louder and bigger do not apply here.  The action scenes are minimal with more attention paid to the story of Charlie’s family on Earth.  Unfortunately it is a dull and cliched story.  Charlie’s father has passed on and mother, Sally (Pamela Adlon) has remarried.  Charlie does not get along with Ortis (Jason Drucker) her younger brother and her stepfather.  She goes loggerheads with her mother as well, wanting her freedom.  There is nothing remotely interesting in this family drama and the script does to make any attempt to try to make anything interesting or different either.  The family drama eats into the action segments in the 2-hour running time, resulting in less action than the other TRANSFORMER films in the franchise.  The 80’s setting is created by filling the soundtrack with 80’s tunes with a few 80’s props here and there.

The climatic battle is between Bumblebee and his two predators and it does not a genius to guess who will prevail.  The film has many glaring loose ends.  With Bumblebee near its death, Bumblebee is suddenly restored to full straight without much explanation.  How did Optimus Prime land on earth at the very end to speak to Bumblebee?

The silly romantic subplot between Charlie’s neighbour, Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) is an annoying distraction.  Films these days always need to put in an inter-racial relationship for political correctness, that have become too obvious.  Lendborg Jr. is neither funny, charming or smart, unlike Jason Druker who plays Cahrlie’s brother Ortis, Drucker stealing every scene he is in.  The other actor that takes everything with a pinch of salt is John Cena.  John Ortis as the goofy Dr. Powell puts in a bit of life into the story.

With the slant of this latest Transformer movie to the female gender, (the script was also written by Christina Hodson, one wonders whether the male fans will still stay loyal to the series.    The boy and his dog tale has deteriorated into a girl an her ‘bot’ tale.  BUMBLEBEE is in competition with a dozen or so big Christmas openings.  It is anyone’s guess how it will do.  

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcwmDAYt22k

Film Review: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (Denmark/France/Germany/Sweden 2018) ***

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The House That Jack Built Poster
Trailer

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writers:

Lars von Trier (screenplay), Jenle Hallund (story by)

Stars:

Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman

After being banned in France for pro-Nazi remarks (there is a brief reference to Hitler as an icon after 2/3 of the film) and finally let back in, von Trier returns with a controversial film about a serial killer called Jack (Matt Dillon).  Von Trier apparently did quite a bit of research on serial killer motives for the film made.  (Hopefully, he didn’t interview them in prison.)

The film is called THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT because Jack attempts to build a sue but never manages to complete the task.

The film arrives laden with controversy  When screened at Cannes, a large number of the audience walked out though the film received a 10-minute standing ovation at the end.  So love it or hate it, as they say.  This goes too with the body of work – the films of Von Trier.  He has made the best films like EUROPA and THE KINGDOM while making messes of films like THE IDIOTS.

The director’s unedited cut was screened in North America for a one-showing in November and released after in an edited version.  The same went for Toronto though the date of the director’s cut screening was in December at 11 pm at the Ted Rogers Cinema.

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT begins with a totally black screen in the dark where the audience can only hear voices, only barely audible.  Jack (Matt Dillon) speaks to an unknown person, Verge (voice of Bruno Ganz) and talks about his killings, art, his behaviour and logic.  The person offers him his views while also putting the film into two different perspectives.  For example, Jack talks about his killings and what it relates to while the person argues the point.  Killings by Jack are referenced to the poet, Blake with the lamb and the tiger.

The film is divided into 5 random incidents as Jack describes them taking place over a span the 12 years.  Some of the incidents include more than one victim.  The film grows more violent as it progresses.  A few unwatchable incidents include the one Jack as a boy dismembering a duckling.

Von Trier’s film is absorbing for the first 30 minutes or so, as he reveals his structure of story-telling.  The killings are sudden for shock effect with the necessary violence added in – some with the violet scenes repeated. The first kill is that of an annoying woman (Uma Thurman) whose car had a flat tire.  She taunts him constantly, even saying that the looks like a serial killer even going through the process of whether a killer would get away or not.

