Tag: Movie Reviews

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Memorable characters are one thing, but being relatable is just as important (if not more so). This is one of the main reasons why the Toy Story films have been so effective for nearly a quarter century. Like The Godfather, Star Wars, and films in the MCU (not to mention other Pixar films), the characters of Toy Story are ones we relate to, and are all around timeless. Just like a toy is to our inner child. This makes all the events of the fourth installment all the more powerful, and even sometimes poignant.

Like many, I too was hesitant to hear there would be a fourth film for Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and the rest of the gang, especially after the emotional climax of the third film. Still, this revisitation is another knockout. When it is discovered that the toy’s new owner Bonnie (Madeleine McCraw) is about to start kindergarten, she (literally) makes a new friend in class out of a spork, naming him Forky (a wonderfully casted Tony Hale). Woody is doing all he can to make sure Bonnie is happy (despite no longer being the favorite toy) and makes sure that Forky is aware of the fact that he can be more than just “trash.”

On a road trip, Woody and Forky are separated from the rest, and wind up in an antique shop. In a rather dark and creepy situation (the music used was the same used during The Shining), they come across Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), an old doll that reminded me of the classic Talky Tina from the “Living Doll” Episode of the old school Twilight Zone. She is set on getting Woody’s voice box (her own is busted). Woody eventually teams up with his old friend (and flame) Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who was given away in-between the second and third film. Meanwhile, Buzz has set out to help Woody despite having trouble listening to his “inner voice”.

While other old characters have returned (Joan Cusack as Jessie, Pixar vet John Ratzenberger’s Hamm, Wallace Shawn’s Rex, Kristen Schaal’s Trixie, Bonnie Hunt’s Dolly, and the late great comic Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head), we still get a good amount of new characters. The duo of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key nail it as Bunny and Ducky (respectively), two stuffed animals tied at the hand who have spent their lives on the wall of a carnival game. Still, perhaps the best new cast member is Keanu Reeves as Duke Kaboom, a daredevil motorcycle stunt toy from Canada (“Yes I Can-ada!”).

Without giving anything away, I will mention that the film manages to deliver more than a good share of laughs and cries (more on the ending in a bit). It delivers a sense of redemption and closure with it’s characters. It reminds us that certain paths in life that take longer to travel then others. It reminded me of one of my favorite verses: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

Parents, I imagine this is one of those animated movies you would be taking your kids to, not them asking you to take them to. Aside from some of the darker moments (including ventriliquist dummies) mentioned already, the film is fine for kids.

Now about the last half hour or so of the film. I read recently that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen each had to record the lines of the last scene away from other cast and crew due to getting too emotional. Being that I cried till I pulled up to my driveway on the way home, I would think this is accurate. If you thought the last half hour of Avengers: Endgame was a tough cry, wait till the last half hour of Toy Story 4.

Overall:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Categories
3 Stars Movies

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

The book of Revelation crossed my mind a good amount while watching Godzilla: King of the Monsters. One verse I did not expect to think of was in chapter 3, when Jesus is talking to the church in Laodicia.

“So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” _ Revelation 3:16.

The reason for this is simple: I have not been this “lukewarm” about how I feel over a movie in sometime. In the end, I have to choose a side, and that side is on the positive…barely.

Set five years after the previous movie, we meet Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), who has been trying to find out how to make the titans less vicious (I think, I admit I am not sure) after losing her son Andrew in the events five years ago.. Along with her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown, aka Eleven from Stranger Things), she is soon kidnapped by the (over the top) evil Alan Jonah (Charles Dance), who is dead set on being eco friendly. Her ex husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) teams up with a team of doctors from the first film (played again by Oscar nominees Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins) as well as new faces such as Bradley Whitford and Ziyi Zhang. There is conflict over which of the titans are here to help us (such as Godzilla) or destroy us (newcomers such as Rodan, Mothra, and Monster Zero, better known as King Ghidorah).

The human drama does tend to take away from the film, though none of the actors can be at fault. Grizzled faced vets don’t get played much better than Kyle Chandler, and if you need a girl who is quick witted, smart, and capable of emotion in the blink of an eye, then look no further then MMB. The drama involves whether or not to let the titans battle it out, or have humans put an end to it (with help from the military, of course).

All of that is sheer background to the real reason we see these movies: all out monster mashing. Since the 1998 version of Godzilla (a film some friends of mine still like for reasons I may never understand), the battle sequences have always seemed to be in the dark rain, obscuring the visuals. That is a shame, because the 2014 version showed some rather impressive visuals (regardless of the weather situations), and this film is just as fun to look at.

Parents, the film is fine for anyone who has seen a modern monster movie before. The only thing to mention is there is some good amount of swearing, but nothing worse than the PG-13 rating allows. Middle school and up is totally fine.