Arguably, the most intriguing segment is the 4th one, he nicknames Simple (Riley Keough)  that involves Jack’s romance.  Jack goes around on crutches for sympathy and easier alluring of non-suspecting victims into his car.  He tells Verge: “I have more feeling for the woman, more than psychopath would ever have..”  implying that psychopaths do not have any.

See THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT as a Lars von Trier curiosity.  Not many would really want to learn the truth about serial killers or care.

I would not walk out of the screening.  I would also not have given the film a standing ovation either.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYF2tfdD1fA

Film Review: ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL (USA 2018)

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Deadpool 2 Poster
Trailer

Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.

Director:

David Leitch

Writers:

Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin

One has to know what this film is all about as well as what DEADPOOL2 is all about before heading out to watch ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL.

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL is a PG-13 version of DEADPOOL2  with no ‘fuck’ word used though other ‘f’ words (that could substitute for the fuck’ word) are allowed.  When the film opens the action anti-hero DEADPOOL is in Fred Savage’s bedroom explaining the story of the film to him.  Fred Savage is one of the most famous child actors in America with his TV series “The Wonder Years’ aired for a long time.  Non-Americans might not be that familiar with Fred Savage.  This segment is intercut with DEADPOOL2 the film.

With DEADPOOL2 too released less than a year ago, watching ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL becomes too familiar.  The story, jokes and surprises in the plot are no longer effective.  DEADPOOL2 was great (see review of DEADPOOL2 attached below) but watching ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL was boring and a chore.  After all the original was supposed to be R-rated so removing the adult portions of the movie is undermining the original’s purpose.

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL is close to 15 minutes longer with all the additional scenes put in.  The Fred Savage segments are not that funny either.  It is my Christmas wish that no other major studio will re-issue a super-action hero hit film with additional footage.  ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL does not do it for me.  It might be different if one has not seen the original.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCf03KXyzIg

(Film Review of Deadpool2)

DEADPOOL 2 arrives 2 years after the first DEADPOOL, the 11th film in the X-Men film series.  The important question on everyone’s lips is how this film fares with regards to the first DEADPOOL and the recent Marvel films like BLACK PANTHER and AVENGERS INFINITIY WAR.  Well, it is different and notably raucously hilarious. Co-written by star Ryan Reynolds himself who did a bit on his own character’s dialogue, there are lots of swearing, so be prepared to be hearing lots of vulgarities like “fuckshit”.

DEADPOOL (Reynolds reprising his original role) is the wisecracking Marvel Comics mercenary with accelerated healing but severe scarring over his body after undergoing an experimental regenerative mutation.   He forms the X-Force, a team of mutants, most of which hilariously die while unsuccessfully parachute landing in an attempt on the job to rescue Russell (Julian Dennison), a boy Deadpool befriended while in prison.  Foremost in the story is the character of Cable (Josh Brolin) a time travelling cybernetic mutant soldier who wishes to kill Russell.  It should be noted that DEADPOOL 2’s humour is in the extreme, from fake opening credits to ridiculous subplots to senseless dialogue.  To the credit of everyone making this movie, it actually works.  It took me a while to get into the film’s groove, admittedly a full 15 minutes or so (I initially hated it, thinking it all too silly, but the tactic grows into you quickly and the effort is soon appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.)  The laugh-out loud jokes are too many to innumerate but there are prize one like the inside joke on Disney’s Frozen (since Disney has recently bought over Fox) and a running joke that makes no sense on the progress of dubstep.  The soundtrack that includes two new songs: “Ashes” by Céline Dion and “Welcome to the Party” by Diplo, French Montana and Lil Pump are especially inventive.  Those who have seen/heard “Ashes”, released as the lead single on May 3, 2018, along with a music video of the vocalist singing the song will still be laughing.