Going back to the book of Revelation, it is clear that the return of Jesus will come. It will be an event that will be like no other. We humans can either try to prevent it (which would be foolish to say the least), or just leave it up to God to fix it all. The same goes with Godzilla, as his movies have shown that they tend to work the best when pesky humans are not in the spotlight.

Note: The next matchup scheduled for Godzilla is King Kong. As someone who watched the 1960s version of the matchup many times as a kid. I am stoked for the remake, and have my choice picked out regardless of the odds.

Overall:

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Categories
3 Stars Movies

Pokemon Detective Pikachu (2019)

There is a time in everyone’s childhood where (most) of the things we liked as kids become too childish, and we move on to other things that are more mature (basically adolescene). For me, the world of Pokemon snuck in just before I reached this stage as it became one of the staples of my childhood (as well as most kids in the 90s). The games were what intrigued me the most (I did not collect the cards as much as my little brother did), and survived (to say the least) the first animated movie (the show was better). I stopped being totally interested after the second or third generation.

Now, a few years after the huge mobile explosion that is Pokemon Go (which I still dabble in), we have the first live action film in Pokemon Detective Pikachu. While the film is not likely to appeal to those who don’t know a Squirtle from a Pidgey, the film is still nearly as close to a good Pokemon film as we will get. The film starts out with Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) being told that his long estranged father has perished in a car accident. Though he has not seen his father in years (his mother passed away when he was young), he decides to visit the city after being told the details by his father’s partner, Lt. Yoshida (Ken Watanabe).

Unlike the video games (at least the ones I played), there is no fighting in the city (at least legally). Thanks to a business guru named Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy), people and Pokemon live together (somewhat peacefully). Still, Tim realizes that things don’t completely add up. When he arrives at his father’s apartment, he runs into a Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds). Even if you are not at all familiar with Pokemon, you should at least know that they only say their name (or are they named after what they say?) For some reason, Tim can clearly understand the wisecracking electric rodent, and even though he says he does not need a Pokemon, he can clearly use help in finding out what really happened to his father. He gets more intel from rookie reporter Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton), accompanied by her Psyduck (and if you know Pokemon, you know you don’t want Psyduck to have a headache).

As of this writing, there are over 800 different types of Pokemon (seven generations). A very wise choice was made in keeping the number of them very limited on screen. For the most part, we get some good crowd favorites ranging in minor cameos (the always lovable Jigglypuff and her “singing” voice, the ridiculous Magikarp, though we do get to see it evolve with wondrous results) to more powerhouses like Charizard and the legendary Mewtwo. Sadly, for a Pokemon movie, there are very few action scenes (the battle scenes we do get are rather effective). The film plays more like a semi-noir flick (On “The Big Picture” Podcast, host Sean Fennessey said it best when he described the film as “a Humphrey Bogart movie with Pokemon”.) I am not arguing that film noirs are bad (I am a huge fan of Bogie). Its just that if a movie is going to be about Pokemon, I would have wanted more battles.

Undoubtedly, if there is one reason for people (fan or not) to see the film, it is Ryan Reynolds. I walked in expecting a PG version of Deadpool, and that is basically what happened. There are snappy one liners (“At this point, how can you now believe in climate change?”) that are a wonder, mainly because of Reynolds. There are times when it feels like he was just free to adlib most of his dialogue.

Parents, there is very little here to worry about. Despite some mild (maybe two or three times is a minor four letter word used) swearing, there is nothing that should stop you from taking you kids.

It is not hard to imagine that some of you reading this have thought of the whole “Pokemon thing” silly and ridiculous. Fair enough. However, God gave us one of the best gifts, imagination. Some of us have only limited this to playing “pretend” or having an “imaginary friend” (mine was named Gerald), but others have taken it to great lengths. These are names such as Walt Disney, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, A.A. Milne, P.L. Travers, George Lucas, J.K. Rowling, and Stan Lee. Each of these individuals excelled with their imagination and gave worlds that some of us would find near impossible to “live” without. Moreover, Jesus frequently gave some of his best teachings through the use of storytelling (e.g., parables). Perhaps if Jesus’s life and ministry were to have occurred in the 21st century, he might have used film to speak to his audience.

The man who created the Universe of Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri, may not be completely well known here in the states (at least not as much, I imagine, as he is in Japan), but even non fans of Pokemon have to show some respect for what he did. His universe may not have as many fans as that of Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or the MCU, but the ideals and core values are still there. It brings the kid out in adult fans. To quote C.S. Lewis, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

Overall:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Categories
5 Stars Movies

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

All this time, we have had it wrong.