Star Ryan Reynolds is perfect as the hilarious Deadpool.  He makes the character including the dialogue he wrote.  He was given large creative control over this film after the success of the first one that resulted in the leaving of the original’s director Tim Miller due to artistic differences.  Josh Brolin plays Cable marvellously, as Brolin does in all his roles.  Brolin was also in the last recent Marvel film AVENGERS INFINITY WAR playing the main villain Thanos.  Fortunately, the makeup of Thanos results in Brolin hardly recognizable or that would have been a problem with Brolin being in two Marvel stories.  Familiar characters from the first DEADPOOL like Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Karan Soni as Dopinder, the taxi driver, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al (the fake opening credits has her listed as the film’s cinematographer) and T.J. Miller as Weasel, Daedpool’s best buddy bartender who has absolutely no loyalties are in the sequel.  Miller is good in this movie but was almost removed from the film due to alleged sexual misconduct and calling in a fake bomb threat during the movie filming.

DEADPOOL 2’s looks very expensive with great CGI and special effects.  The fight scenes are particularly stunning with humour always present.  Action and hilarity mix well in the funniest of the Marvel franchise.

Make sure to stay for the closing credits as they include a few extra scenes including surprises such as who is listed playing “Vanishing Man.”  The film also sets up for the next continuing film X-FORCE which may or may not be a direct sequel to DEADPOOL 2.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86RtevtfrA

Film Review: Mowgli (USA/UK 2018)***

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Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle Poster
Trailer

A human child raised by wolves must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.

Director:

Andy Serkis

Writers:

Callie Kloves (screenplay by), Rudyard Kipling (based on the stories of)

Stars:

Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch

MOWGLI is a curiosity piece, a non-Walt Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK.  Made by Warner Bros and and slotted for release in 2016 the same time as Disney’s live action THE JUNGLE BOOK, with both films based on the Rudyard Kipling stories, MOWGLI was delayed two years and in the meantime got bought over by Netflix.  After an initial November release in the theatres, MOWGLI can presently be seen on Netflix.  Needless to day, watching it on the big screen in 3-D is optimal, as expressed by director Serkis himself.  MOWGLI is a quality film like many of he new Netflix originals these days, the most notable being ROMA which is also playing and likely to be nominated for Best Foreign Film.

The story runs along the same lines as the animated Disney’s 60’s full length cartoon and its 2016 live action version.

MOWGLI begins with the appearance in the jungle of Kaa (Cate Blancette), an Indian python seer, watches as Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), a crippled Bengal tiger, breaks jungle law by hunting down a family of humans, with only the child escaping.  Bagheera (Christian Bale), drawn to the scene, rescues the man-cub, Mowgli (Rowan Chand), and takes him to a family of wolves being raised by Nisha (Naomi Harris) and Vihaan (Eddie Marsan), only for Tabaqui (Tom Haollander), Shere Khan’s hyena follower, to find the boy before he is chased off.  They take the infant Mowgli before the wolf council and Akela (Peter Mullan), the pack leader, to decide his fate, with Bagheera buying his life with a kill and Baloo strong-armed into agreeing. Shere Khan arrives to kill Mowgli, but Akela stops him, saying the boy is now a member of the pack and forces Shere Khan to leave, but not before the tiger vows to return.

The story goes on with Mowgli discovering his own kind (the man village).  The climax is the fight between MOWGLI and There Khan.  Kaa intervenes to save Mowgl near the end.

Serkis’ versions the most serious of all the JUNGLE BOOK film, undoubtedly.  There are scenes where carcasses are eaten.  The animals like the slimy python, Kaa look incredibly real and therefore scary – perhaps too scary for children under the age of 10.  A few sentimental hogwash segments like Nisha telling Mowgli that he belongs, no matter what others say, could have been dispensed with.  The film is also too playful for adults.  One wonders the target audience of the filmmakers.

The time gap between Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK and MOWGLI helps.  For one, many would have forgotten the main story- and if not at least a few key plot points.  

Netlflix buying the film from Warner Bros. is likely a good thing as this gives the film a different distribution, be in cables subscribers.  The chance of losing money on this one is less as well.  The cost of production is not listed but it must be up there in the millions, as the film’s special effects are exceptional.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB1KTG-O1V0

Film Review: MORTAL ENGINES (USA/NZ 2018) ***

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Mortal Engines Poster
Trailer

In a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive, two people meet in London and try to stop a conspiracy.

Director:

Christian Rivers

Writers:

Fran Walsh (screenplay by), Philippa Boyens (screenplay by) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving

Christian Rivers (who began his career working with LORD OF THE RINGS helmer, Peter Jackson) makes his directorial debut with an expensive $100-$150 million, no-holds barred blockbuster, MORTAL ENGINES based on the young adult novel of the same by Philip Reeve.

There is a lot of background concept to take in as the film begins.  The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, ravaged by a “Sixty Minute War”, which caused massive geological upheaval.  To escape the earthquakes, volcanoes, and other instabilities, a Nomad leader called Nikola Quercus (known as god Nicholas Quirke by the time of the book) installed huge engines and wheels on London, and enabled it to dismantle (or eat) other cities for resources. Think Transformer cities like Studio Ghibli’s HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE come to life.  If you admire the mechanical special effects of the TRANSFORMER movies, the effects here will blow you away.  The technology rapidly spread, and evolved into what is known as “Municipal Darwinism”.    Because scientific progress has almost completely halted, “Old Tech” is highly prized and recovered by scavengers and archaeologists. Europe, some of Asia, North Africa, Antarctica, and the Arctic are dominated by Traction Cities, whereas North America was so ravaged by the war that it is often identified as “the dead continent”, and the rest of the world is the stronghold of the Anti-Traction League, which seeks to keep cities from moving and thus stop the intense consumption of the planet’s remaining resources.

When the film begins, the predator City of London is after a small mobile mining town called Salthook, constructed to fold itself up like a hydraulic steampunk Transformer and drive away at the first sign of danger.  London is a monster of a predator city compete with artifacts  like St. Paul’s Cathedral and The London Eye.  Salthook is captured and it inhabitants consigned to low level jobs while given the basic necessities.  The dystopian future offers lots of metaphors for today’s Trump-era America which the script by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens indulges a little.

The audience is quickly introduced to the hero of the story, a rather hard-working geeky, but by no means unattractive, Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an apprentice at the Museum of London, specializing in the technology of “the ancients” (people of the 21st century).  An ancient artifact is at one point revealed humorously to be two minions.  The villain of the piece is Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), a vaguely populist authority figure with an unusual interest in collecting rusted 21st century power sources to build a special weapon in order to rule the world.  Nothing will stop him including murder.  His innocent daughter Katherine (Leila George) slowly learns the truth about her father after a young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) emerges from a crowd of refugees to kill him.

The film goes nowhere from here but continue with chases and battles culminating in the climatic battle of London vs. the good guys.  A welcome breather is introduced in the form of notorious outlaw, Anna Fang (Jihae).  Karen actress John has the great acting skill of providing one expression while wearing those stylish shades that survived all the battles of the world.

As MORTAL ENGINES go, it is an exceptionally well conceived CGI movie, top marks in looks and special effects.  But too much of a good thing can even lead to boredom.  Think the extended sequence of King Kong destroying New York City in Peter Jackson’s KING KONG.  One must know when to stop and tone down a little.  MORTAL ENGINES is spectacular in its first 20 minutes in structure, look and story telling but at the film’s 90 minute mark, one knows that the epic battle is about to take place which means another 30 minutes of film running time to trudge through.

One has to admire at least the immense and difficult effort of visualizing the dystopian YA novel on screen.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsFc2gguEg

Film Review: MARY POPPINS RETURNS (USA 2018) ***** Top 10

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Mary Poppins Returns Poster
Trailer

Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael’s children through a difficult time in their lives.

Director:

Rob Marshall

Writers:

David Magee (screenplay by), David Magee (screen story by) | 3 more credits »

Stars:

Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw

MARY POPPINS RETURNS begins with a song-and-dance number in the early morning of London where the fog is still on the ground.  A street lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wore the music for HAMILTON) brings the audience into the spirit of things.