Despite the drastic ending of Infinity War, when Thanos succeeded in wiping out half the universe, we were not given a year to recover from the snap heard round the cosmos. Rather, we were given a year to prepare for Avengers: Endgame. I have not felt this feeling in a movie theater since the conclusion of the original Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Of those survivors of the snap, life has (understandably) changed drastically for our heroes. I will not say how, for they are worth finding out for yourselves (though I will say that the changes of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor put a giant smile on my face). When all seems lost, we get the return of Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who has been trapped in the quantum realm during the snap (we learn this at the end of Ant Man & the Wasp). He proposes an idea that is so crazy it could never work: use the quantum realm for time travel and reverse the events that led to the deaths of all the heroes we have been mourning (let alone the rest). This leads to countless (and hilarious) comparisons to films like Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Hot Tub Time Machine. Personally, I was thinking of the description of time travel from Doctor Who, which states it is “more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey….stuff.”

What follows is akin to a collection of classic reruns, as certain teams travel to certain points in time to collect the stones, seeing many (and I mean many) familiar faces along the way. This gives more time for our heroes (specifically the ones we have known since the beginning) to grow even more as characters and as people (or Gods or raccoons or whatever). Of course, when Thanos (Josh Brolin) reenters, all is even more complex. The showdown at the end (which you know will happen) is one of the best action scenes ever put to film.

From Chris Evans’s Steve Rodgers/Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man to Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon and Karen Gillan’s Nebula, the characters of the MCU are some of the most recognizable and memorable characters in the history of cinema (regardless of genre). Sure, we all like to imagine having made up powers to fight the bad guy (not to mention doing it as a team), but to care for these characters like family is something on a whole other level. There is a sense of closure at the end of the film that seems so palpable. The film reminds us how we as humans can relate empathically with fictional characters. Furthermore, the film inspires us to be courageous and self-sacrificial. It reminds me of a quotation from the aforementioned Lord of the Rings trilogy: “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

Parents, the film is a little bit more graphic than the other MCU films; it still has a PG-13 rating like all the other MCU movies. A good amount of swearing, too.

Next up, the MCU is bringing us Spider-Man: Far from Home, and then it will be awhile before we have any other films from Marvel. After seeing Avengers: Endgame, you can understand the time off. It will be near impossible to follow this film up.

Overall:

Rating: 5 out of 5.
Categories
1 1/2 Stars Movies

Dumbo (2019)

Even though it is one of the shortest of Disney’s animated films, the original Dumbo from 1941 is still an ideal choice as a beginner Disney film for children, when we all are still very close to our mothers. The same cannot be said for the remake of Dumbo, which, while I am sure is well-intended, is nothing short of a disappointing failure.

Directed by Tim Burton, we start off the film in Sarasota Florida (not sure why we need to know the exact location) in 1919. A year after many of the circus performers have died due to the influenza outbreak, we see Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), returning from the war (after having lost his arm) to his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins). He is not the best at knowing how to talk to his children like his wife was (she was one of the influenza victims). Despite being with only one arm, he is eager to be back as the circus horse rider, but finds out that his boss Max Medici (Danny Devito, who is pitch perfect) has sold the horses due to money issues. He assigns Holt to taking care of his newest investment, a female elephant named Jumbo, soon to be having a baby.

The first half of the film is basically the story from the original film, as Jumbo Jr. (soon to be called Dumbo) is separated from his mother after a mishap, then later discovers his ears are the perfect set of wings. The second half introduces us to V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), the owner of a more futuristic theme park called Dreamland, along with his somewhat flame and muse Colette (Eva Green), who is set to fly atop Dumbo.

The second half is filled with the visuals we would expect in a Burton film. Yes, some are fun to look at (there is a segment dedicated to the Pink Elephants that I am happy to say was not one of the film’s many down points), but it was the parts of the story that seemed too much for the audience to handle (regardless of age). The second half also provides a cameo from a pop culture figure (whom I have always admired) that makes you want to just shout out “Wait,…WHAT?!”, and not in a good way.

The film does have plenty of nods to the original (though the controversial crows are not present), but (aside from the aforementioned Pink Elephants), very few succeed. The original Dumbo (if you think I have said that word too often, wait till you hear how many times they do in the film) had one of the more tender, heartbreaking moments in Disney history with the song “Baby Mine.” Here, the song seems like it was tacked on with very little thought or heart to it.

Parents, your kids would be fine seeing this, though I would highly encourage they see the far superior original first.

As always, this is a Disney film that has lessons for kids (as well as adults), most notably how our weakness can also be our strength (Psalm 18:28, 2 Corinthians 12:10). The issue (at least for me) is that this was already told nearly eight decades ago in the animated film. Dumbo is the first of three live action remakes to be released in 2019 (the others being Aladdin and The Lion King). While some of the past remakes were at least somewhat enjoyable, I have yet to see a single live action remake of a Disney animated classic that can even be close to comparing to the original. If that does happen, then I be done seen about everything.

Overall:

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.