Set in 1930s London, which is the time period of the original novels by P. L. Travers, the story follows Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer), who are now grown up.  Michael is living with his three children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson) and housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters), in the house on Cherry Tree Lane.   After Michael has a personal loss, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) comes back into the lives of the Banks family.   No details on how Michael lost his wife.

The songs are ok for the first half and turns lively and catchy in the second half.  The Sherman Brothers who wrote the songs for the original POPPINS have music credits in this one.  None of the songs in the original are sung in this one, but a few chords of “For a Spoonful  of Sugar”, “Feed the Bird” and ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite” can be heard on the soundtrack.  A song “Trip a Little Light-fantastic’ reminds on of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.  The musical number with the lamp-lights runs similar to the musical number performed by the chimney sweeps on the rooftops in the original.

A few magical segments brighten up the story.  The three children go on wild adventures like into the bathtub with Mary or into rotating ornament.  The grownups disbelieve and the children point to Mary Poppins.  “Mary Poppins never explains.”  These are the same words uttered in both movies.

A bit of romance is inserted in the story between Jack and Jane – not too much, just a hint for artistic purposes.

Emily Mortimer was the special guest present at the special screening.  She praised director Rob Marshall forms vision and one can see his vision realized in the picture – from the imaginative musical numbers to the impressive magical adventures.

The film contains three super cameos.  The first is Meryl Streep playing a Mary Poppin’s cousin, Topsy. With a thick Eastern European accent with coloured hair, bright rags and pearls and necklaces, her musical number is one lively inspiration that turns the film at its midpoint from mediocre to excellent fare.  After Streep’s appearance, the film goes uphill right to the heights of the floating balloons at the film’s end, the balloons given by Angela Lansbury, the balloon lady breaking out in song.  Lansbury has been in a magical musical Poppins type hit years back, the memorable BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS.  But the best cameo of all is Dick Van Dyke, aged masterfully playing Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of Mr. Dawes Sr., who he played in the first film.  Julie Andrews turned down the offer of a cameo.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS arrives 54 years after the original Julie Andrews musical.  It is a long but worthwhile wait.  It is indeed good to feel like a child again.  

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3jsfXDZLIY

Film Review: BIRD BOX (USA 2018) ***1/2

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Bird Box Poster
Trailer

A woman and a pair of children are blindfolded and make their way through a dystopian setting along a river.

Director:

Susanne Bier

Writers:

Eric Heisserer (screenplay), Josh Malerman (novel)

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich

It had to happen after the box-office phenomenon of John Krasinski’s A QUIET PLACE – a female version of a horror dystopian setting of a film that could alternatively be called A DARK PLACE.  In BIRD BOX, the characters are not allowed to see or contact a virus of some sort that would kill them.  The protagonist is a female and so is the director, Dane Susanne Bier who has made a few acclaimed foreign films.  She brings structure, insight, craft and emotion into an otherwise run of the mill futuristic film.

BIRD BOX is an American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Susanne Bier and with a screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman.

The script is radically different from Malerman’s novel.  Quite a few incidents have been omitted like the wolf attack or simplified like the sister’s death.  The ending is softened to a happier one.  So as not to give off a spoiler, one should read the book (or the summary available on wikipedia) to discover what real horrors took place in order for the survivors to live in the sanctuary.

So what is the reason behind this end of the world scenario?  In Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS, a  hysterical woman offers her theory while customers are held up at a gas station bar.  In BIRD BOX, one character offers his educated sounding theory to those held up in the house.  But another calls him out.  “And where do you work?  In a  grocery store?  Then he claims he is writing a book on the end of the world while getting all his research from the internet.  Another satirical moment occurs when the crazed John Malkovich character that he will make the end of the world great again.

The film follows a young woman (Sandra Bullock) who, along with a pair of unnamed children, (called boy and girl, for reasons made apparent in the film) must make it through a forest and river that includes rapids, blindfolded to avoid a supernatural entity that takes the appearance of its victims worst fears and causes them to commit suicide.  The film is called BIRD BOX because the woman carries a box of birds – the birds immune to the epidemic, supposed to be able to warn them and guide them to safety.  As the journey unfolds (with title indicating the number of days on river), flashbacks, set in the period 5 years earlier explain what happened prior to the woman and three children before being left to their own devices.  As the time period closes in to the present, the story gets a little confusing though not difficult to discern with a little thinking.

Before the 3 are left by themselves, there is a period where the woman and a few others  are held up in different places that include a house and a grocery story.  The group is played by a variety of known and excellent actors that includes Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, BD Wong, Sarah Paulson and John Malkovich.  This is the film’s best segment. They argue vehemently with each other as to what to do.  This potion is reminiscent of the excellent original 2000 Spanish film, Alex de la Iglsia’s LE BAR (THE BAR), where an assortment of characters are held up in a bar while a disease is occurring outside and they cannot let anyone in for fear of being contaminated.

BIRD BOX is to be commended as an excellent dystopian futuristic film with strong female content and ethic diversity.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2AsIXSh2xo

Film Review: VOX LUX (USA 2018) ***1/2

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Vox Lux Poster
Trailer

An unusual set of circumstances brings unexpected success to a pop star.

Director:

Brady Corbet

Writer:

Brady Corbet

Stars:

Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy

VOX LUX is a depressing life story of a pop artist that is credible and realistic by writer/director Brady Corbet aided by the spirited performance of Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman and by Jude Law who plays her nasty and suspicious manager. 

As in her Oscar winning BLACK SWAN where she plays an artist in the form of a ballet dancer, Portman now plays pop singer/dancer who has risen to fame despite seismic, violent circumstances.  Still she spirals downwards but there is a silver lining in every cloud.

The film begins in 1999 with teenage sisters Celeste Montgomery (Raffey Cassidy, last seen  in THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER) and Eleanor “Ellie” Montgomery (Stacy Martin), surviving a seismic and violent tragedy.  The tragedy unfolds like a shock, and therefore will not be revealed in this review to prevent a full movie experience.  Director Corbet  clearly has the intention of this effect for his audience.  The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of catastrophe.  This launches their  singing careers.  The sisters draw the attention of a passionate manager with no-name (Jude Law) and are rapidly catapulted into fame and fortune, with Celeste as the star and Ellie the creative anchor.  By the film’s second half, the film shifts to a 2017 setting. The now 31-year-old Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mother to a teenage daughter of her own (again played by Raffey Cassidy) and struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence (again not revealed) demands her attention.

VOX LUX is the name of one of Celeste’s album.  The life of Celeste follows the route of many a singer/songwriter (like Amy Winehouse) whose documentaries have already been seen by many.  The story of a star’s downfall (as in the recent A STAR IS BORN) is a depressing all too familiar one that many will avoid, especially during the festive season.  But director Corbet inserts an lively entertaining dance number at the climax for the purpose of lifting spirits.  It works!

The film is narrated by Willem Dafoe (immediately recognizable) who has been doing a lot of narrating recently since DO DONKEYS ACT?  The voiceover is supposed to put the story into perspective and keep it there as opinions can change.  Like DO DONKEYS ACT? Defoe put-on touch of sarcasm into the proceedings.

Despite the sombre nature of the film’s material there are a few bright moments.  One is the message that has an aside.  During Celeste’s down period, she says to her audience: “This girl will never go down!”   Director Corbet also inserts a very lively dance sequence during the film’s climax which showcases Portman’ versatility as an artist.  Yes, this girl can sing and dance.

Because of the shocking incidents affecting Celeste’s life, her ups and downs and the parallel rise of her daughter’s singing career, VOX LUX feels a bit disjointed.  But director Corbet knows what he is doing and brings his film to a satisfying conclusion at the end.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdVqr4hmZU